Elsja Down Under

The Stress is Setting In July 12, 2010

With only 47 days until the wedding, I am starting feel the stress. The weird thing is- it’s not really WEDDING stress, I just have stress and anxiety about about everything else in life. Work, family hardships, taxes (which wouldn’t be a stress if my so-called Aussie accountant actually did something worthwhile over the last 3+ months) my 2nd stage visa application that is due 1 month after the wedding (only because I thankfully got an extension from the original due date of 2 days after the wedding). Ahh.. it’s all starting to get to me!

Not to mention, I haven’t even practiced my new signature. I spent YEARS of my life practicing the possible signature I would have if I married every boy I dated. I’m pretty sure that’s just what girls do. Well, maybe just the girls who are obsessed with names like I am (I’ve also maintained an ever-changing list of preferred baby names since I was probably 10). So now, 47 days before I actually WILL be changing my name, I still have no idea what my signature will look like. Most people say “Don’t worry, you don’t need to perfect it yet.” To that I say- “When you need to apply for a  new drivers license, visa and passport right away, you kind of do!”

Then there’s the wedding-related stress of planning for all the visitors that will be in CA for the wedding. I know it’s not my job to organize plans for everyone, but I’m a control freak and part of me can’t rest and relax until I know everyone’s schedule.

Did I mention that I can’t seem to get into that mode that nearly all brides get into right before their wedding? You know, the one where they start eating right and working out to help them look great on their wedding day?  I haven’t got there. Of course I do the normal exercise that I always do but I thought some magical motivation would set in by now where I’d feel the need to double my workouts. Yeah that motivation hasn’t really hit me yet.

I’m really trying to enjoy the wedding planning process… but life just seems to be getting in the way at the moment. I sure am looking forward to my bachelorette cruise and pre-wedding massage right about now.

Silver Linings March 9, 2010

I’ve been in a funk lately. I think if you’ve read my posts (or noticed the lack thereof), that fact is pretty clear. I have many reasons for the funk, but most of those reasons will not be going away any time soon so maybe it’s time for me to suck it up and just accept all the annoyances and frustrations in life. Andrew says I need to be more positive. My mom says I need to be more positive. I’m noticing a trend.

Tonight I read a thread in a forum and it was all about silver linings. Basically the whole point of the thread was for people to post one positive thing for the day. Something good that happened, something nice they enjoyed, etc. So since I don’t have much to post about lately and since everyone is on the “be positive” bandwagon, I’ll at least make a point to try and mention one “silver lining” of my day for each day that I have nothing else to blog about. Maybe if I feel really crazy, I’ll post more than one.

So lets see… here are my silver linings for today:

1. My friend Katie stopped by and we had some nice girl talk

2. Jen and I started looking into details for my bachelorette party

3. Gossip girl is finally back on! (please don’t judge me)

See, I stared off with three whole things! That’s a good first step, right?

So Boring I Don’t Even Have a Good Title March 4, 2010

How can one feel so overwhelmed, yet so bored at the same time? I have so much going on in my brain, yet nothing to write about. No cool stories to share, no interesting experiences. None, zip, nada. I’m really going to struggle to pull ANYTHING out of my hat to try to keep my few readers around… but I suppose I’ll try.

I got a new $370 suitcase for free. That probably translates to $100 US in value but who cares. Qantas dropped my bag when I flew back in November and broke one of the wheels. Since no parts were available to fix it, they just handed over a brand new bag. Pretty sweet I suppose although it doesn’t have the chrome rims on the wheels. I’ll miss my chrome wheels. A million people have red bags, but I rarely ever see shiny silver wheels rolling down the luggage belt.

I finished our wedding website. WOOHOO.

We’re going to Africa next week. I guess that’s pretty interesting but since we haven’t been yet I don’t have any stories to share. I’ll get back to you on that topic when we return in April.

I’m not really sick anymore. I still have a tiny bit of a cough but my stubbornness and refusal to go to the doctor paid off… the illness went away on its own without the assistance of antibiotics.

I think I want to try to enjoy green tea as much as I enjoy wine. I seriously doubt that will ever happen, but I do think both beverages might have assisted in the eventual recovery from my nasty bug.

Only 177 days to go until the big day! It still seems so far away but I know it will come quickly.

I crossed off another item from my 101 list!  #2- Get a skin check is now complete. My skin is nice and healthy and evidently not as damaged as the skin of  Australians my age. Sweet.

Yeah- that’s all. I told you my life was pretty boring lately.

Happy Things January 20, 2010

Because I have nothing else to write about, I’m writing about things that make me happy this week.

Picnics by the beach with Andrew on Sunny Sundays.

Wedding planning- how can you NOT like picking colors and music and flowers and all that wonderful stuff?

Farmville on Facebook… yes, I know, I’m pathetic.

Walking down to the park by the ferry and reading a book in the afternoon sun. Summer is wonderful.

Planning to see my family and friends in CA in less than 2 weeks.

Planning to see Kimbo, Stu and lots of wild animals in Africa this March.

Lots of people having babies- as long as they aren’t mine, they make me happy.

Reading endless wedding blogs and hoping that maybe our wedding will be fabulous enough to be displayed on some random blog out there.

Andrew huggles.

Going to bed. Right now. That makes me happy.

2009 Review January 5, 2010

Looking back on 2009, I’m filled with happiness and sadness. For a lot of people, 2009 was one of the toughest years they’ve had in a long time. I had to watch a lot of people around me suffer and struggle so I feel VERY fortunate that Andrew and I actually had a good year even through all the chaos of the world. We did a lot of fun things and reached some really big milestones in our life and for that I am truly grateful.

Let’s look back on some of the great things that happened in 2009.

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Andrew got promoted to captain

My parents came to visit and we had an amazing time

Amanda and Stephen came to visit

Andrew and I visited California

We went snowboarding

We got engaged!!

We bought an apartment

Andrew and I both turned 29

A few of my best friends got engaged

I was able to be back in California for Thanksgiving

Andrew and I went to Perth for Christmas

Of course there were a bunch of little great things that happened as well, but I thought I’d just reflect on the major ones. 2009 was a big year for us and I hope that 2010 will be even better! Best wishes to you all for a happy new year!

The DMV November 25, 2009

WTF is up with the DMV? I know it’s always been a hell hole but I haven’t been there in probably 8 years and I swear it got worse. I arrived at 8:20am and there were literally probably 150 people already waiting. I drove through the parking lot once and then decided to park in some distant neighborhood. The lot was like a mall lot on Christmas eve. People driving around in circles, dodging pedestrians left and right, it was crazy! Inside there were probably 100 chairs set up and they were ALL full. I REALLY wanted to take a picture to show Andrew how insane it was but I didn’t think I’d be able to do it discretely.

Did I mention that they don’t take credit cards? You probably knew that already, but seeing as how I haven’t been there in over 8 years, I just kind of assumed they would be a “modern” organization and take plastic. Do they realize how many poor people come through that place? Some people wouldn’t be able to pay the $28 license fee if they couldn’t use a credit card. (Yes Aussies, you heard that right, $28 for a 4 year license).They take personal checks (which surely bounce ALL the time) but they won’t take credit cards. Idiots. Unfortunately for me, my debit card is back in Australia with Andrew and so I’ve been living off cash and credit while I’ve been in CA. I had $23 bucks in my wallet when I got in line. I needed $28. I tried using my Australian debit card… that didn’t work. She politely said “You can run to the bank and just come back straight to me.”- Yes! That is EXACTLY what I feel like doing. Going to the bank to get out $5 measly bucks so I can come back to this hell hole and pay for my new license from a state that I don’t even live in. Some might say “why bother?” Well, unfortunately some eating and drinking establishments (i.e. restaurants and bars) don’t accept foreign ID and as I’m about to explain, some banks don’t either!

So since I was $5 short, I had to go wait for the bank to open at 9am in order to get cash out. I had to sit there for 25 minutes to get $5. How fun!They didn’t know what to do with my Aussie license, I didn’t bring my passport because I didn’t plan on having to make a trip to the bank that morning and when I showed them my US ID, they couldn’t accept it because it is expired. Duh, that’s why I need the money in the first place! Such a pain in the ass!! Finally I got the cash but seriously, not having my atm/debit card really made things difficult.

With all that said I probably would have been out of there in 15 minutes if I didn’t have to leave, walk to my car, wait at the bank, get money, drive back, park, and wait again to talk to the same lady. Making an appointment REALLY speeds things up. I felt really bad for the other 150 people waiting their turn. I hope they packed their lunches.

Did I Mention… October 5, 2009

…that Andrew and I bought an apartment?

We’ve been in the process of buying the apartment since December 08. It was only completed in August and the last few months have been HELL in terms of settling. I’ll spare you the details but I think the words “bank bureaucracy” can sum it up nicely.  I didn’t even tell most of my family about the place until this last month because I was too worried it wouldn’t work out for some reason. But it did!

So time to cross #47- Own a Property- off my 101 list! WOOHOO!

 Oh and while I’m at it, I’ll cross off a few more that I’ve accomplished in the last few weeks:

#68- See another big production musical/play on stage. I saw Wicked last month with some of Andrew’s family and it was great. Honestly, as good as it was- I don’t think it was AS rave worthy as some of my Wicked obsessed friends back home made it out to be. Awesome story line and great music, but Miss Saigon is still my favorite.

#91- Get an Aussie Driver’s license. This one had actually been deleted from my list because I didn’t think it was possible. Technically you need to be on Aussie soil for 6 months (without leaving) in order to legally get one. Or… you can just let your American license expire and then go to the RTA with your fingers crossed and hope they give you one anyways. Luckily, when your overseas license expires, they DO give you one. Too bad the picture sucks ass.

My Favorite Things November 19, 2007

So I swear I’ll post some apartment pictures soon. Just waiting for a few more things to be accomplished in this place- including receiving our chairs for our dining table- so as soon as that’s all done- I’ll get to it. Probably by next weekend. If you are really impatient, I do have a few “unfinished” pics I can send- but I won’t post them for the world (and by world I mean my 10 friends that read this) to see because I am a perfectionist and I need the place to look as good as possible before I start showing anyone.

Until then I thought I would comment on my 5 favorite things that arrived last week.

5. Pots and Pans- never had used these new ones before- but I did last night and they were a breeze to cook in and clean up! I can’t wait to use them more often!

4. Chopper- Oh chopper, I love you so! Thank you for making the experience of chopping an onion 100 times easier! And thank you for sparing me from all the tears.

3. Knives- Again, hadn’t used these new knives before. I knew they would be good- but last night i was cutting raw chicken to make my dinner and the knife was cutting the chicken like butter! yippee for sharp knives!

2.The wine bar. It’s just so pretty and holds all of our 25 bottles of wine and glasses and I just love it!

1. My pillow. I had been sleeping on Andrew’s crappy pillow for a month and a half and I’d wake up with my ear hurting any time i tried to sleep on my side. I ended up sleeping on my back all the time which was very restricting. It was miserable and now with my soft, fluffy pillow… I am now able to sleep in a multitude of positions. YAY

I think Andrew is also enjoying all the new tools and gadgets that have arrived. Today he used an olive spoon. Who would have ever guessed that I would need an olive spoon? I don’t even like olives! But thankfully my mom bought it for me a few years back because today, when andrew needed to get olives out of a jar- it came in very handy!

All Grown Up November 7, 2007

So finally at the ever-so-young age of 27, I have moved into my very first apartment. Ok you can all laugh. I know plenty of people do this 8-9 years before I made my first move- but I was just waiting for the right time

Andrew and I moved in to our apartment in Mosman on Sunday. We’re about 15 minutes outside of the downtown area of Sydney. So in the spirit of moving out, I’ve created a “love/ (don’t) love” list, Apartment Edition.

 It’s a long one- but it will give you all an idea about where we are living and all the fun things we are doingÂ

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I love not having roommates (other than Andrew of course).

I love our little balcony. It may be small, but when it is sunny I look forward to sitting out there and eating dinner with my love…(when we buy patio furniture). Oh yeah- p.s.- for all of you who keep saying “must be nice, it’s almost summer there”- it has been raining since Friday. That’s 6 days straight!!! But God was good to us and the only time the sun came out for more than an hour was the day we moved. Luckily we didn’t have to move in the rain!

I (don’t) love the fact that we are on the 2nd floor and the lady below us already came and told us that the eliptical machine we got makes a lot of noise. She was nice, but I need my exercise and the free eliptical we got from Andrew’s dad REALLY would save me tons of money in gym fees.

I (don’t) love the stupid light on the apartment pathway that just happens to be outside our window that shines in like the sun at 3:00am (and every other hour of the night).

I love our new super comfy (and giant) couch.

I love our new vacuum we bought yesterday that sucked all the nasty dirt and possible pet hair from the corners of the carpet. Evidently the professional steam cleaner they hired before we moved in didn’t actually vacuum anything after he “cleaned” the carpets.

I (don’t love) that there is NO storage space inside the apartment, causing us to have to store towels and toilet paper in the kitchen.

which is why:

I love our spacious kitchen with tons of cabinet space.

I (don’t) love the moth problem in this place. I keep killing them and they keep appearing again and again.

I love that we have a washer and dryer in this place- and that the repair man who came today was finally able to get the washer to run with HOT water. Maybe now the towels will actually stop smelling like mildew even after we clean them (yeah - I DON’T love that!!)

I (don’t) love that every time we turn on the hot water- this box under the sink goes “CLUNK CLUNK” – (imagine how it is for me at 4:30am when Andrew gets up for work and needs to fill up the sink with warm water to shave… and then a few minutes later he turns on his hot shower). CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK. So annoying.

I (don’t) love that we don’t have a TV

which is why:

I WILL REALLY LOVE when all my stuff gets here… although I do worry that I will have so much stuff and not enough room to fit it all.

AND… I REALLY love that Andrew’s dad gets us any TV shows we want and puts them on our computers. I just watched the first 2 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and I’m tempted to watch the next two but I need to space it out. It’s like a goldmine because otherwise I’d have to wait a million more years for the season to start here.

I (don’t) love that the 2nd bedroom is so tiny that it will pretty much fit a twin bed and a small desk- that’s it. I dont even know how we’ll have room to pull out the trundle… but I guess I’ll figure that out when my stuff gets here. I’m just happy we even have a 2nd bedroom at all!!

Ok that’s enough!

Oh- this has nothing to do with the apartment, but… I also LOVE the canned raspberries Andrew discovered at the store. They are FABULOUS on lemon sorbet and would be wonderful in lemonade or some kind of fancy cocktails! (I couldn’t have a love/ (don’t) love list that didn’t at least include ONE food item now could I)??

And lastly, I’d like to point out that last night- Andrew said “we’re doing mum and dad things… buying a couch, buying a vacuum…” it was cute, and oh so true. Dang- the day you buy a vacuum- and actually CARE immensly about the quality of suction is the day you have really grown up

Packing, Packing and More Packing November 1, 2007

SO OVER the packing.

I feel like I’ve been packing for 5 months straight. Slowly I acquired new things in about June-ish and started organizing them bit by bit.

Next… as the shipping date came closer in August I really had to start cleaning out my room and ALL my belongings and I started packing some things up in boxes.

Then, on moving day, more all day packing when the movers arrived.

Finally… I had to start packing up the rest of my crap to bring in my suitcases when I came here.

And now for the last week we’ve been packing up all of Andrew’s stuff to take with us to the new apartment.

WHEN DOES IT END?? I just want to get our keys… bring in our boxes… do some major cleaning of the place- I mean every drawer, nook and shelf. Then, I want all my fabulous belongings to arrive so I can organize the place and live happily ever after!

p.s. I don’t want to hear any “welcome to the wonderful world of moving” – I know this is how it is… but that still doesn’t mean I like it. And besides that, I don’t think the process usually lasts THIS long!