A few of my favourite things... part 2

So thanks to my good friend, Michele May, I was introduced to a little delicious gem of a shooter this Christmas..  I am not really a shooter kind of girl but this one is yummy, easy-drinking, sweet and delicious, and not too strong - so just perfect really.

My sister, Yvonne, made it on Christmas Day as well and it was a huge hit!  The recipe is as follows and she has named it The Milk Tart:

In a jug mix:
300ml Vodka
1 tin of condensed milk
1 tin (big one) of evaporated milk

Pour out into shooter glasses and top each one with a sprinkle of cinnamon!  Amazing.

#onefootinfrontoftheotherblog #someofmyfavouritethings #decemberholidays2015 @imorossam

These are a few of my favourite things...

My Mr and I have spent the December Holidays at home, in Jo'Burg this year (much to his disgust I might add).  I decided to make the most of it and find happiness in the little things.  So I have been compiling a list of a few of my favourite things that I've bought, been given, tasted and discovered this 2015 festive season.  I will be blogging about them in batches over the next few days..

First off, these delightful coasters - which I think, might be calling out to become wall art at some point!  I won them at my families annual Bad Secret Santa gift game on Christmas Day.  Candice had unwrapped them first, and I immediately fell in love!  When it came my turn to steal a gift, I immediately took them from her.  Luckily no one ever stole them back from me.  They have cute sayings on which make me smile and as I adore the colours.  You can buy them at the ever resourceful, Mr Price Home, in the region of R50.  A fabulous gift for a friend who loves a toot or two, or even just to brighten up your outdoor patio or bar area.

One more thing, One Foot in Front of the Other is moving home in 2016!  I am working on a new look and feel and will be migrating to a new domain in 2016.

Watch this space for more Favourite Things of mine, and for the new blog coming soon.

@imorossam  #onefootinfrontoftheotherblog #mrpricehome #favouritethings @candylooloo

Eliminate, reduce and embrace! 35 here I come...

I turn 35 in a few months - 35!....  What dawned on me the other day is that I have spent the better part of those years repeating the same thing over and over again - and by that I mean yo-yo dieting!  What sparked the thought was that I found a whole bunch of diaries that I have started and never finished, all of them beginning somehow with how miserably unhappy I am with my body and how "this time I have to change".. I write for a few months, and maybe even loose weight, but inevitably the writing stops and so does the weight-loss.

So without boring you with the details of my flawed psychology.. I have decided to take a new approach by actually addressing my relationship with food thanks to some amazing help.  But daily, I have decided to approach weight-loss differently too - Instead of saying NO this and NONE of that, I am choosing to eliminate, reduce and embrace rather.  This experience needs to be positive and empowering instead of restrictive and punishing..  It's going to be a bit of clean living for me for a while.  Here is the inspiration I wrote on my bedroom cupboard to wake up to every morning

May I just add.. The inspiration for this change is two fold.  Simply put, having a baby.  We have been struggling with infertility and are getting help from the kindest and most specialized people we can.  It's been a very very difficult year with some bad news along the way.  My response to this has been to punish myself emotionally and as a result I am at the heaviest I have ever been.  This of course is not helping my body cope or perform as it should, I am sure.  It's time to stop, to get off the emotional roller-coaster and be as healthy and as loving to my body as I can, so that it can respond in kind to me.  Plus, my good friend, Abbi, has inspired my by losing over 30kgs recently and she is looking and feeling fabulous! She started her journey, finished it, and got the t-shirt.  She didn't fart-arse around for the better part of 35 years starting and never finishing.

So this is it, here I am.. rolls and all...  Send me your stories, would love to hear them...

World, meet Nelson

It's official, we've adopted!  He is a black kitty-cat, with piercing green eyes and a feisty personality called Nelson!

I have to admit something - slightly ashamedly I might add - that I've become one of those people who refer to their pets as 'furbabies' or 'furkids'!  I can't help it dammit!  When talking to Nelson (because he can understand me after all..) I might even go as far as to refer to hubby as Dad...  Or say something utterly dorky like"come here and give mommy a cuddle"..

It's embarrassing I know, but I really can't help it.  In the short three weeks he has been in our lives, I can't tell you have much fun and laughter he has brought to our little home.  Not to mention multiple hand scratches, 3am-purring-in-your-ear sessions, and the hugest, stinkiest poops I have ever seen.

Also, I didn't think my hubby could get more gorgeous, until I saw him with Nelson..Playing, laughing, cuddling .. I can watch them together for hours..

After all though, who could resist this little face?... And who wouldn't want him to be your baby?

My own Kilimanjaro...

Today, I have post-achievement blues!  I ran my first 21.1km race on Saturday and I friggin nailed it! To be expected now today, I am a little blue, longing for the adrenalin and euphoria that came along with Saturdays run.

Running a race isn't the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things, considering some of the devastating atrocities going on in our country, and in our world.  I haven't created a cure for anything, or saved anyone's life.  However, in my little world, Saturday's race felt like the biggest achievement of my life!  It felt like I conquered my own Kilimanjaro.

You see, I have wanted to run a half marathon probably for the better part of 4 years now.  Sadly though, there have always been reasons for not making it to the start line - injury, other commitments, laziness and did I mention injury?  This time it was different though!  I made a commitment to myself that nothing was going to stop me.  I entered, I put together the training plan, I ran, I ran some more, I stayed on course and I never faulted.  Considering that the hugest personality flaw I have is starting something and never finishing it, this achievement is huge!  I started something and I friggin finished it!.  I proved to myself and to my loved ones, that no matter what else is going on in your life, you can do anything if you put your mind to it!  I never understood the power of the mind, quite like I do now!

As I stood on that start line just after dawn on Saturday, I couldn't stop smiling, I was so excited to begin the adventure!  And I didn't stop smiling for the entire 2hrs and 40mins it took me to finish it!

The best part?  Standing on the start line with my husband and one of my best friends along side me, both of them feeling the exact same way as I did...  We were ready to tackle the mountain, ready to achieve our goals.  And the second best part, sharing the coldest, biggest, beer with them at the end!  All of us, still smiling xxx

A sad day for democracy....

To quote Radio 702 this morning, it truly is a sad day for democracy.  Besides the circus that was the evicting and walking out of opposition parties, besides the refusal of our publicly-elected leaders to answer simple questions, besides the contravening of our Constitution by allowing SAPS members into parliament, besides the fact that our clown of a president pronounces the word 'fatal' as 'futtal' (just to name one of many grammatical errors he made last night), besides alllll of this, the scariest and most infuriating part was the ANC's attempt to stop freedom of speech!

The jamming of cellphone signals in parliament was a blatant attempt at shutting down the public and the world's right to know! How dare they try and silence the media who are the the eyes and ears of the public!  What are you trying to hide?  Not to mention the ONE camera in the house which did not move off the Madam Speakers to show us the violations going on around her.  What are you trying to do Zuma - create a 'Mugabe' state where the public will be forced to where blindfolds and our journalists' lips will be sealed?  I am the biggest advocate for this beautiful land of ours, but dammit this ANC government is making it harder and harder to advocate for!  I, for one, will not allow them to rape our freedoms and silence our journalists.  I will not allow President Zuma, and his ineffective cronies, to take this beautiful country down with them!

I thought of our beloved Madiba.   What would he have thought?  I secretly hoped he was in heaven playing chess with Gandhi, having a cup of tea together.  However, I know he was watching.  He saw the blatant severing of our democracy, the democracy he suffered so much for and worked so hard to  create.  And, with his head in his hands, he must have shed a tear and cried out, "what a sad day for democracy."

I am not a religious person, I don't favour one church over another.  But today, as I ran in my church of nature, I looked up at the sunrise and I prayed.  I prayed for salvation for our little country, I prayed for help for our leaders, and I prayed for some kind of positive light to shine brightly at the end of our seemingly far away, dark tunnel.

Announcing: a little bit of change...

Here we are, already on the sixth day of 2015, and an hour ago I sat down to write my next blog post.  I have been pondering for the better part of that hour, what the hell do I have to say about running right now?  It suddenly dawned on me that pigeon-holing this blog as a 'running only' one is, well, dumb!  It's creatively limiting and to be honest I have so much I want to say and share about many other things in life, which of course include running, that perhaps opening it up a little might be quite a lot of fun.

So hence forth, as patron of this blog, I now pronounce it to be all encompassing!  **que trumpets roaring, cheers cheering and confetti exploding  - all only in my head right! **

But seriously, I do hope to fill it with experiences, insights and other stuff that this (my) life is filled with...  I hope you continue to join me on the ride...

Allow me to start off by sharing an annual tradition that myself and a few people dear to me practice each year.  On or around the 31st December we make a decision as to what the year ahead is going to be...  We set the intention for what The Year is... Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't, but for the most part the point is to declare what you want YOUR year to be.  My cousin Candice and I agreed to declare this year to be The Year Of Adventure!   I went a little further and added that I want to say YES to more things instead of always instinctively saying NO - out of fear, anxiety or just plain grumpiness I dunno, but I really want to encourage more positivity in my life by swapping my No's for Yes's!

I made a wall of inspiring quotes at my office, to remind me of this intention...  Have a look;

'Turning ordeals in adventures' and reminding myself that 'spontaneity is a good thing' are going to be really hard concepts for me to master.  Seeking out adventures, no matter how big or small, will hopefully prove inspiring for me.  And taking leaps of faith and remaining positive are going to hopefully be the wings on which I soar this year.

Any intentions of your own, dear readers?  Any barriers, benchmarks, walls or mountains you are intending to overcome?  What is 2015 your Year Of?