Our Curious Life: Week 22

 

 

 

Um… May is over… and this year is flying… seriously flying… I wish there was a way to make time slow down, more so now then ever before. Of course there are some times I wish it would speed up… you know, like when Isaac is losing his mind… but on the whole getting Got to put the brakes on a just a little would be welcomed. I don’t know whether it’s having a small person… or just getting older, but I am really learning the truth of the saying ‘the days are long, but the years are short’… whoever said that is a wise wise person.

This is what May looked like at the George’s…

The last week of May and the first two days of June were spent mostly shopping… shopping for food and outfits for Isaac’s dedication, shopping for sneakers with my fit pig money and shopping for taps for our recently renovated laundry… which isn’t finished yet… hence no reveal… but it will happen… eventually… hopefully after the school holidays.

We also spent a lot of time walking… trying to get fit, but mostly trying to justify the amount of money I was about to spend on sneakers. I have very expensive and specific sneaker taste! And we practiced our selfie game… I think Isaac is getting pretty good at it.

On Friday we experienced the mother of all poopsplosions while Mum and I were at eastland and I was very very thankful to have mum there to assist in the clean up… but I guess these are just the experiences that you have to have at least once when parenting.

We finished the week with a very cold big band rehearsal ready for our weekend away next weekend… and I decided it was finally safe enough to cross no. 8 of my list… because Isaac is still sleeping though like a champion, so I think it is finally safe to admit that I am sleeping through the night.  Oh and Isaac finally tried the Jolly Jumper he got for Christmas and he loves it!

Oh and just like every other end of the month blog so far… we get to celebrate Isaac being another month older… Isaac is now 10months old and he is very cheeky. He is very tolerant of Dave and I and all of the things that we take him to, but he also knows exactly what he wants and he isn’t afraid to tell us, very very loudly. He loves to talk and sing, and we are just so very very proud of him.

 

Our Curious Life: Week 21

 

 

 

Alright… I am super behind on these and I will catch up because I am a structure lover and adamant rule follower so they will all need to be there eventually… and right now I don’t even know what week we are up to, but right now I am waiting for an appointment for Isaac and he is asleep in his pram so I am blogging in the foyer. But never fear, by the time I push post I will have worked out what week we are up to, and you will already know because it will have been the title of this blog….

UPDATE: The moment I finished the above paragraph… he woke up, and while happy to entertain himself in the pram… apparently it isn’t a good look to ‘be constantly on your phone’ with your child watching… I was about to write that I am at home and he is asleep again… but that’s a lie… I gotta go again…

UPDATE 2: I am yet another week behind… because I started this blog last week… but this week I have found my diary surprisingly empty, and poor little Isaac has a cold so he is having a bonus snooze… But right now I am feeling productive because I have just whipped up 2 slice bases for the choir concert tomorrow night, ready for the chocolate later tonight which will double as a delicious dessert when I get to lick the bowl. I have made my self a coffee, popped some worship music on… and now I am tempting fate by sitting down with my computer to try and smash out at least one blog… please please please.

Right now it is Tuesday the 29th of May… so rather than me attempting to tell you about this week… while it would be on time, would also be a guess seeing as the week has only just started… so let me tell you about last week… week 21…

Week 21 (see now that I know what week it is I am going to use it all the time!) saw the return of some exercise motivation (last week was a bit of a ride off after a pretty good start the week before). To date I have been eating like I have been breastfeeding, which I am no longer doing… and I have been a little restricted on the types of exercise I can do… my body is not quite the same as it was before 2 pregnancies… but a couple of weeks ago I started a mums and bubs exercise group and I have decided that I can definitely walk… surely I can walk… so that’s what we have been doing… Well Isaac rides in comfort and I walk and this week we have walked with lots of people… my mum, my sister-in-law, my friend Rachel, Dave and Dex. I have also decided that even though I might not always feel like it, actually getting out each day for some exercise is a good example to set and a good habit for Isaac and I to have together. PLUS… the fit pig is back (no. 59)… and I desperately need new sneakers… so I have to exercise, exercise, exercise earn some extra cash and buy the sneakers… On Friday we did our first solo walk for the week and the weather was glorious! There is a lake hidden about a 1km and a bit from our house which is so beautiful and every time I walk up there I am taken back by this little slice of perfection hidden in Knox. We should walk up to the lake more often…

This week has also been full of appointments, and this week we have had some wins and some loses… well not loses, just not wins. The ‘not win’ is that the Oxygen stays for a little bit longer… but the ‘win’ is that the hip brace is off… all the time… and it is great! Although, it turns out, that without the brace on Isaac is much longer in the bassinet which means he may soon have to go into his own room, and I am not sure I am really ready for that… I have decided that I am most definitely a clingy parent… maybe even a helicopter… Anyway… to celebrate being about to leave the hip brace off Dave and I decided to reenact a clip we had both been tagged in on Facebook. The clip with the baby with helium balloons attached to their limbs having the time of its life. We got the balloons and the baby… and a small amount of enjoyment from Isaac… he didn’t really understand what the heck we were doing… but the celebration was there… kind of… in our hearts anyway.

What else happened… We also visited my Gran in hospital who, thankfully appears to be on the mend which is such an incredible miracle and answer to prayer. We fixed the blind in our bedroom so now there is artificial light AND day light! Which is such a silly small thing, but it is so nice to be able to look out the window. Oo and we went to a park party for Isaac’s Auntie Hannah where we were able to catch up with Dave’s family… all of them!

So there you go… that’s week 21…. and ironically, even though it is finished and ready to publish… the internet is down at our place… so it has to wait a little longer…

Our Curious Life: Week 20

 

 

 

Week 20 has been intense… not a constant, full on intense… just an undercurrent of lots happening. It started with Mother’s Day… this Mother’s day wasn’t my first mother’s day but in many ways it felt like it. This time last year we had one angle in heaven and baby Isaac secretly growing. Last year we spent the day telling our mum’s about our new little one on the way, and to be honest it was a nice distraction from the reality of the day. I found it hard to feel like a mum when Josh wasn’t there… I received lots of well wishes but for most of the day I just wanted to pretend that I wasn’t a mum, because it was easier and I didn’t feel like I was. I know that having a baby earth side doesn’t make me any more of a mum now, but last year I just felt like a bit of a fraud… like I was celebrating a day that wasn’t really for me. This year it felt a whole lot more real… being able to carry Isaac around, almost like a badge of honour on the day.  It was such a different experience from before. We had brunch together, I got thrown up on a few times, and we had dinner with my mum.  Isaac also made some Keepsake for His Grandma, Nanna and Nanna Naz.

Monday was Dave and I’s 7th wedding anniversary… 7 years… and so much adventure. It’s crazy to think that we are still only really at the beginning and there will be hopefully many more lots of 7years to come. I have told you all many times how wonderful Dave is and it is still true. Marrying him is still the best decision I have ever made and the last 2 years have just proved this over and over again. On Monday we received some pretty scary news that my Grandmother was very very unwell and that she needed a miracle, so instead of meeting him for lunch at school, he came home in his lunch break and played with Isaac so that I could have moment to myself, shower and work out what to do next. Over the last 7 years I have truely learnt the meaning of many of the vows that we made 7 years ago… in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad… he is my go to, my best friend, my greatest supporter and the love of my life.

So all that happened in the first 2 days of week 20… the rest of the week remained busy… with a undercurrent of anxiety and fear that I couldn’t quite shake… but we did make time for some fun things, like ramping up our efforts on getting Isaac to try solids… I still haven’t mastered my home cooking yet and everything that I do make for Isaac is usually rejected in a generous display of fake gaging… so I am thanking Jesus for pre-made baby food at the moment because he loves it… well most of it… we will work on the home made stuff once he progresses past the puree stage. We also took a trip to costco which is always fun. We had a couple of appointments for Isaac and the biggest small thing we did this week was get the light fixed in our bedroom. We broke the light fitting when we tried to upgrade it… and while Dave was in Mt Gambier I broke the blockout blind and it has been stuck fully down… so our room has been very dark for what feels like forever… but has really only been a week and a bit… but now the light is fixed and it is magical… such a simple thing… so much joy… now we just have to get the blind fixed.

We finished the week with a 6km walk which was a fundraiser for World Vision held at Dave’s School. Why 6km… because that’s the average distance people in the developing world walk for water that is usually contaminated… While we weren’t so great with the fundraising ourselves the school did a great job and our registration fees provided clean water for one person each which is pretty great. We walked 6km so they wouldn’t have to anymore. It’s only a small thing, but again it brings a heck of a lot of joy to me… and the person with clean water.

Oh and Isaac graduated from the capsule to a real car seat… which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it means my tiny baby isn’t so tiny anymore.

So we made it through week 20… let’s hope week 21 is a little lighter on the soul.

Our Curious Life: Week 12

 

 

 

Week 12 has been very similar to all the other weeks we have had recently… appointments, big band gigs and coffee dates… so rather than bore you with all the details I will just give you a couple of highlights.

On Sunday Isaac got to wear some clothes that once belonged to Dave… and he looked more like Dave than he ever had before…

On Wednesday we celebrated Nanna’s birthday…

And yesterday Isaac got all dressed up in his hawthorn gear and I couldn’t have been prouder…

Oh and scarily… we did a tour of a kinda… he is way to little to be thinking about kinda… but that’s the kind of world we live in folks!

Our Curious Life: Week 10

 

 

 

Week 10 has been MASSIVE… listing, family fun, MASSIVE…

On Sunday Dave, Isaac and I participated in our first fun run for the year (no. 38 on the list), the Monash Children’s Hospital walk at Jells Park and for some unknown reason I decided we should sign up for the 10km… which is much further than I have walked for over a year and a bit… I think I when we were signing up, I had had grand plans of a glorious Parkrun return that would have been in full swing weeks before and that if we were going to do a fun run we should push ourselves… so 10km it had to be.  We made it, just… I might have been a bit slow for the rest of the week, but we made it… and Isaac was pretty proud of himself.  It was also nice to give back to the hospital that has given us so much.

We also finished the week with more things being crossed of the list, we are currently down at Inverloch for the long weekend with the Salvo Big Band for the Inverloch Jazz Festival and being in Inverloch is no. 9 on the list and I touched the ocean (no. 95) when we took Isaac down to the beach for the first time.  In fact I even went for a swim.  I am not sure Isaac loved it, but he didn’t hate it… which I think for a babies first trip to the beach is a win.  It also crossed no. 19 of Isaac’s List.

Between our listing expeditions on the weekends we spent a lot of time back the hospital for follow up appointments, physios, respitatory teams, and neonatologists.  We also went back to the Maternal Child Health Nurse.  We also had lunch with Grandma Meg which is also fun.

Oh and last week we reached the magic time in parenthood when Isaac started sleeping through the night (no. 15 on his list)… but in fear of jinxing it I kept it to this week to tell you all… it’s magic.

Our Curious Life: Week 7

 

 

 

You won’t believe this, but I might actually get week 7’s blog out on time… it only finished yesterday, which means I am actually sitting down to write it on time… Isaac is mastering his new skill of hitting the toys hanging above his play-mat… and I am typing!  What is this life?

Ok so week 7 started in a panic… last Sunday night our power went out for the first time since we brought Isaac home… which meant no oxygen concentrator for him and the freezers containing all the liquid gold breastmilk were slowly warming up… I wasn’t super fussed about the oxygen because we had tanks Isaac could use to sleep, but the idea of just going to bed not knowing if the breastmilk would survive the night was certainly anxiety inducing.  For a while I just sat on the couch in the dark with Isaac thinking about all the time I would have wasted if we lost that milk… all the things I could have done instead… all the anxiety about washing them well enough for his tiny little body… all the water we would have wasted washing the darn things… and the reality of the fact that my supply was slowing, so there was no way I could replace it, even if I really really wanted to.  So much of my life has been expressing milk during the last 6 months… not just a little bit… but hours of my day… so after some panicked tears I rang my dad, woke him up, and asked for some freezer space… because even though my quick google search told me the freezer would be fine until morning, I couldn’t fathom risking it.  Thankfully, dad was very gracious and understood my desperation… even if it was a little irrational, and just told us to come on over… on the way to his place we realised we had access to a bigger freezer at our church… but when we got there to unload it all for the night, we learned that our power was back on… so we just turned around and went home with it… A lot of panic for nothing in the end… but it made for an eventful start to the week.

The rest of the week turned out to be the week of the Grandma’s and air tests… it started with a lunch date with Grandma Meg on Monday and Finished with Nana Shirl coming to story time with my sister in law and nephew… oh and we had brunch with Auntie Grace on Tuesday and dinner with Auntie Ness on Wednesday between school and Dave’s Music Interest Night… Isaac and I stayed to take some pictures and then checked out the Eastlink track on a little walk.

This week we also marked some pretty massive milestones… Isaac tried some food for the first time, which is very exciting… although I feel like I had just got the hang of milk feeds… but I guess that’s the reality of parenting… as soon as you get comfortable they change the rules.  And… (here is where the air tests come in) we got the ok to stop using the oxygen at night as well… Isaac had two tests in room air (just good old regular air) overnight, one Monday and then a follow up test on Wednesday just to confirm the results.  The initial results from Monday were great, so we are good to live oxygen free, unless they see something in the test from Wednesday that makes them change their mind… but so far so good and we haven’t turned on the concentrator, or plugged in a tank since Wednesday…  which is terrifying, but a huge moment for us… We aren’t living ‘oxygen free’ just yet, as I still feel the need for a safety canister when we go out, his room still has a supply of tanks and the living room is still home of the giant concentrator… but we are getting much closer.  I think once they have collected all the oxygen equipment I will really believe we are done with it and that he can actually do it all by himself.

This is the first week all year that we haven’t crossed anything off the list… but that’s ok… we have been spending a lot of time watching the Winter Olympics instead… which are flipping amazing… I think I have decided that I enjoy them even more than the Summer Olympics and I think it is just the risk of death or injury that sucks me in… These athletes are so incredibly brace… maybe a little nuts… but incredible all the same.  Isaac seems to like them too.

So there you go… week 7 was pretty big even without the list.

Our Curious Life: Week 6

 

 

 

Wow… week 6, what the heck? How did we get here? To be honest as I sit down to type this I can’t remember what we did this week… maybe we can work it out together.

This week was also filled with friends, we had lunch with my work bestie and her partner and super cute little girl, we caught up with some of my high school besties and we caught up with my mum and avoided the heat with a day at the shops.  We walked a lot, including a return to parkrun yesterday… which felt much earlier than I remembered, but it was good to be back nevertheless. and we had a lot of appointments.

On Monday night I went back to choir… which in the craziness of 2017 never got mentioned.  It’s a choir that was formed out of  a one off performance I was part of to celebrate a teacher at my high school.  Since then it has become a legit thing and I was attending weekly until I ended up in hospital before Isaac was born.  So going back this week feels pretty great.  Plus it fills me with all the school nerd feels!  At choir I also received a copy of some family photos we had taken by the lovely Georgia from Allegro Photography. Which means no. 6 can now be officially crossed off the list.  The photos turned out so beautifully… thanks Georgia.

This week Isaac also got good reports from the physio, dietitian and the respiratory team… so good in fact we are off day time oxygen!  AMAZING!!!  It is so strange not to have him attached to the tank and I think it is going to take some adjusting on my part to trust him without it.  Dave and I have done a few little outings to help me get used to the idea… but it has been 6 months of life with oxygen… it will take time.  It is so fun though being able to walk away from the pram, the bassinet, the car… everything without having to worry about where the cord is.  He is free… well at least during the day.  Seriously… yesterday we left the pram in the car while we attended a first birthday party… we just had us, Isaac and the nappy bag… so so so strange.

We also re-attempted story time, although we went to a different library and with some buddies and it was so much better… library story time is back on the list of things we like to do… as long as we have a buddy and a coffee date booked for after.

Turns out week 6 was quite eventful… bring on week 7.

Our Curious Life: Week 1

Ok… a new year means a fresh start and a good opportunity to try something new… so this year on the blog I thought I would try a new method of weekly blogging, one that I saw on one of favourite bloggers, Shutterbean, and it seems super simple… although that’s usually a cue for me to totally over complicate it.

Anyway, it’s just a recap of sorts of the week that’s been… somewhere I could write about our listing adventures, share some pictures, and quickly recap. I am a little worried mine will start to read a little like a grade 5 diary entry… but hey, when it really all comes down to it, this is here for me… and if you love it too, excellent.

So the plan is at the end of each week… probably Sunday (which is technically the start of the next week) I will write this… which will help my regular blogging, help me to record some fun things… and maybe the not fun things, and give me a little “me goal”… which I already have way to many of… but maybe a “me goal” that I might actually achieve.

So here we go:

January is a funny time… a new year brings lots of potential… a little associated pressure and some really really big plans.  It fills me with hope, but also stress that this is the year that I have to fix/complete/try/achieve x y & z… some of which I bring on myself with a little thing I like to call the list but also for those things that don’t make it on to the official list.  The lists in my head, the lists on our bench, and the lists I didn’t even know I was keeping.

But so far so good… it’s summer and lets face it everything feels better in summer.   So this week, I was glad I posted the new list… but a little disappointed that I never quite managed to finish my recap of last years list, blog thanks to my computer breaking down… I will finish it, but it turns out there is even less time to blog now that Isaac is at home.  But we did manage to cross a few things off the new list…

97. Fix my computer – completed: 02/01/2018
My computer had a moment on new years eve… and after a few hours on the phone to apple support it seems to be back… although it’s probably time I really start saving for a new one… I think it could be on borrowed time.

89. Update some photo wall photos – completed: 03/01/2018
There are still a couple more that need updating, and it is unlikely that this is the only time I change some of the pictures, but we have updated 3, and I figure that’s enough to cross this off.

92. See coco – completed: 06/01/2018
Yep, but I didn’t take the baby… I finally have a valid reason to indulge my love of Disney… but I left him at home with his Dad and went with some of my besties instead.  And unsurprisingly I cried like a little baby.

We started the new year at the beach, and I got my first real dose of fomo… (fear of missing out, for all of those who are playing at home, who unlike me have embraced their age and don’t try to keep up with the cool kids).  It turns out, that even though I knew life would be different with a baby, I hadn’t really thought about what that looked like on holidays.  It turns out going to the beach and spending hours in the ocean without a care in the world will probably never happen again… we may be able to spend hours in the ocean… but we need a few years and a few hundred swimming lessons… and I will probably always be worried about Isaac.  So this summer we just walked near the beach… because our pram does not like sand and neither does oxygen tanks or tiny nose prongs.

When went for a few late night family walks…

Swam in the pool at my Dad’s place for the first time in year… why I have I not been doing this more often?

And Isaac turned 5months old… far out… how did that happen?   So we celebrated with two little photoshoots.  One on the actual day, and one a few days later, because I forgot to take the milestone card to the beach with me.  But at 5months, he is super smiley, starting to coo and getting bigger everyday… right on track for being 8weeks corrected.

So there you go… week one.

 

Our Pram is Full

I have learnt a heck of a lot in the last 3 and a half months… I have learnt that babies are resilient as hell, NICU mums are a special bread of lady, that you can get addicted to monitors, that life is precious, that a change in rooms can mean more than just a different view and that gigil cafe at Monash Children’s Hospital can sustain you for 3 and a half months. I have learnt that Dave and I are a better team than we have ever been before, I have learnt that I have a voice and I can speak up, I can advocate and I can do more than I realised… and I have learnt that as much as I wish it was, my experience is not unique.

This week Dave and I are Participating in the Mercy Pram Jam. An event that is designed to raise awareness and much needed funds for research to prevent stillbirth and complications from premature birth. Even though our experiences have been at the Monash medical centre and the Monash children’s hospital, the pram jam is unique in its purpose… and being one of the 4 level 6 NICUs in Victoria, the knowledge gained by them through their research has the potential to impact the whole state… and any research that prevents the heart ache of still birth and the roller coaster of premature birth is a cause worth championing.

Dave and I first heard about Pram Jam in November last year when a Facebook friend of mine posted about her Pram Jam efforts. At the time, we had just lost Joshua, our beautiful first born son. The idea of raising pushing a pram to raise awareness was something that I really liked the idea of. It ticked all the boxes for me… a fun idea, a list worthy item and a good cause. But last year it was too soon… this year we found ourselves with a new baby boy also born way to soon, a tiny warrior with a huge fight on his hands and when we saw an opportunity to raise some money but more importantly awareness, we knew that this year we would be pram jamming. At the beginning of October when Dave and I decided to sign up, I thought we would have had weeks at home with Isaac already… well maybe a week… but there was no doubt in my mind that he would be home for it. As November got closer and closer I realised that there was a very real possibility that we would be pram jamming with an empty pram… not a problem, but not how I had pictured it… but today we are starting, and after 107 days he is home… and I am learning to drive the pram… which it turns out isn’t always as easy as it looks.

We are jamming for Josh and for Isaac, but we are also jamming for those mothers with whom I shared a knowing nod, for the mothers who weren’t as lucky as me and didn’t get to take their baby home. We are jamming for the babies that we left in the hospital who we hope will go home soon… but we are also jamming for the babies who will not. We are jamming with hope that the money we raise will make a difference, that discoveries will be made and that other families won’t have to travel the same path we have. We are jamming because even though I felt alone in my experience, I am not… We are jamming for the mums of the one baby in every 130 pregnancies that ends in still birth in Australia… We are jamming for all the families who lose their babies to the biggest killer of children under five worldwide, being born too soon… We are jamming to make it stop.

So how can you help? Well, just getting this far is a good start… but if you would like to support our Pram Jam fundraising you can also do that by clicking this link… https://pramjam2017.everydayhero.com/au/emma

I am not good at asking for money, in fact, it is something that I really don’t like doing… but this cause is bigger than me. It is something that 2 years ago I would have never thought about, but something that now makes me who I am, a mum of 2, raiser of 1.

This week Dave and I will be walking 20kms across the week… it may not sound like much, but given my novice pram status, our ‘new to us’ baby at home, the fact that I haven’t exercised well in almost 2 years and the very real possibility that my pelvic or abdominal muscles may not make it… it is quite the task and we are only 2kms in… but the goal is good and the cause is better… come pram jam with us.

The 2015 List Wrap Up

Ok… so with the end of 2015 it’s time to check out what actually came of the list… the full run down. Once again there have been heaps of times this year when the list has been on the back burner while life went on. Which is good, because it means that life is actually full of heaps of fun stuff.  So much fun stuff that it’s February and it’s only now that this blog is being published… instead of it’s usual December appearance… I guess all that matters is that it is here now.  2015 was another full on year and you can get a better recap of all that happened here.  But what happened with the list?  Good question… and you are in luck because it is all here for you to read about below…  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. Visit Hobbiton – completed: 01/01/15
  2. Make my own dumplings
    No excuses really… I just ran out of time.
  3. Do another Pinterest craft – completed: 13/02/15
  4. Make my own hot cross buns – completed: 05/04/15
  5. Follow through with the 2015 date box again – completed: 22/12/15
    All done and dusted for another year… once again we had to sneak a few into November and December, but they were all done and quality time was enjoyed.
  6. Paint Something – completed: 15/08/15
  7. Eat something I have planted – completed: 27/01/15
  8. Buy lunch at work no more than twice a week – completed: 23/12/16
    This year I got much better at taking my lunch… there were still a lot of lunches out, but there were less… and no more than two in any one week.
  9. Go to two weddings – completed: 21/02/15 (wedding 1, wedding 2)
  10. Order fish at a restaurant – completed: 06/01/15
  11. Try again to embrace home cooking
    This one I struggle with and I don’t know why… I like cooking… I am just not good at actually doing… maybe next year?
  12. Have a weekend away – completed: 26/04/15
  13. Go to some carols by candlelight – completed: 14/12/15
    We actually did a few carols by candlelight… starting with the ones on the 14th and finishing with the ones on Christmas eve at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
  14. Work as a classroom teacher – completed 13/03/15
  15. Make the most of my gym membership
    I could have done more… let’s be honest.
  16. Run 5km without walking
    Not yet… there is still hope… 5km is a fairly comfortable distance now which is good, but I am not running the whole thing.
  17. Do some trivia – completed: 17/01/15
  18. Learn another song on guitar – completed: 20/12/15
    Hello “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum
  19. Have a picnic in the backyard – completed: 22/12/15
    We should do this more often… it is nice
  20. Start collecting and sorting photos of Dave and I’s family history – completed: 20/12/15
    The collection has started… it probably needs a little more structure, but it has been started… and that’s all the list required.
  21. See some black sand – completed: 02/01/15
  22. Put some new photos up around the house – completed: 11/04/15
  23. Blow some giant bubbles – completed: 05/12/15
    An excellent Family Christmas BBQ activity for the whole family
  24. Ride a rollercoaster – completed: 09/04/15
  25. Play mini golf – completed: 08/12/15
    It was only one hole… in works put put comp… but that still counts right?
  26. See a movie at the drive-in – completed: 14/02/15
  27. Build a sandcastle – completed: 01/12/15
    Thank you December Date Day
  28. Buy an ice cream from an ice cream truck – completed: 12/12/15
    Is there a better way to celebrate seeing Taylor Swift live?  I don’t think so
  29. Take a selfie with the selfie stick fully extended – completed: 10/01/15
  30. Go to the beach at least 5 times – completed: 26/01/15
  31. Stargaze while lying on the grass – completed: 13/11/15
    I should do this more often too… the night sky is pretty incredible
  32. Watch the sunset from a beach – completed 01/12/15
    Again I say… Thank you December Date Day
  33. Rent a bike and go on an adventure – completed: 03/01/15
  34. Stay at the Langham – completed: 07/01/15
  35. Go Hiking – completed: 03/01/15
  36. Take a last minute road trip – completed: 01/10/15
  37. Make a playlist for each season (Summer and Autumn; Winter) – completed: 03/12/15
    And finally I give you Spring: :
    – Open Heaven (River Wild) – Hillsong United
    – Tommy and Krista – Thirsty Merc
    – Unashamed Desire – Missy Higgins
    – Different Worlds – Brittany Cairns
    – Head to Heart – United Pursuit
    – Midnight Clear (Love Song) – Chris Tomlin
    – He Shall Reign Forevermore – Chris Tomlin
    – Adore – Chris Tomlin
  38. Bake a cake for someone
    No excuses really… it just didn’t happen.
  39. Buy a stranger dinner (e.g. pay for someone else meal at a restaurant)
    Also no excuse for this one…
  40. Learn a greeting in a language I haven’t spoken before – completed: 07/11/15
  41. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone – completed: 10/08/15
  42. Dance in the rain – completed: 20/12/15
    This is pretty self explanatory… it rained and I danced… it was summer which made the whole thing a lot more comfortable.  
  43. Plant a tree – completed: 22/09/15
  44. Knit a scarf – completed: 30/05/15
  45. Read a book on a subject you wouldn’t normally choose – completed: 08/06/15
  46. Fly a kite – completed: 17/01/15
    This actually happened way back in Jan… rather unsuccessfully… the kite strings snapped in the wind…  but for a brief moment it flew.
  47. Write and email/call a company from which I received excellent service
    This one just didn’t happen either… I am not sure why… probably because when it comes to things like this… I am all talk
  48. Go on a romantic getaway – completed: 13/11/15
    Dave planned a camping trip, just for a night and just to help me cross things off the list… that’s pretty darn romantic.
  49. Help someone in need – completed: 20/12/15
    I probably could have done more… but we did feed a community with the help of Just Salvos
  50. Learn something in sign language – completed: 08/06/15
  51. Wear fancy dress to something – completed: 29/08/15
  52. See two oceans meet – completed: 05/01/15
  53. Go in a sea vessel… kayak, canoe, paddle boat, regular boat… whatever – completed: 06/01/15
  54. Play a board game with friends – completed: 11/07/15
  55. Write at least 3 letters to my prayer pal
  56. Go fruit picking – completed: 08/11/15
  57. Swim 20km across the year
  58. Do another boot camp – completed: 04/12/15
    It wasn’t an official bootcamp, but I did work hard thanks to my trainer for the day Rachel
  59. Do another fun run – completed: 02/12/15
    You should all go out and sign up to next years Santa Run… it is fun… and ridiculous… but mostly fun
  60. Walk/run 400km across the year
  61. Go camping – completed: 13/11/15
  62. Walk 10,000 steps more often than I don’t – completed: 31/12/15
    I don’t think I got there every day, but I certainly walked 10,000 steps more often than I didn’t.  
  63. See some fireworks – completed: 13/12/15
    Carols by Candlelight are also excellent places to see fireworks.
  64. Eat a Feijoa – completed: 16/04/15
  65. Go on a luge – completed: 03/01/14
  66. Swim in a thermal pool – completed: 02/01/15
  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 – completed: 07/02/15
  71. Read 15 books – completed: 27/10/15
  72. Try four more local cafes in search of our new breakfast spot – completed: 21/11/15
    I still haven’t found a new favourite… but the search is continuing… 4 down, plenty more to try.
  73. Try Inverloch’s ‘Red Cup’ equivalent – completed: 25/04/15
    It didn’t end up being the cafe I thought it would be as this one opened first and ruined the others plans… but this one was good.
  74. Have a mocktail – completed: 17/02/15
  75. Finish unpacking the last boxes
  76. Visit a country town I haven’t been to before – completed: 01/10/15
  77. Put up some outside lights for Christmas – completed: 25/12/15
    We got some new outdoor Christmas lights for Christmas… so Christmas night we tested them out… that still counts right?
  78. Keep getting closer – completed: 31/12/15
    There is still a long way to go, but I can honestly say that I am way better off than I was at the beginning of the year and it’s been a long time since I could say that, so it feels good.
  79. See Big Hero6 – completed: 30/05/15
  80. Use a remote control toy
  81. See a live music concert… or 4 – completed: 26/09/15
  82. Do some colouring – completed: 08/05/15
  83. Go to a live sporting event – completed: 08/01/15
  84. Have a hot jam donut – completed: 14/12/15
    The may have just been from Coles… and they may have been mini… but they were good. 
  85. Have High Tea – completed: 07/02/15
  86. Cook something from each of my Donna Hay Mags
    If I had embraced no.11 better, this might have stood a chance… but unfortunately neither have been done.
  87. Learn a new skill – completed: 10/05/15
  88. Make a photo book of our New Zealand Adventure – completed: 27/12/15
    It isn’t finished, but it has been started… I think this one will also be on next years list.
  89. Have at least 5 different groups of people over for dinner – completed 07/09/15
  90. Ride a push bike without tears – completed: 03/01/15
  91. Complete my sentence a day book for 2015 – completed: 31/12/15
    Again… this one is pretty self explanatory, but I have really enjoyed doing it… I am really looking forward to what will change in next years sentences.
  92. Make a teepee or blanket fort and watch a movie in it
  93. Go to a farmers market – completed: 26/04/15
  94. Go through the alphabet of foods/restaurants/cuisines – completed: 19/12/15
    This one ended up being a little different from what I imagined too, but here is the list:
    A = Apple Pie, B = Broccoli, C = Carrot, D = Donuts, E = Eggnog, F = Fries, G = Gingerbread house, H = Homus, I = Ice Cream Slice, J= Jam, K = Koren BBQ, L = Lamb, M = Massaman Beef Curry, N = Nectarine, O = Octopus, P = Peachy Keenie Custard, Q = Quince Paste, R = Raspberries, S = String Beans, T = Tea, U = Unsalted Nuts, V = Vermicelli, W = Watermelon, X = Xanthan Gum, Y = Yogurt, Z = Zucchini.
  95. Do something handy at home – completed: 14/02/15
  96. Walk the dog once a week
    Sorry Dex 😦
  97. Set up our outdoor furniture and eat at it – completed: 19/10/15
  98. Actually read through the New Testament – completed: 19/12/15
    The whole thing… a little each day, but the whole thing. 
  99. See a wild swimming animal – completed: 06/01/15
  100. Touch a volcano – completed: 02/01/15

Ok… So there you go… that’s the list wrap for last year… 82 out of 100… I think that’s my best year yet!  Bring on 2016!