THIRTY

Heya

Warning... this is an extremely long blog post.

The 16th of February was my 30th birthday. It is strange how quickly that one sneaks up when the 20s seem to last ages until those last couple of years in the 20s. Or maybe it has something to do with all the stuff I crammed into my life in the past couple of years: marriage, travel, career, paying a mortgage, baby... These things do tend to keep one quite busy.

At 20, thirty seemed so old. Now... well it still sounds old but I don't feel any older lol But I can certainly say at 30 I am pretty content with the life I am living. I have achieved a lot in my 30 years and the biggest of those things and the one that makes me happiest is the most recent... the birth of my daughter. But I am also proud to have progressed as far in my career as I have already, making it to senior psychologist at 28 and to have gained substantial assets in our lives to live a confortable life. I have my love, Simon (who spoilt me rotten with an iPad for my birthday... woot!). And together we have seen a lot of places around the world, with 2 trips to Europe and 1 each to NZ and Fiji. Almost a trip to China that became a trip to Tassie thanks to some concerns with travelling with morning sickness.

I can certainly say that my 30th birthday was one I enjoyed greatly, with a celebration with friends and family. I almost didn't have a party but at the last minute kinda threw something together with a bit of  a hollywood theme for fun. A chance to dress up and feel pretty 2.5 months after giving birth. I am also proud to say I am very close to my pre-baby weight too. At least I am only 1.5kg off my usual weight and a few more off the super skinny pre-pregnancy weight I was.

But that leads me to the start of this week... which was not all happy moments. I can't remember if I blogged it or not. I think I did. But the 11th of February came with the sad reminder of the day last year I spent in hospital emergency for 6 hours due to a miscarriage. At the time it was so hard to imagine everything was going to be okay again anytime soon. But then by some amazing luck, I did fall pregnant again 6 weeks later approximately and that pregnancy was completely smooth sailing and brought us the most beautiful girl in the world and the light of my life. So it was a day that had me feeling a little flat though remembering the sadness that 12 months ago brought us.

Then I received other news that night that has still left me shocked and deeply saddened. A close friend from school whom I had not seen in recent years had tragically passed away with circumstances that make my heart ache. It shook me up quite a bit and we are yet to have the opportunity to farewell her so I know that day will be hard. I do hope she is at peace now though :( And I will always remember the amazing memories we shared over the years.

I think come next year, I will be keeping all my loved ones close and safe next February 11th.

But I am lucky to have been surrounded by wonderful people and good times over my birthday weekend. I really appreciate the effort my family went to in making it a great night.

I also had the idea from my favourite website - Pinterest of course, to have a DIY photobooth on the night. I wasn't too sure how it would turn out but there were some great pics as a result and it meant I got to be in pictures instead of being the one taking them. All I did was set the camera up on a tripod with the flash bulb, instructions on how to turn the camera on and activiate the timer. Then a bucket of props to get them in the mood. Here's some photo booth action.

 

 

Anyway... here's to a brilliant year of being 30 hopefully.

 

Holly x

 

Father's Day, Wedding, Birthday, etc

Hey there

Hope all the fathers out there had a wonderful father's day. Below is the card I made my dad to go with his gift. It was a quick one using some scraps from the Kaisercraft Rock Pool collection.

Somewhere online a while ago I saw a card idea for father's to be for father's day and decided to do something a bit similar for my husband knowing this is his last father's day before he becomes a dad. So I made him a card stating: "You are being promoted", with a pull tab that states "To Dad". The card I saw simply stated you've been promoted but I wanted to make it a bit more interactive and I know Simon. He would have said not yet if I'd stuck with the wording of the card I saw lol

To go with the card, I also made him a Dad survival kit for fathers-to-be lol

In it I have placed the following items and included the below inside the card in case the photo above is not clear:

Dad Survival Kit for the Father-To-Be

Toothpick – To help pick the good out of all situations

Candle – For when you are burning at both ends

Pencil – To help write their wrongs

Eraser – To remind you that all parents make mistakes

Peg – For when it’s your turn to change the nappy

Matchstick – To help keep your eyes open

Dice – To remind you how unpredictable your life will be

Rubber band – To help you stay flexible

Tissue – For cleaning up their little messes

We had a mammoth weekend of celebrating a friend's wedding Saturday night then visits to both dad's on Sunday so I got to give him his card in between father's day visits. I think he really liked it so it was so worth it to make him smile!

And here is the card I made for Saturday's wedding:

It was such a wonderful wedding. So very much to suit the lovely couple and a fun night overall. But the late nights are hard on me these days sporting my 6 month bump. So as a result of the busy weekend, I'm feeling a bit worse for wear today and taking the day to rest up at home. It started with a 14 hour sleep lol

But today is also a special day. My Dexter's 1st birthday! Cannot believe our first baby is already a year old. He is currently enjoying a special treat all on his own while his brother has a snooze. And Simon and I did have a bit of fun making him a quickie party hat yesterday. He was most unimpressed lol

Look at how little he once was...

 And now all grown up and being made fun of with a party hat haha Poor baby!

Holly x

Happy 40th Birthday To My Sister

Today is my sister's 40th birthday... not that she likes to admit it. She got me to make invitations that say 21st (plus) birthday lol Her party is next weekend, however I just went out with dad for a quick visit to see her since Mum is currently visiting her brother in North Queensland for my cousins 18th (birthdays everywhere). My sis is the mother of 7 and looks pretty darn good for 40. Her youngest is only a couple of months old so I've just had a bit of fun testing my new SLR camera out on the kids.

Here is my sis and goregous niece Kaleaha:

 My very cute youngest nephew Riley has had a haircut. He looks so grown up now!

 My second youngest niece... our princess! She could not find 2 matching gloves so she's got odd ones on and a puppy!

 Another of my sis and Kaleaha smiling. How cute!

And the birthday card I made for my sis. I used Kaisecraft chapter one and hand made the rose out of some left over shiny paper from my wedding stationary. I was inspired by a recent card made by Camilla Ekmann on the Kaiser blog.

Fancy Dress & Fun Times

Hi everyone,
Last night was my husband's 30th birthday party, which was a pimp themed party lol He had a great time, with a lot of drinks and good company. It was at our house so quite a mess to clean up this morning but nothing too drastic. Lots of left over food. I can't believe how awesome some of the costumes were though, so I thought I'd share a few for a laugh.

 Birthday boy with his afro wig, excessive bling and even some grillz (the blinged up mouth guard thing worn by homeboys)

 I think I ended up more salloon style than anything LOL We had a lot of eras covered in costume. I got to use my wedding garter again to store some fake cash haha

Hubby's boss and wife

 The boys.... costume of the night was the person on the left. One of our groomsmen and hubby's best friend. He hired a complete outfit that came with leopard print platforms and a cane and hat to match. So funny! And he's already over 6 foot so he towered over everyone.

My in laws...mother in law, brother in law and father in law haha

 My parents... including a fake tattoo sleeve haha

 Cupcakes.... I used green icing to do dollar signs on each of them. Some were a bit more like a green blog haha

The mini album.... now I have to finish it off with some party photos!

Birthday Surprises

Hey everyone,
Yesterday (Tuesday) was my husbands 30th birthday, so I decided to put together a weekend full of suprises to celebrate his milestone. He had no clue about any of it, other than the need to take 3 days off work on these particular days.

So surprise one was 2 nights booked in at Seaworld Nara Resort on the Gold Coast. He was impressed enough with that LOL On our first night, we got delicious fish and chips and had a very lazy night in our hotel, watching TV, and drinking wine.

Surprise 2 didn't go to plan. It was a private seaplane tour for two from the Gold Coast to Stradbroke Island, with a BBQ buffet and wine. The plane didn't come and when the resort rang, it turns out the plane was broken and someone was supposed to ring the night before. I was so disappointed as I was anticipating the stunned look on my husband's face when the seaplane landed to whisk us away. The owner appologised profusely and told me to ring him direct to re-book and he would throw in a couple of hundred dollars value extra, with an extended tour over the Gold Coast. Still... I was so disappointed but my husband was happy to know we still get to go in the future. So without a plan, we ended up going to Seaworld theme park, as we had half price entry with our resort stay.

Overall, the theme park is not overly exciting compared to the other theme parks nearby. Its more animal based, which suited me better yesterday anyway. Wasn't really up for crazy rides... and of the 3 rides they do have for thrill seekers these days, one was broken. So we had a leisurely day taking in the sites at Seaworld. The highlight was the adorable new penguin exhibit. They were unreal. They liked looking at us through the window as much as we liked looking at them haha And it was weigh in day, and the funny little things actually jump on the scales willingly. Very fascinating!

Unfortunately the failure of surprise 2 meant that my plan to reveal surprise 3 didn't go to plan either, so I ended up handing my husband surprise 3 in the resort room before Seaworld. In a hand made card, I gave him a booking confirmation for our 3 nights to Auckland, New Zealand trip in August. He was a bit stunned but very happy. He's an optimist anyway so the fact that the day didn't go to plan did not phase him at all as he said it was still the best birthday ever and that he gets to extend it for ages with his other presents at least. So while we didn't get to go on our seaplane trip this week, we did get to see some awesome penguins, pat sting rays and watch a polar bear do some crazy things with the lid of a water tank.

Oh and we did a lot of eating. Italian resturant on Tuesday night and a steak and seafood resturant on the way home today. Sooooo fat! Now we have the pimp n ho theme 30th birthday party on Saturday night to prepare for. So much to do... so little time remaining... but at least my costume came ;-)

Mega Happy Mail

Morning everyone,
Just wanted to have a quick share of the wonderful deliveries my parcel man delivered this morning. Sorry the photos are rotten. I'm phone blogging again lol Firstly, my order from Scrapbooking stock. So cheap for Kaisercraft products. I got 4 mini pads for $4 each. Love that price. Plus a couple of freebies thrown in there. Nice!

Then my order from Scrapbooking Haven arrived also. This includes both the birthday sale items I purchased on Amy's birthday and a few normal item things. Look at all those thickers and prima. Lovely. Wish I could play today... but they will have to wait. My DT pack should arrive tomorrow or the next day so more lovely goodies when I get home.

And then there was the unexpected parcel.I opened it thinking hmmm... I don't recall ordering this big bundle of goodies. That's because I didn't. I won them from a competion through Scrapbooking Memories. OMG! How awesome are all those goodies. I could not believe how many stickers, rub ons and stamps were in that gorgeous parcel. What a fabulous Monday morning.

Now the reason I don't get to play with my goodies until later this week, if at all, is because tomorrow is my husband's 30th birthday and I'm taking him away for a lovely little get away on the Gold Coast. He has no clue where we are going or what we are doing. We're about to set off so the GPS will lead him to the destination. Tomorrow we are going on a seaplane trip to another island for a lunch and sight seeing. Then during lunch I will surprise him with the final part of his birthday gift... the booking confirmation for our 3 night trip to Auckland in August. I hope he has a wonderful time! So until I return, have a lovely week everyone in Blogger land.

xo

Weekend Cyber Crop Layouts

Hi everyone
I did something new and extremely fun this weekend... I participated in a Cyber Crop at Wicked Princesses, as you may have gathered from my last post. It was super fun and I can't wait until the next one.

For the first challenge, we had a time limit and had to complete a party themed layout with the words Celebrate good times or happy birthday to you. It also had to have a landscape photo. This was a tough one as I'm such a slow scrapper but I got it done. Its my hen's party so sort of wedding related still but not as directly.

For the next challenge, we had to have a number somewhere in our layout, and it needed to be in the colours you would have for balloons at your dream birthday party, with more than one photo. So for this layout I scrapped my niece's 18th birthday party from last Friday night. This was the brightest layout I think I have ever done and I am really happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure if the photo is clear but I stuck an extra photo of the cake over where my niece was cutting her cake in the last pic, as most of the photo cut the cake out. I like the 3D affect it has.

The final challenge had to be of 2 photos of either different people at the same age or the same person at different birthday's. It had to include a birthday embellishment and circles. Mine is of my niece and nephew who are almost a year apart, with birthday's only day's apart, so always celebrated together. I love the candles. Not sure if it shows up on the photo but I embossed paper with a candy stripe design then rolled them around foam to create 3D candles.

Overall, a productive scrappy weekend and a nice relaxing one as I don't think I have one of those again for a long while. Also, it must be a nice change for everyone to see something that isn't related to my wedding hehe