Six Months of Life in Graz

Friday was our six month marker. To celebrate, we went and had dessert and coffee up at the restaurant on top of the Schlossy. It was such a nice night.

Note: I know you are probably tired of seeing these pictures of us and I sorta feel narcissistic posting them and every mundane activity or thought that runs through my mind as if you are really that interested...but, this blog sorta serves as our scrapbook for our time here and I know I might be glad I have it later in life. So, please bear with me you canty bimby. Plus, I tend to remember things based on what I was wearing...normal for girls??... hopefully. Like, "Oh yeah, I remember that night... I was wearing my new ruffled collar top, white jeans and my brown wedges." I know it's sorta sad...but I have a really photographic memory and I tend to associate things with images, K?

So, we tried to take some pretty night pictures from the top of the Schloss, but as you can see...not so good. Shoulda lugged the muthaload with us.

I think it says "El Homo" on the Kunsthaus...?

As for our time in Graz...it's really been great. Most of life here is normal, regular day-to-day living and not too, too different from living at home. I think people tend to glamorize living abroad and it's not always traveling, frolicking in the park, dining on gourmet cuisine or singing in the Alps. We are like any newly married couple adjusting to marriage, finances and the regular...plus, the added stress of not knowing the language and me not having a job yet.

But...we do get to experience lots of things we wouldn't at home. We live in beautiful, new place and have gotten to travel and see some pretty wondey places and meet some great new people. It's opened up our minds beyond America {or even Texas} and our 'normal' ways of living. And my unemployment hasn't been all that bad. :) I've learned to cook more, I read more, I've discovered the world of blogging and it's been good to just de-stress for six months. And, Art loves his work, his colleagues and his advisor here. He is very motivated and enthusiastic about the research he is doing and the invaluable experience he is gaining here.

So, we are pretty happy and feel blessed to have this experience. That being said, there are days (not too often) when we really miss home, family and friends. Some days it just hits me and I wish I could go out with my friends or be at one of the family get-togethers or just go jog in Memorial Park or Tanglewood. I sometimes miss the feeling of a full, busy day at work too....seriously, I promise. But, such is life. Gotta take the little bads with the good.

So, enough of my sentimenty talk. I start school tomorrow! Got my outfit laid out and a backpack full of fresh school supplies....ha, not really. It's gonna be a long four hours early in the morn for me. Gotta get to bed and figure out my bus schedule...no, not a big yellow bus...a city bus. Goodnight and good luck.