Happy Anniversary Baby

Yesterday we celebrated twelve months since Bubba stepped off the plane in the this wonderful Country. He caught the train and arrived to Quirindi, NSW in a mix of heat, nerves, anxiety, frustration, wonder, bewilderment and excitement. Bubba blogged about his arrival here all those long twelve months ago here

So much we had planned and thought would happen has changed or fallen over but at the same time things we never dreamed of, or ever saw possible for our family, have become a reality. There have been lots of doors closed that we didn't see needed to be, and others that we knew needed to be weren't sure how to do it. There have been doors opened that we have been trying to open for years but couldn't quite reach and other doors that have only been able to open once others were finally nailed shut.

It has been a long road but we are thankful for EVERY minute of it, for EVERY person who has made it possible, for EVERY bit of help we have received NO matter how big or small it was it ALL helped. We are thankful for ALL the PRAYERS and THOUGHTS that everyone has given us over the last twelve months. For every new ADVENTURE and STRUGGLE we have been through.

What a twelve months it has been and here's just a few memories....

So here is a toast from Bubba's Facebook last night:

'Well i have survived 12 months in aussie today. Its been an awesome time one of the best jobs i've done seen my kids grow alot whilst here and of course my rock of a wife who has been so strong and has held this family up. Love to you Jess. And cant forget all the great friends we have met. Roll on another 12 months.'

When I asked for the champers I was told I hadn't been here twelve months yet and I had to wait my turn. Men. Huh! 

I'm coming home NZ!

This time next week we will be on a plane on our way back to New Zealand. I have mixed feeling about this and it is hard to put into words. I have come to love our little rural New South Wales town as home and have really found a natural groove over here.
But... it's not where my heart is and as the saying goes 'home is where the heart is'.

We have made some amazing friends and met fabulous people here in Australia but nothing equals the tidal pull of your family. With some big family events and hard times also on the horizon the need to be near family strengthens more.

Talking with friends the other day about how they have decided to make the move back {after five year in this land of the lucky} makes you realise that even time doesn't numb the need for home.
We have had a reasonably hard year with my health and having no family or close family friends has been incredibly difficult. There have been plenty of days where I wished I could have had someone take the kids for a weekend, or cook us a meal, or come and do the housework.

There are so many things happening in New Zealand that we have missed. There are upcoming weddings, babies, graduations, Grandparents getting older, and the likes yet to come. Some days I wonder what we were thinking moving over here to do it all ourselves start a better life.
I have coped by being an emotional bottler. I don't let myself get worked up or lost in the emotion of loss and missing people. I don't write letters, emails, texts or make phone calls. I'm sure I come across cold and heartless but its a coping mechanism to keep myself from feeling the pain of reality.

I am looking forward to next Saturday, walking off that plane and seeing the people who I sometimes try to forget. I can feel the pain of having missed them in the comfort of their presence. I am looking forward to catching up on everything I have missed and slipping back in to the spot that I know they can't fill without me.

Look out New Zealand these five crazy ditch hoppers have had some sense knocked into them and are coming home!

Goody, Goody, Gumdrops icecream

Tip top ice creams

Toffeepops

Eskimo Lollies

Krispie Biscuits (plain and choc coated)

ETA chips

Krispa Chicken Corn Chips

Reduced Cream Onion Dip

Mallowpuffs

Cameo cremes (mint)

Griffins biscuits in general

Export Gold

Tui

And so much more...

{Hmmmm Round 4 12WBT is going to need to kick my bum! I do not need this food, I do not need this food!)

BUT Sydney we will see you again........

A week later!

The Great Scone Bake Off

Today at the kids had a mini fete at school and there was a scone bake off competition. So the kids had to help Mum , or Dad, bake some scones and send them to school. I must say I'm not a fan of scones because they are usually dry and chewy. So my mission was to find a recipe, or actually two, of good tasting non-chewy scone variety.

Quack chose sundried tomato and feta scones with herb and garlic butter

These were super tasty and super easy. I can't wait to have an excuse to make these again. I found the recipe here and they are worth the visit. If you are looking for something extra special and different too this is the answer. They rose nicely and have a wonderful soft texture and subtle flavour.

Jaybug chose the traditional jam and cream scone

For these scones I used a never fail recipe from my stash of women's weekly books. Again they were simple, moist, tasty and everything you could wish a good scone to be. They reminded me of a scone loaf which a friend had brought around for lunch one day. I couldn't believe I had managed to recreate that taste in my kitchen! Dangerous.... 

So here's the recipe (from memory which is always a sure sign they are a winner) so I know everyone can enjoy simple and tasty scones this weekend.

BUTTERMILK SCONES (worth the trip for buttermilk)

375g self raising flour

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

60g butter

300ml buttermilk

Preheat oven to 220oC and line a tray with baking paper.

Sift flour and sugar together.

Rub in butter.

Add butter milk and cut in with a knife.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Roll dough out to 2cm thick and cut out rounds with a cookie cutter (use whatever shape you have or cut squares)

Re-rolling scraps to use all the dough.

Place scones on the tray just touching and bake for 15 minutes until golden

Serve with cream and jam

We also added fresh strawberries and sandwiched them with a sprinkle of icing sugar on top!

NB - we didn't win the bake off but we definitely have some winning recipes by my standards and I have no idea what was wrong with the judges!

Today

Today I struggle with the never ending cycle of MCS {Multiple Chemical Sensitivity}.

Today I feel like an unadequate mother, unable to drag myself from the couch.

Today I wonder what a life without MCS would feel like.

Today my head thumps like a constant drum.

Today my brain refuses to function to its normal capacity.

Today I feel like I am wrapped in a fog.

Today I wonder whether a normal life is possible again.

Today I think of all that has changed lately.

Today I don't know who this person inside my shell is.

Today I am grumpy and on edge.

Today I am so tired it is an effort to breathe.

Today I know I am someone different to twelve months ago.

Today I wonder if I will push anyone else away.

Today I wish I had the words to explain.

Today I know there will be a tomorrow,

And there is hope tomorrow is better than today.

I know MCS had changed who I am, how I think, speak, act and react, and operate.

There are things I have done and said that are a complete breakdown of brain function at times.

I am grateful for friends and family who have seen the effects of this and have stuck by with understanding and compassion.

The way I would graphically try to explain MCS

Project Life - the arrival

As I posted about here on Sunday, I have been drawn like a moth to a flame. 2013 is going to be the year I capture and remember every piece of. The more I look for ideas and inspiration the more I can't believe I haven't done this before. I am very excited to say my kit has arrived {jumping up and down screaming like a teenage girl at a one direction concert kind of excited!}

Luckily the amazing team over at Crafthouse heard the prayers of Emily for hers to arrive on the same day as mine, even though they were ordered two days apart. This meant a playdate, even on a school night!

It was like Christmas without all the food!

So what have I ordered for 2013? {my links are for Australian customers but there is also the option for New Zealand customers too, other countries need to look here}

• 2x 60 page protectors - Style A
• 12x12 Binder - Clemintine
• Core kit - Cobalt
• Designer 12x12 Paper - Cobalt Collection
• Monthly dividers - Cobalt Edition

There is also an easy way to order and that is to order a starter kit in a chosen collection, which includes:

• 60 pack of A page protectors
• 12x12 Binder
• Core kit

From here you can add extra's from the accessories tab. It was personal preference for me not to do this as I didn't like the Cobalt Edition binder so instead I ordered the Clemintine binder and everything else is Cobalt.

This years range is pretty impressive with the addition of the Baby kits in His, Hers and neutral. There is also two new releases, Olive and Seafoam, which look gorgeous. My personal L.O.V.E is Olive but I wondered about how it would work with 3 males in our house and also its still on pre-order, due in December, and I'm too impatient to have to wait. Maybe next time?

Here is a few photo's of bits and pieces in my kit - Cobalt Edition

I am so looking forward to sitting down and doing my set up and blogging along with it so that I can hopefully inspire so others to join in this great Project Life Adventure for 2013.

Project Life 2013

I have finally been convinced, arm twisted, and fallen in love with a style enough, to Project Life 2013. deep breath, long sentence...

Thanks to Emily. {you need to give me your blog address}

Emily has recently moved from Queensland to our little country life here. We met through the facebook page for our 12WBT here in NSW and have been training together when we can. Emily and I have hit it off like oxygen and fire. We have so many similar interests its a little scary. I find Emily to be an amazing inspiration and support in both her 12wbt transformation but also in her outlook in life. I have really fallen in love with her style of Project Life and we have sat and played and tried ideas for how it will work for me. So our 2013 kits are currently making their way from Crafthouse and I am eagerly waiting for it to arrive so we can start setting up and planning.

Emily is a true planner after my own heart. I know this is where I have been a little worried about getting into Project life in the past. I like to be organised, make lists, have a plan and have worked out every possible fall down before I commit. The way I have watched it fall over and fail for others has not given me the faith to jump in and make the purchase.
I know this coming year will be my year to Project Life - with lots of things planned to happen for 2013 - and with Emily's help, and willingness to sit and listen to my crazy ideas, I know we will both find a way to work together on our individual styles for Project Life.

With a couple of months out to January 1st 2013 maybe someone else wants to join our crazy planning group?? Whose arm might I twist I wonder? I look forward to following you if you decide to PL-2013 along and will be madly using my pintrest for ideas.

What is Project Life? Its a brainchild of Becky Higgins in an attempt to get people back into simple scrapbooking.

 You can find out more info here
Ordering for Australia and New Zealand is available here

I don't mind if you get a little green eyed

So it's been awhile and lots has happened. We have had parents times two visit, school holidays, my cousin from Perth, and weeks of continuing to follow the 12wbt plan. Lately I've had a few run-ins with my good friend MCS and have suffered migraines, tiredness, new medications, and mood swings, thanks MCS for being so darn awesome...

But there have also been a few BIG milestones in the last week.

Bubba and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary last Sunday. A few years ago the diamond fell out of my engagement ring and we have always talked about replacing it but haven't gotten around to it. But recently I had an epiphany that engagement rings don't have to equally diamonds. I have a few friends with some pretty awesome engagement rings with out being the perceived regular diamond ring.
So I told Bubba of this revelation and the way I felt emeralds caught my personality a little more than the diamond I had tried to fit. And tada what would appear but this

As I started to blog a few weeks ago I have been following the Michelle Bridges 12WBT and although I have had a crazy few week, hmmm like 6 weeks to be exact, I have contined to follow the program. It's been a slower path than I expected in the start but I now see the reality is hard work and slow progress for sustainability. But I can proud say I've lost just over 5kg since I started! I'm warning you to look away now if your not game to see underwear shots but this is the reality of my journey. Nine weeks of working my butt off has not made me look like a supermodel and I doubt that another nine years would!

Even more exciting is finally fitting this dress that I was given. It was inches too small in the waist area and far beyond doing up when I was given it in July this year. But this morning it is zipped! 

I would still get some breathing comfort from another few inches so this is my next goal...

 

I have also found the inspiration to finally get my craft makings out to the world. I have finally found a name and I am working on a design at the moment. So watch this space for the launch of my online selling presence!