A Very Special Kind of Question

Thursday 15 May, James surprised me with some beautiful flowers. We ordered in some takeaway and watched some SNL, then whilst we were up and about and having a bit of a cuddle James asked me to marry him. Of course I said no. Joking! I said Yes, yes, of course, yes. And then I cried a little. Then he got out some champagne, and I cried some more, and then a little later I cried a little bit more...all happy tears, very happy tears. He had a little ring for me, that he had bought a year ago. It wasn't the ring he wanted to propose with, but he didn't want to wait any longer. This last weekend we got a proper ring. It is beautiful, simple and elegant and I can't stop telling him how much I love it.

We then spent the weekend calling and sending messages to family and close friends. It was probably one of the happiest weekends I have ever had. I love how happy everyone was for us. :)

We're super happy. :D

Spot of Shopping

Yesterday I went for a walk along King Street, popping into a couple of my favourite little stores. I really shouldn't have popped into the stores because I know how hard I find it not to buy things from these stores, but I did, and had to buy a couple of things.

1. Horseshoe Magnet. Seems like a weird thing to HAVE to buy, right? But, I've been asking for magnets for work since about March last year, and still haven't got anything. I saw this magnet on Anthropologie, and thought it was pretty awesome and perfect for kids to play and investigate with...but I wasn't paying the shipping. So, when I saw this in one of the stores (and then later in another) I felt I had to buy it. I limited myself to just one, which is showing a lot of restraint. :P I'm going to have to start making some investigative magnetic bottles for the kids now!

2. Crumpled Map. This was an impulse, at the counter purchase. I got it for when my parents come visit this Christmas, thought it would be useful for them.

3. Paper straws. We love adding a little paper straw to our G&T's, plus they are just so cute and fun, and we were running low. Not going to run low for a while now, what with the 288 straws I bought.

Maybe it's time for a G&T with a cute straw...

Quote to Inspire: Positive

Work Stories

I haven't shared work stories in forever! So...where to start?

- One of the kids at work is very good at animal noises. She is also very good at "uncle" noises. If you ask her "What noise does uncle make?" She will fake a burp. It's so awesome, and one of my favourite things to ask her.
- We got these gorgeously comfy rugs for work which the kids love lying and rolling around on. We also like to lie down on these gorgeously comfy rugs, which turns us into awesome climbing frames for the kids. My colleague makes a good climbing person, and I as it turns out make a good practicing balance person. One child in particular like to stand himself up on my bum, steady himself and then try to walk. When he falls he gives out the biggest laugh, and tries again.
- The child that would cry all day long, and only sit with me, has settled. Yay! I do not come home feeling like the need to cry anymore!
- A little boy in the Toddler room has come in wearing a tutu quite a few times now. I love that no staff member or parents made any negative comment about this. I also love that his parents are supportive of this. Go world!
- I swear one of the kids at work who is only just starting to babble says "potato", she says "potato" a lot.

Work is going pretty awesome, and I am enjoying it so much more now that I am not studying as well. (First Aid this weekend and I'm done!)

Let's Be Cops

Let's be honest, this is totally a movie about Nick and Coach. It is. And all it is missing is Winston, and considering how he is going to be an actual cop I really hope they don't miss out on the opportunity to have him in the background, as either a cop or in a bar doing his thing. Nick and Coach are awesome. This movie looks awesomely ridiculous. But Winston, Winston is the best.

I'm Alive

So, it's been a while. As you may have gathered from my last post, things have been feeling a little overwhelming lately. The last two months I've been very busy working and finishing off my studying. It's felt very full on, and I'm still feeling exhausted. I submitted my final assignments this week, and now only have to wait for the results and do some First Aid training. So, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I start to feel a little more relaxed as I discover I have time to do stuff in, and I'll start to make more of an appearance here.

Whilst I have been working full time, and studying, I have somehow managed to fit in time for a few other things, so here is a little summary of what has been going on in my life:
-I have bought myself 2 more lovely bunches of flowers.
-We've spent a weekend celebrating one of James' grandparents 80th, including drinks in their hotel room with a ridiculous view of Sydney.
-We've been to Canberra quite a few times for Brumbies games and Easter.
-I broke my camera (sad face), only the lens, hopefully the warranty covers it
-I was treated to a lovely birthday dinner by my girlfriendies
-We hosted James' friends for drinks and games after dinner, they were very impressed with our collection of drinks and the 'cool' way we made them (thank you mason jars and cute straws)
-I died my hair copper using Olia, it turned out looking like someone had taken an orange highlighter to my hair, so I went back to my trusty L'Oreal creme casting gloss, used the caramel to calm it down and it is now the colour you see above
-I got my hair cut
-I have received a ridiculous amount of complements on my haircut, I am a very happy girl
-We went to Melbourne for James' cousins 21st
-We have decided Sydney is so much cooler than Melbourne (deal with it)
-I had 3 glasses of wine, at once, silly serving lady
-I made cups float using balloons
-We went to see the Lion King at the Capitol. The Lion King was awesome. The Capitol is a stunning theatre.
-My mum told me about BBC 2's show 'Natural World' and their Honey Badger episode which included quite a few stories about the Honey Badger we met last time we were in South Africa

It's really no wonder I feel like I need more sleep! We still have a few exciting things to look forward to, like Eurovision party at our place, Reginald D Hunter and Wayne Brady! :)

Birthday Flowers

I got picked up from work yesterday. Yay! And on the way home was asked if I wanted to stop by the shops or go straight home. I am ummed and arred a bit about if I wanted to buy myself some birthday flowers or not, but then decided straight home would be better.
We got home, I opened the door and immediately noticed the beautiful flowers above. I let out a very excited "You got me flowers!!" and gave James a massive hug. I then cried a bit.

Today is my birthday, and it's probably the most unbirthday feeling birthday I have had. I've been so absorbed in all the work I have to get done for my course (not to mention my Assessor is visiting the centre tomorrow!) that I've not really had too much time to think about the fact that it's my birthday. The flowers are beautiful. I think they will help me feel a lot happier in the next couple of hectic weeks.

Quote to Inspire: Stupid Fun

Taronga Zoo

I have treated myself to a long weekend this week, so had today off. Yay! Since James and I haven't been back to Taronga Zoo together (he's been twice with guests, poo!) since 2009, a fact James was unaware of, we/I decided it would be a great thing to do with the time off.
I seriously recommend visiting Taronga Zoo if you are ever in Sydney. You take a ferry to get there, with views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, awesome. Then take a little gondola up to the top of the zoo, again, the views, awesome. Then get to see lots of animals, again with the amazing views. So if you appreciate a pretty spectacular view, and like animals, do go.
We had a gorgeous day out. Loved it to bits. We're planning another visit in June! :)

I Love Flowers

 I love flowers. Pretty much every time my flowers die I buy some new ones. The wonderful little place I go to never has the same stuff in their store either, so I get to pick all sorts of beautiful different flower. I really love the coral like flower I got this time. The whole bouquet makes me happy, I love having it right by the door to welcome me home. :)

I also learnt an awesome little tip about Lilies when buying these flowers. If you pull the pollen bits off, with a tissue, when they open you don't get all that horrible orange pollen everywhere. The gorgeous lily smell is till there, just none of the mess. If you pull them off just as the flowers open they aren't as sticky.

Quote to Inspire: Birds

Weather 2 - Katie 1

Around this time last year I had a few battles with the weather, last time I counted it was Weather 1-1 Katie. Weather obviously did not like this and caught me out today. Above are some photos to let you get an idea of what I saw and what I got caught in. There was lightning, thunder and creepy lightning/thunder combos. I was soaked head to toe. My umbrella was useless. Most frustratingly of all, the storm moved quickly, and was easing by the time I got home. Had I finished work an hour later I may have missed the whole thing. Damn you weather!

EDIT: For photos that a bazillion times cooler than mine, check out the storm on buzzfeed. It really did look that awesome.

Quote to Inspire: What a Wonderful Thought

Quote to Inspire: Perfect Moment

Ads That Amuse Me

Fox Sports ad for the NRL season is quite funny. If you have a partner that is obsessed with at least one kind of sport I am sure there is something in there you can relate to.

To my knowledge, I have never had Carlton Dry, but I do really love their ads. This is a compilation of all of them. I think the 'upside down people' dancing is my favourite. :)

I have no words.

Of course, none of these are as good as 'Dumb Ways to Die', who have made a little Valentine's video:

And yes, we do watch WAY too much TV. We are not ashamed.

Quote to Inspire: Never Too Late

Quote to Inspire: Feeling Blue

29 January - 4 February: What I'm Grateful For

I am so proud of myself to have kept this going this long! This week I am grateful for:
29 Jan
Blue skies
Evening of quizzes with James
Comfy pjs

30 Jan
G&T's
Dinner at the dining table
Panadol (not because of the G&T's)

31 Jan - Oh my goodness! This was such an exhausting day!
The quiet after lots of children have been crying/screaming
Sleeping babies
The weekend

1 Feb
GoGet
New Flowers
A wonderful day with James

2 Feb
My life
That James and I now think two days apart is too much
Getting the whole bed to myself

3 Feb
My supportive parents
Dinner with a friend
James coming home a day early

4 Feb
Super comfy rug - the children are LOVING it
Tickle sessions, when I'm the tickler
The Block being on TV again

What are you grateful for?

20 Things We Should Say More Often

5 is my favourite. Haha. I guess that is why I work with kids!

Getting Crafty

This weekend has felt pretty awesome.
Yesterday, James and I rented a car and did some shopping at Ikea and Bunnings. I got a rug and plant for work, and we went in to set them up. The room looks SO much nicer now. I am a lot happier. :) We also found the perfect piece of wood to replace the bit that was broken by our dividing wall blowing open and ripping the old piece apart. We also picked up some new flowers for the apartment, James' idea. :)
I have also made some pretty bunting for the Nursery room, some birthday balloons, and flowers to display all the children in our room.
We've also been through most of our cook books and picked out the recipes we love, and watched the whole first season of Suits.
To some, it may sound like a rather mundane weekend, but to us it was pretty perfect. :)