Backpacking Southeast Asia? Sure!

Just a quick update on the amazing lives and times of Ben and Julie!

Time is going so quickly and it's scary. 

Ben and I are planning a mini-backpacking trip through some of Southeast Asia in about 3 weeks. It kind of snuck up on us! We've been talking about going to Thailand, and then realized...why not practice backpacking, and go minimalist? Flights to Singapore are cheap, and sleeper trains in Southeast Asia are REAL cheap. The (tentative plan) is as follows:

Fly Perth-Singapore

Train Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Train Phuket (Thailand)

Train Bangkok (Thailand)

Train/Bus Chiang Mai (Thailand)

Train/Bus back to Bangkok (Thailand)

Fly (there are no trains) to Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Bus to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon (Vietnam)

Fly Vietnam-Perth

So, here are a couple of photos to show you where we're going:

Here is a close up of the countries:

This one gives you a good idea of the countries in relation to Australia. Remember, we are wayyyyyy southwest coast!

I probably could have typed all those countries into this one map but guess what...I am toooooo lazy. Plus, you should really learn some geography, jeez!

The cool thing is, this trip is crazy cheap, and it's going to be an amazing experience. By backpacking and taking trains, we are cutting costs but also seeing much more of the countries and experiencing the culture instead of just...resorts. And let's face it, you can go to a resort and relax and drink tropical drinks and lay by the pool or on the beach in any pretty, exotic place. But eating, travelling, and being with the locals is why WE travel :)

xo

1 Year left!

I am really really trying to continue updating this blog, because:
1) I want everyone to know what's going on (especially the people that we don't get to talk to very often!)
2) I want to have kept this updated the entire time we were living here
3) I want to somehow figure out how to print it and arrange it into our Australia scrapbook :)

Well, things are busy...as usual! Ben's been working crazy hours up at the power station. It's a lot of responsibility and a lot of work, but it will pay off on his resume and it literally pays off, too! He re-signed there so he is officially at the power station until 30 April, 2013.

I'm working a lot too because really...why not? We get up (yeah I said we) at 5am and Ben doesn't get home until about 6pm. I get in usually about 8-9 hours a day. This allows me to accrue time in lieu (we don't get paid for the extra hours, but we accrue extra time off for every extra minute we spend over 76 hours per fortnight.) So that just means I have sick time accruing, annual leave accruing, time in lieu accruing, not to mention I get paid for public holidays. Seriously...does it get much better than this?

Ben is still brewing like a mad scientist, and he has made his first beer from scratch (fresh hops and everything). It's from a recipe from one of his books, and it's called "Righteous American Ale". I think it's going to be incredible! He's nearly finished the wine hutch, too. It's absolutely beautiful. Will post a picture as soon as it is officially done!

Here are a few little things that are coming up, and some future plans (but you know..you can only plan so much):
+Family Day Event this Sunday at the Galleries. Our Indigenous Arts Development Officer (we share an office, a love of good music and food, amongst other awesome things) plans this event annually. I'm excited to work this event--there are traditional indigenous foods (like dampers, which were originally just flour and water cooked in a hole), kangaroo stew, etc. She has also booked a professional indigenous dance company to perform. Plus they'll be lots of art and children running around. Should be fun :)
+Long weekend the first weekend of June. We'll be having a Wine Tasting (to celebrate the wine hutch being finished!) The hutch holds 55 bottles of wine. We plan on filling it up (wine is VERY tasty here, and also very inexpensive!) and serving some classy nibbles like chocolate dipped strawberries, brie and camberbet and crackers, fruit, turkish bread with dips, etc. We are asking that everyone dress in semi-formal attire (no jeans or flannel) and bring one bottle of wine that is at least $15 and their own glass (we keep breaking ours. And no it doesn't have to do with filling it too many times!) Then we'll have our own little wine tasting. I think it will be so much fun!
+End of the financial year as of 30 June, 2012. That means we file Australian taxes and get an incredible tax return, which we will pay off all of our credit cards with, and our car loan. The only debt we will have will be student loans, which we are slowly chipping away at! If we have any money left over, we will probably use it to book a trip (Thailand, anyone?!)
+Trip to Thailand in July/August?
+Same plans for October as I mentioned in my last blog
+My dance "graduation" (recital) in November!!
+Mom and Betsy are coming in early December!!!!!!
+New Years Eve is booked and we are ready to see fireworks over the Sydney Opera House and bridge to ring in 2013 :) Hopefully we will be booking a trip to Great Barrier Reef at this time, as well
+We will start backpacking and making our way home in mid-May 2013, probably will arrive home in July, depends on money and our plans!

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of exciting stuff, but that's all I can think of at the moment. We are enjoying our time here, but also really looking forward to being home. Everyone cross your fingers, pray, send positive vibes, do whatever that might help us secure jobs in the US! (Grad school idea is a no-go for now. After contacting grad schools about financial aid, we found out that even though we are citizens and were last residents of Maine, we would no receive in-state tuition because we have been residing out of state for the past three years. So...maybe we can find jobs that will pay for grad school!)

Hope everyone is doing well, and knows how much we miss them xx

Update!

Well...it's happened again. I think this is probably the longest I've gone without updating! I really didn't think it was possible for life to get any busier, but I was wrong!

I haven't updated since November, so I'll do my best to tell everyone how things have been.

December:

Had my birthday party. Ben bought me a Kindle which I LOVE! We had a '90's themed party where everyone had to come dressed in '90's clothes or as a '90's icon. See pictures here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100195244615079.2464478.5800571&type=3&l=1b2a67881d

Christmas was great. We kept very busy and had a bunch of friends over that don't have family around either. It was a huge help to be surrounded by misfits :) We also went up to a friend's in Perth for Christmas Eve, she is our parent's age so it was nice to be in a family setting. I managed to find a used wii on ebay, and that was Ben's highlight gift at Christmas (along with some great games!) He was so surprised. It's so hard to keep Christmas gifts a secret when you have to order most of them! My highlight gift was a guitar and lessons! I started lessons in February and I'm hooked. Starting to get callouses on my fingertips, so it's making it easier to play!

See pictures of Christmas here (it's mostly just getting our tree!):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100206644339939.2465490.5800571&type=3&l=581278ee01

January:

Poor Ben didn't have a lot of work, so he was getting quite discouraged. I had a LOT of work leading up to our big annual exhibition and celebrating the 25th year of the Galleries. Lots of things happening. Probably a ton of stuff happened but it seems so long ago.

February:

Had our big annual exhibition, showcasing the best of south west art. About 700 people came. Was a very successful event. Ben's birthday was a huge hit! We had a themed birthday party (we really like themes, have you figured this out yet?) He did a "Good Beer, Bad Beer" party. Everyone had to bring a six-pack of "good" beer and a six-pack of "bad" beer (using obvious judgement.) We had two bins set up full of ice, with cardboard over the top and a flap. The "bad" beer bin had a poison sign on it, and the "good" beer bin a happy face. Every time someone needed a drink, they were to have someone flip a coin. If they called it correctly, they could reach through the flap in the good bin, and if they called it wrong, they'd reach into the bad bin. We had about 20 people come and everyone played! It was really fun (except that I'm not very good at calling a coin....apparently.) Ben also got GREAT news at the end of the month! After a longgggggggggggggggg time with no work, he was offered a secondment at Monadelphous (http://www.monadelphous.com.au/) They are an INTERNATIONAL company, and a HUGE one at that. Ben is currently working on a job site in Muja, which is over an hour away. It's at a coal plant. He is one of very few project engineers, and easily the youngest. It's a HUGE step for him, and a ton of responsibility. He is working on multiple jobs, worth millions of dollars. He deserves it! He has to get up at 5am and he doesn't get back until about 6pm :( But it beats being bored and having no work, and it will be great for his resume! I started a dance class and guitar lessons this month, both of which I am really enjoying.

We also went on a trip to Exmouth, Ningaloo Reef, and Cape Range National Park! We snorkelled and hiked and explored for a whole week. Pictures here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100372583800929.2488326.5800571&type=3&l=77037e6eed

So we've passed the half way point of living here. Here's our tentative plan for the next 13 months :)

-Work our butts off and pay off a bunch of debt while saving some money too, until about July

-Attempt some weekend camping trips, see Northcliffe, Esperance, maybe try to get to Albany again

-Possibly go on a trip to Thailand in July (if our work schedules allow it), study for the GREs

-Work some more and study for the GREs

-We both take the GREs in Perth in October

-National Arts Conference in South Australia for me in October, as well as my huge exhibition opening in October

-Possible trip to Melbourne to see a friend's friend in a dance performance (AND TO SHOP BECAUSE MELBOURNE HAS AMAZING SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or so I hear)

-My mom and her friend Betsy visit in November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sydney for New Years, and a possible Cairns trip to dive the Great Barrier Reef! (This is practically definite...we book our hostel (you can see info here! http://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/sydney-surrounds/sydney-harbour/)

on 31 March, and we will see the fireworks on the rooftop terrace party they have! Then we'd head to Cairns to dive after New Years

-Work a bunch more, start selling stuff, etc.

-Possible trip to New Zealand (or maybe combine this with backpacking, we HAVE to see New Zealand while we're over here, non-negotiable!)

-Leave in April 2013ish for a backpacking trip through Europe (possibly Asia?)

-Be home in Juneish to see everyone, get settled, buy a house :)

-Ben starts grad school Masters in Structural Design in September 2013, start renovating our first home, maybe pop out some babies, adopt a dog from the shelter..so many options!

So obviously..this is all tentative, and we all know life doesn't go the way you PLAN it to. I mean, who would have ever thought we'd be in Australia? But..it doesn't hurt to have some sort of plan. Can't believe we're a year away from leaving. I'm so happy we were able to travel and work and get into such a good place in our lives, but I will be happy to be home again. I am going to go absolutely AUTUMN CRAZY next year, that is the season I miss the most, by far.

Oops...

Okay, I am downright embarrassed that it has taken this long to update! I know my excuse is that we are busy, but it's a good excuse because....it's.....true?

First of all, we had an AMAZING time in Tasmania. It was beautiful and we did so much exploring. Here's a link to photos from our trip!!!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100133159304539.2454961.5800571&type=1&l=92b17ed587

You can also find videos from our trip here (on the right you will see my "uploads", those are the ones that we have uploaded from our camera from the trip)

http://www.youtube.com/user/shutupndance85#p/u

On a sappy side note, I can't believe we have been together for 5 years. We have done so much together already, and I feel so LUCKY to have married my best friend. Ben is the most loyal, patient, and beautiful person I have ever met. Awwwwwwww. Okay, that's enough.

So anyway, the month of November has been insanely busy. I've had exhibition openings every weekend, and parties, and social stuff going on. Not to mention running around trying to find the time to put together Christmas gifts that are virtually weightless to send home. That is a very difficult task: finding Christmas gifts for family members that don't weigh very much, but are still things that people will like. They're finally done and being posted today! Whooohooooo!!

Here's a list of what's coming up:

November:

• 24th: Thanksgiving dinner at a fellow American's house (Trish, she is from California)
• 26th: Julie working in the morning
• 26th: Birthday picnic for our Irish friend in the park
• 26th: Birthday party for Trish (she is also having a '90's theme birthday party!!!!! We had both planned this before we even met, weird!)
• 27th-30th: Sunday, catching the train to Perth for two trainings (I'm scared to do this)
• 27th-30th: Julie at trainings and meetings until Wednesday night, Ben working/playing soccer/squash/bowls

December:

• 2nd: Soccer Christmas party (for Ben)
• 3rd: Julie working in the morning, '90's theme party at night! (We are going as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, so obviously we will have cardboard cut outs of a shotgun and a guitar. Since there is speculation that Kurt Cobain didn't actually commit suicide and Courtney Love killed him, and they were BOTH rockers that played the guitar, it is unclear of who will be carrying which cut out.) *On a side note, we will need to buy cigarettes for our costumes (don't worry we won't really smoke them), but I am putting it off because

a) I don't know what to ask for, "Umm, yes can I have some Marlboro Cigarettes?" Seriously this is the only brand I know

b) I don't know HOW to ask. These are the possible ways I have come up with:

"Umm, yes, Mother May I have some Marlboro Cigarettes?" OR

"Umm, yes, Mother May I have some cigarettes like Cruella de Vil smokes?" OR

"Yo yo yiggity yo, gimme some smokes, mothaf****" (sorry parents, but I think this may be the most believable way to ask)

• 8th: Engineers Australia gathering
• 10th-11th: Julie working a Poetry Performance
• 15th: Exhibition opening
• 16th: Our Christmas party
• 24th: Going up to a friend's in Perth for Christmas Eve/Christmas morning
• 25th: Christmas! Skyping with parents and hanging out with friends

Things calm down...finally!

Ben and I have booked a trip to Ningaloo Reef at the end of February/beginning of March. This is something we've heard about since we arrived in Australia. Everyone knows about the Great Barrier Reef, but this is an incredibly long reef on the North Western coast. It spans 250+ kms (155+ miles). The difference between the Great Barrier and Ningaloo is that, when you go to the Great Barrier, you have to book a tourist trip to do it. They have to actually put you on a boat to take you to the Reef. At Ningaloo, the Reef is off of the coast in the National Park, so you literally just wade in and snorkel anywhere you like. We have heard soooo many people talk about Ningaloo, and it sounds absolutely incredible. There are over 500 species of tropical fish! Whale sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, the list goes on. I can't wait!!! Whenever we take vacations, we always end up so excited that we go go go every day. This trip will be one solid week of floating in the ocean and snorkeling. I absolutely cannot WAIT!

Some info and pictures on Ningaloo: http://www.discoverwest.com.au/western_australia/ningaloo_reef.html

We have also decided to fly there. It takes a good two days to drive (it's like an 18 hour drive one way), and we are just not that interested in spending more than half of our time driving up and driving back. We are staying in a YHA Hostel (these are accredited and international) in a double-room with a private bathroom (so we will not be sharing with any weirdos, don't worry.) Yayyayayayayayayayyyyy for adventures!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, Halloween was great too. Our costumes were a hit!

Teenage mutant ninja turtles, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, HEROES IN A HALF SHELL! TURTLE POWER! (We are still finding green paint everywhere.)

Okay, that's enough.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I ALMOST FORGOT! We had sold our really hideous couch and two chairs before we went to Tassie because our friend Graham was going to get a new one before Halloween. Things changed for him, so he had still not sold us his couches, so we were sitting on the floor on a futon mattress. We went out last weekend to a used furniture store and bought two new couches! They don't match, but they are both VERY clean and VERY comfy!! Will take pictures soon and post them. I want to get couch covers for them, but we are having a hard time finding any that will fit. We also bought some bar stools that are SOOOO comfortable. Doesn't this just make you want to come out and visit us?!?

Alright, that's it for now. Oh yeah, our jobs are going very well. :)

1 1/2 years down....

Not much to say, but lots to show :)

Not much has changed since the last post. Still busy busy with work and the gym and friends and fun things. Ben and I are enjoying our lives as D.I.N.Ks

(Double Income No Kids)

Ben and I bought these lilies at Woolworth's, the grocery store. They are AMAZING. I have never ever seen lilies like this before...they're bigger than my head. You can smell them as soon as you walk in the front door, even though they're all the way in the living room. They were $15! I can't believe how fragrant and gorgeous they are. It was too hard to get a picture of them next to my head, so my hand will have to do!

Last blog I talked about our "cleaning" jar. It's workingggg....(we've scrubbed mold out of the shower and WASHED OUR WINDOWS. Who are we?!?!)

Ben's beer a-brewin'! It should be ready to bottle in a couple days. He bought a new kit and he's going to try using actual hops next time! Such a little scientist. (Our God-sent dryer behind it)

Guess what we're going to be for Halloween....get ready for the AWESOMENESS that is BenandJulie'scostumemakingabilities.

We've been in the process of re-arranging and cleaning and setting up apartment...like 10 months after we moved in. It's fine. Here's a before picture of the corner of our bedroom...yikes..that was supposed to be my makeup/jewellery corner!

After picture of the corner, and a close up!

Close up of a picture I found today of Morgan and me from 2006 ish? She sent it to me last year in a card and I forgot I had it. We look so young and happy :) Miss you Morge!

Picture of the rest of the room. Our loft is SWEET. Will get an "after" picture when it's actually made and looks pretty..who knows when that will be!

This is next to the loft, under the window. It looks nice. That's an aloe plant. Since Mom and Dad T gave us an aloe plant a few years ago, we love them and can't get enough of them. (You basically cannot kill them...phew! We have a humongous one in our bathroom too!)

Corner of our living room that is finally done (almost):

Ben and me in Augusta last year (where the Indian and Southern oceans meet)

Shelf dedicated to our awesome little sisters:

One of my favorite songs (and bands)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKD2fjBpHFk&ob=av3e

The lyrics are part of the reason I love the song so much:

http://www.directlyrics.com/incubus-adolescents-lyrics.html

xoxo!

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 :)