Today.

Today I wrote a to-do list for this week.  This to-do list included things like 'Buy some supplements for joints' and 'learn some good, core strengthening exercises'.  Alas, dear friends, I've suffered a mishap: as we English say, "I've done my back in!"

I blame my job (naturally) and the fact we were never told how to lift things properly (No, a poster with stickmen on it is NOT good enough, area manager!) and the fact that I'm on my feet all the time and things are heavy.  So I sit here now, dosed up on painkillers, a microwaved heat pad soothing the aches away, Google-ing sciatica because my back pain has transformed from just that to back-and-now-all-down-one-leg pain.

Sigh.

My blog has become, I think, my unofficial moan place, hasn't it.  That's really no good, is it.  Who wants to read about someone moaning all the time!  I've become -shock horror- one of those 'miserable bloggers'.  Ick.

I am, in my every day life, a very smiley happy person.  If you were to ask my friends how they'd describe me, they'd say optimistic, cheerful, smiling.  And I think it's a real shame I don't represent myself the same way online as I do in real life.  Sure, it's good to have a place to have a little vent and a moan every now and then.  But not -all- the freakin' time.  What a yawn-fest.

As I said in an earlier post, I've been doing some serious blog/business/future rethinking.  I want to start fresh and to really focus.  Properly focus.  Stop letting my 'real' job get in the way of planning my ideal future job.  Post pictures of smiles and happy memories and pretty things.  Moan occasionally.  Y'know, 'cause sometimes it's okay.  But be the happy person here that I genuinely am elsewhere.

Coheed and Cambria released their new album today.  I got it early as a digital download (I ordered the extra-spangly super special deluxe box set thingy but due to some quality issues it wasn't shipped yet -sad face-) and I've been listening to it on a loop.  Cue ridiculous fangirling.

Have a brilliant day.  Have a brilliant week.  And Claudio Sanchez, if you're reading this, you have the best voice -EVER-.

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The radio is playing nothing but Christmas songs, Santa has set up his grotto a little way down the street from our store and lights flicker and flash in every window!  Even though town is packed full of people and not all of them are especially festive (read: harassed mothers with children {Santa won't come if you don't behave!} and frustrated last-minute husbands and boyfriends) I absolutely love this last week before Christmas!  Most people are happy and smiling, everyone is busy and the spirit of the holidays is flowing in abundance!

I've always loved Christmas and everything it stands for; spending precious time with family, getting in touch with people you've not seen or heard from in a while, the thought that goes into every carefully bought and wrapped gift and every lovingly signed card...It boggles my mind that there are people who really don't like Christmas!  All the bah humbugs and 'I can't wait for Christmas to be over!' really puzzle me; everything looks beautiful, people are happy, families come together and the public do generous, wonderful things for those who are less fortunate!  It's a really awesome time simply to celebrate those we love and cherish and to have a jolly good time doing so!

This is my *all time* favourite Christmas song; I hear it on the radio and start bopping away, singing all the words and getting that 'Ooh, it's nearly Christmas! *squee!*' feeling in my heart!  I hope when you watch this you'll feel some festive cheer bursting inside you too!

I hope you're all having a swell week so far!  I've been doing a lot of crocheting (gifts for people, woot!), wrapping gifts (not really my forté but I love doing it!) and getting super excited for Sunday!  This week is going to be a busy one, so I'm hoping I get time to post some pictures of what I've been making and the awesome cakes I'm going to bake for our Christmas Eve family celebration!  Take care this week, be happy and thank you for reading!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

Art Journalling

I took a week off from Monday Must Haves this week because I had a bit of a realisation; it's one thing to look at all these lovely things I wish I had and what I'd do or create if I had them, but I'm not *actually* doing anything creative!  I tend to get waylaid with work and family time and chatting with my boy and any creative endeavours get pushed to one side because I'm too busy/tired/lazy/all of the above.  So I figured this week I'd kick my butt into gear and start my very first art journal!

I've read a lot about art journals and methods of journalling over the last few weeks and have seen some incredible creative works that have truly inspired me to have a go on my own.

I had a blank Moleskine journal (a birthday gift from a colleague!) which I thought would be perfect for my project and got as far as opening the first page when I got stuck; I couldn't get inspired just sitting there, looking at that blank page.  So I looked for some journal prompts online and just couldn't get excited about them.  Feeling a little frustrated, I did what I always do in times of creative need - put on my headphones, turned on my favourite songs and relaxed!

For years, Coheed and Cambria have been my favourite band (and they always, *always* will be - check them out here) and one of the reasons for this is because their music is so creative; their five concept albums span four volumes of a story called The Amory Wars, each individual song painting detailed pictures of characters, events and a plot so intricate and interesting they also released a series of comics and a novel to explain it all!  Whenever I listen to Coheed and Cambria, it's like I'm watching a movie through music, each song sets a scene, gives characters life and moves the story along.

Coheed's music will always inspire me; I listen to it while I draw, write, make cards, crochet, whenever I'm being creative.  It picks me up and keeps me going when I'm feeling down and never fails to make me even happier when I'm in a good mood!  With that in mind, I've given myself a creative challenge with an inspiration that will never fail me; I'm going to create one journal page for each of Coheed and Cambria's songs in chronological order!  Excited!

I've already started my project (being fortunate to have *THREE* days off in a row this week!!!) by completing my first page;

'One' from Year Of The Black Rainbow

{Excuse the crappy webcam picture and the not-yet-dry glue!}

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!  I wanted something very simplistic, with bright, bold colours that were shrouded and misty and a proud black rainbow shape to signify the title of the album.  It was great fun to sit and do and it really got me back into a creative mood - I've got so many ideas buzzing around for the next song!

I hope your week has started off well and you've got some lovely things planned!  I'm looking forward to tomorrow off, talking to my boy, working more on my art journal and *hopefully* getting S's application started for his move to England!  It's been a long time coming (after waiting for a bank statement that just.didn't.want.to.arrive) so we're both very excited - after all, he could be here by the end of November!  YAY!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

My New Favourite Website

Rainymood

Put your headphones on, turn the volume up loud, close your eyes and relax.

Rain really does make everything better.

Ooh, and it's especially good if you listen to it with this:

Cowboy Bebop - Space Lion

Has anyone seen any Cowboy Bebop?  It's really, really good (^_^)

Hope you're all having a swell Wednesday!  Halfway to the weekend (and I still *might* have a three-day weekend off!  Woohoo!)

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

I've Been Tagged!

The lovely Angie over at Lariats and Lavender tagged me to do a fun getting-to-know-you post so here goes!

#1 - Do You Think You're Hot?

No, not really *chuckles* I wouldn't say I was hot but I'm not exactly hideous either.  I have my good days and my bad days, times when I think 'hey, everything looks pretty good today' and times when I don't want to face the outside world.  All I know is, S thinks I'm gorgeous and that makes me feel pretty (^_^)

#2 - Upload A Picture Or Wallpaper You're Using At The Moment

This is a picture I took when I was over in the States and S took me to Central Park.  It was a gorgeous day, we'd just had a scrumptious lunch and it was the perfect time to lay down on the grass and take it easy.  We snuggled up together, along with so many other couples and families in the park and I just loved the way the light looked coming through the trees so I snapped a little reminder of our lovely day!

#3 - When Was The Last Time You Ate Chicken?

That would be Sunday!  My Dad cooks an amazing roast dinner every Sunday, with roast potatoes, a mountain of veggies and deliciously succulent meat!  It varies from week to week what meat we have but it's usually chicken with sage and onion stuffing and it's epic good!  It's really important to us as a family that we sit down together and eat our meals round the table and that's something I'd love to continue with my own family.

#4 - The Song(s) You Listened To Recently

♥ The Essential Collection by Hall and Oates - I love 80s music and this duo are amazingly good - I'm currently loving 'Method of Modern Love', go listen!

♥ The two Three Days Grace albums I own (Three Days Grace and One X) - I'm a little bit on love with the lead singer, he has an incredible voice and is rather easy on the eyes too!

♥ 'Hey, Soul Sister' by Train - this song is always on my playlist, it reminds me of all the times me and S have spent together (^_^)

#5 - What Were You Thinking When You Were Doing This?

I'd best go get my coffee soon or it'll go cold

Wow, that music video is awesomely 80s!

Must groom Gizmo and get all that junk out of her fur

I'm so pleased I don't have to go to work today, woo!

#6 - Do You Have Nicknames?  What Are They?

My one nickname is Ace (^_^) S calls me it; in fact, the very first time we ever spoke he decided that was my nickname.  When I asked him why, he said 'Because I think you're ace' (cue mushy aww sounds!) and it's stuck!  It's the only proper nickname I've ever had and I love it (^_^) I'm even going to get a tattoo with 'A' and 'S' entwined for me and my boy!  Excited!

Thanks for stopping by and reading and thank you again Angie for tagging me for this post!  Hope you're all having an awesome day!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

Music To My Ears!

Whilst under the stairs, digging through my worldly possessions and searching for my Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert DVD *pause for breath* I found my Kennedy Soundtrack CD.  They're hard to describe sound-wise, a mixture of rock, rap and a whole heap of other things.  They've since disappeared into the ether (seriously, they don't even have a Wikipedia page!) but they were a big part of my musical youth.  I haven't listened to this CD in years and wow, did it take me back!  I got it back in 2002 (cripes!) and on hearing the songs was immediately zoomed back to my young teen days, when I was just discovering new styles of music and developing my own identity.  I immediately went about scouring my CD collection for other albums long forgotten.

 Linkin Park, Nickleback, 36 Crazyfists, American Headcharge and Maroon 5 all surfaced, leaving me in a gloriously nostalgic musical wave of awesome!  It was incredible, the memories stirred just by listening to some of the songs.  Most were happy and some were tinged with sadness, but all of them I cherish.

Music has been such a huge part of my life for so many years; I grew up in a house full of music of all different styles which has kept my ears open to develop an eclectic musical taste.  I'm always on the look out for new music but there's nothing like a taste of my teenage days to perk me up.  It was a real treat to find that CD and take a trip down memory lane today!

I finished 'The Day Of The Triffids' today, an exceptional novel by John Wyndham.  If any of you have seen the film which was made in the 1960s, it's nothing like that!  It's a battle for survival, not just against a bunch of genetically modified human-killing-and-eating plants that can uproot and walk around (if that isn't enough) but in a world where the majority are blind and life as it has always been ceases.  It's wonderfully tense and exciting at times, but also contemplative and insightful into the nature of human beings.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be reading it again!  That's 3 down, 17 more to go this year (^_^)

I'm taking Gizmo to have her stitches out tomorrow (yay, no more sad cone cat!) and then I'll be going to see my Nan, who is the person who got me interested in card making and general crafting.  I'm excited to talk to her about my ideas for a business and the way I'm using the things she once taught me to create a better future for myself.  I'm still in the process of designing the bookmarks for B but I've started sewing the one for my boy and I am mighty pleased with the results so far.  I love that I'm feeling so inspired and ready to create lately, I have so many things I want to learn and so much to look forward to.  I hope everyone is having an inspired, awesome Wednesday (^_^)

Up, Down & Forwards

I listened to a lot of Hoobastank today (particularly this song and this song) which cheered me up after a rather "confrontational" few hours (Note To Self - Living with parents after the age of 18 is not, I repeat, *not* a good idea) I danced around in the kitchen while I did a few chores, cleared my head and felt my spirits lift so I could focus on more creative and all-round cheerful things.

I sketched out an idea for my boy's bookmark (I can't disclose details since he reads my blog - Hi! *love*) and planned out a few details for the bookmarks I'm making for my best friend, B.  So far, we've collaborated and he wants black and gold for one (with complementary sequins) and green with a flower motif for the other.  On reflection, both of these designs seem pretty girly.  What can I say, he's just awesome (and manly) enough to pull off sparkles and petals (^_^)

Indie Business got started today *yay!* It feels really awesome to be taking this course and being more actively involved in my future.  The topic today really got me thinking hard, not only about my potential business but also about myself.
For a long time, I held the firm belief that I'd go through life on my own; I'd never get married, never have children and I'd spend my days lecturing on Renaissance literature and swanning off around the globe whenever the fancy took me.  Carefree, selfish, independent.  I wasn't prepared to sacrifice my wants and goals for anyone - I didn't want to be tied down.  When I met S, he was the same.  Neither of us thought we'd find someone we could live out our lives with, someone we could really love.  We'd both been in relationships before but we'd never had *that* feeling.  And we didn't expect it to ever happen.  Slowly (extremely slowly in my case!) we came to realise that we made a really good team and discovered that we felt the same way about each other; we'd found the one person we wanted to be with forever.
This revelation sent the rest of my world into a spin; I was going to get married someday.  I might even have *children*.  For so long I'd had one idea, on goal and now everything was different.  I felt lost.  Happy, in love, but lost.
Today, I actually realised that I don't need to have only *one* idea or *one* goal.  I can have loads of goals, loads of ideas and loads of fun!  I can be a wife *and* a mother *and* a business owner *and* anything else I want to be.  And most importantly, I get to share the journey with the most amazing man I've ever known.  I guess it really pays to be a little less narrow-minded and to fully embrace things that are scary, new and potentially life-changing, exciting opportunities (^_^) Moving forwards is awesome!

Music Is What Feelings Sound Like

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Music is a huge part of my life.  I know I'm not alone in this *grins* I'm never without my music; whether I'm outside walking, inside working or even talking on Skype with my boy, I always have music playing.  I love all different kinds, from heavy metal to classical, pop to rock and all those different genres in-between.  It just depends on my mood.  My two favourite genres would have to be heavy/prog rock (Coheed and Cambria...You rule my world) and 80s pop music.  C'mon, 80s pop is awesome.  Look past the day-glo, lurid make up and curly perms *shudder* The 80s was freakin' awesome for music.

Music helps me concentrate.  It inspires me.  It blocks out distractions and keeps me focussed, which helps when I don't have my own space to work in.  My MP3 player, Chuck, has seen me through long journeys, 4000 word essays  and now he helps me work on my crafting.  I would be lost without him.  Most of the time I put him on shuffle (<-- best invention *ever*) and just let the music roll.  But I do have a few favourites for particularly emotional times.

When I'm super, super happy, nothing gets me up and dancing like 'Burning Down The House' by Talking Heads, 'We Close Our Eyes' by Go West or 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie.  Not to mention the awesome cheesiness of Abba's 'Head Over Heels' (it's not one of their most popular ones but go listen, it's seriously good).  Whenever I hear anything by Coheed and Cambria it brings a smile to my face (they really do rock my socks) and then, of course, there's 'Hey, Soul Sister' by Train, which just so happens to be "our song", which makes me grin like a crazy person and think about my wonderful boy.

Then there are those times when I'm feeling a bit miserable or annoyed at something, so I get some Disturbed or Three Days Grace going, something I know is going to fire me up, get me motivated to get rid of my negativity.  Something I can sing along to, loudly, is always good too, like 'Shout' by Tears for Fears or pretty much anything Lady Gaga has done (I never thought I'd like her and I totally resisted for ages but wow, she's awesome...Huge girl crush on the Gaga)

I rarely use the word 'fabulous' to describe people but...Gaga is fabulous
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I'm still working on my postcard to Kyla @ Freckled Nest - I decided to do something a little bit different, it's my first experiment with paper, buttons and sewing.  I'll post some pictures tomorrow! I'm  looking forward to sending it, Kyla has been a big inspiration to me on my creative journey (^_^)

So tell me - what kind of music do you like?  What inspires you?  What lifts you up when you're down and makes you want to crazy dance when you're happy? 

Have an awesome Saturday!