G' DAY MATE

I've arrived in the land down under!!!

I have a whirlwind of thoughts going through my head and things I want to write about so I don't forget...

The flight.
3:50hrs to Los Angelos,CA. I checked out a book, The Notebook, from the library and read the majority of it on my flight to LA. It was a GREAT book so the time went by fast.
Arriving in LA was a whirlwind. I had to "leave" the airport and re-check back in since I was going international. I've learned to ask question which is good b/c I was able to get my way around. I loved the LA airport...I loved the mix of people, different accents, different skin colors, and just the mass of people. I did alot of people watching. I get a thrill of going outside the box of my little town and routine and seeing such a BIGGER world view. It makes me feel so small and unimportant (which one might think is a bad thing) BUT in doing so, I see God so much more ALMIGHTY. It's silly that an airport was so exiciting for me. Jeff says it was because I was flying internationally, the whole terminal was for international flights only.

As I was getting my new boarding pass I stood behind 2 young guys, one was from Paris and the other from Ireland. I was engulfed just listening to them talk. They were both speaking in English but I LOVED their accents. I'm a sucker for a man with an accent...and I've come to love Irelands the best. I'm sure I was standing a little to close to them but that was the only way I could hear above the crowld of the airport.

I realized traveling alone forces you to met and talk to new people. When I'm with Jeff or the kids I don't branch out or strike up a conversation with anyone else. When I am by myself I made conversation with several people waiting in lines, on layovers and even on the flights. Learning about other people and even just the little things about their life is so interesting to me.

14:20hrs to Brisbane, Australia
I sat in the middle of 2 friendly people..Since I was in the middle of two strangers I got no sleep. Combined I only slept for about 1.5hrs TOTAL, just in spurts of 15-30minutes here and there. I watched a couple of movies and read more. I'm pretty sure I used the bathroom about 10 times. The flight itself is a blur.
My flight left Texas at 7pm Friday and then I left LA at 1am (Texas time) putting me in Australia around 3pm Saturday (texas time). EXCEPT it wasn't 3pm Saturday Texas Time. It was 6am Sunday, Australia. Bacially I skipped a whole day, a little weird.


Since I didn't sleep on the plane I hadn't slept in like 32 hours...I was a bit exhausted when I arrived. I was so excited once we landed...I was in AUSTRALIA!!
But then having to wait on my luggage and going through customs my zeal was fading because of sleep deprivation. Everyone had been so nice to me the whole trip but in costoms there was one lady worker that was rude and yelled at me, which aided in my next emotion.. When I finally got to Jeff, I gave him a BIG hug and started to cry...I had so many emotions running through me I couldn't contain myself...I tend to lose the ability to handle my emotions when I'm tired. I know it caught Jeff off guard and at the moment I couldn't even explain my own self or what I was feeling.
It was long anticipation for this day, my longing and love for travel and seeing the world, my excitment about being with my husband for 2weeks all alone, the reality that I was so far away from my kids (I didn't cry when I said goodbye, I cried when I arrived), because that darn lady yelled at me and let us not forget I was TIRED!

Jeff and I grabbed breakfast at McDonald:) I had what was called a McAmerica breakfast! When we got to the house I showered and crashed for about 4 hours.
We got up and drove around then went to a mall/grocery store and walking around holding hands:) while I took everything in. We picked up some groceries for the week then headed back to the house. It gets pitch black here around 5pm because it is winter time here. I think the weather is perfect. It's cool and crisp, it reminds me of a cool spring day. The land is more hilly then I imagined and housing reminds me of San Fransico they way they are layed out and stacked on the hills.
The house we are at is beautiful! It's roomy and modern with nice furniture, hard wood floors, and decorations. It has a pool table room, media room, walk in showers (I think 7 people could fit into) and out back it has a terrace. It's not anything spectacular on the outside the inside is REALLY nice. The CRAZY thing is that the PRIME MINISTER (aka President) of Australia has a house next door...like right next door..like the only thing seperating the houses is a fence line. Granted his house is a litte more extravant. He lived in the house last year before he became PRIME MINISTER but now he lives in the official "I rule the country house"... but apparently on Sundays he or his family come back to the house because there is ALOT of secret service and security around the house and street today (and last Sunday)they are all dressed in back wearing suits...just like out of the movies. Jeff says the house is empty during the week or atleast there aren't cars lining the street and secret service like the past 2 Sundays. The whole thing BLOWS my mind!

I've only arrived 12 hours ago AND I'm LOVING IT!