FIJI

The Shangri-La is on the main Island Viti Levu on the bottom left hand side. It's number 7 on this map. We then go to Mana Island which is just above #13 and just under #14. We then come back to the main island to the Outrigger which is number 10.

A Very Special Month

Keith and I are engaged, the night before my birthday he asked me to marry him... Happy days!!!


We had spoken about getting married before we got engaged (so he was pretty sure on what the answer was gonna be) and we'd discussed getting married oversea's and.... its gonna happen. We've paid our deposit and it's official.

We are getting married in Fiji next year.

We're staying at and getting married on a white sandy beach at the Shangri-La Resort in Fiji. The Shangri -La is on the Coral Coast of Fiji. Its all very exciting. We Get married on the 6th day of our stay which is a Thursday, then the next day we leave from there for our honeymoon.


We then stay on Mana Island for 7 nights and we then come back to the main Island, still on the Coral Coast at the Outrigger On The Lagoon Resort. Yes thats 3 weeks away in Fiji... Gotta love it!!!

BOOTCAMP!!!

Ok, so after thinking and thinking and thinking about it...

IVE DONE IT!!!!

ive joined BOOTCAMP!

There's no stuffin around with the bootcamp, i signed up on the Wednesday evening and the next Monday (yesterday) was my first class.

There are 11 people in the class and we are all at COMPLETELY different levels of fitness and yes im at the lower level which in short means 'i suck!'.

One of the guys is a patient at my work and he's SO fit! He came into work today to see how i pulled up after Monday. Hmmm, good question, how am I? Well i struggled to get out of bed... every part of my body hurts when i move, and my lovely legs keep going from under me so yeah... im fine... REAL FINE!!!! Nah seriously im fine but seriously im hurting. -Mondays class wasnt too bad because she was testing our levels of fitness. So im not looking foward to tomorrow when its suposed to be FULL ON!

Now im looking into doing funruns for charitys for next year except i cant seem to find any details or calander of events that will be on. Gotta do my homework on that one.

Tonight: Take Keith to the gym, cook dinner then.... hot bath :)

Decisions.

Im trying to decide what to do...

Ive been on a weight loss program for 3 months next week. In the 3 months ive lost just over 3kgs, which really isnt 1/2 of what i wanted to loose. I've had HUGE lifestyle changes, i have completely changed my eating habits and exercise around 6 times a week... Even thought the actual weight loss hasnt gone to plan i have changed a little in shape which im happy about and im feeling heaps healthier & im very happy with the gym.

My problem is that next week will be 3 months and thats when the membership expires. Now i have already renewed for 12 months but i can at any stage change my membership to a normal membership instead of the weight loss program which will save me $40 a fortnight. It's not about the money (you can tell i dont have kids...lol)... its that i HATE the weigh-ins because i never seem to loose anything which gets me really down.

So what do i do?

Do I stay on the weightloss program for a while longer? or

Do I change to a normal membership? or

Do I do a bootcamp?

Im thinking to possibly change to a normal membership and to do a bootcamp... but im worried that it'll kill me lol. You have 3 sessions a week Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 6am-7am for 4 weeks, or have i not given the weight loss program enough of a go?

Funny Read

Here is an email that i received and i thought it was pretty funny. See what you think.

Re: Request for a raise

I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:

I do physical labor.
I work at great depths.
I plunge headfirst into everything I do.
I do not get weekends or public holidays off.
I work in a damp environment.
I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.
I work in high tempratures.
My work exposes me to contagious diseases.

Sincerely,
P.Niss

The Response:

Dear Penis:

After assessing your request, & considering the arguments you have raised, the administration rejects your request for the following reasons:

You do not work 8 hours straight.
You fall asleep after brief periods.
You do not always follow the orders of the management team.
You do not stay in your designated area & are often seen visiting other locations.
You do not take your initiative- you need to be pressured & stimulated in order to start working.
You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of your shift.
You dont always observe necessary safety regulations, such as wearing the correct protective clothing.
You will retire well before you are 65.
You are unable to work double-shifts.
You sometimes leave your designated work area before you have completed the assigned task.
And if that were not all, you have been seen constantly entering & exiting the workplace carrying two suspicious-looking bags.

Sincerely,
V.Gina

Rusty Desexing...OUCH!!!

My little boy had a trip to the vet on thursday and had his...umm.. you know... hang on ill start again... on Thursday Rusty was desexed... Why you ask would i take my 10 year old dog to have this done? well a few reasons.

1. Its always the first thing the vet talks about no matter what he's at the vet for. As he is an old man he could get prostate. They ask me to check him all the time and its embarrassing for me and im sure Rusty...lol

2. He has a problem with aggression towards other dogs, ive tried dog training and i cant train because he's too interested in trying to kill all the other dogs.

3. And lastly my favourite, he has just in the last few months started peeing all over the house.

Now you can blame this on the Foxtel watching Cesor Millan 'The Dog Whisperer' but he clearly states that not having your dog desexed can cause alot of problems for example: MARKING TERRITORY!!! He says that unless your planning on breeding have it done. Check him out at http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

On Sunday last week was breaking point for me... I was ready to pack his bags. He was just peeing absolutely EVERYWHERE, and as much as i LOVE the smell of dog urine in my home it just got a little too much! I got on the internet to see about adopting him out and what to do... yeah... can you believe it... then i calmed down, took a deep breath, and thought...ok... ill look up disobedient dogs, problem jack russell etc. found out some information. Jack russells are very active dogs (totally agree) you need to exercise them and socialise them... How am i suposed to do that when he tries to attack every dog that walks by!!! Its very frustrating and very upsetting... you wouldnt think it was the same dog... apparently (according to Ceser Millan) Rusty thinks he's the 'leader of the pack' (he thinks hes the boss of me) and he disrespects me (peeing in the house right in front of me).

So hence the reason for having him desexed. Hopefully that will get rid of his sense to 'mark his territory' and calm him down around other dogs. If this doesnt work the next step is a person that comes out to your house, similar to Cesor Millan and tells you where your going wrong. I have emailed 2 places about my problems with Rusty... One place said $200 for 2-3 hours... WTF!!!! and the other said $91, that i can handle. They reacon that the aggression they can eliminate...

Is This How I Spend My Sundays???

I felt like a little kid today.... making popcorn (PLAIN!!!) and jelly (Lite of course). The house smells sooo yummy...lol

Mum brought Keith this popcorn machine one year for Christmas coz he LOVES popcorn. But unlucky for Keith ive claimed it my own he he he. Popcorn is apparently a great snack for when your trying to... ummm... feel a bit lighter...? (dont want to say those dreaded words). Same with the Jelly... split a packet of jelly up and have it as your dessert... use different flavours... different colours... have some fresh fruit with it... I needed something sweet after dinner and i was mostly having icecream (lite of course) but its still not great for you... so hence jelly and popcorn!
----------------------------------Doesnt this look yummy!!!!-------------------------------

-----------------------------Split it up so you can have it for snacks---------------------

------------------------------Jelly!!! Yummy Pineapple & Port Wine---------------------

Favourite Photo

One of my Favourite photo's... It makes me smile everytime i look at it... he he he.

Introducing the 2 men in my life... asleep... on the bed!

My New Addiction!!!

Boxing... My new addiction!!! Yes thats right... these are MY boxing gloves... Im very proud to wear my pink gloves to punch the absolute crap out of a heavy bag...lol. Seriously... dont knock it till you've tried it. Keith and I have found a form of exercise that we cant get enough of.

Check out the web site http://www.boxingfit.com.au/

2 thumbs up!

Finding Who???

Its turtles... was the little turtles name Crush?

You recognise them.... Remember... 'I speak Whale'

One of my favourite parts...

Disney On Ice Finding Nemo.
Great day out with the girls!

Weekend BBQ

Keith and I had some friends over on the weekend for a BBQ... Even though it was freezing cold, us girlies stayed in the house while the boys cooked outside... It was good for a change coz my friends have stopped smoking so we didnt have to stand outside for a chat in the cold...

They we'rnt bad smokers... you know... the type that stink up the house or that smoke in the car when your there and your not a smoker, and your holding your breath while their draggin on their cancer stick and your holdin your head out the window like a dog saying in your mind 'please god get this over with'... They were the cleaner smokers (if there is such a thing), they didnt smoke in their own house, the didnt smoke in their car and the didnt stink either...lol. I honestly thought that she might be prego but she was drinking so that ruled that out... She made it clear that they were quitting so that when she is prego its not gonna be such a big deal. Heaps of baby talk with them though... its funny how things change... Not too long ago the conversation was always about them getting hitched... and now thats done... its baby talk... weird... Keith and i are like 'you guys are freakin us out'...lol. Im so happy for them and good luck with the quitting smoking. Its been 8 weeks Good Luck Guys.

Knitted Blanket

Here is some pics of the blanket that ive been knitting.

25 stitch's x 20 rows with 8 sections with 7mm needles (hope thats understandable)



Ive only got 1 more section to do before completing it. I really got stuck into it for a while there and decided that i better slow down coz i was spending WAY too much time sitting down (not good for burning those calories...lol)

For some reason lately ive been obsessed with green... Thanks to grandma for the idea of this warm blanket...

Working in Retail...

You know if your thinking of working in retail i recommend you have a really hard think about.

For some reason its known that 'the customer is 'always right', but you know what... that is not always the case... You try and help people as much as you can and you go out of your way to ensure that the customer is always happy but some people... there's no pleasing them... they use you as an emotional punching bag and your expected to just stand there and take it with a smile... which is crap... This happened to me today and its not the 1st... 1st thing in the morning at like 9:10am... a father came in and was totally going nuts at me about a purchase for his son... i couldnt say anything coz he wouldnt let me get a word in... and the thing thats most frustrating about it is that i did understand where he was coming from and i did want to help him. But because he was so angry i couldnt let him know that. He was yelling... pointing at me... and talking down to me... it was that bad that when he walked out i couldnt help but cry.

It can be very hard to take that sort of verbal abuse especially when i dont experience that sort of abuse in my personal life at all... and people think that they can come into the store and just go completely nuts at me... a total stranger. A customer has no right to do that... thats not what im here for... i dont get paid to be abused...

Ive done lots of courses and had lots of experience with customer service... sometimes you'll get those lovely people who will appreciate that you have gone out of your way to help them and they'll even do lovely things like buy you chocolates... and theres people that understand that sometimes... its just out of my hands... but then you get the people like ive been talking about... that feel that they can yell and get angry with you... which can sometimes be really hard to deal with...

So basically im writting to let people know in general that... when it comes to retail workers... we're not there to make your life harder... we go out of our way to make sure you (the custome)is happy, which in turn makes our working lives alot easier...

(I feel better now...lol)

Strassman LIVE!!!

Yes im very excited to announce that this saturday night... i will be going out!!! Can you believe it!!! I'll be putting the knitting and cross stitch aside (Keith cant believe it lol) and putting my heals on... As you can tell i dont get out very often anymore. Im 25 years old and i feel like a nanna sometimes...



We are going to see Strassman Live, the tour is called 'Get Chuck'd' (lol) or something like that. It's gonna be a great night out.


Ill let you know how it goes. He's preforming in Geelong. I havent been in Geelong for ages. I cant wait to see Ted-e-bear...lol he cracks me up...

In my next post ill put up my newest project which is knitting a blanket, i got the idea of grandma who is currently making one for mum.

Happy Easter

Last night i brought home a beautiful, lovely, yummy Cadbury Creme egg for Keith... Well, i had actually brought it for myself and hid it in the car but then decided that if i have one it would lead to another and another.... So i gave it to Keith.

I WAS SHOCKED to find out that Keith had NEVER had a famous Cadbury Creme Egg... Dude!!! I dont know anyone... correction, i didnt know anyone that had never had one before...

Sometimes ill be chatting to Keith about little things that we did when i was a kid, like TV Shows that we watched, and Keith had never seen them... EG: Keith has NEVER seen E.T......Never seen Willy Wonker & The Chocolate Factory.... CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!!

You can tell he had never had one before because he ate it ALL at once... Its like a Mrs Fields Cookie... You have to eat it slowly and enjoy it because its a treat, and an expensive one.lol

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!! Enjoy your long weekend :)

A Few Things In One Go

I thought rather than making a few blogs ill do 2 at once...

TRIP TO GOLD COAST
The following photo's are of my holiday with Keith at the beginning of February (I know its already the mid to end of March... a little late...lol) To the Gold Coast. We stayed at Seaworld Nara Resort, we only had time to do one park and we decided on Wet'n'Wild.

This is a photo of our favourite water slide at Wet'n'Wild where Keith and i could go on it at the same time. It was 2 pitch black water slides and you have absolutely no idea of which way you are going. About 2 times throughout the entire slide there were like the tiny of tiniest holes on the side of the slide so that you could see for like a second. It was a real rush. Keith and i walked up and down those god dam stair 5 or 6 times coz it was awsome. The weather was very overcast and Keith and I got extremely burnt.
This is the pool at the resort. This is a great place for a family to stay for a holiday. The pools had a great section which is to the right of this photo where the kids could play, it was a great set up. If you can see there is a bridge going over the pool, a water fall on the left hand side which was awsome, seating everywhere and a Cafe' at the back. It was an awsome time away but it was not for long enough.

ANGIES & RAYS WEDDING

Angie and Ray celebrated their wedding on a day where the weather couldnt be better. No wind, the sun was shining and the gardens were beautiful. Im so happy for them. I wish them both the best of luck.
(Love this picture) It was so good to see my Aunty and my new Uncle so happy.
I had to put this one in coz i think its a crackup. This is my brother-in-law throwing my little nephew in the air at the pool where we were staying for Angie and Rays Wedding. Jack was LOVING the water, it was so good to see such a young boy so confident in the water, i was really impressed.

Night Out at the BLUE FIRE GRILL

Last weekend we went out for Mum's and Keith's Dad's birthday to the Blue Fire Grill. It was a great night out LOTS to eat and the best thing is that you dont even have to get of your butt... they come to you with the food. Top quality food, lots of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, Fish Calamari & snags... oh and there were vegies as well... and yes i did have some. Keith called the vegies 'a waste of space' lol.

Highly recommend Blue Fire Grill, we went to the Melbourne Central restaurant. Check it out.

http://www.bluefiregrill.com.au/melbournecentral/melbournecentral.htm

Ive got lots more to blog but computer has decided to s*#t it self. Got photos from our holiday to QLD and lots more...

MY NEW CROSS STITCH

FINALLY i have purchased a new cross stitch. I received it in the mail on Monday (i was very excited to come home from work he he he) Its called 'Bears in Bed' and it looks soooo cute. It will measure 46cm x 12cm. I thought it would be a nice and easy project (or easier compaired to my last cross stitch project).

At least this way ill have a cross stitch to complete until the next fair which is in March and no... i dont think ill get this finished by then im just gonna make sure i have a few dollars for then... lol

Ive seen a few good ones that are HUGE projects but i think for now ill stick with this one.

Im also reading a book and about to do some more scrapbooking so ill be a busy girl... its a shame that all my hobbies involve sitting on your butt...lol

FUR KIDS THAT PLAY UP

Rusty is starting to become a bit of a pain in the butt... to put it nicely. Our Saturday morning started off with the next door neighbours nocking on our door at like 8am. When we open the door Rusty wonders in... He got out... AGAIN!!! this time he dug through Lily Dale Toppings (which is what our path is made of) and got under the front fence.... Needless to say Keith and I were not happy AT ALL!!!

So Saturday night we thought we need to keep him inside because we hate the thought that he will get hurt or cause an accident by getting out all the time, so we thought rather than him getting too used to the idea of sleeping with me and Keith that he could sleep in the laundry. He had his matt, his water, food and he was still instide so he didnt seem too concerned.

Sunday morning i go to let him in and what do i see..... picture below....
Rusty had DUG at the laundry door causing this damage which lead to the picture below...

I have very mixed emotions about this and i still cant believe that my 10 1/2 year old dog has just started to play up like this. So he is now in the middle of the backyard with his kennel chained to a pole!!! It really upsets me to see him like that but what do we do??? Keith and i have decided that when we get home he can come inside but he still has to sleep outside. So even though he probably thinks that he's been ripped off but he's still got it pretty good... I mean, we cant trust him to stay out the backyard and we sure as hell cant trust him to stay inside on his own anymore... Fur kids... I tell ya, he stresses me out!!!

Keith & His Surfboards

Last year Keith completed a course on surf board shaping which he thoroughly enjoyed. On the course he completed one surf board and is working on his first surfboard at home (making a nice mess in the garage at the same time) but, you know what... i dont mind coz i think its important to have your own hobbies, especially when he works so hard for the things that we have.

I am somone who personally understands and believes in the need to have a personal hobby or interest. It helps to take your mind of things that are bothering you and stimulates the brain and hey... we all need some of that!

So i thought id show Keiths surfboard that is in the making. He is currently looking into a airbrushing course so he can create detailed pictures such as thunder and flames. He is a pretty talented guy :) he has such a good eye for detail. I have alot of faith that he will do some awsome designs. I will post pictures as he goes along but... i dont know if he is going to wait until he has done this course in airbrushing before he finishes this board or what he is going to do.

DOGS... Oh My God!!!

Rusty is our 10 1/2 year old dog/son and the only trouble ive had with him is that he pulls the towels of the line and he's not too friendly towards other dogs. He is otherwise a fantastic dog, he'll cuddle up to you, he'll come to you when you call him, he'll sit when you tell him too, i just love him to bits BUT........ Keith and i have been trying to make him sleep outside more now because half the time its cooler outside than it is inside (although Rusty doesnt see it like that)

So this morning Keith went to let Rusty inside once he got up and he wasnt at the back door... Keith thought he'd sneak upto him around the corner and softly say 'Rusty' and Rusty would be all excited and come running inside to see me in bed..... that is how it was suposed to go. But Rusty wasnt around the corner either, so keith crept to the other side of the house, peaked around that corner to find that Rusty wasnt there either!!!! So the loader 'Rusty' comes out of Keith and still... nothing!!! I was panicing thinking that there was no way that he could have gotten out so he must have been passed out somewhere in the backyard or even worse... After searching EVERYWHERE Keith went out the front and who was sniffing the plants 2 doors down... bloody Rusty. Lord only knows how long he was out there for but he came straight to Keith.

So we stayed out the back with him for a minute and he kindly showed us where he had DUG a hole into the neighbours backyard (they dont have a fence between their house and the side fence yet) So after the initial shock that he had been digging we put bricks down so it wouldnt happen again. (obviously we are still working on getting the backyard done)

So Keith leaves for work and i hop into the shower and when i came out i thought... ill just check to make sure he is there... BUT HE WASNT!!!! so out the front i go and there he is... down the end of the street... I CANT BELIEVE IT!!! So i go out the back to find that he likes this digging thing so he's dug a hole next to the bricks that Keith had just layed down.... little bugger.

So today, on this day that is expected to be 39 degrees Rusty is locked up in the laundry for the day... But Rusty isnt too concerned because he'd taken himself for 2 walks this morning so he's happy.

Lion Cross Stitch- COMPLETED

This is my finished cross stitch that i started a little while ago (i made a blog about it when i started, i think it was in June or July, something like that). I finished it I think it was the last week in November ( I was gonna mark the date on the calender but i thought id remember...DOH).

I purchased it from http://www.vicstitch.com.au in Geelong. It wasn't sold in a kit, it was sold seperately and ended up costing me approx $68.00 Obviously I loved it to spend that much money on a cross stitch.

Width: 27.9cm
Depth: 35.6cm

Not long after I got this cross stitch my sis found a seller on e-bay that was selling cross stitch kits and patterns dirt cheap... cant remember who it was though. Sis, if you remember the seller can you let me know coz im on the hunt!

I was going to wait until i had it framed before i put it on here but, i think it will be another month or so before i do, so i thought id put it on now.

Its my biggest cross stitch that ive EVER done and i can tell you now, there is not ONE mistake in it, and im really happy with the end result. When you purchase a cross stitch the picture never really does it much justice.

Im so happy that i finished it... Poor Keith... there is ALOT of silent hours, alot of counting and not much talking in this baby... As Keith would say... Im a 25 year old nana...lol

I havent started another one yet, i thought id wait until the cold whether again before i get one... but im starting to get an itch for it again... maybe i wont go so MASSIVE with the next one...lol. Although Keith doesnt mind that i havent started another one yet coz i actually have time to tlk to him and do house work...lol

But im looking foward to QLD so i can do some scrapbooking again. I kept saying to Keith that i cant think of anything to scrapbook and now he's givin me a great idea. Scrapbooking is a great way to get your creative side going, there are so many things that you can do, the options are endless... I highly recommend it.

Gold Coast... HERE I COME!!!

Im very excited, Keith has booked us in for the Gold Coast at the SeaWorld Nara Resort...

We're not too sure if we will actually go into SeaWorld (knowing me though i wont beable to help it) but we plan on going to Movie World. Keith was really keen to go to Dream World but coz i cant stand rides and id be the person holding everything, we decided to go to Movie World so that he can still go on a few scaring and sickening rides and at least then i can enjoy myself too...

The picture above is one of the rides that im sure Keith will be going on... I think he is CRAZY!!!!

I feel like a little kid im so excited... :)

I remember from YEARS ago when i went to the Gold Coast and we got these MASSIVE prawns and it was just on the pier next to SeaWorld... YUMMMMMM cant wait. Ill be sure to blog some photo's...

The Night At The Museum

Tonight Keith and I went to see the Night At The Museum. It was a great movie with some great actors in it. We went to the movies coz it was a HOT HOT day and the house was stuffy and we wanted to cool down... and cool down we did, if i had a jumper with me i would have put it on...brrrr

But yes i highly recommend it, the kids would love it as well... very funny movie.

Otherwise this weekend Keith and I are going to book a few days in sunny QLD tomorrow. We're looking at the beginning of February... very much so looking foward to it. We figure we'll just go to 1 park and spend the rest of the time just resting... and sunbaking :)

If it all goes to plan i will have pictures up FOR SURE...

NEW YEARS CELEBRATION

Keith and i spent new years with some good mates this year. We went to Lorne and we stayed at a house on the Great Ocean Road with 8 people in total. The photo with the 3 boys sitting with the beautiful back ground was the view that we had, we were right on top of a hill, with an ocean view and lots of trees and wild life. If we had of fallen of the balcony we would have just kept on rolling until we hit the great ocean road...

We were dissapointed with the lack of fire works in Lorne, there was litterally none BUT some how we were lucky enough to have a few go off right at the house that we stayed at...

The night was full of cowboy shots, champaine (found a new one that i love called Riccadonna) and some beams as well. I had a rough nights sleep so im looking foward to staying in my own bed tonight. We went into Lorne before we left today to soak up some of the hang over with chips and gravy....mmmmm.....

Well its another year over, cant believe it, now it'll take me a good few months before i get used to writing 2007...lol But on a serious note hopefully this year will bring everyone lots of joy and success (fingers crossed anyway)