Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

That's exactly how I feel right now because in less than two sleeps - yep, a measly 48 hours - Mae and I will be heading over to visit our northern neighbours in Port Douglas, Cairns and the Daintree Rainforest!  Are you jealous? Because I so totally would be ;)

We'll be scuba diving (this has been on my bucket list since the Bucket List came out), jungle surfing (yes, it's a real activity!), exploring markets and relaxing at a day spa.  Need I say more?

It's like the weather is totally cheering us on too.. can you tell I'm excited?

Completely incomplete

When I sat down with my diary a couple of days ago, I was hoping to release my mind from all the thoughts and emotions that had been building up inside of me the last few days.  As I was sitting in my room, I was surprised to find myself writing a poem as I haven't penned one in such a long time.

I hardly doubt anyone but myself will ever read this but if you do ever stumble upon this poem, I hope that whoever and wherever you are, it calms your soul too.

...

Like the sun without light

Like a lake without peace

Like a bird without freedom

Or a rainbow without promise

I am hollow and broken

I am incomplete without You

Like a warrior without courage

Like a prayer without hope

Like winter without spring

Or a flower without beauty

I am a whisper, a ruin

I am a fleeting thought without You

You are the melody in my song

The moon in my dark nights

You are the the thread that holds 

The patterns of my life together,

The beginning, middle and end of my story

Without You, there is no me

Yet without me, You still remain

You bring out the best, when I'm at my worst

I firmly hold onto You alone

Jesus, You complete me

One Day

Last night, Will held his first 'Lights and Sounds' musical and I know you'll probably think I'm biased but let me just say, It Was Amazing!  He and his cast and crew have been preparing for this musical for nearly 4 months (or maybe more) and they did so, so well. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't take any photos or videos.  And it wasn't just me who thought they did well, you can tell the crowd were really eating every bit of the night up and were so proud of them too.

'One Day' is the song they sang during Terrence's funeral (yup, of course there was a funeral scene :) and it literally blew me away.    Well, most if not ALL songs blew me a way to tell the truth.  It really was a night to remember, Lights and Sounds 2011.

A poem

I was rummaging through my blog and found several old draft posts that were written nearly three years ago; back when I was 20 years old.  Wow, it feels like it was almost a lifetime ago!  As I was reading my old posts, I noticed a several theme threaded throughout each piece - it was a lonely thread, a sad thread.  I can pinpoint where most of that loneliness stemmed from and all I can say is that I'm so glad I'm not in that same place today.

This is one of the poems I wrote three years ago.  I'm a little shy to put it out there because I know I have so many fans reading this... :)  No, on a more serious note, I'm a little shy because this is me - raw and unedited.  Hope you like it.
----

'My plea'

I don't want to be swayed

By rough winds or cold rain

But if I forget would You hold onto me?

I don't want to jump ship

When the Noise grows louder and louder

But if I lose my head would You come after me?

I don't want to run

I don't want to hide anymore

Let me catch a glimpse of Your face 

And hear the whisper of Your voice once again

When everything around me screams to let go

When my knees have failed me

And clouds of doubt fill the air

Make me remember

Make me understand

It's worth all the tears

It's worth all the ache

It's worth the lonely nights

Oh it's so worth the wait

I must cling to Hope

I'm begging for stronger faith

Cause when the waves come crashing down

It's only your Love that remains

Through every season You've been there for me

Rescued me time and again

When I'm still foolish enough to think I could brave the waters on my own

Stop me.  Make me remember.

Break me.  Remind me your name.. Jesus.

Happy Anniversary, FCF

Last month, my church celebrated its 23rd birthday.  We had a whole weekend of rollercoasters, face painting, fairy floss and MORE.  Here are some happy snaps to commemorate the day:

Long live Project Owl

It was a spontaneous, crazy idea that we had two Christmas' ago.  Let's go on a road trip to the Gold Coast, we said.  My friend's birthday falls on New Year's Eve so he never really gets to celebrate (is what he argued, although if you know this friend of mine his middle name is 'Celebrate').  Not that I was complaining of course!  Any excuse to get out of Sydney was okay by me.

But who would we invite on this road trip?  We would only take one car which meant we could only fit three people.  Mae was a good friend of the both of us so she was no-brainer.  Mark, I didn't know too well but was a good friend of the Birthday Boy (a.k.a Yan) and my younger brother, so he was in.  That left one last empty seat.  I was pushing to bring another chick, just to appease the parents-that-be, so Birthday Boy said he wanted to invite his partner-in-crime Genefer.  I didn't know too much about her but she agreed to come and off we went.  

We literally drove into the night, only stopping every two hours to stretch our legs, switch drivers, go to the toilet and fill up on V - although necessarily not in that order.  I've told this story so many times that I should be forbidden to say it again but since it is my blog, here I go again :)  I still remember the drive to the Gold Coast at around 2am when I was 'trying' to get some shut-eye before we had to do another driver-swap.  And yes, I say 'trying' because I still remember so clearly how loud and irritating and funny (which made it even more irritating!) Genefer was being trying to dance and exercise while strapped by a seatbelt to keep Driver Mae awake.  

It might have been one of those You Had To Be There Moments but it was soo hilarious!  I'm smiling while typing this.  The whole seven days in the Gold Coast was one crazy rollercoaster, jam packed with those kind of You Wished You Were There moments.  The whole trip really was nothing short of amazing!  When we left, we were a group of friends and even, acquaintances.  But when we returned, we are the best of friends. 

I'm a little sad that we don't get to hang out as much as we all want.  I seriously don't know how our calendars can get so full, so quickly!  But I appreciate that we still make the effort and meet up when we can.

A few weeks ago was one of those times where we all got together and slept over Mae's place to celebrate the life of these two good looking peeps here.

Happy birthday, Gen and Mark!  Love you guys!

Gift wrapped

It's been way too long since we last met, blogspot.  And I admit, it's me not you.  But I promise (eeks - there I said it!), I will get better at this.

Now that's over and done with, what a crazy, crazy month. The only reason I'm writing in here on a Tuesday afternoon is because I'm at home sick with the flu.  I would usually be inserting a *sad face* right about now but truth be told... I'm actually enjoying being at home sick!  I read in an article the other week that when you get a cold or the flu, it's your body telling you to s-l-o-www down and I'm listening to you, aching limbs!

I haven't spent this much time at home in Way Too Long - and despite the off/on fever, runny nose and sore throat (beautiful picture, ain't it?), this flu-business isn't all that bad.

Anyhoo, I have recently become obsessed with personal gift wrapping so of course, that is today's blog post title.  Here are some happy snaps of gifts I have wrapped over the past month or so:

This was a present for a newly engaged couple

This was a present for a soon-to-be mum (yes, that bow was also a part of the pressie!)

This was a pressie for Will's niece.

Wow, I'm liking the 'caption' option on the new blogger.

Anyway, I have a few more photos from this month that I'd like to post up but I will do that in other posts.