Author Archive
My original intentions to be blogging more often went out the window last month with a lot of changes happening. Some in my health with some things lacking causing exhaustion that made me sleep more than usual. As you can imagine, that put me behind in everything.
So there are changes in diet, changes in supplements, and changes in…
Yep, that’s right. Part of the business was a couple trips to Melbourne to sort out getting our new car. I call it the TARDIS because she’s such a beautiful blue. Yeah, I refer to it as a ‘she’. I know how that must sound, but this is my (our) first new car and I’m still a bit excited.
Along with that, I’ve fixed up my camera, so more pictures of projects will be happening.
So, plenty happening and more on the way…
I love mail. In fact, I adore it. I love receiving mail. That’s partly why I’m moving this blog more into being a bit artsy/crafty because I would love to connect with more arts/crafts people and, you guessed it, send/receive more mail.
Today I was very excited to receive a package from the States, and I was all prepared to take pictures… but my camera pooped out on me. It really doesn’t like rechargeable batteries and I don’t have any regular ones. So we’ll just have to settle with other people’s pictures of what I got.
Though I didn’t get an actual Smashbook because I wanted to try making my own first, I did order some of the accessories. From the journalling squares (smashpads) to the awesome pocket folders, I figured I just couldn’t go past the stuff.
Some of it will be used in my latest project – a homemade travel Smashbook I’m making for a friend. Others will go into my personal book, which will be the next project up, I think. I’ve had my practice and now it’s time to enjoy one of my own.
As many of you know, I’m not originally from Australia. I made the best decision of my life back in 2006 and moved here. I’ve never regretted it for a second. Australia is a beautiful, amazing country filled with fun and wonderful (and some very strange) people. It’s the melting pot that hasn’t melted yet, granting glimpses into nearly every culture you can think of.
And this year, I am going to become one of its citizens.
Technically, I was eligible for citizenship as of July last year, but things kept getting in the way of making it a focus. Now finally I have been able to sit down and look at what’s required to make me a citizen.
I sat down and did most of the paperwork this afternoon. Now I just need a few things like a passport sized current photo and some documents copied and signed by the police department. Then I apply and wait for notification of my citizenship appointment.
In reality, things could take up to five months before I finally get to take that step into officially being a citizen. But it could also happen a lot sooner than that – and should, given that I’m a fairly simple clean slate.
I am so excited at the prospect of becoming a citizen of the country I love so much. Australia immediately felt like home when I first came here, and I always want it to be that way.
Wish me a speedy application process.
1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
*Moved more than a kilometre in Australia (haha)
*Had the pets outnumber the humans
*Published a novel
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
*Probably not. I don’t really remember what they were in the first place.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
*I don’t know about ‘close’, but people I know gave birth. Plenty of bubs for the year. No one I know in person, though…
4. Did anyone close to you die?
*Not as far as I know.
5. What countries did you visit?
*Just Australia, this year.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
*Better self-control. There are plenty of things I would like to do, but they require sticking to a schedule – something I’m not the best at.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
*February 4th, when we moved into the place we’re renting now. It was absolutely stinking hot and humid. By the time we were in, we just put the mattress on the floor in the kitchen because that’s where the aircon is and fell asleep.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
*Publishing my novel – Echo Falls.
9. What was your biggest failure?
*Letting my weight gain so much. A large part of the initial gain was moving into a place without a working oven/stove, but I had plenty of time to correct that.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
*YES. Ugh. The flu that didn’t leave me be for nearly two months and ended off with a particularly strong ear infection. Not fun.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
*Copies of my book. Haha. Other than that… I don’t think I actually bought anything noteworthy.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
*My husband’s. As always, he’s stood strong by me while I’ve dealt with things.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
*Turn on the news. Pick some names.
14. Where did most of your money go?
*Honestly? Food and drink. Isn’t that where it usually goes?
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
*Publishing my novel. (I promise I’ll only mention it sixteen more times.) Getting our first dog… and getting our second dog when it became obvious Brin needed a companion.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
*I honestly don’t know. I don’t listen to a heap of music.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Calmer, which is the more important for me
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.
c) richer or poorer? About the same, I think. A little less in debt from paying a year’s worth of student loan payments, so I guess that would make me richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
*Exercise (haha – but seriously…)
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
*Mucking about wasting time. Doing little things that end up taking so much time like playing Facebook games or pressing the snooze button on my alarm.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
*Having fun. Driving around a bit, making homemade pizza, movie marathon – all with the husband.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
*No, but I stayed in love, which is just as important these days.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
*I can’t really say. I didn’t stick to any particular one for very long when I did watch television.
24. What was the best book you read?
*The Hunger Games series.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
*A minor. Just kidding. No great discoveries.
26. What did you want and get?
*A lot of stationary/scrapbooking supplies.
27. What did you want and not get?
*A lottery win.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
*I don’t keep up with movies, so I couldn’t really say…
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
*I turned 25 this year and had a night at a pizza place with a mate who has a birthday close to mine – with all our friends, of course.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
*Not having to deal with the flu.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
*Confused.
32. What kept you sane?
*Deep breathing.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
*None.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
*Occupy Wall Street
35. Who did you miss?
*No one specifically.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
*Missy! She was like insta-friend and it’s been great ever since.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
*That it’s okay to admit you need help.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
*If you’re wrong in all the right ways. – Raise Your Glass – Pink
Making all my Christmas cards by hand this year instead of just buying them, has really put me into a crafty sort of spirit even now that Christmas is over. It creates a lot of clutter on the kitchen table, but I love having all my papers, scissors, inks, tapes, stickers and so on spread out around me while I decide on what touch to put on a project next.
While I do plan on making more cards because it’s always nice to have them on hand, I stumbled across a different crafty thing to make…
Smash books. First, an intro.
I came across the idea by accident, but I loved it. I’ve been calling it punk or messy scrapbooking. Scrapbooking for the rest of us, you might say. I was tempted to buy the book and products featured on the video, but I found many more instructional videos on how to make your own. I decided that I would try out making my own and then decide if I wanted the ‘brand name’ stuff.
Using blank greeting cards torn in half (because it was the most decent and sturdy cardstock I had on hand for the covers), I set out making two different ones. I’m going to stick all the pics behind a ‘more’ tag, though, so people don’t have to wait for the page to load if they don’t want to.
Now that everyone has received their Christmas cards, I can finally put the pictures up! I’ve been feeling quite crafty this month, starting with making all these Christmas cards… I quite like making cards and am thinking of starting a stock of birthday, thinking of you, etc cards that I can just pull out when needed.
On with the cards! You can click on them to make them a bit bigger. This is the first time I’ve used the ‘gallery’ function, so let me know if you don’t like it.
New look! I hope you like… It’s probably temporary, but I have been ready for a change for a while.
This blog has become less about my expat experience and more about my regular life. While I still have a giggle over Australia vs the world at times, this is my home and I am less inclined to look at it as something weird and new.
I’d like to focus on more pictures of the pets, talking about what we’re doing and even more about mail because I’m looking to get into mail art, crafting, etc.
So, here’s to change…
