constructing calico!

[JellyBeans]

"First inhabited on June 3rd 2021, Calico island has been struggling to develop at the rate it hoped due to island representative Jess quickly becoming overwhelmed with simultaneously balancing university and running a town."

that was the first article i read as nook news weekly slipped through my letterbox this morning. however! new year, new me, am i right? no longer will i struggle to balance the different aspects of my life. or at least, i'm hoping to struggle *less*. mum always suggested i keep a journal, so here we are! journalling! the answer to all life's problems, according to any magazine article ever giving tips on how to 'improve your life' and 'reduce stress'. i'll be the judge of that, thank you.

i guess i'll start with a little overview of our starting point; hopefully this means the improvements i make will be way more obvious and it'll be easy to compare the difference. here's our most recent group island photo:

don't we all look so happy? truth is a lot of them have approached me about leaving some day, but i'm insisting they give me a little something to remember them by before they go. but they all say i'm 'not around enough' and they 'don't know me very well', so as of yet i haven't gotten any mementos. they will be my friends though. whether they know it yet or not. ahem, anyway. next up, our map at the moment:

as you can see, some areas are a little more developed than others. we have a lovely farm area set up down in the south west, just below the campsite. over in the north east you have our shopping district - one of my favourite places to pop by on a slow day. we also have a lovely little funfair in the south east! it's a little quieter in these winter months, but it's bustling and busy in the summer. (promise).

so, that's where we're at. i really want to take the time to work on our neighbourhood areas the most - we have a solid foundation, but i still think we're lacking that true 'community' feeling at the heart of it all. i want everyone who lives here to have a cosy space where they feel at home, both indoors and outdoors. i'm also hoping to build up our museum displays - back in the day i loved to unwind with some deep diving and fishing, but i've just been so caught up with life i didn't feel like i had the time to spare. that's one of the things i've been missing the most, i think. but i don't mean to get so sentimental so soon! in short, my main priorities are the neighbourhood and the museum, and beyond that i'd love to work on some more attractions around the island. some fun activities, if you will. not sure exactly what direction i'm heading in with that though - i'm hoping to be hit with inspiration (..or boredom).

until next time! (hoping i remember to come back, that is)

 

[JellyBeans]

rise and shine, time to grind!!! ... is what i was planning on telling myself when my alarm went off at 8am. but alas, i decided that time is just a social construct, and surely my day would be a lot better if i was well rested than if i actually had a solid morning routine, so i didn't even roll out of bed until around half ten. baby steps. after a busy morning of studenting (yes that's a verb)...

...i decided it was time to get started with this project of improving the island. everybody knows any good project begins with one key step - making endless lists of what you *should* be doing, giving a solid illusion of productivity when in reality you've made no progress. hard hat on (safety first!) and clipboard in hand, i documented my priorities. number one: this graveyard

it was actually one of the only things on this island that was constructed before we got here, and call me superstitious (or scared) but it seemed wrong to tamper with it. however, the whole thing makes me uneasy and i feel like it brings more bad morale than good karma if i keep it there. what i'll replace it with i'm not entirely sure though... maybe the spirits have a suggestion.

after a quick ice skating break (gotta make the most of the frozen pond while it's still here!) i got right back to it. i documented the missing flower species from the island:

and all round did a whole lot of de-weeding and flower digging up

along the way, i even spotted flurry doing her absolute best impression of a pink cosmo. it took me a second to spot her, to be fair - she does blend right in!

i also took a vital snowboy building break. although this dampened my mood more than i'd care to admit... i'm pretty sure the slightly too big body i gave him just gives him more room to store audacity. the cheek of it all.

finally, i decided it was time to make some *actual* progress, and accepted the fact it was time to de-christmas my front garden. but now it seems so bare, i don't know what to do with it all!

in what turned out to be my final burst of energy for the day, i fuelled up with coffee (thanks brewster!) and zipped around everybody for some present giving (and receiving). how merengue isn't turning blue in her tank top i simply don't understand.. she never struck me as the type of person built for this weather.

after all of this, i popped back home for a well-earned break with every intention of heading back out in the evening to, dare i say, make some actual progress. however, an unexpected visit from flurry right as i got comfy sapped the last of my energy. i know, it's shocking, i seem like the kind of person who's just raring to go at any given moment. well i hate to tell you that in fact any minor inconvenience Will throw me off for the rest of the day and destroy any motivation. so flurry, i love you, but you are entirely the problem here. but it's okay. i made some vital progress through my current sit com of choice, so really is that so bad? life is about balance, in my opinion.

and that's all i have for you today! after the first official day of journalling i think it's abundantly clear to me now more than ever that i am incapable of telling a fun, coherent, efficient story, and think that every single detail is absolutely vital to your understanding of my day. you're welcome, journal. until tomorrow!

 

[JellyBeans]

i'm sure you'll be pleased to know, journal, that day two of trying to get the island in shape had just as strong of a start as day one. somebody - and i'm not naming any names - decided to have a liiittle bit too much last night and so consequently spent the majority of today lying in bed wondering when she would realise there are some things that her body just doesn't agree with

so naturally, by the time i did manage to venture outside there was already a golden glow beginning to set over the island. it did cheer me up, to be fair - it's hard to still feel rough when the sun is setting just so. what didn't help my mood, however, was flurry instantly sending me on a mission to give jeremiah a gift - when we were stood right outside his house. yeah, doors are hard, but i feel like you could've managed this yourself?

then i knew i wanted to make some progress towards improving the island, but equally starting the day at about 4pm doesn't exactly send motivation rushing through my veins. so, i decided to take it easy tonight - some more digging up of excessive flowers, and i even took the plunge to get rid of the graveyard. i thought maybe seeing the open area would give me some kind of inspiration, but alas it didn't - despite the wistful air to the photo i snagged while i was gathering the energy to get started.

clear up complete for the day, i decided it was time to swing by the museum and see if any of the fossils i'd dug up could finish off the dinosaur display. still not entirely sure why *i* got stuck with the task of finding everything on top of, oh i don't know, all the other responsibilities of managing this island, but i suppose that's just the way it is. on my way i decided to have another go at building a snowman - only to get shot down once again by my lack of perfection. just so picky. the consequent reveal from blathers that i hadn't found anything new didn't help much either.

so finally, i decided i deserved a bit of 'me time' to relax and unwind - on top of the entire day that i spent in bed on my phone, of course. balance is just so important in life. all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, and me go insane. in the hopes of catching up on some missing seasonal catches i spent a while wandering the beach and catching fish. nothing new yet, but the night is young, and reeling in this sturgeon made me feel pretty good about my fishing skills! once a pro, always a pro. except when it comes to shark. those things scare me

and that's all i have to report for today! was it quite the bustling productive day i had planned to truly kickstart the refurbishment of calico? no, not at all. but i should have known i wasn't going to get all that much done today anyway. frankly, i wasn't quite sure the repercussions from last night were going to wear off enough for me to make any sort of progress, so i am deciding to congratulate myself for doing the bare minimum. go me!

 

[JellyBeans]

happy friday, journal!! i have an early morning commitment every friday that usually has me napping by 10am, and perfectly cosy in bed for the rest of the day. so i thought i'd take today to potter around the house, making sure everything is in order and tidy. is this a premature spring clean? a delayed new year refresh? lack of anything better to do? whatever you want to call it, it means today you get a mini house tour. you're welcome.
first things first, a comfy outfit is an absolute *essential* for spending the entire day at home. check this one out!

the second step is equally as important as the first - a good meal! how can i be expected to work when i'm hungry? technically by the time i got started with this endeavour it was lunch time, but i took a second to really think about what was going to energise me more. a regular old sandwich, or this stunning stack of pancakes? obviously i was willing to take the extra time to cook when the outcome is *this* mouth watering.

next up, the actual cleaning begins. i headed up to my bedroom and popped on my favourite record before getting to tidying.

even grabbed the hoover from downstairs! that's how you know it's getting serious - i have been avoiding doing this for *months* just because of the thought of having to carry it upstairs

naturally, tidying my bedroom leads to the realisation i am seriously in need of doing some laundry. so of course, that's where i headed! although it's a bit of a bore to deal with afterwards (all the folding and sorting and putting away...), the smell of fresh laundry? oh it just can't be beat. it makes it all worth it. bonus points if i take something out the dryer and immediately put it on. so nice and toasty

while i waited for that to run through, i headed down to the basement. quite frankly i never go down there so wasn't actually sure what would be awaiting me down there, but turns out it's not much all that fun - i have some retro arcade games, another little sofa/tv area, and some instruments. i still don't really know what to do with all this space. part of me wants to keep it as storage, another part thinks surely there must be something a bit more interesting i can do?

now, what does any normal person do when they're lacking in inspiration and wants to get the creativity flowing, get some ideas? head to pinterest, of course! what's life without a myriad of oddly specific pinterest boards that you make when you're in a certain mood and then almost never look at again?

moodboard made, ideas generated, i decided i had sufficiently earned a gaming break. but we all know how that goes - sit down for 'half an hour' on the switch, and suddenly you look up and it's dark outside and hours have passed and there's definitely other things you should be getting on with. which of course, is what happened here.

and there we have it, every room in the house! it's nothing fancy, it's a little all over the place, but it's cosy and it's home and it's served me well. i'm feeling nicely rested after today, and have a few to do lists running through my mind that i think can lead to some actual progress over the weekend. until tomorrow, journal!

yeah the reality of this one is i told myself i would keep up the momentum of daily posting but then simply did not have the energy to do much in-game today so makeshift house tour! this is one of the only parts of my island i feel like i've actually put the time into so there's actually a decent amount to show off.

 

[JellyBeans]

another day, another slay!!.. is apparently what merengue woke up and told herself today, because just LOOK at this matching moment she has going on with her horn and t shirt. what an icon

anyway, about my day, journal. i did a few little things today, so progress is slowly starting. i only hope things continue to grow from here. so first of all upon leaving my house, i saw someone had dropped a pouch of theirs in my garden!

the last time i had someone stop by was when flurry visited a few days ago, so i figured it must be hers and started out on a journey to find her. she was nowhere to be seen outside, but on my travels i did notice two rocks had ~magically generated~ into what looks like conveniently predetermined slots? god isn't nature incredible

along the way i'd dug up a few fossils, so i decided to swing by the museum and get them identified. once again, nothing new

i was starting to be convinced i'd actually donated everything blathers was after without actually noticing, so decided to have a roam around the dinosaur exhibit while i was here to double check. i did in fact notice some gaps, and even found flurry to give her back her missing item! (missing dinosaur section pictured, not flurry. just in case you couldn't tell)

and of course while i was here, decided to pick up a coffee to go to keep me going through the rest of my planned activities!

first mini build of the day was a nice relaxing painting area up in the north east of the island. looking at it now i think a few flowers or something would spruce it up a little more, but for now it's got the serene vibes i was aiming for!

keeping in with the relaxing theme, i gathered together some materials and got to crafting (ok this wasn't the relaxing bit)

items crafted, i headed way over to the north west corner of the island to set up a little rock spa! there's some more flat area open just over to the right that i'm thinking i need to do something with. a little area for some post-relaxing snacks, maybe. or a zen cushion for a spot of meditating? that's a future problem either way

and my final port of call for the day was to set up a gym in one of our neighbourhoods! there aren't all that many avid workout-ers (i'm pretty sure that's the official term for them) living here, so i didn't feel the need to go overly crazy with it, but i thought it would be nice to offer a small selection of equipment in case anyone was interested in doing a little more than just wandering the island

as you can see i have the proper attire and everything!
anyway, journal, that's all i have to report for today. i feel happy about getting a few little things done, and i really think i could've done more but as you can see it was a kind of grey and cloudy day and i've never found them to be all that inspiring. a sunny day, sure, keeps me going a little longer. rainy days even have their own sense of cosyness that blends well with productivity (on occasion). but cloudy days? they're just there. kind of neutral. sometimes i happen to be productive on these days, but usually they don't inspire too much emotion in me. god okay that was a longer rant than i intended on the weather. the point is i got things done and i'm happy with that! pinterest boards are also very much underway, so i have hope that this calico construction will start to really chug along nicely in the next few days. until tomorrow!

 

[JellyBeans]

happy sunday, all! did i sleep through turnips? yes, of course. has my nintendo switch online run out passport expired so i couldn't travel to find good prices anyway? also yes, so obviously that was an intentional decision. today, journal, was another day of small steps of progress but still nothing too major. i don't know what it is, but the larger spaces seem overwhelming to me? like there's just so many things i could put there, so i just don't do anything. plus i'd probably have to order a lot of furniture, whereas filling smaller gaps just requires a few little things here and there. but anyway. that's not supposed to be part of today's post. let's get into it!
as i was first getting into business for the day, Isabelle mentioned there was a visitor in the campsite. expectations low, i headed over, only to see... Ankha!

after checking to see if there was anybody i'd be okay with letting go, my luck only continued to go up. she immediately mentioned wanting to move in, and sure she wanted to play a game to see if she'd do it or not but i won first try? and she immediately talked to the villager i'd be okay with leaving? dreams do come true! (sorry kitt. it's nothing personal. but i had 2 normals, 2 peppys and no snooty so.. someone had to go)

so i did of course head on over to say goodbye to kitt. yeah, i'll miss her, but at least she's not venturing out alone - she's got her kid. plus she doesn't even look that upset to be leaving!

and while i was in a social mood, i ran around giving everyone gifts. like i said in my first post, they *will* be my friends and they *will* give me mementos to remember them by when they're gone. and today, hornsby obliged!! i was honestly shocked when he handed this to me, but oh i was so happy too

it's now got pride of place happily in my basement :] maybe this is how i'll fill the space. i'm just going to try and be very mindful it doesn't start looking like a shrine...

i took a little break throughout the afternoon (socialising is hard man), but once it was dark out i headed back to completing a few little builds around the island. i set up this cute little beachside movie screen which will probably be a lot nicer when it's actually warm outside, but i had all the equipment lying around so figured it was about time to set it up

i also discovered this strange looking cave just below our shopping district. i'm not quite sure what's hidden in there, or what the purpose of that mannequin is, but i get a strange magical vibe from it. i feel like if i keep checking back, more decorations could be set up around it... i'm not convinced that statue is *just* a statue

and once again we've reached the end of a day, journal. i feel like i still haven't made any posts in here that have all that much substance, or really make it look like i'm making a lot of progress, but mum was right - it is keeping me accountable, and i do feel a little bit more put together because of it all. it's been nice to reflect at the end of the day on what i have (or mostly haven't) done. but tomorrow is monday, and i've always found myself to be a little bit more motivated at the beginning of a fresh week. i know you can start being productive at any time, and that's why new years resolutions always seem a bit too optimistic, but i dunno maybe psychology is onto something with this 'new week, fresh start' thing. until tomorrow!

 

[JellyBeans]

"until tomorrow!" yeah really funny, jess. "new week, fresh start" how about it's been two weeks? did you consider that? proving psychology wrong one procrastination-filled day at a time.
to be fair, i really did intend on keeping it up. that fresh week i was talking about? i had a ton of free time, so thought it was the perfect time to get some real progress in. however, since i had such a free week i figured it was the perfect time to get a lot of stuff done that i'd been putting off. which meant my free week was suddenly not so free and i never really found myself with the time to get anything done on the island, let alone fill you in on it, journal. there's also my complete lack of object permanence and if my switch isn't right next to me on my desk? and instead all the way over on the bookshelf? game over. it doesn't exist. i won't consider it.
author's note: i always intended for this journal to blur the lines between what i get up to in my day to day real life, and what i manage to get up to on acnh. i just never anticipated a post that would be so heavily linked to irl lol hopefully the rest of my updates are going to be more ac related
so anyway, journal, i thought i would ease myself back into this whole updating thing and give you a little rundown of what i've been up to.
monday started full of hope. i genuinely had inspiration and was going to get some building going. however, i first had a little trip to take. i say little. thanks to questionable bus schedules i spent more time waiting around for them than i did actually in the place i needed to go. by the time i got home, i felt so defeated and tired i didn't have the energy to do anything else.
here's a pretty accurate representation of how i spent that day

i did, at least, manage to say hi to ankha as she was unpacking

and get a new recipe from rodney. if there's anyone i trust for good snack recipes, it's him

i also ran around to do a little task for octavian and get cherry a snazzy new outfit. the things i do for these villagers

the next day i had a little hope. i saw ankha was making a really solid impression within the community

and found the unlikely duo of octavian and rodney being best buds?

but then my aforementioned overcommitment kicked in. it started with watching sport..

.. and all just spiralled from there. a combination of late nights, social plans, and easing back into the reality of university all hit me square in the chest and mean i really have nothing left to show for myself. a poor effort, i know. hopefully throughout the course of this week i can better manage a balance between everything and be productive both academically and creatively!

and there we have it! i would say until tomorrow, but i have a lot that i'm *supposed* to be doing, so i don't know that there'll be an update for you. so perhaps i'll simply say until next time, journal <3