I've come to the conclusion that it's REALLY hard to take decent photographs of our home. One of the perks of our home design was that it came with dozens of large windows, perfect for natural light - not so much for quick snapshots taken on my phone!
Now... how about a virtual tour?
We'll start with downstairs, since that was all I got around to cleaning today.
As you walk in the front door, the formal living room is off to your right hand side. It's mostly empty for now, save a few moving boxes. There are two square windows in the room, as well as the regular windows, and we'll eventually be placing a lounge underneath them. It's on order, and due to arrive in March. Can't wait!
In the meantime, we have a gorgeous glass and timber dining table set up. I'm loving the mirror that we found, too.
As you walk through the hallway, the internal garage entrance door is off to the left, while the laundry, linen cupboard and downstairs bathroom is off to the right. I love how our colour scheme in the powder room turned out - which is good, since we opted to do all of the bathrooms in a similar pattern.
So... got any decorating tips for me?
Why, hello there... from our new house!
We moved in on Thursday - and it's starting to feel a little more like home and a little less like 'the new house'.
There's still loads to do. Blinds are being installed this week, the cable television is being put in, and if we're lucky and the weather is good, the driveway should be laid on Thursday. And let's not even talk about the unpacking, or the cleaning, or the organising. I'm slightly {completely?} obsessive-compulsive about how I want things to be, so it's probably taking me a little longer than it would a regular person... but I hope it'll be worth it in the end.
Oscar and Evie are loving the new place just as much as Jase and I do. They've gotten really comfortable, really quickly - and they've already scoped out their new favourite places. Oscar is up and down the stairs constantly, which we're hoping will help him loose his gigantic pooch belly. Evie is getting bigger every day, and is such a snuggler. The last few nights have seen all four of us relaxing in our new living room - Oscar and Jase on one sofa, Evie and I on the other. It's lovely.
I don't have too many pictures just yet, but I promise once the house doesn't resemble a pig-sty, I'll get a whole batch up here for you. In the meantime - how about a sneak peak? It's not the greatest one, with all the sun glare and what-not, but it's cozy all the same.
This time next week, we'll be in our new house.
Say... what?
I am counting down the days until Thursday. I'm so tired of running back and forth between our apartment and the house, but that's going to be my life for the next 6 days while Jase is working. We have appointments and deliveries and tradesmen coming in to the house daily, so I need to be there to let them in and to be there if they need me.
We thought we'd get lucky and not have to worry about a real estate inspection before we move out, but we spoke too soon - there's an open home on the apartment tomorrow. So, instead of just relaxing and packing at our leisure, I've spent today cleaning like a fiend and removing every trace of cat fur in the place. (Yes, our two kitties are living here illegally. But only for SIX MORE DAYS.)
The flooring is looking really good - timber downstairs, on the staircase & in the upstairs living room. The carpet is already completed in the four bedrooms and looks great too.
I'm so, so relieved that this is going to be our final big move for a long while. I've packed and unpacked and moved about way too much for my liking in the last three years! :) I don't have a lot of pictures uploaded at the moment, but I promise I'll take more once the new furniture and appliances are in later this week. For now, here's a sneak peek of the floorboards.
Goodbye to 2011, which:
... was one pretty busy year!
... will stay in my heart always as the year I married my soul-mate. I'm so happy!
... saw us begin building our brand new home. Stressful, but exhilarating at the same time.
... somehow had me fall into a teaching position where I've never felt quite so at home. So thrilled to be back there again this next year.
... let me get back into a 'bff' routine, seeing my favourite person on a weekly basis. Huzzah!
... saw us adopt Evie and add her to our family of four. Oscar continues to be such a sweet boy.
... brought about some fertility struggles for J & I and just a little sadness in that respect.
But now, it's a brand new year. Hello to 2012, which:
... is going to be the year of the house. I can't wait to get moved in {12 days!} and start making it our own - our house. I can't believe we're almost there
... is going to be about perseverance. I need to keep on working towards the things that I want, without letting myself get dejected and throw in the towel
... is all about baby steps. I'm keeping it simple: eat well, move more
... is going to see us get more aggressive on the baby front. We've tried things out for this past year, the unmonitored cycles aren't resulting in ovulation & I am going to be on the look-out for a new RE in the coming months
... is going to be about saving vs. spending money. Unless, of course, it's house related - in which it doesn't count
... is going to be a cracker of a year. I can feel it in my bones!
Another year, another blog, another way of seeing just how crazy life was.
To follow tradition, it's time to get busy re-capping, just like in years gone by: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010.
1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Got married. Travelled to Vanuatu. Worked in a brand new school. Built a house. Took out my first mortgage. Began fertility treatments. Adopted a second (!) cat.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I made no resolutions last year. I think for 2012, I'd like to focus on getting healthier - physically and emotionally. This year has drained me & I really haven't been looking after myself as well as I should have.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? An old friend gave birth to twin girls, but that's that. It feels like everyone around me managed to get pregnant this year... except me.
Happy New Year, everyone!
You guys, I am in love.
Oh....
And then there's the fact that WE OWN OUR HOUSE NOW.
2012 is going to be wonderful!
School's out! School's out!
This time last year, I was a little worried about what work I'd find myself in for 2011. I prepared myself for the uncertainty of casual supply teaching, and was more than a little unhappy with doing it - especially after having a break from teaching while we lived overseas.
I came. I casual taught. I cried. And then, the universe threw me a bone.
I started off my year at this new little school, with a beautiful class of kiddies. I didn't know how long I'd be there at first, but I got lucky & with the help of an amazing principal who fought to keep me there, I ended up with a year long job. I'm so lucky to be heading back there next year.
Somehow, the fates wanted me to get back into teaching. I was out of sorts, out of my comfort zone, and I am now so happy to be a staff member of such a wonderful place of work. Yes, teaching sucks sometimes - the parental drama, the lousy pay, the overwhelming demand for paperwork, the programs and guidelines that change every ten seconds... but I'm officially happy to declare myself a teacher again.
As I said goodbye to my children today, the kind words they (& their parents) gave to me really hit close to home. They thanked me for looking after their children. They told me how much their children enjoyed our classroom. They commented on how glad they were that I would be staying on next year.
The parent of the very-new child on the Autistic Spectrum (who only arrived at the school two weeks ago) gave me a hug, and told me that he was so happy that I welcomed them into the school - and that our Christmas concert/singing item that happened last night was the FIRST TIME his son had ever gotten up on stage to perform in an item.
I also received a note and a gift from another parent. This particular boy has been quite a handful all year, being lively, cheeky and witty all at the same time. He and his family are also Jehovah's Witnesses. The gift was a fancy pen that his parents had engraved with my name. The note reads:
To Mrs. D,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for all the hard work, time and effort you have put into our son's education and growth as a 'little' person.
S has absolutely loved having 'Miss' as his teacher. We have certainly seen that in his work and in his day to day conversation. Please accept this small gift as our way of saying thank you.
Also, as a family, we would especially like to thank you for the respect you have shown in regards to our beliefs and way of life. This has had such a positive effect on our son. We are truly grateful.
May 2012 prove to be just as challenging (in a good way!) and exciting for you and your new students.
That, my friends, is what teaching is all about.
Ugh, guys, I am so sorry I've dropped off the face of the earth lately.
Life is busy. Good, stressful, nerve-wracking, busy. We have so much going on and time is flying and my head/heart are being torn in a million different directions... but it's all okay. I'm trying to take one day at a time. It's so hard when things are out of your control. I don't cope well with not being responsible for making things happen when I want them to. Waiting around has never been a strong point of mine.
I feel like I've been in limbo on three main things: house, work, baby.
All of them will hopefully sort themselves out in time, but that's the thing: I'm sick of the whole 'time' thing. I feel like I've been waiting around for what feels like eons, for each of these things to be resolved - only time keeps on ticking, and we keep on waiting. The waiting, the uncertainty.. it's doing my head in.
On the house front, we're putting all of our good karma into a box and sending it off, hoping against hope that things work out. We are so close, literally, THIS CLOSE, to having the house finished and ready to hand over; in fact, we were promised that it'd all be sorted out by Christmas. Well, that was before the weather gods decided that they'd like this summer to be the coldest and wettest December we've had in FIFTY YEARS in Sydney. Seriously. It has rained constantly this month - meaning our home hasn't been finished. Our final inspection was supposed to have been yesterday, but because of the weather delaying the exterior painting, it's been pushed back to next Wednesday. As in, three days before Christmas. And guess what the forecast is meant to be early next week? PLEASE DON'T RUIN THIS FOR US, WEATHER GODS. If you're so inclined, we would love for a little positive juju and crossed fingers. If the house isn't completed and handed over prior to Christmas, we will end up waiting until the END of January before we can hand over.
On the work front, I'm lucky enough to be going back on class next year. Unfortunately, our school numbers have dropped, which means that we lose a class AND the rest of our classes will be really large. Instead of 24 year 1/2 kiddies, I'll be on 29 next year. That extra group of children will make a massive difference to the way the classroom will run, so I'm mentally preparing myself for it now. I also really feel for a colleague of mine who desperately needs a full-time job, but is waiting around to find out if our numbers will rise - I've been in that limbo myself, so I'm praying it works out for her.
On the baby front, sweet nothing is happening. This one is the hardest of all. It is so, so difficult to watch people around you fall pregnant with what seems like very little effort at all, and to be constantly wishing for what other people have. TTC is all about emotions. You start off with excitement, then uncertainty, then nerves, then anger, then frustration, then hopefulness, then boredom, and so on and so forth. Last cycle, I was back on the 'excitement' train, hopeful that Clomid would do the trick. That didn't work, so this time around I'm sort of numb. If it didn't work last time, why should this time be any different? If the Clomid does do it's job, I'm supposed to ovulate around Christmas time - and I can't think of a more perfect gift than that.
I know that none of these things are ones I can change, but I will keep on keeping on.
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