The Story

So...that adorable, Aussie boy I mentioned in my last post, well he asked me to marry him and I said yes :) I guess I have some explaining to do. I disappear from my blog for several months then reappear with a vague recap of the last few months and now i'm posting about our engagement. Sorry I haven't kept everyone in the "loop" over the last several months, so if you want to know all about Ben and I just come visit me and I'll fill you in on the whole story :) But for those of you who don't want to fly 10,000 miles to hear about us, i'll give you the readers digest version and then get on to the good stuff!

Ben and I met in January at work. He is the groundsmen at St. Philip's and as you know, i'm the new OOSH Coordinator. We kind of got stuck into sharing an office space for a while, started chatting and getting to know each other and then one afternoon he asked me out for coffee which turned into dinner and I guess the rest is history.

We had originally planned on getting married in October but since my family had booked tickets to come in June/July we decided to change our plans and get married in July while they were here so they wouldn't have to come out twice in 1 year. So all this was decided in the last week or so, so I knew the proposal was coming soon but I didn't really want to start planning things until we were officially engaged. So, Wednesday he came and told me he had booked us in to a little Italian restaurant at Terrigal beach we had been wanting to go to for dinner. I guess I need to throw this in...Ben had been growing a beard for about a month and I did not like it! Well he came to pick me up and he had shaved the beard! I was so excited, going on about how that made my day etc, little did I know it was going to get way better :) After dinner he said we should get some hot chocolates to go and go for a walk by the beach. I was kinda hesitant because it was so cold and it had been rainy but I said sure. We walked for a bit and he stopped and said he had a present for me, he pulled out a little box with a bow and said some really sweet stuff (sorry folks, thats for us) and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and of course I said YES! We sat there for a few minutes before it started to rain and we ran back to the car, called our families...sorry mom and dad for waking you up at 6am! Despite the yucky weather, I could not have asked for a more perfect, romantic night. I'm so excited to get to spend the rest of my life with Ben. He is such an amazing man and I thank God everyday for bringing him into my life. I could go on and on and tell you how wonderful he is but i'm already getting teary and well, you can see how great he is when you get to met him :)

As far as the "wedding plans" go....our date is July 9th. Yes, thats 6 weeks away. We're kind of going a non-traditional route with our wedding. Since my family and friends are all back home and Ben's are all here we wanted to make sure we included everyone best we could. We've decided on having a Pre-Wedding celebration the week before our actual wedding to celebrate with all of our family and friends here in Australia. Then on July 9th we'll be having a small wedding for close family and friends here. Then in September/October we'll be in the US and will have a Post-Wedding celebration with all of my family and friends in the US. So we're going to be doing a lot of celebrating this year :) We've played with several ideas over the last few weeks with how to make it all work and we're very excited about our plans. Being that we're in an "international" relationship our situation is unique so I really feel that this fits our situation really well. I know some people won't understand but there is no way we can please everyone. We look forward to celebrating with everyone in Australia and in the US!

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin our new life together. We're so excited to see what God has in store for us, whether that be in Australia, the US or somewhere different I know He has a wonderful plan for us.

ps-I actually did try to post pictures but for some reason blogger is not letting me. I'll try again soon!


 

catching up

I can't believe I've neglected my blog for almost 3 months, shame on me. Lots of catching up to do, but to spare all the details here is a quick recap of life over the last few months...

My cousin from New York came to visit for a week
Met with an immigration lawyer
I moved into my own flat
Went to Canberra (the Australian Capital Territory) for a girls trip
Finished my first term at work
Held my first Vacation Care at work
My best friend from home had a beautiful baby girl!
I found out another good friend from home is pregnant :)
Got a nasty virus/flu
My parents have booked flights to come visit in June!
oh, and I met an adorable Aussie who i've been spending a whole lot of time with :)

Life is good :) I promise I won't wait 3 months before another update.


 

pj's and facelifts

Right this very minute I am wearing my Christmas flannel pj's and this makes me very happy! We've had this ridiculous heatwave for about a week then this afternoon the wonderful southerly winds came through brought lots of rain and much cooler temperatures! Right now its about 61 degrees outside, which sure beats the 104 degree day we had yesterday. Reason #147 why I love Australia, its crazy ever so quickly changing weather.

Hopefully you've noticed the blog has had a facelift. No, I am not creative enough by any means to create blog layouts but lucky for me the people at Designer Blogs are! They were so wonderful to work with and have so much cute stuff to choose from, go check them out!

Bedtime for me...in my flannel pj's! :)

i'll trade you

To all you people back home who are getting snow, ice and temps of 15-30 degrees...i'll trade you. I love my little dashboard on my computer so I always know what the time and weather are here and back home...today, snowflakes in Memphis and sun in Australia.

We've been going through a heatwave this week. My cousin and I were talking on Wednesday (as we went on a little outing at 10pm in search of fans) that we really needed to document our heatwave experience so we could remember it in a few months when its winter and we're freezing...so here it goes :)

This week has been nothing short of miserable as far as the weather goes. I'm pretty sure we've had temps in the high 30s (c)= high 90s-100s (f) almost every day. But here's the thing most of you back home don't know...most people in Australia do not have a/c in their homes. Yep. So just think, a hot summer day in the south with no a/c. Thats what its been like here. The heat just makes me down right cranky. I'm tired of not being able to sleep, tired of taking 3 showers a day and still feeling completely gross, tired of having curly hair, and just tired of feeling like I have zero energy to do anything. Alright, i'm done complaining. In my defense I left the US in summer, came to Australia in spring and now summer, so i've had summer for almost 10 months now. I'm ready for some different weather and ready to wear all those fall and winter clothes in my closet I haven't worn in forever! I know this will pass and despite this crazy weather I still love Australia.

Firsts

There have been a lot of "firsts" around here the last few weeks. Although I started my new job 2 weeks ago, today was the first day of school for all the students. I'm not going to lie, it does not feel like the beginning of the school year for me since its January, but then again we're also in the middle of summer in January. Hopefully, if I stay here long enough maybe one day my body will get used to the seasons being completely different because right now I just feel like i've been stuck in summer for 9, almost 10 months! I do have to say this was the quietest and smoothest i've ever seen a first day of school be. I guess only having 300 kids makes a huge difference compared to the 700 we had at my school in Little Rock. The Aussie kids are SO adorable in their uniforms and hats, I just love it. So far we haven't had our full class yet for OOSH but the kids I have met so far are too cute! Its different not being in the classroom and kinda of having a split schedule day but so far, so good. I'm really enjoying getting to do something different and I'm loving the people I work with. I feel so blessed to be at St. Philips and I take comfort in knowing that this is exactly the place God had in mind for me, I just had to wait a little while to get to there. I know this "school year" will have its own challenges but i'm so excited to see what happens. Honestly, it still feels a little too good to be true almost like it hasn't even hit me yet. I guess it may take a little while :)

Besides starting my job and the first day of school I also have had to conquer the whole driving thing. Yep, watch out all you people on the roads on the Central Coast. In my defense I think i'm doing really well! I'm pretty sure I was almost to the point of kicking and screaming on Friday because I just didn't want to learn to drive but I think the worse is over. Believe it or not driving on the left side of the road isn't all that bad, or maybe i'm just used to riding on that side of the road because I have for 5 months now. I'm actually finding it harder getting used to being on the right side of the car. For example I keep trying to pull for my seat belt over my left shoulder. So far I can get to just a few places, I haven't attempted anything too far from home or on any big roads with more traffic, but soon hopefully. Thankfully work its all of 5 minutes from my house and a very easy drive with only 2 roundabouts :)

Another first...my cousin and I went to the beach randomly last Tuesday after work. It was so hot that day, and remember we don't have air conditioning at home so we wanted to cool off and where is a better place to do that than the beach?! I LOVE living just a few minutes from the beach, even though we don't go near as often as I would like (although now that i'm driving that could change...) We've been to the beach but I have yet to get in the water, until last Tuesday because its just been too cold. It was perfect, just so wonderful! The beaches here are just breathtaking. To all you people back home who think Florida and California beaches are beautiful you seriously have no idea, come to Australia and then you can see for yourself!

I also got to celebrate my first Australia Day! The best way I can describe Australia Day is its kind of like July 4th in the states. Everyone here wears the Aussie flag or some sort of Aussie gear on Australia Day. My cousin made us buy Aussie flag capes...yeah they didn't get worn. I guess next year :) We celebrated by breakfast at the beach with family, then the afternoon at the pool and then over to friends house later that night. It was so nice to have a random public holiday in the middle of the week.

This may be the best first of all...I got a paycheck today. No, its obviously not the best but for someone who hasn't had one of those for a very long time its nice to finally see numbers in the bank going up instead of down.

I know I've been in Australia for 5 months now, which is just crazy to think, but in some ways I feel like i'm finally starting a new chapter which is what I came to do here all those months ago. I'm finally working, driving, etc I guess getting back to "normal" again. And in some ways its almost more overwhelming now that I know i'm staying here and finally getting a chance to do what I came here for, than when I first arrived here. I'm so thankful for God's provision i've seen for my life over these last few months. Its extremely scary to leave everything you've ever known to move somewhere 10,000 miles away from home but I know God has taken care of my every step of the way. The biggest downside is being so far from my family and friends, but selfishly I wish they could be here with me or at least come visit so that could experience a little bit of my life in Oz and know that i'm very well taken care of here. Maybe one day they'll get to visit...hint, hint :)

my mom always said...

Good things come to those who wait.

And its true...after 4 and a half months of being in Australia I finally have a full time, permanent job! Starting tomorrow I will be the OOSH (out of school hours) director at a local Christian school here on the Central Coast. I'm very excited, a little nervous and super overwhelmed at how fast it all has happened. Everyone kept telling me after the holidays I would for find a job, I really do need to start trusting my friends and family more because I was sure I would be back on a plane in the next few months heading "home" to start all over again, because you can't live off of savings forever.

I got a call from a friend of my cousins the other night and she mentioned to me about this job, the next day I sent off some paperwork and the day after I went in for an interview and they offered me the job right there on the spot. Its a brand new program at the school, so everything about the position is new which is a little scary but I think it will be a great opportunity for me to be a part of something from scratch. I won't be in the classroom like I have been the last few years, which I do miss but I'm excited about getting to work in a school setting and being able to build relationships with kids and families again. I'm also excited about being apart of a wonderful Christian school. The ladies I interviewed with were so welcoming and kind, I think i'm going to love being apart of the staff there.

God has continued to bless me since i've been in Australia and this job is an answer to prayer. I'm so excited for the things to come in 2011, so far its off to a great start :)

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 :)