Friday 27 September 2013

to discuss happiness


sit here with the title staring me in the face and the cursor blinking....how to start to write what I want to say, do I even know what I want to say?

Happiness is something that has popped up in a few articles, magazines and conversations that I have read lately and in one article it posed a question that has kind of got  me thinking....

Why is it so difficult to be happy?

If you sit and really think about it, are we ever really truly, without a shadow of a doubt happy? There are obviously moments of happiness... the wedding of a dear friend, the birth of a niece or nephew, laughter over a glass of wine, but our happiness seems to only ever be short lived. The article talks about it from a historical perspective and how our minds have evolved over thousands of years. It talks about how our minds were programmed to protect us and focus on our basic survival needs of protect and reproduce. In our earlier, hunter-gatherers years the mind was focused basically on staying alive, look out for anything that is trying to harm or kill you and do whatever you could to avoid it....

Fast forward thousands of years and has that really changed? These days it's not really the elements or the dangers of living amongst wild animals that concerns us, it's losing our jobs, not being good enough, not being able to pay the electricity bill, being rejected, getting sick or having a loved on that is sick etc etc etc that consumes our minds.

So many times I, a (sometimes) rational well-educated woman, have thought, I'll be happier when/if..... I lose 5 more kilos, I meet someone, I get my dream job (as soon as I work out what that is), I pay off all my debts.... I am not naive enough to think that if I do achieve all these all my problems will disappear and I will live a blissful life without a care in the world and never have another worry for the rest of my life. 

The  worries I have now will simply be replaced by more and different worries.  We are always looking and wanting more and constantly comparing ourselves to others and what they have and often think that if we had that our life would someone be better, be complete, be everything we dreamed it would be. 

But is that really true?? I think not.... and again if we go back to our Stone Age counterparts they believed that if they had better tools, bigger shelters, more children than this was a sign of success. But even with success that doesn't guarantee happiness... How often have you listened to a story about the latest celebrity, who seems to have it all, who has fallen off the bandwagon, gone to rehab, or worse still overdosed and killed themselves. We wonder how things could possibly be that bad for them, they have all the money and fame in the world and yet still mustn't be happy...

So what's the answer... How do we just be happy with what we have....? 

If you were hoping that I would have the answer....well I am sorry to disappoint..

But what I do know is that I am on holidays in NQ with 2 of my closest friends and I am bloody happy about that, and am going to make the most of the time we have together....

If you want to read the article that I have referred to click here.. 

Linking up today with With Some Grace  for FYBF and just because it has taken me all bloody day to try and get this post organize I'm linking up with Dear Baby G for FFS Friday!

Tuesday 24 September 2013

for a holiday!

The last few weeks have been crazy busy to say the least, so much has gone on that I am still trying to wrap my head around it all. No doubt there will be a blog post (or 10) about it when I have it sorted in my head but for now I am just absolutely, totally, utterly, without a shadow of a doubt ready for a holiday!

I guess technically holidays started yesterday but I have been so busy doing all those jobs I never get to during the school term, I feel like my holiday is not really starting until tomorrow. Tomorrow I fly to Townsville for 11 days to visit some friends and saying I cannot wait is a bit of an understatement.

When I booked the flights months ago I decided I was too cheap to pay for checked luggage (anyone else find that a total rort??) so went off to the local luggage store and bought myself a new lightweight carry on suitcase. My friends laughed at me (they know me well) when I sent them a piccie of my new luggage but I was determined!

So determined I even searched Pinterest for tips on how to pack for a 2 week trip in a carry on! I was amazed at how many blogs I came across with awesome tips on how to do it!

So, of course, I decided to steal the idea and write my own blog about how I have packed for an 11 day trip in a carry on! So here's my top 5 tips....

1: Buy lightweight luggage - that way you can pack more. I chose one that was about 2.1kg so that leaves me just under 8 kgs of luggage. I also bought an extra large handbag that will hold my ipad, book, magazine, water bottle, camera etc which allows me to take more without penalty! (in hindsight though, and you'll read below, I should have bought a black one but I didn't)



2: Check the weather....well that was easy...it's North Queensland...it only knows one temperature....HOT!
High 20's with 0% chance of rain.....YAY!!!


3: Choose a colour... I am a bit of a matchy matchy kind of girl, If I'm wearing a brown belt then I want brown shoes and a brown bag (or at least a matching one) and the same with black...So when trying to limit your luggage choose a colour or colours and work around them, I have chosen black and coral. Also chose neutral items and add a pop of colour through a scarf or other accessories!
Yep, that's it...3 pairs of shoes!! (and my friends all over the world gasp in disbelief! lol)  

 If you are wondering what that is in my joggers.. it's socks and my sports bras.. Fill every space! lol..

One dress and one maxi skirt - a must!

5 tops - a few neutral and a few prints

4 bottoms - in this case all shorts (plus a pair of jeans, not pictured)

Some exercise outfits - yes we are those crazy people who exercise on holidays! No excuses!

4: Roll and flatten... I am a bit of a fence sitter when it comes to which is better and generally go a bit of both. I rolled my tops and secured them with a hair band... then folded my bottoms flat so they were the same measurements as my joggers when place on top
of them..

Just need to add my toiletry bag
5: Wear your bulkiest items on the plane - even though I am flying to sunny NQ I never leave home without a pair of jeans, and in this case with the flight not being terribly long, I can get away with wearing them on the plane (if it was a long haul flight to London it would be a different story)
My outfit for the flight

Bought the handbag before deciding on my colours... (I do have a little neutral clutch in)

It also helps to visit friends that are a similar size in clothes and shoes to you so you can borrow! Lol...

A few items that I have packed, I won't be disappointed if they don't come home with me. I know what I am like and no doubt a few new purchases will be made. One of the things we are doing while I am visiting is The Color Run! Am so excited! So I am taking up my old old joggers, so they will be the first things to be left behind to make some room for other purchases!

Another highlight of my trip is CMC Rocks North Queensland.... being BIG country music fans we are just a wee bit excited about that!

Am hoping that my body clock realises it's on holidays soon as I have not slept past 6am so far!

Stay tuned for some holiday snaps and stories to come!!!!

Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT of course!!!


Friday 13 September 2013

for FFS Friday

It's been awhile since I participated in a FFS Friday post but this week I feel I must....

I drive approximately 82km to work most days (and back) FFS...
34km of that is through road works, where the speed zone is 90km and it's double white lines which, for those of us who actually know and respect the road rules know that that means NO overtaking FFS.. Thereis no way you could plead ignorance and say you didn't see the sign, they are literally every 500m FFS...

Last Friday I was at a Professional Development course which finished at about half past 2 and after a weeks worth of 6pm finishes I was keen to get home. I complained to some colleagues that I had to get fuel and wished I had of gotten it that morning. While I was fuelling up, 2 ambulances and 1 fire truck went past, sirens blaring... FFS

I came up behind the 3 car accident soon after I left town.... Police, Firies, Ambos everywhere... :-( FFS
I had to sit there for about 5/10 minutes before I was able to get around the scene, while I was waiting I noticed a journalist on the opposite side of the road with her long lens camera taking photos...FFS... I couldn't help but be angry with her and thank my lucky stars I never wanted to be a journalist because I couldn't handle that! The I thought...."Thank god I had to get fuel"...

I later heard that one person had died and another seriously was seriously injured in hospital FFS...
I don't understand how the accident happened..... 90km, dead straight stretch of road with NO overtaking.... All I can think was that someone was impatient FFS....

Monday morning on the same stretch with the same rules 3 cruiser utes were overtaking people and
speeding beyond belief and I was gobsmacked FFS....

STOP BREAKING THE LAW AND PUTTING MY LIFE IN DANGER YOU MORONS!!! FFS!!!

This week also saw my tenants FINALLY be evicted from my house after years of falling behind in rent and fights with my real estate agent...FFS

My property manager emailed me to tell me that the house was not cleaned when they left and there was some damage and I had better have a look at it myself... FFS

I went and did an inspection and words will fail to describe the disgustingness that was once My beautiful little home....FFS

How can people live like that FFS?
He do people just not pay rent FFS.?
How can they walk away from a place that is not theirs and not care about how they have left it FFS?
Now I am going to have to spend god knows how much to fix it up and get it to a state where I can sell it FFS!!!

When I got home from that I then had a phone call from a clinic where I had a procedure done earlier in the year telling me that my health insurance wasn't gong to take care of the bill because on review of my cover they realised I was not covered for that procedure so now I have to pay the $602!!!!! FFS...

Ironically I am writing this Thursday night and today just happens to be R U OK? Day..... So my answer in short is...

NO!!!! FFS
(But tomorrow is a new day and so is the one after that and the one after that and I will get up, dust myself off and get on with it...coz that's what I do!)

Thank F it's Friday is all I can say....


Photobucket

Wednesday 11 September 2013

for Wordless Wednesday

Remember a few weeks ago I told you someone near and dear to me was pregnant with twins....well last weekend we went on a bit of a photo shoot and I attempted to take some piccies for her... we ended the day with this one for a bit of a laugh...


Linking up with....

Twinkle In The Eye      My Little Drummer Boys

Tuesday 10 September 2013

to discuss scarves....

48......

That's the number of scarves I have just counted hanging in my closet.... some might call that extreme or obsessive... I call it the perfect accessory! (or accessories as it turns out!).

a view inside my wardrobe at some of my many scarves.....


I just love how a scarf can brighten up an outfit! So when my friend from Scarf Girl offered me a scarf to give away on my blog it was a no-brainer! She has some beautiful spring scarves ready to sell to you. I had such a hard time picking one that I, of course, walked out with 2 and one to give away..

So here is my attempt at my first ever blog giveaway! be kind

1.  Head over to Facebook and 'like' Scarf Girl
2. Comment below about your favourite accessory and why..

**Conditions of entry (now I feel like a real pro!)
You must like Scarf Girl on Facebook. (and while you are there check out some of her new scarves)
You must be an Australian resident (apologies to all my international fans! lol)
Winner will be drawn via the old fashion way (all legitimate entrant names put in a hat!)
Competition closes 5pm Friday 13th September 2013.
Only one entry per person


Linking up late this Tuesday with Essentially Jess for IBOT!


Monday 9 September 2013

to confess my biggest regret...

This week's prompt over at My Home Truths is 'your biggest regret'... earlier this year I blogged about my blogging regrets, but today's regret is bigger and far more reaching than just in my blogging world.

I do try and live my life with a 'no regrets' attitude, and I truly love this quote....
 

and I do believe it, I do believe that I have made all my life choices based on what was best for me at the time...

I think anyone saying that they have no regrets is unrealistic...we ALL have something we regret; that hair cut/colour, that last drink, buying that top we didn't need, that speeding fine, eating that last slice of pizza when you were already full, not saying the one thing we wanted to say to that person before they walked out the door, what we did say to that one person before they walked out the door....

But my biggest life regret is one that I am only just starting to realise... I now work in a job where I work with High School students and part of the role is career advice and counselling. I help students through working out the best career for them, help them in picking the subjects that are going to get them to where they want to be and then help them with their choices beyond year 12, including university applications, applications for other colleges, workforce etc etc... when the students come and see me and talk to me about their futures and their dreams and their goals I get this amazing sense of excitement. They probably think that I have lost the plot as I get so excited and start googling madly and making phone calls on their behalf to make sure they get all the information that they need.

So how, you may ask, is this linked to my biggest regret..... I wish I had taken some more time deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I know that it's never too late and all of that but I think my biggest regret is not taking a gap year between school and uni and working out who I really am and what I really wanted out of life and just 'living' for a while! Even I find this a bit bizarre for me to say because it's not necessarily something I advise my students and again looking back, up until now, it's not something that I had thought of, but I do wonder where I would be now if I had of. I wish I had of travelled overseas perhaps as a Nanny or something similar. I have often thought about selling up and moving overseas even now as an adult, but something always stops me, mostly thinking about what I would miss while I was gone, but it never stops me thinking.....
 

 I suppose one of the values of hindsight is that I know the answer to the question...

"What if I did take a gap year and go overseas?"

The main answer to that is I wouldn't have all the friends in my life that I have now.... All my closest friends are friends that I have met at either University or at Schools that I have taught at. Therefore if I had of taken that gap year, if I had of lived overseas for a year, then these girls would not be in my life right now. If I had of taken that year off I would have a different life story so far and I am sure it would be a great one, but given that I can not imagine my life without my girls (you know who you are) I suppose, when all is said and done, I really can't regret the decision I made for it has given me exactly what I wanted...The BEST best friends a girl could ask for and how could I possibly regret that!!! xo

What are your biggest regrets???

Pop over to My Home Truths to confess or read other confessions!




Wednesday 4 September 2013

for a new superfood!

I recently heard that Purple Carrots are set to be the next superfood so thought I would give them a go. Had them with dinner one night and then decided to add them to my favourite mini quiche recipe...

didn't really think this would happen....
They may have been purple but they were still yummy!

Linking up for other Wordless Wednesday'ers

Twinkle In The Eye        My Little Drummer Boys

Tuesday 3 September 2013

for another Leibster Award

Was totally stoked when Aroha at Colours of Sunset told me she had nominated me for The Leibster! For those who don’t know, the Liebster is “The award is given to support and recognize up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers (on their blog) or likers (on their Facebook page). The word “Liebster” apparently has German origins and is reported to mean sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.” (stolen right from Aroha's post which she stole from her nominators post!)

My blogging journey started back in January and to be honest has been a bit hit and miss every since.. it was something that I had been thinking about for a while. I had no real idea where to start or what to do until Mish Bridges recommended we start one when we started our 12wbt journey, but the real kickstart was a friend of mine starting her own and she helped me get started.

I had always considered that my blog, as a single woman in her 30's, would resemble that of Cara Bradshaw in Sex and the City...I'd blog about my adventures in the single world and make people laugh and someone one day would notice it....

It didn't take long for me to come up with the name, It's time..., It kind of felt right. I had made some pretty big decisions to make some positive changes in my life and I decided it was time to start putting me first, it was time for me to meet someone and I imagined finding similar people in similar stages of their life. But the truth me know, many of the bloggers I have found are mum's blogging about their life, loves and journey with their families...Don't get me wrong sometimes I love reading them and get a lot out of them but I will admit to skimming over the occassional blog post once I realise it's another blogpost about something I don't get to write about...

Anyway, enough of the pity party... this is meant to be my acceptance post for my award!!!

When you receive a Liebster the deal is you are to
  • answer 11 questions set by your nominee
  • write 11 additional facts about yourself
  • write 11 new questions of your own
  • pass the award onto 11 other bloggers to answer
 So here goes, my questions from Aroha...

1. Beach or mountains?
Can I say, sitting on a mountain looking at the beach!

2. Favourite blog subject to write about?
I guess I blog about life in general, not sure many of my posts follow a theme... I write about whatever is going on in my crazy head at the time.

3. If the world was ending in 12 days, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Buy as much chocolate and wine as I can and sit and eat it while hanging with all my favourite people listening to my favourite music.

4. Where can people follow you? (FB address/twitter handle/instagram name. etc.)
Great question!
Facebook 
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest

5. What are you wearing?
Sounds seductive...lol.... black shorts, Lorna Jane singlet and thongs... Beautiful start to Spring here in Toowoomba

6. Adult beverage of choice?
Used to be rum and coke every time! But now I am a little older and wiser I tend to go for a sweet white wine.

7. Favourite exercise activity?
At the moment I am trying to fall in love with running, and it's slowly working.. But to be honest I am loving getting fitter and healthier at the moment

8. Here’s a $100 visa card. What’s the first shop you go to?
Myer...although $100 won't go far :-(
 
9. Give me 3 words that describe you.
Right now....tired, stressed, busy

10. What’s one thing on your “bucket list”?
Get married and have kids.... failing that I would settle for a trip to America, and inparticular to Nashville for the CMA Country Music Fest!
 
11. Are you a morning or a night person?
Neither but both...I think I used to be a night person but circumstances now are that I have to be a morning person... And I guess my body has adjusted to that, both mornings this weekend when I did not set an alarm or have any scheduled time I needed to be up by, and I woke up just after 6am! :-(

Now for 11 facts  about me....
1. I recently turned 34 and wrote a list of 34 facts about me...so if you really want to get to know me I guess you can go there!

Now for my 11 Nominees....
I found this really hard and this is why it has taken me so long to get on to doing this post. To be honest, I have no idea how many people follow my blog.... I am still such a novice at all this that most of the time I feel like I am just bluffing my way through... As I said I have no idea really hwo far reaching my blog is, a little daunting at times... and from what I can tell 53 people like me on Facebook, I have 5 friends in Google Friend Connect (or whatever that is!), 11 people have me in their circles on Google+, and in my followers it says I have 5 (but I am not convinced of this because someone who I know follows my blog is not listed there...)
Anyway, for me, I tend to follow people more through Facebook than their acutally blog so I decided that  for my nominees I would look for blogs that had less than 200 Facebook Followers... So my nominees are:

So be sure and check them out and like them on Facebook! and if they choose to accept the nomination, the questions are (and I may have stolen some from Aroha!)....

1. Favourite movie of all time?
2. Where can people follow you?
3. Chocolate or lollies?
4. If they made a movie of your life, who would you want to play you?
5. What is the last thing you ate.?
6. Favourite childhood memory?
7. Is there a topic you would never blog about?
8. What's your favourite linky?
9. Stranded on a desert island - which 3 famous people would you want with you and why?
10. Ultimate holiday destination?
11. What is the number 1 item on your bucket list?

Thanks again Aroha for the nomination, I really was chuffed!


and I'm also linking up with another great blogger Essentially Jess for IBOT!