If you read my blog at all while I was in Australia, you will remember the names Emma and Ayla. If not, here is an abbreviated version of who these lovely ladies are:
AYLA is from Toronto and we met my very first night in Canberra! We spent many nights watching Weeds and Entourage, many trips to Lighty and Belco mall AND got to take an incredible 3-week backpacking trip up the East Coast.
One of our trips to Sydney! What a beautiful city.
Learning how to surf at Seven Mile Beach! Hang ten!
Ayla and I going to Res Ball at our Uni in Canberra!
EMMA is from Niagara Falls on the Canadian side! We met at the exchange student orientation and over the course of 4 months, discovered that we are the exact same person. Except she is blond and I am not:) We had so many pancake-for-dinner nights, Office and AD quote wars and not to mention our awesome Halloween party!
One of our many eventful trips to Civic!
our pumpkins on Halloween! We were dressed as Bogans. Definition here.
At the French school's fete!
Why the reminiscing? Because I am GOING TO CANADA to see these 2 awesome girls on SUNDAY! I am spending 3 days in Niagara with Emma and her family, and then she and I are driving to Toronto to visit with Ayla and her friends and family!
Also in the works is a reunion with 2 other UC alumnae, Bridget and Amanda from New York! We are hoping to meet up with them at the end of the week around the Falls!
Bridget, Amanda, me and Ayla on the gondola ride into Taronga Zoo in Sydney!
Even though we have emailed, Facebook chatted, text messaged, called and Skyped...it seems like it has been way longer than 9 months that I have been away from these girls! I am so beyond excited to see them!
There is a wonderful couple who go to church with me that started house/dog sitting for this year. They have an adorable little girl who will be 1 soon and 2 little dogs; a Yorkie named Lucy and a Maltese named Gimli.
Amy called me on Wednesday to tell me that Gimli does not seem happy around their little girl. He has been hiding a lot and acting like he is sad because he does not get all the attention! She asked if I knew anyone who would give him a happy and loving home and I said YES! Of course I knew someone because I wanted to take him!
After staying at their house almost the entire month of June, I absolutely fell in love with this precious little doggie! He is 4 years old and is a tiny ball of white fur! He is soooo well behaved and is the best of both worlds: he will sit in your lap and cuddle but he also likes to sleep in his own bed and do his own thing.
I picked him up last night and Mollie and had so much fun with him letting him get used to his new home! I am so excited to take care of him and love him!
1.August 2005. Move from Mom and Dad’s to floor k6 of Hess Hall. Have awful first roommate but in November, move down the hall and have awesome roommate! Stay until May 2006.
2.August 2006. Move to Crossing Place apartments with Stephanie, Emily and Jessie.
3.August 2007. Move from Crossing Place back to Mom and Dad’s.
4.August 2008. Move from Mom and Dad’s to Quarry Trail apartments with Stephanie, Mollie and Kathryn.
5.July 2009. Pack my stuff up at Quarry Trail apartments and go back (again) to Mom and Dad’s while I am in Australia.
6.August 2010. Move from Mom and Dad’s (last time?) to North Knoxville condo with Mollie.
Yikessss. Lots of packing tape, newspaper, trips up stairs and trips to Goodwill. For someone whose parents have lived in the same house my entire existence, I am definitely making up for the lack of moving now.
This current move (as in last week and yesterday, today, and probably next week, too) has been quite an…experience.
My dad’s sister and my awesome aunt Celeste, has owned a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo right off of Emory Road for 10ish years. For the past 2 , no one has lived there so it needed a fair amount of work to get it ready for my friend Mollie and I. My crafty and talented Grandma has repainted, refinished, scrubbed and cleaned that place top to bottom for us to live in! Last Sunday, our brand new downstairs floors were finally finished! Last Monday, I took a Craigslist-purchased desk over to the new place to check out the floors and unload some stuff. The very next day, our neighbor’s water heater burst…and ruined our brand-new, 2 days old floors. Oh dear.
We have been dealing with insurance and such the past few days and hopefully by the beginning of next week, there will be a check in hand to order new wood and re-do our floors in the living room and Mollie’s room. Miraculously nothing was ruined, only dampened a little bit, but all of our furniture AND all of Mollie’s stuff that was on the floors is ok. Whew!
It has been so exciting to see this place come together and I know that when it’s all finished it is going to look so pretty! I am excited to hang stuff up and do craft projects with Mollie to decorate our new home!
