Happenings on the day the All Blacks won RWC 2011!!!

Howdy! OK, the pics here today are from my morning drive up to Yanchep Lagoon last Sunday. Firstly, I'm annoyed that I haven't figured out how to post my *edited* pictures! I did crop the photos I took where I thought beneficial, made some into panaramic shots, I also edited the colour and lighting and did save my 'edited' I even managed how to write 'Yanchep Lagoon by Pip' and felt well pleased with myself. I had some quite dramatic beach colours after editing too. That is all saved and visible on the computer..........but when uploading here pics went back to original form. Am making progress so am happy..............

Of course made it back in time to firstly view the Silver Ferns beat the Australian Diamonds by one goal in the netball! The game was held in Perth. Then of course the rugby..........awesome job All Blacks with their hard fought win over the French!

Another small achievement of the day was that I drove on a new road which has slightly scared me for a while! Sunday's are the days I pick new roads rather than peak hour on weekdays by the way! And sometime at stupid times like 6am..... (As for last Sunday's effort I didn't leave till the slightly busier time of 10.30am). If this sounds stupid.........I am a nervous driver who likes to stick to the same quiet roads at quiet times so branching out into new territory is a sad achievement for me lol!

Talk soon!

Current Happenings.........

G'day again!

Just to let anyone know, - as this is a public blog I will try to keep updates general.

A few weeks ago I have moved home. I now live with my best mate in another Perth suburb. I am very lucky to be able to live with her at the moment :-) My BF and I split.......hence the home move.

Living with my mate is going great so far. One thing is that I am forced to drive my car more which is a good thing. I am and have always been a nervous driver who does my best to stick to quieter/known roads at quieter times when possible. But I have recently made progress I'm happy with in this area and plan to continue to progress!

I am still at the same job.........keeping me busy!

I allowed my fitness levels and body shape to take a bit of a battering and took a bit long to start to turn it back around! I was a bit disappointed about that as I got into what I considered about my ultimate shape early July this year and was happy with how I went about it. But have started to make inroads.............nothing that consistent training and mindful eating won't fix! CONSISTENT for LIFE being the key words here!

I would still love to travel............I look forward to some adventurous, (such as hiking/kayaking/cycling holidays) and other relaxing holidays overseas in the future.

HOWEVER the thought of owning my own 'pad' has lately risen in my priorities. I am trying to work out how to achieve that and if it's actually possible in Australia one day but for now am just trying to save more $$$, - that will help! Even if I postpone my adventure travel till middle age haha! That will give me another reason to stay fit!

As for other things I still want to pursue my digital photography interest and keep on learning. I have lots to learn, - the next thing being how to change the size of photos online so I can submit them into competitions!

Triathlon Pink is on the agenda next month. That means I need to keep up the running and pull my finger out a bit more regarding cycling and swimming and resistance work. After that I intend to target some other races...............races give me a buzz!

This arvo I'm watching All Blacks hopefully beat the Wallabies! But firstly a bike ride is on the cards so I'd better get my A into G.............

Till next time,

Pip :-)

BLOG NEGLECT.......

Howdy!

Just thought I'd pop by to say I haven't fallen off the side of the earth!

Just had a couple of unexpected major challenges take place but am all good.

I will be back soon with more on running, training, triathlon, photography and more.

Till next time,

Pip :-)

Two pics taken from Lesmurdie Falls at the weekend

I took a few and as you see I need to improve with exposure and tint. My camera has the 'Happy Birthday' frame function as pictured and a couple of other frame options.

The best most clear pic of the day was of two random houses where the sky colour and all was awesome and vivid. The angle was different but I feel silly just posting pics of random houses.

Last week I attended another Camera Club workshop. The basis of the evening was being shown the basics of 'Light Room 3'. It's an advanced photo editing programme one can buy. We were shown how an average shot with low exposure was transformed into a $1000 winning shot! Absolutely amazing! Parts of pics can be deleted. Any parts of pics can be lit up or down, exposure can be changed, cropping can be done amongst lots more technical stuff. We were informed the 'Light Room 3' program costs just short of $400 unless we can give true strict evidence we are students and unemployed I gather. Photoshop costs about $1200 I believe. I was advised Light Room 3 would prob be the best investment if I was to buy one product to enhance photos!

Anyway I have been playing and editing photos I've been taking on 'Windows Live Pictures' which came installed in this laptop. It's really basic but I can crop, straighten horizons, remove small blemishes or small unwanted bits of photos, change the exposure and tint. So am starting to learn new stuff :-)

A few things about me........to any new followers!

G'day,

I have the feeling I may have a few new people who may glance at this blog from time to time about the place. This includes NZ relatives. I just therefore thought I'd share a little more current but general info about me. Here goes with a few basics.

Current age: 31

Eye colour: Hazel

Birth Town: Invercargill, NZ, (Grew up in Southland with 3.5 years of my childhood in Otago)

Current Home: Lesmurdie, Perth Hills, WA. I live with my boyfriend in his home.

Employment: Cafe/catering/bakery full time employee at one of the leading franchise chains within this field in Perth ;-)

Big Personal Aspiration: To visit different countries and new regions and undertake a mix of active adrenalin rush type of activities along with some serious chillout type of activities with some awesome photos and albums to document these experiences over the next few years!

For example I love completing half marathons and gruelling triathlons or awesome long hard hikes, bikerides, tough trips etc. The harder the challenge and the tougher the conditions are enroute........the bigger the end accomplishment feels, particularly if I learnt new stuff during the activity or preparation! And if I hated a tough trip/activity while I did it..........once it's done I love the thought of having have completed it! In saying all this I love my wine, fresh food, spas, socialising, sleeping and even massage etc as a real treat to look forward to after achieving the more gruelling stuff!

I'm not sure if I could be like my best mate who recently summitted Mt Kilamanjaro but after hitting the summit after a few hard days, it was -15 degrees celcius up the top which isn't the type of weather where one can sit down, relax and enjoy the view sipping a quality wine! My hat goes off to her big time though and I'm sure there's time for relaxing when back at base!

My Biggest Feelings of Accomplishment: It's hard to come up with one or even a handful when thinking about it. Things like passing school, passing tertiary, getting a job in Perth, - for me getting my practical drivers licence actually rates pretty high, (cause I'm a nervous driver)! Completing Outward Bound in NZ, any new fitness and race PBs, learning of new skills and knowledge and reaching small financial targets along with completing any tasks which are of real help or benefit to others rate right up there. I'm glad I even made a speech at Granny's funeral last year as if I didn't, - I'd regret it now.

Active Hobbies: beginner level triathlons, kayaking, hiking, outdoor recreation activities, * Would like to get into playing netball again and enjoyed skiing when I tried it, Dancing if I ever go clubbing!

Relaxing Hobbies: photography, making photo albums, cooking new dishes and presenting them well, weeding gardens with ipod on, blog surfing, facebook surfing, wine tasting and drinking and learning about it, watching documentaries, indulging in cleansing, moisturising, make up and skincare general regimes, socialising over coffee or wine or even water. One day would like to join a beginners painting class using oil or acrylic paints as I am inspired by Grandma who is very skilled at professional painting of pictures and photos amongst lots else!

Favourite colour: aqua Blue or turquoise. I love all those types of blue shades however I like most colours!

Favourite food: Am big on all fresh veg, fruit, lean seafood, chicken, lean meat, oats, natural museli, avocado, natural yoghurt, freshly squeezed lemons. However if I get into the mode of the less than healthy stuff I'd have to say hot caramel sauce, rich chocolate or caramel flavoured gelato, all chocolate and choc flavoured stuff in general, russian crystallized fudge and tasty hard cheese, or seafood or vegetarian gourmet pizza.

Fav drink: Number one is chilled water........followed equal by NZ Sauv Blanc and some dry sparkling wines with third place going to a well made skinny flat white coffee! Have to say the temptation for wine would mostly trumps water though!

Fave music: Anything lively with a great beat!

Countries or notable places visited: NZ, (most of South Island, limited North Island travel), Australia, (have seen a good bit but still have lots more to see), Fiji, main island Tahiti, Nassau in Bahamas, LA airport, Orlando in Florida, A pub in a city in Texas for a few hours cause of an unexpected plane delay.

So that's a bit about me, till next time :-)

New Slow Cooker!!!

This is my new slow cooker in which I received for my birthday from my BF! It's a Sunbeam 5.5L and I've already cooked in it 3 times! Had a delicious chicken breast, potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion, garlic, rosemary sprig, mushroom dish tonight cooked with a can of whole peeled tomatoes! Served it with steamed spinach, cherry tomatoes, some avocado and did up some basmati as well and evidence of the food porn is on FB. However there are prob enough carbs in the dish to do without the rice! Think I may have some fun with this one!

Quick News Snippets

Firstly I have paid a 6 month membership of $15 to join a Camera Club! They meet up at 7.30pm the last Wednesday of every month and sometimes once or twice during the month as well. I think the idea is to turn up when able. So this week will be my first visit. They run competitions, give some direction on skill and have links and compete with other camera clubs overseas. The aim is to go, exhibit other peoples pics, enter any conversations if I can and see if I can meet some new great people and learn new skills over time. If I like it I will join up again next year of course. Am also looking at doing the online diploma of Photography. I have lots to learn!

Next running event is 'City to Surf' 12km run on Sunday 28 August.
Then over this summer I intend to do at least 3 triathlons with at least 1 being the full sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km ride, 5km run.

I've just started gearing up my training again to consist of for next few weeks:
Mon, - at least 30 mins on turbo going hard enough to get good sweat up.
Tue, - 15 min resistance training, (ideally am). 5-6km run after work pushing reasonably fast.
Wed, - 9.6km 'Bridges' Run one lap.
Thur, - Swim of at least 1.5km focusing on technique then speed.
Fri, - Day off
Sat, - 15 min resistance training again with body weight, 1.5km swim focusing on technique then speed.
Sun, - Hills run at least one 9.1km lap but working toward increasing this overtime to a 20km run.

Eventually may drop one run for a bike ride but at my current status am happy with this training plan.