My life. My loves. My laughs.
…ironing and hemming curtains for our walk-in wardrobe. He is a man of many talents, my husband, and this is one of them. More amazing is the fact that he chose to do this on his day off, during the precious two hours when Pete and Jamie are asleep. He knew that the fraying curtains had been on my mind for some time, so he took action without me even having to remind him. Does my hubby love me? I say yes.
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Usually in the evenings, Rick and I work from rather separate parts of the house. My studio is upstairs and his office is downstairs. This week, however, we discovered that we didn’t have to be separated from each other at nights if we both moved our laptops into the dining room and worked side by side from there.
So here we are, at 11.30pm at night, sitting side by side. Both typing away on our laptops. Both in our PJs, both drinking Milo. Both sitting facing the lounge room where I’ve turned on the pretty IKEA Stranne lamp, so that we’re not staring into a black hole. We’re both listening to the dishwasher doing its thing in the kitchen. Now and again, he pipes up and shares a snippet from the sermon he’s finishing. Now and again, I look over and give him a smile. Or tell him to stop leaning back in his chair.
Marriage. I love it.
And him. I love him.
It was almost eight years ago that we got married. And only ten months prior to that that we started dating. I’d asked him out on a date. He’d said yes. We spent all of that following week chatting on the phone, often late into the night. By the time we actually went on the date, we were completely at ease. It was like we’d always known each other. We had Thai food, and then we watched The Italian Job. I remember not wanting that evening to end.
Somehow, we just clicked.
Somehow, we both knew.
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…a month ago on his birthday. At the Bathers Pavilion cafe in Balmoral.
I’m not quite sure why I held off on posting this photo for so long. Yes, this is Rick. My husband, and my best friend. He knows the best of me, and the worst of me, and every day without fail, he loves me, laughs with me, cooks for me, trusts me, and looks after me. He is truly my one and only, and I pray that we have at least sixty more years together.
Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!
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Today started off with this:
So that’s pretty cute in my opinion. I’ll have you know that Jamie’s not always that happy sitting on the floor. Correction: he’s almost never that happy sitting on the floor nowadays. Being eleven months and all, he’s at that stage where he wants to be on his feet and be in the middle of all the action but sadly he can’t stand up by himself yet so needs what I like to call a ‘propper’ – ie. me or Rick or any available grandparent. Unfortunately for Jamie, said parents are usually running around getting milk or taking out the dirty nappies so the poor thing is stuck sitting on the floor a lot. Discontent and screaming, I might add. We still love him big time though.
After lunchtime, the boys went down for their naps and I drove off in our little green Corolla and headed up to Avalon Beach. (At this point, alarm bells are probably ringing in your heads. Relax – my wonderful mother-in-law was back at home with the little ones. If no alarm bells went off, shame on you.)
It’s so bizarre that I’ve lived in Sydney for some twenty-five years now and yet this is the first time that I’ve actually explored the northern beaches. It is seriously a beautiful place here.
Here’s proof:
Anyway, as I drove up Pittwater Road with the ocean on my right, I almost felt like a glamorous movie star cruising around sunny California with oversized 50s sunglasses and a silk bandana protecting my hair from the wind. Only difference being that my Corolla is no convertible and I looked nothing like a glamorous movie star. But still.
Once parked, I contemplated a snooze in the car (and indeed I tweeted about this as I thought everyone should know that I was contemplating #asnoozeinthecar) but after several minutes of discomfort, I decided I wasn’t falling asleep but my tummy was getting hungry.
So I went here:
Awesome, right? I mean, is there anything cooler than a gigantic chalkboard combined with picture perfect handwriting? If we were to ever own a house, I think I would seriously consider painting one entire wall with chalkboard paint. Thank you, Frank. (Funny that, because the barista’s name was Richard.)
Next to Frank’s cafe was the Mark Tuckey Home store. My goodness, it was filled with all sorts of eye candy. In particular, a bright yellow vintage typewriter made me swoon while some vintage-saris-turned-bedspreads almost made me abandon our white colour scheme in the bedroom. With all my willpower, I walked out with only a small notebook o-check notebook (this one in fact) as well as a sweet birthday card for Rick.
When I finally got home, it was time for some outdoor play with all three boys which, yes, involved me propping up the littlest guy. He doesn’t let up, that one. Fast forward through dinner and bathtime (and a lot of tidying and cleaning), I finally got to sit down in the boys’ room for two minutes before the little guys trundled in to be dressed. I look calm in this photo because I knew that there wasn’t long to go…
And once I put Jamie down, there was this…
Peace. Quiet. All I could hear was the distant murmuring of Rick with Angus and Pete as he finished saying goodnight to them.
Yes, my husband is awesome. He does the mornings, and he does the bedtimes. Oh, and he makes me yummy and healthy food to eat:
And that’s why he deserves this:
‘Big Love’ card by Me and Amber; vintage green necklace from Sobrina Blue.
Thus ends my impromptu ‘a day in the life.’ Gosh I had fun writing this! Thanks to Elise for the inspiration.
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Rick and I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day but today he surprised me with a lovely bunch of roses. Isn’t he sweet?
Anyway, thanks for all your lovely messages in response to my last post. I actually did get that massage though it was not a relaxing massage by any stretch of the imagination. It was a Chinese remedial massage and my goodness the guy discovered sore spots on my back I didn’t know existed. I felt great afterwards though! I’m all for short-term pain if it means long-term gain. (Cliched, but true.)
Hope you all had a sweet day with your special someone. xo
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You know your spouse is obsessed with Land Rovers if:
You know it’s serious when:
Despite my tendency to poke fun at my dear husband, I must confess that I’ve actually become quite fond of our Land Rover Discovery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pain and a half to get in and out of for a short Asian female like myself, but I genuinely enjoy driving it (though possibly not parking it) and we really do have a lot of fun in it.
Like when we drove to the middle of nowhere back in July, disembarked and spent our family time exploring a little known fire trail. It was completely spontaneous, unplanned and almost uneventful, but it was somehow just lots of fun. (Plus, the boot of our Discovery seriously does lend itself to being the best portable nappy changing table ever, which is handy when you have three kids in nappies.)
What car is your better half obsessed with?
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Don’t be fooled.
This photo has nothing to do with my culinary skills. These were in fact some mussels I enjoyed during our holidays. Not cooked by me.
Yesterday I tried to chop an onion.
I wanted to get those beautiful onion rings to add to my, ahem, pre-made supermarket salad.
Sadly, for me, cutting up an onion has not yet made it to my list of skills. Even though I am thirty-one years old.
This became obvious yesterday when I massacred an entire onion without producing any said onion rings. For something like five to ten minutes, tears streamed down my face as I wrestled with the frigging stubborn onion.
My high-pitched cries of distress and frustration must’ve echoed all the way to the studio, where Rick was quietly working from home.
Thankfully, my husband is a compassionate and non-judgmental kind of guy.
Graciously, he came out to inspect my onion and said matter-of-factly, “Yes, you have massacred the onion.” With no hint of who-is-this-person-whom-I-have-married whatsoever.
(I am a blessed woman.)
Gently, he told me to save the massacred onion for dinner, brought out a second onion and proceeded to show the idiot me how you actually chop an onion. Properly.
My mother-in-law should be so proud.
Happy weekend everyone!
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Today I am very tired.
So tired that all I had energy for this morning was to sit on the couch with Jamie on my lap as I watched Angus and Pete systematically take out all their toys from their hiding places (okay, slight exaggeration, but it sure looked like all the toys were out and partying).
Occasionally I tried to interact with them, and no, I didn’t forget to feed them, but mostly I was Zombie Mummy. Never heard of that term before? Look it up. You’ll see my photo.
Currently they are all asleep and Zombie Mummy here is just hoping that maybe they will all remain in said state until their Super Dad returns home from his conference and dons his super hero cape once more.
Anyway, these photos were snapped back in summer earlier this year. It was after our lunch at the Awaba cafe in Balmoral, and Angus had wanted to play on the beach. So Rick rolled up his pants and led him onto the sand and out towards the water while Pete and I watched on from a bench (little Jamie was still in utero).
I love seeing Rick and Angus together like this. Theirs is a special and unique bond that can never be broken.
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// Finishing off some scrapbooking…
// Reading the cafe menu…
// Conversing on the driveway…
// Indulging in tri-flavoured wafers…
// Catching up with great friends…
It’s true. I’ve finally finished off a ‘memoir book’ of sorts that traces our relationship/marriage these last seven years: from courting, being engaged, getting married, falling pregnant, losing Cameron, giving birth to Angus, giving birth to Pete, falling pregnant with Jamie and all the adventures in between.
I’ve had the idea for two years now and I’ve finally done it. The sense of satisfaction is almost indescribable but more importantly, I’ve loved reliving all those beautiful and significant moments of our life together. It’s reminded me of how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful man. No, he is not perfect. But he is perfect for me.
(Don’t tell my endocrinologist about those wafers. They’re probably not what he had in mind when he told me on Thursday that I needed to change – read: improve – my diet if I were to delay the inevitable onset of diabetes. But you guys, those wafers are like the yummiest snack ever. That makes it okay, right? No? Okay. No more after I finish this packet…)
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Welcome to point form Fridays, my friends!
1) I got jabbed pretty badly today by a pathologist. Not once. Not twice. But three times. The third time hurt so much I think I almost said a bad word in my head.
2) Rick made me the most divine hot chocolate (with pink marshmallows) earlier in the week and since then I have been in love. (With both man and drink.)
3) Pete now says “stop” and “shop.” Future possible occupations: traffic controller, retailer or poet.
4) I found out about Pottermore this morning! Awesomeness.
5) This is not why I’m wearing the owl pendant above.
6) At dinner on Tuesday night, Angus said, “Mummy has big bum and baby penguin (his toy) has small bum.”
7) He also said, “Mummy has big tummy and baby penguin has small tummy.”
8) Clearly mummy wins since big is better than small, right?
9) I’ve started updating Cameron’s blog again.
10) It is 10.15pm and I still need to cook dinner.
Happy weekend everybody!
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