Tag: my life

What a great gift!!

Posted on by San-Marie

I have very talented friends and when Mandi from AJK Distributors (contact details in Gingy’s Directory) asked if she can make me an album of my 50th birthday party, I immediately said yes. I told her she can do whatever she wants … and this was the result!!

I LOVE the shaker box on the front!

She used my 3D printed cupcake topper on the back … how clever!!


Our party boxes and my invite

I love the papers she used!

The album has a few tabs that can be pulled out and have additional pics and places for me to journal if I want to.

I knew that Mandi makes beautiful cards, brag books, albums, etc, but I didn’t expect this! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my album!! 😍🥰

She really has an awesome talent for this!

Thanks Mandi! ❤️❤️

“You’re never too old to have a happy childhood”

Posted on by San-Marie

I love having theme parties for my birthday and when it came to planning my 50th I decided to have a children’s party. 😀

I have always been a Disney fan, and it was time to have a Disney theme party, so I chose Minnie Mouse.

The internet helped with getting the font, pictures, and ideas. As you can see, I had loads of fun making my invitation.

You can’t have a children’s party without party packs. I decided to go for mini party packs and found the cutest red and white boxes for it.
For the contents, I bought small fizzers and Bakers mini cheddars, and I made choc-nut cups and marshmallow people, but with mini marshmallows and toothpicks. What a mission! I won’t do them in a hurry again, but in the end, they looked super cute and fit perfectly into the party boxes.
Each guest also received a paperclip that I decorated with polymer clay.

The party was held at one of my favourite places

Of course, we had to dress up. You only turn 50 once!
My outfit (except t-shirt and tekkies) and Gareth’s ears and suspenders were hired from MadCaps Fancy Dress Hire
Minnie Mouse has yellow shoes and I decided to get white tekkies and paint them yellow. So what, if I’m never going to wear them again. You only turn 50 once! (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!) 😀

Each place setting had the party box, a cupcake with a 3D printed topper (that Gareth specially designed and printed for me) and a decorated choc covered oreo cookie.

I also made funny sayings and scattered them all over the table

On arrival, the “girls” received a Minnie mouse picture to colour in and the “boys” received a maze to do

I am blessed to have friends who are willing to join in the fun

We also played “pass the parcel” and the winner received a polymer clay Minnie Mouse fridge magnet

This was the best 50th party, we had loads of fun! 🥳

A new four-legged journey begins

Posted on by San-Marie

Gareth surprised me with a dachshund puppy for my birthday. I got her in September.

At home, we introduced her to Tinky, who wasn’t sure what to do with this little thing (she’d never seen a puppy this small). The whole weekend Tinky was curious but also cautious … she would sniff the new puppy while she was fast asleep …

 

but the minute she woke up, Tinky would run away.

We named her Gina, and she immediately became part of the family.

   

Sleep for us was a luxury on the first weekend … she would only sleep a few hours at a time and would cry when she was awake. But that’s all part of having a new “baby”. 😄

She was very interested in Tinky and would follow her around. We were waiting for them to start playing, and on Monday, I heard growling outside and when I looked, they were playing and running around, but the minute Tinky saw me, she stopped and walked away … I guess it’s not cool to be seen playing with your sister. 😂

I must admit, her house training went a lot better than with Tinky. I guess it’s because she follows Tinky’s lead. She’s getting the idea of going outside, and the other night, she ran out without us telling her to do so. (we were very impressed) #proudparentmoment 😁

The next weekend we went to visit Granny, and she was spoiled rotten with all the attention, and she also received some squeaky toys.

 

She loved exploring the garden … and also made a hole for Granny to plant something in.

 

She and Tinky are crazy about each other. It’s so cute to see them play … Tinky’s very gentle, but Gina goes out in full force, the hairs on her back even stand up. There’s a lot of growling going on and occasionally a yelp from Tinky because Gina’s teeth are very sharp. 😊 There’s a wrestling match every evening on the bed before we sleep … I guess they have to tire themselves out before they sleep. 😉

They follow each other everywhere. If Gina’s sleeping, Tinky will come and check on her, and Gina will look for Tinky if she’s not in the same room as her.

But don’t let these cute faces fool you … they get up to mischief together. The other morning I caught both of them on the bed under the duvet, and they gave me a look that said “WHAT???” (They’re not supposed to be on the bed if we’re not in it) 😆

And we caught them looking through the blinds … Tinky on the back of the couch (where she’s not supposed to be) and Gina on the floor, only because she can’t get on the couch by herself yet.  Gina also decided to “modify” the blinds a little bit while she was down there. 🤨

She also “modified” their doggy door … it probably works much better now. 😂

Her first bath experience wasn’t too bad … she just stood there with those “please help me” puppy eyes.

   

But she loved the sun afterwards.

She’s now 3 months old and brought a lot of happiness and laughter into our home.

Thanks, Gareth for this cute birthday present. 🥰

🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾

Update – Gina lived a happy life, she was such a blessing to have, and caused lots of laughter in our house with her personality.

 

She and Tinky had loads of fun together, playing and getting up to mischief together. It was so cute to see how they loved each other. 💕

 

 

Gina had lots more birthdays and reached her 10th birthday before she got her angel wings.

 

A memorial rock I painted for our Gina ❤️🐾

It’s a dog’s life

Posted on by San-Marie

A long time ago, I thought it would be nice to get a small dog since I love dogs and always had one or more in my life. Well, I didn’t rush out to buy one immediately; I debated this idea with myself for a few months. It would be nice to have, but I’m not home much and it would be on its own and won’t it be expensive to look after, etc … etc …

Then one day, while innocently going to the shopping centre, I saw it … at the pet shop … the cutest dachshund puppies. Something I just can’t (and refuse to) resist is puppies. Gareth will testify to this … when we go somewhere and I see a puppy, he always has to wait for me to finish playing with it … and does it without complaining. Thanks, Love!

Anyway, I went inside and, needless to say, played with them. They were miniature dachshund puppies and were too cute for words. The lady who was selling them told me the price, and since I didn’t have extra money at that stag,e I decided not to worry about it and carry on with my life. Then, a few months after that, I discovered a savings account I forgot about and decided to close it. There was more than enough money in the account to buy a puppy and a bed and food bowls and toys and … and.. 😁 God-incidence, I think. 😉

I didn’t waste any time and phoned the lady who was at the pet shop and ordered my miniature dachshund puppy … a black female. After a couple of weeks, I received a phone call to say that my “child” has been born and she’ll phone me again to arrange delivery. I was super excited and couldn’t wait. I finally received her call, and she said she’ll deliver the puppy at the end of the week. I remember I was working at a school at that stage and was busy in the office when my baby arrived. The lady walked in with one of those plastic containers you use to transport pets, and I remember looking at it thinking to myself, “I don’t see any puppy”. She then opened the container and handed me the tiniest and cutest little black dachshund. I fell in love immediately. And needless to say, news spread throughout the school quickly, and within a few minutes the office was filled with people going “aaaawwwww!!!”

At home, I introduced her to her new environment and her toys, but she wasn’t really interested; she just wanted to sleep. While looking at her sleeping, I decided to call her Tinky, ‘coz she was so tiny.

Then the journey began … it was very difficult to house train her. I got so desperate one day that I jumped online and googled how to house train a dachshund. To my surprise, I found a whole bunch of blogs of people with the same “problem”. I also found a blog of a vet giving advice, and the one lady’s question was exactly what I wanted to know. He told her that dachshunds are very stubborn and that’s why they are difficult to house train, but she just needs to keep on doing the right thing and be consistent; the puppy will eventually learn. Well, we both survived the house training, and she was finally getting the idea of going outside. 👏

She loved playing and chewing things … even chewed on my boxes where I store my choc moulds in. 😄

 

Her teddy bear, ball, and bed, unfortunately, didn’t survive the growing up process,

but she didn’t really need a bed ‘coz she could just sleep on mine … no problem. 😁

Before Christmas one year, I thought I’ll take some nice Christmas pictures of her inside a Christmas hat … well, the “Christmas photo shoot” didn’t work because she decided that playing and chewing the hat was loads more fun than sitting and posing! 🤣

Don’t let that cute little face fool you, she can be very naughty as well. One day when I came home, I was greeted by a long string of toilet paper on the staircase. She decided to decorate the house for me by rolling the toilet paper down and dragging it downstairs to the front door.

After an Evening Market we did in November, we came home to a “murder scene”… we found a few of Barney’s limbs and a part of Tigger’s body at the front door. There was no sign of Pooh Bear but Strawberry Shortcake was still “alive and well”. 😁 While we were out, she got onto my table and decided to eat the fondant figurines that were on there. Fortunately, they weren’t for an order!!

When Gareth met her the first time, she made him feel very welcome by trying to eat his cellphone and he called her a “rat” … little did he know that she will become part of his life. 😊 She adores Gareth and gets very defensive when Jake (Gareth’s Mom’s dog) growls at him while they’re playing. The other day while we visited she chased Jake up and down the passage, we were screaming with laughter, it was hilarious, especially because Jake is a lot bigger than her. 😂

She also totally believes that everyone who comes to our place is coming to visit her, there can’t possibly be any other reason for their visit. This is a bit embarrassing when we get someone in to fix the stove or fridge. 🙈

Well, she grew up, is spoiled, and totally part of our family. Last year she even had a birthday “party” (I’ll use any excuse to bake cupcakes) 😉 She absolutely loved the attention and tearing the paper off her gifts.

 

🥳 Happy birthday Tinky 🥳

🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾

Update – Tinky lived a happy life, she was such a blessing to have and she caused a lot of laughter always being on her own mission.

   

She also had a sister, called Gina. It took her 3 days to accept Gina into the family, but after that, they started playing and didn’t stop until the end. It was so cute to see how they loved each other. 💕

Tinky had lots more birthdays and reached her “sweet 16th” before she got her angel wings.

A memorial rock I painted for our Tinky ❤️🐾

Oh my … he’s going to kiss me

Posted on by San-Marie

This is my and Gareth’s story …

In 2003, I met a presenter of a community radio show at a Christmas function. I started listening and eventually heard Gareth’s voice on air, because he would occasionally visit him in the studio, but I was oblivious to what God was busy doing.

One year (I can’t remember exactly when it was), I was invited to a Christmas lunch. I was told that Gareth would also be there, and I looked forward to meeting the other half of this funny radio duo. Unfortunately, Gareth, at that point, was not much of a people’s person, and the meeting was most disappointing and pretty much consisted of “hello, nice to meet you”. 😑

Well, life went on, and after a few months, I joined the radio station as a volunteer and would go into the studio every Saturday to help. In December 2006, after an in-depth debate around relationships on the show, I drove home, and God spoke to me, saying that He knows what is best for me and that I must burn the list I had, detailing my ideal husband. I did and forgot all about it.In

January 2007, I decided that I’m not going to waste my time obsessing about getting married again and would just enjoy my life. Fortunately, I had quite a few decent single guy friends that I could ask to accompany me to a function whenever I needed a “date”. In March, a friend of mine had a birthday breakfast and I decided to ask Gareth to join me. By this point, his people skills and personality had improved. Gareth, on the other hand, was a bit shocked by the invite … being a guy he clearly related any invite from a single woman to mean she wanted his children … NOT!!! 😯 He decided to go anyway, and we had a ball. Eyebrows were raised … questions were asked … something clearly was happening … but we were as blind as bats!! My friend, after reviewing the photos of the event, said that she had a strong feeling about us and suggested that we spend more time together … I dismissed her comments … but I was wondering ….

In May 2007, I had a dream … which is not unusual, but in my case, it was. I don’t have “normal” dreams, I always dream a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense at all … the stuff that weird movies are made of. For example, I dreamed one night that I was in a museum and was stuck at the edge of the 2nd floor, then Knight Rider in all his glory arrived, but he had his head backwards and couldn’t see me to rescue me. (If u’re on the floor laughing by now, 🤣 I would understand). Anyway, this time my dream actually made sense … I dreamt that I attended a meeting and the guest speaker (who was the same guy who I helped at the radio station) asked me if I had met my husband. I replied by asking him if he was confirming something or if he was just being silly. He then pointed to Gareth who was sitting outside on a wall and said “there he is.” Well, then I was woken up by my 4-legged blessing who wanted to go outside. I was confused and wondered what this was all about.

Time went on, and Gareth slowly became part of my life. We SMS’d and chatted on Skype and started doing more things together; he even came to my Flintstone birthday party.

I was seriously wondering about this, but I waited for God to tell me. Actually, I used to pray every Saturday when I drove home and told God to please take Gareth out of my life because I don’t want to fall in love with the wrong guy 😆 … I’m so glad God didn’t answer that prayer. 😉

In September 2007, I was invited to go with Gareth and friends of his to Avalon Springs for a weekend, and this is where God showed us that He had more than friendship in store for us. We arrived back with a lot going through our minds … Gareth was terrified, but I was looking forward to “seeing what happens.” I was quite content at that stage that whatever must happen, must happen.

 

On the Saturday morning, we went to the radio station, and on the way back, Gareth decided he had to say something. It all just felt way too foreign and “wrong”, and not wanting to lead me on, he wanted to “break it off” as soon as possible.

So, standing in Gareth’s kitchen, making coffee, he finally plucked up the courage to say something, but knowing that the kitchen offered way too many distractions and excuses not to have his say, he marched me down the passage to the lounge and unceremoniously planted me on the couch … I didn’t hear a thing Gareth said … something in the subtle way he grabbed me by the shoulders, marched me down the passage and seated me on the sofa to “break-up” with me, triggered some deep hidden idea that the world was about to end … 30 minutes later, I was in a full, stress induced panic attack …(first time ever)😳

Later that evening, Gareth and I sat down to “recap” on the day’s events, seeing as I seriously had no idea what he had said to me earlier. During the chat, I broke down completely and we came to realise that for years I had been forced to be the strong one, always being there for everyone and just having to cope with whatever happened in my life, but now with Gareth around, I was finally able to let go. God started the “being vulnerable” process.

It was the strangest thing. The moment we finished chatting, Gareth found that every reason he had to be nervous about being in a relationship had just faded away, but he didn’t want to say anything yet.

Sunday came and went. Monday evening, we had planned, a few weeks prior, to go to dinner together. Sitting there at the restaurant table watching me blissfully chat away about my childhood, Gareth fell in love.

Here lay the next dilemma …. judging from my subtle reaction on Saturday, Gareth was not about to bring up that whatever he felt about not being with me was now totally gone. He could just imagine saying something, and I, getting such a shock, would pass out, knock my head on the floor, and we would spend the whole night in the ICU. 😂

After supper, we went to my house for coffee, and we watched a cricket match on TV. It was getting late, and Gareth needed to start heading home, but he had to say something. I was lying on the couch watching TV, and Gareth maneuvered himself onto the floor, thinking that being at eye-level would be the best thing, considering the importance of the information he had to share.

I was confused, because in my experience, when u’re about to leave, u don’t sit on the floor…??

Gareth looked at me … I looked at Gareth and a remarkable revelation dawned on me …. “OH MY GOD, HE’S GOING TO KISS ME.” 😧

… and so he did. I almost had another panic attack and was very confused at this stage. Friday, I was in a relationship, Saturday I wasn’t, now, on Monday night, I seemed to be in a relationship again…??😕

Part of my original plan was that I was going to inform “the entire world” on the Monday when I got to work about my newfound relationship … this was a huge part of Gareth’s apprehension.

After Saturday, that obviously didn’t happen, so after the “Oh my God kiss” on Monday evening, my first question was… “So, can I send my email now?”. Needless to say, I did, and people are still talking about that email. 😉

We started planning, Gareth had the ring made, and on 20 November 2007, we got married!!

God is awesome!!

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Update – 2025 … we’ve been married for 17 years, and still going strong 🥰

Thank You, Father God, it’s only with Your help 🙌

It belongs to my man

Posted on by San-Marie

… a stunning voice, that is. 🙂

Before I met Gareth, I didn’t know what a voice-over was all about, but I soon found out.

I went with to a voice-over he did … he went into the recording booth and I sat on the other side of the glass with the technical guys. They gave him the go ahead and I was shocked by what I was hearing … nearly fell off my chair. Oh, my hat!! I didn’t know that my husband had such a great voice!!! 😀

Click on the files below to listen to what he sounds like and contact him if u need a voice artist.

Cape_Town_Tourism

SABC_Depression

Uganda_HIV_AIDS

He’s in heaven keeping the Angels busy

Posted on by San-Marie

Sometimes in life, things happen that we don’t understand or can’t explain – Hannes’ death was one of those things.

In September ’97, I found out that I and my husband at the time were going to have a baby. After we calmed down to a mild panic 😀 , we started looking forward to “Junior’s” birth.

I was very blessed during my pregnancy … morning sickness and heartburn didn’t mean anything to me, I never experienced it … in the 1st 3 months I would wake up nauseous, but that was quickly cured with a dry “Marie biscuit” and if I had 10 Rennies for heartburn in the 9 months, it was a lot. The only “problems” I had was that my feet would swell up from the heat and too much walking, but I obeyed the doctor’s orders and rested a lot with my feet up. Unfortunately, or should I say, fortunately, I didn’t have hectic cravings … so no rushing to the shop in the middle of the night … but I did eat a lot of cheese and also loved “orange maid frozen suckers” … but that was it.

Time went by and I thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy, especially the last month when I was home and could sleep late. I went to the gynae regularly and enjoyed seeing “junior” grow. His birth date was the 20th of June and at my gynae appointment on Wednesday, a week and a half before the time, she confirmed that he won’t be born before his due date. On Friday I had a few stomach cramps, but they didn’t get worse and I didn’t feel sick or anything, so I blamed it on too much pizza the nite before. Saturday morning at 02:00 the cramps were back. I decided to check what it said in the pregnancy book, I got from the library and realised that these cramps were actually contractions and I need to time them. When they were 7mins apart, I showered and got ready to go to hospital … just as it suggested in the book.

At the hospital, the nurse who examined me couldn’t find a heartbeat and told me she thinks it’s a bridge baby. My first thought was “oh, no, I heard that’s an extremely sore birth”. They called the gynae who was on duty that weekend and he after examining me, he told the nurse to take me to his consulting rooms, which were in the same building, for a scan. He did a scan and I could see on the screen that “junior’s” heart wasn’t beating. I didn’t panic, because I thought after the birth they would shock him with one of those machines I saw in the medical dramas on tv, to get his heart beating again.

Back in the maternity ward, I asked the nurse if there was anything they could do, she took my hand and said “no”.  I remember the sadness in her eyes, but it was as if I didn’t realise what was busy happening, I was very calm. I also heard my husband crying in the hallway after speaking to the gynae. When my husband came into the room and hugged me, I remember telling him that he can’t make me cry now because I still have to give birth.

The gynae came to speak to me and said that they’ll give me an epidural if I want, but by the time the contractions became stronger, it was too late … so “junior” was born without any painkillers! I have a friend who always joked and said, “childbirth isn’t that bad, just before u think u’re going to die, it’s over” … I really thought I wasn’t going to make it.

After the birth, “junior” was taken away and cleaned up. The gynae came back into the room and told us that they’re going to bring “junior” to us and we must hold him. While holding him, I counted all his fingers and toes … he was so small and beautiful. I also noticed that his skin was peeling on his right side … I later found out why.

After a few complications they finally took me to my room so I could get some sleep. I slept until about 12:00 and when I woke up, I realised what happened. Just as I started crying, my husband walked into the room. I remember he told me that my first words to him were “I wish these babies would stop crying.” He went to the nurses station and asked if they could move me to the general ward where there weren’t any babies, but they said “no”, because the nurses in the general ward wouldn’t know how to handle the situation. Fortunately there was a few rooms open and they moved the lady who shared the room with me to another room and also the two ladies across the way from me. I was on my own and couldn’t hear any babies. The gynae came to check on me, he was absolutely brilliant. The nurses in the ward were also great – I remember the one nurse came into my room, took my hand and started crying – that’s all she did, but it meant the world to me!

I got discharged on the Sunday morning and one of the nurses walked us to the car. She hugged us when she said goodbye. She obviously knew how difficult the situation was, going home without a baby, after 9 months of being pregnant, wasn’t any fun.

Our 1st visitors at home were a colleague and his wife … it was awesome how God used them in this situation. They knew exactly how to handle us because they also went through a similar experience … their 2nd child was stillborn. Other friends of ours just cried with us when they visited.

Going back to my gynae the next Wednesday wasn’t nice, but she was fantastic. She called us into her room, hugged us and cried with us. She also comforted us by saying that we weren’t alone, but that God was with us. She was the best gynae ever!!

She also told us what happened … my blood sugar level went up and cut “junior’s” oxygen supply. He suffocated and died at about 18:00 on Friday evening. They could tell that he was already dead for 12hours when he was born … his skin peeling was the sign. Why that happened, no one could explain.

Back home our healing process began. The gynae suggested that we go to a psychologist to help us, which we did and he was also fantastic. He suggested we give “junior” a name, so we decided on Hannes.

Going through the healing process, although it wasn’t fun, was easy because God knew exactly how to do it. We were surrounded by people who treated us with loads of love … and that made the difference.

Hannes’ death was a very painful experience, but something wonderful happened because of it … just over 4 months after the stillbirth (25/10/1998) we both accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 (and I have never looked back)

Because of my relationship with Jesus I have the peace Philippians 4:7 talks about … “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I still don’t have an answer to the “why?” question and yes, some days I do miss him and get sad, but I have the Holy Spirit who comforts me.

I believe that God knows what He’s doing and He is able to turn every circumstance around for our good, as it says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

That is enough for me … I don’t have to know “why?”

Hannes – 13 June 1998