Controversy? I call it common sense!

What is up with fashion and the way young girls dress themselves these days?

We went to the mall last week, a pretty frequent trip we take. The kids needed new school shoes and socks, so we went to Kmart to get what we needed. After walking around for bit, I was horrified. I honestly felt really disgusted by what I saw. Girls as young as 10 (they appear at about that age, they are very young anyway) dressing themselves like they were much older and even the older girls (16+) are dressed like they are in a stripper club. Very short skirts, barely hiding their private parts, tops that only cover their chest, showing their waist and more, well, they don’t leave much for imagination. And it seems like it is getting so much worse lately.

I mean, come on! Who are these girl’s parents and who lets them walk out of their houses dressed like that? What sort of modesty example are they setting? These are the girls who will be mums one day and that makes me wonder, what will the next generation be like?

This is a problem. Because it opens other cans of worms.

We all have to take responsibilities for our actions, for sure. But who can blame a man for looking at these girls? They do not hiding anything, and like I mentioned before, they leave nothing to the imagination. The worst part is that these girls are not old enough to understand how some people have evil intentions and take their thoughts of lust to a different level. But who can be blamed for it?

I think parents have a HUGE influence in this matter. I don’t know, call me tough. But there is no way I would let my daughters walk around like that or even dress like that at home. Our bodies are sacred and modesty is definitely something valuable, especially in our society, because these days it’s something rare, as I am finding out. As a parent of two girls, it is my duty to call for inappropriate dressing, it’s my duty to teach (not dictate, well, sometimes the ‘because I said so’ might be applicable) and to show them how it can affect them and others. Also, fathers have a huge part to play in this problem, after all, they have been a teenage boy before and they know what goes through their minds.

So we also need to teach our sons how to respect women and love them, because they are beautiful inside first. It’s not all about the image. These girls don’t understand they don’t have to show their most private parts, so boys think they are beautiful. Sometimes I feel like giving them a good shake and yell: ‘You are beautiful no matter what! Go put some clothes on! Value yourself!’ I get really mad, maybe because I do care about my girls too much and I am so scared about what influences they are having while young. It’s so sad the world is coming to that. It really is.

Being a parent can suck sometimes. But the ultimate goal is to guide our children as they grow up and teach them what is best for them. Can I plea with you: let’s please do our small part in our girls lives. They are precious and grow up way too fast. Let’s protect them as much as we can, and what we can do to help them become great girls who know how beautiful they are without having to show their bodies to the world.

My award

I received an award from Nicole at the Life in the Boy's Locker Room - which is really sweet!

Sunshine Award rules:

1. Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog.

2. Answer 10 questions about yourself.

3. Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers.

4. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

5. Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

And the questions...

Favorite color? Pink

Favorite animal? Dogs, they are adorable

Favorite number? 5 (the number of people in our little family)

Favorite non-alcoholic drink? water :)

Prefer Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

My passion? ugh, I am not really sure about this one... I enjoy a lot of different things, but don't have one thing only that can be considered a passion....

Prefer getting or giving presents? both! But I thinking giving is a little bit better. I love seeing the face of whoever is receiving a gift

Favorite pattern? .... of what? polka dots?

Favorite day of the week? friday! I love the antecipation of the weekend

Favorite flower? Gerberas because they are really pretty and look very happy

And now I pass this award to:

Frenchy at the Chatteau de Fleurs
Katie at the Love, Life and Pursuits of Katie
Kenzie at KF
Kristin at What Happens at Naptime
Benay at Benay's blog

I can't give it anyone else as my bloggy friends might not even know who I am after being away for so long. I do hope you gals accept my humble award! And I picked you, well, because I really enjoy their blogs and I hope you will too xx

New friends? Yes, please!

One of the cons of moving to a new city is you don’t know anyone, or just a few people.

When we first got here, we only knew a few people (consisting of my brother and his wife, and some good friends from hubby’s childhood). At first, it was all great, you got together a few times... then life starts happening, we got busy, they got busy. The people we know have other friends and we can’t expect them to hang out with us exclusively. Specially because we can’t include our three babies all the time, some activities are not kid friendly at all, and fair enough too. We didn’t expect people to change their lifestyle to suit us. So, suddenly we realised it was time to get to know new people, and make new friendships.

That’s is so much easier said than done. It’s so hard to get out of our comfort zone and start from scratch again, specially when it comes down to talking to people you never did before. I don’t know about you, but I am not the kind of person who can just walk into a room and start chatting about the weather and such, unlike my hubby who can. So we balance each other nicely that way.

We have been here for 5 months now (time flies I tell ya!) and here are my findings. I have done this moving thing a few times so I want to share what I learnt:

· Make an effort. You are the new kid on the block, so you have to find where you fit. Join in something. Church, a craft group, a sports team. Since we found a church, things have been much better in the social department

· Don’t settle for something that doesn’t suit you or your family lifestyle. We all have many kinds of different friends, and we do different activities with different people. It’s ok to join in activities that you are not that into, but mostly, try and hang out with a group that is similar to you. (I have learnt this as we only knew couples with no children, it doesn’t always work – not the friendship part, but just the ‘hanging out’ part – we still love those friends and hang out with them sometimes). But also, it's ok to find people who love doiung what you do. Chances are, you will get to spend a lot of time together!

· Don’t expect people to re-arrange their lives to fit yours. Remember, people already had their life before you moved. So they already have established routines/activities they like to do. If you have that in common, great! If not, it’s ok!

· Be patient. It takes time to form friendships. Be persistent, go the extra mile, invite people over to your house. Get comfortable with people you like. They can become people you love!

· And lastly, don’t forget your old friends. We have met some incredible people in our moves and they are always gonna be special to us. Catch up with them, let them know what it’s new, be there for them despite distance.

And in the spirit of new friends, I am linking up to

I really need to shake the dust off this blog and new friends will make it perfect! Don’t be shy, say hi :)

Weekend and Phobia

Happy Monday everyone,

It’s been a quiet and hot weekend in these parts.

Saturday was very uneventful as hubby worked and I tackled housework. Saturday is my cleaning day, the day I restore our nest to its livable conditions. I guess with me working full time, I gave up to the fact that my house it’s not gonna look like a catalogue photo every day (not that it ever does anyway). I must say that I personally think we are doing really well, that means I don’t fall into desperation every time I walk in through the door. I do the dishes every morning before leaving and my laundry is always washed (folded is a different story).
So on Saturday after hubby got back from work, we went swimming. It was 39C here and we were cooking. Sunday wasn’t much different, after church we got to hang out with some real cool friends, we went for a drive enjoying the cool air conditioner, more swimming. The weekend never lasts long enough.

Weekends are great but I have a confession to make. Lately I have been feeling scared.

TERRIFIED

I have one word for it: Cockroaches

It seems like we have an infestation at home. I have phobia of cockroaches. Actually my whole family does apart from my mum. My dad, two brothers and a sister, we all inherited this illogical fear of the ugliest and grossest bug there is. At the moment we’re getting one or two every day which is way too many. I honestly haven’t even seen a cockroach in a long time (8 years of New Zealand living and one year of Australia – but it has changed since I moved to Perth – we live across the road from the river and also a swamp and it does not help that we have scorching hot weather either)

I have a super trained eye that can spot them even in a dark room. This super powers do not work in other situations but I am a super cockroach spotter. Hubby thinks it’s hilarious that I completely freak out and I can’t be in the same house as a cockroach. So you can see how having an infestation is a problem. A big problem. It leads to extreme paranoia, visions, loud screaming, tears and loss of control.

Yes, we are gonna get the house sprayed for bugs. They have a waiting list, it’s the high season apparently.

Meanwhile I am armed with my cockroach spray, super vision super powers and tissues (for my scared tears)

Things that kids say

I am not likely to post on the weekend as we have no internet connection at the moment (I know!!)

But I wanted to post today to reassure myself that I am indeed back this time. So here I am and this is a short post but it's funny.

My boy is 5 - and I love him, I love how his little mind works and how he asks 125673456 questions in a single minute. But lately he has been saying the funniest things, like:

'Mum, why didn't you name me Josh, I want to be called Josh...' Ok, why didn't I know that before?

and

'Mum, when am I going to be a street kid?' No idea where he got that from

And he also decided that armpits are really disgusting and he makes me laugh everytime he sees someone's armpit

Love my boy

The resurrection of the blog

Well, it's me again, trying to resurrect my blog...... again!

Every once in a while I have the urge to write my thoughts and feelings, but have not had the courage to commit to writing a blog again because I know I will get busy and I will be likely to stop... again.

But here I am and this is what has been going though my head and my life lately. I have a lot on my mind so I am just gonna write. And I better let you know, in case you are looking for clever writing or words of inspiration, I am sorry to disappoint. I am just going to write and post this, and that's usually my writing style. It might not make sense sometimes, other times I must just say a lot on a lot of different subjects in one single post. It's just a warning and I do hope you stick around.

So where to begin? Just a brief catch up on how things are going in our corner of the world.... the weather has been very hot which means lots of swimming. We are really blessed to live very close to the beach, so we enjoy it whenever we can. Summer has officially ended and we are in the middle of a heat wave - it's supposed to be 40 degrees on Sunday (102F). As a family, this is the hotter summer we experienced, moving to Australia we knew the weather was a lot hotter than what we are used to, and I must say we are coping quite well.

I am still working full time but this time, I am mostly enjoying it (apart from being too tired in the evenings). Hubby is back at work but still deciding what is best for us as a family after being off work for so long (due to spinal surgery). Kids have been busy with school. Elijah has started school full time and that means my baby is finally a 'big boy'. Where has time gone?

I have been so caught up with the busyness of life and sometimes it's so hard to appreciate moments, specially when I am so tired and grumpy.

At lunch time yesterday, I found myself reading a blog about a mom and her little girl drowned. The grief, sorrow that come to her and her family and it really brought tears to my eyes as I read her journey through her beautiful writing.

I really felt so blessed to have my kids being healthy and happy, even if they drive me crazy sometimes. It made me vow to myself that I will try really had not to let the 'green eyed mummy monster' visit us anymore. I love my kids with all my heart and I want them to remember me as being a good and patient mum, and not being impatient and intolerant. It's so easy to get carried away and get wrapped up in our own moment, it's hard to decide which battles to fight instead of fighting them all and die from exhaustion and guilt. Kids always seem to quickly forget our wrong doings and forgive us and love us no matter what and that's amazing.

Being a parent is tough. Because we love our kids so much but sometimes other things get the best of us. Tiredness, grumpiness, moodiness - you name it. But think about it, we are so blessed to be able to kiss our munchkins good night even if we are having a bad day. Some parents don't get to do that anymore. And it is so sad. I feel so sad for that mum. I felt her raw emotions and prayed and prayed that I NEVER get to feel them.

So the lesson learned here was very strong and very real. I will love my little ones because they grow up very fast and soon I will be missing the times they were little. I will renew my vows to myself every time I feel like green eyed mummy wants to come around. I never want to see that lady again.

I am back!

Long time no see! A very long time no see!

I am not going to give excuses for being away for such a long time. Let’s just say life happened and I went along with it. A lot has happened since I was last here, so I better start from the beginning…

Well, when I last wrote here, we were living in Mt. Gambier, South Australia. We now live in Perth, Western Australia, and we lived in Adelaide for 6 months. A lot of moving around, yes, and this is why…

When we decided to relocate to Aussie, it was because my hubby was offered a job in Mt. Gambier. We had a five to ten year plan to stay there – but God had a different plan for us. We arrived in Mt Gambier in June 2010, by the time it was January 2011 it was clear that my hubby was in a lot of pain. After visiting doctors, and eventually a surgeon, it was established that he needed spinal fusion surgery! And 6 months recovery after surgery – which meant I would have to go back to working full time and he was going to do the stay-at-home-dad for a while. So with that in mind, we moved to Adelaide in April 2011, so I could find work and it was where surgery was going to take place.

He finally had his surgery in July, and thank God it all went well. What did not go well was my job search. I wasn’t able to find full time employment and I had temporary jobs for the whole six months we were in Adelaide. God blessed us immensely during that time, gave us some life long friends, and we were never in need of anything. But the stress of not having a stable income was taking its toll on our family and after 6 months of searching, we decided to broad the search to Perth, for two reasons: I have family here and Western Australia is going through a massive boom economically because of the mining sector. So I started applying for jobs and a week later, I kid you not, I had a full time job. So it was like having a confirmation on what we had to do, so finally, in October this year, we came to Perth.

We have been here for nearly 4 weeks now and we love it. The kids started going to a Christian school and they are very happy. I have started working and really enjoy my job. One last thing that needs to fall into place is, we going to move to our own house on the 19th November and we cant wait. We have been staying with my brother and his wife, in their ONE bedroom apartment. Let’s just say we are a bit squashed and my kids don’t have control of their volume sometimes, hehe.

What a journey! Even though we feel like we haven’t had a ‘proper’ start here in Australia, we can definitely say we have seen God’s care all the way. God provided for us in a way we would not think possible. He used people to bless and humble us when we saw no light in the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do, but no matter what happens, God is always there. Which in itself is a very humbling thought, why us, the undeserving people who are always impatient, unsatisfied, worried? Because He loves us – why? - that’s mystery in itself.

yep, it's me!

I know I have not been as good as writing here as I should. I have been trying to get inspired and write meaningful things but to be honest, I can't seem to find my light.

What have we been up to? Well... not much. You know the same old wake up-get ready-clean-cook sort of routine. I have been venturing out a little but the weather has been so miserable that it's hard to plan anything. Ughhh, wet weather is not great is it? The lawns are so long now it looks like we live in the jungle. But can't mow them until this rain decides to give us a break.

I found a really cute shop in town, it's an antique shop and I love it. I also have been browsing around, getting to know this place a bit better.

Other than that, I am planning Allyah's birthday party which will happen next weekend. It will be at the park - weather permitting of course. For the first time, I will be making the decorations, so watch this space....

If there is anyone that even still reads my blog, don't be shy! Say hello! Make my day :)

Who's the bargain queen??

I AM THE BARGAIN QUEEN!
Well. I have to admit. I NEVER pay full price when it comes to clothes or shoes. I actually mean it, our money is hard earned and I dare not pay $50+ for a pair or pants of shoes. No my friends, this mum does not do that. And I must add that I don't have anything against people who does, just so we're clear. I love second hand shops and half of my wardrobe is thrifted!

So today I was in town and after I got a call from school to come and get Isabella who apparently was sick (trust me, that child is NOT sick, she can really put it on - so we're home and she wants to play outside, hmmm, sorry dear, sick people stay in bed...) I ventured into one of the shops here and I was giddy! Give me $20 and I can get a lot. To be exact, I spent $18. I got two jackets for me, one pair of really good pants for Isabella, one for Allyah, one for Elijah, a toy spider man and toy ten pin bowling game for the kids! So, two jackets, three pair of pants and two toy items for $18!
Not mentioning when I went to K-Mart I got a jumper for $5 and a maternity skirt for $3 (the skirt is very vintage and I wear it as a top... I should take photos!)

I only buy good quality and I have to like it, I don't buy it just because it's cheap. But it is always cheap and that's a bonus!

Like I said, bargain queen is my middle name!

Maybe I should expand and share my bargain hunting tips? Would anyone be interested in that? Leave me a comment if you would!

I LOVE fridays!

Even if I am at home and my days are pretty much free (well... we are not counting housework and climbing Mt Laundry here - even though they do take a lot of my time, humph) there is something about fridays. Would you agree?

Is it the " I don't have to get up so early and rush like a mad woman to get the kids to the school bus" feeling?
Or the "even though hubby is working this weekend we still get to spend time together as a family" feeling?

I don't know but whatever it is, I just have to declare my love publicly: Friday, I love you. You are wonderful and you make my heart sing!
Hehehe

Now that that is out of the way, here is the linky party for today:


If you are here for new friend Friday, welcome!! Make yourself at home :)

who knew

that moving here would keep me away from blogging? Ugh, I am finding hard to find words to write even though we got lots going on, there is nothing going on really if you know what I mean.

I have been busy being a stay at home mum and trying to conquer Mount Laundry - the weather has been atrocious and we haven't got a dryer. We have an awesome fireplace that has been on non-stop and I do try and dry the laundry but it takes two days to dry and I can't keep up.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a doctor - to enroll in the system which will be handy. There is so much that needs to be done and I am so not used to being at home. Sometimes I get so tired, just because I am not doing anything, like yesterday, I could have gone to bed mid morning, I was so tired - but my handsome little boy is not interested if mum is tired or not.

My house is starting to look normal. I finally organised the boxes we sent over and the kids are sleeping on beds, unlike hubby and I - we're still floor bound until we decided to buy a new bed due to Jason's back pain issues - but that might take a while yet.

So even though life is busy, it is uneventful.

I need something to do though. I don't like staying home all that much, I need some brain stimulation.

Feeling crafty and church news

Yesterday for the first time I got my stuff out and created something. I had no idea what it was going to be when I first started but I ended up with this:

I know everyone is making these, but they are so awesome, and I really love fabric flowers, so why not? Isabella loved it too and she wore it the whole day and everywhere we went, people asked where I got it from, so it's specially nice to say I made it myself.
(I must say photos are not great as I have not got a camera and I have been taking photos with my Iphone)

Once the girls start school next week I will have a bit more time to start all my crafty projects, I have been craving for some crafty time - but it is specially hard to do anything when the kids are around.

I have been here for three weeks now and I can say that we found a church to go to. This is such a relief, we can start to become part of a family again. It's amazing how God's people embrace you just because you love Jesus! No matter who you are or where you are from (cheesy Backstreet Boys song, hehe).
Last Sunday we went to the Mount Gambier Baptist Church and I was truly overwhelmed by people's friendliness. Everyone took their time to come and introduce themselves and talk. So we were the last ones to go home, I think for a first visit that is pretty good. We were invited for lunch, for dinner and a birthday party! We couldn't go for lunch as Jason was busy, but dinner and birthday party was great, it is so good to meet some people, people you get along with and have lots in common with!
So we went back to the same church yesterday, and again, people are so friendly! So we got a couple more invitations and met some more people. I don't think there is a better way of connecting with people and forming friendships. I just feel like one of them, there were no clicks, no exclusion because we are new, they made us feel welcomed, no matter what!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35


PS. I am linking up to:



:) Leave a comment if you feel like it!

Trying to create new normal

We have been here for two weeks now. Time flies doesn't it? Since we got here we have been trying to create a new normal, which has been kids hard as it is school holidays for the next week and a half, which means I still did not get the chance to explore town properly - I would not even attempt it with three kids in tow.

We knew it would be a big change, and it is. Everything is different from what we are used to. If you think about it, even things like TV programs and how the mail system works. So we still have a lot of discovering to do. I can't imagine what it would be like to go to a different language speaking country - at least that is the same, minus the Australian accent!

The kids spend most of their time playing outside, we haven't got any toys, well, a couple of toys, but my kids love being outside even if the weather is miserable like it has been, this week we did have a couple of days of sun which is great. So they make huts, they make houses, mailboxes, they cook in their little pretend stove, they breathe the fresh air, they spend a lot of energy!

As for me, I am still getting used to not rushing around. Going from full time work to being a stay at home mum is quite a big change. Now I do the laundry, dishes, tidy up after the kids... I have to admit, I do like being busy sometimes and I will need to find myself something to do soon, not work, just perhaps, recreational purposes courses? Hmmm... I really need to have a look and see whats available, I am thinking I want to learn to sew! So I can carry on with my crafts, I can't wait to get back into it again.

We finally bought table and chairs - something I always took for granted. After two weeks eating standing up (kids cant eat on the couch, the spill their food in the carpet - BIG MESS), it's great sitting at the table as a family again. Normality is slowly creeping in and I am happy about it.

ON Friday, Bella turns six! Can't believe she will be a big six year old. It's quite scary! We're having a little party for her, we have invited a couple of people, hopefully it will give me a chance to get to know some people better too.

I think that's it from me today. I am finding it hard to remember to write in here, I think I am still a bit out of sync with my routine, but we will get there... eventually.

Australia

Hey, long time no see. We did not have internet until last night so I have been trying to remember everything I need to write in here. We have been in our new home for a week and a half now and to be honest we're still feeling a little bit out of place with lack of routine, as it is school holidays for the next two weeks and the weather has been miserable.

Where do I start?On Monday when we traveled, our day started at 2.30am as we had to be at the airport at 4am. Not much to say from that until we got into our plane, saying good bye is never easy.
We got into our plane, a four hour ride which was not bad, all I can say is thank goodness for the Wiggles, it kept Elijah entertained for three hours! He ended up falling asleep for the last half hour of the flight and missed out on landing.

When we got to Melbourne, we walked around a lot, ate some food, walked some more. We started to get really tired and we still had 5 hours of waiting to do. I don't know how but we did survive and got into our next flight. When we got to Mount Gambier, hubby was NOT at the airport. I was not impressed, we were so tired and quite sick of each other by then. I thought he was hiding but no, he thought we were flying in half hour later. Anyways, we managed to get home after a very long day. Elijah fell asleep on the way home in the car and did not wake up until the next day.From what I have seen so far, Mount Gambier is bigger than Masterton. But I haven't had a chance to look around properly as I have had the kids with me the whole time and hubby has not had a weekend off yet - he is having this coming weekend which is great, it will give us time as a family to do things around, we will also go garage sale hunting, as our house is still looking empty and we still need quite a lot.

The girls will start school next term as the school holidays start tomorrow. We have decided they will attend the christian school in town. We already got uniforms and they went visiting for the day yesterday and they loved it.
I will write more as I remember more, here are some photos:
This is a cave, right in the middle of town


my guys, walking by the library
the kids playing in the tree hut

We made it across the ditch!

Just a very quick note to let you know that after a very long day, we have made it to our new home :) Will update some more tomorrow :)

Rejection

My kids go to a christian school, a great school. The teachers are awesome and my girls really thrive at school. I have never had any issues, apart from normal kids stuff.

When I picked my daughter from school yesterday, she was very upset crying. When I asked what was wrong, she said R had not invited her for her birthday party (which is friday - also Allyah's last day of school). She said she was the only girl not invited. They have a pretty small class and I thought maybe R had forgotten to give her the invitation. Then Allyah said 'no mummy, she said it to my face that I was not invited - the only girl of the class that wasn't invited'. Needless to say that my mummy heart broke into a million pieces.

What do I say to a sensitive 7 year old in a situation like this?

I told her not to worry about it, R was the one missing out on an awesome friend, that she is beautiful and there is nothing wrong with her. That friends like that are not real friends and she should not worry about people who are just mean. Not as easy as it sounds. I just didn't know what else to tell her. So I gave her a hug but she was so upset.

I just wanted to make it go away for her. I wanted to ring R's mum and tell her how unfair it was to treat a 7 year old like that. I wanted to say how she, as a mum, should know how kids can be mean and avoid this sort of situation happening. Now I would not care if this was a big school and random people being invited to this party. But it's a small school. And she was the only one left out.

Of course I did not ring anyone. I just wanted to make it better for Allyah. I can deal with rejection. Heck my boss completely ignores me sometimes when I say hello or good morning, or when I say something, I get nothing back. I am ok with it. We are always going to find people in life that are out there to make you feel awkward and out of place, or make you feel like there is something wrong with you. But how I get through to a 7 year old?

My daughter is lovely, creative like me, caring, fun! I love her too bits.

Why do kids have to be so horrible and mean?

What would you have done? Have you gone through something like that? How did you handle it?

I love new friends

It's that time of the week again!

Come on guys, follow me and I will for sure follow you back!

♥

When you are out of your comfort zone

It's so cold!

Ok, maybe not as cold as some of you get, but for our standarts, it's COLD!

It does not snow here where we live. It does on the mountains that surrounds us, but it's cold anyways. Too cold. I like winter, I just don't like being cold.

It's tuesday here - but monday still in many places and monday where Ann Voskamp shares the Multitude Monday. So here I am. I have been thinking a lot lately, how me and my little family been thrown out of our comfort zone and how we're dealing with what comes with it. We have been living here in Masterton for 8 years now. We have family support, we have church support, we know our way around, it's home. But when God says to you: Get out of your comfort zone - it can be very hard. We moved out of our house, sold our belongings, packed our bags. Hubby left nearly two weeks ago - daddy is not around. We are staying with grandma - any routine is out of the door - even though we do try to carry on with some sort of normality. When we decided that we were moving countries with three kids, somewhere we have never been before, we were quite excited. A new place, a new church, new friends, new shops (hehe). Everyone comes up to me and say 'You must be so excited' and truth is, I am excited. But I am also anxious, scared, sad. This whole new adventure is really really close now and I am starting to get a bit nervous. I have been speaking to hubby everyday and he keeps telling me how different things are over there, even though it's only Australia. Then I realised we are actually starting from scratch. We are out of our comfort zone big time and it's so scary! I know people do this kid of things everyday - move countries, or jobs, or face lifestyle changes. It's just seems like it a huge task when it's happening to you. So I am clinging to Jesus. Because I know he has gone ahead of us, in every single step we have taken so far. When I look back in our journey, I can see how He has been with us throughout the whole process and there is no denying, we are where we are supposed to be. When I see it in that light, I start to get really excited because, yes, this is an adventure, the type of adventure that He has prepared for us Himself. It seriously cannot get any better than that. And I am so thankful and humbled by it. The gratitude list continues: 31. The adventure32. Pretty fabric33. Thrifty shops34. Slow cookers35. New items of ridiculously cheap clothing36. My new handmade by me jewellery37. My talents so I can make them :)38. Awesome people that bring me inspiration39. A church family where I can be myself40. The unknown - because He is ahead of us!

The weekend, obsessions and my blog

As you might have noted, I have an issue with my blog templates. I get sick of them really easy and I keep changing all the time. I think it really depends on how I feel - if the template does not suit, I will change it. But there are not many places to find free templates so I am not entirely happy with any of them for some reason....

Anyways.

My weekend was awesome.

Saturday night the ladies from our church had a farewell for me, we had a fruit fondue night and karaoke. It was so much fun, I can't sing to save myself but I sang my heart out, top of my lungs type of singing. It was not pretty but I had a blast. I was really glad my awesome friend had no neighbours close by, otherwise noise control would have been involved in the evening at some stage. But top of lungs type of singing is the best way to sing. And sing I did.

At some point, they had a little speech and made me cry. I will so miss my church sisters. They have been great throughout the years, offering their friendship, their houses, their shoulders, their ears. I want to thank each and everyone one of you just for being who you are, you guys have been great friends and I hope your bond carries on and I hope you guys carry on blessing each other like you have blessed me. My prayer is that I God prepares a church family like this for us over in Australia. We're all part of His family and the bond we all share is somethings that only we can understand (typing as I sob....)

This weekend I have been so very crafty and it is such a shame I don't have a camera to take photos and show you guys what I have been up to. I bought a plain black fabric bag and make fabric flowers to go on it. I also made a fabric flower headband for myself, some fabric bracelets and a rosette ring. I love to be creative and make stuff and this weekend I have done lots of it. Very therapeutic indeed.

I seriously need to stop typing as my fingers are frozen. All of you in the northern hemisphere, where it's nice and warm and you have been swimming and enjoying the sunshine.... I hate you. Well, no I don't. I am just joking. But I seriously envy you.... in a good way of course.

God does look after us

I was feeling a bit down yesterday. I was missing hubby, my boss was being annoying, it was so cold. I had a headache and a sore throat (I still do). It was one of those days.

I left work at 4, as I had to do a couple of things for Jason. I browsed through expensive shops as I walked. At that moment I wished I had lots of money to buy lots of clothes. But the circumstances are that we spent quite a lot more than expected with our move to Australia, so money is not available as I would like and I started to feel sorry for myself.

And then I snapped out of it.

I prayed. I told the Lord how I was feeling. And carried on on my merry way. Then I had a brilliant idea. I went to the Seeker's Mega Mart, which is a massive second hand shop. I started to browse and I could not believe my eyes when I found some totally awesome and sooo me items. A skirt, a nice vintage top and a black jacket. I was so happy! Do you want to know how much I spent for everything? $9.50! Yep, you read it right! $9.50 for three super awesome items of clothing. I seriously could cry because I was so happy with how God takes care of us, and He knew exactly what I wanted and what I like, and He gave me just that!

Our God is awesome. He really is.