January.

January started off on such a high, with my visa being approved and Robbie being invited to interview to become a firefighter. Now last year I was pretty absent on this little corner of the internet so unless you know me personally you won't know how much we've been through with the visa application process, but after waiting a long 15 months I am so excited and relieved to say that I can stay in Australia.

Now the firefighter interview is something which means so much to Robbie, he's always dreamed of one day becoming a firefighter but has never applied. He applied last year (after much encouragement from me) and the application process involves numerous online tests then a physical, all of which he did fantastic in but unfortunately he wasn't selected for interview after the recruitment drive. He was absolutely devastated as he felt he had done so well, but 10,000 people applied for only 90 jobs so it was pretty difficult to make the cut. Much to his surprise a few weeks ago he received an email asking him to interview at the beginning of February! So now the preparations are well underway, this will be his first ever interview and I really hope he gets the job as I know it will make him really happy. I feel unbelievable proud that he's gotten this far and I'll probably be more nervous than him come interview day.

This year we really want to travel Australia as much as possible, but so far life has gotten in the way, as it often does. We can't plan any trips because depending on whether Robbie gets the job as a firefighter or not he may have to go straight into training, so we don't want to book anything and then have to cancel. I hate not having trips booked as I work really hard and need to have things to look forward to, so I keep finding myself browsing travel sites as I'm itching to getaway with Robbie and Ozzy and see some of Australia's beautiful sights.

As the month has gone on we've had a few frustrating things, mainly with the real estate putting up our rent and us feeling so helpless with regards to rent increases when property prices are rising out of control where we live. We absolutely love where we live and we really don't want to move, but we are also unfortunately aware that it is highly unlikely we will ever be able to afford to buy here, so renting is the only option for us in the foreseeable future. So I guess it is what it is. We've accepted it now but it made for a stressful couple of days.

Towards the end of the month I've been working like a crazy lady. I love working and I really enjoy being busy but sometimes my work/life balance is slightly questionable. I have rewarded myself for reaching my saving targets by doing a spot of online sale shopping, I have bought a bag I've had my eye on for months as well as a few other things. I will do a post very soon to share my new purchases, I don't shop very often so I can't wait for them to arrive!

I have some wedding and style posts planned to come soon, lets see if I can keep this blogging ball rolling this year.