From 21 To 31

My birthday is only five days away, and so a bit of self-reflection has been going on in my head lately.  About a month ago, as I sifted through the contents of the keepsake boxes hidden away at the top of a cupboard, I stumbled upon some notes from my friends’ speech at my 21st birthday celebration ten years ago.

Reading through what they'd written however and looking at the photo above of the fresh faced, sun tanned 21 year old girl at her party, I can't help but wonder where 'that girl' has gone...

My friends talked about my adventurous spirit and busy social life.  They described me as a perfectionist who had schedules and lists for everything, 'typewriter' handwriting and who put a lot of thought into all that I did.  They said I was dedicated to my waitressing job in Fremantle which I fit around my uni studies, was a beach lover, loved all things blue, always had perfectly painted nails in some pearly hue, jewellery coordinated with my outfits and refused to change my boring mobile phone ring tone.  Reading about the qualities they thought characterised me brought lots of memories flooding back.    

Since then, the past ten years have been such a decade of change for me.  My fun loving, bubbly persona has given way to a more nurturing and serious side. I'm more homebody than social butterfly these days.  I’ve become a wife and a mother.  I've experienced several hardships (which have made me a little bit stronger and a little bit wiser).  I've developed firm beliefs, values and ideals.  I've experienced great joy and great sorrow.  I've worked hard.  I've travelled. I've made a home for my own little family.  I've achieved goals.

Underneath however, I hope I’m still the same thoughtful, sensitive, talkative girl they described. With such changes over the past ten years, it makes me wonder what the next decade has in store…
 

 

Point And Shoot: Party Time

The weekend just gone was uncharacteristically busy for us, a rather jam-packed one with two birthday parties for two special little cousins to attend.  Saturdays and Sundays are usually fairly low key in our home, made up of an early morning bike ride for Paul, a few errands and jobs, a simple family outing such as a picnic breakfast by the river and some relaxed pottering around the house and garden.  However, while we were all fairly tired when the end of the weekend rolled around, we had fun and loved every minute celebrating with family and friends.

On Saturday, we celebrated a first birthday party which was the perfect combination of a casual backyard atmosphere, pretty decorations and a beautifully decorated cake.  A shade shelter was set up with a sandpit and water table underneath to keep the little ones happy while the adults enjoyed delicious morning tea treats.

 

Sunday we headed to the Stirling Miniature Railway for a sixth birthday party.  It was a fantastic family venue with a fully shaded picnic area situated in the middle of the train track circuits. The adults took turns doing a loop with the little ones who all had a ball riding on the steam engines over bridges and through the tunnel as the engine chuffed its way along.

Sophie was just as infatuated with the trains as she was with her baby cousin... seeing these two playing peek-a-boo with each other was truly adorable.

After our weekend of parties and our typical quiet Monday at home, it will be a day of rest and recuperation for us today.  Grace is tucked up in bed congested with a cold and I think Sophie has a touch of the sniffles too... time to put on my nurse's hat...


Linking up with Lou's Point And Shoot

8/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"

Grace: So many snapshots taken to get this one I loved.  My happy, fun-loving girl with a mop of wild curls just like mine

Sophie: Investigating her 'spot' on the sole of her grubby little foot... it never ceases to fascinate her

Joining in with Jodi

My Home Office / Guest Bedroom Plans

I like beginning the year with a good tidy and cull, starting things fresh with a relatively organised space and good habits that keep our home life running that little bit smoother as the weeks progress.

About a month ago, I decided I could not put things off any longer in our study.  It had become so much of a dumping ground that the floor was barely visible and I'd taken to keeping its door shut most of the time to hide the mess.  It was an embarrassment, but something I nevertheless kept pushing aside to the bottom of my endless ‘to-dos’… a project hanging over my head, causing ‘metaphorical clutter’ as Gretchin Rubin describes in her book ‘The Happiness Project’.  And so, fed up with being unable to locate anything, something inside me snapped and one Sunday afternoon back in January, I stopped procrastinating and began to tackle my mammoth task. 

Since then, HUGE progress has been made.  Not only can I see our carpet once more, but furniture has been shifted around, heaps of no longer needed items have been tossed and our existing pieces are all set to be listed on Gumtree so that our combined home office and guest room transformation can shortly (fingers crossed) begin.  Over the past weekend, my focus was on the built in wardrobe in our study.  I emptied it out completely, found new homes for things such as winter jackets, Paul’s old motorsport suits, a picnic hamper, boxes of keepsakes and our Christmas tree and managed to pretty much halve the contents of what we had.

At the same time, nights have been spent pouring over interiors magazines for inspiration and browsing on Pinterest for ideas.  It's been a long process but finally, I have a vision for what is set to become our combined home office and guest room.

I'm picturing a light and bright room with a combination of white and natural timber furniture, bed linen in a myriad of blue and white prints, shelving for child friendly access to craft supplies, baskets for textural interest, a pin board to display all things inspirational and a low maintenance indoor plant to add a splash of greenery.  A filing cabinet will double as a bedside table for guests and artwork will be simple but thoughtfully chosen.

Progress is slow in our home, but it is finally happening…

Image #1 Red Brick  Image #2  Remodelista

Image #2 (clockwise from top-left)  

The Cane Factory & Upholstery Shop / Ikea Gregor Swivel Chair / Ikea Liatorp Desk / Bedding from abc Carpet & Home Paisley Collection

Image #3 Tinkerlab

Homely Snippets

A few homely snippets from these parts today…

 

Over the past few weeks, as part of my night-time wind-down ritual, I've been reading a chapter or two from my current book of the moment 'The Happiness Project'.  However, there's also a stack of books currently piled up on my bedside table which I'm desperate to delve into.  Some were much loved Christmas gifts, others are titles I've recently treated myself to.  I'm trying hard to read them slowly one by one and to take in all that each has to offer, free from distractions.  I think it might be time though to mix things up with a fiction book perhaps...

 

 

As part of my ‘leave no stone unturned’ de-cluttering and sorting frenzy, I whipped up some visual labels for the girls' toy storage crates today.  Labelling things neatly makes me feel so organized and is one of the aspects I loved about having my own classroom back when I was teaching.  Sophie and Grace both have some toys stored like this at the bottom of their wardrobes which I drag out and rotate often. 

 

The throw draped over my lounge above is the cosy and ever-so-soft one I’ve ordered from Wallace Cotton… my friend lent me hers so I could see if the colour was suitable before I ordered my own.  I can’t wait to snuggle under it as the cooler autumn weather approaches. 

 

Yesterday I let Grace loose with some paint and asked her to cover a page in flowers for us to use as wrapping paper for our baby cousin’s first birthday this coming weekend.  It will look amazing when we package it, although part of me wants to keep this painting for myself now… maybe we'll have to drag out those paintbrushes again tomorrow when Grace has a non-kindy day...