Family Life

Hello friends and Hello Friday!! It’s great to be back to share a favourites recap. Thank you so much for being here! Well, it was back to work for me on Tuesday! I was so sad to say goodbye to the holidays but I have to admit that one of the upsides was getting back to my walk-to-work routine. When the holidays first started I was trying to keep up with doing some regular walking. I started strong and then got lazy real quick! Another huge favourite was starting the year with a freshly painted preschool! It looks so beautiful now with the Antique white walls and new flooring. The whole preschool looks incredibly fresh and feels like a much calmer space than before. You see, all the preschool rooms used to be painted in different bright bold colours and I wasn’t a fan. For someone like me who loves neutral colours, stepping into such a vibrant and retina-challenging space every day was quite overwhelming. But having worked there for so long I (sort of ) got used to being surrounded by so much intense colour. One room was bright red, the reading area was royal blue, another classroom banana yellow, and the foyer was mandarine orange. You get the picture! Our amazing director has been organising some practical as well as aesthetic changes to our tired old building. After the big painting project, we have been receiving heaps of wonderful feedback from the preschool families and of course, the staff couldn’t be happier! Because the calmer the space, the calmer the children, right? Haha! We had two pupil-free days – Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was one super long meeting broken up by a delicious lunch the preschool provided for us. Chicken and salad with chips as well as garlic sauce on the side. Yum, but luckily we didn’t have any parents or children to breathe on that day! On Monday, the last day of the summer school holidays. I dug deep and found some motivation to pull down the curtains and wash them. I also cleaned the blinds. Now the rooms in the house smell so fresh and clean and that’s a gigantic favourite! I love this plant! Last year I went to visit my friend who lives in Avoca Beach and I stayed with her for a couple of days. Well, she has the most beautiful house and a gorgeously landscaped garden. She had these brightly coloured plants growing in her front yard, which looked spectacular. I commented on how much I liked them and she gave me a cutting to take home. Now I’ve shared heaps of times before that I am no gardener! So I didn’t hold any high hopes that I would manage to keep the beautiful plant alive much less grow it. But miracles of all miracles, I put it in a vase with water and then a few weeks later when some roots started to grow I replanted it into a pot. And it grew!!! Now I am going to give my other friend a cutting and she is going to do the same. It will be like the pay-it-forward miracle plant! Speaking of plants, I got some new ones for around the house. A palm for the dining area One for the bathroom. Another one behind the sofa. Some greenery is always good for the eyes. That’s all for now friends, a quick favourites recap for this week. Funnily enough, even though we are back into routine. All of this week I was still asking ‘What day is it today?’. Starting work on Tuesday kind of threw me and I have been confused all week. Next week we are back from Monday so I won’t be confused but I sure will be counting down the days until the weekend! Thanks so much for being here and I hope you have a wonderful Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika  

Hello friends and welcome to the first ‘What’s Up Wednesday’ for 2024! I have to keep reminding myself to write 2024 instead of 2023. The other day I nearly wrote 1993. I must be really losing it!! Anyway, I am so glad you are here and today I’m sharing some of my January fun! *This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!* WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK Up until this week, we were in complete holiday mode so I hadn’t worried about doing any meal planning. It was back to work for me yesterday so now I’m back on the meal-planning train again. Monday – Chicken and snowpeas Tuesday – Steak sandwiches Wednesday –  Fish in lemon and garlic butter with homemade wedges and salad. Thursday- Chicken casserole and rice Friday – Turkey burgers Saturday – Nachos WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT I guess I’m reminiscing about how fast time flies! It feels like a minute ago we were all so excited about the end of the preschool year. We wrapped up the year with the children’s Christmas concerts and parties. Then did a whole lot of cleaning and packing away the classrooms etc. and just about ran out of the preschool gates like the kid on Home Alone. We had an amazing Christmas and a nice low-key New Year’s Eve. As well as a fantastic time over the five-week school holiday break doing relaxing and fun things with friends and family. Now we are back at work and the holidays almost feel like a distant memory. My director even commented today how it didn’t feel like we had a break. My sentiments exactly! WHAT I’M LOVING I have been loving the whole month of January! No schedules, no timetables, no work and no rush rush rush to go anywhere!! It’s been the best! WHAT I’M DREADING The weekday morning alarm going off again. WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT February means another month of summer! Yay!! WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO A whole lot of January fun! We kicked off the first week of 2024 with a delicious Italian lunch in the city with my cousin and her family. Followed by a basketball game a few days later with some of our Cousin Connect crew. I also hosted our first Cousin Connect for 2024 and we had a big Italian feast in our little courtyard. I tackled some cleaning and decluttering as well as a closet cleanout. My husband’s swim club started back again for the remainder of the season. As a social and non-swimming member of the club, I went along to watch the races and enjoy the BBQ on the second Sunday in January. I visited The Powerhouse Museum with my lovely friend. We also spent a Saturday exploring Paddington in Sydney. Steve and I celebrated our anniversary at the Opera Bar. The last week of the school holidays, I caught up with some friends for a good chat over brunch. Last weekend I went to see Wicked The Musical with my lovely friend. I finished off the summer school holidays with a fantastic trip to my favourite vintage warehouse where I found my dream bedside table. It sure has been a great January! WHAT I’M WATCHING I’ve been on a roll watching foreign movies and series. I really love listening to the different languages and don’t mind reading the subtitles. A couple of weeks ago I shared that I watched a wonderful French comedy/drama called ‘Rumba Therapy’. This movie is so sweet that I think it’s a definite must-see! Then shortly after, we watched ‘Berlin’, the ‘Money Heist’ prequel. I also watched a Dutch movie called ‘Faithfully Yours’. It’s about two friends who use each other as alibis to go off on sneaky weekends away to have extramarital affairs. But there is a crime and a big twist at the end which I thought saved the movie. While I didn’t love this movie, I still found it intriguing enough to watch until the end. WHAT I’M LISTENING TO I have to admit that I often struggle with sticking to a quiet time routine and reading the Bible. There are times when I’ll be reading a passage and my mind will wander to silly things like ‘Hmm what should I cook?” or I’ll read a sentence only to realise that I need to reread it because I missed the meaning. I know, I know…not good! Well, I recently discovered this amazing app called Dwell, have you heard of it? In the app, you get to pick from over twenty voices to read you the Bible. I am currently doing ‘The Straight Thru Plan- Bible in A Year’. I chose a smooth, warm and playful voice from a lady called Kylie with a North American accent. She reads from the English Standard Version and I just love listening to her read the Bible to me! I find that I’m so captured by her soothing voice that my mind stays on the text and doesn’t wander away. Another great feature is that you can choose the type of music you prefer and it will play gently in the background, I chose ambient. Dwell also offers devotionals, stories and listening plans. If you would like to give it a free trial or sign up for the plan you can find all the details here. I honestly can’t recommend it enough. WHAT I’M WEARING It’s been so hot and humid this summer! I’ve heard that the temps in the Northern Hemisphere have been ridiculously cold. Over here we’re dealing with the opposite, hitting temperatures as high as 39ºC. So I have been wearing my usual basic colours for my summer outfits. But, I did get a new sleeveless top recently that’s a bit more colourful than what I usually go for. WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND I have no plans at this stage but after such a

Hi friends it’s time for the Hello Monday link-up hosted by Holly and Sarah. Thanks so much for joining me as I share a few of the things we got up to over the weekend. Wicked The Musical My awesome friend managed to find some pretty reasonably priced tickets to go and see “Wicked The Musical” on Saturday. First off, we both thought that it would be a fun way to finish the summer school holidays. Plus, it was also good to have something to look forward to. It sort of helped to take our minds off the fact that we both have to go back to work on Tuesday. We had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant beforehand and we both ordered pasta and drinks. Then it was time for the show and we found our seats. They were spot on! Right in the middle of the theatre where we could see the whole stage. I had no clue what “Wicked” was about and the only thing I had heard was that it had something to do with The Wizard of Oz. Well, I was blown away by how good it was! I won’t go into spoilers because if you get a chance to see it I think you’ll love it. I will say that absolutely everything that I thought I knew about The Wizard of Oz as a kid was completely shaken up for me – in a good way! Then after the show, it was time for a sweet treat. Ice cream from Messina! Mitchell Road Antiques Saturday morning my husband suggested we go out for lunch and then go to my favourite place – Mitchell Road Antiques. I could tell that he wanted to distract me from the fact that I had to say goodbye to the summer break. Well, it sure did work! We had lunch at a cafe called COOH. Funny name and I wonder what it what it stands for. We shared salt and pepper squid. Then I had the pumpkin falafel and salad. Steve had the beef burger and chips. Aperol spritz on a hot day. Yes, please! After lunch, we walked over to Mitchell Road Antiques and had a look at all of their vintage treasures. I love wandering around and looking at all the amazing furniture, clothes and decor from all the past decades. It’s like walking around a time capsule! They also play 80s music and once I’m there I never want to leave. So many interesting things to look at! I wondered where on earth the next two neon signs may have been from! A Vintage Find! Then all my dreams came true when I spotted an original Kartell Componibli designed by Anna Castelli Ferrieri. I had always secretly dreamed of owning an original. They are still manufactured in Italy but a vintage one has always appealed to me most. I mean imagine if it could talk and tell us how many homes it had lived in! There’s something about retro furniture pieces and decor that fascinates me. I stood there almost hyperventilating because I was so excited! My husband was saying “Let’s buy it, stop overthinking, he who hesitates is lost, it can be your birthday present, those people behind us are looking at it too. C’mon!!” If he wasn’t there I wouldn’t have bought it. Then I would have regretted it forever. We took my new/old baby home and I spent the afternoon cleaning it up and wondering about its previous owners. It was probably made in the late 60’s or early 70’s. We could be the same age! A New Bedside Table I decluttered my old bedside table which I had clearly been putting off for a long time! Here I was thinking that I was pretty good at throwing things out regularly. But still, there was so much stuff! I found some treasures from my childhood in the drawers that I will always keep. In the end, I was happy with the two bags of junk I got rid of. Here is my new vintage bedside table. Steve still has the old country-style bulky one for now. But I’ve listed them both on Facebook Marketplace. Once I sell them I’ll just get a simple white bedside table for him in a different style. I’m a bit over all the matching bedroom furniture. We need to replace our Ikea dining table and chairs as they are looking a bit old. But we’re not in any hurry so we’re hoping to stumble upon a vintage gem. I think I’d love a funky mid-century dining set. Back To Work And just like that in what truly feels like a blink of an eye. My summer holidays are over and tomorrow I go back to work. But I have had the best break and enjoyed all the fun outings, meals out and catch-ups. Most of all I have loved every minute of being at home and not having to worry about running out of time to get things done. It’s been total bliss not having to stick to a routine or schedule! So it might be a bit of a shock to the system when the alarm goes off tomorrow morning. But hey, at least it will be a four-day week for us. Trying to stay positive!! Thanks so much for being here today and I hope that you have a wonderful Monday. See ya!  

Hi there friends I hope you all had an amazing weekend. It sure was a very hot and humid weekend over on this side of the world! I’m happy to be back today joining Holly and Sarah for a quick weekend recap on today’s Hello Monday link-up. SATURDAY The Ramsgate Food market opened for the first time this year after a short break over the Christmas and New Year period. My husband Steve and I spent the morning there catching up with a friend for a coffee. We also wandered around and bought a couple of things before we headed home. We always park the car a bit further away from the market and walk through a beautiful park with a pretty stream. It beats fighting for a parking spot in the car park which is right outside the market. Plus we get to admire the pretty view as we walk along. Oops sorry about the blurry pic. I feel as if all I have done for the past few weeks is eat!! It’s been wonderful but now I am trying to eat simple and smaller portions when I am at home. So for lunch Saturday, I just had a turkey burger pattie with sliced tomato and avocado. Then I worked on the blog for a bit before I sat down to watch ‘Wife Swap UK’. Haha! Have you seen this series from about ten years ago? I used to watch the American version but I had never seen the UK version. It’s a very addictive show!! SUNDAY Sunday I went along to my husband’s swim club.The morning started so sunny and hot then as it got closer to lunchtime it got cloudier and cloudier. It was still hot but while we were enjoying a delicious BBQ lunch it started pouring rain. Luckily we were eating under shelter so it wasn’t much of a problem. That is until the wind picked up and blew the rain in toward where we were sitting. All part of the fun I guess! Steve and I had plans to go into the city in the late afternoon to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The weather was so bad we switched plans and agreed to go to Allawah Pub for dinner and then go to the city next weekend. Then we scrapped all the plans and decided to stay home and camp out on the sofa in our dry living room instead. It turned out to be the best decision because the weather was just awful and neither one of us could be bothered getting dressed to go anywhere. We had a fantastic date night at home watching movies and we even ate dinner in front of the TV. After we ate I picked a French movie called ‘Rumba Therapy’ to watch. I loved this movie so much! It’s a comedy/drama about a father who tries to reconnect with his daughter. I won’t spoil it because I really hope you watch it! It had such a beautiful ending I couldn’t help but cry! Do you cry in movies? I do and I refuse to watch any movies with dogs because they always make me cry the most! After ‘Rumba Therapy’ Steve wanted to watch Novak Djokovic play in the Australian Open. We watched for a little while and then it looked as if the match was going to go on forever so we decided to finish watching ‘Berlin’ on Netflix. It was another foreign pick since this series is in Spanish. Even though I’m fluent in Spanish I still have to read the subtitles because they speak so fast! In addition, the Spanish they speak is from Spain not from South America so there are a lot of th th th sounds that I’m not totally used to. I do get a great refresher course in current Spanish swear words though!! LOL! Well, ‘Berlin’ is just such a fantastic limited series and it’s a prequel to ‘Money Heist’ which we were completely hooked on. It was so good that I didn’t want it to end and the plot twists and turns are so clever! We don’t mind watching movies with subtitles because the dubbed versions always seem to sound so weird. My son Sam also prefers the original language version of TV shows and when we watch Japanese anime together we always watch it in Japanese and read the subtitles. That’s about all we got up to over the weekend! How was yours I hope it was a good one! Thanks so much for being here today for a quick weekend recap. I’ll be back on Wednesday for Let’s Look. Originally I thought the Let’s Look link-up was last Wednesday. But then at the last minute, I realised that it got switched over to this week. The topic is ‘How We Keep Our Closets Tidy’ so it’s going to be a good one with lots of tips to share. I hope you will join me! Happy Monday!  

Hi friends! I’m excited to join the new ‘Share Our Lives’ link-up series hosted by Adrienne from Mom Life With Adrienne, Dara from Not In Jersey, Jen from Show Me Sweet Tea, Joanne from My Slices Of Life and Sarah from Toronto Sam. We are kicking things off by introducing ourselves and chatting about past jobs. So, let’s jump right in! I’m Ruth and I live in a suburb of Sydney Australia. I am married to Steve and we have two super tall grown-up sons. Luke who’s 30 lives with his fiancé (no wedding bells in the foreseeable future!) and Sam, 19, is studying nursing and lives at home (yay!). In case you missed it, I previously introduced myself in a post last year, which you can find here. Additionally, I shared ’25 Things you Don’t Know About Me’, and you can catch that right here. Now moving on to past jobs Babysitter While I was in high school and uni I would babysit kids from our church families. Sometimes I would get paid but mostly I would do it for free. Chicken Shop Employee I have amazingly fond memories of helping out at my uncle’s chicken shop during the school holidays whenever they needed an extra hand. While it wasn’t a job that brought me much cash – payment was always a hearty chicken and chips meal! I guess family gigs don’t pay the big bucks. But I was more than happy with my tasty rewards! Dental Assistant Straight after finishing school, I landed my first ‘real’ job working as a Dental Assistant. Looking back now I am very proud of myself and I can hardly believe that I did that! But back then nothing grossed me out. I was completely comfortable maneuvering the suction tube to clear away saliva and totally unfazed by the sight of root canals. Or even remotely disturbed by the massive amounts of blood during complex tooth extractions…eeewww! Early Childhood Educator Back in my uni days, I stumbled into early childhood education as a casual. Fast forward to today and I’m celebrating my 27th year at a wonderful local community-based preschool! If you want to dive into my early childhood journey, you can find it here. Additionally, I have listed six reasons why I love working in this field in this post which you can explore here. That’s a wrap for the first edition of ‘Share Our Lives’! Thanks so much for joining me today and reading my blog. I look forward to being back here on Wednesday for ‘Let’s Look’. We will be sharing all about how we clean our closets. I hope you have an amazing Monday!      

Hi friends! Welcome to the first edition of Currently for 2024 hosted by Jennifer from Overflowing With Thankfulness. Today we are looking at what we are loving, resolving, looking forward to, and cooking. As well as how we are staying cool over here because…hello summer! LOVING I am currently loving being on summer holidays! School returns on the 28th of January, after the Australia Day long weekend. So until then, it’s relaxed, carefree easy days for me with no alarms or schedules to keep me on track. Talk about bliss!! I was saying to my husband the other day how it felt as if I crawled to the finish line in term 4. It was so busy, incredibly draining and not always a fun time. Because you know ‘stuff’ happens in life and you just have to push through. But I’m grateful that I have a loving family, strong friendships and no thyroid. Haha……seriously! Ever since I had my thyroid removed in June of last year I feel so much more centred. RESOLVING I have resolved to go on another decluttering journey. Yep, things have started to accumulate and they need to be re-homed, recycled or relinquished. I have plans to go through my wardrobe, particularly my work clothes and say goodbye to some items that have seen better days. I also have my sights set on going through my kitchen cupboards as well as my garage/office. LOOKING FORWARD TO I’ve got an exciting rest of the week lined up! On Thursday I’m going to a basketball game with some of my cousins. Friday we have a delicious lunch outing planned at an Italian restaurant in the city. Italian food is my favourite! Then to top it off, I’m hosting our first Cousin Connect of 2024 this Saturday. What a great way to kick off the new year! HOW WE’RE  STAYING COOL THIS SUMMER The prompt is ‘What we’re doing to stay cozy this winter’ but it’s summer over here so I thought I would change it to ‘What we’re doing to stay cool this summer’. When we are all home we have the air conditioner on but if I’m home by myself then I will turn it off because I don’t feel the heat as badly as my husband and son do. Furthermore, I don’t want my electricity bill to be too crazy this month. My husband and son both wear these neck fans. Like ALL the time! They both swear by them and say they couldn’t survive the heat without them. I have also been keeping hydrated by drinking water as well as Bickford’s Peach Iced tea for a refreshing sweet change. These Calippos are really good too! COOKING I haven’t been doing much cooking over the last couple of weeks. Instead, we have been eating leftover Christmas food such as ham with salads. We have also been going out for meals and we went to our friend’s house for New Year’s Eve and enjoyed a delicious dinner she prepared. Then on New Year’s Day, we had prawns and oysters. Tuesday night I made chilli con carne and it felt like it was the first time that I had cooked a meal in ages. Those days between Christmas and New Year are so confusing. Then being on summer holidays means that I totally lose track of what day I’m living in. What day is it today?? One of the best things about being on holidays is that I don’t have to rush to get dinner ready. I can take my time cooking and so today I made a fall-apart lamb with salad and potatoes. I have also made hummus to go with the lamb and for dessert I have tried to recreate my mum’s creamy rice pudding. My lovely mum never followed a recipe so I am really digging deep into my memories and trying to remember some of the amazing dishes she used to make. I’ll let you know how I go with the rice pudding. It’s on the stove at the moment. I have been tasting it and thankfully it tastes like my mum’s but I’m just not so sure about the creamy consistency though. Stay tuned! That brings me to the end of what we have been currently up to. Wow, can you believe that it’s a brand new year? I think that it will take me a while to remember to write 2024 instead of 2023! I hope you have a great rest of the week and I look forward to being back here on Friday. See ya! *Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you make a purchase though these links.

Hi there friends it’s time for the December edition of Currently with Jennifer. Today we are looking at what we are currently – loving, gifting, wrapping, hoping and attending this month. Thanks so much for stopping by! LOVING This is my favourite time of the year and I love everything about it so I think it’s probably easier if I write a list of everything I am currently loving! The festive cheer Christmas music everywhere The excitement and anticipation as we get closer to Christmas Planning outfits for upcoming Christmas parties Beautiful decorations in the shops Summer clothes because it’s summer over here Watching Hallmark Christmas movies Seeing homes with twinkly lights and decorations while driving at night  Christmas markets Practicing for our preschool Christmas concerts which are on next week (Yikes!) Counting down until the summer school holidays – 9 days to go! Mangos and cherries. It’s time for summer fruits and I’m here for it!! Planning the games we are going to play with my family on Christmas Eve Feeling motivated to decorate after putting up the Christmas tree last Sunday Celebrating the season with friends and family GIFTING I visited my aunt and uncle on the weekend and I gifted them a very cute Christmas snow dome. Sometimes it’s hard to know what gifts to buy. But you can’t go wrong with a pretty Christmas ornament like this one. I have also been on the lookout for a Secret Santa for my lovely work friend. Luckily I found something at the Danish Christmas markets and I hope she loves it as much as I do. WRAPPING Except for my aunt and uncle’s gift, I haven’t wrapped a single present yet! This year our whole family decided that we would do a Secret Santa gift exchange and it has made all of our lives easier. My cousin organised this by using an online Secret Santa generator where we all entered our names. The generator then randomly assigned each of us a Secret Santa recipient.Easy peasy! We agreed on a budget and the generator even allowed us to create our wish list. This way whoever got our names knows exactly what to buy. The best part is that the Secret Santa generator is linked directly to Amazon, making shopping so convenient! I bought my Secret Santa gift for my cousin the minute I got an email saying that he had created his wish list. I’ll be wrapping up his present very soon. Although we are using a Secret Santa generator for our extended family. I will also be buying some presents for my immediate family. I just need to get to the shops ASAP!! HOPING I am hoping to stay focused on the reason for the season. I know that I get carried away with all the festive fun such as parties, gift-giving, delicious food and family celebrations. But I want to stay grounded in the true meaning behind the festivities – the birth of our Saviour, Jesus. ATTENDING I have two Christmas events that I am very excited to be attending in the next couple of weeks. Firstly, this Saturday our preschool staff is having Christmas lunch at Nola’s, a restaurant in Barangaroo. I am looking forward to spending the day with some work besties! Then the following Friday, Steve and I received an invitation to the Mayor’s Christmas party which was a lovely surprise! I am so excited to attend this function as I get to dress up in a festive cocktail dress and enjoy a fun night out. I can’t wait!! Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! I look forward to being back on Friday to share some favourites. See ya!  

Hi friends! It’s great to be back linking up with Holly and Sarah for a sneak peek into a few things we got up to over the weekend. I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and are geared up for the start of December! Friday Night Friday night Sam and I watched ‘Elf’ – my favourite Christmas movie ever! It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments and even though I have seen it a zillion times. I still think it’s hilarious, cute, heartwarming and sentimental. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of watching it every holiday season. It’s number one on my list of favourite Christmas movies for sure! Saturday Saturday morning we had scrambled eggs, mushrooms and sausages for a late breakfast. Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on chores and getting ready for our cousin connect evening. Around midday, I got started preparing the main course for Cousin Connect dinner – Greek-style chicken! I made the marinade for the chicken thigh cutlets. I always use skinless thigh fillets which are less fatty and healthier. But I was going for less health, full flavour and crispy skin this time. So for this recipe, I used the thigh cutlets with the bone in and skin on. The marinade was a mixture of Greek yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I put the chicken with the marinade in zip-lock bags, making sure that all the pieces were coated well. Then I left them in the fridge for five hours and popped them in the oven to cook once everyone arrived. Easy peasy and oh so flavoursome! When my cousins arrived we started with a taco dip and a simple cheese platter. It’s such a busy time of the year and initially, I thought we were going to be down in numbers. I didn’t want to over-cater so I didn’t go overboard with the pre-dinner snacks. But in the end, we only had three cousins who couldn’t make it. So it was pretty much a full house! Dinner! After dinner, we had a small brownie cake to celebrate the three birthdays in December. Singing happy birthday to more than one person is a funny challenge. My cousin had the clever idea of singing ” Happy birthday dear…guys” Instead of trying to squeeze three names in! Brownies, ice cream and strawberries for all! Then it was time for our favourite board game. It was pouring rain and thundering outside but we soon drowned out all the noise from the storm with all our laughing and yelling. Sunday Sunday I went to visit my aunt and uncle. It was such a beautifully sunny day so I decided to walk an hour to their house instead of driving. Walking is so good for exercise and it’s also amazing for my head! I always feel so relaxed and uplifted after a long walk in the sunshine. On the way, I walked past this nursing home where my great-aunt lived to the ripe age of 104 before she passed five years ago. I thought about all those years when my mum and I would go and visit her every Wednesday afternoon. So many sweet and cherished memories. My aunt made a delicious lunch and we spent a wonderful time catching up. It had been a while since I had gone to see my aunt and uncle, life gets so busy! I made a mental note that next year I am going to see them on a more regular basis. Poinsettias I got home around 4.30 and decided to go to Bunnings to pick up some poinsettias.  After watching so many Hallmark Christmas movies over the last few days. Where every Christmas home seems to be decorated with a billion poinsettias. I decided that I couldn’t live another day without some. I had planned to buy one or two but when I got to Bunnings I found some for 50c because they were a little on the droopy side but I figured that I could probably revive them with a little care. This is what they looked like today after water and a little sun from the laundry window. They are looking much perkier even after Mochi pounced on them. She’s so nosey! Christmas Tree Time Sunday evening we put up the Christmas tree. Steve put the tree together which is my least favourite part because the plastic branches make my hands itchy. I decorated and Sam put the star on the top. Then I made some Glogg ( a traditional Nordic spiced wine). I bought this cute bag with all the ingredients from the Danish Christmas market. The bag was cleverly sewn down the middle with the spices on one side and the nuts and dried fruit on the other side. You add the nuts and dried fruit to the glogg once it’s infused on the stove with the spices and ready to drink. We enjoyed it with some macadamia shortbread. I introduced Steve to the wonders of a Hallmark Christmas movie. He hadn’t seen one before but Sam made a quick exit because he couldn’t understand the appeal after having seen a few minutes of one I was watching the other day. Haha! It was such a lovely evening with the Christmas tree all lit up, drinking glogg and watching a cozy Christmas movie. It’s so reassuring that in every movie the biggest catastrophe is a simple misunderstanding. Which gets resolved in ten minutes and then always ends with true love. Here is our tree! We are trying super hard to discourage Mochi from climbing it which isn’t easy. I think she thinks we have kindly decorated a giant scratching pole with pretty shiny things just for her! Aaaaargh!!! That’s a wrap! Thanks so much for stopping by and I look forward to being back here on Wednesday. Have a great Monday!

Hey, friends welcome to the November edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. Wow, it’s the last Wednesday of November. Can you believe how fast the year has gone by? I’m excited to be here today linking up with Shay to share a little bit of what’s been going on for us in November. Let’s go! WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK It’s nearly the end of the school year and I feel as if I’m running a bit low on inspiration. So I’m keeping my meal planning simple and mainly sticking to old favourites. This is what this week’s menu looks like. Monday – Turkey burgers and chips Tuesday – Spinach, fetta and ricotta rolls Wednesday – Barramundi, baby potatoes and salad Thursday – Chicken pie, mashed potatoes and peas Friday – Steak sandwiches Saturday – Roast chicken, rice and salad WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT I can’t think of anything that I’m reminiscing about at the moment because this is my favourite time of the year. I’m too busy thinking about all the fun events that are on the horizon! WHAT I’M LOVING My new reading glasses! Ha, I didn’t think that this would be something I would be loving but I sure am! When I saw the optometrist earlier this month she confirmed what I already knew – my vision had changed. I have always worn glasses for distance but when the food on my plate started to look blurry and I lost my superpower ability to read the teeniest tiniest writing. I knew something had shifted. Now that I have been wearing my new glasses for a few weeks. I have been loving the frames that I chose because they are so light. The glasses came in a bright yellow case I will never lose because you can spot them instantly. But best of all now I can see so much better when I’m reading and working on the computer. I hadn’t even realised how almost without noticing I was getting closer and closer to the screen so I could see better. Now I can sit in a much more comfortable position without having my nose practically touch the screen. Winning! WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO We’ve had a great November and we’ve done quite a few fun things. First of all, in early November the weather was so good! It was sunny and the temps were on the way up. I really enjoyed seeing all the pretty gardens blooming and the Jacaranda trees on my walks. I have been eating this nougat almost nonstop. But I’ve stopped now because Aldi has run out of them. We enjoyed some nice meals out. As well as many cozy evenings at home in front of the TV eating sweet treats. I went to the city with my lovely friend and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful David Jones Christmas windows. They have done a great job this year and I think they are the most festive and colourful ones I have seen in a while. If you are in Sydney then you should definitely go and have a look. I think you’ll really like them. I hosted a fun Miss Universe watch party and now we have decided to make this a yearly tradition. We visited the Danish Christmas markets and I saw my cousin perform in the NSW School Spectacular. November was a great month! WHAT I’M DREADING I’m not dreading anything and that always makes me happy! WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT I’m off from work tomorrow and Friday.  I have some time owing for attending after-work staff meetings and I accumulated enough hours to have two whole days off. So I’m going Christmas shopping in the city on Thursday and I’ve got a lunch date with my husband on Friday. With my two days off this week, it means that I only have twelve more work days to go until we break up for the summer holidays! Yee-ha! WHAT I’M LISTENING TO Mochi was jumping all over me as I was trying to type. I got her off me as her little nails are kind of sharp so she plonked herself on top of my keyboard. I figured that the only way I was going to be able to keep typing was to turn on her automatic laser cat toy. So now I’m listening to the gentle hum of her toy and mochi pouncing around trying to catch the red laser light. Good luck with that Mochi! WHAT I’M WATCHING I started watching part I season 6 of ‘The Crown’. I didn’t like season 5 and now I can’t say that I’m totally enjoying season 6 as it’s so sad. But I do think that it’s better than the previous season. Part II of season 6 comes out on the 12th of December. We are up to season 12 of Blue Bloods and still loving it so much. Did you hear that season 14 will be the final season ever? I’ll miss watching the Reagans having family dinner and I’m sad that this amazing show is coming to an end. WHAT I’M WEARING I always forget to take pics of what I’m wearing. These are the only two photos that I took of what I wore in November. My favourite soft flared jeans with front pockets. I have also been wearing my favourite canvas shoes that I bought when The Gap store opened up in Sydney for about 5 minutes many years ago. Sadly Gap didn’t take off over here and all their stores closed down. But at least I have these nice canvas slip-ons that are super comfortable and have lasted forever! WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND It’s time for Cousin Connect on Saturday and I’m hosting. I always look forward to our monthly family catch-ups! Then on Sunday, we are putting our Christmas tree up. I always wait until the first weekend in December to put the tree up. We usually play some Christmas music, drink egg

Hi there friends, welcome to this week’s edition of Hello Monday! I can hardly believe we’re already heading into December.  I mean seriously. What happened to November?? I’m torn between wanting time to speed up because the summer break can’t come fast enough for me. But at the same time, I want things to slow down because there is so much to do! Anyway, I’m so glad you have stopped by today to join me as I share a bit about my fun weekend. The Danish Christmas Markets Saturday was just so much fun! I had been looking forward to the Danish Christmas markets for weeks and finally, Saturday was the day. My friends picked me up and we drove an hour to get there. It’s such a long way! In the car, we were talking about the possibility of next year making it a mini Christmas getaway and staying somewhere overnight. Because driving so far made us all feel like we were going on a holiday. So we thought why not make it one next year? The weather was just so gloomy and rainy. I was a bit worried the whole event might get cancelled because it rained quite heavily overnight. But luckily the rain held off and it only drizzled very lightly. All the cheery red and white Danish flags and beautiful Christmas decorations more than made up for the grey skies. The Danish Church in Australia hosted the Christmas market. I thought they did an amazing job organising this big event, considering how small the church grounds are. The whole venue was packed full when we arrived! There were people everywhere and I was so happy to be there. We missed going last year because we went to a beautiful wedding instead. Then the two years before  COVID took away all the fun Christmas events. Christmas Decorations There were so many beautiful handmade Christmas decorations. I didn’t want to buy anything as I’m being more intentional with how I spend and I really don’t need any more Christmas ornaments. But it wasn’t easy and I did give in and I bought one small decoration. These advent candles are great. I’m sure that I have one stored away from last year. Hopefully, I’ll find it when I get my tree and Christmas decor out on the weekend. More cute decorations! I love these simple white Christmas tree ornaments. They’d go great on a minimalist-style tree. I bought some three years ago and I liked to hang them on some decorative sticks I had in a big pot in the dining room. Except I recently changed things up a bit and I replaced the sticks with a plant. I’ll have to find a new place to hang these cute white ornaments this year. A Danish Lunch After wandering around for a bit we were all starving so we stopped at the church hall for some Danish fare. We had a choice of different types of open sandwiches. I ended up choosing the sandwich with the prawns because it came with Danish brown bread (I can’t remember the name). I figured that if I wanted the full Danish experience then I should eat the traditional bread instead of the usual white bread. The sweet almond pastry I got on the side for dessert was delicious. I could have easily eaten another of everything it was so good! I had a Danish beer even though I don’t often drink beer. The real Santa came and said hello. Hehe. It felt great to be there enjoying the tradition of going along to the Christmas markets. Now I can tick this off my mental bucket list. I haven’t written my December bucket list yet. So I better hop on it because it will be January before I know it! 2023 School Spectacular On Saturday evening I went to the Qudos Bank Arena in Olympic Park to see my little cousin perform in the 2023 School Spectacular. I was quite literally blown away by the amazing talented kids who performed. Oh my goodness, there were so many kids!! The NSW School Spectacular is a huge annual event. It features students from various schools near and far performing dance, music and drama. Friends, it was absolutely amazing!! The whole arena was packed once everyone was seated. There were so many colourful costumes and the dance routines were amazing. It was the 40th anniversary of the School Spectacular which began in 1983. To celebrate they did a whole medley of 80s songs and I wanted to jump out of my seat and dance because I think 80s music is the best! The kids wore 80s-style wigs to celebrate the decade with the most interesting and iconic hairstyles. We got these light-up wristbands that we could wave around during the show. Look at all those kids! We Found Our Girl! There was a sea of kids everywhere and while we were trying to find my cousin. We all joked that it was like playing a big game of ‘Where’s Wally’. But we managed to spot her when she came onto the stage to perform and miraculously she spotted us after she scanned the crowd. It helped that we were waving and practically jumping out of our seats like crazy. When she saw us she was in the middle of her song and dance routine. She gave us a huge smile and a little wave and then she couldn’t help herself. She paused her performance and jumped up and down waving back big time. It was just the cutest moment! After the show, we walked along with the masses to find my little cousin who was waiting at a designated spot. There were big hugs and huge congratulations on a fabulous performance. We battled the crazy traffic home and everyone came back to my place for a cup of tea. I had such a fun time and I was so proud of my little cousin. She’s eleven