Carrie's Shower

The new house was officially christened this past weekend as I hosted a bridal shower for my friend, Carrie. Not only did that mean shoving all unpacked boxes and junk into empty closets, but the opportunity was also presented for me to use my new standing mixer and cook my first significant amount of food in the new kitchen. Significant is used liberally with the menu only including roasted red pepper pimento cheese crostini, honey-lime fruit salad, gorgonzola-toasted pecan-fig canapes, and vanilla buttercream cupcakes.

Week 30 and Braves Game

This picture is now about two weeks old, but here is the big belly at Week 30.

During this same weekend we had a chance to use some tickets at the Braves' SunTrust Club. If you ever want a close-up of Francouer's backside, these are the seats to have. Great food and all the wine and beer (or water for me) you desire. After the game we ran into Smoltz just outside the Club. Guess it is easy to sign autographs when you do not have any other team responsibilities.

San Diego

Dilan in her new sunnies at the San Diego Zoo; Jodie, Kajal, Dilan, and Me at La Soledad; Jack at the dog beach in Coronado

Jodie and her husband, Joey, have arrived back in the U.S. from Japan. In addition to this excuse to visit sunny, Southern California, Kajal and Brett decided to take a California trip to introduce Dilan to some family members. So I jumped back on a plane shortly after my arrival back in Atlanta and went out to join them!

Goodbye Australia!

My Geelong friends, Susan and Colleen, at Lotus Cafe; Me at 22 weeks on the porch in front of Corio Bay for the last time

The past three weeks have flown by, and I have not gotten a chance to think about or truly say goodbye to Australia. What a wonderful country to have the opportunity to explore for the past year and a half!

Any time one has the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time out of the country there is much to be learned and a lot of personal growth to be manifested. If I had to list a few things that stick out from the past year and half, the list would include:

1. I said it at the beginning of our time in Australia, and I will say it again: It is unbelievable to think about how far away Australia is from the U.S. but how similar its living conditions and people are to America. With today's technology of Vonage and Hotmail I never thought a lot about the distance between myself and the U.S. when living my life in Geelong. Then nine hours into a flight from Melbourne to L.A., with five more to go, it hits you how Australia truly sits in a remote corner of the world. Australians feel it to, and I think that is one of the reasons for their genuine friendliness. They relish interaction with others to alleviate some of their alienation.

2. I have always found pleasure in pouring over restaurant reviews and planning out my food choices online before an anticipated restaurant visit. While Mark and I really had some fantastic meals in Australian restaurants (Buon Riccordo, La Tavola, Grossi Florentino, Cafe e Cucina, The Flower Drum to name a few), it was nice to expand my love of cooking and enjoy a good bottle of Australian wine (pre-pregnancy - boo!) at home. We did this a lot, and I think my growth of food and wine knowledge can be attributed to this. Sure there were quite a few calamities in the kitchen, but that is how you learn.

3. Most importantly, in my time spent abroad, I have learned to an even greater extent that we here in America are only a small, but great, part of the world. It is easy to consume one's self in everyday life and not seek to learn about other cultures. And, while Australia is not exactly a culturally different country, it still presents an opportunity to observe antipodean perspective on the rest of the world and even on the U.S. It is my hope that my child will one day get to spend time out of the country (even though I will miss her) and grasp this concept also.

G'day Australia, and thank you for your wonderful hospitality, beautiful landscape, and for the chance to spend time with koalas and kangaroos!

Big Girl Pants

They are finally here. Relief!! I may never go back to wearing fixed waistline pants again. You can eat and eat and never feel bloaty, at least in the pants.

I will be starting on my 20th week tomorrow, so the halfway mark is upon us. I have now gained about 7 lbs, but the late night Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies (courtesy of Carrie) will be catching up with me soon.

It's a girl!

Our 3-D ultrasound today confirmed that we are having a little girl, and she is perfectly healthy with two arms, two legs, 10 fingers, and 10 toes! We are very thankful and excited!

Jodie's Visit from Japan

A little over a year ago, Kajal and I visited Jodie in Japan. At the time we remarked how interesting it was that three girls from Rome, GA were placed at different corners of the world. While I still believe that is phenomenal that I have had a chance to spend the last year in Australia, Jodie the past three years in Japan, and Kajal the past three-plus years in New York City, I believe the most remarkable aspect is how we have all kept in touch and gotten to experience each other's lives in our respective parts of the world.

Jodie came to visit last week as she prepares to move to San Diego with her husband and dog, Jack. I feel pretty good about the sights Jodie was able to see, as we drove out the Great Ocean Road to Port Fairy and to the Twelve Apostles, spent a night in Sydney, spent various days in Melbourne eating great food, and a few days around Geelong tasting wine at Petavel (only Jodie) and stalking kangaroo.

Here are a few pictures from our trips:

Jodie and Julie on the ferry in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge; Jodie and Julie at the Twelve Apostles

Funny story about this picture.....A group of emus were wandering around a picnic area at Tower Hill on Mother's Day. They are known to be quite aggressive when it comes to their Sunday lunch, and this group of people found out the hard way. The emu snuck in between the two guys on the left and grabbed a piece of bread. Much to his chagrin, the older gentlemen with the glasses had a gut reaction to punch the emu in the beak. I guess we have strange senses of humor, but we laughed for days about his one.