Wednesday 13 February 2013

Summer

Well considering I haven't posted since winter, I'd say I've left things a little too long! What can I say, sometimes life just gets in the way...

A lot can happen in 6 months though. I'll do my best to catch you up on the goings-on.

The financial situation I was hinting at for ages has now changed. This is the reason I was giving up my hair dye amid a strict budget - I have moved out of home! The breathing space that this move has granted me is phenomenal. Independence at last!

The hair saga has calmed down... shortly after moving out I bought a packet of vegan hair dye from a health food store in a shade that I hoped was as close to my natural hair colour as possible (I think I must've looked pretty funny squatted up in front of a tiny mirror holding the hair swatch up to my ever-lengthening roots to match the two). A few small stains on the carpet later (that I hoped the landlord wouldn't notice) and voila - my hair was brown again! That was about 4 or 5 months ago now, and the semi-permanent colour has definitely faded. My hair is now looking pretty good, although there is a slight colour difference between my natural hair growing out and the left over colour from the tinting that went on a while ago. I like to think it's a subtle and oh-so effortless nod to the balayage trend that's sweeping the fashion world.

I'm happy to say that I no longer sit on a couch made from animal skin - the good thing about living in your own place is that we could start from scratch and say NO to animal products.
But by far the number one biggest improvement in our vegan lifestyle since moving out of home? We are the proud owners of our very own full size fridge/freezer, which we keep stocked full of delicious food, none of which has in it even the slightest hint of animals. Aaaah life is good. We plan our meals each week, and I'm still building up a repertoire, so I have to search through the many many vegan cookbooks that we own for meal ideas - poor me! Then every night I come home from uni and get to work in the ktichen. And it. Feels. Good. No more disgusting imitation mee goreng! No more pasta with store-bought sauce. We eat real, fresh, healthy food. And we are loving it.
In all honesty, our food habits need some improvement. I need to get into the habit of eating breakfast every day, something I've struggled with since I finished high school. Plus we really need to force ourselves to shop at the farmers' markets every week instead of the local small supermarket, so we know exactly where our food is coming from. But we are getting there, and it feels so wonderful to finally be able to practice what I preach in the diet department.

Financially, my health has taken much more of a priority too. I'm a regular at the chiropractor now, and in a month or so, I'll be making my first appointment with the naturopath whose office is just across the road. My wisdom teeth are finally being removed in April, after 4 years or so of problems and pain. I've laid my hands on a meditation CD by Sara from The Space In Between over in Melbourne ( and just quietly, I really want to treat myself to one of her theta healing sessions... the fact that I'd be forced to have a short trip over to Melbourne to do so is just a problem I'll have to deal with!) and I've got my eyes peeled for a beautiful cushion or rug that can create a sacred space for me to meditate in every time I sit down. I've also got some bare-bones plans for an August trip to Samudra for a yoga retreat which I am beyond excited about and which I can use to establish a yoga routine for me at home every day. I'm on the lookout for cheap Pilates classes nearby and I'd also like to take up Tai Chi this year but what with the yoga and Pilates too, we'll see how much I can squeeze in! I'm also waiting to bring my beautiful bike over from home so that I can ride her around in the mornings, and the evenings... hell, anytime I want!
In 2011 I was regularly attending counselling sessions with a fabulous woman. Changes to the laws by the Federal government meant that even with referrals to a mental health worker (counsellor, psychologist, psychiatrist or otherwise) the number of annual visits allowed under Medicare had been slashed from 18 to 10. This meant I had to abruptly end my visits at the end of 2011, and I never quite seemed to get around to rescheduling in 2012. Well this is a brand new year, and I'm looking forward to booking in with this woman as well as trying some couple work and even some hypnotherapy!

And then there's the usual stuff on the cards: full-time uni, part-time work as well as getting my hands nice and dirty with plenty of full-on wedding planning! So I'm sure that latter will feature heavily in the blog over the next year and a bit.

Well I think that about sums things up for now. Until next time!