Long awaited pics

First off, sorry for not posting these sooner.  We've had a run of hotels without internet access, so we're currently sitting in a Bagel cafe in Amsterdam (and yes, it's just a NORMAL cafe) doing a quick photo upload.

Today is our last day of our first tour, as tomorrow we head back to London, ready to fly to Berlin in a couple of days to begin our second tour.

I won't say too much about the last couple of days, I'll keep them for the next post. For now, I'll just post the photos that should have accompanied the last post.  Sorry that they're all out of order - it's just too difficult at the moment to do them all in the right order.

Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy):

Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius in the background (Italy):

Venice (Italy):

Sorrento (southern Italy):

Barcelona (Spain) - we walked up to the top of the hill you can see in the centre:

1992 Olympic stadium in Barcelona (Spain):

The pebbled beaches of Nice (France):

Grand Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco (French Riviera):

On the gondolas in Venice (Italy):

Dubrovnik (Croatia):

The view going up Mt Pilatus, Lucerne (Switzerland):

Ferry crossing from Italy into Greece:

Snow at the top of Mt Pilatus, Lucerne (Switzerland):

Ancient city of Ephesus (3000 years old), Kusadasi (Turkey):

On top of the old city walls, Dubrovnik (Croatia):

The Aegean sea with our cruise ship in the background, Patmos (Greek Islands):

On top of the old city walls, Dubrovnik (Croatia):

John jumping off the boat into the Adriatic, Dubrovnik (Croatia):

Florence (Italy):

The Trevy Fountain, Rome (Italy):

Athens (Greece):

Mykonos (Greek Islands):

The Acropolis in Rhodes (Greek Islands):

The gorgeous blue domes, Santorini (Greek Islands):

The Parthenon, Athens (Greece):

Looking down on Dubrovnik (Croatia):

The Stairs of Death at Mauthausen Concentration Camp (Austria):

The quarry at Mauthausen Concentration Camp (Austria):

German Pork Knuckle at the Hofbrahaus Beer Hall, Munich (Germany):

In a couple of days we'll be in Berlin, Germany to begin our next tour.  We'll keep you updated on our travels!

Thanks for taking care of everything while we're away, everyone.  Won't be too much longer and we'll be home.

Love Caitie and John

The road less travelled

We're back in civilisation again after a number of days without internet access.  We've been to some places that are probably not too high on most people's "to visit" list, and seen some very interesting things...

Warning: this post is very long, much longer than I expected.  Feel free to stop reading at any time (or you might want to grab a coffee...).  I also wanted to post some photos, as all words and no photos makes for quite a dull read. But, it's quite late here and I've got a big of a headache that I want to lose, so we're going to bed now. I'll post the photos that accompany this post very shortly, I promise!

The last blog post I wrote was in Florence, and since then we've been to Rome, Capri and Sorrento (Italy), Athens, the Greek Islands and Preveza (Greece), Kusadasi (Turkey), Tirana (Albania), Montenegro, Dubrovnik and Zadar (Croatia) and Bosnia.

Rome was enjoyable, but not necessarily high on my list of places that I'd like to go back to. Apart from the major sites, it's not a city that I enjoyed a lot - maybe because it was quite dirty and crowded.  We saw the Colosseum (which was fabulous), the Trevey Fountain (where we threw in some coins for good luck), the Pantheon (which was under renovation from the outside and covered in scaffolding), the Spanish Steps and the Roman Forum.  The sites we saw were all very good, and did meet my expectations.  John says that he liked Rome more this time around (his second time) and that maybe it's somewhere that you have to know what to expect before you can really enjoy it.

The island of Capri, and the nearby coastal town of Sorrento, are really beautiful.  We had a day trip to Capri (after driving through Naples - what an experience, the traffic is insane), which is really pretty, and spent the evening and night in Sorrento.  Sorrento is a place that many people on our tour said they would go back to - it was really stunning. Not so much to see in the way of tourist attractions, but the scenery is gorgeous and it's more laid back than the major towns.

Somewhere in our Italian travels we also visited the leaning tower of Pisa and the ancient city of Pompei.  The tower was pretty cool, but some of the 'magic' is removed when you learn that a few years ago, authorities fixed the tower so that it stopped continuing to lean and even brought it back from a much more sever lean, but kept some of the lean so that it would remain a tourist attraction! Pompei was amazing, and some of the things that have been preserved are incredible, especially when you think that it was 2000 years ago that this place existed.  Paintings on the walls and fast-food shops are still there, the original pedestrian crossings and the underground water pipes.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see too much of Greece itself.  We arrived in Athens one night and went straight to the motel, and left early the next morning for our Greek Island Cruise.  I loved the cruise and the islands.  The islands did not physically look like I thought they would - they're quite barren, brown and rocky.  Still very beautiful though, and I enjoyed all of them.  The cruise included a morning in Turkey, which I really loved.  I would definitely go back to Turkey, although what we saw of it probably isn't really representative of the rest of the country, as Kusadasi is very much a tourist destination (well, they're trying to build it into a tourist destination).  The cruise was a really good way to see the islands, and John said that he would definitely do another one to another destination.  We met a couple from America who said they would definitely recommend a cruise in the Bahamas... :)

After the cruise, we went back to Athens and visited the Parthenon and the surrounding buildings and ruins.  Despite not seeing much of Athens apart from this (and a little drive around the city) I really liked it, and thought that it would be a place I would go back to.  It seemed quite open and relatively clean, and unlike the other major cities we've been to, very few high-rise buildings. Athens only has a population of 4 million people - nowhere near as big as I expected.  We drove to the town of Preveza in the north of Greece that night, which was really just a place to stop and sleep the night, without actually seeing anything.

We travelled the next day into Albania, which is very much a developing country still trying to make up for the communist rule they had until very recently.  The roads are absolutely wild, and more than once there was some very hairy moments.  The roads into Albania were very mountainous and windy, and in a number of places the road just all of a sudden didn't exist - it had collapsed and fallen down the mountain! The roads in the towns were also madness - donkeys pulling very overloaded carts of hay sharing the same roads as pedestrians (and I mean, pedestrians walking in the middle of the road at a very leisurely pace), motorcycles, semi-trailers and buses. We even saw a guy on a motorcycle, who pulled straight out in front of our bus, get hit by a four-wheel drive, who pulled straight out in front of him. He just got up, dusted himself off, waved to the driver and kept going. We felt very safe in our big bus, but our driver did very well not to get gouged or smashed I think!

To tell you the rest of the story of Albania, I need to back up a week or so, and I'll include all the details so if you don't want to read the story, you better stop now!  On one of our long bus driving days we all watched a movie called 'Taken' (which John and I had actually seen before, but did not remember the details).  It just happens to be about a women-trafficking ring in Paris, run by Albanians, where they lure in females travelling in Paris and sell them.  Anyway, the Albanian people were not painted in the best light.  So, by the time we all arrived in Albania everyone was thinking about this movie and the people of Albania in general.

The motel in Albania wasn't big enough for our entire group, so a few of us needed to stay in self-contained apartments in the same complex, but about a 5-10 minute walk away up a hill.  John and I were a little wary (as what we'd seen of Albania did not fill us with confidence), but fell asleep relatively early.  There were a series of doors in the apartment, and we had the door shut to our room, and the light on outside the room so that if anyone opened the door into the hallway leading to our room, we would wake up with the light.  At about 10.30pm I woke up hearing what I thought was someone trying to open the door to our apartment, and then progressively heard a number of doors opening.  I thought it may have been someone in the apartment next door. Then, the light came flooding into our room as someone had opened the door. John was still asleep, so I woke him up, and we could see the silhouette of someone standing outside our door. John yelled out (in a big manly voice, should I add) and a lady replied that she was just housekeeping, and everything was ok.

Well, needless to say, we got a very big fright, and I ended up in tears from the shock of it all. It was not what I was expecting, and our nerves were already a little frayed.  We called our tour manager who checked out that it was all legitimate, and he put our minds at rest.  We still think that housekeeping coming into our apartment at 10.30pm at night (supposedly because she thought the room needed cleaning) is a little dodgy, and we think if we hadn't been there, we would have found our stuff gone.  Why else would she walk through the apartment progressively opening all the doors into the other rooms that we'd closed?  Someone else on our tour tried to get an extra towel that night after dinner, and was told that housekeep was closed...

Anyway, you don't need to worry Mum! She wasn't very big, and we could have taken her easily!  John says that she's lucky she's a woman, and that we could tell that by her silhouette, otherwise he would have charged and knocked her to the ground!

We left Albania a couple of days ago, and headed through Montenegro into Croatia.  Both countries are very beautiful with gorgeous coastlines, and we spent yesterday afternoon on a day trip to some islands off the Croatian coast. We all jumped off the boat into the Adriatic Sea and had a swim, and it was so lovely.  We visited the 'old town' in Dubrovnik and its surrounding walls which we walked around, and came back with a small group of us that night to see it all lit up.

This morning we left Dubrovnik, drove through Bosnia and back into the northern part of Croatia to Zadar, which is where we're spending tonight.  Again, it's just really a stopover and place to sleep on our way to Vienna, Austria tomorrow.

We've spent a fair bit of time walking around outside, and as a result, Caitie looks like she's wearing a constant pair of thongs on her feet and has 'racoon eyes' from her sunglasses. John's got his fair share of colour as well, although some of that is a red back from the backflips he was doing into the ocean from the roof of the boat in Croatia yesterday.

We're having a blast, and can't wait for this final part of our first tour. We've got Austria for the next few days, and then onto Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein and the Netherlands. I definitely loved Paris, but apart from that, I think the second part of this tour will be the best.

Things we have to look forward to include a classical concert in Vienna, a trip up the Swiss Alps in Switzerland and a canal cruise in Amsterdam.  Hopefully internet access will be plentiful, but it will all depend on timing and what we do each night as to whether we will have time to write updates (or whether we'd prefer to be exploring the cities).

Hope you are all well. I love reading the comments you all leave me and knowing that the world still exists back home. I promise I'll post some photos soon - assuming that you want to see them, of course!
Speak to you all soon,
Caitie and Johnny xxx

Good times...

...are being had by all!! We're having a great time, and I just thought I'd pop in with a quick update.

After we left Lyon, we headed to Barcelona, Spain for two nights.  What a weird city - neither of us loved it but it was certainly an experience.  Some of the group went out to a nightclub one night (we didn't - surprise surprise) and there were two pickpocket incidents and one drink spiking.  After Barcelona, we headed to Nice for two nights, which was very relaxing and low-key.  One of those nights we spent in Monaco - the Grand Palace casino in Monte Carlo.  We had a bit of a gamble, and doubled our money on roulette - a grand total winnings of 5 Euro.  Woohoo!

We're currently in Florence, after having left Venice this morning, and heading to Rome tomorrow.  After Rome (and Pisa), we head to Greece, and then on to some lesser travelled countries (like Albania and Croatia) so we're unsure how reliable the internet will be, and how in touch with the rest of the world we'll be.

Venice was pretty crazy, a maze of canals and tiny, tiny little alleyways.  We went on a gondola ride, and I was just thankful not to end up in the Grand Canal.  John has some photos of my expression to prove it.  Our whole group was treated to a real Italian feast, which made John very happy.  (Two entrees, four huge plates of pasta and three bowls of ice-cream...)

Florence is a really pretty city, surrounded by the Tuscan hills. We headed up to the hills tonight for a 'traditional tuscan meal', and were again treated to plate after plate of food.  Until this point, we'd both been losing weight on this trip as we weren't eating a whole lot, and the amount of walking we are doing is tremendous.  Italy has changed that though, as our guide told us all it would.  I'm guessing Albania and Croatia may not be conducive to a whole heap of good food though, so we'll lap it up while we can.

I'm sure I've bored you enough for now, but we just wanted to let you know we're having the time of our lives. Still over 6 weeks to go, but the time has flown.  I think I'll certainly appreciate Australia when we get back.

Can't wait to see the Colosseum tomorrow, and John tells me the Sistine Chapel is really something to behold.  Shortly after that, we'll be on a cruise ship amongst the Greek Islands - it's a tough life!

We'll be back in touch when we can, and hopefully with some more photos.

Love to you all,
Caitie and John

Our trip so far...

I'll keep this fairly short and sweet - for me, anyway! We're having an absolute blast in Europe, but our trip is really only just getting started.  We've just finished Day 7 of about 55 days - there's still a long way to go!

At the moment, we are in Barcelona (Spain), having arrived this afternoon from Lyon (France). We've got tomorrow in Barcelona, before we head on to Nice (in France) the next day.  So far we've spent 4 days in London when we first arrived, two days in Paris and an evening in Lyon, and nearly the whole day today driving.

We've been doing heaps of great things, and trying a lot of new experiences too.  Something that you'll probably never believe if you know me - I actually ate escargots (snails) and grenouille (frogs) in Lyon last night. Yes, the fuss-pot of the Universe did actually eat them.  And, believe it or not, they were actually edible.  I'm not a huge fan of oysters or mussels or scallops because I don't like the texture, so snails are not something I would eat again.  The frogs were nice enough - a little like chicken.  The problem was that they leave them as a whole frog and fill your bowl with them, so I could see their little heads and legs and everything! Once I got over that though, I was fine.

On the first day of our tour (when we left London for Paris) I was so sick - it was a miserable day.  Whether or not it was something I ate or a bug, I don't know. But all the signs pointed to food poisoning. It took about 2 days to get over it, and by that time, John had it too. We're now both over it though, and hopefully that means there'll be no more sickness for us on the trip.

Anyway, I don't intend on writing a whole blow-by-blow account of what we've been up to.  I just want to post a few photos.

Tower Bridge (London):

Roman Baths (Bath, England):

Stonehenge (England):

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (London):

Abbey Road Beatle's crossing:

Eiffel Tower (Paris, France):

On top of the Eiffel Tower:

Moulin Rouge (Paris, France):

Napoleon's Castle, Fontain bleu (outside of Paris, France):

And a premium vineyard in the Bourgelais wine region (outside of Lyon, France):

As you can see, most of the photos are either taken of one of us (while the other took the photo), or they're 'self portraits' with John holding our camera.  Now that we've started out tour, there should be more shots of the two of us that aren't only a foot away from the camera, as we now have 48 other people going everywhere with us.

Oh, and if you've made it this far, one last piece of news:

Of course, I said yes. What place is more romantic than a little cafe on the Champs d'Elysee in Paris? I'm the happiest girl in the world right now!

While there is so much to say, I'll leave it there.  I'll be back again soon with some more photos, but I can't promise when. So far, the motels have all had free internet access, which has made it really easy.

Adios, amigos!

Leaving, on a jet plane...

...but we know when we'll be back, again. The day is finally here! We leave for Brisbane today, and fly out of the country tomorrow. Despite normally being a sleeper-in-er, I woke up at 6.30 this morning, and haven't been able to get back to sleep.  We drive to Rocky this morning (after we do a few bits and pieces first), and we leave Rocky for Brissy just after 5.00 this arvo.  Our BIG plane (which we believe is an Airbus A3380) leaves Brissy tomorrow at about 1.00pm.

Our bags are packed, the house is completely clean, the washing is done, the lawn is mown...etc.  It's been quite a preparation, but I think we're ready!  What a day we had yesterday. John has been working madly every waking hour the last week or so to get all of his jobs and work to a point where they can be handed over.  Yesterday afternoon, he was just finishing everything off, when our hard-drive malfunctioned. We keep EVERYTHING on an external hard-drive, and we network all of our computers to the hard-drive. We have nothing on our actual computers. The hard-drive itself consists of two separate drives - one as the original, one as the back-up. We then back that up again. Well, when our hard-drive malfunctioned, both of the drives died. And we haven't backed up since February. So everything John has done since February is g.o.n.e. On a day when time was going to be tight to get everything done in the first place, we didn't need that.

We ventured down to Harvey Norman to see what they could do. Without going into detail, if we got a replacement hard-drive, we should have been able to copy things onto it using the right cables....etc. The guys at Harvey Norman were GREAT - they really couldn't have done more to help us. Despite their 'Tech Team' being closed on Sundays, our guy took in our drives, tested them on his special machine so that we knew whether or not buying some new parts would help us. It wouldn't. The drives were gone.

Luckily, our guy said that the information could definitely be recovered, but it would take quite a number of hours to recover 300GB worth of stuff. At 3.00 in the afternoon, we didn't have that sort of time. So, we've left it with them for them to fix and do whatever has to be done, and we'll have to leave it up to John's business partner to pick it up while we're away. At least he will then have the files that we were intending to copy to give to him in the first place!

So, needless to say, despite my super-organisational skills to date, we lost over 2 hours of valuable 'doing' time yesterday, and added a whole heap more stress on top of that! It also means that there are a couple of things John wanted to do which now can't be done. There's nothing we can do about that, and it's now out of our hands. But boy, was it tense for a while there yesterday afternoon!!

Have we learnt our lessonn? Despite reading so many stories about information and files being lost from peoples' harddrives, we thought we had it covered. We'll now be considering an on-line back-up and restoration service, and we'll definitely be more vigilant with doing our second back-up, that's for sure.  The stupid thing is, it was only Saturday that we were going to do a full back-up, but we decided we'd leave it until Sunday after John had finished everything. How annoying.

Well, on to some more fun stuff - the final installment of the 'Things Caitie has made to go on this trip with, despite probably not really needing to, but enjoying it just the same"...

A cover for my passport, so that it doesn't get torn up and tatty while we're travelling. It's reversible, but I like this side the best!

A travel wallet. I've already made one of these - it was the first thing I made. But I wasn't happy with it, and it was too floppy. So I made it again using different fabrics. I used SUPER interfacing, that has made it soooo stiff. The only thing I would do do differently would be to cut it smaller than the seam allowance, so that it wasn't included in all the seams. When I've turned it the right way in and handstitched the opening shut, it was an absolute mammoth effort to get the needle through the now 4 layers of this SUPER interfacing - it's thicker than cereal box cardboard!  The front has a strip of pink corduroy (the same as in the picture below), but of course I forgot to take a photo of that...

Because I still wasn't happy with my last attempt at a camera strap, I decided to re-do it. I did some gathering, as I just loved it on one of the zipper pouches I'd made, and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I backed it with corduroy.  It's a little bit wide this time (all the other times it's been too narrow), but it's still really comfy and looks better than the ugly black-and-yellow Nikon strap.

One last zipper pouch (well, if I was being completely honest, it wasn't the last...) that I'm really happy with the size and the proportion of the 'boxed bottom'. I love this fabric line so much!  I was running out, and Spotlight had none left. I just couldn't stand never making anything with it again (I have visions of using some of the larger and less garish prints to cover a canvas for my craft room wall).  I found some at an on-line site that was a really good price (even cheaper than Spotlight in the first place) so I stocked up on it. Now I'm too scared to cut into it!

Quite a while back it was John's brother Jamie, and his wife Ally's birthdays (one day apart).  As they're both from the land (I'm not allowed to say 'from a farm') and still live on the land, I decided it would be funny to make them these:

For those of you not 'in the know' like I am on all things 'landy', that is fabric with John Deere tractors on it. And it's even in pink for the girls. While they're a little silly, and I doubt either of them will ever be seen in public (unlike my awesome zipper pouches!) hopefully they'll at least be useful for something.

Finally, I managed to finish something I've been meaning to do for a while. An 'armchair' caddy, or some such thing. I've been doing a bit of embroidery (which I haven't yet taken photos of - that will have to wait  until we get back) and the armchair and coffee table were looking a bit of a mess. So, I found this tutorial by the lady who writes Oh Fransson! at Sew Mama Sew  Seriously, if you're interested in making stuff, go here - so many things to see and make! I love this site.

Anyway, I made this:

and boy has it been handy! Not only do I now finally have a pin cushion (despite having had plans to make one for quite a while), but it's heavy and doesn't move, plus it keeps my scissors and quick-unpick (which I need often) close by!

There's still quite a bit to post - I haven't even shown you the page I had done for me by Nicole Southworth or the little bits I made for her and her girls in return. That will have to wait, but you can go to her blog and go to this post and see it if you want. It's one of my favourite photos.

That's about it for me. I've just successfully passed about an hour of time, which means there's less time I have to wait until we leave! Yay. Can't wait to see Mum and Dad, John's parents, and my two sisters for lunch today.

I'm hoping to post some photos on here while we're away - no promises though.

See you all soon,
Caitie (and John, of course)

A baby gift...

Let me start by saying that I'm 99% sure that the new mum won't read this - first of all, I don't think she even knows this blog exists, and secondly, I'm sure when you've just had a baby, there are better things to do than look at my blog!! 

My cousin, Chrissy and her husband Andrew welcomed their first baby into the world on Friday morning (about four weeks early).  (We grew up calling her Chrissy, and even though she is now 'Chris' or 'Christine', I still think of her as Chrissy.)  So, welcome to:

His middle name is Shar, which I think is Andrew's grandmother's maiden name?? I might be slightly wrong there, but I think it's a lovely idea. 

Here is the gift I made to go with the card (well, the card was really made to go with the gift):

Because I am (and always have been) one to blow my own horn, I'm just going to say that I absolutely LOVE how it's turned out.

The polar fleece feels so nice, and he's so snuggly. I hope this is something that Linc grows to love.

I decided I wanted to make this elephant before I started the quilt.  I then did the quilt and felt a bit embarrassed to give the elephant too, because I didn't want Chrissy to think I went overboard! I had a lot of trouble finding any sort of polar fleece back in February when I started making this.  All I could find was this colour, which was actually perfect for how I had envisioned it.  I had the elephant half finished for a long time, and I thought I'd get around to finishing it sooner or later.  Well, Chrissy had the baby on Friday, and I was going to be taking Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary to the airport on Saturday so that they could go and visit Chrissy, Andrew and Linc.  I was in a mad rush on Saturday morning to finish the elephant and to make the card so that I could give it to them to take down with them.  Well, there was a change of plans and I didn't end up taking them to the airport, which means this is still sitting here, ready to come down with us next week.  (We will be seeing them during our one day stop-over in Brisbane before we head out.)

I can't wait to see Chrissy, Andrew and especially Linc.  I'm hoping to take some newborn baby photos while I'm there.  I've been noting some ideas and looking at baby photos that I really like, and I could only hope in my wildest dreams to even come close to something like this:

(from http://www.ashleymcnamara.com/)

(from http://www.carolineghetes.com/)

(from http://www.garlandphotography.com.au/)

(from http://www.iriscreationsphotography.com/ )

(from http://www.kaylaphoto.com/)

(from http://www.kaylaphoto.com/)

from http://www.windwardskies.com/

Of course, I'm hopeful but not stupid - I don't have any cute hats or blankets or anything like that! I'm just trying to take inspiration of some of the poses that I think are gorgeous (of course, Chrissy and Andrew might have other ideas!) and I'll do my best!

I'll be back to post soon with the other things I've been up to this weekend, in amongst getting the last minute things ready for our trip.  Please, Mount Qeoifghhnklafgnvwapruogh (or whatever it's called) - stop spewing your ash and lava everywhere so that all the airports may open again!!

Long time, no post - a catch up

Gee whiz I've been slack lately with my blog posting. So much has been going on and I've just had other things to do to be honest! Here's a quick catch-up (not necessarily in order):

1. John's parents came to visit the weekend before ANZAC Day, which was a great surprise;
2. We had our Get Scrapped Getaway (GSG) on the weekend of ANZAC Day. As always, I just enjoyed myself so much, and can't wait to do it again. More on that later in the post;
3. I've changed my craft/scrapping/sewing room around a little, to try to make the space more conducive to be staying organised and tidy. I'll take pictures and post another day;
4. I've been working a bit of overtime at work to try to get jobs finished before we go away, which I don't really like doing too much! There are too many other things I'd rather be doing at home (aah, the pitfalls of having hobbies);
5. John and I have been madly trying to get things sorted out with the business for when we go away.  As we do the books for the business, we need to make sure everything is in order, as the end of the financial year comes while we're away;
6. John and I have been finalising our plans for our trip, including booking things to do in London before our tours, and in Singapore after our tours. More on that later in the post;
7. We've also been having to arrange everything else that goes with being away for 2 months, including bill payments, real estate agents, banking/travel money, getting someone to mow the lawn, etc. Not too much of a big deal, but just a lot of things to organise and remember to do. Thank goodness for my 'Preparation List' in my travel journal (although you won't catch John admitting that);
7. I've FINALLY finished editing the photos I took at John's brother's wedding (and of course his sister-in-law's wedding too).  I'm so sorry it took so long, Jamie and Ally;
8. I've well and truly caught the sewing bug, and I'm glad we've got this upcoming trip as an excuse to make all sorts of bits and pieces of pouches, bags, etc. I tell you, I'm going to be the most organised traveller! More on that later in the post;
9. We bought a bookshelf, and I love it!! I've had a bit of a 'wish list' going since we moved into our house in 2007, and rather than see it as a list of things we need to go and buy, we see it as a list of things to gradually work towards. It makes it so rewarding! Our bookshelf (well, bookshelves really) is exactly what we'd sort of planned on, and it's already well on its way to being choc-a-block full! I've also finally got somewhere to put my scrapbooking albums, which means they're out and easy to look through when I'm in the mood, and it also gives me three extra shelves in my craft room to use for my ever-increasing sewing supplies! I told John that he doesn't need to worry, we won't need to buy any more bookshelves. I just now know the limit to the number of books I can have before I need to start giving them away;
10. The business is getting an office, which will make it easier when the new employee commences! Wow, our little business is going to be employing someone, and have an actual premises. The down-side is that it's all happening while we're away, so that's yet another thing we need to arrange and plan before we go away;
11. I've had 4 vaccinations in the last few months, and we've each got one more to go, which is apparently the most important one: the combined flu vaccination.  The 'authorities' are imploring everyone to get it, and not to be scared because of recent news. But, do you think it's even possible to get this vaccination? No. We've been trying to get it for months, and time is quickly running out. Apparently, there's a shortage of supply with the manufacturer, and there is nowhere here in Mackay or even in Rocky that actually has supply. So, well done 'authorities' for putting on the news every night that everyone needs to get the vaccine, but then making it impossible for people who need/want it to actually get it.  At least I know I won't get hepatitis or whooping cough, but I might have my holiday ruined because of the darn flu!

Whew, that's a lot of rambling, even for me! Well done if you've made it this far. 

We've now got only 11 sleeps before we leave on our big trip! Woohoo! The time seemed to go so slow for ages, and I wondered how I was actually going to make it without exploding withe excitement. Now, all of a sudden, it's only a little over a week away, and it seems like we don't have enough time to prepare everything before we go. I've been planning for this for a long time, and people at work were laughing at me for being so organised so ahead of time. I started crossing things off my 'To Do' list and my 'To Buy' list months ago, but somehow it just keeps getting longer!

Well, the GSG was such a great weekend - they always are.  I just love them, and after each one I just can't wait to begin organising the next one! (Well, this time I can because we're going on our trip between now and the next one, and I don't want to wish that time away!)  This time we did quite a few pages, and both Stacey and Na (my sisters) came rather than just Na.  As usual, Mum, Auntie Karen and Fiona all came as well.  Here are the pages we did (all inspired by other scrappers):

2009 in review:

Inspired by this page by Maggie Holmes:

A crazy bunch (New Years Eve 2009):

Inspired by this page by Kelly Goree:

Celebrate (Jamie and Ally's wedding):

Inspired by this page by Becky Higgins:

My heart (John and I):

Inspired by this page by Ali Russell:

Spoilt (Mum and Stacey's dogs):

Inspired by this page by Nicole Southworth:

'Tis the Season' (Christmas 2009):

Inspired by this page by Jill-Marie Paulson:

True Beauty shining through (my sister Stacey - I did one of Na last time):

Inspired by this page by Kelly Goree:

Two Hearts (my Mum and Dad):

Inspired by this page by .... Me!!

We also used this page as inspiration, for a page that I have not yet finished.  I channelled Auntie Karen, and printed out the wrong-sized photos! So I'm yet to reprint at the right size and finish my page.  I'll post it when I do.

Inspired by Amanda Probst:

I've done my page on my recent interest in photography, and the photos that I've taken to enter in the photo club competitions, that have either won, or I am really proud of.  I love how all the colours in all the photos look together - I was a little worried that it would be too piece-meal for my liking, but it's come together quite well.  It will probably be a little while before I print the photos and post the page here, but I will.

That's probably enough for this post.  I've still got heaps to catch up on, and I want to do an 'Inspiration' post soon too, showing the things I've seen around lately that I just love.  I also love the idea of Fiona's recent post, which I might try to do sometime soon.  I just need somewhere to put the list that I will be able to see it constantly enough to be reminded! I'm thinking somewhere in my craft room will be the winner...