Today is the day. The start of our new adventure.

I’m very fortunate that Clint has come to my rescue and is able to help me get Roxy and my car back down south while Ruby and I jump on a flight. It was challenging enough driving the 10 hours up here with Roxy over three years ago so I couldn’t imagine doing it with a 6 month old baby as well!

We shall see you at the other end

Have fun!

I was thinking today about how much I have enjoyed living on the Gold Coast. I’ve been living here for over three years now and I have really made it my home. So let me share with you my ten things I will miss about the Gold Coast: 

1. How easy it is to get around. The roads are fantastic and there is rarely any congestion. Having said that, there is a lot of roadwork going on here at the moment with tram lines being put in and I am certainly not going to miss that!
2. How close we live to gorgeous beaches. Having lived in Sydney where Bondi Beach was a local for me and knowing how hard it is to get a park and then find a vacant spot on the beach, I am constantly amazed by just how bare the beaches are up here.
3. The fact that not a lot of people that live here are actually born here. It’s funny that when you talk to people, you often find out that they weren’t born on the Gold Coast. It seems to have imported its population in!
4. The warm weather. We’re really lucky to have very long warm seasons here which means winter is not such a chore!
5. That we live so close to numerous Earthborn stores. I’ve discovered this wonderful homewares store that I can’t go into without coming out with something…even if it’s just oil burner melts in a yummy frangipani scent.
6. The great selection of restaurants and cafes at our fingertips. Yes folks, living in a hot tourist destination means there are endless cafes and restaurants to feast at. We really are spoilt for choice here.
7. People’s friendly nature. Everytime I am out and about, I love the fact that people just start chatting with you. You walk by someone and they say hi. It really is a friendly place to live.
8. The views from our house. I love waking up in the morning, watching the sun rise, the hot air ballons floating by our house and the amazing view of the Gold Coast skyline right from our veranda.
9. How central we are to everything. Everything feels like it is within 10-15 minutes of us. The beach, shopping centres…it’s just a hop, skip and a jump onto the motorway and we can be anywhere in a flash. Even Brisbane is within an hours drive of us.
10. Last but not least I am going to miss family and friends that live here.

Have fun!

Yes folks, the auction has come and gone and unfortunately the house did not sell. There were only two groups at the auction and neither of them made a bid. Post auction we received an offer from one group who we counter offered. But they decided they had changed their mind altogether and were now looking to buy an investment property instead.

So here we are, still with house. We’re finding it hard to believe that a house with million dollar views can’t even be sold for half that price. Our agent is going to give it another big push this weekend with more open houses to see what additional interest we can get now that we have put an “offers over” price on it.

Unfortunately I don’t have the time to stick around and wait for the sale. My other house has become available and I have job interviews lined up and/or a business to launch so Ruby, Roxy and I are packing up and making the big move this Friday. It was a decision made only a week ago so as you can imagine it has been a hive of activity this week with packing and cleaning. I can’t believe how much stuff we have! Just when I think I am almost there, I turn a corner and there is more to be packed. Ruby is not very patient with me packing during the day so I try and do the bulk of it at night after she has gone to sleep. It’s making for very long days indeed!

Just think, this time next week we will have moved, unpacked and be settled in our new home.  

Have fun!

Of course, you guys know the story as it happened with the pregnancy updates! Lol.

Have fun!

Our agent is very positive about it all. She said there are a couple of interested parties that she has spoken. The feedback throughout the whole sale campaign has been very positive. People saying the house is gorgeous, commenting that we have put a lot of thought into the renovation. Of course we always show the home in the best light, with oil burning and relaxing mood music…we often get asked what the CD is! Our agent thinks the place is amazing and has been frustrated that we haven’t been able to get the 5 offers made so far closer to our asking price. It’s a tough market to be selling in right now.

So let’s see what the rest of this week brings. Cross the fingers there is a buyer out there on Saturday that just loves our place.

Have fun,

I guess you are wondering what’s going to happen once the house is sold this Saturday (yes, I am being positive and not thinking of anything less!). It obviously means a really big change for us all for sure. But an even bigger one for Ruby, Roxy and I.

You see, we’re relocating to Central Coast, just north of Sydney. I bought a house there many years ago and have been renting it out to family since I moved to the Gold Coast over 3 years ago. Why move back there? Well obviously as I can put a roof over our heads there. Plus I have a village of support there with my parents living within 10 minutes drive as well as my brother and his fiance close by. Then there are my friends in Sydney who are excited about us being closer so they can see us more often. The fact of the matter is that I also need to get an income coming in and the work opportunities are much better for me being closer to Sydney.

While I am looking for work, I am trying to give my new business a real good kick in the hind and try and make something of it. It would be far better for me to create a work from home opportunity so I can be with Ruby rather than spend hours a day commuting to a job.

It’s certainly a big shift and there is so much packing to be done between now and then. Most of it I have been doing during Ruby’s naps. I say naps because most of the time they are just 30 minute siestas. Occassionally I get lucky and can get a whole hour which makes me very productive indeed!

We have a big adventure a head of us. Stay tuned for the continuing stories as it all unfolds.

Have fun!

Who would ever have thought that we could make this amazing looking house from this:

What do you think of the transformation?

Have fun,

Our master ensuite that was a finalist in the Highgrove Bathrooms “Bathroom of the Year 2012 Competition”:

The front of the house minus the finished glass balustrading:

The greenbelt behind us that makes our yard look like it goes on forever:

The guest bedroom:

The kitchen and dining area:

The living area:

The main bathroom:

The master bedroom:

The office:

Ruby’s Room:

The old back deck before we put the new decking boards and glass balustrading on it:

The rear of the house:

That million dollar view:

So if you are looking to buy an amazing house on the Gold Coast then you have just found it

Have fun,

Yes folks, it’s been like a bad version of “Where’s Wally”. I’m embarrassed to say that we’ve been very neglectful of this blog of late. There are reasons for it though.

Unfortunately Clint and I have hit a snag in the road of our relationship and have decided to part ways. It does unfortunately mean selling the house we have been putting so much work into…however it is very fortunate for the future owner that we have done such a great job on it. Clint has been finishing off a few last things like putting glass on both front and back decks, some last bits of painting…you know, all those loose ends. The pics the real estate took look amazing. I’ll share them in a post later this week. We’ve had several offers on the house in the lead up to the auction this coming Saturday. The agent has said it’s a very unique property with nothing really to compare it to in the area. And with those amazing views, it really wows people. Let’s hope it wows someone enough to dig deep and buy it at the auction.

In other news, Ruby is growing up very fast indeed….can you believe she is 6 months old!?!? It feels like only yesterday that I was getting frustrated because she was over baked in my oven. She’s just the dearest little girl, always happy. She cut her first two teeth yesterday – two bottom ones. Ahh what a proud moment! She is also becoming somewhat mobile which is freaking me out a bit. I usually pop her on my bed on her back while I go to the loo and earlier this week when I did just that, she decided to caterpillar herself across the bed and I caught her by the ankles just as she had her head over the egde. OMG, how on earth will I go to the loo in the future?!?

Have fun!

Yes, ODD is the nickname I gave our blog…although I hope the nickname isn’t a reflection of the type of people we are!

It’s hard to believe that March is already here – where is this year going? Anyone else feel like the year is just flying by? Life is just so fast for us these days, maybe because Ruby is in our life but we just seem to be busy all the time with a zillion things going on. To make matters worse, I’ve been out of PC action for almost a week in late February which has backlogged my work but it is fixed now and I am back…with avengence!

Clint has been busy with his business and exploring new opportunities in refurbing properties for clients. It’s really an extension of what we have been doing on our house and now offering other peeps the opportunity to have a home makeover without having to do the labour themselves. Plus they get to leverage the great deals we are able to get from our suppliers.

Speaking of suppliers, I am very excited to launch my new business this week. It’s also in the renovation space. I won’t say too much more about it in this post as I want to devote a whole post to sharing it with you later this week.

Because we have been so busy, I am behind in posting about this season’s room reveals on The Block. Do not fear, I am opinionated as always (not that it matters to anyone!) and will be posting my thoughts very soon. Watch this space!

Have fun!