Nothing like the Present

Presents. Split it into two and you got pre-sents, which suggests things you send to someone beforehand - ironic considering what 'in the present' means. Why am I analysing vocabulary? I don't know but it's Christmas Eve so all in the spirit of Christmas :)!

In the holidays, a few friends and I decided to try out the annual Myer Gift Wrap, which supported Vision Australia this year.

What is Myer Gift Wrap? Basically in every Myer store, there was a charity gift wrap counter where customers could get their gifts wrapped. Depending the size (and how pretty they thought we wrapped!), we suggested a donation and they could chose to pay that. If not, they could pay whatever they could afford, so the great thing about it was there was no pressure.

All the money went to aiding children with vision problems to help them lead normal lives. To volunteer for this, I had to attend a training session where a lady really put it in perspective.

"Imagine" she said quietly, "if you had never seen somebody use a fork before. How would you know how to hold it?"

"How would you be able to eat like everybody else? How would you ever fit in?"

It made me value my ability to see a little more. And try as we might, I don't think anyone of us can ever imagine what it would be like to have the same dreams, insecurities and worries that we teens have.

Only you also live in darkness.

We also were specially trained to wrap the queerest things. I won't give away the secrets, but there ARE ways to wrap giant teddy bears and lumpy toys.

To the actual event - I had two five-hour shifts after I got back from NZ which sounded pretty scary to me. But everything surprised me. Some smilelights:

=) Every customer gave us a donation of something. Most customers handed us notes and then with a cheery smile, told us to keep the change.

=) The gorgeous wrapping itself! I think you all know I'm not the best person to wrap gifts - Let's just say they don't survive the process. But with all that practice, I got good enough that Nayoung Lee complimented, "Hey, that's not half bad." I know, amazing!

=) Meeting Laily, the new girl that had her shift with us. She was very nice and very, very good at tying ribbons.

=) The fact that there was a free gift wrapping service right outside myers, but people still chose to come to our charity gift wrap. Maybe they didn't know, but I'm sure some people made the choice. That inspires me.

All in all, it was a great experience. Definitely next year if you have the time, or you have an incredible eye for gift wrapping, do it.

For some more information on Vision Australia and what it does (there's a very endearing picture of a child on the homepage), visit http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/

And now it's 4 minutes to Christmas by my clock! Merry Christmas everybody, keep safe and happy!

And remember, Happiness Equals Bracket =)

What Makes YOU Smile?

Since Bella and I are going to New Zealand tomorrow (very very very very excited!) I've decided I'll leave you guys on a high note. This post was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend. Enjoy!

Ten Things That Make Lindy Smile

1. Funny people/things. They make me laugh, which is like a prolonged smile. =)

2. Baking at 2am in the morning. Or at 10pm at night. Or at… you get the drift. If I could, I would even bake at 1pm during the day. But we all know what time that is… LUNCH TIME!! I’m kidding, its actually school time. Stay in school, kids.

3. Having a really really good conversation. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that make you smile and laugh and look like a crazy person. Yeah, those ones. =)

4. Re-reading cards and messages. Sometimes, when I’m feeling down, I’ll re-read birthday/xmas cards. They never fail to leave me with a smile goofily plastered on my face. Yes, I’m not ashamed to admit it. My smiles are indeed goofy.

5. When someone remembers some small, insignificant, trivial thing I said.

6. Finding a really good story… and then staying up till 6am in the morning to finish reading it. There's just something satisfying and triumphant about it.

7. Don’t judge me on this one but… when chemical equations are already balanced. I'm sure this needs no explanation.

8. Being complimented. Its true. I'm prone to flattery.

9. Cute little messages. Post-it's are my preferred medium but I'm not picky really. =P

10. Chilling. Just pure, unadulterated chilling.

And that's my list!

So, tell me, what makes you smile? It can be anything - from friends to tacos to peeing when you really need to go - we wanna know!

Bella and I shall be back in 11 days time, hopefully with lots of photos and exciting stories for you guys. In the meantime, make your own list of smile-inducing indulgences and, whenever you need a smile, you can just refer to it. Handy dandy, right?

And always remember... Happiness Equals Bracket =)

The Colour Purple

Did you know that a strange thing that happens in December? No, Lindy and I don't start dancing and pulling out the moves in public - we actually do that every week haha :D But the strange thing is the streets are invaded, the pathways overhung and the lawns strung and not many people notice at all. Which worries me - what happens if a zombie invasion decides to happen D:?

Luckily the thing that's taken over our streets isn't a brain-sucking monster. It's something very different - the jacaranda tree.

Until now, I've barely noticed this tree. Why would I? It's ugly (I'm sorry xD), nondescript and they all look very boring in their non-flowering form. Nobody really picks out jacarandas in the rest of year.

But come summer, suddenly you can't walk fifty metres without a purple branch raining flowers on your head - no joke! Everywhere you walk there's purple littered on the ground and honestly, I think it's beautiful.

I've noticed the trees are sometimes completely different - black trunk, white trunk, skinny branches, fat branches, you name it. But they all have the same gorgeous purple flowers. Some people find them annoying, but everytime I see a jacaranda true, it's like someone is waving at me!

Because it reminds me that you don't have be to beautiful from the start to shine, and that, if you're patient, there is a time for you. It reminds me that there is beauty in the most unexpected of places, and to appreciate it.

Someone once told me "You know Christmas is coming when the world turns purple." And it's true! I hope everybody has a great, great Christmas filled with candy and presents and sweetness and goodness and candy haha!

Sadly Lindy and I are leaving for New Zealand on Saturday and won't be back until Monday the week after, so we're going on hiatus. But expect us to be back stronger, bigger and better armed with our best smiles :)

And I know you'll miss us dearly, but try not to cry too much - tissues are getting expensive these days.

So next time you walk past a great big flowering tree with its shock of purple flowers, give it a hug from me! Or you more enthusiastic tree-huggers can go hug a less pretty, blackened tree.

Because we never judge a tree by it's trunk!

Happiness Equals Bracket =)