Category: 2019

2020 {The time to rebuild.}
2019 · 2020 · new year · Uncategorized

2020 {The time to rebuild.}

JustBindyLeave a comment

At the end of 2018 I wrote a great post – I love that post, I stand by it and honestly if you want an uplifting advice post for entering the new year HERE IT IS. That one is solid.
But it never played out for me. Yet, I will be using the same strategies going into this new year.

So lets vaguely rehash the year that I’ve just survived…
2019 – I cannot wait to farewell you. Sure there were sprinklings of good in you, but overall you were painful & a year I don’t ever want to relive.

From the first week of 2019 my world just kind of got a bit shit, well that’s a drastic understatement to be honest.
I promise you I had high hopes going into 2019, everything I wrote in THIS post was truth – but it barely lasted a month. My world fell apart.
During the first month of 2019 I was destroyed & hurt, my mental & emotional health took a huge hit and it all spiralled rapidly downwards and I lost myself. Completely.
This year I’ve dealt with tremendous hurt, my marriage almost ending, being diagnosed with a few new health problems, still being the family asshole because I insist on boundaries in my life, our dear dog passing away, a friendship break up, being in the darkest place I’ve ever been in, making mistakes, being hurt, being angry, being devastated, nearly selling our home – which comes with it’s own heartbreak & stress, becoming a FIFO family, being tremendously heartbroken – all while having very little support but still trying to be “fine”.
I did thankfully have a couple of dear friends who were great this year – but for the majority of this year, I rode it solo. Because everyone has their own problems & they did not need mine, so while some friends knew what was happening – I didn’t feel ok unloading all of my emotions on them. I was always “fine”. I rarely ever was.
I took every hit, hurt & break by myself all while holding our life together & making sure everyone else was doing ok. Because that’s what Mums do. Inside of us is collapsing and failing – but life keeps going – I do not have time to break down, because I had no one else to pick up the pieces. Me falling apart means our life falling apart and my little people didn’t need that at all. That couldn’t and wouldn’t happen. I had no choice but to carry it. Life had to continue as normal. I had to be fine.
This year I felt was almost my last. Almost. There were times I truly questioned why even bother. My sense of value in myself was nonexistent. I felt worthless.
I was destroyed completely, my sense of self, self worth, self love and everything I stood for – was totally obliterated.
There were times I didn’t know what way was up and I felt like I just was watching the car wreck happen. I cried more this year than I have probably ever cried.
For most of 2019 I no longer knew who I was. I lost me. She was gone.
But it turned around. To my surprise.
I couldn’t sell our house – just could not do it. I love our home, I love the people in the home. I love that on the framework of this home are prayers that I wrote for our family, for us – words I truly believe in. I refused to let it go. Perhaps that was a turning point, but things started improving in all areas and they continue to do so.
The details & specifics of everything that took place in 2019 are ours and we owe not one single person any explanation – but I will share we are in a better place and perhaps what happened this year needed to?
I will never understand why this horrific year took place and it pains me to say it but maybe – just maybe God had a plan. A damn bizarre one that I am saying “wtf” to, but hey it’s all come full circle.
I share this because I know this year I was not alone and I don’t want anyone else to feel as alone as I have.
I have known many, MANY women and couples going through really similar struggles. It just seems like 2019 was the year to nearly break us all. I have hardly heard from anyone that “2019 was so wonderful & easy…” – everyone seems to be on the side of saying “hasta la vista 2019, you were a bitch of a year..”

So how am I approaching 2020? What are my resolutions? Goals? What will I improve? What are my expectations?
Well, I will link back toTHIS post and I will steal a section of it because it’s still how I wish to view things…
“In this new year I want to be intentional.
Intentional with my faith, marriage, parenting, words, our money, my choices, my health, my thoughts – just overall be more intentional.”

I believe in second chances. So here is another shot for me to work on that from last year.
But honestly I’m walking into 2020 with no expectations, goals or grand plans for the new year. What will happen, will happen – I know I can’t control it but I know I can handle hard things, because honestly I’m sick of surviving hard years, but it seems to be what gets thrown at me continually. But it does constantly remind me I can do this.
I can survive hard things, on my own.
I am strong, I am determined & I am capable.
Dreaming & wishing – I would love, LOVE an easy year. A year that consisted of very little personal hurt – but like I said “dreaming…”
I’m not setting myself any resolutions “I must do” – I just want me to be ok again. That is my main focus, getting back to me – in whatever way I need to, to whoever that now is.
I can feel myself coming back, but I know I have work to do.
I want to rebuild my confidence, my self worth, my heart, my marriage & my spirit.
So maybe that is a resolution? Just to rebuild. Rebuild it all. Start fresh, make it strong & beautiful.
So I will gladly farewell 2019 tonight and welcome 2020 with an open heart and arms, with the hope to rebuild and the desire to be more intentional with every aspect of my life.
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Thank you for sticking with me this year, I know I have been all over the place and a bit of a fyre fest. Your support and kindness means the world.
Thank you.
I pray 2020 is a beautiful & joyful year for you and your family – as hopefully it is for me & mine.
Happy New Year.

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Edit; So I just opened my insta and this post from @momentaryhappiness was the first on my feed. Coincidence – maybe, but it seems fitting and like I was meant to read it after writing all of that. And honestly it made me a bit teary – it felt like a sign, if you believe in that. x

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2019 · truth

Just Bindy.

JustBindy1 Comment

Hello friends,

So let’s talk about the name change. I’ve gone from modernwifelife31 – which this site will stay as for now, then bindy_g3 and now Just_Bindy…
Identity crisis much? Is 30 going be the year for my midlife crisis? I have always thought I may die young, so maybe that makes sense, 60 is young right??
Anyway, I’m already off on a tangent…
Bottom line is, I didn’t feel like being “MWL31” anymore, and I thought “Bindy_g3” was a good fit, but it just didn’t feel 110% – I liked “Just_B” but that was taken… So “Just_Bindy” made sense…
So why did I change? Honestly I’m struggling with social media & blogging lately, I love it but I hate it. And I’ve been feeling less like “MWL31” for a long time, it came with a lot of expectations and pressure & still a name change won’t solve that.
But as soon as you publicly declare “I’m a christian, I believe in God” you suddenly have to live up to everyone else’s expectations of what a christian should be. I am me, that’s it, I don’t have to fit your mould of what you think I should be – I am simply me.

Also, there is more to me than being a Mumma, wife and a homemaker – yes all of those roles are incredibly important to me but it’s not all of me. I figured staying under MWL31 was limiting to the content I could post… I am not saying my content is going to drastically change, but it makes me feel a bit more free to post about other things.
Basically it’s just a boring tale of ‘I outgrew the name’, that’s it.
Going forward the content on this account will remain fairly much the same – but I wont be posting on a schedule and I feel I am going to draw back on sharing our actual lives – not that I share much about “us”, but now even less – and also I will add in more about my health/fitness stuff.
Because this blog has always been and always will be an ever changing platform that is reflective of my life in its current stage.
Currently I have been given an ultimatum – I’ve got to work out or my life as I know it will be gone in the next 20 or so years, I’m not necessarily working out for fitness or vanity reasons but to build muscle and improve bone density – so of course I will write about that, share my journey. Because it is MY journey to share.
Over sharing my kids lives however – is not my journey to share. I will share tips when I can, but I’m not a parenting expert – no one is. I can only share what works for us and how I personally do things. And I will from time to time share snippets of our kids, but they are not the focal point of this blog. My role as their Mumma is my life though, so my content is from that point of view… I hope this is making sense, are you keeping up?
Anyway, I just out grew my name – I’m slightly headed in a new direction, but Lord knows what direction that actually is, so want to continue this journey with me? Sweet, you can find me on social media at the below links or remember to subscribe with your email address in the side bar…
Thanks for sticking around

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2019 · food · recipe

Grilled salmon with mango salsa & avocado sauce. {Recipe}

JustBindyLeave a comment

Hey friends,

Today I thought I would share with you a meal we’ve been enjoying recently…
No idea what to call it & it’s a bit of a combination of a few recipes I stumbled upon  on good ol’ Pinterest… (I’ll link them below)
It’s grilled salmon with mango salsa and an avocado dressing…
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Ingredients:

  • Salmon
  • Avocado x2
  • Red onion
  • Capsicum
  • Mango
  • Lime
  • Spinach
  • Basil
  • Garlic
  • Cream
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper

Method:

  1. Work out how you want to cook your salmon, I have no idea how to do this – Trent cooks ours on the bbq on the grill. He coats it lightly with olive oil and seasons with salt & pepper… (He just said he cooks it on a medium heat for roughly 7 minutes on the presentative side or until it releases off the bbq, flip and cook for another 3 minutes)
  2. For the salsa, dice a full avocado, about half a mango, 1/4 of a large capsicum and a few slices of red onion… Pop it all in a bowl and mix gently to combine, squeeze half a lime over it and set aside.
    *Really I eyeball this mix, this amount was good for Trent, LuLu & I and it had about a serving left over. For more people obviously add in more ingredients and if you like less or more of an ingredient – adjust accordingly. If you aren’t a capsicum fan, tomato would also work.
  3. For the avocado dressing I throw a full avocado (peeled & seeded obviously) into a stick blender (or a thermomix), add in just over half a 1/4 cup of basil (I use basil in tube from Coles, THIS one), about a teaspoon of minced garlic (or a clove), same amount of olive oil as the basil, 1/4 cup of cream and season with salt and pepper and blitz it up. Now the first time I followed the recipe below I felt there was way too much basil, which is why I lessened the amounts of basil & oil this time around. The one I made today using those very vague measurements (sorry) was awesome!
  4. To present, place salmon on plate, place spinach down and top with salsa and dollop & smear the avocado dressing. LuLu had the exact same as us, but for Tommy I didn’t make his salad as a salsa, I just gave him some diced up avocado, mango & capsicum separately without the onion & lime and he really enjoys salmon.
  5. Pour yourself a drink (a gin, lime & soda goes perfectly!) and enjoy.

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Ok, we’ve established I suck at writing recipes – but that gives you a vague idea on how we throw this together and I like to think it’s a fairly healthy meal and it’s totally delicious! It’s so light so it’s perfect for hot days and it’s the kind of meal where you feel full but not gross full!
Also with the leftover avocado dressing I used it over pasta tonight for dinner with some grated cheese & halved cherry tomatoes & the kids loved it. You could also do it over zucchini noodles. (LuLu liked it so much she asked for the “avocado pasta” cold in her lunch box for school tomorrow…)

Anyway friends if you make this I would love to hear your thoughts or how you improved this in anyway!
Thanks for reading,

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Recipes I used for inspiration can be found HERE & HERE.  

2018 · 2019 · new year · reflection · resolutions · Uncategorized

Tips on how to have a great year & my goals for 2019.

JustBindy1 Comment

2018 only has hours left and then we are presented with a brand new year. A year to make our own…

These are my tops tips on how to make 2019 a great year! Yes every year will have hardships and challenges, but we can strive to still make it great and just remember hard times build strength and character!

  1. Review 2018… Go back over the last year, work out what worked best for you and what didn’t. What people lifted you up and who was toxic? What habits made you feel better and which made you feel worse? Assess every aspect of your life, note down what worked and didn’t. Be mindful of these entering the new year and try to do more of the good in 2019.
  2. Set your focus. For some people resolutions work best, for others vision boards, prophetic words or phrases. Whatever works best for you, set it.
  3. Improve your health in someway. We should always work towards better health, perhaps this year you can focus on eating better, drinking more water, visiting the doctor for that check up you keep putting off, quitting a bad habit, seeing the dentist – whatever it is – make it a priority – our health is so important.
  4. Be active – this goes along with point 1, but reflect on your past year and work out what activity you enjoyed most and do more of it! It could be walking, hiking, maybe the gym motivates you, family bike rides or yoga – being active is so incredibly important.
  5. Improve where you live – our living environment reflects and effects our mental state. Work out ways to positively impact your environment, perhaps try organising your home more, decluttering, making a cleaning schedule etc.

So how do I plan to make 2019 a great year?
By following this…

Ice Cream Party (3)

2018 was a huge year for us, it was huge, busy, chaotic, stressful, exciting, worrying, upsetting and fun and I’m tired from it, so tired.
2019, I want to slow us down, I want to rest, I want less chaos.
In this new year I want to be intentional.
Intentional with my faith, marriage, parenting, words, our money, my choices, my health, my thoughts – just overall be more intentional.
I want to slow everything down, 2019 will still be a big year for us with LuLu starting prep but I want to try TRY and have a calm & slow year. So implementing more organisation, planning & simplifying into our lives, avoiding unnecessary stress & drama, saying “no” more and just allowing space for more quiet in my life.
I also want to grow in 2019, I feel I’ve grown tremendously in the last 2 years – every year we evolve but this year I want to channel my growth into certain areas… I want to grow  in my faith, I pray for more patience and wisdom for my mothering, I want to grow ModernWifeLife31, I can’t physically grow any taller – haha – but I do want to continue to grow personally & emotionally. Every year I aim to grow more, learn more and become stronger.
So that’s my focus for 2019.
I know what bought me great stress & heartache in 2018 and I plan to steer clear of it in the new year. I plan to continue working on improving my health with my specialist, I also want to see a doctor about my back as I have scoliosis, I need to book us all in to see a dentist for a check up and I know we need a skin check up too!
Yoga and walking is something I want to do more of. I really enjoy the calmness of yoga and a yoga class is a nice treat for myself, we live in a nice area and I want to take advantage of that and go for more walks and make it a weekly habit.
As for our home, I feel I am going into 2019 with a clean and organised home – I’ve spent the time between boxing day and new years eve cleaning and organising our home, our space has been reset and we are ready to enter 2019. But we will continue to work on landscaping our block and decorating our home. I also want to continue to declutter our home.
But that’s about it, I have my same general list I stick to each year as well which you can read on THIS blog. 

Well friends, in a few short hours 2019 will be here, I hope 2018 is a year you can look back on fondly even if it’s just knowing you’ve left stronger than how you entered it. And I pray 2019 is a beautiful & great year for you.

Happy New Year, Bring on twenty nineteen! (This is the last year in our lifetime that we will have a year ending in teens!)

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