Rounding out our Aussie adventure

Well we've arrived back stateside and the feeling is bittersweet. While I was very, very sad to leave our friends, especially after a fantastic farewell dinner at La Spaghettata on Lygon (my favorite street), we were also very excited to be heading home to our families.

We had a very busy final week in Australia. We were fortunate to be able to go caroling with our Salvos brass band and songster team to a retirement village in Thornbury. I love Christmas and especially Christmas carols, so this was a great treat that the residents really seemed to enjoy.

The Saturday evening before we left, Grattan and Glenda gave us tickets to see the annual performance of "Our Christmas Gift", which is a concert put on by the Salvos to thank the citizens of Melbourne for their generosity and kindness throughout the year. The night is filled with big name Australian artists, carols, comedy acts and of course, a nativity scene (with live camels!). I was so excited to go and really enjoyed the 2 hours of non-stop Christmas carols!

The next day was Sunday and I knew that it was going to be a tough one. It would be our final service at the Thornbury Salvation Army Church and we've really enjoyed our time as part of the congregation. We've met some truly amazing, kind and generous people who went out of their way to welcome us into their church and for that we are eternally grateful. Before the service started, we went back into the band room and shared a moment of prayer with the band members and then they started to wish us best of luck etc., at which point I broke down and started crying and had to leave the room. Marvelous.

I had requested that the songsters sing O' Holy Night because that is my favorite carol. Well not only did they sing it, they had Hyatt and I come up and join in too. I haven't sang in public since show/competition choir my senior year of high school so this was a little nerve-wracking but nevertheless, truly beautiful moment and a lot of fun!

During the last march, band leader (George) called Hyatt up to play the drums. Bravo for Hyatt because he has never played a musical instrument before (except for recorder in 5th grade) and some would say he is rhythmically challenged. I say "Ha!" - he did fantastic!

Look at him up there keeping the beat on the bass drum. And looking so dapper while doing so :)

Since I'm a picture fiend, I asked the whole congregation to stay after for a picture so you could all see the fantastic people we have had the pleasure of calling our friends.

After some tearful goodbyes at church, we only had a mere two days to pack our things and get ready to leave. We ended up having to ship home about 40 kg of stuff (80 lbs) and that cost a pretty penny but at least we didn't have to throw too much away.

Our last night in Melbourne, all of our Uni of Melbourne family (because we're tight like that) came out to dinner with us at La Spaghettata. FANTASTIC FOOD! I forgot to take pictures on my camera that night but Surinder was snapping pictures left and right.

Vickey on the left, Will on the right.

Kristy and Ryan

Kristy, Ryan and Fiona

The whole group getting ready to enjoy some fab Italian food.

Hyatt, Surinder and I.



After dinner we said our 'see ya laters', because I HATE goodbyes (with a passion - I think Hyatt needs to write a post specifically about how much I loathe goodbyes). It was a mix of laughing and crying and generally just sucked. The next morning we headed back to the good ole U.S. of A. with a year full of memories.

To all of our Aussie friends, we sincerely appreciate the kindness that each and everyone one of you showed to us during our stay in Australia. You will long be fondly remembered and hopefully we will see you all again in the relatively near future.

To our American friends and family - if we haven't already seen you we are really looking forward to getting together with everyone! Hope to see you soon!

Cheers and Merry Christmas!
~ FroBuzz ~

Side Kiss Greeting Thing...Awkward

Today marks the completion of this goal "98. Post every day for 1 month on From Oz to Aus" from this list. So yay me (and Hyatt helped too)!

But I feel like posting that above paragraph doesn't really count as a post so I better come up with something real, right?

Ok - random thoughts and events for the week.

1 - Australians greet people with the side cheek kiss thing. I think it comes from the British influence. Regardless, it makes me feel super awkward. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, here's a visual:

This lady looks much happier than I am when she's being greeted.

I feel like this is a semi invasion of my personal space but I go along with it because it's hard to avoid an incoming kiss-greeting and it's also a little bit rude to turn it down, I think. But it still makes me feel weird and I never kiss back. Next time you meet someone new, speak with an Australian accent and do the side kiss greeting - you'll freak people out. I think I'm going to do it when I return to stateside.

2 -  Tonight while on our way to dinner at our friend's house, I started walking a pipe fence. I made it 16 steps without falling off - woo. Big life accomplishment. So on the way home, Hyatt decided to try his hand. **Sidenote**: Hyatt is NOT coordinated. Although he tries very hard. Anyway, for 20 flippin minutes he tried walking the fence to beat me. Unsuccessful - personal best 11 steps. I wish I had a video of it, because you would have peed your pants from laughter. I love him but wow.

3 - Tomorrow (Saturday) marks the first weekend that I haven't had to get up early for a conference, meeting, work or to catch a flight. Amen to that.

4 - Two months from today (Friday) we will be doing some major life changes..... drumroll............................................. We will be returing to the states that day. Only two short months left and we've got them jam packed - trip to Tasmania, trip to Alice Springs/Uluru/Coober Pedy, two research projects (not Hyatt's) and a conference in Adelaide where Hyatt and I will both be presenting. Time will fly by and we're going to try to fit as much time in with our friends here in Melbourne before we leave. :(

Ok- that's about all for today. Thanks for reading and commenting. I noticed that commenting has started to drop off towards the end of the 30 day goal so I/we must have been annoying you. No worries, you can expect to only have 2-3 posts/week from here on out. Much more manageable I hope.

Lastly, at the conclusion of this little adventure, what would you like to see done with this blog? Should I add the phrase 'and back again' to the original title? Continue with our random life happenings? Cease the blog? Looking for some comment love here, folks

Holla,
~ Brandi ~

Thar She Blows!

I love the ocean. and ships. and water in general. Oh, and all things that live below the water and float on top. 

Especially whales.

So when we got the chance to go on a real live whale watching cruise, I jumped at the opportunity. I really don't care that it cost fifty buckaroos per person. I've got plenty of buckaroos to throw around - I make it rain (I hope you all got the reference; also sarcasm)

So we set out this morning to see some whales and take some awesome flicks like this:

While in Perth, we've had the chance to meet up with Duncan and Marina, some family friends who use to live in Ohio but have moved back to Australia to raise their two little girls who are adorbs.

Anywho, back to the whales. Here are some of the best shots - I cannot describe my excitement when we saw the first one. Undescribably thrilled.

Up close and personal

Can you see that spray? That's the whale clearing his air hole. I'm sure there is a technical word for it but I don't know what it is.

More breaching (I think that's the right word) 

We only saw one whale jump in the air and of course, we missed the midair shot. But this is the splash - use your imagination.

Aside from seeing the jump, I was pretty stoked about getting a shot of the whale's tail! Booyah!

Today was absolutely amazing and I have a ton more pictures to post about our day of visiting Little Creatures Brewery, Cottlesloe Beach (I stood in the Indian Ocean!) and then dinner at WA's iconic Kailis fish and chippery. I actually even managed to take some halfway decent pictures of the ocean and some ships so you've got that to look forward to later.

Until tomorrow,

~ Brandi ~

Packing off to Perth

Hyatt was asked to speak at a swine conference in Perth which is in Western Australia. See visual below.

That may not seem like a long ways but it's actually about 2100 miles - which is almost the equivalent of driving from LA,CA to NY,NY.

We're flying, incidentally.

By the time you read this (depending on when you log on to get caught up on our exciting lives), we'll either be enroute to the airporto or in the air on the way to Perth. Don't worry, the blog will continue to supply you with roughly 3-5 minutes of entertainment while we're gone.

While in Perth we plan to go whale watching (I love whales), visit the Maritime Museum and probably go to Rottnest Island. Pictures will be provided later, duh. We're also going to visit some hog farms and a cattle station to get our ag on while we're there. I'll try to snap a picture of Hyatt while he's being all important and stuff. It should prove to be an exciting trip.

Stay tuned for more exciting FroBuzz adventures!

Until tomorrow,

~ Brandi ~

Is Your Husband Awesome?

Because mine is :)

A few days ago I may have alluded to the fact that Hyatt was happier to get Cap'n Crunch than he was to see me. I stand corrected. On a scale of 1 - 10; 1 being feeling like a negative amount of money and 10 being the Buckeyes win the BCS Title (Hyatt's scale, not mine), I've been told that seeing me again was a 9 and the Cap'n Crunch was 6.5. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now - goooo me!

My flight arrived at Melbourne International Airport at 9:30 a.m. I was through customs, luggage pickup and the food quaratine/questioning station by 9:50 and very ready and excited to see hubsy after 31 hours of traveling in order to be reunited after 6 weeks of separation.

**Sidenote: I have never gotten through customs so quickly! There was no line, my luggage was first off the conveyor and the snide food lady didn't make me open up my suitcase to show her the extensive confectionary (read: candy) collection I had. I probably could have gotten beef jerky into this joint. Rats**

At about 10:10 a.m., I'd been walking around searching for said hubsy when I saw a tall, handsome man leaning against the wall. Hooray! I wrapped my arms around him, teared up (I've turned into a crier since we started dating way back in 2008) and gave him a well-deserved smooch. Why well-deserved?


He brought me these!!!!!

In case you didn't know, yellow roses are my FAVORITE! He knows me so well and must love me a lot.

If that wasn't enough, when we got back to the Flat, hubsy had another surprise for me.  I've always wanted to be classy and cultured and go to an opera but Manhattan, KS and Colony, KS don't exactly make that opportunity available. However, Melbourne is the arts capital of Australia and I was delighted to find out that we were going to an opera that night.

IT WAS FREAKING FANTABULOUS! I was in awe the entire time. The opera singers just blew Hyatt and I away - they had some pipes, let me tell ya. If you have a chance to go to this opera, do so because you won't be disappointed. Bonus: it's in English, unlike this one.

**Sidenote #2: Hyatt says it was a musical. Yes, it was a musical play but they belted out some high notes so I say opera. If you google it, the know all genius Wikipedia says musical but I"m sticking to my guns and saying opera because it makes me feel fancier.**

Bonus #2: I can now mark #70 off of this list.

All in all, it was a great day back in Melbourne. I have an amazingly thoughtful and kind husband who made my bittersweet return to the driest continent very spectacular. I'm very lucky  :)

The next day we went to Dookie and started feeding pigs and cleaning pig crap up again. Oh joy!

Until next time,
~ FroBuzz ~
p.s. Let Hyatt know how awesome he is. I love to brag on him and he always brushes me off. ;)

Sorry for my/our absence!

I'll be the first to admit that I have really been slacking in posting on this blog. Things have been really busy lately, let me catch you up.

-- Hyatt's trial started, stopped and has recommenced.
-- Andy, Mandy and Kristen visited June 25-July 6 - we had an epic roadtrip. Several posts on this to come.
-- Lindsey, Candace and Jenny K. are visiting us right now so we're busy having fun around Melbourne and are going to Cairns in three days.

I've been busy working on my thesis, writing columns for Grass and Grain and Farm Talk and of course, blogging on Buzzard's Beat, Food For Thought and NCBA's YPC Cattle Call. Hyatt and I have also been very busy planking - get excited.

So, in short - we've been busy but I'm planning to blog my brains out so you guys can see what's been going on.

See ya on the flip,
FroBuzz

p.s. -who wants another post from Hyatt?!?!!? I do! I do!

We LOVE Our Salvos Church!

If you didn't know, Hyatt and I attend chuch at the Salvation Army Corps in Thornbury (where the ML was). Even though we moved to the city, we still really enjoy the Salvos Church so we make the short trip there every Sunday evening for service.

This is our church:

Isn't it pretty?

Music is an integral part of any church and congregation, and the Salvos is no different. Except our music comes in the form of a brass band! They're so talented and the music is really uplifiting and unique. I snapped a picture the last time we were at service.

Majors Grattan and Glenda Savage and the rest of the congregation are so warm and friendly to us. They have made us feel right at home and are always asking us how we're doing and offering to help out. This past week, we got a chance to return the kindness by helping with the Red Shield Appeal. I don't have a picture of Hyatt and I collecting but we were helping collect $$ at stoplights so when the light was red, we walked down the lanes of cars with our buckets. When the lights turned green....we ran!

It was a really rewarding experience - it felt amazing to give back to a community who has given us so much.

Cheers,

FroBuzz

You all jinxed us

I'll be coming home to KS, permanently in October. Hyatt and I are both sad that my time in Australia will end sooner than planned but it's best not to fly after 33 weeks of pregnancy or something like that. I dunno, it was on Web MD and I figure they know what they're talking about.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing you all in October! Hyatt and I are excited for the new Joey, I mean addition, to our family although we wish that this could have waited about 3 or 4 more years. Oh well, they say if you want to make God laugh - tell him your plans!

We're accepting baby name ideas - nothing ridiculous, please.

Cheers,
~ FroBuzz ~

A New Chapter

Hi FroBuzz fans (or non-fans, whatever you wish. Even if you aren't our fans, thanks for reading).

So HUGE, GIGANTIC announcement - we're starting a new chapter in our lives and that chapter is called

Moving to a New Apartment Because Our Landlord is a Crook

Sounds like a page-turner dudn't it? In short, our landlord was illegally subleasing her apartment to us - doesn't sad too bad except she was charging us $300 more/month than she was paying to the realtor. Whoops.

So, she is being evicted and taking all the furnishings from our furnished apartment - leaving us with the stuff we lugged over the Pacific, a borrowed dryer and sofa from Fahri, towels, a clock and some groceries. Life's possessions in one sentence - mildly pathetic.

We think we're moving to the college where Hyatt and I tute! It's on campus and the rent is cheap and includes meals because face it, we eat like horses. Please don't mail us anything in the near future until we are definitely sure of our new address. I know, I know - you're dying to send us DVD's, post -it's, crystal light and mac n' cheese but you'll have to wait until we get settled in to our new place.

Talk to you all soon - hope life is treating you well in the states!

Cheers,

~ FroBuzz ~



Visiting the Uni and Employment

Hyatt and I recently met the professor he'll be studying with here, Dr. Frank Dunshea, and some other great people at the Uni (University of Melbourne). Catherine, Frank's executive asst., was kind enough to take us to K-Mart to buy an ironing board (Hyatt likes his starched shirts) and showed us around more of Melbourne. We got the grand tour of campus, the animal holding facilities and Hyatt's graduate office where we met some of his office mates (another Ohio State grad is studying here).  Everyone was super friendly including post-doc/faculty/jack of all trades, Fahri Fahri. Fahri spent some time showing us the labs and entertaining us with his quick wit and blunt truths about Australia.

Hyatt will be starting his research in the next month or so while things get finalized and worked out.  I'm hoping to do some part-time work the the Animal Welfare Science Centre and Dr. Paul Hemsworth. I may also be tutoring a few courses (that's a post for Buzzard's Beat).  Apparently, I have to earn my keep.

Not much going on lately - getting more and more used to city life. Ha - just kidding. That's a whole novel in itself. We may be going to the zoo this weekend - I have every intent of seeing and possibly stealing a koala. Sunday through Tuesday we are helping Fahri with a sheep heat stress project.  Not a big fan of heat.

Cheers,
~ Buzzard ~