Hello From The Other Side

Hello lovelies! 

What a clever title you say? Why thank you. I hope you appreciated the reference ;) 

I wanted to write another life update since my move to Mackay! 

Firstly, the drive from Brisbane to Mackay is freaking long - about 11 hours to be more specific. 11 hours of boring highway with very few towns to break up the "boringness". Luckily I also had Mum in my car so we took turns driving and took a few stops at petrol stations and Maccas (McDonalds for you non-Australians) for refreshments. 

I flew back home for the Christmas period which was lovely. I spent lots of time with family and welcomed 2017 with friends with sparklers, glow sticks, stargazing and unintentionally staying awake until 3am. On a more serious note though, the week was also quite stressful.  I've had so many changes come into my life very suddenly and I was struggling to deal with them. On one day I had a really nice day with Mum, driving around the countryside. That night while having dinner at a restaurant with my family, all the stress I had bottled up finally caught up with me. I'd had such an enjoyable day so seemingly out of the blue, I felt really sick, struggled to breathe and couldn't bring myself to finish my meal. It's strange how stress can affect our bodies and sometimes can hit when you're not expecting it. 

Leaving was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I held back tears on the way to the airport and completely broke down saying goodbye to my parents. I think the part that makes it so difficult is that I don't know when I'm going to see my family and friends again. If I had a date of returning home, I could look forward to that day and feel settled knowing that there's a timeline for being back home. But currently that's not the case yet and that's scary to me. I guess even as a kid I liked knowing what was happening, where we were going and when, and what I needed to bring etc. Maybe this ties in with my childhood requirement of feeling prepared at all times. 

Well onto Mackay life - I've settled into my unit and have probably spent way too much on homewares to make it feel my own. Tomorrow the remainder of my furniture will arrive - and I am ridiculously excited to finally have a couch! I would not recommend sitting on the floor for two weeks...not a fun time. My unit is a 10min walk to the beach (although going in the water is not recommended), right next to a big park with cricket and the like, and a short drive to town and the facilities I work at. Sidenote: I still feel weird calling it "Mackay City" - to me as a Brisbane girl, it's not a city!

This week, Mackay has been raining and windy almost non-stop and I am well and truly sick of rain and dodging potholes... Welcome to the wet season in central Queensland! I'm looking forward to seeing the sunshine again and enjoying trips to the beach and really anywhere outdoors for that matter. 

I have learnt that there's many things that you don't realise you need until you need them; things a "normal lived in house" would have that I take for granted - like paperclips... So many times I've gone to grab something only to realise that I don't actually own it yet. Maybe one day I'll get to a point where this no longer occurs. Yay for moving!

I'm also currently trying to find things to do and get involved with to keep myself occupied and hopefully make some friends too. Things like choirs, Riding for the Disabled (I used to volunteer at a centre in Brisbane), vocal lessons and pilates to name a few. The people I work with are also super helpful and have directed me to some local things I might be interested in. I guess with moving to a new town, you can kind of reinvent yourself and start afresh. I'm excited to see what life will bring with the new adventures I embark on. 

Just look at how cute my cat was
when I was back at home!

Now onto random ramblings to finish off this post.

I am torn between "impulsive Holly" and "logical and responsible Holly" - particularly on the idea of getting a cat... I've always had a cat and feel that life is too lonely and a home feels empty without one. Anyway, as much as I would love to have my own cat and the amount of times I've found myself scrolling through adoption websites, I know that I should probably have more savings and be well and truly settled before committing to owning a pet. Damn adult responsibilities. 

Toodle-pip!

Hxx