Category Archives: Life

The Treaty

Posted in Life by

So I am not really sure how this post will go down… it might be a little heavy, so if you are looking for a happy list update or Emma’s unusual but mildly hilarious life musings you might want to skip this one… but it’s something that I have been thinking a lot about while I have been away, and something that I feel like I will be able to better process if I put some of it out in the open… because being in New Zealand has really got me thinking a lot about Indigenous Australia…

I am a white Australian… I didn’t choose to be, it’s just what happened… but being Australian is all I know, it’s all my parents know and I am pretty sure my grandparents too. Although I realised today that I don’t actually know that much about my heritage… I mean I know the countries my families come from, but I don’t know if we were convicts or migrants… All I know is we came second… second to the Aboriginal People… and that before me a lot of things went down.

As a child I was taught about Captain Cook discovering Australia, about the stolen generation and about how Australia became the Australian I know today (there was lots in between, but you get the idea). But as I have been traveling around New Zealand, I have been learning about Maori tradition and culture and the integration of English settlers and the traditional landowners and it has made me a little sad. It makes me wonder how much more of Indigenous Australian culture could have been saved and cherished, if things had have been done differently.

I know that there are a number of really significant differences between the indigenous cultures such as the way they communicate (multiple languages vs one) and their style of community (nomadic vs territorial), the approaches of the invading countries and perhaps even in the way it has been dealt with in the aftermath, but as I sit here in, on the Waitangi Treaty grounds, I can’t help but be a little jealous. I am jealous of the way that Maori culture has been persevered and respected. I am jealous that the English seemed to be completely different in New Zealand than in Australia (although that may just be the way the stories have travelled through time?) and I am jealous that things weren’t different, and that it is so hard… maybe even impossible to un do the damage that has been done across the Tasman in my home land.

I am frustrated that even now, in 2015, at home, it still feels like the Indigenous culture is just something that is there, its isn’t something that is embraced and cherished… it is something that is tolerated… well at least that is how it feels where I stand.   I am frustrated that it seems like such a big bridge to mend and that I actually don’t know how I can actually help this process as a someone who came here second. I am sad for my children and my children’s children that they will have the same or maybe even less of the true Australian history than I do… but mostly I am sad that I in this instance I still refer to myself as a white Australian… There shouldn’t be a divide, we are one.

I think when I get home I need to learn more about Aboriginal history and make sure I position myself as an ally and not another intolerant immigrant. I pray that there will be a day where Australia as a whole is just as proud of Aboriginal culture as the New Zealanders are of the Maori… not just a token acknowledgement of land, or an additional sentence in a text book, but a true blending of the old and new which really does make Australia the luckiest country in the world.   Until then I will let the words of my favourite Australian songs sum up my thoughts…

I came from the dream time, from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart – the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I’d been the first Australian

I came upon the prison ship bound down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian

I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I’m a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler, I am Australian

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream
And sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian

I’m a teller of stories, I’m a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, and I paint the ghostly gums
I’m Clancy on his horse, I’m Ned Kelly on the run
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian

I’m the hot wind from the desert, I’m the black soil of the plains
I’m the mountains and the valleys, I’m the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream
And sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian

2015… Here is Your List!

Posted in Life, The List by

Happy New Year!

It’s 2015 and it’s List time… This is my 6th list… which I think is pretty impressive!  While sitting in an Otaki Motel the other night I started to watch the Movie ‘Julie and Julia’ which I had seen before and even blogged about here… but the same sentiments from when I blogged about it then struck me again.  It reminded me why I like to blog, and in fact why I make my lists… not because I want to become a super famous blogger, but because it gives me drive, something to look forward to, some thing to aim for… 100 little goals, some silly, some hard, some fun, some serious and some that just seemed like a good idea at the time, but all things that will shape my year and move me forward when I need a little nudge.  If you wanted to catch up on the the journey so far you can check out my old ‘lists’ by clicking the year 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013 or 2014.

The more lists I do, the more I love them and I am really excited about this year’s list because there are some super fun things on it.  In fact, I think the 2015 list is one of my most adventurous lists yet as I am taking advantage of the fact that I am starting this year off in the extreme sport capital of the world… New Zealand… not that I am really doing that much extreme sport… just some more adventurous things than I would probably attempt at home. So here is my 2015 list of 100 things that I would like to do/achieve in the coming year.

Just like all the lists that have come before the list is a mix of all kinds of things, some of them are things that I have done previously and just wanted to do again, others are things I have attempted and not quite achieved yet, so they are back on the list again and some a brand new this year.  I think there is a nice mix of weird and wonderful, thanks to everyone that helped me put the list together… and as things are better when we do them together if you see something that you might like to attempt with me… sing out!

Hopefully this year I will be a little more efficient at blogging about things are they get crossed off, but we will just have to wait and see… but enough rambling… here is the 2015 list:

  1. Visit Hobbiton
  2. Make my own dumplings
  3. Do another Pinterest craft
  4. Make my own hot cross buns
  5. Follow through with the 2015 date box again
  6. Paint Something
  7. Eat something I have planted
  8. Buy lunch at work no more than twice a week
  9. Go to two weddings
  10. Order fish at a restaurant
  11. Try again to embrace home cooking
  12. Have a weekend away
  13. Go to some carols by candlelight
  14. Work as a classroom teacher
  15. Make the most of my gym membership
  16. Run 5km without walking
  17. Do some trivia
  18. Learn another song on guitar
  19. Have a picnic in the backyard
  20. Start collecting and sorting photos of Dave and I’s family history
  21. See some black sand
  22. Put some new photos up around the house
  23. Blow some giant bubbles
  24. Ride a rollercoaster
  25. Play mini golf
  26. See a movie at the drive-in
  27. Build a sandcastle
  28. Buy an ice cream from an ice cream truck
  29. Take a selfie with the selfie stick fully extended
  30. Go to the beach at least 5 times
  31. Stargaze while lying on the grass
  32. Watch the sunset from a beach
  33. Rent a bike and go on an adventure
  34. Stay at the Langham
  35. Go Hiking
  36. Take a last minute road trip
  37. Make a playlist for each season
  38. Bake a cake for someone
  39. Buy a stranger dinner (e.g. pay for someone else meal at a restaurant)
  40. Learn a greeting in a language I haven’t spoken before
  41. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone
  42. Dance in the rain
  43. Plant a tree
  44. Knit a scarf
  45. Read a book on a subject you wouldn’t normally choose
  46. Fly a kite
  47. Write and email/call a company from which I received excellent service
  48. Go on a romantic getaway
  49. Help someone in need
  50. Learn something in sign language
  51. Wear fancy dress to something
  52. See two oceans meet
  53. Go in a sea vessel… kayak, canoe, paddle boat, regular boat… whatever
  54. Play a board game with friends
  55. Write at least 3 letters to my prayer pal
  56. Go fruit picking
  57. Swim 20km across the year
  58. Do another boot camp
  59. Do another fun run
  60. Walk/run 400km across the year
  61. Go camping
  62. Walk 10,000 steps more often than I don’t
  63. See some fireworks
  64. Eat a Fijoa
  65. Go on a luge
  66. Swim in a thermal pool
  67. Cook all meals at home for a fortnight (no going out or lazy take away)
  68. Take a photo everyday
  69. Play Super Mario Bros
  70. See a Musical
  71. Read 15 books
  72. Try four more local cafes in search of our new breakfast spot
  73. Try Inverloch’s ‘Red Cup’ equivalent
  74. Have a mocktail
  75. Finish unpacking the last boxes
  76. Visit a country town I haven’t been to before
  77. Put up some outside lights for christmas
  78. Keep getting closer
  79. See Big Hero6
  80. Use a remote control toy
  81. See a live music concert… or 4
  82. Do some colouring
  83. Go to a live sporting event
  84. Have a hot jam donut
  85. Have High Tea
  86. Cook something from each of my Donna Hay Mags
  87. Learn a new skill
  88. Make a photo book of our New Zealand Adventure
  89. Have at least 5 different groups of people over for dinner
  90. Ride a push bike without tears
  91. Complete my sentence a day book for 2015
  92. Make a teepee or blanket fort and watch a movie in it
  93. Go to a farmers market
  94. Go through the alphabet of foods/restaurants/cuisines
  95. Do something handy at home
  96. Walk the dog once a week
  97. Set up our outdoor furniture and eat at it
  98. Actually read through the New Testament
  99. See a wild swimming animal
  100. Touch a volcano

And that’s it… that’s the list… here we go…

 

The 2014 List Wrap Up

Posted in Life, The List by

The List 2014 good sizeWow… another year done, another list being signed off… and to be honest I feel like this year the list has been put on the back burner… not because I have stopped loving it, or because it was no good, but because real life got in the way. Which I actually think is really nice… It’s nice to know that I didn’t need the list to make my year what it was, and that my year was awesome even though I only just scrapped through with just a pass… well maybe a credit.  There was so much jammed into this year and while the list didn’t play as bigger part as previous years it still brought a lot of joy to my life… so here is the final re-cap… which is big because it’s been a while since I did a list up date.

Just like all the other years those that have a blog of their own have a hyperlink so you can just click it and read all about it… and the ones that don’t are all listed below with either an explanation of what did or didn’t happen…

  1. Do the 1000 steps – completed: 26/02/14
  2. Make a loaf of bread – completed: 10/11/14
    It was actually four mini garlic breads 
  3. Use my day off productively – completed: 18/12/14
    It may not have been quite the way I had imagined but I think I did use my days off more productively, with errands, moving house and with work…
  4. Cook dinner at least once a week
    I am ashamed to say that this didn’t happen… there are lots of excuses I could make, but they wouldn’t be worth reading.
  5. Do mine and Dave’s family trees – completed: 29/12/14
    I have done the easy bit – back to our grandparents, including their siblings, but now I need to expand a little and get some more detail. 
  6. Try a green juice – completed: 11/01/14
  7. Go to two weddings – completed: 28/03/14 (Wedding 1; Wedding 2)
  8. Eat something from my veggie garden – completed: 8/02/14
  9. Run 5km without walking
    This one is on the list for next year… running you will not win.
  10. Be a more informed consumer – completed: 31/12/14
    I know I still have a long way to go, but I feel like its better to have started the journey than to know nothing at all
  11. Go 1 week without a sometimes food – completed: 1/02/14
  12. Embrace home cooking
    Again not completed…. And only excuses.
  13. Read the New Testament
    I feel like I should just copy and paste from the one above… I did start this one well, but got distracted and it stopped.
  14. Stop back dating blogs…. Post it when it happens or not at all
    Not always consistent, but better… but probably not quite ‘better’ enough.
  15. Go Low FODMAP for a week – completed: 10/03/14
  16. Do another boot camp – completed:1/03/14
    The George women know how to exercise together! 
  17. Get a sun reflector for my car – completed: 14/01/14
  18. Help someone set up a blog – completed: 09/01/14
  19. Review the books I read on amazon – completed: 31/12/14
  20. Send one handwritten note of gratitude to someone each month
    To be honest… I just forgot.
  21. Complement a stranger everyday for a week (different strangers otherwise it would be creepy)
    We even had this as a goal for our small group and I still struggled with it. I know most days I encourage my clients which are kind of strangers… but not quite what I had in mind.
  22. Break a rule – completed: 27/12/14
  23. Swim 50km, not all at once, but over the year
    This was a disaster… I only swam a km… terrible form…
  24. Update my resume (Not because I want a new job but to reflect on my accomplishments) – completed: 27/10/14
  25. Walk/Run 300km – completed 02/11/14
  26. Buy a house – completed: 3/02/14
  27. Do another fun run – completed: 16/11/14
  28. Cuddle a baby less than 6months old – completed: 17/01/14
  29. Get a massage – completed: 29/08/14
    Thankyou Donvale Beauty! 
  30. Be Vegan for 24 hours
    Nup… just didn’t happen… I don’t think I was committed in my heart
  31. Go in a sea vessel… Kayak, Canoe, Paddle boat… whatever – completed: 31/12/14
  32. Go out in country Victoria for the day – completed: 30/08/14
  33. Build a sand castle – completed: 30/12/14
  34. Write at least 3 letters to my prayer pal
    I think I wrote two… Sorry Tess.
  35. Play a board game with friends
  36. Enter a colouring competition
  37. Make a cushion – completed: 20/08/14
  38. Cook fish – completed: 7/01/14
  39. Learn a song on clarinet without Dave’s help
  40. Plant something in the garden – completed: 04/11/14
  41. Play Mini golf
  42. Follow through with Dave’s Christmas present again – completed 15/12/14
  43. Take Dex for a play date with Abe or Diesel
  44. Learn a song on the guitar – completed 16/11/14
  45. Go to Costco – completed: 13/11/14
  46. Try 1 recipe from each recipe book I own
  47. Take Dex for a walk every week
  48. Work as a teacher – completed: 03/05/14
  49. Get some fresh flowers to brighten a room – completed: 22/10/14
  50. Hire a bike and ride around the city
  51. Get a fake tan – completed: 10/01/14
  52. Go to a pump class – completed: 15/04/14
  53. Go to a spin class – completed: 13/02/14
  54. Do something truly Melbournian – completed: 26/07/14
  55. Make my own advent calendar – completed: 26/11/14
  56. Find a train free route to work – completed: 22/01/14
    It is train free, but it’s not all that convenient… I am not sure which is the lesser of the two evils. 
  57. Get a timer for our Christmas lights – completed: 09/11/14
    Although we are a little scared to use it given our old old wiring at home
  58. Go to Bright – completed: 01/11/14
  59. Put Pa’s videos on DVD
    This is still on my wish list though… I am keen to keep things documented. 
  60. Try Pilates – completed: 4/02/14
  61. Use my new paper diary more effectively
    This just didn’t happen… my iPhone reigned supreme.
  62. Be better at visiting my grandparents – completed: 8/12/14
  63. Go to the cricket
  64. Cook all meals at home for a fortnight (no lazy takeaway or eating out just because)
    Again… a fail… maybe next year.
  65. Go fruit picking – completed: 03/11/14
  66. Get awesome Christmas jumpers for Dave and I – completed: 07/08/14
  67. Start my Australia camping pictures map
  68. Go camping
  69. Walk across the bridge in Kilcunda – completed: 10/01/14
  70. Go to a cemetery – completed: 12/01/14
  71. Join a book club – completed: 2/01/14
  72. Read 12 books – completed: 18/10/14
    1. Flash and Bones – Kathy Reichs
    2. Let me off at the top! – Ron Burgundy
    3. Divergent – Veronica Roth
    4. Insurgent – Veronica Roth
    5. Allegiant – Veronica Roth
    6. A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin
    7. A long way home – Saroo Brierley
    8. The Fault in our Stars – John Green
    9. The Giver – Lois Lowry
    10. Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberley McCreight
    11. The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion
    12. The Lunar Chronicles: Cress – Marissa Meyer
  73. Try some regular yoga – completed: 10/04/14
  74. Do 5 different exercise classes – completed: 11/09/14
  75. Do a trail walk/hike – completed: 13/09/14
  76. Go a month without playing games on my phone – completed: 1/02/14
  77. Put some nets on my veggie patch – completed: 15/12/14
  78. Take a photo everyday – completed: 31/12/14
  79. Get there and stay there
  80. Have a picnic in the backyard – completed: 19/12/14
  81. Swim in the ocean at least 5 times – completed: 30/12/14
  82. Actually finish our wedding guest book
  83. Update our displayed photos – completed: 24/05/14
  84. Keep my corner clean – completed: 31/12/14
  85. Pretend to be a morning person – completed: 21/10/14
  86. See the movie Frozen – completed: 12/01/14
  87. Exercise 4 times a week – completed: 31/12/14
    Almost anyway, certainly better again this year, and now that I have joined a gym I have to keep it up.
  88. See ‘Saving Mr Banks’ at the movies – completed: 4/01/14
  89. Have dinner and go bowling with Dustin and Rachel
  90. Do my chores and pull my weight around the house
  91. Just stop picking
  92. Play Super Mario Bros
  93. Save some of my pocket money each fortnight
  94. Cook something from each of my Donna Hay magazines
  95. Try at least one thing from each of my Women’s Fitness magazines
  96. Do my 2012 and 2013 scrapbooks
  97. Wash my car by myself
  98. Go on a push bike adventure with Dave
  99. Finish going through my cooking magazines and either save them or through them out – completed: 22/05/14
  100. Drive a bus – completed: 11/05/14
    There is even video footage of it! 

The grand total… 62 out of 100, certainly not by best year, but actually better than I expected…

2014 – Through the eyes of my iPhone

Posted in Life, Project 365 by

Here we are again at the end of another year and it’s time to have a look back at the year through the eyes of my eye phone… It’s hard to believe another year has passed and that so much has happened. Although I feel like I say that every time I get to this blog, as I am getting older it certainly does feel like time is getting faster. Even though last year was busy, I feel like 2014 has taken busy to a new level! There have been 3 big weddings, some changes at work, a fortnight without Davo and a new house just to mention a few, but rather than talk about it all here, recounting all the moments and emotions, I’ll let the photos do the talking…

January…IMG_2826

Highlight: Bridesmaid Summer Fun! January was filled with bridesmaid goodness in the lead up to Kirsten’s wedding. There were mini bootcamp mornings with Rachel, a hen’s night, a bridal brunch at the red cup and a girls weekend at the beach… What more could you want?

February…IMG_2827

Highlight: February was a big big month with two massive highlights… 1. Kirsten got married and 2. We brought a house! As far as months go… in 2014 it didn’t really get bigger than this!

March…IMG_2828

Highlight: More bridesmaid fun! This month was all about Sia! A French themed Hen’s extravaganza to start the month and a beautiful wedding to finish it. I also got to pretend I was a kid each weekend too, with my Christmas present of Disney Princess Movie Marathons at the cinema.

April…IMG_2838

Highlight: April was a mixed month of birthday goodness, books and footy… and mostly just fun

May…IMG_2843

Highlight: Well I don’t know if highlight is the correct word, because it was a lot of hard work and a little rocky at the start, but certainly the most significant event of May was our house move… into a house of our very own!

June…IMG_2840

Highlight: June’s highlight is kind of mixed in with May’s as it was in June that I really started to settle in the new house and learnt to enjoy creating my own space… with the biggest highlights being some simple things like hanging out wedding pictures and getting our super cute key holder. Oh and the Keith concert that was a good highlight!

July…IMG_2844

Highlight: Dave coming home safe, sound and fired up from Mexico was definitely the highlight of July! It was such an incredible trip for him and for us and even though it sucked being without him, I am secretly glad he went.

August…IMG_2845

Highlight: Again some little things from getting my new cushions, to breakfasts out and days off… it was all good, although one little thing really stole my heard in August, and that was meeting my friend Flic’s baby boy!

September…IMG_2846

Highlight: September brought some improved set ups, including an extra screen at work to help me continue to being extra nerdy and finishing the set up of our gym at home. We were also able to be apart of the beginning of Oz 2015 – which is going to be awesome… maybe even more awesome than our 3am casting. Oh and the Hawks won the grand final… it’s nice being a supporter of back to back champions.

October…IMG_2847

Highlight: Nothing is better in a busy year than a weekend away… which was one of the best bits of October… We also got to do some date day catch ups and to be honest any time I get to hang out with Davo for a prolonged period of time its good!

November…IMG_2848

Highlight: List madness made November a winner. Costco, Bright, apple orchids, bread, flowers, veggie patches and Fun Runs… so much list goodness! Oh and we got a new car… win.

December…IMG_2849

Highlight: I feel like Christmas is always the highlight of December because so much Christmas fun happens and this year was no different… Dinners, advent calendars, carols, and just so much food. Special mentions for this December though go to Dad’s Wedding, which was amazing and magical and just very lovely, and probably should have gotten a blog of its own and also to New Zealand… specifically the North Island where we are currently exploring and which has made this Christmas even more special.

So there you go, 365 photos attempting to sum up a crazy, fun, out of control year!

Christmas in New Zealand

Posted in God, Life by

So Christmas has come and gone and I missed posting something about it because it turns out just like costal towns in Australia, the costal towns in New Zealand don’t always have the best Internet reception… So here it is a little late, but here all the same!

Christmas is a time to celebrate joy and love with those you love, and while for Dave and I it has steadily gotten harder for us to see all the people we love on Christmas Day, for the last 10years, while we have been together, I have been pretty blessed in that at Christmas. I have been able to see and spend time with my family, if not on Christmas Day then on the surrounding days. But this year it’s a little different, this year I am away for Christmas, still with family, but with different family than the last 10 Christmases… In fact different from the last 27 Christmases… This year it’s Christmas with the George’s… Well the extended Georges… Kind of, and its been really nice.

I have to admit there were lots of things I missed from home, the biggest ones being seeing my brothers, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles on Christmas morning… And carols by candlelight… I really struggled not being able to enjoy the carols of Dennis Walter and Sylvie or being able to laugh at David Hobson, while secretly enjoying they fact that someone has sung Holy City! But thanks to the marvel that is the mobile phone (after a wrong number to some poor random in New Zealand) I was able to speak to home, and then celebrate in a slightly different fashion.

It is an odd feeling being a random at Christmas, but it was actually a great day. Dave and I were warmly welcomed and included in a delicious summer Christmas feast. We also walked on the black sand of the Otaki beach and enjoyed the surprisingly good New Zealand weather.

It turns out that even with family that we don’t spend a whole lot of time with, Christmas is still the same! Love and joy are celebrated and embraced and shared and it is still wonderful! It’s a day, I know not for all, but at least for me, I get to experience heaven on earth in the love that Christ came to bring.  I can witness joy on the face of Dave’s grandma as she laughs at a corny Christmas joke. I get to be part of the excitement as Dave’s Dad creates the wonder of Santa with a $5 warehouse scavenger hunt. And I get to be thankful for all that I have… I am truly blessed.

DCIM100GOPROG0200310.

Better Late Than Never

Posted in Life, The List by

So it’s December and this is my first proper post in a really long time… life has been hectic, and I have been having a blogging confidence crisis, where I get stuck in circular thoughts mostly about two things…

1. Do I really want that on the internet? I get caught in thinking about how much information is out there about me and my life… and do I really want that… and this usually ends with me remembering that no one actually cares about what is on here in the big scheme of things… and that there is actually probably very little to worry about as long as I think before I post… well at least that’s what I tell myself… until I start to panic about it all again.

and 2. Who would actually want to read that… I mean seriously there are a lot of boring almost blogs that just never make it, all because I panic that they are actually boring… but who knows… maybe if I just gave them a chance they would be ok?

Anyway, that brings us here… to the 16th of December… with very little blogged since September… A lot has happened since then, life has been pretty full on… moving from event to event, from week to week, with the days quickly blurring past.  Yet tonight, for the first time this month, I find myself at home with my computer, as my plans for this evening were cancelled at the last minute, and while there are plenty of things I could be and probably should be doing I find my self here… updating the blog…

So what’s been happening? Well the list is slowly being crossed off, although I am not sure I will get that close to the whole 100, but there is always next years list, I have been doing some new things at work, which has been quite exciting, it has made me a lot busier but I figure as long as I am enjoying it, it will work.  We have been on a few adventures including one to beautiful Bright where we not only got to cross visiting off the list, but also pick some fruit and cross ‘Walk/Run 300km’ off the list too… Oh and we also finished our dates for this year!  I have been trying my hand at some ‘craft’ projects thanks to some Pinterest inspiration and started to make my mark on our new house… and now I have found myself right in the middle of the Christmas madness which I usually love, but have found quite overwhelming this year.

DateDays

The next couple of months is set to be just as busy… a couple of weddings, a trip overseas, christmas, and a new year and a new list.  I am really looking forward to next year, but I am also looking forward to the last couple of weeks of this one and all that they entail…  But as far as updates go… this is as much as I can do tonight… maybe next year will bring some more consistent blogging?