And All together

And here we are all together at the wedding of my sister-in-law Elise. Doesn't she look amazing!

I love these kind of candid shots you get when trying to get everyone together!

My In-Laws

Thought I would show you some photos from a family wedding of my lovely In-Law connections

Tim's sister Elise and her fiance (and soon to be husband) Harry

Tim's brother Joel and his lovely girl friend Angela

Tim's parents Lois and Ian

The boys posing :)

And who is this stunning couple?

hehe
love B

New Format

Because they say a change is as good as a holiday. And I need a holiday!

Before and After

Thought I'd indulge myself with a little before weight loss and after weight loss photo. I really began to notice it the first time I put up a photo of Tim and I at the wedding last year and could see the difference with my old "profile picture" on my blog. The first is from Nov 07, the second is March 09:

Before

After

Pretty cool hey :)

I'm very thankful to God that he helped me to be able to achieve the weight loss. And even more thankful for the impact on my health it should have- much more important than the impact on my face!

love B

The Bitter-sweetness of Melbourne visits

Tim and I had a wonderful time in Melbourne.

Bec and Brads wedding was loads of fun, and it was so nice getting to hang out with many members of my dear in-law family.

But Melbourne visits are bitter sweet.

The more fun I have, the more sad it feels to go back to Sydney and to think through the many more months before we go back for good. It's not that I don't love Sydney. I do! But family is so precious and it is strange to be away from them for so long.

So, in honour of my discontentment- here are five things that I love about Sydney to help me to be thankful for what I do have:

-I love the train-trip home from my job. The beautiful Green hills of the North Shore. The glimpse I get of little harbours until...wait, there it is! The Sydney harbour in all its spender as I train my way over the bridge. Not to mention train seats that can face backwards or forwards by the pull of a handle. I don't normally change it but I appreciate that I can.
-I love my new Bible study. It's only been two weeks, but so far my study with other 2nd year working wives has been really enjoyable. We are study James and I've been so convicted so far. Gotta love being convicted by the word!
-I love my work and linked to that my church. It has been really great doing kids ministry, and I have particularly been enjoying seeing the inner workings of a local church. And I love the number of people I get to see every day who don't know God but are interested in getting to know him.
-I love where I live. I love the urban-dump to gentrified-hub that is the suburb of Stanmore. I love the cheap restaurants and great coffee-shops just up the road. I love that I have friends in my building and girly-chats whenever I need them
-I love the friends I've made here. God has blessed me so richly with some super-supportive people.

Thanks God for great times in Melbourne AND Sydney. Amen
love B

The only time I ever wished that I was a man

I am packing today for the wedding of Tim's cousin in Melbourne.

First- I pack my pretty, summery pink dress with the deeper pink flowers which is what I really want to wear but know I will be too cold in it. I pack it anyway

Second- I pack my lovely multi-coloured pashmena- which unfortunately doesn't really go with my pink dress

Third- I pack my gray sequened top with my black skirt which does go with my pashmena

Fourth- I pack my my dress jacket- just in case it is too cold for just the pashmena

Fifth- I pack my silver shoes. Silver goes with everything- yay!

Sixth- I pack my jewlery which of course goes perfectly with the pink dress but will be okay with my other outfit.

Seventh- I pack Tim's blue shirt, black pants, jacket, and blue rose tie. The outfit he can and will wear rain, hail or 40 degrees. The same outfit he has worn to every wedding since I've known him with the exception of our own.

The only time I've ever wished that I was a man.
love B

Cleaning

I hate cleaning.

I will say it again, I hate cleaning!

But I do it anyway...some of the time.

I have done some much cleaning this week! The clothes that have been in boxes are finally in shelves, the spare room is no longer the dumping ground of household clutter, and the study...well, that's next weeks project! And Saturday, the kitchen was tidied- the dishwasher emptied and stacked, I cooked almost everything I had intended to cook that week, and I even took the rubbish out. Ordinarily Tim stacks the dish washer and takes out the rubbish but he'd had a super full on week at College and so I thought I'd give him a break.

And I came home on Sunday- my full-on ministry day. Came home at 9pm, cooked tea and thought- the dishwasher needs emptying.

I think that's why I hate cleaning. It's such a constant task. You work hard, you get everything exactly how you want it- and then just by living a normal messy life you have to start over again. And the dishwasher you neatly stack...well the very act of stacking it means that it then has to be un-stacked.

Yet, as I began to unstack, I remembered my initial excitement when Mum (who was in Sydney before we moved up and checked out our place) told me that there was a dishwasher. When I realised what a blessing that would be. When I knew how much easier it would be to have people over. When I knew how much cleaner our house could be, if we didn't spend all that time doing dishes by hand. And I felt a bit silly. How easy to take things for granted. God had blessed us with this unexpected bonus- this tool for making the things I find so hard about being a wife that little bit easier...and I was complaining about unstacking.

I hate cleaning. But I'm getting better at doing it anyway.
love B