Really?!

I hate to share bad news, but I have to get this off my chest.

Today I had planned to share with you some beautiful photos of a little store I had spotted. It sits just outside of the centre of town, so I hadn’t noticed it until recently. I loved what they had done with the signage and off I went with my camera and high hopes. I was going to bring you something really special…

But once again I have been disappointed. I am not going to tell you what the store was, or what they sold, nor am I going to share any beautiful photos, because I didn’t take any.

You see, I went into the store full of hope and excitement, ready to share my journey with them and was completely ignored. Despite spending 10 minutes perusing the stock (which was beautiful) the team member didn’t even raise their eyes from what they were doing. I would have appreciated even eye contact and a smile, but I didn’t even get that…

So today I set you a challenge…

Firstly, if you love a local business let them know. Tell them they have great products, service etc

Secondly, if you don’t love them, let them know. Businesses can’t change if they don’t know there’s a problem (and trust me, most of the time they have no idea)

So off you go – challenge set! (Hopefully you share more happy news than bad!)

The round up

Ok, so as promised, here is a round-up of the last couple of days.

Friday

Up at 5am and off to boot camp. It has been torrential rain here over the past week in Queensland and the Redlands has felt the full brunt of it. It cleared a little yesterday, but started again this morning. Boot camp was partially inside (you know it’s bad when even boot camp isn’t outside), but all our runs were still outside. I came home dripping wet, but I felt much better for having been.

The rest of the day was spent wrangling two young children (3 and 2). I’m in the middle of toilet training the youngest, which is always fun. We did manage to take a break from the madness at home to grab some fresh fruit and veg for the weekend. I do love to get my fruit and veg fresh, rather than buy in bulk so I head out a couple of times a week.

Saturday

Today I spent the day with Alpha Hobbies, a local war gaming support, hosting “Force Z”.

It is great to be able to support the local gaming community and give people the opportunity to come together to play. This event was held at Cleveland State High school hall. Alpha Hobbies is Redlands based and always holds its events in the Redlands to support local players.

Sunday

Today I played catch-up, trying to do all those things I didn’t have time for through the week (you know, the boring stuff, like cleaning!!) It is still raining, yes still! Which makes clothes washing difficult, especially with no dryer and a toilet training todler.

In fact, I’ve been meaning to get to this blog all day and have only just managed at 8:30pm.

I’d love to know what you have been up to this weekend. Feel free to leave a comment below 🙂

Busy, busy…

Just a quick note to say “sorry”!

These last couple of days have been flat-out, work, hosting tournaments, supporting local businesses, running and boot camp! I’m also slap bang in the middle of trying to toilet train a two year old, which is always fun (not!).  I have had an amazing couple of days, but I must admit I have neglected to share it all with you.

And sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to go in to it all now. In fact, I am going to crawl into bed, curl up and go to sleep. In fact, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open just to complete this…

So bed it is – see you all tomorrow to share my stories 😀

 

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Oi, Oi, Oi…

 

So it’s that time of year again when us Aussie celebrate in true Aussie style, our love for our country… and that means barbie time (or for my international readers – barbecue)

Today I took the kids (and the hubby) down to a local park to have some lunch. Sausages and laminations, ok so maybe not nutritionally balanced, but it’s only one day. The kids had a blast running round outside, even though a lot of the ground was still saturated from the torrential rain we have had in the last 4 days.

We played alphabet hunt, where I challenged the children to find something starting with each letter of the alphabet. They got quite creative, for “w” we had white flower and for “y” we had yellow flower 🙂

After lunch we walked down to the foreshore and had fun paddling in the pools left behind as the tide went out. The kids love playing with the shells and hunting crabs.

What did you do to celebrate Australia day?

 

I’m real!

Hello!! 🙂

Today I wanted to share with you a little more about the person behind the blog (and show you that I am a real person, I really am!)

Sometimes it is nice to put a face to a name, especially on the Internet, where we often imagine the person behind the text. So here I am. In all my 5am, incredibly tired from 2 kids under 4 who aren’t sleeping properly glory. I didn’t say it was pretty, I just said it was real 🙂

I’m looking forward to sharing more about me, my family and my local community with you over the year, so make sure you follow along.

Sam

Gift time!

Mystery gift time! Yay!

As you all know (if you don’t realise by now, then you really haven’t been paying attention!) I am passioante about supporting local businesses!

I can’t start this revolution alone though – I need your help! So I have set you a challenge…

– First, make sure you like our Facebook page “support local living” you can do that right here —->

– Second, share our page with your friends, family and local business owners. If they like our page, ask them to leave comment on the wall telling us you sent them.

– Third, the person to send the most “likers” by Feb 18th will win a mystery prize (sourced from an amazing local business of course)

Keep an eye on our page to see amazing local businesses, to keep up with my 366 day challenge, and get hints on just what’s inside our amazing mystery gift.

If you are going to do just one thing to help local businesses this year – make it liking my Facebook page. You’ll learn some great stuff!

One of those days…

I thought I ought to warn you in advance…

I must admit, I have been sitting at the keyboard thinking about what to write for a while now. In all reality my day was dull (sorry, but that’s the truth).

I spent the day training a wonderful group of students, which I love to do, but it does mean I am inside from 8am til 5pm (meaning I am out of the house from 7am til 6pm). It’s been raining most of the day as well, so I wasn’t even tempted for a morning or afternoon walk. Shopping and meal planning had all been done in advance, so there was no need to stop in at a supermarket on the way home…

…which leads me to now. Dinner has been had, kids are all sitting quietly playing games or watching TV, and I am sitting here with a complete lack of things to talk about.

I guess we all have those days those – days when life is just “normal” or “humdrum”.

So that’s me for today, nothing new, nothing exciting, just life… supporting local living as always.

Experiment…

It was a manic day at my house today, trying to prepare for the return to school tomorrow morning and 2 terrible toddlers running rampant, screaming the house down! (at least if I can hear them, I know where they are and what they are up to!)

So this evening I wanted to escape the insanity that is my house (mentally that is) and see what else is around. I came across this wonderful site that I wanted to share with you.

 

http://www.livelocal.org.au/ allows people to share their local living experiments and what they are up to in their community with others.

There are all sorts of things going on, from making your own produce to a couple of people doing a “local living” challenge just like myself. While the site seems still to be in its infancy, especially in Queensland, in is an interesting concept that I look forward to learning more about.

So why not head over and check them out, you might even find someone in your local community.

 

Simple things in life

Sometimes it’s the simple things that make life worth living…

While I love my community and the range of activities available to me, just like everyone else I have days when I don’t want to leave the couch. I’d had a long week, the kids were up early and it’s just too much hassle to go very far.

Being an active part of your local community isn’t all about going out and spending money, there are steps to take much closer to home.

Do you know your neighbours? I mean really know, not just nod and wave when heading to the car in the morning! Do you know their name, their kid’s birthdays and where they grew up?

These may seem like a silly question, but trust me I have a point. I’ve mentioned recently that supporting your local community businesses often requires some planning. When you run out of bread at 8:30pm the local bakers is often closed (and yes, the large supermarket is still open, but I’m trying really hard not to go there). No matter how well planned you think you are, we all have those moments where you open the cupboard to get something out and find that someone else has eaten it.

Knowing your neighbours brings you back to the good old days of being able to ask for a cup of sugar (or in my case last week – cat food!).

So this lazy Saturday afternoon I enjoyed one of the simple pleasures in life – drink and nibbles with the neighbours. Take a plate and a glass, let the kids run around, and sit and chat.

So your challenge this week is to get to know your neighbours. Support those around you, look out for each other and start acting as a community, together!

Some days are hard….

I’m not going to lie, some days it’s really hard to break the habit of cheap and convenient shopping at the big chain stores. It’s not that I  like them, it’s just that sometimes I am lazy…

… The thing is, it’s just that – a habit! Like smoking and eating junk food, these are all habits that can be broken! And trust me, you’ll feel better when you do.

So just how do you break a habit (of any kind)

1 – Make a commitment, to yourself and to others, tell everyone what you are doing

2 – Plan, plan, plan. Being prepare is the key. If you are trying to eat healthily, preparing snacks in advance is the key to avoiding junky take out. If you are shopping local, planning what you need and when is the key to avoid junky chain stores.

3 – Admit when things are hard (and if you have any slip ups) especially to yourself. It is so easy to sweep things under the rug, but you need to be honest with yourself. Think why you slipped up, what pushed you over the edge? Was it being unprepared, un-supportive friends or family etc.

4 – Reward yourself. Make sure you celebrate little wins and big ones. Take the time to recognise any changes that you have made.

 

So there you go, it doesn’t matter what habit you want to break, follow these 4 simple steps for success 🙂

 

Love what I’m doing – make sure you like my Facebook page and share with your friends…