My Journey: Who Am I?

I am pooped today and not really sure why...but at least it means I will finally get to bed at a decent time. Since moving into our apt. we haven't been going to bed until like 2a.m....not good!

On Friday (Thursday in America) I will be volunteering at University of Newcastle for their Cultural Awaking Event. I am super duper pumped for this, I have been smiling non stop since getting off the phone with the peeps in charge.

So while I get back into my element of being on campus, here is the post I had over at Diana's blog for you to read!  I think it's important for me to share here as well because it will be a big part of my life here in Aussie as well as the blog.
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Sho + Dave = Shoave

A little while after my husband and I started dating a friend mixed our names together and came up with Shoave, just like Brangelina..but a little less famous, wealthy, and waaaaay fewer kids [like no kids at all....yet].  This past year Dave and I decided that we were going to move to Australia for 6-12 months and see if we could make it in another country. This is something I have always wanted to do, the timing was perfect for us to do so we jumped at the chance. During the months leading up to moving we discussed that our time in Australia was going to be the time where we find ourselves and become the people who we want to be, no pressures and expectations to meet.

Before getting too serious (i.e. getting jobs and figuring how who we are) we have taken time to explore things near our new home in Newcastle, New South Wales.

who can resist a smiling koala bear?

But now it is time  to finally buckle down and figure out, Who The Heck I Am/ Want Be.  How to do this...I'm just not sure yet. We do have a little something on our fridge that makes me think about it quite often. 

This is our fridge door...

 This is the postcard that greets me every time I reach for something to eat or drink:

Avantcard

It's like when you are at an interview and they ask you to describe yourself and you never know what to say. You end up mumbling a few things and then hope that they move forward with the next question. But now there is no moving forward on to the next, I am going to stay at this question until I figure it out.  Then I will be able to answer the next question of Who Do I Want To Be and how the heck do I get there.  I do have a general idea of who I want to be; I want to be someone who is more self confident, who actually cares and tries to be healthy, who is more adventurous in wardrobe choices, and who thinks that they are "cool" (seriously, what does "cool" even mean!), but I think there is more to me than that and I need to explore it.

I invite you to join me on this journey of becoming and figuring out the person I want to be as well as following Shoave's Aussie Adventures!  

Cheers!

p.s. any advice is totalllllllyyyy appreciated, that is what blog families are for right?

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE! 

I will keep you posted on how the volunteering goes..but cross your fingers

that is goes splendid!

{Insert Clever Title Here}

Hello Hello Hello!!!  

I have some really exciting news....are you ready for this?  No, seriously. Do you think you are seriously ready for the news that I am about to present you with? Have you stopped multi tasking, closed all the other windows, and are completely giving your full attention to the words written here on this very page?  If you answered an excited YES! to at least one of the above, then I think you are ready.

I am a guest blogger today!! EEEEEPPPPPPP!!!! I find this to be very cool, and since this is my first one I am going to geek out about it a little bit!  So, what is a guest blogger you say. Well basically it just means that I wrote a post on someone else's blog. BUT just so you know the post is a GREAT post...like waaaayyyy good!

You can find the post on :dianapantz: (I don't have the direct link because it's 12a.m. Thursday here and only 9a.m. Wednesday there and it's not technically up...but i'm tired and about to go to bed), this is one of my great friends blogs so make sure you check it out. The post is about the journey I am about to take, yes I know I already am on a journey in Australia, but this is a more personal journey. It's the journey to find out who I want to be and who I am and using this time in Australia to do so.  Shortly I will start this journey and posting things along the way on the blog...cause I know that I am going to need support from YOU (and you, and you, and YOU).

* If you have stopped by from :dianapantz: WELCOME!!! Make yourself comfortable, read a few posts, and remember not to be a stranger. **

Before I left for Australia Diana made me a custom Australia tote bag to use during my adventure. Dave and I use it ALL the time for almost everything. We use it for shopping, groceries, the beach, and going to the park..basically if we have carrying to do the bag comes with.

But today when using it I was blown away by HOW much I could get into the tote, I had to share it with you:

Inside: beach blanket, sunglasses, macbook pro, notebook, rugby ball, two books, pouch, and coin purse

I was impressed by how much stuff the tote could hold and not even break a sweat, 

Dave was impressed that Diana remembered to include Tasmania with the Australia stencil.

REMEMBER:

* join the cool kids club (a.ka. follow the blog). I'm trying to get to 50 by the end of the year..with your love and support I think I can do it! *

Check out my post on :dianapantz:

also, while you are there you might as well check out her Etsy shop and see all the totes and other goodies she makes! 

Lovin This Song...

This is one of my favorite songs right now, I can't get it out of my head...and I am perfectly fine with that!

Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye

Gotye is a Belgian Australian artist who released his first album back in 2001, and has recently released his third album. Somebody That I Used to Know has become a HUGE hit for him, maybe the biggest he has had! You can find this song on his newest album, Making Mirrors (which I have read is suppose to be really good!). I don't know about you but as soon as I heard this song I logged on to YouTube and listened to some of his other songs. I love when you find something you like so much that you instantly want to know more about the artist and what other things they have released. I hope you get the same feelings as I did! 

light shines through

I wrote this entry a long time ago and just realized that it never posted. When reading it I felt that it was something that I had to share. Enjoy. 

Where there is darkness, there is light shining in. We may not alwasy see the light, we may have to search for it but it's there even if it is just a small ray reaching down, it is there. When you are in the darkness it feels like there is no way out. You struggle against the things you cannot see, tripping and falling over yourself and the other things in your life that the darkness hides. You fear that you will never exist the darkness that it will consume you whole, taking over all that you have. But its when we get to our lowest, darkest place that is when we see  the smallest, faintest hint of light peeking in through a hole or old window aged with the dirt of the world. But nothing can stop the light from peering in, it struggles against the darkness to come and show us the way. Then we have the option to reach for it and follow it or stay consumed in the darkness. It's a tough decision, but it's one that we all get to make at least once in our lives, that's the beauty of it all...we get to decide.  

August: Day by Day

Wandering what Dave and I did in the month of August when were first starting our adventure in Australia? Well, wonder no more.....

August 31, 2011:

• Apartment sprayed for roaches! YAY!
• Went to Hogs Breathe Cafe for lunch..ick
• Walked to Tree of Knowledge Park..feel enlightened now!
• Walked sunset at Queens Wharf

August 30, 2011:

• Hot Chocolate and Cupcake 
• Afternoon in the park: Me reading and Dave playing rugby by himself
• Dave met a local who kicked the ball around with him

August 29, 2011:

• Trip to library and to get hot chocolate
• Went wandering further down Darby Street and found our way to Bar Beach

August 28, 2011:

• Grocery shopping..cause that is what we do on Sunday!
• Went to Stockton to do the Shipwreck Walk and watched the sunset

August 27, 2011:

• Woke up to landlord pounding on our door...she just had updates for us.
• Friendly carpenter fixed the hole in our bathroom wall.
• Cleaned the apartment.
• Ate supper at Turkish restaurant and ate a Pide for the first time. 
• Watched the Final Game of the Tri Nation (Wallabies vs. All Blacks). Beginning to really enjoy watching Rugby!

August 26, 2011:

• Got our first Aussie haircuts!
• Figured out where the coach terminal was.
• Researched and began discussions for future trips out of Newcastle.
• Watched The Farmers Wants a Wife and I fell in love with Farmer Kev!
• FaceTime Chatted with my sister and nieces!!!!

August 25, 2011:

• Took train into Sydney for the day!
• Saw The Rocks Settlement, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanical Gardens.
• Watch sunset over the bridge and the opera house light up.
• Ate at Hungry Jack's
• Took over 450+ photos

August 24, 2011:

• Got loads of stuff done in the morning!
• Went running at beach and Nobbys Head...walked back!
• Went to new park and read under the tree
• Dave made supper for the first time in Australia!

August 23, 2011:

• Shipped first PhotoSho order from Aussie
• Walked around Market town area
• Ate Indian food
• Went to Newcastle Beach close to sunset
• Dave got stung by Jellyfish...I laughed because I am a supportive wife

August 22, 2011:

• Shipped off first set of pressies to the states (WAAAYYY expensive)

August 21, 2011:

• Went out to eat for lunch at Zinc
• Searched for the Newcastle Sunday Paper..found the Saturday Paper
• Got caught in another Newcastle drizzle
• Watched 4 episodes of Bones in bed
• Watched the newest episode of Bones on the boob tube

August 20, 2011:

• Dave and I slept with the light on so I didn't have to worry about the roaches
• Went to Centerary Antique Center 
• Took first ferry ride to Stockton
• Got caught in storm (was pelted by rain!)
• Saw a very large ship come into the harbor
• Cooked first meal on the stove, Alfredo!

August 19, 2011:

• Woke up late (and cranky) due to little sleep because I kept thinking roaches were going to crawl on me!
• Weather was dreary and drizzly
• Went to Aldi for pop, chips, chocolate, ice-cream, and Raid
• Sprayed the crap out of the apartment with Raid!
• Had cake and ice-cream..yum!
• Played Scrabble and took a little break to kill two roaches
• Watched first 2 episodes of The Wire
• Cleaned up another HUGE roach in the shower before heading to bed

August 18, 2011:

• Went to Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
• Got library card (well..Dave did) and checked out some books
• Went shopping for pressies on Darby Street
• First workout session in a LOOOONG time! We went through our area The (steep) Hills.
• Found new park for us to sit under palm trees and read the day away
• Killed the BIGGEST roach ever! It was an Australian Roach..google it!

August 17, 2011:

• Lazy day to the overcast and drizzle!
• Changed lightbulb (how exciting and home ownerish of us)
• Found post office and sent out our first post (costs $2.35 to mail a letter to US)
• Found local used bookstore and searched the many many shelves
• Curled up under blankets watching tv

August 16, 2011:

• Used our stove for the first time...and made the smoke detector off multiple times!
• Went to Kotara to Blackbutt Reserve
• Pet a Koala
• Saw baby koala and joey plus many beautiful birds
• Had our first meal at our apartment (well...warmed up pre-cooked lasagna!)

August 15, 2011:

• Slept in because my crazy husband talked about people coming in and scared me so I didn't fall asleep until late!
• We played catch with our rugby ball in our little backyard
• Got our phone to work!!
• Bought pressies for the family!
• Dave got a cricket bat to hit intruders with (he had a baseball bat in the states!)
• Booked our trip to Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand!!
• Called home for the first time!

August 14, 2011:

• Went to Marketown Shopping Area
• Woolworths
• Big W
• Bought phone at Big W (kind of like Walmart)
• Bought groceries at Woolworths and walked back 30 min with all our purchases
• Played travel Scrabble into the night
• Watched Bones on TV (first time ever doing this)!

August 13, 2011:

• Moved into new apartment! Then spent the rest of the day cleaning, disinfecting, and doing laundry!
• Went to Go-Lo and purchased items for our apartment, we then carried our items up the STEEPEST HILL EVER!
• Discovered the netflix and hulu do not exist over in Australia (boooooooooo!)
• Ate at TakeAway Burgers on Darby Street, where we indeed did take away our burgers and ate them in our new apartment!
• Spent the rest of the evening cuddled on the couch watching tv!

August 12, 2011:

• HUGE storm in the morning, the wild was howling outside our window!
• Went to Newcastle Museum 
• Got apartment in The Hills area. Costs 340/wk. and is fully furnished
• Ate at Blue Water Pizza and ordered the Texas pizza.
• Due to the pizza being way small we ate Fish and Chips from Scotties and took them to the beach to eat.

August 11, 2011:

• Checked into the YHA Hostel (my first hostel)
• ate lunch at Scotties on Scott Street; we sat outside at a rickety table just like the travel book stated. The meal was DELISH!
• Grabbed hot chocolate and a chocolate muffin, ate it at a table on the beach watching the waves crash into the waves. 
• Ate supper at The Brewery on the Wharf for free with the YHA.
• Shared an ice cream bar, tim tams, and water on the beach at night.

August 10, 2011:

• Took our first train ride  to Adamstown to see a potential place to live. We saw the outside and turned right around. The place looked like a cracked out hotel!! SCARY!
• Took our first bus ride to Charlestown to go to the Apple store. Charlestown is where you have to go for the bigger stores and shopping. 
• We went to the Typo store in Charlestown Mall and it was AMAZING, heard Conor Oberst playing over the speaker system (heart), and visited the MPLS's love, Target. 
• For supper we went to Goldeys on Darby Street and had large portions of great food. 

August 9, 2011:

• Woke up and watched cricket in bed
• Opened Australian bank account at NAB (Serena helped us..she was great!)
• Walked Darby Street and fell in love with funky stores and cafes
• Made friends with worker at Peak Cafe
• Visited the library!
• Filled out our census form for Census Night! Takes place every 5 years!!

August 8, 2011:

• Blew circuit in hotel room by trying to turn on my flat iron
• Walked & explored NE Newcastle for 6 hours
• Nobbys Beach
• Newcastle Beach
• King Edwards Park
• Obelisk
• Hunter Street Mall
• Saw girl in Minnesota shirt
• Watched Monday Night Football (Rugby League): Rabbitohs vs. Eels

Lessons Learned (thus far)...

The move to Australia is not only an adventure but a time for Shoave to do some independent self discovery. I plan to use this time not just hanging out with the cutest boy on the beach but to take time to reflect and learn new things about myself.

10 Things I have learned thus far....

1) Sometimes by leaving the country you become closer to your family.  I feel closer to my family than I have the past three years when I lived across the country. I am in contact with them more than I have ever been before with weekly emails, phone calls home, and chatting on facebook or facetime. It feels great to have them in my life, it hasn't been this way for many years. 

2) I don't love roaches...but if needed I can live with them (kind of).  I am not a fan of insects at all, they make me scream like a little girl ( which is funny because when I was a little girl I actually liked insects). This was the first ever experience I have had with roaches and truth be told after awhile you do kind of get used to them, you see them and then you just kill it. Maybe this shows that I can live with other insects or do some extreme living and not hate it so much. 

3) I'm a Negative Nancy and Dave has to be my cheerleader.  Man, I have been miss negative pants more than a few times already since our move here. I get down on really small details and stay in a funk for awhile. I have stated more than once that I am ready to leave and just want to explore and go home. When things are tough I sometimes fold much to fast and easy.  Dave has always been there to be my cheerleader and put things back into perspective for me. I wish I was braver and more adventurous, without getting all in a huff over the little things. 

4) I feel at home in a new place as soon as I have a library card.  This is soooo true! As soon as we got our apartment and finally had an address I asked Dave if we could got to the library and try to get a library card. Once I have a library card, I feel like I am part of the community, cause you know they don't just let any passerby get one! Plus the library is one of my favorite places in any town I live in. (Thanks grandma for instilling this in me!)

5) Australia is uber expensive.  I didn't realize just how expensive Australia was until we moved here. I thought it was comparable to living in the DC area, but nope it's worse. I sometimes worry about how we are going to do all the things we want to do and still have enough money to get back home at the end of it. Just an FYI..a bottle of pop costs $3.45 AUS!

6) I really like watching rugby and believe that more Americans should as well.  Dave played rugby at college when we met, that was really as much as I knew about rugby. They love rugby here in Australia and I finally get why! It's fast paced, aggressive, and the players endure a lot of pain. I watch and am amazed at how the players do it! Since Americans seem to love their NFL, I think they would love rugby. Imagine NFL without pads and constant play, they would eat it up in the States! I can't wait until we got to the Rugby World Cup and watch USA vs. Australia!

7) Unplanned adventures are GRRRREEAAATTT.  The best adventures you have within the day are the ones that are unplanned and unexpected. It's about having no expectations or presumptions and letting the mystery unfold while you are in the moment. Some of the best days we have had here are the ones where we figure things out the last minute and just go with the flow. 

8) I say "cool"/"I want to be cool" wwaaaaaayyyy to much.  I'm not proud of this one, but it's something that I have discovered while here. I have this notion that I am just not "cool" and all that I want to be is "cool". I say it all the time to Dave when describing different things are talking about who I want to become. But really what is even the definition of cool? There isn't one...so why they heck do I care so much of becoming something I'm not even sure what it is?

9) MN is where the heart is.  I think a lot about when Dave and I will move back to MN after Australia. I can't wait to be in Minneapolis and finally start putting some roots down. I think about getting a home, how we will decorate it, get our Winston, be with friends and family, and maybe start our own family. Minnesota holds so many things that I love, I have missed it the past three years we have been gone. 

10) If you have barista skills or know your coffee you probably can get a job anywhere in the world.  This is a skill I wish I had, I don't like coffee or really the smell of coffee, but I do like a good hot chocolate (does that count?).  There are tons of cafes here in Newcastle, some even looking for employees..but due to my lack of skill in this area I am not qualified, hence I am still unemployed. I believe if you had barista skills you could easily get a job in any country because hey people LOVE their coffee. So kids out there go to your local coffee shop or Starbucks, get a job and learn all you can then go travel the world, working as a barista for money to supply the adventures. 

I can't believe we left for our adventure a month ago!

I wonder what things I will learn in this upcoming month. 

One moment

Sometimes it's just one moment that makes the

whole day worth living.