Least we forget

As usual these past weeks went by before I could even blink. Last weekend one of Andrew's best friends, Will, got married so we had a busy time with the wedding, post-wedding bbq and dinner with one of the guys from out of town.

Since the wedding was on Friday in the very early evening Andrew and I both took the day off. We spent the morning trying to finish off loan, first home buyers grant and other paperwork. He had a bbq at Will's for lunch and then did manly boy stuff to get ready while I relaxed at home, it was great to get a whole day off.

The wedding was held at one of the oldest hotels in the city outside in the courtyard just before sunset. Pip looked beautiful and she couldn't stop smiling and giggling throughout the ceremony, very sweet. The reception was held in the hotel after the wedding so we all spread out through the courtyard and terrace for drinks and appetizers while photographs were being taken. For the dinner I was sitting with Andrew's friends that I'm friends with which made it really like, both Bonnie and Sara (partners with Damon & Dean) were baby-less for the evening and quite enjoyed being able to drink with the rest of us for one of the first time since becoming pregnant. Our old roommate Simon was at our table as well, he came back to town from middle of nowhere New South Wales where he is drilling for water for the wedding.

Will, Damon, me and Andrew

Will & Pip love making ice cream so they custom made two flavors for desert,
I can't remember what mine was but it was so tasty

Since a lot of the guys have moved away this was the first time in a few years that they have all gotten together. As a result of this there was plenty of drinking, dancing and laughing throughout the reception. We tried to do an archway of sparklers for Will & Pip to run through at the end of the night, while we were waiting one of Andrew's friends decided to trying and light and throw a match in one move, this went back and forth a few times until on came flying across the aisle and managed to land right down my top, while it was still on fire. I screamed and Andrew quickly hit me to make sure the fire went out before it sent my dress on fire. It was over in a matter of seconds and we all laughed immediately after but Andrew's friend felt so guilty for the rest of the night making sure I was ok. We all found it to be a fairly amusing story to tell later.


After Will & Pip left, a group of us headed towards the casino to have some drinks and go dance in an 80's club. Much to our disappointment the dance club wasn't open that night so we head to another bar where we could play pool and dance, the girls were really keen on the dancing part. We had a great time and it was really nice to get to know some of Andrew's friends from out of town.

Saturday there was a post-wedding bbq at Will's parents house. Will's parents always know how to throw a good party, there were drinks, bbq chicken and lots and lots of homemade pizza made in their outdoor pizza oven. We took a walk to show Will and his brothers our house since it's just around the corner from Will's parents, the whole event reminded me of when we used to have neighborhood bbq's in Texas.

That night we went into the city to have dinner with Andrew's friend George, his wife Amal and their absolutely adorable kid Raphael, plus Will & Pip. It was a nice end to busy wedding time. Luckily Sunday we didn't have any plans so we got to relax, go grocery shopping and Andrew played guitar with Anthony, which has become a Sunday tradition recently.

This week hasn't been overly stressful or busy which is good, I got to work from home Friday morning which was a very nice way to start the day, it almost made it go quicker, except that no one was in the office Friday so it made it a lot harder for me to concentrate and actually get things done.

Friday night I hung out with Kate and Claire over at the Walker's house. We spent the evening playing childhood games like one called Nightmare that includes a videotape you have to play while playing the game, it was really pretty entertaining. Then we played Uno Stacker, a combination of Uno and Jenga, it had us laughing so much we were all crying by the end. Andrew joined us for the last game but he couldn't figure out how it was fair to have one loser and three winners. Good wholesome night though and we all went away smiling.

Saturday Andrew and I started the great packing process, we're going to try and start showing our townhouse soon so we need to pack and move a bunch of stuff out to declutter it as much as possible. We spent a bit of time watching on of my friends play rugby, but it was so cold and rainy that we only made it through the first half, rugby is a confusing game.

Andrew has started trying to get some experience doing video work so last night he met up with this student group he is working with to put together video for a website they are creating about music in Canberra. Kate and I tagged along to the show with Kate's friend Ella. The first band was a bit too heavy for me but the group they were filming was really good. It was a long evening but a lot of fun to get out and hear some local music.

This morning we were up before the crack of dawn, literally, to make it into the city for the ANZAC Day dawn service a the war memorial. The service started at 5:30am so we were up and moving by 4. It was a very lovely service in memory of the men and women who fought on the turkish beach during World War II and those that still fight today. There were many many thousands of people in attendance and it was really nice to be a part of something like that. They take the memorial very seriously and it was nice to see so many people my age out there showing their support remembrance for the troops.

After having a nap Andrew is now making breakfast before we meet Kate and go to the local rugby club for drinks and to play a game called "2 up", which it is only legal to play on ANZAC Day. They've tried to explain the game to me and it all sounds a bit odd so I'll have to see if I can figure it out while were out there this afternoon. Hopefully everyone is having a nice relaxing weekend enjoying the beginnings of spring as we slowly slip in the other direction.

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia. ~Charles Schulz

So, 30kms is a lot longer than I thought it would be and official tired me out for way too long. Judy and I did this race together for....some good cause...I don't remember what it was, something with kids. Anyhow, the race started at 8am and we finished close to 11. It took forever, we kept thinking we were close to the end and than we saw the 20kms sign, ages later we thought it was just around the corner, and it was 10kms away. We were exhausted by the end but it was pretty cool to have done it.

A bit of back tracking. The other week Andrew made an offer on the house we saw in Gowrie and they accepted it. We've been going through the whole process, it feels like it's taking ages when you're actually in the middle of it. This past week contracts exchanged so if all goes well we should be moving in in less than a month. It's 3 bedrooms with a family room attached to the kitchen and a large lounge room. The backyard is where the driveway actually comes in and is completely paved so it has a good entertainment area, deck and place to hang our laundry. The front yard has a path running at the edge which leads down to the local shops and primary school We are so so excited, so here is the link to the ad: http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/sale-residential/4-inwood-place-gowrie-canberra/1316744635011

A small part of our front yard that leads to the path, it isn't fenced in yet but that will be one of our first steps

the side of our front yard with the lounge room on the right

looking from the dining room door through the kitchen to the family room, the main door is on the left just past the counter with the hallway to the bedrooms on the right

looking from the middle of the family room to the kitchen and seeing into the dining room. the bookcase is attached although we're thinking about removing the shelves on the left so we can put two stools there

from the garage to the paved entertainment area with our main door there on the right, we're going to follow the owners example and put a picnic table set in that same area

from the main door to the garage. the current owner is a bit odd and really likes his privacy and hangs out in the garage all the time so he has random sheets and curtains and such all over the outside to keep people from seeing him, even though there is a big fence all the way around. he's so strange that he does his washing in the garage...even though there is a washing machine and dryer in the house....strange

this was just a random umbrella he has in the bushes, just part of his "privacy screen"

the deck on the side of the house

this is the entrance to the house, since it is set back so far from the other houses on the street he has a garage door at the beginning of the driveway so that when it's closed (which he always closes it) you can't even tell that there is something behind there, it just looks like it's the neighbors garage door, the house is incredibly secure, there are even metal rollers on all the windows and doors

Other than that not too much is going on. I'm really liking my new job, I think it's actually that I really like being in charge. My official title is Business Manager and I actually run the entire office. I get to tell everyone what to do and they have to listen to me, including the principal/owner. And Ben, the principal, really likes it because he has someone that can run the business so he can concentrate on being an agent and he also has someone to confide in and to bounce ideas off of. So far they've been really impressed with my work and all my ideas of things to changes, bring the staff together and to help us grow in a customer based way, it's pretty neat. Although it is very hard work, I've never worked as hard or been as stressed as I am with this job but I try and look at it as it's challenging me.

Two Fridays ago we had a social afternoon with the two other Ray Whites in Canberra which are both owned by Doug, who is part owner of ours. A few of us knocked off work early and met at the Canberra Lawn Bowls Club for an afternoon of drinks and bowls before a bbq dinner. I thought bowls would be just like bocce but the balls are actually irregularly shaped so you have to throw them just right so they curve either to the right or left. I didn't do terribly, even won my team some points. We won our first game but lost our second. It was a really nice way to spend a Friday afternoon, and a good way to get to know some of the people in the other offices since we never see them. I ended up getting a rid home from the owner Doug since my phone was dead and I couldn't call Andrew to come get me. It was really nice of him.

Saturday since Andrew and I didn't have to go look at houses we rode our bikes to Bunnings, our version of Home Depot, to take a look at plants, fences and paint, just to get an idea. Since they do sausage cook outs ever Saturday it's a nice excuse. That night we went into the city for karaoke for Andrew and Kate's birthday (which is April 1st just like Ashley's). I decided to play DD since I didn't have much money and it would give me a chance to give Kate's car a test spin. We got to hang out with a bunch of the kids from work which was great and a few of Andrew's friends came along to round out the group, as soon as I can steal the camera from Kate I'll release some photos. I think my favorite was three of the kids from work getting up to do "Ice, Ice Baby" complete with rocking early 90s dancing, I couldn't stop laughing.

Sunday night we went out to dinner for Andrew's birthday and Tuesday we were out to dinner again, this time for Kate's birthday. We went to one of those restaurants where they cook right in front of you. Now, in the states they build towers out of onions that they set on fire and throw cook shrimp at you, this one took it a bit too far. The first thing the cook did when he got out there was give everyone a small rice bowl, and than he threw eggs at us that we were supposed to catch in the bowl. I don't know if anyone has every seen me try and catch before but it's not pretty in the best of times, this time the egg missed the bowl completely, smacked into my shoulder and broke all down the front of me, yea, did I mention these were raw eggs he was throwing. I wasn't very happy to be sitting there covered in egg. After he cooked the egg up he was throwing little pieces and he made all of us try and catch it in our mouth, if we missed or caught it with our hand instead he kept throwing it. The first one hit me in the eye, the second went into my hair and fell down my back the third I caught and gave him the if-you-throw-one-again-I'll-scream look and he moved on. I was not a happy camper cause now I was covered in raw and cooked egg, not really a fun way to spend an evening.

Once he finally stopped throwing things and we actually got to eat my mood improved because the food was quite delicious. We had miso soup to start, than some kind of chicken custard, it was like a savory creme brulee, different but good, than there was sweet chili fish, chicken teriyaki, rib eye steak, and veggies rounded off with a nice vanilla ice cream and fruit to finish. Besides the egg it was a tasty tasty meal.

Last weekend was Andrew went away with Damen to a big blue festival at Byron Bay. He headed out Wednesday and came back Sunday so I had the house to myself for a bit which was, although a little scary being in the big house all alone. Since it was Easter we had Friday and Monday off last weekend so it was a nice long break, hard to get back to work. Andrew had a great time on his trip and is still recovering now which is why this weekend is we are all about relaxing. I'm going to get back to that now.