Betho

Peace

2006-12-07T05:29:00.000-08:00

Car keys and stupid walls...

2006-11-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Yes i've done it again. I locked my keys in my car...for the 500th time. I can't remember if I've said this before but i think i may hold the world record for locking my keys in the car.
This time it was at my friend's house in oakleigh. We'd just gotten home from the movies and it was about midnight. I reached into my bag but couldn't hear the familiar jingle of my keys. I started sifting through the contents and with evey second that past i became more resigned to the fact that i had again locked my keys in my car. Upon inspection of my car this was confirmed by the sighting of my keys sitting in the ignition- bugger!
There is never a convenient time to lock your keys in the car but midnight, in oakleigh when its freezing cold and you don't have a jumper, is a particularly inconvenient time.
Lucky my friend Matt (diff matt to fiance matt) was very helpful. We set out in his car crusing the streets of oakleigh in search of that nylon tape that is wrapped around boxes.(you use it to jimmy your lock open) This of course meant going through bins. I must say a particular thank you to matt for doing the bin scab job. After searching the bins at someone's house, the milkbar and seven eleven, we struck gold at the dumpmasters at safeway.
Returning to Matt's house we,well actually he (i sat in his car because it was very cold..yes i know i'm a princess) managed to jimmy the lock open. YAY!
Oh an while i'm on the topic of cars i backed into a wall at work the other day. Its a stupid wall. A big stupid brick wall that is way too close to the car parks. I used to not park there because i was too scared i would back into the brick wall. But then i guess i got lazy and a little to confident in my ability not to back into a wall. Stupid wall.

Weddings and stuff

2006-11-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was my cousin Hayden's wedding. His bride Susan looked lovely in her pink gown and all my cousins looked very spunky all dressed up (see photo below). A particular highlight was the fish and chip run in between the ceromony and reception. I'm trying to work out a way i can get some potatoe cakes and steamed dimies at my wedding (I think we may have to do a fish and chip run in between the ceremony and reception again).
I've been doing lots of wedding stuff- i had a dress fitting today and tomorrow i have my hair trial. Its getting closer-less than two months to go! Wahoo!
Well i've got to go as I'm in the middle of watching sex and the city-i love that show! Hope you're all doing well!
Peace Out
Betho

Party time

2006-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our education faculty end of year ball. It was good fun and vast improvement on our last uni ball experience (no-one stole our bread roles, the table didn't have red wine spilt all over it when we arrived and there was no-one throwing up into a cardboard box on the table across from us!)
Mind you teachers really can be a bunch of dags when they all get together- this was proven by the conga line around the dance floor while the dirty dancing theme song was playing!
So after getting to bed in the early hours of the morning, i now have 3 more assigments to do by tomorrow! Better get to it....okay maybe i'll just have a nap first and then i'll make a start!
Ps the photo is of me and my favourite uni friends- Chris and Matt! They are lots of fun- i will miss all the laughs we had at uni! (mind you thats really probably the only thing i'll miss about uni)
PPS Just in case you were wondering i am not nude, the photo just chopped of the top of my dress!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2006-10-24T01:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, sorry its been so long. I'm on teaching rounds (its my last week!) and i have a heap of assignments due at the same time and am feeling a bit overwhelmed. On the plus side, this time next week i will have finished uni forever!!!!
Life is always changing. Sometimes subtlely and gradually so that you only realise that something has changed later on. Sometimes its jarring and unexpected and it takes months (even years,) to re-adjust to.
My life is changing. Some of it has been gradual, some of it is a bit jarring, but it all seems to have come to a head at this point of time. Its not just one part of my life, it seems like its every part!
This is challenging for me. I don't really deal with change very well. I like stability. I like the known.
So for now, i take it one day at a time. Wondering about what next year will look like is too much for me. Now, its just one step at a time.

A bit of a 'Beth Day'.....

2006-09-12T03:20:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a 'Beth Day' on Sunday. For those of you who don't know a 'Beth Day' entails me doing something stupid-usually accidental in nature,typical of Beth (me!). My sister once gave me a Winnie the Pooh card that she said reminded her of me. It said something like 'This is Winnie the Pooh. He is always doing silly things...but its ok because things usually end up alright..'Thats me.
In the afternoon i decided i needed a break from study so i thought I'd go for a drive. As i was driving i decided to stop in at a house inspection. I got out of the car and walked up to the verandah. I was already feeling a little awkward as i was on my own and worried that the agent would look at me and think i was actually 15 (i can look quite young for my age) and wonder why i was wasting his time inspecting a house when i hadn't even finised my VCE.
Anyway the agent came out of the house and shut the door, telling me that he had to keep a dog inside. I went to go inside and the agent stopped me and asked me to take my shoes off. Great- i had odd socks on. And not just two odd white socks but one was green and one was red-typical! So i quickly tried to slip my boots off so he wouldn't notice my odd socks but anyone knows that when you're feeling awkward and trying to hurry it only makes things worse- especially when you're trying to unzip a knee high pair of boots from under a pair of pants while at the same time trying to cover your legs because due to the winter weather your usual regular leg wax hand been slipped back a couple of weeks-okay maybe an extra month.
Right so after looking postively foolish i walked inside to be greeted by the dog.... and the rest of the family sitting in the living room infront of the teli. WHO DOES THAT? And it was an open plan house too, basically there was no where i could go to get away from this family. Plus i was the only person inpsecting so i had the agent trapsing around after me the whole time!
Needless to say i got out of that house pretty quickly.
SO i continued on my SUnday drive and decided to go to Helens Hills winery(where matt and my wedding reception is being held). THe car park was full- the only space left was right next to the entrance so i pulled up into my VIP parking space. I got out and enjoyed the views of the yarra valley. Breathing in the fresh air i went for a bit of a wander. As i came back to my car I searched for my keys only to look into my locked car and see them in the ignition. FANTASTIC. I had locked my keys in the car. Seriusly i have locked my keys in my car so many times its ridiculous- i've done it in the church car park, at katies house, at work, at dairy bell, at surrey hills church and more! So then i had to ring my sister to get her to come and rescue me with my spare key while i loitered in the car park. Of course i had parked right next to the restaurant door so basically every person that left passed me standing there next to my little 87 corolla hatch trying to look like i was just pausing for a minute to check my phone messages when in actual fact i had been standing there for 20 minutes and was getting rather cold!

Compromise

2006-09-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

Compromise. Probably one of the most important ingredients in relationships with people (after love and forgiveness). I looked it up in the dictionary, it means '1. a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.'
There are some things that are easy to compromise on-
What movie shall we see?
What do you want to have for dinner?
Which piece of pav do you want-the one with the most strawberries?? (okay i admit thats a pretty tough one)

Then theres the things that are a lot harder to compromise on. The things that are really big. Perhaps the things that you feel are important to you but for whatever reason your family/partner/friend/pastor/boss thinks differently about.

Then it gets even trickier when you bring God into it. I know a pastor that had to step down from his church because what God was telling him was the opposite of what God was telling the leadership board. Who's hearing correctly???

Yet where is the line between compromise and actually losing yourself or what you believe in? See compromise has two meanings
-the first one as I stated is basically two people coming together and MUTUALLY making an agreement
-the second one is a negative term; 'A concession to something detrimental or pejorative (eg a compromise of principals)'

I don't think its always clear which kind of compromise someone is making. Often in a compromise one person seems to be compromising more!
Sometimes a compromise(type 1) is to compromise (type 2)!?

Its tricky hey?!

A prayer from Mr Leunig

2006-09-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry its another ode to Spring but i love it!

'Dear God,
We celebrate spring's returning and the rejuvination of the natural world. Let us be moved by this vast and gentle insistence that goodness shall return, that warmth and life will succeed, and help us to understand our place within this miracle.
Let us see that as a bird buids its nest, bravely, with bits and pieces, so we must build human faith. It is our simple duty; it is the highest art; it is our natural and vital role within the miracle of spring: the creation of faith.
AMEN '
Michael Leunig

She's coming!!!!

2006-08-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Spring is creeping up on us can you hear her coming??
Everywhere i go she leaves little clues of her arrival...
I can see her in the dotted pinks of the blossoms and yellows of the wattles
I can smell her in the sweet perfume of fresias and the moistness of the green grasss
I can feel her in the warmth of the afternoon sunshine that drives out the chill of the Winter's day
I can hear her whispering in the rustling of the new buds on trees that were once bare....
She started out singing softly but I'm sure she's getting louder...

I don't wish i was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

2006-08-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Okay there's a song thats playing on the radio called 'I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair'. Have you heard it? Its quite a catchy song it goes ...

'Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When the head of state didn't play guitar
Not everybody drove a car
When music really mattered and when radio was king
When accountants didn't have control
And the media couldn't buy your soul
And computers were still scary and we didn't know everything'

....okay thats just a snippet, if you want the rest of the lyrics then google it yourself. Anyway although i do quite enjoy the music of this song, the lyrics actually irritate me a bit. The words seem to be along the 'the world is becoming a terrible place and we should be afraid of it' mentality. Now i admit that there is a lot of bad stuff happening in the world and yes there are some scarey things about living in 2006 but i don't think our response should be only one of fear.
Two points-
1. There has always been evil in the world and therefore there has always been scarey stuff happening. I'm sure that people living in '77 and '69 when 'revolution was in the air' probably wished that they lived in an easier time.-Its all relative!
2. If we think that the world is becoming a bad place then what are we going to do about it?

This is my main issue here. We cannot complain about how terrible the world is without accepting some sort of responsiblity for it. So if there's stuff thats happening that we don't like, then what are we going to do about it? I refuse to accept that i am a helpless consumer in society- I can be a producer as well!.

It's still a man's world

2006-08-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

I am coming to the end of my primary education uni course. This means that i now have the somewhat daunting task of applying for jobs. This might be a long process and i am told that about 70 percent of grads obtain positions. I may have to apply for numerous jobs, i may have to attend numerous interviews. While faced with this task i have observed that if i in fact were a male, this process would most likely be a lot easier.

It seems that most of my male friends have already been offered jobs from their rounds that they have been on. While i must aknowledge that i am sure that they are, and will be fantastic teachers, i am some what jacked off at the fact that it seems that because they are male, obtaining a teaching position is a heck of a lot easier.

Whilst i aknowledge that there are a lack of male teachers in schools, and i also aknowledge that boys need male role models, i question the immediate assumption that because someone is male, that makes them the best teacher for the job. I also question the fact that in most situations women do not even have a chance to apply for these jobs as they are often not even advertised.

I am not a feminist, but there are some inequalities that exist between the experiences of men and women in the workpalce that really jack me off.

For example-
-Although more and more women are entering the paid workforce at a greater rate than ever, they are still bearing the majority of domestic and childrearing duties

-Not only are women working twice as hard but their work in the professional workforce is not receiving equal salaries to men

-Although women are competing for better jobs and careers than ever, men still tend to move into the higher paying jobs in each occupation

I am not a feminist (Matt seems to acuse me of being a bra burner everytime i get a bit fiesty about womens rights!), i just believe in equality between men and women. And from what i see, we still have a way to go before that is achieved.

On that note i'd like to welcome myself back to the blogging community. I'm sorry that its been so long since i last blogged, lifes busy blah blah blah, but i'm back and will endeavour to start posting again!

Until next time,

Beth 'I don't burn my Bras' Eastwood

Corfu

2006-07-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hey there from Corfu! The last time i blogged we were in Venice. Since then we travelled to Rome. Rome was amazing so much history- there are ruins everywhere! We went on a guided tour around the Colesseum. A very impressive building unofortunately it was so hot and our tour guide was a tad on the dull side so i spent the whole of the tour searching for shady spots to sit down in! (Ask annie if you want to know stuff about the history of the colesseum, i can't even spell it properly!)
The next day we lined up for 2 and a half hours to get into the Vatican. Again this is another very impressive building. We saw the Cistene chapel and then went into St Peter's Basilicca. This was my favourite. The interior decorating is amazing! So majestic with paintings and sculptures everywhere, it really does give you a visual glimpse of the awesomeness of God.
That afternoon Annie and i went shoping. After almost getting jammed in a very aggressive train door (very funny once the fear of losing a limb had passed) we wandered the side streets of Rome. Unfortunately we didn't buy much (Europe is extremely expensive!) but we did purchase the most delicious bowl of strawberries with banana gelati-Yum.
We then travelled to some Ferry Port where we boarded our overnight ferry to Corfu (The Greek Islands). The ferry was great fun. We had our own cabins and it was so relaxing falling asleep with the gentle rocking of the boat! We arrived at Corfu this morning and I absolutely love it! Our hotel looks out onto the beautfiul Corfu sea with mountains and other islands off in the distance. We spent the day relaxing at the beach (my favourite thing to do!). Funny story- a group of the girls decided to do some skinny dipping and took their togs of and put them on a lilo. Unofotunately a pair of the bather bottoms fell off and they only realised later. All of our tour group then spent the next hour searching for her bather bottoms in the water which we never found. Tomorow we go out on George's Boat and tour around the islands-it should be fantastic.
So we only have a few more days left on our tour! On Tuesday Annie and I fly out of Athens, spend a few days in London with our cousin Jess and then fly home to Melbourne on Friday. Its been an aweseome experience but I am also very much looking forward to seeing my family, friends and most of all my wonderful fiance when i get home!

Italy!!!

2006-06-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since i last blogged. Since Paris we've been to some French wine region (sorry can't remember what is called). We stayed in a chateau and it was amazing! The view out of our window was of beautiful vineyards and mountains. We had an interesting experience trying to walk to a look out. it was a mega long walk and a very hot day. a french lady drove past and offered us a lift- we excitedly hopped into her car and waved the rest of the group off smugly as we headed up the hill. unfortunately once in the car we realised she didn't speak a word of English (and none of us spoke a word of french). after lots of very confusing attempts at explaining where we wanted to go we worked out she had no idea where we wanted to go (and in fact had driven straight past our turn off and was taking us somewhere completely different). she immediately pulled over the car and made us get out of the car. so we had to walk twice as far back to the correct turn off and catch up with the rest of the group - not so smug anymore!
We then headed off to spain-barcelona. after being told we were staying at a lovely campsite next to the beach we were quite excited, upon arrival we realised the site wouldn't exactly live up to our expectations. it was right next to an airport so planes were flying above our heads frequently (it felt like we were in a war zone!), the place absolutely stunk (apparantly due to a stagnant river next door) and the 'beach' was filthy (you had to dodge the plastic bags when swimming!) We spent the next day exploring the city as well as looking for a pub that was playing the soccer.
our next stop was the French riveria. we spent a day in cannes which was awesome. we releaxed at the beach all day which was a lovely change from sightseeing all day. that night we went to monaco and visited one of the casinos. the drive along the cliffs was beautiful it was interesting being in a town so full of rich people- the yachts in the port were huge!
we are now in venice. as i write this the heat is stifling! we spent the day exploring venice which was lots of fun. it is such a beautiful city and its so nice not to have cars anywhere. we actually went and had a sleep in the park for a couple of hours (as i said sightseeing is very tiring) but we also got to do some shopping as well as take a gondala ride. i love italy and definitely want to come back and explore it fully!

overall its been an exhausting time. i have the 'contiki cough' due to exhaustion and frequent bus rides with 50 other people (most of which also have the contiki cough). i'm loving getting to see so many beautiful parts of europe but am a bit sick of touring. i forgot how i don't really enjoy camps that much (well this is like a camp except it goes for 21 days!) i have met some great people but have also found it challenging to live with a good deal of other people. i am trying to understand people better through this experience but have also found myself dissapointed in the way people behave (including myself). i know this is an invaluable experience for me however and am so glad for all that i am seeing and learning in this time.

keep it real,

betho

bonjour!

2006-06-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

hey, weve started our tour and were in paris. this is going to be a short one as these french keyboards have the letters in diff plqces qnd its tqking ,e five hours to type one word oh and i cant find the apostrophe either!
the tour is going well im still getting used to all the people. we were greeted on arrival with lovely fizzy drinks. unfortunately there was a bee in mine and it bit me on the lip-typical!
well were off to the louvre now
au revour

ps nath i dont know how to link you up, brad did it all for me!

Pommy-land

2006-06-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

Okay we're in London and have been doing all the touristy stuff-Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, Hyde Park. Hyde Park was my favourite-so beautiful, you could smell the roses from a mile away!
We caught up with Brent and Zena on Friday and Saturday night which was great fun!(sorry nath i didn't ready your email in time to give brent a wedgie). WE watched the soccer at a pub full of noisy aussies and brazilians. Very packed and hot! We had dinner at another pub- kate you'll be please to hear i had bangers and mash. Annie got poohed on by a bird. It was so huge! Very funny, we were laughing loudly but no-one around us even smiled. I thought poo was funny in all countries-apparantly not here!
Better go now...
cheerio old chap!

Singapore Baby

2006-06-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hey there,
Me and annie are on our adventure to the UK and we've just stopped over in singapore for a couple of hours. The plane ride has seemed long, so the next one to London will be even worse. We had some delightful food for breakfast- some sort of omlette and sausauge thing (matt not even you would eat this food) and the movies have been dissapointing.
In true beth style i forgot to bring my usb attachment for my camera so i won't be able to post any photos of our trip (sorry Gaynor!), but i'll hopefully be able to blog a little bit to keep you posted of what we're getting up to.
Catch you in the UK!!
betho

My Achievments......

2006-06-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

I was talking with Lt Dave the other day. We were talking about 'Achievment'and 'Relational' people. He told me i was definitely relationship oriented, while he saw himself as 'achievment' or rather 'task- oriented'. I thought about it and although i agreed with him i also said 'I guess it depends on what you label as achievment'. We then decided that relationships are achievments...and i believe of the highest kind.
I'll leave you with some pictures of my 'trophy cabinet'!

'Another freakin fine'

2006-06-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today i got home to find that i had a letter telling me that i had recieved a traffic fine and had to pay $200 to the Victoria Police. AARGH!!! Firstly why is it that you always recieve a fine at the worst possible time? (ie a week before you go away on a holiday to Europe....or perhaps you get one a few weeks before Christmas and then 2 days later you get ANOTHER ONE!!!). Secondly, why do i keep getting fines? Seriously i have contributed more than my fair share to the Victorian Budget. IN fact i believe that I am funding the Mitcham Frankston Freeway. In fact, it should be called THE BEASTWOOD FREEWAY, and they should have a plaque there with my name on it, and perhaps i could cut the ribbon on the day they open it (i've always wanted to cut the ribbon at the opening of something!). When that freeway's finished and you all start using it, you should thank me!
I'm not a maniac driver (Ruth says i'm a grandma driver), so why do i get so many fines? Matt told me that i should just be more careful (here's a hint, when someone tells you they just recieved a $200 dollar fine, the best answer is not pointing out that they made a mistake, it really doesn't help!)
I think i'm very unlucky! One time Ruth and i were pulled over in the city and a policeman fined me $150 for not having a white enought number plate!!! PUH_LEASE!!! Apparantly thats a law these days!
Oh and while i'm fired up i'd just like to say that anonymous comments give me the pip! Especially when they criticise Big Brother, people's names and my good friend Brad. SO if you're going to post something anonymously, post something nice!

"Game on mole!'

2006-05-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

Ok just a quick one but did anyone watch Big Brother last night? What was the deal with Gretel's defensive and (i thought) quite aggressive response to Michael? For anyone that didn't see it, Michael brought up how big brother had edited an interaction between himself and David and presented it in a way that basically apppeared as if there could have been a pash between the two men. Gretel's response was massively defensive, basically shutting him down as if he was making massive unjust allegations against Big Brother. Now i didn't like what I saw of Michael's time in the house, but in this instance i would totally come to his defense. The scene between him and David was totally presented in a way to get viewers thinking that there had been some sort of sexual interaction.
The fact is, that there is no such thing as 'Reality TV'(sorry to break it to you kids). As Michael said, there is editing (clips shown without the whole context of a situation), but even aside from that, certain camera angles etc are used to portray people in a certain light. So Miss Gretel, don't go and get high and mighty on me when someone questions the validity of your 'reality'show. The fact is that your show is no more 'real' than Krystal's breasts!

'Satisfied Mind'

2006-05-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a report on consumerism in Australia (sent to me from the lovely Karin) and it tells me that nearly two-thirds of Australians say that they do not have enough money to buy what they really need. The report describes how many Australians have a warped perception of basic needs; 'When almost half of the richest households believe they cannot pay for their needs, the idea of what is 'needed' is confused with what is 'wanted'.

The report describes that while 56% of Australians believe they spend almost all their income on basic necessities;
- Expenditure on imported consumer goods rose by 60% between 2000 & 2004.
-Australians spend about $10.5 billion on goods we do not use: food and drink; appliances; exercise equipment; memberships (in 2004, Australians spent about $500m on gym memberships that were never or hardly used).

How did our priorities get so out of whack? How did my priorities get so out of whack? The problem with buying 'stuff' is that no matter how much you get, you still want more! (Apparantly that's what the marketing companies bank on.) Yet its easy to get lured in.

If Jesus says that it's harder for a rich man to get into heaven then why do so many of us that call ourselves Christians desire to be wealthy? Some of us have very good reasons to want to be wealthy (i've heard many say how they want to have more, so they can give more away), but why are we not more cautious of the warning of Jesus about the pitfalls of wealth?

Did you know that sociological studies have shown that there is no difference between the happiness of someone who has enough money to live on with a few added luxuries, compared to somone who is incredibly wealthy?

Consumerism is something that i struggle with (my love for clothes doesn't help this!). In our society shopping is a leisure acitivity(have you seen how many people go to the shops on the weekends?) and i must admit that i do enjoy shopping too. But where is the line of excess?

I guess my prayer is that in the midst of our consumer society, that i may develop the ability to live simply. I'll leave you with some wise words sung by Jeff Buckely;

Satisfied Mind ------Jeff Buckley(J.Hayes/J.Rhodes)

How many times have you heard someone say,
"If I had money, I would do things my way."
But little they know, that it's so hard to find
one rich man in ten, with a satisfied mind.

Money can't buy back all your youth when you're old,
a friend when you're lonely, or peace to your soul.
The wealthiest person, is a pauper at times
compared to the man with a satisfied mind.

When my life is over and my time has run out,
my friends and my loved ones, I will leave there's no doubt.
But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time,
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind.
But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time,
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind mind mind, mind mind,satisfied mind.

Happy Birthday Ruth!

2006-05-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have a housemate called Ruth. She is one of my bestest friends and i love her heaps. One of the things that i love about Ruth is her honesty- you can always count on Ruth to tell you the truth- often in a somewhat blunt manner! Example; when Matt and I got engaged we came home and went into her room to tell her. I recounted the story of the night saying 'we did this....and then we went there..... We think we might get married in January....'to which her reply was along the lines of "Great you've started the bloody "we" crap already!'. Ruth looked at my blog the other day and groaned about my Bride blog informing me that i better not blog all about weddings! So to prove that my blog is going to be about a whole variety of things and thoughts in my life, i've decided to write about Ruth.
It was Ruths birthday on Friday night and we went to the Croft institute. It's a bar down this really scarey looking alley off China town. As my friend Stuart aptly put it, 'even guys are scared about being raped walking down here!' Once you get there, its a pretty cool place-a little bit creepy (it used to be a mental institution apparantly and they've stuck with that theme including a wheelchair hanging off the wall and a hospital bed in the ladies toilets) but what i liked is that there is no pretention. There were all kinds of people there- not just good looking, designer kinds of people!
Ruth had heaps of friends there and again what i was struck by was the variety of people that are in her friendship group. Ruth loves meeting new people and what i love about her is that her friends don't have to be the same as her. Even if you tried, it would be impossible to put a label on her friends as they are all from so many different places, backgrounds, personalities, jobs, religions etc. It's a great thing and something that i aspire to be able to do more in my life!
So happy birthday Ruth! You are a fabulous friend and i love you stacks!

'I see you baby....shakin that....'

2006-05-18T03:36:00.000-07:00

I believe in a better way....

2006-05-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Some lyrics by Mr Ben Harper that are challenging me at the moment....

'What good is a man who won't take a stand?

What good is a cynic with no better plan?

I believe in a better way!

I believe in a better way!'

'Better Way'- Ben Harper

Here's to standing up to injustice and the searching for better plans.... to always trying to find a 'better way'.

Bethy Bride

2006-05-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my profile I am engaged! My fiance is Matt Parker and he is a lovely fellow. As you can see from this picture i have been preparing for my wedding for some time now! I love weddings! Not only have i forever been trying on bride outifts but i have also been collecting bridal magazines for 00hh possibly the last 3 years! It was like my secret little thing. (Some people keep rude magaines under their bed, i kept bridal magaines under my bed!). I used to feel really dodgey when i bought them at the the checkout. Like people were looking at me thinking "She's not a bride! She shouldn't be buying magazines". I felt like a 16 year old trying to buy beer from the bottle-o!
So now that i'm officially engaged i can buy bridal magazines without guilt or shame. The funny thing is that i'm not so interested in the magazines anymore-that thrill has left me. You know that feeling when you were in high school and you and your friends decide to wag school to go to hungry jacks? Your driving away from the school with adrenilin pumping and although you know you're breaking the rules you feel awesome! Well that feeling changes once you get to uni because you can wag whenever you want. And although its nice to be able to leave and go to hungry jacks (becuase lets face it, your tutor doesn't give a rats where you are), the thrill sadly, is no longer there. I think its the same thing with my bridal magazines!
Regardless of this, i am loving being engaged and am totally excited about my(sorry, OUR) wedding and marriage! Roll on Jan 5!!

At Risk....

2006-05-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

This blog is an example of what happens when someone with little to none I.T. skills trys to create their own web page. In teaching, the lowest box to tick to report on a student's development is named 'At Risk'. (My friend Matt from uni always jokes about me being 'at risk') Well i think this blog is 'At Risk'. The problem with me is that i can never be bothered in reading the instructions for anything. Like when you buy some drawers from Ikea and you're all excited until you get home and open the box and the drawers are actually in pieces. (It also doesn't help that the instructions are in another language), in which case you whine to your friend Stu until he puts it together for you (which entails of banging the pieces together with your housemate's hockey stick because you can't find a hammer.) Unfortunately Stu is not here so i've had to work this blog thing out for myself, hence this 'At Risk' blog. Well i think i'm going to get my sister Annie to help me work this out (she's the other person who always reads instructions for me and works stuff out. She is such a fast reader- she read Schindlers List in like 10 minutes! ). So until Annie fixes up this woeful looking blog, keep it real.....Betho