Sorry for the long hiatus from posting!
Eric and I took a three week Christmas vacation back to the States and were able to see both of our families and some of our friends, even though we didn't make it back to Seattle. Our first stop back was in Arizona to see my family, my sister's new house, and Lari and Amos. One of the highlights of family time for me was playing "Monsters" with my niece, Victoria. She's 3 and currently in to Scooby Doo, so that's where fighting monsters came from. The game basically involves running around, screaming, chasing, jumping on beds, and pillow fights. Every time I saw her, she wanted to play. It was very, very cute!
Another highlight of our time in AZ was going on a road trip with Lari and Amos to New Mexico to visit Amos's brother and family. They're really great people and, of course, it was nice to be able to spend all that time with Lari and Amos just hanging out.
After about 10 days in AZ, we left for Virginia to see Eric's family. I was a bit nervous because I'd never met them before, but they were all really great. One of the highlights while we were there was Eric's grandmother. We went and visited Eric's grandparents twice while we were there and they're quite lovely as well. The second time we went to visit them was the night before we left back to AUS. As we were leaving, Eric's grandmother gave me a hug, which I thought was very sweet. Then she took both of my hands and looked and me and said, "You know, you're very lucky." What could I do but laugh and agree?! Of course she's right - I know I'm very lucky to have found such a great guy as Eric. It was just a funny, cute moment and I'll remember it forever.
Also while we were in VA we drove down to Athens to see Tom and Liz, which was very nice. Although it rained almost every day that we were there, it was so great just to be able to hang out and talk to some great friends we haven't seen in a while. Liz and Tom also have the most personable cats that I've ever met and really provided for tons of entertainment. Actually, they're very social and have personalities that you'd expect to find in dogs, not cats. We were in Athens for New Years and went to a really great vegetarian (vegan?) organic restaurant in Athens. Being in the South and finding a good New Years event when New Years Eve is on a Sunday was no small feat, but Tom and Liz managed to plan a great night! Two of Tom's colleagues came out with us and they were also both very, very friendly and nice. It made me happy to know that Tom and Liz have managed to find some neat people to hang out with down there.
All in all it was a great vacation. The most disappointing thing, though, was that I left my camera in Melbourne so we don't have any pictures of our entire trip! That really makes me sad. At least we've got all the wonderful memories with our family and friends.
Now we're back in Melbourne, enjoying the summer sun. Oh, we've moved so here's our new address:
1506/80 Clarendon St
Southbank VIC 3006
Although we got the Internet working, we don't have an adaptor plug for our IP phone yet. As soon as we do, I'll let you all know!
So, we hope you all had a good new years and we look forward to hearing from you all and heading back home sometime in '07!
