"30 in 30 on 30"

Last month my wonderful Husband turned 30 on 30th June and I quite literally planned out the entire month for his birthday. Right from the 1st day on Saturday, Queen's Birthday weekend.

We took a wee drive south to Peel Forest, which is a wee village outside of Geraldine. Literally there is just the forest for taking walks, a cafe/dairy & a school. I packed together a picnic lunch, after finding a picnic blanket with the Union Jack on it, which was way cool. Simon's comment when he saw it was "they could see it from space". We enjoyed our picnic lunch in direct line with the sunshine, despite the cold. It was a fantastic day.

I also promised to make his sandwiches for work each day and to take the bins out each week for the duration of the month.

June - entirely planned out.

I decided o do this from about mid-April and spent May planning it out and finalising it, right down to mini lists for each of the more adventurous days/evenings.

The days that followed involved little gifts and on the 10th & 20th something more. Little gifts included Yorkie Bars, Double Deckers, cans of Dr Pepper, Sherbert. I made dinner a couple of times (which in our house is a rarity as Simon cooks dinner most nights - I'm not really a cooker). The first night I cooked on Tuesday 4th was Lasagne with salad & homemade garlic bread. I put the salad in ramekins to make it look a little more exciting and lit candles round the kitchen & lounge.

Gift Card - homemade

With each event or gift it came with either a gift tag tied/hung round it or a gift card, which would say a little message, explain out the event of allude to the evening's plans.

Gift Tags decorated & written out

I took Simon out for dinner & movies, up to Victoria Park for Ice Cream (though it was raining that night so we parked up to enjoy the view of our city at night). A couple of times I went out & got Moro Bar Cheesecake from Coffee Culture (which if you are local and haven't tried it, you must, it is melt-in-your-mouth amazing).

Simon had mentioned, that if he did do something for his birthday to celebrate, that he'd have a dinner at Styx & Stone at Northwood. So I organised that too, while he knew about it & chose the guest list & agreed to the invitations, I sent him an invite too. We held this on the Friday night before his birthday. It was a lovely meal with family & close friends. I also had a cake sorted too (from Divine Cakes of course). A chocolate mud cake with "Happy Birthday Simon" iced on it, with "30" number candles. It was absolutely delicious.

Simon's own personal invite to dinner :)

On the Saturday I took Simon over to Akaroa for the night. We stayed at the holiday park up on the hill & had a great view of the harbour, through the trees. We arrived mid-afternoon so enjoyed a relaxing earl evening, followed by pizza & chips at L'Hotel down by the water. Even in the middle of winter Akaroa is amazing. I feel we can never stay long enough (have decided we'll definitely have to purchase property there & as soon as possible). We walked out onto the wharf afterwards, pitch blackness + freezing cold, while wrapped up warm was just lovely.

The next day "B-DAY" Simon was 30....

After checking out, we strolled around the area, drove along further round the peninsula to where the marae is situated. Then parked up by the lighthouse & walked along beside the bay. It was such a lovely, mild winter's day.

Akaroa Lighthouse

My Father, Step-Mom & Brother happened to pop over to enjoy lunch with us (I'd arranged this of course). We had lunch at "Bully Hayes" - the Monteith's Bar there, which is just another example of how excellent these bars are to dine at.

View of the Bay from our Accommodation

The presents: well Simon was well & truly spoilt this birthday. He ended up with 5 bottle of whiskey, all different, both Irish & Scottish. I bought him a Seiko watch & had it engraved. Having received some pounds we finally purchased the James Bond 50th Anniversary book set of all the movies on Blu Ray from Amazon, which once we'd received was definitely worth getting. So now we'll start watching them from Dr. No all through to Skyfall.

One of the other great presents he received as the 30th Anniversary edition of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' on vinyl.

Overall it was a fantastic birthday & I know Simon really enjoyed it all. I thoroughly enjoyed planning & executing out everything for his big birthday.

"New Accessories...."

Within the last month we have acquired a couple of new things for the lounge....

Our first new acquirement was this great set of Chair & Foot stool, which we ordered from Mocka. It was a quick and easy assembly, that was delivered within 2 days of purchase. The Red is just amazing, I think his will be a theme through out entire house (a compromise from not being allowed anything pink - red & white).

A fairly good sized set, if we had room would definitely get a second, may do in the future.

The second accessory for our lounge, is a heat pump FINALLY!!! We managed to get the landlord to have one installed and boy does it make a difference. Power bill is much the same from when using the heater. We run it 24/7, it is so nice to get up in the morning with no chill in the air and then to come home after work, darkness nearly upon us and the house is warm. It's fabulous.

While our little place is getting somewhat more crowded, we're warmer and have extra seating - perfect!

Blog to come next month: Husband's 30 things in 30 days for his 30th!!

" Getting things done...."

There are so many things that I want to do and I get slightly frustrated because I can never seem to get these things done. These things not being the usual housework things, that of course seems to always get done.  

I want to catch up on my scrap books, the last one I did being our wedding one. I need to do:

- Mini-Honeymoon in Akaroa

- India Trip

- Singapore Honeymoon

- Our First Anniversary in Akaroa

- Our Second Anniversary in Maruia Springs

- Cross-stitch one

- Bits & Pieces of our life the last few years.

So many to do but although I have every intention to sit down and do them I never actually do. I plan to do it for a weekend but never actually get a the gear out. The last time I did was in March and I managed to organise the bits & pieces into their little sections. As for India & Singapore I organise that all into order like last April. See what I mean I might get one step done but never move on the next step of actually starting it. Anyone else have this problem???

Plus there's the other things too that I want to do like:
- actually read through my law text books (sounds dry and boring I know but I really want to do this
- really learn how to use our camera, I mean I didn't buy the book just for Simon to read and learn from - I want to learn more too. PS I know how to use it and to take a god picture but I want to take a GREAT shot.
- I want to bake more - my friend's blog Major Cake Kitchen Affair has inspired me to bake more
- I would like to learn to quilt - to be able make something for children's cots (and given children are still a way off I have time to perfect it)
- I'd like to cook more meals - I've collected numerous recipes over the years, which I've tried to odd one now and then but there's never time to to put the effort in
- Plus read through my psychology textbooks too, to have a better understanding of various aspects of human life.

So as you can see there is plenty I wish/want to do. The thing is knuckling down and trying to get this things done. I really really really wanna try and get these done. Not sure when this will be.

"New Regent Street..."

A gorgeous sunny day this Sunday gone, so warm and balmy, it was t-shirt weather. Simon & I headed into town to see the re-opened New Regent Street. It was great While there were only a few of the shops occupied and open it had been cleaned and tidied up really well. In fact you could close your eyes an almost hear the rumble of the tram coming along the tracks. It was lovely, with the sun shining bright, it was well easy to believe in the rebuild of Christchurch and its success, no matter how long it would take.

"It went too fast..."

This is a belated blog. Time has flown by in the last couple of weeks, with having friends to stay and family too.

So to update....

The week following our friends' wedding was another week of blur. Bryan & Rachel left us to stay with friends' out in the country and we had a couple of nights to ourselves then Simon's cousin and her boyfriend arrived to stay for a week. They're over from England, having travelled to Thailand first, then kangaroo hopping round Australia to arrive in Auckland and meander on down New Zealand.

They arrived Tuesday and we all went out to met up with Bryan & Rachel, Sarah & Chris at Hoyts to watch Ironman 3. It was the first of the 3 that myself and Becka had seen. It wasn't too bad either. In fact the following Saturday we went and bought the first movie to see where it all started. The movie was pretty good. Afterwards we took the pair up to Victoria Park to survey Christchurch in its glory lit up in the dark night. She still is a pretty sight.

Wednesday night involved Bible group to hear Vision College teacher Mike Robb share his testimony. Always good to hear how someone from the depths realises God is ever present and that he loves them in spite of all their faults. At 20 he started to wonder what was the point of life if he'd done all the 'fun things' only to continue to repeat them, what was the point of going round and round and round in life? So he looked into religion, read up on all material he had lying around and while reading through the gospels (of the New Testament) he found a God who didn't expect things to be done in return for His love. He only wanted you to repent your sins and live your life according to His word. So he said to God "if you are real show me!" He said this on Wednesday night in September 1977. By the Friday, while out with friends at the pub he was sitting there and got this picture of his friends all wearing masks, putting them on to face society, when deep down they were all looking for something real. So he went home and realised too, that he hadn't had a craving for any drugs since Wednesday night, nor any withdrawl symptoms. God had shown him He was there and He was very real.

Thursday night Becka cooked us tea and a lovely carrot cake. While I packed for our trip away the next night. Friday was work followed by getting the car and heading north to the Hurunui River Mouth, where we were meeting friends who'd travelled to it the night before. We stayed in this really lovely lodge, which was like 2 buildings joined by the garage. The others were staying in the back rooms while Simon and I had the master in the front part.

We got up there in time for dinner, burgers, homemade and cooked on the BBQ, with assorted extras and condiments. It was delicious. We sat round and chatted with the beautiful wood burning fire going. I really miss having one in the house. It's so cozy to curl up, watch a movie or read a book with the fire going.

Playing 'Settlers of Catan'

Lovely wood burning fire

So that's exactly what I did, curled up in a chair and read my book while Simon watched a movie and the others played 'Settlers of Catan' (which I knew I was too tired to try and learn to play). It was so nice to just sit and read, something I don't often get to do. A late night followed by a lovely bed to sleep in.

Keeping in mind for future reference - nice & comfortable

Saturday morning - slept in but not quite as long as would've been nice. We quickly tidied up, the guys got in another quick game of Settlers. Then it was goodbyes. The others were heading off to Hanmer Springs to soak in the hot pools for a few hours. Simon and I were headed to the pub for lunch.

View from the back

View from the front

Hurunui River mouth

While they headed for the pools, we tootled down to the road to the River mouth to capture the view. Rather spectacular. Then head on a back road round to the main road. Nipped across the Scargill Valley Road and popped into the historic Hurunui Pub for lunch. It was a beaut day, sitting in the sun. The cafe/winery owner next door said we could have a look in one of the cottages up on the hill behind the grape vines It was just picturesque. Definitely a must to go and stay in one day in the not too distant future.

The weekend ended with dinner at home with Becka & Etie, watched Ironman 1 and spent Sunday lazing about, followed by a late night chatting with B & E as they were heading south the next day.

Another crazy week behind us. A few weeks of quiet to come...

Till next time....

"What a week..."

A 3 day week and a 4 day weekend - what a great balance.

The week started with rain, ad not being able to get all the washing done at the weekend like I like to get done.  But thankfully that all cleared up by Tuesday and I was able to get it all out and dried. Yay! But the best part of Tuesday was getting home to having good friends Bryan & Rachel here. They stayed with us until Sunday. It was great to have them stay. Miss them much when they're not here.
They made us quesadillas for tea on Wednesday night with guacamole, they were delicious and I so need to  try them myself some time.

Wednesday was also a great day because I got to get my pretty new puppies. A gorgeous pair of red patent high heels with gold studs on them and bows at the back. I am well in love with them. And managed to borrow the exact shade of red nail polish to match and tipped with gold. Fantastic.

Aren't they gorgeous......

And then there's the pretty bows, just to finish it off

The second exciting part of the week was that my/our weekend started on Thursday ANZAC day, a public holiday remembering the troops who died  upon landing on the beach at Gallopoli and all of them afterwards. But it is also my birthday and my darling husband took me away for the night, so we had Friday off too.

He had planning for a number of weeks and didn't tell me where we were going. It was a beautiful day and we set out just before lunch heading north. We stopped in Cheviot for lunch but first Simon sent me for a walk while he got something ready.

My Birthday Cupcake

When I got back to the car, Simon had a cute little cupcake with a lit candle in it for me. It was yummy. Raspberry & White Chocolate.

We went along to a wee cafe for lunch, then continued on our way.

Our destination was Kaikoura, The Fairways, a wee place just south of Kaikoura. We had a 1 bedroom apartment with an ensuite , which included a spa. It was just lovely.  

Throughout the day I opened presents. My brother gave me Fleetwood Mac's Rumours anniversary edition which included the album, 3 other discs of outakes and a live concert. DVD of the advertising film for the '77  Rumours Euro tour and the album on LP. Fantastic. It was conveniently packaged with the red tape like the union jack.

Union Jack wrapping

As the day unfolded I opened more presents, Simon got me a new laptop. Another Vaio but in white with a pink keyboard skin and pink mouse. I got a 2nd Viper badge in black, to with the red one Dad got me about 11 years ago. And "The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible" from my husband, it's so cute.

Spa Bath

We went out for tea at Corrianders Indian Restaurant, which lovely and very filling. Then came home to watch he new Spiderman movie on sky.

Gas Fire

There was a great gas fire that was just lovely and would so be cool to stay during the winter and have this making the place cozy and warm.

Great View

Next morning we went up the wee hill behind the apartment to see the amazing view.

We headed into town to wander round town and had a really yummy seafood pizza at one of the bar/restaurants. Delicious!!!!

Saturday, the end of our busy few days, we went to our friends' wedding. Phil & Lynda make a lovely couple that certainly suit each other. Will have photos in a later blog.

Next time... another crazy week to follow before a little bit of calm before we get rolling again. Till then enjoy....

"Christchurch Cathedral.........."

the Anglican Cathedral in stitch

one of the major building/landmark disasters of February 22 2011 was the damage to our beloved Christchurch icon the Cathedral. the ensuing arguments since then over whether it should be kept, restored, demo'd and re-built etc etc etc. it was/is a beautiful building and whatever its future holds I am sure that God's hand will be in what transforms from what now is merely rubble for the pigeons to enjoy.

however i happened upon this cross stitch about a year ago and knew i absolutely had to do it, framed and hung on the wall to forever remember the cathedral that was, for me and many others the one of our childhood.

all 3 charts joined together and middle found

started feb 4 2013 - half the tower done

almost there with the tower

the rose window finished, i loved how stark it was once finished before filling in round it

before backstitch done

completed 11 april 2013

i enjoyed doing this piece, as i do with all my stitching, piecing it together stitch by stitch, watching it unfold into what i had seen in the city centre for many years.

"20 years of songs you wish they'd sing to just you..."

This week, 22 April, was the 20th Anniversary of the Backstreet Boys, being together. They now have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A rather amazing achievement for any one in the biz.

For many a year I have bought their albums, at full price, when they're first released. And at one point I could recite what songs were on which album in the correct order.

1993

My favourite song would be: "What makes you different (makes you beautiful)" from their Black & blue album.

I FINALLY got to see them in concert, after waiting 17 years, at Vector Arena, Auckland. This was when it was just the four of them. So I am hopping that now that Kevin is back with the group that they'll come back.

2013

Hollywood Walk of Fame 22.04.2013

Backstreet Boys Star Hollywood Walk of Fame

Looking forward to hearing the new album and the future music to come...

Well done boys!!!

"The week that was...."

now we're into april by a week, time is flying by, yet again.
everyone says that but as children we can't wait for christmas or our birthdays or for school holidays to come round (i remember one set of school holidays, april ones, many years ago, before part time work, where i read a book a day - i sometimes wish i could do that again)

anyhow, enough ramblings, on with this weeks info/update.

couple of weeks ago my step-mother flew home to india to see her family for two weeks, thus leaving dad on his own. i'm pretty sure he managed to survive but thinking ahead he decided to spend easter in auckland with regan. dad rang to see where to leave George Harrison ie any dog kennels we knew of worth leaving your precious pet with, but i said 'nooo don't worry about that george can stay with us'. well i won't be saying that again, at least while we are at the moment.

as you can see he is rather cute and yes he is fun to play with.

the weekend was great, beautiful weather, just the right temperature.

dropped dad at the airport at lunch time, saturday and then spent a quiet afternoon together, taking george for a walk in the balmy evening

i just love the picturesque bay of akaroa with all the various boats floating in the harbour, - it is so peaceful

sunday, was another lovely day. so george decided that we should nip over to akaroa for lunch in dad's car. he pretty much threatened us if we didn't - well this is the story we were planning on telling dad when he noticed the extra mileage on the spedometer.

we can manage to get a photo of ourselves - even with the height difference

we had a lovely lunch at l'hotel, then wandered around by the bay with george and then having a mr whippy. i had choc dipped with flake. simon had flake with sherbet. delicious.

this is so cool - the sun's rays look like God's light shinning down over his  creation

driving back we turned to head back   via gebbie's pass, then nipping up over the port hill's. a great winding piece of road that brings you round to the 'sign of the kiwi '

the first sign of trouble though with george staying was sunday evening. george was spending his time alone in the kitchen which he was perfectly fine with during the night, nothing to excite him then. but when we arrived home after church this little white mischievous had his paws up on the windowsill of the lounge window. funny considering he was in the kitchen when we left. we checked everything up for grabs and all appeared to be in order so we figured he'd just gotten out of the kitchen. 

it was tuesday when things started to go a bit haphazardly. obviously we were both at work, deciding to leave a weight on the lounge side of the sliding door between kitchen and lounge, thinking this would deter him. no it didn't. instead i came home to his little white face at the lounge window. i hoped/prayed that he'd only just gotten the door open. but alas no.

what i came home to, as you can see below, was my favourite summer heels destroyed beyond repair. the little bugger had been snacking on them for what i can guess was most of the afternoon. the insole ripped and torn off, lifted on the other. teeth marks at the toe end and straps broken.

needless to say i was far from impressed. i got these heels 4 years ago and look forward to wearing them every summer, they went with jeans and pants (and probably skirts if i wore them)

george received a swift smack on the nose and spent the rest of the evening in the figurative 'dog box'.

so the next day he was shut in the bathroom. while he is very cute and fun to play with, i don't think i'm ready for full time puppy sitting.

as you can see our table will soon be well within his reach

though i did enjoy playing with him, ie using his towel and dragging him round the kitchen, standing him on his hindlegs, having him waving from the passenger seat at the other cars and snuggling on the bed in the morning.

himani (step-mom) and her son bobby (step-brother - must remember that we have one of those now that he is in the country) arrived home today and with her many goodies from india. she bought for us a lovely purply comforter for the spare bed, with sheet & pillows in the same pattern but a reddish colour. i'm now tempted to use them on our bed. a couple of dress shirts for simon and a belt. she is just so lovely, before she left, she was what would you like, anything you need. the only thing i asked for was a 'white tiger cub stuffed toy' and she found me one. she is so cute. i may be nearly 27 but i do love my soft toys. i'll have a room one day with a sun bed covered with him.

yet to be named - my new addition

so a slightly eventful week, one that george managed to survive, barely; where i am down a pair of heels, which means i'll just need to look for a new pair when the summer lines are out. just as well as i have gorgeous new pair on layby (of which i will share once they come to their new home). as for the quick trip to akaroa, it was barely noticed. dad asked thursday how far we'd actually gone in his car. he hadn't actually fully noticed what the mileage was before he left for auckland. i said only to akaroa and back. he wasn't bothered. though surprised i hadn't asked but instead done a regan and just driven his car anyway.

daylight savings tonight, we turn the clocks back an hour as we head into the winter of 2013, hope we have snow again this year.

till next time....

"And on the third day he rose..."

matthew 28:6 "he is not here, he has risen, just as he said."

"...he has risen! he is not here..." mark 16:6

luke 24:6 "he is not here; he is risen"

Easter: a long weekend, a family getaway, easter bunny, chocolate eggs & hot cross buns - to many this is what this upcoming weekend is about, a chance to get things done in the garden before winter takes its hold, a chance to get away with the family before the weather is cold.

For me though, it is about Jesus, our Saviour who died on the cross at Calvary to save us all. He took all the sins of world upon his death, so that through Him we have the choice to have eternal life. This is just so amazing, it does seem almost unfathomable but it is so real. I chose Christ as my Lord and Saviour over 20 years ago, and through my teens and uni I continued to follow and believe in Him, though at times thin on my part I always knew He was there, keeping me safe and on the right path in life.

It is just so awesome God's love for us all, every single person in this world, that over 2000 years ago He sent his son as a baby to grow and live in this world, to then die on the cross, to bear all our sins so that we have a choice to follow him.

My husband and I still buy each other easter eggs and the 'easter bunny' delivers them to us on Sunday morning. But we recognise the real impact that Easter brings.

Good Friday can change your life too!! Simply start with believing

Christ died for us, for the sins of the world and then he rose from death, Jesus' tomb is empty!!!

To know real love, real peace is to accept Jesus into your life. He will never forsake, he will rescue you from a spiritual death and from eternal death. I know that my life would never be the same without Christ in my life and understanding what God did for us, what His son did for us. It can be yours too, just ask and follow, believe.

"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord..."