To New Zealand and back...way to ring in 2014!

Well hello!!
We left for New Zealand on January 12th and we returned on the 28th, so much to say!! I am really just far too verbose so I have notes I am working from, and then I have to shorten those down too!!!! It's still VERY LONG - so I don't blame you if you don't feel like reading, I know my family will want to though, so I'm putting it up anyhow!

Us on a hike, or "tramping" as they say

Bring it on 2014!

Happy New Year !!! 
Did you make it to midnight?! 
We did, but not in the way we intended. Our plan was to go to the city to watch the "FAMOUS" Sydney fireworks since last year we were too tired as we were just finishing up building our granny flat. This year as soon as we boarded the train and a group of seven intoxicated teens sat behind us (and proceeded to behave as intoxicated teens will...) I started shaking my head (while madly knitting on my socks) that I was in the wrong place. Too old for this and lacking patience for large groups of rowdy and ridiculous youths! We went, we ate some dinner, it drizzled and cleared up and we found a spot near the bridge.

See you later 2013!!!

Hi there!

Since the last time I posted there's been a few things -- a lot of working trying to get things finished up before the holidays. We went on a date night to a Tapas place in Darling Harbour...it was fun, but it wasn't enough food for the mister!

We did go to Melbourne at the beginning of December. I was SUPER excited because I got to hang out with my Melbournian friend...and she did not disappoint! We spent the whole day together and I was really wishing one of us had a FitBit because holy moly did we smash out the steps! We had breakfast in one of Melbourne's funky little alley ways, we walked from one end of the city to the other and back again, we walked around the river, we walked through the Botanical park, we did some geocaching, checked out a market, saw some cool shops, and I learned some new and interesting factoids about Melbourne and about many other things! We had plenty of tea, we had chocolate, we did a bit of knitting, I purchased some amazing yarn and fibre and a couple of things from those great shops, AND we both got sunburns!!! It was amazing! There's nothing better than spending a day with a friend, a local in a new area, and in this case one who shares many of my interests and is a part of the same online community as I am. Great hostessing & great conversation, we were already planning our next outing in Sydney!

New friends and new stuff!

Hi everyone!

Well October was a pretty good month! Busy...but good.

We went to the birthday party (which I refer to as a Halloween party!) and they boys drank A LOT lol I haven't seen my guy that sloshed since Contiki!!! Oi! I also found a pumpkin and carved it!! I did it in a hurry so it became a smiley pumpkin, it also went all weird and mushy and the inside was covered in black mouldy stuff within a couple of days!!!??? Maybe that's the norm in warm climes, I've only had jack o'lanterns in cold weather!

The party had an "M" theme

Jerry's donkey was the star of the show

Happy Jack

Fires are burning...

Other than knitting not a whole lot has been going on! We did go to that birthday party - had lamb on the spit & many other things! I met a bunch of new people, the birthday boy had some fun I think!

We've been planning a garden but it hasn't happened just yet. The biggest thing that's been going on is that there have been so many bush fires all around the state. It's pretty terrible just how many and how big they are, also how many homes have been obliterated. It's made for some really strange skies and terrible air to breathe as well.

Smokey skies over Marrickville

Bizzare juxtaposition in the sky

I've always loved October!

Welcome to my month! October is a great month, back home in Canada it's becoming fall (autumn), everything is changing colours, it is gorgeous. Also, my sister & I have our birthdays, my cousin has a birthday, my good friend has his birthday. Even when we were young there were several kids whose birthday's were in October. (Pretty obvious what everyone was doing 9 months earlier when there was loads of snow on the ground!!!)

Here it's a little OPPOSITE - we're experiencing spring. Which of course has a beauty all it's own:

Fun flower that popped up in our front flower bed one day

So much to say!!

Well hello there strangers! This is gonna be a looooooooooooooooooooooong one!

August was, as expected, a write off! Mum & dad arrived and we were pretty much non-stop on the move from that day until the day they left! 

Airport Arrival

Let the spinning begin...

Two posts in June - say what!??!

Not a lot going on though! Seriously! We went to the NRL (Rugby League) game and it was a bit chilly. Think ice rink temperatures but with wind because it's an outdoor stadium. It's a MASSIVE outdoor stadium (we went to ANZ) that holds 80,000 people. There were 20,000 for this particular game. The Doggies lost, they deserved to though, they were playing pretty crap. However, it was cool to see it live. I would like to see another game at a smaller arena because we could only see what was going on if they were at the end we were closest to.

ANZ Stadium during warmups

Lots of goodies...

Happy June! Back home the weather is warming up and it's heading into summer, my niece just graduated High School in the US, and school is nearly done for my brother in Canada. He's in grade 11...he just got his drivers license (which is scary as all get out, but apparently he's a very good driver) and he's looking forward to summer. He's not coming to Australia with my parents, instead he's going to go stay with my sister and work this summer. I dunno, if I was 17 I would want to go to Australia for free rather than work in a mill, but I've always had the itch to travel!

Soccer is still happening. Last weekend my fella got into a "challenge" and ended up with some guy kneeing him in the ribs. So this past week has been a lot of cursing, moving slow & groaning while trying to sleep. Just bruised though, not that they do anything for ribs anyway! 

On the topic of the fella - it's his BIRTHDAY today! He's 32 (old butt) and so far we've slept in, had pancakes, and opened some presents. We'll see what else the day holds. I see a fair bit of couch time & some Spartacus in our future! 

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes for brekky!

 

May Madness....it's nearly June!

Hi! So apparently I such at blogging these days. It's been nearly TWO months!!

The rest of April? Well, the boys are playing soccer now (my guy, his brother and friends) so I attended a few soccer games on Saturday afternoons. This is new to me. My sister played basketball in highschool, and I dated a hockey player (c'mon I am Canadian!) but soccer is not something I have watched a great deal of.

Ev (my guy's sister) and I ran a 5km race. Quite a few of the ladies from the running group ran it & it was fun. My second one, but this time I did run the whole 5km without stopping. There were hills, so I was pretty proud of myself!

Our Before & After race photos & the map of our run!