So I've come to the conclusion that I'm hardly ever going to actually post on this blog anymore. I'm just at the point of my life that there isn't exciting blog post worthy stuff that's happening most days since I'm not in uni and I don't have kids to talk about. I'll post when I actually get news about immigration and visa stuff, but I'm at a standstill with that right now. My nails blog, nerdwithnails.blogspot.com, will be updated often and that might have some stuff about what's going on, but there won't be anything too exciting. Facebook updates are probably a better way to keep in touch of what's happening in my life. But before I leave my blog for a while, here's a little bit of a catch-up from the past few weeks.
Job search:
I haven't had any luck finding a job that actually uses my degree. I have done some networking at NCEPH and talked to the people at ANU, Calvary, and UC. They all have my resume, but there isn't anyone that's hiring at the moment. Canberra's economy isn't doing very well right now. Rohan and I are doing alright with money, although it's not ideal, but I really need a job even if it's just for my sanity. I'm going to start looking in retail soon.
Legal stuff/name change:
We got our marriage certificate about a week ago which meant that I was finally able to start doing stuff to change my name. I went in to the bank yesterday and will get my new card in about a week. Other than that we are just waiting for the lease information to go through. I'm guaranteed it because Rohan is already leasing here, but I need to be on the lease so that I can have something to prove my address. Then I will be able to get my new ID in Australia and start the change with my passport. I will need to send in my passport and the original marriage certificate to get issued my new passport. They'll have it for about 4 weeks, so it makes me really nervous to not have ID. That's why I'm waiting to get my proof of age ID here first. Then I need to get my new passport before I am able to submit my visa application for the partner/marriage visa. Right now I am still on the prospective marriage one. My migration agent said that it doesn't matter, though, and just to let him know when I do get my new passport.
General settling in:
I was going through a period that I felt depressed, but it took a few weeks for me to work it out since I've always been in denial about it. I realised it's because I felt that I wasn't accomplishing anything. I was just at home all day and did absolutely nothing. Since realising this, life has gotten better. The next day I started putting together our bedside tables. I kind of failed a bit on the first one and needed Rohan's help, but I did the second one the next day all by myself. I also went up to Sydney with Rohan to see his cousins. I had previously planned to just stay home because I thought that I would be sick of traveling, but I really needed to get out of the house for a few days.
Rohan also encouraged me to take up singing again to help with depression. A while back our friend from church, Rebecca, who coincidentally is also an American that married an Australian, was starting up a Christian a cappella singing group. I decided to join and I had my first practice last Saturday. They started earlier this month, so I wasn't too far behind. We're learning two songs right now and it's a lot of fun.
Rohan and I also bought a new couch! We used most of the money that we got as wedding presents and bought a new couch because our old one was falling apart. It was only half of an L shaped couch, because we gave the other half to our friends, so the cushions kept falling of if you tried to lay on it. We bought the new one a few weeks ago and it just arrived this morning. I'll need to wait for Rohan to get home before it's actually set up, though, because I can't move the pieces from where the delivery men put them by myself.
Also, I realised that I never finished the blog posts from when my family was in Australia, but they have just seemed too daunting. I may just write up some brief notes or something because the days that I haven't done yet does include the bridge climb, which was pretty cool. I'm just kind of sick of writing long blog posts.
26 August 2014
03 August 2014
Changes to my blog
I decided that a daily blog is really kind of pointless when I'm settling back into normal life. So I'll just update when something interesting happens or maybe once a week.
Yesterday's excitement was that Rohan and I went furniture shopping in the morning. We really needed to get a new couch since our current one is falling apart. That was our number one list on our things to buy with money from our wedding gifts. We didn't see anything that we wanted at Myer, so we took the bus down to Fyshwick, which is the suburb down south that has a lot of furniture stores. We found exactly what we wanted at the first place that we went. We were very happy with it. It will take up to five weeks until it is delivered and we can't wait. I was exhausted when we got back and Rohan let me sleep when he went grocery shopping. I have an awesome husband!
We also went to see Guardians of the Galaxy. It was really good.
Today was the first time we went to church after returning from our wedding/honeymoon. We got back last Saturday night, but we were too tired to get to church in the morning. Today the pastor actually acknowledged that we were back and had us stand while people clapped in congratulations. It was a bit awkward.
I also joined in on Rohan's DnD game. I half made a character last time, so we had to finish the character today. The game was really confusing to me, but it's only my first time playing. Also, Rohan made something out of the Michigan cookbook that I gave him for Christmas. He made Upper Peninsula Pasties because I had commented about them yesterday when we were eating at a pie shop near where we bought our couch. My family affectionately calls them Nasty Pasties from when we got them on our trip to the UP when I was around 10 years old.
Yesterday's excitement was that Rohan and I went furniture shopping in the morning. We really needed to get a new couch since our current one is falling apart. That was our number one list on our things to buy with money from our wedding gifts. We didn't see anything that we wanted at Myer, so we took the bus down to Fyshwick, which is the suburb down south that has a lot of furniture stores. We found exactly what we wanted at the first place that we went. We were very happy with it. It will take up to five weeks until it is delivered and we can't wait. I was exhausted when we got back and Rohan let me sleep when he went grocery shopping. I have an awesome husband!
We also went to see Guardians of the Galaxy. It was really good.
Today was the first time we went to church after returning from our wedding/honeymoon. We got back last Saturday night, but we were too tired to get to church in the morning. Today the pastor actually acknowledged that we were back and had us stand while people clapped in congratulations. It was a bit awkward.
I also joined in on Rohan's DnD game. I half made a character last time, so we had to finish the character today. The game was really confusing to me, but it's only my first time playing. Also, Rohan made something out of the Michigan cookbook that I gave him for Christmas. He made Upper Peninsula Pasties because I had commented about them yesterday when we were eating at a pie shop near where we bought our couch. My family affectionately calls them Nasty Pasties from when we got them on our trip to the UP when I was around 10 years old.
31 July 2014
Accomplishing something
I was pretty productive today. I made a list of the things that I need to accomplish now that I'm married and settling back into day to day life. They basically fall into three categories: name change, job search, and cleaning the apartment.
I sent some emails to people and I took out the recycling. I realised that there isn't very much that I can do about changing my name or applying for a partner visa yet, though. I still need to wait for our marriage license to be processed and then get a copy. I did find out, though, that I only need to show that to banks and other places to change my name and that there's no other legal paperwork. Of course I will need to do legal stuff to get my passport changed and apply for the visa, though.
Rohan got home and made dinner and he was talking about how perfect our arrangement of him cooking and me cleaning because he hates washing up. To which I replied, "I know, right, I hate cooking." It really is a pretty awesome arrangement.
After dinner, I was bored and Rohan said that I looked confused. I told him that I didn't know what to do because I was bored so we played some games together. First we played a Kirby game on the Wii. After fully completing on of the levels we decided to try playing Small World, a board game, again since last time I was really sick and needed a nap part way through him explaining the game. He beat me by quite a bit, but he said I still played better than expected. That's pretty much just because he helped me with every single move.
Then it was bedtime.
I sent some emails to people and I took out the recycling. I realised that there isn't very much that I can do about changing my name or applying for a partner visa yet, though. I still need to wait for our marriage license to be processed and then get a copy. I did find out, though, that I only need to show that to banks and other places to change my name and that there's no other legal paperwork. Of course I will need to do legal stuff to get my passport changed and apply for the visa, though.
Rohan got home and made dinner and he was talking about how perfect our arrangement of him cooking and me cleaning because he hates washing up. To which I replied, "I know, right, I hate cooking." It really is a pretty awesome arrangement.
After dinner, I was bored and Rohan said that I looked confused. I told him that I didn't know what to do because I was bored so we played some games together. First we played a Kirby game on the Wii. After fully completing on of the levels we decided to try playing Small World, a board game, again since last time I was really sick and needed a nap part way through him explaining the game. He beat me by quite a bit, but he said I still played better than expected. That's pretty much just because he helped me with every single move.
Then it was bedtime.
30 July 2014
Back to regular life means more boring posts
I didn't do anything interesting during the day unless you count painting my nails. That was rather exciting since I hadn't painted them in a while. Other than that I just watched tv.
But at night was Bible study. This week we were having a group dinner at KJ and Chris' house. Paul picked us up and we got kinda lost trying to find their house and parking was a nightmare, but we were still the first ones there. Everyone actually made it this week! It was the first time that I met Lisa or Simon. Dinner was nice. Then we had our usual Bible study after followed by some chocolates that people brought. Rohan and I failed at remembering to bring something. I blame that we just got back from complete chaos a few days ago and I think that's understandable.
Paul took us back home and by that point it was getting pretty late so we didn't do much else.
But at night was Bible study. This week we were having a group dinner at KJ and Chris' house. Paul picked us up and we got kinda lost trying to find their house and parking was a nightmare, but we were still the first ones there. Everyone actually made it this week! It was the first time that I met Lisa or Simon. Dinner was nice. Then we had our usual Bible study after followed by some chocolates that people brought. Rohan and I failed at remembering to bring something. I blame that we just got back from complete chaos a few days ago and I think that's understandable.
Paul took us back home and by that point it was getting pretty late so we didn't do much else.
29 July 2014
Feeling more at home
I went to the store in the morning to pick up the food on the grocery list that Rohan made for me. He is the cook in our family and he made a list of what I needed to get for the meals that he planned for this week. I must have texted him like 20 times to figure out what exactly he wanted or what he wanted as a substitute when the butcher didn't have what he wanted. Rohan came home for lunch shortly after I got back from shopping.
I slept most of the rest of the day as I was still not feeling well. I had a miserable headache. Then I realised that it was because I'm overwhelmed. Our apartment is so messy and I feel like I've accomplished nothing toward cleaning it and there's just too much to do that I didn't know where to start. I did do the laundry since we've gotten back, but that just added to the massive pile that was my clothes. I couldn't close the closet doors because I had too much stuff just piled in there.
When Rohan got home, I decided that I wanted to start putting together my closet organiser thing, for lack of a better word. I tried to do it myself but then I ended up breaking a dowel and needing to go to the store for wood glue. At that point I got some more help from Rohan although he was also making dinner at that time.
He made chicken soup for dinner, which was definitely good for someone who has been sick. We finished my organiser thing after dinner and he helped me move it to my closet. I then spent a good part of the rest of the night organising my clothes. They now fit in their cubbies and I can actually close the door. Having a place for your clothes makes you feel so much more at home. I think I then just watched my parents' DVR until it was bedtime.
I slept most of the rest of the day as I was still not feeling well. I had a miserable headache. Then I realised that it was because I'm overwhelmed. Our apartment is so messy and I feel like I've accomplished nothing toward cleaning it and there's just too much to do that I didn't know where to start. I did do the laundry since we've gotten back, but that just added to the massive pile that was my clothes. I couldn't close the closet doors because I had too much stuff just piled in there.
When Rohan got home, I decided that I wanted to start putting together my closet organiser thing, for lack of a better word. I tried to do it myself but then I ended up breaking a dowel and needing to go to the store for wood glue. At that point I got some more help from Rohan although he was also making dinner at that time.
He made chicken soup for dinner, which was definitely good for someone who has been sick. We finished my organiser thing after dinner and he helped me move it to my closet. I then spent a good part of the rest of the night organising my clothes. They now fit in their cubbies and I can actually close the door. Having a place for your clothes makes you feel so much more at home. I think I then just watched my parents' DVR until it was bedtime.
28 July 2014
Wake up call from Tupperware
I slept in because I could and I still don't feel well. I woke up around 10, but I had no where to go, so I stayed in bed. About thirty minutes later, I hear this ringing noise. It took me a bit to realise that it was the intercom. I got out of bed and went to answer it. I was confused because I wasn't expecting anyone. We were originally supposed to get our Tupperware delivered today but then they tried to deliver early and I had to reschedule to tomorrow. But I answered the phone and sure enough it was the courier that was delivering our Tupperware. I quickly changed into actual pants and went down to get it.
Rohan came home for lunch. He ate and then we went through the Tupperware to make sure that the order was all there. We were confused about some of the names, but it was all correct. Rohan went back to work and I tried to stay up for a bit. That didn't work well and I went back to sleep.
At least I woke up again in time for Rohan to get home. Our mail was on hold while we were gone, so today was the first day that we would have gotten anything. We were surprised that we didn't have a package slip because Rohan has to go pick one up so often even when he didn't just get married and has gifts to pick up. He goes there so often that they don't even ask for ID anymore. They just know him and by default they're starting to know me. But anyway, we thought that was unusual so we decided to go down there anyway.
We didn't go straight there, though. We first went through Westfield. On our way there, we ran into Daniel. Not literally, despite Rohan's attempts with his trolley. We talked to him for a bit before finishing our trip. We did a quick run through of the furniture section of Myer. Then we went to EB. I think Rohan was having withdrawal from his favourite place. There was no one in there when we got there, so Rohan was talking with one of the employees. That's another place that they know him REALLY well. Finally we actually got to the post office. They did not have any packages for us. So sad. Although they may have just not gotten there yet.
On the way back from the post office, I wanted to check for a cubby hole shelf thing to put in my side of the closet to organise my clothes. We couldn't find it at Target so I went down to Kmart while Rohan got us some burgers from Grill'd for dinner. He met me at Kmart, where they had what I was looking for, so we bought that and a couple of other things we needed around the apartment and went home to eat. Rohan has a bunch of shows that he wants to watch with me so he had me pick. I chose the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. We watched the first disk. Then Rohan went back to whatever he was doing on his computer and building his pokemon nanoblocks and I watched American Ninja Warrior and So You Think You Can Dance via my parents' DVR. I'm so far behind!
Note: I also spent part of the day working out how to forward my emails to my new account. It's caitlinecurrie@gmail.com.
Rohan came home for lunch. He ate and then we went through the Tupperware to make sure that the order was all there. We were confused about some of the names, but it was all correct. Rohan went back to work and I tried to stay up for a bit. That didn't work well and I went back to sleep.
At least I woke up again in time for Rohan to get home. Our mail was on hold while we were gone, so today was the first day that we would have gotten anything. We were surprised that we didn't have a package slip because Rohan has to go pick one up so often even when he didn't just get married and has gifts to pick up. He goes there so often that they don't even ask for ID anymore. They just know him and by default they're starting to know me. But anyway, we thought that was unusual so we decided to go down there anyway.
We didn't go straight there, though. We first went through Westfield. On our way there, we ran into Daniel. Not literally, despite Rohan's attempts with his trolley. We talked to him for a bit before finishing our trip. We did a quick run through of the furniture section of Myer. Then we went to EB. I think Rohan was having withdrawal from his favourite place. There was no one in there when we got there, so Rohan was talking with one of the employees. That's another place that they know him REALLY well. Finally we actually got to the post office. They did not have any packages for us. So sad. Although they may have just not gotten there yet.
On the way back from the post office, I wanted to check for a cubby hole shelf thing to put in my side of the closet to organise my clothes. We couldn't find it at Target so I went down to Kmart while Rohan got us some burgers from Grill'd for dinner. He met me at Kmart, where they had what I was looking for, so we bought that and a couple of other things we needed around the apartment and went home to eat. Rohan has a bunch of shows that he wants to watch with me so he had me pick. I chose the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. We watched the first disk. Then Rohan went back to whatever he was doing on his computer and building his pokemon nanoblocks and I watched American Ninja Warrior and So You Think You Can Dance via my parents' DVR. I'm so far behind!
Note: I also spent part of the day working out how to forward my emails to my new account. It's caitlinecurrie@gmail.com.
27 July 2014
A blog written on the correct day! WHAT?!
I am sick. I woke up this morning feeling great but quickly felt like crap again and went back to sleep right after. I slept for most of the day. I woke up a bit to post my pictures and to write some of my blog. I mostly just got up to eat.
Rohan went to Westfield to pick up a few essentials and brought lunch back. After eating, I worked on my blog a bit and then Rohan wanted to play the game Smallworld that I got from his parents for Christmas. We started to get the game set up and he was explaining the rules to me. I just could not stay awake and so I had to take a nap before I just dropped at the table. Rohan came in to cuddle me to sleep, but I woke up three hours later and he was also asleep. I guess his body was saying that caffeine isn't always the answer.
We had dinner later. We got some chinese from a place nearby. I got a corn and chicken soup, which is like egg drop that you get in the states. It has been years since I've had egg drop soup, so I thought that it was really good. The rest of the night has been filled with trying to do laundry and post things on my blog while trying not to collapse from being sick.
Rohan went to Westfield to pick up a few essentials and brought lunch back. After eating, I worked on my blog a bit and then Rohan wanted to play the game Smallworld that I got from his parents for Christmas. We started to get the game set up and he was explaining the rules to me. I just could not stay awake and so I had to take a nap before I just dropped at the table. Rohan came in to cuddle me to sleep, but I woke up three hours later and he was also asleep. I guess his body was saying that caffeine isn't always the answer.
We had dinner later. We got some chinese from a place nearby. I got a corn and chicken soup, which is like egg drop that you get in the states. It has been years since I've had egg drop soup, so I thought that it was really good. The rest of the night has been filled with trying to do laundry and post things on my blog while trying not to collapse from being sick.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)