Tag: Toning

May 9 – Car accident

Day 21 of the Insanity Challenge

Always an adventure, right? Certainly was today and not a good one! I got into a car accident. I had three young children in my car! It was awful. No one was injured thank god but it was scary and awful and totally my fault. We had to stand there for over two hours whilst they found footage to show that it was my fault. No one spoke English. It was just awful. I didn’t think it was my fault to begin with and I’m still not 100% convinced. But, oh well, so be it. Of course the truck I hit is made of steel so does some pretty major damage to my car. Again, so thankful none of the kids were hurt. 
I am now curling up in bed feeling sorry for myself. I don’t want to play anymore. Pity party for one basically. I’m a little bit over South Korea with its tight streets and people who park anywhere and pedestrians who just walk in the middle of the street. My car is too big here. 
My activities for the day came to a complete halt. My pity party consumed me. Hubby called because he knew I was feeling angry and sorry at/for myself. It’s only a car. I should be just grateful that we are all ok & that I didn’t get cited. I did get breathalyzed however, and that was weird too. The breathalyzer was weird. It sort of looked like a square metal speaker with a hole in the middle of it. He told me to blow. I couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to blow as in Australia you have a straw type thing that you blow in, right? I haven’t been breathalyzed for years. Anyway, he didn’t get the Korean to do it, just me. Then he looked down at it and quickly put it in his pocket, “OK.” I’m assuming the OK meant all was good as I hadn’t had anything to drink (at 10:30am) nor had I any cough medicine (which I actually thought about having just before I left the house at 10am). 
Here’s what else I thought about, I think everything happens for a reason, I have to assume there was a reason. Perhaps had we gone in Rebecca’s car, we would have been killed or maimed? Perhaps something else horrible awaited us and this was the best case scenario? I don’t know, it’s only a car. I used to have a perfect driving record, I guess that’s why I’m so pissed off too. I made a couple of mistakes as a teenager but from then on I have been a great driver. I can’t say that anymore. It was my fault. It’s a tough pill to swallow. And there were so many people who flocked around. I was the morning entertainment for all the local Koreans on that street! 
I did over half of my Pure Cardio workout & was planning on doing the rest when I got home (I didn’t). I think tomorrow is going to be my better day. I’m not intending on driving anywhere, so that’s the first plus and secondly, I’m going to perhaps garden a little, maybe paint with my son, I shall do some interval exercises if it works out and I’m not wheezing away (as I was this morning when I had to stop and take a break). As the famous line from ‘Gone With the Wind’ goes, “After all, tomorrow is another day.” 
So, for now I’m going to get lost in some tv drama and forget about my crappy day. 
I hope yours has been so much better!
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Challenge Accepted Day 44/Day 2

The shock collar is ordered! My heart is racing with both adrenalin and a little bit of anger thrown in. My bloody dog, that I love incredibly has finally pushed me beyond the limits. And other people’s dogs have instigated it. What am I talking about? So I leave the house this afternoon ready to go and pick Ally up from the bus with Luna as I no longer take her on my morning or afternoon walks with Maddy because too many people let their dogs off leash and I am not ok with it. Especially when your dog can be aggressive. There are too many kids and too much action. Your dog should always be on a leash unless it is completely non-aggressive and completely trained. My dog is completely non-aggressive but she’s not well trained. In fact, she’s a little shit. So, today, this lovely golden retriever that is obsessed with Luna as it is, is off his leash as we walk out of the house and his owner (before knowing we were coming around the corner) throws a ball in our direction (right down the middle of the street mind you). Well the dog isn’t interested in the ball anymore once he sees Luna and he comes pounding down to us and jumps all over Luna, well she jumps all over back at him because she is not trained and she loves everyone and she’s a little so and so, and next thing you know she has twisted off her collar and is running full pelt away from me with this other dog, I am running down the street getting crankier and crankier by the second because I know my dog isn’t going to listen and she completely surprised me by getting loose. Eventually, she came back, the street was full of people, I very loudly said every dog should be on a leash and walked back to the house. Luna is now grounded and I am furiously typing away because I am still cranky. I know we don’t have a park, I know that lady and her husband both walk their dog, and their dog doesn’t listen either, it is a busy street and dogs get hit by cars and my dog is one giant ball of craziness and now she is getting a shock collar. Done. The issues I’ve had with dogs since we’ve moved here is ridiculous! What happens to Americans when they move overseas with their dogs? Why would you feel the need to just let your dog run through the neighbourhood as a free for all? I guess I wouldn’t be so cranky had we not had, not one, but two, run-ins with the other lady and her dog. For some reason she just thinks her dog can run around free, her dog started growling at Luna and getting ready to attack whilst there were kids around. I’ve been attacked by a dog, I freak out at dogs growlIng and getting ready to fight. The only thing that saved my wrist was my metal watch that this dog who attacked me many years ago, broke when he tried to bite me. He still drew blood but he came away with my watch in his mouth rather than my wrist. I have a real fear of aggressive dogs. I just don’t like dogs running around free when there are kids the dog doesn’t know also running around. Dogs are animals, if a kid does something to a dog, the dog is going to bite them, as it should, because that’s the only instinct the dog has. And kids can be animals too. Owners should always be aware of their dogs and their dogs’ needs. Just as parents should always be aware of their kids and their kids’ needs. Sometimes we can’t do it, like today, but most of the time, we can. Right, rant over. And here I am doing something I never thought I would do, in fact, I was downright offended when a friend suggested to me I should get one for Luna, but she is right. I’ve done everything to try to train this dog and she is not listening and I will not have her doing that again, so shock collar it is.   
So that’s how my afternoon started, but my morning started with saying au revoir to my girls then coming back and starting on ‘Plyometric Cardio Circuit’ and seriously going OMG! I thought I was doing ok, I remember why I love T 25! That reason; because it’s 25 minutes plus a 3 minute cool down. This; holy wow! This is intense! I forgot how intense it was! I couldn’t even complete the third drill, I think that’s what he called it when you do the basket ball drills, the level one drill, the ski (?) drills and the up/down drills (where you’re down in plank and you bring your feet up together and have to jump up). Anyway, by the time round three came around, I was done! I managed to do the cool down exercises, but man, I was both shocked at how many exercises there were and shocked at how tired/exhausted I was! It was intense to say the least. Tomorrow, I have a big day again. I have to go and see the school, because today my Korean American realtor/real estate agent, came over and read through all the paperwork and is trying to get some questions answered on our behalf. We don’t think Hunter’s should go on the field trip on Friday. Just because the bus drivers here are well beyond crazy, in fact, they are the craziest! 2 hours on a bus to Seoul, by himself, with a crazy bus driver? No, it’s not going to work out. I know he’s not actually really by himself but he’s three and with lots of people who don’t speak the same language and it’s his first week of kindergarten, no, it’s just not going to work out at all. 
After all the drama of the dogs, I was finally able to take a few minutes and get my painting finished. Not sure if I want a tree in the right hand corner or if I like it as simplistic as it is. Either way, I like it. I’ve given you two different perspectives of it depending upon the light you view it under and honestly, neither of them really show the colors as I see them. Anyway, I would love to know what you think. Here’s the other version:

  
As far as Rodan and Fields, my skin is feeling great, I’ve just ordered the Reverse regimen to do as my next challenge. Unfortunately the MACRO E has sold out and is gone. As are all accessories right now, but they promise to bring more back (accessories of course), yes please. I’m looking forward to revealing to you all just how wonderful my skin looks and how great it feels. Right now though, hubby is at work, it’s nearly midnight, and I am off to catch some beauty sleep. For the last four days I’ve cut out the Benadryl (Kim you will be happy) and used either meditation or melatonin, both of which have meant about 4 hours of sleep per night. Of course hubby is out on this night and tonight’s the night it all catches up with me. So good night, may you find happiness in the smallest things no matter where you are! 

Challenge Accepted Day 43 & Day 1….

My son went to a Korean kindergarten today. And he loved it. I have been worrying about it all weekend too. He has never really gone to kindergarten, even when I used to volunteer and he went into the childcare, it was hit and miss. It was only once a week, but sometimes he would cry for the first hour or even longer. It took about 3 months before he was finally okay to stay there without crying. He wouldn’t even stay with friends, my friend Trine was really the only person he would stay with for any period of time. We had talked about him starting school often over the last week. Yesterday, I even asked him if he was going to cry when Mummy said goodbye and he very proudly told me that no, he wouldn’t. Well, he told the truth. Not only did that kid not cry, he had a big smile on his face and was very excited. He had his little backpack with his blankie and his Spider-Man toy and he was ready to face the world and all its challenges. He kissed hubby and I goodbye and went into his classroom, ready to socialize with his classmates. The two German/American girls with whom he is friends, weren’t even there yet, but he was still excited to go in and see what this school thing was all about. I must confess that his bravery and eagerness did bring a tear to my eye, but don’t tell anyone will you! Hubby was quick to point me to the car in case he changed his mind and regretted his decision to face today with such courageous jubilance. But he didn’t. He walked into that classroom and immediately joined a group of young Korean boys and girls and happily played with them. 
For me, well I dropped hubby off at work and came home to a quiet house. I have to admit there were times I went to talk to Hunter throughout the day. A helicopter flew right over the car and I almost pointed it out (as I always do) until I realized he wasn’t there with me. It wasn’t like this with the girls and not because I don’t love them as much as I love him or anything to do with boy vs girl, it comes down to the fact that he is my last. There will be no more babies, and he is growing up. A day that makes you realize that things are changing, I’m getting older. There will be no more pitter patter of little feet in my house until the grandchildren days. Whoa! Grandchildren! Holy wow! Can’t even go there at this point in time, but I’m understanding my own feelings about why I was a little taken aback this morning at my own emotional response. Anyway, I got home and took some more ‘before’ photos, because today I started Insanity! Yes, my T25 voyage officially came to an end for now, although, my friend is going to send me her T25 DVDs (she doesn’t use them anymore and quite by chance offered them out to any takers on FB – I, of course, put my hand up big time). So Insanity it is! Here’s the original before photos with the photos I took today in the black pants which will now become my new before photos. 

  
  
I couldn’t really notice much of a difference in the first two front photos but I do see a difference in my butt from 5 weeks of T25! I did the fit test too, the one that you do at the beginning of the Insanity challenge, and did much better than I thought I would, surprising myself. I’m going to leave the results here so you can help me track my progress. 
  

Ok, enough Insanity talk and prep, there it is. You’ll just have to stick with me for another 60 days to see the results and then we can maybe go back to a T25 challenge and then who knows where? 😜
I decided to make hubby and I lunch and took it to him in his office, aren’t I the sweetest wife ever? 😂 yes, I crack me up too! But it was good and sweet, I even put it in a picnic basket. We didn’t have long unfortunately, but that was ok because I had things to do anyway. They have this paperwork that we have to have ready in case we need to evacuate (you know, like if someone just north of us might be a bit loopy and do something he threatens to do all the time). Anyway, it is actually serious business. We have to have everything in a ready to go packet so in a worst case scenario, we can be ready to go at the drop of a hat. Even the pets have to have their own paperwork, so my job today was to gather together final pieces for that. I picked up some groceries, and ran a couple of other errands before heading home. The first pick up was at the bus stop for Maddy, then we drove to the school to pick Hunter up. We got there a little early and the doors were open (with a teacher standing there) and we watched Hunter playing in his class, looking so happy still. Until……. He and another little girl were running to get something in this game they were playing and neither of them looked up and ended up banging heads. Tears were shed from both. Luckily it was on Hunter’s other side and not his already bruised eye. Finally his teacher saw me at the door and brought him over, then proceeded to tell me all about his day and an upcoming field trip, in Korean. I vowed then to use Google translate for every conversation. Thank god for modern technology! Because then she handed me all this paperwork that looked something like this:

  
Yes, I have at least 30 pages of Korean paperwork to fill out and read. So, I used Google translate for the first 10 pages and was able to understand most of it and fill it out, by the time I got done with that though, I was exhausted! It takes a lot to concentrate on this sort of stuff. With Latin based languages I can at least look at the root word and go from there but Korean may as well be alien writing to me. I am not only impressed but filled with admiration at those who can speak and read both Latin based languages and Asian languages! So, I did the next best thing and invited my realtor over for lunch and asked her if she would help me read through this. She said yes! So tomorrow, hopefully she can help me fill all of this out. One of them is a permission slip to go to Seoul on a field trip and I’m all about that but they would travel by bus (I think) and bus drivers her are the craziest of everyone! If my son’s going to be on one of those crazy buses, then I’m going to be there with him! Haven’t got a full plan yet like what I’ll do with Maddy in the afternoon, but one step at a time. 

Tonight, well, tonight has been quiet. The kids ate and were about to go to bed when hubby got home (he got a ride from his colleague) so we put them to bed and sat and had dinner together watching two of our favourite shows that we watch together; ‘The Good Wife’ & ‘Madam Secretary’. We are very diverse in our viewing preferences enjoying comedies to superheroes and everything in between; ‘Modern Family’ & ‘Blackish’ to ‘The Goldbergs’, to ‘Supergirl’, ‘Agent Carter’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Shield’, are all regulars on our tv and soon we’re hoping to borrow the entire Game of Thrones collection, so we can get into that. Anyway, it’s been interesting. Tomorrow I get to do the full Insanity thing! Tonight, I shall do the Rodan and Fields Redefine night regimen and follow it with the ACUTE Care, I only have a few of those left, so should be seeing a decease in the wrinkles (I am already). So I shall say adieu. For now. Have a wonderful day and or night wherever you may be and give those little babies a big kiss and enjoy their pitter patter, even for a moment.

Challenge Accepted Day 37

Well, I finally worked up the courage to do yesterday’s workout and I honestly nearly threw up a number of times. My body just isn’t feeling too good yet, so no double workout today unless something dramatically changes. I’m going to take each day as it comes with whatever this weird thing is that has hit me. I’ll definitely be working out everyday (aside from yesterday of course) so I’ll be a day behind and will need to catch up somewhere this week, but not today. Today is going to be a day about art. My kids are doing a project for their grandma and grandpa and I am going to continue to paint. I wish I had started painting in Hawaii, other than a wall mural for my daughter that is. It would have been nice to sit out on the beach and paint. Yesterday, had it not been windy, would have been so inspiring to paint. Like I said, water calms me down and takes me to a place of serenity like nothing. So I finished my workout and began to feel normal enough to eat so I made myself a yummy lunch: 

  

Dear son did come in and steal some of my haloumi though, the kids loves it as much as Mummy! I cleaned the entire kitchen and had to immediately make all children more food as there is some instinct inside of kids that says as soon as the kitchen is clean, they require snacks and/or food that will use as many plates as possible. As I looked around at the new mess, I thought, “Why not?” I had bought a number of ingredients to make what looked like an amazing (super rich, bad, fattening, omg, I’m going to have a heart attack) dessert a while back and before everything went bad, thought I should make it. So I did! And it was just as good in taste as I suspected it would be. Yum. If you are a cheesecake lover, then this is for you! We ate it still warm out of the oven, but I’m suspecting cold it would be just as nice! I don’t know what would be an equivalent in Australia to crescent roll pastry but you could experiment with both puff and pie pastry and see which one works best for your taste buds. The rich center is what makes this divine. I’ve shared the link to the recipe on my Facebook page: aussiemumsadventures – check it out! 

    

The kids and I started working on the project for Grandma and Grandpa and the dessert was Hunter’s reward for listening and doing what I say, yes I’m that Mummy, the one who bribes when necessary with all sorts of things including food! They all did exactly what they were told and Hunter didn’t scream or anything and he hates anything gooey, messy, yucky, on him, so this was definitely a win! Can’t tell you too much about the project until it has arrived at its destined home. 
It was whilst we were waiting for part of it to dry that I sat down and caught up on Facebook posts and was greeted only with bad news. It has started with my friend’s husband, my hubby’s former soldier, who has been in a terrible motorcycle accident and may have a severe spinal injury. They have been operating on him for hours and have just induced a coma as he had to have part of his lung removed and a rib and so many other things. They don’t know the extent of his spinal injury but he couldn’t feel his legs. I called my husband to tell him and neither of us knew what to say other than the usual claims of, “Oh my God!” We never expect tragedy to strike and when it does, we don’t know how to express every emotion we go through. My friend is located in Germany, a long way from her family and his family. They have two little boys, they’re lives are before them. It’s unfair. They are good people. How come crap like this doesn’t happen to child molesters and murderers, why doesn’t karma work in obvious ways? 
The second thing I read is that Cayleb Hough’s remains have been found. I have been following and sharing Cayleb’s parents’ websites and sharing their desperate pleas to find him for months. He was last seen alive at 7am on Sunday, December 20th, 2015 in Highett, Victoria, Australia. I didn’t know Cayleb or his family, but I am a mother, so the heartache of not knowing the whereabouts of my children would be my worst nightmare. And now, their worst nightmare has come true. Cayleb was 17. The same age as my nephew. 
Sometimes, life sucks! We must appreciate every single moment we have with our loved ones. Right now I have let my girls go out and ride their bikes in our little ‘ville’ but I always worry about them getting hit by a car. Even though there’s only three streets, sometimes people come in here way too fast. But what should I do? Let them sit inside on their Ipads all day? Wrap them up in cotton wool? I’d like to do that, but they have to gain some independence too. They have to know their own boundaries. They have to learn to do some things without Mummy watching their every move. Being a parent is tough. Finding that happy medium between ensuring they have the skills required to make the right decisions through being independent learners and your need to protect them, is a fine line. 
So, I lay down for a while this afternoon and snuggled with my kiddos (after they’d safely come back in from riding their bikes) and we watched an episode of my now favourite go-to show on Netflix: Doc Martin. Brilliant. My headache was back in full force and my vision started to blur so it was a good way to hang out and snuggle and use excuses not to do anything. 

Finally I realized I hadn’t yet been to see the kitties today so we all went and saw them and patted them, well one of them anyway, the other one doesn’t like little people and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like me by extension. It was funny when I went by myself the other night, just how different she was, she came over to me, rubbed her head on my leg and let me pat her, today she just sat in her chair looking very regal (she’s part Siamese) and wondering why I bought those hellions back with me! Oh well, they love her even if she’s not a fan of them. 
It was refreshing to take a walk after almost vomiting when I completed my earlier exercise. I kid you not, I took a selfie but I look absolutely awful in it, not sure I should share a ‘trying not to be sick, after-workout selfie’ with you all! Oh, what the hell! 

  

Tonight though I started feeling almost normal. I made a 7 layered dip that was absolutely sensational, my friend who’s cats I’m looking after had some avos (Aussie for avocados) that needed to be used – she told me to grab them – so I made my own guacamole and my own salsa, they both worked so well in this dish as the salsa was really spicy and the guacamole had too much lime juice on it, making the whole thing come together like a star! Given it was taco Tuesday, it was only fair to incorporate it all with our dinner. Hubby was absolutely delighted, in fact I think the quote was “Best taco ever!” I skipped the tortilla but did have another small piece of heaven (the dessert I made earlier) so can’t really say I cut any calories today, may have added quite a few extra on though! Oh well, sometimes one also has to remember that life is short and we need to take advantage of every single day we have! 

Remember, you’ll never be younger than you are right now! Have an amazing day or night, wherever you are. And if you have time, maybe spare a thought or two for a family who tonight are coming to terms with the fact they shall never see their son again and another family who are hoping for a full recovery for their loved one. 

Challenge Accepted Day 35

Another interesting day in South Korea! I started out my day feeling like rubbish! Honestly, it was like my head had filled up with gunk overnight! Yuck. Not nice. We had a birthday party to get to and we didn’t get up until late, so it was a bit of a dash to ensure everyone was organized and ready to go. I forgot to buy a birthday card also, so the kiddos had to make one this morning as well. I hate buying birthday cards though. They are expensive, they get read then thrown away. I’d much prefer to just throw a small slip of paper into the bag/box/packaging and save a tree. Oh well, just personal preference. I had some cough/cold medicine that tasted awful and did nothing for me, followed with vitamin C and OJ, none of which did jack! Oh well, ‘big girl panties’ got put on and off we went. 
We headed off to the party which was to be followed by a work lunch for hubby. He had some VIPs who came in and they were trying to ensure they had a shopping and local dining experience that was relaxed and fun. The party was great. The kids had a blast and they had food, like real food. And good real food. We were full by the time we went to lunch with hubby’s VIPs. I was also starting to feel like rubbish again. We get to this all you can eat meat place where everything is so low key, they are not hounding us about the amount of food we are going to eat or anything! In fact, neither hubby nor I ate but I cooked Korean bbq style at the table for the kiddos and decided this was actually a good opportunity to try Soju! Actually, I thought it was more wine, but it wasn’t. It was straight Soju that I picked out. And no, not a midday drink. I tried to share it around but only two others would partake, so I packed the remainder of the bottle up in my bag and left it at that. It’s about the size of a mini wine bottle and it was just sitting there in the fridge; what’s one to expect? Not some sort of Korean vodka/whisky type thing anyway! 

  
I felt immediately better and told my hubby Soju worked much better than cough medicine any day! As I am writing, I am sneezing like a crazy woman! Not sure if tomorrow (our day at the beach) is going to pan out! We have a good time though wondering through the streets of the Osan ‘Ville’ – what makes it super interesting is I see this spa type store that has fish in it eating this girl’s dead skin! I’ve read about them but never actually seen one. How cool! Before I know it, I am saying, “Yea, I’m in!”

  
  
Very interesting! I’ve never felt anything quite like it. The fish tickled, felt revolting and amazing all at the same time! It was weird. They nibble away, they tickle, they feel refreshing, they tickle, they feel weird and revolting. That’s the best way I can explain it. When you get out (it’s a 10 minute thing) your feet and legs feel great! I would have liked something deeper that went about mid thigh. They really went crazy on my legs, perhaps because I had just shaved this morning? I don’t know. But my ankles/lower calves came out feeling amazing! And still look amazing 4 hours later. I may be on to something here. The legs rather than the feet needing the nurture? 😉
  

We came home and visited our temporary custodian cats; Luna still doesn’t like us but greeted us with joy nonetheless. Itty Bit (our 20 year old feline friend) was more enthusiastic and purred her love for us all. We spent a long time hanging out with them and showing them a bit of love, before heading back to the abode.

  
Tomorrow is still up in the air; With me feeling like rubbish, the lady who organized it concerned about air quality and various other ‘Korean’ factors coming in to play, I am still all a go right now but must hit the sack and attempt to get rid of this congestion! I shall keep you in the loop as far as everything unfolds!
Unfortunately there has been no T25 stretching today 😕 it just hasn’t happened and I haven’t pushed it given the crappiness that is filling my head right now. I hope you however, are feeling amazing and continue to do so! 

Have a wonderful day and or night no matter where in the worl you are!

Challenge Accepted Day 34

Hello and goodbye to Saturday! Not sure where you went, but you’ve gone! We had a busy, but not hectic day over here. It all started with my silly internal alarm knowing I could sleep in but not doing so. Awake at 0600, I was, not good! Dear son greeted me just after 7 and the day was off. Coffee, breakfast, washing, I thought about running and should have taken Luna for a run, but it just didn’t happen. We went and fed and hung out with the cats for a good half hour (we’re pet sitting for the next 10 days, and that was fun. They have a Luna too, but she’s not a big fan of little people unfortunately, unlike our Luna who loves everyone). It was all good though. One of the cats is 20 years old so she needs some special attention and Madison has taken it upon herself to make sure she gets it. She made her walk around, we fed them, the kids tried to get Luna to play a little with them, we made sure the old lady had her medication. It was all good, and the sweet lady we are looking after them for left all sorts of gifts on the counter. Individual gifts for each of my children and a bottle of vino for moi. I didn’t grab any of them though as I don’t think any of us should get anything until we’ve done a good job and until the job is finished. So I didn’t even show the kids anything. 
By the time we returned home, we had to head out. Hubby had to go to the airport at 1300 (also known as 1pm in the civilian world) and he had to pick up a suit he had made in the ville beforehand. Then everyone would need to eat and that would be our time with him today done. We parked and walked to the tailor shop and wow! That suit was perfect. The stitching on it was superb, the cut was identical to what we had picked out and it fit my husband like a glove (no, not a glove, like a Savile Row suit though) very impressive as was the price. If ever you need a suit, the quality here in South Korea is very good. Hubby had a suit made in Bahrain years ago and the quality of it was nothing on this one. I’m even thinking about getting them to make me a dress for the gala. Here’s one I found online: 

  

What do you think? I’m not sure of the dressmaking skills though, nor about how they would put together such an elaborate outfit so it’s probably not going to happen, but I can always ask and see what fabric/suggestions they’ve got. There’s a couple more that I have found too so it could be really fun. I’ll need to decide in time to buy some shoes though, can’t really get too much variety around here with a foot my size, so I either need to have shoes to match or need to order some online. God I sound like a bit of a diva! I’m not even really into all that stuff, more often then not you’ll find me walking around with ‘active wear’ (anytime I hear that I immediately think of the YouTube hit by the Australian women of the same title, if you haven’t seen it then it’s a must). Anyway, it’s either exercise gear because I’m about to exercise or have already (that’s my go-to outfit for the bus stop because I always work out in the morning) or it’s track suit pants and a shirt, soon it will probably be a pair of 3/4 pants or shorts, nothing remotely lovely. I also rarely wear makeup and like I told you in another blog, my hair is up in a ponytail or hidden under a hat, so that’s as far as my egocentric dress code goes. When I do have the opportunity to dress up, I take it. 

We ate lunch at an American style diner after checking out a South African place we had heard great things about but deciding hubby and I should return sans kids for date night there. It was literally called JJ’s American Diner. Well, I wasn’t too impressed. It was pricey for what you got, there were no drinks with kids meals (a normal thing Stateside) and my wrap did say tenders but I assumed that meant the cut of the chicken meat not actually chicken nugget tenders shoved inside a wrap with lettuce and tomato. And the avocado ranch was a little bit of avocado thrown into ranch dressing. I felt like I could have gone to the store and bought everything and made it for myself in a matter of minutes using all prepackaged store bought ingredients. Hubby had a panini melt and it looked good and he said it tasted great but it was basically a toasted sandwich with prosciutto, ham, and salami on it. Madison’s hot dog was awful! I’m not sure what meat they used on it but I would never again buy a Korean hotdog if that’s the standard to go buy. Yuck. We all broke a little off to taste it after she said it was disgusting and everyone agreed with her afterwards. We left there feeling ok to never return. 
We dropped hubby off, ran some errands then decided to check out the community activity center (CAC). Inside of there, Hunter guided us towards the pool (he had been there before with hubby) and we were all shocked at the size of the indoor pool. The kids begged me to take them swimming so how could I say no? Home we went to grab our gear and swimming it was. What fun, if a tad cold for my liking, but it was good for the kids and I to have some fun together. I’m normally the one who hangs out on the side whilst hubby plays with the kids in the water so it was good today for me to have to stay in there with them the entire time. We had a good time and I got a little bit of natural exercise in on my rest day. 

I made a concoction for dinner that turned out to be amazing! Yes, I shall give you my recipe though it’s definitely not a ‘healthy’ choice! 

Large pasta shells (entire box)

2 bottles of red pasta sauce – your choice

1 large can of white chicken breast meat – low fat

1 small container ricotta 

Other cheese (a couple of handfuls of the grated kind, I used 4 cheese Mexican mix) and about 1 cup mozzarella.

About half cup fresh Parmesan

Chicken salt or other seasoned salt, pepper to taste

Garlic powder

Parsley (fresh is best but jar will suffice)

Onion could be optional (I didn’t use it but had it just been me eating it, I would have)

Cook pasta shells about 9 mins as per directions. 

Get two large dishes and pour half a jar into the bottom of each dish (using and entire jar to do both).

Mix chicken, ricotta, half of 4 cheese blend (or equivalent), half of Parmesan and half mozzarella and parsley

Add salt and pepper to taste (literally taste it cold, you’ll know if you need more seasoning

Stuff shells with your mix filling up both dishes. Cover with remaining sauce (1/2 jar each) and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in a medium to hot oven (400F/200C)

Yum! Enjoy

  

I haven’t really touched on the T25 or Rodan + Fields stuff today but I don’t want to bore you by repeating myself daily either. There was nothing new to report today. All went well with my face regime this morning, my skin is feeling really good, no sensitivity at all. And it was rest day prior to stretching tomorrow before beginning T25 Beta Monday! 
So, now I sit here, my eyes are closing, I am tired from my day of doing a lot but not doing too much. Tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to followed by who knows what other adventures! Have a wonderful day or night, wherever you are. 
If you would like to order your own products from Rodan + Fields (the number 2 Premium skincare Company in the USA mind you) then please go to my website:

http://www.slongmorescott.myrandf.com

If you want to email me directly then please email me at:

aussiemumsadventures@outlook.com

And remember to like aussiemumsadventures on Facebook. 

Challenge Accepted Day 33

Hello and happy Friday! First things first, today was supposed to be a sleep in day but instead I awoke before hubby’s alarm, needing to go to the toilet but not wanting to get up! Isn’t it crazy how we do that? You lay there thinking it might pass because you don’t want to get out of your warm, cozy bed, never fully comprehending (no matter how many years you’ve been on earth) that the urge isn’t going anywhere and eventually you will have to give in to it. Today I held out for over an hour! Unfortunately meaning I didn’t ever go back to sleep, but somehow won the battle with my bladder because I did stay in bed! So, got up to the pitter patter of little feet at about 7 and got on with our day, me in desperate need of coffee before being the nice Mummy I can be sometimes. Madison unfortunately tested me before coffee intake and lost that battle! I gave her two chocolate doughnuts, she wanted the last three, I told her she could have two, she went on about how unfair it was, I sent her to her room and told her to come back downstairs when she had lost the attitude and to start again, this time without any doughnuts! So she did. Seriously, pick your battles with Mummy! And don’t even begin them when Mummy hasn’t had coffee, on top of holding her bladder for forever! 😜

We breakfasted without further incident and I finally willed myself to go upstairs and work out leaving the children playing on their tablets. Again, I could have used any excuse under the sun not to workout and I was thinking of them all. Even when I pressed play on ‘Cardio’ (no TBC today) I was thinking of excuses as to why I couldn’t do a second workout today, but I ignored them and I did lower focus. I did have a little half-chuckle to myself at my very brief notion last night of doing some extra squats and lunges. Bwahaha! After lower focus, there was no way in hell this body was capable of any extra lunges or squats! But it was good, and I was thankful to have not listened to my inner voice and to have done both workouts today and, given I am now about halfway through the T25 challenge, I wanted to show you my results:

  
Well, what do you think? I’d love some feedback! Madison told me I look a lot more muscular in the after shots. So I’ll take that as a win. I know the scales are only saying about a one pound difference (that’s about half a kilo) but the body is actually speaking (minor changes, I know) in these pictures. Thank god! As far as my face is concerned, I know you really want to see some photos of me without makeup as a halfway point for the R+F challenge, but I’m just not sure the photos are capturing the differences so I’m going to keep you in suspense until the due date for those results. If you look closely on the body photos, I’m not wearing any makeup and there is definitely a difference, you may just have to trust me on that one for right now. 
I followed my workout with my morning regime with Rodan and Fields and guess what? No irritation after using the AMP MD last night! Please ignore everything I said about using the AMP MD in the morning, the ‘night’ renewing serum is meant for just that and my skin felt amazing again this morning when I awoke and amazing after my morning regime. Back on track, I am. Yes, please call me Yoda. 😆 
I walked out of the bathroom with fresh skin, knowing what I wanted to do today; I wanted to paint and I wanted to be inspired by nature and by beauty. I dragged the kids and the dog down to the rice paddies and snapped some photos and collected some small branches and got a little inspired. I really like the ‘Southwest’ (USA) painting style and I am ok at it, whereas water inspired stuff, doesn’t work for me, as much as I love it. Now, please understand, I am on painting number 5 in my life. I’ve never had any training, not even art in school after grade 8, so this is a reasonably new hobby. I’m practicing my painting of water scenes but I did one painting of a Southwest scene and gave it to a friend and their daughter-in-law wanted to commission me to paint something similar for her family once they bought a new house, unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon how one looks at it) we moved over here and they moved into their house at about the same time. Anyway, back to the painting today, I wanted to try something different. When we were in Australia, I saw a lot of 3D art and thought today I would attempt to make my own. It didn’t quite come out like I had pictured it, well no, let me rephrase, I had no idea what I was planning on so I guess it came out as it was meant to….

  
(This was my second painting ever (well aside from finger painting I guess).

  
My abstract 3D painting from today…..

The afternoon was followed with drawing another ‘Southwest’ picture, I may just start painting it shortly. We’ll see. I have to go with the vibe when it hits me and I know I’m accountable to all of you each and every day as far as my blog is concerned, so that takes priority, well, after my family of course. Our dinner was a wonderful roast beef, I’ve finally mastered the 110 voltage converters here we live out in town rather than on the base/post and there are 110v and 220v plugs with a built in converter somewhere), they aren’t very good and for whatever reason, the 110v are very slow, even the toaster spits out bread rather than toast. So the 110V slow cooker has to have a couple of hours added on to the time, today’s meal took 10 hours whereas stateside it would have taken 8 on low cook. At least I know and can be prepared from now on. Anyway, the dinner was wonderful, a very lean, tender roast beef, with a gravy made from tomatoes, onions, celery, carrot, organic chicken and beef stock as well as vegetable stock and a light red wine, actually ‘Le card Bordeaux’, Alessandra couldn’t stop saying how wonderful the gravy was! We had Costco bread rolls, broccoli, mashed potato and homemade oven chips (fries) with chicken salt. Wonderful. All five plates clean. So, it’s Friday night, and I am going to say adieu because I haven’t really seen my hubby for a few days and finally he is here and doesn’t have his nose buried in paperwork, have a great day or night depending upon where you are and I’ll see you on Saturday! I’ll leave you with some more photos from our walk today:

  
  
  
  
  

Challenge Accepted Day 33

Hello and happy Friday! First things first, today was supposed to be a sleep in day but instead I awoke before hubby’s alarm, needing to go to the toilet but not wanting to get up! Isn’t it crazy how we do that? You lay there thinking it might pass because you don’t want to get out of your warm, cozy bed, never fully comprehending (no matter how many years you’ve been on earth) that the urge isn’t going anywhere and eventually you will have to give in to it. Today I held out for over an hour! Unfortunately meaning I didn’t ever go back to sleep, but somehow won the battle with my bladder because I did stay in bed! So, got up to the pitter patter of little feet at about 7 and got on with our day, me in desperate need of coffee before being the nice Mummy I can be sometimes. Madison unfortunately tested me before coffee intake and lost that battle! I gave her two chocolate doughnuts, she wanted the last three, I told her she could have two, she went on about how unfair it was, I sent her to her room and told her to come back downstairs when she had lost the attitude and to start again, this time without any doughnuts! So she did. Seriously, pick your battles with Mummy! And don’t even begin them when Mummy hasn’t had coffee, on top of holding her bladder for forever! 😜

We breakfasted without further incident and I finally willed myself to go upstairs and work out leaving the children playing on their tablets. Again, I could have used any excuse under the sun not to workout and I was thinking of them all. Even when I pressed play on ‘Cardio’ (no TBC today) I was thinking of excuses as to why I couldn’t do a second workout today, but I ignored them and I did lower focus. I did have a little half-chuckle to myself at my very brief notion last night of doing some extra squats and lunges. Bwahaha! After lower focus, there was no way in hell this body was capable of any extra lunges or squats! But it was good, and I was thankful to have not listened to my inner voice and to have done both workouts today and, given I am now about halfway through the T25 challenge, I wanted to show you my results:

  
Well, what do you think? I’d love some feedback! Madison told me I look a lot more muscular in the after shots. So I’ll take that as a win. I know the scales are only saying about a one pound difference (that’s about half a kilo) but the body is actually speaking (minor changes, I know) in these pictures. Thank god! As far as my face is concerned, I know you really want to see some photos of me without makeup as a halfway point for the R+F challenge, but I’m just not sure the photos are capturing the differences so I’m going to keep you in suspense until the due date for those results. If you look closely on the body photos, I’m not wearing any makeup and there is definitely a difference, you may just have to trust me on that one for right now. 
I followed my workout with my morning regime with Rodan and Fields and guess what? No irritation after using the AMP MD last night! Please ignore everything I said about using the AMP MD in the morning, the ‘night’ renewing serum is meant for just that and my skin felt amazing again this morning when I awoke and amazing after my morning regime. Back on track, I am. Yes, please call me Yoda. 😆 
I walked out of the bathroom with fresh skin, knowing what I wanted to do today; I wanted to paint and I wanted to be inspired by nature and by beauty. I dragged the kids and the dog down to the rice paddies and snapped some photos and collected some small branches and got a little inspired. I really like the ‘Southwest’ (USA) painting style and I am ok at it, whereas water inspired stuff, doesn’t work for me, as much as I love it. Now, please understand, I am on painting number 5 in my life. I’ve never had any training, not even art in school after grade 8, so this is a reasonably new hobby. I’m practicing my painting of water scenes but I did one painting of a Southwest scene and gave it to a friend and their daughter-in-law wanted to commission me to paint something similar for her family once they bought a new house, unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon how one looks at it) we moved over here and they moved into their house at about the same time. Anyway, back to the painting today, I wanted to try something different. When we were in Australia, I saw a lot of 3D art and thought today I would attempt to make my own. It didn’t quite come out like I had pictured it, well no, let me rephrase, I had no idea what I was planning on so I guess it came out as it was meant to….

  
(This was my second painting ever (well aside from finger painting I guess).

  
My abstract 3D painting from today…..

The afternoon was followed with drawing another ‘Southwest’ picture, I may just start painting it shortly. We’ll see. I have to go with the vibe when it hits me and I know I’m accountable to all of you each and every day as far as my blog is concerned, so that takes priority, well, after my family of course. Our dinner was a wonderful roast beef, I’ve finally mastered the 110 voltage converters here we live out in town rather than on the base/post and there are 110v and 220v plugs with a built in converter somewhere), they aren’t very good and for whatever reason, the 110v are very slow, even the toaster spits out bread rather than toast. So the 110V slow cooker has to have a couple of hours added on to the time, today’s meal took 10 hours whereas stateside it would have taken 8 on low cook. At least I know and can be prepared from now on. Anyway, the dinner was wonderful, a very lean, tender roast beef, with a gravy made from tomatoes, onions, celery, carrot, organic chicken and beef stock as well as vegetable stock and a light red wine, actually ‘Le card Bordeaux’, Alessandra couldn’t stop saying how wonderful the gravy was! We had Costco bread rolls, broccoli, mashed potato and homemade oven chips (fries) with chicken salt. Wonderful. All five plates clean. So, it’s Friday night, and I am going to say adieu because I haven’t really seen my hubby for a few days and finally he is here and doesn’t have his nose buried in paperwork, have a great day or night depending upon where you are and I’ll see you on Saturday! I’ll leave you with some more photos from our walk today:

Challenge Accepted Day 30

No run today but I did do abs, and that actually went really well. This was followed by a mad dash for the shower so I could drive hubby to work and have the car today. I picked up my friend Sara and we headed off to grocery shop (very exciting, I know) at both a local Korean store as well as at the commissary (the armed forces grocery store where you can get a lot of US staples). It was interesting. 
We started out the adventure at a place called Home Plus. Sara is of Korean heritage so even though she doesn’t speak the language fluently, she has a fairly good grasp of a lot of things, including foods. I ended up buying lots of amazing sweet Korean chips and a few other food items that I never would have tried had she not been with me, and having just opened a packet for Hunter to eat, I can rest assured they were really good. Honey chips. Yum. I bought a couple of bottles of Korean wine too, and something I guess is considered to be a whisky type drink but is very smooth going down. One day I’ll work up the courage to drink it all. Apparently that one sneaks up on you so we’ll see how it goes. 

  
We wandered around looking at cooking supplies and various other things, I even bought a set of chopsticks that are called learning chopsticks, so my kids can learn to use them and won’t look like crazy weirdo foreigners attempting (& failing) to use chopsticks. I’m excited for them to have a go. The only thing I didn’t think through was that I only bought one set, meaning fights are going to break out now whenever the chopsticks come out. Oh well, it was more for fun rather than serious learning so I didn’t want to spend another 5000 won on a second set. They’ll just have to take turns on different nights. 

  
We followed our sojourn to Home Plus with a visit to the Air Force Base, it was midweek lunchtime and the place was fairly busy but we got a carpark and were able to eat our lunch without much of a wait too, our only incident occurred when Hunter was in the little indoor play area and a little boy just pushed his head straight into a bar going across. I about lost my mind. I went and got Hunter, who was crying and said to this little boy, “That wasn’t very nice, in fact that was very mean!” I looked around trying to see a parent and couldn’t until eventually, the mother came over and told him to come and say sorry, he didn’t, but he did ask if Hunter was alright, so I let it go. I’m on kid number three, not too much is going to get me riled up, but I don’t like kids who are mean just for the sake of it and this kid was just that. 
Onto grocery shopping we went. My whole day has gone fairly smoothly and I think, I want to buy hubby a nice plant for his office. It’ll keep the air clean and give the place a little bit of life and just be nice. So I did. I picked out this really cute fern type thing. I put it in the trolley (cart) and went about shopping for fresh produce, next thing you know I can hear this really weird noise, I’m wondering what on earth it could be (Hunter has a miniature trolley so I’m looking to see if he has crashed into something) but no, it’s my newly picked out plant, it has fallen over and these large gravel bits are literally pouring out all over the floor. Crap! I go and try to pick up as many as I can but these things have gone everywhere! Hunter and I are down on the floor trying our best to put them back in the pot plant, when eventually I call it and say that’ll do. I should have known then that the plant was possibly jinxed as then they charged me twice for the thing and I didn’t even notice until I got all the way home! Bugger. Hubby had better appreciate it, that’s all I’m going to say. Honestly though, given the number of times Koreans tried to take us (or themselves) out on this trip, I’m going to thank my lucky stars! These people are wonderful, sweet, lovely, normal people, until you put them behind the wheel of a car, then they turn into these crazy, drag racer, speed demon, hellions, looking to risk life and limb to get down the road! Insane! 

 So what’s all this talk about Dolly Parton? Last night (as televised here in South Korea) Dolly performed with Katy Perry at the Country Music Awards. Dolly Parton and Katy Perry, and it wasn’t that bad. I love Dolly Parton. Coat of Many Colors has been a favourite of mine for many, many years and last year, the kids and I sat down and watched Dolly’s movie, they too now love the song because they saw new meaning behind it rather than just having Mummy playing it and singing in her best Dolly imitation! I sound amazing! Well, I do when no one else is in the car with me anyway! Actually even Hunter tells me how wonderful I sound, not anyone else, but at least I have one fan! 😜 So Dolly coming on last night and singing on a show I normally wouldn’t have watched (I’m not into singers, actors, etc awarding themselves for doing their jobs and getting a shit ton of money on top of that)! Anyway, I was looking for the show ‘The Good Wife’ and this was on instead and there were no other interesting options on our hugely diverse AFN (American Forces Network) with its 5 channel range, so I left it on whilst I finished my blog. Hearing in the meantime this crazy notion that Dolly & Katy were singing together. It wasn’t half bad either. I thought Katy Perry (though looking like she was taking the Mickey out of every Country fan but at the same time giving her own twist on traditional country garb) performed very well. When you’re up there on stage beside Dolly Parton, there’s some big boots to fill (figuratively of course). I wish I could see Dolly Parton perform live. My sister and my niece went and saw her and I was so envious! My friend in NZ went and saw her, again, feeling like I should have been there, but no. I guess Dolly and I are never destined to meet, even with me in the audience and Dolly on the stage! Each time I sing in my loud Dolly voice, I shall pretend I’m hearing the real deal! 😆 

  

My skincare regime wasn’t quite as normal after I finished watching them perform, I looked at my neck and it was very red and a bit sore to touch. I think I may have pressed too hard on the AMP MD or I may even have to face the fact that the AMP MD and I aren’t going to work well together anymore. I would have thought any tenderness would have shown it’s face in the early days, but I am no dermatologist and what I can tell you is that I could see marks on my neck from it and they were stinging. I know that doesn’t do much for the sales side of it, but I have really sensitive skin so I’m a little surprised I have been able to use it this long without incident. I also promised to be honest with you in this blog, always, even when things don’t necessarily go the way I want them to. I shall give the AMP MD a miss today and possibly tomorrow and use it very lightly on Thursday and see how I go and let you know then how it worked out. Today marks my halfway period with Rodan + Fields and I think my skin is looking and feeling better. I’m just trying to establish the reason behind this sudden tenderness. It may even be that diet is playing a role. Who knows. 

  

Some exciting news for the night is that we are heading to a place called Anmyeondo, it looks beautiful and it’s a beach! A real life beach! And it’s warming up! I may even be able to just sit down and enjoy it (ok that’s highly unlikely given I have a three year old but I can dream right). At least I will be able to go to this place and see if it’s somewhere we can go as a family one weekend. It looks amazing. One of the ladies in the ‘ville’ (what the little estate areas are called here where everyone lives and/or shops) is going and put it out there to see if anyone else wants to come and I saw the post and jumped at the chance. I have been so desperate for warm weather and water and beauty! To say I’m excited is a little bit of an understatement! Hubby can’t come but the kids and I are on Spring break, so we shall go and enjoy ourselves! I have even given him the heads up to not expect us home early and he’ll either have to find a ride or get a taxi home! 
Came to also find out upon hubby’s arrival home that we have a ‘Spring Gala’ to go to on May 6th. Here’s the crazy thing about the Military life, we may go through a lot of stuff and deal with hardships and adventures like very few other people but we also get to dress up and go to Cinderella type balls on a fairly frequent occasion. I couldn’t do it every day, but I do love dressing up every now and again like a princess. This one is a couple of hours away from us so we shall have to figure out some logistics but I think we’ve got most of it sorted out already. My goal to look fabulous before my next birthday just got real. Now I have a ball to dress for on the night before! The bison steak I just ate for dinner tonight along with the garlic bread and mashed potatoes and gravy had better come to a fast and firm end! 

As for everything else, well, it’s all good! I hope it’s all good in your neck of the woods too!

Challenge Accepted Day 28

Day 28 also known as four weeks into this challenge. Is that all? Feels like I’ve been doing this for much longer. We had a fairly quiet morning and a bit of a sleep in after a few glasses of wine last night. Love having kids old enough to do their own thing for a little while until we get up. 
Hubby and I stretched (T25 style) preparing ourselves for the week ahead. I’ve only got one more week on Alpha round and I’ve only really ‘nailed’ one workout! Not sure what that means, and I realized that I forgot to take any actual measurements of my various body bits before I started this challenge, I followed up with a shower and the Redefine regimen, I’m about at the halfway mark through my products so I must have been using the right amounts every time 😊. Tonight, I shall use the Redefine regimen and follow it with the MACRO Exfoliator it’s also an ACUTE Care night, so my skin will be thanking me immensely tomorrow. 
We picked eldest daughter up from her sleepover then took youngest daughter to a birthday party at a bowling alley. We thought it a great opportunity for the rest of us to bowl as well so that’s what we did. Then it was off to do some shopping. Nothing too exciting, but we did pick up a nice hat/coat stand that is literally a tree branch. Very cool, not what we were planning on buying but we have been looking for something unique and good quality to use as a hat stand, so it was perfect.

  
When we got home, it was definitely time for a nice long walk with our lovely, crazy puppy, so whilst hubby stayed back to help Ally with some math homework, Maddy and I walked through the rice paddies. It was a really nice walk. Unfortunately, we ran into the lady that doesn’t like me, of course, because that’s just going to be how it works, of all the nice people in the neighbourhood, she and I are destined to meet regularly. I’m not even sure why she has taken such a distinctive disliking to me. Oh well, her loss, cause I’m fun! 😜 

We watched the super train go by, it’s far enough away from our house that we can’t hear it but when we wander through the rice paddies we can see them go by regularly. We also saw a really pretty burial site (I’m assuming anyway). The rice paddies are also starting to pretty up. The farmers are always out working, I understand though having grown up on a farm and knowing my Mum and Dad spent every minute of their spare time working on said farm. It’s nice though to see it greening up and the cherry blossoms are coming into bloom as well as these other beautiful white flowers (not sure what they are called but they look so pretty). The day has been quietly satisfying though, sometimes one just needs some family time and a low key day, and that was our Sunday.
   
   
Have a great day or night wherever you are and as always, please like my Facebook page: aussiemumsadventures and if you’re interested in doing your own Rodan + Fields challenge then please go to my website: http://www.slongmorescott.myrandf.com