Fab Five Fri...Saturday

Once again I'm playing along with Frizzy at Heaven's Gift for Fab Five Friday.

I'm sharing five photos that I took during the week. I encourage you to click the link and visit Frizzy's blog. While you're there, check out the photos that the other participants have posted.

This photo of a pretty pink rose was taken in my backyard. I mentioned last week that I love flowers, and roses are my all time favourite. I also mentioned that I'm not much of a gardener. Unfortunately, my rose bushes have to make do without the proper pruning and feeding that they need to do their best. They do, however, still look beautiful in the summer.

This is my dog Lucy. I've taken lots of photos of her because she's just so adorable! She's 9 months old and a Spoodle (Cocker Spaniel cross Miniature Poodle). Aww... aint she cute :)

I spent part of Australia Day at the beach. For those of you who aren't familiar with Australia Day, I could write a whole post about it, and I won't try and give you an Australian History lesson today. Suffice to say that it's a public holiday marking the arrival of the first convicts to Australia and, coming at the end of the summer holidays as it does, is a "last hurrah" for fun in the sun before the school year starts and the country gets down to business.

This is my gorgeous boy Josh, all ready to jump into the surf on Australia Day.

In the centre of this photo is my beautiful girl Alana. My hubby Chris is in the foreground.

The "other Aussie flag". The surf lifesavers play such an important part in keeping everyone safe at the beach.

The red and yellow flags mark the area of the beach that is safe for swimming, and are an iconic Aussie image.

I hope you've enjoyed my photos this week, and again encourage you to visit Frizzy and check out the other participants.

Fat Ass Friday and my take on The Biggest Loser.

I can't even pretend that I worked on weight loss this week. I didn't. But you know what? I don't feel bad about myself, or guilty, because I know that I don't eat excessively and my diet is generally healthy.

Watching promos of The Biggest Loser's new season is a real eye-opener. This season the trainers have to spend a week living with the people that they are going to be working with, and they must EAT THEIR FOOD. ALL OF IT. And it's horrifying to see what these people eat. They go through the drive-through at McDonalds THREE TIMES A DAY. They eat whole tubs of icecream covered in chocolate sauce and lollies for dessert FIVE TIMES A WEEK. They have their own special recipe for creamy pasta that involves whole cartons of cream AND sour cream. What the hell???

Of course these people are significantly overweight, unhealthy and lack energy. Of course with a few weeks of healthy eating and exercise, the weight will fall off them. And good for them. In exchange for personal training and support with nutrition they are putting their lives on the television screen for all to see in the name of entertainment. They deserve to have great outcomes.

But it also makes me a little bit cranky. It seems so unfair. I don't eat anything like these people. I stick to three meals a day with healthy snacks. I eat regular food - fruit and veg, breakfast cereal, sandwiches, casseroles and the like. I like a glass of wine with dinner, and I'm partial to a hazelnut latte. I can honestly say that I take care to get the nutrients that I need and don't eat too many foods with "empty calories" - foods that have lots of fat and sugar but don't provide any nutrients. I walk the dog every day, swim once a week, and practice tai chi. So why do I look alarmingly similar to some of the (admittedly smaller) biggest losers?

So, what are your eating habits like? Please don't gloat if you are one of those annoying types that can eat whatever they want and stay slim. Have you unlocked any secrets that help the metabolism to ramp up and burn those calories? Is running the answer? Lots of protein? Cutting carbs? And do you enjoy watching The Biggest Loser?

If you'd like to participate in Fat Ass Friday then click on the button at the top of the post and play along!

Happy Australia Day!

It's hot :(

Feeling a bit un-Australian because we're not at the beach or barbeque-ing. We are instead sitting around at home with the air conditioner on, watching TV, playing on the computer, and trying to decide whether or not to go to the beach a bit later in the afternoon when it cools down a bit. Wish we had a pool!

I'm going to use this opportunity, it being Australia Day today, to invite you to indicate your interest in participating in Beautiful Bloggers Australian Adventure House Swap. Go on! Click on the link and check it out! I'll wait...

Now that you're back, I'll tell you a bit more about what I have in mind for the House Swap. Firstly - DO NOT PANIC - by demonstrating your interest you are not going to make yourself vulnerable to me turning up on your doorstep demanding entry! You are not committing to anything!

Secondly, I want everyone to be able to join in the fun of learning about Australia, my town, and the activities of my daily life. And I want to learn about other countries too. So I'd like to run a series of blogging challenges. For example, I might write a post titled "Brisbane Water National Park" and challenge all participants to post about a place of natural beauty near their home. Or I might write "Meet the Gosford Tigers AFL Club" and challenge everyone to write about a local sporting or community club that their family is involved in. Get the idea?

Thirdly, if I get enough interest we might even be able to run a competition in which followers vote for their favourite post in each category. If there are enough people following my blog and participating we might even find some sponsers to donate items for giveaways! Yay!

Of course the idea is that once my family and the other blogger's family are safely installed in each other's houses, the blogging will continue! Imagine what amusing posts we'll be able to write about our experiences with culture shock in another country, trying the local food, meeting the people and living the life.

Lastly, I'm using my readers' interest (or lack thereof) as a guide for whether or not to go ahead with this idea. If there doesn't seem to be much interest, I will put the idea on the backburner for another time.

So, Happy Australia Day one and all, and I hope that you will give me some feedback about the house swap idea.

I've decided to participate in Fab Five Friday at a blog that's new to me - Heaven's Gift. It's Saturday here at my place, but I'm not letting that stop me :)

Fab Five Friday is about sharing our top five photos for the week. So if you like taking photos, you might like to click on the link, visit Heaven's Gift, and play along too.

I don't think I actually took any photos this week, but since it's my first go at Fab Five Friday I don't think anyone will mind if I post some photos that were taken earlier.

This one is of a Gardenia and was taken in my front yard. I'm not much of a gardener, but I love any flowers with a scent and Gardenias have the most heavenly perfume. I associate the smell of Gardenias with Christmas because they bloom in summertime. This photo was taken just before Christmas.

This is the trunk of a Scribbly Gum, taken in my back yard. It was taken in the evening as the sun went down and I love the shadows and the colours where the bark is coming away.

This photo was taken just before Christmas at a beach that my kids and I like to go to. It's called The Haven because it is in a sheltered bay so is very safe for families. Because my kids are 10 and 12, I can sit under the shade of a tree sipping coffee while my kids swim, play on the sand, or explore the rockpools for starfish.

I took this photo on New Year's Eve sitting in the waterfront reserve in my town. Every New Year's they have a family-friendly fireworks display at 9pm. We got there at about 7:30pm so we could get a good position, and I took some photos as the sun went down.

This is one of my nieces, Darcy. The photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when my family and my sister's family went on holidays together. One night we got out the glow necklaces and sparklers for the kids to play with after dark. Though the photo is grainy, I just love it!

All these photos were taken on my iPhone. I don't own a camera, but my phone goes everywhere with me so I find it the easiest way to make sure I capture special moments.

Have these photos in any way inspired you with a desire to visit Australia? If so, you should check out the Beautiful Bloggers Australian Adventure House Swap. 

The mystery of "the camera adds ten pounds"

I'm joining in again with Brandy for Fat Ass Friday.

Just click on the button to visit her blog and hear all about her battles with Cheddar Biscuits and Zumba in the quest for a slimmer and more shapely ass!

I'm not fully on the weight-loss bandwagon yet, but I still enjoy playing along.

I'd like to pose an interesting question: Why is it that while the mirror can lie, the photograph never does?

Do you have this experience too?

I don't know about you, but I can easily look at myself in the mirror and be fooled that I look great - certainly not overweight at all! But when I look at photos of myself I see the awful truth - I am actually overweight after all. How does this happen?

Another mind-boggling mystery for us to all meditate upon...