The one year countdown begins!

Hello lovelies! 

September 4th starts with the 1 year countdown till the big day! Very exciting times!

And timing being everything, our beautiful engagement shoot has now featured on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings blog!

Relive our story here:

http://whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com/2013/09/a-romantic-whitstable-engagement.html#more-91202

Here's a sneak peak.

Aww... Aren't we too cute, haha!

With the big day on the horizon and some of our major plans in place, we are getting super excited!

We had such an amazing time back at home, although it will never be long enough, and we can't wait to come home and share our big day with our nearest and dearest.

So, the venues are sorted, the dress is being made, the cake is bring designed, we obviously have the wonderful Rebecca Douglas taking our pics- check out her site here:

http://www.rebeccadouglas.co.uk

Just the menus, bridesmaids dresses, music, vows, decor and small stuff to go!

And in that note, maybe I should intro the bridal party:

MOH- Miss Joanne Gold, one of my closest friends and more like my 3rd sister! Jo introduced me to my short street dancing career many moons ago and has seen a catalogue of my changed looks over the years!

Miss Hannah Murphy- my dearest sister and partner in dancing, partying crime! I've known her all her life, yet she has taught me more about living than anyone I know!

Miss Saskia Verwijs- my dearest and youngest sister and creative extraordinaire! Sass specialises I'm gorgeous nail art (something for the wedding?), baking and everything arty and will put all models to shame with her gorgeous looks and extraordinary height!

Miss Leanne Hardy- one if my oldest friends from our good old BCGS days! Many sleepovers have been doesn't eating cake for dinner and ice cream for breakfast!

Miss Frances Barker- mine and Leanne's partner in crime in eating food and talking vomit, often whilst eating food!

Miss Laura Bowman- one of the original mouse house members, design extraordinaire, fellow 90s pop lover and the other half of the most creative birthday cakes I've ever had!

Miss Joanna Bell- another fellow mouse house member, the other half of epic cakeage, Australian traveller from 2013 and fabulous illustrator!

And finally, our amazing MC, Mr James MG Roberts.

BBC and tea loving James will help us reliever the order of the day with style and panache! Another mouse house member, fellow 90s pop dancer and avid film maker! Check out his film 'Alan' when it's out!

So I am very blessed that a year today I will be surrounded by my friends and family, have my nearest and dearest by my side to marry my one true love.

Good night everyone! Xxx

The renaissance of The English Rose.

To all my fellow Rose Readers, I can declare that after an unexpected year off, I am back and blogging!

I never really expected to stop completely, but as you can see from my last post- the weight of it all ( the file, visa and work ) got the better of me. I became a little disenchanted with it all.

However, a year on and my-oh-my how much has changed.

So, it seems that I needed the infamous Love File off my chest, to be able to really get into Aussie life. It was submitted on August 24th and little more than 5 months later, I received the call.

It was quite underwhelming as I was at work and was expecting it to be a  bizarre  enquiry from a member of the public. But after all the hard work, paper and around AUD$4k later, I am now on the Subclass 820 Temporary Residency Visa. How romantic!

And no, it doesn't mean that I am half Aussie or anything like that. Still an English Rose which just happens to be allowed in Oz. Which given the current government policies on immigration is pretty amazing. 

I have to remember those hundreds of people trying to come in on tiny dangerous boats, only to be shipped off to PNG and told they will never live in Australia. I am very fortunate.

So, a quick catch up on the rest of the year-

- gained great event fundraising experience with my now ex-job ( more on that later! )

- joined a netball team, go Charity Cases!

- made some amazing friends:

 

- gained a bit of an Aussie accent (according to home!)

- got whisked away to Byron Bay before Christmas....

And GOT ENGAGED!!

It was a complete surprise and an amazing end to a difficult and life changing year. I am so incredibly lucky to have found my gorgeous man - and for him to have such incredible taste/ check out the ring he had custom made for me!

So this may spark some interesting wedding planning from abroad type posts and advice!

But the main things have been booked on my amazing 2 month trip back home on June/July.

This was an amazing trip for so many reasons. It was my first trip back home since we moved here last year so it was incredible to catch up with family and friends. And to be able to celebrate our engagement made it extra special.

It's funny, because we get asked an awful lot where we are going to live permanently. It's a difficult one to answer as we simply don't know. I thought the trip home would help me decide, but I'm not sure if it did.

On one hand, it's amazing to be near my nearest and dearest, who after all these years have remained loyal and loving friends. The people who you catch up with on Skype and it doesn't feel like you haven't seen them in over a year.

On the other, Australia is such a great place to be right now. It's economically stable, with wages being high and disposable income being the norm. How novel!

It's the first time in my life I haven't had to worry about money (even when unemployed as I am right now!) and I know in a couple of years, we can buy a house. This is in addition to paying for the wedding, of which we should already have this.

If I tell people about this at home, it sounds like a fantasy, but this is that it's like here. Unfortunately I think it gets taken for granted as you can have everything you want. It's a luxury that I know everyone at home can't have.

And that makes me sad. To know all my loved ones are struggling, and to make the selfish choice to be here, because life is so much easier. 

And it's beautiful of course!

So, in summary, nothing is forever (except our marriage!) so no decisions yet. 

But now to the unemployed and homeless part...

I forgot to mention the homeless didn't I?

So in all the madness of this year and deciding to take control of our lives, we decided to leave our house, quit our jobs and move to Melbourne.

So this is the current plan in progress!

We are very lucky to be staying at our good friends flat whilst they are in their honeymoon. (And their wedding was overdue and spectacular!)

So this is our current view:

Not bad eh?

Luckily we have a few interviews lined up between us and have seen numerous places to live- of varying quality and prices.

Fingers crossed it all falls into place. We have been extremely lucky in our journey so far and just need a little more in the works!

Ill try not to leave it too long before my next update!

But a huge thank you to everyone that made the effort from all over Europe to see us whilst we were back home, especially to celebrate our engagement. It was such a special time for us and we love you all.

Xxx