An update: On the first of January 2018, we lost my beloved husband, Frith, to suicide. It has completely rocked our whole world and we are still coming to terms with it all. I have written about it a bit in the early posts of 2018. We lived with my parents in Woody Point during 2018, and the kids and I moved in to our own house in Brighton at Easter, 2019. We are managing okay with incredible support from family and friends.

Welcome! My name is Renae and this is my favourite photo of me in my favourite dress! I also had an 11-week-old future baby Darby in my tummy at the time 🙂

I started this blog (previously named “A Beer, a Whine and the Spirit“) back in July 2008 to keep friends and family in the loop when my husband and I moved to Melbourne from Brisbane. Since then we have moved 7 more times, and this is our third year here in Rockhampton which is a record for us! And we will be in Toowoomba for 2018. I was unsure how committed I would be to blogging, as I have a tendency to throw myself into things, only to get bored. But after nine years and over 1000 posts, I’m still here!

I’m also attempting “250 in 2017” so 250 blog posts in 2017. I’m definitely on track so far!

A bit about me? I am a very self-aware person which is both a blessing and a curse. I am enthusiastic about getting as much out of life as I can, most of the time. Other times I’m embarrassingly lazy and would sit in front of the TV all day if we had one. (One of the reasons we don’t have one!!) I love to bake and do crafty things and would love to do more sewing. I have tried my hand at many sports, but it wasn’t until I discovered Fit Mums at CQ Physio that I really found my sweet spot. Breakfast is my favourite meal to go out for, and I will always say yes to meeting up for a coffee.

I have a 6-year-old son named Chance, (Chanbe) a 4-year-old girl named Quinn (Quindy), a 2-year-old boy named Darby (Darbs/Darby-Doo) and we welcomed our fourth baby, Julius, into the family in May 2017. I love my kids more than I ever realised was possible. They bring so much joy to our lives and I’m enjoying watching them grow into lovely little people.

We are currently living in Rockhampton, on the coast in central Queensland, but before we moved here, we lived in the following places, for Hubs’ study and work, starting in Brisbane 2008: Melbourne, Wangaratta, Mount Beauty, back to Wang, Townsville, Ingham and Mount Isa. Yes, we are sick of moving, though we will most likely be moving either north or south at the end of 2017. No, I’m not looking forward to it!

Hubs and I met in 1999 at a church camp where we were both leaders, but didn’t get together until he moved to my church and put “operation make Renae fall in love with me” into action in 2006 – it’s all about the timing! Once we were together, we both knew that was it, and married a year later. I became one of those annoying people who said things like “when you meet the right person, you just know.” We have a few things in common but are different in many ways which makes things very interesting and challenging, and very enriching as well.

Hubs taught me how to be completely honest and vulnerable in a relationship, and I still marvel at the fact that I can talk to him about anything without hesitation. He has so many hobbies that keep him busy outside of work and they vary depending on the town we live in. He loves to try new things, and that enthusiasm rubs off on me a lot which is great! Hubs has dreadlocks that I put in for him in April 2008 and he drives a kombi which his Dad bought new in 1976, but he insists he’s no hippy!

The blog name came from a combination of the fact that our last name has the word “Foot” in it, and I love Colin Hay. I’ll let you figure the rest out…

I hope you enjoy reading and feel free to drop me a line sometime.