Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

I was invited along to Christian sundowner (like a night time gathering with food and plenty of mingling) today. The group is called SMA which stands for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. At first I though these were Latin words and so I googled them because I was curious to find out the meaning. Little did I know, these are actually the names of three men from the Book of Daniel in the Bible. Although Wikipedia can be very useful most of the time, I still have trust issues with it and sometimes it's overwhelming all of the information on there, so I pulled out my bible to read the original story.

To sum up the story of these three men, what happened was they were told to worship another God by the King. When they refused to bow down to any other god, they were sentenced to death in a fire. When they were thrown in however, an angel protected them from the heat and they survived. The King was in awe of how these men were saved by their faith and devotion to God that he himself became a believer and spared their lives. 

I just thought I might share that with anyone who is interested.

Both the SMA event and reading that Bible story were both my 'somthing new' for today. Even though I didn't know anyone at the sundowner today, it was still really nice to mingle and talk to people who share the same values and beliefs. The nice feeling that I'm describing isn't limited to just spiritual things, but to any time when you are with people who all share common interests. It's a lovely feeling of community. 

If you're not part of a club or group, maybe have a google search for something you can belong to. Whether it be a church group, volunteering, sporting group or a club at school/uni; if you're like me and enjoy the idea of trying new things, definitely give this a try. 

A nice illustration of the Shandrach, Meshach and Abednego story (Daniel 3: 1-30)

Homemade stud earrings

When I went to buy the digital photo frame for my sister yesterday, I popped into a cute little craft store as I was on my way out of the shopping centre complex. As i was browsing the isles for some crafty stuff to fill up my blog with, I came across a bag of stud earring posts and backings (i.e. the pointy bit that goes into the ear hole and the plug that keeps it from falling). I decided to buy these so that I could make earrings out of some cute buttons that I've had for years and years packed away in boxes under my bed. 

I used an adhesive product called Cyberbond adhesive. The stuff is like the mother of all super glue. It can be used on anything. Absolutely anything. It's industrial strength and it dries in seconds. A pain to get off skin though. Use it wisely if it should ever fall into your hands.

So the buttons were free and the bag of about 25 earring posts was $6. About 10 minutes later, four pairs of earrings have been added to my collection :) Homemade accessories: super cheap, stylish and make for great gift ideas. 

From the back you can see that they're buttons, but when they're worn, they just look like cute vintage earrings :)

For Margi and Em

I've been very fortunate to have a lot of female role models throughout my life. My friend Emily who is battling with Lymphoma, is most definitely one of those people; another is my sister. My intelligent, beautiful, kind, funny, hardworking, fun loving, wise, cutie pie, little big sister. She may be three years older than me, but she's a good 10cm shorter than me too. I can't remember exactly at what age I overtook her, but I've been taller than her for quite some time now. I tell my sister that I love her all the time. There is, and always will be so much truth in those words when I say them to her. And even when she's miles away at work or anywhere else that's not right here next to me, the love is and always will be there. 

My sister and I don't argue. That's not strange to me. But apparently to other people, it's weird not to argue with your sister (so I've heard). We may have argued a lot when we were between the age of new born to age 10, but after that I don't ever recall us arguing. Seriously. The last argument I remember we had was when I ripped her favourite stuffed bunny open with my bare teeth. How vicious of me! Tisk tisk. 

I'm not sure why we don't argue, but it might have something to do with something that happened between a friend and I back in primary school. I think I was in year five or six. My best friend at the time and I had gotten in an argument and when we reconciled she said to me "let's just not fight again". I'm sure there was more to it then just that, but her words really had a profound effect on me. From that point on, I just didn't see any point in arguing with friends. I think that must have rubbed off on my relationship with my sister because I then and even now I don't like the idea of fighting with her. Don't get me wrong, no relationship is perfect and so an argument here and there is healthy, but when it comes to my sister, I don't want any of that. I'm sure there are a thousand psychologists out there who would tell me other wise, but that's just the way we are.

My sister told me that she'd be coming to visit today and so I decided to dedicate my 'something new' to her. I pulled out an old photo album that Emily had put together for us. It was filled with photos of us from when we were young. I scanned the photos and uploaded them onto a digital photo frame. I found a pretty decent digital frame which also played music in the background so I uploaded songs that reminded me of us and of our childhood. Lots of Disney songs and songs from musicals we've watched together like Phantom of the Opera. Since my sister started renting her own place, I've yet to get her a house warming gift. I hope this makes up for that.

My sister made my childhood so great. We played paper dolls, dress ups, computer games (I remember we played a PC game called Might and Magic), Nintendo 64, watched hours of cartoons and Video Hits...and those were just some of the things we did indoors. Outside was a whole different adventure. 

If it wasn't for Emily, none of these photos would have been taken. She captured my childhood and my relationship with my amazing big sister in these photographs. 
Help give Emily the opportunity to not only capture more memories of her young 5 year-old son Luke, but also give her the opportunity to live long enough to show those photos to Luke when he's a grown man. 
Emily needs donor stem cells. You could be a match for her. Please please please register your name on the Bone Marrow Registry and become a stem cell donor.

Masons Gardens, Dalkieth

Since starting up my blog, I've been doing a lot of vegan cooking. Although it's good that I'm trying new recipes, the down side is that I'm eating a lot more. I know that this won't stop me from experimenting with new recipes, but for today I wanted to do something other than cook. 

So, I really like alone time. It's nice to just chill out and read a book. It's even better when the weather is nice and I can go outside and enjoy the fresh air. I had some errands to run near uni today and so I decided to google some parks nearby for some scheduled alone time. I have made it a mission to check out as many of Perth's parks and reserves as possible :) 

I found a nice park called Masons Gardens in Dalkeith, about 3 minutes from uni by car. What drew me to choose this place over some of the other nice ones I saw on google maps, was that it had a turtle pond! 

When I got there, the park was even better than I expected. Placed all around the park were statues in the ground of things which you could do in your alone time. I saw the end of a violin, a recorder, a stitch cutter used for sewing, a pencil, and an old fashion ink pen to name a few. 

There was a lovely brick wall which had a pretty mural painted on both sides. I wasn't sure what it was for (other than for display), but I later saw a girl and her dad practicing their tennis skills by hitting the ball against the wall.

There was also a chair placed in front of a great big group of bamboo trees. I think this was my favourite part of the park. I'm not sure what makes the noise, but when you stand near the bamboo trees you can hear them creak in the wind. It would be a bit creepy at night time, but in the day light on a beautiful day like today with nothing but the sound of peace and serenity filling my ears, the sound of the creaking bamboo was so soothing. 

I sat and read a book on the lush green grass. It's my favourite park so far; and I've only just begun my mission! If you have spare time, please go check it out. Bring your book, pets, partner, family or friends. Or just go by yourself. Nothing wrong with that :)

This sign reads: "TIME ALONE. Follow the tools - numbers run from 12-1"

A panorama shot of the turtle pond :) I didn't see any turtles today though. Maybe next time.

The chair and bamboo trees

Future Music Festival

Before going to Sydney to see Swedish House Mafia, I wasn't much of a festival goer. Mainly because the prices were so expensive and I didn't like the idea of being surrounded by so many drunk people. However, SHM was such a good experience, that the idea of festivals aren't so bad anymore.

I have a good friend who absolutely hates festivals and yeah I can see their point of view. There is a lot of drinking, crazy behaviour and smoking (and you spend so much time in the sun. Two words: skin cancer). But there are lots of good things about festivals too!! I guess it just depends on the person. I find that it's so great to just dance the way you want without anyone caring, the music is great (if you go see an artist that you like) and amongst the crazies you meet pretty nice people. Plus, you can put on sunscreen and wear a hat to avoid the sun's death rays.

I went to Future Music Festival today thanks to my amazing sister who gave me tickets that she was trying to sell. I won't focus too much on the negative, but it was awesome to be in the mosh pit with Ruth and just dance in my little happy zone.

For those who know me really well, you will know that I sweat a lot. More than a normal girl and probably the same as a normal guy. One of the things I loved most about today was that I could dance and sweat as much as I wanted and nobody cared because out of everyone there, I wasn't the sweatiest :)

I hadn't heard of Steve Aoki before today, but oh man, this guy is insanely awesome. And just a bit insane himself too. He crowd surfed on a blow up boat and threw whole cakes into the mosh pit. Just nuts!

I waited 45 minutes for this kebab....45 minutes!!..for this $10 kebab...and it was pretty tiny. But we were starving so none of that seemed to matter at the time.

Nutmeat spaghetti bolognese

I tried a new vegan meat substitute today. Ok, don't get grossed out. It's called Nutmeat. I first heard about it a while back when a friend told me to try it but just the idea of nuts being made into a meaty textured food product kinda put me off. That was before I started trying all sorts of weirdo foods and flavour combinations. 

A good friend of mine ordered spaghetti bolognese the other day when we went out to dinner, so I had a bit of a craving for it. I've tried plenty of recipes for bolognese sauce. I've used just tomato sauce and blended up vegetables, I've made a cauliflower recipe and I've used tofu as well. All of them have been yum, but this nutmeat recipe has been the best so far. It's much more 'meatier' and because I like my bolognese sauce thick, this recipe is a winner. 

This is the recipe I used which I adapted from a vegan recipe website:

Vegan Nutmeat spaghetti bolognese:

Ingredients:

• 1 Can Nutmeat
• 1 large tin Tomatoes
• 1 jar Pasta Sauce
• 2 Medium Onions (chopped finely)
• 2 cloves Garlic (crushed) - I used 4 because I really love garlic
• 2 Tbspn tomato paste
• 2 Small Carrots (finely chopped)
• 2 cups Broccoli (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Pasta for serving
• Olive Oil for cooking

Directions:

1. Cook onion & garlic in pan with oil until tender.
2. Chop the nutmeat finely and add this to the onions and garlic along with the tomatoes, pasta sauce and tomato paste and stir together then cook for 5 mins on medium heat.
3. Add finely chopped vegetables and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Add seasonings (salt & pepper) to taste.
5. Serve wtih Spaghetti Pasta

This was another vegan meal that my brother liked. My brother will do anything to avoid fruits and vegetables and so it says aaaaah lot when he likes my vegan recipes. A whole lot. 

Moon

When I graduated from high school, I went straight into a Bachelors of Science degree. Throughout those three years I learnt a lot about research. I'm pretty sure the whole course is designed for people who want to work in research labs. It's not an easy field to go into in terms of job availability, stability and just the fact that the work load is not a light one (like most careers I guess). However, as the years went on I kind of grew to enjoy it. Now, if you've done a Bachelors in Science, I'm sure you'll agree that by the end of it, you either love the idea of research, or you hate it and never want to step foot in a lab again.

So my point; I met up with a friend today who is so passionate about research. Like, really loves it. As important as research is, I myself couldn't do it forever and so it makes me so happy when other people go into research because they enjoy it. Scientists have such important jobs! Please give them as much respect as you would an engineer, doctor, lawyer and so on.

So my friend and I ended up watching a movie called Moon today when we caught up. It was very much a spontaneous decision, which in my books makes every great thing even greater. 

I know that watching a movie I've never seen before seems like a bit of a rip off in terms of 'something new', but sometimes movies are just so good they're worth blogging about.

The movie Moon is a sci-fi movie (Attention boyfriends, I don't think your girlfriends will like it...unless she's into that kind of stuff to begin with). It didn't get too far in the box office, but sometimes it's these cult movies that have really unique and engaging story lines. This movie is a bit far fetched and the whole mood of the film was like something out of The Twilight Zone...come to think of it, I probably enjoyed this movie so much because I like The Twilight Zone. I won't go on too much about it, but I gave it a 7/10 on IMdB :)