Category Archives: Shoebox Life

SYL: Week 7

This week’s Home Simplified task is Creating A Vision Board.

One of the things that Deb continually reminds us of is that this challenge is for ourselves, and there is no right or wrong way to do it.

So whilst I would have loved to physically create a board this week, I actually used Pinterest and created a virtual vision board for now instead.

You can see the board here, and below are the images I’ve chosen.

I’ve tried to create a visual version of how I see myself over the next few months, through health, exercise, and a positive mindset.  I’ve also included a few outfits as I’d love to splash out on some clothes for the first time in years once I finish 12wbt.

The images of New York are a constant reminder of the amazing experience Mr G and I had when we travelled there four years ago, and I hope to return again in the next few years.

Hamilton Island is also there as I’d love for us to take our first family holiday and (very belated) honeymoon there, and of course the other beachside images are to remind me of what is in our very own backyard.

The Cure Of All Ales

Poor Miss A has had a nasty case of school sores over the last fortnight, and has been feeling pretty sore and sorry for herself to boot.

This morning I thought the best way to cheer her up would be to head down to our Backyard Beach, and cheer her up it did.

Whilst I thought the water was a tad chilly myself, Miss A was more than happy to get her toes wet, followed by her feet, her legs, and well, pretty much just sit right in it really!

Beach therapy.

The cure of all ales, even school sores!

And when Mr G captured a shot of Miss A and I today, it instantly reminded me of a similiar one of us eighteen months ago.

Here we are then:

And here we are today:

I love the way we have the same natural, happy expression in both shots.

There is something very magical to treasure in these moments we share by the water.

SYL: Week 6

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This week’s Home Simplified task is Goal Setting And Priorities.

I have realised in just six short weeks that setting goals has made a huge difference to my everyday life.

I was never a goal setter in the past.

A dreamer, yes, most definitely.

I would think about all sorts of things that I wanted to do, or wanted to start to do, and then that was as far as I would go.

Since starting to use my kikki-K Wellbeing Journal and Inspiration Diary, I have been setting all sorts of goals, some as small as something I want to achieve in a day, and others that I’m planning out over weeks and months.

Obviously right now my focus for the next 12 weeks is primarily on my health and fitness, as I am investing my time heavily in the 12wbt program.

My goals for this week were to plan as many meals as I could in advance, and schedule out the time each night when I will be exercising.

This afternoon I’ve pre-prepared and frozen all the food I need to take me up until Thursday, when I will cook again to take through until Sunday. Instead of having to worry about cooking each day, I’m only cooking twice a week!  That’s the sort of organising I like.

This also means at night that I will have plenty of time to focus on my exercise, so there’s another goal sorted right there.

As we are in the middle of a major bathroom renovation, my goals for The Shoebox are to keep the place running as smoothly as it can over the next few months, even though I know there will be times where it will feel like a never ending project.

As is the case once you start renovating, you find yourself looking ahead to the next thing and the next, which in our case will be re-polishing the floor boards, and then re-painting, so I’m also starting to think about how we can change each room with mini-makeovers in the process.

One of the things I’ve wanted for a long time is to have a hallway filled with simple white frames housing black and white prints of us, our travels, our wedding, and of course Miss A over the last two years.  All of these things take time, so I will literally be setting aside a few hours here and there specifically with the intent to sort through the digital files on the computer from the past five years and choose pictures and design layouts.

Also with regards to photos, I want to get a whole heap printed of Miss A from birth to now and put them into a photo album.  Before I know it she’ll be at school, and I don’t want to be wading through five years worth of images.  I still think nothing beats good old fashioned albums that you can look through and see just how much your precious ones have grown and changed (as have we!), and this is something I want to maintain throughout Miss A’s childhood.

In terms of family time, we are looking at ways to ensure quality over quantity.  As Mr G works on Saturdays and plays golf on Sundays, we really need to plan our weekends so that we have the opportunity to enjoy family time, balanced with relaxation, and not just end up staying home because we’re too tired or unmotivated to do anything.

Today we tried something new which worked really well for us.  Mr G went to golf later in the day which gave us the morning together, and we simply went to a local park for an hour, but it was just so lovely, and then when Mr G did go off to golf and Miss A slept, I got my cooking done for the week.

A perfect example of a day of kicking goals I would say!

Financially we’re obviously counting our dollars more than usual with the expense of the bathroom renovation.  Even with Mr G being a plumber, it’s a costly renovation, and I’ve managed to save more money in the last six weeks than the last three months by setting a specific dollar value target on savings.  I have found meal planning has helped immensely in this area, as we are saving on average $50 to $60 a week by shopping specifically to a list of what food we need for an entire week, and we’re also not wasting a further $20 or $30 a week on top of it on takeaway.

In terms of blogging, this year is the first that I have set myself goals, and I’m finding it very rewarding and motivating.  Again, some are daily goals, like last night I set aside two hours to sit on the computer and go in search of new blogs.  I find blog hops are such a great way to do this (and this challenge has helped me connect to bloggers I may never have otherwise come across), and it’s so refreshing and uplifting.  As much as we all have the blogs we follow and have adored for a long time, I definitely think that continuing to seek out new blogs is very inspiring and can give you many ideas and thoughts about how to improve, extend, and most importantly enjoy your own blog too!

So that’s where I’m at the moment with goals.

I feel like I’ve got enough variety to keep me motivated and focused, but not too overwhelmed at the same time.

Shower Fantasies (It’s Not What You Think!)

Here in The Shoebox, we are right in the middle of bathroom renovations.

Um, that is to say that we currently have a room stripped back to its frame, exposed brickwork, a thousand cobwebs, no floor, a leaky toilet, something that partly resembles shower pipes, and the old purple bathtub sitting in the front garden.

And after a long day, followed by a hard workout, the last thing I felt like doing was driving to my MIL’s  for a nice hot shower.

So I did what any self respecting girl does when she has to.

I closed my eyes and pretended that this:

Was actually this:

No wonder I had a smile on my face. ;-)

All Of The Time

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I’ve had a wonderful weekend with my time machine, setting it little missions all over the place. 

It is my new toy, and I can’t get enough of it.

The more I think about it, the more that it seems that time – or the concept of it – dictates so many of our thoughts and emotions.

I used to be overwhelmed by time.

My mind would constantly be focused on it.

What time is it?

What do I have to do in the next 10 minutes?

What do I have to do in the next hour?

What do I have to do this morning?

What do I have to do this afternoon?

What do I have to do tonight?

What do I have to do tomorrow?

What do I have to do by the end of the week?

What do I have to do on the weekend?

What do I have to do next week?

And on, and on it goes.

This week, I stopped focusing on time, and starting looking for other cues.

When I did that, and actually gave my mind a moment to focus on tasks rather than be crowded by the concept of time, that’s when I stumbled across my own built-in time machine.

Instead of telling myself that I didn’t have time to go for a walk, or go to gym, or sit down and have a cup of tea, or read a chapter of a book, or sort out some paperwork, or clear out a drawer, or put away dishes, or write a list, or prepare a meal, or text or phone a friend, or play with Miss A, or sit with Mr G, I simply listened to my mind, and it gave me the cues to know when was the right time to do all of it.

And it seems the less I focused on it, the more I had of it.

Do you think about time? 

All of the time, some of the time, none of the time?

SYL: Week 5

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This week’s Home Simplified task is to Catch Your Breath.

With no specific task to complete, I did exactly that, and stopped for a moment to catch my breath.

And then I took another, and another.

This pattern continued throughout the week, and before I knew it, all the thoughts in my mind – the ones that I feel I’ve been going over and over for months - they just started to float away.

Breath Is Spirit.  The Act Of Breathing Is Living. – Author Unknown

Physically, I felt a change.

I went to the gym. 

I cross trained. 

I walked. 

I ran a little. 

I did strength and circuit training. 

And all the while, I just kept on breathing.

Night time brought with it sleep.

More than I’ve had in months.

The breathing patterns that only come from good, solid sleep.

And each morning, I’ve woken with a soft breath.

An easy breath.

One that I carry all day, with lightness in my step, and fullness in my heart.

A Healthy Mind Has An Easy Breath.  – Author Unknown

January: My Month Of Consistency

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It’s hard to believe we’re a month into 2012 already, but a month it is, and I thought I’d reflect on how My Year Of Consistency is progressing so far.

January was always going to be ‘pre-season’ for me, undertaking tasks for 12wbt (which I’ll talk about soon), and preparing myself mentally, physically and emotionally for the three month challenge that lies ahead.

Tackling my emotional eating head on this month was key, and is the best point to start at in terms of consistency. 

I have not once eaten based on emotion this month.  I don’t think I’ve ever gone that long without something setting me off, giving in to some trigger along the way. 

And that’s the thing.  The guilt of it is so great that you remember it.  Every single time.  What you ate, why you ate it, how you felt at the time, how you felt afterwards, how you felt for the next week as you beat yourself up over it.

I can’t even describe in words how good it feels to be that consistent, and to have not one single feeling of guilt for a whole entire month associated with eating.

And that really has been my focus this month. 

In preparation for 12wbt, I’ve been watching my calories, working on a 1200 calorie a day plan.

This has meant porridge every single day for breakfast for me.  It is by far my most favourite meal, I could easily eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  Mind you, not that microwaveable powdered stuff, I do it the old fashioned way on the stove top with a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon, and for 300 calories I’m good for 4-5 hours.

Lunch has been a combination of the following: roast pumpkin, beetroot, spinach, fetta, chick peas, pine nuts.  Again, I eat this salad every single day and I just don’t get sick of it, and there’s 300 calories that satisfies me for another 4-5 hours.

Whilst I could be mixing it up a little more, I will once I start the 12wbt food plan, but this month it has worked really well for me to stick to the same things each day. 

Meal planning has become my friend.  I’ve found planning out our dinners helps me so much, and whilst I’ve always thought there’s not enough time at night and how would I get to the gym etc, it all works out really well.  Mr G had led me to believe he wasn’t much of a cook, but it turns out he knows how to prepare a mean stirfry, so that takes care of a few nights a week for me straight off the bat.

The other bonus of  meal planning is the cost factor.  I don’t know about you, but I can wander around the supermarket and spend the same amount of money each week no matter what I pile in the trolley.  This week I actually came in $60 under budget, and I’m sure I’ll notice that more and more as I get better at my meal planning too.

Whilst I wrote last week about my  sleeping issues, I’ve made sure I’m tucked up in bed by 9.30pm with a good book to relax and unwind.  I’ve actually started taking Swisse Ultiboost Sleep, and in just a few days I’ve already noticed how much it is helping me to get to sleep, and I’m only waking once or twice during the night for ten minutes at the most, so that’s a definite improvement there.

I’m also writing a few notes about how I’m feeling each day into my kikki-K Inspirational Diary, and also my kikki-K Wellbeing Journal, both of which are becoming a consistent part of my day that makes me feel quite centred.

And to round it out, I’d have to say the change in my mindset of listening more and talking less is making a huge difference to how I’m feeling about so many things around me.

So there you have it. 

A whole month of consistency!

How was your month?  What did you do consistently? 

SYL: Week 4

This week’s Home Simplified task is to create a Wheel Of Life.

Once again I’ve taken a slightly different approach, and used a template I found here.

Each area is scored from 1-10, and this is how my Wheel Of Life looked:

The breakdown for me was:

Career 6/10 

Right now I am working as a full time nanny because it allows me to be with Miss A, and until she starts school I am putting thoughts of my own career on the back burner for a while.  I know at the end of next year I’ll definitely be at a crossroad, as I have spent eight years in a corporate environment, and then another eight in childcare, and I really don’t know which direction I want to head.  Perhaps something new altogether!

Money 6/10

I’m not particularly stressed or concerned about our financial position, as we are able to meet all of our commitments each month, but sometimes I do get a little overwhelmed by our mortgage.  When I see that in the three years since we’ve had The Shoebox we’ve already paid off a quarter of the debt though, I know that we’re actually doing okay.  I also worry sometimes that I’m not earning as much money as I should or could be, but when I take into account the fact that I have no associated childcare costs for Miss A as she is with me all the time, I realise again that we’re doing okay.

Health 7/10

It disappoints me to say my health is at a 7, as a year ago it would definitely have been at an 8.  Obviously I am focused on this right now and over the next few months I intend to get it back up to at least an 8.  Over the years I have seen just what a dramatic effect a healthy lifestyle has on my sense of wellbeing, and I really hate seeing it slip down and for me to have a negative mindset associated with it.  If I spent the same amount of time focused on my health as I do thinking about, it would be a 10/10 for sure!

Friends and Family 8/10

Again, this is another area of my life that just a few years ago I would have scored much lower.  I had some friends and family around me who were quite negative and often brought be down, though at the time I didn’t actually see it.  Moving on from feeling that I needed these people in my life has allowed me to become much more positive and open as I have built stronger relationships with others, and feel for the first time ever that I am truly loved and supported by all of those people in my life.

Relationships 7/10

I think Mr G and I have fallen into the common trap of making time for the three of us as a family, but not so much for us as a couple.  This is partly due to the fact that we’ve not spent any time alone since Miss A was born, and two and half years is a long time to not have a dinner, date or movie night.  I realise that we can make more of an effort to have ‘date nights’ at home too, but I’m also hoping that this year Miss A will be able to spend a few hours being looked after by family so that we can have a little time out together.

Personal Growth 7/10

Last year I would have put my personal growth at a 6, so it is definitely starting to improve.  I am focusing a lot more on myself and the ways in which I need to change, as I know that I had become stagnant, and have had that feeling for a while that every day is ‘Groundhog Day’.  Even doing tasks like this is helping me to grow as I realise more and more where the road blocks are in my life, and the best way that I can work around them, rather than ignore them.

Fun & Recreation 6/10

This is one area of my life that I really need to work on.  On the weekends I usually am trying to catch up on so many things that I can’t do during the week that I don’t always stop to have an hour here or there to relax.  I fall into the trap sometimes of thinking that an hour on the computer is my recreation time, but it’s not really, and I’d be much better putting that hour to use by going to the beach, or going to the park or on a long drive.  There is nothing I enjoy more than a change of scenery and being spontaneous, so I’ll definitely be working on that!

Physical Environment 9/10

It’s no surprise that I am scoring my physical environment so highly.  Being out of My Shoebox from 7am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday certainly makes me appreciate the time that I do get to spend here, and I am truly at my most settled and content when all three of us are home and I am pottering about the place. 

I loved doing this task, as I have no doubt when I look back on it again in a few months that my wheel will be a little less wonky and a much smoother ride!

The Stamp Collector

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When I was younger, I was somewhat of a stamp collector.

This picture  illustrates perfectly the way in which  I used to lay out my albums, and I recognise many of the stamps as ones that I had in my own collection.

The stamps would keep me busy for hours, and I used to let my imagination take me on all sorts of adventures.

I had a very precise method in the way that I went about my collection too.

Firstly, I would buy a bag filled with stamps from around the world, still attached to the corners of torn envelopes.

Instead of just cutting them off the envelopes, I used to soak them in water so that I could peel them back to their original state, laying them out on a tea towel to dry. 

From there, I would sort them by size, image and colour,  placing them into the plastic lined rows of my albums.

Quite often the stamps that came in these packets would be the same, but I still pored over each one, looking closely at each post mark, and wondering of the story behind it.

What letter was inside the envelope that this particular stamp was attached to? 

If it was one of Queen Elizabeth II, where in England was the stamp sent from, and to whom? 

I used to look up my Reader’s Digest Atlas Of The World, mapping out routes,  never quite able to believe that each of these stamps from such far away places was now inside my album in a small country town in Australia!

Letters fascinated me, and I used to love our daily trips to the post office.

Each time we would go to collect the mail, the postmaster would pull out all the marked envelopes from the alphabetical pigeon hole under the first letter of our name. 

She was very deliberate in her manner, and I remember the  way she would lick her index finger before commencing her precise flick, flick, flick through the pile.

There was no doubting that she took her role very seriously, and I couldn’t imagine a better job in the whole wide world.

I would spend hours at home playing ‘post office’. 

Just as with my stamp collecting, this too was a lengthy process. 

Firstly, I would cut up paper to make my envelopes, then I would look in my atlas, choosing place names, then making up surnames and addresses to match.

Once I’d made all of my letters, it was time to sort them alphabetically, and then of course practice my own flick, flick, flick through the pile as I imagined each person coming along to collect their mail from me.

What imaginative games do you remember most from your childhood?  Did you ever collect anything? (I also had a large souvenir spoon and eraser collection)