Hi! Remember me?

Wow, I can’t believe it’s nearly March and I’m just typing my first post of 2016!…
I remember a time when I used to get up and make the kids breakfast, make myself a hot drink, and curl up back in bed with my laptop to write my blog post for the day. Either that, or curl up on the sofa in the quiet of the afternoon, during the kids naptime. This space was a daily dairy, or near daily that is.
You were my creative outlet, my space to be “real”, my adult company during a time that was filled with babies, toddlers and tantrums (not just the kids).

Life has changed so much in how it looks for me since it did then. Not just once, but multiple times. I went from having 1 toddler, to a toddler and a baby, to a stay-at-home-Mum-come-small-business-owner, to a stay-at-home-Mum-come-full-time-renovator, to a full-time-working-Mum-with-school-aged-children. We’ve changed countries and houses, and houses again. Mr Flutter worked away during most of the 7 years, but 2015 saw his first year working full-time in a local job. It’s eye opening to see how times have developed since I started this blog! And how much I have changed through it all.

So what does 2016 look like for me? Well, this is my family and I on January 1st this year…

Well, in December 2015 I officially resigned from my full-time job as a Project Manager. It was a hugely emotional time for me, as all of my clients and colleagues are so dear to me. But it was time for a lifestyle change for our family – time to have me around more and in a lot less stressful a job. At the end of last year my Dad was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. He is doing very well now after major surgery to remove much of his stomach and lymphatic system, but the experience has taught me that life is short. It’s cliche but we really never know what tomorrow may bring. And I don’t want to be too busy working to spend time with the people I care about (and ultimately moved halfway around the world to be close to again)!

Having been self employed for the majority of my adult life, I also missed the flexibility being your own provides. So, after nearly 2 months off work to enjoy the summer with my extended family (we had family members visiting from the UK, Australia and all over NZ), I headed into 2016 as a business owner again.  (You can check me out here.)

I can honestly say, that while there are loads of things I miss about working full-time in a very busy role (like the amount of disposable income!), I am thriving, and my family is thriving, having me only working part-time and being around more. I can’t put my finger on anything too specific, but the kids are just happier; they cry and argue less, we are eating more nutritious food (mostly from our own garden), and I get to set my hours around the kids schedules. I have been less stressed than I can remember being in a long looong time. My health has definitely improved – I have lost nearly 5kg and am enjoying having time to focus on my health and fitness.

I am also enjoying our pursuit of being increasingly self-sufficient! We recently added to our flock of chickens, and extended our vege garden again. I am going to go and pull some photos so that I can show you guys all about it.

Take care