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In lifestyle
Repost - TED Talk - Getting Stuck in the Negatives + How to Get Unstuck
Posted on Thursday, 24 May 2018
A while ago now, I wrote a post about how people are always complaining. And the other day I came across this TED talk about getting stuck in the negatives. I found it really powerfull and hopefully you will too.
What do you think?
xxxPoppy
Sydney is a beautiful city to photograph. There is a fascinating mix of the old and the new everywhere you look.
I had a great time photographing the city when I visited last weekend. There is such a unique combination of things in the city of Sydney, old buildings, new buildings, trees, concrete, art - you can find it all.
I have taken a lot of time editing these photos - making sure each one is beautiful, doing justice to its subject.
There is such a diverse range of things in Sydney, and this has ensured that I have almost 50 photos - after they have been culled and edited! Each of these photos is as interesting as the one before it.
I am excited to share some of these photos and their stories with you today.
xxx Poppy
I had a great time photographing the city when I visited last weekend. There is such a unique combination of things in the city of Sydney, old buildings, new buildings, trees, concrete, art - you can find it all.
I have taken a lot of time editing these photos - making sure each one is beautiful, doing justice to its subject.
There is such a diverse range of things in Sydney, and this has ensured that I have almost 50 photos - after they have been culled and edited! Each of these photos is as interesting as the one before it.
I am excited to share some of these photos and their stories with you today.
Images
xxx Poppy
I love making cookies - actually I think I love eating them (and their dough) even more!
I don't share recipes very often, but there is no way I can go without sharing this one! This is probably the world's easiest recipe, and the cookies that come out of it are delicious.
Gooey, chewy, chocolatey deliciousness! I am sure you can imagine this amazing taste - just like brownies - and the best part is they only take 15 minutes to cook!
Below is the recipe for the world's best cookies.
Even if you think you can't cook - you will be able to make this recipe! They are truly the best cookies ever - and I cannot tell you enough times to try them out!
xxxPoppy
I don't share recipes very often, but there is no way I can go without sharing this one! This is probably the world's easiest recipe, and the cookies that come out of it are delicious.
Gooey, chewy, chocolatey deliciousness! I am sure you can imagine this amazing taste - just like brownies - and the best part is they only take 15 minutes to cook!
Below is the recipe for the world's best cookies.
Ingredients
- A box of chocolate brownie mix (I use this white wings one)
- 100g (estimate) of white choc chips
- 100g (estimate) of milk choc chips.
- Sometimes I use melts instead of chocolate chips - and this just means that the chocolate melts.
- Pre=heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, fan forced
- Follow the instructions on the packet mix to prepare the brownie batter
- Add all the choc chips and mix well
- Scoop tablespoon sized portions of batter onto a tray covered in baking paper *make sure you leave space for the cookies to spread out!*
- Once the tray is full, place it in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven after 12 minutes, they will still be a little bit gooey...don't worry!
- Allow to rest on the tray for 10 minutes - this allows them to finish cooking.
- Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to finish cooling - or you could eat them!
Even if you think you can't cook - you will be able to make this recipe! They are truly the best cookies ever - and I cannot tell you enough times to try them out!
xxxPoppy
This year's autumn has certainly taken its time to arrive - but it was well worth the wait!
I have seen spectacular colours this year - colours I have never seen before.
There are a thousand shades of brown, millions of yellows and billions of reds.
It is a photographer's dream!
I am having an amazing time photographing the seemingly never-ending colours that appear every day. Autumn is a time of change. And every day offers new photography opportunities in exact same location. I think this is what has made me love to photograph this gorgeous season.
Over the weekend, I travelled to the nearby Snowy Mountains. Even though in Australia we do not have many native trees that lose their leaves, but the ones that are absolutely stunning!
I have seen spectacular colours this year - colours I have never seen before.
There are a thousand shades of brown, millions of yellows and billions of reds.
It is a photographer's dream!
I am having an amazing time photographing the seemingly never-ending colours that appear every day. Autumn is a time of change. And every day offers new photography opportunities in exact same location. I think this is what has made me love to photograph this gorgeous season.
Over the weekend, I travelled to the nearby Snowy Mountains. Even though in Australia we do not have many native trees that lose their leaves, but the ones that are absolutely stunning!
Photography from the mountain
I had lots of fun taking these photos, and I hope you enjoy them. I have more to share next week - they can't all fit in one post. 
Motivation :
"Be the girl who decided to go for it"
I have been trying to become more internally motivated recently. I have decided that I want to rely less on other people and finding my motivation through them, I want to be able to be independent and be self-motivated.
It is a valuable skill to be able to motivate yourself. To find a reason to do something not because other people want you to, but because you do.
This article says that "internal motivation is seen when a person undertakes an activity for its own sake without any external reward." I think this definition sums it up perfectly. Being internally motivated means that you don't seek external gratification for what you do and you don't need to be rewarded for an activity.
Having internal motivation is a valuable skill throughout your entire life. Being able to do something simply for the sake of doing it, rather than relying on others to offer you a reward for completing a task, is a valuable skill at school and in the workplace.
Below I have listed the 3 things you can do to find internal motivation.
Stop comparing yourself to others
When you stop comparing yourself to others you learn to stop determining your success based on how well you do compare to them. When you no longer care about your position in relation to others you instantly become more internally motivated. You are literally moving an external influence.Set realistic goals and expectations
Work out where you want to be. Having a clearly defined goal and understanding how you will be able to get there, and what is necessary to reach this goal, will lead to internal motivation. Once you set goals for yourself you will learn to do things because they will help you reach your goal - not because other people will value you for it.Always seek to improve
Begining a task because you want to improve is a sure way to create internal motivation. Always seeking to improve will meant that you are completing tasks because you want to learn rather than external motivators.It is a difficult task, to try and become internally motivated. But if you are able to master it, you will be much better for it.
xxxPoppy
I cannot believe that it is May already!!! This year is flying by. It was fun to set up May in my bullet Journal - I don't know what I will do when Autumn is over and I cannot use these beautiful colours anymore.
Month Header Page - May Bullet Journal
I copied this beautiful header lettering from Pinterest. Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration and more often than not it isn't too hard to recreate some of the amazing lettering you can find.I have also created a similar theme to last month. I loved having the autumn colours in my journal, and have gone with multiple colours again. This month I have a similar set of drawings, the only real difference is a focus on branches rather than individual leaves.
There is something I love about the diversity in this month's spreads - there are some many different ways to draw these leaves and I don't think I can get bored of this theme!
Events Page - May Bullet Journal
I changed by events page up from last month. I found that I didn't want to use last months- because it didn't have enough space. So this month I have simply got a page where I can list the events for the month. This means that there is unlimited space for each day - because everything always seems to be on the same day!This also freed some space for a quote on the next page. I wrote this one because it is something I really want to focus on during May - not letting other people stop me.
Weekly Spread - May Bullet Journal
The weekly spread for this month's bullet journal has remained virtually the same. I really liked the flexibility of last month's layout - so I have recreated it.
xxxPoppy
"nothing brings people together better than good food"
Who loves lazy weekend days, nowhere to be, nothing to do?
I do!Seems like the perfect time to make waffles - a lazy morning!
Food photography isn't something I have tried before, but as I was pulling out berries to cover and maple syrup to drown the waffles, I thought it would be a good time to experiment.
I haven't had much experience with food photography. I guess I have never had any reason to photograph my food until I made these delicious-looking waffles.
It was super fun to try and make the food as appealing on the camera as it was in real life. Taking photos of food meant I had to use different camera angles and editing techniques. It was a challenge - and an enjoyable one, much more fun than I was expecting.
When you take photos of food - it is vital to get the colour right. No one wants to see a photo of a blue waffle because you got the temperature wrong on the camera! I found it interesting to work with a subject that relies so much on colour. If I'm honest I might have had to fix a lot of my mistakes in editing! It is also important to consider background when taking photos of food. The colour of the plate needs to compliment the food. This was a challenge in my house because we have a rainbow of dinner plates.
Enjoy the photos below. You might want to grab some snacks before you look - the photos might make you hungry!
xxxPoppy
If a year was tucked inside a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour."
- Victoria Erickson
It is now April, well over halfway into autumn, and we are finally starting to see the change in seasons. Crisp mornings, sunny days, golden leaves falling from the trees, the world is changing and we are witnessing it.
Autumn is a beautiful season, as they all are, there is something unique about it. The way that the usual green is replaced with countless shades of red, orange, yellow and brown.
Here are some photos that I believe capture autumn, enjoy.
xxxPoppy
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![Pin It](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://laotongblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/autumn.html&media=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTz6R-gUkEgLrcgfY8ljuOC981IMKlVkqxaDnUMp38J5a_ztvJkSuHsZCcyFGP0h2mntqh1DTPdE21NhblVahVeWqAVUlqwoz8SZsKN4j9T_cuLV4WA17kd1pCv44aWyzbH5-t7qKOYuW/s72-c/DSC_0148-2.jpg&description= If a year was tucked inside a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour." - Victoria Erickson It is now April, well over halfwa...){kind=link}
![Pin It](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://laotongblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/photography-sun-and-sea.html&media=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubMr9B0ZRFibT0WqGvN6jjjoWQp-8qm8dYehEa3aenYF74zMd1x3TPLtSDsVyLLe6yg7VZAGVivzvxsHOrOtYkWGnAVjbk7sr_ty52zjy98KRurhXXnNSCfZ9ZXhkNt94EUSBFc68XEwP/s72-c/DSC_1081.jpg&description= "Let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see." xxxPoppy ){kind=link}