March

March is well & truly upon us! This year is going way too fast to keep up with!

Well the month started out great, thats for sure. My husband & I had a big run of 5 days off together! We went for a drive into the city at midnight the other night & fed the possums in the botanic gardens. So cute. The next day we went to Australia Zoo which was ok. Its been a few years since I last went and its gotten pretty slow since then, there was hardly anyone there and it was so hot so all the animals just wanted to sleep! But we did get to check out the animal hospital which was good to see and make a donation. Then we made a last minute booking at 'secrets on the lake' at montville (i have done a previous post on this place- its amazing!) and got a $420 treehouse for $300! plus we got a bbq dinner (i had vegies) and lots of chocolate & wine! It was much warmer this time round but we still made good use of the spa overlooking Lake Baroon. I had such an amazing nights sleep!

Unfortunetely its back to the real world of work & study! Week 1 of uni started so its going to be a fairly busy few months with assignments & exams. The material is all pretty basic, its more the assignments im worried about- ive never written an essay this big before! First time for everything I guess.

We have been having some nicer weather lately, its been blue skies and although its been very hot its been nice to see some sun. But alas the rains on here again! I thought this was meant to be sunny QLD!!! ive lived here all my life & never seen so much rain like I have in the last few months. Its better then the drought we had a few years ago though I guess.

So I realise I need a good camera-i never have good photos to post and need a decent camera! maybe having some more photos on my blog will attract more readers :P Will have to wait a little while though. After ive paid off my uni fees for this semester im planning on going blonde again! I was blonde for about 4 years then went brunette about a year ago & im over it already, blondes really do have more fun! Im interested in one of those e-readers aswell but the thought of not having a paper book seems too technological for me- I love bookcases full of books and always dreamed of a house full of books and that my children would read from my collection aswell. We will see. Id like to spend about $400 on new clothes for winter aswell as its fast approaching.

As for the rest of my March plans, im on 10 days holidays from next Monday. I will be spending the majority of that time doing my assignments but I will be attending the green earth festival next week in the Brisbane botanic gardens- yay a festival for vege hippies like me! Ill try get some photos this time!

What does March hold for you?

wednesday weblove

I spend alot of my time shopping on the internet and have acquired a fairly long list of favourite online shopping sites over the last year or so. So today I felt like sharing some of my absolute most favourite sites of all time (so far) to you dear readers. Whip out those credit cards!

www.bob.net.au/home/
Love the cute office supplies. A memo holder in the shape of a panda bear? Yes please!


www.etsy.com/shop/handmaderomance
Brooches of men's faces with knitted beards, who wouldve thought?


www.versaudio.com/
Wooden iphone/pad/pod covers.


www.thinkecoshop.com.au/
Very reasonable priced sustainable things for the family.


www.etsy.com/shop/rikkib
Brooches with the greatest science nerds of all time on them. How smart!


www.etsy.com/shop/daresong
Embroided paper doily's anyone?


www.shopmoose.com.au/
Pretty artworks, jewellery & textiles


www.thatwasyesterday.com.au/
The prettiest clothes ever. I love this style of clothing!


www.larkmade.com.au/
Cutest party supplies.

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Im on 5 whole days off right now! So awesome. Have a very busy fortnight coming up though full of long shifts, study & no time for sleep.

On Saturday we went for a drive up the coast & ended up in Underwater World. The seals are so cute! Had to take a cheesy tourist pic to make the day though!

On Sunday we got up super early (not-9am!) and ventured out to the Caboolture markets for the morning. I havent been to the markets since I was about 10 years old and I have very fond memories of fairy floss, pet rocks, pony rides, scones with jam & cream, running around with my cousins, all the homemade toys & snow cones full of blue & red sugar! My god how things have changed! The markets were full of absolute crap! The toys were the same you would get out of a standard toy shop, there was plastic crap everywhere & about 75% of the stalls were people selling their second hand crap. And it wasnt even good stuff, it literally was just crap! There was nothing handmade, no pony rides, no children having fun. Not to mention it was one of the hottest days in a few months with no breeze anywhere! Yes it sounds like im complaining but I was just so shocked to see the horrible sight. Were had the markets I remember gone?? Very disappointing.

Here is another pic of Leon the day we got him at 7 weeks old. He weighed a whole 2.5kg. What a handsome young man.

And here is Leon aged 12 weeks & weighing in at 8kg at his first visit to the vet to get his vaccines. He looks so cute here. He was a very good boy at the vet and got lots of yummy treats from the vet & the nurses.

My first-born Lucy (aged 2) passed out on a hot summer's day. Poor baby.


Yoda asleep on my laptop. This is why my laptop stops working all the time!

I found some old pictures of our 2 nights away at a place called 'Secrets on the Lake' in Montville. These are from about 6 months ago. This place is just heaven! Its very expensive at $350 a night but so worth it!

This is the treehouse looking back from the balcony, the front door is on the left, the kitchen on the right. Thats me asleep on the sofa and behind me is a raised area with the bed & on the right of that is the bathroom. Behind the camera is the balcony on the right and on the left is the giant sunken spa bath.

There is about 10 different treehouses in this place, all seperated by thick lush rainforest and the only way to get around is on this boardwalk surrounded by the forest. There are animals everywhere like birds, possums and friendly bush turkeys! Our treehouse was the second highest up and the second most expensive. The most expensive treehouse has its own waterfall! All the treehouses are so succluded from each other and there is no noise, all you can hear is the beautiful sound of nature & light rain.

This is the spa bath which is sunken into the floor and is massive. The view from the window is over Lake Baroon and its such a loverly place to sit in the bath full of bubbles with a glass of champagne & some choccies & a handsome husband and enjoy the view! Its particulary loverly first thing in the morning (its freezing in the morning!) having a nice warm bubble spa & watching the sun come up.

A kookaburra on our balcony. Every morning you get fresh hot muffins & croissants delivered to your door for breakfast along with the breakfast basket on arrival full of fresh local fruits, scones, eggs, bread, milk, tea, coffee & jams and these little devils just love to swoop down & grab them when you arent looking!

Afternoon tea of scones with jam & cream & some earl gray on the balcony. Please ignore the horridness that is me, I had just finished a run of 6 night duties before driving for 2 hours to get here so am pretty darn tired looking! Was so relaxing though! For dinner we went out to a local pizzeria which does the most amazing cajun cheese & mushroom pizza! I have tried to re-create this in my own kitchen with no luck, I dont know how they do it but its amazing! Montville is full of little cafe's & diners with a very small-town feel and is full of vintage shops & loverly homewares & clothes. There is also a candy shop which does hard boiled lollies were they do twice daily shows demonstarting how they make the candy. There is also a chocolate shop full of amazing handmade local chocolates & fudge! Another great shop is run by the local winery which sells the most amazing wines! And I have to mention a few others....the glassblowers shop, handmade timber & wood furnishings & an awesome toystore full of handmade toys & puzzles!

The view from our balcony & from the spa- Lake Baroon. This Lake is only open to 2 resorts in Montville, including the one we stayed at. You can grab a couple of kayaks & enjoy the lake for free or go swimming. (we didnt as we kayak all the time at home)

Me clutching the complimentary bottle of wine on arrival! On the far right is the balcony with the gorgous 'love seat' made out of wood and is soooo comfy to curl up on with a blanket & book & cup of tea and watching the kayakers go past on the lake. In the middle is the firplace which was constantly on is its freezing up there! The whole treehouse is carved out of wood & there are little wooden creatures scattered all over the place. This was the dragonfly house so there was little wooden dragonflies everywhere! Even the toilet roll holder was a wooden dragonfly!




Its my husband & I's dream to move to Montville one day. To buy a cute little cottage on a decent amount of land and raise a family. We already have 2 dogs but would probably get a few more to fill up the land. Id love to plant lots of fruit trees (although there is fruit trees everywhere already) and live off the fresh fruit & vegies grown in my own backyard. Montville is right next door to Maleny which is famous for its cheese's, wines & yogurts. Both towns are full of gorgous little vintage shops & handmade goodies. The weather is constantly changing from lightly sunny to a slight rain but its always beautiful. The countryside is constantly green and full of tree's. The air is fresher & the people are just loverly. The closest hospital is about 30mins drive and they have a fairly decent but small intensive care unit there so I will probably try to get a job there in an education or facilitation role. There are a few different ambulance stations my husband could transfer to. One day......

On another note, ive lost 3kg in 2 weeks on my new 'diet'. 37kg to go.....

Leon

He is so adorable! Abit nuts though, very food oriented all he cares about is eating! He is 10 weeks old here.

Sunday

Sunday's. I normally work Sundays, so this is very strange territory. I used to go & get the paper & a coffee in the morning, then go shopping before lunch, then spend the afternoon doing relaxing activities. My husband also works Sundays so today im home alone. I slept in til 9am. It was nice but I feel I have overslept as im still feeling like a walking zombie 4hrs later! I dont buy the paper anyway- I look up the news on the internet. I dont buy coffee anymore either- I have my own espresso machine now. I cant be bothered going to the shops. They are always so crowded anyway. No, today I will be doing the occassional load of washing, watch the 6 episodes of sex & the city I have recorded off foxtel, waste time on the internet looking at blogs and window shopping on the internet, which I find is more dangerous.....glad my credit card is downstairs in my purse and not upstairs with me right now. Here's a collection of current wish list items from www.georgielove.com

Beautiful clock
Brooch

Cute print

And spending an afternoon curled up in bed reading Lula, my new favourite magazine

We are getting all our new furniture delivered on Tuesday, cant wait!

Here comes February...

I cant believe its nearly the end of January already! This year is flying by so fast.

So I found out a few days ago I have been accepted into uni for this year to study a graduate degree in intensive care nursing! So happy. And its a government subsidised course so only going to cost me 1/4 of the price! Im studying part-time and externally. Its been 4 years since I finished my bachelor's degree and im hoping I will get back into the swing of uni studies easily enough. Depending on how it goes, I will then progress towards a masters degree next year.

I started a new diet this week. I dont really like the word diet, id prefer to call it a lifestyle change I guess. Ive been battling with my weight for a little while now. I do try to make good choices but more often then not im just so busy with study & work & lack of sleep and end up eating way too much bad stuff & not exercising. I found a local company which delivers your meals for a week and they offer 100% vegetarian which is great. Every other home delivery diet food company ive looked into will not cater to vegetarians so I was happy when I found this one. It costs $128 a week and thats for breakfast, lunch, dinner & morning & afternoon snacks & includes delivery. They pack each days breakfast & lunch seperately so its easy to just grab each days lunch & take to work with me. And they do fresh salad dinners aswell as frozen meals for dinner so its nice not to have to eat totally frozen stuff all the time. Its aimed to help you lose 1kg a week at a healthy rate so im going to work at sticking to it and shift some of this weight. Is there anyone else in blogworld currently on a weightloss journey? Would love to hear about it!

Im on 2 days off from work now. Slept in til 7am this morning (I normally get up at 4:30am for work) which was nice. Had coffee with an old friend this morning, did a spot of window shopping and am planning on having a relaxing afternoon of blog reading & catching up on all my unread magazines (I subscribe to ALOT of magazines)

Weddings!

Ive been reading about so many awesome weddings on my daily blog reads & I havent been to a wedding in forever! So I thought I would share some memories from my wedding!

Our beautiful reception room - our theme was black & white with classic wooden tiffany chairs and minimal classically beautiful glass & silverware.

Just married!

All of our guests

My daddy walking me down the aisle

Arriving in the car

The gorgeous guys! Jeff(groomsman) my hubby in the middle & Dan(best man). You would think Jeff & my hubby are brothers but they aren't! They look so similar! They met in the army and they even have the same birthday- weird!

Jodie(maid of honor), me & Charliene(bridesmaid), best bridesmaids a girl could ask for!

Wish I had a professional hair & make-up artist everyday!

Getting into my dress

After hair & make-up. I got these bathrobes for my girls as well with 'bridesmaid' on theirs.

Jeff (groomsmen) & Matt (Sam's brother)

Jodie (maid of honor) enjoying some champagne post photos!

Sam's mother totally drunk

Leaving the wedding!

Jeff (groomsman) & Alaric (friend & videographer)

Me, Erin (high school friend) & Sam (doing something weird!)

Jeff (groomsman) & Dan (best man)

Our rings

Black & white amongst the trees

With the car we arrived & left in. We found this car parked in our local shopping center & left the owner a note asking if he would drive us. Cost us $300, these cars are about $1000 to hire so big bargain there!

Sam & his dad Alan

Sam & his mum Lyn

Charliene (bridesmaid) & myself

Brisbane Floods

Im sure most people around the world would've heard about the devastating floods of Brisbane & surrounding areas along now with Victoria who is copping it bad. I live about a 20min drive north of Brisbane and was extremely lucky not to be affected. The damage is just crazy. I looked back on my blog to a few posts ago complaining about the rain...who would've known it would come to this? The last Brisbane flood was in 1974 and thankfully it wasn't as bad this time around but it was just centimeters off being the same height. The flooding was mostly caused by the swollen Brisbane river running off into the city but a lot of local areas were affected by flooded rivers & lakes & they got no media coverage at all! 3 suburbs surrounding me got flooded. The supermarket I shop at in the next town was completely under water! I work closer to the city as well and have to go over a large river to get to work and its a 8 lane highway and they had the 4 outer lanes closed due to being flooded. I was so close to not being able to get home from work! We didn't lose power either which was a blessing. As much as I hate this neighbourhood we are in a very lucky position here. Our house is pretty high up and its about half a kilometer to the ocean so its pretty hard to get flooded here. The backyard doesn't drain very well & with all the rain our backyard did get flooded but it never reached the house. The poor dogs, they couldn't stay on the upstairs balcony as the wind was blowing rain everywhere & it was just too wet. The backyard was flooded and they had just enough dry concrete to lie on. The kennel was flooded as well. We couldn't keep them inside either as they were covered in mud. My poor babies. Lucy looked so depressed and the new puppy Leon wasn't happy with being an outside dog at all! Still, its sunny now and the clean-up in Brisbane will take months! Its just so sad for the people who have lost their homes. Here are some pics of the devastation, they are from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/