Out with the old...

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...carpet!

We live in the churches house ('manse' for those familiar with such things) and that means while we're ok to do some small stuff to our house we need to get the ok from the maintenance people for the medium stuff and the thumbs up from the whole church on the big stuff. Because it's their money we're doing it with. Seems fair to me.

Replacing curtains needed no permission.

Painting the walls needed some from the church council.

Replacing the whole kitchen needed a majority "YES" vote from the church community. Because it was their money. Our new kitchen is still amazing by the way. (In finding that link I realised I haven't shown you pictures of it all painted! oops)

Ripping up all the carpet and getting the floorboards underneath fixed up and re-polished also needed a majority "YES" vote. And today we got it!!!

Hooray and praise the Lord. I'm so excited to be getting rid of the carpet and all the nasty little dust mites that call it home. Maybe now I wont sniff and sneeze all the time!

I'll try and remember to take before during and after shots so you can see.

We are incredibly blessed to be part of such a generous community.

Lost. And FOUND!

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Yep. Thats pretty much my system right now and I'm going crazy. So my main project for the day is to go through the whole house and pray that the keys are actually in the house and not somewhere else.

Why is it that when you lose something people ask you stupid things like "where did you last have the keys?"

If I knew that I'd probably have them in my hand right now. Instead I'm facing getting in BIG trouble for not knowing where they are.

Help, replacement keys and prayers appreciated. Inane questions - not so much.

Update: I don't know if anyone out there even had time to pray about this but I sure have been and... I just found them! I found my keys! Praise God. If they were lost forever all of the locks in the school where I work that use a master key would've had to be changed. Possibly at my expense. Thus the reason for my panic. But they are found!! I am saved.

And where were they? In the pocket of my raincoat. I must've put them there on the last rainy day we had last year, taken the coat off to drive and then just hung it up at home. Never thinking about the keys.

Oh. SO relieved. Praise God for small miracles.

5 Years

And I love you even more today than I did when we said our vows.

Your best friends and wife always.

With so, so much love.

Rachel.

xx00

Little Sister Gets Hitched

(posts over the next few days are going to be in whatever order I feel like posting so don't expect order - just a regular, chaotic brain dump)

Hannah is now officially a Mrs! It was my great honour as her big sister to be her Maid of Honour. (Anyone calling me the Matron just because of my marital status got the stern eye and a warning not to use that word on me again!) Unfortunately, in amongst all my big sister/MoH duties taking photos took a back seat. I managed a few in the days leading up to the Day and a few as she was getting ready. Then one or two at the reception. Not to worry, her photographer did an amazing job capturing the day. Will share what I can of those with you when we get some.

In the meantime - the wedding was amazing. So perfectly Hannah & Adam. It was classy, sweet, a little quirky, a lot fun and so full of love. The most heard comment was along the lines of "she is such a prefect princess with her prince!" As her proud big sister I couldn't agree more.

Highlights from the day included (the lists will continue until I regain full use of my brain)

-Being part of a wonderful family joining with another wonderful family

-Being blessed by the only day that Queensland had seen in weeks with no rain for hours at a time (and all at the perfect times)

-Having the privilege of giving a speech and telling everyone how special Han is to me.

-Dad's hilarious speech about all the things prospective husbands for his daughters need to do and watching Koh Reh (our other sisters partner) as he realised dad was also talking to him. Dad telling everyone how Adam nearly killed him (my dad = funniest man ever!)

-Praying with our family (2 new sisters included) before leaving for the ceremony.

-One of the best wedding dances. Ever. I will be begging Adam's sister in law to post it on youtube so we can all see it. I will share when she does. Promise! Was awesome.

-Delicious food

-Excellent photographer

-Beautiful bridesmaid dresses from Two Birds (Short, straight hem in Aubergine if you're curious)

-Being a part of such a defining moment in my sisters life

-Watching two people in love make a promise to work, live, grow and love together for life.

-Having our photo taken on a public bus

-Listening to my husband preach an amazing sermon

Yes. It was a wonderful day for a wonderful couple.

Han & Adam,

We love you both very much and pray God's blessings for you in everything.

Congratulations!

Love now and always,

Rach & Joel

xx

Home

The last 3 and a bit weeks of my life have been, in short, mental.

3 Weddings
4 States
2 trips to Adelaide
One trip to Queensland interrupted by one of the trips to Adelaide
Christmas
5 flights for me
2 for Joel
40 plus hours of driving for me
Way more than that for Joel
Maid of Honour for my baby sister & Best Man (Joel!) for Fin (4 days apart and in different states)
Narrowly escaping floods
Waiting in the air for storms to clear
Driving through much water to get home (nearly 30cm at one point)
Precious time with our two godsons
Precious little time with dear friends and family
Missing Morgan
Missing my own bed and pillow
Missing my green smoothies
Christmas at our house
Fleas at our house
Finishing my first quilt
Finishing all the other Christmas gifts
Hosting a Kitchen Tea
Making millions of pretty things for the Kitchen Tea
No internet (I know!)
Tasty plane food
Rubbish plane food
Free alcohol on domestic flights
Rain
So much rain
But none for any of the weddings. Praise God.
5 clear umbrellas bought for my sisters wedding just in case
2 umbrellas made it to Horsham and then got left there
Naughty presents for our nearly wed loved ones!
A stunning bridesmaid dress
Pretty but murderous bridesmaid shoes
A sexy suit for my Best Man
Lots of compliments on my noticeable lack of chins
The first 4 Harry Potter books read for the first time
And 1 and a half other books too (A girl needs an escape!)
Belly aches from eating food I'm not used to
Laughs
Laughs until I snorted in public. At least twice. And then laughed even harder
Tears. I got almost half way through my sisters speech before they hit.
Dancing
Talking
Bonding
Love
Exhaustion
Relief

So glad to be home safe. Tired but happy, safe and sure I would do it all again.

And so glad that all my loved ones are safe so far too. Even if they are a bit stranded, wet and not able to get tasty vegetables.

Welcome back to me!