This little angel has her own agenda

I like the snow, the beach and taking photos. So yesterday was a great day for me. Not so much for little Layla though. Maybe she isn’t going to be the little snow bunny mountain shredder I had hoped!?

When I saw this photo that Steve took yesterday, it was a reminder that my dreams are not her dreams. For her little soul to shine we need to nurture the things that excite her.

Who knows if she will grow to like snow or not, for now, I will try to live my most beautiful and truthful life and hope she follows that example.

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She is 7 months old today and already so independent!

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Staying true to your roots

It’s around this time of year that I feel the need to recalibrate and gear up for some new year’s resolutions.

I’m going to clarify the values I still care about, listen to what makes my heart sing, dig deep and acknowledge where my roots lie.

From there I’m going to make some changes for the new year. Plan some family adventures, apply for a new job and eventually move our family to a new town! Exciting times.

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We do things together now

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Little Layla and I are slowly getting along better. At first she wasn’t up for going out much…  when people would ask ‘is your baby colicky’ I had no idea what they was talking about. But I soon learned. For the next 3 months I would be chained to a screaming child.

Our adventurous life was over. Layla and I spent many hours inside crying together.

But she is 6 months old now, and I can honestly say I have a happy baby! Happy to go in the stroller, happy to go in the car, happy to go on vacation.

She doesnt even mind waiting while I stop to take a photo of us, being happy together!

Hosting our first Thanksgiving

In Australia we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving (for obvious reasons) so this year, now that we are in the USA we decided it would be cool to have the family come to our place for the holiday.

This is a little recap Thanksgiving and the week leading up to it.

We had people write down what they are thankful for on the table cloth.
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Let’s go to the desert for summer?

Work slows down, the weather heats up and there are tons of beaches up the coast of NSW to choose from. It is tradition for us Aussies to do a bit of a road trip around Christmas time, but this year Steve and I decided to go west. We headed to Broken hill, our first time in outback NSW. We saw tons of Kangaroos, wild boar, flocks of screaming birds, and a surprising number of feral goats.

The wind was dry and the heat intense. I took cold showers a couple of times a day and enjoyed every stormy change the skies offered up.

The Perry Sandhills were a glimpse of what lies further west, hot red earth, the ancient heart of our country. So much more to be explored.

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Why perfectionism makes my soul vomit

1. Perfect = kidding your self.

If I try to be a perfect person, I will stop being exactly who I am, the real me.

2. Perfect = hatin’.

Hating on yourself cause you are never good enough, being jealous of others that you perceive as having the ‘perfect life’ and even hating on those that do not meet your perfect expectations.

3. Perfect = dull.

Variety is the spice of our imperfectly, perfect lives! The staleness of a family masquerading perfection in their perfect home in their perfect neighbourhood… it’s just so cheesy, so lame. Where is the creativity?

4.  Perfect = impossible.

If I try to measure up agains perfect, I will always feel like I am failing.

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Sometimes though, we are lead to believe that we can achieve unrealistic ideals. Media and advertising make their money on trying to convince you that you can lose that 20kg in 4 weeks… Or that you should be married by the time you are 30… Or that every dad should be able to make 100k/a – and have time to get to the gym – and make it to the kids music recital…

It is hard to navigate through this invented world, but for the sake of my own happiness I am trying to structure my own perception of things, trying to stop the internal upchuck.

Embrace your odd socks, live a happier life and read more about owning your imperfections here.