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  1. Everything Looks Different from Far Away
    Well I had a little bit of time to sort out my pictures thus far. Here are some from the actual trip.


    Sydney Harbour from above with the opera house. I was strangely unimpressed. I guess it must be bigger from the ground.


    Boston Rob & Amber in the San Francisco airport. Grainy due to having the flash off. I didn’t want to appear to be a total stalker… even though I was.


    San Francisco from above. Again, I was a bit apathetic about the Golden Gate bridge. It didn’t look as red or as big as I always imagined, so I guess that’s another one to see from the ground.


    My first glimpse of S*N*O*W!


    Sunset on the plane.

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    By Danielle – 31 December 2006

  2. Brrrrrr…
    Okay, so it’s been hard to get online. Or to do anything. Jetlag has made us tired. Catching up with everyone has made us tired. Laying around and not having anything to do makes us tired. Okay, not really the last part, but it does feel nice to have no responsibility.

    I planned to post some pictures, but I must just say that I totally saw Boston Rob and Amber at the San Francisco airport. I tried to get pictures, but it’s kind of hard to tell who it is, because I didn’t want to be all stalker-like. But they were wearing matching coats… who even does that?

    Anyway, we’re doing Christmas with the fam tonight, so I have to wrap pressies.

    No snow yet, but it’s predicted for this afternoon. Eeeep!

    Happy Holidays!
    If I’m not back anytime soon, it’s because I ate too much and couldn’t get back upstairs. Or it might be because I died from turning 30. Or because we turned into ice cubes in the basement.

    But I hope you all have a lovely and joyful Christmas! ♥

    If you need some holiday cheer, check out these videos of Jim & Erin’s light display. So amazing!

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    By Danielle – 25 December 2006

  3. We’re Alive
    31 hours later, we made it. “Tiredness” is the word for the day.

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    By Danielle – 20 December 2006

  4. Lost in Translation
    In a little social experiment to do with Aussie slang, today I ordered “chook nuggies” at McDonalds and got exactly what I wanted… chicken mcnuggets. Further proof that you can shorten and add “ies” to absolutely any word in this country.

    Flight Fright
    There’s a phenomenon that I’ve noticed lately where you tell someone that you’re about to take a huge trip, and they in turn feel compelled to tell you their most horrific travelling story. Listen, I don’t want to hear about Uncle Henry’s 52-hour layover after emergency-landing in Taipai. I don’t need to know about your neighbor Bob’s turbulence-inducing pukefest. And I certainly don’t want to know about Aunt Judy’s body cavity search. Okay? I’ve got some horror stories of my own… I don’t need yours.

    I’ll probably be packing tomorrow. For now it’s Hans’s birthday celebration part four.

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    By Danielle – 16 December 2006

  5. Look While You Can
    This is the hair you WON’T be seeing when I get to the States. I know I’m going there for two months in the heart of winter, but I cut a significant portion off today due to its weight and overheating properties. There will be no “after” picture, because it is traumatized, and I hate it… per usual. I’m sure it’ll be fine after I get all the styling shellac out of it.

    door

    Feline Friend
    I was witness to this scene tonight…

    chuckysfriend

    Hans dumped the frog out at the bottom of the steps though, because he didn’t want Chucky to notice it. That whole thing with cats catching little creatures and presenting them at your feet to show what good hunters they are. Poor little Ribbit.

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    By Danielle – 13 December 2006

  6. That’s Entertainment
    Now that our flights are booked, I’ve moved right on to the next important step– find out what the in-flight entertainment is going to be. This is a crucial step, as Tash will tell you, because otherwise you might accidentally go see Superman 2 with your parents, and then go see it again at the IMAX to be a good friend, and then you might have to be stuck in captivity on an international flight and be forced to watch it yet again. :P (Just kidding, T — but it really was comical! Hehe!)

    So based on the research I’ve been able to do, these movies should be available for our viewing pleasure:

    • Domestic Australia
      Scoop: Now I’ve never heard of this one, but with Hugh Jackman, it must have some redeeming qualities. (And if we were only flying a few days earlier, it could have been Boytown. Shoot!)
    • International
      The Da Vinci Code: Saw this on our honeymoon and don’t necessarily feel compelled to see it again, but that’s okay.
      Little Miss Sunshine: Saw it. Loved it. Would watch it again in a heartbeat.
      Miami Vice: Sorta wanted to see it, simply because it was done by Michael Mann.
      My Super Ex-Girlfriend: I think Hans wanted to see this, but we never got around to it.
      Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: While we’ve seen and enjoyed this one already, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of it in the next couple months, as we’re giving it to my nephew, and I have a feeling we’ll get a copy as well.
      Scoop: Well if it’s good, it might be nice.
      The Wicker Man: Nicholas Cage. Bleh. What a downer to end on, but that should get us to San Fran.
    • Domestic US
      Invincible: Never heard of it. I don’t think they market football (aka “grid-iron”) movies here, because it’s simply not a sport Australians relate to.

    Firefly: THE GAME!?!
    Hans greeted me with this news today: Firefly: Turning MMORPG by ’08?. I’m completely geeked out about that, and we are so planning on retiring our social life to be fully-committed to it.

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    By Danielle – 9 December 2006

  7. Being Home Sick
    I’m sick of this cold action that’s cramping my style. I’m taking an apricot flavoured cough-syrup that’s part yum and part gah. It also makes me tired. Or maybe that’s just the cold.

    Anyway, I’m sitting here watching a video show on the public access station, and I’m left wondering the following:

    • What ever happened to Wheatus?
    • Has anyone ever heard of Youssou D’Nour?
    • Why doesn’t everyone watch this video and laugh along with me? (One of my video pet-peeves is when they over lip-sync like that. Who really licks their lip when they say “lives”?)

    I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
    I think our travel plans are finalized. We leave here (and land there) on the 18th. Yes, that’s the 18th that is 11 days from now. We’ll hit Nashville for four days and then fly on to Orlando for a week of joy in early January. Then it’s back to Iowa until February 8. I’m sure there will be some roadtrips involved in that time — gotta get to Omaha and likely Des Moines at some point. Sadly, it doesn’t look like Indy is in the cards for this trip. :( But who knows… we might get bored at the end of January and hit the road.

    Mmm… back to the couch for a nap.

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    7 comments

    By Danielle – 7 December 2006

  8. Quirks of Australia
    I hate going to the chemist (“drugstore”) and not being able to actually handle the products that I’m looking for. Imagine having to pick up some cold medicine, or heaven forbid something of a more personal nature, and having to list off your symptoms to the little lady behind the counter who calls you “love” 40 times in the next two minutes.

    On that note, I’m dying from a cough that only starts up at about 9:00 at night. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in four days, and I’m getting cranky.

    Travel Deets
    I just said “deets”. I don’t have them yet, but soon and very soon I will know the details of our US tour 2006-07.

    Feelin’ Crafty
    I was so inspired by the sketchbooks this lovely lady made for her trip to Europe. See them here: Rome, Provence, and Paris. She has been kind enough to share some of her secrets with me, and so over the weekend my mother-in-law and I set out to create my own for America.

    Now, my MIL is the Craft Queen of Queensland, and she already has pretty much everything I could possibly need. The lady has done every medium of painting, dollmaking (she has her own kiln), leatherwork, sewing, just everything. Seriously. So I’m rebinding an old orange hardcover book called “Stories for Eight-Year-Olds”. We’ll see if I can get it finished!

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    3 comments

    By Danielle – 5 December 2006

  9. I Have Better Updating Intentions Than Actualities
    As another weekend comes to a close, I feel guilty for not updating. But I convince myself that no one reads anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

    I got a phonecall from my sister yesterday, and it was really sweet. We spent the time figuring out who is buying what for our parents’ Christmas gifts, but it was nice to hear her voice. And her two youngest both got on the phone to say goodnight, which always tugs the heartstrings.

    26 URLs from A-Z (via JB)
    I may have done this before, but they’ve changed obviously. You can give it a try too, and post the results in the comments. Just go through your browser (most of them auto-complete when you enter a letter) and put the first URL that comes up for each letter of the alphabet. (Skip the www, of course.)

    Alrighty then.

    Hans has been off on a musical retreat of sorts this weekend. I survived the first night alone in this house last night, but I can’t wait for him to get back. And he comes bearing McDonalds… that’s right, no cooking tonight!

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    By Danielle – 3 December 2006