Back to Reality...

So the post holiday blues have definitely kicked in, and I'm left reminscing about our trip and dreaming of the next glorious holiday!

Unfortunately with a wedding to save for now, it looks like this might not be on the cards until the honeymoon which saddens me to end - but you can be sure I'm going to make it one hell of a trip to make up for it! Don't get me wrong though... I'm still basking in my newly engaged glow, and am loving catching up with family and friends to celebrate the good news with them!

Another thing about being home is having my little boy by my side again!

It is cray-cray how much difference a little red dog makes to daily life! I missed him so much the entire trip, and everything we did I couldn't help but think "Rocket would love this" or "How good would this be if Rocket was here?!"

After weeks of eating out and not cooking, I've also been relishing getting back into my kitchen and producing some tasty food!

I had a killer craving for caesar salad the other day, so I whipped up this baby.

It was only after we'd devoured more than half of the dish that I realised I'd completely forgotten to add my cajun spiced chicken and a gloopy poached egg on top! Whoops.

In other news, the minor reno job we did to the front yard was still looking good when we arrived home, and the new grass we'd planted has been coming on strong! I'm dying to add some colours and pretty flowers to spruce things up, and I will have to share the results once this is done.

We're also going full steam ahead with the backyard revamp, and have got our builder friend working away at our new deck extension as we speak! This is the last time it will look like this...

I'm a keen jellybean to get home and see the results! Our chippy and his beautiful wife (good friends of ours) are absolute perfectionists at anything they do, so I know the result will be stellar!

I'll be setting some time aside soon to go through my holiday photos, so hopefully I'll have a few updates coming up where I can share some snaps! Not to mention talk a bit about my wonderful proposal, and how cute my gorgeous man is!

Until next time :) xx

Our Home : The Roof, The Roof...

So I still have been a little slack on the blogging scene but... I'll get there!

I've been meaning to take some photos of the home as it progresses, but I haven't been very good with that either. I'll try to take some shots on a lovely sunny day, so you can see the way that the light streams through the back windows in the morning and the front of the house in the afternoon!

One thing that we have been working on lately is our outdoor area.  We don't have a huge yard, but we do have a lovely little deck which we are determined to make into a lovely area to entertain guests, or just sit and relax on a sunny day.

The picture below is a photo of the deck from the realestate listing, before we moved in. 

As you can see, it was a little bit grubby and the garden was way overgrown!

A few days after we moved in, my parents came to visit and dad took this snap of the back deck.

We had cleaned it up a little, but there was still something missing out there!

Given the Melbourne weather, and the fact that I love being outdoors at any time of the day, we decided that a roof would be essential.  We wanted to be protected from the elements, as well as being able to make full use of our deck all year round!  So with that in mind, we got to work...

When I say "we", I mean Liam and our Chippy friend.  I did have the ever-important role of making pancakes with berries and ice cream to fuel the job though!

Did you know that beer is also an essential tool for building a deck roof?

 With all the essentials taken care of, and lots of beer and pancakes filling their bellies, the boys worked hard and pretty soon our new roof started to take shape!

My dedicated little workers bees did a fantastic job, and by lunch time the roof was complete!

Let me tell you, I could not be happier with the result...

We've still got a bit of work to do with it, but I'm pretty pleased with it for the moment! We've bought some snazzy new outdoor furniture to complement it and I'm looking forward to a summer full of BBQ and drinkies out on the back deck!

Next step is to pull up and replace all the existing timbers, and extend it our slightly.  We're also in talks to create and install a water wall which I've got all sorts of ideas for!  We have gotten a quote for some shade blinds but it's come back at a rather high price.  Does anybody have any ideas for alternatives to keep the rain out and the heat in on colder evenings?

I'm looking forward to doing somemore cosmetic work over the summer, to pretty it up a bit.

Watch this space! xx

Wordless Wednesday : It's Moving Day ...

... and Rocket is keen to go!

Ready for our new home.

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

When House B becomes Plan A!

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my last post!  It's such an exciting time for us - I keep looking at the photos of the house, and I love it so much! I think that it's just beautiful, I'm so glad you all seem to agree!

As most of you guessed, in the end House B won the battle! 
House B has now become our plan A, and I couldn't be happier! 

Thank you for all your helpful advice on the dilemma!  I had some wonderful tips from you, and it really helped to clear my mind and gave me a guide on what I should focus on.  I hadn't really shared the house-hunting process with many of my friends, so it helped tremendously to have advice from all of you lovely ladies, and also to have a bit of wisdom from some who had done it all before. I am ever so grateful! xx

As suggested, I decided to draw up a list of pros and cons of each house -

As you can see, House B won in a landslide!

When I said that House A was the perfect right-now house for us, I was really lying a little.  I'm sorry about that.  If it makes you feel any better, I was lying to myself too! I could just imagine being in that stunning open plan living room with a little balcony perfect for indulging in wine and cheese platters... but what was missing from that scene was the every day annoyances and inconveniences we would have to put up with.  In the end, I came to the realisation that House B was a much better fit for us, not only in the future, but right now too. 

I am now the proud owner (or I will be in exactly 28 days!) of a beautiful three-bedroom two-bathroom double storey townhouse.  As you might have seen from the picture in my previous post, it's a gorgeous little thing and I cannot wait to get moved in! Unfortunately it is currently tenanted on a fixed lease until the end of December.  Once the lease is transferred we are going to discuss with the tentants the possibility of breaking it early, but in the worst case scenario we should be in our new home around Christmas time (ahh, the wait is going to kill me!).

And look at the size of my new kitchen! <3

So now begins the fun of planning and buying new things to decorate the house! If the renters decide they want to stay until the end of their lease, we will have quite a while to plan and save up to buy everything that we need! I'm so excited.

Can you give me any tips, or inspiration for setting up and decorating a new home? xx