merry christmas & happy new year!

life's been a bit of a whirlwind since i returned home!  for some crazy reason, we planned a housewarming party 4 days after i landed which barely gave me enough time to adjust to this time zone.  it was a lovely afternoon with some great friends and buddy was well behaved :)

we've been super busy since the beginning of november getting ready for christmas which included purchasing a new rug and lounge suite as well as, in theory, finishing the garden.  it been a rather busy couple of months and we're both really excited about the idea of having a few days off to rest and recover before what is guaranteed to be a big year ahead. 

wishing everyone a lovely holiday period with family, friends and some great food!  all the best for a prosperous, happy & healthy 2016!

hugs,

s

and the holidays continue...

 for the last two years, i've 'bought' two extra weeks of annual leave from work which is awesome.  this year it enabled me to spend 10 days in bali, indonesia in august and 4 weeks in canada in october including a minor detour to france for a week to visit an old friend who I hadn't seen in years! 

it was lovely to be back in canada and spend some time with family and friends i've known for years.  it was also fabulous to get to see the autumn colours, spend a weekend at a cottage & have some turkey (in different dish types).  i can't say i did a whole heck of a lot in canada. as anyone who lives abroad can attest, going home doesn't involve seeing the sights, it's truly a matter of eating and drinking with people you don't get to see :)  

in france, i spent a couple of days in poitiers with sarah k touring around before we headed into paris for the final days.  we spend hours wandering central area of paris, eating delicious french food and soaking in a bit of the culture.  we also stood in line for 1.5 hours to see the catacombs which was an experience. 

i must confess that by the end of the four weeks, i was looking forward to coming back to australia and my normal routine.  oh, and i missed hubby and buddy a bit too! 

hugs,

s

sunshine & relaxation!

the move was uneventful for everyone except buddy, who went from being a super furry bear to a groomed dog while we moved our furniture from one house to the next!  impressively, we managed to get all 50 plastic boxes emptied prior to them being collected three days after moving day - there's nothing like a hard deadline to get you motivated!  we even managed to get the house looking somewhat normal before we headed off to bali, indonesia for our 10 days of rest & relaxation. 

our first day or so was spent in kuta which is a very touristy area in bali, famous for its bars and restaurants.  we wandered around, getting the lay of the land and getting over our jetlag.  in the evening, we released baby sea turtles into the ocean at sunset which was a heartwarming experience.  we then took the slow boat to nusa lembongan, a quiet island about 30 mins east of bali where we toured around on a scooter and experienced the best snorkeling to date with a myriad of fish and a mantra ray.  the coral was varied which added to the experience!  we then headed to semiyak to do a bit of shopping, have a couple of fabulous indonesian massages and have our feet nibbled by fish who, for some reason like to eat the dead skin!  we also headed up to ubud for a peaceful day surrounded by rice paddies and picturesque scenery.  all up, the holiday lived up to the relaxation requirement :)

we returned home to settle in a bit further into the new house and have a couple of festivities before i head off for 4.5 weeks in canada & france.  if nothing else, i'll have done a bit of traveling in 2015 :) 

hugs,

s      

change is as good as a holiday!

that said, i can't say life's been much of a holiday lately!  i'm not sure how or why but in may we somehow, without really looking, found a house that ticked all of our boxes and for good or for bad, it's has put our lives on a treadmill at high speeds for the last 3 months!  we needed to paint our living room/dining room/kitchen area plus two powder rooms and a stairwell as well as redo the back garden area paving in case we were successful with the purchase of this accidentally found dream home!

we weren't truly finished all the required works when we purchased the new house but we had a reasonable amount under our belt!  engagements with agents, the installation of new blinds, a whole of house de-clutter and massive clean ensued before we were finally ready for photos and inspections.  it was a lot of work, particularly the mid-week cleans when people wanted to see the property after work but it was all worth it in the end!  we sold pre-auction for more than we'd anticipated to a lovely couple who are planning to do significant renos to it prior to moving in.     

so now, we're in the process of packing up the existing house, getting things sorted with two banks (this part isn't going well) and getting excited about moving into the new house.  if we haven't had enough craziness already, four days after we move in, we're head on holidays for 10 days which will be wonderful and hopefully relaxing and then, the day after we get back, shannon starts a new role at a new company!  we've definitely not been doing anything in halves this year! :) 

our 'normal' lives have suffered slightly as a result of the above however we've still managed to keep quite busy with housewarmings and dinners, birthdays and other similar events.  i also had the privilege of attending a dinner to celebrate the opening of a de-inking plant (to make recycled paper) which will see the removal of 80,000 tonnes of waste paper being sent to landfill.  it was great to see such an impactful project being delivered :) 

i hope everyone's enjoying their summer holidays in north america!  i've included some photos of the new house for those interested. 

hugs,

s

easter treats...

a four day weekend only arrives once a year so that means you need to make the most of it!  we planned on heading up to the alpine region however the weather looked a bit grim so at the last minute, we headed west instead towards apollo bay.

heading off on good friday with no provisions wasn't the best start to the weekend as most of the groceries stores were closed.  we ended up buying eggs, bread and bacon and making sandwiches for dinner...  our other flaw was the last time we used the tent, we broke a pole and we'd forgotten to replace it...  oops!!  luckily, we managed to improvise and provided it didn't blow a gale, we were going to be snug as a bug!

we spent the weekend hiking to see some waterfalls - the triplets and beauchamp, checking out a market and pier area in apollo bay and eating delicious fish and chips, before packing ourselves back in the station wagon to come home.  we arrived home sunday evening, in anticipation of painting the ceiling in the living room on monday. once we finished painting, we started drilling holes in the ceiling to hang the down lights only to discover some impediments so we've had to patch and will need to repaint one of the spots :(  we were both a bit disappointed as it was a lot of work getting it finished...

other than our holidays, we've been quite busy with other things!  i've booked flights back to canada and france in october, we took hannah for an introductory trapeze lesson and both kids to an escape/puzzle room, we've been to a few birthday dinners/drinks and a wedding (which we arrived at the same time as the bride) - it's been a great first three months of the year!

wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a happy spring - the weather's certainly changing in australia!

hugs,

s       

welcome to 2015!

we survived the drive to queensland and back!  in fact, it was heaps less painless than we expected as we figured out a way for the kids to watch movies in the car which means they didn't look out the window much but on the plus side, there wasn't any fighting :)  on the way up, we stopped at the dubbo zoo which was hot but also nice as you can drive around visiting the animals. once in queensland, we stayed for the first few nights with shannon's brother and his family.  it was a bit squishy but it was really nice to spend a solid amount of time with them!  we went swimming, to the movies and for a family hike to see a waterfall :)  we then headed over the gold coast to the amusement parks for two days which was heaps of fun!  (i don't think i'd been on a rollercoaster in 20 years :)   i went on all of them except the giant drop which, as you can imagine, has a straight drop down and is very scary!  we had dinner and a wander at a night market in surfers paradise where hannah and i had henna done on our hands before we got back in the car and drove back to melbourne. it was a bit of a whirlwind adventure but a lovely family holiday all the same, even for buddy!

i've accepted a new role with nab which i'll be starting later this month.  whilst i love my current role, i was ready for a new challenge and change :)  i'll be working in the product team, looking after commercial cards.

all the best to everyone for the year ahead!  i'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out :)

hugs,
s