Our blogger's challenge was started by C. in Oz at In an Opal Hearted Country. I've been remiss in introducing her and thought I might do it today... I've been following C. in Oz for quite some time now and really enjoy her writing.
So today is Day Ten of our challenge and it's a photo prompt. That's all the challenge mentioned, so NO RULES! Yeah!
At first I was thinking that I could go out and take some pictures and talk about the scenery around my new suburb (well, sort of new...) But I've been feeling sorry for myself all day. Why? Who knows? This stupid search for employment is full of ups and downs for me. I got a call from another recruiter today. This guy actually said to me that I was overpaid in my last position. Wow! Really? I happen to think I'm worth it. But I digress.
I've decided that since I'm missing my family, I'm going to post pictures of them because I don't think I've introduced them to my blogging audience yet. (The photos are in a weird order because I haven't figured out yet how to change the order and work with them... )
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| Parker |
Parker is the second and youngest child of my best friend, Kristy. Parker was born on February 16, 2011. I still remember the day. I feel like I didn't get nearly enough time with him before I had to leave...
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| Theresa, Jorge and me |
This photo is from Jorge's graduation. Jorge is my youngest brother. We were all so proud of him. There are many years between us. Jorge was born when I was 11. Theresa was born when I was 13. I love them both more than I can say.
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| Jorge with our mom :) |
I miss my mom. I remember when I was still in the states, we would get on the phone and stay on the phone for HOURS. We would just lose track of time. What did we talk about? Who the hell knows. LOL! Everything. Nothing. Every time something happens in my life, I always think first that I have to talk to mom. After moving to Sydney, we moved to the suburb of Kirribilli. I would walk to work every day across the Harbour Bridge. It took me about 45 minutes to walk to Starbucks. I called her about twice a week. Now that I have to take the train, I never get to talk to her as much as I should...
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| Cricket and Gunnar years ago on our deck |
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| Gunnar, Jennifer (mom) and Cricket |
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| Reason |
Gunnar, Cricket and Reason are my sister-in-law's children. Gunnar was born on June 3, 2001. Cricket was born on September 12, 2006. Reason was born on September 2, 2010. We haven't had much time to spend with them, but we love buying gifts for them. Especially Cricket! There's nothing on this planet like an excited Cricket. :)
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| My brother, Stephen, with his two girls: Lauren and Victoria |
The girls are much older now. My brother chooses to keep his distance from us a lot. Don't ask why. Not sure I even understand. Victoria is my god-daughter. She is now 16 years old. Lauren is now 14 years old.
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| My father-in-law and mother-in-law |
Dad and Mum Smith! LOL! Mum has been so supportive to me. She reads my blog every day. It's so nice to know that I'm talking to someone... :)
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| Jorge and his bride, Kristen |
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| Riley and Abigail |
Theresa's first two babies. There are no words for the love in my heart for these girls. And my little sister is an AWESOME mom. Riley was born on October 4, 2008. Abigail was born on April 22, 2010. They are beautiful and completely twisted around my finger!
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| Yvonne, Stephen and me at Stephen's wedding |
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| Emma |
Kristy's first child, Emma was born on July 15, 2009. I remember this day, too. I was so glad that she had a little girl. And just look at that gorgeous child! I miss her so much. I miss eating "orange titten" with her. I miss the great food that Kristy used to cook for all of us... OMG!
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| Abigail and Riley again... I'm obsessed |
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| Abigail - GORGEOUS! |
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| Riley is growing up too fast. |
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| And introducing Charlie Kate |
Tee just gave birth to her third daughter, Charlie Kate on January 13, 2014 at 12:56pm. She was 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long. I still haven't met her. Don't want to talk about it.
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| My dad and stepmom |
There has been quite a bit of loss on this side of my family in the past year or so. It hasn't been easy. First, my sister Yvonne died in October 2012. She was younger than me, so this was pretty hard to deal with. She has two kids, Brittany and Alex. My stepmom's mother just died a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to deal with things like this, but I suppose that is just a natural part of life as you get older.
Beautiful photos. Thanks for introducing us to some of the special people in your life. I'm so sorry for you losses, and I do hope this week brings some good news on the job front. Like you, I really appreciate that my mother-in-law reads all of my posts :).
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of beautiful children in your life. I'm sorry to hear about the losses. It's always hard as it is and I think more so as an expat if you can't be there. It's probably my single biggest worry, that there will be an emergency or sudden death back at home and I wouldn't be able to be there.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed you photos and all the cute kiddos. Gotta say, that was pretty darn bold of the recruiter to tell you that you were overpaid in your last role. Lol. They just want to pay you as little as they possibly can so they can keep a bigger cut for themselves. :/ Job hunting can be sooo depressing, I hear ya. ((((Hugs)))) Death is certainly a part of life, unfortunately, that doesn't really make it easier ((((Hugs))))
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