Christmas surprise

Well, where to start!? I actually starting writing this post about 2 weeks ago when I first arrived in Memphis and yet here I am, 2 weeks later back in Oz. So I guess i'll catch you up :)

About a month ago, after American Thanksgiving my dad emailed me and basically said...I want to fly you home for Christmas to surprise your mom. We miss you and Christmas just won't be the same without you. And my response was...what?! and then there were some tears involved. Let me preface by saying, I love my family and of course I would love nothing more than to be able to spend Christmas with them...but when you've gotten settled into your new home and life in another country and had already prepared yourself to be away from your family at Christmas, it was just a big curve ball that I wasn't expecting. So after a week of secret phone calls to my dad, me making a pro and cons list, and getting advice from my friends and family in oz I finally decided I would go "home" for Christmas. I say "home" like that because lets face it my definition of home has drastically changed over the last several months and although I grew up in Memphis, I don't consider that my home anymore, its where my parents live.

So after tearful goodbyes in Oz, Delta canceling my flights out of Sydney, more tears (thank you Delta), 20,000 free frequent flyer miles (again, thank you Delta), 2 long and 1 not so long flights, slept 2 nights on a plane, visited airports in LA, Atlanta, and Memphis and all together 32 hours of traveling (that was only suppose to be 18 hours) I arrived in Germantown to surprise my mom and yes, it was totally worth it :)

To say the least I think I was actually only "home" for about 12 days but with travel time I was away about 2 weeks. It was a whirlwind trip. I got to spend a day in Little Rock, catching up with my friends and coworkers there. We had family arrive from out of town to spend Christmas with us. And of course I got to visit with friends and family in Memphis. It was a good trip, a long ways to go for such a short amount of time but it was great to spend Christmas with my family.

Thankfully my trip back to Oz was less eventful that my trip there, the only really bad thing was the entertainment system on the plane was broken so for our entire 14 hours and 55 minute flight we didn't get to watch any movies. I'm not going to lie, I was seriously hoping that would turn the plane back to LA and get it fixed but no. Next time I'm taking movies to watch on my laptop! When I did arrive in Sydney I was going through Customs and Immigration and I got pulled aside because there was a "problem" with my visa...I immediately starting thinking, "oh no, they are not going to let me in the country and put my back on that stupid plane with no movies right back to LA"...thankfully it was just my middle name missing from my paperwork, which for some reason they didn't catch it when I arrived again in August.

And here I am, home again in Oz. Its good to be back. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind and a tad overwhelming but i'm ready to get back into a routine and ring in the new year :) Lots to do today...mostly trying to stay awake, unpacking etc but i'll post again soon with some Christmas pictures :)

Thanksgiving

I wasn't really sure how I would feel this past week with being away from my family for Thanksgiving but all in all things went really well. I guess its never easy being separated from family on holidays but you just have to adjust and realize that the holidays will be different but different isn't always bad, just different. This Thanksgiving was different, thats for sure. For my first time ever, I was not at the lake house celebrating with my family but thankfully was able to still be apart of their thanksgiving via Skype.

Obviously, Aussies do not celebrate Thanksgiving but since there are many Americans here my cousin organized a Thanksgiving lunch for after church. Their young adults group has done this for several years now and I was really thankful to be apart of it. We got together Saturday night and did lots of cooking of all the Thanksgiving favorites: sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. Earlier in the week when we were working on the menu we were at the store and discovered turkeys here are super expensive! I believe we saw a TINY 2 kilo (4.4 lbs) turkey that would maybe feed 10 people that cost $45. That was not going to work out so great since we had 30 people who planned on coming for lunch. So my cousins started talking about other options for our meat, sausages, chicken, etc. I'm not going to lie I was pouting a little and Aussies just don't understand...it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a turkey! My cousin was trying to keep it a surprise from me that a friend of hers who is a great cook was making the turkey, well she couldn't keep it a secret anymore and ended up telling me at the grocery store while we were shopping. I was so excited! I got to spend day with some family and friends, enjoyed some turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet tea and I even downloaded the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Even though I missed being with my family back home it was a pretty perfect Thanksgiving.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. The short list....i'm thankful for this little adventure in Australia and new beginnings.

good intentions

I'm starting to slack on my updates. I really do have good intentions of keeping it up to date and if I updated it every time I thought about it there would be a ton of posts. Its the thought that counts, right? The last few weeks have been really good. I'm usually not too busy during the week but once the weekend hits its crazy busy around here. The last few weekends we've spent a lot of time cooking. I'm pretty sure i've "logged" more cooking hours since i've been in Australia than I have most of my adult life. Lets just say grilling a piece of chicken and heating up veggies does not count as cooking. Two weekends ago they had a formal dinner at church so Mel and I and some girls from church spent about 2 days cooking for that. Then this past weekend a group of students from Oklahoma Christian were visiting the Central Coast so we did some cooking for them. And i'm pretty sure there will be a lot of cooking this weekend since we're celebrating American Thanksgiving on Sunday.

Two weekends ago we visited Norah Head Lighthouse which is about 30-40 minutes away from here. It was a spot I had on my list that I wanted to visit after coming back to Australia. It was the perfect day to be there, the sun was shining and it felt almost like summer! The lighthouse was beautiful, you could walk around it and then down to the beach and rock pools. I'm pretty sure every time we go anywhere near the ocean I get excited and say how much I love it. I can't help it! In my entire life the closest i've ever lived to the beach was maybe 9 hours. I'm thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

Like I mentioned earlier this past weekend there was a group of students here from Oklahoma Christian University visiting the Gosford area. They are apart of the study abroad program called Pac Rim, they've been traveling around studying the last few months and are in Australia for the last few weeks of their trip. Friday we all went to the Reptile park and I finally got to pet/see a kangaroo! Saturday was a beach day followed by a big dinner at the Browns house and Sunday we had a bbq after church and then all went to the Central Coast Mariners game. It was a fun, but busy weekend. It was nice to spend the weekend with them and I think I got my "American" fix to hold me over for a while. I kept thinking though after spending the weekend with them that I feel so old! I remember my days at Harding like they were yesterday and being around them I kept thinking, I feel like that was just me. It was...just several years ago! Oh well, I can't complain because life after college has been great but sometimes I miss those days carefree college days.

I got my first package from home last week. I'm not going to lie, its was maybe the highlight of my week. There is just something about getting a little bit of love from home...even if it comes in the form of hair color, candy corn and a cute black dress :)

My cousins started to put of their Christmas tree yesterday. Its just weird. It shouldn't be that big of a surprise because the shops here have had Christmas decorations up and Christmas music playing for weeks. I just can't wrap my head around it yet that its almost December and almost summer and i'm still wearing little sun dresses. I'm just so used to a winter Christmas, I guess. Thanksgiving is this week, which I just can't believe. This was always my favorite week when I was teaching because it was our first few days out of school and usually much needed. I've been very thankful my homesick days are becoming less and less. I talked a few weeks ago with another American girl living here and she said around 3-6 months was hardest for her. I was thinking things have been easier for me, but who knows maybe I'll hit the 3-6 month slump, too. I'm sure with the holidays getting closer it will start to hit home a bit. As much as a I miss and love my family and friends, I'm loving my new life here. I think its taken me a while to let myself be comfortable, learn to enjoy and come to love my new life here because that makes it more real that i've started over here and my "old" life in Little Rock is really over. And its hard talking to people from home and missing them but being happy about being here, I guess there just comes a time when you start to find that balance that its ok to miss people but continue to live your life. Who knows if that makes sense...but I do think its helped with the whole "homesick" thing.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. One day i'll figure out how to make my computer happy with blogger and be able to put up more pictures with captions etc, but that day is not today...

twenty six

Its official, as of last Saturday i'm closer to thirty than twenty. In all honesty it doesn't feel any different...at least not yet :) I will say its hard being so far away from my friends and family on birthdays, weddings, etc but thankfully my family here made my birthday a wonderful day full of surprises! Most of the day was planned and kept secret from me and I will say these Aussies sure do know how to keep a secret. I tried and tried to get it out of them but they wouldn't spill the beans. I did know that we were going out for brunch that morning with the whole family and then out again later that night but that was all I knew. We had brunch at a little cafe right by the water at Terrigal, one of the pretty beaches close by. It was actually a cloudy, cold day but I could care less because I love, love being at the beach. The rest of the day was fun and laid back. We went to Erina and did some shopping, had coffee club then went back to Mel and Dan's to watch a movie. Later that night we got dressed up and headed out to my other surprise which was drinks and the Lord Ashley Lounge at Terrigal. I couldn't have imagined a better 26th birthday and i'm so thankful for my family here who planned a fun day for me.

Twenty five was a great year, full of big changes etc so i'm kind of excited to see what twenty six holds...I have a feeling its going to be a good year :)

I've been trying to add some pictures from this weekend but for some reason blogger and my computer can't "find" my recent uploads. But some are posted on facebook, so that will have to do for now.

trick or treat?

I couldn't help but write a post about Halloween or more like the lack there of in Australia. I've never been one of those people who decks my house out for halloween or gets super excited about dressing up but i'm not going to lie, I did kind of miss all the excitement this year. Actually, to be honest I missed all the halloween excitement from school. The last few years with my kiddos we would make cute bats out of egg cartons, learn halloween poems, carve a pumpkin together...well, Ms. Wenner did the pumpkin carving, but you get the idea :)

Halloween here is not a big deal, what so ever. There are hardily any halloween decorations up at the shops, no candy corn and a pumpkin will cost you about $20. I was over at Mel and Dan's house Sunday night and I think we had maybe 4 groups of trick or treaters, maybe 15 kids total. We did however make a quick appearance at a halloween party Saturday night, Elisha and I dressed up as a lady bug and a bumble bee.

working girl

I know I have a lot to catch up on the last week or so, but we're going to backtrack and start with Tuesday :) I got a phone call last week from Randstad Education to come in for an interview. I headed to Sydney early Tuesday morning for my interview, which went well and i'm officially employed again! I'm still kind of surprised it was kind of a whirlwind day to say the least. Randstad Education is pretty much an employment agency, they contract out casual teachers for jobs. It could be short term, long term etc. So its still "casual" work but then again thats all i'm really allowed to do under my visa and its a job with a paycheck, so i'm not complaining! Of all days for me to get a job, Tuesday was pretty much perfect. The 26th was exactly 2 months that i've been in Australia. I'm so thankful and excited for this new job and it really is another reminder that God's timing is always perfect. I was watching a show last night and one of the ladies mentioned this quote: "We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." -Joseph Campbell
I love that quote and have found more and more over the last few months that it is so true. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would move half way around the world and even more so move half way around the world and not have a plan! I'm a planner, i'm organized, and yes sometimes i'm even a little ocd. But if there has been anything i've learned through my experiences in the last few months is that God's plan is always better than mine. I've given up my entire life in the US to move here, its been a huge leap of faith but God has and will continue to provided for me. And on the days when I get overwhelmed or homesick i'm thankful for the people God has put in my life here that remind me that He will always take care of me.

Besides getting a job, it was a fun day in Sydney! I love living on Central Coast because its so laid back, but I love that the city is only a train ride away. I also love that i'm learning my way around, how to use the trains etc. I'm feeling more and more like I actually belong and less like a tourist. I was walking around Circular Quay and one of the cruise ships was parked in the harbor right across from the Opera House. There were so many tourist walking around, taking pictures, looking at maps and it just made me smile. I met up for lunch with Dan, who is my cousin in laws, brother in law...is that confusing enough? lol...I just consider all of the Browns, Mowdays and Wenner's my family here. We had a yummy lunch at a corner pub, I did a little window shopping and then headed back to the Central Coast.

Last week my cousins were on holiday in Queensland so I got to spend the week at her parents house. It was a really good week, its always nice to have a change in scenery. I got to tag along with Scott a few times for work. He had to drive up north to Port Stephens to look at some properties. It makes for a fun little day trip. There is not a lot to do up there by any means but we did find a good little cafe to get a coffee and some lunch. I love getting to see more of Australia. The more time I spend here the more I love it.

photo op

So, I'm not actually driving yet...but i've been trying to pay close attention to the rules of the road when being a passenger. For the most part i've found most of the rules from the US are the same here, except I'm pretty sure you can't make a left on a red, which for us would be a right on a red. But thats beside the point. A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with my cousins about rules of the road here and they said something about stopping for ducks crossing the road because here ducks have the right of way. I don't really remember the conversation exactly but I remember something about ducks and thought, "huh, thats weird." Yesterday we had just left the shops and were heading home and up ahead at an intersection I saw 2 rather large ducks just hanging out in the cross walk. I was riding with my cousin in laws parents, Deb and Kev, and they started telling me about the duck law. I think its just crazy! Not to say that in the states we would run over ducks or anything but its actually a law here! And yes, every single car stopped and waited patiently until the ducks finished crossing the road. It would have been a great photo, if I had my camera out.

I went away this weekend with my cousin in laws family to Myuna Bay. Its about an hour north of here. Their church was having a family retreat weekend. It was a lot of fun, very laid back and relaxing. I love getting to see more of Australia, its such a beautiful place! I was not near as good as I should have been about taking photos this weekend, but I did get a few.

new loves

Since moving to Oz I've discovered many new things that I love, one being cooking. Not to say I didn't like cooking before, lets just say my cooking skills were limited. Its much easier to grill a piece of chicken and heat up veggies for one person than to cook a huge meal with tons of left overs, again for just me. So its been nice to be able to try out different recipes and have people to cook for on a regular basis! One of my favorite new meals is Baked Pumpkin & Ricotta Cannelloni and as promised for some family and friends I'll even share the recipe...which we found in the Recipes+ magazine, not sure if they have that in the states, so here you go :-)

Baked Pumpkin & Ricotta Cannelloni

Ingredients
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled & chopped
olive oil cooking spray
200g fresh ricotta
12 cannelloni tubes
1 can of pasta sauce (I use tomato basil)
1 1/3 cup grated cheese

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 200c (which I believe is almost 400f), grease rectangular shallow ovenproof dish
2. Bake pumpkin for 15 minutes or until tender (we put it in the rice cooker and steam it, its much easier I think)
3. Mash pumpkin & ricotta together, spoon or pipe into cannelloni tubes (or if you're me, I just use my hands!)
4. Poor some of the pasta sauce over the base of dish, place cannelloni tubes in a single layer then top with the rest of the pasta sauce, sprinkle with cheese.
5. Cover dish with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, uncover; bake for 10-15 more minutes.

I've learned that I need to work on my presentation skills, but lets face it...its just food it only matters how good it taste, right? So here you go...it was yummy, ask my cousins!


Of course i've come to love many other things besides cooking since moving here. As silly as it sounds, I love sleeping with the windows open! Mostly because thats something I would never do at home, because of the yucky weather but here its so beautiful. The only downfall is being able to hear traffic starting around 7am but hopefully i'll learn to sleep through that soon. That would be the short list of 'new loves' for now. Stay tuned though, i'm sure i'll have more to add to the list next week :-)

writers block

Ok, so I really haven't had writers block. I've thought every other day or so that I need to update my blog, but it just hasn't happened. I guess some weeks are just like that.

This past week was a little more overwhelming than weeks past. Its starting to feel more and more like home and I'm feeling less like someone who's just visiting. I'm learning my way around and how to get to places, although i'm not driving yet its still good to know your way around! I'm getting used to communicating with family and friends through skype and email. It's hard to explain in some ways, but it just feels like this is normal now. Of course every once in a while I think, oh my gosh I live in Australia...its still crazy when I think about it. I realized a lot this week with why this adjustment has been harder on me than I thought. For starters, i've been very independent for the last 7 years or so. I went from working full time, supporting myself, living in my own house, having a car, etc to living with family, not driving and having to be driven everywhere, etc. I know its not that big of a deal, I think personally for me its just harder to rely on other people because i've been used to having to do things on my own. But I certainly think its a good lesson i've needed to learn, to let go of the control a bit and rely on others. I also have to keep reminding myself that this is just temporary, one day i'll be my independent self again.

I think since deciding to move here I've been surrounded with all the exciting and happy feelings where as this week I was hit hard with the fear of everything. I was really homesick one night and talking with a friend from home, it was one of those moments where I thought "what the hell am I doing?!" you know...I quit my job, moved 10,000 miles away from home, that could not have been the smartest decision. I was telling my friend that sometimes I feel like I can't do this, but she reminded me that I already did. When in all reality she's right, the hardest part is already over. I already made my decision, said my goodbyes, got on the plane, and now i'm settling in here. As far as the fear part goes, its scary starting all over. I honestly can't remember a time that i've had to start all over like this. I mean, from high school I went to college, which just happened to be with people I went to high school with. When I graduated college I ended up moving to Little Rock where I knew a bunch of people from college.Yes, I know people here and have been making friends but its hard starting a whole other part of my life one that my family and friends from back home in the states won't really know about just like my life back in the states that no one here really knows about. Its a scary feeling. I know in some ways i've held back because I'm afraid of failure, afraid of loving it here and not wanting to go home, afraid of building relationships with people here and maybe leaving one day. But I can't let the fear take over. As scary as it may be starting all over, its worth the risk. I would much rather take risk in life than have regrets later on.

So, change of subject...on the job front, well not a lot has changed. I've been really discouraged the last few days with figuring out what to do about working. Part of the "problem" is since I only came on a 1 year working holiday visa most people don't want to hire someone they think will only be here for a year, which I completely understand. I've been debating on what to do with the teaching thing, which I think i've decided to go ahead and work on that. To be honest, I love teaching thats what i've always felt my calling is. I know maybe I could learn to do another job and maybe love it, but its hard to think about doing anything else when i've already had a career that I love and know i'm good at. So, I guess we'll see what happens. I'm still praying though and I know the right thing will come along.

Sorry I have no photos to share. I'm not sure i've taken any in the last few weeks although I've actually been "busier" than normal. I went to work with my cousin one day last week, it was good to get out of the house and of course get to see what she does all day. I got to tag along with Scott last Tuesday for work, he had to go up north to a town called Salt Ash to look at some properties. It was a fun little day trip, I love getting to see more of Australia. I also ventured to Hornsby last week, its a town in between here and Sydney. They have a Westfield which is basically a huge mall. I may not be spending money right now, but its nice to window shop. I guess its a lie that i'm not spending money...I bought a pillow yesterday. No, its not just any pillow. Its an arch pillow, which i'm guessing is an Aussie thing because I had never seen them until I came here. My cousins have them and love them, and I just had to have one. It's amazing!

I would love to tell you about how wonderful the weather has been but the last week it has just been down right yucky! Its rained a lot and been very overcast. I think we really only had 1 sunny day last week. But from what i'm hearing having a wet spring is good because it helps prevents bush fires in the summer. I usually don't mind the rain but its starting to interfere with my laundry schedule and my running. I already don't like running outside and I really don't like it when its wet!

Hope everyone has had a restful weekend :)

1 down...

Its hard to believe that as of yesterday I've been in Australia for a month. In some ways it feels like I never left the last time I was here, but when I think about how long its been since i've seen my family and friends it feels like i've been here a year. According to the visa I came under I only have 11 months left here...but hopefully that will change and i'll be able to stay! I finally got my tax file number about a week ago, so now i'm able to work. Still working on the job search. I've been playing around with a few ideas, trying to decide if I want to go through the process to get qualified to teach here. It cost a lot of money to do that, so i'm looking into a few different options...casual teaching in the schools here or possibly an office job. I'm just praying for the right thing at the right time, and I know it will all work out.

I had a little homesick moment last week. I think it finally hit me that this is "home" now and i'm not going "home". Its not even that I want to go home, I had a moment when I though, oh I need to call so and so about this and I thought, aww I can't do that. And it just made me miss being around my family and friends. According to my cousin, i'm right on track with adjusting to life in a new country. I know i'll have other homesick days and thats ok. I do love it here though, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I'm so thankful for my cousins, Zach and Elisha and Elisha's family. They have made this whole transition a million times easier!

The weather here is warming up and I'm loving it! Of course its weird to think that its almost October and warm outside. I do miss fall at home...the pumpkin candles, candy corn and peanuts, leaves changing colors, etc. But I did get to go to the beach the other day and i'm pretty sure that made up for it! I love the weekends, mostly because everyone is off work and we're busy! This past weekend was so much fun, Saturday the weather was perfect! I believe the temperature was 28 (celsius) which translate to 82 (fahrenheit)...I would tell you i'm learning all the conversions, but i'm not. I cheat, I have a converter on my computer. But I do know that if its going to be above 20, thats a good day! Since it was such a nice day my cousin and I headed to the beach to get some sun which was much needed because i'm pretty sure any tan I came with has faded. Saturday night we got dressed up in our country best to head to my cousin's friends engagement party which was a country western theme. It was a fun night, beautiful weather, good food and drinks, a massive bond fire and even some square dancing. Sunday after church we went to a nursery cafe for lunch with Elisha's family for her mums birthday. One thing I love about Australia, the food. Everything we eat is amazing and so fresh! So different than eating in the states. Of course with all this eating, I had to buy a scale last week. haha. My cousin said she didn't want one because she would be on it all the time, so i'm going to have to hide it! I will say the scale I bought is in kilos, which I knew it would be (which is fine because I have my handy converter on my computer) but it also had stones as a unit of measurement. I had no idea anyone still used stones?! Luckily my little bit of working out has canceled out all the eating, but I still need to get back into a better routine asap.

Here a few pictures from our weekend.

Day in Sydney

Yesterday I took a little day trip to Sydney. Mostly just to get out of the house, but I haven't really been back to Sydney since I flew in 3 weeks ago. Sydney is about 40 miles from where I live on the central coast, so its about an hour train ride. The public transportation here is so much better than in the states, between the trains, buses, and ferries its really easy to get pretty much anywhere. I headed to one of my favorite spots, Circular Quay. As soon as you step off the train you have a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbor bridge and the Opera House. I didn't do a whole lot, just walked around the harbor and the Rocks district, the Opera House. Had lunch, took lots of photos, and did some window shopping :-)

Here are a few photos of my little day trip.

the place to be

Apparently Australia is the place to be :-) I've been watching Sunrise the last few mornings with my cousin, its like the Aussie version of the Today show. Well yesterday, they showed Tim McGraw arriving in Oz and this morning Usain Bolt (sp?!) arrived. Also if you haven't heard apparently Oprah surprised her studio audience with a trip to Oz. She is coming in December and bring 300 people from her audience and 150 crew members with her to 4 different destinations and is going to film 2 shows at the Sydney Opera House which everyone here is calling the Oprah House now...all I can say is wow, thats just nuts! Talk about an expensive holiday!

It really is an exciting time to be here! The new prime minister, who just so happens to be a woman is being sworn in this week. And beautiful spring weather is in full force, I can't wait for a summer Christmas!

A few things i've come to learn about life in Oz...
1. Not only do they drive on the left side of the road, the trains are on the left, escalators are on the left and when passing people on the footpath (aka sidewalk) they generally stay to the left. I find that the hardest, I guess its just a habit I need to break.
2. Aussies LOVE their tea. They call it a 'cuppa', and I probably have at least 2-3 a day. Depends on where I am and who i'm with, sometimes its more like 4 or 5. Everyone has a kettle, which is my new favorite kitchen gadget.
3. There are no drive through banks, coffee shops, etc. But there are tons of cute coffee shops and cafes, which I love!
4. No, kangaroos do not just run around everywhere. I'm sure they do in the outback but I live in a city and the only time i've ever actually seen any was at the zoo.
5. I love, love the Aussie accent! I'm pretty sure I could sit and listen to them talk all day.
6. Some of the lingo... boot=trunk of the car, arvo=afternoon, bottle-o=liquor store, grog=alcohol, ring=call. They also use words like: heaps, no worries, cheers, etc. I just love it all :-) I could write a whole post just on the lingo.

I'm sure I could write a whole post about all the things i've learned about live here so far, but i'll spare you. Life certainly is different here but in a good way. I kept saying all along I was ready for a change and needed something different. Well I got it alright. I needed to be taken out of my comfort zone, some place I could relax, clear my head and get my priorities back on track. Not that things were out of control or anything but for a few years now my life had become consumed with my job which is silly for a 25 year old. I'm thankful to be where I am and for this time in my life. And I can honestly say that no matter what happens, I'll have no regrets.

Thankful

I'm thankful for emails from friends back home that make me laugh out loud until the point of tears and getting to skype at the dinner table with 2 of my favorite kiddos. I'm seriously grateful for our amazing means of communication now days. What did we do so many years ago? I couldn't live half way around the world, thats for sure. Its been an adjustment communicating with friends and family through skype, emails and facebook chat but I wouldn't change any of it. I'm so blessed to have so many people in my life that love, miss and care about me, even from 10,000 miles away.

Not a lot going on this week. My daily "routine" is pretty much the same. Up around 7am, tea with my cousin before she leaves for work, then I usually chat with people back home (since its night time there, during my morning time), go for a run, walk to the store to get groceries, wash dishes, pick up/clean, watch tv from the states, shower, then start working on dinner before everyone comes home. Yep, I kind of feel like a stay at home mom or housewife minus the husband and kids thing :-) I'm still waiting for my tax file number to come in, once I get that i'll be able to start working. Until then, just trying to enjoy this "in between" time.

photo update

I realize since i've been here I have been terrible at taking pictures (not that i've been doing a lot of exciting things to take pictures of...) but I played catch up a little this weekend. While everyone back home in the states was celebrating Labor Day, we in Australia were celebrating Fathers Day. Early Sunday morning we had a massive wind storm, who would have thought wind could keep you awake all night. I was sure it was going to start storming at any minute and tornado sirens would start going off, but nope...just wind. Sunday was a busy day. After church we went to Scott's soccer game, then over to Elisha's sisters house for Father's Day lunch with the Brown family. I love Elisha's family, they remind me a lot of mine, which of course make me miss everyone back home. They have been so helpful in making me feel at home. Here are a few photos from my new life in Oz.
Laundry day...good thing it was sunny out :-)

Scott's soccer game

My cousin, Elisha and I

My cousins house, where I'm living for a while

Culture Shock

I realize I have only been here for one week (today!) so maybe this post is a little premature but as far as the culture shock goes, I think i'm good. My cousins and I have talked about this some. When I first got here I was just so surprised that I was back already, it all happened so fast. My cousin in law, Elisha (who's from here) was telling me about the culture shock she experienced when she moved to the states a few years ago and even when she moved back home...I was getting a little nervous. But i've also talked some with my cousin Zach (who's from FL) he mentioned that living in Australia is similar to how it would have been like living in the US many years ago. I didn't really understand that at first but now i'm starting to.

I didn't think it would be hard moving here as far as the culture goes. I mean, honestly its a lot like home just maybe a little more laid back and the big thing, they speak English! I think it I would have moved somewhere I didn't speak the language it would have been completely different. The way i've described Australia to people from home is it reminds me a lot of a mix between Europe and the US. They have a lot of the architecture, diversity, old world charm of Europe but all of the modern things of the US like, internet, McDonald's...I know, maybe not the best examples but you get the idea.

Life in Australia, in my opinion is more laid back and simpler, which I happen to love! One of the biggest things I was wanting this year when I decided to move was just to somewhere different, I was wanting a change. I didn't know at the time it would be to the other side of the world and 15 hours away from my friends and family. But oh well, I wouldn't change any of it. Well, maybe the jet lag part which I would love to say i've overcome but i'm not sure since I was wide awake at 6am. Since its still early and the weather is decent i'm going to attempt a run this morning. Its been over 2 weeks since i've been in a gym so i'm a little nervous. More nervous because there is hardily any semi flat land nearby so this should be interesting.

The Plan

About the only "plan" i've had in the last 2 months was the decision that I made to come back to Australia. For those of you who know me really well, know that I'm a planner. For the majority of my life I've always had a plan...after high school the plan was to go to college, after that it was to start teaching, etc. When I was telling people back home that I had decided to move to Australia they all asked what my plan was and of course my answer was, I don't really have one. I knew once getting here I would be staying with my cousins, I would get a job and figure things out. And just so you know, I still don't have a "plan" but I think of the things i've already learned from this experience and i've only been here a few days, I can only imagine the things to come.

Yesterday morning (Sunday) we had planned on going to a soccer game instead of church. Well it didn't work out and the game was cancelled so we had enough time to get to church. At the beginning of worship I was a little overwhelmed. The last time I was at church I was with my parents, so I started to get a little touch of homesickness, I guess. I started thinking, why am I here, what am I going to do etc. The lesson that morning was on worry and as Christians we are called to not worry, but to trust in God as he provides for us. Well at one point during the lesson, my cousin in law looked over at me, this was something we both knew we needed to hear. My cousin has been dealing with some medical issues this last week and my cousin in law (his wife) has been worried about him. My worry of course has been, what am I going to do? I moved 10,000 miles away from my family and friends and I don't have a plan!? I was so thankful for that lesson, it was exactly what I needed to hear. It reminded me that God is in control of my life, His plan is bigger and better than one I could ever come up with on my own. A perfect example of that is how I ended up here, in Australia. My cousins and I have talked several times about how quickly I got my visa. Apparently it does not happen that easily or quickly. Mine was 3 weeks exactly to the date. Do I think it was an accident that I came to visit in June, that I had plans on moving to Texas, already moved out of my house, put everything I own into storage. No, it wasn't an accident. This was a part of the plan all along, I just didn't know it. I know that i'm here for a reason and that God is in control of it. Though I may not know the reason yet, I will. It gives me such peace and joy to know that my Australian adventure is in Gods hands. I am so thankful for the people He has put in my life here and i'm excited for the things to come. I wish I could just bottle up this feeling, or even be able to put into words a little better to be able to share with everyone around me. But in the meantime i'm just trying to enjoy this time of not knowing and trust in God's plan for my life.

first days

Slowly but surely i'm getting settled. Actually in some ways it feels like I never left and i've felt very at home since being back. Its been so good to see people again. I didn't know what it was going to be like to come back, its still a little overwhelming that i'm back and going to be actually living here, since it all happened so fast. But it feels right and i'm really excited.

Last night (my first night) I ended up falling asleep at 8pm, which was good because I stayed awake all day which helps with the jetlag, but I was wide awake at 2am, not good. So today was been a little more tiring. I didn't do a whole lot today, just some more unpacking. I did however open a Aussie bank account which was a big thing to do on my list. Thankfully, Scott (my cousin in laws brother) came with me, which was so helpful. I haven't been in a bank to start all over in a while. One little side note, banks here to not have drive thrus. Yep, everyone comes in for face to face banking, or to use the atm. Its actually really cool I think.

We went to mackers or maccas for dinner, not sure which way they spell it but for those of you whole don't know Aussie slang, thats code for McDonalds. Yep, I know...I come all the way to Australia and we eat McDonalds for dinner on a Friday night! I'm was giving my cousin such a hard time about it. Not that I care, I mean I don't usually eat it at home but I will say the McDonalds here are MUCH nicer than they are in the states. A lady sitting next to us asked when leaving where I was from. I told her Tennessee (I never know where to tell people i'm from, so since I figure I grew up there, it still counts) she guessed California. Interesting I thought, but I was excited because maybe I sounded less southern to her! She said she loved to hear me talk, it made her homesick for the states. I think she had lived there some years back. So funny, because i'm pretty sure I could just listen to the Aussies talk all day long!

Well i'm off to bed hopefully tonight i'll sleep all night!

G'day mate!

After weeks and weeks of planning, i'm back in Australia! The "trip" over was long, but not too bad. I left Little Rock around 7am on Tuesday and headed to LA. I got to spend the day there with aunt Amy. We did touristy things like Manns Chinese Theater, Santa Monica Pier, etc. My flight from LA to Sydney left around 10:30pm that night. By the way, if you ever come this way fly V Australia, not only do they have really good deals, overall it was a great experience. Not that Delta was bad last time, V Australia was just better :-) The flight was good, as good as a 14 hour flight could be I guess. I actually slept almost 8 hours of it so I was very thankful not to be watching movie after movie. I got in Sydney around 6:30am Thursday (which is around 3:30pm Wednesday for those of you back home, there is a 15 hour time difference). My cousins mom came to meet me at the airport and now i'm getting settled at my cousins house in Gosford where i'll be staying for a while.

I'm super excited! It feels so good to be back, almost like I never left. I'm so excited to see everyone and get settled and back into a routine. It still almost doesn't feel real though. I guess it will take a while to realize that this is home.

Pictures and updates to come :-)

Bittersweet

Where has the time gone? I feel like it was just yesterday that I got my visa approved and here we are almost 4 weeks later and its time to leave. Wow. The last few weeks have been so wonderful and bittersweet. One of my favorite new words, but it really is the best way to describe this time. I am so excited and yes, a little overwhelmed. I hate goodbyes and I feel like thats all i've been saying lately.
Last night my parents had some friends over, it was so nice to be able to see everyone before I left. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful extended family in Memphis. Tomorrow I head to Little Rock for one last dinner with my friends there and then I head out on Tuesday! I'm so ready! Well, almost...I still have some packing to finish so I better run!

Left or Right?

Since I'm not able to take everything I own with me to Australia I've been making a list of things I will need to purchase once I get there. A car is one of the things on my list. I know, you may wonder why I need to make a list. Well up until about 3 or 4 weeks ago it had not crossed my mind that I may need a car, you know some form of transportation. Yep...so, hence the reason i've started making a list. Of all of the things on my list I keep going back to the car because it means i'll be driving...in Australia...notice anything about the picture?



Yep, the steering wheel is on the right and i'll be driving on the left side of the road. Everyone I talk to in Australia tells me its easy, I just follow the cars in front of me. My response is, what if they're not going the same way I need to? I don't know why but this scared me. I'm sure I'll pick it up when I get there and get some practice. So beware all you Aussie drivers out there! I'll be there in a few weeks and more than likely be on the road.

On a side note, i'm trying to make some updates and changes to my blog, so bare with me :-)

One of those days

Since I received my visa things have been a little crazy to say the least. While most days I am so excited and ready to go, I do have the occasional overwhelming day, or the I can't believe I'm actually doing this day, and yes sometimes I have a sad day. Today is one of those days. Maybe sad isn't the best way to describe it but I really can't think of a better word at this exact moment. Don't get me wrong, I am so so excited about moving (ready for it to just happen already!) but its all the goodbyes and "ends" that are hard. I know its not like i'm leaving forever or anything, but essentially i'm leaving the live i've had in Little Rock for the last few years for a new adventure full of unknowns, which can be a little scary. The biggest thing about moving that has been the hardest is leaving my job. I know a job is just a job but for me it didn't feel like just a job. This was my career, the thing I went to school for 4 years to learn how to do. The thing I spent countless hours working in my classroom and taking work home. It was the thing I got to do every day for 3 years, everyday I got to be around a bunch of crazy but amazing kiddos that made my day so much better. I know your job should not be your life, but it wasn't just my job I felt like it was my calling and my passion. So its really hard knowing i'm not going to be in the classroom this year. I know its not forever, one day i'll teach again. Today was the first day of inservice, so I knew today I would be a little sad and bummed that i'm not there with my friends and coworkers. I'm not going to lie i'm sure next week when the first day of school for the kiddos rolls around I'll be a little sad again, but thats ok.

25 days and counting

Besides it being official because my visa was approved....now its really official because i've booked a ticket! I will be leaving on August 24th. I decided to change the trip up a little this time...lets just say, traveling for 25 hours is pretty brutal. I'll be flying to LA earlier so I get to spend 12 hours there with my Auntie Amy. I'm super excited! Amy actually lives in San Diego but she's gotten the day off to come up and meet me at the airport so we can do some tourist things for the day before my flight that night. I haven't been to LA (other than the airport) for more than 10 years, so it should be a fun day. Then i'll fly all night, skip a day and land in Sydney early Thursday morning.

Since the countdown has begun I have a ton of things to do and people to see! I'll be in Colorado next weekend to visit my best friend from high school. Then to Little Rock to finish moving out of my classroom. Then to the lake for one more weekend with friends. Then my best friend growing up will be in town from Nashville! And somewhere in all of this i've got a super long to do list to be working on. I'm not worried...it will all get done, one way or another :-)

its official!

Well, its official...I got an email today that my Australian work visa was approved!! I honestly can't believe how quickly and easily everything has happened. I've only been home for about 3 and a half weeks. And applied for my visa just 3 weeks ago. I cannot believe it went through so fast! The whole process was much easier than I thought it would be. Its all online and through emails. The only thing I really had to do for it was get a chest x-ray to make sure I didn't have TB. So, I must be healthy because they are letting me in the country!

Its been an overwhelming and exciting day! I officially resigned from my job at Chicot today. I knew I wasn't going back but I wanted to wait to make sure my visa went through before I resigned. As excited as I am, it was still harder than I thought to write that resignation letter. I spent 3 years at Chicot, working with some of the most amazing people and kids i've ever met. Those 3 years taught me so much about myself and as excited as I am about starting a new chapter in my life I am really going to miss everyone at Chicot and Little Rock for that matter!

So, I guess the next thing is to set a travel date. I'm thinking i'll leave at the end of August but we'll see. Of course I have a million things to do before I leave. And yes, the teacher in me has made a long to do list. I'm so excited! Its been hard sitting and waiting but I knew it was only a matter of time. Now that its official I can get excited, and have something to look forward to. There is so much to look forward to!

I love this place

This is one of my favorite places. I'm lucky enough to be at the lake house with all of my Little Rock friends for the weekend. There is nothing better than this view from your living room, having a bond fire in the middle of summer, and playing on the lake all day. I'm going to miss being at this place with these people!

I think i'll move to Australia...

I had every intention of keeping my blog updated while I was in Australia but i'll be honest, I was enjoying myself to much to even think about it. I just got home last week from spending 3 and a half weeks in New South Whales, Australia. Everyone has asked, "How did you like your trip? What all did you do?"

Where do I even begin?! The trip was amazing! I was lucky enough to get to experience many different parts to Australia. A friend from college went with me and we were able to be tourist and see all the sights, but since I was visiting my cousins I was able to kind of live their life, meet their friends, go to their church etc. It was such a blessing to get to know my cousins better. My cousin Zach from my dads side of the family moved there almost 5 years ago and married Elisha who is from Australia. Zach and Elisha live on the Central Coast area which is about a hour north of Sydney by train. To spare you the hours I could spend talking, writing, and showing you hundreds of pictures about my trip I will narrow them down to 10 highlights from the trip (in no particular order). If you want to hear the entire saga and see all the pictures, come find me :-)

1. Touring the Sydney Opera House and getting to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Practice.
2. Going to the Blue Mountains with Zach/
3. Discovering pancakes with ice cream on top is super yummy at Pancakes on the Rocks.
4. Meeting and getting to know Elisha's amazing family!
5. Horseback riding at Glenworth Valley.
6. Learning how to use the train system...my favorite stop is Circular Quay because of the amazing views of the Sydney Harbor bridge and Opera House as soon as you get off.
7. Visiting some of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen.
8. Going to Zach and Elisha's church and getting to know so many of their wonderful friends!
9. Dinner at the top of Centerpoint tower with some of the most amazing views of Sydney.
10. Getting to experience an Aussie winter.

So, I suppose talking about the trip is only a part of this blog update. For months i've been talking about my plan to move to Texas this summer after my trip. Well I should know better than to make a plan...the plan always seems to change. With lots of talking, praying, thinking etc. I've decided i'm still moving, but instead of Texas i'm moving to Australia. Yes...you read that correctly :-) Living overseas is something i've always wanted to do but never really thought I would or could do. I also never really found a place that I could see myself living, until I went to Australia. For so many months I've been praying for something different, ready for a big change and I feel like this is an answer to my prayers. I've been trying to get things in order since April to move to Dallas and search for a job but nothing has really happened and i've been very discouraged but now i'm thinking God shuts some doors but opens others. This could not happen at a more perfect time since i've decided to leave my job in Little Rock, moved out of my house, put everything I own in storage. I realize that to some of you this will seem completely insane, trust me i've had that same thought but it also feels so right. Life is about taking risks and i've never been a huge risk taker but sometime the scariest things end up being the most worthwhile. I know living there will not be exactly what its like when I was on vacation and there will be some days when I'm homesick. But, all in all, what is the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work out then I get on a plane and come home. I don't want to live with any regrets.

Of course making the decision was actually the easy part. Now I've got to figure out all the details. I'm in the process right now of applying for a visa and working on the job search. Please pray for me as I figure out all the details and work through everything. As much as i'm in a hurry to get there, I need to take this time to spend with my family and friends and work out everything here before I go. I'm going with the intentions of staying at least a year, but who knows the year could turn into longer. I'm so thankful to have a supportive family and friends who have made every step of this decision that much more exciting. Start saving so you can come visit me! Its a long trip, but worth every second!

Limbo

Well its June 4th and the last day of school. This is the day teachers secretly (or some not so secretly) wait for all year. Honestly in some ways I cant believe its the last day of school but in others, its been a long time coming! This school year sure has had its struggles but overall it was a ok year. As excited as I am for this to be the last day of school, I'm not going to lie i've cried at least once a day this whole week. This is my 3rd and last year at Chicot. This was my first "grown up" job and hands down the perfect place for me to be at this time in my life. Of course we've had our ups and downs but I have had the blessing of working with some of the most amazing people ever! I will miss them like crazy next year and they will always have a special place in my heart. Ok, I have to stop talking about leaving because I'll start to cry...again.

You may wonder why I titled this post "Limbo" well, i've decided thats my life right now, in limbo. For those of you who know me really well, I do not like change, I am a planner and yes, I like to have control (most of the time). In the last month I have: moved out of my house, put all of my things in storage, lived out of suitcases at my friends out, packed up my classroom, moved out of my classroom, continuing the job search in Dallas, oh and i'm going to Australia in 3 days! ahhh!

As for after my return from Australia, i'm not exactly sure what will be going on in my life. I will officially "move" to Dallas to live with friends until I find a job etc. My planner ends in July, so i've decided not to buy another one until I know whats going to be going on in my life after July (and yes, its kind of killing me) but whats the point?! Its just a leap of faith. I know things will work out, I just need to be patient and see what happens. In some ways its kind of exciting not knowing where I will be or what I will be doing in the next 3 months. So we shall see...

Catch up and Vacation

Once again I started to slack in the blogging. To play catch up...the last few months have been super busy! Up until last week we've been preparing our kids and cramming the last bit of information we could for testing. Thankfully testing is over!! Testing is a huge ordeal for our kids and for us, I'm just glad its over! I could go on and on about testing, but thankfully our kids did great and its over! Before testing was spring break. Which came at just the right time! I went down to Riviera Maya Mexico with some friends. I've traveled all over the world and been on a ton of amazing trips, but this one was in the top 5 for sure! The resort was amazing, the staff was extremely helpful, and it was the perfect place to sit by the pool with a good book and relax! Of course I couldn't sit on the beach forever so it was time to come back to reality. Work has been super crazy, the end of the year is here and we are finally on the downhill slide! We've got so much going on with field trips, field day, end of the year celebration etc that i'm sure the last few weeks will hurry on by.
Here are a few pictures from our amazing trip!

Exciting Day!

Last Thursday may have been the most exciting day so far in my professional career! For the last few months one of my fellow 1st grade teachers and myself have been piloting a new literacy program called Key Links. It is written by a lady named Jill Eggleton, who is a well know children's author from New Zealand. Through out the program we have met with people from the publishing company and talked about the program, apparently only a few schools across the US were picked to pilot it.

We had our final wrap up meeting last Thursday with the ladies from the publishing company and ladies from our school district. During our meeting we learned that not only are they using our feedback to use in their advertising of the product (which is a little intimidating!)we were also told that the author, Jill Eggleton is coming to our school!! I know, it may not sound like that big of a deal but we are super excited! My kids are excited because we have been reading her books for months, they talk about her like they know her! I'm just excited because its not everyday that an author flies half way across the world to come to Little Rock, Arkansas! It truly is a great honor that our school was picked to be the only one she visits with and we cannot wait! There will be pictures coming at the end of April!

Snowed in...again!

Remember those days when you were a kid and your mom would come wake you up and tell you school was cancelled because it has snowed the night before? Those mornings are just as much fun even when you're an adult...you know, minus my mom coming to wake me up. I'm pretty sure none of us in the Little Rock area were expecting it, so it was a pleasant surprise. I think total we got about 6 inches and this time it was all snow, none of that icy stuff like 2 weeks ago. It was so beautiful just to sit and watch the big snowflakes falling and fun to play in it! Although I do start to go a little stir crazy after being stuck at home after a day or so. Lets hope though that we don't have anymore snow days because I've got my trip planned for Australia in June right after school gets out, so I can't be stuck making up days!

Test worries...

Tomorrow I go to Arkadelphia to take my first of 2 exams to get my teaching license in Texas. To say the least I am very worried. First of all, Its been what...3 years since i've taken a test?! haha. Second, I keep hearing about how hard this test is. I'm sure I will do fine. I will just feel so much better when its all over. I have to take the second test on Wednesday, so after that it will be over! Then I just have to sit patiently and wait for my scores. Its such a scary thought that so much is riding on these test. I have to pass them in order to get my teaching license in Texas...in order to get a teaching job in Texas...in order to be able to move to Texas! Get the picture? :-)

Snowed In

Well, last week we had a little ice storm in Little Rock! I say little because people from the north would probably laugh at the amount of snow and ice we got. But it was enough to make the roads very icy and pretty much everything around here shut down, so we (Marley and I) stayed in from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. Friday was great, no school, I stayed in my pjs all day and watched a ton of movies. Saturday morning was still ok. I cleaned and got a lot done from my to do list, but my Saturday afternoon I was going stir crazy. Luckily things started to melt Sunday morning and I was able to get out of the house. I had to add a picture of Marley, because he was just too darn cute in his little jacket.

As part of my new years resolutions this year was to keep up better with my blog. So I've decided to make some changes...or at least attempt to. I am not high-tech and not creative so we shall see. And with my changes, I've also decided to broaden my topics beyond "my teacher life". Although that is a huge part of it...its not all of it! So if you can stick with me while I'm figure it all out :-)

Helping Haiti

My first graders never cease to amaze me. Not only do they come up with some of the craziest things, they also have some amazingly big hearts for 6 and 7 year olds! Haiti has been all over the news, and to my surprise my kiddos actually heard about the earthquake at home which started a long and interesting conversation in my classroom. (How can you explain earthquakes, devastation, etc to 6 year olds?!) Well at the same time my kids were talking about it, our school had decided we would raise money for 1 week to send to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti. We talked about it today and we decided we would set our class goal at $50.00. That may not seem like a lot but it is to them, especially considering some of the homes they come from. It is so important for them to learn about helping people in need, even if they don't know them. I'm very proud for the huge hearts they have at such a young age and it really does help put things into perspective in my own life. Many of the things that frustrate or upset me today aren't going to matter tomorrow. I've always said my kids teach me more than I could ever teach them, and for that I'm grateful.

New Years Resolution

Well...I could say that I'm surprised that I've gotten this far behind on my blog but that wouldn't be true! But hopefully with a new year, comes new resolutions and keeping up with my blog is one of them. So much has happened since the last time I posted....where to begin?!

In August I started my 3rd year at Chicot as a first grade teacher. I cant believe it! This group of kids sure is different than last years! They are a hand full and we don't exactly mesh as well as my group from last year. But we're making it...only 5 more months :-) I spent a lot of time this fall traveling on the weekends. Visiting my family in Memphis, visiting my "other" family in Dallas, attending several weddings etc. I love to travel, but its also nice to come home and sleep in my own bed.

I was able to spend a week in Memphis during Christmas, which may be the longest I've visited in a while. It was good to spend time with my family and see old friends. And since being back in Little Rock I've kept myself busy with a long to do list and of course dreading going back to work on Monday. I've been making a lot of big decisions lately. One of the biggest being that I've decided to move to Dallas, TX once this school year is over! I'm very excited and of course nervous. Its still hard to say it out loud even though I am very excited and feel like this is the right decision, its still hard to leave my life in Little Rock. Little Rock has been my home for the last 3 years, it was the first "grown up" place I lived after Harding and I've made so many great friends and had so many wonderful memories here. But after doing a lot of thinking I think its time for me to move on. For years I've wanted to move to Dallas so now is my chance. I love my job and I work with some of the most amazing people but this school year has been very difficult in a lot of ways so I think its just time for a change. It is still so hard to walk into that school and teach my kids knowing that I wont see them next year, but I know I'm making the right decision and its time for me to do whats best for me. I will miss my Little Rock family more than I can even put into words, these people have helped make me into the person I am today. But I'm ready for a new adventure!

Speaking of new adventures, I have another big one planned for this summer (I know, besides moving what else could be so big!)
I'm going to Australia! This was actually part of my Christmas present from my parents. My cousin Zach and his wife (Elisha) live in Australia with his wife and I'm going to go stay with them and explore for a few weeks! I am so excited to visit this amazing place and get to spend time with family there. Elisha and I may have only met once, but we "talk" often on Facebook and she is so much fun! I only wish we lived closer than an ocean apart...but I have a feeling we might get into a lot of trouble if we lived on the same continent :-)

I am going to be better about writing....and hopefully better about posting pictures. We shall see!

Happy New Year!!