Home to Swansea

After not being home to see my family since christmas, I really enjoyed travelling home to Swansea for the weekend with my boyfriend. Things have not been great for my family over the last few months and even though the issues are still ongoing, it was still nice to go home and see everyone. Now that I have my own life in Launceston, it would be so easy to just completely distance myself from my family and all their problems back in Swansea but that wouldnt be fair on my little sister and dad. I love them so much and want to be there for them to help them through any difficulties they may face. So my boyfriend and I started the 1.5 hour drive to Swansea when he finished work on Friday afternoon and we arrived at my family home at about 6:30pm. Unfortunately my dad was away for the weekend but it was still great to see my sister. My sister Amy has been my best friend for as long as I can remember and despite the 6 year age gap between us, we get along incredibely well. 

On Saturday morning my mum and I went for a walk on our farm and had a very close encounter with a 6 foot long tiger snake. By the time we saw the snake, we were only a single step away from it and it obviously felt threatened by us as it reared its head and striked at us. Luckily we both jumped back at that exact moment so the snakes head (and fangs) just missed us. If the snake had tried to bite us a second time it would have bitten one of us for sure as we were simply too close and couldnt get away. Thank goodness it decided to slither off instead leaving us full if adrenalin but unharmed. We then drove into Swansea to visit my nan before meeting my herbalife coach Phoebe for lunch. I had my all time favourite meal (which I hadnt had for ages) caeser salad and it was so yummy! We then visited my other nan and went out for tea with my mum. For tea I had Spaghetti bolognaise with a side of vegetables which was ok but not as nice as lunch. I loooove pasta but prefer tomato or chicken based pastas, rather then mince. I still ate it all though, to everyone elses surprise as it was huuuuge! 

I took my mum home after tea but then went back into town with my boyfriend Nathan. I wasnt drinking alcohol like I usually do when we go out in Swansea as I had to drive home but my boyfriend was and we had heaps of fun playing 8 ball (pool). We also chatted with my uncle, aunt and cousin for an hour or two which was really nice. When we got home that night my brother Luke was there so it was really nice to see him. The following morning nathan, Amy and I headed into Swansea with two of our puppies to go for a nice walk on the beach. We had running races on the beach and just enjoyed the sunshine and scenery. We started the drive back to Launceston at about 2pm and were back home by about 4. Overall it was a really nice weekend and I am looking forward to heading back to Swansea one weekend soon, but when my dad is home so we can spend some time with him too.

This is the type of snake we ran into 

My gorgeous sister and myself

My boyfriend nathan and me

Nathan, cassie the puppy and me

Excited for the weekend

Although I currently have a cold and cough, I am still in an excellent mood as I am travelling back to Swansea this weekend with my gorgeous boyfriend. We are staying at my parents place and all of my sinlings will be home so it will we wonderful to catch up with everyone!  

Despite being sick, I am smiley and happy!

I am just waiting for my boyfriend to finish work and then we have a couple of things to do here in Launceston before we make the 90 minute drive back to the coast where I was living up until 3 months ago.

Before we go we have to vote as the parliamentary election is being held over the weekend accross Australia and we also need to collect some dominos pizzas which we will take home to share with my family for tea.

Once I would have cooked something else to eat if my family were having pizza as I was simply terrified of something like takeaway pizza and wouldn't have been able to eat it. It feels so wonderful to be able to share food like this with my family now and i know it makes them all happy to see me eating what everyone else eats too!

We dont have much planned for our weekend in Swansea besides going and watching the football and hopefully catching up with all our friends in Swansea who we havent seen for ages. It will also be nice to catch up with my other family members including my grandparents, aunties and uncles and cousins.

We will most likely go out for tea tomorrow night and go to the pub for a few drinks as this is what we typically do on a Saturday night in Swansea. Other than that I will just enjoy a nice relaxing time with all the people who mean the most to me in my life.

It will be so good to see my beautiful girl Tess

My boyfriend and my sister

With the one who makes me happy

Its 5:20am and im laying in my new bed in my new room unable to sleep. After an incredibly long and tiring day yesterday filled with packing, cleaning, moving and driving, I slept really well for the first half of the night. However now I am feeling wide awake and sleep feels like an very far off thing. So I thought I may as well use this time to write a quick post and update you all on how things are going.

 I If I have learnt anything through being sick, its that life is way too short to spend time unhappy of you dont need to be. To me, being happy is more important then having any particular type of career or heaps of money. That is why, after leaving my job and home behind in Swansea, and even my family and friends, I dont feel any regrets. Because now I can spend more time with the guy that I love and who makes me happier then anyone else makes me.

I have decided to apply to university in a Bachelor if Health science at university as that is available with mid year entry and I can already see that the course is well suited to me. I like the sound of all the units and am looking forward to once again studying these subjects that I am so passionate about and interested in. Last time I was at university, I wasnt in a good headspace at all. My anxiety was at an all time high (although I refused to take medication for it) and I was very underweight. This time I feel ready to get back into uni and im sure with the support of my wonderful boyfriend, I will be fine.

Living in a small town

I have lived in both Launceston and Hobart at times throughout my life for school and university but I have never felt at home in those places. I really feel as though Swansea, the little country town that I grew up in, will always be my home no matter where I end up.

I absolutely love living in a small counttry town. I love walking up the street and greeting all of the locals as you walk past them. I even love being able to wave to everyone as they drive past. It is just such a wecoming and comfortble atmosphere to be in.

I love the fact that I have so many cousins and relatives in the town and when I work in the supermarket, I know everyone by name. I love being able to go for walks with Tess in the dark when I finish work late, without feeling scared or worried and I simply feel safe.

I thought that I would sometimes feel a little spooked or frightened when I moved out on my own, but this hasn't been the case at all. I live in a street with many kind people who all keep an eye and ear out for me.

I love heading into the supermarket and staying for 20 minutes or so, just to chat to the staff that are working there. I love joking with the customers and having a conversation with them, not because I feel I have to but because I actually am interested in how they are going.

Just the other day I was walking my dog snd met up with one of the other men who live on my street who was walking his dog. This man is quite old but always really friendsly and lovely. He gave me his phone number so that I can call him if anything ever happens and I need someone, even at night. 

He said Anything could happen to a young girl like you living on your own. If anything ever does happen, just lock yourself in your bathroom and call me, I would be there in a moment.' I really don't think that I will ever need to take him up on his offer but I still think it was so lovely for him to think of me and be looking out for me anyway.

I love knowing the name of every street and always knowing exactly where I am. I love going to the local primary school to pick up my little sister and having all of the small children know me by name as well as their parents and teachers.  

No, we may not have a cinema or a shopping mall or anything like that but we do have what is most important. We have community. And I love living in our small country town.

My morning

It was quite mild this morning so I really enjoyed heading out for a walk with Tess. The beach was so gorgeous and still. If I didnt have to work I would have loved to stay down there for a lot longer with Tess as I love being outside when the weather is nice.

When I got back from my walk I had an hour or so to fill in before I had to leave for work so I decided to clean up my food cupboards, a job that I have needed to do for a long time but havent had any time to do. I was shocked by just how much food I had in my cupboard. Not only do I have heaps of soups, casseroles, pastas and packets of rice etc but I also have heaps of snacky things too like muesli bars, biscuits, juice boxes, muffin and pudding mixes Etc. Also the amount of breakfast cereals and nut spreads I have surprised me too.

I have decided that I really need to stop buying more food all the time and just use up everything I already have so for the next 4 weeks I am only going to let myself spend money on milk, bread, fruit and vegetables and nothing else! Hopefully this will also allow me to save some money as living on your own is awfully expensive and I dont usually get to save very much money.

Work, work and more work....

I have had a pretty uneventful week this week but thought I should do a quick update anyway. It is currently 6:05 am I have been up for about an hour but slept really well again last night. Even though I was up at 5, I went to bed quite early so actually got about seven and a half hours sleep which is great for me! :) I definetely think that having a later and bigger supper/dessert is helping me stay asleep for longer. I have had my breakfast already, which was delicious! I had two slices of toast with cashew butter (my latest obsession) and a bowl of caramel oats with a diced appple mixed through.

Now I am just waiting for it to get day light so I can take my dog for a walk before I have to go to work this morning. Its not quite as cold today as it has been the last few days. This morning my phone says that it is 12 degrees celcius at the moment and it is supposed to get to 22 degrees celcius today which is quite warm for this time of year. I think it is supposed to rain a bit this morning so I hope i can take Tess for a walk before it does as otherwise she will be tied up all day while I am at work. The last two days I have worked at the bank but today I am working at the supermarket. 

It is a really long day at the supermarket, from 8:30am to 5:45pm with only a lunch break in the middle of the day but hopefully there will be heaps of customers so I don't get too bored. It is usually quite busy in the town that I live in at this time of year as it is a seaside holiday town. We get lots of tourists as well as people who have shacks (the aussie term for holiday house) coming to our town to go fishing, spend time at the beach and get away from their busy city lives. I don't mind working at the supermarket though and talking to all of the customers.

It is just day light now and Tess is waiting so I better take her for a walk. Sorry for the short and boring post. I will write a more interesting post soon. ;) Have a great day and remember to smile! :)