March
April
More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.
16th Jan 2013, 07:45
tags: p366
photography
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I'm always doing my yearly summary two weeks into the new year. Oops! I've borrowed this yearly questionnaire from Shauna of What's New Pussycat?. It ticked all my usual boxes. I did edit it though and removed some questions which I didn't think were pertinent.
What did you do this year that you'd never done before?
I had my first day as a real teacher. First time I'd been paid to be a teacher, first time I was in a classroom unsupervised and the first time I had to do playground duty. It felt pretty good after three and a half years of study. I hope this next chapter of my career will be very rewarding.
Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?
um... I can't remember if I made any resolutions for 2012. I really want to start running again in 2013 and would love to run another 10km fun run. I'm also tempted to try to do an ocean swim this year. I guess I'll have to give it a go as I'm putting it on here!
Did anyone close to you give birth?
We're in the middle of a baby boom. When you're in your early 20s you go to 5 million 21sts and then your late 20s is all about weddings. It seems my 30s is all about babies. It's breeding time.
We welcomed Zoe Crane (or ZoZo as Evie likes to call her) in June and Amy Goldstiver snuck in on December 22nd. It's nice to have a couple of little girls to keep Evie company. 2013 is going to be baby crazy as it seemed like every second person was announcing a pregnancy late last year.
What trips did you go on?
Originally this question read which countries did you visit. I changed it because we don't get a lot of international travel done these days.
We had three big trips this year:
- Port Douglas - In April, we had a week away in Port Douglas with the Daley family. It was a great holiday. Not only did I have a lovely week away with my family but it also showed me that fun trips are still possible with a kid. We did a trip out to the reef, Andrew and I went river snorkelling with the Bells and we had two nights out without kids (two! count 'em!). I don't think the trip has made it to the blog yet (I feel a blog series coming up).
- Byron Bay - In November, we spent a week with the Wilsons in Byron Bay to celebrate brother Ben's 40th birthday. We all stayed together in the loveliest house. You'd think we would have gone a bit crazy with so many people staying in a confined space but it was great. I'm now a big fan of holidays with shared parenting duties. Evie was also finally old enough to enjoy the beach. We had several outings where I managed to get a swim in the ocean. It's enough to make me happy.
- Port Stephens - We tried out a farm stay at Port Stephens for our traditional New Year's group trip. It was surprisingly lovely. Will definitely be blogging about this one in the future. I have some super cute photos to share.
What would you like to have next year that you lacked in this one?
Mental peace. I stress a lot about things that are out of my control. It would be good not to do that but who am I kidding. Counsellors in the past have suggested that exercise is the best way to boost mental health so I'm going to give that a go. Will start running again soon when things settle down.
What events from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- Graduating with my Masters of Teaching (Primary) - it was a lot of effort to do (road trip to Bathurst with a sleep deprived, thus cranky, toddler) but worth it. Symbolic ends are important.
- Family Trip to Byron Bay - beach holidays are fun once again!
- Blackmores Running Festival - proved I can run(ish) 9km. I'm hoping to take part again this year.
- Evie's 1st birthday - our little girl turned one with a rainbow themed party (which was actually quite small and understated considering I was involved. Jess didn't go overboard, yay!)
- Family trip to Port Douglas - you can do fun travel stuff even when you have a kid.
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Surprisingly mundane things. I was often surprised when I'd get super excited about boring things. Having a toddler has changed my perspective of what constitutes a great day out. It used to require mini-breaks abroad and now I'm just happy with a day out in the sunshine with friends.
What song will always remind you of this year?
Most of my music this year is Evie related. I can find a children's song to fit any situation and often burst into song at home. Sometimes in public... oops! Yes, I'm one of those mothers.
The songs from Adele's 21 will always remind me of this year. I believe that Adele's soulful tones help Evie go to sleep so we often put the album on when we want Evie to nap in the car. We may have listened to the album a few times in 2012.
What was your favourite TV program?
Hrm... I watch a lot of TV so it's hard to pick just one. I'd have to say Downton Abbey. My favourite character is Lady Grantham played by Maggie Smith. She has some fantastically droll one liners that have me cackling with delight. I zipped through the first season in a week so had to ration myself for the second. Haven't dipped into season three yet but hopefully it keeps its form.
What was the best book you read?
All That I Am by Anna Funder. I'm surprised that they keep finding new stories to tell about World War II. This was beautifully written and paced. I have a bad habit of flicking to the end to see what happens. I didn't skip to the end on this one at all even though I was tempted (granted that's much harder to do on a Kindle). It's my mark of a good book.
Synopsis from Amazon: When Hitler comes to power in 1933, a tight-knit group of friends and lovers become hunted outlaws overnight. United in their resistance to the madness and tyranny of Nazism, they flee the country. Dora, passionate and fearless; her lover, the great playwright Ernst Toller; her younger cousin Ruth and Ruth's husband Hans find refuge in London. Here they take awe-inspiring risks in order to continue their work in secret. But England is not the safe-haven they think it is, and a single, chilling act of betrayal will tear them apart. Some seventy years later, Ruth is living out her days in Sydney, making an uneasy peace with the ghosts of her past, and a part of history that has all but been forgotten.
What was your favorite film of this year?
The Avengers. Love, love, LOVED IT! It was the perfect combination of action, witty one liners, cheese and eye candy.
Special mention goes to Pitch Perfect which was I completely surprised by. It was almost written for me. It has singing and dancing numbers, 80s references and some very funny moments. I hate the vomiting scenes though. I blame The Hangover. I feel like producers think they need to include vulgarity in a movie these days to make it successful. I'll be happy when this phase is over.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
ugh.... 35. I'm not loving this whole getting older thing so this year I didn't celebrate a birthday. Instead I declared August 10th International Be Nice to Jess Day. It's a theme I'll be running with for a while I think.
We just did the usual shindig at Pyrmont and I baked a neapolitan cake.
What kept you sane?
The company of friends. I love my daughter very much but the mundanity of routine can sometimes get you down. It makes such a difference to have someone to talk to while you're toddler wrangling at the park. Thanks girlies!
Check out the yearly summary from previous years here.
14th Jan 2013, 21:55
tags: summary
year_review
summary12
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As I previously mentioned my blogging / photography project last year was Project 366. It involved taking a photo every day of 2012. It was pretty hard and I must admit there were a few days where I was scrambling to find a subject for the day's photo (or sometimes frantically searching through my photostream the day after to find a photo to use... oops!)
I do miss it now though. Often I catch myself thinking that I should take a photo of something to use as the day's photo. It definitely got me in the habit of taking more photos (like we need help with that!). I also like how it captured a year of Evie's life. At the beginning of the year Evie was a baby who had just mastered sitting. By the end of the year Evie is a toddler who is running, jumping and speaking. So many changes in just the space of 12 months.
I want to post the photos from the year on Fushmush but I figured that all 366 at once might be a bit too much to deal with. I'm going to post a couple of months at a time.
January
February
More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.
9th Jan 2013, 21:41
tags: p366
photography
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I set myself the goal this Christmas of making something handmade for each child. You know what? I think I might have actually managed to do it. Yay me! The most ambitious of the projects was Leo's quilt.
When Audrey was born I made her a small quilted playmat. Surprisingly, the person who loved it the most was probably Leo. He "borrowed" it quite a bit. He used it to cover him while he lay on the lounge watching tele. Of course, because it was a quilt for a newborn it barely covered his legs. So I filed away "quilt for Leo" as a present idea for the future. I finally had the time to make one for Leo this Christmas.
Originally it was going to be a simple charm square quilt. But then I got slightly obsessed with triangle quilts on Pinterest. I found a great tutorial from supposecreatedelight.com which explained how to easily make a triangle quilt so figured I'd give it a go.
Officially it's a "lap quilt" which means it's big enough to snuggle up with on the couch but not big enough to cover a single bed. I picked a colour combination of teal, grey, cream with accents of orange rather than a children's print. I knew that Annie would want something simple and elegant (and she is on a bit of an orange kick at the moment). I also wanted to make a quilt that might last Leo into his teenage years.
The quilt is backed in a grey polka dot print and has an accent row which echoes the colours on the front. I quilted it in straight vertical lines. I also quilted Leo's initials - LMRB - in the bottom right hand corner. When I finished this part, the very last bit, the night before our Christmas gathering Andrew asked "Isn't it Leo Ronald Michael?" Cue some furious swearing and quick texting to Annie to double check. Luckily I was right otherwise there would have also been some furious unpicking.
It's by no means the best quilt in the world. If you ever see it in person don't look too closely to see if the triangle points match up (I'd say more points don't meet than do... oops!). And let's not talk about the back and why it needed the accent piece. But I'm pretty impressed with my first real quilting efforts. I love the colour combination and the pattern. When I gave it to Leo, Oscar seemed a little disappointed he didn't get one. I think I see another quilt in my future.
See more of my handmade creations (slideshow) on Flickr.
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Each year I try to attempt some kind of blog / photography project. I like having a blogging goal and something other than recent events to write about. Also, if I manage to complete the project successfully I get a lovely, squishy feeling of accomplishment.
Last year, I attempted Project 366 which involved taking a photo every day of the year. I was pretty good at blogging the photos earlier on in the year but got a bit lax by the end. I do have 366 photos in my set so I count the project as a success. I'll be blogging a recap of the project soon(ish).
In 2010, I set myself the goal of blogging about one of our past travels once a week. I called it my Travel Pensieve as it was a way of getting the memories out of my head and recorded on fushmush. Unfortunately, I only lasted 16 weeks. I'm a bit disappointed about this as I still have heaps of travel photos that I want to publish. I think I might try to continue this project on an adhoc basis with no conditions.
Then there was the project that started it all. In 2009, each week at a nominated time, Sue and I would take a photo that best represented our lives at that moment. We posted these photos next to each other on our blogs. It was London vs Sydney, days vs nights, winter vs summer. We called it Half a World Away - Days vs Nights.
The Half a World Away project has been my favourite so far. I usually blog about special events so I like how it captured everyday life in 2009. I liked it so much that I decided to replicate it this year. This time I approached my friend Tash, of Jouljet fame, to be my project partner. Tash lives in Melbourne and has some exciting travels planned for this year. I spend a lot of time in parks. I figured our photos will provide some interesting contrasts. I pitched it as "boring housewife v dynamic globetrotter". Tash blogs over at Jouljet so make sure you check out her day too. She will probably be more punctual with her entries than I am.
Sydney / Melbourne: Thursday morning
"I love the Christmas season and all the fun it brings so I'm usually a little down as we start the year. I have about 6 loads of laundry to do as well which serves to further emphasise the fact that the holiday is over *sad face*. "
Check out Tash's day at jouljet.
4th Jan 2013, 21:50
tags: project52
project5213
photography
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