Seven Years

Everyone keeps saying, when I tell them it's been our seven year anniversary on Sunday, "That's a good number".  It makes me laugh, because in the grand scheme of things, seven is not any special milestone.  Maybe its just a Christian thing :)

But every anniversary feels like a special milestone, in my book.  It is by God's grace we made our promises, and it is by God's grace that we keep them.  Anniversaries are a great time to talk about the fun times, and to make each other feel special.  But they are also a good time to give God all the glory for the blessings of our lives.

Tim and I celebrated by having a special dinner at Crown.  I sat looking out at the Yarra River and the Rialto thinking- we really are in Melbourne again.  And that also seems like a special turning point in our marriage, and another thing to be greatful to God for.

Thanks Tim, for Seven years of being everything you promised to be and more.  You have proven yourself, through good times and bad, to be a faithful friend and husband, and such fun.  I am so grateful to God for you.
Love BG
PS If you are curious (which I was) the traditional gifts of 7 years are Cooper and Wool- a definately improvement on paper and tin!  Maybe we are finally approaching something good enough to buy for each other :)

The gift of six months

I have not been blogging, but I have the greatest water-tight excuse!  We have no Internet.  I am currently sitting at my in-law, enjoying some precious webby time.  I have my blackberry, and I love it, but I would not love writing a blog post on those tiny keys.  But come tomorrow someone will do something that will mean that our phone will magically come on and our wireless machine will kick into gear and we will have Internet.

Our house is set up for living, but is far from unpacked.  But one thing that is ready is my writing desk.  We've set up the study so that Tim has his big desk, and I have my little corner desk.  It looks out the window, which is good, because I write better with a view, even if its just of the neighbours apple trees.  And it's mine.  It's the first time in our marriage we've had two desks and I am so excited.

As many people who know me will know, I left a job working at a church in Sydney to come down with Tim and plant a church.  And our plan was for me to spend some of my time church planting, and two days a week working for money.  I have been busy concentrating on the church plant.  And things are in the pipeline for work later in the year.  But for now, Tim has given me the gift of 6 months.

I realise that it is a gift.  A real gift.  I don't know many husbands who would insist that their wives take six months off to adjust to a new city, to recover from life, to enjoy reconnecting with friends.  And to write.  Can't forget that, Tim is always reminding me that this is time to write.

So I have my little writing desk.  A desk where I can finish my novel.  A desk where I can dream.  Where I can blog.  Where I can sit and start to jot down the many, many ideas I have for Christian articles, and books and posts.

It's been a big 4 years, and last year was a very tough year for me.

I am so excited by this gift.  This slow start. 
Love BG

Lessons from Leisure

Tim and I last week got back from a holiday in Tassie.  It was wonderful!  I love, love, love Tassie, and I recommend it to everyone.  Well, maybe not to everyone, but if you are anything like Tim and I, you will have a ball

Things that I loved:
Stanley
Our holiday is Tassie was all about the unexpected delights.  So often we would just "happen" to go somewhere and it was lovely.  The best was Stanley.  Stanley was a little town on the North Western Corner of Tassie.  It was beautifully done, all the houses were neat and painted in pretty colours, and there were lots of lovely cafes and places to go.  It was on an little Peninsula so it had beautiful beaches on either side.  But the best thing was on the very tip of the Peninsula was a very boringly named hill called "The Nut".  We climbed to the top and walked around it, having 360 views.  It was so lovely, I think it's the cutest town I've ever seen, and my second nicest town after Queenstown, NZ
Cataract Gorge
On our last night, in the evening while the sun was still up, we decided to make our way down Cataract Gorge in Launceston.  We weren't that excited, it would be pretty, but we had seen lots of pretty things in that week.  We walked along, and found ourselves in a little botanic garden filled with Peacocks and Wallabies.  It was one of the highlights for the trip, and a lovely way to round out our holiday.
Our apartment at Freicynet
We had a beach side apartment in Freicynet with Windows running along the side facing out onto Oyster bay.  It just just a really lovely place to be.  While holidays don't need nice places all the time, it is important for some of it.  It meant that Tim and I were able to just hang at home and be together without feeling the need to go out, because the view and the beach and the luxury were right where we were.
Talking time
In marriage, you talk alot.  In marriage during holidays, you talk all the time.  Tim and I got so much time to talk, about the future, about the past, about God, about writing, about what we were seeing and doing. A real highlight for me :)

Things I learnt to remember for future holidays:
Food is important
I am someone for whom food is very important.  I need at least one meal a day that makes me happy, or I get a bit grumpy. I know this is selfish and a very first world probably, but I find particularly on holidays food can really effect how I feel about a day.  We had learnt from previous holidays that Self-contained apartments are great, because rather than paying a great deal for a meal that makes me happy each day, you can occasionally make it yourself.  What we didn't do was plan ahead.  We would end up in an area with only small, expensive stores, that didn't have the things that I enjoy cooking.  I also realised that to make anything good you need to buy lots of pantry items.  So next time I would plan head, make sure I stocked up on dinner items in the larger towns when we were staying in the small towns.  And next holiday I'm bringing at least some spices and stock powder along for the ride :)
Making Driving a choice not a necessity
Tim and I love driving holidays.  Particularly when you are traveling in a gorgeous, wild/pastoral place like Tassie, the journey is part of the fun.  But because of the way we structured the holidays, we had at least three or four days of at least 4 hour drives.  In hindsight I would reorganise where we stayed so that the drives in between places were shorter.  That way we can choose to drive and go exploring if we want, but if we don't feel like it then it isn't a necessity.
Expectations low
This wasn't so much an issue this holiday, but as a reflection of previous holidays- the temptation is to spend the 6 months before the holiday imagining that it will be the best time of your life.  But holidays aren't like that.  You might have a lovely time, but there are still moments of sadness.  There are places that don't look as good as they did on the website.  There is sunburn and allergies.  Holidays are about having a good time, but they are also about recovery from life.  Letting the holiday be what it will be, taking the pressure off, can make for a better holiday.  The second day I was feeling a bit low, and that made me feel guilty.  We are paying money for this.  I have to enjoy it all the time.  Remembering this was recovery time, freed me up to feel how i needed to feel, and actually let me enjoy myself more than if I was forcing myself to be excited all the time.

And now, some photos

Me on "the Nut" over looking Stanley 

Tim and I hanging out at Wine Glass Bay

Tim walking along at Boat Harbour Beach, a really cute and out of the way beach on the North Western Corner of Tassie

Tim reading on our balcony in our beautiful Freycynet appartment

Tim overlooking a river on the Cradle Valley Board Walk

Love BG