Where have you been?

Wow! I haven't made a post since the end of February and we are now in June. The truth is that I never meant to leave it so long but life really did smack me upside the head. I really underestimated how busy life would get with my new job and planning a wedding. It was so overwhelming and the day after the wedding I was so tired that I looked like I had a stroke!

In saying that, I did have the best time and I'm so glad that SB is finally my husband - even if he got the flu the week after our wedding :). And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't give you a few sneak peeks of guest photos - we're still waiting on our pro pics and video to get back.

It sort of feels like the beginning of a new chapter in our lives and as such, I'll be phasing out Scribbles as my blogging vehicle over the next year and starting to blog at a currently secret location. Continue to follow me here for sporadic posts here and there and a big announcement when the new blog goes public!

Gotta have faith

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen my frantic postings on Friday regarding my job. For those of you who may have missed it, I've just had confirmation that my contract teaching position will be finishing a month earlier than expected. Not the worst thing that could have happened but it isn't ideal either when we are saving for a wedding. We've been examining the budget and working out where we can tighten our belts - the great thing about me not working would be that I would have time to create a lot more things from scratch. I'm also trying to ramp up additional income - trying to get Bee Of Service off the ground and looking around for possible temp positions.

The thing I failed to remember on Friday (and what I keep reminding myself now) is that everything WILL be okay. I don't mean that to sound trite, I truly believe that it will be. I survived until now, didn't I? At the beginning of last year, I had no job. I started relief teaching and most weeks had more work than I could possibly handle. I got a long-term relief job at another school that year and learnt more about classroom management (in the battlefields) than I could have possibly learnt at any course. At the end of the year, I got my current job, a job that has taught me so much about myself and the importance of family and community. Wherever I go to from here, it will continue to teach me the life lessons that I still need to learn. If one of those lessons is learning to rely on SB for a month, then that's what it will be - I hope that it's learning some exciting new skills though!

Whether you have belief in a Christian God, a higher positive power or just in yourself, you need to believe that it will be alright. You need to believe that what you are going through has purpose and is teaching you a lesson that you need to know... think on what that lesson is!

What lessons are you currently learning, Scribblettes?

Do you wanna know?

I've got to that awkward point a lot of bloggers reach when they have been writing for a while (and in my case, three years!). A big change comes in your life and it's quite consuming - for me this is the wedding. For Kez, it is having a baby. All of a sudden, your "lifestyle blog" may seem more like a wedding blog or a mummy blog and that's not the reason that your readers started reading in the first place.

Getting married is such a huge change in my life. I sat down to write this blog this morning and realised that all the neat stuff I wanted to tell you all was wedding-related. To be honest, the rest of the week was a bit of a shitter! A lot of what I mull over in my spare time is either weight loss and exercise related (and I already blog on the Shrinking Violets blog about that) or wedding/marriage/Mr & Mrs Scribbles future related. Herein lies the dilemma.

I can talk about the other stuff but on a week like the one that's just been that is just depressing. My mum is having a hard time with getting colds on chemo, my only grandma has been in hospital and had several complications, I had to break up a fight between students on Thursday - not only was I deeply embarrassed at their behaviour but I pulled a muscle in my back. One might say I'm trying to avoid the negative... and I totally AM. I don't want to really talk or even think about all of that stuff.

The stuff I'm loving in my life is booking vendors, developing a vision for our wintery wedding and trying out crafty ideas. Designing a relatively unique wedding band to go with my engagement ring. Talking with SB about our future, the wedding, the honeymoon and beyond. I guess my question to you all is "Are you interested about hearing about all that stuff? Or should I be keeping it real?"

I'd love to hear from you.

Vote for Smaggle!

You will notice a new widget on the side of my blog - Vote for Carly/Smaggle! Carly, also known as the lovely Lady Smaggle, is in the running to blog from the front row of RAFW. What an amazing experience! I know she will do a brilliant job if she wins - check out some of her previous blog posts on fashion shows! There's a way in which she writes that makes fashion so relatable to those of us who aren't quite so fashion-forward.

So make this Scribble smile and vote for one of our favourite Aussie web friends (entries close on 27th of April so click the widget now)! Thanks so much!

Some Christmas Viewing and Thanks

Christmas Day will be very busy for us - SB and I are having breakfast and opening our presents to each other at home, hitting my parents' house for more presents and brunch/lunch then we're quickly whipping home and I'm getting dinner prepped for SB's family to have round here.

On a side note, I've started referring to them as the "out-laws" because they're not "in-laws" yet... I'm so funny :D

Boxing Day is also pretty busy for us as it is the day that the extended Scribbles family get together (and usually drunken Singstar LOL) and the SB/Scribs house is in charge of entrees this year. So all in all, the next couple of days will be BUSY! I will however post my goals for the year before we go away for New Years!

So this is my time to say thanks for reading all year! Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays! Be good over this holiday season and if you can't be good, be careful!

Would you be interested...

*UPDATE on last post - we didn't get the house. Now please continue...*

After thinking on it for a while and running the idea past Alla in one of our little chats, I'm almost courageous enough to set up a monthly feature on this blog. I need to know, however, that it's something you guys would welcome and that would interest you. It's something I'm a little bit nervous about but it's a big part of my personal goals for this year and so I need some support if I'm going to make this public.

So...would you be interested in a monthly feature on my weight loss progress? I have a substantial amount to lose and I feel that you all would be able to keep me accountable. To me, it's also about honesty, having the photos and saying the numbers means that I can't hide behind the fact that I dress well - the weight I am is just not the weight for a healthy Scribble. When I feel lazy about exercise, I would feel that not doing it would disappoint you all.

I don't want this to become a weight-loss blog, so the posts would be monthly - what are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments!