Ash Wednesday

I have a great faith. Most don't know this about me because I am very reserved about it. My faith and spirituality is not for show, it is not a parade. I don't shout it out or make a skeptical. It's just for me. As children we grew up in the church. My mother brought us up as Catholics. With her deep spirituality and my amazing school and church influence, I have a very special faith as an adult, that I hope I will never let go. I have beautiful, beautiful memories of my church and religion as a child. I absolutely 100% believe it is because of my upbringing in the church and my faith that I am the person I am today. Sometimes this became a bit blurry. I had lost my way over the years and not been my best self. But it's all my journey. Each and every high and low are part of the plan and will help me grow.

These days I would say I was more spiritual than religious. I have taken my childhood faith and have joined it with the spirit that is within my soul and created a 'religion' that is suited just for me. I do not go to church every week but I still pray and look to God each day to help guide me through this roller coaster of life. The beautiful thing about my life at the moment is that I am thanking God much more than I am asking for help. This makes me happy. Every day I am so thankful for the blessings I have. I know down the track I will need my help and guidance, but right now I am thankful.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. The first day of lent. I celebrated it in my own way. I once again took aspects from my childhood faith and mixed it with my now. I took my pen and paper and wrote down my feelings. I wrote down a few things I was sorry for. A few things that I wanted to ask God, the universe and myself for forgiveness. I then took another piece of paper and wrote down my 'sacrifice'. Something that I was going to give up over the next 40 'days'. I wanted this 'sacrifice' to be something that will improve my life. That would make me happy. I thought long and hard about it. Yes I could give up chocolate, or alcohol, or junk food, but due to the coeliac this has all been done. I decided on "no screens for Tea or T.V"

Rob and I always eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in front of the T.V.  This is a bad habit that we have gotten ourselves into over the past few months and it is not healthy. We both work late at night so we come home and spend most nights in front of the T.V. We started to miss talking. It wasn't about what we did that day or how we felt when something happened, it was who was kissing who on the latest soap. As most of you know I am a social media addict. Which I love. Thanks to my amazing little iPhone I can access all of my different medias at the touch of a button, which is totally awesome and handy but have noticed at night it is constantly stuck to my hand! I am always on it. During dinner, during T.V shows. all.the.time. So for the next 40 'days' all screens are banned. The TV will be turned off during dinner and phones will be put away. Rob and I can just be us again and get back to what's really important, being together. No interruptions from a fight on H&A or a notification on twitter. This may seem like a small thing to some but to us and for us, its a big deal. Everything else in my life right now is quite perfect. Effortlessly perfect. I think that this 1 little change will really make a huge difference in our lives and in our relationship.

I wrote this 'sacrifice' on a piece of paper, along with my 'forgiveness' and folded them up. I set them a light and watched them burn. I watched as the bright fire melted away the paper into soft black dust. I couldn't help but smile as the smoke rose from the jar. I felt a sense of peace and hope that I was letting my hurt and sorrow go and allowing only happiness and joy to stay in my heart. I let it go.

I took the ashes from the jar and made a cross on my head. It wasn't the ashes of the palms like the roman Catholics use but it was MY ashes. MY forgiveness and MY sacrifice. As I made the cross, I said a prayer. I thanked God for all of my blessings. I am so very lucky for my faith, my belief in god and my amazing life I am living. As I blew out the candle I felt peace. I was happy.

x S.K.K x

A Simple Sunset

Saturday afternoon I missed Rob. I just missed missed missed him! I spent 1 night with him during the week and I was just desperate to spend a couple of hours with him before he had to work again on Sunday! So he got home at 5 and by 5.10 we were in the car heading down to our local beach! Just us, our swimmers, and the open road. I wanted to see the sunset. We drove 40 minutes to simply walk along the beach and watch the sunset!

It was absolutely worth it! We got there just in time for the sun to start its slow journey to bed. The glowing orange shone so bright! The beams and rays shot across the sky like fluro red icicles. The sky tuned from pretty greys and blues, into rich oranges and finishing with pretty soft pinks, right before our eyes.

We walked hand in hand while Rob watched and observed all the fishermen and boats and I watched and observed (and took photos) of the beautiful sky above us. We were home by 8.00 but it was so perfect. It was just what we needed. We needed to break away from the house, from our jobs, from the animals and just take a mini time out and recharge our batteries.

This beautiful sunset was such a special and Simple Thing that made me feel happy and at peace!

 

x S.K.K x

A Simple Rainbow

You know those days that you just sit back and think "WOW I am so lucky"! Today was one of those days! It is my beautiful best friends birthday and we spent the day with her, her husband, her beautiful new baby and a few close friends, in their amazingly perfect new home! Their home is paradise! Away from the hustle and bustle. Pure serenity! There was no fuss, there was no pressure, just friends hanging out and talking. As the minutes turned into hours and the laughs and conversations flew through the air, a beautiful black storm rolled in from over the hills. What a sight. There is nothing I love more than an amazing storm having a party in the sky! God putting on a show! The greys, the deep blues and the blacks, folding, curling and cascading into each other to form a masterpiece that always, always takes my breath away!

And just when you think it is over and God has moved onto the next show, this appears...

This moment took my breath away. It was right then, at that very moment, surrounded by my bestest friends and husband that I smiled.  I was so happy. I was so lucky.

It was nothing big, it was nothing spectacular. Just a small simple thing that absolutely filled my heart with so much joy and happiness. We must always remember this glimpse of a rainbow! No matter what we are going through, no matter how hard life seems to be, always and I mean ALWAYS remember that there is a beautiful shining rainbow in every situation. You just have to look beyond the dark grey sky to find it. 

 

x S.K.K x

GHP Week 5

The 5th week of the year was a such a happy and special week for me! These are just 7 of the many 'special moments' that I was eternally grateful for...

Day 30 - Happiness is my mum and dads Anniversary! I'm so grateful for their love and support!

 Day 31 - Happiness is the simple please of drinking a cold drink on a hot day! Grateful for this gorgeous view!

 Day 32 - Happiness is spending a special day with the boy I nanny! Grateful for the many places and spaces we get to explore!

 Day 33 - Happiness is beautiful fresh perfect chili's from our veggie garden! So grateful (once again) for my husbands green thumb!

 Day 34 - Happiness is waking up next to this gorgeous face! So grateful for her precious little personality!

 Day 35 - Happiness is a VERY yummy meal shared with special people for a 60th birthday! I am so grateful for time spent with family!

 Day 36 - Happiness is laying in bed spending time, learning and talking with my grandma! I'm grateful for her...full stop!

What are you grateful for this week? Head over to "Maxabella Loves" and share with us all. 

 

Here is my Week 1&2 ~ Week 3 ~ Week 4

x S.K.K x

Determination

Today I feel a bit weak! My calf muscles are a bit tired and I feel a little burn in my knee. Then I smile!!! There is a very good reason I am feeling like this! Last night I conquered Week 4 Day 2 of the couch to 5K program! I tried week 4 last week and gave in! It was hard and I didn't have the stamina to keep up with the program! I could not last the running! For some reason I am determined to do this! Somewhere deep inside, I have found this super cool determination that I have never had before! My goal is to run 5K and although this may seem small to a lot of you, for me, in my little world, this is huge! I am so thankful for my determination! Even after being knocked down last week I got back up, put my shoes on, put a smile on my face and I tried again! And I DID IT! I absolutely did it without any giving up or cheating! I am so so so proud of myself! I have one more hurdle to get through this week - day 3 - then I have successfully finished and completed week 4! You know what that means? I AM HALF WAY! I am half way to my goal!!! Half way to running 5K!!! I promised myself at the start of the program that I would buy myself a present half way through! That little bit of extra motivation! I originally wanted a running jacket but now I have my eye on an iPod arm band! So Friday I will conquer Day 3 and then on the weekend I can get my reward!

I am so thankful for my determination! It makes me so happy! I love this new found passion for running!

x S.K.K x

Snap it [H O M E]

Sitting in my front yard of our HOME this morning I got to witness this very pretty sunrise...

 

I'm also linking up with My Little Drummer Boy and Marriage from Scratch

Happy Hump Day Everyone

x S.K.K x

Endless Love

Words cant express my love...

Mariah and Luther kind of do...

He makes my heart full of happiness!

If love be all ~ then you are love ~ for you are all to me

x S.K.K x

Pure Beauty

~ a moonlit rose ~ 

My heart burst with happiness when I saw this!

How amazingly beautiful! 

x S.K.K x

GHP Week 4

Here are the 'little things' that made me smile this week. The very special moments that I was grateful for...

 Day 23 - Happiness is Rob pushing me in my running! All I wanted to do what watch TV but he pushed me and came with me! Grateful for his support!

Day 24 - Happiness is reaching 50 likers on my blog! I am grateful for each and every one of you!

Day 25 - Happiness is slushing through the puddles! Grateful for my jellies that won't get wrecked in the rain!

Day 26 - Happiness is a road trip with my husband exploring our area and the rising water! Grateful we are safe and dry!

Day 27 - Happiness is running in the rain! Grateful for this new found dedication!

Day 28 - Happiness is fresh new looks!

 

 Day 29 - Happiness is family dinner outside! Grateful for a little break in the rain!

 

Head over to the beautiful 'Maxabella Loves' and share with everyone what made you smile!

Here is my Week 1&2 and Week 3

x S.K.K x

A day at GOMA

We are finally back into the swing of things at work! For those who don't know, I am a nanny. I nanny 3 children aged 9, 7 and 4. I have been with them for almost 4 years now so you can say we are...close! The older kids are back at school and Mr 4 is at Kindy on a 5 day fortnight. He is home on Thursday, Friday and every second Wednesday! Thursday and Friday are taken up with swimming and gymnastics and he spends time with his mum but Wednesday...well Wednesday is our day! It is our special day where we pack our lunch and go where ever our little hearts desire! We have shared so many adventures together that I have wrapped each and every one carefully and stored them away in a special place in my heart! I love our outings! Mr 4 was only 8 months when I started so we have grown up together over the past 4 years! He is my little hero and I will love him forever! Boy can I tell you...we have fun! No matter what we do, no matter where we go...we have fun! Today this was our destination...

 

We had a little look around in here mainly because of the 'cool' water features they have inside and Mr 4 was obsessed! I finally dragged him to the "Queensland of Modern Art" by telling him I had something MUCH COOLER to show him! Ladies and Gentleman I delivered! Well GOMA delivered but I was his hero in this story!  "The obliteration room" which is inspired by the works of Yayoi Kusama was truly spectacular! I had seen pictures on facebook of lots of friends and family who had been, but this is a definite MUST SEE!

Basically there is a white room with white furniture! Everything completely white! Then as you walk in you are given a single sheet of coloured dots! Then you have fun! Stick them anywhere! On the floor, on the furniture, on the roof! We had fun trying to find little white spots that weren't covered! There is even a piano in there and Mr 4 had a ball on that!

No other word comes to mind but COOL! It was just simply cool! I love colour and seeing it like this was just awesome! What an amazing artist! Who would of thought you could create something so awesome with coloured dots. Apparently all of her art is like this so I must check it out! 

Another exhibition that was at GOMA was "We miss you magic land" Which I didn't know was there and we kind of stumbled across it but ummmmm HELLO it was unbelievable! These 2 ladies 'pip and pop' also known as Tanya Schultz and Nicole Andrijevic, draw on a mixture of fairy tales, Buddhist cosmologies and video games and create a fluorescent sparkle wonderland. Anything fluro and glitter makes me happy. This place made my heart sore and my cheeks hurt from smiling! The detail was incredible and you couldn't help but feel happy and calm in there! No matter what age or gender - you will simply be amazed!

  

What a day! So much happiness was shared! We laughed, we played, we shared and we created special moments! 4 big ticks in the SUPER FUN box! 

And in other breaking news...remember when I told you I failed yesterday??? Well today I DID IT!!!! Oh man I am so proud of myself! Weeks ago I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs without my legs burning and loosing my breath. Now I am running 4 minute intervals. O.k so that doesn't sound much when I write it out but for me its huge! My last tip in my "hot tips for running" was to first pump it out! Boy oh boy I was fist pumping it out like nobodies business tonight and now I want to shout it from the roof tops :-) I am so proud of myself and I hope you are of me too! Please if you are sitting there saying "pfft I could never do that" Well my beautiful friends that was me at the start of the year! Now I'm interval training 4-5 times a week and LOVING IT! You can do it!!!!

x S.K.K x