*~Top 200 Achievements~*

I know myself well enough to admit that I have a memory of a goldfish... It would take me days and days and days to remember 200 achievements which I have achieved in my life... What I can say is that I most certainly have 200 achievements which I am sure my mom is proud of, but they may not be all that big, but big enough to me and everyone who cares about me :) Here are a few of my achievements that I can think of...

1st step,
1st word,
1st run, 1st swim,
1st mudpie (making and selling them with my sis),
1st cultural exposure (going to a Jewish playschool),
learning to sing in Hebrew,
taking ballet for 7 years,
1st entrepreneurial adventure (selling things at our schools' market day),
1st baking session without a flop,
1st meal I cooked,
u/13A hockey team,
swimming team,
athletics team,
orchestra,
playing the violin for a decade,
singing in front of an audience on numerous occasions,
1st job,
1st interview,
working at the 2010 FIFA World Cup,
learning to drive,
passing my learners licence,
passing my licence,
1st drive on my own on the highway,
passing matric and all grades first time,
walking to school everyday in high school,
organising my matric farewell after party on my own in one day after the organiser let us down,
entering a beauty pageant,
1st climb up Lions Head,
getting over my fear of dogs and now owning 2 Rottweilers and having a huge passion for animals :), obtaining my Diploma in Public Relations,
moving to Cape Town on my own...

The list can go on and on and I am certain by the time that I have left this planet, I will have thousands more. Every day we achieve something, even if it is something very small. An achievement is an achievement and its what makes us want things in life so much more!

*~Crying: a sign of weakness or strength?~*

Everyone may have their opinion on what crying is a sign of... But, in our family, we are all very emotional people. My mom, sis and I cry about the smallest things... Even if something isn't as sad to my sister or mom as it is to me, they'll cry because I am crying... So to me, crying is a sign of strength. In our family it shows that we deeply care about one another and even if we have no words to describe the way we are feeling, the tears start rolling and we understand one another, and later have a good laugh about it. It may sound weird, but it's what makes our bond strong. That is my way of looking at crying being a sign of strength! 

*~A skilled set called Leadership~*

Leadership is not an easy task. You have huge responsibility and everyone looks to you for guidance, no matter which field you are in and leading. I'd like to believe that we all have some leadership skills... The one thing to me that distinguishes a leader from a great leader, is how he/ she combines and uses those skills in order to make the final product a success! Some people enjoy leading, while others enjoy following... We can't all be good leaders, imagine what a disaster life would be then!

*~Growing up...~*

In school, we were a pretty big group of friends, approximately 14 girls... It has been 4 years since our matric year and most of us are still pretty tight... I am the only one of all our friends that decided to come to Cape Town for my tertiary education... I have certainly missed them, but we still keep in contact and every time I see them, it feels like nothing has changed...

Our Matric Farewell :)

We recently had our annual girls reunion in Cape Town and once again, it was one of those nights none of us would forget. Because I don't get to see them all that often, I notice changes in them, even if they are very small. One dominant change that I have seen in each of us, is that we have all grown up... Grown into the people we know we are but were sometimes too scared to show all of... It just shows that we have grown up in the sense that we now want these 'differences' to be portrayed, which makes us even closer, because every time you share something new with a friend or friends, it makes the bond stronger... I know that we will all be friends for a very long time, and one day when we are old grannies, we'll have so much to laugh about, because there is never a dull moment when we all come together!

*~ Frank ZAPPA - crazy man~*

"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read".

Wow! Personally, this quote is way to complicated for my liking. It definitely makes you think, but also makes me think... what on earth was this guy smoking?! I have heard of him and I'd probably know a song if I heard it, but I had to look him up in order to get an understanding of what he was saying... Frank Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film editor. So that was who is, but now back to the quote... Personally, I don't have much to say about this quote, but what I can say, is that Frank Zappa must of been a deep passionate man to have written this along with some other quotes I found said by him... Another quote that I found quite interesting was one he wrote about Freak Out (which was his debut album in 1966), saying:

"On a personal level, Freaking Out is a process whereby an individual casts off outmoded and restricting standards of thinking, dress, and social etiquette in order to express creatively his relationship to his immediate environment and the social structure as a whole."

Crazy musician, Frank Zappa!

*~The BIG move~*

My grandparents have lived in Johannesburg ever since I can remember, and I have lived in Paarl since the age of 1. Throughout the years, they visited us in Paarl during Christmas time, special occasions, birthdays, but not as often as we would have like to see them... They have always loved Paarl and I can recall them saying on numerous occasions that they would like to retire to Paarl one day... I didn't really believe them until about 10 months ago when they broke the news that they would be moving to Paarl in June 2011. We were all very excited and before we knew it, they were here! It is so amazing to be able to stop by and see them whenever I want and know that they are no longer thousands of kilometers away... Not to mention all grans home-cooked meals, mmm... :)
Fortunately, I was on holiday when their moving truck arrived, so I helped them unpack and get everything ready for their new home. It was all very exciting. My gran was determined that she needed new bedding and some new furniture to suit their new lifestyle, so my mom and I took them to Canal Walk one Saturday for some shopping. After many hours, we had gotten all that we needed and my grandparents are very much at home in their new house :)
The only thing left to do now, is to get my aunt, uncle and cousins to move down to Paarl or Cape Town, so that they can also be close and our whole family can spend Sunday afternoons at my grans dining room table enjoying a good meal and fantastic company with lots of laughter! :)

*~~What motivates me?~~*

In short, the first thing that sprung to my mind when I read this question was EASY... My mom. She is my biggest motivation. Just by looking at all the things she has been through in order to get where she is today, she is my biggest role model and the biggest "thing" (if you could call it that), that motivates me to do everything I do to my very best ability. My biggest fear is to disappoint her and that is why I always try my best to make her proud... She always makes me feel good about every task that I embrace and motivates me to do what makes me happy and what I feel is the right decision. She guides me, but never forces me. She is the strongest person I know and for some or other reason, I can't help but agree with the phrase that all us 'children' hate to hear: Mom sure does always know best! :) Love you mom! Xxx