Family Life

Hi friends I am really happy to be able to join the ‘Word Of The Week’ link up today. The reason why I am blogging on the weekend is that I have time! So my word of the week is….. Time Adjusting I wasn’t used to having spare time and it has taken a lot of adjusting. Up until March last year, I cared for my elderly mum. And I wouldn’t ever change the time I was able to do that for the whole world. When she passed she not only left a huge hole in my heart. She also left me feeling lost with endless chunks of time and I hated it! When she was alive I used to wish for more hours in the day so that I wasn’t always rushing around. Trying to squeeze in full-time work, household stuff and care for her. I don’t think that I did everything successfully as I was always frazzled, and not as patient as I wish I could have been. In the weeks after her passing and life returned to ‘normal’ I would get home from work and I would just sit there wishing for my usual afternoon routine that involved caring for my mumma. I used to joke with my colleagues when I said goodbye after work and say “see you tomorrow, I’m off to do the night shift now”. Oh, how I longed for those days and I still do! Masking Up until about a month ago, I think that I was masking my grief by being extremely busy. I did everything I could just to stay busy so that I wouldn’t have to think or feel. Then I would fall into bed and sleep….isn’t sleep a wonderful temporary relief from sadness? In May last year, about a month after my mum had passed I redid her bedroom and changed it completely. Seeing it the way she left it just hurt too much. So I emptied it and painted it all white. While I was busy working on her room I found that I didn’t have time to think. I made sure of this by listening to audiobooks or playing music very loudly. And I didn’t stop there I went on to paint my bedroom the hallway and the dining room. All while I was off from preschool and on term breaks. I did everything possible to stop myself from thinking. And I was determined to fill up any spare time that I had by doing something that required me to stay very very busy. I thought I was doing great by being so productive. Go me!! So when I had my phone consultation with the grief counsellor and she asked me what I had been up to. I rattled off a very long list of all the things that I had been doing. I expected her to congratulate me and tell me how amazing I was and how well I was coping. Maybe I thought, just maybe she would even say that I was all cured of grief and good to go. But no…..she was very quiet. Then she gently said, “don’t you think that you might not be giving yourself time to grieve?”. Guilt Initially for me having any spare time equalled feelings of guilt. I know that this probably doesn’t make much sense. But all I could think of was how could I enjoy any spare time when that meant that my mum was gone. It’s crazy what grief does to your thinking, isn’t it? Time Everyone always says that time heals. I agree, time does heal but I’m not sure that you can ever be completely healed after you lose someone you love very much. I had pretty much exhausted myself over about six months and then I got sick with Covid. And that pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I was so sick I could hardly move and I had all the time in the world to think. I recovered from covid and then I had to face my grief. Dang! I have spent a lot of time thinking and feeling lately. And I have spoken to many close friends who have helped me immensely by sharing their own experiences dealing with grief. I have prayed, I have cried……a lot. And now I am starting to find that I am not so afraid of spare time anymore. This past week is probably the first week where I have done things because I wanted to and not because I was desperate to fill up time. I have taken my time cooking meals and I actually enjoyed the process. I have done decluttering and organizing. Not because I felt scared that I had nothing to do but because I actually felt like doing these things. I have even wasted time and not felt guilty! Truly a first. Some Final Thoughts I’m naturally a happy person and I don’t like being sad. But I never fake my feelings. If I’m sad you’ll know about it that’s for sure. Now as I reflect back on the past few months I know that I have come a long way. While I was going through my ‘busy’ season I still found satisfaction in doing what I was doing. I mean I’m glad that I did paint most of the house. I did enjoy the fun times with my family and I was happy when I went on all the special outings. But I think that the whole time I was doing all the things. I had a yucky feeling of guilt in the pit of my stomach. I felt guilty about having time to enjoy life. It’s taken a lot for me to stop thinking like this. And slowly with a whole lot of reassurance, I am starting to believe that it’s ok to have time and it’s ok for me to take this time to do things that I enjoy. Yes, now I am sure that my mum would

Currently in January – Hey, friends welcome to the first edition of Currently for 2023! As usual, I am linking up with Jennifer from ‘Overflowing With Thankfulness’ for today’s post where we will be looking at what we are currently… LOVING RESOLVING ORGANISING ANTICIPATING EATING Currently In January LOVING I absolutely love being on summer holidays. Apart from all the fun get-togethers that we just had over the Christmas period. I don’t have any big plans and instead, I have a few small plans scattered here and there over the next few weeks. This means that I have all the time in the world and that is what I am loving the most. I have time to declutter and organise. And time for all my household chores without feeling like I am running out of time trying to defuse a ticking bomb. I also have time to enjoy cooking. I mean I had almost forgotten that I enjoyed cooking. How funny! In a nutshell, I am just loving all the everyday mundane tasks. RESOLVING I have decided that moving forward I want to be mindful. If you know me then you will know that this is no easy task. I could probably write a book on 101 Ways To Catastrophise In Thirty Seconds Or Less. And as a Christian, I should be better about trusting that nothing happens outside of God’s will. In 2022 I started taking some steps towards being more in the moment. And one of them was to stop watching the news! I never loved watching it but I used to have it on in the background in the mornings. As well as in the evenings. So my day would begin and end with hearing all about the things that were going on in the world. And 99% of it was just plain discouraging if not downright frightening. This year I am also resolving to be consistent with doing my morning devotions before I start the day. If I don’t get to it first thing. Then soon enough I fall off the daily devotion wagon. I want to fill my head with hope and promises. And I want to embrace what my sunny smiley colleague always says to me at work. “Positive vibes only Ruth!” Haha, she’s so lovely! ORGANISING Having all this lovely free time also means that I have time to do what I love to do. Organising my home! At the moment I have set myself the goal of organising one thing around the house per day. Depending on how motivated I feel. So on the days when I feel super motivated, I want to tackle big things like the linen cupboard. Which I did the other day. On the days when I am feeling like I’m not in the mood then I will empty out one drawer and organise it. I declutter consistently yet still stuff seems to accumulate especially after Christmas. I have this monthly planner that helps me organise and plan out my blog posts. So I am working on writing down all the monthly linkups as well as potential topics along with some ideas. I get such a kick out of decorating it all with different coloured glitter gel pens and stickers. My high school self would be so proud of me! I also love what the tab at the bottom of the planner says. ANTICIPATING I am anticipating that next week I will have a very relaxing and fun time with my husband. We are going away for an overnight getaway to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary! Yay! EATING Christmas ham!! I think we have eaten so much ham that we are all good to wait until December this year before we look at ham again. It’s funny that no matter how much I love Christmas food and party food. After eating so much of it my body just starts craving normal everyday food. I had a tuna (not ham) sandwich the other day and it tasted magnificent! I have also been eating yummy summer fruits like nectarines, peaches and mangos. This morning I made some pancakes and enjoyed them with some berries and maple syrup for a very late breakfast….simply delicious!   Thanks so much for stopping by today to read about what’s happening currently in January. I really enjoy being part of this fun linkup because it gets me thinking and reflecting on what’s happening in my day to day. I hope that you have a wonderful week.      

Hi friends, can you believe that already it’s the November edition of What’s Up Wednesday! I mean how on earth is it that we are skyrocketing into December tomorrow!! How?? I’m in disbelief and I think that I’m probably not alone in thinking that the days are just flying by way too fast! Anyway as usual I am excited to be linking up with Shay for today’s fun post. So let’s jump right in with What We’re Eating This Week Well, Sam is away with his friends this week. He’s gone to the south coast for his schoolies’ trip. Schoolies is an Australian tradition where high school graduates have a week-long holiday to celebrate the end of their final exams. I miss him and can’t wait for him to come home. Why he didn’t just want to stay home and play scrabble with me instead of going away with his friends? I’ll never know…… hehe! Anyway, the reason why I mentioned that Sam is away is that this means I don’t really have to cook much this week because it’s basically just me at home. Steve works nights so he eats at work although he does have tonight off and he has promised to cook me some salmon which will be lovely! So on Monday, I made myself some spaghetti using a jar of pasta sauce. I felt guilty about not eating vegetables so I threw some peas in…..ha! It tasted ok but I know that I won’t be buying this particular sauce again. I’m not really a fan of premade sauces and I will pretty much always make my own. But I do keep a jar in the cupboard just in case I don’t have time to cook from scratch or for weeks like this one. So I have just been eating this for the last couple of nights. And it’s a good thing that I really love spaghetti, even bland-tasting spaghetti like this one! I do have plans to make some zucchini and fetta fritters later on in the week. If they taste good I’ll be sure to share the recipe with you guys. What I’m Reminiscing About It’s only been a couple of days but I’m reminiscing about the amazing weekend we just enjoyed. We had such a fun time at our friend’s son’s wedding and our overnight stay at the beautiful Parkroyal Hotel in Parramatta. Sigh…I had been looking forward to this weekend nearly all year long and it was all over way too fast. What I’m Loving Smoothies!! I have been on a real smoothie kick and I have been making them a lot. It all started when I got covid a few weeks ago. I couldn’t taste anything much and I lost my appetite completely. So I started making myself smoothies when I felt a bit better and could actually get up and walk. It was easier to drink a smoothie than eat a meal. It was also a great way to add things like pepitas and sunflower seeds as well as delicious berries and other fruit like bananas and mangos. Oh yes, and I also like to add a nice dollop of honey too! So I have still been making smoothies even though I’m all better. I have even been taking smoothies to work in my favourite cup and having them at lunchtime. They’re just so good!! What We’ve Been Up To I have been trying to get my head around the fact that Sam has finished high school. He’s been having a wonderful time enjoying his freedom until next year when he starts uni. He’s also been doing driving lessons so that he can get his licence soon. He is very keen to get a job when he gets back from his week away so fingers crossed that he achieves both of these goals. Steve and I have both been busy at work. Because Steve works in hospitality, this time of the year is actually his busiest time and from now until the end of the year it will only get busier! At preschool, we have all been making Christmas crafts and getting ready for the end-of-year concert. The parents will be able to come into the preschool to watch their children perform at their concert. It’s been two years since we have had a proper concert and I think we are all a bit rusty and not as prepared as we usually are. But I’m sure everything will come together on the day. What I’m Dreading Thankfully I am dreading absolutely nothing and I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family. What I’m Excited About Summer holidays!! Preschool finishes on the 20th of December and we are off for nearly six glorious weeks!! Wooohooo!!!! What I’m Watching I’ve started watching my favourite Christmas movies. What I’m Listening To I have been listening to Christmas jazz on YouTube. I love the soft mellow music and the cute Christmas scenery. What I’m Wearing Layers! The days are just crazy. Some days start off cold and then they warm up so I will wear a T-shirt and a thin jumper and then a jacket. Then I will start to peel my layers off as it warms up a bit. But mostly the days have just been very cool. Everyone at my work is all annoyed that we are having such a crummy spring. And we are all still wearing jumpers and jackets in the playground on most days….hmph!! What I’m Doing This Weekend It’s a fun and busy weekend coming up. I have my family’s monthly dinner on Friday night which my lovely cousin is hosting. Then on Saturday my bestie and I are going to the Art Gallery Of NSW for opening weekend celebrations. The gallery is celebrating the opening of its new building and so they are having some fun events like performances, talks, tours and workshops. We are also going to squeeze in a bit of shopping and

Hey everyone thanks so much for stopping by for the October 2022 edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. Can you believe it’s November next week? I can’t wrap my head around how fast the weeks are flying by and there are only about eight weeks until Christmas!! As usual today we are looking at a few fun topics like what we’re eating, loving, watching and wearing just to name a few. So let’s jump in with WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK Monday night we had Butter chicken with rice and veggies. We went out for dinner on Tuesday night Turkey bolognese is on the menu for Wednesday night Thursday night we are having chicken skewers with salad and pita bread I have no clue what were eating on Friday night but it will be something simple for sure! Saturday I’m planning on making burgers and Sunday we’ll have some kind of pasta. WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT I can hardly believe that we only recently enjoyed Spring break. But I’m reminiscing about the freedom of not having to stick to a routine. I miss staying up late binge-watching TV shows and fun movies. But I’m sure that I’ll blink a couple of times and bam it will be the Summer holidays!! WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO Apart from the usual work work work. My boys celebrated their birthdays this month. Luke turned 29 and Sam turned 18. Where did my babies go!!!!! WHAT I’M DREADING Last ‘What’s Up Wednesday’ post I shared that I had some nodules on my thyroid that needed to be followed up. My scan appointment was yesterday and it looks like nothing has changed which is really good. But I still have to see my GP next Wednesday for some blood test results and I really don’t want to hear him say ‘fine needle aspiration’ when he looks at my scan results. I had that done two years ago and it was no fun. I wish I could be calm and rational when it comes to medical things but I am not at all. I catastrophise and get really anxious. So I guess I am dreading my appointment next Wednesday. WHAT I’M WORKING ON Not catastrophising! WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT My whole family is planning to get together for Halloween. So that will be a blast. Oh yes, we also have our friend’s son’s wedding towards the end of November and I am really looking forward to it. The church and reception venue are over an hour away from where we live. So we will be staying overnight at a lovely hotel. I’ve been looking forward to this for months. I just love weddings so much!! WHAT I’M WATCHING I started watching “The Watcher” I only saw one episode but I didn’t like it so I’m not sure if I’ll continue. Sunday night I watched ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ which was pretty good. I finished watching ‘Maid’ which I really enjoyed. Last night we finished season 4 of Cobra Kai and I just loved it!!! Now onto season 5. WHAT I’M LISTENING TO October has been all about listening to Kate Bush! I have always liked her music but ever since I finished watching ‘Stranger Things’ I have been listening to her music on repeat. WHAT I’M WEARING Well, I’m happy that I am no longer wearing heavy coats and jackets every day. We still haven’t hit consistently nice spring weather even though it’s October. So some days I still need to wear a few layers in the morning and then peel them off as the day gets slightly warmer. I guess we are in that transition stage where we still need some lighter jackets. This pale blue one that I bought a couple of years ago is perfect for this time of the year when it’s still cool. I was really excited to wear shorts for the first time last week! And now I’m wearing my workout gear for the first time in years since I started going along to fun exercise dance classes. I have also been wearing my clogs and they’re just so comfortable! I love buying them from a shop called Funkis because they have such a great variety of clogs as well as leather goods and clothes. WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND I have been invited to my lovely friend’s daughter’s first birthday party. It feels like she was only born yesterday and now she’s turning one!! I am really excited to be joining them to celebrate. WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH This year I want to start my Christmas shopping early and not be in a mad rush in the last two weeks before the big day. I want to soak up all the festivities and I am in the middle of putting together a bucket list of things that I want to do before Christmas. Every year the holidays come along very quickly. So this year I want to be fully prepared!!   So I guess that wraps up October 2022! Thank you so much for stopping by to read about what has been going on in my little part of the world. I hope that you all had a great October and I look forward to being back here tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday! Linking up with Shay and Sheaffer for today’s What’s Up Wednesday’ post.

Hi, friends I am really excited to be joining this month’s Currently- October 2022 edition for the first time. I am linking up with lovely Jennifer. And today we are looking at what we are currently anticipating, admiring, spending/consuming, wanting, purging/deleting. So let’s go right ahead and jump in with……… WHAT I AM CURRENTLY ANTICIPATING I guess that I am super excited about this time of the year. My favourite months are from September to December because that’s when all the fun things happen. I love being on holiday from the preschool where I work. But I have to say that going back to work is always easier in term 4 because it’s my favourite term. By now we all know the children really well and we have built lovely relationships with them and their families. Term 4 at preschool is all about getting ready for the big end-of-year concert and of course, there are all the Christmas crafts which I really love. And to top it off the weather is so much warmer so I will no longer be shivering and shaking during outdoor playground supervision. Amen! This year I am also anticipating that my family will have a fun Halloween. It’s a funny thing with Halloween in Australia. Some people really love it and get right into it. Others see it as a big no-no because it’s about witches and spooks etc. I used to be conflicted about it and then I gave in and decided that it’s all a bit of fun and a good reason to get together with family and dress up. I also really love it when kids come around trick or treating. So I make sure to put out some Halloween decorations as a sign to the neighbourhood kids that YES WE HAVE CANDY! WHAT I AM CURRENTLY ADMIRING I have been really admiring this lovely blogging community! I took a huge leap, went right outside my comfort zone and started this blog about a year and a half ago. It has been such a tremendous learning experience. From the technical side which had me nearly ripping my hair out in the very early days of setting up the blog by myself with the help of endless YouTube videos. Until now when I am getting to know so many sweet, kind and very encouraging bloggers and readers. I am always so grateful to everybody who takes the time to stop by and have a read. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! Also, I am very relieved that I no longer have to deal with the difficult, brain-frying technical aspect of blogging. Because a very good childhood friend of mine has a clever son who runs his own digital agency and now he helps me out… Phew! SPENDING/CONSUMING I have been buying scented candles again lately because I just love a scented candle I do! I have taken a break from buying my usual Ecoya candles. And instead, I have bought a few Sand & Fog candles which I found at TK Maxx. I recently purchased this gorgeous blouse from Country Road. It’s not a colour that I would typically wear but I really liked it. Spring had me feeling very daring so I went ahead and bought it. I think that I will get great use out of it with all the fun festive events that will be coming up soon. WANTING We have a teeny tiny courtyard in our home. I mainly use this area to hang up our washing to dry. But I know that this small space has much more potential. So I have been really wanting to somehow give it a makeover. I have been looking for some comfortable outdoor seating that won’t take up too much space. The courtyard can get nice and sunny during the day so a market umbrella or some kind of shade would be really good too. Another thing that would really help this area to look much better would be to cover the colorbond fence with some faux greenery like this It would be fun to be able to use this area to entertain too. So I have been getting some ideas from Pinterest and have been busy pinning some ideas. PURGING/DELETING I have been currently going through my wardrobe again to make sure that I am not holding on to unnecessary clothing that I don’t wear anymore. The weather is slowly starting to warm up so it’s a good time to get rid of winter clothes that have seen better days. I accidentally shrunk my Uniqlo work jumper in the wash. I’ve had it for a few winters and it has served me well. Time to say goodbye. Don’t laugh but I have to confess that even though I have deleted hundreds of emails. My inbox still has 15,214 emails. I know I know…..how embarrassing! This is such an unpleasant task and my arm and finger hurt every time I have to delete them and yet there are still so many. My husband just shakes his head in disbelief. He is an email minimalist. I guess that wraps up what has been happening for me currently in October 2022. I really hope that you all have a great rest of the week. I’ll see you back here tomorrow where I will be sharing an easy version of a favourite recipe of mine. Happy Wednesday!      

Hey friends! Thanks so much for dropping by. I’m excited to be joining Sheaffer and Shay for this month’s edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. I’m sure you will all agree with me when I say that September just flew by in a flash right? It’s almost hard to believe that we are just about to hit October in a few days! Anyway, it’s been a pretty great month so let’s jump right in and have a look at….. What We’re Eating This Week One of the great things about the weather getting warmer. Is the variety of nice fruit that is available! I got some really plump, juicy and sweet strawberries and blueberries from Woolworths. As I was washing them I could smell how sweet they were. You know you have a good bunch of berries when you can smell the sweetness! Monday night we had some baked chicken thigh fillets with rice, salad, baked potato and sweet potato. We love carbs!! I added some turmeric to the rice just to jazz it up and give it a bright yellow colour. Other than changing the colour of the rice. Turmeric doesn’t really change the flavour. And I think that yellow rice goes perfectly with bright and sunny spring! Tuesday night we had salmon and veggies. I added some of my new favourite Kewpie Japanese dressing on the side. Have you tried this delicious Kewpie Japanese dressing? Oh my goodness, I have no words to describe how good it is!! My cousin Jessie introduced me to this and now I am A-D-D-I-C-T-E-D!! You can add this dressing to anything. Salad, beef, chicken, vegetables, anything! It is just divine. What I’m Reminiscing About It’s only been a few days since Sam graduated from school. But I’m already reminiscing about how fast the years flew by and it really feels like he was starting school only yesterday. Sigh! Here is Sam when he was on his way to his first day of kindy, then his first day of high school. I took the last pic the other day when we left home to go to graduation. Waaaahhhh What I’m Loving I’m on spring break for the next two weeks so I am loving this!! I want the time to go super slow, please!! I have also been loving the warmer weather and the slightly longer days. It’s so exciting to see the beautiful flowers that are popping up everywhere. I took some pics of some flowers that I spotted in people’s front gardens on my way home from work a few weeks ago. What We’ve Been Up To September has been all about enjoying getting out and about a bit more now that the weather is just so inviting. We have been doing fun things like going out for brunch. My lovely friend and I had a great time at a spring fair in Cronulla a couple of Saturdays ago. I also planted some flowers and a couple of herbs in the front garden. Even though I am probably the world’s worst gardener. I always love planting something in the spring. The good news is that everything is still alive and even growing! What I’m Dreading Well…… I have some dumb thyroid nodules that I have to get rechecked as it has been a couple of years since the last check-up. I am just no good with medical stuff and I put things off all the time. My nodules (ugh) had to be biopsied last time and thankfully it was all good. So fingers, legs and everything crossed nothing has changed. Better than crossing everything I should just ask for prayers. Thanks in advance 😊 What I’m Working On I am back to rearranging and decluttering. My garage/office became a bit of a dumping ground when I was busy painting a couple of months ago. So I got stuck into fixing it up and moved things around to make better use of the space. There is still a whole lot of ‘stuff’ that I am just itching to get rid of. But I’ll wait to do an even bigger declutter in a couple of weeks when we have our next council cleanup. Here’s the before (Oh my, I’m almost too embarrassed to show you!) This is after…not perfect but so much better. What I’m Watching I am loving the last two seasons of Stranger Things. I watched seasons 1 and 2 ages ago and then stopped. A couple of weeks ago I picked it up again and I have been watching it whenever I get the chance. I am not a fan of horror at all!! But Stranger Things is so clever in how it mixes humour, drama, mystery and horror. I also love how it’s set in the ’80s so that’s a huge appeal for me having been an ’80s kid myself. To balance out all the horror and excitement I have also been watching ‘All Creatures Great And Small’. Talk about one extreme to another! This show is just so sweet and cozy to watch. It has a similar vibe to ‘The Durrells” which I absolutely loved watching last year. If you are looking for relaxing, feel-good shows then I really recommend both ‘All Creatures Great And Small’ as well as ‘The Durrells’. What I’m Listening To This coffee and chill Spotify playlist is really mellow and I love having it playing softly in the background. It gives me all the relaxing cafe vibes. What I’m Doing This Weekend It’s time for our monthly family dinner and this time my aunty is hosting. She is the most amazing cook and I am already getting hungry just thinking about it. Haha! I love our monthly ‘cousin connect’ dinners they are always such a fun family time. What I’m Looking Forward To Next Month We have a couple of birthdays next month. Sam turns 18 on the 6th of October and Luke turns 29 on the 16th of October. We usually have family over

I can hardly believe that we are saying goodbye to August. Like how in the world did the month just fly by like that? Friends, it was a pretty good month and I am very grateful for that. I am so excited for the rest of the year because from September onwards there are so many fun things to look forward to. Once we hit September I start looking forward to the upcoming festivities and I am one of those people who loves seeing Christmas things at the shops from as early as October. But I’m getting way ahead of myself because today is all about August. As usual, I am linking up with Shaeffer and Shay for this month’s edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. What We’re Eating This Week Turkey! My son is keen to eat more protein because he works out a lot at the gym and is into lifting weights. So he asked if I could make recipes with turkey. Apparently, turkey is low in fat, contains more protein than chicken, and also has many vitamins and minerals. Eating turkey can also lift your mood and make you feel more relaxed. Sounds good to me! I like to make sure we eat a balanced diet and I was more than happy to incorporate more turkey into our meals and also substitute chicken or beef with turkey. So on Tuesday, we tried turkey bolognese. Bolognese is not my family’s favourite meal but it sure is mine! The turkey bolognese did get a big tick of approval and everyone decided that it was very good. Later on this week I am going to make turkey burgers which are really delicious and much juicier than regular beef patties. Turkey mince is also much cheaper than beef mince so it gets two big thumbs up from me! What I’m Reminiscing About Back in January Steve and I enjoyed a very short but lovely getaway to celebrate our anniversary. Now that the weather is getting warmer I am really keen to go away somewhere again. I haven’t planned anything but I think that I would like to very soon. I have a big sore knot in the back of my neck and right shoulder so a weekend away that includes a massage would be ideal! What I’m Loving Gorgeous-smelling beauty products I have been loving some amazing health and beauty products from my friend’s online shop called “Simple Pleasures NZ“. She makes and sells an amazing variety of natural perfumes, soap, scrubs, body oils, and incense. All her products are sustainably made, biodegradable, free from animal testing, and ethically sourced. They smell so good and I love her products so much that I have been using them as part of my self-care routine. I will be sure to share more about some of her products that I have used very soon so stay tuned! Walking Another thing that I have also been loving is my walks to and from work. I have shared before that we only have one car at the moment. So luckily I live within walking distance of the preschool where I work. But even when we do eventually get a new car I think that I will keep walking because it’s just such great exercise. I do about 6km a day and I find that walking home in the afternoon after a busy and noisy day with the children is so calming and very pleasant. What We’ve Been Up To August has just been all about the usual things like work and school. Sprinkled with lots of fun moments with family and friends. What I’m Dreading Thankfully I’m not dreading anything at the moment. So that’s a huge blessing! What I’m Working On During August I have been trying to be more consistent with posting on my blog. I think that I am starting to get into more of a rhythm again and I am aiming to post at least 3 times a week. I also have to figure out what’s going on with my email subscription. At the moment for some reason, my blog won’t allow new email subscribers. In addition, my current email subscribers don’t seem to be getting notifications of any new posts. Ugh, the technical side of blogging can really do my head in sometimes. What I’m Excited About Spring!!!! I have been waiting for spring since Autumn. Sorry, guys I know autumn or fall is very popular but I’m not a big fan. Nothing fun happens in Australia during the cold months. I’m sure that if we had Christmas in winter then I would probably feel totally differently. I did try a lot harder this year to embrace the cold weather and even blogged about Ten Winter Essentials. I really enjoyed the cozy things about winter and all the delicious comfort food. But I am totally, completely, fully, and utterly ready for Spring! So super excited to see some of these pretty yellow flowers suddenly appear in the front garden! What I’m Watching I can’t get enough of Britbox. So many great shows to watch but I just wish that I had more time! What I’m Listening To I recently switched radio stations and now I am listening to Smooth FM.  I am really enjoying this Sydney radio station. It plays some really nice easy listening music and best of all there is very little talk. What I’m Wearing Some days have been warmer so I have been able to get away with not wearing such heavy jackets. I think that most August weekends I have been wearing my favourite white Superga sneakers because they are just so comfortable. What I’m Doing This Weekend We have our monthly family get-together on Friday night and it’s Father’s Day on Sunday. So it looks like we are heading into a weekend of fun, food, and family. What I’m Looking Forward To Next Month Spring break! We have three more weeks of preschool and then

Hi everyone! Well, I can hardly believe that it’s the last week of July and here we are back again for this month’s fun “What’s Up Wednesday” link-up with Sheaffer and Shay. I’m so excited that you have stopped by to have a read of my July recap so let’s jump right in and have a look at……… What We’re Eating This Week I finally got my act together this week and put together a meal plan! Yay, go me!! Sunday night I also made a big quiche that I sliced up and have been taking to work for lunch along with my usual salad. Sam has been having some when he gets home from school because he is always starving!! I usually make it with baby spinach but I didn’t have any so I used frozen spinach instead. It came out a bit greener and not as good-looking as usual but it still tasted great! What I’m Reminiscing About We spent a long time planning a surprise birthday party for my cousin’s 30th. For about two months my aunty, her son’s girlfriend, and I were super excited about pulling this off. Thankfully everything worked out and we had such a fun time. It was a Star Wars theme and because our whole family is nuts about Star Wars it was extra exciting. You can read all about it here and check out our fun costumes! What I’m Loving My freshly painted walls!! I’m so glad that I just went with white, not any white mind you. It’s called Casper white haha!! The house just looks and feels so much brighter. I’ve added a couple more plants in the dining room and lounge room and I’m just loving the fresh new look!! I still have the living room to paint so I have to go ahead and tackle that soon before I lose my motivation. What We’ve Been Up To It was fantastic to have two weeks off from work for the winter holidays. I’ve been back at work for a week and a half and the holidays almost feel like a distant memory now. I did a lot of painting during the two weeks that I was off from work but I also enjoyed a couple of fun outings too. The last weekend before I went back to work I visited Wollongong with my lovely friend. Wollongong is a coastal city about an hour away by train from where I live. We walked around the shops in Wollongong and we were having a really nice time until I realised that I had lost my wallet. We quickly retraced our steps and luckily I had left it in David Jones and a very kind shop assistant had found it and handed it in to the lost property. I was so relieved!!! After I had calmed down from running around frantically trying to find my wallet. We had some delicious burgers for lunch. On the way back to the train station we ate some ice cream. It was a fun way to end the school holidays. What I’m Dreading Sam starts his HSC trials next week. Gulp!! What I’m Working On I celebrated one year of blogging and I was so excited about that! I really enjoy blogging and have been working towards posting more often. What I’m Excited About A close friend of ours is having a birthday party this Sunday at St George Motor Boat Club. She’s such a fun person so I’m sure there will be lots of dancing. What I’m Watching I just started watching a British series called “The Split” It’s a legal drama and I’m really enjoying it. It was a bit slow going at first but I’m right into it now and it’s definitely worth watching. I have also been watching movies that I have watched a million times before like I love re-watching old favourites. What I’m Listening To I like having some soothing background music when I am at home. Because it’s winter it starts to get dark pretty early, usually around 5.30pm. So when I get home from work I like to light some candles and play chilled jazz on Spotify. Soft soothing jazz and glowing candlelight makes me feel cozy. What I’m Wearing All the coats and layers to keep warm! What I’m Doing This Weekend We are hoping to go and look for a new car. If you have been reading along you’ll know that my husband wrote his car off after swerving to avoid running over a couple of cats. Fingers crossed we find one we like and we don’t have to go on a waiting list. I’ve heard that new cars aren’t readily available at the moment. That wraps up my July Recap. As usual, my head is spinning because I can hardly believe that it will be August next week. I hope that you have the best Wednesday! If you live in the Southern Hemisphere stay warm and if you live in the Northern Hemisphere stay cool friends!

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Our family sure did, we managed to pull off a surprise 30th birthday party for my lovely cousin. She is a huge Star Wars fan along with the rest of us. So the theme for the night was…yep you guessed it Star Wars!! I’ll do a recap of that later on in the week. But for today I am excited to link up with this month’s edition of “Not Just A Mom” and talk about Family Food Traditions. When I was thinking about this topic I was a bit stumped at first and thought that we didn’t really have a lot of family food traditions. Except for the usual holiday celebrations like Christmas. But then when I stopped looking at the “big picture”. I soon realised that we do have many family food traditions in our ordinary weeks, birthdays, weekends, and even school holidays. Some of these traditions are ongoing and some were for a season in our lives. Sugary Cereal When my kids were little (which happened over a huge gap as my boys are eleven years apart in ages). I used to let them pick out a box of any sugary, preservative-filled cereal they liked during the school holidays. They used to always pick fruit loops until one year they discovered a small corner shop that sold American cereal. And they just about lost their minds with excitement. I have to admit that I did too!! We went through so many boxes of cereal during the school holidays. None of us could stop eating Lucky Charms, Reece’s Puffs, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Pavlova Luke, my oldest son, and I will always choose a Pavlova for our birthdays! We just love the meringue base, creamy topping, and fresh fruit combination. Yum!! Full English Breakfast On some weekends we like to indulge in a Full English Breakfast. Not very sure if it really is a true English Breakfast but this is what Sam calls it. This breakfast includes scrambled eggs, pork chipolata sausages, hash browns, cooked mushrooms, tomatoes, and toast. We also have orange juice and finish off with a steamy cup of tea. Weekend Treats Friday afternoons after work I like to pop into the supermarket and pick up some weekend treats for the family. These treats vary from week to week. Some weeks I will get some iced donuts, these are a very big treat because they are usually sold out by the time I get to the shops. I will also buy things like cheese, crackers, chips, chocolate, dips, and soft drinks. Without fail, I will always get my very favourite Bundaberg Ginger Beer. I try to keep our diet healthy during the week. But on the weekends we let loose big time!! Spaghetti Bolognese Nobody in my family likes spaghetti bolognese! How??? This is my absolute favourite dish and while I do make it during the year. I tend not to cook this very often because I know that they don’t really enjoy it at all. None of my boys or husband are fussy eaters so I’m not quite sure what they have against spaghetti. Anyway, on my birthday this is the dish that I will request. Actually, I don’t even have to request it anymore as my husband just makes it for me. And everybody has to eat it and smile!! haha. Once A Month Family Dinners Family food traditions are fun and I think that when we look back on the years (that go by way too fast). The best memories will usually involve the times when we came together with our families to enjoy a meal together. I think that one of the best decisions that we made as a family, including my cousins and their partners and children. Was to come together on the first Friday of every month and have dinner. We also take turns hosting to make things easier. Sometimes we will get pizza, other times we will have burgers, Mexican food, casseroles, or anything really. We keep it simple and boy do we have fun!! Sadly we only started this tradition earlier this year when my beautiful mum became very sick. This shook us to our core and we realised that we had let the busyness of our lives take over. We don’t live far away from each other yet we had slowly stopped getting together except for birthdays etc. I wish we had gotten together more often when my mum was still with us. But on the bright side, it’s never too late to start a tradition or a family food tradition and after writing this I am inspired to come up with some more family food traditions. Because it’s never too late!! ********** Sharing on Linking up with Holly and Sarah          

Hi!! It’s so great to be back again linking up with Shay and Sheaffer for this month’s What’s Up Wednesday post. I hope that you all had a great June. My head is spinning with how fast the year is flying by. How can June be over already?? Before we know it we’ll be putting up our Christmas trees again!! Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but I really can’t believe that we are halfway through the year! Anyway, I’m really happy that you have stopped by to have a read and let me share with you what’s been going on for us this June. 1. What We’re Eating This Week Carbs, carbs, and more carbs!! I think the best thing about winter is the yummy comfort food. I’m always hungry and if I’m not eating I’m usually daydreaming about my next meal! So this week we have enjoyed some of my favourites like Meatloaf, mashed potato, roast pumpkin, and steamed veggies. With lots of gravy of course! Monday night I made Jambalaya for the first time and everyone declared it a winner. I also made a couple of spinach pastry rolls. I made up the same filling that I use when I make my spinach pie. Except that this time I didn’t have any puff pastry, so I used shortcrust instead. It still tasted good but I think I prefer the puff pastry. 2. What I’m Reminiscing About As this year is moving along at lightning speed I find myself thinking about how quickly my boys have grown up. My oldest son Luke has been living with his fiancee for about three years. Now my little Sam (as we affectionately call him even though he’s 6 ft tall) is finishing school in a few months. HOW??? He’s also trying to get his hours up with his driving. On Sunday he went to a safe drivers course which went for five hours. The great thing about this course is that it will give him an equivalent of twenty hours in his log book. Not sure how many more hours he needs to do before he can go for his driving test. That’s his Dad’s department because it’s too much for my head to cope with. He’s my baby!!! It honestly feels like it was only last week that he was driving around in his pop-pop bike. That’s what we used to call his little push-along bike with the plastic balls that would go pop pop pop as he drove around the house.  Those years just went by way too fast. 3. What I’m Loving A short while ago I mentioned that a brand new Mecca store had opened up at our local Westfield and my head just about exploded with excitement. Well, I treated myself to a new moisturiser. Up until recently, I had been using the Sukin brand which was great. But I was coming to the end of the jar and I wanted to try a different brand. So based on the advice of the nice consultant in the shop I went ahead and bought this Sunday Riley ICE ceramide moisturising cream. Now I have no clue what ceramides are but the bright dazzling lights in the Mecca store had me in a trance. Also, the box said plump-looking baby-soft skin, and so I was immediately sold. The cream comes with a fancy ceramic scoop thing which I really love. It just feels so luxurious when I apply it to my face! And the great thing is that my skin does feel soft. This girl isn’t getting any younger and she needs all the help that box promises!! 4. What We’ve Been Up To The usual, juggling full-time work at preschool, blogging (not as often as I would like to. But slowly getting back into it). As a family we have also been doing our monthly dinners, we have our July one on Friday and I’m super excited about that. Steve and I have also been trying to go out for breakfast more often. A couple of Saturdays ago we tried a new cafe that we both really enjoyed. I had the shakshuka Steve had the poached eggs, halloumi and avocado We’re hoping to go back to the same cafe this Saturday because the last visit was so great. The staff were very friendly and the food was so good! I’ve also had a couple of fun outings with my sweet friend. We went to Vivid Sydney and The Sydney Museum recently. I love to schedule some fun things to look forward to. 5. What I’m Dreading Thankfully I’m not dreading anything at the moment. Phew! 6. What I’m Working On I have really been working on being more in the moment and trying to relax. Before I go to sleep every night I like to listen to a soothing guided meditation. I am a terrible jaw clencher and shallow breather. Two big no-no’s!! So this month has been more about self-care for me and I am feeling much better. As part of self-care, I have been doing cosy things like Lighting candles in the evening Using face masks Drinking tea and hot chocolate in my favourite mug. Watching favourite shows or reading on my comfy beanbag under a cosy blanket with my little cat Sushi keeping me warm. My apple watch is also really great for reminding me to breath and be mindful! 7. What I’m Excited About Winter break!! This is the last week of preschool before we break up for two weeks and I am beyond excited!! We aren’t going away anywhere but we have some fun things planned. I also want to paint my bedroom and the hallway. I know that this might not sound too exciting but I am actually looking forward to doing some painting. Well, I guess I’m mainly looking forward to seeing how fresh these two spaces will look once it’s done. I also don’t mind painting. I usually