Boys at Cell

This year my cell group at Bendigo has grown...we finished last year 4 members strong...then we went back to 3.... at our first cell for the year we were up to 6 (although only 4 were actually there)...and this week we were joined by the boys group as they are studying the same things as us so the group has pretty much doubled. 

I really enjoyed the girls group last year, but I have also missed the male opinion, so it was nice to have some guys there tonight.  I guess its not something that I have ever really thought about too much though, whether or not I want boys in my cell group...I suppose it doesn't really matter...its really about how the group works together and being able to share and grow together... I think it will be good to have them there...

Well I guess this was a pretty pointless blog...sorry...it did seem important when I started writing...but now that its done...  

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Just not quick enough

Maybe no one else experiences this, but my eyes can't keep up with 3D movies...I am just not that quick...tonight I went to see Avatar in 3D with Jana and Sam and after careful consideration I decided that I needed to wear my glasses to the movies because otherwise I would have that that whole two pairs at once thing going on and I decided that probably wouldn't work.  It turns out though perhaps I made the wrong choice...because I was a little tired, my eyes were dry and as a result my contacts took just a little bit too long to focus so I found it difficult to watch the faster 3D bits in the movie.

This is a bit of a shame, because I was super excited about 3D and now....not so much, in fact I think for now I will just stick to my glasses and normal 2D.

But just out of curiosity...does anyone else experience issues with 3D or is it just me?

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Flying through the list - # 58, # 62

Well I am flying through the list so far... Today, only 10 days in, I can cross to more things off my list...The first one was under sad circumstances though... let me explain...

This morning I was able to cross off #58 Attend Bendigo Corps, however it was to say farewell to Quentin and Susanne, who have been the officers there for the last 3years and are now heading to South Australia to an appointment there.  Over the past year I have been really grateful for Quentin and Susanne and the love and support they have given me.  When I moved away from home, mum reminded me that I was a salvo so I was going to have a family close enough and it is really true.  After a little bit of initial phone hockey, Susanne invited me to join a cell group at the corps and it has been one of the best things I have done up here.  It has given me some free meals, something to do every second week, but most of all some new friends that I will never forget, and even though I haven't been there on Sunday's it has given me a salvo family to belong to up here.  It has also allowed me to get to know both Quentin and Susanne and their lovely kids...which you may have noticed I have blogged about before.  And while I know the army world is small, and the magic of facebook is awesome, I will miss having them around and having a good laugh, but I know that they will be doing incredible things in SA and I have to let them go.  So thanks guys so much for everything that you have done and for helping settle in up here in the country, you will definitely be missed.  

The other thing I was able to cross off my list is a little less emotional...this afternoon I purchased a new set top box for my TV (#62).  Luckily for me Davo was up in Castlemaine for a visit so he set it all up for me and it is ready to go, with a lovely clear picture and lots more channels...although it does appear at this stage I am missing channel 9 in all shapes and forms but I am sure it will show up when its ready. 

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Christmas Run Down - No. 2

So it must be time for another Christmas run down... but first, just to clarify for Dave's sake...you will find the lyrics fit better to the tradition tune not because it is actually any different but rather because it is slower... So just in case you missed the first one we will sing it from the beginning...

On the Third day of Christmas something I did do:

Sing with my Pa

Bendigo's Christmas Lights

A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

On the Forth day of Christmas something I did see:

Come Celebrate:

This has become a Christmas tradition...although this year it came with a very very very nasty surprise.  For 5 and a half years now...well actually maybe not quite that long...i guess depending on...well actually just keep reading.... for the last few years at very least I had what I thought was a fantastic memory of Blackburn carols...come celebrate.  It was a memory of one of the first few times I had met Davo.  He was playing in the Box Hill Big Band and they were playing at the carols.  After the evening, I plucked up lots and lots of courage and went to see Dave.  He was wearing his Salvo T-shirt, Jeans and those crazy blue shoes.  Anyway, after a brief chat with Beas and Mim tonight, it turns out this memory is....WRONG.  It never happened.  The Big Band has never done come celebrate so how could Dave have played in it? Well this little moment of truth has rocked my world.  How could I have a wrong memory??? Seriously how does that even happen? Well let me tell you...it appears that I have confused two memories...Dave playing in a different band at carols without the blue shoes or jeans and another event at Blackburn sound shell where Dave was playing in the big band...it does kind of make sense but it does make me wonder how much more I have made up! 

Sing with my Pa

Bendigo's Christmas Lights

and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

On the Fifth day of Christmas something I did see:

More Christmas Lights:

These weren't just any lights though, they are crazy christmas lights...like intense crazy.  They are in Narracan Street in my old hood of vermont south and well the are just full on...I can't really explain it so just have a look at the photo...

Come Celebrate
Sing with my Pa

Bendigo's Christmas Lights

and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

On the Sixth day of Christmas something I did use:

Conversation Cards:

 

To be honest, conversation cards are not things that I have had much time for in the past.  My opinion was why can't you just think of your own stuff to talk about, I don't think having the questions prescripted was actually going to make things less awkward, in fact I was convinced it would probably make things more awkward.  Anyway, that was until two days ago when Sally from work showed me some that she had got as a Kris Kringle present.  After actually looking at them I changed my mind, I decided they were great and actually went and got some to give as a Kris Kringle present of my own, and do you know what??? They were a hit.  We used them tonight at my Bendigo Cell group break up and it was a lot of fun...There is a freedom with conversation cards, because you aren't answering a nosy question from a friend, but just a card, you can say it like it is and its good!  Never again will I poo poo conversation cards.

More Christmas Lights
Come Celebrate

Sing with my Pa

Bendigo's Christmas Lights

and A Pageant with the Kids from Kids Church

Well there you go, 6 days down, 6 to go....Hope you are enjoying the sing-a-long as much as me!

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Three's a crowd

So even though I live in a tiny house I still love to have people come and visit, but tonight I realized that my house isn’t made to have 3 people sleep there. Today Dusty and Jess drove up to Castlemaine for a visit. This was the first time Jess had seen my place and the second time for dusty, so I made sure everything was clean, I left a key out and made sure there was lots of coffee for Dust until I got home.

After a lovely dinner in Bendigo complete with a walk through the gardens with cold rock for dessert, we headed back to my place and watched a Christmas classic, Muppets Christmas Carol, Then we set up the beds, so I had my little spot up in the loft, Jess was on the couch and then Dusty was on a stretcher bed on the floor, but I tell you what there wasn’t much room left after that at all, it was very cozy. However, despite being on top of one another, it was a heaps fun night, complete with childhood reminiscing…it turns out Dusty and I have always been a little odd, well according to Jess anyway… I mean who else used to sing the decore shampoo add in the spa, using the bubbles as shampoo?

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Twihard

Sometimes I get sucked into things, I know you find that hard to believe but its true. The Twilight saga is one of these things, and thankfully I am not the only one.


When I moved up to Castlemaine I had to leave my Melbourne cell group behind, but because I didn’t want to miss out completely I found another one in Bendigo and it has been such a wonderful group to belong to. For most of the year it has just been Susanne, Dee and I, and towards the end of the year I finally met Jo as well.

Anyway, when we aren’t doing the study, there is a fairly high chance that Dee, Susanne and I are talking about twilight…we love it…and just for the record, I am team Edward, Dee is team Jacob…and Susanne…well she tends to change her mind, although I think Jake is currently winning. And so…it only seemed natural that we would attend the premier of New Moon together. So on Wednesday night, Susanne and I met at the cinemas nice and early, went and had some dinner and cold rock then headed back to the cinema to line up to that we would have awesome seats for the movie. Because we weren’t just seeing New Moon…no no no, we were seeing Twilight and New Moon, and unlike in Melbourne when you go and see something like this, there is no allocated seats. So Susanne and I lined up (Dee was at work) with all the 13-18year girls, a few older ones like us and I think 2 boys and waited to see the movie. And just in case you were wondering, it was soooooo worth it. I love doing things like that, I don’t really care how dorky you think I am, I still love it!

I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...

Brass Bands

There is something very peaceful about brass bands, perhaps its their classical music, or even the fact that it makes me think of my childhood and going to Dad’s band concerts, either way I don’t really mind, coz I still like it. This weekend the Box Hill Salvation Army Citadel Band was up in Bendigo, so being a Box Hill Girl, and living almost in Bendigo, I went and checked it out. This was my fist Band Wag experience and I did enjoy it. It brought back lots of memories from when I was a kid, because that was probably the last time I went to Brass band concert.

I think what made the night even better though was that the concert was full of all my favourite things about the box hill band:

• Some great marches
• A classic chorus
• A solo, on alto sax, from Davo
• A trombone solo from Benny
• A skit
• Some lovely male voices
• And just to top it off, Craig singing ‘Love changes anything’

Seriously, I don’t think that band concerts get much better than that!


I guess that's just all part of the adventure!

Read more...