Black Lantern

Have you ever had one of those days that you know you will look back on and remember as being a significant day in your life, one of those days that seem a little unreal, one of those days when you know that the way you do things now is going to change and you pretty sure it isn't going to be for the better?

I had one of those yesterday, it wasn't totally unexpected, however some of the news I received was a shock and not all has been revealed yet, so I am in a state of nervous anticipation. Not for long though, I should have more news today.

It is all to do with some restructuring at work, I know it will all be ok in the end but I will feel much better when the whole outcome is announced and I know what the future will look like.

What do you think of my mini makeover? We picked these lanterns up from Bunnings months ago on clearance but I never liked them in silver so I whipped out the black spray paint and Voila!

I am much happier with the end result.

I am still working on my attitude to life and I have been busy with some projects that will help change my lifestyle for the better. Hopefully I will be ready to share more on that soon.

With my projects and a trip to Noosa last week (bad timing, it was so wet!) I have been a little busy but I do stop in for quick visits where I stalk and don't leave comments.

Sorry, I am around :-(

Will do better... promise

Have a great week my friends.

xx

Wonderful Wednesday

Yes, you read right, today is wonderful. I am not sure why it is better than any other day but I am feeling good!

I know I am alive because I have muscles hurting that I forgot existed thanks to the weights class I did on Monday. So I am definitely keeping my New Years goals in sight I am working on getting fitter and I am generally happier and appreciating what I have. So far, so good.

There is lots happening in my life with new projects that are also in line with my goals. I am full of enthusiasm and excitement and I am really looking forward to the new adventures that this year will bring. Isn't that a great reason to be having a wonderful Wednesday?

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments on my last post and for your best wishes and prayers. It is so great to have your support and friendship!

How are you going with your New Years goals/resolutions so far?

Have a great day

xx

PS. The images have nothing to do with what I wrote but the new Rue Magazine is out and I had a quick look these were my favourites.



New Year, New Me!

Ha, just kidding, 

I kinda like the old me but I do have a new haircut!

A new year is a great time to look back over the year that has been and reflect on your life, what was great, what was bad, the tough stuff, the fun stuff and what you are going to change in the coming year.

For us 2011 was a year full of highs and lows, we had some great things happen and we had some really tough times, but you know what? That's life! Even though we had some really sad events throughout the year we are still really thankful for the year we had. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to repeat any of the tough stuff that happened but when you live through hard stuff,

 you grow 

and you learn

 and that, 

is a good thing!

I am still sad, 

sad that we lost two babies last year & sad that we aren't expecting a new baby. 

It was/still is sometimes, hard to see other families happily expecting or enjoying their babies. What I pray is, that no matter how hard it is for me or how sad I am that we don't have a baby, I can still be happy for others and that I don't become bitter and mean.

Now - moving on to 2012, 

What we are praying for this year.... 

well just in case you didn't guess, we are praying for a healthy baby or two (twins would be just fine). 

I would love to be .....

• healthier
• fitter
• thinner (hopefully this just happen if I achieve the first two)
• happier

Happier is a big one for me, this is all about my attitude. Sometimes my attitude stinks! Only I can change this, so this year I am going to keep working on it. Yes that's right working on it. You see, like most things it doesn't just happen, you have to work at it all the time, so I am going to keep working on it. This includes thinking hard about the future, what do I want to be doing in five years time? What makes me unhappy and leaves me uninspired? How can I change that?

I would dearly love to have babies and stay at home, being a full time mum, but at this point in time it is not happening so I can't live just for that, I need to make some changes in my life to make sure I enjoy it every day, not  just living for the future. 

I can be a lot happier with a serious attitude re-adjustment, really sometimes it is as simple as listing all the great people and things in my life and BAM! I feel much better. 

There are other areas in my life that I need to change, one of those has been work, I have been seriously thinking about what I would like to do for a living, do I like what I do?, what will make it better? do I need a change? Stay tuned I will let you know when I work it out. Until then I will aim to:

• Make sure I look after ME (rest, take time out, say No occasionally)
• Keep going to the gym (I joined late last year)
• Lose weight (this will just happen when I am  healthier and fitter, won't it?)
• Enjoy 2012, each and every day I will look for the good stuff and I will be thankful for it.

Thank you 

Thanks for being with me this last year, your comments and visits really helped me get through. I have made some really wonderful friends through blogging, something I never expected and something I am so very grateful for.

I wish you all an exceptionally marvellous 2012!

I am looking forward to sharing it with you.

xx

McCarthy Christmas Wrap Up

I know that now is probably the time to be posting about the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, but in a fashionably late :-) manner I am going to share with you our Christmas celebrations over the last few weeks.

Lets start with a quick wander through Sydney, I happened to be there for work at the beginning of December and only had my phone to snap a few photos.

Our Christmas Party on the 16th was a success (well we think so any way!), we had a great time and we had just over 60 guests join us throughout the night. 

Then we managed a quick break in Gloucester at a place called Damn it Getaways, the first photo is the view from our cabin. It was the perfect spot for some R & R and it is pet friendly so Boss came along.

Christmas Day was in Sydney with my family. We ate lots as usual and then we got creative and decorated some Christmas baubles. We do this every year (mostly) and it is great to look back on our balls from the previous years, especially the kids as their efforts just get better and better. Hubby created a bull dog out of his! Blue and white, can you tell who his Rugby League team is?

Our second Christmas was in Wellington (NSW not NZ), again we ate lots and lots and my stack of pressies just got bigger and bigger, I got so spoilt!

........ and that's a wrap! 

I aim to spend some time catching up on all my fave blogs over the next few days, I can't wait to see what you have all been up to.

See you next year!

xx 

A McCarthy Christmas

Hello my lovely friends,

welcome to Christmas at our house!

Not many words today, just lots of photos

 

We are right at the end of our busy period.

The last day of school and work before Christmas

and our Christmas Party is tomorrow night

We are praying for good weather

We invite lots of friends and family for drinks and nibbles

We make it very casual as we know it is a busy time of the year and we invite people to pop in for the whole night or just stop in to say hello on their way to an event or on the way home!

We don't ask for RSVP's

It makes it a little tricky to cater but that's ok, we love it

 

Tomorrow I have the day to set up and decorate for the party, I am very excited

 

The Wood fire pizza oven is ready

 and we have had a trial run

I will try to remember to take photos

 

Ooops, I lied there are more words than I expected

 

 

Merry Christmas

xx

Christmas Clay Tags

I love Christmas,

I love getting creative and choosing gifts for people.

I love to give thoughtful gifts

and I try really hard to find something special for every one.

I have almost finished my Christmas shopping and I only have a handful of gifts left to get.

I do know what I am buying so it shouldn't take long at all.

 

Before I left for my week in Sydney I managed to make all of the clay tags (as well as a few more ornaments for the tree) and left them to dry.

I used the same air dry clay as last year.

You can read my brief tutorial here

Yesterday I got my new Christmas stamps out and my black ink (wish I had some red ink) and stamped away.

I was a little disappointed as some of the tags weren't quite flat so the imprint didn't work out properly but I was able to use most of them.

 

A little red and white bakers twine and voila!

 

I bought a pack of brown bags from wrap write and used some Christmas paper to decorate them, then I added my clay tags.

What do you think? Did they turn out ok?

Wishing you all a great week.

Hopefully I will be back in a few days with some photos of our Christmas decorations.

xx

PS.  Thank you to all my wonderful  friends  for all of the lovely Birthday wishes. I had a great day. Hubby drove to Sydney to pick me up and take me to Ikea for some shopping. I was very spoilt and my wonderful son made me pancakes for breakfast on Saturday. Love those birthdays that just seem to keep going.

A Minted Winner and Christmas Party Planning

Good morning all, I hope your weekend was wonderful!

We had a great weekend, there is lots going on at our place as usual. I am just so slack at keeping a record of it all!

Hubby finished building the new BBQ area and wood fire pizza oven. Yum! Photos will appear one day! I am not sure that we even got progress shots. I think we get so excited that we just forget.

Our Christmas decorations are up including the outside lights. I really wanted to have some photos to show you this week but alas I am off to Sydney for work tonight and will be away for the rest of the week! If I was more organised I would have taken photos and I could still blog while I am away but I'm not :-(

I am very disappointed. I love Christmas and I am really happy with the way the house is looking.

I have been planning our decor for our Christmas party that is coming up very soon (we'll be serving pizzas).

Here are some of my purchases (can you guess the theme?)

 from Occasion by Design

This cute set is from the lovely Rachael's new online store Gidgi

and these two are from Koko Vanilla Designs

Hopefully it will all come together well.

Last but not least the lucky winner of the Minted give away is

Anna D-B

Congratulations Anna, I will contact  you with the details of your prize.

Thanks to everyone who entered and thank you to all for leaving me comments and stopping by to visit me.

Have a great week.

xx