Progress report _ My life

Since I started writing Worded Reflections in 2011 my life has significantly changed. My career took an unplanned turn and I am now self employed, I became a mother of the most dearest, sweetest little boy in the entire universe, I invested in friendships and relationships that I did not ever expect to blossom in the way they are and my life in Joburg has become so rooted that I cannot imagine being anywhere else in the world. One constant that I cannot neglect to mention is my husband, my one and only, my most favouritist man.

As I am approaching this return to blogging as an entirely new adventure, I will over the next few weeks be introducing myself, my life and my work to you in a series of progress reports. For those of you familiar with these aspects of me, have a bit of patience.

Architect, wife, mother, friend, homemaker, designer, self-proclaimed cook and lover of everything beautiful, interesting, simple and nice. Worded Reflections is a melting pot of bits and pieces of me and things that I like, do, love, long for and dream of. Worded Reflections is me on a page.

 

Well, hello again!

After a very long silence I have decided to return to my beloved blog, how I've missed  you!

In my previous post, written almost 8 months ago, I said that I was unsure about the purpose of Worded Reflections and that I needed to figure out exactly why I was blogging.

Well, I'm back and I think I've figured it out.. when I started Worded Reflections I wanted it to be a blog that reflects me on a page. I wanted to have a platform to write and creatively express my likes, wants, desires as well as journal a bit of my everyday life.

So this is exactly what I am going to do! My life as a wife, mother, architect, friend, cook, designer and creative is full and busy and wonderful, so why not just capture this!?

Some of you might not be interested, some of you might find this purpose silly, but some of you just might want to join me on this journey, see a bit of my everyday life and take a peek into how I balance (or juggle) this wonderful, glorious, exciting adventure I call life...

I invite you all on my new Worded Reflections adventure!

Here's to new beginnings.

Where have I been?

After a loooooong delay and pause in my blog posts I am happy to report that I am back!

So what have I been up to you may ask. Well here is the short version:

I've been cooking:

We had a lovely "Greek" inspired August Kitchen Counter Club!

I've adopted a dog:

Meet Rosco, aka Mr. Wakkie

I've been exploring our "back yard":

A trip to Hartbeespoortdam

I've gotten up close and personal with the wildlife on the farm:

I've spent some much needed time with my family:

The past few weeks also included experiencing SNOW in Jozie, reading, writing, designing, planning, configuring, preparing and embracing my home again.

I think I can now honestly say that I am okay with the idea of staying in sunny South Africa for now.

Have a lovely weekend dear readers and I am looking forward to bringing you some inspirations and new creations next week.

A special thanks to my sister, Bianka, for some of these amazing shots!

Talking about change

Hello dear readers, I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that this week will be exciting for all! 

I am sitting here thinking of the lovely few days that made up this past weekend. There is no real highlight for the past few days, but the combination of good friendship, great laughs, love from the husband, family unity and overall happy moments made up a great few days! I am however aware that perhaps I am adding more worth to these ordinary events because I know what is coming... soon.

It is official - the husband and I will be moving to the UK in October! Smile, frown, stomach churning, jump up and down moments for me at this point in time! Although the where, what and when still need to be finalised we have received the confirmation of our move last week - happiness!!!

So you can expect some exciting posts on this matter in the next few months! Although this decision to relocate is daunting I am filled with anticipation and excitement for what might be.

Image from here

 

For today, here is a worded inspiration to keep you going this week!

From here

Life is beautiful

Bad luck, bad news, bad experiences… these are things we cannot control.

Good attitude, great humour and a smile in bad weather are the things that can change lives.

From here

I must apologise for being so quiet dear readers! The acts of reading, writing, working,  nursing, caring and loving are still completely out of sinc and I believe that from next week I will settle into a new routine and post more regularly again.

For now I am still in Stellenbosch and at my parents disposal… looking forward to new adventures to start soon though!

From here

Setting up shop

This new adventure of starting my own business and operating as my own boss comes with a few added extras... company name? logo? business type? email and domain account? business cards? market related fee and billing structures? time management? internet? printers? and trust me, this list can go on and on!

I am in the process of finalising the company name that I will be operating under and with the help of a few designer friends I am hoping to have my own uber cool logo soon :) - more on this to be posted soon.

Today I am posting a few really nice business card inspirations - as this is something on my to-do list too...

They say word of mouth is your best form of marketing...why not make it a bit easier for your promoters:

From here

I really like these personalised cards!

From here

Business cards that speak about what you do:

From here

From here

So exactly what I am doing or the approach and direction I am following is still unclear...this is but the beginning.

Getting rid of the clutter

Hello dear readers - lets hope this week is better and runs more smoothly than last week!

This week I am getting rid of clutter, literally and figuratively!

No more clutter!! From here

 Stock-taking and spring-cleaning in March you may ask, well its pretty simple actually! As my work situation will be changing soon I am doing exactly this - spring-cleaning my study (my soon to be office) and stock-taking on life and getting rid of the clutter.

Now although this exercise includes boxes of unwanted and unneeded "stuff" to be removed from my house it also includes getting rid of the time consuming clutter of my everyday life. I am saying goodbye to procrastination, StumbleUpon, too much blog reading (can't give this up completely!) and all other time consuming nonsense!

The biggest hurdle of this exercise is saying goodbye to my very special and dearly loved Pinterest account - I've decided to this because it has literally become an addiction and consumes too much of my time - personal and work time! SAD!! But I think it is a good move!

Aiming to be more like this! From here

Today I am saying hello to order, time-management and self-discipline (with a bit of blog-loving and writing in between!)

Wishing you a lovely week!!

DIY Thursday_ Spinning in a new direction... continued

Today I am standing in front of the end of a chapter and staring at the white pages of a new one. The words to be written here will be completely navigated by faith in change and a dream of being independent.

I am excited and thrilled by the prospects of things to come.

So what am I DIY'ing today you might ask; well its actually quite simple!

I am DIY'ing my life! 

I have just resigned and will be starting my own thing as an Architect and designer as of 1 April 2012.

Perhaps I will need to draw some inspiration from my own pinterest board of dreamy office spaces to inspire my new work space at home! EXCITING!!!!!

So although I can't really post a step by step DIY tutorial today, I can tell you this - start by reassessing your current situation, your work environment and your general well being - if you can't, with certainty, say that you are happily satisfied, ask the next question - "where would I rather be"... and then start taking active steps to bring change to your situation!!

Have a good day dear readers!

Spinning in a new direction

When I started this week on Monday I did not foresee exactly what this week will bring. So as I am sitting here today realising that my world, as I know it, is spinning in an unexpected direction I am filled with a feeling of excitement and exhilaration for what may come...

From here

I will post more on this topic soon!

For now, a quote that I am drawing some inspiration from today:

From here

Have a good day dear readers x

In our backyard

I often refer to the game farm as being my place of escape where I can stop, relax, breathe and recharge. But I am yet to do a proper post about this place of wonder.

So for the past few weekends spent in the bush I have focused on taking some images to share, so that is what I am doing today. I hope you enjoy it! 

Kurumakatiti Reserve, where we spend so many lovely weekends away.

The farm is located just outside Vaalwater, Limpopo, about a 4 hour drive outside of Jo'burg, but as soon as we leave the city skyline behind us we are on "holiday".

The drive to the farm_ clear skies and open road!

Typical road on the farm

All the cooking is done on the open fire

 

One of the thousand natural finds - a giant toadstool

Spot of the year (so far)_ a Brown Hyena at a watering hole

 A visitor at the camp this past weekend - these images were taken from the stoep (veranda).

We are also in the process of designing a new camp site - we've already identified a spot and are in the early stages of planning; watch this space! 

EXCITING!!!

Holiday Bliss

As mentioned previously, I am writing today from a room with a view. I have now been on holiday for over a week and I would lie if I say I haven't been having the time of my life!

What is better than family,  holiday, rest, sea and sun? We have been blessed with the most amazing weather, beautiful sunsets and a very entertaining sea here in Stilbaai - there is nowhere else in the world I would want to be right now!

Derksenjol - The family beach house...

As I am sitting here now, the husband has just lit the fire and the whole family has moved onto the veranda, glass of wine in hand, to enjoy the last bit of light the day has to offer. We have fresh fish that we bought at the harbour this morning waiting to be cooked on the braai- life, at this moment, seems perfect to me!

Stilbaai Harbour, from here

View of Stilbaai from the harbour, from here

I am wishing all my readers moments like these tonight - moments of complete bliss, filled with love, joy and laughter.

What a wonderful world

In the words on the great Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world!

I am having a blast!

from here

Considering the end of a good year

So I am in the process of finishing up at the office and will be leaving for a long and well deserved Christmas break tomorrow afternoon.

As I am sending the last few emails to ensure that clients and colleagues are all well informed and instructed for the next couple of weeks, I am filled with a tangible feeling of excitement for the holiday that awaits! Wow! What a year!! New friends, new family members, a new job, new hobbies, new adventures - fantastic!

I know this might sound like my last post for the year (I promise it is not) but this morning as I was driving to the office a strange feeling overwhelmed me - another year to put on the bookshelf. I cannot believe how quick this year has flown past, but in the same breath I cannot believe how much one's life can change, develop and grow over such a short period of time. 

Today I am not writing to say happy new year, today I am writing to say thanks for a great year!! 

Thanks to all who made this a GOOD year!

For those of you who will be traveling, I am wishing you safe travels, for those of you who will be home-bound, I am wishing you happy DIY's, gardening and chilling on your couch, for those of you who are going on adventures, I am wishing you many happy memories and good times, for those of you who are still indecisive, I am wishing for inspiration and creativity in the festive season.

Some inspiration

I will be traveling for the next few days, so expect a short delay in my posts, but when I do write next I will be doing so with a happy heart and from a room with a sea-view in my happy place - Stilbaai, Western Cape.

Wonderful holidays await... sigh!!

All images from Pinterest

The Package Project 2011

I have recently entered the Package Project 2011 - As explained by Nadia, the brain behind it all, it is an exchange project aimed to connect like-minded creative folk around the world. It is all about swapping packages and hand-made delights.

So I have been allocated my Package Partner last week - a lovely lady called Jenny Kellerman Pillay with an awesome blog called Pretty Peculiarities; take a minute and check it out if you want.

I will be featuring the package that I receive from her on my blog, so watch this space. For now I am planning and putting together a surprise package that will include bits and pieces of me and my life for her.

Picnic

This afternoon is going by too slow and I am daydreaming of a lazy afternoon under some lush trees in a setting so beautiful it is difficult to believe that it really exists... sigh! 

Where would your perfect picnic spot be?

This is where I want to be right now!

This doesn't look to bad either!

And then of course, the all important question, who would you take with?

Is it a friend or a lover?

Or would you prefer to spend your afternoon alone?

Just you and a good book

All images from pinterest