BACK ON TRACK!

WARNING: This is a huge post ... you might want to bring a packed lunch!

Wow ... 3 weeks since my last entry. 3 weeks of 'jamb packed, flat out, busy busy' !!

* My new office is finished and looks fantastic but the move was rather chaotic (that's a nice way of putting it!). The new phone system had a glich and caused a bit of stress; but the main computer system crashed and caused major stress !#*@?!!
Ok, two weeks later a lot of $$ (and many deep breaths inbetween) ... the phones are sorted and a new computer system is now installed ... all is good! Here are a few pics of building the new office and a pic of the finished reception area.






* A few weeks ago we took Blake and 2 of his little mates to Darling Harbour for the day and went to Wildlife World and the Aquarium [Rewind: we have a little family tradition that on the last day of every school holidays we always have a special family day out where we do lunch & some sort of activity which Blake gets to choose ... because our every waking hour was consumed with fitting out my office, we didn't get to do our little tradition on the last day of the Oct school holidays :O( Blake was disappointed but understood. So, we organised the day in Sydney whereby he could bring a few friends along and this was also a bit of a reward for him given how co-operative he had been over the weeks of 'living at the office'.
So, the plan was to drive to Pymble, then catch the train to Circ Quay, then a ferry over to Darling Harbour; but, they were doing trackwork and the trains weren't operating, so we drove to Circ Quay and then caught the ferry across to Darling Harbour. I love a day visit to Darling Harbour ... such a bright, happening place! We spent the morning at Wildlife World, which i must say was a lot better than expected. I expected that this would be no different to any other animal attraction; however, there were a few different features that made it very interesting. In particular, the butterfly enclosure is gorgeous!! A huge net enclosed area that you can spend time in with hundreds of different species & coloured butterfly fluttering around. They land on your hands, hair etc and it is a beautiful experience. Even 3 little boys were quite taken in by it all!!
We spent the afternoon at the Aquarium ... have been here many times before but it is always enjoyable to walk through. Beautiful colours, walking through the tunnel with sharks, stingrays etc swimming over the top ....










* Last weekend was KIWISCRAPS. i think i was looking forward to just 'chillin out' for the weekend more than the scrapbooking! However, the scrapbooking projects were fantastic, the tutors were great and particularly enjoyed the digi scrapbooking class i done with Renae Pearson - this was a real 'outside the square' for me. In conclusion, i am definately a paper & paste kinda gal, but will be inclined to use digi from time to time and particularly for enhancing photos.
The giveaways were very generous ... came home with lots of bits & pieces. Sorry, haven't taken any photos of any KiwiScraps this time - as i said, was too much in desperate need of 'chill time'.
Had a great weekend, got to meet up with friends and met forum friends IRL for the first time ... Hi to Kellie & Manon :O)
Sunday (after a sleep-in & big buffet brekkie [yum], Karen and i set off to IKEA ... OMG, this is the first time i had been to IKEA ... i love that place. We had a huge shopping spree, the car (a large 4WD dual cab) was packed to the max on the way home ... we looked like we were moving house he he !

* This week has been a 'slowly getting back on track' week and feeling like routines are returning to normal (although sometimes i wonder what normal is these days! LOL!)

* Yesterday, we went to a 'Baby Naming Ceremony' and the parents sprung a surprise wedding on everyone as well! Congrats & hugs to Anne, Shannon & beautiful baby Jorgee!! We had a lovely afternoon catching up with family that we don't see as often as we should ... just 'cause everyone's so busy (mmm ... there's that word again)!

Off now to catch up on some more of my poor neglected housework ...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

JULIE x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD !!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad!



He is clever, humble, proud, wise, patient, and all the other wonderful things that make him such a wonderful Dad & Pop!

CRAZY, CRAZY!!!

That is the best way to describe life at the moment ... but i'm not complaining ... i'm exhausted (or maybe i should say WE are all exhausted), but not complaining!

My new office is all but finished and it looks fantastic ... huge HUGE HUGE thanks & appreciation to my family - to my DH & Dad to have spent every waking hour building, painting etc etc; to my Mum for being the backstop and providing an endless supply of meals, babysitting etc whilst we were all so pre-occupied, to my little man (Blake) for being such a wonderful patient little person whilst being 'dragged from pillar to post' for the past two weeks and to my sister for the time she is about to spend getting my computer systems & bookkeeping systems up & running for me ... i realise every day that i am blessed and never take for granted having such a wonderful supportive family!

On the scrapbooking front .....

This weekend is the MEGA SCRAP DAY BREAST CANCER FUNDRAISER being hosted by SCRAPBOOKnBITS ... really looking forward to a day of scrapbooking and meeting new people. It's not too late to join us ... contact/email Karen at SnB!
There is also the 'Advent Calendar Christmas Card' workshop ... a different spin on Christmas Cards to send to family & friends ...



More scrapbooking ....

Have you seen the gorgeous new 'vintage paper lace' at SnB ...



ONLINE VINTAGE LACE LAYOUT WORKSHOP ... Next Wednesday evening (31st Oct). The workshop is FREE, kit can be purchased for $14 (this includes postage) click HERE for more details

I feel like i have rambled and squashed all this info in at once ... but it will probably be another week before i get a chance to blog again so i have to make the most of my opportunity!! LOL!

Have a great week everyone,

JULIE x

DOUBLE JINX

This week i have double jinxed myself ... but it was good jinxing!!

1) Jury Duty - after waiting for instructions for 2 days it was decided that the panel i had been nominated for was not required .... YEE HAH!
2) Pulication submission - although i was prepared for another rejection, i did send in a LO to be considered ... and ... i got a POSITIVE reply!! Another YEE HAH!

Now it just proves that thinking aloud on my blog can be beneficial ....

Dear Blog, i really wish i could win lotto ....

keep your fingers crossed for me !!! LOL!!

JULIE :O)

RANDOM RANTINGS !!

One week of the school holidays gone already ... we love school holidays!

DH is off work this week, so i'm sure there will be lots of boy activities going on ... fishing etc. plus a few 'sleep overs' planned with some of Blake's buddies coming to stay and we're off to the drive-in for the night. With all this planned, i guess the next week will fly by [sigh]!

This weekend has been fairly non-eventful (which is such a nice change in our lives). DH was on dogwatch this weekend, DS was in 'chill out' mode watching a few dvd's and spent time out with some friends today .... and i got some much loved 'me time' for some scrapping!!

I was going to try my luck at submitting for publication consideration; however, rejection is depressing so i will share with you lovely people instead! LOL!

Do these photos look familiar?? Love being able to do LO's using lovely bright colours ... even got out the old mm foam stamps (boy, haven't used them in ages)!


Bit of an 'in house' joke with this title. DH has always been a skiier up until last year when he decided to learn to snowboard. This year for Father's Day he got a new snowboard ... so now he has attitude !



I have almost finished another LO for SCRAPBOOKnBITS which features the gorgeous new VINTAGE PAPER LACE ... mmmm very noice! Have a look HERE

Well, tommorrow is the big "Jury Duty" day .... keep your fingers crossed for me that they decide i am not really a great upstanding citizen and therefore don't require my services ... one can only hope!!

Have a great week everyone!

Keep Smiling :O)

JULIE x

A PINCH & A PUNCH ...

FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH!!!

Can you believe it is October???? Another year is flashing before our eyes ... in fact it has been exactly 12 months this weekend that we left for our one month holiday around Victoria, Great Ocean Road, Broken Hill etc last year - oh how i wish we were on our way again!!!

Anyway, the last week has gone fast too ... great to finish another term of school and start the school holidays ... i loooove school holiday! Love the break from routine, uniforms, lunches, homework etc etc.

Friday night i attended a fundraiser scrapbooking night at Lisarow Public School - this was organised by the lovely Alex (whom i met at the SCRAPBOOKnBITS Scrapbooking Retreat earlier this year. Alex runs a business with gorgeous and unique homewares, gifts & things ... there is even a 'spring sale' coming up ... have a peak HERE !!

Here is the one & only LO i completed at the scrapbooking night ... (a bit too much chatting i think!!)



I am slowly but surely getting through all my photos taken prior to scrapbooking which aren't really great photos in a 'scrapbooking sense'; however, i wouldn't part with them for the world ... what do they say ... "you just have to make the best of a bad situation"!! LOL!

Saturday i worked all day - no excitement to report there! Just the usual ongoing saga of keeping the day to day business flowing and trying to get my new office happening ... at this stage, the finalisation date has been set for 17th October ... fingers crossed!

Sunday ... beautiful Sunday! The weather here was just gorgeous so we had a day out in the boat (with a group of friends and some of their friends with their boats etc). We went over to the sand islands near Pelican and set ourselves up for the day (caught up with other people we knew too - very popular place!) It was so nice to relax, have a chat, a few drinks, a lovely lunch; and the kids had a wonderful time swimming, building sand castles, kicking a ball around etc!




We headed home at about 6pm, a quick shower and then all re-gathered again to watch the NRL grand final. Didn't really care who won ('cause we are Newcastle Knights supporters) but a good excuse to socialise!!

Today was a major "wind down" day ... got lots of washing done, cleaned out mine & DH wardrobes (lord knows that is only scratching the surface - intending to go through the whole house), then had an afternoon nap - this is soooo not me to sleep during the day, but i feel great for it!!

Well, here's the start of another busy week, looking forward to doing some 'school holiday activities' as well as juggling the office; but very unsure about next week's activities cause i have been summonsed for jury duty !!! eeeeek! I would be really grateful for any comments from anyone that has done this before - feeling a little nervous!!

Have a great week everyone.

JULIE x

COME & JOIN US !

i will be hosting this workshop at the
SCRAPBOOK'n'BITS "MEGA SCRAP DAY for BREAST CANCER" fundraiser ... details HERE



This will be a fun-filled day of scrapbooking & activities to raise money for breast cancer research ...


Saturday, 27th October 2007 : 10am to 9pm
Wangi Wangi RSL Club (Watkins Rd, Wangi)

Hope to see you there!

JULIE :O)

WE'RE HOME!

THE SNOW BUNNIES HAVE RETURNED!


We had a fab holiday at the snow ... lots of fun, great friends and lots of snow ... just fantastic!

26 of us set out last Friday for our annual pilgrimage to the snowfields!

A few of the kids were beginners but took to snow skiing very quickly; and the others achieved higher levels and skiied many new slopes for the first time including skiing across from one resort to the other.

Blake had a wow of a time and here are a few pics (from the many hundred i took) of him ...




this is one of my favourite photos of Blake ...




DH was like a kid in a lolly shop with his new snowboard ...






The weather was very kind to us and a couple of days were spent in continuous soft falling snow ... this was a real treat!






I am so blessed to have such a wonderful bunch of friends (not all of whom are present in this photo); but to be able holiday with our families for a week and have such a wonderful time, we are very lucky!



Some positive notes from our holiday:

* We sighted 2 famous people on our snow adventures ... Franky J. Holden & Keiren Perkins!
* We didn't lose anyone!
* No broken bones!


One negative note:

* When 26 people live together in a lodge for a week and one person (which happened to be my Blake) gets sick with a 24hr vomiting & diorrhea bug, nearly everyone gets to have a turn ... sigh :(

Anyway, won't keep you any longer and will be back to post soon with some other 'bits & pieces' ... hope you have all had a good week & great weekend.

Talk soon,
JULIE x

Quick Post 'til Next Week ...

Well here i am again ....

It is 12.45am and we are due to leave in about 4 hours for the snow ... looks like i'll have to sleep on the way!

Just a quick post to say "hi" and "bye" til next week 'cause we are off to the snow for a whole week ... 26 of us! WooHoo, lots of fun! and look forward to sharing some pics with you when we get back.

Now, a quick catch-up for the last week ...

Thank you to Julie Love for my 'cutie patootie' little cupcake i received as a RAK ... it is amazing how 'life like' it is! and ... receiving a little cake in the mail inspired me to do some baking.

Blake and i had a lovely time on Sunday afternoon making 'Caramel Baby Cakes'!




These are one of the varieties in the new 'White Wings Baby Cakes' range ... they come in a full kit (cake mix, icing, patty cases & garnish).

They are only tiny but very Yuuuummmmy!

Last night we made another batch (Cookies & Cream Baby Cakes) for Blake to take to school today for his cake stall ... not to mention the few that we saved for after breakfast dessert ... naughty !

Other than baking, i have been working, working, working to have everything super organised so i can have the week off ... phew!

Have managed to do a scrapping project but can't share with you just yet 'cause it will be a little Christmas workshop at the upcoming SCRAPBOOKnBITS Breast Cancer Mega Scrap Day Fundraiser.

Click HERE for details about joining us for a mega day of scrapbooking for a wonderful cause ~or~ if you can't come along to the mega scrap day, join in for the cybercrop ... you might even like to do both ... mmm ... decisions, decisions !! LOL!

Well, so much for the quick post!! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by ... have a great weekend, an even better week ... and as they say ... "break a leg"!

Cheers,
JULIE

A LITTLE BIT OF SCRAPBOOKING

Finally got a chance to do a little bit of scrapbooking ... just a simple LO ... but i absolutely love this photo of Blake & my mum!




Nothing much else happening ... but counting down 'til we go to the snow next Friday ... yipeeeeee!

Really loving Australian Idol but a little surprised at some of the contestants that got through ... but then again, who am i to judge, i can't sing to save myself!! LOL!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

JULIE x

A BUSY WEEKEND

Wow ... it has been a very busy weekend and i'd like to say "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY" to all you wonderful Dad's out there!!

Our day got of to a slow start and we had a BIG sleep in (which was soooo overdue); so no fancy breakfast this morning but we headed out for a drive and had a lovely lunch (along with my mum & dad). One of those lovely lazy days!!





Friday night was a 'girls night out' in Sydney to see Priscilla ...



OMG, it was absolutley fantastic!
The costumes and 'the bus stageset' were just awseome ... so clever! I love stageshows/musicals ... and ... nothing better that a night out with the girls! After the show we had a bit of a wonder around the Casino (that place is like another world in it's own), and finished the night off with some scrummy midnight coffee & cake!

Last night i hosted a trivia night for our local pre-school. It is the most gorgeous little community pre-school ... this is the pre-school Blake went to when he was little and i love 'doing my bit' to help them raise money each year.

Only 12 more sleeps 'til we go to the snow ... woohoo!!!

Have a great week everyone,

Keep Smiling :)

JULIE x

FRIDAY ALREADY ...

Another week gone .....

Well, my boys will be home from camp today and i am sad to say that i was hardly home whilst they were away and didn't even get a scrap of scrapbooking done {sigh}! Never mind ...

All my time seems to be taken up with work at the moment ... busy, busy, busy!

But, speaking of work, i had the loveliest surprise yesterday ...

I have a fairly involved job and unfortunately it is not always friendly; and, like a lot of things, people are very quick to complain or get irrate if they are not happy with something or things don't go their way ... but, every now and then, someone shows their appreciation for your assistance, service of whatever.

Yesterday morning, a courier arrived at the office with a big box addressed to me ... i was really puzzled and trying to rack my brain within a few short seconds whilst signing the receipt slip as to what it could be. Have I ordered anything lately? Scrapbooking supplies don't come in a box this big? It is not my birthday?????

This is what it was .....



A big basket filled to the brim with wine, cookies, chocolate, cashews, coffee, mints, merangues, chutney etc. etc. ... WOW!
This was sent to me by a someone i have assisted through work as a
'thank you' ... I was very humbled and flattered at the same time.

Busy weekend ahead .... off to Sydney tonight to see 'Priscilla', doing a Trivia Night tomorrow night for the local pre-school, Father's Day on Sunday ...

Have a great weekend everyone!!

JULIE x

Looks Like Spring, Feels Like Spring .....

How gorgeous has the weather been over the past few days ... I wish it was like this all year ... it makes you feel lively and puts a "spring" in your step !!





To add some more cheer to the day, click HERE and join in on some guessing competition fun at SCRAPBOOKnBITS!

My boys (DH & DS)left for school camp this morning ...




Yes ... that is my son cheering through the bus window ... a tad excited you might say! LOL!!

No husband or child ... 3 days of silent bliss in my house = lots of scrapbooking & out with the girls tonight to see Chuck & Larry !!!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

LAZY SATURDAY

All this week i have sooo wanted to have a 'lay in' ... finally, Saturday came ... no sport, no work, pretend there's no housework ... we had a BIG sleep in!!

Spent the morning pottering around the house still in our pj's, did a little washing, had a shower and got dressed with just enough time to get to the butchers before close. Other than that, it has been a very lazy Saturday!

I did also do a teensy weensy bit of scrapping to finish off the LO i done with Jen Hall at the SnB retreat last weekend.

Here it is ...




Lots of dimension and loved using the watercolours ... always great to try something different ... thanks Jen!


Off to exert myself and cook something yummy for dinner ... and ... i think i can feel some more scrapping coming on !!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

JULIE x

THURSDAY ALREADY ...

Gosh the week's go fast ...

Had the time to have a bit of a play on my blog tonight and changed the music clip (seems to take a while to setup. DH and i sat and watched a DVD last night (bit of a rare occasion lately)and it was just one of those 'easy to watch' lovely stories - 'Broken Bridges' featuring Toby Keith (country music singer), Kelly Preston (married to John Travolta) and Lindsey Haun (an unknown who sings this beautiful song i have uploaded on my blog).

Next week Blake goes on school camp for 3 days & 2 nights ... and ... Mark is going too (as a parent helper)! That means, i will be a bachelorette for 3 days which is sort of exciting but sort of a bit weird too. Our little family doesn't really split-up to do things very often, we are usually all together!
However, i am sure i will find something to occupy myself ... mmmm ... scrapbooking, movie with a girlfriend, out for coffee .... oh the list goes on !!!! LOL!

We are also counting down the days (3 weeks to go) 'til we leave for our annual snow holiday. There are 26 of us going down for the week ... should be lots of fun. We have been keeping updated with the snow report each night on TV ... it's looking great! Can't wait!!

Glad tommorrow is Friday and sooooo looking forward to a quiet weekend (maybe with a little scrapbooking thrown in!!!) LOL!

Be Good. Keep Smiling.

JULIE x

HUGE weekend !!!!!

Home from 'SnB' Scrap Retreat .... Congrats & thanks to Karen for a great weekend filled with lots of goodies, games, giveaways, scrapbooking, classes, chatting, new friends etc. etc. etc.....

Mine was also a very busy weekend ...

I sacrificed Saturday morning at Scrap camp to be at Broadmeadow for soccer with Blake. His team had reached the semi-final and DH is the coach ... so, priorities prevailed and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

What a heart stopper ... their team was down 1 nil for nearly all the game and 15 seconds before full time (yes, exactly 15 seconds)we scored!!!
OMG !!!
Then they played and extra 10 mins each way ... still a draw!

Then .... the one thing i have always dreaded ... a PENALTY SHOOT OUT!

Both teams went through the five selected players to attempt at goal ... the result was 1 goal each ... still a draw .......

Then the deal is that they go 'kick for kick' until someone misses ....

we lost :(

Never mind ... someone has to be the winnner & someone the loser ... it just wasn't meant to be.

But i must say, our team are a wonder bunch of kids and their sportsmanship was supreme! and ... congrats to Cooks Hill for an equally deserved win!!
Furthermore, the parents from the opposing team were great people too ... when it came to the penalty shoot out, parents from both teams ended up being mingled together and the general consensis (sp?) was that we wished each other well and just felt sorry for the kids having to be put through such "nail biting" stuff!!

Good luck to Cooks Hill in next week's Final!!

I got back to the retreat at about 2.30pm and time for some serious scrapbooking!!

Unfortunately i missed 2 of my classes (1 with Jen & 1 with Kim), but not to worry 'cause i have my kits and can put the projects together in my own time.

Just have a few finishing touches to be completed on the LO i done with Jen Hall this morning and will share soon ... she's such a clever chicken and i lots of fun experimenting with the watercolours and doodling!

I did get a few LO's finished and have to say that i am pretty chuffed with the new Cherry Arte papers i used ... such lovely papers for boy LO's!




To all you wonderful new scrapbooking friends (and my awesome regular buddies) ... thanks for a fab weekend!

Will share more soon ... can hardly keep my eyes open!!!

JULIE x

AS PROMISED !!

Here are pics of the Maya Road chipboard album i done for our cruise pics ...

a lot of different styles in one album ...
and just adore those 'Love Elsie' papers !!









Now ... onto other blogger business i haven't tended to ...

Thank you to Cherie for tagging me to be a



and ...

PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE

I was lucky enough to be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on Kellie's blog for the PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE!
I will receive a hand made gift from this very talented chicky......... how cool!

- it must keep going forward so ....
the first three people to comment here (who would like to be invovled in the Pay It Forward Challenge) will receive a handmade gift from me. All you have to do is keep the fun challenge going by agreeing to create three handmade gifts for three more people (with in the next 12 months)

What fun!

Keep smiling :O)
JULIE x

MEGA CATCH-UP

The past few weeks has been like a whirlwind ... between trivia night's, sickness, organising a new office ... add the normal daily & weekly routines of work, school, housework, sport etc ... phew!

This will be a mega catch-up post ... so here goes:




I have finally got my butt into gear and re-charged the camera batteries so i could download the photos i took whilst we were at Numbucca a few weeks ago.

Such a beautiful place ... I love the Nth Coast ... perhaps our grass roots stay with us; as we orginally came from Urunga (near Coffs Harbour).

I got up early to use the bathroom and peeked out the front door of our cabin to check on the weather outlook for the day ... and what was right out my front door ... this beautiful sunrise over the waterfront!

Must have looked a real sight in my PJ's out with the camera at the 'crack of dawn' but didn't want to miss a photo opportunity ... perhaps we need a sign "scrapbooker" to pop on our foreheads at times like these so people understand our bizarre behaviour when armed with a camera! LOL!

Later we had morning tea and i took these pics of my mum, dad & my boy (Blake).




On a different note ... our family has been sick, sick, sick with that rotten flu like virus that is spreading around at the moment. I was home sick a few days last week (felt like i could have easily stayed in bed for a week but too much happening at work to be away for a length of time). I think i slept more in three days than i had in the past three weeks. Feeling quite fine now but just have an annoying cough that won't seem to budge :(
Unfortunately my dad and my little man are now suffering the same fate . Blake has been home from school this week! Lots of love, attention & tissues and hopefully they'll be back on track in no time. I was talking to Blake's teacher yesterday and apparantly there are lots of children away from school at the moment ... every 2nd person i talk to is sick or has already had a turn.
To all those out there feeling under the weather ... Get Well Soon!

In amongst all the chaos over the last week or two i have found time to do a little scrapbooking ... have to find time for scrapbooking as it keeps me sane!!
I have almost finished an album (Maya Road chipboard album)for our cruise photos/memories and hope to share in the next day or so.

On an even better note ... just 10 more sleeps 'til the SCRAPBOOKnBITS weekend retreat. Really looking forward to a weekend away and lots of scrapbooking, doing some projects with Jen Hall & Kim Archer, and meeting some people IRL that chat on the forum.

I am also counting down the weeks 'til we go to the Snow! It should be a great year with the fantastic snow fall they have had to date. A few weeks ago i picked up my new ski boots ... yep, my very own custom moulded ski boots ... no more sore feet or ill-fitting hire boots!
There are 26 of us going this year ... fun, fun, fun!

Well, i've run out of steam ... this might do for now but i promise i will try really hard to come back and post in the next day or so!

Keep smiling,
JULIE x