The audience look bored. I have no idea why. This lady is a genius! (and the Beatles are pretty cool too)

“Take a sad song and make it better…”

A few weeks ago, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything and life in general and I decided to sit down and take note of the things that had happened over this past year. It was good to think through the defining moments of 2011 and how they have shaped me and made me into a better person. This is more for me than anyone else…but feel free to sneak in and have a peek at my reflections.

January

James & Franchesca get married! An absolutely gorgeous wedding of two beautiful people. I went to school with James and met Franchesca in my last year of school. After moving to Christchurch, I found out that they had met each other and fallen in love. Ohhhhh. So cute!

Leading worship with some fabulous musicians at New Wine Summer Camp in Kaiapoi, Christchurch and sitting under the amazing ministry of Mike Pilavachi. I learned so much from watching him lead and speak.

February

Christchurch suffers a devastating earthquake killing 181 people and damaging the buildings in the central city area to such a degree that it is still closed to the public 11 months on.

I sang at two funerals of quake victims who were members of our church. It was sobering. In the middle of leading the worship song “Hosanna” by Brooke Fraser at one of the funerals, my voice broke and I burst into tears as I realised the significant of worshipping God in the midst of such huge suffering. I managed to get to the end of the song…unfortunately the keyboard suffered some snot damage. Haha!

Some friends and I started decorating the city with colourful hearts featuring quotes and verses on hope. The hearts popped up in news photos and were even featured on the cover of Metropol, a local Christchurch lifestyle magazine.

James & Amy get married! A fun, relaxed wedding of two crazy people. I met Amy at University when we were involved in a musical. We ended up flatting together and then one day Amy decided she wanted to live with boys (we were an all girls flat). One of the boys in the flat she moved into was James. She fell in love with his dreadlocks and hippie van. The rest is history!

June

A friend and I started a book club! Our monthly get-togethers are a highlight for me. Some gorgeous girls have got involved and I’m absolutely loving getting back to the old book-worm I used to be.

July

Following the large amount of seismic activity in early 2011, the decision was made that we wouldn’t be moving back into our church building until some pretty major strengthening was carried out. For me, this meant a huge shift in the way we do things as we have to make use of a number different venues for our church meetings and will continue to do so for at least another year I would think. Changes changes changes. I’m embracing it!

August/September

I traveled to Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand with some friends and got to miss out on the cold New Zealand winter, well at least some of it!

Sam and Ingrid get married! This was a LONG time coming but it finally happened and it was incredibly beautiful. These two amazing friends met each other in New Zealand while studying and are now living in Malaysia. I love how God brings people together in the most beautiful ways.

I got to perform my original song “We Are Free” at REFRESH Chiang Mai in Thailand. That was quite cool! Love what the REFRESH team are doing in Thailand. It was so fun worshipping with them.

October

One of the highlights of my year is our annual Labour Weekend camping trip to Okains Bay. This year we had heaps of fun (like always) and I can’t wait for the next camping trip!

November

Break-ups are not fun.

I traveled to Wellington with my whole family to see my brother perform his final violin recital at Victoria University. We did lots of shopping and had a great time! Special memories.

December

It was a huge privilege to host to Wayne Huirua at our church. It was so exciting to see him work with our music and tech team and then lead worship and speak at our Sunday service. So blessed, encouraged and challenged!

Ben & Laura get engaged! CELEBRATION. These two are great people and I can’t wait to see how God brings them even closer together and uses them to advance His Kingdom.

Our family celebrated Christmas together – just Mum, Dad and the kids. Our first time being together at Christmas with just the 6 of us.

It’s all a bit of a blur…

You’ll notice there are a few gaps in the months and that’s because some of this year has just been crazy manic and I can’t remember a whole lot. Sometimes it’s just been about getting through, waking up every day and doing what you have to do. It seems like quite a few things have fallen apart and not quite gone to plan. I’m learning to make peace with that.

Written in my diary during the year:

You determine the steps of my life and I will not be shaken.

Bring on 2012!

Today I’m joining up with Paisley Jade to give you a sneak peek into the things I’m loving at the moment.

Last night I spent the evening camped out in the living room wrapping gifts, writing cards & making gift tags. This year I’m embracing recycled brown paper as my wrapping paper of choice. Add a little ribbon and a homemade gift tag and you’re sorted! (You can buy recycled brown paper from the craft section at The Warehouse for much cheaper than Christmas paper. It’s better for the environment too!)

Last Wednesday night, there was the most gorgeous sunset ever! I was driving home from a rehearsal and my sister quickly snapped a shot of the sky as we drove. The photo doesn’t really do it justice but it was the perfect finish to a long day.

Loving that my gorgeous friend Lau Kelly is getting hitched! It’s official – she’s off the market guys Congratulations Lau & Ben!

{Alexanda O’Brien Photography}

If you would like to see the beautiful children at Raising Up Hope for Uganda grow up healthy, loved and supported to make a difference in their community, you can! Buy one of these beautiful handcrafted necklaces by emailing me at sweetasnzgirl@gmail.com.

$30 each or 2 for $50

If you want to give a gift that truly keeps on giving – get one (or three) of these cute necklaces that just arrived all the way from Uganda! They are handcrafted by street children living in the outskirts of Kampala and all proceeds will go towards Raising Up Hope For Uganda (RUHU) who provide a safe-house, orphanage and schooling for the children.  The team at RUHU are doing their best to make life better for the kids in their care but they are really living hand to mouth. Every little bit counts.

The necklaces are $30 each or 2 for $50 and we have heaps of different styles and colours to sell! Click here to see more photos.

Reasons why you should buy a necklace:

1. The kids are super cute (okay that’s not really a proper reason but aren’t they gorgeous?!)

2. They worked really hard to make the necklaces themselves so they could raise money for the orphanage and safe-house.

3. The necklaces are even more beautiful in real life than the photos. Serious!

4. Many people tend to support bigger organisations such as World Vision, Oxfam and Compassion (which is what I tend to do as well), but this is a grassroots cause started by a couple of local Ugandan guys who saw a need and were compelled to act. They have big hearts and want to see the vulnerable and marginalised empowered to make a difference in their communities. Inspiring stuff. Let’s help them make it happen.

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If you would like to see these beautiful children grow up healthy, loved and supported to make a difference in their community, you can! Buy one of these beautiful handcrafted necklaces by emailing me at sweetasnzgirl@gmail.com.

1. Mustache Bandaids in Tin $8.50

2. Sticky Notes – Useless Info $4.99

3. Cupcake Toothpaste $10.99

4. Stamp – Thanks For Being… $14.99

5. Magnetic Poetry Kit $29.99

6. Old Time TV Alarm Clock $17.99

7. Monopoly Nintendo Collector’s Edition $99.50

8. Heart Cookie Cutters $6.99

The world will not stop, it will not ruin anybody’s life, you will not lose your standing or your friends or your family if you stop and rest when you need to stop and rest. Sometimes you simply forget that you are not a machine, that you are not a robot, and that you have limitations when it comes to your energy…just like everyone does.

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This is dedicated to my beautiful fighting friend Chrissy. You are loved and you WILL make it through. xx

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To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

Elbert Hubbard