YAY!!!

My box arrived, my box arrived!! Only one casualty in the box...everything else was in great shape! I am so happy that I even broke out the wine tonight!

Finally, I can share some of what I have been talking about in pictures...and I will be taking lots more pictures to be able to share from now on.

Here is my apartment (still can't call it 'home') in pictures:

Dining room area

Living room area

Precious pillow from Maggie - 'home is where the heart is' (can you tell what it is? It's Kansas!)

Living room area - different angle

Start of kitchen area

Kitchen

Fridge (with really high microwave hidden above the fridge!)

Bedroom

More bedroom

Closet (have another one on the other side too!)

Bathroom - shower and tub

Bathroom - sink and vanity

Bathroom - toilet and hidden washer/dryer

Enough of inside...check out the views! This is Lavendar Bay (now do you see why it is hard to leave in the morning? I just want to stare at this all day!)...

And this is looking the other way towards the Harbour Bridge (similar to what I have already posted)...

And I had to add this one of me and my favorite little boy, taken at my wonderful Bon Voyage party...miss you, Luke!

More to come soon with views from the office and a few pics that I took out and about this weekend!

Juice...

Wasn't going to post today because who wants to hear about a Monday at work, ha ha! But, everyone loves a post about food...or in this case, juice! I went to lunch with a guy at work and we went to this awesome outdoor food court place. We got noodles from a noodle bar (you pick the noodle you want, pick the sauce and pick a meat and it is all mixed together with a bunch of veggies) and they were fabulous, but the real treat was this juice place! Apparently, they have these juice bars all over and they are very popular. You literally just pick your fruits and/or veggies (and I think they had herbs too) or pick from the ones they have already paired together and they throw them into a juicer for you. And I am not talking Jamba Juice type drinks that are mixed with ice cream or frozen yogurt...these are just pure, fresh juice. Today, I was a little overwhelmed and had to order quickly, so I got pear, pineapple and orange...YUM!! I ordered the regular size and immediately wished I had ordered the large! Wonder what concoction I will come up with next time?!

Sundays are the same pretty much anywhere in the world...

The title of this post was supposed to be 'Home is Where the Heart Is...' with a picture of the adorable pillow that my dear friend Maggie gave me. However, nothing is going my way today. The email on my phone isn't syncing, so I couldn't get any of the pics I took on my phone today...my skype wasn't working very well today...my phone on my computer doesn't work very well from home, etc etc.

So, yes, I think the homesickness did get the best of me today. I got to talk to my parents and my sister (and saw Luke briefly on skype) my Sunday morning, their Saturday evening, but I have just been feeling a bit lonely and down the rest of the day. Sundays tend to be somewhat lonely and down days for me, so I guess this is not too out of the ordinary. I think I am just really ready for my box of other stuff to get here, so that I feel a little more at home. And of course, if all of my technology worked a little better, that might help too.

I did get out for a bit this afternoon and walked down to the water and around the bay that I live on. It was beautiful and fun to get right by the water. I took some great pics...again, you will see those once I have my box. I also got to see the little amusement park up close! Those of you who know me well know that I love amusement parks, so it was really fun to live right by one. I thought I would just walk by it, but I found out that you can actually go in the park without paying anything. You just have to buy tickets to actually ride the rides. So, on my way back around the bay, I did walk through the park and that certainly brought lots of smiles to my face. People in Sydney do love to be outside...there are just people hanging out everywhere. Next time I want to take that walk around the bay, I think I will take a book, so that I can find a spot to sit and read (and people watch!).

Tomorrow will be a new day and a new week and I know that I will become more and more comfortable here...and hopefully my box will arrive this week!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood...

I woke up this morning with some pangs of homesickness. I usually start off my weekends cuddling with my big doggie, Evie and at some point in the weekend, I usually get to see my favorite little boy...Luke, of course! So, I was feeling a little down and got off to a slow start this morning.

While I certainly do miss Evie and Luke and all of my family and friends...it was hard not to fall a little bit in love with this city today!

The bay and harbour were bustling this morning! All sorts of boat activity going on...ferries, sailboats, little boats, yachts and lots of other kinds that I don't even know what they were. Also, I have views of this adorable little amusement park called Luna Park from my balcony and it was bustling with activity this morning also (and last night, ha!). I could see a little soccer practice going on in a park down below and people walking all over. It was almost hard to leave the apartment because I was having so much fun watching everything! (Sidenote: I am dying to be able to post more pics, but I don't have my box yet. Here is a pic that I took from my balcony with my phone though. See the cute little Luna Park?! The pic at the top of the blog was just one that I found online, but it was obviously taken from somewhere very near my apartment!)

But, I finally did get out and about. I had wanted to stop by a 'market' that I had seen advertised in that little village that I shopped in the first day. When I got out to my street, to my surprise, the market was right there! And man, this thing was so cool! It seemed like mostly clothing booths at first, but finally I saw more home goods, shoes and then...food! There were so many food boothes that looked awesome, but I almost teared up when I saw a booth featuring quesadillas! And these were real, authentic quesadillas, served with a little bit of sour cream and salsa! You better bet I got one of those and it was yummy! I also bought a cute little candle and a little bowl for my apartment. It was a good thing that I wasn't really in a shopping mood or I could have done some serious damage. They have this market every 4th Saturday...I already can't wait to go back!

I then walked back up to an indoor shopping area right by work to go to a bigger supermarket there. In the little markets that I had been to, I thought it was a little odd that none of them seemed to have any meat. I went to lunch with a girl from work on Friday and she was talking about how she always has chicken. I finally said...ok, I can't seem to find chicken in any of the markets, so where do you buy chicken. She kind of laughed and said...oh, the chicken shop (in an accent, of course!). Ahh, a chicken shop...ok?! So, in this indoor shopping area, they basically have different counters (shops) that you can go up to order your meats. These are outside of the supermarket though...they just stand on their own. So, I checked them all out today and now I know how to buy my meat/seafood! I got more groceries and finally paid for some hangers (think I am almost set on hangers now!) and headed back home.

It was a gorgeous day here today...sunny and maybe low 70's...although I really have no idea what the temp was because everything is in Celsius here! Anyway, it was beautiful and the sun was on my balcony when I got back. I finally got to sit outside for a bit in the sun to read...felt great!

I then headed around the bay to an area that I had visited the last time I was here that is well known for this one street of shops and restaurants. I made a few other small purchases and then got some thai 'take-away' for dinner.

I am tired after all of my walking today, but all in all it was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood!

Some funnies from my first full day...

So, one is bound to feel like an idiot sometimes when they are in a foreign country, right?! Good, because I had several of those moments today...but I am catching on quickly!

1. Must rethink shoe options. I knew I was going to be walking to work and well, everywhere, pretty much, so I did get used to the idea of wearing different shoes to work and then changing into my heels once I get there. That will pose problems right now while I am wearing long pants, since my pants will drag on the ground...but that is not the point. Every Friday in the Australia office is Jeans Day! It is a treat in KC when we gets Jeans Days, so I was pretty excited to get them every Friday here. So, today, I wore my jeans and what I thought would be very comfy, low-heeled shoes. WRONG...the backs of my heels are so raw that I was practically limping by the time I got home. Note to self, never wear those shoes again when I have to walk anywhere...

2. I went to a cute little video store to rent a movie or two for this weekend. I definitely plan on getting out and about during the days, but want to get a little more comfortable with my surroundings before I go out after dark, so thought some movies would be perfect for this weekend. The store was packed, but when I got up to the counter, I handed the lady my movies and had my Australian cash out and all ready. Video store lady - card please? Me - blank stare. Video store lady - can I have your card? Me - Oh, I don't have one. Video store lady - you are a member, right? Me - umm, no...I just moved here. She was getting more frustrated with me by the minute, but finally handed me an application to fill out and asked me to step aside to fill it out. Sorry, lady...I didn't know...

3. Why have none of my books about AUS told me about their money? I got some cash out from the ATM yesterday and went to count my money at the end of the night last night. I was like...hmm, I didn't think I had spent that much. I also noticed that the coins are very different. Today, I finally figured out why it seemed like my money was being spent much faster than it really is. Apparently, gold coins are actually dollars. I have 6 little gold coins that have a 2 on them...sweet, that's 12 bucks! And I guess the silver coins really are like our coins and are just change. Glad I got that all sorted out before I actually make a fool of myself to a store-keeper!

Those are just a few of my 'duh' moments that I have had today. I can only imagine how many more are to come!

I am off to enjoy some wine and a movie for my Friday night...

And so it begins...

I was contemplating whether or not to do a blog because I wasn't sure how comfortable I felt with putting myself out here like this. However, this is going to be an experience of a lifetime, so I need to document it and have a place to share all of my emotions...and believe me, even this first post will be filled with all sorts of different emotions! So, I decided to go all out with the blog and plan to share the good, the bad and everything in between! (The only warning I will give you is that I do tend to be long-winded and detailed when I share stories...sorry in advance!)

I won't even go into all that it took to get prepared for this adventure. Let's just say...lots of emotions when making the decision to do this, lists and lists of what all I needed to do in my personal life before the move, a fabulous goodbye party thrown for me by my sister and mom and lots of tears when saying goodbye to friends and family...

The security guy at the KC airport got to see me teary-eyed after saying goodbye to my parents and then I was all emotionally prepared to just get here. Leg 1 of my flight was perfect...no one even sitting next to me and no turbulence going into DIA. Leg 2 went off without a hitch...I wasn't looking forward to my 5 hour layover in San Francisco, but things were going so well that I was starting to get more and more excited. Then came the bombshell...the flight from San Fran to Sydney was canceled...yes, completely canceled. And, this isn't the type of flight that you can just rebook in an hour...the next available flight was the same flight the next day. For being about as mentally prepared as I could be, this was quite a wrench in my plans...

Anyway, fast forward 24 extra hours in San Fran, plus the 14.5 hour flight...and here I am in Sydney, Australia! I found my driver and he helped get me and my big cart of luggage out to the car and we set off to find my new apartment. The apartment is great and I will definitely post pictures soon (have my camera, but all of the stuff to upload pics is in the box that I shipped to myself)! However, my breakdown today started when the apartment lady told me that I don't have a phone and there is no internet access. What do you mean, no internet access? I need to immediately get ahold of someone that I know and love and have them tell me that it is all going to be ok?! So, I proceeded to lay down on my new bed and bawl my eyes out for a few minutes. Then, I pulled myself together (kind of) and started unpacking. Got as far as I could without having many hangers and then set out to find the local market. My mood started to get a little better because the little area that I am living and the areas right around are so cute! I had fun walking around this one area and seeing what types of restaurants and markets they have. I got some essentials (and even got a few hangers from a dry cleaner!) and headed back to the apartment. I stopped in the office and asked if I could use their phone...just so that I could call my parents and tell them I was alive. Was good to hear their voices, but just about brought the tears back. After a little more unpacking and a shower, I was ready to head into the office...just to get my mobile phone and internet access, if anything else!

My walk to work is definitely going to be a high point of each day...it is a lovely (although, rather windy) 10ish minute walk. I feel like such a big city girl by walking to work! Was great to get into my office, say hello to a few people and get online. More to come on the work side of all of this...I am sure I will have many fun stories along the way.

Since it still gets dark early here (winter is just ending), I headed out of the office right at 5 and went to pick up a pizza from a cute restaurant I found earlier today. YUM...my first real meal as a Sydneysider was great! (Although, I did several things at the apartment before I ate and the pizza got kind of cold. To heat it up, I had to drag a dining room chair into the kitchen and stand on the chair to reach the microwave, ha ha! Looks like I may need to find a step stool...)

It has been a long however many days trying to get here, so I am tired and ready to hit the sack. Looking forward to more exploring around my neighborhoods this weekend...and hopefully being able to find a few more hangers for my clothes! Thanks for wanting to follow my journey...I promise not all posts will be this long!