…so I am going to keep my photography over here: http://curiousephemera.com/ still adjusting to how I should use the site, whether I keep it really specific or treat it more like a general photo blog. Thoughts welcome.

This is not a paid advertisement (but, hey a free pair of shoes wouldn’t go amis!)

Just would like to applaud this website: Shoe Metro. I just bought a pair of Keen boots for a very reasonable price, they took all of 3 days to get to me and they fit perfectly. Postage was approximately $35 (to Australia). They have a  wide range of good quality brands with a variety of sizes (limited depending on the shoe). Being size 6.5-7 is a good thing in the shoe world.

After a long period of buying cheap shoes I have worked out that it is not worth my while, so am endeavoring to change. It is both better on the wallet in the long run and better for sustainability.

So the Keens are super.

The problem is, now I’m eyeing off these ones.

Or in red. I can’t decide. They are both lovely. And if I buy another pair now Geoff will get angry They’re only $20 each! Pity that postage isn’t free or I would be there!

As you would know (if you read this blog – despite the fact that I seem to post quite infrequently) I am working at Blick Creative full time as a designer. This post is mostly to mark how much I am enjoying it, despite this week being a lot of simply learning the ropes. The people are great, the studio is lovely and the work is varied and fun. In terms of it being a Saturday, it appears the slightly earlier start (and probably the happy-stress of newness) has caught up with me and I am quite exhausted. It will be lovely to get into a proper routine.

Geoff and I were talking the other day about how since we got married 2 and a half years ago we have:

• Lived in three different houses
• Moved from the East to the North (of Melbourne)
• Geoff has had 3 jobs (Including a career change)
• I have had 3 jobs (plus freelancing)
• I have completed my uni degree
• Geoff has been on teaching intensive and has also done some additional study at Tabor
• Two family weddings
• Two family funerals
• Overseas trip to the Solomons
• Three churches (YVV, Ranges, Missio Dei)

Not all these things have been bad, infact on the whole they’ve been a step in a direction toward the better. But we are fairly tired and are both looking forward to some kind of vague stability for a while.

So here we are. Perhaps we’ll have a holiday in New Zealand later in the year, but besides that we’re probably staying put even if you try to drag us. Lets think about actually living for a while.

I will share how I’ve recovered the lovely footstool shortly… I have a second one ready to go.

This is a slightly edited version of the ‘Year in Review’ email I sent out today:

Dear Friends,

2009 is just about up, as I stop to reflect on what the year has been I thought I’d deviate from the usual blog post and use the rapidly aging art of email, while indulging the use of the universally accepted pdf.

2009 has seen Geoff and I through our second year of marriage – which despite popular opinion is not the most difficult. Marriage is excellent, I would recommend it to most. It requires much of self, but is rewarding and fun!

As we wind up the year we’ve managed to sneak in some truly interesting last minute changes. Late in the year Geoff decided that a career in IT was not so fulfilling and investigated what it would take to become a teacher. He discovered an initiative called Teach For Australia, (Which is in it’s pilot year), applied, got through their rigorous interview process and is now in the middle of a 6 week intensive before he is placed in a Secondary School (Mill Park Secondary) to teach IT and hopefully eventually Maths at the start of 2010 school year. This means that we’ve had to make the move from the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne to the North.

The week before Christmas we moved to suburb called ____, the area is perhaps not as pretty as out East but the house we are in is a winner. We are renting off Geoff’s parents which makes life much easier (and means I can put pictures on the wall!) it also has the added bonus of air-con and a dishwasher. Being about an hour from where we were means that we will have to find a new church community as Ranges Vineyard in Olinda is sadly too far. We have some contacts out this way but have yet to investigate!

2009 has seen me graduate from my Communication Design degree. (Graduate Exhibition photo to the left). It was a ripper last year at uni, I really enjoyed myself and made a few new lovely friends. I am now in the process of finding a ‘real’ job while temporarily freelancing.

Other enjoyable things in 2009 have been:

-    My sister Hannah getting engaged to Daniel Nixon
-    Starting a bookclub (Penguin Classics!)
-    Further involvement in Soul Survivor Melbourne
-    ‘Friends for Dinner’ (The appalling name we’ve given to a small group of us who meet up fortnightly to chat about God and life over dinner and with wine of course)
-    Some great holidays and times with friends
-    Being a bridesmaid for my friend Samantha
-    Discovering Terry Pratchett novels (My life is complete)

As I look back to the first blog post I wrote in January about ‘Idealutions and Resolutions’ it seems like I’ve made very reasonable progress with most of what I’d intended. I am surprised. The year, although rife with highlights has felt somewhat slow, there has been a rather large murky endpoint to it all which has overshadowed things at times despite being simultaneously exciting and intriguing.

We would appreciate prayer as we launch into so many new things. As we find and start new jobs, settle in to a totally different suburb, make new
friends and find a new community.

Farewell 2009, we hope yours was as good, we would love to hear from you.

Love Bec & Geoff