Again, I procrastinate - been a couple months since updating yet again!
Biggest news was my visit back to the US for 3.5 weeks. It was glorious and it was so hard to leave. It was not a very relaxing vacation however with so much going on. We flew to New York and had one day to recover before the craziness began. We went to a wedding on Long Island on the Saturday morning and made it to the cocktail hour of the reception at which point we hit the road to drive to Maryland for a wedding that evening. We missed the ceremony (as was expected) but made it for the reception and the after party at the hotel that night. This wedding was for a girl from our Master's program so we also got to catch up with good friends. It was a great time and we all partied well into the night (including the bride!).
The next day we drove back to NY and hung out there for a few days with Brent's family. I also got to meet up and have dinner with a friend of mine that now lives in NY, Kate. Her family has a summer house just a couple down from our old beach house in Santa Barbara so we spent every summer together and have known eachother forever. It was so fun to catch up with her and in NY of all places!
After eating glorious NY pizza we headed down to Tampa, Florida for a week to spend time with Brent's family down there. Brent got pretty sick so we didn't get to go to Miami as we had wanted to, but it was still fun. Brent celebrated his birthday while we were there and he went fishing with his brother and cousin. They didn't catch anything and they all got very sunburnt, but they had a blast together. I knew I would just roast, even with sunscreen, so I opted to stay home. Good choice!
From Florida we flew to California and spent a couple days at my parents where I went to my 10-year high school reunion. It was really fun to catch up with everyone and we had a pretty good turnout with about 50% of the class being able to make it (my class was less than 40 people). We had it at a picnic ground on the lake and we had fun watching the kids in the water and all chatting away. Good times!
We then spent a day and a half in San Francisco where I tried to eat as much sourdough as possible (still wasn't enough) and then got back on yet another plane to head back east to Boston.
Boston was awesome and I think it may be my new favorite city. I loved all the history and the people were great and such good food. Expensive though, I spent more there than everywhere else combined! I was in Boston for yet another wedding, this one for a couple that got together in our Grad program. It was tons of fun and so hard to leave!
After 5 days in Boston it was back on the plane to head down under. There was lots of plane drama which resulted in us having to spend the night in Denver and got our luggage lost, but it all turned out ok because I got to visit my cousin that lives in Denver and we got upgraded to business class on the flight to Sydney. I don't think I can ever go back to economy on that flight now. I actually slept for half of the flight since your seat reclines to a full flat bed and they really take care of you! I loved it.
Once back in Australia (luggageless, but eventually got it back) we headed up to northern NSW for my family reunion. It was massive but fun to see everyone and have a couple days relaxing on the beach. I got really sick, but managed a visit to Sydney for a couple days to hang with my siblings which although went too quickly, was super fun. Made all the more interesting when I got kicked by a kangaroo resulting in a massive bruise on my leg. If it were the US, I would be sitting pretty with a nice settlement right now, but unfortunately this is Australia :(
My parents came down to Canberra for a visit and that was good fun. Then it was time to eventually get back to work after 5.5 weeks off. I love that I get so much vacation time here!
I will also eventually post pictures...one day!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Catching Up
Alright, so much for keeping up to date. And yet again I will have no pictures because my computer broke and I can't access my flickr pictures from my work computer (yet I can access this site - strange!)
Since my last post, Brent and I have moved to a new place and it is heaven. We were living in a small, old, dirty, cockroach-infested, falling apart, noisy, too cold/too hot apartment. It was a place that I took in desperation as I had been looking for 6 weeks with no luck and run out of my free housing that work was paying for. But at least it is over and now we live in luxury! :) We now live in a 5-bedroom, 2-story, new kitchen, clean, heated/airconditioned house with a balcony and a view to the surrounding hills. We've been there over two months and still love it so much. Unfortunately we are still renting (such a waste of money!), but our quality of life has changed considerably since moving.
I have also finished up my time working in Parliament House and am now in my permanent position here in the Department. My title is "Intelligence Officer" so I like that I sound so undercover and covert. I mainly work on researching the overall drivers and trends in fraud by our clients and providers and also internally. We have our 3-year fraud control plan due at the end of June so I am busy getting together stats and doing risk assessments and all that fun stuff. It is pretty interesting and I am enjoying the work and the people I work with.
Brent is well in the groove of his job with The Smith Family, a non-profit that promotes and helps with education for disadvantaged families.
I am definitely missing the US though. I miss everyone and the cheap prices and the availability of everything and mainly good Mexican food :) We have a trip planned to the US for June and I am so so excited. We have a couple weddings to go to, my 10-yr high school reunion, Brent's family to visit (mine will all be out in Oz for a family reunion when we get back) and so much good food to catch up on!
Since my last post, Brent and I have moved to a new place and it is heaven. We were living in a small, old, dirty, cockroach-infested, falling apart, noisy, too cold/too hot apartment. It was a place that I took in desperation as I had been looking for 6 weeks with no luck and run out of my free housing that work was paying for. But at least it is over and now we live in luxury! :) We now live in a 5-bedroom, 2-story, new kitchen, clean, heated/airconditioned house with a balcony and a view to the surrounding hills. We've been there over two months and still love it so much. Unfortunately we are still renting (such a waste of money!), but our quality of life has changed considerably since moving.
I have also finished up my time working in Parliament House and am now in my permanent position here in the Department. My title is "Intelligence Officer" so I like that I sound so undercover and covert. I mainly work on researching the overall drivers and trends in fraud by our clients and providers and also internally. We have our 3-year fraud control plan due at the end of June so I am busy getting together stats and doing risk assessments and all that fun stuff. It is pretty interesting and I am enjoying the work and the people I work with.
Brent is well in the groove of his job with The Smith Family, a non-profit that promotes and helps with education for disadvantaged families.
I am definitely missing the US though. I miss everyone and the cheap prices and the availability of everything and mainly good Mexican food :) We have a trip planned to the US for June and I am so so excited. We have a couple weddings to go to, my 10-yr high school reunion, Brent's family to visit (mine will all be out in Oz for a family reunion when we get back) and so much good food to catch up on!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Happy New Year!
I can't believe it is 2010. For some reason I recalled a random conversation I had with a friend back when we were about to start 7th grade. We talked about how crazy it was going to be when we graduated high school in the year 2000. It has been 16 years since that conversation - how funny that it was randomly dredged up by my brain!
2009 was a year of immense change so I am looking forward to a more stable year. The year started out well with a nice raise and also the news that Brent got a great job at The Smith Family - the largest charity organisation in Australia. He will be starting on Monday and we are both very excited.
It was a very rough year for Brent having to move to a country that he had only visited once before for two weeks, leave all of his family and friends behind, get used to the crazy accent and all the even crazier words we use, the prejudice against Americans, the lack of recognition of his educational qualifications, a first job that turned out to be very bad, etc etc.
So this year already looks promising for us. We will be moving to a new place at the end of February and that is enough to keep us upbeat! Our current apartment has been trouble from the beginning - it was infested with cockroaches upon moving in, the kitchen benches began falling apart, the taps broke one after the other, the winter came and we froze then summer came and we roasted, the neighbour below smokes on his porch all the time and lucky us get all the smoke, the apartments across the parking lot are public housing - bringing with it so many fun things, the neighbour next door wakes up every morning at 8:30 with a disgusting hacking cough. Oh I can't wait to move, can you tell?! :)
I have two overarching goals this year: my physical health and my finances. I have allowed myself to get so overweight and out of shape, so I need to focus and get back on track. I want to get back to where I was just over 3 years ago - super hot!
With both of us working, I can now start to sort out all my finances and get my debts paid down. We also want to start saving for a house with a goal to be able to buy within 2 years.
We will also finally figure out when we are getting married - preferably after making considerable headway on the first two goals!
So I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. I am looking forward to this year!
2009 was a year of immense change so I am looking forward to a more stable year. The year started out well with a nice raise and also the news that Brent got a great job at The Smith Family - the largest charity organisation in Australia. He will be starting on Monday and we are both very excited.
It was a very rough year for Brent having to move to a country that he had only visited once before for two weeks, leave all of his family and friends behind, get used to the crazy accent and all the even crazier words we use, the prejudice against Americans, the lack of recognition of his educational qualifications, a first job that turned out to be very bad, etc etc.
So this year already looks promising for us. We will be moving to a new place at the end of February and that is enough to keep us upbeat! Our current apartment has been trouble from the beginning - it was infested with cockroaches upon moving in, the kitchen benches began falling apart, the taps broke one after the other, the winter came and we froze then summer came and we roasted, the neighbour below smokes on his porch all the time and lucky us get all the smoke, the apartments across the parking lot are public housing - bringing with it so many fun things, the neighbour next door wakes up every morning at 8:30 with a disgusting hacking cough. Oh I can't wait to move, can you tell?! :)
I have two overarching goals this year: my physical health and my finances. I have allowed myself to get so overweight and out of shape, so I need to focus and get back on track. I want to get back to where I was just over 3 years ago - super hot!
With both of us working, I can now start to sort out all my finances and get my debts paid down. We also want to start saving for a house with a goal to be able to buy within 2 years.
We will also finally figure out when we are getting married - preferably after making considerable headway on the first two goals!
So I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. I am looking forward to this year!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving Down Under
Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday so I am always a bit bummed when I am not in the US for it. It is also hard to get into the spirit of things when it is hot, but I managed!
My cousin Luke and his American wife Ali invited us over to have dinner with them. We had to do it on Friday though because Thursday was the last sitting day of the year for Parliament so I was at work until 7pm.
My cousin said they would do the Turkey and a few other things and I took up the rest. Now there are a couple of issues when trying to do it right here:
One, not only do they not do pumpkin pie here (so no canned pumpkin) but it is also an extremely rare site to even come accross a pumpkin. Apparently they had a few at a local market around Halloween time, but they were about $30 each. I assume only Americans really missing home fork out this kind of dough. So I made a pumpkin pie out of a butternut squash. With the right seasoning it actually tasted quite close to the real thing! I now also know how to make one from scratch.
Two, Turkey is also rarely eaten and a mid-sized frozen turkey costs about $60 to $70. My Dad enjoyed taunting me by calling me each time he saw a cheap turkey. The lowest was a 12-pounder for $3.85 (which he bought).
Third, the heat. With no A/C in my apartment and blazing hot outside, I was very tempted to skip the whole ordeal so as not to add to the heat with the oven. But I figured a few hours of extra hot would be ok for the bliss of a Thanksgiving dinner. So I cooked up a storm!
I made stuffing, which turned out to be really good even though we just made up a recipe for it, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and corn bread. It was all delish!
After cooking, we piled everything in the car and drove to my cousin's house about 20 minutes away. I was so excited for dinner only to find out that my cousin had succumbed and only bought a turkey leg to cook up. They also bought some chicken too, which is so wrong! I was really disappointed not to have the full shebang. They also hadn't made gravy! I whipped some up because Thanksgiving dinner just doesn't exist without gravy.
So depsite my disappointment over the turkey, it was a good dinner and of course lots of leftovers!
I hope everyone had a fabulous Turkey day and weekend!
My cousin Luke and his American wife Ali invited us over to have dinner with them. We had to do it on Friday though because Thursday was the last sitting day of the year for Parliament so I was at work until 7pm.
My cousin said they would do the Turkey and a few other things and I took up the rest. Now there are a couple of issues when trying to do it right here:
One, not only do they not do pumpkin pie here (so no canned pumpkin) but it is also an extremely rare site to even come accross a pumpkin. Apparently they had a few at a local market around Halloween time, but they were about $30 each. I assume only Americans really missing home fork out this kind of dough. So I made a pumpkin pie out of a butternut squash. With the right seasoning it actually tasted quite close to the real thing! I now also know how to make one from scratch.
Two, Turkey is also rarely eaten and a mid-sized frozen turkey costs about $60 to $70. My Dad enjoyed taunting me by calling me each time he saw a cheap turkey. The lowest was a 12-pounder for $3.85 (which he bought).
Third, the heat. With no A/C in my apartment and blazing hot outside, I was very tempted to skip the whole ordeal so as not to add to the heat with the oven. But I figured a few hours of extra hot would be ok for the bliss of a Thanksgiving dinner. So I cooked up a storm!
I made stuffing, which turned out to be really good even though we just made up a recipe for it, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and corn bread. It was all delish!
After cooking, we piled everything in the car and drove to my cousin's house about 20 minutes away. I was so excited for dinner only to find out that my cousin had succumbed and only bought a turkey leg to cook up. They also bought some chicken too, which is so wrong! I was really disappointed not to have the full shebang. They also hadn't made gravy! I whipped some up because Thanksgiving dinner just doesn't exist without gravy.
So depsite my disappointment over the turkey, it was a good dinner and of course lots of leftovers!
I hope everyone had a fabulous Turkey day and weekend!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
November Update!
Despite my efforts, I have yet again fallen behind in keeping up with my blog. Not that there is much to update on, but I really need to try harder!
I have had a couple visits since my last posting: my parents came for a few days and though it was a quick visit, it was fun. They were in Australia for quite a few weeks, but I was sick for the first few so didn’t make it up to Sydney to see them. Luckily we were able to match up some dates! My Dad brought me all sorts of goodies ranging from enchilada sauce mix to Rescee’s to pop tarts. Most of it has been used up by now, so another visit is in order!
My friend Liz also came to visit a few weeks later and it was so much fun to have her here. It was her first time to Australia and though she only came for a week, we tried to fit in as much as possible. We spent a couple days in Sydney where we took a ferry across the harbour to Manly Bay, walked around the opera house, dined at Darling Harbour and hugged koalas and kangaroos at the local sanctuary.
In Canberra, we hit up the fantastic War Memorial, the massive wildlife preserve where literally hundreds of kangaroos bound all around you, the NASA deep space station (where the first images of the moon landing were broadcast from) and hit up a few of the many great wineries in the area. It was a ton of fun and I can’t wait for her to visit again – eventually!
I am almost done with my first year here at Veterans Affairs and I have loved it. I have been able to work in some great areas and am currently working up at the Parliament House for the Minister of Veterans Affairs (a cabinet member). It is has been so interesting to be here and all the craziness that comes with working at the center of politics. It has been a great way for me to combine my interests in politics and the service delivery side of things from within the Department. I take all the phone calls that come in, mostly from angry veterans. It can be quite rough and emotionally draining at times, but I always get a big boost when I am able to really help someone.
As I joined the Department as part of a “grad program” that ends this week, I now have a lot of opportunities ahead of me. I have applied for a range of positions within the Department and am looking forward to wherever I will end up on a permanent basis. I will be sure to keep updated on here – hopefully in a timely manner!
Brent is currently working for a company that sells steel kit homes. It has given Brent a chance to look into a new industry and learn a lot, but as it is a commission only job, he is still on the look-out for a more stable income job. This job has at least kept him busy though so he isn’t sitting at home bored out of his mind and messing with the cat.
The weather has turned incredibly hot and there was no nice interim time from the cold winter days. The other day it was almost 100F, which for only Spring is incredibly hot and it is predicted to be a very bad summer. Unfortunately, we live in an old apartment that has no A/C as was not designed in any kind of way that promotes air flow. So pretty much it is a heat trap and we have not been able to get it any cooler than 86F even with two fans and an evaporative cooler and generally some cool wind at night. Our place just refuses to cool down! Our lease is until February, so looks like we will have to try and survive the summer in there.
So that is pretty much the update from this end of the world. Not too much exciting, but we are getting by. I miss everyone a lot and always welcome visitors – hint, hint.
PS – I will try to get some photos up soon.
I have had a couple visits since my last posting: my parents came for a few days and though it was a quick visit, it was fun. They were in Australia for quite a few weeks, but I was sick for the first few so didn’t make it up to Sydney to see them. Luckily we were able to match up some dates! My Dad brought me all sorts of goodies ranging from enchilada sauce mix to Rescee’s to pop tarts. Most of it has been used up by now, so another visit is in order!
My friend Liz also came to visit a few weeks later and it was so much fun to have her here. It was her first time to Australia and though she only came for a week, we tried to fit in as much as possible. We spent a couple days in Sydney where we took a ferry across the harbour to Manly Bay, walked around the opera house, dined at Darling Harbour and hugged koalas and kangaroos at the local sanctuary.
In Canberra, we hit up the fantastic War Memorial, the massive wildlife preserve where literally hundreds of kangaroos bound all around you, the NASA deep space station (where the first images of the moon landing were broadcast from) and hit up a few of the many great wineries in the area. It was a ton of fun and I can’t wait for her to visit again – eventually!
I am almost done with my first year here at Veterans Affairs and I have loved it. I have been able to work in some great areas and am currently working up at the Parliament House for the Minister of Veterans Affairs (a cabinet member). It is has been so interesting to be here and all the craziness that comes with working at the center of politics. It has been a great way for me to combine my interests in politics and the service delivery side of things from within the Department. I take all the phone calls that come in, mostly from angry veterans. It can be quite rough and emotionally draining at times, but I always get a big boost when I am able to really help someone.
As I joined the Department as part of a “grad program” that ends this week, I now have a lot of opportunities ahead of me. I have applied for a range of positions within the Department and am looking forward to wherever I will end up on a permanent basis. I will be sure to keep updated on here – hopefully in a timely manner!
Brent is currently working for a company that sells steel kit homes. It has given Brent a chance to look into a new industry and learn a lot, but as it is a commission only job, he is still on the look-out for a more stable income job. This job has at least kept him busy though so he isn’t sitting at home bored out of his mind and messing with the cat.
The weather has turned incredibly hot and there was no nice interim time from the cold winter days. The other day it was almost 100F, which for only Spring is incredibly hot and it is predicted to be a very bad summer. Unfortunately, we live in an old apartment that has no A/C as was not designed in any kind of way that promotes air flow. So pretty much it is a heat trap and we have not been able to get it any cooler than 86F even with two fans and an evaporative cooler and generally some cool wind at night. Our place just refuses to cool down! Our lease is until February, so looks like we will have to try and survive the summer in there.
So that is pretty much the update from this end of the world. Not too much exciting, but we are getting by. I miss everyone a lot and always welcome visitors – hint, hint.
PS – I will try to get some photos up soon.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th!
Aren't we a patriotic family - kitty and all!
I was very disappointed that the embassy had nothing planned here for the 4th - but then again I'm not surprised because Canberra isn't that of a happening place. Next year we will have to go to Sydney, that's where the celebrations happen!
Last year we spent the 4th on an army base in Germany and that was really fun. The year before there was a huge bash at the embassy in Bangkok and that was a blast. And in true Thai style it was a gorgeous day then rained buckets in the evening as we left and there was not a spot on us that wasn't soaked to the bone. Good times. So, as most other things, it was much quieter this year.
Last night I made a bbq sauce marinade that is oh so good and soaked the ribs in it overnight. I got a recipe for baked ribs because we don't have a bbq and though I was skeptical, they turned out really good! Finger lickin' good! We also had some baked beans and potato salad, mmm. The apple pie will be later tonight, yum!
Brent ready to dig into the spread (still no table) and patriotic ribs!
So a happy 4th to everyone, hope you have a much warmer one than me (it is 36F outside)! It is strange to be all rugged up, but you can still feel some patriotism on a cold night! I won't deny I love my socialized medicine and other benefits, but it doesn't diminish my love for the good ol' USA. I am grateful for those brave enough to start a revolution and to start rolling a country with all sorts of cheap stuff! :) I do miss the cheap stuff. But I love Australia too even with it's high taxes and deadly animals.
I hope you all have a great 4th - enjoy some fireworks and a hot day for me!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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
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
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