My brother Peter

My something new for today isn't anything big and spectacular, but for me it's exactly how I'd like to spend my Friday night. 

My brother and I have been watching a lot of episodes of Friends lately. We have decided to watch all 10 seasons together and today we finished season 2. We both love Friends so much and we've made a pact that we won't watch an episode without the other. The poor kid, I'm not home all that often so he's the one who has to wait for me.

When we finished watching Friends today we decided to watch some Hey Arnold! together too. This is something new too because my brother let me watch all the episodes I've never seen before. 

I really love spending time with my brother, and I have to make the most of this time because everyday I'm seeing him grow up into a typical teenage boy. He's starting chatting to his friends for hours on the net, playing video games, and has even discovered girls...or they've discovered him hehe. 

I'm really lucky to have such a great kid in my life and I love that he's keen to do my new things with me. 

My brother has taught me a lot; whether he knows it or not. Sometimes I wish that I was more like him. He has this innocence about him. He has this huge huge heart that is incapable of holding a grudge. He's a lot like my mum. She has a very forgiving heart too and the both of them inspire me a lot. 

My brother Peter is such a kind person. In no way am I embarrassed at the fact that I'm learning and seeing how to be a better person from my 12 year brother. Sometimes we get so worked up in trying to be like our famous role models, but sometimes the best people to try and mirror are those closest to home. I've really taken to becoming more observant of all the good qualities of those around me. And please, if you see the good in someone, let them know exactly what it is you like about them :)

Hand painted mug

Friends are amazing creatures. The type of friends I'm referring to are the ones that really know me. Not the ones that are there for the good times alone, but for the really challenging times too. The ones who see the worst and the best of me but choose to stick around anyways. 

My friend Cindy is exactly that type of friend. We were in pretty much every class together throughout our undergrad degree and she really helped me get through all the tough times. She was also my partner in crime for many many good memories too, and although we are doing different degrees now and don't see each other as often as we like, we're the kind of friends who can pick up right where we left off. That's a good friendship for you.

I like showing and telling people how important they are to me every chance I get. However, sometimes you have to make those chances happen. I'll be catching up with Cindz in the next couple of days. It'll be the first time I've seen her since last year and so I've decided to make this an opportunity to not just catch up, but do something nice for her too.

I came across this Mug Makeover craft kit in Bunnings. For all those people not from Australia, Bunnings is a giant home, garden and hardware store. When you walk in, the ratio of males to females is about 10:1. This place is any handy man's heaven. 

I've painted some of my favourite memories we've shared together onto one of the mugs from the craft kit. If you want to make your day a great day, try this at home! I couldn't stop smiling as I was writing all of the memories. There were times when I would laugh to myself so hard that my hands shook and I had to take a break to steady my hand before I could continue painting. 

Great friends are hard to come by, so please make sure they know how much they mean to you!

Yes, I'm aware that this is meant for kids...but that doesn't matter, it's good for all ages I reckon :)

Surprises

When was the last time you did something nice for someone? Today I surprised my friend who took me to Sydney, with a flower arrangement. She once told me that a lot of the women in her workplace had flowers delivered to them and that it would be nice if that happened to her one day. So I planned for flowers to be delivered to her. Unfortunately when I arrived at her work place I found out that my friend had gone home sick, so I ended up bringing the flowers to her place. Not only did it make her happy, but it felt so nice to do something nice without any conditions. Pay attention to the little things that people say because sometimes you can use that to make their day :)

Another new thing that I tried today was check out a little cafe called Santi's. The decor is lovely, I paid a great price for a giant teapot of English breakfast, and best of all, they have a vegan lunch option! I will return to try it for sure. And, the place is also close to uni :)

The last thing I want to say about my day is that my dad and I were having a little D&M & he said to me "God helps you, together with your efforts". This really stuck in my head. What he was saying was that God guides us and points us in the right direction, but we need to be willing to go and do some proportion of the work. We won't get anywhere by just sitting around and waiting for the universe to work its magic.

Handmade cards

Yesterday my awesome friend gave my brother a Christmas gift. I was completely awe struck at how thoughtful it was. My brother is the precious age of eleven, and he's into his video games. My friend had already lent my brother a whole stack of PS3 games, and so he added to the pile and got him a game called Skylanders. I cringe on the inside at the thought of how much the game would have cost, because it came with the game plus the figurines and the portal stand that you need to play the game. 

I am determined to make sure my friend knows how thankful I am for making my brother's day and although I'm totally poor from my trip to America I decided to start small and make my friend a handmade card. 

If you've never made someone a card (or anything for that matter) then I totally recommend that you do. There's just something about receiving a handmade gift that makes you feel special. 

I hope the post man gets my card to it's destination, because I have a friend out there who deserves to feel special. 

Note to self: must invest in a better camera which has better focus! (stay tuned, I will definitely save up)