My One Little Word

For the past couple of years, I have embraced the concept of One Little Word for the year, generally attributed to scrap booker Ali Edwards

The idea is to have a word which defines your main goal for life that year.

In 2008, my word was CREATE.

In 2009, it was LIVE.

For 2010, a year that includes my daughter's wedding and much, much more, I decided the important thing is to ENJOY! I predict hectic times ahead, but they should all be good and even when they aren't, I will still strive to ENJOY the moment!

Reviewing my yearly goals

I don't do New Year's Resolutions as such, rather I have goals which I review on an annual basis and tweak as needed. The current goals I have been focusing on since the beginning of 2008! I reviewed them here this time last year and thought I would do so once more.

Goal: Become a better photographer.
Strategies 2008/2009
- learn how to use my new camera
- follow online tutorials
- learn how to use Photoshop
- take photos most days

mmm .... well, I have come to accept that I can take great photos in auto mode and that learning how to program settings is beyond my abilities at this time. I had a neuro psychological assessment in 2009 (as part of my MS management) and it highlighted I have difficulty learning new things, so I am not going to push myself. I will focus on other aspects of photography and have been improving in my use of natural lighting and have also got a zoom lens which is giving good results. Photoshop continues to challenge me, but I can do the basics I need! I certainly took heaps of photos in 2009, if not daily, and 2010 sees me back on the Project 365 wagon.

Goal: Enjoy more yoga
Strategies 2008/2009
- Enrol in local yoga class
- Make time to practice regularly
- Use my existing resources

A big tick on this list, as I have enjoyed the year with a different teacher and have challenged myself in new ways. I even managed two classes per week at times. I hope to make that a regular thing this year and would really like to try the beach yoga classes.

Goal: Be as healthy as I can
Strategies 2008/2009
- Eat less, move more
- Eat fruit, drink water
- Respect my body
- Stretch often
- Practice yoga
- Walk instead of driving
- Be hydrated

Okay, here I have done well. I have achieved all of the above and also took swimming lessons and water aerobics classes! I have consiously chosen to walk when I could drive, especially when running errands at work. I eat lots of fruit and drink more water than I used to, but there is still room for improvement!

Okay, so moving on:

2010 is going to be a big year, not only because it includes my daughter's wedding! So I really need to be realistic about what I can achieve. I will build on my existing goals, but develop different strategies.

Goal: Capture the memories (was become a better photographer)
Strategies 2010
- always have a camera with me (DSLR, compact point and shoot or Blackberry)
- commit to the Project 365 and take a photo every day of the year.
- commit to Project Life and create scrapbook of the 365 photos.
- continue to scrapbook my way through photo prints and maintain current albums
- journal more, blog more, remember more!


Goal: Be as healthy as I can (now incorporating Enjoy More Yoga)
Strategies 2010
- Enjoy regular yoga: twice weekly classes where practical
- Continue water aerobics at least once and preferably twice weekly
- Eat less, move more
- Eat fruit, drink water
- Walk instead of driving
- Regularly use Wii Fit to chart progress.
- Lose weight at a safe and steady pace
- Swim for pleasure and movement (review need for ongoing classes)

So there you are: my personal goals and strategies for the year ahead. Lets see how I go!

Project 365 - photo a day

Its the first day of a new year! So what better time to commence the Project 365?

I attempted this in 2008 and kept up til Day 88, which was a good effort! Life got in the way (my health) and I abandoned it. I think I had made it too complicated, by following a blog where there was a daily prompt to adhere to. I had begun elsewhere with a self-portrait a day, but that got too hard! So this year, I am just going to let it happen. If I find an online source of prompts that work for me, that is what I will do, otherwise I will just capture daily life.

What I have done is order Becky Higgins Project Life as an easy way to scrapbook the photos. Last time I used a self made min album, but again, that was just that bit too much extra work. I am hoping a ready set up album will make it much easier :)

I will use all my camera options - DSLR, digital point and shoot and my Blackberry. So sometimes I might have a great photo opportunity with the worst camera - or vice versa - but I am not stressing over that. I am planning on buying a new point and shoot for my handbag, so that should help: my current one, though excellent, is heavy and bulky compared to newer models and "only" 5MP!

With The Wedding in November, I am hoping to capture all the fun as we take that journey of planning and preparing. Hopefully, I will end up with a record of the wedding year which we can all look back on.

So there we are - I have publicly pledged this! Between my blog followers, Facebook Friends and whichever Project 365 community I link up with, that should be enough accountability to keep me going!

I will be blogging the journey over at Just About Scrapping, my other blog, so please visit there to follow the journey :)

Yvette's Favourite Things 2009

Like Oprah, I like to share the good stuff I discover.

Unlike Oprah, I can't give them to a few hundred people, so you will have to make do with this list of links instead :) If I own these things, I have bought them as a consumer and recieve nothing for posting them here, it is a genuine recommendation.

Eco Silk bags - I own six of these in different colours and when I pull them out of my bag, checkout and other sales staff ooh and ah, as do other customers! I am seriously thinking of asking them for some business cards to hand out! I LOVE these bags - I can squish up six shopping bags in my handbag and they take up no room; the colours make me happy; I use them for stuff other than shopping too and think they would be great for travellers.



Squiz cards - Oh how I love these! I have them hanging from my keys, attached to my mobile phone and in my wallet and when I want to give someone my details, I never need a pen! I am going to order a set with my work details too.


Louenhide bags - I bought this great bag in April and it is still going strong after being my daily bag ever since! I love the colours they come in but am also impressed by the materials and craftsmanship. I look forward to getting another :)



Belkin Pocket Top laptop case - My lovely orange friend has done a great job as my work horse this year, helping my laptop as it ventures between home and work and between desk and bed! I love it!



Book Niche - I wanted to show you the sleep shirt I bought, which is now out of stock, but now I have seen they have jammies, so guess what I am getting?





I hope you enjoyed my favourite things too :)

O’Dowd Family Christmas Letter

Although none of believe it can be, it seems another year has slipped through our fingers and the festive season is here once more. It has been the usual hectic pace for us all and, reflecting back, amazing just what was squeezed into twelve months.

The members of our household each became a year older – Rodney 45 and Yvette 46, Melissa 25, Kaitlyn 22 and Kieran 18, while Frodo and Merry the cats are now ten and our lovely dog Molly is a mature one year old!



For Kieran – and the whole family – it was a final year at school. Year 12, the infamous VCE and all the ‘lasts’: last school photos, last school uniform, last parent-teacher interviews!! As he puts school behind him and looks forward to studying computers at TAFE in 2010, it is a bitter-sweet end to a school-focused household since 1987, when Melissa began kinder!



Melissa may have grown up a lot since those days, however it seems she has spent most of this year in the dress up box! Her love of designing and sewing costumes continues to grow and she has created amazing outfits for herself and Kieran as they explore the world of Anime fans (a type of Japanese cartoon, if you are as bewildered as I!) She is enjoying her job at Savers Frankston, has recently moved to full time and is training to take on a more senior role. These past weeks she has had a few shifts as store supervisor. Melissa finally got her driver’s licence early this year and bought her first car. She continues to enjoy Salsa and Swing dancing and this year learned to Tango for a performance! And she still goes juggling when she can fit it in!





Kaitlyn has had a most eventful year, moving out of home in late July, into a share house with her boyfriend and several friends. Having bought her first car a few weeks before, you would think she couldn’t top that, however she and boyfriend Ashley Greig became engaged just prior to her birthday in October and are planning a wedding on November 14th 2010! Plans for that and an engagement party in January have everyone entering a whole new world!



Kaitlyn’s bedroom was briefly empty after she moved out, but only as long as it took the paint to dry in Yvette and Melissa’s new scrap and sew room! This motivated Yvette back into the scrapbooking which had stalled in previous months – most probably explained by her unnoticed need for reading glasses, rectified at her birthday check up!

Yvette’s health has been mostly good this year, the MS not causing any major dramas. Just as well, for between working 3 days per week at the new Breastfeeding Centre in Dandenong, continuing yoga classes and taking up swimming lessons and water aerobics, there wasn’t much room for downtime. Plus the steady scrapbooking that has resulted in 40+ albums (so far!)She celebrated her 25th year as a member of NMAA/ABA, clocked up 17 years as a breastfeeding counsellor and continues to have her finger in many ABA pies!



Rodney continues to work hard and play harder, fitting in two work trips to Japan amongst other more local travels. His racing bike goes nearly everywhere with him and he continues to ride/race most Saturdays and Sundays.



One of our greatest pleasures has been our dog Molly, a cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was born in April 2008. Her wonderful personality brightens everyone’s day – except for Frodo and Merry, who tolerate her antics up to a point and then thump her! Molly walks Yvette regularly on Frankston beach and has developed quite a local fan club.



Kieran is now the only one not to be a member of Facebook, everyone else enjoys regular connection with friends and family – including catching up with long-lost cousins, school friends and other faces from the past. We all embrace the internet technology and the way it keeps us together, even though our lives take us in different directions.

2010 will be a busy and exciting year for us all and we look forward to having our family and friends along for the ride!

An announcement

In older times, it was all engraved stationery and announcements in the newspaper, however those days are gone, so forgive the use of technology, however ...

Kaitlyn O'Dowd and Ashley Grieg wish to announce their engagement!

Yes, it is true - Yvette is to be a mother-in-law! But first, she gets to be mother-of-the-bride! EEK!! They always seemed so much ... more mature?

Everyone is thrilled - except Frodo the cat, who declined his consent (if anyone is listening?) and would like his mum to come back home and bring his bed!

No dates set, however the ring is GORGEOUS!!

The Nestle Factor

I am reading with interest discussion across the blogosphere about #nestlefamily.

And feeling very uncomfortable.

You see, I have been a Nestle boycotter for many years. I truly believe their marketing of artificial baby milk in some parts of the world leads to infant deaths. My kids have grown up (or perhaps, groan up!) being ear-bashed about Nestle. I am not a coffee drinker, but have inflicted those who are with non-Nescafe products. I will not buy any product with the Nestle brand and I do my best to avoid supporting companies owned by them. After many years of loyalty to The Body Shop and a moisturiser I was not sensitive too, I wave goodbye sadly when they were sold to Loreal, who are owned by Nestle. Or more correctly, when Anita Roddick sold out to the very type of company she had set up against :(. Hoping she is not RIP over that one.

I do consider the Three Es when I shop - Economy, Environment and Ethics and I believe I do it well. But there is no doubt I haven't maintained the rage on Nestle as well as I should. As my children got older and began making their own choices, products found their way into my home independently. My daughter likes their coffee. My son likes their sweets. They own the brand Maggi, whose 2 minute noodles are one of the few things my son will eat! I haven't kept pace with who they have bought out in recent years and they probably profit by some of my purchases.

Most shamefully of all, my son and I had an all expenses paid trip to Sydney when he won a Wonka bar contest several years ago - I agonised about going and allowing him to go, but I went for the easy option in the end.

This new controversy has me thinking again and renewing my vows. My children are all adults now and can make their own decisions. One has left home, another lives independently at home and the youngest is about to leave high school. If they wish to have products tied to Nestle, so be it, however I will no longer purchase them on their behalf. I will review once again the list of companies and brands to avoid and will do so. I will continue to make my workplace a Nestle-free zone, but will also make proper effort to keep them from my home.

We cannot be complacent. While the boycott may not prevent their marketing tactics, at least I am not endorsing them with my shopping dollars.

Baby Milk Action

Nestle Boycott

nestle-free zone and Nestlé-Free Week 26 October - 1 November: