*Saturday 26th November, 2005

Start of my 5 week '70's Crackdown NYE Challenge'

Weight last weigh-in: 84.8kg
Crackdown starting weight: 85.1kg
Result this week: +0.3kg
Total Challenge loss so far: n/a
Kg to go to Goal of 79.9kg: 5.2kg
Weeks to go: 5

Putting on 300g is not very much in the big scheme of things to me - considering all the eating we did last weekend with my dad visiting - the party food, lunches out at restaurants, hot breakfast etc I tried hard the the remainder of the week to lose as much of the gain, and considering I was in   t he 87's after last weekend - I am impressed! lol Sticking to points and doing some exercise sure helped.

Coz is kicking ass, he weighed in at 77.3kg this morning, his new LE, so he is pretty excited too. I I know I have said this before, but it is definitely easier to have your partner doing this with you. His goal is around 73kg This gives him a couple of kg to play with. He was 73ishkg when he met me, then went up to just on 81kg, so he has been keen to fit back into his clothes :-) When I was at my highest we were 35kg. difference in weight , now I am only 7.8kg heavier! That blows my mind!

Week 1 has started really good. We are tracking everything, we have already done a 30 mins brisk walk down to local shops to get some groceries. We had a yummy fruit salad for breakfast, then homemade hamburgers for lunch and we are cooking freshly caught (yesterday) trout tonight with cheesy rice & steamed veggies and for dessert, we are having WW lemon pudding with a coffee. LUSH! Planning our day always means we get more food for our points and we luv it!

We started the crackdown crackers a couple of days ago and we are proud to say we have been following it to a T. No lollies, no chocolate, on points, tracking everything, doing exercise and the main thing of  sticking to 3 meals is helping so much. If do get hungry, we have fruit, or a few nuts, dried fruit, coffee or tea, yogurt etc. It's interesting though, our bodies are already getting used to the 3 meals a day and it is like our body knows when meal time is coming up as we get hungry. The real test to see if these crackers are going to work is next weigh-in and we will have a full week sticking to all the guidelines.

Today we had a wonderful sleep-in, it was so lush! And the kids stayed quiet, which was great. We have been so busy the last few weekends that this is the first weekend we have done absolutely nothing! It is total bliss :-) Right now I am sitting on a comfy lounge chair with my feet up using the laptop and we are watching Star Wars 2 - we bought the new Start Wars 3 the other day and the kids want to watch it, so they watched Star Wars 1 yesterday, and are watching 2 and 3 today. They are classic movies huh! I enjoy them, not a massive fan, but they were big when I was a kid!

Tomorrow we are thinking of going for a drive to Sassafras for a coffee and get a couple of things from the deli they have at the cafe too. I love going for a drive up the mountains - nice and refreshing - love the greenery and the fresh air :-)

LMS leaves for America today - her first overseas trip! How exciting! Hope her & the boy have a safe & fun trip :-)

Anyway, enough from me for now. I am off to catch up on some other blogs. Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend too!

Talk soon xox

Night Note- as you know,my weigh-in day Saturday has been a 'free' day in a sense for a very long time and I would always be playing catch up during the week to make sure I had a loss. However, with crackdown everyday is on points day and I am pleased to say I did it today! And I checked on the scales and I am not way up like a  usual Saturday night, I am still on track and it feels absolutely amazing!!! YAY ME!!

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*Friday 25th November, 2005

The Plan of Attack for the Silly Season (part 2 of previous post -  read previous post first)

Ok, so...there are 3 social occasions during December that I am going to have to prepare for. Phillipa asked how I am going to tackle Christmas day, so this will hopefully answer her question :-)

  • Work staff Christmas picnic - food is provided. Last year is what a sumptuous buffet and it ended up being indoors due to weather conditions. So seeing this one is *cross fingers for good weather* out at a park, not sure what the food will be, but I will have to watch my portion control - that will be the test. I am also going to cut back on points that week and save up an extra 12 points + plan on exercising a lot to help combat any extra kilojoules eaten.

  • Work staff & member Christmas Party - (I work at a gym for those who don't know). The menu is also a buffet, but I know in advance what the food will be.. There will be minestrone soup there, pumpkin soup, roast lamb, turkey & chicken, veggies, salads etc & dessert - a menu (minus the dessert) which is easily adaptable to point estimates, so feel more confident with this one. Again I will save points & do lots of exercise that week. Plus there will be LOTS of dancing!!!! Not sure if I am going to have a few drinks, but perhaps being the designated driver may help me save points! I would like to have a little pudding & custard though as a treat.

  • Christmas Day - Surprisingly, this is going to be the easiest one out of the three! Firstly because I am not spending it in NSW with my family - this is bad obviously because I don't get to see them, but good in terms of points as it is all about food when I am with my family! Every year My grandma makes a banquet of delicious foods for lunch on Boxing Day (& Christmas day we are visiting for a couple of days). My dad prepares lots of nibbles & lots of yummy food on Christmas day, plus there is another dinner or lunch out at a restaurant thrown in there and every time I am soooo stuffed!!! Remember last April's holidays? 4.2kg heavier upon return!! lol So, that is why this day is easy this year. Coz, myself & the kids spend Christmas with Coz's mum, brother and maybe his uncle. Secondly, is because this year I suggested we have a BBQ picnic at a local park. That way we can choose point friendly foods for the BBQ like seafood (prawns, calamari, octopus, salmon, fish etc), chicken & veggie kebabs, salads, bread rolls and a fresh fruit platter. No one else likes pudding and custard or fruit cake, so I am not going to buy them for just me! Great deterrent huh! Plus I found a few point-friendly sweets recipes at the Weight Watchers forums, so I will probably make those instead & take them with us. Here is a link to the recipes.

They are the challenges at the moment that I can think of. I am pretty lucky I think, only having to conquer 3 occasions. And preparing myself well ahead of time will hopefully have me confident on the day to make the right choices. We can only hope! LOL

I worked tonight 4-8:15pm then heading a an inter-club work Bowling Challenge. We all played one game for warm-up then 1 game as competition. Our individual points will be added up for our respective club and see who the winner is this year. Was so much fun, plus I got about 45 mins of bowling workout as well!! We have the best team at our work, even our direct Managers and big bosses - I love it!!

Yesterday I was waiting in the right turning lane at a major intersection on my way to work when my car died. I was like "FUUUUUUUUCK!" cause not only was I on the way to work, but I was in a busy intersection, blocking a lane backed with sooo many cars. I kept trying to start it and it started before the lights changed. I rayed and prayed for my car to make it through the intersection to the service station on the opposite corner. Man was I praying I would stop smack bang into one of the busiest intersections around. The lights changed and as I started going round the corner, what happens?? my car seized again, my heart was beating so fast. I kept moving as it was rolling and you won't believe this but it made it to the servo, up the driveway, past the bowsers (which luckily had no one there) and directly into a parking spot and stopped!!! HAHA How lucky am I!! How kind was God to me that day!!! My angels were definitely on my side! I am not overly religious either, but we always seem to pray in times of need lol I couldn't believe my car made it all the way to a parking spot then stopped - was priceless. Then it was 19mins on hold waiting for RACV (roadside assistance) to answer my call. Then about another 45 mins till the tow truck came. I was not annoyed though as I had been so lucky. I was pissed though thinking how much that 19 mins call would cost me!!! :-( Anyway, I got my car back this afternoon - $600 later!! Bad timing right before Christmas!!! but hey what can I do! My dad said he will help me out with some of the costs, so that will be so good :-)

UPDATE: Coz just reminded me of another challenge, and that is our camping trip from the end of December and over New Year's Eve - so we will need to plan what we are going to cook & eat so we don't end up at the fish & chip shop, or late night pizza. We are camping at a popular tourist point down the coast, so walking distance to any shop your mouth desires & your nose smells LOL so we will be working on that over the next couple of days!

Food for thought: Here is a link to an article posted in a comment on Kathryn's Blog by Haloranch. It supports my theory of jumping on the scales regularly, as well as having some great tips that remind us of things we may already know, but are not practicing all the time.

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*Thursday 24th November, 2005

70's Crackdown!!! Countdown to NYE!!!

  • 5 weeks to go

  • Goal 79.9kg

THE CRACKERS:

  1. 3 meals/day + 2-3 pieces of fruit & yogurt - Snacking for me has become more of a habit than because I am actually hungry. And once I start snacking, I just keep going. I am eating in between meals for the wrong reasons. So I have set my days planning into 3 meals and the only extra food will be fruit, raw veggies, yogurt, tea & coffee! Snacking involves 5-6 small meals per day. I was having my normal size 3 meals + snacks which always ended up being too much food. So I am cracking down on this and trying a different approach.

  2. Tracking everyday & sticking to 22 points per day - I have stopped tracking religiously. I am still aware of what I am having in my head, but of course, we all know that doesn't work. And I am always going over by a few points more often than not and they add up! So I am cracking down on sticking to points and tracking everything that enters my mouth!

  3. Planning & preparation - Every night I will sit down and plan the day ahead so I don't come across any temptations or out of control moments. Planning takes the guess work out of it and creates confidence in myself that I will end the day satisfied that I have succeeded! I will be prepared by having point friendly options always on hand to again stop temptation and mindless snacking. I am cracking down and just flying through the day without thought.

  4. No-Fail environment/No chocolate or lollies - As Dr. Phil says we need to make our environment fail-proof. If it isn't there, we can't eat it. I have gotten a little, ok a lot slack in this department and constantly have chocolate and lollies in the house and have developed a bad habit of having chocolate with my coffee and lollies after dinner - very bad habits! So Coz has got rid of them and now they are out of sight, they will become out of mind. Cracking down on these empty calories that are hindering my success!

  5. Portion Control - This is something I have been more conscious of this past week and I am really noticing how I get full on a lot less food than I think I can eat. Listening to my body is really helping, so I plan on continuing to crackdown on 'my eyes being bigger than my stomach'!. I notice since losing weight I can no longer eat as much as I used to, I get full a lot quicker, so I just have to try really hard to build up the strength to stop at that point!

  6. Exercise - I have slackened off over the last month. Being busy really is not an excuse, but it is if you tell yourself it is and that is what I have been doing. But no longer!! I am cracking down on my lazy lame ass attitude LOL and bringing back my slogan - JUST DO IT! and so far so good. I have exercised both Tuesday & Wednesday of this week and will again be exercising tomorrow. I have updated my exercise log today and it has been about a month since I did that last - shocking huh! I am not setting a specific goal yet for this , as I am taking each day as it comes till I get back into routine! This is something I am VERY serious about cracking down on as I know my body needs exercise to lose a significant amount of weight for the week!

oh - just got a call, gotta go & pick up my car - it's fixed! - will tell you about that later. be back soon xox

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*Tuesday 22nd November, 2005

Feeling Beachy!

As you can see from the change in background & pic I am feeling beachy - hanging our for Coz & I's 2 week QLD holiday next March! I love travelling the coast of Australia. The pic of me in the right column is from the beach at Byron Bay, NSW. Yes Jules, it has been a while in between webpage facelifts - LOL, bet you wondered what was going on with Miss Chameleon hehe :-) luv ya chick!!

The weather outside is not reflecting my mood lol, it is not cold, but no blue sky in sight! Plus I am stuck on the couch today with a very sore back that feels like it could give way anytime - very frustrating, cause it is my day off, wanted to go do combat, Pilates then shopping! But instead I am trying to find something decent on tv to watch - despite having foxtel!!! Don't ya hate that! LOL

My weight is coming back down after the weekend eating out, so that is great! Hoping to at least end the week in the 85's, close to my new LE of 84.8kg last Friday.

How cute is Beck's boy Bradman!!! You are glowing Beckie, u r such an awesome mum! He is an angel :-) Was just reading her blog and he is absolutely gorgeous!

Today DS turn's 8!! He is so excited! DD turned 11 a few weeks ago too. She is actually away at camp from today till Friday, so just the 3 of us tonight to celebrate. He wants to have calamari, hamburgers, taco's, chocolate mousse, rocky road etc...he is so thin, but eats so much!!! He can eat a hamburger with the lot like Coz & I, but quicker! Amazing! But he just keeps on getting taller instead of putting on some weight LOL But man is he a funny fella! Natural comedian he is. Here is is (these are from weekend). He had a haircut yesterday and he really looks 8 years old today lol:

    and here is our family: 

I love us! Despite them not being my biological children, we have created such a beautiful home & family and everyday we are all grateful to have each other!

So tonight, we are either going to cook up a couple of the dishes I mentioned above & have a cake or go out to a buffet place nearby where DS wants to go to as he can have as much calamari & ice cream he wants! LOL Coz & I are not too keen as we have been in damage control since the indulgent weekend - see what happens! I know we can say we will go there and limit ourselves, but I am thinking I would rather avoid the temptation - but it is his birthday - hmmmm lol

So I have ended up back on Channel 9 watching Days of Our Lives...I am a sucker! I blame my grandma LOL, whose house I would stay at in school holidays when I was a kid and we would watch it with her! hehe

mmmm just had leftover shepherd's pie for lunch- yummo! going to have a Milo dessert now! so gonna go! Have a great day :-)

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*Monday 21st November, 2005

Week 20 - '20 Week Challenge' Weigh-in - Friday 18th Nov

Weight last weigh-in: 85.4kg
Weight this weigh-in: 84.8kg
Result this week: -0.6kg
Total Challenge loss so far: 6.6kg
Kg to go: Only 1.3kg short of my goal! pretty good I think :-)
Weeks to go: 0

So, I got to the 84's!!! YAY! I weighed in a day early cause of the weekend of socialising ahead! Friday night we had my dad, his wife, Coz's mum & brother over for dinner. There were lots of nibbles and we had fajita's for dinner (which are always so filling lol). Then on Saturday, we skipped brekkie as we all had a great sleep in and went for lunch. Had more food!! Then Friday night we went to the party in Williamstown which was awesome! But again more food - it was cocktail finger food, which means Coz & I ended up trying everything twice (or was it 3 or 4 times lol) Then Sunday was a big hot brekkie and Sunday night was leftover fajita's. Yes we are paying for it now! I hadn't been to the toilet between Thursday and until yesterday! It's funny how your body hates it when you go off track and eat what you are not used to. I was so confident I could tackle these past few days with strong will and determination, but it was just easier to eat - I am sure you understand how this happens! Therefore things didn't really go to plan. So at the moment my weight is up but hoping it is just post bloat from all the crap food!!! Am back into it today. Was ready for the gym but my back is killin me, think it is from sleeping in the hotel bed on Friday night!! Nothing like your own bed huh :-) SO I am on a mission to claim back my 84's!!! It was so awesome to see them on the scales last week - man to get under 85 was soooo cool!!!!!! :-)

Had lots fun with my dad, got some great pics too. Will be adding them to flickr today :-) Was so good to catch up!:-)  A couple of issues though on the last day with them, but I don't really feel like getting into it right now, but will write more about in another post!

I will be starting my next Challenge from this Saturday. There are 14 weeks till we go up to Sydney and I would like to be around 77kg. Last weigh in was 84.8kg, so 7.8kg is my goal loss.

Anyway gotta go for a little bit, will be back to finish my post later xox

PS Did you know 30 lollies from Allen's party mix is 923 calories  & 150g sugar!!! OMG!!! That is insane!!! I knew that lollies added up to lots of calories, but that many is just not worth it!!

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*Tuesday 15th November, 2005

Catch up entry

Wow! Have I been busy! Lots of things going on this past week or so and although I have been reading other blogs in between, I have not been commenting or writing on my own blog, so thought I should write a post to let you now I am still here! :-)

The weekend was so fun, we had a surprise farewell party at our house on Saturday night which was so great as she was very surprised! We all enjoyed good food, few drinks, music and chatting! I made lots of cocktail type finger food and everyone raved about it. One of the ladies from work gave me a Thank you card and a gorgeous candle to say thank you for all our hard work and the wonderful food - so nice of her! I love entertaining, I love seeing everyone enjoy what I make. Maybe one day all the Melbourne Blogger's could come over to my place for a party get-together :-) and I could spoil you too :-) Then Sunday night, we caught up with another couple who are our best friends and it was great! We have been busy these past couple of weeks cleaning up around the house and getting it organised, so it was so nice to get to relax on the weekend, knowing how good the place looked - man was it hard work!! Days on our feet, tidying, gardening, cooking, cleaning! We have been doing bits and pieces over the past few weekends, but with the party, we had to kick it into high gear. But with all this time on my feet, it looks like it will pay off!

My dad arrives on Thursday afternoon, so I am very excited!!!!! We are picking him up from the airport then having a bbq Thursday night. We still have the gazebo & fairy lights set up from the party, so it will be extra special! My dad & his wife are staying at our house Thursday night, then we are all heading to a hotel in Williamstown for a big party bash, and staying the night at the hotel with them, then probably have a yummy hotel brekkie and spend the day with dad :-). We come home Saturday afternoon/evening and hoping to take the kids to a fete/fair on at a local primary school - they would love that - great surprise for them :-) Man I can't wait to give my dad the hugest hug!!!

My brother has not been feeling well, and that is not good. He was in New Zealand last week for business and on the way to the airport, he had an episode where he couldn't breathe and the taxi guy had to pull over and call an ambulance. He is in the process of having tests, seeing gastro doctors (for reflux issues cause his throat to close) & cardiologists (as certain heart enzymes and too high) as they aren't too sure what is wrong, so that is making me a bit sad. He is only 27 and he is the dad of my gorgeous niece Olivia, that I have posted pics of. I don't think it is too serious, but not knowing is frustrating!! :-( Hope he feels better soon xox Love ya brother xox

I have been noticing my work pants getting looser and looser and so I jumped on the scales when I got home from work tonight and WOW! very cool number shining up at me, so I am happy. I haven't been physically tracking on paper this week but what I am doing it working! I am not even really counting points in my head, but trying to look at portions and meals and balancing it out over the day and my choices must be within my points/calorie allowance as I am losing! :-) The past 2 weeks I have maintained at  85.4kg, I am happy with that cause it means I haven't gained. It means as of last Saturday I am  still 1.9kg off my 20 week challenge goal, but with my sneak peek tonight, I am hoping to get that that down a bit by Friday morning, which is the deadline! I am hoping for an 84.x weigh-in this week! Have many occasions coming up which will test me. Have my dad coming Thursday; that should be ok as I am in control of the food for the BBQ, but then have the party on Friday night so have to limit snacking. Then have Saturday being out and about, then Sunday we are going out for lunch for Coz's mum's Birthday. Then Tuesday night we are going to a buffer place for son's 8th Birthday dinner. So lots of Challenges! I am still hoping to get to the 70's by New Year's Eve - that means I need to lose 5.5kg in the next 6 weeks - HUGE ask, but hey I am going to try!!! :-)

Once I hit the 84.x I am on the home run to the 70's, I think psychologically it will help getting below the 85's. Sometimes I still freak out that I have lost 23.1kg!!! OMG that is massive!! That is phenomenal!! I now also have another long term goal - in about a year's time - next Summer, Coz & I, along with about 4 or 5 other couples will be going on a 10 day houseboat cruise!! It is going to be awesome! There is a Jacuzzi on board, a big deck on top with sunbaking lounges, lots of swimming and relaxing & partying I'm sure :-) so it is an awesome incentive to get to goal! I think it is very possible for me to get to goal by then and what a reward huh!! We are starting another ING account to start saving for it - I can't wait!

Why is The Apprentice on so late?? LOL It is not on till like 11pm, and yeah I could tape it, but I hate doing that only to hear from ads or from people the next day who got booted before I watch it. Especially when I work all day Wednesday's so I wouldn't get to watch it till late tomorrow night. Oh and tomorrow night is 2 hours of House!!!! Love that show! Lately been watching Scrubs on Foxtel and that show is absolutely hilarious!!!! :-) Anyone seen it?

Anyway, I think I have babbled enough - will be back if I think of more to say.

Talk soon xox

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*Tuesday 8th November, 2005

Courtesy of Dietclub:

Weekend Calorie Crunching

When the weekend hits it's easy to think "I was good all week, it's time to party!" but consider this:

There are 104 weekend days per year. Add another 26 if you count Friday night as a half-weekend day for a total of 130 days.

Now multiply 130 by 300 calories, which is a relatively low estimate of the calories you won't burn because you feel you shouldn't exercise or the extra calories you'll consume in weekend treats, and you've accumulated 39,000 calories - the equivalent of about 5 kg!

Although the occasional splurge can actually be a good thing, it's best to think of weekends as just an extension of the week. Keep eating right and exercising often!

Scary but makes sense huh! And 300 calories on splurges is being kind too! LOL

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*Monday 7th November, 2005

Week 18 - '20 Week Challenge' Weigh-in - Sat 5th Nov

Weight last weigh-in: 85.4kg
Weight this weigh-in: 85.4kg
Result this week: -0kg (stayed the same)
Total Challenge loss so far: 6kg
Kg to go: 1.9kg
Weeks to go: 2

I am so glad to have maintained this past week. I had a few days of socialising between last Friday and Tuesday- wedding, kid's birthday party, friend's bbq, lunch down the coast PLUS TTOM and I managed to maintain - now that is an achievement! I didn't gain this month with TTOM (fingers crossed I won't pay for it this week in lieu though lol) I think it worked as around these social occasions I tried my hardest with my eating by having veggie soups, salads, fruits and lighter foods to compensate for the big meals and party food.

Coz has built a deck over our spa as it is currently out of action. The spa is located in a very silly position so now we have more available space and it looks awesome!! We stained it last night with this really great organic Jarrah stain - best thing it it didn't smell like turps cause it was 100% natural based - it actually smells like eucalyptus :-) Tonight we will be doing another coat. Coz did such a great job!! I will post pics later when he uploads them from the digital camera.

We used more of out cabbage leaves and I made stuffed cabbage rolls - so delicious!!! Been busy cooking  lately. Also made stuffed capsicums on the weekend - kids luv them too! Also did a veggie soup which I serve with lemon juice & freshly grated parmesan cheese. Then last night made a lemon cake and instead of a cake, I put them in mini muffin tins and made 40!! Great with a coffee - trust me - just had one LOL

I have not been writing much lately and I am sorry - just have been so busy enjoying life! Last week we had a few social occasions, but these past few days we have been enjoying doing the garden, building the deck, getting excited about picking colours to paint the interior of our house, we are in renovation mode!! - we have so many ideas! like we are going to take back our dining room - which is currently the study - can't wait for that! Coz works a few days a week from home, so what we are going to do is move the computer down into the granny flat and set that up so he uses it down there during the day and it also means work can be left down there once the work day is over and we can not worry about it while up in the main house and out the back enjoying our new decking hehe! My computer has pretty much died (I have been using our laptop for a while now) so we will leave the laptop up here so we can do net, email etc. Our house is going to look so awesome! We are also been talking about knocking part of a wall out between the kitchen and lounge. Our house is not that big, so it would help with making the area more open plan, add that to the dining room off the lounge and the light will just flow through even more. I have already found the colours I'd love to paint - and it's quite ironic, that in the current Target catalogue the towels on sale are the colours - if you have seen the brochure it is the chestnut (like a choc brown), sand (like a bone/tan) and mint (but more of a pale earthy version - hard to explain this particular colour) and white for the architraves - Bunning's also has plates, bowls, mugs etc in the colours (that is where the colours all came together - when i saw that! :-) So as you can tell - I am in paradise! Now we just have to get to saving - which we plan on getting stuck into after Christmas! Speaking of Christmas, we are getting the kids a pool & surprise them with it  Christmas morning. It is a busy (& expensive) time of year with 3 birthdays & Christmas within a couple of months of each other!

On the weight front, this year has not been the year I expected, but then again, I have managed to maintain when I wasn't losing and have lost weight too, current being 2kg lighter than my LE back on March! Technically I should be close to goal, but hey, I am here, I am not putting it back on and I have to remind myself I am doing this for me - not for my dad- who I am sure when he arrives in a couple of weeks will be expecting a bigger loss! I love my dad to bits, we are very close and he is such a kind, generous, loving person who I admire so much, but he always had many expectations for me whether it was school, uni, work, partner, my weight, life in general basically - so in a way I like living in another state to escape the pressure - but man it will be awesome to see him! Just wish I didn't feel like I have to be someone I am not. I guess I grew up feeling I was not good enough, never perfect enough, never did it the right way etc and meeting Coz and everything he has taught me to learn about myself and to love myself and be who I am and embrace life is the best thing that has ever happened in my life!! He has no expectations of who I should be cause he loves me for me and I now also love me for me! The more I love me, the more I want to do around me. Inn the past I was very unhappy with who I was and never really made an effort to better myself or my surroundings etc cause I had the mentality " it's not worth it' I felt I wasn't worth it cause I wasn't the right look, size, etc and always felt alienated from my friends although I had heaps! I created a lifestyle that reflected what I thought about myself and when I look back now, although I had many fun times, I was not truly being me! One thing that stands out is now that I am happy and not trying ti hide away, I am wanting to wear colour!! - and not so much black anymore, I am taking more pride in my skin, my appearance, my self-worth, my surroundings - I am slowly realising I am worth it and I should do things for me, not to prove anything or to please others - I was always a pleaser growing up and that is not a happy life. No longer do I think everyone is better than me - I am not lesser, we are all about what we make out of our lives and for the very first time I am taking it by the reigns and not holding on scared to fall - cause I trust in myself to have the best time of my life, no matter what!!

Well I better go, got to clean up the kitchen and do more bits and pieces around the place before work. Hop u r all having a great Monday and I am hoping to catch up on all your blogs tomorrow on my day off! xox

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*Friday 4th November, 2005

Butterfly 2 Bloggers Kris Kringle Butterfly 2

 

Head over to Miss Nicky's site to get the details!! I lurve Christmas - it has the most magical feeling about it :-) Hope you all join in- it will be lotsa fun!

 

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*Thursday 3rd November, 2005

Butterfly 2 Veggie Patch update Butterfly 2

We used our first organic, homegrown vegetable the other day - our Chinese cabbage!! So exciting. Look at the changes since we planted them below! Amazing huh!

Cabbage

   

Here is the dish I made - bbq'd fish with a yummy bacon, anchovy, cabbage & white wine cream sauce. It is the one at the back of the plate.

And we now have peas starting to grow!!! So exciting. check it out:

Here is an image I made to show our zucchini's (on the left) & our spinach (on the right) progress:

Once I sort out some other pics I will post more of our lush vegetable garden! Our cherry tomatoes have started growing, out strawberries are well on their way. Even our zucchini's & beans are starting to bud out veggies - this is so awesome!

Anyway, gotta go & do a few things around the house. I'm working tonight, was off yesterday feeling pretty crappy - TTOM + headaches, not really in the mood for work, but didn't want to let my manager down and have her have to work my shift tonight. I get three days off after this so all is good!

Sorry for lack of comments on other blogs this week - it has been so busy with birthday party, wedding, bbq's, melb cup, kids off school - crazy crazy! LOL Will write again tomorrow xox

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