Happy Spring! Almost Two Years In: Thoughts

I'm gonna throw it out there - this blog should definitely be called "Laci and Regis in Oz" since I am the only person who updates this anymore, haha. I think I'm going to make Regis update next time because I want him to brag about his dirtbike adventures and how awesome his homemade pizza is - stay tuned.

Honestly, I feel like we live a pretty normal/boring expat life sometimes - I interact with a lot of backpackers at my bar job and it seems like they travel every few weeks since they have casual jobs and are only here temporarily. We really don't live THAT different of a life here for the most part than we did in the US. Things are getting 1000% better though, since daylight savings fell over the weekend and we have warmer weather plus an hour more of daylight now! I'm pretty happy spring is finally here, because we live a much healthier lifestyle when we can go on runs outside, paddleboard, go to the beach, and grill all of our food. Hello, salad season! :)

So I realized the other day that it has been close to two years since we've moved here, which is pretty nuts considering I feel like I am still adjusting to certain things, and still find some of the cultural changes here weird. So basically I think I'm going to outline a few things for you all since I don't have much for you in terms of updates!

• Things I really love
• Things I find weird
• Things I don't like / miss from home

Things I really love

• People here are pretty non-judgemental. It was actually a pretty huge change coming from Charlotte, where 90% of the people were basically the same. I don't feel like you are expected to be fake at all, and people are friendly because they want to be, not because they want to put up a front. 
• The food in Melbourne is sooooo good. I am actually worried about going back to the US and eating the food there. There are lots of foods I miss, but everything here is a lot more fresh and a lot less processed. There is also a HUGE variety of what you can choose from restaurant-wise- I have tried countless new things here.
• The public transportation here is so efficient you don't need a car.
• The distinctly different neighborhoods and cultures make it feel a lot larger than one city. In one day, I can walk to my tram stop in Little Vietnam, get to the city in 20 mins for work, eat lunch at a gorgeous park next to the Yarra river, take a different tram home and work in an Austrian pub on a street known for outlet stores that is close to a few huge stadiums and a lot of good music venues, and walk home. Other nights, Regis and I can meet in Chinatown at our favorite bar for after work drinks, we can walk to Little Italy and eat homemade pasta, we can go to my favorite fish and chips shop in Port Melbourne by the beach, honestly the options are endless! We also live in walking distance to three breweries now!
• I did not understand it at first - but the coffee!! <3
• You aren't expected to own a house, get married, have kids, etc at a certain age (In Ohio these days, that # is somewhere in the ballpark of 25, which is asinine to me!) People here live their lives the way they want and it seems like there is not as much pressure about things that are your business. 
• To add to to the above, people here seem to enjoy life more - I would imagine because people follow the rule I've always had - work to live, don't live to work! People were pretty career-obsessed in Charlotte, which is fine and all, but at the end of the day, it's your life.
• I feel SO safe here. It is quite normal, even as a female, to walk around the city or go on runs alone. The only time strangers really approach me is to ask for directions, which I'm happy to give. Also, there are no guns here so that's pretty cool too - I've come a long way since playing the game "is that noise gunshots or fireworks?" in Akron!
• My job is realllllly good - I actually pinch myself sometimes now because I don't mind going to work (okay, I did mind today because it was about 80 degrees out, but you know what I mean) - it is so weird to me that I like my job. The people are really laid back and I have a huge impact on my company which is something I have never had working in huge corporations. I've also been tasked with planning all of our social events, which is basically my calling in life apart from bartending and marketing, haha.
• Our new apartment is still amazing - having a huge kitchen is sweet!
• The summer here can't really be topped - and I love having the holidays when it's nice!

Things I find weird

• Most of the Australian people I have met do not seem to appreciate how good they have it here! They really take for granted they have four weeks of paid leave a year, free healthcare and superannuation, which is where your employer pays 9.5% of your salary on top of what you get paid into a retirement account. It's really crazy - they assume every country does that and are shocked to learn people in the US don't get any guaranteed time off the way people here do!
• I honestly have no idea why people eat Vegemite - it is probably one of the more appalling food items I have tried to date. The funny part is, when you tell someone here you don't like it, they insist that it's great, but you're just trying it the wrong way. I have tried it three times now, and each time was gross, so hard pass haha.
• I still struggle with the slang (please watch that linked video, btw - hilarious) sometimes - you can usually understand by the context of what is said in the sentence, but it can really throw you off at times. 
• Not sure if there is crack or something in the chocolate, but I have seriously never seen people eat so much chocolate as they do here, haha. Like, A LOT of chocolate is consumed here!
• A lot of people I have met here have never been to the US or met people from there. Their only exposure would be in movies/TV, so a lot of the times it's assumed that the way NY/LA are depicted is how people grow up. Sometimes I feel like I have to be extra nice to people when I meet them so they don't think everyone from the states is an asshole haha. No pressure, right? I have actually been told by one of my friends that they didn't think they would like anyone from the US until they met me, which was a pretty huge compliment!

Things that are annoying / things I miss about home compared to here

• This is probably due to growing up in a place where the weather is total crap, but people here seem pretty "meh" when it's nice out and almost seem like they avoid being outside. Regis and I were talking about how it is in Ohio - basically you can have a nice day, then it's not guaranteed to be nice again for a few weeks at a time sometimes, so you are almost programmed to make the most of nice days. People here will go to the movies or go shopping on nice days here and it's so weird. You will see me at the beach!
• There seems to be a national shortage of both ketchup and ice here. You have to ask for either item if you go out to eat, and about 50% of the time, you will actually have to pay for ketchup!
• $13 for a pint of beer. No explanation required here.
• I always wondered what people meant when they would say "nanny state" when I was first here, but I totally get it now. There are SO MANY rules here and the fines are pretty steep if you get caught not following them. A great example is I assumed bike helmets were only required on streets, but found out by getting yelled at by a police officer that they are required at all times, even if you are slow and on a pedestrian/bike path. 
• It can be hard to make friends with people that are from here. A ton of people in Melbourne grew up here, so they have friends from childhood and aren't necessarily trying to branch out. The majority of my friends here are other people that have moved here from somewhere else
• The level of customer service here sucks - people don't really care about that at all. A great example is when we got our keys to our new apartment, we were not able to get in the front door. The real estate company would take hours to respond via email and were not apologetic at all. They insisted we must not be opening the door correctly and it took three days for them to even acknowledge it as a problem. It turned out they had not given us the proper key to get in. Were we refunded any money or compensated for being inconvenienced? Did they apologize for us not being able to move for three extra days? Haha, no because that's just how everything is here.
• Stuff in general is pretty pricey - groceries aren't bad, but any clothing/makeup/etc is usually about twice what I am used to paying. Also, hair appts are appalling - I think the norm for a haircut here is about $100. Don't ask how much it was when I bleached my hair and got it colored purple a while back :(
• If I could have two stores from home exist here, hands down they would be Trader Joe's and Express. 
• TURKEY BACON. Luckily a co worker found they sell it at Costco, so looks like we are getting a Costco membership in the near future! 
• It's weird constantly feeling foreign. Like, no matter how long we live here or what we do, we will never not have accents. Just strange/unsettling to think about at times. Sometimes it gets annoying getting asked where I'm from/why I'm here when I'm not feeling super extroverted!

Anyway, I think that's a pretty decent brain dump for today - I am so tired. It's almost 10pm and I haven't relaxed since I got home from work! 

I'll leave you with something insightful I read the other day - "When you move abroad, you are never truly home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." -Miriam Adeney

Until next time, guys. Here are some photos!

I have business cards!

our awesome back patio!

brekky!

bike ride season! (no helmet again - whoops)

Regis and his "dirt scooter"

Hello, Richmond!

Hopefully it's the last time for the foreseeable future, but we have finally found another apartment and moved! We officially live in Richmond as of a couple of weeks ago.

My dad thought that meant we moved to Virginia, but that is not the case (when I googled to be a smartass, turns out there are a lot more places named Richmond than I was expecting!) We moved a few kilometers north-ish of where we were currently living, which can be a quick drive in the middle of the night, an hour drive in peak hour Melbourne traffic (seriously) or a bus or tram ride away from our old spot in St Kilda:

The blue dot is us!

We are technically a bit closer to the city, but my commute to work is about 10ish mins longer because of the tram being a bit slower - I am so fine with it though because our new place is awesome! It took us about six months to find an apartment we were both happy with, and it was an extremely long, disheartening and drawn out process. I wrote a blog post when we were first here about how it works here - it is so much different than back in the US. I went to several open houses that were during work hours thinking it'd be sneaky and about 20-30 people still showed up to them! We ended up outsmarting the system and going to an open house that only had shitty pictures on realestate.com.au (basically the only way you can find somewhere to live here) - no one else showed up and the place was so nice, so we ended up getting it!

We have a giant kitchen, a garage and a little back courtyard now! It's a really nice layout, we have both been wanting a townhouse for a while and it was pretty hard to find one that was reasonably priced and not super far from the city, but we did it! The real estate process is such a pain in the ass, so hopefully we are here for a while!

We also decided to treat ourselves and buy a new fridge that dispenses ice. I find it hilarious that ice is basically non-existent in Australia - I joke around with Regis that there must be a shortage of it because if you get a drink anywhere, no one puts it in your glass. Now we have endless ice at home!

We haven't been up to much exciting stuff - since you can only take leave here if you accrue it, we haven't had leave in forever and won't till probably Christmas because we both started new jobs. I'm dying to go somewhere - I still haven't been outside if Victoria yet! We're going to Sydney at the end of October for a three day weekend, which I'm super excited about.

I went to a hula hoop retreat about a month and a half ago, which was AMAZING. I had so much fun - I am so used to being the weird friend that hula hoops, so it was super cool to meet other girls that do it too and learn some new stuff. We stayed in a buddhist temple in the mountains, and it was really peaceful. There were tons of cool workshops and we did yoga every morning. I want to start going to more stuff like that - it really put me out of my comfort zone but I got back feeling like I picked up so much and made some new friends out of it too! I met a couple new instructors I really liked too - I had so much fun learning from one of them, I signed up for her course - at the end we are going to be performing, and also filming a music video - stay tuned for the link in November!

We also took a fun little weekend trip with our friends to Torquay - it's a town on the Great Ocean Road. We stayed at a cool Airbnb and played cards and ate way too much good food! On the way home, we went to Little Creatures Brewing and did a tour. It was cool learning about how they make all their stuff - bold statement but I think Regis makes a better pale ale!

brewery touring

Other than that, we have basically just been getting used to our new apartment and neighborhood. I ended up picking up a 2nd job bartending at a cool little pub down the street. They serve Austrian food and beer - I basically just go there Wednesdays after I work at my office job till about 11pm. It's only one day a week, and it's nice to have a reason to get out of the house during the work week. It's also cool to meet new people and I'm definitely not complaining about a little extra cash. This past weekend I filled in for someone though and I am absolutely exhausted - so you are lucky to be getting an update from me! ;) I am going to be helping out with their marketing stuff in the near future, which I'm pretty excited about and they even told me they would be interested in serving our beer once we get the proper licensing and stuff - so good opportunities lie ahead!

My main job is going super well too - I have never had the luxury of having a job I choose till this one - and it feels so good to actually enjoy going to work! The company is really great to work for and the people are really nice. There are a lot of small cultural differences here I find really entertaining - every Friday afternoon we all have beers together in the breakroom, which absolutely would not fly back in the states! There is actually a bell they ring at 4pm on the dot, which is code for "stop your work for the week - it's beer thirty!". I've brought a couple of ours in too, which have gone down really well. Another really great thing my company does is pay for the office-based team to go on a team-building trip for Christmas every year. They pay for flights, accommodation, food and whatever activities the team ends up doing - so unheard of to me! This November, my team and I are going to Daylesford, which is a fancy spa/winery area. It should be pretty fun.

Well, I am half asleep and our new spa tub (it is GLORIOUS) is calling my name - so until next time, here are some photos - happy first week of spring!

-L

Torquay Beach

Torquay Beach

Friends!

New Job(s!) and Some Cold Weather Updates (Plus a Gumbo Recipe!)

Bet you thought I wouldn't have waited over two months to update this thing! I basically turn into a really unmotivated grouchy person when it gets cold, so forgive me. I've had friends from home make fun of me for pretending to be cold (it drops to about 45f here), but if you were living somewhere that's mostly unheated for the entirety of about a 4-5 month season, you'd be pretty pissed off and lazy too! 

Yes, that is frost.

How to survive winter here - Step 1: Eat a lot of pho

I actually have some pretty awesome news from both Regis and myself - we both have new jobs as of about a month ago! Super funny how it worked out, but we ended up receiving job offers within 30 minutes of each other on the exact same Friday. Regis had been looking for a bit, and he finally got what he was looking for. This is his fourth week as a suspension engineer and he is really liking it - if he ever provides an update, he can brief you, but I am 90% sure he is thrilled to be working with cars again!

To be honest, I hadn't been really looking that hard, but I was trying to figure out what my next step in my career would be. All of my jobs since college have kind of just happened by chance. The first real job I had in NC was because someone basically hired me out of the bar I was working at and I just kind of moved around from there! I really loved the job I had when we left, and it had been a really good fit for my skills.

We moved all the way here for better job opportunities, so I decided it was time to get serious and start looking at job descriptions of positions in marketing/advertising that sounded interesting just to start training up on my own. I ended up finding one that sounded REALLY cool, and just applied assuming they would never call me - they did, and I somehow ended up getting it!

Current level of joy about my new job: 10/10

Pretty funny story, but the owner of the company said they were looking for someone easygoing that was open to learning a lot of new stuff and helping with a lot of random projects (it's a pretty small company), plus he was impressed that I brew beer! So long story short, I'm a marketing specialist now, which is the first job I have had in the six years I've been out of school that actually lets me use the stuff I learned. I didn't have to dye my hair a fake color or pretend to be someone I'm not to get hired, and it makes me so happy. This is my third week, and it's been really good so far. I've gotten to get back into using InDesign and Photoshop, which has been awesome. I just went to our end of financial year conference (EOFY is the end of June here), which was at a winery almost two hours out of the city. It was freezing out there, but a great experience. I'm probably going to offend some people, but I really just can't get into wine, guys. An aperol spritz is about the most wine I can get into.

Cleveland Winery - Lancefield, VIC

Anyway, the job stuff is about the only major update I have. We've still been looking for another apartment, but it has kind of been on hold while we adjust to our new jobs and commutes.

I have really been missing the hell out of my friends lately. I'm sure it sounds ridiculously stupid, but I always worry about being forgotten about like the old saying - out of sight, out of mind. A few of them have been messaging me on a regular basis to check up and I have even skyped with a few of them a couple times recently, which has helped SO much. My friend Brianne asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding a couple weeks ago while we were chatting, and I'm pretty excited to say I'll be back in OH next summer (July!) to be there for her! Hoping to squeeze in some other visits too and possibly a music festival! Please shoot through any music festivals worth going to that happen in July, and also let me know if you want to join! I'm going to try to get my siblings to come, since they haven't experienced one yet.

Before I get into my recipe, I want to recommend a good cooking show for literally ANYONE - even if you think it's hard or you can't get into it. These are 20 min episodes and Regis and I have been binging the F out of it because it's both entertaining and the dude is hilarious. It's called "It's Suppertime" - please go to this link and watch an episode ASAP! The program is Canadian, so pretty sure the only place you can find it is online at the moment. I'm making the eggplant parmesan sometime this week and cannot wait!

Anyway, since we are on the topic of unhealthy food, I am going to drop a recipe for gumbo today. I worked at a cajun restaurant as a server/guacamole maker/doodler/pizza maker through a good chunk of college and had never had cajun food before then - I'm proud to say I've been hooked since then (Thanks, Brian!!). In my tradition of not using specific recipes and just winging it after reading a couple blogs on google, here is my variation.

All of you hardcore meat eaters will hate me, but I usually make this with tofu sausage. I don't really eat pork, because it grosses me out - I did, however, suck it up this time around and use chorizo. Traditionally, you're supposed to use andouille, but since this is Australia and not the Southern US, beggars can't be choosers. Another note I'd like to add is gumbo is usually made with shrimp in it - I don't like the leftovers tasting super fishy, so I usually grill it separately with olive oil and cajun seasoning and just use it as a topping. Feel free to do whatever your heart desires or even skip it if it's not your thing.

My last note is that the photo I'm using sucks - our lighting in the apt is horrendous, but I promise it will be delicious and comforting and you will be so proud of yourself once you're done making this.

F Yeah, Gumbo!

Things you'll need:

Soup pot/dutch oven
Whisk
Wooden spoon

For the roux:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup canola or olive oil

Veggies/etc (chop ahead of time and set aside):
2 red bell peppers
3-4 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion
1 large red jalapeno
4 stalks celery (inc leaves)
a few handfuls of okra (sorry, I suck at measuring things)

Stock:
6 cups water
3 chicken stock cubes
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
Cajun seasoning
Tabasco hot sauce (or whatever you like)

Protein (brown ahead of time and set aside):
1.5lbs/700g chicken thighs
12oz/300g of andouille sausage, chorizo or tofu sausage

Base/Toppings:
Steamed Rice (I use brown to feel like I'm making it healthy)
Grilled shrimp
Chopped green onions

Directions:

Please follow my instructions and chop the veggies up first. It's a huge pain in the ass, but you aren't going to have time once you start the roux because you have to be really attentive to what's going on in your pot. If you want to use rice as a base, it's also a good idea to throw that in a rice steamer at this time.

You will also want to quickly brown and chop up the meat before you start. It doesn't have to be fully cooked, because you'll get to that later. Do this in a large soup pot (the same one you will use for the rest of the process). Leave the grease and stuff in there, it will make the gumbo even better. I'd also recommend giving the okra a quick sear just for texture purposes.

The first, and most important step is making the roux. It's the base of this soup, and if you mess this part up, you will basically need to clean out the pan and start it over. My recommendation is to continuously stir this THE WHOLE TIME and ensure the flour/oil mixture doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. The first time I made this, I was really impatient and had no idea if I was doing it right, but it just takes about 20 mins for the magic to happen. My attention span is about 45 seconds, so this is one of the most challenging things you can ask me to do. It's worth it.

Start off by putting your soup pot (or dutch oven if you have fancier pans than me) on medium heat. Dump all of the oil in, and then once that is hot, pour in the flour. Whisk the flour, like, A LOT. Keep whisking it until you never want to whisk anything ever again. It really sucks, but it takes about 20 mins to brown to the shade you're looking for. Google told me to look for a color that is "a little darker than peanut butter" - so use that as your baseline. It will start to smell completely different and take on a thick, sticky texture.

When it reaches the color you're looking for, throw in the garlic and all of the other veggies listed except for the okra and switch to your wooden spoon. Cook all of this together for about 5 mins or until the veggies start to soften up a bit. You can then throw in the chicken stock cubes, chopped up meat and canned tomatoes. Make sure to incorporate everything and keep stirring.

At this point, your pot is going to look like a huge, gross mess. Keep stirring! Throw in a bunch of cajun seasoning and maybe 2 -4 tsp of hot sauce. A good rule for this is to start minimally if you're not into hot stuff - you can always add more later, but you can't take it out if you go overboard! I personally use a ton of cajun seasoning - shout out to my friend Jess who picked up some for me on her recent trip to New Orleans! :)

Once you have cooked this mixture for maybe 10 more minutes, add in your water. Add about half of it to begin with, stir it in really evenly, then add the other half. This is the point where your pot will start to resemble what gumbo actually looks like! Once everything looks good (no flour chunks), throw in the okra. Turn the heat up, and wait for the gumbo to come to a boil. Let it boil for maybe 5 minutes uncovered to start thickening everything up, then turn it down to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Once it is done, the base of the gumbo will be almost a thin, gravy-like substance. Serve it in a bowl with a big spoonful of rice as the base, and top with sprinkles of chopped green onion and a few pieces of shrimp.

YUMMM.

Anyway, I should probably head to bed - I always forget how long it takes me to get these posts up.

Since Cheryl Strayed seems to have gone down well with you all a couple posts ago, I will leave you with another quote from her that I love:

"You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch yourself in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love."

Laci's Life Hacks for Not Going Crazy and an Excellent Enchilada Recipe

Every time I post a blog, I promise myself I'm going to a) nag at Regis to give you all a life update (he is too busy gaming) or b) update this myself more, but then every time I go to actually update this, a month or more has always gone by, haha. Figures.

We've recently had Easter, which consisted of us having a four day weekend (we brewed beer and grilled food) and not a whole lot else. 

Our newest batch - Hazelnut Brown Ale

I love the fall here, the weather is still pretty warm but the air just feels different, it's hard to describe. I know I relentlessly complain about Ohio, but autumn here will never beat fall there. I love the crunchy leaves, going to cheesy haunted houses and the halloween thing at Cedar Point, and listening to Alkaline Trio while going on night drives there and I miss it a lot sometimes - yeah, probably not the snow in October part, though!! Charlotte didn't really have a fall - not in the city anyway. I would notice the leaves changing from our very high up balcony, but the weather didn't change much.

Charlotte Balcony Views - 1/2

Charlotte Balcony Views - 2/2

Anyways Luke (my brother) and I had a chat recently and it doesn't matter where you live or what you do, during the work week not much changes, and adult life can be dull-ish. Right now Regis and I are just trying to save up money and time off so we can hopefully escape the hellishly cold and dark winter for a week or so around August. It's pretty nuts - it's actually cheaper to travel outside of Australia for a week than it is to fly somewhere else in Australia for even a few days. It'll also be nice because Regis is like never here because of his job, so spending time together will be nice. He is in BFE Western Australia right now.

Being alone for such long periods of time has allowed me to come up with some nifty things to make life a little easier - I think people call them "life hacks" these days. Anyway, here are mine:

1) Being home alone is not an excuse to eat a bunch of crap and not exercise - keeping a very regular exercise routine will make you feel happier and less lonely

2) Some grocery stores offer online shopping / home delivery - if they do, DO IT. I used to make fun of people that did this in Charlotte and thought it was extremely lazy, but it is so much easier than taking all the time to go alone, dealing with crowds, trying to figure out where stuff is, then lugging it all home (the grocery store is about a 1km walk away) and having to put everything away. Delivery to our apt door is free and all I have to do is put the stuff away. THE BEST! 

3) Adopt the "say yes" mindset. I could be a shut in if I wanted to, but generally if anyone invites me to do something, even if it's not my cup of tea or I don't know them very well, I'll go. It's a great way to make new friends, try new things, etc. I can't believe I used to be an introvert, haha.

4) Minimise TV- seriously. Sometimes when I have really crappy days at work and go home and just sit in front of the TV, I feel 10x worse. Use your time for better things. Cook something fun, read a book, go on a run, go on a bike ride, go get a beer somewhere if its your thing, whatever. Sometimes even if I just blast fun music and clean, I'll still be in a better mood than if I mindlessly watched TV. Try it :)

5) Get a dog. hahahahaha. just kidding, Regis says no. :(

Anyway, enough soapboxing from me, here's a fun recipe. I make it when I don't care about carbs, it's good in cold and warm weather so my US and Australia friends can enjoy it now! I never use recipes, so don't feel like you have to follow this to a T. I usually make these using whatever we happen to have, so shoot for the moon (then obviously tell me how they turned out!) I also used to buy enchilada sauce and started making my own here since it's not as available - best idea ever, highly recommended. Also if you have a couple beers and snack on chips and salsa the whole time you make this recipe, I won't tell ;) 

How to make awesome enchiladas!

Things you'll need:

For Filling:

Protein - I usually use ground beef, ground turkey or beer stir fry strips - feel free to sub out tofu, zucchini, or whatever though!

Steamed brown rice (only if you're feeling super carb-tastic)

Spinach

Bell Peppers

Taco Seasoning

A couple big spoonfuls of below mentioned sauce

For Sauce:

1 can of plain diced tomatoes

1/2 can of black beans

3 cloves garlic (don't worry about chopping!)

1/2 a red onion, chopped into big chunks

2 jalapeno peppers** 

1 habanero pepper**

**PLEASE use your own heat tolerance to decide this. I do not want to be the cause of your death if you are kind of a heat weenie!

Toppings/Other

Low carb whole wheat wraps (These are my favorite in the US, but whatever size/variety works)

Shredded cheese - whatever you prefer (I use mozzarella)

Plain greek yogurt

chopped tomatoes

avocado

Directions

Steam the rice before starting this if you are going to use it!

Start off by chopping up the bell peppers and sautéing them in a large frying pan. Once they are soft, add in the protein. Monitor this while starting on the enchilada sauce - also preheat the oven to about 200C / 400F right about now:

For the sauce, add all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for about ten minutes. Once the onion looks soft, turn off the heat and let everything cool off for about five minutes.

Sauce Ingredients - Right Before Adding Tomatoes

Get the meat nice and browned, then add the taco seasoning. If you live by a Trader Joes, use the stuff you can buy there, it's the BEST, and if you're feeling super nice, send me a few packs :) Turn the heat to low and go back to your sauce. 

This is the part where I tell you to do something you probably shouldn't do - I use my blender to make soups / sauces while all the ingredients are hot - I recently read somewhere you shouldn't. I recently bought a nice-ish commercial grade blender because of this habit I've adopted and I'm confident with it, but if you have a food processor, probably use that!

Anyway, carefully pour the contents of the pan into your blender, and continually use the pulse setting until everything is a nice, consistent sauce. You will need to taste it and probably add a bunch of salt and maybe a small handful of cilantro if you have it, then blend a bit more! Pour it back into the pan, or into a big measuring cup. Take a few really big spoonfuls and put them into your meat/protein so you have a nice filling. 

Now for the fun part! Line a rectangular baking dish with some olive oil, then start making your enchiladas! Warm your wraps/tortillas, then one at a time:

1) Add your meat filling and rice (if you made it)

2) Fold by either rolling or using the method I learned at my first job which was at Taco Bell (holla!)

3) Set it fold-side down in the pan

Pre-Saucing

Keep doing this until you run out of tortillas, toppings, or space in your pan. Then, take the remainder of the glorious sauce you made and pour it all over the top of the enchiladas. Top with several handfuls of shredded cheese, then bake for around 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce looks nice and bubbly. Make sure the cheese doesn't brown!

Once you take them out, serve with whatever you want. I like a couple spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt, a couple chunks of avocado and some tomatoes. You won't even need hot sauce making your own enchilada sauce! Enjoy :)

YUMMMM.

Regis hates black beans and probably just found out he ate them earlier this week, hahaha - sorry Regis!

Goodnight from the other side of the world, I'll leave you with a photo of my new pink hair that is not awkward at all for working in an office!

-L

My Mom's Visit and Some Other Stuff

Today is a great day for an update - it's the last day of labor day weekend so today I'm just going to be productive and try to get a bunch of stuff done that I've been putting off. Hopefully a run and/or trip to the gym is in store once I finish this too!

So, my last post was pretty short because it was pretty late, but I just wanted to share some pictures and stuff from when my mom was here! She had been looking forward to come here for quite some time and even before we moved here, started following a bunch of Australian tourism sites on Instagram. She really wanted to see wildlife and focus on outdoors stuff, like going to the beach. Easy! We actually spent the majority of her trip outside of staying in our apartment - we live quite close to the city and it can be noisy and crowded. Probably a culture shock for anyone coming from Ohio! We went to the Mornington Peninsula, specifically Rosebud and Rye, and also went to Phillip Island for a couple days. Phillip Island is really famous for it's fairy penguin population, and you can sit on the beach on any given evening to watch the penguins pop out of the ocean and head back to their land-based homes for the night. It's pretty cute! We got some pretty excellent beach days in too.

On board the Arthur's Seat Eagle cable car

Arthur's Seat, Victoria

On the Beach in Rosebud!

We really had such a great time on this trip. When we got back to the city, we spent a lot of time at my pool just catching up, and I also took her to Fairfield where we used to live for the day. We got lunch at a Vietnamese place I really like, then went kayaking. Vietnamese food isn't really a thing anywhere I used to live in the states, but it has become one of my favorite types of food to eat - my mom usually doesn't try new things but eventually caved to my request, haha. What a good sport! I think my mom's favorite part of the day was finding a rope swing on the side of the Yarra River. We both swung into the river a few times - I did so pretty reluctantly knowing how many snakes are around the area! Turns out the river has quite a few poisonous tiger snakes in it - one of which ended up in the CBD right after my mom went home! Terrifying.

Lunch in Fairfield

Kayaking on the Yarra

Probably like 20 snakes are hidden in this photo :(

I think in general it seemed like my mom really loved it here. It was nice to hear her tell me she can see exactly why we moved here and why we would love living here so much. She also got to feed a couple kangaroos, which has apparently been on her bucket list for quite some time.

When she left, I was honestly pretty bummed for a while - it is weird being away from home so long (it's been about 4 and a half years since I left Ohio) and then seeing family. I honestly think I will get better quality visits in with family since they will obviously come for longer visits since it's such a long flight. We only saw people for 2-3 days at a time in Charlotte maybe once or twice a year. With that being said, it's also hard to know when the next time we will see anyone since it's such a large commitment to come here, both financially and time wise.

It's sort of a struggle I have had on and off since I left; you feel pretty guilty at times for being so far away from people you care about. However if I would have stayed in Ohio, I don't think I would be successful or happy, so it's just something to deal with, I guess. I have other friends here and all over the place that have moved from pretty far away and I think it's a common theme. There is a quote that comes to mind from a book I really like, Tiny Beautiful Things, "I'll never know and neither will you of the life you don't choose. We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was beautiful and important and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore."

Living here is very fulfilling in a lot of ways - but it still gets lonely!

Regis' favorite old/new hobby

South Melbourne Market, one of my favorite places

Anyway, for other updates, we are working on eventually finding a different apartment - ours is over a pretty main road, plus it's a bit expensive. We've both been researching more seriously and have found we can get a nicer place for less money - so the next place we live will hopefully be somewhere we can stay for a while. We ended up where we are because we were in a hurry, so now that we have time, it'll be a lot easier.

Regis is leaving tomorrow morning for some mining town in WA - his trip was supposed to be six days and now it's about two weeks total. Neither one of us are happy about that, hopefully Regis gets another job at some point that he's happy with. I've been doing a lot of training at mine, which has been good. We really haven't been up to much else - Easter is coming up, so I think after that is out of the way we are going to do some kind of health kick! Hopefully the next entry on here is some kind of update from Regis or maybe a fun recipe from me.

See ya later!

-L

A Couple Updates and How to Make Hot Sauce!

Hey guys!

So we have actually been pretty busy lately, and I owe this page an actual update, which I will do when I have more time and a few better photos! Honestly, we haven't been up to too much that's out of the ordinary lately.

A couple cool things do come to mind though!!

- I have been driving a lot and I'm actually used to it now!

- My mom was here a couple weeks ago to visit

- We are currently looking for a new apartment

I'll obviously go through those details in the next post, but I wanted this page to start featuring some recipes I like making since I'm pretty into cooking and making my own sauces/dressings/etc. Plus, let's be real.. hearing about us all the time is boring - let's mix it up!

I'll throw it out there - I REALLLLLY, REALLY miss the variety of hot sauces we have in the States. Not that there isn't variety here, it's just a different assortment of stuff you can buy. I really just miss going to Trader Joe's and trying basically anything on the shelf for about $2. Here a lot of the hot sauces are imported and they are pretty expensive - there are lots of duds too!

So I started making my own a few months ago just to see how I'd do - turns out it's pretty simple and they have all turned out great!!

The recipe I am sharing is a variation on a copycat Frank's Red Hot sauce recipe I found in a quick google search - I'm not linking it because I've changed so much! You can basically suit it to your needs, but since Regis and I are obsessed with pretty spicy sauces, I threw some habaneros in. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make a batch!

Red Jalapeño and Habanero Hot Sauce

You'll need:

About 25ish red jalapeño peppers (for extra heat, set them in the sun for a few days!)
2-3 habanero peppers
2 cups of white vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Directions

Place all of the peppers, vinegar and garlic in a small pot. If the peppers are not almost covered by vinegar, add more. Simmer this mixture for about 20 minutes - about 5 minutes in, stir in the salt. Don't let it boil too much as this will overcook the peppers.

Mmmmm.. spicy!

Take the mixture off the heat for a few minutes, then blend this in batches. I made the mistake of putting too much in last time I made this sauce and made a huge mess, so be extra careful when blending!

Pre-Blended

Make sure the mixture is as smooth as possible before adding back to the pan. Continue to simmer on low heat for a further 15-20 minutes. Use this opportunity to add a half cup of water or more depending on your heat tolerance - this will take down the spiciness a bit and will also make straining the sauce easier later on. Taste as you go and add more salt if needed.

Straining into a bowl

Once this is done, pulse mixture in batches in the blender one last time. Strain the mixture into a large measuring cup or bowl, then transfer to a sealable bottle (These ones from Ikea are my favorite!).

Final Product!

This will last a couple of months in the fridge - not that it's ever stayed in there that long in our house! :)

You can also use the leftover chilis from straining as a condiment - I've found it's great to throw these into Asian food. Stir fries, pho and banh mis are great with some fresh pickled chili!

Pickled chili on a tofu banh mi (Regis HATES when I take fancy  pictures of food I make!)

Anyways, hope to give you some more updates soon. I'll leave you with a phrase I've recently adopted from basically every person ever here - Cheers!

-L

Here's to 2018.

Well, I would have had no idea that my last post would be the last one of 2017, AND the last post before we hit our one year of living here! What a crazy year. 

We have had all kinds of highs and lows, we (by we, it's Regis) have a car now, we have a nice apartment in an awesome area of the city, we have made some great friends, we've had several visitors, have gone on some cool road trips, have brewed some great beers, and all kinds of other stuff I'm more than likely leaving out. Oh, and I turned 29 last week, which terrifies me haha. People here act much younger than people back home, so we fit right in!

Sunday Fundays with the neighbors

Kat, Colleen and me en route to the Yarra Valley wine region!

It's crazy to think a year ago, we were living in someone's spare bedroom in their apartment with literally four bags of stuff, two bikes, and no job prospects whatsoever (to be fair, I had one interview lined up before we got here). It's utterly insane how much we've accomplished and I am really proud of both of us. This move has taken more out of me than I ever could imagine, but at the same time it was completely worth it because both of us are so much more fulfilled here. I mean.. today for example we went paddle boarding at the beach after work. What a great way to end the day!

From today's session

First time on the new board!

I think for the most part we are fully adjusted, although I'd still go for cheaper beers and not having an hour commute to work. Sometimes when I gripe about silly things like not being able to eat turkey bacon or that I miss the crap out of Trader Joes, I have to stop myself because living here is basically a dream I have always had and we finally made it. Seriously though, if anyone wants to send me some hot sauce from Trader Joes, I'll pay you :)

News-wise, we have just been enjoying this gorgeous Aussie summer! Having the holiday season during the summertime just makes so much more sense - you get nice days off work! If I never see a white Christmas again, I'm 1000% cool with it. 

This year, we did Christmas Eve dinner on the barbie!

Regis got me a standup paddle board for my birthday, so we have been spending a considerable amount of time getting better at it. That's about all I've got for now, so until next time!

Disclaimer: I mentioned last post that Regis would be the author for the next one, so it's his fault this thing hasn't been updated for so long! He hates writing, so I guess expect 2-3 posts a year from him!

Me: "Hey Regis, are you going to update the blog??" Him: "NOPE"

-L