I'm Back! + What Has been Keeping Me Away

Hi guys, I'm back and I'm so sorry to have stayed away for so long! Truth is, moving did not go at all how I planned, and a few major obstacles have been standing between myself and this blog ever since. Thankfully, the majority of those obstacles have moved aside now, and I get get on with doing what I love.

So first thing is first, I love Coolangatta! Living here is awesome, our apartment is amazing, our view is amazing and the neighbours are really friendly. I am settling in here so well, and it already feels like home! The beaches are beautiful, there are some cool shops to explore (though the op-shops are lacking) and I'm starting to get our little unit looking just the way I want. All in all, this place is pretty tops!

Moving here, however, wasn't so awesome. For one particular reason.

The very first day were were up here, Jake and I had a car crash. The guy in front of us braked hard, I braked hard and came up touching bumpers with him, and then someone behind me slammed so hard into the back of my car that I nearly hit my head on everything within reach. The car in front of the car in front of me  was also involved somehow, but I didn't notice at the time. It was absolutely terrible! We had just signed our lease, I had a boot load of breakables in the car and we headed up to Southport to my Uni for me to get a few pre-orientation things sorted. We had just left the uni when it happened, my car got towed and we were stranded on the Gold Coast and forced to sit in an empty apartment (after catching a bus back to Coolangatta) for hours before my mum finished work and could come to our rescue. I spent the following four days in a state of complete shock, bursting into tears at the drop of a hat and with severe and persistent back and neck pain and headaches, all while trying to move furniture and boxes and get settled in my new home. I've spent every day since with continuing (but less severe) pain, stranded in a new place where I know no one, by myself, without a car. Thankfully there is public transport up here, Jake came on the weekend, and I like spending time by myself, or I truly would be effed. 

That has got to be the main reason it has taken me so long to get back to blogging - my life was basically turned upside down after the accident, and since I have been in pain, I haven't felt like doing much. I also have had to walk to doctor's appointments and x-rays (which, it turns out, were for nothing - all he said was to take panadol and come back again in 10 days) as well as to the shops to get groceries and other things which I am lacking (there are quite a few of those, since I just moved out of home!), and that has taken it's toll on my poor, shaken up body. 

The other reasons I've been absent include a very late delivery of my internet modem, an even later connection of my internet (and a subsequent 3 phonecalls to Optus telling them to sort their shit out, in which they repeatedly assured me my connection would be established within 4 hours), and the trouble ex-tropical cyclone Oswald has caused for poor, old Australia, and in particular, south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, of which I live on the border between. So many families have lost their homes and their loved ones in the last few days due to the severe flooding and 100km/hour winds caused by Oswald, and my heart goes out to them all. I thank my lucky stars that all that my family struggled with was loss of power, internet and phone connections, and subsequent anxiety over not being able to contact each other. So many families suffered much, much worse and I hope that all my fellow Aussie bloggers and their families are safe. 

On a lighter note, here is a little look at what I have been up to since my last post:

My gorgeous bestie, Alisha, just got a hairdressing apprenticeship, and before I left Woodburn, I let her experiment with hair chalk on my hair. I kind of like it purple?

Tea has been my best friend this week, calming me down and keeping me company while I watch movies and crochet. I love my Blue Willow teapot! A Christmas gift from mum, and a new obsession!

Jake took me shopping when he got here to cheer me up. I love my new outfit - perfect for uni, I think :)

This guy, the love of my life, left me here alone again this morning to go to work. It was the most amazing thing ever, just chilling out in our home this weekend. I am going to miss him this week and can't wait til he is living here properly.

What have you all been up to in the past few weeks? I've missed you all!