Author: Renae

Living life as a wife, a stay at home mama of 3 kids under 5, a marriage celebrant, a craft and sewing amateur, a cooked breakfast lover, coffee enthusiast, extroverted socialite, and most recently, someone who is trying to keep a tidy house. It's tough I tell you!

It’s a learning curve

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Hubs and I have been married just over 1 year now and there are a few things I’ve learnt along the way. Some things I’ve worked out for myself, some things have been taught by Hubs, and there have been some pearls of wisdom shared by people in the know along the way. Here are a few I’d like to share with you:

1. Pick your battles. This is one I’ve learnt via all 3 of the above ways. I used to fight all of the little disagreements that we had, and realised it got me nowhere.

2. One of the best, most important and most appreciated gifts I can give Hubs is my undivided attention. Even if it’s for 5 minutes in the morning before I head to work, it makes him feel like the most important person in my world and starts our day wonderfully.

3. Respect for each other’s differences. Just respect in general really, but Hubs and I are quite different in a lot of ways, which sometimes means we don’t understand where the other is coming from. I’ve learnt (the hard way) to take a step back and try and see things from his perspective. And if I can’t, I’ve realised that’s okay.

4. Safety first. Hubs has created in our marriage, an assurance that we are safe together. And I don’t mean physically, I mean emotionally. There is nothing that I’m afraid of telling him. I know that no matter what I say, no matter how crazy, unrealistic, irrational, no matter what, Hubs will listen and not judge me. I know that I can share all of my hopes and dreams and disappointments and fears and craziness with him, and he will not only embrace it all, he’ll love me even more for it. I hope I do the same for him, though my impulsive tendencies sometimes get in the way, but I’m learning! Which brings me to my next point:

5. Take a deep breath and don’t react to situations/comments/actions straight away. This one I’m learning from Hubs. There have been quite a few times in our relationship when I have reacted without considering intentions/motivations (not just Hubs’) behind things, and more often than not there has been a misunderstanding and I end up looking and feeling slightly foolish.

So that’s about all for now. I could go on and on but I don’t want to share all my wisdom in one sitting! What a journey it has been so far, and what an adventure our life together will be!

And here’s some photos, cos you know, everybody likes photos!!

Hubs and I on our honeymoon in Vanuatu with our hair braided (my scalp got SO sunburnt!!)

A week later when we took the plaits out:

Mondegreen #11 and some thoughts

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I’m just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town, so says Harry from The Cat Empire. One of my favourite Cat Empire songs is The Crowd, and I feel even more of a connection to it now that WE’RE the clowns kicking around in Melbourne town. I particularly like the second verse that goes a little something like this:

On the train I refrain from sitting with head and shoulders bowed
They told me time is of the essence
No wandering allowed
But then I saw a pretty girl
Whose features stood out in the crowd (whose feet just stood out in the crowd!! Huh??)
Went ten minutes past my stop waiting for her to look around
I’m just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town
Cooling out, relaxing watching the
World go round
So if you ever have the time
And you want to go drink some wine
I’d rather greet you with a smile
Than greet you with a frown…

Then there’s an awesome drum riff and trumpet fanfare, followed by Harry going nuts with some ad-lib! Brilliant! It’s such a cool, sexy song that always makes me smile. I really feel like it captures a lot of the essence of living in Melbourne Town.

Come visit some time!

Ice ice baby

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How is it that one week we’re scorching in +40 degree heat, and the next we’re being thrust into the depths of winter? How is that possible? Because it’s Melbourne, that’s how. I’ve been doing a fair bit of swimming over the last 2 months, but I gotta tell you, it’s hard to get motivated when I get home at 5pm and it’s 17 degrees. And to be honest, it’s not even the pool temperature that I dread – it’s an indoor heated pool kept at a pleasant 26-28 degrees, just like swimming up the Sunny Coast in summer – it’s the walk to and from the pool that’s the killer. Granted, it’s a 200m walk, but with wet hair and the wind factor, the walk home can be quite an unpleasant experience for even the most dedicated Eskimo!

But kudos to me (yes, I’m giving myself kudos!) for coming home to a cozy house and a warm Hubsband, and STILL deciding it would be a good idea to go for a swim this afternoon. 1km later, it was totally worth it.

Oh, and it’s currently 12 degrees…… where are Hubs’ uggs?

Happy 90th Harry!

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A couple of weeks ago, Hubs and I had the pleasure of attending Hubs’ grandfather’s 90th birthday. We had a great time catching up with family and friends, and meeting some new people as well – mostly family I didn’t know about! Here are some happy snaps from the day:

Wifey, Alma, Geoff (Hubs’ Dad), Harry, Hubs

Harry & Alma and their 2 sons Geoff & Wayne

Grandad Harry has dementia, but he seemed quite present for a lot of the party. Even though he wasn’t quite sure who some of the people there were, he could comprehend the stories being told by some of his old Navy buddies, and even corrected a couple of details along the way! He’s still pretty switched on when it comes to cheeky comments (on our wedding day I told Harry that I had just married his grandson, and asked if that was okay, to which he responded “well with you looking like that, I reckon I’D marry you!) but day-to-day things he struggles with a bit more.

Grandad & Grandson

Harry & Wifey

I’m so impressed with the longevity in the family! Both Nanna Alma and Grandad Harry are 90 now, and they had a few relatives there who were also in their late 80s and 90s. Not to mention my grandparents as well! I hope to have a loooooooooooooong and happy life with my lovely Hubs, and genetics seem to be on our side!

Happy 90th Harry! We look forward to celebrating 91 with you next year!

Mondegreen #10

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I spent a number of years thinking AC/DC sang “Rock n roll ain’t no solution” and I wondered what they were trying to find a solution to. I think it’s a great solution to feeling melancholy about doing housework, and certainly it can lift your spirits if you’re in a rut, but that’s all I could come up with. Maybe the real lyrics “Rock n roll ain’t noise pollution” make more sense….

Nothing up my sleeve…. and PRESTO!

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I love magic tricks – the ones that my brother used to do at our big family BBQs used to entertain everyone, and used to leave me wondering how on earth he did it. I always wanted to be his assistant, but he knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep the secrets of the tricks to myself so he always politely declined my kind offer 🙂 One of my favourites was when he would turn a $50 note into 2…. into a $2 note, that is (when $2 notes were still around!!) It used to amaze me! And being the gullible little sister that I am, I was the perfect audience.

I’ve never really been a huge fan of big stage magic/illusionists though. You know, the Harry Houdinis and the David Copperfields. It always makes me nervous. How will they get out of the water tank! He’s hand-cuffed! He’s tied up!! It just puts me on edge and I don’t enjoy the experience.

Having said all that, Hubs and I had a date night last night and we decided to stay in and watch a movie on our data projector (it’s so awesome!!). We chose The Prestige (careful, there are some spoilers on the imdb site) and I was quite excited about the potential of this film. It was a bit hard to get into to start with, and the middle part of the film started to confused me. But I did my best not to be that annoying person who asks “who’s that?” and “why is he doing that?” and “ooooooh… but I thought (insert spoiler here) was going to happen.” I did my best, but I may not have done well.

The last half an hour was spent with me just going “oooooh! Oh I seeeee” and then the last 10 minutes it was more like “huh???” Of course I had crazy dreams about the movie afterwards, but I’ve also spent today (after reading the full synopsis on imdb) working it all out. It all makes much more sense to me today, and in a way I’d like to watch it again, knowing all of the “secrets”.

I enjoyed this movie on a number of levels – the suspense and excitement, the intruiging storyline, the twists and turns along the way, but I also didn’t enjoy it for all the same reasons. I was so nervous the whole time and the ending turned out to be completely unexpected, and as I said, it left me quite confused. I didn’t want to appear stupid, so I pretended to Hubs that I understood it all (I DID have 3 glasses of wine throughout the movie which may have impaired me ability to follow the crazy plot) and waited til today to look it all up. It all makes perfect sense to me now!

I’m not sure if I would recommend this movie. It certainly isn’t one for a relaxing night in, but if you like a good plot twist, then it might be for you. A word of advice, though, don’t drink too much whilst watching it!

Cooking with Nanny

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I’ve written about my Nanny and Grandpa previously, and they have had such an amazing life that I could do a hundred posts about them. Today I would like to tell you about Cooking With Nanny. Nanny has been cooking for a very long time. She learnt to cook a lot of dishes when she was growing up in Ukraine, then some more when she was in Germany during the war, and she has continued to learn since being in Australia.

Of course she has a few staple dishes that we LOVE, and today I’m going to tell you about Cooking Pierogi with Nanny. When we were up for Christmas, Hubs and I stayed at Nanny and Grandpa’s place just before Christmas and I wanted to get some photos of us cooking together. Hubs did one better than that, and did some videoing without me knowing! It was such a lovely surprise when I got to watch them later!

First of all, you mix up the ingredients for the dough in an old saucepan that Nanny and Grandpa bought in Germany, around 60 years ago. Nanny doesn’t really measure things. It’s more like “2 big spoons flour, a few egg, some milk.”

And then you knead it like so: (listen to the audio! Classic Nanny!)


Nanny has the most amazing hands – they have been through so much, and I’m sure would have many stories to tell.

After kneading the dough (then letting Nanny knead it properly) you need to do some rolling. I’m pretty good at this part:

Next you cut the dough (it’s actually more like pasta) with Nanny’s aqua cup. It makes the perfect circle size for the pierogi. (Funny audio again):

And finally, the making of the pierogi. You put a heaped spoon of mince (hand-minced, prepared by Nanny the night before!) Again, listen to the audio. Priceless!

This is what they look like “raw”:

Then you boil some water and cook them in boiling water for 12 minutes:

Then put a wad of butter in the fry pan and go to town! This is the step that just makes them soooooooooo goooooooooood!

Oh! And for extra fatty goodness, don’t forget to fry up some bacon (til it’s super-crispy!) to put on top! Ta daaaaaah!

I really want to try making them myself down here in Melbourne. That really should be a New Year’s resolution!! Watch this space!

Bruiser

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I’m going to show you the photo first, so you can marvel at the coolest, biggest, most impressive bruise I’ve ever seen:

The funny thing is, we don’t know how Hubs got this bruise!! We assume it’s from the Parkour we’ve been doing but Hubs can’t remember actually injuring himself. Well, no more than usual! It’s been over a week and it’s still going strong! What a worry!

Cookieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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Mnaaaaaaaaarm narm narm narm………


Now I know that Hubs isn’t actually holding a cookie, but the expression on his face, the madness in his eyes, and the crazy teeth just screams COOKIE MONSTER to me!

We attended a Christening on Sunday and were invited to the champagne and nibblies afterwards where there were not only miniature people running around (aka kids – and LOTS of them) but they also had these miniature chocolate crackles. They were the cutest sweetie I’ve EVER seen!!!! And Hubs got so excited by this tiny treat that I just HAD to take a photo! It went down a treat!

See the resemblance?