GratiTuesdays: Happiness Journal

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Today I thought I’d share a page of my gratitude journal. As I’ve mentioned on my Night Routine post, writing on my gratitude and happiness journals is one of the last things I do before going to bed. This is what I wrote yesterday.

I’m Grateful For:

My husband, a healthy pregnancy, my baby.

Positive affirmation:

I choose to be happy and grateful today.

The Best Things that happened today are:

Dinner with friends and getting my covid booster shot.

Today I learned:

That I need to be patient with myself.

Overall Feeling Morning:

3 stars

Overall Feeling Evening:

5 stars

What changed my rating:

Being with friends.

Something to improve on:

Maybe waking up earlier but I’m pregnant and tired.

I’m happy because:

I am loved and in love. I have great friends and a baby on the way.

What about you? What are you grateful for? What is making you happy?

Love,

Cheila

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Life Update – Quarantine and Working from Home 18.05.2020

Hello everyone!!

I hope to find you all healthy.

I haven’t written in about 3 months. Honestly, I felt like I had nothing to say, with what is going on all around us. There’s so much news and so many blog posts and updates and articles, I didn’t feel like putting anything out there.

So what about us?

My husband and I are very lucky to be able to work from home, earning our full salary. Some of our friends are not that fortunate and have to be home with a partial salary, while their workplaces are closed down. My sister is an essential worker, which has me very worried, but most of our friends and family members have been safe at home.

I haven’t left the house to go anywhere but food shopping in over 2 months. We haven’t seen our friends and family in a very long time. It’s worth it, though, if we can keep everyone safe.

Things are slowly opening up now and I have to admit it makes me a little nervous. But we do need to try to get back to normal or to what is going to be our new normal anyway. We obviously have to wear a mask everywhere as it is mandatory in most places. I actually hate wearing one as I feel that it makes me touch my face so much more, but I’ll obviously wear one.

I’ve been reading a lot and I’m reading the The Twilight Saga again, as Midnight Sun is finally being released after 12 years. I have a lot of thoughts on this and will probably write a post.

Other than that I don’t have any news, I guess.

This is a pretty random post but I really just wanted to say hi and catch up a bit.

I’d be very happy to hear from you as well.

Please stay safe.

Love, Chey.

Photo by Sameera Madusanka from Pexels

 

If We Were Having Coffee – Part II

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that my hair is falling like crazy. I mean, I must have lost about 50% of my hair in the past year. I had some blood work done and it turns out I have an iron deficiency, meaning I’m close to being anemic. My doctor thought that might be the cause and that an iron supplement would stop my hair loss. Nope. Keeps falling. I have a dermatology appointment booked for this week and hopefully they’ll figure it out. Should I have gone about 6 months ago? Yes, but I procrastinate.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you I’m sort of suffering from adult acne. I never had any pimples as a teenager but I’ve been getting them for the past couple of months, mostly on my forehead. It’s not bad, just a few here and there (except for that one time a couple of months ago when it looked like I was having an allergic reaction which coincided with my first makeup trial for my wedding) but it bothers me that my skin is changing right now, at 27.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that my best friend and maid of honor (sort of, that’s not exactly what we call it here, it’s like you have a pair of godparents for the bride and another for the groom. She’s my “bridal godmother”) is coming here to visit in June (she lives in Vienna and I never get to see her) and I can’t wait. I’m so excited and wish June would just hurry up and get here. She’s one of my absolute favorite people in the whole world and I miss her so much.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you Rui and I are attending a wedding in May and are very exciting. We’ll be among his friends from high school whom we happen to be very close with right now (life is very funny because we all ended up living in the same city, which is about 300 km away from where they all went to high school) so it will be so much fun. I should say they’re my friends too, otherwise they get mad. It’s so nice that we’ll share the year we got married with that couple.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that it’s less than 6 months until our wedding. October 5th. We’re very excited. Everyone around us is very excited and looking forward to it. I’m so glad we decided to have a “big” wedding. I thought I’d be fine with a very small civil ceremony but I think I’d regret not doing something more traditional.

If we were having coffee…

I’d ask you if you’re married and then I’d ask about your wedding day and hopefully get some wedding advice 🙂

Love,

Chey

A Whole New Life: A month later – How I feel about my new job.

Oh my God, it’s been the longest ever…

I don’t even know how to start this post, honestly.

Hi?

How is everyone? I miss you all so much. I’m fine and happy and healthy.

I’ve finally managed to sit down and write a post. Or begin one, anyway. I have so much to tell you. That is, if you still remember me. I dropped the “I’m leaving my job that I love for somethings completely different” bomb about a month ago and have been pretty much MIA since. I wouldn’t blame you.

I went back and forth with the decision of changing jobs for many days, before I finally decided I would do it. I was so scared I would regret it and, while I do miss the kids, I am 100% sure I made the right decision. Thank God I took the job. I love it. I would have regretted it and I know it was exactly what I needed at that time. It has been a blessing.

It’s not a better job in a sense that I changed into a higher position. Quite the contrary, actually. Some people think I should be doing something else because my current job has nothing to do with what I’ve been doing for the past six years. I do not care. It is exactly what I need right now.

  • I have much less responsibility than I’ve had in the past.
  • There’s no work to take home.
  • I work 8 hours and I’m done, no more (I’ve done twelve for years and I almost lost my mind from overworking) and no less (I’ve done sixteen hours a week for a few months and saying I was bored is an understatement).
  • I work at an office full of people. I was self-employed, which literally means alone, for the longest time. I’m glad I get to see people every day.
  • I get to help people and solve problems which you know I love doing.
  • I have a fixed schedule. I work from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. You know I’m a planner and I like schedules. I have one hour for lunch and two very generous breaks throughout the day.  I take pleasure in being there early every single day. I like to get to work between 30 to 10 minutes before I have to be at my desk.
  • I wake up early, which I like. I have to wake up between 5 and 5.30 a.m every day. Although it doesn’t always feel pleasant, I like to be an early riser. And I sleep so much better.
  • I got to learn things I had never even thought about before. My brain was dying for some stimulation and its technical training has been it.

I feel like this deserves a whole post but I’ve met some wonderful people. I know so many amazing human beings that I keep forgetting that there are even more beautiful ones out there. I can say I’ve made friends. Mostly guys. There’s this three crazy dudes (they obviously know who they are) and this wonderful girl. There are obviously others but I won’t get into it too much, for privacy reasons. I’m all over the place but some people are very private.

It’s funny how these people you meet just change something in you. And you don’t even know how to explain that to them. That’s how special they are.

I think I’m done for today. I could be here for hours, you know that.

I hope everyone is okay and I’m looking forward to talking to you all soon.

So much love,

Cheila.

Sorry I’m not there!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about myself as a blogger. A lot actually.

I know I’ve been absent. For a long time too. I miss you. I miss the time when I used to know you all so well and talk to you daily. I miss reading every post and comment as much as I could. I feel like things still go on but I’m no longer a part of them. I really miss everyone and my blogger family. I really want to be more present.

I really just want to say how sorry I am and how much I miss everyone.

Love,

Cheila.

P.S. Because it gets so overwhelming and I might miss most things, leave me the links to your most recent posts down below. Anything you might want to share, really.

A Week + In The Life: 02.03.18 – 13.03.18 Journal and Updates

Happy Tuesday, everyone!!

I haven’t been blogging much since last week, have I? I thought I’d share a general update.

Friday: 02.03.18

I got off work at 8, as I do every Friday. I thought we could go and see The Post because I really wanted to watch all of the nominees for Best Picture before the Oscars, and it was the only movie that wasn’t available to illegally download. We checked a few places and decided where to go and to grab dinner first. There weren’t many options so Burger King it was. Just before eating, we realized we had gotten it wrong and that the movie session was at 10 p.m instead of 9.25 p.m and in a different place, ten minutes away. Oh, Well. No rush to eat. So we had our dinner and eventually decided we were too tired and lazy to go anywhere else. No movie. We headed home and went to bed.

Saturday: 03.03.18

I woke up late. I had plans to clean and such but it was raining and I didn’t feel like doing it. Rui had gone for a run and I asked him to bring snacks. I fell asleep again and had a long nap. When I woke up we decided to watch The Shape of Water, which I wasn’t so sure about to begin with, and ended up not liking that much. Rui really wanted to see it and actually liked it, though. We had popcorn, orange juice and strawberries. We watched Lady Bird and it was meh. It’s the perfect coming of age movie and I have nothing bad to say about it but it was just, I don’t know? Plain? Boring? I can see how it is a good, well-made film but the story is nothing special. We went to bed soon after because I was still very sleepy.

Sunday: 04.03.18

I woke up late again. We felt like going for coffee and a drive. I had the most delicious cake. We then went for a drive around this area we don’t know so well, just about ten to fifteen minutes from where we live. It’s this beautiful place where countryside meets the beach and it’s just breathtaking, really. We watched Call Me By Your Name and I loved it. Only thing to bother me was the title and the whole “call me by your name” thing. Why? Why would you ask someone to call you by their name? I get it, it was their thing. But why? I doesn’t make much sense to me. I did love the movie. I patiently waited for the Oscars ceremony to start (it begins at 1 a.m for me), while cuddling on the couch with Rosa. I knew I was pulling an all-nighter to watch the Oscars as I do every year. I’m not the most patient person so it is kind of boring to go through all of the breaks. I don’t know how you American friends do it with all the commercial breaks, really. There’s just so many. I went to bed once it was over but didn’t sleep at all because I had to be up at 7.30. As you probably know from my post, I am NOT happy about the winners.

Monday: 05.03.18

I was up at 7.30, no sleep and kind of mad about the Oscars. I’m not going to repeat myself and bore you to death because I’ve written a whole post about it. I’ll just tell you I was not very happy that The Shape of Water won Best Picture. I was expecting it to be between Call Me By Your Name and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri so I about died when the said “and the Oscar goes to… The Sha….” Rui, Rosa and his brother were sleeping but I yelled “What the fuck??!!” in the living room. I was that upset and surprised. It’s pretty funny now. I was too tired to write so I spent my time watching The Good doctor before I had to work. It was a calm day, though. I left work at 8 and slept early, like a baby.

Tuesday: 06.03.18

I honestly don’t remember much about Tuesday. I pretty much only worked and had a very calm day. I was alone because there were few kids and my colleague was needed to help with French in a different room so it was just me and a few 9th graders, studying science, which I love.

Wednesday: 07.03.18

It was just me at work as well. The kids are all studying math so we only had three for Portuguese, which means only one of us was needed. My colleague got the day off and I got those three 9th graders. It was pretty chill. I left work at 7. We had pasta for dinner and watched an episode of This is Us.

Thursday: 08.03.18

My turn to have the day off!! My colleague handled the two kids we had for the day so I didn’t have to go to work. I slept and listened to podcasts for most of the day. Rui came home and wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate International Women’s Day. I was pretty stupid and picked this greasy food truck where we had hot dogs. They were good, though.

Friday: 09.03.18

I’m at work but don’t have to actually do any work until 3 p.m. I’m about to go and look for some lunch because I didn’t pack any lunch today. I’ve watched an episode of Call The Midwife and I’ve written this post. That’s about it. We’re not doing anything tonight. I’m just cooking some easy pasta and that’s about it.

Saturday: 10.03.18

As usual, I woke up pretty late. I really wanted to clean the house but I don’t like doing it when there’s so many people trapped inside because it’s raining. I decided it wouldn’t happen and simply moved from the bed to the sofa. We watched Veronica, this Spanish horror movie I had read about before. It’s by Netflix and I had read it’s one of the scariest movies ever and that many people can’t even finish it. It’s quite popular right now too, have you watched it? It’s pretty good and scary as a horror movie should be but I didn’t find it that different and didn’t understand why someone would not be able to watch until the end.

Sunday: 11.03.18

I slept late and didn’t do much, to be honest. We felt like watching something and I was more inclined towards a documentary or series but we ended up watching this amazing film Monster (2003) about the infamous American serial killer Aileen Wurnos. Are you familiar with her story? Let me just tell you that the name of the movie is probably ironic, since she was the one surrounded by monsters and abusers her whole life. Yes, she did kill six to eight men but I cannot say how I would treat men later in life had I been sexually abused, assaulted, and prostituted by my grandfather to his friends at the age of eleven. One of her grandfather’s friends actually got her pregnant and she had to give her baby up for adoption. She was 13. Then he kicked her out of the house when she was 14. She had to live in the woods and begin working as a prostitute to support herself. She sold her body her entire life. They say she was raped and badly beaten by a client who was about to kill her, but managed she killed him in self-defense. Then her killing spree began and she ended up in prison, being executed by lethal injection in 2002. There’s no excuse to commit murder. You don’t go around killing people just because you had a difficult childhood. But in her case, I can honestly feel sorry for her. She was never loved, cared for or wanted. She was treated like garbage by men her entire life, since she was so young. There’s only so much your mind can handle before you snap. What do you think about this? Is she a monster or someone who took the most horrific forms of abuse for thirty years and simply had enough? I would love your opinion on this.

Monday: 12.03.18

Pretty uneventful. I woke up early but wasn’t feeling so well so I went back to bed. I woke up very late and met a friend for coffee before I had to go to work at 5. I left work at 7, came home, had dinner and laughed my ass off while watching Impractical Jokers with Rui and Brother. I then went to bed and listened to a few podcast episodes until I fell asleep.

Tuesday: 13.03.18 – Today

I got the day off from work. The kids are studying Chemistry and Physics and so they didn’t need both me and my colleague (we don’t work with Chemistry, Physics and Math). The same is happening on Thursday, the 22nd and she is staying home, while I’m going. I woke up late once again. I think I might need to decrease my sleeping medication, because I’m sleeping way too much and that usually means I need less of it.

I listened to a few podcasts, as I do every day. I’ve grown to love podcasts an audio books so much in the last few months. I took care of some laundry because there is always some laundry in desperate need to be done, especially when it has been raining for the past few weeks. I cleaned a little bit around the kitchen, decluttered our cleaning supplies cabinet and cleaned the bathroom. I’m sitting here having a snack and writing this post, just before I start dinner and close everything up (I opened all the doors and windows to let the house get some air). After dinner I’m having a shower and watching a few episodes of Divorce.

Random Picture Dump:

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What have you been up to?

xx

Desenho sem título (4)

Daily Planner and Journal – 08.02.2018 “Dreaming about Excel Spreadsheets” Edition + My nightstand contents

Good morning dear friends,

As a friend of mine was saying the other day, Thursday is wonderful because then comes Friday and then comes the weekend. She’s definitely an optimist. How do you feel about Thursday? Friday eve? One more day you have to drag and suffer before the weekend? It doesn’t bother me, honestly. It did last week because I was exhausted and emotionally drained but, this week, as I’m doing well, I’m not desperate for the weekend to come.

I’m having breakfast and coffee at my desk, while writing this post. Some oatmeal with rice and coconut milk, banana slices, a bit of honey and some cinnamon. My coffee with rice and coconut milk and a pear. Oh, and my water.

I only have to be at work from 5 p.m to 7 p.m but I have plenty to do in the meantime. You guys know I do freelance work, right? Right. I have to write this huge list of beauty product descriptions for a new Portuguese online store. Believe it or not, I’m not used to writing in Portuguese lol Anyway I have to do this massive work, which means 1500 descriptions. I’ve done 300 since Sunday. It’s not a problem because I could have about 2 weeks for each 150 descriptions if I wanted to, but I just want to be done with it. I cannot look at the excel spreadsheet any longer. I wake up thinking about it. I dream I’m inserting data and such. Are you like this? When I have a project to finish I don’t relax until it’s just done and over with. I’ve been working on it non-stop, sacrificing the pool, reading, TV shows (No, I haven’t watched the saddest This is Us episode ever but I’ve read some spoilers because people cannot keep their mouths shut on the internet) and some sleep. Even my beloved true crime podcasts are being neglected.

So here I am, sitting at my desk, debating whether I should get a second cup of coffee. I think I should write a post about my work as a freelancer, shouldn’t I? It might be useful for some people, if they’re looking to make a few extra bucks or for a second job. I would write about it, explain what I do, offer some advice (I have learned from a few mistakes) and tell you about the best websites to find work. Tell me if you’d like that.

There’s some serious pink for days happening at my desk. Do you feel like you drink more water if you use a straw? I have no idea why, but it works for me. Oh, I’m also wearing pink pajamas and a pink robe. I look like that crazy lady whose house is all about pink, even her toaster and toilet. She only wears pink. I’m joking here, I wear every single color except for yellow and orange because I hate them. And not all of my possessions are pink. I might have a light blue toilet but that’s not the same.

I was just looking at my planners I’ve kept since 2010, just so I can remind myself I haven’t been productive or organized in 8 years. Well, at least, if I need an alibi, I know where I was on May 19th, 2013. As you know I taught private lessons. Sometimes I open an old planner and see “2 p.m – class with Maria” and I’m like “who the fuck was that?” because I do forget about people things (and people) that easily.

I just took this random picture of my nightstand and realized I should publish it and inform you about the contents of my nightstand because it’s very (un)useful information. So let’s see:

  • Ikea lamp. There used to be another on Rui’s nightstand but we broke it and I’m the one who reads so…
  • Picture of us. Mostly me. 10% him.
  • 3 books I’m not reading but want to.
  • A notebook.
  • Things I need to clean my face and remove my makeup, otherwise I don’t. Since my routine doesn’t require water, I keep my products nice and close so I don’t have an excuse. There’s an eye makeup remover, micelar water, face cream, hand cream and lip balm. Also a little basket with cotton swabs.
  • A pocket mirror.

There’s usually a glass of water to, at night, as well as my charger and earphones. There’s a little shelve below where I keep tissues, baby wipes (you know, for when I spill my coffee, which happens a lot) and my power bank so I remember to charge it.

I guess this is where I say goodbye, leaving you with a very important question?

What do you keep on your nightstand?

Desenho sem título (4)

 

 

Week in the life! Back to daily posts and list making after a few lazy MONTHS!!

Monday – 16.10.17 “Thank God I Found You” Edition

Tuesday – 17.10.17

Wednesday – 18.10.17 “The little F*ckers Made Me Cry And F*ck The Receptionist” Edition

Thursday – 19.10.17 “What I’m Doing Right And What I’m Doing Wrong + Ode To My Dry Shampoo” Edition

Friday – 20.10.17 “Rosa’s Clothes Sizes Issues, The Spanish Itch And Eyebrow Inquiries” Edition