Thursday, January 8, 2009

HOME!!!!!!

I'M HOME!!!!

First of all, let me just say how sorry I am that I haven't blogged until now. I cannot believe that it is already January 2009! I feel like from the moment I stepped off of the plane at LAX I've just been in this whirlwhind and only now am I really getting my bearings.

But let's go back a bit.

December 16th I graduated!! I am now, without a doubt, a Graduate with a Masters Degree. :) It's such a good feeling. And like my grandma said, no one can EVER take that away from me. I will always have that degree and that knowledge that I did it.
The ceremony was held at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre and some of my friends were able to go: Esther, Sallie, Sharon, Chris and even Bec! She flew up from Melbourne that morning to make sure that she was there to see me walk across the stage in my "silly robe". :) It was great.



After graduation, we just hung out in the city, did some shopping etc. Then that night we met up with everyone else at a little restaurant in the Valley called Garuva. It was a cool little place that had each table sectioned off by curtains. The food wasn't the greatest, but the atmosphere (and company) was fantastic. :)


The next day (Dec 17) was a day of packing, hanging out with Alanah (who graduated as well), and stressing over the fact that I found out I did not, in fact, have a plane ticket to come home the next day as I had thought... It's a looooong story, but apparently I didn't receive an email from the booking agent requesting more information before he could purchase my ticket three months earlier.... so he never booked me on a flight. Thank goodness I called the airline two days before to make sure everything would still be on schedule. Long story short, I ended up paying a little bit more than I had originally intended and got on a direct flight from Brisbane to LA for the same day as planned.

Dec 18, 12:05pm Brisbane time I was in the air destined for Los Angeles.
Dec 18, 7:05am Los Angeles time I was on the ground.


Interestingly enough, I didn't feel any kind of jet lag. The next day I was at Disneyland :)



So now I'm back home.
Christmas and New Years FLEW by... and now we're in 2009... the year of exciting stuff. New job, new home, and a wedding...

But it still feels like I'm going back to Brisbane. And I miss my friends.

But it's good to be home.

Thank you all for your encouragement, prayer and support throughout this past year and a half. It has been such an amazing and unforgetable journey. I'm sad to see it done.


"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning." - Louis L'amour

2 comments:

Beth said...

Last blog! Aaahhhhh! Kind of sad... But it's so much better that you actually home! :-) This year is going to be great. Love you!

Valerie Geary said...

You old woman you! All gradamacated with your master's degree.... I was beginning to wonder if you had made it home safe! I'm glad you did and really hope you keep blogging.... cause I still want to know what's going on with you even if you aren't down under anymore!!! Miss you!