Self Improvement

I have just completed a pretty big feat. I have just completed updating all of my old Quote Monday posts. Back in November, I decided that I should be using the same layout for all of my Quote Monday posts. By then I was already up to 110, so that meant I had to re-do 110 posts. It has taken eight months, but I am proud to say it is done. It wasn't easy. There were so many steps to make it right. Quote Monday Redesign The first thing I did was go through each and every Quote Monday post and [...]

Last year I turned 30, and in all that time I’ve learned quite a lot. Some of it important, like how to adult and some not so important, like the words to too many songs from the 90s. Most of these life lessons I learned in my 20s, but some are quite recent, like number 15. So here are my 30 life lessons from a 30-year-old. Have an outlet to relieve your frustrations; write, exercise, meditate etc. Prioritise by working out what is important to you. Stop spending your time on things you don’t enjoy. Hate a particular chore? Outsource it. [...]

The Sunshine Bloggers Award is given to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community. Back in February I was nominated for the Sunshine Bloggers Award by Kirsty from That Noise is Mine. Ok, so here are the rules for the Sunshine Bloggers Award: Thank blogger(s) who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. Nominate new bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or in your blog. Summer [...]

I have to admit, fall favourites does sound a lot better than autumn favourites. But in the spirit of being true to myself, I'm going to stick with calling it autumn, my beloved autumn. Autumn is actually my favourite season. I just love the colours. Especially at the start of the season, when parts of the trees just burst into different colours. I was also lucky enough to be in the US during the fall. I tasted almost everything pumpkin flavoured that I came across. At one stage I think I almost turned into a Pumpkin Spice Latte, I had that [...]

The last twelve months have been the year of change. Twelve months is a long time, but then again it isn’t. I know my life has changed dramatically in that time. I quit my job after 9 years. My experience with postnatal depression is now behind me. Our little family went on an interstate holiday for the first time since 2010. And I shouldn’t forget that I turned 30, gracefully. I quit my job About halfway through my pregnancy, I decided that I wanted to quit my job. I loved the work, I had a variety every day with what [...]

Happy in love, after all this time? Always. Where it all began My husband and I met through a mutual friend while I was in my last year of high school. It was really fun at the start before either of us had a license, we had to rely on other people so we could see each other. He actually asked me out over MSN Messenger. We are coming up to 13 years together this year. It feels like a lifetime and it won't be long before we have known each other for more than half of our lives. The [...]

I had never experienced anxiety until I was pregnant. I didn't believe people that suffered from anxiety. Honestly, I just thought they were making excuses because I didn't understand it. I'm sure I'm not alone there either. There are many mental illnesses that people don't believe just because they don't understand. For me, anxiety feels like I'm overwhelmed, stressed, freaked out & have the energy to burn all at the same time. The first time I thought I was experiencing anxiety I was at work. I really didn't know what was happening to me or what I was feeling. The [...]

THE CHALLENGE complete 30 consecutive days of French practice using the Duolingo app Ever since I was a kid I wanted to learn French & visit France. It was a huge bonus to attend a high school that offered French, as well as Japanese. In year 10 I was lucky enough to visit New Caledonia for a week as a part of an exchange type program. It was a beautiful country & spurred me on to one day get to France. I studied French the whole way through high school, doing a 15-minute oral conversation as a part of my [...]

THE CHALLENGE drink at least 1 cup of green tea per day, for 30 days in a row. I started drinking green tea roughly four years ago. I tend to prefer hot drinks in the cooler months & cold drinks in the warmer months. This means I drink more tea, coffee and hot chocolate in winter, more water in summer. I used to be quite sensitive to caffeine, I'd have to have my tea or coffee by midday or risk not being able to sleep that night. Also having the odd panic attack when I had too much caffeine. It [...]

When I was in primary school a popular screen saver on the computer in our classroom was a little man stuck on a desert island. Since then I have come across the question of what I'd take to a desert island several times. It's a popular interview question and was part of getting to know my fellow online classmates recently. I've decided to make this a little more specific. I know I'm going to the desert island. I will be there for one year. I can take 5 things with me. I've given this some serious thought. Avoiding obvious choices [...]

I like to think that I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon quite early. Especially since almost everything starts out in America. From what I can tell, my first pin was pinned 5 years ago, which would have been 2012. Pinterest introduced secret boards in late 2012. I can’t even remember which of these boards was the first that I created. But I knew there were some things I wanted to keep for later but wanted to keep private. Here's a list of my secret boards & what I use them for. Blog Ideas In all honesty, there are way too [...]

When I was in grade 5 we had an assignment: spend one million dollars. The idea was to cut out items we wanted from catalogues in order to spend one million dollars. Most of my classmates 'purchased' houses, then we had to furnish them. Then came the flash cars & boats. Almost 20 years later my priorities have certainly changed! I was prompted to revisit this idea by Nikki from mbasahm.com. Pay off mortgage This seems like a no-brainer to me. Without a mortgage, we would have so much more disposable income available for other pursuits. Pay off other debts Other [...]

Although it is incredibly rare that I have cash to spend, I like to hang on to any spare change I get. Any coins are considered to be spare change. I like to keep them in two ziplock bags, one for gold (one and two dollars) and one for silver (fifty, twenty, ten and five cents). The main use I have for the gold coins is to pay for any parking. I regularly see a client in the city and need to pay for parking while I am there. Honestly, I could park on the street for free and move [...]

In an effort to share more about myself, here is a list of my favourite things. I'm sure there are a lot more things that I can add to this, so check back later to spot any updates. My Favourite Things Harry Potter book – Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter Movie – Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire Number – nine Colour – aqua Animal – Leopard Vegetable – potato because you can do so many things with it; mash it, roast it, fry it in many forms Fruit – mango Spread - Vegemite Take Away Food  [...]