Author: Amanda Viviers

Place: Tarts North Perth 

Poison: Water with fresh mint 

Favourite Things: thinking about my 30^th Birthday 

I have been planning all day today for my upcoming milestone of my 30^th birthday. Being an event coordinator, I don’t want to be one of those people whose skills are only expressed throughout work hours.  E.g. School Teacher whose kids never do homework, Plumber whose bathroom leaks, A Chef who eats take-out! Even though my job is event management I want my birthday weekend to be creative, fresh, celebratory, quirky and filled with my favourite things. The problem is every funky idea that I come up with keeps going pear shaped. I am putting more effort and thought into this weekend than anything that I am doing at the moment. 

Many random ideas have been floated but none of them have flown!

In the midst of brainstorming though I wrote a list of my favourite things to help me with the 30^th birthday celebrations. Here it is:  

Favourite things: My Family esp. Jackson, vanilla candles, sheet music, flowers, body butter, the green tea cup club, coffee, milk’d café, friends, long walks on the beach, cooking, charlotte and molly, cabbage patch kids (not really they make me laugh), white wine, 130’s cafe, travel, aeroplanes, my travel journal, thinking about travel, oriental lillies, avocado, pumpkin soup, writing, antique shops, my granma, knitting, my dad’s harley, my piano, licorice, chicken salad, mango, walking, parasols, hot water bottles, chai, auckland, ikea, theatre, el rancho relaxo, long lazy breakfasts, christmas day lunch, spring blossoms, aqua blue, magazines, slippers, old books, the bible, the church, praying, finding out something new, meeting old friends, painting, life, architecture, wisdom!

Favourite things, make me smile.

A

Place: Milkd 

Poison: Skinny Cappuccino 

Favourite Things: Red Bracelet from Greece from Rose! 

I was reading late into the night last night a chapter that talked about Abraham Lincoln (former president of USA) and all the failure that preceded his presidency.  I could bore you with all the details, but what I was mostly inspired about was year in, year out, the amount of times that he failed, was defeated, was told no way will you ever be president!

 It totally inspired and spun me out! We are talking about decades of defeat, not just years. He keep stepping up to plate and kept on failing, yet he continued to put his dream out there.  How often do we give up after one NO, after one decline, after one word of discouragement? I don’t want to be someone who is naively pursuing dreams in life that are truly unattainable. Yet I also do not want to be someone who quits after a few set backs that try to take the wind out of my sails. There are areas of my life where I have seen failure, where I have had set back after set back, yet I am determined to press on towards the goal and the prize. Failure is not something to be ashamed of. It is definitely something that we should not ignore and allow the shape of it to define needed change. But it is not the summation of your efforts. It is merely part of the journey. 

Fail brilliantly dear friend, you never know one day you might just make presidency! 

A    

 

Place: My Office 

Poison: Long Macciato 

Favourite Things: Claudine on the phone 

Do you live your everyday with a sense of expectation and thankfulness for the good in the world? Or with a cynical heart that sees all the brokenness and carries the baggage of past hurts? 

I am the world’s biggest Christmas groupie! 

I love the food, the family stuff, the presents and the smells, basically the whole package! 

One traditional picture that is created at Christmas ‘The Three Wise Men’ is one of my favourites. The gospel of Matthew describes them as scholars, they are obviously very important, special, men of wisdom yet they humbly make a massive effort to walk to this random shed out in the middle of no where, carrying expensive gifts of frankincense and myrrh, yet the scripture says that they were filled with a sense of wonder and awe. 

The message version of the bible says that ‘they could hardly contain themselves.’ These were our equivalent of fortune 500, business men, who humbled themselves and had wonder and awe, as they travelled towards a new born baby. 

In the natural, a smelly, animal infested stable, a baby, a mother and father, a long, frustrating walk following a star, which I am sure hid from them often. In the spiritual, the birth of a king, so purposed that this infant was to change the course of eternity, three grown, and men full of wisdom humbled themselves in wonder and awe. 

Just the Sunday night gone I was reminded how I was when I first came to Riverview, I was chatting with a lady after the service, and she was telling me how she normally goes to the Catholic Church and how this week she knew she just had to come to Riverview. She said she ran over to her neighbour’s house, because he comes to Riverview, and said take me to your church tonight. She was in awe of what was happening here at Riverview and was so inspired, she was breath taken in wonder, and was so refreshed by church being done differently! 

For us at Riverview Church, a random warehouse in Burswood, Perth Western Australia, a company of people who come together all with our brokenness, ability to hurt, our baggage, people who sit in your seat, people who play the wrong chords, people who break things, maybe who do not encourage you after you’ve given your heart out to serve. 

In the spiritual, a heavenly transaction which is so full of purpose, where hearts and lives are changed eternally! That is a picture of wonder and awe… So whatever it is that you have become to familiar with friend, your church, your spouse, your mum and dad, choose to come to them with a sense of wonder and awe. 

When you do this, you realise that God has set purpose right at the very core of those people and the church. And that he is always working to bring everything together for good for those who love and trust him. 

WonderFULL 

A

Place: Kym’s office 

Poison: Diet Coke 

Favourite Things: Kym Rolle and Polly on the phone 

Well, in the aftermath of Capture, many people have made comments about the green tea cup club! They are an amazing group of girls that has grown since the book was published. It’s grown by one, miss Sara, Red rooster advert pin up girl Polanski! 

Anyway- many people have given me gifts of green tea, also a favourite cafe owner told us very confidently that he has acquired a fresh new batch of green tea just for us! Ouch, we don’t drink green tea, we just have green tea cups! Semantics you say, no way its more than semantics we are passionate coffee drinkers. 

Coffee. I am very passionate about great coffee. Write to me your favourite cafes.

Here are my Perth top five: 

1) Milkd- North Perth  2) Harvest- North Freo  3) Sunsets- Rockingham  4) Cafe 130’s- Leederville (although it currently has barista issues!!) 

5) Atomic- South Perth (soon to be open, however our favourite barista from 130’s is there)        

Place: Milkd

Poison: Cappucino

Favourite Thing: My Spencer and Rutherford Laptop Bag!

A friend sent me this essay last night that I think may be the author of the quote, in the dedication page of my book. Have a read!

PS- I vehemently dislike forwarded emails and chain emails, but some do bring about good.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do
everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.
Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent. Remember, to say, “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin