Thursday, 1 January 2015

We have moved

Hi Everyone,

I cannot thank you enough for you continued support throughout the development of Perfect Enough For Us. I am completely overwhelmed by the response we have had.

It is because of this that we decided to move our site to a more stable and robust environment. As well as ensuring that the site is easier to use and in my opinion quite pretty.

You can find us at our new home here:

www.perfectenoughforus.com

Thank you again for your amazing support. Remember, once at the new page, subscribe to our mailing list so you can keep up to date on the latests posts and please leave your comments and let us know what you think about the new look. 

Happy New Year and I hope 2015 brings you absolute joy.

Krystal

Saturday, 27 December 2014

My body after pregnancy (the hot mess it is)

In my early twenties I took a lot of pride in my appearance. At the age of 23 I was a self-confessed gym junkie. I would be at the gym by 5:30am (as soon as they opened) and would work out for an hour. I’d then shower and get ready for work before setting off for my 12 hour shift. After I finished work at 7pm I would then head back to the gym for around another hour or two, depending on what classes they had on offer and how many calories I had already managed to burn. It was the first time in my life that I actually started to like my body. I realised I had control over how it looked and was determined to not only make it look good, but to ensure it was strong and athletic too.

By the age of 25 I started to realise the balance between food and exercise and realised that I didn’t have to work out as much and was actually a lot healthier if I ate better as well. At this time I was trying to fall pregnant so holistic health was at the forefront of my priorities. I still kept up regular gym sessions and watched everything I ate. As far as body image goes I thought I had a fairly positive one, there were things I didn’t like about my body and wanted to change but I didn’t despise the way I looked. There were also a lot of things I liked about my body – I loved my boobs, loved how strong my legs were and the muscle definition they had, I loved my stomach and the abs that were showing and I loved my arms and how strong they were.

When I fell pregnant I was so excited to see my tummy swell and take shape as the life inside of me grew. Little did I realise what was ahead of me. During my first trimester I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum, a condition described as extreme morning sickness. I lost around 7kg and looked pale, gaunt and ghostly. My pregnancy was sucking every bit of energy from me. After week 12 I finally started to feel a little better and was able to start putting on weight. By the end of my pregnancy I had only gained 10kg above my pre-pregnancy weight. I loved the way my body looked while I was pregnant, and as an added bonus I never had to worry about feeling bloated because you could never tell with a pregnant belly! Woohoo!

Do you love your post baby body? I do! Sure there are lump and bump and squidgy bits that were never there before but my body is amazing. My body carried life and nourished my son until he was born, and now, 18 months later, is still providing nourishment for him. Give credit to your post baby body! It is amazing.
Pregnant with Alexander 35 weeks

After I gave birth to my gorgeous little man I started to see the massive changes that had taken place in my body. My once toned and firm stomach was now squishy and soft, my once perky boobs were becoming engorged with milk and I could feel the skin itch as it was stretching (I knew stretch marks wouldn’t be too far behind) and my once strong body now was feeling the effects of not going to the gym for months. But you know what? I have never loved my body more. Sure, there were times where I looked at my stomach and wished to see the abs I had before, but this body carried life. This body had now achieved way more than it could ever achieve in any gym session.

Now, 18 months later, I still have a squishy tummy, I have diastasis recti that refuses to heal, my boobs have shrunk and sunken and resemble something more like elongated ski slopes now and who has that much time for the gym with a toddler to chase after? I have never been more proud of my body and what it can do. I am still breastfeeding my son, 18 months later. I have lost and gained my milk supply over and over again. My body is amazing. To be honest, I’m even a little sad that the few stretch marks I had on my tummy are starting to fade – they were a beautiful reminder that I carried my perfect little man inside of me for 9 months.

So to all the mums out there who shy away from their stretch marks, huff over the few extra kilograms they are carrying around or sing the ode to their once perky boobs, just remember, you body is amazing. You are amazing. Take some time to truly think about what your body has achieved and stop being so hard on yourself. There’s so much to love about you.

Let us know what you love about yourself, whether it’s post baby or not, there’s a whole lot to love.   

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

The most perfect Gingerbread biscuits

Every year, as Christmas approaches (at what seems like the speed of light) I become more and more excited about all of the gorgeous decorations and all of the delicious food! 

For me Christmas food isn’t limited to December 25th. Christmas is an event, to be celebrated over many days, to remind us to appreciate everything we have, everyone we have and just how lucky we are to live the way we do.

One of my most favourite Christmas treats are Gingerbread biscuits (or cookies, whatever you want to call them, they are delicious). I’d love to be able to make one of the gorgeous gingerbread houses but I assure you, I am no Martha Stewart and decorating is not my forte. This biscuits can be enjoyed on their own or iced with royal icing that you can dye in any colour you want to make your festive treats come to life.

So here it is, the most perfect recipe for the most perfect gingerbread biscuits.

Ingredients
3 cups of plain flour
1 cup of caster sugar
½ cup of brown sugar
3 teaspoons of ground ginger
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
1 teaspoon of bicarb soda
200g butter (melted)
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Method
Mix all sifted dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Add all wet ingredients into a bowl.
Pour wet mix into dry mix and combine.
Knead mixture together and flatten out into a disc shape. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Remove from fridge and using a surface and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour roll out mix to around 4mm thick.
Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Remove excess dough from around the shapes then use a spatula to move shapes to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Knead and roll out remaining dough and repeat above step until no dough is left.
Bake in oven at 180°C for 10 minutes. If you’d like your biscuits to be crunchy then bake a few minutes longer.
Remove from oven and allow to completely cook before icing (or alternatively eat them warm as they come out because they are absolutely delicious).

The most perfect gingerbread biscuits ever - enjoy on their own or iced with royal icing. Bake a little longer if you want them crunchy. This is the perfect Christmas treat to share, give away as gifts or to keep all for yourself.
Add all the dry ingredients together 

The most perfect gingerbread biscuits ever - enjoy on their own or iced with royal icing. Bake a little longer if you want them crunchy. This is the perfect Christmas treat to share, give away as gifts or to keep all for yourself.
Mix in all the wet ingredients (and taste test) 

The most perfect gingerbread biscuits ever - enjoy on their own or iced with royal icing. Bake a little longer if you want them crunchy. This is the perfect Christmas treat to share, give away as gifts or to keep all for yourself.
Roll out dough onto a board lightly dusted in flour 

The most perfect gingerbread biscuits ever - enjoy on their own or iced with royal icing. Bake a little longer if you want them crunchy. This is the perfect Christmas treat to share, give away as gifts or to keep all for yourself.
Cut into shapes 

The most perfect gingerbread biscuits ever - enjoy on their own or iced with royal icing. Bake a little longer if you want them crunchy. This is the perfect Christmas treat to share, give away as gifts or to keep all for yourself.
Bake and enjoy

Let me know what your favourite Christmas treats are in the comments section below. I hope everyone enjoys this recipe and has an amazing Christmas with the ones they love.

Saturday, 20 December 2014

Last minute gift ideas for kids (that aren't toys)

We all know what the last minute Christmas rush is like. I don’t know about you but regardless of how organised or well prepared I think I am, there is always a Christmas Eve dash for gifts to fill stockings or to add to other presents. Now that I am a mum I am learning just how many toys children receive as gifts. Alexander’s birthday is in June and we still have a cupboard full of gifts that we are slowly bringing out one at a time so he can actually play with and enjoy them.

As Christmas approaches, way too quickly, I have been searching around for gifts for kids that aren’t toys. I have nieces and nephews too and I know they all have plenty of toys to keep them occupied so I’d rather give something a little different.

So here is a list of alternatives that I have come up with for presents for kids.

1 – Movie Tickets – who doesn’t love a good day out at the movies? Tickets are quite expensive now so going to the movies is a real treat. Perfect gift to keep on hand for rainy days or school holidays. Movie tickets usually last around 12 months and you can sometimes buy actual tickets or a gift card for a specified amount allowing for extras like popcorn and drinks.

2 – Books – I add books to this list because in no way do I believe they fall under the banner of toys. Books are a gift that lasts a lifetime. I still have a collection of books from my childhood and absolutely treasure them. Alexander has a lot of book collections, such as Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl and whenever friends or family have children the first thing we purchase for them is usually a book collection.

Dr Seuss has an amazing collection of books right from very basic books with just a few words on each page to more advanced paragraphs. Dr Seuss books are always positive and our absolute favourite is 'Oh The Places You'll Go'
Books are a timeless gift that everybody loves. 

3 – Tickets to a Zoo or Theme Park – Give an adventure as a gift. If there is a Zoo or Theme Park within driving distance then this is a great gift. Usually family passes can be purchased so this can even be a gift for the whole family. Again, most tickets are valid for up to 12 months so it gives plenty of time to prepare and arrange a day to go. There is so much to see and do at these places, this gift will be a hit with everyone.

4 – Animal Encounters – Some Zoo’s offer hands on time with the animals. We live a few hours from Australia Zoo which has an amazing array of animal encounters available. I’ve received these as gifts before and have been able to walk a Cheetah, feed a Lemur and pat a White Rhinoceros. For smaller children there are encounters with Dingo’s, Wombats and various farmyard animals available too.

5 – Adopt an Animal – Keeping with the above theme, some Zoo’s offer the ability to ‘adopt’ an animal. For a small fee you can ‘adopt’ an animal for a year and the money you pay goes towards helping maintain their enclosure and care for the animal. You usually are given a certificate and a picture of the animal so children can take it to school for show and tell and display it proudly at home.

6 – Music Lessons – Some children would love the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument but music lessons can be quite expensive. If you have a child that is musically inclined then there is always the ability to give friends and family the option of purchasing lessons for your little one to learn their desired instrument. Before you know it you’ll have a heap of lessons paid for in advance and your child will be so excited as each lesson passes and they learn more and more.

7 – Craft Supplies – Children love to be creative. There are so many different craft supplies available now and with the help of Pinterest, the possibilities and ideas of craft projects are endless. You can also go a little further and add in storage and organisation units for craft supplies. Steve came up with a great idea to organise ours – he purchased a tool box and set each section out at the length needed to store various crayons, pencils and pens. Now it’s easy access them and even easier to keep them sorted.

A great idea to store and organise your craft supplies is to use a tool box or a tackle box. They are significantly cheaper and often come with little inserts that allow you to customise the dimensions of each compartment. We use a small tool box to store the array of pens, pencils and crayons we have.
Store pens, pencils and crayons in a tool box or tackle box. 

8 – Dress Up Costumes – The imagination of children never ceases to amaze me. The stories and fantasies they come up with are absolutely fantastic. Dress up costumes allow the children to use their imagination and the possibilities are endless. Most cheap shops sell different costumes and accessories so there is no need for this to be an expensive present by any means. You could always purchase a few different options and let the children take control of their play time, then sit back and watch their imaginations unfold.

9 – Pool Pass – it’s summer here in Australia and Australian summers are hot. As kids my Nan would give us a pool pass for Christmas and we thought it was absolute gold. It gave us endless admissions for summer and we would spend every chance we had there. This would still be possible in cooler climates with pools that are heated and have climate control. Swimming lessons are always a great option to accompany this too. It is vital that children know how to swim and how to be safe around water and swimming lessons teach them this while they have fun. It’s a win/win situation.

So there’s a few last minute ideas for Christmas presents that not only won’t break your budget but will offer a fantastic alternative to the usual toys we find ourselves gravitating towards.


What non-toy presents are you giving your children this year?

Thursday, 18 December 2014

How to say NO to drama

In keeping along the same lines as my previous story, this post is dedicated to the kind of people who always seem to have some sort of drama surrounding them. You know the ones I’m talking about – they are the person who you ask ‘how are you?’ and you can never get a simple answer. It’s always something along the lines of ‘well you wouldn’t believe what so and so did to me’ or ‘didn’t you hear? So and so has done this and now I’m some sort of victim.’ They are the people who always have something going wrong, are always disadvantaged by something in some way and everything is always someone else’s fault.

Say NO to Drama - We all know someone who thrives on drama. How much of their drama do you allow into your life? Do you know how to say no? Learn how to turn someone else's drama into your success.


I know you know someone like this. I know you also try to avoid people like this. They are exhausting. Despite how nice they may be to you, they consume so much time and energy and that’s why they don’t have very many close friends at all. If there is no obvious drama currently in their lives, they start making things up and creating drama because they struggle to function without it. It is their life source; it is what drives them and feeds them. Without drama, they simply don’t know what to do.

Unfortunately, for some of us, we cannot avoid these people. They integrate themselves into our lives and despite every effort we make, we still have to deal with them.
I’ve got a particularly dramatic one devoted to entwining herself in every aspect of my life at the moment. She puts so much effort into taking a swipe at me from every direction she can, whether it is using people we both happen to know, using her kids or even having her solicitor send letters (for some reason she thinks that by putting something in writing it makes it so…). She is the kind of person who has always gotten her way, manipulated people into doing what she wanted and failing that, used her parents money to buy her way through life. It seems in all her years she has yet to learn that money cannot buy class or happiness.

So after her latest attempt at attacking me it made me think, ‘What impact is she actually having on my life?’ To be honest, she has had more of a positive effect than she could ever know. She is so intent on brining me down that she wouldn’t even realise that her efforts are actually building me up. Each time she makes some half minded attempt to thwart me in some way it gives me this overwhelming drive and determination to do better and to be better and to prove that I will not let anyone stand in the way of my happiness.

Reflecting on it even more, it has been directly after the times that she has made attacks at me that I have achieved the most. I have set up this blog, written posts I am incredibly proud of and driven more traffic here than I ever thought possible. While I am sure I would have achieved all of this without the drama, it has been because of the negativity that I have been determined to be the best I can be. It has made me take more control of my life and what I want.

I will meet her negativity with nothing but a positive attitude and be happy while she thrives only on others misery.

I will not allow her, or anyone else, to stop me from doing what I want to do in life.

I will say NO to drama!!!

We have a choice when it comes to the people in our lives that thrive on drama. We can both encourage and feed their drama, giving in to their idle threats and allowing them to intimidate us. Or… we can use their drama to fuel our motivations, we can prove to them that our lives can be happy and drama free and we can chase our dreams regardless of what anyone says.

How do you deal with drama? Leave your comments below and let me know your tips and tricks on how you deal with the dramatic people in your life.

 
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