just plodding along

a year in review

Thought I might type out a few highlights/significant moments of each of the past 12 months..... (how many full stops does it take to get this whole list of blogfeed... who knows... that should do...)

January
Youth Foundations
howie asking me out again

February
Car crash – wrote off Wemmick
Glandular fever

March
Glandular fever
Bought Duckie
Welcome Kaysey Jane Gardiner

April
Uluru

May
Sam started coming to GAP!
First trip to Armidale - meet Howie’s parents and Nan
Holidays of fun

June
Holidays of fun

July
Joshy’s C4 graduation
Skittles broke my tooth

August
Armidale take 2
Ben and Ben coming to GAP
Greece and Albania

September
Tail end of Greece

October
Beach
Start marriage prep course

November
Sculptures by the sea
Car accident

December
Gold Coast mission
Getting engaged
Armidale take 3

So there’s a few bits and pieces that certainly didn’t make up my entire year, and weren’t all my highs and lows and in betweens, but it’s a snapshot and I wanted to take it.

Soon we head off to observatory hill. Another first for me! So much bravity.

Happy new year everyone – have a good one!

another year over

i always end up thinking that december 31st should be a reflective day. look back on the year past (passed?) and think about what's happened, what's changed, how i've changed, if i've changed, the lives of the people around me, stuff to be thankful for, stuff to move on from, what's coming up in the new year etc etc. perhaps it's silly though to keep that sort of thinking to just once every 365 days.

anywho.

last night howie and i ventured to rhodes to see fun with dick and jane

it was pretty fun. sometimes laughing at jim carrey makes me feel bad, because i know really it's just not funny. but there were some funny bits. and as great as the reading cinema 5 is, the screen is just too big! i couldn't look at the whole thing at one time.

i don't think i really mind if i never experience gold class.

i'm still sad i lost my movie stubs earlier tis year. one of my biggest disappointments of 2005.

mickie d's

can't say much about the efficiency of service, but i do like the cherry ripe sundae

by a nose

for the first time since it was done, my nose twist came out as a slept last night. almost 18 months isn't a bad stretch

i noticed this morning as i went to have a shower, and then madly searched my bed, and the bathroom, and my bedroom, growing more and more stressed. and there it was on the floor next to the bed

it then took a bit of muscle and courage to stick it back in my nose, because skin had already grown over. so me thinks that, along with the blood, there will be nose infection for a while as it re-heals

but there you go

oh and back home from armidale now. looking forward to airconditioned hot days

dig a little deeper

and you'll find tamworth.

we ventured down south today for a better shopping experience, but alas, i rate armidale better than tamworth.

drove back through a pretty fierce storm, visability was not too tops coz of damn heavy rain. so that was fun in a car i've only driven a few times, with windscreen wipers that aren't at their best. very cool lightning though. they aren't wrong about it being thunderbolt country.

feeling a bit sick today. not sure why. maybe i need to drink more water. was quite the warm day. i'm probably dehydrated.

thank goodness for cricket

as you would have gathered, we are here in armidale. as usual it's a pretty happening place

spent a bit of moneys today, particularly at kmart. bought the funnest looking game called "who? what? where?"

looking forward to the massive sales i'm sure armidale puts on for post-christmas. that's the plan for tomorrow. as well as watching more cricket

and yep. glad it hasn't been to hot yet

good old armidale

the end

tally ho!

wireless blogging at the airport

$4 yoghurt for morning tea/lunch. ah, airport expensiveness

as lovely as it might be for howie to fly to armidale, for me, rex planes give me the heeby jeebys a bit. they are quite small. i'm sure it'll be fine. as long as i don't spill my water on myself again

i'm a wuss bag

hopefully i can blog when away, but if not, have a great post-christmas week. and get me something nice at the sales

two thirds the way through

christmas was today - as you may be aware. and here are a couple of pics to take you through my day, if you're at all interested

we started with me picking up howie at 7:01am, and understandably he was tired, but he got super fun pressies from debbie, mumma and dad, including fun coke glasses in a coke tin. he took advantage of the nap opportunity before church

after church we ventured out, on the M7 to the oaks for gower family christmas. there was lots of food, chatting, backyard cricket, photos and the like.

and in the arvo, mel and ben arrived with kaysey, who i hadn't met in person before. so we took some photos

with deb, and me

with great grandma and grandpa, and auntie natty

howie managed to sneak in another rather uncomfortable looking nap

and we got a really nice photo of the two of us

now it's back at home, and we'll watch 'the panel' christmas thing which we taped, and it's beddies, before heading off to armidale tomorrow to finish off the christmas tour!

so merry christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Twas the morning of Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone.

I hope you have a fantastic day of celebration and merriment.

christmas eve day

today was kidd-gower christmas and it was good fun. i like my relos. they are good fun, so i took some photos

howie got apple juice poppers from my grandma, and i think he was pleased about that

and thats just a photo of debbie. we see again below that howie is excited about his apple juice

and then him with two of his favourite gower girls (sorry about the blur)

i would have posted pics of my parentals but i know my mother would kill me

people and places

yesterday was fun with the adventure of into the city via train and light rail to see the boys hotel room, walking back to town hall and finding some random food court, train back home to drive to st leonards for a delightful evening with jo and sam where the food was lovely, the company wonderful, the reptiles/insects/arachnids steered clear of, the spa very warm and chloriney. i had fun.

i am looking forward to the day when i wake up without a snotty nose. i'm hoping that it's soon because my house's stocks of aloe vera tissues are diminshing very very quickly.

just let it die

should it be embarrassing that i'm looking forward to die hard 4?

i'm sure it will be dodgy.

wrath of grandmother avoided

i just have to remain motivated to keep it tidy. it's not that hard jenny!

although it's still a little dusty. but shhh...

bit disappointing i didn't take the shots from the exact same angle. but now i've added to this blogs small collection of room photos

end of an era

well today was the day. i finally threw out my blue adidas shoes. they've been with me as long as i remember and were my cousins before that - they are authentic 1970s shoes, and i am sad they have gone

but their last adventure, into the waters of bribie island, didn't leave them in that good a shape - they are quite on the nose. so it was with a fair degree of grief, i bid the shoes farewell, and chucked them in the bin.

i'd like to be able to say they are headed to a better place, but i know that to be a lie.

tidy

i have so much work to do cleaning my room before saturday. crazy. sometimes i let myself be such a slob. it's gross.

jew or gentile?

was reading 1 Corinthians this morning, the passage about God choosing foolish things of the world to shame the wise, in amongst many other things - and i hadn't really read properly the part about the message of the cross, and the impact of the cross on the Jews and Greeks. That, to the Jew, Jesus couldn't have possibly been the Messiah if He died in such a way - there's no triumph or victory in that (supposedly). That, to the Greek, it was just stupid? Why would someone claiming to be God let that happen etc (not that i have any real idea of the truths behind all that)

In any case, my main point is that the question was asked: "In your view, is our society more like the 'Jew' or the 'Greek' in its view of the cross?"

i think i don't really know enough about today's society, or the jewish or gentile opinions to have a say. but it was just a question to ponder. i think i lean more towards the gentile view being that of society today, but in saying that, i still don't really know what that means. people don't see the power in some man, who claimed to be God, dying? people don't understand? don't care? i'm not sure.

i don't really want the answers, it's just interesting to think about.

i love that God is so much wiser, smarter, stronger, bigger than me. or us.

painting, and the ring

i did some painting of walls today. i like using a roller, and the actual painting part. i HATE the preparation for painting - the bluetack removal, the sugar soap, the sanding, the undercoat, the second coat of undercoat. just give me the painting!

tomorrow is our last official day of work for the year. i'm excited about holidays. i'm excited to spend some time with people. and to relax.

the last few weeks have been very tiring, especially this last week since i've become sick again. i'm always tired, and sore, and a bit light-headed. i'm fine.

and for anyone who's asked or is interested, here are a couple of dodgy photos of the ring. it was my grandma's engagement ring...

tis the season

hoorah for christmas dosa. a jolly good time.

saw

woke up at 4:30am with a sore nose

while i was in QLD i cracked my head on the wall next to my bed, which woke me up

three nights ago i hit my nose on the wooden frame of my bed at home, which woke me up

when i was in high school i grazed my face from hitting the back of my bed in my sleep

but i think this morning's sore nose was from having a cold

woot wooooo

howie and i are engaged!

he asked me in aisle three of woolworths, in front of the mobile phone biscuits. he was even down on one knee. although i was too, because the biscuits are on the second bottom row.

so many a many hoorah!

i love you howie

unexpected change of plans

well because of all the riot stuff, gap camp in its planned and expected format was cancelled - wollongong was one of the areas that were reported as a "no go zone" apparently, so the pastors decided better to be safe than sorry - and fair enough. that was friday night - many phone calls ensued

so instead we had a full saturday of spontaneous activity. i do hope everyone enjoyed themselves

shout outs to:
james for some sharing some great stuff
shell for powering on through sickness
debs for all her help
ez for being a 'life saver' (geddit??) with the pool and food prep
and everyone else for being there!

so much concern that people didn't have a good time, but whats the point of excessively worrying about that? just something i seem to do

my cold is still here. it's not quite full blown. i want it out of my system

c/o joshy's fun phone.

shop til you drop

most all my christmas shopping and wrapping is done! yay!

i like giving presents. it's good stuff.

feeling a bit feverish

keeping an eye out

in a christmas letter from an old pastor of mine, who is nicknamed pirate:

"and by the way that male friend of that gorgeous Gower girl had better be a good bloke or he will have me to answer to!"

better watch your back howie!

swollen

sore throat - in time for camp. hoorah :(

christmas shopping tonight, and oh i hope i have success

i decided that spray paint in the hands of teenagers is not always such a good thing. i remember when i was in sunday school, somewhere in the first few years of high school, some old building was being knocked down on the church property. our sunday school teacher gave us all spray cans and we were allowed to go nuts just before it was demolished. it was great fun! in another area we got to smash heaps of terracotta pots. that was awesome too

sometimes being destructive is so much fun

duckie got a new bum

and a nice one it is. one worth over $3500, for $900 - that's still a bit ouch. but it did mean he got washed for the first time since i'd bought him (back in march!).

we're back! flew in at about 2pm - some bumpies - yuk!

this afternoon/evening calls for some napping, some unpacking, and some relaxing. might try catch up on some blogs sometime too

back to work tomorrow. then friday. then GAP CAMP! then DAY OFF ON MONDAY!! wooo hooo

skittles are good things. so is diet coke. and if i don't see another salad roll for a while, i'm ok with that!

smack!

howie and i have a new game - belly slapping. i don't know why but it's just so fun trying to hit him and defend myself. hours of entertainment.

i like QLD people.

been a bit cooler at night which is good. feeling pretty brown though.

so much face painting. little kids are so funny.

good thinking about grace and forgiveness this morning.

going hard

pretty full on few days, but i did get my beach (although only to my knees) and i did get my icecream. oh so much icecream.

i also got my telfast coz of my itchy bites. jeepers.

only two more arvos to go. then home on wednesday. hopefully a bit of time off, after a good chunk of days in a row of work.

today isn't too hot yet. that's nice. i'm sure it'll get there.

so queensland. there you go. i like the sand. it's fine.

mac

i'm very happy howie has this laptop. it's very handy

bit cooler again tonight, which is good. maybe sleep will be good

have a trip tomorrow. be interesting to see how different places do these things

meanwhile, i have very little confidence in my own abilities. makes life a little tough

sometimes being a "vegetarian" is interesting

it's golden

hello from the sunny gold coast. it's pretty warm up here. jeepers. but to be expected.

work is going well. fun people to hang out with.

flight up was fine and dandy, but for one patch of unexpected turbulence. the pilot didn't sound very happy when he told us all to put our seat belts on.

haven't been to the beach yet. hopefully soon.

haven't had icecream yet. hopefully soon.

thank god for cold 600ml bottles of diet coke.

and boy am i a dodgy face painter! it's not heaps good when you feel sorry for the kids who ask for you to paint them.

who are you again?

maybe it's time for another peek at you, the readership. a time for some disclosure. so if you will, please leave your comment answering the following riveting questions -

Name:

Age:

Blog/website:

Where you were born:

Favourite Saturday activity:

Five words that don't describe you:

Edit: PS. I so suck at packing!

"love God more than you fear hell"

mucking around

if you're lucky, you may notice yourself on the right side of this page - just scroll down a bit - oops! there you are!

now, i am presently finding it fun to have photos there. i know they aren't all the same width, they are roughly the same height. i know they aren't all quality, but for some its the best i can get. if you don't like your current representation - send me a new photo!

come on, photos are fun. you love it!

and i hope it was ok to steal the blogfeed thing off you howie.

bit nauseous today

and lethargic

not sure what it is

didn't seem to end up as hot as i thought it would be

YAY going to U2!!

itch

i just got bitten by a mosquito twice. damn things.

neil's sermon was on hope tonight. rather suitable after my saturday morning post. christmas very much is the "love, joy, peace, hope" thing.

yesterday and today have been very sleepy. i did wake up sore, and still am, in my neck and shoulder. today was pretty lazy after meeting up with libby, and have gap meeting. howie and i lazed around. we went for icecream.

we are about to watch the "hey, hey it's saturday: by request" dvd.

and flights were booked to go to gold coast.

you're getting sleepy

i am much tired and put it down to sun, salt water, wind and not much sleep last night. it was a pleasant afternoon to lay on a rug in a park, so howie and i took that opportunity. i did fall asleep though. i think he did too.

we then had fun hanging out with debbie. we like debs.

and this evening, howie and i went and saw 'domino'.

(i decided i like how he puts the little movie pictures in when he sees a movie. so i decided i shall copy)

it was alright. bit tricky. i don't know that i've ever seen so many cigarettes smoked in two hours. i'm still undecided on where i stand with keira knightley. i think i like her. although she is in 'pride and prejudice', so that does go against her.

anyway, i don't rate movies, so this is the end of my post.

o!

cathy bell took us biscuiting today. the fun of debbie, grant, tamara, libby, cathy and graham. but ouch. some quality stacks. some quality pain. i think i shall be sore tomorrow. i never came off a tube like that before. but it was nice to be on the boat, and eat, and chat and be merry.

orbitBIG was, well, you guessed it, big!

oooh, and things are hotting up on survivor!

i went to sleep last night thinking about how much the world sucks.

"the constant gardener", which i saw with howie, and reading the chapter on hope in yancey's "where is God when it hurts?" left me thinking about how i was lying in my comfy bed, with virtually all of my health, in a more than adequate house, in a kooshy suburb, while thousands, millions, of people are suffering from incurable diseases, are dying from preventable causes, have nothing, are in constant fear for their lives, being mistreated, or being ignored/manipulated/abused/neglected by the powers that be. and i felt helpless. i still feel helpless. and i don't know what to do with that. then i feel bad for feeling helpless. for dwelling on my own minute pain. for not knowing how to make a difference.

what is my part?

slow poke

i wasn't expecting today to be as warm as it has been

i enjoyed watching the nice big anvil clouds roll by this afternoon. mmmm

took over an hour to drive to castle hill and back to pick up the fixed dvd player - but yay for fixedness! oopsies for the five car pile up i drove past on showground road

in other news, this is slightly addictive. i promised myself i wouldn't attempt it at work after the initial go. i kept my promise.

tonight i'm looking forward to going to the movies

and tomorrow is OrbitBIG... wahoo!

plus it's World AIDS Day today