It's about time!

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!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving - November 2006

Obviously, Australians do not celebrate the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving. Well, we decided that we couldn't let the season pass without celebrating, so we held our own Thanksgiving down here. It turned out to be a great time for all for all of the Americans down here and we were able to get all of the traditional fixings that make Thanksgiving a feast to remember. Over the past years, I've always celebrated Thanksgiving with Lari and Amos and, while it was sad not to be with them this year, we made the best of it. Ryland even came to visit, so we had a little slice of our Seattle life with us!

And with the passing of Thanksgiving, it means that we're also one step closer to Christmas! In fact, Eric and I will be flying home in a little more than two weeks! I guess that means we should get shopping for some gifts. I must say, I'm very excited to come back to the States and see both of our families and some of our friends. We're disappointed not to be able to make it back to Seattle, but such is life sometimes. We'll be back soon enough!

Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup - November 2006

Yes, we know this post has been a long time coming! In any case, we are now happy to show you all these wonderful pictures from the Melbourne Cup. It was very fun, though I only saw two races. Everyone dressed up and we all drank champagne. The only down side to the whole day was that it was very cold. Luckily for me, I had my bobblicious shawl (and Eric) to keep me warm.

Other than that, we are planning on having a belated Thanksgiving next weekend, so at least we won't totally miss out on the feast. In more holiday news, Eric and I have booked our flights home for Christmas and unfortunately will not make it back to Seattle for the holidays. We'll get to see our families and some of our friends, so it'll still be a great trip, but sorry Seattle friends, it looks like we'll have to wait until April or so to get together again!

Zoo

We went to the zoo a while back and just finally put up some pictures. Hopefully we can get out and see a few these in the wild.

Trip to Auckland

Here are some pictures from our short trip to Auckland. Click on the picture for the album.

18 vs 28

When I was 18, freshman in college, I became interested in feminist studies. I was very aware of not being oppressed by the hetero-patriarchary. I wanted to have a power career and the idea of cooking dinner for my man and doing laundry seemed an abomination. Now at 28, I do part time office work and get really happy when I make a good dinner for Eric and I. I'm not so sure what 18 year old me would say to 28 year old me...

But, then I think about Eric and how much I love him and love to take care of him and that just doesn't seem to matter. Actually, I'm happier to cook dinner, do the laundry, clean the house, pack for our trips, and work part time with Eric that I ever was before him.

So, 18 year old me can stuff it. Besides, what the hell does an 18 year old know anyway?!

Awesome Idea!!!

Hey, I think you should stop whatever busy and important thing you're doing right now and go take a picture of yourself. Why, you may ask. So you can send it to me. Or post it. Or both. You see, if you're reading this, then it means that either Eric or I (and most cases both of us) miss seeing you guys and it would make us ever so happy to see your smiling faces!

To get it started, here's the coolest picture of Eric and I have taken of ourselves since we've been here: