The Springs

Just In Case

2011-06-07T09:39:00.002+09:30

This post is just in case anyone subscribed to the RSS feed to my new blog using the link I gave. Oops... I had used the link from my old blog, so you won't receive any updates for my new blog.

I'm so sorry! I've fixed the link, so you can now get the RSS feed to my NEW blog!

Fun in the Sun

2011-05-06T19:24:00.004+09:30

Now that the weather has cooled off a little and it isn't wet, we've been using the backyard a whole lot more now. Amy LOVES running around, so I set up a chair outside and have started working on my cross stitch again, while she runs to her heart's content!

That was yesterday. Today, Vaughn decided to come out and join us. With my cross stitch and his coffee, Bible, iPad and everything else balancing on a spare chair, I thought it would be good to set up the outdoor table that's in the pool area, in the backyard instead... get more use out of it. So, Vaughn brought all the set over and we both sat down and felt very content. It just felt right, like we are getting closer to having the house set up exactly as we want it! There are still things to do, but we have a plan and are achieving things. It's nice when it feels like home!

Packages

2011-05-06T18:58:00.004+09:30

It's not often I get packages, so I was very excited to discover that 2 had arrived today!

Firstly, I won a give away from a dear friend so my prize arrived today... some magnets, badges, cute tape, a pink pig and a lovely note. She makes the magnets and badges herself - check out her etsy store!
And the second package wasn't exactly for me - it was a free gift from Huggies (I had to pay for postage, but still, good value!) for Amy to play with. We're planning on giving it to her for her birthday. That's over 3 months away so lets see if she gets it then, or if I can't resist getting it to her sooner!
So, a happy day for mail today! I wish every mail box check was this exciting!

Guiltless Shopping

2011-05-06T18:52:00.003+09:30

I haven't had to do it often, thanks to the generosity of others, but earlier this week, I went clothes shopping for Amy. It was so much fun and I didn't have any guilt, because I wasn't shopping for me! For some reason, I've always felt guilty when I've shopped for clothes, even when needed. But, when I shop for Amy, there's none of that guilt, so although I have fun when I do shop for myself, this particular occasion was even more fun because there was absolutely no guilt!

Some adorable clothes to keep my gorgeous little girl looking beautiful!

(After I got home, I discovered that the security tag was still attached to one of the outfits (far left hand side - black & white striped) so how annoyed was I that I had to go back to get it removed!)

7th Heaven

2011-04-19T16:37:00.003+09:30

I used to love watching 7th Heaven when it originally came out. And now, I'm enjoying it all over again, watching the re-runs. Without intending to, I've started watching it from a whole other perspective, now that I am married to my own "Eric Camden". Although, I'm glad to say that Eric and Vaughn aren't that comparable, but more on that later.

I've found that I'm quite inspired by "Annie Camden"... I love watching how she handles life as a wife, a mother, a stay-at-home-mom and the wife of a minister (yes, I've mentioned wife twice, but there are different roles at play in each 'title'). She has a much larger family than me, but as a stay-at-home-mom myself, I like seeing how 'perfect' life could be (unobtainable, but nice to see, nonetheless!) and how to ideally cope with raising kids. Yes, I know it's all fiction and not real, but the show's a good role model - with so many dysfunctional TV shows out there, it's great to watch one that encourages good values, morals etc. I do find that Annie is a little too accommodating of Eric's ministry at times, which brings me to my next topic:

"Eric Camden". As I said, I look at the show in a different light now, being married to my own version of Eric. But, I was also quick to point out, he and Vaughn aren't really that comparable. They are both ministers of religion, but how they respond to their calling are two completely different views. Vaughn has always looked at his priorities as follows: 1. God 2. Family 3. Ministry. God and Ministry sound like the same thing, but they are distinctly different. Just because you follow God, doesn't mean that ministry should be equal in priorities and always take preference over everything else in your life. And so we have the example of Eric's priorities: 1. God 2. Ministry 3. Family. I get so annoyed with how he continually gets his family to take a back seat while he sorts out ministry issues in the church. Of course, it's great he's so dedicated to his congregation, and I'm sure his parishioners are grateful for his 24 hour availability, but I think he should prioritise his family a lot more. Of course, there are times when family do need to 'sacrifice' their father/husband, so he can help someone, but it should be the exception, not the rule.

A couple of most annoying examples:

1. Annie's mom passed away. On the day of the funeral, Annie spend the whole day grieving alone while the wake was held at their house. Where was Eric? He was counseling a married couple having issues and helping a heap of other parishioners who were coming to him with problems during the day (all these people were attending the funeral/wake at the house).

2. Eric was seen going into a hotel with a married woman by Annie and the kids who were sitting in the car at a set of lights. We then see that he's checking this woman into the hotel because she's leaving her abusive husband and Eric is counseling her. I don't have a problem with this. My problem comes later in the show when one of the kids mentions what they saw (Annie didn't want to bring it up because she knows Eric has a lot of confidential counseling and she trusts him). He brushes it off and says that he can't talk about it because of confidentiality. As he's been to the hotel a number of times, the small town starts talking and gossip is ripe in the church and on the street. Annie starts to get wind of this and although she verbally supports her husband, you can see it's bothering her as she doesn't have a clue herself as to what's going on. Finally, by the end of the show, Eric tells her exactly the situation and she's there, supporting the abused wife as well. My thoughts? Why not explain from the beginning (when one of the kids first brought it up), the situation with the woman? He doesn't have to give names or full details, but at least give Annie something concrete to know, as opposed to hearing all the horrid rumors going around. It appeared to me that the absolutely confidentially of the situation was more important than his marriage and reassuring Annie that nothing was happening, instead of brushing it off as 'confidential'.*

I was going to write on a couple of other times, but I've already vented a little too much already, so I'll stop here! I'll close, letting you know that I still love the show and will continue to watch it, but just sometimes it really grinds my gears to see Eric prioritise his parishioners over his family, time and time again.

* I don't want to know what's going on with Vaughn's ministry and know details of counseling he's conducting with people when I really don't need to know (I'd rather not know!). However, I know that when a situation occurs where it's best I know something (rather than nothing), Vaughn will let me know enough to not worry. I spoke to him about the situation above and he completely disagreed with how Eric responded as well. Phew! It wasn't just me! Communication is the key. You don't have to break confidence to put someone's mind at ease and you'd think Eric would trust his wife enough to give her some basic information!

Forrest Gump Goes to Heaven

2011-04-14T13:00:00.003+09:30

I received this in an email and just thought I'd share it with you as well!

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.

He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, 'Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven.'

Forrest responds, 'It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was.'

St. Peter continued, 'Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First:
What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second:
How many seconds are there in a year?

Third:
What is God's first name?'

Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, 'Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers.'

Forrest replied, 'Well, the first one -- which two days in the week begins with the letter 'T'? Shucks, that one is easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow.'

The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, 'Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?' asked St. Peter.

'How many seconds in a year? Now that one is harder,' replied Forrest, 'but I thunk and thunk about that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.'

Astounded, St. Peter said, 'Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?'

Forrest replied, 'Shucks, there's got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd... '

'Hold it,' interrupts St. Peter. 'I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind....but I will have to give you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God's first name'?

'Sure,' Forrest replied, 'it's Andy.'

'Andy?' exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter.

'Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?'

'Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,' Forrest replied. 'I learnt it from the song,

Andy walks with me,
Andy talks with me,
Andy tells me I am his own.'

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: 'Run, Forrest, run.'

Washing Day

2011-04-11T13:11:00.003+09:30

Ironically, now that Autumn is here (and Winter on its way), I'm finally able to use the washing line out the back. Our first week here in Cairns, I put washing on the line because it was such a lovely day. Big mistake... this is Cairns and in Summer, it's the wet season. It's called the wet season for a reason... because it's wet! Funny about that! Suffice to say, the lovely day, although still lovely later on, became a lovely wet day, so my clothes didn't dry and got even wetter! From then on, I've just used the dryer. I couldn't bear to try using the line again, when I thought it would stay fine, only to discover that it rained.

So, I've risked it today - it's just gorgeous outside! And with the end of the wet season and the beginning of dry season just around the corner, it's a much better risk I'm willing to take! It's so nice to see the clothes outside getting air dried for a change! Obviously much better for the environment, for the clothes and for our bank balance!

Laugh for the Day...

2011-04-11T12:59:00.002+09:30

I just received the funniest email from my cousin. She recently ordered some panties online (I know in Australia that panties sounds dirty/not quite right, but that's what they call them in the States!) and when she got the email to say that they were on their way, she proceeded to tell her husband that "they shipped my panties."

He then did a double take...

He thought she had said "I sh*t my panties." Hmm. Awkward!

Even now I'm laughing! Okay, so maybe you didn't find that as funny as I did, because you don't know my cousin and can't picture what that would have looked like, but I really laughed out loud as I read it the first time!

30 Photos

2011-04-08T10:17:00.036+09:30

1. Someone you spend a lot of time with:

2. A picture of you:

3. A random picture of you and significant other:

4. An old picture of you:

5. A picture of something that makes you happy:
(baking... especially using my Grandma's recipe book (recently 'published' by me, typing up all her recipes from her recipe tin) and my Nana's mixing bowl...)

6. A picture of your siblings:

7. A picture of a person you miss:
(how am I suppose to pick just one, when there are so many people I miss?!)

8. A picture you've never posted on your blog before:
(my beautiful Grandma Ellie - Mum's mom (whose recipe tin I typed up)

9. A picture of who knew you then and know you now:
(I'm not sure what is meant by this, but this is a picture of people who have known me my whole life: my mum (left) and her sister, Aunty Ellen) NB: Amy's known me her whole life!!)

10. A picture of your favourite place:
(Again... how to pick just one! This is my cousin's house in the US - can you spot a pattern with where I'm getting many of these pictures?!)

11. A person you can tell anything to:

12. A picture of your everyday life:

13. A picture from a place you love:
(Mum's 60th, in Hamilton, where I grew up - see also #10!)

14. A picture that reminds you of good times:

15. A class photo:

Whew... half way through!

16. A picture of the best day of your life:
(see also #11)

17. A picture that always makes you laugh:

18. A picture of your spare time:

19. A photo from a great night:

20. A picture of people who are closest to you:
(see also all of the above pictures. Disclaimer: this picture only represents those closest and is not exhaustive! Even only choosing 2 pictures (not 1) was hard enough - too many special people in my life!)
21. A picture of someone you always have a good time with:
(someone please help me: how do I turn this around? I still haven't been able to work it out, after all these years on blogspot!)

22. A picture of your parents when they were around your age:

23. A picture from last summer:

24. A picture of your closest friend, of the opposite sex (not your significant other):
(sorry, Lauren, I copied you with a different picture!)

25. A picture of your favourite vacation:

Nearly there!

26. A picture of an accomplishment:

27. A picture of your closest friend:
(I don't like picking just one, but this beautiful woman and I have been through a lot together: having our daughters close together, supporting our husbands through Sem, waiting to find out where were were placed for 2011 and moving away from our family and friends (both placed in the QLD District - yay!)

28. A random photo from photobooth:
(don't know if it was meant to be photo taken from a webcam, but these are actually photos taken in a photo booth! If it was the former, see #2!)

29. A photo that makes you smile:
(it makes my heart melt, too!)

30. A picture of someone you'll never let go of:
(come on! These are way too hard to choose just one! This is our godson, his parents and sponsors)

If I Wasn't Already In Love With My Daughter...

2011-03-20T00:18:00.004+10:30

Then this would just make me fall in love with her. I just LOVE this video of her falling asleep after eating her lunch today. I can't help watching it over and over again! What can I say? She's my gorgeous, sweet daughter!

And she's learning some new phone habits! If you listen carefully, I'm sure she says "bye" at the end of her 'call', before hanging up the phone!

Amy's Shoe Fetish!

2011-03-12T21:36:00.002+10:30

And so it begins... without any encouragement from me, Amy has discovered Mummy's shoes! I heard a "clop, clop, clop" in the other room and couldn't work out what mischief Amy might be up to, so I went to investigate and discovered her being quite innocent and very adorable!

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-12T21:31:00.004+10:30

Vaughn celebrated his birthday today. Unfortunately he had to attend Safe Place Ministry training, so not exactly the birthday he's always dreamed of. But while he was out of the house, I was able to make him a special birthday cake, NFL style! It didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped, but it was still fun making it!

Happy birthday, my wonderful, sweet, hard-working husband!

Independence

2011-03-03T02:32:00.002+10:30

So that Amy was able to have a splash around by herself and not rely on Vaughn or me to hold her in the pool, we set up her wading pool that we'd bought for her in Adelaide during her first summer. She loves it!

Amy's Room

2011-03-03T02:23:00.003+10:30

Ever since Amy was born, I was looking forward to using the bedspread, light shade and curtains that I'd had as a little girl in Amy's room. The extra bed does make her room smaller, but she loves playing on it and there is another room in the house with all her toys, so it's not so bad! It's nice that she has a pretty girls room, instead of a nursery now!

Vaughn's Day Off

2011-03-03T02:11:00.003+10:30

Tuesdays are Vaughn's day off. Each week we are trying to do something new. It's a great way to spend the day together and to get out and see Cairns and the surrounding areas.

Week 1: Lunch in Port Douglas
Week 2: Barron Falls

Barron Falls

Week 3: Lunch on the Esplanade

Lunch on the Esplanade

Week 4: We'd planned to drive to Josephine Falls but unfortunately the weather kept us home and inside for most of the day, but we enjoyed the quiet day together all the same.

I've started a "Bucket List" for things I'd like to do on Vaughn's day off, so hopefully we get to do most of them!

Rainbow Reminders

2011-03-03T02:02:00.004+10:30

The benefit of all the rain Cairns receives, is the beautiful rainbows that follow. I've captured a rainbow outside our front window before, but I couldn't believe when we got another one a week or so later, even more striking than the last:

Thank you, God, for your reminders.

I Know I'm a Local Because...

2011-02-20T17:20:00.004+10:30

6. We've experienced our first cyclone.

5. When I sweat, it doesn't bother me half as much as it used to.

4. I can drive to quite a few places now without needing the GPS.

3. I walk around the house barefoot most of the time.

2. I don't think I've worn closed toe shoes since we arrived!

and the number 1 reason why I know I'm a local?

1. A luke warm shower is too hot in the mornings, so a nice cool one is refreshing and comfortable!

Cairns Lutheran Parish Install a New Pastor!

2011-02-09T19:55:00.003+10:30

This past Sunday, it was wonderful to see Vaughn installed as pastor to Cairns Lutheran Parish. It felt like the final step in Vaughn's journey to ministry. Of course, this is only the beginning, but in regards to anticipation, this was the last big thing in our very eventful past 2 months or so.

Vaughn then commenced work, officially, on Monday. After finishing work today, he now has 1) his first sermon for the parish to write; 2) his first funeral for next week and; 3) his first wedding... date yet to be set. A busy week to begin!

Vaughn's Installation - Cairns

Life After Cyclone Yasi

2011-02-09T19:41:00.002+10:30

What an introduction and welcome to Cairns - watching in anticipation as Cyclone Yasi became a CAT 5 and seeing whether it would hit Cairns or not. Thankfully it didn't hit us with the full force, so we escaped unscathed. There was no damage done anywhere - vegetation was the only casualty and we woke up to debris in the street and yard; an easy clean up job. During the night, while Yasi hit the coastline, we had many people praying for us so it was a lovely feeling to help get us through the night.

The next day, we experienced our first real downpour since arriving in Cairns, which turned our street into a river. It was actually really lovely and it's rained almost every day since (our first week in Cairns was uncommonly dry with very little rain, which was quite unexpected).

A few days after the cyclone, both Vaughn's and my parents arrived for a visit and to see Vaughn's installation. Thankfully the night before their arrival, our power (which had been lost in the early hours of the morning, after Yasi had passed) was reconnected.

My parents left today and Vaughn's parents are still here for another week.

Life in Cairns

Moving In

2011-02-09T19:23:00.002+10:30

After what seemed like a very long count down, the big day arrived when we flew to Cairns! We stayed the night in a hotel and the next morning, the removalists arrived to deliver our furniture etc. I'm sure you can imagine how excited we were! It was so nice to finally move into our 'own' place and make it home.

We've now been here for over 2 weeks and we feel very settled... that time has really flown! We love the house and the area we live in is beautiful. Our neighbours are lovely and it's a very friendly street.

Both churches (Cairns & Atherton) are lovely (Atherton is a lot older, but it has it's own charm!) and the people that I've met so far have been very welcoming, which is certainly a big help when moving to a place where you don't know anyone!

I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and start looking for activities for Amy and me to do, similar to when we were in Adelaide (library activities, swimming lessons, market shopping etc).

Cairns - Moving In

Precious Time in the USA

2011-02-09T17:56:00.003+10:30

Our large group (Vaughn, me & Amy; Mum & Dad; Phil & Ben; Ben's girlfriend) all flew to the States for a lovely family reunion with my aunty and her kids. We had such a wonderful time and Amy loved meeting her American family. On the way over, she slept for about 5 hours total, which we thought was pretty good... until she slept for 10.5 hours on the way back! So, conclusion: Amy loves flying!

So, the main highlights of our trip over there (apart from the obvious of spending time with my family!) were:

- the lovely tea house we stayed in, in Brazeau (a very small, very old town about 1 hour 40 minutes south of St Louis).
- Deep fried turkey for Christmas day lunch - yum! (And contrary to what you may think, it actually is healthy!)
- Going to my first NFL game - I fell in love... it was a fantastic match and I enjoyed watching it very much!
- Visiting Concordia Publishing House (Vaughn was like a kid in a candy shop!)
- Staying in a beautiful Bed & Breakfast in Denver (Manitou Springs)
- Seeing a van with "Mr Rooter Plumbing" advertised on it... with a huge cartoon face with a wink on it. Hmm... In Australia, that has such a different meaning altogether! (see photo in album).

It was very hard to say goodbye to family, but Vaughn and I were also very keen to get back to Australia, to complete our count down to moving to Cairns, so quite bitter sweet.

US Trip 2010-2011

Homeless in Melbourne

2011-02-09T17:37:00.002+10:30

After moving out of Archer Street, we temporarily moved in with Vaughn's parents and caught up with family and friends. A couple highlights were:

Celebrating our niece's birthday... a rare treat when we live interstate:

Annika's B'day 2010

Having a Spring Christmas with Vaughn's extended family as we wouldn't be around to celebrate on the actual day:

Spring Pre-Christmas 2010

Moving Out

2011-02-09T17:21:00.002+10:30

The week we moved out of the Sem was a very surreal feeling week. Watching our house get packed up by the movers was a great feeling in that I didn't have to do it, but at the same time, because I hadn't just spent the last couple months packing myself, I didn't have that time for reality to sink in, so it was sinking in fast the week of 6th December...

It was nice experiencing the 'moving out' with other friends in the same situation as us, but it was sad when we had to say our final goodbyes. After 4 years of having these people in our lives, you can't help but grow attached to them!

One of the most saddest things for me about the actual moving out of our house was having to pull down the stickers on Amy's bedroom walls. I remember so clearly putting them up, eagerly awaiting her arrival. Although we'd only been living in #219 for 2 years, one of the biggest events of our lives happened there - we brought Amy home from the hospital into that house and became a family... but we had such an amazing journey ahead of us, so I couldn't be sad for long!

Moving Out

Playing Catch Up... Again!

2011-02-09T17:05:00.002+10:30

Wow! So much has happened in the last 2 or so months. The last post I attempted to do wasn't able to be complete as our internet went down after a thunderstorm and it was the week we were moving out... and it was all go, go, go from then on and all without my computer and picasa! I've only just survived! So to recap:

1. Vaughn was ordained
2. We moved out
3. We bunked with Vaughn's parents in Melbourne
4. We travelled to the States for 2 weeks
5. We spent some more time in Melbourne
6. We moved to Cairns
7. We became 'locals' after experiencing our first cyclone
8. Vaughn was installed as pastor of Cairns Lutheran Parish

Whew! And that was all just within 2 months! I'll do some further posts with more details on each adventure!

One Journey Ends

2010-12-07T09:55:00.002+10:30

On 5th December, Vaughn finally became a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia. It's hard to believe that we finally made it! When we arrived in Adelaide, it seemed like forever until Vaughn would finish his studies and become ordained... but now that time has come, it almost seems like yesterday when we arrived!

We had a wonderful celebration afterwards and it started to sink in that many of the people who had joined us to celebrate, we wouldn't be seeing again for quite awhile. What a journey for us!

Vaughn's Ordination