Timeline

Five and a half years ago, I was here:

Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, on top of being one of the most unique. I fell in love with it the moment I stepped off the plane - and though I was only there one weekend out of the entire month I was in Australia, I instantly made it my goal to go back again someday.

One year ago, Chris and I decided to move there. To Melbourne, actually, where we have some friends who would help us until we were able to stand on our own two feet. We sold our condo, moved in with my parents, and started on our visa.

Eight months ago, we found a rockin' awesome deal on tickets to Aussie land, which we took the liberty of purchasing (only to find out later how drawn out the visa process really is... a fact we hadn't realized until after taking a chunk out of our pockets). We figured we could just push the trip back for as long as we needed to. No worries.

Four months ago, we read a positive pregnancy test... and realized our dream of Australia would be put on the back burner indefinitely (but also realized how great the new adventure before us would be). But, having purchased our plane tickets already, we decided to have a great 3rd anniversary in the land down under.

Three months ago, we moved into a new apartment. We were ready to have our own space, and we knew it was needed with a baby on the way.

Two months ago, I lost my job. And while we had saved up some money while we were in the 'rents house, we quickly used that up with our new rent and utilities to pay.

So... we quickly realized, with our savings dwindling, that although we'd be able to get to Australia, our funds would be low while there... next to non-existant. It was then we had to decide whether or not to go anyway. Deciding it was the smart thing to do and knowing we'd eventually get there one day, we decided to cancel our trip.

A week and a half ago was our anniversary. Because we take turns every year planning it, I wanted to make it at least a little bit special.... though nothing could compare to a 14 hour flight, the destination being half way across the world (which was the original plan). I decided, a little too late, to use destinations around the valley to make it seem a bit like Australia. The Daybreak "beach," The zoo, Outback Steakhouse, etc.

The only stop we ended up at was this one: The Sydney "harbor bridge" (the overpass on Wasatch between 4500 South and 3900 South). We watched the sunset and enjoyed each other, until the cold was too much to handle. Later, we went to Ruby River... we weren't in the mood for the Outback.