What August Will Bring

Welcome August! You're a month that has snuck up on me while at the same time I've wondered if it would ever get here. 

Our time in Australia is coming to an end. Even though we've had the opportunity to live in and learn about this beautiful country for almost 8 months, it seems as though that's also the perfect amount of time to realize how much you still don't know about this place that you're finally feeling a part of. I can't help but think of things we wish we would've/could've/should've done. But we've also had a lot of fun, seen a lot of things and met many wonderful people who we can hopefully stay in touch with for a long time. When I think about what I'll miss the most about living here, I can't help but think the beach and the weather...and the tropical birds flying around everywhere doesn't hurt. I also have to say the nice people. People are just nice here.  

Every weekend of this month we'll find ourselves somewhere different. We'll leave Sydney in about a week. We'll fly to New Jersey for another week to pack up our stuff and say good-bye to friends there. Afterwhich, we'll make our way to Utah to stay with and catch up with my family while our stuff is making its way there. Hopefully, the last weekend we will find ourselves unpacking in our new home with Ryder all registered for Kindergarten.

 We did find a home to rent in Lehi, Utah, which will put us about an 8 minute drive from my sister, a 25 minute commute from Phil's work (he'll be working a little bit from home) and an hour and a half from my parents. And those are just the really close ones! I could go on, but compared to Australia, we're a hop, skip and a jump away from most of our family members. It's hard for me to describe my excitment about this.

 Of course, if I've learned anything about moving, is that it's bittersweet. There are many sad good-byes that will be made and a lot of new transitions to make, but we're excited for new opportunities that this new phase in our life will bring. ...that's to say, if we survive the move.

Goodbye, beautiful Sydney!

Finale Week

Almost a week ago, my dear friend, Claire and her cute family moved back to the U.S. Have a I told you about Claire? You might recall me mentioning her a few (a lot) of times on this blog. But have I ever told you about our story? No? Well then, pull up a chair.



Claire and I pretty much grew up as neighbors. She in Bear River City, and myself in Tremonton. (Both are two very small towns next to each other in Northern Utah). However, since she attended a different high school than me and is a couple of years younger than myself, our paths never crossed. As years passed and life took both of our husbands to the same MBA program at BYU, it wasn't until both of them were doing internships for the same company in New York City that we finally met. After being introduced at dinner by some mutual acquaintances, we had our first official playdate in Central Park.


Back in Provo we started running together and even ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon together (my first 1/2 marathon, her twentieth or something). After our husbands graduated, we sadly had to part ways. They went to Pheonix. We went to New Jersey.



After living in Jersey for about a year, we started thinking about Phil's international rotation coming up. Right around the time we were planning on it being Australia, Claire told me Nate (her husband) was going to be doing a rotatation there as well! And so they ended up arriving to Sydney about 5 months before us. Aside from feeling excited to hang out with Claire and her cute kids again, this phase of our friendship was nothing less than a blessing. An international move can be hard. But we got to do it with friends already put perfectly in place. Nate helped us find our housing, Claire answered my ba-zillion questions, they also picked us up from the airport upon after a 20-something hour long trip over here...I could go on. Point is, transitioning into our new life here was so much easier because of them.

 Although the love was definity there...Owen and Hazel's relationship was complicated... :)

How blessed I have been to  have my small-town friend "conveniently" there through our family's big city adventures.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Claire and Nate will be moving back to Pheonix and we'll be going our different ways once more. But given our history, I have no doubt that they'll cross again. Plus, it doesn't hurt one bit to have parents that live within 8 miles of each other.

Everywhere we went Claire would get strangers commenting on her children's beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes...

...mine would get other types of comments

Of course, knowing their departure was fast approaching, we made sure to make the most of their last week here.  We walked down to Balmoral Beach. One day we went into the city and went to Paddy's Market, played around Darling Harbor and then met the boys for lunch at Hurricanes. And of course, one last and final run to the Zoo with a little Chargrilled Charlies for lunch. All of our favorites crammed into one week--hence, our "Finale Week".

Norah, Ryder and Penny all looking at their zoo maps together in their matching Aussie hoodies they got from Paddy's the day before. This wasn't staged nor was the wardrobe planned!

 

Until next time, sweet friend!

Sydney Vivid Light Show

The last two weekends we went to the Vivid light show in Sydney. The first Saturday we went to the goings on at Darling Harbor, but sad to say it was a little rainy and cold.  It ended up being a fun time, but not so fun that when Phil wanted to go again the next weekend, I wasn't so jazzed.

However, this time it wasn't rainy and cold and we went to the light shows over by Circular Quay (by the Sydney Opera House). This was quite a bit more fun with cooler things to see. I had so much fun taking pictures, because it's probably the one of the rare instances that taking pictures in the dark actually works, since, you know, you're taking pictures of light.

Second time around at Circular Quay:

A couple of weekends ago at Darling Harbor (The second photo is an accurate portrayl of the everyone's feelings toward the end of our evening):

G&G Shorten Visit: Cairns

People. Prepare yourselves for photo overload like you've never seen before! It's got animals! It's got people! It's got tour guides wearing nothing but paint and a loincloth! Introducing! Our trip to Cairns! (Or Kens as they say it here.)

Cairns: Scene I

We begin at Macca's because let's be honest, the only way to start a vacation off right is to head straight to your nearest McDonald's for a milkshake and a kid's meal. And where else does one go while you wait for two hours until you're allowed to check in? 

Ahhh...the pool. In a kid's world, any vacation with a pool equals success. Many hours were spent here.

How many men does it take to cook a frozen lasagna? Well, in this case, two. And efforts we appreciated as the lasagna turned out quite tasty.

And of course, Hazel and her daddy, with a little Queensland flora on the side. 

Cairns: Scene II 

The plot thickens as our plans to explore the Great Barrier Reef were thwarted by swift winds and tumultuous waves. A little bit disappointing. But we rallied and given the information we had about the weather decided it was now or never (which was the wise decision since every excursion for the rest of the time we were there got cancelled), so we took a half day excursion to Green Island.

Aside from everyone (except Phil and his mom) getting sea sick, thanks to those rockin' waves, we ended having a nice time chillin' on the beach and getting in some snorkeling. 

Cairns: Scene III

We end our story with one last adventure to Daintree Rainforest and a little town named Kuranda. On our way there we drove past miles of sugarcane fields which filled me with an overwhelming feeling of nastolgia. Either because it made me miss the fields so familiar to my own roots, or it just gave me a hankering to go spend 7 hours watching The Thorn Birds. Or both. I'll never know.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...our 2013 Christmas card photo:

This day was one of my favorites. We've seen a lot of these animals before hanging around or at the zoo, but it was fun to get close up to them, learn more about them and in some cases, (very gingerly) pet them. 

However, we did not pet Jack. This 15 foot long beast is lovingly named "Jack the Ripper" because instead of mating with any female they put with him, he killed them instead. Nice fellow.

 Okay. Now what you've really been waiting for. The loincloth-wearing tour guide. Who told us how a didgeridoo was made and then played it for us. Demonstrated how to throw a boomerang and then let the rest of us give it a whirl. And  finally, did a little spear throwing, which was pretty awsome.

And then, what does this man of many talents do? He grabs a few of friends and does some tribal dancing for us. I eat up this sorta stuff! And as if this whole experience couldn't get any better, before I know it who is volunteering to go up and dance? Phil. It made my day. Totally made my day. I have it on video and I'm charging $5 per viewing. 

We also took a little tour of the rainforest and learned about ferns. 

I liked the dancing better. 

Kuranda was a small town filled with fun shops, markets... and hippies. There is something about a hippy town that makes me feel at ease. Ya know, go with the flow, man. So much so I ended up dropping a few bones at one of the said shops because I just found it so entertaining when the almost 50-year-old salesman said anytime he visits anywhere with central heating nowa days it just like"totally spins me out".

Oh, and just a little tip. Be careful when you order a burger with everything. Because then they'll reply, "The lot"? And kinda confused, you just go with it (because you're in hippyville) and say with your Aussie accent slipping out, "Yeah, yeah--the lot". And then, my friend, you get this:

THE END.

Phil's parents had one more day with us before they hopped on a plane back to WA, so we took one last run down to the beach, ate some fish n' chips for lunch. 

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa for coming all this way. We sure had fun with you!