Overdue post

Hello everyone!

I apologize for not writing sooner if you are following this blog. I've kind of transferred most of my posting to Facebook considering most family members seem to have made a profile on there. Here is the link to my page, not sure if this will work right but you can try, or just go on there and search for Melissa Vassallo.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=1050609915

In my photos section you will find a ton of albums containing pics from our travels. I've been taking a lot of photos and posting them on there. In theory Facebook is easier to upload photos on and organizes them better than this blog will allow.

If you don't have a Facebook account you may not be able to view everything. I do keep my profile public but I highly suggest signing up and adding me as a friend. Its free and a great way to stay in touch with people. Ok, enough Facebook endorsements haha.

John and I have really settled into life here in Sydney. We both really love this place, and of course now our time here is coming to a close. The job hunt has been stressful as always but John has really been doing an amazing job of it all. Doing contract work is not easy to deal with in any case but with his demanding work schedule on top of things it does take its tole. There is never really one clear path and we are still deciding on where we will go next but the options are staying here, going home, or going to New Zealand. I will post more about our choice when the dotted line is signed but New Zealand is looking like the most likely choice. Not exactly what we had planned but life leads you in different directions sometimes, as we are clearly proof of.

As for me I'm doing great. I went to Brisbane with a friend a couple weekends ago which was really fun. We tooled around the city and took lots of photos. We went to the GoMA art museum and had a lot of fun. There is a separate album of photos of my trip on Facebook.

My work is going well. They asked me to come in more this month as we are training a new batch of volunteers for the new school term. The kids here go to school all year long so we have to bring in new volunteers to work with them each term. I believe there are 4 terms total each year and we are going into term 3. I am really enjoying work and get along great with the other ladies in my program. I'm pretty sure they are happy with me too considering they are having me come in more often now. I really love my work not just for what I'm doing but also because it adds structure to my week and gives me a peek into the "real Australia". Its easy to float around with only a tourist's perspective but working in another country has given me a look into how life really is here. I love it!