Inspirational Resources

A few of my 2014 essentials. Apparently I have a thing for stripes and gold.

| Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney |

So a lot of you asked after this post what some of the inspiration and tools I used for making my 2014 goals were. I've compiled a little list for you with some of my favorites.
It was actually much longer than this but when I wrote it yesterday Blogger decided to eat it...
So I'll add more things as I remember/come across them again.
Enjoy!

If you feel like sharing what you found helpful in making your own goals and resolutions for the year, I'd love to hear!


//To Read

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

The Myth of Passion and Motivation: How to Stay Focused When You Get Bored Working Toward Your Goals

One Picture Workplace: Manchik Photography

On Being a Workaholic and Still Having a Life

Set Goals for This Year With These 3 Questions

De-cluttering Tips From An Aspiring Hoarder

But What If I Fail

Tips, Tips, and More Tips about Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

//To Watch

The Pomodoro Technique


//To Follow

Whitney English Blog
Jess Lively Blog
Gretchen Rubin on Twitter
Entrepreneur Magazine on Twitter


//To Use

The Daily Goals app
The Day Designer by Whitney English


//Quotes

"We are what we repeatedly do" -Aristotle 

"An attitude of gratitude. Gratitude bestows  reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world" -John Milton

"Success is steady progress toward one's personal goals." 

-Jim Rohn 

"Enjoy your life. Every minute of it." - Jack Kerouac

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones, after all." -Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Well, kind of. Yes, life is not turning out like it was supposed to, but what the heck is supposed to? There is no supposed to. Supposed to is a lie. Supposed to is built on the perception of someone else’s perceived success.

Live your life right now exactly as it is and do your best to keep moving forward into where you want to go. That’s what you’re supposed to do." -Paul Angone

"I am not afraid of storms for i am learning how to sail my ship." - Louisa May Alcott

“I’ve learned that business is business — don’t let it affect your personal life.” —Joelle Latreille

“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” - Hafiz

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Failure is not a period, it’s a comma. And only if you stop trying will you really fail." -Paul Angone

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” -Melody Beattie

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” 

― Sylvia Plath

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” -William Faulkner

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right- For you will be criticized anyway." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"If you are willing to do something that might not work, you are closer to being an artist." -Seth Godin

“Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” -Mary Marantz

"She said it’s not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What’s hard, she said, is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about." 

"Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it's important to you and you want to do it "eventually", just do it and correct course along the way.

"You Can't rush something you want to last forever"

"For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. if you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are that you’re not going to be very happy. if someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. if, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.” -Andy Rooney

 "Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” 

— Oscar Wilde

 "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” 

-Anne Frank

Goals | January

Photo cred: 

Meagan Abell

2014.

A new year, a fresh start.

We're all making new goals and resolutions this time of year and cliche as it may be, I think it's a really important thing to do. I think wanting to improve and become better for yourself and others around you is an admirable thing. Plus, who doesn't want to just start off the year feeling good?

So this year, along with the rest of you, I have my own set of goals, resolutions, plans and dreams.

I spent the first week of this year figuring out what I wanted them to be and while it's still a work in progress, I'm excited for what I'm aiming for this month.

I make lists constantly.

If you read my blog on even a somewhat frequent basis that quickly becomes apparent.

The reminders app on my iPhone is pretty much my favorite thing. I'm always adding and checking off things throughout my day. Not only on there, but on the work to-do list clipboard I have hanging on the wall by my desk in addition to various lists I write daily in my calendar.

(I sometimes even write things on my lists that I've already done just so I can check them off... but we don't need to talk about that...)

This year however I wanted to really be purposeful with my goals for 2014.

My tendency is to just make a non specific, never ending, uncategorized list for the year (with items ranging from "go to that new restaurant" to "write letters more" to "clean out closet" to "be more positive") and then just sort of have at it.

This method however is pretty overwhelming and needless to say I never really get very far with accomplishing things on my list.

After recently picking up The Happiness Project again (after a failed attempt to read it a year or two ago), I was inspired to instead make monthly goals and have specific themes and projects along with those goals each month. This way I have a game plan, a few specific things to work on, and I have a more focused plan for things I want to change and get done.

This idea is pretty closely modeled after the book, however I've added my own modifications and as the months progress I plan on modifying the subjects and goals even more and adjusting to what works best for me.

But to start off the year I decided to just go with the basics.

So, for this month's goals:

January | Creating Good Habits

Go To Sleep/Wake Up Earlier

• Read or journal before bed instead of getting on Facebook again or looking at a screen
• Don't stay out past midnight on week days
• Make a work schedule. Write it down. Stick to it. No more knitting at 4am trying to keep up with orders...
• Get up with the sun

Exercise Better

• Make a work out schedule. Write it down. Stick to it.
• Always exercise on Mondays. I don't want to work out on weekends (I'm usually pretty active on weekends anyway) and so I think it's pretty essential to starting off the week this way
• Get outside
• Don't skip exercising for two days in a row
• Don't link exercise to weight loss. Sanity > vanity.
• Spend money on exercising. It's worth it. 

Toss, Restore, Organize

• Clean up my inbox and unsubscribe from unwanted emails and subscriptions via Unroll Me
• Clean out bookmarks on computer
• Resolve to crave and create an existence of order and serenity
• In regards to clothing: fewer choices actually make you happier than more choices. Get rid of stuff.
• Try this method of storing clothes
• Also in regards to clothing: No shopping this month
• If something can be done in one minute- Get it done. ie: Stop dropping scarves and jackets on that one chair...
• Outer order creates inner calm
• Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have
• Listen to just positive music this month. Restoration of a different kind. 

Eat Better

• No sweets for the month of January. I've actually been eating less sweets over the past few months in general and I've found that I don't even crave or want those things anymore really (with the exception of donuts. Obviously.) However with the holidays I got a little off track so I'm resetting my cravings by abstaining for the month!
• When debating between less and more, always choose less. Especially when eating out. When I'm indecisive about it, I always regret getting more. It's not like I can't order more if I need to later...
• Drink more water. Eight cups a day is the popular recommendation. This means filling my 24oz water bottle about 2 1/2 times. Not that hard... right?
• Take Vitamins

Tackle a Nagging Task

• Write them all down. When overwhelmed with all that I have to do, write it all down, get it all out and then go from there. This will help put things into perspective. 
• Set up easy successes to feel motivated and accomplished before tackling something bigger.
• A few specific nagging tasks to tackle this month: 

1. Get type writer fixed and working
2. Get a Post office box
3. Write thank you notes
4. Get oil changed in car
5. Put Christmas stuff away
6. Make a list of what my core values are for my business
7. Mend that pile of clothes
8. Clean out and organize bookmarks on computer
9. Mount and hang Etsy map

Act The Way I Want To Feel

• I have power over my thoughts and emotions. They do not control me.
• Have a quiet time every morning
• Smile. Especially when I don't feel like it. 
• No one is in charge of my happiness but me!

So the hope is that by focusing on a set theme of goals for one month instead of a whole bunch, I'll be able to create good habits and routines with them and so when I move on to the next month full of goals I'll naturally/already be doing the previous ones.

After all it takes about 21 days to form a new habit!

Or so they say...

So we'll see how this goes.

I'm actually pretty excited about it. And the thought process behind blogging about it was that you all can help hold me accountable... ;)

Plus I read somewhere that people who wrote down their goals were 42% more likely to achieve them than the ones who didn't. And that telling a friend increases this rate to 78%.

So there.

On another note, there might be some months that I decide not to share here on the blog, depending on how in depth and personal they are, but I did want to start the year of with at least sharing these.

Please keep in mind that I am not an expert at any of this by any means. I'm also not suggesting that these habits and goals are ones that everyone should take on. Especially health wise. We are all created beautifully unique and as a result what works for one may not work for the other, and that's okay!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about how you plan on keeping your own resolutions and goals this year!

And, since a lot of you asked, tomorrow I'll be sharing a post full of resources I found helpful when creating this list of goals.

(I actually meant to share it today but Blogger decided to eat it and then delete it... So tomorrow I'll re-write it for you!)

Hello 2014

Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney

So I originally intended to write a blog post at the first of the new year with all of my goals and resolutions for 2014 but as it turns out, making that list is taking more time than I realized...

This year I want to be more purposeful.
In a lot of things, but especially with my business.
Last year was the first year I really started to take everything work wise more seriously, and while it was an awesome year and I learned a lot, there's definitely room for some improvement.
Having a set work schedule for one thing.
This is something friends and family alike have advised me to create for myself (usually after I have a meltdown from the combination of not getting sleep, working until 4am knitting and editing photos and working all day everyday including weekends) and I kept putting it off and kept putting it off but now I'm finally going to make one and stick to it! Because I definitely can't keep going the way that I have been.

So the first few days of this new year have been spent reading lots of encouraging/instructional/inspiring articles and books, watching informational videos, meditating on what's important to me, what my passions and core values are, organizing my new calendar and making many many many lists (we all know I love my lists).
I'm actually really excited about this year and I have a really good feeling that making these new goals are going to do me a world of good.

So anyway, I'll be sharing my list of goals for 2014 soon, but in the meantime I'm enjoying figuring out what they're going to be.


What about you?
Do you have some resolutions and goals for the year?
I'd love to hear them!

An Year In Instagrams

As I reflect today on this past year, I'm filled with so much gratitude. 

Gratitude for the year that I've had, the people I've met, the places I've been, the things I've experienced and the opportunities I've been given. 2013 was indeed the best year ever. But 2014 is going to be even better.

Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney

The Best Year Ever

I'm sitting here at my desk this morning reflecting on this past year, as most of us do around this time, and I really am overwhelmed with what a good year it's been.
To be honest I've actually had a hard last few weeks and remembering the good things hasn't come super easily. My work load for the holidays was one I really had a hard time keeping up with amongst other things and a lot of little and not so little things kept discouraging me.
I've definitely had my fair share of melt downs this season.
However, I've grown so much in this past year, which is made even more apparent when I look back at where I was this time in 2012. So much has changed, and though some of it's been really hard and not the most fun or completely painless, it's still been good. I wouldn't change a single thing about any of it.
Good or bad.
(Except maybe the fact that I didn't read a single book on this list... 2014 is going to be the year of the book worm. I'm just going to go ahead and declare that right now.)
And truthfully, there really has been more good than bad anyway.

In fact I had decided that I was going to speak this over my year, and I really think it came true.

2013 really was the best year ever.

So, in the spirit of reflection and recounting good times, here are a few favorite moments from this past year...

Tried out freelensing.

And now I can't get enough of it.

I do it too much actually.

Is there some sort of cure for this sort of addiction??

Got a haircut

Spent a lot of happy weekends with lots of beautiful friends.
New and old. 

Speaking of friends Meagan and I had more than one or two grand adventures

Had many, many, many, many, many, successful photo shoots 

Did a fun collaboration with some new photographer friends

Tried out more than one or two new Richmond restaurants

Discovered a reason I love taking pictures

Found a new favorite quote

Did a Q&A post

Traveled to California, New York, Chicago, North Carolina, Georgia, Charlottesville, Williamsburg and a few other local cities and places

Realized how full and complete God's goodness is

Redesigned the blog

Got another haircut

Started Things I Love Thursday

(which I didn't do the greatest job of posting for but that's okay)

Started Fashion Friday

Started teaching myself French.
Which didn't get very far.
So we'll be trying again next year...

Learned how let love quiet me, what perfect love is, which way to walk, how to be challenged, how invaluable mornings are, how to weather storms, what grace is, who I am, how to just be and few other things

Saw Best Coast and Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros in concert

Took a beach trip or two or three

Went sailing.
More than once.

Bought my dream camera

Shot many wonderful engagements

Shot six weddings on my own and second shot for seven more.
 Already have several more booked for next year and I couldn't be more excited!

Made some happy lists

Attended the first annual Bacon Festival

Sang a song. And made a video.

Got better at playing the ukulele

Had my pen pal of 5+ years come visit

Updated the shop

Watched a dear friend get engaged, then get married

(all of which I had the pleasure of capturing)

Was featured on Etsy's front page and Facebook page more times than I could keep track of

Shot a lot of film

Learned how to see the art in the everyday

Had to say some goodbyes to some very dear friends who moved away which was hard but now I have more places to have an excuse to visit

Was a counselor for a cabin full of some of the most beautiful girls I've ever had the pleasure of spending a weekend with

Got to be on the news

Met and became friends with a lot of really wonderful people 

Discovered what it truly means to be thankful

Celebrated turning 22

Reached over 1,000 likes on the Facebook page

Made my first girls and guys lookbook for the shop

Had the most profitable year with my business yet

Started sharing bits and pieces of my hometown RVA

Bought my dream lens

Participated again in the Bizarre Market

Had a very wonderful and perfect Christmas

Learned to cherish solitude, how to stick up for myself and speak my mind more, that I love routine, I have a mind like a lens, that I'm worth it, what the best way is to watch the world, that I love to write, that things are never ever as bad as they seem, how to dream bigger, how some things are just givens, and how there are many many things that can take you by surprise.
In the most wonderful way.

Bring it on 2014.

/////////////////////

See past years in review...

2012

2011

Josh | Portraits

Meet Josh.

I took these portraits for his modeling portfolio a few months ago but I'm just now getting around to sharing them. I have to say that this is one of my favorite portrait sessions from this past year. 

I love the color in these photos as well as how beautifully they showcase the variety of the city. 

Josh and I had so much fun wandering around and choosing different spots to shoot in.

I hope I get to shoot with him again sometime, whether that's before or after he's a famous world renown model. ;)

Seriously though, this guy's got talent. 

//////////

Check out more here.

Interested in getting some portraits of your own done?

Email me for more info: by.leney@gmail.com

A Day In Williamsburg

Took a spontaneous cancel-all-your-afternoon-plans trip to Williamsburg earlier this week.

It was the perfect break from all the holiday craziness.

Met a really nice man named Hadley, the owner of Mermaid Books, whose wife (fun fact) used to be a trapeze artist. The sharing of this fact was a result of me placing a copy of Peter Pan on the counter to purchase. 

He was one of those interesting people who seem to be able to talk about any sort of subject or topic you might choose to discuss at any given moment.

I will definitely be visiting his lovely shop again. 

(Not to mention Billie Holiday was playing as I walked in so of course I was instantly in love.)

The weather was wet and rainy but it was that perfect light kind of rain that falls in the misty blueness of a winter evening that you don't really mind so long as you have a hood or an umbrella to, mostly, shield you from it.

It was a day that felt like Christmas.

And I've found that as I've gotten older, those days are fewer and farther between. 

So when I'm able to experience such a day, I hold onto it as tightly as I can.  

Places Pictured

Mermaid Books

The Peanut Shop
The Cheese Shop
Prentis Store
Williamsburg Inn

Though It's Been Said Many Times Many Ways

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

May it be filled with lots of lights, love, and remembrance of why we celebrate this holiday.

It is after all the most wonderful time of the year.

                                                                                ♥

Knittinggrams

Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney

Because I am The Knitting Queen after all.
;)

An Update

Photo cred: Meagan Abell

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. 

It has been pretty crazy around here these last few weeks. 

I've knit/crocheted a total of 53 items for the shop since the beginning of the month. At least I think that's right. It's at least that if not more... it's kind of hard to keep track...
(I'm not even talking about the end of Novemeber. When I had an order that included 6 pairs of mittens...)
On top of that I've had quite a lot of photo editing to do (the process of which was not helped when my computer decided it wanted to die for a few days earlier this week).
All of this is on top of trying to maintain my own Christmas shopping, booking weddings for next year, answering daily emails, keeping up with friends and family, church, trying to get some semblance of a good night's sleep on more than one or two nights out of the week and all of the other 984 normal life things that pop up on a daily occurrence (about that oil change...)
It's been a very busy month to say the least.

I actually sent out the last Christmas orders today which was a huge relief to get done. Now I just have a few left for some local peeps/family members and then of course I need to get started on all of the orders that are already due after Christmas.
Not gonna lie, I'm kind of looking forward to things slowing down a bit after the holidays so I can knit something for myself again!
Not to mention get started on new designs and ideas. Which are always running around in my head.
I'm already thinking about how I want to redo some things for next year. I want to have a brand new feel and look with my shop and I've been thinking a lot about it. I've loved where it's gone this season, it's been so much fun, but I have a whole new direction I want to take it in that I think will be more of what I've been working towards and will encompass more of my everyday style and aesthetic.
 I'm already getting pretty excited about it.

So keep an eye out for some more changes in the upcoming year!
And if there's something you like in the shop now you should go snag one sooner rather than later because it might not be there in the next few weeks. ;)

On a sort of related note I really can't believe it's Christmas already. I feel like I really got into the holiday spirit earlier in November, and then all of my busyness swept me up and carried me off in a tangled web of stress and distraction and I forgot/didn't have time to do any of the Christmas-ey things I normally do.
That plus a lot of the traditions I'm used to didn't happen this year, which threw me off. And then of course there's the whole there-was-less-time-between-thanksgiving-and-christmas-this-year-than-there-normally-is thing.
So with about 5 days to go I'm definitely going to make them count.
Because gosh darn it my lack of festiveness certainly isn't from a lack of love for this glorious holiday.
I'm no grinch.
Speaking of which I need to watch that... who wants to come over and have a sleepover/christmas movie marathon with me because I've only watched one and a half and another half....
(those two halves were different movies so obviously they don't make a whole)
I have however been eating lots and lots of Christmas cookies.
So there's that.

Okay I think that's enough of a ramble from me for one night.
Hope you're having a super wonderful Christmas season so far and spending it in all of the right and most important ways (ie: not like I am, on my phone, in the above photo. Granted, that was in Chicago, and I didn't have any other photos to go with this post. But I digress.)

P.s. Sorry for all of the run on sentsances. It's late.

P.p.s. If I haven't told you all enough lately, you're awesome. I couldn't be doing any of this without you and you make my heart happy. Thanks for your constant encouragement and support.
It means the world to me.