Our Ben Huck's Night.

Music: "I got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas

You can watch the video to see what happened during our Ben Huck's Night or if you like, read on and check out our photos. Better yet, why not do both? Enjoy!

What do you get when you put a Buck, a Hen, some Malaysian relatives, Cairns people, Veterinarian nurses & kids together? The most awesome "Ben Huck's" Night, that's what! A certain young lady by the name of Miss Sharl Kehoe (aka my sister) coordinated the fun-filled evening. Armed with her boyfriend, Chris, she organised us into two teams to participate in a series of PG-rated fun games. While she did forget to organise the catering (being a typical 18 year old), we were able to source out a casual meal of pizza, so all was good.

The first game involved passing balloons from one team mate to another, with the quickest team to finish being the winner. There was a lot of cheering, awkward fumbling with the balloon and even a little bit of illegal handling! However, my team was declared the winner so we were off to a great start. We also had to play a dress up race where my team had to dress in a men's jacket & bowtie while Craig's team had to get themselves into a bridal dress. Seeing the boys trying to fumble themselves into a dress was absolutely priceless while the girls really struggled to clip the bow tie because it was really fiddly!

Other games involved "Pass the ring" and a version of the "Pin the tail on the Donkey". However, a definite highlight was Bingo! My sister had drilled me for odd facts about me and Craig, which ended in a lot of laughter as it revealed bad episodes of drunken escapades & personal bad habits. However, halfway through the game, the room was suddenly dimmed and my 7 year old brother, Aidan, and his friend Noah did a really hilarious number to the song "I'm too sexy" by "The Hit Crew". Needless to say, we all had tears in our eyes after seeing those sparkly red & blue shorts. Unfortunately, I've yet to get my hands on some photos but they're still nowhere near as good as being there!

We wrapped up the night a little literally. Craig and I had to be models as our teams used a supply of newspaper, paper towels, tape & various things to create our bigger and better wedding outfits. Sadly, I think my team may have needed a little bit more coordination. Craig's suit however was superb. Have a look at the piccy below and judge for yourself! And yes, that is a newspaper "garter" that Craig has in his mouth.


But don't think Craig was the only one who got to eat newspaper. They insisted that I eat the "biscuit buttons" on his suit, which was completely covered with a layer of tape. Only for the sake of entertaining you lot, did I agree to do so. Here's an action shot. And yes, those are crumbs falling from my mouth.


So that's all for the moment. I'll upload more photos from the evening so you can be part of the madness.

Lots of love,
Demi & Craig.

Craig's Adventure as a Chinese Tourist.

The first day of our holiday was not exactly as relaxing as we'd hoped. Then again, it didn't really help that we had to wake up at 5:30am in the morning so that we could drive down to the Gold Coast to pick up five of my relatives. My mother's eldest sister, brother and cousin were arriving with their spouses. Craig and I were to drive them up to Brisbane so all seven of us could catch a flight up to Cairns to begin wedding celebrations as a family.

Getting down to the Gold Coast was no drama. What Craig and I didn't know was that my relies' flight from Kuala Lumpur had been delayed. We were hoping to be out of there by about 8:30am but by the time my relatives got through customs, it was well and truly 9:30am. Our connecting flight to Cairns wasn't until 12:00pm but we still had to drive from the Gold Coast to Brisbane airport. We got going quickly. During the drive, I did a lot of catching up with my relatives and got to practising my rusty Cantonese. It had been a good 5 years since I'd last seen my relies so there was a lot to share between us. During all this, poor Craig only got little bits and pieces of the conversation, only when I remembered to translate!

As we got closer into Brisbane, Craig and I decided to take the new motorway, thinking it would be faster than going through the main city. This was all good and well, except that because it was our first time using the new motorway, we missed the exit! It was 11:00am by now and check-in for our plane was due to close to at 11:30am. Needless to say, Craig and I were more than a little bit anxious. We were able to get off the motorway and head back towards the airport, only we took another wrong turn and missed our exit yet again! Craig was barely containing his angst at this point and I was doing my best to try to keep calm, and avoid any wrong words that might just cause him to implode... Meanwhile, my relies were all cheerful and happy, oblivious to impending disaster.

We finally go onto the right road and as we approached the airport, I casually informed them that we might have to be quick so that they didn't missed their plane. I gave poor Craig the responsibility of checking in my Chinese relies as I returned the Tarago we'd rented. Since it was in my name, it had to be me returning it and not Craig. Poor Craig had barely parked the car, put the handbrake on when he realised that we'd all completely deserted the car. My relies had done exactly what I'd told them to and instantly cleaned the car of their luggage & baggage! By this stage, I was already running towards Thrifty's with the car keys!

Luckily, fortune shone on us. There wasn't a single person queing at the Thrifty's desk (I'd been dreading the hordes) and I hurried explained that I was late for my flight, didn't have time to refuel the car and was really, really sorry! Thankfully, they were really good about it and said I could leave it as it was, they would just charge me a fee for filling up the tank. I raced to join Craig and my relies, much to his relief. I don't think he was looking forward to the prospect of checking in my relatives when he barely knew a word of Chinese!

We checked in without any dramas and with 5 minutes to go, boarded our plane. What a relief! Despite the stress and craziness, I couldn't help myself but be amused. It's easy to laugh about the bizarreness of the whole ordeal, now that it was behind us. But all in all, Craig didn't do too badly for an Aussie travelling in Chinese style. Needless to say, it was the first test of his nerves, hehe. But we've gotten to Cairns safely and my mum was over the moon to catch up with her relatives. So far so good!

Hope you enjoyed the read. There is definitely more to come!

Yours truly,
Demi & Craig.

The Buck's Night

Craig celebrated his Buck's Night yesterday. From what I've gathered, there was a lot of tom-foolery but the whole event can best be summed up by the words: Casino, a disabled toilet and infamous face-off with a certain Tabasco cocktail. Needless to say that when he stumbled home in the wee hours of 3.45am, he was completely wasted. Was it a success? Yes it was!

He woke up this morning in a daze, but within seconds, the hangover hit him. Watching his expressing was something akin to watching a storm roll into Ipswich. Poor sucker... but the torture didn't end there. After I weaselled some details out of him, at which point, it became apparent that a lap dance had also occurred, (*sigh* well I suppose it's not a true Buck's Night without one) he also confessed that he nearly got into a fist-fight with some poor uni students at the Casino. Something about Dan preparing to back him up if needs-be but thankfully, a security guard intervened and the situation was narrowly diffused...

Oh dear.

Unfortunately for Craig, we had an appointment with our wedding Celebrant, Janet. Luckily, I'd moved the appointment back (the chances of Craig making a 10am appointment had seemed pretty bleak) and I was under the impression it was just a 15min run-down of last minute details. What I didn't realise was that Janet also wanted us to do a quick rehearsal!

So visualise this scene for me: Craig, trying his best to look respectable but so blatantly hung over as I "walked" down the aisle with my imaginary "father-of-the-bride". We had to exchange our vows and Janet, being her enthusiastic self, was spurring Craig to "maintain eye contact, speak loudly, and bring the feeling of love to his vows." Needless to say, I nearly lost it as I gazed into Craig's red-party eyes while listening to his hoarse Tabascoed-ravaged voice. Janet wasn't overly impressed with his performance, giving him points for maintaining eye-contact but failing him in the areas of audibility and "feeling"! Priceless.

I only hope to God that I don't break out into a fit of giggles as we exchange vows on the day...

So in summary boys, a job well done! Thank you to Brett, Mat, Coridyn, Dan, Thomas, Zach and Al for making Craig's night so memorable.

PS Matt - Aren't you glad I gave you that handy tip about Craig being willing to do anything crazy when he's pissed? Muwhahahhahaaaaaa....

Why bother with a wedding?

When the word "wedding" comes up, it's usually accompanied by as many groans as there are women going "awww...". It can be really hard to find sanity in amongst thoughts about possible venues, dresses, table decorations, car hire & the mounting costs! Which really brings us back to this core question: Why all the fuss? Isn't it easier just to fly to Vegas, get married by Elvis and waste all your hard-earned cash on the roulette?

Okay, yeah eloping sounds fun. There wouldn't be any juggling of wedding meetings, delicate negotiating with various parties or hours spent shopping for plain & simple "olive" ties which none of the shops seem to stock. And while the messing around would be significantly less, here's the thing...

I can't wait to get married to Craig :D

We met when we were both poor uni bums, with absolutely nothing to our names except a HECS debt. It's been a few crazy years of jumping on public transport to see each other on weekends and fitting each other in between assignments and exams. Even when we did finally move in together, there was a lot of renting & furniture moving that was more painful than amusing. And while we had a lot of great times eating spaghetti for whole weeks on end, we were even more grateful when we both got jobs. Finally, we could see a movie without feeling ill for the next fortnight because we'd be having nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches.

This is why I'm really looking forward to the wedding. Everyone there will have seen us at our best and our worst. It's a celebration of the past, the present and also, the future unknown. I want to see all our family and friends, the living patchwork of our experiences. And I can't wait to see Craig's face when I walk down the aisle in (hopefully!) the nicest dress he's ever seen me in. I hope it was worth him waiting 8 years, hehe!

In the meantime, I'll keep paying those incoming bills. I figure it's an investment of sorts, so let's see if it pays off.

Yours truly,
Demi.

PS - Craig is on his Buck's Night as I type, so we'll see how he fares.

The "Bad Taste" Hen's Night

I had the most awesome Hen's night! Before I start ranting about the highlights of the night, I'm sending out a big Thank You to my friend, Meggles. You're an absolute legend and no girl can ask for a better friend. I know you went to a lot of trouble to make my Hens happen so have a huge hug!

We wanted to avoid the "cliché" Hen's Night. You know what I'm talking about - feral man-strippers, drunken lewd tasks that involve dildos and hunting down single men, etc etc. And when Lindsey suggested "bad taste Bride's Maid dresses", it was a total winner. Which is how we ended up looking like this! I raided my Mum's wardrobe and after digging through some lovely shoulder-numbers, found this lovely lacey frock. I think I would have made Madonna proud. Meggles picked me up from my house but she wasn't alone! My friend Lisa flew all the way down from Rocky to join us, despite the imminent threat of tropical cyclone Ului. It was such an excellent surprise and I only wished Vicky could have joined us. Sadly, she was having too much fun in Argentina!

From there, we headed to Meg's pad in Hawthorne where we were joined by the other girls for drinks and party games. In amongst Twister Dance, 'Pin the accessory on the Bride' and amateur dress making, there were a lot of laughs and fun. Even babies were getting into the madness and tolerating all the shenanigans! One of my favourite highlights was Baby Skye vs Nurse Lorraine in our very own "Who could be Australia's next cutest model". Oh and Emily won a copy of the Princess Bride by pinning the bouquet perfectly on Poster-Me. Nice one!

6pm rolled around pretty quickly so we chugged around the corner to Ahmet's Turkist restaurant at Balmoral. We were fashionably late and by the time we arrived, the Greenslopes party were already waiting and so was my very own Mum! She was in heaven when Baby Cormack was passed into her arms.

Meanwhile, the rest of us tucked into Turkish bread and dips while trying an assorted mix of cocktails. Meg picked me up a lovely Turkish Martini and not only did it smell delightful, it tasted scrumptious. Soon we were inundated by various casseroles, meat platters and turkish delights! But then the Belly Dancer manifested and naturally, she made a B-line for me. To be fair, I was kinda an unmistakable target with my flashing Tiara and Wand.

I figured, what the hell? How often do you get the opportunity to embarrass yourself in front of all your friends and colleagues? So I crawled my way out of my side of the table (I was kinda marooned against the wall at this stage) and upon making my way onto the dance floor and in public view of the restaruant, made good worth of 10 years' worth of dance training. However, I was thrilled when the Belly Dancer asked who else I wanted to dance and at this point, I immediately dobbed in my mother. She's always complaining about how she doesn't have a dancing bone in her body but she did a fabulous job! Go Mum, shake your booty!

Only five of us (Meggles, Lisa, Farenn, Amanda and myself) made it out to BrisVegas afterwards for a session of bad Karaoke but we sure did have fun at Strike Bowling. And they even had props to go along with the songs of our choice! I had to admit, the pixelated tiger that accompanied the hit, "Eye of the Tiger" brought back memories from the time of Pac Man and Space Invaders! But it was a lot of fun and I think we may have converted Amanda and Farenn, who had seemed a little doubtful at the onset. I have no pictures from karoake as yet and I'm sure there are some crazy photos floating out there... so we'll all have to wait and see. In the meantime, the full scope of our crazy adventure can be glimpsed by visiting here.

In summary, an excellent excellent Hen's night. And do you know what the best part is? I haven't even had my second Hen's yet! I'm due to have another Hen's with my little sisters Sharl, Erin & Siobhan so they can share in my madness. Can't wait! Oh and Craig is having his Buck's this weekend so I'll be sure to report on his side of things. Hope he has a great time! Till then, take care of yourselves.

Demi.

Bugger! My dress still isn't finished.

Last week, I was high as a kite because I picked up my dress from the Posties. I saw my Bolero and tried it on and it's absolutely gorgeous. However, the only other person around the house was Craig and I was damned if he was going to help me into my wedding dress. Somehow, I don't think that's in the groom's job description! Luckily, my mum came down from Cairns last night so it was a chance for us to see the whole kit & caboodle.

But that was when we discovered that the dress was still too tight... >.<


Luckily, I still have three weeks before the wedding so there's still time for alterations. I was a little disappointed but hey, I'd been having such a smooth run that a hiccup was long overdue. And seeing how ridiculous my back looked did make me smile. I'm just grateful that we didn't find out on the day of the wedding! Imagine the scene as I glide gracefully down the garden path, exchange vows and a passionate kiss with Craig, only to turn and flash him my second cleavage! The look on his face would probably have been priceless, haha! Anyhow, the dress is making its way back to Cairns (by now, it probably has more mileage under its belt than the average Australian) and hopefully will be all ready to go by the 11th of April.

And it's not all bad news. The bolero is simply divine and I can't wait to wear the whole thing on the day. Here's a sneak peek of the Bolero.


Oh and did I mention it's my 1st Hen's night this weekend? I get to have one Hen's night with my friends in BrisVegas and another with family and friends from Cairns. But that's another blog altogether! You'll just have to wait till Sunday to hear about the antics.

Getting ready to party,
Demi!

To Invite or Not to Invite... That is the Question.

So you always hear about those horror-story-weddings, where the fuss about who "could" and "couldn't" be invited escalates into full blown scrimmages. And you think to yourself, please please, may I be one of the lucky ones. May I not turn into Bridezilla and may no one emerge as Gamera.

When it came to wedding invitations, "a small shin-dig" was kinda never going to happen. My mother is Chinese and I spent a good 7 years of my childhood, growing up with my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. My mum has always encouraged us to understand and appreciate family and our Chinese heritage, so we're pretty close. And besides, who in their right minds doesn't love a good wedding?

So according to my mother's family traditions, it was essential to invite her Brothers & Sisters - all 8 of them in fact! And yes, that included their children. (Note: at this point, I'm nervously twiddling my thumbs, but still holding up a smile). But then my mother points out that it would be rude to invite all her siblings but not my Father's. Oh, did I mention that my Father is Irish, comes from Kilkenny and is also one of 9 children? (Note: I'm actually sweating as I contemplate how I'm going to organise all these relatives when they all pour into Brisbane). Thankfully, my parents downsized when they had kids. I only have 5 siblings.

The real fun part was breaking this news to Craig. But as always, he took my family's craziness in his stride. I think he's used to it by now. When we were on our third date, I had to break the news to him that my Mother just became pregnant with her 6th child. Yes, that was kinda awkward but Aidan, we still love you, hugs & kisses.

Anyway, back to the story. So I ask Craig which of his extended family members we need to invite. But it turns out that his family is the polar opposite of mine and most of his extended family are either too distant or too unwell to make the journey. My mind is spinning as I envisage the wedding list. Clearly, 95% of the wedding party is going to overwhelmingly made up by my side while the other 5% is going to be made up by Craig, his brother Brett, Craig's Mum Olga & Dad Graham, and his sister Kali & family.

Did I mention that our families haven't actually met yet? Since my family are based in Cairns while Craig's family are based down south in Coffs Harbour, there haven't been many opportunities for meet-ups. Can you imagine Craig's Aussie family, meeting my crazy Chinese-Irish family for the first time? I can. And yes, I'm nervous.

Thankfully, Craig's family will be spared the full force of my relies. The majority of my Irish relies weren't able to make the expensive trip to Oz and while I'm sorry they couldn't attend, I understand entirely the financial inconvenience involved in such a venture. So my cousin, Paul, is going to help represent the Irish and I'm looking forward to seeing him, as it's been a good 10 years since we last met. My mother's family are all based in Malaysia so it was easier for them to come to Australia. Last count, there are 11 members coming, which isn't a bad turnout :D

Last count, the guest list was at 66 adults, 4 children and 2 babies. So by Aussie-Chinese-Irish standards, it's pretty modest. And it's going to happen in exactly 28 days. Wish us luck.

Yours truly,
Demi & Craig.