Illegitimi non carborundum

In English you say??

"Don't let the bastards get you down"

So I have been thinking about writing this for a little while, I had decided "who on earth do I think I am, I'm not famous, what gives me the right to write "an open letter" to anyone?!"

The answer was, I might not be famous but damn straight do I have the same right to say what I'm thinking!!  

So here it is, welcome to my open letter to Shemar Moore!!

Dear Shemar,

You want to know why I started following you on twitter, Facebook and Instagram?? Why I have spent HUNDREDS of dollars on BabyGirl clothing??? And not to mention the mere thousands for The Bounce Back???

Because I respect YOU! Not just for your looks!! 

Of course I would be completely mad & questioning my own sexuality if I didn't find you absolutely stunning to look at.... But I have supported you now (*cough cough* FYI Our anniversary is Feb 14th) solidly for the past 12 months. Prior to that I was obviously a fan but I simply didn't harass your fine self on social media!

My aim today is to tell you, ask nicely or BEG if I have too, PLEASE STOP RESPONDING TO HATERS!!!

I understand your reasoning and that is admirable, however when you respond it just gives them exactly what they are after, ATTENTION! This includes those that threaten to hurt themselves if they don't get a reply from you!

These people have issues, issues that are unfair to put on you! 

The majority of babygirl nation support you and follow you for the exact reasons that I do, RESPECT!

I will continue to support you because it is rare to come across someone of your stature and status that gives back like you do to your fans... The tweeting, the Instagram, Facebook etc.

Not to mention the incredible things you are doing to help find a cure for MS.

I have a lot of friends and family that ask me daily when I will get my phone calls from winning the two bounce back competitions.... Whilst I cannot answer them with a time or date, I believe in the confidence of my answer, I know it will happen & even though I missed out on getting it at the time of the campaign, BabyBoy won't let me down! (My number hasn't changed either, I've given it to your team like 100 times 😉)

So today, please start your day following this motto...

And today say F*%k THE HATERS!!

You're never ever gonna keep everyone happy so instead, keep doing what you're doing & play with those that give you love and positivity back!

Love 

Your Ultimate Aussie BabyGirl

Mrs J-Rad

My thoughts

So I have been thinking more about 2014 and what it holds for me & primarily what I want from it...

That's made me reflect on many things and parts of my life I would change if I could.

The first being that some days I am far from the mother, wife and friend that I want to be. I am constantly tired and in turn this makes my cranky pants fit firmly. I am going to make this a focus for myself... I might not be able to fix the constantly tired part, but definitely the "don't talk to her or she will snap" part!! I need to work on a better "work/life" balance for two reasons, my sanity and my kids!! I spend 13 hours a week with my daughter on my current shift, let me tell you with a pre-teen girl, that's not good for ANYONE!! 

To take the perfect words from ABBA 

"Money, money, money

Must be funny
In the rich man's world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It's a rich man's world"

I'm never going to be rich, at least not until I either beat all the odds and win lotto or find myself a super rich relative that I never knew about!

So what I CAN do about the money situation is start to make smarter choices... I work for a bank for goodness sake, helping people with their finances is what I do all day!! Time to save myself!!

In 2014 I want to date my husband again, I miss having us time and think that this year I want to make more of an effort to ask our friends and family to help and watch the kids so we can take time out for us, even if it's for a coffee or dinner or walk! I also want to talk to our friends and family with kids about taking it in turns so that they get couple time too!! 

I am going to make more time for writing! I have been given the incredible opportunity to be part of the ENM network (enmnetwork.com) and I'm not going to let my lack of confidence in myself and my writing hold me back!!

Well that's all I have in me for tonight, on that tiredness piece, it's after 10pm and my washing has finished so time for some sleep!

Thanks for listening,

Mrs J-Rad

You asked, I answer

I keep being asked “Who is this Tizthetime, Keith Tisdell guy you keep talking about?”

So I am here to answer that for you.

Keith Tisdell is an actor/producer I came to know through watching Criminal Minds and then Shemar Moore’s Bounce Back project in 2013.

Whilst Keith has a vast acting career, He portrayed Rodney in two Criminal Minds episodes, “Profiler Profiled” and “Restoration” and this is where I came to know him.
His character portrayed deep emotions, anger and violence but there is a scene in Restoration that when he confronts Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) your heart breaks along with his.

See a short clip here - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QG4eBuH_H-U 

Now to answer the question of WHY am I supporting him?

Well, I may not have physically met the man (BUT I WILL) I have gotten to know him via twitter, facebook and email recently, helping promote him on his Indiegogo campaign. ***I will put it out there now, this is not a paid post and I am getting nothing in return for my ramblings*** he is just one of the most down to earth, kind hearted guys that LA has living in it & I am grateful to have been able to be an active part of his first campaign. To put it simply, he is just like you or me, someone daring to dream.

He overcame a gang life to make something of himself and I think that alone should be applauded.
On top of all of that, Keith is a father to 4 great kids and what an incredible role model for them.

His Indiegogo crowd funding campaign, part 2 has started today.
Check it out here - http://igg.me/at/thetime2/x/3612949

The blog that I have been writing on for the campaign - tizthetimeblog.blogspot.com

So why should YOU give him money, I mean he is a stranger after all…

He has a story to tell and to be honest, I WANT TO HEAR IT!
I have dreams and If any of those involved people helping me monetarily, I would like to beliebe there are enough kind hearted people in this world who would help, it’s just all about REACHING them.

If just 14500 people from all over the world gave $10, it would bring a dream to life.

The best part?  You don’t just have to have to hand over cash and get nothing in return, there are a huge range of perks you can chose from so that you can have a momento to mark your contribution.
Ranging from a Twitter/FB Thank you, a Signed photo, An Advanced screening of the documentary, to being able to be a NAMED Executive Producer of the documentary... see the full list at igg.me/at/thetime2/x/3612949

 
So I hope that answers the questions my dear friends and family have had so pretty pretty please consider helping a complete stranger reach his dreams, who knows you might love being able to be a part of something like I have. If you can’t financially help, consider sharing this post or Keith’s link for me, help me stretch the reach and prove that social media CAN make a difference… all I need is 14500 people remember… let’s go VIRAL!

Mrs J-Rad xxx

 

They say 13 is an unlucky number

2013 has been one of the greatest years of my life to date.
Dreams came true that I didn’t even realise that I had until they happened.

We saw the start of our new year in at one of my happiest places, in Derby with my Father in law and Step Mother in law, it saw the Engagement Party of one of my oldest friends Kimberley (FINALLY Josh hehe) getting engaged, the start of a new role at work which bought along new challenges and new friends.

February was a huge month, it bought a visit from my biggest sister and her adorable family, a wedding which bought all of our family together, poppy and nanny P getting to meet Ira man for the first time. The celebration of surviving our first year with Ira followed by the next day a sad goodbye to “my first born” our beautiful Roksi dog. One of my best and dearest friends Evan marrying his princess which was also marked our first night away child free. One of my closest friends, Kirstie turned 30 and we celebrated with her.  This was the month that I was introduced to Shemar Moore live chats for the first one when he launched the long awaited shemarmoore.com website!

March saw us find our perfect first home and the madness that comes along with packing. We celebrated the 30^th birthday of a beautiful friend Mel, and our first two consecutive nights away from our little guy so we could pack like mad men and finishing with Easter and a whole lotta chocolate!

In April, we settled on the place we now call home, two hard weeks of cleaning up at the old house and we handed the keys back to our last rental ever and we had our first sleep over with Eva Bear (and her mummy and daddy).

May saw my KK turn 30 and we had a lot of cocktails to celebrate, a wonderful night of fun that we don’t get very often and from the heads the next morning, we were reminded why! I celebrated my 2^nd mother’s day with 2 babies and went to the first dress up party in a long time, A Mad Hatters Tea Party for BB. May marked the start of the Shemar Moore Cray Cray. With The Bounce Back came a whole new Family of ladies across the world “BabyGirlNation” some of whom I am sure are destined to be forever friends.

June first… Shemar Moore talked to ME via a live chat, my Bounce Back cray cray got even bigger when I won a competition to a one on one phone call with the main man himself.

July rolled in to another huge Bounce Back month, I met Erica, a woman who has inspired me more than ever to chase my dreams in social media combined with writing, to put it simply, Erica is all that I want to be "when I grow up". Then with all of my friends and families help, I won the title of Shemar Moore’s “Ultimate Fan” and I got to talk to him on a video chat (and yes before some of you ask, I'm still waiting on the phone call though). Along with the title came the excitement that we would get to head to LA in 2014 and attend the red carpet premiere and after party of the movie!!

August came a Melbourne trip with the Kaines, my first footy game at the MCG watching our beloved Hawks, sadly they lost and we got caught in a torrential downpour on the way back to the hotel but all was cured with access to the lounge with free drinks for a few hours… Then we celebrated our gorgeous Eva Bear’s first birthday & I proudly became a godmother for the first time. The Hawks won the minor premiership and started the finals journey.

September bought a secondment in what to date is the best role I have worked in at the bank, incredibly challenging but incredibly rewarding at the same time. Lily went on not one but TWO holidays, the first to Cairns with Aunty Liss, Uncle Jimmy and Puff, the Second to Poppy and Nanny P’s with Aunty Kate, Jack and Abbie. As for Football, September is the best month to watch, this year saw the Hawks broke the Kennett Curse and went on to take out the 2013 Afl premiership.

October was the #RideForMS where two men (and many many more) rode 100 miles to raise money in search of a cure for MS. #TizTheTime was coming and I had no idea what that had in store for me.

I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help a man who I now consider a friend. Keith Tisdell. I was able to use my love of writing to assist him with some things and he allowed me to run his blog for him for the campaign. I will eternally be grateful, his kind words about my writing and his message for #TizTheTime, have moved me, I am truly blessed to have been allowed to be a part of it all (P.S #TizTheTime – Second Campaign, Launching 15^th January).

November saw one of the craziest but fun months of our year. It started with getting dressed up and beautiful for our Logies awards night where I proudly watched my beautiful Roger win the Secondee of the Year award for the 2^nd year running. My best friend, my oldest friend, my soul mate turned 30 and we had an incredible child free night out, full of dancing, giggles and cake (with maybe a little alcohol). Then the long awaited surprise weekend arrived, we took Lily away for not only her first trip to Sydney for her birthday but to her first concert ever, Justin Bieber!! She was absolutely thrilled and it was worth every moment of stress executing it and the hour late JB was to the stage.

Alas, it was then December! A month that saw me get to go back to what I call “My Happy Place” at work in our complaints team, Miss Lily turned 10, marking my decade of motherhood and we celebrated Christmas with our little family and got to see the joy and excitement through both of our babies eyes.

So there you have it, 2014 you have an incredibly big job to live up to 2013.
Don’t get me wrong there have been lows throughout our year but focussing on the positives is what has gotten us through.

So to put it out there this is what I hope 2014 holds for me.

- To develop my career to the area/departent that I want to work in so badly
- To enrol in the Bachelor of Communication degree that I have set my heart on
- I want to make more time for my writing and increase the exposure of my own blog
- To get healthy… this means a number of thing, I want to lose weight, I want to gain fitness, I want to feel better in my own skin and I want to change our eating habits.
- I want to remarry my husband in Vegas when we go on our trip in October
and lastly, I simply want to stay as happy as I am today with my incredibly family.
- To finally meet Shemar Moore, Keith Tisdell and Erica Pena-Vest in LA at The Bounce Back premiere, along with this I will get to meet face to face some of the most amazing ladies I now consider my #BabyGirl and #Tizmanian Family.

So show me what you’ve got 2014, I am ready for you!

Mrs J Rad xxxx

Blog from the past

So this blog was written about two years ago and I still believe EVERY word I have written!! I have started this new blog so wanted to bring it across with me so I'm reposting 

------------------------------------------------

Today is the anniversary of our engagement, 4 beautiful years ago!

When Roger & I got engaged, everyone was so quick to offer marital advice, funnily enough most of it came from either unmarried people or those who had been through divorce.

To this day, there is only one piece of advice that I loved, it was from a family friend of Rogers, he simply said "Be nice to one another".... So can a marriage really thrive living by that principle? Can it really be that simple??

I believe so!!

If you live with that as one of your main values & follow a few other guidelines, I think everyone can be blissfully happy!

There are a few things lately that have made me think about love, life & relationships, so if I were to write a book on making a relationship/marriage work, it would be incredibly short & sweet!

Chapter 1 - Communicate
Communication is the key to ANY relationship working, at home, at work and with friends, without it you are left frustrated not knowing how anyone feels or what is bothering them! Hide NOTHING from one another, even if you think it's trivial or unimportant, if you feel the need to hide it, then it's probably wrong & could have a negative effect on your relationship

Chapter 2 - Never take each other for granted.
On any given day, we don't know what is around the corner. Appreciate each other & the little things in your life. Remember to tell your husband/wife that you love them but most importantly SHOW them!
For anyone who hasn't read the book "the 5 love languages" by Gary Chapman, it is an absolute MUST!! 

Chapter 3 - Celebrate together.
Roger & I still celebrate milestones of our relationship. The anniversary of us becoming a couple, getting engaged, getting married & most recently, the anniversary of finding out our first child together was on his way!
You don't have to buy gifts or make a big hooha but simply remembering these times helps you to remember why you fell in love! If we don't have the money to go out, we have "Date Nights", cooking something yummy for dinner & watching a movie! It's that simple, it's about remembering not money!!
Date nights are important, with or without a reason or anniversary behind them too!

Chapter 4 - Intimacy is more important than you think!
Being intimate with your husband/wife is vital to have a healthy relationship, I mean if you can't connect with your partner on the one level that is truly only yours, then what's the point?! 
Remember, intimacy doesn't just mean Sex, it can be a cuddle, a kiss or being held in your partners arms before you roll over & go to sleep!

Chapter 5 - Spend time together.
Life gets in the way of so many things, spending time with friends & family is one of them, it's a harsh reality of growing up!! Make spending time with your other half a priority, this can be as simple as staying home and watching tv or you can go out to do things you both enjoy!! "A family that plays together, Stays together"

Chapter 6 - Be Nice
The sixth and final chapter of my hypothetical book would be this!
Be Nice!! Its not hard to say "how are you?" or "how was your day?" this is a great start!! If you argue, play fair, don't call each other names or be nasty, you'll never get anywhere if you do! 
People often don't believe me when I say Roger & I don't Fight or Argue, some even believe that it's not healthy, I completely wholeheartedly disagree!
By using the other points above in our every day lives, there has been no need! We talk & whenever either of us do get crabby or frustrated with the other one, we simply play fair which avoids the need to yell & scream!


Now saying all of that, we are not and will never be perfect or profess to have a "perfect relationship", we just made a choice to work on our relationship ever day when we took our wedding vows! We stood before our friends, family & before God to love one another, cherish each other in sickness & in health, in good times & bad. 

Living by these vows is how we (and you all) can have a happy and healthy marriage!

Enough of my ramblings for today, Happy Engagement Anniversary Roger, I'm happier now than I was that day & look forward to many many more years of celebrating with you!!

Be Nice to one another people

Jess xxx

Buyer's Remorse

We’ve all been there, from the “I didn’t really need that” purchase to the “Should have waited til next pay day” purchase or the “Damn it went on sale 5 minutes after I bought it” purchase, but the remorse I am feeling is one I haven’t felt before. 

My baby girl turns 10 next month and it just so happens that her music crush is going to be in Australia touring. 

So to me, the logic was simple, spoilt or not we were going to Justin Bieber. 

I was hesitant to begin with because of the cost of the tickets, I am pretty certain that even for $125 a ticket, our noses will be bleeding we’re that high and far back in the arena. 

I have been planning this surprise trip from Tasmania to Sydney for months, we are going as a family and visiting one of the most iconic cities in the country for 3.5 days, a place that neither myself or my hubby have been to since we were kids. 

Then it began, I started searching eBay to find her Justin Bieber apparel to save on the cost of buying it all at the concert when I stumbled across a huge huge amount of tickets to his shows being sold. 

For the first time in my life, I was horrified and really realised the impact that the scalping industry can have. I had no choice but to purchase the cheapest tickets to the concert due to the fact all the better ones were sold. I now know that at least 50% of them were on eBay with these horrid people trying to make themselves a profit. 

Now it did cross my mind to buy us some better seats but after the expense of the original tickets, accommodation and flights it just wasn’t an extra cost we could afford. 

I had gotten over it until yesterday, then at work I was chatting to my customers about our upcoming trip to Sydney when I started to hear all about this article that was written on news.com.au yesterday, the title says it all “The concert no one wants to go to anymore” (http://news.com.au/entertainment/music/justin-bieber-the-concert-no-one-wants-to-go-to-anymore/story-e6frfn09-1226762423759) 

Now, I get that he is a young pop star who has grown up in the spotlight and I have no doubt has the fortune of a small country but I am one of the parents that doesn’t and can’t excuse his behaviour. I am hopeful my 10yr old finds a new obsession soon. 

I took Lily to see his first movie he released and after seeing it I gained a respect for him, needless to say the way he has started acting (just google new him and you will get a wealth of naughty stories) as he gets older has cancelled out every last bit of that. 

So I guess we will go to the concert and hope that he restores a little of my respect in him! 

I know we will have a wonderful time in Sydney but I have to say, the buyer’s remorse certainly doesn’t feel to be going away any time soon. 

Oh and P.S JB, PULL YOUR PANTS UP! 

Mrs J Rad xxx 

Little old me

Well I thought it was time to introduce myself!

I am Jess, I am 27 years old
I am a born and bred Tasmanian (Australia's BEST state)
I am the Wife of my absolute favourite person in this world
I am the mother to two amazing children, Lily 9 and Ira 21 months.
I work full time for an employer and 24/7 at home.

My life hasn't been perfect but the ups and downs from a young age have formed me to be who I am and for that I am grateful.

I have always had a passion for media, I think that it became part of me at the age of 10 when with the help of our local radio network and my parents, I started a petition to get Hanson (www.hanson.net) to come to my home state. I collected 4196 signatures and through the process got to go in to our local radio and guest DJ. It made the local newspaper (www.examiner.com.au/story/640120/calling-hanson) which sparked the interest of a national news show Today Tonight. From there, they contacted me to arrange for me to meet them if they ever came to Australia. Two years later, like any normal teenage girl, I was over them & had moved on to something or someone else.... Then we got the call, they were coming and Today Tonight wanted to FLY me to meet them and run a story on them, It truly was a dream come true to be on national tv and meet these boys I had adored for years.

Then came my quest towards my media career.

I did work experience in Radio, Newspapers and ended up attending Launceston College with our very own radio station!! I was on track to getting in to University to study Journalism.

Then, at 17, I found out I was pregnant. I was petrified yet excited and with that, came the change in my focus, I parked my plans of working in media and focussed on the most important job in the world, to be a mum!

I have always loved TV, Movies, Books and Music, I get very passionate and emotionally attached to the characters and form bonds with them.

I am known in my family for the saying "the books are always better than the movies" and in my time have only ever had one live up to my expectations... (And if you're reading this E.L James, please don't let them murder 50 shades in the transition to a screenplay!!)

I have always loved social media, to be brutally honest, my husband and I flirted via MySpace before we became a couple!! I moved with the times and got myself a Facebook and most recently I had my eyes opened to the world of Twitter (@mrsjrad).

It was from there I had the most amazing time with a group of women & the ever so talented @ShemarMoore during his Indiegogo campaign "The Bounce Back".

I made a number of forever friends and one of which inspired me to take some "Me" time and get back in to what I love, Media and Social Media.

Thus, my blog is born!! 

As of today I am proudly supporting another campaign on indiegogo by Keith Tisdell (see previous post) and have been invited to be a part of the ENMNetwork which I am thrilled (and a little nervous) about!!

So for anyone out there reading this, thank you!! There will be more of me to come and I hope you continue to be a part of it!

For now I'm signing off, the baby is awake (it's 11pm grrr) so time for a cuddle and bed for this lady!

Much love,

MrsJRad aka Jess