Friday, March 19, 2010

A weekend in the Kruger

Last year I had the opportunity to go to the Kruger National Park for the very first time. It was just for the weekend but still...

Since my last post was so long I thought I’d spare you and just share the pics :) Here are my favourite shots:SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC

Hope you all have a GREAT long weekend!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

What’s new with me...

 

 

 

 

(Friendly note to the Guys - You’ll probably get bored reading this)
So I’ve been promising this post for a while now, and finally, here it is...



These last few weeks have been rather crazy! I had a serious sit-down with Wihan and asked him where our relationship is headed (I’m a very patient person, but a relationship just gets to a point after a while where you have to know if it’s gonna grow or just stay where it is - after 3 years of being engaged, our relationship had reached this point). We talked about it, he thought about it, he reasoned, and then... HE FINALLY GAVE THE GREEN LIGHT FOR WEDDING PLANS! *Imagine me doing a happy dance*

So my mom and I went to a wedding dress sale to see what they had and just so that I could start getting an idea of what I like - I ended up buying the first dress I tried on! Of course I didn’t decided right then and there, I wanted to, I was tempted to, but my mother suggested going to one or two more places and sleeping on it then if I still wanted that dress (and if I was meant to have it) it would still be there when we came back the next day. The next day (which was a Friday) was spent driving around to different dress makers and trying on dresses. After being charged R150 consultation fee at the first place, we got smart and asked if they had a fee before trying anything on - future brides, take notes :) The more dresses I tried on, the more I was convinced that the 1st dress was perfect. So just before lunch we drove back to *the* place and I tried my dress on once again. When I came out of the dressing room and everyone gasped I thought “Jip, this is it!”
Suddenly I felt different - now, hanging next to me in the car was a wedding dress! MY wedding dress!

 

 


*Side note: You might be wondering how I knew - well anyone will tell you, you just know, but it was more than that... It was the only dress that had all the elements I liked and still made me feel like myself, not some dolled up, fancy Barbie*

That weekend I started looking at venues. We thought we had all the time in the world seeing as we only want to get married next year, but we realized (rather suddenly after phoning one or two venues) that they were already booked most weekends next year! So after narrowing the list of 193 down to 52, my mom and I sat down one night and narrowed it down further to only 22. Now we could start seeing them. Very important because photos lie! A place may seem gorgeous in a picture, but when you there it has no personality and there’s no ambiance.
After spending most of the week (and 2 weekends) looking at places, we finally found “the one”. Of course there were a few places that were absolutely stunning but none of them had everything I was looking for (I’ve been waiting for this wedding for a long time ok, I’m very specific!). Some had no reception hall, others were too big and some had porta-potties for bathrooms (no really!). But this place (to be revealed later) had everything! It’s funny though coz when my mom and I were going through the list and looking at all the websites, we looked at “the one’s” website and she said “I have a feeling you’re gonna get married here”.

Within 2 weeks I have bought a wedding dress, found a venue, and unofficially booked a date! As you can imagine my head is filled with only wedding related things lately!

One of the big reasons why we waited so long to get married was 1) Wihan is still studying and 2) he has no income and we wouldn’t make it on my salary alone. So when we had the sit-down this was once again one of his concerns, I promised that we’d make a plan and I had already started looking for a place to rent. A few days after breaking the news to everyone that we were really, really gonna get married next year, my mom said she wanted to talk to us. She sat us down one night after supper and said that my grandparents had decided that we could live in the new offices! --> A little background here: Klub M5, which is the company where I work (started by my grandfather), recently bought a house in a security complex that we plan on making our new offices. <-- That would mean that we would only have to pay a fraction for water and electricity and basically we’d get by on only my salary. WHAT A BLESSING?! Wihan was really worked up about the financial side of this up until this point. The deal is that we get to live there for a year or two and be able to save up enough for a nice deposit on a house.
I’m moving in in December and I’ll have enough time to paint and get settled, and then after the wedding, Wihan will move in. Aaaargh! I can’t wait!


Will keep you updated and post some wedding details soon...

So yeah, my life has pretty much been heaven the last month or so! Other than that, Monique and I are starting a photography business called niQue - hopefully the blog will be up within the next few weeks.

So to all those ladies waiting for the right one; maybe you’ve found the right one and you’re just waiting for him to propose or maybe you’re waiting for something completely different - hang on! There is a time for everything and God’s time is DEFINITELY the best time!

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Prefects Ball 2010

When Josh asked me if I could take a few photos of him and his date, Caitlin, I didn’t have to think twice about it! I asked him how many photos he was expecting - he shrugged and said “Three?” Hahahahaha! Cute!
I met them an hour before the ball and took some shots of them. Here are a few of my faves:
SONY DSC SONY DSC Caitlin looked absolutely gorgeous and extremely elegant.SONY DSC SONY DSC Josh had a kick-ass suit with very cool detail...SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC

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SONY DSCFalling behind on the editing again but I have much more important things to do at the moment - promise to share when I have the time :)

Happy Monday!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Unwelcome guest...

In December, just before leaving on holiday, I was doing my make-up and out of the corner of my eye I noticed something out of place in my room. When I turned around to see what it was I started freaking out, just a bit...
SONY DSC It’s not that I mind spiders that much but anything that’s not smaller than my palm is NOT welcome in my room! After calling my mom, she armed herself with Doom. She doses the spider and threw him out the window. He wasn’t too happy about that.SONY DSC SONY DSCHe eventually crawled down into the plants and I haven’t seen him again. *Phew!*

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

19 random things...

 

 

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Brabys maps really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10... Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.
15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call...
18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad/Mom what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the do I respond to that?
19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..

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Got this in an email the other day and it makes me smile every time I read it so I thought I’d share it...

Here are some pictures I took last year June on Father’s Day. Enjoy!
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Catching up on some photos I should have blogged AGES ago.
Got some really interesting things happening in my life lately - will share next time.

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. How great are those black and white photos?! First time I actually LIKE the way I did it - yes!