you're out of your vulcan mind!

Apr 29: the upside of being busy and tired is delicious takeout food - yay for Grill'd!

Apr 28: today is our nephew Noah's very first birthday - here I am with him on the day he was born (28/04/08)

Apr 27: on our way to the Star Trek premiere we were rear-ended by a girl on a Vespa - here is Zanne pretending to take her revenge on a random, unsuspecting Vespa
Shan

rainbows and lollipops

I'm feeling a little stressed out at the minute: I have two assignments and an exam due Friday, we're moving house this weekend (a weekend that also includes a work function and a costume party), we haven't packed, and I am yet to write any reviews for our new online venture. Oh, and work sucks.

BUT everything will be rainbows and lollipops next week, I just know it!

Shan

PS. our decision to move house happened very recently, we'll write more next week when the whole ordeal is over

PPS. likewise, we will write more about our new online venture - peace out!

skateboard

Zanne has just scored a skateboard from her parents' garage... Here's hoping she looks THIS cool on her board

Shan

there's always room for cake

Zanne loves cake. Clearly.

Shan

i'm head over heels for this boy

Because I am so in love with him, here is a montage of pics from Noah's first birthday party:

He is so clever and funny and sweet and playful and I wish I could hang out with him all of the time. He's so rad.

Shan

plate full

Apr 26: our nephew Noah at his first birthday party

Apr 25: sure it's really, really unhealthy but, oh boy, do I love fish and chips?!

Apr 24: my rockstar

Shan

zeeeeeeero-o!

Apr 23: particularly in the mornings...
Apr 22: zanne horsing around (too obvious a word play?)

Shan

tour the world in a winnebago

One of these days, I am going to have a job that I totally dig... When I grow up I want to be: an author, a tattooist, a photographer, an artist, a café owner or someone paid to tour the world in a Winnebago. Seriously.

Shan

study, study, study, study, study, study, study

I study a Bachelor of Communications (majoring in Journalism) externally/online. It is a Griffith University degree facilitated by Open Universities Australia. Considering bills and plans involving relocation to Vancouver, the flexibility of online study is wonderful. If I keep up my current study schedule I will finish my degree before I am 30 – oh to finally have a degree! (and possibly not be a secretary anymore but I will save my rant about the soul destroying qualities of admin for another day… let’s just say sometimes I’d like to strangle myself with my cordless headset).

I don’t know what I want from this degree in terms of career, it is really an exercise in personal development, a chance to improve my critical thinking and writing skills, a chance to learn and grow. So with the somewhat vague goal of “development” in mind, my plan is just to do as well as I can. I admit though, I’m pretty tough on myself and sometimes I feel my best is not good enough. My own worst critic and all that…

I’ve studied for almost six months now. I have enjoyed the content of my subjects (I’m studying a rad Gender subject at the moment) however, the schedule is really intense: before the end of this month I have two assignments and one exam due, then next month I have two exams and one assignment due. In addition, we don’t have any holiday breaks and our exam weeks overlap with the first week of our next study period. The pressure really is on, and some days after work I don’t feel like reading journal articles or researching an assignment, but then I think of some of my classmates who are mothers with babies or who are living in remote parts of Asia (for reals!) and I think: if they can manage to do it, then so can I.

Motivating myself is one thing, but apparently extracting a clear and helpful response from tutors is another… Studying online means interaction with classmates and tutors takes place via discussion boards and forums. Generally this is an ok arrangement, however recently my classmates and I have requested guidance for our assignment and we’ve received responses as clear as mud. It seems we’re all getting ambiguous answers or three word sentences in return to our carefully worded questions, which has inspired one of my classmates to write this note to our tutors on the discussion board:

“I’m cool to have relaxed tutors and I think you’re both great guys, but if you’re going to respond with vague answers then I expect some leeway and generous marking.”

If we were studying full time and could visit with our tutors or talk with our classmates face-to-face we would probably not have this problem (and not feel so helpless/out of our depth/dumb). It’s a bit frustrating, especially when we (external students) pay the same amount of money to complete our degree as those who are full time and have the benefit of face-to-face interaction, not to mention all of those resources!

Oh well, in the words of my Mum, we can only do our best.

Shan

Funny, I plan to spend my money the same way

Along with the rest of world, Australia is now officially in a recession. To combat this, our trusty Prime Minister, K-Rudd, is handing out stimulus packages to most Australians. The stimulus packages consist of a $900 one-off payment to the unemployed, carers of children under 18 (they actually get $900 per child), and anyone earning less than $90k a year - so pretty much 90% of the population. The government is encouraging everyone to spend! spend! spend! their $900 to keep people in jobs which will keep the economy going. Fair thought. So now that the money is slowly trickling into peoples bank accounts, there's a lot of talk about what people are actually spending their cash on. A lot of people, like us, are using it to pay off credit cards, pay bills or put into savings. But then some people, like Connor of Cairns (below), plans to spend it in different (better!) ways.

If you can't read it, it says: "I'll be spending it on the ladies - high class ladies. That's how I roll - Cover Girls."

Well played kid.

sans ipod

Apr 21: just my imagination?

Apr 20: a ball for our nephew Noah. it's so fun - i wanna keep it!

Shan

Shazanney-Pie-Hands

Shan I are crazy busy at the moment with fingers in many pies - mmmapplepiemmm.

On top of working full time, Shan is completing her Bachelor of Journalism completely externally, which means she has to set her own pace and learn everything from text books and online tutorials. She's doing really well, and has determination and commitment that I admire. Instead of crashing out on the couch at night like I do, she sits up and reads and works on assignments.

As ya'll know, I'm arranging the Queen's Birthday Community Awards which is taking place in about six weeks (EEEP!). It's coming together slowly but I keep thinking of things I need to do at 3am, and when I toss and turn it always wakes Shan up. She's sweet and always asks if I'm ok, and I always say yes, and she cuddles me and it makes me feel better. And then I say thank you in the morning and she never remembers doing it.

We've also just started working on a new project with a web developer from my work, Nick. With his web-smarts and our word-smarts we're putting together an awesome new site that reviews things we love. Shan's going to review music, I'm going to review all things cool (accessories, new gadgets, skateboards), my friend Michael is going to review men's fashion and beauty and Nick is going to cover tech. We're also going to have travel, women's fashion and other sections, but we're still looking for people to look fill these. The site isn't going to focus on the tech specs and all that boring stuff, it's going to be our review on whether or not it lives up to the hype, if it's as cool/useful/delicious/comfortable as it's made out to be. Once the web address is secured and the site is up I'll introduce it with a bit of fanfare. Nick says it should be up tomorrow, so stay tuned!

we <3 derby!

As we headed to roller derby on Saturday evening I was excited but not entirely sure what to expect. Shan's workmate, Penny, plays on a team and told us to come along and check it out. We'd seen heaps of pictures and posters asking for new players but I'd never really understood what it was and how it worked. Still, we'd been wanting to go to a match for a while and finally had a weekend free to do it.

And OHMYGOODNESS!! We've never had so much fun just watching a sport being played! It was totally fun from start to finish and the 400+ crowd was an awesome mix of rockabilly's, gays, straights, families - everyone . They had a girl punk band play before the teams came on, then the girls entered with each being introduced by their roller derby name. When "Pinch Anna Punch" (Penny) entered with her team The Golden Roughs we cheered!

It took Shan and I most of the first half to figure out the rules and how the scoring worked, but by the time the second half kicked in we were all over it and loving every minute. We especially loved the bravado and the knocking each other down. Those girls are so girly yet so tough, and the way they can take a fall makes me proud to be a girl!

One of the first thing we'll be doing once we get to Vancouver is finding a roller derby team to support. Roller Derby Girls Rock!

mushrooms, shrooms, m to the rooms

Apr 19: zanne takes a sex meter - she officially has the hottest lips in town wooo!Apr 18: roller derby is our new favourite sport - it is effing radical! (unfortunately we don't have a good camera so our zoom is very limited *pout*)

Apr 17: at our friends' exhibition opening night (check out UnderExposed) - here is gem and i with a photo of sara quin of tegan & sara, and some feets

Apr 16: don't panic

Shan

CityKat is in!

In exciting Queen's Birthday Community Award news, Brisbane's favourite journalist and blogger, CityKat, has agreed to come along and be a special guest awards presenter! I am very excited by this as I love Kat's blog and she's actually one of the first media representatives in Brisbane to support an event by Brisbane Pride Festival. Woooo!

All the small things

Each day I try to recognise and enjoy what I like to call 'small wins'. When things aren't going right, you're tired or you just feel like everything's getting on top of you it's easy to miss all these small things that happen everyday that can make you smile if you stop long enough to enjoy them. Some of the 'small wins' i love are:

• getting the green light at the intersection in front of our supermarket (cos if we get that one, then we get the next one and we're home in 2 minutes!)
• getting through the day without a parking ticket after forgetting (refusing!) to pay the meter
• thinking there aren't any good chocolates left in the variety box only to shake them up and find a Time Out at the bottom
• having my lovely girlfriend wake up just a little bit early/me staying up just a little bit late so we can hang out just a little bit longer
• being home in time to watch The Simpsons at 6pm AND finding it's an episode I haven't seen
• getting an email from Shan during a frantic moment at work that simply says "I loves you"
  

These are just some of the small wins I look forward to that remind me to smile everyday.

lean forward expectantly

Apr 15: regular readers will know that our blog is the blog formerly known as "i fall asleep at nine fifteen" and this is why --------> here is zanne 5 minutes before falling asleep at around 9.30pm last night, a much better effort than the night before (7.30pm!)

Apr 14: and i love z.m 4 eva!

Shan

i make me laugh

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

Two elephants walk off a cliff...... boom boom!

Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my Mum or my Dad......Or maybe my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I'm pretty sure it's Colin.

What do you call a fish with no eyes?

A fsh

Shan

We are a pair of parentheses

Today is our 10 month anniversary. I know it doesn't really sound like that long for a lot of people, and it doesn't to me when I say it out loud, but after 10 months I love Shan more than I thought was possible after years and years. It feels like we have always been together and like it was always just meant to be. Just the other day we talked about how we couldn't really remember what it was like before, because this just feels so perfect. 

I hope 10 months turns into 10 years and then 50 years, and that we're as happy in 50 years as we are today cos today I'm floating. I love you my beautiful girl xxx

  

different body clocks

Apr 13: zanne on a snakeboard

Apr 12: easter lunch: michael, philip, me and zanne

Apr 11: zanne's nephews: jake, koen, jimmy and dallin

Shan

Bookcase or Sandstorm

"We both want to have babies while it’s still cool. I already have all the names picked out. If it’s a girl: Bookcase, or Sandstorm. Or maybe Hat, but that’s more of a boy's name."

Cerie, 30 Rock

easter love

Happy Easter!

the cutest four minutes

Babysitting Noah in February when he was 9 months old.. it makes us laugh everytime.

do you want a kiss?

Apr 10: Zanne drew a rad pic of my hand

Apr 9: i guess according to this store little girls only wear pink and purple(?!)

Apr 8: a small car accident at the intersection we overlook from our balcony (everyone was ok)

Shan

Australia Zoo VIP Breakfast

Yesterday our good friend Cassie invited me along to the Australia Zoo VIP Breakfast. Her company is one of their sponsors so we got free entry, a delicious breakfast, photos with cool animals and we got to meet some cool peeps.

Here's a Croc. I got a photo with this one and I'll put up the photo once we get our scanner working again..

The lazy koala. He sleeps 20 hours a day, eats for four hours and only has to work for 30 minutes a day. Swapsies?

A dingo. I wanted to yell "that dingo's got my baby!" but thought it might have been innapropriate with so many kids around.
And they've probably heard that a million times before.

Terri and Bindi! Woooo!

Then I got to meet Dave! You know Dave, the guy who saved Sam the Koala during the Victorian bushfires recently. You can check out the video here.

On our way out Cas got to pat a baby crocodile. Apparently this one will grow up to 15 feet long. She was excited.

Thanks for a brilliant day Cas :)

the sound of cinnamon

I have listened to Cinnamon by The Long Winters multiple times a day for weeks now. I just can't get my fill of it, you know? This happens a lot with me. I wonder what my next song-of-the-minute will be? I'll keep you posted.

Shan

shimmy over here!

Apr 7: photobooth good times Apr 6: our nephew Noah on my Dad's motorbike - and in its saddle bag

Shan

daydream

I'm in the middle of a great daydream involving painting one of the many blank canvasses I have at home... bring on the Easter break I say!

- Shan

make a horse proud

I've been distracted by my new tattoo all week, hence the bulk upload of pics.

Apr 5: a sunday breakfast with my love

Apr 4: babysitting 3 month old Sienna. such a cutie. love her crazy hair!

Apr 3: at home post-3D disco party

Apr 2: hot girl part 2

Apr 1: hot girl part 1

Mar 31: t-day! pics from the first sitting for my half sleeve tattoo

Mar 30: a mirror and a love note

Shan

funny for a friday

This is one of my favourite ads of all time... Tall Jan is malicious!

Flowers and masks

We did it! We have our new ink! We took lots of piccies so I'll let them tell most of the story.

Since my tattoo was only going to take about 40 minutes, I went first.

That's Tim, our tattooist at All Star Tattoo. Some could perceive that look on my face as apprehension, but it's not, it's toughness and strength.

Here is my finished product later that night. I chose to have part of a painting by Audrey Kawasaki, her paintings are amazing. At the time I saw it I felt like this part of the painting really signified a time in my life when I was really discovering who I was and letting myself be that person without reservation - taking off all the masks and letting them fall away. I love it.

Shan was really nervous. When I asked if she was nervous about the hours upon hours of pain, she said no - she was scared it wouldn't look good. Here, Tim places the outline. He got it right first time on both of us.

The outline of the flowers is complete here, this is about half an hour after they started.

This was the 'ouchy' spot. Shan was reading a magazine through most of her tattoo, except for this spot when she was squeezing my hand like a mo-fo.

About an hour after starting, the outline is done and Shan takes her first break.

Tim shades all of the flowers. The colours look really amazing on Shan's pale skin.

The back of her arm seemed to hurt a little bit.

Done for the day. After 4 and a half hours, she was ready to go home.

The semi-finished product. It looks totally awesome.

As much as I hated seeing Shan in pain, I love that she loves her new tattoo. And she does, it's everything she wanted. But now I think she's kinda hesitant to get it finished. We'll have to wait a month or so til the memory of the pain subsides a little before we go back to have the shading on the inside of her arm done. I won't judge her if she cries during that part. She won't though, I would, but she's way tougher than me.

You can check out all the videos I took of Shanny getting her tattoo here.