Life, Love and the Everyday

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...