That Jolie Girl

Welcome to my blog!

Hello! Thank you for checking out my personal blog! I don't post here as often as I used to, because I'm now more focused on my new exciting projects below. I would love for you to check them out! I still post craft projects and personal adventures here, but not a regular schedule. Scroll down to see new posts.

That Jolie Girl Walks: A blog of my walking and photography journeys. I post about 3 walks a week. I've fallen in love with this project. It gets me out of the house and I'm constantly practicing my photography skills. I use only my iPhone set to a specific Hipstamatic setting, so I can quickly take pictures as I walk. I look for beauty in the minutiae which can be found everywhere.

Ending in Zigzag: Greg and I started this project last September. We've talked for years and years about how amazing it would be to visit every town in our beloved state of Oregon. We decided to use an atlas made in Oregon (3rd edition) as our bible. If a town is listed in this atlas, we will visit it. There are over 900 towns including ghost towns. It will take us years to complete this project, but that's half of the fun!

Walking My Cat

Trilly is an old man at age 16. One thing I've always felt a little guilty about is that he's an indoor cat. When we got Trilly, as a kitten, we lived on Burnside and letting him outside wasn't a viable option. We had him for several years before moving to the more residential Brooklyn neighborhood.  He lacked the skills to be safe outside, so we kept him in.  

 

 

Last week, I drove past a lady sitting on her front steps. She had her cat on a leash and the cat looked super happy rolling around on the grass. Brilliant! I thought this might be the perfect solution for Trilly. He would be able to experience the outdoors, but not be in danger of cars or mean cats. Yesterday, Greg found a harness and leash at goodwill for three bucks. It was meant to be.

 

 

Greg and I took Trilly outside and let him walk around the backyard. I was very nervous. What if he freaked out? What if he bolted? But nothing bad happened. He enjoyed hanging out and smelling all the plants. Today I took him out for about 30 minutes. I'm so excited about this new option for our indoor cat. I look forward to many walks with Trilly.

 

30 Days of No TV

 

I decided a few months ago that Greg and I should take a month off from watching TV. We don't watch commercial TV, but we watch a heck of a lot of Netflix. I spent many years as a latch key kid and TV has always played an important role in my life. Let's face it, I love it. When I posed the idea to Greg, he quickly agreed. I had sort of hoped he would have put up more of a fight, because internally it kind of freaked me out. But I knew this was a good thing. We decided to take the month of July off.  

On June 26th, Greg realized that the Olympics start July 27th. We are both huge fans and seeing the games is important to us. So we decided to start the month the next day on June 27th.    

OK, to say that I was a little freaked was an understatement. I found myself thinking about TV during times when I never watched it. I definitely had withdrawals. Greg and I spent nights lamenting on how great it would be to watch a movie. But we never faltered. And really, it wasn't that bad.  

 

Here are some things that came as a result of not watching TV for one month

• A project that Greg and I have been talking about for years has gotten off the ground. A website has even been created. We are hoping to have this new project up and running in the next couple of months. Super exciting!
• I read Moby Dick and 3 other books
• I went to bed earlier
• I never once looked at Pinterest
• I spent less time on Facebook and playing Words with Friends

 

I'm super excited to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight.  I'm also glad that we will be watching movies again.  I don't ever see us living without a TV, but taking this month off has let me recognize some patterns and change some habits.  Now the goal is to not be so dependent on it and to have more days in the week where we don't watch than we do.

 

The Catalyst Course

 

When my friend, Jen Neitzel, told me that she had created The Maven Circle with Jena Coray of Miss Modish, I was thrilled for her! Jen's face lit up when she talked about all the great ideas they had to help others ignite their spark. I can't think of anyone better to help motivate others to achieve their goals.  

About 6 months ago, Jen made an off-the-cuff comment in passing that hit me to my core.  It helped me change my outlook on crafting and I made a fresh new blog start at the beginning of 2012.  

And now it's February...and I've stalled.  I have lots of excuses and some of them are even pretty darn valid, but the fact remains that I haven't done much towards the goals I set up for myself for this year.  

I'm hoping that this will change soon.  I've signed up for Jen's and Jena's first online class called The Catalyst Course.  Just reading about it makes me feel like I can get back on track.  I know I will find the motivation and support I need to ignite my spark.  

 

 

Watch this video to learn more about this course. You can also find more info here.  The class starts in March and there is still time to register.  I will be blogging about this 6 week class and the changes I make because of it.  I can't wait to start!

 

Walking Through 2012

 

I decided that in 2012 I'm going to focus more on my walking blog.  I started That Jolie Girl Walks last January as a project to get me walking more.  It worked.  I love the combination of photography and walking. The main goal is walking, so I take pictures as fast as possible.  

 

I  love the simplicity of this blog.  I decided to only use one Hipstamatic setting (Pistil film, John S lens) on my iphone, because I liked that look, I knew how that lens worked, and I wanted to make sure my pictures would turn out.  I don't edit any of the pictures.  I also post pictures in the order of my walk with the exception of the first picture.  I write about pictures if I feel there is something to say.  Other times I'll post pictures with no text.  The number of photos varies with each walk.  Sometimes I happen upon lots of amazing things; other times, not so much.  I always post at least one picture to mark that walk.  

 

The ease of posting really helps make this blog a reality.  Everything about the entire process is fun and I get the benefit of talking long walks.  It's a win-win.  I have a button on my side bar, so you can easily access my walking blog.  I hope you check it out!

 

Vice President of Localization, Simplification and Healthification

 

Almost exactly a year ago, my husband promoted me in the household.  He made me the VP of Localization and Simplification. He thought that since I was working part time I could devote a few of my new found hours to simplifying our lives.  It was a great idea and I loved having a title, but I did nothing with the title for a year.  It sat on the back burner while life continued to be hectic and awesome and just life.  

 

I kept coming back to this title and all of it's possibilities.  I really liked everything about it, but it didn't feel complete.  If I wanted to really create a better life for us, I needed to add one more item to better round out this project.  I am now the Vice President of Localization, Simplification and Healthification.  Now, a new year is here and it's time to fully embrace my vice presidency.  

 

Localization - We are proud Oregonians and Portlanders.  We are also devoted to the local movement.  I firmly believe in the power of voting with our dollars. While we already buy local often, I will work on doing more.  Besides consuming local products, as VP I'll work on getting us more involved in our community as well as taking advantage of the amazing cultural activities Portland has to offer.  

 

Simplification - This is all about creating more time by finding ways to organize all aspects of our life. From time savers to space savers, I'll be finding new ways to carve out more precious free time from our busy lives.  

 

Healthification - While looking for a word to describe this third arm of the presidency, Healthification popped up on google searches.  It's defined as: the process of getting your health groove on.  This is the perfect term that I wanted.  Healthification will cover everything from eating healthier to getting more exercise to finding ways to decrease stress.  This will be a conscious shift to improve our health.  

 

Becoming the VP will help me in my quest of crafting a better life.  I hope you join me on this journey and maybe even learn a couple of things that you can incorporate into your own life.