South Bound

I'm moving to Australia today. The Gold Coast, just south of Brisbane to be more precise.

I've know for nearly a year that the move was possible, agreed to it in January, and found out it was certain in March. And yet, even though my move date was pushed back from May 'til now, I find I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the change.

It feels more permanent than the other assignments I've had in the past 5 years - more of a real move than extended business trips. I'm struggling a bit with leaving my family for the 18 months I'll be there (minus a few trips home a year on holiday, it's not like I won't see them at all!)

At the same time, I'm looking forward to actually being in one place for 18 months, to have a somewhat "normal" schedule and life. The chance to sign up for a class here or there, get a gym membership, all the things I haven't done in the last few years.

I keep reminding myself, I'll be living near the beach, in a country and culture I admire, this isn't exactly a hardship posting (and since I've had those, I know the difference.) Still, for the first time in a while, I'm not going in as part of a team, but rather on my own. So more than ever, it is up to me to settle into a new place, make friends and adapt. I know I can do it - I've done it before - but it is never easy.

On a side note, this is my 800th blog post - it feels somewhat fitting that, on a blog I started to keep a record of my travels, I hit a milestone on the same day I make a big move.

So while I finish packing my bags - I'll ask. Any of you from Australia? Been there before? Have any advice to share? Things to add to my must see/do list? If so, please share, I know that if I go into this move with a list of exciting experiences to seek out the easier the adjustment will be.

"I'm going back down south now."
Kings of Leon - Back Down South Pin It

SUU Homecoming 2012

Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging words on my Monday post - and the great ideas for building blogging motivation. I have a crazy few months coming up work wise, so blogging is going to be difficult, I'm sure I'll use all your ideas to keep going. As I said Monday, I'm trying to get back to my one of my original purpose in blogging: making a record of my life. First up, a pretty incredible experience from this weekend - homecoming at SUU, my alma mater.

I got a call a couple of months ago from the alumni office at my university telling me I had been named the Young Alumnus of the Year. I was shocked, honored and a bit overwhelmed (all the the while being completely overjoyed that they still considered me young.) They invited me to a series of events over homecoming weekend and I enthusiastically started planning.

Homecoming, for me, started on Thursday evening with an awards banquet where they honored three alumni. Nearly my entire family and a huge group of friends took vacation days, found baby sitters, drove hundreds of miles and gave up some of their deer hunting time to be at the banquet.

The alumni department had put together a video of our lives and accomplishments and just like at the Oscar's I got to give an acceptance speech (scary!) Friday I met with the Business School's National Advisory Board, full of some amazing people that I'd like to be just like someday. I taught a business class (those poor students) and then went to several receptions hanging out with some of the important people. The highlight for me was meeting the parents of my mentor in college. An amazing professor who passed away a few years ago. It was incredible to be able to tell them how much Dr Woodbury changed my life and to thank them for raising an amazing daughter.

Saturday started with a parade. I got to ride in this amazing car - and isn't my driver in his cool hat and mustache, the cutest ever? After the parade I did a bit of tailgating - both with the students and at the president's house - and can I just say that having the university president know me by sight and talk about me in his speeches was a pretty cool feeling.

It was finally game time! Hanging out with my friends at the game was like a walk back in time - it was so much fun to be together again. The team did amazing, nearly pulled off a win against the top team in their new division.

My last official duty of the weekend was walking out to mid-field at half time and waving along with one of the other nominees. An actress/writer/producer who was amazingly nice and down to earth (not to mention TALL.) When I was telling a friend about the entire experience, I said I'd never felt so special in my life and that I didn't know that I'd ever feel that special again, a truly once in a life time experience.

When I got in the car to drive to SUU last week I was in the mood for Kings of Leon - and their music was my soundtrack for the entire trip, Revelry seems like a good way to end this post. Pin It

More from Artland

Happy Monday. I'm enjoying a rare (for me) long weekend at home. It feels amazing to sleep in my own bed and not be worried about packing a bag for at least a week. I spent a good share of the day Saturday backing up photos after a lost luggage scare last week - nothing like the thought of losing a years worth of photos to make you get serious about back ups!

To fill out the rest of the weekend, my niece/nephew visited for a sleep over, we did the traditional BBQ thing and managed to finally see the Avengers (great movie.)

The photos here are a few more of the art installations at Artland Jupiter in Edinburgh, I think I could have spent days there, there was something interesting around every bend.

I'm off to make breakfast for Miss M and Tiny T - here's hoping they are okay with omelet's or don't mind having chocolate almond milk in their cereal, my pantry is not particularly kid friendly!

My soundtrack this weekend included a lot of Kings of Leon - for some reason their music says summer to me. Here's their Beach Side.

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Beach Thinking

I've spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks thinking about a quote from Anna Quindlen I saw on Smart, Pretty, Awkward:

"I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me."

There are times in my life when I forget that I am the only one with the power to make those changes in my life I've been seeking. Running across this quote was a great reminder that I need to step up and take control.

I'm headed back to Istanbul tomorrow and plan to stay for about a month. Work is going to be absolutely insane, I'm just praying I'll be able to keep up.

I hope those of you in the US are enjoying the second great holiday this week: Black Friday. I'm planning to avoid it, but you never know what my mom and sister will talk me into.

A perfect Kings of Leon song, Beach Side, came on while I was sitting on this amazing beach in Antigua - I love it when shuffle works that perfectly. Pin It

October's Cheap Music

After last week's music week, I thought I'd set aside one day each month to highlight some great music you can pick up on the cheap. Each month amazon.com has a list of about 100 albums you can download for $5, I usually want to buy everything, but maybe sharing my wish list will help me control myself.

Those I already own and can vouch for:














Those I purchased this month and LOVE (especially Tift Merritt):














On my wish list:


























Looking for something even cheaper than $5? Check out your local library. I discovered this week that my library has an AMAZING music collection, I've got a great list on hold, that I'm waiting to hear.

If only I didn't have to wait for the 100 other people ahead of me on the list for the new Kings of Leon.


Have you found any great deals on music lately? What song or album have you picked up lately you can recommend to the rest of us? Pin It

How did I get so OLD?

Like all of you, I've found myself reading many "best of" lists over the past few weeks.  This weekend I was reading Entertainment Weekly's 2009 Best & Worst issue and one list in particular left me feeling very old and out of touch.  Their picks for The Best Singles of the Year include:

• Jay-Z and Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"
• Lady Gaga "Paparazzi"
• Phoenix "Lisztomania"
• Keri Hilson feat Kanya West & Ne-Yo "Knock You Down"
• Grizzly Bear "Two Weeks"
• Gossip "Heavy Cross"
• Green Day "21 Guns"
• Noisettes "Never Forget You"
• Mile Cyrus "Party in the USA"
• Dirty Projectors "Stillness is the Move"

As I read through the list I realized that, while I recognized all of the artists (except Dirty Projectors) the only songs I actually remember hearing were "21 Guns" and "Party in the USA."  Since then I've spent several days feeling old and out of touch.

I've finally decided to blame my lack of knowledge on the fact that I don't listen to the radio anymore and that my taste in music is just a bit outside mainstream pop.  Have I rationalized enough so that I can still consider myself "cool" when it comes to music?

To try and prove my "coolness" here are some of my picks for the top songs of the year (in no particular order):

• The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You"
• Owl City "Fireflies"
• Kings of Leon "Use Somebody"
• Carrie Underwood "I Told You So"
• Miranda Lambert "Dead Flowers"
• Death Cab for Cutie "Meet Me at the Equinox"
• Holly Williams "Alone"
• The Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition"
• Will Hoge "Even if it Breaks Your Heart"
• Dierks Bentley feat. Patty Griffin "Beautiful World"

What were your favorite songs this year?

And because I really do want to know, I've decided to provide a little incentive to get you to comment.  I'm going to give away a mix of my favorite songs to one of you, so leave a comment with you favorite song(s) before Thursday at mid-night and you could be the proud owner of my Best of Mix.

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