Sooo...my birthday has been and gone.
Did I have lunch with the girls? Did I have a romantic dinner with hubby?
No. I tried paintball. I had to. It was on my list!
15 gorgeous girlfriends and I donned what looked like hockey jerseys and helmets, was handed paintball rifles and shot each other!!
Many of my girls were scared, some even thought about chucking a sicky on me on the day, but they all showed up excited and ready for some fun. After all, I was the birthday girl!!
Many of our husbands share in the paintball experience once or twice a year and I always thought it would be fun to try it.....just once.
The place that we went was indoors and therefore the guns were set at a lower pressure so thankfully if we were hit it wouldn't hurt as much. It was an amazing experience watching my friends...some squealing in girlie fear running from one shelter to another and apologising with each shot they fired, some yelling like army brats on a killing spree. I thought I knew my friends so well and yet some still surprised me. Many of them texted me later that night to say how much they enjoyed it and how it was much more fun than what they thought it would be.
C'mon girls, don't let the boys have all the fun!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Seasons
Today I had 3 people ask me how my list was going.
My answer? 9 down and 21 to go. Progressing nicely I would say.
I have lots of different comments when people ask about my "list". Most say it sounds like a fun idea and are inspired to write down thoughts of their own. Afterall, we all have thoughts and dreams about what we could do, might do someday or even musings about what other people are doing. I also have a few friends say something like "I don't know where you find the time" or "I wish I had money to do that", which has me thinking on the topic for this blog.
Seasons
I remember the season when I was single, living alone with my own business (dance studio).
I remember the season when I first got married, two incomes and settling into married life, playing "grown up".
A season of one income and a baby in the house came next, "playing mummies and daddies".
Then came two children and hope for a part time job on the side to earn some extra pocket money.
And now I find myself still happily married, two incomes, a mortgage with two teenagers, (one with their own income now)and the time and income to do a few weekend trips away with the girls or a romantic getaway here and there.
When I look back on each season that I have experienced so far (yes - there are more seasons to come) I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I LOVED my babies and each new milestone; first tooth, first laugh, crawling, walking, each new outfit and of course every photo that went with it. I was glad when the toilet training stage was over but it was great celebrating the achievement with each son. Actually, I look at each milestone as an achievement worth celebrating. Riding the first bike, the first school uniform (and the photo), learning to swim and that first soccer game.
I wouldn't want to go back to that stage of life now however but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I was there.
Currently, I am in the mum-taxi stage where my children have their own social life they need to keep up with. Part time jobs and girlfriends are now topics of conversation and the driving lessons monster is taunting me in preparation for next year. We are discussing cars and career possibilities. I love that I can get up and get ready for work in the morning knowing that everyone else in the house is organising themselves at the same time without my supervision or instruction.
My hubby and I are also discussing that romantic European holiday when the boys are all grown up and left the nest. Yes I will miss them terribly but I'm kind of looking forward to that season where I don't have to cook dinners for everyone whether I am hungry or not. Dinners out for two sounds nice.
Grandchildren I see are a great thing and I look forward to spoiling them and getting to know the two daughters I never had.
So where am I going with all this?
I love change. Change is good. Without change we wouldn't experience anything.
I wouldn't have gotten married without change. I wouldn't have had kids. I wouldn't have made half the wonderful friends that I now love and couldn't do without.
Change can be a little scary for some but imagine what you would have missed out on if something hadn't changed first.
Whatever season you are in, enjoy it. It won't last forever and you just might miss it when it's gone. Some seasons don't come around a second time so it's now or never.
Enjoy each moment you have with each person you can. Enjoy life!
My answer? 9 down and 21 to go. Progressing nicely I would say.
I have lots of different comments when people ask about my "list". Most say it sounds like a fun idea and are inspired to write down thoughts of their own. Afterall, we all have thoughts and dreams about what we could do, might do someday or even musings about what other people are doing. I also have a few friends say something like "I don't know where you find the time" or "I wish I had money to do that", which has me thinking on the topic for this blog.
Seasons
I remember the season when I was single, living alone with my own business (dance studio).
I remember the season when I first got married, two incomes and settling into married life, playing "grown up".
A season of one income and a baby in the house came next, "playing mummies and daddies".
Then came two children and hope for a part time job on the side to earn some extra pocket money.
And now I find myself still happily married, two incomes, a mortgage with two teenagers, (one with their own income now)and the time and income to do a few weekend trips away with the girls or a romantic getaway here and there.
When I look back on each season that I have experienced so far (yes - there are more seasons to come) I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I LOVED my babies and each new milestone; first tooth, first laugh, crawling, walking, each new outfit and of course every photo that went with it. I was glad when the toilet training stage was over but it was great celebrating the achievement with each son. Actually, I look at each milestone as an achievement worth celebrating. Riding the first bike, the first school uniform (and the photo), learning to swim and that first soccer game.
I wouldn't want to go back to that stage of life now however but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I was there.
Currently, I am in the mum-taxi stage where my children have their own social life they need to keep up with. Part time jobs and girlfriends are now topics of conversation and the driving lessons monster is taunting me in preparation for next year. We are discussing cars and career possibilities. I love that I can get up and get ready for work in the morning knowing that everyone else in the house is organising themselves at the same time without my supervision or instruction.
My hubby and I are also discussing that romantic European holiday when the boys are all grown up and left the nest. Yes I will miss them terribly but I'm kind of looking forward to that season where I don't have to cook dinners for everyone whether I am hungry or not. Dinners out for two sounds nice.
Grandchildren I see are a great thing and I look forward to spoiling them and getting to know the two daughters I never had.
So where am I going with all this?
I love change. Change is good. Without change we wouldn't experience anything.
I wouldn't have gotten married without change. I wouldn't have had kids. I wouldn't have made half the wonderful friends that I now love and couldn't do without.
Change can be a little scary for some but imagine what you would have missed out on if something hadn't changed first.
Whatever season you are in, enjoy it. It won't last forever and you just might miss it when it's gone. Some seasons don't come around a second time so it's now or never.
Enjoy each moment you have with each person you can. Enjoy life!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
How do you spend your time?
What are you doing right now?
What are you doing tomorrow? Next weekend? Next birthday?
Every day we each have 24hours.
Every year we each have 365 days.
We each have the same amount of time to spend and what you do with it is entirely your choice.
So often we get disappointed with life, what we are doing or not doing.
But the truth is, life can be as adventurous as you make it.
I just finished watching the movie "Julie and Julia" based on the true stories of two women. I thought it was a fun and inspiring movie that I could relate to.
Both women dared to dream. "If you don't have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?"
Both women dared to set a goal. "The tragedy of life does not lie in reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach."
I am a big believer in "have a go". Who knows what you can do until you try?
A friend gave me a book for my birthday about setting goals and values. It has brilliant quotes in it (that I am adding now)and it matches my passion so well, it could have been written by me! It is kind of bizarre I have to say, seeing all my values and beliefs in a book written by someone else, worded so much better than I could ever describe.
On one page of the book it says to be specific about what you want and goals you set. When you walk into a restaurant, you don't just say "I want some food". Instead you pick exactly what you want from the menu. We need to be like in every day life. Often we set one long enormous goal and have absolutely no idea how to reach it and then lose heart when it fails. I think the trick is to make lots of smaller achievable goals. More importantly, don't forget to celebrate each achievement as you go.
I had a friend once who often compared herself with others and often started her sentences with "I wish I could...." but yet she never really put any effort into doing anything. It reminds me of that quote, "the grass is always greener on the other side". Realistically, what that quote says to me is that who lives on the "other side" just works their butt off to enjoy that green grass!!
"If you aim at nothing,you'll hit it every time."
What are you doing tomorrow? Next weekend? Next birthday?
Every day we each have 24hours.
Every year we each have 365 days.
We each have the same amount of time to spend and what you do with it is entirely your choice.
So often we get disappointed with life, what we are doing or not doing.
But the truth is, life can be as adventurous as you make it.
I just finished watching the movie "Julie and Julia" based on the true stories of two women. I thought it was a fun and inspiring movie that I could relate to.
Both women dared to dream. "If you don't have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?"
Both women dared to set a goal. "The tragedy of life does not lie in reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach."
I am a big believer in "have a go". Who knows what you can do until you try?
A friend gave me a book for my birthday about setting goals and values. It has brilliant quotes in it (that I am adding now)and it matches my passion so well, it could have been written by me! It is kind of bizarre I have to say, seeing all my values and beliefs in a book written by someone else, worded so much better than I could ever describe.
On one page of the book it says to be specific about what you want and goals you set. When you walk into a restaurant, you don't just say "I want some food". Instead you pick exactly what you want from the menu. We need to be like in every day life. Often we set one long enormous goal and have absolutely no idea how to reach it and then lose heart when it fails. I think the trick is to make lots of smaller achievable goals. More importantly, don't forget to celebrate each achievement as you go.
I had a friend once who often compared herself with others and often started her sentences with "I wish I could...." but yet she never really put any effort into doing anything. It reminds me of that quote, "the grass is always greener on the other side". Realistically, what that quote says to me is that who lives on the "other side" just works their butt off to enjoy that green grass!!
"If you aim at nothing,you'll hit it every time."
Friday, April 16, 2010
Save a life!
Do you know that one in thirty people donate blood and yet sooner or later one in three will need it? Also, by donating blood you can save up to 3 peoples lives? Interesting facts that I learned this year....when I decided to put "donating blood" on my to do list.
Here I was making a fun list of things to do that I've never done or experienced, when I googled "bucket list" to get more ideas and found a site that had over 350 suggestions, in different categories and one was "charity work". When I read "donate blood" in this category I thought to myself, "I've always hated needles!" I mean does anyone really LIKE needles? Really?
I had two great pregnancies with no morning sickness but I had gestational diabetes. And surprise surprise, lets take your blood every chance we can to test it. Needless to say I'm not as scared of needles anymore.
Our church is having a blood drive through the month of April, the month of Easter when Jesus died and shed his blood for us. I thought that if Jesus could shed his blood for me, surely I could give blood to help someone else.
So I decided to be "politically correct" and put donate blood on my list for 2010. Not exactly FUN but definitely a new experience to be had for the first time.
I made my appointment and was told to drink lots that day to stay hydrated. I managed to drink 3 litres of water. I think that is a record!! I should have had THAT on my list....lol. I arrived at the blood bank, filled out all the paperwork and had a pin prick test to check my blood. After the all clear I was hooked up and watched for eleven minutes as my blood left me.
Afterwards I was given a yummy caramel milkshake and an apple muffin. You know it didn't really hurt at all. I was so impressed with myself that I will definitely be donating again. I have to wait at least 12 weeks before donating again. To hear how the blood is used is amazing; cancer patients, accident victims, women during childbirth and little babies who have just been born. It is such an amazing feeling to do something that could save the life of a newborn baby.
If ever you have thought of MAYBE donating blood I would ask you to think again.
www.donateblood.com.au
Here I was making a fun list of things to do that I've never done or experienced, when I googled "bucket list" to get more ideas and found a site that had over 350 suggestions, in different categories and one was "charity work". When I read "donate blood" in this category I thought to myself, "I've always hated needles!" I mean does anyone really LIKE needles? Really?
I had two great pregnancies with no morning sickness but I had gestational diabetes. And surprise surprise, lets take your blood every chance we can to test it. Needless to say I'm not as scared of needles anymore.
Our church is having a blood drive through the month of April, the month of Easter when Jesus died and shed his blood for us. I thought that if Jesus could shed his blood for me, surely I could give blood to help someone else.
So I decided to be "politically correct" and put donate blood on my list for 2010. Not exactly FUN but definitely a new experience to be had for the first time.
I made my appointment and was told to drink lots that day to stay hydrated. I managed to drink 3 litres of water. I think that is a record!! I should have had THAT on my list....lol. I arrived at the blood bank, filled out all the paperwork and had a pin prick test to check my blood. After the all clear I was hooked up and watched for eleven minutes as my blood left me.
Afterwards I was given a yummy caramel milkshake and an apple muffin. You know it didn't really hurt at all. I was so impressed with myself that I will definitely be donating again. I have to wait at least 12 weeks before donating again. To hear how the blood is used is amazing; cancer patients, accident victims, women during childbirth and little babies who have just been born. It is such an amazing feeling to do something that could save the life of a newborn baby.
If ever you have thought of MAYBE donating blood I would ask you to think again.
www.donateblood.com.au
Monday, April 5, 2010
It's the little things...
I have to share this with you because I am just so tickled with myself right now.
Today I ticked off one of the things on my to-do list - I ran a whole kilometre without stopping.
Now some of you are thinking...is that all?
But you have to realise what an achievement this is FOR ME.
As a teenager, I used to be quite good at long distance and cross country running before being a dancer. It was then all about flexibility and co-ordination. After having two children I never really did anything that needed stamina.
Needless to say when I started karate two years ago, the flexibility and co-ordination served me well and I found that I picked up many things quite easily but my stamina always let me down.
Last Christmas, when I went for my first major grade to get my brown belt, part of the grading included a quick run around the block which was exactly one kilometre. This was supposed to be part of the warm-up. I ran part, walked a bit, ran some more, and finished last. It was not a race I was told but I still felt like that last lonely little rhino who comes puffing along a minute after the stampede in the movie Jumanji. I then learned that each major grade involves this run.
I thought to myself, c'mon one kilometre is nothing! You just need to work on your fitness. So when I sat down and made my fun list for the year I also included a few small personal goals that were just for me. Finishing last is still finishing right?
That's the great things with small personal goals. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. I have friends who can run 4-5kms and while I can admire them and cheer them on, I won't compare myself to them. We all have different challenges in our lives. We all had different upbringings. We all have strengths and we all have our weaknesses. I'm a big believer in being the best YOU that YOU can be!
So today when I set out, I went by myself, and jogged at a slow relaxed pace.
And you know what? I came in first!! (ha ha ha)
When I made it, I must admit, I also did the "Rocky" boxer bounce with my arms raised in victory for no-one in particular.
Actually I did. I did it just for me.
Today I ticked off one of the things on my to-do list - I ran a whole kilometre without stopping.
Now some of you are thinking...is that all?
But you have to realise what an achievement this is FOR ME.
As a teenager, I used to be quite good at long distance and cross country running before being a dancer. It was then all about flexibility and co-ordination. After having two children I never really did anything that needed stamina.
Needless to say when I started karate two years ago, the flexibility and co-ordination served me well and I found that I picked up many things quite easily but my stamina always let me down.
Last Christmas, when I went for my first major grade to get my brown belt, part of the grading included a quick run around the block which was exactly one kilometre. This was supposed to be part of the warm-up. I ran part, walked a bit, ran some more, and finished last. It was not a race I was told but I still felt like that last lonely little rhino who comes puffing along a minute after the stampede in the movie Jumanji. I then learned that each major grade involves this run.
I thought to myself, c'mon one kilometre is nothing! You just need to work on your fitness. So when I sat down and made my fun list for the year I also included a few small personal goals that were just for me. Finishing last is still finishing right?
That's the great things with small personal goals. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. I have friends who can run 4-5kms and while I can admire them and cheer them on, I won't compare myself to them. We all have different challenges in our lives. We all had different upbringings. We all have strengths and we all have our weaknesses. I'm a big believer in being the best YOU that YOU can be!
So today when I set out, I went by myself, and jogged at a slow relaxed pace.
And you know what? I came in first!! (ha ha ha)
When I made it, I must admit, I also did the "Rocky" boxer bounce with my arms raised in victory for no-one in particular.
Actually I did. I did it just for me.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Girlie fun on a budget
Can you believe that we are a quarter of the way into the year? Crazy.
So far this year I have taught my son how to blow bubbles with bubble gum, watched the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" which is my favourite book and taken a ride in a helicopter, which was really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone.
Quite often we think that having fun cost heaps of money. Yes I have bought my Harbour Bridge Climb ticket and yes it wasn't cheap. But you know, I have also spent a whole day laying on my lounge, working my way through an entire series of a sitcom on DVD, eating cheese balls and drinking coke zero (which can be a good day every now and then.)
Last week I spent an amazing day with my best friend and we had an incredible day that cost almost nothing.
We went to one of the best beaches in Coffs Harbour that really only the locals know about (so I can't tell you the location....lol) and took almost 100 photos; artistic ones that could go in a magazine, creative ones like writing in the sand and decorating it with shells, fun ones playing in the surf and random ones that show how silly friends can be (ready for scrapbooking!)
We then went to the shops and grabbed some takeaway.
We ate lunch while watching the musical "Annie" and had the best sing-a-long together. We both do an exceptional "Miss Hannigan" impersonation and killed ourselves laughing.
But the best was yet to come! My friend has her own bucket list and mentioned in casual conversation something she had always wanted to do. So I organised it without her knowledge and surprised her. I bought 5kgs of red grapes and a plastic tub that I usually use for "at home" foot spas. Together we picked all the grapes off the stems and put them into the tub. She then got to stomp on them, barefoot for about 10 minutes. Of course I took a stack of photos and video footage. The squishing sound was so loud and she couldn't stop laughing. To share the experience I jumped in the tub too and we had to hold each other so we wouldn't fall out. It was so funny; we laughed and laughed. And if you're wondering, it did NOT look like red wine, the liquid was quite clear. (and we never considered what we were going to do with the slush when we were finished - I won't tell you what we did with it!)
We then finished off the day colouring each others hair; the cheap way with supermarket kits. She is single and I live in a house of males so we both really appreciated being girlie girls together. We laughed and laughed and really didn't spend hardly any money at all.
It is amazing how much fun you can have when you get creative.
xxx
So far this year I have taught my son how to blow bubbles with bubble gum, watched the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" which is my favourite book and taken a ride in a helicopter, which was really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone.
Quite often we think that having fun cost heaps of money. Yes I have bought my Harbour Bridge Climb ticket and yes it wasn't cheap. But you know, I have also spent a whole day laying on my lounge, working my way through an entire series of a sitcom on DVD, eating cheese balls and drinking coke zero (which can be a good day every now and then.)
Last week I spent an amazing day with my best friend and we had an incredible day that cost almost nothing.
We went to one of the best beaches in Coffs Harbour that really only the locals know about (so I can't tell you the location....lol) and took almost 100 photos; artistic ones that could go in a magazine, creative ones like writing in the sand and decorating it with shells, fun ones playing in the surf and random ones that show how silly friends can be (ready for scrapbooking!)
We then went to the shops and grabbed some takeaway.
We ate lunch while watching the musical "Annie" and had the best sing-a-long together. We both do an exceptional "Miss Hannigan" impersonation and killed ourselves laughing.
But the best was yet to come! My friend has her own bucket list and mentioned in casual conversation something she had always wanted to do. So I organised it without her knowledge and surprised her. I bought 5kgs of red grapes and a plastic tub that I usually use for "at home" foot spas. Together we picked all the grapes off the stems and put them into the tub. She then got to stomp on them, barefoot for about 10 minutes. Of course I took a stack of photos and video footage. The squishing sound was so loud and she couldn't stop laughing. To share the experience I jumped in the tub too and we had to hold each other so we wouldn't fall out. It was so funny; we laughed and laughed. And if you're wondering, it did NOT look like red wine, the liquid was quite clear. (and we never considered what we were going to do with the slush when we were finished - I won't tell you what we did with it!)
We then finished off the day colouring each others hair; the cheap way with supermarket kits. She is single and I live in a house of males so we both really appreciated being girlie girls together. We laughed and laughed and really didn't spend hardly any money at all.
It is amazing how much fun you can have when you get creative.
xxx
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