Upward Bow or Wheel Pose

Camel Pose

Cow Face pose

Bringing something new....

I've decided that because Yoga is quickly becoming an extremely important part of my every day life, that it is something i would now like to include in my blog world. Ive been at it for probably around a year off and on, but only in the last couple of months have i really started to become dependent on it as a balancing part of my day. to start with i plan to share each pose i have mastered or newly discovered, i'm still quite new to all of this so please don't hold it against me if i don't always use the correct name for poses. I don't take life too seriously so i'm not a 'professional yogi', just a woman exploring a newly developed passion. I also encourage my kiddies to take part in the daily yoga ritual with me so don't be surprised if they pop up on more than one occasion. I also don't look as glam and amazing as some others out there do when i do my yoga, sure i hope to get to that point one day, but for now i am happy to do yoga in not only my workout clothes but my regular clothes, pj's, reno clothes (really whatever i feel like) and in my house or yard (which most of the times pales in comparison to some of the epic places i've seen actual yogi's photographed in!).  I hope you enjoy following along with me.

Namaste friends
'The spirit within me, salutes the spirit within you'

My Smoothie recipe :)

Just a quick post this morning to share my go-to smoothie recipe. Of course there are hundreds of different recipes and combinations but this one works for me as something I can just throw together every day and not feel intimidated to come up with different combinations. In this smoothie I know I'm getting a good balance of what I need post workout.

Daily Vital Smoothie

Makes 1 serve

1 serve protein powder* (I use a chocolate flavour)
1 cup frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries etc)
1 loose cup baby spinach leaves
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp coconut oil
Approx 1 1/2 cups chilled water

Place all ingredients into your blender (I use the K-Mart version of the bullet blender), make sure you tear the spinach a bit as you put it in and blend until smooth. Enjoy :)

*I don't know a lot about protein powders but I will touch on what I know and have tried in a future blog.

A challenge for me...

Yoga is something that makes you feel incredible. It's almost super human sometimes the way that your body can twist, bend and balance, and it allows you to find the strength you didn't even know you had. I've decided to create a yoga challenge just for me, to challenge me and remind me that yoga is something that I need and want to do every single day. So that will be the challenge, to practice yoga every day (not that it's a chore to do so). I plan to do my yoga workout and then add an extra pose at the end which i am hoping will become more challenging as time goes on. I am planning to use Instagram as a record keeper and I also plan to use #ailyogachallenge (an inspired life yoga challenge) just so that I can individualise it and find my own posts in future. If any readers would like to play along please feel free to use the above hash tag or just tag me in your post as I'd love to follow your experience too.
I'm excited to do this, there's nothing more to say but Namaste!

#ailyogachallenge

Linen cupboard clean out:

The first is the before shot :o a bit embarrassing.

The rest are how it looks now and HOPEFULLY how it will stay.
As you can see it isn't a large amount of space that I have to work with but as I am still on my unstuffing and decluttering journey I have managed to remove, reuse, recycle and relocate quite a bit of the 'stuff'. I store my sheet sets inside their matching pillow case to keep things nice and tidy in such a small space. Our face washers and hand towels now live in the plastic tubs. I also have an allocated 'rag bag' at the very top too.
Due to the small size of the cupboard (clearly someone who cared nothing about storage designed this house) our other linens have to live elsewhere. Our towels live in the bathroom on a shelf built by my Poppy and the kitchen linens live in a kitchen drawer. These areas had to be tidied and refolded while i was at it as well.
I know it's not a really exciting area to work on but any space no matter how small or large can provide a feeling of pride and satisfaction when you get it just the way you want it to be :)

Before

After: A rag bag at the top and tubs containing hand towels and wash cloths.

After: Sheets all neatly tucked into their matching pillow case

Towels

Kitchen linens

As i sit here.....

 ...........with a steaming cup of cinnamon orange rooibos blend tea beside me, a stack of dirty dishes in the sink, listening to two happy healthy little boys having their allotted video game time in the other room i can allow myself to feel proud of who i am today and who i plan to be in the future.
 In the present time i have been coming down with a cold over the past week and i have been refusing to acknowledge it, i have pushed through it so far by exercising, eating a healthy balance of good foods and keeping busy. Today it has manifested from the runny nose and sore throat into headaches and that very unwelcome 'run-down' feeling. I have forced my way through it though with a linen cupboard clean out, some baking which i will share here at my other blog and i am at the very beginning of giving a small area of our home a little (and very much needed) face lift, the hallway.
In the future i hope (and plan) to work really hard on my time management skills and also my lack of ability to stay motivated, i have no problem getting motivated as i love life, it excites me but once i start something and it's not 'new' anymore is where i start to fail.
 I was planning on this being a little longer but the computer screen is making me feel a bit off, so i will cut it short, though not before i share my linen cupboard makeover (very exciting business ha ha)
Wherever you are I hope that you are having a wonderful day full of love and warmth x

Hello again.....

I've been on a little bit of a blogging hiatus. I have been trying to find a balance within our home, myself, our family and any other interests, activities and hobbies that i have. The conclusion that i have managed to come to during my 3 month break from blogging is that i am terrible at trying to find a balance. I won't stop trying though, this life is way to short to skimp on anything. I need to be available to my family and myself, i also need to fit the necessities of life in (e.g. scrubbing the toilet and cleaning up an infinite amount of spilled soggy cornflakes and toast crumbs), and i need to find something for me to do, whether its  finding a new career path, sticking with the old or trying to create a future from my craftiness/creativeness. Right now i'm feeling a little overwhelmed and lost. I have however found a new love and passion in becoming active. I haven't been interested in being a very active person since primary school, when you are young you run, play and have no negativity about being involved in sporting activities. As i have aged i had forgotten about being a consciously active person. Sure i'd run if a dog were chasing me or a child with a poopy nappy or boogers on their face was headed my way, other than that the only active times in my day were housework/housekeeping and the occasional wonder in the park or run around the yard. At 30 i am now rediscovering what it is like to enjoy being active on purpose. I'm sure i'll share a little more of that in future blogs. I guess i just wanted to check back in and say "hi". I plan to become a little more active in the blogosphere, ive missed writing the random thoughts that run through my mind and the satisfaction that comes from blogging.

Continuing a gentle transition...

It's Wednesday today and when we left off it was mid morning Monday.
I've still avoided coffee this week and have only slipped up once with something really sugary, that was last night, I had an icecream (it had to be eaten though so it wasn't there to tempt me when I move to phase 2). I've been eating relatively good meals including a beef roast and toasted Hawaiian wraps with caluiflower rice. I am becoming more and more aware of the sugars in everything and I think if all I get out if this in the end is this awareness that I now have then I think that's a pretty powerful thing. I've been drinking lots of tea/teeccino's which I'm getting a little bit tired of, I think I need to switch to citrus water for a little while. Today I'm feeling really tired and cloudy. A little bit unmotivated to be honest. I am considering coffee today but I think it might be because I haven't had anything decent to eat yet today. I have a dirty kitchen and can't bring myself to clean it so that I feel like preparing anything to eat yet! But once this update is done I will get off my butt and get to it! And I'm pretty sure I'm done so off I go.. To do something productive ;)

Gentle transition...

This week I'm following the first week of Sarah Wilson's IQS (I quit sugar) program. I've also decided to quit coffee for now. This is something that I will hopefully live with for the rest of my time so therefore I'm being easy on myself and taking the time to transition gently and slowly. I'm going to keep a bit of an unstructured record of the journey here, a food diary and a health/wellness record.
Pre-IQS I've been feeling really tired, anxious, moody, unmotivated, emotional, bloated. I hope that along the way I feel less of these things and more of the positive states of being.
Sunday (day 1) I did skip my usual morning coffee. I had multigrain toast and vegemite. Followed by hot chips and tomato sauce for lunch. Then a couple of candy snakes and some lime & pepper chips as a snack. Dinner was crispy chicken wings with celery & carrots (takeaway). I drank tea or water. Obviously a few bad choices but that's ok, I'm ok with that.
Today (day 2) no coffee again, instead I had water this morning and then took a cup of black earl grey tea with me to school. Had to go to the shops after so I have just (at around 10am) had some vegemite and butter wholemeal toast and an added sugar free teeccino. I'm feeling a bit tired today, I have a slight headache (guessing caffeine withdrawal). But I still feel motivated and plan to go and do a bit of exercise (which I hope will motivated me to get started on the housework!)
I'm not sure yet what the rest of the day or even the week will bring. I hope to keep feeling positive about it all though.

Planning for change (with food) *update*

I am a very impatient person (one of the things i need to work on) as far as my food journey goes i have re-established my food philosophy. By this i mean that i am developing my own food philosophy and not just taking an idea or someone else's way of living (i.e. the Paleo way of eating) and trying to follow it exactly. My food philosophy is one that has been around for a while but i've adapted it to suit our family. That is "Everything in moderation excluding all things that have no nutritional value" (the main one of these being processed sugars). So we (my family) will choose not to eat things that have no purpose in our bodies, instead choosing to eat what will effectively fuel and nourish us. This week is our transition week, i am using up all of the not so good ingredients and foods or discarding them. I am aware that preparation is the key, i'm looking forward to this change x

Music that soothes my souls, captures my imagination and warms my heart.....

I'm seriously blessed to have musical people in my family, however, i am not musical. I can't play music and according to my husband i can carry a tune, but i would never consider myself someone who would pursue singing or making music, unless of course it was entirely just for fun and my lack of ability wasn't an issue. I also have musical friends. These people make me happy, as do many of the artists out there who make a living with their amazing talents. I want to share with you today just a taste of the music that soothes my soul, captures my imagination and warms my heart. Music makes me feel alive, reminds me of how amazing this life is.

This first artist is actually my sister, i couldn't be more proud of the fact that someone who shares the same bloodline as i do possesses so much talent and passion. The world is missing out on something special, they just don't know it yet. Yes i'm probably biased but check her out, you won't be disappointed.
I will shelter you- JaimeLee (original)

I remember loving this talented person when he was on the TV show Australian Idol,  it won't be the defining moment of his musical career, i know this because of the absolutely inspiring music he is currently capable of. I was fortunate enough to see him play live recently, having heard nothing from him since i had seen him on the show, now i can't get enough. I have the Roadtrip Confessions album, i listen to tracks 7 (Please) & 8 (Oh! My Kingdom) over and over.
Crazy Heart- Buffalo Tales

I was also fortunate enough to see this guy live too. He was so brilliant and i can't wait to get my hands on this Album. I love his sound and recently read a descriptive of the songs on his album as i listened to it i feel fortunate to know some of the thoughts behind music that i enjoy There is so much Aussie talent out there right now.
Man on Fire- Harry Hookey

Saw Busby Marou play the same night as Harry Hookey, these guys have an awesome sound and some really great lyrics. Always a favorite, can listen to them all day any day. Their Farewell Fitzroy album is brilliant.
Luck- Busby Marou

There are plenty more than this but this is just a taste and i hope you enjoy x

Feeling good about my place on the planet

I've been cleaning surfaces in my home with this little concoction for a while now, in fact is has been a long time since I have purchased a surface cleaner. It has been a little difficult to get used to for a couple of reasons. One being that I really used to hate the smell of vinegar but I am slowly becoming accustomed to it and also that I had been used to that very sterile perfumed clean smell that comes with store bought cleaners. I use eucalyptus oil in my cleaner (you don't have to) because I enjoy the smell. This is just a baby step on my way to making all of the cleaning solutions I use in my home including washing detergents, laundry powder floor cleaners etc.

Taking time to breathe

Sometimes I forget to breathe, life can be so overwhelming and I allow the stresses of everyday to snowball and become an ever present looming shadow over every decision and action that I make. Doing small things or making small decisions seem to feel like they are life altering, although they are far from it. The last few years have felt like a very stressful time and have caused me to become tightly wound and moody. Quick to fly off the handle and my parenting has suffered for it. I find myself with an attitude sometimes that I'm not proud of and i feel even worse when this exact attitude is expressed by my beautiful children (namely Master 6). I have a fierce protective and unconditional love for my children and it breaks my heart to think that I could be causing them to be unnecessarily stressed or to have a negative outlook. So sometimes just breathing is a problem. Taking the time to take a deep cleansing breath before I act or speak is something that I really need to work on. Maybe counting to 10 and deciding if what I was planning to do or say is really what I want. Allowing myself to see the possible outcomes or just to let feelings of stress, anxiety or frustration go. I hope we all get the chance to take the time to just breathe in this beautiful world that we've been blessed with.

My Paleo Plan

I have been trying to figure out where to start and when to start as well. Having to think about three other people who live in this house as well makes it a bit more difficult to just jump in. I'm allowing us and everyone else (mainly my little boys) the school holiday period in preparation for change. We will be celebrating a 4th birthday as well as indulging in a bit of Easter craziness and since they have been looking forward these times i would hate to take the excitement away. So we have two weeks to consume the things that we really shouldn't be and then say goodbye, at least for the vast majority of our time. Granted every now and then we won't have preferred choices but that's ok, i plan to address that issue if/when it comes.
I also plan to do a pantry raid. I have a couple of reference lists of what foods are Paleo approved so i will cull everything that isn't on that list (so nearly everything ha ha) and throw or give it away. There are some items that i can keep like spices and canned items (eg. tomatoes) but once these are done i will be choosing the organic version in future re-stocks.
Then I need to come up with some workable meal plans. The first 30 days focuses on resetting your body and taste buds, it isn't recommended to have any sweeteners, not even Paleo approved ones. This is so that you get used to the taste of purely natural sugars from fruit. So i will need to plan this time very well as i can imagine myself craving sweet and salty processed treats and caving in because i am tired and detoxing.
This is my plan, i hope that i don't fail myself and my children. I am really motivated to make this change and i really hope to keep this feeling and enthusiasm long enough for us to make the change and realise how wonderful this change could be.

Reading as a catalyst for change

I have over the past few years acquired a couple of the most lovely and inspired books. I wanted to share the five i currently have that i hope will become a catalyst for change in my home, in my heart and in my soul. I know that I am the only one that can make changes to who I am and what i do but i take inspiration from the world around me and the clever, thought provoking people who live in it.

This is one that my Mum gifted to me, I have only just cracked the spine as i have been feeling a little bit lost lately and have felt like i need a few words of wisdom to give me courage and to help me understand  what the future may bring for our little family. Boys are very special creatures and being a female having a little enlightenment on how to decipher them can only be a good thing, right?

This was today's splurge, I have only just come across the Paleo way of eating, i refuse to call it a 'diet' because it isn't that, it's a way of living. Learning to nourish our bodies with the things that they were made to process and digest is very appealing to me. My hope in changing the way we eat will be that not only will i feel better every day but that i will give my children the tools that they need to live long and healthy lives. This book and this chef are inspiring and i am looking forward to spending a lot of time with it.

This book is simply gorgeous, it is just a lovely book to sit down and read while enjoying a cup of tea. I've scanned the whole thing and then gone back and read a few things that have been relevant at certain times. It encourages us to live simply, to slow down and to live more sustainably. The way it is set out and the pictures just bring me a calmness and a hope that this is what my life may one day look like.  

 This is my own personal visual journal (i guess you could call it). I'm quite a creative person and a heavy thinker so i need an outlet or i start to feel claustrophobic in life. This book i am using for a whole bunch of different ideas, to record thoughts and of course to draw when i feel the need. I'm not an artist, i prefer more of a crafty outlet but this has been quite fun and enough to tide me over until i have the time and space to get creative again.

This book has been so inspiring for me, i have had it a couple of years now and i keep referring back to it.  I feel as though i am very very slowly on my way in my journey of unstuffing and organisation and this book really helps to break it down in a very sensible way. I hope in the future to become minimalist and a lot less consumer driven. Ironically i have misplaced my copy and i really need to find it, or i will be purchasing another copy. 

So there are a few of my favorite books and i'm really excited to be sharing them with you.

Breaking it down to rebuild it a better way

One of my issues is that i'm pretty much on my own in the parenting, the  house keeping, the  providing sustenance and in the planning for a healthier lifestyle. Having a partner who is a brilliant provider but who has hardly any spare time in the week can be pretty tough. I need to be understanding that he needs his down time but it can be really hard when we all get so tired and frustrated with the life that we are currently living. It is my hope that i can influence him and our adorable children by changing as much as i can. As it stands we live an ordinary, average life. We watch tv, they play video games (very limited), i plan meals and shop at grocery shops and buy what we can afford, we buy takeaway, we don't have a very active lifestyle and i'm not proud of how i keep my house at this stage. We are consumer driven and are influenced by advertising and society.
That's just a touch on what i believe are borderline negatives and some definite negatives. I'm 30 and i am starting to let myself get into the frame of mind that 'it's too late', i've lived this way for 30 years of my life and i am wondering how i am meant to make these changes when this current way of living is so ingrained in me. However the thing that saves me from letting this become an all consuming thought process is the fact that my children are 6 going on 7 and 3 going on 4. They still have a whole long life ahead of them and this time in their life is so very important in giving them the tools they can use to live a happy, healthy and fulfilling lifetime. So for me at this stage i need to break it all down so that i can rebuild it all in a much better and healthy way.

The following are the things that i need to alter, i know it will require research, time and effort but here we go down the rabbit hole....

1.My way of thinking.
*Taking responsibility for my roles
*Not allowing negativity to cloud everything
*Taking time to enjoy life

2.The way we eat.
*Implimenting the Paelo eating plan to see if it works
*Cut down or out Takeaway
*Encourage the children to cook and bake

3.The way i run our home.
*Get motivated
*Take pride in where we live
*Create a home that i love

4.My parenting
*Being an available parent
*Better time management and routine

5.The way i look after myself
*Excersise
*Healthy self-indulgence
*Yoga, yoga, yoga!
*Meditation
*Always listen to music as it nourishes my soul.

I feel like i'm slowly getting my mojo back, although sometimes is feel like i'm in a never ending cyclical battle of will, determination and inspiration that is consistently opposed by negativity, tiredness and practicality. I do think I will get there, if not now then at some stage. This is what i really want and the lifestyle that i desire to be living. I want to feel alive and i need to know that i am using this life that i have been born into and blessed with in a way that i will feel content with.

...... and somewhere along the way i got lost

I was living this life

                              

........................ and then somewhere along the way i got lost.

Having a reflective moment that was brought upon me by the gripping feeling of being overwhelmed by everything caused me to journey back a little bit through my own mind and through my old blogs (this and a couple of others that are now inactive), i saw the person i hoped to be, the joy i had, the motivation and the inspiration that i found in life,

..................... and then somewhere along the way i got lost.

How it happened, i'm not sure. I still want the same things that i did a year ago but i somehow fell off the path and have been on a cross country trek through dust and fog to try and stumble my way back. 

These days i just feel old and tired. It sounds a bit pathetic, i know this, i'm only 30 and i have two beautiful young boys that give me reason to feel alive each day. But still i look around me at what surrounds and i look inside myself at what i aspire to achieve and then i just feel lost. 

This has to be the starting point for a new beginning, I just have to figure out which part to start at. The influential factors that will catapult this change will be health and diet, organisation and unstuffing, being an involved and available parent and the dream of simple living. I know i need to start somewhere, even with baby steps, i have every motivation that i need sitting right in front of me in the form of my most precious, adorable children. Now i just need to get to it, go out there and catch my dreams.

Supporting the 'Make up free selfie' campaign...

There has recently been a campaign being shared around Facebook encouraging women to take a 'makeup free selfie' in support of breast cancer awareness. This campaign has had support from a lot of women including some I am very close too and respect very much. However the Facebook vigilante's, as usual, have come out in force and slammed these women or at least made negative comments or posted derogatory pictures in response to this campaign. I have chosen not to voice my opinion publicly on this page (facebook) but i feel entitled and driven to voice my opinion right here on my own personal blog page which has very few followers but I will allow others to read these words if they so desire. Lets break it all down. Firstly it's 'Facebook' for goodness sake, if you don't like what others are saying don't get involved, full stop, surely we each have enough self control to achieve that much. Secondly I do believe that a few points made regarding this particular campaign were valid (eg. the campaign should encourage donations), but since when is it each individuals role to pick apart each and every thing other people do and to have an opinion of it? Thirdly, I applaud these women for baring their faces, warts and all, for the whole world to see, it is the World Wide Web, remember. It is really hard for some women to share something that personal as most of us use makeup as a societal mask to allow us to feel more comfortable with who we are and to take it off and expose ourselves is a big deal. Granted it is nothing like what a cancer sufferer has to go through and I would never ever want anyone that I'm close to to have to experience it but maybe exposing their faces to the world is as close as some will ever get to the discomfort of a cancer sufferer? How do all these people who have slammed these women know how much they do or don't support charity's and research organisations, they don't. My personal campaign will be a week of make up free selfies in support of these women. People who have me as a 'Facebook friend' (and Instagram follower) will be exposed to me bare faced everyday for a week and those who take issue with my support of these women, I encourage to unfriend me and unfollow me, because people who need to voice their negativity or any opinion at all that makes another person feel even slightly bad about who they are and the personal choices they make regardless of the context/platform don't need to waste their very precious minutes of this short life viewing my less than perfect complexion.... I mean who knows what kind of opinions they may have.
Just adding a small note. A friend who has joined the campaign just added a very valid comment: anything that makes you stop, think and check has gotta be good for early detection!! 
I agree with this 100%
Well done all of you gorgeous women who are beautiful inside and out.

Becoming an 'available mum'

Another of my endeavours, or rather this is more an experiment. I'll call it an experiment as I'm sure I will tweak a few things along the way. This week, and yes I have given it a one week timeframe, I am shutting down some of the main distractions in our lives for at least 90% of the time (or thereabouts, I haven't done the maths lol). Our biggest household distractions are Tv, movies, the Internet, game consoles and mobile phones. So I have made the decision that the children won't use any of the above and will only be allowed half an hour to an hour of Tv/DVD in the afternoon after school while I prepare dinner. As for me, I'm not overly fussed about missing the regular Tv, my biggest distraction is social networking (Facebook) and watching catch up shows on the Internet. So I won't be using any of the above, my only two exceptions are blogging (which I hardly do) and Instagram (as I'm doing the '100 happy days' challenge and it's good for my soul). I feel like this will make me become a more available parent. When there's no rush to get back to the Tv or computer I think i will be able to spend more time enjoying each moment. I also believe that my boys will appreciate each others company more and learn how to 'play' again. I'm getting ready for quite a few days of complaint and fights but I hope that we make it through the week and come to the realisation that we don't actually need that stuff as a constant in our life. Right now I'm not feeling like the best parent, especially to the little guys that's still at home with me, so for me this is something that my children deserve for me to do and encourage. Day one is nearly over and we've almost made it. Can only look forward to making it through the next 6 x

Rantin' and a ravin'

I probably shouldn't even be writing this post as I don't even blog really anymore. I guess I just talk & talk all of the time that by the time I think about a blog I'm so sick of hearing my own voice in my head that even I'm telling myself to SHUT UP! But I guess I'm in a mood & everyone knows to never get in the way of a woman in a mood... Even i know not to get in my own way! Anyway here's my inappropriate over the top brain explosion for today.....
Some people just piss me off that they are so illiterate & dumb. I'm not talking about the occasional spelling mistake that happens when writing a long winded msg & then typing send or post or publish because you are too excited to do a spell & grammar check, I'm talking about 30 year olds who actually don't know how to spell or use the correct grammar & still can't figure it out with the wonders of spell check & autocorrect. Or younger people who are are still being educated & are highly capable of spelling words correctly and are just lazy. It makes me so cranky to read things knowing that they've been typed & as I'm typing this autocorrect keeps popping up & fixing my mistakes, if you can't spell the word even with autocorrect then don't use the word people!... I'm not saying that i never make mistakes, I do make plenty of them, but i do try to make the effort to correct myself. Then there's the people, who I'm sure, don't actually connect their mouth/fingers (for typing) with their brain. For example: tonight trawling Facebook (oh why oh why did I bother), i came across a post talking about baby names and I love reading baby names so I indulged. The writer was asking for single syllable girls baby names so people were suggesting things like Eva, Mia, Bella.... What the heck! Just because it's a short name doesn't mean it's one syllable... Try saying it out loud to yourself & then type it. Also I think people just disregard the whole point of the conversation just so that they can get their own point across eg. Someone thinking " I like these certain names & they are the best so I will just post them even though they are irrelevant & the writer will have to trawl through all of the crap to get to actual valid suggestions".
Anyway I need to stop typing now because frankly I couldn't be bothered anymore & i already sound like a terrible picky person, but things like that just bother me & I just need to keep myself away from them.
Ok peace out x

Photographing today...

Here's a link over to some shots i took today,

An Inspired Life in Pictures

Enjoy x

Cut it 2014: Food

With this weeks grocery shop came the hard decision not to buy any chips, crackers or baked goods in the hopes that I would bake & make any if those types of foods that we want to eat. This way i know exactly what is going into the foods that my children are consuming. I love my chips, so oven baked chips was the first snack food that I have cooked this week. I have a few other recipes that I plan on trying so I hope that they are a success so that I can remove the processed snacks from the grocery list permanently (except for a rare special occasion).

Cut it 2014: social media

This is a hard one as my iPhone is generally permanently attached to the palm of my hand, so I need to find a permanent place to leave it. It needs to be central so that I can convince myself that I'll always hear it in case of emergency (home phones just don't cut it these days lol) and it has to be out of the reach of little hands who like to take countless selfies and attempt to unlock it to the point of disabling. I know that I could always remove all social networking from my device, delete Facebook, Instagram, google etc. but I think it's self control that I need to work on. Plus one of my favourite life motto's is "everything in moderation". So here I am about to publish this post, and check Instagram & Facebook one more time. I will use my phone to take pictures through the day as Its important to me to document this life but I won't check Facebook every two minutes just in case something interesting may have happened in the last 120 seconds.

Cut it 2014: Food

Just a quick one. Cutting out sugar in my morning coffee & replacing it with natural organic coconut sugar. I've never had milk in it. So will see how I go as I can be a bit of a sweet tooth.

Cut it 2014: Food

Today (change to yesterday as i didn't realise that it didn't publish)I did a grocery shop that included a large variety of fruit & veggies and almost none of the processed foods that generally make on to my list: chips, cakes, breads, crackers etc. I also included some chia seeds (which I've used before) and plenty of ingredients for smoothies. When I returned home I opened my cupboards only to be greeted by a very large amount of candy & sweets that have been collected or gifted to us over the last couple of months. First task remove all of it. I'm not wasteful and I'm not giving all of that up completely (at least not at this stage) so it had been placed in a container & hidden. So now when I open the pantry I am not greeted by a quick sugar fix. Next I true my fist attempt at a smoothie, we have no blender at the moment so a food processed will have to do in the meantime. I must say it wasn't terribly pleasant... So I need to find a list of good recipes for them. Lastly I cooked a lovely healthy dinner of sausages & wholemeal cous cous with baked veggies & lemon. I feel pretty good today considering I have manage to get alot done on my little boys room makeover, child wrangle & provide a day of somewhat healthy eating. Baby steps for me, and I feel as though I've taken one.

Cut it (down or out) 2014

I've decided that this is my year to "cut it down or out" and by "it" I mean a lot of things... Sugar, processed foods, bad choices, social media, tv and various other unhealthy, unproductive habits. Again I am going to try and work these things through and share a series of blog posts titled "Cut it 2014". Although it seems counterproductive sharing it in this way, it is yet another little inspired personal journey of mine that I feel the need to document. I don't plan on living a strict life that allows no acceptance of the unhealthy/unproductive things I just plan on allowing myself the opportunity to live as the most healthy and productive version of me that I can be. Also in doing this I hope to give my children the attitude and tools to live as the best possible version of themselves. I try to find inspiration in every day and in other people and I'm hoping that any readers who may stumble upon this blog are living happy fulfilled lives or are at least on the path, as I am.

So that didn't work...

My fabulous holiday journal didn't work out, I was just so busy most of the time that I didn't get a chance to get to it! But since this blog is mostly for personal purposes I am hoping that my memory will serve me well, if not then I have the 1200 photos that I shot. Anyway on that note I will pop a little collage up in this post just out of interest.