laotong ♡ eternal sisters

In photography Travel

Photo Dairy - Camping 2018

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We are really getting back into the swing of things now, tests coming up, the first assignments due this week (which I really should be working on right now). I am really starting to miss my amazing summer, my scrapbook from Queensland arrived this week - and I was looking at all the pages wishing I could be back there. This is the perfect time for another holiday post!

At the start of every year, my family go camping at the coast with some friends. It is a wonderful week, with nothing to do, and I always manage to take hundreds of photos! I finally managed to finish editing them all last night, and I can't wait to share them with you today.

Enjoy the photos xxx.

The beach is probably one of my favourite things to photograph. It is always changing and there is the chance you can capture a wave at the perfect moment, a moment we barely get to see with our eyes. I loved experimenting with the waves in January, practising my timing.

This photo with the kites is one of my favourites- because of the beautiful colours of the kite and the ocean in the background.

We also went the mouth of the river. Where the ocean meets the river. It was a beautiful little beach, crystal clear water and only the occasional wave. It was so clear you could see fish swimming around your feet.

I was luck enough to get a few photos of the Super Blue Blood Moon. It was pretty cool to see it reflected on the water, and it was a prefect night to watch the moon come up!

xxxPoppy

Why I love Yoga

Posted on Thursday, 22 February 2018

"Inhale, Exhale"

In mid-January, I started doing yoga every morning when I woke up.
I found a class I liked on youtube and started doing the 30-day challenge. It took me a few days, but I started loving the start of my days. I loved having me time in the morning, and when I managed to get up with the sun it was beautiful stretching as the warm light flooded into my room.

I love doing yoga every morning because it sets up the rest of my day. I find that when I lie in bed watching Netflix, the rest of my day is a bit slow and kind of not the best. But when I start my day with Yoga, I feel really good for the rest of the day. And I am even encouraged to eat better food.

Before I started doing yoga, I hated breakfast. I was never hungry and it just made me feel sick. But doing that little bit of exercise before I start the day makes me hungry, and I manage to eat all my muesli.

It has also made me happier, and more relaxed. And all it took was 20 minutes every morning. I definitely feel better waking up 20 minutes earlier and doing yoga, then I do when I sleep in and skip it.

Finally, I used to have a lot of trouble getting to sleep, relaxing and calming myself enough to sleep. Just before school started I began a 20 minute night time yoga as well, and this has made a massive difference to how quickly I get to sleep, and the quality of my sleep.

I would really recommend trying yoga. Literally, all you need is a cheap yoga mat, internet and youtube. I was really surprised at how much of a difference this yoga made to everything I do, and I am so glad that I started a month ago.

xxxPoppy

How I stay organised at school

Posted on Monday, 19 February 2018

The school year is well underway....all the assignments have started rolling in, and there is always homework to do.
There is always a lot of things to remember at school, from due dates to test dates, even just a password. And sometimes I find it really hard to stay on top of things.

I am the kind of person who works best when things are organised and in order, and today I want to share how I stay organised at school.

1. Write everything down!
I wish I could use my bullet journal for school, but unfortunately, we have to use the school supplied diary - this means that I have two planners. To stop myself getting really confused, I write all my test dates, assignments, homework and classes in my school planner. I then carry this around with me for the day at school.
When I get home in the afternoon I add my to do's to my bullet journal, and that means that it is not full of useless information. I find that this really helps me prioritise as well! I also put my work schedule, blog posts and events in my bullet journal.
My main tip is to write everything down, don't rely on your memory for that textbook page that is homework.

2.Onenote
For all my class notes, and working on my assignments, I use OneNote. This is kind of like a virtual notebook, and it is much easier to keep track of everything than saving it all in folders. Plus, it autosaves, which has saved me many times!
It's kinda hard to explain, but I basically have it set up with a section for each subject. Within each section, I have different pages for each day's class notes and sub-sections for assignments.
When it comes to exam time, I have all my notes in one place, and it makes it much easier for me to revise!

3.Prioritise
When you have three assignments, two tests, and three classes worth of homework it can seem like you can't get everything done. It is really important to prioritise and get a little bit of everything done.

4.Keep your handouts
Teachers give you things for a reason, so I think it is really important to keep all your handouts- you might need them to revise for the exam. Or maybe they have a quote you need for your assignment. I keep all my handouts in a folder that I take around to classes with me.

5.Go over your notes
I try to, at least at the end of the week, go over my notes and summarise what is important. I write all this down on some paper and keep it in my folder. This way, when exam time comes everything is already summarised and easier to revise.

These tips are what works for me at school. What works for you?
xxxPoppy

Updates- I'm learning Spanish.

Posted on Thursday, 15 February 2018

"If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you.

If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you."

I was feeling inspired today, ready to learn something. And I also really want to travel to both Spain and South America one day...made even more so from the beautiful pictures I have seen on the internet.

So I decided to enrol in an online Spanish course. It's a course on Udemy (which is an online learning platform). The course is called Learn Spanish Fast, and it covers everything from basics like counting to holiday vocabulary.

I haven't done much of the course yet, but I am really excited to get started when I have spare time between school and work in the next few weeks.

I think it is really important that we all learn something that we are excited about, learning not because we have to but because we want to. It is much easier when you love what you are doing and are excited about each time you sit down to do it!

I also love the way that the online course is flexible to my needs. The website doesn't care if I can't do it one day, or even for a week or a month. The classes are all videos, so I can learn whenever it suits me- no pressure!

Anyway, hopefully I can post an update in the next few months once I get going!

Have you ever tried an online course like this one? What did you think?
xxxPoppy

Small things that make me happy

Posted on Monday, 12 February 2018

"Be happy in the moment, that's enough.

Each moment is all we need, not more."

-Mother Teresa//

Happiness is defined as a state of pleasure and contentment.
A while ago I wrote this post about 50 things that make me happy. I really enjoyed writing the post, and it actually made me really happy to even just think about things that make me happy.

I was reading the post again the other day, and it got me thinking. A lot of the time we think that the only time we can be happy is when we are doing something amazing, like on holiday or having a perfect day out. But a lot of the things on that list weren't from when we were away, or when I wasn't at school. A lot of those things happen in my everyday life. So maybe we are wrong? Maybe we should look at our everyday lives and be grateful for the small things that make us happy.

So here is another list, a list of small, everyday things that make me happy.

When I get everything on my to-do list done early!

Yoga

Waking up early

The smell of vanilla

Baking

Sunsets

When I take a photo that I love

Making scrapbooks

When I wake up just before my alarm!

A delicious dinner

Spending time with my family

Writing blog posts

Learning something new

Listening to a song I love

Rain (and thunder and lightning)

The beach (this one is an exception to the not on holidays theme)

Lying down on my pillow after a long day.

Finding something I'd lost

Spending time with my friends

My pencil case (it has the cutest pattern)

When my favourite song comes on by surprise

Travelling/planning a new holiday (another exception)

When I go to do a chore and it's already been done!

Having a clean room

Finding a really good book to read.

I am really happy that it wasn't hard to think of 25 things to put on this list (that can be number 26), and almost all of these are just ever day things!

What are the small things that make you happy?
xxxPoppy

Promise Me, Future Me

Posted on Thursday, 8 February 2018

"Always remember to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose"

This week is my first week back at school for the year. The start of my 11th year of school. I can't believe that I only have three years to go!

I am writing this post before I have started school, and I thought it would be the perfect time to share some wishes for myself throughout the rest of the year. I want to be able to look back on this post and push forward, remembering that it will all be worth it when I finally make it to the end of the year!

Promise me, future me,
That you will:

keep learning Spanish, it will all be worth it one day when you go to Spain or South America and don't accidentally order 7 serves of something gross
Always do your best at school, it is all leading to something.
Learn how to manage your time so that you always have the time for yourself
Enjoy every meal you eat
Take lots of photos
One-day complete your bucket list
Keep up yoga
Learn how to relax and have a 'nothing' day
Keep up with that study, and enjoy learning new things.
Wake up earlier and make the most of that time.

And that you won't:

Waste all your time doing "nothing"
Spend every minute doing school work and have no time left for play
Forget about all the goals and intentions you set earlier in the year

What do you want your future self to do?

xxxPoppy

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How to consume less and create more

Posted on Monday, 5 February 2018

"to live with purpose.

to say the courageous thing.

to celebrate the simple gift.

to follow your dreams.

this is a happy life"

-Wayland Henry//

We are all guilty of it, avoiding something we don't want to do by mindlessly consuming. Today I have a post about how I am going to stop mindlessly consuming.

Step 1: What is it that I want to do?
Ask yourself what you want to stop/start.

At the start of the year I made it one of my goals to try and create more instead of consuming, but when thinking about how to do this I realised that I don't want to stop consuming. I don't want to stop reading books, watching TED talks, learning from others and occasionally watching my favourite TV show.

So, it turns out I don't want to stop consuming and start creating. I just want to cut some of the consumption out of my life. I want to stop mindlessly consuming. I will still do all the things I love, I will still learn how to hand-letter, and I still want to read the books I love. I don't want to be a mindless creating machine because that isn't realistic, is it?

I now know that what I want to stop doing is being mindless. I don't want to waste my time sitting there, scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest or watching Netflix or Youtube. I want to use my time productively, and in ways that make me feel good. It works the other way too, I don't want to waste all my time creating things for other people. I want to create things because I enjoy doing it and it makes me feel good.

Step 2: What am I going to do?
Make a list of what to stop and what to start.

Once I worked out exactly what it was that I wanted to do, I decided to make this list of what I wanted to cut down on and what I wanted to start doing more of.
I made sure to keep in mind that what I want to do is stop mindlessly consuming, so things like reading a book or watching a TED talk are ok.

More:

Photography
Yoga!
Cooking
Relaxation time.
Learning Spanish
TED Talks
Learning
Me Time
Outside time
Blogging

Less:

Social media
Netflix
Youtube video after Youtube video
Watching TV for the sake of watching TV.

Step 3: How am I going to do it?

Create a plan of attack

I know that I can't just cut these things out of my life straight away, so I am going to start going slowly, using these steps.

Less Social Media	Less Netflix	Less Youtube	Less TV
Don't check until after breakfast Max of 5 mins at a time Check Instagram once a day Use social media only if there is nothing else I could be doing	Only watch one episode at a time 1 episode per day Only watch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Only watch once per week.	Only watch one video at a time Watch "fun" videos only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Only watch yoga, bullet journal and TED videos	Come up to bed half an hour earlier and do colouring/blogging/yoga. Have 1 TV free night per week Only watch TV at night Only watch TV when there is something I specifically want to watch.

I also made this list of ways I can do more of the things I enjoy:

Photography: Keep my camera in an easy to reach place.
Yoga!: Wake up earlier to do morning yoga
Cooking: Find recipes I want to cook and be organised.
Relaxation time: Learn that I don't have to be doing something all the time, and relaxing is not wasting time.
Learning Spanish: Keep the course up, set aside time on the weekends.
TED Talks: Listen to them as podcasts
Learning: Enrol in online courses, enjoy it!
Me Time: Wake up early, set aside time to do something I enjoy.
Outside time: Go for walks, do homework outside.
Blogging: Maybe increase to three posts per week!

I found this post to be a really good way to work out what I want my life to look like and how I am going to get there. Hopefully, I can keep it up!

What do you want to do more of this year?

xxxPoppy

In Travel

Packing Tips

Posted on Thursday, 1 February 2018

"We have nothing to lose, and a world to see."

Packing to go away can be really stressful, especially if you aren't properly prepared, or don't leave yourself enough time. With all the times I have packed a suitcase or overnight bag I have learnt some valuable tips to make it easier. Don't get me wrong, I am still a massive over-packer, but at least I never want something I don't have, right? Here are 10 things I have learnt that help me pack...

1. Earlier is better

The earlier you can pack to go away the better, start a week or more before you go and take your time. That way you can make sure that you have everything you need and have the time to think about what you might have forgotten. There is nothing worse than driving away from the house and realising you forgot to pack something important!

2. Think about the weather

You don't take a coat if you are going to Hawaii. So look up the previous weather for the place you are going and pack accordingly. This saves a lot of space and stress and is perfect for those places you don't know too much about.

3. Use packing cells

These packing cells are the best inventions ever! They make it easy to organise your suitcase and find things at the other end. I always put shirts and shorts in one, dresses in another, underwear in a third and swimmers in the last.

4. Bring shorts and tops that work

Instead of bringing shorts for every day, bring some that work with most of your tops and wear them for two or three days. Dresses are a great way to save space too.

5. Think about where you are going.

This goes with thinking about the weather, but you wouldn't go camping without taking camping gear, so think about where you are going. If it's the beach take thongs, mountains take runners.

6. Think about what you are going to be doing.

Again, if you are going to the beach everyday pack more than one pair of swimmers- and if you are wearing swimmers a lot you probably don't need a fresh outfit every day.

7. Try and limit the shoes

I struggle with this, but there is no need to bring 7 pairs of shoes. When I went to America for three weeks I took my runners, thongs and sandals- that was all. You don't need to bring everything.

8. "You can buy it there"

It takes a lot of the stress out of packing if you think "I can get it when I am there". It's not the end of the world if you forget something.

9. Brings bags to use while you are there.

I made this mistake when I went to Queensland in 2016, I didn't think to bring a backpack or handbag to use during the day.

10. If your suitcase weighs too much.....

Use your family members. My brother always travels light, and if my suitcase is over a weight limit I can move some things to his bag. The best things to move are shoes and a big packing cell of clothes....or that bathroom bag.

I hope that some of these tips can make your next pack easier....I guess I should go and back my bag for our holiday tomorrow now...

xxxPoppy