Things I Love Thursday

Well, this was meant to be my Living Below the Line week. I even went shopping with D and we bought just under $20 worth of food for the both of us. I was looking at the battery-hen eggs, thinking about how on top of everything else, how much it would suck if you were that poor and had to make inethical choices about what to eat. I decided not to get the eggs because the idea of it made me sick to my stomach.

It wasn't just the idea of inethical, chicken hating eggs. I don't know what it was, but I ended up having two days off work and still am feeling a bit off. I tried on the Monday to stick to just porridge with hot water, but alas....that is not appetising at the best of times, and when you can barely sit upright even less so. So I decided to put the challenge off for a week and do it next week. I already know that it is hard - some of the choices that you have to make over taste, nutrition, bulk (ie things that will fill you up the longest for the least amount of money) are hard to do. It's so easy to just spend $3 without thinking about it, and that's more than some people's daily wage. Crazy times.

However, it is Thursday and that is Things I Love Thursday day! As per the lovely Ms Gala, I love the idea of a day of gratitude. I have a little gratitude notebook and write in it as often as a can, which generally means whenever I get a seat on the train or tram (which normally ends up being one of the entries)

So, without further ado:

Things I Love Thursday

• Feeling less like dying after being sick all week. Hooray!
• My little black ball of fluff, otherwise known as my kitty :)
• Reading Life is So Good. I saw a girl on the train reading it the other day and was intrigued. Then I saw it at my local op-shop (which is now open Sundays - SCORE!). It's still early on but I'm enjoying it immensely
• New runners. Soon I'll even be able to train for my half marathon again!
• This sign - it is exactly the kind of sign I would do. I think I even thought about creating something like it during my last major run! This means that someone is thinking the same as me! Spooky ;)
• Getting flowers from an organisation I did minutes for last week. It was a really nice gesture.
• Just how fucking lucky I am. Seriously, things could be a lot worse. Life is pretty sweet.

Sydney

I just got back from a long weekend in Sydney, which was awesome. The weather was perfect - blue skys and 22 degrees, a far cry from my beloved Melbourne, which was about...oh 14 degrees.

I've been to Sydney before and had a great time, but I never fell in love with the place. It's kind of like the beautiful friend who you love to party with but doesn't really have much depth. This time I saw more of Sydney's depth, and I liked it a bit more. But coming home to Melbourne was great. Melbs may not be as visually stunning as Sydney, but it's like the awesome friend who just keeps on surprising you with their awesomeness.

We were there to see MM9's final show *sob* and it was a ripper. Good times were had by all, and somehow we managed to meet every Melbournian in the room I think (so much for branching out!).

Now it's back to work and normal life. Currently I'm trying to wean myself off coffee in time for the live Below the Line Challenge next week. I caved and bought a coffee at 11am... This challenge will be harder than I thought! But I'm looking forward to it.

Now, on to some goodness! Things that are making me smile at the moment:

• My wonderful fiance - he's the best
• My new office with a view of some trees still with their Autumn leaves
• Free music that can be downloaded to my phone - fark yeah! 
• My friend who FINALLY quit her soul destroying job! Woohoo! 
• Opportunities - there is so much potential in the world, and this is awesome. 

Sydney from the ferry

Thank you, universe!

Sometimes I realise that yes, the universe is awesome and is looking after me. One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to help make an effort to connect to my spirituality again, which has been lacking of late. And on my lunchtime walk to get some headphones for my run tonight, I spotted a sign in a store window which said 'Free Meditation', Thursday nights.

*high fives universe*

Beginnings

After creating a blog, posting once and then having some gremlins make it disappear (I think), here we are again!

Why am I creating a blog? Well, there are many reasons. One is that I am a blog whore and could quite happily read blogs all day - reading about new people, new styles, new ways of thinking, new places. It's pretty sweet. Also though, I want to create a blog that shows my journey. I am not perfect. I often take for granted the amazing things that I have in my life. I am not always where I want to be, or who I want to be. So let's change that.

This blog is the public account of my journey. My journey to becoming who I want to be. The journey of Radical Self Love, ala Ms Gala. The journey of not feeling scared or intimidated by life. The journey of making my life, and ideally the life of others, a little bit more awesome and beautiful.

I have grand plans of challenges I want to set myself and projects I want to do. Let's try doing something different and make it public and accountable. Of course, I gotta figure out what some of these challenges are though :-p But you know, baby steps.

Come join me under the ranga tree.