Long Time No Speak

Wow! I hadn't realised it had been as long as it has since my last post. How can I possibly condense three months into a readable post without boring anyone? My apologies that you will miss out on much from the last few months, but hopefully I can at least mention those things that are important and interesting.

UPDATES:

Exercise 

Boxing routine

I was .1kg off from reaching my goal of 2kg of muscle mass gained from my 6 week program. The deposit was then put towards a 10 week membership (of which I have used little). Ultimately, I feel stronger and energised! I love exercising again! The only thing I still don't like is the time commitment. I found it way easier to work out at home so I have tried harder to do that every day. Matt and I even did boxing together one night and had a blast.

Psychologist
I stopped seeing my psychologist. She was helping but I had received a prompting that some of my issues were more biological. I started taking my supplements for pyrolluria and was a little better. Then I remembered a guy who has an orthomolecular clinic. We contacted him and it just so happens he was on his way to get a fancy bioresonance machine and told us to contact him in September when he received it. The appointment blew my mind!!

Here's a succinct description. The machine sends a frequency out to midpoints in the body and the body send a response back. It is almost like echo location. The machine then compares this information to what is considered ideal and rates the cells on a scale from well to unwell basically. When it finds issues it goes deeper and for one tricky portion of my duodendum it went all the way into the makeup of my dna for the cell and found an issue. It can find and identify bacteria, viruses, fungi, cancerous cells, mood problems, blood flow issues, etc... Aside from the diagnosis it can then do various treatments where the machine will replicate the exact frequency of an herb or crystal for example and you can watch as the response in the cells can change from unwell to semi well or the like. It was AMAZING! There is so much I could say about this, but that is sufficient. If you want to learn more you will have to contact me. We learned I have an issue in my ovary and that untreated it would like turn in to ovarian cancer. He did Matt as well and our first step for treatment is a natural antibiotic to remove the bacteria that is causing harm. We haven't taken it long, but watch this space for updates!

VIPKids
I'm still doing online teaching and went from just a few classes a week to 20+! Now that the Chinese students are off their holidays they are filling up my slots from 8:30pm to 10:30 most of the time. Doing four classes at night is a lot, but when I see the earnings I feel it is worth it. If Matt isn't home from work to take Sakura I just work to put her to bed in time so I can start my classes. I miss doing fun things at night, but this is a sacrifice to help me pay off my student debt. Mostly it just sucks because some days I don't even see or talk to Matt.

AirBnB
We still get bookings on a semi-regular basis and have had some really great experiences. Our last long stay was an amazing Irish couple and we loved getting to know all about Ireland. According to them, avoid Dublin and spend your holiday on the west side of Ireland where it is more beautiful.

Garage

During...

Hooray our garage white ant damage has FINALLY been repaired, plastered, and painted. They moved our shelves back but we now need to reorganise. I'm so excited because now that it is starting to get hot, hopefully I can park in the garage and won't have to put Sakura in a sauna when I go out. You can't tell by the pictures how much better it is, but there's a lot more space now.

After

Finances
I have finally sorted out our finances with the help of Essential Spending Planner. My review is on her facebook page so I will not cover all the details. I will say I felt strongly Sherri and her business was going to help me so I finally contacted her at a point where I was basically using spending as my coping mechanism. Through her help I finally had the knowledge, motivation, and strength to change my mindset about money. If you ever catch yourself saying "I deserve something nice" just STOP! I now make a plan for spending on the things I want and don't have to worry I will be taking money from something else to do so. The spending plan software has its pros and cons, but it is better than my attempts of doing the same forecasting type of thing in a spreadsheet. I still have lots of finetuning, but we are doing way better financially not just personally, but with the business as well. Sherri can give an intro and do a skype session with anyone if you are interested in learning more. I only wish I had done something sooner because I think we would have paid off my debts a lot quicker.

In case you are wondering if this is accurate and current... it is not.

What else? 
We still try to dedicate Saturday night's for games nights. Sometimes I have to cancel, but we have had lots of fun. I'm hoping people will continue to come! I'm also starting up a once a month craft group so we will see how that goes. Next week is the first meet up.

As if my life wasn't busy enough, I added more to my plate. I spent weeks doing research, updating my CV, and speaking to professional psychologists so that I could apply to the University of Queensland Psychology Honours Program. Hopefully I will hear about the results soon. I just learned I missed the deadline for one of my backup Universities.

Also I started to volunteer with the Red Cross where I call a participant once a week for about half an hour. My participant is a lovely older woman with a lot of mental health issues and many people constantly tell her she just overthinks things. Having suffered from anxiety and depression we get along just fine. It makes me feel good that I can help her talk to someone who truly understands what is like to get anxious over something that seems silly to everyone else.

Another big update is that we have been released from our calling in Nursery. I will be perfectly honest and am not afraid for others to know... I asked to be released. I loved the kids with all my heart, but I still couldn't find joy in the calling. I dreaded going and when I was really sick, then Sakura, then Matt it was a pain to constantly find subtitutes for us. It was getting to the point where I struggled attending church in general. I still miss the kids, but it is a relief to not have that responsibility. I find being around toddlers to be rewarding but draining. Thank goodness I have not chosen to work in childcare! I still have to remind myself I am not a failure for asking to be released. In the end I knew for their sake and my own it would be better to let the bishop know I was struggling. My plate is pretty full already - especially since Matt has been working 80 hour weeks for months so I'm not sure what calling I will get next. We will just have to wait and see.

Sakura's a Chatterbox
Over the last months Sakura has blossomed in terms of language development. She talks all the time and usually with intelligible words you can understand. She also speaks in full sentences often like "Where is Shade" or "Where'd it go." Her favourite book is called "Oh Dear" and to our suprise one night she could basically read it herself. She also loves counting and can easily count to 10 and she recognises what the numbers look like. I heard her doing the ABC's in the car the other day as well. Instead of just dancing to nursery rhymes she also will sing sometimes and will do all the words to Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes. It is so amazing to watch her grow! She's constantly saying words we didn't know she knew and her comprehension is really good. Toddler tantrums still happen often and teething is a constant issue, but for the most part we love being around her and the joy she brings to our lives. I'm already planning her 2 year Halloween Birthday Party!

Sakura's Playdates

Sakura and her playdate Cristiano meet twice a week and the bond between them is so fun to watch. The last few times Sakura cries when I take her home because she doesn't want to leave her friend. Here are some highlights of their times together:

 Other Stuff

Cooking!
I had to add a not regarding my cooking endeavours. I've had lots of success making healthy and natural meals. From making homemade applesauce, gluten and dairy free empanadas, risotto, cinnamon rolls, and more. The biggest hit this month was the pecan caramel cheesecake bars. Matt said it was the best thing I had ever made! When you remember that Matt is not a great compliment giver - that makes his statement HUGE! Basically they tasted like caramel cookie dough ice cream bars. Super yummy. I also perfected the homemade coconut yoghurt so it now has the perfect yoghurt texture. Also, now that I know homemade applesauce (no sweetener added btw) can be so easy and amazing in a pressure cooker - we will be making that often! My favourite recipe this month though was the Almond Butter Chicken Salad. This was an amazing dish that tasted like it would have come from a thai restaurant and was super healthy and yummy!

Homemade applesauce

Bacon burgers with gluten free buns

Roast chicken and vegetables

Veggie fritters (before)

Veggie fritters (after)

Pecan Caramel Cheesecake Bars

Family Photos! 
Sakura's childcare was offering a family portrait session with a professional photographer. We just wanted the free big photo. So we went and tried to coordinate outfits. The guy from Natural Light Portraits was AMAZING! He got spectacular smiles out of Sakura in every photo. It was only 10-15 minutes but we knew at least a few would be good. When I showed up to look at the prints ALL of them were amazing! He was also cheaper than some of the places I've seen advertising so we bought the whole package. I do not regret it at all. I am so happy with them I think we may get family photos from them in the future.

Sewing
I haven't done too much sewing, but Brianna and I started on our shift dresses and have only done the first steps so nothing to show for it. I did however hem one of our guests jean shorts and taught his partner how to sew in the process. We then later went to Costco so she could buy her own machine! I'm excited to see what she creates in the future. I also finished our hall tapestry divider although I stayed up past midnight doing it one night. It was so satisfying to finally finish it! Sakura has enjoyed playing with it and it definitely does help divide the space like we wanted.

Not so great stuff...
Not everything was amazing the last couple of months. We had an electric bill that was 5 times our normal size. We decided it was due to a faulty heater we had in Sakura's room and got rid of it. Since it was the end of winter we managed to get a super fancy wall heater for only $25 to replace it. That heater I can even control by an app so I can turn it on and off as needed without going into the room. Woohoo.

Also, one day I was about to take Sakura to visit her friend Cristiano and my car wouldn't start. His mom came and picked Sakura up for me and I had to get my car towed to the mechanic. $1400 later the car was fixed up. Unfortunately the car was dead again yesterday and we jump started it to get it going. As it has a new battery I'm not sure what is wrong.


Another time I was about to take the two kids to a playcentre only to discover I had misplaced my keys. I searched EVERYWHERE. I was getting so frustrated and stressed about it. I prayed and felt they were somewhere close and I would find them eventually. In the afternoon I went to a doctor appointment and on my way walking back with Sakura I noticed my keys sitting on top of the car! They had been missing from 9am to about 4pm! Geez.

8 Year Anniversary with fruit and chocolate

Matt and I also had our ups and downs because we haven't been able to talk much with me working at night and him working 80 hour weeks. This is just disaster waiting to happen due to miscommunication. We worked through it, but what we both need is TIME! Important discussions or decisions really need time to be worked through and not get snippets here and there in between watching the kids or getting ready for bed. Marriage is so much harder than you think when you are single. I still love him and we had a good 8 year anniversary this month, but there are days.... :)

Then there was also a day I got a call from my bank about a suspicious $23 transaction. I looked up my bank transactions to find that someone had my card details and had spent over $2400 that day. Luckily we sorted it out fast enough and I was able to get all of that money returned within a day or two. The worst part is I'm still not sure how my card details were obtained. Bad things just happen so you can't always prevent them.

FUN EVENTS

Ekka!
Matt had to work so since I had already gotten a ticket for him I asked Brianna to go with me to the Ekka show in Brisbane. We had a great time! Going to those things with Sakura just makes it so much more fun. We got there really late in the afternoon so didn't have time to explore much, but at least we stayed for the whole night show and fireworks.

 

University of Queensland Open Day
Matt and I went to the University of Queensland so I could get some questions answered about the psychology program. Can't say the trip was super helpful other than I was told once again how competitive the program is. Nevertheless I felt confident that they had the program I was looking for. I need a professional doctorate in clinical psychology. Sakura had lots of fun and even had a little dip in the pond with Matt so it was a fun family day in the end.

Ariala's 
Matt and I had planned to go to another all you can eat place called Ariala's, but then he decided he couldn't afford to have any gluten at all. So I made it a ladies night and invited anyone that wanted to come! We had a group of seven in the end. The food was great, but my favourite part was actually seeing some ladies I had not really talked to much before and getting to know them a little more. I also decided restaurants should invest more in round tables so that no one is ever on the very edge and left out of conversations.

Comic Con
We went to the comic con four our anniversary and used last year's halloween costumes. Thank goodness Sakura could still fit into her pikachu costume. She was so adorable some people just wanted a picture of her. Others knew we were Ash and Serena and wanted the whole family. It was fun, but underwhelming as I expected it to be a much larger affair. The best part was actually the sewing patterns of costumes I got that were on sale for $5 each! Dressing up was fun too.

It was also fun to see Jennis and her family there!

Farewell Katie
One of the youth I taught in Parramatta is leaving to serve her mission in Canada. I am so excited for her. Her family lives in Coomera so we left after church to go see her. When we arrived we had to pee and when we discovered the local servo didn't have a toilet we went to the chapel nearby. There we were surprised to see friends from Parramatta! They had moved to the Gold Coast area way before, but we lost contact. They didn't know we were in Queensland and it turns out we are on their way to family. It was crazy and amazing to run into them in that moment. They are amazing and I hope we can organise a few get togethers. Their son turns one on October 31st the day after Sakura. I told her he should come to her party and we can have two cakes or something.

After a long chat we finally made it to Katie's. We were there all day and didn't leave till night time. I love that family! We had so much fun. Sakura loved the dog, the trampoline with the dog, playing hide and seek, and playing with slime. One time during hide and seek she hid so well no one found her. She just randomly appeared in the hallway so we don't know where she actually hid herself! It was a good long day! We even got chiropractor adjustments from Elise who basically proved to me the four chiropractors I've seen earlier in my life were not good enough. She even did Sakura and we had lots of giggles in the process. I hope we can visit them more.

Not much else to report! Here are some more Sakura moments though: