Day 16

This is our park! I can see myself drinking coffee while reading a book, sunbathing on a blanket, and watching kids play in this park. THIS is what I love about our neighborhood. It is very quiet and peaceful, full of families and old people. 

Day 15

our walkway 

our entry

our apartment

our street 

This is where we live! It has been really rainy the last few days. I love the rain, but hate my hair. Give me a few more weeks and I will figure it out. I am getting better at taking a shower. We got a mini heater. The toilet is still atrocious!!! 

more apartment pictures

views from the "big hill"

I will take a few more of the building, park and neighborhood, within the next few days. Miss you and Love you all! 

more apartment pictures

more apartment pictures

Day 13-14

I finally made to an internet cafe! Here are pictures of our new place! 

Happy Birthday Kathryn !!!

Kathryn is the best because:

• she has beautiful freckles
• she is always up for playing the Wii (and great at taking turns)
• she is uber intelligent 
• she is MY niece 
• she is like the little sister I never had
• she is the best hula hooper I have ever known
• she can TAP DANCE!!!
• she has great taste in music
• and she is the coolest 10 year old I know! 

We love you! Your birthday present is on its way!!!

Day 11-12

cooking our first meal!

the mess

walking up the big hill

at a bus stop in the rain 

The last few days have been really difficult. We were so excited to move into our apartment and start living life! We did not expect for things to be so difficult. Our apartment is not heated... so when it is 55 or 45 degrees outside it is the same on the inside. Our water is only scorching hot or freezing cold. Showering is frustrating and nearly impossible. It takes twice as long, because you have to choreograph a dance in and out of the water, switching between hot and cold for the 30 seconds of warm water before it switches again to hot or cold.  And don't even think that going to the bathroom is easy. The toilet flushes with such power that the water jumps out of the bowl. You have to flush and run, literally. I have a toilet rag to wipe the seat before I sit as to avoid a wet toilet water bottom. And we have nothing. So we try and find a store near by. We spent hours walking and found nothing. Yes, there could have been a store very close, but the frustration of not finding anything got to us. SO, we made the long walk up and down an enormous hill to the bus stop (about a mile walk). Got on the bus. Road to the CBD (the city) and went to Coles. 4 times we made the trip with what we could carry. We got a grocery caddy. It is foolish of me to have thought that life in Australia was going to be a day at the beach. I am not complaining (and i really debated if i should or not) to get sympathy. I do not need anyone to feel sorry about our situation. I am writing so that, at the end of the year, I can look back and see how far I have come from the beginning. Tyler and I decided to go on this adventure so that we could learn, grow, and become grownups; the child that I am was simply naive enough to think I would not struggle. 

Day 10

I gave up on free internet at McDonalds... It was too slow and would never let me upload pictures or post on my blog. It was very fancy though! 

Although most of the TV shows are American (even american idol) the commercials are all Australian. They have an anti smoking add campaign that is very similar to our anti meth commercials. They are great! I only wish that more people would listen to them. I can not wait to move into our new apartment and out of the inner city. You can not walk anywhere without people blowing smoke in your face. I think smoking is the most disgusting and selfish habit a person can have. Even the slightest smell of smoke and I get a splitting headache. I love many people that are smokers.... I love you all enough to say that I don't want you to die a horrible and disgusting death that could have been prevented. Go to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzoagsjlUv4 ) to view the add! 

Day 9

Today was very busy. We got up early and went to the uni bank to update our information and get a bank cheque as well, for our apartment rent and bond. After that we went back to the hotel and made a plan for walking to the agency in order to sign the rental agreement. We were hoping that they would give us the keys... they did not. Our move in date is still on Saturday. 

Day 8

While Tyler is at work I try and pass the time... I have fairly good city skills, but I do get turned around when the same store is on every other street corner. I spent the majority of the day at the park and looking in shops. I am not sure what kind of birds these are, but they are everywhere and are not afraid of people. They are about the size of a large goose... 

Day 7

Today was Tyler's first day at work. He had trouble with his ID again... they said it will take another day. Tyler learned that his funding is labeled as a scholarship so it will be tax free and Lucy found an extra 3 thousand dollars to help with us getting settled the first month! Everyone in his office teased him for sporting thongs in such cold temperatures (65) ... he quickly figured out they were talking about his flip-flops! He made friends with an old woman who works in the same room with him. She was very curious about me and kept asking questions... old ladies always love Tyler. They got talking and she said that her daughter was recently diagnosed with auditory and visual processing delay and wrote down tons of information about learning centers and schools in our area. Tyler said she was very enthusiastic to hear about my story and wants to help find me a job and/or work with her daughter. Hopefully I will be blessed with a wonderful opportunity! 

Day 6

We went to Darling Harbour today. While we were down there, we went to the National Australian Maritime Museum because we saw a poster that said it was free... and we thought why not! We had a good holiday. (today was the queen's birthday... so it was a national holiday)

Nun bathing

Day 5

We went to Coogee beach today, it was lots of fun!

Day 4

We got up at six this morning and began our apartment hunting. They do open viewing on Saturday so we had a list of 13 flats to visit. Only problem was getting to all of the showings in time. We took the bus to the first location. It had new carpet but was in a very sketchy building... you had to walk over a large opening in between buildings to enter the apartment. It also did not have a fridge. We then walked at least 5 miles to the next location trucking up and down hills. We saw the ocean for the first time. I would have loved to stop and take it all in... but we were in a hurry. The next apartment was very cool looking with a spiral staircase and only a few blocks from the beach! However it was unfurnished... we went to a few more but did not take applications. At one place the agent thought we were from Ireland. He said that we had Irish accents. Then we got lost walking for a about an hour. It ends up that we walked past the place we were looking for a few times. We missed appointments for a few that we really thought we would have liked because we simply ran out of time. The next flat that we looked at was the one! Although it costs $350 a week, it is in a quiet neighborhood close to campus and not too far from the beach. It is fully furnished and in great condition. It came with a real sized refrigerator!!! The agent thought that we were from Canada and was pleased with our standings. He was sympathetic and even drove us to his office to sign the paperwork and put down a deposit. He was a funny man, we liked him very much. So we have a place to live!!! We will move in on the 13th... ahhhh what a relief. We will post pictures as soon as we can get into the place!

Day 3

we looked at an apartment that was horrible. we got a mobile phone. Tyler got set up at the university. we got into a fight about food (tyler would rather not eat to save money... and i have to eat!). we found a McDonald's so we could use the internet for free! It costs about $2.00 an hour to use it at the internet cafes but it is free at every McDonalds. then we finished the day watching american TV (the simpsons, how i met your mother, scrubs, ellen...).

Second day in Sydney

Yesterday was a very frustrating and gloomy day. The day started off going down to the lobby for what we thought was a continental breakfast, but was in fact a charge of $18 per person. Good thing we figured that out before we ate anything! We went to the University to get checked in, do our banking and meet everyone. What we encountered was a confusing and unsettling turn of events. We tried to sign Tyler into the university so that he could get set up with a student access card... but the office was closed. So we went to the bank to verify our account, but they need our address before they can send us our money cards and passwords... and we cannot get an apartment until we can verify that we have an income... and we can’t set up Tyler’s pay until we get student cards. And everyone wants us to  have a mobile phone before they will even talk to us. Today we have an appointment with the student office... so once we get that rolling hopefully we will have better luck. I also managed to set up a viewing appointment of an apartment today at 4:00 pm and tomorrow at 11:00 am. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope everything works out before our viewing appointment. 

First day in Sydney

We had some time to spare in the afternoon so we took a walk through Hyde Park. It was beautiful and entertaining. We found an amazing cathedral! We are looking forward to attending mass this weekend! Our first day was lots of fun! 

The plane ride...

Our flight was long... on the plane they gave us all sorts of little goodies, socks, toothbrush, mask, pillow, blanket... snacks, 2 meals and endless free movies.  They did not give us leg room. We are in the city and having fun so far! 

saying goodbye round #1

We leave tomorrow morning... it still has not hit me yet, that we are moving across the world. I think it is because I am horrible at saying my goodbyes. 

Happy Birthday Meghan!!!

Meghan is the best because she:

is charismatic

is adventurous

loves the outdoors

has beautiful blue eyes

is always up for a good laugh

can do funny voice impressions

always wants to challenge herself and others

and

is always looking out for her siblings 

We love you Meghan, have an awesome birthday and a fantastic year!!! 

More packing!!!

Packing!!!