Construction and Exercise!

  So I found some kitchen island plans online and I have picked the one I want!! Yay!! I am trying to maximize some storage as well as counterspace outta this puppy so I cannot wait! Here is a photo:

  Now these aren't really the colors I want but you get the idea... :) Now all we have to do is get all the materials....and let me tell ya...wood isn't cheap! I was actually quite surprised! 

  Another bit of good news!! I have been going to Curves for about a month now, and am loving it! But anyways I have been doing really well about watching what I am eating...and yet still wasn't loosing weight..so my support nurse at RWH said she went to Curves and that maybe I would find that helpful, so I checked out the one right near us....which had to be a blessing being so close and another blessing was Eve Talbot from church works there...she is so lovely and  if she doesn't see me for a few days...she knows where to find me and kick me into gear!! 

  Anywho-I went in the other night and she gave me a new weigh in and measure! I was a bit nervous because I have honestly never lost an ounce in my life!! My weight was only down by 200 grams but hey that was 200 grams I had lost!! However, when I told her that I had to wear an old pair of jeans in an emergency...a pair that I wasn't able even get over my hips let alone button, a few months ago!! She measured me up...and I have lost (yaaaaay me!!) 2cm in my bust!! 2 cm in my abdomen!!! and 2cm in my hips!!!!! My arms and thighs were the same but that is okay....I couldn't believe it when she said I had lost cm!! And my BMI went down a half a percent which is wonderful!!!! I can't wait to hear what the doctors and dietician have to say when I go back to RWH for my checkup in August! 

  I am very pleased with myself....and hope that things continue to improve....although I realize I have a looong way to go!

Money Money Money...

  There never seems to be enough money to go around these days...so I have been trying to come up with creative ways to decorate, that are easy on the dime. So far I have come up with making my own curtains...and second hand furniture...and that is it. lol. I changed to lamp shades on three of the light fixtures in this house and have been pretty pleased with that...and I am thinking of trying something similar in our living room....not sure yet if that is going to work...I am also trying to get together some material that I like to do some curtains in the two bedrooms, the dining room, the office, and the living room...and possibly the laundry...although that is kinda a last priority as no one goes in there but me...also we have this HUGE basin in our laundry where our washer drains out but otherwise it is just wasted space so I was going to try and see if Steve can make me something like wooden inserts so that it can be used as a countertop so to speak....not sure if this is yet do-able...but it would be great if it was!! We are def going to be living here for awhile to come so I want to make it our own....we can paint..or really fix up anything but I can hide the walls...and we can make stuff that we can just pick up and take with us when we move or sell in a yard sale if we no longer have a need....I am really trying to make our house feel a bit more home-y and less frat house, but with a pretty tight budget it is a slow process.

  Steve is starting his first Honey-Do project....a mobile kitchen island!! I can't wait...our kitchen has very little counterspace, and while storage is great...it is all full!! And we just got two new appliances that I have no room for except in their boxes :( so there is all this dead space in the center so I thought why not a island? with a bit of storage under neath but not attached to anything so that when we move we can pick it up and take it with us...I am so excited to have this as I think with all the counterspace it will provide I will def more in the mood to bake...esp come Christmas :) right now I feel like there is just no room to spread out and make a mess! lol. 

The rest of the Honey Do List is looking something like this:

  Here is the basin I was talking about earlier. Our washer has to drain into this the water it uses but other than that it serves zero purpose! Such a huge waste! I want to see if we can make some fit overs..allowing of course for the drainage...and possibly taking that old wringer down but if it isn't in the way, I suppose it can stay..just depends. Now that is just ONE idea for this space! In this photo you can also see our hot water heater...and just out of the frame is our toilet. There are these old swinging doors that we never close because they are rather a pain...how ever I am really wanting to do a light and bright curtain all the way across this space to hide the H2O heater and toilet area...I think it is certainly do-able as it isn't a very wide space and it would improve the looks greatly! Also in this space I am saving up for two large cupboards to store our food storage in. You know the Ikea type shelves with doors....just waiting on those but there is room!! 

 Here is a very bad photo of our BR (our camera is now on the fritz so this is all I had) Anyways as you can see...loads of counter space! Which is wonderful...however (and it is a bit dark in this photo I will try and upload another!!) the cabinetry goes under the sink..the two doors there...and then it is open and then there is a small cabinet just to the right of the door...so I want to get some little end table things at the cheap shop that have baskets in them and put them under neath for extra storage....and then have a small curtain rod or towel rod hung with another curtain on there to hide them...preferrably a nice red checkered pattern as I think it would go really well here. Also notice how our shower is open!! and right next to a window!! VERY ANNOYING. So I would love to do new curtains there as well, but that is at the bottom of the curtain list like the laundry window...however! I can do a shower curtain..just have to find a curtain rod and a shower curtain that I like. That is pretty much all we can do to the BR...oh and I want a new shower rug...you can't see that in this photo anyways :) 

These are a few photos to give you an idea of the curtains we are dealing with lol...we have shades in the living room and bathroom windows but the rest of the curtains are sheer and people can see right in..so I am doing this as a privacy thing as well as a looks thing....some of the curtains are just hideous! Of course I will be packing away what is here and when it is time for us to move they will all go back up. The shades are rather annoying as well..as they don't roll up as easily as they are supposed to so we just keep them closed most of the time, but then we do not get a lot of natural light, which is depressing. In the summertime we esp keep them closed as the sun just heats up the house quicker. 

Well I think that is about it...and I am glad I figured out how to put photos in posts :) double accomplishment today...now I must go start laundry. Oh joy!! I will post photos as we complete tasks...and by the time we finish them all it will be time to move! lol

I am such a slacker.....

  I am a rather terrible blogger as I never seem to do regular posts. But our lives are so average! I have to wait for something exciting to happen to have the urge to blog. lol who wants to read how my grocery shop went or how much laundry I have to put away?? I don't even want write about those things!! 

 Good thing I have news to blog about. :) Not amazing, fall off you chair news. But news none the less. As you may have noticed on FB, Steve is promoting his Multimedia business again. I know he can do, I just had to give him that little push (basically I get everything organized and make him do it! lol)..anyways he is getting that back up and running...he does all the graphic design bits for business cards, logos, etc and he also does Video Production...which is pretty cool because this means he can do like commercials and music videos, things like that. So I was thinking of ways I can contribute to this effort....I mean he does all the hard stuff! So I thought well I will handle scheduling, billing, etc. And then I was like okay that is kinda boring so what am I good at doing? 

  I asked the hubs and he told me I was good at organizing and cleaning...lol he obviously hasn't spent enough time with my mother to realize that I am not even sub-par!! But while that gave me a good laugh, I did brainstorm about what I enjoy doing...and what I am good at. And I thought back to something that has really given me pleasure for a few years, although I don't know how great I am...but photography. 

 All kinds of photography...people..pets..bands..landscape..pretty much anything. I am not picky. However I know I am not good at the abstract stuff. In fact I suck at that! But that doesn't matter! So I asked Steve...well really TOLD Steve...that now I was gonna tag a long. :) He was fine with that...I have to do a refresher in Photoshop because it has seriously been years since I used it, but I know I could pick it up quickly.

  I really want to do this...and I know it would be something I love. So I really hope it picks up in Bendigo...there isn't much in the ways of photographers for families, engagements, etc here in Bendigo..at least not that I have found. Fingers crossed that word of mouth helps me out..and maybe a little advertising...I am really looking forward to it! 

  As for Steve, he is slowly getting back in to a groove. I know it must be hard because he leaves for the farm so early and works hard all day, I know he comes home and just wants to have a nap, or just relax...not go work some more...but he does, bless his heart. 

  Among all this, I have almost convinced my mom to come out for a visit! I know she hates flying...and this is pretty much the longest plane journey in the world you can make! But I would love it if my family could come visit! I know Mom will probably have to come by herself as she can't bring everyone, and she can't bring Dad and leave the kids alone...but that's okay...and I am hoping that next year Steve and I can go back for a visit in the summertime there and maybe do Disney or something. Who knows...we can dream big, with a big hole in the pocketbook! 

 I am ready for nicer weather. It is getting colder it seems! No more nice days, and the sun rarely comes out, which makes it worse.  Winter is just so depressing! 

 Our landlord has told us that we most certainly are never having pets in this house, because they don't believe in having animals inside. I guess they think it is cruel...but it isn't like I want to bring a cow in the house...it is a tiny little poodle! Oh well...there is nothing I can say or do to change their minds. I was really hoping they would say yes, because I could really do with a warm little friend to have home with me during the days when Steve is working, to talk to, cuddle with and something that needs walking so that it makes me get out and walk too. I don't see us finding another rental this cheap so I doubt we will move when our lease is up....so we are stuck for awhile...there aren't many rentals out there that are open to pets anyways. It is very sad. 

 Tax time is here in Australia. So we are gathering all the paperwork we need. I am looking forward to getting our refunds because then we can get new tires on the car! lol Nothing exciting for most people but pretty much the highlight of the month in our house!! Looking forward to having a little dough to put aside into savings. 

  Ashley is getting married in only a few short months. I am soooo sad I can't go! I had a dream last night that I showed up to surprise her, which would be SOOOOO awesome! I wish I could make it happen! I miss my best friend! It is hard with her having two kids (they keep her busy), and the time zone difference (she is asleep when I am awake lol) to keep in touch...I miss those weekends when I would just call her up and say I am coming to stay! And boom two hours later, we were having a good ole time! Those were some good ole days...but I know we really are the best of friends because even though we don't see each other ever(!!!) and we actually talk rarely, (I don't count FB chat) we are still so close...and I can call her up and it is like nothing has changed. I love it! 

 I miss having my girls nights. Just a chick flick, and bf (now hubby) talk, makeup and hair tips....you know just being girlie. And while I might be too old for sleepovers (Idk if anyone is really too old lol) I miss having girlfriends. Every woman needs her girlfriends...well I am okay if I had at least one! lol But really....the hubby is my best friend...but so is Ashley...it is kinda like two different types of best friend....I don't know how to explain it. But I want a girlfriend to meet up for lunch, or go window shopping with, maybe even catch the chick flick that Steve has zero desire to pay money for lol or even someone to call up for a chat every so often. With out my family here, and every single friend I have thousands of miles away...and Steve working 40 hours a week...makes for a rather lonely existence. (another reason why I was heart broken when I couldn't get through to our landlord about one dog) I must have a sign across my forehead that says terrible friend (although I think I am a great friend! ask Ashley!) because I just don't think it is for my lack of trying. Unless people here don't like being friends with the fat chick. Idk. It just gets me down sometimes....especially when I am stuck at home...and the winter blues are set it! Okay enough Debbie Downer!!

 Like I said I am extremely ready for much nicer weather!! This was supposed to be a short happy post but I guess I needed to get things off my chest...which was kinda the point of starting the blog..that and updating my family in a more convenient manner. I would really appreciate prayers to help Steve and I really get the business off the ground and running like a nice, oiled machine! I am so looking forward to it all, and would be shattered if it didn't work out. Off to put away that laundry I didn't want to talk about. yay me! 

Love

Mandi