Tag: well-being

Tidying Up Papers and Clothes

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"Papers" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
 “Papers” Cedar Park, 2019

Today I cleaned up a bunch at home (I’ve been reinvigorated in my decluttering!), first with some paperwork that I had way too much of. Today I focused on financial statements of IRAs and 401ks from back before the dawn of time. Basically, I am keeping the most recent statement, and shredding the rest. I have never looked at them in all these years. Which is probably good for retirement accounts, right? Just let them do their thing.

The other week I cleaned out other documents like medical records (I’ll hold onto the last 2 year’s worth), automotive records (why do I still have oil change receipts for my 1999 Sentra which we sold ten years ago?), and documents pertaining to our old house which we sold in 2005.

With most of the papers disposed of, I now have so much space in our office cabinets. It’s awesome!

Next, I tackled my closet and my clothes, which I had pared down quite a bit already, but there were three drawers full of brand new socks, old gloves, and ski hats. It’s crazy how many pairs of new wool socks I had! All those went in the Goodwill bag, as well as a bunch of t-shirts. I was able to discard enough so that I could get rid of one plastic drawer.

There were a bunch of other adjustments I made in the closet that involved throwing out and reorganizing what was left, but now the closet is tidy and airy. It’s such a welcome difference.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね

Things That Spark Joy in Me

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"Things That Spark Joy" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 18mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO400
 “Things That Spark Joy” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

It seems that everyone is talking about Marie Kondo lately because of her show on Netflix. I’ve seen a couple episodes and read her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which I enjoyed, and like a lot of other people, I’ve been re-examining the things that I buy and keep. I’ve put together a list of items that not only “spark joy”, but also are things that I use often and if I lost the item, I’d buy it again.

Instead of listing them here, I created a page so I can update as needed. If you have a few minutes free, why don’t you check out my list? (And if you buy anything via the links, I’ll get a small kick-back from Amazon 🤗)

またね～

Vacation’s Over – Carry On

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"Palos Verdes" 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/450 sec, ISO200
 “Palos Verdes” 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

We’re back home in Texas after a wonderful holiday vacation in California. While I enjoyed myself quite a bit, I let my daily habits fall by the wayside, but that’s okay. I was on vacation after all. Nothing to beat myself up over.

While I did post on my blog, play some ukulele (my dad has a cool Kamaka ukulele), exercise/stretch, and take a daily photo, I didn’t study my Japanese vocabulary nor do a daily drawing. And of course, I didn’t do a daily decluttering. But now that I’m back home, I’ll pick those back up. It’s a new year which is kind of cool. No new year’s resolutions for me. I’m just going to continue what I’m doing. Little by little, every day, ought to be enough. 😊

またね～

Drawing Hands (Practice)

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"Drawing Hands" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “Drawing Hands” Cedar Park, 2018

こんにちは！How’s it going?

I still have a lot to learn about drawing, but one thing I’ve never been decent at depicting are hands. In fact, I avoid them whenever I can! So last night I decided to tackle the problem and devoted a bit of time watching some videos and practicing and I think I made a lot of improvement. Which is probably not a huge deal because my previous drawings of hands were horrendous. 😝 But it was a lot of fun practicing, and so satisfying to actually get better. My first attempts were pretty bad (and honestly a bit discouraging), but persistence pays off, and by the end of the hour or so, the claws started to look like human hands.

Speaking about improvement, I think I’ve gotten a lot better about breaking through frustration, discouragement, and setbacks when learning new things. For instance, in my ukulele practice, I don’t have a lot of natural talent, nor rhythm, but sticking with it has paid off for me. I’m still not great, but there is a definite improvement and I have a lot more fun practicing knowing that every minute I play is not wasted – it’s like taking small steps on the long journey of improvement.

I have a quote written down by an artist that goes something like, “No line drawn is ever wasted.” I love that! Even a sketchbook page with bad drawings is valuable. You don’t even need to keep those drawings (declutter those!). Just the fact that you made the

These are the two videos I watched. The bottom video is the one I watched first, but the top video is the one I this is is better to begin with (at least for me). It’s also super funny and relatable. The bottom video is great in that it teaches about proportion and the digits Please take a look!

またね～

Daily Habits

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"Activities" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
 “Activities” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I wanted to mention the daily habits that have been part of my life lately, the newest one being the daily drawing.

  • Drawing – Pencil sketching, ink on paper, or digital art. I still haven’t found a “signature style”, but I am definitely getting closer.
  • Japanese Study – Anki vocabulary cards these days. Sometimes I will crack open the Genki textbook, but at the very least, I will review and build my flashcard sets.
  • Ukulele – So much fun! The past week my wrist has been hurting a lot so I am going light on the ukulele practice, but I definitely want to learn Christmas Time is Here before December 25th.
  • Exercise/Stretching – Neck stretches, squats, planking, or running.
  • Decluttering – I throw out/donate at least one thing per day. Lately, it’s been pencils and pens that I don’t use, and old books are going into the Goodwill pile.

I hope you had a good day!

またね～