Mostly photos

Just a quick one tonight because I'm feeling yucky. I actually meant to post yesterday but ended up in bed early with a pounding headache. This morning I felt alright and I went to work but this evening I am feeling bleugh again so I am heading off to bed as soon as I hit the publish button on this post.

I'll just share some photos with you for now.

We went out to Ashhurst on saturday to meet up with some friends. It made a nice change from Starbucks and we met at The Herb Farm Cafe. Everyone had a piece of cake apart from me and they came with gorgeous flowers as garnish. My muffin didn't have anything so I stole Graeme's flower and took this photo...(the muffin was yummy by the way)

And then on the drive home we had the most awesome view...

And last week I came across these gorgeous little pansies (or are they violas?) in our front garden....aren't they cute?

I'm up in Auckland later this week and over the weekend for work so there may be a lack of posts this weekend. The following weekend is a 3 day-er though due to Waitangi Day and then the week after that is a 4 day week as I have the Friday (13th) and all the following week off.

I'm hoping the weather stays fairly decent for my time off and I'm hoping to get up to date with some wedding planning.

Okydoke, off to bed - hope you all have a good week!

Sharing

It's a 3 day weekend for us this weekend! Woo-hoo! All due to Wellington Anniversary.

Basically NZ is split into regions and each region gets their own public holiday during the course of the year. Palmy falls into the Wellington region and the Wellington day falls tomorrow. Which is great!

What is it about that extra day tagged onto the weekend which makes me feel so much more relaxed and care-free? With the added benefit that I honestly believe that extra day will allow me to cross off everything on my to do list! I am crossing things off at a rate of knots this evening...let's hope that can-do attitude lasts until tomorrow!

So - we've stayed close to home and been pottering. Having a clear-out which is still in progress and will probably take all year!

We took the dog out to Ashhurst earlier and had a lovely long walk. It had been pouring down all morning and there's nothing I love more than walking in the woods when it's just rained. I love that smell! Weird huh?! I will dot a couple of photos from our walk through this post as part of my sharing this evening!

I would also like to share a quote I stumbled across this week which has kept me pondering...


You are here for a purpose.
There is no duplicate of you in the whole wide world.
There never has been, there never will be.
You were brought here to fulfil a certain need.
Take time to think that over.
(attributed to Lou Austin)


I wonder what my purpose is and what certain need I am here to fulfil? Being a shameless romantic who blogs sporadically about life in New Zealand whilst procratinating? Hmmm, maybe I need to ponder some more!


What else do I want to share? I think this website definitely deserves a mention (especially with less than a month to Valentine's Day) http://iloveyoumorethanblank.blogspot.com/
I've subscribed to it in Google Reader (along with the other 1 billion websites and blogs I follow!) and love reading through the lovehearts for all the little heartwarming (and some not so heartwarming) ways people love someone more than something else!
And yes I did submit...4 of the little lovehearts on this post belong to me! http://iloveyoumorethanblank.blogspot.com/2009/01/011609-1030-am.html
and anyone that can guess 3 or more of the 4 gets a prize!


I'm working hard on my 27 things list and have updated the post here with the things I am working on. I am fast approaching the 25% way through mark (coming this Thursday) and want to get a couple more things crossed off by then. I have found a healthy recipe for Tiramisu and hope to get No. 13 crossed off tomorrow. I am also planning to get No. 10 done. I have already started the letter twice and then run out of motivation. I am hoping for an epiphany of what advice I should give to my future self in the next 24 hours.


So there you have it. That's enough sharing for one night. I don't want to bore you!


Just one last thing before I publish this post - a quick wave and hello to Michelle who I know reads this blog but doesn't comment...Hello Michelle (and Paul)!

This last week

So I go back to work and then feel everything is a bit too boring and normal to be adventurous and I don't think I have anything to blog about.

But I've just been sorting through the last weeks photos and there has been a couple of interesting things I can mention...

Last Saturday I flew down to Christchurch and stayed overnight before seeing off 18 young volunteers on their gap year. That was good. It's a great part of my job to see our volunteers off on the start of their year long adventure when I've been working with them for almost a year leading up to it. Everyone got away safe and sound and I watched their big plane take off before boarding my little one to head back to Palmy.

Side note: Airports are torture for me...I have spent a lot of my life saying goodbye to people I love. Watching emotional scenes at airports reminds me of every single time I've had to do it. It's hard. But also makes me feel much more able to see someone off knowing what's likely to be going through their head. And I didn't embarrass myself by bursting into tears so we're all good!

And I love Air New Zealand after they let me get on an earlier flight home at no cost.

After getting back on Sunday afternoon I was a free woman until Friday.

Graeme went back to work Monday so I pretty much pottered around all week watching movies, taking photos, reading books and walking the dog. It was nice and relaxing.

Then on Friday I went back to work and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Apart from my office having no air conditioning (I am spoilt at home!) and it being too hot it was fine. And a nice easy slide back into work rather than a full week all in one go!

The weather here has been hot. On Thursday it was reported that Christchurch got to over 40. Palmy was probably approaching 30 that day.

And then the weekend comes and with it the rain...no surprises there. But I am grateful I am not having to deal with the minus temperatures like the UK at the moment.

What else? Hmmm, I'm on a health kick and so far so good. All part of my 2009 word and 27 things list. I am also wading through books at a fair old pace and should have the 'read 27 books' knocked off my list fairly soon. And of course blogging today is going towards my 'blog 52 times' tally.

Still loving the new camera although the light's been yuck with the rain this weekend so I haven't been using it that much. There's only so many prictures of the dog I can take....I want to go outside and explore. If the weather is better next week hopefully we will be able to take Rhett for an epic walk and I can snap along the way. The beach would be nice - it feels too long since we were there.

Hope you all have a good week!

Resolutions? No, thanks.

So I decided against making any new year resolutions. I have a couple of alternatives up my sleeve instead...

Firstly, I plan to continue with my 27 things aged 27 list and tick things off of that regularly.

And secondly, I have been inspired by the very talented and creative Ali Edwards. She picks a word at the start of each year to become her focus. You can read more about her thoughts on one little word here.

The word I have chosen for 2009 is GROW.

I have chosen this word because it seems to cover everything I hope to achieve this year. I want to grow healthier, fitter, stronger, slimmer and wiser. I want to grow creatively, grow personally and grow my relationships.

And I'm sure I'll think of a few other things to grow as the year moves on.

So I am collecting things that will work as inspiration for my growth this year and I've set up an inspiration board above the computer to display my collection. I've also been doing some brain-storming (or is it thought-showering?!) and research into the word GROW to see what other ideas emerge.

I hope to post fairly regular updates on how I'm doing at both my 27 things list and my 2009 word.

2008 Ta Da List

Okay - here it is. It probably looks pretty random to anyone reading it.

One thing led to other things being listed and then I ended up going through some of my journals to feel the gaps.

You can see the previous lists here and here.

• Visited Italy
• Visited Hong Kong
• Visited Thailand
• Saw a good chunk of South Island
• Become more confident driving long distances (after driving around South Island a couple of times!)
• Journalled Christmas
• Booked the wedding
• Made and sent wedding invites
• Saw friends and family in the UK
• Made my 27 things to do aged 27 list and started ticking things off
• Stood up for what I believed in at work
• Held the fort
• Voted in NZ for the 1st time
• Bought a bike (and accompanying safety equipment)...and even used it occassionally!
• Went back to Brisbane and Queensland
• Walked in the rainforest treetops
• Went on a road trip with my Mum and had the best time
• Tried on wedding dresses and found one I love (not bought it yet though)
• Graeme become Corporate Accountant at PNCC
• Started wearing skirts and dresses again (& enjoying it!)
• Did a lot of scrapbooking
• Got a new camera
• Stopped taking the pill
• Found the most amazing wedding venue
• Got a new water system and HRV for the house
• Read way too many vampire novels and fell in love with most of them
• Got granted returning residents visa’s indefinitely
• Bought a treadmill (I need to use it more though!)
• Attended ANZAC Dawn Parade in Christchurch and listened to the Last Post with goose pimples on my arms
• Started a year long scrapbooking project which is now ¾ done
• Celebrated 3 years in NZ
• Blogged with much more enthusiasm and regularity compared to 2007
• Took part in my first ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap
• Finally upgraded my antiquated cell phone (which I’d had since June 2005 and it wasn’t up-to-date when I bought it!)
• Kept a gratitude journal for approx. 11 months of the year
• Found one of my most favourite places on earth (Queenstown)
• Finally gave in and got prescription sunglasses and wish I’d done it earlier

Christmas in Review

I can't believe a week ago was Christmas Eve. The time has just flown but at the same time Christmas seems like a long time ago now!

It was incredibly quiet but a good time was had by all!

On the day itself we were up reasonably early for us (and given it was a public holiday) - at 8am, opening our stockings. We then went into the lounge to open our other presents.

We did well present wise and love all our gifts! Having the day to ourselves meant we could actually each watch DVDs we'd been given for Christmas.

After present opening we had bacon sandwiches for breakfast and took the dog for a walk. And after watching our DVDs we had amazing Roast Lamb done on the BBQ. Then we played a bit of Singstar and spoke to family on the phone. It was a fun day and very relaxed.

And that's how it's been since the big day really.

As usual when I'm on holiday my sleeping patterns got completely out of whack so I am trying to get myself into a better routine to make it easier to go back to work. The routine may go out of the window tonight though. We don't actually have any plans at this stage - will see how we feel. There's something happening in town if we decide to be social but it may be us at home with some drinks and ringing in the new together. We shall see.

Been to the shops a few times to get bits and bobs. Our biggest Sales purchase has been a new camera which I am totally in love with. And slightly obsessed with the macro setting too but hopefully that will pass as I learn a bit more about the different functions!

My other obsession has been the Twilight books. OMG! How did I not read them before now?! With the movie being released in NZ on Boxing Day and all the mentions I had heard of the series over the last few months I put the first book - Twilight (by Stephenie Meyer) on my Christmas list. Graeme kindly obliged and I started reading it on Boxing Day....and didn't stop until yesterday when I had worked my way through all 4 books! They are fabulous and I wholeheartedly recommend them! And so I also dragged Graeme to the film last night. As is always the way for me - it was nowhere near as good as the book but I loved it and definetly want to see it again.

And I've been working on my 2008 Ta Da's list - hope to get it posted before midnight but if not it will be posted over the next few days.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and wishing you all the very best for 2009 and whatever it may bring!

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!

Just wanted to post a message wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2009.

Graeme has now finished work and we are on holidays! Yay!

We are meeting some friends for Christmas Eve dessert tonight and then will come back and snuggle up to sleep so Santa can visit!

Hope to be back soon with a photo round-up of Christmas.

Take care everyone.

Makeover!

I decided to give our blog a bit of a makeover - it's way past due!

I changed the template - just to one of the blogger ones at this stage - may try designing one soon and I made my own header using a photo from Lake Tekapo.

Would love to hear what you think and please do let me know if there are any glitches I need to attend to.
The biggest problem I have spotted so far is the width of the blog post column - I had to go back and edit some of the photos so they didn't 'hang off the edge'...may have to see if I can widen the column.

So hope it all looks okay on everyone else's screen!

I'm off to learn how to recycle candle wax which was the other thing on my project list for today!

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a wee Christmas message.