A Most Splendiferous Day.....

The day dawned and I was up early as usual - but craaaazy excited. Despite the excitement I felt pretty chilled out. The most stressful thing was worrying that the music would transport ok to the DJ, so we had some favourite songs, and routine music.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Michael didn't call me....I had a few butterflies about that...hoping he wasn't going to bail on me!...When I finally called he was like "I though we weren't having any contact today"...."noooo, we weren't seeing each other, but I totally wanted you to call me and tell me how much you love me, and how excited you were!! Sheesh...." ;)

Let just say getting ready for a wedding is all the more exciting when you have three children to get ready and to keep clean! :) Evette rocked up just after 11am with a friend from gym who was going to do our make up.....I was having fake eyelashes for the first time in my life! Don't really know why I haven't attempted it before, considering how lacking I am in the eyelash department!

I did my own hair, painted my nails, and the kids were all sorted without much drama....They looked gorgeous...

 Ash loved his suit, and Amelie felt like a princess....

Jack was MIA - outside pushing his wagon!

I didn't scrub up too bad either....*wink*

I totally felt like a princess!

I had planned to get to the venue early - but my brother was running late with the music and Michael wasn't there yet...so I chilled in the car with Evette down the road - all giggly and excited....chatting and reminiscing....I also couldn't help posting a quick facebook update ;)

We were fashionably late...it was awesome....Chris (my bro) took some pictures before we went up the stairs (we were getting married on the deck of my Aunty's house) - and as we walked out Jack kept yelling out "We are going to throw flowers at you!".....haha....soooo cute! Needless to say, Amelie got a case of shyness, and couldn't throw any rose petals, instead, buried her head in my dress.

 Somebody (me!) may have left the ring in the car....oops...Evette ducked out and returned just in time for my vows ;) 

 I have big knuckles....hehe

Its official.....yay!!!

We mingled, we took photos.....we missed the nibblies....so hungry! Michael's sister-in-law used to be my Young Women President, so it was kinda cool that we had known some of his family for years.....

We then went with my brother to the Botanical Gardens just down the road and took some (hoping :) awesome photos...it was fun - and then cruised down to the reception. 

Food! Friends, and dancing....it was an awesome night. The kids were running wild with each other, thank goodness for the playground out the back and big dance floor. It was nice to see the children having a great time as well. We have a sleepover planned for Amelie on our return!

Our bridal waltz was hilarious, I nearly fell over onto Michael - my shoes were definitely not made for dancing!! Although I did practice, I didn't account for the sore feet! It was still wonderful, we danced to "Put You Head On My Shoulder" by Michael Buble.

The Cake

Thank you Sam! It looked amazing and tasted just as good!!

Our routine kinda bombed - in my opinion anyway :) I don't know what it was...whether we were hopped up on adrenalin and nerves or if it actually was.....slower than normal!! We stopped it once, both noticing the tempo was a lot slower....and then just had a go anyway....It put us off - Michael forgot a bit, we messed up a little, and finished slightly late! Ugh....although it took me a full hour to stop shaking and my heart to mellow out, and the fact that I was mortified that we did so bad - especially since we were nailing it in our practice time....it was all good.  

 We got to dance together, and that's all that mattered.

...I did feel stunning in my dress, but it felt so good to swap my dress and heels for pants and dance shoes and shake it out! :) We danced a whole lot, got exhausted - and we closed shop about 9.30pm - I couldn't believe how early it was. Most people seemed to have a good time - but really, who cares, we had a ball! :) :) 

Here's the plan - I want a pot lucky/family dance party in that same hall for every anniversary - and I told Michael so. What do you think....? I think it's an awesome idea!! ;)

PS The following is in response to This Girl Loves To Talk's related post.....Aww Bobbie, I admit I had a little teary reading your post....I so would have loved you to come to celebrate our wedding with us, I was honestly slightly bummed out that you couldn't make it. You are one of the people that I wish I was able to spend more time with, for our children to get to know each other, to live closer....Thank goodness for Blogger and Facebook ;) I am so glad that we did reconnect, just to clear it up -  I do count you as friend. :) (We don't leave for our honeymoon until Friday... ;)

That Awesome Feeling.....

...That you get when you walk into an exam.....is how I am feeling now. You know, I have studied my hardest, I just don't care anymore.

Everything that is going to get done, is done.....with a few hiccups along the way (I am sure there will be more to come :) - Michael has no side burns thanks to me (don't ask....*sigh* who does that??!), Jack looks like a thug ;) (I had to shave his head due to a scissor incident a week ago), and a slight variation to the cake - my awesome cake maker had to go to hospital (thankfully, she is ok!...for her sake, not the cake's!)...

But its cool....I'm cool....


And I am getting really excited!

Only Two More Days.....

 And I am totally FREAKING OUT!!!....

Not in a “I don’t want to get married" kind of a way.....More of a total mental shut down – I just don’t want to do anymore wedding preparation.

The house is a mess, I can’t focus, I am craving junk food and just want to sit on my butt and watch episodes of “How I Met Your Mother”. I am so over looking at rings, over my dress, my shoes, my make up, my hair, the flowers, discussing food....the screaming kids....soooo over that. It’s hard enough getting a wedding together, but doing it with three children is absolutely mental.

I am honestly losing my mind....

But....somewhere in there, I am crazy excited – if someone could do it for me, and I can just think happy thoughts of marrying my super awesome man, I would be cool with that. I totally get why people elope!!...*sigh* the kids are still screaming.......

The reality is, I need to get the songs for the DJ, pack the kids up for two days, fold washing, wash up, colour my hair, pack MY clothes, tidy the boys room....If I just get going I know it will be cool – I am overwhelmed and its freezing me up...not to mention tired from all the dance practice and late night...

PS our dance is going to be awesome though.....

 Only two more days!! YAY!!

So Here's The Thing....

Ever since I have educated myself more about "food" - I have become increasingly paranoid. I am not wasteful, so I have been using the pantry items Michael brought over from his place....and last night I made the kids one of those packet side dish things - macaroni cheese (I added bacon & they had had veggies for afternoon tea). It was hard, I was almost going to throw it out! But then I felt ungrateful and that I was being a food snob. So I cringed and fed it to them - and promised next time I would make my own super tasty  version with wholemeal pasta and flour....and real cheese! 

Today I am baking biscuits to fill my "cookie" jar (one of my awesome op shop items - post to come!) and I have spent ages on the internet looking for healthy recipes, but I am lacking ingredients as my pantry is not fully stocked yet....

ANYWAY....I baked jam drops using Michael's white flour, and then couldn't handle it and added a quarter of a cup of flaxseed meal (linseed meal).

Do I have a problem??

I still want my kids to enjoy snacky treats and not feel deprived, I would just prefer for them to have healthy options most of the time....

I also read an article posted on a friends facebook page, "Motherhood Matter: Happy and Fat"  from MormonTimes.com - read it, tell me what you think!

I love good food (no really I love to eat, just ask Michael!), and I love being fit and strong and looking good in my clothes - so I am trying to find a balance - Can I have a great body and be a happy mummy?

So add this to my resolution list for the year, 'Compile 50 super tasty and incredibly healthy recipes'.

PS. My biscuits were a hit!

Oh Ye Of Litte Faith...

To set a bit of a background on the whole house hunting thing - I had been prepping hard!! I had numerous lists of all the characteristics we needed in a house, I knew what we could afford, I knew where I wanted to live, I knew what school I wanted to the kids to go to - I had been praying, fasting and making sure I had paid a full tithe for at least the last 6 months - I wanted to make sure I had all the bases covered. So in my head I was like "Heavenly Father, I am doing all the ground work and leaving the rest up to you, I know you will take care of us."

Being knocked back on the first couple of houses was a little hard to take, but I was still upbeat and we used the time Michael had off work (due to the floods) to do more house hunting.....by the second day we had put in four applications, by the third day we had two rejected - and we found out why.,...apparently my rental reference from the last place I lived in Tassie was highly unfavourable. My past had caught up with me, and the possibility of finding a place was looking very bleak indeed. I doubted. I was extremely upset and angry that I was being judged on someone else's bad behaviour (case of the "ex"). So instead of getting on my knees and exercising a little bit more faith - I completely wigged out! *sigh*

When I finally calmed down, we took the kids to the beach, I was exhausted from balling my eyes out and anxious, awaiting news on the last two houses. (Mind you, Michael was Mr Cool throughout all of this....worse case scenario according to him, I put my stuff in storage and we live in his two bedroom townhouse after we are married) I was too nervous to go swimming I just sat by the phone watching the kids play....but eventually we got the call....one of our applications was accepted!!

We had a house!!

 To me this was a little miracle, as this particular house was under application by a couple of people when Michael inquired about it, and we almost crossed it off out list. I called up to double check and get an application just in case, and heard that both of the applicants had been rejected. I don't know how we were approved, but I am super grateful that we were!

Our New House.....

So its pink - I think I can live with that.....;)

dance floor - yay!!

Tonight will be the last night at my mum and dads place.....hello adventure, hello change and hello independence!!

  Note to self: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

We Didn't Get It.....

.....The house we really wanted :(, and another application wasn't accepted as well. They just said the owner chose someone else. I am pretty bummed out, it felt so perfect! But hey, some times things just don't work out the way that you think they should, no matter how good it feels.

I have been told that obviously there is a more perfect house out there for us....."more perfect" how? I wonder. Maybe 'more perfect' is the growth that comes from accepting something that may be not quite what we want, or an awesome owner/real restate, or fantastic neighbours....I don't know. Regardless, as down as I feel I know that where ever we end up (even if we have to kick Michael out of his place until we are married ;) it will be where we are meant to be.

We have one more application in - I did really like this place, nice and neat and I spent ages chatting to the real estate lady.....she married someone 10 years her junior, we were talking about age difference. She was cool with the kids running around, hiding in the cupboards. The floor is 'floor board' looking lino, the main bedroom has small walk-in wardrobe and an ensuite, the bathroom was nice, the carpet was decent - I could easily be happy there too....poky street and all. :)

UPDATE
Just realised the neighbouring suburb to where we are looking for a house is still in the ward boundaries - with bigger (4 bedrooms), newer houses for the same price.....If we are accepted for this other house, can we let go of something we already have for something better? One in the hand is worth two in the bush.....hmmm

Looks like its another few days down the coast....this time I am not going to bother with inspections, just going straight for the application after the drive-by.

This Is The Place.....

So after 3 days of of housing hunting with the three kids in rainy weather....I think we may just have found the perfect home for us!!

The main criteria we had were 3 bedrooms, a convertible internal access double garage (for Michael's daughter to have a pad, or family to visit) or an extra room, a yard for the kid to play in (and me to fantasise about having a vegetable garden) - and hopefully, tiles, wood or some other suitable flooring for Michael and I to practice dancing on.

The first day was really discouraging - all the houses were in tiny streets, with hardly any street parking, the houses were on top of each other, and the kids were driving me nuts! I only got to look in a few houses, with most of the day spent doing drive-bys, checking out the internet, and on the phone to  different real estate agents planning the next couple of days of house viewings.

I noticed something interesting as the day progressed....its not just the house, or the street that has the potential to sway my opinion - its the agent! If they are abrupt and don't seem to care about what we want or the quality/state of the house we are looking to rent - its a major turn off....but if they are super friendly, nice to my children, notice the things that I notice, listen to my needs - I will rent anything off them!

Day two turned out to be full of house viewings, and very rainy - but despite that I was in good spirits. I think it had a lot do with how prepared I was (kinda getting in the rhythm of it all), and I reckon a lot do with the amount of prayers we were sending up to help us in our quest (kids included - I love seeing their faith grow!). The third house we saw that day seemed to me to be a turning point....Michael had convinced me to have a look at complex houses, they are nicer/newer for the price compared to the houses we had been viewing. I hate complexes, but since the streets we had been finding houses on were so narrow anyway and complexes these days sometimes have small yards, I conceded. It was a four bedroom house, at the top of our price range, not ideal but still affordable. It was VERY nice, but had cream carpet everywhere - mind you, it was decent hard wearing carpet....nice house no big deal...

THEN.....the guys says "I wasn't going to show you number 5 because the owners were putting it on the market, but they called me this morning to tell me they wanted to rent it out - the yard is better, it has no deck and is $10 cheaper."

We walked inside and I swooned just a little - the guy apologised for the paint scheme and the few (minuscule) gaps in the floor boards....apologise for what!?....it was amazing! The owners had been living in the house and although it was very similar to the other house - they had pulled up the carpet and put in floor boards everywhere, and every room was a different bright colour! Yellow, pastel green, peachy red, blue with transfers on the walls for the boys. The kitchen was to die for, the rooms were huge, there was loads of cupboard space, we could dance, we could have Michael's family over, his daughter could live with us - it was perfect *sigh*....

Almost...

The yard was just a strip of grass all around the house, there wasn't a lot of parking space, nowhere for a garden.....'but there is a pool just across the road!' said the children. They were just as distracted as I was. Although it was in our price range we really needed to be saving as much money as we could so it really wasn't as perfect as it appeared....Oh, but it was so beautiful!

We filled out a bunch of applications together that night, and I sold Michael on how amazing the house was. Even when we read the complex's strict rules on noise and cleanliness it still seem great....I stewed on it all night, I didn't want to get the house and feel like we were living in a gilded prison....but I can't emphasise how tempting the appearance of it was.

Anyway...I called Michael at work the next morning and told him I wasn't going to lodge the application for the amazing house, it just didn't feel right. I would rather get a much cheaper house save our butts off so that 5-10 years down the line we can buy our own gorgeous house, and we can be free!.... For the kids to run wild if they choose, for me to be as clean or messy as I want and for me to play music as loud as legally permitted! :)

After that decision, the first house I looked at in the morning was possibly as perfect as we could get! It was $60 cheaper was on the main road (so no poky street), had a big fenced backyard (with an old hills hoist close line...yay!! I was so sick of looking at tiny ones attached to the house!), a verandah, a huged tiled room under the house with a toilet (perfect! for Michael's daughter to live with us, or as a chill/dance room, or anything!), three bedrooms, separate toilet, laundry downstairs in the double garage, bath/shower, a/c in the louge room, good size master bedroom and security screens.....One bedroom doesn't have a cupboard, no fans in the bedrooms, little kitchen, no built in pantry, living/dining area aren't very big....but I don't care!


So much potential to work with, I am queen of making do....admittedly thanks to my ex-husband! :) It has everything we need, and we can save money as well!!! And the real estate lady was really friendly....and when I dropped the application in to them, their business is run from a house, with only a couple of people and they were so nice to my kids....fingers crossed everything runs as smoothly as it has so far, and we continue to be blessed for our efforts and righteous desires.

I applied for two other houses as well that we would be happy to live in also. We will hopefully be moving in just over a week!!!

If we get this one.....house warming party!!!! :) :)