Helllllloooooooooooo

I guess it's about time to get this started again! This post is really the result of Leah giving me a hard time last night about not updating my blog...so here you go!!

I had the loveliest time at home over the holidays -- got to see my kitty (see below), some of my best friends, meet the rest of Jeremy's family, see lots of my family, and do close to nothing for two whole months!! It was fabulous.


It even snowed 1/4 of an inch a few days before I left!

On Saturday the 31st of January I headed to Charlottesville airport at 6AM to try getting on a flight to Atlanta that was full. Luckily, I made it on and arrived in Atlanta with just enough time (literally seconds!) to make it onto an earlier flight to Los Angeles, where I landed around 10:30 that morning. Hadley, one of my best friends and former roommate from Hollins, picked me up at the airport and spent the afternoon with me. I was listed on a flight out of LA that evening, but unfortunately (or fortunately!) I didn't make it on and got to spend the night with Hadley in her cute little apartment in Los Feliz. She was kind enough to wake up at 6AM and take me back to LAX, where I managed to squeeze onto the morning flight to Honolulu. I sat next to a really nice girl who told me this crazy story about how an ex-boyfriend of her's who now works for the Hawaiian Coast Guard had looked her up after a few years and invited her to visit him in Hawaii. She took him up on the offer a couple weeks ago...was there for two days...and decided that she loved the guy and Hawaii! She came home, quit her job, and was moving to Honolulu. Crazy! Hopefully it all works out for her :o)

When I arrived at the airport I decided to rent a car and had a few hours that afternoon to explore the island. My flight to Australia departed the following morning, so I made it an early night after the sun went down. Here are a few pictures of the scenery, it was a really beautiful afternoon:

Hanauma Bay

I'll definitely make sure I travel back to Hawaii again -- although next time I'll make sure I get a seat on first class!

So, I left early Saturday morning and finally arrived in Brisbane on...TUESDAY night! It's such a long journey, but splitting it up lessens the jet-lag I think. My wonderful friend (and savior) Leah offered me her room in her posh apartment while I searched for housing, and it has been amazing to have a nice place to stay. (I can't even tell you how thankful I am!!)

As luck would have it, I found the perfect place online the next morning, and the room was still available!! Everything has fallen into place this time around, and I'll be moving in this weekend. My new roommate is an Australian guy named Scott, who is awfully nice and has the cutest apartment. It's much closer to my campus (20 minute bus ride versus an hour) and is situated right in the middle of shops, the chemist, post, grocery store, fresh produce market, cafes, etc etc. The neighborhood is called Ashgrove and it's much more residential than where I used to live. I'm contemplating purchasing a bike so that I can ride to and from school, which would be great! Here are a few pictures of the living area downstairs -- I'll post more of my room and the view when I get settled:

So, my new address will be:
22/5 Ashgrove Ave
Ashgrove, QLD 4060
Australia

I met with my advisor this afternoon about my dissertation work, and it sounds like things are really going to pick up in the next two weeks or so. I'll post more on that when I have some idea of how things are going...but I'm excited to get started on it! My next big thing that I'm looking forward to is my cousin Carrie's arrival in OZ in less than a month. We will be having some crazy adventures, and I'm so excited for her!!!! Meanwhile, I miss all of you and secretly can't wait to get back to the US :o)