I ate some fish and I liked it....

First things first though. I bought a new car...

I love it! It drives like a dream and is so easy to maneuver. It is awesome. :)

Friday night Ross and I stayed in a fancy hotel in the city. It was awesome. We got the Deluxe Spa Suite. The weird thing though...

Yep, the spa was in the main room... LOL A bit weird but it was fun. It was only the 2 of us after all. :)

For dinner we decided to take the plunge and order a fish dish. We couldn't decide between the Atlantic Salmon and the barramundi..

So we ordered both and shared. :) And Oh. My. God! They were absolutely divine! We have been missing out! LOL Seriously, some of the best fish ever. So soft and succulent. And the good news is, neither one of us felt sick afterwards.

Of course, we had dessert as well.

Pecan pie for me and lemon cheesecake for Ross. This we didn't share because I don't like cheesecake. :)

I have spent today taking photos to turn into Xmas cards. I got a couple that turned out well. It was a really fun morning taking all the shots. I have just finished editing and will head down to drop them at the camera shop to get printed shortly. Will have them on the FB page by the end of the week for anyone interested.

Nothing more to report. Happy Sunday everyone!

xox

Halloween Party

Last night Ross and I had a Halloween party. It was a really fun night. Everyone got into the spirit and dressed up which was so awesome.  Here are a few pics.

Food Additives

I discovered something interesting today doing the grocery shopping. Now we don't do major grocery shopping very often, perhaps once every 6 weeks or so, so it is always a doozie. We stock up as much as possible in one big shop, then just pick up fresh food items weekly until the next big shop.

We are trying as much as possible to go organic and additive/preservative free. So for all of our tinned and jarred goods we read labels.  Guess which branch is consistently free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. Go on, guess.

Coles Home Brand.

Bet you didn't see that coming. We were sure surprised. Tinned tomatos - the ONLY brand on the shelf without additives is Coles. Tinned legumes. Coles. Baked beans. Coles. The list goes on. I was stunned. But it makes it easier for future shopping trips. Just go for the Coles brand. :)

In other news we went to a fancy ball last night. I had to go out and buy an evening dress, and I even wore make up! here are a couple of pics.

xox

Walking, Healthy Habits, Caffeine, and My Day

Today I went for the longest walk, and did the most walking, I have done in months. And I mean months. This morning I walked to the tram stop, approx 1.2kms. Then navigated my way through various shops and errands to get where i was going in town. Unsure of the actual distance but at a guess a little over 1 km. Then I walked hom from a different tram stop which was 1.5 kms. The 1.5 is my longest single walk, and the amount of walking I did in total is the most in a day. Since forever ago.

I feel great. My legs are tired though. They are not used to it. This morning the Achilles was tight and sore. But considering it was 0.7 degrees in Adelaide this morning, I am guessing the cold had a lot to do with that. Once it warmed up it felt good. Now I am sitting with my leg up and it is a bit tired and achey, but not sore. This is a good thing. I won't walk again tomorrow, but I will jump on the trainer. Should be a bit less pressure on it.

My week of healthy habits has gone better than last week, but not brilliant. I had breakfast on the go a couple of times. And had some chips. My water and exercise were good. I have one more day left of the week, and even though I did not nail it, I am going to add to it this week. Just need to decide what I will add.

I am still off the caffeine. I just wanted to report in on my little experiment I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. A few weeks back I had some Diet Coke at a party. 48 hours later I was hit with a wave of anxiety that lasted several hours. I was unsure if it was the caffeine, or the chemicals. To test it I decided to have a coffee one day and see how I felt 48 hours later. I have now done this. The result? It is the chemicals. I had absolutely no reaction to the caffeine in the coffee and no anxiety within the next week. So for me this means I can have the occasional coffee and be confident that I will feel fine. I can not have Diet Coke. I am okay with that.

Today I went to a Psychic Development class at the WEA. I have been looking forward to this for a while. Basically it was an introduction to various types of intuitive and psychic abilities by trying them out. I had a great time, and had more success than I expected. There were a few things I had no success at, but that is cool. I was very excited to get to practice some Psychometry, which I recently discovered I had a knack for. I was spot on each time I tried it today and was able to put the feelings into words better than I have in the past, so that was pretty exciting. I am hoping to catch up with one of the ladies again in order to give it another shot.

Tomorrow I have to write an assignment and clean my house, oh what fun... :)

xox

Happy Anniversary Ross

On this day 4 years ago I gained a new husband. One that I love with all my heart. I am so happy and blessed that we found each other through the maze that is our lives.

Although we have never done the anniversary gift thing, this year I decided to surprise and spoil him with this beautiful Swiss Army watch.

I love you Ross.

xox

Study Overload

I have my first 2 exams on Sunday afternoon for my course. It has been several years since I have done exams. My brain is slightly older, slightly more used, slightly more worn around the edges since then... This week has been study overload. I just hope I am ready. Although, if I fail I get a second shot which is great news. :)

Tonight I am having a facial and massage. I am so excited. I got a voucher from one of those Deal-A-Day thingys that are everywhere. It is a 30 minute facial and foot soak, then a 30 minute head and neck massage. I have never done anything like this before in my life so I am really excited. :)

xox

Hail

We got our first heavy hail of the year today. He all got excited and went out taking photos. :)

xox

Update

Sorry I have not been around a lot, this week has been dominated by Study. This is my boy Starr. He has made a little burrow for himself in the bushes along the side of the driveway.

Last night, after a looooong day of study, we went to a Solstice party up in the Hills. It was a great night. I made cheese-less mini-quiches to take.

They ended up as cheese-less by accident, I forgot to add the cheese to the mix. But they still tasted pretty good.

The party was awesome. Great people, great conversations, lots of laughs. It was a huge amount of fun.

Today was a bit of a lazy day. I submitted my first assignment this morning which was a great relief. Now I just have to wait for it to be marked. I did a bit more study, unpacked some more boxes from our storage shed, then sat down and watched Friends DVDs.

Ross got home from Archery and decided we were off to the beach for Veggie Burgers for dinner.

Yum!

xox

Long Weekend

Oh how I love long weekends. Especially ones like this where I have absolutely no need to leave the house. I plan on being a complete sloth. LOL. Actually, that is untrue. I do have some plans. But I still don't plan on leaving the house. :)

Today I have no plans. Ross is working this mornings then heading to his Archery club this afternoon. I am not sure what I am going to do. A bit of housework. Perhaps some knitting or sewing. But not much. Tomorrow Mum is coming over to help me set up my garden and to show me how to make bread. I can't wait. Then Monday I am devoting to study. It is going to be a great 3 days. :)

xox

My weekend

I have been working on the dishcloths I wrote about the other day. I have now made 5 of them (although I only have 4, my Mum snaggled one of them). I have been using the first one and have washed it. I love it. :) This is the first one I made.

My only concern is that I have used acrylic wool which is all I have, and I am not sure how that will hold up over time. The original patter suggested using pure cotton wool. I will see how these go. If they do not last I will get a better quality wool to make more from. But for now, these are great. :) Here are the other 3 I have made.

Yesterday I went to a little craft fair with my Mum. We thought it was going to be quilts on display, but it was a craft sale. Lots of table of little crafts for sale. I bought a couple of little things like this magnet.

I also got a decision dice. The idea is when you have a hard decision to make you roll the dice and it will give the answer.

I will willing go along with any decision this dice rolls. LOL

This afternoon I am off to a Psychic Development class. Not really sure what it will involve, but I am looking forward to it.

xox

Sorry for the Absence

Life has been busy.

I had my first inspection on the house earlier this week so had to spend the weekend getting things ready for that. We had only been there a month so it is not like it was dirty, but we were only half unpacked (slack I know) plus we moved into a pretty grubby house - on the outside anyway - and I wanted to get that sorted.  Thankfully it is all done now so we now have a sparkling house. :)

Last night I sat down with my knitting needles and made a knitted washable dishcloth. I have been looking for reusable dishcloths I could make rather than buy that would do the job of a chux or scourer. I have a real issue with just how much waste each household creates and have been working on ways to reduce my own waste. There are a few things going on and as I get to try them I will report here. This is my first step to a reduced waste household.

A few days ago I read about knitted ones so decided to give it a try. I finished one last night. It took around 2 hours I guess (maybe a bit less I was up and down doing washing all night). It looks great (will upload a pic on the weekend). But of course, I had to put it to the test. I had left some dishes for this purpose. Firstly I cleaned the benches with it. OMG - so EASY! The on to the dishes.

Well, I am just going to say that I am a convert. As long as it washes up okay (and I am sure it will) then I have found my new dishcloths. I am already halfway through the next one. I figure if I have about 7 or 8 on hand, I can use them for a few days and just put them through the wash with the towels or tea towels. It is not like they take a up a lot of space.

I am also going to do 2 slightly bigger ones in a distinctively different colour that I can use in the bathroom and toilet only.

No more paper towel or disposable cloths for me.

I am still doing the FlyLady although I have not progressed past Day 10. I am shining my sink every night, I have Ross trained to make the bed every morning (I presented it to him that if the bed is made in the morning it will be warmer to get into at night and it worked), I am keeping my "hotspots" under control, and I am doing a 15 minute blitz in one area most days.

Days 11 & 12 are about your "control journal" and de-cluttering your emails. My inbox is always de-cluttered - I hate emails not filed away somewhere. LOL And while I am keeping list of morning and afternoon routines as well as some other stuff, I am not going to put "inspirational quotes" into it. I love quotes, and have them and use them, but I see no need to add it into a folder that is helping me keep my house organised. That is just me though. :)

So if I move to Day 13 it says to pick one of the weeks "Missions" and do it. This week they are focusing on the bathroom and spare rooms. Interestingly I spent about an hour in my craft room (one of the spare rooms) last night getting things sorted. I now have a clear desk in there. I am very happy with that.

Day 14 says to read an essay on the website. Done that.

Day 15 wants us to start making the bed everyday as part of our routine.Well I am already doing that (via Ross who gets up after I leave for work).  Day 16 is to read an email from FlyLady. I do that daily.

So as of now I am on to Day 17. Day 17 says to set a specific bed time and stick to it. This is actually a good idea. My bedtime varies a bit but generally it is around 10.30. I am happy to stick with that. So since I have just skipped through a whole week I will stop there. I am doing well with what I am doing so far. My house is remaining tidy (and it only used to take about 36 hours to look like a bomb had gone off). Ross is enjoying the cleanliness and is therefore helping out. I am enjoying it.

Lots of other stuff happening - have done a Louise Hay "Heal your Life" workshop, went and saw a medium, am about to do my Reiki 2, got accepted into college, had a facial (my first ever), and a few more things. I promise I will keep things more up to date here in future. LMK if you want me to expand on anything.

Till next time!

xox

Fly Lady - Day 7

I did day 7 yesterday since I missed Wednesday entirely. Yesterdays addition to the plan was to get your clothes out for the next day. I do this about half the time anyway. The intention is that it makes the next morning easier. I agree.

So last night (after another episode of Hoarders - yay!) I went to bed with a Hot Spot cleaned, a shiny sink, and my clothes laid out for today. It felt good.

On other news, I made the absolute best Lentil & Chickpea Dahl last night. I am not normally a fan of Indian food, I was more making it for Ross, but it was heavenly! I can not wait to have it again! LOL I will put the recipe up in the next few days.

This weekend I am going to a Lousie hay "Heal Your Life" workshop. I am right into all of her books right now so I am really looking forward to it.

Saturday night we are going to the Roller Derby. I am not even 100% sure what it is, but it sounds like fun so we are off to see it.

Nothing else much happening other than still going through the storage shed. And "Fly-ing" of course... LOL

xox

Settling In

Sorry for the long gap between posts. We are all moved in to the new house and are settling in nicely.

Good Friday was moving day. We enlisted our friends (some amazingly hard working people) who helped us get our furniture from all corners of the city and get it all settled into our new home. It ended up being a really fun day and we topped it off with pizza and beer and great conversation.

Saturday we took the truck to my sisters and helped her move. :) By Saturday night we were exhausted... LOL

Sunday morning I was madly unpacking, and cleaning, and arranging. So far i have 2 bags of clothes and 2 boxes of kitchen stuff for the Salvos Shop.

Sunday afternoon was our family Easter afternoon tea (combined with the SIL's birthday and nephews birthday). The kids had an egg hunt and it was actually a really fun afternoon.

Monday I spent organising and unpacking. The 4 main rooms of the house are done - ie, kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom. Ross's computer room and my sewing room are still in states of chaos, but I am working through mine. We also still have a storage shed full of stuff, although to be completely honest most of it is probably going to end up at the Salvos shop or in the bin. Considering most of it has been there for over a year and I can't even remember what is there, I think it is time to let go.

Yesterday was a Jammie Day. I was buggered and just needed to rest. I had Buffy on the DVD player and my stitching, and I was happy. :)

Since I am just setting up my new house and am in the process of cleaning, organising, and decluttering, I figured now was the perfect time to get some expert help and have signed up for Fly Lady emails. I am going to start working my way through the 31 days of Baby Steps that are designed to get you started on the way to being more organised. Day 1 is "Shine your Sink". Since I am already getting myself into the habit of getting my dishes done every night (something I used to be really slack at) this one is going to hopefully be easy. I will do it tonight after dinner.

Things are really good and I promise there will be more posting happening here.

xox

NOTE: Some of you may have noticed there is no longer any weight loss stuff here. Some people who are reading this are people I do not want knowing about this part of my life. I have started a new anonymous weight loss blog. It is just for me to sort through my own crap. So I apologise, but none of that information will be on here anymore.

Moved

Well, we have moved. Have been here 2 nights so far and it is great. We do not have any furniture here yet, but we have the kitchen unpacked, and we have our clothes unpacked, but that is it. LOL Furniture is coming next Friday.

It is a really comfortable place and I know we will be happy here.

Although I have severely overdone it and am now sick. Am doing nothing today. Have "Sex & The City" on the TV, the lappy one a footstool, some panadol and lots of water.

I'll leave you with some pics of the new house...

xox

Moving tomorrow

I am so excited about this move. Things are really looking up for me and Ross. We are doing okay financially. We will have our own place tomorrow. We are both getting healthy. My Achilles is healing nicely. We both have definite plans for moving forward, both personally and professionally. It is a good and posititve time.

I will be back online once I am moved and settled. Catch ya on the other side.

xox

Packing

It seems like all I do is pack and unpack and repack and unpack....

We are moving in 3 days. Our furniture follows a week later. I really really hope we get to stay here for more than a year. I am definitely starting to see the benefits in trying to buy a property.

We are being absolutely ruthless. So much is getting thrown out. More will go when we get everything from the storage shed. We just finished packing out clothes. No 2 people need this many clothes... It is absolutely ridiculous how much we have. Goodwill will be getting a rather large donation when we unpack, that much I can guarantee.

A few items of furniture will be going on ebay. Some kitchen items too. Next time we move there will NOT be as much stuff I can guarantee it.

xox

One Week Bald

And how do I feel?

Strange.

It is amazing how quickly I have become accustomed to have next to no hair. Although I swear I can feel my ponytail quite often. I am having phantom ponytail pains... LOL

This week has been a lot about settling back down now that the fundraising is all over.

And about trying to get used to my new look. I have a very cool pink cowboy hat! LOL

I am still a bit all over the place with it all. I miss my hair like you wouldn't believe, but I look at photos and wonder if I should have long hair. It might be easier to manage but is it really me?  I guess now is the time to find out who "me" is.

Stay tuned...

Just call me Crutches Girl

Yep, I am on crutches for the next 2 weeks. I decided to go to a new Physio (since my old one seemed to suck big time). He is getting an ultrasound done to check the damage (something the other guy did not do) and has put me on crutches for 2 weeks to take me completely off of it.  They suck, but it has to be done.

Back at work after my long weekend and it is busy as. I need a new career.

Speaking of new careers... :)

One of the decisions I made while away was about study.  As you know I was enrolled to do a BA in Visual Culture through OUA. I was doing it out of interest, not to make a career change.

I have decided to withdraw from this course and am now going to be studying in the field of natural health. Naturopathy to be exact. I am really excited about it. I have been interested in Natural Health for ages (as in 15-20 years) but never did it because of the $$ involved. Now a lot of it is covered by VET FEE-HELP which means I can study now and pay later (which is what I was going to do at Uni anyway).

I am excited to start learning and to start putting what I learn into practice.

I am actually going to a Naturopath tomorrow as well. The appointment has been booked for a couple of weeks.

It is time to get this body healthy. If I can't exercise I will eat well. I will do as the Physio says and the Naturopath says. And I will be healthy. :)

xox

Happy Valentines Day!

Ross and I did our pressies last night.

He got...

a lava lamp. :)

I got...

Betty - I love Betty

A Beanie Kid - A Dancer one. :)

And a very funky wall hanging.

Tonight we are going to the beach for a picnic, which is what we did on our very 1st V-Day, 5 years ago. :)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!

xox

This'n'That

Sorry I have been absent. No real reason except there hasn’t been an awful lot going on. I am quite obsessed with my fundraising for the Worlds Greatest Shave – and I can’t blog about that every day because it gets boring. In saying that, there is only 4 weeks left. It has come up quite quickly. And yes, I am starting to freak out… :)

Tuesday night saw us at the emergency vet clinic until the wee hours with one of our kitties. We think she got “bumped” by a car. We say bumped because nothing is broken or dislocated. But she is sore and wobbly…  It cost us $742 to find out she is fine… sigh…

Other than that – just same ole, same ole. Ya know.

Have some head stuff going on that I am trying to work through. Nothing too serious – just need some time to sort through it all.  Uni starts in 2 weeks and I am really excited. Also looking for a house to rent. There is not a lot out there in the price range we are after, so this may take some time. But I guess there is no real rush.

Tonight – if the rain lets up – we are going to the Garden of Unearthly Delights, which is always a good time.  Tomorrow I am delivering fundraising chocolates to all and sundry. Hopefully will get rid of all the boxes so I don’t have them in my office anymore. Sunday is a chillax day intermixed with house cleaning. Oh joy of joys.

Hope everyone has a great weekend planned.

A rainbow from my walk this morning for you to finish your read with...

xox