Home is Where the Sunshine (And Patio Furniture!) Is

I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty back and forth for a long time about living here but it is FINALLY, FINALLY starting to feel like home now. I feel like I have grown so much as a person the past nine or so months and it’s pretty surreal to type this blog post sitting on the balcony of our new apartment on our sweet ass new patio furniture next to our new grill that we don’t have to share with 300 other people (sorry old apartment complex!).

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

We have worked extremely hard to get to where we are and it’s taken the better part of a year to get to a place where we’re comfortably living again. It’s super sweet to have real furniture and not be basically living in someone’s spare bedroom! It’s nice too to finally be able to comfortably sit outside – winter here is nothing compared to home, but houses here are not equipped for the cold at all (we have basically one space heater that’s attached to the wall in the kitchen) so the winter was pretty effing miserable.

BBQ at a Brewery on the Peninsula

St Kilda Beach Volleyball - the New Thursday Night Hangout

I’m pretty sure we are going to have the go-to spot all summer though, with our new furniture, grill and our homebrew on tap! I’ve also started my gardening career, so it will add some nice additions to our outdoor area. There is a ton of sun and dust from living right over an extremely busy road, so we may not be able to grow much other than cacti!

My New Balcony Garden

Regis got a car almost two weeks ago now meaning we can finally drive to run errands, and more importantly we can go on our adventures on our own terms! We were both super happy to go pick up furniture for our patio. Next up on the list is another bed so our visitors coming have somewhere to sleep (and my new favorite, this egg chair!)!

Our visitor season is coming up, and I’m so excited to say that my mom went through with buying the plane ticket to Melbourne! No one in my family is much of a traveler, mainly due to money and lack of time off, but I am so proud of both my mom and my sister for taking the time to plan out a visit here and buying plane tickets! My brother and sister turned 26 yesterday and I felt a lot of guilt about not being able to spend time with them – so some family time is going to be much needed.

Regis traveled for work for about six weeks straight and I’m pretty sure I was going nuts for a while, but we have been back to basically normal (whatever normal is for us!!) for about a month. Some new beers are being brewed, and we’ve finally made a few other friends! We even went on a trip recently with them to the Mornington Peninsula that was a nice relaxing getaway away from the city. We went back to the Peninsula this past weekend to go back to the hot springs I mentioned in our last post, and we also went to a couple other places we went when we were on holiday here.

It was a huge “holy crap” moment when we went to Montalto Vineyard – I think that was the point on our holiday two years ago where we both decided it’d be worth it to actually go through with moving to Australia, no matter how difficult it would be and it was basically one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had going back there as a resident and not a tourist. Most of the stuff we’ve done here hasn’t seemed like huge leaps or bounds, but looking at it all now is insane, we have really accomplished a lot and set up a new life in a pretty short amount of time. It’s a hell of a lot of work though and I am not trying to move anytime soon!!

Montalto Vineyard

The Cups Estate

I honestly don’t have too much more to add at the moment, but hope you all enjoy these pictures of the beginning of a gorgeous Australian summer!

Rye, Victoria

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Parrots on our Balcony!

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Until next time, guys! Regis is up.

-L

Spring Has Sprung...Sort Of?

Hey guys, I know we have been so bad at keeping this updated, but it's honestly because we haven't been doing anything remotely exciting. We've been working, going to the gym, eating healthy (most of the time), trying to cut out beer (it doesn't work because we have also been brewing beer), and being boring pseudo-adults. Plus Regis has been traveling for work a ton, so he has been on site more often than he's been at home the past month and a half or so. Who thinks he should get me a puppy?! haha. Just kidding (sort of).

Brewery Visit for "Research"

People ask us a lot how much we have traveled and explored since we've been here, but since we have started working, neither of us has taken time off and it's been too cold to do anything fun, minus odd days here and there where we can get outside! Plus, we still don't have a car. Melbourne has the most highly ranked public transportation system in the world, and I can tell you all day how great it is.. but for getting out of the city and checking out awesome stuff like the coastline or wine regions, you REALLY need a car. Trust me, I'm absolutely DYING to go back to the Peninsula Hot Springs, and we've already committed it as our first trip with the car we will be getting! I'm also rather excited to go back to Yarra Valley to try some more of the wineries, although this will probably be a fun girl's trip since Regis' interest level in that is about 5%!

I can't believe today marks the last day of summer for everyone back home. It's definitely been a surreal experience kind of watching everyone's lives keep going while we are so far away. One of my friends had a baby, two of my friends made huge moves across the country, my whole friend group in Charlotte is basically no longer friends anymore, and two of my friends I went to high school with got engaged. Holy crap, you guys are all getting after it! It definitely makes feel anxious in a way how many holidays, birthdays, weddings, big important events, etc I'll probably miss because of how hard it is to travel back home. I am super proud of you all, with or without being able to be there.

I appreciate notes and Skype sessions so much!

It's insanely awesome to live here though, I feel like if we went back to Charlotte we'd be bored to death in a matter of a weekend. There is just so much here, and it's beautiful. Just so you guys know, all these gorgeous pictures represent about 1/10 of the weather we have had lately. Most of the recent weather involves rain, clouds, and more wind than I have ever experienced in my life. Like, it actually freaks me out sometimes! But, it's finally spring as of Friday, so here's to looking forward to some sun and some beach weather!

Albert Park Lake - across the street from our apt

St Kilda Beach Boardwalk

St Kilda, our new hood

View from the Yarra River

We have been making some friends here and there too, which has been really fun. We have started hanging out with our neighbors that also brew beer, and I made a friend in my hooping class, so we have lots of plans for weekend afternoons in Albert Park. I'm also in a fun book club that involves more wine and cheese than actual books, haha. We were both planning on signing up for beach volleyball when it rolls around, and I can't wait to start riding my bike to work. Only about a month of this mild weather to go!

In other news, our beer brewing has been going really well. We've churned out a batch of a really good grapefruit IPA about a week ago, and we re-brewed it with a slightly different recipe over the weekend. I think we're improving, which is great for our business idea, but not great for our be healthy/cut out beer idea. You win some, you lose some, I guess. I'm in charge of the next batch! I won't ruin the surprise, but coconuts are involved!

Drinking our beer while brewing more beer - a pretty excellent feeling

I don't have much else to share as it's about midnight here, but for whoever cares, I am rather embracing my blonde hair I wasn't sure about and am dyeing it platinum/silver when the color I ordered comes! I can't wait. I'm already collecting ideas for the next color for when I'm inevitably bored of this one though. Feel free to drop me an idea!

Goodnight from the other side of the planet!

-L

Six Months In - We Did It!

We’ve made it here 6 months! It feels like we’ve been here two years, and also two months at the same time. We have seriously gone through SO MUCH since we started this whole thing a little over a year ago. Also, to give you all an exciting update, the condo back in Charlotte finally sold! It has been on the market since right before Thanksgiving and holy shit… what a relief for Regis!

 Sometimes I think about how easy I had it in Charlotte, and it’s both good and bad. Things were ridiculously simple (and great!), but I know we were really tired of the same bar-brewery-pool-home routine, and I was sick of being stuck in a three block radius with no car 80% of the time. I try not to only focus on stuff I miss from there because it can get me in a nostalgic mood and that’s just not productive at all for trying to be happy here.

Perspective can be a really interesting thing. I started thinking about the way I wanted to live my life shortly after we started traveling and doing fun things. About 2 years ago was the first time in my life I could afford to do things I wanted to do (and actually have time off work!) and it made me a much happier person. I got asked by people fairly often how I am such a positive, upbeat person, and I really didn’t know what to say. I’ve thought about it a bit more though, and I think the way most people think about their yearly vacations should slightly change their perspectives and they would be a lot happier. What if you lived your life in a way that you didn’t spend all year waiting for your one week break from it? I think that’s basically what we are trying to do here – not to say I don’t still count down the minutes on Friday afternoons at work, but I definitely get a lot of value in my life by living somewhere I want to be and looking forward to simple things (see ya, Ohio!).

We also have some visitors lined up, which is super exciting! My sister Colleen will be here from the last week of November for a couple of weeks, and Regis’ parents are coming for Christmas! I am definitely looking forward to a warm holiday season – I usually dread Christmas, so it’s going to be a nice change. My mom has also mentioned wanting to visit, and has been checking out flights here in February - so basically we need to start getting furniture for our patio and the other bedroom! Also a note to anyone wanting to visit, you better get up on your slang! Here’s some help:

A funny note to add here is that I hear most of these on a fairly regular basis – usually you can tell what someone is saying based on context, but some of these are so random it’s hard to guess. The first time I heard someone say they were “crook”, I was so confused! It means sick, apparently, haha. The “C” word is also thrown around  a bit here, which was kind of shocking at first!

As for any other updates, we haven’t been up to too much. We went to Regis’ Mid-Winter ball hosted by his footy team last weekend, and we saw one of my favorite DJs, RL Grime over the weekend. I’ve recently applied to be a promoter for a company that puts on electronic shows because I think it’d be a good way to make friends, and I think I am going to start my hula hoop classes back up! Our Christmas in July beer we brewed turned out excellently and in a not-surprising-at-all way, Regis drilled a hole in the front of our fridge so we can keep our home brew on tap! Fun picture updates are below, see ya soon!

The home brew tap!

Our Christmas in July beer

The new view - we couldn't have picked a cooler new home city!

When you actually realize you made the right decision.

Going to keep this short and sweet,  and unfortunately I don't have any photos to add. I have been traveling for work the past week. I'm up in singleton, a small town in NSW about 90 minutes west of Newcastle. It's basically a mining town, the sign says 25000 people but I'm calling bullshit. This place is only slightly larger than my hometown of Strasburg which had a population of 2500. I'm assuming that they included everyone within a 25km radius.  The town only takes 20 min to walk across the long way, has 3 pubs, and a handful of restaurants. There is basically fuck all to do except get piss drunk at the pub, which is a hard pass when you have to get 0.000 on a breathalyzer at 6am the next morning.

The point of this is, I miss Melbourne.  I traveled a decent amount when I worked in Charlotte and I never missed Charlotte. I missed people and my stuff but not the city.  I still miss laci and my friends, my stuff (don't have much) but now I also miss the city.  I miss my coffee shop, the quirky trams, my footy training sessions, the city skyline, Albert park, Chapel street and all its weirdness.  I'm really looking forward to flying home tomorrow afternoon and being home.  I think I can truly say Melbourne is home.  That is until laci and I get board of this city and decide to move to either Mcmudo station or Tristan da Cunha.
















Ps.  Mom don't worry, that last bit was a joke.  Mcmudo station is a science outpost in mcmudo sound Antarctica and Tristan da cunha is the most remote inhabited island in the world.  We are not moving there.

Oz Wintertime

As people I've met here would say, winter is pretty "full on" here now. I'M FREEZING.

I think this weather is supposed to keep on until about September, but literally every single person I ask tells me something different; some say July is the worst and everything after is fine, some say it's completely awful until the end of August, and some people have told me that the weather we've had recently (about 45-50, gloomy, windy and rainy) is the worst it gets. So... I guess we will find out shortly since July is next week!

It's pretty weird being in a completely opposite season than everyone back home, but I guess now I know how all my friends felt when I was posting beach pictures in January - sorry, guys! Anyway, we at least have a decent amount of sunny days where it's still around 50, so it's still really beautiful at times. Honestly, the way I feel about living here is 90% 'super surreal I can't believe I actually made it here, this is awesome' and about 10% the mood I was in when I wrote my last blog - 'holy shit what were we thinking, I'm so lost here and so sick of people telling me I have an accent'. Hahaha. But hey, life experiences, right?

Also, the occasional warm weather plenty of time for hooping in Albert Park, which is right across the street.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I've been taking hula hooping classes since around February. It's so fun! My term ended, so I might take private classes to brush up on some stuff I want to learn eventually. I have actually been hooping for quite a while, but could only do a few basic things and mostly kept it to our old living room so I wouldn't embarrass myself publicly. Moving basically flipped a switch in me - now I could care less! It's not like I know anyone, right? Here's a link if you want to see what it actually is I'm doing. There's more to it than expected and it's an awesome workout. That video is NOT me, it's just a good video that shows some fun hoop stuff!

I haven't really been on my bike too much, besides last Saturday after my hoop session, the wind is pretty cold and I struggled to make it as far as I did! My game plan is to start biking to work once it's warm - it will supposedly only take around 30-40 minutes, which isn't bad at all. The point of my ride Saturday was to do a trial run to check the distance and directions. The entirety of the ride is along the beach, which will definitely not be a bad way to spend my mornings and evenings! Plus, hopefully it will make up for my weekend beers!

Speaking of beers, we recently had a housewarming party to have our friends we have met so far come over and try our second batch of beer! It's the first time we have had people over and we had a really good turnout - around 10-15 people! Everyone that tried our beer loved it and I'm 99% certain they weren't just being nice (mostly because all of it's gone except for the ones Regis stockpiled in our cupboard beforehand)! I've coined it "St Kilda Squeeze" because of our neighborhood we live in and all of the oranges I excruciatingly squeezed by hand. Also, one of my favorite beers is Harpoons Big Squeeze, so I guess I kinda stole a little of that as well! Anyway, here it is in all its glory.

It pours pretty nicely, but it's a little under carbonated - we're thinking it's because it's been fermenting in a cooler climate than the last batch since we don't use our heat when we aren't home. It tastes like a nice pale ale with some citrus tones. I'd like it to be a tinge sweeter because I wanted it to be almost shandy-like, but it's super drinkable and we're pretty proud of it. For the next batch we are doing a Christmas in July beer! Since it's cold, it'll be pretty appropriate. I'm sure we'll keep you all posted.

Anyways, I'm going to go cook something super warm for dinner (or maybe order my new favorite - pho!) and chill on some Netflix. Seriously, if any of you guys want to Skype (my username is Lacijallday) or video message via Facebook or WhatsApp, just let me know. The time difference isn't too bad!

-L

I Wouldn't Call it Homesick But...

I know, I know.

It's been about a month and a half or something since I've taken the time to update this with what's been going on.

I have what I consider to be a couple decent reasons:
1 - I haven't really been up to much outside of the work/social life/staying alive realm
2 - I've been generally kind of bummed out about some things I sort of miss and can't put them into definitive or entertaining, blog post-worthy phrases

THIS DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO MOVE AGAIN, so just get that idea out of your head right now before I get into this! ;)

Moving this time was definitely a different experience for me. When I left Ohio, I was so damn happy to get out of there I didn't (and haven't!) looked back since. Most of my good friends had moved away, I had goals to leave there forever and it is generally somewhere I'm not too thrilled to go back to.

I consider Charlotte to be my first real home - it's the first place I made true friends with similar interests (not people I just hung out with because we happened to work at the same place or go to school together). I felt like I truly made it to where I wanted there and really loved it. I just didn't want to stay there because of the limitations that come with living in a smaller city in the US nowhere near the coast (or really anywhere else that matter).

There are just certain things about being somewhere familiar that are very comforting - unfortunately, when you move to the other side of the planet, you kinda lose pretty much all of that! I would love to do any of the following right now (please keep in mind it's winter here and I am going crazy from it getting dark at 5pm and being inside all the time!!):

• Go on the Plaza Midwood Tuesday Night Ride and chat it up with two of my closest friends all night.
• Walk to Wooden Robot Brewery and drink $5 beers all day with friends (oh - and actually having friends to text to hang out on the weekends is pretty sweet too).
• Play sand volleyball at VBGB with my friends I used to work with there.
• Go to an electronic music show at the Fillmore that I can walk to from my apartment and get in for free because I used to bartend for the security people.
• WALK TO WORK. BUT SERIOUSLY, THOUGH.
• Know where the hell specific items are in the grocery store without having to walk around like three times like a clueless idiot.
• Know how to get effing anywhere without using my phone. 
• Not to be basic, but Trader Joe's was a way nicer grocery store than the ones here.
• PUMPKIN BEER.
• Fried pickles, Chick-fil-a, glorious Southern Food, etc. Also, if you live close to a Chipotle please go for me and eat a mountain of guac. The Mexican here is basically non existent. :'(
• Music festivals!!

Sorry if it seems like I'm bitching, but I miss all of the above and a whole lot more - and it's going to be a minute before I can enjoy any of it again (if ever!). Positive upbeat people need to vent/complain sometimes too! 

I'll post something better soon, but I'll leave you all with some cool memories I had from Charlotte:

Seriously, if we were friends at all there, I miss and love you guys all so much. 

<3

Until next time (I'll be back to my chipper self, I swear).

-L

Footy!

Well we are fully in winter now so it seems reasonable to dawn a tank top and some short shorts and go run around outside.  Thats right, I've picked up a new sport and it's called footy.  In order to properly tell this story I'm going to have to take you back a couple months.  Back in mid April I decided that I wanted to give footy a go, so I started looking to see if there were any clubs near our house.  I was in luck, there are 3 teams that call Albert Park home.  So I sent each of them an email expressing my interest and only one got back to me.  The club was the South Melbourne District Football Club.  They said "come on down and give it a go", so I did.  I showed up to the Tuesday night training session with a brand new pair of footy boots and no idea what the fuck I was doing/getting into.  I learned very quickly that its not very easy to kick this stupid ball and that even though I'm in pretty good physical shape, I was by far at the back of the pack.  I had greatly underestimated the game that I showed up to play, but I was not discouraged.  I showed up to every training session (Tuesday and Thursdays) eager to learn, improve, and almost puke my guts out from exhaustion.  Bruises, muscle pain, general aches, these have been the norm for me now for almost two months and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way.

So what is footy?  Well its short for Australian Rules Football but it would be easier to call it Australian No-Rules Football.  It truly is a game that you learn what you can't do rather than what you can do.  I think of it like a combination of American football, hockey, and soccer.  There are no pads, no helmets, brutal tackles, fast pace play, and lots of running.  Its said that some midfielders run a marathon every game.  Its Australias biggest professional sport and Melbourne is home to 10 professional teams.  It has an absolutely massive following and attendance to some of the games at the MCG reach upwards of 95,000 people.  Thats college football numbers in the states.

MCG - Richmond vs Essendon

Etihad Stadium - Richmond vs Western

I have now been playing for just over 2 months and have actually played in 5 league games.  I'm still learning and improving my skills but I have made great strides at a quick pace.  Most of my teammates have been playing since they were about 10 years old.  To put that into perspective, imagine someone trying to play baseball on a league team who has never thrown a ball.  I am actually quite astounded at how nurturing and supportive my team has been of me.  They don't look at is as "this kid sucks, has no idea what he's doing" but rather they help me learn from my mistakes and truly want me to become a better player and bring value to the team.  So for the moment I have hung up the hockey skates and dawned a pair of neon green footy boots at least until the season ends in mid September.