Patience, Practice & Focus

I am forever checking my attidtude and goals each and every day. If they are not clear (written down) or important, they are really not going to happen (we have all heard this time and time again). I have been working on a little activity, "My Ideal Life" - writing down exactly how my life is if I had absolute control, which I do :) It looks pretty darn good! My biggest challenge is actually visualizing it every single day, making time for this activity. I know the more you visualize, the more you create...

Another Twitter contact made a good point today, there are only 21 days until the new year - old habits can be broken and new habits can be formed in 21 days of diligent practice and focus. That is my goal and my focus this holiday season, along with the usual festive cheer!

Being a visual person, I need to have reminders written down, posters on the wall (my dream board) and then and only then - do I focus on such things. That is, until it becomes habitual. Well, up goes another reminder (I think I'll make it more of a coutdown!) - for the next 21 days, visualizing my "ideal" life and how it feels, looks, smells, tastes, etc. Sounds inviting!

Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year!

Bring on 2010 - I AM READY!!

A Little First Step!

Asha took a little step today for the first time! How exciting! The best part was that my parents via Skype were there to "witness" it! I know it meant a lot to them to see their baby's baby reaching a milestone!

Getting Ready...

Up She Goes...

And Down She Goes!

Although she took a baby step, Miss Asha is still working diligently on standing up and staying up. It is truly amazing how each day these little people get stronger and stronger at what they are learning! One thing I know for sure is that this daughter of mine has incredible determination, something we should all keep with us as we grow and never lose :) 
This little girl of ours is such a blessings and she amazes me everyday!

The "Silly Season" Is Here!

I am doing my best to get into the Christmas spirit this year - usually this in no challenge for me (we're talking tree up and house decorated early November!). I suppose this year I haven't been reminded of the season as I am still getting used to living in a hot country during this time of year! Something about wearing shorts and flip-flops while Christmas shopping doesn't seem to register with me! I am not complaining, last year my family came here to Perth for Christmas (and a wedding and to meet their newest family member!) so it felt more Christmasy...

I am getting into the spirit for my daughter! My hubby Troy knows it means a lot to me to keep on with some of the same traditions I had growing up. I put my tree up the other day and we had to put it up high so miss Asha won't completely have her way with it! So far she has touched the branches a little, but for the most part she doesn't seem to care that it is there! But I am sure when I cantually decorate it with shiny balls she will think differently!

Australian Christmas seems to comprise of bbq's, pool party's, bbq's, cold on in hand and seafood - what, no turkey? I may try roasting a small bird on Christmas Eve as it is usually in the mid to high 30's on Christmas day! Imagine a hot oven just adding to the temperature of the already smokin' hot house! I may combine CAN & AUS - bbq the turkey! I will be starting my baking this weekend as I have all kinds of little events planned and always love to share my Christmas treats with friends :)

A New and Exciting Venture!

I am so proud to say I have recently become the Area Coordinator for The Heart Link Network - all I can say is YES to connecting with other women in my community, YES to helping others to grow the business they love and YES to putting myself out there (way out of my comfort zone!) - and I might insert here that it has not been that bad at all, not nearly as scary as I thought it would be!!

I am holding monthly meetings in my home (complete with dinner, dessert and lots of fun female bonding time!). We get together to meet, share, learn and connect! FANTASTIC! I could not be happier to have found this amazing network that is purely based on what women do best - networking with heart!

After attending a networking event a while back that made me more nervous than the first day of highschool (and my goodness that was nerve racking!), I had to race through with 30 seconds on the clock to let everyone know what I was passionate about - are you kdding me? It was so difficult and felt so rushed. I thought there has got to be a better way to do this! Funny how when you put these things out into the universe amazing things happen... Enter a conference call that mentioned the HLN and so I investigated and thanks goodness I did as I found we have nothing quite like this here in Perth so I immediately signed up! And I am so glad I did! My first event was Nov 18th and with 10 (including me) in attendance, it was so wonderful! Amazing connections were made and will continue to blossom! I am so happy to be taking on the role of helping women connect and grow professionally and personally, myself included in the personally growing part :) YES to serving others!!

Another Long Pause Between Entries :)

It has been a while! I have told myself time and time again to make blogging more of a habit - something that must be done frequently in order to be come part of my routine :) I'm working on it...

My priority lies upon being Asha's mum, the most important job of all! She has just turned 1 earlier in the month (Nov 2nd) - WOW how the year has flown by! And not that it hasn't been uneventful, never a dull moment with my precious angel.

Some other things I am working on mastering are setting my goals, really determining my "why" and making every moment count. Some mornings I awake and do not want to wake (tired!) - however I quickly remind myself how blessed I am to be where I am and in the company I am in (Troy & Asha). Even after a long night nursing my daughter or comforting her with that new tooth coming in, I put that all behind me and move forward - another day, another opportunity to be happy and spread happy-ness :) After all, my daughter is one happy child and has no time in her busy little day for clouds...

I am not sure how much sense this blog post really makes, however, I am feeling very contemplative at the moment. Life is what I decide to make of it, so I decide to make it FANTASTIC!

Attached below are some pictures of Miss Asha at her birthday party down by the river, such a fun day with family and friends (not including Canadian family, there in spirit!)

Here is a picture of my attempt at a 1st Birthday cake - not so pretty, but actually quite nice on the palate :) I made a vegan cake with beetroot icing for Asha, yummy and moist!! And a very naughty chocolate cake with a choc-coffee icing, PURE SIN!!!

Anyways, life is GOOD, life is GREAT! I am ever thankful for all of the many blessings in my life and everyday as I send out happiness and positive vibes - I feel the wave of joy returning back! I am trying hard to not use the words "I", "mine", "me", etc. as I (oops!) am reading Eckhart Tolle's "New Earth" and working on defeating the ego that is inside - I know awareness is the first step and I am AWARE!!

How precious is that little face? I am sure all Mum's will say the exact thing! I am so proud to be Asha's mama :)

Life is Good, Life is Grand, But What About Social Networking...

I love blogging and I seriously don't allow myself enough time to do it! Okay note to self: when baby sleeps, mama blogs, gets connected, checks email, works, sends her daily cards, laundry, cooking, cleaning, yoga - wow, I AM a jack-of-all-trades :) But I am not complaining! I am grateful for all of the many blessings I have around me, my husband and daughter first and foremost!

"Whatcha cooking mama?"

I have just added another social networking tool to my belt - Twitter! How fun! I held back for a while but am having lots of fun connecting with all kinds of different people on there. Follow me on twitter.com/jennmrankin if you feel so inclined!

Social Networking is a wonderful thing, however it can be really easy to get caught up in it all and never pick up the phone or connect through more personal ways (ie. sending a heartfelt greeting card to someones doorstep!). My life has been changed and become even more abundant since I started sending cards to those that are in my life and those that come into my life. Amazing stories are being created every day! Wow life is good!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the different ways we can reach out to people - but when it comes down to it, nothing beats something a little more personal!

Off to yoga and feed my wee babe (well not so wee, she is almost 11 months!)

Asha and her mama checking out the chickens at a vineyard down south!

Swinging, swinging, swinging!

How sweet is Asha's hair?

Life With Asha :)

My sweet, precious daughter Asha Rafel entered the literal world on November 2/08 - what a gem she is! There has never been a dull moment since she joined our family. Now at 9 months old, Asha is crawling (more commando style but working very hard to get up onto her knees!), eating all different types of food, napping, playing, watching her Your Baby Can Read! DVD. And let me tell you - I have never seen anything that will actually hold a 9 month olds attention span like this - 22 whole minutes! Fantastic program and she literally lights up when it begins :) It is not about creating a brain child or anything, just making sure she gets the best start possible with learning to read and recognise new words!

The picture to the right is of Asha's very first plane ride! Of course just for a laugh, Troy had to put Asha in the overhead compartment to give everyone a laugh... and a good photo op! On my birthday this past June, we flew over east to Melbourne for a week holiday. We had such a blast and Asha was a real pleasure to travel with, she adjusted well and the airplane trips went surprisingly well - I guess we always think (and prepare ourselves) for the worst and are completely shocked when the opposite happens!

Have a look at all of the yummy pastries! Melbourne was a serious pastry binge, love 'em :) I have been working so hard and have had great success shedding all of my baby weight (and then some), so I deserved it and fully enjoyed! Lots of great food and sights in Melbourne.

Out one evening somewhere in the streets of Melbourne, just love this picture of my two favorite people! See the resemblance?

Now when we got home we seriously charged into the solid food thing - well not forcing it or anything, but offering several times a day and letting Asha feed herself, with lots of help from my Mum while she was here in the month of July :) She is getting there, but she is a breastfed baby through and through! I am amazed at how quickly it does start to come together - she loves avocados, beets, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, bananas the best!


Some days, ecspecially at the start of all of this food business, I just thought "Oh it's just too hard! SO much easier to pop her on the breast!" But the day will soon come when she is eating pretty much everything we are eating, just live in the moment and enjoy I remind myself often!