{LOVEroom}

here is a sneak peek into my lounge room...

we have moved our lounge room from the front of the house into where our dinning room used to be for the winter. and today winter hit our little seaside town with a vengeance. i awoke early this morning to a raging thunderstorm and it has poured with rain virtually all day long. it has been lovely to come home after school today, pop the heater on and curl up in the rocking chair.

the front room of the house used to be a verandah which has now been closed in to make the house bigger. it has lots of windows and it is a wonderful room  in the summmer because we open up the windows and let the sea breeze float in. but in the winter it is very cold and there is no heating.

so we have moved into this space, which in the original house plans (before the verandah was closed in) would have been the sitting room. it is lovely and homely and super warm.

this entire room is furnished and decorated with items that were either purchased at a second hand store or given to me by my mother or made for me by my mother. it is a very eclectic room and i just {LOVE} it. my favorite thing to do in the evening is to curl up in my red chair, in front of the fire, granny blanket on my knee and a cup of tea in my hand. but usually i have to fight my hubby and my little boy for this spot because it is there favorite place to. so often you will find us all snuggled up in this spot together.

this has to be my most favorite room in the house...

life lessons from oprah...

anybody watch oprah winfrey's last ever episode? 

it was an inspiring show where she shared some words of wisdom. she shared many life altering lessons that she has learnt over the last 25 years while doing her tv show.

i made some notes in my gratitude journal of some of the things she said that inspired me and i thought i might share some of them with you.

{LIFE LESSON} number one...

we all have a calling in life and it is our job to find out what that is.

a calling is a passion that lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you are supposed to be 

and doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing

live from the heart of yourself

know what sparks the light in you

so that you in your own way can illuminate the world

oprah

what wonderful advice. living out what you are passionate about so that you can light up the world around you.

we can only change the world and make it a better place by changing one person at a time.
i think that it is the little things in life that count. those small special moments that can make a difference.


i know lots of special mummas who are shinning their own beautiful light on their children. caring for them, schooling them, loving on them, raising them to be little lights of their own.

there are creative souls pouring their time, money, effort and love into making soft toys, clothes and blankets to send to children in war torn and poverty stricken countries.

there are wonderful people looking after the elderly in our community, all they are doing is providing a warm place for them to go during the day. to sit and chat and play cards together but it is the small things that count.

i am reminded of the words that the apostle paul wrote in a letter to timothy::::

fan into flame the gift of God which is in you for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and self discipline 

{2 timothy 6}

we all have a special gift inside, given to us from God and it is waiting to bust forth and be used.


i would like to encourage you to find what lights you up inside. 

discover what you are passionate about and how can you use that to light up the world around you so that our world can be a better place.

eleven years and counting...

today is our wedding anniversary, we have been married for eleven years.

when i married greg i married my best friend and we are closer and stronger together then we have ever been. we are definitely getting better with age!

we have know each other since we were twelve years old when we went to youth group together. we started hanging out more when we were fifteen and then started dating when we were sixteen. and we were married the year we both turned twenty. we had a big beautiful winter wedding and it was my dream fairly tale wedding day.

it is hard to remember life before it was greg and meek, it feels like we have always been apart of each others life and that is just the way i like it. life is pretty sweet at the moment and we are just enjoying the ride...

to celebrate our lovely life we had a romantic dinner for two last night. i finally got the opportunity to wear my fancy shmancy dress i got while i was overseas.

 the details...

dress - goddwill store on oregon

clutch - kmart for seven dollars, bargain!

boots - target

bracelets - diva

ring - venice

i picked up this cute green silk BCBGmaxazria dress at a goodwill store in oregon. it still had the price tag on and it once retailed for two hundred and thirty eight dollars and i walked away with it for only eight dollars. bargain of the century, this is why i love op shop shopping. 

we dined at sunsets cafe on the water front and the food was delicious...

i even ordered this amazing chocolate dessert, yum! by the end of our meal our bellies were full.

so i raise a glass to me and the hubby for eleven wonderful years and many more wonderful years to come, cheers!

ahhhh... it is finally friday!

it has been a long week in the house of the blessed and i am so glad that the working week is over.

what has kept us busy... work, school, reports, visiting sick friends, play dates, boring housework and all the stuff that comes along with family life.

we have a weekend of nothing but rest planned, and i can not wait to kick up my feet in front of the fire with my boys by my side this evening.

friday of course is fill in the blanks time. you can join in over at
the little things we do...

the last thing i ate was white chocolate and a cup of tea {i am eating it as i sit here and write this post} i have been eating way too much chocolate lately and not doing enough gym sessions to balance it out. it is so hard to be motivated to work out these days, i go to the gym at night and after a full day at work and when the weather is cold and rainy it is hard to go out to the gym.

the next thing i would like to eat is pesto chicken salad. we have been eating a lot of soups and vegetables with our main meals lately so it would be nice to have a fresh salad. i love the pesto chicken salad you can get at the dome cafe at the moment, i had one a few weeks ago and it was yumo!

the best thing for a sad and crying little boy is his mummy's hugs. last night me little boy kept waking up through the night coughing and crying and all he wanted is a cuddle, bless him. however now we are both terribly tiered and in need of a good nights sleep.

something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is going shopping, eating chocolate and drinking tea, getting a really good haircut, having a great hair day, family get-togethers, losing weight, finding jeans that are long and fit me perfectly, mothers day cards, new born babies, hugs from my little man, listening to the rain falling on the tin roof... the list is endless...

sports are wicked fun. i love watching the footy (AFL) i am a west coast eagles supporter, i love basketball - i love playing it and i love watching it - live not on tv though and i am totally loving roller derby now!

i miss sleep ins. i usually get one sleep in a week but theses days i can not seem to sleep past 8am. i remember the days - pre kids of course- where a sleep in would be making it past 10am!

right now i am blogging and listening the the rain and thunderstorm outside and my little boy laughing at the tv in the other room, two of my favorite sounds - storms and Williams laughter.

hope you have a wonderful weekend full of wonderful things to do and see

Girls and Wheels

remember how i went to the roller derby last weekend?

well here is a video that i found on youtube that explains it a little more and i just thought i would share it with you...

wall {LOVE}

after being inspired by this gorgeous wall display...

image source

i created this...

the decorating budget for our house is zero. so i needed to be a bit more creative and find interesting things that i already owned. i wish i had a whole pile of gorgeous fabric and embroidery hoops like the pic above but sigh... i do not.

i hunted through my craft collection, through my treasure trove of sweet little things from op shops and through my collection of things that have been handed down to me from my mumma and i came out with a few cute little things to work with..

church, family, birthdays and food glorious food...

i finally pulled out my vintage 60s dress and i wore her to church...

the details...

dress and bag - op shop

boots - spendless

earrings - gifted

ring - venice

lots of people did not recognise me with my new hair and i had a lot of people doing a double take to see if it was actually me!

i love this dress and still can not believe i picked it up from my local op shop. it is in great condition and fits me perfectly.

after church we headed over to the in-laws house for lunch to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday. anybody who knows my in-laws know that we were well looked after we had amazing food.

they have a cute little pizza oven so we had fresh home made gourmet pizza, the most delicious pumpkin soup, a to die for chocolate mouse dessert and of course tea and birthday cake.

my father-in-law is the most amazing man and i consider myself the luckiest daughter-in-law in the whole world to have him.

he has raised an amazing man in my husband, he is devoted to and loves his wife so passionately and they are a wonderful example of how a married couple should be. 

he is so amazing with my little man william. he looks after him all the time and they have such fun together. they make and build things together, feed the ducks out by the pond, they tinker around on the boat together and he always drops by our house with little treats for will like bottles of choc milk and bags of lollies.

he is dedicated to serving God through service. he works on the grounds at the salvation army campsite, he serves in his church and he also does overseas mission trips to thailand and cambodia.

he is amazing and we love him to bits

happy birthday rob

xoxo

roller derby

on saturday night our mates took us to the perth roller derby and it was totally awesome, i am now ready to get on some skates and hit the rink for some action!

what is roller derby you may ask, well have you ever seen the movie whip it, starring drew barrymore?
well it is just like that.

it is basically two teams on roller skates skating in formation around a track. points are scored when the designated 'jammer' of a given team laps members of the opposing team. the other members of the team try to block the jammer from getting through while trying to let the jammer on their own team through so there is offensive and defensive moves going on at the same time. it is a contact sport so there is lots of hip and shoulders and chicks being sent to the sin bin, total awesomeness!

we have two leagues here in wa, the perth roller derby and the wa roller derby league. the sport is still taking off here so there are only a few teams in each league. every month or so they have inter club matches and a month ago they had a league verses league match.

we knew a coupe of the girls who were skating and they had to practice with the league for a whole year before they could get a spot on a team so they take it pretty seriously. i just love that they are women who are around my age and even older, they are all shapes and sizes and come from all different walks of life. actually it was pretty inspiring.

it was very entertaining to watch, there was a live band who payed during breaks, lots of yummy food and drinks, a cheer squad at half time and lots of family and friends cheering on their friends, sisters and mummas.

if you are in wa go and check it out, it is a blast.

blonde no more

this morning i checked into the hair salon as a blonde and i checked out with deep purple hair...

what do you think...? i totally love it. it is hard to see in photos but there is a purple glow to it.

i have been thinking about going really dark again for a few weeks now and i finally had the time to go to the salon. i told the hubby i was going to get my hair done but i did not tell him i was getting something this drastic done.

don't worry, he loves it too.

the details...

coat - kmart

jeans, boots and black t - target

heart necklace - diva

bracelets - valley girl

haven't done an outfit post in a long time. nothing overly special about this one, just weekend wear which by the way is my favorite wear.

i have had a crazy busy week, am having a crazy busy weekend and will have a crazy busy week next week as well.

what is keeping me so busy?... school, housework, play dates, birthdays, family time, friend time and one BIG horribly annoying thing...

SCHOOL REPORTS, eek!

i have not done school reports in about 4 or 5 years so it is taking me a little while to get back in the swing of things, plus i have over 150 reports to do, man alive that sounds like a lot right? well it is, but it really shouldn't take me too long because i am only doing one subject on each report, phew!

well better go and tackle the housework before i head out for the evening
xoxo

Fill in the blank Friday

it is friday again, woohoo! my little boy is feeling much better thank you for asking! he didn't share his sicky bugs with us so we are all fit and healthy and ready for a jam packed weekend.

i am linking up with the little things we do for fill in the blank friday. if you would to join in head on over to her blog to link up or you can check out some other fantastic blogs who have joined the party.


here are this weeks blanks...
the last movie i saw was charlie st cloud. it was a really great movie and i enjoyed it. it is a drama/romance which is the type of movies that i love watching.  the next movie that i am hoping to see is either bridesmaids or the new transformers movie dark side of the moon.

i want to tell you that tomorrow i am off to the hairdressers to get a new do which i am very excited about :)

surprises are horrible! i hate surprises. i think it is from my need to know everything about everything that is going on around me and i hate it when i am left out of the loop. my husband surprised me with a cruise around the mediterranean. he only told me the day before we were due to set sail and i was really upset with him for not telling me. i was upset because i wasn't prepared and hadn't packed the appropriate clothes. i was also upset that he had told everybody except me, i hate being the last one to know something.  after that experience he now knows that i do not like to be surprised.

the best accessories is... i LOVE accessories and i would have to say that the best one is jewellery. i never go out without adding a piece of jewellery to my outfit. at the moment i am always wearing a long necklace or a big chunky ring.

my favorite warm drink is of course tea. i am very fussy about my tea, i like it black and very strong and very sweet. i also prefer engish breakfast or earl grey tea. i am so fussy about it that i prefer to make my own tea rather then being served it from somebody else. i hate ordering tea in a cafe because it is never hot enough for me and if it is luke warm then it is just not worth drinking.

my favorite cold drink is a mango fandango from dome cafe. it is super delicious and you should definitely try one

currently loving listening to the band parachute. if you don't know who they are then you should definitely google them. they are awesome and my favorite song is she is love.

hope you all have had a wonderful week and that you have an awesome weekend
see you on the flip side
xoxo

{LOVE}

i am joining in with Kristy aka Paisley Jade {LOVE} fest again this week.

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.  

Kristy Drake

i am {LOVING} these things from around the world wide web...

image source

how awesome is this lamp, don't you just love it? I absolutely {LOVE} it.

i came across the lovely blog design sponge and there is an easy step by step tutorial to show you how to make this totally awesome lamp.

i don't think i would have the heart to drill holes in my mothers or my grandmothers china so i think a trip to the op shop would be in order to make this little beauty.

image source

i {LOVE} and i really mean love these.

this is from the purl bee. they have used the most amazing material and embroidery hoops to create an adorable wall display.

there is also a step by step tutorial showing you how to make them for yourself.

image source

winter has set in here in the city where i live, which i also really {LOVE} and with the cooler nights i love lighting candles and sitting in front of the warm fire with a drink of hot tea and a granny blanket on my knee.

i found the idea for these sweet candle holders over at once wed. they are really simple to make - just glass jars and watery paint and you are done. visit the blog to find out how to make them.

image source

and i {LOVE} this idea of using hankies to make a bunting - no sew just tie them together. if came across this idea over at the corner store.

so that is my {LOVES} for the week, there is enough projects there to keep me busy for awhile.

head on over and link up at Paisley Jade

hope you have a fun filled weekend
xoxo

sunday = sick day

my poor little boy is sick...

just after lunch time the poor little guy started vomiting. and he has only just stopped (8pm on sunday night) and he has passed out on my hubbys lap in our favorite spot in the house... the red arm chair, in front of the fire.

i really really really hope that is it for the chucking up and i really really really hope that he has not shared his tummy bug with me or my hubby. so tomorrow i am staying home from school and will be giving the little guy lots of tlc.

i wanted to show you one of williams birthday presents. i bought him this sweet little family of wooden dolls...

i found them in the loveliest children's store when we were holidaying down south at easter time (in dunsborough for those of you who are local). they are by educo and they have lots of great toys in their collection.

william really loves them. he takes them around the house in his fire truck. he places them up on top of shelves and then uses the fire truck ladder to rescue them and bring them back down again. they fit perfectly into the little wooden farm house i purchased a few months ago at the op shop.

over the weekend i have been rearranging a few rooms in our house. it has been a fairly big task as i moved all of the furniture by myself (flexes arm muscles). now i am putting the finishing touches on the rooms and i cant wait to photograph them for you.

hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you have a fantastic week
xoxo