About Me...

I grew up in the middle of know-where in a 'village' out in the middle of the sticks. There are only a hand full of houses and it is primarily farm land or bush/forest, but it is a gorgeous place to grow up.
We were far away enough from town that it was considered country living, but we were still close to the many local beaches.
I had a great childhood there building tree houses with my brothers (I have three), exploring the local bushlands and forest, hiking up the mountains, swimming in the rivers/streams/dams.

My brothers and I were extremely competitive so if we could make a game out of anything we did and they evolved over time...
We made a billy cart and would go to the top of a hill and go down it, you would always fall off at some point and end up with bruises or scratches, but we would continue to take turns going down and who ever could last the longest would get out of chores for the week!

We would make up our own triathlons to test our strength and endurance- swim so many laps in our backyard pool, run up to the old barn and back (roughly 1km each way), bike to the second train crossing (roughly 30mins each way).
...... Needless to say I grew up a tom boy.

I no longer live in the 'village' I grew up in and am currently situated on the NSW South Coast, in the Illawarra.
In fact no one in my family lives in the area we grew up in anymore, we have all moved on.

Over the years I have called a few places home.
Once finishing my high-school years I took off overseas and worked and travelled around England, travelled over to Ireland, a little snippet of France and a weekend in Amsterdam, North Holland.
Whist working and travelling in England I primarily lived in the greater area of London (mainly Tooting, but a few other places as well), and the city of Derby, in Derbyshire.
In London the place I worked/ lived the longest was at an old English traditional pub. 
In Derby I worked/ lived at an Australian themed pub/ sports bar.

 When I came back to Aus. I moved back in with my mum to get my feet back on the ground.
While living at home I started a TAFE Diploma in Child Studies and toward the final and 2nd year numbers in the class dwindled and I had no option but to move to Newcastle, into a large house with 6 international students- it was a hell of a lot of fun and we had many parties!!
The people in the house changed but the good times didn't.
I finished my Diploma and started a Bachelor of Arts/ Education (primary).
I then moved into a house with three guys that I kind of grew up with, these guys became like brothers to me while I was living with them- which was really great.
From there I moved to the Central Coast and I transferred to the Central Coast campus of Newcastle uni to continue studying.

Whilst living on the Central Coast I had a major 'what the hell am I doing with my life' moment.
I had stopped studying due to my failing health and all I was doing was Dr's appts and filling in time between those appts with hobbies.
I re-evaluated who I was and what I wanted to do- I could no longer hold the facade that one day I still might be able to teach, what school would hire a teacher who could at any moment drop to the floor in pain???
I went to see a careers adviser and she told me to get a Universities Admissions Centre booklet and peruse through the degrees offered at different Australian Uni's. Then go to the Uni. website and look at the courses in the degree, print what courses pipe up your interest and then tally.

I found that what I was most interested in was History, Philosophy, English, Religion, the History and Philosophy of Science, and Languages.
From there I looked at what courses in those areas held more interest and went from there.
That is how I found myself enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts with a double major- History and Philosophy of Science; and History!!!

The first year into my degree I had another mishap- I had a stenting procedure done that majorly interrupted my studies. I took the rest of the semester off as there wasn't much left of it and re-enrolled in semester 2, I attended classes- but it was sporadically.
The stenting procedure did not seem to be having the desired affect that we had hoped for and in Sept I laded myself in hospital for an extended stay!
After that the year was ruined, my IH had 'gone to shit' so I took it off to just 'take it easy' and get healthy again.
I re-enrolled again the following year to end up again in hospital with high pressures- so I decided that maybe I just needed to cool it on the study front for a while again!!

So for most of 2013 I took up my every expanding list of hobbies and also made plans for the future of the blog and started to enact those plans!!
I spent my days gardening (we got permission from the Strata to put in a veggie patch), swimming, sewing, joined a book club (so read a fair bit), exploring the local area, photography, cooking, writing up recipes, researching for the blog, drawing, crafting, and then seeing Dr's, Specialists and Therapists on top of all of that.

Mid-way through the year I started to doubt whether I would be able to pick up study again the following year in my area of interest- history as my memory skills were seriously lacking. 

I sat down with M., my mum and we openly talked about our fears and worries of my studying, my health, am I pushing myself too far, is this something I could come back to later in life when things settle....
After the talk I had a fair bit to think about not just because of the thoughts of studying history, but also because I had started to make plans- to make this blog bigger and better- maybe even start over and give the whole thing a professional lift...and there were talks or my doing an e-book, or a cook book, or writing articles- ideas to get the blog going a bit more!! 
Plus I was getting really involved with my own health, healthy eating and treating what I could (without messing up my medications) naturally, doing research into these areas and also into how to reduce my medications and just go natural...
All of these occurrences lead to the decision for me to put my University aspirations on the shelf, not put away out of sight, but just on the shelf, for now.
And for me to pursue other avenues of interest... including taking the steps towards study but in a completely different area and setting- I am going to be starting an Advanced Dip. in Naturopathy in 2014 at Nature Care Collage in North Sydney.
The setting is like nothing I have ever experienced before, it is more relaxed and intimate than Uni, TAFE or high-school.
 And it is A LOT more flexible too, which is great for me- I can take as long as I need to finish my study!!

My hobbies and interests vary- I love gardening, I am in a book club (so read a fair bit), I enjoy exploring and adventuring, photography, cooking (as you will see in this blog), and I also sew, craft, paint and draw. 
I don't get to my sewing, crafting, painting or drawing as often as I would like, but I always have the next project outlined in my head!!
I am and have always been a water baby, so I am constantly drawn to the water. It doesn't really matter what form this water comes in, but I do prefer beaches- I find them relaxing, calming, cooling and centering. It is also one of the reasons why I love my new home as it is soo close to the beach and the South Coast in general is such a beautiful area.
The sights, sounds, tastes, smells and the feeling of sand on my feet is like heaven to me!!!

In no way am I religious or prescribe to any faith, there are so many things within religions that bug me. If anything I am spiritual and I believe there is something I just don't know what it may be. I believe in Science and I think that people are welcome to their own beliefs just don't go spouting it around or forcing it onto others!!
I like things within many different faiths, but I cannot condone some of the practises and lifestyles of many faiths as well. 
I meditate and do Pilate's from time to time, I also have Tarot cards that I occasionally use, and in times of great need I do pray- but I pray to the cosmos, not to any 'god' in particular.

 I was brought up a Catholic and went to church regularly, over the years my attendance at church dwindled and when my parents split I was disgusted by the way the people at church acted when they found out!!
This added to my already existing doubts and dislikes- so I stopped going.

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So that's about it....

If you want to contact me you can email me at:
tegan.dodds@gmail.com