It is the last day of 2008 today so like most people I am reflecting on the year that was, and also on the year that will be.
There were ups and downs in 2008 - but mostly ups :] Our wonderful wedding in May followed by our AMAZING honeymoon. Then there was Brenda and Kieran's wedding in August which was fabulous. In between these was the process of selling our home. Ugh, they say it is one of the most stressful things you will do and they were right. How a beautiful 3-bedroom Queenslander in Grange was so hard to sell I will never know. Three months and two real estates later, it sold at the end of September and we bought our new home the next day. Now we are settled into our beautiful home on 1.5 acres in the "bush" and couldn't be happier :] The other big news of 2008 was my eldest sister is pregnant with her third child - a girl - due in April. I can't wait :]
Christmas was great this year - lots of eating and laughing, spent with wonderful family. I also got a bit spoilt with massage vouchers (four in total!), a punch bowl, a Wii Fit, and a fabulous food processor. I also bought Brad a Weber which he LOVED. So pleased :]
Tonight we are going to Faff and Dan's to watch the fireworks over the Brisbane River. It should be great. Then tomorrow I am starting on my weight loss challenge. I only want to lose 3-4kg, but the small amounts are always the hardest to lose!! I have my new Wii Fit, and will continue with my daily gymming. What I always struggle with is my eating though. I just have to remember to eat for good health.
Another thing on my 2009 'to do' list is Trash the Dress!! We will probably do it in March - in the ocean, before it gets too cold. Dan will take the photos for us as he is a fabulous photographer. Brad is a groomsman at a wedding in Sydney in March, then there is our trip to Europe in June. So exciting! We must get planning!!
I bought my SIL a pregnancy mag earlier and I had a flick through. I don't know WHAT I expected to see in a pregnancy magazine but I just found it all so alien!! I shocked myself at my reaction. I couldn't relate to it at all - I think I'm used to seeing beautiful brides in magazines as opposed to beautiful mothers-to-be. Maybe I'm not as ready for that next phase of my life as I thought - good thing we aren't TTC 'til 2010 :] :P
Brad talked to me the other night about baby names - I was so thrilled! He never starts baby conversations :] We now have two favourite girl's names, and two favourite boy's names. We will see if we still feel the same in 2010, but I am sure we will :]
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Random
Some random things about me, inspired by Jo's blog :]
1. I eat my dessert with soup spoons, and my spaghetti with chopsticks. Desserts - especially icecream - require as big a spoon as you can get! :D And I use chopsticks for spaghetti because it makes me eat slower, and therefore eat less...so the more dessert and the less spaghetti kind of cancel each other out! :P When Brad and I met 3.5 years ago I was thrilled to discover that he too uses soup spoons for dessert :D
2. I have an uncanny ability to remember dates and times. For example I know what I was doing this day 10 years ago. It was the day after my first serious boyfriend and I got together (we were 17 and had just graduated from high school. We were together for four years). Any time anyone in the family needs to remember when something happened, they ask me and I can tell them! :] My twin sister is the same.
3. I find Tim Curry dressed in women's clothing very sexy. On 22 September 2001 I watched 'Rocky Horror' for the first time. Why I hadn't ever seen it before this date I will never know. But it started an obsession with Tim Curry (and 'Rocky Horror') that lasted a good three years. It was probably one of the reasons that my boyfriend from Number 2 and I broke up --- I ended up loving Tim more than him! :D :P
4. I am a sucker for routine and planning. I didn't realise this until a few years ago, when I did a Myers Briggs test at a course for work. I had always thought I was quite spontaneous and happy to just go with the flow. But no. I like to know what I am doing, when, and with whom! I find routine a comfort, and also I like to know what I have planned for my life as it gets me excited and gives me something to look forward to :] This doesn't mean however that I don't like doing things out of the ordinary from time-to-time :D
5. I hate to be alone. I believe it stems from being a twin and never having to spend time on my own my whole life. The only time I like being alone is when I get to watch my baby shows on the 'Discovery Home & Health' channel :D Any other time, being alone makes me think too much, and I do find it quite boring :\ I work from home, so good thing I have my Ruby to keep me company during the day!! :]
6. I have a broken glass phobia. On Australia Day 2002 I was at The Vic with friends and it was PACKED and someone dropped a glass, then kicked it, and it skimmed over the top of my foot and left a gash. I had to be carried through the crowd, bleeding, and feeling quite nauseous. I had to get three stitches and a tetanus shot. Since then, broken glass makes me super edgey and I avoid it like the plague! Some people like the sound of breaking glass. I do not! :|
7. I love earrings, and have scores of pairs on my jewellery shelf. If there are earrings in a shop, I have to look at them and usually end up buying a pair. I especially like the pretty beaded earrings...good thing as they are usually well-priced, as opposed to having a penchant for gold or diamond earrings! I am not into fashion, clothes, shoes or handbags...I use my earrings to make the outfit :D
8. Nachos and sticky date pudding are my true weaknesses. If I am out to lunch or dinner and there is nachos or sticky date pudding on the menu, it takes every ounce of my being to not order them and to try something different!! :P For the record, the best nachos I have had were from Tijuana Mamma's at Keperra (now closed, boo hoo), and the best sticky date pudding I have had was made by my brother-in-law's mother, Bernie, and I ate it the day after my wedding :D
9. I am a Gemini, and I am a twin, which is the sign for Gemini. I never really thought much of this fact until I was at a hippy joint called Rusty Cock Ridge, just outside of Seattle, in January 1997. Whilst drinking root beer (which is really just sarsparella...I didn't know this until I tried it...yech! :\ I continued drinking to be polite...), one of the ladies, named Carol or Carmel, thought it was the most extraordinary thing that my sister and I were twins AND Geminis!! She was treating us as though we were the Messiahs or something!! :P
10. I love love love names. See my post from 26 November :D I have my children's names already chosen, I love discussing names with anyone who'll listen, and I love looking in magazines and newspapers and seeing what new babies are named. I also knew that I wasn't going to marry a John or a Dave. My husband would have a different name, I had decided. And I married a Bradford :D
So, there you go, just a few lil random things about me :]
1. I eat my dessert with soup spoons, and my spaghetti with chopsticks. Desserts - especially icecream - require as big a spoon as you can get! :D And I use chopsticks for spaghetti because it makes me eat slower, and therefore eat less...so the more dessert and the less spaghetti kind of cancel each other out! :P When Brad and I met 3.5 years ago I was thrilled to discover that he too uses soup spoons for dessert :D
2. I have an uncanny ability to remember dates and times. For example I know what I was doing this day 10 years ago. It was the day after my first serious boyfriend and I got together (we were 17 and had just graduated from high school. We were together for four years). Any time anyone in the family needs to remember when something happened, they ask me and I can tell them! :] My twin sister is the same.
3. I find Tim Curry dressed in women's clothing very sexy. On 22 September 2001 I watched 'Rocky Horror' for the first time. Why I hadn't ever seen it before this date I will never know. But it started an obsession with Tim Curry (and 'Rocky Horror') that lasted a good three years. It was probably one of the reasons that my boyfriend from Number 2 and I broke up --- I ended up loving Tim more than him! :D :P
4. I am a sucker for routine and planning. I didn't realise this until a few years ago, when I did a Myers Briggs test at a course for work. I had always thought I was quite spontaneous and happy to just go with the flow. But no. I like to know what I am doing, when, and with whom! I find routine a comfort, and also I like to know what I have planned for my life as it gets me excited and gives me something to look forward to :] This doesn't mean however that I don't like doing things out of the ordinary from time-to-time :D
5. I hate to be alone. I believe it stems from being a twin and never having to spend time on my own my whole life. The only time I like being alone is when I get to watch my baby shows on the 'Discovery Home & Health' channel :D Any other time, being alone makes me think too much, and I do find it quite boring :\ I work from home, so good thing I have my Ruby to keep me company during the day!! :]
6. I have a broken glass phobia. On Australia Day 2002 I was at The Vic with friends and it was PACKED and someone dropped a glass, then kicked it, and it skimmed over the top of my foot and left a gash. I had to be carried through the crowd, bleeding, and feeling quite nauseous. I had to get three stitches and a tetanus shot. Since then, broken glass makes me super edgey and I avoid it like the plague! Some people like the sound of breaking glass. I do not! :|
7. I love earrings, and have scores of pairs on my jewellery shelf. If there are earrings in a shop, I have to look at them and usually end up buying a pair. I especially like the pretty beaded earrings...good thing as they are usually well-priced, as opposed to having a penchant for gold or diamond earrings! I am not into fashion, clothes, shoes or handbags...I use my earrings to make the outfit :D
8. Nachos and sticky date pudding are my true weaknesses. If I am out to lunch or dinner and there is nachos or sticky date pudding on the menu, it takes every ounce of my being to not order them and to try something different!! :P For the record, the best nachos I have had were from Tijuana Mamma's at Keperra (now closed, boo hoo), and the best sticky date pudding I have had was made by my brother-in-law's mother, Bernie, and I ate it the day after my wedding :D
9. I am a Gemini, and I am a twin, which is the sign for Gemini. I never really thought much of this fact until I was at a hippy joint called Rusty Cock Ridge, just outside of Seattle, in January 1997. Whilst drinking root beer (which is really just sarsparella...I didn't know this until I tried it...yech! :\ I continued drinking to be polite...), one of the ladies, named Carol or Carmel, thought it was the most extraordinary thing that my sister and I were twins AND Geminis!! She was treating us as though we were the Messiahs or something!! :P
10. I love love love names. See my post from 26 November :D I have my children's names already chosen, I love discussing names with anyone who'll listen, and I love looking in magazines and newspapers and seeing what new babies are named. I also knew that I wasn't going to marry a John or a Dave. My husband would have a different name, I had decided. And I married a Bradford :D
So, there you go, just a few lil random things about me :]
Friday, November 28, 2008
Two years ago
Two years ago this week, something truly wonderful happened. Ruby came into my life.
She was an early surprise Christmas present for me from Brad. I grew up with my beautiful cocker spaniel Ebony, from when I was 7 until I was 21, so I always knew I would have a cocker spaniel when I grew up. And I always wanted to name her Ruby.
That day, Brad told me he had a late job at Caboolture. I waited patiently for him at home, with yummy Tomato Brothers pizza for dinner. Come 8:00pm and he finally arrives home, and beeps the horn for me to come outside. I do, he tells me to close my eyes and put out my hand, which I do, and he places a tiny fur ball in my hand - I open my eyes and see the most gorgeous little creature. Brad said, "This is our Ruby" and I am overwhelmed. My sweet little girl!! We took her into her new home and needless to say no pizza was eaten that night - we were too excited with our new little cherub in our lives. Turns out Brad had no job at Caboolture - he had in fact driven all the way to Murgon to get our Ruby from a breeder. A good 8-hour round-trip! She was born in the bush, and now that we have moved to our property, she is back in the bush :]
Ever since that day in November 2006, Ruby has brought us so much joy, we are truly in love with her. She is like our child. Yes, we are those people - the ones that treat their dog like a child. But she has such a sweet nature, she is like everything good about a baby, without any of the bad :P Oh how we love her so.
I work from home and Ruby is my little buddy who keeps me company. I take her on two walks a day - one in the morning; one in the afternoon, and she thinks it is the best thing ever.
I have a little poster that says, "God, please help me to be half the person my dog thinks I am". So so true <3
Thursday, November 27, 2008
My Husband
I love my husband, I think he is fabulous. He works SO hard in our business, on our house and property, helps out friends and family, just in life in general, he gives his all. That's why I married him <3>
Yesterday Brad had a repair job at a mansion on the canals of the Gold Coast - a holiday house owned by a great customer of ours. I was able to go with him, I was so thrilled! I love helping him with the physical side of our business. It is my job to look after the paperwork, accounts, and scheduling side of the business. But when I can help him physically with jobs, it's better than Christmas! I just love being by his side and working together. We found the problem and it was 5:30pm by the time we were finished, so we went and had fish'n'chips on a bench by the Broadwater - bliss! Tomorrow if the weather is bad we will go down to fix the problem and have dinner at an Italian restaurant we saw by the Broadwater. If it is fine we will stay home and have our first big bon fire at our property and cook marshmallows :] Then Sunday morning we will go down to finish the job, and have breakfast after at that same Italian restaurant. Good times to be had :]
Friends of ours had their third child yesterday - a boy this time. They named him Hugo, which I think is very cute!! It goes well with their two gorgeous daughters' names - Mali and Lola. I can't wait to meet Hugo, and give him lots of cuddles :]
I also can't wait to have my gorgeous Brad's babies some day!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Names
My eldest sister Rachel is currently pregnant with her third child. She already has the gorgeous Ella, 5, and Cooper, 2 1/2. My third niece/nephew is due in late-April/early May 2009. I can't wait :] Seeing as Brad and I won't be TTC until late 2010, I will live vicariously through others.
I love names, I always have. I am just fascinated by them, their meanings, why they were chosen etc. When I was a child I would read stories and think a lot about the names that were in them, I would make up my own stories, and play role play games where I could make up names for myself. I had a diary where I would list my favourite names for my future children (these changed a lot over the years!). I remember when I was 18 I was a member of a baby names forum - years off having children of my own! When I meet people I always love to find out their siblings' names, their kids' names etc --- I love hearing how the names all sound together and whether they "fit". I have been a huge fan of names for a long time.
I also love discussing names with Mums-to-be, or just with other girls planning their future children :D I used to speak of my favourite names, but recently I have decided not to share them with many people. I don't want negative comments about them, and I don't want other people taking fancy to the names and using them for their own children. This has already happened to me --- twice! So now, my favourite names will remain secret. I have a top girl's name and a top boy's name. I discuss other names I like, but not those two.
Rachel has been discussing names for this bub with me. She won't know the sex until next month. Rachel suggested the name "Phoebe" to Ella, and Ella laughed and said, "Yeah, no, no, let's call the baby poo poo bum bum head!", like Phoebe was a made-up, silly name! She's my gorgeous girl :D
I love names, I always have. I am just fascinated by them, their meanings, why they were chosen etc. When I was a child I would read stories and think a lot about the names that were in them, I would make up my own stories, and play role play games where I could make up names for myself. I had a diary where I would list my favourite names for my future children (these changed a lot over the years!). I remember when I was 18 I was a member of a baby names forum - years off having children of my own! When I meet people I always love to find out their siblings' names, their kids' names etc --- I love hearing how the names all sound together and whether they "fit". I have been a huge fan of names for a long time.
I also love discussing names with Mums-to-be, or just with other girls planning their future children :D I used to speak of my favourite names, but recently I have decided not to share them with many people. I don't want negative comments about them, and I don't want other people taking fancy to the names and using them for their own children. This has already happened to me --- twice! So now, my favourite names will remain secret. I have a top girl's name and a top boy's name. I discuss other names I like, but not those two.
Rachel has been discussing names for this bub with me. She won't know the sex until next month. Rachel suggested the name "Phoebe" to Ella, and Ella laughed and said, "Yeah, no, no, let's call the baby poo poo bum bum head!", like Phoebe was a made-up, silly name! She's my gorgeous girl :D
It's raining again
It is raining again...
But that didn't stop me having a fab day!
I visited Granddad in hospital today, after his heart surgery last week. I spent an hour with him, holding his hand, chatting about anything and everything - gardening, work, business, war, family, Christmas, the weather. I would have stayed longer, only my tummy was screaming at me to eat already! It was nice to see Granddad, and it is fabulous that he gets to go home on Friday.
I also went to Chermside and got me a few lil purchases. A new pair of runners, as my current pair have been run into the ground, literally. Is it bad that I made the decision of which runners to buy solely on their colour?? Of course I chose the pair with purple detailing...but they are comfy as well, promise :] I got us some chocolate balls and a nougat pud for Christmas from Darrell Lea, and a purple three-piece pyjamas - $15 from K-Mart! Before rushing home to the office to finish my work for the day, I quickly got my engagement and wedding rings polished. By gosh they sparkle :D
I am hoping this rain will go away so that Brad and I can finish digging ditches and laying conduit to connect power to the work shed. Our dream house is taking shape and will be finished oh so soon!
Except it's raining again...
But that didn't stop me having a fab day!
I visited Granddad in hospital today, after his heart surgery last week. I spent an hour with him, holding his hand, chatting about anything and everything - gardening, work, business, war, family, Christmas, the weather. I would have stayed longer, only my tummy was screaming at me to eat already! It was nice to see Granddad, and it is fabulous that he gets to go home on Friday.
I also went to Chermside and got me a few lil purchases. A new pair of runners, as my current pair have been run into the ground, literally. Is it bad that I made the decision of which runners to buy solely on their colour?? Of course I chose the pair with purple detailing...but they are comfy as well, promise :] I got us some chocolate balls and a nougat pud for Christmas from Darrell Lea, and a purple three-piece pyjamas - $15 from K-Mart! Before rushing home to the office to finish my work for the day, I quickly got my engagement and wedding rings polished. By gosh they sparkle :D
I am hoping this rain will go away so that Brad and I can finish digging ditches and laying conduit to connect power to the work shed. Our dream house is taking shape and will be finished oh so soon!
Except it's raining again...
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