"That looks delicious!"

That's what Mr Samoa said last night when I put his dinner in front of him. I couldn't help but chuckle. I mean it WAS delicious looking (thanks Sophie Gray and her Destitute Gourmet cookbook for the Bean and Sausage Cassoulet recipe), but it so wasn't something Mr Samoa would usually say. He never uses the word "delicious".

Don't get me wrong, he does appreciate my cooking but he'll eat pretty much whatever I put in front of him and is just as grateful for recipes like the above as he is for bacon and eggs.

Why I laughed, you see, is that Mr Samoa has been doing a course through our church called The Valiant Man teaching them all about what it means to be a man today, handling their sexuality in a godly way, and most importantly (he he) all about women and what they need. And I bet that saying a meal was "delicious" is a tip he got on the Tuesday night just gone. He's been coming home with some good stuff, I tell ya!

I'm so grateful there are courses like the above one around. And I'm looking forward to a women's conference our church is putting on in 5 weeks time. Can't wait!

I've been reading a few books on marriage lately and watching some great (free) webinars through the Parenting place. One I watched part of today was called Mums and Sons. Such treasures in it! Watch it if you can. I've put the link up. And there are other free ones to watch if you don't have sons.

I was just thinking the other day that as a parent and wife, learning about ourselves and each other is vital. I want to make it a culture in our home that we keep learning and improving in how we relate to each other. Mother to sons, husband to wife, father to sons and brother to brother. Because what's more important than the people in our life?

A moment of madness

As I pulled up to the shop where I do my fortnightly grocery shopping, I glanced down, and saw (with horror) that I was still wearing my slippers!!!

I sat there, in the car, for a moment and contemplated going home. But only for a moment. It was already 7.45pm and I was tired. So although the drive home was only 5 minutes, I chose to just go with them.

I was a bit sheepish and embarrassed to begin with and checked frequently to see if people were looking at my feet. They weren't. I guess my slippers could pass for boots after all. But who wears bright pink, slightly grubby, boots with jeans and a nice grey cardigan?

Me, I guess.

What do you think? Would you have gone home?

Hey, wait a minute! That's me!

{First of all, thanks so much for all your comments on the post before the last one.

Blogging is made great by all the lovely bloggers out there and I'm glad to be sticking around.}

Well, lookie here. It's me! In a real life magazine. Exciting!

Shows what happens when you just step out and do something you've been thinking of doing for years but for whatever reason,
(fear? insecurity? laziness?) you've held back.
I'm so glad I did and wonder now why I didn't do it sooner.
It really wasn't that hard.

Glorious space

The boys are revelling in the space and freedom and want to be outside most of the time. Can you blame them?

This in one direction...

And this in the other...

Our front yard

And loving the little community around us. The front house has four kids, one of which is Smiley's age and another boy who is 6 years old who comes over to play with Turbo. And the house next door has a five year old boy who also plays with Turbo sometimes.

So awesome when there is trust and goodwill between neighbours. They freely let their children come over to play and the offer is there for us to do the same. Turbo's a little young to just wander over like they do, and I've yet to get around to taking him over but the offer is there. 

 Once again I'm amazed at how well God looks after us.

Feeling: grateful



I'm back!

LOVING our new house! O, the space! Glorious space!

At first I felt a little odd. We seemed to all rattle around in the big rooms and living space. I found myself missing our little unit, missing the warmth and familiarity. 

Was I crazy? No, just human. Funny how we would rather stick with what we know sometimes than move into something bigger and better .

But o, how quickly we adjusted! It's almost 2 weeks later and I feel right at home. The space has not only increased physically, but I feel it's opening up more for us in other ways. My thinking for one. The old season is most definitely behind us and I'm excited about the future.

I have something to admit though:

I didn't miss blogging

one bit in the almost 2 weeks that I've been gone.

{GASPS from all of you}

Before the move, there were a few days where I contemplated ending my blog, or at least having a holiday from it.

Not from YOU, of course, I still love reading blogs. But somehow all the OTHER blogging stuff has taken over, and made me feel pressured to post often and write something amazing. So that made me want to avoid my blog altogether.

Do you know what I mean?

The OTHER blogging stuff...like how many followers you have, or what to do to get more followers. And how many times a week you "should" post. Or how your blog should look. And how you should be commenting on this many blogs. It's all over the blogisphere!

I just don't have time for any of that stuff. And don't actually care that I don't have time. I just want to be free to write whatever is on my mind, which is why I started blogging in the beginning. So my blog may not be the most "successful" blog on the block, but it's mine. And I think a successful blog is one that the author of the blog is happy with.

My awesome sister, N, encouraged me not to stop because I do love writing and the more you do, the better you get.

So I did end up having a little holiday, due to our internet provider's incompetence. And so I want to come back fresh, leaving all that other stuff (I can think of stronger words than that ha ha) behind. Actually I wanted to start a new blog all together, but lack the time to actually do a header and set it up!

Has anyone felt/Does anyone else feel pressured by these things?

Have you wanted to stop blogging because of it?