It’s been way too long since I posted and so much has happened since I got my visa.

Thanksgiving is a U.S. and Canada holiday, so Jeff and I are starting our own Thanksgiving in Australia. Christmas was so different this year. I have never been in warm weather for Christmas, and it’s also the first time I wasn’t with my parents and siblings, in 35 years! It was hard to be away from them but we did have a wonderful time here. I got to meet the rest of Jeff’s extended family and had a lot of fun playing with his many small cousins.                                                             They are all so cute and of course their little accents are adorable! Getting together with both of his parents’ sides was so nice and reminded me of our CT and NY family gatherings.

I was happy to have turkey for Christmas dinner and lots of ham as well. We had so many sweets and goodies that it’s amazing I haven’t gained a ton! Somehow, even though I feel like I’m eating a lot, I have maintained my pre-move weight. I guess all the steak is keeping my metabolism going.

One of my favorite gifts I got was a hat that will keep the flies away. I’ve been driven nearly nuts when I’ve gone walking because the flies do not leave me alone. (Let’s not even talk about the mozzies!) So Helen got a straw hat and with fishing line attached corks that bob up and down and keep those flies away-yay! Picture to come.

Jeff is busy working at the grain silos and keeping his farm going. For Christmas he gave me a trip to the coast which was WONDERFUL – and the only time he stopped working. My family sent among other things a lot of chocolate. We (mostly me) managed to polish off a bag of Hershey’s Minatures in one day on that trip.

I am continuing to work at home, doing marketing and social media freelancing. It has been so nice to completely make my own schedule and the time change hasn’t even been disruptive. I’ve also helped a bit on the farm by driving old trucks and tractors so Jeff and his Dad could load hay. The first couple times were interesting but I’ve really gotten the hang of things and am getting comfortable with those strange gears!

We are continuing to do small things to our house, to make it ours. It is really great that Jeff already had so many great home furnishings. We have lots of room and can’t wait for some visitors! Come see what an Aussie summer is like; get out of that cold and snow.

Yep, that’s right-6 months later, tons of back and forth, reams of tape, lots of dollars and heaps of prayers later, I GOT MY VISA! It was with very little and by very little I mean not any at all fanfare, that I entered Australia Saturday morning as a resident instead of a visitor. That’s one dang good post for the month!

I’m going to turn 35 in about 10 hours. I don’t know how this happened. I just was looking at a picture the other day of my 10th birthday when I got a care bear watch. Isn’t 35 old? When I turned 30 I freaked out, now 30 is looking young. Maybe I’ll just pretend I’m turning 29!

I can hardly believe that 25 years ago my baby (sister) was born. I remember being picked up from school and my friend’s Mom who we carpooled with had a sign on their burgundy/wooden paneled station wagon that said: It’s a Girl in pink. I was so excited to go to the hospital and meet my new sister and see my Mom. It took my parents three days to name Rachel, they were torn between Rachel and Rebecca.

I was 10 years old when Rachel was born and from the moment she came home I adored her. Although we’re adults now and through the years our relationship has changed and grown, Rachel has always been and will always be my baby.

Whoever thinks that getting married is the easiest way to get a visa, even a MARRIAGE visa, well, think again. I mentioned before that they’ve asked for everything and more so we’re waiting. My visitor visa was about to expire so we’ve come back to the other side of the pond. It took about 30 hours to get here, we had two Fridays and somehow sleep-wise my body stills feel like we’re down under but here we are in the August summer of the Midwest.

I’m really looking forward to catching up with my family and friends. Before we schedule too much though, this is aftermath-of-two-floods-in-the-basement week. Yep, a finished basement doesn’t do well in three inches of water. My sisters have been A-MAY-ZING with it and they made sure to leave some things for their big sis.

For now, I have some Scrabbling to get to.

Yep, no joke. Tonight is the season premiere of The Farmer Wants a Wife. In its seventh season this show features six farmers who each have six “city girls” vying for their attention.

I liken it to something like The Bachelor but for some reason, probably since it’s farmers and all, it seems more legit. Let’s see how the season goes…

All of you who made fun of my dinosaur phone will be glad to know that I’m writing this from my new phone. I’m sitting in the waiting room at a radiology center for what I hope is one of the last pieces needed for my visa. Today is chest x-rays, last week was a medical check and the week before I was at a teeny police station for fingerprints which were expedited to the FBI. This is all part of the second round of requests, which also included letters from employers (thank you for those!).

The first set of paperwork that was sent was about 2 inches thick. I reckon there’s not much else they could ask for…maybe my shoe size?

Everyone knows that I’m not an “animal” person, I’m a “people” person. One week after we arrived Jeff told me that a baby calf had shown up amongst his Dad’s heifers. None of them were calving at the time so they figured it wandered over from the neighbor’s. Jeff asked if I wanted to come with him to get it and bring it home because they needed to feed it because it wasn’t near its mother. I went along and we drove around in the ute (work truck) looking for it. It was only little and he said it could be laying (Mom, is that right or is it lying?) in the grass and if so would be hard to spot. We looked and looked and couldn’t find it. It was nearly sunset and Jeff told me that if we didn’t find it it would likely die overnight. My heart went out to that little creature and I was absolutely determined to find it. I would feed it from a bottle too, maybe stay with it in the shed (what was I thinking, I didn’t want to get scratched up by itchy hay!) and make sure that it lived.We decided to get out and walk around in a couple of different places. Jeff gently but firmly warned me that it might already be dead. Nothing, back in the ute and walk around again. We went it different directions and I heard Jeff say he found it. He picked her up, carried her into the back of the ute and held her while I drove us back to bring her to the shed and feed her. Here are a couple pictures from those very first days eight weeks ago.

Emily, just a few days old

Feeding Emily

Here is a pic of her yesterday.

Emily August 2011

She is a survivor!

I thought it would be fun to post the wedding video trailer and more sneak peek wedding pics and even more from our awesome photographers and videographer. Surely some of you haven’t seen these yet! I can’t wait to see the whole video and all the pics…ah wedding bliss!

So Maria von Trapp said to start at the very beginning so that I’ll do, but for now it will be with the shortish version. I’m currently in Australia with the love of my life, on his family farm. We met on March 1, 2009 the day after I arrived in Australia for Rotary International‘s Group Study Exchange, (a young professional exchange between international Rotary districts). I was there for a month, then he came to the U.S. and Canada for almost two months and after one billion texts, facebook chats and calls we decided to date looooooong distance. (I know I’m leaving out a lot here but remember, this is the shortish one.)

We got married on May 28 of this year at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. It was by far the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to! Here are some sneak peek photos…and some more.

I’m here in Oz right now on a visitor visa until our marriage visa is approved. (That fun-filled process is another story for another time.) Once the visa is approved I’ll be able to look for work here and become a temporary resident of sunny Queensland.

Because I’m on an extended vacation right now, I’ve gotten to do some things that I haven’t had time for in the recent past, as well as some things that you would never imagine me being a part of.

I’ll give updates as I can. So long from down under!

P.S. Happy Feasts of Saint Mary MacKillop (first Australian saint) and St. Dominic. St. Mary of the Cross and St. Dominic, pray for us!