tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39879549962086795292024-03-13T14:06:16.670+11:00Natanie's WorldNataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-40238659335044683682017-06-01T13:39:00.003+10:002017-06-01T13:39:54.755+10:00Reaching Out.<br />
The past few months have been rough for me. I was made redundant and out of a job in October. Things like this I take personally even though I know it was probably just a business decision I still wonder what I did wrong and what I could have changed. It still hurts and I'm fighting to move past it. My beautiful husband has taken on a higher role at his work meaning much more responsibility and more stressful days for him. He is working super hard to learn and manage much more than one person possibly can.<br />
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In particular this past week or two has been really hard, on reflection I understand more of what was going on. I found an amazing position advertised, I applied and got an interview. Everything felt right, it felt good and I kept constantly reminding myself that it might not happen but it didn't stop my mind from wandering on the possibilities. I received the dreaded email that I really was not expecting, I didn't get the job. I have coped well with every other knock back or not being contacted at all. This one hit hard and left me shattered. The following few days I fought and picked myself up as best I could knowing I just had to keep looking and I did.<br />
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This week I just found that wall I'd hit was just too hard to punch through. It was one wall too many. During those few days I felt so alone and worthless. I felt a burden on everyone and everything around me and no one wanted me anyway. I knew none of it was true but believing things is sometimes really hard without a bit of help.<br />
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Some of you saw part of the spiral, a kind few helped pull me out of the darkness when I had no idea how to help myself. They reminded me that I'm not alone, it's not easy to find work and I very much deserved all the hugs that were sent. To those people, thank you. Thank you for picking me up, for just being with me and talking to me. Thank you for challenging my thoughts and helping me break down that wall, I could not have done it without any of you.<br />
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I'm sure someone by now, if they made it this far, is wondering why I am sharing all this?! It's really hard for me to share anything, I'm a very private person and I rarely even let my parents into a lot of things. I wanted to share because I wanted to show the good in the world. I wanted to reflect and help myself to heal a bit. I wanted to thank the people that reached when I was alone and needed it most. I wanted to make sure no one else ever feels alone, you are beautiful and very wanted in this world. I wanted to remind myself, I'm not weak or crazy or broken, I'm human.Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-71595950696951196082015-08-14T13:08:00.000+10:002015-08-14T13:08:20.456+10:00A Weight Loss Journey<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been some time since I posted, life has very much been busy and quite frankly, a rollercoaster of ups and downs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In March, on my doctors advice and with his help, I am working on </span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">losing weight. I have medicine to help as medically, its not easy for me to lose weight. At the beginning, I was excited to start the journey, knowing how long and difficult it would be. I have done this before, over a much shorter timeframe and had to stop with pregnancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the time I looked a lot a getting an activity tracker to help motivate me to move more. I tend to procrastinate a lot of things that aren't seen as essential. So after a lot of research I had somewhat decided on which one I'd like and left it at that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I carried on with my VLC diet, watching carefully how much and of what I was consuming. The only thing that was, and still is hard, not eating much or snacking. The diet I'm on, under my GP, is 2 meal replacement shakes each day and one low cal meal with fruit and salad. The first week is hard but over time it gets easier as it becomes habit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fast forward 6 months and I've lost roughly 6.5 kilograms which is awesome and I'm not gaining a kilo by looking at treat food. The meds are doing their job as well. I will state though that I haven't been on such a strict diet for 6 months, that would be unhealthy. I use it for a few weeks before working on sticking to a low cal, food consuming diet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 weeks ago I started looking at the activity trackers again as I felt the motivation dropping. After watching and waiting my chosen tracker was available for a really great price, so with encouragement I bought it. <br /><br />I chose a Garmin Vivofit 2 for a few reasons that seems to fit with what I wanted. The first thing, and the deciding factor for me is that it doesn't need to be recharged, it runs on a watch battery with roughly 1 year life span. It tracks sleep and steps and cals burned while also syncing with calorie counting apps to further tie it all together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had it for just over a week now and I'm liking it. Its comfortable to wear, light and easy to use. It is motivating me to walk as the little red bar fills up while I'm sitting still, taunting me and reminding me I need to get up. It sets goals for me to push me a little further each day but I'm ok with it if I don't make it. Its motivating me to get out of the office at lunch and go for a decent walk. I've also resumed my diet and in the past week lost a further 1.5kgs so I will try and continue it until holidays, when all bets are off! In fact, I'll be interested to see how far I walk while roaming the Hawaiian Isles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As it stands, I'm 8kgs down and feeling better for it. I know I have a long way to go on this journey but I have support around me to help me get there. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-85337125184296438842014-10-21T20:58:00.002+11:002014-10-21T20:58:23.635+11:00Six Point Zero Point Two.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have had the pre-patch now for about a week. Seeing as though servers are down I thought I would take the opportunity to write what I have been up to and where we are headed in the next few weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the second pre-patch and launch event that I have ever done so I am quite excited and completely immersing myself in the world again. Before the Mists launch, I had not been high enough level to participate in many of the world events. Theramore was fun but from what I understand, quite limited.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I logged in with Moo on Wednesday and we picked up the quests. The first thing we both did? Yup, cleared out our bags, sorted the bank and added toys to the toy box! I found so much bag space, most of which was reagents or toys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first toon through the quests was my paladin. I didn't really see much that had changed as far as rotation so a few quick checks and I was off questing! Moo love running new stuff together so off we tottered around Blasted Lands. We took our time and finished all the quests before starting alliance side and doing the whole lot over again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been having a great time pottering around and adjusting to my 'new' priest and paladin. I spent a bit of time farming for the Bronze Whelpling both alone and with others before finally picking up 2 within 10 mins. I gave the second one to my farming buddy, Leeta.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only thing I am finding slightly frustrating is the fact they haven't yet updated the app. I usually post my auctions on my commute and for whatever reason I cannot pick up gold or post things from the reagent bank, bank or mailbox like I used to. I am sure it will get updated, hopefully it won't take too long!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm also really excited to be attending the Warlords Sydney event that Blizzard is hosting on Thursday evening. I'm not sure what to expect but I am excited for a rare evening out with Moo and some fun meeting like-minded people. I will be posting photos on twitter! Let me know if you are going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for the next few weeks, Blizzon is really soon, less than 3 weeks in fact! Moo flies out on the Tuesday before and will be away for 9 days, returning on the Thursday before launch. So we only have this week to finish off and next week of work left before 2 weeks off! I'm not quite sure yet how I will fill my days alone but I have a few things lined up that I want to get done. I'm feeling a little daunted by being the only responsible adult in the house for so long but I know I can do it, maybe...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How are you going with the changes? Love to hear your thoughts!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-24765705569708867322014-10-17T10:44:00.001+11:002014-10-17T10:44:43.996+11:00So it has been a while..<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its has been a while since I blogged, almost a whole year in fact and what a year it has been!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toward the end of last year things got hectic with home life and I ran out of things to write about that I thought you would be interested in reading. Christmas and the new year happened and they are always busy with visiting family and spending time enjoying everyone at home and doing some fun things together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fast forward to Feb and Sprocket started school which was also the beginning of a new routine for me with juggling work and kids. I think I have spoken before about my commute 3 days a week with both of them and it wasn't easy but I did not see the impact that change would have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the time April/May rolled around I was not me anymore, well I felt OK but that's not what others saw. I came to realise I was always cross and grumpy and taking it out on my family. I began reading and feeling more, trying to understand what was going on. Why was I always sad and angry and wanting to escape and hide? I felt I just couldn't anymore. I couldn't make a decision, I struggled to take care of my kids, I didn't want to eat much and I didn't want to sleep much either. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made a decision, I started talking to trusted people, I discussed it with Moo. I decided to get help and go to the Dr.<br /><br />So I went. I sat and waited outside his door with my then 2yo. For the first time ever I had an anxiety attack although I didn't know it at the time. One of the most difficult times was sitting there ready to fall to pieces and still having to care for my Giz. He gave me a referral to a Psychologist whom I saw a number of times and he was wonderful in helping me get back on track. I wasn't diagnosed with anything chronic, I just needed help at that point in my life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During those few months, I was not fun to be around. I had reoccurring anxiety attacks, 3 or 4 a day at times and it was awful. Just functioning as a person was difficult let alone trying to raise my children and support my husband.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took a number of months to get though the darkness and feel my normal self again. I am very thankful for those that supported me through it, they know who they are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why am I posting this now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time feels right to share my story in the hope that others will benefit. My psyc told me to journal as a means to releasing stress which at the time was helpful. Right now I feel myself on the downward spiral again so I am taking action before I find myself in another hole. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I am glad that I can recognise the behaviors now and can take action. I have no idea what is causing my anxiety this time around but some thinking will help me discover the cause. Today and over the weekend it will be little steps and hour by hour sight on things. Remembering to be in the now and enjoy what is going on rather than dwelling on the past or fearing the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you struggle with life or need someone, please reach out and seek help. There is always someone around to listen. Seek local support lines, they are open 24 hrs and can get you through a rough patch.</span><br />
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Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-83006730727322131152013-11-15T10:05:00.002+11:002013-11-16T15:51:10.882+11:00My First Blizzcon.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had yet to experience a Blizzcon that is until last weekend. I had no idea what I was in for really so I read on twitter and websites and other blogs to see what was happening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I bought the virtual ticket not long after the in game rewards were announced, Moo suggested I but it on my account to get Murkalot, so I did! About 2 weeks before I was getting just a little excited, Moo and I decided that it would be impossible to watch anything with the kids around so it sleepover time for them! We arranged for them to pay a visit to Nanna and Poppy for the weekend and we would camp on the lounge. Moo with his IT background and being the tinkerer he is, set up my laptop via HDMI so we could watch it on the tele. I even played WoW a few times before the weekend, just to test it of course! :P </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So kids are sorted, big screen viewing sorted it was onto food for the day! On the Friday night on the way home we did a grocery shop for snacks and of course alcohol to indulge in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come Saturday morning we are out of bed at 5:30am to turn everything on and log in to my account. It all works like a charm and so begins the opening ceremony! We got to watch most of it uninterrupted as the kids decided it was a good morning to sleep in! /cheer </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nearing 9am and I had the kids fed and packed ready to go, it was about 15 mins before the end of opening ceremony that Moo dashed off with kids while I got to work! Moved the couch to prime viewing position, cleared and moved the coffee table to house food and drinks and prepared the first round of snacks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Moos return I made us brekky and we parked on the couch (ipad in hand) for the next panel which is pretty much where we stayed all day, pottering between the kitchen, bathroom and lounge all day. I found it so exciting hearing about all the new things coming and just absorbing all the information that was being given, new games, new expansions and enhancements! I kept thinking how awesome it would be to be right there hearing and seeing and being completely submersed in it all. Moo had his laptop set up for the ATA podcast stream which he was jumping in and out of all day, it was weird hearing on side of a 4 way conversation and seeing random things popping up in the chat room, when I could see it, but it was so fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday afternoon, after Blizzcon had finished for the day, we had a lovely chat with Leeta from Behind the Avatar. It was great fun speaking to someone I have been following for so long on twitter who is also a fellow Aussie with a podcast, there aren’t many around! If you want to listen to the interview you can get it <a href="http://behindtheavatarshow.blogspot.com.au/">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday began early, 5am to be precise! Much coffee was consumed in an effort to wake up just a little. It didn’t take long before I was back to being in awe and totally consumed by what was going on both in twitterland and on my tele. Just amazing watching the Q&A Panel and the details of the next expansion and amazed by the costumes the cosplayers had made. I also loved seeing all the photos on my twitter stream, it certainly felt like awesome community was having fun! The excitement was only accentuated by a little surprise I am planning, I so wanna spill the beans cause I am hopeless at secrets! ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had so much fun that I wanna go! Moo and I were already planning on going to Disneyland one day again with the kids; we will just tie it altogether! ;) On further thinking, we are also going to try and get Moo there solo next year pending finances and a ticket which we are already pricing so we can save for it. I’m not quite sure how our family trip will go, we are planning for 2015 but I’m not sure what I will do with the kids while there but we will work it out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me know what your experience of Blizzcon was. I love hearing all the stories! :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie.</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-36011398697506284092013-07-31T22:06:00.000+10:002013-08-03T16:47:41.615+10:00Rainbow Layer Cake<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a small celebration coming on the weekend. Moo's parent are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They have organised for all of the family to go on a picnic on Saturday and we need dessert so what better way for me to get some cake practice in than to make them a cake!</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I started with web searching as you do, to get some ideas. A bit of thought and I figure out that 40 years is ruby, lets run with that idea. I have never done a layer cake an always wanted to and the best one I have seen is a rainbow layer cake which would be such an awesome surprise when its cut open.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fast forward to this morning where the shenanigans began early! After breakfast was done Sprocket donned his apron and we set to work mixing up the cake mix.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sprocket beating the eggs</td></tr>
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprocket helped me to measure out and mix up the ingredients, in between running back to the lounge to watch the tele that I had put on to keep Giz busy. All had to be baked before 10:30 as we had to go out. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mixing all that cake batter required some muscle, so I got in and helped him out a little before splitting the mix out into 6 bowls, one for each colour!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I lost Sprocket around now, the TV got a bit too interesting but he did keep popping back to see what I was doing and helping for a few mins at a time! I didn't mind, I was just able to get it all done quicker. By this time my parents had arrived, as they usually do on a Wednesday so I had help with the cake and the kids!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the batter is all split out, which I weighed so each layer would be roughly the same thickness once cut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a bit of trouble getting the violet right, I'm still not sure if it will be ok once its cut but time will tell I am sure! The red took a lot of colour to get that red and it still didn't look right so I had to cross my fingers on that one as well.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next step! Get them all baked, yes on at a time and I thankfully have 2 cake pans to work with or it would have taken twice as long! So one at a time I flour the pan, pour the batter and bake each cake. Once done I pull them out, turn onto the cooling wire and wash ready for the next cake. Did I get it done before I had to go? Yep, I did and I managed to bake the extra bit of batter I had left over! This is how they looked once baked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I am so very happy with how all the colours came out. I know the insides will look different as well as the outsides brown slightly as they cook. The red went darker as it baked and I just love the orange I was able to create. I am curious to see how the violet comes out once its cut, I'm still not sure on that one! Time to leave them to cool so we head out and do what needs to be done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We return home at about 1pm with a quick lunch and Giz in bed for his nap I get back to work. At the very least I need to have the fondant on the cake before I go to bed tonight and I may as well get working while I have one kid in bed. I set Sprocket up with a painting activity and set to making the buttercream.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the buttercream is made, its time to start stacking my cake tower and getting it taking shape which is also where the fiddly and tricky stuff begins! More attention and care required from this point so I don't completely stuff it up!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I start with Violet, then blue, green, yellow, orange and finally red. I give it all a crumb coat of butter cream ready for the fondant and set it aside to set while I start to roll out the fondant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I start rolling the fondant I carefully measure the cake so I know how big it needs to be. So many times before I have made a guess and it has been wrong! If you have ever worked with fondant you will know how hard it is to fix it once you have put it on the cake! Thankfully, I have learnt though. So I start rolling and I am a little concerned that I don't have enough but Dad and I measure and check and get it all even and flat. I am so glad I have help at this point, moving a sheet of fondant without it splitting is a real challenge! We maneuver the cake and rolled fondant so its it literally just flipped over to cover the cake. a bit of work and I end up with a white cake! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I need to leave it for a bit to let the fondant harden a little before I decorate it. I am so happy that it has so far gone smoothly and happy with the result. I can see it needed a bit more butter cream on the outside to reduce those ridges but after looking at it for a bit I kinda like the effect it gives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I leave it for about half an hour and go back to work on smoothing it and thinking about where I am going to place decorations. I already have an idea about how I want it to look. On Monday I set Sprocket up with a heart cutter and some rolled fondant and he cut me 50 small hearts and about 10 larger ones and I picked up a red sugar rose on sale which I had to work with as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started with adding a sugar ribbon around the bottom of the cake and made a bow. I am not entirely happy with it but not bad for a first effort. Next, I placed the rose as it was the largest item. Now to sticking the hearts with the largest hearts first before moving on to the smaller ones, all 40 of them, one for each year of marriage. I had decided to cascade the hearts down the side from the base of the rose to provide some decoration for the sides of the cake. All that remained was the number for the top, 40 of course! A bit of a dust with some edible glitter and it was all done!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here is the final result, a secret rainbow layer cake for a 40th wedding anniversary!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am looking forward to cutting it and seeing both how it looks and how everyone else looks when they see it! I will post and update on Saturday afternoon or Sunday with how it looks cut and possibly their expressions if I am fast enough with the camera! I will update on twitter when I post the update here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are the pics of the cut cake, I am just over the moon with how it turned out and would do it again in a heartbeat. Completely worth the effort and everyone loved it!</span><br />
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</a>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-78621350339654376262013-06-06T21:42:00.000+10:002013-06-06T21:42:10.803+10:00Relationships.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Relationships. We deal with them every day in some way whether they be professional, personal or social. What prompted me to blog on it you might wonder? I was listening to Ep #53 of <a href="http://taurenthinktank.com/" target="_blank">Tauren Think Tank</a> where a listener wrote in asking for help with a personal relationship that started me thinking. I'm not quite sure why this particular letter. Much of what Tauren Think Tank does is help people, mainly WoW players, with relationship issues in various forms. I had pondered this letter and the response given from Rem and Jules for a few days, wondering what makes relationships work and how Moo and I make it work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought about many aspects of my life, not just what Moo and I have. I thought about how I deal with them at work, how I treat my kids and the values I am teaching them about relationships and I thought of my friendships, both my online friends and my real life friends. I feel I do an ok job of meeting the needs of my family but feel I could probably do better at my friendships, especially my real life ones! Time and timing is most of the issue with small children still requiring naps during the day and working part time but I do think its important to have good friends! I also think part of it is that I didn't have to role models in friendships or the outgoing personality so I have had to work it out for myself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after all this pondering, I came up with what I thought was a good analogy, a house of cards. Each of the individual cards needs to lean against another exerting and receiving just the right amount of resistance for the house to stand. I think in the same way, people need to both give and take for a relationship to work and I don't really think it matters why type the relationship is or how personal it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking of my relationship with my team leader at work, it works well because I do what she needs me to do regardless of how much I enjoy (or hate) the task and she gives (aside from an income) flexibility, understanding and time off when I need it, without question and even sends me home early on some days! With Moo I think it is much the same, we both give to each other without expecting to receive anything in return, just because we care about each others well being.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside of this, other not so personal relationships I feel are based on respect first, basic respect that the other person has their own ideas, feelings and emotions and the right for those to be respected. I also feel that tolerance and acceptance both are part of respect and not so much separate entities of their own. Respect is something that was enforced on me quite young, so its something I feel quite strongly about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the other important part of relationship is thoughtfulness. Thinking of how your actions will impact others before acting on them and the consequences. I'm not saying being selfish at times is bad, just that it needs to be considered how others will feel and consulting them. Acting without consultation could be interpreted negatively by the other party, making them feel dis-respected, causing conflict.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm glad that Rem and Jules liked my analogy and discussed it on the show. (Ep #55). It was interesting to hear their thoughts on my ideas and elaborate further. People have always been an interesting topic to me, psychology and interpersonal relationships are fascinating. This is why I love listening to Tauren Think Tank, with Rem and Jules helping others to untangle from some awkward and sticky situations. Communication is key! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-69362062635985084002013-05-21T12:00:00.002+10:002013-05-21T12:00:33.266+10:00A look back at May..<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This week is the last that Moo will have at his current job and next week brings on new beginnings and changes for all of us! I am working on preparing myself and the kids on what will be the new normal for them and trying to get myself into a new routine, making sure I have everything prepped for them the night before. If we miss that train then I will be even later to work than I really should be. My team leader has been advised of the new circumstances and she has been awesome, completely understanding and supportive! She is happy for me to shuffle my hours a little and with any luck I’ll get more efficient, the kids will co-operate and I’ll get my hour lunch break back!</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The biggest change for me is not so much catching the train with 2 kids, being totally responsible for getting them to and from day care but making sure I have prepped their dinner and packed it all ready to go, complete with water and hoping someone doesn't need to go to the toilet 5 mins after we get on! </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I have been baking and making a few things for the freezer although I need more, I am out of ideas for dinner on the go for the kidlets! Some days will be sandwiches or crackers with some sort of meat (probably ham) and cheese and salad vegies but finding interesting ideas that are yummy and not too messy is tricky! I have found a great recipe for Zucchini Slice which they like and I can load with all sorts of veggies for them (bonus points for mummy!) which I think will be a regular for them. I am into baking scrolls now, I started with cheese and vegemite and cheese and bacon which are great for a warm brekky but I think I will do others, like pizza (ham, cheese, tomato sauce, pineapple) and spinach a feta and maybe even an apple and cinnamon! </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">It’s also shopping week this week so I will grab a few extra snack bars, crackers and similar types of snacks for a treat seeing as though stopping at McDonalds won't be an easy out for us anymore!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In other news, my work has been lots of fun and interesting. I have delivered my first few training presentations and with lots of feedback, feel like I am getting better at it. The first session was really awful, it was dropped on me late so I was unprepared and nervous but the reviews were positive at least with how I coped in the situation. My presentations have been cleaned up a lot and better capture what is required. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Oh that car that was in at the mechanic? *gives a hearty farewell* In case you missed the tweets, my overly generous and wonderful in-laws have granted us their (much newer and nicer) car with the sale proceeds from our old one as payment. I am so excited by this, it will reduce our maintenance costs so much and we won’t be driving so much from next week so fuel consumption won’t be as much of an issue either! I feel like someone is watching over us right now. <3 We are still in the process of changing over the ownership and getting the old one cleaned up and ready for sale.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">There has been lots of positive happen this past month and being on the brink of it all has me excited and nervous about how I am going to do it all. I just will, somehow, and we will find a new ‘normal’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">xx Natanie</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-68211781936125973422013-05-01T19:08:00.000+10:002013-05-02T08:58:04.653+10:00All the Changes!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So things have been quite hectic here to say the least in the past month or so. Those that follow Moogyver on Twitter will have seen that he has been on the job hunt and my work has been changing as well with the new work I am taking on. So here is a quick update on the crazy and hopefully my blog won't be quite so neglected in the future!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will start with Moogyver, as that has and will be the biggest change for all of us! The threat of job hunting has been coming for a while for Moo. About a month or so ago it was suggested</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to Moo by his boss that if he found a job that he should take it. Business had been going down hill a while and we had kinda seen it coming so the words with the boss meant it was time to prepare the resume and start looking. Moo has been there for a bit over 10 years so its been a while since he, or I for that matter, have been on that roundabout! I helped him set out and write up his resume and gave ideas on where he could look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just so happened that I jumped on a website to browse and see whats going that I found something that sounded like what fit his job description and what he wanted to do. Both blown away that a permanent job existed he got his resume together and sent it off. 3 weeks and 3 interviews and he now has a job offer! Huzzah! I am so excited and proud of him landing a job from the first interview he went to!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does this change our life you might ask? At the moment Moo and I work within walking distance and daycare is in the middle. So we drive and then he parks the car at work. The new job is no where near my work now so it will be a train commute for all of us, kids included. I will have to walk the 10 mins for the station to drop the kids off then the 10 mins back to work (right near said station) and the reverse coming home. On the positive, it will be more income for us which is much needed right now and it will be great for Moo's career development. Sprocket will also be starting school next year which will be a move for him anyway so I am very reluctant to move him now when he only has to see this year out with pre-school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for me? Well I have been learning lots at work and loaded up with all sorts of new things! I am writing Business Requirements and setting up some training presentations, neither of which I have done before. I am having a lot of fun though playing with PowerPoint and learning all the cool stuff it can do! The feedback so far has been great from my Team Leader and the Department Manager so I must be doing something right! I have been supporting Moo a lot with getting through the interview process curb all the stress that comes with it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the other stuff? Gizmo is waking frequently during the night, so much fun kids are! ;) Our poor old car has been at the mechanic every other week in the past two months with various issues and now we have another to get sorted next week. Social life.. whats that?! I haven't seen any friends before today in about 8 weeks so I am feeling much like a recluse at the moment and I haven't even logged into WoW in 2 weeks. I have just been too tired with new learning and wakeful Giz to be wanting to look at a computer screen in the evenings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sorry you have not seen much of me and hopefully this helps to explain whats been going on. Its going to be a big change and I am looking forward to what its going to bring! It will be hard work but I know hard work reaps reward. Hopefully the kids will cope well with the change and adapt easily, I am thankfully I have pretty easy going kids.</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-12758620203333079842013-04-04T14:04:00.000+11:002013-04-04T14:37:28.563+11:00A First Shot at Healing.I had been thinking for a while and discussing with Moogyver about trying out healing. The decision was; do I try it out on Natanie, my Paladin or would it be better on my Priest Teily? I decided to go with the Pally, not quite sure why although I do feel more comfortable playing her than I do my poor Priest. Moo was able to find some time and set me up with a very basic healing set and helped me set up talents. I had a good tip from our GM to download Healbot, which I did and I am so glad that I did. I read a bit on the spells, talents and a quick how to heal guide before jumping in a setting up my Healbot and making my own Glyphs, cause I can do that! ;)<br />
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Healbot all set up and chatting to guildies they decide get a group together so I can practise! <3 We decide to run random Heroic dungeons so I don't have too much going on and no attitude if people die. What do you know the first is Scarlet Monestary! My ilvl isn't all that high, 407 not not a lot in the way of mana so much has to be conserved! I follow them around clicking away at healbot and using any procs as they pop. Awesome, no one has died! That is until we get to the courtyard trying to pull too many at once. Our poor tank is having lag issues and is low ilvl as well but we persist and after 3 wipes we have it sorted! It wasn't until the end of the run I find out about the low ilvl tank, not that it would have mattered anyway! We wipe once more after someone *whistles* no not me.. forgets to interrupt the rez spell. Once more and all down and no one dies of my causing (I hope)<br />
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We decide to do another random and its Temple of the Jade Serpent that pops this time. This, by comparison was easy, even if Moo did pull Sha before any of us were ready! I was quite low on mana when he pulled but they held their own and I was able to keep healing right though without being completely out of mana! I even get a gear upgrade from the Sha for my healing set. It was great fun and I was having to concentrate lots! :D A somewhat successful attempt, even if I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing!<br />
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I have since used some valor points to buy 2 more pieces which has pulled my ilvl up a bit more and I will at next opportunity head to the reforger to make sure I have the stats in the right places. All I need for her now is a different transmog set and lots more practise!<br />
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I'd love to hear any tips on Holy Paladins or some great resources you have found. Oh and throw me some fave transmog sets too ;)<br />
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xx NatanieNataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-82854691811521529382013-03-23T14:06:00.002+11:002013-03-23T14:06:59.103+11:00Sydney Royal Easter Show 2013<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each year around Easter, the Royal Agricultural Society run the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The idea of the show is to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"bring the farm to the city"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and show city kids what happens on the farm, learn about the animals and how food gets from "paddock to plate". </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We thought it would be a great year to take Sprocket and Gizmo and have a great day out. My aim was to let Sprocket learn more about the farm to plate process and how things get to shops and for Gizmo to see the animals and for both to experience the atmosphere. Moo and I have been planning and saving to go for a few months as its not the cheapest thing to do and we gave Sprocket a savings goal as well, whatever he saved we could use to have fun while there. He managed to save $30 on his own by doing chores around the house and reward for helping out. Their grandparents also gave them a bit of money as part of their Easter presents. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started the day early as the kids are awake early anyway an no point just sitting around with excitement bubbling. We walked through the gate at about 9am and following our plan, headed to the Showbag hall and to grab a locker. We do this as the Showbag hall is usually packed by the end of the day and we can take our time in choosing what we like without fighting through crowds of people. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Showbags secured and excess items stashed into the locker we head off on the Animal Walk. This was to be the highlight for the kids and a great learning experience for them both in different ways. The path is marked by paw prints painted on the ground and it leads through each of the animal pavilions. I should add in here that its not just a farm in the city, there are judging competitions as well for all of the animals of display and in many other categories like baking, art, flower arranging, fashion, and wood chop. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our path first lead us into the sheep pavilion where shearing demonstrations can be watched, wool and sheep are judged in all the different breeds! We saw all the different breeds of sheep and some that had been shorn and others that still had all their fleece. We noticed the ones that had won ribbons and some that were being judged. We did not stay for the shearing, Sprocket wanted to go and see what else there was. so we found the path and headed on to the next pavilion!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next was the Poultry, where the kids got to pat chicks and see them hatching, see all types of geese, ducks, chickens, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">roosters and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> pigeons. The chicks were funny, when the kids would put their hand on the window the chicks would run over and peck at it, maybe they were expecting food! Back on the path and onward!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next was the alpaca shed and a milking barn is attached where you can watch a cow milking demonstration. We didn't get a chance to see the milking which I was disappointed in, something I wanted Sprocket to see. We sat a listened to a talk on Alpacas and Sprocket and I had a pat, they are very soft, softer than patting a sheep but still a bit woolly. Sprocket loved seeing the ladies spinning the alpaca wool into yarn ready for knitting as I knit a bit myself.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next stop was the goats and pigs where the kids got to pat a piglet. Gizmo wasn't keen on patting anything, it was all scary for him and he just wasn't interested. Sprocket was reserved in patting more so when the animals were approaching him. I had asked Sprocket what he thought a pig would feel like and he said 'hard' and I asked him again after he patted and he said 'rough and hairy' something learned! </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next pavilion was an interesting one for Sprocket, titled 'Food Farm' its all about where food comes from. He was able to take some wheat and mill it into flour and use that flour to roll dough which then could be made into making meat pies in the bakery. Sprocket also watched the pies being freshly made through the bakery window, He also climbed onto the tractor for a look and could dig root vegetables up out of a garden. Gizmo was quite happy being out of the stroller to wander around and sitting down to do some colouring in while waiting for Sprocket.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We wandered onto the Animal Nursery to pat, feed and see all the baby animals. We got a cup of chaff to feed the kids (goats not children) and lambs. Both Sprocket and Gizmo were quite nervous with all the animals able to wander around. Sprocket fed the very hungry goats with some reluctance and help as they were quite forceful. Sprocket patted a cow on the head and I'm glad he could get quite close, even if there was a fence there, so he can understand how big they are but also quite gentle.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From here we wandered through the cattle with many more various sized cows and bulls and even some cows with calves having some milk which I loved seeing. <3 It was great to be able to show Sprocket that lots of babies have milk, not just human babies! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided that it was break time and lunch time and sat in the main arena for an hour to watch the show with a precision driving team, stunt horse riding and motocross! We watched while having a bite to eat. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprocket and I chose</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a dagwood dog (kinda like a corn dog) and a burger for Moo, with beetroot of course! ;)</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our break we went and checked out the dogs (Deerhounds, Irish Wolfhounds, variety of Retrievers, and Chinese Crested) and the birds (parrots with Budgerigars, Love Birds, Cockatiels and few larger parrots). This was the last of the animals! </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We headed towards the rides as Sprocket wanted to go on the Superslide and a few others he had picked out. On our wander down Moo found frozen Fanta drinks to which we sat down to rest our feet, enjoy our drink in the shade and add more sunscreen. A check of the diary and we see there is a bee show in 10 mins time which Sprocket wanted to see. So drinks finished we go in to see what the inside of a hive looks like, meet the queen (of bees) and learn a bit about how honey is produced. Seeing the honeycomb intrigued Sprocket and he sure had lots of questions to ask!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time for the rides! Sprocket is a bit of a sensitive kid as we discovered in Disneyland so I wasn't so sure that he was going to like the rides, even though they were only kiddie ones. He had his heart set on going on the superslide. Moo went and purchased a few coupons for the rides and got set for the slide. The top of the slide would be about 15 to 20 metres high and has about 8 lanes for riders to come down and has a wave to it. Moo took Sprocket up and they get on their mat. I watch as they come down and see Sprockets face change from 'this is awesome' to 'oh crud too fast!' in about 10 seconds! He said he liked it but pretty firmly said he didn't want to do it again! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprocket wanted to ride more but was nervous about doing it. He spied the Carousel so I took him on and we sat on a bench, not the horse. "This is nice mummy, not too fast" was his comment as we were going around. We managed one other ride, a tea cup type where they sit in a cup and they can spin it as well as it going around in a circle. He was nervous to go by himself but lots of encouragement and he went on and had a great time once it started. He wanted to go on the ferris wheel as well but it was quite expensive, maybe next time.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then wandered back to the 'Fresh food Dome' which is sponsored by one of the major supermarkets and a great opportunity to try lots of different foods that are new to the market or not widely available. We tried wine, yoghurt, bread, dips, vegie chips, cereals and Moo bought a waffle and he bought me strawberries with chocolate and ice cream as a thank you for organising the day. <3</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We head back to the locker to get all of our stuff and onward to the main arena for the evening show and some dinner. We find Moos parents and sit with them in the arena. After being in the stroller a lot during the day Gizmo is not so keen on more sitting so I let him wander just behind the seating with me close behind and keeping him entertained. The evening show was similar to the lunch time one with Precision Driving, Rodeo, Motocross and a show by the name of "Darcy's Quest" This is the extract from the Official Show Site:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;">"Watch the sky ignite as Darcy – the young girl – transforms in her dream-like state to become the larger than life, chromium heroine who duals with monster cast iron reptiles, flying mythical daredevils and challenges the giants of steel and lightning in her quest to banish the forces of darkness and return animals to the land."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was an interesting show, I'm not sure that Sprocket understood much of it and both the boys were frightened by the monster trucks made to look like animals (reptiles mentioned above) and some of the loud noises from the 'giants of lightning'. Sprocket soon figured out they weren't going to hurt him and Giz was just tired and snuggled into me to sleep with my finger in his ear. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darcy, the main character, is about 15 meter tall puppet that is carried by small crane around the arena with puppeteers animating her. Quite an incredible amount of co-ordination required to make it look as it did. The end of a long day saw us leaving 12.5 hours after walking in the gate, exhausted but happy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.984375px;">It was an incredible day. I have been going since I was young and love being able to now share it all with my boys is just the best thing! I asked Sprocket what his favorite was and he replied "My favorite thing was seeing all the different animals and seeing the bike riders and the monster trucks, seeing all the different animals on the monster trucks." I was particularly impressed with the boys behavior, especially with the long day and very late night. Sprocket quite happily sharing all day and thinking of Gizmo was just beautiful to watch. Sprocket walked almost the entire day, and did not complain about anything at all! I was expecting complaints a grizzles but they were just so easy and it made for a very enjoyable day for everyone!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.984375px;">xx Natanie</span></span></div>
Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-24843268204028323752013-03-13T11:51:00.001+11:002013-03-13T11:51:11.109+11:00The Game/Life Balance<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have read 2 blogs in the past week relating on how to balance real life with game time. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first blog I read was SoCalWowGal's <a href="http://www.socalwowgal.com/?p=596" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WoW Life Coach</a>, she has lots of wonderful tips on how to achieve the right balance for you. To follow up SoCalWowGal, Navimie posted a blog on her site <a href="http://frostwolves.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/balancing-my-wow-and-real-life-time.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Daily Frostwolf</a>, on how she personally balances her game time with real life. I found it a great perspective to see how others work game and real life in, especially as Navimie's husband does not play. I thought I would write my perspective as it is different that I have a husband, Moogyver, that does play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly a few facts about me, some have been mentioned before but just for clarity:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I work 3 days per week, travel time of around 2-3 hours per day</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have 2 young children both in daycare on those 3 days per week, they travel with us as daycare is near work</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moo works 5 day weeks, mostly office hours with occasional weekend of after hours work. He also records his podcast, Spare Parts which is once a fortnight.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We mostly play after Sprocket and Gizmo are in bed asleep, usually after 8pm. With the early starts we only get about 2 hours (3 on the nights we lose track of time and don't have those early starts) of play time before we are in bed and ready to start the next crazy day! Tuesday night we have maintenance which usually kicks in at about 9 or 10pm depending on daylight savings and I think even 8pm once winter hits so those nights we do other stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do try and avoid playing on the days I am home with the kids, mostly because I need to look after them first and if I log on I tend not to get much of my other chores done which are quite easy to hide from in a game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The challenges we face are things like making sure all our spare time is taken up with games and we try to do other things together as well. I think we are still finding that boundary and balance because WoW is something we both like doing together and kids and budget kinda restrict outside the house alone time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also have those frustrating nights when you finally get into a dungeon one of the kids wakes but I am sure we aren't the only ones that have that problem :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you balance your time between real life and games? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span></div>
Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-86679080724586480632013-02-27T08:53:00.002+11:002013-02-27T08:53:45.432+11:00The Epiphany<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It happened. This morning. I got up to shower ready for work and those darned scales caught my eye. Eh, should weight and make sure I am doing ok, I think as I begrudgingly step on. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wait what?! another kilo heavier... I jump in the shower with a million things going through my head. Could it be fluid? I did drink a lot yesterday What have I been eating? I can't think of anything particularly bad.. So myself gave me a quick kick and said "Right! This is it, it all has to change now! Your clothes are getting tighter, its just not healthy to live like this. It stops here, right here in this shower and it changes now!" It was almost like I was disciplining my inner child, really quite weird. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sat down and told Moo, I must do this, I must start again and change my ways. My fingers have even gained enough that I had to remove my now uncomfortable wedding and engagement rings ;-( It wasn't that long ago I had to take them off because they kept falling off! Moo is always supportive and of course loves me for who I am and will help in any way possible. I would just like to be able to love myself as much and feel more comfortable in my own skin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plan, in my head at least, is to use some meal replacement shakes, especially on my work days. Only one per day is enough to kick start my metabolism and I will use some sort of calorie tracking software. I have used Calorie King before. Today I have found My Fitness Pal which looks interesting and I can update it from my phone. I am going to work on them and see which suits better for what I need. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did buy a box of shakes today, on sale (short dated) although not a brand that I had used before thought it would make for a good start. BLEAGH! they are horrid! I am thankful there are only 9 left, they were super cheap and I am going to try it with water next time and hope my regular ones go on sale somewhere in the next week. I did also have to go and eat 2 biscuits as I forgot to get fruit on my way back to work, my head was starting to hurt from the lack of food, I was just unprepared. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is just the latest in a lot that has been happening in the past few weeks. As much as I hate it, money is the centre of our universe right now. We are doing ok and the bills are getting paid which is the main thing with some savings being put towards things that need to be done. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My life is just feeling very overwhelming and out of control right now. So many changes is a very short amount of time and having trouble adjusting I think. I just want to shirk all of my responsibilities and hide for a while but that isn't going to help anyone. My children need me to show them how to deal with things. Tomorrow is a new day, take a deep breath and on we go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-20799362150466667122013-02-22T08:16:00.002+11:002013-02-22T08:16:31.265+11:00Changing Career - Part 2<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I completed the second part of my course on Tuesday. As a whole I really enjoyed the course and it has been great being able to learn in a classroom setting again. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second day was much more intense for me,being new to it all and not having any exposure to the processes of project management of any sort. It was good though to have others in the room that knew the processes quite well and were able to bounce ideas from the facilitator to get heads around where different names mean different things. The was an agreement on pushing for change internally and aligning all the systems and processes which will be interesting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also had a meeting with my Team Lead yesterday which was full of awesomeness. I had my past year (well 8 months) of review as well as a goal setting session for the coming year. She was very happy with what I had achieved and with my flexibility, just being able to jump in as needed, and still working on other things as well. I had no real sense of direction, no set tasks so it was very ad-hoc and hap-hazard 8 months of my life and insanely frustrating for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After setting the goals yesterday, I am really excited with what the year will bring for me and my colleague (who is also part time and stepping up into a new role). There are a lot of opportunities for learning and growth and stepping out there and losing some inhibitions. I have complete trust in my Team Lead helping through all of it and helping her to achieve her goals as well. This is the first in a long time I have been excited about work and it also goes a little way in achieving one of my personal goals, doing things for me. None of which would have been accomplished without Moos support in taking on kids while I trained and attended team strategy sessions. Thank you Moo. <3</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-19454301476818317722013-02-18T22:01:00.001+11:002013-02-18T22:01:22.166+11:00My Changing Career<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have seen me post on Twitter recently that I am going through a career change. It has been in the works for a while. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not changing companies, more of a promotion to fill a gap in a newly created position in my team. I have been working for the same company for 8 years now and always on the Operations/Customer Service/Processing side of things. I am now moving into a Business Analyst/ Subject Matter Expert (BA/SME) role within that same team. I have been excited by the idea since the day my Manager asked if I would be interested. I am thankful that she has given me this opportunity. I love her, and she is very knowledgeable, approachable and will help me get the best out of me, even if she does lack a little on the follow through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this week, over 2 days I am completing a Business Analyst Fundamentals course. After day one I am loving it! The facilitator is not exactly presenting smoothly but he is very knowledgeable and getting the point across well enough for us all to understand. I am sure tomorrow it will all pull together nicely and make a whole lot more sense. More importantly though I know what a BA does and more about what I will be expected to do. For those that don't know, a BA essentially assists in project management, writing plans to solve problems or seize opportunities within a business and achieve desired outcomes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am liking what the role details, I naturally like order and routine even if at times it gets tedious, its not the routine but the work itself. I can already start to see some of my challenges being my communication and networking with my shy tendencies, it is going to take a lot for me to put myself out there and make those connections with people but I am going to have my manger right there with me and I know I can do it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of this is part of the reason for starting a blog, to polish my written communication skills, communication styles and just get a feel for it. I am also working out what people respond to and as a form of practice for my new skills. Keep an eye out later in the week for the post day 2 update and the results of a post course meeting with my manager. Maybe somewhere I will be able to connect with someone to help me on my journey!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span><br />
<br />Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-68605718479678731742013-02-17T20:50:00.002+11:002013-02-17T20:50:46.008+11:00Transmog update<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Moo and I went hunting again last night for a transmog sword. His suggestion was the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=30570" target="_blank">Arkadian Claymore</a>, a very paladin-y looking piece, and BONUS its an awesome glowing one, so pretty! We needed to go off to Halaa to the blade vendor to get it. We get there to find out (of course) that its Alliance controlled so we have to defeat all the guards to regain control for the NPCs to pop. Luckily, being level 90, we can mow down the guards easily without needing to do bombing runs with the wyverns, old school style.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We get halfway through hitting the guards to then have a Pandaren from Aman-thul come and help us with the last of them and then sit by the flag with us until it changes over (thanks cross realm zones!) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its a long time to just stand and wait, but we were able to kill some time dancing and playing fetch with Moo's pet eagle!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The NPCs popped finally, and I grab my sword from <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/npc=21474" target="_blank">Coreiel</a> only just before some alliance fly in and start the process of changing it all back again. Thankfully our PvP flags had dropped by that time so we couldn't be killed for fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We took off back to the transmogger and fixed up my sword and this is what it looks like..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYw7wIfhgT_UyGs-edvKm3NWsStJ8LhT5-DjjREmaHxVsREUjFLwYFecjkje4r6SHo7aS9FMuBn8UDgSUnvOoomsLDyORWRdIGTQRJgEy9Wm6yUPxc13oRQUjGeaRdqjUldIfWXKUo1Sg/s1600/WoWScrnShot_021613_193014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYw7wIfhgT_UyGs-edvKm3NWsStJ8LhT5-DjjREmaHxVsREUjFLwYFecjkje4r6SHo7aS9FMuBn8UDgSUnvOoomsLDyORWRdIGTQRJgEy9Wm6yUPxc13oRQUjGeaRdqjUldIfWXKUo1Sg/s320/WoWScrnShot_021613_193014.jpg" width="296" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-ArJIuv3d8rKSW9By7WFy70Shgc17sPo-Fvq0f_KX_scGnfct096N8OZUL_apK51qLykzc4Z6Wkp_jrPAEBAK9r0CLl8zLXtUtD5Uh-mb-_4LlP8UpNAw3nG5c9TQtRo8VHEZYi2xgE/s1600/WoWScrnShot_021613_193008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-ArJIuv3d8rKSW9By7WFy70Shgc17sPo-Fvq0f_KX_scGnfct096N8OZUL_apK51qLykzc4Z6Wkp_jrPAEBAK9r0CLl8zLXtUtD5Uh-mb-_4LlP8UpNAw3nG5c9TQtRo8VHEZYi2xgE/s320/WoWScrnShot_021613_193008.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent the rest of the evening running through <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/zone=2159/onyxias-lair" target="_blank">Onyxia's Lair</a> for the mount <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=49636" target="_blank">Reins of the Onyxian Drake</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/zone=3923" target="_blank">Gruuls Lair</a> for the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=28800" target="_blank">Hammer of the Naaru</a> to use as alternative to transmog, but it did not drop and Moo and I had a picnic in Dalaran for the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=1291" target="_blank">Lonely?</a> achievement. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you think of my new outfit? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span><br />
<br />Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-40667519579329537182013-02-16T09:13:00.002+11:002013-02-16T09:13:24.106+11:00Transmogging<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been having a hard time trying to find time to blog so here is one with what I have been up to in WoW!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moo has been after the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/transmog-set=581" target="_blank">Lightbringer </a>armor set for me to transmog forever and we have finally run two of the old raids to grab the pieces this week. He had finally nabbed the last piece that he needed for his own t-mog, and the gun, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=28581" target="_blank">Wolfslayer Sniper rifle</a>, he was after so it was onto my set!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a bit of research, most of the set was found in only 2 old raids, Black Temple and Battle for Hyjal I have never been into raid at all before this week so it was awesome to see the inside of a few of them, the first run we did was Hyjal. From here I hoped to receive 3 of the pieces I needed. We had a few challenges in here as it had been a long time since Moo had been in and had forgotten how some (a lot) of it played out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We helped Jaina out with the waves of trash easily enough, last wave finished and we headed for the Horde camp to see Thrall and do the other side. Run all the way there to find that we could not speak to him. So we run all the way back to the Alliance camp to find half the camp wiped out and Jaina being attacked. Ugh, right so we have to hit boss #1 who had popped and get smooshed into the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, lets try again. So we go back, kill the 8 waves again and then this time wait for the boss to arrive and get it all sorted. Onto the Horde side to chat to Thrall and we get all the waves and bosses down pretty easily! Yay! Azgalor dropped my glove token!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We run all the way to Archimonde, who drops The helm token. Moo warns me he tosses you up into the air so be ready to bubble if he does so (Having forgotten about Tyrande's floating tear thing he mentioned AFTERWARDS/) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten seconds into the fight Moo gets flung into the air and pops the glider. No problem! He then lands, and immediately gets flung into the air again, and promptly</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> dies. I am left to solo him all on my own, hit, hit hit, heal hit bubble hit hit heal.... I get him down after maybe 5 mins, Moo and I are both left gobsmacked because I am not the best geared Pally around! /cheer But no Helm token. /Boo</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following night we run Black Temple for other pieces. After it taking us a few mins to find the portal in ( I hadn't run it before and for Moo it had been a LONG while since last run) we finally get in and start the trek through. I am amazed at how huge it is! It took us 2 hours to run through and we didn't kill everything. Luckily, the Essence of Anger dropped a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=32354" target="_blank">helm with the same model</a> as the Lightbringer, so we didn't need to fight Archimonde again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mother Sharahz dropped my Shoulder token, and although most of the bosses could be burned through, we wiped on the Illidari Council because of their heals and not knowing how to fight them. After checking on the old mechanics (thanks Wowpedia) we got them down second time around,and YAY leg token!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onward to Illidan!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We wiped on the Flames of Azzinoth during the Illidan fight as we didn't know the mechanics there either. We downed them on the second attempt as well, but no chest token :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night after the reset, we ran another Black Temple to see if we could get the last pieces I needed the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=30990" target="_blank">chest</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=32243" target="_blank">feet</a>, and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=32512" target="_blank">waist</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ran through this time with no drama, much faster, AND managed to get 3 pieces (the wrists were a bonus!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I purchased the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=34923#." target="_blank">belt</a> with Justice Points I had accrued from the vendor in Shattrath after not getting the drop in BT.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now I am all transmogged and looking much better than in all my mis-matched gear! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgln0FxaQyK5fQbFrhDDwccMBBi05tUVanxxY8OwW_SyP5EcCF8LaD3bzwDPtqu48CHmzvoac3yVKyHOD1hfb3tRYIfQqXqA4c6uRktCc9RTcMWLoX9EKw0VbotYQJcKXpDLwM6EcrluCQ/s1600/Tmog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgln0FxaQyK5fQbFrhDDwccMBBi05tUVanxxY8OwW_SyP5EcCF8LaD3bzwDPtqu48CHmzvoac3yVKyHOD1hfb3tRYIfQqXqA4c6uRktCc9RTcMWLoX9EKw0VbotYQJcKXpDLwM6EcrluCQ/s320/Tmog.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this is now how I look. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soooo, what do you think? Do you like or have any suggestions on something that could be changed? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still thinking about a weapon. Hammer of the Naaru is NICE but doesn't really match for colour. Suggestions on something to go with the Lightbringer set? 2-handers please!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-20151733523299898182013-02-09T18:18:00.002+11:002013-02-09T18:18:56.147+11:00Life living in Australia.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a Twitter follower ask what it's like to live in Australia so I thought I'd dedicate a post to my day to day life, answering questions so you can compare to how you live. :)</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in the outer suburbs of Sydney, around 40kms (25mi) from the city.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in a modest 3 bedroom house, one bathroom, pool and a decent sized yard. It is very much suburbia here, lots of freestanding houses. We are not far from rural properties, maybe a 5 min drive to the small local farms and 15mins to the wide open spaces, rural land and larger farms. Further west of us we have a mountain range (1,064m elevation, 3,490ft), complete with dense bush land, the scenery there is stunning and they do get occasional snow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shopping</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Supermarkets in Aust are considerably smaller than the Walmarts of the world. We can get everything we require food wise though at a supermarket, grocery, meat and fresh food. We have Costco, although only 3 in the country. We personally shop at a chain called Aldi, they stock home band type foods and are substantially cheaper than the larger Coles and Woolworths chains. For meat we go to a wholesale butcher as the meat is much fresher and cheaper. We buy bulk and use our freezer to store it, going 6-8 weeks between shops for convenience. Fresh food we head to the local market as the food is much better quality and again cheaper. We use other discount department stores (Target, Kmart and Big W) for clothing and other basic household requirements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Work</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mentioned in a previous post I work part time, 3 days per week and Moo is working full time 5 days. We both work in office environments, Moo in IT and I am just changing roles from Customer Service and processing to a Business Analyst role. We are lucky that our offices are quite close to each other so on days that I am at work, we all pile in the car at 6:45am and drive into the city. The kids go to day care 5 mins from work, so they get dropped off first and then I walk and moo takes the car as he has a parking spot. At the end of the day we meet back at daycare and get home at around 6:30pm to do the dinner and bed time for the kids. The aim is to have them in bed at around 7:30, which we achieve more often than not, some nights are a bit later if traffic has been bad or we need to stop on the way home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Climate</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Sydney, its relatively mild, Lows in winter (Jun, Jul, Aug) at night don't often drop below zero deg C and mid teens during the day. Summer (Dec, Jan, Feb) lows are mid teens and highs we have few days that get to 40 deg C but typically mid 30's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hear quite a bit that its weird that we have Christmas in summer. Whats it like? Its Christmas, just like it has always been! Whats it like to have Christmas with snow? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We do a family get together for Christmas, BBQ lunch with salad and roast meat still (usually Turkey, Chicken and Pork) and leg ham. School breaks up over the Christmas/ New Year period, just like the summer break America gets in their summer. They finish up about a week before Christmas and go back in the last week of January.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don't get snow, only the occasional frost, although we do have alpine regions in the south where is does snow for 2-3 months of the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Debunking the myths</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No we do not keep Kangaroos as pets, they can be very dangerous and potentially kill if you poke them or approach wild ones. We keep dogs, cats, birds and fish like everyone else!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes Kangaroos are pests in places and we can buy 'roo meat in supermarkets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koalas are not bears. they are endangered so the population is protected, we don't keep these as pets either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Would you rumble with an Alligator? Same goes for Crocodiles, they are just bigger!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like all of the USA isn't LA or New York, Australia is a varied place</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me know if you have any other questions and I can answer them as best I can.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span></div>
Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-50445199427005011442013-02-06T21:59:00.000+11:002013-02-06T21:59:32.927+11:00Waffles!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got a little bored this afternoon. The kids were being good for a change and I had started to think about dinner. I have this habit, if I find a recipe I plan on trying, I leave the page open in my browser. Its kind of like a reminder for me to do it. I am so glad I did today! </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moo had been wanting to try a home made custard that he had seen on television last week. So I thought, chicken drumsticks in the fridge and some vegies that I need to use so veggie risotto with roasted chicken. But what of this custard, what are we going to have with it? So I starting thinking of what Moo likes.. hmm, Waffles! he loves waffles! I was not sure if custard would go with waffles though. One quick tweet and that idea was sorted, so custard with waffles and raspberries it is!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfuPMrNp0LVXdxmuPl7NOdRSGMyXrtFtYRKKO-28wzySzMazbi_C6JHzI1SU41sPWQ-t-TNFFXfQndyIpTTDscydWhCykOxuvnmRVYMJZBuR7FcUikzHZ-SEqyCCxOusGcxDoM9XZiOA/s1600/IMG_1022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfuPMrNp0LVXdxmuPl7NOdRSGMyXrtFtYRKKO-28wzySzMazbi_C6JHzI1SU41sPWQ-t-TNFFXfQndyIpTTDscydWhCykOxuvnmRVYMJZBuR7FcUikzHZ-SEqyCCxOusGcxDoM9XZiOA/s320/IMG_1022.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First I get cracking on the custard. I don't find it overly difficult making custard, I have made it before but not all that often. We had picked up the ingredients over the weekend so I had everything to hand. Sprocket loves helping me in the kitchen so I got him gathering things and helping me measure, pour and mix. I find so many great lessons in cooking with Sprocket, mostly math related, and we have so much fun doing it. So we get the custard sorted and I pop it aside to cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up I get the chicken in the oven. I like to make a quick spice mix to pop on the top of the chicken just to make it yummy and into the oven it goes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its then time to get working on the risotto. I use veggies I have in the fridge, corn, carrot and zucchini. 20 mins later and a handful of Parmesan cheese at the end and its all done!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before Moo is due home I get the waffle batter done and let it rest while we are eating our Chicken and Veggie Risotto. Moo loves it and devours it, Gizmo is a bit tired and cranky so hardly eats a thing and Sprocket eats his chicken and at least tries his risotto before going off to get ready for bed. That means Moo and I get to share all that yummy custard and waffles. I prepare the waffles while kids are sorted and we eat while Sprocket is having wind down time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The custard is divine I had forgotten just how beautiful and sweet it is and it works perfectly with the waffles and raspberries! Moo loved it so much, and that is exactly why I love cooking and baking so much! I think I will be making more custard for Moo ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-43734752322376283012013-02-06T21:50:00.001+11:002013-02-06T21:50:40.764+11:00My travels in Azeroth<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started in World of Warcraft many years ago although I have had many extended breaks for various reasons, children being two of them. This is a bit of background on how I got into WoW and where I am at now.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started in MMO's in general by watching over Moogyver's shoulder while he was playing EverQuest, maybe about 9 years ago. It looked fun and a bit confusing as to the point but I watched and he taught me and set me up with my own toon on there. I didn't really play long although it was a great start to MMOs and games as I had not played anything more than Mario Bros. or Sonic on consoles before that. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WoW began with a friend of Moogyver's telling him about it and he created an account. We shared for a while before above-mentioned friend suggested to create a character on his account so we could play together. I created a Gnome Warlock named Kewtipie and it was awesome! Moo was able to show me around and we could do some stuff together and I learned how to play. I still now learn a lot from Moo, I just haven't spent as much time in game or read enough to know an awful lot but that is slowly changing.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2009, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moo so wonderfully bought a copy of the game for me for Christmas, I had my own account! I started a Dwarven Priest as Moo had his Dwarven Hunter and we had started in the same zone to level up together. She had been my main character for a long time now and as much as I have played, she has never reached max level until about a week before Pandaria launched. Moo helped me grind her out so it was ready to go straight into Pandaland! </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stopped playing in April 2011 due to limited funds, time and a growing baby tummy. Teily was left sitting at around Level 83.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natanie, my Tauren Paladin, was only created in August 2012 when Medros from <a href="http://www.allthingsazeroth.com/" target="_blank">All Things Azeroth</a> was after his Scroll of Resurrection mount. Moo told me and said that I would get a little game time and a level 80 toon. It took a week or two of contemplation and I am sure Medros had tweeted many times, before I took him up on the offer. He was also generous enough to include one months game time as well and I was hooked again! I created my twitter and started getting her up to 85 ready for Pandaria and then went back to my Priest to get her leveled up as well.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In just a few weeks I had a whole heap of followers on twitter and 2 new guilds. Everyone has been so welcoming into the community, both in game and through twitter. I am quite overwhelmed sometimes with all the support I get when asking a question and even more so with the support I have had for starting this blog and my first jump into podcasting last week as guest on <a href="http://girlsgonewow.net/" target="_blank">Girls Gone Wow</a> Episode #86. I think I will be around more this year on podcasts. ;)</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natanie (Paladin) is currently my main, level 90 and completed the Horde story line through Dominance Offensive although I am still working on some reputations and haven't done many dungeons. I have never raided but would love to jump into LFR once she is geared up enough. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teily (Priest) is level 88 and Moogyver and I are currently working through the Pandaria quests to get them to 90 so we can do Shieldwall quests, hopefully before 5.2 hits.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moo and I have also started Pandaren Monks. They are only level 12 and sitting in Orgrimmar at the moment but it will be so much fun to level them both up so I can see all that content that I missed either before I started playing or the content that I missed while on breaks. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of my Armory links or in my 'About Me' on the left side of the page if you are interested in looking. I'd love any ideas, tips or feedback on any of my characters.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-82153854337660819492013-02-06T21:50:00.000+11:002013-02-06T21:50:28.187+11:002013 Goals!So I thought seeing as though its the beginning of the year and I am just starting out in blogging I would make post #2 more about me and my goals for this year.<br />
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I have never really had any, and the ones I was forced to create at work always irritated me to no end. For some strange reason though, possibly due to feeling out of control both at home and at work right now I felt the need to sort some stuff out, in my head at least, so things will be achieved this year and I will feel like I am moving forward with the things I can control.<br />
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<dl><dd>- Self Focus</dd>
<dt>Every parent knows how much hard work babies can be. Now Gizmo is a little older and not quite so reliant on me, its time I changed my thoughts back to myself a little more. I hope to get out a little more, both on my own and with Moo, watching my diet a bit more carefully and hopefully weight loss will follow and the other little things like new clothes and nail polish, small treats to help brighten my life.<br />
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<dd>- De-clutter the house</dd>
<dt>My house, at the moment is full of stuff! We have cleared out quite a bit but there is still more to go. I have piles of baby clothes and toys stacked everywhere that Gizmo no longer needs. Some will be donated to the daycare centre the kids attend, some will be returned to their owners that so kindly lent them to us and the rest listed for sale. Moo and I need a wardrobe de-clutter, as does Sprocket. I have always found it cathartic to clean out and organise things, shame they don't stay that way for long! Hopefully this will earn us a little extra cash that can be used for other things, some fun and some practical. A new microphone is on the list for Moo and a visit to the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year for the kids.<br />
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<dd>- Have a regular savings plan</dd>
<dt>Until Early January we have very much just been paid, spent what we needed left the rest in our account and carried on. Income is rather tight now with 2 kids in daycare so we had to come up with another plan, a way to balance out the spikes in the budget and really look at what we were spending. We are now putting away a small amount each pay with a priority list in place to keep us on track and using it wisely. We even have Sprocket in on the savings plan with making take away meals at home rather than buying and he has his own money box for which he gets a token amount for completing his chores each week.<br />
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<dd>- Create and cross things off the ever increasing house to-do list</dd>
<dt>We have a lot of stuff around the house that needs doing and has needed doing since we moved in over 2 years ago, most of which are minor fix up jobs that will be simple and inexpensive to complete, others are more expensive and need to be saved for. I have changed a few schedules around so we have more time on weekends to get some things done. The savings plan is also part of this goal as without the money we cannot complete much of the list. We now have a list and have been working in the last few weeks on getting on top of the house work and everyday stuff with a few items off the list. I have found that writing a list each morning of things I want to achieve throughout the day helps, both with me getting it done and so Moo knows what needs to be done and what is planned for the day. <br />
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<dt>I could write about this type of stuff for ages but I will stop there. This, I think, gives a pretty good summary in what I am hoping to achieve in and around the home this year. There are a few other things we would like to do, like a small family holiday before Sprocket is in school next year and maybe a weekend away but we will have to see how the budget allows for all of that extra special stuff.</dt>
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I'd love to hear your thoughts comment and ideas!<br />
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xx NatanieNataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3987954996208679529.post-67435068652487263942013-01-30T21:00:00.002+11:002013-01-30T22:37:44.371+11:00Welcome!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Welcome to my first venture into blogging! I am Natanie, wife to Moogyver, mum to 2 boys (Sprocket and Gizmo) and part time employee. I reside in Sydney, Australia.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My currents hobbies include baking and creating in the kitchen, other crafty pursuits and playing World of Warcraft. I hope to be able to share my adventures in life while raising my boys, juggling work, home life and finding that balance as well as sharing some of the wonderful things I bake and make. I look forward to sharing some stories and thoughts relating to WoW and life in general.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In WoW I currently have 2 characters, one Horde Tauren Paladin and one Alliance Dwarf Priest. I am working on a 3rd Pandaren Monk Horde side but she is not yet very high in level.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moogyver currently works in IT and does '<a href="http://spareparts.podomatic.com/" target="_blank">Spare Parts</a>' an engineering podcast which appears on '<a href="http://www.allthingsazeroth.com/" target="_blank">All Things Azeroth</a>' and '<a href="http://thelorewalkers.podbean.com/" target="_blank">The Lorewalkers</a>'</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope you will join me and follow my adventures and thoughts on life, hobbies and what happens in my world!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">xx Natanie</span>Nataniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005075484084174538noreply@blogger.com6