kawaii goodies

so, I've decided that even though I'm not in Darwin anymore, I still want to update this blog. I have too much fun with it to desert it. plus, if I travel elsewhere, I can change the title, and viola, a new blog is born.

in light of this, here is a small update, and somewhat Darwin-related.

I decided to get myself a necklace from one of my favorite etsy shops (Kawaii Culture) as a homecoming gift, and it arrived yesterday! when I was deciding which to buy, it was a toss-up between the avocado necklace (which I will own some day!) and the mango necklace; both of which represented the fruits I ate HEAPS of while in Australia. I had to go with the mango. at first, Sarah didn't have any mangoes in her shop, so I requested one, and the result was gorgeous!

the colors are absolutely beautiful, and I love how she sliced one side of it :) cute enough to eat!

it really meant a lot to me that Sarah remembered me, and included an adorable note and gift with my necklace. isn't she the best? her shop is full of the most adorable mini food jewelry, which she hand-makes from clay. definitely check out her etsy shop, and be wowed by her talent! but beware, you might just find that one piece that you must have (I found several)!

celebrations and settling in

now that I can post photos again, I'm ready for an update!

Aussie Santa uses the NT news for wrapping :O

as I mentioned in my last post, I crashed at my parents' house for a few days when I got back to the States. while I was there, we celebrated Christmas, my birthday, and my dad's birthday, in a pretty rapid-fire fashion. it was tons of fun. we celebrated Christmas right away - Aussie Santa even came with Aussie gifts for all :)

happy birthday to my favorite dad! ;)

for my birthday, my mom cooked at home instead of going out. I was a bit relieved, as I was still in settling-in mode. she made chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, stuffed shells, and pavlova for dessert. it was, of course, incredible. I'm only sorry that I didn't have a better mind to take a photo before we all dug in. Jordan and his parents came over and we all feasted. shortly after, they had to leave to pick up Jordan's brother and his wifey from the airport, but I'm still glad that they came.

(mostly demolished) sashimi tuna
@ Bull's Head

then, I spent a couple days touring around the state with Jordan to have Christmas(es) with his family. we went to his aunt's house for dinner and back to his parents' house for new years. we spent a little time in the casino on the way through, which was fun, even though I didn't gamble. there were a couple notable times when I got really sad missing Darwin, and New Years was one of them. I remember excusing myself to go to the bathroom just to pull it together.

coneys @ One Stop

after the weekend, Jordan dropped me off back at my parents house and went back to Grand Rapids while the fam and I went out for my dad's birthday. my mom and I spent the whole day shopping, which was frankly miserable, and I think she can agree. we came home a while before dinner at least, which was a relief. we went to a restaurant in town that we had never been to, which was quite deserted, but quite good. we were all so stuffed that we saved birthday tiramisu until the following night, which was soooo good.

drinks @ Hopcat

since I've been back, I've been a bit indulgent in a few of my favorite GR spots. The Bull's Head, One Stop Coney Shop, Hopcat, Flanagan's, Founders, we went to a Griffins game, and to Peppinos... I also stopped by at work and filled out some tax forms so I can start making money again. I think working will help improve my mood. it will get me out of this apartment on days when I don't have class, for one. classes have begun as of the 9th, but I'm only taking 2, and teaching one day/week until March. my new student teaching placement seems wonderful, and I'm sure I will love working with my new (very tall) students. first time teaching high school!

my very snowy strreet

lunch @ Founders

I still get sad sometimes, but I'm working on coping. I know that it's okay to feel that way because it just means that the people I met and the experiences I had really made an impact on me, and they will be with me for life. for now, I'm here. I'm graduating in May, there's snow on the ground, and I have lots to look forward to and be happy about.

homecoming

success!

so, after 8 weeks, I'm finally back in the States!

connessione

after we explored Sydney for one last time, Pete was lovely enough to drive me to the airport, and I was officially on my way back to the States. I checked my bags with no problems and went off to security where they confiscated the Vegemite I bought for my sister's Christmas present, as well as my skinID face wash. the Vegemite was stupid on my part because I forgot it was in my carry-on, but my face wash was 118mL (limit is 100), and more than half empty. so stupid. so upset.

anyway, I walked all over the Sydney airport looking for a shop to buy more Vegemite, and I finally found one, close to my gate (of course). the largest size they had was in a tube, which I thought was pretty cool because it was portable :) so I bought it, along with a ton of Aussie candy for pretty cheap, as far as airport prices go.

Detroit airport tree!

best airline food EVER (never thought
I'd say that)

THEN I realized that I forgot to get tiny Vegemite packets as gifts, so I found a Macca's (which was easy enough) and asked for some Vegemite. I bought some fries because I felt guilty just asking them to give me some.

by then I was exhausted just from walking around the airport, so I sat and waited at the gate. surprisingly, I managed not to get too teary. leaving Darwin was much more difficult than leaving Australia. luckily, I have had contact with Kaye and Roger and other Darwin people throughout my travels, and it has really helped.

the plane ride was as awful as ever. I had a middle seat in the middle row in economy, same as I had on my arrival flight. impossible to sleep, and if the person next to you is sleeping, you can't get up to pee. I had a very sleepless flight, so I ended up watching 4 movies :X they were all pretty good, but my favorite was Crazy, Stupid, Love. hilarious, heartfelt, unexpected. I actually had to stifle my laughter the entire way through. I was on the new flight direct from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth. the flight was more than 14 hours, but I was surprised how fast it felt once we landed. and the Dallas airport is massive! they have a sky train/people mover that takes you from terminal to terminal, which was pretty fun. customs in the US was a breeze. they just asked me a question or two and sent me on my way. going into Australia (from the US and Indonesia), my bags were searched and everything, and I had far less luggage then. a bit more strict than we are, evidently.

Silvie, enjoying his Christmas gift

Santa came!

once I found my terminal, I worked my ass off to get an earlier flight. I really, really didn't want to deal with that 17-hour layover after the exhausting week I had. I got on the phone with Qantas, and they put me on an earlier flight (10 hours earlier to be exact), and waived all the fees. amazing.

Jordan met me at the airport at midnight, and drove me to my parents' house. the next day, I woke up to SNOW! I may not have had snow on Christmas day, but this was good enough for me. and it continued to snow for 2 days. we only ended up getting a few inches, but it was snowing so hard and it was so perfect.

adam, pretending to be cute ;)

french toasting

my dad made the best french toast ever, and we hung out until my sister came over. she was in town from Florida with my 3 nephews, and I loved seeing them. we opened presents and had delicious food (always the case at my parents' house), had a few drinks, and played Apples to Apples :)

as much as I miss Darwin, I'm happy to see my American family. I still get teary reading emails from Kaye, and I get disappointed when I wake up and I realize I'm no longer in the tropics, but they're thinking of coming to the States for Christmas next year, and I couldn't be more excited! I met people in Australia that I know will be in my life forever, and I'm so grateful for everything they've done for me. for now, Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. 2011 has been unforgettable.