MaSweany cookies pass inspection into Australia!

Hello, Hello everyone! My apologies for the long delay in blog posting; I've been busy hanging out with my parents :) We are having a fantastic time - the weather has been gorgeous, we've done a lot of walking & sightseeing, ridden a lot of trams, trains, & buses, eaten more than our share of good food, planned an incredible getaway for January, talked & laughed, laughed & talked, sneezed & blown our noses a lot, and installed a window air conditioner unit in my and Andy's bedroom. I am quite sure this installation is entirely against our apartment building policy, considering that we had to remove a pane of glass and slightly 'alter' (aka: carve away about 1/8 of an inch of wood) the wood window frame to get the unit to fit through, but hey, it was my dad's idea, and the incredible relief of sleeping in an air conditioned room last night and in the nights to come will definitely make up for the loss on our apartment deposit that is nearly guaranteed. We all think our work looks quite professional and will only lead to raising the value of the apartment, if only the owners will just keep an open mind about our alterations.
he he

Our 1st Christmas package from America arrived this week from Deb & Larry Sweany. The MaSweany cookies passed Australian Post quarantine checks, much to our relief and 'bites-of-MaSweany-cookies-straight-from-SD' bliss. They also sent 2 boxes of Fruity Pebbles for Andy and a South Dakota t-shirt and hat for us to represent SD while we are down here. Thanks so much, Deb & Larry!

It is with overflowing excitement that I tell you about our January getaway that we have planned! Andy and I and my parents fly to Sydney on January 6th, where we'll stay until the 9th. We've scheduled a Blue Mountains day trip, and also purchased tickets to see the Spanish Harlem Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House! On the
9th, we board a Princess cruise ship, and will spend the next 12 days on a New Zealand cruise, docking in Melbourne, Hobart (Tasmania), Fjordland National Park, Dunedin, Christchurch, Tauranga, and finally Auckland, New Zealand on January
21st. We'll spend 2 days in Auckland, and fly back to Melbourne on January
23rd. Every time I think about this trip, I pretty much want to start jumping up and down!

So, as our morning news puts it - only 10 more sleeps until Christmas. I continue to feel like I am not in any month in particular, but rather living out some dream/not-quite-real life. I think the combination of time, working, continuing to feel more settled, and having my parents here has helped in lessening my sadness about missing home, family, & friends. I feel like I've gone over an invisible hump, where when I think about home and family and friends, I'm not quite as sad as I was there for the first couple of months. I'm finding that I'm more excited and happy about our time here, a feeling that for a while I had to almost keep repeating to myself as one of the main reasons we had come. Andy and I had a 'cleansing' conversation with my parents last weekend, recapping that last busy month in Portland; packing, organizing, partying, being exhausted, crying, leaving, and then our first 6 weeks here in Melbourne and everything that that involved. It was weird to talk about it, knowing that it wasn't that long ago, but also feeling like it has been much longer than 4 months. Anyway, it is hard to describe in writing, but I am happy, and I feel like the original ideas & adventures that were the foundation for our wanting to live abroad are again revealing themselves. Thank goodness!


The pictures are of us with our SD gear and goodies, and also a shot of our mantle as we get ready for Christmas. We'll post another slideshow of photos soon of more pictures of my parents' visit so far.

Happy Holiday season to all! Be well.

Love, Christy