Whew! It's been an exciting year so far, hasn't it?
Weddings, camps, graduations and work.
Not to mention Stephen's 30th birthday party!
What else could May, June and July hold for us?
May 2013
In May, our gorgeous niece turned 1. It was really fun to celebrate her first birthday.
And what better gift for a 1 year old than a pair of cute shoes?
Or 3 pairs...
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| Ok, so Auntie Sarah couldn't just pick one pair. |
It was my day off (woohoo!) so after picking up Stephen's puppet from the post office, we went to Ridley and showed it off to fellow students. Then we went to ACMI and wandered around at the Hollywood Costume Exhibition (yes, it was MY birthday, not Stephen's!). My favourite costume was... the purple striped suit from Titanic, which Kate Winslet wore, followed by Dorothy's costume, from The Wizard of Oz. We had dinner with family in Sunbury and then came home, where Stephen's birthday jumper (that I had bought him) was waiting on the table, also having arrived in the post that day. It was a nice birthday.
Alas, I can't find any photos from the day but here's a photo of me as a 26 year old.
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| 26 yr old Sarah: now with added maturity. |
Of course, in May, the most exciting event of Sarah's calendar occurs: EUROVISION!!!
We enjoyed watching some of it with other Ridley students in the student lounge.
Our favourite performance was probably Romania. You can watch it on YouTube here. Think Vampire crossed with, well, cross dresser?
At the end of May came the end of Semester 1 for RMIT and Ridley. In the last week of May, Stephen hit the books for Swot Week to study for his exams.
June 2013
After exams, we enjoyed a night out with Ridley students celebrating the end of Semester 1. Sadly (for some), this time around, there was no karaoke at the pub.
That was on a Thursday night (6 June).
The next day (Friday 7 June) Sarah headed up to Sydney with 2 other Christian Union Apprentices for the Apprentice Conference. Since they went by car, they left at 6.30am in the morning (ouch) and arrived at the outskirts of Sydney at 4.30pm. They arrived at the venue at 5.30pm. A long day in the car!
Again, no photos, but here's what it looked like on Google Maps, to drive all that way.
They left the conference at lunchtime on Sunday (9 June), arriving back in Coburg at 10pm.
Sarah then had to pack for our Queensland holiday, because we were leaving the next day!
So at 5.30am on Monday (10 June) we made our way to the airport on about 4 hours' sleep. We had to take 2 flights; first from Melb-Brisbane, then Brisbane - Proserpine.
We were headed to a holiday house available to people in full time ministry as a respite house. It's located in Laguna Quays - about 40 mins drive south of Airlie Beach (and 1100km north of Brisbane).
Here's what it looked like:
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| A basic yet comfortable little house. We were the last people to drive the Ute. After our stay, they managed to get a new car that started first time every time! |
We spent time relaxing on the verandah and taking selfies.
Well, Sarah took the selfies and Stephen patiently smiled for the camera.
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| Cheeeeeeeeeeese! |
One of the highlights of our week was booking an Ocean Rafting expedition.
The boat went fast over the smooth water!
We got to visit Whitsunday Island and walk along Whitehaven Beach. Amazing!
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| It was a gorgeous sunny day. |
We even got to go snorkelling at 2 different places.
Stephen enjoyed it a lot.
He kinda reminded me of another animal.
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| "I have no idea what you mean" - Otter |
This was our favourite beach to visit - Midge Point.
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| Reflection! |
After our week in Qld, we came home rested and refreshed.
And we still had another week of holidays to look forward to - this time, catching up with friends & family in Adelaide.
Sarah got to hang out with some girlfriends.
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| Photo credit: Cassie Pech (not pictured) |
And she also got a great deal of enjoyment out of dressing up Max, the family dog, for winter.
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| Yep, he is as completely uncomfortable and uncool with this as he looks. I think it's the leg stirrups. |
After our time in Adelaide, we spent a week in Melbourne working on different projects. For Sarah, this meant preparing for one of the highlights of the Christian Union calendar: SUMMIT Camp! (aka Mid Year Conference).
July 2013
In the first week of July, we both headed to Summit Camp, which was held at Rawson Village.
It was great fun!
Sarah discovered her powers of super-strength.
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| Just call me Samson-ina. Photo credit: Stephen Denness. |
We took a trip to an old gold-mining town called Walhalla. Our outing was in lieu of the planned Snow Day. Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances (i.e. the mountain being devoid of snow) we changed our plans and enjoyed a day in Walhalla instead.
We went on a train to get there. It was more fun than you would think a train ride could be.
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| Waiting for the train is always a good moment for a selfie-photo! |
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| Stephen also enjoyed the train ride. You can just feel the excitement from his giant grin! |
We tried to find gold. (note: TRIED).
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| Whilst losing feeling in my fingers. Brrrrr. Photo credit: Rowan Campbell |
There was music!
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| Photo credit: Stephen Denness |
And archery (of course!)
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| First super-strength, then super-aim. Next time I'll try for the skill of keeping super-warm. |
We also heard some great talks on the topic of Galatians (morning talks) and Judgment (evening talks).
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| Photo credit: Stephen Denness |
And of course, we had an advertisement for the CU tshirt, by the scariest "model" with no face you've ever laid your eyes on.
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| Photo credit: Stephen Denness |
After Summit, we had a bit of a breather.
From 15 - 19 July, Stephen had a subject-in-a-week. It was an intensive course of Children's Ministry.
Sarah spent time preparing for Semester 2 and all the new things it would bring - writing bible studies, etc.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading this series as much as I (Sarah) have enjoyed putting them together.
Feel free to drop us a line via email or in the comments to share how you are going. We'd love to hear from you!
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