February already?!

Where does the time go?! I cannot believe we've been here for almost 8 months. WOW. Here are some updates.

I know a lot of you already know about the break in, but you may not know the details. Ben and I went to a friends for a bbq and then out into town for a couple of hours. In that time span, someone broke into our apartment and took both of our ipods, our digital camera, the wii and all of the games, controllers, charger, etc., our laptop, as well as my jewellery. My wedding jewellery, the dancer necklace my mom gave me that my dad had given her (that's the worst of all for me), earrings Ben gave me for graduation..it's all gone. They broke in through a window in our spare room. This happened a few weeks ago. We've done absolutely everything we can--gone to pawn shops with detailed lists, antique stores (jewellery), video game stores, we look online, we have posted on a "stolen" database...you name it, we've done it. We are just trying to move on from this horrible situation and look to the future. So that's that.

This past weekend we went to Big Day Out which is this incredible music festival in Perth. We stayed in a hostel with some friends for two nights, our first hostel experience! Not bad, I've gotta say. It was $21 per person per night--beats hotels around here! It was kinda like summer camp meets college--Nat and I were in an all girls room and slept in bunk beds. We were hardly in the rooms at all, so I think it was smart to pay little for a hostel. We spent Saturday afternoon soaking up sun and surf at Cottlesloe Beach, and talking and laughing with friends. Sunday was the concert, which started at 11am. We got there at 11 and watched bands for 12 straight hours! There were probably about 8 or 10 stages set up all around these fairgrounds, with multiple bands playing throughout the day. The stages were set up far apart so you couldn't hear other bands playing. We heard so many great bands! Lots of new ones that we didn't know about that I can't stop listening to. Ben got to see Tool which he has been wanting to see for a long time :) Here's a list of music you should look up because these bands are amazing (some you probably know):
-The Vines
-Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
-John Butler Trio
-Washington
-Angus and Julia Stone
-Blue King Brown
-Little Red (one of my favorites, listen to "Rock it" and "It's Alright". During "It's Alright" thousands of people were just dancing in couples and smiling and singing together. It was one of the most joyous experiences I've ever had. It will honestly be a moment I remember forever because I felt such an overwhelming sense of relaxed happiness.)
-Operator Please
-Gypsy and the Cat

M.I.A. was surprisingly disappointing. It honestly sounded like she was just making noises and making up songs as she went along. Her dancers were decent but she was kinda weird and boring. Everything was just so, so awesome. It was exactly what we needed after the break-in experience.

We feel relaxed and happy after experiencing such a GREAT festival! Hopefully the line ups will always be that good and we can make it a yearly trip.

Ben's job is going very well. He's on a few projects at the moment and seems to be enjoying his work. They have a few more projects coming in that he will be put on as well, and they have a short-term intern at the moment so Ben has been able to defer some of his administrative duties to her. I've cut my hours and have an interview to start a nannying business through the Y tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well--it will be a much less stressful situation, equal or better money, and much more relaxed.