Life, Love and the Everyday

LIFE I had forgotten how difficult it is to give up something. For six days I had quit coffee and soft-drink cold-turkey. It wasn't until I was going out to dinner on the Saturday night last week that I found myself craving the sugary sweet poison of Coke. That thought shot the idea of quitting cold-turkey straight to hell. On the drive to dinner I was very quiet, the thought of drinking Coke making my mouth go dry. Suffice to say I had two soft drinks that night, one coke, one lemonade to make up for lost time - and the next day another lemonade. On Monday morning I had my first instant coffee in eight days and since then, I haven't stopped.  Seeing as this season won't be coming for awhile, I'll tell you why I tried to go cold-turkey and it is simply that when I start treatment to have a baby, I want to have a healthy body to make the process easier. But I have come to realise that trying to make something happen just because you are impatient doesn't end well,...

LIFE I have been a bit quiet lately, sometimes there are heaps of things I want to say but don't. I have been thinking about what I want the image of Life, Love & The Everyday to be for myself and readers. Whether it's just an online diary of a twenty-six year old woman going through the motions that most people can relate to or get out there more and take more pictures; or even just pull the plug on the entire thing. But today, yours truly wants to exhibit a poem. It's a poem about me and A. and how we are complete opposites but complement each other's strengths. LOVE Beautiful Chaos You keep me grounded like an anchor in torrential seas, and I bring you up to the stars. You are the canvas and I am the paint - together we are beautiful chaos. I am the lyrics, you are the rhythm - the very beat of my heart. Together we are lost and found again in the midst of beautiful chaos. & THE EVERY DAY Working, writing, eating, sleeping, procrastionating,...

When work offered me more hours temporarily, I had no intention of flying off the radar. Now my blog is an even tinier speck hovering in cyber space. But not for long! Before we catch up, I just want to say something. Cherish your family, even when you fight. Because although a long life is the general expectation of being alive, things happen and we don't always say what we want to say; like "I'm sorry." and "I love you." There are no guarantees that we will see our loved ones when we come home at the end of the day. Over the weekend the gates of Heaven welcomed another angel, but her absence has a left a gaping hole in the lives of her family and friends and a huge impact on acquaintances and strangers on Facebook, reminding them that life is short and precious. Say what you need to say, forgive, show people you love them in a way that they will feel it. Rest In Peace, Rita. <3 LIFE On Saturday morning just gone I jumped off the bu...

LIFE It is a sunny morning here in Brisbane and I am enjoying the view from my window, the day promises perfection and I would settle for nothing less on a shopping day. In a short while I am hitting the town with my friend Rissa, aside from being ridiculously gorgeous and possibly the sweetest person I know, she's my lucky charm when it comes to shopping days. Have you always got that particular friend with you on shopping days when you snap up good buys and somehow shopping without them seems sacrilegious?  Today I am able to buy something stunning and I cannot decide on whether it will be shoes or a pair of blue jeans, whatever it is - I'll know it when I see it. LOVE  A. has just been granted two weeks paid leave because his shoulder is giving him grief, on a scale of one to ten his would be a seven or an eight. Fortunately it will heal in time, depending on R&R, the shoulder therapist and the medication. It is coming up to a year since what we refer to as ...

LIFE:  My thought this week is truth.  "This above all - to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man." - Shakespeare. This is something I have been pondering on for a little while now, this came around after clearing out my book-case and I realised that a quarter of the books were recommended by other people with good intentions, but they weren't for me to read. Well, maybe a different me.  As a person, I can tell you what makes me happy - simplicity. Living a life that is kind, compassionate, loving and embracing strength. I don't want to conform to somebody else's ideology of what I should be, because I know that who I am is more important. I want to be good, but every now and then my inner rebel needs to stretch her wings a little. There's this cute little question that caught my eye earlier tonight, it comes from Alice in Wonderland. The wildflowers in the movie huddle together and...

First of all, RUOK? Mental illness is not weakness, it is an internal struggle that makes you see the worst of yourself. It comes on slowly, little things here and there that you don't notice until it hits you. Enjoyment of usual pursuits loses its appeal because you don't have energy, the days are slower, you may forget important things and can't seem to catch up with demands. Errands and appointments suddenly don't seem that important next to catching up on sleep. You will be happy one minute, down the next - and then not know how you feel the rest of the time, which can lead to sudden outbursts of crying. You start to question your relationships with people - is the way they think of you different from how they feel about you? Too much time and too much thinking have time to play havoc with who you are. You feel too much that you are numb to everything else. Irrational emotions and justified thoughts don't mix well. For me, it all started with a trip to t...

LIFE The first day of Spring was a beautiful, forget-me-not blue sky and clouds. I spent most of the day in bed recovering from a bout of what I now suspect was hay-fever, the symptoms were all there yesterday at work. Runny nose, a nasty case of the sneezes and heavy lethargy which cleared up later today. In general, life is going well. Writing inspiration for books is coming in spades and I am working heaps more. Now that I have a little bit more money, there has been a little bit more to save and spend and I am enjoying buying bits and pieces for my new wardrobe. I bought a new dress from Wardrobe Warriors weekend before last, it's a knee-length white crochet lace dress which cost me $15.00 and it looks amazing with my pair of caramel calf-length boots. I rocked my new out-fit at church on Friday night with a blue glass heart-shaped pendant that Grandma gave me a few birthdays ago. What made Friday night even more special was having one of my be...

It is just as well God doesn't have favourites, because there is one little thing that I am not exactly proud of as a Christian and that is I haven't called God up on the Heavenly Hotline very much lately; not even to say 'G'day God, thanks for the pretty fog this morning. It made me feel like Cathy on the moor.'  It's not that I am ungrateful for what He has done on my behalf, nearly a week and a half ago he gave me a miracle that I had been waiting anxiously for. I felt bad because even though I expressed my profound gratitude, I didn't exactly bring out the pom-poms and do a Tom Cruise victory dance on the couch. Ever have those times when you cannot remember the last time you prayed? Reflecting on my own circumstance earlier tonight, as a professional Prayer Procrastinator I have come up with five things that can put a dampener on prayer and thought I'd share with you. Here is my own personal list of Prayer Procrastinators (all tried and true). ...

LIFE  I hope you all enjoyed my last entry, a short story about a little girl and her love for animals. The funny thing is, I am big on eating meat  (lamb-roast being my favorite) - I have tried cutting it out of my diet to no avail (yet) but that is how the story came out and I like how my character was so strong in her belief from a very young age. Please feel free to leave feed-back on Friend of the Forest and I promise there will be more short stories! Anyhow, I am happy to say I am making better eating choices this week and with the help of my Daily Agenda notebook, I am also getting back into the gym tomorrow and Thursday! Writing inspiration is sl-ow-ly coming back, I am working on a Chick-lit in my spare time and as usual; it is High Priority and Top Secret! LOVE  There is some exciting news from A., but I am waiting for him to be ready to tell everybody else before I brag about it on here! I am so proud of him for persevering and keeping on top of thin...

Here is my first children's short story! I am excited! I hope you enjoy reading it! - Sarah x Friend of the Forest  Once upon a time, on a day that few now remember. A baby girl was born to the village hunter and his wife, they named her Magda.  Because the hunter had no son, he taught his only daughter his trade in the woods behind their straw-thatched cottage.  Years went by and Magda grew, with a secret she kept to herself.  Magda loved animals and called them her friends, even though she could not speak to them she somehow knew how they felt and what they needed to be happy and safe; so she did all she could for them. At first light when she and her father set out to hunt, she would whistle so her friends knew they had to hide.  When her father had finished his hunting for the day, scratching his head in frustration as he walked back to the cottage; Magda always had a ready excuse to stay behind and howled like a wolf, her father was always grea...

LIFE Miracles happen when you least expect them to. A miracle happened for me on Saturday morning, a miracle which has been long anticipated. There were some days when I did not doubt it would come to pass, then there were moments which tested my faith - in those moments I thought God had forgotten about me and the desires of my heart because I cried, I got angry and still - there was no answer. Over time, silence is the loudest sound of all. That's why when you receive an answer, it is a beautiful moment where you feel like all the rays of golden sunshine are warming you from the inside out.   Then there is the blessing of certainty and once more, we are not afraid to hope. Because this miracle is of a personal nature, I'll reveal more in time. LOVE Sharing your life with someone is a brave act in itself. A life-long commitment which brings joy, laughter and tears, the good and bad kind. A. and I have now been together just a little bit over three ye...

LIFE Remember the good ol' days when your parents or a responsible adult decided when you would get treat? Treats were anticipated, rare and wonderful fleeting seconds of pure joy followed by the bittersweet longing for more. You probably had those angry outbursts when you didn't get more, shouting at the top of your lungs.  "When I grow up I'm going to spend all my money on chocolate!" That kid was me! Now treats are just apart of my daily agenda, except they have gotten bigger - my treat of choice is, and always will be chocolate! Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my chocolate - but the problem is, I eat it when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I get a craving (the latter is everyday) or when I just feel like rewarding myself (which is also a very regular occurrence). $3.50 may not look like much when it is sitting in your bank account, but when you realize you have spent $20.00 on chocolate in a fortnight; that's when you have to say. ...

Being a writer is awesome. I can write what I can't say.  It is truly a gift to be able to write about things which can shift somebody's perspective, maybe one day save a life. Seeing something in your imagination and writing the story as it unfolds, what I love about being a writer is you know what happens before anyone else does.  Writers are not limited by reality, in our books we set the stage, the costumes and direct the characters from where we sit on the other side of the computer screen.  The only thing that writer's cannot do is stop. And if they do, it had better be urgent and with good reason. But sometimes it's hard to know who is in charge, the characters or the writer themselves. Although I had set out to write a ghost story, I was thinking more along the lines of Meat Loaf and Marion Raven's 'All Coming Back To Me Now' video-clip. I went kinda Kripke and things went a little too dark. For the past three weeks in the spare moments of my l...

A rainbow has appeared on the horizon, in that rainbow are people who have fought long and hard for acceptance by society and have encountered resistance, condemnation and knock-backs. On Friday the LGBT community around the world rejoiced as they celebrated with loved ones a new chapter in history and same-sex couples are now legal in America. I saw the rainbow on Facebook, it has united not only those who have longed to be able to participate in a legally binding ceremony where they are able to say 'I do' to that one person they want to spend the rest of their lives with, but also people who have stood for this motion to pass from all different walks of life. The hash-tag of the moment is #lovewins. Love is a human emotion, given to us by God and so is the gift of life itself. I was speaking to a friend of mine on Monday morning, I hadn't seen her in four years. Lyndsey is one of the most beautiful people you can ever meet, she is kind and compassionate and is one of...

 LIFE In life there are many roads. For instance, there is a steep hill where you have to put your car in second and feel it choke and sputter in effort yet still persisting. Then there is the good ol' roundabout where you steer around the island, miss your turn-off and have to go around again. There are roads we will go any lengths to avoid driving through. All of the roads that we have travelled on are the by-product of our choices or those of others, and getting back on the high-way is the goal, or even high-tailing it to somewhere we can be ourselves by ourselves as we contemplate our intended destination and how we went about getting there. Were we going the speed limit or were we in too much of a hurry? Did we travel alone or with friends? Did we make enough decisions by ourselves and still ask others for advice? And was it good advice? What is different this time as you set out on this journey? How are you going to navigate maps and gage traffic? Are yo...

LIFE Ever feel like you have been in the same place, just different circumstances? This is life's way of giving us a pop-quiz except the questions are the same and we can never give the same answers - it is not about predictability but ingenuity and that comes from knowing who we are in that exact moment. I have had a revelation this week, that it is time for me to re-define myself, who I am and what I believe. WHO AM I? I am Sarah, a daughter of God. I am STRONG, LOYAL, CREATIVE, STUBBORN, DRAMATIC, CONTEMPLATIVE, LOVING, KIND, PASSIONATELY ENRAGED - AKA: CRAZY (and damn proud of it too!) WHAT I BELIEVE: It is not a question of what  I am but who - I can be a Christian but that doesn't mean squat if I don't embrace people as they come whether they are rich or poor, gay or straight, clever or clueless. Be humble, but stand tall. You are not your past, you are not any label that people have put on you whether those labels are good or bad. You are a person...

LIFE As much as I love being back home with familiar sights and loved ones, I still think about my Fiji adventure - the people I met and the places I went. I have lost track of the times when I think about how amazing white bread and butter from the Hot Bread Kitchen would go perfectly with my Uncle Eris's chicken soup and sigh in longing. Anyone who has been to Fiji will understand my plight when it comes to the bread and butter. And the chicken pies from Hot Bread Kitchen, don't even get me started!  Yes Fiji, I am coming back to you and your buttery delights! On Saturday night as I was unlocking the front door after a night out, I began telling A. how the stars in Fiji seem closer than the stars here but I picked a bad time, the poor guy was in a desperate hurry to use the toilet! In my mind I still see it all, the crazy chaos of Suva and the 90's style buses, the distinct smell of rotting fruits and vegetables at the markets and mile after mi...

LIFE Today I woke up in my own bed after two and a half weeks in another country. Fiji was just...incredible - I learnt and grew so much during those two weeks. People don't travel to see another country, they travel to see other worlds - like Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy in C.S Lewis's 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe'. Although there was no wicked ice queen on the other side of my wardrobe, I saw poverty and homelessness amid a culture of giving and happiness. Even now I am trying to process completely what I saw, all I can put it down to is in Fiji, there are two worlds living side by side - the wealthy and poor. The mission God has put on Ally's heart in Fiji is a very important piece of the puzzle to break the cycle of poverty. Some struggling families in Fiji have to make hard, life-altering decisions because they are desperate for a roof over their heads and food for themselves and their families.They turn to thievery, prostitution and a...

In four days I am leaving Fiji and have so many stories to share with you all, it has been a really incredible experience and one I couldn't have had at a resort. Mind you, I don't mind a bit of resort R&R myself; but if you go there you don't see much of the real Fiji - most people here are very helpful and if you make an effort to talk and spend time with them, they will make sure you feel at home. Upon first meeting, Fijians will courteously offer their hand for you to shake; a Fijian hand-shake is like a Byron Bay hug, it's lingering while pleasantries are spoken and when you say goodbye most of them will pull you in for a peck on the cheek.  The warmth, strength and kindness of the people in Fiji keeps beguiling me and I have fallen in love. On Monday afternoon Ally, Leez and I took the two'0clock bus to Ucunivanua where Leez comes from. Her grandfather is Ratu of the village there. Ratu is chief and Ucunivanua, roughly translated means "the ...