#towsville

[jasminerobotnik]

Drew a little something to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my favorite superheros " The PowerPuff Girls" 

I tried to follow the simple art style that the original show had. I dont think I did to badly. I do like how this turned out over all.

[captainofmysoul]

A list.

As I draw closer to what will feel like the end of an era, I am slowly allowing myself to start to contemplate the changes and feelings that may arise. I’ve been attached to the army lifestyle for 7 years come October. For the first 15 months of that, it was a long distance relationship and by January 2015 when I’d finished my degree and made the move to Wodonga we’d been dating in separate states for longer than we had been dating in the same city. My first real taste of life out of my parents home (I will discount my short stint at Gatton - we will put that one down to a quarter life crisis, shameful but an important lesson) was in Wodonga living with my boyfriend and his best friend, and then his girlfriend moved in. At times it was hell, I was low calling Mum and Dad crying about my relationship. I worked with racehorses after finishing an undergrad psychology degree and wondered why I had wasted my time studying if I couldn't get work. When we found out we were going to Adelaide I was stoked. I believed it to be a chance to really test our relationship living just the two of us. It was a testing year in its own way. Youth work was hard, we felt very far from home. Where we lived was very far from anything and we ended up really hating life in lots of ways. But, I met my best friend and the horses were close. My boyfriend also spent three months off alcohol which was somewhat of a saving grace. When we found out we were moving to Townsville I was low-key devastated, but keen to leave SA. It was an adventure getting there, but I was apprehensive about what it would bring to our relationship knowing that my now fiancé would be surrounded by all the boys that had bought us issues in Wodonga. The last three years have been something. They’ve gone incredibly quick. We’ve been married, wanted to get divorced. I’ve felt more alone than I ever have in my life. In many ways it’s been awful. But it has forced me to grow more than anything. Townsville bought me my first full-time job which has been tough and it has given me purpose opening my eyes to a world I never knew existed. Its made me realise that I'm independent and that I don't need anyone else in this world but me to survive. Buying our first home has been the saving grace. Our little acre of paradise 4 minutes from where my horses live. In some ways, since January this year after we came back from our amazing holiday in Vietnam, things have been the hardest. The comedown from a high like we felt over there was surreal, terrifying for me. My husband started to drink more than he had in a long time after promising me things would be different. He got his MDD diagnosis in November last year and started medication, which in some ways helped, but in other ways didn't. He’s still working through things, there is anxiety and childhood trauma all mixed up in there. I guess most of our arguments, if not all, were about his drinking and me not coping with it. Up until recently it has been pretty bad. At the moment things are better. But I also have learnt not to hold my breath, and I've reached a place where i’m more understanding of why he is the way he is. 

So, this was supposed to be a post about a list. A list of things that I will miss about living in a place I absolutely did not want to live. A place that has bought many surprises good, and bad. A place where I had my first home. A place where I learnt real independence and toughness. A place that despite everything I thought, I am really going to miss. 

107 days till discharge.