Another Opportunity Realized

We have such an exciting year ahead of us. First, we will pack our bags for a trip to Europe this summer. Then when we return we will be packing up our stuff again (although much of it is still in boxes in my brother's basement) and will make the one hour move south to Bloomington, Indiana where we will both be students next fall and where we will spend the next two years of our lives together. While the thought of both being students is a bit unnerving in the sense that we will have NO income and will be living ENTIRELY off student loans, it also presents us with some unique opportunities and having the time off before school to go to Europe this summer is just one of those opportunities.

For those that don't know, Tim moved to the U.S. with his family from Australia when he was three, leaving all of his extended family behind. I was fortunate enough to spend a semester abroad in Australia from January to July 2005 and had the pleasure of meeting nearly all of his extended family. Tim has been to Australia many times throughout the years, including two trips in college during winter breaks, and most recently he accompanied me for two weeks in January 2005. Neither of us have been since our visits in 2005 and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make it back for a visit. And with our both going back to school this fall, we have the perfect opportunity. Thankfully Tim had saved up a lot of frequent flyer miles and we were able to book flights using those miles to go to Australia this December over our winter break. We will leave Indianapolis on Thursday, December 23rd and will arrive in Sydney, Australia on Christmas morning, and we couldn't asked for a better Christmas present! We will be in Australia for about three weeks and have been invited to stay with Tim's cousin Debbie and her husband Tristan and their new baby Jasper. During our visit we hope to in addition to visiting with family in Sydney and frequenting its many beaches, take in New Years Eve at the Sydney Harbour, make a trip up to Byron Bay for a short holiday, and visit family in Brisbane.

We have a very exciting year ahead of us indeed!