a very exciting day

Wonderful friends of ours are having their baby today. They have waited 3-4 years for this little bundle of joy and today is the day.

I am VERY excited and can't wait to meet this little person!

Please pray all goes well with delivery!

Not long now and we will! Praise God!

visiting friends today

After a busy day cleaning and doing house chores yesterday (plus I did manage to squeeze in a nice walk at the beach and a smoothie/early lunch with a girl from mothers group!) I am off to visit a friend today who had a baby 3 weeks ago, I am going along with the lovely Liz M - should be fun!

Looking forward to meeting this little man and hanging out with friends from my old church!

dinner with ruth, 'e' and kym

Tonight I am having dinner with the lovely Ruth and the equally lovely Kym, it has been far too long since I last saw Ruth and I can't wait to see my little god-daughter elect 'e', I am sure she has grown so much since I last saw her.

I am also getting a special treat by seeing the whole of Ruth's family on Saturday - I will be taking my camera to snap away as it has been so long. So stay posted for pictures.

I love catching up with friends, it is going to be a lovely evening together.

Bring on the pasta!

ruth and our god-daughter

Ruth and little 'E' came and visited me today in the city for lunch. It was sooooooo lovely to see them as it has been a while since I last caught up with them and I just don't get to see them as much since we have both changed churches and they have moved.

It was delightful to see them both, little 'E' is so adorable and cute and she is growing so fast. I managed to get some smiles which was just lovely.

I took some pictures on my mobile phone as I didn't have my camera with me. Not as good a quality but you can still see how cute she is!

It was also lovely of course to see Ruth who is such a great friend and godly women/wife. Even though it might be a while between visits we still just pick up where we left off, sharing life, the good and the hard and catching up on things we may have missed.

Thanks for coming to visit Ruth. Let's do it again soon. Love ya!

just got to see some friends from my old church

It was lovely to see a bunch of my wonderful friends!

Congrats Nathan and Jen on getting hitched. It was a great wedding.

Simple but lovely!

the world's greatest shave

Last year a good friend of ours who is a work colleague of SP's found out he has lymphoma cancer, even though many tests could not locate any further cancer, the cancer they had found was a very aggressive sort. After seeing various doctors and specialists it was recommended that he go on a 2 year course of chemotherapy. This January he started his intense chemo, he has been very sick and in and out of hospital getting treated, he has recently had to come off the chemo as he has been so sick. He also has a 2 1/2 year old little girl and another one due next month.

Firstly I would love for you to pray for this family and pray for wisdom for us in how to support them through this, they live very close to us and SP has been an amazing support and visited his friend when he has been in hospital for the many hours receiving treatment. We also went over a few weeks ago to shave his hair off as it had started to fall out. Our prayers are that we might be able to share Christ with them and love/support them in the ways in which they need.

So next week my lovely husband has decided he is shaving his head for the 'World's Greatest Shave', he has been letting his hair grow ready for the big day. I will make sure he gets some before and after shots.

Secondly, if you want to support him let me know and I can send you the link, you can sign up and sponsor him on the web.

our last sunday at church with pics

Last Sunday was our last night at our current church, we had a picnic during the day along with a few other people who also left on Sunday. It was a nice afternoon of chatting, eating, boiling in the hot weather and remembering how much God has taught us and grown us.

I will miss my church and church family but I know there are many people that I will continue to have great friendships with, who I will continue to see regularly.

I was a little sad during the last song, knowing that that was the last time I would be singing together as a member of that church but I am excited to see what God has in store at our new church, how he is going to grow us, use us and shape us to be more like his son.

my beautiful friend from england arrives today

One of my best buddies arrives today from England, well actually from Thailand as they went there for a little stop over.

They are coming for Paul and Christine's Wedding, infact Matt is Paul's brother and he is married to my ex-house mate, she was one of my bridesmaids and I was one of hers..

I can't wait to see them, the last time was when we stayed with them in London in December, we didn't get to see them much as we were both busy busy but this time I have next week off and hope to hang out with them...

Anyhoo - I am very excited!!!!

fun with ruth and the fam

Last night SP, Kym and I all went to Ruth and AB's house for dinner. Ruth, Kym and I all got together a bit earlier for coffee, milkshakes and banana bread which was lovely (I think it is going to become a tradition - even though we have only done it twice). I took my camera and got some great shots of our little god-daughter and the gorgeous boys. See below. I so love hanging out with Ruth, AB and their family - they are a real joy and I will miss them when they move. But we will plan on seeing them very regularly! It was also fun to catch up with Kym - our fellow god-parent!

Some of the photos below with me and the boys were taken by the boy that you can't see in the picture, they all wanted to try - they are cute and they did a good job - I think we have a couple of budding photographers in our midst.

SP and I love you guys heaps!

milkshakes and banana bread

I met up with Kym, Ruth, two of Ruth's gorgeous boys and the lovely baby 'E' today for milkshakes and banana bread = YUM! Here are a few pics I took...

godparents

I am pleased to announce that Ruth and AB have asked SP and I too be Godparents to beautiful baby Hannah!!!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am and how honoured we are too take on that responsibility. We see it as a big responsibility but also as a great joy and privilege... I was all teary when AB asked me on Sunday night and I literally RAN to go and tell SP who was meeting up with a friend at the pub before church.

I love Ruth, AB, their four boys and their brand new 'fresh out the oven' baby girl!!! We are delighted, very proud and extremely excited! It's going to be fun.

We love all the Barry kids and are glad that they are all part of our lives!

My Godparents are still really involved in my life and have been since the day I was born, Willy and Trudy who live in Worcester are great and I love them to bits. They are good friends with my family, Willy was best man for my Dad and my Dad was best man for Willy, they used to play football (the English kind) together.


We obviously don't see each other as much as we did when I was younger and their daughter and I (who my Mum and Dad are godparents too) used to always play together. I saw them when I was home, they came out for a family dinner with us, they got to meet Scott, we swapped emails, mobile numbers and have since been in much better contact - Trudy even joined Facebook and writes me messages (I am very impressed!)

Anyway godparents can have such an impact and involvement on a life, my godparents have. There are also the responsibilities to pray for the child, to nurture the child and to encourage them in their relationship with God. Pray for SP and I, that we might be faithful in praying for Hannah and that we might take on the responsibility seriously but that it will also be fun! fun! fun! I know it will be.

spoilt weekend

I was very very spoilt this weekend, two of my beautiful friends Nic B and Mrs Lairdy had told me to keep Saturday free as they had a birthday surprise for me. Yes it was my birthday in May - but if I can still get surprises in July then that is VERY cool!

So SP was told to drop me off at a secret location - where I met up with the girls, they immediately took me to Ella Bache where they had booked me in for an hour massage - it was SO NICE!! An hour later they came and picked me up with a 'Hazelnut Latte' from Starbucks -my favourite and some beautiful Singapore Orchids (like the ones I had in my bouquet - my favourite). They then drove me to the beach where we had a glass of wine and lunch, it was so lovely to hang out with my friends and to be soooooo spoilt... The lunch ended with lattes and a cake to share with a candle and with them singing me Happy Birthday! I loved that they were singing me Happy Birthday in July and everyone around must have thought it was my birthday too - tee hee. It was fun and I felt very special. I love those girls, they are very dear to me and I treasure their friendship.

After that we I went to pick up my 'pre-ordered' copy of Harry Potter 7, couldn't wait to get it open and start reading it so I started in the car and that was where SP lost me for a while, well for an hour or so as we had Goldy and Kym over for dinner and to watch the Swans v the Eagles. I made Shepherd's Pie, we ate chatted, had general good times other than the Swans lost ;( It was fun to have the girls over...

Sunday consisted quite simply of me reading Harry Potter, stopping occasionally for food and water and church but mainly reading. I loved the book, I loved the ending and I have to say I was a little bit teary too. My lovely husband was very patient with me reading all day.

Sad news flash! Ruth and AB are leaving church to go to another church in the Shire, it was announced last night at church. As sad as I am that they will be leaving us I know that this is God's will as he given them this new job. I believe that God has grown our friendship and I pray that he continues to grow it despite the distance. It is very exciting and scary I am sure for the Barry's but I am thankful for both AB and Ruth who have/are serving us well at CIM, the friends that they have become and the gift of sharing in their lovely boys lives ;)

missing friends

Last night I got a text message from two of my best buddies in England Jen S (2nd from right)and Caroline B (far right), both girls were bridesmaids at my wedding and I adore them both very much. They had just had Caroline's Hens Night and wanted to Skype me, we chatted for a while, giggled and talked about her wedding. They are hoping to Skype me on the day of the wedding as they are getting ready so I can be part of the day - this is so lovely, and I know Jen and Matt will take video to show me when they come out for another wedding of some other beautiful friends - Christine and Paul ;)

Caroline is getting married in just under 2 weeks, she asked me to be a bridesmaid but it was a bit hard for us to go out as SP wouldn't have been able to come because of work plus we just went to England in Dec/Jan. So Jen S is getting to stand in for me as bridesmaid - I know she will do a great job. We made the decision a while ago not to go, it was a hard decision to make and although I know it was the right one, the nearer my beautiful friends wedding gets, the harder it is to know I won't be there. It makes me sad to miss out on such a special day for such a special friend BUT as I keep having to remind myself we have a lifetime to share and enjoy each others friendship and to share in the ups and 'hards' of marriage. It still makes it hard to be away from home and it is moments like this where I want to be in England so I don't miss out on major events in both my friends and families lives.

But as I always say - God has me here for a reason and I do love it here, he has blessed me with great friends who I would likewise miss if I lived in England, if I only I could get all my lovely friends/family to either come and live here or come and live in England. Ahhhhh that would be nice.

note to self: start working on getting ALL friends and family to live in the same part of the world near me!

hola sandra

Hola Vida/Guapa,

This is a little hello to my beautiful friend Sandra who I used to work with in London, she married a guy who also worked with us 'David John' and now they are expecting their first baby on 5th August. I finally spoke to the lovely Sandra for the first time in a VERY LONG time, it was so nice to chat and I realized how much I miss them and laughing (lathing) with them.

She told me she reads my blog but doesn't know how to comment ;( I am going to email you so you can do it!

I love you guys and miss you heaps.. It was good to chat, we should do it more and you should get Skype..

FAME!!!!!! Besos!!!!

off to meet the lovely lara

I am off to meet and have Lindt Hot Choc with the lovely Lara, we haven't met yet but we have a mutual friend in Liz D and we have been meaning to have hot choc together for a long time but never do, even though we are in the same office ;( So today I get to do both, meet Lara and hot choc it with Liz all at the same time. Multi-tasking!

Lovely!

trip to the zoo

Yesterday I went to the zoo with Ruth and two of her beautiful boys, the two youngest 'c' and 'd'. This was my third time to the zoo and two of those times have been with the lovely Ruth. I had so much fun, these guys get to go to the zoo a lot and this makes them wonderful 'zoo' guides, they also know all about the animals. The zoo is big and so I had no idea where we had to go and the chances of me getting lost were probably about 99.9% but Ruth and the boys know EXACTLY where to go so I just followed the 'pros'.

This time around we went to see the Australian animals section, we went to see the amazing birds in the avery, we saw the elephants (very cool and very big) and we had chips for treats (fries) -which the boys were very excited about. I also got to see some monkeys (of the Kookaburra variety - don't ask!). I took some cool photos which I will post up later or tomorrow.

It was a fun fun fun day out and I had a really great time, I look forward to doing it again soon.

Thanks Ruth and the boys ;)

weekend of sickness and fun

Today is Tuesday already where did the weekend go?

We had Sam, Soph and Kymmy over on Friday night for dinner, I cooked a lamb roast and some brownie for dessert - yummo!!! It was fun!

Saturday we went to the shopping centre (or 'mall' as you Americans and Aussies say), I purchased some lovely new shoes. I don't buy shoes very often but found a fab pair of red shoes and some lovely silvery/goldie shoes - that I just love.. I don't do heels as my Mum says I look like a duck when I walk in them (I really do) - plus I am a 'comfort' girl... I have some little kitten heel shoes which I wear with dresses or skirts if we go out to weddings and stuff, I would wear my Ugg boots if I could but don't think SP would let me... Saturday night we were both feeling pretty yuck but had a 30th to go too, it was just at our friends house and pretty casual which was nice, we stayed for an hour or two and then left as we were both beat.

Sunday was a relaxing day, we weren't feeling too well so patience was not running high. We went for lunch at a Thai restaurant but didn't talk much - not because we were angry at each other but because we felt so rotten - we went home and decided to watch a movie - we watched 'Casino Royale', the names Nixter, English Nixter. Yeah not quite the same ring to it as Bond, James Bond but you have to work with what you got. Is was a good Bond film, we both enjoyed it. We also pigged out on Doritios and Chocolate - naughty but nice...

Sunday night was church and it was awesome, the best sermon I have heard in a while. It was called 'We are Family' - it made me want to sing that Sister Sledge number but I didn't.. Lairdy preached on the book of Philemon and it was great... It was about how we have a Father in heaven and as God's children we are all brothers and sisters in him - how we are to forgive, love and pray for each other. I might write some more on this as it was really really good or I may just post the link when the talk in online, Sam had some thoughts here.

Please pray for us as we are still sick. Slowly getting better though which is good. I am off to the doctors tomorrow to try and find out why I have been getting sick so much.

Hope you have a great Tuesday.

dr nixter = wrong diagnosis and my cunning plan

Good job I am not a doctor as I did get it wrong, I don't have tonsillitis BUT I do have another infection in my throat - a respiratory infection this time = nice!

So I am once again contagious so have to be off work plus I need to rest, I am so frustrated as being sick it slows me down - I have things to do you know body!!!!! So I am once again on the drugs (nothing illegal - penicillin), I have another 50 to take after just finishing my other lot on Saturday. I am actually feeling pretty nasty, all through the night I kept waking up, the drugs haven't kicked in yet so feeling pretty miserable. It just started getting worse and worse as the day went on... Anyway I shall stop feeling sorry for myself and ask you to pray for me, that I might have a quick recovery.

In other news I am working on a cunning plan to get Marla (who wrote from 'Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife' and 'Is That All He Thinks About') out to Australia, I have been talking to various people (who run conventions in Australia and are on various Christian boards) about her books, handing them copies and talking to them about the possibility of having her talk at some different events. Not sure if it will happen yet BUT please pray that it might work (I obviously have selfish motives too), but I think it would be a major benefit to so many women if they heard Marla talk on some of the topics in her books and to see these amazing books get into more women's hands would be awesome. I honestly think they are a must for every girls book shelf. Please pray for God's will to be done and if it is meant to happen that HE would open the doors HE wants us to go through. If you have any ideas let me know!

Right, I must away and rest - doctors orders. Have a great Thursday!

is that all he thinks about?

My beautiful friend Marla has recently been to a book signing in Indiana for her new book 'Is that all he thinks about', I bet you can't guess what this book is all about???

Marla's first book 'From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife' was the first and so far the only book of hers I have read, the new book is getting posted out soon ;) I have to thoroughly recommend 'From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife' - it is awesome.

I first read it not too long after I got married and have been raving about it ever since, Marla has a way of meeting you where you are at, I breathed a sigh of relief when I read her words, she understood what being married was like, she tells it how it is and lovingly shares her experiences of what married life is like. I found the book encouraging, biblical, practical, hysterical, a relief and challenging. It was great to read that you are not alone, and I was given biblical godly advice on how I can love my husband more. There is so much in this book to take and apply to my marriage so many little golden nuggets to treasure. Marla's humour is fantastic, her compassion and honesty on various issues were insightful and encouraging.

I am not saying that marriage is now a doddle, or that we have no problems whatsoever, this is never going to be the case. BUT it was helpful in encouraging me to bring the things that are hard to God and think of things from a godly perspective and not from my own selfish perspective.

I recommend every women who is married, whether it's been 1 month or 60 years to check out this book, I am sure that you would find this book both helpful and a joy to read.

You can read a little of each book by clicking on the links at this site and you can order the books from this website

I will let you know how 'Is that all he thinks about?" is when I have read it. Stay posted!

touch down

My friend who I used to live with in London touched down in Sydney this morning on her way back to NZ. She is only in town for two days but I am really looking forward to hanging out with her. Woo Hoot!