I’ve Moved!

I’ve moved to

http://findingneverland.blogspot.com/

No new posts will be published from this address, please resubmit all subscriptions to my blog on my new page.

See ya on the flipside!

♥ Jo

(Albert Einstein)

 

 

 

Finding Fabulous Friday: Pixlr-o-Matic (who needs an iPhone;)

I know, I know… i’s been a while.

So, I’ve been struggling with the idea of changing blogging platforms from WordPress to Blogger.  An internal battle with many pro’s and con’s either way… it would mean that I’d have to start all over again.  Think it might be worth it though!?

So much happening… STILL RENOVATING! … will publish a monster post when its done.  Was off sick (again!) with what I believe was my very first Migraine Headache… OUCH! and have run out of disk space on my PC, which means that I have to offload almost a zillion photos from my computer onto my external hard drive AND create extra back-ups…. this is a painstakingly long task.

In this whole process, I’ve also changed my web-browser to Google Chrome (giving Opera a break for a while), there I stumbled upon an  App for Pixlr.com, this in turn lead me to Pixlr-O-Matic… which is my Finding Friday Fabulous! What a fantastic tool that can be downloaded onto your PC as well! Love it! Check out my latest creations:

(above) Just another Saturday night at the Johansen’s…

(above) best friends!

 (above) Happiness is…

 (above) Beauty is…

 (above) Love is…

The last picture is one of our engagement shots from a lifetime ago and the one with Chris on the bike is when he rode it for the first time by himself… such great memories!

So next time we meet, it might be on a my new blog, I’ll keep everyone updated on the move.

For now… Happy Friday Everyone!

Finding Fabulous Friday: Beautiful Places

A quick one… just in time for another rainy Weekend…beautiful places!

(the one above makes me look forward to spending Christmas in Germany with my Family!)

 Happy Friday Everyone!

♥ Jo

(this sign below inspires and reminds me why we’re doing the bathroom renovation, and every other chore around the house)

Out of Order

We’ve been renovating the bathrooms!

Seriously, in one weekend the decision gets made to do the renovation, and the next thing you know, there are 5 builders & 2 plumbers in a tiny bathroom making a huge mess 😉

I’ve been taking photo’s regularly and will post on the complete Before & After of the Bathroom+MainBedroom+Renovation project.  But for now, I’m (and of course the bathrooms) are:

 Bathing the kids at the neighbours (thank goodness for that!) and running outside to the granny flat toilet (in the pouring rain) has been challenging, but the end-result I know will be fantastic… watch this space!

♥ Jo

Easy Cheesy Nachos

To start off the weekend, Bradley specifically asked for Nachos for dinner, so our usual Pizza Friday turned into Nachos Friday.

Having never made this dish before I was quite frantic about getting it right, so I scoured the web looking for the perfect recipe, but nothing came up with an explanation that made sense, and many had a ton of other ingredients that i was not interested in…  so I decided to wing it. And boy was it “winged”! What an awesome dish it turned out to be!

Ingredients:

1 packet 250g Nachos Chips

1 jar 400g Salsa (or make your own)

4 pre-grilled, pre-spiced chicken fillet breasts

1 Green Pepper chopped into bits

2 sprigs chopped Spring Onion

about 250ml grated Mozzarella

a few left over cherry tomatoes halved

a few leftover jalapeño pepper bits

1 tub fresh Guacamole (or make your own)

Sour Cream

Method:

I used a smallish (23x25cm) casserol dish and made two layers of nachos.

On medium heat in pan, use a splash of Olive Oil, fry up Green Pepper for 3 minutes, add Chicken cut into bite sized chunks, add Spring Onion, stir up for another minute, add jar of Salsa. Stir up and heat through, then remove from heat.

Start layering dish, place half packet of  nachos at the bottom, scoop half of the chicken-salsa mix onto the nachos, pop in some tomato & jalapeño bits, top with half the mozzarella.  Repeat another layer with the other half of ingredients, so place Nachos, add Chicken mix, Tomato & Jalapeño (optional), top with Mozzarella.

Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 5-8 minutes… keep an eye on it, when the cheese melts and/or starts turning brown – Take it out!

Enjoy with fresh Guacamole and a dollop of Sour Cream.

This is how mine turned out:

This was soooooooo yummy & still crispy, definitely one to make again soon (after spending more time at the gym!)

Let me know if  you’ve made it, and how it turned out.

♥ Jo

Finding Fabulous Friday: Namaste and Hello

I’ve started exercising.

I know right? the whole thing is bit unbelievable, but… believe it… I’ve been exercising for TWO months straight already.

First thanks goes to the wonderful Yoga instructor at Planet Fitness Plattekloof on a Wednesday morning, I literally walk out of there feeling like I’ve had a full body massage, with renewed energy and motivation.  But I’m not new to Yoga, just rediscovered it and all it’s greatness… Secondly, I have to thank the brilliant Pilates instructor on a Fridays, this morning I had my 4th Pilates class (mat work only) and I’m hooked! (Although the feeling isn’t so much of massage I must admit)

I still feel a bit clumsy, and have a long way to go to get this two-baby-mommy-tummy back in shape, but I’ve realised that no amount of spinning hell, treadmill machine or step class will ever get me to go back again and again…

So my Finding Fabulous Friday is dedicated to Yoga & Pilates… my new obsession (3 times a week for an hour on  Mon, Wed and Fri)

Happy Weekend Everyone!

♥ Jo

 

Tick tock, writers block…

I know I haven’t been around for a while (almost a week!), I blame my 3-day hangover that induced a sudden bout of writer’s block… yip, you heard me, I had nothing to say!

Actually, let me rewind a bit more and blame the FREE shooter that the bar owner brought to us 5 ladies, on our night out, just before we were going to leave last Saturday… she knew what she was doing! This tiny drink was the start of my 3-day hangover.  You see, it was inevitable that we’d stay longer and consume more caramel-flavoured-poison.

So the 3-day hangover had this domino effect in my life that caused me to flat-spin on Tuesday realising, that I hadn’t done anything I was meant to and by the next day it would be halfway through the week already! No grocery shopping, no cleaning, no laundry, no admin, no projects, no errands, no blog… nothing. flat-spin.

My favourite way of dealing with these kinds of days is to procrastinate (I figure it’s all gone to pot already, so I might as well just go with it!). So I hop onto the web and just surf and surf… i.e. procrastinate.

Until I found this on lifes-a-journal:

 

  How cool is this?!? In one swoop, I’ve regained control and established a routine, I’m motivated to get things done and start ticking off the list.  I’ve even managed to tidy the house, de-weed part of the garden, go grocery shopping, go to yoga and run a few errands. What an awesome way to keep track of stuff, even my water intake!

 For those of you that know me well, you can be sure that I’ll create a new one and customise it to suit my own routines and schedule, another thing to blog about soon, hmmmm, hopefully the end of writer’s block?

♥ Jo

Horseshow, Sunshine & Family

On the past public holiday, we made our way to Serenity Equestrian Lifestyle Centre (quite a mouthful) for their Alice in Wonderland themed Show Jumping Event.

Christopher represented his riding school Green Acres in the 1st Class Pole on the Ground event… sooooo exciting! (spot the proud mommy)

 What a beautiful setting, great event and all round wonderful way to spend a stunning morning:

 

(above) big boy!

(above) big love x

(above) Daddy’s still the best “Horsie”

(above) Green Acres riders waiting their turn

(above) time to saddle up

 

(above) ready to go…

(above) riding high

(above) one of the “jumps”

(above) proud Daddy

 

(above) proud Mommy!

(above) Christopher’s Rosette for a “Clear Round” – meaning he didn’t knock over any poles 😉

 

Another crazy, beautiful and special day as a Parent… I think the sign below sums it up perfectly for me!

♥ Jo

 

Finding Fabulous Friday: Butlers and Blackmail

Finally, after a very exhausting & confusing week, with a “Monday” on a Wednesday, a “Sunday” on a Tuesday, sunshine on a Thursday and rain (finally) on a Friday… I’m ready to wrap up this week and look forward to a relaxing weekend… ok, ok, I know this an impossibility (I can actually hear your snickering) but it’s nice to dream anyway.

This rollercoaster of a week has seen me waking up at the crack of dawn to get to the Woolies preview sale to rummage through neat rows of freshly packed shelves searching for new clothes for the kids, jet off to the horseshow, stop by the Garden Centre to look for more bargains, clean house/sort out study, look for missing Birth Certificates & Tax Papers (yikes!), join in on a double babyshower and coffee with the Girls this morning.

Which brings me to my activity last night, which is also my Finding Fabulous Friday for today: Butlers & Blackmail. On an outing with my nextdoor neighbour and another friend we went on a girls night out to watch this hilarious show.  Voted as the No. 1 Audience participation show at this year’s National Arts Festival, it’s a murder-mystery comedy about a “BEE Butler”, the fourth installement of the series by Justin Wilkinson.  It’s only on for three nights 11,12,13 August at the Artscape Arena – so if you looking for something to do tonight or tomorrow night (not sure if there’s still tickets though.. but check through computicket)… if you do go, make sure to get there early to enjoy the complimentary pizza by their main sponsors Butlers!

 

Wishing everyone a HAPPY and warm FRIDAY!

♥ Jo

Pretty Woman’s Day!

I watched Pretty Woman this weekend.

For those of you that watched Shrek 3 on Sunday… sorry, you missed out on a real classic fairytale! and how can you not love those shoulder pads?

What a great movie. *sigh*

So for all the ladies: Wishing you a very happy Pretty Woman’s Day!

Hope you all enjoying this beautiful sunny public holiday!

♥ Jo