half year intentions

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This is inspired by Laura's post at One April Morning.


On the 14th January 2011, I made two resolutions: build my house, and continue to train and eat well. The latter has been pretty easy, with my training coming along in leaps and bounds. The former? Well, things change. It has been put on hold for a few years whilst we figure out what our next 'stepping stone' will be. Actually, I feel as if my carefully constructed Life Plan has been turned on its head.


Due to this, my intentions for the rest of 2011 are:

• stop planning the big things for now - just let life take me where I need to go. Put faith first and know that I'll end up where I'm meant to be. See everything as an adventure and a learning opportunity.
• stop talking and start doing - this is particularly relevant to me right now.
• try to look at everything in a positive light, always.

a slow city

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I am taking a tourism marketing subject this semester (last semester at uni after five long years!) and I need to create three reports on a tourism issue over the course of the semester. I am very excited as I am passionate about something called the Cittaslow Movement. I will implement this idea/strategy across all three assignments if I can, and will also report my findings on this blog. Please stay tuned if you are interested in this! I hope to see many more communities take on this way of life.

review: minding frankie

I finished reading the delightful Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy the other day. In a nutshell, it is about a little community of people who take turns babysitting a child. Stay with me here...
It is an amazing story with many charismatic and flawed characters. Actually, so many 'main' characters that it probably wouldn't work in any other book - but Binchy ties them all in together so nicely so that you're not overwhelmed with keeping up with them all. Amongst the main characters is a recovering alcoholic, a workaholic with no friends and no personality, a couple of elderly characters, a priest, a girl who puts her life on hold for a one-sided romance, a doctor and his wife, a cancer patient, and a lady who is glue that holds everything together - and these characters are just off the top of my head, there are many more!
A lighthearted and easy read, but with enough depth for the important issues and a really, really good writing style, I highly recommend this book to anyone.

love this

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand… It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: we are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and they only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. The stars died so that you could be here today”Laurence Krauss

Woke up this morning to find this by the lovely Jo Foster. Had to share.

in training for survival

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I've been intensely training since October 2010 with my trainer. At first it was to lose weight and tone up, but it has become much more than that now. This may sound very corny, but I'm now training for survival. I want to be at my peak in physical fitness, and in top mental and emotional health, so I can deal with whatever is thrown at me, at anytime.
Worst case scenario: I can't help but think, somewhat pessimistically, that maybe Australia is too lucky...maybe we are just sitting ducks a la Tomorrow When The War Began. In that case, I need to be in peak physical fitness to be able to survive.
Or, say, dealing with natural disasters like floods, storms, fires. I want to physically be able to get out there and help people, not sit at home thinking everything's ok cause I'm ok. 
I've been doing a lot of boxing too, which has helped immensely in self defence. I can throw a very hard punch and I have quite a bit of muscle mass behind me, so I feel that I have half a chance if I were placed in a threatening or volatile situation.


Whilst these things may sound depressing, it is a case of survival of the fittest. But what's not to be overlooked is strength of mind and strength of character. I want strength of mind to be able to deal with the inevitable human emotions: loss, hurt, fear. I need strength of character to be able to take things in my stride and carry on. To stick to my guns and never, ever compromise on my morals and values.
Whether it's dealing with pregnancy/birth, helping people out, running around after kids, dealing with a death in the family, I need take it all on and run with it. Good sleep patterns, meditation, low stress levels, exercise and nutrition is my strategy to achieve this.

a place to call my own

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I live with my grandmother, and have done so for a little over a year now. The boy and I lived on our own for pretty much six years before she invited us to keep her company. Things have been pretty good, apart from a few stressful situations. But I feel it is time to move on and find a little place to call my own.


Plans change. The original 'Plan A' was to live with Grandma until we built our dream home on our average-sized, suburban block of land. Now, after much deliberating and discussion, I think we have decided to sell our little piece of land and buy an older house. One that isn't all sparkly and new. One that needs work, needs love. One that we can work on - the boy being very handy and me being good at interior design - and turn into our own little home.

Why the change of heart? After a few comments were thrown about, we decided what we really want, long term, is a few acres...not necessarily in isolation, but just a big, spacious property where kids can climb trees and my hyperactive kelpie/staffy can run around to his heart's content. Where I can plant orange trees and apple trees and lemon trees...have an expansive veggie garden overflowing with fresh produce. Maybe even a few chooks. Where we can build a cubby house for the kids, have the typical Aussie 'tyre swing' from a big gumtree, maybe even a little dam.
I can't afford that dream property at the moment, so buying an older house for now feels like a stepping stone towards this. I'm also keen to start a family in the next 24 months, and I can't do that until I have my own place and everything is settled.

Actually, I think that is what this whole restlessness is about: I just don't feel settled in my life.

when a bad day turns good

This morning was one bad incident after another. From my car not starting, to forklifts not working at work to almost falling off a ladder from two stories up...it seemed today couldn't get any worse.
Slowly but surely, as your mindset starts to change from negative to positive, things get better.

Last week I found a fraudulent overseas transaction on my credit card, worth $500 - this afternoon my bank had investigated the activity and reimbursed me. I had a lovely conversation with the sales girl at a health store, nice to know that females still can be friendly rather than catty. I needed to edit 10+ articles and the writer was just fantastic, making my job a breeze. I was sent an unexpected cheque that was a credit for something I overpaid. I then received an email before I left work saying that I've been selected to permanently contract my editing services to another educational facility (already contracted to one), with consistent weekly work (any freelancer knows consistent, weekly work is the be all and end all). I come home and the boyfriend was able to get the car started, which means no major issues and no $$$ needing to be spent. My Grandma had also cooked up a feast, so I didn't need to cook. And I have now finished all my work early and can relax and read a good book before bedtime.

Ahhh :)