Day #19 What Are You Reading? {October Blogging Challenge}

Hello everyone! So I wrote this before and it only published the title and I lost the rest! Arghh so frustrating! Moving on, todays topic is ‘what book you’re reading’. I love reading, literally I am obsessed, however I have been in a book funk for a few months now. I just haven’t found anything that I’m really interested in, that is until Emma Hart realeased a new book last week! The book I am currently reading is called Dirty Lies by Emma Hart. This is the 3rd book in the Burke Brothers series, which follows the lives of 4 rockstar brothers who are the stars of a very popular band called Dirty B.

This book is based on one of the twin brothers named Aiden and his sassy ‘fake girlfriend’ Jessie. I’m only up to Chapter 8, but so far Dirty Lies is just as amazing as the first two Burke Brothers books. I highly suggest starting with the first book, Dirty Secrets. It had me hooked instantly and I couldn’t put it down! So good!

What are you currently reading? If you have any romance/erotica novel or author recommendations, leave them in the comments! I am always looking for new books to read 🙂

Kimberly Xo

Day #17 OOTD {October Blogging Challenge}

I cheated a little with today’s OOTD (outfit of the day) as I am keeping things pretty casual this weekend. This is my outfit from Thursday!

Top: Ally Fashion

Denim Shorts: Boohoo.com

Lipstick: Revlon 477 Black Cherry

Necklace: Gold love heart with diamonds pendant worn with gold cross with diamonds on 18K gold chain (both pendants purchased from Showcase Jewellers).

Kimberly Xo

Day #16 Thankful Thursday {October Blogging Challenge}

So today’s topic is Thankful Thursday, I know it’s Friday but let’s just pretend for today.

Today I am so very thankful that Hunter’s surgery went as planned on Wednesday. I am thankful that he is (so far) recovering and his pain tolerance has been really good too. He is still his normal happy self other than bed time where he gets pretty worked up, but otherwise he is still playing and being silly as usual.

I am thankful that we got to and from Brisbane safely. I am also so thankful that I managed to stay relatively calm and not have a big enough panic attack that I needed to leave. I am so thankful that I had the strength to push through my anxiety so I could be there when Hunter woke up in recovery and give him lots of snuggles as soon as he opened his eyes (if you haven’t been to the recovery ward in a children’s hospital, it isn’t pleasant and is very hard to see/hear so many upset and sore bubbas).

I am thankful to have such a trooper for a son. He didn’t cry at all in the hospital, he was even dancing an hour after he woke up from surgery! Such a happy little boy we have.

I am thankful for all the extra cuddles I have been getting the past few days from my usually not-so-snuggly baby.

What are you thankful for today? I think it’s a good idea to sit down and think about (or write down) what you are thankful for every now and again. It helps to remind you of the good things in your life.

Kimberly Xo

Day #15 Link Love – Favorite Bloggers {October Blogging Challenge}

Hey everyone! Today is going to be another short one. I’ve listed below my favourite bloggers as well as a brief description as to why I like them and a link to their sites. To be honest, I don’t read that many blogs, I just don’t have the time, so I’m pretty picky with what I put time aside to read. I highly suggest checking all of these blogs out, you won’t regret it!

1. Constance Hall – Facebook

Constance is amazing. Most likely you’ve already heard of her unless you’ve been living under a rock. She is the most honest, down to earth blogger I’ve ever come across, however most of her ‘blogs’ are actually just posts on her Facebook page. Check her out, I guarantee you will get a laugh out of her posts and will be able to relate to at least one of them.

2. Hugzilla – http://www.hugzillablog.com

This is literally the funniest blog I have ever read. Hugzilla is a very honest blogger and writes about her experiences as a Mum and just with life in general. She is amazing, I always get a laugh out of her posts. I highly recommend starting off with her ‘Kitchen Disasters’, they’re the first blogs of hers that I’d ever read and they had me hooked from the first line of her blog ‘The Fine Art of Mutilating Simple Recipes’ “I mutilated some innocent cookies tonight…” sooo frigging funny and easy to relate to. Definitely give her blogs a go, you will be crying with tears of laughter after the first paragraph.

3. Love Loz – http://www.loveloz.com

This is a beauty blog run by the famous Aussie YouTuber, Lauren Curtis. I find this blog incredibly useful for makeup lovers like myself. She lists her favourite makeup products as well as tips on how to apply makeup correctly. The site layout itself is beautiful and all of Lauren’s posts are very well written. If you are a beauty lover like myself then this blog is a must read for you!

Who are your favourite bloggers? Link them in the comments below 🙂

Kimberly Xo

Day #14 What’s On Your Playlist? {October Blogging Challenge}

Hello everyone! Today’s blog is a fun one! Now, this one is probably going to be a long list as I have A LOT of songs on my playlist, so I will list my most recently played songs and then some of my oldies but goodies…here goes…

1. What Do You Mean? – Justin Bieber (I’m normally not a belieber but I’m loving his recent tracks)
2. Peanut Butter Jelly – Galantis
3. That’s How You Know – Nico & Vinz
4. Good For You – Selena Gomez
5. Where Are U Now – Skrillex
6. Cool For the Summer – Demi Lovato
7. 1989 Album – Taylor Swift (this whole album is amazing!)
8. Fight Song – Rachel Platten (this is my ringtone)
9. Photograph – Ed Sheeran
10. Growing Up – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ed Sheeran
11. Take Me to Church – Hozier
12. Live and Let Go – Hilltop Hoods
13. Am I Wrong – Nico and Vinz
14. I Bet My Life – Imagine Dragons
15. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
16. In Your Arms – Nico & Vinz
17. FourFiveSeconds – Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney
18. Bright – Echosmith
19. Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
20. Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
21. Slice of Heaven – Dave Dobbyn & Herbs
22. Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
23. That Don’t Impress Me Much – Shania Twain
24. Man! I Feel Like a Woman! – Shania Twain
25. Yellow – Coldplay
26. Jealous – Labrinth
27. Feels Like Home – Chantal Kreviazuk
28. Hakuna Matata – The Lion King soundtrack
29. I’ll Be There For You – Bon Jovi
30. Have a Nice Day – Bon Jovi
31. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits

Those are songs I listen to frequently at the moment. This next list is from my old playlist that Jamie found on my iPad this past weekend and I thought I’d include some of these as they were my favourites at one point a few years ago..

1. The a Team – Ed Sheeran
2. Airplanes – B.o.B
3. Always – Bon Jovi
4. Apologize – One Republic (I was OBSESSED with this song when it came out. I would have been about 15 when it was released)
5. Bangarang – Skrillex
6. Battle Scars – Guy Sebastian
7. Best Night – Justice Crew
8. Better Days – Pete Murray
9. Both of Us – B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift
10. Burn – Usher (this came out when I was around 12 haha)
11. California Girls – Katy Perry
12. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
13. Cinderella Man – Eminem (I still LOVE this song. Really good to work out to)
14. Don’t Worry, Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin
15. Eyes Open – Taylor Swift
16. Fight For You – Jason Derulo
17. Finally Found You – Enrique Iglesias (This was our reception song for our wedding)
18. Give Me Love – Ed Sheeran
19. Good Life – One Republic (awesome feel-good song!)
20. Halfway Gone – Lifehouse
21. Happy – Pharrell Williams
22. Hero – Enrique Iglasias
23. I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz (I walked down the aisle to this song)
24. Bette Davis Eyes – Dean Ray
25. Budapest – Dean Ray (this was my favourite song dean has ever performed, it meant a lot to me when I was pregnant with Hunter in hospital)
26. How Do I Live – LeAnn Rimes
27. How to Save a Life – The Fray
28. I Could Be The One – Avicii
29. I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift
30. I Like It – Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull
31. I Like It Like That – Hot Chelle Rae
32. I Will Wait – Mumford & Sons
33. Let Her Go – Passenger
34. I’ll Be Seeing You – Billie Holiday (I first heard this song on The Notebook & fell in love with it. It’s a 1940’s classic and I love it so much)
35. Lego House – Ed Sheeran
36. Life Goes On – LeAnn Rimes
37. Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts
38. Love Story – Taylor Swift (my favourite song of Taylor Swift’s. We played this as we walked back down the aisle at our wedding)
39. Love the Way You Lie – Eminem ft. Rihanna
40. Magic – B.o.B
41. Mean – Taylor Swift (such a great song for teenage girls)
42. Never Grow Up – Taylor Swift
43. Paradise – Coldplay
44. Party Bass – Bombs Away
45. Pursuit of Happiness – Kid Cudi (awesome clubbing song)
46. Ridin’ Solo – Jason Derulo
47. Runaway – Bon Jovi
48. Say Something – A Great Big World
49. Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root (this one is out of Ice Age)
50. Set Me On Fire – Bella Ferraro
51. Smile – Avril Lavigne
52. Stay the Night – James Blunt
53. This Afternoon – Nickleback
54. Thrift Shop – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
55. Tonight Tonight – Hot Chelle Rae
56. Watercolour – Pendulum
57. Welcome to My Life – Simple Plan
58. Written In The Stars – Tinie Tempah
59. Yeah! – Usher
60. Witchcraft – Pendulum
61. Check Yes Juliet – We The Kings
62. The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls
63. Untouched – The Veronicas

So that’s it! What are your favourite songs at the moment?

Kimberly Xo

Day #13 Favourite Childhood Memories {October Blogging Challenge}

Hi everyone! Today is going to be another short one, hope you don’t mind!

Some of my favourite childhood memories were made at my grandparents’ house, playing soccer and basketball, doing arts and crafts and playing board games and cards. My Grannie also had a small mulberry bush in her garden and my brother and I used to race each other to it to see who would get the biggest mulberry, my brother usually won but it was always something we loved doing, so much so that I have purchased and planted my own mulberry bush recently!

That’s really all I can think of for now! What are your favourite childhood memories?

Kimberly Xo

Day #12 – Weekend Highlights {October Blogging Challenge}

Hi everyone! This one is going to be pretty short as our weekend was pretty boring!

On Saturday morning we all went grocery shopping, its something we do as a family every Saturday morning. Then we came home and I baked a chocolate cake, made mini pizzas for lunch and then put on a potato bake for dinner. We ended up going out to my parents’ farm for dinner & my brother, sister-in-law and my nephew came out too which was really fun.

Sunday was a very lazy day; by lazy I mean boring. Jamie plumbed a tap for our rainwater tank to our kitchen sink so that we don’t have to go into the backyard to fill up water bottles so that’s exciting! Then he spent the day fixing his motorbike while I edited my very first Halloween Makeup tutorial which should be up on my Youtube Channel this week hopefully!

That’s pretty much it! What did you get upto over the weekend? Hopefully you had a great one!

P.s I also just wanted to mention that I’m hoping to pre-write and schedule my next few blogs tomorrow as Hunter is having surgery on Wednesday so I will be focused on that, so if I miss a blog here and there over the next week that’s why! But I’m hoping to get them all written tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Kimberly Xo

Day #11 Who/What Inspires You Most {October Blogging Challenge}

The person who inspires me most is my Grannie. She has been through so much in her life and is such a strong woman. Growing up, we spent most of our school holidays at my grandparents’ place and it was always so much fun. We always played board games and Grannie would play basketball and soccer with us too. She always made sure we had plenty of fun things to do, like arts and crafts as well as new videos to watch. I remember when my brother and I went through a book reading phase and when we went and stayed at Grannie’s she had a brand new book in the series we were reading, sitting on our pillows, for absolutely no reason other than because she knew we would enjoy reading them. I remember when we were really young, Grannie would always get us both a gift on each other’s birthday so we wouldn’t feel left out. So on my brother’s birthday he would get a few presents and I would also get one and vice versa, it made me feel so special. Another memory I have is from Easter, I used to have a Baby Born I carried with me absolutely everywhere and the Easter Bunny brought my chocolates as well as a little freddo frog for my Baby Born, I was so excited!

Grannie has always been there for us and is such an amazing woman to look up to. If I turn out to be half as amazing as she is then I would be happy. She is my favourite person in the world.

So that is who inspires me! Who inspires you? Let me know in the comments!

Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

Kimberly Xo

Day #10 – 10 Things People May Not Know About You {October Blogging Challenge}

Hello! Sorry I’ve missed the past 2 days of the blogging challenge. Day 8 was supposed to be a day in the life, but it was literally the most uneventful day ever. Then yesterday I was so busy with my halloween tutorial I just didn’t get a chance to write a blog. Anyway, here are a few things about me you may not know…

1. I sometimes snort when I laugh

This is somewhat embarrassing but true. I have a terrible sounding laugh and the occassional snort, Hunter also has his Mumma’s laugh but about x10 of the intensity haha. Luckily I’m yet to hear a snort out of him.

2. I’m an incredibly fussy eater

I literally dread going to other people’s houses for dinner because I am so incredibly fussy. There’s not a lot that I actually enjoy eating. I’m a huge sweet tooth and not a huge fan of savoury/salty food. I also am weird about the foods I like. For instance, I like potato. But only if it is mashed or in potato bake, otherwise I can’t stand the taste of it. I don’t even eat hot chips/fries and the smell of them actually makes me nauseous.

3. My eyes turn grey when I’m unwell

My eyes are a very dark blue normally, but when I’m sick they turn a really dark grey, which made it hard to pretend I was sick when I was a kid haha.

4. My eyes go bright blue when I cry

I’m not sure why this is, but after crying, my eyes turn to a piercing blue colour. I cried right before walking down the aisle on my wedding day and I’m glad I did now because in all of my wedding photos my eyes look amazing.

5. I almost didn’t get married.

If you’ve seen our wedding video you may or may not have already worked this out. But I had a massive melt down about 5 minutes before I was due to walk down the aisle. I burst into tears and basically had a massive panic attack. My Mum brought in our minister that was marrying us and he managed to convince me to walk down the aisle. But halfway down I freaked out again and refused to keep walking (Runaway bride anyone?!), our aisle was L shaped and the guests couldn’t really see me very well until I walked around the corner, right before the corner I stopped and couldn’t keep going. If it wasn’t for my Dad and Lee (our minister) holding me there, I would have ran inside and not have gotten married. Luckily my amazing husband ran down the aisle and came and gave me a hug and then i was fine again and managed to walk the rest of the way down the aisle (even though the music had finished playing) and got married! (You can see all of this in the wedding video on my YouTube Channel).

6. I almost had a c-section with Hunter

When I went into labour with Hunter, I asked for an epidural, which didn’t work. Because I had to have my cervical stitch removed anyway, I had the option for a cesarean, however the anesthesiologist recommended against it as it wouldnt be good for bub’s lungs to be born via c-section so premature. I was absolutely terrified of giving birth without pain killers but managed to suck it up and do it for the sake of my baby. Turns out I can’t give birth naturally again unless its extreme circumstances, due to what happened with my first delivery, so I’m glad I got to experience it – even if it was excruciating.

7. I had braces for 4 years

I was a metal mouth for 4 very long years! I’m glad my parents did that for me though, I had horrible teeth before my braces!

8. I have a very short temper

This is all thanks to my father! He has the shortest fuse ever, and I am the same. I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older but I still have my moments.

9. I only have one sibling

I only have one older brother, no sisters. My brother and I are fairly close, we get along pretty well and always have. I’m kind of glad I didn’t have any sisters growing up, I think I would have just fought with them the whole time haha

10. Fun fact

This is something random to tell you because I’ve run out of things about me haha. Jamie and I actually took a photo together at a party about 6 months before we started talking. At the time I was dating someone else and I knew who Jamie was but wasn’t friends with him, it just so happened that one of my friends’ sister was dating one of Jamie’s best mates and we were all dancing together (my boyfriend at the time was the DJ) and I snapped a photo with Jamie. I don’t have the photo anymore unfortunately but I think it’s so crazy that we’d taken a random photo together and then never spoke to each other again until we happened to be at another party 6 months later. What’s funny is that I didn’t even remember taking the photo (I may have been slightly intoxicated) and saw it the next day on my camera. I’d forgotten all about this whole scenario until Jamie mentioned it when we’d been together for a few years and were talking about that party haha.

So that is it! Hopefully you’ve learnt a little more about me! If you like, leave a comment with something a lot of people don’t know about you!

Thanks for reading,

Kimberly Xo

Day #7 – 7 Lessons I have learnt this year {October Blogging Challenge}

Here are the lessons I have learnt so far this year…

1. I am Stronger than I thought I was

This is something I learnt last year, with everything that happened with the pregnancy & giving birth, I’ve learnt that I am actually a lot stronger than what I give myself credit for. I’ve been through a lot for someone my age and I’ve handled everything pretty well.

2. Who cares what people think of you

You can strive to be the best person you can be, but there will always be someone out there who still doesn’t like you and that’s okay. You don’t need everyone to like you for you to be happy. I have ALWAYS been one of those people who actually spends time worrying what other people think. But now I really don’t care and I’m happier because of it.

3. Be less judgemental of others

I’d like to think I’m a very accepting, non-judgemental person, however I haven’t always been this way. I’ve been known to roll my eyes at a Facebook status or two when someone is having a whinge, but after what I’ve been through and how much I used to hide from family & friends with how I was struggling, I now know that just because someone appears to be okay doesn’t mean that they are. Maybe them having a little rant on Facebook makes them feel better and if that’s the case then I’m all for it. I actually posted this quote to my Instagram about 4 months ago and at the time I was REALLY struggling, mentally and emotionally I just wasn’t coping and I was trying to pretend like I was totally fine and rocking at this whole Mummy thing when really I was drowning in my own negative thoughts. This leads onto my next lesson learnt…

4. Be kind to everyone you meet

Be kind to everyone you meet because for all you know they could be going through hell and are just afraid to tell anyone. Even if someone is rude to you or snaps at you, be kind. They may just be at their wits end and having a terrible time. (Obviously if someone is repeatedly nasty or malicious towards you it is a whole different story).

5. Don’t let people walk all over you or use you

This is definitely something I have learnt since having Hunter. When you have kids you learn who your real friends are and unfortunately for me I’m left with only a few friends, however this leads me to my next lesson learnt…

6. Quality over quantity

I feel this applies to everything, especially friends. At the end of the day, if someone asked you about your friends would you rather say “I have a lot of ‘friends’ but none of them are ever there for me and only call when they need something” or would you rather say “I only have a few friends but I know they will always be there for me, as I am for them and I can trust them”. I know which I prefer.

7. Build each other up, don’t tear each other down

Women have a bad reputation for being catty and not supporting each other, however recently celebrities have been publicly showing their support for one another. Think Taylor Swift & her ‘Squad’ or the fact she features other singers regularly in her concerts, showing she not only supports them, but is proud and honored to perform alongside them. Whether you like her or not, she is a great role model for women lifting each other up and supporting one another.

So those are my lessons learnt this year! What are yours?

Kimberly Xo