YAY!!! Happy Anniversary to us!! Five Years.  WOW! Doesn’t seem like that long ago.  We did celebrate, but that was Thursday and we did a lot before that, so here is what we were up to this past week in addition to working. 🙂  Hope you can keep up.

Sunday night we had a family movie night (our house family).  We watched Cocktail with Tom Cruise.  Interesting movie, but did leave a lot of things unanswered that Brandon especially was not happy about.  Monday was exciting; our boxes came!! Nothing was missing or damaged besides the bin our roller blades were in and the wool dryer balls.  It was discovered that I only brought 1, not three dryer balls like I thought.   So Monday consisted of Brandon setting up his computer and me unpacking all my clothes, shoes, etc.  We got rid of all our boxes and just kept the totes/bins we brought to store stuff in until we need it.  Thankfully it was garbage night, so we were able to get rid of all our packing stuff and boxes in the trash/recycling right away.  We are lucky to not need the majority of our stuff at our current town house, since Jax has everything as far as kitchen supplies, furniture, etc.  Most of our stuff was packed away in our attic storage space.  I was so happy to see all our stuff.  I feel whole again, not that everything is with us, but nothing is out there pending, beyond my control.  We do still have some things at my parents’ that they are graciously allowing us to store there.  Mementos from growing up, winter gear, paperwork.  We are so grateful for the ability to use their space.  Thanks Mom and Dad!!  The next step for all our clothes, shoes, and stuff that arrived is organization, but that happened later.

Tuesday night, Heidi, Jax, Brandon, and I took a mini road trip about 45 min up the coast to Hornsby to visit Kate and Nigel.  We met them at the group Birthday Party and got on very well.  We met them for dinner at a cool restaurant called the Blu Water Grill.  We all split the food up and dessert too.  It was delicious.  It was also BYO, so we split wine that we brought as well.  Wednesday night Brandon made curry and we ate as a family.  Thursday was our anniversary; I had off of work and Brandon took the majority of the day off.  We met with an Australian tax agent in the morning to do our taxes here.  The financial year ends in June in Australia, so it is nearing tax season.  With Brandon’s business and being in a foreign country, we are leaning toward hiring her to do all our taxes due to the complexity.  In Australia, couples do not file jointly and there is no standard rebate.  You just have the opportunity to get back what you claim in deductions.  I had typically done our taxes myself in the states, so giving this up to another person is a bit scary and intimidating.  I want to be sure it is done correctly so we don’t get penalized and I think a tax agent is our best bet.  After our meeting, Brandon and I headed to the Tesla dealership to play with the electric cars.  We even organized a test drive for next week. 🙂 We learned they do not allow the self driving feature in Australia besides on private property or on the highway, but they are not really strict on it unless something happens.  There are quite a few Teslas driving around Sydney; there is even a car service that uses all Teslas for renting and hiring a driver.  It is very pricey, but a cool concept.  We then went to Lincraft to buy yarn for Brandon’s slipper socks I am going to knit him.  I am totally winging it since I couldn’t find a free pattern online that I liked and was easy enough for me.  I hope they turn out, and if they don’t, he will just be wearing them around home anyways.  For lunch, Brandon and I went to a fancy restaurant called Cafe Sydney. They are above the Customs House in Circular Quay and have an amazing balcony with views of the harbor.  The weather was sunny and nice, so we sat right on the edge of the balcony and enjoyed an amazing lunch.  I got tenderloin and potatoes and he got salmon.  We also had drinks; a chocolate martini, a home made espresso martini, and a home made ginger beer with vodka.  We even got dessert; a passion fruit cake and a chocolate one.  We very much indulged; but how often do you get to celebrate your five year anniversary?    (hopefully only once 😉 )  We also didn’t exchange gifts, only cards.  I couldn’t find a good anniversary card, so mine was a “have a good trip” card which I thought was symbolic of the adventure that is life that we are journeying on together.  After lunch, we took the train and a bus down to Bondi Beach and walked out to the cliffs to watch the Humpback Whales migrating.  We saw so many!! They were in groups a bit away from the coast, spraying and diving.  We didn’t see any breach or any tails flipping, but it was still a cool experience.  We returned home and Jax made a yummy dinner for our family; chicken with veggies and a yummy sauce.  Heidi is off house sitting this weekend, so it was a bit of a temporary farewell dinner too.  A big thank you for all the anniversary wishes and messages you all sent us!!  You helped make our day even more special!

Friday night I started knitting Brandon’s first slipper while we caught up on taped episodes of Tiny House Nation.  I discovered that the yarn we picked out was way too thin.  I had cast on like 50 stitches and it was not enough to go even 3/4 around his ankle.  It would have taken me years to kit them going like that.  I realized I had to take it all apart and get thicker yarn.  Saturday I had to work and Brandon decided to go in too, so we took the bus into the city together and walked my normal route.  Brandon had to go to his coworker’s house that was out the direction of my work.  Work for me went well and I was able to exchange the yarn and get our mail on my way home.  Saturday night I caught up on a show I had taped, Going Back in Time for Dinner while starting Brandon’s slipper, again.  The show is of a family that eats their way through each year of British history, starting with 1900.  I like it and find it amusing.  Dinner prep has definitely come a long way in the past 110 years.  Sunday we went to church, then worked on stuff.  I was able to chat with Ciara and my sister and watched the first Game of Thrones (GOT) episode, season 1.  I have to catch up to season 7 that is coming out mid July and am starting over.  I think I will make it; with determination and binge watching.  Our house will be hosting GOT parties for every episode, so I have to watch them all in time to join in.  Brandon is kind of meh about it and prefers to play computer games instead.  It is fun watching the first episodes over again now that we went on the tour in Ireland where they filmed parts of it.  I can pick up on the locations, though the majority of it is CG.  Jax then picked up her Nannying kids and brought us all to a mall up the coast.  We went to kmart and they went to a park.  Australia kmart is much different than in the US; more like a cross between a lot of Kohls and a bit of Target.  We bought a bunch of shelves and organizing stuff for our room, bathroom, and closet.  Very exciting and so much better to have it all organized! We celebrated our successful shopping trip with a strawberry shake and a cookie, because that is how we adult. 🙂 We came home and put it all together and then Jax made us supper; mash, veggies, and maple sausages.

Now I am working on this post, then will watch GOT episode 2 and continue knitting.  I am also enjoying a mug cake, another thing that Heidi introduced Brandon and I to for dessert.  Because how else do you know to stop eating unless you end your meal with something sweet? An idea from my Grandpa Ebben that I firmly support; I usually eat dessert with lunch and supper.  Sometimes with supper, my dessert is wine or a cocktail.  At work, I either bring dessert, or eat the bickies/biscuits (cookies) they have available for employees for tea breaks.  I have been drinking a lot of tea at work and usually a coffee in the morning.  It helps warm me up in addition to the three layers I have on in our unheated clinic.  I haven’t caved to finger gloves yet like some of my coworkers, but we shall see how cold it gets.  I am still wearing a sweatshirt, coat, and scarf to work most days.  It is cooler in the mornings and evenings walking on my route to and from work to have all my layers on.  During the day, out in the sun, I am sure it is very nice, but we don’t get to enjoy it often.  This weekend was nice and sunny, what little we got to experience of it.  Enjoy our pictures and feel free to comment.  Happy weekend!!  Happy early Birthday to my Dad on Monday!!!  Talk to you all again soon!