This past week has been wonderfully busy as Zach and I are job hunting, catching up with family and friends, and trying to find a place to call home, while still living out of a suitcase. After we arrived in LAX last week, we spent 5 days along the coast in Ojai and San Luis Obispo where we completed the city-to-sea 1/2 marathon. There were about 14 of us in the Messer family that ran which made it really fun. Zach was so impressive and pretty much sprinted to the finish line in 1 hour and 27 minutes. I slowly arrived at the finish line in 2 hours and 47 minutes, but was very happy that I actually walked/jogged over 13 miles. After the race, we drove 6 hours to finally reach home to Yuba City.
This week, Zach has had a couple of interviews with a construction / engineering firm and things are looking promising - we should know for sure by this Monday. I've committed to coaching my sister-in-laws 8th grade basketball team at her school. And of course, we have seen a lot of my little nieces, Elka & Liv. Life is fun!
January 12th: Fly from Sacramento to LA, then a direct flight to Melbourne, AUS. We will be traveling over to Australia with Zach's grandparents (Grammy & Papa).
January 14th - 19th: Arrive in Melbourne and spend the weekend seeing the sights of this beautiful and artsy city. We will visit the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on the opening day. We are also hoping to buy a used car soon after we arrive.
January 20th - February 2: Leave Melbourne and begin our road trip up the East Coast through Canberra (capital city), Sydney, Port Stephens and Newcastle. Grammy & Papa have arranged for us to stay at exchange places in these cities.
February 2 - June 8: Zach and I will fly from Newcastle to Rockhampton, via Brisbane. We have arranged for a house-sitting job in Tannum Sands for 4 months. We will be care-taking a family's home, 2 cats, 2 dogs, pool and garden. We are also hoping to find part-time jobs to help keep us busy and save money to continue traveling after our house-sitting is over. Tannum Sands is a very small beachy town with a little over 4,000 people. It is located at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef.
June 8 - 23: Brisbane house-sit for 12 days in the suburb of Meadowbrook. We plan to see an AFL game in Brisbane as well as do some Gold Coast sightseeing. The Gold Coast area is where I studied for a semester 4 years ago, so I'm excited to go back and show Zach my school and the beautiful coast of Surfer's Paradise. We'll then drive a campervan from Brisbane to Sydney for the next house-sit.
June 23 - July 31: 5-week house-sit in Bangor, about 30 minutes south of Sydney. It's another small town and we're excited to be close to Sydney again. The couple has 1 dog named Ollie that we'll take care of. My mom and John will be arriving on July 28th for 2 weeks and just in time for my birthday!
August 1 - 3: Train ride to the Blue Mountains for 3 days of fresh air, hiking and relaxing. We're staying at a cottage called Victoria's Secret in Mt. Victoria.
August 4 - 7: My mom and John will fly to New Zealand for 3 days and Zach and I will be in Sydney hanging out.
August 7 - September 18: House-sit in Gloucester, another awesome small farm town about 4 hours north of Sydney. We met this couple in our travels through Australia and set up this house-sit. They have 1 cat named Burma that we'll take care of.
September 18 - October 5: We'll take the early morning 2:30am train from Gloucester to Sydney (4 hour ride) to meet my brother and our friend Aaron, who arrive in Sydney at 6:30am. We'll have 3 awesome days in Sydney seeing all the sights, then fly to Melbourne for another 3 days. We hope to rent a car and do some driving along the coast. From there, we'll fly to New Zealand and spend 3 days in Auckland. Aaron will fly home at that point, so the 3 of us will hang out in NZ, and possibly fly to the South Island. Kevin will leave on October 1st, then Zach and I will stay in NZ for another few days. We finally leave to come back to the US of A on October 5th!
Crazy Stuffed Animal Car!
Awoonga Lake/Dam
We took a picnic down to the lake (about 25 minutes drive). Tried to fish, but no luck. Guess we'll just eat kangaroo for dinner instead!
Zach - those glasses, really? At least he's proud of them!
Our Wedding Party
Shelly Wilhelm Maid of Honor Best friend, roommate, confidant...I met Shelly at the beginning of our freshman year in college. She lived across the hall from me and we instantly became inseparable. We've helped each other through so much in life and now I'm so grateful that she will be my maid of honor in our wedding!
Kevin Ijichi Best Man I have NEVER met a nicer guy than Kevin, who I am honored to have as my Best Man. We met freshman year in the SDSU dorms and have lived together 3 of the last 4 years. We're both graduating in May and I know we'll be friends for life.
Suzie Van Hal Bridesmaid I have known Suzie since we were babies...our families grew up together and she has remained one of my closest friends. Suzie is a loyal, trustworthy and caring friend who I know will remain in my life forever. She is truly one of a kind and I'm so blessed for her to be in my wedding!
Jake Holmes Groomsman Jake is my childhood best friend from Yuba City - we did everything together growing up and we have so many memories. I know we'll always be there for each other no matter what. Jake is graduating from UC Davis this year.
Allison De Young Bridesmaid Allison and I have been friends since kindergarten at FCS. We have so many memories together of growing up - sports teams, college trips to visit each other and now our weddings. She lives in San Diego with her husband, so I get to see her a lot!!
Ben Milner Groomsman My second little brother is a great friend and we have very similar interests in motorcycle riding, soccer & girls named Amber. I'm so glad he can be in our wedding.
Whitney Christensen Bridesmaid Whitney is my sister-in-law who lives in Yuba City with my brother and niece. We always have so much fun together and I really hope one day that we will live closer together.
Sam Milner Groomsman My first little brother is someone who I can always go to for advice and encouragement. Sam and I are 2 years apart, so we had many fun childhood times together.
Lizzie Milner Bridesmaid I'm so excited for Lizzie to be in our wedding and to become my sister! I've always wanted a younger sister and now I will finally have one! Lizzie is sweet, fun, outgoing and a great sister to Zach. I love her!
Nick Milner Groomsman My third little brother is 12 years old and reminds me so much of myself growing up. He takes great care of our little sister, Lizzie, and is very determined and hard-working.
Elka Christensen Flower Girl Elka is my beautiful niece who was born on May 15, 2007. She is a joy in our family and I love watching her grow and change...she's now walking! She's going to be a beautiful flower girl.
Andrew Christensen Usher My oldest brother has always been a wonderful role model for me. He is smart, fun, responsible and a wonderful husband and father. I'm so glad that he will be apart of our wedding. Love you Drew!
Kevin Christensen Usher My little brother, Kev, is one of the biggest joys in my life. We live close together in San Diego, so I get to see him a lot! He makes me laugh everyday and I couldn't imagine my life without him.
This week, Zach has had a couple of interviews with a construction / engineering firm and things are looking promising - we should know for sure by this Monday. I've committed to coaching my sister-in-laws 8th grade basketball team at her school. And of course, we have seen a lot of my little nieces, Elka & Liv. Life is fun!
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