18 for 2018 – June update

Happy Monday and welcome to July!

I feel like I repeat this every month but where did the time go? I feel like the time is just going way too fast, and half the year is already gone. I have tackled a few big goals this month though and I am very pleased about that!

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

I feel like I’m failing miserably at this goal! But I have been keeping in touch with people more by text and Facebook so not all is lost. 

17 new recipes tried – 15/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

Three more recipes this month, I’ve been busy in the kitchen! I’ve made plain scones for the first time and then the Bake along made me try another recipe for sweet scones this time (and yes I am counting both as new recipes!). My best friend also sent me a recipe for oats biscuits and they were great!

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

No new unit this month but I did take a picture for last month’s finish! I think my two next units will be from the same army, so using similar colours. 

15 books read – 5/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I have re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this month, it’s my least favourite of the series so it probably took me more time than it should have. I’m planning on finishing the series before the end of the year. I’ve also started re-reading the last book of the trilogy I talked about last time, and I think I’ll finish it this month. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

Haven’t added any square, I think I’ll tackle all the squares at the same time at one point. 

13 batches of baked goods made and eaten – 7/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Three more, which were also my new recipes for this month. 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None completed this month, but I have started a new pair (almost already finished actually) and I’m planning on making two more this month. 

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

Still nothing here, I’ve been more interested in my yarn than in shrinking plastic!

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

I have still seen 2 new movies this month, The Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World 2. I think both were enjoyable, I really liked the look of the new dino in Jurassic World and I thought the Incredibles 2 was just as good as the first one (which is pretty rare for an animated movie sequel).

9 amigurumi made – 2/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

I am still working on mini-me and I’ve started Orbit the Dragon, which hopefully will both be finished this month. 

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

No motivation to cross stitch, all my stitching effort has been focused on my EPP this month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

No games this month, we definitely need to get back to it!

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I still didn’t get around writing up my copepod pattern. I am thinking about new designs though, I was thinking of maybe releasing a sea creature collection next year that would include some freebies and some paid patterns. It’s still very early stages though so no promises!

5 k steps walked every day 15/30
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

I’ve been doing quite bad this month for this goal. Only half of the days I’ve managed to fit in my 5k steps. I do have to say I have been feeling very tired with the extra weight and I’ve shortened my walks with the puppy as a result. Last week I did go to the pool though, and I think that will become my main exercise as it is less straining to move in the water. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

I have finished Aragorn this month, yay! next is Arwen’s pendant. 

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I have finished my Arwen jumper, my beautifully soft and warm jumper. Very pleased with it and I have chosen my next pattern, which I will start when I come back home in a couple of weeks.

2 getaway trips – 1/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

Bendigo is in 3 weeks!!! I’m so excited and I am now meeting up some of the lovely ladies from my spinning class there. It will be a blast!

1 thesis submitted – Completed in June
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I’ve started the submission process on Friday last week, so it’s officially done! Next step will be to wait for comments, fix the comments and then I will be a Doctor of Philosophy in veterinary immunology! How exciting!!! (yes I’m so excited to be finished, sorry about all the exclamation marks) 

Wow, what a productive month! And what a productive half year. I hope you guys have had a good one too, and if not, that’s okay too, as long as you’re proud of what you’ve accomplished!

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18 for 2018 – May update

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

I’ve sent all my invitations for my baby shower (that was almost 30!). I’m only counting it as 1 letter as it was the same invitation sent to everyone! 

17 new recipes tried – 12/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

Another recipe tried this month with our Fantastic Bake along. Those muffins were just to die for! 

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

I’ve painted a new unit but haven’t had time to take a good picture yet. I will make sure to take one for next time. 

15 books read – 4/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’ve re-read a book from one of my favourite French series. The author, Pierre Bottero, is amazing, I’ve read pretty much all of his work and I was so very sad when he passed in 2009. I’m planning on re-reading all the series before the end of the year. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

No extra squares this month, I should probably get onto this goal 🙈

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 4/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I’ve made another batch of madeleine, which are little French cakes. Hubby loves them and me too! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

I’ve been really slack with this goal, I need to cast some socks back on!

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

Hum hum, next month?

10 new movies seen – Complete!
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

I’ve actually seen two more movies this month, Deadpool 2 and Solo and I loved them both. Deadpool was just so funny (as you could expect based on the first movie 😂) and I thought Solo was great with awesome action and a really good story. 

9 amigurumi made – 2/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

This month I’ve made the little owls I’ve shown you last week. I did miss making amigurumi so I’ll try to make a few more next month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

No month finished this time around, it’s been a bit cold which hasn’t made me very motivated to work on it but I’ll make an effort for next month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

No new game this month, we’ve been really busy on weekends and haven’t had time to go to the store. 

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

No new design this month, I still need to write up a couple of patterns I have ready but I’ve been too busy with work to really dedicate any time to it. 

5 k steps walked every day – 23/31
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

I feel like I’ve done quite good with that. Our dog was definitely very happy to go on long walks every day! 

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Nothing new here, because I have been really slow with crochet lately. 

3 jumpers knitted – 0/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

The jumper is almost finished! So there will be one finished jumper next month!

2 getaway trips – 1/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

July couldn’t come faster! I’ve actually met some lovely ladies in my spinning class who will also be going to Bendigo and I’m so excited! 

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

Submission is due before the end of the month! How exciting!

That’s it for me this month! A little progress on some goals, with a lot more going on on the side! I hope you’ve all had a great month 😊

 

18 for 2018 – April update

Hello readers!

That’s it, another month already! Again, it wasn’t very productive craft-wise as I was away for work again in Queensland. It was very productive for work though so that’s a great thing! Here we go!

18 letters sent to friends – 1/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

No new letter this month, but I’ll be sending a few next month for my baby shower invitations! How exciting!

17 new recipes tried – 11/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

Only one new recipe tried this month, and it was the delicious caramels from our bake-along (although mine were a bit hard as you may remember, caramels are hard work!)

16 painted units of miniatures – 3/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

I have been painting this month but I haven’t finished any unit of miniatures. So no new unit this month but I’ll probably have progress next month!

15 books read – 3/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’ve read not one but two books this month! I guess being away from hubby makes me read more 😂 I’ve finished All the lights we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and it was an amazing book, I did cry very hard though at the end, it just such an emotional story and so beautifully written. The other book I read is Masters of death by Olivie Blake. I’ve been reading lots of fan-fictions from this author and I think she is amazing. This book was her first full story and it really didn’t disappoint. I fell in love with the characters straight away and the story was so well thought I couldn’t put it down!

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

None this month again sadly but I’ll be knitting some this month, promise!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Sadly again, none this month because I was far away from home and I didn’t want to eat all the biscuits by myself! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

Zero here too but do gloves count? 😅

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

Again, it’s just a matter of making them but I didn’t get time. They will happen eventually!

10 new movies seen – 9/10
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

I’m almost done with this goal already, with two new movies seen this month. I’ve seen Ready player one, which I thought was fantastic! I loved all the nerdy references to pop culture and video games in it. The second movies I saw was Avengers: infinity war and it was awesome! That was one of the movies I was really looking forward to seeing this year and it was so cool. I won’t give any spoiler but I just can’t wait for the next Marvel movies in the next few years!

9 amigurumi made – 1/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

I’ve made a couple of my own designs again but none from other designers. I’m still working on mini me and I hope to finish her this month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I’ve finished June! That means I’m half way done with the calendar. I would really like to have this displayed in baby’s room when it’s done so I’ll try to get cracking on it!

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

None played this month but we will probably have a few games this month.

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I’ve published my updated design for Naiad the nudibranch, but I don’t really count it as it was already a published design. I’m putting together the pdf for my copepod at the moment so hopefully I’ll have another publish next month!

5 km ran without stopping – in progress
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

I’m kind of giving up for this goal as I’ve not been able to run in the last month. I get really out of breath so I think that instead of running 5 km I’m going to try to walk 5 km at least 5 days out of 7 in the week to still keep active. I’m also trying to keep my pace around 10-12 min/km. I’ll let you know how I do next month! 

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

None this month, I don’t actually think I’ll get started on a new square for a little while, as I already have wayyyy too many projects!

3 jumpers knitted – 0.2/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I cast on! I’ve bought Arwen, a beautiful jumper design from Isabell Kraemer and I’ve made a start on Monday. It’s knitting up really fast so I’m hoping it will be done in no time. Very excited to add another jumper to my wardrobe!

2 getaway trips – 1/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

Next trip has been booked for July to go to Bendigo! I’m still so excited about it!

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

Another paper submitted this month for my thesis so it’s really shaping up now! Supervisors are happy which is always a good feeling. Submission date is still set to 1st of July so not far now!

That’s it for me! I hope your month has been productive 😘

 

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18 for 2018 – March update

Happy Sunday everyone!

I am not dead, I am in fact quite invigorated after these couple of weeks on holidays and I am ready to take on April (what? that started a week ago? Oh well!)

I have been keeping track of my goals as usual and here is where I’m at on my 18 for 2018 goals. Not much progress in some areas but I am reaching some of my bigger goals so that’s okay!

18 letters sent to friends – 1/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

I’ve written and delivered a wedding card to one of my first Australian friend who got married at the end of March, the ceremony was beautiful and we had lots of fun catching up with uni friends at dinner. 

17 new recipes tried – 10/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

I’ve tried two new recipes this month, a prawn stir fry and blinnies. The recipe for blinnies was so easy and delicious I will definitely make them again and they were great with some cream and jam. 

16 painted units of miniatures – 3/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

I’ve already shown you two of the units I’ve painted, and I’ve added a third one, still from the same army. I’m getting a break from orks at the moment though and I’ve been painting from another army, so I’m going great with this goal. 

15 books read – 1/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’m afraid that unless you count fan fiction, I haven’t done much reading in March either. Maybe this month, as I’m away from hubby again so I might get bored and read more. We’ll see. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

No new square this month.

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

No Bake-along for me this month but I’ve made some delicious chocolate clusters that I will count for this goal!

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None this month but I’m working on a pair of gloves as I found my fingers to be rather freezing on my afternoon walks. 

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

I’ve made some really pretty earrings with shrinking plastic but no stitch marker yet. This will happen soon though and I think I might make them all at the same time. I currently have about 8 designs so I also need to think about a few more to reach 11. 

10 new movies seen – 7/10
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

Three more movies this month, we’ve seen Game Night, Red Sparrow and Tomb Raider. All of them were pretty good but nothing really special either. I’m really looking forward to Infinity Wars this month though!

9 amigurumi made – 1/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

No amis from other designers this month, I feel like I didn’t get much crochet done actually. 

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 1/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

None this month but I took it with me so I will be working on it this month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

We’ve played a second game hurray! It was really fun and we were quite close until the end on the board but I had way too many points for poor hubby to come back. I thought of taking a picture though! I was playing the scary looking monsters/aliens that are mostly painted. 

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

No designs published but I’ve been reworking my nudibranch pattern and I designed a new amigurumi that needs writing up. Pretty excited about both of those.

5 km ran without stopping – in progress
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

Still going on this one, my routine jogging route is about 3 km now so I’m definitely getting closer. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Not even started on the next one! Whoops! 

3 jumpers knitted – 0/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

Still not started because I desperately need to cast off my RBTL shawl first! This is killing me I think I will try to finish the RBTL in April but I’ll need all the concentration I can get. 

2 getaway trips – 1/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

We have booked Bendigo!! I’m so excited about it I just can’t wait 😀 we have also obviously just finished a week and a half holidays in Queensland and it was great to spend time with family and friends. We even went to our very fist escape room and it was so much fun! 

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

This is going well, only the last paragraphs of the discussion to polish up, but I have until July so no stress! 

That’s it for me! I also really wanted to thank you so much for all your support on my previous 18 for 2018 posts, you guys are the best and really keep me motivated! I’ll be back a bit more regularly from this week on, with at least WIP Wednesday posts to show you what I’ve been up to lately.

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18 for 2018 – February update

Happy Friday readers!

February is up, and it was not a very productive month for me craft wise, but on the bright side I actually got heaps of stuff done for work. So not much progress this month but hopefully I’ll be back on track in March 🙂

18 letters sent to friends – 0/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

Still none this month, but I did receive a very nice card from some of my family in France that I will answer. 

17 new recipes tried – 8/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

Three new recipes tried this month, some shiitake noodles (for which I completely forgot to take a picture), chocolate mousse choux and strawberry jam.

16 painted units of miniatures – 0/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

Still none, as I didn’t take those up to Brisbane with me. But on the bright side I’m going to the hobby shop tomorrow with hubby to get some painting done! 

15 books read – 1/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’ve read “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine” by Gail Honeyman. I’ve really loved it, the story is told from the point of view of Eleonor and she is just the most interesting character. I am also currently reading “All the lights we cannot see” by Anthony Doerr and I’m really liking it so far. It’s taking place between France and Germany during WWII and I really enjoy how the book is written with switches between places and times. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

I’ve done one new square so far, yay! That brings the total of squares on this to 7 in total, so I definitely need a lot more if I want to finish it, but it’s a slow project that will probably take me years so that’s okay!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Adding the choux here brings my total to 3 for the year. I’m sure I’ll make some more this month for hubby as he loves his biscuits! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

With hubby’s socks finished, I’m keeping to my goal of 1 pair a month! 

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

None this month but I have been drawing some plankton which I might use for this.

10 new movies seen – 4/10
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

Only one more movie seen this month (I had to wait for hubby to watch movies when I was away) and that was Black Panther. I quite enjoyed it, I thought that the story was simple but well done and the special effects were spectacular! 

9 amigurumi made – 1/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

No new one made this month but I did start to make a mini me from Kerry Lord’s “Edward’s crochet doll emporium”. I’m loving it! 

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 1/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

None this month, I didn’t bring any cross stitch on my trip up to Brisbane.

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 1/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

No game this month either, maybe we will have one this weekend though.

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I’ve been working on my shawl design as well as a new amigurumi design, which you may have seen if you’ve been over on Instagram. 

5 km ran without stopping – in progress
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

I didn’t run much in Brisbane as it was so so hot but I’ve been back at it towards the end of the month and I think I’m going good still with this goal. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

No new square this month but I need to start the next one so that I don’t lose momentum.

3 jumpers knitted – 0/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I bought yarn for a second jumper, does that count? (trying to find excuses to add to my stash here!) 

2 getaway trips – 0/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

First trip planned at the end of March, I’m excited for some holidays with hubby, it will be nice.

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

Not submitted yet, but I have now done my thesis review so I am ready to submit as soon as I have finished writing my thesis! Super excited about that, now I ‘just have’ to finish writing 🙂 

That’s it for me, I hope you have been doing better than me this month, and if not I think we all deserve a break 🙂

Happy New Year! 18 for 2018

Happy New Year everyone!

I wish you all good health, happiness and lots of creativity for this new year and I hope that all your dreams to come true for 2018.

You may know that last year was all about change for me, with moving houses, a new job for hubby and working on my PhD from home. This year, I want it to be about growth. My hope for 2018 is to grow professionally, hopefully finding a post-doc, but also personally. I would like to grow my crochet and knitting skills and also to grow as a designer. I’ve been really encouraged by your kind words and I’m very excited for what’s to come.

Last year, I kept on seeing the 17 for 2017 goals and this year I’ve decided to join with 18 for 2018. I will keep you updated every month with how my goals are going and hopefully I make it through most of them during the year.

18 letters sent to friends
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

17 new recipes tried
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

16 painted units of miniatures
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

15 books read
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

12 pairs of socks
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

11 new stitch markers made
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

10 new movies seen
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

9 amigurumi made
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

7 games of 40k played with hubby
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

6 new designs published
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

5 km ran without stopping
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

4 LOTR squares finished
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

3 jumpers knitted
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

2 getaway trips
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

1 thesis submitted
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

That’s it for me, I hope that you have your goals sorted if that’s your thing and again I wish you all an amazing year!

My 2017 Bullet journal

Happy Friday!

I am pleased to say that I have kept my bullet journal for the whole year last year, which helped a lot with work and with my personal goals. This year, I wanted to make my journal look better (last year’s was very functional but the looks of it were meh). I’ve chosen a simple layout that I will (hopefully!) be able to stick with, and have time to prepare from week to week.

As you can see, I have a monthly and a weekly layout, with enough space to write tasks for each day. I have also added a weather, daily water intake and meal planning features for the week. I’ve been keeping a close watch to my drinking, because I work in a lab and sometimes I just spend the whole day in there without drinking (which obviously is no good).

I’ve also added some yearly goal pages.

There is a yearly layout, a birthday wheel, books (my goal is 30 books for 2017, I’ve even set up a profile on Goodreads!), movies and craft lists, and I’ve added a map of the world with all the countries I’ve visited in red and my planned trips on the right. I will be going to Belfast for a conference before visiting my parents and then (hopefully, if we have enough money) hubby and I are planning to visit Japan 🙂

Should be fun!

What have you planned for 2017?

Miss Caly’s 7 days of lists – days 5 to 7

Happy Wednesday readers! 

Today I managed to finish the 3 last lists prompts from Miss Caly. I found the lists from day 5 and 6 a bit more challenging. Day 5 was about listing 20 of our fears and I guess no one really likes to dwell on what scares us. I am no different and it was hard to think about  what things I am truly afraid of. It was a great exercise though as I realise that in some situations I tend to get nervous or even angry when in fact I am just afraid. 

#5 – 20 of my greatest fears

List 6 was even more challenging. I think I usually never really take the time to appreciate all the small achievements in life and it was hard to come up with 20 things that I was truly proud of achieving. I actually asked for some help from my other half for this one 🙂

#6 – 20 of my greatest achievements

And finally day 7 was fun to write and I hope you guys get to know me a little better from it. 

#7 – 20 weird and wonderful facts about me

I wish you all a great end to the week 

X

Miss Caly’s 7 days of lists – day 1 to 4

Happy Friday!

Time has been going crazy fast so I didn’t get much time to add to my mandala. I have been following the prompts from Miss Caly’s blog though and I have come up with 4 days of lists so far 🙂 

It was also a good excuse to use my pretty fine tips markers!  

So here we go!

 #1 – 20 things that make me happy  
#2 – 20 places I want to visit

  #3 – 20 people who inspire me

  
#4 – 20 things I’d like to learn more about 

 Maybe you have noticed, but I wrote those lists in my bullet journal, to keep me inspired and add a bit of extra colour to it 😊

And that’s it for today! I wish you all a great weekend 😘

X