For one, there is a whole new person in the world – In my last post I was 37 weeks pregnant. I was expecting to give birth any day, but didn’t end up going into labour until I was 19 days past my ‘due’ date. On Feb 13th I woke up at 6am with my contractions already started. I spent the day labouring at home and playing scrabble with my mother. At 11.30pm I gave birth to a beautiful little girl in our loungeroom, in an inflatable kiddie pool with fishes on the sides. Juniper was born with just me, her father, my mother and our midwife present. Although our midwife arrived with only 20 minutes to spare! After birthing her, I reached into the water and found a leg, skinny and slimy and warm, and I spun her around in the water until I found her shoulders and then brought her out of the water. She didn’t make a sound, but had her eyes wide open, taking it all in. We sat in the water staring at each other for ten full minutes before anyone even thought to check if she was a boy or a girl.

Juniper is now 5 and a half months old and growing so fast. Every day is a new adventure!

In other news, we said goodbye to our New Zealand home a few months back and are currently living in Sunny QLD, where we are saving up for a caravan. We are embracing our nomad tendencies and expect to be mobile in about a year from now, travelling around Australia, one town at a time. We are looking forward to the adventure, but in the meantime we are enjoying the QLD wintertime, and not at all missing the snowy Queenstown winter.

Life is good, I hope it is for you as well!

Thanks Kel!!

Technically, it was awarded for my Vegan Chickie blog but since I try to keep that one relatively anonymous I thought I would reciprocate here instead! I hope that doesn’t break any rules!

So, the terms of the award are this:

* Thank and link back to the person who gave me this award.
* Share 7 things about myself.
* Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
* Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

So, in the spirit of things, 7 things about me:

1. If I could do absolutely anything, I would travel the world (with my soon to be little family of three), writing about our adventures.

2. I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and I’m planning on giving birth right here in our lounge room.

3. Every person in my family, and every one of my best friends lives in a different country to me.
(although technically I count my husband in both of those categories so maybe that isn’t quite a true statement).

4. I read my favourite books over and over and over again.

5. I have been living away from Melbourne now for longer than I was ever living there but I still think of it as home.

6. I am 30 years old and still sometimes get afraid of the dark.

7. Last year I wrote a novel but I’m too afraid to let anyone read it.

And the 15 blogs I think are oh so Fabulous:

1. New Culinary Traditions
2. Blog Of Nathan
3. Donde El Viento Nos Toma
4. Hespera’s Garden
5. Truly Blessed Life
6. Sharnanigans
7. Janet Fraser
8. Hellena Post – Creatrix
9. Yes and Yes
10. Majikfaerie
11. Glooart
12. Diary of a Vegan
13. The Auspicious Squirrel
14. And All That Sazz
15. Living Luscious Lea

Here are my submissions for this year.

1. Water Droplet: Canon supplied the water dropper and told us to ‘get up close’ I don’t have a macro lens but I’m quite happy with the results anyway. I photographed droplets on my shower curtain. I especially love the way the weave of the fabric is magnified in each droplet. The colours also kind of remind me of a NIN album cover which is quite cool.

2. The bubblegum portrait. This is probably the shot I am least pleased with. I wasn’t really able to come up with a unique idea for this one and without the assistance of a model I was left with no choice but to do a self portrait.

3. Confetti in Motion: For this shot I had originally planned to have the confetti catching alight as it fell toward the flame but when I was reviewing my shots afterwards this one turned out to be my favourite, I like that the confetti is still falling and the smoke is rising up to meet it.

4. Black and White Smoke: This photo is the one I am most proud of, even though it is probably the least inspired of them all. I’m so happy with the definition of the smoke, but truthfully it does look exactly like just about every other entry, it’s definitely not an original concept but I’m proud of it all the same. I really wanted to get a solid black background, but didn’t have anything suitable to use as a background around the house so I ended up using a black jumper. I probably could have edited the shot to make the background black, but my editing prowess ends with being able to crop so the grainy background stayed, I quite like it though.

5. The final brief was ‘Inspired by Sound’ and instead of sending through a prop they gave us the link to a sound clip. Listen to it HERE. Of course my first instinct was something falling but I figured most people would take that approach so instead I went with an Alice in Wonderland theme and took the shot from the perspective of Alice as she suddenly finds herself unexpectedly shrinking.

All in all it was great fun, I really felt quite challenged by the whole thing and considering I don’t really know anything about photography I’m quite proud of the results. Of course I’m not anywhere near the level of some of the entries that were submitted which is a bit daunting but maybe by next year I’ll not only enter, but actually be good enough to have a shot at becoming a finalist! Here’s hoping anyway.

The Daintree Rainforest – Australia (I got married there)
Sentosa Island – Singapore
Ubud – Bali
The Great Barrier Reef – Australia (Scuba Diving – Amazing!)

Bintan Island – Indonesia
Sihanoukville Beaches – Cambodia
Fairy Dell Rainforest – Australia (Our favourite camping destination)
The Plain of Jars – Laos

The Mekong River – Laos, Thailand, Cambodia AND Vietnam – lots of kayaking!
The Buddha Cave Lam Pa Fa – Laos
The Killing Fields – Cambodia
.

Milford Sound – New Zealand
The Fireball Festival – Thailand
Cancun – Mexico
Malolo Island – Fiji
.

The Nullarbor Desert – Australia (our car broke down here)
The Great Ocean Road – Australia
Damnoen Saduak Floating Markets -  Thailand
.

The Big Banana (haha) – Australia
Blue Mountains – Australia
Krabi – Thailand (great Kayaking)
Franz Josef Glacier – New Zealand
.

Luang Prabang – Laos (Mekong River Tubing Pub Crawl!)
Saigon – Vietnam
Waiheke Island – New Zealand
Hill Tribe Villages in Chaing Mai – Thailand
.

Janolan Caves – Australia
Nadi (stranded during a flood/cyclone!) – Fiji
Stinky Rotarua – New Zealand
Angkor Wat – Cambodia
.

Fremantle Markets – Australia
Wonderland Theme Park – Australia (doesn’t exist anymore so it’s worth a mention!)
Adventureland Perth – Australia
Whale Watching in Hervey Bay – Australia
.

Sunrise in Dunedin – New Zealand
Temora – Australia (not a town worth mentioning except I skydived there)
Umphang Mountains – Thailand (we volunteered at a school there)
Khao Sok National Park – Thailand
.

Jutajuk Markets Bangkok – Thailand
Cradle Mountain Tasmania – Australia
Orchard Road – Singapore
Sydney Harbor Bridge – Australia
.

An outward bound course on a strange island I can’t remember the name of – Singapore
The freaky ‘Edge’ platform in the Eureka Tower in Melbourne – Australia
S21 Prisoner Camp – Cambodia
Hopetoun Falls – Australia
.

Easy Riders Motorcycle tour through Rural Vietnam
Floated down the Murrumbidgee River in a Houseboat – Australia
Linh Phuoc Pagoda – Vietnam
The Great Australia Bight – Australia

.
Not nearly as interesting as the 101 places to see before you die since I haven’t been to all that many places but hopefully interesting enough!
.
I have lived in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore so it makes sense that there are a lot of places from those countries. My husband and I also backpacked through South East Asia and spent over 6 months exploring Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in 2005/2006 so we’ve covered a lot of ground there too. I hope to see MANY more places in my time though, if I dream of anything it is spending my life living out of a backpack and exploring the world, now if only I could figure out a way to fund it!
.
One of the things I love about travelling is being able to cross things off my lists of places to see, and one way that I do that (since EVERYWHERE is on my list) is by adding virtual ‘pins’ to my trip advisor travel map.. here is what my map looks like at the moment.
..

Not nearly as ‘pinned’ as I would like, that’s for sure!
What cities are pinned on your map? What places are on your ‘must see’ list?

There’s probably too much to write about in detail in one measly little post so here is a dot point rundown of the last 7 months.

• Spent 4 weeks in Australia
• Celebrated my Mum’s 50th
• Watched my Mum get married (and cried)

• Came home to find our town flooded
• Got an eviction notice in the mail (owners returning from OS)
• Had two lovely visitors from Australia en-route to South America

• Found out I was pregnant (Wahoo!)
• Moved house

• Found a homebirth midwife
• Stifled agoraphobic tendencies and went to the homebirth meetings in town
• Grieved the death of my trusty iPod
• Became the fundraising coordinator for the local homebirth group
• Had a photo selected to be in the 2011 Yes and Yes calendar

• Signed up for the Canon EOS Photo 5
• Realised I am not creative enough to do the Canon EOS Photo 5

• Got a new (secondhand) iPod Touch and fell in love
• Survived our first Queenstown winter

• Buoyed by last year’s success – Signed up for NaNoWriMo

• Panicked about NaNoWriMo
• Realised I only have 143 days left in my 101/1001 list and have absolutely no hope of finishing everything (I am 6 months pregnant after all)!!

So, that is the update on me!

Just copy and paste these 99 things onto your blog and bold the things you HAVE done… here are mine:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to DisneyWorld

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise (not an overnight one though)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theatre

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a cheque

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

 (depends on how famous they have to be!)

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

How many have you done out of the 99?

With today being Good Friday what better time than to issue a challenge about all things ‘good’!

So friends, tell us about a good deed you have done for someone or vice-versa. Or how someone elses’ good deed that you have learned about has affected you.. did you learn from it? How did it make you feel?  Was it a disaster? Did it uplift you?

My favourite good deed at the moment is to participate in Operation Beautiful. The mission statement on the website is this:

“The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL”.

I love the idea of giving an unseen woman a little self esteem boost, and reminding her that beauty isn’t about what’s on the outside, I think we all need reminding about that sometimes. So I have made my own little ‘operation beautiful’ kit which I carry around in my bag at all times. It’s a cute little tin that arrived in a care package from a friend a while ago, and inside it I have all my little notes, pre-written and ready to go, and some blu tack for sticking them up. Mostly I post them up on bathroom mirrors but I’ve left a few on car windscreens, or stuck to the soy milk at the supermarket or on a park bench by the lake.

I don’t know if anyone reads them, or if it makes a difference in anyone’s day, but I like to think that it does.

Q&A : The Photographic Interview is running during April 2010

To play, take 1 photograph as your answer to each of the questions below. The aim is to get to know you better, through your photographs

Upload to your blog, flickr account or anywhere else on the net, then come back and share your photographic interview.

1. What is your favourite part of your home
2. Your favourite number
3. The place that holds the most memories
4. One thing you wish you could do, but can’t
5. One thing you wish you could do, and can
6. Someone you don’t see alot
7. Your favourite piece of clothing
8. What do you see in your future?

Anyone else want to join me?
I’ll be back over the next few weeks to share my answers.

Until then you can find me guest posting over at Sharnanigans, writing for Vegan Mainstream, or sharing food on my Vegan Food Blog.

I also wanted to mention that I was featured in the High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment Magazine this issue. For anyone who is interested in reading the article, it is HERE

We had some visitors from Perth here with us this week and it’s been really lovely. It’s really nice to live somewhere that people actually want to come and visit, we are so lucky to live in this glorious holiday destination, it’s so easy to forget. Anyway, Amy and Conrad arrived on Tuesday afternoon in Queenstown and we had dinner and coffees and caught up after over a year of not seeing one another. It was fabulous to sit in my favourite coffee shop with actual people, instead of just sitting with my head in a book like I usually do. They slept in town and explored the city for a couple of nights before heading out to our little house by the lake.

They stayed here two nights, and didn’t once complain about the smorgasbord of vegan food we had organised for them.. which was a relief, it can be a little intimidating inviting omnivores to stay! After two days here we headed off on a little road trip together to explore some parts of the South Island. Last night we stayed at a great little place in Te Anau. We explored Milford Sound by day and by night we ate Italian food and watched dodgy old bond movies on telly. This morning we ate breakfast in a local bakery and then they drove off into the sunset, continuing on their adventure and leaving me here, waving frantically from my deck as they sailed away.

The house feels strangely quiet now that they are gone, but it makes me even more excited for our next set of guests who are arriving in May! Anyone else want to visit us? While I will feed you vegan food, I promise not to attempt a conversion of your meat eating ways (although Amy and Conrad DID depart as new recruits to the vegetarian lifestyle, I promise, I had nothing to do with it!).

Here are some pics of the mini adventure: