Something worth posting about!

i havent blogged in months but i definatley found something to blog about...

This lucky girl, April, has got to have the sweetest man ever!! Now I love my man and he's great, but he's the type of guy to complain that i take too long to get ready (when he takes longer, really!) and that i wear and spend too much on make up. Now back to April. She had been looking around for the Urban Decay Naked palette and couldnt find it anywhere, at a reasonable price. Can anyone?? So on a recent business trip her partner went on, he saw some Urban Decay in duty free, no Naked palettes but he did go to the effort of looking up the colours in the palette on his phone and bought her 5 single, full sized eyeshadows that come in the Naked palette... now if that isn't the sweetest thing ever, i dont know what is!

Not only is this girl lucky, but generous! She is currently holding a give away on her youtube channel, AprilAthena7, and the prize is HUGE!! Here's just a sneak peak of what you can win..



I suggest you follow her blog, subscribe to her on youtube & find yourself a man like hers! haha

here's the link to her blogpost regarding her giveaway and here is the link to the video of her September favourites + the big Giveaway

hopefully i can get back into the swing of blogging, i forgot how much i enjoy it!

Mo Money, Mo Problems

I never really got that phrase (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about..). I always thought that if you had money everything else would be fine. Our current financial statement is one of 'no money'. Were basically living off social security payments which cover necessities (barely) and not much else. this post is not one of complaint. it is not a post seeking charity. It is simply a post highlighting to POSITIVES this situation.

yes POSITIVES!

when my husband got accepted into university we were both over the moon because he had been trying to get into uni for a long time. Discussions began on when he would stop working before uni started & neither of us even flinched at the thought of him not working. Ive been a stay at home mother for almost 4 years now. we both agreed that is what we wanted for our children, so we were used to living on a single income. Now we are living on no income (basically) and its tough but its actually changed our lives for the better in my opinion.



1) life has slowed down... by that i mean we aren't always off rushing to go out to the movies or make dinner reservations. we aren't always rushing out to make it to the shopping centre and circling the car park to find parking to then buy things that we don't really need. We spend a lot of time at home where things are calm. Home has always been important to me and its my favourite place to be. Its where we have our most fun. Its where we feel the most comfortable.



2) Were spending more carefully. With less money going around being conservative and making a budget and sticking to it is vital. I find that when we were comfortable and money was not an issue, it was just that, not an issue. My husband and i never talked about how much the bills were, how much the groceries cost this week, how much to spend on things like fixing the car, birthday presents and eating out. Because i was basically the one in charge of the budget and how we spent our money i would hold both ATM cards and if he needed anything he was take some cash or his ATM card. Now whenever either one of us is going to or has spent any money we tell each other just so we both know where we are, financially. Its not romantic at all and it almost feels business like but i think its an important conversation that we weren't having before. We used to have fights over money because neither of us knew where the money was going and what it was being spent on. Now that there's a constant dialogue fights about money don't occur.

3) Creativity is a must. Ive always considered myself to be a creative person, but when you don't have a lot of money to spend on whatever you would like, imagination and creativity are very helpful. My creativity has expanded from painting canvases & crochet (my weapons of choice) to meal planning, reusing & up-cycling things around to house, ways to entertain the children for free, how to clean the house for basically nothing & other ways to save money. I feel like i haven't been this creative in my life ever!

4) An appreciation for everything. every little thing. We cant afford to buy new things or travel to far away destinations which forces us to look at what we have now and love it. Of course an appreciation for each other has always been there. An appreciation for our families is inevitable. But now i appreciated things like dish washing liquid, laundry powder, my massive arts & craft box accumulated since i was in high school which has come in handy now that i have 2 creative little angels. I appreciate all my shoes, i really don't need this many but I'm grateful that i have them all. I appreciate all the gifts from baby showers and birthdays which were too big at the time but now fit perfectly. I appreciate the fact that i have less than 20 dinner plates. who need more than 20? i hardly ever entertain.

5) Cleaning occurs more often & with less complaint. Along the lines of appreciation and due to the fact that we spend a lot of time at home, i try to make it as comfortable as possible. i try to keep it organised so there isn't any "where is my other sock?" "where is my school bag?" "can you find my phone!??" yelling conversations going on as were are heading out the door. De-cluttering was the first step so once there was less stuff in the house, there's less stuff to pick up & put away and cleaning is easier.

there are obviously a lot more positives but for now i must be off, time to tackle the dishes & the pile of laundry just crying out to me.

The Shipping News

by Annie Proloux

Just finished this book after slowly reading this book on & off over many months. The main reasons i picked this book to read is

1) my year 12 English teacher recommended it & high school was a long time ago but for some reason i always felt the need to take her advice.
2) it got turned into a movie, so there must be a decent story there. mind you i don't watch the movie adaptation of novels but i always go out to read the novel.
3) i found it at the markets, it just seemed like a sign.

So the story is basically about Quoyle, a man/widower with two children who hasn't had it easy. Moving back to a small fishing town where his ancestors & family were originally from, how can there not be a story. I'd love to tell u what happens in the story but not a lot goes on but a lot happens. Does that make sense? There just seems to be this mysterious vibe throughout the book like so many things are going on and you want to know what happens next. For me personally, I'm a sucker for a protagonist who get kicked when he's down. I just want to know that he's going to make it and be OK. This book didn't change my perception on life, it didn't make me cry, it didn't really create any world shifting reactions in me. I just let me breathe. Breathing is good.

The next book i am currently reading is Beloved by Toni Morrison. I'm in the first 20 pages and this book doesn't let me breathe. Its a 'heavy' book. not literally but its not a 'light' read. gosh i hope I'm making sense. This is the kind of book i cant even read at night, just because I'm so freaked about ghosts and anything haunting. I ha vent read enough to know exactly what the story is about but i will be proud of myself when i finish this book. I have a feeling this one will stick with me, in a good way hopefully.

feed this family

grocery shopping, cooking, dishes... really unavoidable aspects of being a mother and a wife in my opinion but as of late due to our financial situation, I've had to figure out ways to feed our family of 4 for less. At first I thought, 'How can i skimp on food?? i need to feed my babies!!', feelings of guilt at not being in a more stable financial situation before having children came over me.. for about 5 minutes and then i had to prepare lunch and menu plan for the next fortnight and take the kids shopping.

I ALWAYS plan a menu, at least for the week though i prefer a 'big' fortnightly shop rather than several quick trips to the shops. I am blessed (yes, blessed) with a tiny kitchen with little storage. I don't have a massive pantry, i basically store all my cooking needs in one tiny cupboard and I like it that way. I'm never tempted to 'stock up' on things i 'might' need one day. I buy it, i use it. what is the big deal about all of this?? well before i burst with pride (yes, pride) i have managed to feed my family of 4 for a whole fortnight for... *drum roll* $132! that's basically 3 meals a day, snacks and this fortnight i needed NAPPIES and TOILET PAPER! this includes all groceries, meats, chicken, fruit & vegetables.

Menu planning for me starts with 'shopping my pantry' or cupboard & fridge in my case. And for such a tiny space i actually had a lot to work with. Its all pretty basic stuff but its amazing the meals you can come up with using different combinations of ingredients.

Coming up with meal ideas & recipes has been made much easier with Google. i basically google a bunch of ingredients I think go together and slap on the word recipe on the end and i come up with an endless list of yummy recipes.

On the menu this fortnight is:

Crumbed & pan fried chicken with roast vegetables
Beef Stir fry
Peanut Chicken Curry
Beef Risotto
Cajun Beef Chili
Macaroni & Cheese
Potato & Carrot Soup
five spice chicken & broccoli stir fry
Corned beef & Thai vegetables
BBQ Lamb with onion rings & asparagus salad

No food goes to waste in this house, leftovers are always eaten. for breakfast we bake our own bread & have scrambled eggs, we have some sausages from last fortnight & we have a gigantic box of cereal to go through. For snacks, we bake cookies or we have cheese & fresh fruit.

and yes i can cook all this for 2 weeks for $132 and i bought NAPPIES & TOILET PAPER in BULK! I just cant get over it..

talking with other mothers who shop & cook for their families, we've admitted to spending $100+ on groceries and not really feeling like you're buying much. Mind you, meal planning for me takes time, looking for recipes & looking at the specials at all the many different supermarkets, but its something Ive come to enjoy & take pride in. If i were to take away the nappies & toilet paper which we don't buy every fortnight i would have spent... $111! wow. yay me!

learning to live with less, i feel, has been such a blessing for my family. We've come to develop a real appreciation for the little things. We've come to see how truly lucky & blessed we are. We've come to take care of and appreciate the possessions we have, we've come to appreciate each other. We cant afford to take the kids to the movies or to any fancy restaurants or out to too many places but home is where we have the most fun anyways. Baking bread & cookies a few ties a week has become a little tradition me and the children enjoy. its a chance to get messy, to talk & to listen. ahhh OK well off i go to bake some bread & get lunch started.

Enjoy Sundays, that's what they're there for.

new banner

i was just playing around with a few freebie downloads avaiable all over the internet and this is what i came up with

the tape strips were from here and the shipping tags were from here.

Purple dotted ribbon was from here

great places for inspiration.

tis the weekend, which means either being completly lazy or running around and doing as much as possible... im leaning towards the first option..

xox

Happy Birthday to me!

so my 24th birthday was yesterday and i always find myself reflecting on life and where I'm at in life on my birthday. I don't know many other 24 year olds out there married with 2 kids but that's where I'm at and i love it. I'm very much a results based person, so when i look at what i have 'achieved' thus far i would quietly like to say I'm proud of myself.

I will have to say I focus a lot more on home & family. I've always been a family type of person, but after being away from my husband and my home for 5 weeks (i was overseas with my parents visiting family, had a wedding to attend, etc.) I came back with a much more defined focus on what I want for my family & my home.

I may have mentioned in a previous post that my house isn't the prettiest house on the block, it may actually be in the bottom 3 on the street in my opinion. So I've directed a lot of my attention & energy into making it a home i love. We don't plan on moving any time soon, this location is just too convenient for my husbands uni and the children's preschool & soon to be primary school, so i thought it makes sense to turn this house into a home that we all love to be in.

I also have to admit that the only income we are receiving as of now is social security which is enough to pay bills, rent, buy food, pay for preschool & petrol for the car and not much else. This isn't me complaining, I'm just stating facts.

So the challenge is to create a 'home' for basically nothing, and i know I'm not the only out there attempting this, and i know many people have achieved this. Two major things, which basically cost nothing to do but in my opinion is a great place to start 'creating a home' are DE CLUTTER and DEEP CLEAN.

i thought i could do the two simultaneously but it got too complicated so i thought it would make sense to de-clutter first and get rid of crap you don't need or like so there are less things to deal with when deep cleaning. I was so surprised at how much crap i was surrounded by and getting rid of it all was such a relief and made me fall in love with things that i had forgotten i had.

I went through me & my husbands wardrobes and got rid of a lot of clothes we didn't need or wear anymore, most went to the salvation army, some went to eBay. I went through my shoe collection and donated a few pairs to SA. We had some sub-woofers sitting in our room which my husband always wanted to keep but we sold those on eBay so easily & got quite a bit for them. We had such OUT DATED electronics such as computers and gaming systems which we donated to a computer recycling company & the gaming system, we could trade in for cash. we even had an old VCR sitting around which didn't even work! We got rid of our hideous and humongous (i know its not a word...) computer table which i have had since high school. I found heaters and fans that didn't even work anymore just sitting around. All i can say is we had a lot of crap lying around and it feels good to have it gone.

De-cluttering never ends in my opinion. Its a constant battle with keeping junk out and re-evaluating what you have and comparing that to what you need.

onto DEEP CLEANING. I would have to say deep cleaning is tiring and kinda gross but the feeling of knowing your space is truly clean is worth the time and elbow grease. My house has a lot of trouble spots when it comes to cleaning. After living in this house for just over a year, my kitchen hasnt been deep cleaned EVER i think. I spent a good day really cleaning it, getting rid of all that built up grease, all those crumbs & spilt 100s & 1000s everywhere, going through the cupboards and getting rid of anything that i didnt use or was broken, going up into the corners to get rid of all the spider webs, going ontop of the cupboards & almost vomiting at the build up of dirt & grease. To think at how dirty my kitchen was and to think that this is where i cook the food to feed my family, i feel much better knowing how clean my kitchen is now.

Another trouble spot is the bathroom. Theres not much ventilation in there so im having issues with mould and the flooring happens to be that weird outdoor carpet type material... yes i know, WHAT?!? carpet in a bathroom doesnt make any sense to me but we've learnt to deal with it. Vacuuming in the bathroom doesnt feel as bad as it use to.

ok so PHEW... i think this post needs to come to a rest and i will continue on with my mission of 'home creation' in my next post.

Desert Flower

yes, another book post simply because i love to read. I guess because i only really got back into reading a few months ago after a 3 year hiatus (hey i was raising babies ok!) i feel like i need to make up for lost time. Kind of like lost time with a long time lover... okay enough of the weird analogies..

WOAW my goshness this book is.... woaw. Where do i being?? This book is basically the life story of Waris Dirie. Born in Somalia and living as a desert nomad, life is tough and is all about surviving. From humble beginnings to becoming a top model & UN special ambassador, how could you not want to know how she got there and what she went through.

I was recommended this book by my beloved sister-in-law (again). It's nice to have people in your life who KNOW you. I quote her, "OH MY GOD! you have to read this book, i think you'll love it" and i did.. i do!

There is nothing more i love than a strong, indepdendant woman who knows what she wants and goes after it, no matter what. That is exactly how i would describe Waris. As a child she was the inquisitive, hard working, determined child who was capable of things beyond her knowledge. For someone to come through what Waris has and achieve so much is beyond amazing. To still remain humble after it all, shows great character. She is beautiful both inside and out.

There hasnt been a book i havent recommended you read because... I luckily havent picked up any stinkers. but seriously, READ THIS BOOK. you will feel insipred and maybe even a bit guilty about complaining about cleaning the car thats gets you places and washing the piles of dishes which you have just eaten a hearty meal off. I'm just saying...

My Space

no I'm not talking about "myspace" im talking about my space as in my home/house. We're renting a cheap house in the western suburbs of Sydney and i'll admit we have the UGLIEST house on the street. its probably the oldest & the least renovated/maintained. The paint is peeling on the outside & my front door/entrance isnt a pretty sight. on the inside, the carpet is completley dated. Its in good condition but way old. The vinyl in the dining room & kitchen is ugly & patchy. The walls in the kitchen & dining room are a weird, imitation... I DONT KNOW! i really dont know what it is on the walls so i'll just move on. Its a small 2 bedroom house and id probably like the house a bit more if i didnt have weird carpet in the bathroom & a really dated pokey kitchen.

ok so im having terrible green eye syndrome. A friend of mine who lives down the road and is renting too recently got her place freshened up. My husbands friend bought his own place and has been slowly fixing it up. I'd love th fix my house up but the word of the day is RENTING. So i cant punch holes in the wall, i cant tear things up, basically I cant make any crazy changes. So i've been focusing on doing what i can with what i have to make my house the best it can be.

So far I've just started de-cluttering. i think thats the easiest way to love your space is to only have things in it that you love/use/require. I've been getting rid of decent things on ebay that deserve a loving home. Ive been throwing out/recycling as much jucnk as i can. I'm going overseas soon to visit family, so im trying to get as much done as i can. I dont think I'll be making huge changes until i come back but until then ive been browsing the net trying to find inspiration and figure out the stlye in which I want to decorate. Being a mother and wife, i like my house to be inviting & warm, yet i like the look of a clean & simple decor. Having young kids throws in a whole other element. im so confused! I will say this, the things i do LOVE about my house is the HUGE window in my living room & the high ceilings & the fact that i have so many empty walls to work my magic on.

I love the minimalistic style of this room, but i think it could be lighter & the bookcase filled with more items.

i LOVE low coffee tables covered in coffee table books. i LOVE collections of vases. i LOVE plush comfy chairs & sofas. i LOVE black photo frames

i LOVE tall, massive bookcases that are FULL but dont look too cluttered or too organised. i love coffee tables that are nice and close to the sofa so you can put your feet up, even though thats so un-ladylike.

Guilty Pleasures

This book was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and we like to read really different kinds of books, she likes Jackie Collins and I.. dont haha. But this year is all about trying out new things and stepping out of my comfort zone so i read this book... and... LOVED IT! The kinds of books i like to read are sappy i'll admit it. They're all about deep and meaningful moments and emotions and life changing revelations.

THIS book had drama, scandal, sex, fashion, glamour, wealth, papparazzi, drugs, alcohol, some form of love (kind of... not really) and mentioned all those fabulous brand names that you know and love yet seriously cant afford. Written by Tasmina Perry, this book tells the story of a family basically fighting over a deceased relatives well-known and prestigious, England based luxury goods company. There's Emma, the niece who works hard & lives in Boston. There's Cassandra, editor-in-cheif of a very successul fashion magazine. There's Roger, the brother and right hand man whose wife likes to live the good life. The things that people will do for money, success & power. Just reading the title and looking at the title of the book, would make you want to read it.

I did feel like i was basically reading "The Bold and the Beautiful" but this book was exciting and addictive. I just wanted to know what happens next. Its a fun book. Thats really all i have to say really. Its not the kind of book where you walk away feeling enriched & fulfiled but.. its fun!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

This book was recommended to me by my friend who runs her own book club so i started reading this with no hesitations. Its a short book, read this slowly over two nights. Its a slow kind of story where not much happens but what happens in quite enormous. I really cant come up with any other way to describe what happens in this story.

Written by John Boyne, this story is set in the times of the Holocaust where 9 year old boy Bruno and his family move from Berlin to Auschwitz due to his fathers promotion. Being an inquisitive boy Bruno goes for a walk.. and i really don't want to give anymore away! If i keep going i'll just end up retelling the whole story and this really is a book that you MUST read for yourself. I sat there after finishing the book frantically texting back and forth with my friend who recommended it to me. gaaahhhh... im still not over this book and i dont think i ever will be.

I finished this book a while ago and have finished another book since then.. so on to the next one!

The Power of One

I have been wanting to read this Bryce Courtenay masterpiece for a long time but books thick enough to use as a pillow used to scare me, now they feel like a mountain that im about to climb, but in a good, exciting way. So my sister-in-law read it and recommended it. This is another book I'm glad i read, and also am glad i let some one else read it before me. She warned me, "theres a huge chunk in the beginning that you just have to read through but it gets exciting after here." She had even marked where the fun began for me. If she hadnt warned me, i probably would have put the page down after 100 pages. Over all i didnt understand every single little detail in this book. I had to conduct some research while i read this book because im not very familiar with history of any kind in general. The story is set in South Africa during WWII/1940s ( i think), a time in which race and racism was prevelant. Courtenay uses a lot of words & references that arent used today or outside of south africa & a bit of help from wikipedia cured that. Im not going to retell the storyline simply becase its one of those stories that just has so much going on and spans quite a number of years and happens in so many different locations involving so many different people, i"ll let wikipedia take care of that for me, again.

There is so much to get out of reading this book. In a way i feel that Peekay changed the world, even without meaning to. He had a goal, which never left the back of his mind. I feel that this story shows that anything is possible, even for the little guy. Being a petite lady, i find myself getting intimadated in certain situations, but I've been known to stand up for myself when the time calls for it. I love a story where the little guy wins! I knew this book had been made into a movie but I thought it was a more recent movie. it was released in 1992 which isnt ancient but yet again, i would happily watch the film adapatation of this book. Maybe because i didnt fully understand all the little details of the book. i understood the story just not the history.

SO the next book i have begun to read is "The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas" by John Boyne, recommended to me by my bookworm buddy who has her own readers bookclub, so i'll trust her judgment. AGAIN this book has been turned into a movie, not sure if i will watch this one though. Its a short read, hopefully will finish it by tonight. Its a nice recovery to the everest book, that was The Power of One.

here we go..

I think im like a lot of other people and start off the new year with the intention to live a healthier life style, so today (after a week of the new year) i dusted off my weights.. rumaged around for my pilates mat (which i couldnt find until after i finished my work out) and got to it.

Im trying to gain weight, tone up the jiggle & build stamina. I'm petite in size, 5" and weighing roughly 43 kgs, i'm TINY. i could stuff my face and not put on any weight and most people would kill to have a freakishly fast metabolism like mine, except i cant fill out a top or a pair of jeans to save my life. Dresses which are meant to be tight are loose on me so i look like a little girl trying to wear womens clothing, meaning, NOT CUTE! my baby face & little girl voice really dont help my cause at all. I dont have a specific goal weight to get to, i just dont want to be puffing when i walk up the hill to my front door. (my house is on the top of a hill, makes mowing the lawn a WORKOUT!)

So todays workout was mainly squats, ab work, arm work, leg work. I'll be alternating between excercises every 2nd day so i dont get bored with the same routine. Im considering getting some heavier weights so hopefully that means less reps which means a quicker more intence workout.

I'm also trying to eat healthier this year. i detoxed off sugar & caffiene last year for a good month and then slipped off the bad wagon quite a bit but for that month i felt awesome, i looked awesome, my skin was glowing! the party/ silly season meant lots of sugary drinks, fatty bbq food & heaps of sugary sweets & my skin is crying out for help! hopefully i'll be able to get back to a healthier lifestyle soon! xx

new years always call for a fresh start

been way too long since i posted, usual excuse of things eating up my time..

but a new year calls me to a new more aware, active, concious & energized way of thinking & being. 2009 felt like it zoomed by and i was left on the sidewalk as an observer. Lots of changes happened during this past year such as, moving house, new job for the hubs, my daughter starting preschool, me becoming an avon rep... but after all this change i feel like i havent really accomplished anything, which sounds awful because i dedicate a big chunk of my time & energy & existance into my family. Last years resolutions were all themed around ME.. start exercising, get back into reading, do things that im passionate about, spoil myself occasionally.. and i would give myself a 2.5 out of 4 as ive definatley gotten back into reading which i am very passionate about! i could probably count the times ive spoilt myself in the past year on one hand but thats ok.. exercising came and went but hopefully this year it will be a more consistant element in my everyday life.

i guess im hoping that 2010 is of better quality than last year. i dont want to achieve more i just want better. i want to make better choices, i want to spend my time and money in a wiser manner, i want the time i spend with my kids to be quality time, i want everyday to count, i want less crap & stress and more joy & peace.. i guess we will have to see how the year unfolds.

READING, as i said earlier, is my life. Books make me feel alive, awake, refreshed, a little wiser & fulfiled. Corny i know but they really do. Books give me more than a pair of shoes, a new outift, a good meal or an entertaining movie could every give me. Maybe its because books take more time to consume. i see buying books as an investment because chances are you'll be keeping it for the rest of your life if its a good one. i recently bought and read a book that i will be keeping for the rest of my life and it is...

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

holy moly, i could talk about this book all day & not have the words for it at the same time. The basic story is that of a man with a genetic disorder which makes him travel through time involutarily & the way that he and his wife meet & how their love & life story develop. Sounds out of this world and kinda crazy but i think most people will be able to relate to the challenges in relationships, separation from loved ones & lack of control you sometimes have with who you fall in love with. I love the characters in the story. I love the way the story was written & told. It normally takes me a while to read a book but i read this book in 2 days and its not a quick read. that says a lot.. as soon as i had finished the book i wanted to flip to the start & read it all over again. i just didnt want to put this book down but at the the same time i didnt want this book to end. i was 10 pages from the end and i put the book down because i knew the end was coming sooner than i wanted it too. I guess knowing whats to come is a part of time travelling and how it can be both a good thing & a bad thing.

I got so much out of this book. This book showed me how sometimes love hurts, a lot. it also showed me how love can withstand so many challenges. It taught me that loving is hard & challenging but worth every struggle. This book showed me the importance of really cherishing time together. If its meant to be, it will be. Patience pays off and sometimes waiting is all you can do in a situation.

I normally dont watch movies of novels that i have read but i MIGHT make an exception for this one.

on a lighter note, my youngest daughter turns 3 next month which is insane beyond any comprehension! i feel like i just gave birth to her last month.. a family holiday (minus the hubs unfortunatley) back to indonesia is coming in 5 short, quick weeks which is insane!! so im busy planning/preparing for that which is exciting yet exhausting at the same time. hopefully blog posts will occur more frequently xo