Wearing RED for you today Daniel, thinking of you and your family with tears in my eyes and heart! Thank you for making me think of others.
Your life was taken so young, no child should feel that fear! … the Lord has gained a very special Angel, you will not be forgotten!
Your parents courage, teaching me, we must never give up on those we love! May you all find peace… xxx

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation, purchase shirts here.

A huge THANK YOU to Lisa Holmes editor of ‘Runner’s World’ (my favourite mag) for a mention, 2 images and editorial piece in this September’s edition!

How cool is this little bargain I bought on eBay.
I don’t listen to the radio, I find the advertisements so annoying they nearly drive me to have an accident!
… so how wonderful to be able to use my radio station to listen to my IPOD while charging my IPHONE at the same time!
The kit plugs straight into the lighter socket and will also be great to listen to my Metro View GPS!
Average cost is about $15 – $20. PRICELESS!

- Comes with remote control!
- Hands-Free function through car stereo
- FM Frequency from 88.1 – 107.9 MHz
- Charges iPhone, iPod, iTouch with dock connector
- Music playback on your car stereo
- USB Socket of Standard 5V 1A Electical Power (Charge via USB on many brands of MP3 players, mobile phones & GPS)
- Flexible Goose-pipe makes it convenient to find the best position for your device
- Flexible Clamp Holder keep your device in place

This is one of my favourite meals so I thought I would share it with you …  I think usually they say a cup of, not two hand fulls LOL!!!!  ‎4 ingredients …. any more then that and I FREAK OUT! (My Caesar Salad has 6, that’s tops for me!)

10.08.2011: Since I wrote this story my Dad said you can use up to 4 or 5 eggs.

I’ve registered to run in the Bridge to Brisbane 10km run this year on Sunday 11th of September and have decided to raise money for a local charity also, being Meals On Wheels Fraser Coast Inc.    

Meals On Wheels Fraser Coast Inc strives to provide delivered fresh nutritiously balanced meals and fellowship to frail, aged and younger infirm on the basis of need.

Please click here if you would like to help me raise money for this worthy cause! Thank you!

Or better still, enter the event also!!!

How cool is this iPhone app I brought for $18 with no ongoing subscription costs!
Now I have my own GPS for driving!
It even shows me when I am about to go past a speed camera, not that I speed.
Plus beeps and tells you if you do go over the speed limit for the area you are driving in.
It also gives you the distance to your destination plus the expected time of arrival.

MetroView Australia Turn-By-Turn Navigation

Standard Features:

- No ongoing subscription costs, FREE to use after initial purchase.

- All map data stored on phone – no download costs for mapping or navigation.

- The same application can be used on all iPhone models and iPad

- Advanced lane guidance – know which lane to be in at major junctions.

- Analogue speedo view with digital readout on map view.

- High quality spoken street names including Australian accented male and female voice options.

- Familiar map design.

- Walking mode including compass functionality to point you in a straight line to your destination (iPhone 3GS and above)

- Proudly Australian made and supported

Last Saturday I entered the Gold Coast Marathon to do a 10km run.
2 years ago I did my first ever 10km run here without stopping in 01:07:33mins, story here.

Over the past two years I have improved a fair bit but never cracked 55mins for my 10km run.

On Saturday I was very happy to smash my time running a new PB of 53:32mins!!!

My finishing overall percentage has risen from 22% to 82% of the finishers in my age group! I never thought I would see an achievement like this!

My friend Naomi, decided last minute to come with me and also completed her first ever 10km with no training what so ever and came in, in 01:09:59mins, run / walking the event!
What an awesome and inspiring effort!
Naomi mentioned if I hadn’t of asked her to do a casual 6km walk/  run with me a month earlier she would not have considered this, but making that distance in 53mins with me gave her the strength to enter.
See, anyone can do these challenges, just take the first step and register!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Holmes editor of ‘Runner’s World Magazine’ my favourite running mag at the Race Expo …. (whose work and knowledge I greatly admire) !

Plus a huge THANK YOU to the 1,000+ volunteers who worked in the areas of event operations, registrations, sports services, marketing, road marshalling, aid stations and recovery assistance!

[Info via Holstee Manifesto]

Yesterday I completed another challenge, this one was the Kokoda 30km trail run through the Brisbane Forest. My body was still a little weary from last week’s Great Wall marathon and lack of sleep but I managed to pull of the task.

After some speeches, the last post and a minutes silence, we (myself, Scott and Tania) headed off at 7am into the bush and hills. OMG nonstop steep hills!!!
Next year if I participate I must remember to take my trekking poles, especially for when climbing back up out of the Hell Hole! Every single muscle was being used at some stage or the other and this could be felt the following day, our bodies felt like they have had an awesome all over work out, quite stiff and sore in all muscles and joints!!!

The morning was alittle cool but about half an hour in we soon warmed off and stripped our long sleeve compression tops off. It turned into a gorgeous day to be trekking and running through the bush and forest.

We had on our green “Smells Like Team Spirit” shirts with the print proudly sponsored by Design House! Every time we passed people they said, “There goes the green team again!”

My cousins Amanda, Mark and their friend Tom also had a three persons team called the “Challengers!”

I ended up having to dig deep after the Hell Hole and came in half an hour in front of my team. I was feeling so drained from the week before I had to keep moving while I had the energy, I couldn’t keep stop starting to catch my breath on every hill, I just had to keep moving! Pain was starting in my knee from my PFPS so I had to get finished asap!

My run keeper said I came in at 4:57:07 mins.
Doing 32.4km with an elevation climb of 1,257m!!!
Why the extra 2.4km?
Coming to a crucial turn that was unmarked all us at the front of the pack turned right and followed the leaders perhaps up to 100 people. Until someone came along and said we were going the wrong way, so all had to turn around and head the other way! On the way back some signage magically appeared!!
All the leaders were now up to 2 to 4km off track!
Why there was no marshal on the track to direct people and correct signage was commented on by several competitors.

When I finally ran in under the finish line the woman who was supposed to scan my bib to take my time said she didn’t think she would till the rest of my team came in?
I queried how am I supposed to know my official time?
A man I had chatted to at one stage during the race came and spoke to me while I waited for the others, he said he left his mate half way as he was lagging and they agree to do this before the race due to different fitness levels and said he got scanned in. I also passed several other people on their own on the track.
I decided to go back to the time station and informed them I wished to have my bib scanned.
After I said you have done this for others, the lady said, “yeah well we probably weren’t supposed to??”
(one would assume a time marshal would have been briefed on what to do and know their role thoroughly for a competition race?)
Anyway I FINALLY had my bib scanned at 12:09:32pm, 15 minutes after I had completed the race!
My team came in another 17 minutes after this at 05:26:55mins which was a fantastic result!
The woman said the time on our certificates would be the time of the slowest runner to come in. I said that’s fine, makes sense?
Our team time would have been over 20+mins shorter for our team if we hadn’t of run an extra 2.4km due to the direction error plus a time marshal delaying my individual result by 15mins on top of this. The website also gives you your INDIVIDUAL RESULTS official time … it would be nice to have that correct to try to better in the future.

There was quite a long delay for people registering, some competitors were still lined up when we started the race. As this was the Inaugural race I’m sure some systems could and will be improved upon for next year.

Our team ended up coming 9th out of 51 - three person teams so that was an Awesome result considering doing an extra 2.4km on top of the original 30km plus we are amateur fun runners!!
All in all we had a fantastic day and desipte those couple of things the event was really well run and fun, so thank you to the volunteers and organisers … the weather was magical ….there was a free sausage sizzle afterwards … we met heaps of nice and motivated people on the course …. and have many great memories of a tough but doable challenge…. I dare say we will be back next year and highly recommend this event to anyone seeking a fun adventure with your mates!!
What an Awesome experience to have the opportunity to take part in the Inaugural Event, this should grow to be huge! 

After a few months of long distance running along the Esplanade walk / bike path in Hervey Bay, 15+ km hill runs on the Christensen St Hills and several 70 lap stints of the Damon Park stairs (5180 steps per session) my friend Emma and I finally achieved our goal – to run and complete the Great Wall Marathon of China 2011 …. All 42km + 5,164 steps!!!!!

Somehow I stumbled across the great Wall Marathon event online and right away I had a deep feeling I just had to achieve this, therefore I immediately proceeded to make this exciting, adventurous & challenging goal a reality!

This marathon is described my many running magazines, promotional advertisements, sports websites and runners / competitors as one of the “TOUGHEST” ever …. I thought, What perfect conditions for our first ever competitive marathon!!!

Two days before the marathon we went for an orientation day, had a look around and climbed the 3.5km section of wall steps that we would be completing twice during the actual marathon. The following day I was alittle embarrased and asked several other participants, “Are your legs sore?” and everyone said YES!
OMG we had to go into this marathon with aching leg muscles and severe sleep depravation, not the best way to take on a task such as this!!!

We had a 2.30am wake up call to climb on a bus for a 2hour trip to Yin Yang Square for the start of the race. The temperature was so cold!!! They had performers and loud music so we all joined in an amusing aerobics / dance routine and soon warmed up ready for the start of the race. Dencorub, sun cream, hat, hydration pack, knee strapped, camera, snacks TICK … and after a countdown we were off at 7.30am on the dot!

It turned into such a beautiful clear blue day being very hot at lunch especially for the second phase of the stairs! It was sensational to be out of the thick Beijing smog and able to breathe clear mountain air!

What a hard slog it was!
We both had knees troubles and been to see physio’s during our training. I have PFPS (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) which with some strapping my knee didn’t hurt and tracked correct for the whole race. Emma’s sore knee played up but she pushed through the pain.

At the 36km mark we had 8km to go the first 3km being roughly 2,600 stairs again in the opposite direction then a 5km run home down a hill which we had climbed to begin the race. When I arrived back to the wall stairs, Emma decided to push ahead and after she went I literally hit a wall! OMG they were so exhausting with more up then down this time.
The extreme heat, not knowing if I had consumed enough calories or water also played on my mind as I was feeling a little nauseous and delirious.
But there was no way I was stopping!!!!
Just keeping going … one step after another, I told myself in my head (the same thing I said many times when climbing to Base Camp Mt Everest in Oct last year).
As I continued on the wall it appeared most others were it this same condition!!
After conquering the last few steps I found a second wind and ran the last five km home!

What a fantastic feeling to finally achieve that current goal after months of preparation plus not getting sick in China or an injury during training or on the day!

My personal time was 6:39:09 mins and Emma came in at 6:15:23 mins.

My Rank Information: Women 35-39 years

Rank category              20 of 34
Rank sex                      109 of 202
Rank overall                 391 of 582 

The Australian company we booked through Travelling Fit (the Marathon Package Experts) were extremely professional  and helpful with representative Paul Clements coming on the tour and handling all queries with ease then completing the marathon with us being his first also! They also supplied our Amazing shirts for the day … you could easily recognise the 200  Aussies in the race to cheer them on!!!

At the after party I also had the pleasure to meet and had a chat with Henrik Brandt from Denmark. He has completed all 12 Great Wall Marathons from when they first started and has the medals to prove it!!! He told me he would like to do at least 25!

Now, one must remember I’m not an elite athlete; I’m just a girl with a passion for adventure and life, so anyone can do these challenges if you put your mind to it!!!
It not about fast times, it’s about setting a goal, getting out of your comfort zone, working hard and completing the task no matter what!!!!
You will meet like minded people, build self confidence, feel fit and healthy, proud of yourself and learn to love yourself …because if you don’t no one else will!!!
Good Luck, Go Hard and Reap the Rewards!!!

A big thank you to the organisers and volunteers for doing such a SENSATIONAL job!!!!

Plus a big and huge thank you to my friend Emma for commiting to this also and being an awesome training patner, without her support this may not have been possible!!!

This Sunday on the 29^th of May I have to back up with a 30km trail run in Brisbane!

Hmmmm what next!

Great Wall Marathon videos here!

“We are the Champions my friends!!!!!”
42.2km including 5,164 steps!!!
China Great Wall Marathon 2011; Emma 6:16mins, Jeanette 6:40mins! (21/05/2011)

Below: Orientation Day “Bring It On!!!!”

Tiananmen Square Beijing

The Forbidden City Beijing

How cool is this, if I wasn’t going on holidays for two weeks I would SO do this!!!!!! Always next year!

Live Below the Line is an incredible new awareness and fundraising campaign that’s making a huge difference in the fight against extreme poverty.  

“Join thousands of Australians Living on $2 of food a day for 5 days and help fight extreme poverty.”
If Hugh Jackman can do it, I could do it!

$10 for groceries for 5 days, hhhmmmmmm I think I would require frozen vegies, lots of bread (fills me up), pasta, eggs & some oats.

Ok I just did a dummy Woolworths Shop Online:

Homebrand Vegetables Mixed 1kg   - $1.71
2 x Homebrand Bread – White Sandwich 700g  - $1.29
2 x Homebrand Pasta Spirals Small 500g  - $0.65 each
Homebrand Eggs 12 700g  - $2.91
Homebrand Oats Rolled 750g  - $1.28

TOTAL: $9.78
(22 cents left over for some choc drops from the corner store! OMG NOICE!)

Brekkie: Oats, Boiled Egg & Piece Of Toast
Lunch: Boiled Egg Sandwich
Dinner: Pasta Sandwich & Vegies!

YUMMY!

 

The week of Live Below the Line is a week like no other. From May 16th – 20th, thousands of Australians will spend just $2 each day on food, and use their daily experiences to bring extreme poverty to the centre of conversation in homes around Australia. How to Participate click here! or make a donation!

This looks interesting:

Imagine if you could get paid to pound the pavement?
A wage for working out?
All you need to do is put a band on your wrist, get out & about.
It detects when you’re active & after 60 minutes it displays a code. All you need to do is upload the code online & you get free reward points. There are some big players behind the project: Target, JB Hi-Fi, EB Games, Apple Itunes, Rebel Sport, Myer & David Jones are offering a range of rewards!

Awesome for children, they can make their own money from being healthy and shop to reward themselves!

Click here to learn more!!!

[Info via Today Tonight]

Keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In or the Design House Blog for all the latest Design House News!

While everyone was enjoying the Anzac Day public holiday today, I thought I would take advantage of the day off work, to work on my business with a photo shoot for my latest work marketing campaign for Design House!

I decided to use the services of Lisa Klein Professional Makeup Artist as Lisa is a close personal friend of mine. We grew up as neighbours and best friends when we were young and hung out together nearly every day. I used to love to braid Lisa’s waist length red hair and paint her nails when she was a little girl.
Now Lisa has made beauty her passion and creates human masterpieces!
She really does a professional and extraordinary job and has extreme pride in her work with thorough product knowledge!

Give Lisa a call if you want to be noticed as the ‘Princess of the Party’, ‘Bride of the Year’ or ‘Boss of the Business Function!’

Lisa Klein Professional Makeup Artist, click here to see Lisa’s facebook page and amazing make overs | wedding make up!

I also can’t wait to see my photo shoot proofs from Stewart at Stewart Photography!
We certainly  came up with some exciting new concepts today!!!
Show me the ‘Money Shot’ Stewart!

A Soldier is someone who at one point in their life made a blank cheque payable to AUSTRALIA for an amount up to and including their life! That is HONOUR… There are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact or are thankful for their FREEDOM. I am. Thank You!

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
LEST WE FORGET.

The Black bat flower, Tacca chantrieri, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. Tacca chantrieri is an unusual species in that it has black flowers. These flowers are somewhat bat-shaped, are up to 12 inches across, and have long ‘whiskers’ that can grow up to 28 inches. There are different color types, including white and brown, both retaining the whiskers of the black variety.

Tacca chantrierei grow wild in the tropical forest in Yunnan Province, China, where they can get as tall as 36 inches (~0.91 meters). They grow best in well-drained soil and high humidity but are hardy down to -3C.

[Info via Wikipedia]

Our official team shirts have arrived with the print being Sponsored by Design House!

We will be participating in the INAUGURAL KOKODA CHALLENGE BRISBANE and raising money for the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.  Our contribution is helping young people to gain confidence, direction, life skills, new friends and the knowledge that anything is possible!!!

Helping Aussie teenagers to reach their full potential – Our efforts are having a direct impact on a young person’s life!

We will be taking part in a 30km trail run in D’Aguilar State Forest at Brisbane on the 29^th of May.

If you would like to make a donation to support us and this Awesome cause please click HERE!

More info here!

Pictured below team members; Jeanette, Scott & Tania!

While others enjoyed a relaxing Saturday morning I and my friend Emma endured 5.5 hrs of Pain and loved every minute of it!

I currently have PFPS – Patello Femoral Pain Syndrome.
My left knee is not tracking right. So it was Awesome to tape my knee and run through the pain and make that distance!

The task was hard work and we ran over 33km of the distance then Emma’s knee hurt pretty bad for some reason (her turn for the physio) so we did some walking as not to risk injury.

We felt we could have run another 3 – 5km’s of that if Em’s knee didn’t play up and taken 1/2 an hour off the time but I’m really just happy we made it!

I decided to throw up at the 32km mark as I had too much red Powerade sloshing around in my stomach LOL!!!  

I burnt over 2,500 calories and I’ve just had a lovely 2.5hr nap plus the legs feel okay (so far, see how they are tomorrow)!

The picture below is from Runkeeper , our iPhone GPS plotted out our course.

The picture (top right) is our next Marathon in a month.
42.2km on the ‘Great Wall of China’ + 5,000 steps ….. YEOW I can’t wait!!!!!
That one should test us!

I have finally found what I would call my BIBLE!

…. something that makes clear and concise spiritual and life sense to me! Finally!

Beginning my spiritual journey over five years ago, when I finally realised I can make choices and changes in my life, I had heard of Louise Hay but never picked up her books.

OMG her philosophy based on forgiving your past, reprogramming our negative and self destructive though patterns and learning to love ourselves is universal to every human being!

We are each responsible for all of our experiences.
Every thought we think is creating our future.
The point of power is always in the present moment.
Everyone suffers from self-hatred and guilt.
The bottom line for everyone is,
“I’m not good enough.”
It’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed.
We create every so-called illness in our body.
Resentment, criticism and guilt are the most damaging patterns.
Releasing resentment will dissolve even cancer.
When we really love ourselves, everything in our life works.
We must release the past and forgive everyone.
We must be willing to begin to learn to love ourselves.
Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the key to positive changes.
When we really love ourselves, everything in our life works.

I have been learning abit about Buddhist meditation but feel being brought up Catholic and finding that too constricting in my life I don’t really want to take on another religion at this stage plus focusing on different breathing patterns and counting colours associated with calm abiding meditation was not especially what I was looking for. But I agree with Louise’s comments on meditation and think I will give that ago:

Meditation in any of its forms is a wonderful way to quiet the mind and allow your own “knowingness” to come to the surface. I usually just sit with my eyes closed and say, “What is it I need to know?” and then I wait quietly for an answer. If the answer comes, fine; if it doesn’t, fine. It will come another day.

This is another concept I like and see a lot of people struggling with:

So many of us feel that money is the most important thing in our lives and that we could not live without it. This is not true…. Our breath is the most precious substance in our lives and yet we totally take for granted that our next breath will be there. If we did not take another breath, we would not last three minutes. Now if the Power that created us has given us enough breath to last for as long as we shall live, can we not trust that everything else we need will also be supplied?

Being brought up Catholic and taught as a child that sex before marriage is a sin, I also absolutely love this philosophy now that I am free to chose what I believe is right for my body and values…

Who told you to deny any part of your body? Certainly not God. Our sexual organs were created as the most pleasurable part of our body to give us pleasure. To deny this is to create pain and punishment. Sex is okay, it is glorious and wonderful. It is as normal for us to have sex as it is for us to breathe or eat.

Just for a moment try to visualise the vastness of the Universe. It is beyond our comprehension. Even our top scientists with their latest equipment cannot measure its size. Within this Universe there are many galaxies.

In one of these smaller galaxies in a far-off corner, there is a minor sun. Around this sun a few pinpoints revolve, one of which is called Planet Earth.

I find it hard to believe that the vast, incredible intelligence that created this entire Universe is only an old man sitting on a cloud above Planet Earth … watching my genitals!

This book is also amazingly illustrated by Joan Perrin Falquet!
I thrive on colour and this version of the book is full of it, creating a positive happy vibe.

Reading this book feels to me like what I think winning the Lottery would feel like!!!!
I hope you feel the same when you read it! x
Don’t delay like I did!

Thank you Louise, all my love Jeanette xoxo

My Book Store HERE!