All about Heather…
Age: 27 Lives: Wodonga, Vic Marital Status: Live with my boyfriend Children: Someday… hopefully in the next few years |
I’ve been living with my boyfriend, Richard, for 4 years now. We are currently renting but have been saving for a house for a couple of years. Hopefully in the next twelve months we will be able to buy a place and start thinking about having kids. We’ll definitely settle in Wodonga. It’s beautiful, has everything we need and our families are here.
We both grew up in the area, but didn’t meet until 5 years ago. That’s a bit unusual considering we usually suffer from small town syndrome and know too much about everyone else! I guess it’s because Richard’s parents have a property in the Indigo Valley, while I grew up in town.
There have been so many changes since I was a kid. The Street Life Small Industry Support Program has done a lot to encourage businesses in the Wodonga CBD. Thank goodness the shopping has improved and you can get a good coffee these days! I love to treat myself to a cappuccino.
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Richard and I love going out for breakfast on the weekend, too. We take Frank (our dog) and sit out in the sunshine, and devour the paper.
This is my favourite café. We go there almost every weekend.
During the week, I love to catch up with my girlfriends but now we’re all working and have partners it’s so much harder. I’d be lost without my mobile, it’s become such a lifeline for keeping in touch with everyone. Even if it’s just a quick text to say hi.
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Pets… Frank, who is my substitute child. We just adore him!
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My Job…
I am a midwife with the Wodonga Regional Health Service (http://www.wrhs.org.au/services/obstetrics/20021030971.htm). I absolutely love my work. It can be exhausting, but I get a lot of satisfaction from it . It’s also a perfect career for balancing work and family later on. The hours can be pretty flexible, so I will be able to go back to work part-time and still be there for the kids (when they’re school age—I would like to take a couple of years off while they’re really young)
The other thing I enjoy about work is that I get to travel around the region. It’s really beautiful around here and I love driving along looking at the scenery and bopping along to all the CDs that Richard won’t let me play at home. Last year I bought myself a gorgeous new Honda Civic. I love it. It’s so fuel efficient, much better than Richard’s old falcon that I was driving before. |
Interests… I work shifts during the week, so Richard and I tend to pass like ships in the night. As a result, weekends are spent hanging out together and catching up with our family and friends.
I have two sisters who both have kids, so I also spend a lot of time with them. I have three nieces and a nephew, and I love playing indulgent Aunty. I bought play dough cutters for the kids today. Taking the kids to the park or the cinema is a real joy. I’m really keen to organize a family trip to the beach sometime soon. I remember how much I loved those trips to the beach when I was a kid.
Since Richard and I both grew up in the area, we have lots of friends that we’ve know since school. We tend to catch up more for BBQ’s and dinner parties these days, rather than just going to the pub all the time. Although we often still end up there afterwards! In summer it’s picnics and waterskiing on the lake, that generally ends up with everyone gravitating to the pub later too.
Richard plays soccer with the Albury-Wodonga Strikers, so I go and watch him on a Saturday afternoon. This year I have become involved with the football clubs’ social committee. A lot of the players’ partners are on it. We run the canteen and organize all the social events like the end of season presentation night.
At the moment I am trying to get fit too. I play netball once a week with friends, and on nights I’m not working I try to go to the gym. I have just joined the gym at the local SS&A Club. http://www.ssaclub.com.au/ The facilities there are amazing. There are tennis, squash and volleyball courts, a gym and a sauna. It’s brilliant. Membership also allows us to use the pool and billiards room, so Richard and I often pop down there for a reasonable meal, couple of drinks and a game of pool. |
My sister Ruth |
Smile for Auntie Heather! |
My TV Shows… Because I work shifts I don’t get to watch everything ‘live’ but I get Richard to record my favourite shows. I watch a lot of TV, probably more than I should. I love escaping with it. I like to just sit down and relax with it after work—no matter what time I get home. We have just recently bought a DVD recorder, which is brilliant! My favourite shows are: Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, CSI, Law & Order: SVU, All Saints, McLeod’s Daughters and Cold Case. It’s sad but true that I am still addicted to both Home and Away and Neighbours, too. I thought I would grow out of them, but they both keep hooking me back in. |
My Music… I love easy listening music – MoS Chillout albums, Belle & Sebastian, Bernard Fanning, The Fray, Katie Melua, Tristan Prettyman, Augie March & Something About Kate.
I like to listen to the radio in the car, it’s probably the best source of information about what’s going on in the area, for events and things like that. Going from work to home isn’t a very long trip though and when I am traveling for greater lengths of time around the district reception can be patchy so I tend to just stick with CDs. Richard has an iPod, but I don’t need one now I have a CD player in the car.
My Reading… I flick through the local paper in the tearoom at work, and we always buy the weekend paper to take along to breakfast with us. I like magazines too. I used to read every little detail but now I only have time to have a quick flick through them. Plus, I’m more likely to buy food magazines these days and that’s mainly just for the recipes. I’ve developed an interest in cooking since I started living with Richard and I try to experiment on friends when I can. |
My Movies... I am a big movie fan. I have a huge collection of DVDs. Everything from Sex and the City on DVD to Breakfast at Tiffany’s. There are still some 80s & 90s classic films which haven’t been released on DVD yet, but they’re gradually all coming out now. No doubt I will end up buying them all! At the cinema, I like Romantic comedies. |
This is my friend Tracie, with a little girl we helped to deliver recently |
Little Greg wants to be a fireman |
My sister Kirsten |
Richard and I |
These ones were on our recent holiday to Sydney |
Lately, I have been buying a lot of house knick knacks. If I go into a homewares shop, I usually come out with a plant or a bathmat or something. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m far more likely to by that sort of stuff now than clothes. I do still like to spoil myself with nice hair products and perfume though.
We have started looking at house and land packages in the area. I really enjoy visiting display homes to get ideas about what sort of kitchens or furniture we’ll get but there is so much choice it is hard to decide. There are so many great local builders around. We would definitely try to use someone from the community if we can. The Alatos Brothers have a great reputation, and Rory Nelson who owns Nelson Homes is also a great guy. Otherwise, Metricon Homes have an amazing range we just love.
The two Metricon Homes we love! I think I have dragged poor Rich around to all their display villages in Victoria!!
If we don’t end up going with a house and land package, then I would like a little cottage like the one below . I love that look. We might buy a really old one and transport it to a block so we can do it up. I would be quite happy to renovate.
Richard is pretty handy, and I’d love to go through the process of decorating something to my taste: Choosing all the fittings, the tiles and the paint. Obviously, we will have to budget better than we do now. I might have to cut down on the morning coffees and shopping, but hey we all have to make sacrifices!
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Cyril the Civic |
