In sickness, Gossip Girl wins.

I can't concentrate and talking feels as difficult as running marathon without training. I can however watch disk after disk of Gossip Girl on DVD.

Saturday I hurt my back. It's on the mend now with the help of exercises, massage, a lot of rest and a physio. My sore throat, on the other hand is a little more stubborn. 


Gosspi Girl Session 2 and 3 are almost complete and if I still feel sick tomorrow after work, I'll stop and buy sessions 4, 5 and 6 to watch over the weekend.

I've now watched so much Gossip Girl back-to-back I even wondered what my 'drama obsessed friends' had been up to while I dragged myself to work for a few hours yesterday. Please don't judge me for wondering about fictional characters. You must have too, at some time too?

Who was it? Did you wondered about Joey, George, Tony, John Snow? Who? Please tell me in the comments below.

Right now though, I think Lily is in trouble (caught lying again!) and I should really make sure she's ok. Time to load the last disk of session 3!

Currently

Loving: Sunshine! Spring has sprung in Melbourne and with it comes the lovely warm sunshine! Days are getting longer and soon daylight savings will be upon us once again :) 

Reading: Finding Happiness in the Most Unlikely Places by Donald W McCullough. It reads as though it was written recently, not 22 years ago! Using simple every-day easy-to-understand language it looks at the Beatitudes. It has been refreshing to read; the lack of Christian lingo is delightful! 

Watching: Suits session 2. If you don't watch Suits you have to start! The wit, plot twists, suits and comical banter are fantastic! I have no idea what I'll watch once I finished the season... maybe I'll go back to Community to a bit, till I can find something as good as Suits. If you've got any suggestions about what I should watch next - let me know.

Anticipating: A conference in Nashville, followed by visiting friends in Montreal and San Francisco! Turns out I'll be there in the middle of the pre-election American Presidencial campaign fiasco. I really don't think I have any idea about what this trip will be like, or what opportunities will come from it.
But what I do know is that I'm going with the view of doing as much as I can, see as much as I can and speak to as many Americans (more than Canadians) and telling them that we get our mail delivered by Kangaroos! If stereotypes count for anything, I think most will believe me ;)

Listening to: Will Reagan and United Pursuit, I need some new worship music and Will is on it.

Planning: Holidays! I'm going to have to write a list soon of all the possible things I could do in the States and Canada, otherwise I'm going to forget. But first I'm still planning out all my accommodation. One step at a time. Once accommodation is sorted, I'll focus on planning more around the fun stuff :)

Working on: Winding up old projects - finishing well. 

Wishing: It was October already! I'm ready for the long haul flight.... not so ready to decide what to pack but ready to fly away for adventures!

What are you wishing for?

Infectious gratitude and touching praise - Psalm 116

I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord
"Please, Lord , save me!"
How kind the Lord is! How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!
The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.
Let my soul be at rest again,
for the Lord has been good to me.
He has saved me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the Lord 's presence
as I live here on earth!
I believed in you, so I said,
"I am deeply troubled, Lord ."
In my anxiety I cried out to you,
"These people are all liars!"
What can I offer the Lord
for all he has done for me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and praise the Lord 's name for saving me.
I will keep my promises to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

The Lord cares deeply
when his loved ones die.
O Lord , I am your servant;
yes, I am your servant, born into your household;
you have freed me from my chains.
I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord .
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people—
in the house of the Lord
in the heart of Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord !

NLT translation

Win a YLR t-shirt!

Here is a great prize for all you t-shirt wearing folk, from You Love Random. One lucky person will the following purple You Love Random t-shirt!  

To be in the running to win this t-shirt, just answer the following question: what's your favourite t-shirt wearing activity? 

-boring bits-
One entry per person
Open to Australian residents only, sorry.
Competition closes Tuesday 5th September, 11:59pm.
Winner will be contacted by email and will be announced in this post.

T-shirts made by fairies in LA (American Apparel), screen printed in Melbourne.

Update: Won by Barb via g+! Congratulations and you'll receive your free t-shirt shortly :) 

Love Me

"Love Me" by Curtis Kulig

Do you have artwork that is yet to be hung or framed? I do.

Artwork can help make a place feel like home quickly. It gives the allusion that the person is truly settled in. Once the artwork is hung it's as though a house sigh's, smiles and welcome's you home each day as you walk in the door - even if all the boxes aren't unpacked - at least in my mind.

Though I hold these romantic ideals, in reality after five years my Yok bottle is still only resting against a wall, and a Curtis Kulig print I purchased in 2010 entitled "Love Me" still hasn't been framed. 

My procrastination has been hiding behind this transient notion that "one day soon, I'll move".

But enough is enough; it's time to frame Curtis Kulig!

Do you have artwork that is hidden away, waiting for the right time to see the light of day? Tell me about it in the comments.

Would you like a letter in the mail?

When was the last time you sent or received a hand written letter or postcard in the mail? 

Most of the time I get bills and junk mail - it can be depressing. 

Pretty envelopes usually only arrive in my letterbox with the announcement of an engagement or wedding. But the thrill of a letter or postcard just because... well that rarely happens. 

I'd like to invite you to change this with me. I'd like to send you a letter!

© Zo Ebb

Over the last few weeks I have been sending letters and postcards to friends and family because... it's fun! Some of my family is in the thick of war overseas, some live in the same city as me. Some friends are chasing their dreams in far away lands; pressing wine or animating their imaginations for all to enjoy. Yet, others are learning about the ever changing world of their adorably cute babies. 

Whatever they are doing and wherever they are, as I drop their letter in our red mail boxes, I can't help but smile and wonder when they will receive it! 

(Creative Commons)

Email, facebook, phone conversations and spending time with people are all fine. But the thrill of receiving a handwritten letter or postcard in the mail, I believe it's heart warming in a different way. 

Tearing open an envelope with a smile, full of wonder about what has been scrawled on the pages inside; it's not announcing an engagement or wedding. 

It's just because.

Would you like a letter in the mail? Comment below and a letter or card will be yours!

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;

when the road you're trudging seems all uphill;

when funds are low and debts are high

and you want to smile but you have to sigh;

when care is pressing you down a bit,

rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

as every one of us sometimes learns,

and many a failure turns about

when they might have won

had they stuck it out.

© Creative Commons

Don't give up though the pace seems slow.

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

the silver tint of the cloud of doubt,

and you never can tell how close you are, 

it may be near when it seems so far.

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit.

It's when things seem worst you must not quit.

©Openbook Publishers Australia

How do you know when you're successful?

How do you know when you're successful?

To me a Louis Vuitton Red Epi leather wallet is success. As soon as I could afford to buy one (without sending myself into debt) I would be able to look at the world and say "I've made it! I'm successful!"- holding my 'success wallet'.

My success wallet.

Six years ago my success arrived. But not how I thought.
  

I was on a snowboarding holiday in Japan, and like you do when you need a rest from snowboarding, I was shopping. Walking into each of the different little shops, not really knowing exactly what to expect. It was in one of these shops that I looked through the glass counter. I was shocked to see, here somewhere outside Tokyo my 'success wallet' was there looking back at me! 

I was on holidays. I was almost at the end of my trip. I had some money left over but would it be enough for my 'success wallet'?
Half arguing with a friend about why I couldn't buy it - I didn't believe I was "successful" so I tried to convince my friend of the lie that this was why I shouldn't buy it even though I could afford it.
The wallet is now mine - I bought it!

I had finally been able to buy one, a Louis Vuitton Red Epi leather wallet - my success wallet! I was ecstatic! Until a thought popped into my head. 

If I own my success wallet now (at 24) then does that mean I'm successful, already? 

It was the wallet I had dreamed about, the wallet that would tell the world I was successful. So. Yes! I was successful! I AM successful! 

Now the question is: as the first book I have published has broken-even, am I successful? 

You better believe it! 

Was I successful before this book broke-even? Yes. 

Was I successful before the book was even printed? Yes.

To me, success is a belief in yourself. It's a confidence that cannot be bought by things, not even by Louis Vuitton products. 

Success comes before you can buy the fancy car, house, suit or purse. It comes when you step out and start to become a better person - when you start to become the best you, you can be.

Are you working on becoming the best person you can be?

The Forbidden History of Unpopular People: Free Speach

When Topher started to tell me about this project I misheard and built it to extraordinary proportions! Turns out that this post was a little wrong - he hasn't created a feature film... whoops. Instead it's a short punchy video.

And now, the first in his trilogy 'The Forbidden History of Unpopular People' has it's launched! Check it out below or check it out on Topher's specific 'The Forbidden History' website here.

Topher's next two video's are titled 'The Forbidden History of Terrible Taxes; Counting the Cost of Government' and 'The Forbidden History of Gargantuan Government; the Bodycount of Bureaucracy'. 

Sponsor his next video/s and be part of the debate or sponsor him and see your name in the credits but either way - sponsor him. 

Join the celebrations!

Tomorrow is the first ever children's book launch from my publishing house, Ashworth Publishing. We're having the launch at The Little Bookroom in 759 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne at 2:30pm. There will be cupcakes, colouring-in and story telling - come join us!

What's the children's book your launching?
It's called Mitchell the Pixel and is aimed at children 3-7 years old.

Mitchell the pixel is a digital square.
He lives in your computer and doesn’t have hair.
Join him as he explores what it is to have friendship,
face up to bullies and find forgiveness.
While all along, staying true to his unique self.
Who authored and illustrated Mitchell the Pixel?
It was written by Leon James Wisewould and illustrated by Paul Nash.
Leon has been writing since he was a child himself. Paul has been doodling, drawing and painting since he was a child too.

Why did you start a publishing house?  
A couple years ago I wrote a children's story called Johnny Big Toes - available in November, 2012. The main character was inspired by my dear friend, AshLee, and there is an elephant, a ferrari, a giant snail, and the world's largest underground car park.

AshLee encouraged me to look at having my story published. That was when I realised that by starting my own publishing house I could be less focused on generating massive profits, and more focused on inspiring children to be children.

It wasn't long before Leon and Paul Nash, the Mitchell the Pixel illustrator would be excited to publishing the first Ashworth Publishing children's book with me.

UPDATE: See pictures from the day here

People are just that, people.

On my phone

Relationships are hard; any kind of relationship is difficult.

There are ups and downs. 

Good times and not so good times. And navigating the terrain of relationships - whether professional or personal - can be emotionally draining at times.

Doesn't matter what the status or title people are just people; they can hurt, anger and sadden us without even knowing! 

Recently this happened to me both personally and professionally. Things were said and actions (or lack of them) made me feel like an outsider, like the relationship we shared wasn't of value. I was made to feel like I held no position of influence and my contribution was of no worth.  

Being hurt, angered and/or saddened is not pleasant, in turn it can begin to create new feelings of resentment and bitterness or worse. It's easy to see how if you store up all these feelings it would start to create a rift among friends. To pull people apart.  

This is where things where starting to head for me and I didn't like it. 

I don't like being anger with friends or feeling like they don't care about me (when I knew in my head that they did). But saying something is hard (yep, this is the hard part in relationships). Having the courage to put up your hand and say 'you may not realise this but your actions/words have hurt me'.  

Perhaps you've heard about letting go of old hurts but forgiving friends before they have apologised can seem like an impossibility. Yet God wants to know all our stresses, He wants us to give them all to Him. My friends had hurt me and I was really stressed, so I did just that. 

I prayed. I told God how they made me feel, told Him I was choosing to forgive them and to help heal my heart. And like always - He listened, He answered.

Without anger or bitterness I then put up my hand and told my friends - I'd been hurt. How they had made me feel and that I was speaking to them so that we could all make a conscious effort to avoid the same thing happening in the future. 

I was proud of myself for saying something. I'm not very good at talking about my feelings; I'm not the most eloquent person which makes me nervous and tongue-tied but I wrote down what I wanted to say on a bit of paper and I spoke out. 

If you feel hurt, say something. Your friend might be feeling hurt too. 

Seek God's timing about when to say something, be gentle and speak without accusation but do say something. It will help to strengthen your relationship.

Integrity - what's up with that?

"People of integrity expect to be believed. They also know that time will prove them right and are willing to wait." - Ann Landers

Integrity is one of those qualities that erodes little by little, and often without us even knowing - along with patience and determination. Yet, we should all be trying to increase and build these up.

Integrity is one of those hard qualities that is difficult to explain, and even harder to measure. But it is clear to others if someone has it or not - according to  my Mum. My older sister says integrity is what you do when no-one else is around.
The dictionary definition says it's so much more than that. It's about honesty. It's about strong moral principals.

Our integrity is seen by others only as we respond to planned and unplanned incidents. In times when crisis hits that's when you see the true integrity of a person; by what they say and, more importantly, what they do.

To build up our integrity... perhaps with quote from John Milton will help us all.

"He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king."

To be ruled by our passions, desires, and fears is a lack of reflection or a 'lifestyle of denial', it's not a cure for the heart; ignoring these things actually compounds them.
The feedback of loved ones, and Holy Spirit's prompting, will lift us to life affirming values; where we can rule our passions, desires, and fears - they don't rule us! Each day as we stand up to ourselves and our selfish ways and fears with the Holy Spirit's help we are slowly building up our morals and increasing hopefully becoming more honest. It's not a quick process to integrity but it's a journey that over time, we will be able to step back and say 'Yes, I am living a life of integrity'.

Consider this; are you living a life of integrity?

A deep sense of loneliness

There are times when a deep sense of loneliness engulfs every inch of me and I can't escape it; like a solid and lasting punch to the heart.

It isn't brought on by seeing lovers kissing, or even by the memory of falling asleep in the strong yet soft and gentle embrace of a man. No, it isn't brought on by anything like this.
The loneliness just comes from nowhere, punches me in the heart and leaves me to deal with that solid and lasting pain that then consumes me. It's as though this punch leaves a hollowness in my heart and soul that I am unable to fill.

Last year it was more than I could handle. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything to anyone. Thinking that Jesus is meant to be my comforter and councillor, I foolishly kept telling myself that should be able to pray about this and the Holy Spirit would help me out - I shouldn't have to talk to anyone about this! I knew that in order to remove the power that a situation or the power that struggles held over me (or you), I needed to speak about them. By speaking about it I would be shedding light on that situation or struggle and removing the power it held over me.
But with this deep sense of loneliness, no.
I didn't want to speak to anyone, I didn't want to ask for help, asking for help is considered a sign of weakness (popular culture tells me that so it must be true) and I'm not weak....
But I was wrong; oh so very very wrong. It was weak to not ask for help.

Friends, didn't know I was struggling and I certainly wasn't about to tell them I constantly felt deeply and desperately lonely - that I was fighting these feelings even when I was with trusted friends and family. No, I wasn't about to talk to them.

It was the Christian prayer counsellor I was seeing at the time that I eventually told. It took a couple of months. Yet there in that private room under the cover of a signed confidentiality agreement (which seems SO important when you don't want to talk about your feelings) I took a big breath, lifted my head to heaven to avoid crying as I spoke and told someone. For the first time I said "I'm lonely. I can't escape this deep painful loneliness in my heart and soul. It really hurts!"

SO glad I said something! Once I stopped crying (yes, even lifting my head so the tears wouldn't roll down my cheeks they inevitably did) we prayed.
That's a lie - I didn't pray; my prayer counsellor prayed for me and I agreed with her prayer. She prayed against spirit of loneliness, and that the Lord Jesus would fill my heart with His unconditional love as only He can, and take away this the deep loneliness, to fill me with His joy and love.

It wasn't until I lay in bed that night that I even noticed that for the first time, in I've no idea how long, I didn't feel lonely. My heart wasn't screaming for love. I felt FULL of Jesus' love! That love that only He can give! Through the Holy Spirit I knew and now really felt loved! Loved beyond words and beyond understanding - I am LOVED!

Looking back, the hardest part was telling someone about it. I couldn't break free on my own, I'd tried for months to do it by myself and I couldn't, I needed to ask someone else to pray me through it.

I can't encourage you enough - if this article has spoken into your heart PLEASE go and see a counsellor or ask a trusted wise friend to help you and prayer with you. You only need to ask! 

It's Easy in Percentages

Budgets are a common way to work out how much money you want to save but have you ever considered using percentages instead?

Let me explain.

I first started thinking about money in terms of percentages as I started paying more attention to the power tithing. Sure it's a concept that appears really early in the Bible, Leviticus 27:30 to be exact (thanks for the help on that one google). When we hit the book of Numbers chapter 18, the Bible starts to talk about percentages and tithing by a percentage, a tenth (10%) to be made as an offering to the Lord. 

A tenth is easy enough to work out - God being God, it's also ingenious! A tenth means that it doesn't matter how much we make we can always give ten percent. 

• When you're a kid and your pocket money is $1.00 - 10% is 10c
• As a student you earn $140.00 a week at your part time job - 10% is $14.00
• And so it goes on... no matter how high or low the numbers go.

When we're calculating how much money to offer to the Lord working out 10% seems easy. Even our government calculates our taxes on percentages. Yet, using a saving plan based on percentages baffles many people. Hopefully this will help explain it to you. 

Amiriche's Percentage Savings Plan

Your income either per week, fortnight, month is our starting point - 100%.

Your bills and everyday expenditure you want to convert into a percentage of your income. If it is an annual bill and your 100% is based on your monthly income then divide the bill by 12 and convert to a percentage - easy.
For example I spend per month 11.9% on transportation; car, petrol, public transport costs.
Once you have converted your bills into manageable percentages, simple deduct your percentage expenses from your income 100%. The figure you are left with is the percentage you have available to save.

What percentage of that 100% do you have left for saving? 0.2%, 12%, 34%?

Increasing your saving is always a good idea - you never know when you'll want to start a business or buy a car, lust after an uber expensive pair of shoes or cope of speeding fine! 

Whatever the percentage is that your saving start thinking about all your expenses as a percentage of your income (your 100%). It doesn't take long to which the way you look at your money. 

As you start to think about your money in terms of a percentage of your income you'll start to you want to increase the percentage your saving. And you'll find ways!

Today I bought a new winter jacket (it's really nice) which cost me just under 10% of my fortnightly salary but to me, I think it'll be worth the 10%. My phone bill, on the other hand costs me at just over 5% of my fortnightly salary... yeh I'm already looking for a cheaper phone plan.

Start thinking differently about your money. 

It'll pay off.

Goodbye my dear dear friend Poscus

Saying goodbye to a loved one is never going to be a walk in the park.

Saying goodbye to a family member is even harder again whether they walk on two legs or four.

December 13, 2011.
After more than 18 years and 4 months in my life, our family cat, Poscus was put to sleep forever. The vet was amazed that he had lived so long. He was old, had trouble breathing amongst other things. But that isn't the cat I remember.

Poscus was our pure chocolate brown Burmese cat. He was the cat everyone liked and loved, the cat that people with allergies could cuddle and pat.
He had a presence.

He would kill possums bigger than him just for fun. He was the top cat and the other cats in our area knew it.

He was also very loving and affectionate. He would sit with you when you were depressed or just watching a movie; nuzzle your face giving you cat kisses and purr contently.
He wasn't one of those cats that meow incessantly; Poscus only meowed when absolutely necessary.

For most of those 18 years Poscus slept in my room, often in my bed and even more often on my head.

It hasn't been even close to a walk in the park saying goodbye to my dear dear friend - I still tear-up a little every now and then. But the Lord is gracious. With this one small beautiful cat that He brought into our lives Poscus was indeed a God sent that our family will always cherish and remember.  

February Photo A Day Challenge

I only found out about the January Photo A Day Challenge half way through January. When I saw there was to be a February challenge I was excited and ready to start snapping photos on my iPhone!

We're only up to Day 7 (Button) which I still haven't done yet though I think it will be a traffic light button because cars, bikes and traffic lights are amazing! You might laugh at me saying that but what I've been enjoying most about these challenges is it forces me to stop and really look at my surroundings. 

As each day passes I want to take a great photo; looking at strangers (Day 4), the different ways words appear (Day 2) and wondering how I can take great photo of these - an interesting photo. 

It really is helping me live more in the moment, to enjoy my surroundings more and to really appreciate the everyday. What comes back to me each day is that I am blessed, in everything I do and everything I see, as a daughter of the Most High I am blessed. The only photo I've missed so far was yesterday - Day 6 Dinner, unfortunately I was too busy eating it to remember to take a photo! Eating it and simply being thankful that I had something to eat for dinner and it was provided by a loving Father who makes the sun rise and our food grow.

Are you part of the February Photo A Day Challenge? 

The battle was not mine.

Many aspects of last year where incredibly hard for me. 

Work was the hardest. But Jesus gave me this job and only He was going to take it away.

When everything seemed to much, when I wanted to give up, friends helped me to have the courage to seek the wisdom and guidance of a wonderful prayer councillor, to seek God's face and let Him fight my war. 

When I didn't want to battle at work anymore, see my friends or smile and talk - the Lord was my strength and my salvation. 

Slowly, one day at a time and over weekly meetings for a couple of months I opened my heart to Jesus'  embrace. Slowly I gave in, and started to listen to Him, allowing Jesus to take the pain my enemies had inflicted. He was helping me stand up straight again.  

Slowly, I stood aside as Jesus softened my heart and strengthened my resolve that it was His plan and that at work that battle was already won by Him, not me. He carried me through it all. 

He won the battle on my behalf. 

The dust has settled now and my enemy is long gone. I am still here, still standing firm; Jesus and I. 

I can't begin to tell you how many times I read Psalm 27, but in it I found strength, perhaps you will too. 

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
 Whom shall I fear?
 The Lord is the strength of my life;
 Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked came against me
 To eat up my flesh,
 My enemies and foes,
 They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me, 
My heart shall not fear; 
Though war may rise against me, 
In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord, 
That will I seek:
 That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
 To behold the beauty of the Lord,
 And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble 
He shall hide me in His pavilion; 
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me; 
He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
 Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
 I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
 Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,”
 My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Do not hide Your face from me; 
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
 You have been my help; 
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
 O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, 
Then the Lord will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
 And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; 
For false witnesses have risen against me, 
And such as breathe out violence.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
 That I would see the goodness of the Lord
 In the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord;
 Be of good courage, 
And He shall strengthen your heart;
 Wait, I say, on the Lord!


NKJV: Bible Gateway

Sketchbook Project - Posted!

Three weeks are up! Pencils down, Sketchobooks closed! 

Today I posted AshLee and my sketchbooks to The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn Art Library. Safe in a plastic registered mail post bag they should arrive from Australia to the USA in about 10 days.

It feels good finishing this project and knowing that it will come back in November on exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria here in Melbourne for all you view! I feel like a real artist!

For AshLee it was different, he'd never even heard of The Sketchbook Project and so it become an awesome birthday present for him (I'm ok if you copy this idea, it is a great present for someone!). Where his theme was 'It's summer where you are', my theme was 'This is a sketchbook'.

Filling my sketchbook did continue to be a challenge. In my handbag it lived; for three weeks. 

Pulling it out as often as possible, yet last night my sketchbook still wasn't full. 

I had even been cheeky enough to take it into a work meeting so I could doodle a little more - hopefully no-one noticed. 

Heading to AshLee's office to pickup his sketchbook for posting back to Brooklyn last night I was relieved to discover that he wasn't quite finished either. 

At his desk we sat till late at night; him madly glueing bits together and me franticly sketching. You know what it reminded me of? High School!

Working on some assignment with a friend/s frantically trying to get it finished before the next morning when it was due. That was high school for me. Plodding along at my own pass most of the time until - BAMB! It's due the next day and I need to pull an all-nighter to get it over the line and finished. That's what it felt like last night. The only difference... high school finished 12 years ago! Ahh to be young again...

Did you often pull all-nighters at high school?

January Photo a Day Challenge

There is this Photo a Day challenge for the month of January. It was organised by Fat Mum Slim.
I found out about it half way through January and kicked off from that day forward. In reverse order...

Day 30 #Nature

Day 28 #Light

Day 27 #Lunch

Day 26 #Colour

Day 25 #Something you made

Day 22 #Your shoes

Day 20 #Someone you love

Day 19 #Sweet

Day 16 #Morning

Day 15 #Happiness

I haven't always remembered to take a picture and I really haven't remembered to use the right hashtag (#janphotoaday) but here non of that matters, here its just about a simple picture fun project!

The Forbidden History of Unpopular People

What project are you working on at the moment?

Topher is a friend of mine who is in the middle of trying to raise enough money to make a feature film! Pretty cool, huh.

As you can see from the title it will be called The Forbidden History of Unpopular People; why free speech is worth the price.

It isn't a stretch to see Topher working on a movie of this nature, it's completely within his sphere of interest and passion. What do I mean, well, if you live in Victoria, Australia  you may have even stumbled on his YouTube channel; Topher's Unpopular View. He has researched (I'm talking hard core research; reading parliamentary transcripts, scientific reports, etc) a few different topics but his main area, so far has been water.
But enough about his past projects, check out his latest concept video below for a feature film!

The Joy of Books

Whether you like reading them, looking in them, or enjoy basking in the knowledge that they contain so many amazing worlds and ideas. It's hard to deny that books are more magical compared to an iPad or kindle when you see such a cute short like this one!

Books Read in 2011

For me slow and steady wins. That's how I read, slow and steady.

Here is a list of books I read in 2011 (according to my Readernaut account).
It's pretty clear that 2011 was a hard year work wise. I was learning how to deal with issues regarding my job, how I'd pay for life now and in the future. Not to mention discovering more about the Lord and where He was in all this and how He was (and did) help me through all this.
The book titles link to Amazon and authors names link to author website.

• When It Pours, He Reigns; Overcoming Life's Storms - Holly Wagner
• The Happy Intercessor - Beni Johnson
• Beginner's Guide to Wealth - James Whittaker, Noel Whittaker
• Managing Your Career (Lessons Learned) - Fifty Lessons

Do you remember what you read in 2011?

Sketchbook Project

Sketchbook Project time!
Last time I joined the fun but the difference is that this year I WILL be posting my sketchbook back to the Brooklyn people.

This year they will be bring exhibiting the project here in Melbourne, which does make a huge difference to my level of motivation.

Delia and Franklin joined the fun last time round but as they are preparing for the arrival of a little chilli (so happy!) this year AshLee has decided to join me for the fun.

Actually sitting down and sketching has been difficult - it's not part of my every day life - but I'm trying. I'm letting you know that what I sketch isn't going to be anything fancy, it's just to keep me sketching and practicing. I'll throw a couple pics of what I draw up here later for you to see; just as long as there is no judgement of my lack of skill.

So with less that three weeks to fill my sketchbook - it's time for me to get back to it!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend :)

Day by day

At the end of last year I started praying about what 2012 would hold. About where God would lead me. To my astonishment and later dread, he told me I would be taking it a day at a time.
When speaking to friends it seemed evident that I should be journaling more this year too.

For those of you that don't know me very well, I plan everything! From the people I feel God asking me to pray for to the major achievements I want to make in a year. In fact last year (2011) was my year of planning, everything was planned out at the start of the year, right down to what I would do each day of the year. I had taken planning to a whole new level but I loved it!  

On the other hand, it's clear that God didn't love all my planning as much as I did. It's clear now that with all my planning going on there was no room for God to unfold his plans in areas where I already had my planning done.

So far living without a plan has been hard! 

Remembering to pray every morning that it's His day to do with what He likes is a challenge. But more than that it's trusting him on a day to day level for all the small little things. 

Trusting in Him when I meet up with friends that we'll have a great time and have heaps to talk about, instead of already knowing things we could talk about before hand. Because there are few people that I just 'click' with, and even fewer that I can happily sit with and not speak to I learnt a long time ago to have an idea of what to talk to a friend about. 

Trusting in Him to have a plan for my weekends instead of planning what to do with friends and family weeks in advance.   

Yup. God is stirring me up! His probably even lovingly laughing at me as I stumble around completely out of my comfort zone and relying on him. You can't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humour, I know he does. At the end of this year I'm sure I'll be laughing at me too!

Welcome!

Welcome to 2012!

Quick prayer
Lord this new years is yours; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen.