Lotsa picture blog..just like I promised!

Ben and I have made some pretty awesome changes to our everyday life to help make our weekends longer and more enjoyable. We were having a hard time staying on top of the cleaning since we've been working long hours and working out. I've had four exhibition openings this month, one of which was a HUGE project for me, so I've been working nights and weekends sometimes. We find it really hard to stay on top of cleaning (especially dishes!) but laundry too because it's raining almost every day (winter!) and our clothes never get a chance to dry. So:

1)We bought a dryer (and it was well worth it!)

2) We started a cleaning jar. We add money to the jar based on whatever cleaning thing we did--and it's actually working! We can spend the money on whatever, whenever, but it has to be something we both want. Big nasty jobs like cleaning windows are $5 and dishes and 'tidying' are $2. Now we don't spend one whole day on the weekend trying to catch up with the cleaning. It's nice :)

Yesterday Ben had a day full of surprises planned. He took us down to Margaret River where we walked through the shops and got coffee/chai at the Yahava Factory! One of our favorite places. We went down to Hamelin Bay in hopes of seeing the big stingrays, but we came to the conclusion that the water must be too choppy, and it wasn't the right season. We still got some really gorgeous pictures! Then we went to El Gringo's for dinner. It's a Mexican restaurant in Busselton (a town that is about a half hour from Bunbury). It was good! The service was amazing, especially for Australia! The margaritas were kind of weak, but they usually are, we've found. We both got chimichangas that were good, but WEIRD. They were full of a creamy sauce (sour cream?) We'd probably try something else but the food was good and it was fun to go out to a restaurant :)

LCAA has just put in for three or four jobs all in the Margaret River area (about an hour away from us in Bunbury). Hopefully they get at least one! Ben's company just won a bunch of awards at an Australian Institute of Project Managers conference, and at an Engineers Australia awards night. Nancy won Project Manager of the Year (seriously, big deal!), Small Project of the Year (for the Bunbury Airport, which Ben was involved with!!), and Regional Project of the Year (Nannup project, Ben wasn't involved with that one, it was before he got here). So they are doing really well for themselves. They were in the paper too, so if you want the article let me know and I can email it to you :)

I had my first big opening last weekend. It went so well! I'm having a lot of fun with all aspects of this job. I've just firmed up Term 4 of our Studio Two art classes, which was fun because I was able to find artists to teach classes, and kind of go my own way with it. I'm going to a training in November for Marketing in New and Social Media. Iluka Visions, the SouthWest High Schools exhibition was last weekend, and we had over two hundred people at the opening event. The exhibition takes up two of the four galleries. It's kind of a big deal :) I've got a media contact that I regularly liase with, so there are multiple stories, articles, and photos in the paper weekly that I've either written or organized. It's so much fun!

Random picture time.

This is the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries, where I work. It used to be a convent in the 1800s, and is haunted by Sister Mary (but I have yet to see her)

Gorgeous flowers Ben bought me. I love him :)

THIS is IKEA! The big warehouse home store we went to in Perth a few weeks ago!

These are pictures from Hamelin Bay:

These were everywhere on the beach. Some kind of blue jellyfish?

Beautiful sunset over the ocean :)

The coastline is so weird here. That's actually a pretty big mountainous dune on the left that you can climb.

I was trying to show how bright blue the water is, but this picture doesn't do it justice. Think...Caribbean blue!

Hunting for Rays

He caught me :)

Ben is currently brewing his next batch of beer. This is his fourth batch, and they just keep getting better. I have high expectations for this one!

This is the malt concentrate he is using for this batch. It's from New Zealand: Black Rock East India Pale Ale (we both really like IPAs)

Ben is trying a new method that he read in one of his brewing books. He is boiling the wort first, before adding the rest of the water and putting it into the fermenter

Furiously writing notes, such a little scientist

That's all for now! But I think that's plenty of pictures, don't you?

We miss you all at home! 2.5 weeks until we have loads and loads of Tasmania pictures. Every day down is another day closer to being home for good.. :)

Anniversary plans and boring update with no pics (sorry)

I've been putting off writing an update because we've wanted to post pictures of our newly decorated apartment. Unfortunately, what we thought would take one weekend has taken like...three, and it's still not done.

We.are.so.busy.right.now. It's good though! Very good. Ben is playing soccer and squash, we are back at the gym, and trying to cook at home as much as possible. We feel like such grown ups. (We even make our own sushi regularly!) Ben has been at the City of Bunbury working on a drainage project (he still works for Lowes Churchill but they are low on work, so Nancy has given him to the City for a while). I'm loving life at the Galleries, and I can SEE Ben's office from my office! So we meet for lunch, and we work in the city, and we feel like real grown ups.

So much has happened since the last update. Sorry this one will have no pictures, but the next one will...I promise (maybe).

Here it is, in list format:

+We bought a new mattress

+We set up our guest room

+We went to IKEA which is an AWESOME home store in Perth. Spent 3 hours there!

+We are in the middle of replanting some veggies outside and plants for the inside of the apartment

+Ben changed the oil in the car (good thing, too! Having an oil change here costs about $130, but he did it himself for about $50)

+The weather is warming up!! YAY!!

+I have my first BIG exhibition opening this weekend!! Nervous and excited!

+Ben has a conference for work and awards night in Perth this weekend!

+I am meeting really cool people and artists at work! And it's very busy, but a very good job for me. And I think I'm good at it, too.

+Ben is thinking he might get to stay at the City and do some engineering work for them :)

+And last, but not not least, (DEFINITELY THE MOST EXCITING)......

WE BOOKED A TRIP TO TASMANIA FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!

So Tasmania seems really cool, and we hear a lot of good things about it. See the map below that I made in paint for you :)

Tasmania has a lot of history to it. There are ghost tours that are run at night, and the town of Hobart (mostly where we will be) in an old fishing village. We've heard it's a lot like coastal New England. (They even get snow there!) We will be spending two nights in Hobart at one hotel in the city, doing some exploring and seeing the Salamanca Markets. We rented a car so we can see Mt. Wellington, and drive to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Centre (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and to Wineglass Bay, which is up the east coast of Tasmania a bit. We'll be spending one night in Wineglass Bay (I've seen it on TV shows as one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit!) Then we'll come back to Hobart and stay at a different place for a couple of nights. If you are interested, there is some info on the worst massacre in Australian history which happened out at Port Arthur. It was in the early 90's. Basically, a guy just went on a killing spree, at toll booths, cafes, everywhere. There are conspiracy theories behind it. Some people think the government sent this guy to do this so that they would crack down on gun laws here in Australia (which they did--you basically can't own a gun here). Interesting!

Here is the website of a guy that is exhibiting here at the Galleries. We've done some workshops with him, and he's got a huge response to his work. He doesn't have a lot of money, and he creates sculptures and just learns as he goes. His work is awesome: http://www.danielfisherart.com/

I think that's about it for now. Ben has squash tonight and will hopefully kick some butt! He's already doing better this season, and winning some matches!

We're hoping to do New Zealand next year for our anniversary, and Sydney for New Year's at some point. On our way back to the US (for good) we're going to try to do at least a month of backpacking through Europe. We'll have to send some stuff home in a palette this time!

That's about all the updates I've got for you guys. At least there was ONE picture in this blog, sorry it was kinda boring. Still counting the days til we're home :)

Adventures with Gnomeo

(Pretend this is narrated by Morgan Freeman) This is the story of a tiny gnome that took one step into some luggage...and a giant step towards freedom. His name........is Gnomeo.

Gnomeo is not messin' around! Here he is, leading us out of the apartment. He wanted to get a move on to Gnomesville before the sun set.

It was a struggle, but we finally got Gnomeo to buckle up. Damn that stubborn gnome species.

Pit stop! Gnomeo needed to stretch his wee legs and...have a wee.

Our beautiful adventure.

In case you didn't see last year's blog about Gnomeville, here is a refresher picture. There are thousands and thousands of gnomes. This is just one small section.

Gnomes are tiny, but brutal. Apparently, this was the Italian Gnomafia section.

Gnomeo is a bit of a loner. He wanted to be by himself to ponder life and other philosophical things. He chose this remote section that was far away from the obnoxious gnomes that resembled the 7 Dwarves a littttttttle too much.

So content, flashin' his USA pride on his backside!

Gnomeo is much happier now that he is where he belongs, in Gnomesville, Western Australia. We haven't gotten a letter from him yet, but everyone knows that gnomes aren't very dependable and they tend to hit the drink a bit too much. We think he's probably met a nice Juliette to spend his time with.

In other news, Ben and I had a very very busy week last week! Between work and squash and seeing friends, we are busy busy. We've both been working 40+ hours, but enjoying our jobs. Ben is hoping that his company gets a new airport project that they've put in for in Albany (that's where we hiked last year). They should find out this week!

Here is a random picture of me. I went to a Vintage Hair and Makeup workshop this weekend, which was amazing and so fun. She covered styles from the 20s-60's. I was chosen to have my hair and makeup done for the '60's model. You can't quite see it in this picture, but I had a rockin' beehive! Only half of my face was done in makeup, but it's the right side of my face. I had a great time, so glad I went!

Hope everyone is happy and healthy at home. Will update again soon with our official anniversary plans! We are still trying to work out what we want to do. We'll have been together for five years this October!

Hope everyone is enjoying summer xo

Sushi Time! (+update)

Ben is helping me write this blog! Yay!!

When we first got back, we had some crazy weather--it made the paper! We were going to try to get a short video of the humongous waves here, but our camera was dead (and Ben was afraid we were going to get carried away, haha). I'm sure if you google it you can find some info. It's calmed down a lot more now, but it has been pretty cold out-- probably about 40 when we wake up, and not much higher than 45 throughout the day.

Here's an update on our work lives since being back (Ben wrote his all by himself :) )

Julie---I LOVE my job. I think this is the first time when I have felt truly excited and happy about a job. I look forward to going. I enjoy the immense responsibilities! I feel like I'm going to be good at it, and that it is an important job, like I'm being challenged AND making a difference. I'm meeting with amazing artists, setting up tours and floor talks, running workshops and programs, making contacts, doing networking, writing media releases, talking to the media, and the list goes on and on an on. I feel like I'm finally in a job where I FULLY belong--in short, I am blessed.

Ben--- For the time being I don't have a lot (anything) going on at my job. Two days after we

landed Nancy and I had our annual external quality audit to maintain our ISO 9001 certification (A big deal, basically international standards to ensure that we put out a quality product). It went about a million times better than Nancy and I expected. Now we are officially certified again for another year, when I hope to pass this duty to some unlucky sop. That is the extent of the excitement for my job for now. We find out if we get another airport project (Albany Airport) on the 16th. For the time being we do have a little work to do for the Bunbury Airport but I am only minimally involved because it started before we got back. Nancy had a meeting with the State Department of Transport and the Shire of Cunderdin this past week, and the SDoT is basically using a bunch of our report for the Cunderdin Airfield in their Aviation Strategy for the State. So, pretty cool there.

Today we filed our Australian taxes (thank GOD we're FINALLY done with taxes!), and did some yard saling (we got a vase, a sweet spikey plant, an ice cube tray [you laugh, but those are hard to come by here], and chopsticks. We walked around some of the shops in downtown, and decided today would be the day we would try to make our own Asian cuisine--specifically sushi :) We've been wanting to try to make it for a while, and just put it off. But today we were in the mood, so prepare yourselves for pictures!

Here are the ingredients for our Asian cuisine:

These are the SWEET chopsticks we bought from a yard sale for $2.50. It's a set of 5, and the

weird shaped things on the right side of the box are little things to set them in so you don't get your tablecloth messy. They're from Singapore.

Ben cutting chicken for the stirfry

Mmmm...black bean chicken stirfry with pad thai noodles

Julie stirring the powdered vinegar into the sushi rice

Sushi ingredients: crabmeat, avacado, cucumber, and tofu



Ready to be rolled!


ACTION ROLL SHOT! (Look how determined Ben is)

Up close action roll shot

Cutting the roll into six pieces



Not bad for our first try. Ben says it's sexy sushi. Inappropriate, Ben! (That's wasabi and soy sauce on the plate to dip it in)

OH NO WE WENT CRAZYYYYYY

Sitting down to our Asian cuisine feast. We forgot to light the candles, though.

Random yard sale plant

Back in Oz!

Hello readers!

After two very...very...long days of flying and waiting, we are back in Oz. We had a wonderful time seeing all of our family and friends, and feel so blessed to have been able to take such a long time to do so much travelling. Here is a link to pictures from our adventures at home:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.926011982459.2424027.5800571&l=9f17ab05aa&type=1

(You don't need to have a facebook account to see the pictures, just copy/paste the link)

The flights back were okay. The layover in LA was pretty much unbearable. 10 hours of waiting to get on a 15 hour flight is dreadful. I mean, you are dreading the 10 hours in the airport, and then on top of that, dreading the next 15 hours of wanting-to-sleep-but-having-a-hard-time-sleeping-because-airplanes-are-uncomfortable. Ben and I could barely keep our eyes open by the time we boarded in LA, and then it seemed to take FOREVER to get our dinner. All we wanted to do was sleep, but we were afraid that if we did fall asleep, they wouldn't give us food and we'd wake up starving. After we ate, we managed to pass out for a long time, although we're unsure of how long. Time warp! Melbourne was no big deal, and flying from Melbourne to Sydney was like a piece of cake! It's only about an hour and a half of flight time. Then we had about four hours to kill in Sydney. This is where the interesting part happened. Instead of booking our whole flight through, we booked Perth to Sydney and Sydney to Perth separately. It saved us a few hundred dollars, and we didn't think it would be a big deal. WRONG. Once we got to Sydney, we had to pick up our luggage and re-check it, because we had booked separately. When you fly internationally, most airlines let you check two bags per person, instead of one. We thought we might have to pay an extra fee for our extra bag (we managed to have three instead of four, whoohoo!) like $50 or $75. Worth it, because the cost of shipping is ungodly. When we got up to the desk, the girl tells us it's an extra $15 per kilo...our lightest bag weighed 18 kilos. (That's $270 for all you that are too lazy to get your calculators). She wouldn't budge. We told her we were coming from Boston (remember at this point we had been awake for about two days, were emotional from leaving home anyway, and got crappy sleep on the airplane) and could they please do anything else for us. She told us we could talk to Customer Service, but they would tell us the same thing (she said that this happens all the time). So I started crying because I was so stressed. We got to Customer Service, and talked to equally non-budging girl. We told her our situation and told her how far we'd come, and could they please just do it this one time? She finally called some guy over, and we talked to him and told him the same situation. Then they had this weird little code-y talk with each other and took us over to "Counter 1". When we told the woman at the counter our situation, she didn't even hesitate. She said, "Oh no, I'm not going to charge you guys". And really, why should we be charged? We booked one flight separately (and it was all the same airline, mind you! It's not like we were trying to get away with it and had switched to a different airline!) but we were still coming internationally. Thank God we stuck to our guns, our else we could have been almost $300 poorer.

Ben went into work at 8:30 the morning after we got back (it's okay because we were up at six anyway!) and worked a full day. He is at work today doing a big Quality thing. We are still adjusting our internal clocks, but I find it really convenient. When you are 12 hours off, you are able to choose what you want your internal clock to be like. You get to reset yourself! So my plan is to start normally waking up at 6:30ish. Instead of it being painful for me to wake up that early, I will naturally get up at that time, which will give me the extra time I'll need to get ready for my new job at the Art Gallery! (Here is my new place of employment: http://www.brag.org.au/ )

Oh yeah, I am the Audience Development Officer at the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. It's 72 hours a fortnight (36 hours a week) and I'm on a great salary! I promote the gallery, set up events, work shops, tours, write grants and find sponsors. I'm so excited for such a different career path.

We are thinking about doing Sydney for New Years this year...will keep you all updated on adventures in Australia. Can't wait to be home for good!

Nearly a year

So many people ask, "Why Bunbury?" It reminds me of what I asked people up at UMaine, when I'd meet someone from out of state. Why do we always ask this question? Just because Bunbury isn't Sydney, or Melbourne, or Brisbane, doesn't mean it isn't a gem in it's own right. The fact is, at some point, someone decided Paris, Sicily, New York City, Sydney, etc. etc. was going to be the next greatest place. Then someone else went along with it. And then another person. Until before they knew it, a big, beautiful city was built, known for it's romance, high life, etc. Millions of people flock to it. Young adults yearn to live there, before they know anything other than the pictures they see and the movies they watch.

I've learned that people don't appreciate their home and their hometown, no matter where you go. Maybe sometimes, at a sports event, or if something flipping sweet happens. I mean, obviously not EVERYONE is like this. But as a teen, I didn't appreciate Wells, or Maine at all, really. I wanted to get out and try something new. I'm glad I did. Because now that I have, I know all the reasons why I love Maine and New England so very much. And I don't know that I would've been able to appreciate it's beauty and awesomeness if I hadn't left it.

Catch ya on the flip side.

April update!

I know, it's been a long time since I've posted. There has been too much and not enough going on to post. That's a weird excuse!

Ben and I have been busy with work, the gym, and...that's it. Ben's been working a lot of hours. They started a new project a little while ago that involves inspecting 500 kilometers of rail that barely exists anymore because it's so old.

We have been dealing with many, many, stressful situations involving our property manager and our apartment. I don't want to get into it because I'll just go off on a tangent, but it has settled for a while. We can breathe again!

We are saving like mad people to come home in 41 days! We are SO excited. We had a bit of trouble with our flights, so we had to move them around and pay a little extra. But it's okay, we are just happy to see everyone and do fun things and eat yummy things and be in beautiful, beautiful Maine. It's never seemed like such a wonderful place to be!

It's been almost a whole year since we've lived here (more like 10.5 months, but I'll round up). I'm glad we came, even though it's been hard to be away from family and friends. Especially since it seems like EVERYONE is getting engaged, getting married, or having babies. I hate missing out on all of that, but there's not turning back now. Thank God for the Internet and Facebook and all those wonderful social media tools that keep us updated with pictures and videos. Oh, and where would we be without Skype? I don't even want to think about it!

As many struggles as we have had throughout this past year, we have learned a lot, and stuck together. Ben and I are just so happy to be together and to be doing this together. Western Australia is not where we want to be forever, but we would have never known if we hadn't come. We've met some really wonderful people, and are making more money than we would have at home. By the time we come back, we'll be in a financially good place, and it will make our transition a lot easier. There's still two years left, but the first year has to be the hardest, especially those first few months.

Looking forward to our holiday home! Can't wait to see you all! xoxox