But first, coffee.

As long as I can get my coffee in the morning, all will be well. Regular drip coffee no longer does the trick. One of the first things I unpacked when we moved to Alice was my Nespresso coffee maker, which was shipped by air so it arrived before we did. Prior to marrying Greg I developed quite the bad habit of going to Starbucks every morning for my 4-shot no foam latte. The people at the Starbucks knew me and would start making my drink when they saw me walk in. It became a $5+/day habit. Greg, being more practical than me, suggested we buy our own espresso maker using a wedding gift certificate from Williams Sonoma. It was one of the best decisions we've made yet. I love my Nespresso.

I heart my Nespresso machine. This is my favorite coffee cup that I share with Katie.

Fortified with my 4-shot espresso and milk, I'm able to tackle some household chores. As I unpacked Greg's clothes last week, I joyfully removed every one of the many wire hangers he had from the dry cleaners and replaced them with nicer hangers.

No more wire hangers!

On the flip side, since we're living in the Outback and services are not as plentiful nor as affordable as back home, Greg is no longer using the dry cleaner to launder his shirts. You can see where this is going, right? I'm not working full time, so I've taken on more of the household tasks, such as cleaning and cooking and ... ironing? Ugh. The bane of my existence. Any tips on how to effectively iron a man's cotton button down shirt?

The pile of shirts keeps growing! I can see the pile giving me the stink eye right now.

Another post coming soon (after I get some ironing done!) with lots of pictures from our hike to Telegraph Station and the expat kids' Halloween party - Greg was a costume judge!

Home, Homecoming and Ms. Madison

Our stuff is here! Friday was a good day. All our things from home arrived and we got our broadband Internet set up on our laptops so we are no longer sharing one computer. However, it's not working on the iPad. We'll figure it out. Eventually.

Now it feels like home. Among other things, we've got our family calendar (thank you Veena, who creates a calendar every year), our wedding photo, our Starbucks Singapore pen holder and Halloween card from Pam.

Shoes I'll never wear here. This isn't even all of them ... I may have a problem.

Mountains of paper and this was from just one box! All the boxes have been unpacked, now we are arranging and rearranging.

Even more exciting news this week is that Katie has been nominated as one of the contenders for Ms. Madison! Click this link to see the Facebook page to support Katie. She is one of four nominees for the honor, with the winner being revealed at the JMU Homecoming game this Saturday, Oct. 26, in Harrisonburg. AND, Megan is coming up from Virginia Tech to escort Katie on the field. Katie was nominated by the Student Government Association for all her service to the University, including her work on the SGA, as an Orientation Peer Advisor, an upcoming leader for Alternative Spring Break and for just being awesome. We so wish we could be there ...

Our Aussie friend Emma invited Greg and me to come with her to the closing ceremonies for the 2012 Masters Games to see the free concert by the famous Aussie band, Icehouse. Emma knew every song and inched us all the way up by the stage! Greg and I didn't last for the whole concert, but had a lot of fun. 

With sweet Emma at the Icehouse concert.

Can you see how close we are to the stage??

Iva Davies - lead singer for Icehouse.

In unfortunate news, Greg's hotmail account got hacked. Don't open any emails from stolpgd@hotmail.com. Greg is going to shut this account down and switch over to: stolpgd@gmail.com. Please make that change in your address books.

On the cooking front, there has been one fail and one big success. A little while back I made three batches of a cabbage/ramen noodle salad and ended up with one and a half leftover cabbages. I really didn't want to throw them out, so I found a recipe for roasted cabbage and thought I'd try it. Yuck.

yucky roasted cabbage. 

On the plus side, I made an awesome dish using a crockpot for the first time. Greg LOVED it! Balsamic marinated beef and onions with potatoes, carrots, fresh green beans and garlic. Click here for the recipe.

Mmmmm - balsamic beef and onion pot roast.

Made brownies again. Can you see how small the pan is? About half the size of an American pan of brownies. 

$31 of groceries.

APO = Christmas

The end of sunset in Alice from Anzac Hill.

Off in the distance, to the right, there was a lot of smoke from a brush fire.

We get our mail sent and delivered through an APO (military post office), which is awesome because it's just like using the mail in the U.S. with U.S. postage. I love when I check our box and we have a slip that says we have a package - just like Christmas! Today we got THREE boxes and a Halloween card from my friend Pam! It was a very good day.

My parents sent us some reusable plasticware that we can use when eating outside (thanks mom and dad!). And my friend Darlene sent us a bunch of Halloween candy and a cute box to hold it in (thank you Dar!). Halloween is apparently a big deal here and we've  been told to expect a lot of trick or treaters in our neighborhood. Not traditionally celebrated here, but something fun the Americans have brought to town and the Aussies have embraced. What little kid doesn't like getting candy?

The big news in Alice this week is the Masters Games. The Masters Games take place every other year, bringing thousands of people to our little town. The Games are for those who are 35 and over and involve everything from darts to cricket to lawn bowling to shooting to archery and lots more. The Games last more than a week with sporting events taking place every day throughout the town. When Greg was here 8 years ago, his team came in third in volleyball! Out of three teams. But still - he got a medal! Maybe we'll participate when it comes back around in 2014.

Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Masters Games.

LOML (Love of my Life)

The Opening Ceremony on Saturday evening began with a parade of participants followed by fireworks and live music. Very fun! Here are some of this year's players, led by the Alice Springs Marching Band:

Alice Springs Marching Band.

Alice Springs Marching Band.

Aussie men wear short shorts!

Here is a great viewpoint from the top of Anzac Hill to see how many people were at the Opening Ceremony:

Having a whinge

Learned a couple of new Australian terms. This week we've been 'having a whinge' (whining) about our Internet situation. We thought all our problems were solved when this arrived in the mail:

 However, it doesn't work. Greg spent two hours on the phone with a technician to no avail. So. Over. It. Until someone from Telstra (the company that has a monopoly here in Alice) comes to the house to assess the situation, Greg and I will continue to share my laptop with our one plug-in USB Internet connection, which is unreliable, weak and expensive.

Despite that, being able to use Skype is awesome. The video part is a problem with our current Internet connection, but that should improve when we finally get our broadband. Before we left the states, we invested in a U.S. phone number through Skype for anyone in the states to use to call us with no international long distance charges and no charges at all if you are calling from the D.C. area (703.584.4473). Once we got here, we did the reverse and paid for a 12 month plan through Skype so we can call anyone in the states. A heads-up that when we call, the name that pops up is: Flora Baxter. If you get a call from Flora, it's us!

I've been making friends and community connections here in Alice; finding my place in this part of the world. Driving on the other side in my little 5 speed Hyundai is going well, although I do still flick on the windshield wipers (which are to the left of the steering wheel) when I mean to turn on the blinker. All I need to navigate the town is my old fashioned map and an address! I bring this with me everywhere:

This is my new friend Emma. She's so chic and stylish. We meet for coffee once a week or so for girl chat:

I'm still loving my flat whites. The barristas make pretty pictures with the foam. This one has a little smiley face in it:

Prior to coming to Alice I connected with some folks here through Linked In, Twitter and Facebook. Greg and I had coffee on Saturday with a lovely couple -- Amanda and Gary. In addition to their regular full time jobs (Amanda is a Ph.D. cultural anthropologist), they run a local travel company. We so enjoyed hearing more about the things to see and do in and near Alice. Amanda also taught us that "fanny" in Australia refers to ....ahem.... the front of a woman, not the back. And only a woman has a fanny. Good to know.

My boss from the Brain Injury Association has been in touch with me about doing some consulting/writing work for them. I'm thrilled! I would love the paid work and being able to stay connected to my friends at BIAA, but I'm also looking for organizations here in Alice where I can lend a hand and my communications expertise. I've had a couple of meetings with members of a coalition called Right to a Home. David Havercroft, who is spearheading the coalition, loaded me up with some books so I can learn more about the issues affecting homelessness in the Northern Territory.

 I also met this week with the staff of the local equivalent to The Arc back home -- the Disability Advocacy Service organization. Very excited to do what I can to help them.

On the cooking front, I made a very tasty dish last week that incorporated chicken breasts, potatoes, fresh green beans, carrots, onions, garlic. fresh lemon and olive oil.

Berries are in season here so we've been loading up on those while they are fresh and relatively affordable.

I offered to make a pan of brownies to bring to an event. Learned that a "pan of brownies" here is half the size of what we consider a pan of brownies in the U.S. Probably not such a bad thing!

Greg spent a good chunk of time this week working on the itinerary for our Christmas trip to New Zealand with the girls. Cannot wait! It is going to be so wonderful to have Katie and Megan come to Alice and for all of us to spend time in NZ. The girls are psyched about the adventure stuff ... that is where bungee jumping started. Not sure how I feel about me doing it .... we'll see. It will be a trip of a lifetime!

I've been cooking and it's good. Really.

Big news in Alice: I've cooked a few meals. And they were good. I was as surprised as Greg. I've been getting my recipes off Pinterest - which has been awesome. Who knew broccoli could taste so good when roasted with garlic and olive oil? Here are some pictures of my creations:

Hamburger patty with roasted onions, potatoes, carrots, garlic.

This was a big hit! Roast chicken with cream cheese, mushrooms, onions, parsley and sesame seeds inside puff pastry with roasted green beans. No Pillsbury Crescent rolls here, so I worked with real puff pastry.

We are still living off our welcome kit until our stuff arrives. We quickly run out of dishes and silverware! This is bacon wrapped filet mignon from the local butcher (Milner's), roasted potatoes, onions, mushrooms and garlic, AND cabbage/ramen salad that I made. I got way too much cabbage and have a lot leftover. Maybe I can roast that too!

Coincidentally, my mom sent me this beautiful cookbook by Mollie Rogers of Chimney Corners in Frankfort, Michigan. The recipes are from the 1950s, I think. The cookbook includes wonderful stories and commentary from the author (who has a grandchild with Down Syndrome) as well as pretty pictures.

My new Aussie friend Dot gave me this lovely housewarming gift. Always nice to be reminded of the Serenity Prayer.

Last Saturday we were invited over to the home of Bridget and Warwick (isn't that a great name?), who are both from Sydney, to watch the AFL championship game. The Sydney Swans won! I have no idea how the game is played, but I cheered when everyone else did and that seemed to work fine.

Warwick and Bridget in their festive backyard where we all watched the Sydney Swans win the AFL championship!

We were supposed to go to a bonfire/potluck out at the sand dunes on Saturday night, but it actually rained Friday and Saturday, so the bonfire was postponed until Sunday night and we were not able to go. The rain was refreshing and it dampened down all the dust. The weather has been clear and crisp and beautiful since it rained.

Knowing that I needed a kitty fix, my new friend Brittany asked me to look after her two kitties while she and her husband took a long weekend away. They are a hoot and so affectionate!

Now that we're settled in Alice, it's time to plan our first big trip - to New Zealand with the girls over Christmas break! We won't have a lot of time, so we are thinking of sticking to just one island.

We are settling into routines and are happy. Coming up: our broadband Internet should be installed this week so we can reconnect with loved ones back in the U.S. without getting cut off! And we got word our sea shipment has arrived in Australia and has cleared customs. With the exception of three pine cones, which we can either have destroyed or pay $750 to have them irradiated and sent to us. Can you believe that?? The custom regs are pretty tough. Cannot wait for our pictures, clothes and kitchen stuff to get here! Although it's been nice living quite simply with just a few things.