Unspoken Conversations: One Year On

Today marks one year since we packed up our life and left the city in our rear view mirror in exchange for country living and a more simple lifestyle.

A whole year.

Wow.

When I realised what the date was today I paused, and reflected on how much our lives have changed in just one short little year.

All of the niggling insecurities that I had as I pulled shut that door were so far from my mind, and even made me laugh thinking of how silly they sounded now.

I was so nervous about "fitting back in"and finding a job that I found satisfying and challenging yet fun.

I was sad to leave behind my support network who had been my family for the past 7 years.

I was excited to have more time with my then fiancée and family.

I thought life would slow down and I would have more time to smell the roses.

It turns out that our life is still equally as busy; it's just filled with different joys and challenges to those we experienced in the city.

One short year I have;

Coached a junior netball team with my sister in law who we saw make the grand final and lose by one small little goal. I never ever could've imagined how satisfying it was to pass on my knowledge and passion for netball to the next generation. The girls always provided us with a laugh and taught me so much about sportsmanship when you saw them laughing off of the court with the opposition. They didn't care whether they won, lost or drew, they just loved playing netball and learning new skills. I was so proud of how far each of the girls came over the season.

Won a position as a travel agent. It took me 6 weeks to find a job when we first moved home, but when I did, I thought that I had struck gold! I got to send people overseas and share my experiences every single day! While the job was incredibly satisfying and challenging, the hours killed me, working weekends and driving 10 hours a week to and from work. I quickly realised that my work life balance was tilting more towards the work end of the scale and that all of the reasons that we moved home - to slow down our lives, have more time with each other, be able to play sport and go camping on the weekends - was being compromised. The position also starting affecting my health as my stress levels were through the roof. It was the toughest decision to resign from my position and many tears were shead because I LOVED my clients, work mates, the challenge and the fun, but I had no energy left over for my life - and my life and health are worth more to me than any job.

I won another position in finance. Fortunately for me, I was super lucky to win a new position straight away (with 3 days off between both!) I am loving meeting the new people in my team and using my problem solving and mathematical skills! It really is challenging, yet made fun by 90s music, laughs with my team mates and achieving targets.

Became an aunty. One of the most special experiences that I have had in the past year has been becoming an aunty. I am so incredibly grateful that we live closer to my sister and her expanding little family because I miss my niece even when I see her once a week! She has shown me a love that up until now I didn't even know existed and she brings so much joy to my family. She has my dad aka poppy wrapped around her little family and it's lovely to see how close we've all become.

My niece when she was only a little baby!

My little niece is now 10 months all and so superly cute! Best lunch date ever!

Became a wifey! In October I married my best friend surrounded by my friends and family. It was so incredibly special to see the familiar faces of those who have supported us through all walks of our life, and to know that people travelled from far and wide to share our date with us (even as far as Belgium, Austria, Perth, Ceduna and Adelaide!) I loved that people that I had met in Adelaide got to come back and explore my new home, and soon realised why we'd left our fabulous jobs and beautiful home in Adelaide in exchange for our shabby shack in the country.

My beautiful Belguim babe and Adelaide friend who came back for our special day!

Made many new friends. One of the greatest joys in life is meeting new people. I am so grateful for the people I've met through both of my jobs since returning home, my netball team, coaching the girls, being on committees and writing my blog.

A new beautiful friend!

Spending quality time with my golden oldies!!!

Mental Health Week. Another super proud achievement was collecting stories from local experiences with mental illnesses and sharing them through ABC Open. To know that we are helping people out there to accept, deal with and move on from their horrific experiences is truly overwhelming. I feel so greatful to have been given the opportunity by a fabulous local presenter.

https://open.abc.net.au/posts/escaping-the-black-hole-of-depression-05bs8nf/in/tags/mental+health+week

A new project... While this has been pushed to the back of my mind for a little while with so many changes in our life, I have met with some pretty awesome people from my new community to start discussing a special event to raise awareness and funds for mental health. I really want to jump back on board with this...so watch this space!

Fell back in love with country life. While our life is still incredibly busy between both of us working full time, planning a wedding and honeymoon, writing blogs, taking on projects to help others (my husband has built a basketball court, 2 spit roast rotiseries, a roller, revamped a horse truck into a winnebago, and goodness knows what else in his spare time), winning football grand finals, we absoloutely love our new life. There's something so refreshing about driving to work and watching the seasons change, crops grow and beautiful sunsets and rises on the way to work instead of being stuck in traffic. It's therapeutic going for walk down a deserted beach and taking in the untouched scenery. I love the smell of the fresh country air after a rain instead of the smoggy, tar smelling air in the city. I enjoy indulging in the local fresh seafood that we've often caught ourselves. I love having my mum and dad living right around the corner and often asking what's for tea and just popping in. I love lunch dates with my sister and other friends who lived at home before I did. I enjoy seeing old friendships change and creating new memories together and with different people. I love seeing how strong my friendships continue to grow with those who I left behind in Adelaide. I love the atmosphere on a Saturday at the football. I enjoy doing the shopping and bumping into people I know. I love that I can borrow the key to the local swimming pool and go when I want. I love that the local deli knows our take away order off by heart. I am constantly in awe of the beauty of the natural landscape. I feel refreshed.