Birthday and Christmas sans family.

I spent my birthday this year without family! eep! I organised breakfast with friends at a nursery with a big duck pond and yummy pancakes - not together. Then I had people over for the annual TV on DVD Christmas Specials. You bring your favourite TV series on DVD and just watch the Christmas episodes. Late afternoon, early evening we made our way into the city for some Thai, A look at the Myer Christmas windows.
A got to climb through a Fire Engine and hug a fireman. Nice little edition to the Birthday Present Pile.

We headed off to Docklands for the grand opening of the Southern Cross Sky Wheel (like the London eye in Melbourne). Lots of pyrotechnics and fireworks, music and dancing!

Ashton and I waiting for fireworks. Ashton is a professional ballet dancer and works for the Australian Ballet Academy out of Melbourne. He will move to Singapore soon to work at the Singapore Academy.

Melbourne's big Christmas Tree. A lot nicer than my $14 one at home. Oh well. Miss you all!

So I tried to keep myself rather busy on my trip to Perth which I succeeded in doing. I went shopping in town, I went and joined the YSA for Funbury Bunbury (Beach Volleyball, Dolphin Cruises and Sanddune movie),

Hen's night, Pamper Day, Friends house for dinner, wedding, Perth exploring, Engagement Party, Yanchep, Movies, Hanging with family,

Lunch with nieces, YSA River Cruises, Trivial Pursuit night, Picnic and Nativity play at Kings Park and oh just general loving of Perth!

It was amazing and I thought I had better blog at least some of my bits and pieces pictures of Perth

This is only Part One
As Always
Janey!

Darnae and Trent's Wedding

On the 27 November 2008, Darnae and Trent got married in the Perth Australia Temple.
It is a little strange to see someone you have grown up with and shared so much of life with get married... especially when you are older by a couple of years!

This Is Laura and Jessica, the bridesmaids in black!

Congratulations Darnae and Trent!

The reception was held at Joondalup Country Club, outside under the Marquee. Lucky for them the rain that had poured down the day before and that morning stopped at about 10am. Luckily for me I got to sit with the Dawson family which ALWAYS makes for a great laugh! This is me with Leah... thank goodness we were next to each other, it made the night a little less awkward for us both!

Candice and Leah - looking lovely. Thank goodness Candice talked me into buying a new dress and going shopping with her, because - I love her dress and now I have found a new favourite shop!

Jacob, Sophie and I. Not long now Jacob and we will be officially closer to 30 than 20! eep!

I wish Daz and Trent all the best.
More to come
Janey.

Darnae's Bachelorette Party

So one of my things to do on my Perth holiday was to organise and hold Darnae's Hens night. Luckily, my great friend Lisa Grinceri thought her newest salon, Skatt Mt Hawthorn, was the perfect place! So we had the signature pink catwalk, (as you can see Candice enjoyed herself there), music, massive televisions & massage chairs.

The theme for the night was "Princesses and Queens" so there were Tiaras and Royalty Punches - The Snow White (Apple and Blackcurrant), Princess Fiona (Coconut and Pineapple), Cinderella (Lemon, Orange, Lime, Pineapple) and Alice (Grenadine, Orange and Ginger).

It was a fun night with some funny teeny bopping music, some make up lessons, a spray tan and some laughs.

We had about 20 people come!
More to come soon,



Loving you from the Catwalk

Janey xxoo

So a couple of weekends ago, I had a visit from Aaron Ferris! I love when friends come to visit, it gives me excuses to do things I haven't done, and redo the stuff I love doing! He got here early on Saturday morning, so we could get a good start on things. We started in the city.

This is a picture of Flinders St Station from Federation Square. It is one of the city stops and one of the oldest train stations in Australia.




After a bit of a City Tour including Melbourne Central, a few laneways, The GPO, Federation Square we headed to the Regent Theatre, one of my favourite Melbourne theatres, to do one of my favourite things, see Wicked! The Musical. It gets better every time I see it, and I must admit I love Fiyero!!! He is my favourite.
We then headed down to Docklands on the tram, and, unfortunately the Melbourne Eye wasn't open yet!

Luckily for Aaron, Docklands wasn't a complete failure. Bumping into such legends as Kylie Minogue, and as you can see, John Farnham.

Not all celbrities were this metallic. As we were crossing the road we passed Jason Akamanis (sorry about the spelling!). His hair is still horrible in the off season. There must have been an AFL wedding.

We then made our way back to the river and over onto South Bank and up the Eureka Sky Tower. 88 Floors up I thought the 360 degree view was pretty amazing. Funnily enough Aaron had been up the Empire State Building, so wasn't too amazing for him. Oh well! You don't win everything!











Just a little pic by the river! By now my feet were aching! Silly vanity - should have worn more comfy shoes!







That night we headed to Italian Central - Lygon St. This is Mafia city, underground crime place, but some of the BEST Italian food you will taste and if you are not there after 11pm the place is jam packed with people, you are fine! We went to my favourite, Papa Ginos for dinner then on to Gelati heaven. A great way to finish a big day!

Sunday of course was church, a walk through the Gardens, St Patrick's Cathedral (some beautiful stained glass, Parliament etc etc etc. We then had dinner and went to a fireside. After that we headed down to St Kilda Pier and visited the Fairy Penguin Colony (I refuse to call them by there now politically correct name little penguins, fairy is cuter).

Monday is a day to make my brothers jealous.
The MCG Tour. Need I say more? We went through the change rooms, the stands, the media boxes, the coach boxes, the clubhouses, saw the view from the top and, as you can see from this next picture. I stood on the turf at the MCG. Jealous yet????



Well that was our 3 days. It was a whole lot of fun! I am excited to come home. Also very excited if you guys would maybe come visit me so we can do something similar!
Love you all
Janey.

A few months of overview

So are you wondering where I have been in the last few months..... Well actually, I have been without a camera so these pics are all borrowed!

This is me at SPUDFEST! That annual event where we eat potatoes covered with everything possible you can think of. Of course I made a massive pot of chilli. Chilli goes well with potato! This night was held at Tiff's house, my Canadian friend and Environment warrior. The entertainment for the night was provided by David Attenborough. Tiff is now returning to Canada to get married, so that is a shame!

This is me at the Annual YSA Ball. The theme was "The Emerald City". I had a blind date, he turned out to be an absolute idiot. Oh well. I had fun. He isn't in this picture.

This is Dianne. She is my new friend who is doing an internship with State Parliament all the way from the University of Utah. I think she has been a little scared by Australian boys. We have some fun though!

This is me and Mr G - he is a Melbourne legend. The only man who can be 36 and still fit in at YSA activities. We were at Pia's P Party. I was a princess of course. Is there any doubt? Pia is now getting married. I am going to the wedding next week.






This is me and some of the crew at Jordan and Cherie's engagement. Tis the season to get married in Melbourne. Unfortunately I have no potentials in this department. Oh well.
Finally, something to get excited about. Helen is moving in this week! Yay, a friend to make me less lonely (the cat is NOT coming). Helen is my age, a RM, works for ANZ and is a Kiwi. Yay. I am so excited.










So I will see you November 20
Love you all
Janey xxoo

O Perth, how I Love Thee... part one

There are so many reasons I love Perth and love being home.

• I love Perth because it is remote, a little off to the side and mysterious
• I love Perth because that is where my family are
• I love Perth because it doesn't take much time to drive from different landscapes
  

• I love Perth for its beaches
• I love Perth for its bushland
• I love Perth for its rivers
• I love Perth for its Forests
  

• I love Perth for its laid back attitude
• I love Perth for its pleasant people
  
• I love Perth for its cleanness
  

• I love Perth for its memories
• I love Perth for my friends
• I love Perth because I know I can go back whenever I want
• I love Perth because its only a 4 hour plane ride away
  

I suppose I love Perth most, because of my family!
This was great day.
Love you all!
Janey.

The Girl's Weekend

For a bit of fun (and a bit of shopping), it was decided that the girls needed to come visit me in Melbourne for a few days! And so they arrived - Mel Evitt, Bron Kildea and Rox Williams. Of course, because I had some say in the proceedings, we started off our adventure in the heart of Melbourne City, The Regent Theatre, to see Wicked! The Musical. Everytime I see it, I enjoy it more. Afterwards we meandered around the city, freezing cold, but enjoying a city that doesn't sleep. Plus I know where the best hot chocolates are, not to mention the nearest Krispy Kremes.

We spent a lot of time shopping. Thankfully Melbourne has fantastic Factory Outlets for the bargain shoppers and then on to the very fashionable, very chiq, very expensive, Chapel St. We managed to also squeeze in Bridge Rd (somewhat alternative not so posh clothes) and go to Chadstone Shopping Centre (the shopping capital of Melbourne).We filled my boot with shopping bags and boxes. It was amazing.

Here is a snap of us at the MCG. I don't think I should go see the Eagles at the MCG anymore. They lose and lose badly whenever I go. This was no exception. They were pounded by the Demons. Thankfully this time we sat with Eagles supporters. Less boos and hisses that way. Mel was particularly lucky, she wore supporter gear, the rest of us stayed neutral.

We spent a day away from the city in the Dandenongs ( a mountain range). On the way up the mountain we stopped at a little town called Sassafras at a restaurant that was absolutely full of charm and character called Miss Marple's Tea Rooms. The food was excellent, the dessert (called the Vicar's Folly) was to die for. I think this will be on the itinerary whenever any of you visit. I would love to take Gran there.

We continued up the Mountain (where only one week previous it had snowed), to the lookout and the maze. A proper English Garden Maze! It was great fun.

There were many more adventures had, the girls all froze (Melbourne weather wasn't that hospitable) and, thanks to TomTom we got to visit all the Chapel St's and Lygon St's in Melbourne. Oops. Lygon St, famous for the Mafia, famous for the food and not to mention Gelati. Thank you for the indigestion Papa Gino's!

All in all we had a great time, found some great bargains, some great buys (not the same thing), ate a whole lot of food and had a lot of laughs. It was a great time and going from 4 people in the house back to me is a little lonely.
Hope all is good. Love ya lots

Janey XXOO

NIGHT DUTY FUN

Well 3 weeks into my night duty stint the only thing keeping me going is the fact that in less than a week I will be at home with all of you (minus Dave and Es :( )

Life isn't very lifey for me on nights. I start work at 9pm, work through til 7:30 am, drive home, try and drag myself out for a walk, come home, shower, do some housework and go to bed.It is freezing over here so I have taken to camping out in my living room with the heater. Usually I wake up at about 5, by which time its getting cold and dark again, have something to eat, get ready for work and it starts again. Joyous time!

So excited for next week. This is the longest I have ever been without family, pretty scary in a way. Gonna make those 5 days AMAZING!

So its back to work, but for a little internet glace of me check out:

www.austin.org.au/ourstories

Click on the ICU one, his name is John, you will see me at the end of the movie, I am an Austin postergirl!

Love ya lots

Janey.

LEAH COMES TO MELBOURNE

So Leah came to Melbourne, it was a whole lot of fun! It was great to have her here, chat with her and hang out! We ran in and around Melbourne, hung out with friends, scoped cute boys. This was us at Telstra Dome for the Footy - Australian All Stars vs. Victorians. Australia won. Pity it wasn't much of a match...

One cold Saturday - (it was cold!), Leah Tam and I went in to the City for some fun. We met up with some YSA, saw some of the sites and had some dinner. This is us at Federation Square.

Later on that night we went on the big Ferris Wheel (unfortunately the new Melbourne Eye isn't open yet). We got a great view of the City, the Yarra and the MCG. It was fun!

The next weekend we packed up a carload of mates, music and munchies and drove 4 hours to Port Campbell. It was cold (as it always is) but it was a beautiful day, perfect for sightseeing! We saw blowholes and natural bridges and caves and 8 out of the 12 Apostles (too cold to see the other 4 - they are underwater). None of us girls went swimming only the crazy American boy did.

This is all of us. It was a great day, all of us had fun. We did a lot of driving but also a lot of walking and climbing and laughing!

It was really sad to see Leah go but.... exciting news... I will be in Perth from July 31 to August 5. Short I know, but I am pushing it. Can't wait to see you all (sorry I missed you Dave and Es)!
Love and Miss You All Lots and Lots
Janey.

YSA MINI CONVENTION

Well there are a lot of people in Melbourne ergo a whole lot more YSA than I am used too.





We has YSA Convention on the weekend which involved a whole lot of fun! So after working four night shifts I woke up Friday afternoon (at 5pm - I was sooooo tired that day), did my bits and pieces, got ready and went to the dance). You can see me here with Pia! Lots of people, not nearly enough available old men - yes, I look in the over 24 age bracket these days!









Saturday morning was a service project at a farm, fun fun fun! We then played some games but best of all Saturday night was Michael Buble concert (Mick Bubble for the Uncle Neil's of the world). He had a big band, making my night even better and to top it all off he played my favourite "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Save The Last Dance For Me". He wasn't as good as Harry but then again, who is? Extra special part was, he played in The Rod Laver Arena. I am soooo getting to all the Melbourne Venues!




Saturday night - post Mickey - we had a small girls night at my house and Sunday morning was Pancake Breakfast at my house! Luckily church didn't start til 2pm, so we slept in, had a yumm breakfast and looked amazing at church! We had a CES Fireside after that and then socialised, like all YSA do - til the lights get turned off. The girls then returned to my house (plus a few extras) for a wall-to-wall sleepover - amazing experience!


Monday was the end of convention with brunch in the park, rained out, and my most hated YSA event - Testimony Meeting (argh - one more 'testimony of YSA' and I will scream!). I survived though, and all in all, some productivity was made and some numbers (mine especially) shared. Monday night was Nick's birthday party (thank goodness he only lives down the road, I was so tired I could hardly pluck up the strength to go). Just thought I would share with you the MASTERPIECE I created for his birthday cake. (The sparkler one)!

Love You All, and Miss You Muchly!

Happiness & Sadness - The MCG

Well, I finally got there, the famous MCG, to see an Australian Rules game. My good mate Nick wakes me up on Saturday morning with the happy news... "Jane, I have a spare ticket to the football today... Wanna come?" Well of course I wanted to go so I said, "Heck yes I do!". We sorted out particulars, and then as an afterthought (unfortunately this shows my lack of keeping up to date with the football world) I asked, casually "So, who is playing today?" and Nick (in obvious disgust) replied "Eagles vs. the 'Mighty" (and yes I coughed at "the mighty") Magpies".
Collingwood. I hate Collingwood. I moved to the wrong side of Melbourne. I live on the Collingwood side of Melbourne. eww. I don't follow football all that closely but I do know that you either love, or hate Collingwood. Nick is a big Collingwood supporter. Reconsidering the friendship....
Well Melbourne loves football, so we hopped on the train (I live on the MCG train line - keep that in mind family - how easy it will be for you to go to the football if you come visit me). Melbourne also loves to hate West Coast supporters. Nick went on to tell me how amazing Collingwood was, I then with my usual audacity asked him when the last time was that Collingwood made the Premierships, he coughed and I smiled - one Jane, nil Nick.
The MCG is huge, there are statues out the front of Hall the greats, Betty Cuthbert, Ron Barassi etc. We had great seats apart from me being surrounded by Collingwood supporters. I did all the right things. Cheered the Eagles, heckled Collingwood supporters, ate a Meat Pie (with free tomato sauce - how Australian is that!) and then unfortunately my luck came to an end. The Eagles let me down. This next picture gives you an idea of how bad the last half was:

All in all it was a good day, I loved my trip to the MCG, luckily I didn't wear Eagles colours, I may have been even more despised. I have told Nick anytime he wants to take me to the Footy, he can, especially if the Dockers play. Love ya and miss ya all!

Jane.