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.

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.

mid week update.

With mothers day coming up our local shopping centre ran a competition aimed at mothers of Karratha and surrounding areas to have a day or two of pampering. All you needed to do was write in 25 words or less what it means to you to me a mother. With a possibility of 10 winners the odds would likely be in your favour. The prize is awesome as well, a $150 voucher at the hair salon plus an addition $500 to spend in the centre.. on top of that there is a photoshoot with hair and make-up provided. Thats where i came into it.. i was able to put my skills to use. I loved it. The ladies i met were amazing. Just everyday women so grateful to have someone dote over them. They were all very inspiring and i think Centro picked a really great bunch of deserving mummies for the prize. I met a very strong lady who, last year lost her eldest daughter to suicide.. she was only 15, as she told us the details of her being the one that found her.. there wasn't a dry cheek in the room. We also met Kelly who battled cancer.. and WON! As well as Tangiora who is a mother of 8.. her eldest being just 15, who is also very busy taking part in a lot of community based events. Each one of them admitted to not spending enough time on themselves and devoting a lot of there efforts to their children, which made it that much more satisfying to be apart of our little team ( Hayley from Lucky Star Photo Booths and Photography and Renae from Hairdressing by Renae) in our makeshift studio to make them feel just a little special, even if it was just for a day. I can't wait to see the the end result. They are going to be featured in one of the local newspapers. I'll definitely post them up when we get them.

Our week so far, kindly bought to you by my iPhone. 

Ze brushes getting a workout.

Kit.

It was such a small room. But Hayley (photographer) made it work. 

Our newest addiction/procrastination tool is Draw Something. Ill admit the first night i played it i was up until early hours of the morning versing randoms, brushing up on my sketching skills. The best part is playing with people you know.. especially family and close friends. Mick and I are on a pretty sick winning streak..thats because we have so many inside jokes, if we were to draw it for someone else they would think we were crazy. Im enjoying playing against my mother-in-law..she is very good...as well as Ardeth, she gets my crazy doodles. I always try and take pictures of really cool ones but as I'm admiring them the moments gone. here are a few for you to stare at in wonderment and awe....

Mick is so handsome. that is all. 

Mick is currently reading The Hunger Games Series, because my books are all being lent to other people  he is forced to read it on his iPhone. it's so good though. 

Ethan finally keeping up his end of the bargain. 

honey = the best dog in the world.

Let me tell you about our dog honey. My dad bought me her almost 7 years ago and the first moment i saw her it was seriously love at first sight. It sounds like I'm a spoilt brat.. my dad bought me a dog blah blah blah but let me tell you i had to work for it.. i begged and begged and begged, i signed a contract saying that i would look after her FULLY which entailed feeding, walking and cleaning up after her when she decided would do her business all over the house. So dad bought her home, everyone was all gaga over her and she turned into the "family" dog immediately, everyone would say that she was theirs.. until it came to cleaning up after her... "She's your dog Erana" they would argue. Pffftttt.

She really has a character of her own, i could go on all day about her but to save you from boredom ill just tell you about what happens if you are going for a walk/run or a ride.
Honey is so observant, she is aware when things are about to go down. She knows the sound of the car car keys, the sound of the front door opening, when you put your running shoes or when you say the words RUN, WALK, RIDE in a sentence. The ears perk up and she starts prancing around the vicinity of the front door.  We had to start spelling out the words so she didnt know what we were talking about, but she caught onto that too. It gets so bad that if you say RIDE and she hears you.. thats it, you have to take her somewhere, anywhere.. even if its just down to the shops to get toilet paper and bread. She works her self up so much that if it doesn't happen she gets really depressed, she sighs and mopes all day, its just easier to get her in the car and drive around for 5 minutes.
 In 2007 i moved to Sydney and sadly she couldn't come with me. I was away for 4 years and when i came back she is pretty much dad's dog now.. he has turned her into an even beautifuler (yeah thats a word, look it up) dog. After coming back home I've been able to reconnect with her again. We are pretty much best friends now. Only she loves Mick more.. and he likes to remind me about it everyday.

With Mick starting his new job it means he comes home earlier, meaning the sun is still up ..we are able to do things i.e take honey for a run. Everyone loves taking honey for a run for two reasons 1. it doesn't take any effort on your part and 2. she has different needs to normal dogs, she likes to RUN... So much so that it takes her running along side the car flat out for 15 minutes to satisfy her needs. She loves it. I take her for walks around the neighbour hood and even then she doesn't walk on a lead but what she really lives for is her runs. She is so well trained that if you can't find her it just takes a beep of a horn and out she pops, back into your line of vision. Bonus is.. back beach is the perfect place to wind down for the day. Its a win/win situation. Just like mick said today "I love Karratha" and i couldn't have put it better myself.

Before

In Action

After

The Halls + 1

Our friends Teash and Brian have gone to Perth for the Soundwave Festival and have trustingly left us with their baby Ace for 5 days. we love having him, not only is he company for honey (our dog) but they have trained him well.. he can do all the things my dogs growing up couldn't i.e.. play fetch. Any dog that i have ever owned either has absolutely no interest what-so-ever or went for the ball and then ran in the opposite direction. Since he is still young he has copious amounts of energy, to much energy for honey.. having him around you can really see that honey is getting older which is a little sad. Mick and I took them down to Back Beach so they were able to frolic around in the water, catching rocks and playing amongst the mangroves.

longboard love.

One of the many perks of living in such a rural area is that, a 2 minute drive (or in my case a 15 minute walk) takes you enough out of town to think that you are in the middle of nowhere.. with scenery you could find on a postcard. Ethan and I went out and took a few shots of him doing some sick tricks, with the sun in our eyes and the flies on our backs. i love lazy saturdays.