Final week - Jan Photo A Day Challenge

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Here are the last of my photos from FatMumSlim's January Photo A Day Challenge. Telle has also developed a list for February that I think I will take up, since it's the only source of blog inspiration I have lately. :/ Week 1's photos are here, 2 is here and 3 is here.

Day 22 - Your Shoes



Day 23 - Something Old. This was a ring of Mums, too tiny for my fingers!



Day 24 - Guilty Pleasure. My favorite soap drama, Neighbours. Love it. The only TV I watch, really!



Day 25 - Something You Made. I was creative here, since I don't really make stuff...



Day 26 - Colour. OPI Purple With A Purpose.



Day 27 - Lunch.



Day 28 - Light.



Day 29 - Inside Your Fridge. Note the controversial vegemite.



Day 30 - Nature. My strawberry plant in the rain.



Day 31 - You... Again.


Hectic chaos is great!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Life is busy, and I am loving that. For too long I have watched life go by but from the sidelines. I think it might be an energy level thing, but now I am really getting out there.

I've been on dates, I've been taking the kids places, I've organised Italian lessons and dog training for my new pup (due to arrive Feb 23). I have lego kits, art kits and books piled up to read. I am writing again. I am exercising more and feeling great.

I can't fit a gym time or exercise time in easily, because I have the kids until late and from early. I can use the rowing machine, but it stirs my sore shoulder so I am trying to walk more. It's a good one for my hips and tummy anyway, so I need to fit that in more. perhaps late evening I can swing it more.

So anyway, life is crazy busy, school goes back next week so that might help a routine settle but I am enjoying the chaos. Life is short! Live it!


Week 3 - January Photo A Day Challenge

Saturday, January 21, 2012

This weeks pictures from this weeks Photo A Day Challenge from Telle at Fat Mum Slim. Having a lot of fun with it, week ones are here and week twos are here. 


Day 15 - Happiness. This would make anyone happy!



Day 16 - Morning. My alarm clock... ;)



Day 17 - Water. The car wash!


Day 18 - Something You Bought. Check the size! :D 



Day 19 - Sweet. Mmm Max Brenners.



Day 20 - Someone You Love. My BFF, Megan.



Day 21 - Reflection.




Jan & Feb resolutions

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Remember here and here I talked about my resolutions for each month and what I wanted to aim for? So far, so good.

For January, I took a weekend away for the kids, and had a blast. We went to the movies, swimming, a magic show and lots of shopping. Was such a nice time! We went to the cinema again later that week, and Finn starts movie school for a week this week. I would say that is a big fat ACHIEVED for that item.

I also wanted to keep a gratitude journal, and every night I enter about 5 sentences per day about what happened that day that made me happy or challenged me or that made me feel good. It's such a good way to be in the moment and appreciate the smaller things and I truly believe that is the secret to happiness.

Next month I start my Italian lessons for 6 weeks. I am so looking forward to it - not just for the beautiful language and the thrill of learning, but also because it means I get to be in the city which I love, and one of besties that lives in the city and I are going to catch up for lunch as often as we can manage. I don't see as much of her as I want to, so I am so excited about that part of it as well.

I also organised tackled something else on my secondary list for February as intended. I bought some art kits. I want to learn to paint, so I got an acrylics set and a charcoal drawing set on the way. I have zero artistic talent. Minus talent, even. But I think I'll enjoy it even if it looks crap. So, that excites me as well.

I've challenged myself personally this month as well, in terms of relationships, and it has been difficult, but true to myself and that's only ever a good thing. Add to this the 19kg of weight I have lost and the nose ring I have gained and I feel excited about the person I am becoming.

2012 feels good. I am finding myself fast and it's incredibly exciting.


Week 2 - January Photo A Day Challenge

Saturday, January 14, 2012

This weeks pictures from this weeks Photo A Day Challenge from Telle at Fat Mum Slim. Having a lot of fun with it, week ones are here.

Day 8 - Your Sky. I love how hazy and pretty it looks.



Day 9 - Daily Routine. My favorite part of the day. Kids in bed, and I am in bed reading with a drink and some music, maybe candles... Bliss. Relax time! The most important part of my daily routine.


Day 10 - Childhood. I loved this books as a kid, its an original version - before they went PC and changed Dick and Fanny's names. Gah!!! My kids love it too!



Day 11 - Where You Sleep. I love my room. It's my haven.


Day 12 - Close-Up. My loveable ratbag.



Day 13 - In Your Bag. My new Mimco button love bag! Wallet, notebook, pens, wipes for dirty faces, and cards.



Day 14 - Something You're Reading. The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz by Denis Avey.


Poetry

Friday, January 13, 2012


It's been a while since I wrote a poem. It must be near time again. Here's one from a while back, I still love it. Is that vain to say? 

‘Walk with me and let the sorrows fall from your arms to mine’, you say. Rest in easy silence.
The shadows lengthen, another weary day passes, the urge to lie sleeping consumes. Rest your weary head by mine, tell me of your dreams, your warm breath tickling my ear. Let our minds and hearts curl together imitating our bodies. Fit together, a human puzzle.

How do our souls dance in the shadows of our sadness?
Invisibly bound. One perfect night. Love me in clenched tones, and hold me closer. When your eyes look up to blistering stars, forever seems too close.

Too soon, dawn bleeds and the stars once shining for us, all disappear. Catch the feeling, lest it fade too. There may be divide but your wants are mine and even love can grow in the dark.

Guide me home, the frantic pace slows, the chaos and noise of life fades, and all that is left,
is you.



Dymocks Booklovers 101 best books

Monday, January 9, 2012

I was shopping at Dymocks yesterday and saw this stand. I liked a lot of the titles I saw, and decided that may indicate I might like the rest, so I set myself a challenge to work my way through the entire list. There are a few anomalies, of course, and I am sure I won't love them all, but the ones I have read, I've mostly enjoyed, so I am using that as an indicator. I believe Dymocks are compiling another list of the same at the moment.

In no particular order the 2011 list is as follows. I have highlighted the ones I have read in red.


1. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
2. Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury Ray
4. Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
8. The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do
9. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
11. On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
12. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
13. The Shadow Of The Wind by Zafon Carlos
14. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
16. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
17. Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
18. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
19. The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer
20. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
21. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
22. Breath by Tim Winton
23. Life of Pi by Martel Yann
24. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
25. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
26. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
27. Magician by Raymond E Feist
28. Spare Room by Helen Garner
29. Persuasion by Jane Austen
30. The Millennuim Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
31. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
32. Emma by Jane Austen
33. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
34. My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult
35. Middlemarch by Eliot George
36. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
37. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
38. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
39. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
40. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
41. The Power Of One by Bryce Courtenay
42. The Elegance Of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
43. Wolf Hall by Mantel Hilary
44. Tomorrow When The War Began series by John Marsden
45. Mists of Avalon by Bradley Marion
46. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
47. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
48. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
49. Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
50. Lord of The Flies by William Golding
51. The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
52. Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
53. Lord Of The Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
54. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina SImons
55. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
56. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
57. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
58. The Bible
59. Small Island by Andrea Levy
60. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
61. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
62. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
63. Marley and Me by John Grogan
64. Atonement by Ian McEwan
65. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
66. People Of The Book by Geraldine Brooks
67. Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
68. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
69. Ransom by David Malouf
70. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
71. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
72. Dracula by Bram Stoker
73. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
74. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 
75. Mr Rosenblum's List by Natasha Solomons
76. Tully by Paullina Simons
77. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
78. The Secret River by Kate Grenville
79. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
80. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
81. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
82. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel
83. Host by Stephenie Meyer
84. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
85. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
86. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
87. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
88. A Fortunate Life by A.B.Facey
89. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
90. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
91. Almost French by Sarah Turnbull
92. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
93. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
94. The Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody
95. Maos Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
96. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
97. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
98. Possession by A.S. Byatt
99. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
100. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
101. Room by Emma Donoghue


The blue is the book I am currently reading. Some thoughts on some I have read - some of my all time faves are in there, The Power Of One is my favorite book ever. Has been since I first read it at 15. I have re read the Tomorrow series by Marsden at least 7 times and it never loses its ability to engage, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas made me 'feel' like no other book has. It caused terror and panic, it was brilliant. The Twilight series is terribly written and I was distressed to see another Meyer book on the list for me to tackle. I don't do fantasy, I am in trouble with this list. Prove me wrong, books, prove me wrong. Still Alice is another fantastic book. 

There are some books on the list I have been meaning to get to for a while, and I am really looking forward to reading them, such as The Slap, Almost French, Marley & Me, The Help, and the one I am reading now - We Need To Talk About Kevin. Some are classics I should have read but haven't, and I think they are one of those 'everyone should read in their lifetime' things, like Nineteen Eighty-Four, A Fortunate Life, War and Peace, Lord of The Rings etc. And no, watching the movies doesn't count!

I dread Shantaram. Have you seen the size of that tome?! Looking forward to adding some of these to my favorite books. Now if you'll excuse me, I've a book to bury myself in. 

Week 1 - January Photo A Day Challenge

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Here are my pictures from this weeks Photo A Day Challenge from Telle at Fat Mum Slim. I love her creative prompts, it's so much fun each day thinking about the prompt and what I might do with it. Love! Enjoy week 1!

Day 1 - You. My favorite feature.



Day 2 - Breakfast. I love that the coffee is bigger than the porridge!


Day 3 - Something You Adore. The relationship between my children. Beautiful.


Day 4 - Letterbox.



Day 5 - Something You Wore. I got this bracelet from Tiffany & Co when I was in New York last May. It is full of memories and makes me feel wistfully happy.



Day 6 - Makes You Smile. This makes me giggle, I'm not sure whether it's all the exciting parcels he brings me or the cute guy himself, but parcel man makes me smile!!!



Day 7 - Favourite. I love hotels. I love getting away. I love travel. This was a mini break we took to Melbourne for the weekend. Going places is my favourite way to spend money!!



Some day...

Friday, January 6, 2012

Some day, this is what I will have. I adore this song. I want someone to feel this way about me!

Sinatra, Bennett, Bublé... all sing it so perfectly. Le Sigh...


Someday, 
When I'm awfully low
And the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight.
Oh but you're lovely
With your smile so warm
And your cheek so soft.
There is nothing for me but to love you
Just the way you look tonight.


With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart.
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
Touches my foolish heart.


Lovely,
Never, never change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it, 'cause I love you
Just the way you look tonight--
Just the way you look tonight.






This months resolutions

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Following on from my last post, I've implemented some things for this month. I am writing every night in my gratitude/happiness journal. It's great because it makes me stop and enjoy the little things and the smaller moments. That is where I find my happiness.

I also made some plans for the wee ones. We have tickets to a magic show, and we are going to spend a night in the city and have some adventures. Maybe the city circle tram, maybe vic market, maybe the aquarium. Not sure. Anyone have good ideas for kids and Melbourne town?

I am also having a ball with Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge. It's only page 3 of 366 in chapter 2012, but I am enjoying it. Look for my post on the weekend with all of my photos from this week.