Quote to Inspire #22

By me, quote unknown.

Resolution Progress - January

1. Learn more about Photography
There has not been much progress on this goal. I have been looking for the perfect notebook, because that's the kind of thing I do. I found a notebook I like, but it was a bit expensive...however, after looking at money I have I think I can afford a little extravagant spending. :P I am excited to start soon.

2. Lose at least 5kgs
James and I have an app on our phones to help us a bit with this. So we're kind of watching our calories, by eating food and then finding out how many calories are in it. It gives us a goal calorie intake for losing a certain amount of weight, and we have been keeping to it alright. We've also been trying to do a bit more exercise, but we're expecting more progress when we move to Sydney.

3. Cook something new and healthy every week for a year.
When I made this goal I knew I wouldn't be able to start right away, but I have a Pin board of recipes I want to try, AND I've bought the Recipes folder from Kikki.k. So progress is being made and I should be able to start a week or two after we properly move to Sydney.

4. Bake something once a week for a year.
Just like my third goal, the exact same progress has been made, Pin board and folder. I am not totally sure how well this one will turn out since we have a microwave oven in our studio...so I need to see if it bakes the same as an oven. :)

5. Create moustache notebooks
No progress. But I need some to work on later in the year. :)

6. Create an Art portfolio
Ditto.

7. Learn more about Aboriginal art
Again, been looking for the perfect notebook, but again have found one I may buy. I've been really wanting to start this one, especially when I am bored and want something to do. I can see this being a really good time filler. I've also seen some books that I'd like to read on the topic. :)

8. Use my 365 book somehow
Nothing yet, but I have been making some mental plans on how to. I had started trying to take a photo a day again, and it was going well, then I went back to work and was either somewhere where I couldn't take photos or sleeping. :P So I have given up on that for now. I am thinking of maybe making it an artistic journal, with photos, drawings and random quotes. Kikki.k are giving daily prompts on how to use it, so I may use some of their ideas too.

9. Try and achieve at least one of my 101 Dreams
I have been looking through my list so far, to see what is achievable...and I have sort of completed one. Dream 43 is to live in a cool apartment with James. Now what we have isn't as cool as I had in mind, but it's still cool, and it's ours to call home for a year...so it counts. :) That one was a bit too easy to do though, so I may try and achieve another dream. :)

So there is my January progress. I want to do a monthly 'progress report' so that I can actually see how I am doing. Writing it on here also helps to stop me from lying to myself about how I am doing. I'm quite happy with my progress in the first month, I have done some work towards achieving some of the goals but still have room to work on them during the rest of the year. :)

How are your resolutions going?

When life hands you lemons...

Saw this on pinterest...love it!

I think this is my favourite "When life hands you lemons" I have ever seen. I love me some G&T. I think I may need to hang this up in our new kitchen. :)

What's your favourite drink made with lemons?

Some children are just so darn cute

This is so cute. I also love how almost everyone waved back. :) I feel all happy now. :)

Australia Day

From my first ever visit to Oz.

Happy Australia Day everyone!

It seems to be a pretty big day here. It's nice to see a people who love their country so much. :) It's ever so slightly infectious. :P

I think there is all sorts on in Canberra today, with fireworks to end it all, but I don't think we'll be going to any of that. Just a nice day off, chilling around the house watching the cricket. There are rumours James' mum will make scones, and apparently they are REALLY good...so if that happens I'll be happy, I love scones.

Have a wonderful day!

Today

Found at weheartit.com

Today I:

Had a little girl play 'Boo' with me. She popped out and said "Boo!" numerous times.

Changed a lot of nappies.

Made a baby girl giggle by tickling her tummy.

Dealt with crying, teething babies.

Made a little boy fall asleep by singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

Helped a 14month old walk around the nursery over and over until my back hurt.

Had a baby girl fall asleep on me.

Quote to Inspire #21

Because it really is, you just need to look.

Happy Chinese New Year

For the last three years I have celebrated Chinese New Year with three wonderful friends...this year we are all separated. So instead of enjoying some yummy Chinese take away with them, I am going to enjoy the memories of awesome times we had together.

 We started celebrating Chinese New Year because Adrienne would celebrate it with her family back home. Since Durham was/is a long way away from Cambodia/Mongolia we thought we'd make the day a bit special so she didn't feel too homesick. We ordered in Chinese, I made a weird dragon mask face thing, and we took photos. It was fun. :) And we did it in our second and third year again (minus the funny mask).

Last year I went a bit crazy with decorations...and made 3 paintings...thats what the final year of uni does  to me though. :P
I miss getting all excited about the day. I miss actually knowing that it's coming up! And I think I shall definitely miss the food and company on the day.

Anyhoo, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! I hope those of you who celebrate it have a wonderful time!

James and Katie's New Apaaartment

If you would like to read the title like I do, it goes a little something like this.

Anyhoo, this weekend James and I moved into our new studio. We are renting it together. It's quite exciting! :D We got the first set of keys on Friday, moved some of our stuff in, went to the Broadway shops to look at some stuff and get me some Kikki.k folders (and bump into someone I did Education Studies with at Durham...small world...), and have an awesome Indian dinner. Nom nom.

On Saturday we went to Ikea! Yay! There is one max an hour away by train and foot, and since James had NEVER been to Ikea (I know, sucked to be him) I thought we should definitely go. It was just like going to any other Ikea I had been to (which is pretty awesome to start with) but this time I was accompanied by someone who kept saying how awesome Ikea was, which made it so much better! We walked around the show room, decided on all the rooms we would like when we have money and a bigger home, and then went to have some lunch. We then went downstairs to the accessory bit...and maybe went a bit crazy...I don't know, we love what we got anyways! As we were leaving Ikea we got a call saying the second set of keys was ready to pick up, but they closed in an hour and 15minutes. To get back in time we had to run for the train...with our BIG Ikea bags...it was EXHAUSTING! But we got back, and got our second set of keys. :D

So photos of our new home! :D Voila!

The living area:

Our pillows (made for different sleeping styles), pillow cases, sheet (same colour as the pillows) and blanket are all from Ikea.

The Kitchen: 

Gin and Tonic was the first thing we decided we needed....

Our Bathroom:

So were the towels...we actually didn't get THAT much...

Our new Train stop! 

Macdonaldtown.

And, because I really love our little Paris eating area, photos of our yummy Indian meal on our first night. :)

Our new home. We are very happy with it. :)

Quote to Inspire #20

Drawing by me, Quote unknown.

I have a picture for this, I just have a camera out of battery, no UK to AUS converter and work that lasts the whole of shops open hours...BUT when I do have the time I shall add it here. :)

Edit: Photo is here! :)

Exhausted!

I am exhausted! I've been blaming it just on work, but have also realised I haven't had a sleep in since last Thursday...non-stop days since then, man that business is tiring. But I did have an awesome trip to Sydney, and 4 full days of work (=money!)...so it's not a wasted exhaustion.

James and I wanted to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail last night. We put it in, sat down, started watching, and then fell asleep...so at 11pm decided maybe it was time to go to bed. Being 21 and that tired at 11pm feels so lame, but oh well! So this weekend, which I wanted to fill with 'to do' lists and getting things done has so far consisted of sleep, sitting around, and doing nothing. Ho hum.

I have decided now, that since I am on a Working Holiday Visa, which is for people trying to fund their trip, and for those to whom work is not the primary reason for being in Australia I can maybe cut down to 3 days a week of work max. Hopefully that will give me time to work on some of my New Years resolutions too, and have some fun (not that my work isn't fun).

In other news, James and I popped to the shops last night because I need some more black clothes for work...and I got some bright blue trousers...for less than $20! They are awesome, they look just like a $200 pair I had tried on earlier, but fit better, so are essentially better than the $200 pair! I love it when things like that happen. Hehe. :)

Quote to Inspire #19

By me, Quote Dr. Seuss -love him.

Our mini vacation to Sydney

Are you ready for a long post about our mini holiday to Sydney? If not, maybe come back later when you are. :P

SO! On Wednesday James and I got the 3.5 hour bus to Sydney from Canberra. We slept for quite a bit of it so it wasn't that bad...but it did mean it was 21:30 by the time we got there...so late. We then had to get the train to North Sydney, then a short walk, then into the lovely little place we were calling home for the next few days. James' parents and younger brother had left in the car earlier in the day but we left later because I had work. Wednesday wasn't really an eventful day, I just felt like sharing. The place we were calling home was pretty awesome though. It was near the train line, but the train wasn't too loud. We had a living room, kitchen, 3 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms...I think there was also a washing machine if we wanted to do any laundry. Not too shabby. :P We could also see the Harbour Bridge...if we went outside onto the street, but that counts right?

Thursday 4th - Cricket day!

We got up pretty early for the cricket. I'd say around 8:30, which for a holiday is pretty early. Got all ready and tried to find as much pink as possible in my packed clothes to wear for the Jane McGrath day. It's a day to raise money to find more breast care workers in honour of Glenn McGrath's wife, Jane. There was a lot of pink!

The day of cricket was pretty eventful! We got to see quite a few new records set by Clarke.

Highest-ever score by and Australian captain in Australia.

Highest Test Score at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Over 300 runs!

After he had more than 300 runs, and Hussey had reached 150 runs, Australia declared. Meaning we got to see India bat...or see some wickets get taken.

The crowd re-watching someone being caught out.

It was a pretty awesome day.
In the evening we went to Darling Harbour to eat at a brazilian BBQ (where James and I had gone with my Dad). So all in all, cool day. :)

Friday 5th - Harry Potter and Luna Park.
We got up early again to make it to the Powerhouse Museum for the Harry Potter exhibition at 9:30. The trip to Sydney was part of James' younger brothers Christmas present, he is a Harry Potter nut! He also spent far too long in the exhibit, in James' and my opinion. It was interesting...especially to see how small everyone was, but it as really crowded. We'd end up waiting 5 minutes to see a costume, or some sweets. The stuff is interesting, but did people need to stand in front of it for so long? We also weren't allowed to take any photos...so that was my fun gone. :P I'm sounding like I didn't enjoy it, but I did, I just think the Harry Potter module has made me a little sinister towards things that are fanatically HP. That being said, I got myself a Slytherin T-shirt, which I wear as I type, and I got James and I some Muggle Mugs...because I like saying Muggle Mugs...they are black mugs with 'Muggle' written across them in gold.
James and I left ahead of the rest to go an look at an apartment, but half way there we found out it had already been leased. Poo. We still made the long walk to Kings Street and waited to be met for lunch. We took James' family to the Thai place we like to get take-away from. Lunch is $6.50, the portions are large, the food is real good. It's basically awesome. :D It made up for the apartment disappointment.
We then went home for a quick nap before heading out to Luna Park! We had an AWESOME time at Luna Park!! I would so recommend an evening out to Luna Park if you are ever in Sydney.

The view from the Ferris Wheel.

The Ferris Wheel made me nervous...

This ride is awesome!!! 

Lost?

The entrance is pretty creepy.

By the end of our evening at Luna Park I was feeling pretty ill. I don't handle traveling or going in circles very well...but it was fun and well worth it!

View on a walk home.

Saturday 7th - Apartments
On Friday James and I had made a list of apartments we wanted to inspect on Saturday, so on Saturday we inspected them. It was another relatively early start. Up at 8:30, out of the house at 9. but we got to see some apartments. Quite a few of them were grotty, and really not worth the money being asked for them. Others, however, were really nice.
We had time for some brunch between two viewings. We found another awesome place on Kings Street, and had some yummy foods...some of my meals were really not fitting in well with my eating better plan for 2012...but I was on holiday! :P And it was only some.

Pancakes...I could only eat 2, man those things are filling!

We had lunch with James' family, at another lovely place on Kings Street (I think I developed a love for that street on this trip), saw one last place and headed back. James and I had a quiet night in whilst his family went to the Sydney Festival.

Sunday 8th - Chill and 20-20
Sleep in!!! We slept in until 9! Woohooo! Then went round to James' uncles place to give him a Christmas present he would have been able to take back to Sydney after Christmas but couldn't because he crashed his car so took the plane back instead of driving back...yeah it's a long story, he's ok, it was nothing major, all good. We also scanned and printed a whole bunch of stuff for apartment applications. Then we headed out for lunch. He lives in Surry Hills, we liked this part of Sydney too. Sydney is pretty awesome.
Anyhoo, we went to a place called 'bills'. I don't know much about cheffy people, but it's a restaurant owned by a chef called Bill Granger, he's apparently quite well-known...just not to me. There was a 45min wait to get a seat, so we put our name down and went for a walk. I think I'd say it was worth the wait.

My Sesame Chicken Sandwich with spinach, bacon and avocado mayonnaise.

The restaurant was really clean and nice feeling, all the food on display looked so vibrant and fresh, it definitely had a healthy feel about it. I ordered the sandwich above, and oh my was it yum! I only managed to eat half of it in the restaurant, but got to take the other half home. It was delicious. Everyone else's food looked and smelt amazing too, and they all seemed very happy with what they got. The long queue outside seemed understandable after eating the food.
After our yummy lunch we said bye to James' uncle and went back 'home' to do some form filling out. Then off to watch some 20-20 cricket. I feel like people who know me may be a bit surprised with the amount of cricket I seem to be watching, I blame Australia and James. :P It was the Sydney Derby at the Olympic Park, so we went to watch. The 6ers vs. Thunder. We got there a bit late, but the game had been delayed a bit due to rain, so we only missed 10 runs.

The Stadium was pretty crowded.

I love how they wait.

After a pretty exiting game the rain started.

It got REALLY heavy, so the game was finished and the 6ers announced winners.

The crowd was gone pretty quick.

We got soaked on the way back...but it was funny.

Monday 9th - Apartment and back to Canberra
Today we got up at 7, left the house at 7:30 and got to the Real Estate Agents for 8:20. We finished filling in the forms, and handed them in. We then had about an hour to wait until being picked up to go back to Canberra, so went and had some brunch again.

My naughty pancakes again.

Whilst we were having brunch we got a call from the Real Estate Agents saying if we wanted one of the apartments we would need to pay a deposity thing today and that they'll call back when they have processed our forms. So we gave them the deposity thing, and shall be getting the keys to a furnished apartment on Kings Street on the 20th (We have to sign a lease first...but yeah, it's kind of crazy how fast it went. we were the one of two couples that inspected the studio, so we thought it might be likely we get it, but not THAT fast). Yays!

We then drove back to Canberra, I unpacked and sat down to work on this super long update. :P

A pretty good trip if you ask me. :)

A little Sydney Holiday

Today was Jane McGrath day.

We're in Sydney for a couple of days on a mini holiday, or so I like to think of it. :) We arrived last night, and today went to watch some cricket. It was actually pretty exciting, so many records broken, and all in pink!

Tomorrow we're going to the Harry Potter Exhibition, looking at an apartment and going to Luna Park. Exciting times. So...I'm basically saying I won't be here much. :P

Have a lovely weekend. :)

Quote to Inspire #18

Drawn by me, Quote an African Proverb.

2012

Happy New Year everyone!!! I know for some people in the world it has only just happened, or not even happened yet, but here in Australia we've celebrated, slept and are now well into the 1st of January!  Scary! I hope you have all had the most fabulous 2011 and will have an awesome 2012. Do you have anything exciting planned? Made any resolutions?

I have. I usually do, and they are usually lame, and not that easy to stick to or measure, but after reading this post over at 'A Beautiful Mess', I decided I'd give resolutions another chance. So I made a list of all the sorts of things I'd like to do and tried to turn them into proper achievable, measurable goals. Then I wrote them out all pretty. :D

Here are my goals for 2012:

This is the only full page I will be sharing - Learn more about photography.

1. Learn more about photography. 
I know this one doesn't sound exactly measurable and all that...but this was a hard one to make as such. I want to learn more about how cameras work, different settings on cameras, photo compositions and all that. I have quite a few websites already saved to read through, and plan on getting a little book and making it like a little research project...maybe I could write an essay...haha...maybe not. But yes. I want to understand photography more, and this year I plan to tackle that.

Lose at least 5kg.

2. Lose at least 5kg.
I didn't really want to share this one...because sharing getting fit or weight loss goals tends to hinder them as friends and family tend to say your doing well, or can have a day off, or look fine; but I'll just ignore those people. I've started this one early by already starting to do exercise and drinking more water and less Coke. I don't think I'm fat, and I don't hate my body, I just want to be more healthy and fit...and I didn't want to time running or anything...so 5kg.

Cook something new and healthy once a week.

3. Cook something new and healthy once a week.
I should maybe have added in savoury too, considering Goal 4, but I understand. So yeah, once a week starting from when James and I have our own kitchen, I would like to try cooking something new and healthy. There are so many yummy dishes out there in the world and I would love to learn how to make them so that eventually I can just rustle up something amazing without a recipe or anything. :) I will of course, hopefully, share these recipes and their failures/successes with you lovely people through my blog.

Bake once a week for a year.

4. Bake once a week for a year.
Bake/make something desserty. I know this sounds slightly counter Goal 2...but I plan on baking yummy treats that aren't hugely fattening and bad for you...thats the plan anyway. :) I love the occasional sweet indulgent, and I'd love to be able to make super yummy desserts...so this sounds fun! :)

Those are my bigger goals, but I have some others too:
5. Create moustache notebooks.
I love moustaches....and so too do a lot of people on the internet, so I thought it would be cool to make some moustache notebooks. I've had this idea for a while, and I've done a lot of sketches. I think it would be pretty cool to try and get them made...and maybe sell a few. (This actually sounds like a big goal, but I'm calling it small because I don't know what to do with it at the moment...I have no plan of action)

6. Create an Art Portfolio
I also want to start making time for Art. I think it would be nice to have one place with all my art documented, so that if I ever want a job in that field I have something to present. :) Plus, it would be pretty to look through every now and then when I feel talentless.

7. Learn more about Aboriginal Art.
When I did the IB, I based 2 of my art pieces on Aboriginal Art, and did a bit of research into the subject (as was required). Now that I am in Australia I would like to learn more about it, I am rather fond of their art, and it would be cool to learn more about something so specific to Australia. :)

8. Use my 365 book somehow.
It's a very vague goal...but I want to have at least decided how to use that book by the end of the year.

9. Try and achieve at least one of my 101 Dreams.
Another one. One a year means I won't get them all done in my life, but one is a good start. :)

So there you are. My 2012 goals. What have you got planned?