| Race For Life... |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|12:32 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  determined | ] |
I apologise in advance as this is going to be a bit of a begging post...
This Sunday (19th July) I will be running (or at least attempting to run) the Race For Life in Southsea to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
I have done this before but haven’t managed to run the whole thing as yet so my challenge for this year will to be keep up with my mum (who has been training every day and is determined to run all of it) and improve on last year’s performance.
If anyone would like to sponsor me you can do so by following the link below;
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/ashleyaustin2
Any small amount that you can spare would really help. I have been so busy I have only managed to raise the pitiful amount of £5 so really anything else would help greatly! |
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| We're going to be homeowners! |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|12:20 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  excited | ] |
This time two years ago Jonny and I were living in one room with a single bed and no money...
Now, two years on, at the grand age of 22 (me) and 28 (him), we're just about to buy our first house :D
Had our offer accepted on Tuesday and it was taken off the market immediately, so (providing everything goes to plan) we will soon be the proud owners of the following property in Ford (near Arundel) for the 'pretty bloomin' good' price of £188,000.
( Photos )
It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (including an en-suite shower room) and is pretty much exactly what we were after :-) It's also fairly neutral so we will be able to put our own stamp on it and furnish it to our taste.
25 years of debt here we come - and we couldn't be happier :P |
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| Bullet point-tastic.... |
[May. 25th, 2009|11:12 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
Lots of things have happened, which I have totally failed to update about. So now I will proceed to whizz through them very quickly and not give them the signifance they deserve. Nevertheless, an update is an update and better than nothing I suppose!
- Jonny had his (almost brand new) motorbike stolen from outside our house :-( Fortunately this time the insurance have paid out fairly quickly (though not as much as we would have liked) and he picked up his new bike (complete with massive chain and alarm) on Friday.
- Our beautiful little Smudgy kitten was hit by a car and died on May 8th. I found her lying by the road when I went to go to work. We both miss her so much and Monkey (her son) is very very lonely and missing her more than any of us. We have however just put down a deposit on a little white female kitten with a black tail which we are picking up on June 7th and who hopefully will be a perfect companion for both us and Monkey.
- Jonny chopped off the end of his finger with a machete... don't ask!!
- Jonny and I have taken up Mountain Biking, and, despite my lungs totally failing to work (something which I am going to see the doctor about as soon as I can get an appointment) we are thoroughly enjoying it and getting lost and injured in all manner of interesting places.
- We are taking a very big step and thinking about buying a house... more on this when things actually start moving (or not as the case may be!)
- And last but not least, we had some professional photos done, and this was the result...
( clicky )
The whole album is here ----> http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24169&id=264600071&l=0263158f5e if anyone is particularly interested.
I'm sure there were lots of other things but I can't think of them now which is unfortunately the way it seems to go every time I try to update. Maybe I won't leave it so long between the next one.... |
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| Proof that I'm definately going up in the world.... |
[Jan. 7th, 2009|04:40 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
I've just gone from this:
To this:
Signed all thefinance agreements etc today, used my childhood savings as a deposit, and even managed to persuade them to take poor little Giles as part exchange.
Can't wait to pick it up next week, and looking forward to all the money I'll save on fuel when I have to start commuting to Oxford every day! Will be quite a novelty to have a car that isn't a death trap for the first time in my life :) |
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| Even more disappointed..... |
[Sep. 27th, 2008|03:58 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
So, after getting my dissertation back on Thursday and feeling slightly disappointed I thought, never mind, it doesn't really matter as at least I have a job all lined up ready to go in to. WRONG! Yesterday, after two months of waiting I got a letter from the Met police to say that the Intelligence Analyst job I was offered is no longer available as they have had to make some cut backs and they no longer have the number of vacancies they anticipated
So now I'm mostly feeling rubbish and useless and embarassed for making everyone feel proud and excited for me for no reason and am not really sure what to do now. Obviously I'm going to carry on applying for anything I can get my hands on, but most of these things take about six months to process and in the meantime I'm stuck earning next to nothing counting tins of beans (amongst other things) for a living. Jonny and I were hoping to set a date for our wedding and book it next time we're back in Jersey but that's not going to happen if there's no guarantee that I'm going to be earning enough to be able to put some money aside to start organising things.
Anyway, don't know why I'm writing this except for that I'm feeling sorry for myself! I'm sure something will come along soon and this obviously wasn't meant to be but it took so long to get to this stage that the prospect of starting all over again isn't very appealing! |
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| More adorable kitten cuteness!!! |
[Aug. 15th, 2008|03:51 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  working | ] |
More pictures....
( Cute kitten extravaganza! )
Jonny seems to have fallen in love with "monkey kitten" (the one he is holding in the picture) so I imagine we are probably going to end up keeping him/her!
I made the comment that it has a slightly funny monkey-shaped head and Jonny seems to have latched on to the name, so however hard I try to persuade him that my names are better, I think it is going to stick and I'm going to spend the rest of my life standing in my back garden yelling 'Monkey Kitten' for all the world to hear! Smudge usually responds best to 'Arse biscuit' so I don't know what's worse really! |
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| Kittens ahoy!! |
[Aug. 9th, 2008|08:46 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
This afternoon our cat Smudge gave birth to three amazingly adorable squirmy little black kittens who I have christened Ziggy, Stardust and Bagheera (though I'm not sure who's who yet!)
I've just managed to sneak this whilst she came out for some food...
Smudgy is currently in her nest box looking very pleased with herself and we are having a bottle of wine to celebrate :-) |
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| I got the job! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!! |
[Jul. 31st, 2008|10:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | ecstatic | ] |
As the title says really....
Just found out I'm going to be an Intelligence Analyst for the Metropolitan Police!!
Couldn't be happier :-) |
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| I am a mathematical genius! |
[Jun. 25th, 2008|03:51 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  nervous | ] |
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I passed the psychometric test and now have to go for an interview/presentation on July 11th in the Empire State Building (ok, ok, that's not really where it is, but the woman who phoned me had really bad hayfever and that's what it sounded like she said!)
I need everyone to keep their fingers/toes/eyes crossed for me as I'll be pooing my pantaloons!!!!! |
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| Thanks :-) |
[Jun. 3rd, 2008|05:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
Thankyou to all those who sponsored me for Race For Life - it all went well and I have managed to raise a fairly respectable £85. There's still time to donate as the page doesn't expire for a while, so, if you haven't yet, and want to, the address is:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/ashleyaustin
In other news....
I got through the first stage of my application for the Intelligence Analyst post with the Metropolitan Police and have to go and do a psychometric test in two weeks time - very scared as I have never been very good at maths (which is what it will be based on) but really pleased that I got through as there were 600 applicants so even if I don't get any further it's still something.
So, keep your fingers crossed for me at 2.00 on Monday 16th June as I'll be stretching my brain to its limits! |
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| I love you all :-) Now please sponsor me for Race For Life |
[May. 27th, 2008|04:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
Being the dutiful Tesco employee that I am, a few of my colleagues and I will be taking part in Race for Life this Sunday in Portsmouth to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
At this point I have to admit that I have been very busy and completely forgot it was this week (I actually thought it was at the end of August but that's besides the point!) so I haven't done very well with my sponsorship (understatement of the year!)
I would be very grateful if you could spare a few quid towards my sponsorship fund... most of my friends, being poor penniless students like myself can't help much so anything would be appreciated.
Just click on the link below and it should take you straight to the page.
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/ashleyaustin
Thanks in advance,
Ash x |
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| Slightly pre-emptive but..... |
[May. 18th, 2008|11:44 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
...what do you think of this as a potential wedding dress? (click on the image to make it bigger)
We haven't even set a date yet so I've got a while to think about it, but this is the only one I've seen that I really like at the moment. It has to be white or else my dad will refuse to walk me down the aisle!! |
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| Life, the universe and everything.... |
[May. 18th, 2008|10:47 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
- I am poor.
- The kitten is on heat (it's traumatic)
- My mum is coming to visit for three days :-)
- I have a million very rare and expensive books - why does no one want to buy them and release me from the misery of poverty???
- I have started applying for jobs...
- This is scary
- I hope I get one!
I'm getting to the stage now where I just want to finish uni and get a job and actually start earning some proper money. I have one 3,000 word essay and a 15,000 dissertation to complete and then that's it, I'm out in the big bad world. I have applied for a job as an Intelligence Analyst with the Metropolitan Police and another as a Public Protection Analyst with Hampshire Contabulary. I doubt I will get either but the general feeling at the moment is just apply for everything that comes up!
This is my first post for ages and contains absolutely nothing of interest!
Here's some random photos...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15024&l=d72d0&id=264600071
(where we live)
I can't remember if I posted any from our first holiday to Cyprus in Feb, but if not, here they are...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14059&l=e6534&id=264600071
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14058&l=678d3&id=264600071 |
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| Does anyone want these (or know anyone who might??) |
[Mar. 23rd, 2008|07:08 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
Right, the prospect of impending poverty means that all non essential clothing and footwear has to go!! So, however much it pains me to do so, I am selling my black 20 eyelet Dr. Martens.
These cost £89.95 new and I have worn them a maximum of five times - they're not even broken in yet.
They are a Size 3 and are pretty much as new, a few little marks but they'll rub off (which I'll do before I send them)
Looking for £60 for them, plus postage (which will be probably be a fair bit due to the size of them but I'm sure we can work something out - if you're close by I will personally deliver them!)
Not expecting a great deal of interest here, but thought it's always worth a go!
Have put them on ebay now...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230234430493&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=013
...but will end the auction early if anyone off here wants them.
Cheers guys!
P.S. I promise I'll do a proper post soon!! |
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| Uni, Squash, Kittens.... |
[Nov. 26th, 2007|02:53 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Ok, so I'm thinking I should probably update this every once in a while, but I feel guilty if I do anything other than uni work at the moment so I'll make it relatively short.
Everything down here is going well. My course is great, have been to court a couple of times to sit on an attempted murder case and visited a prison a couple of weeks ago which was really really interesting and has got me thinking about my dissertation. We've also got visits planned to a secure mental hospital (which is even more down my dissertation street) amongst other things and I feel like I've learnt alot already.
Aside from that, I joined the Uni Squash Club and am now on the women's team. We've only had three games so far but I've lost one and won two so not doing too badly. I'm training three times a week, and have matches on Wednesdays so I'm having to go to the gym a lot less which is making me a happy bunny :-)
Smudge is doing really well, and we'll be letting her out soon. Anyone who's had the pleasure of meeting her will know what a complete nutcase she is and I think we actually have a cat/dog/otter crossbeed as a pet as she loves drinking and fishing for shells in the bowl of floating candles, jumping in the bath/sink, and sitting patiently by the fridge waiting to play with the little plastic bit on the top of wine bottles! She also loves her new radiator bed and she is a very warm and happy kitten :-)
Have bought my first Christmas present today so feeling quite pleased with myself. Now the trick is not to let him guess what it is before Christmas. Oh, it's so far away, I don't know if I'll be able to hold on!!! |
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| Hormones hormones hormones |
[Sep. 14th, 2007|06:15 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | sick | ] |
I am in one of those annoying "Everyone else in the world looks nice except me" moods. The only way to cure this is a nice big bout of shopping. Unfortunately, although I'm not brassic, I don't really have money to be throwing around on unnecessary clothes just to make myself feel better.
The other problem with this is NOTHING I LIKE BLOODY FITS ME! I went to the Next that's just opened down the road knowing full well that nothing would fit me, yet I still get fed up when nothing does! They had about one size 6 in the entire shop and I must just have a stupid shaped body because even the stuff that does fit me just makes me look ridiculous. My mum sent me the new Nomads catalogue, full of lovely shiny things that look lovely on the models in the catalogue but would look like a sack of spuds on me because the smallest size they do is a size 10-12.... two sizes bigger than my size. Hoo-fucking-rah! I bought a cyber dog dress on ebay a couple of weeks ago, which claimed to be a size small... does it fit me, no! Ok, ok, I know what you're all thinking, (supposedly) thin people shouldn't be moaning about things not fitting them blah blah blah, but, well, I have no excuse really, I'm just fed up.
I also feel sick, except I don't know if I really do. Jonny was really ill the night before last - throwing up and stuff. There's a bug going round work and of course I've convinced myself I'm going to get it, even though I manage to bypass these things pretty much every time (lots of exercise and vitamins!) The trouble with me is, I'm not able to differentiate between real life feeling ill and the sort of feeling ill that happens when I worry about feeling ill too much. I have a tendency now to attribute every ill feeling down to me worrying too much/making myself feel ill, and now my worry is that I'll get caught out because I won't be able to recognise when I really am ill.
Urgh, in fact, I think my general problem is that I have no sense of 'myself' in terms of how I feel, how I look, anything. I can't compare myself to other people. I look at other people who are blatantly two or three sizes bigger than me and I think they're thinner than me. I don't understand how I fit in with other people. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm thinking; if what I'm thinking/saying is actually what I think or if it's what I think I'm supposed to be thinking.
I should be going to the gym tonight but have been persuaded against it. Part of me wants to go but the other part wants to curl up under a duvet and watch a film with the biggest bar of chocolate ever imaginable (I definately won't be doing this!) Most likely I will have some dinner and do some housework. We were meant to be going out last night but I felt like shit so we stayed in and watched the Shawshank Redemption. Part of me wanted to go, but the other part just wanted to snuggle. Maybe I would have felt better if we'd have gone.
Why am I so indecisive?
This post was brought to you by a very hormonal, generally feeling like shit Ashley who is now going to have a nice bowl of soup as it appears this is what she now lives on when Jonny is on lates. This is probably not a bad thing. |
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| I am a domestic goddess..... |
[Sep. 11th, 2007|10:33 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
This evening I have...
- Made myself a lovely dinner (ok, it was only soup and a baguette but it was v. tasty!)
- Done all the washing up.
- Cleaned all the kitchen surfaces.
- Hoovered
- Scrubbed the kitchen floor.
- Cleaned the bath/sink toilet etc.
- Cleaned out the smelly little kitten's litter tray.
- Emptied the bin and scrubbed inside it (this was particularly disgusting!)
- Extracted the kitten from a variety of novel locations (her favourites are behind the sink, on the mantleplace and in the wine rack)
I love having our own house, housework and all! We're really settling in now and are starting to think about things like housewarmings etc - just need to find a date that is best for the most people and then I can start setting the ball rolling!
Had a lovely bank holiday weekend with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dizze who came to visit us before going off to cycle 'round the world'(ok, lands end to john o' groats but that's more than far enough imo) It involved pizza, getting all gothic in portchester castle, a trip to the submarine museum, barbecues, pulling silly faces, far too much fun with sparklers, fish and chips on the quay and the discovery of our newly crowned 'local'.
In fact, I even have ( photos )
Anyway, Jonny is home now in record time and much earlier than I expected and the kitten is trying to eat the flowers on the table so I will continue this tomorrow! |
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| Kitten Joy! |
[Aug. 12th, 2007|05:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | content | ] |
After three weeks of letter writing and inspections of our new house we've finally been given permission to have a kitten, so yesterday we drove up to Southampton and picked up this little cutie...
...who is currently asleep on my lap and trying her best to obstruct me from using the laptop as best she can. She's 11 weeks old and we've decided to call her Smudge. Not very original I know, but when I was looking at the photos of her on my camera I kept trying to wipe the screen thinking the little mark under her eye was a smudge on the screen, so it seemed appropriate!
She's very cute and affectionate and she thoroughly enjoyed terrorising Cos and Aim when they popped round last night :D Considering we only got her yesterday she seems to be settling in really well and has spent most of her time either asleep on my lap or having far to much kitteny fun on the scratch post with hanging ball things we bought her yesterday.
More photos at http://bathspa.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9211&l=da879&id=264600071 |
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| A long overdue update..... |
[Aug. 9th, 2007|04:46 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | sore | ] |
It's been a long time since I've updated this, and a lot has happened since then. We've been so busy sorting out the house and with work etc that I haven't really had time to do anything other than read my friends page. There's still a lot to do but unfortunately since this afternoon I am currently unable to do anything except for sit here as I think I have pulled a muscle in my chest whilst at the gym today. I was doing sit ups and as I went to sit up at the end of my set I suddenly felt a shooting pain in my chest. I thought it would go away within 5 minutes or so but 20 minutes later I was still unable to sit up or breathe in fully. It is now nearly three hours and it is fine if I'm sitting still but if I move too quickly (especially twisting) or breathe in deeply it really fucking hurts! I don't actually know what it is but I'm assuming as I was doing sit ups at the time I've pulled some sort of muscle... at least I hope this is what it is. Any ideas? If it's not better by tomorrow I'll go the NHS walk in centre but I dount there's anything they can do. I need it to be better as the new shop I'm going into is opening in a couple of weeks and I need to pull some really long shifts up until then to make sure everything is done and ready. I can't afford to have any time off and I don't want to spoil my unblemished record of 2 and half years with no absence!!!
Anyway, in other news, we're all moved in and settling in nicely down here. The house is just about ready for visitors now, and they would be much appreciated as I'm feeling a little lonely due to not having a great deal of time to go out and make any friends down here at the moment. I do however have a few irons in the fire (starting my own goth meetup being one) and things will certainly improve once I start uni in October. The house is perfect and we're really enjoying having space to ourselves and not feeling like we're treading on anyone's toes. The only room left to sort out now is the spare room, which I was planning on getting sorted tonight but it's looking like a boring night of facebook and film watching for me, which is frustrating as I hate to feel like I'm not doing anything productive and I wanted to go for a cycle this evening. Having the beach nearby is lovely and I have made it down there a few times for a swim over the last few weeks. We are hoping to spend the day down there on Saturday if the weather is nice as it will be the first day we've had off together since we've moved that we haven't had to travel half way across the country or to Bath.
Went down to Bath for Entropy last weekend, which was fantastic as I've really been missing everyone. I didn't realise I would miss people this much and it was really nice just to have some fun and see everyone as the last month has been a little stressful what with getting the house sorted/starting new jobs etc. Work is hectic but ok - I still miss Combe Down a lot but once I'm settled in my new shop I should be able to make some friends there and start having some fun at work again. At the moment I am travelling around lots of different shops getting everything ready for the new shop to open and sorting out the stock control in some of the shops that really don't have a clue what they're doing! Consequently I have been in about 5 different shops over the last three weeks so haven't had time to settle anywhere or get into a routine. Following a few 12 hour days this should change in the next couple of weeks though.
In other news, I have a stalker but I think he's finally getting the message now. On my first week here I joined the gym and as I was walking there was approached by a guy who started chatting to me. He asked for my number which I politely refused to give him but I made the crucial mistake of letting slip that I was going to the gym, and lo and behold, half an hour later he turns up at the gym trying to persuade me to go for a drink with him. Following this, I've been seeing him at the gym nearly every day and he has also worked out where I work and been coming in there (not difficult as it's only five minutes away from the gym). More worryingly, he has got my phone number and has been phoning me regularly to ask me out for a drink. I have been ignoring his calls and haven't heard from him for about four days so am hoping he's got the message now!!! Slightly unnerving anyway!!
Oh well, apologies for this long entry but I've got until midnight until Jonny gets home and I can't stand not being able to get up and do things!
Maybe more later depending how bored I get!! |
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