Grateful
I feel so incredibly lucky and spoiled that in my first year joining I was lucky to have the most generous secret Santa out there, or at least so it feels and so I have been told by some other members. This sweet Santa surely upped my silver stack by some points for sure, and I'm extremely grateful, I know I keep saying this but I feel a bit embarrased to receive this many gifts..
This post shows the final two silver gifts I received from Secret Santa... and I love them so much!
Australian Lunar II series
At first, I thought I received 2 coins in the same series as I just bought one from myself, but it turns out mine is from the III series and these are from series II. Either way, pretty cool to add not 1 but two to that collection at once. Let's have a look..
2013 Australia 1/2 OZ 50 cents Year of the snake silver coin
First thought is that I love the snake, the design of this coin on the snake side is quite simple but I feel it's elegant and I l;ove the font they used. Now on the other side, the side I normally really don't fancy, I love the detailed hair and crown, it looks really nice.
I'm all about buying coins from certain years or having certain connections with it that reminds me of something in my life and this one is spot on.
My connection with the year 2013
In 2013 my whole life changed, in summer I reconnected with my boyfriend after not seeing him for more than a decade and I started to untangle from the psychopath I then lived with as he moved out that summer to his new girlfriend. That summer was one filled with great ups and downs because he was barely available to be there for the children when we discussed it was his time to do so. I was lucky that his family stood up and helped out whenever needed so it meant that I could at least have some me time as well that summer.
Sadly I still believed in fairy tales that summer and when he lured his way back into our lives, I knew within days that I made the wrong decision and the months that followed were months withou lots of fear until I took the children to a women's shelter. You see, although I took us out of the toxic situation, I had no clue what was going to follow the years after. The year 2013 was the kickstart of years in tears and constant fear of that guy.
But it was also the year where I spent the summer alone with my kids and have very strong memories of us doing just fine (before he came back) and those are to be cherished forever. It was also the year of the start of something new, because even though there was a little pause in our reconnection, eventually my boyfriend now was there by my side through all the horror and never failed to reach out a helping hand when I needed it the most. He's been my rock since.
Thank you dear Santa for gifting me a coin that I feel so connected to!
2014 Australia 1/2 OZ 50 cents Year of the horse silver coin
Now for the final one, but definetely not least one, the following silver coin in the same lunar II series: the year of the horse from 2014.
As a child, I used to ride horses. There was a riding school not far from our home and at some point a friend started riding there but on pony's and I joined not long after. It was quite an expensive sport for my mother to fund because the cap and boots and whip weren't cheap, I can clearly remember the store where we bought this and how expensive this was for my mother.
I started riding pony's but after a few weeks I was moved to the big horses while my friend stayed behind on the pony's and I felt so cool the first time (actually every time) sitting on that huge horse because these creatures are so extremely beautiful and graceful. I really loved it.
It's funny that I haven't been on a horse for decades straight but still have the extreme strong muscles in my upper legs from riding the horses. The slow pace was not for me, I didn't like it but once in gallop, I felt so free. I hope I can climb on a horse again one day but right now I don't feel comfortable enough with my back issues so who knows if it may ever happen. I don't have any pain at the moment but one wrong move and I could have a bigger problem so let's pass on that for now at least.
My connection with the year 2014
In 2014 it was also the year that I "escaped" the system/women's shelter situation just before they had me all stuck for many years. I saw through what they were doing and my boyfriend said listen you're welcome to move in here with the kids, they already knew each other and loved being around him so it was the best decision to make. Although the future looked as if I was going to be under their control for years to come (once in, it's hard to get out as they take over everything) but instead I broke free and started to make my own decisions again.
It was very hard because the few years that followed were filled with challenges and fear of my ex, it was too much to deal with at once, but I can also look back on year 2014 with the feeling that this was the first time I truly stood up for me and the kids and did what was right for us in the long term. So this coin also reminds me of several things in my life and I will cherish both coins with all my heart.
The end :)
I hope you enjoyed peeking at my amazing Secret Santa gift haul as much as I did opening it lol. Also it gave me a bit of an idea what I could do this upcoming year in terms of fun extra gifts added. Sadly this year I first had some extras in a box for the person I was sending the gift but I had to repack as the post office said it wasn't allowed. I was caught by surprise by this at the post office as I didn't expect this to happen so looking back I feel sad that I didn't think of something else as the package arrived well in time.
Here's to Secret Silver Santa <3
All pictures are my own, taken with my Sony RX10 III camera...