Family • January 3, 2016

{The Ordinary Moments 16} #1 ‘My 2016 Goals’

Hello and welcome to the first ‘Ordinary Moments’ post of 2016. I am excited to be doing this little project for another year. I think it is so important to celebrate the little parts of life that we might otherwise forget. Our blogs are amazing ways to record the holidays, the extraordinary moments, and the amazing brands we work with, but I am sure I am not the only one who started blogging primarily to record the memories and milestones of my little family- and that includes day to day life too.

I wanted to write about my hopes and goals for 2016 in my first ‘Ordinary Moments’ post of the year. I am not one to sit and write a list of New Years Resolutions, as inevitably I will always break them, but I always like to spend a few moments having a think about what I want from the year, both personally and in a working/blogging aspect as well. Last year I wrote this post and it is so interesting to read back on the hopes and dreams I had for 2015.

My goals last year were to find a better work/life balance. I was worried that I was spending too much time on the computer in the evenings and therefore not spending enough with Mr E. I can definitely say that I have more of a work/life balance now than I did previously which is great news. This may well be self inflicted due to pregnancy and not having the energy to pick up my computer in the evenings, but I spend at least a few evenings a week snuggled up on the sofa and not with my face buried in my phone or computer.

I said I wanted my blog to grow, but that I only wanted to blog when I had something to say, rather than for the sake of it. I think I have definitely stuck to that this year, my blog has grown and I have had some absolutely amazing partnerships and collaborations last year, I can only dream it will be like that again for 2016. I also only really write when I have something to say, I definitely suffer from bloggers block and often wish I could be like other bloggers I admire- writing recipes, or blogging tips, or posting most days, but I just can’t really get myself into that place. I don’t really feel like I have a niche of what I like to write about which is a shame, just family life. Therefore I guess I will continue the way I am in 2016 and hope my blog will still grow and develop.

I also said that in 2015 I  wanted to improve my photography and learn more about video. I definitely think that I have learnt more about video, although I am still a complete beginner. I am torn between making little videos that are arty and set to music which I love (like this or this), or to be a little more ‘in the moment’ and just do more chatty vlogs like I did during my daily videos at Vlogmas. It is hard to know which kind of style people prefer and indeed which I prefer- I love the emotions that come with making a video set to music but I also know that I would like to look back and hear my little girls voices a bit more. I guess I will just do a bit of both. My photography has definitely taken a back seat over the latter part of the year, a lot of it down to pregnancy and not having the energy to take photos and I have stopped taking my DSLR out a lot of time- I want this to change a lot more in 2016 and for me to get back into photographing things just for the love of it again.

So what are my goals for 2016?

Well to be honest they are a little bit more of the same really. I still want to try and grow my blog as much as I can, as well as improve my photography, I know that a lot of it is down to pregnancy but I feel like I haven’t really been trying blog wise as much as I have done previously. I have got out of the habit of writing posts and I want to get back into enjoying blogging for the sake of blogging a bit more. I feel like I am stuck in a rut a bit photography and blog wise and I am still struggling a little with what I want to write about- I worry that my posts aren’t interesting and I don’t have a particular niche. My main thing is that I am going to try and take more photos with my ‘big camera’ instead of relying on my iPhone, of course I take my DSLR out when we go away, but I mean more just day to day things and in the house. I took this photo of Mads on her birthday and it reminded me just how lovely it feels when you take a photo that completely captures that person you love and that you are proud of.

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I want to try and grow my You Tube channel but that is a mission in itself, I am loving learning more about vlogging and video though and editing videos is one of my favourite things to do- I know that we will all love to look back on them in years to come and at the end of the day that is the most important thing- that we record our family memories.

While I feel like I have got my work/life balance much better over the course of 2015, I want to try and become more organised with the time I do work in 2016. I am exceptionally lucky that my blog makes up most of my income (as does brand consultancy, blogger outreach and social media management) which is a dream come true, but that does sometimes mean that I never know when to start and switch off. It isn’t like an office job where you go in and do set hours, the hours could be during nap time, in the evening or even at 4am when I can’t sleep. I want to try and manage my time better and be more organised and efficient during the two days when LL is at nursery as towards the latter part of the year I have been terrible at managing my time during the days she is at nursery.

Mr E bought me an amazing gift for Christmas, a gorgeous planner from Kikki K and rather than have lots of diaries, to do lists and notebooks for different things like I did in 2015, I am hoping this year to put everything into one planner. I have spent a lot of time over the Christmas break customising it (and I didn’t realise there is a whole community of stationary and planning geeks out there!) and making it into an all in one source for my organisation- I have the usual diary things which I am making look pretty with stickers, but then I also have a separate blogging section, with sections for blog post ideas, brand collaborations etc, and then a client section too. I have never been one to particularly care about my social media stats, I don’t do competitions on my blog so they aren’t particularly high, but I even have a section that I am recording my stats for each month- mainly cause I found social media stickers and they look so pretty! I have even customised the dividers with wash tape and stickers. I actually find it really therapeutic organising it, customising it and making it pretty, so I have really enjoyed doing that and hopefully will continue to do so, and as a result will be more proactive with my time.

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Mr E also bought me a gorgeous Gratitude Journal from the same company. The idea is to take a few moments each day to write down three things, big, small or tiny, that you are thankful for that day. It could be something as small as having a yummy hot chocolate with cream, but the idea is to look around and appreciate what you have. I often say how lucky we are to Mr E, as we definitely are, but I love the idea of spending a little bit of time being really thankful for what we have got.

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I haven’t set any goals fitness wise this year, I am enjoying growing my little boy bump and I am in no rush to think about things like that yet. There is no point setting some goals as it is a long time away. I would like to drink more water (I say that every year) but I am just awful at remembering to drink. Sometimes I won’t even have drunk a glass in a whole day. I want to carry on being a good Mummy to my girls and making more time for them, especially in the evenings when I want to make sure I help Mads practice her reading. I would also like for Mads to join some more clubs and activities as because we have travelled so much last year we haven’t really invested in her doing anything outside out of school. We have signed her up to do guitar lessons and she is on the list for Rainbows too.

I would love to go on some more adventures. Travelling is my passion and I love nothing more than hopping on a plane, or in a car, heading off somewhere new and spending time with the people I love most. 2015 was the most incredible year for travelling and while I am certain 2016 will not be anywhere near as busy travel wise what with a newborn, I would love to still explore and have some days out, weekends away and maybe a summer holiday with my little family. I get so twitchy when there is nothing in the diary, adventures however big or small definitely make me happy.

And that’s it really. There is nothing particularly unachievable on there, I basically just want to live as happy life as possible. I am so thankful for this blog enabling me to stay at home with my girls and to be able to do a job I love. I just need to continue to work at it, while being the best Mummy I can. As after all a page view, a like, or anything else, they are gratifying and of course they help to support us financially, as well as recording our happy memories, but they aren’t the most important thing. The most important thing is to live life, enjoy it and be as present as can be.

 

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If you haven’t joined in ‘the ordinary moments’ before and are looking for a new project for 2016 then I would love to have you. I am probably the worst ‘host’ in the world- there are no rules and I don’t have particularly have a badge, but I just think it is so important to record those little moments. Nowadays blogging is so much about the extraordinary times, the brand collaborations and the perfectly styled photos, it is great to go back to basis and remember why most of us started our blogs- to record our family lives.

When I started the ordinary moments project way back in 2013, I wrote this…

{the ordinary moments}

‘The simple things in life are often the sweetest.  While the fancy days out, weekends away or holidays are fun, it’s the ordinary moments I will miss when my children are all grown up.  The snuggling in bed reading a story.  The giggles as they run around my overgrown garden with the grass that desperately needs a cut.  Even the naughty ones.  The ones we all have.

Just a photo from your week.  The simple.   The exciting.  The imperfect.  The Ordinary Moments.’

I still really believe that to this day and I am so happy that I have the simplest and happiest (and the not so happy) moments recorded on my blog. This year I am going to try and use my DSLR more than I have been, but you can also use whatever camera you have on you, most of the time I use my iPhone. It can be about your children, you, a style post of what you have worn, a emotional rambling post or a post about your home- just as long as it captures your life.

If you fancy joining in, you can join in every week, every once in a while, or whenever you feel like it. I write a post every Sunday and the linky stays open until the following Saturday evening so you can add your post at any time, but of course it is better to do it in the first day or so as otherwise I write other posts and it might not be seen as well. You can link up a post you have already written, a post that tells a story, a post that only has a photo, a video from you tube, just whatever you have captured that week.

If you share it on twitter, or instagram, make sure you hashtag #theordinarymoments, or tag me in it so I can see it too and can RT it or share it myself. There are no rules, just please do try and comment on a couple of the other entries- as otherwise what is the point if no one is reading or interacting.

Hopefully it will inspire you to share your ordinary moments too. x

 



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