has someone been feeding my dog cheetos?!

Hobart's orange feet from the clay outside our house.

Some of you know the way our story goes, and some of you don't; in either case, please feel free to read on...

I thought moving away from my family, friends, and home in Minnesota would be the hardest thing I ever did in my life. Unfortunately, the last few months here in Australia have been even harder. Don't get me wrong, Australia itself and most of the people I've encountered since moving here are wonderful. I think to myself daily "why don't more people live here?" It is a stunning place and I am grateful for the beauty in the people and landscape that surrounds me here. During these last few months, however, our relationship with Chris' mother has strained to the point of estrangement. To be totally blunt, we have been brutally battered in the self-esteem department and have been struggling to keep our heads above water in more ways than one. Our commitment to remain sane for Ella and Iris, who are doing extraordinarily well by the way, is one of the only things that kept us going many days. These months have tested every fiber of our emotional strength and I AM proud to say that our nuclear family is actually stronger than ever. Though these struggles are simply tucked into a closet for now, we are at least moving on with our life. Because I can never go long without thinking of food, I used this analogy the other day to describe how I feel right now...These last few months have made me feel like one of those packets of freeze-dried food for campers--dried, hardened, sucked of all flavor, and rather useless. But suddenly someone has poured boiling water over me. I might still need some seasoning, but I can once again be worthwhile to someone.

* * *

About six weeks ago now (somehow it feels like both yesterday and ages ago) I got a call about a home economics/hospitality position opening in Tully, Queensland. Geoff and Phebe, Chris' brother and sister-in-law, teach at the high school there and had immediately put my name down for the job. I had already applied for teacher registration here, but was told it would take months for that to come through, so I was working at a cafe while I waited. Once I confirmed that I was interested in the job though, the wheels began to turn. Within two days I had received calls from the head of HR in Education Queensland's far-North Queensland office as well as the Queensland College of Teachers. They took care of my registration just like that, got me a full time teaching contract and asked if I could move up over the weekend (keep in mind they cover moving expenses as well). I asked politely for two weeks so Chris and I could each give notice at work, and before we knew it we had bought a car, packed everything up and moved! We are now living in a ridiculously gorgeous town called Mission Beach and enjoying it immensely. Life is still crazy in many ways, which isn't a big surprise considering we just moved 1000 miles. I am teaching hospitality, a little home ec., one music class, and one art class. Chris is doing his student teaching and a correspondence course to get his graduate diploma of education. And the girls are in a new day care. We had to find a house to rent as well, which was much harder than we expected because this is the area that was hit the hardest by cyclone Yasi and the destruction was profound. BUT, we are in control of our life again and feel as though we are slowly waking up from a terrible nightmare. We didn't expect this turn of events and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Living in Mission Beach is not without it's challenges (there is only one grocery store with limited hours, and basically nothing else for at least a half hour). I mean, we do have three liquor stores here, but you have to drive two hours to go to a movie theater! There are cassowaries EVERYWHERE, cane toads, green tree frogs, geckos, goannas, jellyfish, oh, and crocodiles. If you think crocodiles sound bad, follow this link and keep in mind they come right up to our house at times. Yet, through these sometimes scary, sometimes humorous challenges, we keep saying to ourselves, "it feels like we're on vacation". If you think of the way it feels when you're staying at a cabin on a lake in Northern Minnesota, imagine living in that environment, that feeling, all the time. It is truly therapeutic. We hope you can all make it here to visit sometime because I can't begin to express in words the way it looks and feels when you're actually here.

The girls are loving it as well, and for those of you who would like an update I'll give you their latest stats. Ella is three now, finally growing hair long enough to put up, using the potty, and hugging and kissing freely (her shyness is quite a thing of the past). She drives Iris crazy by both bossing her around and doting on her. She finally sleeps like a champ and cracks us all up constantly. Iris has been nicknamed "danger baby" because her second favorite activity is to climb up things that should never be climbed up (like the back of a rocking chair, or a metal screen door) and then smile at us proudly. She is tough as nails, yet still cuddles like a koala. She's still mostly bald but luckily has lots of teeth to help her through her first favorite activity--eating. I fear those thighs may never shrink. We feel fortunate beyond belief everyday when we look at them, and when we think of ALL the amazing people in our lives.

I love my new job, but am overwhelmed by the amount of work and time it is taking right now, so I can pretty much guarantee I will not be on this blog as often as I'd like, but I hope it will become a regular event again before long.

xoxoemily (mamie) and co.

One of our new friends...in our garage!

The view down our new driveway.

We can walk to this beach, seriously!

The movers especially liked this box! Return to sender!!!

Our two little monkeys.

A typical outfit for the beach, as we near winter in tropical far-North Queensland, ha!