Cuppa?

I've just begun my fourth week at my new jobby job, and I have recently come to this conclusion. Though I've only been employed for just on 4 weeks, my new employers are trying to destroy me. How? Oh the answer is simple. Cookies, hot chocolate, tea, fancy coffee, crunchy peanut butter, crackers, chips in a ridiculous variety of flavours, lollies, birthday celebrations complete with catered lunch and cake, and monthly after-work drinks. Let's not forgot the cupcake bakery in Sydney Central Plaza, where Tiramisu and Banana Cake cupcakes are baked on a daily basis. I'm also becoming quite a coffee conisuer, thanks to Nespresso. Help!

As part of my reception responsibilities, I must keep the kitchen stocked with aforementioned treats and am charged with ordering the catering for the birthday parties-Chocolate Mud Cake for this month. What's a girl to do? Lots of sit-ups and maybe a jog or two.

I do feel very lucky to have found a job pretty quickly, it only took about six weeks to nail down a prospect. I work with very lovely people, which has made the transition here all the better.

Actually, what has helped cure a bit of my homesickness is Skype. Glorious, glorious Skype. I've been able to chat with the parentals, Krissy and Sydney, Colleen and Kevin, and Mandy and Jason, Jaime, and the Canadians. You should check out the creeper pictures Mandy took of me while we were on Skype. Her webcam is all sorts of cool, and she definitely snapped some of the most flattering pictures I have ever seen of myself. I'd definitely have a ginormous phone bill if it weren't for Skype. It's great to actually see faces when having a conversation too. I don't feel so far away.

Oh, another plus to my new job - new clothes. I have to look all nice and dandy every day, so a shopping I must go. YES!

I do seem to run into a bit of a language barrier from time to time. The various lilts of the Aussie accent can throw me, especially when their mobile connection is a P.O.S. and there is complete static on the line. I have come up with some extremely creative names for businesses and people.

There is also the occasional teasing of my oh-so-pleasing-to-the-ear Cleveland accent. I get lots of laughs when I say 'candy' instead of 'lollies' or when I drag out the 'O' in trolley. I guess it's just part of the novelty of settling in.

I've missed you!

ANNNNNDDDDD......We're connected to the world! Yay!

It has been a very momentous week for Chris and I. The Internet decided to come to our apartment and stay for a while. Really?!? Yes!

We bought a new washing machine. Really?!? Yes! This means we no longer have to pack up Chris's ginormous backpack with our clothes and walk a mile to Come In Spinner, yes you read that right, our local laundry mat that specializes in highway robbery. It costs $4.50 just to wash and the bargain price of $8.00 for the first 40 minutes of dryer usage. Bull. This also means that Chris and I don't have to ration out what clothes are going to be cleaned and what clothes are going to be pushed into a dark, dark corner far away from us to be forgotten...until next week.

With these two steps forward, there was, of course, one step backward. We had to say good-bye to our "fridge." It is a "fridge" since Harvey Norman, an appliance/housewares store, decided to deliver the wrong fridge and forget to tell us they have credited our purchase, but not really since we have to come into the store and have a stupid return form faxed to who knows where.

Want to know what our fun purchase of the day? Anyone? Well, I'll tell you anyways. Bike helmets are the law here, and Chris has just finished putting his bike back in working order. Hence needing a new bike helmet. He looks like a 12-year-old BMX biker. So sweet.

Funny side note: I am now typing without the covering for the E key. It's very weird. It just decided all of a sudden to want a break. Let me tell you, Es are in a lot of words.

As you have probably seen posted all over my Facebook page, I have Skype account. I was able to chat with the parents. For the first few trial conversations, I had no visual of my parents. Why? Well after a few hours of troubleshooting, my dad realized he forgot to lift the shutter on their web cam. I'll leave it at that (Love you, Dad and Mom).

Here are some tasty American treats that I have been jonesin' for big time:
-Cherry Pop Tarts
-Lucky Charms and Honey Nut Cheerios
-Reeses Peanut Butter cups
-Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
-Dunkin' Donuts
-Taco Bell, though I have heard a delicious rumor of one being in downtown Sydney. I will be investigating said rumor very shortly.
-CHEAP BEER (Bud light)...oh beer is so expensive here, it's criminal.
-Snyder BBQ chips

Wow. That's all junk food. Terribly delicious.

Oh, I do need to comment on how nice Sydney bus drivers are. They are so freaking polite. I still loathe the bus, but I am definitely no longer afraid to board a bus. And, I haven't had any random interactions since I've been riding the bus. Shame.

I feel I must also mention that my days a lazy bum are numbered. As of Monday, I have to put my big girl pants on for my first day at work. I got a job!! It's only taken 6 weeks, but I managed to beat a law firm into submission. Watch out Sydney, here I come!

In all cerealness though, I have been homesick from time to time, but I am settling very well. But I will be stalking people on Skype-you've been warned.

Cheers!

G'Day, Love.

Hello!!!

I've been in Sydney, well, 20 days now. The trip over here was uneventful, no delays, I didn't sit next to any creepies, there weren't any major malfunctions on any of my planes. I did happen to fly to L.A. with some very excited Ohio State fans...oh joy. I was given plenty of "those looks" when people realized all that luggage belonged to just one person.

I am all settled in my apartment with Chris, and finally the kitties. We picked them up from the quarantine station on the 16th. Poor Brady puked himself silly on the way home. Apparently, Demeter was a bit of a psycho with the caretakers at the quarantine station. I feel the need to send some kind of thank you to the workers for having to put up with her diva behavior.

Oh, we're getting a new fridge tomorrow. Our current fridge, which was very kindly donated by one of Chris's close friends, now hisses at us whenever we open the freezer. So, new fridge it is.

One of the biggest differences I'm finding is just how expensive everything is over here. Portions are definitely smaller. I think our fridge is about 72 cm across-does that make sense? It's skinny, that's for sure. I'll have to post a picture of it once we have our own Internet connection set up. Oh, the Internet. Yea, it costs anywhere from $300-$700 for initial install! That floored me a bit. We definitely have a list going to all the things we need to buy, in good time. I do need to add that we purchased a vacuum for me the second day I was here. I have been trying to tame the Monica Geller that lives inside, but I just can't seem to do it! I love my new vacuum!!

I've been to the mall a few thousand times already. LOVE IT! The clothes here are amazing! I love the shoe stores. I saw some fuchsia sequined heels and I almost called Colleen to tell her about them. If I could transplant two stores from the States to here, they would be DSW and The Limited. I can't wait to start working so I can give French Connection the proper attention that store so justly deserves.

T.V.-The only shows I really miss are The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. I'll be able to satisfy my TrueBlood addiction when each season is released on DVD-though they are a season behind here! Yay! I have all the seasons so far for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so I think I'm right. The Good Wife is starting here in February, so I'll be able to see that from the beginning, and I've also been able to catch up with Glee too.

Funny story, the family that lives above us has four cats, mostly outdoor. Their cat, Gizmo, likes to sit in our doorway and hiss at Brady and Demeter through the screen. It's pretty funny.

Oh, I've finally met Jackie, Chris's sister, and his nephews and niece! We played mini-golf and went out for some ice cream! It was great to finally meet them. I'll be seeing Chris's parents and grandmother this coming weekend.

I think I've finally caught everyone up to today. I'll be trying to get Chris to go into the city for some touristy stuff on Thursday. I'll have lots of pictures for everyone to see!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Let's see, it's been about two months since I've updated the blog:

Working at Root and Old Navy have kept me somewhat busy, at the very least, I have some random stories to tell people. You have to love the holidays and all the crazies that come out to do their shopping. I did actually survive working on Black Friday, and I'm ready to never do that again.

For Thanksgiving, I was able to see lots of the Canadian clan. My little cousin, Carson, is so adorable. I definitely took advantage of baby snuggling time. :) It was great to see Aunt Lynn and Uncle Blair. I'm sad I missed out on seeing Ralphie's house. Such a great movie, and to think, Chris didn't like it the first time he watched it. Weirdo!

I've even had the chance to meet up with a great old friend Fairview. It was so great to catch up with Stephanie and listen to her awesome L.A. stories. She needs to finish that book and send me a signed copy A.S.A.P!

The kitties leave on Monday, the 14th. They will be arriving in Australia on the 18th, when their 30 days in quarantine begin. I'm hoping they cope with the travel well and we don't have any catatonic...cats (yea, lame joke) once they are freed into the Australian wild.

Only 19 more days for me. I'm definitely more than ready to go. I miss Chris so much, yet whenever I think of leaving my family, especially my grandparents, I start to cry. I'll definitely be more than happy to finally have my little family back together and settled in our new apartment. Chris found a place in the northern beaches of Sydney. The only thing we need is a fridge! We'll just add that to the list thankyouverymuch.

I'm sure once I start traipsing around Sydney going on interviews, I'll have more hilarious stories about getting lost. Hey, it's what I do best.

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Let's see, I dropped Chris off at the airport this morning. We left the house bright and early-6:30 in the a.m. I went in and sat with him for a bit. I was definitely the red-eyed, snotty nosed, sobbing mess that you see in movies. Chris held himself together pretty well. He actually had to walk me back to the car since he left his sunnies in the glove compartment.

It's only for 2 months though, this separation is not forever. I have to keep telling myself that. I have managed to actually stop crying like a fool. I went to the mall with Colleen for a little retail therapy. Sephora sure knows how to cheer up a gal. I don't think any of the make up girls picked up on my desperate need for a makeover though. That's ok, I had fun with the testers anyways!

Oh, what's up with the lack of Halloween specials? I'm a little upset about that. I feel like there were way more on when I was younger.

P.S. Last week, my VISA application was approved! I sent my passport in to have it stamped. I finally have my VISA!! yay!

Are we there yet?

The official migration to Australia has begun! Chris and I left Chicago early Monday morning, well around 10:30. We had been up since 6:15 loading the rest of our stuff into the truck. There was a massive thunderstorm the night before, but everything was clean and dry in the truck.

We actually spent the night sleeping on the floor. Why? Well we thought we would be able to have the truck packed up and the apartment cleaned by decent time on Sunday and just drive through the night. Not so much. We managed to get the couch and bed loaded, along with a few other things before the weather turned nasty. Slick, eh?

We purchased some walkie-talkies to entertain ourselves during the most boring 6 1/2 hour drive to Medina. Chris decided my call name was going to be 'Thunderpants', umm...thanks? We eventually made it to Medina around 7:00 Monday night.

I was a little sad to be leaving Chicago. We had a little get-together on Friday night. I was happy to see everyone that came out, and I know that Jess and Amanda have some AWESOME pictures. I can't wait for those to be posted. Save More Lounge is definitely a hidden gem! I think someone was hit in the face by some random ladies arm fat? Amanda? Jess? Temo? So, I think everyone can deduce what kind of night Friday turned out to be...FUN!

Anywhoodley do, the UHAUL truck has been unpacked-thank you, Kevin, for helping Chris unload our monster couch-and we're going through all of the boxes...again. Salvation Army is going to love Chris and I.

(Oh, yesterday was our 3-year anniversary. Chris bought me a pretty, white watch and I bought Chris some sassy new cologne.)

Boxing Days

One bedroom down, another one to go, along with the kitchen and bathroom.

Yep, we're boxing our belongings up. We've reserved a UHAUL truck instead of a trailer. I didn't want to permanently add a hitch to our car that we're going to be selling (keep your fingers crossed).

On Sunday I ventured into my closet. Chris was done packing up his things in about 10 minutes, whereas I just managed to clear out my shoes and put them in a plastic tub. I think I'm needing to have a personal conversation with Southwest Airlines and Air New Zealand. We'll be needing to come to some understanding about the amount of bags I'll be able to take with me. And yes, I've already donated PLENTY of clothing. I lasted about an hour into that task and needed to take a break, at the bar. I had sincere intentions to return to my packing, but was distracted by Monopoly on XBOX.

I also began the task of shredding all those old pay stubs and bills that I've just held on to. Two large trash bags later, I still have a huge pile to annihilate.

After surveying the additions to the moving stock in the back room, I'm hoping we've rented a large enough truck.