Am I glowing??

As I mentioned in my previous blog my single streak finished when I met a wonderful man called Philip. I also promised in my previous blog that I would share a bit of our story, so here it is.....

March 2008 - As was usually my tradition I went to visit our sister church after my usual night church service finished as this is there church where all of my friends from uni go. On this particular night I noticed straight away that there was a new person at the church that I had never seen before but was not able to see him clearly. After a few minutes I noticed that this 'stranger' seemed to know a lot of people in the church and was slowly making his way in the same direction as me. As i stood chatting and giggling with one of my best friends I also noticed that he was getting along really well with her husband. It was also at this time that I got a good enough look at him, and needless to say, liked what I saw. We eventually ended up having a conversation that lasted from about 8pm through till 1am, we couldn't shut up and no one else seemed to exist for the rest of the night. I was away on prac at this time but managed to see him at church and around the place when I came back on weekend visits.

July 2008 - Seeing each other on weekends became a regular thing when my prac finished and for almost 2 months we managed to hang out almost every weekend, spending a lot of time drinking coffee after church, going for walks, hanging out in groups etc.

August 27th 2008 - A message from me asking "what is going on" finally spurred us on to make our relationship official, much to the relief of those around us who were left wondering and hoping that we would get our act together.

January 2009 - Today we are still very happy together and find great joy in sickening everyone around us by pretending to whisper sweet nothings to each other and giving each other long meaningful looks and giggles. Its all very fun.

We both enjoy coffee and cooking and music so a lot of the time that we spend together involves one or more of them. Ours is a very normal relationship in that we don't rely on romantic gestures or constant action or excitement to keep us going. In fact, for us, the best times together have just been cooking dinner together, cleaning his room together or having a simple conversation over a cup of coffee. OK over my cup of coffee cos his is always finished within the first 2 minutes!

On top of all this he keeps finding new ways to make me smile or laugh, its like he made it his mission to brighten every day. Sometimes this is through simple things like putting a pretty pattern in the crema of my coffee, giving me a shoulder rub or turning off the computer game as soon as I get there. However, every now and then, when I least expect it he will do something big and imaginative and so romantic that I can't help but grin for days afterward. For example....

A horse-drawn carriage ride through the streets of Melbourne after a trip where he met my whole family

A surprise picnic with all my favourite foods to celebrate my last day of university

Breakfast, a road trip and a picnic lunch to celebrate my birthday

Despite coming from families that speak different languages and have fairly different dynamics our core values and principles are the same. It is hard to explain but it still gets me how two different people can just work together the way that we do. I have used the term "we just clicked" before but in this case I swear the "click" was hear by everyone around us, we just fit so well together. He makes me very happy and I would like to think, I hope with a sincere heart, that I make him feel the same and that I am able to do as much for him as he has done for me.

A friend once commented that since our relationship started I have had a distinct glow, I wonder... do I still glow that way??

The wanderer returns...

Well I finally decided to check my blog again and realised that I haven't posted anything since September!! No wonder my family has given up on reading this! I have been SERIOUSLY lacking in inspiration but seeing as how it has been so long I may as well just give an update on my life.

Something that I didn't mention in my previous post was that I am now no longer single. In August Phil and I finally put everyone (and ourselves) out of their misery and dating officially. It has been a wonderful 4 months and a whirlwind of romantic gestures (more details to come) and happy evenings of blissful "domesticity" with most events centred around food, cooking and coffee!

I headed down to Kerang in lecture recess to catch up with my parents and assist my sisters in their devious plan to throw a surprise 50th birthday party for my mother. Phil was in on the plan arranging to also come down for the party claiming that it was the only time that he got off work. This way he also got to meet the entire family in one hit (and didn't run away screaming!!!). The whole (week and weekend) was a hit and I was able to my mother's eyes light up like a 5yr-old who just got a puppy!

The following weeks were a crazy rush of lectures, workshops, assignments, studying and spending far too much time with Phil! However, finally, on October 31st, at 4pm I walked out of my last ever university class having handed in my last ever university assignment! I was a wonderful feeling but exhaustion sunk in before 6pm hit and I celebrated by watching a movie! I also spent the following couple of days watching every Disney Princess movie ever made.

I worked my way to Christmas which I spent with the family in Kerang. 4 days of constant eating and quality family time. My nephew Rudi now finally knows who I am and for at least a couple of days Tiaan would give me at least one hug a day without being coerced! I spent the week following New Year in Kerang doing nothing but reading and drinking far too much plunger coffee!

That brings me to today. I have just finished 2 weeks of working almost everyday and most of them being early morning shifts, with 2 days being 8 hours (I nearly died!) which my bank account is loving me for and which is also going to help pay for a trip to Brisbane happening in 2 weeks, when and where I will finally meet Phil's family and get to spend some time seeing what his life was like before he moved to Townsville. Who knows, we might even get to hit a theme park or two and do a bit of bushwalking. Either way it should be a great couple of weeks!

That brings everyone, including myself, up to date. I have also left sufficient gaps to (hopefully) inspre a few more blogs in the foreseeable future!

Fathers....

Always the thinker....

As we all know it was Father's Day on Sunday and this may seem like I'm a bit slow on the uptake but honestly this is the first spare minute that I have had all week t write this down!

As it turns out this was the first Father's Day that I truly realised the value of my father!! I'm guessing it's because we are now living so far apart and it's been so long since I've seen him, but on Sunday night, I was a mess!!

It all started when I attended the Willow's Presbyterian Church, Father's Day BBQ, mainly to help out with cutting and stuff. Standing there the reality and the meaning of the day started sinking in. When church started it got worse, the minister started the service with what he called a "guilt trip" to all fathers. He proceeded to play a song and then tell a story about a father who, wanting to provide his family with the best things in life, worked instead of spending time with his family and eventually lost the only thing that was of any worth to him, his family.

I couldn't help but recall the speech that my dad made on his last Sunday in Townsville. He spoke about how being a minister affected his family and how our family structure was slightly different. He recalled not being able to spend Saturday nights with his family and apologised for the times that he was away or at meetings or stuck behind the computer for hours. I remember thinking that there was never any need to apologise as Dad ALWAYS made time for his family and always had an active input into the lives of his children.

With the love of his life

My father always took his God-given role of parent and guardian very seriously and made every effort to raise us in a way that gave God honour and glory. He stressed the importance of family on us all by always making a time during the day to spend with us. Dinner time was family time and there are only a few times that we DIDN'T have dinner together. Even when all my siblings had moved out of home and mum was working dad and I still sat at the table and ate dinner together. When we were all home on a Saturday or holiday afternoon we would have lunch together and Sunday afternoon was reserved for watching Land-Line together and enjoying a roast lunch. Dad always chose to have his office in the house instead of working at the church offices which meant that on most week days Dad was home when we got there. So many times I recall working in the same office as him, him preparing a Bible study and me doing school work and he would always take a few moments to help me proof read and edit an assignment.

Then there were the times that we worked on the garden together, washed the cars together, critiqued adds on TV together, played the piano and sang together, or sitting in complete silence in the car for hours on end.

No Dad, there was definitely no need to apologise because you were the best earthly father that anyone can ever dream to have. not only were you a major part of my life growing up, but you continue to be a big part of my life. You encourage me to be a better person and to continue to grow as a Christian and in my knowledge of and relationship with my Heavenly Father. Through your guidance and teaching I came to know the Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, because of your example I know what it takes to be a good parent and thanks to you, the man who I marry is going to have some pretty big shoes to fill because you also showed me what a good and godly husband is like!

Rudi and Rudi Jnr

Sitting in church on Sunday my tears flowed freely and all I wanted to do was run to you and tell you all of this. I was so thankful for the abundant blessing that God lavished on me through you and my heart nearly burst with the joy that this knowledge brought me. I suddenly missed you so very much but was comforted in knowing that I will be able to see you soon (only 2 weeks to go!!!).

I love you so much Dad and I can't wait until I am able to see you again and spend some more quality time around the piano, or the BBQ, or the garden, or the car! Thank you for taking parenting so seriously, for being such a great example and loving me completely and unconditionally! You truly are the best!

The University Blues...

Well here I am again sitting in the freezing cold computer labs at university killing time. It is the second day of my last semester and I am having mixed emotions about it.

Firstly because this semester consists entirely of intensive subjects, modules and group assignments which means that I will be unable to have a set routine or schedule (which I seem to need to function normally). this is evidenced by the fact that I have time to kill on my second day of university thanks to mixed up timetables!
However on the up-side I have a fair few days off and was even lucky enough to get an extra week off in the middle of semester (gives me a the perfect opportunity to do those group assignments!). Unfortunately this doesn't give me longer holidays it just breaks my semester up into 4 chunks of varying lengths and workloads and come the week AFTER a big assignment is due... oh the irony!

Secondly it is because at the end of this semester I will be a fully qualified Occupational Therapist and quite frankly the thought scares me! You see I have just come back from a year's worth of practical work and have found that, in some cases, my passion and drive to work well was just not there. I thought long and hard about this, even thinking that I may not be suitable for working as an OT. I then came to realise that this is not the case, it was just a matter of low self-esteem (having your every move watched and analysed and assessed didn't help with this), low energy levels, a bit of a negative attitude (seriously though, working full time hours for no pay and then being required to pay for all your travel and accommodation.... it kinda sucks!) and poor supervision, I was never challenged to take up the responsibility for myself as my supervisor always stepped in before I had the chance. Why didn't I say something? Well I suppose that's part of the learning process and if I were to go through the same thing now (please kill me if I do) then I would probably speak up, but at the time the only thing that is going through your mind is the fact that the outcome of the rest of the year is dependent on this person's opinion of you! So now i am sitting here contemplating the future (well at least the near future) with what can only be described as trepidation and a little bit of anxiety! Come November I will be expected to go out into the real world and know what I'm talking about. Suddenly I will have responsibility and I wont have the security blanket of a supervisor of university lecturer that can help and guide the way.
Once again though there is an element of excitement. To a certain degree I'm looking forward to the extra responsibility, to being pushed beyond my limits and being forced to step out of m comfort zone, which for the past 3.5 years has been within the grounds of the university. The opportunities and the initiative will be there for the taking and I am looking forward to seeing what I am made of! Of course the full-time pay will be nice too!

Finally I am a little bit excited about the end of this year as I have come to a little bit of a realisation... out of the girls in my family, that is my sisters and my cousins here in Townsville, I will be the first to finish my university degree before getting married! So, despite all my claims that university was only a time filler until I found a husband I am excited to finish in 12 weeks and embark on a mission that no Schwartz woman (in Australia) has been on before.... full time work as a single woman! I feel great!

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!