Looking over the edge

The Remarkables Birthday bash

So my agent’s 1st birthday was on Thursday evening at Eau De Vie in Darlinghurst. It was a slightly, quirky and cosy venue, perfect for the celebration. Lorraine has done super amazingly well in her first year of business and has such incredible growth. She is helping open so many doors for bloggers in Australia. I am stoked to be a part of it. I drank far too much wine, but had so many amazing conversations and laughter with old friends and new.

Sugar free, dairy free, gluten free pumpkin pie

One day I will become a better food photographer

I fell in love with pumpkin pie when we lived in the States. I was super excited to make this recipe from Sarah Wilson’s I quit sugar ebook. It was delicious!! Kalyra could  not get enough of it.I need to make a few slight adjustments next time but its a winner for sure.  Click here to view details of her cookbook (affiliate link)

P.S just made another one tonight and nailed it!

Sarah Wilson’s hard cover book

I was so excited to get this book for Mother’s Day. I have the ebook version, but when I am cooking, I like to hold a real book in my hand and this book is so pretty I get a ton of food inspiration from it. I’m really loving this lady!

Village Voices 2013 Launch Party

WE attended the launch party for the Village Voices 2013 Best blogger competition. Craig was about one of the only men in the room, which he of course loved! It was fab to see old friends and meet some really cool people. I just love my blogging community. So many people following their passions and inspiring others to transform their lives.

AND I am immensely proud of  myself for choosing to drive and forego a night of too many wines. I’m finally listening to my body! I had fun regardless.

Song of the week: Blurred lines by Robin Thicke

This is such a groovy, catchy tune

What are you grateful and happy for this week?

Gratitude and happiness Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast

The budget was released yesterday, or wait was it the day before? I don’t really remember. All I know was I heard the words deficit and surplus mentioned several times and members of both political parties tearing each up yet again.

Yawn. Switch over to The Voice, something that at least inspires me to reach greater heights.

I often feel bad at my total disdain and lack of interest in politics and budgets. I mean I really should care shouldn’t I? Isn’t it these things that determine my fate? Shouldn’t I be more concerned with how the country is being run and what it means for all people?

It’s not that I don’t care, I really do, but I care more about helping people see how they are in fact in charge of their lives, not political parties, or government budgets. I don’t really have a political allegiance, because my views and beliefs are always evolving so how can I lock myself into one way of thinking all my life AND I know that whoever is in and whatever policies they set won’t effect me to a large degree.

Now if I was living in a country like Iran or Sudan, I might have a different view. Policies set by those political systems do tend to have a very large effect on an individual’s life.

But, I’m not that fussed here in Australia. You see I’ve never cared about government or budgets and I have spent the majority of my adult life living it how I want. I’ve traveled and worked around the world in various different jobs, and positions, and now created my own business and ultimate lifestyle. I’ve made lots of money and I have lost a shit load of money (read that pain here)

Absolutely none of this happened in my life as a result of budgets or government policy, or political parties in power. It all happened as a result of my choices. Sure I have a lot of freedom and the Australian government does do a really good job of looking after it’s people. Sometimes perhaps a little too good. And I really do appreciate this. So in this regards perhaps it plays a much bigger hand than I realize. (BTW I base this opinion from living in 5 countries- believe me we’ve got it good in Australia)

But, what I am trying to get at is that you can never ever rely on government to give you the life you want and to make your circumstances better or worse. You are at the centre of it. You hold all the power. It’s why during recessions or depressions many millionaires are made.

It’s people saying I’ll make it work no matter what, I”ll arm myself with knowledge and experience and I’ll seize opportunities.

I have always had the attitude in life, even as a young girl, if I don’t know something I’ll learn it. I’ve had this strange need to make myself invaluable and arm myself with as many skills as possible so that I cover all bases.

That way when the shit hits the fan thanks to government policies, and we know that is possible, I can go make my life better with my own skills and knowledge. I don’t fall in a heap and curse my political leaders. Why would I want to leave my life to people who seem more intent on name calling and one up man-ship than to work together to make a business thrive?

They can’t look after the needs of all people, it’s impossible. With each new policy and budget release there will be losers. And even if you fall into these groups who lose, you can still decide to be a winner.

So I really don’t know how the new budget will effect me or anyone else around me. I have never known. I don’t want to lose my focus on what it is I can do to make my life great.

But then again, maybe I don’t care because I don’t really understand the words deficit and surplus.

Do you?

Let’s get the discussion going:

Why should I care about budgets and policies? Do you? or do you feel you can still win regardless?

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But, it is not great for the wallet. To compensate for this last year we brought an espresso coffee machine for our home office. Craig and I recently became certified baristas with a barista course we did at Barista Basics in Sydney.

So yeah, we are serious about making good coffee at home.  (Read more coffee facts here)

I cannot stand instant coffee and when buying my espresso coffee I am always looking for fair trade, organic and from a wide variety of cultures. It is also one of the first things I buy now at new travel destination. I get a thrill each time I discover a new local blend.

Republica Coffee

Take a break

I was delighted to be contacted by Republica Coffee to run a giveaway through Mojito Mother.

I have purchased their coffee many times before at the supermarket and they definitely have the Mojito Mother check. GREAT coffee, 100% fair trade, 100% organic and very exotic with their flavours. My favourite is the Timor blend– Delicious fruity aroma and dark chocolate notes.

I love the story behind this company as well. Jacqueliene Arias is the founder of Republica and the idea came from a visit to her home country, Colombia with her family. Columbia is known to have some of the best coffee in the world, except Jacqueline could not find a decent cup. She realized the great tasting beans were being exported to feed the coffee addictions in the Western World and the poor local farmers were receiving barely anything for producing the best beans.

Jacqueline decided to create an ethical food company that ensures Third World farmers are paid fairly and quality and taste are paramount and so Republica was born

My vision for República® has always been and remains to build the most ethical food brand in Australia. It’s our driving philosophy, and it’s our promise to you; every República® product is 100% Fair Trade, 100% Organic and 100% Carbon Neutral.

I am extra happy therefore to be giving these packs away on the blog and introducing people to a reputable coffee brand who is contributing to economic sustainability for those in developing countries.

You can find more information At

República website  and their Facebook page

República coffee is available online and in Coles and Woolworths nationwide.

The Ultimate Coffee break with Republica

Enter to win

This is an awesome prize created to help you get some much deserved “Me” time. You know it, you need it.

The prize pack includes:

• aromatic candle
• the Ultimate Chill 2012 CD
• a copy of Penguin Classic ‘The Great Gatsby’ AND
• República coffee every month, for five months, delivered directly to your doorstep!

And I have 5 of these to give away!! Yay!

Each pack is valued at $350.

AWESOME me time coming up

To enter just fill in the form below answering the question, “Why do you need ME time at the moment in 50 words or less?”

Don’t forget to share this giveaway with any coffee loving friends.

Terms and Conditions

1. Only open those with an Australian postal address
2. The giveaway is a game of skill. Entries will be judged based on originality and creativity
3. The giveaway opens on Weds 15th May at 8am AEST and closes 22nd May at 11pm AEST
4. Entries are judged by independent third parties
5. There will be 5 prize packs worth $350 for a total prize value of $1750

Win some ME time with an Ultimate Republica Coffee break – worth $350 Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast

Thankfuly, due to early diagnosis, they got it when it was really small and in the early stages. She was operated on and all is fine. She has to have chemo to ensure it won’t return. It’s knocking her around a bit as you would expect. She’s a bloody trooper though. So amazingly strong and positive about the whole situation. She just put her head down and said, “Right, let’s do what we have to do and get rid of this sucker.”

And she did.

It was a beautiful day in Sydney and spending the morning walking through the Domain was just wonderful. How beautiful is this city? I never grow tired of how pretty she is.

The kids had a fantastic time and they all made the 4km walk with us. Savannah had a ball and politely lined up next to the cupcake tin when it was all over awaiting her reward. We finished the day with a picnic in the Botanical Gardens.

It was a lovely Mother’s Day.

Contemplating the walk

At the starting line

Beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral

The super babes

My mother in-law

Savannah joins in with enthusiasm

Superheros have time for cape crusading

Where’s the Opera House?

Gorgeous trees everywhere

I’ve got my eyes on the prize

1.2.3. Attack

Stunning skyline views

The world’s prettiest harbour

Flowers in the botanical garden are so pretty

Finishing at the Opera Bar

How did you spend your Mother’s Day?

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Do you jump?

You’re standing at the edge of a ravine. You have a harness around your ankle and attached is a really long chord which is firmly attached to a steel bridge. You hope.

You’re terrified and feel as if you are going to pass out. But, you’re told that if you jump, a part of you that is used to giving into fear will be smashed to smithereens. From now on you’ll be able to do anything.

You’re tired of being fearful, so are willing to scare the shit out of yourself and jump, praying that you won’t die just to prove something to yourself. This is your chance to get rid of your fear  by doing only one huge task.

Some would call it the instant fix. The path of least resistance that humans love to take. Just let me take that pill, do that one task, invest that large amount of cash, play the lotto and in one ball drop all my problems will be gone.

Do you take that jump, or do you step away and instead choose to tackle your fears in small steps by facing them rather than a short intense jump through them?

I was faced with this choice on my recent trip to Port Douglas. Sky dive or not? (I wrote about it over here.)

I’ve bungy jumped before, but I was 21, before the part of my brain was developed that understood about risk and consequences. I jumped, not to prove I was fearless, but because I thought it would be fun to scare the shit out of myself and beat my chest after.

I know longer think risking my life is fun because I love my life too much to let it go.

Skydiving for me was the same. I knew

a) I would be shit scared the whole time so would not have any fun, perhaps the last 5 mins of the experience when I knew I was a not going to die. A couple of months of fear build up for that is not worth it.

b) that I did not need to sky dive to prove that I was powerful beyond measure.

I already knew that.

I’ve known because of the little growth steps I’ve taken consistently; by staying present in every moment of my life and taking risks that brought me far greater reward; from pushing my own comfort boundaries that did not bring in the risk of death or injury.

It’s just like bathing, you have to do it everyday. And in small steps so that my mind, body and spirit is in a happy, peaceful place to absorb the lessons, which in turn help to move you through to the next comfort level.

We need to be shaken up and sometimes the jumps off cliffs or the walks across glass do serve that purpose. They can show us how much power we give to our fears, but those short intense moments will never change your life.

You will change your life.

It’s the series of small steps that has done it for me.

It’s the consistent application of personal development that has helped me. It’s the consistent actions of doing something each day that scares me: making a phone call, writing a post, standing up at assembly to talk to 500 Thai high school boys who did not understand a word I said, sharing my insights too crowds of adults.

So if you have certain fear blockages in your life, I urge you to look more at the small, consistent steps to overcome them. Don’t look for the one intense task that you think will smash it in one go.

It rarely works.

Share with me.

What can you do today to start this process? What small, consistent steps have you taken to move through your fears? Or do you think a slam dunk like jumping off a bridge with a chord attached to your ankles will do it?

How do we overcome our fear? Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast

Let’s make it happen

We’ve had this ultimate vision for sometime.

Taking off with the kids and travelling around Australia for at least a year. Something quite unsurprising happened in the two and a half years since we moved back to Australia.

We fell in love with it.

Australia is such a unique, diverse and stunning country. The food and wine is superb, the climate varied, yet pretty good and the people fab.

I’ve spent far too much of my life exploring the rest of the world and running away from Australia. Now I just want to stay.

When you have a plan as big as ours you often get stuck trying to make it happen. Australia is not bloody cheap. So many Aussies flock to international borders because they feel they get better value for money, and you can, but there are plenty of ways you can experience Australia on the cheap.

But, it still doesn’t get you over the hurdle of making it happen.

The challenges arise and you sit and wait– you know for the fairy to come and sprinkle some luck.

The fairy doesn’t come when you wait though, it comes when you spring into action.

After the past few months of craziness and myself struggling with some health challenges, I said F##k it. What am I waiting for? I’m tired of operating from neutral and not making every day count. The days are much shorter than we ever really notice.

So we sprang into action. Our dream, let’s make it happen.

Let’s take off around Australia and showcase this beautiful country and help people see that travel in Oz is possible and is worthwhile.

It’s scary making a commitment like that and not knowing how you are ever going to make it a reality.

But, you really don’t have to know how. You just have to be committed, passionate and dedicated to serving.

It has to be about the greater value you can bring rather than what you can get.

When you switch your thinking, miracles begin to occur. The Universe starts to move things around to align with your greater vision.

As soon as we sprang into action, doors began opening that we didn’t even know were there–with no effort on our behalf.

Our road trip around Oz is looking more like  a reality every day. No our road trip around Oz is a reality.

No more waiting. Let the planning and the magic begin.

How do you spring into action to make your dreams a reality? Let’s share some tips below

Stepping up to the dream to road trip around Oz Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast

Whitehaven Beach

Trip to the Whitsundays

We stretched our boundaries, got to know one another better, had shit-loads of laughter, drank too much wine, and was stunned by the beauty that is the Whitsundays. Man I LOVE Queensland. It just keeps getting better and better. See more photos here

Making progress on our ultimate goal

We’re finally making progress on our ultimate goal–the vision we have had for our blog since we began. Persistence pays off eventually. We’ve had so many setbacks and rejections at times we thought of quitting. Thank God we didn’t. Excited to see where the next month takes us.

Sharing our secret

Last week, Craig wrote a powerful post on y Travel Blog, I want to know your secret. I was really proud of him and it was immensely popular. It was also heart-wrenching for us.

But now I feel quite free. He spilled the secrets behind our success–and it’s not luck. Truly. Read the post and see. You’ll discover how the past 5 years we lost everything, and I mean close to half a million dollars. By the hand of our own stupidity as well. It’s been a bloody hideous five years but our passion for what we do and hard work has turned it around.

What I loved so much was the supportive community responding to the post. Something we have been so ashamed about for years gave people hope and inspiration. I think I was able to release the shame and pain a little. Deepest deepest gratitude.

Family travel video

This is why I travel with my kids!

Featured in That’s Life

We made the cover even! A short story of our travel life was written in this week’s edition of That’s Life.

Savannah starting to talk

My little munchkin is a late talker, but it is because she has always been a brilliant communicator and did not need her words. She also is not a person who is in a rush to achieve, she has the attitude of it will happen when it happens, whereas Kalyra is my gung ho girl. She’s always striving and hitting those goals before anyone else. It’s so funny that their births reflected those two characters!!

Anyway Savvy is chatting away and delighting herself and everyone else with her words. She is so darn cute. Don’t our babes have the sweetest voices when they first start talking.

Song of the Week Pompeii by Bastille

Reading:

Are you a crap friend? I am. by Laney from Crash Test Mummy

Debunking the myth about blogging and stats by Kim from Working Women Australia

Gratitude and happiness Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast

Our tormentor ensured that he amassed the pile so that it was extra sharp before we walked over it.

Why on earth would we do this?

To prove we were bigger than our fears of course.

We were in the Whitsundays at our Remarkables AGM, in an empowering seminar about achieving your dreams and pushing yourself outside your comfort barriers in order to do it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the energetic perspective It is amazing how teachers arrive in your life at the right time.of the talk. For the past year energetic healers have been present in my life and I have been exploring this path.

I resonated with and understood so much of what the speakers, Doug and Terrianne told us. And of course, with open mind and heart I learned so much more.

Mostly that our fears seem so much bigger than they really are.

When they first laid out the pile of broken glass for us to walk along, dread hit my stomach and my thoughts were “You have got to be kidding me. No way.”

All I could see was a shredded foot and  a trip to the hospital. I have done far too many of them the past 18 months.

Are you kidding?

I’ve heard of fire walking at other empowering seminars, but that seems to be focused on the intense raising of your energy levels so you feel invincible and that adrenalin is what gets you walking without being burned.

I kind of thought burned feet would be better than cut ones. At least I could run like a jack rabbit over the coals if it all went pear shaped.

Where was my back door with this one?

Walking over the broken glass was more about centering yourself and finding your own quiet and steady power. There was no intense motivational build up needed. It’s all about going within.

It was a very emotional scene as each of us fought to find our own power to walk over the glass. After watching Nikki and Carly go over first without a scratch I had a deeper sense of confidence that I could do the same.

And so when they asked who was next, I strode up to the front.

I was shaking, but the only way I know to tackle my fear is to hit it straight on. Had I stood around and watched anyone else do it I probably would have let the fear win and found an excuse to bow out.

Doug held my hand and guided me through the walk. His conviction helped me to find my own and I deliberately and gently placed my foot on the pile. Points of glass began jabbing at my foot. I ignored them as best I could, focusing only on my goal and drawing the power from within my stomach to hold me steady.

It took a lot of focused energy to put the full pressure down on that foot in order to move my left foot in front on the pile of glass also. Both feet on glass gnawing at my skin desperate for a taste of my blood. I held firm and then carefully moved off.

Done.

Let’s do this

Stay calm and focused

Feet courtesy of Veggie Mama

And then the weirdness of it all. I felt as if I hadn’t really achieved much. It was as if I just walked over a pebbly beach. Even hours later, my mind didn’t even fully grasp that it was broken glass I walked over which could have literally sliced open my feet. It felt no big deal to me, which showed me how much bigger we make our fears.

We blow them up to be things that are going to take us down, cut us, or even worse kill us. They become so real that we stop walking upon the paths of our destinies, choosing instead the perceived safe route, which really is no different to the route that is filled with fears. It’s just a shorter way and we gain more power by walking over the fears instead of around them.

You can walk over the fears if you do it deliberately and gently and go deep within to that place of knowing and strength that each of us has.

And once you do that you’ll feel like it was no big deal, because that immense power you gain by moving through your fear takes you to a greater level without you even really noticing that you stepped over the boundary of your comfort zone.

Fears, broken glass, meh so what? I’m more powerful than all of that.

It sometimes takes walking over piles of broken glass to figure it out.

Have you walked over broken glass before? Would you?

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Should I stop writing on Mojito Mother or at least severely cut back?

With my heavy  work load I can no longer cope with the attention she desires.

It has been a wicked couple of months with my girls. I really am parent clueless lately and I battle every day with the feelings of not doing it right, and somehow damaging my girls.

Savannah is killing me! She’s so freakin adorable and makes me laugh so hard, but come midday and 7pm she has me shaking in my boots with dread. Getting her to sleep is (roughly) a 1-2 hour nightmare. I’m now back to rocking my baby to sleep. WHATEVER works. Shall be paying for it for years to come no doubt.

And child care is not doing much else other than giving Savannah truck loads of germs. She rarely even gets to go for her one day a week anymore. Poor bubby, I think we might have to pull her out.

My strength is about whacked. On top of that is ongoing health issues for me, and general dissatisfaction with certain aspects of my life. I’ve been going through huge upheavals, but holding on to the fact that it is me clearing up the shit and making room for the amazing! It’s slowly getting better.

But enough about that.

I love writing in this space. I don’t feel I do much and  mostly I don’t know what I am doing or if it matters or makes a difference.

Every time I decide I am going to quit as I can’t manage it, I receive a message from a reader saying how this site makes a difference.

It’s hard to quit when you know people’s lives are uplifted by your words (no matter how strange you might think this is.)

I feel a lot of what I do here is quite wishy washy and I just can’t seem to focus on one area or what it is I really need to do. I am hoping Marie Forleo’s B-School will help.

For now my business focus has to be y travel blog. This is my baby and greatest love, the place I feel I can make the most difference.

It is growing rapidly at the moment and I need to jump on that momentum to do more. I’m annoyed at myself for not getting my own products created and missing far too many boats. Three years without putting out my own product is really bad and shows how little I think of my own value and how fearful I am.

I am annoyed at a lot of things lately which I am trying hard to sort out and move back to my space of happiness and gratitude.

I am longing for the day when we have enough income coming in to hire a team to release a lot of the burden so I can be free to do what I want on this space… when I figure out what that is.

I ain’t letting Mojito Mother go. I’m going to sit on her for awhile until I work out what to do. I like to sit on my problems and indecision. I trust that the Universe will deliver me the right answer when it is ready.

I’ve been sitting on my new tag line and look for this site for months. Just last week, while in the shower it came to me, and it is perfect. A few days later my designer presented me with my new looking Mojito Mother site. It’s HOT.

It has inspired me to stick with it and allow it to be reborn with a new energy and focus. Slowly the new way is unravelling itself to me.

For now, I will be posting here at least once or twice a week. I don’t think I can do any more than that at the moment. I’ll keep you posted. I hope you’ll hang out with me still and embrace the new look and focus when she arrives…

at the time she is meant to.

For now enjoy the magic of the Universe!

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pondering

Let’s really get behind gratitude this week. We can only change our world by changing ourselves, and we start changing ourself through gratitude.

Transformation

It’s been a rough ride for me for the last few weeks, but I’m kicking those demons out and transforming my life from blur to clarity. Great chaos always comes before change. Sometimes we need massive shake up to be able to let go of those things: thoughts, ideas, people or things that no longer serve you.

New Zealand Gay Marriage rights granted

Yay!! Go Kiwis. Let’s follow their evolved path and bring about equality for all. All that matters is One Love.

The human spirit

I hope everyone was looking at the helpers this week. What happened in Boston was horrific and they targeted an event that is all about the triumph of the human spirit. I cannot ever understand why people don’t work for peace. My heart bleeds a little for those who commit these horrendous acts because I know their spirit is lost, confused and broken. And if every spirit was full of love and peace the world would be beautiful. We have to take comfort in those who let their spirit shine, who use it for good. we must focus on those people and use their light to inspire us to be better.

When you focus on all those who gave selflessly you know that the world is indeed a beautiful place and the human spirit beautiful and empowered.

Back on radio

I was invited to join the travel chat on 702ABC Radio again last week. This time I was talking about family travel, particularly tips for travel with kids on planes.

My doctor

I hate that I’ve had to see a doctor so much this past year. But he’s really cool. Sometimes he talks too much, but other times you welcome it as he calms your fears. He uses Google to help illustrate a point or to assign me extra homework. He makes my girls laugh, he’s a surfer and a traveller. I appreciate how he’s not in a hurry to get you out the door and he helps to take away my fears by just giving me the facts and focus just on that.

Song of the week: Can’t hold Us–Macklemore

This song makes me just want tto get up and put my hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us!! It has the most amazing, dance your heart out energy. Is Macklemore killing Eminem as the best white rapper ever? I love him!

What I’m reading

How to get kids to eat  -fantastic tips from Nic at Planning with Kids
Brenda Davidson mystic

The importance of Nature Travel Bret from Green Global Travel features nature love from 20 travel bloggers

You were born psychic how to return to your mystical self By Belinda Davidson– Love the story behind this

Channeling the spirit of the Boston Marathon by Uncornered Market

Your turn:

I’d love to hear what you are grateful and happy for this week. Let’s spread the love

Gratitude and happiness Thanks so much for subscribing! Don't forget to join our fan page community and subscribe to my podcast