Wordless Wednesday - Summer Days

Have you been enjoying the lovely Melbourne sunshine?

We have!

Playing Wordless Wednesday over at My Little Drummer Boys!

Well hey there, fly boy!

So, Liam just sent me this photo...

Accompanied by a text declaring he DOES in fact have friends, in case I had any doubts that was true.

The boy is friends with a fly.  

Apparently, anyway. At time of publication, we have no word as to whether the fly reciprocates these sentiments of friendship. He may just have no friends.

Tell me honestly guys, should I be worried?! =P

Where oh Where has the Weekend Gone?

It seems like I spend every moment of the week counting down to the weekend... Counting the days, the hours, the minutes that seem to stretchhh out so long, until finally it is Friday and the weekend is here! Yet then the weekend seems to fly by in the blink of an eye... (oh look - it seems I am a poet, and I didn't even know it!)

Source

Liam and I spent a large portion of the weekend inspecting houses.  I found two that I semi-fell in love with, and was formulating all sorts of grand renovation and decorating plans in my head.  I am a still mummy and daddy's little girl however, so before making any big plans they had to be consulted! Anyway, let's just say they shattered my dreams a little.  But all is good, as I know I need their perspective and wisdom. I am so excited about the whole thing I know I will just dive in heart first, and leave my head behind. I just have to keep reminding myself that this whole thing is a process, not an impulse buy! But we will get there, and I will know when we find the perfect place :)

We decided to reward ourselves after all that house-hunting with a date night out on High Street in Northcote.  Review to come, of course! We also probably treated ourselves to a few too many drinks when we headed down to Carter's Bar after dinner, but what's life without a little indulgence?

We woke up the next morning with slight head troubles.  Because I appear to be channeling the 50s-housewife, I dutifully cooked my man breakfast.

I have probably also contributed to heart problems later in life, but it was a tasty tasty start to the day!

Then it was all down to business.  Liam spent the morning cleaning up the car which has been perched on the front lawn for the last few months collecting dust and bird poop. Charming! With his company car, and a car of my own it has not touched the roads in about 8 months so it was time to go! The potential buyer came to take it for a test drive, and as I could hear the roar of the engine from a couple of streets away (really, boys and cars! I'll never understand) I could see the look of remorse on Liam's face.  I saw the same look again, as he inspected the car all clean and prettied up sitting in the driveway.  The guy is coming by on Tuesday night to make payment and pick up the car though.  I'll have to make sure I'm at home to be sure that the car changes hands, and to be a shoulder to cry on when Liam sheds a tear as his baby cruises off down the street! I'll remind him that it means extra spending money for our upcoming overseas trip!

Then it was time for dinner with my family and grandparents!

My brother brought along a girl... I had to try very hard not to revert back to my immature teasing ways, and embarrass him in front of the lovely lady. I did manage to slip in a few embarrassing anecdotes of his youth though! I figured it's my duty as a sister.

All in all, a great weekend! Good balance of serious business, with a reasonable amount of play thrown into the mix! But now it's Monday morning again :(

So here starts the countdown to next weekend!


Participating in the weekend Point + Shoot over at sunny+scout!

"If you ask me why I've changed, all I've got to do is say your name"

Came across this in my internet travels, and it really made me stop and think.

 

Source

When Liam and I first met, he was a big drinker, a smoker, and a potty-mouth swearer.  A lot of things about his lifestyle just did not fit in with mine, but somehow we connected and there was something special evident from our very first date.

We went out for dinner, but ate sooo slowly because we were too busy talking and laughing.  The waiters thought we were insane, but gladly accepted our gifts of awesome superhero band-aids (it's a long story!) which we had strewn all over the table. It wasn't until we realised that they were starting to stack everything up that we finally dragged our butts off the bench seats.  Even though it was late (on a school night, no less!), we wandered around for a while and spent some time in the video arcade. 

My very first photo of him - taken sneakily behind his back! :) 

On the drive home I realised I didn't want the night to end just there, so I sat there trying to formulate a way to ask him if he'd like to come in and hang out some more... as he pulled up to my house, I heard myself blurt out "want to come in and like... watch some DVDs or something?"

Smooth Cat, reeeeeal smooth!

 

Not long after we started dating, he came to meet me after a night out with the girls - cigarette in hand. I hate the smell of smoke so refused to kiss him hello and made him wait til the smell had disappeared before I would give even him a hug. (Bitch, yes! Mind you, I may have been ever so slightly intoxicated!) That is the very last cigarette I have ever seen him smoke.

The first time I met his friends, I heard an expletive escape his lips. The look of distaste on my face was obvious, and after couple of minor slip ups, that word is no longer in his vocabulary.

I can't even begin to count the ways in which he has tried to change for me.  
He now does not drink during the week nights, and instead we share a few beverages over the weekend.  
He has completely revamped his diet because the amount of junk food he used to consume alarmed me.  
He has joined me in my quest at the gym to be fitter, and now motivates me when I don't have the energy.

To start with, these changes were slightly hard to accept for me.  I did not want to change him, and I did not want him to feel he had to give up things for me.  I believe that you have to accept a person for who they are and make the choice to be with them based on that.  However he has put things into perspective for me.  His desire to change is because he wants to be a better person for me, he wants to better himself, and he wants to be the person that I know he can be.

I love him so very much for this, amongst the many other reasons. 

Sometimes the things he does can irritate me, and all I can think of is why can't he do things the way I ask? But I forget how much he has already done to make me happy. I know I need to remember this more, and be more forgiving and lenient when it comes to the little things.  I know I can be impossible and difficult to be with, but despite all this he puts up with me. I am stubborn, and I have not made the same concessions for him but still he loves me with all his heart.

We are two very different people, but in the end I know he would do whatever it takes to see me smile. 

I think I'm onto a winner :) 

Food Diaries : Mornin' Gorgeous

A voucher deal came up recently for the cafe across the road from Liam's work which was too good to pass up! $7 buys a bagel of your choice and a smoothie juice from their bottled selection.  I LOVE a good bagel, so as soon as this deal came up I knew I had to have it!

We bought two vouchers, one for Liam to have at lunchtime during work and the other for him to bring home for me to feast on.  With the vouchers, we each decided to get the cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel, with salad leaves, cucumber, red onion and lemon capers.

 

The first thing I noticed when I unwrapped this bagel were the luscious chunks of salmon nestled inside.  This is not your ordinary supermarket-bought smoked salmon, no ma'am! The pieces were about three times as thick as the oily slices you'll usually find vacuum-packed in the shops.  They were lovely and flaky, unlike any other that I have had before.

Liam also had a chat with the owners when he went back to pick up my bagel.  One of them was so excited to hear that he was taking it home for me to try, and upon finding out that I was a bagel fiend told Liam that she really hoped I liked it! She told him that she actually made the bagels herself, so she'd love to know my verdict.  Well, here it is - a delicious dense chewy bagel, with a lovely crunch of salads, a generous smear of cream cheese and gorgeous lemon capers which burst with flavour in your mouth!

Although I have not visited the cafe myself, I can tell the service is friendly and welcoming.  That combined with the lovely quality food, I would highly recommend you visit if you're in the area! Testament to that is that Liam has already re-visited twice since then to sample some of their offerings.

Liam and I both use the iPhone camera for most of our shots, but I'd like to think my camera skills are far superior to his! ;)

ANYWAY.  Point of the story is - if you've got a hankering for a bagel of a lovely fresh sandwich... go, go, go to Mornin' Gorgeous post-haste! They'll help satisfy your cravings! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Bzzzzzz!

Stumbled across Wordless Wednesday over at My Little Drummer Boys. 

Loved the idea, so I'm playing along! :)

Photobomber!

I originally took this photo for a NOTD... however the little photobomber in the background stole my thunder, looking all cute and content while basking in the sunshine!

I kind of wish my pesky hand wasn't in the way - it's such a funny photo of him in amongst the dandelions! But, there you have it...  

NOTD with a difference! :)