Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 26

So here I am in Toronto having a lovely time with my little family and the fabulous Lisa over at Motherhood or Madness has very kindly offered to guest post on my Pearls of Wisdom today and is talking about something that has become very close to my heart....

“This day I will marry my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love”  - Anon


I met him as a waitress at a cocktail bar..... Well not exactly.

I met him at a pub in Edinburgh, I started a wee part time job, he already worked there.

He made me laugh, he had a look in his eye that made me want to find out more.

I did ;-)

We starting hanging out and within a couple of months I had moved in, that was 16 years ago.

We absolutely loved being with each other right from the beginning.

I knew I had met the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, my soulmate.

We had been together 9 years when we decided to get married and start a family. My wedding day was so wonderful for many reasons but what made it so special for me was not only was I marrying a wonderful man I also marrying my best friend.

I mean, this guy knows everything about me and still wanted to get married, haha, he's either nuts or loves me! Maybe a bit of both.

The thing about marrying your best friend is your love is strong on so many levels, it gives you time, patience and an understanding of each others good and bad points, a deep deep set love for one another, which is the most wonderful building blocks to start a marriage on.  I know I'll be with him my whole life, I've known it from the beginning!

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 25

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- Lord Chesterfield

Forget what you have always known, try some thing new! When ever the chips are down this philosophy always see me through, if I can't see a way out of my slump or need a positive change to happen I forget what I have always know and let new horizons find me!

Familiarity feels safe, it's comforting but it can keep you stagnant and stuck on a loop, if your waiting for some new and fresh to embrace your life, make it happen, change it yourself - wear a new colour or style, change your hair cut! Take a different route to work, eat in a new restaurant. Try an alternative holiday destination, if you do city breaks then go Skiing instead, you get the picture!
You could even go for the bold a dramatic, change your career, move to a new house, dump that boyfriend who you know is holding you back from your fabulous future and what you really want, be brave and courageous, let yourself travel into the unknown, just imagine the adventures that could unfold?

Getting to Know you Meme...

I have actually been tagged twice this week for this meme by two yummy mummies who I have had the pleasure of reading their awesome blogs at Twins, Tiaras and Tantrums and Mischief, Mayhem and Motherhood go check out their blogs for yourself!

So now to the meme

Here are the rules:
Post 5 random facts about yourself
Choose 5 other deserving blogs with less than 200 subscribers to nominate and link their blogs in your post
Tell your nominees you have chosen them for this award by leaving a comment on their blogs - have done this via Twitter
Answer the 5 questions the tagger has asked you and ask your own 5 questions to the people you nominate - I am just going to ask the same questions I answered as they are good ones!
No tag backs


So five different random facts about me:
1. I used to live next door to Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit when they were together - that was interesting!

2. I went to Film School when I was younger, qualified and have never done anything with that! Maybe on a parallel universe?

3. I didn't own my first car until I was 30yo - 5 years after I passed my test!

4. I used to live and teach in Italy in my 20's and lived in Canada too!

5. I don't have a middle name - which I always thought was weird when at school!

Now to answer the questions:
1. Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Hopefully in Canada, with my OH and lots of children and running my own business! I'm not sure how that will all happen yet though! Next year we are starting the immigration process to Canada which is going to be very exciting! As for lots of children well I have my beautiful 2yo daughter who I am very blessed to be a mummy to, unfortunately though I now suffer with secondary infertility so I don't know realistically how many more children are in my future we'll just have to wait and see! And my own business? Well I have hundreds of ideas I just need one to be a winner!

Our little family in Canada last year for Halloween

2. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be something different every week, I can remember wanting to be a police officer, lawyer, fashion designer and film director! The one thing I always wanted though for as long as I can remember was to be a mum!

3. What's your favourite alcoholic drink?
I like them all, I'm not fussy! In fact for me it would be which one I don't like which is Cider I can't really stomach that and tequila - had a bad experience at 18! Mostly I drink white wine though!

4. How long have you been blogging for and why did you start?
I started in January this year, I had been thinking about it for a few months and it took me gases to really get it going, I'm having a bit of lull at the moment but have lots going in my life, I am hopping to get it going again soon. I started it as a hobby really, for a while I didn't really know what direction it was going in or what sort of blogger I wanted to be but now I have a more clear direction.

5. Do you still live where you grew up or have you moved to a new location?
Well no, I moved about loads as a child and as an adult I have lived half way round the world and back! At the moment I am in Somerset, this is where my OH is from so I have settled here for now but as I mentioned previously Canada is calling....

My five nominees are:

Mascara and Mud
It started with a squish
But why mummy why
A girls imagination
I want does not get

Look forward to reading your answers ladies!

Do you have a plan?

I never used to, the OH and I always clash because he is Mr Organised with lists, maps and emergency plans B,C and D! I have always been officially known as Miss fly by the seat of her pants, causally wandering through every chore, task and event in life with a "oh well, it'll get figured out" attitude! But recently I have been looking around and wondering, why aren't I satisfied, why can't I mange to stay on top, get things done, really achieve what I want?

The OH describes me and my way of getting through my day as random! Normally I would just ignore his silly musings but this one struck a chord and left me wondering why this was and what could I do about it? So after admitting that he had a point and wanting to get more out of not just my day, but what I was trying to achieve generally with my life I started look in to this problem and do you know what I found? Successful people who achieve and are satisfied with their lot in life are organised, they actually plan!

So with this in mind I have set about doing something different with my daily "routine" and made a positive change. Now this is no easy task, as adults we have all this learnt behavior and changing our attitudes and habits is tough, it takes energy and commitment and being open minded enough to admit that what you are doing can be done differently and better. But looking at what I wanted to achieve and what my goals for the future are, what I was doing just didn't work.

Over the last couple of weeks or so I have read a few things have helped me a long the way - an article about a busy and dynamic woman who runs her own business and has children, she makes lists, creates spreadsheets and organises her tasks all to keep her home and family life running smoothly. I have also read about other women carrying around notebooks in their bags to write down ideas and things they want to get accomplished, so simple! I used to work for a busy doctor who had shifts all over the place but her family always had a great home cooked meal because very week she planned out a menu, stuck it on the fridge, bought everything she needed in one go! Again so simple and easy!

I for one can get easily distracted and some times wonder from my well intentioned planning or to do list (see being random!) I recently read a blog page about achieving your goals which suggests that instead focusing on the long term goal, get stuck in on how you will get there, for example every week I want to empty my ironing basket, yes I am one of those stupid people who likes to iron clothes, but sometimes I look at the pile and can't be bothered or I get up and think right I'll get it all done today, but things get busy and I can't find the time. So instead I now pledge to myself that I will just make sure LC's stuff gets done or I will find just half an hour and that way something gets done!

My friend gave me a good idea too, she always changes her sheets and shaves her legs on a Sunday, it's now become a habit of mine too, it always gets done! I find dedicating certain time slots really works too, for example Wednesdays I am home alone so I always use that day to recycle, do paper work and clear out the clutter! There are loads of other new ideas I have adopted and I really am committing to forming some new habits because planning, making lists and staying organised is really working out for me, even just by making small changes I feel more in control and that makes me feel great, in fact I am even making a packing list for our holiday, see I am a changed woman!

I use a Chalk Board to keep me organized!

Here are some handy tools and resources to help you on your way to organised greatness!

Fun and cute To Do note pads
http://www.thepresentseason.co.uk/to-do-notes-notepad---with-2-tear-off-pads-1151-p.asp
http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty/NOTEPADS/To-Do-List-Notepad/69188
http://www.johnlewis.com/231541512/Product.aspx

Downloadable and print off To Do lists
http://www.printabletodolist.com
http://www.mommytracked.com/downloads

To Do/Get Organized Apps
http://www.toodledo.com
http://evernote.com (My personal Favorite!)

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 24

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

We are stronger together!

A couple of weeks ago we had a rough week, something we thought would happen didn't, it was pretty major in the grand scheme of our little family and what we are hoping for our future and it just fell flat on it's face, well for now it is anyway. To say we were disappointed and felt let down was an understatement and I myself shed a few tears but after talking to a few family members and close friends I started to feel brighter and more positive about it all. A couple of days later OH and I had a good chat about the situation and as usual his spirit and determination held me up and kept me going and is continuing to keep me going, and that is why I keep him around because when I'm feeling weak he goes deep and find the strength for both of us!

I have continue to dwell a little on the something that never happened quite a bit and I am still so angry with how we have been treated and how someone else actions can have such an impact on someones life with no care or thought to what that may be, I don't feel like I'm being treated as a person but more a statistic or number and a little part of me really wants to just give up on this, but, I know that the best things in life come from hard work and persistence and not giving up so I'm giving you two lots of wisdom for the price of one today in hope that we can all find the strength to keep going for our dreams!

Did you ever have a something you hoped would happen and it didn't? Did you give up or keep chasing that dream? What gave you the strength to defy what life threw at you and keep going?

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt