My photo
Wellington, New Zealand
welcome to my corner of the blog world! i love step, boxing, zumba, scrapbooking, photography, watching movies, walking the hills of my suburb, my family, and life in wellington. take some time to have a look around and be sure to say hi!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Red {Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge}

i'm loving that i can participate in this challenge, even though it's SPRING here!

having said that, the last couple of days have felt positively SUMMERY

bring it on!

a couple of photos today:

this one is the pohutukawa = a tree that is native to new zealand

i love it that it ONLY grows here - not ANYWHERE else in the world!
it's hardy too - it'll even grow on the side of a cliff!


then some more beautiful spring tulips from our botantical gardens


i've applied a filter i downloaded from the coffee shoppe blog
can't remember which ones, but i played around a bit and loved the result!




Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Orange {Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge}


i really surprised myself with how many 'orange' photos i had!

i originally went straight to my one and only pumpkin patch series of photos (from my 2008 NY trip) but then thought about all the gorgeous spring tulips that i've photographed at our botanical gardens over the years and found this single orange flower photograph hiding in amongst the tulips

SOTC - could have spent hours adding filters'n'such

but i didn't!


taken back in 2006


Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

wordful wednesday: why i'm in awe of my children

they find something they're good at, that they love


and just go for it

*******

they find something they're good at, that they love



and they excel

*********

they find something they're good at, that they love


and they totally rock it

*********

they love THEMSELVES, and aren't afraid to let you know


gotta love THAT




Wordish WednesdayLive and Love...Out Loud    Better in Bulkand then, she {snapped}


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

i heart faces: tickled pink



choosing a photo for this month's challenge was easy

a few weeks back, my zumba 'family' and i attended a PINKATHON organised by one of our zumba instructors, to raise money for breast cancer awareness

the pinkathon was in honour of one of our instructor's best friends who had lost her battle with cancer at the far too young age of 32

you should have seen the hall - it was a sea of pink, but i just couldn't go past joy's 'flowery boobies'

they said it all really, and i'm so glad she gave me her permission to use the photo today

i've desaturated the image, but left her pink flowery boobies super pink

and that's all i have to say about that







Saturday, October 15, 2011

PSF: rugby, rowing, going pink and zumba: the randomness of a blogger who hasn't blogged in a while

sharing a few photos from the past few weeks, which have been varied and busy to say the least!

how i ever found time to work the first half of this year is beyond me :)

some photos from my time as a rugby world cup volunteer, which is now sadly over!


it's hard to describe the atmosphere in new zealand, particularly while wellington was hosting

as a rugby loving nation in the last 2 weeks of a 6 week tournament, NOTHING else is happening except rugby

as a volunteer, we were truly treated well.  although we chose to give of our time freely, there were perks

like meeting some of the all blacks

who signed my top

sadly, i was not wearing it at the time

behind me is 1/12th of our entire naval force

yes, we are lovers not fighters

11 of the ships were in wellington all at the same time

it was awesome, especially as one of them was right outside the volunteer centre, and i was operating the mini i-site (information) for tourists, of which there were plenty

australians, welsh, south african, french, tongan, samoan, american and irish

more on the irish later



the temporary 'winter wonderland' ice rink set up on our waterfront

the name of it is funny because it's spring here



my final volunteer shift is hard to describe

20,000 irish, welsh, south african and australia rugby fans descended upon our city and i spent the whole day directing, walking, showing and chatting with many of them

it was amazing

but back to the irish

these guys thought i was giving out free hugs, so i obliged

how could i not!  to describe the atmosphere as FESTIVE is a GIANT UNDERSTATEMENT




one supporting the welsh and one the irish

both happy


even mr scrappy managed to score a free ticket to the game

the welsh won by the way


and what's spring without spring tulips!


and zumba pinkathon's?
a breast cancer fundraiser i attended a few weeks back
it's not difficult to find pink in my house


me in my volunteer uniform


one of the unexpected perks of being a volunteer was winning free tickets to the ALL BLACKS v Argentina game in auckland last weekend

i'm a fan


so are these guys
they were sitting behind us at the game



mr scrappy and his brother
i took this because i marveled at how they even hold their beer the same way!


me, my SIL, BIL and mr scrappy


the all blacks doing the haka before the game


my SIL and i outside the park before the game


they live on a livestyle block and during the week these gorgeous creatures came into the world


then it was back home and on the road to collect miss 13 from her 5 day rowing camp

that's her behind the guy in the yellow singlet (3rd from the left - including the coxen)


look at her go!


they had to share the river with a paddle steamer


the final day included a regatta where all rowers were put into mixed crews to compete


guess which crew won?


and to the winners go the spoils

each crew member got to write their name on the strapping tape

now THAT's what i call a trophy!


then it was onto the BITCH AND SWAP with 20 of my zumba girlfriends (at my house)

of course there were was no bitching and lots of swapping!

everyone brought their pre-loved clothing and, well - the concept isnt' a difficult one!

the hostess is always well treated tho!


of course no swap is complete without cosmos


and red velvet cupcakes!


my friends had clothing racks to lend, which made it very organised and a lot of fun




and that's me!



Give me your best shot at Better in BulkPhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Yellow {Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge}


and even though it's SPRING on my side of the world, i love that alicia has made this challenge open, so i get to use this photo i took at PRINCETON back in october 2008

the colours were absolutely amazing

unlike ANYTHING we get here.  EVER!!!



thanks alicia!!!

Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

wordful wednesday and my life right now


which hasn't involved a lot of blogging, but it HAS involved LOTS of rugby world cup VOLUNTEERING, WATCHING rugby, walking, standing, talking, directing, marshalling, helping tourists -

and this room


has become my home away from home

that's the USA rugby world cup team
(well, some of them) when they came to visit the volunteers

yes - there are perks!

and our wonderful city waterfront 

has become my 'walk to work' when i'm volunteering

check out that blue sky
you can't beat wellington on a good day!


my volunteering and the entire rugby world cup competition continues to be an amazing experience, topped off by 2 days out of town this weekend to auckland to watch the ALL BLACKS play argentina

CAN'T WAIT!!!


when i've not been volunteering, i've been at zumba with my zumba family

they're awesome

this photo was taken on saturday at a breast cancer foundation fundraiser

we did zumba for 90 minutes

and it was good



and of course it's SPRING!!!

spring means tulips


the end


PS: oh, and the american rugby player in the grey on the far left of the photo back up the top?

he hugged me


Wordish WednesdayLive and Love...Out Loud    Better in Bulkand then, she {snapped}