I'm in!

As of 23 February 2009 I will be studying Interior Design here:

Here:

and here:

(yes that is beautiful Sydney Harbour and the Opera House.)

From some of my previous posts you may know that I am currently working in a law firm as a Legal Secretary dealing with mainly criminal and family law. Coming from quite a sheltered upbringing it has been so eye opening to see the pain and hurt that there is in the world and the cruelty of humans to other humans and too often it is so very sad... It has changed me, brought me to be more compassionate to other people, not to judge a book by its cover and shown me how important sharing the good news of Christ's love is but I know this is not what I was made to do. Being a creative person I find this work mundane and uninspiring to say the least. With the law everything must be done by the book and set out just so. But for over a year I have stuck with it because well, this was my goal. I'm also excited that i will no longer be staring at a blank white wall all day everyday, typing away and drafting up all those forms :)

Today I was so excited to come home and find my acceptance letter in the mail.
For the last 17 months I have been working and saving up for this goal and I can't believe it's finally here!

It's crazy to think that I actually know that this is I want to do with my life (well part of it!) and crazy to see that it's all coming together!

Design school here I come! :D

We sang this song at youth tonight. I love see our youth group blasting out these words. So True and so awesome that God is our victory and conqueror in EVERY season! And it's my prayer to continue to praise him no matter what the season, no matter what the circumstances because he already conquered it all at the cross.
Hope this blesses you as it blessed me :)

Specially thinking of my blogging friends Dawna and Leslie who are having a tough time of it lately but are praising God through their season. Bless you girlies!

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
WHen all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

Oh and thanks Leslie for teaching me how to upload a youtube video ;)

Flashback Friday..

grandma mac
Yes today I truly do feel like dressing in one of my summery dresses, picking up a cat and dancing around oh and with ribbons in my hair...because we'll it's Friday you know and on Friday i get a tad bit crazy for the weekend that is coming up :)

exciting news!

hehe no where not getting married...but...
This weekend I am going to a wedding. But I do not know the Bride, or the Groom. And I am not a guest. I will be photographing their wedding! I'm dead serious. But before you ask who this crazy bride is, that is letting me attend her lovely wedding and take shots I would like to point out that I will only be helping, and observing and learning. The wedding photographer, a good family friend of ours (and very experienced) has offered to take me along, teach me tricks of the trade and different camera techniques so I can stop using my camera on auto settings :) As a thank you to the Bride and Groom any shots I get, that are any good will be added for free to the wedding package. How very exciting, and yet terrifying at the same time. Here's to hoping (and praying) that I can get a few fantastic shots that the couple will love.

Currently reading and researching how to work all features on my camera (This could take awhile!) and browsing through Flickr for inspiration:

IMAGE: from Raya of the paper pony. Oh to have my images look half as good as hers! Seriously, so inspiring!

my boys..

A few shots from a lazy Sunday afternoon, while we were out enjoying the sunshine.

My baby brother. And I now say baby as a very loose term as he is now taller than me, has a deep voice, suddenly shaves and picks me up whenever he feels the need or I annoy him too much.

where oh where did my baby brother go?

He hates photos and HATES posing. So I was super lucky he loves me enough to pose in these shots. Although he did make it clear when he had had enough :)

Rugby Union is his life at the moment. He plays it, he dreams it, he thinks it, he's always talking about it, he lives it, he breathes it. Sometimes it drives me nuts, sometimes I love him for it. I love how this shot captures all that he is at the moment, a scruffy teenage boy (there is a few dreadies in the back of his hair there) with his football :)

And some more shots of this boy:
my sweetest Morgan.

my Lucky Dog:
He is getting a bit old and lately rather fat.. he was pretty exhausted when we got home. I think this is his "can't we go home now?, Seriously that sea water I just drank is making me sea sick!" face.

Also dear Amanda from blessings all mine has just opened up her Etsy shop!There's some really cute little items in there. She is also currently hosting a giveaway for a set of her beautiful monogram coasters so pop on over and show her some support :) Seriously Amanda, these coasters are really impressive!

Flashback Friday

This cute little baby is my sweet Morgan Luke. Words fail to express just how dear this boy is to me. We've been dating for just over 3 years and I still wish our time spent together never had to end.

He loves:
Playing his drums at church and in his band (whom are still unnamed), mucking around with his new car, making me laugh, playing mario cart, being outdoors, mucking around with a soccer ball, watching soccer, listening to music and finding new music to share, just driving, being with family, dreaming about the days to come and just laughing.
This boy will pray with me and for me whenever I ask. He holds me when I feel sad and can always make me laugh. When he smiles and is happy it makes my heart sing. He is just the best.

Oh, and I think he's still just as cute today as he is in this picture :)

Thank you my boy can't wait to spend a fun weekend with you.. even if we ARE going to watch soccer :P

ramblings while at work, not doing work...

So the lovely Susan was talking about using Adobe Lightshop a few days ago and her images looked so good that I just had to download the free trial and test it for myself. Isn't Corinne most beautiful? She was willing to pose for me in the outfit I made for my textile major in year 12. These photos are a few years old but I still really like them!

I also think I'm liking lightroom more than photoshop! It seems much easier to use and I love the free presets I was able to download too :)


ps. Those rocks at low tide and at night time with all the lights from across the bay twinkling on the water was where Morgan asked me if I would 'go out' with him. After 7 months of getting to know this boy, getting to know each other and having so many laughs along the way I knew that heck yes more than anything I wanted to be his girl. Then I cried :)

And off on another tangent, whilst browsing around blog land today whilst at work(can you tell that I am so not into my job at all...) I came across this great web page: Templettes which seems to be fairly new and was featured on creature comforts. If you love paper and cutting, and gluing and basically creating then you'll absolutely love this site. There are some really cute free tutorials for paper, sewing, photoshop stamps etc. I especially like this paper fortune cookie one from For the Love of Paper :) Aren't they so sweet?

and pps. Thank you for all your lovely well wishes in my last post - what kind ladies you all are. My weekend was indeed lovely, spent with those I love. good food, wait FANTASTIC homemade party food of Vietnamese noodles, beef noodle salad, gelato etc etc all served amazingly - you ladies would have understood this important fact hehe. Fantastic sunshine and really HOT days (we seem to have skipped spring!) and baby sitting gorgeous Keke. As always I love watching Morgan with babies and little kids and it melted my heart to see him bent over Keara's crib just watching as she slept and saying how gorgeous and cute she is (she was sleeping with both her hands tucked under her head and all stretched out). Wow this boy of mine is amazing in the way he loves my extended family so much and it means so much to me. I know I'm biased but he is going to make the best daddy!

exciting little things

Things that are exciting me today:

1. a fun-filled weekend with my boy.

2. Getting to babysit this little munchkin tomorrow:

my second cousin Keara.
In the same way that her mumma used to babysit and look after me and the same way my mumma babysat for her mumma before that - and how I just love that cycle!

2. The fact that while heading to work this morning and picking up the post it was incredibly sunny and I was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt!! The way I could smell the sea on the breeze and the way I was grinning while walking down the street because I forgot that spring could be this good! And the new feeling of vitality and freshness that spring brings.

3. A party at Morgan's Uncles 40th party and the fun we always have while with his family.

4. Sleepovers at Brant, Lar and Keke's and getting to go to their lovely little church on Sunday.

5. My sassy apron that came in the mail. Thanks Nettie I love the fabrics and colours - it's so very very me. It's a lovely simple apron that I can see me getting a lot of use out. (Is anyone else so very messy when they cook?) I'm hoping I can wear it soon when making that tomato jam I've been thinking about for awhile mmmm. Thank you Thank you receiving things in the mail in just so fun.

6. Finishing off sewing projects that have had me going all week and looking forward to the surprise when they are received :) Giving and creating for others just gives me such a kick.

7. Thinking about my next sewing project. The Amy Butler Frenchy Bag pattern and her fabrics in grey and white and mustard:

8. The fact that it is Friday and we all know what that means :)

Sassy Apron Swap. Fall Edition.

A few weekends ago I turned three ironing board covers into this:


and this:Yay, my apron is finished! And is now at home in it's new home where I hope it is loved as much as I love it, in fact as much as I wish it could of stayed with me :)

I thought I would never get any inspiration for this swap, all the brightly coloured summer fabrics are coming out here now and was giving up hope of finding a great 'autumn fabric'. The fabric I used is actually a few ironing board covers that I found in a sale bin on my way out of Spotlight the Thursday before the Monday it was due... Those apples, they just won me over!

Hmmm I've also realized that I seem to like making it a tad harder for myself and don't like to use normal material (in the last swap I used tea towels). This time, however I actually used a pattern (Kwik Sew 3386) so at least the sewing was quicker and I didn't have to think about measurements (something I'm not so good at!). The ironing boards also had the perfect coloured bias binding which I was able to reuse - even though it did takes ages to unpick!

I also added in Grandma's recipe for apple crumble, which in hindsight tied in quite well with the apron design!

Such a cute apron design I think I'm just going to have to whip one up for myself (after I finish the sewing and craft projects I've got going at the moment..)

Flashback Friday...

Today it is cold. and rainy. The weather is playing tricks on us. This is so NOT how the first week of spring is supposed to go! Luckily it's not as cold as in this photo. Or I would be worried. Really worried. This photo is of my grandma and my two Aunts (dad's two oldest sisters) in the 1950's when they lived in Blue Mountains.
I Love this shot and want those jackets! :)

p.s c'mon springtime I'm waiting for you!