Thursday, September 29, 2005

This Time Next Year....

I will be Mrs Matthew Bailey!!!! :)

Well, if everything goes to plan. So far, the 29th of September next year is still our chosen date. Of course, this may change if:
a) Matt doesn't have a job after his contract finishes
b) We can't book the place we want on that date (in which case we will change it)
c) any other unforseen circumstance.

But I need a date to look forward to, and THIS IS IT! This day, one year from now!

I am so excited!!!!

Congratulations, Nicole and Jason!

My friend from work Nicole gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Tuesday. Both mother and baby are doing just fine, and Denise and I went to see them today.

We both got to have lots of cuddles with little Angus Jack, and he was so quiet and contented the whole time we were there.



Isn't he beautiful? It's almost enough to make me want one of my own, but I am happy to wait a while. We want to get married first! (Speaking of which, read on to my next post!)

You next, Jules & Dan!!

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Choosing a Ceremony Venue...

We are starting our wedding planning!! - well, sort of. We already know we want to have the reception at the Inchcolm hotel, but we are still not sure about the ceremony. I am too much of a worrier to have it somewhere where there is no shelter because I will worry so much about rain. For that reason, we want it in a garden where there is a gazebo/rotunda or simliar so we are all undercover in the event it does rain (and there is then one less thing for me to go nuts about!).

Today we went and checked out two parks that we are thinking about.

Bowen Park:



and New Farm Park:



(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

We haven't really decided which we like best yet. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. They both have shelter and nice gardens. New farm park has the nicer rotunda, the nicer view, and less traffic noise. But it was *really* busy when we were there today and keep in mind the wedding will be during school holidays. We don't want heaps of people around. Bowen Park is a lot smaller and probably wouldn't have many people around. The rotunda is still nice but not quite as large. There is a bit of traffic noise I noticed, but you don't hear it much at the rotunda part. It may just come down to which is available when we go to book, anyway. We really can't book things until we find out for sure that Matt still has a job next year, so we might have to just wait and see. I would really love to hear opinions about which one people like, though!

It is so much fun deciding all these things! I can't wait to start booking things and organising more stuff (I am *really* looking forward to going shopping for a dress!). If you can, please leave a comment letting me know what you think about the two parks!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

A Rant

I know I haven't exactly kept my promise to post every day during my holidays, but hey, that last post has got to count for at least 3. Anyway, as I did mention in that post (number 47 in fact) that I am a bit of a whinger. Well, today I have something to whinge about.

Twice in the last couple of days I tried to use my ColesMyer Source Mastercard (and yes I am using their name, too bad if they lose business, I am telling the truth) and it didn't work. I thought it was weird the first time, and double checked the balance. The card has a $750 credit limit, and there was about $1500 available, so there was $750 of our own money in there on top of the available credit. So when I tried to use it again today and it didn't work, I called to find out why. After listening to heaps of those stupid "press 1 if you want to check your balance" blah blah blah things, I finally got to speak to a real person. Unfortunately, the real person could barely speak english and couldn't pronounce my name. Anyway, apparently they shut down the account because I hadn't filled out and sent in some form. Which means that, until I post in the form, we can't get at our money. So I am not happy, Jan! I can understand them not allowing us to use credit until we have sent the form, but the fact that we can't access our own money or have it transferred back into our other account.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because, like I said, I am a whinger. The other reason is that the only way I feel I can get back at them is to badmouth them on the internet. That's not pathetic, is it?

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

100 Things About Me

I have seen this done on other blogs, and since I can't think of anything else to write about (until I finish my next scrapbook page, at least), I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure there are lots of things here you all already know, but hopefully there will be a few new things too.

WARNING - THIS IS A *VERY* LONG POST

here goes...

1. I was born in Wagga Wagga in NSW
2. I met my fiancee (yes, him <------) on the Internet.
3. He was my first love, my first kiss, my first everything really :)
4. I am so happy with my life right now that I keep wondering if it is all really
real.
5. I can't wait to get married! (yeah, I know, you all know that one)
6. I bite my fingernails. I quit every now and again, and am always so proud of my nails. Then they break, and when they break I bite them. It usually takes me a while to quit again after that. I have quit again. I want to have nice fingernails for the wedding but I don't know if I can stop from biting them for that long!
7. I have never tried smoking or drugs.
8. I tasted or had little drinks of alcohol since I was little, but the first time I got drunk was only a week before my 18th birthday.
9. I am loud (yeah, you all knew that!)
10. I hate being told to 'shhh!'
11. I think I am ugly. Matt tells me I am beautiful and I love him for it, but he is biased.
13. I want to be a beautiful bride but I'm afraid I won't be
12. I used to be completely mad about the TV show the X-Files (I still like it but I am not nuts about it like I was). I can still remember Fox Mulder's badge number (JTTO4710111). I could never remember Scully's.
13. I had a terrible time in early high school. Now I wish I could go back and do things differently. I wouldn't care what those idiots thought of me, like I did then.
14. I wanted to be a teacher since I was in Year 7, when I had Mrs Libby Jones as a teacher. She was fabulous - she made me want to learn, and do my best, and feel good about myself. I wish I could be a teacher like that to my students.
15. I love to be creative. I have tried many different arts and crafts in my time, with my current passion being scrapbooking. I still paint occasionally but hate cleaning up.
16. I love to cook. I like trying new recipes and cooking for my friends.
17. I love to have a nice glass of wine with my meal, too!
18. I want desperately for people to like me. I still care too much what others think.
19. My favourite colour is blue. I used to like pink when I was a little girl. Then I went through a phase when I hated it and now I think I like it again.
20. I am a pretty boring person. I am only up to 20 things and I am struggling to think of more!
21. I feel like the luckiest person on the planet because I have found true love!
22. I have never been outside of Australia and I can't wait to travel, but I fear sometimes that it will never happen.
23. I get hayfever. I am allergic to grass, grass seeds and pollen. This is a good reason for Matt to be the one to mow the lawn!
24. I spent most of my childhood climbing a tree in our backyard. I still miss it now!
25. I can type pretty fast. It impresses the kids at school that I can type without looking at the keyboard! I didn't want to learn typing in high school (I wanted to take art instead) but now I am grateful that my parents talked me into it.
26. I am lazy. I have spent most of these school holidays sitting in front of the TV. Yeah, I know. I did at least get *some* scrapbooking done.
27. I like planning and being organised for things
28. I am a loyal friend. I will do anything for my friends even though I don't have a lot of them.
29. I am crap at calling people, however. I've never been much of a phone person. I'm more likely to chat to my friends online than on the phone.
30. I HATE calling people I don't know. I usually try to get Matt to do that for me, but he sees it as part of my personal development to do it myself. I still hate it.
31. I am impatient. Especially about things I am looking forward to. For example "I can't wait to go down to Tassie this Christmas!" "I can't wait to get married!" "I can't wait till we can buy our own house".
32. I love to swim, but I hate being seen in a swimsuit
33. I am unco-ordinated and crap at sports. I came last in everything at school sports days, and totally hated them.
34. I am also crap at singing (those of you who have heard me can attest to that), but I used to dream of being a singer when I was a kid. I still sing in the shower (and any other time I can get away with it without Matt telling me to shut up!)
35. I am not musical at all. I started learning the flute when I was in year 5, but it was too hard for me. I still regret giving it up.
36. I can be quite competitive when it comes to things like games (and I was at school with grades, too). Perhaps I am making up for a lack of ability to compete in any kind of sport?
37. I love the smell of toast cooking and onions frying, but don't think the taste lives up to the wonderful smell.
38. I am a total chocoholic (again, this isn't hard to figure out).
39. I have to wash my hair every day.
40. I used to want to be a ballet dancer. I never got to take ballet lessons.
41. I am right handed.
42. I used to work at the McCafe at McDonalds. I never got sick of the smell of the coffee grinding (the smell of the food frying in the normal Maccas section on the other hand, was a different story).
43. I have been researching my family history. Finding each new fact of seeing each new photo makes me feel like I am stopping the past from slipping away.
44. I daydream about time-travelling to the past, and telling the people about what the future is like.
45. I have never been in hospital (well, except when I was born and to visit other people!), except as an outpatient.
46. I broke my left arm twice - once at the shoulder in grade five (the teacher didn't believe it was broken, she told me to stop whinging), and once at the wrist in grade 8. I didn't have plaster either time.
47. I can be a bit of a whinger and don't deal with pain well.
48. I failed my driving test 3 times. The third time I failed I sobbed on the driving instructor's shoulder. Poor guy probably didn't know what to do. I think the only reason I eventually passed was because I didn't tell *anyone* I was going to take the test and I didn't feel as pressured. I am still a bit of a nervous driver when I know people are watching me.
49. My first job was at an Ice Cream Parlour. My boss pretended to be my friend but ripped me off for five years. I put up with it because I was scared that if I quit, I would never find another job.
50. I eventually did quit, but I got a new job first. My old boss told everyone who would listen how disloyal I was, even though I was only getting 3 hours of work each week.
51. I don't regret working there, because I met one of my best friends, Paula, there.
52. I was a brownie guide and a girl guide. I eventually quit because we kept changing leaders and never did anything fun.
53. I have written emails to two of my favourite Authors (Richard Preston and Matthew Reilly)
54. I received replies from both of them.
55. When I was very little (I don't actually remember this but Mum told me) I cut off my eyelashes with scissors. I still wonder if this is not my eyelashes are so short!
56. Every time I go to Dreamworld I go on the Giant Drop, even though every time I do I swear I won't again because it is too scary.
57. I used to learn German at high school, but have forgotten most of it.
58. I once wrote a list of things I wanted to do in my life. It was *very* ambitious and included things like writing a book.
59. I had to wear braces on my teeth in high school.
60. I have a false tooth because one of my adult teeth never came through.
61. When I was getting to know Matt on the internet I was terrified of telling him about it because I thought he would be disgusted. I told him anyway because I thought it would be unfair for him if he found out after he had flown up from Hobart to meet me.
62. Of course he didn’t care, and flew up to meet me all the same
63. I was completely terrified that day that he would get off the plane and wish he hadn’t come because I wasn’t pretty enough. I must have checked my make up about 100 times before his plane came in.
64. I still admire him for having the courage to fly all the way from Hobart to Brisbane just to meet me.
65. I still have the ticket stubs from the movies we saw that week
66. I love to read, and I always have. I used to read by the hallway light that crept into my bedroom when I was a kid, because Mum and Dad would yell at me to go to sleep if I switched my bedside lamp on.
67. I can read a book over and over. I have lost count of the number of times I have read some books.
68. My favourite book at the moment is “The Time Traveller’s Wife”
69. When I finished reading that book, I couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the characters, so I started reading it again straight away.
70. My first car was a Corolla. So was Matt’s.
71. The car I drive now is a Corolla, too.
72. I get cold easily. I am often cold when other people say it’s hot.
73. Summer is my favourite season.
74. This probably has a lot to do with it being the season Christmas happens in (at least here in Australia, anyway!)
75. I am not a religious person. I think if we didn’t have religions, we wouldn’t have wars (well at least not as many)
76. I do, however, believe there is some kind of higher power out there. There are too many amazing things in this universe not to believe that.
77. I love jasmine, but it makes me get hayfever. We used to have jasmine growing at the side of our carport when I was a kid. When it flowered, I would always cut some and put it in my room. It always made me sneeze but I thought the beautiful perfume was worth it.
78. I remember being told once when I was a kid that if you look in the mirror at midnight, you will see a monster. Even now, if I get up at night to go to the toilet and it is midnight, I refuse to look in the mirror. Weird, I know.
79. I am a Taurus. I don’t really believe in astrology, but I know that a I have a lot of typical Taurus traits, such as:
80. …I am stubborn. I hate to admit when I am wrong, and…
81. …I am a hoarder. I find it really hard to throw things out.
82. My first pet was a cat named Sooty. We had four cats when we were kids, and none but the last was around for very long.
83. I don’t have either of my most memorable toys from childhood - when I was very little I had a purple stuffed dog, which I think I gave away, and then when I was a little older, I had a pewter elephant I named Ellie. I don’t remember what happened to it.
84. I have had to look at other people’s ‘100 things about me’ lists to get ideas for this one. That’s how boring I am!
85. I am a night person, and always have been. Sometimes I find it hard to get to sleep at night. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to tidy my bedroom because I couldn’t stand it being messy anymore. It used to drive my parents nuts.
86. When it comes to alcohol, I am a “Cadbury” - meaning, a glass and a half is all it takes. So you can imagine how I am after a whole bottle of wine :P
87. I get louder when I am drunk.
88. When I started trying hard to do well at school, it was to show off to a girl I hated how much better than her I was.
89. Yes I realise how pathetic that is.
90. I *still* like to lick the bowl when I’m baking a cake (and the beaters, too, for that matter). Especially if it is chocolate!
91. I love buying presents for people, especially when I find the perfect thing!
92. I love receiving homemade gifts, and I try to give homemade gifts as often as I can.
93. Even though I am not really religious, I *love* Christmas carols. I’m not really sure why!
94. I love spending time with my friends and having small parties, but I hate really big parties or ones where I don’t know anyone.
95. I don’t know when to shut up and I bore people to death (if you couldn’t already tell from this list!)
96. I swear too much and am trying to stop. I think it’s because I never swear at work so I swear more when I’m at home.
97. When I find a *really* good book, I have to read non-stop until it is finished.
98. I think that Matt is crazy to want to marry me; he could do so much better. I don’t know what he sees in me.
99. I wish I was thin.
100. I am *really* glad I finished this list, and I wonder if anyone has made it this far reading? Please leave me a comment if you made it all the way to the end.

Thank you for reading, sorry this is so long!

Sunday, September 18, 2005

More Scrapbooking

I love being on holidays! I am getting to catch up on some scrapbooking (finally!). This layout is from our trip to the Sunshine Coast which we got with our Flybuys points in February this year (just before Valentines day in fact!). Goes to show how much I have to catch up on, and that includes the stack of photos from our engagement party and from Matt's Star Wars birthday party. I'm looking forward to it though :)



By the way, I thought I might show you this because I think it is so sweet! Matt gave me this flower this afternoon. He went out and picked it from our garden, came in and put it behind my ear :)

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Scrapbooking

Yes, I have finally gotten around to doing some scrapbooking on my holidays. And after going and getting my photos printed and buying some new papers to match them, I came home and finished a page I had already started on. So there are still no new photos to show you, but here are some of the old ones! This is the page I finished at Denise's place on Thursday night. The one I was working on yesterday is not done yet but I will be sure to post it when it is.

And yes, they are all embarrasing photos of me when I was a kid.

To view a larger version, just click on the picture.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

A Lovely Day!

I had a really lovely day today. I really felt like I was on holidays! Jules was putting her car in for a service at Chermside today so I drove in and met her there. We went to the movies and saw "The Perfect Catch", a romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore in it. I really enjoyed it - a little bit predictable (but aren't most romantic comedies?), but it was sweet and funny. And I love Drew anyway. We ate lunch outside because it was such a beautiful day, and sat there just chatting for quite a while. It was great to catch up and to talk about wedding things :) We even went into a jewellers and I tried on a few wedding bands to try and find one that will sit properly next to my engagement ring. We found a couple that looked quite nice, but if I want one that is going to sit compeltely flush without any gaps, I will have to have it custom made (I didn't think of this when I was pointing out the engagement rings I liked to Matt!).

This evening I went out scrapbooking with Denise (which has become a Thursday night tradition for us). It is always great scrapping with other people because I always seem to be more inspired!

Tomorrow is going to be much more mundane (and much less seeming like the holidays) - I am going to do all my housework so that I don't have to do it on the weekend. Oh Joy. But I'm not complaining because it is great that I have the extra time to do it so I can spend time with Matt without having to nag him to help me with the dishes and such. I might fit some scrapbooking in, too, if I'm lucky.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

It's Mine!!!! All MINE!!!! (oops.. I mean ours)

Today I paid the last payment on our car. Woohoo!! It is now finally completely ours (lets hope that doesn't mean it's going to cark it anytime soon). It is really exciting for us because that means after next payday (when we will be paying back my Dad the money we owe him), we will be able to *really* start saving for our wedding. We have been putting a bit away for it already, but we will really be able to save more now that there are no more car payments.

In other news, yes, I am a terrible, horrible, liar. I have already broken my post-every-day-on-the-holidays promise. But you gotta admit, I have been posting at least more often than usual!

Today I went to see my friend Nicole, who is due to have a baby very very soon. It was great to catch up with her (and keep her company for a while while she waits for the baby!). I can't wait to meet her new baby girl/boy. I'm betting on a girl but that's probably because that's what she thinks it's going to be. I'll keep you posted on whether my prediction was correct. Do I win something if I'm right?

Also today I got some photos printed at Kmart (finally!) and bought some paper to match them. So it will be scrapbooking for me for the rest of the holidays! In fact, I think I might get going and do some now. At least then I can post pictures of my layouts and have something to post each day!

Monday, September 12, 2005

Post Secret

In keeping my promise to post every day during my holidays (and already running out of ideas because my life is boring), I thought I would tell you all about a website I stumbled across a while ago which is amazing.

It is called PostSecret, and it is described on the website as a "community art project". The basic idea is that people take secrets that they have never told anyone before, and write them onto postcards in an interesting way. They send them in, and every Sunday night new secrets are posted onto the website. Quite a simple idea but if you check it out I'm sure you'll agree, a very interesting one. Some of the secrets are funny, some are very sad or even disturbing. Many make you think. Check it out sometime!

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Sunday, September 11, 2005

A New Painting

Yesterday I was feeling kinda bored after writing my post about the holidays. It felt as though the whole holidays were stretching out in front of me with absolutely nothing to do. It didn't help that it is the weekend and we have nothing planned and Matt spent most of the day playing computer games and today isn't shaping up to be much different. So anyway. I thought bugger that, I will do some painting. I had bought a bunch of flowers from the markets yesterday and thought I would paint a picture of them. I also realised I haven't done any painting in 2 years. I'd say this is mostly to do with the fact that I have been putting all my creative energy into my scrapbooking (I am in a bit of a funk with it at the moment waiting for new pictures and sick of doing my own baby photos). Also (as I remembered after finishing painting) I hate cleaning up. Back when I was using acrylics it wasn't so bad, but cleaning up oil paints is a pain in the arse.
Anyway, this is how it turned out:



It is very shiny because I took this photo while the painting was still wet (in fact it is still wet now - another pain in the arse thing about oil paints). Now I realise I am probably inviting a lot of critisism by posting this on here, but keep in mind - I am not an artist. I certainly don't expect anyone else to hang my pictures on the wall except me (well someone's gotta! And anyway we are saving for a wedding and can't afford real art!). Anyway I had fun (except when having to clean up) and kept boredom away for a couple of hours.

I decided yesterday that during my holidays I will post on here every day. Do we think this is gonna actually happen?

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Ahh... Holidays!

Yep, I am now officially on holidays again :) Yeah, I know, slackass teachers and all the holidays they get. But I tell you this - I think one of the reasons we get so many is that if we didn't get a break from the children every now and then we would murder them!! (OK, maybe nothing so drastic, but all you parents out there think about how you feel at the end of the school holidays and the kids are driving you crazy... well, that's how teachers feel about the end of the term. And I'm sure the kids are sick of us, too).

Being on holidays means that there is only one more term left of school for the year. How scary is that?! The year has just flown by! In a way, I am really glad the school year is nearly over (I just can't wait unitl the Christmas holidays and our trip to Tassie!). I am also a little sad about it, though. I have only got one more term with this year's kids. Then they move on to the next grade and forget about me, and I get a new class of children. Just when I feel I have gotten to know them all! I miss them all when the move on (well, maybe not all of them, but the great majority, anyway!). And it takes so long to really get to know the new bunch (and train them to understand my sense of humour. The first few weeks all I get is blank stares - that's before they all realise their teacher is a little nuts).

What are my plans for this 2 week break? Absolutely nothing :P Well, not quite. I will catch up on my housework (so I don't have to do it on the weekends when I can spend time with Matt). I will hopefully get a bit of scrapbooking done. I would like to go and see my friend Nicole from work, who is due to have her baby any day now! And I suppose I will be catching up on some daytime TV :P In other words, it will be a quiet and relaxing break, and by the end of two weeks I will probably be so bored out of my scull that I will be itching to get back to work! (Well, almost).

Monday, September 05, 2005

Falling off the wagon... and getting back on again

Yes, Matt and I are still on our healthy eating regimen. But nobody's perfect! We fell off the wagon a bit this weekend, but I think you're allowed to do that on a diet every now and then, so long as you don't give up!

On Saturday night we went out to dinner with Katrina at Fasta Pasta, then went to the movies to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I knew I couldn't sit through a movie with all that chocolate without having some, so I splurged and bought some of those Crunchie chocettes. The movie was great, btw. I must admit, I did like the original (and still do, lame as that may sound), and wasn't sure what I would think of this one, but I really enjoyed it. Of course, it does have Johnny Depp in it. I don't think I could not love one of his movies. He was awesome in this, too. Very quirky-funny and weird. I think he pretty much carried the movie all by himself, although the little boy who played Charlie (and was also in Finding Neverland) was very good as well. I am hoping to take the kids from school to go and see it next term - we are going to read the book in class. Surprisingly, I have never actually read it, so I'm looking forward to it!

On Sunday night we went over Jules and Dan's place for a games night, which was SO much fun! I was naughty again and ate more chips than I care to think about as well as some cashews (mmm... cashews....)but Dan made a very healthy and delicious stir fry for dinner and Matt and I brought along some low fat ice cream, strawberries and blueberries for dessert, so it wasn't all bad! Although, we did find the biggest strawberry I have ever seen in my life! Dan even took a picture of it!

Here it is... the mega strawberry (yeah, it doesn't look that big in the picture, but it really was huge!



Anyway, this afternoon I stopped at Coles and picked up some fruit and vegies (we WERE going to go to the markets at Rocklea on Saturday, but you can ask Matt why THAT never happened...). I am about to go and make a fruit salad. I am back to trying to lose a dress size before the wedding...

Wish me luck!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Decisions, Decisions

Have been making some big decisions lately...

Been spending a lot of time online deciding what to do and where to go on our trip to Tassie at Christmas time. I have booked all the places we are going to stay now, and I am getting really excited. It's going to be interesting having Christmas in a new place and I am really glad Matt will finally get to spend Christmas with his mum and dad again. I know it's probably a bit early to be organising everything, but hey, I'm a planner. I like to organise things, and I get a bit weird if I don't know what's happening (that's the Taurus in me I say).

The other decision we have made (and this is the big one) is that we think we will bring our wedding date forward - we were originally thinking September 2007, but I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!
Well, actually, I will if I have to. We are waiting to see what happens with Matt's job before we make any real decisions. He is contracted until the beginning of December, so we probably won't find out what is happening until the end of November. If he still has a job there next year, then we will be getting married September next year! If not, well, we will have to see what happens. The other proviso is that I can book the Inchcolm hotel for our reception. It is a beautiful place and has sentimental value for us both, so I really want to have our reception there.
Our VERY TENTATIVE (do not put this into your calenders just yet, ppl!) date is Friday 29th September, 2006. Which now seems really close and I am so excited!!!
I wish I just knew for sure though.

Anyway, that's what's been going on with us lately. Not much else to report really.

Oh, and our $1 movie on Tuesday night was A Very Long Engagement. Coincidentally, I happened to choose this movie on the night Matt and I were discussing the moving forward of the wedding date...
actually I had wanted to see this for a while, and I really enjoyed it.