Tuesday 29 April 2008

new friends

Last night, I went out for coffee with two 'strangers'. Not really strangers, they probably know more about me than many people who know me in real life. These are girls who are a part of a forum that I frequent. We tell each other all sorts of secrets online because the anonymity lets you.

So after living in this town for more than 2 years, the group of forum girls who live in Toowoomba finally got their acts together and organised a meet. Now these things are always a risk to attend - not because I'm scared of an axe murderer (I mean, that would be a committed axe murderer to join a wedding forum and build relationships for upwards of 3 years), but because the computer persona of a person is often very different to the real life one. There is the risk that in real life, you will have nothing in common, the conversation will lag, and everyone will have one thought on their mind... "a.w.k.w.a.r.d!"

Last night, fortunately, this was not the case. We got along famously. We drank hot chocolate and ate decadent cakes and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. We started talking at about 7.15, and only paused to look at the time when Peter sent me a message at 9.50. We kind of got kicked out of the cafe because Toowoomba closes early on weeknights (actually on all nights), that was at about 10.10, and I didn't get home till about 10.40!

It was SO great. I can't believe I've been living right near these girls for the last 2 years, and never met them. I've been missing out on some great friendships.

I'm really looking forward to meeting again, (and convincing the other few Toowoomba girls to come to the next meet).

I love making new friends.

Sunday 27 April 2008

I've written 1000 words

And I probably have about another 1000 words inside of me.

So this assignment is looking good.

And it's due tomorrow. I need to have it finished by 3pm.

Easy peasy.

Saturday 26 April 2008

I crown me...

Queen of Procrastination.

(Because that's what I am.)

Shhhhhh

Thursday 24 April 2008

I.got.my.prac.school


And it is...

THE ONE I WANTED!!!

I'm going back to the Sunshine Coast and back to my old school! I'm so excited and happy that I got where I wanted. You have no idea.

I'm going to be in a 5/6 gifted and talented class with a teacher who's into using a lot of technology in the classroom so it's going to be very interesting and exciting experience.

Make sure you stay tuned to my prac blog: http://mrsteacherfriend.blogspot.com
I'll be posting from the 6th of May!

Week 16

Feeling better now - though voice still partially AWOL.

One of the reasons I love him so


Because he washes up every night. He blesses me always. I love him millions.

A stitch in time


So this is all of the designs I'm doing...
I'll be doing another one of each, and then I'll get some material and start actually piecing it as a quilt!

Monday 21 April 2008

Prac widow

yup pete's started prac for real.

So I get to sit at home alone every day for 2 weeks.

He came home a happy boy - really enjoyed his day.

And I made him his favourite dessert - rice pudding. It was pretty good, but not quite up to his Nan's level... give me time though, it's only the first time I've ever made it! I made little individual rice puddings and served them with tinned mango. Yumbo.

I also had a REALLY boring class, which was made worse because it was so cold in that classroom and no one can figure out how to turn the air-conditioner down, let alone off. And I have a bad cold. And I hate colds and I hate being sick and I hate boring lectures where the lecturer basically reads of the slides (apart from the parts where he completely side-tracks himself away from what the lecture is supposed to be actually about). Plus it was my first day back at uni after the holidays ... which weren't long enough.

Tomorrow I'm having a group meeting for an assignment at my house. It won as a location because I have a coffee machine.... means I don't have to leave the house and Pete can take the car to prac which is good because he has to go really early because they have a staff meeting - which by the way is the best idea - to have a staff meeting in the morning I mean. "Why??" I hear you ask... well I'll tell you why. At my prac school last year, staff meetings were held after school, and some had been known to drag on to as late as 5.30-6.pm - and no joke, one of the teachers fell asleep at every one.. At Pete's prac school, they start the meeting at 8am, one house before the school day starts.. meaning they HAVE to finish by 9am! Brilliant. Seriously. If you'd ever been to a school staff meeting you'd understand.

Oh, and don't take my word about Pete's loving prac. Read about it yourself!

Later gaze (as in, gazing/looking at you... meaning see you later... people don't usually get it when I say that so I'm explaining this once for your benefit. If I ever say it again and you don't get it-- not my problem!)

Ps. I'm not as grumpy as this post might make me sound. lol.

stitcheries...




Some more to add to the collection.
This quilt will be created yet ;)

Dinner


From last night.
Was yummy.

Home made spicy sausage sticks on a bed of mashed potato served with steamed broccoli.

How good does it wanna look??? Well times that by about 50 and that's how good it tasted.

Saturday 19 April 2008

I have to say

To the world in general.. and to Karlos, because I know you're reading this...

Karlos is one of my most favourite people ever. I mean it.
He is just the best friend, and one of the sweetest, most supportive & encouraging, generous, kind, (and every other positive adjective that you can imagine) people in my life.

Being with him always makes me happy, he gives great hugs, and is so great to talk to.

He always comments on my blog, and every time I read his comments, I say out loud, "I love Karlos.. he's the best.. he's so cool" (honestly, you can even ask Pete). He always make me smile.

I love how he loves our whole family and gets along with every single one of us, separately and together - and actually ENJOYS our loudness and craziness and silliness. Seriously, if you know the Buma's, that is a big deal.

He is a total inspiration to me because he always seems so cool and calm and collected, and I have never heard him say anything bad about anyone. He has such a mature head on his shoulders and I value his opinions highly. I can talk to him any time about anything, and I know that he wouldn't judge.

I love how much he loves Jesus. Also very inspirational.

Karlos: I'm so glad we met you and that you are in my life. You are honestly one of my best friends and I value you and your friendship more than you could ever know.

Thank you.

Zoey xxxxx

Toothache

sucks the big one.

Ask Pete. Because he had to put up with me wide awake for the 2 hours from 3am-5am thismorning. In pain because of toothache.

Karlos: Pete thanks you for the fluffy eyes you got me for my birthday - it meant that I could stay in bed and read with the light on, and he could still sleep! You are his hero. (And mine, because you are my most faithful commenter and I love it - and you!)

Zoey x

So cool...

Up the road from us, there used to be this really cool second hand shop. It had heaps of the kind of stuff I remember seeing in my Great Granny's kitchen - really retro/vintage-y kind of stuff. But... it closed down. So sad.

However.. recently, the little shop has just reopened...as....a CRAFT SHOP!!!

It is similar to the Mundubbera craft shop 'Lemon Jo's' (for those who are familiar) in that it sells all sorts of craft things from patchwork to scrapbooking to embroidery... it's very exciting for someone like me.. hehe.

And as if that's not exciting enough, while we were in there checking things out, I somehow worked up the courage to ask the lady if she would be interested in selling some of jewellery. She said yes! So I have to take some of my stuff in for her to have a look at, and it will work on a 15%-20% commission basis, which is totally fine with me. How exciting to maybe get my stuff in a SHOP! I'm very much looking forward to it.

I was going to take it down today, but I have a cold and didn't want to be sick when I'm supposed to be in 'business' mode. So I will do it on Tuesday as she is closed on Monday.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Zoey x

Ta-Da!!!

Today I finished my hibiscus cross stitch!!!!

Before we get into the pics, a few fast facts:
  • This cross stitch has 140 x 140 squares.
  • All together that is 19,600 crosses
  • Meaning that I made 39,200 stitches (!!!!)
No wonder I'm so proud of it.

Now the pics:

Pete took this commemorative photo of my last stitch (he insisted on doing it just for my blog - he's so into it - even if he doesn't read it).

And the final product:

Isn't it beautiful. Now I just have to frame it. I thought about making it into a cushion cover but don't want to risk it getting wrecked -. i don't know, will keep thinking on that one.


Now to my next project. You may remember me posting about a new project I have in mind. Well I've moved onto that - but with one small change. Instead of duplicating the one pattern (the heart) I have made my own patterns by looking at the (very small) photos of the other patterns in that range. I have a star, some flowers, two types of butterflies, and a couple of other things that I can't remember and couldn't be bothered looking for right now.

So here is the second piece of my quilt-to-be:


Will post more as they're made!

Friday 18 April 2008

cool huh....

Pete and I have been looking for battery operated salt and pepper grinders for ages. They are Sooooo expensive - we haven't really seen any for under $30.00 each.

Well anyway, yesterday we were wandering through Target, when we saw these beauties. You wouldn't even read about it.. pink and green battery operated salt and pepper grinders! (In case you've been living under a rock, pink and green are *my* colours). So we took a look at the price tag: $10.00 each!!!! Sweet!!

Even better... when we got to the cash register, they scanned at $6.99!



I love bargains

Tuesday 15 April 2008

Season Seven

Of Gilmore Girls...

Arrived today!

Guess what I'm doing???

Thanks Aunty Nelle

week 15

Week 14

week 13



Monday 14 April 2008

Peter...

is starting prac today...

He only has one day this week - it's a makeup day because he will be in the middle of prac for the Anzac day holiday. So he goes in for one day today and then starts for real next week (for 2 weeks).

Today there will be no kids at school... it's a PD day. I think it will be good because it will give him a chance to get to know his teacher a bit without the pressure of the kids there. He might also be able to get a seating plan with the kid's names so that he can get to know them before he arrives.

Anyway... I feel nervous for him. I definitely can't help him with this one!!

He'll be great.. he's got little grade one kids at one of the best state schools in Toowoomba. He's so good with the littlies.

GO PETE! You're going to rock babe.



Ps. Pete is starting a prac blog... if you want to read it, go to: Pete's Prac Blog

Sunday 13 April 2008

charm bracelet

is actually starting to look like a charm bracelet

...
Cross: from Bethanie for my 21st
Musical notes: from myself just because
Shoe: from Pete for valentines day
Hearts: from Bethanie cos she loves me
21: from Alexie for my 21st

new project

This is a cute little cross stitch kit that my Nanna gave me for my birthday - it's only a really small one, and only took me about an hour to do but it's so cute.

So my idea is to use the pattern to make a whole stack of them, in cool colours and then sew it in as pieces of a quilt!

On the way home yesterday we stopped into spotlight and I got these pretty colours:


So now I have to get some white aida cloth (that's the stuff you cross stitch onto) and I can get to it.

progress

Thought I'd show you how my hibiscus cross stitch is going...

not too much more to go... it's the boring blue bits that take aaaages. So I'm doing them before the last flower so that I don't lose interest :)

Some pretties..


From my birthday..

I set them up in my bathroom and they're so lovely. I like having pretty things.

There is the gorgeous 'Audry Hepburn' jewellery stand from Rita & Allan, the beautiful perfume bottles from the Donovans, and the cute little jewellery box from Aunty Joce. (oh and in the background is the sweet candle that my brother Jordan bought me for christmas.. it smells so yummy)

Friday 11 April 2008

how annoying is it...

when you read a book, and then realise that it is part of a series - and not the first one in a series!!!!!

I just finished reading A Fragile Design, by Tracie Peterson & Judith Miller. Great book.. some bits seemed a bit foggy, and I put it down to mediocre writing. I just looked it up on the net and it tells me that it's the second book in a series!! There is nothing on the cover telling me this or I would have borrowed the first book from the library too.

Now I'm going to have to read the first book second.

That's my whinge for the day.

had to share


all dressed up in my birthday pressies and ready for sleepin'...

Thanks to MIL for fluffy robe and gorgeous Karlos for fluffy eyes ;-)

I love my friends

We had the best visits with our friends today. It's always fun to catch up with 'Aunty' Joce, and to hear her funny stories from work.

And a visit from Daniel was awesome! It's funny, we were trying to figure out how long it had been.. and I think it's around about a year and a half! Crazy - but the best thing about our kind of friendship is that when you do get together it's like no time has passed at all... none of that terrible awkwardness that you get with some people - that makes you wonder, "were we really friends???". Not like that with Daniel at all. I love catching up with friends and finding out that you still have so much in common.

Thanks Daniel for coming all the way to Noosa to visit us - we appreciate it so much, and it was so great to catch up :) Hopefully it won't be so long next time!!!


Long time no see...

Today I am going to be catching up with 2 people that I haven't seen for quite a while. I'm pretty excited.

One of them I haven't seen for probably close to 2 years. He was one of the most influential people in my late highschool years of life, and a top bloke. He was supposed to come to my 21st but double booked himself so he's making it up by visiting today.

The other I have seen more recently, but always love catching up with. She's one of those 'aunty' close family friends and she always makes me laugh.

Huzzah for old friends!!!

Monday 7 April 2008

Birthday Photos!!!!

We had such a fun night....
We spent the day at the hall setting up. Everyone did a beautiful job and the hall looked so great.
Once that was done, we went home for a bit of a rest and then started the process of getting ready!

The party was great fun. Almost everyone got into the spirit of things and wore a mask, and for those who didn't my mum had bought these daggy cardboard animal masks that she made them wear. It was so nice to catch up with people I hadn't seen for a while, and I felt so spoiled and loved.

The speeches were beautiful and I was fighting back tears for most of it. Somehow it's hard to hear yourself being praised and loved on so much. It was a great experience. I also got very spoiled with gifts. My parents bought me a cappuccino machine (!!!!!), I got some charms for my bracelet from my sisters, and I starbucks card from my brother. My beautiful husband is making me a scrapbook of our lives together so far.. it's so lovely. I also got a gorgeous fluffy pink dressing grown from my inlaws (it makes me feel like a teddy bear.. lol) with my name embroidered on it. I got a lot of crafty stuff from my Nanna and Pop, and some cross-stitch on gingham patterns that my great-great grandmother stitched - very special. There were many other special things, and I just felt/feel very spoilt. Today I went out and bought myself a gorgeous ring with some of my birthday many from my grandparents and grandparents-in-law. I'll put a pic of it up later.

But anyway... here are some pics of the actual party ...

All beautified and ready to go...


My hair-do (did it myself)


Me minus my glasses... so you can see my pretty eye-make up


And with the finishing touch... my mask!!


Me with my mummy... full shot of the dress I re-created... pretty cool huh?

My with my GORGEOUS husband, Peter.


My sister Bethanie and I


My sister Alexie and I, dancing.


Trying out my cool fluffy dressing gown


One of my favourite people. My lovely friend Karlos and I.

Beautiful birthday cake which my sister (woolies bakery girl) designed


About to cut the cake...


Just some random photos of the hall setup... how cool do the bunches of cutlery look??

And photo board - has a photo from each year of my life. My parents also found some baby videos of me that I didn't even know existed! The whole wall next to this photo board was also plastered with photos of my life.

Will probably post some more pics soon... can't help myself!

Zoey x

Friday 4 April 2008

One more sleep...

Until my birthday!!!!!

That's all :)

Thursday 3 April 2008

Pete's mask

I finally got around to getting it done...

making a cake

Tonight I'm having a group of friends coming over for coffee and cake for my birthday because they are not able to make it to my Noosa party.

I spent the afternoon making a red velvet cake. It looks really good, and I can't wait to taste it.

Thought I'd share a few pics and make you drool



They don't call it red velvet cake for nothing huh?? How cool does it look?


And the finished product :) It wouldn't be me if it wasn't pink and green !

I can't wait to taste it.

A lovely part of birthday week

This morning when I woke up, and walked out of our bedroom, my lovely husband had a cute surprise for me. I went to be before him last night, and while I was sleeping he had strung up dozens of streamers and bunches of balloons from the ceiling in the lounge room and dining rooms. It looks SO cool.. he is SUCH a cutie.


When I walked out ('scuse the pj's) and got my surprise!

The best shot we can get of how AWESOME it looks :)

And then my day got even better... my lovely friend Lisa took me out for morning tea. She greeted me at the door with the most gorgeous bunch of roses:

And then we went to the Angel Cafe. I had the yummiest most naughty drink. Called Sweet Heaven, it consisted of a layer of sweetened condensed milk, a long black coffee, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. SO YUMMY!!!!!!!!! And a white chocolate and lime baked cheesecake.

Thank you Lisa! Love you xx

It's been a really nice day.

Wednesday 2 April 2008

birthday letter...

I got a birthday letter in the mail yesterday from member for parliament, Ian McFarlane. 'Twas a bit of a thrill - even though I know it's just a computer generated list of people who have birthdays in April. I still felt special :P

New necklace

A new piece of jewellery that I've just made for a friend...

 

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