Kia Ora,
It's currently 3:24 pm.
It's Saturday. Melbourne weather is warm, about 27 degrees but super overcast. I went outside for a walk before but still felt comfortable with my hoody on so it didn't feel too hot. I don't know whether that's an illusion from the clouds OR if I've just spent too much time inside today.
Anyway, for today's blog post, I thought I'd give a little bit of a life update because a few things are changing this year. And I've been having a pretty bad mental health day today so I thought writing might help me out. Living with anxiety and a few other mental health issues can be super draining at times and I just wish that I was "normal". I think I'm feeling a bit down today because I feel like a lot of people don't message and ask how I am, they sort of just expect me to do things for them or explain what's going on. And, I don't know if that's because they're busy, think I'm annoying, don't want to talk to me, or if it's because they keep up to date with the blog and so they don't feel the "need" to ask what's going on with me. Basically, what I'm saying is that I'd love for someone just to ask me how I am sometimes. I try and do it when I can and aren't feeling drained (I try where I can), or even a "hope you're doing well" would go down nicely. Idk. I guess I get sick a lot and have to cancel plans and whatnot but yeah sometimes a nice how are you is all I want to hear from someone.
Anyway, with that being said, I know some people are wanting to know the details of what's going on with the move so here's a whole blog post dedicated to that. Quick sidenote though - I just read that Personal Blogs in 2024 have the highest chance of success - so fingers crossed that this little passion project does turn into something real. And as always, you can support me by reading my content, exploring the blog, and also helping me out with "buy me a coffee" if you wish. Anything helps! Seriously, b/c I can't live off my savings forever haha. I am also trying to think of what other things I can do with my writing (but that's on the back burner for now because my brain is a bit overloaded).
Okie okie let's get into the life update shall we? So, my partner Luke and I moved in together in March 2023. It made things a lot easier and smoother for us, and we both felt a lot safer. We applied for a rental and the next day we were offered it straight away. We took it of course. It was one of those houses which you see in pictures and just fall in love with immediately. I tried my hardest to manifest getting this house - I was living in a crappy apartment in Richmond where I had a few troubles with the property manager, mould that never got fixed, windows that didn't open, an oven that didn't work, and water that went cold after 7 minutes of being in the shower (Yes, I was super grateful to have a roof over my head, but I was getting sick, my neighbours were creepy AF, and I wasn't comfortable - tbh anything would have been an upgrade). Anyway, Luke and I signed our lease and moved into a new place - only 10 minutes from Luke's parent's house (which probably helped). Moving was draining but we didn't have that much to move - one of my friends helped us out and we got most of it done in one day. Living together has been easy, we know when to give each other space and help each other out when we can. Of course, we still debate and argue as any normal couple does but that's not really what this blog post is about. Anywho, Luke and I planned on staying in this current place for at least 2 years (like the rent even went down so we thought they were desperate to get someone in here). But, you'll soon see that that wasn't the case.
I did make a house tour on my socials before we had any of our stuff in here with the intention of doing a proper tour once we furnished the place. But, we just never got around to it. Cut to halfway through 2023, maybe a few weeks after we got back from our trip to Barossa Valley, SA. We got an email from our property manager saying the owners want to move back in when our lease is up and if we'd like to, we could move out earlier without penalty. Things seemed like they were a little sketchy and there were a few red flags that we kinda brushed off - like the owners still sending mail here and coming by to measure the front yard. I do just want to say though that our PM has been super helpful in this process. There was the choice to do a house swap but it was in a suburb that just had no PT options and wasn't close to anything that we needed so we just said we'd think it over. The only other weird thing that happened since then was that the owners wanted to come measure the lounge for a new couch they were getting. We felt SUPER uncomfortable with this as we felt it could cause tension (like an owner coming in to measure the lounge while we're home - a little bit of invasion of privacy too - like it's not like it's a standard protocol or inspection). We came to a compromise and measured for them. Then, 60 days before our current lease was up, we got the notice. We knew it was coming and WE were so prepared to hustle and bustle our as***s off to get a new place. We started to worry because of where I am career-wise, but we were open, honest, and transparent and our current PM said she'd be more than willing to help us with whatever we needed. Funnily enough I said to Luke the other day, "imagine if we just got the first place we applied for again".
So, the grind was on. We booked inspections and were ready to go to like 30+. We went to one inspection (a competitive one for sure, there were a lot of other people there), thought we might as well apply for it, and the next day, not even 24 hours later, we were offered the lease. We couldn't believe it. It's not a perfect house, but it means we're not homeless (and pets are allowed with permission + there are a few walk-in wardrobes in the new place). So we're gonna have a lot on our plates over the next few weeks for sure. And, we'll definitely do either a vlog of moving or a new house tour when we get there. We are 100% going to miss the place we live now, right across from Luke's favourite coffee shop, we've made friends with all the doggos, cattos, and birds that live around here and really like how close we are to all the parks. But, a new fresh place will be good for us (and let's hope we can get a couple years out of the next one because this is my 4th time I've moved since living in Australia and I'm tired). But, it will be nice not to live on a main road anymore.
So, here's the house tour we made! Check it out on YT! This is the fully-furnished house tour before we move in a few weeks. Please enjoy!
Much Love,
Ash xx
New house sounds excitin, let me know if you need a hand moving the Forrester can hold a lot. Luke can always hit up his cousins for help