Holly and Jolly

 

 

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

I know we did!

 

It's been filled with all the Christmas necessities: food//family//friends//laughs

 

We're feeling a bit tired & fat today, but it was all worth it!

 

I'll share some photos once I've had a chance to do some uploading.

For now, I'll leave you with a gratuitous bragging Christmas beach shot... sorry Minnesotans!

 

 

xoxo

Meaghan

 

 



Siete

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love and I hitched a reindeer ride to Perth.

 

 

We shall be flying to Perth this evening to commence our Christmas holiday. Christmas Eve will be with Paul's family for lunch, and the beach. I can't wait to hit the beach with the nephews again. Last year Christian was karate kicking the waves. We'll be staying with the Dempsey 's just like last year. Except, this year Charlotte is walking and talking! I think opening presents Christmas morning  may be a lot more entertaining with a toddler!

 

 

I'm just about finished packing. I seriously stress myself out about packing every time. It doesn't make any sense, we fly like every two weeks! However, I think the hardest part of packing for me is the airport outfit. I am a no nonsense gal in the comfort realm, but I don't like to look too homeless. So I over think it, and often end up having to pull something out of the bottom of my already packed bag. Alas, if that's the biggest issue of mine I think I'm being ridiculous for complaining.

 

For now I'll continue crocheting, and day dream about the mimosa in my future.

 

 

 

 

4/5/6

On the fourth day of Christmas Mother Nature gave us sun!

Monday we had not only sun, but warmth! Melbourne's Mother Nature has not been very good to us this spring/summer. If the sun is out the wind is very cold. If it's cloudy the temperature is muggy. Or my personal least favorite if it's cloudy there's rain as well. Monday was a very welcome change. Paul and I got out for a nice long bike ride. After our bike ride we sat outside and took in some sun, wine, and quality time.

In the evening we watched Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

This is one of my favorite's from childhood.

Paul not so much, he claims it didn't make it to Oz when he was a kid...The jury's still out on that one. A lot of the time he tell's me certain things don't exist in Oz; I often later find out said things just don't exist in his world.

On the fifth day of Christmas we had more sun, and ice cream!

Tuesday we got out for a long jog + workout. We haven't been jogging as far as we usually would this month. Paul hurt his ankle a few weeks ago. Then we went to Perth, so I used the gym for cardio & he avoided jogging. We're finally back to our regular jogging route, and it's feeling good. After dinner we got out for an evening walk. I've found that I sleep the best when we get out for a walk after dinner, last night proved that theory true.

We watched a Jamie Oliver Christmas special.
He's just too cute for his own good that Jamie Oliver.
I'm not sure if any of his shows air in the states. I know they didn't when I was still living there. But for my American friends, Mr. O is a brilliant English chef. He has several television shows with quick, healthy, and delicious recipes. I highly recommend checking him out/buying one of his several cook books.
Shameless plug over.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love and I went to a home showing.

We hopefully found a rental that suites our needs. We'll apply for it, and see where that goes. While Paul was slaving away at work I was busy crocheting. I've got some more last minute presents to finish up. We also did some more packing, and I wrapped presents. Christmas is just around the river bend, dontcha know!

No Christmas themed movie/show tonight.
 Shrek was on television, and it's just too good to skip.



Day 3

On the third day of Christmas my true love bought me a secret present.

 

We went down to a local craft market in the park this morning. I'm not sure what Mr. F found, but I had to keep myself busy for about five minutes while he bought it. I found a cute little bib for a girlfriend who just gave birth to a baby girl! Now I have to get a sweet little package together. We also just found out another couple are expecting their first child as well. I'm so excited I could poop!

 

After the craft fair we grabbed a bite, and took an extra long bike ride.

A couple photos of the fine art we saw on our ride. 

We're forced by Australian law to wear helmets whilst biking in Oz.

So here's a dorky helmet photo for your viewing pleasure.

We took a bike ride past a rental to time the distance from where we live now. We're scoping out rentals in the area, so we can put our place on the market, and hopefully find a bigger place in our price range/location. There is plenty out there, but the cost of living here is quite high, so we have to be open minded. I'm getting there, the first time we went house hunting my expectations were a bit too high. After doing a bit of searching I've become more reasonable about our options. I'm used to homes in MN with a huge front/backyard, basement, and garage. That is not always an option here. At least in the area we're looking. But there are plenty of homes out here that will suit our needs for the time being. So, after Christmas we'll continue our search.

 

Dad is coming for a visit in April, he'll be our first of hopefully many visitors out here. We're ecstatic! Come April we'll be going to California for a multi-purpose visit. We'll be able to catch up with our dear friends Katie and Evan whom live in Cali, and another great friend, Justine is flying out to meet us there. Dad will also be meeting us in Cali to fly back to Oz with us. That's one of the motivating forces behind us finding a bigger place sooner vs later. Paul and I both suffer from procrastination, so house hunting hasn't been the number one priority this last year. Well, that and the fact that I only just received my residency here. 2014 is already looking to be a busy year for us. We likely won't be returning to Minnesota until Thanksgiving next year. Unfortunately, flights are far from cheap, and we've got a lot of other traveling to do on the Southern hemisphere. With that said visitors are always welcome to make the treck to us! Hint, hint!

Tonight might be a Christmas movie free evening... not by my choice.

 

Day 2

On the second day of Christmas my true love and I went shopping!

We managed to tick all the boxes on our 'to do' list today.

We even got out for a walk in the morning, and bike ride this arvo!

I may have been a bit selfish today, and picked out a couple presents for myself.

Here's a couple snaps of the Christmas decor at the mall.

Tonight we'll be wrapping some more presents, and watching another Christmas movie. I'm thinking Elf will be the winner... even though we've already watched it twice this season. I don't care, it's my favey.

Today I'm feeling very grateful for the friends/family back home that I still talk to relatively regularly. It honestly makes living so far away much more bearable. The distance can be difficult to handle at times, but texting and emailing makes a world of difference. This past week for me was an indicator of how much I lean on my girls. While Paul was away I found myself texting a lot more. Certainly time makes things easier to handle, but no matter how far away I  am I think I'll always need that connection to home. I guess I'm just saying how much appreciate those that take the time to text/email/mail and the like. You've got no idea just how much I love it.

Now it's time to finish this rambling, and pop in a movie!
(That is after I'm done being forced to watch Cricket)

Day 1

The twelve days of Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my true love returned to me (from a work trip).

He had another work trip this past week. This was the longest he's been away for work with out me joining. I must admit I slept pretty well, which I didn't expect. But I did stay up past midnight every night. I didn't know what to do with myself in the evening. I don't know how to do dinner time with out my plus one. I also did some more Christmas shopping. Still not finished, argh! I've been shopping since July! Somehow, I never start early enough. I've got a list going on the fridge of all the running around we need to do this weekend. I wish postage didn't cost so much, I'd love to be able to send gifts to everyone in Minnesota. Unfortunately, postage for our Christmas cards alone was over $70, and I actually had to keep our list limited. Alas, that's the trials of living overseas. I heard a dude in line at the post office trying to coax the lady working into agreeing to post a card for less. He was sending cards to Ireland. I totes understand his frustrations with the cost, but I would never make the workers feel bad for something that they have absolutely no control over. 

Anyways! 

It's time to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, and enjoy some quality time with mah dude. I might even have some dank chockie ice cream.

Seacreast Out.

 

Santa!

It's official!

 

12 days until Christmas!

 

What's on your wish list?

 

 

xoxo,

Meaghan



Christmas Challenge(s)!

I've decided to make the month of December even more interesting for myself.

 

I'm hopping on the #iheartfaces Christmas themed photo a day challenge via instagram.

 

 You can find me on insta: @meg_egg-bacon

 

Day 1: Me/selfie.

    Here's a car selfie from a while back.

 

Day 2: Elf.

This is one of my favourite scenes from Elf.

The delight on his face when he takes his first bite kills me every time.

 

 

I'm also going to attempt to blog once a day.

I realize these challenges are a bit silly, but it is what it is, and I've been struggling to find subjects to blog about. Christmas is ever so quickly creeping right up. It doesn't matter how early I begin preparing (August), it's never enough time. Christmas is my absolute favourite, so why not use that as an excuse to blog more?!