My little sister Bethany is a hoot. She’s taken Abby’s place as the part-time receptionist where I work, so now she’s the one surfing the net at the front desk whenever the phones are quite.
About half an hour I walked through the reception area, and she was online filling out a survey that would determine her ‘biological age’. I heard about this on the radio last week, and it seems to be a bit of a cool thing to do at the moment – figure out what age your ‘body’ is: are you aging prematurely or cheating mother time?
Anyway, a few minutes ago, the slim, pretty and 19 year old Bethany came upstairs to give me the results:
Bethany: (resigned) So... Apparently my body is 26.
Tammy: (laughing) Oh no! What was the problem?
Bethany: (rolling her eyes) Apparently it’s my lifestyle!
Who knew that ‘exercising zero times a week’ and ‘avoiding staircases’ could cost you 7 years!
Don't worry Beth - you're pleanty young at heart :)
xo Tammy
Friday, March 20, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Bits and Bobs
Friday, when I got home from work, there was a really cutely wrapped present waiting on my pillow! My mum had ordered "Together Again For the First Time", a movie I worked on in my last year at BYU. It's out on a DVD now, and I hadn't seen it yet. It was really thoughtful of her, and I had fun watching it :) It was like a fun little trip down memory lane. It's a little record of several really great weeks in the middle of a several really bad months, and reminded me just how kind Heavenly Father is too us all.
Emily, I know that Parker will come 'when he's ready', but seriously! When is his actual due date? I keep checking your blog over and over because I'm all nervous and excited about his arrival :) I don't know how I'm going to go through all of this again in September with Brecken and baby Cook! *long, melodramatic sigh*
My brother's engagement party is on this coming Saturday. It's a tropical theme (luau), and our family (aka Mum with our help) are in charge of decorations! It should be a very good night. We'll be up decorating most of the day. mum's got flowers and banana leaves, and laes, and lights and palm trees!... The list goes on - I'll have to send you photos.
And guess who'll BE at this engagement party? Jenny! Ahhhh! So exciting - she's coming for a 1 week visit :) She flies into Perth for a month on Thursday of this week, and then is turning around to fly to Brisbane on Friday. She'll be here for a whole week, and we're going to 'do Brisbane'... I'm taking a week off work, and I'm almost as excited about THAT as I am about Jenny's visit.... lol
Tomorrow, I'm buying a car! Ahhh! It's a very cute car, and it's way more expensive than I had ever planned to spend.... I've been worrying and worrying for 2 and a half weeks over this purchase, and I'm finally biting the bullet. I'm hoping I'll be more excited when I actually drive the thing, because right now, I'm just stressing about how much money it all costs :( Stay tuned.
I followed a link on the church website yesterday, and stumbled on a new youtube channel that the church is sponsoring. It's called Mormon Messages and if you haven't seen them already, it's worth a look. I think the church has done a really nice job of producing little bite size videos on various ideas and themes, and I really liked them.
Okay, that's all for now - must run!
xo Tammy
Emily, I know that Parker will come 'when he's ready', but seriously! When is his actual due date? I keep checking your blog over and over because I'm all nervous and excited about his arrival :) I don't know how I'm going to go through all of this again in September with Brecken and baby Cook! *long, melodramatic sigh*
My brother's engagement party is on this coming Saturday. It's a tropical theme (luau), and our family (aka Mum with our help) are in charge of decorations! It should be a very good night. We'll be up decorating most of the day. mum's got flowers and banana leaves, and laes, and lights and palm trees!... The list goes on - I'll have to send you photos.
And guess who'll BE at this engagement party? Jenny! Ahhhh! So exciting - she's coming for a 1 week visit :) She flies into Perth for a month on Thursday of this week, and then is turning around to fly to Brisbane on Friday. She'll be here for a whole week, and we're going to 'do Brisbane'... I'm taking a week off work, and I'm almost as excited about THAT as I am about Jenny's visit.... lol
Tomorrow, I'm buying a car! Ahhh! It's a very cute car, and it's way more expensive than I had ever planned to spend.... I've been worrying and worrying for 2 and a half weeks over this purchase, and I'm finally biting the bullet. I'm hoping I'll be more excited when I actually drive the thing, because right now, I'm just stressing about how much money it all costs :( Stay tuned.
I followed a link on the church website yesterday, and stumbled on a new youtube channel that the church is sponsoring. It's called Mormon Messages and if you haven't seen them already, it's worth a look. I think the church has done a really nice job of producing little bite size videos on various ideas and themes, and I really liked them.
Okay, that's all for now - must run!
xo Tammy
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Pay It Forward....
The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You have to have a blog in order to play!
Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh?
Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Let's see who looks at my blog! OK! Now don't fight!! But be one of the first 3 people and I will make you an AWESOME homemade gift. This is a lot of fun! Ready? Set? Go!
This was on my friend Sara's blog, and I decided to join in (the promise of a present, plus the thought of an 'already written blog entry' were just too much to resist!).
However, I make no guarantees. What you receive may be cool....it may not :)
However, I am my mother's child, so there must be some sort of crafty gene somewhere within me.
xo Tammy
Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh?
Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Let's see who looks at my blog! OK! Now don't fight!! But be one of the first 3 people and I will make you an AWESOME homemade gift. This is a lot of fun! Ready? Set? Go!
This was on my friend Sara's blog, and I decided to join in (the promise of a present, plus the thought of an 'already written blog entry' were just too much to resist!).
However, I make no guarantees. What you receive may be cool....it may not :)
However, I am my mother's child, so there must be some sort of crafty gene somewhere within me.
xo Tammy
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...
My country's been having a difficult time of it over the last few weeks. I know many of you have been hearing about the unbelievable bush fires down in Victoria that have taken so many lives in an awesome and terrifying rage. In South Australia they've been struggling with soaring heat waves that have devastated the elderly and the very young. In NSW they've had fires too - though not as bad as Victoria's (and they've been sending many of their own firefighters over to Victoria to help). And then my state, Queensland, has had such severe rain and flooding that by the end of last week, more than 60% of my state was under water! 60%. And QLD is a really big state.
Nothing has affected me directly - we've been fine in Brisbane - but my heart as really really ached for all of those who have been facing such devastating natural disasters. It's difficult to see the images and hear the stories and not be able to rush to their side. Prayers help I hope. I've been really proud of my country though, and the way we've all pulled together, and been so generous. I was humbled the other day to hear about the people up in Northern QLD (some of whom are completely cut off from the rest of the world by flood waters), who have received monetary government assistance to help with the floods, and who have then turned around and donated it directly to the bush fire appeals. We've only got a small population in Australia, and yet we've raised over $100,000,000 in that appeal. And people are sending everything from clothes to beds to fridges to those who have lost everything.
My Mum's just started a blog now too: Sandy Speak, and she's posted 2 really fabulous articles about the things that have been going on. One is just photos, and the other is written. She's managed to say what I feel but haven't been able to put into words. Please go have a read if you have a moment (and leave her a comment - she loves comments too!).
xo Tammy
PS. I know, I know. I haven't written in ages and I was supposed to write every day! My Internet at home has been down, and then I've been really and honestly flat out with everything I have to do each day.... :)
Nothing has affected me directly - we've been fine in Brisbane - but my heart as really really ached for all of those who have been facing such devastating natural disasters. It's difficult to see the images and hear the stories and not be able to rush to their side. Prayers help I hope. I've been really proud of my country though, and the way we've all pulled together, and been so generous. I was humbled the other day to hear about the people up in Northern QLD (some of whom are completely cut off from the rest of the world by flood waters), who have received monetary government assistance to help with the floods, and who have then turned around and donated it directly to the bush fire appeals. We've only got a small population in Australia, and yet we've raised over $100,000,000 in that appeal. And people are sending everything from clothes to beds to fridges to those who have lost everything.
My Mum's just started a blog now too: Sandy Speak, and she's posted 2 really fabulous articles about the things that have been going on. One is just photos, and the other is written. She's managed to say what I feel but haven't been able to put into words. Please go have a read if you have a moment (and leave her a comment - she loves comments too!).
xo Tammy
PS. I know, I know. I haven't written in ages and I was supposed to write every day! My Internet at home has been down, and then I've been really and honestly flat out with everything I have to do each day.... :)
Monday, February 9, 2009
A hop, skip & a jump
Today, to get to work by 7am, I will be:
1) Walking a few blocks to the bus stop
2) Catching the 5:58am bus at Lyndale Street approaching Marana St
3) Arriving at Edward St approaching Mary Street at 6:42am
4) Walking 235 metres (according to Translink - my online trip planner) to the Eagle St ferry terminal
5) Catching the Eagle street ferry at 6:57am
6) Arrive at the Holman Street Ferry Terminal (across the river) at 7:02am
7) and walking 180 metres to the front door of my office
a) This is a succinct public transport option, really. And I'm glad it's not any worse!
b) I can read on a bus/ferry (unlike a car) so that's fun.
c) I love the river, so the 3 minute ferry ride is always pleasant - especially first up in the morning, or late in the afternoon (love that light on the water!)
d) Unfortunately, it's not fun enough to make me want to do the public transport thing permanently
d) I would really, really, like to find a car that works now.
xo Tammy
PS. My watch stopped working yesterday.... Ahhh! What will I do without my watch?! Does nothing work anymore?!
1) Walking a few blocks to the bus stop
2) Catching the 5:58am bus at Lyndale Street approaching Marana St
3) Arriving at Edward St approaching Mary Street at 6:42am
4) Walking 235 metres (according to Translink - my online trip planner) to the Eagle St ferry terminal
5) Catching the Eagle street ferry at 6:57am
6) Arrive at the Holman Street Ferry Terminal (across the river) at 7:02am
7) and walking 180 metres to the front door of my office
a) This is a succinct public transport option, really. And I'm glad it's not any worse!
b) I can read on a bus/ferry (unlike a car) so that's fun.
c) I love the river, so the 3 minute ferry ride is always pleasant - especially first up in the morning, or late in the afternoon (love that light on the water!)
d) Unfortunately, it's not fun enough to make me want to do the public transport thing permanently
d) I would really, really, like to find a car that works now.
xo Tammy
PS. My watch stopped working yesterday.... Ahhh! What will I do without my watch?! Does nothing work anymore?!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
My new job :)
I received a new calling just before Christmas: I'm the Stake Young Women's specialist, and my role is essentially to act as a sort of 3rd councillor in our very busy stake young women's presidency. My special responsibility is to look after Personal Progress and Camp Craft within the stake, but it extends to doing anything else that needs to be done too.
And I'm absolutely loving this calling :) It is much more time consuming than I had expected, but I was really ready for it (Heavenly Father knew that long before I did of course!). It's good for me to be spending a good portion of my time doing service and working actively in a spiritual cause, and I've already noticed huge differences in my life.
This coming week, for example, I've got some practices with a 'choir' of priests in our stake (who are the musical item for a Stake Youth Fireside we have on Sunday night), I'm also meeting with a member of the Stake Relief Society Presidency to go through music for a musical item at the upcoming Young Woman's/Relief Society fireside in a month or so (I'll be helping a group of young women put together that musical item). And then on Wednesday night, I've got a Stake YW Presidency meeting, followed by the YW/AP Stake Council meetings. On Sunday we've got that Stake Youth Fireside (we're using the A Brand New Year program that was launched on New Years Eve in Salt Lake for the youth World Wide). I've got to bring 4 x 7-layer dips and chips to that for the supper after the fireside. Sometime during the week I've got to contact each of the ward Young Women presidents in the stake to go through some personal progress stats that we need to collect, and I've got to talk to a few different sisters in the stake about possibly helping us with some other upcoming activities. Thursday night I've also got to attend a training session (and present a spot on Personal Progress) with the YW's presidency in one of the wards.
And that's just all between tonight and next Sunday night! And let me tell you - each week looks about as busy! There are stake dances, young women in excellence evenings, new beginnings evening, beehive nights, ward conferences, regular ward visits, stake dances, stake youth activities, firesides, ward and stake trainings, camps, meetings, meetings, and meetings!
This last week, I was getting very stressed about things. Between working, trying to figure out what to do with my evil car, trying to keep up with the new goals I've been trying to meet, doing several calling things and sleeping, I was starting to feel like this lifestyle is crazier than life at the climax of a few infamous exam weeks during uni! I've got a bit of a Martha tendency I'm afraid, and I've been feeling 'careful and troubled about many things'. BUT, today, in Stake Conference, I started to feel like I could just stop running around frantically in circles and just 'be still'. I get frustrated - I want to do things really well, and I want everything to work, and when you've got so many things tugging at your time, it's hard to feel like it's possible to do anything right! That's when we really need to turn to the Lord, and let Him help us. I tend to try and handle things all on my own :)
So, it's obviously going to teach me more humility :) And honestly, the women I work with, are powerhouses of energy! Ana (the stake YW president) has a bunch of kids, a part time job, AND is the busiest YW president I have EVER seen. Between them and my mum, I'm totally set for 'women-who-can-do-it' examples ;)
So there you have it :) I thought I'd mention it, because I think you'll probably hear quite a bit about this new calling throughout future blog entries. I think I'll be learning a lot, and having a bunch of fun doing it!
xo Tammy
And I'm absolutely loving this calling :) It is much more time consuming than I had expected, but I was really ready for it (Heavenly Father knew that long before I did of course!). It's good for me to be spending a good portion of my time doing service and working actively in a spiritual cause, and I've already noticed huge differences in my life.
This coming week, for example, I've got some practices with a 'choir' of priests in our stake (who are the musical item for a Stake Youth Fireside we have on Sunday night), I'm also meeting with a member of the Stake Relief Society Presidency to go through music for a musical item at the upcoming Young Woman's/Relief Society fireside in a month or so (I'll be helping a group of young women put together that musical item). And then on Wednesday night, I've got a Stake YW Presidency meeting, followed by the YW/AP Stake Council meetings. On Sunday we've got that Stake Youth Fireside (we're using the A Brand New Year program that was launched on New Years Eve in Salt Lake for the youth World Wide). I've got to bring 4 x 7-layer dips and chips to that for the supper after the fireside. Sometime during the week I've got to contact each of the ward Young Women presidents in the stake to go through some personal progress stats that we need to collect, and I've got to talk to a few different sisters in the stake about possibly helping us with some other upcoming activities. Thursday night I've also got to attend a training session (and present a spot on Personal Progress) with the YW's presidency in one of the wards.
And that's just all between tonight and next Sunday night! And let me tell you - each week looks about as busy! There are stake dances, young women in excellence evenings, new beginnings evening, beehive nights, ward conferences, regular ward visits, stake dances, stake youth activities, firesides, ward and stake trainings, camps, meetings, meetings, and meetings!
This last week, I was getting very stressed about things. Between working, trying to figure out what to do with my evil car, trying to keep up with the new goals I've been trying to meet, doing several calling things and sleeping, I was starting to feel like this lifestyle is crazier than life at the climax of a few infamous exam weeks during uni! I've got a bit of a Martha tendency I'm afraid, and I've been feeling 'careful and troubled about many things'. BUT, today, in Stake Conference, I started to feel like I could just stop running around frantically in circles and just 'be still'. I get frustrated - I want to do things really well, and I want everything to work, and when you've got so many things tugging at your time, it's hard to feel like it's possible to do anything right! That's when we really need to turn to the Lord, and let Him help us. I tend to try and handle things all on my own :)
So, it's obviously going to teach me more humility :) And honestly, the women I work with, are powerhouses of energy! Ana (the stake YW president) has a bunch of kids, a part time job, AND is the busiest YW president I have EVER seen. Between them and my mum, I'm totally set for 'women-who-can-do-it' examples ;)
So there you have it :) I thought I'd mention it, because I think you'll probably hear quite a bit about this new calling throughout future blog entries. I think I'll be learning a lot, and having a bunch of fun doing it!
xo Tammy
Saturday, February 7, 2009
New blogs I'm following
So two of my sisters started blogs recently. It was very exciting :)
Abby: http://faithhopehappinessandlove.blogspot.com/
Jessima: http://jonnyandjessima.blogspot.com/
They're worth a read if you get a chance....
(And if you do and you have a moment, leave a comment - even if they don't know you - so they know that someone besides me and mum are reading it!)
I'm hoping mum will start one too sometime.... will let you know :)
xo Tammy
Abby: http://faithhopehappinessandlove.blogspot.com/
Jessima: http://jonnyandjessima.blogspot.com/
They're worth a read if you get a chance....
(And if you do and you have a moment, leave a comment - even if they don't know you - so they know that someone besides me and mum are reading it!)
I'm hoping mum will start one too sometime.... will let you know :)
xo Tammy
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