Dustins 2nd Visit to South Africa - Midlands Saddle and Trout

On the 20^th January Mom, Melissa, Hayley and I all went to the airport to pick up Dustin – he arrived at 10:30pm. On the 21^st I took half day at work because we went for our Engagement Photoshoot - our lovely engagement gift from the Brown and Sparg families. It was a lot of fun and I was surprisingly comfortable (I hate photos). Kate (the photographer) told me about a lovely place near Midmar Dam where there was a bridge and stream with rocks etc. when I got there, it was JUST what I had in mind for the scenery I wanted for the shoot.

The first weekend we just stayed at home and did nothing. The Friday night though we went to my Aunts for a braai – DELICIOUS (as always). Saturday we went to watch a bit of cricket (my cousin Shaun plays an awesome game of cricket) and Sunday we just sat around like bums doing nothing.

Monday afternoon Dustin and I left for Midlands Saddle and Trout in Mooi River, it took us 1 ½ hours to get there, we checked in then we had to wait about 1 ½ hours for our unit to be ready… Really boring sitting in the car (because it was raining) with nothing to do but listen to music.

We hardly took any photos this trip, because the weather was really horrible on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so we basically watched movies every day . On Tuesday, Dustin booked me in for a full body massage at the spa at Reception, which was really nice, but my shoulder that was hurting a bit before was even worse after the massage. Wednesday I decided to go for a bit of a drive to see a bit of the Midlands Meander, wasn’t very interesting (LOL). Thursday was nice and sunny and fairly warm (which is when Dustin got so SUNBURNT! Hahahaha), and the first day we got some pics of humans (us). Friday was also a bit sunny but we had to leave early, so we drove back home and again, sat around like bums the whole weekend. On the last Sunday Dustin was here, Hayley, Melissa, Dustin and myself went to watch "Little Fockers" movie.

Here are a few pics of Cricket, Midlands Saddle and Trout, the unit we stayed in and us at movies…

Shaun - Cricket...

 

Midlands Saddle and Trout...

 View from our Unit...

 Horse - right near our unit...

 Grey Horse...

 Another view...

 A pond on the right when you drive into the Resort...

 Biltong Shop in Mooi River...

 A dam I saw on our way to Midlands Meander...

 A little church near the turn off to the Resort...

 Loved the way the sky looked :)...

 When the sun finally came out...

 More horse...

 Our Unit (12A)...

 One of the many cats that walk around begging for food!...

 Dustin and the cat...

 Such a pretty clear day...

 Dustin at the pool...

 Kids play area near the pool...

 Putt Putt (Mini Golf) area near the pool...

 Part of the "Horse Shoe" - they call where the reception, shop etc this because the building is in the shape of a Horse Shoe...

 Area by the pool...

 The beautiful blue sparkling pool...

 Messing around with my camera...

Movies...

Hopefully my next post will be about the preparations and start of my move to the US of A!! :)

 I will never understand Melissas 'wana-be-china' like smiles... LOL

All of us at the movies (Mom didn't want to come with :( )

On Monday the 31st January, 2011, Dustin made his way back to Michigan - I wanted him to courier me some snow, because he was on his way back and on the Wednesday they were expecting a HUGE snow storm... I'm STILL waiting for my snow delivery :D

At the airport...

 Goodbye beloved suitcase... (Mine is the one with the green dots on - duh! :) )

Waiting for his first flight to JHB...

"Perform at Peak, Work at Wow"

This post hasn’t got anything to do with Dustin and I, but I thought my blog is basically about everything and anything and so I wanted to share this with you.

At the moment I work in a really awesome company, the people that work here are great and our boss even greater! While I was away on leave he bought all of us a book he wanted us to read, the book is by Robin Sharma and is called “The Leader Who Had No Title”. To be honest this isn’t the kind of book that I would pick out and read (that’s if I ever read), but I am actually really enjoying it a lot. It is about how you don’t need a title to do well in life – personal and work. It doesn’t matter if you are a street sweeper or a cleaner – you are still very important. Be your own CEOIf you work hard to be the leader of your job you are in and you will go far.

The title of this post is something that stood out to me in this book, and I find it very true. I have also learnt that one should ALWAYS be positive, and always make sure you are surrounded by positive people. I have now made it my mission to get rid of the negative in my life and replace it all with positive - whether it be a person or a thing.

In this book there are four Leadership Conversations :

First Leadership Conversation : You Need No Title to Be A Leader

Second Leadership Conversation : Turbulent Times Build Great Leaders

Third Leadership Conversation : The Deeper Your Relationships, the
                                               Stronger Your Leadership

Fourth Leadership Conversation : To Be a Great Leader, First Become a
                                                Great Person

This is a great read for anyone that wants to look at their job in a new, exciting way.

“We all need to lead where we are planted and shine where we now find ourselves”

“You don’t need a title to show some leadership”

Engagement Shoot - 21/01/2011

As most of you that read my blog (when I have something new to put on) know, Dustin and I were given an Engagement Shoot from the Brown and Sparg families for our Engagement. We could only get them done in January this year because obviously Dustin doesn't stay here. So I booked the 21st January with Kate and we had the shoot. I really love the way she has taken the pictures - she is an amazing photographer!! Here are some of the one's I liked...

I am working on the next post - "Dustins second trip to SA" I just need to get proper internet connection (which will be this weekend) so I can get all the pictures together and edit them etc.

1 month, 1 week and 1 day left today until our 5 month wait for the second notification on the visa application is up!! I'm praying we get it in the middle of March :)