this is the end

Kodak Portra 400, Canon EOS 500N

I have decided to stop blogging. Instead of just letting the blog fade away, I want to properly mark the end. After 11 (!) years of posting in this space, it's the least I can do.

Kodak Ultramax 400, Minolta SRT 101

After a few months of hardly any blogging, I posted my March stories earlier today. I was thinking I might feel motivated to get up to date on my life 2018 series. Nope. I don't really enjoy preparing that March post either. Afterwards I posted this on my Instagram:

This just happened. A blog update. There might be more coming soon, or maybe not. Trying to figure out if posting feels right or not. I do like this way of memory keeping, but do I really need to do it publicly like this? Is Instagram enough? Is blogging getting old? Any other (old) bloggers out there who feel the same way? Any thoughts? 

Thanks to those of you who weighed in with your thoughts and comments!

Agfa Precisa 100, Canon EOS 500N

I already wrote about this back in January in the post "thoughts about blogging"; is 2018 the year I will stop blogging? It took me six months to come up with the answer to that question, and the answer is yes. Why have I come to this conclusion? Blogging is not as fun as it used to be, and I would rather spend my time doing other things.

Agfa Precisa 100, Canon EOS 500N

It's hard to let go of a habit I have treasured so much, a habit that keeps me grounded. This too I wrote about it said post. Click here and read it if you are interested. While you are at it, you might also be interested in my thoughts about sharing my everyday life and the (2016) reasons why I won't close my blog. You might have read those posts before, but they might be worth reading again because they are all about the essence of what has kept me going for so many years.

DSLR

Speaking of blog post memory lane. Here are a few good ones for you:

thoughts on sharing my everyday life | why I won't close my blog | things I like lately | my pantry essentials | thoughts on dinner planning and grocery shopping | the dinner project | why do I shoot film? | my favorite films | thoughts on organising my photos | thoughts on being a stay at home mom | thoughts on being a teacher | my kind of cabin life | thoughts on wardrobe clean outs | arctic north love | Artist Diner (an art project I did with my friend Trine Hisdal) | DIY: daybed | lists and plans

Kodak Portra 160, Canon EOS 500N

So, what will keep me grounded now that this blogging journey is coming to an end? I think I will be quite content with daily journaling and taking photos, pluss sharing everyday stories on my Instagram account halloastrid - to name a few things. (I think quite a few of you who read this blog already follow me on Instagram, don't you?) I'm not ready to completely let go of social media yet; are you?

Agfa Precisa 100, Minolta SRT 101

Thanks for hanging out with me all these years. I appreciate the company. Good bye!

thoughts on blogging

the mountain cabin // Fuji Velvia 100F, Canon EOS 500N

I like blogging for a lot of reasons. I have written a lot about it these two posts: thoughts on sharing my everyday life + why I won't close my blog. As some of you know, my life has been - and still is - extraordinarily busy lately. Work, studies, family life and all that jazz are soaking up all my energy, leaving next to nothing for my hobbies. Somehow I have still kept my posting quite consistent during all of this, especially my regular "life, week x" and "things I like lately" posts. I guess it says a lot about how much I treasure the habit of sharing my everyday stories on this blog.

the mountain cabin 2012 // Fuji Sensia 400, Canon EOS 500N

Despite the fact that I treasure this habit, I have been pondering a lot lately if 2018 is the year when I finally close my blog. Yes, I know, I have said it before. I usually do so about once a year, typically when life is extra busy. Sometimes I feel like I "owe it" to you, my dear reader, to continue. I owe you the weekly updates and the Friday list tradition. Also, after doing this for ten years (!) it's hard to break the habit. The habit of shooting random things in my life, the habit of constantly thinking of captions, the habit of sharing pieces of my life.

South Africa 2009  // Fuji pro 160S, Canon EOS 500N

The blog reading habit is also hard to break, but I'm less inspired by blogs than I used to be. Back in the early days of blogging, blogs were personal. Bloggers shared their everyday lives and hobbies; arts, crafts, photography, cooking, travels. No-one made money from their blogs. Well, some of them had small Etsy shops where they sold their handmade things, and these little shops were silently promoted on their blogs. But it was a completely different ball game compared to the commercial focus that so many blogs have today - at least the kind of blogs that I normally like to read.

Bergen 2013 // Fuji Superia 200, Olympus mju

I miss the personal stories that don't come with an agenda. I discussed it a little bit with Fatima over here. I agree with what she says, social media has become too much caught in a cycle of ads, algorithms and non chronological orders. Ironically a few of my favorite bloggers do in fact have ads and sponsors, like Reading My Tea Leaves, Practicing Simplicity, A Cup of Jo and Hjartesmil (the last one only does ads for her own store though).

London 2010 // Fuji Velvia 50, Canon EOS 500N

I'm not sure what the concluding of this post is, other than for me blogging is not what is used to be. In the early days of blogging and social media (Flickr, in my case) I had conversations with people around the world and I actually made new friends. For example, Fatima and I met up in London 8 years ago. This doesn't happen anymore. Not in my case anyway. A big reason is because I don't prioritise that kind of time and energy for social media like I did when it was still a novelty.

Mallorca 2014 // Fuji Velvia 50, Canon EOS 500N

I might take a break, I might only post on Instagram (I'm halloastrid), I might quit completely. I'm not sure yet.

Denmark 2012 // Fuji Velvia 50, Canon EOS 500N

How about you? Any thoughts about blogging? What are your favorite blogs these days?

PS: I wrote this post Sunday morning whilst Sølve slept in and the kids watched way too much iPad. Poor priority? Yeah, kind of...

cabin weekend in February + a few thoughts

Those of you who have read this blog for a while, know that the mountain cabin holds a special place in my heart. The cabin is small, has no electricity or water supply, it takes about an hour to get there both in summer and winter, and there is hardly any cell phone connection. It's the perfect contrast to our fast-paced, logged on daily lives. Both Sølve and I love spending time there.

Unfortunately I have found myself hesitant to going there lately and I feel sad for feeling this way about this magical place. The reason is simply our kids, especially Sverre. I have worried too much about the temperature, will he accept the pulk, will he sleep well, will he manage to stay away from the wood fire, will he stay away from the steep stairway to the attic, will he have a good time or do I have to watch his every step (he is such a mamma's boy!). And to be honest, when Friday afternoon arrives I prefer the thought of my sofa rather than packing for a weekend getaway to a remote mountain cabin.

But then a Saturday morning we did it; we packed our ski gear (always a hassle when it's for the first trip of the season), drove the two hours to the mountains (Sverre napped and Sara watched cartoons - bliss!), got ourselves a snowmobile "taxi" (because we were not sure if Sara was up for the trip; she proved us wrong on the return - such proud parents and grandparents!) and was rewarded with blue skies, fresh snow and happy grandparents welcoming us at the cabin.

Sara was super excited to be back and Sverre was a happy camper too. He slept well, accepted the pulk both for napping and hanging out, stayed clear of the wood fire and the stairway. In fact it was all good - great even.

I left the door to the outhouse open during my evening errands and soaked in the tranquility, the full moon and a sky full of stars. I was reminded that being outdoors is always worth it, even though it requires an extra effort with kids. Hopefully we will return to the cabin more than once before the winter season is over.

PS: my kind of cabin life // Ylvis - The Cabin (hahaha!)

why I won't close my blog

Because this kind of blogging that I do - sharing photos of my everyday life and things I like - keeps me grounded.

I briefly mentioned in this post that I have been considering closing my blog in favour of things like handwritten journaling and annual photo book making. Thank you so much for the comments on that post and on Instagram. In addition to a summer break from blogging, your comments have made me think and reconsider - I won't close my blog.



I have written about it before; the reasons for why I share my everyday life with all of you. Those reasons are pretty much the same reasons for why I blog. As I mentioned in the beginning of that post, I wrote a daily journal for many years. For some reason I stopped this writing; instead documenting my daily life through photos unintentionally more or less took its place, especially after I got my first digital camera.

Journaling either through writing or photography has been an important part of my life for so long now, I can't and won't stop. It's a habit that I love and treasure. I really enjoy looking back and read/see what my/our life was like before - both the good things and the gloomy things. Journaling is memory keeping, chaos control and therapy.



Blogging takes time. Now that I'm a mother of two I realise how precious me-time is. And it will be even more precious in August when I start my new job and studies. Why not just use Instagram? I use it actively anyway. Because I need the order and system of things that I have created here in my space. I'm an organised girl, you know! And keeping things tidy and organised keep me sane.



I have decided to keep blogging for a while longer. I don't think the posts will be very varied; I'll continue the "life, week x" and "things I like lately" series - because these are the weekly life "reports" that I need to do for myself. I'll also share photos from my "a roll of film a month" project. When I feel extra inspired I might share a recipe, a weekly dinner menu, a flashback or a photo an hour.



So, nothing very exciting happening over here (after all). Please follow along, if you want to - I appreciate the company!

thoughts on organising photos (of my children)

I got this comment from a reader yesterday:

I'm wondering if you could share how you organise and store photos of Sara? I'm expecting my first baby in November and am anxious that the inevitable large number of photos we take don't get forgotten about on our phones or memory cards. I would like to put them into albums, but not sure whether to do this monthly, seasonly, in blurb books or slot in albums. Just curious about how you have done it!

I'm pretty passionate about organising in general (is it ok to be passionate about such a thing without being a bit nuts?), and I have a well tested routine for organising my photos (of Sara). Of course I'll share my method!

I transfere photos from my cameras (these days it means my iPhone) to my computer once every week. (It is also part of the preparation for my weekly "life, week x" posts - a kind of journaling that keeps me grounded.) On my computer the photos are organised in folders labeled with week number, month and year. The folders are automatically organised chronologically.

Sometimes I'll add extra keywords like "Easter" or "summer holiday" to make it easier to remember what the folder contains. Folders with film photos are labeled with type of film, camera, month and year, for example: Kodak Portra 160_Canon EOS 500N_Aug15.

I try my best to only keep the best photos; I delete those that don't make the cut. Still the total number of photos is overwhelming!

I currently have a Mac and use iPhoto for organising my photos. It looks like this.

And this is how it looks on my external hard drive plus how it used to look when I had a pc. I upload all my photos to Flickr (privately) as backup plus I have two external hard drives that I use regularly for backup.

I do not organise photos of Sara in a special way; they are just part of the weekly folders. I do however make Blurb books of each year. I have done so for a while. After Sara was born, the photos are mostly of her - and these books are the perfect Christmas gift for Sara's grandparents!

Sometimes I'll make books from special occasions like "Our first month with Sara" and "Sara's baptism" (the two small books to the right).

It is quite a big job to make a book with photos from a whole year. I find that as long as my photos are organised regularly as described above, and the order of the photos in the book is chronological, the task is much more manageable.

PS: book making tips

By the way, "uke" means week.

thoughts on being a teacher

G of the blog jammen asked me if I enjoy being a teacher and if I recommend it. I'll be happy to share my thoughts on teaching, but first a little background.

As some of you know, I worked as a freelance journalist and copywriter for several years during and after writing my master thesis in media studies. I shared a bit about how I established myself as a freelancer in this post back in 2009 and I regularly shared my work here on the blog.

In 2011 I got a permanent part time position as a copywriter in a small ad agency. I mostly loved being a freelancer, but I quickly saw the benefits of being employed - especially when it came to the money bit.

I was on maternity leave with Sara for nearly two years. (Here are my thoughts on being a stay at home mom.) During this time, I realised that I didn't want to go back to freelancing. I would rather use my energy on being a mother than chasing my next sale/job/pay. I actually didn't really want to go back the ad agency job either. I felt like doing something else, something more meaningful - a realisation and transition that was a slow yet time-consuming process. Being a freelancer was such a big part of my identity and it was hard to see it go. Teaching had been in the back of my mind for a while, so the autumn of 2013 I decided to take the leap and start studying pedagogics and to work as a substitute teacher. I instantly loved pedagogics, substitute teaching not so much.

In early spring 2014 we decided to move from Bergen to Stavanger and I applied for my first full time teaching job. With hardly any teaching experience, I started my teaching career at a local secondary/middle school in August 2014.

Being a fresh teacher (kontaktlærer, ikke bare faglærer) in a full time job is super intense and a lot of hard work. When you combine it with part time studies, house renovation and living with your in-law's/parents, you are rather silly. Being a teacher is not just about teaching, there is so much more to it. Being the leader of the classroom, how to build good relations with your students, how to grade papers, how to make good plans for each lesson, how to give attention to all the students in your class; not just the ones who speak the loudest, how to... do anything! There is SO much to learn!

The good thing is, I actually enjoy it, a lot. I might even come to love it. But I'm really looking forward to finishing my studies and being able to focus on just (more or less) one thing. And I look forward to being a more experienced, confident teacher.

Do I recommend being a teacher? It depends on what kind of person you are. You must like working with people (kids, teenagers, your colleagues) and you must like conveying knowledge - plus everything in-between, which is a part of being a teacher you don't really know about until you have tried working as a teacher.

I'm glad I got into teaching and I hope to continue doing it for a long while.

Any other teachers want to share their thoughts?

thoughts on blogging about my baby

Mogen, Hardangervidda, August 2013 | Fuji Superia 200, Canon EOS 500N

There has recently been a debate (again) in Norwegian media about wether or not parents should post photos/videos of their children in social media. Psychologists warn parents, especially mom bloggers, to be careful of what they post, because children can be bullied because of things posted about them.

When I got pregnant with Sara, I knew I would be restrictive about sharing too much. This is what I wrote back then:

When I post photos of myself, Sølve or my family/friends we have agreed to it; we know what it implies to have our photo posted online and we are ok with it. When (or if) I post photos of our baby girl, she will not be able to agree to it. At some point she will be old enough to have an opinion on this (hopefully based on her parents’ thoughtful guiding) and she will have an online life of her own. I don’t want to put her in an awkward/embarrassing position because of everything I posted about her when she was a baby/toddler/kid. I will probably post a few photos of her, but I’m guessing they will mostly be “Flickr friendly” (photos that have a human touch, but you cannot see or recognize who the person is).

That said, I respect that other parents have a “less restricted” attitude to posting photos of their children. We all have different levels of how edited our lives are online.

I still have the same view on the topic. I limit the number of photos I post of Sara. There are a lot of really great photos of her/us that I would love to share, but I restrain myself. Sometimes I feel that I share too much. Since I blog with my full name, photos of Sara show up if I Google her. For some reason, I kind of don't like that. I guess, like probably all other parents, I have that fear in the back of my head what might happen to the photos. Yet it is not something I think a lot about. 

On the other hand, it feels natural to share photos of Sara because she is my darling daughter and she is such a huge part of my life. And as you know, I love sharing glimpses of my everyday life. I hope that Sara, when she is old enough to Google herself, will feel fine with what I have shared of her life on the Internet. On a different note, it will be really interesting to see what social media is like when she is old enough to Google herself. 

Thanks Ingvild for the inspiration to write this post. PS: thoughts on sharing my everyday life 

I'm interested to hear, what are your thoughts on this? 

thoughts on dinner planning and grocery shopping

For several years I have planned and/or made note of our weekday dinners. It started with the dinner project in 2010. I simply wrote down what we had for dinner every day and shared the meals here on the blog once a week. And then I made this Blurb book. In January 2012 I started the What's for dinner project, which I have continued in 2013. Most likely I will keep it up in 2014 also. What can I say? I love food, I love cooking and I love dinner - also, I love being organized.

I already shared my pantry essentials; so now I thought I would share some thoughts on how we (well, mostly I) do dinner planning and grocery shopping.

Budget

Both Sølve and I love food and cooking, hence it is something we really prioritize in our everyday life - both when it comes to time and money. This means that I find joy in planning our dinners every week plus we don't really have a specific budget for food (and wine). We normally buy whatever we want and we eat well. This does not mean that we have lobster and Champagne every day though. A good discount on for example chicken filets, tomatoes or mixed lettuce, might be the starting point of a dinner. Also, we try hard to eat all the food that we buy and make; we (especially me) are big fans of leftovers. I think as long as you don't waste your food, you don't loose the money you spent on it. If you understand what I mean.

Shopping

Normally I cook our weekday dinners and Sølve cooks Saturday and Sunday dinners. Sølve normally does the weekend shopping Saturday morning at a well assorted supermarket. He never writes a shopping list and has a habit of buying too much of everything, so during weekends our fridge is pretty full. Come Monday, I check to see what is left to use for our weekday dinners. I'm a lot more organized than Sølve, so if I plan our dinners well, the fridge is rather empty again by the next weekend and we can start the weekend with a clean slate (or plate...). 

Our local grocery store (with a pretty basic assortment) is just 1 minute away by foot, so if we need any basics during the week, it is no stress to walk over there and get it. Also, Sara's barnehage/kindergarten is next door to the grocery store, so it is really very convenient. If our set up was not that convenient, I'm sure I would try to do all grocery shopping for the whole week in one go. 

By the way, I always write shopping lists, on my iPhone. No app, just a basic note. If I notice we are out of something, I'll make a note of it right away.  

Planning

I usually plan the weekday dinners by myself; weekend dinners are usually planned by Sølve and revised/accepted by me. As mentioned, I start planning our weekday dinners by looking in the fridge to see what fresh produce is there to use. I base the dinners on what produce need to be used first. Lettuce, for example, tend to go bad rather quickly. Hence I plan to use the lettuce early in the week and save for example the onion and root vegetables for later. I also check the freezer and cupboards to see if there is anything there to go with the fresh produce. I find that when I plan our dinners ahead, it is easier to eat well, varied and (rather) healthy. 

Recipes

I normally don't use recipes when planning and cooking our weekday dinners; they are mostly just variations of things I have made before. The what's for dinner and the dinner project archives are helpful reminders of what we have made before*. Sometimes I Google inspiration for recipes, especially based on specific ingredients or techniques, for example beet root greens or pulled pork. I do from time to time actually cook from my cookbooks - or at least find inspiration to make something based on a recipe found in a cookbook, food blog or magazine. 

Finally, you should read Natalie's genius meal planning 101 post. I love how organized she is!   

Feel free to ask questions! Do you plan your dinners? I would love to hear your thoughts! Any tips to share?

* I'm working on a post that I hope will be helpful for both me and you; it will be titled "our easy everyday dinners list".