Is that it?

Are the holidays really over already? 

Christmas and New Years seem to have flown by me

and now they're gone for another year. 

Yesterday we took down all our christmas decorations.

Does anyone elses house feel a little bit duller as soon as the decorations come down?

My loungeroom looks bare without our ginormous 7ft tall christmas tree taking up a huge chunk of the room.

Christmas is definitely my most favourite time of the year,

even moreso than my birthday!

I love being around family and friends,

having excuses to spend hours in the kitchen whipping up desserts or holiday meals

and Christmassy plates, bowls and cups make my meals even better!

But that's okay, 

once one Christmas passes it means I have a whole year to plan for the next! 

and you can guarentee that's what I'll be doing. 

So tell me, 

How was your Christmas and New Years?

and does your house feel empty once the decorations come down?  

Ho ho snow?!

If you live in Sydney - or anywhere in Australia,

you've probably been feeling like we're experiencing a whole year of weather in the space of a week or two. 

One second it's sunny,

but the next you look out the window to see the clouds threatening rain.

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs sun/wind/rain/snow?

Who knows what to expect! I know I don't. 

Though I don't think it'll be ho, ho, snowing for us! (At least I hope not!)

One thing we do know is that Christmas is coming!

is anyone else feeling like it's coming at a ridiculously fast pace?!

One second it's November and then BAM! We're counting down the days til Christmas

One thing I've seen all over blog world is talk about how to act during the holidays.

What to eat, what not to eat, how to fit exercise into your holiday festivities etcetcetc.

I don't agree with people who think you should eat less leading up to the holidays 

so that you can eat more on the actual day

and to be honest, the last thing I want to be doing on Christmas day is going on a run! 

(Actually - let's make that anyday.. I can't run to save my life - i'll take a nice walk, thanks!) 

The holidays are a time for enjoying yourself with those you love

and who love you,

eating foods you don't eat every day

and laughing and having fun. 

Christmas isn't about stressing over the fact that your Aunt Olivia's potato bake has 10 billion calories,

so maybe you should choose that salad sitting by your Uncle. 

You don't put weight on in one day

but you do if you consistently eat badly. 

One piece of christmas pudding isn't going to make you gain 10 pounds and neither will two. 

The whole pudding? Well then it depends on how big it is :P 

It makes me so sad to see people thinking so much more about their waistlines

than what Christmas really means.

 For me christmas means:

being with my family

eating a cold lunch outside

swimming

my mum's Christmas pudding

seeing how happy my little cousins are when they open their presents

not being embarassed to wear the silly paper hats from Christmas crackers

Christmas ham

lazing about in the afternoon

giving back to those I love

showing love to yourself

cooking up a storm

listening to Christmas carols  

remembering the real reason why we're celebrating

and so many other things. 

On the weekend, my mum made her Christmas pudding.

The smell of mixed fruit soaked in brandy, brown sugar and spices wafted out of my kitchen

making me feel like Christmas really is coming. 

We've yet to put up our Christmas decorations - but the past weekend saw us putting up all of our Christmas lights outside.

The coloured light streaming in through my window is another Christmas reminder.

I know that so many people complain about Christmas shopping - but I love it! 

and best of all? WRAPPING PRESENTS!

If you need a professional present wrapper, I will happily apply for the job!

But do tell me -

what does Christmas mean to you?

do you have any Christmas traditions?

i'm baaaaaaaaackkk!

That's right,

I have officially finished with school!
and successfully completed five exams.

To say that I'm happy would probably have to be the world's greatest understatement.

It's still quite surreal actually, I haven't really come to the realisation that I am free from school forever

Originally, I was planning to take a break for a while,

however, I like to be busy so I've already schedueled two meetings

and planned a whole bunch of other things.

So hopefully, there will be a lot coming my way soon!

In other news, 

my computer gremlins have packed up and left!

So I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Expect to see lots of new things :) 

So tell me, 

while I've been gone

What have you been doing? 

andd... 

What kind of posts do you want to read here?

Sweet Saturday: Naturally Gifted

 

Why hello there,

can you believe another week has flown by?

Something I received recently got me thinking, 

about natural "gifts" or "talents". 

I'm one to think that everyone has a natural talent,

whether it be cooking up a storm in the kitchen, singing, dancing or the person with a calculator disguised as a brain.

I know a lot of people who will say but I don't have a talent.

Are you sure?

Maybe you're just not looking hard enough. 

So think about it, 

what is something that you've always been good at.

It could be something simple, 

something seemingly unimportant.

Now focus on that talent,

what can you do with it? 

The thing that inspired me to think about natural gifts or talents was a gift hamper I received from Naturally Gifted.

I received the Wine Eco Gift Hamper.

This would be the perfect gift to spoil a loved one with.

I don't drink wine, so this hamper was shared with my mum and I.

We did a good deal.

She got the wine, I got the raw dark mint chocolate 

and we shared the other block with dad and my sister.

 

Naturally Gifted ensures that all of the products in their hampers are either organic, fair trade or locally source.

This creates a guilt free gift as it reduces the impact on the environment, supports workers in developing countries and addresses the injustices of conventional trade.

 

Even the packaging is made from recyclable and biodegradable materials!

 

So, lovely readers,

did you figure out what your natural talent/gift is?

Remember - it could be hiding!

 

If you want to suprise or pamper a loved one with a Naturally Gifted Hamper, head on over to their website 

they even deliver Australia wide!

102.

have you ever been stuck in a rut?

you know, where you might feel 

unmotivated

stressed

hopeless 

uncertain

or feel like your life is just a little too monotonous? 

You know there's more too life, but you just don't know how to get from where you are to where you want to be? 

I'm sure every body has felt like that at one time or another. 

A few days ago, that's exactly how I felt. 

I'd lost confidence in myself and my abilities 

and was starting to doubt everything.

Not good

But I broke out of it! 

and I think it's important that I share this so that anyone else in a rut knows that you have the ability to get out of it. 

So what'd I do? What should you do?

Do something new - take a break from what you are doing, maybe it's a project or an assignment, but stop what you're doing. Take a break and do something different. For me it was as simple as getting out of the house and walking. I needed to get away from what I was doing and think about something new. But maybe for you it might be finding a new hobby or learning a new skill. 

Talk! Don't, whatever you do, bottle it up and try to forget about it. It doesn't work. You need to talk to someone. Talk to someone about what you're feeling - maybe they'll help you to realise the positive things about yourself that you're not or maybe they'll just be a shoulder to cry on.

Think about what you'd say to a friend in the same situation NOW SAY IT TO YOURSELF! Whoever said you can't compliment yourself can kiss my expletive. Realise that you are different and there's things about you that NO ONE ELSE HAS. 

Stop comparing yourself it's hard.. but it has to be done. Why do we compare ourselves to other people when everyone is different? It's such an easy thing to do, but in reality, it's ridiculous. Human beings are way too hard on themselves.

Take action you can't just sit around wondering why you can't get out of your rut. You've got to decide what you are going to do. Take risks. Sure something might be scary, but everyone gets scared. Write down the 10 things you want most - Now brainstorm how you can get them. 

Change do you eat the same thing every day? or run off the same routine? Switch it up - it might be as simple as eating breakfast outside instead of sitting at your computer. Any little thing that disrupts your routine provides a wake up call. Hey - who said you can't have pancakes on a Thursday?

Accept what you can't change you might not be able to change your job, or your financial status for the moment - but you can change the way you approach things. Positivity works!

And the other thing that worked for me? My luck changed. 

I got an email from a new client.

INSTANT

CONFIDENCE

BOOST

and exactly what I needed.

I can do this, so take that, RUT! 

I'm thinking about starting a new project.

An injection of positivity - so to speak.  

I think that's what the world needs.

So I may soon be asking for your help. 

if you'll give it to me!

But I want to know,

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? 

How did you get out of it?