Category: Shaun T

Challenge Accepted Days 54/55 and Days 12/13

Saturday, a day of relaxation, of rest? Family time? Extracurricular activities? For us it has been interesting. I awoke before 7, ready to face the world (well ready for a cup of coffee and maybe a few minutes to myself before the kids awoke). Not to be, I’m afraid, they must have been waiting for the most minute noise as the second I opened our bedroom door, they came bounding down the stairs ready for breakfast, Milo’s (the Australian chocolate malted drink) and much conversation! Luckily I can semi-function before coffee on most days, the volume just can’t be at atomic decibel level! They kept it at a reasonable, yet soft pace. We breakfasted, drank our respective drinks, discussed the day ahead, having no idea where we’d end up for the afternoon. 

We tidied, I tortured the kids a little by making them do chores rather than just play on their iPads/tablets (seriously I am a mean Mummy). I was hoping to get in a workout before leaving but that didn’t happen as we all ended up having to rush about to get to where we were going; Hubby & kiddos to look at a car and I was off with my German friend to get the second lot of Lipolysis shots followed by the electronic muscle stimulator for 20 minutes. And wow! It’s a completely different place on a Saturday with the interior filled with both Koreans and Americans alike. We ended up having to wait for forever! Thank god this Korean lady, whose face was covered in plastic wrap (ceran/cling wrap type stuff) with some sort of cream under it, let us go on ahead of her, otherwise we would have been there for at least another 30minutes waiting. 
It was interesting. I don’t think I mentioned exactly the process for these shots, but basically the doctor’s wife (who is a nurse, I think) slaps you as she gives you the shots. It’s hysterical! I’ve never seen anything like it! I guess the slap, that happens right beside the shot and doesn’t hurt as such because it’s like a loving slap (I know, it’s weird) takes the sting away from the shot going in. And she does this for every shot. She is a master slapper (pardon the pun) after all!


I was finally done and had agreed to meet the husband in the food court. My friend and I couldn’t get a park so she dropped me off and continued on her way. I met up with hubby and the kids and we went for the obligatory check outside of the gates, suddenly I remembered it was Saturday and Mike’s auction house was actually having a real auction. Off we went!



Not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that we all attended this auction. I am normally a believer in everything happens for a reason, I don’t necessarily think today was our reason for attending the auction! It was different. It was cool. I bought my girlfriend and her daughter their birthday presents (can’t show you photos, their birthdays are in June and I’ll have to post them Monday). Anyway, that, in and of itself was cool. Hopefully they like them! Then I made a few bids on some fun stuff; a genie lamp US$10, a Chinese teapot, US$10, an old Korean teacup US$5. I also wanted this beautiful room divider but bidding started at US$50, then I, and possibly everyone else in the room, noticed a big water mark/stain on the second panel in from my left. No. No one made a bid. I was going to say something but they removed that thing faster than a Venus fly trap captures her pray! So no go on my possible bid! Anyway, I walked out of there $40 less than I started with but it was worth every penny. Here’s hoping my girlfriend and her daughter love the uniquely Korean pieces I bought each of them! And I do dearly love my genie lamp (the girls and I have been trying to get Aladdin’s genie to pay us a visit)! To no avail of course! The kids were starving by the time we left the auction house, so it was time to get some food. This Mummy took a big fat no stance to going to same ole same ole, so I said to the hubby to check out the menu at my favourite thai place, so he did. Low and behold, guess where we ate dinner? Now I should have taken a stand when they gave me crap in the town about what I was eating, seriously, stick to your guns next time, Sheryn! No to the peas, cucumber and zucchini, yes to tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and galangal/lime/chilies and everything else that makes my fave soup! We were having this conversation about how he always wants to go to the same place then he said if we go to the Thai restaurant, I’ll just want my favourite soup, so I said I would have something different for dinner. He enjoyed himself but doesn’t like those three above mentioned greenery items either. Next time, ichsnay on all of those things!


Otherwise, we had a truly great day! Hubby went into work last night to ensure all was good, whilst the kids and I hung out here. I had one of those epic phone conversations with my sister and finally finished up close to midnight. This girl was done. I had written the blog, but I hadn’t proof read it and I wasn’t about to make the same mistake again without proof reading myself or getting hubby to, and honestly, it’s a good thing I didn’t as Friday’s blog notes were attached to the bottom of it! After giving it some thought though, I think weekends will be combined from now on because we are trying to fit a lot of stuff into our weekends and I really enjoy hanging out with my family too, so it’s just easier. Speaking of hanging out with the family, we all went for our first family bike ride through the rice paddies this morning and it was fabulous! We had such a lovely time. Hunter got a bit cranky but only because his little legs have to travel at a pace well beyond any of ours and he is still having trouble riding up and down hills and over not-so-smooth roads. But he impressed us all nonetheless. I also did Insanity Pure Cardio this morning, but didn’t get to Cardio Abs so will do them tomorrow if possible. This week is going to be a bit crazy actually, so we’ll see. I have a potato bake (scalloped potato) baking in the oven and yummy steaks marinating in wine/Italian dressing/balsamic vinegar/garlic/soy sauce, and we are heading off to an afternoon barbecue on this beautiful day. I have been very thorough with my Rodan + Fields skincare regimen throughout the weekend and will do my MACRO tonight. I’m excited to see pictures of my face 60 odd days ago compared to today! My skin feels precious. My skin, I think looks great, so I guess we’ll see in 5 days. I hope you and yours are smashing. 
I hope you have a wonderful day and/or night, wherever you are!
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Email me at: aussiemumsadventures@gmail.com
And if you are interested in Taking your own Rodan + Fields 60 day challenge, then let me know. At the above mentioned email.  

Challenge Accepted Day 54/ Day 12

So today was a nice easy day for us. Maddy stayed home with me whilst everyone else went to school/work. For some reason, she has had Friday’s in April off. I worked out just after Ally left for school but before Hunter went to his school. It was Cardio Power & Resistance day and when I’m limited on time, it is of course a 37 minute (or something close) workout! It was tough but good. I have just noticed I’ve got a double workout tomorrow! Yuck! I’ll have to fit that in somewhere, as I’ve got my second round at the dermatologists in the am and we are car shopping in the pm. Cars are cheap here but they are also a bit used and abused! So we’ve opted to pay a few hundred bucks more to try to get a little more quality, but we’ll see where that gets us. 
Anyway, about the belly. I haven’t given you any updates on how that’s gone since my Lipolysis injections. For about 36 hours afterwards, my stomach was sore like I had done hundreds of sit-ups. I’m guessing this was from the electrical muscle stimulation machine, but whatever, it certainly wasn’t from me doing hundreds of sit-ups! I use my core in daily workouts, but not quite like that! It felt good, used, tired, like it had worked out! I did get a little bloated last night, was wondering if that was the fat doing whatever it is supposed to do, either way, I felt great today and ready to take on the world. I have one small bruise on my belly, but otherwise, all is good. 
Maddy and I raced home after dropping hubby off as that whole trip took a tad longer than expected whilst we discussed with the Naval LTC in charge of dentistry here what our options were as far as the dental insurance goes and I must say, we are a tad disappointed. We’ve paid a fair chunk of change into this dental program but really haven’t seen much in the way of return with so many things requiring such a huge copayment. Unfortunately, our timing for Ally’s dental procedures is not going to work out and we are going to get screwed any which way we look at it. We were really hoping to get a good deal but there just doesn’t seem to be a ‘right’ answer in sight. I think we are going to cancel further treatment for her and just have to bite the bullet and pay for the treatment ourselves once returning to the States or get new dental insurance and give the fairly crappy one we have now, a miss. I just don’t know. And I’m a bit mad at myself for jumping the gun. Unfortunately though, the wording is a tad deceptive for OCONUS military (that means Outside of the Continental United States) and there really is no black and white with everything dependent upon the provider. We are edging towards cancelling everything as far as Ally is concerned but I’ll keep you posted. 
Maddy and I then dropped Luna off at the only dog grooming place I could find yesterday that wanted to charge me an absolute fortune for grooming! Now we got her groomed in January but I gave her a bath about 5 weeks ago and brushed her hair, cleaned her ears etc. yet this guy was all about her being in a tangled mess. She definitely smelt and was in need of a good cut but ₩150,000 wasn’t going to cut it for me, that’s just under US$150! She has that hypoallergenic hair that doesn’t need to be brushed daily. I told him that I had her groomed in the States for between $60-$80 and he just laughed. Eventually we agreed upon ₩100,000 but that’s a hell of a lot of money and I wasn’t very happy about it. She does look cute but ‘I Like Dog’ will hopefully give me a better price with perhaps some better treatment next time. I don’t think she got any water for the 5+ hours she was at this groomer as she came home and drank so much, she vomited. We gave her extra love/snuggles/treats nonetheless and it was much easier to do, given how good she smelt! 


Then Maddy decided she wanted to have her hair cut and get ‘bangs’ (a fringe as we call it in Australia). I wouldn’t let her cut her hair too short, in fact I said she could just get all her split ends cut off, but if she really wanted a fringe, then she could do that. We had fun going out today with both of us dressed in matching skirts and high heels, so I put a little tiny bit of makeup on her eyes and boy did it stand out! The girl walks around as though she’s wearing mascara naturally, but with that one streak of purple/blue, she looked like she had full eye makeup on! I wasn’t sure I had made the best decision after seeing it on her, but hey, we were having a special day together and I just wanted to enjoy it with her. Anyway, after her haircut, she looked so much older than her seven years that I couldn’t believe it! Even big sis said it when we greeted her off the bus. Maddy’s attitude, her demeanor, everything changed after seeing those bangs, it was like she had literally aged right in front of me! This girl is going to be our trouble maker, I’m sure of it, yet she has the biggest, sweetest, kindest heart of any of our children. She just cares. And people know that she does, so they naturally like her but she’s also incredibly beautiful, I don’t think anyone has ever particularly disliked Maddy, though her strong-willed temperament may have turned them off a tad. 


After that, it was lunch with Daddy. It’s so nice to catch up with him during the day, especially when one of the girls can do it? They just love spending time with him. We returned home having done absolutely no grocery shopping or clothes shopping but just hanging out, then we spent about a half hour playing dress ups! Me for the ball and Maddy for the sake of it! It was fun. Sometimes it’s just fun to hang out with a kid and forget all about being grown up. All she wanted to do was try on every dress I tried on, and I let her. She even wore my shoes at one point. We picked out my dress and shoes and hairstyle and I’m now excited about this gala. I do still fit into my clothes! Then it was time for piano and for me to collect little man from school. The groomer also used that opportunity to let me know Luna was ready for pickup.
We came back in time for me to fold what seemed like a never ending pile of clean laundry before greeting both girls once again and popping over to dear Tawny’s house for just one (ok maybe two) glasses of vino. It was a lovely evening to sit and chat on her amazing rooftop, but nothing like the other day/night! I greeted hubby home, gave everyone their respective dinners (yes, it was that kind of night here) we put the kiddos to bed in a big slumber party type atmosphere upstairs where they could all camp out and watch Netflix to their hearts’ content. I cleaned my face and did my nightly Redefine regimen (the skin feels so lovely and soft) and we are going to watch something ourselves on Netflix. 
I hope you have a wonderful day and/or night, wherever you are!
Please like my page on Facebook: Aussiemumsadventures 
Email me at: aussiemumsadventures@gmail.com
And if you are interested I. Taking your own Rodan + Fields 60 day challenge, then let me know. I’m posting my 60 day pics in just a few short days!!!

Challenge Accepted Day 53/Day 11

Well there’s never a dull day in South Korea and today reaffirms that for me. My plans were changed this morning due to my friend not feeling well, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from doing anything as A; we really needed some groceries and B; I just didn’t feel like staying at home. A day out with my son would be nice. Then he decided he desperately wanted to go to school today. Oh well, Mummy will have a day to herself. That’s just fine with me.

And that’s what I did. Had a day to myself. I dropped son and hubby off then planned to come home and work out before heading out for the day. On my way home, I got a call from the travel agent confirming she could get the hotel and hire car for Memorial Day weekend at Jeju Island. Our first real adventure here in South Korea is now confirmed for that weekend! So off I went to pay for that. Well boy did she keep me waiting! No one else would/could help me so I had to wait for her and it was close to an hour before I was seen, delaying all plans for the day. I was finally able to finish up the business and get home only to realize I no longer had time to workout this morning and would have to dress and get on my way. With no real plan in mind, I headed to the International Market outside of the Air Force base. Only knowing I wanted to go back to this little Thai restaurant I had tried once before, to ensure the food was as wonderful as it was the first time I went with my darling son. 


I was not disappointed. If you head to the US Air Force base main gate, in Songtan Station, about 8km south of Osan City, you will find one of the best Thai restaurants I have ever been to, outside of Bangkok! I do not say that lightly. I got ‘stuck’ in Thailand for 3 months a long time ago and the only time I ate anything other than Thai food (mainly from street vendors) I regretted it. The Thai people are some of the most incredibly gentle, lovely people, I have ever come across. Not only are they sweet and generous, but they can also claim some of the most amazing food I have ever tasted, as part of their cultural heritage! I kid you not, you will find something on a Thai menu you will love. And this restaurant is no exception. From the main gate, head into the main entrance of the marketplace, you will see a number of Thai restaurants around you and I cannot vouch for any of the others as I have not been, but this one, “Yummy Thai Restaurant” is on the second floor, above a coffee house on the left hand side as you head into the market, but not too far down. You enter some stairs that lead to a small alleyway. It continues on to some very clean public toilets and a carpark and the restaurant is on your right hand side. It is very small but inviting. It is not opulent, but it is clean and the window seats look straight out over the Main Street, making people watching easy. Juree is the owner, head chef, head waitress and possibly the only waitress but on top of all that, she is the epitome of all I remember about all the Thai people I have met. She is kind and sweet and lovely and she can cook incredible, authentic Thai food! I believe she came from Bangkok but I could be mistaken. She is definitely Thai and welcomed my Thai greetings and thank you’s. Now, I also have to tell you that my favourite Thai food is Tom Kha Gai and that is what I have had both times but I have heard other patrons exclaiming wondrous words about their food. This little restaurant is truly a hidden gem. But hopefully not for much longer as she deserves to have her cooking shared with many.


After enjoying my solo lunch, I made my way through the ‘Ville’ to look for a hairdressing salon. I haven’t had my hair cut since January and with our ball being just over a week away, it desperately needed a good cut! I wound my way through the streets of the ville and ended back in front of the main gates at a salon called Yi Beaty Salon. Where Ms Yi gave me a very simple haircut and took a good four inches off. I told her to just get rid of the dead hair, and so she did. My hair feels so light, and so much better. The curl has come back to it too. I didn’t have time for her to do anything else, but it was nice to be able to get a haircut when I needed it. From there, I went to the ‘fish’ place – see my previous blog a few weeks ago – and got my eyebrows waxed. Obviously threading (where one who specializes in this skill, uses cotton thread to interweave through the eyebrow hairs to pull them out in rapid succession) is not a popular thing here and that is definitely my preference when it comes to taking care of my eyebrows, but waxing will do. I’m not so sure about this woman though. She didn’t speak the entire time she did my brows (she was European too) then I thought, maybe she doesn’t speak English, but at the end I asked her about reading and she completely understood and told me that no one does it. I guess I just didn’t get warm and fuzzies from her. 
I had to get the groceries in a reasonable hurry and I also went and bought a clear shower curtain from the other end of the base, as we are doing a bake sale next week and the area my hubby works in has these beautiful table cloths that have been handmade (I think) and we want to use one to advertise ourselves but they need to be protected and how better to protect them without spending a fortune than to use a clear plastic shower curtain. I guess we’ll test it out and see how it goes. 
Then it was a mad panic to get home with every possible red light, filling of potholes, crazy Koreans, getting in my way! What would normally take 20-30 minutes, took a good 50 minutes and I didn’t want my daughter getting home without me there. I was literally less than 5km away and moving at 0! Everything in me was trying not to panic/worry because that’s what I do, I took deep breaths, tried to stay calm and think if I was 5 minutes late, it would be ok. But in my heart of hearts, I knew I wouldn’t be ok if I was 5 minutes late. It’s just me. But I didn’t completely stress out either. When I finally came close to the house and saw the bus coming from the other direction, I was finally able to relax. Yay, somehow, I made it, even after the arsehole truck cut me off at a red light! 


We picked up Hunter, who had another great day at school but by the time he got the three steps from school to car, was completely exhausted and went into crazy preschool tired mode, where everything was an incredible drama, including the fact that I had brought Luna in the car with us and three of the boys at school were looking at her through the window. It only went down from there. Literally, three steps and the dynamics changed. But that’s how kids roll! Luckily he’s number three and I recognized all the signs. He’s still determined to go to school again tomorrow! In fact, this kid was so tired that at 7pm (we had almost finished dinner) he put his fork down and said, “can I please go to sleep!” Oh the pain of being three! 
When I was finally done with my day, including driving around trying to locate a dog groomer after doing an Internet search and finding most English speaking groomers have either stopped or are on maternity leave! Seriously, English speaking dog groomers could make a killing here! Anyway, randomly driving when I found one! Yay! I was stuck at a never-ending red light, so was even able to type the number in on my phone and make an appointment tomorrow! She so desperately needs it and I just cannot do it, don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried. I failed. Three hours of my time and I ended up just making her look like she was clean. Not cute and she’s the cutest dog, just clean! Grooming failure! I was sweaty, the house was covered in hypoallergenic dog hair, but dog hair nonetheless, the bathroom was a mess, the clippers were blunt, the dog was unhappy, I was unhappy. Three hours of both our lives gone with very little result! No, I’m good at lots of stuff but dog grooming is not one of them! So yay for appointment tomorrow. Unfortunately, the guy couldn’t give me a price, so let’s just hope it’s reasonable! Otherwise, I guess we’ll be driving around once again tomorrow looking for the original dog groomer I had been told about that obviously requires a treasure map with secret password to even locate them! 
Home. Children home from music lessons. Husband actually home reasonably early. Time to exercise. Didn’t want to! At all. It is really difficult to motivate yourself when your family is home and you want to hang out with them. It is so easy to come up with excuses but at the end of the day, the only person I’m doing this for, is me, so the excuses I give are to myself. That just doesn’t work if you look at the big picture. I’m letting myself down, no one else. I think that’s what a lot of people forget when they come up with excuses. They are only lying to themselves. My birthday is in nine days! Holy wow! There is no time for excuses, especially given how genetics have suddenly given up on me and age has taken over! The gala is in 8 days! My Rodan + Fields challenge comes to an end in 7 days! This is the big deal for me. I’ve worked hard for the majority of this challenge and I cannot give up now. So I didn’t. Thank god, it was cardio recovery, although some of those stretches are literally insane! Shaun T, I’m not sure what the hell you want from my thighs and buttocks, but they couldn’t play for the entire time today! Perhaps next time? 😜 I did my best! And there were only a couple of moves that I couldn’t continue to do for the crazy amount of time they were asking of me!
I made Alfredo pasta and Alfredo pizza for dinner for everyone and even Maddy had 4 (yes four) bowls of it! The pizza wasn’t that big so I had a small slice of it, as did Ally, and hubby ate the rest. But the pasta was a huge success. On top of that, I made myself a very nice, plain salad and finished off my Tom Kha Gai, that I had brought home. All in all, another great day, filled with mini adventures! 
I hope you are having a lovely day and/or night, no matter where in the world you might be. 
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Please email me at Aussiemumsadventures@gmail.com

And let me know if you are interested in taking your own Rodan + Fields 60 day challenge. I love having your feedback and really appreciate you taking the time to read my crazy blogs!