Aussie Christmas

The Christmas season was incredibly strange for me this year. The weather kept getting warmer, there were no signs of snow, no houses were decked out with Christmas lights, it goes on and on.
I kicked off the Christmas season with my work Christmas party which I don't seem to have any pictures from. It was pretty casual. Some food, drinks and shisha for lunch. Then I had to head home for a power nap and to change quickly, then back to work that night. Only another week and 2 days of work and then we got 10 days off from the 24th to the 3rd (that 10 days did not last long enough).

I saved my Christmas shopping for the last minute, but sure had a fun time with it. People may not decorate their houses as much as back home, but the shopping centers sure have some fun. In the Queen Victoria Building they have a tree that's over 3 stories tall. You actually have to climb up to each floor to see the different sections of it.




This is a view standing directly under the tree.
The Pitt St Mall had their own tree as well..






Now I must say, I really did miss my family, and being away from home made this Christmas more difficult than I could ever have imagined, BUT shopping for only 1 person was so much easier than shopping for everyone. On Christmas Eve we went to a party at Sesh's coworker's apartment, which I again have no pictures of. I guess I was just too busy enjoying all of this. And then when we got home Sesh decided he couldn't wait for presents so while he hung out with some friend's in his lounge room I set up this nice surprise for him...




Since it's his first proper celebration of Christmas, and my first away from home, I wanted to make it special for us. And my ideas are limited to my usual ways of celebrating. We opened all our gifts (which took less than 5 minutes; way less time than what I'm used to).


The stockings were filled with the standards for the Carlin household including scratch tickets and socks (which Sesh was actually incredibly excited about).

Probably the best photo we've ever taken together.
There's a crack in front of the lens, that's why there's a glare.


The front camera on my phone really sucks...
After that it was pretty late so we turned in for the night. Christmas day was pretty relaxed. My only goal for Christmas was to go to the beach no matter how crappy the weather was. Luckily the weather was alright.

Australian Christmas
Wet hair proof
The water was FAREEZING!!!!!! But that didn't stop us from enjoying the waves. We swam for a bit then headed home as the sun went away and a storm rolled in. We had a nice dinner of ham and mashed potatoes and gravy, and spent the rest of the night just relaxing and enjoying our new nerf guns. Then I stayed up until 4-6 in the morning to talk to my family while they ate their breakfast brunch and prepared to open presents. I only cried twice. The first time about 1am on Christmas when I realised it really was Christmas without my family. And the second time while watching the kids get all of the gifts ready without me there. Thankfully I had Sesh. It would have been awful without him. Overall it was a pretty good Christmas. Hopefully next year I'll have a white one!

Comments

Jessica said…
We sooo missed you but I feel a little less bad after seeing your darn beach pics. Laughed about the socks...haha!! Great post, I love all the pics.
January 5, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Mom said…
I did my share of crying. ;o) I love that you created your own Christmas from our traditions. I hope it doesn't become the norm but glad you had Sesh to spend it with and a beach to go to. Great pics, thanks for sharing. Love you loads and miss you tons!
January 5, 2015 at 2:48 PM
Teisha said…
You were so terribly missed this Christmas! That was great talking to you on Christmas morning, made it a little less sad not having you here. It's great you have someone to celebrate with there and think it's neat you're incorporating some traditions from home in your celebration. Great post, I could go on and on about how much we miss you but that would get boring :) Love you lots!
January 6, 2015 at 3:08 AM
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