Five on Friday--11/8/13

Time for another '5 on Friday' post since I missed last week...hopefully you'll forgive me since we were traveling at the time! Anywho--excited to link up with  Darci, April,Christina, and Natasha again this week!

{1} STOP & SMELL THE ROSES...

Last Sunday after returning from our trip, our friends--the Bruffys--invited us and some other friends over for a bbq. Since the weather cleared up after dinner, we decided to take the short walk up the street to the Parnell Rose Garden. The flowers are absolutely stunning and I would be a happy girl if they stayed like that year round!
                     
                     

{2} FRESH FLOWERS...

As a result of the aforementioned garden walk, I decided to spring for some fresh flowers at the market to brighten up our cozy little flat. There were lots to choose from, but I could resist two of my favorites...lilies and peonies. I was scrambling around trying to find a vase that would fit them all and then remembered we have 3 water pitchers that would hold one stem each quite nicely! I'm certainly not much of a florist by any means, but I do love having fresh flowers to welcome me every time I walk in the door.

{3} IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR...

Ok, bear with me...I know it's only the beginning of November, but I'm going to warn you that you'll probably see more and more Christmas-related stuff popping up on these posts over the next 6 weeks! I made a CD of some of our favorite Christmas tunes and have listened to it in the car when I take Drew to work because the radio seems to be nothing but commercials that time of day. This week I decided to pop in my local Starbucks to see if they, too, had Christmas cups and decor displayed since so many of you in the States have been enjoying this already! Indeed they did! Music, decorations, ornaments for sale...and their Christmas menu poured into Christmas cups...hooray! However, I was slightly disappointed because they didn't have any peppermint flavoring to make my peppermint white chocolate mocha...so I had to settle for a gingerbread latte. Yuck! It did not help boost my Christmas spirit--that's for sure! First world problems...I know, I know! I am trying very hard to get into the holiday spirit this year...as most of you know, that is not usually a hard thing for me (or Drew) to do. But I think with the opposite seasons down here, listening to songs about fires and snow and winter just don't resonate the same way down under.

{4} NANNY DIARIES...

No, not the book/movie. This week was the start of my nannying duties for baby Elliot! My friend, Tally, and I are splitting the duties and each of us are taking 2 days a week to take care of big E. Wednesday was my first (and only) day this week and we had so much fun. It is definitely a specific kind of challenge to watch a child...especially someone else's...but it was also fun. Check out the video of big E and you'll understand why I laughed practically the whole afternoon!

{5} WORDS TO LIVE BY...

After being anxious about a lot of things during our holiday last week (like the flights, what food and water to avoid, trying to stay away from mosquitos so we didn't contract malaria or Dengue fever, etc.) a friend posted this link on Facebook that talked about anxiety and how it relates to faith. I thought this was a very poignant article and really would love to adopt this kind of thinking in my own life if for no other reason than to help ease my anxiety.

Until next time...