All settled
Can you believe it has been nearly 4 weeks since we left the Gold Coast? How time flies when you are having fun right? Well we have finally settled in and I have just this last week unpacked the very last box – phew!
We’re getting on with life, establishing our little routines. Ruby is becoming a little more mobile each day and taking a shower while I watch her is much harder in our new space so new ways of doing things have been established. She’s also sleeping in her big girl cot now in her own room. She’s still not having a great amount of sleep during the day which makes it hard for me to get much done but she sleeps a lot better at night although has developed this habit of waking up at 1.30am on the dot for a bottle. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was summer but it’s pretty chilly at that hour of the morning 
Ruby is growing up so fast…it’s hard to believe she will be 8 months old next month. Every day there is something new that she has discovered. For instance, there is this new face that she pulls…it almost brings me to tears with laughter every time she does it. It’s like a surprised kind of look she gives along with a “ooh” sound…check it out:
She wants to stand all the time. When I say “up” she comes up in the standing position rather than the sitting one. She loves being in her walker and has got the walking backwards down pat…just have to work on the going forward now. She has also discovered some words but the best one of all was when she said mama on Monday. The last few days she has been saying woof. I keep saying to her “what does Roxy say? Woof woof” and when I asked the question today she said the ”woof” herself!
Speaking of Roxy, she is enjoying life and has even lost some weight so is looking really trim. We attempted a walk around the neighbourhood the other day – first time pushing a pram with one hand and holding Roxy with the other. I think it is going to take some getting used to!
I think we are adjusting to the cooler climate here although we give the potbelly or the aircon a good hiding of an evening…which one we use depends on if I have chopped up any wood!
Both Ruby and I came down with a cold within days of arriving. We mended but it caught up with little Ruby again. The first day of her cold she cried every time her nose ran and when she coughs she shakes her head.
In other news, the house on the Gold Coast has been sold. Unfortunately not for a great price but I guess we should be thankful under the current market conditions.
I know I promised some photos of our new place a few weeks ago but do not fear, they are here. Check out tomorrow’s post when all will be revealed.
Have fun!
Settling in to our new home
Yes we have arrived! It was a big adventure for us all but we have arrived safe and sound.
It was a last minute decision to move and so I only had a week to not only plan it but pack as well. You know I’ve spruiked my organisational and perfectionism skills here numerous times. Usually when I pack I have colour coded stickers on the boxes so you can clearly see what is in them. I have an itinerary so I not only know what furniture I have but also what is in the boxes. I connected my phone, internet and electricity. Well not this time! I was literally chucking whatever in the boxes. And the connections? Well let’s just say that yesterday (Wednesday) I finally got on to Telstra about that…can you believe it took an hour on the phone to get it done?!?
I was so not planned for this move…we didn’t even have a removalist until the Wednesday afternoon and we were moving on the Friday morning. Luckily some local guys came to our rescue and not only did they pack and drive the 800km in one day but also offloaded it all on Friday night. A huge day for them and because of their determination to get us in, we thankfully got to sleep in our own bed that night…well, my bed at least! Ruby is good at stretching out and taking up most of it though.
I’m the type of person that unpacks in a day. I don’t sleep until the last box is unpacked. That was before motherhood. Unfortunately unpacking with a 6 month old isn’t easy. Mum and dad have been over for a few hours most days – mum keeps Ruby entertained and dad has been going around putting up dryer brackets and shelves. Meanwhile, I have just kept unpacking. Then when Ruby goes down to sleep at night, I roll up the sleeves and keep unpacking again. I have just started to see the light at the end of the tunnel today. I had the removalists place furniture in the rooms and the rest of it I asked them to put on our front enclosed veranda so I could unpack from there. This is what it looked like when I was halfway through:
The weather here is chilly…us Gold Coast girls certainly are not used to it and so we have come down with a cold. The first day Ruby was so unsure what was going on that she would cry when her nose ran. Hopefully we are on the mend and can be back to 100% health soon.
Stay tuned for more adventures. I’ll post some pics of our new abode very soon.
Have fun!
Farewell old house
It was a sad moment to leave our old house. Ruby and I went around to each room and said good bye as we took a photo of it. It looked so lonely all empty:
Good bye house on Gold Coast.
We are still without a buyer. We’ve had some very interested parties but no offers as yet. Hopefully we can get it sold soon.
Have fun!
P.S. I’m without proper internet at the moment and on a new laptop that isn’t set up right just yet so I’m unable to post the main pics at the moment. I’ll update them when I am back online properly 
Our new abode
My mum reminded me today that I hadn’t posted the pics of our new home like I said I would in my last post. First of all I have to say thanks to my mum for being the most advid reader of it…gotta love our mums they always are our biggest fans! But I have infact been working behind the scenes getting the pics up. You might have noticed I’ve made a few changes to the blog and posted a “visit our home” section where you can check out pics of our new place plus the pics from our old one are still there.
Anyway, without any further delay, let me invite you in to our new home. Welcome to our new abode. Well, it’s not so new for Roxy and I but new for little Ruby. Come and check out our space:
Entry:
Ruby’s Room:
My room:
Kitchen:
Living Room (sorry folks, its over the wall…only pic I took of it!):
Dining Room (from both views):
Office:
Ruby’s bathroom:
Back screened porch:
Garden:
There are more pics in the gallery so check them out too. I’ve missed some pics of my bathroom, laundry and guest room but they are not much to look at so you are not missing out on anything there! lol.
Just because we’ve left one house and moved to another. It doesn’t mean our DIY dream ends there. I’ve been known to be very capable with a hammer and paint brush over the years so I am looking forward to putting a new stamp on our home, perhaps bringing some of what I loved about our previous house in and also some fresh ideas that I have been thinking about over the last few weeks.
It’s funny that although I have lived here before and made a few changes, I’m now looking at it through matured design eyes (lol!) and wonder why I never did some things before. When I moved into this house many years ago, dad gave it a fresh coat of paint and we had new carpet installed. I planted a lot of new tropical plants in the front garden and changed some of the green colour on the exterior parts of the house to a charcoal sort of colour (it looked more charcoal at the time!). I don’t think I did much else than that to be honest.
But now things are different and it’s time for a freshen up. I’ve already started to make a few easy and cheap changes. Thanks to my dad (again!), he painted all the bedrooms and the living room before we moved in and has just finished the kitchen and the hallway and entry. What a great dad I have! I loved the colour I chose for our walls on the Gold Coast so much that I’ve chosen the same colour in half strength for our new house. It just feels so relaxing now.
I have also taken down some of the old black verticals from the dining room, kitchen and living room. I’ve always disliked them and we don’t need window coverings on those windows as no one can see in from outside anyway. I can’t wait to replace the rest of those verticals in the other rooms with white wood venetians.
So share your thoughts. What do you think of our new place?
Have fun!
Moving day
Today is the day. The start of our new adventure.
I’m very fortunate that Clint has come to my rescue and is able to help me get Roxy and my car back down south while Ruby and I jump on a flight. It was challenging enough driving the 10 hours up here with Roxy over three years ago so I couldn’t imagine doing it with a 6 month old baby as well!
We shall see you at the other end
Have fun!
Ten things I will miss about the Gold Coast
I was thinking today about how much I have enjoyed living on the Gold Coast. I’ve been living here for over three years now and I have really made it my home. So let me share with you my ten things I will miss about the Gold Coast:
- How easy it is to get around. The roads are fantastic and there is rarely any congestion. Having said that, there is a lot of roadwork going on here at the moment with tram lines being put in and I am certainly not going to miss that!
- How close we live to gorgeous beaches. Having lived in Sydney where Bondi Beach was a local for me and knowing how hard it is to get a park and then find a vacant spot on the beach, I am constantly amazed by just how bare the beaches are up here.
- The fact that not a lot of people that live here are actually born here. It’s funny that when you talk to people, you often find out that they weren’t born on the Gold Coast. It seems to have imported its population in!
- The warm weather. We’re really lucky to have very long warm seasons here which means winter is not such a chore!
- That we live so close to numerous Earthborn stores. I’ve discovered this wonderful homewares store that I can’t go into without coming out with something…even if it’s just oil burner melts in a yummy frangipani scent.
- The great selection of restaurants and cafes at our fingertips. Yes folks, living in a hot tourist destination means there are endless cafes and restaurants to feast at. We really are spoilt for choice here.
- People’s friendly nature. Everytime I am out and about, I love the fact that people just start chatting with you. You walk by someone and they say hi. It really is a friendly place to live.
- The views from our house. I love waking up in the morning, watching the sun rise, the hot air ballons floating by our house and the amazing view of the Gold Coast skyline right from our veranda.
- How central we are to everything. Everything feels like it is within 10-15 minutes of us. The beach, shopping centres…it’s just a hop, skip and a jump onto the motorway and we can be anywhere in a flash. Even Brisbane is within an hours drive of us.
- Last but not least I am going to miss family and friends that live here.
Have fun!
The house that did not sell
Yes folks, the auction has come and gone and unfortunately the house did not sell. There were only two groups at the auction and neither of them made a bid. Post auction we received an offer from one group who we counter offered. But they decided they had changed their mind altogether and were now looking to buy an investment property instead.
So here we are, still with house. We’re finding it hard to believe that a house with million dollar views can’t even be sold for half that price. Our agent is going to give it another big push this weekend with more open houses to see what additional interest we can get now that we have put an “offers over” price on it.
Unfortunately I don’t have the time to stick around and wait for the sale. My other house has become available and I have job interviews lined up and/or a business to launch so Ruby, Roxy and I are packing up and making the big move this Friday. It was a decision made only a week ago so as you can imagine it has been a hive of activity this week with packing and cleaning. I can’t believe how much stuff we have! Just when I think I am almost there, I turn a corner and there is more to be packed. Ruby is not very patient with me packing during the day so I try and do the bulk of it at night after she has gone to sleep. It’s making for very long days indeed!
Just think, this time next week we will have moved, unpacked and be settled in our new home.
Have fun!
We’re famous
Well sort of! As I mentioned ages ago, I was very fortunate to have been interviewed by Cosmopolitan Pregnancy back in October last year. Well it has FINALLY been published! Check it out here or in the winter edition on the shelves right now.
Of course, you guys know the story as it happened with the pregnancy updates! Lol.
Have fun!
Wine and cheese night
We had our wine and cheese open house night last night at the house. It was not only a chance to invite all the peeps back that have been through the property but also show off the amazing views at night time. Those night views could really tip someone over the edge and grab us a buyer. Unfortunately only one person showed up – yes a bit disappointed considering we had been preparing the house all day. Well at least Ruby had fun, staying up past her bed time:
Our agent is very positive about it all. She said there are a couple of interested parties that she has spoken. The feedback throughout the whole sale campaign has been very positive. People saying the house is gorgeous, commenting that we have put a lot of thought into the renovation. Of course we always show the home in the best light, with oil burning and relaxing mood music…we often get asked what the CD is! Our agent thinks the place is amazing and has been frustrated that we haven’t been able to get the 5 offers made so far closer to our asking price. It’s a tough market to be selling in right now.
So let’s see what the rest of this week brings. Cross the fingers there is a buyer out there on Saturday that just loves our place.
Have fun,
A new adventure
I guess you are wondering what’s going to happen once the house is sold this Saturday (yes, I am being positive and not thinking of anything less!). It obviously means a really big change for us all for sure. But an even bigger one for Ruby, Roxy and I.
You see, we’re relocating to Central Coast, just north of Sydney. I bought a house there many years ago and have been renting it out to family since I moved to the Gold Coast over 3 years ago. Why move back there? Well obviously as I can put a roof over our heads there. Plus I have a village of support there with my parents living within 10 minutes drive as well as my brother and his fiance close by. Then there are my friends in Sydney who are excited about us being closer so they can see us more often. The fact of the matter is that I also need to get an income coming in and the work opportunities are much better for me being closer to Sydney.
While I am looking for work, I am trying to give my new business a real good kick in the hind and try and make something of it. It would be far better for me to create a work from home opportunity so I can be with Ruby rather than spend hours a day commuting to a job.
It’s certainly a big shift and there is so much packing to be done between now and then. Most of it I have been doing during Ruby’s naps. I say naps because most of the time they are just 30 minute siestas. Occassionally I get lucky and can get a whole hour which makes me very productive indeed!
We have a big adventure a head of us. Stay tuned for the continuing stories as it all unfolds.
Have fun!
