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

Hotdogs and other non-refrigerated foods...

This is a conundrum of ours at the moment ( and has been since Friday! )- what does one eat when you don't have:

- a fridge

- a freezer

- a microwave

- a kettle

- a toaster 

- a jaffle maker ( sandwich toaster )

The answer is below you in funny faces!

The answer is: stuff in cans and packets!

And look at how much fun you can have with it.

My fave is a Brit classic:

Huzzah for Heinz!

As for the hotdogs, anyone that has been following my Facebook page knows that right now I'm LOVING 'hotdogs or legs?'

The original tumblr account is below:

http://hot-dog-legs.tumblr.com/

Also has a brand new Facebook page as of a 

couple of days ago.

If you haven't seen it yet the tag line is:

"Are they hotdogs or legs?".

Get involved, it's hilarious!

Even funnier than Sushi Cats!

Isn't the Internet amazing?!

Much loves xxx

It's times like these that you need a bucket...

It's definitely times like these that you need a bucket. A bucket of luck, a bucket of money, a bucket of sunshine and even a little bucket of sanity to help you along the way.

Not that things are bad, on the contrary, things are pretty good and I'd be horribly ungrateful not to recognise how lucky we have been, once again, to fall onto our feet.

And for this I am extremely grateful. Moving to the other side of the world is definitely not easy, but is definitely easier with how lucky we have been. But whilst an element is luck, it is also hard work.

For everyone that knows us well (namely our parents), knows that we take on too much. Wedding plans, 2 engagement parties, 3 house moves in 8 months, 1 major trip to the UK, various trips whilst in the UK and starting a new life in Melbourne (aka job and house hunting yet again!).

So yes, we are lucky that we can get up and go, not be too phased or worried about our situations and start all over again.

This time, I think it's different for the both of us. We have moved around a lot in the last few years- it's been amazing and awesome, but it gets tiring living out of a suitcase and having to sell yourself for jobs and properties again. We are looking forward to putting pictures on the wall, decorating the flat and make it feel like home. It's been a long time.

As I write this, I am sitting in our new flat in an awesomely cool area of Melbourne, awaiting our furniture to arrive, living out of a suitcase and non-refrigerated foods.

Thank god they installed the heating yesterday, it was getting to below 5 degrees at night!

But we already have a great group of friends down here- I think half the Gold Coast has moved down! That does make it much easier, especially the hospitality that everyone has shown us! The beanbags and doona (duvet) make a MASSIVE difference when you have a shell of an apartment! 

So I feel like we need just a tiny top up of luck (not even a bucket, just a cup) to get us the jobs and opportunities that we both deserve to enjoy our new Melbourne life.

Keep it all crossed for us please!

Much loves xxx 

The Rose takes on Melbourne.

Happy Sunday to everyone!

It has been my first day off since we got to Melbourne. 

Life so far has been all about getting up, looking at realestate.com.au for new rentals, viewing flats (or units in Oz!)

Looking at ethicaljobs.com.au and seek.com.au for jobs and spending hours tailoring my résumé and fulfilling the selection criteria for each job. Phew!

Looking for a job IS A FULL TIME JOB! Without the income and holiday benefits.

So today was a welcome break and we discovered all this below:

(L-R My decorated mask from the ACIM Australian Contemporary Institute of Moving Image, Love postcard, Melbourne Writers festival programme, selection of cool info on each suburb, Daves mask, Melbourne Spring Fashion Week programme, Melbourne Fringe Festival programme and a series of mini tailored walking tours)

Phew again! So much cool stuff to do! This morning we went to the Rose Markets and saw some amazing and inspirational ideas, arts, crafts and fashion.

We both got so excited to be in such a creative environment! And it's just he beginning.

Melbourne is well known for many things:

1) Coffee- Melbournites take coffee very seriously. No sugar, no syrup, no frappa-crappa-doo. Coffee, pure and simple is the art form.

2) Food- cheap and authentic to super flamboyant, Melbourne has some if THE best restaurants from all cultures and for all budgets. Super-yum!

3) Sport - AFL and the Aussie Open to name a few.

4) Culture - Art, galleries, festivals, comedy. Something to get your creative juices flowing.

5) Fashion - Unlike some other areas where fashion doesn't matter cos you swear through it anyway,Melbourne actually has a fashion scene! Woop! With European shops including Zara and Top shop- double woop! You can be yourself here and everyone loves it.

6) Street art - is fabulous, fantastic, creative, colourful and political. Or not. Covering many of the cities well known lanes and popping up all over the place, it has become a part of the allure if Melbourne.

7) The Laneways - hidden lanes and alleys amongst the main Melbourne streets with street art, hidden cafes, the best coffee, galleries, boutiques , clubs and more!

So as you can see, we are pretty excited to be here!

Welcome to my new city!

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

The Good, The Bad and the Unexpected.

Hello All,

It has taken me a while to write again, I know. It's all been about this:

The Love File.

For those who are unfamiliar with the infamous 'Love File', it is a declaration of mine and Dave's love - in the form of paper evidence, receipts, leases, bank statements and anything that has both our name on it. Officially known as Temporary Onshore Partner Visa Subclass 820.

It actually like having another full time job. I have spent everynight of the last few weeks scanning everything in, and now creating a slick document of all our evidence, annotated with glorious stories of 'How we go food shopping together at Iceland' etc etc.

And, for the second time since arriving in Australia, I had to pee in a cup.

I have just come back from my Visa Medical, where they literally poke and prod you, take your blood, xray your chest and order you around like you are one of many other 'cattle' applicants trying to stay longer in Australia.

It was horrible, degrading and everyone there clearly hates their job and foreigners.  And annoyingly, I have to go back again this week for more fun. The staff were just so rude, the place was so busy, you are really just a number in a sea of people from all over the world - and you can tell everyone was just frustrated with having to speak slowly, clearly and loudly to everyone for whom English isn't their first language.

And with more bad news which will effect our application yesterday - things are at an all time stress-high, as we were supposed to lodge our application next week.

Just have to hold onto the thought that when me and Dave are finally allowed to live and work in the same country for more than 6 months together - it will be worth it. Like we are asking for so much.

Anyways, moan over.

Some good stuff - we had an awesome Christmas in July! For those who were confused by the pictures on Facebook - in an expat thing were it feels more like the UK winter, ie its a bit grey and coldish, so we celebrate an English style Christmas!

We cooked an epic roast dinner with all the trimmings for 7 of our friends, with deserts, cheeses and mulled wine - yum yum! And lots of games for good measure!

Last weekend we went to Dave's nephews 6th birthday party at McDonalds. 15 screaming, sugar fuelled kid with a love of Spiderman and Batman made for an interesting morning!

But check out this Kids cool hair:

Spider-tastic!

Dave and the Birthday Boy Ryan!

The Vanderbyls - Leanne, Matty, Ryan and Michael

And finally (if you made it to the end!) A HUGE THANK YOU to Miss Joanne Gold who was the first person to get her Stat Dec via post to us!! And of course for the lovely additional post and kind words. A prize will be on its way to you shortly!!

And a massive thank you to my lovely mummy for all her hard work for me and getting me everything I need and all in good time!  You're a superstar!! xx

And thank you Laura Bowman for her lovely Parisian postcard!!

I love and miss you all lots - its been a strange, long road but i think we're getting there (almost a That 70s Show quote!).

Here's a lovely picture of our cool new photo display at home for you too. Ahhh.

Right, should go and practise my ballet for tomorrow!

Love love love to all, enjoy the opening ceremony of the Olympics - we're getting up at 5am Saturday to enjoy it too!

Hev xxxxxx

Australia Research

Hello lovelies,

I know I have been a bit slack the last few months. I blame the new job, the flat and trying to start a new life in a foreign country.

So, okay, I am learning lots of new things about Australia all the time.

And I think I'm getting into it.

Last night was the final of the State of Origin series.
Its a huge deal between Queenslanders and New South Wales.

These are the states in case you're wondering.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/keep-an-eye-on-the-state-of-origin-decider-as-we-provide-updates-as-it-happens/story-e6frepbx-1226417163009

So, basically, its like a game of rugby - except they call it football. They call football, soccer. Strange.

Its massively popular and the State of Origin is a big 'football' series of 3 matches again QLD and NSW - but the teams are made up of premium club players who were born in these states. Hence the name.

It means that during the rest of the year, you play alongside your bessie mates for the Broncos or whatever, and then for SOF - you become mortal enemies.

And it is a brutal games to watch. They run and and down the pitch, scoring 'Trys' and kicking the ball inebetween the posts. Whilst the other team tackle you to the ground and every opportunity.

So injuries are common:

Broken bones/faces
Fractured bones/faces
Black eyes
Knocked out teeth
Head gashes
General cuts/brusing/blood etc etc

So it's a very violent sport and there is always a big punch up on the pitch too.

So last night, I watched a full match (a first) donned my Maroons spirit (for QLD) and we won the 7th consectutive State of Origin, on home turf, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

Other things I am still learing:

• No matter where I look, personalised numberplates are still around, still terrible and just scream 'small penis' for them combined with fancy cars. Brains on a Lotus was a new high(or low)light of mine.
• Australians think that they are worse off than they are. They all think they are poor. Minimum wage is $17 an hour and not many people are on that.
• Shopping in Australia is bad. No high street chains like in the US or Europe. This means no:

Topshop, H&M, Zara, Primark, Urban Outfitters, Uni qlo, M&S, New Look etc etc.

Fashion is tres different to the northern hemisphere. Think, short, see-through and slutty. That may be harsh but thats all thats in the shops in the summer time!

I have also learnt (majorly), that it does get cold in Australia. In the office, I am tres cold. Its warm in the sun still, but in the shade/office/home its chilly. QLD in particular, doesn't have heating anywhere, as its supposed to be a hot climate. Wish I bought my gloves and boots over now!

Australia also love Masterchef (its kind of addicitve viewing), with its glamourous format and mouth watering meals....and they don't really have many celebrities. And if they are Australian, some are quite quiet about it.

Celebrities are: Lara Bingle (the girl of the Tourism Australia Advert), Miranda Kerr, Delta Goodrem, Keith Urban (married to Nicole Kidman and famous in the US) and anyone that has been on any tv show in the last XX years. Weird.

And the general approach to going abroad seems to be on a Contiki Tour. I assume this is prepaid, preoganised tours around Europe - thinking they get the European experience. Strange.

And I still dont like Vegemite. But at least you can still buy Marmite, Twiglets, Ritze Crackers Yorkshire pudding mix, mushy peas, Caramal Wafers - the gold and red lunch box ones, Edinbugh Castle Rock, English Toffee, Polos and a weird variety of imported English things at a hugely inflated rate. No chocolate covered hobnobs though :(

Anyways, best get back to work - enjoy my research and write soon!

Muchos Love xxxxx