August 1, 2017 – lifeofangela

Another month gone by, another post to look back on my top Instagram posts from the past month! I ended up showing lots of travel photos this past month, I just had it on my brain, and I really love all these photos!

Anyway, let’s take a look.

Wedding Portrait. This was posted on July 4. We recently got all of our wedding photos back. I loved looking through them all. This one in particular has become my favourite solo shot of me. I’ve already shown this a few times, and I probably will keep doing so for a while. To see more wedding photos, check out any other post. I tend to throw them in most of my posts ?

Walking Along Makara. This was posted on July 6. I love this hike, it’s short, not too hard, and on a sunny day, you get some stunning views. If you want to see more pictures, check out Makara Beach!

Zealandia. This was posted on July 10. Zealandia is a nearby eco-sanctuary, home to many plants, birds and other wildlife. It’s basically a slice of untouched nature (or as untouched as it can be), it’s absolutely stunning! Somewhere to definitely stop by if you’re in Wellington. It was on my mind from that week’s photo challenge Bridge.

Pollard Park. This was posted on July 11. I’ve always liked this photo. You get a good shot of the Pohutukawa tree in the middle of the park, where the duck pond weaves around it. This park was a place that I constantly visited growing up during our Christmas/Summer holidays in Blenheim. We went every two years since I can remember, and we would always come visit this park.

Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. This was posted on July 19. I love looking at beach photos. Especially when it’s so cold and pouring with rain. If I think hard enough, maybe I can will back the warmth. If you want to see more pictures from my time in Bondi, you can check out From Bondi to Coogee.

That’s it for this month’s top Instagram posts!

Previous Posts:

I’m interested to hear your guys’ opinions on Instagram themes. I tend to be against it, but then I get caught up posting similar photos (like travel ones) in a row, then I don’t want to break it. But at the same time I like posting whatever I feel like ?. Do you try to stick to a theme on Instagram? Or do you just post what you want regardless? 🙂

Angela.

I’m sorry Jo, I feel like you got the lamest title, but this is all my brain could think of 😀

So, from the months of May-August there is a birthday celebration in my family. I began the habit of dedicating a post to said birthday person. In May, I wrote Things I Learnt From My Dad. In June, I wrote Things To Tell My Brother. In July, I wrote Things I Know About My Mum. Today, it’s my sister’s turn.

My sister’s name is Joanna. But at some point she started going by Jo. Now we all call her that (except Mum and Dad who still use her full name). Jo is my big sister, but we are only 16 months apart. Mum used to say it was a bad idea trying to look after both a baby and a toddler at the same time (lol). Today, she turns 27 (you so old). She lives up in Auckland with her fiance Tibor. He’s from Hungary. These two have been together forever. They got together back in 2009, got engaged in 2015, and are getting married in a few months.

Jo and I grew up as best friends, we talked about everything, occasionally fought about everything, borrowed clothes along with other belongings, basically, we were sisters. As the big sister, Jo had the thrill of having me trail around after her a lot. Eventually, Andrew tagged along, and so completed the trio of siblings. So, big sis, get ready for a random post full of factoids about you and the things that you do.

family2

Make believe – As kids do, we played make believe a lot. I don’t remember half the weird things we played anymore, but I know it was always the two of us together. Didn’t we use to play with those little fidgets? The one from the board game? We used to use them instead of our dolls. Weirdos.
Games – Along with Andrew, Dad and I, Jo also enjoys playing games. We enjoyed playing random games like Dink Smallwood or Dungeon Siege growing up. Later, we enjoyed playing Sims and setting their houses on fire, or drowning Sims. We needed ghosts.
Ganging up on Andrew – Poor Andrew. What with being the only boy, and the age gap, growing up, we would often team up against him in sibling shenanigans. But at the same time, we would also all play together and be weird.
Tall – Okay, so this isn’t something you do, it’s just what you are. You’re tall. Why are you so tall? Our whole family is either average height or short (or in my case, super short). Where’d this tall gene come from? Why is it only you that has it?

Long talks – I like that we used to have our long talks at night. We would talk for ages about everything, and we even came up with a word to end it. SYITM (See you in the morning). I miss those long ass chats sometimes.
Caught on camera – When she first got her digital camera, she began filming at random times, and caught the most random things on camera. For all our sakes, I won’t share them. Since then however, we’ve both developed our love of constantly photographing everything.
Drives – When you got your restricted license, it was so exciting. You could drive on your own. I was happy to come with, and so began our driving adventures in the minivan. We never went too far, mostly just to the mall. I have so much fun memories of us driving around together. The time it took you ages to park, and it just kept going diagonal. The time in summer you screamed “IT’S TOO HOT!” only to realize the window was down and the guy in the next car looked alarmed.
Forget Mugs – You know what I mean. Tibor definitely knows what I mean. You have a weird habit with mugs. You leave them…everywhere and anywhere. Always half full. Because you make it hot, then drink a little, wait for it to cool down, then forget about it. By the time you remember, it’s too cold, and so you make a new drink…and use another mug…and the cycle continues.

us 2004

Art – Art is Jo’s thing. She’s talented at it, and also studied it throughout school and then university. She has skills, which she continues to hone. In school, awards effectively rained on her in the art category. One year, she didn’t win the top art award, and everyone looked shocked. It was hilarious, I think they realized she’d won it every single year and thought someone else should get a turn. Her last year at high school though, she won it again.

Shopping – Mum also helped with this. But you were the one who showed me the wonders of the Cuba St Thrift stores. You know what I mean. The ones with the weird names I can’t remember. Plus Recycled Boutique. Also other stores I normally ignored, like Amazon, Mirrou, and the like. As we started buying more clothes for ourselves, rather than relying on parents, we often showed each other what we bought, got each other’s opinions, etc, which we still do now pretty much.
Travel – Jo was the first to travel out of us siblings. She went to France on a school trip in 2007. Her and Tibor went to Sydney in 2012. Then in 2015, they visited Hungary, Italy and probably more European countries but I forget. Alongside these, Jo and Tibor frequently travel around New Zealand.
Food – You were always the one into baking and cooking new things and recipes. It’s something I’ve only recently gotten into again thanks to blogging, but you were always into it growing up. You made an orange cake at some point. You bought ramaken serving bowls to make vanilla bean pudding. Now with Tibor, you guys team up and frequently make things like crepes. You also make lots of Hungarian dishes like Pogacsa, and other names I also forget.

Big Sister – I couldn’t think of a proper heading for this. But obviously as the big sister, you helped me out a lot. You were the one who helped me first get the bus to the library in town. You showed me which stop to get off. You helped me out with first figuring out makeup (you’re still well ahead of me there). You also helped out with the transition to contacts from glasses (alongside Dad). You let me crash at your place multiple times after you moved out (I guess I should thank Tib for letting me, and occasionally Rory, crash too!). You helped fix my make up after the wedding ceremony since I kept crying.
Support – This again falls into the previous category somewhat, but you’ve always been supportive. You’ve also let me know when you think something is a bad idea, which I appreciate. It’s always good to know that you have my back, and we often tell each other things first before the parents (getting the house, my tattoo, new jobs, etc).
Love – I gotta throw this bit in here obviously. You’re my big sister and I love you. I do miss how close we used to be, especially when we were under the same roof. I love that we still randomly chat through a variety of messaging apps, even if it’s just to send a video or meme. I can’t wait to see you in October for the wedding 🙂