Photo Wednesday: Sharing my Memories

This weeks photo is one that was taken this summer and one that has actually been included in a previous blog entry. 

This photo to me not only is one of the coolest moments of my life, but it also sums up why I scrapbook, create photo albums, sell Creative Memories and why I think preserving our memories is just about the most important thing you can do with your time.  Having my Paul Brandt scrapbook completed meant that I could share some of the memories I had from his concerts with him.  It gave me an opening to actually be able to have a conversation with someone that usually leaves me starstruck. 

That particular scrapbook though could also have been an album I created for a travel companion or maybe a calendar that I could give as a gift, or a photo panel done in memory of a loved one.  They are ways that I get to show the people that I love how much they matter to me. It makes the other person feel as good as it makes me feel to do it.

So for all of you who are checking out these photos or reading my blog take a look at your computer and pull out an image or two that you love and print them.  Put them in a picture frame or even just tack them to a wall.  You don't need to do anything fancy but do you really want to hunt through thousands of photos to find your favourites when you need a lift.  Trust me when I say that it's not as hard as it seems and that the rewards of surrounding yourself with your memories is a great boost to any mood.

Photo Wednesday: A Little Family Love

This week's photo was taken in August 2010 when my brother,sister and I invaded Vancouver Island and my parents home. 

I have a few reasons for loving this photo.  The first is that I have wanted to have a family photo for years.  Although my Dad enjoyed photography we never actually had a family photo done.  When I was scanning photos for a scrapbook I did find one that dad must have taken on a tripod but my brother is only a bump in my Mom's tummy so it shows how long ago that was.  So I love the photo because finally I have a picture of my whole family. 

The other reason I love this photo is because when I look at it I flash back to an amazing day where no one was fighting with each other.  We were laughing and having fun.  Dad was trying to chase away wasps and we were all just really goofy.  I sometimes forget how much I love my family (especially when we all butt heads, which when you are as strong willed as most members of my family, happens a lot) but it is moments like this that let me enjoy them and celebrate the fact they are my family.  I'm glad to have a photo to help me remember this moment in time.

My Weight Loss Journey Continues

It has been awhile since I wrote an entry about my weight loss journey, so I figured on the first real day of my holidays it was a good as any time to sit down and do some writing. I guess the reason I haven’t written about it is because there hasn’t been anything to write about. So now it’s time to fess up, clear the slate and start over back on track.

Like a lot of people I know who want to lose weight or are trying to lose weight I have fallen prey to the excuse monster. You know the monster that creeps up and whispers in your ear things like, ‘you can’t lose weight now you are on holidays’ or ‘you’ll start exercising next week when you can get proper sleep’ or one of the biggest ones for me, ‘you don’t need to try right now you are still dealing with the grief of losing a loved one’. I was creating excuse after excuse for not doing the things I needed to do and I had gotten really lazy when it came to things like tracking my meals. None of this helps if you want to lose weight.

The frustration that this was causing me was incredible. I hate when I know that I’m capable of doing something but am not actually doing it. I know it sounds a little weird maybe because I’m in charge of what I do or don’t do but as frustrated as I was getting at myself it wasn’t enough for me to actually restart doing the things I needed to continue to take the weight off.

I have been really lucky in that I don’t have any major health issues or knee pain or anything like that but how long will my luck last. The statistics all show the reality is that my weight if I keep it on will catch up to me. So a few weeks ago I just woke up and decided to put all the excuses down, let go of the frustration and forgive myself for having let things slide. I woke up to my very early alarm after a night that was later than I had expected but as tired as I was I still got up and worked out. It was something I hadn’t done in a while and I could tell but it felt great when I was done. I started to remember that amazing feeling you get when you push yourself to make your body move. The endorphins and energy that come and the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing the things you need to do. It was all I needed to remind myself to keep going. I have been working out most days since.

Food tracking was a different story. Getting my restart there has not been as easy. Tracking the way I used to (which when I first started was something I loved doing) with pen, paper, my calculator and food and dining out companion books wasn’t working. I had become far too lazy and lax with paper tracking it was very hard to get motivated. I tried to do the paper tracking again. I bought myself a new three month tracker but it wasn’t working. I would leave it at home or forget to take it out of my purse. I knew I needed to figure a new way to make the tracking work. I decided after a year of having my iPhone maybe it was time to actually try the two week free trial of the Weight Watchers e-Tools. Well low and behold I have now fallen in love with the silly app. I fully plan on keeping it. It has changed the outcome on my weight loss significantly which is why I wanted to talk about it a little. Tracking is no longer a chore I have to do but something I can do with ease. I don’t have to carry my calculator with me or my dining out books. Everything is stored in my phone which I always have with me. Sure there are other ways I could track, cheaper ways I could track but they weren’t working. In the grand scheme of things at just under $18 a month it is more than worth putting my budget.

I know that my story isn’t unique. I know that whether it is a weight loss goal or some other goal we all those moments where it just doesn’t seem like things are working. The advice that I share is to keep trying. Sit down and figure out what for yourself what you need and make it happen. Keeping trying different things until you find the one that clicks but don’t forget that what clicked before might not always be the best fit so don’t be afraid to change your mind and do something different. Perseverance can be a hard thing to master but if you keep trying eventually you are bound to come across something that works for you.

I think the other thing that I sometimes forget is that we don’t always need to make a big change to get big results. A small change can have a bigger impact than we think. It’s the ripple effect. If you drop a small pebble in water it creates waves that roll out from around it. So drop a small pebble in the center of your life and let the waves of change roll. That’s what I’m trying to do and I look forward to sharing the successes that I get from it.

Photo Wednesday: My Happy Place

Hello All,

  I have decided to take a note from a fellow blogger (and friend) and start doing some regular weekly postings with set themes.  The first I have decided to start is photo Wednesdays.  Most of you know I strongly feel that photographs are a very important part of our lives.  I work very hard to try and help people protect, preserve, display and celebrate their photos with one of my side jobs as a Creative Memories Independent Consultant.  I have decided to bring a little of that to my blog by sharing some of my favourite photos and what they mean to me.  I hope you will all enjoy the photos as much as I do.

This first photo is by far one of my very favourite photos of all time.  It was taken in 2008 while I was in Europe.  It is a library in a monastery in Melk, Austria.  When I look at the photo I can still smell that amazing smell of an old library - like old worn leather.  I can still remember clearly the awe I felt as I looked at all the old leather bound volumes and the desire to read all of the books.  It was by far one of the most peaceful and beautiful places I have ever been.  The true power of the photo for me (and why I turned it into a photo panel as well as why it is often my desktop background for my work computer) is that whenever I'm stressed or frustrated or in need of some creative inspiration I look at the photo and remember my few moments in that library and everything seems calmer.

The Flowers of War - a Movie Review

I have found one of the most moving and amazing movies I have seen in a very long time and I feel the need to tell everyone about it. I have never felt the urge to do a movie review before, because really I think most of you would just think I’m nuts for the movies I love but because I feel so strongly about this movie I figured I should say something. The Flowers of War may not be for everyone but I have fallen in love with it. It is a movie called based on a novel called “13 Flowers of Nanjing” by Geling Yan, which I purchased just yesterday and am looking forward to reading. (I will be reviewing the book on Boxes of Paper in a few weeks so stay tuned for that).

The movie takes place in Nanjing, China in 1937 during a massacre that happened during the Second Sino-Japanese War. For more information on the massacre check out Nanking Massacre on wikipedia. I will admit that even though I have studied a little Chinese and Japanese history I did not know of this event, or if I did I had filed it away behind all my world war history and forgotten about it which is a shame. I have added the event and time period to the list of history I need to learn more about though. So I will be doing a little research before long.

The movie tells the story of a Western mortician who ends up at a church that is full of young convent girls, one young boy but no adults at the start of the Nanjing Massacre. A group of prostitutes shows up seeking refuge from the massacre that is going on in the city at the church and although the young boy turns them away at first they jump the fence and force their way in. The movie continues to tell the story of these young convent girls and although they are in a great deal of risk from the invading Japanese we get to see how many people are willing to sacrifice themselves for the young girls to protect them against the invading soldiers. Everyone is just trying to protect and save their innocence from the cruelty that faces them in city that is being destroyed by an unspeakable enemy.

Although I am predisposed to noticing war type movies I will admit this one wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t even know it existed. It was my random boy craziness and that led me to it one day when I was bored and searching on imdb.com. Anyone that knows me will know and appreciate that although I love too many movie stars to list, there are only a couple of stars that I really adore and that show up very predominately in my movie collection. One of those stars is Christian Bale. I have adored him since I first saw him in Newsies. (I will even admit quietly that for years when I wrote in my journal it was his name that was at the top of the page). Since then I have seen and bought a large majority of his movies and so when I came across this movie I picked it up without a second thought. Of course since I bought it while I was in the middle of my Camp Nanowrimo writing challenge it sat on my shelf until last week.

When I put it in the dvd player I didn’t really know what to expect and as usual when I watch anything I had my laptop out planning on doing some work with my photos while I watched. It only took a few minutes of the movie before I was closing the laptop having my attention completely drawn into the movie. The movie was impressive enough that I even forgot that I was watching Christian Bale (which for me is a bigish deal because I will admit I do have a tendency to watch movies so that I can day dream about whichever cute star is in it).

The movie was incredibly moving. There were moments where I wanted to scream at the tv and moments where I was left sobbing. There are some scenes that were very hard to watch but if you can get through them it is a very moving story. I like it for the same reason I tend to like holocaust stories, which is that although you get to see the absolute worst in people you also get to see the absolute best in people as well. Movies like this really make me think and wonder what I would do if I was in the situation. I like to think I would be selfless enough to do the right thing but I guess we can never really know for sure and hopefully I will never actually have to find out what I would do in such a situation.

I guess long story short if you are looking for a really good movie to watch and you are open to a few tears (or lots if you are like me and cry at everything) go out and pick up this movie. I will warn you that the images of the movie may stick with you but I think that is the point of a good movie. So although I may be biased because of Bale or the fact it is a history movie I still think it is worth a watch.