Dreaming of a White Christmas

So it has been a few weeks since I last wrote.  Hopefully everyone had an amazing holiday season.  We had so much fun here, though it was quite different from my previous Christmas experiences.  We had a phenomenal holiday experience in a sleepy little town called Brooms Head.  It's name is quite literal as the first settlers there found a broom on the beach, and thus decided to call the headland Brooms.  The small "town" (if you can even cal it that), is completely surrounded by the Yuraygir National Park, which is absolutely stunning.  We stayed at a beautiful beach house that Ehren's family rents every year for the holidays.  It is a mere 2 minute walk from both the front and back beach of the headland.  Back Beach normally has much more aggressive surf that is harder to swim in, while Front Beach is completely engulfed by a reef.  The reef causes the waves to be small and tame and excellent for an inexperienced ocean swimmer.  Some of the readers (mostly my extended family) will probably remember my hesitation when it comes to the ocean.  You are likely to remember me playing in the sand while all the other kids ran about in the water.  You may also recall me crying in fear when it came to floating and swimming in the Coeur D'Alene River.  You would be happy to discover that I am much more comfortable with bodies of water in general now-a-days and I did spend much of our recent vacation in the water.  The weather was hot enough to make you want to swim but not so hot that it was unbearable outside the water.  We spent the few weeks swimming, boogie boarding, playing card games and Yahtzee, and of course fishing.  We found a stunning, rarely fished area up the Sandon River that we could only reach due to Ehren's prized bright yellow canoe.  We caught 2 full meals (for 7 people) of delectable fish from this area and we didn't even have to pay for bait.  There's nothing like a truly free meal that is healthy, nutritious, and absolutely delicious.  Sadly, I did not catch any fish here but I did catch a sting ray, which was quite exciting.  It's tricky getting the hook out of the ray due to the giant stinger on their tail.  Aussie's have learned their lesson when it comes to messing with these creatures (poor Steve...).
Anyway, it wasn't all just fun and games. We did attend a CrossFit gym while we were their.  It was located in neighboring town called Yamba.  The owner of the gym was very accommodating to our workout needs and allowed us to come in during non-class times to do our own workout program.  It's a small gym but very well equipped for our needs.  We met a fellow CrossFit-er their who has been participating at the regional competition as an individual for the last few years.  He was great to work out with and he also let us in on a few local competitions that I am going to try to join.  He seems dedicated and hardworking so he was a much needed good influence on us during our vacation time.
We are now back home and working on the next great adventure of retrieving our things that we shipped overseas.  It has been an adventure working through all the red tape.  There are 3 different companies we are working with to get our things and none of them seem to be communicating with one another.  The second we deem our task complete, another unforeseen chore is assigned.  I do think at the moment we have done all that is in our power to do, and are now waiting on customs to rummage through our things.
Like I said before, this holiday season was a complete contrast to my former Christmas celebrations.  These differences really made me desire my family, and curling up with Charlie (the cat) in a warm house near a fully decorated Christmas tree.  This feeling was compounded by the fact that we had very limited Internet access, and I was unable to communicate with my friends, and rarely able to  call my family.  (I don't mean to put a negative spin on the vacation, because it was extraordinary.)  So I just wanted to end this long awaited update with a big I LOVE YOU.  To all the people in my life back in the US, I am thinking of you, and I miss you and the times we spent together having a grand ol' time.  I really so hope you all had an amazing white (or maybe just cold) holiday.  I never thought I would miss the cold, but I guess it is a big enough staple in my life that my love for it was unconscious, never to be discovered if it weren't for this change.
Love you all so much!
Love Lindsay