pindred spirits

today i met one of my good friends for the very first time. sounds like an odd thing to say doesn't it?! but as random as it is, it's true. there's an awesome story behind it though, so please bear with me.

a few years ago, i was pinning away on pinterest and noticed over a few weeks, then months that someone called tara was constantly pinning my pins, but not only that, but i seemed to be pinning all of hers as well. this went on for a while, until one day i received a friend request from this tara on facebook, along with a message that read something along the lines of "i don't usually do this and i know this is weird, but i have noticed that we have pinned a lot of each others pins on pinterest, it seems we have a lot in common and i think we could be friends." she also said that she knew it was safe as we are both (obviously from what we had been pinning) members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. i accepted... we started messaging and emailing and became "penpals" of the technology age.

a few years passed and we became very good friends... messaging often and often joked about meeting, while wishing it would one day happen. sooooo when i booked my trip to texas and decided to add on a trip to utah, i started messaging with taras daughters and arranged to meet up with them and surprise her! today was the day and her sneaky daughters had made sure there was no way of her finding out (even to the point of blocking me on facebook so she couldn't see i was in america, even though i had been completely silent on there so that i could surprise lisa yesterday and her today) so it was a complete surprise.

claiborne picked me up from lisa's this morning, and drove us to city creek mall (collecting aspen on the way) where we wasted some time in the disney store while we waited for tara to arrive. then we went to the restaurant where we had arranged to meet her and waited. after a few minutes we saw her walking up, where she looked right at me as she walked up, that was the funniest bit, because she knew it couldn't possibly be me... only when she walked in the door, it was! 

it was such a wonderful moment. seeing her face as she saw me waiting there with her girls (oh how i wish i could upload the video on here... the first words out of her mouth were shut up! haha) and just finally getting to see each other and spend some time together. we always said we wanted to go to temple square together and just hang out... so we did. and it was amazing. i feel like we have known each other for so long and can't wait to spend some more time together this week. what a blessing the gospel is, i know this is no coincidence, we were meant to meet. we are kindred pindred spirits.

so... pinterest, i believe i owe you a big, fat, thank you! ♥

best. day. ever!

today was seriously the best day ever! we woke up to see snow falling gently at our little basement window and i knew right then it was going to be an amazing day. with great restraint we only went outside for a few minutes, because we had something important to do... today was the day we were going to go and surprise my friend lisa reese, who had absolutely no idea we were even in america, let alone here in utah. it was so worth it. after checking in with her husband to make sure she was home (who also had no idea about this until last night, as i had been keeping it top secret with the help of her twin sister michelle) lisa (grinceri, who i'm staying with, yes i can see this is going to be confusing while i am here) drove us to her house, where we knocked on the door and waited. five years after we last saw each other, here i was ready with one of the best suprises ever. sure enough it was the best. she screamed, grabbed maddie, hugged me for dear life - and i cried. it was like something out of a dream and i am so glad that we made it happen. it had been far far too long that we had been apart and it was the sweetest reunion.

as the snow started again and lisa got her kids sorted (while probably still reeling from the shock) we madeline and i went out into the park area behind the reeses backyard to enjoy ourselves. i am so in love with snow that it's not even funny. the cold factor doesn't bother me in the slightest, i am so happy to be out in the open as it falls and makes everything white. it makes everything so quiet too and watching it fall is just so magical.

madeline in the snow. her christmases have truly all come at once. she seriously screamed this morning when she realised it was snowing outside and there was snow all over the ground.

ohhhhhhhh bliss.

lisa and i were mad opshopping partners in australia, so obviously a trip to deseret industries (or the d.i. as they call it here) was a must. it was the best day ever. pushing our carts around with our kids, catching up on the last five years - and really just being together. i can hardly believe we are in the same place!

andi and ella ♥

best picture ever on the best day ever. how happy i am to be opshopping overseas with one of my dearest friends!

lisa and i. reunited at long long last!

i am documenting this moment, purely because i know lisa will see this one day and laugh her head off. we stopped at hot dog on a stick after opshopping, cause lisa had a craving for it. she said and i quote "you can't get much more american than this." oh brandon laughed his head off later when we told him we had been there and told her that she ought to be ashamed of herself for taking me there! 

we also spent (wasted?) a few hours in the local target, so i could have my first u.s. target experience. it was great. i'm sold on it.

what a day. nothing in this world could ever possibly be better than doing nothing with your best friends. lisa i love you madly and i am so glad we have been reunited, this time in your home town. ♥

utah!

today it was goodbye to people we love (and people we have gotten to love very quickly in texas) and off to utah! oh my goodness. utah. i have been waiting for this day for so long - and i have to admit as we started getting close, flying over snow capped mountains and preparing to land, i got really emotional. knowing that i was about to see dear friends, see all the church buildings, especially the salt lake temple... it made me a little teary! 

we landed at salt lake city airport and went through security through to baggage claim, and right there on the other side of the glass was alex boye. talk about mormon celeb spotting when you've been in utah for all of ten minutes haha. my friend lisa met us and whisked us to the car, but not before i realised that you can actually see the temple from the airport! crazy!

her kids had swimming lessons scheduled for the afternoon, so madeline and i got to go too... but when we were driving there it started to snow! seriously, the weather is clearly turning it on for us. i was dying for snow and here it was, before we had even been in the state for two hours! the whole being at the pool while it's snowing outside had me in fits of laughter... seriously, it's winter here!

one thing about utah that i've noticed already, is that i am absolutely struggling to breathe! i thought at first that i was going crazy, until i had to pause and catch my breathe while talking to lisa's husband tonight and he explained it to me. perth is at 60ft above sea level. utah is at 5000. my lungs aren't to the elevation and unfortunately probably won't get used to it while i am here as it takes a few weeks, maybe even a month. woah. crazy. i was pleased to know i'm not dying though, that's for sure!

i already love it here... and cannot wait for our adventures to begin, but i was so happy to see my bed tonight... i'm worn out! utah, let's go!

joseph is three!

my baby turned three today... and i am on the other side of the world! it seemed like the weirdest thing ever, with madeline and i watching him open his presents on facetime, but he didn't seem to be phased, because as far as he could see, mummy was right there!

little j with his mainly cars themed haul. he was so chuffed with his little bike (thank you gumtree!) and fold out lounge. this kid is so easy to please, anything red with cars and he is thrilled. 

it is crazy to think that six months ago, he was barely speaking at all, just the odd word here and there, and mostly just grunts, to the little chatterbox he is today. i just love his bright and energetic little personality!

bless my mum, she made joseph this adorable little cake and popped a lightning macqueen on top to make it to his liking and as you can see, he was thrilled to bits!

i love my little joseph so much and can't wait to cuddle him to bits when i get back... being away from him on such a special occasion certainly wasn't ideal, but i am sure that it will be easily forgotten at his age and he won't hold it against me.  

happy birthday little one. i hope three is the best year yet and that it's full of fun, just like you! ♥

a texan open house

so... here is the reason i flew all the way to america, for bryan and dominiques open house! after prepping with bryans mom and sister last night and the night before we had everything ready to go and just waited on people to arrive... which they did!

i was so excited to be here for the second part of the demke wedding and it was so fun to be with bryans familyand meet them all, laugh with them and get to know them... they are the loveliest! certainly makes knowing dominique will be living on the the other side of the planet a lot easier, with them around to love and support her!

bryans family made this gorgeous frame for the newlyweds, (complete with a slot in the top of the frame) for each person attending to write on a heart and give their "well wishes for the new mr & mrs" i love it!

so an open house... is where friends and family come to the family home to meet the newlyweds, pass on their regards and eat... i have never been to one before, but texan style involves a lot of food! smoked/seasoned/ roast meat, home made bread rolls (drooooooool), cowboy caviar (super yum) lots of veggies and some excellent desserts from bryans mom, peach cobbler (also yummmm!) and some contributions from me: chocolate truffles, choc chip cookies and brownies! what a spread!

and to top it off, root beer, home made by tims brother with dry ice. how fun that was to watch!

ladies and gentlemen... may i present mr and mrs demke. :)

and my favourite bit? oh my gosh, fireworks!!!! in texas they are totally legal with no restrictions (took me a while to get past this seeing as they are totally illegal in australia! i mean that's a given considering how dry it is here and the fact that the whole country could go up in smoke over the summer months. fire danger is constantly on high back home! but fireworks! those things are amazing. there was an entire table covered in them and we were setting them off in the backyard for hours much to my absolute delight!

about to start the afterparty with some big ass roman candles. i am in love with fireworks and loved every single second of this evening. if this is what america is all about, i have a feeling i am going to love it here! ♥

dallas texas temple

my first full day in america... and i am treated to this! not even kidding, after forcing myself to stay awake until 1030pm last night before i crashed, i managed to sleep through (other than waking up twice, but going straight back to sleep) and wake in the morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and ready to go. so here we are, with my first experience at a big temple... in dallas, texas. i think we could probably easily fit 4 of our little temple in perth on that block.

and it was... amazing! being in america, at a large temple, with family... and knowing once again, that no matter where you are in the world, the church is the same. the building was gorgeous, the spirit was strong... and i enjoyed every minute of being inside its walls.

its so nice to have come to weather that is a little cooler too. i wouldn't say it's cold, but it's certainly a step down from the weather back home where it is stinking hot! here it is texan winter, cool, a little overcast today and just pleasant. perfect to be outside!

i am so stoked to be here and still have to pinch myself a little to believe it's really happening! can't wait for what the next few weeks have in store! ♥

and most of all, for taking photos of all the beautiful temples that america has to offer! yay!

♥

♥

off on an adventure!

this little monkey and i set off on an adventure this morning! as you've read from previous posts, dougs sister got married almost a month ago and last week she took off for her new life in texas. bryans family are giving them an open house this weekend and we are going to america! we are so excited even though there was a 16 hour flight from sydney to dallas involved... and to add to the amusement we arrived in dallas at the exact time we leave sydney. talk about deja vu!

our view crossing australia...

miss maddie ready to party in the usa

she was an absolute rockstar on the flight, chatting away to me, watching movies and sleeping... she was a great little travel companion and i am thrilled to have her here with me.

texas is big and busy and we were met at the airport by bryans sister and mother who whisked us home via our first taste of american food at one of the local burger joints. i know we are going to have a wonderful time and i am so excited for the next few weeks!