I have great pleasure in taking part in the Tots100 International Blog Swap Day 2014, and have been partnered with Alix from Melbourne, Australia. It's lovely to welcome her to My Monkeys Don't Sit Still and hear an introduction to her life across the other side of the world with her gorgeous son LJ. Welcome Alix.
Hi Guys!
My name is Alix and I am an Australian blogger from www.fabufitmum.com.au
My blog has been going since June 2013 and I blog about Fitness,
Fabulousness and Parenthood, three things which cover just about
everything I do. I am really excited for this opportunity to take part
in International Blog Swap Day... I might not be able to afford to go to
the UK right now but my blog can! Haha.
So who am I? You've probably figured out three things about me so far
1) My name is Alix
2) I like to use exclamation marks!!
1) My name is Alix
2) I like to use exclamation marks!!
3) I am one of "those" people who actually type the words "Ha-Ha"
I am 27 years old and currently live about
half an hour out of Melbourne. I grew up in the same town that I'm now
living in, my Mother was a school teacher (she is now retired) and my
Father has worked in Banking for as long as I can remember. I am the 3rd
of 4 children and the only girl. I spent a lot of my time growing up
playing with the boys and getting messy, but I always found time to play
with my dolls or my Barbies and to this day I am still a very girly
girl.
Growing
up I always wanted to be the centre of attention, I had so much
confidence that I was always putting on shows and singing and dancing
around the place. In high school I honestly thought I would grow up to
be an actor but after High school I never even tried to pursue it. I
started working for a Car Rental company soon after graduating high
school, just for something to do, I still didn't know what I wanted to
do "when I grew up" so it filled the gap just fine, I never expected
that I would get stuck working in car rentals for the next five years
though!
When
I was 20 I got the opportunity to move to Newcastle (That's about 3
hours north of Sydney and a 13 hour drive from Melbourne) and work at a
branch of the same car rental company. It ended up being the best thing I
ever did. I made friends quickly and these people are still my closest
friends (even though I don't get to see them very much anymore due to
distance) I loved my time in Newcastle, being so close to the beach was
amazing, the whole place is beautiful and I was certainly enjoying the
local nightlife. I spent two years up there and then came back to
Melbourne.
Within
a month of being back in Melbourne I was given an opportunity to work
and live in Darwin (That's riiiiiggggghhhhttttt up the top of Australia,
in the Northern Territory) for 6-8 weeks. I took it with no hestitation
and somehow that 6-8 weeks turned into 4 months. At this point I decided
to leave the car rental company and as I kind of needed money to pay
for food and rent (you know, the little things) I started working as a
bartender at a local nightclub. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I finally knew what it
was like to actually look forward to going to work. I was loving the
people I was working with, loving the town (Darwin is so gorgeous, just
don't swim in the beaches!) and loving the nightclubs and pubs. I can't
even tell you much of what I did up there because I spent most of my
nights (when I wasn't working or after my shift) drunk on a dance floor.
While I was having the time of my life, I was missing my friends in
Newcastle so much though so after 10 months living in Darwin I moved
back to Newcastle.
That's me on the right, at my favourite club "Fannys" partying in my pyjamas!
I
started a course studying Events, Food & Beverage as that was a
career that would fit perfectly into my lifestyle of partying and
sleeping and started working as a bartender at a both a Bowling Club and
a nightclub. I would spend my days either at TAFE studying or in bed
sleeping and my nights were spent drinking, dancing and chasing a
happiness I could never quite find. I was pretty much always happy in
the moment, but I was always looking for something bigger and better and
was anxious to find it. With my work/life balance figured out I thought
the next few years of my life would be spent as a blur of events,
dance floors and tequila bottles. Boy was I in for a shock.
A
throwaway line from a friend about having her "monthly visitor" made me
realise I hadn't had mine for quite some time, and without any
expectations I picked up a Pregnancy test on the way home from TAFE, to
my complete surprise it was positive. I spent the rest of that afternoon
in a state of shock (and giggles) and flew back to Melbourne to go to
my little brothers 21st party, with a big secret in my tiny belly. I had
always wanted to be a Mum eventually and I never had a doubt in my mind
that I would make a good Mum, but I always thought it would be the
result of a planned pregnancy after a long relationship, engagement and
marriage.
My life changed instantly. I stopped
drinking, stopped going to nightclubs (except to work, until my little
bump started to show) I withdrew from the events course and took extra
shifts at the bowling club to save money to be able to afford everything
I would need for the baby. I knew that being a Single Mum would be a
challenge, but I just instictivley knew that I would be alright, that I
was strong enough to do a good job. (I will just point out here that
there are only two things that I don't discuss on my blog, one is my
religious beliefs and the other is my son's father. They are both wayyyy
too personal to me to write about on the internet!)
On
May 13 2011 I gave birth to LJ. From the second he was born he was just
SO handsome, everyone who saw him in the hospital commented on how good
looking he was! LJ was such a good little baby, the first few weeks are
such a blur in my memory, due to the lack of sleep and Mummy hormones.
My Mum came to visit (initially for a "few weeks") and was a great help
to me while I was learning about what this little baby needs. Pretty
soon LJ and I found our groove together and I suddenly realised
something... I'd found that happiness that I had been chasing! I didn't find it on a dance floor, or in a bottle of Tequila...I found it in the cuddles of a three month old.
By
the time LJ was seven months old I realised that living in Newcastle,
while my family was in Melbourne, was breaking their hearts. My Mum had
spent at least 80% of the time since LJ was born living in my lounge room
on the fold out couch and it had put a real pause on both of our lives.
I made a decision that I would later find myself second (and third and
fourth... and one thousandth) guessing, to move back to Melbourne so
that my family could be closer to LJ and he could have them be more
involved in his life.
LJ
and I have been back in Melbourne since January 2012. It is still just
the two of us, I haven't even been on a date since I had LJ! I just
hadn't even given dating a thought until recently. Last year I went to
TAFE three days per week to study fitness as I had put on a lot of
weight following my pregnancy and really enjoyed learning about
exercise, programming and nutrition. I am now a Qualified Personal
Trainer however I don't think that will be my permanent career, just
more a passion project. This year I started studying Children's Services
and I am almost qualified to work as a Childcare assistant. I figure
that this is a career I will be able to fit in around LJ just fine.
LJ turns 3 this week and he is such a
character! He has so much energy and is on the go all day . He loves
movies, he can quote almost every line from Cars, Cars 2 or any of the
Toy Story Movies. The sandpit is one of his favourite places to play and
he plays with his toy cars as mcuh as he possibly can. He loves all
sorts of transport, planes, buses, trains and motorbikes. LJ is such a
caring, loving and funny little boy who loves to make people smile and
laugh... And he is still crazy handsome! I am the luckiest woman EVER to
be his Mum.
I
hope that at some point in the (hopefully near) future I will meet
somebody and have some more kids. And I have no idea where we will end
up living, but I am so excited for our future, I know it is going to be
great. I hope you head on over to my blog, Fabufitmum, and keep up with
our adventures, Leave a comment or feel free to follow me on social
media, You can find me at @Fabufitmum on Twitter and Instagram.
Take care, Stay Fabulous and Stay Fit!
Love,
Alix
Xo
Love,
Alix
Xo
Thanks Alix. Please have a read and leave Alix some comment love.
