Sunday, December 31, 2006

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie + NYE

so i haven't blogged since i got home 3 days ago. i have been a busy busy girl. i got my car back, my old housemates back, though still have a bit of work to go to get the skin colour back from the pasty white that has become the norm for me.
i just realised that i didn't even blog about christmas. it was great. very quiet, i didn't realise but it was the first time in 5 years that my family had been together. so that was great.
here in aus, things are good. some things stay the same, some things have changed. there have been laughs and tears already (so ok, the only tears that i have cried since i have been home was when i arrived at melbourne airport and annie was there waiting for me and i was so excited to be home i did actually cry...but don't tell anyone). the weather has been warm.
i've been to see lots of people, fallen in love with jude law after seeing 'the holiday', loving driving my car, sleeping in MY bed and sharing it too, so far, twice with annie and once with beth (it's a queen size and we are all small so there's plenty of room) and even made it to knox and forest hill, celebrated beth's hens night by going to a pole dancing class and had lunch with beth, matt, annie, aaron and BRAD for his birthday (happy birthday brad) , went to church this morning and also got myself an australian boyfriend (don't worry matt, noah is 4, i don't think it's going to last...). i've been busy the last 3 days.
tonight for new years, we are heading over to brent and zena's first, then maybe on to the city to see the fireworks, but the second half of the night is still not quite planned, we'll just go with the flow i think.
this last year has held a lot of new things for me and i've learnt a lot of great lessons. it's been a great year, though has definitely had it's highs and lows. one of the high's - going on a big adventure to canada which turned out to hold a lot more than i could have imagined and probably the lowest, losing nana, though this was kind of a blessing in itself, it doesn't make it any less sad when i think about her not being around.
anyway, 2006 was an adventure for me and i guess if i want to live an extraordinary life, 2007 will have to be the same. but that's exciting, so that's ok.
i pray that you will all have great new years celebrations and a wonderful 2007. remember to live life well and know why you are living it.
love Fee

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Christmas Eve Eve

Usually on Christmas Eve's Eve, I would be heading off to the Music Bowl to see the rehearsal of The Carols. Now, I in particular loved this, as i could watch what i felt like and at the same time, socialise with all my friends who were there. Today i am missing that i am not heading there tonight.
Instead, today i headed to the mall with mum, and for doing so, were told we were taking part in crass materialism by my father and called sinners by my boyfriend. whatever. mum and i went and we were excited. we got some good bargains.
now we are at kezza's and while little daniel boy is sleeping, kez needs to go to the shops so i will go with her.
anyway, enjoy christmas eve's eve and if you are lucky enough to go to the music bowl, sing some carols and do some socialising for me (though i think i saw that rain was forecast - despite it being disappointing for the carols, it's a blessing i guess for the drought).

Thursday, December 21, 2006

rainy seattle

first of all, thanks to colin (and kirk) who drove me out to the airport, with matt of course. they dropped me at the kerb and matt was concerned about me with all my luggage (how nice), then i said goodbye to them. i was ok. but a little sad. when i got inside and joined the check-in queue, i must say i was teary. a month is a long time to go without seeing the one you love everyday as you usually would.

anyway, there was a nice surrpise awaiting me on the air canada plane - they have finally caught up with the rest of the big international airlines and got inidividual tv's for every seat. yay. so i chose to watch little miss sunshine, and then house, frasier and everybody loves raymond. nice. mum, dad and kez picked me up from the airport on tuesday night.

yesterday i was down at seattle temple handing out toys and food certificiates all day. then hil and i went to pick up daniel from daycare, then kez and i went shopping. YAY.

this morning i am having a lazy day before heading out later with kez.

anyway, i better go and have a shower.

here's a photo of matt and I with erin and curtis at their wedding last saturday (if you are an aussie going to matt and beth's wedding don't look at my dress, as it will be the same one!).

Monday, December 18, 2006

last day in TO

so today was my last full day in toronto. i leave tomorrow. mixed feelings of course. very excited about seeing the family, and about going home, but a little sad to leave matt. also sad that i am sure time will fly so fast and i'll be back here in the cold in no time.
congrats to my sis, bro and adopted bro, who are currently leading the scoreboard on my quiz. also loz who though i haven't seen her in a long time, still knows (or has great guessing skills) about me!!!
today i did some work, then got to hang out with Maeva (an igniter from last year, who has come back from her homeland of france to visit). then tonight matt and i went with colin and kirk to see borat.
i also squeezed in some packing. though of course it's not finished...
anyway, nothing else to report today.
yesterday we had the kids christmas pagent at church. it was pretty good. saturday was erin and curtis' wedding, which was lovely. a beautiful ceremony and lovely reception. they ar enow in new york. nice.
ok, so i am going now. i am tired and still have quite a bit to do today!!!

Friday, December 15, 2006

FRIDAY + TEST

today is friday. in my office i am boiling. i am sitting here in a tank top. i don't know why the heat is turned up so high today. but the sun is shining and i am continually reminding myself that i can't walk outside dressed like this no matter how much i'd like to.
tonight we are having a special house bonding session. we are going to go out somewhere. i can't tell you where, as it's a secret and imagine one of the igniters logged on to my blog today found out before they were supposed to. it'd be ruined.
anyway, i am excited.
tomorrow is erin and curtis' wedding. i am doing erin's hair and make up, so that will be fun. i'll definitely be posting pictures of all that.
tuesday i head out to seattle for christmas. then in two weeks time, well, just less than that acutally i'll be home!!!! YAY. it's getting so close now.
i got my Christmas present from matt already, it's a bathrobe. i think it's a bethrobe christmas as i have heard of at least 2 other people who are getting the same. it white and is the softest bathrobe i have ever touched. and it's got a hood. sweet.

anyway, enough of my rambling. check out my new test on the left. go on. try it.

have a good friday. (or sat or whatever day you are reading this)

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Happy Birthday Mish

Michelle Louise Godfrey, whoops, i mean Wheeler, is one of my oldest friends (as in long time). We first met in Yr 11 at high school. I was 15. That's 12 years. We've been through a lot together and also travelled a lot together as well. She's a classic chick and a great mate. Anyway, it's her birthday today and I just want to wish her the greatest day! Happy birthday mish.


Speaking of getting older, i saw this picture of the wiggles the other day and i thought man, they are starting to look old (especially murray). i wonder how long they will be around for...?


Tuesday, December 12, 2006

jealousy and hardened hearts

see if you can follow my thoughts...i am typing them exactly as they are floating around in my head, so apologies if the train of thought is hard to follow, but this is how my mind works...

so this morning in the igniters bible study, my mind started to go on a bit of a tangent. i got to thinking about hardened hearts. now, my initial idea was that any type of hard heart, i mean this to be a heart that doesn't love as it should, is really bad. easy. straightforward. i have seen and do see how people who don't love as they should are stunted. not so they may be completely out of it, but not being as effective as they should or could be. this does make me sad. i was talking with some friends last night about how you can help someone with a hard heart, there was no easy answer.

then my mind went on a further tangent. what about jealousy. i thought someone with a soft heart is likely to be able to get jealous. do that make sense? because they are loving, etc, that would seem to make them more likely to get hurt? is that what it means. then what about being jealous. as a Christian i am not supposed to be jealous. but is it only by having some sort of a hard heart that means i can shut out the feelings of jealousy because i wouldn't care?

has anyone got any thoughts about this?

Monday, December 11, 2006

From Dazza....it could only happen to him...

we're always amazed at how these things happen to my little brother...here's another one...
dazza blogged:


What the puck?


A few weeks ago the LORD promised me that there is MORE to experience during my stay in Canada.

I think I experienced that in its fullness tonight...I was working with headquarters to secure some collecting spots at the Vancouver Giants (ice) hockey game. Unfortunately, no DHQ staff could make it so I got the call up for some formalities...At the start of some games there is a cermonial puck drop (akin to the coin toss in Australia).

Tonight the Giants put their usual spin on that for us- the ceremonial 'first donation'. The Giants captain skates up to the kettle (and I!) at centre ice and slots in the first toonie of the campaign! I smiled (very wide no doubt), and wished him a merry Christmas. And then got to do the ceremonial puck drop!

They made a little speach and welcomed me by name (I think I heard a little whoop at the mention of my name)/No one actually asked for the puck back, either...Picture proof tomorrow...Darren

yep, that's daz at the centre of the rink...


and that would be him dropping the puck...

Friday, December 08, 2006

i love it

ahh...this is so perfect and true!!!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

FREEZING

i can't not blog about the weather today. it says it's -6, though with the wind chill, it feels like -15. YUK.

i had to go and do kettles this morning. no one was around to drop me off or pick me up and so i walked for half and hour in the FREEZING, then stood in the FREEZING doorway for 2 hours, then walked back half an hour, FREEZING, to the office. all in all, this morning sucked. though i did alright on the kettles. actually, better than yesterday when i went with greg and we sang...???!!!
anyway...at least the sun is shining. and i guess it kind of has been fun to see some snow fall, though according to the torontonians, it hasn't really snowed yet.

i bought a dress on tuesday that i can wear to beth and erin's weddings (that's two weddings). i am excited. i like it.

time is going really fast and before i know it, i'll be in seattle for Christmas and then i'll be home in the WARM sunshine. i am really excited.

Monday, December 04, 2006

shane and a sunburnt country

it's time for me to go and visit shane again. i know i have blogged about him before. i went last wednesday and my abs were still sore on saturday. what am i doing to myself...oh yes, in 3 weeks and 3 sleeps, i will be home and maybe getting into a bikini on the beach...now i remember...

anyway, as the snow is falling outside my office window, i recalled the words of a great book which i started reading the other day 'in a sunburned country' by bill bryson. i had started reading this before, at mum and dad's once, but left it there when i left their place. a copy has fallen into my hot, or maybe that should be cold, little hands and i love it. i recommend it to all, aussie or not. the following is an exert from this book...

'You take my point, of course. This is a country that loses a prime minister and that is so vast and empty that a band of amateur enthusiasts could conceivably set off the world's first nongovernmental atomic bomb on its mainland and almost four years would pass before anyone noticed.* Clearly this is a place worth getting to know.

And so, because we know so little about it, perhaps a few facts would be in order:

Australia is the world's sixth largest country and its largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is also a country. It was the first continent conquered from the sea, and the last. It is the only nation that began as a prison.

It is the home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the largest monolith, Ayers Rock (or Uluru to use its now-official, more respectful Aboriginal name). It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures—the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish—are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. Pick up an innocuous cone shell from a Queensland beach, as innocent tourists are all too wont to do, and you will discover that the little fellow inside is not just astoundingly swift and testy but exceedingly venomous. If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It's a tough place.'

Australia...you've got to love that place.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

snowy santa shuffle

this morning, amoungst the snow, i did the salvation army santa shuffle (photos to come). it was the first time that we really had some snow. while the torontonians were skeptical and said it wasn't really snowing, the 3 aussies and 1 jamaican amoungst the group were sure it was. we had a good time. though rob couldn't catch vito and sasha left geoff behind, but apart from that, we were all good. i think i ran about 25mins, so that's ok. it's the coldest temp that i have ever run in. but i would have liked to run faster, guess my slack runs that i have been going on recently are going to have to be upped. pace that is. i could have run for a lot longer. so that's a good thing.
well, it's time for somali tutor group now, so i best be off.
then after that tonight i am heading out to a salvation army christmas concert. hopefully it will be good.
only 2 weeks, 3 sleeps till i leave for seattle. only 3 weeks, 5 sleeps till i arrive home. the countdown is on.

Friday, December 01, 2006

willie booth and ed

today all i am going to give you is two quotes. both quite relevant in my life. maybe in yours, maybe not.

this first one is from william booth (co-founder of my beloved salvation army):



“In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

my other quote is from ed. ed is part of my church. he's great. i walked into the office yesterday and it was raining and cold. he said 'morning sis' (he's a newfie) i said 'hey ed', then here it is, he said 'nice day if you're a duck' and i said 'ed, you are exactly right, it'd be a great day if you are a duck!'

other people perspectives on life should always be thought about.

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