Merry Christmas!

Long awaited (procrastinated) update

Hello dear blog,
It's been a long while since i have updated, and i am so sorry. I didn't have much to say.. well i did, but not to have said here in such a public forum. Life is good. Weather is hot as hell, but that's to be expected. We are quickly approaching our first Christmas so incredibly far from home, and YES we are homesick. But it's not so horrible as we keep in touch, talk to home often, and know that there will be one day when we move home.
Lil S is doing wonderful. She is really enjoying being able to play outside all year long. We didn't get that back in Colorado. (We do miss the cooler weather this time of year though. It's disconcerting to put up your Christmas tree when it's 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside)
Work, Lil S, and D keep me busy and running around here. Around end of (American) spring, (Australian fall) Lil S and I will head back to the states for the (American) summer. I am excited. D will join us at the end of summer and we will go and see relatives, and then on the way back to Australia do some island hopping. Definitely looking forward to that.
Again if I don't update as often, it's because there isn't much to update. Things may change and I may update more. But til then go and check flickr. I can add you if I know you. Just email me and let me know who you are and I will send an invite so you can see all the family pictures.

A little turkey, well human, but cute anyway!

Go over to Kelly's blog and tell her congrats, she just had her daughter November 15 (US time).

Kelly is a newspaper writer/editor, and I have been reading her blog for the last year, and she puts it all into the most eloquent and witty words. She is a great read :)

Enjoy!

Best Hubby EVER Award

D and Lil S came by my office today and dropped off this beautiful arrangement for me. D deserves the best hubby of the decade award. Lil S wanted to pose with the "present Mama flower" which is what she said when she came to the office.

All my co-workers thought it was so beautiful too!

Happy 10 years!

Somewhat recent picture (sorry for the redeye!)


about 10 years ago

D,

It's been the best 10 years of my life so far. September 23, 1997 is a day I will never forget! You are the reason! Hope for many many more!
Love,
S

BEST MOVIE (in a VERRRRY LONG TIME)

SAW THIS TONITE! IT's one of the BEST Pixar has made!!!!!

Yes you have to suspend disbelief, and it's very inspiring in that you feel that ANYONE can be ANYTHING!

VERY MOVING!

LOVED IT! GOOOOOO TO THE MOVIESSS!!! DON'T MISS IT!!!

IT WAS A GUT BUSTING GREAT MOVIE!!! FIND A SITTER WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO!

I want to watch it again... good thing it will be out on DVD on Nov 6TH!

Macbook Pro - Fun with Photobooth

View at your own risk!!

We had a great time making faces.. and in most of the other pics I ended up looking like a female Jay Leno... weird... Dennis had a better scarier picture... so I let him have the glory! LOL Enjoy!

Next installment of pics will be Lil S looking weird! HAHA



Me looking like a Shark about to bite D





D Aka CYCLOPS




D looking like an Alien

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Since everyone has been changing up their blogs look, i decided to as well... the only drawback though, is that it ate up all my comments.. and i don't know yet how to fix that, and i did some housecleaning on the links, some were no longer updating, and so I don't go as frequently if at all, so I took them off. I love Blue, and as it's my favorite color I think I will stick with it a while. The green was great when where I lived was green and lush, but here.. well I want to think about a place that is near the water... and here is NOT...

Enjoy the new layout!

Congrats on the new addition Indigogirl!

Drop by and say congrats to one of the bloggers I read every day, Linda, aka Indigo Girl is awesome, and I hope to be like her one day (whenever I go and finish nursing school) but also she's a cool mom and just recently (today) had her newest addition!

Fanatics!

I am a diehard Texas fan, but what happened to this guy should NEVER happen. Scary!

But then again I am also not stupid enough to go into Sooner Country (other than Steve's house) with my UT gear on!

Hook'em Horns!

6 years....

Not a day to dwell. Remember, but not dwell.

So in other news, the job is going well. I enjoy it and enjoy the new co-workers. Lil S did well and helped Dad around the house, and the had a good dad/daughter day.

I missed her a little bit. I wonder what she will learn about this day 6 years ago.

Not too much else going on right now. Gotta go and get some crayons to have a coloring contest with Lil S.

Working Woman

Got a job! Excited! It's going to be nice since we don't have to get day care. I can work around D's schedule. Very exciting now since I can be around non-2 years old at least part time :)

Can't wait for my first day of work!!!

Total Lunacy

So tomorrow we are going to go out and see the Total Lunar Eclipse! It's going to be almost 90% visible (D said)

So gotta charge up the camera and be ready to take some pictures. I don't think the whole world can see it, but I know we are in a pretty good location to; will post the pics into flickr if they are at all good.

EDIT: the pictures were pretty blurry, and there were much better ones taken by many other ppl, but we did get to see it and it was pretty awesome!

We had a cookout and drank wine and watched it, which is a pretty neat way to view an eclipse.

Yes, you can buy me love!

SO sad, I can't watch the current season here, but must order it online as soon as it all comes out!

Awwww Patrick Dempsey *sigh*

Props to D for finding this online on youtube!

Traveling around the internet

It's so funny, now that i moved all the way here to the land down under, I thought I was the jet-setter in the family. It's so weird, but it ended up being my parents instead.

In the last 2 weeks they have been to Tampa, Philly, and next week they will be in California. And my mom is excited about Cali, she's never been and hopes to see a celeb or too, I hope they have their camera charged up!

I wish that it was only a couple hours to jump into a plane and see family or friends, but I am so glad we live in a time where the internet puts us right with family. It's so good to see everyone everyday if we wanted too!

Sometimes D and I chat online after lil S goes to sleep so we don't wake her up accidentally. SO funny to chat online in the same house! Haha

Lil S loves the computer and so far she webcams and plays Sesame Street games.

What would I do if i didn't have the internet out here, let's hope I never find out.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lil S

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Stamp It

"And hey, you know you've officially made it in Hollywood when you find yourself the object of a philatelist's affection."

Click here to check out the story.
Every country is different!

Straight Hair

This is the new hair, I got it straightened and i LOVE it... it's so easy to take care of now!

And E-lo if you look close you can see it, but it's pretty small. I am glad I got it done, and does your dad really believe you? hehe

Friends in other continents

I am back in school (well on Monday) but mostly the classes are online. I have one I will have to go to, and I am excited. I will be a nurse in less than 2 years. It's really exciting.

Lil S is having some tough times transitioning to bed time, but it's also a minor problem as she has moved all the way around the world. In all she is adjusting well, but is quite clingy to mommy. ;) I am sure we all were as 2 year olds.

D is enjoying work, and excited about exploring the outback. It's a great adventure and we learn new things about Australia every day. It's beautiful out here in the winter (think Phoenix in America in January). Not a cloud in the sky and virtually no rain. I know that most of our family in Texas wish for that now... NO rain! heh

The Dog is loving being with us, she is very well mannered, doesn't beg too much, and goes to sleep in her dog bed. She is also housetrained which is very nice, since our previous pets weren't as well trained. (we still miss them though)

We wish we were with family right now, missing everyone a lot, but making lots of new friends. Plus all the kids love playing with each other!

Out of the mouth of Babes

So this evening while watching some Little Einsteins after dinner she asks me, "What's that Mama?"

I say to her, " That's a trumpet."

She looks at me and says,"A strumpet?"

After that every time we see/hear a trumpet play in the episode, she gleefully yells "STRUMPET!"

Tonite we met some really nice people. I think around new place and new people I get nervous and say anything and everything that pops into my head. D really notices that. I think it's more that I want to make a good impression, and I hate long silent pauses.

So I hope that as people get to know me that they will forgive me that quirk. But it's me. Oh well.

We are adjusting well and supposed to be getting our things we shipped via ship in the next couple weeks, so I guess I should hang up those clothes that have been sitting on the bed in the spare bedroom! hehe... procrastination is such a bad thing,but I am sure I'll get that done this week. That's the goal anyways!

We have made a few friends in the neighborhood and a couple of them have kids close to Lil S's age, which is nice, cause when we get together, for the most part the kids play well together. Sometimes they bicker over toys, etc.

Some days it's easy, but other days the terrible 2s rear their ugly head. These are the days I wished we lived close to Grandma and Gramps and Aunt and Uncles. It's hard being away from them. And Lil S really misses them, but she doesn't know how to say it. But we do love this modern age we live in, and she does like to see them online and see their pictures. So it's not too bad.

I have updated a ton of pics on flickr from our various trips/moving. If you have a flickr acct and want to see ours, email me and I will add you into my friends/family group. And it's free if you want to join :) it's so much easier than sending huge attachments etc!

Ok... gotta go and sleep!

Home

He thinks that there are better pictures than this, but when I see this picture I know where home is. If you want to use this picture for whatever reason, at least put that Dennis K took it. Thanks

Good times

EDIT : We named the dog SCARLETT TEX (one friend is obsessed with scarlett o'hara and my sis suggested tex)

It suits her well!

***************

Ok I better update! It's been almost a month. I can't believe soon it will have been a month since we left Texas and well the US.

I just turned 28 yesterday. We went out to a nice dinner sans baby, and then out to the local casino where we won about $150. It was great, we left without spending our winnings!

We miss home, but here it's a lot like home, so while we miss family and friends we have been adapting pretty well. We have friends here and are enjoying taking LiL S out to play everyday in the fantastic weather. Since it's winter here there is no HEAT yet, that will come Jan-March here.

We have a new addition to the household of the canine variety. It's a girl and she is 4 years old. She is a Terrier Mix.

We still haven't named her yet, so if anyone has a suggestion please let us know. The above picture was taken while she was trying to sleep. We want to give her either an Australian name or a Texan name or a combo...

En Route

we went to india and came back... Lil S and I are pretty much recovered and now next week we move... so we'll have to get used to sleeping at weird times yet again.

D and I are in Austin on a last trip minus Lil S. She is getting spoiled rotten with RMR and the grandparents. It's so good for her. She LOVED India and didn't want to leave. She still asks for Anina and Max and just misses life there.

Will update again when I get settled.. hopefully with pictures... I gotta upload a ton...

In India

We arrived safely, and are doing well. I was a little under the weather yesterday, but today feel MUCH Better.

Going to do some shopping!

Tomorrow we go to Kerala. I am excited. It's been 19 years, way too long and I should have come sooner!

Delhi is so amazing. Very very hot, but just full of history and culture. It's so different from anywhere in the US. I am excited to see more of the city today.

The second night we were here we went to the Red Fort to see the light show. It covered the history behind the red fort. I was in awe. Shah Jahan (the ruler who built the Taj Mahal) built the red fort and you can definitely see the similarities.

Baby S is doing well, staying inside most of the day as we aren't used to the heat, but she LOVES Indian food, so she is just happy to dip all her food with curries.

Still a little jet lagged, but once we get to Kerala I am sure we will adjust.

Will try to update again from Kerala.

just been watching the news out of Virginia, oh it makes me so sad. I can't even imagine the pain the families are all going through. I just woke up this morning thinking it was a nice day and we took the lil one to the park. I kept hearing about Virgina, but wasn't sure about exactly what was happening. I think we take so much for granted.

I don't have much more to say. It makes no sense.

Big Trip

Oh I am doing a heck of a lot better, and I can't wait til Sunday. After a month I will see D... It will be nice to spend the week together.. and then we're off to the Motherland... That will be a TRIP. I know that India's changed in 20 years... but when you read about it or hear it secondhand it's not the same as seeing it... I am excited. I just can't wait to get the plane part done... I really am not fond of the plane flight and with a 20 month old... Argh... hehe

Got all the packing done, and now just waiting. Texas has cooled off a bit so still wearing some of my Colorado clothes... getting the last use out of them.. hah..

I don't know if I will have a chance to update from India or not, we'll see til then stay tuned...

Zyrtec dreams

ahhh.. Texas is so nice.. without the benefit of allergies... it's so much easier to breathe too..

I got on some nice Zyrtec and it really knocks you out.... but oh heck it makes you feel better after you get over being so groggy. I felt like I was swimming all day.

It's so humid here, compared to Colorado. Oh I am sure once we move again we will miss this humidity... NOT.. hehe

Dog got a new home, and we hear she is loving it. She is with the in-laws. I am glad that we get to know how she's doing even though she doesn't live with us now.

Not too much going on...Oh yeah the house is under contract (thank god). It went within a week of being on the market. So we are happy. I can't wait til we don't have to pay mortgage. Very exciting. I used to remember the days that we were wanting a house... the next house we ever buy better be the last. I don't like MOVING at all....

Ok.. off to Zyrtec land.. i mean sleep!

This is what my brain looks like this week. I can't wait til about 2 weeks from now, and this week is but a memory... selling a house is SO MUCH MORE WORK than buying a house... never again!
Then onto Texas. I can't wait... though I have to admit, leaving your home, a place where you brought your baby home to is quite an emotional thing. It's hard, but I know we are going to have an adventure, and now I am looking forward to it.

Going Home (for a little while)

Moving to the promised land, and no not Jerusalem.

Well it's just temporary, but get to see family and friends.

Then we'll be jet-setting around the world. I feel like a diva that gets to change dirty diapers. Can't wait to be back and grazing, hoping to update more frequently.

But alas, it will be picture posts since I am going to have the camera surgically implanted to suck in the essence of all that is Texas!

Ramblings of a Traveller

(Gratuitous family picture taken by RMR)

Ohh.. off to the west coast again soon! Can't wait.. gotta get laundry done, and packing. So much to do and so little time. Gotta take extra batteries for the camera.. it's going to be a while before we get back to see that pretty area again!

Oh how much I take for granted living in this gorgeous country!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my mom's birthday! We love you! Hope you have a kickass birthday!

Hi again

Hi there,
I know that I haven't written in a bit, but I will now. In about 6 months (exactly) we will be moving. There is so much to get done, and it seems like the year is starting to go by faster. I know that as we get closer to moving it will seem like it takes forever to get from one day to the next.
In a couple weeks we will be going to visit RMR. It's been a while since we have seen her and S. It will be nice seeing the Pacific Northwest again! I hope they will be able to visit us in Australia once we move there.
Lil S is doing great. She is back in her library storytimes, and MOPS, and she is enjoying it immensely. D is also doing well, he got a promotion last summer and is now getting us ready to move. Exciting, but sometimes overwhelming too!
Hope you are doing well and have a new year! I will update later!