A wedding that I will never forgot

On Sunday, Dad'n and I got dressed in our best, we had a wedding to hit up.

 

 

For me, attending this wedding felt "awkward".

 

I had never met the bride, nor the groom. And no, we weren't wedding crashers, Dad'n worked with the groom.

 

I knew this wedding was going to be different to anything we had ever been to, there were over 500 guests!

 

That point did make the idea of not knowing the couple a little easier.

 

They were Macedonian and Italian. So everything was big, loud and amazing.  I feel so blessed to have been invited to witness something that could only be called a spectacular. It was seriously the most amazing, beautiful, exciting and fun wedding that I have attended.

 

 

 

Where do I start?

 

The ceremony was so interesting for me. I had never witnessed an Orthodox ceremony. There were so many different traditions that all symbolized the marriage. Each one so beautiful and the vibe so AMAZING even though I could not understand one word.

 

To move onto the Reception.

 

These guys know how to party.

 

The food... so plentiful. Five courses, for over 500 people. WOW. And it was some  of the best food I have ever tasted.

 

Drinks, flowing freely. Not one glass in that room was half empty. Ever!

 

Dancing. Holy moly. I LOVED the Macedonian dancing! They hardly sat down the whole night. They had an amazing Macedonian band that made every fibre in your body want to dance. If you wanted to or not. Most was traditional music, some was not. Every song was dedicated to a particular person which lead the dance around. Oh and not to mention the $100 notes that were being placed on the band! They must of been good? Or maybe another tradition? 

 

The one feeling that left me going WOW, was the family love in that gigantic Grand Ballroom. I have never seen or felt anything like it. It was displayed. It was felt. It was emotional. It was something I had never seen before. All of this celebrating was exactly that. Celebrating their marriage and love. Celebrating life. Celebrating their families.... In a huge party kind of way!

 

 This was definitely a wedding that I will never forget.

 



 

 

Three O.



I have a birthday coming up. It's a milestone one. So they say...

 

Three O. 30.

 

I am not a very big birthday person.

 

Never one to have a fabulous party. Not one to shout it from the rooftops. It just usually slides by with some warm and fuzzies from the family and quiet celebrations. That's what makes me happy.

 

But this one feels different. This one, I'm actually quite excited for!

 

Our proper celebration for this birthday will actually be 5 weeks late.

 

We are heading off to Thailand to celebrate with family, as it is also my brothers 40th birthday in May. We decided to meet in the middle... April, and have a tropical birthday bash, my 30th, his 40th.

 

As you do yes?

 

I also got advised by a girlfriend last week to add a date in my diary, a date for a girls night out for birthday dinner and drinkies. Hello! I don't think I can remember the last time I did that. Sad but true.

 

So turning 30 definitely has some excitement surrounding it.

 

Things feel right, as if I am exactly where I should be. Life is good.

 

No crisis in sight here. Bring on 30 I say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making it on the kid scene...

I've done it. I've made it on the kid "scene".

Let's start from the beginning.

When we made our big move, I knew no one. It hit home that I had left behind everyone I knew and had to face the reality of being a loner.

My friends and I now joke of how I used to stalk the supermarket isles for mums with kids in hope that sparks might fly and I could make a friend. Don't laugh, it's kind of true LOL. Actually, not even kind of. It was true.

At the beginning of last year I had all my hopes of meeting all my "new friends" due to the fact the kids were in swimming lessons, dance lessons and daycare. I thought for sure, that with all these opportunities, I would be meeting SO many fabulous people. Turns out, it didn't really happen the way I intended. It didn't happen at all.

No sparks. No friendly chit chats. Nothing!

I won't lie, it left me pretty down and out, feeling worse than I did to begin. 

As it turns out, the universe had a fabulous group of girls waiting for me a little bit further down the track.

Throughout the second half of last year, I  bonded with these girls. I enjoy spending time with them. They are now familiar. I feel blessed to call them my friends.

Why was I writing this again? Back to the point Steph!

Kid scene... That's right.

Well, last night, while waiting for Boo to finish dancing. I had a moment, a moment that I realised I had finally made it on the kid scene!

I had a friend to talk to while I waited at dancing. While chatting,  three other Kinder mums arrived to drop their children off and came over to say hi. Things were finally familiar, including me to others, and others to me.

It was just a moment that I smiled inside. 

I had made it on the kid scene! 

Just another thing that feels right now. 

Joining in today with EssentiallyJess with my first #IBOT

Next month...

Next month, our move will have been two years ago. Two years!

I love what it has given us.

I love what it has given our children.

I love that this is not our holiday.

It is our home.

It is our life.

Muesli Bars

This was a recipe that my sister gave me a few months back.

It came home with me with good intentions then got filed in the overflowing "must try" folder.

With Kinder lunchboxes high on my priority at the moment, I decided to dig it back out and give them a go.

I'm not sure how long they will last in the pantry though, as I have taken quite the liking to them! Must.save.for.the.kids!

They are easy. I like easy.

It's the kind of recipe that you get to chuck in whatever you have in the pantry. Love those recipes.

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup of oats
1/2 cup of sesame seeds
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of sultanas
1/3 cup of sugar
125g of butter
140g of honey
Other optional ingredients: chia seeds, dried apricots, pepita's, wheat germ, LSA ect....

Method:

• In a fry pan, dry roast all your dry ingredients for about 7 minutes until they are nice and toasted (not the sultanas or dried fruit).

• Let that cool down a little and enjoy the delish smell in your kitchen ;)  Time to add your sultanas / dry fruit.

• In a saucepan, bring your butter, sugar and honey to the boil then bring it back to a simmer for 7 minutes while stirring. Don't take your eyes off it.

• Pour your sticky butter into your dry ingredients and mix it well.

• Pop the finished mix into a lined slice tray and refrigerate.

• After a couple of hours your free to slice and dice it as you please. The kids liked theirs chopped into little mouthful squares.

• (Note: This recipe is quiet sweet. Especially if you have the sultanas or dried fruit. So feel free to drop the sugar / honey amount, I will be next time.)

Now we needed the perfect spot to hang the masterpieces!

This morning brought yet another trip to Bunnings, we are frequent flyer's there that's for sure!

While we were there I sprung it on Dad'n that I wanted him to whip us something up for above the kids craft area. Somewhere that we could hang paintings to dry or show off what pretty things the kids had created.

Here is what he came up with. I love, love, LOVE it!

 

 



Here is a list of what we used:

2m of Braided wire rope ($5.60)

Zenith Screw eyes ($4.30)

Zenith Wire rope grips ($6.40)

So it came to a total of $16.30. Not to bad at all.

 





Now Boo is working over time so she can change all the pictures over. Bless.