12 Months!!! Now that is embarrassing! After all the promises I made to keep this up to date.....I failed miserably!
Well here I am trying to make amends - how on earth I am going to catch up on 12 months worth of updates I dont know but I'll try my best.
We stayed in the house we first moved into for only 3 months after. It didnt have the storage we were after and was sooooo cold during the winter (yes believe it or not it does get VERY cold in Oz!) and had next to no storage.....so we made yet another move.
We're now in a 3 bed single storey house with double garage in a street with a communal pool and tennis courts (god dont we sound posh!). The house is nice and the garden isnt a bad size - just a bit of an awkward shape, but otherwise its good. The rooms are all a good size too which I love. During the summer holidays ( January) myself and Danielle were in the pool everyday because it was so hot (god I love the hot weather!). Danielle was like a little macaroon - very very brown (lifes not fair sometimes!!). She looked more Aussie than the other kids here - blonde hair, blue eyes and golden brown skin!
Its pretty much all been about Danielle now I think about it. She tried Tennis lessons for a while but didnt get on with that......so she moved onto Dance lessons, but got bored with those. Shes now settled with swimming, gymnastics & horse riding. She moved through the swimming lessons really quickly and is now training twice a week in Squads and swims for her school in the annual Swimming Carnival (very proud parents we are!). Gymnastics is just at the beginners stage so far so no big movements there but shes got a grading at the end of this month so hopefully she'll move up and start doing 'proper' gymnastics then. Horse riding has only just started but she loves that and is desperate for her own pony (dont know how to tell her but that is NEVER gonna happen!). She has been saving for almost a year to buy one for herself and has achieved a massive saving of.....wait for it......$31!! :D Shes been doing fantastically in school (well that goes without saying really with parents like us ;-)) and we're really proud of her. Shes got lots of friends and gets on with all the teachers. Unfortunately she seems to have a big following of boys too - not much of a worry while shes 7 years old but in a few years time I can see its not gonna be as CUTE!!
Grays doing well in work. He got promoted a few months back which was great. Not a huge pay rise but definitely a step in the right direction. Hes getting a bit bored now though and is thinking about doing some colleges courses to help him get into the Design side of things. He hasnt been able to do as much golf as he'd have liked (hardly any to be honest) because he does have to do a lot of overtime. The time that we do all spend together now though is quality time and we do lots more things as a family which is great.
Now its onto me! Ok here goes! I volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels once a month with Sharon (the Aussie mate I met when we first arrived - her and her family have been brilliant and we're really close now). It only takes about 2 hours but its nice to go out and meet the old folk and also feel as though you're having some input in the community - very important when you move to a new country I think. I also do a lot of volunteering at Danielles school - reading a couple of times a week and help out whenever I'm needed. Its great to get to know Danielles school mates that way. I started TAFE (College) a couple of months ago just doing a part time Statement of Attainment course in Admin Skills - you need a certificate to wipe your own ass over here so I thought I'd better give it a go. I'm glad I did too because I've been really enjoying it. The new semester starts in July and I'm going to do either a Certificate 4 in Business Admin or a Web Design course. At the moment I'm inclined to go for the Web Design course because I've recently set up a new Website called UKShoppingWorldwide and I'd love to be able to understand all the jargon more. I was lucky enough to get chatting with a bloke from a Forum I use - Expat Forum who is helping me out so much with my site - he understands all the jargon which is great!
We went camping about 4 or 5 times during the spring/summer and absolutely loved it. There are some stunning places to visit here and everything is so kid friendly. The stunning beaches usually only have a handful of people on them and the surf is loads of fun (well for Gray and Dan it is - as you can imagine I'm much more of a whimp!!)
We've been here 14 months now and although its flown by it also feels as though we've been here forever. Very strange. The minimum time we had to stay here was 2 years so when that time elapses we'll assess our options. We all love the beach so much and with us being where we are (just over an hour from the coast) it can seem a bit restrictive in the peak of summer.
I'm sure there is lots more that I could add to this update but I dont want you all falling asleep!
Take care all and this time I 'promise' to keep it up to date!
Rach xxxx
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