home time!

all good things must come to an end, and this afternoon we said goodbye to utah and started our long journey home. lisa dropped us off at the salt lake city airport, where boarded a flight to lax. flights around us were being delayed... but we boarded with no issues, until we got to sit in the plane on the runway for the next half an hour before it could take off due to air traffic issues in la. sigh. thankfully we had a long wait between flights, so it wasn't going to affect us.

i know from being told by others that lax is one heck of a large airport, so i made sure that i had worked out where our gate was for our la to sydney flight... but the most wonderful thing happened... as madeline and i made our way from the plane we had been on, to the main areas of the airport, a lady (who had been seated a few rows behind us on the plane and we had spoken to briefly as we waited to disembark) touched my arm and asked me if madeline and i would like to join her in the american airlines lounge as her guests until we needed to board our next flight. of course i didn't need any encouragement, i mean seriously, that is so kind!! so we followed her along and were made incredibly comfortable for the next four hours until boarding.

there are some wonderfully kind people in this world. we were able to have (free!) dinner, use the free wifi, charge my phone, play games on the tablets that are provided for people to check their flight times, watch tv in the kids room and have a shower not long before boarding a long haul! what a blessing. i was so thrilled. we wandered out to our gate not long before boarding nice and refreshed and felt great. thank you mystery woman!

we have had the most wonderful time and i am so sad to be leaving, but am excited to see my boys and to get home. how grateful i am for the opportunity we have had to be here, to see our friends, see new things and to be with people we love.

bye america! here's hoping we will be back sooner than later! ♥

the end of a long day

i was driving home from york this evening and pulled over on the side of the road to take a picture because the colours made by the setting sun were just so beautiful. of course an iphone picture can't capture that. 

it was a lonnnnnng day for my friend keryn and her family as they farewelled her father kevin after many years of a long illness that finally took his life last sunday morning. keryn was amazing, cared for him as much as she was able and even remained with him at the hospital that last night to make sure he wasn't alone when his time came. 

his funeral today was incredible, being the postmaster of a small country town, it seemed that most of the town had arrived to pay their respects and as the eulogy and other tributes were read, i felt like he became more to me than just keryns dad. he had a cracking sense of humour and it was certainly recalled. 

farewell kev, may you rest now, in peace ♥

another one down...

this beautiful girl has just let for the u.s. ... yet another one of my girlfriends has moved away - this year is killing me! :( lisa and i met back when we were 11 years old - we spent the day together because we were the only two "little girls" at the groundbreaking ceremony for the northam chapel.

since that weekend, back in my teenage years, i spent more weekends than i could ever count at her parents house where the two of us would watch movie after movie (which still happens now), eat copious amounts of junk food (when it did nothing...) and stay up all night. she knows all my secrets... but for some reason still likes me. and oh will i miss her!! 

just another reason to visit the u.s. sooner rather than later! i am coming, i swear!

p.s. she made me promise not to put the picture on social media, late night, no makeup and emotions don't make for a great self portrait on an iphone but here we are - it's my last one for a very long time and i am not parting with it. plus really, it's not facebook, instagram or twitter - so i kind of kept my promise. shhhh.

we love the reese's to pieces...

 

sunday afternoon was our last goodbye to lisa, brandon & ella before they departed for the u.s. via sydney, fiji & hawaii (sofreakingjealousrightnow!) so they came by to say goodbye and for one last time for it to just be all of us together. we already miss them so much it's ridiculous so i thought i'd share a few last snapshots of the gang together.

 

the six of us, with the two little ones that have joined us since we all became friends.

cody&danii, lisabrandon&ella, jadedoug&madeline

 

me with miss ella & miss maddie, who chatted nad chatted until lisa & brandon took ella away

 

thank goodness i know it's not goodbye... only until we meet again

we love you guys

♥

reese's surprise party!

 

people always leave :(

 

and that's the saddest thing about the world being so accessible these days. our three wonderful years with the reese's have just come to a grinding halt, as they finally left perth yesterday to start their newest adventure in nevada, where barrick gold have re-assigned brandon, to his new job.

 

so the occasion called for one last hurrah - in the form of a surprise party at our place on saturday night. and surprised they were! had absolutely no idea it was coming - as we had invited them to join us at a dave hughes concert at burswood as a diversion. haha. our friends all parked down the road, and we ate and ate and went to bed only to find ourselves in a near on sugar coma the following morning.

 

 

i can't believe even now that they are gone... we have had such good times together and i know that we will miss them so very much. i am pretty sure that we'll have to make a u.s. run before too long, as along with all the other friends we have there, we now have the best reason (and people!) to go and visit!!

 

 

 

one final shot of the gang together!

 

 

anda few decoration shots... lanterns down the side of the house (a bit of a waste to be honest - no one really went down there, but they looked so pretty that i couldn't resist... all you need is a tealight candle, a paper bag and sand - 2 cups of sand in a brown paper lunchbag - pop a tealight on the sand and light it up! totally safe, the sand holds the candle in place, so there is no chance of it slipping and catching on fire.)

 

and... our new chandelier! a barrell hoop (i don't know what they are actually called, but the things that hold barrels together! haha) and two strands of fairy lights. wrap them around - find a super long extension cord and plug them in - super easy and very effective. thank you to dad for drilling the holes in the hoop and attaching the chains. you're a love...

 

more on the reese's to come, we still have sunday gang photos - but just know, they will be very missed! and leese, seeing as you are one of about 10 people only that actually read my blog... i hope you are enjoying all the nice things i am saying about you! miss you already! xxx

work send off...

l to r: jane, sandra, moi and shez

the chippers subi girls

thursday night brought my work send off (along with finding out that morning that i am allowed to stay an extra two weeks! haha) it was a lovely little party with all of the crew, some lovely gifts and an awesome gift for me with a funny story...

carmel (basically my workmum) had asked me what i actually wanted, as she'd prefer me to have something i liked and not just something that they thought i might like. so i emailed her a pic of this gorgeous pandora necklace i had been eyeing off, only to have her tell me next time i saw her - and i quote, "oh my gosh, it was hideous! i couldn't bear the thought of you wearing something that awful!" i was very taken aback, as carms and i have very similar taste, so imagine my delight when i opened it a few days later! what a gem - and judging by it's pandora-ness, what a generous bunch of people i work with! :)

i love you all way too much, and have no idea how on earth i am going to live without you!!

au revoir margarita!

after 20-something years with chippers, margaret will be hanging up her hat tomorrow and charging off into the
sunset of retirement!
wow - what an adventure!!
so tonight at amarettos in osborne park we had a
chipper do - to send her off in style...

we'll miss you margs!!!!

me and sandra - our new receptionist
(who probably won't last that much longer
if we keep laughing as loudly as we do...)

me and my boss mark
a laugh a minute...
:)

good bye car...

she's gone.

doug just called to let me know that they've collected her

:( *sniff

we had some good times...

maybe someone else will love her someday!

bye bye civic - you've served me well!

at 10:20 saturday morning my 1996 honda civic gli was

officially written off by my insurance company.
wooohhhhooooooooooo!
new car for me!

dear old honda
you've been a wonderful car to me, assisted in many areas, have really stuck by me and helped me out of many a jam

(traffic jam haha get it?)
but now seeing as you have dents on every panel (thank you hail storm!), your aerial no longer retracts, your back right tail light has blown, your central locking is kaput, your alarm sounds ill - (and then some), your boot swings shut instead of staying open, your washer fluid does not work, your paint is fading, your speedo dials don't light up when they should, you rattle when i put my foot on the accelerator too quickly, your interior light is dim and you require fuel to take me places...
i think it's over between us.
no hard feelings -
you do have an awesome stereo.
love, jade xx

p.s. i'm sure that someone out there will want you

let the car hunting begin!