Little things really make a difference....

So the day went okay.  I ate well.  I didn't do any exercise today as I still had a lot of things weighing me down, on my mind.  But I suppose the triumph for the day was that I went to New World to buy some milk and resisted buying anything else :).  Normally I'd walk out with a couple of croissants, Up & Go...and well a little bit more than what I went in for.

Throughout the day, I had little battles with my girls (as the eldest ended up staying home because she manipulated what her dad had told her..."Dad can I watch T.V. (when she got up at 7am)?".."Yes Nia"....then I wake up at 8.30am "Nia why aren't you ready for school?" "Because Dad said I could stay home!"....family meeting is warranted here.

I had moved the laptop and my school books to my room to hopefully motivate me to actually doing it.
Instead I got distracted watching youtube clips, having a nosy at other people's facebook pages.  It's awesome that when I look through their photos they are always smiling.  Seem to always enjoy their time with their families.  When I realised what I was thinking, I looked back at my own family albums.  I'm not in many photos. :(  This is something that I really want to overcome in the near future.  To not think about how awful I will look like in pictures and just enjoy the moment with my family and my girls.  There was an ad some years ago.  I think the product was Johnson & Johnson baby products or some stretch mark cream ad and the mothers in the ad talked about not caring about their stretch marks because it was part of the process of bringing in their beautiful children into this world.  I need to take on that mentally if I am to feel better about myself, that what matters most is what my girls and husband perceive of me.

So today I had a healthy breakfast, and leftovers from dinner which was lemon and honey stirfry with mung beans, capsicum (red, yellow), green snowpeas and hokkien noodles.  It was yummy and filling.  I had a berry smoothie (home made - thanks to my new Magic Bullet!) for a snack and some fruit :).  So I am feeling good.

I think on my journey I'm going to start to have alternate days of exercising and doing things that make me feel good about myself.  I am very much an internal person so to feed my spirit I really need to spend some time on my own to do so as well as finding that time with my girls.  I think you can feed your spirit with others around you.  But alone time is just as important.

I came across an article in the Tots & Toddlers NZ magazine (I think it's called).  They're free at the supermarket.  I always grab one because they have really great ideas of what to do with your kids, as well as articles on education and development.  So the article I read was about Mummy's not feeling that they have to dress down just because they're no longer ..you know...working in the office etc.  You can still feel great about yourself and dress up a little just to take your kids to school.  Compliments from friends passing by is a real uplifter.  One of my cousins in Aussie commented on the way I dress saying that she liked my sense of style.  Now what came out of my mouth was...."oh thanks, because of my body shape now I try to dress in a way that hides the bits and pieces"...what I should've said was..."Thanks...that's really nice"....
So the article gave tips on dressing in a way that makes you feel good about yourself.  Appropriately of course. :)

I am making conscious decisions about what to cook for dinner also.  I am appreciating a home cooked meal again.  I like to be a little creative in the kitchen...hence my lemon and honey chicken which I've never made before.  And knowing that I made the scrumptious meals that would've normally seen our family spend $40 smackers at McDonald's...makes me appreciate my meals even more.  So it's also helping me to save a little dosh in the old piggys :)

So towards the afternoon when I was supposed to be working on my assignment, I got as far a downloading my assignment sheet, I felt like a mini-makeover.  Something to get me out of this rut...so I searched on youtube on how to cut my own bangs.  For those that know me personally, know that I would always google/youtube for 'How-to' videos :P....so I came across a video on cutting my bangs using the "twist and cut technique"...and there you go... :)

It was amazing that just a simple 10 minute cut actually made me feel pretty good.  I'm even noticing that my skin is a little better from the water that I'm drinking and actually taking care of myself.  I still have yet a long way to go, but I'm taking baby steps up a very steep hill..... :)xxx