Words To Live By....

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short - enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19.. It's never too late to be happy. But it's all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy clothes. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Task #14 - Visit Namibia

It's been a while since I could check something off my bucket list but I finally managed! My parents and I visited Namibia this July! We did a driving tour for 2 weeks working our way from Fish River Canyon all the way around to Windhoek. We had an amazing time! We had multiple run-ins with baboons, an ostrich ran into our car, and we found a dead gemsbok (oryx - see pics below)! It was an awesome trip and we met so many friendly people along the way. It is a beautiful country with gorgeous landscape! Make sure you put this one on your bucket list!

This is the dead gemsbok!

Fish River!

Fish River Canyon

Sossusvlei

Sossusvlei

Cape Cross

Vingerklip

Vingerklip

Wild Dogs

Etosha

Etosha

Etosha

Etosha

During the two weeks, we had to change tyres, three times, and one of those times we were in the middle of the safari/game park! Exactly 100m from where we had previously seen a male lion!

We had an amazing trip - Namibia is truly a special one-of-a-kind country!

These are the places we stayed at if you are keen to visit:

Canon Lodge - Fish River

A Little Sossus Lodge - Sossusvlei

Meike's Guesthouse - Swakopmund

Twyfelfontein Country Lodge - Damaraland

Vingerklip Lodge - Damaraland

Okaukuejo Resort - Etosha

Waterberg Plateau Lodge - Waterberg

Hotel Safari - Windhoek

Task #13 - Spend New Years Eve in Sydney

It sounds weird, doesn't it? I am Australian so why have I never seen the Sydney NYE Fireworks in person? Who knows, but this year I put my foot down and thought that 2013 should start properly - which in my mind is; a glass of champagne, camera in hand, looking over the entire Sydney Harbour and City counting down to midnight.

Sydney definitely knows how to begin a New Year! There were the preliminary fireworks for the kids at 9pm and then the important ones at midnight! It was a terrific place to be and the fireworks were great. Some of them were being let off from the tops of buildings, the harbour bridge, and barges along the river.

The theme this year was "embrace" and the key colours of the fireworks were yellow, red, and crimson. It was fun and most definitely a good way to start 2013 off! Let's hope the rest of the year is just as awesome! Happy New Year to everyone!

Task #12 - Be Published

I, honestly thought this one would NEVER happen! Or at least not now! I study interior design and my only real chance of ever being published was if I wrote a book for fun, on the side, or if I eventual ended up writing for an interior design magazine.

Yesterday, my first article was published in an English Property/Design magazine that is distributed throughout all of Spain & the Islands. Such a surreal feeling! For this article I was asked to write about a local interior design company called UDesign- who create some very innovative furnitures and interior spaces for their clients.

Now this one has been published and I'm working on the next one is an 8 page spread where I get to do the layout as well. It's very exciting!

To see the magazine online follow this link, the article is on page 50: 
http://issuu.com/sunsearchmedia/docs/perfect_homes_2_edition_lowresfor_web

Task #11 - Visit Ireland

I've always been fascinated with the thought of Ireland. A different country to visit, with a lot of culture and history, and even more beer! In my mind it is the land of green pastures, leprechauns, Guinness, & pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I traveled to Dublin this weekend to see if any of that was true. It was amazing! The Irish celebrate Christmas in the most amazing way and Dublin is such a vibrant, historical city. There was Christmas lights on every corner and so many people dress up in some very ridiculous costumes to celebrate this festive time of year! I saw this one girl who had spiked her hair up into a cone, spray painted it green and then covered it in tinsel & lights - it was awesome!

Basically my time in Dublin was spent walking, being in awe of the amount of shops they have there, looking at the Christmas lights, and also drinking Guinness! It is a beautiful city, although a tad chilly, but it is filled with surprises on every turn.

I wish I could've spent more time there exploring the countryside. I caught a glimpse of it when flying in and out of Dublin and it is very green so it lived up to my expectations! :)

Next time I go back, I'll be on the hunt for a leprechaun and that pot of gold!

Task #10 - Swim With Sharks

This task, I thought, was never going to get accomplished because my mother would never allow me to dive with a predator around. However, this time she willingly allowed me to do so as it was in a controlled environment :)

So, on a recent trip down to Cape Town I went diving in the Aquarium with five ragged-tooth sharks, also known as gray nurse sharks. There has never been any fatal attacks on humans from these sharks, but there have been attacks.... I went into the tank with only the dive master and got to spend 30 minutes with the sharks, as well as stingrays, turtles, and a whole bunch of fish! It was awesome!

The dive master allowed the sharks to come super close to me, I think at one point, one shark was only 15cm away from my head. It was a little bit nerve-wracking but it was such an amazing experience......

I'm so excited I managed to get this one checked off my bucket list, and so far it has been my favourite experience..... <3

Task #9 - Go On A Road Trip

Hey Bloggers! I'm sorry I haven't been posting things in a while, been a tad busy. But one of my latest ventures that I can remove from my bucket list is to go on a road trip!

My boyfriend and I decided to go and check out the Drakensberg region of South Africa. It's about halfway between Johannesburg and Durban and it's a massive mountain range. So it's ideal for outdoor people! :)

We decided to spend five days there and stay in different places along the way so we could see and experience as much as possible! Our plan was to stay at the Amphitheatre (cool mountain lodge place) the first night, then move down to Champagne Valley, and finally end up in Mooi River!

The plan did work, for the most part - it decided to snow! Normally the snowy week happens in July, but of course this year it decided to happen in August. ALL of the highways were closed once we got to our checkpoint at Harrismith.... Including the important main highways from Joburg to Durban.... It was crazy. We quickly booked ourselves into an inn in Harrismith and then made plans with our other accomodation to scoot everything back by a day. So it was a great start! But still, it was awesome, especially to see SNOW in AFRICA!!!! :)

The next morning we woke up to find that most of the roads were still closed but we managed to take back routes to the Amphitheatre! We spent a freezing night up in the mountains, but it was beautiful! :) Looked so much like the Alps! The following morning we decided to go on a hike up the Amphitheatre, because of the snow the hiking trail wasn't cleared properly, so we were literally walking in each others footprints on the edge of a very high mountain!!! I was scared, I won't lie!

After surviving we made our way through Champagne Valley and then finally reached Mooi River. We stayed at this beautiful lodge where the rooms are actually individual treehouses! :) Upon arriving, we were told that because of the 1m of snow, there was no electricity or water.... we had food and candles, so it was a fun night, consisting of candlelit dinner and flashlight billards :) But it was beautiful, our treehouse had an unobstructed view of the Drakensberg and it was magnificent....

 
Needless to say, it wasn't the trip we were expecting with a few issues and delays, but it was so worth it. The Drakensberg looks so much better with snow!!!!