Ramblings for the day

I got the new Emilie Autumn album, 'Fight Like a Girl' and HOLY CRAP it's amazing. I've got it playing along with one of her other albums 'Enchant' as well as some IAMX, Imogen Heap and Monster Magnet....mmmm yes, I am one happy shmoogle bean right now!!!

I'm tapping into some new crafty goodness today and creating some more beautiful little gifts for my Handmade for Christmas Challange...It helps that I am a pathological hoarder and always seem to have everything I need or want on hand for creating with! Which is great! Because I have neither the money or the car to go in search of new supplies at the moment. Besides...with the amount of pure awesome I have stored in my craft room, I'd be crazy to think of adding to it before using up some of what I have. Although that's not saying I don't WANT to go buy new stuff....I ALWAYS love new stuff!! More wool, some new beads, a few more scraps of satin, and funnily enough a soldering iron! That would be insanely handy but ah well... make do right?

So check out the pretties I've done today!

I tried something new, I'd never made these before! They're so tiny, dainty and plain adorable! I know exactly who would love this little collection of birdsnest charms :o) They look large, but the biggest one is an inch across, and the smallest is only 2cm!

I only had one size wire on hand, and it was probably a bit too thick for this project; I ended up hurting my finger :( I strongly suggest doing what the nice lady says and use a 24 gauge or smaller! It makes life much easier!


And the other thing I've been working on today is a beautiful black italian wool wrap! I learnt the solomon's knot (celtic knot, lovers knot...or however you may know it by)...another crochet technique I've mastered! YAY! That makes me happy.

a few more rows to go yet, but it's fairly straight forward to work up :o) It's so light and delicate!

And in other news:

1. Periods COMPLETELY screw up diets. Looks like I get to start all over again tomorrow :(

2. I have a little photography thing this Saturday night and I am so EXCITED!!!!!! I'll share more on that later!
3. I've been in the mood to paint but have been completely stumped as to what. Ergo = I haven't done anything.

So that's basically me today, what about you? This bloated, cranky, PMS-ridden person of PAIN is signing out... til next time Quirky Beans! 

5 months, 53 handmade gifts! Bring it on!

So as you may or may not know, last year I was intending to make Christmas presents for all my family and friends but ended up not being able to *sad face* BUT this year, I'm aiming to give it a second shot. I would love nothing more than to be able to give beautiful handmade and personal gifts to everyone I care about this year! I've learnt so much this past year and every day it becomes more and more apparant how truly special the people in my life are and how important it is to show them how much they are appreciated. I'm an absolute nightmare when it comes to birthdays and mostly all special occasions, and it always makes me feel so guilty because other people go out of their way for me and I'm so forgetful and hopeless at that sort of thing. But, Christmas? One day when EVERBODY is special and amazing...one day where I can give gifts of appreciation and love to anyone and everyone I like just because I want to make them happy :o) And to let them know that I do think about them, and am not entirely the most horrible niece, grand daughter, sister, wife in the history of man. So last week, I decided to begin my journey into christmas pressie making MAYHEM. I started with a list...on that list I wrote down people's names.... I then added up those people's names and saw that I had a whopping total of 56 people I wanted to make for!! I had a slight moment of my usual panic-before-making-a-commitment but suprisingly it subsided quickly and the feeling of determination came rushing back. It's July! It's totally do-able right! I can make 53 gifts without it costing much right? I can think of something for everyone.... right? Right?! RIGHT?!?!


Of course I can!! ..... I think! Pinterest is helping... I have an inspiration and ideas board to keep me on track and inspired.


And as of today, I am 4 gifts down! So only (bahahaha, only lol) 52 to go! And whilst I obviously can't share who each gift is for, I can at least show you what I'm making along the way! (you might even get inspired!)

I made this crochet heart garland using three different kinds of crochet hearts... I actually think it turned out quite nicely!

8 balls of Inca alpaca wool went into this gorgeous thick ribbed crochet scarf! It's going somewhere chilly, so it will be welcomed I hope!


Not all the gifts will be crochet either, but I've just been in such a mood for hookin' recently I haven't been able to help myself!

Funky isn't it? As soon as I learnt the chevron stitch, I couldn't stop! I loved it so much... and ended up with a scarf! How handy! :p


And lastly, gift number 4 is this lovely soft chenille hat and scarf set :o)

Am I crazy for thinking about Christmas is July? Yup...most likely...
Am I crazy for thinking I can hand make 53 gifts in time for December? Oh yes... very!


But you know what? Doing something awesome takes a certain level of crazy... and my newly acquired can-do (sickening) attitude seems to think I can do it, so hey! Let's go!

BEHOLD! my craftroom! you can actually SEE it!

Ok so it's currently 12.30am at morning...hubby is engrossed in a new book (who knew World of Warcraft had a fiction novel?? Apparantly they do..and it's not bad) two hours ago I decided I couldn't sleep so I donned some gloves and armed myself with bleach and totally just cleaned the bathroom to within an inch of it's life (providing it had one of course) AND cleaned/tidied and reorganised my craft room! YAY! There IS a floor in there!

see? FLOOR! and FEET!  

and look, there's actually room on top of my dresser now!! Ignore the bottles of lotions and potions, I have terrible skin and feet and both require a lot of TLC in the form of creams and stuff. In those drawers are my misc. crafting supplies such as twine, hair clips, spare bits and bobs, glitter collections etc. My scrapbook papers and embellishments, and one of those drawers is jam packed with ribbons, trimmings and lace! Pure heaven really!

Behold! My desk! And believe it or not this is clean! My crafty room isn't very big so to save on space I put a bookcase on top of the desk to give myself some shelves. On top is my chocolate mould collection, then it works down progressively from hot glue sticks to staples, to blank cards to jewellery making stuff, crochet doodads, and a Cosplay in progress. Plus my wig that lives on my lava lamp. Oh! And don't be afraid, that thing on my chair is just Larry, my posable felt furry plush spider I bought back from my honeymoon :o)

I even sorted through all my makeup and made it all neat and prettiful. And hey there's a reflection of me in the mirror in my moo cow jammies!

And you can just imagine how clean and shiny my bathroom is... I don't think you need photos of that haha! It also smells strongly of Exit Mould, Bleach and Ajax Bathroom but it is literally sparkling! Much like an unrealistic pussy Vampire named Edward.

So now I'm thinking I should haul my butt into bed! We have guests over tomorrow night and I intend on cooking up a storm! Polla alla cacciatora, crusty breads, tart au citron and other little goodies! And fear not for my healthy eating and weight loss plan, it's not in any danger. I just NEED to have a cooking bonanza! Being in the kitchen makes me a happy shmoogle bean! My hubby knows this, so he bought me the Season 3 Masterchef Australia cookbook and 4 mini individual tart tins for my cookware collection SQUEEE!! One VERY happy shmoogle bean!!!


There's that productive insomnia at work again! :p


Night night! (or goodmorning...or whatever!)

First goal weigh-in and measurements

So yesterday was the 25th of the month which means it's now weigh in and measurement time! I was uber busy yesterday and just didn't get a chance to get on the net but I have all the time in the world today so let's get into it shall we?

For the past week and a half I have been eating very healthily, no take away and all my meals have been low sodium, low fat and low or no carb based. As well as those changes, I've also switched to soy milk as regular milk makes me sick..I've known that for a while I just never cut it out for long enough to feel a difference. I haven't touched it since I started my healthy eating plan and my stomach is loving me for it! I've been eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, proteins in moderation and at the correct portion size. I've even stuck to drinking plenty of and ONLY water aswell! That was another thing I needed to change... I've knocked out all soft drinks and sugary drinks out of my diet for the time being, and all in an all I think I've been doing pretty well!

I keep trying to remind myself of this!!

Source: skinnyms.com via Tash on Pinterest

EXCEPT for last night. Wednesday nights are our Trivia at the (one of them) local pub and usually wedges, sour cream and chilly sauce night. I went in with the resolve to have a salad, but, and knowing I shouldn't have, I ordered a burger and for the first time since I started my journey, where I'd worked so hard to resist it all, I ate everything I wasn't meant to :( Bread, butter, chips, bacon, egg, and sausage patty. I felt really really down afterwards because although it tasted nice, in my mind a salad would have tasted nicer as it would not have come with all the guilt and fat that my burger did
:( But I tell myself, and this is the truth, that it was one minor set back, and there was nothing to stop me going back to my eating plan in the morning. I can't refuse myself everything for the rest of my life, that's just silly. But I do need to learn that the choices I make are going to affect me, and I want them to affect me for the better.

Source: mmorris.webs.com via Tash on Pinterest

So here we are... ready to check in with my weight and measurements for this month and then it's onto reaching the next stage of my journey! (I feel like recording measurements monthly is a good idea)

Weight when I began: 85kg
Current weight: 83.9kg YIPPEEEE!!!!
Goal weight for next month: 83kg I think that's achievable! :D

Waist: 86.5cm
Hips: 104cm
Thigh: 70cm
Calves: 43cm
Upper arm: 34cm
Chest: 107cm

But hey I haven't JUST been focusing on my weight loss stuff... I have been doing my usual crafty things too! :D And designing a few little possible tattoo ideas..but I'm not sharing those with you just yet :p

I've been making some quirky crafted christmas tags...tutorial on the way for these! :p

I found the first book in a series I've been missing for almost 4 years! I found it in a little second hand book store by chance! I did a public happy dance!

I bought a new sketch book <3

And I learnt how to do the crochet rib stitch and am currently making a nice thick and warm scarf for my grandfather :o)

What have you quirky beans been up to this week? Learnt any new crafty techniques? Tried anything new? Had success with your own weight loss journey? Share! :o)

That's all.

Sunday's Suck

I hate this weekend.... I especially hate today, Sunday. Why? Because I get REALLY hungry and I'm not allowing myself my usual weekend binge. Therefore this weekend sucks. BIG TIME. Yesterday was ok, I did my 30 minutes of exercise, I ate well (although I didn't drink enough water) and it was generally a good day.... although exercising whilst my hubby made himself bacon and eggs wasn't too great, but I got through it. I've stuck to my guns and eaten clean for the past 4 days! Not a slice of bread, butter, fast food, sugary drink or any kind or anything high in sugar or carbs has graced my stomach! I've been munching on my healthy muffins, eating plenty of fruit (mostly oranges, I'm training myself to eat sweet fruits instead of actual sweets), calorie balanced meals and the correct servings of protein. Just then I made up a pot of yummy clear vegetable soup for my lunch with plenty for tomorrow and for tonight's dinner I'm having chicken and rice noodle asian broth.

It's simple! Vege stock in water, bring it to the boil, add corn kernals, snow peas, cauliflower and carrot, simmer until vege's are just tender and done!

Now back to why I hate today..... today is usually computer games/cards/Risk/whatever day with friends of ours and normally we have pizza for dinner with Coke and loads of sugar. Not for me though...this is the first Sunday that I must resist that cheesy goodness and stick to my plan instead. But in saying that, everytime I think about that delicious pizza, I tell myself that pizza is nice yes, but given that I normally eat a whole one to myself... all I need to do is stop and think about what's IN that pizza and my resolves strengthens again. Then I think about how much exercise would be required to work off a pizza, and then I think about the oil and hey presto! I don't want it anymore! If that wasn't enough, I guess looking back at my 'before' photos would do the trick too. Why do I still hate today then? Because it'll be in the same room as me smelling amazing :,( I know, I'm just having a whinge but I'm entitled to it damnit! Going five days on lots of fruit and vegetables and no junk food when I was used to it so often is REALLY hard for me :(

I've also been making a set of crochet watermelon coasters to distract myself from wanting to binge. Im still thinking about binging but I doubt I'll do it. It's only a week into my 5 month plan, it seems so hard and my goal seems so far away!!!!!!!

Watermelon...hmmmm watermelon crochet? Oh yeah!!

I was having a conundrum today, I had all this crafty mojo flowing through my veins but I was conflicted about what I wanted to do!! I have this problem A LOT... so many amazing ideas pinging around in my head and I can never pick one to do when I want to. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to sew, crochet, do some card crafting, draw... so thismorning when hubby and I went into town I made an executive decision, ducked into Big W and grabbed three balls of yarn. I have been UBER keen lately to crochet using watermelon theme colours as you might have guessed from my Pinterest pins! I LOVE watermelon it is by far the most amazing fruit in the world AND one of the most good lookin'! Seeing as it's pretty much winter here for 3/4 of the year, I figured adding another crochet hat to my collection wasn't going to hurt.... adding a hat in one of my fav colour combos and in honour of the best fruit in the world? Shazaam! Hell yeah!


so ta da!

Totally kawaii watermelon beret!

And now I am off to create a million other watermelon themed crochet delights for myself... because I can :p Did I mention that watermelon is the most amazing fruit there is? Watermelon applique hair clips, a hair bow, a headband maybe... hmmmmmm

I'll be posting with another update of my fitness journey tomorrow peeps, I hope I haven't scarred you all too much with my 'before' photos. Ohh and I am also dying my hair tonight too *does happy dance* nothing exciting, just a darker more even shade of brown. I'm saving the super cool hair til I reach my 'get awesome' goals as a reward..

til tomorrow lovelies!

9.02pm later that day......

I made up a pattern and created another one.... SQUEEEE i love crochet...im such a nerd ;p

Ok NOW I'll leave you alone and check in again tomorrow...

nighty night!

'Before' photos... how I am right now.

HI GUYS!!!!

I've had coffee so I feel a bit more enthusiastic hence time to write today's post!! I'm so much cooler on coffee...nevermind that it's 10pm at night SHHHHHHHHHHH I'll just play Lego Star Wars on the wii til it wears off

ANYWAY

how is everyone going? I am now into DAY FIVE of my 'get awesome' plan and I am feeling great!! Just 30 minutes of exercise each day is making a huge difference to my moods (which are EXTREMELY erratic at the best of times) and this odd sensation which I'm prettier sure is motivation has snuck it's way back in!! HOORAH! So tonight I thought I'd recap a bit the past few days because really I've just been rambling and really not very coherent about my plans. I mean I ramble most of the time but not in a good way I guess? I dunno...
So i've scratched the whole trying to record what I eat thing because hey, I'm lazy and I'll never remember to do it everyday... also, recording exactly what kind of exercise I do is also a bit tricky BUT I will try that when I can be bothered making up some form of chart or something to put it all in. Right now though, you get to see me when I was 61kg (my ideal weight), what my preferred rate of weight loss is and what I look like now. If you run away screaming...I totally understand.


So, I've stolen this from Kimmy (hi kimmy! I've stolen your weight loss plan, just so you know :p ) as I would also like to lose 10kg by Christmas... I'm a smidge heavier than she.....ok so I'm like 4 kg's heavier... I've adjusted it slightly. To be perfectly honest, I'm cool if I get below 80kg's in the next few months and just work on it from there.. the weight loss I'm not TOO concerned about. I'm trying to focus on eating well, drinking LOADS of water and getting into a regular routine so that the weight takes care of itself and I am living a healthier lifestyle. I've also stolen Kimmy's idea of checking in with my weight on the 25th of each month, I agree, it totally works and seems fitting since I want to lose weight by Christmas.

My Mini Goals

25 August: 83kg
25 September: 80kg
25 October: 78kg
25 November: 77kg
25 December: 75kg

Ok so.... this is me at 61kg about 3 years ago. As you can see, I wasn't OVERLY skinny then, even as a size 10/12 I had curves. I was happy with my body weight then, I loved it! I am IN NO WAY wanting to lose my curves, I LOVE my curves. Just maybe a little less of them would be nice. And I don't think 61kg is the best weight for me now, but to be around 70kg would suit me fine ^.^

See? even at 61kg and a size 10 I still have my belly! But I was perfectly cool with that!

And this is me now..and please remember I am trying to be brutally honest about this and it's taken a lot of courage to show you these photos.

yup that's the truth of it!

UGH look at me!! :(

Now looking at my photos and seeing the harsh reality of it all has kind of killed my buzz (but I knew that was coming...how often do we look at ourselves this way?)...but there they are...for the world to see and now I have no more excuses but to be held accountable for my own health.

The first weigh-in is in five days from now... and from that point on things can only get better!

And I can do this.

Tasha's Healthy Wholemeal Muffins

Combine in a bowl:
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar

melt:
100g butter
wait til cooled to room temperature

whisk with a fork in a seperate bowl:
1 egg

add to egg:
1 cup skim milk
1tbs vanilla extract

Add cooled butter gradually to milk mixture whilst whisking.  DO NOT add hot butter to milk as it will cook the egg. You don't want that, trust me.

Add wet ingredients to dry and fold mixture together until just combined (no longer than 10 seconds) This will keep them light and fluffy

Fold in 75g frozen berries of your choice (I'm using a mix of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries) defrosted and drained.

The batter will be thick and lumpy, that's what you want!

Spoon mixture evenly into muffin cups

Sprinkle rolled oats and brown sugar on top of each muffin

Bake at 200 degrees celcius for 20 minutes
Eat!

Your muffins should appear much like they did before you baked them, I just love that rustic look! They may look heavy but they're light, fluffy, not too sweet and great for you! The perfect afternoon snack or breakfast muffin! Store them in an airtight container and they should keep for about 4-5 days. One of my favourite spunky readers, Kim suggested adding a sugar cube to the container and that will help keep them a little fresher for another day or two :o)

For a variation, chop up two small apples into cubes and add raw to the muffin batter instead of berries and add some cinnamon to the mix before baking. Add oats and brown sugar on top as per the above recipe :o)

Porridge with Stewed Apples and Blueberries

I don't usually eat breakfast, which is an awful habit I know, but food before 11ish makes me feel pretty sick. I'm not sure why exactly but it does make eating regularly difficult for me. As part of my eating plan, it is essential that I eat something for breakfast so I've given myself three options; a banana soy smoothie, mixed berry wholewheat brekky muffins and a small bowl of porridge with stewed apples and blueberries. As this is the first day on my two week eating plan, I've chosen the porridge and thought I'd share the very simple recipe with you! It's only a small serving, but I find oats to be very filling and with the yummy fruits included, it's a great way to start my day.


You'll need:
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup thawed frozen blueberries
1 small apple roughly chopped into cubes

1. Place your chopped apples in a small saucepan of boiling water and cook until tender. Once cooked, remove from heat and strain away the liquid. You'll only need half a small apple for this, so pop the other half of the cooked apples in a little container and store in the fridge to use for tomorrow's breakfast.
2. Add your skim milk to the saucepan together with the rolled oats on a medium heat and stir frequently until porridge cooks and thickens. Watch it carefully, oats don't take long to cook.
3. Add your cooked porridge to a bowl and tip your apples and blueberries on top. Done! Enjoy! :o)

Starting my new healthy eating plan today!!

It feels soooooooo good to be up and active again! Man it's been forever! So we're into Day Four of my 5 month Get Awesome plan... I really should create an actual count down for that, I haven't even bothered to find out how many days that is... meh, I'll do it later! I have been exercising consistantly for four days in a row now and I feel like I'm... wait...a whole 4 steps closer to being tankin'. Hmm, that's a little depressing. Damn our generation for having short attention spans and expecting things to happen sooner -_-

So my wii tells me I am obese which kinda annoys me, if 85kg is obese...the whole world is pretty well screwed and whatever-the-next-bracket-over-obese is. But anyway, while obese is probably a little extreme, it's a nicer way of saying 'hey, last time you weighed yourself you were 10kg's lighter you fat lazy bum!' right? Oh yeah! And I did mean to have some photos of myself up pre-this diet thing yesterday but I went to the pub for Trivia night, drank beer and ate a massive plate of wedges instead. Redundant? Perhaps.... a kind of 'last supper'... let's just call it that.

Last night I went shopping and formulated a low calorie (but suprisingly still tasty) meal plan for myself for the next fortnight. Now, we ALL know how hopeless I am at sticking to things (call it a fear of commiting and THEN failing) so I'm not going to tell you what my whole two week plan is, but rather day by day instead. So, with that said, today's plan is:

Wish me luck peeps!

My Inspirations ~ It begins... *buries head in hands*

It would appear that I've sparked a revolution amongst other quirky peeps and we're now on a group mission to be awesome! My goals turned out to be very similar (scarily similar, we think it's due to some form of mind control) to a pair of equally insane friends of mine Kimmy and Natalie whom I've known since the beginning of time (not that many of my friends AREN'T insanse, it's sort of a requirement) and so Ninja Sex Missiles was born! We now have our own page to plot our world domination! MUWAHAHAHA or, you know, to encourage each other in our own personal weight loss journeys and personal mods. That too :p As for the name... well perhaps staying up late on facebook chat throwing random name ideas into the mix was not the best option...in the end when we had run out of sanity and decent group names we somehow ended up with Ninja Sex Missiles. Suits me fine! Leave the world guessing I say! Does it sound a bit like a cult name or some kind of adult performance group? Maybe just a bit! LOL It's not... really *shifty eyes*

So anyway, as per yesterdays post where I talked about my vague plans and beginning my 5 month journey, I thought today I would talk about my inspirations. Would you believe me if I said I just woke up and suddenly decided 'I want to change my life'? Well that's pretty much how it went! And I just decided to go with it! And here I am! :o) It was beginning to dawn on me that a lot of my clothes weren't fitting and as I was sorting through my cupboard I found so many gorgeous summer dresses from last year that just looking at, I knew I'd have no hope of fitting into this summer. That really brought it home for me that come Summer, I wouldn't be able to hide in my long sleeves and jeans anymore. Not only would my clothes not fit but I wouldn't feel comfortable showing my arms and legs to the world outside my house; that's when I really knew that something HAD to happen to change that. I weighed myself yesterday and found that I'd put on a lot of weight since my Wedding last October when I'd worked so hard for the year beforehand to drop a dress size.  A year before my wedding I was 81kg, then last October I weighed 75kg which I was happy with, and now I weigh 85kg. As you can probably guess, that much gain in such a short period of time is not healthy for me.

I then had the idea that if I was going to really truly do this, I'd need to set myself a time frame and decided that 5 months from now, Christmas, seemed perfect. I'd be ready for the hot weather and I'd be ready to tackle the new year with a whole new vigour if I was successful. If I'm gonna change my weight, why not go ahead with some other little plans of mine to boost my sense of self while I'm at it! Very much a butterfly out of a cocoon effect! Have that hair cut and colour I've always thought about, get that tattoo I've wanted, work towards achieving my dreams through study and research...know where I need and WANT to be in 2 years time!

All I need to remember to give myself the motivation I need is:

• Supanova Pop Culture Expo comes around again next year, and after having missed this year I am keener than ever to get there in 2013. I've been putting together ideas for a Steampunk cosplay and for me to feel comfortable, in character and gorgeous I need to get back to being a healthier weight for myself. SQUEEEE I can't wait for Supanova!!!!! Epic geek-fest!!
• Again, the fact that it's going to get very hot very soon!
• All those lovely dresses of mine that'd I love to be able to wear again..... *sigh* I'd incude photos but my damn camera still needs batteries :(
• The fact that within the next few years hubby and I will start a family, I want to be physically and emotionally satisfied with myself before then.
• Where will my career path lead me? Do I want to sit back and dream about the life I could have without taking steps towards it for the rest of my life? Not really! Not when what I want is within reach, I just need that all important plan of attack and off I'll go! I'll have to decide what my ideal career is first...

 ... so all I need now is to start! First things first I'm going to be setting a daily exercise plan for myself. I'm not going to start off too extreme because as we all know I have difficulty sticking to my commitments. I consider yesterday day one and today day two, both days I have dusted off my Wii Fit and gone through my yoga and muscle workouts for 30 minutes. It mighten't seem like much, but it's getting myself into a routine that I'm going to have the most trouble with. If I set myself a run to complete each day, I'll find a way to put it off...I won't find any socks, or it'll be too cold, or some other inane excuse. Starting small is the way to go...at least then I can feel like I've begun my journey. So for the remainder of this week all I'm going to do is work towards completing that 30 minutes each morning. If I do more, then great! Also this week I'm going to focus on keeping my nail biting habit at bay, so far so good!

Tomorrow there will be photos! You need to see me to understand why this is so important to me, so I'll be brave and take some 'before' shots....

Bring on tomorrow! WOOOOO!

Stop being sad and be awesome instead!

Gee it's hard to focus on flushing my poor body of toxins when the house is full of leftover pizza, soft drink and lollies!! Or on the other hand maybe it's easier? I don't know, either way today is a strictly 'drink only water' day... I have been eating really REALLY badly lately (I don't even want to tell you what I've been eating as you will probably have the heart attack for me just reading about it) and I'm definately feeling it and just felt like a general 'flush out' was in order so that's what I'm doing. Remember last week when I mentioned on my fan page that I'd been doing some really out of character things lately? Well it turns out (and don't ask me how this happened) that I've resisted biting my nails for over a week now and they are actually growing really nicely! This mighten't seem like much of a deal to you but I have struggled with my nail biting habit for many many years so maybe...just maybe I'm on the right track to giving this one bad habit a swift kick in the hooha! I even dug out my only two little pots of gluggy nailpolish and painted my nails! I never paint my nails.... seriously.. like EVER mainly due to the fact that I had a long time ago consigned myself to have icky little bitten fingernails and stubby fingers for the rest of my life. I'm still going to have stubby little fingers but hopefully the nails will help that SLIGHTLY eh?

You know what else is extremely strange?? I wore lipstick yesterday. Not shocked?? Ok well let me explain a little; I don't really like to smile much in public or around people I dont know..or actually very much in general. The fact is that I have very very crooked teeth and I get very embarrassed showing them to others. I find myself covered my mouth with my hand subconsciously or not wanting to laugh..believe me it gets to me constantly! So for me to wear lipstick was a big suprise and to be honest I don't even know what bought it on. That's me wearing it up there in the photo on my blog header...(I've super-simplified my blog, I got tired of the slow loading time and trying to make it look appealing etc so I've just stuck with the basics) I guess lately I've been trying out some retro/vintage style hair do's and just that tiny change in my morning routine (actually doing something with hair in the morning that is instead of cramming it into a ponytail as usual) has boosted my self esteem enough that makeup seems to be coming onto the scene too! WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!?!?!!!!

AND on top of all that I've been making plans for myself! I have been in such a slump these past few months I hadn't even realised how inconsistent with myself I was being (I am the queen of procrastination but I'm doing even less than usual), how little I was caring about myself or those around me or ANYTHING in general! I don't know whether someone put magic mushrooms into my breakfast recently or whether I've been asleep for a week and am just dreaming but it would seem my 'get up and go' is back on the uptick *does happy dance* So yes, plans are being made and I am going to undergo a 'self-image kickstart' and get my happiness back. There are no fine tuned details or an exact plan of attack in place yet but I know what I want and when I want it by and that's good enough for me! It goes a bit like this:

By Christmas 2012 I will:

• Lose the 10kg I've gained these past 6 months by completely revamping my eating habits and incorporating exercise back into my daily routine - I have been soooooo very very lazy these past few months and have hardly done any exercise whatsoever which is EXACTLY why all that weight I lost last year before my wedding came pelting back at me and launched itself back onto my body with vigour.
• Have stopped biting my nails completely and be able to paint them in funky colours and patterns for the first time in my life!!!
• Design and get my very first tattoo...time to put those drawing skills into action and take the plunge! I've heard that tattoos are much like Pringles, once you pop you can't stop! Except instead of popping you just get more tattoos. I think I'll be happy with just the one.
• Make a big change to my hair. After much thought I've decided that my brownish/black long-ish thick mop of hair is coming off and a short white blonde pixie cut is taking it's place!!
• Have a long hard think about the things that I truly enjoy, set some goals to achieve my career dreams...get qualified and go for it!

Sounds completely doable to me! And today I even started! I did 30 minutes of exercise thismorning (YAY ME!!!) and I am currently in the process of planning out meals for the next two weeks and doing some research for metabolism boosting snacks and other healthy bits and bobs. I have some amazing ideas for the tattoo that I'd like, and I've found my hair inspiration! WOOOHOOOOOO I'm excited!!! Although you are probably, at this stage thinking... 1. that's great for you, what's it going to do for me? 2. where the heck are the pretty pictures in this post and 3. How are you reading my thoughts?

Well in answer to question number one, you will be able to follow my journey every step of the way AND even get to look at my fat lumpy bits and possibly point and laugh at them! Why? Because I've gone insane and am going to include photos of my weight loss progress, I want to be accountable for my actions (or lack of) and if I'm successful, I want for you to feel inspired and gain courage to do the same :o) In answer to question number two, the batteries in my spunky camera kicked the bucket so no photos to make this post less text-y and boring today :( and as for question number three? Well...I like to think it's because I am just THAT awesome.

Stay tuned quirky beans!!

Sisterhood of the Travelling Poptarts! My El Paso Care Package

I don't know if you are aware...but I, until recently, had never eaten a poptart! I know it's shocking, but please...remain calm!

I'd heard of them, I'd seen them at the specialty lollyshop in town but I'd never actually bought some and eaten one! Then one night I had a massive desire to eat one, went into town, bought one, ate it and LOVED IT!!!!! A good friend of mine, a fellow blogger and one amazing lady Jessi, couldn't believe that I'd never tried one before that point! There is of course the small fact that I am in Australia and she in America and that poptarts aren't so readily available over here...well they are...but HOLY COW are they expensive! So upon hearing of my desperate plight to have poptarts, and upon deciding that my life would not be complete until I widened my cultural food parameters (poptarts count as food right?) she made up her mind to send me a care package! I told you she was amazing :o) A person I've never met offered to send me a care package from all the way over in El Paso, Texas!!! HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!!! AND GUESS WHAT ARRIVED THISMORNING!!!!

I decided to wait to open it whilst I was putting together this post...and I just can't stop looking at this huge box on my kitchen table! I'm just so excited and happy!

Jessi and I met in an online Blogging Ladder support group, we found we had a lot in common (partners in a Defence career, our mutual love for coffee and Pinterest, DIY and crafty things!), we became Facebook friends and it just kind of took off from there really! I asked her once if she could trade places with anyone, anywhere for a week if she could and Jessi answered 'with you!' and maybe one day we'll have the opportunity to do a country swap! Jessi can come visit Down Under and experience Australia for herself and I can take off to the US of A and do some exploring of my own! If you love your coffee and want to find out more about Jess and her adventures, you can check out her blog here Ramblings of a Caffeinated Army Wife .

I open the box and look what's inside!!!!! WOW!!!!! As I look down at this box I notice that I've not only been sent Poptarts (Strawberry Milkshake flavoured!!!!) but a whole heap of other treats too! I'm stunned! I've never seen most of these things before and it is such a thrill to be looking down at all these amazing boxes of yummy gifts! This is so much better than Christmas!

Then I stop to realise how much effort and money has gone into this from a perfect stranger and I feel so overwhelmed that someone so far away, living in another country, living their own life has gone out of their way to put this together just for me and I can't help tearing up a bit!!

THANKYOU JESSI YOU ARE SO AMAZING!!!

So I guess at this point you want to know what is in that box? Well......

Opening the box and not sure what I'll find inside.... at this point I'm giggling like mad!

It's a treasure chest!!!!

I certainly will!! How incredible!!!

just look at all that!!!! I begin taking each thing out and marvelling at it! A lot of what's in this box is completely new to me and I'm already thinking up Aussie versions of these treats to send back in return!

MMMMMMM YUM I love strawberry licourice!!!! Good choice Jessi!

ohh... yum? lol I've never tried this before! I'm assuming it's similar to Spam?

Peppermint and dark chocolate pieces! Ohhhhhh! These look good!

And this is only half of it! What an amazing selection!! Jessi how did you guess I had so much of a sweet tooth!

WAAAA?! Reese's make CEREAL!! *does happy dance!!*

Oh now you're talking! These look good!!

And of course.... THE POPTARTS!!! :D And Jessi hasn't included just one flavour but three! YUMMY!!

These look interesting!

Wild Cherry Lollipops!! My favourite kind!

WOWZA right! This incredible act of kindness has reaffirmed my belief that it is completely possible for two people who have never met to find friendship and that doing something to benefit another human being with no thought of reward still exists in this mixed up muddled up world. And one other thing too... food has the amazing capability to bring people together! I'm off to think up some ideas of what I can refill this box with when I send it back :o)