Back in the USA!

Reunited after two years!

We made it to Michigan today after an amazing eight weeks of travel on our way back from Australia. We're so tired, but we're enjoying my mom's meals and being reunited with our dog Molly. Eventually I'll have some final post about Australia and what our time there meant to us and such, but right now I need to do some laundry and get some sleep!

Perfect Presents

I've received a few early Christmas presents from my family. You never know how long the mail will take to get here, so they sent them in late November. My parents sent me a whole box of goodies, but here are a couple of my favorite items.

My mom and dad recently got back from a trip to the Holy Land, and they got me this nativity scene made of olive wood from Bethlehem. Pretty cool! It's especially nice to have because I couldn't bring the special nativity set my grandma made me over to Australia. They also got me a Jerusalem cross necklace and some pretty cashmere scarves. Hooray for souvenirs!

Among some of the other fun items, they sent, my mom got me two huge packages of real American BACON! I have no idea how this got through customs, but you put this stuff in the microwave or in a pan, and it turns out crispy and perfect. I know I've mentioned before how bacon here is not really bacon...it's just undercooked pieces of ham. I've been missing the real stuff so badly, and now I have 144 slices of it. We'll see how long that lasts me!





I got a really unique gift from Justin and Cindy (my brother and sister-in-law). They are the ones watching Molly while we're in Australia. They went through my Shutterfly albums and chose over 400 different pictures of Molly to send to this company that makes collage pictures. We hung the poster on our bedroom wall. From a distance, you can see just a regular picture of our dog in front of their fence in Michigan.

When you get up close, you can see that the whole picture is made up of individual pictures of Molly! There are some repeats, because the collage is made of about 1200 pictures, but it's so fun to sit and stare at this poster and smile at all of the fun memories of our dog. There are pictures of everything...puppy years, swimming, snow, at home, trips, camping, wrestling with Zack, playing with toys, etc. It's so fun! We can't wait to get back to the States to see her.

I sent off my gifts to them just a few days ago, so hopefully they like their Christmas presents as much as I like mine!

Sunday Morning Football

It's Sunday morning, and I'm not sure how/why I woke up so early. I guess the good thing about it is that I can "watch" the Notre Dame football game. By "watch," I mean I can Facetime on my iPhone with my brother and sister-in-law in Michigan and watch the game on their TV. 

As I was writing this, Purdue tied the game up at 17-17, and then Notre Dame kicked a field goal with a few seconds left for the win. Woohoo-go Irish!! That means I can wear my new ND shirt (thanks Mom!) today without feeling embarrassed.

P.S. How cute is my brown doggie? We miss you Molly!

Monster Molly

We got a BIG surprise in the mail the other day. My brother Justin and sister-in-law Cindy sent us a monster-sized Molly! It's called a Fathead Wall Graphic, and it's basically a big reusable sticker. You can get them of various sports teams, famous players, Disney characters, etc., or you can get a custom one made from a personal picture. So they had one of our dog Molly made for us! She is currently located on our door, so it feels like she's always sitting in the corner of our living room. It's almost like she's here with us, minus the licks and the requiring of constant attention! We miss Molly, but this present makes us smile. Thanks Justin and Cindy!

Mail From Molly

It's always exciting to get mail that isn't bills or junk, especially when you live abroad and don't get mail from "real" people very often at all. So imagine my delight when we got a card "from" our dog Molly the other day! To catch up any newer readers, our chocolate lab Molly is staying with my brother Justin, my sister-in-law Cindy, and their yellow lab Mascot while we're living in Australia. Here's the front of the card:

No, that is not really a picture of Mascot and Molly on the couch together. But this is:

Ha! These dog cousins love each other-can you tell? Below is the inside of the card. Aunt Cindy may have helped Molly write this just a bit!

We miss Molly like crazy, but at least we know she's having fun in Michigan. And she really does like Mascot. A few months ago, when Mascot swallowed a rock (don't ask!) and had to have surgery, Molly threw up while Mascot was away. Molly only barfs if she's upset about something! The picture below shows the dog friends helping out in the kitchen... 

Molly Brown has her own Facebook page (you can become her friend!), and Justin and Cindy are great about posting pictures and videos and letting us see her on Skype. We miss you Molly-thanks for the card!

T-3 Days = Easter/Goodbye Molly

Today is Easter...Happy Easter everyone! Actually it's technically the day after Easter since I'm up past midnight again. That's kind of what happens when you don't have to work the next day. You could say I'm getting ready to adjust to the Aussie time zone.

We spent Easter at Aubree's parents' house. Her extended family came in to say the goodbyes. The food and company were great, and we dominated in ladder golf.

Then came the time to leave our beloved dog Molly. Molly is staying with Aubree's brother/sister-in-law/dog-in-law (Mascot), who will take great care of her. But leaving Molly behind was one (of several) very difficult parts of going to Australia. Molly has been there for us every day since our wedding, and we love her so much. Aubree says Molly is that one special dog you find once in a lifetime and compare all your other pets against. I agree. Life will be quite different without Molly. Plus, I wouln't be half as funny, since most of my jokes come at Molly's expense.

We took Molly for a walk around the park in Aubree's brother's neighborhood and stopped to play by the lake. We played the usual games (hide and seek, fetch) and ran through her arsenal of tricks; then I took Molly inside to her new family and managed to quickly muster a 'Thank You' and 'Bye' before heading out the door. I'm sure Molly will be much happier where she is than if she was living in an Australian quarantine and our little Australian apartment, and we look forward to joining her in a couple years.

Speaking of our apartment, we got a place right on the beach in St. Kilda. It is a fully furnished studio where we'll stay for 1-3 months before finding long-term housing. The apartment is right on the St. Kilda beach strip, and if our room is facing the right direction, we'll be able to watch the kite surfers on the beach.

We (Aubree) also signed up online for 15 or so clubs in the Melbourne area, so we hope to meet some nice folks there for surfing, biking, and having fun.