Perfection.

This is just The. Cutest. Wedding. Ever.

If I ever get married (*cosmically feels Cam start twitching and suddenly feeling the urge to run far, far away*), I want to super-impose my head on the bride from those photos.


...and maybe re-color the horse a solid brown so I can pretend he's Altibo. Which was technically, never work, as my groom wouldn't get a chance to be sat, bareback, without being flung unceremoniously into the dirt with a ruthless buck.

Bad Habit

So, I'm sitting here, all lonesome, putting off my Euthanasia homework* and trying my best to not purchase another hideously unflattering dress from eBay, and slurping down an enormous bucket of Subway Coca-Cola. I love Subway Coke buckets. They are my current vice - my one little bit of naughtiness in my Good Eating Mission. Because of that, I enjoy every last drop...but I didn't have that luxury with my bucket last week.

See? He actually tries to inhale it. I think he likes the bubbles. Either way, I'm beginning to suspect he has a coke habit.

*Even less fun than it sounds.

Camping

Last weekend, Cam and I chucked a few* things in the car and headed off for a weekend getaway with the kids. We camped at one of the few dog friendly areas in Victoria, and aside from the gale force winds, inflatable mattress deflating every 15 minutes throughout the night (until my dearly beloved discovered he hadn't tightened the valve properly at around 5am...) so we slept on the rather hard ground, and me worrying about Phoenix's bladder**, we had a pretty good time. I wont bring into the near war that occurred when Cameron and I both had our ideas about how a tent should be erected - things were said, punches were thrown*** - but we got there in the end.
The dogs were scarily well behaved. Not only did they get to spend every waking moment by our side; they also got to frolic and run in and out of the surf (or, in Phoenix's case, get completely smashed by wave after wave after wave...), but they also got various bits of sausage, bacon and hash browns from our breakfast feast.
On the way home, we went a little out of our way to visit the 7 and a half 12 Apostles. As pretty as they were, there's only so much excitement one can glean from staring at rock formations, so I was soon in a world of my own imaging galloping Darcy up and down that gorgeous stretch of sand...
See? Off in fairy land.
*How we managed to shove not only the 2 dogs - who, as you can see, aren't exactly lap-size- but the 8 man tent, queen sized inflatable mattress, Esky and various bags of food, a gas cooker, lantern, bellows, large cardboard box full of saucepans (and 4 bottles of bug spray - I came prepared!) plus our king sized doona, two pillows, a slab of Johnnie Walker and Cameron and myself into my car is beyond me. Beyond me.

** The dog wont wee on lead. Let alone do anything else. After boiling up 3 litres of water for them, and all the sea he swallowed as he crashed through the waves, I was so worried the poor childs bladder would burst I got up at what seemed like every hour, on the hour, to take him out for a potty break. To absolutely no avail.

*** I kid, I kid.

Gorgeous giveaway!

We all know I like anything to do with puppies - and when I saw this gorgeous giveaway of sweet puppy inspired notecards from Lydia & Pugs, I decided to do everything in my power to win!

Head on over to the Lydia & Pugs website, and check our her gorgeous array of goodies. While you're busy making new tabs - check out Short Southern Momma's beautiful blog, too!

Stuff.

It has been forever since I have blogged. Recently, this has been due to not only my hunk of crap computer and/or gaylord internet service being broken (and not exactly fixed now, I am, in fact, laying face down on the floor and propping myself up to type as my monitor has to be on the ground for my modem to reach...oh, to have my wireless working...) but also due to the fact I am very much enjoying being a student...yep, I got into vet school (ok, 'Animal Technology', but it'll be a vet qualification I gain at the end if I work hard enough...). Not so much enjoying, but loving. Being around like minded people who actually understand what I mean when I speak of skin pinches, anterial cruciate ligaments, the diet choices of rats... it's almost like I belong. I'm so used to the blank stares, eye rolling and complete cut-off that comes with talking about my passion, it's nice to speak with people, literally all day, about the things that excite me and to have an animated, two-sided conversation in return.

As well as that, I'm spending as much time as I can with the horses and riding at dusk with Cam, as well as swimming the dogs at the beach at sunset most nights, which, after the 35+ degree days is a gorgeous way to end the day. I'm also busy being completely addicted to How To Look Good Naked - I love me a gay man, and Gok just knocks my socks off. It's also pretty gratifying to realize I'm not as hideously and grotesquely fat and bulgy as I've been feeling lately, and as well as eating nothing but good stuff for the past few weeks and the extra exercise riding, swimming and climbing of horrendously steep stairs by the Slave Driver, I'm feeling a whole lot better about myself and my 6 stomachs. Cam and I have also been having a hit of tennis, which aside from making me produce some shocking obscenities (tennis is one of the 3 things in my life I want more than anything to be good at, and hate that I'm not as amazingly talented as I dream myself to be) makes me laugh - and run, something I usually despise. I'm looking forward to our membership at the country club - the courts are elevated to look out over the bay to the city, and the club rooms have a deck to watch the sunset over the ocean, as well as our own beach box on the sand for BBQs and parties.

View of the Petronas Towers from our room in KL

I don't even think I've blogged since Borneo...which was incredible. We had our first day in Kuala Lumpur, shopping and sight seeing and getting our feet eaten by fishes at the massage place we went to, and enjoying a 6 strong police escort to dinner through the hills of Malaysia.

Looking out our room in Borneo ... paradise, no?

We were treated like royalty for a week - 5 star hotels, amazing food, free drinks, private islands and all day massages, and having flower petals thrown as we walked when we entered restaurants and hotels. Absolutely amazing. The view from our resort in Kota Kinabalu...just incredible.

Feeding frenzy fishes! Soooo ticklish...

There were so many fantastic days and moments - the day we had our own private island, where I took on 4 other guys and Cam at water sports and held my own through complete and utter horror on the banana boat and fly fish - a huge inflatable raft attached to a speed boat that flies 3+ meters in the air behind it, weaving and flipping as it flies...one of the most incredibly fun yet terrifyingly scary things I've done.

Our private island

The Gala Dinner that evening was just mind blowing - the ballroom had been done up in a "jungle green" theme to match our "jungle green" attire (remember me wondering what to wear?) and was decked out in wall to wall trees and vines, with the floor covered in leaves.. our own little piece of the jungle for the night. Every got merry on the all you could drink alcohol, and we danced the night away to the live band, and carried on at the hotel nightclub after - no one told me the guy I was grinding on was the MD of the company, we were all just having a blast!

- Gala Dinner photos -
Our little room of jungle! Even the waitresses were safari-inspired.

We got a bit messy after the jugs of Long Island Iced Tea came out...

I was absolutely besotted with our 'palate cleanser' - mango gelato served in our own individual ice caves.


Unfortunately, due to my 'lady problems' I had a fit on the morning we were flying out to the jungle for the orangutan sanctuary, and missed the flight. I felt absolutely awful for wrecking Cam's day, so I asked around at the hotel and found a local wildlife park, where we got to spend time with the keepers, feed the sun bears and tigers and see otters and gibbons, and even get up close and cuddle up to a baby orangutan, Mowgli...turned out the people who flew to the orangutans only saw 2 or 3 in the bushes, while we got to play with our very own one - turns out we had the better day!

Mowgli and I :)

We had an amazing trip, I coped relatively well with the flights (after 2 Valium and a lot of scotch on the way over...) and came back with some great memories, and even better photos! Here's some randoms... and next years rewards trip from Cam's work is Africa...!

The Gibbons...super cute, and very entertaining!
Early morning relax by the beach...
Cam & Mowgli

One of the 5 pools (which was just as warm as a bath!)
The storm settling in on our final night
Us on the balcony on our last morning in Borneo!

NYE & Brog

While Cam's taking the kids out for their walkies - I've been banished to the couch due to my horrendous couch and not allowed out so I can heal myself nicely in time for Thursday - I thought I'd do a little brogging - a bragging blog. We received the final itinerary and information pack along with our tickets today, and finally, I am excited. It hasn't seemed real until now, but looking through the individually made booklet we received about where/when/how/why etc, it finally kicked in. We fly out Thursday for two nights in the Westin in Kuala Lumpur, then off to Borneo where all sorts of exciting things happen. As I was reading the information, I was amazed to read about the jet we're taking to the orangutan rehabilitation centre where we get to feed and play with the baby orangutans, the private island we have to ourselves for a day of jet skiing, snorkelling, all-day massages or anything else that tickles our fancy, the white water rafting trip and the gala dinners... it sounds incredible! All I have to do now is get over this yukky cold - the result of a New Years Eve that went from 38c to freezing cold and an absolute downpour whilst we were on the deck of the boat...my hair and make up were impeccable until about 4 minutes in, when my false eyelashes blew off in a strong gust of wind and my hair was soaked to my scalp with the rain. Sexy look! Here's a preview:



Hope you all had a great time!

...I am very, very Buff....

There is nothing I don't have crossed in hope and will that this item arrives, from America, before I fly out on the 6th to Borneo.

Nothing.

(It's a buff from the Survivor: Pearl Islands series, my personal favorite with Rupert and Johnny Fairplay.. gold. Absolute gold.)

Now..if only Jeff Probst would deliver it by hand. Drool.

Sydney

After making it through the weekend of Cam's family Christmas alive and mostly intact (and having been compensated handsomely for my house-wifely duties with a Louis Vuitton scarf, Chanel purse and a large plant) I have absolutely nothing in the way stopping me from being all out, gosh darn, truly completely and overly excited about the next two weeks. Oh, except the whole being away from Cam for the week of Christmas thing. Still, we have so many things to look forward to before he flies out, and as excruciatingly painful as it was the last time we were apart for so long, I know we'll both be having a great time with our families as well.

The first thing on my Yay! list?

I'm flying to Sydney on Thursday to stay in the gorrrrgeous hotel Cam has for his work trip. He'll be working most of the time, which is why it's so handy my best girl Sarah is coming with me! I've never been to Sydney - the hotel is actually UNDER the Harbour Bridge (see pic!) There will be much exploration, shopping, wining and dining, and general tourist-y activities, as well as a dinner with another of my all time favorite people, Cam's work mate Bolge. I've already started packing - one can't have enough pairs of shoes for a single night trip, right?

Next comes Saturday. Cam and I wanted to do something a bit special for a number of reasons; a delayed anniversary, our last weekend together, an early Christmas treat for Sarah and I as we'll be apart for Christmas, too, and a generally magic night out. I've wanted to go to the Moonlight Cinema for a long time, and Cam found a screening of something I'm apparently going to love (I'm being a good girl and not googling what it is!) and as well as our plans to enjoy dinner on the Restaurant Tram - something else I've always wanted to do - we're going to take a picnic hamper along with our blanket to watch the movie, and maybe have a little champage and some nibblies under the moonlight.

The next day, I have a few plans of my own up my sleeve, and the only chance we'll have to attend any Christmas carols together happens to take place at one of our all time favorite places, The Bridge. We spent many nights there together last Summer, watching the sun set over the ocean and eating ourselves silly, so I'm very excited the carols will be sung out the front! I LOVE Christmas carols (as evidenced by the 5 Christmas CD mixes I currently have in my car, plus three more inside...) and I thought it would be nice to drag Cam along with me.

After that, I plan on heading down to my Mums for the week of Christmas, complete with my tent, dogs, cats and presents. I'm going to camp again this year, as it affords me a little more privacy than in the house, and it feels a bit like a mini-holiday of my own out all alone in the backyard with just the dogs and a torch for company. Cam will fly out Christmas Eve morning, so we'll be having another mini-Christmas on Christmas Eve Eve. After that, it'll be days and days of spending time chilling with my Mum, Nan and brother, walking the dogs along the beach and ripping open all my extremely-funny shaped presents (I've already been squeezing them and reading the cryptic clues...and I've got no idea what I'm getting, except for the giant case for my trip to Borneo!). It's going to be fantastic :)

(and further forward on the Yay! list - after a New Years Eve with my 4 favorite people, cruising along the river watching fireworks and drinking champers, Cam and I have a week together relaxing before we fly off to Kuala Lumpur and the jungle of Borneo! Yay!)

It just occured to me...

... that people might not actually be taking me seriously when they read this. I thought I would take this opportunity to show you just how gosh-darn serious I am with photographic evidence from my trip to Vanuatu (even if I was denied a visit to the Survivor Museum...)

Every time we walked along this footbridge joining the two sections of the resort at nightfall, they lit the pretty fire-torch things.

... and naturally I couldn't help myself from muttering to myself "Once the vote is read, the decision is final; the person voted out will be asked to leave Tribal Council immediately..."

See this nice singlet I am wearing? Can you read what it says down the side? No?

Here, let me help you.

I think you get the picture now, folks.

Jungle Green Theme

As I made my way towards the computer to post a blog about my deep-seated and unnatural love for all things Survivor (the new Samoa series is on! Could my mother and I be more excited? I think not!) I noticed I had a new email from my lover boy, with the intriguing title "What to Wear". Naturally, I clicked on it in an excited manner and realized it wasn't for a snazzy date night later in the week, but in fact, guidelines from his company on what sort of smart casual attire one will be expected to wear when we fly off to Borneo in January. Obviously, I had no intention of pouring my bikini'd body into anything other than the occasional sarong (or an all over coating of Aloe Vera soothing gel...) but then a little something caught my eye on the evening of the 10th...JUNGLE GREEN THEME! *does her happy dance*

Honestly, if I weren't so addicted to shopping and had visions of finding a perfectly delightful floaty dress in shades of green, I'd whip out this oldy but goody and go the whole hog.


I wonder if face paint will be acceptable?

(Note: I very nearly posted that whole photo. Very nearly. Then I realized I was all of 16 years old, and strongly resembled a chubby, pre-pubescent boy with hideous bowl haircut and crazy 4 chins. So, for your viewing pleasure, the edited version).

Edited: It just occurred to me... we're off to Africa next January - THINK of all the potential I'll have for re-creating all manner of Survivor: Africa moments!

Ahh... and Cam thought when we left Vanuatu unscathed by the Survivor: Vanuatu Museum it would all be over... *cackles evilly*