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)

Face-Melting Apple and Cinnamon Scrolls

They will melt your face with their deliciousness!!! TRUST ME.  For this super tasty recipe you'll need to chuck the following ingredients into a bowl in no particular order:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 and a half sachets of instant yeast (about 11g depending on how much you have per sachet. Mine were inconveniently 7g each)
• a tablespoon and a half of butter
• 3/4 cup of warm water 

Proceed to mush all the above ingredients together with your hands in the bowl until it's basically all stuck together, then transfer it to a lightly floured surface where you will need to knead it into submission aka until it's firm and no longer sticky. You may need to add a little more flour. Put the dough back into your bowl and cover tightly with cling wrap. Leave your dough-y lump to rise until it's twice it's original size (about an hour or so)

Whilst your dough is doing it's thing, roughly chop up 4-5 small peeled apples into little cubes. You won't need to cook them first for this recipe.

When your dough has doubled in size, transfer it back onto the floured surface and give it a quick re-knead before rolling it out. The pedantic people out there are going to hate me because I don't roll it to any particular size, I just roll it til it's about a 1/2 inch thick and relatively rectangular shaped (or you know, any shape) Then you'll want to be sprinkling a mixture of cinnamon and brown sugar onto the rolled out dough... It's a personal taste thing in regards to how much, the cinnamon gives it a lovely aroma and the brown sugar caramalises a little with the apples when being cooked.

It's like a giant sugar pizza!

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Tip your yummy apple bits onto the dough and spread them out. Then tightly roll up your dough and place your apple-dough log seam side down so it doesn't unroll when you cut it. Cut off slices about 1/2 thick. Don't worry if they unroll a bit or they don't stick, they'll cook just fine. Place your slices into a lined and lightly floured baking dish 1-2cm apart. They will rise together but they come apart easily at the end of cooking.

Brush a little milk on top of each scroll and bake for 10-15minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. If you are however unlucky and have an awful tempermental electric oven like me, bake them at a lower heat of 230 degrees for 15-20 minutes keeping a close eye on them. If you find the bottoms start to burn and the tops are still pale, take them out and test to see if one is cooked through. If so, you can cheat my placing the scrolls under a hot grill for a few minutes essentially cooking the rest of the way through and so you get a nice golden top. 

The only thing to do now (well the second aside from eating them!) is to ice these puppies! It's really simple, it's just a mix of icing sugar and water the same as you would when preparing icing for a cake. You can drizzle it over the top of each bun or you can go nuts and ice the whole thing! Totally up to you! I ice mine and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top too... I do LOVE my cinnamon!! These taste absolutely fab with saltanas thrown into the mix aswell, or some walnuts or berries! If you're really clever you could work some custard in there too somehow but I'm not sure how you'd go about that. I'm sure there is a way! Lookie... finished scrolls! YUMMMM