Silent Retreat at Loyola Hall - shhhhh

The Gates looked surprisingly welcoming as two wearyish travellors arrived after a long day at work and a semi long drive, closed as they were and the rain pouring down, it seemed a fitting start to the four days we would spend here, coming from a noisy traffic and pollution filled environment, to a quiet (actually quiet doesn't entirely capture it... still and silent are slightly better). yet welcoming home for a few days. An oasis of tranquility amongst the cacophany of sounds and attention grabbers that is modern England. So after a hurried fumble in the wet, with codes to open the gates we were allowed to enter.

Our God is a God of surprises... the first being that we didn't get to share a room, the second that despite my earnest searching for a Jesuit retreat, i got the only retreat director that wasn't a Jesuit... the third being my assumption that female retreatants would be with a female director and vice versa. After a quiet chuckle to myself about the thought that I had come 'without expectations' i settled in to just enjoy whatever was in store...

Which was pretty much a whole load of still and peaceful times. Getting re-acquainted with the self and recognising where God was dwelling within... in which thoughts, in which desires, hopes, dreams etc.

Great food (and enough to make even the mega-monastra appetite shudder at the thought of another meal... already?), Walks and runs around the grounds (Ok, So i ventured a little further afield for one run - had to see what was outside the gates in the light of day...) Art work amid the maze of corridoors running here there and everywhere around the building, And an art room complete with clay to use for sculpting, A variety of spectacularly different prayer rooms, Sculptures placed around the grounds in various wee prayer grottos and things, various mystical and magically secret gardens hidden in the fog...

In fact the fog that descended for our last couple of days there deserves special mention of it's own. Very cool, as i hope you can appreciate from these pics...

So what did i ponder? Well, it being advent, i was thinking of christmas... given that is the season of the Birth of Jesus, i was thinking of one of the first places I encountered 'Jesus' as a child, both in my family, and in my first childhood church. I opened my eyes at the end of that thought and gazed around me at the chapel i was sitting in... And was astounded to note many of the same architectural features of that first church of my memory pane, in the chapel i was sitting in, half a world away... The Jesus in the little red glass, the tall windows, the kinda random stained glass, the stations of the cross set into recessed panels (though I realise they are wooden recessed panels in Holy Cross Church, Miramar), it also had the high ceilings with recessed downlights. Quite extraordinary i thought.

Then as I was walking through the gardens i came across this:

which made me think of this:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
wo roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Perhaps my most lasting memory of high school english... which i thoroughly enjoyed and should perhaps have looked further into... but which naturally leads on to thinking about decisions made in the past, and decisions to make in the near future...

Anyway, was a thoroughly good time for us both.

God Bless you, wherever your thoughts and decisions take you!

A Night out English Style!

Well here's evidence that although we're not great socialites over here we do get out every once in a while!


Firstly the Ryan's Christmas work do. We went to a great restaurant called Le Bistrot Pierre. We'd been there once before and it was fab. A great night with lots of laughter. A little too much wine - except for the pregnant one that is. Don't you think Ryan should join me by not having a drink for the next 7 months?? Common support please...

Cheese! - Ryan and I (no duh!)

The crew(from the left): Steve (another kiwi!), Sally, Joe, Kate,

Jen, Phil, Lisa, Ryan, Mez

A reward will be given to the individual who comes up with the best caption for this one!

Another GREAT evening out was to a 30th Birthday party of a guy called Ewen from church. He decided to be a little different and have an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery Party! Never heard of it but it was good fun and a great way to get people mingling when you've got a bunch of people from different social groups. I think you can get guides off the internet on how to play the game - warning it is quite involved but well worth the effort.

We were each given characters prior to the evening so you had an idea as to how to dress up.

so this is Mez in Ryan's hat (Poser!)




The Guy on the left got a bottle of vino for his efforts (best dressed).

Ry was 'Jules Bond', a privately paid and 'debonair' spy there to get plans for a secret government weapons thingy magingy, then hire a paid assassain to kill off his informant. Mez was 'Elsie Earnapenny' the local guide leader, innocent and sweet yet with a suspicious bag of white powder, which she sold for the measely sum of $10,000. Earnapenny eh? Innocent eh? bet none of you picked her for a wheeler stealer, cocaine dealer! Ridiculous! Great fun though and great way to get random people mixing. Other than the guy who's birthday it was (and his wife) the most people that knew each other was 5, out of about 40-50 or so that were there which was actually kinda cool. So got to meet some randoms which was fun, though I think he girl i tried to get assasainated was a little miffed that i had used her for information and tried to get her killed... In my defence, I was only doing what the little piece of paper said I had to... (i'm sure that's what some of those Nazi chaps said right?)


Like I said, all good fun!

It's Christmas time!!

I finally convinced Ryan that we need to get a bit festive.

So we've got a Christmas tree. Ok so it's a little pathetic but I love it!!

Thanks to Sam my nephew we even have an angel on top of the Christmas tree (THANKS SAM!) - ok so it's almost half the size of the tree itself but it doesn't matter. It's Christmas and it's going to be GREAT!!!

Why my husband comes home each night

Enough said!

(oh and there is the simple fact that he's madly i love with me!)

WEDDINGS OF THE YEAR!!

We may be a little behind on blogging these major events. The reason for our trip home being all the more exciting!

Our thanks to Mikaela and John deciding that they didn't want a long engagement and would get married a week after Damian and Michelle just so we could make both weddings. Very grateful as it would have been extremely hard to choose between them.

First up Damian and Michelle.

So exciting to see my big brother get married. I still remember the day we were meeting up with him one night in Tauranga and he got a phone from a mysterious female and was reluctant to divulge any information. But to be honest he didn't need to. Whoever that girl was she had something on my brothers heart cos he definitely had that sparkle in his eye.

Her name - Michelle Dimock. One funky, fun loving chic who make my brother a very happy boy. Have thought she was great since the day we met her.

Enough said.

So their big day Nov 4th. Will leave the photos to paint the picture that words never can on such a day.

A great end to the evening with the Wellington Harbour Fireworks display lighting up the sky.

Second up John and Mikaela

John's family are from a place called Cooktown somewhere in the wop wops of Australia. They met in Sydney both working for Kerygma Team (Catholic branch of Youth With A Mission).

John's a good guy, good sense of humour and honourable man.

After tackling the struggles of organising a wedding from across the Tasmen (and a supa organised mum) it all worked out just fine. A spectacular day yet again!

They've headed back to Aus and are living in Cairns. Looking forward to seeing them and spending more time with them next Christmas.

And that's the weddings in a nut shell. Sorry guys it doesn't really do your special days justice. Was a privilage to be there and celebrate along with you.

Every blessing in the years ahead. We look forward to seeing you next Christmas. By then you'll have already celebrated your 1st Wedding Anniversary!!