Updates!

I have not blogged in what seems like forever!
Part of the reason for this is that I have not been in Sydney since Christmas Eve, and only got back on Monday. I don't even know where the last two days have gone...I honest-to-God thought today was Tuesday until like 5 minutes ago and I looked at my calendar... :/

So I kind of have a lot to update you on! I was going to write separate posts, but figured I may as well just write them all in the one. I promise there will be pictures to break up the text!

Christmas!
This year I spent Christmas with J's family in Canberra. We caught a bus from Central station on Christmas Eve, and arrived 4 hours later.
Since I wasn't seeing my own family for Christmas I visited them all on Christmas eve and the night before, and gave them all my presents.
Before I left, mum gave me this:

Lamp!

I think it's just beautiful! It's funny, because none of the furniture in my bedroom match at all! I have white / cedar / red / black / purple! It's all over the place! Mainly though because it's all been for free or very cheap. One day when I can afford my own house I'll have matching furniture. Anyway, I digress.
So we caught the bus to Canberra on Christmas Eve.
It was strange spending Christmas with another family, and one that has proper, established traditions. When I was little my mum made sure that we always had a proper Christmas, but now that my siblings and I are older, it doesn't seem to matter that much to my parents.
But Christmas was fantastic.
I was having way too much of a good time though, so didn't take any pictures of their beautiful Christmas tree, or the amazing lunch that J's mum had cooked! Sorry!
We woke up, opened presents, hung out, had lunch, and then everyone had a little siesta! It's funny being that full up on food!

I was absolutely spoiled this year!
Some of my gifts:
From J:

(Image taken from Google)

A playstation 3 !!!
okay...so I already knew I was getting this. But that doesn't make it any less exciting!
Rather than haul it all the way to Canberra and back, J gave it to me when I got home from Qld on Monday.
But what was a surprise on the day was getting these games as well:

 Bayonetta and Final Fantasy XIII!
(I have now opened and played them both, but more on that in another post!)

J's parents also got me these for my shiny new toy as well:

Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead on blu-ray! (Sorry that picture's so blurry!)

I also got from J's parents:

Geraldine Brooks - People of the Book

Dragonfly necklace!

And some other things that I didn't take photos of - some scratchies (I won $5 woo!!), a little torch to put on my keychain.
His sister also bought me a pack from the Body Shop that had almond oil body wash and hand cream. Delicious!

My sister bought me some clothes, and my brother promised to make me chocolate truffles ... they haven't come yet though!

 

My best friend M gave me this hugeee vanilla candle (yum!) and this bracelet:

 

and a new make-up bag / case from Sportsgirl. But I think I will use it as a pencil case because it's too pretty for people to not see it. 

 And my flatmate bought me this fantastic book:

It's filled with images of grammatically incorrect signs ... hilarious!

My nan and my uncle D both gave me $50. And with that money I bought:

Tony Bianco - Canyon (black suede)

It feels so good to actually do something with the money people give me as presents. Usually I just put it aside and forget about it, and then when I do buy something I don't consciously think 'oh this is what x bought me'. I'm glad I did do that this time though!

There were some other things that I haven't taken pictures of, but honestly, I just can't believe how blessed I am to have such giving people in my life!

I'll share some photos I did take while I was in Canberra:

One of the days after Christmas we went down to Weston Park which is on the lake and had fish and chips at the yacht club. We went exploring the park area after, which is where I took this beautiful photo! There were lots of black swans in the water chasing us!

And since I'm such a cat lover, every other photo I took was of Tosca, the family cat.
(They actually also have a second cat, Dixie, but she's a bit of a nutter and wouldn't let me close enough to pat her let alone take a photo!)

 

 

 

New Years!

I was sadly not in Sydney this year for New Years.
Which was sad for a few reasons. Firstly, it was my first "adult" New Years, and I couldn't utilise my 18+ superpowers, and secondly, I missed out on all the fireworks (Was Sydney's even any good, I don't even know!)
I was in Queensland with my mum, her boyfriend, R, my brother and sister from the 29th to the 3rd of January. We were staying at my nan's place.
We only had a quiet new years - I stayed up with my mum, R and my brother and we played cards and had a few drinks (well...my brother didn't, since he's only 13).
Although it was only quiet, it was still nice, being able to spend that time with my family.
I try to make an effort to see my brother and sister and parents as often as possible since moving out, but it's so hard since we're all so busy. It was so nice to just chill and catch up with them. Because we're all wimps and had spent the whole day at Wet n Wild, we went to bed at 11pm, but since that was 12pm Sydney Daylight Savings Time, we figured we made it to the new year.

I'll share some pictures from Queensland, commenting briefly.
Mainly because I'm sick of typing and want to get back to watching dexter, and mainly because I'm sure nobody has even read this far:

Plane tickets

Park map from Wet 'n' Wild!

At the lagoon in Redcliffe:

My lovely sister.

That is me.

 A green tree frog we found in my nan's yard:

 

My mum is terrified of frogs and cane toads.  Even cute little froggies like this one!

I had to take a photo of this. It's from the in-flight manual on the airplane. No furby's allowed!

 

We went over to my Aunty E and Uncle D's place and swam around in their pool:

Yay for underwater cameras

  

This is my cousin M's dog, Chomp jumping into the water!