Monthly Archives: June 2015

I Can’t Do Everything

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It turns out I can’t do everything… I have to pick… This is something my dad has been telling me for a while, but this week I think it has started to sink in… And it hurts a little.

There is not enough time or money to do and have it all… And even if I did some how fulfill my secret dream of becoming a superstar… I couldn’t ‘have it all’ then either, I would lose things like privacy and the ability to live a quiet life.  Life is all about choices, which is a little annoying as I am chronically bad at making decisions.  But not making a choice is also a choice in itself… and it’s a pretty bad one.  Because while I um and ahh, time keeps ticking by and I am starting to realise if I sit here waiting for someone else to make the decision, I am not going to necessarily like their choice… or they may never make it and I will be stuck in the same place in another 4 years wondering and pondering the same things.  In fact, it’s 3 and a half years since I last had this little epiphany and blogged about it… that this is life… this is being an adult… and it’s just the way it is.

Back then I was worried about making the most of things… which it turns out, I haven’t really learnt how to do, because I am still worried about the same things.  Now, it is more of a fear of missing out.  Shutting a door on something and regretting it.   But, trying to keep juggling so many things also means that nothing gets the full me, I am always looking around for greener grass, something better, expecting that I have made the wrong choice and not really embracing everything I do have.  Which is actually a lot… I am sitting here typing this on my comfortable yet affordable Ikea couch, with a nice roof over my head… which is all mine.   It’s a pretty great life.  I have a good job, and some great part time work as well, I live in a safe area, the Sun is shining, our fridge is empty at the moment, but only because I have the luxury of doing the shopping whenever I feel like it.

I am truly blessed.

We only get one chance to do things while we are here on earth, and while there is incredible pressure to get it right… it doesn’t have to be perfect… in fact many wiser people than I, tell me that the harder bits, the difficult roads, make the good bits even sweeter, and they are actually a really important part of the adventure.  I need to learn to accept the things I cannot have, and own the things that I actually don’t want, even if everyone else is doing it.  It is ok for me to not want the same things.  But I do need to think about what I do want, what is important and how I can work towards it.  Or how I can make it happen.  Because now that I am an adult, no one is going to do it for me.  If I want it… I need to go for it, sitting back and waiting is futile.

My Friend Pinterest Helped Me

Posted in Life, The List by

I have never thought of my self as creative or crafty,  it’s always been my mum’s gig… or one of my friends many talents, but since we moved into our own place (which is just over a year now… crazy!)  I have been trying my hand at some homemade goodies.  I think it’s happened because I have looked at a lot of things I have wanted for our house and thought to myself, ‘Gee that’s expensive, surely it wouldn’t be that hard to make, I could probably do that myself’.  So in a spirit of thriftiness I have had a crack, and while they probably aren’t designer quality I think they have turned out pretty well… and I am pretty please with myself.

Here is a list of my DIY crafts and what I used to make them and because I can’t think of the actual word for this group of needed items I am going to call them ingredients….

1. Coasters:

Coasters_FotorIngredients:

  • Bathroom tiles (just little ones about 10cm x 10cm)
  • Some fun printed paper
  • Medium glossy varnish (you can use Mod Podge as well – I just couldn’t find any at the time)
  • a paint brush
  • round stick on felt for the bottom
  • plastic cups for the coasters to sit on while they dry
  • free time

2. Personalised front door mat

Doormat_Fotor
Ingredients:

  • Plain door mat from good old Bunnings or Masters
  • Spray paint of choice (I just used black)
  • Cut out of letters – I printed mine off in a fun font and then cut them out using my trusty Stanly knife.

3. Door Stop

Doorstop_Fotor
Ingredients:

  • Cotton material (enough for 4 x triangle, a square and a rectangle to make your tassel top)
  • Ruler and pens
  • Sewing machine (and if you are a newbie like me, some lessons on said sewing machine from someone wiser and more experienced… like my mum… thanks mum!)
  • Iron
  • Scissors
  • Rice to fill

4. Family Photo Wall

Photowall_Fotor
Ingredients:

  • Frames ranging in size
  • selected photos of family members
  • paper cut to the size of the frames so you can play with the design before hanging the frames
  • post-its with names/photo descriptors, so once you are happy with the frame design you can move people around with out having to start from scratch.

So there you go… not bad, even if I say so myself.  Now, I must give credit where credit is due… and even though I would have liked to have done these all from scratch… I didn’t.  These were all done with my good friend Pinterest… which is a wonderful time sapping internet beast!  Sometimes it was just for the idea, sometimes for instructions, and sometimes for the whole process from where to source items and what to do with them once I had them in my possession.  Oh and the doorstop wouldn’t have happened without mum… she got me the sewing machine for my birthday and set me up with a quick lesson… I did the rest.  But not bad for a non-crafty or creative frugal home owner.

It has definitely encouraged me to keep being tight and do something myself… although I am sure the limit of my skills is not far off… but here’s to a few more home projects before I find it.