Easter Dinner

Easter Dog.

Easter goodies for the kiddies.

Easter decorations.

Easter ears.

Easter nibblies.

Easter ears on hubby making Easter ham.

Easter ham with maple syrup and brown sugar glaze.

Best Easter ham ever.

Easter cupcakes.

Easter dinner guests...

Easter coloring.

We hosted an Easter dinner yesterday at our house. We had a traditional Easter feast with ham, veggies, homemade rolls and all the trimmings. I even made Steve's Mom's mysterious "green stuff" (more about this later!). We had cupcakes, sugar cookies and lots of chocolates for dessert. We sipped wine and beer and cider. It was delicious. But, best of all, we shared it with great friends! It was a really wonderful Easter Sunday gathering.

Hoping your Easter weekend has been shared with family and friends too! xoxo

Chillin'

How funny is this photo! This was the boys on Saturday morning, vegging out. Only two more work days and we get to veg out for five.whole.days! I'm counting the moments! In other news, we finally got rid of these chairs and got a new couch. Who says you need a couch delivered? We have a Yaris and it has yet to disappoint me. I'm thinking of starting a blog and naming it "S#@t I can fit in a Yaris";) We really showed that Ikea guy who laughed and shook his head when Steve pulled our little car up to the loading zone!

Autumn

Autumn is in full swing in Melbourne and it's been absolutely beautiful around the city. I just love this time of year. It's so fresh, crisp and pretty. Steve and I decided to take a little drive out of the city to see the leaves changing and stumbled upon an adorable little winery where the leaves were all sorts of lovely autumn colors and the air smelled amazing! It was truly gorgeous...

The autumn colors aren't quite as impressive as Canada but they are pretty darn close! Close enough to make autumn my most favorite time of year both in Melbourne and Canada. I've even been enjoying the cool mornings that require quick trips from our cozy bed to the shower and heat in the car on the way to work. Autumn is good. The wine we chose at the winery for our Easter dinner this coming weekend is really good. Life is good! :)

Aussie adventures

We went mountain biking today at Lysterfield Park and saw a large Red-Bellied Black Snake sunning himself on the path. We also saw several Eastern Grey Kangaroos nibbling on grass beside the trails. We're not in Canada anymore, eh?

Dining adventures!

I've been a bit of an emotional yo-yo in the last week. I'm not good with uncertainty and my control freak self doesn't cope well when things feel out of my hands. I've been up and down, some days really positive and at peace with whatever happens in our life, other days really anxious and exhausted, analyzing every possible option and basically making myself crazy. By the end of last week, I was completely drained and just needed a little quiet time to unwind. Friday night I came straight home from work and had a nap, then went back to bed at 9pm! I was pooped! But after a really good nights sleep and a peaceful Saturday spent dabbling in a few things around the house, including cleaning and baking (both therapeutic for me!), I was feeling much more myself. Our friends, Geoff and Ange invited us to their neighborhood for dinner and we dined at the most delicious Ethiopian restaurant...

The food comes on one big gigantic plate covered in the most delicious bread. You just dig in with your hands and enjoy!

Ange did the ordering, so I'm not sure exactly what we had but I do know it was a pretty good variety, beef, lamb, chicken, veggies and it was all really tasty! See Steve's hand in this photo, that gives you an idea of how big the plate was...Steve has big hands!

It was nice to hang out with good friends, drink a bit of wine (er, a bit too much wine!) and just relax. I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that if Steve's studio in Brisbane hadn't closed, we would never have moved to Melbourne and would never have met our fabulous friends here or experienced any of the fantastic things that we've got to do in the last two years. Everything happens for a reason and it's true, when one door closes...

Smile Steve! Steve loves it when I take his picture, can you tell?

All gone! Thanks Geoff and Ange, as always, we had a great time!

I'm off to the osteopath today and am thinking I'd like to do something a little inspiring. Perhaps, I'll grab a coffee and hit a copy of my favorite little shops. Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Pros and Cons

Steve and I made a pros and cons list tonight. It was the size of our living room rug. We have a lot of options to weigh at the moment! Jesse wanted in on the action, which is fair enough considering he is a pretty important part of this wee little family of ours! He literally laid in the middle of our list and we brainstormed around him...

...Man, I love this dog. xoxo

Weekend Photos

We had a really nice weekend, in spite of getting some unhappy news at the end of last week. The project that Steve's been working on for the last 2 years was canceled, which in his industry always makes me nervous. It's not the best field for job security and I admit, I was a little worried on Thursday and Friday. But after a very chilled out and enjoyable weekend together, I feel really at peace with things. What's meant to be will be. Plus, who can stay worried and unhappy when you are eating pancakes with this sweet puppy sitting beside you bumming for a bite?

A few more photos from the last few days...

We bummed around the city yesterday and cafe hopped trying coffee. It was a lot of fun! The verdict: Starbucks coffee is complete crap in comparison to adorably charming cafes around Melbourne.

My chili plant is growing! And let me tell you, those little peppers are hot hot hot!

Easter daisies. I'm so looking forward to a five day Easter break!!

Carrot muffins, gluten and dairy free. I really need to get back on track with my eating. Gluten and dairy just tastes so darn good!!

I got new running shoes! I tried them out tonight and they worked very well. I'm comfortably running 6 km now and planning to start adding on 2 km in the next month in preparation for the 8 km Mother's Day run in May. It feels good to see myself progressing and have my fitness improving.

Although eating foods like this may be a little counterproductive! ;)

I guess if we're going to indulge in food and wine, it's only fair that Jesse does to...

...dog beer, anyone? No, we didn't buy this for him but it was pretty funny to see this on the shelf at the pet store! Has anyone given this to their pooch?

Our time turned back last night and I broke down and turned on the heat for the first time this year. Winter is here, like it or not. I think it's time to buy myself some cozy new slippers and maybe even a new jacket for the season. If you can't beat it, join it, right? :)