"Happiness Just Happened" Photo Challenge

My Personal "Happiness Just Happened" Photo Challenge for 2015

Everyday I plan to post a photo of something that made me happy! 
My daily photos will be posted on my instagram account @andreakroll,
on my blogs Facebook page, and here as a blog post at the end of each week.

I want to find something happy in every single day, as a way of Living Laughing & Loving Life! I also believe that this challenge will help support my mental health & Atypical Depression. (I was diagnosed with Atypical depression back in 2011)

Feel free to follow me on Instagram and join me with this Challenge!

Andrea xx 

#HappinessJustHappened 
#LiveLaughLovingLifeBlog
#HJHPhotoChallenge
#PhotoChallenge  

A Year in Review - 2014

I have recently been reflecting a lot on the past year .. 

My 2014 New Years Resolutions were to give up V Energy Drinks and Lose Weight but neither of these resolutions were kept to .. 

The V Resolution - which you can read about here. 

I gave it up for all of January, had about 4 in Feburary, and it increased a bit more from there .. my V intake has reduced significantly though, I now only have 2-3 per week (if any at all) compared to the 1 per day I was having! As for the owing $50 to my boss Kellie if I had a V .. well that didn't happen, as she never saw me one! 

The Weight Loss Resolution

Well this wasn't really the best resolution to begin with, as it wasn't very specific or measurable, however that is no excuse. I didn't lose any weight (starting weight 101.kgs) .. I put on more!!

Enough about what I didn't do this year ...
Look at what did happen! 

• Started My Blog!
• Completed my first walking event - 5km Colour Dash
• Joined the Gym!
• Joined Motivate Me NZ (post about that later)
• Made New Friends!
• Had a flatmate move into our spare room (taking off financial pressure).
• Resigned from my Teaching Job!!
  To start a new job very unrelated to my degree!
• Sent in application to enrol at Te Wananga o Aotearoa
• Made 126 Jane's Jewels NZ Sales!
• Got Engaged!! 

I am really looking forward to 2015 ..
I have a feeling it's going to be a great year - and a year about me!! 

2015 Goals
 

• Exercise 4 x per week
• Track ALL Food & Drink
• No Energy Drinks
• Lose 20kgs!
• Get Full Drivers License
• Stick to Budget
• 150 Jane's Jewels NZ Sales 
• Save for our Wedding!!
• $0 Balance on Credit Card - 31 Dec 2015
• Go to the Podiatrist - Get my calf muscles sorted!
• "Happiness Just Happened" Photo Challenge - See next post! 

Here's to a New Year with a New Beginning xx
Much love to you all!  

Wedding Bells

Okay maybe not wedding bells quite yet but they are now in the plans ...

That's right .. We're engaged!!! 

On the 13th of December 2014, our 5 year anniversary Grant proposed!!! 
And of course I said YES!!

We hadn't really planned to do much for our anniverasy except go out for dinner, to one of our favourite restaurants Aqaba, and then maybe to the movies. Only because it was 5 years, as we are soo not the type to celebrate every bloody month!

I made us French toast for brunch, with Bacon, Banana, Strawberries & Blueberries. 

We headed to dinner at 6pm and took our gifts with us (as per Grants request). We had the dips & spreads (Toasted pita breads with sundried tomato dip and basil pesto) for our entrée .. and ultimate BLTs for our mains (Bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, camembert, cranberry sauce and aioli on toasted focaccia), with a side of Fries & Aioli). We were going to have dessert but we were both full from dinner!

While we were waiting for our mains we exchanged gifts ..
I got Grant a Skull Case, a JB Hi-Fi gift card & filled the rest of the case with his favourite sour lollies (Toxic Waste & Warheads).

I then unwrapped my present, on the outside of a box was a printed voucher for my next tattoo, which I was very excited about! until opened the box - then I was just speechless!! The note inside the box said "I am not going to kneel and embarrass us both but I would like to know ... Will you marry me?" and of course I said yes!! 

Once we had finished our main & paid the bill, we headed to my parents house to tell them the news. Grant had told me that Dad already knew, as he had asked him! So it took the initial surprise away for them, but both my parents were very happy. Apparently Mum already knew too, she said Grant had told her, however Grant does not remember telling her. 

Dressed up for dinner!

When we left my parents, I called my brother in Australia, while Grant called his family in Australia. My brother was soo excited, he was screaming & I could hear him jumping around! Grant's family were also very excited, we could hear his twin 16 year old sister screaming, and they were at the other end of the house! I also txted my Aunty, Uncle & Cousins to tell them the news.

Once we got off the phone we decided to end our night by going to the movies.
We went and saw "The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1" - which was awesome!  

The next day I called my grandparents and my Aunty & Uncle in Australia to tell them the news, while Grant called his grandmother and his Aunty & Uncle. I then Facebook messaged and txted my closest friends to tell them the news before it would be posted on Facebook.

On Monday night, Grant changed our relationship status on Facebook and it all became "Facebook Official" - for the rest of the night our laptops and phones were beeping with notifications of likes and comments. A week later I posted a close up photo of the ring on Facebook and Instagram.

And now all those 100s of wedding pins on Pinterest can be put to use as the planning begins!  PS - if you have a wedding blog or page comment below!

Andrea xx

Topic 20 - Year 2024

I promise I haven't given up on the 31 Day (Topic) Blog Challenge!
I have just gotten side tracked with other things!! 

Topic 20 - Where I want to be in 10 years time ...

Marriage - I've been with my partner Grant almost 5 years now, so would like to think that within the next 10 years we would be married. 

Family - within the next 10 years I would love to have started our own (human) family - already have our own furry family but would love to have at least one little human added to our family too. 

Jane's Jewels NZ - I hope that during the next 10 years my little jewellery business Jane's Jewels NZ would be still going, and stronger than ever!

Health & Well-being - in 10 years time I really hope to be maintaining my goal weight (because I WILL get down to my goal weight way before then!!) and living a healthy life with a balanced diet and continuing my gym workouts and walks! 

and at last but not least simply continuing on my life journey of
Living, Laughing, Loving Life & being HAPPY!! 

Colour Dash NZ

 Participating in a Colour Run has always been on my "Bucket List" and now I can say that I have done it - I walked but I did it! Well at least a version of one - the "Colour Dash NZ" 5km, two Sundays ago on the 19th of October (yes I'm a bit late writing this post). Maybe not a big deal to some people but for me it's huge! 

The Colour Dash is a 5km fun run/walk for people of all ages, shapes and sizes with participants been splashed with special colourful dust along the way! Every Colour Dash NZ in 2014 is raising both awareness and money for Ronald McDonald House.

 

 My boss was entering a team and invited all us employees to join her. I was rather nervous about agreeing to join, as I didn't know if my legs would cope (I have problems with my calf muscles). But I grew some courage and along with some encouragement from my awesome workmate Ashleigh, I said YES let's do it! 

Ashleigh came around to my house first and then Grant drove us to our boss's house. We got changed into our white Colour Dash tshirts, then all 10 of us hopped into the centre van and headed out to Massey for the Colour Dash. After a quick toilet stop, we waited around near the start while they did all the pre-race activities, like presenting the $18,000 cheque to Ronald McDonald House!

At 2.17pm we were off, all 10 of us pretty much stuck together for that first km.
That first km was pretty easy and seemed rather short, unfortuantly my calves were already starting to hurt but at that 1km mark there was the yellow coloured dust been thrown & there was a wait to get through.
Once through we kept going and our group split into two, one faster group that speed up ahead and the slower more causal walkers (like me).

By the 2km my calves were killing me, but I had to keep going, I wasn't giving up! I did think to myself that I really must go back to the podiatrist and get something done about my calves. It was great having 4 others to walk with, it kept me going, kept my mind off the pain and made it fun! It was awesome having a different coloured dust at each km mark, as you knew how far you had been and how far you still had to go. It was a little disappointing at the last two colours though, as the 4km coloured dust was running very low and the 5km dust had completely run out! We were near the back but there was a good bunch of people still behind us.

 We finished and completed the whole 5km walk just a few minutes before 3.15pm when there was a huge colour dump - where everyone stood together and buckets of colour were thrown into the air. I was pretty pleased to realise that we had completed the 5km in less than an hour!

So proud of myself, completing the 5km, and it was so much fun! I totally recommend it to anyone and can't wait to do it again next year!! 

Gym Junkie!

Okay not quite a Gym Junkie ... but I joined CityFitness Gym & I'm loving it so far!

For the past few years my mum suggested (a few too many times)
that I should join a gym and at the time I didn't want to, so I didn't! 

At the beginning of the year my boss, Kellie, started working part time as gym instructor and kept suggesting to all of us to join her gym, which I didn't not want to! And plus if I was going to join a gym it would NOT be the one she works at or goes to! Then a few months back my good friend, Kylee wanted me to join the gym with her, which I did want to do, but the cost was holding me back. 

Now on Monday (26 Sep) I cleared the mail at work and there was 2 CityFitness brochures amongst the mail, advertising gym memberships for $8 per week, so I kept one brochure as I was very interested .. then on Tuesday, I checked the mail at home and there was the same CityFitness brochure, so I checked out their website and then decided to go into CityFitness the next day!

So on Wednesday (24 Sep) after a bit of shopping I went into CityFitness and inquired about joining. I was informed about the two different membership options. 
I decided on the $12 contract, as I liked the idea of been able to go to classes if I wanted to. I filled out my information, signed on the dotted line & I was a member!! 

$12.00 a week, for everything (equipment, weights & classes), plus a bag, discounts on products, hour orientation personal training session, access to all CityFitness gyms in NZ and no contract.

On Friday the 26th September I had my orientation session with my Personal Trainer, Aidan. Warm up was boxing & was lots of fun! Oh my goodness though, if it was just me, I would have been done just after the boxing but nope we kept going! Aidan then showed me how to use & got me doing weights, which I never in a life time imagined me doing ... He also got me doing squats - OMG I was sore for 4 days after those!!!
I didn't end up quite completing the hour training session (didn't do all weights (no arms) or cardio at the end) as I got very light headed, apparently coz I'm not used to it. All in all though I really enjoyed the personal training session and once I have all my finances under control I want to book regular personal training sessions.

Since joining the gym 10 days ago, I have been 7 times (8 including the PT session) & strangely enough for me (who is usually not a big fan of exercise) LOVE going!
I even got my partner Grant joined up! 

We have the alarm set for 7 tomorrow morning, as Grant has his orinentation PT session, and I will be heading in for a workout too! So seeing as its 11.20pm I best get to bed for a good night sleep ready for tomorrow!
Night all xx

 

Facebook "Friends"

Making more changes on my Life Journey! 

I am realising more and more that my Life Journey is not just about weight loss and learning to be happy but is about so much more! Life is everything after all!

After a discussion with a great work friend about the happenings of this weekend,
I decided I needed a very clear line between personal and professional!

To begin this process I started on my Facebook "Friends" list .. I started with over 280 "Friends" and really come on admit it, how many of us really have that many friends!
I know that a good chunk of them are Family (or my partner's family - who are now my family) and people I met while I was in America (post on that experience later). 

I went through my Facebook Friend list and started thinking would I stop and talk to this person if I saw them down the street? Would I even say Hello? Would they even recognise me? And every person who I answered NO for I deleted (unfriended)! 

I am glad I deleted all those people because really if I would stop to even say Hello to these people - why the hell would I share everything else with them!!
Think about all the stuff you post on Facebook .. Photos, Life Events, Sucesses!
None of those people would be there for me in any struggles or problems so why would I share all the wonderful things with them!! 

I then deleted everyone from work who I didn't want to be sharing my personal life with (eg most staff members & all parents of children attending my work) creating a much needed personal professional line. 

I then had the great pleasure of deleting anyone I can't be bothered with! Including those people who are always posting all that "look at me look at me" crap! Like one "friend" (from high school) who posts almost every hour complaining! 

End Result - from over 280 down to 245! 

A great start at least - now I am wondering if there is anyway to group Facebook Friends?? Would love to group all Family together, all my American friends together & all study colleagues together. 

I would then be left with a very small selected group of friends left but really it's so much better sharing your life with a few real friends!!

While I was having this very rewarding time of deleting people off Facebook, I was also browsing around Pinterest (as ya do) and saw this & thought it was perfect for the occasion so shared it on both my Facebook & Instagram! 

Map My 4km Walk

I knew I wanted to go for a walk after work today, but instead of doing the usual walk around the block, I decided to walk to the couriers and back, since I had a few parcels from Jane's Jewels NZ to send.

I marked out the walk on Map my Walk website and it told me that the walk to the couriers was 1.76km, so return was 3.53km in total, which sounded pretty good to me, since my usual walks are around the 3km mark, so this added an extra
500-ish metres to my walk.

I then got changed into my walking gear, grabbed the courier parcels, put on my headphones, put the Halti (head-collar) on Atlas (to stop him pulling) and I was ready to go. I started up the "Map my Walk" app on my iPhone and started walking. 

 I just love the Map my Walk app, it connects to the GPS in your phone and tracks your entire walk. I have the "Voice Feedback" turned on, so I get informed at every kilometre, how far I have walked, how long I have been walking and my current pace! Which really keeps you motivated, especially if you want to walk for a certain amount of time, or a certain distance.

I was just around the corner from the couriers when the app told me I had walked 2km! Which told me that website was a bit out with it's measurements but meant that my walk would about around 4km in total! Yahoo!

Once I dropped the parcels off at the couriers, we turned around and headed back home. We were almost home when the app told me I had walked 4km! I was very excited, as all my previous walks had only been 3 point something.

When I got home I stopped the app and completed the record.

The app told me I had walked 4.19km in 45 minutes & 4 seconds, that my average pace was 10.45 minutes per kilometre and that I had burned 1674 kilojoules.
Whoop Whoop! Next Goal is 5km!!

Atlas was pretty well behaved, and didn't pull too much. There were a few roads to cross but he sat (when told) at each intersection and waited for me to check for cars :) During the walk there is a few huge sections of very long grass! Which Atlas had never experienced before but loved exploring!

Me at the 4km mark!

Atlas exploring the long grass.

Getting Back On Track

I don't know how other people work, but I find myself searching on Pinterest when I have something on my mind .. like at the moment I am feeling really bad about my weight and that I NEED to get back on track!!! 

Soo that is what I searched .. and this is what I found ...

So reading that I shouldn't beat myself up about it .. BUT really come on, this year was meant to be different!! and now we are in August - the 8th month - and not only have I not lost anything .. it's worse I've put on more!!! 

So this is it! I have had enough! I AM going to do this!!

First I need a goal to keep me motivated ...
My brother is coming home (from Australia) in December for Christmas and I haven't seen him since last Christmas, so I REALLY want to show him how well I can do! Especially since I know that he has been working hard, going to the gym, losing weight & doing a 12km run! 

My Goal - 20kgs by 20th December! 

Starting today - the 1st August
means I have 4 months and 20 days! 

or 20 weeks & 1 day! 

hmm bit of a pattern in the number 20 there! 

Wonder if that means anything?

Live Laugh Love & My Blog

Topic 13 - My Favourite Quote 

Anyone who knows me and has been to my house knows that I have a
"slight" obsession with the saying "Live Laugh Love"
as it can be found in almost every room in our house! 

 As well as home decor I also have an awesome "Live Laugh Love" necklace
which was made for me by the amazing Alysia at DNA Jewels.
The next tattoo I have on the plans is to get "Live Laugh Love" done
on my right wrist .. but that will be once I have some money saved up :)

My blog name also gives away what my favourite saying is ...
I came up with the name of my blog by combining my obsession with the saying "Live Laugh Love" and the fact that my blog is all about so many things but most of all LIFE, so putting it all into one I came up with the title "Live Laugh Loving Life" and it really explains my life at the moment! 

PS - You can also find my blog on Facebook!

20 Facts About Me!

Tonight's post is both Day 2 & 3 because yep I completely forgot to do
Day 2 yesterday! Completely useless I know!

20 Facts About ME!

1. I have 2 middle names 
2. I was born 4 weeks early 
3. I have been with my partner 4 years, 4 months
4. I'm a huge Animal Lover
5. I have a younger brother
6. My first plane ride overseas was at 18 months 
7. I am meant to wear glasses (& really should considering the cost of them)
8. I wear a size 8-9 shoe depending on the fit.
9. I have a major sweet tooth!
10. My favourite TV shows are all crime related - CSI, NCIS etc
11. My left pinky finger is still bent from when I broke it at age 12
12. I spend way too much time on Facebook & Pinterest
13. I love Winnie The Pooh
14. My favourite colour is Purple!
15. I did a 6 month student exchange in America, 10 years ago
16. I would rather wear tights (under tunics etc) than wear jeans.
17. I really enjoy baking and cooking
18. I have had 4 surgeries - all on my jaw.
19. I suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
20. I named my business after my cat! 

Wow that was surprising hard! To think of 20 different things, and to not go on writing about each one! I properly could have written a good paragraph on each!

Number 20 is also Day 3 blog post topic :) "Meaning of my business name"
My business's name is "Jane's Jewels NZ" and comes from our cat Jane, who always used to look after (& play) with my beads and jewellery making supplies, while I was trying to make jewellery.

So there we go Day 2 & 3 complete! See you tomorrow :)

Sour Lollies!!

Sour Lollies .. 

you either like them or don't them ... 

you can either handle them or you can't .. 

which are you??

I have been a sour lolly lover for as long as I can remember! 

Whether it's "Sour Worms" (or Cola Bottles) that aren't really sour ..
or "TNT"s with their liquid sour centre ..
or the hard sour "Warheads" or "Short Circuits"..
or any other sour versions of candy, like "Skittles" & "Jelly Belly" Jellybeans!

Yum Yum Yum!! 

My fondest sour lolly memory is going to the diary after school with my best mate Nikole and spending a few dollars just on Sour Lollies! We used to sit on the huge street sign at the end of our street & watch people as we ate the whole lot!
We were always on the hunt for really sour lollies, like REALLY sour lollies!
We eventually found these soft individalluy wrapped sour lollies that were the sourest we could find & we LOVED them! Except the blue ones that tasted like blueberry shampoo lol, these ones we would put the letterbox of a boy who we went to school with and lived down the road .. Ahhh the memories!!

Now my partner Grant loves sour lollies too, even more than I do! and he can handle them so much better than I can these days! So for his 30th I went searching for some really sour lollies to add to his Birthday present. 

Grabone happened to have a deal where you paid $10 and got a $20 voucher for the "London Lolly Shop" I had never heard of them before, so got searching and found that they had these sour lollies called "Barnetts Mega Sour" and they sounded like just what I was looking for :) so I ordered a bag of every flavour!

Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Bubblegum, Plum, Cola & Lemon.

Grant loved them! and since I'm a very lucky girl he shared with me and
OH EM GEE!!! They are SOUR!!! I gave one of each favour to Nikole and even she found them sour!! So I suggest if you love sour lollies like us ..
check out Barnetts Mega Sour Lollies!!!

My Birthday!

I celebrated my 27th Birthday last week (1st March) and was going to post this on my Birthday, but was waiting for another nice day to get photos of my garden stakes lol

My day started off with Weight Watchers where I quickly weighed in (and lost 1.7kgs whoop whoop!) then headed home got changed and Mum picked me up for a Mother Daughter day at Martinborough Fair! 

 

We had a great day, wandering around all the stalls, we stopped into a few of the different cafes to find some lunch. We walked out of a few places as the line was too long, there were no free tables, or we didn't understand a word of the menu lol. We ended up in a cute bakery, where we had a chicken kebab and shared a punnet of chips & a egg sandwich. We then also had berries and ice-cream later on from one of the stalls .. mm yum :)

I bought an awesome coloured pencil necklace from Colour In Your Garden, a dragonfly & flower garden stake for my garden & a random rubber toy for Atlas
(who destroyed it in about an hour!!) 

 

Once home I got my Birthday present from Grant, which was my old laptop completely rebuilt and upgraded :) so it's now pretty much a brand new laptop, in my old laptop case! Plus some Girl Guide Biscuits & an erasable Pink ink pen :) 

We then headed out for dinner with Mum & Dad to Bethany's, where I knew exactly what I wanted for dinner before I even told Mum where I wanted to go! "Chicken Breast" -Wrapped in bacon, gourmet large shell pasta, sweet corn, button mushrooms, red onions, baby spinach, crushed cashew nuts and cherry tomatoes, sundried tomato pesto and apple syrup. YUM!!! and then "Death by Chocolate" for dessert and my goodness, that was a lot of chocolate, even for me who just LOVES chocolate lol :)

 

While out for dinner I got given my presents from my parents, my brother (who lives in Australia) and my Grandparents (who are away travelling the south island). I was very spoilt and am very grateful to have such a wonderful family and a great bunch of friends (who txted a posted messages on Facebook) xxx