A tribute to Dan's Mo.

In case you have been seeing some photos throughout the month of November and noticed something growing on Dan's face.. you can cancel your eye appointment- it was in fact a mustache.

The month of November is now commonly referred to as Movember, and it's a campaign to raise awareness for prostate cancer by having men grow mustaches and get sponsors to pay them to not shave. ( Check out more at http://www.movember.com/ )

Dan decided to join in the fun this year (fun for who?!!?) and raise some cash (as well as prove to us both he could actually grow a mustache!). He raised a solid $100 (thank you to his supporters), and now being the glorious month of December has shaved (see ya next year Mo!).

Anyways, just thought I needed to explain myself as Dan's wife that I had not lost my eyesight, and that Dan did not lose the motor skills to shave above his lip.

Oh- and in case you were like he looks just like...

yes, he does. (thanks Dana for nailing that one!)

Until next time...

Thanksgiving with the O'Brien's

Well, I'm happy to be sitting here to say that we successfully hosted a Thanksgiving Down Under!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it's always been a really nice day to spend with family. It's like Christmas without the stress of gifts and an even more hectic time table for my family.

It was important to Dan and I to celebrate Thanskgiving even though we couldn't be in the States with family, so we decided to host Thanksgiving at our place and invite all our friends and family around us over to share in the tradition.

We spent the month (if not more) preparing for how we would fit everyone in, what we would serve, and how we could actually pull it off.

Coming from a split family, Heidi and I have always had the opportunity to have two Thanksgivings and share in two families recipes, so Dan and I thought we'd pull the best from both sides and offer it here. It doesn't really make a difference to me as I pretty much only eat mashed potatoes, rolls, and jello - but Dan was thrilled!

So here's the menu we served:

Turkey- no real recipe, Dan can take the credit for this one
Stuffing- my Grandma Phyllis' recipe
Sweet Potato Casserole - My Mom's recipe 
Jello- Grandma Phyllis again
Biscuits- Made famous by my Uncle John
Creamed Corn- Uncle Dennis
Mashed Potatoes- Dan and I can also take the credit for this one
Pumpkin Pie- Google
Oatmeal Cookies- Holli

Also since I mentioned before that I don't eat much on Thanksgiving, I decided to introduce a Cranberry Walnut salad into the mix, and I was very happy to add something else to my plate!

Dan and I did as much as we could before the big day so that we could spend time with our friends and family when they arrived. Also because for my whole life all I can remember about 30 mins before dinner was served is my mom saying "GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN"! So I thought- surely if we are prepared and have everything ready to go, it'll keep the stress level down, right? WRONG. It's like the full hurry up and wait scenario. We did things Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday morning- then we really had nothing to do during the day, but 45 minutes before we wanted everyone to sit down and eat- it was chaos! In the end, everything turned out really great and we were happy to share the tradition.

Menu for the evening showing where eat recipe was from

 It was really important to me to have everyone at the same table, however- with 15 adults and 2 kids that was going to be a challenge. We pushed all our furniture aside, rented chairs, and borrowed some tables from Judy, Shane and Jordo and pulled it off!

 The preparations of Grandma's stuffing (just a quick note, a lot of the photos to follow will just be of food. Basically me proving that we did in fact do it!)

 End product of Grandma's stuffing

 My first ever Jell-o Mold!

 Oatmeal cookies for those that don't like pie (me!)

 Judy and Shane came down from Bundy to help peel potatoes (and loan us pretty much every dish we used that night... oh and the tables... so without them we'd have potatoes with skin, hot drinks, food in pots, and be sitting on the floor-- needless to say, we are thankful for them!)

 My main Thanksgiving food group- Mashed Potatoes!

 The bird and pies in the oven

 Dan carving the turkey. (Please see the following post for a brief tribute to the growing ferret on Dan's face)

 Mixing the gravy. Token action shot

 My plate for the night. See how much fuller it is with the addition of the salad- amazing!

 The whole gang (minus Katie who got cut out). Thank you everyone who took the time to come by and share in this holiday with us. It was so great to have you around our table and we look forward to continuing the tradition with you all. 

Until next time...

Much Overdue!- Photos of our New Place

I feel like I often see posts on blogs talking about how it's been forever since they last posted and how the blog has been totally neglected! Well, now you're reading that same sob story on here.

I've been meaning to post photos of our new place, that's not really that new anymore since we moved in June and it's now October and I'm finally getting around to this.. but as they always say- better late than never!

So here you go- photos of our new place.

For those of you who don't know, Dan and I moved to Redland Bay when we first moved to Australia because we thought it'd be a really nice central location. Although it was a very nice location, it was not entirely central- in fact it was pretty much out of the way of everything- which is a pro and con. Being new to the area, and myself being more used to a busy city- we decided that once our 6 month lease was up we'd look to move closer to the city. So we've now moved to Cannon Hill which is on the East side of the river that runs through the city. It's such a good location. It's a train or ferry ride away from the center of downtown, close to friends, close to work colleges, and not too far from work.

We ended up moving out of our house and into a 3 story townhouse. It was really hard to find a place that allowed dogs, as it seems Brisbane is not as dog-friendly as San Diego, so although we were initially looking to rent a house, we're really happy with this townhouse. There's a little courtyard that's enough space for Jackson to do his deal if he needs to, but we still take him for a walk everyday so he can stretch his legs. And having the bedrooms and living space spread out over three levels, makes it nice and spacious but also cozy.

So yea, enough of me- onto the photos!

Outside: So here's a couple photos of the outside area coming into the house. We have a backdoor as well, but you would enter from the front through the courtyard.

 This is the front of the house. There are 4 townhomes on our side and 4 on the other, they're all different in little ways.

 This is our little courtyard. Big enough to sit outside and have a BBQ, but no grass or massive maintenance needed.

This is our front door, but also has the large sliding door. That's a little strange, but we've come to like it. So does Jackson since his doggie door panel fits like a glove :)

Bottom Floor: The bottom floor has the living room, kitchen, eating area, laundry room (not pictured) and a toilet (not pictured). It also has the backdoor that leads out to the bay of garages. 

 This is looking back at the front and sliding door after you've entered in. Looking from the living area.

 This is the eating area and kitchen. (Sliding door and front door to the right of this photo)

 This is our living area. Behind us is the front door. You can see the stairs as well as the doorway that leads into the laundry room and toilet. 

 Here's a view from the kitchen towards the living area. 

 This is looking basically from the stairs into the living area.

These are the stairs. We had to add little carpets because Jackson is too afraid to go up and down without them. We're afraid of a massive vet bill for a broken leg without them as well!

Middle level: the middle level has 3 bedrooms. It has what we call the office, the den and the guest room. The guest room is technically the master bedroom as it has an attached bathroom, but it was too small for our stuff so we don't use that room. On the middle level, the den and the guest room lead out to a balcony which is nice. The middle level also has a larger bathroom that we use as our main bathroom. In case anyone was wondering where we shower and get ready... wonder no more. 

 The Office

 The Guest Room (this could be your room if any of you come and visit.. hint hint ;) )

 The Den

 The balcony that's off of the den and guest bedroom

 The view from the balcony

 oooh ahhh

 The main bathroom

The stairs leading up to the third level

The Top Level: The top level is just one big loft. It has a large storage closet in it, so we decided to make this the master bedroom and get some rolling racks to turn the closet into a clothes closet which has worked out really well. There's also a little nook area that Dan insisted I make into a vanity area (isn't he sweet... I think he just wanted me out of his way in the bathroom), it's become one of my favorite areas in the house, and one of the most used!

 Our room. This is looking straight after coming up the stairs.

 More room.

 Vanity area. I share it with Jackson's crate, and clearly Jackson himself. 

A view looking back down the stairs from the loft. 

So there you have it! Our not so new place. 

I'm sure you're wondering why it took so long to post some measly photos of our place, but let's just say we've been rather busy lately. Work is busy for both Dan and I, and now that we're so close to all the action of Brisbane, we've been keeping busy exploring and catching up with friends and family on weekends.

As you can see there's plenty of space, so whether you live near or far- if you ever need a place to stay or want to come and visit, our door is always open (just watch out for the attack dog- his bark is worse than his bite.. however he never stops barking to actually see if he's capable of biting..)

Until next time (hopefully without a three month gap between posts)...

State of Origin- 8 in a row!! (feat. guest blogger that should be resident blogger, Dan)

8 in a Row!!!

Well I thought it was about time that I graced this blog with an entry from the ‘Man of the House’. Actually, truth be told, the woman of the house told the man of the house that it was about time the I made a contribution to this blog. Nonetheless here I am.

So I thought I might write about the best thing that has happened to me in the last 12 months. Something that surpasses marrying the love of my life, celebrating a great honeymoon, moving back to home to Australia and spending long lost time with my friends and family….Queensland’s record win in the State of Origin series, to make it 8 years in a row.

For those across the seas, State of Origin is an annual 3 game series of Rugby League matches played between Queensland and New South Wales. It is like an All Star game that is actually played with more intensity and passion than any other game of the year. As a young kid in Queensland, we have all grown up with our fathers, mothers and grandparents hurling abuse at the TV trying to lift our boys and get them over the line.  So as adults we do just the same. And those who have seen me watch a State of Origin game would know that it is the one time of the year that I change from the usually placid, patient and well mannered man that I am, to some raging, ill tempered lunatic.

Over the past few years living in California, Holli and I would record the game in the wee hours of the morning, then shut ourselves off from the social networking world, to watch it later that evening. So needless to say, being able to watch the games live was something that we were both looking forward to.

For the first game, played in Sydney, we actually went to a small group gathering from our church, who were getting together to watch the game. So because we were meeting these people from our new church, for the first time, Holli and I were very nervous that the raging, ill tempered lunatic would make an appearance, especially if New South Wales were in front. Well as fate would have it New South Wales did win in a very close game. The lunatic did not show himself too much, however I had far less fingernails than when we arrived.

The second game was played in Brisbane and this was one event that we knew we would not miss. Fortunately Heidi happened to be in town for the game, so we thought that we would deck her out in our maroon colors and drag her along to support Holli in her first Origin game. Along with Pops, Dee and Ryan, we immersed ourselves in the atmosphere of the pregame bars where the chants and abuse of anyone who dared to walk past wearing the NSW blue colors were thick and fast. Within the first 5 minutes, Queensland were all over NSW and the 50,000 fans made sure we dominated the game to win convincingly. We all had a great time and Heidi was well and truly initiated as a Queenslander.

So the third and deciding game went back to Sydney. This time, with the series on the line we decided to keep the raging lunatic locked up at home. Fortunately, Nicole arrived in town just in time to once again provide support for Holli. In an extremely tense game Queensland won by 2 points to take out the series.

These series have been notorious for being extremely close. However, in recent years Queensland have definitely had the better of NSW, winning the past 7 series in a row. So coming into this series there was a sense of inevitability that we were due for a loss. But in the end the true heart of the Queenslanders got us home for the 8^th year in a row. Now we are looking for 9 years in a row in 2014…who wants to come!

 The chaos of Caxton street

 Infamous Caxton Street sign

 Go Maroons!

 A view from the top!

 Queensland Wins!

Heidi's Visit to Australia

This is going to be one of those mega posts that most people will not even make it to the end of due to total lack of interest. But for those of you who'd like to make it to the end (Mom, Dad, Shirley, Heidi of course..) below you will find a total recap of Heidi's first visit to Australia!

Heidi flew from Colorado Springs to Sydney on June 7th and stayed here in Australia until she flew out last Tuesday, July 2nd. We tried to fit everything you could into her first visit and give her an overall picture of mid-north east Australia and Dan and I's life here.

A little bonus for her (bonus is in the eye of the beholder), is we moved from Redland Bay into the city (an area called Cannon Hill) during her first week so she got the opportunity (opportunity is also in the eye of the beholder) to help Dan and I move. And trust me- we couldn't have done it without her.

So here we go.. a photo and one-two line journey through Heidi's month in Australia.

I flew to Sydney to meet Heidi when she first got in so she could have the experience of seeing the Opera house right when she got here.

Seeing the Opera House is pretty sureal because I feel that to us it's something you always see on TV but it seems SO far away and then to actually see it is a really cool feeling. Heidi felt the same.

We got a hotel downtown in the city so we could wander around and be central to everything. So the first day after checking our bags into the hotel we went wandering around and had breakfast by the harbor. After breakfast we went back to the hotel and got ready for the day and then took the Ferry from Circular Quay (pronounced "key") to Manly.

Harbour Bridge in the background

It was a nice day. Not too cold and not raining which was nice. A bit windy though which made our numerous "selfies" tricky.

 Selfie in front of the Opera House on the ferry to Manly

 A view from the ferry of the Sydney skyline

 Heidi and I in Manly

After Heidi and I felt we had checked out all Manly had to offer to us that day, we took the ferry back to the city to get ready to meet up with Gina for a dinner surprise for Heidi.

Every year Sydney does a light festival called Vivid Sydney and they put up light displays everywhere and the coolest part about it is they do an amazing light/art show on the sails of the Opera House. 

Gina and I had found a deal on a dinner cruise on a Pirate Ship and surprised Heidi with a dinner cruise that goes around all the major lights of Vivid Sydney. I won't link the company name on here for the dinner cruise, because it wasn't very good. Emphasis on the cruise, no real emphasis on the dinner. We all ate afterwards. But we did get to see some really cool lights on the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and in Darling Harbour.

 After forcing Heidi to stay up until at least 9pm, I then let her sleep for the first time since the plane ride and get ready for day two in Sydney.

Saturday we had a nice breakfast and then did some shopping and then met up with Gina to head over to Bondi Beach.

Bondi Beach is probably the most famous beach in Sydney (correct me if I'm wrong anyone that may know if that's correct or not). It's a cool beach with a ton of restaurants, shops and a beautiful beach. It's also home of the "hit" TV show Bondi Rescue. It's such a "hit" that it's played in the US as well. Good 'ol Reality TV.

Gina and I took Heidi to the Bondi RSL where you can get an amazing view of Bondi as well as cheap food and drinks.

I've been to Bondi a few times before and the last time I was there I noticed a sticker of my Aunt Violet in one of her Coca Cola model shots from way back when. (our great Aunt was a Coca Cola model back when Coca Cola was doing the pin up photos as their campaigns. She did two shots- a diving board shot and an air hostess shot and we make it our life goal to collect every piece we see her in). So as I was saying I was at this burger place (Moo Burger in Bondi) with some friends and noticed the sticker. I told the group I was with about that being my great aunt, but they didn't believe me or they probably didn't care... so when Heidi was in town we made it a point to go back there so she could see it, because she'd care! I also took the time to take a creepy photo while the staff questioned who these girls were that came into the shop took a photo of a sticker on the mirror and left.

Fun Fact- I posted this photo on Instagram and tagged Moo Burger. Someone at Moo Burger wrote me on Instagram and asked what the meaning of the photo was and I told them and they thought it was pretty cool. So all you marketing people out there, make sure you interact with your social audience-- they could end up writing about you on their blog no one reads.

After the day at Bondi we went back to the hotel and got ready to go to dinner at King's Cross. King's Cross is one of the sketchiest areas in Sydney (I don't think anyone will correct me for being wrong on that one), so we wanted Heidi to see it. She got a good eye full of the Cross during the short hours we were there, so mission accomplished. No photos on this one. We didn't actually take any, but I'll spin it to make you think "it's far too crazy for photos!"

For our final day in Sydney we met up again with Gina and her sister Immacolata to The Grounds of Alexandria which is this awesome warehouse/garden/craft zone. You can get food inside or out. You can get the most amazing looking flowers or lemonade or bracelets. There's a pig. There's a petting zoo. There's everything! It's awesome.

It was a great way to spend our final day in Sydney and later that night we'd make our way back to Brisbane. Little did we know Heidi and I would end up on different flights making our way back to Brisbane, but we made it in the so that's all that matters.

The day after we got back to Brisbane, it was raining but we took Heidi to a park called Daisy Hill to see some Koalas! You can see them in the wild at times, but there also is a reserve there where they have some enclosed before re-rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  Due to the rain, we were unlucky in finding any in the wild but we got to see the ones in the reserve area.

The next two weeks Heidi spent in Brisbane. She helped us move during one week and then took the train into the city the next week to roam around. We tried to do as much as we could on the weekends to see the sites.

The first weekend in Brisbane our friend Alicia had a birthday party in a park, so it was awesome to spend the day outside and celebrate her!

 The park is right on the river and we live south of the river, so we took the ferry across to the other side.

That next day we wanted to show Heidi one of our new favorite restaurants, the Yard Bird Ale House. I found this place when I was looking for places for Dan's birthday, and it has good beer and really good hot wings!

We invited Musa and Alicia to meet up with us here so they could see Heidi again and so we could introduce them to the place. Dan and I had been a few times previously and have always gotten their normal hot wings, but they also have these "Death Sentence" wings that we were interested in trying so we thought if we went with more people, maybe we could try some.

so we did.

bad idea.

i have NEVER tasted anything so hot. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. I ran to the bathroom to cry or throw up or scream. not sure. Musa went and got me milk that's how bad it was and that milk was the BEST milk I've ever tasted. Never will I try anything with the word "Death" in it again.

Here's some photos before I almost died.

Dinner was courtesy of my mom who had told us she wanted to treat us to a dinner while Heidi was there. We took this photo to show her, then the tears came! The death ones are on the plate on the right, bottom. Ugh. Don't remind me.

After I got my life back and was able to eat a little more (not the death ones), we then went to a little city lookout spot so Heidi could see the main part of the city before heading to church.

The next week Heidi went to Bundaberg mid week to catch up with Judy and Shane and the Bundy crew and then Dan and I met up Friday night after we drove up after work with Jackson.

We had a really nice time in Bundy. We took Heidi to see kangaroos in the wild. We had a nice BBQ on the beach in Bargara with friends and family and had a nice family get together Sunday night.

 Heidi and Jackson's first time seeing kangaroos in the wild. There was a Joey there as well that we saw get in and out of the mom's pouch (thanks to Jackson barking and scaring the little Joey. #JacksonandJoeydontmix)

 Heidi, Melissa, and Melissa's daughter Charlie at the BBQ

Dan made sure to take Heidi to the main Bundy "Lookout" spot. It's the massive hill in Bundy. and by massive I mean not massive and by not massive I mean the opposite of massive. Still a nice lookout though

After we left Bundy we went up to Gladstone which is about 2 hours north of Bundy to visit Bruce, Anna, Chris, Sonia, Tim, Jenna, and Indy. 

It was the first time I had been to Gladstone and it was so nice to see where they all live. 

We had an amazing Italian dinner that Anna made and had such a nice time catching up. Sorry I don't have any photos. I was too busy talking :)

After the night in Gladstone we got on the road for the 6 hour drive home! it was long...

Some of us have an easier time sleeping in the car than others (Heidi knew I was taking the photo..)

We got back in Brisbane Tuesday night and the following night we had the AWESOME opportunity to go to a State of Origin game. State of Origin is a rugby game of Queensland vs New South Wales. It's a 3 game series and basically like our Superbowl. I'd fill you in on the details, but we may or may not be having a separate post about the night by a guest editor :) ooohh... i can feel the suspense building...

I went back to work for the rest of the week and Dan took Heidi around on her final days to show her anything she hadn't seen yet and eat gross things that I wouldn't be a part of like pies and sausage rolls (gross to me, loved by many). 

For Heidi's final weekend we took her down to the Gold Coast. Unfortunately it was a rainy weekend but we were still able to get some photos, and for Heidi to eat some legit Australian seafood.

 Heidi in front of the countdown to the Common Wealth games in Surfer's Paradise

Surfer's Paradise

 Heidi said she wanted to try seafood.. so we got her the platter! Bugs, Prawns, Fish, Oysters...

 She did a great job on trying everything and got some help finishing the platter. Not from me- ew gross.

 

 Snapper Rocks- location of the Quiksilver Pro for all your ASP fans. Such an amazing beach.

Heidi standing at the beach that divides Queensland and New South Wales

Well that pretty much sums it up (and my hand is tired from typing). We had a great visit with Heidi and are so thankful she came to check out the country and where we're living. There's plenty left on her list for next time as well!

Now we all just need to sleep for the next 4 weeks to catch up from all the running around we did!

This guy is getting a head start...

Until Next Time....