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27
Dec
2018

2018 goals – end of the year

I missed my 9 month check in and now here we are almost at the end of the year.

One of the reasons that I haven’t managed to update here is that this has turned into one of the most productive and fulfilling years of my life. A lot of things that I’ve been working towards in the background for years have come to fruition. The most recent one of these (that has yet to be mentioned on here) is that I applied for and was offered a new job which I started at the beginning of October.

If I look back on my goals from January, I didn’t actually expect to get a new job this year but I was hoping to put some stuff in place to get me some of the way there. I actually found my plan in my passion planner where I had listed getting a job at the level I have as a goal for 3 years time (so January 2021), so it feels very good to have got there over 2 years ahead of schedule.

Since my last update I’ve had a holiday in Copenhagen with J and also had a few nights away in Liverpool with my Mum. Both of which were really fun trips and gave me a chance to soak up a new city and feel inspired.

I took part in Inktober for the first time and although I didn’t draw every day, I did manage to do most of them and really enjoyed sharing some of my sketches with friends on twitter.

I’ve also started accessing therapy for a long term issue that has been impacting on my life. It’s been a long time coming and it isn’t going to easy but I’m so grateful I have been given the opportunity.

Here’s my full list for this year, with notes on how I got on…

Creative
Make at least 1 zine – I didn’t manage this.
Complete my sashiko placemats (2) – oops! also didn’t do this.
Record 1 second everyday video – everyday! It will be fun to look back at 365 seconds of video at the end of the year – yup! I have pretty much stuck to this. There are a few days that I missed but overall this is done (I’ll post in another entry)
Carry on with my drum lessons and organised at least 1 jam session with friends – I didn’t have a jam session but I have carried on with my lessons and I got to play with my teacher while he played guitar
Do at least 1 workshop where I learn a new skill (creative or practical or both) – yup! I went on an embroidery workshop with my Mum

Home
Move house to our own place – done! so happy about this one. We ended up with a place far beyond what I was hoping for in terms of how it looks and the location.
Create my ideal study with space for all my things as well as to work and create in – this is in progress but I am mostly there. I have all the furniture I need, I just need to declutter some stuff and frame some more art work.
Host some gatherings with friends – done! really enjoyed having various people over to hang out at the new house.

Travel
Go abroad somewhere (Copenhagen or Japan?) – went to Copenhagen with J and really enjoyed it. We also managed to have a day trip to Malmo as well.
Alpaca walking trip with my Mum – didn’t manage this one but I did go on a short holiday with her which meant we still had some quality time together.
Make plans to visit friends in the UK at least 3 times – I don’t think I managed this one. I saw friends in London twice I think and also visited Manchester but it was usually for gigs or other events.

Work
Sign up for the mentoring scheme at work – I did this! I have a mentor as part of my new role
Keep a record of small and large achievements I have had so I can record these on my annual review when it is time to do so – I’ve also been doing this

Miscellaneous
Read 100 books (including at least 10 from the library and 10 I owned prior to 2018) I read over 100 books and I know at least 10 were from the library but I’m not 100% about 10 being from my list prior to this year.

Some of my favourites were –

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Elefant by Martinn Suter
I capture the castle by Dodie Smith
The rules of seeing by Joe Heap
The Lido by Libby Page
Puddin’ by Julie Murphy
The summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding
Things are what you make of them – Adam J Kurtz
I was born for this by Alice Oseman
Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
Woman by Chloe Caldwell
The exact opposite of okay by Laura Steven
Juliet takes a breathe by Gabby Rivera
The travelling cat chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
The raw shark texts by Steve Hall
Radio silence by Alice Oseman

Watch 12 (new to me) films – done!

My favouurites were –
Dumplin’
Nannette (does this count as a film?)
Shirkers
Alex Strangelove
Sierra Burgess is a loser
Love Simon
Big Hero 6
Your Name
The Big Sick

My 2019 goals will be to follow over the next few days

02
Jul
2018

2018 goals – the halfway point

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Oh wow. This year is getting away from me! I can’t believe I’m here at the halfway point already. So what have I been up to? I’m going to look at how I am getting on with the goals I sent myself back in January.

I’ve been playing around with some new crafts over the last few months – embroidery, shuttle tatting and zentangle. I went to an embroidery workshop at the Herbert Art Gallery so I’m checking that one off of my list.

I’m still having drum lessons and I’m really enjoying that. I’m working on learning to play Chekkov’s Hangnail by Martha. I also got my very own snare drum for my birthday so I’m one part closer to getting a kit to practice on!

So far I’ve read 67 books and watched 8 films. I was going to recap what my favorites are but I think I’ll leave that till the end of the year. Reading wise, I’ve already hit my goal of reading at least 10 books from the library so my next focus is on reading some of the books I’ve had unread on my physical or virtual bookshelves before this year started.

In all honesty, not much decluttering has happened over the last 3 months and we’ve brought some things for the new place but I’m ok with that. I think once it gets less hot, I’ll be ready to dig back into the decluttering again. My Mum visited at the end of May and planted some flowers and herbs for us and also gave us 3 tomato plants

We still need to buy garden furniture and some astroturf for the bare patch where the previous owner had putting practice putting hole but it’s looking pretty nice out there. I’ve been really enjoying having people to visit and being able to cook and entertain without feeling stressed out like I did in the old place.

Work-wise I haven’t yet signed up for the mentoring scheme but I have been reaching out to a lot of different people on a more casual basis to ask for their advice on different aspects of my career and progression. It’s out of my comfort zone in a lot of way but I’ve also been really touched by how willing people seem to be to help. I am aiming to finish my Microsoft certification by the end of the month so I can then decide what to focus on next.

I’m being fairly social over the next few weeks – off to London to see Fun Home at the Young Vic which I am very much looking forward to. It was over a year ago I booked the tickets so it feels like it has been a long time coming. I’m off on holiday to Copenhagen in September but I’ve also booked some other time off of work and can hopefully fit some UK adventures in too.

As for my word of the year – Resilience – that’s a work in progress. I just went through a fairly hard few months emotionally and I felt like my moods were all over the place. I don’t think I always managed to be the most resilient person in facing some of those issues either which is frustrating. That said, I’m starting to realise that I always need to start from the ground up and make sure my very basics are being met such as getting enough sleep, taking my meds and drinking water. Since moving house, I feel like I am in much better routines with all of these type of things so hopefully I’m building myself a stronger foundation and now I just need to look at what needs work next.

and on that note…

be strong, be resilient, be young, be fucking brilliant
– Grace Petrie

02
Apr
2018

2018 goals – 3 months in

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I can’t believe March is over – which means it’s time for me to reflect on how my goals for 2018 are going.

The big news is – WE BROUGHT A HOUSE! It finally happened. We moved at the end of February (yes, in that week with all of the snow) I love our new place – it has a few teething issues but overall I couldn’t be happier. It’s a little closer to town than where we lived before and in a much quieter area. We’ve been living here for just over a month now and it just feels right.

I did a lot of de-cluttering both in the run up to the move and while packing but I still have a lot more to go. In total, I’ve got rid of over 1,500 things since the start of this year which is a huge improvement on last year. The more I get rid of, the easier I find it to let go and the easier it is to see what I actually want to keep and why.

My Mum came to visit last weekend and we did a workshop on embroidery at the Herbert Art Gallery. You can see a little glimpse of what I did in my March 1 second everyday video. I’ve been working on setting out my new office and it’s really helping me to feel more inclined to create.

I’ve watched 4 films so far and read 32 books. I haven’t been so good at not buying more books tbh but that’s something for me to work on.

I’ve signed up for a new Microsoft course at work so that will be my focus over the next few months as it’s mainly self study (and we are about to enter another busy exam season)

I want to try and add more pictures to my blog posts so future ones wont just be big walls of text like this. Sorry!

08
Aug
2016

Coventry Skyride 2016 – or that time I got to cycle around the Coventry ringroad

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Yesterday I took part in the Coventry 2016 Skyride with my partner Joe and our friend Cait. Last year I happened to be meeting a friend in town on the day of the ride but I didn’t know much about it other than seeing lots of people wandering around in bright yellow cycling bibs.

We really lucked out in terms of weather – blue skies, hardly any cloud but a decent amount of breeze while riding. I still didn’t manage to drink enough water though which left me feeling pretty dehydrated.

The route started at Broadgate in Coventry which is right in the centre of the city. From there, it took us round by the cathedral and some of the Coventry university buildings before leading out of the city centre to Fargo village where we had to dismount and walk through before hopping back on to cruise back into town (via a diversion through one of the Coventry university buildings which was one of my favourite parts) and then TO THE RING ROAD!

I think the idea of getting to ride around the entire ring road without having to avoid cars or be choked with fumes was part of the draw to this ride for me. As someone who doesn’t drive, I rarely go on the ring road at all so this was a chance for me to really explore the views of the city from up high.

Motor vehicles were still allowed to drive clockwise around the road, but the anti-clockwise side was given over to bikes only from 11am-3pm. There was a sprint section where people could check out their timings but I just focused on enjoying riding on such a clear wide surface.

I don’t ride my bike very often so I was a little worried about getting round the course. In the end we rode around twice in total (although skipped the Fargo diversion the second time) I probably could have gone again but I was mindful that I needed to cycle/walk my bike home afterwards as well (and that that part of my journey started with a hill).

I haven’t ever been a fan of Sky and I think Rupert Murdoch is utter scum so I was a bit leery of attending an event that was so heavily “Sky” branded. Credit where credit is due though – the event was really well run, the signposting and marshalling were great. There were lots of other sponsors/partners too like Halfords (who pumped up both my slightly flat tyres for me before the ride) the local Council and British Cycling. I hope the council puts on some more things like this.

I liked how alternatives to different parts of the route were offered and it was great to see such a diverse crowd taking parts. There were lots of families with young kids riding, groups of teenagers, serious looking cyclist who zipped past me on the ring road with their proper gear and speedy bikes. I loved seeing so many different body sizes taking part too. I wasn’t made to feel too fat to ride or like it wasn’t an event that I wasn’t welcome at just because I wasn’t able to race around the course.

It is rumored to have been the last ride in Coventry of its kind but equally it may just be that it’s the last one under the current sponsorship. I’m really glad I did it because it showed me a different perspective of the city I’ve called home for almost 5 years. If it does happen again, I’ll be there!

21
Jul
2015

Tiny things Tuesday #25

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My life is quiet at the moment. I’m spending a lot of time resting, working on simple but satisfying craft projects and thinking about what I really want from life. I’m trying to learn what I really desire and crave in life rather than what I think I want or what I think will bring happiness.

I’m gearing up for Indietracks this weekend – I’m crossing my fingers for good weather.

Here’s this weeks list…

1. These vimto lollies taste of childhood summers. I’m not sure about the description of them as “water ice” but at 99p for 6 they are a lovely treat on a muggy summer evening.

2. The retro flower pattern on this washi tape makes my heart sing. It’s got all of the things I am enjoying at the moment – bright colours and retro patterns. It’s by mt who make some amazing washi tape.

3. On Friday I spent some time walking around the cathedral part of Coventry. I saw lots of friendly squirrels including this guy. I love how he looks like he is pointing to himself!

4. I’ve managed to keep the bedroom floor clear for a week so I celebrated by putting down this great rug I picked up a few months ago. I think I have been saving it for some so called perfect day some day in the future but I need to allow myself to use these things and enjoy them now. It will give me some good motivation when I get up each morning.

Till next time…