Tired out...

So just a quick update: All my students passed their exams on Saturday, so that was a relief. Sunday was spent doing a whole lot of little things that needed to be done as well as church, and yesterday I got to be a mummy for a day, babysitting Mairead and Hamish from 8:30am til 5:30pm. Wow... it was full-on. Two more days of work til it's Christmas Eve (which will be a big day) followed by Christmas Day (which will be even bigger). I'm looking forward to a rest on Boxing Day.

An apology

I wish to apologise for my post "Feeling down" on Monday. I shouldn't have posted that. :(

Sometimes life seems to get so complicated. It's good to know that God is in control of all the mess.

A bit of happy!

Okay, I am happy again now, and thoroughly looking forward to Christmas!

Here's a little of what our last few weeks have held:

~ The beautiful wedding of some dear friends, Garth and Rebecca ~

...where these delightful little people were:

(I love the loving head-lock embrace)

* * * * *

~ A fun weekend of Christmas cooking at Donna's house ~

(Donna and I stayed up til midnight mixing, rolling and baking)

The next day we assembled...

and decorated ...

Until we ended up with this:

and a few mini gingerbread houses...

and indeed a whole town of gingerbread houses, trees, and reindeer!

Little cupcakes I made:

This is adorable Hamish trying to eat a candy cane bigger than his head...

And here he is again, dressed up as Snow White. These poor little guys with big sisters - Lachlan was the same...

* * * * *

Then we farewelled Meaghan, Michael and Jono at the airport as they left to go and spend Christmas in New York with Lachlan! I miss Meaghan...

So that's a bit of what we've been up to in photo form... beside that there's been the usual busy-ness, all the work (since Meaghan is away), my teaching (which has just finished for the year - yay!), I have my students' exams coming up on Saturday (and I'll be so glad when they're over!), we have a fundraiser trivia night at Alastair's church on Saturday night, and then it's the week before Christmas - I'm shamelessly excited! On Monday I'm looking after Mairead and Hamish so Donna can have a day on her own, and we're going to have lots of fun! I am so blessed. :)

Woohoo!

Today, it's 100 days til our wedding! Yay!

Eeeeee!!!

A friend of mine has said I can witness the birth of her baby sometime around the end of December/early January! I'm so excited! I've wanted to be present at a birth for years and years and years, and I will ever be grateful to this dear couple for allowing me to do so! (At least, that's what I'm saying now... ask me afterwards...) :)

On a wedding-y note... I'm putting our beautiful invitations in envelopes right now, and they'll be posted this week! Yay!

A question or two:

As a married couple, will it always be that there are lots and lots of things that we agree on and a few things that we don't see eye to eye on yet, but will come to agree on in time? Is that the way marriage works?

Post 101

God is good. Over the last three days, He has worked in and changed hearts and lives in an amazing way - it's nothing short of a miracle. Praise the Lord!

Alastair has gone to a LAN for a bucks' afternoon/evening for his best friend Garth, and I am at home doing things, slowly. Mum and I are going to start doing wedding invitations this afternoon too!

I had resolved to post at least once a week. Ha. :P

It's been a different week this week... happily busy, and in hindsight, it seems to have gone fast. But while it was happening, it was slow and tedious. And it had a few low points too.

Amongst the good things were: finding rolls of cellophane for only $2 each for our bonboniere (or however you want to write/say that frustrating word), finding narrow ribbon (also for the b-things, and invitations) which exactly matches the colour of the bridesmaids' dresses, actually picking up said bridesmaids' dresses because they arrived at the shop this week (and they are at our house and they are absolutely beautiful and the girls will look stunning!), buying the invitation supplies and getting that sorted, going to the doctor and having her very pleased with my progress and weight gain (7kg since I met Alastair!), having my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever, picking up my wedding band (all re-sized and paid for!), making our Christmas card list and going to Koorong together to buy our cards, and having a very social day on Saturday and quiet-ish Sunday (well, part of Sunday).

The biggest not-so-great things were: having a big misunderstanding with Alastair on Wednesday night over the phone (which is all fixed up now), and a lot of friction between Mum and I over the "secret" parts of the wedding preparations (which is not all fixed up). Sure, I won't be letting Alastair see me in my dress before the wedding - and he doesn't want to either, but I have no worries about people knowing the colour scheme or anything like that. So the disagreements we have are not much fun.

Anyhow, that's about it for now...

6 weeks flies by!

Wow, I knew it had been a while - but 6 weeks!?!? A little while ago I realised that I needed to get a lot of wedding stuff thought about during the school holidays, because Term 4 is always enormous with students' exams, Christmas/end-of year stuff, etc, then Christmas comes, and since some places shut from Christmas til halfway through January (and then it will be 8 weeks til the wedding) I really needed to get a few things definitely booked. :) So I spent a lot of time doing that sort of stuff. Actually, since so much has been going on, I think I'll update in point-form:

• I helped at Alastair's church fete and made a billion sausage sandwiches.
• I performed as part of the Fisher's Ghost Youth Orchestra at our Bowral concert.
• Alastair, Donna and I went to a Sons of Korah concert - they are AWESOME!
• Mum had an operation on one of her parathyroid glands. And she broke her hearing aid. :P
• We got my engagement ring repaired - a corner chipped off one of the clasps.
• Alastair and I did the Spring Cycle in Sydney with his Uncle Jonathan. 40km - North Sydney to Olympic Park. Woo - go me! (I was sore afterwards!)
• Lachlan came back from the US for two weeks and competed in the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition - he came 6th out of 18 or so people. :)
• I made a billion phone calls to bridal hair and make-up people, had trials, and booked two ladies in!
• I ordered my wedding shoes online - it took two goes, but I have them now, and they're sooo pretty!
• We attended my friend Ann's wedding. She married Mark, my friend Bek's brother. :)
• I helped out at a school holiday fun day run by Alastair's church - I got the pre-schoolers. Wow, I was tired after that. :)
• I met with a florist, booked her in, and paid a deposit. :)
• Alastair and I spent an afternoon making a list of all the stuff in my glory boxes, so we know what we have and what we don't have.
• I bought all the vases and candle holders for the table decorations for the wedding. And spent hours picking/soaking/scraping off all the price stickers. :P
• I made an album with the pictures from our engagment photo shoot by Bethany (she's an amazing photographer).

• Alastair and I took Donna to see U2 3D at the IMAX in Darling Harbour - they are both obsessed with U2. :) I fell asleep in it. :P
• Alastair and I went to Melbourne with a family from Alastair's church (Scott, Kerryn and their gorgeous kids Ben and Emily), so that Scott and Alastair could do the Around the Bay in a Day ride - 210km! It was a fun weekend... I love the Queen Victoria Markets! My dear fiance has spent the rest of the week there, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow!
• Meaghan did her A.Mus exam - and passed! We are so proud of her!

This week, Term 4 started with a vengeance - it's Friday night, and I've only got half the things crossed off my to-do list this week! Before I finish though, just a quick note to my almost-sister-in-law Carly: of course I don't mind if you comment on my blog! :) (But that game in Canberra was miserable. :P )

Btw, this is my 99th post. I think that's cool. :)

Oh, and we're under five months til the wedding now. That is also cool. :)

More time being sick...

I have spent the last 10 days feeling very sick, sore and sorry for myself, and even landed myself in hospital for a night with an acute case of tonsilitis during that time. Not fun.

And it means that I have lost more time being sick, and I have a stack of stuff to catch up on.

Before I got sick last Monday 31st August, I was feeling fine. My student recital the day before went off without a hitch, and I really got great pleasure seeing a lot of my kids perform... many of the little ones for the first time ever.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and my 25th birthday. I still wasn't feeling 100%, so we just had a fairly quiet day. I felt very loved though, and will hopefully upload a photo or two soon.

Dragging myself through these low times is hard work. Today I felt like a human being again, which was great, so I started working out all this budgeting stuff for our wedding... but of course budgeting often brings with it a sober realisation and a dull thud in the tummy as the reality of saving every penny really sinks in. Weddings really are very expensive things, and so now I'm looking at ways of cutting costs.

And I'm very tired, so I'm heading to bed.

Ho hum...

I am uninspired to write a decent blog post.

This week has been a bit long and a bit weird and I miss Alastair a lot... and I'm all indecisive about bridesmaids' dress colours/style, flowers, and cake ideas.....

In which Carla updates her blog only 3 days after her last post!

I'm back into the world of blogging - look at me: less than a week since I last posted! :)

This weekend has been pleasant. Since Alastair and I got engaged, I think we've only had one relatively quiet weekend, so we decided that this weekend, we were going to say 'no' to everyone and everything... and it's been hard! The only thing we really couldn't say no to, was seeing Lachlan off at the airport - at 6:30am yesterday. :P

From there though, we came straight down to Wollongong, and had a quiet morning at Alastair's place... just resting. Then we decided to go and look at beds (since we'll eventually need to buy one :P) ... so we drove to Warrawong where all the big shops are that sell beds. Our shopping expedition lasted about... um... maybe half an hour or so, because we were both too tired to be bothered. So we came home.

Alastair had a ride booked with Smoz for 3:30pm, so I was pleased that (with some gentle encouragement) he decided to keep that appointment. :) I spent an hour with Kerryn chatting over cups of tea, and that was really good. After the ride though, Alastair was even more exhausted, so he rested while I made dinner, and then after we washed up he went to bed. It was about 8:30pm and I was a little surprised... I made a cup of tea and we talked for a little while, but then he went to sleep. Poor boy.

I got my stuff together and went back around to Smorrie and Kerryn's to stay the night (Donna had family staying), and went straight to bed too (they're not night-owls), which was great, as I actually got a decent sleep. :) I woke at 6:15am and soon after that, Ben (5) and Emily (2) came and jumped on the bed... Emmie snuggled down with me for a while though, and that made my morning. :) Chatted for a little while with Smoz and Kerryn, then came back to Alastair's place, let myself in, and woke him up - he'd had a good long sleep, hey! :)

Over breakfast, we had a good chat about finances, diet, exercise and other things - all things that we've been wanting to talk about but haven't had a decent amount of time to tackle... so that was reassuring for both of us, and we ARE on the same wave-length afterall. :)

Two loads of washing later, we put the bikes in the car, drove down to Fairy Meadow, and rode from there up to Bulli and back, along the bike-path. It is SUCH a glorious day - practically Spring weather - and it was lovely to have the time to do that. At the cafe at Bulli, we got chocolate paddle-pops, then rode back, jumped in the car, and raced home to watch the Swans (most likely) get thrashed (A-man will kill me for saying that!) by the Magpies. So I thought I would update my blog, have a shower, get the washing in, and stuff like that.

This weekend has been a blessing; a good recharge of the batteries I think - last week, things were beginning to look a bit tough, but it's okay now. :)

Right now, I am very happy. I feel like I could burst with all the love I have inside me - that I've received, and to give. God is good. :)

For goodness sake: it's 3:30am?!?!?!

I'm awake and I shouldn't be. But I've been coming down with a cold for the last couple of days, so I went to bed at 5:30pm last night, and now that I've woken up, I can't sleep any more. I lay there trying for an hour, but alas, my nose is completely blocked and sleep just won't come. It's very sad, actually, because I'm quite tired....

However, I'm going to be time-efficient, and update my blog. :P

Our enormous weekend (as mentioned in my last post) was just that: enormous. Which is probably why Alastair and I are both sick. :(

Alastair came up on Friday night, and we went to visit some of my friends for dessert, as they haven't had much chance to spend time with and get to know Alastair. It was lovely to see them and catch up - and they cooked really yummy individual sticky date puddings for everyone! When we got back, we watched a funny movie with Mum and Dad, and went to bed late. :P

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and down at the bike track early to meet my friend Bethany, so that she could do some engagement photos for us! It was lots of fun, and B got creative, enjoying the fact that neither of us mind being in front of the lens. :P Here's a sneak peek at a few of them: Engagement Photos!

From there, we rushed over to Woodbine McDonalds where we met up with Katherine and Joel, Mum, Megs, and Bek. We girls and mum (those three are my bridesmaids) went over to the bridal shop nearby, and I showed them the wedding dress I like. Or rather, the wedding dress I love. :) And I think we've pretty much decided that it's the one. Yay! :) Then we all went out to Gledswood Homestead, where we met Alastair and Joel, Dad, and Marelle (A and J's mum), as they were all set up and decorated for a wedding, and they said we could have a look to see what ours could look like. It was absolutely b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l, and everyone liked it very much. :)

And then we parted company. Sad times. :( hehehe :) Dad went home to mow the lawns, Alastair and Joel took their mum out for lunch, and the rest of us went bridesmaid dress shopping. I had mixed feelings about it, knowing that I'd seen a dress that Megs and I liked, but also realising that the three girls are all different shapes. We went to the shop, put the dresses on, and voila! They looked good on all three, and they all liked them! We even all agreed on the colour! Hooray! :) We went and found some lunch and talked about it, then went quickly to three other bridal shops nearby to check that they didn't have anything better, and then made our decision. It felt soooo good, and I was very pleased with our productive day! :)

Mum and Megs went home from there, as they had Lachlan's birthday get together to prepare for, and Bek dropped Katherine and I at Olympic Stadium where we met Alastair and Joel, and together we watched the Swans lose by only 5 points to... I forget which team. Oops. I'm such a bad footy fanatic. :P It was late by the time we got home, and we were very tired... which meant that we weren't disturbed by Lachlan and his friends watching movies until 4am like Megs was... 

Sunday morning we went to my church, and I got to play with Lachlan for the first time in over a year. It was lovely... except his 11 weeks here have flown by, and it was his last service before going back to the States. :(

After church, Alastair and I caught up with my friend Ann and her fiance Mark for coffee, which was lovely, and we swapped wedding planning drama stories. :P Alastair hadn't met them before, but he and Mark got on really well, so I was pleased. :)

We went back to my house and sorted out some wedding dramas for half the afternoon, then went down to Wollongong for evening church down there, which was good. Kerryn and Smorrie's 2-year-old Emily knows who I am and apparently when they say they're going to church now, she says "Carla?" :) How cute! They were sitting in front of us during the service, and Emmie called out "Car-laa", and Smorrie handed her over for a cuddle... she's adorable. :) After church we went out for dinner with Meg, Tim, and Mini-Meegs, and it was good to catch up with them.

After all that, it was no wonder that Alastair woke up sick on Monday morning, and couldn't go to work. I was glad I didn't have to teach until the afternoon, so I got to spend the morning looking after him. :)

Since then, I think I've caught what he had though. I guess that's what happens when you share the love. :P Yesterday I got all overwhelmed about a lot of things and cried myself silly, which I think didn't help my general state of well-being, as I was so tired out I just went to bed. And now here I am with this silly dilemma on my hands of not being able to sleep, but my eyes are so tired and sore and my nose is all blocked. :(

Later on today, we have a funeral to go to down in Shellharbour - dear Mrs. Powell unexpectedly went to heaven last Friday. Sad for all of us, but no doubt a relief for her, as she had struggled in the past with cancer and ill health. 

There you have it... my week. There's always something major going on at the moment... like Lachy leaves on Saturday morning....... :(

Wow, it's been nearly a month...

My goodness... I knew it had been a long time, but I didn't realise just how long! Our weekends have been enormous, and our weekdays filled with trying to stay afloat with all the usual things... So in an effort to catch up on a billion and one things that has happened, this is going to be a rambly, newsy post without much direction - cos that's the way I think and it makes it easier. :P

The weekend after I last wrote, Alastair and I went up to Coffs Harbour, so stay with some of his closest friends... Richard and Suzanne are lovely lovely people and their children are gorgeous. :) I feel blessed to count them among my friends now - and add to that: Richard is going to marry us. :) I think that's really special. So anyway, we went up there so that I could meet these people that Alastair kept telling me about - and I certainly wasn't disappointed. They made me feel so welcome, and we spent the weekend sharing over cups of tea, doing a jigsaw (750 piece, with 5 extra pieces and no edges at all!), resting, fishing (ew!), cuddles with the little ones, a movie at the quaint Sawtell cinema, lunch by the beach, and other fun things. It was truly a blessing to get away for a bit of a break.

During that next week, I tried on wedding dresses for the first time! Oh. My. Goodness. How awesome is it, to put a dress on, look in the mirror, and go "Wow. I look like a real bride." It was amazing, and I really like the ladies in a shop only 15mins away. We did look further away, but I have a really good feeling about this place in Leumeah. :) Mum and Megs came with me the first time, and I took Dad and Lachlan back another time to see if they liked the two dresses that I liked... and this weekend, it's worked out that I can get the opinions of my other two bridesmaids - yay! It's an amazing feeling to be in a wedding dress... kind of makes it all real.

The next Saturday was Dad's birthday, and we had a family picnic out at Warragamba. It was just lovely... the six of us having a barbecue and just hanging out together, in a way we haven't been able to very much. So we had marshmallow throwing competitions, kicked the footy (and Alastair split his pants! hehehe...), ate birthday cake, and just generally enjoyed our time together. It was nice and relaxed, and a very special time. I love my family. :) The next day we got up early and drove to Canberra with Ashley and Carly, because the Swans were playing Melbourne (Carly's team)... it got to a maximum of about 6 degrees and it was miserable and rainy and yucky. But at least I was with my wonderful fiance - that makes anything worthwhile. :)

The last week in July for me was full of trying to get 14 students enrolled for AMEB flute exams... filling out all the forms, getting fees from parents (which is still happening... grrr), organising a student recital as performance opportunity for them, as well as all the normal teaching and stuff that fills my life. Like being the best fiancee I can possibly be. :)

So then we hit August running... it started with me driving down to Donna's after orchestra on the Friday, and we had a 5th and 2nd birthday party (brother and sister) to go to the next day. It was fun... and even had a jumping castle! Do you know how long it has been since I got to be a kid on a jumping castle?? Too long. Liana handed me her 18month old son, and said "There you go Carla, an excuse to get on!" hehehehehe - yay! So I got on... and when all the kids got off to play Pass the Parcel, I stayed on... and did some flips and just generally got rid of some energy. :P That afternoon we drove up to my home. Alastair took my Dad to the footy (which he REALLY enjoyed, of course!) and Megs, Lachy and I went to an ABO concert (Alastair's mum is the receptionist, and had given us three free tickets in the dress circle!). It was a good night... except that when we got home late, Alastair and I had to spend time sorting out a little problem we had with each other on the way in........ such is life. :) My church the next morning, Alastair's in the evening... this is why we are so tired - trying to live two lives!

Last week was full with a whole bunch of general stuff, sorting out a heap of music for orchestra, getting up to date with all the filing here for Dad, contacting students' parents over and over... and stuff. On the weekend, we went down to Minnamurra for our "Growing Together In Christian Marriage" course, which ran from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. There were six young engaged couples, and the older couple who were running it, and we were staying in a retreat house... it was just the right number of people to be cosy, and we all got on well. Alastair and I got on particularly well with Stephen and Rochelle... and we've purposed to keep in contact and become better friends. :) What was really cool, was that it's the first time we've met new people as a couple. Up until now, all the "meeting" has been us meeting each other's friends... which has to happen, but the lopsidedness can be tiring. But we were both starting from scratch, and that was a pleasant experience. We learned a LOT... I came away feeling rather overwhelmed, but as we've "unpacked" bits and pieces and talked more about it, I'm feeling better. :) It was excellent (run by Anglicare), and I would highly recommend it. It's given us lots of food for thought, and skills to help our marriage run smoothly - at least, that's the idea. :)

This week has been the usual... which I won't go over again :P and we're gearing up for another enormous weekend. Today is Lachlan's 20th birthday, so that's exciting! Alastair and Michael are coming for our family dinner, cos they're part of the family. :) Yesterday I took Lachy out for coffee, and it was great to spend time with him... I've been busy, and he's been quite sick a lot of the time, so it was nice to chat about all sorts of things, do some shopping, and then I gave him a driving lesson in the manual... which he found rather exhausting... hehe. :) I do love my brother very much, and will miss him again when he flies back to the States on Saturday week......

So... that about brings you up to date. I will endeavour to not leave it as long between posts from now on! I'll have a heap to write about after this weekend anyway, I'm sure..... 

I love you all very much! (But especially my gorgeous fiance! xo)

A few days break...

I am finally feeling better! Not 100%, but much better than I have in 5 weeks, so that is great.

I have been in Wollongong since Saturday night, and it's been just lovely. So it started with me ending up being allowed to go out to dinner with Alastair's family, and I ate an enormous, delicious burrito. :) That was the start of a nice break. We went to Alastair's place first, and then I drove down to Donna's (and she's had me four nights in a row!). When I came back here the next morning, we just had a gorgeously lazy Sunday morning - our first, I think, since we've known each other! In the afternoon, Alastair went for a ride with Smorrie, and I spent a couple of hours with Kerryn (Smorrie's wife) and getting to know her - she's lovely. :) Alastair preached at the evening church service, and we came home and watched a movie... I think. I can't really remember... I was so tired I just kept falling asleep!

The next day when I came back from Donna's, I made my fiance's lunch and took him to work. :) When I came back to the house, I went to bed, and slept until lunchtime! Then I went down to open a joint account with Alastair during his lunchbreak, and got some things for dinner on the way home. I cooked a chocolate cake, and picked Alastair up from work, and together we made chicken schnitzel with vegies for dinner with Peter. It was actually pretty good. :)

Tuesday... pretty much the same thing - slept here til lunchtime, then got up and did stuff... tidying up, washing, and cooked an apple pie. :) Late in the afternoon, Joel and Katherine arrived to stay for a few days... it was pretty weird letting them in for the first time! I picked Alastair up from work and we had dinner here all together (spaghetti bolognaise which Peter cooked), and then we went down to Donna's for a game and dessert. I was so tired...

This morning Donna dropped me back here, and I walked in to a cozy lounge room with pyjama-clad people lounging around and the heater on... it was nice. :) Dropped Alastair to work, and then Joel and Kat went off to get Kat's tooth fixed, which has been giving her grief. They just got back, so now I'm going to be sociable!

I've had a lovely, restful few days... going home tonight after Alastair finishes work...

So guess what...

Yeah... that's right... I'm still sick. :(

And I'm not allowed to go to the footy tomorrow. :(

And I'm not allowed to go out for dinner with all Alastair's family tomorrow night. :( And they're going to the best mexican restaurant ever, too. :( :( :(

What an exciting weekend!

I'm still sick and trying to take it easy, but I had a WONDERFUL weekend! So until I can actually get my thoughts sorted out and in order enough to blog (because I really, REALLY want to!), this can tide you over:

 Carla and Alastair's Engagement Party!

My friend Bethany is an amazing photographer, and I'm so thankful to her for all the gorgeous pictures she's taken!

So guess what...

I'm still sick. :(

And now Lachlan has glandular fever. :(

Our family is battling four major, life-changing events all at once. The last few weeks have been hard.

The FGYO concert on Saturday went well, and Lachlan played well... he had to push himself through it though, as he was already going downhill quickly. I had pushed too hard... at the end I knocked a pot of flowers off the stage, and just cried and cried and cried. Our weekends have been so full and busy, I can't wait for life to settle down.

Yesterday marked my last day of teaching for Term 2. Public schools have another week, but the two private schools I teach at break a week early, so I gave the others an early mark too. That means I'll have 3 weeks off, which will be such a blessing. Last night after teaching, I went down to Wollongong, because it was my last opportunity before our engagement party. I got progressively sicker throughout the evening, and by about 10pm, Alastair suggested he take me up to the hospital. I couldn't breathe properly, couldn't stop coughing and crying and stuff...... but eventually settled down, and he took me down to Donna's for the night.

I was all worried about taking sickness into her house, but she was still up when we arrived, and was her usual sweet self welcoming me in. I got ready for bed, and Alastair tucked me in, made sure I had tissues and a drink and medicine and everything - he took such good care of me. I am so blessed. This morning I was feeling much better after a good sleep, and Donna took me back to Alastair's place. He went to work, and I pottered around doing some ironing and straightening up the place for him and his dad. I even picked some flowers and put them on the table. :)

Coming back home was weird. Mum has to be beside Lachlan most of the time to make sure that he keeps his fluids up, so that he doesn't have to be admitted to hospital to have them intraveneously (sp??) :P and Dad has an ear-ache. Megs is really holding the place together as Mum calls off all Lachlan's planned concerts, as well as looking after him, as well as planning the party on Saturday. It's a subdued kind of crazy here at the moment... weird.

So many people just have such BIG things going on in their lives... I'm praying for Donna, and for Danielle and Lauren... as well as us. There must be more stuff going on in other friends' lives too... but keeping up with everyone has become a physical imposibility lately.... ahh dear...

Urgh...

I am STILL sick. :( I just can't shake the last of this cold... it's *very* frustrating. 

Perhaps if I actually stopped for a minute and let my body rest, it might get over it more quickly... but there's too much to do.......

Awe and wonder...

The last time I was at the Kiama blowhole, was on Saturday 24th January... one of my stand-in brothers and I went for a drive and ended up down there. We stood at opposite sides of the lookout, watching the powerful waves crash against the rocks, each absorbed in our own thoughts... him pondering forbidden romance, and me the lack of romance in my life. I stood there, and basically felt as lonely as I've ever felt.... and I wished that I was there with someone who loved me - Michael does, but only in a fraternal sense, thankfully. :) As I stood there, tears came to my eyes... and I said a quiet prayer.

Yesterday I was there again... but this time with my fiance standing close behind me, as we gazed from the lookout and marvelled at God's creation. The wonder of God's love is amazing and so undeserved... He has planned out the intricate design of our relationship, in ways that we can never understand.

Our weekend was big and busy... minding the boys on Saturday was oodles of fun! In the middle of the morning, we took them out to the shopping centre for donuts, battling car seats, prams, trollies and rain, which I found enormously amusing. Then when we were eating lunch, Keegan (3) sneezed three times into his hand then said "yucky" as he wiped it all over the table. That was gross, but Alastair's reaction of shock had me laughing uncontrollably for several minutes. Both boys were up from their sleeps when their Dad arrived home, and I think we did pretty well for ourselves. :) In the evening we went up to Sydney for the footy - the Swans played the Magpies, and Katherine and Joel came down from Gil for it. We picked them up from Kat's parents' place in Campbelltown, and had a hilarious trip in... Joel played his ukelele in the front seat with Alastair on kazoo and U2 on the iPod. :) Ashley and Carly met us in there, so the three Wilson boys were there with girlfriend, fiancee and wife, on a triple date! Hehe :) The game ended up disappointing, but we're good sports. It was a late night, then we got up and went in to Sydney again to meet Alastair's mum and Michael, Uncle Jonathan and Esme, and Nan for brunch. Nan was up from Benalla and I hadn't met her, and Jonathan and Esme were off to Italy/France for 6 weeks, so we caught up with them all and it was pleasant. Once back home, my family wanted to go down to Kiama, so off we all went and had a lovely afternoon (even though I was feeling *sick* :P), then we came home and watched movies. I'm tired, but happy. :)

A couple of pictures from yesterday......

I am still sick...

I took my first "sick day" for the year today... I cancelled 17 students. I hate having to do that sort of thing and muck so many people around, but it just had to be that way today - this morning when I woke up I felt disgusting. I ended up sleeping until lunchtime, and feel a bit better now... I will be glad when I'm better!

Megs is sick too... we don't even have half a voice between us. Mum found it most amusing when she overheard a coversation between the two of us... I couldn't see the funny side, myself. It's actually highly annoying. :P

The only other thing of interest is that Mum and I did a lot of planning for our engagement party today, so it's good that that's underway. I need to sort out two things asap: colour scheme, and cake.

Oh, there's one other thing. On Sunday after church, Alastair was talking to Gav and Liana, and ended up offering for us to mind their little boys all day on Saturday..... hehe! What fun! Keegan (3) and Ronan (1) are gorgeous kids and lots of fun... I'm sure we'll be kept on our toes!

I am sick...

Well, I've been sick. I spent all of Thursday and most of Friday in bed with a fever and terribly sore throat... now though, I feel fine - but my voice has gone! I sound like a boy. :(

In other news, Alastair and I are thoroughly enjoying our first weekend where we haven't been rushing from one place to the next the whole time. Yesterday all my family were out, so we leisurely made our way around a few reception venues, and found the loooooooovliest one! It's even available on the 20th March... so then we took Mum and Dad out there for a look later in the day. I hope they decide to book it!

Last night Donna, Alastair and I had a really good chat. Some of the things were topics I'd not thought much about before, others I'd put a lot of thought into over the years, but they were new concepts for Donna. Overall, it was very thought-provoking, and we are truly "iron sharpening iron".

This morning I went to Alastair's church, and afterwards there was a Church Council meeting, so I came back to his house to have a cup of tea with Peter. We had a good time - he'd brought in an old organ, and as soon as I finished playing Amazing Grace, it started smoking. (hehe) :) But it settled down, and he got out a big pile of old music books with popular old songs in them and I played through them... I think he enjoyed a bit of music in the house. Then Alastair and Tim wanted to watch some silly TV show, so I watched Peter make truffles, then we rolled them into balls together. It was good, we got to have a nice chat.

It's FREEZING cold!!! I have a scarf AND a jacket on. INSIDE! :P

Anyhow, I might go and see what all the boys are up to now... ciao! xo

Wedding plans...

Wedding plans seem to be coming along, which is exciting! We have a date, we have a church, we have a minister, we have a bridal party, we have a reception venue (which may or may not be definite)... one thing I would love to have sorted out is the colour of the bridesmaids' dresses - I feel that when that's organised, and we have a theme/colour to go with, that other things will be able to be planned more simply... 

Today was a big day - I left to teach early this morning and only just got home. It was worth it though. One of my precious bridesmaids is moving house, so I went to help her clean and tidy after I finished teaching at 6.30pm. We got a lot done but ended up pretty tired. Tomorrow morning Megs and I have to be on an early train in order to meet Nanna in the city - she wants to buy us each an outfit for the engagement party! How lovely is that??? :)

In related news, I am just overwhelmed at how very generous everyone is being towards Alastair and I - it's such a blessing, and has completely blown me away.

Another post? So soon?

Hello everybody! And yes, I'm back in the land of living - two blog posts in three days! :)

It's the long weekend - yay! Yesterday after orchestra, I drove down to Wollongong. Spent the evening with Alastair at his place, then stayed the night at Donna's.

I love staying there... this morning I was up doing play-dough with Hamish at around 7am - don't get that at home. :) Donna is so welcoming, and she's such a blessing in my life. I wish I could do something for her to show how much I love and appreciate her and everything she's done/is doing for Alastair and I...

I got back up to the Wilsons' at 8am, and Alastair, Tim and I got ready for a bike-ride. (Tim is the boarder that Alastair and his Dad have living with them). There was a youth-leaders brunch (or some such) happening at a cafe in North Wollongong, and since Alastair really enjoys cycling and is doing a 210km ride in October, I've been asking if we can go for a ride. Well... this wasn't exactly what I had in mind... I thought nice and flat, like Camden.... no way. :P It was up and down and all over the place. PLUS, I was using Meags' bike which Alastair is minding while she's in India, and you have to ride it with the special shoes that click onto the pedals. Scary stuff. I fell off the bike three times in the street last night when I was practicing, and another three times this morning! How embarrassment. It's not that I can't RIDE a bike, cos I CAN!!! But these stupid shoes! Man!!! I fell off while I was stopped, cos I had my feet locked in to the pedals... and usually to the amusement of those around us. :P Alastair and Tim were really good with me - they went slowly and didn't laugh at my disembarking habits. We got to the cafe, and had brunch with Meg and Jess... they were the only ones who turned up. Mini-Meegs was supposed to come, but of course she came up with some lame excuse for not getting there - like the alarm didn't go off. :P (MM, if you're reading this, I do love you.) :) I had awesome banana bread. On the ride home, I didn't fall off - not once! When we got home, I was SOOOO stiff and sore. My bum just kills - those bike seats aren't made for boney bums. Once home, we headed straight off to a church working-bee, where we cleaned, sneezed, threw out, sneezed, painted, sneezed, tidied, sneezed, hung curtains, sneezed, etc, all afternoon. And so I am now even more sore. :P But it was a good day, and we got a lot done. We're going to eat dinner now, and then hopefully watch a movie... we'll see. I'm bound to fall asleep in it, and I have to drive home tonight as I'm on music at church tomorrow! Fun times!

Oh, and you know what? I love Alastair more with each passing day!

A week to a view...

Oh my goodness, it's been a week since I posted and so much has happened! I'm on the go all the time these days, and when I do have a spare minute, I have to prioritise and use it for more important things... not that keeping up with you isn't important...... I hope you know what I mean.

I've loved being busy, but I'm really looking forward to next weekend (13th/14th) when we don't have ANYthing on... yet. :P This weekend is shaping up to be as busy as ever - I'm sure it'll be lots of fun though. :)

Since I blogged... on Friday night Alastair picked me up from orchestra and we chilled here... then on Saturday we left early and went down to Canberra for a Swans game. Joel and Katherine came down from Gilgandra for it too - it was SO good to see Katherine again! I'd post a link to Alastair's blog here because it has a photo of him and I with Joel and Kat, but there's a really hideous photo on there of me which is ewwy, so I'm not linking it. :P We came back via the Axelbys', and it was just lovely to spend time with them - and be able to introduce Alastair to them! Their home is always open to us, and I love visiting them... was so pleased when my fiance came away feeling like he'd just made 12 new friends. :) He even managed to cuddle Michael... 

Photo courtesy of Rachael

On Sunday morning, Alastair got up early and went for a ride with Jonathan. We all got up early too, and went in with stand-in brothers Michael and Jono to meet Lachlan who was arriving home from the US! It was a loooooong wait, but so good to see him again. (Of course, I cried). We went in to Circular Quay and had brunch there all together... it had been too long. Alastair dropped in on his way back down to Wollongong in the afternoon, so my brother was finally able to meet my fiance in person. :) Lachlan brought us a beautiful hand-blown, hand-painted vase as an engagement present... he carried it all the way from PA in his hand-luggage. :)

At Circular Quay...

It's so hard to get a picture with everyone being normal with these guys!

A random pose Michael had the brainwave of and I made everyone do. :)

Btw, Alastair gets on so well with all my family. I really love that. :)

So this week we've been working hard of course with all the usual things... work and teaching and organising and all the rest. I've got an hard-back A4 book with lined pages and on the front I've written "Engagement/Wedding Stuff"... it's a place where Alastair and I can write anything we like... from guest lists to gift lists... and other things... like random stuff we're thinking about that we don't want to forget, just so we don't have to have a whole bunch of random papers lying around that will get lost. All our engagement invitations are out, and I've had 29 'yes' RSVP's already, so that's exciting! Nanna is taking me shopping in the city next week for a dress to wear to the 'party', which is really lovely of her. 

Besides all that, I've been down to Wollongong and stayed the night at Donna's twice already this week - and tomorrow will make thrice! On Monday I went down to watch the church netball game, and afterwards Alastair and I had a bit of 'us' time... we don't often get it! So that was lovely - we went to a little Italian place in Figtree before I drove to Donna's and slept like a log. Tuesday I taught all day and Bek came for dinner afterwards, which was great - life has changed for both of us in the last little while, and we don't get a lot of time for that sort of thing. She's also one of my bridesmaids, so she, Megs and I discussed colours for a little while. Still undecided. :P

I was in Wollongong last night too, as Dale and Cass (there's a gorgeous photo of her baby on there!) invited us for dinner. Alastair went to school with Dale - so they go back a loooooong way, as they're both old. :) I felt amazingly comfortable with them, and their kids, Callum and Annabelle are just gorgeous! Call me clucky, but man! I'm in my element down there with all the babies and toddlers that Alastair's friends have! :) I got to give Annie her bottle after tea and she went to sleep and snored in my lap. :) Back to Donna's for the night, and I came home this morning to have a day of doing normal stuff, sorting through boxes of wool/spinning supplies, making FGYO flyers/programmes/etc for our next concert, and working for Dad. Tonight two of my youngest students made their debut at their school solo night, so I went an accompanied them on piano. They did so well and I was so proud of them. :) When I got back, there was still a heap of work to do with Dad, and being tired, I didn't handle it brilliantly. The highlight of tonight was, of course, talking to Alastair before he went to bed ages ago.... and since then I've been finishing work off, replying to emails, and stuff like that.

Tomorrow I'm off down to Donna's for the night again, as I'm helping out at a working bee on Saturday morning at Alastair's church..... and there are lots of other things planned for the rest of the weekend too.... but for now, BED! I need to get there ASAP! I hope I haven't forgotten anything I should've written! Anyhow... right now I am feeling very blessed. God is good to me.

Love you all! xo

A couple more photos, just cos they're there... :)

Lachlan and I outside the Opera House looking over the harbour...

Daddy and his girls...

A photo...

Wow... life is hurtling along at a crazily wonderful break-neck pace! I love love love it, but I'm so tired! And it means that I don't have a huge amount of time to blog about everything... maybe soon... Here's a photo of us at my very first football game on Sunday - I had a spectacular time!!!

Guess what!!!

Today I'm going to the footy for the first time ever! :)

Yesterday, it was Alastair's mum's birthday, and we went with her and her husband to see the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra at Angel Place. It was so good! Then we went and found Haigh's Chocolate Shop... and well... yeah. :) I am totally in love with their Peppermint Truffle Bars! It was also lovely to catch up with Bek afterwards in the QVB... and she agreed to be one of my bridesmaids! 

Alright... I'm off. I'll post properly again soon. xo

Last Sunday we went on a picnic...

On Sunday we went for a picnic with some of the people from Alastair's church... in honour of Mick and Clare's youngest daughter Ingrid's first birthday. I love Alastair's church family, and there are lots of babies and toddlers to cuddle! It was a lovely day, and here are a few pictures...

* * * * *

Kerryn with her daughter Emily, and me with Donna and Dave's son Hamish. He's absolutely adorable, and I love him to bits. :)

Me with Hamish... he usually smiles.... 

Alastair and I with Hamish and his sister Mairead. Gorgeous kids. I stay with them if I need to stay in Wollongong overnight, and they've become like extra family. :)

Across the duckpond...

Just thought you might like to know...

...that getting nothing done drives me CRAZY!

Today, I have done a lot of trying to keep people happy, and it's been really hard work. Everything is a bit overwhelming today... 

That's all.

Oh, one more thing actually - and on a happier note: I have an appetite and I've gained weight! It's so awesome to feel hungry... I today realised that I haven't felt like this for years! Last year when going through some stress and health difficulties, I went down to 59kg, and have been hovering around the 61kg til now... but this morning I weighed myself, and was 63kg - even before breakfast! I am just loving being hungry.... am so thankful to God.

The latest...

I'm so tired... I promise I will post an update soon.

But for now, this will have to do: Alastair's blog

xoxo

A picture says a thousand words...

*smiles*

It's a lovely windy day, and I am enormously blessed.

Oopsy!

Oh dear... I just got home from Alastair's place, and tucked into three-quarters of a block of Cadbury Peppermint Chocolate......

...my mouth stings. :(

On another note, we had a lovely lovely evening with a "more experienced" couple from Alastair's church - they're coming up for 50 years of marriage! Fae and Kevin are like grandparents to Alastair... just gorgeous... so sweet and encouraging. I was blessed by spending time with them tonight. :)

A week to catch up on...

Sorry it's been a while since I updated... there's been so much going on, and I haven't had time before now to actually sit down and post. As it is, I don't have very long, but I will do my best! :) Cos I really do love blogging... sometimes words just don't come though. We'll see.

Last week (the week before Mother's Day) Alastair and I didn't see each other much. I drove down on Monday morning (since I had a free morning) because he was sick, and consequently home from work. Awww. :) I could only stay for an hour or so, because I had students after lunch, but it was good - I was able to look after him and get him some breakfast. And his headache went away too. :) 

We didn't visit during the week, because Alastair's church had a nightly one hour silent prayer thing going on, which was from 8-9pm. I wasn't allowed to go, because apparently I'd have been a distraction. :P Which is cool, I can handle that. :) But since Friday was the last night of it, I went down and met Alastair at the church when it finished, to surprise him. :) Then we went back to his house with a couple of his friends and talked for a while. 

On Saturday, our Big Weekend started. Alastair did a 30km bike ride, then came up at about 10.30am... then we went for a picnic to the beautiful Macarthur Park, so that Alastair could meet Mrs. Bieman (my adopted grandmother) and Kate, another dear friend. It was just a glorious day, and we had a great time. Late in the afternoon, Alastair took me down to Wollongong, and we had dinner at Kerryn and Smorrie's place... it was so lovely. Their kids, Ben and Emily, are adorable, and we had a ball hanging out with all of them. Then Alastair drove me down to Donna's house... she's now my adopted big sister - I stay with her if I need to when I go down to Wollongong. :) It's so lovely and comfortable at Donna's... I feel so welcome, and she just makes me feel at home... her kids, Mairead and Hamish are also adorable, and they wake me up early in the morning to play with soft toys in Mairead's bed. :) I am soooo blessed by Alastair's friends - they've really welcomed me and made me feel so loved. Hamish is just starting to talk, and he calls me Darla. :P

Anyhow, back on track! Alastair picked me up just after 7am on Mother's Day (I was ready!), and we drove up here for breakfast with my family... then on to Manly for lunch with my grandparents on my mum's side, and her brother and his family. It was really nice watching Alastair get on so well with them all. We had Yum Cha for lunch (which isn't my favourite!), and afterwards, Megs, Alastair and I took my little cousins, Grace and Luci, to the new Cold Rock ice creamery... oh! It was so much fun doing that with the little girls... :) I have loved seeing Alastair relating to all these little people too.... he's so good at it. :)

Anyhow, side-tracked with gorgeously cute kids again! :P Um... during the afternoon we went to Warringah Mall and wandered around there.... looking in jewellery shops.... :) and then we drove to Crows Nest to have dinner with Alastair's mum and her husband, Ashley and Carly (one of his brothers and his girlfriend). They're all lovely people, and I got on well with them - I think. :P I did with his mum, anyway. :) We had Mexican for dinner... and it was very very yummy. We got home quite late... and were very tired.

This week, Alastair has been sick - I think he's run down from all the late nights and busy-ness... poor boy. But he's getting better now. Yesterday after I taught in the morning, I went into the city to be moral support for a friend at a doctor's appointment. Then we went shopping and it was nice. :) I went down to Wollongong after that, and Alastair cooked dinner for us and his Dad and Tim. (Tim boards with Alastair and his dad). Then we watched a movie together, and I drove home.......

Tonight, I'm going down again, but I won't stay late cos I'm really tired. Fae and Keven - an older couple from Alastair's church - have asked us over for dinner, which is really sweet. They're lovely people, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better.

Today, I have so many things I have to do - my list is a mile long! But that's okay... it'll happen. 

I love falling in love. It makes me happy. :)

Flowers... and other thoughts...

It's a week today since Alastair brought me flowers for the first time ever, and they're still going strong. When I sit quietly at the computer on my own late at night, their scent drifts over to me and I start to smile as I think about the wonderful man God has brought into my life. 

The last few days have held a lot for us... love, pain, joy, stress, tears... but through it all, we are getting to know each other's hearts... and I just love what I see of his.

We're becoming one in heart.

Love is in the air...

Just a few pictures you might like a squiz at... apparently a picture paints a thousand words. Which is good, because at the moment, I don't have enough words to express how I feel. These four will have to do: I am in love. 

These are selfies we took up at the Mount Keira lookout today... a bit gross and wind-blown, but they give you a bit of an idea... :)

I feel sick.

This is not fun. I'm all sniffly and achey...

...maybe I have that mexican pig flu.

Aren't they beautiful?

Alastair came for dinner at our house last night. I went out to greet him, and he came up the driveway with something behind his back... a big bouquet of beautiful flowers! 

In my whole life, I have been given flowers maybe two or three times.... once by my Dad, and a couple of times by a dear friend. Never by a young man though! 

I think I'm pretty much in love. And it's NOT just the flowers that made me come to that conclusion! In fact, if Alastair gave me a handful of weeds I'd love him just as much.

We prayed together again last night. When he was going, we stood out in the freezing cold 6 degree weather, and prayed... for lots of things - for our relationship, for our families, for our friends, for our witness to those around us. I quietly broke down while praying for my brother, and Alastair took over the rest of my prayer and finished it off for me. 

I don't know what I've done to deserve such a wonderful man. Well, I know that I've done absolutely nothing! But still.... Alastair's love blows me away..... and God's love does even more.

A what?

What on earth is a PUK code? It sounds like something to do with vomiting.

A photo...

Here's a picture Mum took this morning... it's me, talking on the phone to dear Mr. Guess Who. :) I just happened to be still in my pyjamas, pulling the sheets off my bed, and putting away clothes too.

Oopsy!

I have been told that my last post sounds like an engagement announcement... it's not. :P

I don't know what to say!

God has blessed me so much.

I had a bunch of chores to do in the holidays... and I didn't get one of them done! But God gave me a gift that is much more precious than any jobs I had to do...

Imagine: a man wants to spend to the rest of his life.... with me. I still can't really believe it.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie down together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I love and appreciate so so so many things about Alastair... but the one that comes to mind as I write tonight is his leading in the area of praying together. When he suggests it (as he did three times on Saturday) it just blesses me so much... 

I will be eternally grateful to the Lord... this could NOT have happened by chance.

I love you all! xo

Me???

Well... guess what! I am officially "in a relationship" with Alastair Wilson... we are getting to know each other in order to decide whether it's God's will for us to marry. We both really hope it is! :)

Since you can't all have the pleasure of meeting him in person just yet, I'm even going to be really brave and post a photo. :) I was going to write our story for you to read, but it's way too long, and it doesn't even make complete sense any more. :P So... next time I see you, I'll tell you in person. Promise. :)

Lost for words...

I am learning so many things... I guess the most important thing, is that I'm learning more about how to trust God... completely.

How is it, that one can fall in love, so completely and utterly, in just a week? It don't know how... but I have discovered that it is possible. It is this situation in which I happen to find myself.

I am so totally undeserving... why would this amazing guy pick ME to like - when there are so many other girls all over the place? I can't believe we are so comfortable together, after only a week, and that my parents are so happy with how things are progressing. Right now I want nothing more than to talk to him on the phone... to hear his deep, quiet voice which is so soothing and makes time stand still. To hear him say that he loves the sound of my laugh, when so many others find it annoying. To sit together listening to the rain on the roof..... basking in the knowledge of God's goodness and His gift of love. And so many other things... words don't do it justice.

Some doctrinal differences have come up in the last 24 hours. I found that really hard to deal with, and ended up in tears on the phone last night. As far as I can tell though, they're not what I would term 'salvation' issues. I'm trying to keep a level head and not worry too much... at this point though, I'm a weeny bit terrified that the heaven I've lived in this last week will be taken from me. I have never been loved by a man like this, and it's the most beautiful feeling. I feel like... dare I say... a princess. We have prayed together about these issues, and want to work through them.... it's just such an annoying little thorn in the flesh, when everything is so gorgeous.

I would truly covet your prayers. It's wonderfully exciting to watch all this unfold, and it's very clear to both of us that God has His hands on our lives and our story. This week has been amazing, and I've been up until 2am or 3am most nights... but I'm getting tired now.

God... are you testing me?

Tonight I was going to start my story... but it's long, and I was tired.

Maybe it's just as well.... something has happened... and we really need to work through it before going any further. 

Right this minute, it sucks to be me, and I would certainly covet your prayers.

I'm so happy!

Ask me how to describe this whole beautiful thing 
Well, if I were a bell I'd go ding dong, ding dong ding!

They are the last two lines of a song from the musical Guys and Dolls...

I think I have officially gone crazy.

I promise I'll tell you the whole story soon....... :)

But the greatest of these is... love.

I cannot believe that I am me, Carla, same as I always have been... and that this is really happening to me.....

Wow...

Wow.

That's all I needed to say.

Actually. I'd also like to say that God is so amazing*... He truly does have all the details planned out just right*... and He has a sense of humour* too.

*full story at a later date :)

xoxoxox to all my beautiful friends...

Okay, okay, okay!

... I will share what has made today particularly weird....

I got a message from a guy that I randomly met at the wedding I attended on the weekend... asking me out for dinner... lovely Christian guy... but... wow???

This wouldn't have been the way I'd have planned it..... 

God...???

Hmm...

Something a little weird... strange... exciting... - and all those sorts of words - happened today. Which I can't really talk about at the moment. But if you think of it, please keep me in your prayers. I would certainly covet them.

Just thought you might like to know...

It is a rather unfortunate situation when one knows too much.

Easter 2009

Easter was a little different for me this year... I think I'll tell the story in pictures this time.

On Good Friday, I played for our church service, before taking off with Alicea and Louise for our trip out to Dubbo/Gilgandra for Katherine's wedding. Here we are in the car:

The normally 4.5 - 5 hour trip took us 7 hours... this is why:

The cabin in which we stayed for two nights looked like this inside:

I was blessed to be able to catch up with Jemima and Bede for a few hours! They've just moved to Dubbo, and don't have long until their 2nd baby is born... and they live in a beautiful old house:

Katherine and Joel's wedding was on Saturday. I did Alicea's hair:

Dear old Mr. M. was there too:

It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful church, and during the signing of the register a quartet sang The Lord Bless You and Keep You from the balcony:

And it rained:

Here's a funny sign we saw in a Gilgandra service station window:

Alicea, Louise and I just before the reception:

The cake... they're both musicians - how awesome is it?!?!

Joel played his ukulele and sang a song he wrote for Katherine as part of his speech - it was so sweet:

FGYO girls:

Me, riding the hippo sculpture outside the venue:

What some girls get up to when they go away... having my hair coloured at midnight:

On our way home, we stopped at a reserve for lunch. My tomboyishness (which I hadn't seen for a while) came out in full force... up a tree:

... and swinging from the rafters of the picnic shelter:

Alicea and I... just so you can see my new brown hair:

And that's it! Today I've had a nice relaxing day... :)