Another Christmas gone

Well Christmas is over for another year. We had a great day. Church in the morning, lunch with Andrew's family and dinner with mine. So busy but really nice as well. Got a little tired and by the end of the day my pants were a little too tight round the middle but I am going to blame that on the baby!!

Got some yummy presents. A new purse which I desperately needed and a lovely new super fluffy bathrobe (I want to wear it all the time!)

Andrew got DVDs to add to his collection. And the baby - oh my goodness. Our families, especially mine went baby crazy. We got jumpsuits, blankets, nappies, toys. And the baby ain't even here yet. I'll post a pic of all our baby goodies another day - it's too dark to take a picture now.

On Christmas Eve eve (Saturday night) we made our annual trek to the Carols by Candlelight rehearsal. It was quite cold but much nicer than last years 35 degrees. Had a great time with friends, hanging out, playing cards, singing carols, keeping warm under blankets and eating too much food.

Haven't done much the last couple of days. Went to the Boxing Day sales - didn't buy too much which is a good thing. Picked up the latest Jamie Oliver book, COOK. Can't wait to try some of the recipes out in there. They look so yummy. Also been checking out baby shops, looking at the immense amount of stuff that is out there. Working out what we need, where we want to get it and that sort of stuff. Not buying any big stuff just yet. A little too early I think.

We get the two dogs that we are looking after (for 2 years) on Saturday. We are super excited about that. They are such gorgeous dogs and it will be nice to have them around and take them for walks.

Anyway, that will do for now. Oh one more thing - WE HAVE A TOILET. This is very exciting as it means no more midnight trips to the bungalow outside.

5 things I am grateful for today

1. A great Christmas season with family and friends

2. That God sent Jesus to earth as a baby

3. Our little bub

4. Some awesome gifts for us (and the baby) this Christmas

5. The start of a new and exciting year, just around the corner.

Till next time

PREGNANT!!!

We are due on July 13th 2007. We are totally happy, totally excited and a little scared all rolled into one. We are feeling good. No morning sickness (bonus!!!).

Have a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy spending time with your families and eating lots of yummy food. I'll be back maybe Boxing Day with a bigger update and more info.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So again I have been absent from blogging world but I think I have my mojo back. I just haven't felt like blogging at all. Anyway, lots has happened over the last couple of weeks but I'll try not to make this post too long.



The bathroom reno is going great guns. We now have some tiles. The floor is done and half the walls. No grout as yet but that will be happening in the first week of Jan. But we will have a toilet in the house by next Wednesday so no more late night trips out to our bungalow in the backyard! YES! It's the little things that excite me.



What else has been happening. Well Christmas is well and truly upon us. We have our Christmas tree and decorations all up and I just love sitting in the loungeroom at night with just the tree lights on. Went out Christmas shopping today with half of Melbourne but I'm all finished and all the pressies are wrapped and under the tree. Such a nice feeling.

Went to a thing called the Road to Bethlehem on Tuesday night. It's a live re-enactment of the Christmas Story. It was amazing. You walked to different places where they had little mini plays going on of the different things that happened on the night Jesus was born. They had live animals - even a couple of camels and a real live baby for Jesus. It was such a great night. His a pic of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus (and if you look carefully you can see some angels in the background behind the curtain!)




It was so well done. And such a great night, remembering the real meaning of this crazy season.

Anyway, I'm off to wrap a couple more presents and then chill out for the rest of the afternoon.

Will definitely be back before Christmas

Before I go I am going to get back into the 5 things I am grateful for

1. For this Christmas season and what it means to me
2. That all my shopping is done.
3. A lovely hubby who's bought me some scrapping goodies for Christmas!
4. A fun breakfast with friends this morning
5. That my mojo for blogging and scrapping is starting to come back

Till next time

So much to do and so little time

Another semi busy week. I have just had no energy or motivation to blog but hopefully I can get back into this week. I really have missed it.

My gorgeous friend Cath, her hubby Mark and their adorable bub Amaya stayed with us for a week about a week ago. We had so much fun together and Amaya was just so cute to have around. CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!! I loved having snuggles with her and she seemed to enjoy falling asleep on my ample chest!! She is such a little sweetheart and oh so tiny. Does a baby suit me.





The bathroom is coming along. We have a bath now. So exciting. We also have walls and a roof and next week we may have the beginnings of tiles. It's all happening in the Spinks house.



Had my sisters 21st birthday party last night - totally forgot to take my camera but there were plenty there. Had a great time and I'm pretty sure she had a great time too. Can't believe my baby sister is 21 (well she is on Wednesday). I'm starting to feel a little old. Anyway, happy birthday dearest Beth.

Anyway, that's all from me. Hopefully be back sometime this week for another update.

Hope all is well in blogdom

Till next time

Busy and tired

So again I've been a bad blogger. I have just been so incredibly busy and therefore incredibly tired. I mean ive been going to bed at 9:30 when I'm home then. And that is early for me. And this week is going to be even busier. I am out every night until next Monday and my best friend Cath and her hubby Mark and gorgeous new bub Amaya are coming over from Adelaide on Tuesday to stay for the week. So this week is going to be crazy crazy.

A very exciting thing for me is that we got Broadband this week (I just haven't had the time to sit down and surf for awhile which is driving me nuts)

Can you believe it's only 6 weeks or so to Christmas? I mean, how nuts is that! Although I love the Christmas season so bring it on I say.

Anyway, a short one today but just wanted you all to know I'm still alive. I'm off to have a nanna nap this afternoon and then check out Idol. Go Damien!!

Till next time

I'm terrible Muriel

So all these shallow promises of being a better blogger and again I have failed. I am just not going to make any more promises cause then I won't break them. Got a bit happening around here. We have some serious demolition work happening on our bathroom (or now lack thereof) Luckily we have a shower and toilet in the bungalow out the back so we have some to get a clean and pee! It's quite scary renovating. Being responsible for picking tiles and stuff. I really have no idea so I'm hoping what we end up picking will look ok. We're off to look at tiles next weekend. Thought I'd share a few photos of the process. How "pretty" did it look before, hey. Now I am a lover of green - in fact it's my fav colour but this is just gross and this is an example of why I am scared to decorate! What you can't see in these photos is the lovely showerscreen that went around the miniature bath. It was that brown coloured glass with gold around it. So nice. So chic

Having a date night with Andrew tonight - going out for a meal and then catching a movie. There's a public holiday here in Melbourne tomorrow so we get a sleep in. Will be nice for a change!

That's pretty much it for now. I will try (but can't promise anything!) to be back before the end of the week with some insightful and witty banter to brighten your day!

Busy Busy Blogger

Man oh man, life has been crazy busy over the last week. Work's been really busy and I just seem to have had a lot going on.







Had a great great weekend. Worked at the Paperific show on the Scrapanalia stand for Jess. The show was great. So busy and so many things to see and do. Got to meet up with so many people - some old friends and even met some new ones. It was an awesome experience and I am really grateful to Jess for asking me to help out. The photos above are of the gorgeous Scrapanalia stand - it was so well set out and the stuff all just looked so yummy. The other photo is of Ange, Jess, Sofi and I in our funky Scrapanalia aprons. How funny do I look - I look like a floating head but that's the best we could do cause the lights were so bright in the stands

Managed to have a look around and buy a few goodies as well as work. Bought myself a new pair of super pointy scissors which are totally awesome. Also got myself some Collections stamps, a stack of Bazzill Cardstock and a few other bits and pieces. Didn't go to crazy spending money (well you actually gotta have money to go crazy, don't ya!!)

Got my last game of Basketball tonight. And it's against the top team, who have won every game. We are the bottom team and have only won one game. We are so tempted to just forfeit! LOL. Cause the Greys Anatomy season final is on tonight. So excited and totally devestated at the same time. What am I going to do on a Monday night now. Well actually, I could probably scrap a bit more rather than just buying the product! Now that would be a total novel concept. I am so hopeless. I did half a LO at the Dylan day last Saturday and have yet to finish it off. Although I never seem to get sick of buying stuff.

Anyway, here's to a nicer week in which I can find the time to scrapbook!

5 things I am grateful for today
1. A fun weekend at Paperific
2. A great Children's day at church yesterday - it was brilliant
3. The last game of basketball tonight
4. Some nice new scrapbooking goodies to play with
5. An awesome night at my sis and brother-in-laws on Saturday night. Love you guys

Till next time, I promise to be a better blogger!

A great weekend and another one ahead

I have had an awesome weekend, apart from the fact that Andrew was away. No, that is not why I had a great weekend. Hee hee! I spent most of Saturday at the Dylan Hartung Fundraising scrapbook day. I had an absolute blast and it was awesome that they raised $10000 for Dylan so that he can continue his treatment. You can check out who Dylan is and what he's up to here. Dylan's dad was there and it was great to hear a little of Dylan's story. It was quite an emotional day and was awesome that so many people could help out in this small way. I didn't get much scrapbooking on the day but had a ball catching up with old buds and making new ones. Was so awesome to meet a lot of the Scrap Pile girls (an online scrapbooking site that I frequent quite a bit). Nice to meet Ruey, Michelle and Lisa. And catch up again with Sofi, Katie and Ange. Here's a photo of us all.

Yesterday I went to church which was a great time. Love my church and the people there. It's such an awesome place to be. After church I went out to lunch we my best friend Marina, her hubby Peter and the rest of her family. It was so nice and I had a fantastic time getting to know her family a bit better. I also got to give Marina her present which I've been working hard on. I made her some of those IKEA drawers that I posted awhile back, but changed the colour scheme. Also made a little quote book to go in one of the drawers. So stoked with how it turned out and I think Marina really liked it. Will try and post pictures later today as Blogger has decided to only let me post one picture. Hmph!!

Speaking of Marina and Peter, they have some excting news. They are expecting their first baby in May. So exciting for them. Got to see the ultrasound video yesterday and they have an active bub. Congratulations guys. You are going to be awesome parents!

Next weekend I am working at the Paperific Show for Scrapanalia (can check out the link in my sidebar). I'm really looking forward to that. Love the buzz and the atmosphere that this show has and I am so privileged to be working for Jess. She is awesome and she has a few goodies up her sleeve!!

Anyway, enough crapping on.

5 things I am grateful for today
1. An awesome day of scrapping and chatting on Saturday
2. A great day at church yesterday - I was definitely feeling the love
3. A fantastic lunch with friends yesterday
4. Exciting new beginnings for Marina and Peter
5. That Andrew had a great weekend and got home safe.

And before I go, I want to wish my avid blog reader Bruce and his gorgeous wifey Jackie, a fantastic trip to the US. Hope you guys have a blast and enjoy chilling out. Have fun in Vegas!

A new phone

I am still here. Just haven't had much to say this week. I've been pretty busy this week. Got myself a new phone on Wednesday. Have jumped on the 3 bandwagon and I have to stay (even after only 2 days) I am loving it. I can check out the news, weather, movie times, watch movies trailers and cartoons. I can also listen to the radio! It really is quite a novelty at the moment and I'm sure it will wear off but hey I'll enjoy it while I can.

Andrew is off to a conference in Geelong for the weekend. It's all about worship and he's really looking forward to it. So I am all by my lonesome for the weekend. Although not really. I am off to the Dylan Hartung Scrapbooking Fundraiser all day tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun. Really looking forward to meeting some of my online friends for the first time and catching up with some i've already met quite a bit. Hopefully get a bit of scrapbooking done in amongst all the chatting.

Sunday I'm off to church in the morning then going out for lunch with Marina and her family to celebrate her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR YESTERDAY MARINA)

Well that's really all for now. Hopefully have some more exciting stuff to share next time. I really have become quite a boring blogger.

5 things I am grateful for
1. A funky new phone - oh so exciting
2. Some extremely good news about some friends (will share really soon)
3. The opportunity to meet some new people tomorrow
4. A great week at work
5. My family

Till next time

And the winner is....

Ok now for post 101! Thanks everyone for stopping by and saying hi to me. So cool to see who reads this. Well I have drawn the names out of a hat and the winner is..... wait for it.... there is actually two winners and I'll explain why in a second NAT MARDON and my sister Beth. YAY!
Now here is why there are two winners. The two bits of paper there name's were written on were entangled in each other so there was obviously meant to be two winners.

So Nat email me your address so I can send you your pressie (servingtheson@hotmail.com) and Beth - I know where you live!

Not much happening around here. Went to an NBL game last night which was lots of fun and really exciting. Semi busy week ahead. Hopefully have some scrapping to show off in the next week or so. Going to the Dylan Hartung Scrapbooking Fundraiser next Saturday. I am really looking forward to that. Should be a lot of fun and pretty emotional too.

5 things I am grateful for today
1. My church family - love my church
2. Great friends
3. A fun night at the Scrap of Faith cyber crop on Friday night
4. That my house is pretty tidy
5. Idol's on tonight and Grey's is on tomorrow

Till next time

Bronzed Up & Post #100

Well I did my Bronze Medallion training over the weekend and I passed so that is a huge relief. I'd really started to doubt myself last week - only trained once cause I was sick and was starting to panic that I wouldn't be able to meet the requirements. But I had nothing to worry about. Although I was still sick - blocked nose and pretty much no voice, I swam my 400m in 12 mins (we had 13 mins to do it) and I had 3:15 mins to swim 50m freestyle then tow someone 50m. This was really hard going as we weren't allowed to use any aids to tow - kickboard, etc.. just our arms. I managed to do that exercise in 3:05 so that was a pretty close call!! But it's over with now. I acutally really enjoyed myself and it was a great bunch of people in the group so that's always good.
Apart from swimming and being sick, not much else has been happening. Managed to get a LO done on Sunday night. The photo is of my hubby Andrew. He was having a total laughing fit and I captured it on film. I really love this photo and I am really happy with how the LO turned out. The journalling block is one of my new Autumn Leaves stamps that I got last week. I am totally in love with these already!! Picture below.

Now before I go, this is my 100th post on this blog. Can you believe I have rambled on 100 times?? I would really really love to know who actually reads this blog. So here is my proposal. I would love for anyone and everyone who reads this blog to take an extra minute to post a comment and say hi to me. Then I will put all your names in a hat and pull out one and then send that person a pressie. If you are a scrapbooker, it'll be scrapbook related. If you are not, I'll send something else! I'll give you till Friday of this week (13th - wooooo!!) Then I'll post who the winner is over the weekend. Happy commenting!

So please please please leave me a message.

5 things I am grateful for today
1. That I passed my Bronze Medallion Course
2. That Lavina got voted out of Idol
3. My sisters - just cause
4. Greys Anatomy - it seriously gets better and better every week
5. That I am loved and accepted

Till next time

Some scrapbooking goodies

So over the last week I've managed to get myself a few scrapbooking goodies. I bought a AMM tote from Scrapanalia. Love this little bag. It's got so many little pockets and places to put all sorts of goodies in. I also got a couple of sets of Autumn Leaves stamps from Blue Baazar. Love these stamps. Saw them on Ali's site and just had to get me some. Used the money I got from having my LO published to buy these. I am so excited to get stuck into using them. Wanted to share some photos of them with you but blogger again is being a poo. I'll try later!

I am getting sick - again. Same old blocked nose, killer sore throat and watery eyes. Although this time I am losing my voice so I have this husky "sexy" voice. Sounds more like Tracey Bartram then sexy but hey. Being snotty and sniffly and husky really sucks and being sick is wearing me out. I am so tired. And I've only been back at work for like 4 days.!! GRRR!! At least I didn't get sick while I was on holidays.
My girlfriend Marina dropped over yesterday and brought me some get well goodies - OJ, the latest Donna Hay magazine and the clincher - Connisouer Cookies and Cream Ice-Cream. YUM. So not diet friendly but I so don't care. The bummer about being sick is I haven't been swimming for a couple of days and my bronze medallion thingy is on this weekend. Really hope it all clears soon or breathing under the water may be a severe problem!



Have been reading Jane & Glenn McGrath's book 'A love of life.' Glenn is an Australian cricketer and when he and Jane had only been going out for 18 months she was diagnosed with breast cancer. They both tell their stories about that journey. It's a great book and has really made me grateful for what I have and for my relatively good health. It's also made me remember that you are never to young to get breast cancer (Jane was only 31)

So get those breasts checked regularly girls

5 things I am grateful for today
1. Cadbury has bought out Macadaemia chocolate - yeah
2. Marina for looking after me yesterday
3. New scrapbooking goodies to play with
4. A new season of Survivor starting
5. That although I am feeling fairly crap at the moment, I am healthy and alive!

Till next time

Two bits of exciting news

Firstly, my friend Cath had her baby - Amaya Grace. She was born last night at 5:15pm, weighing a tiny 4 pounds 10. She'll be in the neo-natal ward for a week or so. So sad they live so far away - they live in Adelaide. Just want to give Cath a big hug - what a trooper. And I really want to give little Amaya a snuggle. Hopefully I'll be able to share some pics soon.

Secondly, last night my basketball team won our first game. So exciting. We were jumping around, screaming like crazy women. You'd think we'd won the flippin Grand Final or something. We won by 1 point. Was such a good game.

Anyway, just wanted to share those 2 exciting things
Things I am grateful for today
1. The safe arrival of Amaya Grace
2. That we won a game of basketball - finally
3. I have a night at home to do some scrapping tonight
4. Ali Edwards email newsletter - love it and it's totally inspiring
5. That Andrew and I both had good first days back at work

Till next time

We're the Eagles, the West Coast Eagles

So the Eagles won and Andrew is totally stoked. He was Eagles crazy before but it's gotten worse over the weekend. We had to buy 2 copies of both The Age and the Herald Sun yesterday and we are now the owners of not 1, not 2 but 3 Weg posters - they are the cartoon posters of the premiership team. Although my team lost, I was glad that the Eagles won. I hate to think what life would be like around here if the Swans had beaten the Eagles again! It was such a good game to watch though. A real nail biter. So life is good at the Spinks house this week. The photo up top is of Andrew and his mate Brendan (Frij) who is one of about 8 people Andrew went to the Grand Final with.



So while Andrew spent the whole day on Saturday at the Grand Final, I managed to alter some little drawers that I bought from IKEA. I am so happy with how they turned out and now i have heaps more storage space for my scrap stuff. I just painted the main box unit, then covered the front of the drawers with patterned paper (K&Co - it's so pretty). Then I just mod podge over the top. I think I may have to go and get a couple more and do them up as presents for people!!





Also ended up going out for coffee with Jess and Angus. She had a AMM tote to give me (which Andrew is getting for me for my birthday!) That was lots of fun and I cannot believe how much Angus has grown up. His so not a little bub anymore. Also caught up with Carolyne at Scrappy Hollow - had to go scrap shopping!!

So my weekend in a nutshell.

Ohh and last night I got a text from my girlfriend in Adelaide - her waters broke yesterday (2 weeks early) so I am eagerly awaiting news of a new baby very soon. So exciting!!

5 things I am grateful for
1. A happy hubby
2. The opportunity to see Jess & Carolyne on Saturday
3. The chance to be creative on the weekend
4. My church family - I have such an awesome church
5. That I'll be an honourary auntie really really soon! Go Cath Go!!

Till next time

IKEA, Ice-Cream and other stuff

So I am still on holidays - only a couple of days to go. It's been so great and so relaxing. Just what I needed to get me through till the end of another year. We've managed to pack in quite a bit over the last couple of days. Monday was a bit of a veg day. Tuesday we went looking for new bathroom stuff as we have to get our bathroom renovated. We ended buying a new bath, toilet and vanity cabinet. We found this awesome builders/renovaters warehouse and the stuff was really well priced and we found exactly what we were looking for. Now we just have to find tiles and then get the process started. Wednesday we went to IKEA - totally one of my fav places to visit. Love all the rooms, the furniture is cool and all those storage ideas - AHHH! Love love love it. If I had to be left behind, locked in a shop all night, it would be IKEA. I'd sleep on their beds, run around like a crazy woman and eat swedish meatballs all night!! We checked out a couple of storage trolley thingys for my scrap stuff. Got some ideas so that's cool. Bought a funky as little set of drawers that I am going to alter and cover and funky up. Will share a pic once I've done it (hopefully finish on Saturday)
Today Andrew and I went out for breakfast - love going out for breakfast. We then drove up to Healesville to check out the new Beechworth Bakery up there (YUMMM) Grabbed some lunch and ice-cream, checked out a few shops - antiques, crafts, op-shops. It was such a fun day and such awesome weather.
We're off to the Grand Final parade in the city tomorrow. Should be fun - will hopefully be checking Koko Black - an awesome chocolate place. If we can't find, I may just have to take Andrew to Max Brenners.

Sorry about the drivel. But hey I'm on holidays!!

5 things I am grateful for today
1. The opportunity to hang out with Andrew for the week and reconnect with each other
2. A gorgeous day in the sun today
3. Bacio Ice-Cream - WOW
4. That I can now swim 400m non-stop (swimming course is in 1 1/2 weeks
5. That I have three more days of holidays

Till next time

THE DILEMMA

So again I've been MIA. Was at a youth conference for the end of last week and just tried to relax a little over the weekend. And now I am on a week's holiday. YAY!! So need this week off. Today I vegged out. Tidy the house a little, did a bit of garden, watched crappy daytime TV - yeah to Oprah and Queer Eye. Tonight I have been banished from watching TV as the Brownlow is on and Andrew must watch that! Hopefully we'll be able to get away for a couple of days - even if they are day trips.

Anyway, to my dilemma. Our household is soon to become very tense. You see I am a Sydney Swans supporter and my hubby Andrew is a West Coast Eagles fan. Now I am not what you would call a die hard fan - I like to see them win but am not beside myself with grief if they lose. Andrew on the other side - DIE HARD FAN. Last year our teams were in the Grand Final together as well and Sydney won - Andrew took it hard. This year if Swans win again, I don't think he'll deal with that to well.

So the dilemma is, do I be a good supporter this week and pray that Sydney wins. Or do I put my marriage first and become an honourary Eagles supporter?? LOL such a dilemma. If the Swans win, I may be staying at a friends house on Saturday night!!

5 things I am grateful for today
1. New photos to scrap (Andrew is at the Grand Final all day Saturday so I am scrapping!)
2. A week of holidays!
3. A great night watching Idol with friends last night
4. That my hubby got GF tickets (he is so excited)
5. Did I say I'm on holidays! Hee Hee!

Till next time

My LOs from Scrap Pile Cyber Crop

Just wanted to share the two LOs I did over the weekend. Was going to do it yesterday but Blogger wasn't playing nice. First one is of my hubby Andrew and my friend Cath's hubby Mark. Just celebrating the fact that they have become good friends as well now.

Second LO is of me with my grandparents (Dad's parents) I think I was a pretty cute kid actually.


















I am so excited I got some scrapbooking done. Really want to get some more done while I am on holidays next week.

That's all I wanted to share!!

5 things I am grateful for today
1 Another lovely day
2 That I finished my book last night!
3 Chicos!! YUM
4 That we're getting broadband really soon
5 That my lovely hubby is getting two relaxing weeks off!

Till next time

Busy Week ahead then RELAX

So again I've been an absent blogger for a week or so. I just totally forget to update my own blog - too busy reading other people's!! Had a great weekend. Wasn't too busy which is nice. Spent Friday night on the computer at Scrap Pile's first Cyber Scrapbooking Crop. Was lots of fun and there were some great challenges for the night. I managed to get a couple of LOs started (and finished them over the weekend) and I am pretty happy with how they turned out. I'll share them later cause Blogger is being a poo and not letting me load photos! GRRR!!
Sunday went to church and actually got to sit through the whole thing. I usually run a teen small group during the sermon but we don't run during holidays so it was nice to hear a sermon!!
Had Sunday lunch at some friend's house. They are going to train to be Salvation Army officers at the start of next year (for 2 years) and they have to move into a college in the city so Andrew and I are looking after their dogs for the next couple of years. Was pretty cool to meet our fur foster kids, Ally and Patch. They are such gorgeous dogs - both in looks and personality. I hope they like us.

Last night I played basketball again and as usual we lost. I don't even think we are that bad. We just don't seem to be able to get that ball through the hoop as often as the other team. I am sure we'l win one day.

The rest of the week I am flat out helping out with a youth conference run by the Salvos called Youth ACC. Should be a great event but tiring as well.

Which is why I have a week of holidays next week. I am so excited. I haven't had holidays, during the year, for about 1 1/2 years now. Just never got around to taking them. So hopefully Andrew and i will be able to get away for a couple of days and just chill out. Will be so nice

Anyway, i gotta go and get some more stuff done for this conference. Will be back at the end of the week!

5 things I am grateful for today
1. That Reigan got voted off Aussie Idol - I wasn't a fan!
2. That I'm on holidays next week
3. Awesome scrapping websites, Scrap Pile & Scrap of Faith
4. That I've almost finished the book I am reading "The Book Thief" - all 584 pages!! Only 70 to go!
5.That God loves me!

Till next time!

I am a TV Star!

So my hubby and I were totally on TV last night. On "Thank God you're here". I was only expecting to maybe be in the shots when they spoke to Tom Gleisner but there was one close up shot of some audience members and it was Andrew, myself and our friends Graeme & Matt. The only close up shot of the audience in the whole show! HA HA! We are superstars! LOL. If you want my autograph, just email me! :)

Not much else happening today. Went totally housework crazy yesterday. Cleaned the whole house. Got all the washing done. And I even managed to fit in some scrapbooking. Feels so good to have a clean and tidy house and no washing to do. That pretty much never happens.

My mum, dad and sister are coming over for tea tonight so it'll be good to catch up with them.

The swimming is getting there. Went on Tuesday night and managed to do 300m without stopping and then an extra 300m after a little break. Am off to the pool later today as well. Hopefully be able to do 300m without stopping again. I'm slowly working my way up to 400m non-stop.

And I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the Fruits of the Spirit tin I made in an online scrap class for Scrap of Faith (click link on the side) the other week.



I am really happy with how it turned out. I think the colours look really great together.

So that's about it for now.

5 things I am grateful for today
1. A great bible study last night
2. That my mum, dad & sister are coming for tea
3. The book of Psalms (am reading it with some of the girls from Scrap of Faith)
4. A clean house and no washing
5. That I am loved

Till next time

Much ado about nothing

Nothing much has been happening in my world of late, but my friend Bruce (an avid reader of my blog) told me I needed an update so here goes.
What to say, what to say?? I think I may do the random dot point style of blog today - something that has become very popular among HTML land (like the geek speak, Bruce!)

• I am totally loving Idol this year. The singers are all really awesome and it will be hard to pick who goes each week (unless of course someone has a real shocker of a performance)
• I'm not doing too badly with the Bronze medallion training. Have to be able to swim 400m non-stop. At the start of training I could do about 75m. I can now swim 200m. I have 4 weeks to go! EEEKK!
• Another thing I am totally loving is the Australian scrapbooking website ScrapPile. Loving the challenges and it's making me scrapbook again.
• Totally loathing Germaine Greer and her totally insensitive comments about Steve Irwin, her lack of class and her lack of any idea about Australia. Bitter, bitter old lady.
• Getting pretty excited about FIJI now. Only 4 months to go. It's going to be a lot of fun
• Getting a little tired of losing every week in Basketball - I still have lots of fun though. We are officially on the bottom of the ladder. There was another team who was there with us - they too were yet to win a game - they beat us last night!! HA HA LOL. It really is quite funny. At least we made them feel good.
• Love that I have the night at home. Might get stuck into a scrapping challenge from Scrap Pile
• Love getting yummy scrapbooking packages in the mail. Soo goood!

Well that's about it for now. Hopefully post again really soon. Have to go for a swim now.

5 things I am grateful for today

1. Diet Coke - love this stuff and no WW points

2. Nail buffer - love how it makes my nails so shiny

3. A pool close to our house so I can go and train

4. My friend Bruce (and Jackie) for reading my blog when he should be working!

5. Freshly mown grass - love that smell (and I'm grateful to my hubby for mowing it!)

Everyone needs to watch Thank God you're here on Ch 10 tomorrow night at 7:30pm. It was the one I went to the taping of. You may get a glimpse of me when they cross to Tom but you may not - depends how wide your TV is!! But it's a funny ep and worth a watch

Till next time

Post # 90

Can't believe I have made 90 posst on this blog. Not to sound cliche or anything, but wow is this year flying or what. As if it's only 3 1/2 months till Christmas. Not that I'm complaining or anything cause I love Christmas. Bring it on, I say! Have managed to get a bit of scrapping done this week. Feels good to be creative again. Came across this quote the other day and it really struck a chord with me

While it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfilment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving MARILYN THOMSEN

There is worth in being ordinary. Being ordinary is not about not trying. It's not about being lazy and letting others do stuff. It's about being happy to be who you are, where you are and being good at it. It's about being a first rate you rather than a second rate somebody else. It's about realising that everyone has someone to influence - not just those that we see as having achieved greatness.

So enjoy being ordinary. Be great at being ordinary and see how powerful being ordinary can really be

5 things I am grateful for today
1. That I am ordinary
2. A free Saturday tomorrow
3. A sleep in tomorrow - YEAH
4. Some scrapping time this weekend
5. My family

Till next time, have a great weekend

I've been published

I am soo happy. I found out back in January that one of my LOs would be published in the magazine Scrapbooking Memories and finally the issue has arrived. I have been stalking my letterbox for over a week now and started doing a happy dance in the car as I pulled in the driveway and saw that mag sticking out of the letterbox. This is my first time at being published in a magazine and although I don't scrapbook so that I can get my work published, it's kind of exciting to see something you created in a magazine that 1000's of people will look at.
It's not the best LO I've done and it's not my favorite but I am still totally stoked. The other cool thing is that my LO is one the same page as my good friend Katie's page. Love her work.

So that is my super happy news today. Not much else happening in my world. We lost basketball again last night but we had a ball so that's the main thing. And it's helping me get fitter which is very necessary.

Have got a pretty casual week this week - so nice for a change. Am hoping to get stuck into some scrapping. Haven't done a page for ages.

5 things I am grateful for today

1. The opportunity to have my page published

2. Spaghetti Bolognaise for tea - YUM

3. The school kids I get to hang out with at lunchtime as part of my job

4. Grey's Anatomy & Australian Idol - totally loving these shows and one of the reasons I am not getting my scrapbooking done

5. That my hubby's school concert went well last night. Only 1 1/2 weeks till school holidays.

Till next time.

MIA and D&M

Spring has sprung well and truly. Today has just been the most beautiful day outside. So I know I've been missing in action over the last couple of weeks and only posting occasionally. Bad blogger but life is just a little crazy. Hope it will get a little more subdued for a bit now. I promised last blog that I wasn't going to do the whole today I did this and yada yada, cause frankly my life ain't really that interesting at the moment. So deep and meaningful is what I promised.
I was in a shop called Socrates the other day - totally love that shop. It's kind of like Australian Geographic/crossed with a toy shop. Lots of cool gadgets and things to play with. So I saw a big rack of cards - love cards, and came across a few with some really awesome quotes on them and they really made me think. I love quotes. Love that other people have said exactly what I am trying to say. I love that they have the ability to really make you think and go "Aha!"

The first one said- Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

How awesome is that. Peace isn't about no noise, it's about peace in your heart. Having inner peace. The sort of peace that you know you are where you are supposed to be.


The other quote was - Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering FANNY CROSBY

That is so true. Especially for those of us who are scrapbookers. Sometimes we are so worried about taking that perfect photo or capturing that perfect moment that we actually miss what the moment truly is. We need to live in the moment. Make life beautiful and make it worth remembering

So what are you doing to make life beautiful

5 things I am grateful for
1. Wise people who say wise things that make me think
2. Free tickets to the movies so Andrew and I can go on a date
3. An opportunity to hang out with my youth group tomorrow night
4. Books to read
5. Australian Idol - loving this series.

Off to the movies tonight with Andrew. Have a great weekend

Till next time

Update

So I am now 27 and3 days old. The last few days have been lots of fun. So love birthdays and stuff. So what's been up. Had my hair coloured on Thursday. It's a little out there but it's fun and hey, it's just hair isn't it. I got a little bit of a shock when I saw myself in the mirror at first, but it's grown on me now and it's quite fun.

Thursday night I went to a taping of the Ch 10 show 'Thank God you're Here." Man was that fun. I had an absolute ball and it was so fun. We were about 3 or 4 seats away from Tom Gleisner who judges the acts (and is also the main dude from The Panel). And me and my friend Matt got in a few of the shots when Tom was speaking. So exciting. Now hopefully we will make the cut.
Friday night Andrew and I went our for my birthday with our awesome friends Pete and Marina and I got some more pressies. I am so lucky. I got a little box filled with all sorts of goodies - a gorgeous necklace, a scarf, a notebook and my favourite - my very own tea cup. Have wanted one for ages so I can enjoy a real cup of tea and my beautiful friends came through for me. How gorgeous is it.

Yesterday we spent some of the day in the garden and then went in search of bathroom ideas. We have just found out that we have really bad water damage in our bathroom and there is water leaking somewhere which is rotting the floor boards. This means bathroom reno. Our bathroom is a very ugly khaki green colour anyway, so I'll be glad to get rid of it. It was just more in our 5 year plan rather than 5 month plan. But hey, things happen, right.
We got some good ideas, but a few of the places we wanted to look at were shut so we'll go out next week as well.
Last night, I organised a scrapbooking night at church. There are a few people who scrapbook at church and it was just an opportunity to get together, do your own thing, get ideas, share stuff. It's the first time we've had anything like this and there were 4 of us there so that's a good start. We had heaps of fun together and that't the main thing

My week is looking less busy than last week so that is good. May have some time to scrap now that I am all inspired after last night.

I think I have bored everyone enough. I didn't really want this blog to turn into a "this is what I did on Thursday and then on Friday, etc.." kind of thing so I will try and post something a little more profound and thought-provoking this week.

Before I go.. 5 things I am grateful for
1. My gorgeous tea cup
2. Beautiful friends
3. Sunshine
4. More gorgeous flowers for my birthday
5. Jesus for saving me

Till next time

Happy Birthday to me

So today is my birthday. 27 year old. When I was younger, 27 seemed so old and now that I am there, I don't feel as old as I probably should. I think in my mind I am still 21. 27. 27. That's how old my mum was when she had me.
I've had a good day. Had lunch with my nanna and sisters - Clare & Beth. Then Beth went back to work and Clare & I took Nanna to look around Knox. Man that place is big. Just had a walk around and then a coffee - well I had a Chai Latte - YUM! Last night we had tea at Mum & Dad's with the whole family to celebrate both mine and my dad's birthday - both in August. I got a cake and everything. Was such a nice night.
Present wise I got a small suitcase from my mum and dad. Something I have both wanted and needed for some time now. Clare & Matt (my sister and brother-in-law) got me a really gorgeous candle holder - will take a piccie tomorrow when it's lighter. My present from Andrew was the Scrapanalia Retreat but he is also going to get me an AMM litte scrapbooking tote. And I am getting my Crocs shoes from the in-laws. So excited. I am going to be like Katie, Brett and Liam now!!! LOL! I've also got some money to spend as well from my nanna and Andrew's grandma. So that should be easy to spend. So it's been a great birthday so far.
Tomorrow I am getting my hair cut... and COLOURED. So excited. Haven't had it coloured for ages. So will post some piccies. And then tomorrow night we are going to a taping of the Channel 10 show "Thank God you're Here" with our friends Graeme and Matt. Graeme got 4 tickets and then invited Andrew, Matt and I along. Should be a lot of fun. That show is very funny

Well, I am going to have an early night tonight. Not doing anything to special. But we are going out on Friday night to celebrate me getting old so that should be fun too.

5 things I am grateful for today.
1. That I have made it to my 27th birthday
2. Family and friends who have made my day so special
3. Chai Lattes
4. A scrapbook magazine in the mail - it's like a little present every month
5. Digital cameras - crap photo - delete it!

Till next time, Happy Birthday to me!

Feelin a little less stressed

Aren't my flowers pretty? My work friend Sharon bought them for me for my birthday. Don't stress about my presents people - it's not till Wednesday! LOL
This is going to sound really weird but I am so glad this weekend is over. Bring on the normalcy and routine of a working week. The last couple of weeks have been so crazy trying to organise this trivia/auction night.
Andrew got home safe and sound on Friday night - said he had a great time but was extremely tired. Got ourselves an early night cause we were both wrecked. Saturday I spent from 9-4 at the last day of my first aid course so I'm all trained up now. It was lots of fun actually. Near the end we split into two groups for scenarios - first aiders and victims. The victims got to think of all sorts of situations and use texta to draw blood and stuff on ourselves. Was great to be dramatic for awhile. Some of us were really going off.
Got home from the course, did the dishes, hung some washing up, ate some tea and then left again to set up for the Trivia night. It was such a fun night and although I was a little stressed at the start (would there be enough people, auction items, would people have fun!) I ended up having a ball. Was on a table with my friends Bruce & Jackie (hi Bruce - my fellow geek), Pete & Marina and Linda & Gareth. We came 3rd last (much to our disgust LOL). We ended up with over 30 auction items and they all went so that was great. Some went for an absolute bargain price. I bought myself a little country birdhouse. Made a bid for $5 and I won. It's worth about $20. Bargain!


Yesterday I was at church in the morning then the rest of the day turned into a candid camera/joke show scenario. Andrew had to stay at church from some training so I decided to do the food shopping straight after the service and then hopefully have an hour or so to just chill out. YEAH RIGHT. Took me about an hour to do the shopping which is fairly normal. Gotta home and started to unpack the stuff. Umpacked the frozen things first and went to put them in the freezer (our freezer is at the bottom of our fridge) when I noticed the door was ajar. Andrew had had ice-cream the night before and when he put it back the fridge didn't close properly and the freezer had completely iced over. So i proceeded to clear out as much ice as I could. Luckily because the freezer worked overtime to keep stuff cold, most things were still frozen. So that took me about 1/2 hour. Then I started putting all the other stuff away. Had a bag of shredded cheese which we put in the fridge in a Tupperware container. Cut the top off the package and tried to tear it open and it just exploded in my hands, cheese flying everywhere. Managed to keep most of it on the bench which I had just wiped down so I saved most of it (I did however find some cheese in my hair later that night!) After cleaning up and putting the rest of the shopping away, I decided to take the rubbish out. As I pulled the bag out, it split sending rubbish all over me. Ran to the outdoor bin before too much came out. Cleaned to floor and myself.

I swear some had a hidden camera somewhere and I will soon see myself on Funniest Home Videos. So my hour of chilling time before Andrew got home turned into about 10 minutes.

So you may have thought my "I am glad this weekend is over" statement was weird, but now you may have some idea as to why.

Gotta have a laugh at it all though.

Playing basketball again tonight- 10:00 - what a sucky hour of the night to be playing sport - really hope we win (we lost last week)

5 things I am grateful for today
1. A fun night at the trivia/auction night on Saturday
2. Sue & Sharon for taking me out for coffee today for my birthday (Wednesday)
3. Daffodils
4. Awesome friends to hang out with
5. That Andrew is home

Sorry about the mammoth post. Good for you if you made it all the way through.

Till next time, smell some flowers and watch out for flying cheese

Busy, Busy, Busy

Man it's been busy around here. Remind me never to organise another auction night - so much driving around to pick stuff up. Thank goodness our car is on gas or I would have paid a small fortune in petrol over the last few days. I think I am pretty much ready for the night tomorrow. Just have to set the hall up tomorrow afternoon.
Spent the afternoon with my nanna on Wednesday. She is over from Adelaide for 9 days. Sorted through a stack of her old photos, getting them out of those horrible old albums. Some of those photos had stuck down really well but we managed to get them all out without ripping any. We are going to put them in proper albums and write who's who in photos and where, etc..
Was lots of fun looking through them. Seeing my grandparents as youngies, and my mum and aunt. Seeing how things have changed. Really made me appreciate scrapbooking and what it's all about.
Andrew has been at Sovereign Hill for the last couple of days. He says he's been having lots of fun, getting dressed up and doing all sorts of fun things. Really looking forward to having him home though. Not a fan of being on my own for a long time, especially at night. It's funny how many strange noises you hear when you aren't used to being home alone.

Started my training for Bronze Medallion yesterday. Man I am glad I have 8 weeks cause I was stuffed after two laps! I am so determined to get better otherwise I am going to be a little embarassed in front of everyone at the course! I CAN DO THIS!

And finally, another LO. This is the one of my mum and dad that I've been working on for about a week. It's been sitting there pretty much finished since Monday and all I had to do was journal. Finally did it really late last night. So this is my mum and dad. Love them to bits and am so blessed to be their daughter



5 things I am grateful for today
1. Andrew coming home tonight
2. Yoghurt from Healthy Habits in Eastland (sooo yumm and healthy too!)
3. Photos that allow us to remember what used to be
4. That my nanna will be here for my birthday next Wednesday
5. My mum and dad (love you guys)

Have a great weekend.

Till next time

Great weekend

Blogger is not making me happy at the moment. Was going to share with you a very happy flower piccie and Blogger does not want you guys to see it right now. GRRR!

You know what does make me happy? The fact that my mum and dad check my blog and comment. Love you guys so much and am so blessed to have you as parents. I am almost finished a LO on them so when I finish I'll post it so you can all see how cool they are.

And thank you to everyone else who leaves me messages. Big thanks to Angus for his message the other day - so cute!

Had a great weekend. I was supposed to take a group of kids from church up to Lake Mountain to go tobogganing but there was just not enough snow up there to warrant the two hour trip up there so we took them bowling instead. Gotta love bowling. Really brings out the competitive side in people.

So because I didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn to get the kids to the snow, I had a really relaxing Saturday. Andrew and I met Richard & Katie and their 2 gorgeous girls, Miriam (3) and Hannah (1) at Eastland for breakfast. Apparently I am Miriam's favourite person at the moment so I got to ride on the Thomas train around the shopping centre with her. Was such a precious experience. She waved at all the shoppers and just had an absolute ball on the train.

Spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and pottering around till bowling at night

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then spent the rest of the day at our friends' Scottie and Kathryn's house. It was supposed to be for lunch and then I was going to help them organise some photos in frames, but Andrew and I didn't leave their until after 8:00pm. It ended up being lunch and tea! These guys are the most precious friends and Andrew and I are so blessed with so many awesome people in our lives that we can call friends. And their son Ethan is such a fantastic kid. I had so much fun playing with him outside. Such a cool little dude.

Fairly busy week ahead. Andrew is going to a school camp on Wednesday (till Friday). They are off to Sovereign Hill and he is really looking forward to it. Should be a great experience for him and the kids. They all get to dress up in Colonial costume and do school like it would have been done back in the goldrush day. Have told him to take the camera to get a shot of himself all dressed up.

And I have a fundraising trivia and auction night coming up on Saturday night so I am running around all over the place this week getting things organised for that and trying to get some more donations of things to auction. Anyone got anything they want to donate, or any ideas??

Anyway, 5 things I am grateful for
1. The people in my life who I am grateful to call friends
2. Beautiful flowers
3. A sunny, windy day yesterday to get washing done (and actually dried) all on the same day
4. A train ride with my special little girlfriend Miriam
5. The opportunity to hang out, and share with the younger girls at Church yesterday

Off to play basketball tonight, so hopefully we'll get another win

Till next time, take time to smell the flowers.

Bronze Medallion

As part of the new Safety & Care procedures in working with children and youth at The Salvation Army, you aren't not allowed to take kids anywhere near water unless one of the leaders has a Bronze Medallion. Gone are the days when we just let the kids wander free, eh? So that leader is going to be me. I am going to go for my Bronze Medallion on first weekend in October. That's kinda scary cause although I am a pretty good swimmer, I am majorly unfit. One of the assessments I have to do is swim 400m in 13 minutes. Easy I said. But then they said "CONTINUOSLY." Like, no stopping for a 5 second breather. Just hit the wall and turn around again. AHHH! So my training is starting this Saturday morning down at the local pool. Andrew is going to come down with me and make sure I actually do laps - not just swan around!
The other thing that is slightly freaking me out is that I am going to have to spend a weekend with strangers - in my bathers. Am hoping the training and better eating (as of now) will work some magic on my flabby bits by then. 7th October - that's 8 weeks to lose about 12 kgs. HA! I'll aim for 8 (and hopefully make at least 5!)

5 things I am grateful for today
1. Lost Finale tonight - love that show but getting frustrated at the same time
2. More stuff donated for our fundraising auction night
3. Zucchini slice for tea - sounds gross but is so nice
4. Some time to scrapbook tonight
5. Motivation to get fit

Till next time

The Book of Everything

I'm halfway through reading a little book called The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer. My friend Marina loaned it to me and it is such a gorgeous, moving book. It's about a nine year old boy named Thomas whose strictly religious father rules their house with his fists and a wooden spoon (with which he beats Thomas), and who insists that the family live according to the Bible. But Thomas finds an escape route from his misery - he sees incredible things that no one else notices such as the tropical fish which swim in the canal, and the frogs that fill the street and try to climb through the letterbox. Thomas starts to record all his observations in a notebook, which he calls "The Book of Everything". In it he also records his dearest ambition: to be happy. But he is not sure it will ever be possible with his father around. One day, however, Thomas meets his neighbour Mrs Van Amersfoot, a widow whose husband was executed by the Nazis and who is consequently something of a rebellious spirit. She recognises a similar spirit Thomas and encourages him not to be frightened or to believe that he's all alone in his battle for happiness. She plays him Beethoven records and lends him books. Thomas discovers that in the fight against his father, his uniqueness, and in particular, the extraordinary power of his imagination, are the biggest weapons he possesses.
It's such an awesome little book and is really making me think about the extraordinary nature of the human brain and the capacity it has for imagination. This book is actually a children's novel but it's well worth the read as an adult

5 things I am grateful for today
1. Loving parents who taught me about faith not religion
2. The ability to imagine
3. A ministry to kids at my local high school
4. A great night out with girlfriends on Saturday night
5. Great books

Till next time

I've finished a LO

So I finally finished a LO. Had the stuff for this one sitting on my desk for about two weeks and I sat down on Wednesday and did it. Didn't turn out at all how I had planned but I'm really happy with it. I'm just happy to have done another LO. Am at home by myself tonight and all day tomorrow so hopefully I'll be inspired to do some more.

Just got an email from my best friend in Adelaide - the pregnant one. She sent through a picture of her pregnant belly. She looks so cute. I'm bummed I can't go over for her baby shower at the end of the month but I have to save all my money for Fiji in January. But hopefully I am doing up some invitations for her so that will be my contribution to the party.

5 things I am grateful for today
1. All the businesses in my local area who have donated stuff for our fundraising auction night in a couple of weeks. So generous!
2. Homemade pizza for tea
3. A fairly free weekend to scrapbook (fingers crossed)
4. A healthy pregnancy for my friend Cath
5. A gorgeous sunny day

Till next time

20 days to go

So it's only 20 days to go till my birthday. I can't believe that. Usually it takes ages for my birthday to come around but this year is zooming by. It's around this time that my family usually starts asking me what I want for a birthday present and I usually say - "I don't know." Well for once, this year I actually know what I want.


1. A pair of Crocs (which I found out that my local Rebel Sport sell-woo hoo)
Loved these shoes ever since I tried a pair on at Katie's house (their house is like Croc city!) so I am hoping to get myself a pair of these bad boys for myself. They are supposed to be like the most comfy shoes ever. I may even have to get two pairs - it's too hard to choose what colour i want. There's like 20 different colours - pink, khaki, chocolate, navy, lime, light blue, orange, red.. the list goes on!!



2. Toteally Cool tote from AMM
Loving this funky little scrapbooking bag to hold all my pens and tools in. And loving the green and black.

Love birthdays (don't know if I'll be saying that in 20 years time though!)

On the scrapbooking front, have almost finished my first LO since the retreat 5 weeks ago. It's been tough trying to finish it off but I am determined to finish tonight and hopefully my mojo will be restored. Will post a picture once it's done

Anyway, gotta run

5 things I am grateful for today
1. Central heating
2. Hot cups of tea
3. A win at Basketball on Monday night
4. A night at home tonight with Andrew
5. My 3 chickens for laying us eggs every day.

And one thing I am not grateful for - INTREST RATE RISE. All I can say is What The...????
Sometimes I really don't like being a grown up and having to deal with stuff like mortgages and interest rates and petrol prices. Being an adult sucks!!

Till next time,

TAGGED

I've been tagged by the lovely Katie so here goes
1. How old are you? 26 (27 on August 23)
2. How many kids do you have if any? None but hopefully that won't be the case for too much longer
3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow? Married to Andrew for 5 years.
4. What is your occupation? I am a youth worker with The Salvation Army
5. What are your passions? God, my husband, my family, the kids I work with, scrapbooking
6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? I think I am a bit of both. There are things I dream about but don't have the guts to just go and do and there are other dreams I just seek out, jump right in and do
7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? Definitely. There are probably things, looking back, that I would have done better but i'm happy with where I am at the moment and am looking forward to what's ahead
8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? I am a scrapper and would love to say I scrapbook 4-5 hours a week but the last few weeks there has been none so on average maybe 2-3 hours a week (averaged over the whole year)
9. What do you want to do before you die? Have babies, travel back to Africa, travel overseas, win Austalian Idol!!
10. What is your favorite food? I am going to be greedy and have a few favs - Chocolate in any form, Watermelon, avocados, roast turkey with cranberry sauce.
11. What is the food you hate the most?Peas, tomatoes and bananas - I think I have a thing about mushy stuff.
12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
Although I can be easily embarassed at times, one most embarassing thing does not spring to mind. I'll have a think about that and let you know.
13. What is the happiest day of your life thus far? Well I think my wedding day is a given but after that the day Andrew proposed to me.
14. Are you a neat freak? Or a dirty house cleaner? I really do like having a clean, tidy house (although as my mum and dad will vouch for, my bedroom when I was younger was an absolute pigsty - they used to joke that they never knew my room had a floor). It just makes me feel better when I sit down and relax to know that I can do just that. In saying that, my house is not always clean and tidy. My mum will be so proud of me for saying that.

Now I will tag Marina, Nat and Sofi

Will post again later tonight (including my 5 things)

DR ABC, it's easy as 1,2,3

So yesterday I spent from 9-4 at a Level 2 First Aid Course for work. I have done this before (a long time ago) and man has everything changed. The CPR is different, bandaging is different. But it's good different. No more of the fancy bandaging and stuff, it's all about whatever works. And I love that. I'm all about whatever works.

Went to Church this morning - one of the teenage girls in my youth lead the worship and she was brilliant. So proud of her. And I got to cuddle a couple of the new babies at church after the service - CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!! They were just precious and so warm and snuggly. I don't want to wait much longer now! Spent the afternoon in the garden weeding - it so badly needed it and am so impressed with my efforts. Still have a bit more to do and will hopefully get to that later in the week.

Still have not managed to get any scrapbooking done since the retreat which was 4 weeks. Am not happy Jan. I haven't had a lot of free time but when I do get some time, I'm not in the mood or there is something else to be done. Am determined to get some done this week. Must find the hidden mojo.

Anyway, gotta go but first

5 things I am grateful for today

1. A gorgeous afternoon spent in the garden
2. The opportunity to worship God without fear
3. Newborn babies - for reminding me that life really is good
4. An awesome group of teenage girls at church who are growing up to be awesome women
5. Souvlaki from our local fish and chip shop - seriously the best ones i've ever had this side of Greece!!

Till next time

It's not always good

I feel sad. Sad that there again is war in the Middle East. Sad that the world is not at peace. Sad that innocent people are dying - women, children, the elderly, are dying because of where they live. On Ch 9 news last night, they showed a reporter come very close to the bombings and he ran and took shelter in an aged care home. The look on the faces of those elderly residents moved me to cry for them. The confusion, desperation and fear in their eyes. These people who have lived long lives and just want to see there last few years out peacefully. They were to old, to fragile, to be evacuated, so they wait. Wait for the end - whatever that may be - death, peace, ceasefire. Who knows? Their world has been destroyed. I feel so removed from all this turmoil, on the other side of the world. I'm in my own little world here, safe and secure. It doesn't really affect me at all. But it should. And it has. I will not stop turning off the news because there are those who are living this news first hand. I will not stop praying that peace will come to the Middle East and the freedom and love will ultimately win over. How grateful I am to live in such a blessed country.

All this has caused me to think of the many things I have cause to be grateful for. Therefore each time I post, I will post 5 things that I am grateful for on that day. There is so much.

Today I am grateful for... (in no particular order)
1. The opportunity to live in a country where war is something we only talk about on ANZAC day
2. My mum and dad for loving me and being proud of me (and for reading my blog and commenting)
3. A loving husband who cooks me tea most nights!
4. Scrapbooking cause it allows me to be creative and gives me an opportunity to express myself
5. Cadbury Hazelnut chocolate - cause it just tastes so good!

Till next time, pray for those in the Middle East (regardless of your faith!)

It's going by so fast

Another great weekend has come and gone. Seriously cannot believe how fast the year is zooming past me. Saturday I spent most of the day at my friends (Marina and Pete) house in Olinda. We had a Christmas in July dinner with the young adults from church and Marina and i did the cooking for it. It was so much fun and the food was pretty darn good (if I do say so!!). We prettied the place up real nice and Christmasy as well. Love just hanging out with people for dinner. Just eating, talking and having a laugh. Photos are of Marina cooking and their bannister all Christmased up.

Last night I played my first game of basketball in about 3 years. Was so much fun but man was I stuffed after the first ten minutes. It did get better as the game went on though. Had a great time - even though we lost by 3 points. Feeling a little sore today, but not too bad.

Seriously want to get some scrapbooking done in the next couple of days. Haven't managed to get much done since the Scrapanalia Retreat (if you click on the Scrapanalia link under my websites, you can check out some photos from the retreat!)

Anyway, tea is cooking away so I better get back to it.

Before I go, I want to leave you with a funny photo. Found this on my computer while I was doing some reorganising. It was taken of me and a couple of kids, quite a while back, using the Photo Booth function on my friends Mac Computer. Gotta love that. I think it is the alien setting. Do I look like an alien to you guys!! What a classic!!!



Till next time

Ice Ice Baby & Childhood Memories

Man was it cold this morning. Had to de-ice the car this morning - not once, but twice. That's how cold it was. Went out the back a took this photo of a leaf on the ground, covered in frost. Poor little thing.
Am going sneaker shopping tonight. Am starting to play basketball again on Monday night and I am in dire need of some new shoes. I have had the others ones since before I was married (5 years) so they have done me a good service.
Then tomorrow the young adults group at church is having a Christmas in July dinner at one of the couple's houses - up in Olinda. It's going to be cold enough to make it feel like a Northern Hemi Christmas. They have a nice big fire too so it should be tons of fun. Will definitely be taking photos.

Just want to leave you with another photo I took yesterday. Was driving home and along the fence line of our house in the next street over from us were these flowers. Now I know they are weeds but they reminded me of my childhood. You see these would grow everywhere in South Australia (where I did some of my growing up and also where my grandparents' houses were). I remember visiting my Nanna & Grandpa's house and walking up the street with my sister to pick some "flowers" for Nanna. She called them sour sobs (don't think that is the correct horticultural name for them! LOL) Yes they are weeds (I didn't know that at the time) but I still think they are kind of beautiful. They look so happy! Even in the most nasty of things (weeds are nasty!) there can be beauty.



What are some things that make you remember your childhood?

Why not relieve a little of it today?

Till next time (Merry Christmas!)

Oh Happy Day

So it came today. The book I have been waiting for, oh so long. The much anticipated Ali Edwards book was in my letterbox this afternoon (thank you so much Jess!). I can't wait to get stuck into it but won't be able to till at least tomorrow - I have to go out tonight. I really do love Ali!!

Not much else to say really. Except that you should all check out Cathy Z's blog (a famous scrapbooker!!) and read the comments on her 'perspective' post. Read some of the fearless, courageous things that people have done. Be inspired and then and ask yourself - what's the most fearless thing that I've ever done? Why not post me a comment and tell me some of the fearless things you've done

Till next time

A good weekend

Had a really good weekend. Nice and relaxing. Andrew and I made it to the drive-in on Friday night. Didn't end up taking any photos - little bit dark! The movies were quite good - Superman Returns and Poesidon. Didn't finish till 1:45 though and we didn't get to bed till 3am. Felt like I was 2o again (but felt a lot older when i woke up the next day!!!)
Saturday night we watched the footy together - our teams were playing against each other and unfortunately the Eagles just got over the line by 2 points. Although if the Swans had won I would have had to contend with a grumpy hubby so it wasn't all bad.
Sunday we went to church and then at night we went to the movies (again) We has some Gold Class tickets we had to use up so we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was quite a good movie - very far-fetched and pretty gross at times, but it was fun to watch.
It was such a fun weekend, just hanging out the two of us and doing stuff together.

This week looks set to be pretty busy with tonight being my only night home all week. It's only Tuesday but I am looking forward to the weekend already!

Till next time

Photoshop play

So I've only just worked out the whole brushes thing in Photoshop. For those who are even more clueless than me (there can't be too many of you, cause I have no idea), you use brushes to place borders and stuff around your photo. I've been playing around with this function on some photos and it is totally addictive. Love messing around with stuff, downloading brushes from the web and playing with them. Above is a picture of Katie, Donna and I at the Scrapanalia Retreat and I just added a whole bunch of brushes and shabbied it up a little. I really like it.

Aside from photoshop talk, how freakin' cold is it today. My hands and feet have not felt warm all day. Got myself another haircut today. My hair just grows so quick - what's with that!! So it's still spiky at the back but evr so slightly different at the front. Much more manageable when it is shorter.

Andrew and I are off to the drive in tonight and I am sure we are going to be freezing but it wil be so fun too. Gonna take some photos. A definite scrapping experience.

Have a great Friday night

Till next time