February 2009

February 8th – 14th


We attended church again in Subiaco and went out for lunch with Lisa and Tom. The pastor at Subiaco church gave us Lisa’s name before we even moved here. I had been emailing her for a couple of months. She is the one who warned me to bring a year supply of tampons (sorry to any males reading this) and she was right!!! Whew! Every American that comes here knows Lisa!...she IS the welcoming committee. She reminds me of my friend Lisa from Prosper. When we moved in Lisa brought us chocolate chip cookies and welcomed us to Prosper! That afternoon I went to the market. What an experience that was. I truly felt like I was on an episode of the amazing race again…there must have been thousands of people in the market pushing and shoving to get their fruits and vegetables. I guess I go through this pain because it is half the price of what you find in the supermarkets. It is completely NUTS! Let’s just say this will ALWAYS fall under “my responsibility” because there is NO WAY Clint would go near a place like that…unless we actually WERE on the AMAZING RACE! This week we definitely had more of a routine. I already have my favorite classes and instructors at the gym. I am sooo sore I can hardly walk up the stairs and we have three flights of stairs in our house. After school on Tuesday we went to Kings Park. It is just so beautiful. The kids enjoyed rolling down the steep hill and seeing the kookaburra (an Australian bird). Carlotta and her mom, Sylvia, met us. Carlotta is Mackenzie’s friend from Italy. Wednesday was probably the saddest day yet for me as I took the boys to school. They have missed their “old” school so much and really wanted to go to school. They are going to West Leederville Primary School. For whatever reason it just hurt my heart to leave them there and I guess for the first time since being here that I was ALONE! The sweet ladies at the office were giving me tissues…I really just lost it! BUT, they absolutely LOVED IT! I am amazed by my children being able to walk into the situation of not knowing a single person and being okay with it. I personally don’t enjoy those type of situations one bit!! Reid actually started Pre-Primary, which is Kindergarten here. Typically I get an entire summer to prepare my heart for this…we go on a trip…we take pictures…we go to “meet the teacher night”, I go to the boo boo breakfast but today it was a simple “bye mom”. I have to admit that I’m not completely on board. I get the option to only send him 3 days a week if I choose to and for now, that is what we are going to do. So it will be just like “home”…3 days for Reid and 2 days for Luke. After leaving the boys I went to Claremont Baptist Church for Bible study and then hurried back to get the kids since it was a half day. This was due to the heat for the girls and a “transition” period for the boys. After that we went to the Museum of Western Australia, which was a lot of fun. On Thursday after school Karis took us to this area called “Innaloo”. This area had a Kmart and Target, not the same but nice and an indoor mall. The shopping areas are very strange. From the road it looks like a big warehouse and the main store sign is on the outside. But when you go inside there are a ton of stores. We found cookie man and we were hoping that we would get a taste similar to the “Great American Cookie Company” BUT when you take out the American you must take out all that makes a cookie good because it was NOT the same. We had cookies another time and Reid spit it out and said it tasted like grass…and he was right…it definitely did!!! Friday night we were blessed to be able to go on a date. My friend Karis and her husband, Tyson, offered to babysit for us so we could have a date to celebrate Valentine’s Day and a late birthday celebration for Clint. We went to this very romantic restaurant called “Indiana”. The view was breathtaking and the food was good (yea!). Afterwards we went and laid on the beach and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the quietness of the night. The kids were back home enjoying pizza and making ice-cream sundaes and playing the WII. Everyone was happy! Saturday we went to Hillary’s for breakfast and then to the Caversham wildlife park. It was so amazing being able to pet kangaroos and koala bears. Another trip to the grocery store concluded the day. Right now Clint is picking us up a Valentine’s dinner to bring home from “Wagamama”…should be interesting. When I think about all that we have done it seems like we have been here a lot longer than 2weeks!

February 2nd - 7th

The girls started school on Monday at the International School of Western Australia. Upon arriving I found out it was a half day due to “extreme weather conditions”. It was going to be close to 100 degrees, no big deal I thought, but I found out the school does not have A/C! They looked so cute in their “slouch hats” and I am so proud of them for doing so well with this transition. I went to the grocery store a few times this week. I’ve discovered that things don’t last very long so it is good to buy just a little at a time. I tried to cook for the first time this week and the first night I tried, it took me over an hour to figure out how to turn on the oven. BUT, I was finally able to serve my family tacos, making them very happy. It was the most they had eaten since being here. Even tacos taste a bit different. They call ground beef, beef mince here. Its beef mince, turkey mince, chicken mince, etc. I found a gym and started working out immediately. It has kept my spirits up and has given me somewhat of a routine. The boys have been troopers going with me. Clint bought me a “TOM TOM” so it is really easy for me to get around. We haven’t named “him” yet but “he” is Australian. Thursday night we ate “fish and chips” by the beach. “Chips” are actually French fries here and they serve them with EVERYTHING! Back home we had gotten to the point where our kids preferred the fruit cup at Chick-fil-A but it is so hard to say no to the fries when it is one of the few things that is familiar and tastes the same…except for the ketchup…its tomato sauce here! On Friday, life changed dramatically for me…I found a friend!!!! I was at the gym and decided to try out “BODY PUMP”. A girl saw my Aggie ring and started up a conversation. Within minutes we uncovered that she was roommates with Amanda Conger, who is Jen Blackmon’s sister! (Jen is a precious friend from Cypress.) We hit it off immediately and grabbed “coffee” afterwards. She is a beautiful Christian girl and doesn’t seem to be bothered that I am a bit…just a bit…older!!!! Karis is her name and Tyson is her husband. He is here for a year through a “swap” program with Mustang Engineering, based out of Houston. She will leave at the end of July and I am already a bit sad about it!!! They met us for brunch Saturday morning at “Sticky Beaks” in Kings Park, the most beautiful park I have ever seen. Later that day she took me to the grocery store and pointed out the good brands to buy. We attempted to go to the beach but it was so windy we left. Luke describes the feeling of sand blowing on his legs as “Ants are biting me”. We went to Hillary’s Harbor which is a great area for kids. It is the beach with “no waves”, according to Luke. It has an amusement park and water park right by the protected beach inside the marina. There is a boardwalk with shops, restaurants and tons of gelato! Australians like their icecream. This concludes week one of our adventure "down under".



February 1st

We went to a church in Subiaco today. A friend from Frisco emailed me about this church upon receiving our Christmas letter. It was nice…again, nothing like Prestonwood but there are probably few churches out there like Prestonwood. I met Lisa and Tom today. They were so sweet to Clint when he was here a few weeks ago and we started emailing each other before we even moved. The pastor at Subiaco church hooked us up with them. She is actually the VP of membership for the American Women of Perth organization that my friend Marybeth Rubinacci told me I HAD to get involved with. She has experienced life oversees and knows the ins and outs. Seems like God has been so gracious to line things out for me. After church we went to this Mexican food restaurant in Freemantle. It was not the experience I was hoping for. There was not enough space for us upstairs so they sent us downstairs. HOT is an understatement. While it does not feel very hot to me here, many places either don’t have AC or they don’t turn it up very high. Not sure what the deal is but we were soo hot. Luke’s head was soaking wet and we were just miserable. The food was okay but I can’t tell you how bad I was wishing for some real TEXMEX food. I know one of our first stops when we get to come home will be Lupe Tortillas! Its pretty sad that I am already dreaming of food I get to eat in about a year!!!! After eating we went to the market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Another experience!!! I feel like I am in the amazing race with everything we do. I asked about organic fruits and did not get a clear answer about the availability of them. I did, however, find them walking OUT of the market after purchasing all of our fruits and vegetables for the week. BUMMER! Stopped by the grocery store again and I picked up anything and everything that looked familiar. I got the EL Paso taco kits but could not find hamburger meat??!!! I think I will actually have to go to a butcher to get meat. Market for fruits and vegetables…a butcher for meat and a bakery for bread! What is happening to me?? We’re now home sitting outside watching the kids swim. Tomorrow is the day to really start living…not on vacation anymore…school starts and time to get in a routine. Otherwise I may go nuts.

January 31st

Yesterday we went to look at the girl’s school and it is quite different from Legacy! It is much smaller than I imagined. Mackenzie and Kennedy will be in combined classes – 1st and 2nd and 3rd and 4th. They have lunch with all grades combined, including high school kids. Not sure how I feel about that. Their uniforms are cute though and they look precious in their slouch hats. After that we went shopping at Karrinyup where the Big W is…somewhat like a Walmart. I also went to the grocery store and found that the most frustrating thing so far is the grocery carts. The wheels don’t turn so it is a constant fight to go forward as the cart tends to go sideways. UGH! I bought a couple of things but found the grocery store a bit overwhelming. It took me 5 minutes to pick out a loaf of bread. That night we went to City Beach and this was our first visit to a beach in Australia. The sand is soft like powder. There was a school picnic going on at City Beach but our kids were so excited about the beach that we did not do much mingling. We did not bring anything to the picnic so we did not eat there. Instead, we went to a burger place but it wasn’t quite the dining experience I was hoping for Clint’s birthday. Kennedy, Reid and Luke went to sleep at the table. We did pick up Baskin Robbins and that was even a funny experience too. We are use to picking up a quart of jamoca almond fudge but in Australia you have a choice of 3 different sizes and you can pick several different types of icecream and they just pack the different types on top of each other. So I guess this is a good thing cause Clint got to have his favorite – chocolate mousse royale and I got my favorite (JAF). The kids slept through the night…YEA!

Today we went to Hillary’s Harbor. Clint made me drive. I only hit one curb but Clint made me so nervous and decided that I would rather just learn on my own. I really liked Hillary’s Harbor. It was a beautiful area, quite crowded but still relaxing. The water was calm and Luke started warming up to the sand. The water is way too cold for me so I watched from the shore. We had Subway for dinner. All of us are struggling a bit with the food. We haven’t had a meal yet to write home about. We could all come home very skinny if we don’t figure something out. OH, and I used a clothesline for the first time in my life!!!!

January 30th, 2009

We made it (along with 22 pieces of luggage) and your prayers were with us! Everything went extremely smooth getting here! No issues whatsoever! I am so thankful for how well the kids did…what troopers!!!! Although Kennedy insisted she belonged in “first class”!!! We were welcomed into Perth by a precious Australian named Ben. I am sure that had it not been for him that we may have had the hardest time at this point. I am sure he was sent straight from God. Upon embarking from the plane he offered me a wheelchair to assist with our 9 “carry-on” bags. Then he appeared again outside of customs. He took us to the very front of the line past all the very anxious people that we allowed to get off the plane before we even attempted. We looked very important as this man pushed us through the entire process in about 20 minutes that typically takes up to 2 hours. Would you believe that they did not even make us go through the x-ray machines with all of our luggage? Yes, Ben was sent as a gift from GOD! Our ride was waiting for us with a trailer in tow…and we were off to our new home. I learned a few new phrases from our driver, one being “spin me out”, which means “freak me out”. I also found it so funny seeing all of the cars missing their “drivers”...looks so weird.

So we arrived at our new “home” and while it is much different I am sure that I will be able to make it home soon. Not sure how everything will fit when all of our stuff arrives at the end of April but we will make it work. Everything is “Barbie” size. The washing machine will only hold what each person wears every day. Needless to say I will be doing laundry A LOT more, which I did not think was possible.

Today is Clint’s birthday so we are going to head to the beach. We will also go by the school to let the girls see it since they start on Monday. There is a beach picnic tonight for the school so we may try to do that too.

As we were landing I was praying and told the Lord, “I’m yours…may I complete the tasks you have set before me here in Perth”. I will share with you what he reveals along the way. What a journey this will be!