The Cool Pool Party, La La La La

31st of October, 1st and 2nd November

Friday: Erin and I started the morning by taking the girls to visit Gezz, whose brother is in hospital really sick with cancer. It's hard for Gezz and his family but I'm very glad that so many Madness people are able to visit. After we visited Gezz and Dave, I babysat the girls while Erin and Matt went to uni. I gave Josie some food and put her to bed, and then Rowan and I had lunch together and chatted about life and sang songs together. When Josie woke up, Rowan and I watched Playschool and The Wiggles and played blocks. When Erin got home we all went to the Garden Center to have ice creams and walk around which was really nice. Youth group was also awesome.

Saturday: Soong and I went and visited Gezz in the morning again. Ashley was hosting a farewell pool party,and it was such lovely weather for a pool party. I got to meet some of her awesome friends, hang out in the water, play with her dogs and eat food, so it was all in all a wonderful day. Then I went and watched DVD's and made midnight pancakes with Mandy and her sister Hannah until Soong got home from his gig.

Sunday: Church this morning. Christine's birthday today! Went grocery shopping early in the morning before church as well (I love grocery shopping). After church we headed to Christine's parents house for a birthday Madness barbecue. Lots of food, lots of drinks, lots of fun. Then had a quiet night at home watching Buffy and sewing up the blanket I have been working on. I am so close to finishing now it's very exciting.

The Girls

23, 24, 25 and 26th October

Thursday night: Tonight Ash and I spent the evening together. I made a curry for dinner for us, which was really yum. Then we went to Canley Heights in search of froyo, and stumbled upon a new cocktail/dessert bar called Black Cow. They don't have their liquor license yet though, so it seems a bit strange and silly for them to advertise alcohol, but they are waiting for it. They've been waiting a while now. That was really fun though (despite getting hit on... eugh). We went home after that and stayed up until 3am talking and watching DVD's (Hot Rod and The Inbetweeners). Such good times.

Friday: I slept in until quite late after staying up with Ash. I went to youth group early for leader training as we are training the year 12's to be leaders. Youth group was really encouraging, two of my senior girls shared their testimonies and we were all super encouraged by their faith and their bravery to go first and share with the group. We looked at the first bead of the gospel beads - Green for creation, and we looked at Jonah 1 to explore the idea that God is the creator of the world and we can't run from him.

Saturday: Women's brunch this morning! Breakfast and a bible talk on beauty and modesty. Very encouraging, very fun, very tasty and lots to think over about what is modest and what is beautiful. Afterwards, Chris, Anh and I ended up staying all afternoon and just chatting about life and whatever together. It was really fun. Then I went home, cooked Christine dinner and took it over to her. We spent the evening shopping for Alie's birthday present, drinking cider and watching season two of Girls. It was awesome fun.

Sunday: Today was a busy day! Church in the morning was good. Church is always good. It's the highlight of the week (well, after youth group). Then Christine and I rushed off with a few other married girls to have lunch and chat marriage. After that, we rushed back to get ready in time for Matt's surprise birthday dinner. Matt was really surprised, which was really fun. Erin made thousands of pies for us, and they were delicious and amazing. She made chicken and beef pies and there were so so many. I was so full leaving her house! We had dinner together, and then played Mafia together. I love playing Mafia with Madness. It's so much fun!

The Garage Sale

17th, 18th and 19th October

Friday: I was meant to babysit Rowan and Josie today, but thanks to Erin's emergency wisdom tooth operation she didn't have to go to uni. This meant that instead of me watching the kids while she was out of the house, I came over and helped her look after them while she was still light headed and woosy from the surgery. We had lunch together, made lunch for the kids, and watched Frozen (my first time watching it - it was awesome! Totally lived up to the hype!). I then rushed to have afternoon tea with Emma, and then headed to youth group. Tonight was testimony night so Paul came and shared his testimony with us, and then I shared my testimony with the youth group. Always so thankful that God didn't leave me in the dark wondering about my salvation, but I can be confident I am going to heaven. It's the best.

Saturday: Well today was the garage sale. We cleared out Mum's house, sorted through a whole bunch of her things to get ready for Lana and Simon to move in, and now it was time to downsize and sell the things she had collected over the years. When it was quiet, one or two of us would stand on the front brick fence and wave a "Garage Sale" sign around to attract attention from the cars driving past. I stuck my Justice playlist on and grooved solidly for about half an hour - until whilst waving the sign around I hit myself in the face with it. Right into my open mouth and into my gums. I was convinced I had broken my teeth again, but they were still intact. I was bleeding and throbbing though, so I iced my mouth and sat down for quite a while after that. Dentist appointment is booked, need to check I haven't damaged my nerves or anything serious. After the garage sale, I hung out with Julian listening to music and just being dumb. We then went out to celebrate his dinner at the Square, and it was a really really fun night.

Sunday: Church this morning. Soong stayed home sick, so we had a quiet day in. I also started the National Nutrition Week Challenge this week, and so made delicious pizzas for lunch and a brilliant curry for dinner. We also decided to go to Kmart and buy some new furniture for our bedroom and living room. We bought new bedside tables and began to clean and clear out our room, and we bought some new items for the kitchen and living room. It's really nice to have furniture that doesn't look like it is falling apart.

A lot of catching up to do

Brace yourselves for several blog posts. I can't believe I haven't posted since Camp Happy V happened. This is possibly indicative of just how busy things have been lately. In amongst all this busyness, I am still aiming for my year of "less is more" and trying to be very thoughtful about how I use my time and who I give it to. Time is something we never get back once it is gone, so it's important to use every moment to glorify God and help others to know him better.

Anyway. I digress.

Let's talk about weekends now. What have I been up to?

10th, 11th and 12th of October

Friday: I was meant to be heading down to Goulburn to meet up with Weasel today but I got sick so I called the weekend off. Cancelled all my plans and just made sure I had the energy to be at youth group and church. Youth group started back this week, which is always wonderful. I love being part of the youth leadership team and every week I get to teach teenagers the bible is a wonderful privilege. I need to remember that God could take this away from me at any point and he is well within my right to do so - serving at youth group does not make me worthy before God. But, it's just really fun and I love it, so every moment I am at youth group I'm going to enjoy it! We looked at Isaiah and the need for evangelism as an introduction to our term focusing on learning stories from the Gospel Beads.

Saturday: This Saturday ended up being busier than I expected it to be, considering that I was sick and had cancelled all my plans. Soong spontaneously decided to go out for brunch together. Due to the lack of cafes in the south west, and Soong deciding he really wanted savory food, we headed out to Campbelltown Pancakes on the Rocks. Steph came with us which was really fun. Then after eating breakfast, I rushed out to lunch with Helen and another girl Liz, who we were taking to Iraqi's. It was awesome food and just good fun to hang out with them. Then I went home and spent the evening in pajamas being unwell. I had a visit from my family who were happy to come to me, and were happy to risk infection just to visit and see how I was handling my cold. They ended up staying and making brinner, and then we played card games before they left so I could have an early night.

Sunday: Today was the Sunday that Pete announced he was leaving St Barnabas. There were many tears. I brought an extra box of tissues to church just in case. Afterwards, Christine decided we should all go on a picnic together and so we bought rolls and meat from the deli and headed out to Lizard Log. We played Ultimate Frisbee and enjoyed the amazing weather.

Camp Happy V

October Long Weekend: Friday 3rd to Monday 6th October

Where do I start? I love Madness and I love Camp Happy. I look forward to it every year.

Friday

Soong and I left home about 8am, picked Bryce up, and started the drive down to Burrill Pines. Maccas breakfast on the way at Albion Park (sausage and egg mcmuffin!), a quick stop off at a Nowra music store, and then to Burrill!

It didn't take long to set up tents and go shopping for food and ice. We thought we were going to be camping with power, but then it turns out we ended up having an unpowered site. We survived! Soong brought a hammock along and that was heaps of fun for the kids and most adults.

We sat around the bonfire on Friday night just chatting and relaxing.

Satuday

Woke up early and prepared breakfast for everyone on Saturday morning. We made three different kinds of pancakes. Afterwards we headed down to the beach and took the kids to play in the sand. The boys played frisbee on the beach. We went for a long walk around the rock pools and explored. Then we spent Saturday arvo relaxing. I spent a bit of time writing which was nice.

Bonfire again on Saturday night. We played Taboo around the fire and chatted about life, enjoyed a few drinks. Weather was amazing. Ended up staying up heaps late to chat with Ez after everyone else had gone to bed. Was fantastic.

Sunday

Woke up and had a big breakfast this morning. Went to Ulladulla Anglican Church and heard a great sermon on Mark 4, Jesus calms the storm. Had pies in Ulladulla and did some grocery shopping. Spent time at the beach that afternoon, wandering rock pools again, trying to go swimming and playing in the sand. Had chicken wraps for dinner, and then spent the night around the bonfire again eating marshmallows and chocolate and playing Mafia. Mafia is SO MUCH FUN with Madness.

Monday

Packup day. Usually stressful. This one was no change. But we had some fun taking group photos and climbing trees. Then we had ice creams by the bay at Ulladulla and played in the grass. We also spent time at Funland - the land of Fun! The drive home was only 3 hours so we must have picked a good time of the afternoon to do the drive.

Pat is going to upload photos soon. Can't wait. 

Family Fun

Fri 26th Sep

Simon and I went out for brunch together to Crave Espresso. Such a good cafe. It was a lovely sunny day. We then all went to Craig and Sheree's wedding which was a lovely occasion with nice food. 

Sat 27th Sep

Started the day with bacon and egg roll madness. We planned and organized camp happy together. Then I went and helped Soong clean our house, and then helped my Dad paint his house. In the evening we went around to Aunty Liza's house and had dinner with them. We spent the evening playing wii with the cousins and it was awesome. I really enjoy hanging out with my little cousins. 

Sun 28th Sep

This morning we looked at prayer at church. The church has been recarpeted and it looks awesome. Steph came to church and then hung out at our house in the afternoon. I cleaned the house for a bit (still lots needs to be done hehe). Dad, Grace and Julian came over for dinner. 

Midweek Happiness

This week Soong has been staying at his Aunty's house in North Sydney. All three of my best friends contacted me during the week several times to see how I was going and to see whether I wanted to come around for meals or to hang out if I was feeling lonely.

Feeling super loved.

But have also enjoyed a bit of a quiet week this week. It's sometimes nice to just have time to cook, clean, and catch up on life. Don't quote me on that.