sisterly-in-law LOVE

We are sooooo lucky!!
Only weeks after Tiana leaving we were graced with Ariana's (Micks younger sister) presence. Being over a year since they had seen each other he was counting down the days until she was here.

We didn't have much planned, we just hung out, took the scenic tour. It was so lovely. Even though it had only been a year you can feel subtle changes in her personality. Ariana has grown into a beautiful women.. She left a lovely spirt that could be felt weeks after see left. You take for granted having family close at hand.. its not until you are away from them that you realise how much you need them. A phone call just doesn't compare to a face to face conversation and warm cuddle. I guess skype dates will have to do until we see each other again. xxx

 

sisterly LOVE.

It has been so long since our last post.. pretty crazy in the halls household, Ive taken on more work and plus we moved house.

We had been looking for a house to rent for a while but nothing that we could both agree on. The cost of living in the Pilbara is a bit steep. We have grown accustomed to living by ourselves, as much as I loved living with our parents I think it’s worth the money to have our own space. After a month or so a house became available and it was perfect.  It ticks all the boxes.. including a huge shed out back for micks man cave. As much as packing sucks, it doesn't outweigh how good it feels to start anew. 

Micks mum and dad left to go back home, we moved house not long after and Tiana (my younger sister ) came to visit. It was just the thing I needed. Seeing her was like a breathe of fresh air.

Tiana turned 21 and came up from Perth to celebrate her birthday. I think  it was more like an early Christmas for the family, having her here. She leaves a lovely spirit wherever she goes.

When we were younger we would fight like no bodies business.  We shared a room majority of our adolescent life and hated it most of the time.. other times (not often) we got on like a house on fire.. We can joke about it now but the fights we would have were disgusting, the things we would say and do to each other I am ashamed of.. Dad would try and be the peace keeper. I always remember him saying “when you get older, you are going to be the best of friends” .. each of us rolling our eyes and giving each other dirty looks. I Finished high school and   6 months before I left Karratha to move to Sydney I don’t know what happened.. we became so close and since then we haven’t drifted apart.. I think it had something to do with moving houses. We left the house that we lived in for most of our lives and left behind all of the bad memories. We were able to start a clean slate, begin our new relationship from scratch and that’s the reason we are able to laugh about how bad we would treat each other. We have forgiven each other.   I think I felt so much remorse for the things I did when I was living in Sydney I would be constantly saying sorry for the way I treated her, sending her messages and reminding her how much I love her in our Sunday phone calls. There are moments when Ill just be thinking and a whole new memory that I completely forgot about or suppressed comes to mind. I feel  like the forgiveness process needs to begin all over again.. I feel that a general ‘im sorry for all the bad stuff ive done to you’ doesn’t quite suffice. Its all water under the bridge now.

Her visit was short lived, but it was just enough.. we had some laughs, danced a bit, ate food, took photos and then she was gone. I miss my sisters so much. It hurts sometimes. I don’t know how people live without sisters

where do i start...

As you may have noticed we haven't updated our blog in a VERY long time.. It was a mixture of things but lets just blame it on work. For 6 weeks it was FULL on.. 6 days on with sunday off (YAY!).. and everyone knows that you don't do anything on sundays. The six weeks came to an end and so much time had passed i didn't know where to start. I was, in fewer words.. overwhelmed. So I'm just going to take it as it comes and just write what comes to mind at the same time trying to keep a correct timeline of events.

So i am working back out at Woodside on the Gas Plant which is always awesome, it comes my mind busy and me out of micks hair on his days off.

Photography: Aaron Bunch

This is where i spend majority of my time.. this isn't my picture i would like to add. being a gas plant i can't take a camera or my phone on site so i google imaged this one.. At night this place lights up like christmas tree.. its Karratha's version of city lights. I think its spectacular.

Pluto Flame

Mick is still loving his job. He is in the process of getting passed out of his traineeship which is an exciting time... ill have more on that when it develops.

Last month we were very lucky to have Mick's parents stay with us and it was nothing short of AMAZING! Mick hadn't seen them in over a year and although he wouldn't say it out loud he was extremely anxious to see them. With not much to do we didnt really have anything planned. i think we just really wanted to show them what we get upto on a daily basis... Where we worked, liked to eat out, favourite places to drive, meet honey, the tv shows we enjoy watching..that kind of thing. 

They were here for a week and it was the best week we have had in a long time. At night we would sit on the couch and just talk like we did back in Sydney. Adrian ate grapefruit (we had a grapefruit tree ?? :s) off our tree out the back most mornings and Maree chilled out inside, catching up on movies. The weather is lovely this time of year.. this year in particular has been exceptionally cold and yet Maree thought it was hot.. hrrrmmmm i wonder how she would do in a karratha summer, not well I'm guessing. 

 Mick was able to take them on the tour of the town.. taking them on some of his favourite 4WD tracks. We went out to lunch at Point Samson, by the beach.. it was quite a lovely day. My Dad treated them to a night under the stars.. around a fire with cooked stew and camp fire scones.. Maree was dubbed the name princess at the beginning of the night but a few hours in she was munching on a scone and stoking the fire with a stick she had found. We exchanged stories had a few laughs and not once did we look at our phones... apart from taking a few happy snaps to send back to the family in sydney.
 

I enjoyed having them even though i wished it was for longer.. they make mick so happy, it is exactly what he needed, what we both needed. A cuddle from mum and a long chat with dad. Come back soon!! 

"you got like 3 feet of air that time"

It's not often that Ethan wants to "do anything".. so when he asked dad if he wanted to help him make a skateboard ramp dad jumped at the idea. They whipped it up pretty quickly and we went out in the afternoon to test it out. when i say we i mean ethan and dad. i was just there for photographic evidence.

He was pretty shaky at the beginning but by the time the sun set he was awesome.

friday the 13th

I swear Ethan has the coolest friends. They are a little on the nerdy side... but cool, any excuse to get dressed up really. He asked me to rough him up for a party. We had fun.

 Before & After

easter

Easter was a little quiet this year.  Its the first one back home in 4 years and i can honestly say I've missed it. Next to christmas, easter in the clarke household was always an exciting one. Dads famous egg hunts are forever spoken about in high regard. On easter morning once everyone was awake the hunt would commence. Its a race. "FOUND ONE" can be heard minutes sometimes seconds in. You need to get into the mind of Dad.. where would dad hide them? always in the back of your mind is where he hid them last year. As we get older the hiding places get harder. Sometimes its months down the track and you hear "FOUND ONE" coming from a random place in the house.
 There is always stories to tell; like one year he hid one in the toilet  -_-  seriously dad.. it didnt stop us from still enjoying the chocolate inside.

Here is just a sample of the ones he did this year.

There is something about the chocolate.. it may be the coloured foiled wrapping or the fact that you work so hard for it but there is no doubt about it. chocolate tastes better at easter. 

Daniel comes to visit.

We were lucky enough to have Micks brother-in-law Daniel stay with us for the long Easter weekend. It's the first family Mick has seen in a year so it would be an understatement to say he was excited. We made the hour long journey down to the camp he is staying at on saturday night.  We were able to catch up on the drive back to Karratha. Took him on a mini tour around the town (which is bigger then he expected) also to the Gas Plant, had an encounter with a kangaroo and had dinner with Dad and Ethan. Hopefully he likes it so much he will bring the whole family over.. it's a long shot but i have my fingers and toes crossed.

Teliah Skye

I first met my friend Suzie when i was about 11.. maybe even before that but at about age 15 we were inseparable, she was the only other person at church the same age as me so it was inevitable that we were to be friends. We spent almost everyday together at one point.. even when we were attending different high schools. She gets me, i get her. Unfortunately she moved to Perth not long after. It sucked. We still kept in contact and years later we still talk. She is one of those friends that when you haven't spoken to in forever you can just pick up from where you left off. Living apart in different states you get left out of the loop when it comes to the gritty details but the big stuff you hear about instantly.. Suzie had a baby. Whom i feel in love with at first sight. Almost 3 years on she is such a character, her name is Teliah and she is amazing. Suzie needed to go to Perth for 2 day. We were able to look after Teliah. I guess you can look at it as practice for when we have kids but either way it was lovely.

i paint ze faces.

Early this week i had an opportunity to help out a local medical centre with a fun day they were having. It was held in an Indigenous community a half an hour drive away from here. The idea behind it was to bring in some people of the community and promote a healthy lifestyle. Roebourne doesn't have a shop to purchase fresh produce or anything with a good nutritional value. The closest woolworths being 15 minutes away by car.. leaving people how don't drive or don't have a car to shop at the local petrol station.. sausage roll and coke for dinner? i can't imagine it being too cheap either. They brought in a dietician, lovely food and a jumping castle and face painting for the kids. That is where i was able to lend a hand. They last time I face painted was when i was 12 at a school fete. I figured i work with brushes almost everyday on a face.. it can't be all that hard. Its harder then it looks thats all i can say. My load was lightened by the kids not being to creative with the choice of design.. all boys opted to be spiderman and all the girls wanted a butterfly. I got pretty good at the good ole spidey by the end of the day. I loved it. They are all so patient and friendly. i took a few shots but there is only so many versions you can see of the same thing without going crazy.

the countdown begins.

My mum / best friend left to New Zealand today. For six weeks. Sad face. I miss her already and its only been 12 hours since i kissed her goodbye.

She is looking after koro (her dad) while my aunty, who has been caring for him is going back to america to see her kids and grandkids.

This may possibly be the longest 6 weeks of my life. On a brighter note we will be seeing Daniel.. Micks brother-in-law this weekend for easter.. He isn't living in town, he is in a camp an hours drive away working in a mine out in the middle of nowhere. Mick is excited, its the first family member he has seen in almost a year. Its like a slice of home here with him. Awesome

i have a confession.

I was sick this weekend.. with a bout of tonsillitis kindly given to me by my lovely husband..he got it all the time in Sydney but its the first time he has had it here.. supposedly its doing the rounds in town and it decided to take residence in my throat. I don't get sick often, i put it down to all the germs and nasty stuff i was exposed to as a kid and my body has just learnt to deal with it, Mick is the opposite... all someone has to do is yawn in his general direction and he contracts something.. i kid, i kid.. but seriously thats how ridiculous it used to be. Since moving here he has been heaps better.

The whole weekend has just consisted of strawberry sugar free strepsils, chicken noodle soup, gargling salty water and a little indulgence... this time its not food related..  I am a bit embarrassed to say that i enjoy watching Jesery Shore, but i do.. Mick cannot stand it, neither can my mum.. so i try and watch it when no one is around. I know it is so bad but i can't help it.. its like a train wreck. you want to look away but you can't because you don't want to miss anything. I get so involved and emotional when things happen, like a child yelling at the tv while watching dora the explorer. It is so trashy and ridiculous and i love it. I know its just a show and most of its made up for good television but that won't make me quit it. They are so different from everything i do so i guess thats its appeal for me, just to see how other people live. Behind all the fake tan, skimpy clothes and hair gel its actually quite hilarious.. but that might just be me justifying watching it. I was sick.. and i didn't want to think so what better way to switch of.. it made me feel better about my drama-free life... haha it always does. 

He's growing up so fast

My little brother Ethan is the last of the 5 of us to finish high school. Being the youngest he has always said that he is forgotten, but thats the furtherest from the truth. After coming back home from Sydney I can now see how easy he actually has it with mum and dad.. he has them wound around his little finger, and that goes for me as well. From an early age I've always mothered him.. Mum tells me stories of when we were younger and Ethan was just a baby, i would get jealous when others held him, i would time their cuddles and take back "my baby" when they had exceeded the limit. I never let him out of my site. 16 years on and not much has changed. I still look out for him. Decipher his grunts (his way of communicating) to know what he wants and pull him up when his isn't doing the right thing... Thats what  big sisters are for? Right?

His year 12 formal was last saturday and he only informed us a few weeks before.. he hadn't even organised a date.. long story short he got there. He invited an old friend (Teenie) from primary school, fortunately for him she was able to round up a dress last minute...she really is amazing inside and out. I offered to do her make-up and my mum and I made his dates corsage and his buttonhole.. it took a few tries but it definitely paid off. The flower corsages you get from our local florist are beautiful i just thought we could make it awesomerer.. I'm glad we did, it was little the cherry on top...the only thing i regret is.. i didn't take any close up shots of it, i was so pushed for time this week, it didn't even cross my mind.

the best part of all of this is, going down and watching all of them walk in.. check out the other dresses and suits but most of all..the flash cars come out for the night and they are all in the one convenient location (which is how i persuaded Mick to join me). People get pretty creative, in their mode of transportation. This year a couple came on the back of a John Deere Tractor.

As well as doing Teenie's make-up i was able to do my beautiful cousin Natalie as well. 

I felt like a proud mother seeing him walk down the red carpet. ALSO just to top it off..he won Beau of the Ball..equivalent to "King of Prom" which just makes his last year of high school that more special.  

cuts, bruises and fake blood.

When i completed my Make-up Artistry Diploma in 2007 i can honestly say out of the whole course my favourite part was the SPFX module. I loved the blood and gore. Still do. Last week i was able to bring out my kit and brush up on my skills. My friend was going to a party and wondered if i could rough up her arm. I practiced a few days before. Just to reassure myself i hadn't lost my groove. The smell of the liquid latex and the feel of the spirit gum got my creative juices flowing, it really is the most awesome thing i learnt all those years ago. Still a work in progress but I'm glad i started up again.

The picture on the right is my friend Mikayla. Before her party. it was meant to be a shark bite but because i mixed a little too much blue food colouring in with the red and glucose syrup it turned more purple then expected..resembling a burn more then anything. She was still pretty happy with it. I made it pretty much out of liquid latex, little bit of black acrylic paint and fake blood.

Mikayla cut a slit into her shirt and slid her arm into it to make her look like an amputee. She told me later on that it looked so legit some people were embarrassed to bring it up..thinking she was a recent amputee :s. All in all it was awesome.

6 day weekend.

With Mick's new job starting so does a new shift schedule. It just worked in his favour that he has 6 days off before his first shift. We haven't been up to much, especially with Cyclone Lua bringing us a bit of wind and rain.. which is pretty much the only bonus of having a cyclone swing past.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that i get a little excited about cyclone season, We haven't had a direct hit from a cyclone before (touch wood) but it is lovely to get the wet weather and the temperature drop.. even if it is for a few days. Just a mention of a cyclone near by, the town goes into a frenzy.. everyone stocks up on the essentials (in mums case that means tim tams and ginger beer). Woolworths and Coles are cleared out, all the petrol stations are packed to the brim with cars waiting for their turn at the bowser but most of all everyone is stocking up on there alcohol.. on any other given week the Woolworths liquor store trumps the grocery store in sales but in the event of a cyclone there is no comparison... police are sometimes called in and they are there to monitor how many cartons each customer is taking with them.. with so many liquor stores in Karratha its hard to keep track. People have cyclone parties.. which is ridiculous. In the event of an emergency, majority of the town with be incoherent. In all the craziness..I'm glad we don't drink.

With a cyclone comes rain. With rain comes puddles. I love puddles. We went out for a drive most days to admire the new green tinge the town temporarily has before it starts heating up again. We found some new tracks, got some sweet shots. All in all it was an awesome extra long weekend.

Snippets of our week...

the only time the beach has waves.