Just to make sure...

...that you all know that my blog has moved:

http://carlaandalastairwilson.blogspot.com/

Please come and visit me there!

My blog is moving!

This is what I should have done a few weeks ago... instead of people not being able to find my blog!

You can now find me at:

http://carlaandalastairwilson.blogspot.com/

Sleepover Party

Mairead and Hamish came for a sleepover last night. Donna brought dinner, which was lovely, then I gave the kids a shower (Hamish couldn't believe that we don't have a bath!) - and they even cleaned the shower for me! :P It took them ages to go to sleep - we sat down here and listened to lots of giggling, thumping, etc, and got up several times to settle them down. I ended up having to sit in there with them (and nearly went to sleep myself!). So we woke up at 6am this morning (since they were sleeping in our room), and I brought them down to watch ABC Kids. Alastair isn't feeling great, so I'm being lovely and letting him sleep. :) It's 9am though... perhaps the kids want to jump on him... :)

No Sugar??

Alastair and I are about to give up sugar.

And do more exercise.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

But I am good at procrastinating, and that can be tomorrow. For now, I shall settle down with a quilt, a movie, and a packet of mint slice biscuits. :P

Photos of our little house!

I finally managed to get my act together and take some pictures!

So when you come to visit, you walk up these stairs...


... down the side of the house...
(although our house is actually on your right - this is looking back towards the road!)


...until you come to our back door.
(Please excuse the bag of rubbish at the door, it isn't usually there!)


* * *

From just inside the door, it looks like this:
(The bookshelf with the curtains is our pantry, since there isn't a real pantry).


Various angles of what we call "downstairs":





Through the doorway... to the left is the toilet, straight ahead is to Jim's house, and to the right are the stairs leading upstairs...


... up the stairs we go...


Looking back down the stairs:


At the top of the stairs, this greets you:


Looking into "upstairs". Alastair's computer and my sewing machine are side by side. :)


The bedroom end of "upstairs"


Through the lefthand doorway is our shower and basin. Oh, and we don't have a wardrobe - hence the rack for our clothes. :P


The view from one of the windows.


And another window. To the left of the telegraph pole you can see the lighthouse down at Wollongong. :)


And these are the kind of cupcakes we make at our house!

May 8 to June 8

Where does time go?

We've been married for ten-and-a-half weeks now. In some ways it doesn't feel that long, and in some ways it feels much longer. Like, we're still in the same school term - and it's feeling like a long term. But then... I feel like we haven't had time to just go for drives on the weekend and enjoy each other's company properly. I don't know. It's just funny.

So, since I last posted, I've started working in a pharmacy (3 days a week), we've been to Canberra for the footy, we've paid an enormous amount of money (just like everyone else does, I spose!) to register the car, I've made a couple of skirts for my mum, we've got our professional wedding photos back, and I've had croup (I was SO sick!). There you go, a brief summary there.

Alastair and I seem to have had an over-abundance of challenges... questions... ideas... moral dilemmas... and that kind of thing, which have surfaced recently. It's really quite exhausting, but has caused us to do a lot of praying, reading, thinking and researching. It's good for us to face these things together and decide what we as a couple really believe.

Also, my friend Laura and her family (father and three brothers) need prayer - their mum passed away on Saturday night. Mrs. Edwards had had cancer for quite a number of years, and so they've had a while to get used to the idea... indeed, they've thought it was the end plenty of times. But I'm sure that doesn't make the finality of death any easier. She's gone home to be with Jesus, and she was looking forward to having no more pain.

On a happier note: Lauren is getting married THIS Saturday! We're flying to Brisbane on Friday night and it will be such an exciting time. I bought a new dress last Thursday night. Yay! :)

I really want to post some photos of our little house soon, too. But now I must wash up. :P

Out of the mouths of babes

A conversation between Hamish and Alastair yesterday, prompted by Hamish cuddling the wooden toy lizard we gave him for Christmas... which has lost all its legs...

H: Look at my lizard!
A: He's got no legs! He's a snake now!
H: No, he's still a lizard.
A: Yes, he'll always be a lizard in his heart.
H: (all forlorn) But his heart is broken...
A: (laughing) What happened to his legs?
H: (looking around for inspiration) Um... he grew out of them.

:)

On being a mummy...

Donna has gone away for a week, so Alastair and I are part of the team taking shifts to look after Mairead and Hamish. We've taken the first (and longest) shift - 5:30AM Wednesday to 5:30PM Friday. It is currently 1:45pm Friday. Just under 4 hours to go. :) They are going to their grandparents' house tonight and tomorrow night, then we're doing Sunday afternoon to Monday morning. Then the other grandparents are doing Monday night to Tuesday night (when Donna gets home). My goodness it's full on being a stand-in parent! I wouldn't say it's hard, but it is full on and very constant. Mairead is a fiesty almost-7-year-old, and Hamish is an adorable almost-3, (we're talking in the next couple of weeks for both of them), and they play well together... most of the time. Hamish is also toilet training - part time. Which means he's toilet training when he feels like it. :P Ohmygoodness - I am fully in awe of people who have toilet trained children now! It's such hard work! Yesterday afternoon he went through FOUR sets of undies in an hour... and STILL no wee in the potty!!! Grrr!!! And Mairead crawled into bed with us at 2:30 this morning - what is WITH that?!?!?! She wriggled, and hogged my pillow until I decided she was going back to her bed... carried her in and lay with her until she stopped crying and fell back asleep.... then stumbled back to my bed.

And now I'm sick with a bad cold. My nose is blocked but won't stop running, and I have a headache. But life goes on. :( Meaghan came down and helped me with stuff this morning which was lovely. Anyhow, the fourth load of washing has just finished... I'd better go and hang it out so the kids have something to wear over the weekend... especially Hamish, seeing as he wee'd in practically every pair of trousers he owns yesterday...

(Have I remembered everything, Alastair? Please comment if I haven't... xoxo)

Stuff...

Whoever knew that becoming a couple in a legal capacity was such a long, time consuming, drawn out process! You can change your name at the ATO with just a phonecall, (no marriage certificate or anything), but to put your wife on your NRMA policies/greenslip/whatever, it takes about a dozen phonecalls and hours on hold waiting for "the next available operator". I've got my new driver's license... yesterday we went to Medicare to change my name and get new cards which have each other on them... and we opened a joint bank account. Man, it's all so complicated!

I started back teaching two weeks ago. Always after some time off, I think that teaching is too hard and that I can't do it anymore... but then I get there on the first day and remember that it's okay. :) It's good to be earning money again too.

Speaking of money - I've been working on our budget, and last payday we put it into practice. Yay... sort of. :P We're needing to be quite careful with our spending. I'm getting used to having to shop fortnightly (my mum shopped weekly), but also, I have to remember that I'm not doing the shopping for mum for a family of 5 anymore - I'm shopping for Alastair and I, and we don't need as much food as a family does. Nor do we have space for it. :P Buying two packets of frozen vegies for $6 just because they're on special may not be the greatest idea... because we can't get through them, and only have a little freezer! Yesterday I just went shopping, but when I got home and unpacked it, I couldn't shut the freezer door. I forgot that mum and dad have a chest freezer that the overflow goes into... :P

So lots of learning going on here.

Last weekend we went up to Gilgandra to visit Joel and Katherine for the long weekend. It was really nice (except for the bed!) and we had a great time. :)

Now Alastair is awake and he's made me a cup of tea. :) We're going to snuggle up and watch a movie. Later on, we're going to the footy - go Swans! What a way to spend a Saturday. :)

Oh my goodness

We've had a lot of visitors, but today I have none. I'm sitting around in my pj's... organising my students for this next term... working on our budget... calling NRMA about contents insurance (wha da??)... sipping tea... and watching TV. It's kinda cool. :)

Okay. So I'm married now. My name is Carla Wilson.

It's been a long time since I posted, and obviously a lot has happened! To see some photos of the wedding, (taken by our photographer), go here. Our wedding day was an amazingly beautiful day, and the best fun ever! More photos to come. :)

We went away on our honeymoon for 11 nights - 5 in Tasmania, and 6 in Melbourne. It was a nice time away. The first few days I had a horrendous headache, and slept quite a lot, but by the time we got to Melbourne I was feeling better and enjoyed everything more. :) We got back a week ago (the day before Good Friday), and spent the Easter weekend moving into our adorable little house. Which wasn't so adorable at first, but is really starting to feel like home now. :) Photos of that to come too.

Meaghan came down and stayed for the first three nights we were here too, which was just fantastic. She was such an enormous help, and I loved having her around. Joel and Katherine have been down, (since it's school holidays), and it's been lovely to catch up with them. I can't wait to have more visitors soon. :)

We have a few weekend trips coming up - out to Gilgandra at the end of April (to see Joel and Katherine), Canberra in May (to go to the footy), and Brisbane in June (for a dear friend's wedding)... busy busy busy, fun fun fun!

I've been chatting online with Megs while writing this post, and now she and Mum are on their way down to visit me! So I'd better get some stuff in order!

Nameless post...

Another busy couple of weeks: house-hunting... two new students... a mattress delivery... gift-buying... final payments to photographer and florist... frantic copying out of several family favourite recipes... phoning a thousand shops to try and order more ribbon in the same colour as we've used before... tying bows for the church pews... thousands of other little emails and details... and a few days sick in bed thrown in too (still not feeling 100%). Almost everything is organised now - just the last little things that can't be done more than a week before.

Today I was reminded of how sinful our natures really are. Two couples that I know have been hit hard with the reality of this fact, when an affair took place between the husband of one and the wife of the other. I guess it's when the people we look up to fall into sin, that it hits us the hardest and shakes our very beings. They are the people we really expect more from - but why? Do we think that just because they are Christians, that they are somehow immune to the temptations of this world? And how am I any less immune to them? I'm not! And neither is Alastair. We trust that by the grace of God we will persevere in our marriage... but there are some definite boundaries that can be put into place... more thought required. :)

A photo you might like to see...

My sunflower and me!

Wedding-ish things!

I've been busy with lots of things lately... shhhh..... don't tell anyone... but aren't the place-cards lovely! :)

We had a lovely day for the kitchen tea on Saturday - it was a very pleasant afternoon with all the ladies! Mum and Meaghan did an excellent job planning it, and we had lots of help from one of my bridesmaids, Bek. Here are a few of the photos...

The Food

The Games

(See how many pegs you can fit in one hand)

(Wedding dresses out of toilet paper)

And yesterday we had the bridesmaids' dress fittings, which Donna is doing for me - and she has done SUCH a good job! The girls all look just gorgeous in them! :)

Everything seems to be falling into place quite nicely... :)

They say time flies when you're having fun

Wow, we're more than halfway through February already!

Since I last posted, school has resumed - and so has my teaching. I have 21 students each week at this stage, and I'm quite enjoying teaching after the holidays. My bank account is enjoying it too. :) It's tough going for 7 weeks with no pay. :P

So lessons have been filling up my Mondays and Tuesdays, then work for Dad on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This Friday (in 2 days), will be my last time at FGYO... sad times. Though I'm looking forward to this new phase of my life, I'll miss orchestra and all those kids (and the few adults!) that I've worked with for so long. I'm starting to feel the ache of missing it already. :(

I've been getting bits and pieces of wedding stuff done during the week, and on weekends, too. The weeks are really going quickly though - only 4.5 weeks to go! We've made the placecards, and today Megs and I finished the Order of Service booklets - they are SO lovely! The colour of the bridesmaids dresses is woven into every part of the day, and I'm thrilled with how everything has turned out. :)

It's so lovely... a whole lot of people whom we couldn't manage to invite to the reception, are coming to the ceremony just to watch - because they love us! And some of them are travelling so far... I feel very blessed.

Another blessing, is that a friend of Alastair's (who is also a friend of mine, now) :) bought us an iron on the weekend... and it's PINK!!! :) I can't wait to use it!

Today I had another dress fitting - ohmygoodness!!!! It's just unbelievably lovely, and I can't WAIT to wear it!!! The ladies in the shop are so sweet, and have put sleeve things on it which look just beautiful and match perfectly. :)

On Saturday, my kitchen tea is happening! In order to keep it small enough to fit in our house, I had to only invite local friends - so if anyone from any distance is reading this, that's why you weren't invited! :( I would have loved to invite everyone, but alas! It was not to be. So anyhow, that should be a fun, girly afternoon, and I'm really looking forward to it. Alastair has his bucks afternoon (of cricket at the park, a BBQ dinner, and watching The Blues Brothers at his house) on the same day.

Then the next morning, Donna is going to do all the fittings for the girls' bridesmaids dresses - more excitement! And hopefully Alastair will get to talk to Joel and work out some MC stuff for the wedding too.

It's all happening! 31 sleeps left!

A bunch of stuff...

I have been hugely busy lately, though to actually write about what I've been doing is proving difficult.

There have been lots of little fiddly things... like finding ribbon for the cars for the wedding... finding little cake bags for guests to take a piece of cake home in... the headache-producing job of rearranging my teaching timetable (par for the course at this time of year)... buying gifts for people helping at the wedding... sorting out more of the FGYO music library (it's about 98% done!)... cutting up the card and the paper and the ribbon and the whatever for the placecards... etc. It's all taken a lot of time and energy, but it really doesn't sound all that much OR all that interesting!

Meaghan arrived back from overseas on Saturday morning, and it was lovely to see her again. She's a little different to how I remembered her - now with dyed brown hair and a more confident air (ooh! that rhymes!), but it's good to be back together again. :) She brought me some cool presents from overseas, a lovely scarf and a pair of little slippers, amongst other little things. She brought Alastair a hideously grotesque-looking carved wooden man from Egypt - which they are both delighted with, especially considering that I will have to have it in MY house. :P

Oh, I had my first wedding dress fitting yesterday. It was great (and fits almost perfectly as it is!), although inside that dress it is dreadfully hot, so I'm hoping that God is kind and gives us a cool day for our wedding. :) My shoes are the part of my attire that I'm most excited about, I think - they look like shoes for a princess!

7 weeks on Saturday...

Random goings on...

This morning I babysat my little friend Hamish, at Alastair's house (while he was at work). Hamish was so disappointed that Alastair wasn't here. He kept asking "where's Al?"... and when I told him that he was at work, he said hopefully "but Al will be home soon?" He's so cute. :) He talks to the dog, Matty, too... "watch me, Matty, I can climb up here all by myself!" as he climbed all over the brick barbecue in the back yard. A real little climber, this little guy is - always has been, apparently. The poor thing took a tumble and fell off though, scraping skin of his nose - I felt like SUCH a bad babysitter!!! He was very good and didn't cry much... we washed all the dirt off and joked about how he looked like Rudolph. :)

Yesterday, I started setting up a database for my students. Well, Alastair set it up, I'm really just doing data entry. :P Anyhow, I'm going to use the laptop at lessons and not have to carry folders around. Yay! :)

I have had two enormous quilts sitting around for a million years... which have only needed the binding sewn on. I'd done about half of one. Last night, while Alastair and I watched Episode 6 of Star Wars (aren't I good?) :P I got quite a bit done on it, so I'm hoping to finish that this afternoon, then I'll only have one to go. It's good to get some big jobs out of the way.

Jobs, yes, but not really wedding-related ones, unfortunately. I re-wrote my list of things to do for the wedding last week, and there were only 41 things on it. I thought that was okay... but I only got one thing crossed off! I'll have to put some concentrated effort in this week and next, given that I'll be back to teaching and everything after that.

Only 8.5 weeks/60 days to go! :)

Gradually getting there...

It's been good during the last few weeks to get a few things crossed off the "Wedding To-Do List"... today I got a couple more done, getting our rings engraved and buying ribbon for the cars, (so that Dad can experiment and work out what the best way is before the big day).

I've also been frantically tidying up all the loose ends and helping FGYO to get up and running for the new year, so that I can leave with a clear conscience. :) This week has seen the last of filing of music for me, which is a relief. Today I helped two other members of the committee to organise everything to do with sending out 'start of year' letters (which tell members when their auditions are, when we start back, the overview of the year, etc), so I'm sure they'll be right with that next time. Now I just have to fix up the 'Information for Members' booklet (for the last time!), co-ordinate Audition Day, and help them for the first couple of rehearsals, and I'm done. I'll really miss FGYO... it's been such a big part of my life for so long, and I've really enjoyed it. I need to let go of it, as it's impractical to stay, but it will leave a bit of a hole. I'm just not good at change. Never have been. That said, I suppose that it will be nice to be free on Friday afternoons for once, and I'm sure God has other plans for me... :)

Last night, we met with our minister (Richard) again, and we talked more particulars about the wording for the ceremony. I've started to make the Order of Service - and I'd love it if it was all finalised soon so that I can get them folded and everything before school goes back. It would just be one big job that would be completely sorted and out of the way. Mum and Dad came to meet Richard too, and they like him, so that's all good. :)

Today is Mum and Dad's 31st wedding anniversary, and tomorrow is Mum's birthday - so I'm off to cook a birthday cake! :)

Busy, busy busy!

On Saturday 2nd January, I witnessed my friend Liana have a baby! It was a wonderful experience... and I'm so thankful that she and her husband allowed me the privilege of being with them during the birth. I got to hold Maeve Esther only a few minutes after she was born, and then we went to visit the next afternoon too. She's beautiful, with lots and lots of black hair. :)

Christmas was lovely, but very busy, so we were glad to have a few days off after that. We didn't rest much though, having lots of wedding stuff to get done. Amongst lots of other things, we got the suits fitted for Alastair and the three groomsmen, we sorted out all the details of the Order of Service for the ceremony (now I just have to make the booklets), one of my bridesmaids, Bek, bought us a fridge and so we took delivery of that (she's so generous!), and we had a big Glen family get together on New Year's Day which was really lovely. Now we're watching what we eat so that we can fit into our wedding clothes! :P

On a side note, wedding ettiquette is so annoying! The thing that's bothering me the most now, is that one is not supposed to invite people to the kitchen tea that aren't invited to the wedding, because it's bad manners. :(