april update

April seems to be a pretty eventful month... Here are some picture evidence of what happened after Easter... (not all in chronological order)

Aaron and Chantelle's engagement party - a really cosy luncheon at Chantelle's parents' house where her parents cooked up a storm, Simon helped out as the coffee barista, and there was a dessert table complete with a chocolate fountain for fondue!

clare sarah chantelle + simon working the coffee machine

chris + caleb and clare

fiona and the chocolate fountain

ben sierra ann + emily adam kate

It was my mom's birthday...

dad and mom

It was my cousin Sylvia's birthday - we went to my favourite Japanese restaurant Zen and totally pigged out.

clockwise from top left: the birthday cake; jac and fabe; syl and gong gong; ben, eve and sarah

Syl and Justin

I had lunch with some of my uni friends and caught up with all the latest goss... It was also Jono's birthday - we went to Time Zone, the boys ended up with water pistols!

uni friends brandon dave nikki chris + jono seth jason with their pistols

Bryce decided to leave us for the US... it was a farewell weekend... the official farewell party was at Amanda's house. Amanda was a very gracious hostess who not only let us hang out at her house but also lavished us with a home cooked dinner.

chilling in the lounge room + corina amanda bonnie

leftover spag bol + bryce mal dani

bryce hacker + corina

bryce sarah + ann

Some of us also went to the airport to send Bryce off...

corina and gayle + ado b00f bryce

jess and bryce + bryce and his sis emma

group shots

bryce posing one last time before going thru customs + the rest of us leaving the airport

Currently loving:
- Finding my high school friends on Facebook. Although I think there are too many networking sites these days and it's increasingly annoying as it's really hard to keep track... sigh!
- The combination of abscission, anthocyanin, and carotene in plants that create the amazing colour changes in the leaves and for making them fall off the trees in autumn... nature's eye candy!
- Discovering new functions on my camera (thanks Bryce! and no I guess I haven't gone through the entire user's manual yet!)
- Yumcha (飲茶) - a great time to catch up with friends over dimsum (點心) and jasmine tea.
- Yerba mate - missed drinking that tea... recently started drinking it again... what an amazing green tea! I haven't been able to find Mate Cocido anywhere in Perth though... anyone know where I can get some of that stuff?

easter - a weekend full of bunnies

Easter has come and gone... my church had multiple services over the weekend, including four for Good Friday. I thought there was something really powerful about the Good Friday services... communion was being served up at the front of the stage while the band was playing; the songs sung were beautiful; the jigsaw visual worship was mesmerising; the dance was incredible; the artworks and videos displayed in the foyer were very sensory; the image that I couldn't forget was seeing a cross made out of twine totally covered with notes that people had written their prayers on... it just made me think just how much we crave to connect with God.

On a much less spiritual side of Easter (more like the weekend)... my brother came back home for the weekend and brought back two boxes of Krispy Kreme... yummo original glazed doughnuts! I didn't consume much chocolate this Easter, but I did manage to consume a mini Lindt bunny. My cousin has the Nintendo Wii, so we went over to her house and played Rayman - a game full of animated bunnies! Yes I played on the Wii... it was truly a sight to see! Annette came over to my house on Monday and brought two of her aunt's baby rabbits... they were so small and cuddly. My sister was cooing after them the whole afternoon!!

the good friday service

krispy kreme + cute lil bunnies

other bunnies... the chocolate type and computer game type

Anyway currently loving:
- State of Georgia - a clothing range which Lari and I are currently drooling over, in particular the green peacoat.
- Autumn - the most beautiful season (ever!)

happy easter

I didn't even realise it was Easter time until last week. I didn't even notice the copious amounts of chocolate eggs and bunnies on sale... that might have been cuz I don't eat much chocolate so I don't really pay any attention to the chocolate stands... or just cuz I haven't really been to the shops recently (hmm think the latter excuse is the more viable one)

What have I been up to recently? I've been rather busy at work, so much so that it seems like my body is starting to break down haha... haven't gone to the gym in weeks, in need of making an appointment with a masseuse cuz my neck and shoulder muscles are all clumped, and seeing an optician in a couple days time to have my eyes checked cuz they have been super sore and still not able to wear my contacts. Anyway there is good news this week... it looks like I'll be stepping into a more senior role for almost 2 months as a colleague will be going away on holiday and their job needs to be filled. I'm really excited about it as it'll be a good opportunity to learn more, plus an increase to my pay can't hurt either!

Other (good) news this week:
- It was the last Youth for Term 1 last Friday and it was a cowboy and indian dress up night... it was lots of fun! Loved how so many people actually turned up with their themed outfits!
- I no longer have to borrow Kym's hand cream as I got love attacked from the east coast and received a tube of the same yummy smelling stuff myself! (love you jie jie)
- Nate and Amy got engaged! congratulations!!! so excited for those two :)
- My brother will be flying over from Sydney for the Easter holidays.
- Clare and Nathan organised a dinner party to help raise funds for Water Aid... what a great night... I had the biggest plate of chicken cacciatore... good company... lots of laughter included (in particular a sms prank!)
- Accelerate just started this week. My church has just begun a more detailed study of the Christian belief and practice on weeknights. I'm really looking forward to learning more... the studying, taking notes et al kindda reminds me of uni... gotta love that!
- My friend Brendan is now officially a fighter pilot. Some of us Mounts Bay Crewbies (aka my connect group) were able to attended the graduation ceremony which included fighter jets flying in formation and and acrobatics display. The Dominator and I sat through the ceremony not really understanding what half the ceremony was about, so we had fun making our own interpretations. (Memorable moment: Dom and the red gravel... ask him about it!)

clare made me a paper headdress + edwin, sam, joe and rachel

jack, ramzie and sprout

yummy hand cream + andrea, brendan, ann and dom at the graduation