Ask & Ye Shall Receive

Thanks to everyone who jumped in and left a question for me over the weekend - it's been great to have some food for thought while I try and arrange the other random bits of information that are spinning around my brain right now. The travel plans are pretty much all officially booked now, so I'll be sharing those details with you soon as well.

So without further ado, here's the Q&A responses; this will be broken into two posts, so it's not too heavy on the eyes.

Valerie asked: Since you're getting married, I'm sure people will be asking you this soon: Do you and your wonderful fiancé plan on having kids?

We definitely plan on it - and hopefully not too far into the future. Obviously we're not going to be actively trying until after the wedding next year, but all things going well medical-wise, I hope to fall pregnant the following year. That will give us some time to enjoy being 'us' and getting settled back in Sydney. Of course, who knows what will happen - depends on how much of a hindrance my PCOS diagnosis will be when it comes to fertility.

Britt asked: What made you guys decide to move abroad? Were your families ok with it?

We had talked about it for a while before we made the decision, for a good few years actually. We'd both travelled together to Europe back in 2004 and had fallen in love with it, and Jason's older brother had already moved here with his girlfriend at that stage. I wanted to get a few years of teaching under my belt before we could really consider it, as did the boy with his IT career - and then one day he found a job, interviewed for it, and was offered - it all happened really fast. He ended up moving over mid-year in August 2007 while I finished my teaching year out and joined him in December 2007. The rest is history! His family was very supportive, and knew it would be a good move career & finance wise. My family were supportive as well, but not as pleased when the original twelve months turned into two years, then three.. hee. They're pretty happy we're moving back home soon!

& What is your most favourite aspect of your wedding so far (besides your groom of course!)

Hee, I do rather like my groom. From the little bits I've managed to scrape together so far, I have to say my favourite thing has been how supportive everyone has been so far. My parents have been great, driving to random venues and bridal shops while I've been away, my girlfriends have tried on dresses and got excited over little things like stationery with me, and it's sweet to see the boy starting to look forward to it a little bit more since it's not quite as far away in the distance any more. (I may or may not have a countdown going.)

Britt is getting married in just over a week - squee! You should totally stop by her blog & send her some well wishes.

Mary & Britt asked: Where else do you want to live? Will you move abroad again?

To be honest, once we're based back in Sydney I don't think we will move again. I'm itching to get back home, to get back to the suburbs and to eventually own our own home. At the moment, we have our little plot of land ready to go, but we're not in the right position to build yet - so we'll get there, slowly. Plus, our stint here ended up being 3.5 years for Jason/3 years for me, and I don't see us living abroad again when we have a family. Plus, I think my mum would kill me if I left her to go overseas again!

Amanda asked: Would you like to have coffee with me?

Um, yes! Let's hurry up and organise it soon.. this year is going by way too fast.

& Have you done your US electronic travel notice thingemy? They're going to start charging, so do it while it's free.

Yes, we certainly have. I did it as soon as I found out we were definitely going home via the USA. If you follow me on twitter {@breathegently} you probably already have a brief idea on where we'll be going, because I hollered out for help & advice so many times in the past few weeks. But still.. you'll find out for yourself soon enough!

& What are you planning on doing once you get home? Going back to work? Same field/different field?

I'm not entirely sure. Logically, I feel like I should go back into teaching - maybe just as a relief teacher for a little while to get my foot back in the door again. The problem is that we will be home in December, as most schools are closing for the year - and they won't re-open until late January. I'd prefer to work almost straight away when I get home, as we'll both need income in order to find an apartment or house to rent and to pay off wedding costs & start saving for a home. If I don't teach, I don't know what I'll do; possibly look at something else within the education field, maybe recruitment - but I'm open to anything. If you know anyone with jobs going in Sydney, holler at me.

Becky asked: Have you ever been to the U.S.? Would you ever come to Washington, D.C. (hint, hint!)

Oh my lovely, I have been there before - and to Washington to boot! You can read about my epic USA adventure by clicking here. I did start recapping everything but apparently I got tired at around the Texas mid-way point of our trip. Lazy blogger! I would love to come back to D.C. at some point in the future, we had such a good time checking out the monuments & museums. Would you ever come to London/Sydney?

& Since you and J are taking such big holidays at the end of this year, are you going to take a big honeymoon or scale it back a little?

We'll definitely be scaling it back. I keep calling this trip our pre-wedding-moon, because we'll be visiting some pretty scenic and amazing places together. It just makes more sense for us to see the northern hemisphere now while we can, rather than adding on a crazy long and expensive flight back here again in the future after the wedding. We haven't decided on honeymoon locations yet, but we're thinking of somewhere closer to Australia: maybe New Zealand or the Pacific Islands. {Bora Bora, I'm looking at you. Lush!}

Kathy asked: What have been the 5 highlights of your time OS?

1. Finally moving in with Jason - our first five years together were spent living with our parents.
2. Getting to revisit some of my favourite countries on several occasions, especially France & Switzerland.
3. Oscar. He's one of the best things that could have happened to us, and we love him so.
4. Being self sufficient, saving our money {thanks to my hard-working fiancé} & getting ready to take the next step.
5. Realising how amazing Australia is. Being away from where you grew up makes you appreciate it so much more.

Nathan went crazy on Formspring & asked several questions: What is your biggest failure?

There are two things that come to mind when I think of failure. The first: health, body image and weight loss. I've always struggled to get it under control and even now, years later, my sole focus still remains on getting healthy. I hate that it's always been such a struggle and I hate that I didn't manage to have this sorted out years and years ago. The second: not being as social as I would like. But I've grown to love this - not everyone is meant to be a social butterfly, and living abroad and away from friends & family gives you a good indication of who really is a good friend. I've always said I'd be happier with just one or two really close friends than a room full of acquaintances, and I stand by that.

& What is your adult beverage of choice and which one is guaranteed to be your poison (bad experience)?

I'm not a big drinker, I never have been. If I am drinking, I'll tend to go for vodka and lemonade or vodka and diet coke - mainly because they're light in calories. The drink I've had the most, er, tipsy experiences with would have to be cider. I never drank it before I came to the UK, but since I don't like beer, I had to find something I liked that was on tap. Queue the cider. It's great, but wow, it hits me really hard.

& Body hair: Like? Dislike? On You? On Others?

This question made me laugh. I've never really had a big stance on body hair.. to each their own and all that. I'm blessed in the fair hair/pale skin department, so I've never really worried much about body hair. My mum taught me two things: don't pluck/wax your eyebrows & don't shave above your knees if you don't have to. I haven't done either of those things in my twenty-six years. Again, all praise goes to the pale genes for that. What I do dislike on me would be the chin hairs that sprouted when my PCOS problems went nuts. Those I could live without, they make me really self conscious. On others, I don't mind. Jase is really cute with a five o'clock shadow, I like guys who are fairly natural in the body hair department. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of a full blown 'stache. Unless it's like this:

There will be a few more answers coming soon - and if you haven't already left a question, feel free to add one below!