End of year thanks to: nature

Ocean, sky, beach, mountains, trees, flowers and birds . I have really appreciated the beauty of nature greatly this year.

Onetangi beach, Waiheke

Mt Ruapehu

Maungawhau

Sunset over Auckland

Phoenix Palm in the rain

Pukeko in the Domain

End of year thanks to: the Blogosphere

Thanks to the blogosphere for keeping me connected, informed, inspired and entertained. And for the company on quiet days.

Today I have particularly been enjoying: Awkward Family Photos, Stuff White People Like, Passive Aggressive Notes and The 'Blog' of Unnecessary Quotation Marks (I like that because I am white).

Image from The 'Blog' of Unnecessary Quotation Marks

End of year thanks to: the library

Image from Auckland City Libraries

I have to thank APL (that's what people in the know call Auckland City Libraries - apparently) for keeping me entertained this year. For forgiving me when I was irresponsible with their library materials and for their courtesy reminders that were intended to help me return my books on time. Also for the renewal service which was handy when I didn't get those books back in time and for helping me to fix the security in my browser so no one could steal my library details.

Long Live the Public Library!

And I love, love, love their online Advent calendar. There are some cute kitty images that someone I know might like :)

Auckland City Libraries have this great function on their site where you can view your reading history. It would seem that aside from a smattering of Marie Claire, World of Interiors, Belle, Vogue, Australia Home Beautiful, Instyle and the odd Bust on Monocle (both hard to come by) magazine I did manage to read several books this year!

So if you are looking for summer reading here are the highlights that I gleaned from my reading list.

Fiction:

Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey - because Jasper was on our list of names for our children

One that I would highly recommend to anyone. It won prizes people!

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O'Farrell - a wee bit tragic, about a women who wrongfully ends up spending her life in an mental asylum

The Birth House, Ami McKay - A book about old school midwifery in Nova Scotia. Fascinating, probably more for us Lady folk.

Sing Them Home, Stephanie Kallos - It included a character called Bonnie who was a 'self-proclaimed archivist'.

The Memory Keepers Daughter, Kim Edwards. - Not sure why I hadn't read it sooner.

As the Earth Turns Silver which I talked about here.

Non-fiction:

The World Without Us, Alan Weisman - I just really like this book.

The Urban Homestead: your guide to self-sufficient living in the city, Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen - A little bit American, but some nice ideas.

The Big Day a guide to getting married in New Zealand, Kerril Cooper and Denise Irvine (highly recommended reading if you are getting married!)

Summer reading:

Well I am currently reading Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, which at this rate will take me to January!

Not sure what I'll be next, anyone have any ideas?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Despite a generally bah-humbug attitude towards Christmas, I could never be a complete killjoy. We have a tree... of sorts, and there are even a few pressies under it. I put up fairy lights over the window and along the bookshelf (I didn't take a photo sorry) and I helped Mr Jones make gingerbread men for his work Secret Santa.

Here's our 'tree', a little bit lopsided, but quite sustainable. Only thing missing is that pine smell. But apparently real trees have lost their scent due to genetic modification (see National Radio audio file, called Smell at about 36:36 in the file).

See if you can spot the gangster gingerbread man, the abominable gingerbread man, the corrupt corporate gingerbread man and the Mr Burns "I bring you love" gingerbread man...

I really liked the controversial biblical bed scene billboard put up by St Matthew in the City church this year. I thought it was brilliant AND it worked... if your looking for me on Christmas Eve I'll be at St Matthew in the City (I won't bore you with a discourse on my religious beliefs and why I would go to this church).

I'm dying to tell my Secret Santa story. Sometimes when you have an idea it just takes on a life of its own! So much fun, thanks to Mrs $1 Pies for organising it. I can't wait.

Roll on Xmas... I think.

Anniversary

Happy 1st wedding anniversary Mr and Mrs $1 Pies!

The ghost of Christmas past

Ahh Christmas, how you love to creep up on us all. It got me thinking about Christmases that have gone before...

2005 - Our first Xmas in Auckland. I insisted on having a tree. You can't really tell from the bad photo, but it is decorated with white agapanthus flowers, burgundy and silver ribbons, matching baubles and candy canes. Xmas day was spent apart. I went to Nana's and Mr Jones went to his parents house.

2006 - Xmas together alone at Solscape (comes with my highest recommendation) in Raglan. No need to cook a meal, we just grazed on snacks. Extremely relaxing and indulgent, although I'm not sure if our families have forgiven our selfishness.

2007 - Xmas day at Nana's new house with my immediate family and Uncle. I had a pescatarian feast! Mr Jones at parents. The evening was spent at Mum's and with the cousins.

2008 - Xmas together again. At Mr Jones' parent's for a delicious BBQ lunch. Needless to say the evening was spent asleep on the sofa too full to move!

It can be tricky juggling two families needs at Xmas, but family is important so we keep juggling. This year the plan is:

Xmas day BBQ at Mr Jones' parent's place. Xmas evening travelling down the line for Boxing day celebrations with my side of the family. I would love to have a tree and trimmings but I'm not sure if I feel christmassy enough yet.

Keep thinking and questioning

While we were on our honeymoon we brought ourselves a gift (several actually, but that's another story). We couldn't take it home because it was in an exhibition at Tairawhiti Museum. So it didn't arrive at our house yesterday.

It is by Lina Marsh.

The embroidered state houses (there are 21 in the series, all different) represent a "life of dependency" and if you look beyond the convenience of state housing you see how trapped people become in this lifestyle.

I guess this is not your typical honeymoon 'souvenir'. Instead it is subtle and powerful that I hope will remind us to look beyond the everyday and to question situations we take for granted.

Computer clean up

In a bid to become more organised I have been giving my PC a wee bit of a makeover. I tided the desktop and folders, brought a webcam, signed up to Skype (for my overseas friends and potential international job prospects) and downloaded this new desktop wallpaper for free from Design*Sponge.

I hope it makes my computer happy :)

Urewera National Park School Camp

School camp with my brother and 49 other 11-13 year olds was an experience I will never forget.

Especially the seven hour day tramp! It was 700 metres uphill (twice the height of the Sky Tower) and covered about 12kms in distance.

Honeymoon

Here are some photos from our trip around the East Coast - now officially known as 'Eastland'.

Married! And on to new projects...

Here I am. Married!

Props to Kristy R for this photo - it is one of my favs

The past month has gone by way way too quickly. We are still in the process of sorting photos, write thank-you cards, catching up with people, and generally sorting out our house and lives. We are getting there slowly but surely. Post-wedding things that have happened in the past month:

• A fantastic Eastland Honeymoon
• Nana's 80th Birthday
• School camp with my youngest brother in the Urewera National Park
• A mean cold and a stomach bug
• Job quitting, followed by hunting

Now I am trying to mentally prepare myself for Christmas (not really my thing) and putting a good amount of effort into finding a 'proper' job. More about this another day.