A polegarzinha

My name is Joane Catherine, a portuguese girl living near Lisbon. A tiny one, must say. However, I'm a big dreamer, who loves photography, travels, and sharing good moments. I'm also a future nurse, and this is my online diary. Sort of, I guess. Hope you enjoy.

[joanecatherine-blog]

Well, I’ve seriously taken into consideration my January's goals. So right now, I’m writing these words from France, after four days in Germany and ten sunny hours in London. What an adventure! I learned a lot, but the main resolution is that I truly love the person I’ve become. And, perhaps, one day I will find someone who shares the same values. Until then it’s perfectly okay to be just me, my camera (which doesn’t work now), and a notebook. 

Just wait for the amazing photos that I took once in London all by myself. I’m now in love with the city!

[joanecatherine-blog]

So today I decided to go out and enjoy the cold, but sunny day. These are my favourites days to walk by the beach. I asked my friends if they could come with me. Unluckily, they already had plans, which didn’t change a thing. I still went to Costa da Caparica (known by the great bars and beaches), with my favourite kind of music playing on my headphones (acoustic versions, soft pop, indie…), a good book that I’ve been reading lately every night, and a blank notebook that is waiting for some inspiration and time. Well, I was quite ready for a good “me quality time”, however, all I did was watching the sunset curled up in my giant scarf, which looks like a blanket to me since I’m so tiny. And that was all I needed. No words, no distractions. I have learned to be with myself, not depending on anyone, emotionally. I discovered that I am much stronger than I thought. In fact, I consider myself a person with a very strong personality to the point of being surrounded by people who feel more fragile and think I’m capable of curing their pain. I have the vocation (as a future nurse) to deal with such situations, but… I also need to put me first and recharge my batteries, and not wasting the rest of it, pretending everything is fine when it’s not… Sometimes you have to confront yourself with your presence to find your own conclusions… (Feeling better now)

[joanecatherine-blog]

January Notes

Do you remember me saying that I wanted to accomplish every goal that I could!? Step by step? Well, I already have a list! Since I am on vacation now (huge hey!) I can take a few moments to relax and focus on new routines that I would like to implement on my daily basis. They say "New year, new me", right?! Let’s get motivated!

Here they are my goals for January: 

💪🏻 Running at least 4 times per week; 📷 Photograph more and share my photos online; 

❤️ Meet new people and make some friends; ✈️ Travel alone and enjoy every second;

[joanecatherine-blog]

You don’t even imagine how many times I thought about writing a review related to the cinema topic since I’m a huge fan of this industry. I simply love the idea of turning something, either it is a fictional story or not, eternal. So this is why I’m preparing myself to start vlogging some pieces of my days and exposing my opinions about my favourites movies. You can also suggest a few more. I’m always ready to watch a good movie before bedtime!

Today the chosen one for this new category is… the Passengers! And what a movie!

The Passengers is a fiction-science movie with Jennifer Laurence and Chris Pratt as the main protagonists. Summing up, the film tells you about two people who wake up 90 years sooner from an induced hibernation on board a spaceship bound for a new planet, which is transporting over 5,000 colonists to the planet Homestead II, a journey that takes 120 years. The colonists and the entire crew are in hibernation pods during this period, but as the ship passes through a large asteroid field, the ship’s shield is heavily strained causing a malfunction that awakens one passenger, mechanical engineer Jim Preston. After attempting suicide due isolation, he decides to wake up Aurora from her pod. They end up falling in love for each other while trying to repair the ship damage.

My classification: 8 out of 10, although the critics are not that positive! I’m a romantic! That’s why! As a fictional movie, I get why the experts didn’t like it. But let me know what you think! Did you watch the movie? Why not writing your response listening the following song from the soundtrack: Levitate, which I like as well!?

[joanecatherine-blog]

My wishes for the new year.

I was browsing online and reading a lot of personal blogs. The majority of them were updated with a certain kind of retrospective: the best of the year or something similar. I could also write a few words about the good aspects of my life in the last year. I have done a lot of things, for sure, but all of them are, surprisingly, related to my future job: nursing. I came up with the conclusion that I am a severe workaholic and everything that happens is either about my studies or a consequence of that, which makes me sad. On the other hand, I know that it was a choice that I took a long time ago. I’m fully dedicated to my course. I just feel like I am in a transitional period, and not actually living my true life. Let me explain my point: I often found myself wishing so badly to graduate in order to travel, move out on my own to another country, and simply be an independent woman, that I totally forget about the present, which matters as well as the future plans. However, I intend to take some life improvements, starting today! I will make sure that I’m going to accomplish all of my monthly goals. Step by step, with the main purpose of reaching a better version of myself, mentally and physically, in which I will be better prepared for the journey I always wished to be living in. Some day will be the day! Until then, I just have to let it go… But I’m so ready for it!

And you? What are your wishes for the new year? I hope they are more concrete than mine! Love, Joane. 💋

[joanecatherine-blog]

Thank you.

Hi! I know that I don't say something for a very long time.

But I just want to thank you for all of your support and for following this corner! Truly!

I'm so happy with your feedback! I promise to post more frequently!

[joanecatherine-blog]

The decision.

One hour past midnight and here I am in my bed writing some lines…

Today or should I say yesterday? Well, just a few hours ago I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. Before nursing’s school, I left the biomedical engineer’s degree aside and followed my heart. Now, my heart is telling me to give another opportunity (just one more after millions of reasons for not even taking it into consideration), and to start all over again. So today I just kept myself together and decided to be more rational about… love. It’s sad when someone that you had loved so much is your main project as if you should be the one with the mission to restore the ability of the other to love and express feelings. I tried for the longest nine years and failed. I thought love could heal everything. I was wrong. It can’t. Sometimes you have to know when to stop and value your self-esteem. I should be my main project. Not someone else who doesn’t give as much as I do. So, today, after another disappointment, I bought a commitment ring for myself to remind me of staying true to my previous statement adding one more to it: never fail something for the feeling of loneliness. With this in mind, I went to the movies for the first time alone and enjoyed the sensation of being with my favourite person. Can you guess who?… 😅

By the way, the movie was great. The popcorn too, although my belly is not that quiet now… but it’s okay.

[joanecatherine-blog]

So today I took the day to solve some problems at my university (I have a lot of responsibilities as a delegate of class, which only gets worse when your colleagues are immature and anxious). After that, I went with my family to walk in the central part of Lisbon, where you can still find a lot of Christmas lights, as well a Christmas tree. The first photo (at left) is actually an inside perspective of it. Isn’t it cool? It was the perfect evening with my family! So peaceful, so relaxing… And how I needed to take a long breath in and out. I even turned off my phone after taking these photos. I should definitely repeat the experience and will maybe stay for a longer period of time in the company of a good friend and a hot chocolate to warm me up. Until then, I’m going to work a lot. I have to finish a paper and start another: a report about my last nursing internship. At least, the report must be ended before the new year’s eve. Wish me luck strength to focus on what is important at the moment. See you soon! 🎄

[joanecatherine-blog]

Happy Christmas

Here I am to wish you all an amazing Christmas evening with your loved ones.

I'm registering everything to share my family traditions with you. It's all about food in Portugal!

And you? What are the Christmas traditions in your Country?

[joanecatherine-blog]

These three photos summaries my last months during the internship as a nursing student: driving like crazy to be there on time, looking through the window and see the world from a hospital perspective, and waking up early before the sunrise. Now that I am on holidays (finally), I must confess that I feel so relieved. It is so hard to get in the rhythm, but I loved it with all of my heart and strength, especially because it was an oncology training in the exact same place where my mum was a patient five years ago, which was a huge challenge for me. Besides that, I think the results were amazing! I was surprised with my sensibility and the teachers seemed to agree. Now I just have to wait for January. Until then I deserve to take a break and do whatever I wish to, as for example photograph all the little details, run around my neighbourhood or start a youtube channel. Yeah, just need a quiet moment (by that I mean: no parents at home) to film… something! Let’s see what I’m going to end up to. Shiuuuuu! 😆

[joanecatherine-blog]

Call me Joane.

Hello, Tumblr’s world! I’m so excited to finally have the courage to start writing a blog without fear the exposure generally associated with the blogosphere. I actually intend to share my daily life in this little corner of mine and the main reason has to do with the fact that I want to improve my English skills, which in turn is related to an old desire of travelling around the world and living abroad. Maybe Canada or England. Who knows? Let’s see what the future brings, although I think we should run after our dreams instead of waiting for something to happen.

But well, I should have introduced myself first. Always on time for that!

I’m a Portuguese girl, a tiny one, must say. I’m only five feet tall, a little detail that I like to mention. I live near Lisbon, next to the most beautiful mountains with an amazing view of the Atlantic ocean. Such a paradise! I’m also twenty-five years old, but I’m still a child inside who loves to be surrounded by inspiring people and by that I mean honest, kind and caring people. I do consider myself one of them. My friends often say that I care too much, and this is probably one of my best qualities and faults. Is it weird? This one is another word that describes me so well - weird. That’s because of my nerd side, always in need of having everything under control. Oh yeah, I’m a planner freak, a perfectionist and overthinker. Nevertheless, I believe that over time I have found the balance between reason and heart, which does not mean that everything runs smoothly on a love level. It is so difficult to find someone who shares the same ambitions and dreams. Nowadays, love is a matter of study. So complicated!

I’m also a huge fanatic for everything related to photography and movies. Oh, I wish to have more time to dedicate to this passion of mine! This blog can be a great way to get more motivated and to start photographing on a daily basis. Books are another focus of my attention. I can get lost while reading. Am I the only one? I don’t think so!

And finally, I’m a 3rd year nursing student, who is looking forward to starting a new journey. This blog is just the address where all of my memories take place, as a future nurse, a daughter, a sister and friend. There are no rules! I will write about everything I love. Just as simple as this. It can sometimes look like a big mess, but I swear to you it will be a pretty one! Hopefully, you will agree with me! Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings!

💋 Love, Joane (note: my Portuguese name is actually Joana, but I just prefer Joane! It rhymes with my surname).