New Year's Resolutions

I know that we are almost in February but it's taken me all this time to work out what my New Years resolutions are. Every year I make elaborate plans for what I want to achieve in the year and I never ever stick to them.Last year I wrote about 5 pages in my journal full of plans to lead a healthier, greener, more organised life. I think I was setting unobtainable goals. So, this year I've decided to make it more simple. I've written a list of 12 things that I have to do at least once every week. All of the things will help me towards my bigger goals but in smaller, easier steps. This is a big year for me, I'm getting married, renovating a house and possibly helping to open a new school. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by all of this and that's why I need to keep to my little 'bitesized' weekly tasks. Here they are:

1. Write at least one blog post.

2. Try out one new activity / song / game at school.

3. Read for at least 1 hour.

4. Go for a walk.

5. Cook a new dish.

6. Spend at least 1 hour crafting.

7. Skype with family.

8. Go out for a drink.

9. Do housework (not the usual every day stuff but something that will make a difference to my flat such as cleaning out a cupboard or reorganising my wardrobe)

10. Visit the house we are renovating to check on progress

11. Have a long lie.

12. Treat myself. (only if I've completed all of the tasks for the week before)

My big projects of the house, wedding and school have whole other lists of things that need to be done every week. However, this list is about being more organised with my time and making sure I fit in all the things I enjoy doing such as going out for walks or reading. It's all too easy just to slump in front of the TV after a stressful day but that's what I want to avoid.

I hope that by writing this list on my blog it will push me into sticking to my resolutions this time!

(Sorry, I ran out of steam with the photos after number 4. I find it really difficult and time consuming to put photos in my post. They always go in at the start of the post, before the text and it's really difficult to move them round after that. Any tips?)

Loving Ladders

Since my post the other day I've come across even more book shelf pictures so thought I'd post a few of them. My library will definately require a cute little ladder like one of these, in fact I think ladders might even be added to my favourite things list along with hooks and baskets. The first picture is from Inside Out magazine and the second is from NZ House & Garden.

Inspiration for the Library

Here are a couple of pictures I've collected as inspiration for the 'library.' Matteo and I both love reading and between us we have a pretty large collection of books. I'd like to have a whole wall covered with book shelves like in the pictures below. The first one is from Melanie Acevedo and the second is from one of my favourite shops, Cabbages and Roses.

House update

Things are still going slowly with the house. We are currently getting all the paperwork together ready to submit our plans for planning permission. The house currently belongs to Matteo's aunt so before we can do anything we have to change the property into Matteo's name. This will involve a fairly hefty solicitor's fee and probably a hundred forms to sign and seal. I'm starting to get really frustrated not being able to do anything. I just want to get in there and get the work started but it will be a while yet before we get going. For now I'll have to content myself with planning what I'll do with each of the rooms.

These pictures are of the first room you enter into when you go through the front door. At the moment I'm calling it 'The Library'. It probably won't be used much as a living room because we'll have our main living space downstairs. It can't really be used as a bedroom because the front door enters into here. So, I want to use it as a place to store all of my books and as a work room come study. We'll also put a bed settee in there so it can be used as a spare room when we have visitors.

I really want to keep this fire place and put a wood burning stove in but it depends on what state the chimney is in. The little room in the corner will become a linen cupboard.

We will take this false ceiling out to expose the beams and make the ceiling much higher.

On this part of the floor you can see the old tiles which were replaced with a horrible tile in the 60s. I'm hoping that the original tiles may still be underneath.

I love the external staircase and the front door even if it is a bit awkward having the front door leading into the upstairs. We'll have a garden door downstairs which will probably be what we use most often.

Engagement Shoot

During the holidays our wedding photographer came to do our engagement shoot. I was really nervous about being in front of the camera but Craig, the photographer made me feel really relaxed and after a while I started to enjoy myself. We got some really great pictures, one of which we're going to use on our invitations. Now we just have to decide which one. At the moment the first one is my favourite. Many thanks to Craig from McBeth photography

Home.....

I'll finish off my holiday posts with these two pictures of my parent's house in the snow. No matter where I am this will always be the place I consider home. It is a magical place and this holiday has added to the many many special memories I have of home.

More snowy holiday pics

Happy New Year !

It's been such a hectic time during the festive period and I haven't had a chance to post anything for weeks. However, number one on my New Years Resolution list is to dedicate more time to my blog.

I've just got back from Scotland where I spent a magical 2 weeks on my parents farm. There was a lot of snow while we were there and it's still snowing now. We spent most of our time at home keeping cosy inside or having fun in the snow outside. We went sledging, built snowmen, had snowball fights. It was truly an idylic Christmas holiday. Here are some of the photos.