I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Hello again, Friends! In that I am still unemployed, at the moment, and I have plenty of free time I felt it was a good time to start up this little blog again. 

Since, my last post a lot has happened. Most importantly, Mark & I got married on the 23^rd of July! A few pics are below. I still haven't received the pro pictures yet. Secondly, we have moved to and from Singleton and are currently living in the lovely costal suburb of Merewether. We live a tiny, one-bedroom apartment just a few blocks from the beach. It is small but I love it!

Now, that you’ve got the basics, this is the here-and-now goings on in our lives. Mark has found a job and I haven’t yet so I’m trying to keep busy and feel productive. I’m really feeling the creative bug so I am trying out some new ideas. Before the wedding, I was going to the gym, doing spin class, at least 4 times a week and walking other days. I am struggling to get active again after the long break. I have also gone back to the Paleo diet to start eating cleaner, healthier food. So, in upcoming posts you will hear all about our life in Merewether, my struggle with getting fit and eating right, Paleo recipes I’ve tried and liked and disliked and new ideas I’m trying out.

Paleo Diet:

I’ll go ahead and move forward to share a dish I tried last night: Paleo beef in mushroom gravy over mashed cauliflower. Number one, whoever said mashed cauliflower tastes just as good as mashed potatoes (even with sour cream and garlic), has never eaten mashed potatoes! Mashed cauliflower is disgusting!  It tastes yucky, it has a weird texture and smells like farts. Eww! Threw it in the bin and I’m never attempting to consume it again. I have tried cauliflower “rice” before and it is the same. Now that’s out of the way, the beef and mushroom gravy was pretty good. I will attached the recipe that I found on www.preppypaleo.com. I added some capsicum (red bell pepper) in when you add the shallots and I didn’t use coconut aminos because I don’t know what they are. Overall, I liked the dish, minus the cauliflower, and will probably make it again. Although it will probably be a while before I do as my tiny kitchen looked like a tornado came through it after I was done cooking. It took me three rounds of dish washing to get through it all.

Here’s the recipe:

Paleo Steak Tips in Mushroom Gravy

http://www.preppypaleo.com/2012/11/paleo-steak-tips-in-mushroom-gravy.html?m=1

Cleaning the Casa:

Today I was putting the clean sheets back on the bed. I had just cleaned the house, vacuumed and emptied the vacuum cleaner. On an infomercial the other day, they were vacuuming a mattress. I had never heard of that before but it made sense. So, while the sheets were off the bed I decided to try it. I thought, it wouldn’t really do anything since we have a mattress cover on our bed. What I saw when I went to empty the vacuum was disgusting! I was so surprised at how much dust and dander was in there! I will now vacuum my mattress regularly. Have you heard of this before? Do you vacuum your mattress? I think I might be behind on the times here!

Peace out,

May

Poems from Banjo T.

Wanted to share these amazing poems written by Mark's parents next-door neighbor. I will cherish these forever.

"The Meeting"
I met May in November
When Thanksgiving was the "the go"
She seemed to me a Lovely Lass
The kind I'd like to know!
Her hands were full of towels and stuff
'Cause she was leaving Gails
But Tom knew why "her hands were full"
She had Mark on the marriage trails
So, let's give thanks as Auzzies do
That the Chinna's found his prize
And wish this lass an extra hand
To go with her spiraling eyes!
Thank God for Thanksgiving!
-Banjo T. 2011

"Signs of a Marriage"
When the Stars and Stripes
Meet the Southern Cross flag
They'll be signs of a marriage
On the traveling man's bag
They'll be good times a plenty
When they join with a ring
'Cause the Star and Stripe girl
Make the Southern Man sing!
-Banjo T. 2011

Three-week Update

Everything is going good here! I got the Christmas tree up and we got 2 cars. Mark was very sweet to sell his race car so we could each have a car. We bought a '92 Toyota Landcruiser and a '96 Toyota Corolla. The day after we bought the Landcruiser, someone ran into it with a forklift while Mark was working. It is in the repair shop now, so it is not pictured below. I'll post a photo when we get it back. I haven't driven much yet, but I will this coming week so I can get used to it. It's not too bad! The rest of the photos are of our house. Sorry for the mess, we are still getting settled. I also made scones today, for the first time, and those are pictured as well. they don't look very pretty but they taste good! I am proud of myself as I am not a very good cook and I usually burn anything I bake.  :)

Mark gave up his dream car so we could get 2 cars.
Last pic of him with it here :(

Sunset out our back window.

The "new" '96 Toyota Corolla.

Front of the house.

Back yard and garage.

Back of the house.

Living room or "lounge room" as they say.

Our room.

2nd bedroom or office, at the moment.

Bathroom.

Kitchen.

Laundry room.

Back room.

Backyard.

Scones I made.

2 Weeks in Oz

Just arrived in Australia...having my first meat pie with "tomato sauce!"

View out the back of the house from our kitchen sink. Moo.

The backyard, garage/shed and the cows! The driveway has since been pressure washed by my lovely fiancé and looks so clean!

Mark putting away the dishes :)

Here are a few photos...there are more to come. I haven't had time to take and upload more than this. So far, since we've been here, we have simply been getting the house in order...buying the necessary things, cleaning and organizing. Mark mowed the lawn, pruned the trees, pressure-washed the long driveway and got the house looking so nice! We are now getting a routine going and getting in the swing of things...normal, everyday life. 

Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers! We have everything we need and more, thanks to frequent flier points and my future in-laws! Everyone has really taken great care of us! We are so grateful of all the loving support! Life is great in Oz!

Stay tuned for for more pics soon!

First day in Oz

We arrived today (Tuesday the 22nd) at 6:30am this morning, Aus time, after our
14 hour flight. The flight was pretty good, kinda bump at some points
but not scary. It was three seats on each side and three seats in the
middle. We had a three-seater middle isle to ourselves, so I was able
to lay down a little bit, but didn't sleep very well. We only got
about 5 hours or so in of sleep. We did watch a couple movies and they
fed us, so overall it was good.

Australia looks pretty similar to the US. It's green and there are
lots of trees, it's mountainy/hilly. We had a
two-hour drive back to Mark's parents house. The driving, or riding I
should say, on the left side of the road wasn't as weird-feeling as I
thought. Took me a little while to remember that his dad was driving
on the right side of the car. That was the weird part, to me. It got a
little scary riding on the smaller roads, but I think I will get used
to it pretty quick.

We picked up meat pies on the way to his parents house. They are
really tender beef with gray in a little pie, mine had mashed potato
on top! YUM! I also tried a bite of a bacon and cheese one and a curry
one. They were all good but I like the potato one the best. PS the
ketchup "tomato sauce" tasted pretty close to ours so there's one
worry I can do away with haha.

After lunch we went over to our house. I LOVE IT! It is so cute! It
has hard-wood floors, a very nice kitchen and a back room that has
lots of windows and get a lovely breeze. The weather was pretty nice
today, only about 65 F. Windy but nice. The house is in a residential
neighborhood in a nice town, and when you pull up to it, it's pretty
much below the road, down a hill. It's weird, though, because when you
go in, go in the kitchen and look out the back window you are high up
and there is a pretty view of a farm and field behind the house and
hills in the background. There are cows back there and you can
hear them mooing. There is lots of birds "chattering" outside and
combined with the cows mooing, the sound is so calming and nice. With
the bright windows, the good breeze and the sounds outside, the back
room is my favorite! I will do a video tour of the house and take lots
of pictures to show.


I think I'm gonna like it here! 

HALLOWEEN!

 Something Mark and I share, is a love for costumes! So, naturally, we had to have a different costume for each day Halloween was celebrated. Since Halloween was on a Monday, we dressed up on Friday, Saturday and Monday. The Shanty in Cardiff is big on Halloween, taking many photos and posting them on the walls all year long. We went all out on our costumes to ensure we made it on the wall! Great Halloween!

Friday - Frankenstein and his bride

Saturday - Smurfs

Monday - 70's Glam

Vegas!

Pool @ the MGM Grand

Playing some Blackjack

Bellagio fountain show