Robyn's Blog

Wednesday 18th July
Major time for an update! ;) Life has been incredibly exciting and busy! Last week Scott and I packed up his Torrensville house. Thanks to Rob (Scott’s wonderful Mum) for the lending hand! Last weekend Wade (Scott’s Groomsman), Jaq (Wade’s Fiancé), Jessie (Scott’s work colleague), Amy (Jessie’s Girlfriend), JB (my brother), Deb and John (my sister and brother-in-law) and Val (my Mum) did a great, very much appreciated job at helping Scott and I move his things into our house!!! VERY EXCITING! So, this past week we have been eagerly unpacking, placing things in their new place and having Scott’s Mum and Dad over for roast dinner! We love our house and can’t wait to show it to you if you haven’t already seen it! Drop Scott or I a SMS and we’ll make a time!! We are eagerly anticipating being there are a newly married couple, making special memories there together, with our family and friends!

But wait… more exciting news… today Scott and I went to Bell & Brunt (the Jewellery store where Scott designed my Engagement ring) and saw the lovely June. “Ready to look at Wedding Ring?” “You Bet!” Scott and I both looked at a few together to get an idea of what we liked, found and ordered The Rings! We love them! We are so excited about what they mean for us individually and together. It’s funny; as a girl growing up, I (like probably 99% of girls) had a fascination with rings, always noticing them on ladies, in catalogues, store windows (Tom I haven’t forgotten your promise to buy to whole Gawler Jewellery store for me when you were desperately trying to tear your little sister away from the glistening rings in the window) … and I have always wondered ‘what will my Engagement and Wedding rings look like?’ Scott did the BEST job ever at designing my Engagement ring – I love it so much and for so many reasons it is better than ANY ring that I have ever seen or imagined it to be. Also because I now truly understand what it is to be given a ring by The One I love. Anyway, I’ll try to cut down on the mushy stuff… what can I say… I’m in LOVE! I can’t help it! But I do realise my brothers are probably vomiting by now, or have stopped reading… na, I know they are so happy for Scott and I! But yeah, it was exciting to be standing there, Scott alongside me, looking at Wedding Rings! So exciting to think about our journey thus far. We are eagerly anticipating the day where we make our vowels to one another and exchange The Rings. Whooo….so exciting, overwhelming, special!

Scott and I would really like to apologise for not getting our Engagement Party Thank You’s out to you before this! Last night we had a lovely time reminiscing over our special day – we looked at photos and all our beautiful cards collected in our book, re-reading them. It is so nice to have them all to think of you by, and to read your lovely messages and words of love and support of us both. As I’m sure you appreciate, buying, selling, moving house, wedding planning, work, special family and friend time, have helped time pass quickly, and we have been flat out – but both agree that we would not change a single moment of it!! We are loving life together and love watching it continually unfold. Our Thank You’s are just about in the post ;)

On with the wedding plans!

Thought for the Day:

“Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans” – John Lennon.

Laugh, love and dance like no one is watching – that’s what I say!! AMEN!

Monday 28th May (Engagement Party!)
What an incredible Engagement Party!! The weather was just perfect, only a few wispy white clouds in the stunning blue sky, but more importantly – how special it was to have special family and friends surrounding us out of love and support towards Scott and I. I know that we have used this term so often, but it is so true, that Scott and I just feel so blessed to have had THE most amazing Engagement Party – it was all that we could have ever asked for and more! We had family fly in from Wagga Wagga, Whyalla, Melbourne that we were aware of, and people who drove from near and far.

We again would like to say another BIG thank you to family and close friends who helped make salads, platters and picked up our Engagement Cake: we had so much yummy food and heaps of left overs and even more food in reserve; so thank you again for your generosity and help. I would like to thank Ralph (Scott’s Dad, and Val (my Mum) for their funny, touching and sincere speeches. Thank you again Robyn and Ralph for your wide and accepting arms, and to beautiful Lou, Scott’s lovely sister. Yay! Scott and I are so excited about sharing and extending our families!

On the thank you list, I want to thank God (and of course his parents!) for my amazing fiancé – the one that has truly captured my heart and makes it sing: with each and every passing day I fall deeper and deeper in love with you my one true love, and I love sharing life with you.
 

Tuesday 24.4.07
Tonight we are doing Home Loan paper work! (And check out the date! 2 months after our Engagement!)  Pretty exciting stuff hey! Life, need I say it, has been an awesome whirlwind of exciting moments. Scott and I feel so blessed to be sharing such an amazing life together. Don’t get me wrong, we do know that life may not always be chipper and perfect, but we are enjoying, and humbly accepting, our blessings. We have, and know that we have what it takes to work through our issues together.

Saturday 21.4.07
Seona and Xavier had their Engagement Party – awesome night! It was really special to share in this very special time with them :) 

Friday 20.4.07
Signed the paper work! :)All systems a go! 

Thursday 19.4.07
We have the house!! Yay! :) Today Deb Tucker phoned Scott and I to inform us that our offer has been accepted!! Tonight the poor boy was required to work late (isn’t he a trouper!) so we celebrated in Scott’s office over Subway and Quiche – we did have a bottle of Rose, but decided it best saved for when Scott wasn’t working – you should be proud of Scott’s professionalism John (Scott’s boss) I couldn’t persuade him otherwise – just kidding!!

(You can tell that I am on school holidays! I haven’t blogged consecutive days this much… ever! :)

Wednesday 18.4.07
Today Mum and I went to inspect THE dress together to see what she thought. We had a really lovely girlie day out, which we haven’t done for, well, since Hall Ball. Mum was really happy that I had taken the girls to find it, implying that I am painful to dress show with, and I admit that I can be indecisive at times so that’s why shopping with the girls was so good. Anyway, she loved the dress too :)  I am very blessed in that when my Grandma Mackay passed away, she left me money to put towards my wedding dress. So, she too will be a special part of our day :) I put down the deposit on the dress, and it is being made as you read this!  Later tonight Scott and I are going to inspect the house at Maslin Beach, with the intent of putting forward an offer. We are confident that if it is meant to be, then it will happen. If not, then the good Lord has something even better in stall for us!! :)

Monday 16.4.07
I think that I’ve found THE dress!! Last night Seona and I had three of our wonderful friends that we work with at Tatachilla, Hannah, Michelle and Caroline come around and we had a ‘Hooray, we are on holidays!’ party and sleepover. This morning, we had pancakes for breakfast and then set off to go Wedding Dress shopping!! :) Very exciting! It was awesome to be going with such a great group of friends and two of my three wonderful bridesmaids (can’t wait to see you Susy in USA - counting down the days!)

The first shop that we went to was Unforgettable Bridal on Marion Road, and did we have fun! I selected a few dresses, and then the girls basically passed me dresses to try on, and I was in and out of about 9 dresses within about 20 minutes. We all liked particular aspects of the dresses, but nothing really jumped out at us as being ‘me’. So… the next store Seona, Caroline and I journeyed to was Jenny and Gerry’s off Payneham Road. Wow – what an amazing range or dresses! While talking to Scott on the phone re: putting in an offer for a house that we had seen only the day before at Maslin Beach, the girls had set off to work and had found three dresses which I tried on. The first was nice, second not quiet the right style but was good to try, and third, we really liked and decided that we would stick with that style. Then the Store Assistant (Santina) who was just lovely and I highly recommend, found an assortment of dresses in that particular style and amongst them we found THE Dress! Prior to this dress, we had liked aspects of all the others, but this one, all three of us just loved every thing about it. Just to make sure, I tried on a few others after, but I found myself comparing them to THE Dress, so I knew that we had a winner. I put it on again, and the longer I left it on, the more I fell in love with it. I would tell you more, but … well, we don’t want to take the surprise away from Scott and  ... you’ll just have to wait and see!!! :) Te hee :)  

Our Journey Continues....
Scott and I have been on the most incredible journey!! Within a week of being Engaged, we have finalized the Church that we would like to be married at and the Reception place! It is funny how your ideas change and your life circumstances can point you in wonderful directions that you hadn’t previously considered.  

Prior to meeting one another, Scott and I had both imagined being married in a beautiful old church, maybe a Cathedral. But we both quickly came to the conclusion that really, we wanted to be married somewhere that actually meant something to the both of us. Ideally, we would have loved to be married at the church that we attend, St. Paul’s Lutheran here in McLaren Vale, but unfortunately we have come to the conclusion that it would not be able to fit all our wonderful family and friends!! So, the next place which has significant meaning to us is Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Aberfoyle Park, where we have attended services with friends, Christmas and Easter plays and where I have been a bridesmaid for my dear friend Bernita. We are both very excited about this decision and it just felts right for us. Another special aspect of being married here is that we know that going to Our Saviour will not just be a once off, isolated time, and that coming here in the years to come will be a special reminder to us of our special day.    

When thinking about where to have our Reception, we thought about places not too far away from the church, and somewhere that was ‘us’. We have been very blessed in knowing such lovely, helpful people. Some Year 2 parents actually own and work at the Willunga Golf Course. Out of curiosity I mentioned that we had a wedding coming up in September and would they have this day available. They did (!) which in itself is awesome because they are usually booked out from September to April. Scott and I arranged to have a look, but also kept an open mind, taking a look at St Francis Winery in Reynella as well as Hardy’s in Reynella. They were both very nice places, but they weren’t quiet what we were looking for. During this week, Tina (the Mum of Zac in Yr 2 who owns/works at Willunga Golf Course) brought me in some info about the Golf Course, and it sounded just what Scott and I were looking for – a lovely, friendly, venue. Tina’s family has been in the wedding industry for 25 years, and they were just so helpful in providing us with the right kind of information. When Scott and I went there to check it out, we were both very impressed with the surrounds. We caught up with Tina, who again was just delightful and extremely accommodating. And then it happened… we tasted the food! Mmm, mmm, mmm! People, are you in for a treat! Damien, the Chef, was actually one of the Chef’s in the kitchen of Greedy Goose, which was the South Australian Restaurant that won ‘My Restaurant Rules!’ For Scott, he just “put together” a Vegetarian Pasta dish, which Scott claimed to be “the best Vegetarian Pasta that I have ever had!”, and for me, I chose from the menu the Warm Chicken Salad. Let me just say, that being a bit of a Warm Chicken Salad coinsure, I was extremely impressed, and the chicken was by far THE most succulent chicken that I have ever tasted! We were overall just totally impressed with the whole package. We knew then and there that we had found the place, but decided to sleep on it to make sure that we weren’t being impulsive. The next day was one week, from our Engagement, and we booked it!

Robyn's Amazing Weekend
I just can’t stop thanking God for the most incredible weekend of my entire life! He is so faithful, my creator and fulfiller of dreams, and His plans for our lives are truly AWESOME and beyond our wildest dreams! This is how our weekend unfolded…

On Friday night I had a sleepover at Scott’s house. Before going to sleep, I said to Scott, “Something special is going to happen tomorrow.” I just had this most incredible hope, joy, love and peace in my heart.

Saturday morning, Scott had told me that we were catching up with his friends David and Anetta. As I ironed our ‘bush walking’ clothes, I had a spark of hope inside me. Scott was very keen that we leave his house at 10.15. As we drove in the car Scott said that he wanted to use his GPS because he had missed it after having it returned to him from TJ and Hayley. Scott said that David and Anetta lived in Urrbrae, so when we hit the freeway, I said ‘Gee, David and Anetta live a long way out of town’… I was hoping, but didn’t want to presume too much just in case!

As we drove through the beautiful Upper Sturt bush land, we talked about how lovely it was. Scott came to some no through roads, and kept turning until we came to a dirt track. I turned to Scott and said ‘Where are we?’ ‘Are we meeting David and Anetta here?’, to which Scott smiled. It was a horse trail property! We were going horse riding! After we pulled up, Scott asked me if I wanted to go look at the horses while he asked about payment. (refer to Scott's blog here!) I realized why the place looked so familiar! I had brought a group of international students from Flinders here on a horse trial riding about 4 years earlier. Scott was given a horse called Lou Lou to ride, and I was given Sledge. It was awesome riding along! Such a perfect day! Blue sky, white fluffy clouds. We went though a top paddock and then a lower paddock which had koalas, Wonderer Butterflies(!), a hut, and a lake and I tried not to notice the table with a red rose and blue plastic glasses. After the creek, we were asked if we would like to dismounted, which I though a little unusual, because we didn’t on the last trial ride. But I hopped off and helped Scott off. He then said to me ‘Horse riding isn’t the only surprise that I had planned to today. Would you like to come with me? I took his hand, and he led me to a lake. He was glowing, and I could tell composing himself. He then said to me ‘On Monday night I went down to Goolwa to see you Mum, and to receive her blessing’ (to which I thought… this IS it!! He then got down on one knee, looked up at me and said ‘Will you marry me?’ to which I said ‘Yes, of course I will marry you!’ He then put the most amazing ring on my finger! I was just blown away – better that I could have imagined! So beautiful, and special because it was given to me by my best friend, soul mate, my true love!

We continued our horse ride, and I got to canter Sledge through the countryside. This was just the beginning of an incredible weekend, that Scott and I will always cherish!