But a girl can dream...
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Out of Reach...
As we head back to the States, hubby is about to start job hunting and that means that shopping is entirely on the kibosh.
But a girl can dream...
1-Coat: Zara, 2-Shoe: Modcloth, 3-Brooch: Looka Jewelry, 4-Necklace: Madewell, 5-Blouse: H&M, 6-Trousers: asos, 7-Bag: H&M
But a girl can dream...
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Final Days In Australia
Here are some of the photos of our last few days in Oz. We had such an amazing time, and tried really hard not to wish it away thinking of finally going home to family, friends and our house.
I know we will miss it here probably within 2 weeks.
It has truly been an amazing ride!
I know we will miss it here probably within 2 weeks.
It has truly been an amazing ride!
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| Yatala Meat Pies |
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| Our Friends' church on the Gold Coast |
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| Walkway in Southbank, Brisbane |
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| Body surfing at Sunshine Beach |
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| As we were playing in the surf, the sand was eating our stuff |
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| Artist: Rachel Whiteread |
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| Artist: Yayoi Kusama |
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| House that was in this book: Mayne Inheritance |
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
My Healed* Back...
It started just about a month before I got married in 2009. I woke up one day - the day after I had flown to Indiana on my own to have Matt's mom throw me a wedding shower with all their friends and family - and my back was crippled. I mean all of a sudden I couldn't move, could barely get out of bed, wished I was dead-kind of pain in my lower back.
Everyone had a theory. My mom is obsessive about diagnosing everything from a stomach ache to a scratch and back pain proved to be no exception. Matt and his parents were pretty similar. Maybe it was the extra strenuous spinning I'd been doing lately to get in shape for my wedding dress, maybe it was walking in heels to the plane, maybe it was walking in flip-flops that summer, maybe it was standing in my studio during the final days of thesis show prep, maybe it was...
No one could be sure.
I struggled my way through the time in Indiana and had a wonderful visit through the pain (it got slightly less painful the day of the actual shower). When I got home, I went to the Dr's and then a physical therapist. The PT said that my pelvis has a way of shifting - each side wrenching the opposite direction of the other, so it is out of alignment. I went to maybe 4 sessions until I learned the exercises myself enough to do them at home. I went back to the Dr and she gave me this way of "popping" my back into position and it worked marvelously.
For a time...
But it comes and goes. And that trick the Dr gave me does nothing anymore.
For a while last year, car rides killed me. Sitting for such a long time in the same place. Riding was pretty terrible but driving brought me to tears.
Well, it is back again this week and I'm really struggling.
It sounds crazy, but I'm like 98% sure that I wrecked it lying on a cabana chair in Fiji last week. The chair was just straight wood with really thin cushions to put over it and unfortunately we didn't get off this said chair for most of the week. Then on Saturday, we went to the beach in Australia one last time and played really hard in killer waves.
I'm about to get on a plane for 20 hours in 2 days and although I'll have a pretty comfortable seat, I'm really scared right now. I don't know how I will manage it.
I am trying to turn my attention to God's promises - how the Bible says by his stripes we are healed and I am speaking that to my back today because apparently it doesn't seem to know this yet.
*I am telling my back it is healed
Everyone had a theory. My mom is obsessive about diagnosing everything from a stomach ache to a scratch and back pain proved to be no exception. Matt and his parents were pretty similar. Maybe it was the extra strenuous spinning I'd been doing lately to get in shape for my wedding dress, maybe it was walking in heels to the plane, maybe it was walking in flip-flops that summer, maybe it was standing in my studio during the final days of thesis show prep, maybe it was...
No one could be sure.
I struggled my way through the time in Indiana and had a wonderful visit through the pain (it got slightly less painful the day of the actual shower). When I got home, I went to the Dr's and then a physical therapist. The PT said that my pelvis has a way of shifting - each side wrenching the opposite direction of the other, so it is out of alignment. I went to maybe 4 sessions until I learned the exercises myself enough to do them at home. I went back to the Dr and she gave me this way of "popping" my back into position and it worked marvelously.
For a time...
But it comes and goes. And that trick the Dr gave me does nothing anymore.
For a while last year, car rides killed me. Sitting for such a long time in the same place. Riding was pretty terrible but driving brought me to tears.
Well, it is back again this week and I'm really struggling.
It sounds crazy, but I'm like 98% sure that I wrecked it lying on a cabana chair in Fiji last week. The chair was just straight wood with really thin cushions to put over it and unfortunately we didn't get off this said chair for most of the week. Then on Saturday, we went to the beach in Australia one last time and played really hard in killer waves.
I'm about to get on a plane for 20 hours in 2 days and although I'll have a pretty comfortable seat, I'm really scared right now. I don't know how I will manage it.
I am trying to turn my attention to God's promises - how the Bible says by his stripes we are healed and I am speaking that to my back today because apparently it doesn't seem to know this yet.
*I am telling my back it is healed
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Dreaming of Projects...
We are headed home in a few days and cannot wait. I've been lying awake at night thinking of all the things we've done while in Australia and thinking about all the things I cannot wait to do when we get home. It has been such an amazing journey and I still have to pinch myself that God gave us such favor to come here. We've seen things and done things that we would never have been able to afford or found time for. It's just been a major blessing. There have certainly been tough moments but I prefer the highs and lows together!
So as far as going home...
I have a million project ideas in my head for both house, clothes and jewelry. The toughest thing here has been not having any projects to do.
Here are a few:
House
-Paint our wrought iron glider in our back yard - gold
-Totally revamp our guest bedroom and possibly give stenciling a try (cool stenciling like this)
-Paint our front door. We have this terrible plastic faux wood door, but I think I can paint it and spruce it up for now. (I'm deciding between something similar to one of these. Our house is brick. Let me know your vote!
-Create a small gallery in our hallway to exhibit trip photos. I am leaning toward having homogenous frames - black, white or silver and then change the photos that are in them depending on what trip we've just taken. I've also toyed with a shelf to place them on. So two variations on a theme. Not sure which I will land on.
Jewelry
I've had a few ideas for new necklaces
-If I dry marshmallows
-From dominos
-From key covers like this:
Clothing
-I bought some fabulous silk in China, so I need to do something with it - maybe a drapy dress
-A quilted skirt
-A dress with smocking
But most of all I want to go home and see my friends and my family. I am hopeful that my parents will come visit us within a few weeks of being back. That would be the best US welcome!!
So as far as going home...
I have a million project ideas in my head for both house, clothes and jewelry. The toughest thing here has been not having any projects to do.
Here are a few:
House
-Paint our wrought iron glider in our back yard - gold
-Totally revamp our guest bedroom and possibly give stenciling a try (cool stenciling like this)
-Paint our front door. We have this terrible plastic faux wood door, but I think I can paint it and spruce it up for now. (I'm deciding between something similar to one of these. Our house is brick. Let me know your vote!
-Create a small gallery in our hallway to exhibit trip photos. I am leaning toward having homogenous frames - black, white or silver and then change the photos that are in them depending on what trip we've just taken. I've also toyed with a shelf to place them on. So two variations on a theme. Not sure which I will land on.
Jewelry
I've had a few ideas for new necklaces
-If I dry marshmallows
-From dominos
-From key covers like this:
Clothing
-I bought some fabulous silk in China, so I need to do something with it - maybe a drapy dress
-A quilted skirt
-A dress with smocking
But most of all I want to go home and see my friends and my family. I am hopeful that my parents will come visit us within a few weeks of being back. That would be the best US welcome!!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Melbourne...
Last week we were in the Melbourne area visiting our besties Mike and Christi. They had just moved to Australia (he's Aussie, she's American) when we got engaged and they turned around 5 months later and flew back to the States to be in our wedding. (yes, very short engagement!) We've always felt like we owed them a return favor and had been loosely planning on coming to visit Australia this fall anyway. Then my work opportunity opened up and we were able to come for free and just had to buy tix from Brisy to Melbourne.
Trust me, much cheaper!
We had such an amazing time with them. I would say it was up there with our top 3 best vacations of all time. Note that I did not say top 3 most restful of all time! We ran around like crazy, seeing all sorts of things, doing all sorts of things and eating/drinking all sorts of food/drinks. We spent a few days in Lorne, VIC and drove out to the 12 Apostles which was truly breathtaking. It made us think of that scene from Flight of the Navigator when he zooms by all sorts of landmarks!
Actually my favorite part of the whole time with our friends was when we were able to pray together on our last night - just about each others' journeys, marriages, next steps in life etc. It was so full and amazing. I feel so blessed to have good friends and although we miss them already, I know they are the kind of friends that we can start up right where we left off as if no time has passed!
Here are some of the things we did and saw:
Trust me, much cheaper!
We had such an amazing time with them. I would say it was up there with our top 3 best vacations of all time. Note that I did not say top 3 most restful of all time! We ran around like crazy, seeing all sorts of things, doing all sorts of things and eating/drinking all sorts of food/drinks. We spent a few days in Lorne, VIC and drove out to the 12 Apostles which was truly breathtaking. It made us think of that scene from Flight of the Navigator when he zooms by all sorts of landmarks!
Actually my favorite part of the whole time with our friends was when we were able to pray together on our last night - just about each others' journeys, marriages, next steps in life etc. It was so full and amazing. I feel so blessed to have good friends and although we miss them already, I know they are the kind of friends that we can start up right where we left off as if no time has passed!
Here are some of the things we did and saw:
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| Found this small beach off the beaten path where salt and fresh water make foam! |
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| First time seeing Koalas awake and active in the wild |
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| And I mean really active! |
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| 12 Apostles |
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| Brighton Beach in Melbourne |
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| A possible Banksy sighting |
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| Melbourne has a USA Foods store and we stocked up on a few US items |
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| Best food in Australia: MamaBaba in Melbourne |
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| Gorgeous Aboriginal Art at the National Gallery in Melbourne |
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Interim Wish List...
It's been a crazy few weeks. I went from a little bored to full-on exhaustion. We went to Melbourne and toured like crazy - saw everything, did everything we could jam into a week. Then we came back to Brisy and in two days, I turned around and went to visit some of my company's employees in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth and then came home all in 3 days. I need to get around to our Melbourne trip and fill you all in, but first I thought I'd just do a quick wish list to hold you over!
I'm obsessed with two things. First is the pocket watch necklaces that have been around for a while now. I just bought a fabulous one-of-a-kind for someone for Christmas and I am trying to not cave in and wear it before I give it to them! Second is Blundstone boots. They are traditional Aussie wear here - both for work and dress, depending on the style. I know these are finally making their way into fashion with various colors and heels. These are the old school version and I'm hoping to snag some before I go. We'll see, the budget is quickly dwindling with all our adventures!
Necklace-etsy; Bag-Asos; Skirt-Ostwald Helgason; Pants-Diane von Furstenberg; Scarf-Jonathon Saunders; Earrings-Modcloth; Jacket-H&M; Turban-Asos; Sweater-H&M; Boots-Blundstones
I'm obsessed with two things. First is the pocket watch necklaces that have been around for a while now. I just bought a fabulous one-of-a-kind for someone for Christmas and I am trying to not cave in and wear it before I give it to them! Second is Blundstone boots. They are traditional Aussie wear here - both for work and dress, depending on the style. I know these are finally making their way into fashion with various colors and heels. These are the old school version and I'm hoping to snag some before I go. We'll see, the budget is quickly dwindling with all our adventures!
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