* Christmas Journal *

Hey Bloggers .... it's Friday ...so glad the weekend is here!

I know the end of January is almost here but I'm still on Christmas and making my pages for my Journal. I'm determined not to give up on it, I didn't finish it in 2008 or 2009 but I do love looking back at the pages that I did do, so to have a whole complete journal will be awesome.

Anyway here's the 4th:

This page is about advent and documents how the "Young One" opens the door and eats the chocolate before breakfast, despite my protests that it's breakfast first!!

The 5th ~ Craft Fairs We went to see a friend who had a stall at a craft fair and on the way home stopped for dinner at a lovely little country pub and I got some fab pictures of the swans on the lake in the grounds with the snow laying on the ground.

6th December ~ As we put our tree up on this day I wanted to scrap this. Love this pic of the "Young One" hanging the decorations!

And the 7th, not entirely happy with this one so may re do it.

Have a great weekend whatever you have planned!

* Slow Progress *

Hello Bloggers!


Hope your Monday has been good!

Update on the lounge....Unfortunately the wallpaper stripping is not making as fast progress as I would like. I didn't get much done in there last week as everyday life (and a fast approaching deadline for submitting my tax return!) got in the way but this weekend we got a fair bit done.

Apart from a family birthday outing on Saturday afternoon to the New Forest (more on that another day) we spent most of the weekend stripping the paper and did quite well, just the last few bits left now!

Here's the Before Pictures .....

Oh how I hate that fireplace.... it is horrid, don't you think?!!

Love that my cat had to get in the pic!!!


This is the only room we have done absolutely nothing to since we moved in over 5 years ago so this makeover is well over due.

* And so it begins... *

I mentioned back on this post about how I want to decorate our lounge this year ....well, we decided there is no time like the present so .... this afternoon we have packed away all our CDs, DVDs & books into boxes....taken down photographs and got the dining area ready to become the lounge for a few weeks or however long it takes to finish the lounge. A few weeks is a bit optimistic, no doubt it will probably be a few months, we are very slow when it comes to renovating & decorating!!

We have one of those long, lounge/dining rooms. It used to be two rooms but the previous owners knocked an archway through and made it one big room. Tomorrow we are going to move the sofa and TV into the dining area and put up some sheets or something across the archway. Then the wall paper stripping can begin!! We'd love to rip out the fireplace and skirting boards too but still not finally decided if our budget will stretch to a new fireplace.

Note to self: Remember to take some before and work in progress photos!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!
Sarah
x

* Journal Your Christmas 2nd & 3rd *

Remember way back at the start of December when JYC started and I showed you
my page for 1st December here and I blogged about my determination to keep my 2010 album simple? Well, as the run up to Christmas just got crazier than ever before I decided not to even attempt to scrap but to take lots and lots of photos and keep notes in a little notebook that I carried everywhere with me, jotting down what we did each day and my thoughts on the daily prompts.

So now that we are well into January and school is back, life has slowed down a bit and I am finding a little time each day to sit down with my photos, my notebook full of my scribbles and making my JYC.

So here's 2nd December ... Weather:

And 3rd December ... Cards

I do have a few more pages finished so will photo them when the light is a bit better and show you. I'm trying to resist buying new stash and using up all my old Christmas papers!

So, how is my challenge to spend less going? I'm doing quite well with making myself stop and think "do I really need to buy this?" Even my Asda grocery bill was less than normal!! I did, however have coffee and a chocolate pastry in Costa Coffee today but it felt justified as I had some upsetting news first thing this morning & needed cheering up!

Right, I'm off to make tea .... I'll be back later this evening for some blog hopping!

* 2011 Intentions *

So what does the year ahead hold for me?

2010 was a year full of changes...

I closed my little craft shop last February to concentrate on building an on line craft business, then started a part time job (bills were mounting that had to be paid), then I left the part time job (just 6 months later!!). My hours had increased so much that there was little time left for anything else and it was really getting me down!!

So this year my intentions are:

* Put more time and effort into my craft business and launch a new on line shop

* Make more time for the 3 of us to spend time together

* Renovate our house, starting with the spare bedroom, lounge and finish the kitchen.

*Declutter and organise!!

* Start a local Scrapbook Crop or Craft Club ~ something I have wanted to do for a long time.

* More home baking and cooking healthy meals from scratch.

* Scrapbook lots and lots more!

* Spend money more wisely...this is crucial to avoid me having to look for another job, something I really don't want to have to do.

This last one is a biggy!!

This is what is in my purse right now!! ....Not a lot!!

I'm not great with money, if it's in my purse I spend it. It's the little things, a new magazine, lunch out, new scrapbooking stash, a cute new bracelet, newspapers, car parking and I love coffee shops just a little too much!!

So, I'm going to keep track of every penny I spend to try to help me cut back and spend less!

So, today:

50p Newspaper

£1.85 Costa Coffee

£1.51 Post Office (Posting an EBay Parcel)

I know of several bloggers and friends who want to lose some post Christmas weight and say that going to Weight watchers (or similar) meetings and blogging their weigh ins really helps them, for me, this is the same ... if I have to account for my spending it should help....it's going to be tough...wish me luck!! :)

How are your New Year Resolutions or Intentions going so far? Good I hope!

2010 ...A look Back!!

The 5th day of 2011 already! ... how did that happen? Lol!

In between taking down the Christmas tree, buying new school shoes, finding homes for all the new toys and gifts and catching up on housework after our visitors had left, I took some time out to look back over last year. 2010 was an okay kinda year, not the best ever, but nothing awful happened and we had some fun times.

I thought it would be fun to blog the highlights...

* Lots of fun days out :- Honeybrook Farm, The Horse Centre where Hannah loved her first pony ride, a couple of walks in New Forest, beaches, Salisbury, Gunwharf Quays, Lulworth Castle for the amazing Jousting tournaments.

The Horse Centre

Salisbury Cathedral

* 2 Amazing Holidays:- A long weekend in London in June was a time to spend quality time together, just the 3 of us. The "Young One" loved her first visit to the Capital and we all enjoyed seeing the sights! The finale of this trip was seeing Leona Lewis at the O2. The tickets were a Christmas 2009 gift from us and was her first major music concert.

As part of my birthday celebrations in the October we booked a week in Portinatx, Ibiza and had an awsome time!! Some great memories!

*Saw Ronan Keating live

* Started a new Part Time Job

* Took the "Young One" and her best friend, to Monkey World for her birthday treat

* The "Young One" has now lost 5 of her baby teeth

* I went to The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Ally Pally, London! I'm already looking forward to this year's show!

* The "young One" danced on stage at the the with her Dance School in a Show.

* Left my Part time job to focus on my on line craft business.

* Snow in December, coldest December for many years!

I've also been thinking about the year ahead and what I want to acheive so will blog that tomorrow!

* Goodbye 2010 *

So here we are on the last day of December, just a couple of hours before we welcome in 2011!! I didn't manage a Christmas post as things got so crazily busy, so I will do a quick review here. Thankfully we all recovered from the coughs, colds and ear infections that got us all in the run up to Christmas and finally we were all ready for the Big Day. Loads of food (far too much!) bought, pressies bought and wrapped, tree and decorations up!

The Tree!

This year Christmas Day was at "Our House" with relatives coming to stay. We had an anxious wait on the 23rd to see if their flight would arrive okay, with airports closing and flights cancelled due to the ice and snow, but they got here safely, 2 hours later than scheduled but at least they were here!!!

We also had my Dad over for Christmas Day and Boxing Day and my brother and his partner and two children popped over Christmas Day evening for supper and the kids pressies! Quite a houseful but lots of fun!!

Unwrapping Santa presents!

We had a lovely few days and then it was all over and on Monday it was "Sales shopping". I got a few good bargains, new boots and a bag and a couple of tops and a few bits for the "Young One".

The last few days have been all about relaxing, enjoying our new gifts, playing board games and generally chilling out. Lovely!

I would just like to wish all bloggers a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope 2011 brings you all that you wish for!

I will be back soon with a 2010 review and also my Christmas Journal.