First leg of the trip

We're scheduled to leave the Sunshine Coast tomorrow, so our first leg is almost up. We've spent all of the time here just spending time with my Dad. This is Dustin's fourth visit to this area, so there wasn't anything touristy planned.

Our flight from LA was turbulent the whole trip. I've never had such a bad flight. And it took us over an hour to land in Sydney because of the high winds (runway was changed five times!). When we landed, we were told that because of the winds, Sydney Airport was down to one runway only. Amazing. We arrived in Queensland, though, with no problems at all.

Someone observed that all of my "things to do when I get home" were food-related. That is truly what I've missed most about being away from Australia. Culinary highlights so far have been fish and chips from the fishermans' co-op by the river, cheesymite scrolls, Farmers Union Iced Coffee, lamingtons, Tim Tams, Lift and Solo (for some reason, America doesn't have lemon squash which we'd think would be extremely popular over there). We still haven't been to a pie shop, but I think that's planned for tomorrow...

Dustin went surfing with my brother on the weekend, which was something he was really looking forward to doing. I did the typical chick thing and stayed on the beach.

We fly out to Darwin tomorrow, for the second leg of our trip. We'll be spending a week and a half in the Northern Territory, which is something we're both really excited about. As nice as it's been to spend time here, we've been here so many times before. We're looking forward to seeing new sights!

Stay tuned for further updates...

We're coming home!!!

I am so, so happy to say that we are coming home!!! After four years, I am finally going to be able to go to a pub for a cold beer and fish & chips, drive on the right (ie, CORRECT!) side of the road, and hear my own accent again.

Well, actually, it may not be such a familiar accent. I had to call a tour company in Australia last night, and the girl I spoke to sounded so weird. As she was talking, I thought to myself, "Did I ever sound like that??"

Right now, here is the list of MUST DO's:

1. Go to a bakery as soon as the plane lands. Order a pie, custard tart and iced coffee.

2. Go to Coles. Buy Cherry Ripes, licorice bullets, raspberry cordial, Cheezels, Minties, Snakes Alive, Lift lemon squash, and try not to eat them all in the first day!

3. Go to the Anzac Day Dawn Service.

4. Go to the beach.

5. Go to the Art Gallery in Adelaide and look for my favourite paintings.

6. Go back to Coles and buy lots and lots of lollies and chocolate to hoard when I come back to America. )-:

So, here is the rough plan of what we're doing: We'll spend time on the Sunshine Coast with family, then fly up to Darwin. We're joining a camping tour around Kakadu, then down to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, before flying down to Adelaide. Will be spending most of our time in Adelaide, before flying to Sydney for a day or two, then back to the U.S.

Ok, so after re-reading this post, it's ridiculously disjointed. But that just shows how excited I am!!! Can't wait to come home and see everyone again...

We found out!!

We're going to Charlotte, North Carolina!!!!



And I just quit my job!!!



WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!!!

Latest photos

Hey y'all-


We just got our photos back from our trips and here are a couple from Salt Lake City. As you can see, there was lots of snow when we were there!

Of course, I also took a few of my little girl, so here is my current favorite shot:

Remember: SIX days until Match Day!! I swear I am more excited about this than Dustin...

Home renovations, trashy TV and the countdown continues...

Since we're hoping to leave Augusta and sell our house, we've been doing all those renovations that we'd planned over the past few years. We've repainted the bathroom and kitchen cabinets, and replaced the dirty off-white carpet with hardwood flooring. Now the house looks so good, we're kicking ourselves for not having done this when we first moved in!!

I think things have changed back home by now, but I remember only having five TV channels to choose from when I wanted to watch TV. Here in the US, I don't even know how many we have access to. Some I never, ever look at: CNN, the "outdoor" channels (which are solely geared toward hunters and fishermen), and all the sporting channels. I do watch the Food Network, much to Dustin's dismay. (The hotlink will take you to Paula Deen's TV show. She's a wonderful lady from Savannah- just down the road from Augusta- who cooks all sorts of wonderful Southern food. The recipes usually start like this: "Now y'all, take 2 cups of melted butter and add 4 cups of mayo. To this, add 12 cups of sugar, then 2 blocks of cream cheese..."). Every now and then, though, I'll get caught up in the TRASHIEST TV you can imagine. A few months ago, I couldn't stop watching a reality dating show, where the prize was winning a relationship with Bret Michaels. For those who don't remember, he was the lead singer of an 80s hair band called Poison. It was absolutely appalling and captivating at the same time: why on earth are those women fighting to get with him, and oh my god, did you see what she just did??? The network that plays this show, VH1, specialises in bringing back all those people that you think, "I wonder what happened to...?" Their current line-up includes a show about Salt & Pepa, another reality dating show with Flava Flav (from Public Enemy), a reality show about Scott Baio, and a reality celebrity rehab show!! Like I said: captivating and appalling, all at the same time!!

After admitting to watching trashy TV, I'll try to redeem myself by recommending the latest book I've read: People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. It was truly the best book I've read for a while.

I hope everyone is still sending us all their best thoughts and wishes for Match Day on the 20th.

10 days until we find out where we'll be living!!

New Year, new hair!

Hey y'all,

It's an awful photo of me, but here is proof that I am getting my hair back! This photo was taken at my work Christmas party, so my hair's actually a little longer than this now. It's still curly, which takes some getting used to, but I'm definitely not complaining.

It seems as though I do nothing but complain lately, so I'm not going to bore anyone with the bad stuff that's been going on since I last posted. On the positive side, we were able to do a bit of travelling over the last few months, due to Dustin's residency interviews. We went all over the country:

Portland, Oregon: reminded me so much of Adelaide, which made me feel right at home. It's the same size city, very similar skyline (built right on a river) and the same humanitarian, left-wing mentality. I actually read a post the other day: some guy whining that if you're not a liberal, then you get questioned. Good grief! Is it not enough that the rest of the country considers calling someone a "liberal" an insult??

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: I was really looking forward to going to Philly for the first time, because I was really excited about seeing my all-time favourite painting (Nude Descending a Staircase, by Marcel Duchamp, see below). While I was thrilled to see this painting at last, I was not so thrilled by Philly. It was actually kinda scary. One of the hospitals that Dustin interviewed at is right in the heart of the ghetto, and the staff must park close to the entrance if they start or finish their shift out of daylight hours. Not something I want to worry about for the next three years...


Charlottesville, Virginia: a very pretty little college town, but much too small.


Charlotte, North Carolina: one of the best emergency medicine programs in the country. Dustin is VERY excited about this place. Charlotte itself is growing very quickly, and is becoming the banking centre of the US.




New York City, New York: Dustin interviewed with four different hospitals in New York. While none of these hospitals are nationally renowned, he knows that I would LOVE to live in NYC. Obviously, they know the cost of living is a huge turn-off for most applicants, so they pay more and the Manhattan hospital has heavily subsidised accommodation, right on 57th Street!!


Salt Lake City, Utah: When we arrived in Salt Lake, there was snow everywhere. It was so beautiful!! We went cross-country skiing and hiked through the snow on our free days there. While we both really liked the amazing scenery, I don't think this city is going to be high on our list. There aren't really many job opportunities for me here.


Nashville, Tennesee: The favourite pick for the rest of Dustin's family, because it's the closest to them! Nashville is actually a pretty cool city (it's not just country music), and this hospital is tied with Charlotte for the best ER program in the country.


Lousville, Kentucky: I can't say anything about Louisville (the Kentucky Derby is held here every year) because my boss wouldn't give me a day off to go with Dustin. But I said I wouldn't complain, right?...


We'll find out on March 20th where Dustin will be offered a position. The students don't actually get to choose, once they submit their ranked list of programs. Wherever they're offered a position, that's where they have to go. Unless they aren't offered a position, and then it's known as "scrambling". Hopefully, we won't have to worry about that happening.


So, when it's the 20th, think of us and send us all your best thoughts and wishes...


V. x

4 Things You May or May Not Know About Me

My dear friend, Joanne, sends me these chain-letter emails, knowing that I'll never respond to her! But, this time, I am (albeit with edits)!

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Amelie: oh my goodness, I love this movie!
2. The Road Home: I cried my eyes out watching this movie in the theatre for the first time. Very embarrassing for the people with me.
3. The City of Lost Children: quite weird movie, but amazing visuals.
4. The Dish: the scene with the American national anthem cracks me up every single time.

Four TV Shows that I watch:
Ok, so I think this is a terrible question, so I'm going to change it to:
Four books I would read over and over:
1. Animal Farm, George Orwell: greatest book of all time.
2. Perfume, Patrick Suskind: beautifully written, creates beautiful images with words.
3. The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling: obvious choice!
4. Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck: one of my favourite writers. And it has a dog. Of course I love this book!

Four places I have been:
1. Havana, Cuba: walking along the Malecon (sea front) at sunset, hearing the salsa music playing in the homes across the street...
2. Bangkok, Thailand: haggling over designer knock-offs in the street markets.
3. Venice, Italy: wandering around the streets and alleyways, getting completely lost but loving it.
4. New York City, USA: one of the best trips I've had, because I was with a great friend, Carol.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Southern biscuits: so unhealthy, but so good...
2. Australian lollies: I miss these so bad: licorice bullets, Minties, Pascall chocolate eclairs, Allens snakes, pineapples, etc, etc, etc.
3. Thai curries: this dinky little town does amazingly have a Thai restaurant. Trouble is, it's a 30 minute drive from our house.
4. Chinese noodles: if they're cooked right, they're amazing.

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. NOT AT WORK!
2. NOT IN AUGUSTA!
3. Diving in the Caribbean somewhere
4. On Dustin's family farm, sitting on the porch with a cool drink, watching Bonnie run around the fields chasing butterflies

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Getting my hair back after chemo (it's already starting to grow!)
2. Going around the country with Dustin for his residency interviews
3. Our third anniversary
4. Christmas!