people Archives - INSPIRING MAX

Eat, Drink And Be Merry

June 7, 2015 inspiringmax

…for tomorrow we die. The world is ending tomorrow! Tell us about your last dinner — the food, your dining companions, the setting, the conversation.

If the world was ending tomorrow I would choose to go camping in the Australian bush with all my family. Not glamping—glamourous camping with all the modern conveniences. Camping à la natural. No electricity, no showers and dig your own toilets. I love getting out with nature, listening to the sounds of the bush and hopefully seeing a koala or possum in the trees. We have never had a problem with snakes as with over 20 people we make too much noise.

The food would be a bush BBQ that we begin preparing in the afternoon by collecting a massive amount of wood to keep us going all night—waiting for the world to end. Included on the menu is:

bacon
capsicum
corn
damper
green salad
mushrooms
potatoes
rissoles
rocket salad
sausages
steak

After dinner as we continued to chat and drink champagne and beer by the fire I would introduce S’mores to the family. I would get everyone to cook their marshmallows over the fire while I prepared their chocolate and biscuits. We don’t have graham crackers in Australia so I would use the best substitute I could find. Once the marshmallow is cooked I would join them all together and watch everyone’s enjoyment.

The spontaneity of sitting around a campfire is the best. Nothing is or can be planned yet the memories last forever.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/eat-drink-and-be-merry/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Vivid

June 7, 2015June 6, 2015 inspiringmax

Australia’s rainbow lorikeets are vivid, beautiful creatures who love a free feed. This girl found a small group of them and decided to attempt to feed them. No problem. They were happy to play with her for in exchange for apple. We stood and watched their interactions for a while as these wild birds became one with her. The joy on her face was priceless.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/vivid/

Powerful Playlist

May 25, 2015 inspiringmax

Put together a musical playlist of songs that describe your life, including what you hope your future entails.

Music is powerful. It is part of my everyday life and is a great reminder of the past and motivator for the future. My present life playlist includes the following songs:

This song reminds me of my early years. It gives me motivation to continue with whatever goal I am seeking at the time.

https://youtu.be/MUBnxqEVKlk

I have loved this song since I was a teenager. Helen Reddy is Australian and the fact that her song was changing the world for women everywhere made me realise I could do anything I set my mind to. It was the anthem of International Women’s Year in 1975.

I am proud to be Australian. This song describes the history of the Australian people and reminds me—we are all one.

The final two songs give me motivation to set goals and work hard to achieve them. They remind me that I can choose how things impact me. By pushing myself, I can achieve things I never thought possible and become stronger in every way.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/mix-tape/

Party Time

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 inspiringmax

You’re throwing a party — for you! Tell us all about the food, drink, events, and party favours you’ll have for your event of a lifetime. Use any theme you like — it’s *your* party!

I love to celebrate my birthday. I take the day off work and do something fun—its my way of reminding myself that I am special. For my significant birthdays however I throw a party to share with my friends and family. My parties are simple affairs held at home.

Food is either a good old Aussie BBQ or pre-made finger food requiring heating only on the day. Everyone always loves my choices:

Cheese Dip
Chipolata Sausages
Chicken Sticks
Chicken Nuggets
Frankfurts
Meatballs
Party Pies
Prawns
Quiche Lorraine
Salmon Quiches
Sausage Rolls

Save some room for the sweet options:

Caramel Tarts
Chocolate Slice
Fairy Bread
Home-made Ice-cream With Lollies and Sherbet
Jelly Slice
Vanilla Slice

All of this is washed down with a few glasses of champagne or cocktails. Clever conversation is what follows—with maybe the odd party game or two. Basically whatever we feel like doing. My last party was my 50th birthday a few years ago. Remembering the food for this prompt has helped me as I am plan my daughters 21st celebrations over the coming weeks. Here’s a glass of bubbles to celebrate.

Photo Credit: Google Images

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/its-my-party/

Everyone Is Welcome

May 17, 2015 inspiringmax

If you could have a guarantee that one, specific person was reading your blog, who would you want that person to be? Why? What do you want to say to them?

Inspiring Max is not written for any one person. It’s “goal is to inspire you—developing a spark of hope into a fire that warms you and lights your path.” This is an open invitation to all who through their life journey have stumbled upon my blog. Whatever your reason for visiting — you are welcome. I hope you find inspiration to look on the positive side of life through the contents of Inspiring Max.

I find inspiration to do many things through my adventures on the blogosphere and I hope Inspiring Max does the same for others. I chose the double rainbow to represent my blog as it also reminds us of that life is not always dark and gloomy and there is hope ahead.

Inspiring Max

Looks at life through positive

Ways and means

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/singular-sensation-2/

Share Your World 2015 – Week 17

May 2, 2015May 2, 2015 inspiringmax

What is your most favorite smell/scent?

I don’t focus on smells I am more of a visual person. Although at the end of a long day at work, I love to walk into the house and smell that someone has cooked dinner—I don’t care what it is I love them for it. My favourite perfumes are Beautiful by Estee Lauder and Opium.

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?

I have never had long hair. My hair has always reached a certain point and grown out rather than down. It gets more puffy. Today, it is shoulder length as this seems to be the right length for me. If I want to put it up I can and it drapes well around my face to soften it.

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?)

I like a mixture of both. If I need to do something specific I plan it but I often just go exploring and see what gems I can discover as I go. My experience teaches me, the more I plan even a little the less time is wasted, but the less of the actual city I see as I am too focused on getting from A – B.

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

I love spending time with nature in any way. Different seasons different ways. Walking on the beach, skiing, bush walking, ice skating, swimming, sailing and cycling these are all fun activities I have enjoyed over recent times.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/04/27/share-your-world-2015-week-17/

Y – Yangtze River

April 30, 2015 inspiringmax

What’s your travel style? Are you itinerary and schedule driven, needing to have every step mapped out in advance or are you content to arrive without a plan and let happenstance be your guide?

My husband and I like to mix it up a bit. We are solo travelers who like to have accommodation pre-booked and make other things up as we go. If necessary and possible from Australia I will also pre-book transportation between our destinations and some special activities we know we want to do. In Canada however I booked internal train and bus tickets when I arrived in the city involved. It work well as their was no shortage of trips—China however due to the language barrier and time of year was a different story. This travel was arranged with some difficulty from Australia but worked well.

As solo travelers one of the great things is deciding on the day what you feel like doing. There is no rush as we allow ourselves plenty of time to immerse ourselves in each city as we don’t like to be rushed. The more different the culture I think the more important this is. Because we are getting ourselves around in foreign cities it makes us more mindful of our surroundings as we have to get ourselves back home to our motel.

When we first found out we were going to Wuhu we were so excited because it was on the great Yangtze River. We could wait. The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia and the third longest river in the world.

Nile
Amazon
Yangtze

The Yangtze is also the longest river flowing through a single country—China. It begins high in the mountains in Qinghai – Tibet Plateau and flows west to east into the East China Sea. We first saw the Yangtze from the 5th floor of our hotel. I couldn’t believe how wide and busy it was. So many boats and junks. A few days later we spent several pleasant hours walking along its foreshore—just the two of us and this majestic lifeblood river. On the bucket list now is to cruise the Yangtze—one day.

#A-Z Challenge

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-happy-wanderer/

W -Wuhu # A – Z Blogging

April 29, 2015 inspiringmax

034 - Part way along Zhongshan Pedestrian Road

Wuhu China is off the usual travellers map. It is an isolated rural city on the Yangtze River in Aunhui Provinence—one of China’s poorest. As we were travelling to this university city in Golden Week—the national Chinese holiday week we needed to arrange a private car from Nanjing airport. Our four days in Wuhu were well worth it. The hospitality of the people was amazing as they rarely see white people as they called us and we were instant celebrities. Wuhu was our first experience with the Chinese culture and we loved it. With only 2 million people it was easy to get around.

U – UGG Boots

April 26, 2015 inspiringmax

The classic Australian footwear is the UGG boot. These unisex boots are made of sheepskin and come in various styles and colours. The name comes from the title ugly boot which is how they were originally described. Ugly and comfortable. The exact history is unknown although they become popular when surfers began wearing them once they were out of the water.

Photo Credit; Google images

In 2014 UGG Australian Made Since 1974 in conjunction with Swarovski crystals produced the world’s most expensive pair of UGG boots with a $15,000 price tag. Personally, I think all that glamour despite being fashionable takes away the traditional practical comfort of the UGG. I would be too concerned the crystals would fall off and spoil my beautiful boots. Today was the first day this year in Australia it was cold enough for my UGGs. I put them on and immediately felt the love and the trigger for this celebration post was born.

To the UGG—we will always love you.