Candle making and Hurricane on the way!

We are only a few hours away from Hurricane Irene hitting us. It has been raining for several hours now and the roads were already starting to flood.
We took a drive to Costco and got a few bits and pieces for dinner tonight....hoping the power stays on long enough to cook it!!!
Then went and brought a new dinner set. We have had our eye on it for a few weeks now and decided to just buy it! I will take some pics and post them once it has come out of the dishwasher!

Last Sunday I did my first candle making class. I was pleasantly suprised as it was not at all what I was expecting! The lady Sherry who runs it use to have a business in town but had to close it due to health reasons. She is just starting back up again and runs the classes from her home at the moment.
Well I thought we would be basically pouring wax into moulds, making pillar styled items WRONG!!! Take a look at the pics and see just how fun it was!!

 This pic is the final product of all items made by me!!

This is a fruit parfait

Anyone for some ice tea with a slice of lemon??

Apple Martini.....smells good too!

Hot chocolate with floating marshmellows

Just a little pot of nice smelling gel :)

Last but not least, the Strawberry shortcake!

The rain and wind are starting to pick up a little now, nothing too strong. just like a typical Aussie wet day :)

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Another quake & boys start school

Well today off a little shaky! At 1:07am we were woken to another earthquake. It lasted about 25 seconds and was enough to frighten the crap out of me! I had lots of trouble sleeping after, just waiting for a bigger one to hit. It turned out to be 4.5 on the richter scale.

After finally falling asleep tyhe alarm clock went off! Time to get up and get the boys ready for their first day of school! They were suppose to start yesterday but due to the bigger quake on Tuesday, they had to wait for structural engineers to deem the buildings as safe :)

The boys got organised with very little fuss and waited out on the step for their school bus to come by. It reminded me so much of a Simpsons episode, only the driver of the bus was female and much nicer! The boys hopped on and off they went....................woohooo hello sanity, it has been a while! LOL

Mitchell and I hung around home most of the day as FINALLY verizon came out to hook us up! It took the technition about 2 hours to get it all sorted. Its great having TV again and now we can keep up to date with the incoming Hurricane Irene!

We had a really bad storm hit at about 4:20pm this afternoon. It was scary too! Many people lost power, cars were crashing on the roads and trees had fallen every where. I was a bit worried about Col getting back home from work as he had left his mobile at home for Vorizon to call me on. Verizon is the cable guy! lol It was blowing a huge gale forced winds and the rain was blowing through like sheets! The thunder clapped so loud the house shook a little on one occasion!
I moved my car into the garage as the news reported huge hail stones, although we were spared of them! Here is some video footage of the storm, the wind was really blowing and I stood on the front step to get this snippet!!

I have googled some info about the pending hurricane and as we are not right on the coast (about 40kms inland) we wont get it as bad as other areas. That said, we need to be prepared. I have brought some batteries for the torches, a lighter and candles. Going to get some bottled water tomorrow and make sure we have a first aid kit and food supplies all in the basement, just incase. It is due to hit Sat/Sun.

We had to go out to the pool shop with our water sample to find out how much of what chemicals we needed so we can start using the spa! We have filled that spa 3 times over the past few days and lets just say 3rd time lucky!!! The other 2 times we looked at it in the morning to find the bloody thing empty again! Turns out it has 2 drainage plugs that had not been put back in.....of course we discovered them one at a time! lol
Its a funky spa with its own little water feature and light that you can set firm on one colour or have it change to multiple colours!! Looking forward to getting in and using it before the sun stops shinning!

We also popped into Costco and brought a telephone pack so we now havew the home phone connected too! got a funky pack that came with a water resistant portable phone, so we can have it outside whilst enjoying the spa!! lol

The boys had a great first day at school, made a few more friends and were quite excited to tell us all about their day :)
Rhyce made a quick call back to oz to wish one of his besties (Luke) a Happy birthday before Luke headed to school! He said its funny how I have just got home from school on Thursday and Luke is just going to school on Friday!

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All Shook Up ~ literally!

This morning started really great. A sleep in all round, although I read a few more chapters of my book waiting for the boys to wake. It is the last day of school holidays.

We went out this morning and did some shopping for bits and pieces. The boys needed new soccer boots ready for their 2^nd lot of training tomorrow night and I grabbed some picture hooks.

I had not long finished hanging the last picture on the wall and went to check on the washing. I was standing in the laundry, the door was open into the garage and the garage roller door was up.

The boys and their friend Aiden were riding their rip sticks in the garage. It was about 1:50pm.

All of a sudden the floor started to move from under my feet. I looked at the machine thinking the washing must have been inbalanced, then looked at the boys who were all curious as to what was going on. I immediately realised we were having an earthquake and a BIG one at that.

I stood and watched in shock as my car started moving backwards in the drive, enough though the handbrake was firm on. Aiden actually thought Mitchell must have got in and was moving it! Mitchell was on the grass though riding his bike.

Everything was still shaking and it felt like the house was going to fall down, it was moving so much you could see it! The windows were all rattling, the garage doors shook and the kids looked at me not knowing what to do.

Finally after about 30 seconds the earth stood still and we, along will most of our neighbours, ventured out the front basically in shock on the road discussing what had just happened.

Our next door neighbour's pictures had all come off the walls and smashed. The lady opposite was on the phone to her husband who has a business on the main intersection just down the road from us. He said all the road signs had fallen over, there was stuff smashed every where in his store.

Then we heard all the sirens as emergency services headed to damaged areas. I sit here typing and still cannot believe what happened.

I had no idea what the state of our house was inside as I was in the laundry and garage when it struck.

I had just finished unwrapping all our sentimental items and sat them on shelves and cabinets.

The boys wanted to check it out, but I told them to stay outside incase there was broken glass.

I was amazed to find all the freshly hung pictures still on the wall. I checked in the study and Cols framed degree was sitting on an odd angle, one of his grandmothers chinese ordiments has fallen over (thankfully not broken) and a pillar candle that a friend had made us with our wedding details on it had fallen to the ground and was damaged in one part. A few other items were right on the edge of the bookcase, so I just pushed them back.

I went up stairs and Rhyce's bedroom was a bit of a mess. All of his tallboy drawers were open and his cds had all fallen to the ground and smashed. Korey's cupboard doors had flung open but Mitchells room was fine.

I went into our room and noticed a photo of me on Cols bedside table had fallen over, his Aussie flag had fallen down and most items on my dresser had moved, but again nothing broken.

Went into our ensuite and found all our shampoo/conditioner etc had fallen of the shelf and onto the floor of the shower. I had some bath salts and body lotion near the bath that had also fallen over.

All in all our goods were ok, we were ok and I must have done a pretty good job at hanging the pictures today!

Verizon came off strike last night, but we still have no date as to when our tv, internet and phone will be connected. I could really do with the news right now.

Through facebook and google (on my mobile) I was able to find out that the earthquake was 5.9 on the richter scale and the epicentre was not very far from us at all. It is the first earthquake this area has had in over 100 years and was a shallow one, so felt for many miles, even as far as New York City! Actually felt in canada too!

There are a few road closures in the area while they check out the structure of the bridges but that is about all I can find out right now. I had the radio on for a short while but couldnt pick up a station that was giving constant updates without all the music.

For some reason my mobile phone will not allow me to make or receive calls but I could get on the internet on it. I had a message from a friend who is working at the same place as Col to let me know he was ok and would remain at the base as per normal to finish his training for the day.

Now I have no service at all so cant even get on the net!

I have been typing my blog and saving it, ready to copy and paste once the internet is up and running again! Lol

So that was our interesting events for the day. We lived through a history making event without any real damage to anything and wow that was crazy scary!

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Home, Sweet Home

Wow what a busy week it has been! We arrived at the house at about 9:30am. I already had the keys as the landlord had left them for us previously 

Entered the house and found some of the owners stuff still here! So i whisked around, collected everything up and put it in the garage. I will give him a call on Monday so he can come over and collect it all!

The furniture was due to arrive between 11 and 1. They called me at about 1pm to say they were about 10 mins away. No problem. Then the heavens opened and dumped a crap load of rain! Not the kind of weather you want when unloading a truck full of furniture! Anyway the truck turned up and just like that the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds Yay!!!

The drivers jumped out, introduced themselves and set to work. The more furniture that was coming out of the truck the more concerned I became.....hmmm this isn’t the stuff we picked out off the website. When 2 BRIGHT red lounge chairs came off the back I knew something wasnt right! LOL I called the consultant who was dealing with our order and she explained that some (ok almost everything) was not available yet, so substitutes had been sent until it was all ready. Ok that makes sense and she had mentioned it ‘may’ happen for a few items. Out of a house full of furniture the only items that arrived as ordered was the formal dining set and formal lounge suites! I told the drivers they could take the ‘lovely’ red chairs and brown 2 seater back with them! Lol

There were 2 x 2 seaters and 2 x arm chairs that I could not figure out what they had substituted. Turns out it was in place of the cane outdoor furniture! Ummmm these were brand new, tags still attached and I had to un wrap them from the packaging! I was NOT putting them out on the uncovered patio. So I put them in the living room instead (given the red/brown combo had left the building)! The consultant then emailed me a list of all the furniture that had been delivered and I had to go through it and let her know what we were happy keeping and what we still wanted as per the original order. We have decided to keep a fair bit like our bedroom suite, all the kids beds, side tables, drawers etc. It is mainly the living room stuff and bed heads for the kids that we want. Oh and our outdoor setting!

The electrical appliance pack for the kitchen had been left out of the delivery, so Maria was quick to get it sorted and had it arrive the next day by express post.....along with a $100 amex gift voucher for the inconvenience  Hobby Lobby here I come lol

We have had to do some pretty big shopping trips as you do when you move into a new house on the otherside of the world! We are pretty sure, short of a few more pantry items, that we have all the ‘needs’ covered! We will start shopping for a few ‘wants’, like a pool table for the basement next week!

So a quick run down between Monday and today (Friday)

Monday: Moved into the house, furniture arrived, made up the beds and had a GREAT sleep in the new house.....no more small Hotel room! Met 2 more neighbours, Tammy who lives at the end of the Court and her 2 children Amanda & Logan. They are 7 & 4. So the kids spent ssome of the day up there playing with them. Mitchell loves having a little mate as he misses his friends back in Oz. Bernadette & David who live in the Court that comes of ours and their 2 children Aiden and Makayla. They are 13 and 11. So they came up for a little while and played basketball with the boys while Bernadette and David chatted to me  They seem really lovely and the kids are all so well mannered over here! It’s great to have nice neighbours that are so welcoming!

Tuesday: Our delivery of stuff from Australia arrived, which meant lots of boxes (73 in total) to start unpacking. The kitchen was the worst! The boys went over to Tammys for a play in the sprinkler and then Aiden and Makayla came over to play basketball for a while. David popped over and met Col and gave us some poison Ivy in a bag to show us what it looked it! It was good to show the boys so they can keep an eye out for it, especially when playing war games out the back bushland! Then he called over a little later on and invited us over for dinner on Sunday night! They are British and lived in Brisbane for 7 years, they plan to move back in about 2-3 years time! They have another couple of Aussie friends, so we will meet them on Sunday night too.....a bit of an Aussie get together!

Wednesday: Went to the local Doctors with the boys so I could make an appointment for their ‘pre’ school medicals. I needed to show their immunisation records, which were in our air freight, just to get the appointment! Turns out all 3 boys have appointments on different days, with Rhyces later that afternoon. 2 needles and nasal spray (instead of a flu shot) we left 2 hours later! Headed to the school and completed the enrolment for the boys and then did the same for Mitchells Pre school! Yay kids schooling all sorted!

Thursday: Another morning of unpacking and it is almost all done. Mel and the kids called over and brought us a gorgeous peace lily plant as a house warming gift. Not sure if Mel realises the significant of this plant to me. I brought one on the first anniversary of my Dads death last year. It was going strong before we left Oz, so Mum is looking after it for me  I miss my Dad so much as we all do, so this is a nice little thing for me to have in his memory whilst we are over here.....now to keep it alive! Col finished work early so we headed out and did some more shopping, picking up a few final pieces for the house and a grocery shop!

We also met another neighbour today, Chon, and his 10 year old son Cole who live directly across the road. Cole plays soccer and goes to the same school as the boys will be starting at! He is in Koreys year (4) but not sure if they will be in the same class yet. He also came over to play a bit of basketball with the boys! This basketball hoop has been GREAT!

Friday: Well that is today and thus far (10am) not too much has happened! Lol We have Koreys medical this afternoon and hubby is certain he will be home early again 

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A weekend of shopping and "Hazzards"!

So I will start this blog from Friday 12th July, until today (Sunday) and call it my weekender!

I had been to look at a Pre school for Mitchell during the week (which he will be starting at in 2 weeks time!!) and decided the little bugger was going to start toilet training weather he liked it or not!
So he got up in the morning and I declared a no nappy day! Yep it was a declaration as it felt like WW3 had hit the Holloway den!

After 45 mins of screaming and throwing nappies at me demanding I put them on him, he finally realised he was not to win this battle. Now the BIG problem was all his jocks are in the air freight and not coming until Tuesday! lol So I chuck his shorts on him and after 2 trips to the loo, like a big boy, I suggest we go shopping to buy some more jocks. He was excited by this an selected the action hereos pack!
We got back to the Hotel and had a VERY successful day, only one minor accident on the way to the loo. It was a very exciting thing for us!!!  BUT was not to continue. Yesterday he had a bad day and wet himself 6 times thus not only running down to one pair of shorts but also one pair of jocks!
This morning we dressed him said left clothing and had an epic failure before even leaving the house. So pull ups it was for today until I got the washing all done!! Well enough of the toileting and on to the rest of the weekend!! lol

Hubby had an early finish on Friday so we headed for the shops! Its been so much fun purchasing new stuff for the house and even better when it doesnt cost an arm and leg! between Fri night and Saturday, we had literally filled the back of the car (with 2 seats down) up to the roof with goodies! So hubby rang the landlord and he said we could go to the house and drop everything off!! lol

Today (Sunday) we headed out to the Dukes of Hazzards homecoming festival. It was ok, hot again of course and we saw all the orginal cast members from the tv show. I grabbed a few sneaky pics, even got told by one guy to be careful because the 'real' Sherriff was not happy and telling people not to take picks! Meh, I'm an Aussie and I'll do what I want! the actors were happy posing for photos with fans anyway. the lines were far too long to grab any autographs, so here is a few pics:

Of course the series was not just about Daisy and her short shorts!! It had everything to do with General one! Although today saw many replica cars and of course replicas of the Sheiffif's car!

Oh and yep even buses were in on the act!! We spent close to 2 hours strolling around, there was a heap of food stores, some local produce and merchandise stands.

We headed back towards Feredericksburg with a short stop in the township of Culpeper. It has a few knick knack shops, antique stores and of course the local Inn. We didnt stop there for a drink as the kids were running a bit on the 'feral' side at that point! we did however pick up a couple of bottles of local wines to try out. I will crack mine tomorrow night to celebrate moving into the new house!!! Heres a couple of pics of the country side and town of Culpeper:



It is Monday in Oz right now and I have a friend in hospital about to have her twin girls!! I'm so excited to see some pics and their names of course! Not sure I will be able to sleep tonight!! Also a Big happy birthday to a special friends little girl, Matilda, today. Hope Tassie puts on some sunshine for you xxx

Well a nice big storm is rolling in, thunder, lightening and huge black clouds! I actually went for a quick trip outside and snapped some pics! Its amazing how quickly the weather changes here!

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The house is ours!!!! Time to finally settle in the States :)

So we have had the official go ahead from the powers to be and have signed a lease for the house! Col has been and looked through and is pretty pleased with the result of my finding! We are so super happy and excited to finally move out of this hotel and start our life in Virginia :)
Here are a few pics of the inside!!!!!

He has also finished his 1st course so time to be a family again :) We have busy looking around the local area and shopping galore!!! It is so cheap for things over here and well we have a lovely house to fill now :)

I have found an awesome craft shop called the Hobby Lobby and I am looking forward to many a shopping trips buying stuff and decorate the house for all the seasons and celebrations over here.....when in Rome as they say!!

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I have found us a HOME!!!!!!

4th August 2011

After what seems like months of searching I am sure I have found our new home :) The landlord is a the local vet and seems really lovely. He is keen to have a military family rent his house and it is PERFECT for us!! I have taken a copy of the lease to start the ball rolling. of course Col has not seen it yet, but the owner has agreed to meet us there on Saturday so he can look through :)

So about the house!!! It is a lovely 4 bedroom home, with a study and room in the basement that can be used (and will be) as a guest room. It has a HUGE 10 foot bar and media room with built in speakers and projector tv in the basement! Out on the patio is a nice 8 seat hot tub, perfect for relaxing. The master room is actually a suite!! It has a sitting room and massive ensuite with a bath tub in it....oh and his and hers sinks!! Love it!!

There is a double garage with internal access and both informal and formal living rooms and dining rooms! A gorgeous huge kitchen with granite benchtops and a fridge/freezer with ice maker!

I cant wait for Col to see it!



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Fredericksburg Agriculture Show

Sat 1st August 2011

We headed out for a suprise day for the kids today! We took them to the local Fair! It was cheap to get in and for $18 the kids got an unlimited ride band. There was quite a few rides so well worth the money :)
It was a super hot day again so we took cover under ever shady spot available and just sweltered in the heat while the kids had a ball!
It was 2nd ride in that the boys went on some spinning ride and decided it was so great they would stay on and do it again back to back! Here is the before and after shot!

Needless to say both boys got off feeling and looking a little green! But we ventured on and Mitchell enjoyed a couple of kiddy rides. Korey went solo on a few rides and Rhyce just sat it out, sipping water trying to stop the motion sickness!

We wandered around for a bit and came accross a guy selling name signs for bedrooms. mitchell loved the 'cars' themed one and for $7 we couldnt resist!! I was just about to pay the guy when Rhyce looked at me and said I'm going to spew! with that he started vomitting everywhere. The poor guy had to get a shovel and clean it up, thankfully it was on the grass!!! Mitchell was happy with his ne name sign though :

A great day out but time to head back to the hotel. We were so hot we jumped into the pool to cool off before heading to Dan and Mels for a roast pork feast!

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