Evernote

Okay, I have to admit it: despite the buzz around Evernote and despite the fact that I downloaded it a looooong time ago, I still don't get all the potential of the system yet. Maybe because I can't use it with my cell phone (I have a terrible phone camera... can you believe it?? LOL). Maybe because I already use vi.sualize.us for images. Maybe because I don't like the design (the 2 windows in the desktop feature are not really practical, the reading windows is too small to my taste). Don't know why, but I don't use it fully yet. I don't get defeated that easily, though, and since many of my organisation-gurus are 100% convinced, I will give it another try, and even a couple more if needed.

Did you try Evernote? What did you think? Any tips or advice to enjoy it more?

Summer...

I LOVE summer! The warmth, the sun, the relaxed atmosphere, the vacation (next week... can't wait!), everything!!

Here are some 365 pix (yup, I'm playing catch up):

June 15th, my cat sleeping (he's good at it)

June 16th: dinner with friends, 1st meeting with Jacques

June 17th: goofing around

June 18th: I'm the worst cook ever!

June 19th: as every Friday, the cleaning lady was here... and it feels good!

June 20th: Music day, Amandine loves to dance (and she does it with her finger pointed, just like her dad... so funny!)

June 21st: I love the way our doggie look at my FIL, she adores him!

If you had a bad day...

... check this out, it's the best!!



Feels good, uh?

My camera is back!!!

Since I broke my camera back in january, only 3 weeks after getting it as my birthday-christmas present, I lived without any camera available... For a photo-addict like me, it's quite something, let me tell you!

Well, last week I finally gave up and ordered a new lense. I got a great deal online and my new toy arrived during my business trip. I was so excited to finally have my own camera at home!! I'm back on track with project 365: here are my pix since tuesday:

Tuesday May 26th: First self portrait with my new lense... the pic is ugly, but it's the model's fault, not the camera's! LOL

Wednesday May 27th: DBF already getting tired to have his photo taken!

Thursday, May 28th: DBF is sick

Friday 29th: I slept in!!! YAY!!!!

Saturday May 30th: I went to a "what to do in case of emergency" course (sorry, don't know how to say it in english), very interesting and helpful, hopefully I'll never have to apply what I learned!

Sunday May 31st: we went to my SIL to celebrate BIL's birthday, and she made this yummy tiramisù... too bad I'm allergic to strawberries!

I'll go to bed smarter than when I woke up...

'cause I learned my Star Wars Name! LOL (For SSD's FOB2Y)

Your Star Wars Name Is Chlma Masio

Your Star Wars Title Is Itnvan of Yug

What Is Your Star Wars Name and Title?

Yeah, right! (FOB2Y)

You Are Spring Cleaning

You are an organized and efficient person. You don't like messes or chaos. You like simple, high quality things. You don't have room for clutter in your life. You believe that everyone deserves a clean slate from time to time... including you. You tend to see a lot of opportunities in life, and you take advantage of them.

What Part of Spring Are You?

I scrapped like a mad woman!!

And I loved it!! LOL I enjoyed this long weekend and {inter}National Scrapbook Day and got back to scrapping. Here are my LOs:

Credits here.

Credits here.

Credits here.

Credits here.

Goals review

Here were the goals I posted 2 weeks ago for april, and how I've been doing so far:

• Prepare cards for all the april and may birthdays (and there are plenty of them in may, so I better be prepared!) NOT DONE, my creative mojo is on vacation, too busy I guess!
  
• Workout every other day for the rest of the month, starting today HALF DONE, I'm usually consistent for the first half of the week and then... pfft!
  
• Catch up on pending to do's at work, especially the (huge) "to read" pile and the (also pretty big) "to file" pile WORKING AT IT and I definitely want to get rid of the "to file" before the end of the month!
  
• Create a budget NOT DONE
  
• File the (gigantic) "to file" pile in my home office NOT DONE but at least I'm keeping up with the incoming paper

Well, so far I'm not doing good. Even without being perfectionist, this is far from satisfying. Considering how hectic my life was over the last weeks (and especially the last days) though, I'm doing ok: I've managed to keep my sanity, not gain weight, not fight with anyone... I'm in survival mode until things settle down at work and hence everywhere else.

Spring (again)

This is the not-so-great side of spring!

Green

Green is definitely not a color I like... unless it's about being green! Here are some changes I made recently:

• Replace all old lightbulbs by energy-saving ones (a bit more expensive to buy, but they use 6 times less energy and last 10 times longer!)
• Replace all the chemical cleaning products by green ones: white vinegar, organic laundry products, etc.
• We changed our heating system last year and the new one uses 25% less fuel!
• I buy organic products when I can (eggs, milk, fruits and veggies if they are not too expensive, vine) and local as much as possible.
  
• I got my "compost box" back from the basement and now we collect our compostable wastes, like vegetables and fruits scraps. I then add all that to the big compost that my inlaws have in the garden... and then it helps MIL grow delicious fruits and veggies again! The circle of life!

Those are simple and cheap ideas (well, except for the heating system change!) that are not difficult to put into action. They are not "big" things but when you add everything up, I hope it makes a difference!

What do you do to make your life greener? Any idea that I could do too?

Image from freefoto.com

I won!

I got lucky and won two sets of cute tags @ Shabby Chic Crafts!!! I'm so excited!!

First paper LO

I did my first paper LO ever!! It was for a CT so I couldn't post until now, but I just got the info that I wasn't selected... Too bad, but for a first try I'm already glad I was brave enough to send my application! LOL

Here's my LO:

Credits:
green paper: Anja Aspnes, Designers Digitals' Ad Freebie 12/16/2007
orange paper: Amanda Heimann, What goes around
blue paper: Amanda Heimann, Beach towel
yellow paper: Amanda Heimann, Picnic blanket
striped paper: Amanda Heimann, Wrapping Paper
alpha: Toga
button: Fimo clay
black cardstock and ribbon unknown
font: Adler

Sooooo... what do you think?

Tomorrow will be tough

I'm afraid of tomorrow... literally! First because I made a huge mistake at work and will have to tell my boss (I only discovered it last night, it ruined my Sunday!). Second because it's weigh in day and I had a HUGE family meal today for the "confirmation" of Guy's nephew (when the kids renew their baptism vows). It was delicious... way too delicious for my own good! And look at the dessert I had:
It's a chocolate "fondant", which means "melting"... and if you look closely, the heart of the cake is actually melt... Totally yummy and about 3 458 467 547 calories a bite!

I've been working hard... for once!

Well, I'm usually not a slacker, but over the last 2 days I worked physically. Yesterday I painted the stairs that go to our cellar and today I helped DBF with some wood work he had to do. Not exhausting, but still much harder than my usual office work. It makes me realise how lucky I am to do the kind of job that I chose, that I like, and that I'm good at! And how lucky DBF is to not have me to work with him every day! LOL

Soooooo hilarious!

ROFLMAO!!!

One day...

One day, I will stop making excuses and live the life I want.
One day, I will stop being afraid and live the life I deserve.
One day, I will love myself enough to do all I want to.
One day, I will rebel against my own behaviours and change them.
One day, I will have the life I've been dreaming of.
One day, I will stop dreaming of my dream life and make it happen.

I don't know when that day will come, but I am ready for it!

Spring!

Besides pollens, I love it!! LOL

A very interesting blog post about money

As you might know considering my 2009 goals, I'm trying to get my finances under control, starting by getting educated about the topic. One great (and free!) way to do so is to get informations on the terrific blogs that exist across the internet. I recently discover, through a "Daily Links" post at Get Rich Slowly (great blog, worth the RSS subscribing!), this terrific post by Plonkee Money. Have a look and let me know what you think. It was a true aha! moment to me!!

April goals and march review

Well, considering that we're halfway through april already, it's about time to review my march goals and plan my april ones, uh? LOL

My march goals were:

• Celebrate Guy's birthday with our family and friends, on a budget (to avoid the stress that goes with over spending!) DONE, we just went to a nice restaurant with his family and stayed on track with our spendings.
  
• Track my food for at least 20 days in the month NOT DONE!
  
• Catch up on my work for the web site: calendar, news page, etc. HALF DONE
  
• Track all our expenses DONE!
  
• Wash dishes right after each meal ABOUT HALF DONE
  

The last weeks were terribly stressful and hectic, so I'm already pretty satisfied to see that some goals have been accomplished, that's more than what I thought and much more than what I could have expected considering the amount of work and stress I had to deal with!

Here are my goals for April (or rather the rest of it):

• Prepare cards for all the april and may birthdays (and there are plenty of them in may, so I better be prepared!)
• Workout every other day for the rest of the month, starting today
• Catch up on pending to do's at work, especially the (huge) "to read" pile and the (also pretty big) "to file" pile
• Create a budget
• File the (gigantic) "to file" pile in my home office

A great site

It's Craft Critique's anniversary! If you don't know this site yet, go have a look, it's great! First of all, because it gives some fuel to your if-I-ever-win-the-lottery daydreaming, with all the newest and trendiest (is that a word? Whatever, you get the idea!) tools and gadgets you could ever think of. But most importantly because it's packed with terrific tips and creative ideas to use your good ol' tools and fabulous advices to pick your new favorite! Definitely a RSS-subscription worth one!

Math of the day

1 little boy + 5 minutes of loneliness in the bathroom = NOT a good idea! LMAO!!

(My friends Nanie and Pat's little boy Tristan)

Beating procrastination

Okay, I know I'm not the most appropriate person to talk about beating procrastination. But it's maybe exactly because I'm one of the worst procrastinator ever that I can share what helps me fight this VERY bad habit... kind of "the insider" point of view, you know? LOL

Anyway, here's how I motivate myself to do some unattractive task: I remind myself how long it actually takes. I usually procrastinate because I imagine that it will take a loooooong time, much longer than what it actually takes. So I set my mind, do the job and track how long it actually takes, which is usually not that bad! For example, I used to hate cleaning the cat's litter. I once realized that it barely takes 15 minutes, more likely 10 minutes maximum. Let's be honest, the task is still unpleasant and I doubt I will ever think it's fun, but at least I now know that it won't be unpleasant for more than 15 minutes. What a relief! And what a motivation to see my kitty all happy to pee in a brand new litter ;-) Yeah, I know, it's all about finding the right motivator, uh? LOL

March goals and February debriefing

I just realize I didn't even posted my February goals... Here they were:

• Find new techniques to reduce my stress (gratitude journal, meditation,...): NOT DONE I'm now not only stressed, I'm probably depressed as well... Yeeepeeeeeee. :(
  
• Work out at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. DONE!
  
• Get rid of all the pending to-do’s at work 80% DONE!
  
• Start a budget: collect all our incomes. DONE! I actually started a budget but I need to have a much more precise idea of everything
  
• Work on my evening and weekly routines NOT DONE

And here are my March goals:

• Celebrate Guy's birthday with our family and friends, on a budget (to avoid the stress that goes with over spending!)
• Track my food for at least 20 days in the month
  
• Catch up on my work for the web site: calendar, news page, etc.
  
• Track all our expenses
• Wash dishes right after each meal

I hope I will be more successful this month. I have to, or I'll keep feeling like a big failure and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stand it!

Did someone said slacking??

Isn't it ironic that one of my last posts 1 month ago was about how much I loved blogging everyday during the month of February? LOL

I'm having a really hard time keeping up with everything, this permanent overwhelming feeling is just exhausting. I always have to remind myself that the word I picked for 2009 was PEACE. I want it so bad... I need it so bad! It feels like everything I do in order to be more serene and peaceful turns into more stress and anxiety. For example today I decided to start to set up a budget... Bad idea!! I realized that I don't have any extra money for an emergency or for fun stuff. How sad is that? We can't afford a new computer for Guy, a new lense for my camera, I can't even afford to go visiting Laura who lives 2 hours away because my car is too bad to drive for that long, and because I don't have enough money to go there by train. HOW SAD IS THAT? I already struggle to not get in debit every end of month (and usually I don't succeed), but anything extra is out of question... or actually should be, to avoid the said end-of-month debit!

I've bee researching a lot on the internet about financial stuff, and even though the american way of life isn't totally accurate for me (I don't have much debt, for example), I've found lots and lots of useful tips. I will try to track very precisely everything we spend for the month of march, hopefully DBF will join me in this dreadful yet necessary task!

What's your word?

Meg gave us a fun quizz to do for the new FOB2Y @ SSD. Here's my result:

Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love. You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

What's Your Word?

I'm happy with that result, even though the word I secretly chose as my year's theme is PEACE.

Birthday... no, not mine!

It's SSD's birthday! There are lots of fun events going on there, go have a look! For FOB2Y, Teresa asked us to blog about our birthdays. One of my strongest memory is my 13th birthday. I had a terrific party, my mom even rented a place and she made me the most wonderful gift for a teen: she staid out of the room all evening. I think I didn't show her then, but I really appreciated that she trusted us enough to let us enjoy our party without interfering. Thanks again, Mom!

Mini-album!!!

I went to a crop 2 weeks ago and created my first mini album ever. I didn't finish it that day (yeah, it took me 2 long weeks) but it's now done and I'm so excited to show you! Let me know what you think!!


You still there? Okay, let's keep going then!

2 new LOs

For TDC’s February 2nd sketch.

Credits: sketch by Christine Couch,
Cupcake by Sarah Jones and Mari Koegelenberg,
Notebook paper by Ksharonk (Rebecca’s Art 1 bonus)
Font is DJB Chloé by Darcy Baldwin,
Andrea Burns' Color Pop & Black and White Photo Action.

For SSD’s 02/04 Cookie Decorating 101.

Credits: template by Tracy Ducar, based on a LO by Lena Brandenburg,
A mojito kinda day by Eva Kipler and Amanda Heimann @ SSD,
Font is DJB Writes a Lot by Darcy Baldwin @ SSD,
Andrea Burns' Color Pop & Black and White Photo Action.

WOW

It's made with tons of pictures... Amazing, uh?

January's over

Ok, I can't believe it but I blogged EVERY SINGLE DAY in January!! Wow, I'm in shock! I'd really like to keep going, it's nice! ;-)

Thanks to breaking my camera, I couldn't keep with the one pic a day challenge, though, but I'll get back to it as soon I can buy a new lense. Still have to make some arrangements for that.

My goals for this month are only half reached:

• Collect all my loved ones' birthdays dates and prepare cards for the first trimester.

I sent cards to all those that I knew had birthdays in January, and I'm still working on the first trimester's cards. I also got mom's file with all the family's birthdays and I've been adding them to my PDA to have everything in one spot.

• Get back to exercise: work out at least 15 minutes 5 times a week.

Mmmmm... NO! I totally messed up with weight loss this month, I gained a lot (still have to figure out how much, even if I'm not sure that I want to know!)

• Collect informations about the different options I have for my career: classes, exam, etc.

I had a nice chat with my friend Lydie who's a great professional and know a lot about our status (as state employees we've got different careers than people working for normal companies). There will be some major changes next month(s) with 3 new people joining the team, so I need to see what this will bring. My boss really sucks at planning and communicating about changes, so I don't really know where we're going right now... We'll see.

• Collect informations about financial management (blogs, books, etc.)

I read several blogs about this topic, and I will set up a plan next month.

• Get back to my routines, think about giving them a twist if necessary.

I've been improving this really nicely. The only routine that I still have a hard time with is my evening routine: I keep doing the basics like brushing my teeth but I need to improve the little extras that help a lot, especially as I plan to get up earlier to workout.

Stay tune for next month's goals!!

Animator vs animation - The sequel