In mid-December David and I returned to his hometown to attend his PhD graduation and look at potential wedding venues. David pulled off the PhD floppy hat quite nicely during the graduation, and gave an excellent vote of thanks on behalf of the graduates. The nicest surprise though was seeing my friend Lisa whose husband Ben graduated at the same ceremony.
After looking at multiple venues, we chose one that felt the most like us. With views of Bathurst, a relaxed country feel and gorgeous vineyards we are really happy with our choice. Best of all, we now have an official wedding date! Here's a sneak peek of our venue:
Then there was Christmas. We spent time visiting all our family, eating too much and being tourists. It was brilliant. The week off is never long enough.
In late December (just before Xmas) we put an offer on a house and it has recently been accepted. Looks like we will soon be homeowners! It is a four bedroom home, with a small yard and double garage. It is right beside a nature reserve and a pond so it is in a nice location. It's only 2 years old, so we don't have to do any work on it. Most exciting of all though, it is well insulated, energy efficent and has air-conditioning. The heatwave is currently horrendous at the place we are renting with thinly insulated walls and no air-conditioning, so my (soon-to-be) new home sounds wonderful. Pity we probably won't get to move in until the end of summer.
My free time lately has been spent sitting directly in front of the fan, watering my distressed plants or jumping in the pool. Despite being from a hot environment originally, I can't stand the heat.
When you don't have air-con this is your best friend
In short:
wedding venue - check
wedding date - check
buying a house - check (or at least it is more underway than it was)
engagement party - nearly sorted
Don't try this at home though kids. There's a lot to be said for working on one thing at a time.
