"Sunny Days"

So as I said a few days ago, we recently went to Papamoa with Brad's Family. We stayed in a huge house (it even had an elevator). We had a wonderful time.



Some Highlights:



Swimming in the clean warm (23 degrees) Ocean, under the delicious Sunshine.

Going on a Fishing Charter and seeing a Shark!

Seeing a cruise ship up close. HUGE!

Walking up to a little look-out at Mount Maunganui Beach. ( click to enlarge)

What a great little break away.



Have you been anywhere interesting recently?

"We're only young"

It's been a wee while since I've posted. Although there has been so much going on I haven't felt like there has been too much to share. Here's twenty quick(-ish) bits of info to get you (and me) up to speed on what's been going on.



1) I'm taking a Novel paper this Trimester. I have to read 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Emma', 'Jane Eyre', 'Great Expectations', 'Sons and Lovers' and 'Passage to India' all in a few weeks.



2) I saw my Endocrinologist recently. It was mostly positive.



3) I started a healthy eating plan  - (refer to point 2).



4) Brad turned 23 recently. We. Feel. Old. This occasion was the catalyst for many discussions which in short covered "what are we doing with our life?" and "where are we going?" topics - (refer to point 2). It also resulted in some exciting decision making for us, although with that comes a sense of disappointment. We both want everything and we want it now! We now realise that is just not possible. We will have the things in life that we want the most, but good things. take. time. and "we're only young".



5) We went on holiday with Brad's Whanau to Papamoa. It was lovely. Solo post to follow.

6) A close friend moved away for a few months. Miss her. Lots.



7) We've been seeing heaps of Movies lately. HEAPS. We wanted to host an Oscars party and place bets but we were away - (refer to point 5).



8) I tried on a $150,000 diamond ring, after an old school acquaintance and I bumped in to each other at a jewellery store. It was so big. Too big to feel real - it was actually kind of gaudy.



9) Got sick, completely out of the blue. Whammo! Down for a week with a virus.



10) I recently used my day off to clean out and organise our kitchen cupboards, my jewellery box and scrub the shower floor. I'm not a dirty person - but I am a tad untidy, so this was a weirdly enjoyable day for me.



11) A few weeks back my cousin Courtney came down from Palmerston North and we hit the dance floors of Wellington with my sister Kels and Brad a.k.a "Man enough to go out with 3 chicks". I wore my new dress which was bought with Birthday money from Brad. It originally cost $200. I got it for $40.

12) I've lost my skull candy headphones. I think I left them in Papamoa. Womp wow.



13) I relished the opportunity to bake and bake and bake so we had things to nom whilst in Papamoa. I made a Choc-Caramel Slice, Lemon Bars, Apricot & Coconut fudge slice, seventy chocolate chip cookies and a bacon and egg pie. Guess what Brad did not pack? I'll give you seventy guesses.



14) I used the sewing machine I got for my Birthday to sew some tights for my God-Daughter, Aaliah. I sewed up the wrong seam. I don't have a quick un-pick.



15) Speaking of the cherub, I looked after Aaliah a few weeks ago. I made play-dough, we played outside, played dress-up and read stories. It was an awesome day. My heart beams for her. Even though she wouldn't sleep.

16) Following Brad's Birthday and a decent sale at work our house has a few new gadgets. Brad got a bluetooth earpiece from me for his Birthday and he got Xbox Kinect from his parents. Kinect is crazy cool. Even as I write this I can hear him bounding about in the lounge. We also are the proud owners of a new webcam. Skype ahoy!



17) We are trying to sell the car. Trying and trying, but no one is buying.



18) My song addiction has a few new titles in it's rotation. I am hooked on Lady Gaga's 'Born this way', despite it's plagiarism similarities with Madonna's 'Express yourself' (note the tune, the dance-moves and the tuxedo costume) I am also having delayed affections for this New Zealand tune.












19) After being sick (refer to point 9) I have been put back on my Asthma preventative inhaler, which I take through a spacer. We have dubbed this the 'Asthma Bong' as it looks fairly suspicious.



20) We have many events coming up including, a Fiftieth Birthday, a 60's themed 30th party (for two people, thus the 60's theme), a new baby of a work mates to meet and an awesome time hanging out with my friend Hannie. I am very excited about these. Hopefully with all this happening I will manage to blog on a more regular basis and to actually comment on the amazing blogs that I've been rush-reading as of late.

"Auld Lang Syne"

This New Years season was filled with great laughs and few sad moments too.

As I already mentioned, Brad broke his arm New Years Eve. We spent New Years Day in the Emergency Room. Then the next two days at the hospital as Brad had to have surgery to fuse his wrist joints back together. *Sigh. Despite playing the age old Hospital favourite "you wait - we tell you nothing" game, it wasn't all bad.

The few days we spent basking in the hot Wairarapa sun were fantastic. Even some of the moments shared on a Hospital bed, in the short stay unit were amusing. My favourite would have to have been when I swapped my wedge heels with Brads jandals as we waited for him to go in to surgery. Within minutes the nurse was rushing around signing forms and collecting his personal items to put in a big brown paper bag with Brads name on it. My shoes were amongst his stuff. The nurses hassled him about this all the way up to the surgical floor about his choice of footwear. Me and my comfortable feet found it highly entertaining.

"This festive season"

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Years. It feels so good to be home. Brad & I have been zipping round the lower North Island since Boxing Day.



Here are a few highlights and lowlights of our Holiday period:



           Blingin'

• An easy, virtually stress free Christmas Day, filled with great love, food and presents - The majority of my presents were food related. Score! Kitchen post lovelies to follow. A great mixed family breakfast at our place. A scavenger hunt at Brads parents house. Knowing that next year there will be a brand new little person, Brads cousin and his wife have a bun in the oven. Oh...and food, food and more food. 

• Sunshine  - sweet, sweet sunshine.

• Hawkins-family time in Halcombe - Eating cheesecake and trifle at any time of the day. Pretty Ponies. Shopping, mooching, painting and watching family videos. 

• A nostalgic New Year in Martinborough - Sun, friends, family and amazing accommodation. 

• JENGA the drinking game -  Just when you thought JENGA couldn't get any more heart-attack inducing. You were wrong. 

          Mingin'

• Budget highs and lows - Damned STAT day bank closure. 

• Heavens Doors open - Knowing that people you love are suffering loses, and imminent loses.

• Brad vs. Ditch - Drinking games + a game of Spotlight + a ditch = A broken arm for Brad. 

• Parting with Family and Friends - such sweet sorrow.

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?"

Christmas Eve. Wow. How time flies.



Today I thought I'd share with you a 'TFF' topic that I am just crazy about. CC. No, not Canadian Club. Christmas Carols. Christmas Carols fill my soul with joy. They force me to reflect on the reason for Christmas. They force me to realize what's most important in my life - and that is love. Love for my family and friends and all those who are willing to share joy and kindness with others. It may not be the literal reason behind Christmas, but it sure is a glorious reminder. Here are my Top Five Favourite Christmas Carols. Click on the titles to have a listen.



5. Rockin' around the Christmas Tree - The only up-tempo song on my list. Reminds me of my Grandad...and Home Alone. 



4. Silent Night - This ol' faithful was a favourite to sing at School Assembly. I am particularly fond of the Boyz II Men Acapella Version.



3. The first Noel - There is something about this song that makes me feel at peace. It also makes me so thankful.



2. O Holy Night - There is something so grand about this song, but I always get a feeling of uneasiness during the part that gets really intense. I think that is my Christmas guilt. I think of families who are less fortunate and can't celebrate Christmas. I think of people who are alone.



1. Have yourself a Merry little Christmas - Oh Judy, dear Judy. How lovely is this song. It reminds me of the touching emotional scene in every Christmas movie ever made. Her voice and the song are both exceptional.





Have a safe and wonderful Christmas. God Bless.

XXX

"I'm hopelessly devoted to you"

On Wednesday as I sat folding the washing, whilst the rain fell outside, I had a craving to watch Dirty Dancing. I Love musical Movies. Here are my Top Five Favourite, Non-Animated Movies.

5. The Sound of Music - We used to watch this, during the school holiday at my Nan's place. I'm pretty sure we watched this solely based on my Aunty Debs admiration for it. I tolerated it then, but I love it now. This is my favourite song & scene from the Film:

4. Mamma Mia! - A lot of people had mixed feelings about Mamma Mia! I was not one of them. I loved all of it - even the really cheesy, awfully sung bits. Mum forced ABBA down our throats as kids, which is probably why Kels & I love them to this very day. I find it really interesting that Kelsey hates MM! & I love it. Kelsey claims that it doesn't do ABBA justice. I argue that nothing can compare to ABBA, so considering that it's a pretty fair go. I love how a lot of the background music, was also ABBA. Like when Sophie walks down the aisle, the music playing, is an instrumental version of 'Knowing me, knowing You'. Also I find it to be a feast for the eyes.  

3. Dirty Dancing - Not technically a musical, more of a dance-ical really. I'm putting it on this list due to its fantastic choice of, and heavy use of great music. I love the scene with Baby & Johnny in the dance studio, when they lip-sync to 'Come here lover Boy.' Gorgeous story, good girl, meets bad boy, and they meet somewhere in the middle. I fall in love with the lake scene every time I see it.

2. Wizard of Oz - If you have been reading In My Shoes for a wee while, you will already realise my deep love for Wizard of Oz. I love this movie so much that I became familiar with the score for the opening titles & credits. One day after Netball when I was having a drink in the Kitchen, I heard this music and said "That sounds like Wizard of Oz." I ran into the lounge, and found that it was - and I cried tears of joy. Yea -I'm a crier. Huge crier. My family were amazed by my musical recognition, but just for the record, they laughed at my tears.

1. Grease - This is one that we watched over & over & over, when we were little. We used to try and learn the dances, using the play, pause, rewind & repeat tactic. It was fun! We would sing too, much to our parents and Grandparents disappointment I'm sure. We would also dress up. Sadly, Nan only had one Poodle skirt in her dress-ups & as I do not have the face shape to carry a high pony-tail, I quite often lost out. Even as a little boy, my cousin Cameron loved Grease. I have a clip somewhere of him dancing his booty off to 'Greased Lightning'. I will endeavour to find it. It is hilarious.

I'd love to hear what your faves are.

"He called this Woman Pandora, because all they who dwelt on Olympus gave each a gift"

For my 21st Birthday, Brad's parents gave me a Pandora Charm bracelet as a gift. I had heard about them at the time, but hadn't paid much attention until I had one. Ever since I unwrapped it - I have been in love with it. I love how, every bracelet can be so different and reflect your personality.

John & Fi gave me the bracelet, with my star-sign bead, and the heart locket with a 14k gold key attached.

Soon after my birthday Bradley bought me a dolphin bead, to remind me of a moonlit swim I had with Moko the dolphin, that very summer. Sadly, he got lost, so he isn't pictured here.

The next bead is a treasure box, that Bradley also bought for me, because I am his 'Treasure'. Aww.

My Mum & Darren gave me the suitcase for my 22nd Birthday, to represent my first overseas trip.

My Dad gave me the Angel for Christmas, to celebrate becoming a God-Mother.

I bought the shoe, for obvious reasons, with some Christmas money that my Uncle gave me.

Darren's parents Pete & Wendy gave me the coloured bead & the initial.

The silver charm, with the garnet attached was a birthday gift this year, from Brad's Sister's.

I bought the non-Pandora safety bead, with the starts on, in Australia, to stop the loss of any more beads.

I can't wait to fill my bracelet with all sorts of different beads, to represent all the amazing things, I have to look forward to in life.

"Flowers of your December"

Sometime in January I posted about my family Christmas'09. As I looked over the post today, still gutted by those decoration mis-haps, I realised something. That Pohutukawa Champagne holder is pretty darn cool. At least my friend Mariah thought so.







Here is how I made it....





'Champagne/Sparkling Grape Juice Decorative Cooler'

1. Pick your Flowers of choice. You could also use fruit (lemon & limes would be cool!), shells..or anything really! I've seen it done in NZ House & Garden, with Pink & White roses, and it looked amaaaazing.

2. Select a plastic bowl or bucket. This will give you the shape of your cooler, so make sure you don't choose a bowl that is too big - or too small to accomodate your bubbles.

3. Get a large based glass carafe jug or even better...a 2.25L Coke bottle with some rice or sand inside. Place it inside the bowl. It's important to remember that the base of your anchor needs to be slightly bigger than your bottle of bubbles.

4. Arrange your blooms around the coke bottle or jug, and fill the bowl with water so that it just covers your blooms, but doesn't quite fill your bowl.  

5. Place in the freezer overnight.

6. Once frozen, remove from freezer and rest for 20-30mins. Wipe the outside of the bowl with a hot dishcloth. You should be able to bend the plastic away from the ice from here. 

7. To remove your anchor, carefully bend the coke bottle plastic away from the ice. If you used a glass jug, carefully pour some warm water in to the jug, and carefully wriggle to release.

8. Carefully turn out on to a platter, or even a shallow dish to use as a centre piece. At this point you can return it to the freezer to keep it nice and frosty.

                   

"Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do"

Over the Easter Weekend, we were in Halcombe to celebrate my cousin Courtney's 21st Birthday Party. What a weekend - what a Woman.





The whole weekend was pure magic. Most of our entire immediate family were there for days and days, in preparation, support & celebration.



What a weekend it was, reflecting on 21 beautiful years, was nostalgic for all of us. The party was great, the birthday girl looked gorgeous (as usual) in a beautiful purple dress, black satin shoes & Swarovski jewels. She borrowed my bling-bling, which was so special to have her wear, and we gave her some earrings as her gift. It was awesome having my "baby' Cousin Jhansi ask If she could wear it at her 21st Party. It was cool being able to say Yes!



I loved my Man & the boy's running the bar. I loved the dancing. At one point I looked up, and the only people on the d-floor were the five Hawkins grand-daughters. I loved the country aaaas dance moves, & the impromtu caterpillar & robot moves. I loved the dance circle, to Dave Dobbyn's 'loyal', which saw a shamed, awkward feeling Birthday girl, hovering in the centre with only the faces of loved ones, serenading her, at the top of their lungs, to look at. I will remember that night always and forever.



My cousins and I have a special bond. We were all born roughly a year apart, and spent a lot of time together growing up. every Christmas, Easter, Birthday, New Years - we were together. We fought, we played & we grew - all together.







I can't remember a lot before my sister Kelsey was born, she is the benchmark of my heart. But what I can remember, is because of my Cousins. Particularly Leah, my oldest cousin, & Courtney. We had each other. We were like sisters. They taught me how to be a sister. For that I will be forever grateful. They got to experience what it would be like to have a sister, as for many many years Leah had only a Brother Thomas, and Courtney only ever had her bro Cam. I love them. I miss the times where we spent fighting over who got which bike, doll or swing. I miss wearing our matching polka-dot party dresses, that Nan bought us. But most of all I am so grateful for these beautiful people I have in my life.







Courtney knew that I had planned on speaking at her 21st. But she warned me on the etiquette of time length & emotion control. Two areas that I am not the best with. So I sat the speech out. Also I found it so hard to find the right words. I found it really hard to explain the bond I have with her to anyone other than one of my cousins. Emotionally stumped? Me?! No!







If I had spoken this is what I would have said..







"Courtney, I am so proud. So proud of who you are, who you were & the beautiful, strong woman you have become. I am proud of all that you have achieved, and all that you are bound too. I am proud to have shared my life with you, and to forever be bound to you through blood, memories & love. You are so beautiful, inside and out. Although we are only 14 months apart in age, I will always think of you like a little sister. Although we have grown, some times it feels as if we are little girls again, playing dress ups, practicing our wedding march, making up dances & basking in the simplicity of our childhood. As years flick by, sadly the memories of our Nan & Papa, who have passed, slowly start to fade. But when we are together, I see their spirit in you, feel their presence & know that they will never be lost, as long as we have each other. I know that they are looking down on you tonight. I can see Papa beaming with Pride for his "girl", and Nan was always so proud of your beauty & grace combined with your amazing strength and 'I-can-do-anything' attitude. And girl, you can do anything!

Thank you so much for being my memory source, my friend & my soul sister for as long as I can remember, and for as long as I live. Happy Birthday & Congratulation's on turning 21."

Courtney

Love you XXX

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes / Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes / Silver white winters that melt into springs"

A few posts back I changed my blog header. I have had a few virtual comments on this and alot of other positive comments on it too. So I thought i'd break it down for you all. This is a picture, that I took, of a few of my favourite posessions. You'll see 'em labelled below.

"Take me back to the sweet times, the hot nights"

**CAUTION** LONG POST/PHOTO STUDY TO FOLLOW

Every New Years, since the summer we finished high school, my friends and I have seen the turn of the year together. For two of the five summers we have celebrated at home, with good food, good company, and great music. This is not usually how we roll. We much prefer to, and always attempt to make a camping trip happen. We love camping. It is so good to get away, and enjoy each others company. Just as with the dinner parties, when camping we always have good food, good music, good wine and...board games. It makes for a very entertaining trip! When we were seventeen, we camped by the river in Otaki. When we were nineteen, we ventured to Pohangina, a campsite by the river near Ashhurst. This year, we went on an actual roadtrip and ventured all the way to beautiful Waiheke Island. It was by far the best holiday we've had yet.

The low down: 16 hours of driving, 9 people, 6 days, 2 ferry trips & 1 people mover (a.k.a rave-mobile).

At 4.30am Mark, Katrina & Cam arrived at my house in the R-M, to pick up Dyani, MK, Brad & Myself.

After handing out the roadtrip survival kits, donning our roadtrip t-shirts, staging a photo shoot, slapping our 'Road Trip' car door magnets on the R-M and cramming ourselves in...we were on our way.

And on we drove, whilst listening to our Road Trip playlist, all the way through to Taihape before stopping for a McDonalds fix for breakfast.

We were so excited to be running ahead of time and to be leaving the cruddy weather in our wake. Here are some of my fave pics from the trip to Auckland.

We arrived in Auckland around lunch time and headed straight to Te Atatu to visit the 'West's' house, from the television show 'Outrageous Fortune'. It was surreal to be standing outside the house, which we all had seen on the show. I felt like an Outrageous Fortune geek, as we took photo's from the footpath. We left the West's house and headed round the corner, for our number one guilty pleasure when in Auckland...Wendy's.

After eating our combined body weight in Burgers, Frosty Shakes, Nuggest & Fries, we once again sardined ourselves back in to the R-M, and headed to Sylvia Park for groceries & to meet our Auckland dwelling friend Scottie & her partner Skip.

One hour later...Groceries = bought, Scottie & Skip = waiting in the carpark, time until we had to leave Sylvia park for the ferry = 30 minutes.

Packed people in R-M? Check. Packed groceries around said people? Check. Ready to roll? Check. Broken fan, possible cracked radiator n Skips car? CHECK. Everyone freaking out and yelling at each other? Check.

It was ugly. Luckily for us, AA arrived in 15 minutes, sorted, and advised on what to do with the vehicle. We left just in time to make our Ferry Check in time. Before we knew it, both vehicles and all nine of us were on board the ferry, and taking a major chill pill.

 

Once on the Island, we felt our way to Hekerua Lodge, where we were greeted by the owner Tom, who showed us the house facilities, that we were free to use, the pool & spa & of course the camping dell. We set up camp & got some Fish'n'Chips for dinner. We went to a fish'n'chip shop called 'Ao Place' They have a really cool photo montage of customers from all over NZ & from all over the world. Every photo had a funny caption with the phrase "Ao" in it. They saw our t-shirts and loved them. They decided we had to have our picture taken. So we are now immortalised at 'Ao Place' with the caption "All the way from Paraparaumu in a van, with matching t-shirts Ao"

 

We had an awesome time on Waiheke. The weather was amazing, we spent the next 3 days at the beach or in the pool. I could rattle on and tell you how beautiful it is, but I may aswell just show you.

Here are a few of my fave pics of us playing around at the different beaches on Waiheke.

Playing 'Battle of the Sexes' board game was hilarious. It is highly amusing to recall such comments as, "I'm pretty sure it's a french tip bro..don't ask me how I know *shifty eyes*" & when some answers were shouted out with such authority, like.. "Will & Grace!!"

Then the game got serious...

We visited Mudbrick Vineyard. It was beautiful beyond words.

We left Waiheke on Jan 3rd and headed back to Scottie & Skips place in Auckland. Some of us just chilled for the evening, and the rest of us went to Sky City for dinner. On the way we stopped to look at this pretty tree. It reminded us all of Twilight. So we staged a photo shoot. New Zealands Next Top Models, I tell you!

 

  

 

Overall we had an awesome time on Waiheke. I for one cannot wait to go back.

What an awesome trip!

Love you, my friends.

XXX