Sunday 29 January 2012

Elsie and Joan

I have some pretty amazing women in my life. 

Mum, sister, cousins, aunts, girlfriends that rock my world.  They are a constant source of inspiration, support, love, encouragement and laughter. I am blessed to know and love each of them.  There's no doubt that they will all feature often on this blog but there are two extra special ladies that always remind me of just how lucky I am.

Elsie and Joan. My Nana's.


Elsie

Joan

Gorgeous!  But what they also have in common is their warmth, generosity and strength.  These are two incredibly strong women, their fortitude is something I in turn, draw strength from.

I'm planning to profile each of them individually on separate posts, but collectively, they've been major influences and shaped my life significantly.  They remind me that I've got what it takes to get through tougher times and to appreciate all the good things.  They worked hard for the lucky life I have.  

People say you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family.  Well, I couldn't have chosen better if I'd tried!

Belinda x

Thursday 26 January 2012

Happy Australia Day!


Unfortunately our original plan of celebrating Australia Day with a picnic with friends was cancelled on account of the torrential start to the day. 

But that wasn't enough to dampen everyone's spirits, still saw loads of Australian flag face paint, tattoo's and capes out and about in the rain.


We stopped into a cosy beach side cafe for brunch (how cute are my mini bacon & egg burgers! YUM)

By the time we finished, the sun was on her way out along with everyone else!


Belly full and the sun shining, time to stroll the corso, exploring the back alleys to hidden shops and treats..

Onto my most favourite Australia Day tradition - tuning into the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown . Down to #37 now with Florence & the machine, so excited to hear faves like Busby Marou, Little Dragon, Boy & Bear make it into the countdown so far.  

What's your pick for number one song of 2011?? I REALLY hope to hear Brother by Matt Corby.  I reckon the Black Keys will be up there, Top 10 at least.  Fair to say I'll be throwing some shapes when that heavy little riff starts out of the speakers :-)

Would love to hear how you're spending your Australia Day.  

BIG love especially to friends & family far from home. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Belinda x
(Photo's taken on my iPhone so apologies for the quality.  Still saving for a new camera!)

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Sunshine

This year we celebrated Christmas day at the beach.  We were blessed with a gorgeous summer's day and spent the day eating, drinking, chatting, swimming and playing kerplunk! So perfect we may just do it all again next year!

Richard gifted me with a Nikon Coolpix AW100.  It's a water and shock proof camera, having so much fun testing it out!
cover shoot?! ;-)
This summer weather has been a little temperamental so far but when the sun shines we've been making the most of it! 

Belinda x

Saturday 21 January 2012

Our quiet corner of the world


Balance.  This, I've decided, is my mantra for 2012. 

I was lucky enough to take a couple of weeks off work over the Christmas / New Year period and to say I got a dose of perspective is an understatement!  Clarity came in the lovely quiet moments after all the festivities were over.  Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderfully magical Christmas with a wide-eyed four year old and truly special time spent with beloved family and friends.  But once we rang in the new year, took down the christmas decorations and the leftovers were all but gone, I stopped, bathed in the sunshine, watched the ocean and internalised.

Now, I work full time for an IT company and; I do enjoy it.  It's dynamic, challenges me, pushes me to new heights, rewards me…but, I realised, it was also consuming me. 

Something started to tweak when I realised that my drivers license had expired 3 months ago without me even noticing (thanking my lucky stars I wasn't pulled over!) Then as I did some spring cleaning it got worse, I hadn't yet updated all of my personal effects to my new married name, despite having our 1 year anniversary last September; I had medicare claims dating back to 2010, a list of craft projects piling up etc.  Where have I been all this time? I mentioned this to my husband and when he replied by saying "I tried to get through to you, I tried to ask you to slow down but taking you were too stressed to hear it" I stopped in my tracks. I had been hurtling through life without stock of the really important things, my heart sank.  Talk about having blinkers on!

Well, it was a beautiful summers morning, one of those glorious shining ones.  My husband and I were quietly chatting at the beach with our coffee's, taking it all in, when the idea of this blog came up.  I've always wanted to have other outlets, much more creative ones outside of my day job.  Many creative ideas have long been in the back of my mind but I've never known which first steps to take or found the time. I'm by no means a writer but I used to keep a journal and found it therapeutic, and over the past year or so I've become a huge blogaholic, regularly loosing hours down the rabbit hole and constantly inspired by all kinds of people who share their stories and ideas.

It felt right.  It feels like something that will help me find balance, take stock once in a while and appreciate all the great things in my life.  It's also an opportunity to share with others, connect.

So, we'll see where it takes us.  I've got some ideas on what I want this blog to be, and what it isn't.  I'll get to all that in due course, but for now - I've taken that first step and I gotta say, I feel pretty happy about it!

I hope you'll want to share this quiet corner of the world with me too :-)

Belinda x
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