Laundry Day

I think that Spring Cleaning has finally set in

Today I:

*Washed the sheets for all 3 beds
*Dried the sheets
*Vacuumed each of the beds
*Sewed new curtains for Rona's bedroom
*Washed the clothes and nappies
*Dried and put away the clothes and nappies
*Made the three beds again
*Did the dishes

As well as all of my normal activities and taking care of Rona, it has been a busy day :)

Blogging

Every now and then, I sit down to blog, and totally forget what I was going to say.

Like now..............

What was I going to say?

I really shouldn't blog late at night. Rona had a hard time settling tonight, which throws out my evening entirely (she has one difficult night every 3 weeks) she is such a good baby I have started to count on my evening routine, which means it is harder when it doesn't work out.

But blogging is a great release, I love writing, even when I don't have that much to say. I wrote a lot in my teens/very early twenties, but I have since thrown most of it out.... I was far to introspective and my depression was very evident.

Goodness knows if anyone actually reads this, but I like writing to "an audience" anyway, it has let me keep writing even when I really don't have anything to say.

I can write about anything, just recounting the day, deep thoughts or just a vent about something. I like this as I wouldn't just write anything in a diary, like I wouldn't write about my favourite links, or what I did on a stay at home day. That sounds odd, I would write for an auidence what I wouldn't write for myself.

And I love the tactile sensation of typing, something I got addicted to during uni.

You Capture - Spring

Okay, so it is Spring down here, so I shall catch that instead of Autumn.



A lovely picnic with the relatives



Love the view while playing frisbee!



The colours just are brighter during spring!

Gratituesday


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Today I am very grateful that the drought has ended!



Here in Australia, my area has been officially in drought for 10 years, although we have been in parts of drought for a long time. From 1991 to 1995 we had "a long El-Nino" which was essentially a drought, and then from 1995 to 2000 we had something close to average rainfall.....
but still, a great deal of my life we have been in drought-like conditions.....

But at least that is over for now! :)

Hungry

Rona is so very hungry at the moment, she will feed every 2 hours at the moment, so I have decided that it is time to feed her solids.

I have been fighting this decision for a long time, Rona has been tracking food for a month and reaching for the food for about that long too. I have been trying to wait for her 6 month birthday, but I gave in today.

Today for a couple of reasons;
- because Husband is home during the day, when he works 6 days a week normally
- because she is terribly hungry today



We ended up feeding her some Rice Cereal and some banana.
She pulled a few interesting faces, but she seemed to really like the foods, we will see how she goes tomorrow, I will try feeding her a tablespoon or two worth (today was just an experiment and I have no idea how much she actually swallowed versus spread everywhere).

My baby is growing up!

The minister at church

The church that Husband, Rona and I attend, we have only really been going to this church for about 6 months, well, it is going through some turbulent times.

The minister has been there for about a year and a half, he is a new minister and as such... he hasn't really learned tact. While his passion and vision is fantastic, he cannot abide questioning on his methods or direction.

So many have left the church because this change over has been so tough. It has made our entering the church harder, as people, especially people who are our age are leaving.

We are going to stick with it, and pray that the church will be unified once more and that Husband, Rona and I will fit in somewhere soon.

I sometimes wonder what to do......
*Ministers are meant to be the leaders of their churches
*The bible says to test everything that is being taught so that we are not lead astray by false teaching
*The bible also says that God puts those in authority who He chooses, so leaders are there by divine will
*Does that mean I can point out when the minister does not use tact when he should, or ask him about why he sees the church heading in a particular direction?

Or I should just follow?

Love and Respect for a Lifetime by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs

I recently received Love and Respect for a Lifetime by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs from Booksneeze

This is a lovely gift book based on the popular Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs. This is a wonderful Christian marriage book, based on Ephesians 5:33 -

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (NIV)

The book features a Simple Message:

- women have one essential need - to feel loved. When that need is met, she is happy. Men have one essential need - to feel respected. When that need is met, he is happy.

When these needs are not met, things get crazy - or as Dr. Eggrichs likes to call it "The Crazy Cycle". Love and Respect reveals why spouses react negatively to each other, and how they can deal with such conflict quickly, easily and biblically.

When I received the book, I adored the set up, it is a lovely gift book. I think that this book would be a lovely wedding or engagement present.

This book is a simplistic rehash of the original book. But that is not a bad thing, I think that it gives the message succinctly and with beautiful illustrations.

This book has reminded me how marriage should work, I should respect my husband, whether I think he deserves it or not. To resepct him, I need to make sure I show respect in how I act and how I speak, to him and others. Not that I disrespect him intentionally, but I know when I am tired and frazzled looking after Rona, I can be short or impatient with him for no reason.

The author is gifted with words, he puts his point across well and in a way that makes me think he is a good word-smith.

I love this book because it is a marriage book that conveys an important biblical truth, using scriptures to make points. I love this, as so many marriage books just use "everyday examples" only, without backing it up with scripture, which detracts from their points.

I am definitely going to be giving this book as a gift to my newly married siblings for their Christmas presents!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Church

Church is a messy, sanctifying entity.

Growing up, I went to an Anglican church. It was a little conservative, but the people love the Lord and taught me to love Him too.

When I was a teen, there were no teens in the church I grew up in, so I moved to a Churches of Christ church (not the cult!). These people were passionate, charismatic and taught me more about the Holy Spirit than I had known before. I found that while it was great while I was an impassioned teen, but once I wanted more "meat" than "milk", it was time to move on.

I then went to an Anglican church once I had been married, it was the friendliest church I have ever been to. The congregation just reaches out and accepts new people in, I love how intentional and natural the hospitality is. The minister taught well and deeply. While not so Charismatic, it was a church where faith is felt deeply and lived truly.

And now I am back at my childhood church, as we moved 2 years into marriage. I have found I don't quite fit and things are a little awkward, but the teaching is good. While the last church I fit in automatically I need to work in this church.

Church is messy as we are all fallen beings, but fantastic as we all have the love that flows from the One who loved us first.

Rona's first outing to the city - Part 2

During our outing to the city recently, I mentioned that we went to the botanical gardens. It is a beautiful place and you could spent many hours there. My time was taken up by my nieces and nephew running from flower to flower saying: "take a photo of this one".... so I did



I love this one, I love poppies, and it is just so pretty


And yellow roses are my personal favourites.

I adore flowers, am trying to come up with a way to have more around my house, must dig some more garden beds....

The city as art

At the moment there is an art celebration going on in the city.

When Rona, my family and I went into the city I found some interesting pieces of installation art






Yes, the statues are somehow dressed. I found this a delightful change and I quite enjoyed this part of the Art and About exhibitions. I really enjoy intstallation art, as it brings art places where people are and live, and because most of them are temporary and it says something about how everything is transitory.

I would have taken a picture of Queen Victoria's statue dressed up, but the tourists got in the way :)

There is more going on, if I manage to get to any more pieces, I will make sure I blog about them.

Rona's first outing to the City

My mum, dad, Great-Nana, Rebecca, Ruth, Samuel, Charlotte, Ryan, Rona and myself all went into the city. We were going to see the Jeannie Baker exhibition at the Museum of Sydney.

First we caught the train, and here is my beautiful photo of the train lines map. This was Rona's first train trip!


We then went to the State library and Botanical Gardens, then we arrived at the Museum of Sydney




It was somewhere we had never been before, it was Rona's first museum visit, and to tell you the truth I had forgotten it existed. We loved the Jeannie Baker Mirror Exhibition




Outside (as I am not allowed to take photos inside)
This is an artwork called Edge of the Trees, it is very tactile.

Then after that, we went home again, it was a full day.

You Capture - Animals

This week is animals, and considering I haven't been around animals lately.....


My nephew climbing on a lion...




A dressed up statue in the middle of the city




A fondant lion I made for my other nephew's first birthday

Gratituesday

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Today I am grateful that my baby is 6 months old!
I cannot imagine my life without her

Why I love Op Shops

I love op shops.

Because:
*You give money to charity
* You recycle what other people don't want
* You save the environment by not buying new and therefore not making industries make more new items
* You find really funky stuff there that you wouldn't find in mainstream stores
* Saving money for yourself, so that you can use your money more efficiently, and in turn help others
* Are more inclined to donate when the time comes
* Have an attitude which is less materialistic....this is good for the society.

And here is my latest find



It is a beautiful little cupboard, a little worn and has some paint chipping. But I love it, it is gorgeous, has character and is exactly what I was looking for to put in this spot in the loungeroom.

Mercy House

I am watching the progress on Mercy House

I am constantly amazed by the faith and bravery by this family. I watch the plan and the works unfold and wonder if my faith can grow as big.

I stay here, in my safe, secure world and know that God cannot grow me without moving me. He may not move me geographically, but He does force me out of my comfort zone to grow me.

So, as I watch this ministry grow, I can only pray that God grows me too.

Gratituesday

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

I am grateful for the rain, and hope that the drought will soon cease
I am grateful for the beautiful flowers that come because of the rain

The wedding

Angelica and Wittle's wedding was a great day. It was long and Rona had had enough by the end of it, but it went off better than I had thought.

It started at 7, when we got up, my parents picked us up at 8, then we went to get ready for the wedding. Husband was at his parent's place and I was at Angelica's house.

There I got my hair done, my makeup done, got dressed while my parents and I cared for Rona.

Then there were the cars, Grace (Deanne and William's daughter) ended up with my parents because both Deanne and William were attendants and had no one to take care of Grace.

Vintage cars are beautiful, but they have no air conditioning and it got very hot. But they were so beautiful it was worth it.

The church was Catholic, I had never been to a Catholic service, so it was a different experience. The priest was nice, and the service wasn't too long. The flowers at the altar fell over during the service, so Angelica asked me to pick them up, but they wouldn't stay upright so I had to leave them.

The photos were long, but I think they will turn out well. By the end of the photos Rona and Grace had had enough.

By the time the reception had gotten under way, Rona was totally over the reception, the noise and the people. She was tired, but she was still well behaved. We ended up leaving at 10ish, which I thought was a good effort on Rona's part.

The cake was beautiful looking with these figurines on top




And these were the flowers

The wedding Saga

Wittle and Angelica are getting married, this engagement has been... interesting.

Husband and I agreed to be attendants at the wedding while we were still pregnant, I had no idea how hard it would be to try to organise a baby for a day, let alone during a wedding.

My parents will be following us around all day, and have not been invited to the wedding, which is a whole other issue. But my poor parents are going to come to Angelica's house to help with Rona while I get ready, then to the church, to the photos and to the reception. Rona is breastfed, and will not take a bottle, which is why my parents have to follow us everywhere.

I have tried to get Rona to bottle feed with expressed milk, to no avail. I have lots of expressed milk though, so I am going to give it to my parents for that day "just in case".

I am hoping and praying that this wedding comes off well, with no big hassles

You Capture - Togetherness

Ack, I can't believe that I forgot to post my You Capture :(





This is my mum, niece and nephew at storytime


This was at Father's Day (last month) Rona was asleep when I got my camera, but obviously heard me coming back to take a cute shot

Links for October

Some Money sites to start off October

Simple Savings
My all time favourite website, it has great free stuff and an even better paid membership section. This website has saved me heaps of money as well as the forum helping me keep my sanity!

Punch Debt in the Face
An irreverent and insightful blog about the ins and outs of personal finance