What happens when you over challenge yourself.

What happens when you over challenge yourself?

 Is that even a correct sentence, over challenge or over commit to challenges.

 Ha ha, great english Trish!!!

I have become a little obsessed with learning or bettering myself this year. I am participating in 5 daily photo challenges now plus one weekly to improve my technique & creative thinking in photography. They all have such different themes, its very inspiring but clearly addictive.

Some of my photos I use my DSLR & others my iPhone as I would like to take great photo's with each of them. I have been thinking I would like to try out some of the clip on lenses for iPhone photography. 

Have you used any?

I am also trying to learn how to edit using Lightroom & Photoshop, which has meant I can now take photos with my DSLR in RAW mode instead of a jpeg. This gives you a lot more detail in your pics but it also means you DO have to edit them.I am only doing the basics in Lightroom at this stage.

 This weeks focus will be creating design boards using Photoshop so I can do a really nice visual presentation for my clients & maybe one day I will be clever enough to do online design work for people, sounds exciting hey....watch this space.

I have had people approach me about doing interior design work with them even though I haven't finished my studies. Not one to refuse a challenge in 2016 I have jumped in feet first... Why not!

It is such a great way to learn & build a portfolio. They are well aware of my experience level. It's so nice to have people have so much faith in you.

The down side to all of this photography & interior design work is that I am not studying as much as I should, I am not keeping on top of my housework as much as I need to, so it resembles a bomb site most of the time, especially the kitchen.

 I need to train my minions better, messy little rascals!

My fitness and nutrition have also suffered, I think I am still in festive season mode in this area & its really showing around my waistline. Either that or as they say "gremlins have snuck into my closet & seen my clothes smaller." Eeeeekkkk!!!!

So what is the plan of attack I hear you say. A tried & true method used by highly organised people.

ROUTINE!!!!

Sounds simple doesn't it.....for me not so much. It is going to require some serious self discipline & a change in  my mentality when it comes to my children's mess.I have gotten into the habit of thinking it is easier to do it myself, but they are getting increasingly lazy & even messier of late.

I began making them clean up after themselves more this week & ensuring they actually do the chores assigned to them.

 It has decreased my work load but certainly upped the nagging factor, ha ha ha not to mention some teenage boy grumpiness.

I have set a post dinner study time so TV off, all technology that isn't involved in homework is off & doesn't come back on until all homework is complete & the kitchen is clean.We begin this torturous addition to our day on Monday, so if you hear on the news a mother in the Hunter Valley was murdered by her children you will know that it was me & my new routine hasn't been embraced.

I will keep you posted on how well, or if this works for us.

Exercise wise I am working towards getting up early again & going for a walk, it really is a great way to start the day. In the gym I will be picking a muscle group or two each day & doing  different exercises on each muscle group. If I can get in the gym for 20 minutes  most days & go for a 30 min walk of a morning I will soon get back that craving for exercising which also brings with it a taste for clean healthy food  & hopefully my clothes will be comfy again in no time....problem solved!

Wish me luck.

CHEERS

Trish xx

2015 ALREADY!!!!

Seriously, 2015 already!!!

How quickly did the past 12 months pass us by ?

We had a nice night ringing in the new year with some lovely friends.

We made the most of where we live & all walked to the river to watch the 9pm fireworks & then back home to count down until midnight.

I have lots of plans for the new year, how about you?

We have lots of plans for repairing & rejuvenating our home, it will be a slow & ongoing process as we will be trying ever so hard to save for each stage rather than create debt for our reno's.

So having a strict budget & sticking to it will be a priority, sounds boring I know, but it will pay off down the track.

Lucky this big guy is clever & we wont need to hire to many outside trades, I will be the chief designer & lackie whilst he does the clever stuff.

My kids all have big years ahead, full of change

No.1 is going into her 2nd year of studying Graphic Design at Billie Blue Design College & living & working in Sydney. She has really made a great life for herself & enjoys city living.

No.2 Has just completed a Cert 4 in Business Admin & is now on the lookout for employment. She has a huge list of goals to kick this year & I have no doubt she will achieve them all.

No.3 Is just about to start High School & is maturing at a rapid pace. He really is looking forward to the change & plans on tackling it with great gusto

&

No.4 goes into primary school, she really is growing up way to fast.

2014 was full of ups & downs for us, it does sometimes feel like every time we are getting ahead something changes to pull us back again. Generally after a lot of frustration, life heads in a new direction & it sorts itself out again.

Career wise this has certainly been truer than true.

I will be looking for the perfect part time job, I have no real direction there, do I return to hairdressing, look for something sales orientated in line with my last job(New Home Sales consultant), work in retail, preferably homewares or home furnishings or learn something new.

I think it will be dictated more by the work hours on offer & what works family wise rather than passion.

I have been very inconsistent with my fitness & nutrition over the past 6 months & it shows.

I feel very sluggish & my clothes have become a little to snug for comfort.

Its time to get back on track & build regular exercise back into my daily routine . I really do need to cut back on the sweet treats & wine

This may hurt.......

So to cut a long story short, my goals for 2015

Happy kids

Happy husband

Renovate our home

Save Money

Eat healthy

Exercise

Get a job

& have a few adventures along the way.

How about you, do you have any major resolutions?

Happy 2015 everyone, here's to a healthy, wealthy, smooth sailing 2015

CHEERS

Trish xx

Wordless Wednesday-Camping Trip

Our family camping trip on the weekend to our favourite swimming hole,

Ladies Well in the Chichester State Forest NSW

We had a FANTASTIC weekend 

CHEERS

Trish xx

CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE

Its the word that sums up the year ahead of us here at 

'Dream House for Trish'

Challenge No 1

Building the dream house as owner builders,

This is the progress so far, just a hole in the ground which has been affectionately called

"The house hole"

One day it will look more like this!!!

Challenge No 2

As some of  you know we are starting our own online home wares store.

I know there are lots of them around but I need to create an income that works around my kids & my shift working, house building husband so I will be working very hard to build a store lots of people love.

At this point we are just a face book page while lots of work is going on in the background on a website for us to go live.

I have some stock ready to go, just  finalising the details on the website now.

Drop by for a sneak peek if you like, feel free to like our page & share the word. Any assistance to get our name out would be greatly appreciated, just as much as any advice, product recommendations or wholesaler recomendations.

Dream House Decor

Just a few of the stylish items we are going to sell.

Challenge No 3

Last year I did a 12 week transformation Challenge & while I was pretty happy with the results I achieved I still have a few more goals to kick, so as of Jan 13th I am embarking on another 12 week challenge.

The photo above is 12 weeks of hard work, I lost a mere 4 kg but over 40 cm. I learnt how to get back to eating clean & training hard.

I had really let myself get very unhealthy over the past few years & actually got back into fitness at the dream guy's suggestion as a way to manage my stress. It was the best thing I ever did. I am certainly a happier girl & have so much more energy as well.

This time around I am starting with a reasonable level of fitness & a bunch of healthy habits so it wont be as big a shock to the system.

Don't you just love the difference a spray tan makes." If you can't tone it, then tan it!" is what my spray tan lady always say's.

I'm sure there is  a more specific title than spray tan lady, perhaps Tan Technician. I do apologise for my ignorance.I get my tan done by my massage therapist & she is awesome in both roles.

Challenge No 4

Staying on top of homework & school commitments.

I really hate homework time.

Of course everyday living as a wife & mother brings about its own challenges & I am hoping to tackle them all with gusto!!!

What challenges do you have ahead of you?

Do you have a word that sums up the year ahead?

Happy 2014 everyone.

CHEERS

Trish xxx