Reverb 10 Project

When I was lurking around the net, I came across the Reverb 10 website. That's an initiative to 'reflect on this year and manifest what's next'. Each day they have a prompt, something I am going to reflect about in my head and write about it. I don't know about you, but I am not the kid of girl who sits and thinks a lot about specific things, I have a thousand of thoughts running thtough my head every second of the day! So I thought that it was going to be a good opportunity to reflect on things.

I know it's the 20th December today and because I am in Australia, I am always going to be a day behind, so really, I gain one day!

Today's prompt:

December 19: Healing. What has healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?

That's a tricky question for me. There is physical healing and emotional healing envolved in answering that question. Where do I start?

3 years ago I was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer. Long story cut short, I had a lump in my neck which I was told was benign, five years later, they actually find out it was cancer, I had two surgeries (removal of my thyroid included). You think that would be the end of it, truth is, I never felt healthy after that. One thing or the other, something is always going on with me. I suffered chest pains for 18 months, I have migraines, I am always tired and moody sometimes, and lately my right side of the body is acting weird, I am losing movement and struggling to do normal things like write. It's a daily struggle to keep positive and not worry about what might be wrong with me. Yes, we are trying to get to the bottom of this, but bless the health system, I have an appointment in April to see a neurologist. Meanwhile, I just need to put up with it and try not to worry.

What healed me? No healing for me just yet. How would I like to be healed in 2011? I just want to feel normal again. No worries in the back of my mind (it's so much easier to imagine that's something seriously wrong than be cool about it), just happy living, ok, an accasional headache might be acceptable... but no more being a prisoner of worry.

I encourage everyone to take part of this project, it's that time of the year for reflection, you know?

Christmas cookies and more

I have been busy getting organised for Christmas. It is the first Christimas spent without family (well, kind of, my in laws are coming to visit and they arrive on the 28th December!), so I have decided I will make it extra special for the kids.

Yesterday my friend came around and we baked some cookies. She made shortbread and I decided I was gonna make some simple sugar cookies, so I used this recipe. She has to leave early because her daughter needed her nap, so Ally and I ended up with the task of decorating some cookies! We used what we had in the pantry, as this was a very spontaneous decision! I am really glad how they turned up, like I said here before, I am not a baker! We had a lot of fun, what do you think?

We also went to see some Christmas lights last night. I was so happy to see how people get in the mood and go crazy when decorating their house. We saw some great lights and a lot of them! Here are some photos:

Isn't it pretty?

I am linking up to

Gingerbread House?

I am going to start this post saying that I am NOT a baker. I love the idea of being one, but I hate the mess, I don't think I have the eye for it...

BUT... it's Christmas time. I have been browsing the wonderful blogs around and I can't help it, I feel so inspired! I should start my bake-a-ton with something simple, but I have decided to tackle a big project instead: The Gingerbread house!

Where we used to live, there is a bakery that makes them for sale and they are $100 each! Talk about expensive! So needless to say that I never got one, I thought they were so pretty and impossible to make, but nah, they are pretty and actually pretty easy to make. So I followed this recipe. Religiously.

After I baked my house, I realised that even though it was cold, it was not hard enough! Not to mention that I didn't have enough dough, maybe my house was way too big! Anyway, I decided that I was gonna try and assemble it anyway. So I made my icing, and started to assemble it just to see it crumble before my eyes. Major fail! All my work, just gone like that. But I am glad I tried it, because now I know what was wrong with it (dough was not hard enough plus it was too thin!), next time I make it, I know what to do. I am trying again today - just need to stock up in the ingredients! So watch this space!

There are so many great holiday recipes around the net, here are some I will try:

MckMama has made some snow pops and they look so delicious. I'm gonna try and make them! Click on the photo to check the recipe out!

Another beauty:

Oh there is so many more! I will probably add them as I go. I would love to hear what your favorite holiday treat is! I am all ears :)

HOT! Air conditioner, I love you!

It's hot. I know most of you are freezing right now, but living in Australia, you are sure to be hot at some point in the year.

Here where we live, unlike some other places in the country, gets cold in winter, and it rains a lot. When we arrived in June, it was wet. We barely saw any sunshine for weeks and it felt like home (we come from New Zealand, so we are used to it). It does not snow here and we barely get frosts (unlike NZ, DH is glad about that!), winter temperatures lingers around 10-14C.

Since we got here, we have been longing for the Australian sun! The warmth, the long days... and now it is here, I am not going to complain. Sure it is HOT and I am cooking (not literally... ) but boy, I am not used to this anymore. I grew up in Brazil where it's hot even in winter but living in NZ for the last 8 years totally de-climatised me! I am so glad we have air conditioning in the house, otherwise we would not be able to sleep. There are lots of advantages that comes with hot summers, like the laundry dries pretty fast :) We live close to the beach and when school is out, we are going to hang out there a lot!

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Thanks everyone who is following me! I will put my groceries away now and when I come back I will follow everyone back!

Weekend

Another monday has arrived and I am glad it's the last week of school.

This weekend has been a strange one in my house, strange, tragic and happy all at the same time.

Saturday I ran over our kitten Mia. It was so sad and I am crushed because of it. I don't know how it happened, I was backing out the car and felt like I was dragging something. So I asked my daughter Ally to have a look and see what it was... if I only knew... you get the picture, it was the cat, it was very traumatic for Ally to see it and I am sooo glad the younger kids were not around to see it. Bella, my six year old, was so sad - Mia was her special kitten, Bella was always holding and playing with her.
I am still crushed over it, there is no way I would know she was under the car. Here is a bad photo of Mia and Bella. RIP Mia.

So after that, we decided we were getting a new kitten straight away! I saw an ad in the paper, someone was giving away kittens so I gave them a call and we got Rosie, here she is:

She is six weeks old and Bella loves her a lot. We are still very sad though... wish I could turn back time :(

On another note, it has been so HOT here. I bought the kids a pool on saturday and on sunday when we woke up we found out our dig had chewed it to bits. Not very happy!

So yesterday was DH birthday, we had a nice relaxing day, had lunch by the Blue Lake. It was HOT HOT HOT, I think we had 33-34C yesterday! So we decided to go the beach! That is the beauty of living here! When we got there, it was starting to cool down and a thurderstorm was forming. The kids went swimming in the sea and I did too. I left the camera in the car so no photos! But I did take some photos of the storm.

We're so not used to thurderstorms! They are so frightening and beautiful at the same time.

Welcome and enjoy the view!

Just a hello world post.

I am going to make this blog a source of many of my thoughts, share some of my everyday life and hopefully get a glympse of my own life from an outsider point of view.

So tighten your seat belts... and enjoy the view!