Faith

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” 

Romans 1:17

It's too easy to just live day-to-day on our emotions and dealing with what gets thrown at us daily on our own... But to trust God, no matter what, that it will all workout in the end -- that's what I still find a challenge.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-twoooOOOo..

Tomorrow is my 22nd birthday. It's been an interesting year - but there has a lot of growth and maturing - which is what all adults do eventually right? *UGH that word - adult*. I love that story of when you're with a child and they need an adult - and you realise that you're the adult!


Highlights of the past 365 days

• Purchasing my first car
• Hiking 6 hours on Christmas Eve
• Renovating Drew's bedroom
• Riding a Horse
• Seeing Wills and Kate
• Cooking Gnocchi (and pretty perfectly if I do say so myself)

What I'm looking forward to doing within the next 365 days of 22-ness! So in no particular order:

• Flatting!
• Travel to Greece or Canada or Tokoyo!
• Being more independent
• Learn how to bake something, gracefully and skilfully
• Participating in the Colour Run
• Having a marriage, not just getting married
• Going to Disneyland
• Be a more confident designer
• Going to the South Island of New Zealand.

What else should I have on my list? Do you have any suggestions?

Matthew 6:1

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven."

Matthew 6:1

The things I do, I don't do for you; or you; or you. You may not understand the choices that I make or the actions that I take - that's because they weren't assigned to you: but for me and my purpose on this Earth. That is not an excuse either for my actions, for at the end of the day we aren't judged by man, but by God. 

-

Everyone fits in somewhere - here or there, but once we find our little cosy corner, it's natural to want to give and serve and sow into the church. And that's where I find myself now. 

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Something big is happening at the end of this month...

It was decided about a month ago, that my Mum and Brother are moving to Australia!!!!

It's a scary thought for me, knowing that I won't have my Mum around to help me and tell me what to do, but the sliver lining is that I have more independence. Even though I'm 21, Mum has always kept a close eye on me - still doing those 'Where are you going?', 'Who are you going with ?', 'What time are you going to be home?', keeping me accountable I guess - plus still living at home, she still dictated a lot of my life. Not in a controlling way, just in the 'I'm the Mum, I'm the boss' way.

Mum asked me if I wanted to travel across the ditch with them, but honestly, I don't find that there is anything over there for me. Sure, the cost of living isn't high as NZ, but I would be leaving my friends, family, church and Drew. Sure you can meet new people and make new friends - but I've known a lot of these people for 5+ years - and they are the glue to who I am. Leaving them is not something I'm willing to do easily!

So what that means for me here, I've had to find a new home and a permanent job (currently I'm contracted). I'm fine on the home front - even though for timing I have to move twice - but I can't wait! The plan is to move to where I am currently for about a month or so, until I move with some good friends from church. What I'm looking forward to the most, is having more creativity with my space and letting my style free of the confines of my bedroom. Me and Mum's styling is quite polar opposites! She's the more simple, clean, refined - where I like… mixing modern and vintage, showcasing what I have in an organized clutter? Is that even a way to describe something? Ain't that an oxymoron!

If you have any style advice for my new room, or any words of encourage for when my family's left me behind…  leave me a comment below, I'd  greatly appreciate it!

MIA

Apologies for being out of action the past few months!

I've realized that i'm not the kind of blogger that has to have something out every week. I much prefer to share something that has some significance to me.

It's a long weekend due to Easter weekend and ANZAC coinciding, so I'm currently back in the Far North, spending time with these hairy monkeys! So far, kissed about every Nanny and semi-immediate family member within a 20k radius. I'm not up here very often, so a lot of the time I recognize faces rather than names. But I promise I'm trying!

At the Marae, I got the chance to try Poroporo (I tried to find a google definition but to no luck) which according to my Dad and Aunty is a Fish organ that works similar to a Kidney / Liver. It takes like Chicken, but it's quite tough and grainy like giblets. Was… ok - but not something I'm going to do again in a hurry.

Always learning a lot of my family tree  - like, my great great.. great grandfather's daughter had children to a Pakeha (NZ European), so her mother ran her partner away in attempt to keep the bloodline pure (maori).. long story short - that's where the European (Everitt) side comes from.

Not too much planned for the rest of the week, but I am definitely enjoying time away from the big smoke.

To everyone, have a safe and happy Easter x

2 years, baby!

Drew and I celebrated 2 years of togetherness yesterday with a nice quiet dinner at Jack Tar.
I've been to Jack Tar for a few events, but this was Drew's first time. He ordered the Pork Belly; which can with some greens and kumera mash, while I got Steak'n Chips. Both were sooooo gooood! Pork Belly had a bit too much fat, but the meat was delicious! Same with the Steak. Nomnomnom. Admittedly, I did order from the kids menu, but it was just the right amount. Bonus points that it cost a measly $10, holla!
Had dinner at 6, so it was quite picturesque with the sun-setting next to the ocean... How romantic *swoon* haha.
I've always enjoyed Silo Park - something is always changing and happening down on the wharf. Found that in one of the silo's had been painted with funky illustrations. If anyone knows who the artist is, let me know!

Home is where the heart is: II

The last couple of weeks have been super busy for me. Mainly because I don't seem to have any free time to myself, since we are in URGENT mode to get Drew's room finished!
So far we have successfully sanded, filled, and applied under coat to the room - and gosh it looks good if I do say so myself.

The photo below is taken last week just as we were finishing the prep work before paint and the bottom one was taken last night! The original colour of the walls were white, but after years of abuse, they're looking great with a new lick of paint! You can probably see that we haven't touched the wardrobe yet as it's not urgent, but the plan is to paint it with a darker colour, leaving the door off and adding some shelves in there (so i'm pretty happy with that!). We plan to add colour to the walls tonight, matching the living area with white trims and brown walls. (you know that kids brown that most 'modern' houses have these days).

 

Fingers crossed that it can be completed by this weekend!

Never would of thought...

I never, ever, would of thought that I would be the kind of person that looks forward to training. But I've become to like hitting the pavement, lifting weights, HIT - sweating, breathlessness and aching limbs; all in the name of progress. 

I've decided to take it up a notch and I've joined a community dedicated to changing their lifestyle for the better. Along with Kate,Tillie and a handful of other wonderful people, we have taken it upon ourselves to cover 365 miles.
As well as the goal to cover a mile a day (just over 1.5kms) there are monthly challenges to help fuel the fitness-fire. Since I'm late to the party, I'm currently making up for my squats… Oo Lord help me! (Tip: I have found a clever way, that everytime I have to go to the bathroom - 20 squats instead of one lump sum).  

Cheers to 2014.
May it bring good times, challenges to overcome, giants to slay and a tighter, fitter me!
This is my year.

Follow along with me on instagram and the rest of the team with the hashtag #365milesoverdays.

New Year, New Me

Late to party (as usual) but it's better late than never right?

So been doing a bit of thinking on what I would like to accomplish this year. And the usual 'get fitter' reared its ugly head again. Now I've been on that fit wagon for about 6 months now, and even though it's not (mainly) about weightloss, it's something for me to be more secure about physically and mentally, plus if there ever was a Zombie apocalypse...Y'know what rule number one is?

And then I ran into Kate the other day - and she gave me a wee nudge and shameless plug to join herself and Tille into their 365 miles/days - in which they have challenged themselves to hit the pavement for 1 mile, every day of the year.

And from that passing conversation - it's motivated me to do my own form of exercise everyday.
Currently, I'm going to the gym a few times a week - but now I want to turn it up and hit the pavement days between gym. Cardio and strength training, did anyone say "#BeastMode"?!
It's going to be challenging to keep up the consistency of training with work and such… but only time will tell :)

Wish me luck x

You can read about Kate and Tillie's journey at Lovingly, Kate and Hello Tille.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

This Christmas, Drew and I decided that we would camp this year with my family in the Far North at a Twilight Beach. 

I was totally unprepared for what was I getting myself into. 

Packed and all ready to leave on Christmas Eve, we left Kaitaia and travelled North past Te Kao, to a small road sign of Te Werahi Gate. So we parked up and with our bags packed to the brim with enough clothes, basic food and camping necessities for 3 days - and headed to our destination of Twilight Beach. 

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and scorching temperatures. 

At this point I was looking forward to what originally was thought to be a 20min walk, turned into a discovery of 2+ hours - which as inexperienced 'hikers' was a 4hr journey from A to B. (Looking back now it's kinda funny)

Taking in the beautiful untouched scenery of the Far North, mixed with the exhasberation of heat and added weight was a love/hate kinda relationship. 

Looking back, I probably would do it again. 

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Numero Uno

Hey, Hi!

Welcome to my personal blog. I've been thinking for a while about starting a blog - or at least somewhere to write and post about life, what I like, thoughts.. y'know - stuff.
Plus I'm online a heck of a lot - so why not a blog?
I can't promise that this will even be a 'thing' or that it will work out. But hey - never know!

Since I'm contracted, there hasn't been much to do lately, so I've been working on my tan and walking a bit around my side of town.
Looking forward to getting back into being productive next week!

D x

What I'm listening to: I'm absolutely loving Tori Kelly's EP - Forward. Her voice is just amazing! So smooth and soulful.
What I'm watching: I am a devout follower of Revenge and Bones! I have recently started watching Arrow, DC/Marvel show. I think what I love about it the most is that it is like Revenge, but more action!
What I'm wearing: It's summer so it's all about keep cool, yet chic - so it's all about summer dresses for me!


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