Three Weeks In...

No, I haven't seen the sights of Australia. Do I really plan to? That's a negative. I'm not doing the tourist thing, I'm living day to day life with my boyfriend. Sure, we're going to take a vacation here or there, but we're not going to rush into the outback or the opera house or anything. We're going to Melbourne in two months, but other than that, we've got no travelling really planned. I'm sure Sydney will fit in there somewheres.

Sooooo... with that said... Things have been good. A few annoyances here and there, but nothing too bad. Ben and I are getting along great, there are absolutely no issues there. I love his family, the few friends I've met have been great. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with and getting to know people. Already have a scheduled weekly thing with Louise, and I see KC more than once a week at least thus far. Feeling very comfortable and happy with people.

The only really difficult thing, is coming to terms with how far away I am from home. Being unfamiliar with my area, not knowing how to get to places, not knowing what to do for a job (something I'm not in a hurry to get, but most certainly something I plan on doing in the very near future. I hate feeling like I'm mooching off of Ben. :/). I'll figure things out, and as time passes, I'm sure I'll feel better about things. I get my doubts from time to time, I want to hop on a plane home every so often... But I'll be fine. I know that it's something that just goes with the territory.

Also, I wish whats'erface would go away and stop finding it necessary to butt in and talk about nothing to Ben all day. Crazy stage 100 clinger ex girlfriend.

Aaaannnnnyyyyhow. Minor update, nothing super exciting. My hair is now red and lighter/kinda pinkish red.

Spiff.

G'night.

Week One in Australia

Let me start off by saying that 14 hour flights suck. They suck hardcore. Especially so when you can't sleep even after taking a hardcore knockout pill. Fail.

The flight wasn't miserable, really. I had friendly neighbours (that's spelled the Aussie way) in my row and no one snored or was obnoxious in any way. All in all, the company was dandy. Unfortunately for me... I was in the rear of the plane. Really, really, rreeeaaaallllyyy freakin' loud back there. Even the headphones couldn't blare out the sound of the engine. Stupid engine and requiring it for to fly.

So, yeah. 14 hours. And that's after two 2-hour delays in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Bleh. Oh wells.

Ahoy, there be Australia! After seeing clouds and water for far too long, land! Woot.

Customs are suck. They are full of uber suck with their not needing of the requirements I was supposed to meet. Stupid needing bank statements and insurance proofage and not being asked for it. Other than that, it was pretty win. Went by super quickly minus the bag retrieval and getting said bags scanned. Stupid lines.

Twas all worth it, though. For there was a Benji waiting for me. Much waving and head gesturing for him to go to other end of the line type thing to meet with me. Then there were hugs. And backwards cars. Yup. Backwards. Totally the wrong way. That shit's crazy. Ben was driving on the freeway/highway/road whatever and I was pretty terrified. Hahaha. Wrong side of the road, wrong side of the car. Sooo confusing! Then we finally reached my new abode for to reside in with Mr. Kolera and met his mother and sister there! <3 Then we had foods and conversations, though I started to pass out on the table at Purple Gorilla (burger place with roo burgers to, which for I has to try at some point). After our good, my almost unconscious visit, Ben and I went back upstairs and napped. Thhheeeennnn we met up with KC, Lex, Mel, and her boyfriend, I believe his name was Ryan? That was a super long long day.

So yeah, day one is right up there.

Uhhmmm... The rest of the week was spent just spending time with Ben, going to a workie-type meetup where I met his workmates and friends Chenry, Chris, and MJ. All were friendly toward me, so good start there! Also went out to KC and Lex's place, met his mum, and their roommate Clay. Good times to be had with that group in the future, I knows for sure! We also had dinner at Ben's mum's place and I met his brothers and a lady friend of the youngest Kolera boy. I started getting a bit tired out there, but my socializing skills were decent that night. I hope to make a better impression on his family once I'm a bit more used to my surroundings, the weather, and having a normal sleepytime schedule.

We also went to Soundwave. Think Van's Warped Tour and Ozzfest smooshed into one giant giant show. There were like 8 stages and it went on from 11am - 11pm. Long long day. Sunburning happened. I look all lobstery. Super cute.

OH! And Ben and I have an ice cream maker, courtesy of his mum. And we use it. WE USE THE HELL OUT OF IT! BECAUSE I LOVE ICE CREAM.

Also, Ben likes cooking. And I clean. So we're uber kick-ass kitchen team.

The shower glass only goes halfway along the shower. There is no slider. There wasn't meant to be a slider. This equaled confusion.

I have yet to see a potty flush the other way.

You can actually see stars out here.

This house is totally not girl friendly. Therefore today will be spent cleaning. Therefore making it more lady friendly. All kinds of therefores to be had.

Also, ex-girlfriend text messages too much. And nothing substantial. We like to reply "Lames." to everything she says. She asks about things she can find on the internets. Stupid. YOU HAVE A COMPUTER. AND INTERNETS. USE THEM. STUPID. -stab-

I miss my friends and family being within walking or short driving distance. I also miss Miles, rather than Kilometers, and I miss booze not costing so much, though I have yet to buy any. I hear it's far pricier. OH. And I miss Starbucks, late night drives, my kitty, Lady (UBER TONS), and my room. I miss working at the video store, I miss having people awake at the same time as me. I miss my madre and watching movies with her on random nights of the week and having ice cream with her and visiting with Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jim.

So, there is a lot of missing going on... but don't get me wrong. I'm very happy to be where I am with Ben. I'm very happy that he wanted me here enough to make it so, to open up his home to me and want to spend so much time with me. I know that this is what I want to do, and I'm going to continue down this path until one of these options occur:

A. He hates me and says GTFO
B. I hate him and I want to GTFO
C. All kinds of lovey goes bye-bye and I is sad and comes home. T_T
D. Other bad sad stuffs that I will refrain to make into brain scenarios

Sooo. Yeah. There you have it. Now I'm onto week two in Australia and I don't have Ben around all day to bother. Boo. Today is cleaning. Tomorrow is hopefully some time with Mel and/or KC, then KC again on Thursday with fun to be had, Friday daytime is unknown plannage, but evening time will be spent with Fuzzy. Saturday is Zoo and meeting Ben's dad and stepmom. Sunday plans are unknown to me, but I have a feeling I overheard talk of going back to Ben's mums... Whatever the case, as long as I'm spending time with him whenever he is free to do so, I'll be happy.

I pathetically miss him already, and it's only been 2 hours.

Well, off to my laundry and vacuuming.

Hope all is well in the states. I love and miss all of you guys very very much. <3

tomorrow...

The realization still hasn't hit me. I still cannot grasp the fact that I'm actually leaving... When I do, my eyes tear up and I can't control my nerves. I get so shakey and anxious that I can hardly function or think. I can't focus on anything right now. My brain is wandering all over the place and at the same time, it's nowhere at all...

It goes without saying that this is the most drastic change I've ever made to my life. It's pretty much the only change I've made to my adult life, relationship changes aside. And it's huge.

Many people keep saying how brave I am, how they're surprised that I'm actually doing this. Truth is, it's got nothing to do with being brave. I'm scared as all hell. Nothing in the world can prepare you for what I'm about to do. Quite honestly, I'm surprised at myself for making this move. I didn't know I had it in me to chase after something like this, to put every bit of me into something and just go for it.

I can't really say too much about the move right now... I'm not quite all here at the moment... I try to type one thing and end up rethinking it and hating it. I'm going to keep braving the tough face. I'm trying not to cry in front of people, but right now, as it's all hitting me, I can't help but do just that.

one week to go...

so, tomorrow marks one week until i leave for australia. it all seems so very surreal. i can't believe it's happening, to be quite honest. i continue to try to grasp what's happening, but i can't wrap myself around it. my brain just hasn't come to terms with the fact that i'm leaving all i've ever known. not to say that's a bad thing, it's just a really, really scary thing.

escalon has been my home for the past 11 years. the central valley has been my home for my entire life. i know it's time to get out... i suppose i never expected getting out to be this far out. i took getting out to an extreme. it wasn't intentional, by any means, but it's where the road leads me and i'm not about to pass on the opportunity i've been given. i will miss my friends and family dearly. i've spent my whole life with my mom, and it's going to be extremely difficult to be without her on a daily basis, but i know that it's time for me to start my own life.

i don't really have much to update on besides the fact that i'm completely packed up and ready to go, aside from my last piece of luggage. saturday i'm going to get to spend the day with mom's side of the family, and sunday i'll be with my dad's. it'll be strange saying goodbye to them for at least a year, not knowing what the future holds for any of us. a lot can happen in a year... believe me, i know. the past year has brought so many changes to me, but i wouldn't have it any other way. change is definitely good, despite being scary as hell.

i wish everyone in my life the best, and i'm sad that i won't be around to share it with them, but it's not hard to keep in touch these days, so i really hope that my family and friends choose to keep me updated on their lives as well.

i love you all so very very much, and can't wait to tell you all about what goes on in my life day to day in my new home. <3