Cherry Blossom Adventures

So I had another haircut & colour. Will be the last one before the week before the wedding…

So here it is- It is pinned up at the moment but I didn`t really cut much off anyway since I need to be able to pin it up again for the wedding.

I took my birdcage veil (yes it is done!!!) to try on as well at the hairdressers. I love it!!!

Well better get changed (and put some make-up on seeing as in the picture above I have none on) because Shun & I have a date! Movie & dinner. Who knows maybe he will get lucky…(especially if he is paying! hehe)

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I am an impulse shopper (and an impulse eater but that is a different story)

Today I bought something crazy. I have no idea what I was thinking.

I went into the health food shop and bought a lemon detox diet starter kit (google it- you will find a lot of interesting stuff some good some bad)

I am getting close to the weight I want to be and I have gone about it a fairly healthy way through a healthy diet and exercise. I just feel like I needed a little kick in the right direction to quick start the loss of the last five kilos I want to lose.

I did have a look online last night at it but I looked at the main Australian site which of course was very comlimentary with only good comments about the product. Once I got home though I thought about it a bit more and did a bit more research and decided it wasn`t for me. With my history of migraines and other health issues I really do not know what I was thinking…

I want to do some kind of detox but no solid food at all for 7 days is not the way to go about it. It is on my 101 things list and I know I have to start thinking about when I will do it and what sort of detox I will do but I am not really sure where to start so any suggestions would be welcome.

Does anyone want to buy the starter kit from me? I will not use it…I know that. It is unopened (except I read the phamlet inside the box but none of the other parts are open). It was not cheap but I will sell it for half price ($50)…any offers? I can not believe I spent $100 on something I will NEVER use. GAH!

I hate being an impulse buyer…

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I have a question, or I suppose I should say a couple of questions.

Why did you start a blog (or why not if you don`t have one)?

Why do you keep blogging (or why did you stop)?

& finally…

Would you consider password protection for certain posts?

I have been thinking about this a little bit the last couple of days, and then Nay wrote that she was contemplating stopping (and this saddened me a lot- so I hope after she takes a little break perhaps she will be back & enthused about blogging)

I promise I will answer these questions at a later date.

Popularity: 8% [?]

January 26 2009, Backyard photography, Olympus E 520

One of the few macro monday shots I have that I actually took on my new camera…I miss it so much. I hope it will come back to me soon. I rang today and they said another week or so as they had to order a new part for it. It shouldn`t be much longer now…

This was taken in my mother`s backyard on Australia Day…

I have no idea what these plants are called but the colours in them are delightful.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my post yesterday- I will respond to you all soon.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Popularity: 8% [?]

• Shun went away early morning yesterday to go fishing for the day with Dad & my brother (plus some others)- they had a fantastic time and surprisingly the weather held out okay for them. Apparently Shun caught the biggest fish of the day….he is severly sunburn today despite been told to wear sunscreen by me (and my brother- who didn`t get sunburn on his face or shoulders however the second time he applied sunscreen forgot his legs and they are raw red today!)
• I spent the day yesterday with my mum & Gemma (brother`s gf) and we had a lovely day of shopping, movie watching and later on dinner and wine at mum`s place. I got 2 summer dresses, new togs & 3 new pairs of shoes (which were desperately needed)- I am stocking up because I know once I return to Japan I will be back to not been able to find clothes that fit me (which despite my weight loss will still be the case)- I also laybyed the most adorable winter dress even though we will be heading into summer over there- it is sleeveless though (but in winter you would put something under it and wear it with tights and boots) so I could still wear it out at night in summer and spring and autumn! hehe
• Last week for my birthday Shun gave me a pandora bracelet. Do you know them?? It had two charms on it already- one a dog, who he said represents Abbey and another, a flower with a pink stone (which he says represents cherry blossoms but they had none of those so he got this one). Since I also got money from my dad for my birthday I used it to buy two more charms- a spacer with pink stones and one that winds around (but is hard to explain)- I will take pics once I get my camera back (hopefully this week- I have`t heard anything so far but I am going to ring tomorrow to see how it is going). Shun says it was a great gift because now he can just buy me charms every christmas and birthday and white day and anniversary until it fills up! hehe!
• One of the things on my 101 things list is to take Shun to the country- speaking with Nay the other night I think my idea of the country and her idea of the country are a little different (since she is a country girl at heart and was not born in Brisbane like me)- so I am thinking about where we could go. I was thinking a weekend trip and spend a night in a B & B somewhere…..Does anybody have any ideas? I was thinking maybe Laidley…or the Sunshine Coast Hinterland (although this might not be considered country)…I would love any ideas….it needs to be within a 3 hour drive of Brisbane and needs to have somewhere to stay like a B & B or cottage or something…
• I am making an asparagus & bacon quiche for dinner tonight- it is in the oven as I type. I have never made a quiche before but it looked yummy and we had asparagus and eggs to get rid of anyway- I got it from one of my weight watchers cookbooks…Hopefully there will be some leftover for me to take lunch tomorrow.
• I was extremely surprised I lost weight on Thursday when I weighed in- I had done less exercise than usual and had not been as dilligent about counting points and snuck in more than a couple of easter eggs. This week though I am going to be extremely good- I plan to hoop tonight (and eat my healthy lite quiche!) and walk tomorrow and do weights at home, aqua on Tuesday and walks and hooping on Wednesday if I can. Plus I am counting points diligently from now on….
• I have a secret obsession- I am obsessed with The Biggest Loser, a reality TV show that is on 6 nights a week. It is basically a show where overweight/obese people compete in teams to see who loses the most weight through exercise and healthy eating. In the first 2 weeks for weight in one guy lost 10kg each time meaning a 20kg weightloss in two weeks. How crazy is that? That is more than what I wanted to lose in total…..I have never been a huge fan of reality television (except big brother, another secret obsession) but I am loving this show. This is the first season of it I have ever watched but I imagine it is probably in its 3rd or 4th season…
• There will be a password protected post sometime later tonight probably.

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I just weighed in at weight watchers tonight (didn`t go last week cos I was sick) and lost 1.1kg. I am stoked- I honestly thought I would of stayed the same or put on a couple of hundred grams….since when I was sick I ate a fair bit of crap. I have now lost more than 10kg since coming home and have  started on my first month maintenance (according to my 101 things list). I have 5.5kg to go until goal weight….not that much now. Hopefully I will make it before the wedding….

I have found that since I started back this year at weight watchers that I am more enthused about exercise definitely and I am making healthier choices when I can.

Thank you to everyone for the lovely comments on our engagement photos! We were extremely happy with them also.

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Well here they are….

These are are all medium res images so the real things are so much better- If you like them and live in my area and wish to get in contact with the photographer please contact me via the contact form. Her name is Sylvie and she is just gorgeous and she does fantastic work!!!

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December 2, 2007, Showa Kinen Koen, Olympus 830

This photo is unfortunately a little bit fuzzy around the edges. I would love to be taking new macro shots but with my camera in the fix-it shop you will all have to wait a little longer.

You can see my palm print in this though! hehe

We don`t really have seasons in Brisbane where I am from and living at the moment. We have summer which lasts pretty much from October- March…so yes it is pretty much 28 degrees or higher for six months. We then have a bit of a cooler turn for April & May where it is walm still but a little chilly at night, then we have winter which is actually not as cold as you would hope- but the nights are fairly chilly I suppose and then basically we head back into summer. There is no changing leaves, there is certainly no snow and there are no beautiful flowers in bloom at a certain time of year (okay except jacaranda`s in November & frangipani`s in January- but trust me nobody gets out there blue picnic sheets and goes to do flower viewing under them)

This is probably something I miss most about Japan- the seasons. I can not wait to experience Autumn again later this year and while I will miss hanami & cherry blossom season this year I am already fantasising about next year!

I have to go back to Showa Kinen Koen, where the photo above was taken, and if anybody else is near Tokyo, in particular near West Tokyo then this is a fantastic park!!! I have only been twice, once was with my kindy class, and it has been fantastic both times. It is huge and like a little oasis in the middle (okay outskirts) of Tokyo. Plus on a clear day you can have the most awesome view of Fuji-san from near the poppy fields.

By the way we got our engagement photos back- I love them!!! I will try to post scanned copies later tonight or tomorrow!

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Popularity: 7% [?]