Hi there! Life has been busy lately but I need to stop making excuses and just blog.

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Juniper is three months old now and she’s doing great, usually just waking twice a night (“just” hahaaaa). Abel is almost two years old! His birthday is mid-June and we’re looking forward to celebrating him with a car-themed party because he is obsessed. Here’s a link to my blog post with his first birthday photos. Crazy how much he has changed!

I think I mentioned before, but on Juniper’s birth day we found out that our attempt to purchase our first home was successful! We moved when she was 3 1/2 weeks old (don’t do that. Give yourself more time to recover from childbirth before trying to move house). We are really enjoying a bigger home (three bedrooms instead of two, and an open plan lounge/dining/kitchen area) and have already made a few improvements including replacing the roof and the hot water system.

There is a lot on our wish list of house projects but of course we have to take it one thing at a time and as we can afford it. We are so blessed with this house, and house prices are just continuing to go up here in Whangarei and there’s nothing left on the market that’s near the price we got this house for just a few months ago. We are very thankful that it all worked out and we got into our first home.

I have been working here and there on some personal projects, and am keen to start my photography business for real. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the technical requirements and paperwork side of things sometimes, which is why I haven’t officially done it yet. But I think I am getting close to the point of doing so! I had a few photo sessions last year which I really enjoyed, especially this one with my good friend Anna. She was my first friend when I moved to New Zealand when I originally came to visit my sister Adalia for ‘just six months’.

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Lately I’ve been making an effort to read more. I devoured book after book as a child and teen but when I started college I didn’t make time for that as much and got out of the habit. Some of my favourite books I’ve read are Misery by Stephen King, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Amazing writing, scary but not too much (I’m a total scaredy cat. I got halfway through ‘the Dome’ and ‘It’ by Stephen King and had to quit). Rebecca was absolutely stunning. I can’t tell you anything for fear of ruining it but trust me you should read it. To me, it was similar to both Jane Austen and Stephen King. Yes, I know. Two completely different authors and writing styles.

As a child/teenager I loved writing but it’s been a long time since I wrote anything. I’ve been doing a little recently for fun. I decided I didn’t need a whole book outline or good plot to start writing. I just started with what was in my head and wrote a page or two and I loved it. So here’s your encouragement that you don’t need to have a plan or be an expert to just start. You have to begin somewhere, right?

My other favourite books are the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Surely you’ve heard of them. I read the trilogy as a teen and obsessed a little, and watched all the movies. As time goes on this is a book series that I have just enjoyed more and more. Collins’ writing is so good and Katniss is such a relatable character and every time I read the books I feel like I learn new things about the characters or truths hidden in the story. I bought ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes‘ last year when it came out. This book takes place when President Snow was a boy. I was sorely disappointed. It was awful. I gave it a few months and read it again and I LOVED it. Sometime I’ll try to do a review of it here! I have lots of thoughts about it.

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Well my baby is waking up so I better go get her up. Enjoy these photos of my beautiful babies!

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