Grass So Green

We took this picture when we visited Kangaroo Valley last Christmas, and I think it's so pretty.  And so green!

You know that thing about how the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence from wherever it is you’re standing? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s true.  The grass is greener.

A year ago yesterday, Spencer and I tied the knot. Before finding  him, I had moments here and there (slash everyday) where I wondered if he was ever going to turn up.  Sometimes, in such moments, people would tell me that marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway, so not to worry about it--to enjoy my single life while it lasted 'cause, you know, the grass is always greener. But a year ago, I hopped the fence to inspect the grass myself.  All I can say is this grass is so dang green! Greenest grass I’ve ever seen, I tell ya. 

Maybe I'm still experiencing a bit of a honeymoon phase...? Perhaps it's that I was single into my 30s and had plenty of time (not to mention reason) to wonder if there was ever going to be an end to that chapter of my life--so, now I can look back on my single days and know for sure what I'm missing (or rather, not missing...).  Whatever the case may be, I'm not worrying too much about what's making the grass look this way. I'm just enjoying the view.

Green. As far as the eye can see.

One Day More

Everyday we spend living here, I can’t help but think about how we're one day closer to returning back to a life in the States, which is to say, everyday here brings us one day closer to leaving this adventure behind. Every time I take a run to Shelly Beach, I think about the day I’ll be running on sidewalks on regular streets in a regular neighborhood in regular America. Every time I see the Sydney Harbor bridge and the Opera House, I think about the day we’ll only be able to say, “Oh, we’ve been there,” instead of, “Yeah, we live there.”  

We often talk about how our lives will never again be the way they are right now. And we know that there will be days where we will long for this life when we no longer have it. Still, we feel drawn to what our lives will become on one of those regular streets in a regular neighborhood in regular America.

But right now, we have this life. For at least one day more.

Home, Sweet Home

We got to go home to the States a couple of weeks ago.  Spencer's sister was getting married, so that gave us an excuse (thanks, Katie!) to make the trip across the pond and spend some time with family and friends. (And stock up on all the items we can't get over here in Australia. Hauling one empty suitcase home to fill with goodies is just SOP these days.)

First stop was Salt Lake City for the wedding. Our first night in town we went into the city for dinner and, while there, took an obligatory picture on the wedding pedestal and wondered if we'd made a mistake getting married in Dallas. (I think I'll always be torn on that one.)

 

How could I not feel a little bit that way when we see this as we're coming up the sidewalk?  Really.

Before leaving Utah, we took a day and drove down to BYU. I haven't been back since I graduated and wanted to see what had changed. The "Y" is still up there on the side of the mountain. (Whew.)

While the new Joseph Smith Building is beautiful...I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty sad to see so much concrete between the SWKT and what was once the SFLC, where there used to be a nice grassy quad.  So many sunny afternoons spent lounging on that green with friends, then heading to class (on those rare occasions when we actually chose to go to class) only to come back to find a whole new group of friends spread out on the grass with books open and notes out.  (Who were they kidding?  None of us ever got any studying done like that.)

We hit up the BYU Bookstore. I think we spent almost as much at the candy counter as we did on books.

 

On to Dallas, where it was ridiculously hot and humid.  I think they were on day 26 of over-100-degree-temps when we got there, and we didn't have a day with a high below that our whole trip. (Last time I was in Dallas they had the ice storm that threatened to shut down the Super Bowl.  I seem to always be there for the extremes in weather.)

We got to attend the baby blessing of my newest niece, Reese.  We got our Tex-Mex fix at Chuy's.  Two words: shrimp taquitos.  Oh, man.  

 We also hit Wild About Harry's for some hot dogs and our favorite banana pudding shake...

  

...and some wedding day deja vu.

And speaking of wedding day deja vu...seeing as how we're almost at our one-year mark, and how we will be far away from home when we actually hit it, and how there was wedding cake waiting in the freezer for the traditional first anniversary commemoration, we dug in a little early.

I'm pretty sure this bite never made it into Spencer's mouth...but some icing may or may not have made it onto his chin. 

 

Take 2.  Success! Mmmm, tasty. Freezer-burned cake! It actually survived pretty well, considering.

Birthday Boy

Once upon a time (a month and a half ago, to be exact), there was boy who had a birthday to celebrate.  The boy whose birthday it was had to be in Singapore for the week leading up to the big day, of course, arriving back in Sydney the very morning of the birthday bash. (And when I say "bash" I mean a quiet day spent just the two of us.) So the night before, I stayed up late decorating the apartment and making a big fat cake and writing sappy cards and other such birthday-related silliness which silliness is exactly what make birthdays so much fun. 

When Spencer arrived home, he found that our apartment number had been changed to 35 in honor of his new age.

He received a series of less-than-life-altering, but very thoughtful (if I do say so myself) gifts. You know it's a good birthday when you get the all-about-China issue of"The Economist." 

We took a ferry to Watsons Bay to hike to the two lighthouses there--something we've been meaning to do for a while now. (I had hiked to the red and white one before, but he never had.) The weather was crisp and cool and windy, but sunny and beautiful. 

 

 After a yummy seafood dinner, we headed back home for birthday cake. Quite the inferno, no?

 

 

I had whipped up a Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake that was waiting in the fridge. (Although, since I'm not a coffee drinker, I actually only used this recipe for the peanut butter mousse and the frosting.  For the cake, I used a recipe for Velvet Chocolate Cake that I pulled out of one of my mom's "Southern Living" magazines a million years ago.) It was a huge hit, as the birthday boy is a chocolate/peanut butter lover. Seriously. LUV-er.

 

Happy birthday to the Hubs.

Gargoyles. Apostles. But No Kangaroos.

A friend of mine came to visit a few weeks ago.  She's a PoliSci professor and was doing some research in New Zealand and here in Australia.  She stayed with us for a few days in Sydney and then went on to Melbourne and Canberra. The Hubs was traveling, as usual, so I tagged along for the adventure.  

Melbourne

Melbourne is such a cool city.  It has a totally different vibe from Sydney. Like LA is to San Francisco as Sydney is to Melbourne.  That kind of different. It has a fantastic art and food scene. The architecture is so interesting--a ton of Gothic Revival and Art Deco style.  (My fav.) 

I was obsessed with the gargoyles, of course.

 

The streets are the broadest I've ever seen in a large, metropolitan city.  

Sometimes up to four lanes on either side, with wide medians where the trolleys run. 

Oh, and traffic turns right from from the far left lane. Because of the trolleys, we think.

(In the States, that would be like making a left turn from the far right lane. What the?)

We loved all the old homes that look like spooky haunted houses. So lacy and ornate!

The Great Ocean Road

Jessica had it on her list to drive out to see The Twelve Apostles, so she rented a sporty little 

Mini Cooper and we made the trek. (I was happy to join her, as that's been on my list, too.)

The Great Ocean Road is comparable to the Pacific Coast Highway. 

It's a 151-mile stretch of road along the southeastern coast.  

(The arctic winds were definitely not comparable to the Pacific breezes of the PCH.  Oh my brrrrr!) 

We pulled off at several lookout points to take in the view.  

Or at least what we could see of it through the mist.

 

We appreciated this reminder getting back on the road. Really. We did.

 

We saw many a "kangaroo crossing" sign...but never any actual kangaroos. We actually would have preferred to see many of the latter and none of the former. I mean, if we could've had our druthers.

The Twelve Apostles are a collection of limestone stacks just off the coast, about a four-hour drive outside of Melbourne.  There are actually only eight "apostles." 

There were nine until one collapsed. Never twelve.  So why the name? 

Apparently the rock formations were originally known as The Sow and Piglets.  But it was decided that something named after swine wasn't going to draw the tourists.  And so.

Apostles.... Piglets.... Whatever you call them, they sure are beautiful.

Canberra

On to the capital city of Australia. Since Jess was doing research for her PoliSci-ness, 

Canberra was kind of an important stop.  When she wasn't in interviews, we poked around a few of the government buildings.

We toured the Parliament House.

The grass on that side slope goes all the way up onto the 

roof of the building.  The idea here is that the elected officials are not above the people, 

but rather beneath them.  Get it?

We visited the Old Parliament House. It was in use until 1988 and is now a museum 

where you can roam around freely.  Many of the rooms and offices are set up very much the way they would have looked when the representatives moved to the new building.  Retro office furniture, early desktop computers, rotary phones, the whole bit. Kind of fun.

We visited the Australian War Memorial, which is a museum dedicated to Australia's veterans. It is huge. H.U.G.E. (I think I actually spent six years in the WWII wing.) 

The interior is divided by each war Australian soldiers have ever fought in. It was fascinating to view the wars of history through eyes other than my usual American ones.  Never done that before....

¡Viva México!

Exactly how far is the outback from Mexico??  Coming to Sydney, I knew Mexican food wasn't the most popular cuisine over here, but I figured I'd be able to get the basic ingredients I needed.

Enter Australia and its unfortunate placement clear on the other side of the world from Mexico. 

Turns out, Mexican influence hasn't infiltrated Australian culture like it has American culture.  I know, I know.  Hard to imagine such a place.

Most Mexican ingredients are either not easily obtained or not available at all.  I can't get corn tortillas at my grocery store—I have to go to the one across town to find them.  (Corn Tortillas!!  I think you can buy those at any corner store in the States, can't you? (Yes, I'm exaggerating.))  It took me weeks to track down black beans.  Tortilla chips cost a fortune.  I think my grocery store has one brand of salsa and it's not a good one.  Definitely nothing of the verde variety.  Want to make anything that calls for a can of green chilies or chipotle peppers?  Forget it.  No queso fresco to be had. And at first I thought they didn't even have cilantro. (Gasp!) Then I found out they do have it, but they call it coriander here.  (Whew!)

I did find chipotle peppers at the import store, finally. Eight dollars for one of those little tiny cans! Some of the cheapest items on my grocery list back in the States are like gold here.

It's taken a little time and a little adjusting, but I've figured out how to get by.  And "getting by" has called for learning how to do things from scratch, which I've always wanted to do with Mexican food, but it was so easy to just buy stuff like sauces and mixes and canned chilies. I have learned how to roast my own chilies and make my own enchilada sauces.  And, as you know, fresh pico de gallo beats a jarred salsa any day of the week.

And while Australia doesn't have a love for Mexican food, they do have the internet.  And I'm finding more amazing Mexican-inspired recipes than you can shake a maraca at on the Homesick Texan.

Not sure I'll ever go back to my old pre-prepared ways. (Hopefully not....)

Try the sour cream chicken enchiladas.  They're uh-mazing.

Straight-Up Hong Kong

 Mmmmm.  Just look at that air quality.  There's a reason many residents wear white masks everywhere they go.

The Hubs had to go to Hong Kong a few weeks ago for work 

and asked if I wanted to come along. 

Duh.

I didn’t even know what to do with that city.  It’s not like any place I’ve ever been before. So many people occupying so few square feet. I mean, I’d heard, you know—

how they ran out of space on the ground, so they just went up. And up and up. 

 And up.  

But I didn't know. Until I'd seen it with my own eyeballs, I just didn't know.

It was a quick trip, but we managed to fit a few things in.

We went up to The Peak for what we'd heard was the best view of the city. 

 

 

  

We went to the temple. We were asked to be the witness couple, which was funny,
considering the session was in Cantonese. Not a big deal. Until the prayer….  

And then...well...and then it's too late, isn't it?

We took the escalators up to the Mid-levels.

 And then we had dinner and walked around SoHo taking pictures. 
That was our favorite night.

 

 

We went to church. Which was not in Cantonese, even though the sign is.

We ate some pretty legit Chinese food, although deciphering the menu was no small task.

And we just enjoyed seeing another part of this amazing world we live in.

Good times, they were.