.What I Want: Relationships.

September was my month to figure out who I wanted to be, October I worked on getting healthy and November is going to be all about working on relationships. I even have my playlist ready for the month with a friendship theme!

What I Want...Relationships:

• To be an engaged and active member of the community
• To continuously nurture and grow the relationships I have
• To be someone that is trusted and relied on
• For my love never to be doubted or questioned
• To find my "tribe"
• To be open to new experiences and new people
• To control my anger and not push others away
• To feel 100% comfortable with myself and with others
• To give love so deeply that it hurts at times
• To be vulnerable

My gansta wedding party

From the list above I am going to be focusing on: To Continuously Nurture & Grow the Friendships I Have. If you ask any of my friends you will find out that I am not the best person at keeping in contact with others. I don't call (.ever.), write emails, text..I always seem to get wrapped up in my own life and just assume my friends are also wrapped up in theirs, so I never put the effort in. But that needs to change because my friends are truly like family to me, they love me and accept me as I am...that is a HUGE thing and they deserve more love and respect from me.

I plan on doing this by:

• writing e-mails at least twice a month to say hi and check in!
• Sent surprise gifts or snail mail to let them know I have been thinking of them.
• Open myself up more/be more vulnerable with them...really tell them how I am doing and when I am struggling.
• express how I feel about our relationship and what it means to me
• build a relationship where we can challenge and hold each other accountable when needed
• be honest
• make time: friendships are as important as other relationships in my life

To be honest, I 'm really really excited about this month and working on my relationships! I know this is going to be both rewarding to me as well as the others I hope to reach out to! I will keep you updated on how things go during the month!

Does anyone else struggle with this?

How do you keep connected with friends?

FPW: Oct. 31st

Drying my clothes outside makes me happy and smile. 

.this is typical.

Work: I love being surrounded by books! 

OOW: Husband Edition

The hubs was looking extra cute this weekend (he is always cute) so when we went to take my picture for OOW, I had to turn the camera on him!

Shirt: Big W, Pants: Ralph Lauren, Shoes: Converse

After this we went out and bought him some more items for his ever growing wardrobe! I can't wait to see him wear some of the new things that he picked out today. His style has definitely changed since we first starting dating, and let me just say this is a good thing!! He is no longer the nervous boy in pleated khaki pants but is the confident man in converse.

.Aussie Signage.

Before we left for our adventure Down Under, we got this great travel book (its soo good, that we actually have two of them! ):

The book is filled with pages that have you document things that you might not have thought about while traveling. For example: there is a page that tells you to shoot photos from the hip height for the day, to purchase an ordinary kitchen item that you will use when you go home, to ask people you meet to draw you a map to a place they love in the neighborhood, etc. 

I am going to try and document some of the pages that we complete in the book, so everyone can share in the fun and adventure.  Today's entry is based on page that reads:

" Choose a particular subject matter for your trip and search for traces of it."

 

As you may have guessed our subject matter is : SIGNAGE

These are signs that have caught our eye on being a little different than the signs that we have at home in the states! Dave has named the Crosswalk signs as 'The Ska Man' and then at times proceeds to dance his way across the street. 

Stay tuned for the next entry which will be based off of writing SHOAVE on a map and discovering where our name takes us!

.Books Read This Week.

This week I finished reading three books. I told you I was becoming a lean mean reading machine while down here in Australia!

I wrapped up reading Traveling with Pomegranates on Sunday afternoon during our trip to Sydney. This book is written by Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees) and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor about their adventures traveling together while rediscovering themselves and their relationship. I really enjoyed this book because I could relate to the struggle Ann faced in trying to figure out who she was in this big world. The book made me reflect on my life and struggles as well as look forward to hopefully one day traveling with my own child. 

More info!

The second book I read this week was, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I watched the movie in 2009 after it won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture as well as Best Performance by an Actress (Kate Winslet) and was blown away. I highly recommend both reading the book and watching the movie, both are equally good and well done. The book is about the relationship of an older woman and a young boy, her past and how it affects the boy his whole life. It is an easy read, I started it on Sunday afternoon and finished it on Monday evening!

More Info!

The third book that I read was Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho. What an amazing book this is! I know that this is a book that I will keep with me and reread over and over again as I move forward in life. Veronika tries to commit suicide and ends up in a mental hospital in which she is told she only has a week to live. The book follows here through the remainder of her days, how she feels and digs deeper into her own being, and hopes to live..all while inspiring a few others in the hospital to live. This book is brilliantly written, which is to be expected from the great Paulo Coelho.

More Info!

Now I am going to start reading the last three books of the Twilight Series! Dave is not excited about this at all!! He keeps telling me that I have left him and entered the dark side. But the lady at the bookstore where I got the books said the books were for research, I agreed with her, I'm just researching what is popular within our culture. By reading Twilight I am just following my scholarly pursuits! 

Do you keep track of your books on Good Reads? I'm just starting so you can check out what books are on my reading list and what I'm currently ready, just click here!

November Mix Tape

Sometimes you just need to dance it out! Throw your head down, your arms out, and just move to the groove and the best people to do this with are your friends. This months theme is friendship and remembering all the good times I have had with my friends. This month I really want to work on reconnecting with my friends and building stronger relationships and I believe this mix will help me do just that!

1. Ready Fuels - Anberlin

2. The Call - Backstreet Boys

3. Irreplaceable - Beyonce

4. Sweet Dreams - Beyonce

5. The Curse of the Curves - Cute Is What We Aim For

6. Shake It - Metro Station

7. High of 75 - Relient K

8. Always and Forever - Good Charlotte

9. My Wish - Rascal Flat

10. All For You - Sister Hazel

11. Baby (feat. Ludacris) - Justin Beiber

12. Elephant Love Melody - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

13. Mmmbop - Hanson

14. Tick Tock - Ke$ha

15. You Got It (Right Stuff) - New Kids On the Block

16. If Today Was Your Last Day - Nickelback

17. Here It Goes Again - Ok Go

18. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage - Panic At the Disco

19. I Want You - Savage Garden

20. Taste of Ink - The Used

Even while listing the songs I did a little LOLing thinking of different memories!

Do you have any songs that remind you of a certain friend or memory? 

I would love to here about them!

 If you want to take a listen to the Mix Tape here you go:

ENJOY!

.Lucky Lady.

I am one lucky lady, if I must say so. No, I don't really ever win contests or raffles, except for my senior prom after party. It was me who got to roll out of the bowling alley with a new mini fridge for college...that was the last time I have won a contest.

But I am lucky, because I have the opportunity to live here in Newcastle, Australia. And while living here I have the opportunity to not just go to the beach, soak up the sun, meet great people, BUT I get to start changes in my life. One of these changes is getting healthier, so I have started to run again.

I am a lucky lady because this is where I get to run:

Harbor , Nobby's Head, Newcastle Beach

Nobby's Head
Source

Bar Beach
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How can I not look forward to running when I get to see this beautiful landscape while doing so?

Seeing this beautiful shots of the town I call home, makes me feel like the luckiest girl!