Day Ten: Saturday

I got to sleep in! Harper has been killing us with her non-sleeping schedule she has taken up this week.

Went for a lovely walk to our "new" home and discovered Jer's path to work that he will take when we move into the Howard house.

Did find an amazing place in "The Spot" called The Spanish Fly. Their tapas are great and the sangria even better :)

Stayed home, drank wine and played Wii all night long....

Day Nine: Friday

Shopping Day!!!

Tommy Dean picked little Miss Harper and I up and took us to the Westfield Shopping Centre to do a bit of heavy shopping. The shopping centre (mall) was very similar to that of a US mall, but it had grocery stores, butchers, bakers and all of the clothing stores were of brands I have never heard of.

Tommy helped me pick out my Mother's Day gift, a Wii, and get all of the items that go with it. We fell in-love with the Wii at Johnell and Russ's house so of course we HAD to get one for here.

Played Wii all evening and took care of our child who will not sleep for more than 2-hour spans anymore!

Day Eight: Thursday

What a lovely day! Harper and I stayed home and cleaned the rental (again) and then we got all dressed up to meet Jeremy at UNSW for an awards reception. We got lost trying to navigate to his office. We spent most of the journey trying to navigate the very steep campus while I was in heels and Harper was in her pram (stroller). Too many stairs to have a gone the way we did!

The awards reception was beautiful and it was wonderful to meet Jeremy's co-workers and overlook the city at the venue. Harper was the hit of the party and was a perfect angel in her cute little outfit. She loved the balloons! I didn't realize that the man I spent the majority of the time speaking to was the 2nd in charge of the entire Uni (university). Jeremy thought it best not to interject our conversation to let me know who he was.

Day Seven: Wednesday

Not much to report as of yet, still acclimating to Oz and the differences that are involved with living on the other side of the planet and in a new country.

Jeremy went off to work and Harp and I stayed at home during the day. I looked online and discovered that I was in fact looking at the Southern Cross last night. It is so much smaller than I thought it was going to be.

Side note on Harp: she is now doing a "version" of waving to say hello and goodbye. It looks like a limp-wrist wave a queen would do :)

Day Six: Tuesday

Jeremy went to work early and Harper and I played at home before her nap this morning. We are meeting Jeremy at 11:45am on campus to set up our bank account. We find it so odd that moving money from the States to AU is so difficult and is ridden with fees and how long it can take. So annoying!

After returning home Harper didn't want to take an afternoon nap, but we did get to talk to Mum on the phone. So nice to hear her voice.

When Jeremy got home from work we went to Coles to shop for food and on the way stopped by a flower stand. They have flowers here I have never heard of or seen before. Just amazing.

We hung out at home, had bread, lox and cheese for dinner, and I ironed Jeremy's clothes for work. It's nice that things seem to be normalizing just a bit.

Day Five: Monday

Jeremy's first day of work

Jeremy had his very first day at UNSW today. He left at 8am to be at work by 9am, we live across the street from campus, literally. Needless to say he was very excited. When he got to work he met with Prem and got his new laptop and he was able to open our bank account during his lunch hour.

Giant Ibis birds in our backyard

Harper and I went to turn in the application for the Howard house at 9am, we were told we should hear back this afternoon. After turning in the application Harp and I went window shopping. The streets were not as busy as the other day so I wasn't as nervous walking around. I can't believe this is winter here, it is so hot! We packed all wrong.

At around noon we got the call that we did get the Howard house, I hope the inside is nice.

Momma and Harper lovin on each-other

Jeremy came home just after 5pm and said he had a wonderful first day of work. His office has a huge window. I think jet-lag is getting to me as I went to bed at 8pm. Jeremy talked to Tommy on the phone and my sweet baby slept through the night!

Big U.S.A. stories being aired in A.U.:

-BP oil spill: all blame being put on BP as they claimed it. No one is blaming the President or the government like they are in the U.S.A.

-attempted Times Square bombing

Day Four: Sunday

We finally found an internet cafe, the Night Owl, and hit up the internet and sent out a few emails and found Facebook. It was so nice to reconnect for just a few minutes. $3.00 an hour for internet for those who are interested.

We packed up the family and taxied down to Coogee Beach for lunch. Taxi from 34 High Street was about $8.50. We drug Harper's pram across the beach, a labor of love for sure, and picked a beautiful spot on the beach. It took Jeremy just a few seconds to jump into the ocean and Harper just a few minutes to realize that she could "eat" the sand. We like to think that she thought it was a large cookie that was crumbled up. Just next to us was life guard training, a fun experience for me as I am sure the topless beach-goers were for Jeremy. Jeremy said the quote of the day came from me when I said "this makes Tulum look like a crack house!" This place is so beautiful and we live here. We both agree that if you want to see us you are going to have to come visit. This day totally makes the spider attack worth it! We even saw an old fashion pirate ship sailing by.

Harper and her giant "cookie"

Coogee Beach

Morgan and Harper

After going home we headed out to the "Spot" for dinner having pre-dinner drinks and tapas at The Spanish Fly. Harper was so wonderful just lounging with her parents. People are very tolerant of children here and didn't bat an eye at her or her giant stroller. We then went next door for dinner where my wonderful daughter proceeded to break a dinner plate on the ground. Again, everyone was so wonderful, they didn't care that she broke the plate. Our waiter just said "kids will be kids." Jeremy had scallops that were served with their entrails and "feet" still on them. Just another thing to get used to I guess :)

Morgan and Harper enjoying the Spanish Fly, Mum a glass of wine and Harp a pair of sunglasses