can u believe it has been a year?

Well I have been here for over a year now and it is hard to believe. There have been so many changes in my life it is pretty amazing!

I moved across the world and dealt with making new friends, and fitting into a different culture
I have had THREE jobs (4 if you count the dog walking)

I have been married
I have moved house since arriving here.

No wonder I have had my homesick moments and stress! I would not change any of it though and I have become one tough chick because of it all. I am gaining some true friends and some great work experiences as well.

i

I have not written on here on a bit so here are some updates from our neck of the woods. We are all settled in at our new place. We are really liking it and think t is much better than the last place we had. Winter is here and I have had to bundle up when I walk to work and do my recess duties. Not too much rain like last year though. I have been fighting a cold for the last week and a half or so and there have been lots of sick kids at school.



Kieran and I have had some busy weekends recently. When he does not have to work at a home game it seems like lately we have had a lot on. One of the highlites would be the Australia Vs. New Zealand game we went to a few weeks ago with our friends from New Zealand. We took a a party bus into the city and then went to the game. The Aussies dominated so Kieran was happy. We then all went out to some nearby pubs - the New Zealanders really know how to party! Another event was an Australia South Africa Rugby Union game (I'm noticing a trend here). We went to Manly for a late lunch and took the ferry into the city to meet our friends Dom and Sejr. I also have become pretty social with the girls I work with and there have been some dinners and nights out. We also are thankful for the quiet nights at home too.


Our new place is a good little home for us. This past Saturday we went to see what was out there to buy in the near future and a two bedroom apartment in our area will set us back a bit but we are nearly ready to buy. It was fun to look around and see what was out there. I think whatever we get we will renovate bits a pieces. We are happy here for the rest of the year though. It has been great walking to work in the morning. Kieran and I both are having success with our jobs. I spoke with the principal at the school last week and it looks like she is more than happy to let me get some teaching experience next year - I just need to get listed with a teaching agency. I think the Catholic Diocese will be my best bet. It is being looked into anyhow. I am happy!

Happy (late) Valentine's Day

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good Valentine's Day - I love you! We had a pretty quiet one. I was going to upload some photos on this but the website is not allowing it for whatever reasons.

My new job is going SO great! I have fallen in love with my students and feel so blessed to be able to help them. There are 9 boys. Most are mildly delayed mentally and a few who are a bit more severe. The teacher I work with really respects me and involves me as much as possible. I get to put my PE skills to use and do some motor skills with the boys a couple of times a week. We had parent teacher night on Friday and everyone was saying how their boys really like me. The cutest thing is that one of the boys cannot pronounce my name so he calls me "Mrs. Helping Hand". How funny is that? Sota made a little trip to the class the other day which was fun.


Speaking of Sota, we still have a cat but we have had our moments where we have wanted to say bye bye to Sota! He is a great kitty so loving and cute but man can he be obnoxious! The latest thing he does is try to escape from our apartment (and he has done so successfully about 5 times now)! He never gets far but let me paint a picture of why this is a problem...


Sota sleeps all day when we are at work so when we are asleep he is pretty good until like 3 am. Then he wants to go nuts and play. Lately we get up and give him some milk and lock him in the bathroom until we wake up. Well it was really warm the other night s we had the bathroom window open. Somehow Sota pushed the screen out and jumped (thankfully we are on ground level). When Kieran woke at like 5:30 the cat was gone! It was pitch black and raining out. We did find him but he has since done it again (pried the window open on his own!). Hopefully he grows out of it. He is such a good suck up it is hard to stay mad at him :)



Kieran is well and work is busy busy. The season kicks off on the 14th of March. I decided to help out selling merchandise at home games (man am I a sucker!) . so I will be more involved. His grandmother passed away a few weeks ago so that was tough but other than that he and his family seem to be doing ok. We are still working out the details of his trip for work to the States in the coming months - looks like we will be over there in December (and I may stay through most of January possibly).

Keep in touch - can you believe it is almost Easter?! Time flies - I will have been here for a year as of the beginning of May!

...and kitty makes three

So the Houlahan's have gained a family member...we got a kity named, "Sota"...you know like Minnesota! He is about 15 weeks old and has TONS of character. This is fun most of the time but when you are trying to sleep and he is running sprints up and down the hallway or nibbling on your toes it is not so cute. He is very into cuddling and seems to love us so it is fun. He will be good company for me when Kieran gets busy with all of the pre-season chaos which is coming up in the next few months.

As most of you know Margaret was here for a few weeks and we had lots of adventures! It was great to have a visitor and it sounds like we will be having some more in 2008. I like it because I get to play tourist too! If any of you are thinking of coming let us know so we can plan accordingly.

Summer is in full swing and I am trying to learn about water safety in the ocean (I am starting to get more and more brave) and cricket. Right now Austarlia is playing India in Cricket and the Australian Open tennis tournament is on so Kieran is in heaven :) I go back to work next week which should be good. This week I have been trying to relax as much as possible.

Ok, well I will write again soon! Hope everyone is having a good start to 2008!!

Seasons Greetings

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?...So this will be my first Christmas without seeing any snow or cold weather to speak of. It is strange being able to wear shorts and flip flops in December. Granted we have not had the best weather ever. Australia tied and set more records this month for rain fall. The past few days we have had major thunderstorms and even some hail. I still think I would take it over snow though. It has been nice to go to the beach after work on hot sweaty days and take a dip.

The last month has seen Kieran and I add some more additions to our place including a brand new bed and a Christmas tree! Holding true to some of my family traditions, we had a cookie bake at our apartment the first weekend of December. It was just the two of us and we only successfully made three types but it still was nice. No Thanksgiving turkey this year however. It fell during a busy week for us but next year we DEFINATELY are celebrating somehow because I feel like a bad American. :)

One other change this month is that I have taken yet ANOTHER job! I feel like such a quitter, but the department of education will not grant me a teaching license (to teach in state schools) until I take two more course which I would have to go over an hour away to take and pay way too much money. It is not realistic right now and the job I currently have is just not able to give me full time work. I was looking on the web for teaching positions at private schools and could not find any full time PE jobs either. I did however find a position as an aide working in classrooms with special needs children. I have always loved working with children like this and it is at a Catholic school only 15 min from where we live so I figured I would jump on it and see if maybe it would lead to a "teaching" job down the road. Plus it will be better than what I am doing now because I won't be bouncing from school to school and I will actually get to know the people I work with. Fingers crossed!

I am still doing my dog walking/pet care job a few afternoons a week and posted some photos of my regulars. Fred is the lab mix who is 11 but thinks he is about 3 - he is my favorite. Smokey and Bandit are the two crazy girls below him. They are sort of a pain in the butt and are very much still puppies. All muscle and they walk me more than I walk them sometimes I think!

Kieran is well and his work is pretty slow at the moment. This is good because we can spend quite a bit of time together. He is playing soccer with some friends on Wednesday nights when I play basketball. He is a bit dissapointed in th eelection outcome as of a few weeks ago. Australia has a new Prime Minister and everyone is worried intrest rates will sore even higher. His grandmother is in a nursing home at the moment after having a bit of a stroke. We have gone to visit her a few times. Hopefully she will be able to come spend time with us on Christmas.

All in all life is pretty good. We are thinking of all of you during this holiday season. Not sure when I will be able to get back home to see everyone but hopefully it will be in the next 12 to 18 months. You can always come see us.....

Mrs. Houlahan

Well hello again! I have been VERY slack about updating my blog, but in my defense, I have had a few things going on in the last month or so! First of all - I am a MARRIED WOMAN! Kieran and I tied the knot on October 12th in my hometown of New Brighton, MN. For those of you who were able to make it I think you would agree that it might just have been the party of the year! It was so great to have so many family and friends around to share the day with us!

The Australians invaded America for a few days and it was a blast! They bonded with my family and friends and even took part in a softball game (America V. Australia) the day after the wedding. Many of them were put up by my (dysfunctional) family and become honorary members of their home...everyone will be talking about it for a long time I'm sure!

After the wedding, and a few tears on my part, Kieran and I headed to NYC for our honeymoon. The weather was awesome while we were there and we were able to walk around in t-shirts and sandals most days!

The first full day we had there, we took a tour of Manhattan via tour bus...an 8.5 hour tour that is! I was exhausted from the wedding and all of the late nights with visitors and fell asleep for 45 minutes towards the end of the ride! Some of the high lites were: Ground Zero, the UN building, and a ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty. It was a long day but a great way to learn about the city.

One of the other fun things we got to do was go to a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman". No major celebs that day (LeAnne Rimmes was the biggest) but still fun to be a part of. We went to dinner in Little Italy one night and wandered down through Greenwich Village and Sojo, which we loved. Times Square and the Empire State building were a short jaunt from our hotel which was cool. We also met up with Kate Gales and her boyfriend, Patrick, for drinks one night.

We would have loved to have a few more days to explore but we just ran out of time. Now it is back to reality.

Work is going ok. I got a letter from the Department of Education when I got home saying I need to go back to school for another semester if I want to teach at public schools in this state which is disappointing...I'm trying to fight it but will see what happens. At least I have work for now. I started my pet care job too which has been really fun. I work for a place where you walk, feed and care for owners' pets while they are away. Pretty flexible hours and I get to play with all the cute dogs and stuff!

Summer is definitely on its way. We went to the beach just today actually with some people and had a bbq at our place - it will be great to be so close to the beach! I tried my hand at body boarding the other day but I am not sure if the ocean is my cup of tea - it is pretty exhausting! I have started playing on a basketball team on Wed nights and we joined a co-ed softball team (which got rained out our first game the other night). Still finding it sort of tough to get a group of friends but slowly meeting people.

Miss all of you and think about you often! Please keep the emails coming!
XOXO

Spring has Sprung!

Well, it is officially the second day of Spring and I am so glad that the days are getting longer and warmer! The only bad thing is that the LOUD birds around here start squawking at about 530 in the morning!! These are not quiet birds either. They are cockatoos and kookaburras - sounds like we are living in the freakin' jungle!

Otherwise life has been pretty good! My job has been great - I really have learned so much about teaching gymnastics so it has been a really good learning experience. I missed a day last week due to the fact that I had a bad sinus infection, but the kids have been great and I am happy.

I am on the fence trying to decide about getting my masters. Kieran gets back into his MBA courses in January and I think I might take a class towards my masters in education - we will see. I also am in the process of getting my qualifications updated to teach swim lessons.

I have been able to spend some time with Kieran and his family the past few weekends. Last weekend we had his family over for a picnic since it was his dad's birthday. It wound up being an indoor picnic because it rained when we wanted to eat but then it fined up and we went to the beach and park so his nephew could play. Nice day. Then I was at the football game with his parents today. they won their last regular season game of the year and playoffs start next weekend. It was also Father's Day here today. I think Kieran is ready for the season to be over. It has been a great year but busy for him.

We really do not have much else excitement in our lives these days. I fly into Minneapolis on Sept. 29th at 930pm and Kieran will be coming a few days later since he needs to work at the Rugby Grand Final (whether Manly is in it or not). It sounds like a lot of you are able to come so I am really looking forward to seeing all of you!! I sent the playlist in to the DJ today so get ready to boogie! We are working on a video of our area to show at the reception as well so we will see. It will be a home video, but I took it to the rugby today and have been getting bits and pieces each day.

Love all of you!! XOXO