It's Official......We're Moving Out.....

So last week I had a meeting with Homeswest (government housing here in Australia) as we've just found out Chris is now earning too much money to stay where we are. Apparently there are a wide variety of options open to us but we now have six months max to move out and to decide what we'll do and where in town we'll go. We don't really want to move away from town as everything we need and use on a regular basis is here and it's all just so close no matter where you live in town.

Now the journey really begins, do we stay in the renting market and pay someone else's mortgage and worry about damage done to a house by kids and toys and dirty foot prints on the walls and not to mention finding a place that allows pets, more and more people are saying no pets in the private rental market which makes things hard. Or do we look at buying established/build and know the house is ours, so whatever dirty footprints the kids put on the wall from messing around going to sleep doesn't matter as much?? And we can still have the dogs and cats that are part of the family. Some of you might be thinking well you're already renting and the house isn't yours anyway. To that I say, I have been a homeswest tenant since I was 16yrs old and they are quite flexible about what you do to the property as long as you look after it and both parties are of the opinion that once you're in the house it's YOUR property. In my last house for example I was there 10 and a half years and put in ceiling fans, had the kitchen re-tiled, painted throughout more than once, fought for a new oven and for the bathroom to be re-tiled as those floors were dangerously slippery. So yes while we might be renting with homeswest, the house is considered OURS until such a time as we choose to move out and leave or until Chris is earning too much money and then we're asked to move out, which is the case now.

I have to admit it feels kind of sudden as I've only been in this house for just under two years. We moved down from Perth to Busselton in March 2010 and now we'll be moving out by August so all in all we'll have been here just two and a half years. And yet on the other hand I'm looking forward to moving and settling somewhere for longer than 2 years so I can really design and freshen up the house to the way I want it. Sounds like I just made a decision didn't I??....hehe.. Even though I've been here two years and Chris has been here just eighteen months, the house already holds a lot of memories, it's where Chris and I decided to get married and spend the rest of our lives together after losing so much time together, it's where we had our wedding reception with family and friends, it's where I welcomed Chris, Eva and Bec into my home and my life (along with James, Luke and Lauren welcoming Chris and the girls too of course), it's where we decided to have a baby, it's where Chris decided to give up smoking and most importantly it's where we have made all our big decisions so far and now we have another decision to make, buy or rent?!

I'm sure over the next few months we will do lots of investigating to see what will be best for our family and I'll make sure I keep you all up to date on what's happening. We already have a couple of ideas up our sleeves but I'll fill you in a little later on those ideas, we need to see how they pan out first.

Our home in Busselton for six more months. Taken this morning. 

Fridays Photography Post 6

I have decided to keep this weeks photography post simple as it’s been a mad week. And being that it was mine and Chris’ 1st wedding anniversary on Monday I thought I’d share a few pictures.

Husband and Wife at last.

Jennifer, Me, Mum and Charmaine.

Stealing a kiss.

Sisters.

The only pic with both our kids all together.

Eva and Bec.

Father and Daughter.

Mother and Daughter.

Together at last.

Chris and Eva.

Peta and me.

Here is one of mine and Chris' favourite songs I thought I'd share. I hope you all love it like we do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLqH3RVz200&feature=related

Fridays Photography Post 5

Apologies for a belated post, it has been mad weekend followed by an even crazier week so far but here is so far my favourite Fridays Photography post. I hope you all enjoy it.

Where do you live? Have you ever asked yourself this question and wondered how your town came about? Well ever since I saw the Pioneer Cemetery in town I have wondered who was buried there, how long ago they were buried and what part they played in the community. Now while it’s going to take some time to learn about where I live I was able to find out a few things just by visiting the Pioneer Cemetery, for instance some of our Streets here in town such as Layman Rd, Bussell Highway,Chapman Rd and Molloy Street are named after pioneers who settled in Busselton. The other thing that really struck me as I wandered through the cemetery and wondered about who these people were and how life must have been like almost 200 years ago was how young people died. Some died through accidental drowning, some were accidentally killed at work and sadly very young children died through accident or illness. Another thing that really stuck with me is how most of these people who could afford headstones had scriptures of faith from the bible inscribed on them. People believed in God back then and had respect for his word and understood there would be a time when they would be woken from sleep to be reunited in a peaceful world with their loved ones. It is such a contrast to today’s society where people blatantly ridicule each other for having belief in our creator Jehovah, yet I say be kind, respectful and accept each other for who we are because no one has a right to judge except for Jehovah God. On that note here are the pictures from the cemetery and I hope you’re able to read some of the beautiful inscriptions on some of the headstones. If they're unreadable and you'd like to know what they say leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

A snippet of how our town started.

Now a famous jetty that sees all tourist standing infront
of to have their picture taken.

Henry John Yelverton was a pioneer of much of the land in
 the Qunidalup region, west of Busselton in these early days.

An unnamed headstone made only of wood.

I was hoping this headstone would be readable as it has a lovely message
from one brother to the other talking about how they will meet again.

I have to admit I was saddened to see the destruction of
this headstone and others as it's unbelievable to me that
people can show such disrespect.

Another unnamed grave with  just a
simple wooden cross, not even a name
on it to say who is buried here.

A family plot.

Although not readable on screen another
headstone with scripture from the bible
inscribed on it.

James Layman's headstone, one of our longest streets in
Busselton is named after him.

A simple headstone.

Under the tall trees they sleep until they are awakened by
their creator to live once more.

An idea of the people buried here in this peaceful
cemetery.

It is hard to imagine 25 cargo ships lined up along our jetty for trade now but it
must have been an awesome sight all those years ago. Now the jetty is enjoyed
by locals and tourists on a daily basis, not a day goes by that the jetty isn't being used.

Just Breathe.......

We're almost halfway through February and I can start to feel the seasons change, the mornings are starting  to be cool and crisp, while the days are still warm and sticky at times, then the evenings transform into still coolness that just makes you want to stand outside in the night air and just breathe. Breathe deep, long and slow until the mind winds down and the body relaxes and your feet are firm to the ground from which we came.  We take breathing for granted and it's not until we're running short of breath or totally stressed out that we feel that tightness in our chests and then realize, stop, slow down, relax and breathe..... Without breath we wouldn't be alive so it's only right that each day we attempt to take five minutes to just stop and breathe and take in everything around us and count our blessings.

So with that thought in mind and Autumn (Fall) fast approaching I look forward to getting back into the garden as it really has been too hot to do the heavy maintenance so it's just been a case of keeping everything alive until the weather cools down enough to be able to spend a decent amount of time in the garden without getting burnt to a crisp. I find the garden is one place where I can just breathe and relax and let the worries of life just drift away. For me gardening these days is therapeutic and I find I can get lost in what I'm doing and the time just flies by, especially if I'm hand watering the yard. I don't know what it is but there is something about watering the lawn by hand that is completely relaxing and in my family everyone enjoys watering by hand and there have been tiffs over who got the hose first.....they really are a weird mob...lol.  But for whatever reason we all like to water the lawn by hand and it's been that way for as long as I can remember.

Autumn for me also reminds me of picnics with a cosy blanket to sit on, good food, enjoying the sun and the cool air all at the same time with the people you love or sitting under a tree with a good book or favourite magazine to devour while it's peaceful. Autumn and Spring seem to be to me the most relaxing seasons, maybe it's because with Autumn we're coming out of the hot weather that has worn us out and perhaps with Spring it's because we're coming out of the cold weather that has kept a good many of us hibernated for nearly three months. Whatever the reason, Autumn and Spring are my most productive months outside the house as the weather is cool and inviting me to go outdoors to enjoy the green grass, the new flowers blooming, the sun on my skin and most of all to breathe in the fresh air and feel the earth under my feet to which I belong.

Imagine a picnic on a beautiful cosy blanket under this tree with the one you love.
 I couldn't think of anything better.

All this talking about taking time to breathe has reminded me of a song I love, Faith Hill's Breathe. So click on the link below and enjoy as it's a beautiful song and to which ever season you love the most......enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCmsZUN4r_s&ob=av2n

Fridays Photography Post 4

I took these photos over the weekend when we were out and about driving around. These tall beautiful trees line the road on Caves Road heading towards Augusta. It was a warm day but with these amazing trees giving shade it really felt much cooler. I love trees and at times I think we take them for granted and don't really appreciate the job they do with all green life for our planet, if not for the trees we wouldn't have oxygen. And while I know we all want to build our houses and we have to clear land to do so I sometimes think trees are cleared too quickly without thinking about the consequences. If you need to clear a block to build a house fair enough but why not plant some trees when the house is finished being built and put just a little of nature back that was taken in the first place.

Many miles of beautiful trees line Caves Road.

This next picture, well it doesn't look too good as it's a reminder of how devastating fire can be. Last year there was a very bad bush fire in the South West through Margaret River and Prevelly. While some people lost their homes others were lucky to have the fire come within inches of their front doors but not take the house. Even the beaches weren't left untouched, the dunes are scorched still and everything is black and burnt and trying desperately to recover. It is a reminder that while we need our elements, fire, water, air and wind they can also be extremely dangerous and mustn't be taken lightly

Just one of the many sand dunes in Prevelly recovering from being burnt out. While some greenery is coming back the
sand dune  in the background is still blackened as well as the small bushes to the left. The whole coast line is still black and recovering

Family Ties

I come from a big family, not just my immediate paternal side but from all sides of my genes. I have family in at least four of the seven states of Australia, countless family spread out across America and family in Europe who probably don't know I exist but I know they do because my grandmother has told me about them.

My grandfather (the best pop a girl could ever ask for) was from America, Leominster, Massachusetts to be exact although that wasn't where his life started but it's where he called home. He came from a big family himself, 3 sisters and 3 or 4 brothers from memory (will check with mum, she knows all family stuff) and he loved them all very much. He met my grandmother here in Western Australia when he was in the Navy (and he used to tell me to stay away from the navy guys hehe) and wooed her into marrying him. (thank goodness for that or I would not be sitting here doing this blog now!!) So Grandma made her way to America to marry Pop and that's where they lived for two years then as my Grandma tells me they came back to Australia because she was home sick and missed her family. So she came back first with my Uncle Martin who was only two at the time and then Pop followed a few months later.

As a kid Pop used to tell us stories all the time about his family in America and the sorts of things he and his brother Ed would get up to and they used to fascinate me because he described events so vividly. I am a person that when I read a story or it's told to me I get the running visual going on in my head, so for me I was hearing the story but also seeing it as well.

When I was about ten I was staying with Grandma and Pop and Pop was writing to his sisters and asked me if I would like to send them a letter too, even though I didn't know them. So I started writing to his sisters (my Aunts) Yvonne and Florence and enjoyed it very much, I just wish I had of kept it up. They seemed like lovely people and I don't think I ever heard my Pop say a mean thing about them ever, he really did love his family very much no matter where he was or where they were.

About three years later when I was thirteen my cousin Carol (daughter of Ed, Pops favourite brother) and her son, my third cousin, Daniel moved over to Perth from the Eastern States. I met Uncle Ed and Aunty Myrtle (Carols' parents) when I was about seven years old and now for only the second time in my life I was meeting more of my American relatives. My memories of Carol and Daniel living here in W.A are good ones, I spent a weekend at their apartment and we went to Kings Park and rode bikes around and I don't know if Daniel will remember this but I crashed my bike into a pole, thankfully I didn't hurt myself but I was glad he was in front of me because I felt like and idiot...lol. We went back to Carols' apartment and Daniel and I spent the day in the pool and he spent half the time chasing me around the pool, the lunatic, seriously. We had so much fun though and it was a good weekend. Daniel came to our house with Carol a few times and we played on his commodore 64 hehehe....so funny when I think about it now, and we went down to the park with my dad and flew a kite. I'm going to sound really old now and I'm really not but when we were kids we really knew how to make our own fun and we enjoyed messing around and being idiots with each other. (This world really has changed) I remember I helped Carol make dinner one night, meatloaf, mash potato and veges...the reason I remember exactly what it was is because I was amazed we used weet-bix to bind the mince. I've never forgotten that and hope I never do. I loved my time with Carol and Daniel and was disappointed when Carol decided to go back east. I didn't see or hear from Daniel again until about April 2010 thanks to a little thing called facebook. My grandmother of all people found him on there and told me he was online so a friend request I sent and we've been in touch ever since and have laughed our butts off about how much fun we had together as kids when he was here. I also just recently spoke to Carol again for the first time in 23 years and it was so good to hear her voice.

Really I have to say if not for facebook I still would not know a lot of my family in America that I now know.  Even though it will probably be some time before we can all see each other in person it is so nice to be able to get to know the family my Grandfather would always talk about. I know if he were here he would be so happy we are all in touch with each other on a regular basis and he would be happy to know how his family so far away are doing.

So now I'm friends with over a dozen relatives on facebook and I look forward to hearing from them and seeing what they've been doing and really connecting those family ties that we share through our genes and boy some of us really are alike and you can tell we're related just by personality traits and the way we think. And at the same time it's now strange to me to think how I've lived my whole life without these people in it, my cousin Nikki (Daniels' sister) may be coming over to Australia this year and I can't wait to meet her as we've become quite good friends and enjoy chatting to each other pretty regularly.

This is why I started The Travelling Diary, so we as a family could share our lives, past, present and future. And although the diary has had a few hiccups in being passed on I'm sure once it gets going it will be filled with memories, daily thoughts and love.

So to my family so far away, I love you, keep passing on that diary and I'm sure we will all come together one day soon. And to my Pop even though you are not here and I know you can't hear me, I love you always and thank you for giving us such wonderful memories of you and for letting us know we had an amazing family out there.