Stop Press - Brad Smiles!

People often talk about your 'family of origin' and how it can affect a husband and wife relationship.

In our marriage, this can be very true when it comes to our attitude towards having our photo taken.

In my house, I was an only child to a single mum for quite a long time - so I would guestimate I've had... ooo, maybe 10 000 odd photos taken of myself (probably more) up until this point. And I learnt very quickly that not smiling when the camera comes out will make that photo shoot drag on!

B's family doesn't appear to be as 'trigger happy' as mine when it comes to cameras, and there can be much weeping and gnashing of teeth done by Mr Sasch whenever that camera comes out. As we are currently tracking pregnancy weeks, you can imagine his excitement at the proliferation of photos being taken!

There are often comments made that my husband ends up looking a bit of a grump in most of our photos - and to be honest, yes, he does - sometimes.

But after a particularly entertaining afternoon at my mothers, and with some help from my mum, my stepsister and yours truly - we actually got a few smiles this time around!

I am not giving you the satisfaction of a smile!

Why must everyone tease me?

If I grit my teeth and bear it, they may stop soon

My wife plays dirty!

Goodbye Australia, Bula Fiji!

Well we're heading off to Fiji for a much needed break tomorrow, so you won't be hearing from me for a little bit.

This is our first trip overseas together, and the first holiday we've done (apart from our honeymoon) that doesn't involve a specific trip to see family. After almost 7 years together, it's about time we did this!

This month also marks our last month to fall pregnant before booking in to see the Fertility Specialist and begin further investigations. So this trip is important for more than just one reason. Any prayers you could send to us in regards to this would be awesome.

To my friends and family who read this blog - I'm sure you understand that I won't be giving updates to that situation from now on. When I feel ready to tell about a pregnancy, I will tell. I just don't want to have to lie or fib or anything about it - so please don't ask. Just let me know you are praying for us - that's all we really need. Massive hugs to you all!

As a final thought, I would ask you to keep the Democratic Republic of Congo in your prayers. DRC was the place where many perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide fled after 1994, and there is major fallout occurring there right now, despite the presence of the UN as peacekeepers.

The UN has 17 000 Peacekeepers present in DRC (in Rwanda there were less than 500 during the time of the Genocide), however they still are only able to 'observe' rather than 'preserve' the peace deal that has been brokered. That 'observation' caused absolute decimation in Rwanda; and the same thing is brewing in DRC.

Please pray they step in before more people are displaced, tortured, raped or murdered.


God bless you all - and I will see you when we return!

There's a reason I love cows

Well apparently cows point north.

No, I'm serious. Apparently scientists have studied Google Earth (yep, I swear, I'm not making this up), and have discovered that when cows are resting or grazing, they face in a northerly direction.

The theory is that they have a built-in compass, which would have come in handy back when cows migrated (who knew?!) across Africa, Europe and Asia to locate better grazing areas during winter.

Aren't cows like the smartest mammals EVER??

World Youth Day

Although not a Catholic (well, some may beg to differ - depending on the definition you use, and how important a Christening is... :D ), I have great respect for some beautiful Catholics I know in my daily life.

Anyway, next week is the World Youth Day festival in Sydney, where Catholic pilgrims from all over Australia and the World come to celebrate their faith and relationship with God. The Pope is also over for the festivities, so it's a rather large event.

I know there are a lot of people out there who disagree with the Catholic faith, or have issues with tax expenditure or new legislation being set up for the event, but this post is not about that.

I met a lovely group of Pilgrims from the USA last night in Macdonalds of all places! We live quite close to a large Catholic high school, and these Pilgrims are being billeted there until next Monday.

It was so nice to sit with them, talk about their time here, welcome them to our country and hear their stories of how they came to celebrate WYD in Australia.

So if you happen to run into a Pilgrim during the next week (they aren't that hard to miss!), stop and say hello for a second.

Welcome them to Australia and wish them a lovely time during their stay. Who knows - you might just find a great friend amongst them!