The Past Year (Part 1)

Wow.
I hadn't realized that I have not written a post in almost a year.
Time has flown.

Things have been...
Well, I have a story. An amazing story that I'd like to share. It is sort of long, and it might be hard for me to properly explain, but I'm going to give it a solid shot.

I have thought long and hard about where this all began, and I can not quite pinpoint the start. So let me just jump back a bit. If you need a refresher on how we ended up in Australia, check out my post here.

Did you read it?

Ready for the next part?

Here we go.

We moved to Australia fully intending on being there for two or three years, maybe even longer. We moved our furniture all the way from America, and we applied (and were accepted) for a three-year visa. 

When we first moved into the apartment, Blake was not convinced that The Bar on Flinders Street would be a good long-term living solution for our time in Melbourne. Just in case it didn't work out, we signed only a twelve-month lease. 

After six months or so in our apartment, we began to reach out to our landlord, requesting an extension on our lease. Another year, another two years... Whatever he was okay with, we were okay with. We loved The Bar. It was in an ideal location, and we were anxious to really settle in.

His response surprised us. He wanted to sell his property. He wouldn't extend our lease, and we needed to make plans to move out. We, of course, had the option of purchasing the 25th floor apartment for a mere $2,000,000AUD. 

That's right. 

Two MILLION Australian dollars.

Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. 

Blake and I were upset. The place that we were calling "home" was, in fact, not our home, and we needed to find a new one. Quickly.  

We felt exposed and vulnerable. We were both now thirty-year-olds with two small children, and we had no place in the world that we felt where we belonged. 

This was a problem. 

The solution was whispered in the back of our minds...

"You don't have a home?

Why not?

It's simple. 

Buy yourself a house where you feel most at home.

No matter where you are in the world, you can always go home."

But that doesn't even make sense! 

We live in Australia! 

We don't know what is going to happen in the next couple of years, or even now! 

But then iron ore prices fell. Oil and gas prices plummeted. 

People began to lose their jobs left and right all over the world. 

Not only were we uncertain about where we were going to live in the next few months, but Blake's job could at any time not be guaranteed for the next year, month, or even day. 

We needed a plan; we needed a foundation, a sense of security. 

Not knowing what tomorrow was going to hold, we did what that little voice was whispering...

... We bought a house.