Back in the saddle

Well hello there beautiful readers! I hope you had a fantastic holiday season and a splendid start to 2014. I wasn't planning on not blogging over Christmas, but you know, sometimes life is just so great you don't have to hide behind a computer screen! The last few weeks have been so busy for me and I have really enjoyed just living in the moment and forgetting all about taking photos of everything and blogging. I have missed this little outlet though, and have plenty of ideas for posts and projects as I settle into the New Year, but I thought I'd start today with recapping what I've been up to since you last heard from me.

 Just two days before Christmas, I had a birthday! The day was absolutely perfect, too. I woke up to receive the most gorgeous gifts from my little sister who spoiled me rotten and spent the majority of the day with my beautiful best friend who drove down from the Gold Coast to spend the day with me. We exchanged Christmas and birthday gifts (she spoiled me rotten as well), had a yummy lunch where I introduced her to oysters, gossiped, ate ice cream and I swear when it was time for her to go I nearly cried! She is the most awesome human on the planet and I wish we lived closer! The rest of the afternoon was spent with family and other close friends. I was brought to tears by how perfectly my family and friends know me, by their beautiful cards and gifts and by he massive bunches of flowers which I found adorning my house while we shared a delicious dinner together. My main present from mum, dad and Jake still hasn't arrived yet, but by the time the day was through I had honestly almost forgotten how excited I was to get it - the day had been so perfect that nothing could ruin my happiness.

Christmas went way too quickly, in my opinion! Going from mum and dads , to nan's, and then on to Jake's, I really felt like we didn't get enough time with anyone on Christmas day. The food was absolutely fantastic though, and I swear I ate enough for four people at each house we went to. Christmas afternoon was especially amazing to me. Jake bought his niece a heap of kites and he and his brother stood on the verandah flying them while Molly and I watched from below. Because I lived on the Gold Coast for the better part of last year, Molly and I haven't really had the chance to get close and she has always been a little shy with me but Christmas day was a whole new experience for the two of us. She decided to be my new best friend, leading me around the house with her, nuzzling into my neck for cuddles when it was way past her nap time and sharing grapes and cherries with me which she brought over two and three at a time from the fruit bowl. Spending such quality time with family made Christmas day magnificent in my opinion.

Jake has had three weeks off over Christmas and it has been amazing being able to spend time together through the week. Weekends go way too quickly, so I've enjoyed actually seeing him every day for the last little while. Plus, we bought a massive TV and it's awesome.

 I've been super lucky to actually get to see my best friend, Darci, twice more since my birthday! These photos were taken in a Photo Booth when Jake and I went on a burger eating and arcade game playing adventure with Darci and her boyfriend, Alex the other night. We had a great time and it's awesome knowing that even though we no longer live close by we still get to see each other often. Next Tuesday I'll be back up there again to indulge in shopping and Disney movies and I can't wait!

Well, there you have it. What I've been up to the past few weeks! Hope you found it at least a little bit interesting and I would love to hear how you have spent the holiday season. I conveniently left out the part about drunkenly singing songs about sausage rolls on New Years Eve, but I'd love to hear your New Years anecdotes!