You know you grew up in the 90s if: ...

I got this list on a email and thought I'd share it with you!

*You remember collecting and trading tazos.
*You can finish this [ice ice____ ]
*You remember watching Kiddeo, Pumpkin Patch and Zet.
*You remember 95 Rugby World Cup slammers.
*You had a favourite member from FIVE.
*You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday towatch cartoons.
*You remember reading Goosebumps (and being TERRIFIED!)
*You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes and juice bottles to school.
*You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence .. . NOT!
*When everything was settled by rock paper scissors.
*If you ever got Zoo Biscuits in your lunchbox.
*When we played Hide and Go seek until our legs got numb.
*If you used to listen to the radio all day long just to record your favouritesong.
*If you ever watched Full House or The Dinosaurs TV shows.
*If you ever had a Spice Girls Lollipop.
*If you remember Captain Planet. He's a Hero.
*You knew that Kimberly, the pink power ranger, and Tommy, the green powerranger, were meant to be together.
*If you ever read SweetValley.
*You always wanted to send in a tape to Americas Funniest Home Videos .
*If you had a crush on The Nanny or Mr Shefield.
*You remember watching Home Alone 1, 2 , and 3.
*If you remember those Where's Wally books.
*If you ever had Lucky Charm Sherbet.
*If you remember watching the Alladin.
*If you remember Holey Moleys.
*If you remember when every thing was "DA BOMB!"
*You remember Walkmans and Yo Yo's and Uno.
* If you had at least one Tamagotchi.
*If you ever did "Down By The Bumble Bushes".
* If you remember the theme tune to Gummi Bears.
*If you haven't always had a computer, and it was cool to have the internet.
*And Windows 95 was the best.
*If you know any Roxette songs.
*If you ever played Mario Brothers.
*If you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing the first timeyou heard a Britney Spears or N'SYNC song.
*If Pamela Anderson was a bombshell.
*You collected those Diaper Babies with nappies that changed pink for girls andblue for boys.
*Sesame Street was actually Sesame  Street and not Takalani Sesame.
*If you collected all the Trolls and My Little Pony or Puppy in my pocket toys.
*You owned a portable tape player.
*You know the Macarena.
*If you ever danced to Sexy Eyes. (ooh ooh eye eye sexy eyes, I wanna take youto paradise...)
Before Facebook . . .
Before the Internet & text messaging . . .
Before iPods . . .
Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX . . .
Before Spongebob . . .
When you still got one sheet of homework for the whole week.
When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.
When we recorded stuff on VCRs.
When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off of our walkmans.
Way back... (Starting to feel old!!!)
Before we realized all this would eventually disappear.
Who would have thought you'd miss the 90's!!!!

Watch this space

I am very dedicated, hard working and always up for a challenge! I love working with people and have a great passion for doing creative things and coordinating events. I strive to be successful in everything I do and therefore I am always eager to help where I can to gain knowledge, experience and self-confidence in the diverse Public Relations industry. I like to be hands on, identifying problem situations and improving communication between stakeholders. To be able to use my PR skills and see a company rise above its competitors is a dream for me.

I am on my way to reach great heights, every day I learn and grow, bringing me one step closer to reaching my dreams. Watch this space people because here I come! Ready to take on the PR industry on another level!

It is up to you to have more highs than lows

Sometimes we are down surrounded by negative thoughts and feelings that we get depressed, no matter the reason every person has his highs and lows each day.

I have learned life is not tied with a bow, but it's still a gift to enjoy. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up for the challenges that the day brings.

One of the things we so often neglect is to get rid of anything that isn't useful to us, cluttering our homes and our lives. Beautiful or joyful - Burn the candles placed only for display, use the nice sheets in the back of the cupboard kept for some important guest that never shows, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special!!!

It comes down to - no one is in charge of your happiness but you. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer and live each day like its your last.

It’s through conversations that change happens, and we are transformed. Here’s why according to an article on the website of collaborative journeys:

1. Conversations bring us together. And when we are together, we are much more comfortable with change – personal change, organization change, community change… We can handle anything, as long as we are together
2. Conversations help us get from here to there. Conversations help us see what was, help us reflect on where we are now and what might be, and help us embody the new. As a mediator, conversation is the road to (dispute) resolution.
3. Conversations help us build trust. And, when we trust the group we’re in, something special happens. We are freed to be ourselves, to act, knowing that if we falter, the group will pull us through. Count on it! We can even bridge communities and cultures, even those with generations of distrust.
4. Through conversation we discover shared meaning, and when that meaning changes, we are changed.
5. Conversations connect the family, organization, community… to more of itself, a sign of a healthy living system.

There are so many ways to have a conversation; face-to-face or online, small group or large group, over food, while watching a movie at someone’s home… The possibilities are endless.

Envy is a waste of time

How often do we talk of others as if they have the dream life? Whether it’s the celebrities or that friend with the biggest house and most expensive or fastest car? Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.  If we were all to throw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, I’m sure we would all grab our own back.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

My Bucket List, things to do before I die

1.     Travel to Italy

2.     Travel to Spain and dance the Salsa

3.     To summit Table mountain

4.     Stay in a Bungalow in Bora Bora

5.     Attend the Jones festival in Wales

6.     Travel Thailand

7.     Travel to Rhome

8.     Travel to Indie

9.     Go to the kanga caves

10.  To cuddle a Kuala bear

11.  Learn to rock climb

12.  To pat a Panda bear

13.  Have a beer at Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany)

14.  Walk to the top of the Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)

15.  To walk in the footsteps of Jesus in Israel

16.  See a bear in real life

17.  Ride on a elephant

18.  To swim with dolphins

19.  To live on a yacht for a year

20.  To catch a snoek

21.  Sell a house for a profit

22.  To learn to speak IsiXhosa

23.  Throw a coin in the wish pond in Rhome

24.  Go shopping in Dubai

25.  Finish my Btech digree in Public Relations Management

26.  Summit Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)

27.  Learn to Kitesurf

28.  Master the Salsa

29.  Open my own business

30.  Go Oranje river rafting

31.  To weight 58kg again

32.  To win a 15km race

33.  Finish a marathon race

34.  Drink a beer in a Irish pub

35.  To stay a month in the forest amongst the gorillas.

36.  Buy my own house

37.  Travel for three months straight through South Africa

38.  Master the art of Photoshop Adobe

39.  Maintain a traveling blog

40.  Generate an income through my blog

41.  Stay at a five star game range for three days

42.  See the pyramids’ in Egypt

43.  See an ice bear in the Antarctica

44.  Work on a cruise ship

45.  Drive a Ferrari

46.   Reach 10,000 Followers on Twitter

47.  Create my own beverage and mass produce

48.  Take an international trip with my parents

49.  Get my own dog

50.  Fly a plane

51.  Whitewater rafter at Cherry Creek, California

52.  To grow my own vegetables

53.  Get a photograph I took published

54.  To try to win the lotto

55.  To braid my hair

56.  Star in a movie

57.  Learn to play the African drums

58.  Go to a Kailly Monague show

59.  Attend a swan lake ice skating musical play

60.  Take a grand tour through the Buchman palace

61.  Have a 3hour full body massage

62.  Learn to scubadive

63.  Scubadive in the caribean waters

64.  Lay on beach at Hawai

65.  Go to Disneyland

66.  Get married

67.  Visit Victoria Falls in Zambia Zimbabwe

68.  Give natural birth

69.  Attend a World Cup game purely for the atmosphere

70.  Raise children

71.  Be an aunt

72.  Give my children tertiary education

73.  Be a grandmother

74.  Set the record in the World genius book of records for doing nothing for the longest

75.  Find a cure for Cancer

76.  Invent a magic cream that makes pimples disappear

77.  Go backpacking through the Amazon

78.  To reach the age of 86 years old before I die

79.  Walk on the moon

80.  Take a trip in a submarine

81.  Give R10 000 back to the community for a good cause

82.  Start a Public Relations campaign to raise funds for needed causes to uplift a community

83.  Dive into a field of flowers in Namaqualand

84.  Ride a ostrich in Oudshoorn, South Africa

85.  Try Thai food

86.  Make my own Sushi

87.  Eat the spiciest food in Mexico

88.  Eat pasta and pizza in Italy

89.  Cut off all my hair

90.  Donate a organ

91.  Camp in the wilderness

92.  Serve water to a camel in the desert

93.  To roll in the mud

94.  To run naked in the Maldives

95.  Build a tree house

96.  To float in the dead sea in Israel

97.  Build a 2metre tall snowman

98.  Live life to the full every day until my last breath!

Always ask yourself in the case of a disaster- will this matter in five years?

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Hate to me is such a strong word, I have grown to the age of 17 when I for the first time experienced the feeling and could for the first time use this word as an explanation to how I felt inside. I hated and I hated the feeling. It was a mixture of jealousy and disappointment and tears of sadness with just an extra hint of something that made it an unbearable feeling to hold onto. This was a situation where a best friend portrayed me and never having an opportunity to deal with portrayal; my body suddenly reacted in this state. I was shocked at this person I have become but soon realised this is all because I allow it to change me. I quickly learned the power of forgiveness and have never allowed myself to let the power of hatered take control of me. Everything did happen for the best in both our lives that was affected and we have a friendship bond that I believe will last forever.

 Forgive everyone everything. However good or bad a situation is, it will change and it’s most likely to change for the best.

My big fat BIG dream

Five years ago I probably answered my big dream as being successful. Today this dream feels more and more unreal unless I was to explain what exactly I define as success.

Well I have a dream to be financially independent and live a comfortable life in that sense. I have a dream of growing in my career to be challenged to my full potential while enjoying at least 60% of what I do each day, being creative and active. I have a dream to move back to my home town to start a family and raise my children in a safe environment.

I want to keep learning, keep growing as a person and a leader, making time for others and improving the lives of the less fortunate through fulfilling my cause on earth. 

I want to smile and laugh everyday and make someone else smile too. I want to be the shoulder for my family and friends to cry on and a rock for them to hold on to, I want to be the friend, the daughter, the sister, the mother and wife to the best of my ability. I want to be an example as a child of God that live up to my reason for being.

I don’t want to be controlled by worldly things but rather appreciate the little miracles each day holds. I want to be one with nature again as in my youthfull days and get out of the nasty routines of rushing through the days, working so many hours that one forgets to live.

I dream about living a day to the full and enjoying every moment of it…

Conventional is a good fallback position, isn't it?

The conventional to me refers to the background of our culture our belief system and that what our parents has taught us how to behave and show respect. To be grounded in the conventional, is what you will fallback to. In any situation this is what will guide your decisions and set the tone in case of failure. Don’t change these beliefs, this will form the guide to your personal life, while you take the risks of still thinking out of the box in your working career you will always be grounded in the conventional that puts you in your cultural group and distinguish you from the rest while being backed by your family and friends.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Yes I am so going there, it is time that we all seriously start looking into ways to help our financial situation in these challenging economic times. We don’t know how long the ripple effect of the recession will last or even if it will get worse, but experts suggests that the sooner we can start saving for retirement, the richer we can be. We find that our budgets has been cut to such an extend struggling to put away our savings. It is difficult to cut back any further as providing solely for our basic needs is becoming a challenge. The reality is that we are now at a critical age in our 20’s to already start saving for retirement. SARS and Sanlam have joined in to encourage us to save with high interest rates on a retirement account. To have more   money in your pocket you need to manage your budget and control youre spending, is this really easily said than done? Come into the habit to set aside as much as you can each month into a retirement savings plan. It’s the best thing you can do to keep up.

The shocking story about your weight

Whether this is fact or fiction the truth stills stays hidden amongst all, your weight is a reflection of yourself, more than you would think. Your ability to be committed, goal driven and live with respect to yourself is all communicated to your public not only by the way you dress, your makeup, the smell of your perfume or the style of your haircut but also by your weight. See your body as a brand, portraying an image to the public to win clients and sell yourself as the person that top business organisations would want to employ. If you where a business your image will be the building, the front reception desk, the furniture, the corporate stationary, etc – things that big corporate spend large amounts of money on to maintain a set quality standard because it is the first image people see.

Even though you cannot be discriminated against because of weight, your first impression is critical as people tend to create their perception of someone within the first few minutes of meeting, which is mostly from a visual influence – looks to facial expressions and eye contact. Therefore your image together with your weight shockingly enough reflects professionalism, trust, commitment, dedication, mental health and confidence - characteristic to maintain a balanced lifestyle and a balanced healthy weight, because we all know it is hard work. Getting your image right according to whom you are and what you stand for does include weight and will earn you respect for yourself and in business.

Chasing two rabbits at the same time

When we find ourselves hit by the inspiration to take on a task it comes with many opportunities that can cause us to get distracted along the path either through lack of confidence, information overload or opinions by others and self-doubt. The will power and focus is lost and you end up with not one task pursued and only completed half hearted while your dreams suffer as consequence. 

Keeping focus is very important to complete tasks and achieve success. To keep focus it is important to make a thorough decision by considering all pros and cons and committing yourself to that decision.

Decide at the beginning what you are aiming at so to have a reason for your focus.

Make a commitment to yourself that you will not give up. Keep focus by doing a little bit each day and learn from your mistakes.

With focus and support from others you can chase that rabbit!

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free...

I wish I can break all the chains and say all the things that I want to say - say them load, say them clear for the whole wide world to hear!

I wish I could remove all the thoughts that keep us apart and share all the love that’s in my heart!

I wish I could be a bird in the sky, how sweet it would be, if I can find I can fly! I will soar to the sun, and come back down to sea just to feel how it would be, to be free!

Keeping the lyricks to this song by Lighthouse Family close to my heart while dreaming of freedom from the shackles of earthly things holding me down.

The backdoor is not an option...

Why settle for anything less. When you are committed to a goal there should be no other way than forward, to achieve that goal. There will definitely be hard times but just when you think you have reached the end of the road another door will open.
Success does not come easy; it’s a battle of knowledge, experience, commitment and passion that determines the end result. How much are you willing to push forward? Even if it is taking smaller steps during the up hills, the backdoor should never be an option!

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you only have one idea

An idea is a creative seed planted in the minds of people. It gives humans the power to think innovatively as a unique human being. Each idea holds value to any person or organisation and it is what sets one person aside from another. Ideas can be generated looking differently at something and challenging the mind to see it in your own way. The different option is not always the correct option so it takes many good ideas to implement a great idea! Challenge your mind constantly to generate ideas – read the newspaper every morning and for all the negative topics, find a solution to correct the situation, this is a great exercise to challenge your way of thought and to eliminate the dangers of having only one idea.

Loving the imperfect man perfectly

The search for the perfect man is one of the most challenging tasks in life that is very much out of our control.  What is it that you value in life and what are you looking for in a man? From most love stories we find that love really finds us, how will you see it when it comes your way?

Even though no one is perfect I do believe there is a perfect man for every woman to make the perfect match. Someone you can bring out the best in and who can bring the best out of you.

Sometimes it takes a few wrong love decisions to meet the perfect man but holding on to your morals and your dreams can guide you in your way. Stay open minded and don’t settle for anything less than your “perfect love”! 

Have you figured out the second head fake yet?

Have you figured out the second head fake yet? “It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you,” taken from the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

How do I lead my life, how can I define my character, where am I heading and how am I planning to get there…?

Let’s focus on the reality that we do not always know the right way, yes we take chances, and based our decisions, we trust in the faith of our Lord, a higher power who will guide our lives to accomplish our life goals.

How I see it is - if that what we do are done for God, all that is done will be for good, and good will be given in return. It really is not about the “how to achieve the dream” but rather how to lead the everyday life the right way that bring the dream to you!

How hard is it to follow instructions?

How hard do you want to make it for yourself? Instructions can only be followed when it is properly understood, therefore, do not be ashamed to ask questions when you are unsure of something.
Empower yourself, understand the task at hand and what your responsibility will include, use the detailed direction or procedure given by the instructor and follow them!  
How much harder do you want to make it?

On the shoulder of a giant

Sometimes I surprise myself in the decisions I make, only to realise that there was a greater power involved to guide me. I am living on the shoulder of a giant, my Lord Jesus Christ, who loves me, guides me and protects me to fill my purpose on earth. I cannot take any credit for what I have accomplished in my life as He is the one who has given me the ability to be, to grow and to become.

With Him by my side, I can achieve anything with no fear to failure!

I live to praise Him, He is glorious!

It is closer than it is too far

After four and a half years of dating, my boyfriend and I are slowly but surely getting ready for that next step. Since day one we have been committed to each other. Not really knowing where our lives where going, we just went with the flow which ended up growing our relationship and life expectancy. So much so, that our future goals have jointly come together reaching a sense of balance.

We are very excited to go overseas next year to see the world and most importantly get a bit of a financial push in life. This will of course test our relationship once again but we are not afraid of the challenge. Even though there is still a lot of planning to be done and God’s will to lead us in the right direction, I am so excited to be able to do this with the one I love.

I am counting down the weeks already, hopefully it is closer than it is too far!

Cleaning out the fridge

Have you ever reached the middle of the month and realise you are so broke you can hardly buy something from a R5 store? Yes well it happens all too often to me!

Other than that bad habit of spending every sent as it comes rolling in, I also tend to be able to survive very well on the back stock of the fridge. By the end of the month I am convinced I got my budget all figured out just to be trapped in the same position the next month.

I have noticed that the harder the economic pressure on our wallets, the less we try to save and the more we tend to spend on the small feel good items. It is s bad routine to fall into with nothing to show for it in the end! Rather get a savings account and put away at least R100 per month, research has shown that starting to save even just a little from your 20s will show much greater results than saving a greater amount from your 40s.

Why do we put ourselves through this pressure of spending like there is no tomorrow without thinking about the last day of the month?

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." - (Andy Warhol)

Why would you be world famous you might ask? Well the expression from the late 60’s might have referred to many things but after five decades it seems clear to me what Andy Warhol meant. I think he referred to the introduction to the internet and social media. Blogging, Tweeting, Facebook and YouTube has made it possible for any person to become famous for a few minutes even if it is only to a few people the moment of fame will be on the World Wide Web available to everyone for a longer period than any paparazzi photo shot published or shown on TV in the 60's.

Together with the publics growing interest in reality TV, more oppertunity has been made available for everyday people to be featured on national Television.

A skill set called leadership

Leadership has many definitions but it comes down to a method used to influence others to achieve goals and objectives, which in turn develops the group.

"What makes leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don't what to do and like it" - Harry Truman

It takes skill to become a good leader, looking at the below listed characteristics needed, we realise every person has a little bit of leadership within them just waiting to be developed;

·         Inspire others, move and motivate others to achieve a particular goal or to make some kind of change.

·         See the big picture, think about today and most importantly about tomorrow.

·         Be dedicated to follow through with plans.

·         Be a good decision maker, you won’t always know it all so have a set of guidelines and people to consult to assist in making good and fast decisions.

·         Know the strengths and weaknesses of your team and delegate work to team members.

·         Lead by example, referring to ethical leadership of prescribed standards of what is morally right and wrong to earn respect from others.

·         Have a strong character, with firm beliefs and stay grounded.

·         Good communication, always be honest and keep your team informed while also being approachable and a good listener to their feedback.

·         Commit to greater responsibility.

·         Be passionate and positive about the job at hand.

·         Keep your team happy.

I believe anyone can become a fantastic leader with practise on the above traits, the most important character of a great leader is the way he/she treats his team.

Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read (Frank Zappa)

Rock journalism is journalists whose focus is to write about rock metal music but according to Frank Zappa, “Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”

Reporting on rock music is not for anyone, it requires skill and an understanding of the rock culture, the message each song brings across together with the different instrumental sounds used. These journalists write about a deeper message, that not everyone can find hidden in the rhythm of rock songs.