12 weeks to a new me!

They say you have to keep yourself accountable by saying things out loud, if that is true then here goes…  I am doing the 12WBT – what is that you ask, well it’s the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation.  It’s basically committing to 12 weeks of healthy eating and fitness.  

Found here

Since I gave up smoking I have been thinking about how hard it is to get motivated to exercise and how I can go about changing my eating habits.  Then I started to think that 12 weeks isn’t in retrospect a long time, in fact 12 weeks generally flies by, I mean it’s already February. So in 12 weeks from Monday I will be leaner and fitter than I have been in years and I can’t wait.  12 weeks also ends a challenge I have with my dad and when I say it like that sounds so much less time than 3 months – dontcha think?

This is my solemn vow unto myself.   

When life gets in the way…

So the list has fallen by the wayside so to speak and my only excuse is that well life has been happening.  But as life happens there is no exciting story of what I’ve been up to, no great romance.  

But I think the long hiatus is more because I changed careers!  YAY!  It’s not a dramatic change, I haven’t gone from being an office manager to an astronaut in training, I changed industries.  After 9 years in what I found at times to be the soul sucking world of recruitment I am now enjoying a different pace of life and learning different things. I’m now part of a research and consulting firm, its small, its nice, it’s a growing experience.

I’ve felt the list has taken a bit of a back burner over the past few months, but then when I really sat down and did some thinking about it, so I wasn’t my usual knitting self over winter and I’ve not been creative and crafty.  But then when I think about I have ticked things off – big things have gone. 

I’ve also managed to conquer two of my secret list items.  These were important to me, to show me that I could do them for me.  I don’t want to share what they were as they were quite personal goals but know I am happy I have grown slightly as a person because of them being completed. 

Slowly the list is coming together with things that can be accomplished by April - more on that soon. 

It's been 7 months...

Hi my name is Mandy, it has been 7 months since I last blogged...  

Which as someone who set out to blog once a week for a year is pretty terrible, especially when I myself read several blogs daily by people who blog daily.  Who has the time, there is some-days where I am find myself so busy hanging around on the couch that I don't do the dishes and ok I'll be honest I might be hung over these days, but I am actually envious of these people who are able to sit and write a blog of funny quips and quirks that are happening in their lives on a daily basis.

To make my 52 blog quota I am going to have to blog 4 times a week for the next 10 weeks and I am going to challenge myself to do it. There are some things on my list that just aren’t going to happen (and overseas trip is one of them).  So there are other things that I am going to have to put my all into instead and so blogging is one of them. So be prepared for some boring catch ups ahead!

Here I go, wish me luck!

The weekend to do...

Currently I feel my life is ruled by lists - things to do lists, budget and lists of bills, a list of things to do around the house, a list of items to post on ebay lists lists lists…  Then there are the lists of things I need to do at work like uploading the 3 lists of client groups and contacts onto the database…  And the two lists I wish I was looking at most and not the least would be the list of things I would like to buy and the timetable at the gym…

What I've lacked to tell you is that some of these lists then have sub lists – on my list of things to do there is tidy the house, well this has its own list of specific things that need to get done around the house. 

Some things on the list of things to do make me laugh because this is week 3 or 4 and they are still there (really must start that assignment and paint the hallway, which would actually tick off 5 things over 3 lists…).

Anyway I believe this is called procrastination.  I must leave it there so I can tick off item 1! 

my creative space

My creative space this week should be about pretty paper, buttons, white frames and old pictures but unfortunately its more about the jumbled mess in my head and my growing list of things to do.  I am a list person, I like a list of things to do, I like to write a packing list when I go away, I like to write a shopping list.  I think it’s a flight of fantasy to be organised.  I am in lots of ways a very organised person but on the outside I don’t think it looks that way unfortunately.  I never stick to my shopping list, I always over pack, I am messy but I don’t loose things, I am always over prepared and I have an exceptional knack of pre-empting things happening.  None of those attributes make me a bad person I think they are good attributes, there are just lots of things that I wish I could change.  I want to be tidier, I want to be a minimalist, I want to be fitter, to stop shopping for unnecessary and save more.  Essentially I want to set goals and achieve them.  Baby steps me thinks, above is my weekend list of things to do (colour coded and everything) let’s see if I can get through that and then next week I’ll try for household domination (shouldn’t be hard its between me and the cat). 

...my creative space...

This week is all about the plans swimming around my head... 

2 down 10 to go...

So I have finally finished 2 craft projects!

I could only be bothered using my phone and the quality when the flash is on is rubbish but my glitter shoes are done and on the bookcase (although I need to load a heap of books onto ebay so that they can get off my book case and then the shoes can have their own hole!).  I think they look great although the entire living room is still covered in glitter it doesn't seem to stop appearing, so at least its sparkly! 

And although you might think I am posting about the giant pimple that I created but actually its the seed cowl all finished.  I'm really happy with how it turn out and it looks a lot better than I thought it would.  Now to start and then finish all of the other projects swimming around my head. 

I have been wanting a particular piece of art on the wall above my bed for a long time, and I have decided that I will never find it.  Yesterday I was at my parents place and mum and I went for a wander around the Bondi markets and I saw this picture and fell in love with it.  I bought it and my mum asked where I was going to put it, I said in the bedroom.  Now I have an fabulous idea of what I want whilst I continue to look for the painting I have in mind, I now just need to find a load of old frames, some old pictures and take a few photos of certain things - I am excited and can't wait to start!