Give a Kiva Loan for free!

Just a quick post - I received an email this morning from Kiva advising that they are giving 3000 new lenders a Kiva loan for free, so get to it now and follow this link and make someones day!

http://kiva.org/ladieshomejournal

Promise I will be back with something a bit less "service announcement like" soon :) Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a winner!

Well it is finally upon us - Christmas is tomorrow and the big man is nearly here. Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you have a lovely day with your friends, family and loved ones. We will be enjoying the company of some lovely neighbours for our last Christmas in Adelaide, and they have a pool so that is like gold!! Thank you for stopping by over the last year and checking in with my ramblings, hopefully I will see you again next year, I have loved receiving your comments and getting to know you all better as well. Thank you also to all of my customers who have visited me either online or in person at markets over 2011, I look forward to bringing you lots more EdanRose goodness in 2012 too!

And the winner of my KIVA gift card was:  CooCoo!! Congratulations, I have sent you an email :)

All I want for Christmas...

I know it is really too late to be posting this, seen as though there is only a handful of days before Christmas but nevertheless here is my 

Ultimate Christmas Wish List.  

 

Some real lovelies there don't you think! I know at least one of those things will be under the tree because I already purchased it.
( ipad2, Elk, Elk, Witchery, Elk, Sancerre, Emily Green, Country Road, Garmin, Lorna Jane, Salvation Jane, Lush, Table Tonic, Table Tonic, Table Tonic, Table Tonic)
Also don't forget to enter my KIVA GIFT CARD giveaway, see my last post for details :)

My Christmas Gift to you - KIVA

Earlier this year I came across KIVA.ORG, and thought it was such an easy way for me to try and make a difference in someone else's life that was less fortunate. Basically KIVA allows you to lend a person of your choosing $25 to help fund a loan which they can use to grow their business, or pay for equipment, or use for personal expenses etc. You are given the estimated time that it will take for them to repay the loan and how often they will make the re-payments. You are then sent updates on how the loan is progressing and when you have received payments, and then when the loan is fully re-paid you have the option to either re-invest your money in another loan or withdraw your money. Here is a video from KIVA which explains it in a bit more detail.


How Kiva Works from Kiva on Vimeo.



How cool is that? The thing that I love about KIVA is that the profile of the loan recipients are so thorough and all have photos and personal details, so I can choose someone who may have similarities to me like have 4 children, or be my age or have similar hobbies. To think that my little $25 is having an impact on someone on the other side of the world is really wonderful and somewhat empowering.

These are my two current KIVA loans:

Souhad Samer is a 32 year old Tailor from Iraq and she has 3 children. Myself and 66 other lenders have funded her to purchase a generator and other inventory so she can continue to build her tailoring business where she makes and repairs women's clothing.

Janviere is a 36 year old General Store Owner from Rwanda. She has 4 children aged between 4 and 12 years. She has owned her shop for 1 year and sells Cassava Flour, Sugar and Salt etc and she is open every day from 7am till 6pm. Myself and 20 lenders have funded her to purchase more of her goods for re-saleand she intends to re-invest in her business and save for her family's future.

I am also going to make another loan this Christmas, to spread the love just a little bit further, and because I know how great it feels to do this, I am giving you, one of my lovely readers a KIVA GIFT CARD so that you too can bring some joy to someone less fortunate.

If you would like to be in the running to win this gift card, (and no this is not a sponsored post, I am buying the gift card out of my own money), simply leave a comment below, telling me what brings you joy at this time of the year. So it is not hard, I can think of a million things that brings a smile to my face at this time of the year, so really there is no excuse to not enter.  Also, I would love it if you were a follower of my blog as I would love you to come back another time and see what I am up to. And if you are lucky enough to be the winner I would love to know who you decide to give your loan to.

Competition is open to anyone in the world, and I will be drawing the winner on Christmas Eve at 9pm, (or sometime around then!)

Don't forget you can always just go and make your own loan too, there are currently 6138 loans that need to be funded, follow this link which is an invitation from me to make a loan :) http://kiva.org/invitedby/megan3844

Merry Christmas and Good Luck!

Summer on a Plate

A wee while ago I entered a competition via Frills in the Hills blog to try and when a kitchenaid, you basically had to come up with a recipe that represented summer to you - at least I think that was the brief, it was a while ago! I entered my most favourite colourful salad aptly named "Summer on a Plate", and while I didn't win the Kitchenaid I did receive an email yesterday from Kleenex Mums advising that my recipe had now been published on their website. So please go and take a look and give it a go this summer, it really is very yummy!                    

Market Tomorrow

I've been very busy this week - as hubby would tell you with a roll of the eyes, I've had 3 very late nights in a row (my 'very late' is 3am) preparing lots of goodies for my stall tomorrow.

I think the subject of a future post will be "the only time I get for myself starts after midnight..." *sighs*

Tomorrow I'm doing the Mummy Tree Markets in Adelaide - come and stop by the Adelaide Showgrounds (Stirling Angas Pavilion) and see all the lovely things for mummies, babies and everything in between.

You can see some of the best buys from all stall holders in the Best & Beautiful Buys brochure

And here is a sneak peak of some of my wares...

Designer Fabrics.

My world famous Lunch Sacks - with three new colours

Necklaces

Adorable hand made cot quilts.

Patterns

    

And lots lots more...

Looking forward to seeing you at  

I must thank Katie from The Resin Room for putting me onto these markets!

From bad always comes good - Guest Blogger Post

Hello Readers

I have the privilege of being the husband of the owner of this great Blog and she is letting me loose at the controls for one night...

So you're probably aware that we have four wonderful kids - I have always maintained that they give me the extremes of emotions, i.e. they make me more joyous than anything or anyone else in the world; and on the flip-side more outraged...

Today I had a few moments where these extremes of emotions manifested in close succession hence the title of this blog.

Moment 1
Megs was out for the night so it was up to me to get dinner for the kids. I attempted some pastsa and mince - the kids are fairly fussy so there was no sauce and the pastsa and meat cannot touch. At some point I must have used the wrong bowl or spoon or served the kids in the wrong order or did something that wasn't right that I had no idea about because daughter two (2 1/2 yrs) began a crying fit the likes of which I have not seen before.

I tried calmly talking to her; asking lots of questions; offering different forks and plates and options of food. When that failed I tried yelling; I tried moving her, holding her and ignoring her. So the crying continued and continued and climaxed with a vomit  - yep she cried so much she spewed. Poor little thing (what about poor little Daddy - no sympathy? Fair enough)

After clearing the area and cleaning the daughter I gave her a big cuddle; the vomit had at least stopped the crying (I was worried it wasn't a long term fix). So whilst cuddling I brought out some "round and round the garden, like a teddy bear" this started to go down very well with the occasional smile appearing.

And here is the kicker - whilst I cuddled her and did "one step, two steps, tickley under there..." big brother and big sister came over and wanted to join in to help their little sister. They each took turns doing tickling and then even started doing raspberries on her tummy. This worked an absolute treat and soon the worries of the world disappeared - 4 Happy children - 'some' dinner consumed. One relived Daddy!

So special to see my little children coming together to support each other - it really warmed my heart.

Moment 2
Moment 2 followed on almost immediately. As I mentioned above, only 'some' dinner was consumed which left me with a whole stack of mince left over. That's the bad. The good is that we had just run out of cat food for Ziggy (well that's also a bad). The real good is that the uneaten kids dinner became the eaten cats dinner. Happy Cat; Happy Daddy.

Moment 3
Once Mummy had come home we chatted about our days - generally this conversation revolves around the annoying things and amazing things the kids did in the previous 12 hours.

I told her the vomit story and she responded with an after school tantrum story after daughter one (6 yrs) said the "H" word (not what you think - possibly the subject of a future post from Megs). In any case Mummy was very angry with daughter on arriving home and confined her to her room with nothing to eat. Whilst in her room daughter did a huge clean up job (of what was a bomb site). Further 'good' came later in the evening when 2 y/o helped vacuum the freshly tidied bedroom.[this was before her vomit].

So there you have it - three times when good things came from bad: when I think about it, it really happens all the time!

***   ***   ***   

On a brief side note - please help Megs by voting for her on the Circle of Moms Top 25 Aussie Bloggers - please vote every day!!

Thanks for reading - until next time Megs gives me keyboard access, remember something good often comes straight after something bad.

PK

The week that was...

1. Was a solo parent while hubby went to Melbourne for work
2. Did 9 sessions at the gym
3. Almost cried when the strap on my watch (HRM) broke off - and it is not the replaceable kind :(
4. Went to a Kings of Leon concert
5. Had a play date at the park
6. Got sunburnt for the first and wishfully thinking only time this spring/summer
7. Wished a friend a Happy Birthday
8. Filled out School Application Forms
9. Did a little sewing
10. Did a lot of orders
11. Found a few new Apps, just to waste a bit more time
12. Managed to brush India's hair at least 3 times which is pretty much a miracle
13. Took Stella to her dancing concert rehearsals
14. Attempted to read one of the 3 unopened magazine subscriptions that I have since last month
15. Wondered in amazement at Willow and how she is growing up so fast and is the last of my babies
16. Culled my blog reader down from over 300 to less than 100, can I tell you how great it is to wake up in the morning and only have 20 or so posts to catch up on!
17. Stressed about money, christmas, life, moving home, packing up, schools, time.
18. Loved Ozzies bug drawings
19. Marvelled at the blue of the ocean on these gorgeous days
20. Had lots and lots of cuddles and smooches with my babies

What did your week involve?

Lets get physical!

In an effort to finally break into those pesky 60's, I have started a one month trial membership at a local gym. Last week was my first week and I think you could say that I have started off with a bit of a "gym junkie" type mentality. I did 9 sessions last week and really enjoyed it. I tried many new classes, some which I liked more than others. The Zumba was quite similar to the classes I had been doing previously so I have really liked getting back in there for a bit of fun, I have also liked the body pump class as I think I really need to work on my arms and abs, body combat was also a good one, don't know that I will rush back to the Spin class, although maybe every so often just to mix it up. I did miss my runs though so had to have a bit of a hit out on saturday morning. It is working out fabulously so far as they have a creche in the mornings and Oscar and India both love to go, Willow on the other hand is not quite so keen, but the ladies tell me that she is fine once I have gone and they distract her with something else. So, surely with diversifying my workouts and continuing to eat very clean I will start to see the scales starting with a 6! It will be the first time in a very long time and I am so looking forward to it, will also mean that I have said good riddance to 30kg so that will definitely be worth celebrating. Have been getting lots of compliments lately and it feels good to know that all my hard work is paying off. 

:: More Instagram Love ::

Here are some of my favourites from the last month or so. Be sure to follow me if you have Instagram yourself, I am megkay77.

The Big Road Trip Of 2011 - Part Three

 
Saturday was the big Wedding day and it started out with a massive thunderstorm at about 4:30am which woke me up and kept me awake with my mind racing about all of the things I had to achieve on this day and how this weather would impact on those things, the rain was torrential and I had pretty much written off any chance of exercise, but low and behold by about 6:30am it had eased up, so my friend and I went out for a bit of a walk/run, she is only just learning to run which I am very proud of because I know how hard it was when I first started, so we did some interval running and then I got to work up a bit of a sweat by running home. Felt good that I could burn a few calories before the wedding seen as though I knew there would be a few extra indulgences and a few champagnes being consumed. Got on the scales this morning as well and I had hit the 27kg lost mark, so I was super happy with that! Managed to fit in another catch up with a friend at Chermside before getting my hair and make-up done for the wedding, was a little stressed as the time was ticking on but only really had to put my dress on once we got home and then jump in the car. Was so great to spend time with all our old friends together and frocked up and it felt so good to be looking more the way that I want to be looking and to have not seen a lot of my friends in the time that I have been losing weight and then get to present myself looking all shiny and new made it all worthwhile and certainly gave me the motivation to keep going and get to my goals. Even the extra energy that I had to be out on the dance floor most of the night and not be puffed out and have to go and sit down felt amazing. All in all it was a great night and Brisbane really turned on the weather we had almost all the seasons in on day – thunderstorms, lightning, rain, hail and then beautiful sunshine.  I am so happy for my friends to have tied the knot and start their married life together, god knows it can be a hard journey but totally worthwhile and to have someone by your side throughout your life who will love and support you is the best thing ever.

Sunday was another day of catch ups and good byes, and even managed to fit in some trash on the tele as my friend had taped the latest Kardashian Wedding for me to watch, - I know it’s crap, but don’t hold it against me, it is one of the few vices that a stay at home, running her own business, mother of 4 has in this world.

Monday, the kids got to have a last playdate with some of my closest girlfriends kiddies and then it was pack up the car and hit the road – onwards for an overnight stay in Toowoomba with some more close friends and then it was all guns blazing to Dubbo the next day. After stopping in and exchanging the DVD players as one had stopped working- I am sure this could have had nothing to my sweet children (!), and enough time for Oscar to vomit in the car (yuk!) it was on to the Western Plains Taronga Zoo in Dubbo.

This is a fantastic zoo and it is a safari park, so you can drive your own car around and hop out as you go, or hire bikes/buggies. We drove as not too keen on the buggy option with so many kids to make sure they are hanging on and sitting still. It means you can spend a long time at certain enclosures and just pass by others. The weather was really warm and about 4.5kms into the 6km path the kids were getting a bit restless, but we had seen Giraffes, Tigers, Elephants, Camels, Hippos, Ponies, Monkeys, Lions, Zebra, Meerkats, Goats, Koalas, Kangaroos, Turtles, Ducks, Cheetahs or were they Leopards, I can’t quite remember! And a multitude of other animals, all in all it was a great Zoo and the kids really enjoyed it. After the Zoo we pushed on and made it to Albury, which was much further than we had thought, but it meant that we would not have so far to go the next day to get to Melbourne. Got up in the morning and went for a run around the local cricket oval which felt good, did 5kms and then headed back as the sun was getting quite warm by then. Jumped back in the car and headed for Melbourne, did a bit of shopping and then everyone dropped me in the city where I got to stay for a night by myself before my Pro Blogger Training Day the next day. Went out on Friday night to a networking night, and met a few people prior to the big day, felt very out of my comfort zone, but was good to challenge myself in this way. The training day was fantastic, the content was so beneficial and I learnt so much about effective blogging and how to take things to the next level, I am so glad I did it.
The thing that I found not so great was trying to make connections with other bloggers, I have read a lot of blog posts since the day about how great it was to meet so many other bloggers, but in my opinion, I found it quite difficult as a very small-time blogger to be noticed by a lot of the bigger bloggers that were there, I also found it to be quite clique, which I found odd because everyone of these people started off small yet, they seemed like they didn’t remember what it was like to be the new person trying to fit in. I think in future I will try and have someone there who I do have some sort of relationship with, as there is always safety in numbers and that way you always have someone to talk to. I am still debating as to whether I will write a post dedicated to the day as even though the sessions were very valuable I was not left with a feeling of overall satisfaction from the day. I will ponder…

Saturday morning we were up and packed, goodbyes were made to my sister and then we headed down the Mornington peninsula to Sorrento where we caught the ferry across to Queenscliff and then headed down the Great Ocean Road. The weather was not very nice at all, so the beaches were not in all there glory but still we got to see a lot of surfers doing their thing. I never realised how windy and twisty the road would be, and it gave me a real headache and was too much for poor Stellsy who had to be sick.  After this, it was good that the 12 Apostles were not too far away as it meant that we got to get out of the car and take a walk and get some fresh air. The Apostles were amazing, and the view was spectacular, so glad that we had pulled out the jackets and warm clothes in the morning, as it was freezing and very windy. Can now say that we have done the Great Ocean Road, so can tick that one of the list. Stopped in Warrnambool for dinner, this was a lovely little town, and would love to go back there one day – great restaurants too for such a small place. There we headed on to our overnight accommodation in Mt Gambier.

Had a bit of a drive around in the morning including heading up to the Lake area, and checking out the amazing Blue Lake, what amazing colour it has. Then we were off via Coonawarra, where we had a snake slither across our path while we were driving, first (alive) one I have ever seen just out in the open. We had hoped to stop in at Jamiesons Run Winery, but the cellar door is now closed and we had missed the place that they now sell from, so never mind. It was our 7^th wedding anniversary today and we have shared many a bottle of Jamiesons Run on our previous anniversaries hence why we wanted to stop there. But we kept pressing on and had to stop in the middle of the road for our first encounter with a Kangaroo and wouldn’t you know it, it was at Stirling about 15minutes from Adelaide CBD, so after 7000kms of open roads, this is where we meet our first Kangaroo – crazy! Pulled into the driveway at about 5pm and so happy to be home! What a great trip and a fantastic adventure, and with 4 kids in the car it really wasn’t that bad! Can you believe it. I would certainly do it again and would definitely recommend it to others.