I've been offline for a while!

But gosh...I didn't realise it was nearly a month.

Sometime in October, we started having issues with our Internet Service Provider.  Page uploads were getting slower and slower, and file downloading was becoming impossible....even though we were on an unlimited plan and had done all the usual things like clearing our cache and history etc!  We'd been with the same company for over 11 years, and had been very happy with them, but decided it was time for a change!

So we bit the bullet, and have moved to Optus!  It's taken a while to get everything switched over, but so far, so good!  Everything is working great.  The speed is fantastic, and their customer service has been second to none!  So if you are looking for a recommendation, you've got it!

I'll be back to my Thirty Days of me soon.  And I hope to have a mini kit for you to download very soon too!  Stay posted.

Still Alive ...

Boy. It's been a while. No excuse other than life has been busy....and I guess that's the way you want it, isn't it!

Weather has turned decidedly cold, too cold for Sydney, but it's great weather to be inside and catch up on all those chores that need to be done.

So what has been happening in the last few months:

• I've had a birthday, and celebrated with some special friends
• I've been featured in Scrapbooking Memories - Portrait of a Digi Scrapper (Vol13.No7)
  
• I've had 3 more layouts published
• Aidan has been volunteering at AbbaWorld at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
• He has also been to Bangkok to catch up with some old school friends
• Emma has started playing Netball on the weekends. She loves it, and won Player of the Week 2 weeks ago
• She's been busy with friends, playdays, sleepovers...having lots of fun!

I'm in clean-out mode, and am trying madly to clear out cupboards and wardrobes, and generally de-clutter! Both Aidan and Em are hoarders! I used to be, but 3 in the one family is just way too much! My word this year is Simplify...and I see de-cluttering as a major part of that. It's June, so I think by the end of the year I should just about have got through everything I need to.

I'll leave you with some layouts I've created with this week's new releases. Each layout is linked to the designer's product in their store.

Using Reach For the Sky by Lyndsay Riches


Using Little Mr Tough Guy by Amy Stoffel


Using Summer Afternoon by Nikki Epperson


Using Sorbet by Litabells Designs

Way too Cute!

I found this funky band called OK Go on You Tube a couple of years ago.

They have just released a new video, and it is so cute...I just had to share. They are also raising funds for animal rescue through the video release.



It just makes me smile!

30 Days of Blogging - Day 13, 14 & 15

Boy...I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I've blogged, and in that time we have seen another awful natural disaster in the world! I find all this devastion quite disturbing. My heart aches for all those who have lost life, their loved ones, their homes, their work.....I just can't quite comprehend it all. Pictures like this just break my heart.



What I am sure of through, is that all these earthquakes and tsunami's are building up, and it feels like there is going to be a HUGE, MASSIVE disaster in the not too distant future! Let's hope that I am wrong.


Day 13 - so today I'm meant to talk about my goals. I've had my time of chasing big career goals and things like that. Today my goals are a lot simpler. And that in fact is my word of the 2011...SIMPLIFY! So, firstly I want my family to be healthy and happy and have lots of fun together. We pretty much are, so I hope it stays that way...LOL! I want to become fitter and thinner....but fitter first and foremost! I would like to be able to afford to send our daughter to private school. We would like to move further out of the city....so we can live a less chaotic life! And you know...that's pretty much it for now!

Day 14 - share a picture I love. There are so many, but I love this family photo that was taken when we on holiday in the UK last year. The picture was taken in March 2010, at Warwick Castle.

{image linked for credits}

Day 15 - share a bible verse! I like this verse, as I believe if everyone lived their life like this...irrespective of faith or belief, the world would be a much better place.

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling … ” (1 Peter 3:8)

WOW...I'm half way there, only 15 days to go on my little blogging journey. It's taken a while, but I'm getting there, and am determined to finish!

A Day of Contrasts

Boy...what a day.

This morning both of the Superliners - the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth - arrived in Sydney Harbour. It looked quite a sight.


Then at around 10.50am Sydney time, an earthquake measuring 6.3 hit Christchurch in New Zealand. The devastion is incredible.


Talk about a contrast of the extremes!

Happy Australia Day!

WOW...Nothing like a warm, hot day to be celebrating our Australia Day. It's meant to reach 39 degrees celsius at our place today. We plan on spending most of the day in the pool!

Happy Australia Day to all my Aussie friends and family!

Here's a little bit of Aussie patriotism for you to enjoy....

Back to Normal Broadcasting!

We're back from holiday. Don't think I mentioned it before we headed off. We had planned to drive to the Gold Coast in Queensland, but with all the bad weather, there have been multiple road closures, so it just wasn't worth taking the risk.

We flew to Brisbane instead, and had a great day with my brother Matt before driving down to Hope Island.

It was a great week! Lots of sun, lots of fun and lots of action packed days. We got to meet family we hadn't yet had the pleasure of meeting, Emma got to play with a seal, and we watched a movie while swimming at Wet N Wild.

I'm feeling like I need a holiday now! Isn't that the way! And I think it will take a day or two to the washing and ironing done!

Oh well....off to dream about the next holiday. I'll be back with pictures laters.

Queensland Floods!

I have sat in front of the TV today, in absolute awe at the ferosity of the floods in Queensland. As of today, 9 people have lost their lives, and 59 people are still missing. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost family, friends, their homes and their livelihoods.

This video shows just a little of the devastation in Toowoomba.


My brother lives in Brisbane, right near the river, and is currently on evacuation watch. They are expecting the river to reach over 6 metres in the next 24hours, and over 9000 homes to be flood damaged. I hope he stays safe.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this incredible natural disaster.

I hope you didn't blink!

In a post a couple of days ago, I said our names were going to be up in lights, as part of the John Baldessari project at the Sydney Festival.

We were all crouched around the laptop, waiting very patiently! Well sure enough, at 9:40:20PM tonight, our names were flashed across the wall of the Australian Museum. Lucky I was able to grab a screen shot!

Here they are:





So there is it...our 15 glittering seconds of fame! Lucky we didn't blink, or we would have missed it...LOL!

Abbaworld!

Aidan has been volunteering at AbbaWorld at the Powerhouse Museum, so we took the chance to go in and have a look around.



Em's cousin Olivia was staying and they both had a blast getting up on the stage performing with the hologram puppets.



We also had our pictures added to one of the album covers, got to sing karaoke with the group, re-mix some of their albums, and do some quizzes. It was very interactive, and the girls had heaps of fun!

My Name in Lights!

As part of the Sydney Festival this year, they have been asking for people to register to have their names put up in lights. It's a John Baldessari project, with 100,000 people involved. If you are selected, your name will be streamed across the wall of The Australian Museum for your 15 glittering seconds of glory.

My time is 9:40:20 PM on Monday 10JAN11. And my name will be followed by that of my husband and daughter.



If you're interested, there is still time to find out more about the project and sign up.

Wordle my Blog!

I found this site called Wordle today that creates a word puzzle from any words you input, or you can add a site url.

Here's the wordle of my blog! Interesting that the word year is so dominent. I wonder if that indicates it's going to be my YEAR! I hope so!

It's hot in Sydney!

WOW...the New Year has started with some incredibly hot weather. We hit 40 degrees celsius yesterday, and today was 34. But I guess that's what you should expect for the middle of summer! So can you guess what we've been doing?



Yep...swimming. Even the dog likes a dip to cool off. And he's quite used to doing a bit of boogy-boarding.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

happy australia day ...

It's Australia Day - the celebration of the day that Captain Arthur Phillip first landed at Sydney Cove back in 1788. We are heading out for a lovely pub lunch at one of my favourite pubs - The Camden Valley Inn. Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great day.

If you're looking for some Australia Day scrapping inspiration, then head over to Pickleberry Pop. They're having some scrapping challenges, and a cow pat lotto....very original, and lots of fun....gotta love that!

Till next time,
Di xx

goodbye 2009 ...

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We had planned a holiday to the UK to spend Christmas with Aidan's family. We haven't been back in over 4 years. But the plans all fell apart with the threatened BA cabin crew strike. We had to make a call at the last minute to postpone our trip until 2010. But as nothing was planned for Christmas here, we made the decision to travel to Hong Kong for Christmas. We had a blast, although it wasn't the peaceful Christmas we had planned. Some photos will follow.

Today we are off to my parents place by the beach on the South Coast of NSW. The relaxing break will do us all the world of good. The chance to unwind, and spend some more family time together is always good.

I've decided to do the Project 365 in 2010. It's all about taking a photo-a-day, to capture the 'details' of your life...rather than just the BIG moments. So I'm getting myself prepared. Wish me luck on the journey. I have a separate blog where I am going to document the year ahead.

So as I reflect back on 2009, we have had a fantastic year. Em has had a great year at school, culminating with being awarded the principal's Award for Continuous Outstanding Achievement on the last day of school. One child is chosen from each year, and our girl was the winner for Year 3. We were so proud of her. Aidan follwed his thespian dreams, and had 2 parts in the play Arsenic and Old Lace, performing for 3 months at the Cronulla Arts Theatre. And I have had my dream of being published come to life, with 2 layouts published in Scrapbooking Memories this year, with more to come in 2010. And above all, we are all healthy and happy! What more can you ask for!

To all our family and friends, we wish you joy and happiness throughout 2010. Here's to a wonderful year ahead.

Till next time,
Di xx

oh my!

I just realised today it's one month and one day to Christmas....and I haven't really even started getting it together. I better start doing something about it quick smart!

Hope you're all doing better. If you've got any inspiration for me....leave a comment....LOL!

Till next time,
Di xx

happy idsd everyone ...

Well today is officially international Digital Scrapping Day, and there are so many sales and activities happening it is hard to keep up.

If you love using templates, my friend Litabells Designs is having 50% off at her stores Daydreamers Designworks and Digiridoo Scraps.



Most of the designers at Scrap Orchard are taking 35% off their kits, and some of the designers are having some additional special.


And Digital Scrap Cafe is having 40% off everything, a Make a Wish forum and a Treasure hunt.


If I find anymore good ones I'll be sure to let you know.

Till next time,
Di xx

busy weekend, we've got sickness, and fancy pants...

Em has been home from school today with an upset tummy and diarrhoea. The poor darling has just been lying around, feeling really sorry for herself ... and a temp up around 39 degrees hasn't helped. I just hate to see her sick. I just hope the rest of us manage to escape it.

We had a busy weekend. Em had a gym comp on Saturday afternoon, and came 4th overall in her stage - 2nd on the vault, and 4th on the floor, beam and bars! Go girl! Then we went out to dinner with our friends, the Stokes. Love seeing the kids enjoying each other's company so much.

We spent Sunday around the house. Aidan washed the windows, and I took the opportunity to take down the curtains and wash them. After all the dust and winds we've had over the last week, it was nice job to do. I also started the big clean up of Em's bedroom. It's amazing how much a kid of 8 can accumulate. Still a bit to do, but I'll leave that for next weekend.

On the scrapping front, I've had a bit of lost mojo. So not much to share. But I have heard some exciting news today...Fancy Pants are opening a store, and plan on selling some of their more popular lines as digital. I'm over the moon. I love Fancy Pants. Here's the blog link if you want to go and check it out.

Well that's about it from me. I'll leave you with a couple of pics from Em's gym comp.

Till next time,
Di xx

we're covered in dust ...

I don't think I'll ever forget today. Sydney has been covered in a fine red dust...and the feeling has been really eery!

Aidan woke me at around 3am, wanting me to look at the sky. At that stage it was pink....and my first thought was that the world was coming to an end. It was surreal. By the time we woke in the morning...everything was blood red! I've never seen anything like it.

Here's some pics.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Circular Quay looking across to the Opera House

(before and after)

The Sydney Skyline

Wattle Grove
(our local area)

and this shot I took while waiting for the train this morning.

So now the clean up starts. A fine red dust has settled through the house. It's going to take ages to get rid of. Hope we never experience anything like it again.

Till next time,
Di xx

new month - new look, and some scrapping ...

Well the blog makeover is finished. I ended up going with a Zoe Pearn Blog in a Box design. I love the awesome colours. Let me know what you think.

Lots happening at Scrap Orchard. All the designers have put a Grab Bag into the store. I especially love Amy's and Lyndsay's...such great value for money. You can grab Amy's here for just US$4 (there's over $22 value inside), and Lyndsay's here for just US$3.49 (over $16 value).

Here's the grab bags and some inspiration.







On the home front, Em had a sleepover at her dancing school last night. There were around 140 kids aged from 6 years. I take my hat off to the adults who supervised...it must have been bedlam. She had a ball of course, although I don't think there was much sleeping going on. She tells me she can't wait until the next one. I, of course, had a really restless night, hoping she was OK. No need to worry so much mum. Your baby is growing up!

Aidan has his final performance of his play tonight. I'm quite pleased it's coming to an end, 5 months is enough to have him away 3 nights each week. He's had a blast though, and I'm sure he'll want to do it again. It will be nice to have some routine back. The play has received some really good reviews, and he's been told he is a natural. I'm so pleased that he's found his creative outlet.

Till next time,
Di xx