Christmas 2006

This year we had Christmas morning at our own home. Santa came and we opened our pressies joyfully next to our tiny Christmas tree. After this, we went to Nathan's mum's for morning tea with his aunt and cousins and then we went to Nathan's grandma's place for Christmas lunch. This was followed by a big swim in the pool to cool down on a very humid summer's day. Although we also had a few drinks to cool down, the drinks ended up everywhere - from our bellies to beside the pool to on top of Nathan's head! Who knew red vodka cruisers would stain?

Nathan drank so much that he missed Christmas night so while he was asleep, I played with Nathan's cousin's baby back at his mum's place. Her name is Mahalia and she is just gorgeous!!!

Chistmas lights carols

It was unfortunate that the Salvos had cleaned up the area for all the donations, but many people in the neighbourhood still got to enjoys some beautiful Christmas carols by the Feds quintet. They raised some money from Camilla, Luke and Mum and Dad but if they'd know how little else they were going to make, they could have just come to our place for a concert!

The Robbie concert

What can I say???? He was funny, sexy, contentious, and even downright gorgeous! I had never thought much of him before and only went because Hayley asked me but next time he comes, wild horses couln't keep s away. It was the best entertainment I have ever had.

And of course! We were the first to ever experience a concert at Suncorp Stadium. We were in the second back row because we were in the cheap seats, but we definitely weren't the furtherest away that we culd have been! The stadium was great, even though the echo was pretty loud at that height! Great memories!

Hayley's Christmas party

Yum yum yum! That's what I remember most! Hayley made a fantastic meal with stuffed roast pork, veges, champagne spiders and lots of other good things. It was a lovely evening and we felt really stuffed but content afterward!

The Hoff made an appearance as I expect he will for many years to come... Christmas just ain't Christmas without his crooning!

We did a Secret Santa swap and being such great friends, we all got each other some really great presents. Nathan enjoyed his from the word go!

The Marketing team Christmas party

It was fun and drunken and filled with cleavage so of course we had a fantastic night! Chinese in the Valley with the team was always going to be great, but if you add in a Richard who's been at the Ashes all day, a Gene Simmons tongue, lots of silly faces and a competition about who had the best boobs we were set!

The Billy concert

Billy Joel was awesome! He was funny, simple and a fantastic musician and... he played the piano with his bum! He played heaps of the old favourites like Just the way you are and of course Piano man! That was the last song and he made us yell and scream before he would play it! The whole crowd was singing and the atmosphe and love in that building was amazing. When he stopped singing the crowd sang so sweetly and in tune it gave me shivers. For Nathan's first ever pop concert, it was a great one to pick!

The Kylie concert

It was a lovely Monday afternoon at work when I was suddenly disrupted by Jen's noises of delight at getting tickets to Kylie so she could go and see her AGAIN! She had two tickets and immediately asked around the office if there were any takers and I decided to be impulse and just said yes! I left work early so I could go home and get some clothes and then met Jen, went to Boondall and was treated to a great show. The dancers and costumes were really fabulous and Kylie was beautiful. i especially liked her 80's music and the dancer wearing a nude coloured suit...

Me and Pat Rafter

Very exciting news - I got to meet Pat Rafter through a work thing. It's a bit secret at the moment, but let's just say that he's helping the Department out a bit and working with the marketing crew and, since I'm back there I got the opportunity to go and meet him! It was really cool and whenI shook his hand and said hi he made good eye contact and we almost had a moment! Just kidding, but it was a bit exciting. I couldn't ask for a photo though because everyone was standing around pretending it was normal to hang out with him and I felt like it would be wrong to do it so I missed out. But that doesn't mean I didn't get a photo with him...














He just hapened to be in the pool doing some synchronised swimming and even though you can't tell it's him, I know and that's what counts isn't it?

I also had a lovely morning hanging out with Di, watching all the goings on which I can't tell you about until January... unless you promise not to tell!

Girls night out

Mitzi was up from Sydney and the old foursome was well overdue for a good old get together! We went to the Gun Shop Cafe in West End for a lovely evening of drinks and yummy food and the best company in the world - there's nothing like old friends! After that, we made our way to the Pavilion where we partied away with some young guys because we couldn't get rid of them! Then Nathan came and picked us up after a TQO concert he was playing in and he was greeted by some very happy girls!!

The honeymoon...

We went to Long Island in the Whitsundays for a romantic week of relaxing, snorkelling and enjoying being newlyweds. It was really awesome and gorgeous and truly perfect! The water up there is a pure aquamarine colour and we enjoyed it whether we were in it, in a hammock or watching it from the bar! It was our first proper holiday together and couldn't have been any better.

We even had a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef and a helicopter flight!

We're married!!!!

On the second of September we tied the knot at Kholo Gardens and had one of the best times we've ever had in our lives! The day was equisite, fun and well, absolutely awesome. We loved being in the cente of attention of all the friends and family we love so much. Here are a few photos:

Nathan's buck's night

We had an awesome afternoon at laser skirmish, followed by dinner at Punjabi's and then a bit of a pub crawl throughout the city until we got back to the backpackers at 5am. We got up to a bit of mischief and took some funny photos but they're probably not for the public domain!!!

Mum's 60th

Mum had her 60th birthday, despite the fact that she doesn't look a day over 45 or feel older than 21. She looked fabulous and we had a great time with 60s music, yummy food and lots of good old friends... a very warm and fuzzy evening!

Ange's hen's night

How awesome! Between the great company, food and cocktails at Jorge on George, the fabulous hen's games and accessories and the dancing and drinking we did until the wee hours of the morning at Irish Murphey's, it was the BEST night!!!

The two Irish boys that tagged along with us, the band dedication and the free drinks I got from random people were also great! Hayley and Camilla certainly did a brilliant job!

Two weeks to go!

There's two weeks until we get married and we have been extremely busy with all of the preparation. Nathan's been working on his car and running around after things like ties, suits and accommodation while we girls have been having hair trials, buying Napoleon Perdis make-up and making sure all the details of the wedding will be just great!

Nathan and I have had a trial run with our photographer at the gardens and have a bundle of romantic photos, even before we have the wedding!

Easter Weekend

Over the easter weekend I was competing in the Australian National Brass Band Championships which were held in Bris Vegas. Our band (South Brisbane Federal band) placed 6th overall which was a very good place for us. We were all happy with how we played and had a huge amount of fun, especially the drinking that went on after the competition! It was great to catch up with many of my friends from interstate.

We also did a bit more painting and our house is really starting to look great!

Ange visits Innisfail

On Sunday, nearly 2 weeks after cyclone Larry hit North Queensland I flew up to Cairns with a few of my colleagues to help the Department of Communities with the relief effort. As we had a free afternoon I went to the Lagoon, which is a lovely Southbank-style area with a fantastic view of the mountains and the ocean.

Anyway, we were briefed (not very well!) on Sunday evening and on Monday morning we were assigned to different outreach teams travelling to Innisfail. The devastation we saw as we drove down intensified and was really amazing. In Cairns there are some big trees uprooted but in Innisfail, most big trees are uprooted! We passed all of the broken banana trees and massive cane farms which look pretty good but in actual fact can't be havested because they've been damaged at the base and therefore won't produce a decent crop.

In Innisfail heaps of the houses are tarped and the SES and army have done an amazing job of securing homes and cleaning up the debris. One of the things that has really blown me away (pardon the pun) is the devastation of the vegetation. Areas that were once rich rainforest still have the ferns and the vines but have lost the entire canopy. Mountains lined with bush have one side covered in leafless limbs and the other with normal trees because they were protected by the Mountain. It is clear to see which direction the winds were travelling!!!
We've been helping the relief effort by driving down to Innisfail each day and helping people to fill out forms that will entitle them to assistance from the Queensland Government. The people we can help the most are those who have damaged homes and contents but have no insurance. This is really difficult because even though we can grant thousands of dollars to some people it really is only a small drop in the ocean when their rooves have been blown off and they have lost all of their possessions and they have to somehow find a hundred thousand dollars to rebuild when they have no power and nowhere to live and are frightened of looters. Although the looting isn't like it would be elsewhere in the world there is obviously some and it is enough to keep people camping in sheds and on verandahs.

I've fallen in love with the scenery up here in north Queensland, even though much of it isn't what it used to be. I'm particularly in love with a little place called Flying Fish Point which is the Eastern point of Innisfail, has incredible scenery and an amazing fish and chip shop we were taken to by a local indigenous officer from the Department of Communities. Awesome! I've never had fresh fish like that... should have taken a picture it was so great. But trust me - if you're ever up this way it's worth the 5 minute drive out to the coast!

Having a fairly nice time - the place we're staying at is ok, but is a backpackers and is definitely not as nice as the 5 star resort the people from Communities have! Not that it matters... it's definitely not why we came here!

I'm hoping that over the next few days things get a bit more efficient and that word of mouth gets more people coming into our centre to apply for the grants. It's great to be up here because our presence really does make a difference and we get some lovely feedback from the people in the community that we help.

Our House!

We picked up the keys for our new (but very old) house on the 13th of February. It's been really exciting moving in and doing heaps of stuff like gardening, sanding and preparing, painting, cleaning etc and the house is beginning to look a bit different. Can't wait to finish the outside and start on the inside!