I was telling Val yesterday that this trip seems really strange. In the last 4 years I’ve flown from LA to Sydney and back again probably 12 or 13 times. I know the flight well. I know the exact desk I need to go to for check-in. I know the gate I fly out of- it’s always gate 8 or 9. I know all about the extra security procedures at gate 8 and 9. I know the exact length of the flights. I know how many movies I can watch. I know that if I try to start a movie right when they are serving breakfast, I won’t get to watch the entire thing because the entertainment system will shut down before it ends. I know the usual flight numbers I might have (QF 12, QF 8, etc.) I know that my flight will always leave around 11 or 1 (or possibly 3 depending on daylight savings). I can estimate the weight of my heavy bags and even when they are CRAMMED full, I know they will still be under the maximum weight. I know I will usually arrive around 6:30 or 8:30 am in LA. I can calculate the time zone difference in 1.2 seconds.

Like I said… I KNOW THE FLIGHTS WELL!

I know NOTHING about our flight to South Africa and it’s a weird feeling. All I am aware of is that we leave around 10:30am. I have no idea how long the flight is. I don’t know when we arrive. I don’t know exactly how many hours behind they are. I am basically putting all my faith and trust in Andrew to tell me where to go and when to be there. It’s such a strange feeling to be flying on a long international flight that is heading AWAY from LA. It’s strange and very exciting at the same time.

In two days I will show up to the airport and board our plane at a different gate.  I will fly over the Indian Ocean for the first time. I will be stepping onto a new continent, one my toes have never touched. I will explore two new countries. I will see wild mammals, great white sharks and beautiful scenery. I will climb mountains and ride boards on sand dunes. It will be a brand new journey full of first-time experiences and adventures and I can’t wait!

1. I went to lunch with a friend and we had a nice talk

2. Andrew and I went to dinner at Fat Monk with Tess, Kris and Yorky. We enjoyed good food, good conversation and good wine. P.S. Did you know that if you google Fat Monk, my blog comes up on the first page of searches? There’s a fun fact for you.

3. I only have 2 more days of work and then I’m heading to Africa!! I’m really starting to get excited now. Ok, I do realize this IS something really interesting that I could blog about- but like I mentioned before, I haven’t actually BEEN there yet so I don’t quite have anything good to post at this moment. Stay tuned.

4. I’ve had lots of comments about silver linings and friends moving away and it’s made me very happy. Thanks for all your support and feedback everyone!

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?

One of the biggest struggles I face working from home is that I have not had the chance to make many friends of my own here. I do have several great friends that I really enjoy spending time with but in all honesty, part of me has always struggled to get too close to some of them since many are ex-pats who will probably move away at some point . It’s hard to completely open up to someone who you know won’t be around for long. So, I’d say a vast majority of my time is spent with Andrew’s friends. I’d love to meet some more people on my own but I do like Andrew’s friends and I get on really well with some of their girlfriends. I’ve enjoyed getting closer to a few of them as the years have gone by.

I always knew that most of my American friends would end up leaving one day; but in the last few months, even our Aussie friends have started to trek off to new places around the world. It all started with Stu and Kimbo,  who we miss terribly. They had to go and move all the way to South Africa for Pete’s sake! I guess that’s ok though because it just means we get to go visit them this Saturday (yay) and they will be back later this year.   But then others started leaving too. First it was Andrew’s friend Wes… then his Brother Ben decided he was going to move to London for an undetermined length of time. Then last week I got home from California to find out that one of Andrew’s closest friends, Kris (and subsequently his girlfriend Tess, who has become one of my good friends) have decided to pack up and head to Hong Kong. UGH!

I left all my friends and family back in Orange County and now everyone is leaving me. Ok, I realize people are not leaving ME but it still makes me sad, nonetheless.

Can you all please stop moving away now?

Thanks.

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.

My trip to the US was great. I got SO much accomplished for the wedding and now there’s not much more I can do until August. That’s exciting and sad at the same time. The lower stress levels are beneficial, but the fun of planning will be missed. I suppose there are still a few things I can do from Australia, but a majority of it will all come in the last few weeks. Only 6 months to go now!!

My trip to Georgia was awesome as well. I had so much fun spending the weekend in beautiful Roswell with all my friends. It’s rare that we all get together now that we live in 4 different places, so it seems that weddings are the only things that ever bring us all together.

Amanda’s wedding was beautiful! The Clermont lounge was not beautiful. Let me paint a picture for you. The Clermont lounge is where a group of 16 or so of us went on Thursday night. Try to visualize this…a small dive bar, horrible rock band, thick layers of smoke (seriously, get with the times Georgia, why can you still smoke indoors?) and to top it all off… 60 year old strippers! WHAT? Yes, you read that right. There was a complete assortment of strippers from a super skinny tatooed girl to significantly overweight middle-aged girls wearing heinous outfits to a cute little old lady wearing a little red riding hood costume. Weirdest place I’ve ever been. The rest of the weekend was far less weird. The rehearsal cocktail party and wedding were full of much more taste and class (and less smoke), thank GOD!

The only thing that really sucks is that there must have been some funk going around in Atlanta because Shannon, Jen, Alison and I all caught a nasty bug. I haven’t been this sick since well before I met Andrew. I never get sick anymore and I honestly feel like I don’t even know how to respond to this. I feel like the biggest wuss. Will someone please send an un-packing fairy to take care of my luggage that has made it’s home on our living room floor?

• Meeting with the florist and deciding on flower budgets
• Creating our wedding website (it’s almost finished)
• Meeting with a baker
• Talking to places about tuxes
• Sending emails to Andrew with pictures of cakes and tuxes
• Ordering our cake
• Buying my wedding shoes
• Buying my wedding jewelry
• Finalizing invitations with my friend/designer
• Attempting to get said invitations printed but still haven’t because kinkos sucks
• Buying paper products for invitations
• Buying wedding bands
• Meeting with the caterer/rental guy to plan out our seating and other venue details
• Meeting with hotel sales managers to organize discounted rooms for our guests
• And lastly… picking up my dress!

Let’s not forget that I was also working, spending time with friends and family, doing dinners and going to gym as well. Yes, I do feel like I’m going to explode. Part of the benefit of having a year long engagement is that you don’t have to rush the planning. Yeah, that’s not really the case in our situation. When I head back to Sydney in a few weeks- that will be the last of my California-based wedding planning until I fly back out in August so I really have to do AS MUCH as possible while I’m here. Rushing around to get everything done in two weeks sort of takes the fun out of some of the planning. It’s not fair, I shouldn’t have to be rushing and feeling this pressure when our wedding is still 6 months away!!

I hate you. I really do. You make me so tired. You cause me to sleep through my alarm for over 10 minutes. TEN!! While this may not seem a lot to some people, let it be known that in an entire year, my alarm only goes off probably 10 times total! I always wake up before my alarm goes off, so to sleep through it for over TEN MINUTES is just not right. You cause me to wake up with a massive migraine and hangover feeling even though I only had 2 glasses of wine last night. Two glasses of wine plus jet lag = feeling like I drank 2 bottles of wine. NOT NICE!

Dear US Economy,

I hate you too. I thought I was immune to your black pit of misery and despair- but no, you finagled your nasty tenticles into my life as well and you’ve put a big damper on all my plans for 2010.

Dear Vaccination,

You made me feel like I had a migraine in my arm for about 36 hours. That was a week ago. Now, thanks to you, my arm is STILL sore. It’s not terrible, but enough to piss me off.

Dear Stupid OC Housewives,

Ok of course I’m not talking to all OC housewives- there are definitely many of you I like. I’m just speaking to the pathetic, fake, backstabbing trashbags. You are all scum. People like you often make me happy that I don’t live in this yuppy, stuck-up county anymore.

Dear Bob at Sir Speedy Printing,

You sent all your customers an email today asking “how is your 2010 so far?” Do you REALLY want me to answer that question? I know you just want some business- but what if I reply to your sales pitch email and just say “shitty.” I wonder what you would say to that.

Dear Andrew,

I miss you.

Yes, I am having a bad day.

Our day consisted of the typical Australian traditions- a BBQ and lots of drinking. This year we had an added bonus… a swimming pool. I have to say that pools are one of the biggest things I miss from California. It just seems like pools in this country are quite rare and so people typically just go to the beach. While the beach is nice, there’s nothing like lying on a raft in the water for hours on end without having to worry about fish, sharks and seaweed. A big thanks goes out to Alex, Brendan and Kristin for hosting such a fun party!

Australia day was my perfect type of  day. Summer sun, good friends, a refreshing pool, delish food and beverages and of course, Andrew.

Why can’t every day be just like this one?

For more fun in the sun pics- CLICK HERE.

Set the date.    Bought the dress.    Picked the venue.    Booked the caterer and rentals.    Booked the DJ.    Booked the photographers.    Bought the bridesmaid dresses.   Started purchasing accessories.  Reserved a florist.    Nearly finished with the invitation design.    Partially completed our wedding website.    Figured out what we’re doing for favors.    Set up a cake tasting appointment.   Nearly finalized the guest list.    Started looking into blocking hotel rooms for out of town guests.   Got the guest book all sorted out.    Designed the centerpieces.    Picked some of the music.   Wrote out a tentative schedule of  the day.

I still am not sick of it all. I still am not stressed.

I want to plan our wedding forever and ever.

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.

I’ve definitely picked up some Aussie-isms since moving here over 2 years ago. I think them in my head quite often, but I don’t usually speak them out loud. Really I like to think I’m just picking up Andrew-isms but when I was home in June last year my friends quickly pointed out that ‘yeaaauuuhhh’ (probably best if you hear it, not read it) is definitely not just something Andrew says. They all laughed at me and said it was totally Aussie.  But really, that didn’t count as a slip of the Aussie tongue. Honestly, that was just picking up how Andrew talks- it doesn’t necessarily represent all Australians… at least I don’t think it does.

I just don’t think I verbalize many of the Aussie-isms I pick up. I feel that’s because I find it quite annoying when Americans move here and within 2 weeks they’ve acquired an accent, have started spelling differently and start referring to their moms as their mums. I still refuse to write or say “mum” unless I am specifically writing it about an Australian person’s mum. Like today for instance, I was writing an email to Andrew’s brother and I wrote “my mom and your mum blah blah blah…” Yes, I really did spell it differently when I was referring to my mother versus his mother. I clearly filter what I say and write depending on the person I’m talking to. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with picking up the lingo and slang after a few years, but I guess I tried so hard not to be one of those lameos that thinks they have become an Aussie the minute they walk through those airport doors that now it’s actually weird if I say something that sounds Australian.  

So my first official slip of the tongue occurred this week when I was speaking to American clients back home. I said “How are you going?”  No, I didn’t say “how are you doing?”  This was definitely ” how are you going.” I guess it’s good that at least I said how ARE YOU going instead of the traditional “how ya’ goin’?”  I also suppose it’s good that it took me over two years to let that one slip to an American. I was shocked when I said it  and immediately thought “they must be so confused… they won’t know how to respond.” I don’t even remember if they did respond because I was too busy pondering my verbal slip.

But I promise… even though I let that one spill out, I will NOT be saying brekkie, pressies, bikkie, cozzie, dunny or any of those other EEEE words any time soon. Those ones still drive me nuts. Maybe in another two years…

#87. Buy a fondue set and use it. Although I did this, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. First of all, the brie in this country doesn’t melt. I don’t know why but the recipes that I made quite easily back in the US just don’t seem to turn out the same here. Secondly, we had to use liquid fuel stuff to light the burner and unfortunately some spilled on my hand and then my hand proceeded to catch on fire. I’m not joking, it was actually up in flames! It also caught the table on fire and now there is a big burn mark on Yorky and Brendan’s table. Luckily my hand is ok. Hurt like hell but no scars! Not surprisingly, I haven’t pulled the fondue pot out since.

#94. Go through my clothes and donate anything I don’t wear. I did this ages ago and I really need to do it again, but since I DID do this at least once, I’m marking it complete.

#9. Go to a yoga class once a month. While I did not go once a month from the beginning of the project, I ended up going to WAY more than the 33 classes I would need to fulfill this goal, so I’m marking it as complete.

#27. Buy cloth grocery bags and decline plastic bags. While I’ve only used them once (I’ve only been shopping once), at least I took the initiative and bought 5 of them. They are much easier to carry as well!

#6. Read 10 books. Not only have I finished this, I’ve almost finished # 103 (Read 10 more books). I won’t go into a full book review on each since  I’ve already blogged about a few but I’ll at least say if  I liked it or not. Here’s a list of the first 10 that I got through.

• Eat, Pray, Love – great- but i think I liked it so much because I hadn’t read ANY other books in years. Looking back I’ve read way better books since this one. I’d still recommend it.
• The Last Lecture- Everyone should read this, it’s really short and easy to read and puts your life into perspective
• Not Without my Sister -Depressing and not too spectacular. Don’t bother.
• Twilight  – xoxoxo
• New Moon- Not as good as twilight but still wonderful
• Eclipse – Even more wonderful
• Breaking Dawn – Fabulous
• Body Surfing – Lame, not worth your time.
• Why we Suck – Super funny and true, I love this kind of humor.
• The Host – Pretty good, but not as good as the twilight books

I’m looking forward to finishing many more items this year. I know quite a few will be checked off due to some of our wedding festivities so that makes things a bit easier. I have to admit though, having only 1 more year to complete this stuff doesn’t seem like nearly enough time!

Yes… I live HERE:

This discovery took place on Saturday when Andrew, Mike, Hayley,  Ben and I went on the Bondi to Coogee walk (now I’ve completed 2/5 of#7 from my 101 list). It’s a 12km round trip trek with the most amazing views (clearly). I had heard a lot about the walk in the last 2 years that I’ve lived here but never quite made it past Tamarama.

I always knew Australia had beautiful beaches but come on… these are amazing! Look at that water! Why haven’t you all come to visit me yet? We could actually go to these beaches!

Unfortunately I did not get to go in the water since the purpose of our visit to paradise was to go on this long ass walk. So instead of a bikini, I was wearing tennis shoes and a sports bra. I think this beach is calling me back though… anyone up for a day in the sun in the next few weeks?

Check out a few more pictures if you want to see what else you are missing while you are all sitting in the cold US winter.