The first 24 hours.

In a totally upside down world it was nice to have some friends from the land of right side up. Billy and Cathy. They are really one of the biggest reasons we choose not to go with TLC. For those of you who don’t know, TLC is Total Lifestyle Chiropractic, a large Chiropractic company that Derek spent two weeks with here in Australia after taking the boards. Actually, Billy used to work with TLC, which is how Derek found him. He was and remains TLC's “Model Chiropractor” even after leaving the company. Derek is in good Chiropractic hands when it comes to starting and running a business.

They met us at the airport with their two children. Wil, 8 (almost 9) and Erin, 7. Also a breath of fresh air. I don’t know if they had a family meeting about how to make us feel at home before we arrived, but that is just what they did. In the car Landon, Wil and Erin were fast friends playing with Transformers in the backseat while Cathy and I chatted it up in the front. There were many things we all discovered we have in common; it wasn’t just that we were both from America.(America, that’s what home is called here, though, I’m not from America, I’m from the United States of America. Big difference if you come from a military family because there is a South, Central and North America. We are of the UNITED STATES. I mean my Dad and brother both went to USNA, not just “NA”. Apparently, JC and Brendan (Billy’s brother and cousin) also went to USNA, and played soccer. JC graduated a year before Ryan, but helped him start the Soccer UN-Club (because they weren’t able to have a soccer club there). And Brendan and Ryan just ran into each other at the bar the other night. So it turns out that we are all bit more connected than we originally thought. Right side up or upside down, it really is a small world after all. That Walt Disney had it right from the very beginning.

The initial drive up the mountain I really didn’t even notice how curvy, narrow and steep the roads were. I was too busy exchanging life stories. Really though, every time I drive down them with Derek I think about how the road would probably make my Mom feel a little sick. So I’m not sure how I didn’t notice it on the way up. Finally after too many hours of travel we arrived at our new [temporary] house. It is gorgeous, and big (for us). A rusty cabin that reminded me a little of the house my family rented on our legendary ski trip to Oregon. Billy and Cathy showed us around and then took us out to the backyard to educate us on poisonous spiders and where we would find them around the house. This was the beginning of my phobia. What they failed to tell us was two things, 1. They weren’t out yet, and 2. There is a chemical you can spray that will either kill them or keep them away. Two very important pieces of information considering how many interactions we were about to have with spiders.


After the kids played on the stairs for a while- Landon’s new favorite toy is the stairs now. We went to the Spice of Life Cafe downtown to get some breakfast. Ugh, it’s bedtime! Not breakfast time! You mean we have to stay awake an entire day- again?! So, we sucked it up and had breakfast served with a mild side of vertigo, and then ventured down the street to Derek’s new Chiropractic Center. Exciting! (Totally deserving of it's own blog. So you'll just have to wait on those details.)

The rest of the day was filled with heavy eyes and a whiney child. Once our new friends headed home we had to keep ourselves entertained. While Derek and I hung clothes in our new closet, Landon napped. And that was the end of Landon. He’d had enough. I don’t think we ever got him fully awake again. We did get him into his cool flight jacket Ryan had made him for his birthday and then into his stroller for a walk, but I don’t think he was fully awake still. He did look like a grumpy, old veteran sitting there in his slightly oversized jacket though, it was quite comical once all the crying stopped. Once we were home Landon went to bed for the night without dinner (his choice). I think it was about 2 weeks till Landon actually had dinner. He always chose to sleep over eat, on his own!



Those first 9 days Derek and I lived on coffee, tea and a late night fire to keep us warm. Of course by late night I mean 7pm because I don’t think we ever made it past 8:30pm.

Every story starts somewhere.

I guess I should know where to start when it comes to Australia. I should know where to start sharing about a new town across the world, but that’s just it.... I have no idea where to start. While on the phone I usually wait for a question from the other end of the line to mark my starting gate in conversation. I guess I could start from the beginning. I’m sure there will be many details that are forgotten, but the important ones will make it in I suppose. Bare with me.

August 3rd to the 5th: Saying good-bye to my brother and parents; probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Honestly, the tears were less than I thought they would be, (that's probably because my tear ducts were almost dry from all the crying the weeks before) but finally having that last hug or giving that last wave was heart wrenching. And as we took steps towards our first gate in Ft. Lauderdale something my Dad said to me resided in my head, “Don’t walk. RUN to that plane! This is such an opportunity, and it’s a HAPPY one.” Though his words helped me smile, they didn't quiet the fear.

Throughout the day, sitting side by side with my guys, there were naps, hunger pains, and a few moments where Derek and I would look at each other with fear in our eyes. We’re pretty fortunate to be able to look at each other, not only in times of joy, but it times of complete fear and know with absolute certainty that the other person is thinking the same thing. That day it was, “What the fuck are we doing?!?!”
After a few deep breaths, some tears, and some big laughs we were okay again.

Once we got to LAX we were more than happy to be off the plane for a short while. AND we had the pleasure of being met at the airport by two great friends. Just what we needed for the transition. Craig and Noah entertained Landon a bit (thank you) while Derek and I played musical clothes with our 13 bags. Nothing could be overweight. We transferred clothes from this bag to that one and then back again. What a pain in the ass. After we enjoyed Noah and Craig’s company at a restaurant bar and grill (which only served beer), we said good-bye, and headed to our gate. This was it, last chance to bail, but still Dad’s words were in my head… and run was what we did, but not out of excitement. Landon had to pee and our flight was boarding!

Finally after a FULL day of traveling Derek and I were on a plane that reminded me of the horribly offensive, yet hysterical, movie Soul Plane. (Do not rent this movie; I fear it could change your opinion on who I am as a person.) There was a green neon lit bar and a bathroom that played Bob Marley songs. Cool! The people were already friendlier and were talking funny with strange accents. Oh wait, they were ALL Australian! Alas, we were there, on the plane, the doors were shutting and I was getting ready to shut off my shitty T-Mobile phone forever when my Dad called (2am EST). One last “lud you” on the side of the world that’s “right side up”. Once I’d hung up, that was it for me, the tears came again.

The 15 hour flight was much easier than I thought it would be, physically. We all slept for most of it, and when we were awake we could watch TV, movies and play games in the back of our seats. Perfect for Landon. I still can’t get over how good he was on the plane. Derek told me that he kept waking up thinking, “There is still time to turn back if we want to, we’ve got one more plane.” And then he would panic, because, nope. This was it mate. No turning back now, at least not today.

I can’t remember much else about the flight, only that at one point while I was half asleep a stewardess came by to ask me about food and my response to her was something out of a zombie movie, “uuuuuughghahaahmmm…” and I’m pretty sure I might have had a little bit of drool on my face too. Yup, there, I said it, it wasn’t pretty. Anyone in my family can tell you I can be a heavy sleeper. Hours later after I’d been a sleep and then awake for a while she came by again and her little Australian accent asked me I’d had a good sleep. I said yes, smiled, and she walked away laughing to herself. Oh well, there were other Australians to impress.

Once we arrived we had to wait in a customs line where Derek had his butt sniffed many times by a dog looking for drugs before our passports were stamped. I was a bit nervous; I kept picturing Landon unknowingly walking through the line to the other side, and then being jumped on (like a rugby pile on) by security. What is it about those guys that make you so nervous; really, the only thing they took from us was our Almonds.