Happy New Year! What a Year It's Been!

I've been meaning to update this blog for so long, now!!! But as the sun's setting on 2016, I thought that now would be a good time to FINALLY do so! (I also spilled ginger beer on my laptop a while ago, which made it difficult to type! But Robert got me a shiny new laptop for Christmas (one of the new MacBook Pros with the touch bar thingy!), so things are much easier!)

In the time that I haven't posted here, we've had our first Halloween, our first Thanksgiving, the election happened and Christmas has come and gone! What a year it's been. I said on Facebook earlier today that all in all, it's been a good year for our little family. Our move here has been a mostly positive experience. I start my graphic design studies in a few weeks, and the toddler is officially enrolled into pre-school that starts in August! Life just seems to be racing by!

My family was here for a week over Christmas. It certainly didn't last long; felt like I blinked and they were gone. :-( But it was so awesome having them here, and it was SO nice to have a WINTER Christmas! The only downside to that being that it didn't really feel like Christmas in the weeks leading up to it. Despite the Christmas trees, the carols playing in all the stores and the huge amount of decorations around the city, ironically for me, the Summer heat is what makes the Christmas season feel like Christmas. Despite that, both my Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys were pretty good successes!

Looking back, the year really has gone in a flash, but I don't think we really have any regrets. Missing my family is really the only thing that has made things difficult.

The best things have been (in no particular order):

~BALLET is still the no.1 for me. Aside from injuring my foot a couple of times, it's just been a dream come true. I've been doing pointe for almost six months, now (I think?), and I just feel so grateful for the whole opportunity every time I go to a class! I've also become Kathy's graphic designer. LOL. I make online flyers for her, which in turn, is giving me some great design practise (you know what they say: 10000+ hours of something makes you a master in it!).
~The 2 year old boss and I have also made some really lovely friends, which I'm just so happy for. We don't know whether we'll have anymore children, so it's really important to me for the little guy to have friends early on. I'm also incredibly anti-social and was always a really awkward, shy kid, so I just do what I can to encourage the little dude to not be like me! So far, he's much more easygoing than I was as a child, and I'm very glad for that! Haha! Having good friends that we see regularly has also taught him so much! His language skills have improved so much, and he's learned to share!
~AMAZON. LOL!!! Amazon makes life even more convenient. I'm mentioning Amazon here because as of yesterday, I'm so thankful for it! The toddler and I bought Robert a pair of Coach gloves for Christmas (toddler even picked them, himself). But they were the wrong size. We went back to the store yesterday, only to be told that not only did they have none left in stock, but they weren't able to order more as they've stopped making them! We wandered around the city in the hopes of finding another pair from a different store, but I didn't like our chances as they'd gone on sale, so they'd pretty much sold out everywhere! I was so gutted (probably even moreso than Robert!). But we had a chance look on Amazon and found they had ONE pair left! So I was very happy and am now more appreciative than ever of Amazon. LOL!!!
~All the kids' facilities and activities available here. The Bay Area has (so far) been an awesome place in which to raise a family!
~The adventure of it all. From just being in a brand new place to learning to drive on the opposite side of the road to exploring, it's really been a fantastic experience for someone as unadventurous as I am!
~People are generally quite friendly. Unless you're on the road in which people simply become impatient douchebags.
~The appreciation for the arts. Enough said.
~The opportunities available to Robert and his career. Also enough said.
~The city's multiculturalism. Also something that's very important to me.
~The convenience of everything. Whether you're wanting ice cream delivered in the next couple of hours or you're looking to study, it seems that everything's available here. Of course, the flipside of that being that it really makes you feel spoilt. I feel like a spoilt brat of the world, especially compared to what so many others are going through these days. I'm not an overly religious person, but I find myself saying little prayers to myself (or God or whoever's up there) everyday for the fortunate life we lead. It's scary to see how easily it can all be taken away, so I'm grateful everyday for the blessings I've got.
~Living in a country where everything seems relevant. Whether it's a TV show you're watching or politics, I feel like we live in a place where I'm immersed in what we see on TV, online, or wherever else. Maybe that's thanks to the media, but it's sort of exciting to see things and think 'yeah, I get that now', or even 'crap, how's that going to affect us now?' (in RE: to the recent election). I've found myself caring a lot more about world happenings since I feel like they're a little more relevant to our lives now.
~Feeling like an anonymous nobody. This sounds a bit strange, but I like cities. And I like feeling like I don't know anyone or that there's a big chance of me running into people I know. I like anonymity, and that was something I looked forward to in having a new start. For some reason, anxiety really kicks in living in a small town or the country, especially if it means I constantly have to see people that I need to make small talk with. Yes, I'm anti-social, yes, socialising makes me incredibly anxious if it's random, but hey, that's just the way I am. Sigh...

And I'm sure there's more. However, I've had my annual new year's drink and I'm already feeling the effects. I have no idea how I've managed to type this much!

So in saying that, I wish anyone reading this a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! I really hope that 2017 is fantastic for you. Thank you so much for reading/following this blog. Hopefully I'll make more regular posts in the new year!

xoxo

Six Months On!

I do apologise for the lack of updates here recently. We've been rather boring lately, so there hasn't been a lot to post about!

That said, as of yesterday, we've been here for six months! It's gone really quickly (as has 2016 in general), but in some other ways it's gone quite slowly. I guess it's been six months of adjustment, adventure and settling. (And yet we still don't have a lounge! LOL.) There have been positives and negatives for all three of us. Off the top of my head, here are some:

Positives:

~As I've been saying all along, ballet has been the no.1 positive for me, personally. Obviously this is just for me, not the three of us as a family unit. But as I've said before, I never thought I'd do it again, so it's been a little dream come true which is just amazing. Plus, it's been a great way for me to meet some new people, and our teacher is one of the most lovely people I think I've ever met. I managed to get on pointe within a few months, too, so that's been a small achievement for me!

~It's been great seeing Robert in the city that's The place to be for software engineers and architects. I think it's been really good for him to be surrounded by so much more possibility for his career. I'm very proud of him, and really proud to be married to someone who's so smart and so full of potential. :-) 

~Lots of kids things around! SF in general has been very convenient, but it's great that there are so many child-friendly things around. The kids' museum is our second home (and there's nothing like it in Sydney!), and the restaurants here are all very kid-friendly, which is great. The playgrounds here are also awesome, in that they're all gated and have really good play equipment! There are also so many family-friendly things around that just don't even exist in Australia. So that's been great to check out!

~The arts support here is awesome. If I'm ever able to build my own career, it's great that it might be in a city that supports the arts as a legitimate career; not something that should be done for people for free.

~Convenience of the city has been great. I feel like everything's on our doorstep (literally). Whether it's just outside our apartment or online. Robert's had an Amazon addiction since we got here: we can order something in the morning and have it delivered by the end of the day (even on weekends).

~Weather. As someone who cannot handle temperatures much higher than 25C or so, SF is great! It's Summer here (still), and it rarely gets above 25. It's hot in areas outside SF (in the Bay Area), but SF stays cool.

~Having an adventure has been nice. It's been good for me to be somewhere we didn't know anyone and to be somewhere we can explore and start anew. I really felt like we needed a new start.

~The internet's been pretty great. LOL.

Negatives:

Unfortunately, I think this list may have grown since I last posted about positives VS negatives...

~In general - and obviously I'm making a huge sweeping generalisation here - the attitude of people here gets on my nerves. It can mostly be seen on the road. There's a big attitude of entitlement here: people think they should all be first, they deserve more, they deserve to be in front. After seeing it, it's almost no surprise at all that they're always suing one another over petty, stupid things. It's a regularity to see people yelling at one another on the street or out of their cars. It's just charming.

~It's expensive here. Everything is expensive except for the ice cream! It makes Sydney look cheap.

~I miss my family a lot, and it's sad sometimes to see our son not growing up around family. That said, my mum was here last month, my mother in law will be here in a couple of months, my family should be here over Christmas and my sister in law and her three kids will be here in January! So at least we have amazing immediate family (the people who matter the most) willing to make the effort to come and see us! That means a lot. :-) 

~The politics. I don't think I need to say more.

~The homelessness in this city is sad. It's a constant reminder of how lucky we are, but it's terrible to see such poverty right on your doorstep. It also makes you realise how fine the line really is between being comfortable and ending up on the street...

~As a parent, I'm so far not a fan of the way school's run here. They get most of the Summer off, and the new school year starts in August. That just makes no sense to me. Shouldn't school just start at the start of the calendar year? I also don't think the school year's broken up into four terms the way it is in Australia. I think Summer is basically the only break they get, aside from public holidays. That sucks. 

~The health system. We've yet to find a GP, but everything depends on your insurance. Even if you're dying, what hospital you go to depends on your insurance. I don't think you can call 911 and just be whisked away to the closest hospital. And if you don't have insurance? Well, I guess you're just dead.

~Robert's had to make a few trips back to Sydney for work. For a few days. He's on one now. I don't think it's really what he wanted, and they're not long enough to justify the toddler and I going back for a bit.

~Although the convenience of things has been great, I feel like it spoils you. The ease of life here almost makes you feel like a spoilt brat. It sometimes frightens me to think of raising a child in such a society where everything is just easy, and therefore makes you think you're entitled to whatever the hell you want.

...I think I had more to say, but I should probably stop being a lazy parent and go and spend time with the toddler. I realise I sound a little cynical with those negatives, but generally life has been OK here. Give us another six months, and things will probably be different again. 

This post looks incredibly boring without any pictures. Lots to come in the next post!

As usual, thanks for reading/visiting!

xoxo

Future Plans and Emma Prusch Park

I've been asked quite a bit recently what our future plans are and whether we intend to move back to Australia or not. I'm sure people ask this out of politeness than genuine interest, but for anyone who may be reading this, the answer is that we're not sure. We're playing everyday by ear at the moment and just seeing where this adventure takes us. Careers aside, I feel like it's been good for us so far; for us as a little family unit and for us individually (despite the fact that Robert works 24/7 and really didn't get a break when he took a week of leave a few weeks ago. But that's a different story.). For me, I really genuinely wanted a new start and to move somewhere we literally didn't know a single soul. And yes, I wanted a bit of an adventure. I'm not an overly adventurous type (I'm definitely not someone who feels like they need to see the whole world before they die), and being quite introverted, I tend to stick to my comfort zones. But I feel like making a new start freed me from some personal and emotional baggage; a new start has felt really good. There were also people that I wasn't sorry to have left behind (don't worry, if you're reading this, chances are none of them were you! LOL). And I'm not going to lie: I kind of enjoy being one of the people who have a foreign accent! Haha! A lot of the time I get asked if I'm British. Australian is usually people's second guess. Anyway, I hope this answers the question of whether we'll move back or not! There are things we like and dislike here, but I think you'd find that anywhere. 

*****

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago(? I'm losing track of time!), we took Mr Toddler to Emma Prusch Farm Park. It was sort of a continuation of checking out these awesome parks in SF and surrounding areas. It was about an hour's drive away from SF, and for anyone who knows Sydney, it was a bit like driving from the CBD to Penrith. The weather difference was similar as well: we left a cool, temperate SF and ended up in a very hot San Jose. Which sucked because I hate hot weather, and we probably would have hung around a bit longer if it hadn't been so hot. But the park itself is pretty cool, and I couldn't think of anything similar in Sydney. Aside from an awesome playground, it's basically a playground crossed with a little farm. I think its intention is to show kids what country life is like a bit. There are multiple picnic areas, an animal area that's home to some goats, chickens etc., a farm house, a barn and some gardens. There are also chickens just wandering around the place of their own freewill (clearly the owners have a lot of trust in people!). 

In his typical fashion, Mr Toddler went straight for some old tractors once he'd had lunch. He wanted to sit up on them and play with the steering wheel, but unfortunately the heat had made the metal too hot, so he couldn't really play on it. But I thought it was good for him to see some animals again and to be in a big, open space. City living definitely has many perks, but the one thing it doesn't have is a lot of green, open space. 

San Jose itself was interesting. And I'm starting to get more accustomed to the Bay Area being home to many small cities, unlike Sydney which is a big city with lots of big suburbs. If I were to liken The Bay Area to Sydney, Sydney CBD would be its own city, Parramatta would be its own city, Penrith would be its own, etc., etc. San Jose was also like walking into Mexico town. Everything was in Mexican(???)... Portuguese(???)... Spanish(???)... (what language do they speak in Mexico? LOL!), and I felt like every business was a taco place. LOL. (I guess we know where to go if we want many, many tacos!) I've found it interesting to see the influence of a country we really don't have a lot of exposure to in Australia. I'm glad we got a car. We didn't have to, but I think it was worth it, if only just because it's given us the chance to explore so much more than we otherwise would have. 

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here are a few pics from the park. If Mr Toddler ever decides that animals are his "thing", it would be a great place to host a birthday party at!

xoxo

Muir Woods

I do apologise: the updating of this blog is somewhat sporadic these days! I was trying to give weekly updates, but that hasn't been happening as I've run out of time or, well... that's about it: I've run out of time! Or we just haven't done anything interesting.

But this past weekend was Father's Day here. Robert wanted to go to Muir Woods which is our closest forest of redwood trees (it's about a 60-90 minute drive one way, depending on traffic). These forests are some of the oldest in the world, and some of the trees here are around 1000 years old! The place was really beautiful, and for me, it was nice to wander around in nature without having to be too afraid of spiders! Haha. The drive was a little scary: the road we took was very windy and some parts were on the edge of cliffs. I was often yelling out to Robert to drive slower or to move further into the road in fear of driving off the edge! Ha...

After wandering around the forest for a couple of hours, we headed to Stinton Beach for lunch. I'd been looking forward to finding a beach as it's now Summer here, and it would be nice to take the toddler swimming. And coming from Australia, I had expectations of spending much of Summer at a beach. But I don't think that will be quite so. Stinton Beach, at least, was a big surf. Which is fine. It's just not as child-friendly as perhaps a Sydney beach is. It was also very open and big. Like everything here, it was bigger than beaches tend to be in Sydney. And according to someone Robert spoke to, people tend not to go swimming as much as the water's so cold. And I'm not going to lie: it just wasn't as picturesque and as beautiful as Sydney beaches are. The sand's a bit grey and the water doesn't seem to have that sparkle that I'm used to. It's also quite a drive, where I'm used to living about 15 minutes away from Balmoral. Oh well...

That said, it was a lovely day. Here are some pictures:

Following on from that, on Sunday we went to Lands End, but I haven't finished going through the photos of that little trip, so I'll save that for another post.

In other news, our stuff finally arrived!!! It only took four months! Haha. Although our lounge has been lost. As far as we know, it could still be on the boat. But it's good to have all of our stuff and our apartment is starting to look more like us now. It's been very exciting for the toddler: as far as he's aware, we've suddenly been gifted with all these new things! 

Anyway, I will updated again soon with some photos from Lands End and another beach. 

xoxo

A Wet, Wild, Wintry Week

This is very true. Except for the wine part; I'm not a big drinker, unless you're talking about coffee.

I struggled through motherhood a lot this week. I had quite a few of those moments where I just thought 'I can't do this' or 'I can't handle another tantrum. What has my life become?!'. LOL. And usually I like cold, wet weather. But not with a toddler; this kind of weather only makes life more difficult when you have a small child who needs attention 99% of their waking time. Apparently this weather is unusual for San Francisco. Just our luck that we should get it in our third week here. When we don't have a car. For the Aussies who may be reading this, the weather here has felt quite similar to the Winter temperatures felt in the Blue Mountains around Leura or so. Just with a lot more wind. Unfortunately, I also wasn't prepared for this kind of weather, so all my Winter clothes are in a box on a boat somewhere! So I'm not surprised that I'm a little bit sick now! On the other hand, Robert - the lover of jackets - has very much been enjoying making use of his various black jackets that he always has on hand (even when it's about 40 degrees C outside. Crazy person). 

This will basically be me for the next couple of months or so!

Speaking of cars, we have a car. Well, not just yet. Robert should be going to pick it up over the weekend sometime. But our bank account has a lot less in it. It's a BMW. It's black. It's shiny. You'd think I'd be excited about this especially after the past few years of car drama with the NRMA and not having our own car. But I'm not. Cars are expensive things (regardless of whether BMWs are cheaper here than in Australia or not). Especially when you and your husband are very picky and have quite specific wants/needs in a car. I'm also extremely anxious over having to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road. I get very anxious over a lot of things, driving being one of those things. Plus, my husband had to get a manual, which I basically had no say in. Thankfully, I know how to drive a manual (he taught me on his old, old car many years ago), however it still only makes my anxiety worse knowing that I need to learn to drive a new manual car in a foreign country, on the other side of the road, in a very hilly city. And it doesn't help that drivers here seem to enjoy communicating with their horns more than they do in Sydney (I didn't think that was possible!). Still, at least we have a car. Now I can get places, and getting places is good.

We also have some furniture. Which is also a good thing. Our apartment isn't as empty now! The toddler also has a high chair again, which thankfully means I don't need to chase him around all over the place trying to get him to eat! 

I've managed to make a few contacts/friends here who are also Aussie, which is great! It's interesting/great that this place seems to appeal to lots of us, and the company of others makes me feel slightly less alone. We're also all quite similar; most of us being here because our partners or us ourselves work in computing and technology. It's interesting to hear everyone's backgrounds but also know that we came here from the same place. I don't like to separate people based on nationality, but the reality is that culture separates us (whether we like it or not), so being able to come together with people who may understand you just that little bit more is a good thing, I think. 

It's been interesting to see my husband go from being a relatively big fish in a small pond to being a little fish in a big pond. He is just another tech worker in San Francisco now, whereas I think he was feeling a bit like he couldn't go much further with his career in Sydney. 

I'm certain that I had more to write, but I'm beginning to doze off. So I will say ciao! Thanks for reading this far if you have!

xoxo

We're Here! ...albeit, a little bit tired...!

Well, we made it here in one piece! And I'm quite proud of my little family and myself...! I managed not to stress out on the flight, AND the 17 month old slept! He woke up a lot, but he got back to sleep relatively easily each time! It was such a relief. Our flights were so disastrous when we visited in December that I was just so anxious about this one. But it was pretty good, considering it was with him! The goodbyes with my family were also teary. It's a strange combination of emotions: missing family a lot, but also being excited to be back here. It's a cool city and I just can't wait to explore and just generally make a new start here!

We managed to get a peek into an apartment building that we're checking out an apartment in tomorrow (?). It'll be a relief once we have our own place. I must say, there are cool apartments here: I'm very keen on the loft style ones. REALLY expensive, though. I'm not going to lie: this city is damn expensive. I thought Sydney real estate was expensive, but this is just through the roof...!

Hubby begins his "new" position tomorrow. In an empty office! I'm excited for him that he's in the best place in the world now for his career. Who knows where he can go from here! 

I had all these plans to make this post more interesting and exciting-sounding. But I'm tired and braindead, so this is all I have, I'm afraid! 

xoxo