Easter 2014

I blogged about Easter last year (post here: Easter - Holidays, Candy & Toys) but as time goes on and I learn more, I want to blog again, so here goes.

As with last year, we didn't have Friday or Monday off but we did get to finish at noon instead of working all day. As discussed in my previous blog, toys and candy, rather than chocolate, are the typical gift received by kids here. This time though I was able to take photos (at my local Wal-Mart) of some Easter Baskets available for purchase:

Wal-Mart $5 baskets

Wal-Mart $15 baskets

Wal-Mart $20 basket

Easter Candy

The baskets aren't very expensive, as you can see by the price signs, but I'm not 100% sure I'd buy one of those instead of making my own up. They do seem good for if you have lots of kids to buy for though... just grab and go.

It seems to me though, from seeing what other people have posted or blogged about, that many prefer to buy an empty basket and buy their own fillers. Fillers can be anything from clothes, to crayons, DVD's and almost always some candy.

Candy, as explained in my other blog, is usually just regular candy that's available (M&M's etc) but it's packet would have been changed to include Easter themed things (like rabbits or eggs or chickens etc) or spring colours. Peeps (the yellow things at the top of the photo to the left) are synonymous with Easter. You might be able to find them all year but I can't say I've looked!

This year, for myself, I had a Godiva egg and some Russell Stover rabbits for Easter (4 in total but I had eaten one before the below photos were taken :P). The rabbits were less than an inch or so thick and one was filled with caramel, one had little "crispies" in it, one was "cookies and cream", and the other was just solid chocolate. All yummy  :)

Godiva egg

Russell Stover rabbits

Russell Stover rabbits

I was actually pretty pleased to find the above kinds of chocolate. The Godiva egg was the first hollow egg I'd seen (had to be bought just for that!) and both are kinds of chocolate that I like. This isnt going to be the end of my Easter gorge though, mum is sending me some hollow bunnies and other lollies with a friend that's visiting in a couple of months so I'm really excited about that as well!

Easter Lily

I also saw a Lily for sale at my local grocery store labelled as an "Easter Lily". As you can see from the photo it looks like a regular Lily but with a little rabbit stuck in it. It was a decent size and from memory was being sold for $20.00. I didn't buy one (by the time I saw it it was Monday so there was little point) but I have been thinking about getting one as a house plant... we'll see!

The other thing I noticed more this year (most likely I wasn't paying attention before) were Easter Egg hunts! Lots of different organisations have their own hunts with different prizes or charities involved. I saw another one in the news where it was for adults only and the winner won a car!

This year, on Easter Sunday, my husband and I had lunch with his Aunt, Uncle and his cousins and that was good too. We had ham, mashed potato, buttered corn and bread rolls. Some of the others had stuffing and brussel sprouts but not me! For dessert we had a choice of cheesecake, apple pie and fudge (the latter of which I made - that should be in another blog!). It was good to catch up.

Anyway, there you go. Easter 2014 done and dusted!

Dawn of a New Theme...

Swifts Creek
(pretty, but nowhere near me)

It's been a while (well okay several months) since I last posted and I'm sorry about that but I've been finding it a little hard to find topics to talk about.  That's not to say I don't have some to post, I do, just in draft form, the problem is some of them require a fair bit of research and preparation so I thought I might try posting about life here in a more personal way. 

I will still continue along the same vein as previous posts (the difference between the US and here) but in a more personal "how this affects me" way. As time passes on life here, it's hard to remember what is and isn't in Australia, and because it could be there now and I'd have no idea!

I truly hope you enjoy this change and I hope this will mean I will be able to post more often (or at least have something to ramble on about more often!).