Things that made my life better in 2017

I’ve got a bit of a personal post today sharing a few things, moments and people that have made my life better, happier and if not easier in 2017 (besides my family and friends).  Please share with me in the comments below, what is your thing that made life better in 2017?

PERMANENT GLASSES

I woke up on the 1st January 2017 with blurred vision, which scared me, and by midday gave me the biggest headache, and no it wasn’t a hangover. I booked myself into the optometrist as it continued for a few days after. At the time I was only wearing glasses for when I worked in front of the computer.  I took most of the December prior offline to spend with the family and there was a period of 2-3 weeks that I didn’t put my glasses on at all.  The optometrist said it was my eye’s way of having a hissy fit and telling me they wanted the glasses back but on.  I think I had known that my vision had been declining, as I found it so hard to read small print on the back of food labels.  Anyways I got my eyes tested with the recommendation to wear glasses permanently.  And wouldn’t you know….my vision is so much better, I can see everything clearly and read the smallest print.  Do you like my new headshot with my glasses?

ZOE – OUR KING CHARLES CAVELIER

My hubby and I have been married nearly 19 years and we have only ever been pet owners to a few fish and our ragdoll cat Millee. Year before last I started doing some research about adding a puppy to our family, the kids had always wanted one and I thought it was time. I fell in love with the King Charles Cavelier breed and found a breeder a few hours away, so once I heard she had a litter we went for a drive and met Zoe at 3-4 weeks old.  We picked Zoe up at 12 weeks in June and we were just so smitten straight away and wondering why we didn’t introduce a doggy into our lives sooner.. we think perhaps we were just waiting for Zoe.

The puppy stages were hard, she needed quite a lot of attention, which was hard when the kids were at school and I was trying to work.  But for the love we have for Zoe, I’d do it all again.  Look at those eyes, they are so adorable and hard to get cranky at, especially last week when she ripped one of my favourite bromeliads I just potted up to shreds.

ESSENTIAL OILS

I have been using essential oils for many years in my homemade cleaning recipes and to help the kids sleep at night. But it wasn’t until last year that I truly began to understand the benefits of using essential oils for emotional and physical wellness applications.  I suffer from anxiety and had several attacks last year, for no reason at all, they just come out of nowhere.  I learnt how to use the oils to support and balance my hormones and ease feelings of anxiety.  My hubby has a very low immune system at the moment so I have also used the oils to support him too. I diffuse or apply oils to my skin every day and so grateful that I took the time to properly learn and appreciate them, although I feel like I still have so much more to learn.  Read my beginners guide to essential oils here.

REVISIONAL WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY

This was such a hard decision to make, but I’m so glad I found the courage to do it again.  In July I had revisional gastric sleeve surgery and SIPS (a form of mini bypass).  You can read about my decision here.  Now 6 months since my surgery I have lost nearly 25kg and I am feel amazing, have more energy and feel like my old self is back.  I still have a way to go to get to my goal but I have the determination in me to reach it.  Prior to going away on our family holiday late last year I was wearing all my old baggy clothes still which made me feel frumpy.  As we were travelling to America and it was cold I shouted myself a few new clothes for our trip to help keep me warm.  I can’t tell you how good it felt to be wearing clothes that fitted me properly, it completely changed my mindset and helped me to realise how much weight I had actually lost.  So my goal for this 2018 new year was to purge all my old baggy clothes from my wardrobe and wear clothes that fitted me properly. I’m now wearing size 12-14!!

THIS SHAMPOO

After my surgery my hair started to fall out.  I expected it as it did the same last time.  I brush my hair and the comb is full, I drive with the window down and I have hair flying everywhere. When I wet my hair I have clumps running down my legs. I have a few very thin patches around the side of my face, it’s so fine and fragile at the moment.  So I strive to touch it as little as I can.  Typically, I would wash my hair every second day without fail as it’s just too oily. And because it’s so oily, I can only wear it out the same day that I have washed it. But OMG I love this Shampoo and Conditioner I have started using. I now manage to get through 4-5 days without washing my hair and if I wanted to, I could wear it out Day 1, 2 and 3 and it still looks lovely and clean and fresh!! Blown away.

FAMILY TIME

We had quite a few chaotic months there at the end of last year. Between me taking 3 weeks off to recover from my surgery, I then worked myself to hard planning all my Christmas blog posts ahead of time so that I could take off 6 weeks offline over December and January.  But no matter how much work my hubby (who owns his own business too) and I had to do we continued to have our weekends off to spend time with family and we never miss our Sunday afternoon games time with the kids.  We all look forward to this time of the week, I put on a spread of food, cold drinks, and fun board games.  We LOVE board games!

POTTERING IN MY GARDEN AND MY NEW LOVE AFFAIR WITH SUCCULENTS

I think it’s important to have some time to yourself, away from the kids, hubby and away from the household chores….  I regularly catch up with friends, but I also enjoy pottering in my garden.  Prior to Zoe joining our family I had a little vegetable garden which I kept maintained and grew an abundance of zucchini, strawberries and herbs.  But Zoe has destroyed it.  I need to put up a barrier fence, but for now I have given up.  Although I have managed to keep some herbs alive and am trialling a planter stand I purchased from Bunnings recently.

I have a new found love affair with succulents.  I found one growing next to my mum’s grave (planted by the groundskeeper) so I naughtily pinched a cutting off it, bought it home and potted it up.  It looked lonely so I purchased another, and then realised that they looked better in a pot with many grouped together, so I ‘NEEDED’ more.  Now I can’t help myself, I am out there every afternoon fluffing around with them, propagating them to make babies and hunting for more visiting nurseries and local markets.  I really enjoy my time in the garden, I tune out, spend some time in the fresh air and enjoy the tranquillity of it, maybe my mum’s way of telling me to get into the garden as she was a green thumb.

Anyone got any top tips to stop dogs from getting into the plants?

HIRING SAM TO HELP ME

Many of you may not know but this blog is my full-time job. Last year I realised the amount of work that I need to do for it each day was is beyond me.  I had interns from the local university come in during their semester for work experience, but I needed someone along side me on a regular basis.  Sam started working with me middle of last year and has been a god-send, she has been a family friend for many years and I knew once she expressed interest that she’d fit right in.  Having her helping me has helped me get that family/work balance back.

BINGE WATCHING TV ON MY FETCH

In my down time (without the kiddies) if I’m not pottering in the garden or organising a cupboard in the house, I like to sit and binge watch TV.  Mostly at night, I snuggle up to my blanket (no matter how hot it is) to wind down at the end of a long day, to not think, not plan, not worry, to just be still for a little.  For me binge watching is the way to go one episode is never enough!  You can find some of my favourite shows here, here and here.  I use Fetch, you can read about it here.

OUR FAMILY HOLIDAY

Our big family trip tom the USA!! Ooh my goodness we had THE BEST TIME, we travelled all around the west coast of California, USA. We went to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Disneyland, LA and Hawaii.  It was action packed but so much fun, we reconnected, we laughed, we had long conversations, we ventured and we all went on roller coasters.  I shared a few snippets on instagram and instagram stories, but mostly I put the camera down, packed away the laptop and enjoyed time out with my hubby and the kids.

What was one thing that made your life easier or better in 2017?