Picture Time

Here are a bunch of pictures - all taken with my phone so they aren't that great quality.


Hanging out at the Ice Rink


Couldn't resist...


Auska jumped up and settled in on Brent


Auska the Angel - our sweater kitty!


Aww, she loves me


Auska found a comfy spot in Brent's jeans on the floor


Random llama in the city!


Its cold, so she needs a sweater!


Ice Skating! (blurry...)


Brent and I enjoying an evening of ice skating

Happy Birthday Brent!

Cake & cat!

Brent's birthday was on the 22nd and unfortunately we weren't able to celebrate in style like we have in the past. Last year I took him Paris, the year before was in Bangkok. I wish I could have done more, but things are tight so we had to call it a quiet, lame birthday.
I bought Brent a brewing system and we are having fun with that! I also got him a martini set, which he is loving! I made him breakfast in bed before I went to work and then we enjoyed spending the evening together and watching over the new brew kit. I wanted to take the day off work, but it was an intensely busy week and I had to work overtime every day just to barely get everything done.

Brent with brew kit

I made some delicious NY cheesecake for dessert and that was definitely the highlight of the day, Brent loooves cheesecake so I am glad it turned out so well!
Next year we will get back to celebrating in style!

Just Another Day's Work...

As part of the program that I am in at work, we were in charge of organizing and carrying out the annual trivia night. We started planning back in February and the big night was 25 June. All was set, we went to a lot of work and got a lot of great sponsors to donate prizes, good location, great questions, etc. The night went really well, I was the MC and had fun along with everyone else and was generally very satisfied with the evening.
So the next day, of course everyone at the office is talking about the trivia night, picking it apart, etc. I get into the elevator at lunch and a lady from my floor gets in with me (I hadn't met her yet), and she turns and says, "so there is a theory going around about last night." I respond, "oh, whats that?" And then she says, "well don't you think it strange that you knew people on both the first and second place teams?" I looked at her with disbelief, I really thought she was joking, but one look at her let me know she was dead serious!! I said, "umm, no not really, I knew people on almost all the teams." She just continued to look at me very seriously and as she walked out of the elevator said, "prove me wrong'" I just gave a little laugh and looked at her like she was retarded. How the hell do you respond to something like that?! Sore losers will do anything to make themselves feel better!
But that isn't all!! When I got back from lunch, one of my fellow trivia-organizers emailed me and said a lady in her area told her she thought that I "had too much influence because the questions were too American." Funny! There were 8 rounds, 8 of us organizing it, and I wrote 1 round. Australians love any chance they get to display their extreme jingoism.
So I am the center of quite the libelous scandal at DVA at the moment. I just makes me laugh because had I not been the MC, no one would have even entertained the thought! Too funny.

All Moved In!

The cat loooved the boxes!

So it only took 100+ days to traverse the seas, but all our stuff finally arrived last week! 16 big boxes and it was so nice to finally have everything. It took a couple days, but I managed to find a spot for everything, which is shocking considering the lack of storage space in our apartment.
The sleep number bed was in one of the boxes and we were so excited to have our nice, comfy bed. We plugged it in and of course the converter wasn't strong enough so it blew the pump. So maddening. We went to Harvey Norman the next day, the furniture store where they sell sleep numbers, and they said to replace it would cost $1400!! So outrageously ridiculous. I hate how things are priced here, Australians are not very consumer savvy at all, and unfortunately the result is totally overpriced everything! Anyway, we are ordering one online (less than $100 USD) and having it shipped to my parents who will be here in a couple weeks to visit.
So now we feel more settled and it feels a bit more like home in the apartment - but I will admit I can't wait until we move into a nicer one! :)

Musings...

It is really is crazy and amazing where life takes you, isn’t it? I had one of those “ah-ha” moments the other day where I realized that I have finally started “real” life. I am in a place where the rest of my life proceeds from here.
It is hard to imagine that some years ago I was struggling with staying motivated to finish my Bachelor’s degree and here I am not only with my Bachelor’s, but with two Master’s as well! I have at times doubted the practicality of my educational pursuits (especially after so many job rejection letters when I was in New York), but I have learned so much and enjoyed myself and now I am finally in a position where I can use all that knowledge and skills – and in fact amaze people that I have all that!
I think back to the BYU days with all my girlies and we certainly had some fun times! Late nights and lots of laughs. I was remembering the little videos we would make on Melissa’s webcam and then watch them over and over and die laughing.
I never imagined I would actually get to do so much travelling and see so much of the world. The world is so amazing and awesome and also incredibly sad at times. I have stood atop the gorgeous Swiss Alps and been immersed in European history just walking down the cobbled streets of a small Dutch town, and I have stood in the middle of the slums of Bangkok where the faces of the children just break your heart. There is still so much pain in this world, and the sad thing is, nobody really cares. The poverty-stricken and hungry are born that way, live that way and die that way. Even after being in it and working with an NGO to help, I can never get even a small grasp of what their lives are really like. Such is life.
I have grown up a lot over time too. I have allowed myself to open my eyes and see things as they really are. I love to learn and question things and not go with things because that is what I am told. In a non-conspiracy theorist type of way, you really can trust no one. You have to find the truth of things on your own. Knowledge is power, and we have so much capacity to learn. I have learned that there are some things I cannot change. I cannot change people’s prejudices or haughtiness or ignorance. Only we can take of our own blinders and have no control over others.
I have come a long way in life so far. I have made great friends, I have lost friends who weren’t so great afterall, I have begun my career and have goals in sight, and I have the love of my life and best friend by my side.
I am looking forward to my career in the government here in Australia and getting closer to my goal of working for the UN and living in Europe again. I love that I get to share every day with Brent and we are looking forward to buying a house, paying down our student loans, taking more exotic world trips together and enjoying being with each other. Life is good.

Finally Some Pictures!

I have been in Canberra now for 4 months, wow! Brent and I have settled in well, though we are still waiting for our boxes to arrive. They have made it to Australia, but are still sitting somewhere awaiting final clearance from customs and quarantine. Hopefully it will arrive soon.

A late evening shot and view from our balcony

I have started a new placement for my job, and though I really enjoyed working in the Legal division, I am excited for this new area. I will be putting my MBA to use as I work on a project of change management dealing with integration and consolidation of processes of the 3 Acts under with the Department operates. I know, don't all be instantly jealous at that! It is actually quite interesting to me and I am looking forward to getting things done.

My office building and my office (before full of papers!)

We have been getting to know the city a bit better, though I can't wait until we eventually get a car, it really is a pain not having one! But we like to walk around and discover little shops and parks. Two weeks ago, we went to the Botanic Gardens and saw 13 "wild" kangaroos! Brent was really excited to see them as he had never seen them outside the zoo, and it had been a while for me too!


There isn't too much to update on, I work all week and we are rather boring on the weekends at the moment. It is hard to do much when the cash is super low! We have a cat so she keeps us entertained. Her name is Auska (pronounced "os-ka") and she is a tortoise shell. We got her from the RSPCA and she is about 3 months old now. She is a lot of fun and very affectionate. She loves the bath tub and sitting on your shoulder while you cook (in the picture). We love her!

And I'm Back...

I have been in Australia for two months now and my computer has been broken for most of it. Still waiting on it to be fixed, but I just discovered today that I can access this from work - I thought for sure it would be a blocked site! There won't be any pictures, but I guess I'll see who reads these things and doesn't just look at the pictures :)
Canberra is an interesting city, it is very un-Australian in many ways, but it is growing on me and I am getting used to it. My cousin Luke and his wife live here so it is good to see them now and then. My Uncle Craig also works in Canberra a few days a week so that is nice too.
Brent arrived two weeks ago and it was a tough 6 weeks without him, it is sooo good to have him here finally! We were delaying his arrival since he was coming on a tourist visa and wanted to give the max amount of time we may need for his spouse visa to go through. We just got word the other day that his visa is approved so that is big news! Since we applied for it outside of Australia though, we have to leave the country to pick it up. Luckily we can pick it up at the Australian consulate in Auckland, NZ so we are making a little trip of it and will be there for a few days. Once we get that, Brent can look for a job and we can really get settled in.
I love my job with the Department of Veterans' Affairs, I am learning a lot and having a great time and am starting to see all the career opportunities I have here. Plus being a government employee has its perks (TONS of vacation time for one thing)!
I will update soon with pictures (when I take some, and when I ever get my computer back). Miss you all, come visit in the land down unda!