Australian Chrissy 2011

This holiday season I have been on a baking frenzy…ok, since being pregnant I have been on a baking frenzy but I was in full effect over the past couple of weeks!  I have certain treats and snacks that I like to eat around Christmas time and making and baking them here was still on my agenda.  Thanks to shipments from family and friends at home and from a few items I brought back with me from my US visit, we were able to cover several of my necessities.  As much as we appreciate living in an English speaking country where we can eat and get most of the same foods as at home, it is hard to believe how many random things we cannot get here!  It’s also hard to believe that many of these items have fallen under my “craving” list.   

I made a large batch of Chex Mix, peanut clusters, white and chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, and the Santa hat pretzels you’ll see below.  Luke was a good sport and helped me with the Santa hats and sugar cookies…he also helped me taste test each one over and over!  ;)  Don’t worry, we shared at different holiday events as well as made plates to share with some friends.  We definitely ate more than enough of our fair share though and I can now say that I am through baking for the time being.

 My cookie cutters were too big so we switched to just small, round cookies instead

 Thank you, Lesley Tilley for this idea from Pinterest

 Luke was a great helper!

Last year at this time I explained to you about the differences in how Christmas is celebrated over here.  Because it is summertime, it seems like the majority of people have BBQ’s and big dinners with fresh seafood and fruit.  The Sydney Fish Market has a 36 hour Christmas Trading Marathon from 5 a.m. December 23 to 5pm December 24.  This is the time that people head to the market to stock up on as much fresh fish as they can for their holiday celebrations.  We decided that this year it would be fun to do the same. 

Luke and I decided to host a small Christmas Eve dinner for a few of our friends.  We had been wanting to roll our own sushi for quite some time now so we thought this would be a good time to try.  Early on Christmas Eve morning Luke, Michelle, Iain, and I went down to brave the fish market.  We knew it would be packed with crazy people but we had no idea until we got there!  There are several places where you can purchase sashimi pieces of fish which means they are also caught and handled in a particular way making us less nervous to serve this for dinner.  They also will pre-slice your pieces which helped a lot with our prep time.  Luckily, the woman standing in line next to Luke offered her helpful advice and we were able to purchase our fish a little more easily. 

When we got home, Luke made one last trip to the little Japanese market up the road from our apartment.  They were also very helpful at making sure he made it home with the right items to have our evening go off without a hitch! 

For those of you shaking your heads at me about eating sushi while I am pregnant, don’t worry!  I have not been eating raw fish.  J  I am still able to eat veggie sushi rolls and shrimp.  Luke even successfully made shrimp tempura (battered shrimp) for one of our appetizers!  Our menu was: miso soup, edamame, and then sushi.  We also started the night with plenty of other nibbles while the preparation and cooking was going on.  We had a very fun night and it all turned out better than we expected.  We can’t wait to do it again!  We also successfully used almost every dish, platter, bowl, cooking utensil, pot, pan, and everything else in the kitchen and we made a massive mess while doing it. 

I included a few pictures of our Christmas décor.  Luke put our Christmas tree up on a box so it appeared much taller than it really was.  It was so fun to decorate the tree this year with all of my special ornaments that some of my friends sent us last year.  Thank you to everyone who has sent a Christmas card.  They are still rolling in and we love to see you and your family’s smiling faces!  Thanks for thinking of us from afar. 

At about 11:45pm Santa made a special appearance!  J

We started Christmas day with Luke’s famous omelets for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach.  Still very weird without the cold and snow but it sounded like Kansas City didn’t quite have a White Christmas this year either.  We hope you all had a Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

"Movember" and More

Movember 

http://au.movember.com/

For the month of November, “Movember” is a special event that thousands of men take part of in Australia and around the world. The men are responsible for growing a moustache to bring awareness for prostate cancer and depression in men.  Everyone must start clean-shaven to begin the event on November 1^st.  At the end of the month, there are celebrations and parties to attend.

Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November and through their actions and words raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men's health.

Luke and several of his coworkers took part in Movember and created their own team, “I’m Sexy and I MO it!”  J  (I know you're all singing along now!)  Please enjoy the pictures below of Luke and his special ‘stache he grew.  I should mention that I was back in the US for almost half of the month so I received weekly pictures of the MO and even had the privilege of seeing it in person when I returned at the beginning of December.  That’s right, he was so kind to SAVE the shaving until after I had been back for about a week! 

 

Sculpture by the Sea

For most of the month of November there is a special exhibit on at Bondi Beach called Sculpture by the Sea.  Area artists have their sculptures along a 2km stretch from Bondi Beach to Tamarama.  The first weekend the exhibit opened we decided to spend the afternoon at the beach for a picnic lunch and then did the coastal walk to see the artwork. 

Australian Open

When we heard the Australian Open was taking place in Sydney, Luke added this to our “must do” list.  When the time came I was really looking forward to going because it would be my first professional golf tournament experience.  We left early one morning and spent the day at the course.  And although Tiger isn’t at the top of my list of men of the year, he is still one of Luke’s favorite golfers and we had some very up close views of him playing. 

Luke informed me that although everyone around us continued to take pictures with their phones and cameras, he wanted us to follow the rules and be respectful of the golfers by NOT.  I followed his directions but took every opportunity to snap a few shots when it was appropriate! 

 Everyone around yelling, "TIGA!"  No, "'-er's" in names here! ;) 

KSU visitors

As you may remember from a few months ago, we were invited to attend an alumni event hosted by the Kansas State President, Kirk Schulz while he and a few other university staff members were visiting Australia.  Since that time, Erin has become the Australia K State Alumni President and began working on contacting the known K Staters in the country to notify them of our new spirit club!  We had a second event one evening in November when several more university guests came for another visit.  Erin planned a fantastic event at one of our favorite pubs.  We were excited to see that the university had even made us our own banner to signify our official new group over here! 

Lisa’s Visit Home

I was very fortunate to be able to make one last visit to the US before I got too far along in my pregnancy.  Luke and I were both bummed that he wasn’t allowed to fly yet due to his back surgeries.  So I headed to the states by myself for a 3 week visit to see family and close friends.  It was a trip full of many dinners, lunches, shopping, and much needed quality time with my family and friends.  I was so happy to spend Thanksgiving with my family and then again with Luke’s family.  I had three very special baby showers while I was home, too.  I was overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity at each one and it still brings me to tears as I sit here writing this right now.  Having our baby on the other side of the world away from our family and friends is something we will adjust to, but being able to celebrate my pregnancy with so many important people to us is something I appreciated more than anything.  Thank you!  Thank you!  My friends gave me a special journal for everyone to write their own baby/parenting advice in.  I have my book over half full at this time because I was able to see so many of you while I was home!  J  If you would like to add anything to it, please feel free to email it to me and I’ll be sure to print it and add it to the book.
 

Every visit back home is memorable and very important for me, but this trip was in particular because the next time we visit we'll have an extra special visitor to bring along! 

Back in Oz

I returned to Australia at the beginning of December.  We attended Cerner’s Christmas party that week and also celebrated Erin’s birthday.  I brought back a yellow cake mix from the US so I could make her favorite- yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcakes.  YUM!

Our favorite little coffee shop had a little surprise waiting for us right before they closed for the Christmas holidays.  Another reason we love that place! 

A few new words:
tanty = tantrum
cling film = cling wrap
paddle pop stick = popsicle stick