Love through the years
drawing of it on the living room wall.
And whenever we visited relatives in Woomelang, we’d drive past it.
‘It’s such a shame you girls won’t be able to carry on the family tradition when you’re older,’ Mum said to me and Hayley.
Often when we saw Nana Dorrie or Gran Faye, they’d dig out photos of their own special day at the church.
‘It was wonderful,’ Gran Faye would smile, remembering.
As I got older and started dating, I’d think of how lovely it would’ve been to get hitched there.
Aged 17, I met Blake through mutual friends and we quickly fell in love.
Together through our late teens and early 20s, it was clear we would get married.
Then, chatting with Mum one day, she had some exciting news.
‘I’ve just been on Facebook. Someone has bought the old church and they’re going to rebuild it in Dromana, on the Mornington Peninsula,’ she said.
‘Wow! That’s amazing,’ I replied. It wasn’t even that far from where Blake and I were living in Geelong.
‘I wonder if we can check it out?’ I said to Blake.
‘Worth contacting them to see,’ he agreed.
It had been bought by an events venue called Tanglewood Estate, so I got in touch with them, explaining my story, and I booked an appointment to see the development.
A few weeks later, Blake and I were holidaying in Dromana and we decided to visit the church’s new home.
It was incredible to see – they were even rebuilding it with the same original wood.
By now, Blake and I had been together for seven years, and though we weren’t engaged, we both agreed that when we did marry, it would be there.
‘It’s magical,’ Blake said. Catching up with Mum, I told her our plans.
‘That’s wonderful,’ she gushed.
We kept track of the church’s transformation on social
media, and a few weeks later in February 2017, it was fully re-erected.
Then, in October 2018, Blake and I went to Bali.
Walking along the beach at sunset one evening, Blake said, ‘Look out to the ocean and I’ll take a picture of you.’
Turning back around after, I gasped as I saw he was down on one knee.
‘Will you marry me?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ I cried, wrapping my arms around him.
The very next day, I emailed the church to find out their availability.
And when they came back with February 14, Valentine’s Day, as an option, I knew that was the date for us.
‘Let’s book it,’ Blake said to me.
Sadly, Nana Dorrie was no longer with us and
Gran
Faye was too unwell to come along. But she
was over the moon when I told her where we’d marry.
‘How lovely,’ she beamed. The day before the wedding, Mum and Dad saw the church at its new site for the first time.
They looked amazed as they walked around comparing the new structure to the old.
‘It’s beautiful, darl’,’ Dad smiled.
They’d swapped the original stained-glass windows for clear ones that overlooked the ocean.
And they’d kept the same wood, giving the church a rustic, nostalgic finish.
Gliding down the aisle the next day, I welled up as I thought of the women in my family who had also done this walk.
The entire thing felt incredibly special. We even included a part in the service from Gran Faye where she spoke about how meaningful the church was to us.
It was the perfect day.
Mum and I couldn’t wait to show the photos to Gran Faye, and her face lit up.
‘It’s fantastic,’ she said. Blake and I are expecting our first child, and I can’t wait to tell them about the church. I hope they’ll get to carry on our tradition and become the fifth generation to wed there.
When Steve and I got together, we always knew we’d get married at the church – it was so important to both our families.
We were very lucky to have our wedding before it closed, but it was sad to see our tradition go.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the church was being rebuilt in Dromana.
Our eldest daughter, Hayley, was already married, but I did wonder if Amy might end up having her wedding there.
It was such a beautiful, emotional day and I am so happy we got to continue our family tradition.
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YOU NEED TO PEE
THIRSTY
Because your bladder is working hard to get rid of the sugar, it’s drawing water from your tissues. This can make you dehydrated and constantly thirsty.
YOU’VE SUDDENLY LOST WEIGHT
Because your cells can’t use all that sugar for energy your body begins burning fat and muscle instead. This can result in rapid, unexplained weight loss.
YOUR VISION IS
Licorice root Contains a compound called glycyrrhizin, which prompts the adrenal
glands to produce cortisol, a natural anti
inflammatory.
NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, refers to the energy you burn when you’re not actually exercising. Even if you have a mainly sedentary lifestyle and don’t do formal exercise, experts say you can vary your energy burn by up to 350 calories a day by being conscious of NEAT. A study of lean and obese people with sedentary lives and similar jobs found lean participants did two hours more incidental walking and movement a week than obese subjects. You can increase your NEAT by being less efficient – for example, place the washing basket five metres away from the line so you have to walk back and forth.
Chamomile
The compounds α-linolenic acid and apigenin in chamomile tea have antimicrobial and pain-relieving
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Turmeric
It’s believed turmeric
tea can help boost your immune system to shorten infection
duration. The curcumin in turmeric may help reduce
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Legumes – or beans, peas and lentils – are filled with both soluble and insoluble fibre. This means they not only fill you up, but they also assist your digestive system and help you avoid constipation. Legumes help regulate your blood glucose levels and provide a slow release form of energy, which helps in the fight against diabetes. They also help lower your cholesterol and contain potassium and magnesium, which is great news for your heart. Add legumes to salads, curries and casseroles, or turn them into patties.