Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Amazing Quote

We had an annual meeting yesterday for my firm and it was to go over all the things we had planned for last year and to see if we'd achieved them and to also go through the goals and things coming up for our next year. It was actually really cool and we all left feeling REALLY excited about being a part of our company and what things we have planned. One thing that was amazing was that our firm is about 6 years old, for the first 2 years we made combined losses of over $1million. This last financial year our revenue was over $5million. I can't remember the profit amount but it was in the millions. How amazing is that? In a massive recession we had a 25% increase in profit from the previous financial year. I think it's safe to say we're doing really well.

At the end, one of the board members, David Brown, stood up and did a bit of a summary ending and part of it was that he read a quote that was made about 160 years ago. He said it applied so well to the economy and our firm but I think it's bigger then that.


"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) -

I really love that quote. It made me think of a few things, including, how Charles Dickens, 160 years ago, thought their time was just a terrible age, and now we are thinking that the things happening in our age are terrible and life back then must have been pretty simple.

Also that you can have 2 people looking at the exact same thing and they see different things depending on their attitudes. Some see it as great, others see it as "the winter of despair".

Lastly, that a man born almost 200 years ago can be still so relevant to our thinking right now.

So what I'm taking from it is to think about how I look at things. Is what I'm seeing actually bad or is it just my attitude? For example, I hate how I look, I'm fat and pale and just not nice. But I am loved. By a lot of people. So when I look at me I should see a person who is good and loved, not a whale with legs.

And instead of seeing how evil and cruel the world is to each other I should look and see the people who help when you need it the most. Like the people passing when my flatmate had a car accident that came and helped her and waited with her.

And so tell me reader(s)....what are the good things in our world? Ignoring all the bad and painful things...what is good in our world, your life and your day?

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Can you believe it??

Can you believe that this little one....



...is now this little one....

...and she's turning one!!

Yes that's right.

Happy Birthday Annie Rose for tomorrow!

Various pics from my phone

Every now and then I see something pretty cool but don't have my big flash camera with me and so I have to take a pxt on my phone so here's a few for your viewing pleasure:

Rabbit Island near Nelson:


Beautiful blossom near Coalgate:


A random article in a paper I found when on a train home when I was in Brisbane:


A sign on the bus to the airport in Beijing, China:

I still don't get it!!

In Cambodia...do I sit or not???:


Same place in Cambodia. A for apple, B for baby...so far so good...wait....K for....???

(It's K for kitten by the way but that's not what I first thought either!)

Again in Cambodia, in a restaurant...we ordered it but it didn't come with a Cambodian!


On my flight from Christchurch to Melbourne. Amazing!

Sleepover at Aunty and Uncles

For Reubens birthday present we had him over to be the first person to stay in the spare room at our new house.

First we played some xbox


Then we had fish and chips (as requested)


After a nice shower we were stoked to find Uncle Tahu was home


So we had some quiet time with him before bed


The next morning we baked a really yummy chocolate cake (again as requested)


All in all it was a good present me thinks, even if he did ask the next morning when he was getting his gift!!

Pheonix Match with Deb and Ruby

While Tahu and Dad had corporate box tickets, Deb, Reuben and I slummed it in the new Deans Stand at AMI stadium and had a blast! Note how we're all in yellow?? Yes we're true supporters :)








Work trip to Nelson

At the beginning of March my work sent me up to Nelson and Motueka for 2 nights. On the way to catch my flight home I stopped to take some pictures of the beautiful view and of course the beautiful car I was driving! 2010 Holden Cruze, so amazing to drive, since then it's been recalled by Holden! Never mind, I had fun!









Trip to Melbourne

Tahu and I went to Melbourne for 4 nights recently to visit my big brother Jem, his wonderful partner Eva and of course a few of our good friends. While we were there Jem and Tahu did a bit of recording and here's some of my favourite pictures from it.






Oh and we made a stop at Ikea and somebody was tired and took a quick nap in one of the showrooms:

Time for a catchup

It's been a while since I put up some photos that I took and so it's time to have a catch up. First off, the wee girl I live with. She's just turned 10 months and is just so cute: