Showing posts with label himself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label himself. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

old beginings

I want to blog more
to have a clean home
to lose that last bit of weight
to be a nicer girlfriend
to be kinder to my body and myself

to live an authentic existence
to no longer merely want to be all these things, but to be living a life that strives toward being the best me. to make continued and somewhat consistent efforts toward this

no longer do I wish to live life according to the urges I feel - no longer grab every single time for the quickest fix
to sit with these urges and impulses screaming at me means they will fade away. afterwards I will be stronger.
afterwards it will all be okay. it is just a matter of getting to the after

now is not the part where I will vow that 2012 will be the year, that it will all change because it is the new year. I am still the same me I was at the very start of 2011, wanting much the same as now. longing to be living life the way my heart desires.
that's the good thing about life, so many chances to give it another go.
and so today, the 3rd Jan 2012, I am giving it another go.
one urge at a time. one teeny tiny step at a time. perhaps even a whole day at a time.

I will leave you here with images of my right now, the home that is making my heart practically burst with happiness.





 I hope that you all join me in these moments of my trying to live life as me. attempting change. giving an authentic life a really good go.


much love

Saturday, 5 November 2011

today - 5/11/11

Hello there all!
Another weekend off, and am loving it! Trying to take it easy though as I've been ill this week and really need to rest up. Being ill and having to stop + rest etc is one of my least favourite things in the world as there is always so much to do. Suffice to say that I've been struggling with having to pause. 
Himself and I went for a drive this morning and checked out a local op-shop, turns out that op-shop was on its last day of trade and himself knew the owner - win! They were running a "fill a bag with books for $5" and the owner let me into the back room to rummage - awesome win! Ended up with twenty seven paperbacks, all chick lit.
Got two super cute tank tops for a few dollars each.

Not completely sold on the bows though as they sit a bit funny, think I might make some new ones out of a different material. Sigh. Add that to the 'project pile' haha. That, and try to excuse my awkward attempt at a photo of the top with me in it. Just not happening lol.

Just finished up our BBQ lunch, and cleaning up the back deck. 


Is still an evolving space, the whole house is really. I am seriously crushing on these lantern/candle holder thingamys for the table.


Soso cute/perfect! Waiting till they go on sale. I'm thinking three of the big ones spaced out on the runner or a mix of big and small in the very centre...thoughts anyone?

Am super beat so am thinking I am done being productive for today. More than ready to put my feet up and chillax with all my books :)

melanie ann xo

Saturday, 22 October 2011

big news and my life of late...

As before mentioned (or vaguely hinted at lol) in this this post I've some big news...

I've been promoted at work! YAY! I really really wanted the role, like in a all consuming/ridiculous way. My manager left (such a sweetheart whom taught me alot) and I went for it.
And got it.
Craziness. Haha, not really crazy. But surreal in a huge way. Soooooooooo happy! 
Totes deserve it. Typing that is a bit  difficult (as in super hard to admit to the world) but I do.  Lots of hours and hard work went into getting here and to reap the benefits now is just lovely.
I officially started a few weeks ago, but was care taking my store for five weeks before that whilst my manager was at another local store (that manager was on a super massive holiday, which I was super envious of but she totes deserved it)
Must be doing something right eh?
the lovely card my parents sent me :)

In case you've all been missing me, that is where I have been. Working. With an awesome team. Seriously loving the women I have on board, they are such a support to me. Yup, all women. Pretty sure that is standard in the retail sector but. My area manager is the best too. Funny as, and has heaps of experience to share.
Just loving life in general. 
Neglecting my blogging and projects but I imagine that I will get to those someday. Not someday soon.
So, to sum up...
- I've my dream job
-Himself is lovely as ever and supportive, and possibly a bit over having a tired girlfriend. Whoops :S
-My weight loss program is on hold whilst I adjust to getting paid fortnightly rather than weekly, but am missing my delivered meals. Am planning to take it back up asap as I'm just 5kilos away from goal!
-Off this weekend, and am headed off to visit with himself's family
-It is a quarter to two in the A.M. and I need to sleep a bit, but missed y'all and my blog too much to be going to bed at a semi-normal hour
-Yay for life/love/stuff ♥

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

life as a juggling act

I've been struggling with balance. The delicate balance between what I desire career wise, my relationship, my family, myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not all 'oh life is crappy, I feel bad.'
Not that there is anything wrong with that. If I did feel that way I wouldn't hesitate to blog about it. Because I want to be true to real life on here. And my real life defo has its melly feels shitty times occasionally.
But this post is not that today.

Life is gooooooood.
Like awesomely freaking great.
Life is also changing in a day-to-day context. I am adjusting accordingly, but the changes that have been going down means that I really have had to asses what is really important to me and stick with that. Not to say that I don't totally feel super guilty about stuff because I really can't be in twenty places at once. My not having a twin/ personal assistant means I move things/people/myself onto the back burner frequently, it is just getting it 'right' I suppose.
This past week or so it has been all about working, himself and trying to catch up on house tasks. Anytime I have had off with himself has been spent just chilling, doing projects, or going on drives.

The time I have had off has consisted of my trying to get washing clean/dry/away/off the lounge room floor. Eep! Love the washing part and the having clean clothes part. The actual folding and putting away however is not my favourite thing in the world. In fact, for the past week and a half I truly have been rummaging everyday through the pile of clean washing on the lounge. I am finding that having what I desire means that I need to compromise like this. To let things slide a bit. So not easy for me and my 'everything has to be done and in its place before I can feel right' attitude. And defo not conductive to regular blogging. But practise is making for a more relaxed/balanced me.

Some stuff I have been up to in my "offline" life...
(in no particular order. mostly because I cannot remember which order they occurred in haha)


My Leah bestie came over, she bought her family with her. Twas lovely. Morgan is getting so big and grown up and it is such a joy to be a part of their lives :)




Seriously! There is a reason the whole 'kids grow up too fast' sentence is such a cliche, because it is so true :S

Myself and Himself have been thrifting a heap. We have found absolute gold!
 

That print is from letterhappy on etsy. I lovelovelove it! She is such a sweetheart too. I don't think that this will be its ultimate 'home', but since the curly-iron frame thingamy and the print were sitting around waiting to be a current project I figured they might as well hang instead.
We bought he iron-frame thingamy (anyone know what it is?) at our favourite vintage store locally. It was $28 and the lady who runs the store it such a kindred. She loves stuff with a history and we stayed for ages just chatting to her. As we left with out purchase she called out and said that she was glad to meet us and that we made her day. Lovely lady and an awesome contact to have as she is going to keep an eye out for some stuff we are after.

Probably my fave find of late has been this....



Driving home on Sunday (from markets and a picnic by the sea. Was bliss ♥) and himself spotted an old dude putting this out on the curb. It works for the radio so far, and we most likely can fix the record player in it. Stoked! Planning to play my box of eighties compilation records on it. Also found on the side of the road in this neighborhood six months ago before we lived here. Haha, I love us.

So much more to catch up on, hope to make some more time for this place here. I do so love this space since it is all mine. Himself is super encouraging of this blogging, always asking how it is all going and telling me that he likes it when I blog. What a gorgeous man he is :)

For now however, there is a load of darks in the machine, a load and a half of lights/colours and two loads of linen calling my name...

melanie ann xo

Monday, 18 July 2011

Of late.

Annnnnnd I'm alive! Haha. Believe me - there is no way of saying how excited we are to be done with the whole moving thing. Stupendously so my friends. That, and to be sitting here drinking tea (whilst I practically sit on the heater) typing this out is seriously the most excited I have been all month. 
Let me fill in the massive void of time that has passed since the last post.
 
Packing was not a huge issue once we actually got started, it was just the overwhelming dread beforehand that was the most daunting. That, and the whole sitting around playing Atari and looking at old photos were not conductive at all. We did however, pull an old suitcase out of the built-in wardrobe thinking it was empty, only to find that it was full to the brim with old cameras and accessories that himself bought at a garage sale and that we obviously never even went through (I only have about a quarter of my collection of cameras on display at once due to lack of space, and change them out every so often)
 


Who forgets they own that?!

 Getting the gazillion or so dollars together for the rental bond was a bit sketchy as we had no-where near enough saved up for it. Whoops. The real estate we rent through made life an absolute nightmare for us (not giving us all the keys anyone?!)
Getting the internet changed over was a nightmare also as we found out after a three week wait to be re-connected only to have no dial tone at all. Another week passed before they booked us a technician to come and sort it but only between the hours of 8-12 on a Friday. Handy huh? He was grumpy and rude but at least had the fact that he turned up at 8.02am playing in his favour. Turns out that when the kitchen was recently renovated the wall socket for the telephone was cut to move it, and the 'workmen' that did so chose to not re-wire. They instead just poked the old wire that lead to no-where through the hole in the floor and went on their merry way. Charming. Because I love paying $220 only to find that I was plugging my modem into the equivalent of thin air. Bastards.
The move was horrendous. Moving/lifting heavy things does not make for a happy me. In fact, manual labor of any description + me = a whole lot of tanty throwing. Hate it. Make no secret of it. More than happy to play the girl card on that one haha. 
It ended up that I lifted for the bulk of the stuff from both our places but then got to the point where we made the call to play to our strengths. He got a friend and they lifted and shifted whilst I did the cleaning and unpacking.

So yeah, a shit start but we have finally settled in and it is awesome! 
We were practically living together for a year or so previously aka himself sleeping over every night, so there aren't too many surprises on that front. We've both seen 'it all' and lived to tell the tale haha. TMI? Probably lol. 
This new place is 'ours' together though, and that it just lovely. During that nightmare-ish few weekends of moving/everything going badly, we had quite a few fun moments. Deciding which drawer to put the tea-towels in together was seriously the most fun. Sounds pretty mundane I'm sure, but to us it was our first decision together. The first room we unpacked together was the kitchen/dining actually, and it is turning out to be our favourite room to be in. Perhaps because he loves to cook and I love to watch him outwardly enjoy something so much? Or maybe even because the kitchen in my old place was so tiny and just yuck? Whatever it is I do so love being here with him. Here, in this house, this moment in time. Just so bliss filled and fun.
Truly, if I wasn't me I would make me sick with how in love I am with this gorgeous man. 

Ahem. Anyway, back on topic. My other favourite 'things' so far are -

Having my very own laundry/washing line/yard/back deck.





No more having to put a bra/pants on to put washing in the machine. Or worrying that I might have to make small talk with anyone while I hang it out (my neighbors were lovely but sometimes a gal just wants to do the chores and be left to it. That, and I am a total hermit on my days off lol)
After manymany years of share houses/units/granny flat living it is pure bliss to walk into my yard and just be.


Having a massive, nice kitchen with an oven and lots of storage.



The past few years have been lived with only a stovetop, microwave, and a tiny convection oven. Not fun.


The nicest, quietest neighbors ever!

On one side we've got a lovely older couple and their dog Emma. They are sooooo nice. Pa (not his name, but we'll respect their privacy here) brings our bins up the driveway for us on bin day and likes to show me pictures of his grandkids. Today when I was out it rained and I cursed something shocking knowing I had four loads of washing hung out. Not so. Arrived home to find it all bought in and placed outside our door. Seriously! How nice is that?!? Living in the world we do it is something like that that renews my faith in people not all being crappy to one another. I teared up a little haha
The other is the back fence of a large. leafy block so big win there! The area is proving to be quiet as. Sounding like the biggest grandma I know, but of a night, I love to sleep at a reasonable hour. And continue to stay asleep. Sometimes a big ask when living so close to others.

In any case, that is where I have been. Moving, unpacking, loving my man, loving my new house. Really hope y'all stuck around!


melanie ann xo

Friday, 17 June 2011

{this moment} 17.6.11

{this moment} - A friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember

inspired by soulemama

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see
 

Happy Friday!



Thursday, 16 June 2011

moving sucks

Yup, it sucks really bad.

And it is stinky, yuck, and has no friends.

We've only just signed the lease today and already I am so far over it is is not funny in the slightest.

Above:random picture I found on Google images, made me laugh. This will totally be himself and I on the weekend.

Things today has taught me -
I've too much stuff. 

Friday, 27 May 2011

{this moment} 27.5.2011

{this moment} - A friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember

inspired by soulemama

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see




Happy Friday to all!


Sunday, 15 May 2011

today...

...we had all the intentions in the world of going to the gym.

...I hit snooze too many times and we didn't get up until ten.

...we never did make it to the gym. Oops!

...was tights and knitted dress weather.


...we went thrifting and found very little that was exciting.

...I "needed" to visit Kmart as today I decreed was a red-shoe-kinda-day (the location of my fave ballet flats continue to elude me. Sad face )


...this lady was dressed up in a glittery jacket and a loud floral frock for her trip to Kmart. The photo does not do it justice, that jacket was disco-ball reflective! Awesome.


...myself and himself stood and read our fave mags as we're totally cheap.

...there were no fun shoes but we picked up boring items that were actually needed aka underwear, new wife beaters for himself and Junior Mints for all.


Sunday, 8 May 2011

today...

I slept in until 10.20am and woke up feeling the best I have in months.

We went to 'his' mum's place for mother's day lunch.

I found myself wondering what my future mother's days might look like (when I am one!) and got all excited thinking about burnt, cold toast in bed and misspelt cards that I'm sure were the most beautiful creations in the world to my mum (except for me and my siblings of course haha)

We went for a look at our favourite second hand bookshop for treasure.


None today, but that is half the fun of really - the thrill of the chase.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

{this moment}


{this moment} - A weekly ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember

inspired by soulemama

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see


Saturday, 26 March 2011

{this moment}

Thanks Soulemama! (see above blog )
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 



(A day late, but thats okay. Somewhere now I'm sure its still friday :P)