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Lately people ask me ‘what’s new?’ and instead of my usual ‘same old, same old’ response, I say well, everything actually. So much has happened in the last few weeks that I thought I’d share a little general life update with various things that are going on at the moment. I didn’t realise until I started writing just how much I had to tell!
h o u s e n e w s
A few weeks ago we were full of the excitement of moving into our new apartment in Bournemouth. We had our suggested moving date booked off work and were about to exchange contracts. We’d sold our house back in October and had our offer on the apartment we were buying accepted around the same time, but our solicitors had been a bit rubbish and needed a lot of chivvying along to get us to the point of exchange. It was frustrating that it had taken four months to get to this point, but near the end of January we started to get close and we could see the light at the end of the tunnel – we signed our final contracts, got quotes from removal companies and started making arrangements to move house. We were hoping we might exchange on the final Friday in January, but our solicitors couldn’t get hold of our buyers solicitors. Then, after a few days of chasing, on the Thursday we found out that our buyers had decided to pull out. I can’t even explain how stressful this was – knowing all of our time and efforts and planning was about to be completely wasted. We had already lost a previous buyer and lost a previous flat we really wanted, and there had been several concerns regarding the lease of the apartment we were buying, and so in the end we had to walk away from the beautiful apartment we were buying in Bournemouth. Had our buyers not pulled out we undoubtedly would have moved in (and I would be writing this from the beautiful light, airy lounge, just outside of Bournemouth city centre) but instead we’ve decided to go back to the drawing board and reassess what we want, and where we want to live.
We’re now changing tack slightly and looking at Lymington instead of Bournemouth – it means my commute won’t be so long and we can look for a house rather than a flat/apartment. We’ve since sold our house again (every time we’ve put it on the market it’s sold within a day which is very gratifying!) and things are starting to feel positive again. Hopefully things will go more smoothly this time (third time lucky?) or I suspect we’ll just end up staying here!
Buying and selling can be indescribably stressful and it’s crazy to me that people can walk away right up to the moment that you’re about to move. You really can’t be sure of getting the place that you love until you have the keys in your hand, and it’s a very vulnerable feeling.
j o b n e w s
A couple of weeks ago I had two job interviews – full assessment days that included two presentations, a written assessment and a job interview for each – it was hard going! I haven’t had a job interview for about five or six years so to say I was nervous was an understatement – I spent the week and weekend before reading up on research, making notes and creating countless index cards with examples to use at interview. I could barely sleep the night before my first interview, but come the morning I drank innumerable cups of green tea, donned a suit and hoped for the best. It was a tough day but I felt positive afterwards and it left me feeling less scared for my second assessment day on the Friday. During my preparation time for delivering my second presentation on Friday the fire alarms went off and we all had to be evacuated from the building – just what you want during a job assessment day! Luckily that one seemed to go okay too, and I nervously awaited the news last Monday. I was chuffed to bits to find out on that Monday morning that I’d got the job I was really desperate for, and I can’t wait to start. We’re reorganising our whole HR department so I don’t start the job until April but I’m looking forward to doing lots of preparation and getting stuck into a new challenge. I’ll be working in Talent Management which is an exciting change for me (anyone else out there who works in Talent? Let me know!) Hopefully by April we might be a bit clearer about where we’ll end up living too!
a d v e n t u r e s
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This has been a funny old year so far so we decided we definitely needed some adventures and travels to look forward to. I’m hoping to go for an all-inclusive holiday with my friend in May but we haven’t managed to book anywhere so far – the first couple we tried kept having loads of hidden charges for baggage or transfers and we have a set budget so we’re trying to find somewhere that will be nice but still fit what we’re looking for (if you have any tips for holiday booking sites let me know!) In June Tom and I want to go to France for a couple of weeks with Bodhi. We have to get a pet passport for Bodhi but it will be amazing to take him away in the van and go on a bit of an adventure down to the south west coast. It’s Tom’s 30th birthday in June so I’d really like to get an Air BnB to stay somewhere like Biarritz or Capbreton for a couple of days and celebrate.
At the end of August we’re also going to Cancun with my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents. I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico so I could not be more excited about this! We have a ‘swim up’ room so we’ll mostly be drinking cocktails, eating Mexican food and splashing around in the pool.
There’s definitely a lot going on at the moment – but lots to look forward to! I can’t believe how much change there’s been since we got married last year, in a way it will be nice to have a bit of normality and stability soon once I’m in my new job and we’ve finally found somewhere to live!
