Almost Embrace the Camera 24th of March

Well, I didn't have a photo of myself for this week but discovered a YouTube video of the Triathlon event from a couple of weeks ago - so I'm posting that instead :)

My First Mini-Mini-Mini Triathlon

150 meter swim, 5k bike, 1.5k run = 36 mins and addicted!

5 Minute Declutter Challenge: Just one shelf....

One shelf in my hall cupboard/pantry.

5 minutes. 

The goal:  To be able to shut the cupboard door and open it again without things getting stuck or falling on my head... 

First this:

Now this: 

First this: (you can not tell that the pile of black things at the front are random socks can you!!!?) 

Now this:

5 Minutes a day to order from chaos. Don't bite off more than you can chew :) 

The Have Mores

It happened very quickly. An email avert caught my eye. "Ooooo, that's nice, the deal of the day is an Italian meal for two for just $19.95.... 50 minutes away..." 


Ok, thats not much of a deal, but it reminded me to check another deal website for their daily deal, then another... suddenly I am very seriously about to buy a coffee machine identical to the one we own and rarely use, and several packets of 1000 thread count sheet sets... 


I don't need those things!  


Thankfully I stopped myself in time - before I laid a round of mysterious charges on the credit card we are trying so hard to get rid of. 


It's the Have Mores. I go to a shop, and everything in that shop, from the colour on the walls, to the sounds and smells, and the placement of products, is designed to make me think I need to Have More. I see something I've never thought of buying and start to think... hmmm... I think I need that. 


Our minister at church on Sunday used the example of catalogues in the mail. You start flipping for deals on your every day items, and end up buying something you never actually wanted in the first place! 


The really is that most of us don't need to Have More. Most of us have More Than Enough as it is. Ever tried to move house? Chances are you will unearth things you really don't know what to do with. 


So what can we do to be people who think about what we buy, and not let what we see become what we 'need'?

• Junk Mail Sticker on the letterbox. Now that I never get catalogues, I never miss them, and I don't find myself planning a list of cheap but actually unsuitable gifts for people who I ordinarily wouldn't buy gifts for anyway.  
• Don't go to the shops unless you need something specific. I do not really enjoy shopping, but I don't go to the shopping centre unless I need something and I know just where to buy it. I park at the end of the shops closest to the shop that sells what I want then make it my personal mission to get in and out as quickly as possible. If I'm meeting friends for a coffee, I try to go to a place that is roadside, not a coffee shop inside a shopping centre. It limits the exposure... 
• Do plan. Plan out what you need, write a list, use an iphone app, whatever makes your day easier. 

Being a good steward of what God has graced you with involves paying attention to what you buy, evaluating its usefulness and making a better decision next time. 


So, we need to remember to ask ourselves; Do we really need to Have More, or do we already have More Than Enough? 


More info: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Project:Simplify - Master Closet Results

Ahh... but you will say "Girl, you do not have many clothes!"

And I will say: "That is because some are on the bed..."

"And on the floor in the other room..."

"And on these here shelves"

"And mostly because this is only my clothes, and Awesome has his own closet in the Man Cave."

"Right" You will say. "That is a mess. You had better get to work."

And I will agree and get cracking on the challenge set up here:

  

And it will be a couple of hours, because I become distracted with finding my colours and generally interrupting myself with other jobs like making my own washing powder... 

BUT THEN, I will finish. One double wardrobe and 5 drawers later.... here are some of the highlights:

The neatness of shoes and threw out 3.5 pairs of shoes (yes, 3.5)

Turns out I only have one belt out of 10 that will ever come close to going around me again... 

Every earring has a pair, every necklace is knot-less and clean, every section of the jewellery hangers are colour and style coded... the clothes are organised by type and length... oh yes, a day at home can be well spent! 

Be Still...

and know that I am God. 

                                   ~Psalm 46:10

Embrace the Camera 10th of March

Cheeky monkeys :)

Linked up for:

 

at theandersoncrew

Rethinking Disappointment

What is disappointment? 

Wikipeadia (which is by no means definitive!) defines disappointment as: the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest. Similar to regret, it differs in that the individual feeling regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a poor outcome, while the individual feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome itself. It is a source of psychological stress.

Disappointment is the feeling we get when we focus on the outcome itself. 

I found this very enlightening. There is a sense here that when we are disappointed, we are suffering from a removed locus of control. The expectation we had of a particular result or outcome are not met. We have not reached our goal. 

When we have failed to put our trust in God, when we have trusted ourselves and 'the plan' over the "The Plan" of our Creator, we open ourselves up to disappointment. 

Is disappointment unhealthy? I don't think so. I think what is unhealthy is when we become so disappointed that something didn't happen a certain way and we begin to blame things outside ourself, and for many people, blame God. 

I entered a free competition some years ago. There was a 1 in X chance that I would win this competition, but I started to get excited about the prize. I began to think about what my life would be like if I won, what I would change, what I would become....  I didn't win (along with thousands of others!). 

I was disappointed. I had a lot of plans, logical, serious plans. And I was disappointed. 

But the disappointed stemmed from something that was never mine in the first place. 

These are instant times. We are used to getting what we want. Now. 

But one of the most important things we must realise as Christians is that God didn't promise us anything more than eternal life and a way to deal with the temptation we face in life. 

We didn't receive a promise for the last piece of cake, a birthday present or a much bigger house. 

Don't let your disappointment in the earthly get bigger than your focus on the eternal. 

²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23 (New International Version, ©2011)

5 Minute Declutter Challenge

A quick declutter challenge for you today.  Just 5 minutes!

Bedside Table Declutter

Yep - its a dumping ground. Thanks goodness you can't see the old tissue there - yuck! But the clocks prove it really did take just 5 minutes to clear, clean and return everything to its rightful place. Not sure why I have a photoframe with nothing in it there... I actually have had that in my room in various houses for 4 years with no photo... really need to get a roundtuit!

My Top 5 Tips for Weight Loss

I'm halfway to my goal weight and still have work to do, but here is what is working:

1. Don't keep junk in the house. At all. Box it up and give it away, its easier not having it around, distracting you.
2. Change your driving route, park on the other side of the road, catch the bus - do whatever it takes to make sure you no longer just nip into McD's on the way home for a hamburger and fries.
3. Bring a plate. Offer to bring a plate of food to the party or BBQ, - make it the yummiest, favourite-est, most moorish healthy food you love. Then just eat what you brought. Chances are everyone else will want the chips and dip anyway. 
4. Do the workout. Don't ditch it. Don't postpone it. You will feel good once you start and better when you finish. Start, then continue. 
5. Download some great motivation music for your workouts, house cleaning and shopping. Listen to your ipod at the supermarket and you can drown out the annoying ads and music and focus on your pre-prepared-I'm-only-buying-what's-on-this-list-list. 

You CAN do this. (hmmm this is as much for me as for you!)

Pencil Bag Tutorial

Sometimes you need to write it out. 


You need a place to keep those pesky, roly poly, disappear-y pencils.


You could make one like this...

pick some pencils and cut two pieces of fabric that will be long enough for your pencils. 

hem long edges of each piece, fold top 1cm (1/3 inch) and sew as shown - repeat on other piece

(scuse the red nails - was having a la dee da day!)  pin long edges right side facing  leaving the folded section unpinned.

like so. 

sew all three sides (double stitch for strength)

that top bit is still open...!

turn right side out, thread ribbon through one side of opening and back to the other side

pin ribbon to itself

repeat with second piece of ribbon going the opposite way - it will tie on the other side

like so

ta da!