I really love the way our bedroom looks when the sun shines in during the late afternoon/early evening. Everything kind of glows orange, one of my favorite colors these days:)
I finally managed to take all the pictures we've been taking lately off the camera and emailed myself the photos I've taken on our last few outings on my IPhone. Next step is to post them, so stay tuned!
...Steve and I arrived in Australia, with nothing more than 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks and a lot of extra weight on Steve! Can you even believe that's the same guy?!
I finally managed to find the time to groom Jesse. Three hours and A LOT of treats later, Jesse looks like a brand new dog. Sadly, after 3 hours of brushing, clipping and thinning, I can't say the same thing about myself! I was covered in dog hair from head to toe and super worn out! Yet another good reason why this crazy idea to get a second dog is completely nuts! Have I mentioned lately how much I'm clucking after one of these?
...and because we went over on our internet and now we're moving at dial up speed and I definitely don't have the patience for uploading more than 1 picture! Our internet should return to normal in the next day or so (I hope!), so I'll be back with more then...
I managed to make 3 of the 5 projects in my first week of style school. This journal cover that I made tonight took me forever! I thought it was going to be quick and easy but it really wasn't! I like it though and think that it's fun the way the journal cover has a place to store your pens and pencils. I'm always looking for a pen!
Yesterday, Steve and I went to a housewarming party for one of the guys that Steve works with and his partner. We had a great time meeting some really nice people! I'll post a few pics later. Our camera batteries died and I took all my photos with my Iphone, and I'm too lazy to email them to myself and upload them right now. For now, I'll leave you with the 50s inspired apron I made today for my style school course. It was meant to be a crafting tool belt but I figured I'd get more use out of the baking apron, so instead of pockets on the front, I added a few pleats to make it a little extra pretty:) Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! xo
Style school is the online crafting course I'm taking at the moment. Our first project was to create a wreath, something I already make a lot of! The difference was that the wreath was meant to have paper flowers. I learned a cute way of making flowers from a magazine awhile back and decided to use that technique to make a Valentine's Day inspired wreath with pretty folded flowers. Not sure it's something I would have made if I wasn't taking the class (I'm not usually big on flowery things) but I like the way it turned out. I'm thinking that decorating for Valentine's Day is fun and I'm now dreaming of what else I can make for our house to help celebrate such a love filled day! Only one more month to the big day!:)
I participate in race 3 of the Gatorade Triathlon Series this morning. All together there are 6 races in this series, so far I've done 2, and plan on doing 2 more, one at the end of this month and another in March. Today's race was an Olympic distance triathlon, 1500 meter swim, 40km bike and 10km run. 
Waiting for the swim to start at the beach, the blimp at the left has a camera on it, they take some great crowd pics with it.
Walking back from the water after cleaning my swim goggles. First time racing with my new goggles, they were awesome.
Waiting for our category's swim to start. Each category has a different colored swim cap.
Jesse is back to his old self so we brought him along.
Finished the swim, making my way to the bike compound...
Coming across the finish line. Cari wasn't able to spot me during the ride or run so these will be the only action shots. I've decided to fire her as my official photographer..... 
I dragged Cari out of bed at 5 am this morning, I owe her....
I just got a tri suit last week, seen in the above picture. Its make by Orca and it's awesome. It's one piece top and bottom so it fits really well under my wetsuit, and it doesn't bunch or bag during the bike and run. I usually wear riding shorts and seperate top, never again!
I read a quote the other day at the vet's office that I could really relate to. It went something like this...
I'm thinking my slight obsession with making cupcakes is definitely making my new year goal of eating well and losing some weight difficult. But goodness, I just can't help myself, they're so much fun!
Yesterday, Jesse started to really show signs of feeling better and today this is what I came home to. Not only has he not been able to jump onto the bed, he hasn't been able to stay on the bed because it would be too uncomfortable (soft things seemed to bother him) and he definitely hasn't been able to stretch out on his back. This is obviously a good sign...a passed out puppy on our bed, on his back with no signs of moving anytime soon. Today was also the first day he went without painkillers. So, I'd say we're finally on the mend...for real. Still we'll be taking it easy and he'll only get short walks to start off, but I'm pretty happy to report that I think the old Jes is back!:)
One of my goals for the new year is to get out and meet some people which, frankly, hasn't been easy since moving to Melbourne. Although, I do have to constantly remind myself that it almost always takes a good year of living in a new place to really start to feel like you have friends. It was like that in Montreal and Brisbane, but still, if I'm gonna start having friends in the next 4 months or so (can you believe that we'll be here a year in April?!), I have to actually join some stuff and get involved. You know...actually go where people are! I started by joining an expats Canadians living in Melbourne group. I figure it will be nice to meet some people like me, living away from home, people I already have stuff in common to talk about...Canada! Plus, I have found that you tend to bond best with those that are also from away when you're living in a new country. The group meets once a month, usually at a restaurant but sometimes for other Canadian like stuff too, such as skating or to watch hockey games. There are 46 members in total and it looks like a few people are around my age. I meet everyone on January 27th for my first meeting. I'm looking forward to it and will keep you posted on how it goes!
Now that all the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Years is behind us, I want to be sure to post about two special people I spent some time with just before Christmas. Clo came to visit us the week before Christmas, just after I got back from Canada. It was really nice to see her, see her baby bump and feel the baby wiggling and kicking! So exciting! We had a very relaxed visit. Clo was just recovering from a cold and I was recovering from jet lag and ended up with a sore throat. It's only your true friends that come all the way from Brisbane to visit and are happy and content vegging in your living room and chatting! We had a really nice time just catching up and being together. I miss her company a lot!
Her baby belly is really cute. I hope I can be half as cute as her at 7 months pregnant someday!!!
We did manage a couple outings, one of our favorites being the Friday night when we went for dinner, non-alcoholic drinks and then to see the penguins. You know I love the penguins... I think Clo did too!
That's a lot of ribs!
Luckily, she was eating for 2!;)
As always it was terrific seeing Kate!
Some of Morgan's family was there as well. It's always really nice to meet your friends' family. I think it helps you know your friends even better!
Check out the amazing vegetable Christmas tree that Kate made, complete with capsicum reindeer and cheese snowmen! I was super impressed! Very, very creative!
A Kate and Morgan snuggle.
A Cari and Kate snuggle:)
This is Kate with her cousin. Don't they just look like they'd be related?! Kind of like I said to Steve, as we pulled up and Kate was waiting in her reindeer antlers, "See this is why we're friends!" I was wearing silly Christmas stuff too! hehe:)
One of my goals for the new year is to do something creative everyday. Something that leaves me feeling inspired, even if it's just something small or easy, like looking at a crafty blog that I really like or picking a flower from the garden for a vase. Yesterday I made cupcakes, because who doesn't feel inspired by cupcakes?! :)
Today is the first day since Christmas Eve that Jesse seems able to move comfortably. He had a vet appointment this morning and while he's still very sore, very tight through his neck and has limited motion to the left side, he's doing much better than he was! He's even been given the okay to go on a 5-10 minute walk around the block. We had to buy him the harness that he's wearing in the picture, as he can't have anything that pulls at his neck when we walk. The vet has an acupuncturist she wants Jesse to see, once he's had a few more days of rest and healing. Our vet is trained in dog massage and said Jesse's neck muscles are VERY tight around where he was injured. We can actually see the muscles in his neck and across his shoulders ripple/twitch when he stretches or moves in certain ways. He tried a head shake earlier today and let out quite a cry, so clearly he's still got a way to go, but seeing the progress has definitely lifted our spirits! Hopefully, it's all positive from here on!
We had a nice quiet evening in with Michael, a guy Steve worked with in Brisbane and now in Melbourne and his girlfriend, Alida. We really enjoyed their company and had lots of food to eat! I took this picture just before they arrived at our house with 3 green grocery bags full of food for the evening also!
It's been so hot the last couple days. Last night it was 39 degrees in the evening! Luckily, a thunder and lightning storm moved in, breaking the heat but making our plans of heading out to watch the midnight fireworks a no go!
I think this is Steve's "I can't believe we'll be together a decade this year" look!
Alida and Michael unpacking their goodies.
Alida and Michael also brought over their shisha, which is used for smoking cool, flavored tobacco. I'm obviously not a smoker but I just had to give it a go to see what it was like. It tasted like peaches and made your mouth feel cold, definitely an experience!
Champagne for the new year!
Happy 2010!:)
We ended up seeing some of the city's fireworks from our house. Steve was so excited when he heard them at midnight, that he took off like a child and I didn't get a new year's kiss! He'll definitely need to spend most of 2010 making that up to me!;)
Hope everyone had a very happy new year! I am very hopeful about 2010. I made myself a lot of realistic goals for the new year. Everything from 'see another musical' to 'lose 10 pounds'. I'll try to share them with you as I accomplish them. That might help to keep me motivated!
With Jesse in his crate, Steve at work catching up, and a rainy gray day, I decided to take advantage of snoozing, watching talk shows and eating left over snacks from last night. The only productive thing I did, other than shower (didn't happen until 5 pm!) was make a new wreath for our front door, so that I could take down the holiday one. A great way to start the new year I'd say! What did you do for January 1st, 2010?
