• Home
  • About
  • Shop
    • Custom orders
    • Cards
    • Classes
    • Notebooks
    • Watercolour prints
    • Cart
    • Account
      • Orders
  • Blog
    • Beauty
    • Faith
    • Family
    • Food
    • Me Time
    • Writing
    • Work Life
  • Working with me
    • Project Callout: Our Ways With Words
  • Portfolio
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Finding Joy

Words that uplift and empower | Hand-made Lettering Art & Blog by Joy Adan

  • All
  • Cards
  • Classes
  • Custom orders
  • Home & Decor
  • Notebooks
  • Watercolour prints
You are here: Home / Me Time / Hello 2017

Hello 2017

4 January, 2017 By Joy Adan Tagged With: mum life 12 Comments

Welcome to 2017! We’re 4 days in and I’m already exhausted. We’re 4 days in and my four year old has already surpassed his screen-time quota for the whole month of January. What can I say? When your toddler has a high temperature, snuggling in bed and watching reruns of Paw Patrol and Voltron is the best cure (and possibly the only way to stay sane while also caring for a 5 month old baby).

Despite the sickly start, I am super excited for this year! It’s going to be a big year!

"It's Show Time" big 3D block letters displayed in the foyer of the ICCS

Our little plot of land was finally registered by the council in December. It took almost two years, but here we finally are. That means when our builder comes back from their summer break, it’s all systems go to get our plans approved, contract signed, and you will be reading far more frequent (albeit more stressed!) updates on our new home.

In less than a month, Mr 4 will be starting primary school. Break out the tissues – I am still in denial about this. (So is he, apparently, because he told me today he can’t wait to see his friends at preschool next Tuesday. I had to remind him he graduated in December and he won’t see them until this first day of “Big School”.) So January will be consumed with the joys of school shopping, uniform purchasing and me wondering where the heck all that time went between him being born and him becoming a student.

Photo of Mr 4 holding a Crayola texta
Mr 4 spent a lot of the lead-up to Christmas day crafting and practicing his pencil grip

Mr Z has already changed so much in just 5 quick months. He is all smiles and giggles, and has recently discovered his thumb, which spends most of his waking hours firmly lodged in his mouth. We just started him on solids this week and I am bracing myself for the messes that will ensue as a result. It’s hard to think that by the time this 12 months is over, he will probably be eating lamb cutlets and walking around like he owns the place.

Picture of Mr Z sucking his thumb

If the last few months of 2016 are is anything to go by, there won’t be a minute of 2017 left to spare. I started lettering in September and spent the better part of December with ink-stained fingers, and have loved every minute of learning this new craft. It forces me to take some me time every day, to sit still and reflect, and to create something. Which means you’ll see me doing WAY more of it this year.

Picture of 4 Tombow Dual Brush pen 12-packs and blending kit
So, my Secret Santa was the BEST and delivered these goodies on Christmas Day. Hours of fun!

I also started studying in October. Because, you know, I got bored.

Ha! Who am I kidding?

No, I signed up to a masterclass with the Australian Writers Centre because, despite already having a rather full plate, I’m determined not to let my writing take the back seat – which, thanks to the full plate, it often does. But not this year. No way. I am determined to write, write, and write some more.

With all this going on, I’ve started the year really conscious of where my time goes every day. It’s also why I started a bullet journal this year (I need everything in one place or I will lose track / lose my mind).

Front page of my 2017 bullet journal
This is the front page of my 2017 bullet journal. More on the whole bullet journal thing later.

It’s now almost 10:30pm. Most normal people are winding down and preparing for sleep. Because, you know, that’s what you do at the end of the day. Not so for me! Late at night is usually the only time I have left to do anything remotely productive. Lately, both my children have been refusing to sleep at the time good, healthy (perhaps fictional?) children sleep, so the hours between 9pm and 1am have become the only time left for me to write, study, create, or do anything that remotely resembles being a responsible adult, including things like responding to messages, checking emails from clients, paying bills, and attacking the list containing the million and one tasks required to build a new home.

Admittedly, working at this late hour isn’t foreign to me; it’s how I used to function in my early twenties. While I was at uni, my brain didn’t ever really switch on until late in the evening (often a few nights – if not the – night before an assignment was due). The only difference is back then I didn’t have as demanding a job as being a mum to two little humans. Two little humans who, for the last 16 hours, have consumed every drop of energy my body can produce.

And so as much as being a “night owl” comes naturally to me, I also love – and need – sleep in order to function during the day and give my kids the attention they need and deserve. I know I need to come up with a different way to approach getting my work done this year. I know forgoing sleep is going to ruin me in the long-run; I am not a great person to be around when I’m tired. Unfortunately, despite how far humanity has come in recent centuries, having children and sleeping in still can’t coexist in this universe.

I will take that realisation as my cue to sign off and bid you goodnight – I am two modules behind in my masterclass and still have a bunch of tech stuff to do on the backend of this blog (yayyy tech stuff at 10:30pm… not!).

I hope you’ve had had a wonderful start to this new year and I wish you the grace and love you need to kick ass in all the things life will throw your way.

(And if you have any tips for me on how to get my family/home/study/freelance/work/adulting stuff balanced without having a breakdown before July, I’d love to hear them.?)

 

You might also like...

Hi

Joy Adan

I'm Joy. I'm a 30-something, storytelling, coffee-drinking, book-devouring, ocean-obsessed freelance writer, brush lettering enthusiast, speaker and content producer. You'll find some of my stories and art here, along with my advice about attempt at balancing the creative career + family life hustle.

Don't miss a beat - subscribe below and join me on this crazy adventure!

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

DON’T MISS A SINGLE POST! SIGN UP HERE:


Thank you!

You’ve joined Finding Joy’s mailing list. No spam, only love. I promise. 



Like what you see here?

Please keep this writer going.
Show your support:

Buy me a coffee!

As seen in

Essential Baby

Practical Parenting

The Catholic Weekly

2017 Bupa Blog Awards Nominee | Celebrating Health and Care

Find more like this

Tagged With: mum life

Categories

Recent posts

  • Inktober Prayer Prompts
  • So much to (un)learn
  • Simbang Gabi – The Best is Yet to Come
  • So blessed, I can’t contain it
  • Starting (again)

Instagram

Hamilton themed anniversary card for the man who r Hamilton themed anniversary card for the man who raps, sings, strums and drums his way through 11 years of putting up with me. ❤

#customcard #happyanniversary #hamiltonmusical
Feeling really weary today. Not sure if it's just Feeling really weary today. Not sure if it's just the virus lingering (I've been coughing through March 🥴), playing nurse to a brave little boy with a broken (but healing) elbow, hormones, or just a head clouded with all that's happening around the country and around the world and the fact women have to fight so hard to exist - let alone thrive - in a world that seems hell bent on destroying us. 

So here's a photo of nice things that make me happy. Full bookshelves, coffee cups, and plants... things that remind me that if we are open to learning, conversation, and blooming amongst even the shittiest of shit, we can still flourish. ❤
A reminder for anyone who needs to hear/read this A reminder for anyone who needs to hear/read this today. I've been so inspired, so honoured to experience the strength of the women who are at the @wearethemainstream's event today. It seems our strength is often forged and fortified through pain... but to be able to share it, to bear it together, to transform it and alchemise it... to turn into a sisterhood that rebuilds this world. 

#IWD2021 #iwdaiaw
Throwback to a year ago... The perfectly timed hol Throwback to a year ago... The perfectly timed holiday that ended days before the words “global pandemic” became a regular part of my vocabulary. I've been on the weirdest roller coaster ride of a year since this photo was taken. Even the past few weeks have seen so many highs and lows. What is this craziness? And where is the pause button?

#midnightreflections #IShouldSleep 

Image: Photo of the sun rising amidst grey clouds over the ocean on the east coast of Bali. A man is walking on the sand, in the distance along edge of the water.
Today, we celebrate the women of the world. I th Today, we celebrate the women of the world. 

I think of my mother and my sisters - the women who have always inspired and encouraged me to up my game. To be respectful of self so I am fully able to respect others. To be unapologetic in my faith and my fight for the underdog. The women who have shown me time and time again that heroines are forged in the fire of love. 

I think of the women in my life who are a beacon of strength, hope, compassion, charity, healing, life, power, humility, leadership and service. The dear friends, teachers, mentors, bosses and colleagues who have paved their own path and helped me lay my own. The world needs more of you. I hope to be one of you.

And for the women in the world who need healing (who, let's face it, is all of us at some point or another). I celebrate you today. Your brokenness can be a beacon too. The world needs WHO you are: cracks, fears, mistakes, insecurities and all. Because deep beneath those cracks, fears, mistakes and insecurities lie desire,  dreams, redemption and a hope that there is better out there. 

We will create better, together. 

Image: Close-up of a hand-made sticker with the words: “The nation doesn't simply need whay we have. It needs who we are. Edith Stein (St Teresia Benedicta a Cruce)” in black ink.

#IWD2021 #InternationalWomensDay
Don't mind me - I'll just be sitting there with te Don't mind me - I'll just be sitting there with tea and treats in hand while the other three women on this panel wow us with their words of wisdom. Join me? 

#westernsydneyartists
***

Posted @withregram • @blacktownarts Hear from award-winning women writers and artists of diverse backgrounds – including Evelyn Araluen (@evelynaraluen), Maryam Azam, Sarah Malik (@sarah_b_malik) and artist Joy Adan (@joyadanwrites) – about their experiences of living in Blacktown, and what makes the area a potent source of artistic inspiration and the hottest rising arts scene in Sydney. Then relax and mingle with a cup of traditional tea and savoury or sweet treats from Afghan Women on the Move (@_awotm).

Stories from 2148 
Saturday 17 April 
12pm – 2pm
Free
Link in bio to book 

@sweatshop.ws #sweatshopws #storiesfrom2148 #women_artists #women_writers #inspiration #blacktownarts #blacktown #ThisIsHowWeMakeArt #fromthehoodtothepage #writing #westernsydney #culture #diversity #community
It doesn't matter how old I get, it doesn't hurt t It doesn't matter how old I get, it doesn't hurt to be reminded... 😜

Image: A quote from the Dr Seuss book “Oh, the Places You'll Go!” hand-lettered in rainbow watercolour ink. The text reads “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
Had one of those “pinch me, I must be dreaming” moments today. I finally opened this book set from @philipjamolin & @simmyyyy and Mr Z asked me to read him the one about Maya Angelou. Then Mr 8 joined us and read his little bro the other two books. 🥰

These books remind me of the ones I used to read in primary school. There was a collection of illustrated books about different historical figures in our school library and I was obsessed with them! That's where I first discovered Helen Keller and a bunch of other inspiring, everyday heroes. Now... to collect the rest! 

#littlepeoplebigdreams #raisingreaders
Follow @joyadanwrites
  • About “Finding Joy”
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Terms of sale
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

KEEP IN TOUCH - SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Thank you!

You've joined Finding Joy's mailing list. No spam, only love. I promise. 

Copyright © 2021 · Joy Adan · 22 657 108 897