Monday 30 June 2014

to check out what I'm reading!

I must confess..... I am a slacker...

I must confess....I have been thinking of this post since last Monday when Kirsty posted the prompt..

I must confess... I had plans of getting to the post prior to 9:34pm on the night of the link up..

I must confess... I love reading and getting lost in a good book and it's something that I used to do a hell of a lot more of than I do now and I will honestly blame social media and my ipad for that. I used love reading before going to sleep, I love nothing more than curling up in bed with a good bed and getting lost in the storyline before drifting off to sleep. Before I knew it the books were being replaced with scrolling mindlessly through Facebook and Twitter and playing endless (pointless) games. This year I made a conscience effort to change that, I started leaving my ipad and iphone downstairs and getting back into reading. Joining the Australian Women Writers Challenge has also helped. I have pledged to read and promote 6 books written by Australian Authors.

We have some amazingly talented authors in this country and I have loved getting to know some new ones, like the one I am currently reading.

I had not heard of Barbara Hannay until I saw this in Big W and was drawn in by the blurb on the back. I am a sucker for a good country romance novel and this sounded right up my alley. I am about 100 pages off finishing and whilst I am pretty sure I know where it's heading I'm not quite sure how it's going to get there and that's what is keeping me turning the pages.

Stay tuned for my book review soon!

What are you reading???

Linking up with My Home Truths and One Mother Hen!


Monday 23 June 2014

to confess the hardest thing I've ever done

Firstly I must confess that my blog responding, reading and commenting has been limited this past week due to my move and waiting for my internet to be reconnected. All going well it should be connected by the time I get home from work today..

Having said that I was super excited that Kirsty had set a prompt this week that is easy for me to write, or should I say redirect you to!

The hardest thing, without a shadow of a doubt, that I have had to do was say goodbye to my beautiful little sister when she lost her battle to cancer. A lot of you will have already read the story of Kathy but if you haven't and have the inclination to, you can find it here

With holidays a mere 4 days away I am soooo looking forward to a fair chunk of me time which I plan on devoting to my blog and reading the many other blogs I enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by, I do love it and I promise I will get back to you.

Check out My Home Truths and One Mother Hen, who I love linking up with each Monday!


Monday 16 June 2014

for the A to Z of me..

I must confess life has been a little hectic and non-stop here in the last week. I went away for the weekend last weekend and had a lovely time celebrating my friend's hens weekend and got to see my gorgeous Grandmother. Then with just 4 days of work I had 3 conferences to attending meaning I didn't actually go to 'work' last week which makes me feel so behind and a little anxious as to what awaits me when I arrive today. I have also spent this past weekend moving in with my sister and trying to cram a full 2 bedroom units worth of crap stuff into one bedroom.

I must confess that blogging has been the furtherest thing from my mind but as I would hate to miss out on my Monday linky I am thankful that this weeks confession from Kirsty at My Home Truths is probably the easiest one ever!!
share the A to Z of you

Those of you who hang around here often will know that in April I was crazy enough to think that I could blog every day as part of the A to Z Challenge which means I already have the perfect post to link up.. I shared a piece of me each day for the month of April with the corresponding letter of the alphabet...

So if you missed it or want the joy of reading it all again I did a summary at the end and you can read it here

Linking up with Kirsty at My Home Truths for I Must Confess and also Alicia at One Mother Hen for Open Slather! Check 'em out!!!


Monday 9 June 2014

to take a chance!

It had been some time since she had stepped out on a 'date'. She thought for many years that she would meet someone the 'old-fashioned' way, through friends, at a BBQ, or when she walked in a room and he would spot her from the other side and be mesmerised by her. But that was not how it worked in this day and age apparently. Even her Doctor had suggested she give that "RSPCA or whatever it's called a go. She had dabbled in it a few times over the years but nothing worth talking about had eventuated. She had heard of this new dating app called Tinder. She'd been aimlessly flicking through through it every now and then, mostly hitting the 'nope' button, especially for any that favoured pictures of cars, their naked torsos or their pets over pictures of their faces. One guy "J" caught her eye, so she flicked 'Yep"...It was a match straight away and almost instantly she got a message from him... they messaged back and forth for a while before exchanging mobile numbers. It took some time for their schedules to coincide to actually meet in person.. Over messages he appeared very confident, albeit a little cheeky, and she wondered how this would transpire in person. Finally Saturday night rolled around, she busied herself that day with bootcamp and moving furniture so as to not let her mind wander too much and freak out. As the afternoon dragged on she had no choice but to start thinking about it. She realised she didn't really look like any of the pics on her profile anymore, she'd made some pretty drastic changes to her hair and now wore her glasses a lot more than she used to. She wondered if she would be good enough, would he like her, would her amazing personality shine through her nervousness...Then she remembered the words of wisdom she had heard recently "What if he's not good enough for you?" and she tried to let that be the thought that sat in her mind. She had put some consideration into what she was going to wear and laid it out on her bed while she went for a bath, she couldn't shower because she'd already spent the best part of an hour straightening her hair. She put on the outfit but it just didn't quite work for her, it was an outfit she had worn many times before but she just wasn't quite feeling it, she wondered why outfits always look better in her mind than in the mirror. With 20 minutes to spare she quickly changed and went for a safe option of black pants, black top, dusty pink jacket and topped it off with a gorgeous scarf (of course). She had to decide how much effort to put in, heels or flats? She doesn't wear heels often and didn't want to give a false sense of 'heelness'..she opted for sparkly flats... how much makeup? she wears a little mineral powder, mascara and neutral lipstick to work...she decided she needed to go a little more than that but nothing overboard. Didn't want to give the impression that she was some sort of glamour queen. He was due to pick her up at 7. Seven o'clock rolled around, then 7:05 and he still wasn't knocking on her door. 7:06 and her phone buzzed to life, a text message, nervously she opened it, could he be about to blow her off... "I'm here " it read..."Where?" she replied as she opened the front door, "Out front" came the reply... was this how things were done these days, you don't go to a persons door? You text them from the car out the front?.. Nervously she walked along the driveway to find him standing on the footpath, "Hey" she said casually as she approached him, he replied the same and then added "What do we do, hug, shake hands, cheek kiss?" it became a kind of awkward mess of all three. She hated this part the most. She was impressed by his dress sense, well cut jeans, not too tight, not too baggy, white Ralph Lauren shirt and good shoes...nice shoes... She had always said you could tell a lot about a man by his shoes. They walked towards the car, a small blue convertible. "So where are we going?" She asked having left the decision making up to him, "I've booked a table at a nice country pub about 20 minutes drive out of town but..." and that's when she realised he was having problems starting the car. He mumbled about having problems and it jerking and not idling well...She became nervous and voiced her concerns about returning home alive, he convinced her she would get back, but couldn't guarantee when... The car ride out and dinner passed with plenty of conversation flowing, they spoke of their jobs, their dreams, their families, their friends. They made jokes about being single. He has worked as a chef for some time now (currently feeding some 300 boys at a local boarding school) and travelled and lived overseas and has a burning desire to go back, a plus in her eyes. His profile stated that he was spontaneous and that certainly shone through during the conversations, like making an offer to buy a house off the internet interstate without seeing it and then moving there when it settled. Spontaneity was something he looked for in a person and she wasn't sure she could match that. She wished she was more spontaneous, there have been times where she wished she could throw it all in, chuck her bag in the car and head off on the wide open roads to...wherever.... but there is always something holding her back, she was scared to take that leap on her own. After dinner he suggested moving on to another establishment for a beverage. She agreed, it could hurt. They walked towards the car and she secretly crossed her fingers on the way in hope that the car would actually start, she may have even held her breath as he turned the key in the ignition. It worked. Again they travelled back in to town with the conversation flowing as they edged towards the bar she wondered how this might all play out. It certainly wasn't love at first sight but he seemed pretty easy to get along with, they seemed to be on similar journey's. A bus load of people arriving meant it became quite packed and difficult to have conversation and her long day was slowly starting to creep up on her and she found her trying to hold back her yawns. Eventually he asked if they were going to continue drinking or if she wanted him to take her home...she asked to be taken home, not because she wasn't having a good time, simply because she was exhausted beyond belief and she didn't want that to be seen as being bored with his company... Again he pulled the car up out on the street, she thanked him for a lovely evening and then, trying not to appear too keen she brushed off a "Chat to you later, maybe...we'll see..." and with a grin she exited the car and walked the long walk down the dark driveway.....
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Linking up with My Home Truths and One Mother Hen this Monday!!


Tuesday 3 June 2014

for a 6 month review

If you are anything like me you are completely shocked that June has snuck up and bitten us on the butt! Where has the year gone!!!?? I feel like I say it every year but it really does feel like time is getting away from me.

I thought now, 6 months into the year, would be a good time to look back over my goals for this year. Back in January I set goals for the year ahead. I am not big on resolutions as the way I see it, if you want to make a change in your life you should do it when you want and when you are ready, not put it off to the start of a new year. So I set goals...things I wanted to achieve over the course of this 12 months...

So how am I doing....

I set 5 goals and I must admit that when I just had a flick through them I got a little lump in my throat as I have realised I am not doing so well, but all goals are still achievable.

Goal 1: Run a half marathon - I was originally looking at Gold Coast in July but a friend of mine is getting married that weekend so had to go to plan b - Sunshine Coast Marathon.. but that's the Sunday after ProBlogger so am not sure I can make that work either...will have to move on to plan c...Find another one. I also have not been running as much as I would like yet so need to refocus on that a bit more.

Goal 2: Step away from the iPad/iPhone - given that they are both lit up on the couch beside me as I tap away at this blog post on my laptop I fear I am not doing so good at it either. I still leave them downstairs when I head upstairs for bed which is better than nothing and I do think it is helping me sleep better at night and has reignited my love of reading, not that I ever stopped loving it, I was just usually too tired from all the scrolling through facebook/twitter/instagram repeat, to bother reading.

Goal 3: Make more effective use of my time - whoops... :-/
I think I need some big help here...

Goal 4: Meditate - again... whoops... I have done it a couple of times since but really need to build it into my routine more.

Goal 5: Travel - YAY! this is one that I have organised! I have a week in Sydney booked for the next lot of holidays and 2 weeks in Vietnam in September/October. I know that booking these trips is something that I need to do to get me through the term. I need to have something to look forward to and I need to go away from home to feel like I have actually had a holiday.

I had decided that my 'theme word' for 2014 was going to be do. I had have plans of doing more, getting out there, taking risks, stepping out of my comfort zone and making some changes in my life....again not sure I have really achieved a lot with this so far.

I'm not going to lie, I am a little disappointed where I sit 6 months down the track, and I could wallow in that self-pity or throw my hands in the air in disappointment and give up all together, but in an attempt to see the glass half full I am going to look at it as, I still have 6 months to go!!!
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How are you travelling with your resolutions or goals 6 months in??
What have you achieved? What is still on your list?

Linking up this Tuesday with Essentially Jess for IBOT...


Monday 2 June 2014

for a post about love..

Given that Monday is a confessional and I must not lie (not that I have a habit of lying) I will start by confessing that when I saw the topic posed by Kirsty at My Home Truths...

share a post about love

my first thought was *uggghhhh great* because of course as soon as I read it I immediately thought "I'm not in love, have no love life, am all alone...(blah blah blah.. cry me a river..)" but the more I have mulled over the prompt all week the more I realised I had to broaden my thinking - obvious to some...not me apparently.

So while I may still be on the lookout for the love of my life, there is so much to love about my life, so much I love, so many people I love and things I love to do....

I started to make a list but it was getting too ridiculously long and I feared I would miss something or someone. So with Winter upon us and everyone giving it a bit of a beating I thought I would share 5 things I love about Winter: 
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1. Birthdays - there are some lovely people in my life who celebrate their birthdays in Winter (me included...hehe)
First Day of Winter is also my niece's birthday!
2. Hot drinks - Nothing better than cuddling up on the couch with a nice cup of steaming hot green tea after dinner, or meeting friends in a nice warm cafe for a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows.


3. The Fashion - I hate being cold and I LOVE the fashion of winter...in case you haven't noticed I have a little obsession with scarves and I just love a big warm scarf with jeans and boots.
Love me a good winter scarf outfit!
4. The Food - I do love a good salad in Summer, but I think I equally love a good stew/casserole/soup in Winter. I love getting the slow cooker out and having it cooking away all day!

5. Fireplaces - I don't have one but my Mum and Dad have one at their place and my sister has one at her place. I love the warmth of the fire and watching the flames and wood crackle away.

So while I would probably never chose Winter as my favourite season, I am trying to look at things more positively and focus on the good things about the season ahead, and if I fall into the trap of hating it, then there's always this:
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or this
Do you love Winter? What do you love about it?

Linking with One Mother Hen for Open Slather Monday and My Home Truths for I Must Confess!