Mum

Ever since I moved out of home, I find that going home and spending time with my family is one of the nicest things I get to do.  I've also found that my mum and I have a better relationship - she's definitely my bestest friend in the whole wide world.

We're sometimes complete opposites.  She's crazy and lively, she has so much energy and laughs at everything.  I'm serious and quiet, I tend to be very inwards and reflective.  But in some ways I also notice mannerisms and actions that I've started doing that remind me of my mum - it's funny how we become our parents without even trying (or wanting!).

She's clever and very crafty - she has the capacity to master any craft or skill she sets her mind to.. she's a fantastic knitter, she creates wonderful masterpieces from quilling, she can paint glass and makes cards.  My mum cries in kids movies, she sings kids songs (and often gets the words wrong), she's taken care of and raised a few generations of Indian ring-necks and Alexanderines.

No matter how crappy my day has been or what is bothering me she always makes me laugh and often that's exactly what I need.  She likes the same stupid movies as me and she makes badly translated Spanish jokes that make me laugh at their ability to be SO very lost in translation.  I love my mum :)

Magazines

I have a serious confession to make - I am addicted to magazines.  But not only am I addicted to reading them, I am addicted to collecting them for 'future reference'.  Behold my pile collected since the last time I decided to throw out my growing pile:

I know it doesn't look THAT bad, but I did also leave out the house and bridal ones >.>  That would have made it look worse and I'm not about tarnishing my good name here.  I could justify it by saying that it's 'research' for my 'career'.. which is true, but mostly it's that I love how I can waste an entire afternoon to fashion and girly stuff and nobody can judge me for it.. ahh I do love fashion mag :3

Well it's time to do something about these piles that keep appearing every year - I'm going to start collecting and compiling all the stuff that I love out of these magazines and all the stuff that applies to me in one neat format for future reference.  Stay tuned!

Holidays - Moreton Island

My boyfriend and his father have an addiction - treasure hunting.  They won't see anyone about this 'gold fever' which is sometimes a good thing - because I score some pretty sweet trips out of their obsession.  Today's blog entry is about our trip to Moreton Island!

We caught the car ferry from Brisbane Harbour to Tangalooma Resort.  It's a great place, bit of trivia: one of the Scooby Doo films was filmed on the island!  All the places to stay are right on the beach, so it's literally like a 1 minute walk straight onto sand, wonderful! And of course you can always see the beautiful sunrise/sunset from your balcony.

Moreton Island is also home to a lovely lake called Blue Lagoon.  We had great success with the metal detectors there, I even found my first ring!  A lovely little silver ring with possibly a diamond in it - Very exciting!

But the coolest part was getting to feed the dolphins that come to feed every night at Tangalooma.  Our dolphin 'Echo' was really gentle and it was lovely to see them up close like that!

Day Walks in Brisbane - Apex Park

Today was my last day with my parents until we come back from out Hamilton Island trip (Wee!  8 days to go!).   Justin came to spend the day in the great area of Logan/Beaudesert, so we decided we'd go check out the new parklands they've made in Browns Plains - Apex Park.

From what I understand there's plains to extend the industrial park in that section so they are doing something similar to what they've done at Seventeen Mile Rocks and made a lot of the area next to it a parkland reserve.  So there's a big track going around a central lake/wetlands.  There's lots of nice trees and some wildlife - mostly birds from what I could see, despite a board saying there were heaps of different animals there.

This is my cute patootie demonstrating the walking track - for some reason it looks like I'm skipping, I can assure you I'm not..

And here Justin is making a normalish pose on the little bridge along the track.. kind of reminded us of the UQ St Lucia bridge in miniature!

Books - Love Our Way

So I've been doing lots of research for an assignment about adopting from overseas, which led me to a really great book written by a mother in Canberra that adopted 6 children from overseas.  It's called 'Love Our Way' and it's by Julia Rollings.  She adopted a baby from Korea, then another baby with a condition that made him blind, then a older pair of brothers from India that were abandoned by their father and their last adoption was a brother and sister from India.  It is these last two children Akil and Sabila, that are the chunk of the story because they were actually taken by their father and sold illegally, which meant that their mother never knew what happened to them.

Anyway it is a fantastic read - it really opens your eyes to how many children out there are in need of a family.  I've always thought about perhaps adopting at a later stage and reading this really helped me to understand some of the responsibilities and hard work that comes with the decision to adopt.  It was also a really heartwarming read and I found it equally intriguing and helpful for my current assignment.  Julia Rollings also has a blog that talks a bit about the events after the book which can be found here.

Movie World

So my ultra-cool parents bought me one of those VIP cards that let you into Movie World, Seaworld and Wet 'n' Wild any time until the end of June.  Dad took my sister Bianca and I to Movie World today so we could take advantage of our cards before they run out!  Didn't get to go on as many rides as I would have liked to because it was kind of busy this weekend and the Scooby-coaster broke down while we were waiting for it :(  But a highlight of my day was definitely seeing my dad and sister get totally drenched on the Wild Wild West (especially since it was freezing haha suckers!).  If you haven't see this ride in action it goes a little something like this:

Phase One:  Encourage family to go on ride.  Watch with anticipation as doors to large slope creak open.

Phase Two:  ??????

Phase Three:  Profit!  (Or in this case - very cold, wet and unimpressed younger sibling)

 

The Kitty Kats: Ninja

Before I left home I had two cats that used to be the little centers of my universe - Ninja and Samurai.  I couldn't take them with me when I moved in with Justin because we're not allowed cats or dogs and because my two little furballs had become such a member of my family that I couldn't take that away from them.  I'm happy when I go stay with my family because then I can see my two cats :3  This blog post is about Ninja:

He was bought at six weeks as a Siamese X.. I can guarantee you he is hardly a Siamese at all.  We think he might be cross Russian Blue because he has all the features with the imperfect yellow eyes and white chest tuft.  (But I don't care: In my eyes he is puuurrrrr-fect!).  He has the softest fur and my favourite thing about him are his 'white socks' which we're even cuter on his little kitten feet. >o.o<

I call him "The Prince" because he is a truly regal and sophisticated chap - he is also the master of his domain.  He has definitely loosened up a lot as he gets older (He is almost three years old).  My father is his favourite person in the whole world, followed by my mum now (but only because she feeds him and brushes him every day).  He goes by the name Mister Nin, Ninners and Ninjie.  Ninja has gone through about 12 collars - he absolutely hates them - but he has managed to keep his latest collar for quite a while now.  Funny, since it's a very girly Pink Panther collar with diamantes ;)