Three weeks ago...

Its been just under three weeks since our life took a turn. A very slight bend at first, that quickly changed into a full blown u-turn.

Three weeks ago on Sunday, hubby was having what I thought was just a normal morning. Our three youngest boys were having some time away from screens. They are on them far too often, so we try to make scheduled breaks whenever we can. Our eldest son, who is 17, was in his room playing video games. We have given up on trying to get him off them, it's been the cause of many fights over the years, and each never made an ounce of difference so we stopped losing the endless battle and chose to let him be.  So the three little ones (3, 6 & 9) were going through their usual motions trying to find something to occupy themselves. This usually involves fighting over toys for the two youngest, and the nine year old nagging when he can go back on games or crying that he's had to get off.

Its frustrating as parents, to try and have a nice Sunday morning when this is all going on in the background. I am reminded why I let them on screens so much, to get a little peace. We are so busy all the time it feels. With us both working, including weekends sometimes for me, it's rare that we have the time and energy to spend with the boys. And that's our fault, not theirs. So of course tech and screens have become a type of babysitter for us. And we hate it. We want more time and energy to have with them, we want to slow down, we want to be there for them and most of all, we want them to WANT to spend time with us and each other, without 'the babysitter' in the room.

So on this particular Sunday morning, Matt is scrolling on his phone (he doesn't normally do this unless he is answering questions for his business page or customer queries) and I am trying to find something to do that might keep the children occupied for a little while. Matt says something about moving out of town, to Sunshine Acres - which is still in the same postcode. When I question him, he says he needs a change, wants to start fresh in a new house and make changes with the kids. He's looking at real estate on his phone. I tell him that's not far enough, and we should move to Tasmania. Half jokingly. He doesn't disagree, and we start discussing why we want to move at all.  My Uncle had been talking for months about how great Tas is, how it's a change of pace from the rest of Australia, and how he thinks all of our extended family should move there. That's how the idea of Tas got in my head in the first place.

So the next day, I am at the library with clients for work. And I find some books on Tasmania and bring them home. Later that night, Matt asks if I've still been thinking about Tas. I show him the books I borrowed and we go through them briefly together when the kids are in bed. I haven't been able to get Tas out of my head!! And he seemed just as keen as me. The wheels were in motion!

The next day (Tuesday), after I had joined some Tasmanian groups on Facebook, I respond to a post advertised that was looking for a couple to caretake a property. Not thinking much of it, as I had scrolled past it a few times, I decided to comment, I had nothing to lose.

"Is this property suitable for families?" I asked. The original poster replied "Absolutelely!" and asked me to text them my number so we could talk. I screen-shot the comments and text them to Matt. He calls me from work, as excited as I am! Though on the inside I was freaking out!!! This couldn't actually happen could it?

Later that night we waited for the call from the owners, Vicky & Steve. The property sounded amazing!! Right at the edge of Mount Field National Park. We would be taking care of the bookings and maintenance of their four holiday cottages - Russell Falls Holiday Cottages. The opportunity sounded too good to be true. Free rent in a 3 bedroom home plus a percent of the income from the cottages. Obviously though we weren't the only one who were jumping at this chance in a lifetime. Vicky & Steve were talking to several other interested couples too. Matt and I discussed it and we decided we wanted to go for it, or at least try to, we couldn't afford not to. This could be the change we were looking for. The next day I emailed Vicky & Steve some photo's of our family and also outlined the reasons why we want to move and why we would be a great choice for them. Then we had to wait, and see what happened next....