ANZAC Day - Dawn Service

Good Morning everyone. This morning I was up at 3:50am! Can you believe it! Jeremy and I went to Dawn Service at the Holesworthy Barracks and joined in the Service with our friends Jonette and Marty. Then after a yummy breakfast, some alcoholic drinks (for the boys) and a bit of 2 up we headed home (all prior to 8am!) I must say that Dawn service has such an amazing feel to it when attended at an Army Barracks.

Now quickly for those of you not in the know - 2 up is a game played in a circle with a board and 2 Pennies. You place your bet and call heads or tails. Both coins need to land on heads or tails for you to win otherwise the kitty grows. I am sure that it can get more complex - but this has always been my basic understanding.

Ok - now back at home we had a brief rest and it was off to the city to watch Marty march (and also all the other War Veterans). The parade was fantastic, it was amazing how many people were there and were marching. Although I dont like wars at all, I am honoured that there were so many people who are willing to do all they can to preserve our nation. I hope that, even if only for a short time, we remember what it means to be Australian and treat all people regardless of race, gender or religion with respect, care and equality. I want to feel proud to say I am an Australian without having to defend this title!

Brrrr... Sydney is Cold

Well we are in Sydney for my friend Keisha's wedding next Saturday and may I say how surprised Jeremy and I were by the dramatic change in the weather compared to Brisbane!

Friday night we went out for dinner and at 7pm it was a balmy 27 degrees and lovely humidity... fast forward to Saturday night where the weather is sooo dry that we are zapping each other, my hair has gone straight, and it is so cold we have the gas heater on full and are sitting right on top of it.

Tomorrow morning we are going to Dawn Service for ANZAC Day at the Holesworthy base - it starts at 4:45am, so I am planning on rugging up for the forcasted 9 degrees. I have never been to a dawn service, but I imagine that it will be an emotional experience so I will have my tissues ready I think.

I will keep you all posted on our holiday!

Chocolate Chocolate everywhere!!!

WOW - I dont think that I have ever eaten so much chocolate and food in a single long weekend in a very very long time.

This long weekend Jeremy and I got each other our Easter eggs on Thursday night which means that the chocolate eating started on Friday morning :-)

Then on Saturday we went out to celebrate my Mums birthday (very belated as her Birthday was in January, but with the wedding and all the dinner was delayed). Anyway we went to dinner at Crushers Leagues Club and indulged in an all-you-can-eat extravaganza! This place has 4 seperate food bars and includes a Seafood and Salad Bar, Chinese and Fried food bar, Roasts, Pasta and Soup bar and of course the Dessert Bar... 2 dinners and 2 desserts later I was quite done. We were all very very surprised by the slim girl behind us who had to have eaten about 7 plates of food and didnt even look uncomfortable?!? Where did she put it???

Crushers for all of you have never been there - it is a club located in The Grange in Brisbane and has a very mixed clientelle, so the people watching alone is worth it!

Easter Sunday saw us taking the drive down to Jeremys parents place at Coorabell (near Byron) - more chocolate eating! Jeremys parents (Judy & Roel) had just spent the last 3 days at the Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival (with our nephew Daniel) and were understandably very tired. Daniel was very excited as he scored autographs from members of the Cat Empire - seeing them so far has been the highlight of his life. I remember when I was about 14 I went to see Bon Jovi with my friend Vicki at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and at the time I thought that was the ultimate experience Ever - please do not remind me too often of this fact - it was the very early 90s, big hair was still in and true teen angst was still another year or two away!

Back to my weekend - Monday morning and more chocolate :-) we decided to go to the Brunswick Pub for lunch. Unfortunately we were not the only people with this brilliant idea and the food when you ordered it was an hours wait. In our case it was about 2 hours as they forgot our order!!! So lunch for me today was at 3pm!

Due to the NASTY holiday traffic we waited until 5:30 to leave for Brisbane. Traffic wasnt great, but it was not too bad either. A quick stop at Wok on Inn for some take-away noodles and we were home by 8pm!

So now I am sitting here thinking of some of the things that I am grateful for:

• Wok on Inn noodles are always good
• Pay TV
  
• Easter Chocolate
• Queensland Weather
• Alexis (my laptop)
• Mum & Paul who look after Tyra the Tonkinese while we are away
• Willow who is a great Dog
  
• Soda water after I have eaten too much!
• and many more things - but these come to mind right now.

I hope that you all had a fantastic Easter and got to spend some valued time with Friends and Family and if course ate too much Chocolate :-)

The Early Years...

Well here goes. I was born on a hot November day in Sydney back in 1976. At the time my Mum (the lovely Karen pictured left - Also pictured are my Pop, Paul - Mums Husband, my Dad & Bob - my Step Dad) was living in a place called Merrylands in a house that I understand was a little crowded with Relatives.

So after an adventerous trip to the hospital in peak hour traffic in Sydney I was born! Life was never boring in my family. I spent the first few years living with my Mum and grandparents and off and on some other relatives (but being so young I cant remember).

I lived in some fantastic places while I was growing up the first of these that I remember so fondly - The Big Step House at Emu Heights - this was, as the name implies, a house with many steps. This house backed onto the Blue Mountains national park and I recollect taking walks many times with my Pop and our Dog called Dog. hmmm... I am starting to see a pattern in naming conventions.

Another place that I also loved was the Brick Factory. This again was named as such because it was ...a Brick Factory! Here we lived in a small 1 bedroom unit attached to the office at a Brick Factory that my Pop worked at. I think that there was about 5 - 6 of us that lived here, but the one thing I remember was always having people there to spend time with and also all the adventures that I went on with my Pop on the acerage that was the Brick Factory. We also used to go through the factory and I used to be so scared that I was going to fall off a catwalk and into a kiln! We also used to go swimming in the dam and Dog used to chase waterhens. I dont think that he ever caught one, but he had a great time trying.

After a time Mum and Bob (my step-Dad) moved us to a place called St Clair where we stayed until at the age of 13 it was decided that Sydney was no longer the place to live and they moved me to Hervey Bay. Talk about culture shock! MY GOD could I have felt more out of place! One thing I found was that I was intimidated by all the white (european) people there. Now some of you might have noticed that I am a white girl myself, however I had grown up in a multi-cultural environment and was used to seeing people of all backgrounds. On my first day of school I felt overwhelmed by it all! But I adapted and Hervey Bay has since become a little more multi-cultural. It even has good Thai and Chinese restaurants :-)

Anyway - more from me later :-)

What are Simple Pleasures?

The simple things are what makes life so great and pleasurable.

Such as a laugh with old friends, an unexpected call from a loved relative, eating a great dinner with friends and family and of course... chocolate.

At the end of the day I feel that my blog will be about all the things that make up my life, be they fun, happy or sad they are all the simple things that make up life :-)

A bit about me - My name is Bec, I am 29 and married (just!) Jeremy is the one on the left!

We own our first home (well the bank does right now!) we have 1 Dog called Willow, 1 cat called Tyra and 3 Fish - Neptune, Crunchie & Sharkie. I would love to do so many things with my life, but I am still unsure what these things will be!

I would love to write a great novel, but I dont know what I would like to write about! I would love to cook great creations, and hold marvellous dinner parties while still looking fabulous! I would love to eat all the food I like and still remain healthy. I would love to be able to run 12km in under 1hour and 20 mins (and still be able to walk!) Actually I would love to have the guts to tackle a Marathon or even a half marathon! I would love to have enough money to be able to help family and friends and make sure that it was one less concern that we all had in life.

and my list could go on...

So that is it for now, I will write some specific stories very soon as I have alot on my mind :-)