Now

It's been forever since my last update. We have been in our new house for 3.5 months now. There were a lot of glitches initially, including the need for our our hot water system and oven to get fixed. But now all is going well. The house is still in a state of un pack in places, but looking more and more like a real house every day.

We are yet to have a house warming party to celebrate our big purchase, however as my sights are now set on the next stage of life... engagement... I have figured perhaps its best to combine the two parties once I get my engagement ring. Apparently its only a matter of weeks away now so its all looking very exciting.

I must say the past 2 years of my life have been the most active and successful ever. Things just keep happening and its been an amazing time.

Stressed!

Still waiting on our first home buyers grant to be approved and this has caused a massive delay in our settlement date. We should have had keys to our house tuesday, but at this rate, we'll be lucky to get them by monday.

We need to be out of our rental by Wednesday so I'm stressed beyond words right now. We might have to start transferring our stuff to one of our parents houses until we can get the house. So frustrating because we have done our part... ages ago!

Finance Approved

We now have unconditional finance approved on our house. That means now it's all a matter of time. Settlement is due 14 April. Fingers crossed nothing delays it!

Completed Supervision

On further exciting news, my 2 year supervision program has come to an end. My supervisor signed off on my competencies and assessments on Tuesday and the paperwork has all been submitted to the Psychologist Board to determine if I am suitable for full registration as a psychologist. Finally big things are happening!

The Board sits at their next meeting on 16 April, upon which they will go through my competencies and determine if further information is required. If not, I’ll get a letter informing me I am now a registered psychologist, without the need for the ‘in training’ bit at the end.

New house and completion of my post graduate training. Now all I need is the engagement and this year will be the biggest yet!

Less Than 2 Weeks

Less than 2 weeks until we own our own home. Settlement date is 14 April and we move in that following weekend. Our finance has been approved so now it's waiting for that final paperwork to get signed off. It's all very exciting.

Now I just have to pack!

Full Qualifications

Here in Australia, we have two alternative pathways for becoming a fully registered psychologist. One is to complete a masters post graduate degree and the other is through supervision. I chose the supervision path as I wanted some practical experience after so many years at university and really could not imagine another 2 or 3 years of study at that time.

The supervision program runs for a minimum of two years, in which you need to obtain a certain amount of practice hours. 1500 I think. 100 hours of in person supervision with a registered psychologist who is a registered supervisor. And 60 hours of personal development activities, such as training courses etc. We also have 6 competency exercises to complete that are like mini assignments. They cover a wide range of areas, including intervention, ethics, assessment etc.

So I commenced my supervised practice plan a little over two years ago. I am on the cusp of finishing my final competency. This means in around a week, I will have my supervisor sign off on my remaining documents and be able to request assessment for full psychologist registration with the board. It is all very exciting. It will be nice to finally get the training wheels off!

Waiting

The house thing is coming along... slowly. Still waiting for the final stage. Finance approval. Which should be fine, but the cut off date is Friday and as yet, no answer from the bank. Our broker is chasing it up every day. It is so stressful all this waiting, however we are confident all will go fine. It's just a matter of time.

I have also started packing, which is exciting but painful at the same time. There is nothing worse than moving house. But the thought of never having to answer to land lords or real estate agents after this time will be nice. Our current rental agents are driving us mad!

Investment Time

At the moment here in Queensland, Australia, there is a bonus government incentive for first home buyers. If you build a home, you get a bonus $21k to use towards your home loan or set up costs, or if you buy an established home, you get a bonus $14k. Not only is this a massive incentive to buy a home, but our interest rates have started to drop after being at an extreme high for a long time.

So this puts me in a difficult place. It is the perfect time to buy a home, but I just got back from an overseas trip and don't have any savings behind me. I had the sudden brain waive that I might as well just buy now. The bonus ends in June so there isn't a lot of time. Since making that decision about 3 weeks ago, I have managed to save up $4000 from left over holiday spending money and savings since I've been back. I think this is a good start and at the very least I should be able to cover the set up fees for the home loan and other house costs with my partners help.

It is very exciting though. Going back a year, I owned a bomb of a car. Since then I own more than half of a brand new car and maybe will soon be a home owner too.

Long Delay Between Blogs

I have been very slack but that is largely due to the very lousy internet I have. It is one of those wireless ones that connects by USB and is supposed to be fast broadband speed etc. Yeah right! It is the slowest, must unreliable internet ever. And we're stuck with it for 24 months.

However there is not much news to report at this point in time anyway. Work is much the same. Although I am unlikely to get there this week due to illness. I am feeling absolutely rotten but thankfully was pretty far ahead before falling sick so the impact won't be too severe on everyone else.

It's probably a good chance for them to get used to what it will be like when I'm away for 6 weeks overseas over Christmas. Might make people appreciate how much I do a bit more since it's been quiet and I have definitely helped keep the team ahead.

Time Flies

It has been a year today since I started my job at the prison. I can't believe that it was more than 12 months ago that I was unemployed and frantically seeking work.

In that year I have gained so much valuable experience in the field of psychology, learnt so much and shown my ability. I have gone from a correctional counsellor with no experience, to holding down the fort, to now being second in charge of psych services and having a relatively well paying duel position.

Got my first pay increase today also from when I signed my contract. About an extra $150 a fortnight. Not a massive increase but every bit helps.