Vision Board ~ Always in Progress!

Ah! I just finished about 99% of my post and it was deleted! Back to the drawing board!

Many people have heard of the concept of the "Vision Board", which gained popularity by the movie "The Secret".

I not only remember creating a variation of a Vision Board in high school, but I still have it in my old bedroom at my parent's house! There is something so very personal about it that inspires me to hold onto it forever. However, many of my goals have changed since that class in a stuffy portable.

Shortly after I moved into my new home, I was sitting at my desk and looked at the barren white wall beside me. I thought, I'm not going to paint this place for awhile, so I might as well cover it with something else for now. Aha! I'll make a Vision Board.

It started as a small collection of pictures cut out from magazines and junk mail ads, but has quickly grown and is ever-evolving. It has costed me nothing aside from the cost of tape (very little tape required!), and is extraordinarily fun to work on. I didn't paste onto any kind of backing simply because I originally believed this would be temporary, however it is really growing on me. I often find myself sitting back and looking at this beautiful collage, processing what I'm seeing even if not consciously thinking about what each picture means.

This is what it looks like as of now:

To the right is a 4-month wall calendar, also useful!

As I know from experience, there are many benefits to having a vision board:

- Inspirational
- On bad days, just look at some of those dreamy pictures of beaches and sunshine, and you'll feel better
- Helps to prioritize tasks in every day life
- Quicker movement toward reaching goals
- Filters into the subconscious mind after looking at them without a second thought
- Fun to find, cut out and place pictures
- Can be done with others & as a family

Note that vision boards are very personal and often very private. If you want your vision board to be for youre eyes only, do not paste the pictures directly on the wall! I chose to do so because I wanted to make it unavoidable to look at. I also wanted to be proud enough of my goals so that anyone could look at it. However, if you know anyone who likes to shoot down your ideas, it's good to either keep them away from the vision board room or to have a mobile board that you can hide during particular visits.

Do you have a vision board? If not, would you ever consider having one?

Procrastination can be very bad for your health!

Hi all! Happy Friend's Day, Valentine's Day & Family Day! What a weekend! My 1 year anniversary with my boyfriend also fell on this weekend so we're celebrating today by going to Niagra Falls (woohoo!).

Anyhow, I haven't been posting on my blogs for so many reasons, but it really comes down to one thing - procrastination!

As I've posted before, I'm taking a course for the first time in a couple of years so I'm quite rusty on my studying mentality. I've also been busy with work, health related issues/queries/research, writing in a journal again, trying to adjust my schedule to fit stretching & yoga sessions in the mornings, & so on.

My time management has not always been a strong point. It really behaves like a roller coaster. I suppose that due to all of the changes I've been making lately, some of my hobbies have fallen to the wayside (such as blogging, cross-stitching, having a social life, etc!). They'll be back though!

I'm really excited to share the new discoveries & experiences that have been so positive for me!

Just remember, procrastination only causes stress & chaos!!! Get things done when they need to get done, & you will be a much happier, peaceful person. I'm working on it, & I'll see you soon! :)

MIA for now! Just this week, I promise!

Hi everyone!

So last week I managed to get 4 out of my 5 blog posts up for the week (I post 3 days/wk on this blog & 2 days/wk on my other blog).

It was the first time I missed a scheduled blog & I was quite dissapointed about it, however I have a bunch of things to catch up on & I realized that I'll have to miss a few posts in order to catch up. Then I'll be blogging away again just as I have been for the last few weeks :)

I really find this blog motivating & since I have just lost someone in my life who really meant a lot to me, I will just be putting my energy into positive activities & goals even more.

Remember - if you're having a bad day, week, month, or even year, just put on your rose coloured glasses & start to see everything in a new light. Its hard but totally worth it :)

See you next week!

10 things about me

I was tagged by Kay* of Ice Cream & Peonies to reveal 10 things about myself & then tag 7 other people. Now, I don't have 7 followers (don't laugh too hard, but I am one of my own followers!) but I will tag all of my other followers & that will leave 2 other bloggers. I will choose 2 bloggers that I follow & notify them on their blogs. So lets go!


1. My family is from Terçiera, Portugal in the Azores. I have been there 4 times in my life, but I have never set foot on the mainland (something I will do some day).

An areal view of the Island

2. When my sister & I were younger, we were asked to be on Tiny Talent Time to play piano but we were too shy & didn't do it. I did, however, win an award at a piano concert for being a good student!

My sister & I in front of our piano (I'm the little one)

3. I love camping. It's in my blood. I haven't camped in 2 summers & it just kills me.

The sunset at Oastler Lake Provincial Park

4. I'm 29 years old & have no idea how that happened. My boyfriend, on the other hand is a whopping 4 years younger than me! (I used to scoff at dating guys even 6 months younger than me).

LOL..bf hiding behind a Jar Jar Binks frisbee after we carved our Halloween pumpkin

5. I work at a University, in Copyright. I enjoy it but don't see myself doing that for too much longer.

6. I never finished my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. I just started taking classes toward completing it & I am sooo excited.

Some Geese at the place where I work & study. I practically live here!

7. I'm afraid of the dark. I live alone so unless someone is sleeping over, I always leave my bedside lamp on (the light is annoying but it's better than being scared).

8. I'm borderline obsessed with mixing nail polish colours to make new & more exciting colours. It's a very hit & miss hobby. This is my latest creation. At first I hated it but now I feel lukewarm toward it.

The polish has started to chip off a bit..

9. I'm a perfectionist / procrastinator. If something isn't perfect, I tend to let it fall apart. This explains why my condo is either meticulously clean & tidy or looks like the aftermath of a hurricane. I'm trying to become more balanced :)

10. I'm hyper self-aware. This can be a complete curse or a total blessing. I usually feel like it's a curse but if I could change it, I don't think I would.

I hope you enjoyed the 10 random things about me!

Now I would like to tag: 1. Sami of A Mommy's Story 2. Queen Bee of Lyfe of a Queen Bee 3. Christine of Skinny Girl Trapped in a Big Girl's Body 4. yummymomma08 of The New Adventures of Mommyhood 5. Sarah-Lyn of i bake cupcakes 6. Lauren of Pure Style Home 7. Joanna of ~ Chandelier No. 4 ~

Some orders of 'business' & randomness

So today is my first day back to school. Eeek! I'm excited & nervous at the same time! I'm taking a course called Sociology of Scientific Controversies & I'll be leaving the house soon to get some errands done before I head to campus. Finishing my degree is one of those goals I've had for a looong time. Well last term I said "enough is enough!" & I did what I had to do to get re-enrolled. Getting re-enrolled wasn't the problem - it was that in order to get enrolled again I had to pay off my university parking tickets (it was a bundle)..um ya..oops?
So I finally did it & now here I am, ready to go to school.

Tomorrow I get back to work too, so now I'm getting back to the grind & realizing that I need to buy a 2010 planner & get down to a neat schedule.
As far as blogging goes, I'm going to try to post on this one every Monday, Wednesday & Friday. I will try to post on my other one every Tuesday & Thursday.

I wanted to give a shout out to my new subscribers - omg it means so much to me that you actually read what I write! :) Sami, you asked for a skating picture & although I don't have one of myself - here's one of the public rink at Nathan Phillips Square:



Anyway I've got a couple of ideas coming for both blogs & I must say that it has become such a motivator for me. On Wednesday I'll be posting my 'manicure' routine with a pic of my nails before & after...nothing fancy at all.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Now time to get ready for school - wish me luck! :)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Just sending out a quick note to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

This year I am spending with my boyfriend & a couple of friends in the evening by going out to a movie! Totally non-traditional, but perfect for me as I wanted to do something quiet this year.

What I wish for New Years is for people to read & comment on my blog. As fun as it is, it takes some time & work so it will feel worthwhile if people read it & give me some feedback as I go along :)

My goal for the New Year is to become a more peaceful & content person.
How do I suppose I will reach my goal?

- Spend maximum amount of time with people who have a positive effect on me, & minimum of time with people who have a negative effect on me.

- Meditate, meditate, meditate!

- Get a diagnosis & begin treatment of my ailment.

- Throw myself into my hobbies.

I think these are surefire ways to helping me feel calmer & healthier in the New Year.

I would love to hear your New Years Eve plans, & also if you have any resolutions!

See you in 2010,

Shella

First post..Intro

I'm excited :)

Well, first of all I am excited because I have created a new blog that I think will bring out really positive habits in me (such as this thing I used to do years ago called "excercise"), and so on.

Secondly, I'm excited because I know that I will enjoy blogging since I had 3 blogs up to 5 years ago. One was for cooking & new recipes, one was for poetry & one was for crafts. I actually have no idea how to get into those blogs because I forgot the passwords, and I no longer remember the password to the email address associated to those blogs. So I guess those old blogs are lost in the internet 'wind', so to speak. No one ever looked at them anyway, in part because they weren't very interesting but mainly because I was too painfully shy to tell anyone about them. I think these things are usually shared with other humans - you know, so they could, like, read them. haha.

I'm still very shy to share this blog but honestly, sometimes you just need to take a risk & possibly look like a fool. At the very worst, people will discover that I'm a terrible writer & I suck at doing anything makeup or fashion related. At the very least, I will have a forum in which to document one of the most pressing things in my life right now - health issues. Hopefully others who have experienced some of my problems can advise me & steer me in the right direction, since doctors don't seem to give a darn about me. I guess this is a new way to reach out for some guidance.

I also really love to try new recipes & then post the ones that I consider successes. I usually post them on facebook but from now on I will post them here for anyone on the net to see. Of course I will reference the sources of my knowledge each and every time I post anything that isn't copyrighted by yours truly.

Lastly, if I ever go out on a tangent in posting here, I will be sure that it is always with beauty/health in mind. Note that I often go on tangents - which is probably more of a curse than a blessing!

Anyway, please bear with me while I try to recall how to navigate this site & do some redecorating. Its nice that prettying up my blog won't cost a dime (while I wait to save enough to decorate my real house - that's a whole other blog entirely!).

hugs,
shella