Time is ticking!

We are nearing the end of our countdown!
We have just nine days until we check in for our flight stateside!

Paul and I have both started our packing.
He's much further than I am...big surprise.

But I have made progress!

I managed to lose a bit of weight since moving.
So fortunately, and unfortunately I have to try on a bunch of my clothes before I pack them!
I also have to get a couple things taken in, so I can't bring them. No complaints here!

To all our friends and family: We are hosting an informal bbq at Lake Calhoun, Thomas Beach on June 30th at 2pm.
We'll be covering some of the food and drinks.
But we're counting on everyone to provide some of their own as well.

This is the day after our 24 hour flight across the pond. So we won't have much time for organizing. But as to be expected we are crazy busy the whole time we're home. This was our only free Sunday, and we had to seize the day! If I go by the facebook rsvp a lot of people will be there! But....I won't take that too seriously. Last time we were home we stretched ourselves pretty thin. It was a little too much. This time we're hoping our friends/fam can come to us (we did fly 10,000 miles after all). Guilt trip, guilt trip! Anyways.... I hope to see all you wackos! I miss everyone more than words can describe. This has been one of the best, but one of the hardest years of my life. I don't deal with separation anxiety very well.

With that said, come on everybody, let's parteh.

Fathers Day!

Just a little Fathers Day shout out to my sweet Dad
(and all my uncles/cousins/friends/bro in law that are also amazing Daddy's).

Dad and I had a hilarious chat today about all of what's going on back home. He's been sharing his left over pizza with some neighbourhood squirrels. But he's since decided to save his extra pizza for himself & to give the squirrels some bread. Although, he's not very pleased with said squirrels. "The bastards have been getting leaves all over my driveway".  He's also managed to purchase all new appliances for the remodelled upstairs. So we'll have a brand new kitchen to cook in when we're back home in just two weeks time! Dad also made a trip to the Salvos and found a lovely picture for less than $7.99 with a senior discount, he thinks I'll be quite pleased with that gem. Dad & Josh got out today for lunch and a small motorcycle rally. I wish I could have joined, but I'm glad they had a nice afternoon (despite Dad's sunburn).

My Dad has been a driving force in the person I've become today.
We've had our disagreements about plenty of my life choices.
But he's always managed to always stay supportive.
I'm thankful everyday for my wacky/wonderful/compassionate/burger loving Daddio.

Here's to you, Dad. Love you!

Bye Perth!

Our time in Fremantle is coming to a close. We fly back to Melbourne tomorrow. We have been here on and off since November. The longest stint started in December. Paul is originally from Perth, Western Australia. So we couldn't have chosen a better place to be sent for his work. We got to spend Christmas, Boxing day, NYE, Paul's birthday, Valentines day, and Easter, not to mention all the other birthdays and events we've had here with family and friends. I got to experience a real proper Aussie summer. It's MUCH warmer here than rainy ol' Melbourne. We've done our fair share of exploring around Perth and the surrounding areas. We even got in a holiday weekend away in beautiful Margaret River.

The feeling is bittersweet. I'm ready to go back to our 'home'. Bouncing between a hotel/serviced apartment has been a bit difficult. I'm not going to miss worrying about when housekeeping will randomly knock on the door. I definitely will not miss the terribly uncomfortable bed that leaves my whole body sore. One frustrated morning I had to scream out "STTTOOOOPPPP" to the assholes below (scuse the french). Every morning at 7am w/o fail they made an ungodly amount of noise. Now enough with the dramatics. I will miss being just down the road from everyone. I've been able to flex my crafting skills. Mum taught me how to knit. I've also made entirely too many flower crowns. Every Sunday we had market dates with the Dempsey's followed by bike dates around town. Most weekends have been filled with some sort of plans with friends or family. We've been lucky enough to have an amazing ocean view to wake up and go to sleep to everyday. The weather in Perth is to die for. There's also the vast amount of Fremantle people watching.

But all good things must come to an end. We've had a good seven month run. Paul has worked his ass off to complete this job. He's put in overtime nearly everyday and worked at least eight Saturdays. He's due for a bit of relaxation. We've got some more packing to do. Then we're airport bound tomorrow am, with a mimosa on the agenda prior to departure!

Christmas with the Dempsey's. Having a celebratory mimosa.

Boxing day.

Cheeky monkey staring at the cookies.

Dweebs.

The Boxing Day boys.

 Look at those little feet!

Boxing day with Charlotte. We both wore our tutu's!  

My birthday boy!

Hailey's strawberry shortcake party!

At the John Butler, Save the Kimberly concert.

Charlotte loved Uncle Freddy's beard on St. Pat's!

Feeding the duckies with Christian.

Van and Jordan blowing out her bday candles!

The first beach we hit in Margaret River.

The second beach and Paul's favorite.

Sunday Markets with the Dempsey girls!

Mum made it out that day for a coffee!

Charlotte cotton tail.

On Anzac day with the Submariner.

Sienna's Peppa pig bday party!

Uncle Paul being goofy with the boys.

One of the amazing sunrise views from our room.

Our last weekend in Freo, poppin' tags!

My main squeeze, trying to look 'cool'.

Now to finish packing...and convince Mr. F that we deserve an afternoon coffee today!

Fun in Freo

We're quite lucky to be staying right in the heart of Fremantle. We've been here for just about seven months now. We have the luxury of knowing many people here, as Paul was born and raised in Perth. Because of that we also have the luxury of having an 'insiders' knowledge of places to check out. Amy was sweet enough to let me borrow her bike. We've taken many mini adventures on the bikes the past several weekends. 

A few weekends back we decided to take a ride to North Coogee; we parked the bikes and 'climbed' a little hill. We had a whale of a time wandering around an abandoned power station. We didn't go inside the building itself, as it was closed from asbestos contamination (I think). Ain't nobody got time for that. But we did take a few photos of the cool graph that wraps around all the concrete on the remaining lower walls. The building is incredibly striking. I snapped several photos. I expected to zoom in and find zombies staring from the windows. The setting feels very post apocalyptic. It's quite eerie, but strikingly beautiful at the same time.

Don't judge my outfit. I had no idea it would be so warm on the ride. 

So I had to take off my long sleeve.

"Heaps", how very Aussie.

"Just two mates painting a wall..."

After the urban-sploring we continued down the road for a cold brew.
We took in the air and the last bits of sunlight.