Progress

Wow, wish we came to Sydney in the first place!  This is such an awesome place and I'm seriously in love.  We keep finding new and cool areas and there is still so much more to see and do.

I had my first interview today.  It was at an upmarket salon in the CBD and they are offering amazing pay, education, and benefits- rare in the hairstyling industry.  The salon primarily caters to men, but does offer services to women too.  The owner was super impressed with me and my experience and I'm going in on Monday for a trial.  That being said, I need to find two male models ASAP, so if anyone knows guys in the Sydney area hook me up!  I've got another interview tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday evening.  Feels so good to be getting so many replies to my applications after the Gold Coast!

We also found a place to live!  It's an airbnb place, which is nice because we won't be locked into a lease and can be a bit freer on how long to stay.  We also won't have to worry about paying utilities.  It's in a good area close to CBD and Audi and on good transit routes.  Can't wait to move here.  I feel so unsettled right now.

Also a big congrats to my sister in law- she and her boyfriend got engaged the other day!

Figuring Out Sydney

 This morning Joel had an interview at Audi Lighthouse, the biggest Audi shop in the southern hemisphere.  They offered him a job and he took it right away.  This dealership is pretty balla.  It's seven stories high.  The workshop is on floor five and there are thirty something car bays.  Pretty impressive.  It's located south of the CBD, so pretty central, and Joel starts on Monday.  Good, because are funds are depleting fast!

After the interview we went for a drive to get to know the city better.  We drove to the northern suburbs, which are the ritzier neighborhoods of Sydney.  Nice homes out here.  We went to Manly Beach and it's pretty nice.  I'd love to live here but it is way out of our price range!

From here we headed back to the city and checked out the Sydney Observatory.  It's up on a hill just south of the Harbour Bridge and has a pretty good view point.  We didn't explore as much as I'd like, as parking is at a premium (as is all of Sydney).  At night you can come here to scope the stars, so I'm hoping we can come back.

The place we are staying at is really grossing me out.  The people are nice enough, but they just don't take care of the house.  Also there is no soap or hand towels in the bathroom.  That is f-ing disgusting!  Who does that?  I can't wait till we get out of here.  We found a potential place that is close to Audi, so hopefully it works out.  If we ever get our bond back from the Marrakesh to pay for it that is.  (This was a big hassle today, as is everything in Aussie-land.)

Tonight we went to one of Sydney's best Italian restaurants for dinner, and it did not fail to impress.  We took a cruise out to the notorious Kings Cross after.  (Shady hood lined with strip clubs and druggies).  It used to be a desirable neighborhood until 1930, when it went downhill thanks to an abundance of booze lovers in the hood. There are a few buildings that are neat looking, but most of the area is pretty sketch.  It was my turn to drive tonight (Joel is "easing into" me driving) and I used the horn more in ten minutes then I did all of last years.  Sydney drivers are crazy! 

 Not sure what the plans are for tomorrow yet.  I applied at a bunch of salons online via seek, so am hoping for some callbacks.

Coff's Harbour to Sydney

Instead of a second round of golf, Joel decided to skip out and start the drive to Sydney sooner.  We were packed up and on our way just after ten.  Good thing, because that road takes longer then you'd think!  It's all single lane, more construction, and more variable speed.  It's really a boring drive and there is not much to see.  I suggest not making it and fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast or Brisbane, or vice versa, if you come here.

It was an entertaining drive full of as many potty mouth words from Joel as you could imagine.  Again, we had to stop at every gas station to top up Brustis' fluids.  One you get closer to Sydney the highway turns into dual lane, then at one point there is THREE LANES!!! Wow, big news.

When we finally got into Sydney, Melba mislead us for awhile.  At this point we really want to run her over.  She tells us to turn in 50 m when we are already 50 m past!  Even with the new chip from Dad's GPS, she is just as useless.

We got to the place we'll be staying in for the next two weeks and were unpleasantly surprised.  It is basically a sharehouse.  There are EIGHT guys staying here, plus another couple.  I have never had to share a bathroom with anyone other Dewey and Joel and the thought of sharing with this many messy guys does not appeal to me.  However we have a large room to fit all our stuff and parking (a rarity in Sydney).  Everyone seems friendly at least.  We also got rid of Alistair, and Brutis is happier.  So is Joel- it's not easy backing up with a trailer behind!

This morning we got up earlyish to get going on things.  We checked out a few Audi dealerships and Joel got three interviews set up, one for today, two for tomorrow.   We drove south to the Sutherland Shire (this is home to Australia's answer to the Jersey Shore) for today's interview.  He got offered the job.  He wants to check out the other two tomorrow before deciding which to take.

Our first day was pretty bad.  Figuring out driving in Sydney, getting mislead by Melba, and an encounter with an angry Aussie driver when we changed lanes without signalling.  Maybe their not as nice here as we thought?  We drove up and down through the city and just got frustrated because Melba is stupid.

This evening went better.  We had dinner at Nando's (chicken place), then drove down to Bondi Beach.  It looks pretty cool lit up at night.  I can't wait to check it out during the day.  Nice area, but pricey rents, so we won't be living here.  From there we just got lost and ended up on huge hill overlooking the city views.  Pretty fancy houses up here too.

Once Joel has a job things will fall into place a bit easier.  Then we'll know what area to look for an apartment in and I can find a job close by.  There are lots of jobs posted online, so there's hope! 

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana? Coff's Harbour

Woke up to a beautiful morning in Coff's.   Joel got up early for a round of golf.  Coff's is apparently renowned for it's course.  I slept in and then treated myself to a decadent breakfast at a local cafe, then to the beach to relax.  I quite enjoyed the beach here.  Our hostel had it's own private entrance and I had the beach all to myself.  Although it doesn't look great, the sand was so soft and felt amazing.

 

Once golf was over, we went to Coff's biggest attraction- the Big Banana!  Coff's is home to a large banana plantation, so the Big Banana was built as a roadside advertisement.  It was the first "large thing" to be built in Australia.  I was disappointed in it.  The plantation was pretty cool to see and they've made it into a theme park, with waterslides, ice skating (random) and "toboggans".

 We decided to be American's for the day, for a laugh, and put on southern accents and claimed to be from Tennessee.  Oh yeah, we went there.  After everyone calling us Americans we decided to humor them.  We got some random to take a picture and my favorite quote of Joel's was "y'all know how to press a button?"  This guy ate it up and asked us all about our country.

 We went on the "toboggan" ride, which was pretty fun.  Up and down a hill through the banana trees.

While here we had to pick up some bananas (which are way cheaper then at rip off Cole's) and shared a banana split.   Starting to see a theme here?

Brutis even got a treat!  We thought he needed something cheesy for the rear view mirror.  We saw this monkey and it was the perfect touch.  His name is Leon and Brutis likes him alot better then his other tag along, Alistair.

After the banana plantation we drove around Coff's.  Kind of a weird set up.  It's divided into three- downtown, beach, and marina.  I think the population is around 60 000.  It's a nice enough town to visit for a weekend's getaway, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Noosa to Coff's Harbour

After four golf filled days in Noosa, we began the drive south to Sydney.  It's about twelve hours from Noosa, so we deed to break it up into a few days and see the coast.  Today we drove from Noosa to Coff's Harbour, the halfway point.  Joel had to golf once more at the Palmer Coolum this morning and claimed we would be on our way by one.  That didn't happen.  By the time he got back and we packed up the car and had lunch it was after three.  We met some rather rude Aussie's at lunch, which gave a great start to the drive (not).  To add to the mood, Brutis began leaking fluids and backfiring.  In addition to not being able to go above 100 km/hr, whenever he felt like it he'd give out, make some loud noises, and drop down to 80 km/hr.  Of course this always seemed to happen when we were trying to pass another driver.

 

We made it back to the Gold Coast, gased up and said a happy goodbye to Queensland.  I will not miss it.

Once over the border we learned about some new fun driving rules in New South Wales- variable speed limit.  This means that every ten km or so the speed limit changes!  It goes from 100 km/hr, to 80, to 60, back to 80, down to 40, and so on.  Most of it was single lane.  Surprising as this is Highway 1 in Australia.  There are also speed cameras everywhere.  Most of the highway was under construction.  At this point we had discovered that Brutis had a hose leak and was burning though water, which caused the engine to overheat.  We had to stop every so often to refill the engine water.  Later we discovered that he was shooting fluids at the engine, which was why it kept backfiring.  Joel is not a calm driver on the best of days, so you can't even start to imagine what fun this drive was!

Finally at ten o'clock we arrived at our hostel in Coff's Harbour.  So far everyone in NSW has been super friendly!  A nice change from the Queenslanders.  After some parking difficulties with Brutis and Alistair, it was finally time for bed.  Our room was super tiny, but it actually had a good bed, surprise, surprise.

Noosa and The Sunshine Coast

So what do you do when you're in Noosa?  You sit on the beach, sit in the sun, golf, drink, then call it an early night!   Joel did plenty of golfing and we both did plenty of drinking!

I took a break from my usual wine as my body was low on Malibu rum (mmm).  I thought my box of goodness would contain a few bottles, but instead it had a bag!  There is a stop cock that you pour from.  I've heard of boxed wine, but boxed Malibu? What's wrong with these Aussies?

 

We are staying in Peregian Springs, which is a nice area but pretty far out from the main strips of Noosaville and Maroochy.  It's a newer development and while there are signs promising a great neighborhood in the future, for now it's just a little shopping complex, a school and new homes.  It's too far to walk anywhere (it takes ten-fifteen minutes to drive to the beach and bigger zones, and since Joel has the car all day I'm stuck here because that's a long walk.  Lucky there is the hammock!)  It is also inconvenient for late night Crunchie bar cravings, because the open late night place are too far away!  (This caused an angry girl last night!) It is a really nice house though and our host has thought of every possible thing we could need and has made us feel very comfortable.

Yesterday we drove up to Noosa Heads.  This is the expensive side of the Sunshine Coast. It reminds  me of Penticton because it's all about the tourists and the beach.  There are lots of retirees living here too, soaking up the sun and golf. Things are pricier here, there are chi-chi restaurants and fancier shops lining the strip.  The beach is nice, but looks pretty much the same as the Gold Coast.  Thankfully people recognize that the weather is warm here and dress appropriately- no parkas! 

After that we drove down to Coolum Beach, which is closer to where we're staying.  It was windy there and we didn't even feel like putting out toes in the water, so went home to wine.

As far as golf goes, Joel thinks it's pretty amazing.  He's golfed three times already, twice at Pelican Waters, once at the Palmer Coolum.  Palmer Coolum is linked to his home course on the GC (all owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer) which is an Australian PGA course.

After golf today, we took a drive south.  First stop was Nambour, to see the Giant Pineapple.  Have to say I was a little disappointed with it's appearance (as I am a connoisseur of large things ha!).  However you can climb to the top for a scenic view of the little pineapple plantation.  Joel and I amused ourselves by whistling at unsuspecting passersby below us.  There is a little train ride you can take through the plantation plus a petting zoo, but we really didn't feel like spending money for it.

Yes, I've been here over six months and I still have zero tan.  Does this really surprise anyone?

Geez hun, would it hurt to smile once in awhile for me???

 From there we drove to Mooloolaba.  For real, that's it's name.  And Aussie's think we're strange... It's the most southern suburb of the Sunshine Coast.  Again, nice beaches, but same as what we've been seeing the last six months.  We walked along the beach for a bit and did put in our toes, then had enough.  I didn't even take a picture because we already have a million that look just like it!  Drove through Alexandra Headlands (really just to honor Dewey).  We drove back playing my favorite roadtrip game- wave at passing strangers!  I have loved this since I was eleven and I still get a kick out of people waving back.  Today we added a new element as we were in a smaller town- yelling out "G'day Mate!" at people walking down the street.  Most of them are dumb enough to think we're someone they know and give a jolly wave or thumbs up back.  We were laughing so hard every time we got someone.

When we got home it was back to our booze and we ordered a pizza as we've run out of cooking supplies.  Lucky for us we can get cheap enough meals at Subway, McD's, Nando's or Red Roosters.

My overall thought on Noosa is it's a nice place, but if you've already seen a few Aussie beaches, it won't be that novel.  Unless you're planning a road trip up north along the coast or are in the Brisbane area, this is one place you could skip.  If you do come, pick something right on the beach otherwise you will be bored like me! 

Tomorrow afternoon (after Joel's second game of golf at the Palmer Coolum) we'll pack up the car and start the trip to Sydney.  It's twelve hours in total and we'll be stopping for two nights in Coff's Harbour, the halfway point.  Joel says if Brutis can make this trip towing Allistair he is a real hero!

All My Friends Have a Low Rider

Good morning from the first stop on our road trip,beautiful Noosa.  We made it here last night, but not without a few complications first!

 Tuesday was Joel's last day of work.  He got all his 150 pounds of tools packed back up into their box and loaded into Brutis's trunk, which caused the back end to lower big time with the extra weight.  I got most of the cleaning done during the day save Joel's jobs- the shower, stove, oven and packing up his clothes- which he was supposed to do when he came home from work.  Sadly Joel is a procrastinator.  By nine o'clock he had none of these jobs done and didn't look like he was going to start anytime soon.  I told him he had to at least do the oven and stove and I would pack up his clothes, that way all we'd have to do in the morning was the bathroom and floors. 

Yesterday morning we started loading up Brutis.  We put our three big suitcases in first and thought "Yeah, we can make everything fit".  By the time we brought down our next load the car was full.  What to do?  Get rid of stuff?  Buy a trailer?  Freak out?  At the last hour we called U-haul and rented a caged trailer (luckily Brutis has a tow bar).  They had one available that we could pick up right away.  Unfortunately renting it for a week took a big chunk out of our road trip budget, but we had no other choice.  We were just happy to find a solution!  So we got a big tank of a trailer which Joel dubbed Alistair.  But it fits all our stuff quite nicely!  After we loaded it up, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed and did a last minute tidy, we were finally ready to hit the road.  It was almost five o'clock, way later then we intended on leaving.  Oh well.  Just glad to be on the road in one piece.  Peace out Gold Coast!

 The drive to Noosa was not bad.  We cruised at a maximum speed of 100 km/hr, thanks to Alistair the tank.  But Brutis held up and had no problems with the extra weight.  It's a miracle!!!

Noosa is about two and a half hours north of the Gold Coast and is a beach lovers paradise.  It was dark when we got here, so we really didn't see much.  The place we're staying at is pretty cool.  The neighborhood is very eco friendly and all the homes are fitted with their own wells.  It kind of looks like a beach cabin.  When we got in last night we already made some new friends- a gecko and a spider.  Better make sure to keep all my bags zipped up so I don't take any friends home with me!

 

After unloading some luggage we went for a drive and to find some dinner.  It was about nine o'clock and everything, including the fast food joints, were closed!  Things shut down super early here- even the liquor stores!  We found a Subway that was open late- till nine thirty- and were served by the slowest staff ever.  We drove back and finished off some wine we'd brought with us.  The neighborhood we're staying in is SUPER quite.  I'm used to the sounds of traffic, construction on the Gold Coast Highway and our neighbor upstairs' loud music, so the quite freaked me out.   Also not used to being in a house alone (we've always been in apartments where there are tons of people around).  I barely slept because every little noise made me jump and I was convinced someone was breaking in.

This morning Joel went to play golf and I'm going to hang out here on the patio till he's back.  Life is good today!

Happy Bday Lil Dub!

Happy 17th Birthday to my awesome cousin Will today!

Packing Up

So yesterday I started packing up our apartment.  Let's say it's not going as smoothly as I imagined.  Seems simple- everything is coming so just pack up into suitcases as we brought it, right?  Except we accumulated a whole lot of stuff in the six months we've been here.  My suitcases are overflowing and I actually had to sit on one to close it.  At least this time we don't have to worry about suitcase weight.  However I am worried that all our stuff won't fit in the back of Brutis.   I haven't even factored in Joel's tools...

Tomorrow I have a joyful day ahead of me- cleaning every inch of our apartment, reorganizing my suitcases, and packing up the rest of the kitchen.

A Birthday and a Wedding

Happy Third Birthday to me niece Skyla! This is her first birthday I've missed (I was even there for her birth!).  Hope you have a special day sweetie!

Also congratulations to our good friends Shelby and Randy who are getting married today!  I'm sure it will be a beautiful and special day.  We're getting the party started for you early!

Last Day at Another Dyemension!

Yesterday was my last day of work at Another Dyemension!  I was so glad to be finished.  I ended my day with a very bogan client who had very odd ideas of Canada.  (She annoyed me so much I stopped talking to her.  I hate working in quiet and NEVER do this).  I got paid in cash for my last day, a great reference letter from my boss, then had the happiest drive home knowing I wouldn't have to go back there!

When Joel and I got home I decided I needed some bubbles to celebrate.  We walked over to our local bottle shop and got a nice big bottle of Jacob's Creek Rose Moscato.  We sat out on the balcony enjoying the weather (it was 27 degrees) and our wine and just celebrated all that's next to come.

We also sold our BBQ.  Joel was a little sad to see it go, but it went to a good home (friends of Ashley's).  We've been trying to eat up all our food this week and now all our meat is gone, so it will be pasta, pancakes and omelets from here on.  Tomorrow will be the start of packing up.  I was going to start today, but after a luxurious sleep in I think I'm going to go for a walk in the sun and sit by the pool reading.  Monday will be the start of cleaning.  Right now our place feels like a pigsty because we have stuff everywhere.  It's driving me nuts, but I'm going to tolerate it for the weekend.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

We're on the home stretch for our move!  This week is my last week of work and I hope I'll actually be working.  I gave in my notice last Monday and my boss took it well.  She said she understands that we want to travel and explore a new city.  However it's been slow and I've had my hours cut.  I think she's cutting mine over the others as she doesn't want to send clients to me if I'm leaving.  I'm worried that I'm going to get smaller checks then I budgeted and I'll be eating alot of toast and jam until I have a new job in Sydney...  our tax return can't come in soon enough!

I reconnected via facebook with a friend from high school yesterday and found out she is now living in Oz too!  What are the odds?  She's up in Yeppoon, which is about ten hours north of us, so too far for a visit.  But nice to have another Canadian to talk and relate to.

I have an "Olympic sized hole" in my heart now that the games are over.  I usually don't watch any sports, but when the Olympics are on I'm glued to the TV and the official website to check on the latest medal tally.  Even though Canada was not a top medal scorer, watching them compete and do well makes me feel proud to be Canadian and I was cheering our team on whenever I could.  I finally watched a replay of the Men's 4x100 Relay today and though I was proud for the Jamaican's and their world record (Jamaica will always have a special place in my heart as that's where we were married) it broke my heart to see the Canadians striped of their bronze for a toe being on the line.  Australia is happy that they finally won a few gold medals, but still complaining as this was the lowest medal tally they've had since 1992.  London did an awesome job hosting and I'm currently watching the replay of the closing ceremonies which is pretty amazing.  I have an early morning tomorrow but I'll be staying up as late as necessary to watch the Spice Girls!  (Yes I am a die hard- I saw them live in Vancouver at their reunion tour- best concert ever!)

Last SMASH Post From the Gold Coast

All caught up on my scrapbooking now.  I started my second album.  My last book was the Pink SMASH Folio and this one is the International one.  It has some different colored pages then the last book so I had to pick up a 6x6 paper pack to go with it.

My scrapping supplies are all packed up now.  I sold the storage unit I was housing it all in on Gumtree as we won't have enough space in Brutis to bring it to Sydney.  I packed everything into Ziploc bags to keep it organized.

Motivation, Please

Wow, this week I have been seriously lazy and unmotivated to get much done.  I hate feeling so blah like this.  Joel says it's because I'm bad and am not taking my vitamins!  Last night was especially yuck and I ended up plunking myself in front of the Olympics for most of the night.  So far today is better as I've already crossed off some things on my to do list that I've been putting off!

I'm starting to get anxious for the next part of our trip.  I wish the next two weeks were over and we were getting ready to leave!  I hate the time when you are close to something, but not close enough to get ready yet.  I'm already itching to start packing up stuff, but it is too early to start.  This should be an easy move as we don't have as much stuff to pack and we don't have to decided what gets left behind because it's all coming.  And as we are driving we don't have to worry about any overweight luggage fees!

Joel did some work to Brutis yesterday to prepare for our trip and he informed me that he kind of fell in love with Brutis while working.  I guess he's an easy car to work on and there wasn't as much wrong under the hood as he thought!  Well, Joel may love him, but I never will...

Got all the travel arrangements ready for our trip.  I'm calling it The Great Australian Golf Trip, because Joel insists he must golf at every city we stop in.  (That means I better pick up some books because I'll be chilling on the beach by myself most days).  I booked most of our accommodation online through airbnb.com.  This is an awesome website!  It's people who rent out rooms in their homes and it is way less then hotel and usually hostels prices.   My parents booked a bunch of these stays on their trip here and became BFF's with their hosts in Canberra.

On August 22 we move out of our apartment.  We have until midnight to check out, which makes things easier.  Joel will have to fit all his tools back in their box, which will be a puzzle, and we have to make all our stuff fit best as we can in Brutis.  The one time I'm thankful we have a station wagon!  From there we are driving two and a half hours north to Noosa and the Sunshine Coast.  (We planned on going here earlier, but didn't have enough money.)  It's supposed to have amazing beaches and there are some dream courses Joel has to golf at.  We're spending four nights up here and got a wicked airbnb price.  From there we drive back south to Coff's Harbour, home of the World's Largest Banana!  Two nights here, one day of golf, then on to Sydney.  I booked another airbnb place in Sydney for two weeks.  We decided it would take some stress off things if we had a place to stay for a bit longer till we find jobs and get organized.  These hosts said if we like it and enjoy the area we can stay longer, which is nice.

I am so ready to come home right now.  If only Joel felt the same!  Still don't know an exact return date yet.  I say sooner, Joel says later.  Guess it will depend how our time in Sydney goes.  I don't have much left on my "Must See" list now.  Alot of it is nearby Sydney, which will be easy to check off.  I really want to see New Zealand while we're here and I found out I have enough aeroplan points for a roundtrip for one of us.  Score!  Joel still wants to see Darwin, Broome and Perth.  He hates sightseeing, so I don't know why he wants to bother seeing those places if he's only going to want to golf.

Today...

Today I am on day three of my four days off.  I was supposed to work Wednesday, but it was slow so they told me not to come in.  Although it is nice to not have to dread the morning alarm clock, it is not so nice missing out on the bigger paycheck!  I'm supposed to be working full time the next two weeks as on of the other girls is on holiday, so fingers crossed I really work all the days I'm scheduled and make some money! 

 I have been spending too much time on pinterest, resulting in wanting to buy more clothes with money I should be saving for the next part of our trip.  There were a few items I could not live without, so treated myself.  I tried on this mint green boyfriend tee from Sportsgirl (they ship for free to Canada and the US!) and wasn't sure about it, then decided a week later I NEEDED it.  This mint green color is really big here and I'm loving it.

 Then onto my favorite store, Forever New.  They have all kinds of cute pastel colored shorts.  I originally wanted mint, but went with these blue and white dip dyed instead.  I figure I should get some cute shorts in Australia as I can never find any I like back in Canada.

They're getting in some new stock on Friday and I am going in first thing to buy these!  One of the Dutch girls we befriended on our Whitsunday cruise had a similar pair that I was eying up all day, so I decided I need these.  Better yet, I'm going babysitting tonight so don't need to disturb my bank account to buy them!

 

Joel and I have been watching the Olympics in the evenings.  Not as awesome as the winter, but still pretty exciting to watch the Canadians compete!  It's different watching from an Aussie announcer's perspective.  Joel and I are not cheering for them (no one can replace you Canada!) and we are bad- last night the Aussie's were competing against the US for something and we cheered for the US!  Ha, the only time that will ever happen.  It's interesting talking to my clients about the Olympics too.  They are very upset that France is doing so well ("they never do well!") and "stealing" their medals.   (The Aussie's are very competitive and are sore losers, according to my boss.)  They also were upset about Britain's uniform at the opening ceremony (too flashy).  Has anyone ever wondered (or noticed) why the Australian's wear yellow and green instead of red, blue and white, the colors of their flag?  It is because they don't want to look like Britain!  The green and yellow is the color of Australia's national flower, the wattle, so that's why they wear those colors.

This afternoon I'm selling some things on gumtree, then off to the post office to pick up some more stamps for some postcards.  Speaking of mail, if you are planning to send me something, send it NOW!  We will be out of this address as of August 22 so anything sent past today or tomorrow I probably won't get.  I don't know my next address in Sydney yet, but will keep everyone posted when I have one.  (If you are worried, I'm sure the front desk will hold onto anything that gets here after we leave.)  Also a thank-you to my boss at Applauz, Jacki, for the cute card I got in the mail yesterday!  Made my afternoon.

I also found out that sometime in the new year Joel and I are going to be an Uncle and Aunt!  Congratulations to my sister-in-law Savannah and her boyfriend Jamie.

Latest SMASH Layouts

After all our recent travel I sure have a lot to scrapbook!  I've been busy the last few nights editing and choosing which pictures to print (big job).  It feels so good to be creative and do something besides surf the net at night!  As far as product goes, I still haven't bought anything new.  I've been working with three different mini paper pads from My Minds Eye, tons of mini alpha from Authenique, and whatever random pieces I had brought with me from my stash back home.  I just realized I have been bad at posting these layouts- this is only the third post I've done.  I will try and be better!  (PS sorry my pics kind of suck, but it's hard to get the right light for best effect.)

I made a map for the front to show where all the cities we've visited are.

I've been doing a "Month in Numbers" every month to document the things not big enough for a full page, as well as costs of various things.








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't get this to turn the right way!

I am loving how my first SMASH book turned out!  This one goes from February 6- July 17, which is five and a half months.  I have one more book and I hope I can fit the next six and a half in it!