Why I love Townsville

Yesterday I woke up to a crisp and fresh Townsville morning. The sky was blue and clear after the un-seasonable yet welcome rain and there was a soft breeze blowing. It was one of those mornings that tells you the rest of the day was going to be great! and it was!

After a good sermon, a successful Sunday school lesson and a free lunch a few of the guys from Willows Pressie and I decided that the day was far too nice to waste doing stuff inside. So off we went together to the Strand where coffee and frozen yogurt from Juliette's was enjoyed by all (thanks guys I will pay you back soon!). While the others walked up Castle Hill we (Gum, Phil and I) spent the rest of day at my 2 other favourite places in Townsville... Castle Hill and Queen's Gardens! (There are more favourite places but we ran out of daylight!)

To put things into perspective I have added some photos from a day where the weather was very similar... blue skies, blue oceans and good company!

Because of the clear air the view from Castle Hill was spectacular and we ended up sitting on top of the bunker for quite a while and almost lost track of time.

Eventually we decided that Gum was getting sun burnt and went for a walk in Queen's Gardens. There we chatted to the birds in giant aviary (when I first called it that Gum thought I had said it was a giant ovary!), smelling the roses and acting like complete kids on the swings. Because of my height (or lack thereof) I almost got lost in the mazes and had the crap scared out of me when Phil thought it would be funny to hide in the corner and jump out at me, if I could I would've crash tackled him for that!

After night church Scooter started playing the piano and I couldn't resist singing along. Pretty soon it turned into a jam sesh with Phil and I calling out requests and singing at the top of our voices. It almost reminded me of the family sing alongs that we used to have around the piano at home and having a tenor to sing with made it all the more enjoyable! (I miss you Dad!)

While to some this may not seem like an awfully exciting day to me it was a great way to spend a perfect Townsville winter day and one of many similar days that made me fall in love with this town in the first place. The weather, the scenery, the coffee and the people are just some of the reasons that I love this place so much and it is days like yesterday that makes the thought of ever leaving very difficult. It is no wonder that when people move to Townsville they stay!

It is hard having my family live so far away from me but every now and then I am reminded that, at least for now, this is home!

Wian and Skye's Wedding

Ok so this is almost 2 weeks too late but as you can tell, I've been lazy!

(no... this wasn't a posed kiss, what gives you that idea??)

Wian and Skye got married on the 12th of July and it was a beautiful day and not just because it was the first wedding since forever that I didn't have a job or role! They were able to do everything on a budget but when you look at the pictures you really can't tell. And everyone could see that their day wasn't about how good the church looked or if they had the best venue in town, it was truly just a day that reflected their personalities perfectly and the emphasis was where it was supposed to be, on them coming together and joining their lives under God.

Well it couldn't have been a Schwartz wedding without music and a lot of laughing and at least one person being picked on! All of this happened! Janel and my Dad both sang during the ceremony and the wedding favours at the reception was small music boxes (that drove us all insane by the end of the night!) Poor Wian was picked on all through the speeches and rightly so as he never asked Skye's dad for permission (!) and has almost succeeded in killing his best man and brother about 5 times! and of course the day could not be complete without Dad's signature "Well Wian, now Skye truly is the limit!" joke!

Of course, because I talk too much and take too many photos I am not able to load all of the photos onto this page, which is probably a good thing cos at the night wore on and as the amount of sugar and caffeine filled drinks were consumed the photos and the dancing just got scary! However I do hope you enjoy the selection of photos that I have provided.

Michael Buble Photos

Here is a small selection of pictures from the concert for you all to enjoy!

In case you were wondering, no I wasn't sitting that close I just zoomed in on the big screens that were on either side of the stage!

Sorry for those waiting to see photos of the wedding, they are comming soon!

For Marli...

Well considering that my sister has been checking my blogs and has been complaining that I haven't updated I thought I would sit down and force myself to write something.
It is a particualrly gloomy and rainy day in Townsville and a few things keep going through my mind....

1. yay for rain!!
2. It's raining in Townsville in the middle of winter, how strange!
3. Crap my washing is hanging out on the line!
4. Being on holidays while all your friends have full time jobs sucks!

I have just entered into my second of 3 weeks of holidays and so far I have finished the last 3 books in the Chronicles of Narnia and have made a fairly large dent in my new Francine Rivers book. I also seem to be spending an unhealthy amount of time on Facebook and have memorised the daytime television lineup... I think I need to get out more!

However I can't really say that my life has been totally uneventful in past weeks. Since my arrival back in Townsville I have....

• officailly moved out of home and am now in a very cool share house,
• been to my cousin's wedding
• gone to the Cowboys vs Broncos game and...
• become a second cousin again!

Well that is just a simple catch up and I suppose that, now that I have said all that I could simply add photos, but that requires energy and right now I want a coffee. Well that and Dr Phil is starting soon.... just kidding!

That being said I am going to put off adding photos until tomorrow simply cos it takes so long and facebook is once again calling for my attetion! So Marli, I hope you are happy, you have finally gotten through to me, and I promise that there will be photos up tomorrow!