30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 30

A picture of someone you miss

Once again, I have covered this challenge well here, here, here and here. There are so many other people that I could cover in this challenge also, but I'll just keep with my obvious family theme here and use this picture:

This picture covers 2 people - my mum (left) and her sister, my aunty. Both are very special women in my life and both live quite a distance away so I don't get to see them very often. My mum and I have always had a very close relationship, so it's hard not living close to her now, especially raising Little Spring and missing the family support that would be helpful. Over the past 10 or so years, my relationship with my aunty has really developed. With her living overseas, our catch ups are few and far between, but for each catch up we've managed, it deepens our connection. So much so, Little Spring was named after her!

I thank God for the internet, so keeping in touch with Mum and Aunty Ellen is much easier... not to mention the great phone plans so I can even call Aunty Ellen in the States quite cheaply (or even for free, if I use Viber!).

(On a side note: any of you with iPhone or Andriod, I'd highly recommend you download Viber for free; you are then able to call anyone else with the app for free, anywhere in the world, so long as you have internet on your phone at the time!)

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 29

A picture that can always make you smile

Yes, another picture of Little Spring! I just love this picture. I walked in to check on her while she was napping one day, and this is how I found her... somehow her dummy had stuck to the side of her face! I quickly went downstairs to grab my phone and thought for sure the dummy would no longer be there, but amazingly enough, it was, so I snapped a picture and even got a smile from my little angel!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 28

A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Our new iPod docking station. Soon after moving up here to Cairns, our stereo system decided to stop working. That meant not having a CD player - doh! I love putting music on and turning it up, especially when I'm doing housework. So, we've been without music for quite some time (except for Little Spring's children's CDs which have been playing in her play area with the portable CD player).

Over this last week, we decided to finally bite the bullet and bought this docking station...which was on special - bonus!

Wow! What a difference it's made having music back in the house... Big Spring has been feeling more refreshed with his favourite band, Third Day, playing most of the time! What a blessing technology can be... and just in time to start playing all my Christmas CDs!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 27

A picture of yourself and a family member

Well, I pretty much covered that challenge here, here, here, here, here and here! Can you tell I love my family much?! So, just for something different, here's another photo (or 2)!


I decided to go with a slight twist... I LOVE these photos of Little Spring when she was only a few days old. Those are my hands in the photo (so, yes, it's technically a photo of me and a family member!). I especially love the one of her tiny, tiny feet, that I could hold in one hand! And then the precious photo of her tiny, tiny hands grabbing my finger!

My beautiful little girl. How I love you so!


(These photos, plus a heap of others, were taken by a good friend who was a professional photographer in a previous life.)

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 26

A picture of something that means a lot to you

It's not all together obvious, but this is a jar of "Leible Homemade Applebutter." And why does it mean a lot to me? Well, a few weeks (months?) ago, my family in the States, who I miss so very much, got together for their annual applebutter making. I was so disappointed that I couldn't be there when all the family were gathered together. The applebutter making is a huge event (much bigger than I even realised!) and occurs all day, while the family catches up. Was I jealous much?!

Anyway, to my absolutely surprise and excitement, a jar of this 'famous' applebutter arrived on my doorstep! My beautiful, wonderful cousin had thought to send this to me with a lovely card "Dearest Janelle, please enjoy this gift of applebutter from our Leible family bounty autumn 2011. May you feel all the love & hugs from Missouri!" Oh, what joy! And such amazing timing... I was having a hard day after hearing some sad news, so to have this arrive, really, literally, made my day! So, yes, I think I can say that this is a photo of "something that means a lot" to me!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 25

A picture of you last year and how you've changed since then

Seriously? Well, it's easy enough to find a picture of me from last year... but how I've changed? I don't really have another picture that would reflect that very well. And what exactly has changed about me? I don't really think much, except superficially (i.e. no deep changes have occured, that I can think of!)... okay... let's find a photo from last year and see where it takes us!

Right! So, the first thing I had to do, was find a picture of me from last year... I had quite a few photos to choose from, so thought I'd go with literally, a photo of me from one year ago (as opposed to just 'last year'). The closest I could think of was the "Sem Wives' Graduation" night which is held at the end of November/beginning of December. Instead of going with a traditional, front on view, I decided to choose this side view for something different, and to show off my hair, which I'd had done at the hairdressers just for the evening (Big Spring told me to go and get pampered for my special night - sweet!).

And the second part of the challenge... how I've changed.

Hmm... this is hard! I can really only think of 'superficial' changes... does that make me shallow?! Well, let's start with those then. I've changed:

• where I live (moving from Adelaide to Cairns)
• from being the wife of a student to the wife of a pastor. Although the bigger change was for Big Spring becoming the pastor, of course there are implications for me. I guess I could go into how becoming a pastor's wife has changed me, but to be honest, with the lack of sleep I've had lately, and lack of time now, I'm not prepared to broach that subject right now! Briefly, in some ways it hasn't changed me at all, but in other ways, life has changed completely! A satisfactory answer? I think not, but that's all you're getting from me for now!
• how I spend my days. When we were living at the Sem, my life mostly revolved around Sem life and those living there. I would do most things with my friends living next door and up the road and would often pop in for a drink, or walk up the road to hang out at our local coffee shop. Now, I don't live next door to all my friends and the local coffee shop isn't just up the road to walk to. Instead, I've had to find activities for Little Spring and I to be involved in and catching up with friends more involves making a date and meeting up, rather than a last minute, knock on the door with a suggestion for a catch up.
• the dynamics of friendships. I've got some wonderful friends all over Australia. Some of these friendships were forged over 4 years living at the Sem, in fairly close quarters to each other. Now that we are all living far apart, the dynamics of those friendships have changed. Not to say that we aren't friends, or any less of friends, just that with our situations changing, our friendships have as well, being long-distant types. Coming up to Cairns, I had to consciously change the way I thought about friendships up here because I was so used to the Sem life and those friendships and it was such a unique situation!

So, I don't really know if I did a good job on this challenge, but that's me at this point (sleep deprived and have dinner on in the back ground!).

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 24

A picture of something you wish you could change

This challenge is really hard! I'm desperately trying to think of something and nothing is coming to mind! Okay, finally thought of something and managed to capture it in one photo (okay, one photo collage!)

I wish we could change the distance we live from our family. Being interstate and international, it's hard not to be able to see them on a regular basis. Thank goodness for the internet and cheap and easy calls that we are able to contact them to make that distance seem at least a little bit less.