What I Did 365 - Day 39

Best. Saturday. Ever.
From the moment I woke up on Saturday, life was insanely good. I went shopping at Kitchen Warehouse, one of my favourite shops on the planet, and I went to Kat's birthday BBQ. Great day. And then things only kept getting better. I went out with my sisters to Burswood for dinner, drinks at Alure, and Wayne Brady's improv show. Oh, I love that man!! We got completely dressed up for the occasion and had a blast. But do you think we ended our night there? Nope! Next stop was Gino's in Fremantle for a caffeine hit (pictured above) followed by Mojo's in North Fremantle to see our friends Endora rock their EP launch!! Seriously, a great night, made even better by the fact that I was with my amazing sisters the whole time. We don't make enough time to hang out as a trio, but we're hoping to change that. Yay!

What I Did 365 - Day 38

In my defense for the picture above, it was after 1am on a Friday night. After a full week of work!
So I've got a tiny bit of catching up to do. The photos are being taken, but the blog's been on the back burner this weekend. Oh dear! Anyway, on Friday Kat and I hit up Rockingham for her pre-birthday dinner and a ladies' night out. We ate Indian food and went shopping. Then we headed back to her place, made Kit Kat slice, and watched Glee and copious amounts of YouTube clips. At about 1 in the morning, we rejoiced over the fact that it was so late and we were still awake, like the crazy young things we once were! Tehehe... Then I headed home and crashed in bed. As all crazy young things do after a big night. Yerp.

What I Did 365 - Day 37

Tonight Chris and I both had plans - and yet we somehow ended up sneaking in a night together anyway! It was an unexpected bonus for the week. We had chilli con carne for dinner (it's our comfort food tradition!), watched some episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and headed out for icecream and a walk on the beach. Even though it was cold out there, the icecream was so worth it! I sat in the sand, and Chris mostly just paced around because he didn't want sandy jeans. Ha. Then we strolled along the shore, Chris skipping stones across the water, and me scouring the sand for freshly washed up treasures. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Happy sigh.

What I Did 365 - Day 36

 

Meet the family! OK, so while these people aren't blood relatives or anything, we do consider ourselves a bit of a family. This is a large chunk of people from Paradox, our church community. Last night we just really let walls down and had the most amazing, honest discussions. What a night! After a BBQ dinner and a long chat, we set to work building 'show bags' for some teens in the community - packed with toiletries, socks, underwear, those things that you kind of take for granted, and yet are such a luxury for some people. It was a fantastic evening. I really love these people, and I love that we're all passionate for the people of Kwinana. One thing I've learnt since moving here is that there ain't a lot of love out there for this little town...

My Heart

I thought I'd take a quick break from posting all my 365s this morning to collect my thoughts... It's a bit of a read, but something I'm going to do anyway. So there.

It kills me that I wasted so many opportunities when I was younger and put uni on the back-burner. I don't even slightly regret getting married young or tying myself down with a mortgage, I just wish I had prepared for these years better by focusing on getting a degree when it was easier, and I was living at home with my parents. I went to a damn good school, and graduated with the marks to take on virtually any degree that I wanted to. Instead I got comfortable with the simplicity of working a 9-5, getting paid leave, and never having to stress about exams or assignments. Silly me.

Having said that, I'm happy. Yes, I have regrets and I wish I'd made some different choices, but I'm pretty sure everyone's in the same boat. I have an amazing husband. I have a comfortable house. I have 2 dogs that are crazy about me. I have the best family a girl could ask for. I have friendships that some girls only ever dream about having. I have hobbies and dreams, and I find excitement in the silliest little things sometimes. Here are some examples of unexpected things that make my heart feel like it's flying:

- Doing a full grocery shop, and having a fully-stocked pantry and fridge once again
- My dogs finding me sitting on the couch, and flopping down on top of me in a completely casual, comfortable way
- Watching butterflies fluttering around my slowly-developing garden
- Before-work phone calls with my Mum
- Prepping dinner in the morning so that it's quick and easy to cook that night
- Extended trade for grocery stores, and the knowledge that if at 7pm on any weeknight I realise that our cheese is mouldy, I can duck out to Woolworths
- Growing plants from seed
- Making list after list of small goals for my day/week/month/season
- Finding new recipes
- Nights at home - with Chris, or alone

Chris and I have been discussing lately the fact that so many people we know, particularly from high school days, seem to have so much - the high-paying job, the travel, the things that we, as humans, naturally want for ourselves. But at the same time, we have known for a while that we're completely happy, completely blessed, with our life together. Our cups are full. I think to a lot of people looking in from the outside, we're just another pair of un-qualified, overweight people working low-level jobs, who live in an ex-rental in an 'undesirable' suburb and wear cheap, crappy clothes. But from where we're standing, life's so much sweeter. Perspective is interesting I guess, and learning to be happy with what you've got is the most important lesson in life. It's the biggest cliche in the world, but it's true.

What I Did 365 - Day 35

I know, we're disgusting and we should never breed. Can you imagine how immature our children will be? Aaaanyway. Tonight was our first night at home together in what feels like forever. So we celebrated in style - home date night!! Chris mixed us some pre-dinner drinks (screwdrivers blended with icecream), we ate delicious quiche, watched Toy Story 3 and finally squeezed in some cheesecake too (in our eating-action-shot above. Hot.) We love home date nights so much. It's nice to just take time out to be the Donovans sometimes!

What I Did 365 - Day 34

I'm going to name my work of art above "Aimee and Amy with Green Tea". Sounds artsy right? Haha. Last night I went out for a 'late' coffee with Aimee, Amy and Lisa - 3 smashing ladies from the church community that Chris and I are a part of. I love Monday night coffees - aside from the usual fun of a group of ladies yabbering away, there can often be some kind of silly shenanigan to add a bit of spice to the night. Last night, as Aimee was finishing up her cup of green tea, she and Amy decided to try and eat a spoonful of the leaves each. I never knew how entertaining it could be watching two ladies choking down mouthfuls of tea leaves, and gagging as they tried to wash it down with water. Yep, last night we were 'those' customers in the coffee shop... Ha.