It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Today we are leaving for Hervey Bay, where we are going to be spending Christmas. We were planning on having it in our new house, but seeing as I am not working and we are completely broke, we decided to sponge off the in-laws instead......

I still have so much to do before we go, present shopping, 3 loads of laundry, mail out my Christmas cards (which probably aren't going to arrive in time for Christmas...), and I also need to clean my kitchen.

We had friends over for dinner last night and we may have all gotten slightly drunk. The end result was me going to bed without cleaning the kitchen and waking up to this.....


Happy Holidays!

xx Tamsyn

The Christmas Grinch

A certain little someone left me a present under the tree this morning. Considering the fact that it was a big nasty poop, I wasn't really that thrilled.

Such a blatant disregard for Christmas deserved a very special punishment. So I dressed him up in his Christmas outfit and let him know that the photos would most definitely be posted on the internet. I bet he thinks twice about pooping under my tree next year!

(Please ignore the concrete floors, we still don't have tiles down in our new home........)






Happy Holidays!

xx Tamsyn

The First Time

Lightening (one of my fav bloggers) answered these questions earlier today and then sent out and open invitation for other bloggers to do the same. Seeing as I love filling out questionnaires I thought that I would give it a go!

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?

It wasn't a prom because I live in Australia, but when I was in year eleven I went to my boyfriends year twelve formal. My mum made me my dress and it was a gorgeous blue Chinese style gown (I still have it in my wardrobe, but I don't think I will ever fit into it again!).

2. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?

Midori. I didn't realise that you were supposed to mix it with soft drink..... needless to say I ended up very drunk and vomited all through my (then) best friend's room. Which caused her Mum to harbor very ill thought towards me for a very long time :(

3. What was your FIRST job?

My first paying job was a paper run when I was 12. On my first day I got up at 4am in the morning and rolled up all of my newspapers and then stacked them all up on my bike, got on my bike and promptly fell off. My Dad tried to help me out with better ways to stack them, but we couldn't get it to work. So we loaded all of the rolled papers into his car and he drove along whilst I threw them out of the window. We continued to do this together every Wednesday and Friday morning for the next two years. God bless my Dad!

4. What was your FIRST car?

An early 1980s Holden Camira, it was a really daggy car. But I bought it for myself and I absolutely loved it! I was so proud to be independent :)

5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?

My friend Jacqui texted me at 8.05 this morning, but because I had (still have) a hangover I didn't get the message until I turned my phone on at 11.

6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?

Does The Pooper count as a person? He woke me up with cute puppy kisses around 10.30. I gave him extra breakfast to say thanks for letting me sleep in!

7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?

I can't for the life of me remember, but I do have happy memories from my first year of school, so she must have been pretty good. Maybe my Mum will remember what her name was......

8. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?

My first ever plane ride was when I was seven years old and my Mum, Dad and little sister all flew to Australia on our way to Papua New Guinea.

9. Who was your FIRST best friend, and are you still friends with him / her?

A girl called Christina Jury. We lived down the street from each other in Hamilton, NZ. We stayed in contact after I left New Zealand, but I lost touch with her sometime in my teens.

10. Who was your FIRST kiss?

My first kiss was with a boy called Troy and it was really gross. Thankfully my husband is a much better kisser!

11. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?

The Big Man.

12. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?

I went and found The Big Man and gave him a big hug.

13. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?

It was a Silverchair concert. They actually came to Hervey Bay, so it was a really big deal. I had a ball :)

14. What was your FIRST tattoo or piercing?

I had my ears pierced when I was eight and three quarters. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced. When I turned 21 I had my belly button pierced and it was the second most painful thing I have ever felt. NB. I still wear earrings, but have definitely grown out of the belly button stage.

15. What was the FIRST foreign country you went to?

Australia.

16. What was the FIRST movie you saw in the theater?

It was Space Balls and an older girl that was a family friend took me. I felt so grown up to be at the movies without any adults. But I don't think I really understood the movie though.

17. When was your FIRST detention?

I don't actually recall specifically when I had my first detention but it was probably in year nine and ten. It definitely would have been given to me by Mr Wu, that man had some sort of crazy vendetta against me.....

18. What was the FIRST state you lived in?

Queensland. I love the Sunshine State!

19. Who was the FIRST person to really break your heart?

A guy called Darren. He was my first boyfriend after high school and he was 10 years older than me. I don't know what I saw in him, he was an absolute loser and was fresh out of jail when I met him. Our ideas of what love involved were very different and he was the first (and unfortunately not the last) man to hit me.

20. With whom was your FIRST date?

It was with my first true boyfriend. A guy named Robert who was also my first love. He didn't have his licence yet so his Mum drove us to the movies :)

21. What was your FIRST pet?

Mum and Dad had a huge cat called Leppy Puss and he was there from the time I was born until we moved to Papua New Guinea. He was a huge cat, he was bigger than me until I got to about 10 months old.

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?

My first roommate was the a fore mentioned evil boyfriend.

23. Who was your FIRST love?

Robert. We dated for about a year whilst I was in high school and even talked about getting married one day. I'm pretty sure he ended up married to the next girl he went out with after me :)

24. What was your FIRST screen name?

Mixie. I still use it from time to time, it's also one of the Big Man's pet names for me. Awwwwww

25. When did you have your FIRST baby?

Does the Pooper count? No? Ok then, no children and not yet pregnant..... But definitely trying!

That was fun!! Don't forget to check out Lightening's answers and if you fill it out for yourself leave me a comment so that I can see what you wrote :)

xx Tamsyn

Christmas Cards 2008

Phew..... I've finished them! It's taken me all day, but I'm so glad it's done. I didn't want my Christmas cards to be like my wedding invitations and go out at the very last minute.

This year I put together 8 different designs and I made ten each of them. Ideally I would love to make an individual card for each person on my list, but just don't have that many ideas in my head :)

Anyway, here they are. Please let me know what you think and which one is your favourite.








Happy Holidays!

xx Tamsyn

Christmas is Coming......

.....and I'm getting excited! It's my favourite time of the year :)

Today I started making some Christmas cookies (I am going to ice and decorate them tomorrow), and I also got started on my Christmas cards.

I will take some photos of the finished products soon. In the meantime here are some shots of the works in progress....


Happy Holidays!

xx Tamsyn

Smiley Saturday - Loving Lazy Saturdays

Reason to Smile #1
Today I slept in. Then when I did wake up, I made myself a cup of coffee and some raisin toast (yum) and went back to bed with my laptop. Perfection!

Reason to Smile #2
I went shopping with one of my friends yesterday, with strict instructions from the Big Man not to spend any money (seeing as I am unemployed and not contributing to the household wealth etc etc). I did very well considering I am a spendaholic, I managed to limit my spending to very, very cute pair of pale pink Keds - $20, a present for my sister - $65 and lunch and wine at my new favourite Italian restaurant - $30. The amount of things that I didn't buy was what really made me smile, I added up the cost of all the things that I found that I normally would have bought and it turns out I managed to 'save' $360!!! The best thing..... The Big Man was totally ok with the couple of things that I did buy :)

Reason to Smile #3
It's almost Christmas!!

Reason to Smile #4
I started actually applying for jobs this week and I am feeling much more confident about the whole process now. Hopefully I will get some interviews between now and Christmas so that I can start working again in the new year.

Reason to Smile #5
My BFF has started her new job over in Argentina and seems to be having an amazing time. I was reminded when I read her email about what an amazing person she is. She has so much self confidence and such a strong belief that she truly can do anything she sets her mind to. I admire her so much!

I hope you are all having a very Smiley Saturday too :)

xx Tamsyn

* For more Smiley Saturday posts please head over to Lightening Online *

Best Frenemies

They may not be as well groomed as Blair and Serena, but they sure do have the love/hate thing down pat.


xx Tamsyn

Moving On

Today is a bit of a sad day for me.... My Dad has broken up with his Fiance. I liked her a lot and they were so perfect for each other.

My Dad has had lots of girlfriends since he and my Mum (who is a truly amazing women, but her and my Dad just weren't meant for each other) broke up 12 years ago and none of them ever really fitted in. But Sally was great, we all liked her, even my Mum!

For the last couple of years whenever I think about my future children I always think about them having 3 Grandmas. It's really strange for me to realise that they will probably never meet Sally now. My niece (Little Miss A) really likes Sally too, and I am wondering how this is going to affect her. She thinks that Sally and my Dad are a package deal. I don't know if she will understand what breaking up is and whether or not she will accept a new girlfriend or keep asking where Sally is?

My Dad is coping in his usual way, by moving on as quickly as possible. It's like he turned off his feelings the minute they broke up. He doesn't seem to be sad or happy about it, just excited about the future and what it holds.......

I wanted to call Sally today and let her know that I am going to miss her, but I didn't. I will, but I think I would have cried if I had done it today...... I will definitely do it tomorrow, but I am wondering what happens after that. Do I still send her a Christmas card? Do I still invite her over for dinner everynow and again? I guess either way I am really going to miss her.

xx Tamsyn

Presents Galore

I love giving presents, I love giving them about as much as I like receiving them and that is saying something since I really, really like getting presents.

This year I have been really unsure about what to get all of my family..... every year it seems like they have more of the things that they want, leaving less things for me to get for them....

Luckily though one of my favourite blogs - working girl - had a link to a great personality test, gift generator..... It is so much fun and surprisingly accurate.

I did the Big Man first and here is what I got:

Personality Type - The Geek (haha so true, even though he is also a very manly man)
Friday Night Date: Battling for supremacy in an online gaming tournament.
Uniform: Glasses and Blackberry holster attached to his belt.
Ride: Segway - Ok.... maybe this one was a bit wrong
Reading List: PC World, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, CNET, Gizmodo.
On his TiVo: Increased memory after he hacked into it.
Native Habitat: TED Conference, Silicon Valley, his desk glued to his high-powered PC.
Famous Examples: Bill Gates, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Shawn Fanning.

Those of you who know him will know how spot on this is...... and those of you who don't, you will just have to trust me when I say that have hit the nail on the head. The site also listed some great gift ideas (which is the whole point really).....

I'm off to work out what to get for the rest of my family!

Happy Holidays xxoo

A Quick Recap

I know that I am officially the slackest blogger on the planet, but I am back. Hopefully for good now. Anyway here's my recap from the last 6 weeks or so.

- We had a great honeymoon, loved every minute of it. Soaked up the sunshine, drank too many cocktails and glasses of champagne and enjoyed having the Big Man all to myself for a whole week.

- I've stopped working, even though I'm not yet pregnant. But I'm bored, so I think I am going to find a part-time job in the meantime. (This will also help me pay for small things like Christmas presents, waxing appointments, my beloved internet and the mortgage......) I guess it's not one hundred percent fair to expect the Big Man to pay for everything ;)

- Went to one of Bridesmaid's wedding. It was just perfect!!

- I spent a great week in Hervey Bay catching up with my sister, my niece and my Hervey Bay and Maryborough friends. Who are all awesome and I never get to see enough of them xx

- I have been getting to know all of my neighbours and have met some lovely people. I thought for sure that the law of averages would mean that at least one of our neighbours would be completely unbearable, but all of the ones that we've met so far are amazing.

- I am missing my BFF like crazy, even to the point where I have given up margaritas because they make me think of her. She leaves for Argentina today, so I am now missing her even more than I was before (when she was in Adelaide)

- The storms in Brisbane have been really crazy, but except for the power going out last night we haven't really felt the effects of them. If anything it has been great for our new lawn (which I realise is not a nice thing to think seeing as so many people had their homes damaged, which is why I made a donation to the relief fund.... guilt money.....)

- We are getting ready for Christmas, the tree is up, the house is decorated and my sister and I have started planning the menu. I am so excited! Christmas is my favourite time of the year :)

- Another thing that I love about this time of year is that it is party season, so the Big Man and I have been unusually sociable, which suits me perfectly since I am a 9temporary) bored housewife.

- I really appreciate the fact that one of neighbours took me in last night when the power went out and I was to frightened to stay at home by myself (the Big Man was out).

- I have spent the last week dog sitting our neighbours eight week old puppy. He is just gorgeous and so full of spunk. It has also meant that I have got to know these neighbours much better and it turns out that we have lots in common. I love making new friends!

- Right now I am watching the cricket and am chearing for Nathan Hauritz. We went to high school with him and he is the most famous person that I know!

I am sure I am missing heaps of things, but that is all I can think of at the moment.

I hope you are all enjoying the start of the festive season! I'll be spending the rest of the afternoon catching up on all of the posts that I haven't been reading.

Happy Holidays xxoo

Mmmmmmm Internet

We still don't have the internet at home. Which means no blog posts from me. Hopefully you've noticed. If you haven't can you please pretend that you have? Just so that I feel like I'm a little bit special :)

We do have the internet, but it's at work and for whatever reason I am completely incapable of blogging when I am at the shop. It has got so bad that I can't even bring myself to read through my feeds whilst I am at the shop. There's probably a deep underlying reason for it, but it's close to midnight and I really don't feel like going into it.... I am too busy enjoying every moment of being able to sit in bed with my laptop and use the internet.

I am up in the Bay visiting my in-laws (and using as much of there internet as I possibly can). Sitting in bed with my beloved red laptop, Cooper and my beloved internet is making me a very happy girl. So happy that I can't bring myself to turn off my computer and go to bed! As soon as I connected to the wireless here I felt like I was ready to get back into reading all of my favourite blogs and (as you might have noticed) finally update my own blog.

I am so glad to be back :)

xxoo Tamsyn

Hotting up for our Honeymoon

The weather here in Brisbane has been scorching hot all week. I mean seriously hot, like sweating on the couch after work, too hot to stand over a steamy iron, way to hot to cook and almost hot enough to convince me to switch to iced coffee. Hot, Hot, Hot. Normally this would give me good reason to complain and moan, but not this week :) Tomorrow the Big Man and I are heading up to the Whitsundays for our Honeymoon! Bring on the hot weather.

Ummm, ok ignore what I just wrote. I just had the genius idea of checking the forecast for the Whitsundays.....

summary	Thu Oct 9	Fri Oct 10	Sat Oct 11	Sun Oct 12	Mon Oct 13	Tue Oct 14	Wed Oct 15
	Possible shower	Showers	Showers	Showers	Possible shower	Mostly sunny	Cloud increasing
maximum	27°C	26°C	26°C	26°C	26°C	26°C	26°C
minimum	23°C	23°C	23°C	23°C	23°C	22°C	22°C

chance of rain	50%		60%		70%		70%		50%		30%		50%
likely amount	< 1mm		1-5mm		1-5mm		1-5mm		1-5mm		< 1mm		< 1mm
uv index	Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme		Extreme
frost risk	Nil		Nil		Nil		Nil		Nil		Nil		Nil
	9am	3pm	9am	3pm	9am	3pm	9am	3pm	9am	3pm	9am	3pm	9am	3pm
wind speed	19 km/h	28 km/h	29 km/h	31 km/h	36 km/h	41 km/h	40 km/h	44 km/h	42 km/h	41 km/h	35 km/h	37 km/h	31 km/h	37 km/h
wind direction	E	E	E	E	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE	ESE
relative humidity	68%	71%	69%	71%	67%	66%	75%	73%	69%	67%	64%	64%	59%	58%
dew point	19°C	20°C	19°C	19°C	18°C	18°C	19°C	18°C	18°C	18°C	18°C	18°C	17°C	16°C

Turns out the weather isn't really what I was planning on....

Hopefully something changes and it stays hot and sunny the whole time we are away, I was planning on spending most of my time in the ocean or on the beach. Cross your fingers for me!

Back in a week,

xxoo Tamsyn

The Pooper Strikes Back

This morning whilst I was getting ready for work I found Cooper asleep on my bed hugging his (completely destroyed and de-stuffed) monkey. It was the sweetest thing and I decided to take a photo of it. I picked up my camera to take the photo, but then decided to use the Big Man's fancy-pants digital SLR instead, so that I could actually get a decent picture. The Big Man's camera was flat though, but by this stage I had my heart set on taking some Dooce worthy doggy pictures and went in search of The Big Man's charger. I didn't find it. Instead I found a big, steaming, smelly dog poo on the carpet in our home office. Not happy.

I don't often give Cooper credit for being very smart (probably because he's really not a very smart puppy), but I think he had it all sussed out this morning. He figured that if he acted all sweet and innocent and hugged his monkey while he slept, that I wouldn't be able to punish him for pooping on the floor. Didn't work though. Because I have a truly evil streak, I punished him by shutting his Cat watching window and pulling the blinds. Now he will spend all day not knowing whether or not there are Cats invading his yard. Which I am pretty sure is his worst fear. He is absolutely obsessed with the 20 odd Cats that live in our street and he makes it his business to make sure that none of them step foot into our yard. He will probably need therapy by the time I get home. Might teach him for pooping on the floor though!

xxoo Tamsyn

Yay, it's Monday

Ok that was my lame attempt at sarcasm.

As I type I am sitting at my desk, biding time and pretending to be working whilst I wait for the coffee man to arrive.... I am seriously hung over. On a Monday. I think that I am missing my BFF more than I realised.

xxoo Tamsyn

I Miss My Internet

Since the Big Man and I have moved into our new home we have been semi-internetless. We still have full access at work, but nothing at home. It's killing me. When I finish up at work for the day all I want to do is go home to our new house and once I get there all I want to do is go back to work so that I can read blogs, and do other random internet things.

We had planned on getting iinet's naked dsl so that we could have a permanent voip line as well as decent priced internet, but thanks to Telstra we aren't able to get broadband at all. I don't completely understand why, The Big Man says that is something to do with the fact that we are in a pair-gained area. He explained it to me in detail, but I think that I zoned out about 20 minutes into his Telstra rant....

We have been told that there is about a 2 year wait and the best thing to do is just keep on applying for broadband every six weeks and hope we get lucky. I had to double check that we were still in Australia and hadn't accidentally moved to Namibia.

Obviously the whole two year wait thing is not going to work for us, so we are looking into wireless broadband. In the latest issue of APC they road tested all of the wireless internet options and recommended either Telstra Wireless or Three Wireless. Seeing as this whole thing stems from a Telstra problem The Big Man is dead-set against going with Telstra, so it looks like we are going to give the Three Network ago.

My question is, do any of you use wireless internet (ie using a mobile phone network rather than regular broadband) and do you have any recommendations, feedback or warnings before we go ahead and sign a contract? Thanks!

xxoo Tamsyn

Our Family Home

The Big Man, The Pooper and I finally have our home to ourselves. It still feels special :) We wake up in the mornings, as a married couple, in our own home, on our own. I'm loving it!

It's not that I didn't love having my BFF stay with us, or that I didn't like having a steady stream of pre and post wedding visitors. But it does feel great to be married and living on our own. Kind of makes me feel like a grown up!

It's more about the fact that where we were living was such a horrible place for me. We went back to the shop/house a couple of afternoons ago to do a walk through with the landlord and hand over our keys and it was at that point that I realised how much negativity I associated with living there. It was just one of those places that slowly, but surely sucks the joy out of your life.

The negativity started on the first Sunday after we leased the place. I was there on my own whilst the Big Man was out and about (at the hardware store I think). There was a knock at the door and I assumed it was one of the neighbours coming to say hi. The man at the door was visibly angry and demanded to see 'the old bloke'. I (naively thinking that he would leave once I explained that he was mistaken) told him that we had just moved in and that my fiance was only young and not the man he was after. The guy got really angry and called my a 'lying b***h'. At that point I started to feel nervous. I explained again that the man he was after must have moved because we were the only people living there now. It was then that the man yelled 'I know that he is here you lying b***h, tell him to come out here and see me, or I will come in there and I will get you. Stop lying to me or I will kill you.' That got me moving..... I slammed the door in his face, sprinted to the back door and locked it and then broke down on the floor bawling my eyes out. I have seen irrational and angry people before and I have felt scared before, but that was a lifetime ago and I was completely caught off guard. I called The Big Man and tried to explain to him what was going on, it took a while because I was hysterical and he thought that I must have cut myself with his new circular saw (that he had banned me from using). When I finally explained to him what was going on he told me to hang on and then hung up the phone. I figured that he was driving straight over, but he called me back in 5 minutes to tell me that he had called emergency and that the police where on their way. Hearing that actually calmed me down and I had the presence of mind to sneak up to the window and write down his car registration and a description of him in case he did a runner.

When the police arrived they did so in a spectacular fashion, three cars pulled up with their sirens blarring and they pulled into the yard blocking the guys car in. Whilst two of the officers quickly worked out the guy didn't have a gun or knife another one came to the door to talk to me. Which set me off again, I couldn't stop crying and it took ages for me to get my story out. About ten minutes later The Big Man arrived and sat with me whilst I talked to the police officer.

The guy out the front was charged with something, I'm not sure what and eventually all of the police left.

A couple of hours later the guilt kicked in for me. I figured that the guy was probably all talk and that I had over-reacted, but I still think that I would take the same course of action if something like that happened again. I also felt bad because he didn't seem very switched on, it turned out the had his girlfriend and kid in the car (which was unregistered) and didn't even realise that if he sat in the yard long enough that the police would catch him.

The policeman came back several months later to go over my statement for the guy's court hearing and he filled me in about the tenant before us. Alan Smith was his name and he had ripped a lot of people off (including the angry guy at the door) before doing a disappearing act. So now I feel angry, frightened and sorry whenever I think about what happened.

The Big Man and I stuck it out at the house anyway because we didn't think it would be long before our house was finished. But our home was delayed so many times and we ended up living there for a year. I hated answering the door though, which was tough considering we were running a business from there and I flat out refused to answer the door after dark.

Now that we are into our beautiful new home I really feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. We have a safe neighbourhood, great neighbours and nothing to fear. Home sweet home.

Sorry if that was all a little bit dark, but I felt the need to get it off my chest. Regular, light hearted content will resume tomorrow!

Tamsyn xx

Happy Birthdays!!

Today two very special people in my life are celebrating their birthdays. My beautiful Sister J and my wonderful Puppy Cooper (who isn't really a person, but he counts just as much).


I'm sure lots of people would like to claim that they have the best sister in the world, but I am afraid that J has had that tittle sewn up for a long time :). I could spend hours putting together an essay on why she is the most amazing young lady that I have ever met, but that would probably be a bit boring for you all, so I have put together my top five reasons why she is the ultimate sister (and person).

1. She never, ever runs out of love. No matter what is going on any given day she always takes the time to tell you that she loves you. She ends every phone call, email and chat with "I love you" or just 'love' if she is running late to be somewhere :) No one in our family ever doubts the amount of love and affection that she has for us all.

2. She has the patience of a saint. A lot of us (even me, ok well mainly me) can be very trying. J is the one person you can rely on to keep on smiling no matter how frustrated she must be feeling. I can't remember the last time she lost her temper even though I used to have a habit of picking fights in order to let of steam. She just keeps on smiling and being understanding.

3. She is an amazing mother. When J fell pregnant it was unexpected and none of us knew what to expect. My goodness have we been blown away. From the moment that Little Miss A was born, J has been a natural. If I can be half as good at mothering as she is, I be very proud of myself.

4. She has a strong will and courage to match. J has tried a lot of things in her life, she has run several businesses, moved overseas for work, given birth, worked through a long distance relationship, graduated from high school with an OP2, been to university, worked in the corporate sector, helped her Husband run a business and now enjoys being a stay at home mum. And she has just turned 24!

5. She is my best friend. I grew up knowing that I would always love my sister, but I had no idea that she would turn out to be one of my best friends. We can tell each other absolutely anything and some of my favourite memories are of hanging out with her either lounging around, playing guitar hero, dining out, playing with Little Miss A, or drinking cocktails.

Also. (One too many, I know). She (along with my two other bridesmaids) was the ultimate Bridesmaid. On the day of my wedding and in the weeks leading up to it, she was so organised and suportive. J thought of absolutely everything and even fixed my dress on the night :)

Happy Birthday J, I love you with all of my heart xxoo

Photo taken by the very, very talented Jodie Litzow from Litzow Photography

Cooper on the other hand is not very patient or understanding, but he does have a lot of love to give :). The decision to adopt him was one of the most fulfilling and rewarding things that we have ever done as a couple (besides getting married!). Every morning he jumps up onto our bed and gives us puppy love before he curls up again and falls asleep by our feet. He makes us feel like a family! To top things off he loves his Aunty J almost as much as he loves the Big Man and I!

Happy Birthday J and Cooper (the Pooper)!!!!

T xxoo

Hail to the Truck Driver

That's me by the way. Yep, I drove my first truck today! Not something I had ever really planned on doing, but at least I can check it off the list of things to do before I die.....

We hired the truck today to move BFF's furniture from her storage shed to our new place (she's letting us use all of her things whilst she goes overseas to live out her dreams xx). I put my name down on the contract, but I didn't actually intend to do any driving. And I wouldn't have except I wanted to come to work to check my emails (no internet at home, story for another time) and realised that the I had left my car keys and mobile phone in the Big Man's car and he was already at work. So BFF and I hoped into the truck and drove to work. Slowly. Driving a truck for the first time is not something that you can rush :)

All went well with the driving and we made it to work in one piece. But once we were here we also remembered that we hadn't bought my work keys with me...... After five minutes of throwing things at the first floor window and laughing so hard that we almost peed ourselves The Big Man finally came to the window and then let us in. He was pretty impressed when he found out that I drove the truck!

Anyhow I better get back downstairs.I'm parked over two car spaces to make sure that no-one dents my rig!

T xx


Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdot/34129050/

I'm Back...... and I'm Married!

Phew, it has been a very busy couple of weeks since I last checked in. We've done it though! We are finally married!

Seeing as I am the Queen of last minute preparations, the week before the wedding was kind of hectic..... My Mum and BFF banded together, baked wedding cupcakes and generally bossed me around :). I ran around getting my dress finished, making favours, planning the menu, finalising the guest list, picking up relatives from the airport and tried to stay calm. Luckily my gorgeous sister organized all of the last minute Hervey Bay details (the wedding was in Hervey Bay) and a let me vent to her as often as I needed (which was about 7 times per day!).


Once we got up to the Bay all of our relatives pitched in to help with the very, very last minute details. (We were wrapping chocolates and making menus up until 11pm the night before the wedding).


On the day though everything came together perfectly and there isn't a thing that I would change! Sure, not everything went as expected..... Little Miss A (my Niece and flower girl) stood in an ants nest moments before she was supposed to walk down the aisle and was then carried down the isle screaming at the top of her lungs; I got so swept up in the moment during the ceremony and forgot to keep repeating my vows (I just stood there staring into the Big Man's eyes!); my sister and BFF had to perform emergency surgery on my dress so that it could be bustled for my dance; the Broncos game was on tv in the bar adjacent to the restaurant and half the men at the wedding looked like they were going to cry at the end result! But as far as I am concerned all of those little things make the wedding more memorable and give us something to look back at and laugh about. I can honestly say that it was the best day of my entire life :)




The biggest highlights for me on the day were; spending all morning getting ready with my Mum, my Grandma, my wonderful Bridesmaids and my Niece; arriving at the reception and seeing everything set up perfectly and then seeing the Big Man standing there waiting for me; walking down the aisle with my Dad; having my Grandma sing at the Ceremony, my sister's beautiful reading from Corinthians, the kiss(!); The Pooper joining in with the clapping in his own special way by barking; having a cocktail break during the photos; having all of my relatives there on the day and especially having my two uncles as our drivers on the day; our amazing friend Mitch writing and performing a song for us; the "cutting" of the cake (we had a cupcake tower, but I forgot the cake knife, so instead of cutting the cake I smooshed a cupcake into the Big Man's face); the speeches; and our dance that was extremely elaborate and that we had only practiced it 6 or 7 times (it was nice to hear everyone ooh and ahh at the right moments!!) Ok, ok, I know that is a lot of highlights, but I absolutely just loved every part of our special day :)



Now I have a couple of weeks to get used to being Mrs Riley before we go on our honeymoon!


Back soon (I promise!!)

T xxoo

Photo credits, the amazing Jodie Litzow took our professional photos (I highly recommend her to anyone getting married in the Hervey Bay area) and the other photos are from my family and friends.