A Simple Message

Last night I was ready to loose it!
Rob and I were in bed by 9.30pm! Awesome! Early night! I was confident I would fall straight asleep, as I felt the last month of insomnia was falling very heavily on my shoulders! My eyes were closed but my mind was ready to party! The minutes ticked by! Nothing in particular was really on my mind! I wasn't worried or nervous about anything! I just could not fall asleep! 9.30 turned into 10.30 and 10.30 turned into 11.30! I was seriously not letting this happen...again...for another night...another week, of no sleep! I stayed in bed! Determined to not give in and get up and do something! But eventually after 2 hours of laying in bed and not falling asleep, the ever so familiar frustration in my body started to show! I immediately got up, had a stretch and wrote a blog that was a week over due! I thought if I uncleared my mind and my 'to do list' my sub conscious would be free and I would fall into a blissful sleep! NEGATIVE! I was back in bed by 12.30 but by 2.30am I made a desperate call for help!

My 'Special Moments' blog page is full of people who genuinely care about me! My Facebook friends who have taken the time to 'like' my page and keep up to date with my blog! They are my supporters and my friends! I've been very open with them over the past month about everything that is going on. The good and the bad, I take them all on my journey! So last night, well actually this morning, I sent out a cry for help! I knew I needed to get back to the gym! The gym is the only thing that helps me sleep! Don't know why, don't know how. All I know is that earlier this year I started at the gym and slept for the first time in 5 years! 5 weeks ago I stopped going to the gym and 5 weeks ago I stopped sleeping!

Getting back into a routine is hard! When I don't sleep at night it is SO hard to wake up in the morning and do exercise! And that's where the vicious cycle starts! I can't go to the gym because I'm so tired yet I can't sleep because I'm not at the gym! Something needed to crack and last night it was me! I called for help and this morning at 8.00am my call was answered! A beautiful friend messaged me!

She was making me accountable for my actions and making me answer my own cry! The minute I got the MSG, eyes the size of golf balls, I smiled! There is someone, out there, willing to get behind me and push me when I was too weak and scared to push myself. All I needed was that little sign to show me that someone cared enough to take 2 minutes out of their day to message and say 'go for it girl' It wasn't just me fighting my battle anymore, I had support behind me.

So I got up...packed my bag...and went to the gym!

As I sweat it out in that class this morning and as every muscle in my body burned, all of the memories came back! Every reason why I started the gym in the first place came rushing through my head and I pushed! I pushed harder than I ever had and didn't give up once! When I finished another message was waiting for me! Another sign to show me I was not alone!

Life will get hard over the next few years and there will be times that I will want to give up, but I will have no choice but to keep going! The gym is not only training my body but my mind! Showing and proving to myself that I CAN keep going and giving up is not an option! With this body and mind training, and my beautiful friends to support me, I know that I will be able to take on anything that life has in store!

A simple message can make a world of difference!

Thank You Sara and Bindy!

I am so lucky to have you both

x S.K.K x

Christmas in July

2012 marks our 5th year in our home! Ever since buying our house and moving in together we have hosted an annual 'Christmas in July' party! A tradition we started as a young couple and have continued throughout the years. It was never planned or organised as a specific tradition but as the years have rolled by our 'Christmas in July' has stuck...and I LOVE it! Some years have been huge, some have been small, some have been during the day and some have ended in the early morning with drunk boys skating at the skate park...don't ask! Whatever we do, whatever we plan, we always have fun!

This year, July arrived VERY FAST! I absolutely can't believe how fast this year is going! Before I knew it, June was gone and I was turning the page on our calendar to our 'festive' month! Whoops no plans! We decided to keep it very low key and at the last minute I decided that we would have a 'Dessert and Cocktail Christmas in July'

So a 'Dessert and Cocktail' night we had...

Christmas in July is very 'American' so a few years ago I decided I needed a 'tacky Christmas sweater' just like my favourite American Christmas movies! I searched high and low and found this baby! 

It comes out every year! It definitely adds that festive touch to our tradition ;-) 

It was sooooo cold this year and rained non stop the week leading up to our night so we transformed our back room into a "Christmas Wonderland"

Miss Ruby spent the night with us and was a hit with all of our friends! She loves to party! 

 This year I decided to let my hair down and have a few drinks! I have not drunk alcohol in about 4 years, apart from the odd cruiser here and there! I was apprehensive and literally felt nervous about drinking again. Boy am I glad I did! It was just what I needed after an extremely tense month! Our bartender Shane made us the most delicious fruit tingle! My dear friend Amie and I did not hold back on them and we may or may not have ended up on the road playing miniature bowling! It was a night of fun....a different kind of fun that I hadn't had in so long! I didn't get 'drunk' but I felt 'happy' and I didn't have a care in the world that night! I laughed and sung and partied the night away with my favourite people! 

~ HAPPY CHRISTMAS IN JULY EVERYONE ~

x S.K.K x

Vets & Pizza Parties!

 Our weekend started off with our annual vet visit. The dogs go in once a year to get their yearly checkup and to get vaccinations and heart-worm shots. Our babies were pretty good this year! Well Bindi was loving it sick! She owned that vet table like it was the Olympic podium. She jumped straight up on it the minute we got into the consult room and sat there proudly! Getting her off was the real mission! Show off! Wonder who she gets that off ;-) Blaze on the other hand wasn't so silly and he knew that his butt and nose would be 'tampered' with and he WAS NOT having a bar of it! Ive never seen him so scared at the vet before! In lif,e generally, he is a bit of a scaredy cat and doesn't like storms etc but on this particular Saturday I had to hold him down with all my strength so the vet could quickly do her job! No liver treat was going to trick our boy!

 I love this photo SO much! It shows the true love and friendship between them! Melts my heart!

That Saturday night we had a PIZZA PARTY!

I am so lucky to live on the best street in the world! My cousin lives 5 houses down and I love being so close! It means we get to be apart of each others lives on a daily basis and we are always there living, loving and sharing our lives with each other. We have become so close in the past few years and I am so grateful and thankful to have such a supportive best friend in my life. Saturday night was one of those nights where we spontaneously had a pizza party. Ok so they were having pizza for dinner and we dropped in and one thing led to another and we planned a party! That's just how we roll!  

  

They own a pizza oven! OMG it is so amazing! Nothing and I mean NOTHING beats a wood fire pizza! 

To be able to make it yourself is just even better! 

 

 The table was set and we all made our own pizzas! C made all the Pizza Dough from scratch and it smelt amazing! Of course boring old Miss Coeliac over here had a gluten free base which proved very difficult to cook but we got there in the end! Next time we are buying GF flour and making our own!

My gorgeous cousins definitely enjoyed the night!

 

What's a pizza party without chocolate pizza? This was my first experience! Pizza, nutella and banana in the wood fire oven, topped with vanilla ice cream! Holy heaven on earth! AMAZE!!!!!

The kids watched a movie and then went to bed and the 4 adults stayed up for a few more hours just talking, laughing and running into glass doors!

 Again...that's how we roll! 

x S.K.K x

Fighting the Flu - Med Free

I am back at work now after a full week of holidays! 7 days of no work, no children, no traffic, no alarms. Just 7 days of catching up with all of my gorgeous friends and their babies, lots of movies, plenty of gym time, shopping and crossing off all those little 'jobs' on my 'to do' list. Oh how wrong I was.

 3 weeks ago I felt it. The sharp pain in my throat as I swallowed. Dam. I hadn't felt this is years. The kids get sick almost every couple weeks but for the past few years my immune system has backed me up and been an armor of steel. Apart from the occasional sore ear, I have not had a cold in...well so long I cant even remember. But this twitch and pain in my throat was all too familiar and I prayed and prayed it would go away just like it does all the time. Not a chance. Thursday came, my last day before holidays, and it hit me. Sore throat, headache, and sore skin. OMG my skin was so sensitive to touch it actually stung! I've never had the flu before, but I after explaining to a few friends my symptoms, I accepted the fact that I was about to tackle my very first flu! I tired to drink plenty of water and kept my talking to a minimum! I was going to crack this flu before it cracked me - medication free!

This is something I haven't really talked about before but I am a medication free girl. I just don't take it. I think our bodies are powerful enough to take care of us. So when I used to get colds or headaches or sore muscles. I dealt with it. I have never taken a cold and flu tablet in my life, panadole, nurofen, nope nope nope and antibiotics...FORGET IT! As a teenager mum used to always find my antibiotic packets hidden around my room with half the packet still left. I couldn't stand them. I was prescribed antibiotics every month of my senior year and it messed with my world dramatically. Ive had enough for a life time. When extreme cases occur, like my surgery a few years ago, I grim and bear it and take what I HAVE to take and then let my body do the rest. I'm not stupid about it, if its needed, I take it, but I listen to my body and trust that I can make the right decision.

So this was my first big challenge as a medication free adult. Taking on the flu. My first flu. It took me 7 days of hard work, determination, will power, lots of water, hot baths, eucalyptus oil, lemonade ice blocks and a lot of social media complaining, But I did it. No cold and flu tablets, no pain medication, no man made junk in my body. Just natural healing.

Saturday to Monday was a bit of a blur! This tested my strength beyond belief and I almost gave in and went to the doctor. My fever hit an extreme high and this is when I really had to listen to my body. I was dangling on a thread of danger. If body temperatures get too high there can be serious consequences. The panadole and nurofen was there in the cupboard if I needed it, but I rugged up and decided to sweat it out. I checked my temp ever hour to ensure it didn't hit high. By Monday night I had cracked it and it went down to 38. The shivering and sweating was gone and I could actually get out of bed and my appetite had come back. From Saturday to Monday all I ate was lemonade ice blocks! They got me through! Once the fever was gone the rest was a bit easier to deal with. The coughing fits I really struggled with but I just kept calm and pushed through them.

I spent 7 days in bed nursing my body back to health. It came at the best time as I had the holidays and I had this chance to just lay in bed and deal with it all naturally. It was a huge test and I am extremely proud that I did it. Our bodies are very powerful. If you give them the chance they can do beautiful things. I choose to live medication free so my body can be as natural as possible so IF the time comes and I do need medication, my body wont be so immune to it and will heal faster!

Don't be so quick to grab the medication.

 Trust your body, know your body, let it heal itself. 

x S.K.K x

A boy called Justin

So there is this boy...he has stolen my heart...and I want to tell you about him.
 

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His name is Justin. His voice can sooth my soul whenever it needs healing. His dance moves can give me energy when I'm feeling down and his smile is so infectious, I can't help but smile every time I see a picture. That's all I've seen. A picture. And a movie. This movie. It absolutly changed my views and I became one of his biggest fans. I am a 26 year old married woman from Australia and I am one of Justin Bieber's biggest fans.

 

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This is the face that I fell in love with! The movie "Never Say Never" introduced me to this amazing boy! I was not a fan. I didn't have an opinion, but I went to see the movie and my mind was absolutly blown! What a voice, what a character, what a special person with so much to offer our world. Here is one kid who knew what he wanted and he went for it! He's not a popular culture product! He wasn't chosen from the crowds and made into a superstar. He had a voice and a dream and he made that happen. He sung for the fans and the fans made him huge! What amazes me about this boy is that he does it all for his fans. 

This is the song that won me over...I still listen to it every few weeks and it still warms my heart every time! 

 It annoys me so much when I see people 'bag' him out. Who the hell are you to judge a person. If you don't like it, shut your mouth. This boy has absolutly done nothing to you, so who are you to be mean. That's all it is sadly. These people are mean. I have voiced my opinion of Justin Bieber on my facebook page a few times and I have had nothing but negativity. To my friends and family, people I love so very much, if you have nothing positive to say, DO NOT say anything at all, especially on any of my social media sites. It is plain bullying. I know he is a star but he is still a person and it is simply mean and I do not tolerate it.

He is just a kid living his dream. A bloody talented kid that deserves the world and I so dam proud that he is taking over just that, the world! The 'haters' can all sit behind their computer screens and fly off their mouth but ultimately they are the ones who are living a sad life and I feel sorry for you. Its like everything in life really. Why be mean? Why be negative? Its not going to get you anywhere. So embrace life, embrace the fun.

I love this kid! He has funk and passion and his voice gets me every time! What a super star! I am 100% behind Justin Bieber and as the kids say...I am his BIGGEST FAN!

x S.K.K x

Fresh Flowers

Every few weeks I like to buy fresh flowers for our home! I love the colour, the smell, the freshness and life that flowers bring! We have quite a dark home with lots of dark furnishing so a pop of colour always makes me smile!

 

These gorgeous yellow chrysanthemums were $5 and add a special touch to our kitchen bench!

Snap dragons are my favourite for the bathroom as they are long and add that extra special touch!

Aren't these colours GORGEOUS!

This special beauty was grown by my very own Rob! Just stunning!

 

They are huge! As big as my hand!

Our house looks like a construction site at the moment as we are building a fireplace, so these gorgeous pretties make the mess just that little bit bareable! 

Fresh flowers and candles burning makes my heart happy!

x S.K.K x

The Thailand Shopping

Sorry to disappoint all of you but I wasn't a fan of the shopping in Thailand! To be honest I'm not a shopper here in Australia so I didn't really know why I would be different over there! Everyone was so excited for me to see how much stuff I was going to buy! Negative! It just didn't float my float. It didn't tickle my pickle! I'm sure you understand! I really don't know what it was, but it just all felt wrong. Yes its cheap, yes there's so much of it, yes you can get a Louis Vuitton bag for $50 but that's because it is all FAKE and CRAP! I just couldn't bring myself to get into the 'spirit of Thailand shopping' I had my list of things I wanted and that's all I was going to buy! I almost bought a LV handbag but when they are lined up by the hundreds and in every store it just lost that special touch and I just couldn't go past the fact that they were fakes, no matter how cheap they were! I'm not going to come back to Australia and 'pretend' they are real. Not me! All I wanted was a new pair of sun glasses, a nice watch to wear for work and going out and a fluro handbag. I was extremely happy with my purchases! They were exactly what I wanted! Even if I did have to suck it up and buy the fakes ;-)

 

These sunnies took me FOREVER to find and cost me a total of $3. For fakes they actually block out the sun extremely well and I wore them most of our holiday and didn't get one headache from the sun! So I think I scored pretty well there! D&G HA! Thailand cracks me up!

This watch  I actually went into a 'back room' for! I know I know! I know I shouldn't do that, but I wanted a more expensive watch that wouldn't break in 2 months! I paid a little bit more money for it as it was a more study make and had a scratch proof face! The lady that sold it to me was really awesome and was straight up with me! No one was pretending it was the real deal and she called them 'fake diamonds' I liked her straight away and bought more stuff off her! If your straight up with me and don't pretend they are real then you were instantly my favourite! I love this watch and have worn it every day since! Works well with every outfit at work, home and outings! 

This gorgeous fluro caught my eye in the same shop as I bought my watch and I knew I wanted it the minute I saw it! Ive been searching for a fluro handbag for a while now and this was the only one I saw in Thailand! Nothing came close to the brightness! It's a 'Jimmy Choo' but ummm I thought old Jim only made shoes! See completely not a 'brand' girl! I had no idea!  

So they were my 3 main purchases from Thailand and I LOVE them and use them every day! I'm sorry to everyone who expected me to bring home 10 LV bags and 5 channel purses! Not my thing! I would much rather save up my money here and buy that 1 special item that I know I have worked hard for! Its real, you go into their real shop, you get their real packaging and it's special! That's my thing! Sorry Thailand :-)

x S.K.K x

The Decision, The Flight and Settling In

One night while watching TV the question was brought up. What would we do for our 2nd Anniversary? Last year we celebrated our first in a gorgeous cottage on Springbrook mountain. It was exclusive and romantic and we had a very special time! How could we ever top it? Restaurants were discussed, camping was suggested, a trip to the sunshine coast was considered but nothing got us excited! Then we remembered! We had 8 nights booked and paid for in the beautiful country of Thailand! I had bought the voucher a year earlier on a deal site and it was just sitting there waiting to be used! Perfect! We got confirmation from both our boss' and booked the next day! We made the decision and booked and were leaving in 6 weeks! 6 WEEKS! Talk about last minute and a spontaneous decision! But I guess that's how the best made plans are made! The 6 weeks flew by and the excitement was building! We had no plans, we didn't know anything about the country or the town we were saying in. All we knew was that we had 2 tickets to a beautiful resort in Phuket, Thailand and we had 9 days to do whatever we wanted...together!

I was in 2 states about this trip! I was out of my mind excited as we were off to explore a new country and experience so many new adventures! However this made me a little apprehensive! Something didn't feel right! I don't know what it was but I felt uneasy! I think it was because we had no plans and no idea! We were going to a completely foreign county with no schedule, no bookings, no plans! This was exciting but holy crap what on earth were we going to do! I also felt I was going to die but that's a totally different story all together!

The 11th of May came and we were off! We didn't tell anyone exactly when we were going! Only some of our close friends knew! It kind of made the whole trip that extra little bit special! We didn't not tell anyone on purpose but we just didn't want to announce to the world that we were leaving the country for a week with no one at our house! If we saw people we told them but other than that it was quite a surprise! We both worked the Friday then we came home got our bags and my mum drove us to the airport. Our flight left at 11.20 pm and we arrived in Thailand at 9.35am the next morning, with a quick stop over in Kuala Lumpa on the way. Guess what? I didn't get sick! It was the longest I had ever flown! 7 hours then 2 hours and I was awesome! The flight was really good! A bit of turbulence through the night but it was just like being on a roller coaster so it was easy to handle! I started watching 'The Vow' but sleep finally took over and I was in the land of nod for about 6 hours! Boom! How awesome is that! By the time I woke up and finished my movie it was time to land! The connecting flight from KL wasn't as good. I got quite sick and this shut me down for the rest of the day, but that's ok! Could of had worse! FYI being coeliac on a plane trip sucks the big one! No thank you I don't want to eat rice crackers with capsicum and cucumber (nothing else) that is completely soggy and squishy! I'd rather starve! Lucky I came prepared and took crackers and peanut butter! Winning!

We arrived in Thailand and it was full on! People warned me about their 'in your face' approach to life but I swear I was asked if I wanted a taxi about 20 times before I even left the airport. Lucky we had a transfer waiting for us so we felt a sense of relief when we got into the car and started heading for our hotel. UNTIL...we got on the main road and our driver completely switched into grand theft auto mode and drove 1000 km per hour through every single street! Holy crappers I thought we were going to die! There are no rules in Thailand. They just GO! Rob and I sat there holding hands with our jaws on the ground! We couldn't believe it! Fast forward 50 minutes and I swear to god I could have kissed every person at that hotel and the ground I walked on because we got there in 1 piece! These Thai drivers are insane!

Our hotel was amazing! We were so thankful it was gorgeous and completely worth the horrific drive! (P.S the driving was like this the entire time we were over there, you kind of just get used to after a while) we explored the resort for a while and saw everything it had to offer us! 4 pools, 6 restaurants, spa, gym, this place rocked. We chose one of the poolside bars and had our first drink and just sat back and took it all in! We were here! A a year of wishing, 6 weeks of waiting and several crazy hours of travel...we were here! Dam it felt good. No plumbing, no kids, no cars, no phones, just us and this crazy country just begging us to explore! We smiled at each other and knew we had made the right decision! Thailand watch out!

No sneaky drugs were getting into our bags!

Our 2 year anniversary had officially begun!

Our beautiful resort we stayed in - Katathani Beach Resort!

Exploring the gardens! Completely beautiful!

This is where Rob and I got a couples massage! Overlooking the beach and gardens! Pure Bliss!

Our room!

When we got to our room they had left us this gorgeous little anniversary cake! CUTE!

A photo I took of our resort at night! Heaven!

Enjoying our first drink overlooking the beach and the pool!

x S.K.K x

A Wintery June Blogiversary

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I found a place, a space, that allows me to stretch my wings, open my heart and search my soul. 

These last 2 years have been a roller coaster of emotions, events and adeventures and having somewhere to write and document every feeling, every photo, every smile and every tear has brought me so much happiness! I love writing, I love taking photos and to be able to combine these two and create my little piece of art has been so very special. I am so lucky to have made some beautiful friendships through my blog and I love each and every one of you. Thank you to all of my readers, family and friends for supporting me through this journey. I love being able to share our lives with you.

I am just a simple girl, living a simple life, finding the beauty in everything and living each day with pure joy and happiness. I cherish every single special moment as I know they will be the memories that last forever!

Thank You

x S.K.K x

Photo a Day May

Here are my photos...

x S.K.K x

Co-Sleeping???

 ~ Where does this fur-mumma sleep? ~

 ~ My heart nearly burst with love and happiness when I woke and saw this ~

Yes we are now one of THOSE couples that allow their dogs, and in our situation...cat, to sleep in our bed with us! This has never happened before! In 4 years they have never slept a full night in our bed! I don't know whether it's the cold weather or we are getting soft with old age ;-) or we just missed the hell out of them while we were away on holidays but for the past week we have had 3 new bed buddies! It's dam squishy, lots of snoring, probably quite unhygienic and a mountain of pet hair but their snuggles make it all worth it!!!

Lord help us when we have kids! We made a deal last night that we will never do this with our kids, complete with handshake, knuckles and a high 5! Haha yeah yeah yeah I can hear all you parents sniggering and saying yeah right haha we'll see :-)

Dog beds ARE on the shopping list so they can at least sleep on the floor but in the meantime I'm loving and so very thankful for their warmth and their love!

x S.K.K x