The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 22,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
I felt this appropriate as my 400th blog post 
Happy New Year Everyone! Be safe – Bring on 2012!!!
This year….
I rang in the New Year in flip flops and a tank top dancing swing, cha cha, and mambo in front of a huge crowd in the heart of Canberra
I spent 4 months being uncomfortably pregnant
I spent 13 hours with contractions less than 5 minutes apart, and brought a baby girl into the world exactly how I planned – completely naturally without any medication. On April 26th at 8:30am, I morphed from a childless woman into a Mother and I held my silent, calm, perfect baby girl for the first time.
I fell perfectly into Motherhood – I relished the ability to snap back into my pre-pregnancy body in a week, loved that my baby slept for 12-hour-stretches, and felt completely at ease with this new little being. I was incredibly grateful.
I was present for every single “first” for Tanami – the first time she smiled, laughed, grabbed a toy, sat up, crawled, pulled her self up, ate solid food, stood by herself – I know every sound, cue, and communication she makes.
I spent 9 months in a country I have come to know as home. I savored every moment because I knew it would be coming to a end this year.
I went to the coast, to the mountains, and to the city (Sydney). I went to museums, on bush walks, and was surrounded by wildlife.
I trained an incredible lady to take over my role after opening an Interior Design sector of the kitchen company. I then started a new business venture upon returning to the States.
We payed off $30,000 of my student loan and made of goal of a 20% down payment on a house.
We celebrated our third wedding anniversary, his 34th birthday, and my 27th birthday.
We returned as a family to a country we had once left as a couple. We overcame obstacles, battled negativity, and found our way again.
I changed – for the better, the worse, my self, my child, the way I thought, the way I ate, my outlook, my circumstances, my beliefs.
I’ve learned from my mistakes and successes. I’m not the same person I was this day one year ago, and I hope that this day one year from now I am not the same person I am today.
::SIGH::
What a whirlwind of a few weeks!!! We’ve finally moved, unpacked, and settled into our new townhouse. We LOVE it. I think even if we do go through with purchasing a duplex, I’d rather rent out both sides and live here. It’s everything we want, and if we have to stay in this podunk state at the moment, I can’t think of a better place to live.
I worked from wake to slumber for 2 or 3 days to get everything unpacked. I’m one of those people that can’t stand for things to be in boxes. As soon as everything was semi-organized, Mat’s Dad and Duranna got here. They stayed for a week and spent Christmas with us. The house was a buzzing hub of activity. The sewing machine was going – Tanami’s glider got reupholstered with cute pink fabric with chocolate polka dots. Naughty little hands were pulling off Christmas bows from under the tree. Lots of Aussie tucker was made for tea.
T'was the night before christmas....
It was Tanami’s First Christmas! Christmas Eve was slightly disappointing as my Dad (who has yet to even meet Tanami) said that he would stop by…but never showed up. I think it is kind of cruddy that one of her grandparents would fly across the world to spend Christmas with her, but he couldn’t be bothered to drive 30 friggin’ minutes. We’ve been here for almost 4 months and he has put no effort what-so-ever into seeing her. I see where we stand. That’s fine, she’s got Grandpas coming out of her ears – she won’t miss out on much. We all put on our PJs and opened presents on Christmas Eve. Tanami loved it. She was just the perfect age to be able to participate even though she probably didn’t have much of a clue about what was going on. She loved her toys anyway. Then we got up Christmas morning and headed over to my Mom’s.
she loves him!
I think Tanami really missed her Great-PawPaw. I think being away from their place for the week before Christmas was a much needed relief. Christmas went pretty well Tanami racked up, as grand-kids do. I got a Baby Bullet – so now I can make more baby food for her. Like I said in her blog the other day, there is some food she eats like finger food – like avocado, sweet potato, banana…but some things she prefers to be pureed. And by puree, I don’t mean that runny mess…just mashed up. Mat got a Magic Bullet…I’m so glad, I was getting sick of hearing about how he wanted one constantly. We also got….wait for it….wait for it….a WASHER & DRYER. Seriously – we’ve never owned any (well not a full-size one anyway). We bought a used pair and had them delivered for $275…a bargain I think because they work a treat. Yay.
Speaking of food – SO glad to be back to cooking our own! The hunt is on for food that doesn’t contain the same ingredients as anti-freeze. I know there are plenty of places to get organic-good-for-you food, but we also have to keep in mind we are on an even tighter budget than before. With our first shopping trip I think we have been pretty successful – not completely, but we’ll get there. First order is to start making my own bread! While I have gotten used to the copious amount of sugar & preservatives in our bread, Mat’s Dad reminded me and made me want to start baking my own. I’m open to good recipes! ::Hint hint::
We now have two cars. The mustang is getting a new transmission tomorrow…to add to it’s already new alternator and a few other parts. If it wasn’t for Tanami’s car seat not fitting in it, we’d totally keep it. But, we’ve got to have a car she will fit in since it is already a struggle with our 2 door Cavalier. We are hoping to trade/sell the Mustang and find something else for the same price. Fingers crossed, we REALLY need another car!
Life is slowly starting to make sense again. My New Year’s Resolution is going to be to GAIN weight. I am beginning to eat dairy again and it doesn’t seem to bother Ms. Tanami…so hopefully between that and less stress I will start to build my body back again. I don’t have a single pair of jeans that fit me. One would think, what a great problem to have! Not really. There is absolutely such a thing as being TOO skinny…and it’s not attractive in the least. I miss my butt, and I am sick of hitting my tail bone because of lack of padding!
Lots of changes still to come in the new year. Never a dull moment with us.
Tennessee: not at all the place I want to be. However, it is where we have just committed to staying at least for the next 6 months. (We can’t give up Mat’s job…it’s VERY rare to find a dance studio that pays as well as his current one is) Besides, in 6 months we should know whether the studio he is working for is either going to sink or swim. Luckily on Saturday Mat’s “normal” social security card came in the mail…so we headed over there today to sign the lease on a townhouse. I’m pretty happy with it…my only complaint would be the lack of storage, but at the same time it’s the biggest place we’ve ever lived in. The good thing is that if we do go through with purchasing the duplex we have been looking at is that it is currently rented out on both sides which means one side would pay the mortgage and the other would pay our rent – WINNING. I’m bummed that they weren’t open on Saturday for us to move in, but I’ve got the uhaul trailer booked for Friday night pick-up so we can be up and at ‘em bright and early on Saturday. I know me, and by Sunday everything will be unpacked and in it’s place.
Mat’s Dad made it to see us this past Saturday. We went out for tea (lunch) Saturday and Sunday. The mustang he bought looks good…I’ll be sad to see it go. I know it will be the car that we sell though because there is no way a carseat is fitting in the back seat. In the meantime, once they leave in Jan, I’ll be driving it to see clients. It’s a much better look to be a stylist arriving in a car that doesn’t look like it’s been driven through fire and beaten with a spiked club. We will be having Mat’s Dad and traveling companion staying with us for a while. They are due to leave the States Jan. 7th, so not sure how long much of that time they will be staying with us. Seeing how this “traveling companion” he has with him essentially invited herself along, I’m not sure how this will all play out over Christmas. We are very much used to Christmas being a “family-only” event…and the first I’d ever heard of this lady was when they showed up at our doorstep. Apparently her Father lives in Dallas…is it wrong of me to hope she is going back to spend Christmas with her own family so that we can enjoy our family’s first Christmas together without a stranger?
So…good things to come. So many things to look forward to! Setting up our first Christmas tree as a family, getting down and dirty with this new camera, busting out the ol’ sewing machine, HEALTHY FOOD, and a sense of peace and positivity. Hoping once we have our own place (and the visitors have gone) and both have a means of transportation things can finally start to settle down. Can’t wait. There’s lots to look into in the new year. We’ve got to figure out the health insurance issue – the plans that were similar to the crappy insurance I had through my employer are about $800/mo privately and unfortunately, we just can’t afford that. It’s likely we will only be getting Tanami on a health insurance plan. This is a bummer because I’m pretty sure something is not right with me – I’m 92 pounds and have done nothing but lose weight since getting to the States. We need to sort out life insurance for all of us. We’ve got to make a decision on where we want to stay for the remainder of time we will be in the States, and whether or not we want to purchase a house. I believe when we move we will be finding our way towards an ocean. The good thing is that I am able to take my business with me where ever we go. I’m hoping once we have these things taken care of maybe we can relax and enjoy life for a while
What I should be doing is packing boxes and preparing to FINALLY move into our own place. It’s not that I am procrastinating….it’s that we haven’t gotten the apartment — yet. In true Kroezen fashion, some obstacle must present itself. So we found a place…a big 2 bedroom townhouse in a safe part of town for under budget. We were/are only signing a 6 month lease so we can figure out what we want to do at that point. Everything was going perfectly, and then we find out that they won’t accept Mat’s social security card because it says “For Work Purposes Only” on it. This is the card he got when he had originally came here so it was a work visa and he was not entitled to SS benefits. That’s all it meant – not entitled to SS benefits…not “You have the right to work here, but you can’t live here”. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think flying to and from AU everyday is really efficient. They told him to go to the SS office and apply for a new card, and that they would accept the paper that says he had applied. Then they called back to say that no, they could not accept the paper, and we can not move in until we have the card. The card takes 7-10 business days to come in. We applied for it on the 5th, so we will obviously not be moving in on Saturday. This is not only a bummer because we are so ready to be out and on our own (and have somewhere to set up a Christmas tree!), but also because my Father-in-law has officially made it to TN and is staying in a hotel until we get our own place.
Speaking of the Father-in-law, whom I so dearly love, he broke down on his journey from TX to TN. Why? Because we are destined to have the car he is driving, and it is only natural that it would break down. Luckily, he broke down in Jackson, TN…which is where my best friend’s family lives. He came through like he always does, and arranged for a family member to get Denis back out on the road. There’s nothing better in the world than knowing you have someone you can count on for ANYTHING. Of course, he would get the same from me. It turns out it was the alternator…I think it has been fixed now and all is good. We’ll be catching up with him on Saturday.
Mat is growing more and more concerned about the stability of this new studio, so we have decided to hold out on taking on a mortgage. We were not in a hurry to begin with, so I am not terribly upset over it. The duplex is still for sale, but has been taken off the market…so hopefully even if we do want to purchase it in the near future it will still be available.
It’s not all gloom and doom for the Kroezen clan. We are really blessed to have some wonderful people in our lives. Yesterday I found a package from Australia living in my mailbox. Inside of said package was a perfectly intact glass tea pot…just like the one that had been broken. Even better, it was sent by the same friend that had made the other one special. While it was not the same one I had in Oz…it did come from there and so I am incredibly happy about it. It was so unexpected and a beautiful surprise.
Today I also found two packages waiting on me when I got home from a busy day of marketing down town….
melt.
There it is kids….my DSLR…my heart is content! Half came from a very generous soul, and half came from about 2 years of saving my “allowance”. I couldn’t be happier about it. Next on the list of things to do is get into a class to learn more about it. I’ve decided to start the 365 project (where you take a photo a day for 365 days – don’t worry, I won’t be posting that here) to keep up with my progress of learning. I’m going to start it out with the first ever photo I took with the camera. I love love LOVE it.
So life is bitter sweet at the moment. A little frustrating, a little rewarding…but never a dull moment.
