December Daily - Free December Calendar Printable

Yay!

It is December and the start of my first ever December Daily.

Today I took down the suitcases from upstairs to start packing for our trip to Oregon. Of course, Zo thought they were her designated play toys for the day. She hasn't been feeling well this past week so anything that makes her happy is fine by me.

I created this calendar to go on the second page. I love the look of the calendars and really wanted my own handwriting to be in my album. If you like, feel free to use it in your project as well. Here is the Dropbox link: Free December 2015 Calendar Printable

I am really excited about this project and hope it goes well as it is my first time. I have gotten so much inspiration from everyone else and wish to do the same to others.

xoxo, Kaisa

Whole30 Update: Day 10

I successfully completed 10 days of my first Whole30. So far, I have had only positive experiences physically and mentally. Here are some things that have improved just in these 10 days:

1. More energy in the mornings. I have really noticed that I am more productive right after I wake up. I used to get my energy kick in the early afternoon, and it was almost impossible for me to "get moving" before then unless I had something important to do. Now, I see myself playing with Zoe more and we like to go to the grocery store before lunch.

2. Weight.. I know the program officially says to stay away from the scale, but I totally ditched this mantra. After 10 days, I have lost 2.5 pounds. I was already happy with my weight so this is just an added bonus to me. I really started this to help with my lack of energy. 

On Day 9 I wanted sugar badly. I was thinking of cookies and chocolate and it was a bit difficult. But every other day has been easy. I would really love to have my oatmeal back in the morning, though. I am TIRED of eggs.

Side note: I am really excited for Thanksgiving dinner. Making a Whole30 compliant festive meal is going to be really easy. We can still have turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie (minus the crust) :)

xoxo, Kaisa 

My Life Documenting Plan for 2016 - Part 1 - Hobonichi Weeks

2016 is bound to be a big year for me. It is the year I will turn 30. And I want it to be properly documented. I have thought a lot about my life documenting plan and will be sharing it with you on this blog in 3 parts: planning, journaling, and Project Life. I hope that you are inspired to document your 2016 and that maybe some of my ideas could be useful in your life.

So here are my plans for PLANNING:

I have kept a planner for all of 2015 and am so proud of myself for keeping up with it. I like that I can look back and see exactly what I did on each day. It also really helped me with Project Life if I was a bit behind.  I currently use a Hobonichi Cousin (A5 size) with daily, weekly, and monthly calendars. I journal with the daily. I plan in the weekly. And the monthly I don't really use.. Some months I took a picture a day of Zoe and pasted them into the day boxes. I actually really liked this, but it took a lot of work. And extra work with a baby is definitely a thumbs down. 

For 2016, I'd like to change it up a bit. I want to split up my journaling and planning into separate books. Let's face it, sometimes I don't have time to plan and sometimes I don't have time to journal. I don't like that my empty journaling pages and empty planning pages are combined in one book. Also, I want my planner to be portable. (The A5 size was a bit bulky to go in my purse). Below are some old pictures of my weekly, monthly, and daily pages:

Weekly

Monthly

Daily

I love my Hobonichi. Which is why I have decided to keep the same brand for my planner. If you haven't heard of Hobonichi, you should really check them out. Here is a link to the English website. 

For 2016, I will be using a Hobonichi Weeks with the Liberty Art Fabric cover in Peacocks of Grantham Hall. The Hobonichi Weeks is tall and thin, much like a Midori Traveler's Notebook. It has the full week on the left side and grid blank space on the right. I chose this because I love to make lists for the week, which will be perfect for the right side. And that cover is so gorgeous. Below are some pictures from the Hobonichi website as my planner won't ship until early December. 

Photo from the Hobonichi website

Photo from the Hobonichi website

I am so excited to hold this planner in my hands and will give an update to you with more pictures once it arrives at the end of the year. 

xoxo, Kaisa

Currently || November Edition

I am currently:

Reading: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. It is SO GOOD. It is also so difficult to read with a 10 month old. The only time I have is about 30 minutes before bed. I think I will follow along with Kellie Winnell and do 30 minutes for 30 days for myself. 

Watching: I just finished watching Season 3 of Rita on Netflix. It is a Danish TV series about a woman/mother/teacher who is opinionated and sex driven. And I highly recommend it. The only problem I've had is that I can't do anything else while watching it because of the subtitles. So nursing was the perfect time to relax and catch up on episodes. 

Eating: I am doing a Whole30 in November so I made homemade Lara bars. I urge you to make some. I put 30 g of nuts with 80 g of soft dried fruit in my Nutribullet and then molded them into bars. Fabulous. My favorite so far has been almond, coconut flakes, dates, and figs. I think I may up the nut to fruit ratio in the next batch, though. 

Thinking: That I am finally starting to feel like myself again. Becoming a mom is a strange thing. It's like losing your sense of self for awhile. Everything you have is given to your baby (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing). Basically, I'm wearing jeans and make-up again. You're welcome husband. 

Loving: My baby is now climbing on EVERYTHING. It is the greatest experience watching a baby learn new things.

Doing: Working on my Project Life backlog. I printed off all of my photos from Rossman. I really liked the quality and will be using them from now on. I was about 9 weeks behind before my pictures arrived. Now, they are all in the album. I just need to get a bit creative (i.e. find time to be creative).

Whole 30 November

Yesterday marked the start of my first Whole30. Actually, it is my first ever structured diet. I eat pretty healthy right now so I don't expect it to be too difficult. But here are some things I will miss this month:

1. Bye bye frothed milk. So sad about this. I already put my frother out of sight. 

2. Dark chocolate. I usually have a small piece after lunch. I crave chocolate and this may be difficult for me.

3. Oatmeal... yes, I am an oatmeal girl and eat it every morning. Now, I actually have to TRY in the morning. 

4. Cheese. I actually don't know how much I will miss cheese. I do love it, but I may be okay on this one. (fine print: only for a month)

So here is to a VERY healthy November. 

xoxo Kaisa

European Adventures

There is a really good reason for the long separation since my last post: VACATION. It was exactly what I needed to stir up my life and make me feel good again. Here are some pictures from the past month. We went to Augsburg, Munster, Cologne, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

Augsburg Airbnb, Neuschwanstein Castle, Füssen

Münster, Cologne, Berlin, Amsterdam

I am now back home resting from such wonderful adventures. I absolutely love this season and (of course) all things pumpkin. I hadn't had Starbucks in so long and that Pumpkin Spice Latte is much sweeter than I remembered :( But I love how Germans think I'm saying Kaiser when I say my name. It makes me feel so royal. 

xoxo, Kaisa

What I'm Reading // Summer 2015

When people ask me what I'm interested in, I always answer with reading. I have been an avid reader my whole life and love snuggling up with a blanket and hot beverage to a good book. It is probably why I love Fall so much. Actually, books are for every season. What I wouldn't give to be lounging on a beach somewhere with a book in my hands.

This was an incredibly hot summer in Germany. There were a couple days in July that were even record-breaking. Of course, I had a sun hater (aka baby) for the glorious weather so I couldn't leave the apartment too often. My baby is a vampire. She shields her eyes any time she gets close to a sun- filled window.

I still managed to read two books and would like to share a small review with you.

1 // Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Rating: 4/5

If you've ever read Murakami, you will know that he can make real life seem almost like fantasy. It's like you don't know whether to believe the event actually happened. That is how I felt for most of this novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, though, and would recommend it to anyone. It is a short book and it captivated me into reading it fairly quickly.



2 // Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Rating: 5/5

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It is a post apocalyptic novel, but it focuses on the characters more than the catastrophe. I seriously don't want to say any more, because you should definitely read it as soon as possible.


If you've read these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Next up on my read list is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Memory Keeping and Project Life

Memory keeping.

                       

I have only recently begun to get my photos off of digital land and into albums. It all started when I decided to document my daughter's first year. I was taking an incredible amount of pictures and, after snapping the picture, would rarely go back to look at them. I just didn't know where to begin. Scrapbooking wasn't for me. I had tried it back in High School and didn't exactly like the look. And making an entire album seems like it would take forever.

And then I stumbled upon a couple of Instagram accounts that really stood out to me. It's this thing called Project Life and it really spoke to me. Here was my inspiration, if you'd like to check them out:

• @giveagirlablog (Instagram, blog)

• @sunlightandair (Instagram, blog)

• @kellypurkey (Instagram, blog)

• @julieloveg (Instagram, blog)

And there you have it. I am now addicted to memory keeping. I am still trying to figure out "my style", and I can't wait to share the pages I have done so far for 2015.

The Beginning

This is the beginning of me sharing my life to the world. More specifically, me sharing my craft life with you. Because let's be honest, this blog will be mainly art, crochet, and pictures... and I wouldn't have it any other way. I will gracefully grow into my aging years.

I guess I should start out with introducing myself: 

I am 29 years old. 

I am married.

I am a new mom.

I am from Oregon.

I am now in Germany.

I once was in South Korea.

I graduated from Washington State University and lived with the greatest girls in the world.

My life, thus far, has been unbelievably kind. Things fell into place with my "go with the flow" attitude. 

I am trying to act with more purpose now that I'm ending my twenties. Life isn't as giving when you get older. But I know with just a little nudge from my end, everything will go just right. 

So follow along and enjoy. Comment if you'd like. Friends are welcome here. 

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