Here at Domesblissity, my philosophy has always been…
- care for those I love
- become orderly and organised
- make home a haven
- share my life with those I love
- live a balanced physical, emotional and spiritual life
- truly enjoy my time at home
- provide a comforting and calm space
- create a refuge from the storms
- feel peaceful by being prepared.
The Early Days
I was born in 1964 to a Latvian father and my mother was of German descent. Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers were huge influences in my life. I am the eldest of 3 girls and was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia where I have lived most of my life.
I went to the local primary and high schools and had such a terrific childhood.
When I think back to birthdays and Christmas times, I don’t have any recollection of being worse off than any other kids that I knew. We always had lovely, fresh home cooked meals on the table. I always had clean clothes to wear, even though most of them were hand-me-downs from older girls in the neighbourhood but I was proud to wear them because most of them were pretty groovy. Remember, it was the 70’s by then.
My Mum sewed a lot of our clothes. Our pyjamas were always handmade, including the matching pants. So were our school uniforms. Shopping malls were a relatively new thing and we had a thriving little set of shops just around the corner that included a butcher, grocery store, pharmacy, post office, bakery, green grocer and newsagency. We didn’t have to nor were we tempted to buy unnecessary things compared to the choices we have today.
My father had continental tastes, being born in Latvia, so he would buy a few delicacies from a local shop that included salami, liverwurst, a lot of different cheeses, pickled herring, smoked eel and things I know I would sneak to have a bite of.
My Mother
My mother was the cook of the home and taught us all the basic homemaking skills from an early age. We’d all help get the evening meal ready, including feeding the pets and have the washing up done before we settled in for the evening watching the regular TV programs as a family. No remote controls back then so we took turns having to change the channel.
Mum taught me to cook, to clean, to keep house, ironing, sewing, crocheting, knitting and all the other crafts and homemaking skills I needed to survive. My parents taught me the importance of doing well at school, how to save and having a job so that I could pay my way.
After School
I left high school at the end of Year 11 so not quite finishing my Senior year. I had high hopes of going onto University to be a High School Physical Education teacher but as luck would have it, I took a job in a local business as an Office Junior that would give me a bit of pocket money over those school holidays. I stayed on for a year before leaving and moving onto another company. Most of my working life was in Administration and subsequently computers, including programming and when I finished work at 40 years of age to have my first born, I was working for the State Government.
During those years, I lived on my own quite a bit, renting an apartment near to where I grew up and I LOVED it. I loved my own company, loved cooking what I wanted to eat, sewing my own clothes, going out with friends and travelling. I look back fondly at those years and remember having so much fun.
Relationships
I had quite a few casual and long term relationships over the years and when I was 36, I was married. He’s the father of my two children, aged 19 and 17 and unfortunately that marriage didn’t work out. In that same year, my dear mother passed away and I was a single parent, paying off a mortgage, raising the children and trying to make ends meet.
Those were some really hard times but I got through them from the basic life skills my parents taught me (plus some good counselling). It was about a year before that that I learnt about blogging and how I thought it would be a good idea to save a few recipes for the children when they left home and Domesblissity was born. I soon found it was a creative outlet and a great place to share information plus make a lot of great online and in real life friendships.
New Beginnings
Fast forward to 2014 and friends encouraged me to start dating. I was in no way, shape or form ready to ever settle down again. I’d got myself fit. My kids and I had a wonderful life. I really felt I could conquer the world. The dating scene had definitely changed since I was into it so many years ago.
Online dating was all the go. I met a guy online, who I can happily say is my husband now and we’ve been married since September 2015. He really is the love of my life and the kind of guy I could only ever dream of. The one that I used to be really envious of when women I knew said how wonderful their husbands were. He has 2 children in similar age to mine but doesn’t get to see them as often as he’d like (but that’s a whole other story).
My husband Damien is very frugal minded like I am and does a lot of great DIY projects around the home. He’s also an accomplished musician, skateboarder and surfer so he’s heaps of fun to be around. As my last child is finishing his senior year at high school, we’re preparing for a new and different way of life. Really, one that we’ve been trying to live all along. One that is full of a simple way of life but doing more of what we love and that’s going to the beach and travelling.
My Working Life
I vowed to be a stay at home mother when I had my children but also enjoyed working. After all I had done it for nearly 25 years before I had my children and really liked it. I was fortunate to have this website Domesblissity.com earn a small and modest income as well as work from home opportunities.
In 2022, I was lucky enough to get a small part time job a couple days a week for a few hours a day outside of the home. I really like the balance of work, family and my personal life while giving me a bit of spending money at the end of the week (to go towards the travel fund!).
I trust you’ll come along for the ride and see where it takes us as well as looking back at some of the content that has enabled me this calm, but at times hectic, lifestyle that I love so much. I hope that you can achieve domestic bliss like I have.
Best wishes always,
Anne x
