I have moved + some great news!

I have a new blog. You can view it here.

Pop on over to hear some great news for all of us!

xxoo Julie

my priorities this summer

my family and friends

our health and happiness

drinking lots of filtered water

exercise

our home

spending lots of time in, on and beside the water

Last summer I spent a lot of time hand watering our vegetable garden. I would be out there watering while the boys were swimming at the beach. I felt annoyed that I was doing this, while they were having fun. It was my decision to do it, but I was still annoyed. 

NOT this summer. This summer I'm going to be in the water with them.

A few weeks ago I made a decision to leave the vege garden for now. My hubby has some things planted and he is watering those, plus the things I had already planted. The thing is, we can't do everything. We can try, but it will leave us exhausted. This was a huge decision for me, but I'm finding with the studying I'm doing, that it was all too much. It was hard to let go, but for the sake of my health and happiness, I needed to. Instead, I have a few veges and herbs planted in pots and I will extend this a little bit. I 'm also buying fresh, local, organic veges from some friends that have recently started their own business growing organic veges. It's the perfect solution, for me, now, at this point in time. 

What are your priorities at this time of the year?

Is there any thing you could let go of at the moment? Are you trying to do too much?

We only have one life, and we deserve to make it the best life, for us, that we can imagine. 

The photo above is of our little 20 foot trailer sailor. She has been in our garage over winter. The boys launched her into our local river this morning ready for some summer fun. I met them out there and had a paddle in the water and did some yoga  onboard our little girl. The perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. 

This afternoon it will be study, study, study as I have an exam this week for my course. 

Take care,

love Julie xxoo

today

Today I just needed to leave my never-ending mental list of jobs at home and to hit the beach. The beach has been calling me for a while and I've been ignoring it, but today I decided to just take a break and go. It was very windy, but good anyway. Just feeling the sand under my feet and paddling in the water......sweet, sweet, bliss. I'm pleased I took some time out to go.

You can see how windy it was by my hair. I'm feeling very brave including such a closeup of my wrinkly 45 year old face. They're laughter lines actually. However, there are no secrets here, it's all real! And, as Louise Hay says, we need to love ourselves just the way we are. 

And a heart, just for YOU!

After the beach I hit the shops for a little retail shopping, including some Christmas presents. Actually it was just one shop and this was followed by an ice cream. Yum!

Now, I'm back at home feeling relaxed and refreshed. 

What have you been up to today?

xxoo Julie

Free Movie-"You Can Heal Your Life"

The movie "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay is now on You Tube and you can watch it for free!

It is the full version of the movie!

I have watched the movie more than once and it is fantastic. 

I hope you enjoy it.

xxoo Julie

healthy chocolate cake and a rainy day

It's raining here today.

It's the perfect day to stay inside and potter around.

I've got some essential oils burning in my oil burner.

I'm planning on making this healthy chocolate cake.

Maybe a bit of yoga too.

What do you like to do on a rainy day?

xxoo Julie

healthy chocolate cake

Wholemeal Apple Chocolate Cake

I love taking recipes and making them healthier. A while back I took a Chocolate Cake Recipe and changed a few ingredients to make Wholemeal Apple Chocolate Cake. The ingredients I used were:

1 cup wholemeal flour (I used spelt)
1/3 cup plain flour (or you could use all wholemeal)
1/3 cup cacao or cocoa
3/4 teas bicarb soda
1/2 teas salt
1 teas vanilla
1 tab apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup water
1 grated apple

Sift the dry ingredients. Melt coconut oil and add to the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add apple. Mix. Pour mixture into a 20cm cake tin and bake at 170 'C  (150 'C  in a fan forced oven) for 35 - 40 mins or until cooked.

This makes a nice moist cake. Do not over bake. This cake passed the taste test by me and my 11 and 14 year olds.

about me

I've updated my 'About Julie' at the top of the page.

Would you like to take a look?

I thought so!

This is what I've written. I hope you enjoy it.

I am a wife and mum and soon to be Certified Health Coach. I am currently studying with The Institute of Integrative Nutrition to become a Health Coach so I can fulfill my dream to guide women to create a life of health and happiness.

Why Do I Want To Do This?

2004 was a particularly difficult year for me. I was married to my best friend (and still am), and we have two beautiful boys. It was everything I had ever wanted, but I still wasn't happy. I found myself at an all time low. I was extremely tired, anxious, depressed and I had low self esteem. This was the turning point for me. I didn't want to continue living like this.

I began making small changes to my diet and lifestyle. I began looking after myself as well as my family. I had been doing a great job of looking after my family, but my self care was almost non existent. I couldn't believe that each small change that I made to my diet and lifestyle could have such big results.

Today I am full of energy, happy, healthy and I'm loving life. I am loving the person I have become. I continue making small changes to my diet and lifestyle and my health and happiness keeps getting better and better. I didn't realise life could be so good. I am the healthiest and happiest that I've ever been. I am so grateful for this.

Now, I want to share what I've learnt with other women. I am passionate about guiding other women to create a life of health and happiness. If I can do it, then so can you.

I am in the process of getting ready to launch my Health Coaching business. There will be free weekly newsletters, recipes, online workshops and private health coaching available via telephone and internet. This will all be available via my blog.

I would love you to join me in creating a community of like minded people. People who want an amazing life, full of health and happiness. People who are willing to make small changes to their diet and lifestyle, in little baby steps, to create a life of their dreams.

Will you join me? I hope so.

If you wish, you can enter your email address on the right hand side of my blog and you will be updated with each new post and future workshops etc. Or you can simply check in with me on this blog to see what I'm up to.

Wishing you health and happiness,

and much love,

 xxoo Julie

my number one tip

My biggest, hugest, most enormous tip would have to be.......

to tackle your goal in 'baby steps'.

Whether it's the:

washing up

pile of laundry waiting to be put away

mess in your cupboard

weight you want to lose

healthy changes to your diet

healthy changes to your lifestyle

painting

decluttering

business you want to begin.

Just begin. 

Make one baby step towards that goal you want to reach. 

You might set your timer for 10 mins. and work on one step for this time. You might start on one shelf. You might make one small change to your diet or lifestyle.

All it takes is one baby step, followed by another and another and another. 

Work at your own pace, not the pace of the lady over the road.

I know. I've done it. It works.

Reward yourself for accomplishing these small, baby steps. Have a soak in the tub, read some of your book, go for a walk outside, have a rest, you deserve it. 

Decluttering a whole cupboard might seem overwhelming. You might feel like you haven't got time. Just do one shelf. Tomorrow, do another shelf and the next day another. In a few days your whole cupboard will be tidy. 

Remember:


"It is possible

to move a mountain

by carrying away small stones. "

Chinese Proverb

My small stones this weekend will be studying and decluttering. 

Do you have any small stones that you'll be working on?

Wishing you health and happiness. 

xxoo Julie

I joined Twitter!

Yes, I joined Twitter yesterday!!

Are you on there too?

If you are, PLEASE leave a comment below,

or better still, come on over and say hello.

I am @julie_maloney

xxoo Julie

a fun day at the creek

Josh and I had a fun day yesterday, with some new friends, on their property, not far from our place. We spent some time at their creek. It was lovely, sitting with our feet dangling in the water, on a warm spring day. The creek was flowing and we could hear the relaxing sounds of water, trickling down the rocks. The boys had a swim, and had fun, skipping stones in the water. They climbed trees. They also enjoyed a sausage sizzle. It was a beautiful day, spending time with new friends and enjoying Mother Nature. 

xxoo Julie

5 Gratitude Mantras

I thought I would share with you these 5 Gratitude Mantras that I received from IIN today.

I hope you enjoy them. I am going to print it out to put it on my fridge.

Happy weekend!!!

xxoo Julie

a yoga class

Last night I went to my first yoga class in about......20 years.

I have been doing a bit of yoga at home during these years, but I felt the need to begin attending classes again.

It felt good, really good.

I was a little nervous because I didn't know the instructor or anyone that was going.

I had seen a couple of signs up, at the shops, so I called the phone number to see if there was room for me, and there was.

The instructor was so lovely.

The class is only about 1 km from my house which is quite amazing as I live out of town. I really felt like the Universe was trying to tell me something......like....Julie, you need to go to this class!

It was a big success and I'll be back next week.

Sometimes it really pays to 'feel the fear and do it anyway'.

My new purple yoga mat is sitting up proudly in our living room.

Namaste

xxoo Julie

YOU make me happy ~ THANK YOU!!!!

A little visitor we had this morning. Photo by Josh

Yesterday I wrote a post 22 things that make me happy.

Do you want to know what makes me really, really happy? It's YOU!

YOU make me so, so happy.

The people that turn up to read my posts.

The people that sign up to my blog to follow by email.

The people that write comments.

Especially the people that write kind, positive comments.

To you, I want to say a really, really big THANK YOU!

You make my day.

You encourage and inspire me to have this blog, to follow my dream, my passion.

My dream is to help people create health and happiness in themself, their family and their home.

It is because of you, my readers, that my dream has become reality.

So today I'm sending you a big hug, lots of love, a smile and the biggest THANK YOU that you can possibly imagine.

THANK YOU for making my dream come true!!!

xxoo Julie

22 things that make me happy

I have just finished cleaning our toilet and when I had finished I realised how happy it made me feel. I lit our oil burner and placed it on the toilet floor. The lovely smell of essential oils  (clary sage today) drifted through our home. 

I began thinking about happiness and the fact that it doesn't cost much money to make me happy.

I then began thinking about what else makes me happy. Here are 22 things that do:

A freshly cleaned room or bench space.

Lighting a candle or oil burner and thinking about what I am grateful for.

A hug.

Reading a good book.

A hot cup of dandelion tea first thing in the morning.

A smoothie with cacao and a little bit of honey.

Yoga.

Changing things around in our home.

Sunshine.

Rain.

Comments from you.

A glass of filtered water.

Walking on the beach.

Watching a movie.

Flowers.

A healthy, home cooked meal.

Connecting with like minded people. (that's you!)

Time with my family.

A cup of tea with a friend.

Planting seeds and watching them grow.

Relaxing in the bath.

Swimming in the ocean.

These are 20  things that make me happy.

What makes you happy? Could you write a few in the comments section, please?

I'm hoping your day is a happy one.

I bought this Bush Flower Essences bottle from our local Health Food shop and used the spray in the toilet. When it was empty we filled it with eucalyptus oil. It's a low cost toilet spray that doesn't harm the environment. 

xxoo Julie

creating space

I've decided to call this month my 'creating space' month. 

Last week I noticed my life was starting to get a bit too busy for me. I lay awake in the early hours of Friday morning thinking. Thinking about the busyness in my life. This is a bit of a habit of mine that can sometimes creep up on me if I'm not careful.

If I'm not paying enough attention, I start to push more and more into my days. I try to jam as much as I can in, there is so much I want to do.

On Friday morning, while everyone else was still asleep, I thought through this and I came up with a plan.

The plan is to complete the most essential tasks  in my day. The washing, washing up, bed making, cleaning, meal preparation, my study.

The tasks that are not essential.....I'm just going to let them go. Or maybe I'll do them later, but only if I feel like it. I'm not going to bust myself.

The plan is to also add in some fun things to do, the things that make me happy. Spending time with family and friends, exercise, rest, playing games with the boys, going to the beach.

If I'm not careful, my life can become all work and no play. By being mindful, I can catch this early, and I can change things, so that my life is what I want it to be. 

The other area I'm creating more space in, is our home. 

When our home is clean, tidy and clutter free, I feel more free, more calm and relaxed. This is how I want our home to be. I'm working on it, in baby steps, step by step.

How about you?

Do you have a word or a goal for the month?

xxoo Julie

Calling all mums/moms who are working from home!

Today I am visiting Kim at the lovely Feather and Nest. Once a month, on her blog, Kim visits someone in their nest/home and today it's me. If you'd like to take a look go on over to Kim's at Feather and Nest.

As a result of doing this guest post with Kim, and I've got to tell you it was fun, I've decided to start doing a little guest posting on my own blog. The topic is going to be about mums/moms working from home. I want to know things like "How they combine motherhood with working from home?" This will be me next year and I'm hoping they can give me a few tips.

So, if you are a mum/mom working from home and you'd like to be included in one of my guest posts, or if you know of anyone who is, please contact me at juliemaloneyhealthcoach@gmail.com and I'll be in touch with you soon. I am keen to meet mums/moms from all over the world who are doing this. As well as getting some tips, I think it is a lovely way to build community and to support each other on our journey.

NOTE: I know that all mums, who are at home, are working a lot of the time, but in this particular case I'm looking at paid work. It may be your own business or you may be working for someone else.

Have a beautiful day lovely people. Thanks for joining me in this little space of mine. I love having you here with me. 

Much love,

xxoo Julie