Life

It seems my poor little blog is neglected these days.

But it's for a good reason I suppose.

I am happy! I am out and about, busy! Things are happening.

And I have this thing.. this um.. boyfriend.

He is truly the best. I'm really happy and feel very lucky.

It's been 1 month, 1 week and 1 day.

hehehe.

And I'm also DECIDED on what I want to study.
Early childhood education here I come.

HURRAH for feeling a bit more on track.
My to do list is still far too long though.

ahoy there

so June and July went without a blog post!

lots of posts in my mind, just a case of being motivated to put them up.

i should have a funky as hell new hair dye situation soon.. so will start the ball rolling again with photos of that perhaps. in the meantime, here is my fave photo of me (and my hair mostly) for a long time.

TICK!

Number ONE on my list complete!

i LOVE my new wheels. will post photos sometime soon!!

is is horrendous to name my car Tsu'tey after my favourite Avatar character?

I don't think i've blogged about HOW OBSESSED I am with that movie and with Tsu'tey in particular.

I name my cars by the way. Last/first one was Lex. I keep calling my new one Lex in my head, oops. Can't be having that!

meeting idols

This is me VERY EXCITED to meet members of my favourite band, Breaking Benjamin! In Wichita, Kansas. I flew back to the US from London to see them. It meant 7 flights in 3 days and a lot of money but MY GOSH was it worth it. They were amazing live, but best of all I got to meet them after the show. We had a chat and I got my beloved photos.

The top one is of Ben, the lead singer and 'main man' of the band. I was sooo beside myself to meet him, as you can see by my embarrassingly large grin. I tried to keep it cool but you can tell how happy I was by my smile hehe. I look different in each photo though huh!

They were all SO very nice, especially Chad and Mark (the other 2)
They took the time to chat to me and were super impressed at my efforts to get there!

I didn't get to chat with Aaron or get a photo with him, but that's ok, the others more than made up for it!

SO HAPPY!

Ahhh BB I love you.

iPhone photos

Going through my 'iPhone photos' folder on my computer, I realise that there are some hilarous, random and really great photos on there.

It's more of a spur of the moment thing to take a picture on your phone don't you think? Generally, if I take photos on my camera, it's because I've planned it, or I've gone out and taken my camera to make sure I get some pictures of the night out. (having said that, I carry my camera 24/7.. you never know!)

I thought I would start a big of a regular feature* displaying some photos from my iPhone. Yes, i type iPhone the 'correct' way. One of those silly compulsions, I'm sure you have some. Right?? It's not just me surely.

The pictures in my phone can probably be put into these categories
1. Jorja/Jorja and me
2. Friends
3. Places
4. Random stuff I love
5. Funny crap

Without any further ado, here is iPhone photo gallery number one!

Jorja wearing my one of my 'gaga' gloves and t-shirt i got her from San Fran.
and my sunnies (they are kids size damn my skinny head)

see, phone is perfect for random pics like this. having fun at sparties!
(more like been in spotlight for FAR TOO LONG, GET ME OUT OF HERE!)

CONTROVERSIAL. sunkist in can FTW. post mix fanta from maccas is the best version.
BOTH on offer at my fave dumplings place? outrageous!
Yes I have very strong opinions on the best way to drink orange soft drink.

jelly shots on grand final day with Snosha!

GAGA ooh la la. costume for halloween in LA.
not complete but you get the idea!

the coolest shop from my holiday. Loyal Army in Haight Ashbury, San Francisco.
T-shirt wall!! SO COOL. CUTE. KITSCH. LOVED IT.


There you have it!!

*regular feature. I would like to hope so. I'm not doing so well at 'regular' blogging but will do my best! this post has been fun. I LOVE a trip down memory lane :)

bad blogger, bad blogger!

If you have seen the movie Liar Liar that is me scolding and slapping myself ala Jim Carrey (just replacing 'baby' with 'blogger')

I can pretty much scrub off 'regularly blogging' from my list!

It's a bit sucky, but it does mean that I have been busy and had my mind on other things which is mostly good!

I have been very busy with lots of social stuff, seeing friends all the time, blah blah blah... April is also super packed.

I have a couple of posts in my head, they will come over the next few days WOO!

this is a very rushed and kinda lame and boring post. I just got a big attack of the blogging guilts. better posts will come. WITH PHOTOS. amazing. I can use technology again!!!

YAY.

welcome home pootruck!

it's SO nice to have a best friend back.

(but another one leaves for two years in about 6 weeks. boo!)



ps. now THIS is how my hair should always look lol.

FAIL

Wow, I didn't blog for all of February. Naughty self.
Thanks to my friend Matt for reminding me of this failure. I do have half an excuse.
I have no laptop cord at the moment, an uh, two laptops but no cord = a lot less computer time!
It's actually been ok in a way, because I can waste a whole night online doing not a whole lot, but having to borrow my brothers computer means I get things done quick! But it's meant no blog posts, I've missed it!

Feb was a bit of an up and down month for me. Feeling very apprehensive about the one year anniversary of Simon's death that looms on March 26. Also FINALLY got called by the police to make my statement about his death. (did u know they investigate all suicides? i never did)
so that got me really upset - it's almost a year later, how stressful to have to bring it all up again.

Something very very awesome happened though. Pat is home!!! YAY. Got one of my best friends back!! so happy about that :D

One of my other best friends Matt is having a karaoke 21st in a couple of weeks. (ew i've mentioned him twice in once post, he's going to get a big head) I think I came across a great song to sing! great as in old and cheesy, as it should be right? does anyone have a karaoke song they always sing?

What's coming up in March?

Matt's birthday. Liza's birthday. Simon's anniversary. My birthday! Lady Gaga concert :D

That's about it for now. I don't even have any photos to post as it's too annoying right now to connect up my hard drive etc etc. Technical difficulties drive me crazy!

New Hair

totes the most used title on my blog haha.

this one was long overdue! I let my colour fade out when I got home from my holiday. I read back on some old posts and saw that I thought I might stay a bit blonde for a while. Um, no. I stuck to my original plan. But I just couldn't go shorter. I literally teared up a bit when I forced myself to consider what it would be like cutting my hair and having it shoulder length. Strangely, I think it's a bit of an attachment/coping thing. I don't think I'm tough enough to cope with that radical change at the moment. Possibly that I've been forced to deal with so much change lately, that I don't want to choose another. It does now have layers framing my face though which is cool. The longest layer is still really long.

Having said that, it's still pretty darn different! I LOVE IT. I find it's a bit hard to get my fringe sitting right as it's been sooo long since I've had a blunt fringe. But I've had nothing but tons of compliments, so it must be alright eh!


Big thanks to my cousin Juliet for doing it. She is the hair MASTER!

TA DA!

and you can check out the lip ring also. no more pain from chomping on the jewellery while eating. YAY!

it's not fair the my 7 year old sister is uberly more attractive than me. LOOK AT HER. stunning.
i definitely need eye liner with this heavy haircut!

see how it's not sitting just right?
i covered all the doors upstairs with photos <3


i am greeted with this door whenever I go into the bathroom. you can see Simon features prominently! i LOVE these doors. great idea self. i'll probs do most photos in front of them. I'm training Jorja to take outfit shots ROFFLE. She's pretty good so far! complains less than Simon did hahaha. sorry beb.

Fickle!

I think I have found a new adjective for myself.

I change my mind about things very quickly.

Reading through my list for 2010, there are things on there I don't want to do already.
Not because I'm lazy or am being stubborn, because my idea of my future has changed.

I would still LOVE to open my business or at least work towards it, but I've also been hijacked by the thought of going to uni. I am feeling REALLY passionate about it.

I've found my ideal course. Double degree of social work and psychology - amazing.

I want to help people. I loved studying psych in school. I want to bring my unique (awful) experiences to a positive outcome. Helping people through what I've been through with my 'been there, done that' perspective.

So.. maybe I should update the list :)

Europe

I am planning a holiday through Europe at the end of the year! Yes I just got back from 6 weeks away, now is the perfect time to plan another trip, right?

I just want to know if you have any must see places? Must do experiences? Tip?
What to do? What not to do?

Cotton Socks I'm looking at you! You seem to have done a lot of travel and I'm loving your latest posts on Paris etc.

Seriously

It's been 2 weeks Jorja!! you will be home in a matter of minutes, but I don't know if I can wait!! I've missed you so much!!!

AHH knock on the door, she is HERE!!!!

Tick!

10. Experiment with some different jewellery for my new beloved lip piercing.

I changed to a ring last night. I love it. But WOW IT HURT. Thank god I got a professional to do it for me. Turns out I had a 14 gauge bar in there, when 16 is the standard. So it was bigger than usual - big enough for a belly button! IN MY FACE. Thanks dudes in London! So I got a smaller ring. It took four goes to loosen the ball and then she had to put a catheter through the hole before she put the jewellery in since it's still a pretty fresh piercing. IT HURT SO MUCH. More than the actual piercing because the whole process was drawn out! Ugh!!

Will upload a picture once I have a decent one.

Also one change probably doesn't count as 'experimenting' but it's a start! Plus it hurt so much me thinks I will keep this one for a while!

2010

I'm writing a list of things I would like to achieve in 2010.
I will add it to the side of my blog (does that have a name??) so I can always see it and you
can track my progress if you so desire. I've never done anything like this before so I'm unsure how successful a motivational tool it will be, but I am excited at the prospect of checking things off the list! Some are big achievements, others very small. Some are things to do, some are things to buy, to learn, some are personal growth tasks, others mundane life-y things!

1. New Car!
2. Weekend in Perth with my lovely cousin Janelle and her lovely fiance Matt.
3. Keep up a skincare regime.
4. Holiday. At least 2 weeks away. I now know how great a break is.
5. Keep having sewing lessons and sew myself some garments.
6. NEW JOB ASAP
7. Write my business plan and organise as much as possible.
8. Get my finances 100% sorted so owning my house isn’t so stressful.
9. tie die my white jeans and turn them into skinnies.
10. Experiment with some different jewellery for my new beloved lip piercing.
11. Keep my car clean (esp when I get a new one!)
12. Learn some eye make up techniques.
13. Get good at painting my nails and master the kit I recently acquired in Vegas.
14. Work on my book idea. Or possible blog idea.
15. Try to learn some photo editing. Or cheat and get photoshop and Sheye Rosemeyers actions.
16. Blog regularly.
17. Appreciate what I have.


A lot of these I can blog about and post photos of my progress, yay!

My Festive Season

So I'm posting a little out of order... I haven't even told about my holiday yet! But here is a bit of a look at my Christmas and New Years celebrations.

Jorja and I - Xmas day
Could this girl be any cuter. I am tickling her here and if it was me
giggling I would look hideous, Jorja looks SO CUTE. I love this kid!


Jorja's new pogo stick from Santa. I did 305 jumps in a row. Winner!


My family. Mum, Gary, Nick and Jorja.
[look how pale I am compared to them! aurgh! i'm the porcelain brunette one of the bunch ha.]



HAPPY NEW YEAR!


BFF's Hailz and Dowey. wish i'd smiled for this one but oh well.


oh yeah! pool party!

no more new years photos, it was too hot for attractive pictures!

It was a very fun festive season for Hayley Bash :)

My 2009

... was the most challenging year of my life, without a doubt. What happened in Hayley Bash's life in 2009?

* My boyfriend of almost four years passed away in March :(
* I moved out of our house we bought together and home with my family
* My beautiful Pa died in May
* A gorgeous friend Elly died in September
* I went on a FANTASTIC 6 week break through the US and London

Basically all I can remember of this year is the traumatic losses and the amazing holiday.

In between there have been friendships strengthened, a lot of hair dyeing, so many hugs, so very many tears and also a lot of laughter and love.

What have I learnt from this year?

You don't know what you've got til it's gone.. Never take anything for granted. Cliches that are so true.

Photos and videos are a great source of comfort. Don't avoid posing for photos. One day they might be all there is left for your loved ones to see you, and they will cling to them as if you were really there. I learnt to take more video. There is nothing like watching Simon on video to make me full of joy and also floor me to the point where I think I can't go on.

Jorja Kate, my little sister, is the absolute joy of my life and when she is away, my mood and state of mind really suffers.

As hard as it is sometimes for me to be clean, a clear room is a clear head. Decluttering became a big deal!

It is so much harder to deal with things when you are tired. Tiredness = fragile. Get sleep.

Stress/grief really does make you lose weight. I've lost about 6-8 kilos or so and it's stayed off so far.

7 flights in 4 days = major tiredness.

The USA is an amazing place to visit, as is London. But there truly is no place like home.

My family is SO GREAT. It is so huge and so loving and supportive. I am so lucky.

** A BIG thank you to those who read my blog and have sent me lovely messages/comments of support during my dark times. Which still creep up on me. It really does make a difference to know people care and are thinking of me. You know who you are. Thank you :)

Goodbye 2009. May you remain the most challenging year of my life. I can't deal with another like you, thanks all the same.