New Places and New Faces

This may be a short post depending on how much I can actually recall from the whole week! :D OH and feel free to leave comments on the bottom of each post! I love hearing everyone's thoughts on my ramblings! :D

Monday -

I woke up! Thats it! hahaha Just messing. We got up about 6am and started cleaning up because we knew at least one roomie would be moving in and we didn't want them to see how much we enjoyed having an apartment to ourselves! We anticipated that the roomies wouldn't get in until 9am when the res. office opened, but to our surprise we were greeted at 730am by our first male roommate from Malaysia. It was just him and his dad and they are both VERY nice. They settled in quickly and went off shopping for supplies. Brian and I had our breakfast and went off to campus! We learned how to use the free internet and how to enjoy it from the courtyard, how Brian can log onto the public access computers in the library, we suspended Brian's student loans (or so we hope) on an unemployment deferment, and then sat in the courtyard and skyped friends and family. This took us till noon where I got my first little sunburn because our shaded little bench quickly became doused in sunlight and it only took a max of 10mins to feel the UV ray sting! We quickly rushed back to the room where upon we met our second roommate [female] and parents who are from Botswana! I never seen a paler person then her who came from Africa! She hides from the sun quite often, but is one of the coolest people we have met so far! Her brother has been in Perth for at least a year, but thats about all I know because our schedules have been soo random! I am pretty sure at this time Brian and I popped in a movie and passed out for the night! Oh, I also think this was the night that we might our cockroach friend who was like 2 inches long, not afraid of the kitchen light, and fast as hell. To reassure everyone, There has NOT been a cockroach sighting since nor any cockroach droppings!

Tuesday -

Surprise - WE WOKE UP EARLY AGAIN! [early for this sleeping beauty that is] haha we are actually getting better at sleeping in a little later each day. Even if I wake up at 5am every morning, I am at least able to go back to sleep for a little while longer now! I enjoy waking up at 5-530 to see the sunrise and hear all the birdies wake up and then I can sleep like an hour or two more! :D Its very pleasant and the fresh air, OH how I LOVE that smell and love waking up to it! Oh yea, back to my day! I think this is the day we went shopping at the Kardinya Fresh Market. We got super cheap veggies compared to Coles. We got a huge bag of fried noodles (like ramen, but without the seasoning packets), owner-made fresh block of tofu for .90 cents that we picked out of a bucket of water instead of paying $5 for individually wrapped tofu from the main grocery store (Coles), celery - THE BIGGEST STALKS OF CELERY I'VE EVER SEEN FOR LIKE A $1.50, 1 zucchini, 1 red pepper, 4 mushrooms,3 red potatoes, 1garlic clove, 1 carrot, fresh cilantro (my favorite herb on the planet) and 1 red onion. Farmers Market style inside a little shop made me feel like I was back in River Falls at our Co-op! LOVED IT! I am also enjoying all the soy/almond/rice/hemp milk alternative options and they are actually cheaper than the states. Next we went to Coles to get white vinegar, oil, and black pepper. We also stopped at Kmart to get a set of 3 mixing bowls that double as storage containers, a kitchen knife to actually cut up our veggies, and a utility tool that has pliers/knives/and a screwdriver all in one! We order the como sandwich from a little stand inside the mall and it was put in a panini press (but not panini bread) and it had avocados, lettuce, red onion, and sun-dried tomatoes on it! and brian and I split it for lunch and it was AMAZING! We ended up pushing a trolley back to campus [Coles has a contract with the school to let students take the trolleys back to the dorms and somehow they make their way back to the store]. Rolling a trolley back to campus sounds easy enough, BUT hearing that the trolleys have 4 independent wheels and experiencing it are two completely different stories. Pushing this thing back was an adventure and it didn't help that it was just past noon and we had to push it on the side that sloped and had a bunch of driveway curbs because that side was shaded unlike the flatter side of the road. I would much rather push the cart on the rough side than get sunburnt at noon again. I think at this point I worked on my blog for an itty bitty bit while brian worked on his the laptops converting and transferring songs and such. I think I may have napped and then we made our pasta salad dinner which turned out SOOO good with just vinegar, oil, garlic, onion, and salt & pepper as the seasonings. We watched Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington and called it a night!

Wednesday -

I can't remember what we did in the morning for the life of me!! OH well, I do know that this is the day we took about a 3 hour walk just around campus and hung out at the campus farm and I know we had pasta salad for lunch and dinner. On our walk we saw at least 40 wild parrots. Some white with red bellies and others were black with bright orange and yellow in their tails! We stood and stared at them in a tree for like 20mins because there was seriously 15 in one tree! I guess their parrots are equivalent to our pigeons, but I think wild parrots are WAAAAY cooler than pigeons! ha We also pet goats for about 30mins! One really old one was digging Brian and loved being scratched between the horns! It was adorable! I LOVE goats. The goats were housed with sheep and well, sheep are sheep - not really a fan of theirs [mainly because they are greasy and smell funky]. :D I also was in shock by how many horses the campus farm has and how much land they all get!! The facilities are beyond impressive. We also noticed that the vet clinic on campus does cancer research and care as well! NEATO! On this walk we also saw a few cigarette boxes with crazy pictures and sayings on them - you will see what I mean in the pictures. I guess WA is really strict about their smoking laws and its pretty much banned EVERYWHERE! Nice fresh clean air is a wonderful thing and no cig. filters all over the ground! Again we came back, showered, had our pasta dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed. To clarify we have been watching American DVD's [that we brought with us] in my laptop because we do NOT have a TV in the apartment and American DVD's have a different region code and therefore do not work in AUSTRALIAN DVD players [however, all region DVD players can be found somewhere, but we have no TV to use it with anyways]. Also all of my electronics are able to handle 240 volts so we only need to use a plug adapter and the only thing that needs my voltage transformer is my Chinese lantern that I got on clearance from Target back home before leaving and brian didn't want to pack it, but ITS AMAZING! Its a really nice light to have on at night instead of both bright ceiling lights.

My WONDERFUL Chinese lantern! Thank you Target Clearance!

THE BEST ICE CUBE TRAY! PENGUINS!!!! they even have eyeballs when you pop them out! My mommy bought this for me back in my freshman year at UW - Eau Claire and I can't live without it! :D I love watching my ice penguins in my drinks everyday!

Yes that is the MOON AT NOON!! :P

Chinese retreat area on campus!

Other half of the retreat area!

First parrot encounter on our walk to the grocery! :D

Cigarette warnings here are way better than our general surgeon warning back home!

Pretty tree flowers

Crazy plants

The courtyard behind the Vet Science building

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Education Center

REALLY CUTE Veterinary courtyard behind the vet clinic. You can just barely see the pergola to the right and off to the left is where the rooster picture was taken!

Yet another courtyard by the Vet buildings

Black parrots!

The family of three! :D

SO MANY PARROTS IN ONE TREE!!

I almost got ran over for the close-up photos ha

what a pretty parrot!

The bestest goat friend EVER! soooo sweet

The sheep and the goats!

inter-mixed goats and sheep

CUTEST LITTLE BABIES!! I love, love, love goats

climbing the fence to get a treat from the tree!  :D

The black goat had the LONGEST billy-goat beard I have ever seen!

Three babies

This is the horse paddocks! SOOO MANY!! This is the part of campus that was cut off on the map! Its HUGE

as close as we could get her to come to us! she was being silly

part of the vet clinic court yard

The Vet clinic is in the background (this part is on the map in the previous photo)

The "gnomes" just for Ricky and Carol! even though its really a snow white dwarf

another "gnome" on the vet clinic roof

How would you like to see that every time you reach for a cigarette!

Just eating a nut! ha

probably my favorite flowers around campus!

Landed, Slept, and Swam - Part Two

Day 2 - Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013
We awoke at 5am on the second day to the most beautiful sunrise outside our bedroom window! We are so fortunate to not have any dorms right behind our building, like most around us. We have trees and then a little ways back is a Rec Building - TV room, study room, and public bathrooms! Its amazing how well Brian and I sleep with the window open, fresh air, and HUNDREDS of birds waking up at dawn. Speaking of birds - HOLY COW DO THE CROWS SOUND LIKE LAMBS!! I am not kidding. I have never heard of a weirder bird call then the sounds that come out of the crows here! Also to clarify - Brian and I are staying in the University Village which caters to Murdoch Uni students (our one roommate actually attends Murdoch Institute of Technology - so not everyone goes to the same university); however, they are a separate entity. They are their own business and in turn that means we have to pay for our internet (actually quite expensive), but thankfully all utilities are lumped into one rent payment (first time they are trying that). So, I may use dorms/apartment/village all interchangeably!

We had a slow start with showers, some oatmeal for breakfast out of my tin recipe box because I didn't bring any bowls! I also managed to forget my forks - I brought two spoons and two knives, but the forks magically disappeared! So if you are ever curious I dare you to eat ramen noodles with a spoon! Its quite interesting! By 9am we were off to a shopping mall that we were told was 15 minutes from the village and it was a quite enjoyable walk! Brian and I figure that it is about the same distance or a little less than what I walked from my apartment in River Falls to the grocery store, but a lot sunnier and cars driving on the opposite side. The Kardinya Shopping Mall is really quite cute - a bunch of shops that you can take one trolley into any shop you want. They have a K-Mart which is essentially the same kind of store you would expect from the states: school supplies, kitchen essentials, make-up, clothes, movies/games, camping gear, and bedding. Right next door is Coles which is the main grocery store. At K-Mart we bought two bowls, a fan, and a set of silverware. At Coles we bought more ramen noodles, a lightbulb for my Chinese lantern (nicer than having the bright overhead lights on at night) and lightbulbs are NOT cheap!, and we bought toilet paper! We put it all in our backpack and hiked home! By the time we got back it was around noon and we knew that is a bad time for us pale WI kids to be out at - even with our 100spf sunblock! I had a crazy coughing fit through shopping and by the time we made it back, my cold was killing me and jet-lag was kicking my butt so I passed out from 1pm till about 11pm to use the bathroom and back to sleep until 5am!

I will never under-estimate jet-lag from 27 hours of flight time EVER again! It seriously kicked my ass, and having a cold on top of that was just aweful. I am really glad we were able to land on the first, get housing, and REST before roommates showed up and before orientation craziness began!

Day 3 - Sunday

Woke up again at 5am and had some quality FaceTime with the parents! Then woke Brian up at 630 and our day began. We went to campus after breakfast to realize that everything really is closed on sundays and we had no idea how to connect to the campus internet. So instead we enjoyed the morning on the main campus courtyard and putting names to the buildings we saw at night on our late night stroll the first night. Again we came back to the dorms for lunch by noon so we were out of the sun! During lunch we figured out the bus routes to THE BEACH! AND FINALLY REARRANGED OUR ROOM! Now we have a king size bed again (two twins pushed together with a desk by one side so our mattresses don't push apart, and we have all our clothes and belongings in their respective cupboards and drawers. At 2:30pm we took the bus into Fremantle and the walked a BUNCH to find South Beach which conveniently named for being just south of the marina/harbor. THE BEACH WAS FANTASTIC! There was sooo many doggies there, all without leashes and so well-behaved. It was amazing to see them all playing together without any worries from the owners. We saw chihuahuas, cocker spaniels, labs, a rat terrier, a Great Dane/terrier mix, and a lot of pitbull mixes. I will stand-by what I have always said since working at Westgate Animal Hospital - "Pitbulls"/staffordshire terriers/Bulldogs are among the absolute sweetest and loyal dogs I have ever seen. YES, they can be very harmful because by genetics when they bite down, they are not meant to release; however, nurture can very easily overpower nature. I will continue to defend the "banned" breeds, and this day on the beach proved my stance ever more! Not a SINGLE incident with dogs fighting or not getting along! It was awesome! However, the walk to find the right bus stop to take us back to campus was NOT awesome! We figured it out and know better for next time and we will avoid the rashed thighs from walking FOREVER in wet shorts! :P After returning home, a refreshing shower, and luckily no sunburn Brian and I made dinner, watched Pandorum (FANTASTIC FILM), and passed out!

Monday-Thursday soon to come! :D Sorry I fell so far behind in my blog, but I SERIOUSLY underestimated how much recovery time I would need from being sick, jetlag, and Sun OVERLOAD. And SPOILER ALERT for next post - Today, Thursday I FINALLY GOT SUNBURNT SO BAD I LOOK LIKE A TOMATO!

 Trees all around campus

Cool Stick fence around apartments NEXT to the Village

Looking back on the Village from our walk to the shopping mall - The newest dorms are the white buildings on the left of the picture. I'm in Village south (Way more awesome - because they have brick walls and are really quiet)

The cool apartments next to campus (I think its senior living), but they have col balconies with separate pull down shades!

Still fascinated by traffic on the wrong side!

My favorite tree flowers so far!! :D

Our first picture together - taking a break from the heat on our walk back from the store!

Looking over the town on our walk back to campus - the trees in the middle appears to be a park and a small lake. We will explore to there soon!

Waiting for the bus to take us to the beach - hence the scrubby T-shirt (Good Ocean attire)!

The Village is on the left and is 4 hectares in itself so that helps put a perspective on the size of campus! AND they even cut off a HUGE portion of the farm on the bottom right!

SOUTH BEACH AND THE INDIAN OCEAN! Its hard to see in the picture but above the rocks and to the right is Rottnest Island --> a 25min. ferry ride and no motor vehicles are allowed on the island! :D

South beach and just a small glimpse of the MASSIVE harbor of the port city of Fremantle. Freo is one of the oldest intact Victorian port cities = REALLY COOL ARCHITECTURE! 

A glimpse of Freo from our bus stop!

Landed, Slept, and Swam - Part One

We have finally landed and are living the dream! I want to thank Wisconsin weather for showing Brian and I all of your craziness before we left (rain, snow, sleet/hail, flooding, and crazy temperature swings); however, I am really enjoying the high 90s of Western Australia. I may eventually miss all four seasons, but only time will tell.

Leaving and Flight 1:
Brian and I left Wisconsin in a whirlwind of packing chaos, tears, and a severe lack of sleep. We boarded our 14 hour flight to Hong Kong around 3pm and our journey began. We flew straight North through Wisconsin, through Canada, through the Arctic Circle, and down Russia and China. We flew even with the moon during our cross over of the North Pole and saw the sunrise over the ice-berg laden ocean and frozen Russia. It was the most amazing views and the pictures do not do it justice at ALL. I never thought I would get to see the arctic or russia, but I am beyond glad I did. We flew with Cathay Pacific and probably one of the best airlines I have been on. The seats on the first flight were interesting: to recline the inner lining slid down instead of leaning the whole chair back in the way of the people behind us. The food was fantastic! We had Penne with pomodoro sauce and Italian mixed vegetables with a roll, melon, and vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream. For our Breakfast meal we got Bow-tie pasta with mixed vegetable and mushrooms in pesto cream sauce, seasonal fruit, and chocolate mousse cake. DELICIOUS CHOICES! We landed in Hong Kong about 9pm their time and had to go through security again (just our carry-ons - our checked bags went through their own security without us having to grab them). Brian and I went on to find our gate and once settled we each took turns going to the bathroom, changing into shorts and brushing our teeth. Brushing your teeth is the best experience after a flight that long. The only bad thing about our first flight is that our backpacks didn't really fit underneath the seats in front of us and we had to be very creative with our leg space. Also, even with getting up and moving around a few times my legs swelled a bit, but not Brian's.

Flight 2:
In Hong Kong we only had to wait about an hour before boarding our next flight where we had to go through yet another small security check of our carry on's before boarding. In this security check they even dumped out the contents of my water bottle even though I had filled it up from their airport water fountains. However, that was not a big deal at all. On this second flight we had more room because it was only two seats by the windows and 4 in the middle, unlike the first flight that was 3 by the windows and 3 in the middle. Our backpacks also fit under the seats which was way more comfortable! Again, the food was amazing! For Supper we had Penne pasta with roasted vegetables and tomato sauce, a small chicken/corn/and Pommery mustard salad (FANTASTIC), a roll, and cookies and cream Haagen-Dazs (Brian didn't want his so I got TWO ice-creams! Totally worth it). For breakfast we got fresh fruit, strawberry yogurt, a roll, and smoked salmon egg souffle with Hollandaise sauce and bacon, potato wedges, spinach and cherry tomatoes. I can not state enough how amazing this food was, especially since my food to Guatemala last January was of a rubbery consistency with a taste to match. Back to my story, we landed in Perth around 7:30am after a seeing a beautiful sunrise over the outback. We could see the mining quarries that helped boom WA (western Australia's) Economy since before WW2. There is also a LOT a LOT more greenery than I had ever anticipated. By 8am we were through immigration, grabbed our checked bags and headed to customs/quarantine where we were surprisingly allowed to skip and head straight for a taxi! I was so paranoid for nothing! :D I read of so many horror stories of customs where people got brand new golf shoes thrown out or things with animal hair on it thrown out (WHICH I DON'T OWN A THING THAT HASN'T BEEN IN CONTACT WITH A CAT) hahaha

IN PERTH, WA:
So we had our luggage in two "trolleys" = Shopping Cart and we found a taxi. Brian almost got in on the right side of the car thinking it was the passenger side! Still weird seeing the steering wheel on the right. Also the whole time we were driving to the University Village I felt like the driver was going the wrong direction in the roundabouts or about to turn into oncoming traffic. I am so happy Brian sat in front so I could just look out and see the town without worrying to much about the driving itself. It was about a 30 minute cab ride from the airport to the Village. We arrived at 830 with 6 bags and two backpacks only to realize the residential office didn't open until 9am. We got checked in, paid our deposit of $1,200, and got the keys to our room. We have a 4 bedroom apartment - 3 single rooms and our double room, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony. Each of our bedrooms have a key so we can lock it! Very comforting feature! No other roommates were here and our apartment is on the second story with no other apartments behind us, just one underneath us! Meaning we have our own separate entrance and its way better than any other on campus housing I have seen!

We threw all of our luggage on the floor, found our pj's and past out before even pushing the two twin beds together. We slept all the way until 11pm! After sleeping the whole afternoon where it was 98 degrees and no fan, we decided to go for a walk at night when it was in the 60s! A very good decision. Even though we couldn't see a lot of campus at night it was a beautiful walk. They have brick trails everywhere and my walk to campus is a sandy path with towering trees! Absolutely gorgeous. We didn't walk through the heart of campus, just stayed near the road that circles campus (Discovery Drive) because it had street lamps and we figured we couldn't get lost that way! We looped the entire campus which is HUGE! It is like UW Eau Claire, UW River Falls, and UW Parkside combined and a lot more greenery than ALL the campuses. Which is hard to believe since Eau Claire has a gorgeous river running through it and River Falls has so much space between buildings! Its just hard to describe! I'll try to take more photos! They just do not do it justice! After our walk, Brian and I made some Asian brand of ramen noodles - Stir Fry flavor, which I have fallen in love with over what we have in the states. It has less sodium and its super cheap. We each got one package of the ramen noodles in our welcome bags from the dorm along with tips of where to shop, water bottles, and some instant coffee mix. I'm glad we brought our favorite sauté pan otherwise we would have been stuck! After dinner we went to back to bed, again without rearranging our room or putting luggage away.

As Happy as Pigs in Sh*t! :D

Plane ticket has been purchased!! Brian and I will be leaving the United States starting at 2pm tomorrow! We have been frantically cleaning and packing! It may be last minute but it will all get done!

For Housing we will be staying in the University Apartments in a bedroom with two twin beds instead of a full size, but we don't care as long as we are together!

Brian's grandma said she had a dream with Brian and I as farmers and we were Happier than Pigs in Shit and that saying has stuck with me everyday since she said it. That is exactly how Brian and I feel! We still can't believe this really happening for us! Now enjoy some pictures of the chaos! (Beautifully Chaotic as I like to say)

ITS HAPPENING.....

So two days ago I started an unbelievable whirlwind adventure! I was up all night the night before due to nerve pain in my upper thigh, and I continued check my email on the hour, every hour just like I had for every night for the last week just hoping and praying for a Visa decision. By 6:30 in the morning I had given up hope and my pain was subsiding enough for sleep to take over. At 8:00 when Brian left for work I decided to check my email for the last time. There it was.. the answer... finallly after so long: BRIAN AND I WERE BOTH APPROVED UNDER MY STUDENT VISA TO MOVE TO AUSTRALIA FOR FIVE YEARS!!!!!

This all began on a Friday:
8:00am - got approval email and jolted out of bed even though I had previously not slept all night!
By 8:30 - Had called my dad, grandparents, and Brian. Brian had to wait awhile because it was snowing and I didn't want him to crash so I waited until I knew he had arrived safely at the job site.
By 9 - I was dressed, mom was ready to go, and we frantically threw a final shopping list together and set out!
We went to:
DMV - to ask about what to do about license expiring while over-seas
Bank
Walmart
Pet Smart
Bong Recreational Park - to watch my mom's boss fly his beautiful white falcon. She flew up to 1800 to 2000 feet up to catch her quail on a kite! It was an amazing experience!
Woodmans
Olive Garden for lunch!
Went home and napped for an hour because poor Brian has gotten really sick! PERFECT TIMING THERE!!
Later that night Brian and I went to Brian's moms house for Sal's Pizza (BEST HOMEMADE ITALIAN FOOD I HAVE EVER HAD - KENOSHA FOLK PLEASE HIT IT UP!!) and homemade wine from our good friend Troy's Dad.

Now on to Saturday:
Brian and I ran to Racine for another bank day and lunch with Brian's Aunt. Brian's Aunt also got us a bunch of good travel things! :D
Next we went back to my parents to gather supplies for the night and make a list of everything he needed to get for the trip and we were off shopping.
Then at at 530pm we went to the Danish Brotherhood for Bingo where so many family members showed up: Brian's Dad, Aunt, Uncle & Wife, Grandma & Grandpa, Brother's Girlfriend, My dad, and My oldest brother and his wife! It was an AMAZING time even though Brian and I had absolutely NO luck on our side!
Then more celebrating and off to bed!

Today:
Woke up and made chili
Ran to Best Buy where Brian's mom got Brian an Ipad so we can communicate easier since his laptop crashed! sooo excited!!
Ran to JC Penny's where Brian's mom bought him 3 pairs of pants! YAY FOR PANTS WITHOUT HOLES IN THEM!! haha
Then Brian's Mom's House to finish putting up cement backerboard in her shower so she can retile with Brian's brother's Girlfriend.
Next to Brian's Grandparent's house where his whole family was basically there again to have lunch/dinner and take pictures! VERY SAD SAYING GOODBYE!! WE WILL MISS EVERYONE SOOO DEARLY!!
Back to Brian's mom's house to clean and organize everything that was stored in his old bedroom!
And now that it is almost midnight, we are heading to bed for a very very busy Monday and Tuesday and hopefully we fly out on Wednesday!

YES 5 days to organize and plan a move half-way around the world is crazy insane.
What is left to do:
-I have contacted housing but with no answer. I want to make sure Brian and I will have a room to stay in if we still fly out on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 and land on Feb. 1, 2013 in Perth, Western Australia (Otherwise we will leave another day before Feb. 4th)
-Close Brian's Bank
-Inform my bank that my cards may or may not be used over-seas
-PACK AND CLEAN
-PACK AND CLEAN
-PACK
-Buy plane tickets
-MOVE TO PERTH AND START MY PATH TOWARDS BECOMING A VETERINARIAN!!!!

I am very sorry if this bored some of you! BUT I just want everyone to know that a move of this magnitude is achievable with little sleep, a lot of planning, and unwavering faith that everything is going to work out!! :D

HAVE SWEET DREAMS EVERYONE!!! I am off to snuggle my kitties for every second I have left with them! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR BEING WONDERFUL GRANDPARENTS AND ADOPTING MY FUR-BABIES!! <3 It means the world to Brian and I. Also thank you for all the support with a car, financially, and emotionally! You have been amazing parents and I am who I am today because of you!

Mark & Patty - Thank you for taking the frogs that have been apart of my life for the last 4 years! :D

Aunt B - Thank you for the support you have given us! We appreciate it beyond words

Barb - Thanks for letting us store stuff in your attic and for all the laughs to keep us distracted from the stress! ALSO thank you a billion for the best buy gift cards and IPAD!! its AMAZING!

Grandma and Grandpa Winfield - Thank you for always believing in me and without you this trip wouldn't even be possible!!

Grandma and Grandpa Algiers - Thank you for never questioning our decisions and telling us we can achieve anything! You have been amazing support! Every turtle I see, I will be thinking of you!


THANK YOU TO A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE AS WELL!! <3

Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and Still Awaiting A Decision

So the last few Holiday weeks have been amazing. First we had Christmas with the immediate families, and next we had a bunch of friends and family come visit and pretty much had a party with relatives every night for a week! It was AMAZING to see so many people. New Years was pretty low key, but I made it to midnight! Brian and I are still awaiting a decision on my student visa and his defacto partner status. We still need to get plane tickets ($1207 each), Housing and I just received an email from Murdoch informing me that the dorms are currently full and I have to be put on a waitlist. Apparently B and I might be staying in a hostel for a little bit :/ Time to research that life experience! I have been looking on a share accommodation website to maybe find an apartment, but I was hoping to use the dorms. I was planning on staying in the university village because I could use my financial aid to pay it at the end of the first semester, I am not sure how I can afford rent right away, plus learning a new city and transportation system in just like 7 days before orientation starts.

My To-Do List keeps getting more daunting the more days that tick away. Only 20 days until the day we plan to fly out! The hardest part about not having a visa decision is that I do not know if both of us are going, both of us are not going, or I am going and Brian is staying. Any of the decisions means a lot of work:
-I am getting my mom's iphone and I need to unlock it so I can get an australian SIM card
-Order cell phone (for brian) and two SIM cards from company the school is partnered with
--> Tell people our new Australian Cell phone numbers. (If you have an ipad, or ipod/iphone with a front facing camera - you can message me and FaceTime (like skype) with me or Brian for free over wi-fi, so no one gets charged international rates on calls or texts) For Anyone else who is interested, I will be downloading skype as well.
-Set up an Australian Bank Account over internet with Bank that is partnered with school and transfer money into it so I have some Australian dollars when I get there
-A whole list of things to buy to pack along: Voltage Transformer, Anti-histamine, my shampoo and other bathroom essentials, and stuff like that.
-Get on University Waitlist (but can't do that until I know if i need a single bedroom or a couples room)
-Research other housing options
-Taxes
-Go to DMV to check on how to renew license if it expires during the five years we are gone.
-go to my credit union and get US dollars converted to Australian dollars
-Show my parents what food to feed my kitties! My wonderful babies! :D


Completed:
-Visa application and extra documentation that had to be sent it
-Financial Aid paperwork: I signed my award letter and completed my Master Promissory Notes. Since the Vet program is considered a graduate program to the US, I only get unsubsidized loans and Grad Plus, no subsidized loans
-started packing and made a To-Do list! :D


My brian is going to explode if I do not know what is going to happen soon! If all does NOT work out, then I have a backup plan! I won't bore you with the details unless it becomes reality. I've been slowly looking over muscles of the forelimb of the canine in my Saunders Veterinary Anatomy coloring book and I just need to be in school and soon! I miss studying!! :D NERD ALART!!

Cheers to an interesting start to a new year! :D Next time I post I should have some details to share hopefully!!!

TIGERS, LIONS, AND LEOPARDS! OH MY!

So this has nothing to do with Vet School stuff except for the fact that I REALLY LOVE EXOTICS!!!! I surprised Brian to a visit to a Big Cat Sanctuary in Wisconsin! It was truly amazing!! The website is here: www.wisconsinbigcats.org   and if you want to check it out and donate feel free!! They have at least 22 large cats - bengal tigers, african lions, siberian tigers, black leopards (aka panthers), spotted leopards, and one serval! They saved a bunch from a backyard breeder who had 20+ cats in two tiny cages built with the space for only one or two cats! They also got a couple from zoo's in wisconsin and illinois that shut down or didn't have room for them. They let people walk along the cages (not to close of course) and read about the cats' lives on a self-guided tour. Brian and I stayed about 2 hours and did two really slow laps! Kahn, a siberian tiger, was just like our cat Dood at home. We were the only ones there for a bit and he was rubbing up on the cage about 3 feet from us and making their funny snorts and we were snorting back! He enjoyed my talking attempts and when Brian and I decided to go on to the next cage he flipped over on his back all playful like he wanted bellyrubs!! The whole time I was there my heart was overjoyed at these people who have saved these animals lives and made it their lives work to care and protect them! I want to do as good of things as these people and I know being a veterinarian is the only career path that would suit me and allow me to do those things!

IT WAS A TRULY GREAT DAY!!!

 Tiger striped Mickey Mouse with half of the cages in the background.

 Kahn being all playful

 Kahn showing us how handsome he could be

 I believe this was parker, but he was pacing back and forth snorting at me and trying to get our pheremones, hence why his tongue is out at us! He liked talking to Brian and I!

 3 of 4 leopards (one had his own cage). Boy on the top level, two females on the bottom level all came to the sanctuary together.

 Two males which rarely live together but have been together since they were very little so they don't know that they are different species!

 Two sisters!! <3

 Avalanche the BIG male (literally twice her size) and Snowflake the small female!!!

I'M BACK!

So I know it has been awhile, but I've finally got a lot to tell everyone! It has been a busy few months for me and I hope to update more regularly until I leave for Australia! Updating was painfully non-existent because my boyfriend, our 3 cats, and I moved from our cute college town back to our parents' home town to save money for the move and see everyone we can! We are finally getting settled after bouncing between two houses and multiple bedrooms. My oldest brother also got married on Oct. 20 and my other brother and I were both in the wedding party so there was LOTS to help with lately. Then my brother who was in the wedding party just bought a house that I have been helping fix up! Taking off wallpaper and painting while my dad and uncle put in a gas furnace! Such an exciting time for all members of my family!! 

I think this post will mainly be the application process I have been through so far. So Murdoch suggests that people apply online, but I found a way to print the application (if you wanna know I will walk you through how to find it) and it was only two pages.I then submit it along with all of my other materials. The other materials needed to apply are: a very detailed curriculum vitae/ resume highlighting education classes and work/practical experience that pertains to Veterinary Medicine, 2-4 references preferably from Veterinarians and Professors, and the highly important personal statement. The personal statement is always the hardest addition to the application and I suggest with whatever school you pick, you tell them in your statement why their school will be a good fit for you! Along with how your education, work, and volunteer experiences have shaped you as a person and how it has prepared you for a career in Veterinary Medicine. Do NOT claim that you know everything there is to know about Veterinary Medicine, that is SURE to turn off any admissions person reading through your application. Highlight what you have learned and how you hope to expand on it or how it has guided you to what you want to specialize in/focus on in Vet School. THAT IS IT!! That is all I had to submit to Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. It was only $30 to send in the application and I got accepted. That saved me from paying for and taking the GRE (required exam for US and some European vet schools). Also I did NOT have to have a bachelors before I applied which just saved me two more years of undergraduate study just to get my Bachelors in Animal Science and Vet tech certification.

OK! Once I got the acceptance email, I was given 30 days to accept. Accepting my spot meant that I had to send in $1000 Aussie dollars (AUD) just as a deposit to save my seat, and I had to send in $2,500AUD for all 5 years of Overseas Student Health Cover up front (but this was through the school suggested insurance provider). Since Australia recognizes partnerships, I am allowed to have B, my boyfriend, apply for a Defacto Partner Visa underneath my student visa. This meant I had to have insurance for BOTH of us for ALL 5 years upfront! The provider that the school suggested wanted $6,000AUD for a family package! CRAZY. So I did my research and found a different provider that offered single, couple, or family insurance and was only $3,843AUD for the BOTH of us for all 5 years! So much cheaper than the school's provider. Thanks to B working two jobs and my parents giving me their tax return I was able to make all my payments within the month timeframe!

That is all I am going to discuss in this post! Next post will be financial aid and visa information!! I will definitely posting more regularly!!