Working on the House and Getting Jackson!

Sorry for the delay everyone, things have been pretty busy both at home and at work, so the blog has been put a little bit on the back burner.

So just a few updates of the past few weeks leading up to now...

After Christmas and New Years, we came back to Redland Bay and I returned to work.

Judy, Shane, Dave, and Lisa came down that following weekend to check out where we're living and to help us continue to get organized.

We got a lot done while they were here and are slowly making progress to getting more settled. (I promise I'll post photos of the house soon, we just need a few more items to make it look a little more complete... we still have a long way to go in the decor department, but we'll get there)

While Judy and Shane were here I got my Christmas gift from my Secret Santa back home, who happened to be Taylor. She got me these magnetic birds that you hang on your wall and they hold letters in their beaks and your keys below their mouth. She had gotten them before Thanksgiving and I'm not sure if she knew I really liked them, but I really liked them and was SO excited to get them for our house. They were the first thing to be hung up!

(in case you're wondering what the other things are below it- one is the light switch and one is a fan remote that Dan hung with velcro)

Also while they were here, Dan did some gardening and we also got a new BBQ that Dan and Shane put together and we had a very nice steak dinner on our new BBQ!

So overall it was a very successful weekend and we made some massive progress in getting things we needed and hanging things up around the house.

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The following week Dan went down to Sydney for the week to visit Jackson and then I flew in Friday after work to get Jackson on Saturday.

I was able to hang out with Gina on Friday night which was awesome, and then Dan and I met up on Saturday to go free Jackson from jail!

It was so exciting to get Jackson. We got to quarantine and checked in and got Jackson's final release paperwork. Dan had already gotten his crate back during the week, then we waited in line with everyone else to get our dog! There were these guys in line behind us from South Africa and they asked us how long we had been away from our dog. We sighed and said... 30 days. Then we asked them the same question and they said, 6 months! Their dog had to do 5 months quarantine in South Africa and then one month in Australia. Not to mention that they moved to Australia pretty much immediately after their dogs went into quarantine, so they really hadn't seen them in about 6 months, and they had 2 dogs and 1 cat all in quarantine.. that'd be expensive! So we were lucky in comparison.

As we waited in line, we saw the area where the dogs were in crates waiting for pick up. We quickly realized that it might be a little chaotic (knowing Jackson) for us both to be there to get him, so I ended up going into the parking lot to wait, and Dan got Jackson.

I saw Dan and Jackson walk out and then Jackson was on a trail to go after and play with this one dog, when he thought he saw me and started heading my way. Needless to say, he was VERY excited... Dan captured this video...

So as you can see, we were all very excited to get Jackson back.

Immediately after getting Jackson we went across the street to a grassy field where Gina and her little sister Steph were waiting to say hi, then Dan and I headed to a dog park with Jackson.

later that day we had Kennett and Rose's engagement party and Jackson was going to be staying at Kennett's mom's house while the party was going on, so we wanted to make sure we spent some time with him and got some of his energy out so we could have fun at the party.

Jackson was excited to be out of jail and able to smell all the new smells.

We were a little excited too :)

 We did our job and the little boy was very tired.

After the park, it was off to Kennett's and time for the party!

Kennett and Rose put together a great party with their family and friends at their house. It was a hot day but they set up a nice tent in the backyard and everyone had a ton of fun!

The next day we left around 5am to hit the road for our 10 hour drive back to Redland Bay.

We had a great time in Sydney and we were very happy to have Jackson back.

Jackson did well in quarantine and other than long nails, dirty teeth, dry elbows, and dry skin- he was close to perfect.

He seems to really love his new house here, but I know he misses his friends in Carlsbad too.

Oh I almost forgot! We took Jackson to the dog beach on the Gold Coast the first week we had him and it was AMAZING!

There's this place called The Strand on the North end of the Gold Coast. Dan and I actually went there during my first visit to Australia and saw a little puppy on the beach and ever since we've had Jackson we've talked about taking him there.

So one night after work we drove down and Jackson had so much fun. There were a ton of dogs and so much space to run around. The water is also a lot warmer here, so he had no problem going in and running around. It was so great to see Jackson back at a beach just running and being himself again :)

There were quite a few jelly fish on the beach that had washed up. Luckily Jackson didn't want to play with them, but we were worried about him running into one.

 There are also these things called Blue Bottles (this one is a really big one) that are generally pretty small and they're like little jelly fish that you don't see and step on and they pop which is fun but the tentacles can sting you so you want to be careful of that.

So there you have it. The full Jackson update. We are very happy to be back together, and we were looking forward to heading up to Bundaberg with Jackson for Australia day (26th of Jan) for Jackson to see Dan's home town and meet Harry (Judy and Shane's dog)... that weekend didn't quite go as planned, more on that in the next post... (ooohhh cliff hanger...)

Christmas and New Years in Bundy

Well we've successfully made it into 2013. Can you believe it?

Dan and I had a really nice time up in Bundaberg for Christmas and New Years. Now I'm back to work and Dan is still on holidays...

It was great to catch up with friends and family and finally make some time to catch up on sleep. We were able to spend sometime at the beach with some extended family which was nice, and we were also able to spend Judy's birthday with her and make her a Mexican Fiesta with Lisa and Dave. Overall it was a very fun couple weeks.

We are excited about the new year and looking forward to all it has to bring. One thing we're very excited for is getting Jackson back in 10 days! Quarantine has been closed for the past 10 days so Jackson hasn't had any visitors, which means we don't have any more photos :( but as of today he should have had a visitor, and then beginning next Tuesday he'll be visited by one of his most favorite people (Dan of course). We can't WAIT to bring Jackson to his new home and help to make us feel even more at home as well.

We are looking forward to settling into the new house, getting pictures up on the walls, and making our house a home over the next few weeks and months.

Not much more to say, so I'll just leave some photos of our Bundy trip here for your viewing pleasure.

Happy 2013 everyone!

We drove up with Lisa and her tired dog Gus

I brought a family US tradition to Bundy, making chili for Christmas eve dinner

Another family tradition, Christmas wreath cookies!

Hanging out with Tim and Jenna's little girl Indie on Christmas

Christmas Shot. Cheers!

Beach day at the Basin at Bargara with the extended family

One of my favorite photos taken by the people visiting Jackson in quarantine.

Breakfast at the beach for Judy's birthday

Gus making himself at home at Judy and Shane's

New Year's Eve dinner at White China

We made it!

Well... we made it!

The move is finally over and we are finally here!

A little background from the past few weeks...

We packed up, gave away, and sold all but 11 boxes/bags of our Carlsbad apartment and headed to LA on the 10th.

We stayed in a hotel in LA on the 10th because Jackson had a 9am appointment on the 11th in LA.

On the 11th we took Jackson to the appointment and then spent the day doing Jackson things starting with spending a few hours at the Long Beach dog beach (which is a great area and I would definitely recommend it to anyone in that area with dogs).

Then we took Jackson back to the hotel, gave him a bath and let him take a little nap while we went and checked in all of our bags at the airport. We were able to check in all of our bags with pretty much no trouble hours before our flight which made things much easier when actually getting ready to depart.

After we checked in, we went back and hung out with Jackson and prepared for dropping him off for the flight at 6:30pm. (Flight left at 10:20)

Just before the drop-off, we took Jackson to a dog park to stretch his legs one final time.

I won't go into the sad details of dropping him off, so let's just leave it with, it was TERRIBLE.

So moving on... after the drop off, we were able to meet up with Kelly and Mauricio for a final send off dinner which was really great.

After dinner, we were on our way and off to the airport. We made it through security with our over-packed carry-ons and settled on the plane.

The flight was relatively quick and we were able to get some rest which was really good because we really haven't since.

We landed Thursday morning in Sydney and Kennet came to retrieve us from the airport with a rental van that we CRAMMED all of our things into. We spent Thursday getting cell phones, looking into beds, getting the essentials (towels, hair dryer, etc) to get us through until we were able to shop again once we made it to our new house.

Thursday night we had a nice dinner with Kennet and Rose and then were off to bed pretty early.

Friday morning we had our new car all loaded up and ready to make the drive from Sydney, NSW to Redland Bay, QLD.

Packed to the Rafters!

Before starting on our voyage, we made a very important stop to visit Jackson in quarantine.

The visit was bitter sweet, but all in all good to see him and good to see where he'll be living until January 12th, and good to see he actually made it in the country after an 8 month process to hope he would be let in.

Quarantine isn't as bad as we thought. It's in a rural area that's pretty quiet. There are a TON of dogs and cats there, so he's definitely not alone. They are very strict with visitation, but we do have a company that is visiting him while we can't be there.

Jackson's area is pretty big for a confined space. He has part that's "inside" and out of the sun and a good portion that's outside. He has very cute neighbors (which he didn't realize he had until we arrived), that hopefully he'll make friends with during his time.

If you want to keep updated with pictures of Jackson, you can go here: http://www.dogwalks.com.au/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=1519 this is the album from the company that is visiting Jackson while we are away for the holidays.

One of Jackson's neighbors

Jackson meeting his second neighbor. This neighbor is amazing and spent most the time we were there chasing a beetle... slowly. Jackson of course was barking at him.

 After leaving Jackson we got started on our 10 hour drive to our new home.

The drive went well and we are very happy with our new home. We are renting a house in Redland Bay, QLD. It's a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home.

Since we didn't bring much over, we've spent the last few days madly trying to get what we could. We spent the first few nights on the floor, but now have a bed (and a guest bed! hint hint). We have a couch, TV, washer, dryer, some dressers and bookcases, a desk.... close to all the essentials. Dan has been building all of our furniture and I just get to come home and see it all put together :)

We were able to have our first home-cooked meal Saturday night and sit at our new outdoor set (courtesy of Dad and Shirley for Christmas, thank you!). We still need a kitchen table, but that will come :)

I started work on Monday and feel really blessed to have been able to get this job while we were still in the US. I'm working at Absolute Distributors which carry both Z-Flex Skateboards and Penny Skateboards.

  

The team here seems really great. I had the opportunity to meet with the owners yesterday and they are really great and seem to really have a heart in the business and industry and most importantly their staff.

When you start with the company you get your own Compassion sponsored child (like World Vision). They pay for the sponsorship, but you are responsible for writting letter to them. I thought this was really cool, and good to see that the heart of the company is a good one.

This is my sponsor child, Romtira Chaiyana. She's from Thailand

They also have this milk frother thing, so I am on a two cups of tea a day regimen. Best tea I've ever had!

So all in all work is going really well so far and I'm really excited to get back to work after the Christmas/New Year break and really start to get myself oriented and invested into my job and my role.

I think that's most the updates. Dan and I both have Australian mobile numbers now, so feel free to email us or send us a message on facebook for those numbers or our new address or whatever.

We're off to Bundaberg this weekend through New Years and are looking forward to catching up with friends and family there and also having a chance to just relax and take in all that we've been doing over the past few months.

Since I probably won't write again until after, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the O'Brien's!

until next time...

Thanksgiving, Australia update, and the final days

It seems like time is both stopped and flying by. Not sure how that makes sense, but we'll go with it

2 weeks ago, Dan, Jackson and I were in Phoenix for thanksgiving and spending time with my family before we move.

It was a great week and a nice time to share with everyone.

Heidi's 30th birthday was on November 26th so in honor of thanksgiving and her birthday, Uncle Guy introduced a new holiday tradition of Jell-O shots. Even Grandma Phyllis took part in it! However she has no idea it had alcohol in it and the only way I can share that on here is because she is yet to get a computer :)

Also in honor of Heidi's birthday, my mom took Heidi and I to a BYO painting class. We brought in a bottle of win and were guided step by step to paint a park scene picture. It went a little fast at parts and was pretty frustrating at times but overall a really fun experience!

Now that thanksgiving is over we are working in getting all the final details sorted for the move which has become a bit daunting. I think I like it better when you rent a truck one day, load your things into it, then drive it to your new place and unpack the truck. That is NOT the case for this move. I feel like ever since we decided to move in March we've been slowly preparing and now we're ready to just settle!

Things are really falling into place over in Australia and we're getting really excited for the move. Just to update you all, Dan and I both have gotten jobs in the Loganholme/Beenleigh area. Dan got a full year contract at a high school and I got a brand management job with Absolute Distributors who have Penny Skateboards and Z-Flex Skateboards. I'll be working specifically on Z-Flex. They are an American skateboard company started in Venice, CA in the 1960's and they're looking to relaunch and keep their American roots, so what's better than hiring an American? :) I start on the 17th of December and Dan starts at the end of January. We both feel very blessed to have gotten jobs so quickly and really feel like everything is working out to make our transition a really good one.

We have also rented a house in Redland Bay. We were originally looking at the Gold Coast but since we both got jobs north of there, Redland Bay seemed like a good option. For those of you unfamiliar with the area (like me), its a bay town that is separated from the ocean by a bunch of little islands. We will be living less than a mile from the bay and there are a lot of nice walking trails to take Jackson to as well as a little beach area at the bay. The town itself is small, but where Dan and I will be working there are plenty of shopping places (including IKEA) so we don't really need much in walking distance from the house. We also have 2 spare bedrooms for all the visitors we'll have... Hint hint.

One final update, thanks to the wonders of Michael Kennet- Dan and I will have a car when we arrive so we can actually get to our new home and jobs :) see what I mean.... All falling into place.

So it's official. We leave in less than a week. Arrive in Australia on the 13th and then head to Redland bay the next day. We will be in Bundy for Christmas and New Years and are looking forward to catching up with everyone there.

So that's it. Next time I update we'll be on the other side :)

Until then, here's some photos of thanksgiving in Arizona (a little out of order, sorry, trying to update this on the go) ...

Viva Las Vegas and a 4 day weekend!

In efforts to try and fit everything in before we go, Dan and I whisked away for 24 hours in Vegas this weekend.

Thanks to my Uncle John, Aunt Kathryn, and cousin Alex for the Travelocity Hotel voucher- we stayed at the Venetian! I've always wanted to stay there, as it seems like one of the more luxurious hotels on the strip, and it definitely was!

We just got a normal room, but all the rooms are suites. It had a King bed on one side then a few steps down to the living area with a full couch, tv, desk, table, etc. The room had a TV by the bed, TV by the couch, and TV in the bathroom! insane.

Although the room was nice, we didn't spend much time in it. We landed around 10:30am Saturday, checked in and then headed to Downtown (Old) Las Vegas. We had lunch there and played slots and Roulette at one of the casinos. Then late afternoon we took a power nap before we headed out to dinner.

Photo collage of inside the Venetian

Lunch downtown Las Vegas

I took Dan to Fogo de Chao which is a Brazilian Steak House where waiters come around with various types of meat to try. I had been to one in Orlando and knew Dan would love it. So we ate there then headed out to the strip for the evening. We roamed around, played some games, and then made our way back to the hotel.

Ready for our night out!

Chandeliers at the Cosmopolitan

The one photo I got before the water show ended

The next day our flight left around 1:30, so we managed to squeeze in a breakfast buffet and some more gambling before we left.
I'm sure you are all wondering if we had a big win- and just to help out with future blog posts that may include gambling- you can always just assume that we didn't. (Just ask Dan's Punters club... we're not very big winners when it comes to gambling). But we did have a good time.

Sunday we got back and picked up Jackson from his overnight camp, and spent the rest of the night relaxing.

Jackson is a professional at relaxing

Monday Dan and I were both of work, so we met up with Kelly and Mauricio and (per Mauricio's suggestion) went for a hike and picnic in Irvine. It was such a nice day and a really nice hike. They even had a zoo in the  middle of the park with bears, beavers, mountain lions, bobcats, and weasels!
After the hike, Dan and I met up with a prospective buyer for my car... fingers crossed.

Overall it was a really great long weekend. Now it's only a few days of work left for me this week before heading to Arizona for Thanksgiving.

More soon!
 

Colorado

This past weekend, Dan and I were able to get away to a little (or A LOT) cooler weather, and visit my mom and Heidi in Colorado Springs.

We got in on Thursday night and it was snowy! Dan was like a kid on Christmas seeing the snow fall, I could barely get him to go to sleep, he said he just wanted to watch the snow fall all night.

Then Friday the snow stopped and it spent the rest of the day melting and erasing it's tracks that it existed in the first place. The weather was still nice and cold though.

Saturday we all drove from Colorado Springs to Boulder (about an hour and a half drive). Boulder is a cool college town with shops, bars, restaurants, etc. So we stopped there for a little bit to explore and have a drink for my mom's birthday (which was saturday!).  Then after Boulder we drove to a little town called Black Hawk and went to a couple casinos to gamble a little bit. Some of us won a little (not us), some of us lost a little (us.), but overall we had a really nice time.

Sunday we just laid low and relaxed and then flew back home.

Overall, it was a great getaway, and we're looking forward to catching up with family again in a few weeks in Phoenix for Thanksgiving!

We're really doin it!

So the waiting time is over....

I (Holli) finally got my visa!

The Australian Embassy emailed me with all the information I need! I am officially a Resident of Australia! (In case anyone is wondering, I'm a "temporary" permanent resident for the next two years and then after that I will be granted the official permanent resident visa and from there I could apply for citizenship)

I can enter anytime between now and August 2013, so our game plan is still set for December.

Yay!

Here's some photo proof for your viewing pleasure :)

Now time to get myself a job... anyone in need of a marketing manager?!?!

xoxo