The Book of Me, Written by You: Week 5

This is my response to Week 5’s prompt ‘Your Childhood Home.’ More details about the prompt can be found on Julie’s blog here.

In my 23 years of existence so far, I have lived in not one, not two, but six houses.

House 1: 1990 – 1991
House 2: 1991 – 1992
House 1 (again): 1992 – 1993
House 3: 1993 – 2007
House 4: 2007 – 2010
House 5: 2010
House 6: 2010 – current.

All houses were in Brisbane, Australia, except for House 2, when we lived in Virginia, USA. The houses I have lived in in Brisbane have even been in the same suburb! Yep, you read correctly. Except for living in the USA, I have lived in the same suburb my entire life! We refer to House 1 as the Yellow House, because it was yellow. I have no memory of living there though, or the house in the USA.

This is a photo of the yellow house, which I have cropped from Google Maps Street View.

House 1: The Yellow House. Source: Google Maps.

 House 3 was definitely my childhood home, and I lived there for my entire schooling life. It was a 2 & a half story house. The bottom level was the rumpus room. This had 2 guest bedrooms, and a general entertaining area. The only guests we ever really had were my grandparents from both sides, and family friends from overseas. I do remember having sleepovers with my friends down there though. Other than that, I don’t remember it being used much, and it did get quite dirty. It had this weird linoleum floor too. The rumpus room also led outside to our pool. Gosh, that pool brings back so many memories. I really miss having a pool because it can get so hot in summer here.

The middle floor consisted of the kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry, and also led onto a small balcony. The kitchen and living room had white walls, but the bench tops and cupboards were brown. I remember a lot of brown, white & this patterned floor below. My mum absolutely hated it.

Actually, now that I think about it, my mum described the brown as ‘mission brown’ which was apparently quite popular in the 70’s & 80’s. In the living room, there was a long wall which had doors that led out onto the balcony. This wall also had black louvers along the bottom. When I was young, I was sitting at a table next to the wall; I fell off the chair and hit my head on the edge of the louvers. I don’t really remember it. I think I went to hospital, but I’m not sure. I do remember wearing something on my head for a couple of day’s though maybe?

Here’s a photo of me in the living room when I was little.

Me. Approx 1994/1995.

The top floor, the half level, had the lounge room, study, entry way, and three bedrooms – parents, brother’s and mine. The lounge room had white woolly carpet, a very high ceiling, and lights that seemed like the size of planets when I was young. We didn’t really use this room except for special occasions such as Christmas. The study & my brother’s room had white carpet. I’m not too sure what the carpet in my parents’ bedroom was but I think it was a mixture of white and brown.

What color carpet did I have in my room? GREEN. GREEN GREEN GREEN. You know, the colour of grass. I loved my room, and I went through many phases with different posters and whatnot.

When I was 3 or 4, I was still wearing nappies sometimes for reasons I don’t remember. What I do remember though, is mum opening the closet and pulling the nappy out. I was all ready to plonk my naked butt down on that nappy when mum folded it out…there was a giant Daddy Long Legs spider just chillin’ in the nappy. Thankfully I did not plonk my naked butt down on the spider. That would have been fun.

I would post photos of the house, but I don’t have any on my computer. They’re all in boxes with the rest of mums photos.

Towards the end of 2005, our house was starting to get quite old, and the balcony was not safe anymore. My parents began consulting with builders because they wanted to demolish & have a new house built. At the end of 2007, on my second last day of high school, we moved to our first rental house (House 4) which was on the other side of the suburb. Our house was demolished at the end of 2007, or early 2008. I don’t remember exactly. At the beginning of 2010, we moved to our second rental property, House 5, which was on the same road as House 4, just further up. Construction of our house began sometime in 2009, and was finished at the end of 2010. Here’s a picture of it during the construction process.

Construction of House 6

Our original house was situated on two blocks of land. When we rebuilt, we built on one side, and sold the land on the other. At the end of 2010, our house was finally finished, and we moved in. So yes, House 6 is where House 3 was.

I still live at home with my parents. Most kids in Australia don’t usually move out until they have finished Uni, or close to it. I’d like to move out next year or in 2015 at the latest, but we’ll see what happens.

To finish, I’d like to leave you with the image of our house on Google Maps Street View. When did Google Maps decide to take this photo? Not before our house was demolished, not after our house was finished being built, but at the beginning of the building process. I think Google might need to do some updating…

My house according to Google Maps.

The Book of Me, Written by You: Week 4

This is my response to Week 4’s prompt ‘Favorite Season’. More details about the prompt & the 15 month challenge can be found from the creator Julie here.

For a long time my favorite season was Spring. This was due to the fact that my birthday is in Spring. Yep, I’m a Spring baby. Oh, and just so you know, my birthday is less than 2 months away. If anyone’s a bit confused reading this, Australia’s seasons are opposite to the USA & England. It’s Autumn there right now, Spring here.

I hate hot weather, and recently, Spring has become quite hot. The past few days in Brisbane have been very hot. Yesterday (Thursday) was 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 F)!! Hotter than usual for September I think. Do you know how annoying it is when it’s already 26 degrees & you need to have a coffee & you’re already sweating like hell from walking to the bus stop and it’s not even 9am yet? And don’t even get me started on straightening my hair in hot weather. Well, this is turning into all the reasons I don’t like hot weather. Oops.

Winter has been my favorite season for a couple of years now. Give me cold weather, a hot chocolate, hoodie, jeans and a scarf any day. I love cold weather. I feel happier in winter too. One thing I don’t like about winter in Brisbane though is that it does not snow. I have seen snow twice in my life – when I was a baby in Virginia, which I have no memory of, and Christmas 2010 in Texas. That’s my happy memory which I associate with winter. Christmas 2010 was the first time I really saw snow. I was at my cousin’s house. She was in her early 30’s and I was 20. I was so excited. She was excited for me. I was asking her silly questions like ‘what is sleet?’ I made my first snow angel with her. I made my first snow man with her. Oh gosh, it was amazing. Here’s a photo of us below.

Caitie & her cousin Kristie in the snow, January 2011, Texas.

My snow angel.

Snow angel!

Playing in the park with my brother & cousins.

Snow at the park.

There’s another reason I love winter. Scarves. I am obsessed with them. I’m always buying them, even in summer! I hate not being able to wear scarves in summer. I mean, I totally would if it didn’t get so hot! You’re probably wondering how many scarves I own (if you weren’t, you are now!). I counted 24. And I want more.

Scarf collection, September 2013.

The Book of Me, Written by You: Week 3

This is my response to Week 3’s prompt ‘Describe Your Physical Self’. More details about the prompt & the 15 month challenge can be found from the creator Julie here.

“Describe your physical self.” Well, where do I start?

According to my Drivers License, I’m 164cm tall. That’s about 5’5”. I’m taller than my Mum, but shorter than my Dad & younger brother. My weight has been a bit of an issue for me. I’m not at all skinny. I was skinny when I was a kid, and I had dance classes every week. Since I finished high school & stopped dancing, I’ve put a bit of weight on. I wouldn’t mind losing a few kilos, but I’m happy with my weight & body.

My natural hair colour is a blondish brown. Sometimes it gets long enough that it reaches my bra strap. Right now it’s halfway between my neck & bra strap. Currently my hair colour is light brown with blonde highlights. It’s been blonde & dark brown in the past. My eyes are brown too. I often get compliments on my eyes, which makes me quite happy. What else do I see when I look in the mirror? No make up. I rarely wear make up. I had to wear it for dance concerts & special occasions, but otherwise, I don’t wear it. I’ve never really liked it I guess. Only recently have I started using blush & mascara voluntarily.

I don’t have any scars…that I know of. Haha. I do have a birth mark though. It’s right on the edge of my belly button, and about one centimetre long. In regards to piercings and tattoos, I only have my ears pierced. I got my ears pierced quite late in life compared to most – I was 18. I don’t have any tattoos, although I would like one.

I’m always wearing jewellery. I have a watch on my right wrist as I’m left handed. I wear a ring on each of my middle fingers. They’re usually ones that my boyfriend has given me. I do change it up a bit every now and then though.

Wanna know something else about my hands? I’m double jointed and damn proud of it! It’s not something I can stop. It’s just the way I am, & I love it.

Here’s a picture of my left hand as normal & with my double jointed-ness.

'Normal'

Double jointed!

It either freaks people out or they find it wickedly cool. Another thing that goes with my double jointed-ness, is that I can bend by knees backwards weirdly. Kind of like a reflex angle, but that’s another picture for another day. So for now, I will end this with my fingerprints, which I did using light purple stamp ink.

Fingerprints

The Book of Me, Written by You: Week 2

It’s a tad bit late, but here’s Week 2 of The Book of Me, Written by You.
This weeks prompt was ‘Your Birth.’ You can find more details about this weeks prompt & the 15 month challenge from the creator Julie here.

I am my parents’ first child. I was the first grandchild for my paternal grandparents, but the fourth for my maternal grandparents. My due date was sometime in early December, however, my mum was having issues with high blood pressure. So, in November, the doctor decided it was time for me make an entrance. My entrance into the world occurred in Brisbane, Queensland. I was born 2 weeks early via a caesarean on Friday, the 23^rd of November, 1990, around 3pm. I was a tiny baby, weighing only 5 pounds & 1 or 2 ounces. When I went home, I was just under 4 pounds. A week later, I was 6 pounds. My Dad fondly & often remembers that I fit nicely on his forearm. I had a little hair when I was born, but I’m actually not sure what my eye colour was. My eyes are brown, so I’ve always assumed they were brown when I was born.

I have plenty of photos of me as a baby! I think my parents went a bit crazy with the camera, but hey, I was their first child. Sorry bro! Haha.

This is one of my favourite photos of me as a baby.

Watching State of Origin with Dad, 1991, Brisbane.

I’m watching my first State of Origin game with my Dad in 1991. For those of you that don’t know what State of Origin is, it’s an epic three Rugby League games between Queensland & New South Wales. Whoever wins at least 2 out of 3 wins State of Origin for the year. Currently, Queensland has won 8 years in a row. My Dad is from Sydney so he barracks for New South Wales, and that’s what he’s taught my brother & I to do. New South Wales are known as the Blues, hence the blue suit I’m wearing.

In late 1991/early 1992 we moved to Virginia, USA for about a year. I had always thought that I learned to walk in Brisbane or Sydney. Wrong. I learned to walk in Virginia! I’m half American, so part of me feels quite proud that I took my first steps on US ground. Well, it was probably carpet. This carpet below in fact. Here I am playing with my Mum’s makeup.

Virginia, USA 1991/1992

I’m not a twin, but sometimes I wished I had a twin when I was little. I do have a younger brother though. He was born 3 years & 6 weeks later in January 1994. When he was born, I had recently turned 3. My Dad took me to the hospital to see Mum & my new baby brother. After a few hours, it was time for Dad & I to go home. Mum and bro had to stay in hospital for a couple more days. I was NOT happy about this! I threw quite a tantrum, stating that “I want to take my baby brudder home!” (My th’s were d’s then). I cried & cried all while Dad carried me through the hospital, to the car, and all the way home.

Well, I wasn’t expecting this to be so long, and it’s not entirely all about my birth. Ah well :)

Acrobatics with my brother.

The Book of Me, Written By You: Week 1

I have decided to participate in the new blogging prompt ‘The Book of Me, Written by You’ which was created by Julie Goucher from Anglers Rest. Over the next 15 months weekly prompts will also be delivered by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers. If I feel it is to private, I won’t post it here, but we’ll see :)

Prompt 1: Who are you?

Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?” Each time you should give yourself a different answer. – Geneabloggers.

1. Daughter

2. Sister

Caitie & her baby brother, 1994/1995.

3. Girlfriend

4. Best friend

5. Niece

6. Granddaughter

Caitie & her Nanna, 1994.

7. Australian

8. Criminology Student

9. A God Mother

Caitie & her God Daughter Amelia, 2013

10. A young Genealogist

11. A math tutor

12. An introvert

13. An avid book reader

14. Half Texan

Flying over Mexico en route to Texas, 2012

15. Road trip & plane travelling lover.

16. White chocolate girl.

17. Coffee addict

18. Music fan

19. Soccer fan.

20. A dreamer.

21. Happy.