The Big Blog Question: What Do I Blog About?

Sometimes blogging becomes difficult. It becomes difficult because you, as a blogger, suddenly face a big blog question once again: What do I blog about? You first face that question when you create your blog and as you start to blog. It comes more easily to some people than others. Sometimes people know exactly what they want to blog about and they have a vast knowledge of the subject so blog posts just flow from their brains and through their fingers as they type. For others, it is a tougher question to answer.

It might be a tough decision to make because the blogger just doesn't know what they are good at or interested in. Or maybe they like so many things and can't decide which things to choose to blog about. Or maybe they feel that they don't have enough knowledge about the things that they like to actually be able to blog about them. Or maybe they are scared about what other people will think about their blog posts and are therefore afraid to blog about certain things. Or maybe they are perfectionists and they feel that they just won't do a good enough job blogging about certain subjects. The list goes on and on.

For me, it is definitely a tough decision to make because I love so many things. I am fascinated by and enjoy learning about so many subjects! I love doing so many things! I love making so many things! I love talking and writing about so many things! You get the idea... I am simply all over the place when it comes to living my life. I always have something to learn about or do. So you can see how it would be difficult for me to figure out what to blog about. I get worried that my blog will be too all over the place or sometimes there's just so many things that I want to blog about that I don't know where to start or even how to start. I have a list full of blog post drafts that only have a title that describes what the blog post would be about but nothing else. No outline. No text. No further explanation. No photos. No links. No labels/tags. Just the title. Because it's something that I want to blog about in the future but I just don't feel like writing that particular post right now or I just don't have an idea yet of what exactly I want to say.

I didn't even know exactly what I wanted to say in this blog post. Do I simply want to state the fact that I've struggled with this problem? Do I want to let other bloggers know that they're not alone if they have this problem too? Do I want to share tips on how to work through this problem? Or, do I  use this post to figure out a plan for tackling this problem that I have? How about I do all those things! After all, I've pretty much covered the first two already. Now onto the next two!

I'll start by making a list of the categories of all of the things that I love and enjoy doing/learning about/talking about (in no particular order):

• Books and reading
• Writing
• Music
• Arts and crafts
• Photography
• Cooking and baking
• Health
• Movies and TV shows
• Nature
• Outdoor activities
• Animals and pets
• Travel
• History
• Living a positive life
• Frugal living

Ok, so I have a basic list of categories. Now I can add more detail! I can add lists to each of the categories. In each list, I can put the specific things that I like that fall within that category:

• Books and reading: graphic novels/comic books, novels, short stories, poems, information/educational books
• Writing: blog posts, pen pal letters, poems, stories
• Music: playing piano, playing flute, singing, listening to music
• Arts and crafts: drawing, watercolours, origami, loom knitting, making dreamcatchers
• Photography: photographing... pets, my brother, nature
• Cooking and baking: cooking with lots of vegetables, healthy cooking, baking cookies
• Health: healthy eating, exercise, mental health
• Movies and TV shows: way too many to list (hehe) but I enjoy talking about them and noticing things (especially since I took a screenwriting class when I was in university and can never watch a movie or tv show the same way ever again)
• Nature: environmentalism, trees, plants, animals, landscapes
• Outdoor activities: Geocaching, gardening, camping, hiking, walking, biking, swimming, exploring
• Animals and pets: my dog and bunny and fish, birds... especially chickadees, bunnies
• Travel: in Canada, in the U.S.A., in Europe, visiting museums, visiting landmarks
• History: 1920s, early Canadian settlers, my own genealogy
• Living a positive life: gratitude, self-love, happiness
• Frugal living: natural DIY products, environmentalism, simple ways to save money

Now I can put certain categories together and place them under larger, more inclusive categories:

• Arts: Writing, Music, Art, Crafts, Photography
• Entertainment: Books, Reading, Music, Movies, TV Shows
• Nature: Environment, Outdoors Activities, Animals
• Living: Positive Life, Frugal Living, Health, Cooking and Baking, Travel, Pets
• Learning: Books, Reading, History, Travel

I could now choose one of the above five categories to blog about. I could even choose one of the categories from my larger list. Some bloggers will choose to do this and it would definitely make for a more focused blog. Do you want to have a blog of DIYs? Recipes? Helpful tips? Educational information? Reviews? What category would you like to blog about? What parts of that category would you like to blog about? If someone wants to know specific information or is interested in a specific topic, they might come across your blog and find it to be very helpful and handy. Maybe they like the same thing as you. Maybe they'd simply like to learn more about something. Maybe they have a certain obsession. Having a blog that focuses on 1-3 specific topics/subjects can be very attractive to blog readers.

I, however, want to blog about all of those things that I'm interested in. Some people might think, well why did you do all of that work when you were never going to choose just one category. Why did you have to write down all of the things that you're interested in? Don't you already know all of the things that you're interested in? Well, I was actually thinking the same thing. I wondered why I did this exercise when I was still just going to choose to blog about all sorts of things. This exercise can still help me because now I have more of an idea of the specific things that I would like to blog about. I have a list of categories and the things that I like that fall under those categories. My interests are now organized. If I ever get stuck or need help with ideas for a blog post or ideas for what exactly to talk about in a blog post that falls within a certain category, I can refer back to these lists.

I guess you can say that my blog is like a journal for me. I write about the things that I like and feel passionate about. Except in this case, I'm sharing my words with a public audience and I also sometimes have to include information that I might not include in a journal. Like knowledge that I already know but that my audience might not know. Or website links. Or links back to other "entries." And then there's always information that I would write in a journal that I would not put online. Personal information that I don't feel like sharing or maybe should not be shared.

So here's my blog and, I guess, here's my life. You get a glimpse into it. I always like blogs where the bloggers share bits and pieces of their life and interests. There are more stories. More passion. More heart. The posts ooze with sincerity and authenticity. You don't get to see only one topic. You don't get to see only one part of my life. You get all sorts of different parts of it. You get all sorts of different knowledge and stories. Because that's the way that our lives are. We have lots of different interests. We have lots of different paths that we walk. We use our time on Earth to do so many things, to truly live! And I want to blog about it!

Cheers,
Kay

I Shall Have Some Peace There

My family owns a camp, a little cabin in the bush (woods) with a small wood-stove. It is like a second home. When we started using it again regularly this year, two years had passed since we had last visited it. I checked my journal and found out that the last time that we were there was September 22nd, 2013 and we had arrived on September 21st and stayed there overnight. The day that we finally visited again was September 21st, 2015, the day which, two years ago, had been the last night that we would spend there for a while. Of course, some of our relatives who also partly own the camp may have visited it during that time, but it didn't look like it had been used very much.

We have been trying to use it more now. It feels good to go back there, where it is quiet and relaxing. Where we are surrounded by nature. Where there are less distractions. Where we are away from society, away from civilization. I could go on and on but the point is, it's peaceful there. When I am there, I am surrounded by nature and I am also surrounded by my family since we go there together.

I also find that it is easier for me to concentrate on various activities like reading books and working on various projects. I like writing there and working on crafts like my loom knitting. There are so many distractions at my family's house and there are just so many things to be done there. At our camp, however, life is simple. There aren't a million things to do, only a few. That leaves time for working on other things. The quiet of the bush and the warmth of the wood-stove provide a great atmosphere. We sit quietly and read or work on whatever we like. In the mornings, we meditate, and on Saturday evening, we listen to Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC Radio, a radio show where Randy Bachman shares songs that fall under a theme (a different theme is chosen for each show) and shares stories from his experience as a musician and his experiences meeting various other musicians.

Of course, many experiences of mine remind me of songs or literature and my experiences of staying at my camp are no different. In William Butler Yeats' poem, "The Lake Isle Of Innisfree," he talks about going to Innisfree and he describes Innisfree and describes what he will do there. At one point in the poem, he says, "I shall have some peace there." For Yeats, Innisfree is where he finds peace. For me, my family's camp is where I find peace.

Cheers,
Kay

A Love Letter To My Blog For Its 3rd Anniversary

To my dearest blog,

Tomorrow is your 3rd anniversary, so I want to express how deeply grateful I am for you. When I published my first blog post on February 13, 2013, I didn't know what would become of you. I had hopes of watching you grow very quickly, of spending lots of time with you, of doing great things together. Sadly, I neglected you. I started off posting a few times a week but then I posted less and less often. Large gaps of time stood between each blog post, and I can understand if you were lonely or maybe even afraid of what would happen to you. But I came back. You see, I needed you. I had so much that I needed to say to the world. So much that I needed to share. I knew that you would be the perfect helper.

I took my time giving you a makeover and planning all sorts of posts that I would start sharing. And then? I started blogging again. I shared my feelings. My observations. My thoughts. My stories. My life. It felt so good! I finally had a way to open up my mind and let everything out. You became a dear friend, once again. I could turn to you when I had something to say. In these few weeks since I started blogging again, you have become a sort of therapy for me. I used to bottle everything up until I would explode. Now I can share my experiences and unpack them. I can break them down and figure out what to do about them. I can share all of that here and I hope that it helps some people.

I'm sorry, darling, that I didn't post anything on your 2nd anniversary last year. Do understand that I was thinking of you. I didn't forget you. I just didn't know what to write about anymore. I think you could have helped me, though. I went through a lot of stress last year, trying to figure out who I am and in which direction I wanted to go with my life. I still am. At least I have you now.

So many amazing things have happened in my life and so many sad things have happened too. I'm ready to start sharing my stories with you and the world, well, at least the internet world. I look forward to many more years, dear blog. Many more anniversaries. Many more posts. Many more stories.

Love,
Kay

We're Dancing With The Demons In Our Minds

Hello friends!

It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for the blog silence; I take full responsibility for it. When I started this blog, I thought that it would be fun. I thought that I would publish posts a few times every week and that my blog would grow into something wonderful. Instead, I posted a few times a week and then posted only once a while until I was hardly posting at all. I have thought about what happened, what prevented me from continuing my blog as I had planned, and I realized a few things, one of which is that the concept of writing and maintaining a blog scares me. I don't have a lot of experience with web design or writing for a public audience so, I'm scared to try and learn about web design and I'm also scared to publish posts until I know that everything is absolutely perfect.

That's a big thing that has been stopping me from doing what I want: perfectionism. When I was little, I was a bit of a perfectionist and, although I have learned not to be so hard on myself about things, the perfectionist in me still comes out once in a while and scares me out of doing things that I want to do. I've learned over the years that our minds can be our greatest enemies. It's like the lyrics in Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw's song "Heroes": "We are the heroes of our time/ But we're dancing with the demons in our minds." Sure, you could interpret "dancing with the demons in our minds" as going along with evil ideas or doing bad things, but I interpret it differently. We go along with what our minds tell us instead of choosing what we want. It's like the angel and the devil on your shoulders, one telling you to do good things and the other telling you to do bad things except in this case the demons in our minds are preventing us from doing what we want to do with our lives. They are putting us down, telling us that we are not good enough. They stop us from moving forward.

Moving forward is a big thing for me. It would be a huge accomplishment! I have never been diagnosed with anything, but I have been dealing with a lot of things going on inside my mind for quite a few years now, starting in high school. I've talked to friends and family about what I go through and I also just deal with it on my own. Maybe I should talk to a doctor about it but for now I just try and learn how to get through it on my own. I want to move on. I want my mind to be my friend, not my enemy. I want to stop dancing with the demons in my mind and start dancing along in life, doing all of the things that I want to do, all of the things that I want to accomplish.

This blog is one of the things that I want in my life. I want to write. I want to share my stories, my experiences. I want to share happy things. I want to share fun things. I want to show everyone all of the great things that we have in our lives but I also want to show people that they are not alone if they are going through a tough time. Maybe this blog will help me deal with the challenges that I face. I have already been writing things down, trying to figure out what to do and how to deal with everything that is going on, and it definitely helps. Transferring thoughts to paper instead of letting them continue to swirl around and wreak havoc in my mind helps a lot. Maybe putting them here on this blog will help too.

Thanks for listening!

Cheers,
Kay

My Plans for 2015!

Lot of people like to make New Year resolutions and I am no exception. Instead of making only one or a few, however, I like making several goals for myself. It's great to make a list of goals or plans because writing it down and seeing it, whether it's attached to a bulletin board or fridge or it's in a notebook, can really help you stay motivated! So, here are my personal goals for 2015 as well as my plans for my blog in 2015!

Personal Goals

A lot of the personal goals that I have for myself for 2015 (and 1.7 years after that) are in my 101 Things in 1001 Days list which I already talked about in a post and which you can follow updates on through the 101 in 1001 tag.

My main big goals for 2015 are the following:

• Put my Crohn's Disease into remission (or at least heal the inflammation in the end of my large intestine)
• Go geocaching more
• Read more books for fun!
• Start doing more meditation, yoga, and exercise
• Spend more time outside

Blog Plans

I also have new and exciting plans for my blog, one of which is to blog more! Also, I want to have a proper blog schedule (which I still need to work out... this is in progress).

I will also have new content (or I'll be talking about some things that I've talked about before except I will talk about them a lot more): 

• Geocaching (news, stories, and tips): I'll talk about my own geocaching adventures and share my thoughts on news as well as share my own tips! For example: what to pack in a geocaching bag, tips for creating creative geocaches, etc.
• Nature/outdoors: I like geocaching, hiking, and spending time in nature so I want to spend more time outside and write about it too! I'll write about outdoor adventures that I have and also my feelings about nature (because it's such a beautiful thing!)
• Book/poem reviews: I will review and share my thoughts on books and poems that I read. Some of the books that I will talk about include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Inferno by Dan Brown, as well as Shakespeare plays! Yes, I'll be talking about both classic and contemporary literature!
• Journal prompts: I'll share journal prompts that my readers are welcome to use. I'll use them too and share some of the things that I write.
• Eleanor: During the summer, I bought a wooden mannequin. It's an artist's mannequin used for figure drawing. I named her Eleanor and she gets up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans and I'll share stories about her!
• Gratitude lists: I want to write many more gratitude lists! Gratitude lists are amazing!
• 101 Things in 1001 Days updates: Every month, I'll be sharing updates on the progress that I'm making with my 101 Things in 1001 Days list.
• Sharing my journey of living with mild Crohn's Disease: I have mild Crohn's Disease so it's a part of my life. I have been trying different things lately to try and heal the inflammation in my intestines. At the same time, I try not to let it get me down and I continue to work at living a life full of positive energy.

Of course, I'll also be writing more about living a life full of positive energy and I'll also still be sharing photos of my dog, Finnlegh!

What are your plans for 2015?

-Kaylie

My 101 Things in 1001 Days List

One great motivational technique is a list of goals! Writing your goals down a great step to start with before you actually begin your goals. I think of it as a way of convincing myself that I actually really want to a certain goal. I have so many goals that I want to complete that I decided to make a 101 Things in 1001 Days list. 101 Things in 1001 Days is an idea by the Day Zero Project. Basically, you make a list of 101 goals that you want to complete within 1001 days (that's approximately 2.7 years). 

For my list, I divided my goals up into categories. The categories are: Health & Wellness, Fitness, Nature/Environment, Reading, Writing, Blogging/Online Work, Music, Art, Family, and Miscellaneous. The Miscellaneous category is for goals that just didn't really fit into any of the other categories. Lots of people divide their goals up into categories when they post about their lists on their blogs and you'll see that they may have chosen different categories. I chose the categories that were important to me so if you want to put your goals into categories too, choose ones that are important to you! When I made the list in my Day Zero account, I couldn't divide my goals up into the categories so I just put my goals for each category together. In this post, you'll see that my goals are divided up into the categories and if you check my actual list on the website, you'll see that my goals appear in the same order as you see them here.

Check out my list and follow me on the Day Zero website to track my progress! I'll also be doing monthly updates of my progress here on my blog! You will be able to find all of my progress updates through the 101 in 1001 tag!

Health & Wellness

• Meditate everyday for a month and continue
• Write in a gratitude diary once a week for a month and continue
• Don't say anything negative for one day
• Overcome my phobias
• Try Tai Chi
• Grow my nails again
• Improve my posture
• Drink more water everyday
• Floss everyday for a month and continue
• Put my Crohn's Disease into remission
• Figure out a healthy eating plan that helps my Crohn's Disease
• Learn how to make 10 healthy recipes
• Eat healthier snacks
• Limit salt and sugar intake
• Limit processed foods
• Have a vegetarian day once a week for a month and continue

Fitness

• Create a morning stretch/workout routine
• Do yoga everyday for a month and continue
• Walk my dog everyday for a month and continue
• Jog everyday for a month and continue
• Do the 200 squats challenge
• Do the 100 push-ups challenge
• Do the 200 lunges challenge
• Do the 200 crunches challenge
• Start lifting weights
• Be able to do the splits
• Be able to do a headstand for one minute
• Learn more Charleston moves

Nature/Environment

• Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day
• Watch the sunrise on the Winter and Summer solstices and the Fall and Spring equinoxes
• Do a nature walk once a week for 2 months
• Plant a huge garden and use the vegetables in all sorts of ways
• Go foraging for plants, berries, etc. that I can use
• Learn more outdoor survival skills
• Learn how to use a compass
• Climb Ishpatina Ridge in Ontario, Canada
• Go for a long snowshoeing hike
• Go on a hike with my city's hike club
• Go geocaching for an entire day once a month
• Get up to 1000 geocache finds
• Build an inukshuk on the side of the road
• See the Northern Lights
• Go for a picnic in a park
• Take a nap in a hammock
• Climb a tree
• Learn to identify 10 constellations
• Use less water
• Use less electricity
• Recycle everything that can possibly be recycled
• Start composting
• Go for a day without technology

Reading

• Read 100 books
• Read 100 poems
• Memorize 10 poems
• Read 10 French novels
• Read 5 non-fiction books
• Read all of Shakespeare's plays
• Read all of the Sherlock Holmes books
• Read in a park

Writing

• Write a novel
• Write a children's book
• Write a book of poetry
• Write a book of short stories
• Get my writing published
• Get a story published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book
• Win NaNoWriMo
• Win Camp NaNoWriMo
• Write in my diary at least once a week
• Use a writing prompt that I have found or created each week
• Write a letter to myself to be opened when the 1001 days are over
• Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
• Update my resume
• Learn how to write with my left hand

Blogging/Online Work

• Make a plan and schedule for regular blogging
• Update my blog's About and FAQ pages
• Put a donation button on my blog when I start blogging more and get more visitors
• Start a CafePress shop

Music

• Practice piano for 20 minutes everyday Monday to Friday for a month and continue
• Practice flute once a week for a month and continue
• Get my grade 8 RCM piano certificate and grade 2 RCM theory certificate
• Learn to play the accordion
• Learn to play the violin
• Write a song (lyrics and music)

Art

• Start sketching regularly
• Learn how to paint flowers well with watercolours
• Complete a colouring book

Family

• Have a board game night with my family
• Have a movie marathon night with my family
• Have a craft/art night with my family
• Bake Finn bun with my family
• Cook an entire meal for my family

Miscellaneous

• Start and complete driver's ed
• Get my G2 driver's license
• Use the French language more in my life
• Learn Spanish
• Expand my vocabulary by 100 words
• Learn how to crochet
• Learn how to use a sewing machine
• Learn how to use a memory palace
• Say "yes" to something I would not normally do
• Start wearing a watch everyday

You should definitely start a 101 Things in 1001 Days list too! What would you put on your list?

-Kaylie

Finding My Way

Life is tricky sometimes. It can be hard to find one's way throughout their journey of life. I'm 21 years old so I'm at that age where I'm a young adult. I'm officially an adult but I was also a teenager not long ago. As young adults, the world expects us to know what we want to do with our lives. They make it seem that way, anyway, and it sure feels that way. This is all crazy. I don't think that anybody ever really has their whole life planned out.

Since I'm in my 4th year of university, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do next. I'm at a point where I don't really know anymore. I have an idea of what I want to do but I'm stressed out and I feel kind of stuck. I also feel like everything is going too fast. I want to slow down and have time to really think. I want to do some exploring along various paths.

I've realized that I am not someone who fits into "the norm." My life and who I am deep down inside is not what society expects of me (although, society is slowly learning to change and be more accepting). I feel like even in Canada, society expects us to live a certain life: go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, raise kids while working, work until an appropriate age to retire, and then enjoy retirement. This is not the life for me. I already know that I don't really want to get married or have kids and that is perfectly fine. I'm in school so that I will be able to get the job that I want but now I'm not exactly sure what job I want. I'm a creative person; I like music, art, and writing. I also like the outdoors. I want to get away from living the same way day after day. I want some adventure and I want to do something that will expand my mind and really make me think. The way that I feel makes me think of one of my favourite quotations from Doctor Who:

"When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that’s it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better."
-Elton Pope 
(Doctor Who, Season 2, Episode 10, "Love & Monsters")

It's not just the "What am I going to do with my life?!" situation that is bothering me. I also have health challenges as well. I prefer to use the word 'challenge' as opposed to 'problem' because it's more positive. I have mild Crohn's Disease. I've never talked about it here but I am very open about it in my life outside of my blog. If you don't know what Crohn's Disease is, it's a gastrointestinal disease meaning that it affects the digestive system. Crohn's Disease is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and basically there can be inflammation and ulcers anywhere in the digestive system but most commonly in the small and large intestines. There is no cure for IBD yet.

I have inflammation in the end of my small intestine and in the end of my large intestine and I don't get pain. This is why my Crohn's Disease is considered to be mild. The only symptom that I get is bleeding from the inflammation in my large intestine (in other words, I get blood in the stool). The blood in stools is actually the only sign that I had that something was wrong when I first started getting it in my first year of university (December 2011). I am so grateful that I did something about my Crohn's Disease before it got worse.

Even though my Crohn's Disease is only mild, it doesn't mean that it doesn't bother me. I have to pay attention to my Crohn's Disease and do necessary things like go to doctor's appointments, go for tests, take medication, and watch my diet to ensure that my Crohn's Disease stays mild. Sometimes these things stress me out, which is another thing that I have to watch and try to reduce because stress can make things worse like it can with many health challenges. When there's continually blood, I keep thinking "Will I ever put my Crohn's Disease into remission or at least heal the inflammation in the end of my large intestine?" Inflammation in that location can be difficult to heal because bowel movements always irritate it. Right now I'm trying a combination of methods to try and heal the inflammation. I'm following a low residue diet as much as I can while still eating healthy, taking vitamin C and D everyday, exercising, doing yoga, meditating, and taking my oral mesalazine medication (for the inflammation in the end of my small intestine). I've also started drinking jasmine tea everyday (jasmine tea has many health benefits!) and I put honey in it (which is also very healthy!). So far, something here seems to be working because, when I've had blood, it has been less blood than usual and has actually been quite small of an amount. Sometimes, there's been no blood at all! I'm obviously very excited about this because: 1) My body is healing or at least getting better! and 2) I have found a way to deal with my Crohn's Disease that involves a lot of natural/alternative methods!

"Letting it get to you. You know what that's called? Being Alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now, that's all that counts."

-The Eleventh Doctor

(Doctor Who, Season 6, Episode 4, "The Doctor's Wife")

Letting my Crohn's Disease "get to me" or bother me can be a good thing because it makes me want to do something about it! Also, it reminds me to be grateful for the healthy parts of my body and the ways in which I am healthy. As I mentioned before, when I think of my Crohn's Disease, I think of it in a more positive way by viewing it as a health challenge rather than a health problem. I choose not to view my intestines as bad guys but, rather, as the organs in my body that need more love and attention!

If you want to learn more about IBD and learn about a great organization in Canada that raises money to find a cure for IBD, visit Crohn's and Colitis Canada!

These are the two things that I'm dealing with right now. Of course, there are other things that I'm dealing with too like things going on in my family (mostly health and stress related), getting stressed out with school, and continuing my journey of living a life full of positive energy but figuring out my life and dealing with my mild Crohn's Disease are two of the main paths that I'm on at the moment. I just have to remember to stay positive and remember that I am in control.

"Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it."

-Princess Merida
(Disney Pixar's Brave)

We all go through times in our lives when we become overwhelmed with everything, whether it be things staying the same or too many changes. We just need to pay attention to them in order to learn, grow, and be thankful for the experiences that are building our futures.

-Kaylie

Happy Summer! It's been a while...

Happy Summer! I'm so glad that it's finally Summer and that it's warmer and things are winding down. Our winter was pretty harsh this year. The snow took a long time to melt (it just kept snowing!) and then it rained a lot. I finished my university exams in April and I'm happy with my marks. My third year of university is finished and I am looking forward to the fourth year of my undergrad. On Monday, I'm going to be teaching the last piano lessons of the school year and I am excited about that too. I bought cute stickers and pencils for my students. The pencils have erasers on top and there are three themes: animals, bugs, and dinosaurs. I kept a stegosaurus pencil and eraser for myself because that's my favourite dinosaur and I gave a cow pencil and eraser to my brother because he likes cows. The last piano lessons are going to be group lessons and I'm going to get my students to talk about how the recital was for them and what they're doing during the summer. They'll also get to play songs for each other (fun!) and then I might play a song for them (super fun!). The recitals went well and having to play at the several recitals that we had (because of the large amount of students) helped me get over my stage fright a bit so I am really happy about that!

I have clearly been busy with school, teaching piano, and my family has also been moving into what used to be my grandparents' house (right next door, but still, there has been a lot of stuff to move over and a lot of work to do) so I haven't had a whole lot of time for blogging. Also, I have been kind of stuck on what to write about and what to do for the header and layout for my blog. I want to get my header and layout organized before I really start blogging and I have just been procrastinating on everything about this blog. My plan is to therefore organize the layout, make a new header, and then really start blogging again.

Stay tuned for my new plans for my blog!

-Kaylie

The Wandering Chickadee Turns 1!

My blog is 1 year old today! Yay! On February 13, 2013, I published my first post, Positive Life: It's All About Gratitude! I specifically chose February 13th as the day to publish my first blog post because my lucky number is 13 and February 13th is also the day before Valentine's Day! When it comes to living a positive life, loving your family, friends, and yourself is incredibly important and that is what I celebrate Valentine's Day for. I chose the name for my blog, The Wandering Chickadee, because I love chickadees and by the word 'wandering', I refer to journeys. This can mean a traveling journey or the journey through life, both of which are important to me and which I love paying attention to. Thanks to all who have read my blog during the first year! I know that I haven't posted quite as much as I would have liked to but I am determined to make this blog into the blog that I have always wanted it to be! I will continue to improve my blog and enjoy it even more during the second year!

-Kaylie

Hello again!

First things first, I really need to start posting on my blog more often. I love writing and I really like trying out all sorts of different forms and outlets for writing. I'm going to try and work on my blog a bit this week. I want to change the header so I'll have to work on putting that together. I might change the arrangement of the blog as well. Stay tuned for all of this!
So much is going on right now and I'm just trying to keep on top of everything and not go crazy. I have classes, I joined that free yoga class on Mondays and Wednesdays at my university, I go to the gym with a friend every Wednesday (swimming, jogging, rock climbing), I'm teaching piano two days a week, and I have school work and reading to do around all of that. I'm pretty busy! Plus, I also want to start practicing piano daily and organize my bedroom.
Yoga is really helping during this busy time. It's so relaxing and I feel great after each yoga class! I'll have to write a post about my experience with yoga some time.
Well, this was mainly just an update on what's going on with me and my blog. I hope 2014 has been lovely for all of you so far!
By the way, feel free to comment, email me, or follow me on twitter or facebook. I'd love to hear from you about any comments or suggestions that you have for my blog!
-Kaylie

Looking Towards 2014

Sorry for not posting on here for a while. Life at school and home has been pretty busy. With the new year coming up, I have decided to look back on 2013 and use this year's experience to figure out how to approach 2014. This year has been hard and I'm excited to start fresh!

Firstly, I'm so glad to be finished with the 1st semester of my 3rd year in university. It went by so quickly! It was also kind of difficult. I've been doing some planning and getting organized for next semester so that I can stay on top of things and reduce stress. I loved my classes this semester, except for one, and I'm so excited for my classes next semester! 

I'm also going to have 10 new piano students this semester because another piano teacher is retiring and those students need a new teacher! My total piano students will now be 16 students! I'm so excited to start working with them, especially since they are in different books and are at different levels. I am ready for the challenge! I'm also planning on having a piano practice schedule for myself so that I will practice more and advance more towards the piano exam that I have been working towards for the past few years.

I'm also planning on doing more fitness related things. I love exercising and being active! There's a free yoga class offered at my university two days a week so I'm planning on attending it. I love meditating and stretching so yoga should be fun! I also want to use my university's pool because we have to pay a gym fee in our tuition which gives us access to the gym and pool so I might as well use it! Plus, I like swimming. I also want to start jogging in the mornings and taking brisk walks before class. I love mornings and moving around really wakes me up and helps me concentrate on whatever I need to do. 

Meditation was really helpful during exam time so I plan on meditating more this year too. I want to look into my mind and focus on becoming the person that I want to be. I want to concentrate more on the present and gratitude. All of this will help me towards living a positive life.

As for this blog of mine, I really want to continue it and make it better and better. I've realized that writing these sort of diary entry posts are easier to write so I want to continue writing them. Telling stories is a great way to get a point across so maybe I'll try telling stories rather than simply stating information. It's fun writing a blog and I'm always thinking of new things that I want to post here. I also want to change the look of my blog because I'm getting bored of the way that it looks right now. I'm going to make more of an effort to post here in 2014 and have fun doing it!

Well, here's to a great new year!

-Kaylie

University Life: For Literature and Library Lovers

Here are some links for the following people:
-People who love literature
-People who are studying English literature in school (like me!)
-People who love libraries
-Librarians
-People who dream of becoming librarians

Okay, on with the links!

At The Libraries on mental_floss : At The Libraries is a section on mental_floss where Miss Kathleen shares library and book related links.

Literary Traveler : Literary Traveler is a website where the people who run it explore literature and writing as they travel.

Forgotten Bookmarks : Forgotten Bookmarks is a website where a used and rare bookseller shares what he finds in the books that he buys. Examples include: photographs, recipes, letters, and many more fascinating and strange finds.

Poetry Daily : A new poem every day

Book-A-Minute Classics : Classic books are summarized in just a few sentences. So funny!

The History of English

This is a funny video all about the history of the English language. So good!

-Kaylie

University Life: A Little Bit of Back to School Fun

With 'Back to School' time just around the corner, I thought that I would post some fun educational links here for you to enjoy to make this time a little less stressful. Since I study English Literature in university, all of these links are English, literature, and writing related. Enjoy!

Fridge Poetry : Virtual magnets with words on them which you can arrange to make random poetry. I remember one of my English classrooms in high school had this on the chalkboard.

100 Most Common English Words : A game where you try to guess the 100 most common words in English in 5 minutes

FreeRice : A multiple choice game with a variety of subjects to choose from. Whenever you get a correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through the World Food Programme to help end hunger. This link will bring you straight to the English vocabulary version.

-Kaylie

Positive Life: Positive Life Journal

I like writing and I also like art so I wanted to use my two interests to help me record what I learn about living a positive life, work out challenges in my life, let my emotions flow, and celebrate living a positive life. I took a large, thick notebook filled with lined paper and decorated the cover. I decided that I wanted a simple cover so I stuck on some craft foam that has a sticky side and I wrote my name in fancy letters with a heart. On the first few pages, I glued printed information from the internet on various positive life related things. Some ideas for Positive Life Journals are collages, gratitude lists, diary entries, drawings, poetry, and much more! Make your Positive Life Journal truly your own and use it to help you on your journey of living a positive life! Writing this post, I realized that I haven't written in my Positive Life Journal all summer so I'm going to start writing and making art in it again.

Here are some pictures of my Positive Life Journal to give you some inspiration:

I glued a bunch of hearts that I cut out of a flyer the other side of the notebook cover to remind myself to love myself just the way I am.

One idea for your journal is to make happy pages. Basically, just make a collage of a bunch of things that make you happy. You can even make each collage themed! When you're sad, just look at your happy pages and you'll be smiling in no time! I like hiking, biking, camping, and Geocaching so I decided to make an outdoors themed collage with magazine and flyer pictures.

-Kaylie

DIY: Mini Travel Diary

It's so fun to keep a diary during a trip. Even if you don't have time to write during your trip, you can write down the memories after you return. I thought of making this mini travel diary because it's easy to bring along and toss in your bag or put in your pocket. After taking it along on a recent family trip to a few places in Ontario and Michigan, I have decided to start a new tradition of making one of these mini diaries for each family trip (long trips, not just 1 day trips). These are great because, like photos, they hold the memories of your trip. 

1. To make the pages, take a normal sized piece of paper (like the kind that you use in a printer).

2. Fold it in half.

3. Fold it in half the other way.

4. Fold the two ends of the paper inwards so that you are left with 8 rectangles on your paper.

5. Fold the paper in half and cut down the center line so that when you open it up again, there is a cut slit along the center that only goes along the two center rectangles.

6. Fold along the folds of the paper so that the slit in the paper creates an open diamond shaped hole.

7. Push the two sides of the diamond together to create four rectangles. 

8. Arrange the rectangles into a booklet shape by making them all face in the same direction.

9. To make the cover, take a piece of card stock paper and trace your open booklet of pages on the card stock paper.

10. Cut out your rectangle.

11. Fold the cover in half and insert your booklet of pages.

13. Make sure everything is aligned and open the booklet to the very center. There should be two rectangles on both sides when you open it up to the center. With a needle and thread (choose a colour that works best with the colours of your diary), sew right down the center. Make sure that the tail of the thread on both ends is inside the diary so that it isn't noticeable on the outside. 

In the first image, you can see what the sewing looks like on the inside and in the second image, you can see what the sewing look likes down the spine on the outside.

Your mini travel diary is complete!

You can decorate the outside and inside in any way that you like! You can also use any colours of paper that you like! This diary can fit 8 days so if you like more, follow steps 1-8 to make extra pages and, before you sew the diary together, open both booklets of pages to the very center and lay one booklet on top of the other and then continue through the rest of the steps of sewing. If your trip is less than 8 days, you can put your trip schedule on the first page, reflect on your trip on the last page, etc. Be as creative as you like with this project!

Enjoy recording the memories of your trips!

-Kaylie