Merry Christmas for another year!

The years seem to fly by dont they. I wanted to be so organised and acheive so much this year, and in many ways i have:) I have so many more things to do yet:)

I love this time of year as it is a time for reflection and a time for looking forward and encouraging you to be the very best you can be.

I must admit i am struggling very much at the moment. Zoe has her driving license and never seems to be home. I am finding it hard to cope with. Especially at this time of year on the roads. Also the fact that it is Christmas Day and both the kids deserted us before noon. I feel a bit sad, even though i know i have to let go.

My dad popped over to visit after he had been to my step sisters house.

I have had a few doubts  about myself as a person, daughter sister and friend these last few days.

I have been told i am a wonderful friend, i am selfless, and amazing. I don't see it.

 I have been told i am too hard on myself and i am told i also don;t give myself enough credit....i'm not sure i know how to.
I think i may need to work on my self confidence this year:)

What got me thinking about the whole relationship thing is that i don;t spend time with family much. My husband and two kids are my family. Im now beginning to realize that i need to make the time to include other members of my extended family into my world. I use the excuse that i am too busy, or too tired.

 Not always physically tired but mentally tired and i feel i couldn't deal with any stuff they want to lay on me. I feel selfish now, as i  know my brother ans sis in law are struggling mentally and I'm not reaching out a hand to them.

I also feel that i can't trust some of my secrets to family ( yet have no trouble sharing with friends) i think that if i dont trust, maybe they have been burnt too and they may not want to trust me with their problems and troubles, however i would never betray a confidence and i dont like it when i am privy to some from other family members.

I know this probably doesnt make sense but i just want to get this down so i can read it back and maybe it will help me see things a little clearer.

I have actually go so off topic, i was wanting to say that i wonder if my dad even misses me, or us. We never have Christmas with him. Hardly ever see him. He sees my step sisters kids EVERY wednesday without fail and although they need to pass my house to get there, we NEVER see them:( Yes i should make more of an effort but where is the effort on their part.

However i do understand it it HER daughter, and men dont think about these things:) I have decided with the help of a friends advice that i am going to meet my daddy for coffee every few weeks so we can connect.

He and mum divorced when i was 4 then i never saw him until i was 15. We have a strained relationship as we have nothing in common......well until i found out that he too has/had anxiety and/or depression. What a revelation! I am interested to know more about how he ticks. I can see my brother and son in him so much.....

Just a little ramble to help me clear my head
Charxx

Toot Toot! My man is a star:)

Goal Setting!

( Image credit)
(Image Credit)

Setting Goals. Who sets goals? Do they help you? What do you set them for? Personal, exercise, home, work.
I want to set some but I'm really not sure how to go about it.

Sure i can write lists every where and achieve the odd thing here and there but i seem to lose track of the long term goals.

I need to set some fitness goals.

Im thinking more along the lines of exercise at the moment. Can anyone share some of their ideas? Any podcasts, tips hints?

There are areas in my life that can sure use improvement. Im trying to implement things so they become habit...Eg Pump Class each Tues and Thurs. That works......its great we just do it!

I need to schedule things in like a daily roster i think. It makes me feel anal but it seems to be how i work. I like to be structured and know what im doing. Lord help anyone who springs something on me at the last minute.
Especially my girl! She then likes to use the excuse that i didnt hear her because i am part deaf! I tell her i might be deaf but im not stupid, she knows to make a point of getting my attention and then waiting for an answer. Her excuse is just a cop out!
Its different when its something for me. Like catching up with a friend because i can be flexible there. Its something i look forward to. Phone calls and catch ups do me good:)



The thing with me though is i have stuff written down but im not sure how to follow through.

I have too many things distracting me all the time.

 Mainly housework. No one else seems to see the pile of washing that can be put through the machine. They cant seem to see the pets that need feeding.

My trouble too is that i need to visualize things so if i put my list away, then i forget what i have to do.

You know i took a job working part time so it would help me get on top of al the other things we want to get done. But its not working. I cnat seem to be consistant! Its driving me a bit crazy, just recently i felt a little overwhelmed again.

Thrifty Goodness (27th aug 2012)

Ive been fortunate enough to get to a couple of Op shops recently.

In no particular order some of the goodies i found have been....

 Size 10 Esprit jeans for $7.99. My smallest pair ever is an 11! Whoop whoop:) The gym is paying off.
Salvos at Berri

 Target Denim jacket, a novel, 2 vintage pillowcases, a vintage sheet and two matching plates, large and small...grand total of $5. Salvos clearing out sale at Renmark. I never knew they were still open.

 I love this plate, Nurioopta on a day trip with Zoe back in July.

I

Also at Nuri...$2.50. Can you believe it!

 These were $2 and $1.50, again from Nuri.

 $3 from Nuri.....

This was from Nuri as well. I gifted this to a friend of mine as i knew i wouldn't use it but i thought she could do something with it,,,well check this out......

Mardi used her creative skills to turn it into something amazing for her dear friend Janelle.

Happy 19th Birthday Matt Man xxx

Today is our beautiful loving son is turning 19.

 We look at him and wonder where the little boy has gone.

So shy and anxious, a deep thinker that rarely shares his feelings. Although if he loves you , you are shown, if he is cranky, well you are shown that too.

We love him SO much and are SO very proud of him. He has a job as an apprentice Fitter and Turner at a workshop close to home. He absolutely respects his boss and is full of praise for him.
He has really settled into the life off a working man.

He goes to Adelaide every couple of weekends to spend it with his gorgeous girlfriend who is studying away.

He has matured so much but in many ways he is still our little boy, not withstanding the fact he towers over us at about 184cm or so:)

 There will be more added to this post so stay tuned. I also have a few other things to link to it:)

A quick catch up for anyone who is interested....

I was totally spoilt on my birthday by my generous friend Mardi. She made me the most gorgeous cushion for my home. You can see it here

 

I took a photo of it in a couple of places at my house, and although these pics don't do it justice, i love it on my bed the best:) Note to self, change daggy covers on bed.....

We have had some gorgeous mornings here and i usually participate in the Photo A Day challenge held each month by Fat Mum Slim. Some of these may have been for the challenge...or

.... Other days i just  like to just pop my head out the door or when i go for a walk i like to snap pics of things that make me smile.

 Here are a few:

 The puppies ADORE going for a walk, you only need to mention the word before they are racing around like lunatic puppies. They make me laugh out loud and marvel at their energy, every...single... time!

 Some days im lucky enough to get the cats. But Pepper, the tabby, all she does is whinge the whole way. So to be horrid, i run away:)

 This particular day the moon and sun were both up and i loved the view, so i took this picture.

This was the same day as these other photos, there was ice on the drying green....Brrr!

A patch of nectarines all pruned, raked out and swept!! YAY!!! Only about 800 trees in this patch. Apparantly we have between 4,000 and 4,500 trees to prune each year. *Sigh*

Gosh I adore this kid! She drives me absolutely bloody bonkers and frustrates the heck out of me but how can you stay cranky at that gorgeous gorgeous facexx New glasses and hair extensions.

We have had her home sick on a few occasions as she has been suffering from constant headaches. We took her for blood tests, CT Scan, eyes checked, Chiropractor and she will be going to a jaw doctor as she has problems there that are exasperated by clenching her teeth (stress) and her jaw can click out and is quite painful for her.

She has also indicated to me that she feels like i did when my anxiety was at its peak and i was eating sugar ( i didnt realise at the time) and i was crashing all the time. So next up is the diet, we need to eliminate the crap she eats and boy does she eat crap, chocolate milk, chocolate, lollies, take away, subway cookies, chips and the like.

She works and so buys her own snacks, if i ask her does she really need them, that is on the occasion i see them enter the house, she says NO, but i WANT them, just because YOU don't eat them doesn't mean i'm not going too!

The nice demure shot that mum takes before they go out!

And the one i think they forgot im going to see, since it was taken with my camera.

Gee i don't like the colours with this camera, i might need to check my settings, they are all washed out.




 Check out these two industrious guys. The story behind these photos is that they both actually had to sew a button on their work pants. I refused to do it. Ha ha im not a mender im a maker. Daz was saying oh what a slack woman you are and being quite funny about it and then he proceeds to tell Leigh Oh mate, you are lucky mum is making you fix these because it is a good skill for you to have haha. Good save my lovexx

Just a random pic. Im not sure who she is...Jenny from Girls Gone Strong I think? (I will try to find the pic to link and credit it)

Now that is a body i am aiming for. Darrel and i go to pump classes twice a week. And we are LOVING it.

I have noticed i am getting ripped and it is an awesome feeling! I even had a compliment from my instructor the other week. She said oh your back is beginning to shape, it has those lines in it :)

Yay! I thanked her because that is what i want a toned back and gorgeous guns. I know this body is not out of my reach......so i shall be intending to follow up on some new exercise programs to achieve this goal:)

We went to the gym on friday night...i so didn't want to to but i am really glad i did, i noticed my arms are really starting to shape too.....it gives me inspiration to keep going.

What keeps you wanting to look your best? Do you have a picture in your head or do you have a visual goal like me? What do you do each day to achieve your goal?


I have had some news that my Daddy is not well. He has hardening of the arteries and the bottom of his heart doesnt work properly? He has to go for an endoscopy at the beginning of Sept to check it all out. Poor love. I know im not close to my dad but i do love himxx Get well soon Daddyxx

Hmmmm three little symbols

Its amazing what 3 little icons can do. I was told that having these 3 symbols at the end of a paragraph will give me them when by blog posts.

However does this now mean i have to do it at the end of every place i want a paragraph?

Surely not, that is going to be really tiresome!

Have i accidentely mad changes to my html without realising it?? What a pain this will be!

Another productive day here today:)

It started off with a visit to the gym.....followed by shopping....followed by lunch....then pruning....and now relaxing inside with the fire going.

I brought some extra ingredients today as i want to play with some new recipes from Teresa Cutters

I am sorry to post half posts at the moment. I want to blog a little more and i know Blogger doesnt hole your drafts on dates they date it for the day you post it not write it. I havent mastered how to set them to automatically post themselves yet.

Also can anyone help as to why my posts dont have paragraphs in them? I have them in my posts but they publish with none:(

What a wonderful day!

This morning started with a trip to get some straw hay for the chook pen. They were severely lacking in scratching materials. We also had to do some slight renos to their pen as they have been eating their eggs before we get to them, naughty girls. After we did that we spent some time digging up their pen and cleaning out their nest boxes and house:) After this we went to the vegie patch and finally planted the rhubarb, pontiac potatoes, desiree potatoes and the garlic. We had to pull out the capsicums as they were well past there use by date. After this we decided to pop into town. We had a list of things a few feet long we had to look for and buy if available. My heart rate monitor battery died, as did the electronic scales so we found some new ones at Big W. Win! We replaced our paper shredder, i am in the midst of decluttering and we have paper worl dating back from 2004 for the business, there are junk out of date papers, info booklets and i seem to have stuff filed in ~1 filing cabinet ~2 bookcase in our room ~3 in a cupboard under the bench ~4 in a set of drawers (small ones) on the shelf of my computer desk. So as you can see i really need to incorporate not only the business paperwork i also need to sort and file things like warranties, instruction manuals,rego papers, insurances and try to get them into a manageable system. But i love to create order from chaos so it will be a work in progress:) All this hard work LOL was followed up by a movie on the couch and shock horror!!! A nanna nap! One i rarely watch tv, and to fall asleep on the couch, hmmm unheard of:) Later on in the day we decided to pop out and do some pruning, we spoilt ourselves and did the rest of a short row of Katys and then a half row of nectarines. hey are going to take no time at all, unlike the Katys, ho hum, they are so blooming woolly and hard to prune that we keep putting them off. Daz has taken a week off so he will do some during his time off and i am home wednesday so i will help him:) Until next time:) Cya Charxx

Happy 44th birthday to me!

I must say i dont feel 44. Its a very nice number, its an even number, its a pretty number:) I received many birthday wishes on Facebook, good old face book huh:) I also received phone calls and birthday cards. I was spoilt my hubby. I had eyed off a sign a few weeks ago but it was $60. We couldnt justify spending that amount of money on a whim. Although when i buy something for me it is always just the thing i had been waiting for or something i had been tossing up whether or not to buy. I dont buy clothes willy nilly, i am very particular about what i actually spend my money on. You could call me tight fisted:) Anyway, we popped over to Berri for lunch today and we also dropped into the Op Shop as Zoe had asked for me to check for a tie for her partner that she is going to a 21st with. I found a tie that will match her dress beautifully, (hopefully photos to come) After leaving, Daz asked if i would like the sign that i had been thinking about recently? With us going to Adeladide, school holidays and the like he hadnt had the time to get into town to look for a gift for me. So i said sure id love it. Turns out the sign had gone down in price and was $44.99, rather poetic dont you think haha the 44 i mean. We have brought it home and i have decided where it is going to live. Just have to cross a couple of things off the to do list today and he will hang it for me....cant wait! My boss gave me a bottle of Banrock Wine, not sure of its name. My dad and stepmum gave me card and money, my daughter brought me a tshirt that says ...my heart ( a heart shape) loves the gym. How true is that:) Im going to publish this and add to it later. Thanks for popping by:)

A little something to share:)

Road Trip Shennanigans!

We are back from our road trip to Adelaide and we had a fantastic time......more on that later with pics to follow. Dinner at charlies with this gorgeous girlxx

This is the reason we went to Adelaide. I havent seen this chick for nearly 3 years and it was definately about time:) Love you long time Nisexx

I would just like to add that i love to give RAKs or do Random Acts of Kindness. This was brought home to me recently when i had decided that i wanted to embroider a towel for my friend and each member of her family:) I also made one for her sons girlfriend. I was thrilled to hear that when her son received his that he was just gobsmacked and so excited to have received it, she wishes that she had gotten a photo of his face. That he was just blown away. It made me feel really good that my hard (well not so hard) work and the time i had put in was appreciated:) The Aquatic Centre

Two gorgeous girls

Sneaky Shot

Me and my boy

Train crossing, we dont see these in the country

With the rising sun at our back we are on the way!

South Road Overpass

South road overpass

And another of the overpass There was a big discussion on industrial and structural engineering going on as we drove past this building site.

Crochet lessons in the car

Second Week of the School holidays already gone...

Yesterday Zo and i decided to go for a drive to Loxton to the Op Shop. She needs to get some driving hours up so it was a good opportunity to pop over. We found some really nice jumpers for Daz that fit him....AND... he likes them so that is a definate bonus:) Tommorrow we are off on to a road trip to Adelaide! Im catching up with a great friend whom i havent seen for 3 years. Her hubby has come over for business and she decided it would be a wonderful chance to catch up with me again and i am so grateful and happy to be able to see her again. We have just had a huge storm go through, we received 16mm in half an hour. Scary stuff, with lots of thunder and lightening. I'm having the puppies sleep inside because their bed has been flooded. I will pop some pictures up of some recent Op Shop finds. I want to get the post up and will edit it later so stay tuned:)

First day of July! Already!

Where has this year gone. I tell you. I had big plans at the beginning of the year to have a Christmas in July at our house this year, only because we are busy with our fruit at Christmas time and it is usually a rushed day and we may or may not have to go down and tend to the fruit earlier in the morning or later that night. Sometimes this is weather dependent too. We don't need almost dry fruit getting wet and having to re sulphur it. Such a pain! We also planned to have had the new verandah completed by then so we can spread ourselves our beautifully and be very relaxed. Well, so far this has not happened. We have been busy with other things, but when i look back its not things we NEED to do, like pruning, but it seems that its just everyday happenings that keep us busy without the chance to add the extra *need to do* stuff to our list. However, i will not stress about this. If i do decide to go ahead with Christmas in July then i have decided we will move the out door setting in doors and have it inside, much more cosy and warm anyway i'm guessing. So what did i get up to today? Hubby and i planted 360 Sweet Henry Peaches. These are yellow fleshed fresh market peaches, which means they would make their way to a supermarket somewhere:) The down side to this is that if we cant sell they, them they are not a dual use fruit in that we cannot cut and dry them if the market falls through! We still have about 12 to plant but time ran out and after 5 hours of lying on my belly siting the trees to a pvc pipe over the other side of the patch and poor hubby bending over all day, we decided that it was time to call it quits at 5.20pm. It was cold and getting dark.

The trees in the bin wrapped in bundles and kept in plastic until we could plant them.

Yes they are teeny, i was lying on my tummy trying to *site* these to the other side of the patch. We decided to go across the patch which was 6 rows as opposed to down the rows where there are 62 trees. Once we planted the two outside rows it was easy to fill in the middle four rows:) Ever tried to line up 62 trees planted 2.5 meters apart?? Maybe not? Tricky stuff!

Lexxii with her new jacket, of which she is NOT enamoured:)

Me playing along with #photoaday

After thawing out and getting the Gert from work, i decided to play on my laptop updating my blog. I have deleted links, added new ones, changed the headings and generally had a big tidy up too. I decided rather than have ALL my blogs under favourites, that i would have them on my blog and the ones under bookmarks will be odds and sods, bits and pieces. So there in a nutshell was my day. Ive not managed to menu plan or shop today but its okay. Lucky me has the day off tomorrow, the Gert and i are going Op shopping and coffeeing, having some mummy daughter timexx Cant wait! Have a great day!

Five things i am grateful for today.

I was reading a blog about living life more simply. And lately it has all been about Balance for me and my family. I would like to get back more into our vegie garden, our chickens, spending time with our family and reaching out to friends more. I came across Rhonda Hetzel It made me think about what i want and how we as a family are going about achieving what we want form life. It also made me want to list 5 things that i am grateful for today. ~ That my daughter rang us excitedly from her job today to tell us that she served the Potbelleez band their lunch before there gig at the local Club tonight. ~ That my nearly 19 year old son really does love us and it not afraid to tell us and give us hugsxxx ~ That hubby and i managed to start with the job of planting our new *Sweet Henry* Peaches on our block today. There is over 300 to plant:) ~ That my husband loves me very much and thinks i am adorable, gorgeous, beautiful, sexy and stunning, all at 6 am in the morning, and he tells me so. ~ That i have two gorgeous puppies that just make me giggle and smile so much. They lift my spirits when i am down.

Blogger doesnt keep drafts in date form :(

Oh no. I have heaps of posts i haven't had time to write and have just got prompts in them. I posted one just now and it is totally opposite of how i am feeling now, back when i was a little fragile! Looks like Im going to have to try to date my posts if i decide to publish them, bugger:) And whats with the no paragraphs?? I obviously need to get up to speed again with my Blog:) Bear with me then:)

Balance!

Ive been giving this word a lot of thought lately. I am continuously trying to find balance so i can be happy. I guess when you are unhappy you don't feel balanced and I myself, get stressed. The stress brings on my anxiety and then i just feel like shit. However, I am very happy to say that i think i have found the BALANCE! I feel so good about my life, I feel that I am managing it rather well and this makes me happy. Daz and I have had many discussions about why i am sad, why i need to have every thing so perfect, why i cant just leave the housework and do what I want rather than what i have to! He keeps trying to tell me that all that is important is TO BE HAPPY! Doesn't matter what it takes (within reason) then that's what you should do. If you are unhappy you need to change something, find balance! So guess what! I am slacking off with being perfect and its not even killing me like it used to, sure the dishes don't always get done, the house isn't always tidy and even now the front verandah is absolutely disgusting, we are in the middle of renovating it and usually i would be so stressed about the mess and the fact that its not clean and it is TOTALLY TOTALLY messy, and you know what? I close my eyes to it every day, (not literally as i could fall over something haha) I'm enjoying time spent in my craft room again. I used to go in there, look around, feel overwhelmed at all that i could do in there but i had no idea what to play with so i would just turn around and walk out again, feeling dejected. If the kids don't bring the washing out, not my problem. They don't want to eat what I cook, stiff, get your own, their room is a pigsty and is totally feral, doesn't bother me. Actually it bothers me if they have company and its messy! I don't expect them to do anything around the house, so there is now no pressure to hound them to get them to do the above mentioned stuff. If they do then its a bonus, and i must say my daughter does far more than the son, but isn't that always the way? Now this balance thing has really got me thinking. So much so that i have decided, well am seriously thinking about it, getting a tattoo with it on my foot. I would like it inked in my handwriting. There is more than the one reason for this. The double meaning is about when i got really sick, i actually lost my balance for quite some time. I also found that if i was stressed, having anxiety attacks, didn't eat well or exercise or if i drank too much coffee that my balance would just be out of reach. It would come and go, and along with this i would get nausea and slight vertigo. So there you have it. My reason for Balance!

Vintage Fabric Swap

Hi Peeps.....
I was lucky enough to participate in a vintage fabric swap that my friend Mardi held recently.

I decided to just stitch all my squares together in rows randomly.



I LOVE how it has turned out. I need to get some wadding before i can finish it. I feel a trip to Barmera coming on....haha. Only place in the Riverland i can get it from.

I adore the little boy and girl square and ilove love love the deer. My son suggested later i should have done it on the edge so it looked like it was peeking around from the back of the quilt:)


I was on a roll finishing off a quilt for my sons girlfriend for her 18th while doing my vintage quilt. She is moving away to Adelaide to study and i wanted to make her something special to take with her.



Anyway, Im pleased to share my unfinished quilt for the moment but as soon as it is completed i shall put up a new photo.
Thanks for popping by to visit my blog!

Little bit of white space and colour.

I found this scrumptious quilt pattern here Blue Elephant. It comes with a tutorial which i am going to print off and attempt. Well that one.

Or maybe this one from Sweetjane


Funny how i am attracted to white space. I used to love it when i scrapbooked too. It always seems to make things look fresher and cleaner somehow. That is the look i am now aiming for with my home style. Im not quite sure where to start though. Maybe a few visits to pintrest and designer sites will spark my creativity. Im kinda partial to design and colour, even though i am totally clueless:)

Feeling a bit ho hum today

Nothing major. Just things are crazy busy here which i am loving, dont get me wrong but oh for some time out!
Yeah i know im working part time now and im going to be more organised but i tell you what i havent really had a a chance to sit down and work stuff out or to plan things.

Im feeling a bit mixed up with my boy at the moment. He is never home, when he is you need to ask him to do his washing or clean his room and all you get is grief in return and that makes me angry and he just drives off. We sit here after the whirlwind has gone through shakin our heads thinking what the hell brought that on. We only asked him to ........! We never ask him to be here for meals, he doesnt have chores, he doesnt pay board, i buy stuff that we dont eat for his lunch.

His girlfriend has gone away for two weeks and he wont see her. Then shortly after that she is going away to study. I said to Daz well he is either going to be here more looking for company or out with his mates...hmmm not sure which but lo and behold last night brought a melt down on.

He says hey mum can we go to big w to buy socks jocks and tshirts? Im like what dont you know how to shop? So he cracks the shits and says dont worry about it. I went to him and said hey mate you are 18 you buy your own alcohol, buy your own clothes! That dint go down to well and so that brought on the question "Do you want me here?" The reply being you are never here so why ask us that question.

Anyways now he doesnt know if he wants to be a fitter and turner, maybe just a Tradies Assistant! Yeah well whatever, but the big point he made was maybe i should move to Adelaide?? To be with the girlfriend, yeah sure go right ahead, but who is going to hold your hand when you are sick and are crying in bed that its all too hard, i cant do this anymore......sorry but you arent ready and i dont think you could cope, the havint to think and fend for yourself will bring on anxiety and panic attacks again. Sorry mate, know you too well.

I know we need to let you go, but when you have spent all your money on PS3 games and not brought yourself jocks cause your butt is hanging out of them, sorry not sure what i should be doing here. Tonight we are going to have another little natter about spreading bills and payments out so its all not in one lump sum,. The trouble with my boy is it is ALL or NOTHING! There is no grey or in betweens, and in the day and age there needs to be, you can cope alot better when you can pace yourself and plan for things:) Sigh.....its very hard being a mum to a teenage boy that wants to be a man but still needs to come back to mum and dad for reassurance. Im thinking he will always be like this as he always seeks approval. I feel sad for him because i have the hindsight to know what to do and what I'd like him to do and what would be the best thing for him but its his life and he needs to live it. Live it for himself and not for me to live for him. So my son i love and adore you and will be here for you always but please harden up!! Dad and i shall help youxxx

Mums of older teens how did you manage to cope with these feelings and thoughts?? Please share with mexx
Have a great day Charxx

Memories

I just want to share this photo. I found it today and wanted to remind myself how much the kidlets have grown.





Zoe and her Daddy, this was taken in August 2008, back when i was into playing with my Photoshop.




Zoe and her Mummy. Loving her eyes.
You forget how fast they grow.
Just on the topic of how fast time flies and all that entails. Im not one for making New Years Resolutions because i beat myself up and feel like such a failure if i dont go through with what i promise. I NEVER EVER promise anybody anything unless i know i can deliver.

We do however have a few things we would like to achieve this coming year. Thats not the same as resolutions is it?

*Pull down our verandah and rebuild a bigger streamlined one:)

*Have Christmas in July with my family and with a Kris Kringle.

(We did that this year for my work do and it was really great. Its amazing what you can get for $20. I was extremly fortunate to recieve a Donna Hay cookbook. I shall take a photo! I promise:) Actually between birthday vouchers, Leighs book voucher and Christmas i was the lucky recipient of oh 3 or 4 cookbooks. Let me just say i LOVE cookbooks. However i am very fussy as to the books i do buy:)

*Schedule in visits with friends, which means a bit of travel coming up.

(With my job i am very lucky to be able to ask for time off with little hassle, so i plan to have a long weekend here and there. Did i mention that my boss is awesome! So are my workmates! We have alot of laughs and gigglesxx)

*Book in get togethers with local friends and families. I think a big goal of mine this year is to reconnect with people. Its been a long time coming (with my illness and all that entailed) that i am finally feeling like i can reach out to people and move forward. Im really lucky that i had huge support from many of my friends and i guess this will be a way to say thankyou to them.

*I wish to do more quilting. Even if it is just squares sewn together lol.

*im studying my nutrition, i have to hand up my assignments in April. Im looking forward to that. Not sure if i shall continue, it just depends on if its too hard as to whether i keep going:)

*We eat well and healthy, i would like to follow that on by Moving More and Eating Less. I want to include some kind of exercise every day! I know i will feel better for it and i have my little Dom on my shoulder egging me on!:)

What do you wish to achieve this year? Please leave a comment so i can pop by your blog and read your goals:)

Happy New Year!!!!!!
Cya Charxxxx