a very different new year

Happy New Year! I hope 2016 has been treating you kindly so far.

In the two months since I last blogged I’ve wrapped up my office job as well as my photography business, closed my Etsy shop until spring, packed up our apartment, stripped our new house of all wallpaper and supervised the rest of the renovations, moved us and the cats to our new home the weekend before Christmas, celebrated Christmas and New Year’s and finished most of the decorating in our house. Phew.

On our new home

To say it’s been a lot would be an understatement but even though it has been an exhausting few months it was so worth it. The house is nearly done apart from a few minor details and is starting to really feel like home. Next up on the agenda are pictures on the walls and finishing baby’s room.

With the little one due in just a few weeks I have been more anxious than usual to get everything done in time. With a newborn I expect we’ll have neither time nor motivation to tie up lose ends in every room. J has been working tirelessly for weeks now, first renovating then putting together the entire kitchen by himself and then putting up light fixtures and shelves and mirrors and a million small things. Going back to work today must feel like a holiday to him, poor guy.

The cats have settled in quite well even though it took Finn nearly two weeks to figure out the stairs – after camping out in our bedroom for ten days he was amazed to discover this house has a basement, a ground floor and an attic studio too!

On new year’s resolutions

2016 will be a completely different year than any other time in my life so far. In the last few years I’ve been working a full time job plus building up a business and shop on the side in the wee hours of the morning and on weekends. In 2016 I will be on maternity and parental leave for the whole year (yay German maternity laws). Though saying goodbye to my office job for over a year was hard (I really do have the best co-workers and will miss them awfully) I’m now very much looking forward to spending a few quiet weeks at home preparing for the little one’s arrival. We did a Hypnobirthing course way back in October in preparation for the birth and it’s high time I started practising regularly to ensure I can use the techniques when I go into labour.

My goals for 2016 are simple. I want to take it slow, live in the moment and soak up the whole experience of becoming a mother. Being mindful, spending time in nature and finding a rhythm to our new life will be the priority. Documenting this and picking up the camera to capture our everyday life will be my creative challenge for the year. I adore Jodi’s blog and 52 series and hope to create a similar reminder of childhood for my baby.

On the last few weeks of pregnancy

It’s still hard to imagine myself as a mom, but I trust everything will fall into place and there’ll be a lot of ‘learning by doing’. I’m most scared of the sleep deprivation that is inevitably around the corner. I just don’t function at all on little sleep. Even now at 33 weeks I still manage to get a good 10 or 11 hours in at night.

I know a lot of women have a hard time being pregnant but I can honestly say I’m one of the lucky ones. Sure, I have a few annoying symptoms (mainly exhaustion and lots of dizziness these days) but on the whole this pregnancy has been very kind on my body! The chronic back pain I’ve been struggling with for years has gone (thank you pregnancy hormones for softening up those joints and muscles in the hip and lower back), I’ve had hardly any nausea or other discomforts and I can even eat lots of dairy products again which I’ve had to avoid in the last few years.

For all you ladies out there suffering through less enjoyable pregnancies – I really feel for you and trust me, I know all too well what it’s like to be in pain and to feel like crap every single day. Hang in there!

Any pregnancy / delivery advice or new year’s resolutions you’d like to share?

 

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happy new year!

I’m wishing you all a wonderful start into 2014.

On the whole, 2013 was a good year for me. I opened my Etsy Shop and learned a ton about having an online business. I was lucky to do some lovely client photoshoots. I also got to travel a bit which always keeps me happy and refills my batteries like nothing else.

The year has gone by so fast that I can hardly believe it’s time for New Year’s Resolutions again! If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know I’m a big believer in making resolutions. Some of last year’s resolutions worked out quite well and I’m proud of that. Writing them down and thinking about practical ways to achieve each resolution is a big step to accomplishing them.

For 2014 I want to keep my resolutions simple:

• healthy eating and living. On the list every year, but I feel I really made some progress here in 2013. I will be sharing this in more detail in its own post but my goal for 2014 is to keep on track. This includes a. healthy eating (meaning essentially less sugar, carbs and grains and more vegetables and fruits), b. drinking lots of water and c. regular exercise (daily yoga and walking plus horseriding and weekly yoga class).
• do my thing and stop comparing myself to others. Knowing your competition is good but especially in photography it can be numbing to see all the talent out there and feel inadequate in comparison. I am happiest when I’m in my creative bubble, doing work I am passionate about and this year I want to remind myself that while drawing inspiration from other artists is great, it is equally important to deliberately step away and immerse yourself in your own creative world. I’m looking at you, Pinterest.
  This year I want to do more work I feel intensely passionate about as this is the work that pushes me in the right direction and makes me really happy.
• less internet time and distraction. this really goes hand in hand with #2. I love the internet but we all know it’s a time sucker like nothing else. Carefully managing and restricting my internet time is a must to make room for working efficiently and having time for creativity.
• get out more. Being in new places and surrounded by nature is intensely satisfying and inspiring for me. In 2014 I want to plan two weekend breaks to just get away for a change of air in between.
• blog more. I love this little space and I feel I haven’t spent enough time here lately. I’ll also be doing an overhaul on my photo blog but redefining this personal space here is important to me.
• grow my business. Obviously 😉 This year I want to focus on what really matters to me and inspires me and I’m so looking forward to it!

Ahem, forget keeping it simple. Once I start writing I usually can’t stop. The boyfriend asked me yesterday what my resolutions are and I replied ‘It’s still a bit vague in my head, but ask me again tomorrow. Once I’ve written about it I’ll know.’ That’s just one of the things I love about blogging…I get to know myself so much better by writing about stuff!

One more thing: The start of a new year is always a good time to listen to this wonderful and inspirational speech by Neil Gaiman. If you don’t know it yet, treat yourself to 20 minutes and listen to it. Actually, even if you do know it, treat yourself and watch it again. I’ll wait here.

Feeling inspired? New Year’s day is a great day to ask yourself ‘What is my mountain? Did the things I did last year take me nearer to or further away from my mountain?’
For me I can say I am moving in the right direction. The way is not always clear but it gets clearer the further I get along.

Thank you for reading and sharing this little corner of the internet with me!

happy new year!

Here’s to a wonderful 2011!

We’re having a foggy start to the new year here, but the signs are pointing to sunny skies I do believe 🙂

I already did some reflection on the year in my birthday post in September, so I’ll try to keep this sweet and short.
For 2010 my new year’s resolutions were:
1. embracing the changes that are to come
2. be more deserving of the great life I have and the wonderful family and friends (both national and international, both human and furry) that fill it
3. be more patient and less grumpy

Number 1, I definitely think I’ve done that. Sadly, most of the changes weren’t what I’d hoped they’d be: My dad had a heart attack and underwent surgery repeatedly throughout the year. My first job turned out to be really crappy. I didn’t get as far with my photography as I would have liked to.
Come to think of it though, out of all that bad stuff came pretty good stuff: My dad, though not perfectly well again, is finally taking it down a notch, working less, smoking way less, and getting there.
Practically hitting a wall with my first job made me more sure of myself, of who I am and who I am not and now my second job is so much better and so much more fun and I can appreciate it more than if I would have without the crappy experience first.
As for photography, I’ve got my goals but I think I’ll be taking it more slowly next year and see what happens.
Number 2, I don’t know if I am more deserving, but I am definitely even more thankful and grateful. Nobody could be richer in kind and supportive family and friends than I am and I am reminded of that every day.
Number 3, big fail on that one. I feel I got more impatient and grumpier, not good. That one stays on the list for 2011.

New resolutions for 2011:
::: Eat healthier and more local, which will include growing as much stuff as possible ourselves
::: Educate myself further in photography, gardening and sustainable living
::: Simplify and declutter. A big revelation this year was that less is more in consuming. Less stuff = more happiness. The realization came easy, living by it is going to be harder.