My husband Jonathan and i are pleased to announce the launch of our business Sarah & Larsen. We design websites, sell photographs and do family/couple photoshoots.

Our website is sarahandlarsen.com

Yay!! This is such an exciting time for us and we’re taking such a big risk by starting our own business but if not know, then when? Also, we have a blog on the website so i’ll probably be blogging alot more over there now at sarahandlarsen.com/blog. Please update your RSS feeds and i hope you continue walking my life with me over there.

xx Gen

I was wide awake in the dark last night as my husband snored softly beside me. I hate nights like that when sleep doesn’t come easily and i have a million thoughts running through my mind- mostly discouraging, anxious and negative thoughts. Nothing good ever comes out of those thoughts except i end up having strange dreams and wake up in the morning feeling sad, melancholic, lonely and unmotivated. Which is exactly how i feel right now. I don’t deal well with these feelings because i hardly feel them anymore. Most mornings i am simply happy.

This week is my last week of teaching for the semester and planning my last tutorial for the semester feels like a gargantuan task. Next week, we move house and the mere thought of packing and leaving our current home seems unaccomplishable although our new home is beautiful and only a minute’s walk to the ocean. It has been raining for days on end, the sky a constant gray. Is it even possible that today is the first day of winter?

As i sit here typing, i am trying to think of things i can do to make myself feel better. Walking to the cafe for a coffee maybe? Making some granola? Watching a movie? None of these things excite me but maybe doing something, anything will get me out of this melancholy.

It’s been a long and very tiring week of teaching for me. Jon hasn’t fared much better- it’s 7:15 in the evening and he’s still at the office, working 11 hour days to meet deadlines. Still, there are many things to love this week:

The crisp autumn air. Cool mornings and nights and beautifully warm in between.
The sun on my back as i walked home this afternoon.
Listening to the fallen leaves crunch under people’s feet.
A long, hot shower.
A pot of chai, half a grapefruit and two lemon biscuits for tea.
Beautiful purple flowers we bought last night at the supermarket.
Being at the supermarket at 10pm, the aisles empty and a sense of adventure in the air.
Jon giving me a footrub last night after a whole day spent walking around in boots.
Reading a magazine (Last year’s autumn edition of Donna Hay magazine i borrowed from the local library).
Finding lots of new things to cook in the coming months, including plum cobblers, chorizo and rice soup and fig and walnut bread.
Listening to Sting’s Fields of Gold. Love, love, love.
Being alone at night- cooking, baking, reading, listening to music i love whilst anticipating Jon coming home later.
Wrapping myself in a warm blanket.
Witnessing my friends’ children getting baptised last night in the ocean bath i swim in.
Having coffee, crackers and chocolate with everyone after.

And so many, many more…
It is good to be alive.

What a devastating tragedy. We have been watching the news and praying for rain to help put out the fires. So many lives lost and whole towns have been burnt to ashes. Those who managed to escape the fire now have the task of rebuilding their lives from scratch, having only escaped with the clothes on their back. It’s too sad.

So, it’s February, also known as the last month of summer. I don’t want to linger too much on that thought so i’ll move on.

It’s so hot. And this Sunday, it’s supposed to go up to 44 degrees (111 F)! I need to stock up on ice-cream so i can keep us cool with milkshakes. Maybe freeze some grapes as well because i love frozen grapes.

Yesterday, i made the most amazing chai, following this recipe. I made it with Indian tea leaves i got in Singapore, so it tasted out of this world. Go try it now!

I also made bircher muesli for brekafast yesterday- overnight, i soaked 3 cups of oats with 150g of chopped up dried figs, 1 cup of unsweetened apple juice and 1 cup of milk. In the morning, i added one grated apple, 1/2 t. vanilla extract, 1/2 t. ground cinnamon, a handful of toasted almonds, a few tablespoons of LSA, 1 T. honey and plain yoghurt. Yum! For dessert last night, i grilled some yellow peaches rubbed with brown sugar and cinnamon. So good.

The shows on television have shown a marked improvement since summer is almost over. Most importantly, Grey’s Anatomy is back on tonight. Thank goodness.

Last night, Jon and i stayed up just to chat. It was so intimate and we laughed so much. I love him so! I’m so blessed that he is my husband and my best friend!

Heard a song by the Robertson Brothers today titled Not Beautiful. It describes how women feel so much of the time and made me a little teary. Check it out here.