A Busy Month

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much over the last few weeks, and well the main reason is that things have just been really busy for me at the moment.
There have been lots of things happening with our Kenya trip. Getting things organised. We had a bonding weekend away 2 weeks ago, which was a great time to get to know each other better. We had some news last week that our accomodation for our second week had fallen through, but I found out today that 2 places have been found for us, so now we have a choice. Praise the Lord that he has solved this dilemma for us. And I know that He will keep looking out for us through the remainder of the planning and during the trip itself.
Things have been really hectic at work, and I really feel it is time to move on, so I am looking into possible studying next year. I'm interested in maybe studying teaching or childcare, but I really need to make up my mind soon about that.
I am now a part of three bible studies, and am really enjoying the different fellowshipping I am getting from each of these.
And spending more times with friends. Especially loving catching up with Melinda, Jenny & Ruth, and love scrapping each fortnight with Mum, Jess & Esther. In fact Jess & Esther came over today & we all had such a great time. I spent the day making tins! Yep, that's right, TINS! I am branching out & trying some off the page work & really enjoyed it.
So yeah, these are a lot of the things that have been keeping me busy lately. Feeling a bit overwhelmed at times, but really enjoying being more involved in different things.

Kenya Weekend

Ok, so I didn't actually go to Kenya for the weekend! It was actually a weekend at Waterslea, a local Christian campsite (where we went for the Scrapping With Soul Retreat) for the team going to Kenya next January. It was a weekend for bonding & organising. We got lots of things sorted out & did lots of bonding, so yeah it was a good weekend.
Though it didn't get off to such a great start. My car got bogged & then broke down as I was driving down Kollona Drive toward the campsite. It is a fairly hilly/ rocky road, so breaking down there when it is dark & raining was not much fun at all. But a bunch of the guys came to my rescue. Definitely an interesting way to commence the bonding weekend! But after that, things ran smoothly & it was a great weekend.
Getting excited, coz in 4 months time we will be over in Kenya. It's gonna be such a great experience, I am so looking forward to it!

Scrapping With Soul

Went to the Scrapping With Soul crop day last Saturday at the church. As always it was a lovely day of scrapping & chatting. I worked on an 8x8 album that doesn't have a theme. I just grabbed some random photos & had a lot of fun playing around with them.

1 Year Anniversary!!!

Yep today is the one year anniversary of my blog!
I am so glad I ventured into the world of blogs- it is such a great way to catch up with family & I have met some amazing scrappers as well. Thankyou to everyone who visits my blog, I love hearing from you all :)
It is also my brother's 20th birthday.
Happy Birthday Royce!!! Hope you enjoy all your alcohol (yep, my parents gave him heaps of booze!) & can't wait to eat the dinner you are making (yep that's right, he is making his own birthday dinner!) But that was his choice, we are taking him out for dinner tomorrow night.
Looking forward to the scrapping with soul day on Saturday. I spent today planning for it & tonight am off to make cards with some church friends for an upcoming service.
Hope your all having a nice week, love to you all xox

Back To Work

Yep I'm back to work tomorrow after a very pleasant week and a half off.
It started last Thursday where I had lunch with my friend Melinda, then afternoon tea with my friends Jenny & Ruth.
Friday was my Grandma's funeral, which although it was a very sad occasion, it was quite nice to catch up with lots of people we don't see very often, mostly Dad's family from Sydney.
Mum, Davina, Erin & I headed to Berry on Sunday to have brekky & check out the markets, so that was a lovely day, & I didn't spend too much money, which is good!
Monday was a quiet day at home scrapbooking, then Tuesday I headed to town to sort some things out for Kenya. I now have my travel insurance & passport sorted, yay! Then had afternoon tea with mum before heading home.
Went shopping with my friend Melinda on Wednesday, then had a lovely day of scrapping on Thursday with Mum, Simone & Jess. Friday I spent the day looking after my mum's friend Andrea's daughter Bella, who was too sick to go to school.
Then yesterday headed to Wollongong to buy my brother's birthday present. Then spent a few hours in the arvo making cards with a group of people from church.
Just now Dad & I have just gotten back from taking the dog for a walk. He was being naughty trying to bolt ahead of us, so we tried a new punishment, by taking him home & then going a walk without him. But he found a way of breaking out of the yard & ran to catch up with us, so we brought him home & locked him in his room. He is so naughty! Don't know how we're gonna get him to behave on his walks!

Memories Of My Gran

Well my Grandma's funeral was last Friday. It was quite a good service, as far as funerals go. I got through my bible reading without any problem and Dad's eulogy was just beautiful & he presented it so well. And we had so many people there to support us. Lots of friends & family, as well as a number of people from Clelland Lodge. As sad as funerals are, I think it's such a great thing to look back over someone's life to see what they've acheived and what an impact they've left behind.
So I went through all my scrapbooks to find all the layouts I have made about Gran, so here is a look at some of them, to give you guys my memories/tributes of my Gran:
Gran & Pa on their wedding day September 1953
Dad and Gran swimming together
Gran & Dad Christmas 2007. We were so blessed to have Gran with us for Christmas last year, because July 2007 she was really unwell & was in hospital for about a month & I really didn't think she would make it, but she made an amazing recovery & then went to her new home at Clelland Lodge nursing home & was still managing quite well until a couple of weeks ago.
I love this photo of us having a family bbq lunch, which is what we often did when Gran came over.

Gran with her good friend Joyce
Pa, Gran & Dad with Pa's mum
I love this photo of Gran & Pa dancing. It was taken on their first date!
These last two are layouts that I made today. This first one celebrates the fact that Gran & Pa were married for 50 Golden Years. It's a shame that we didn;t get a photo of them at their 5oth Wedding Anniversary, but well, I didn't have my digital camera back then, & I really am the only camera mad person in my family!
3 Generations Of Combers. Me as a baby with my Dad, my Gran & my Pa.

Love you Gran & Pa & I miss you both so much. xox

Habari!

I'm trying to brush up on my Swahili because it has just dawned on me that in five months time I will be in Kenya & am hoping to be able to communicate somewhat! Apart from habari (hello) I don't have much down pat just yet!
And I'm freaking out a little cause I haven't got other things sorted either, such as my passport, insurance, vaccinations, etc. But I'm on holidays this week so I'm going to spend some of that time organising things & learning more Swahili.
So check back in a weeks time to see how my Swahili is going!