WOW we have a
lot to catch everyone up on. Once again, I apologize for this being so delayed.
It’s as if time began to sprint away from us both beginning in May. That being
said, the next few posts will get you caught up so keep reading and enjoy.
It seems that Melissa
and I just left the US yesterday, heading for an adventure of a life time in
South Australia. We left knowing that we had a long year ahead of us but we
never thought that our time at Flinders Medical Centre would go by so quickly. Now,
we are back in the States making the readjustment, we have graduated from OIT, and
we have finished our ARRT exams with flying colors. When I sit back and think
about everything, it still doesn’t seem real. Our biggest announcement is that
Melissa and I are now engaged. It’s taken me a long time to find the right
time, the right place and the nerve to ask Melissa to share the rest of her
life with me. During our layover in Auckland New Zealand I took Melissa to the
very spot we first met 5 ½ years ago. With shaking hands and a knot in my
throat, I dropped to one knee and asked Melissa is she would “spend the rest of
her life with me.” I must have surprised her because I had to ask a few times
before she said yes. I had prepared a few things that I wanted to say prior to
the big question but I was such a mess that I couldn’t get them out. Melissa
and I have been through a lot over the years and we have managed to wade
through it all. Although we don’t always see eye to eye, I love Melissa and I
love us more than I thought I ever could. I love her drive and motivation. I
love her attitude and her smile. I really love her laugh and that face she gets
when she instantly falls in love with the ugliest dog you have ever seen. I’m
thankful to have her in my life and I sincerely look forward to our next
adventure, whatever it may be. I only hope that I can make her as happy as she
makes me.
But I’m
getting a head of myself a bit. The few weeks prior to our departure from
Australia were chocked with things to do, people to see and even a few exams to
finish for our degree program. Melissa and I must have packed and re-packed our
bags a hundred times before our flight home. We were faced with having to pack
our year-worth of living into two bags that couldn’t weigh more than 23 kilos a
piece; it was like the riddle from hell! While we tried desperately to sort out
our riddle, it was also important for us to spend time with our new family and
friends before we shipped off. It seemed that each week we had a dinner or a
quick night out with a different group of our coworkers. Whether it was
chatting over Italian food with ten of our friends or just a quiet night out
with Ash and his girlfriend, or even dinner with our Chief Radiographer and our
Department Manager; we loved every minute of it! Our only regret was that we
didn’t spend more time with everyone before that point. One of the highlights
was a going away party at Michael Fullers home.
Melissa and I
knew that something was a foot when we would get random questions from Michelle
(our Chief Radiographer) regarding shoe size! The cat was partially out of the
bag. We knew that Michael was planning a massive going away party complete with
homemade pizza from his wood oven but we had no idea what they had actually
planned. The night started off
with Sarah coming to pick us up on her way to the party. As we arrived at
Michael’s place I was instantly greeted by a massive amount of pizza essentials
and plates of deserts. Melissa and I spent some time talking with fellow
coworkers before delving into the process of making your own “gourmet” pizza. I
say gourmet but mine are always a bit on the tame side when compared to other
peoples designs. Some people made pizzas with everything they could find: some
literally looked as if they shook the refrigerator out onto pizza dough. After
we had a few pizzas down, Michael and Edmund sat Melissa and I down in front of
our friends and coworkers for some embarrassment. I had thought that we had
made it through an entire year with no embarrassing events or hazing. I was wrong.
Melissa and I sat while Edmund walked us through a mock wedding ceremony
complete with a “Right” marker for Melissa (because as the wife, she will
ALWAYS be right) and a “Left” marker for me (because as the husband, I will
ALWAYS “Loose”). The mock wedding was overseen by ‘Father Michael’- complete
with a big black afro and a white collar!
After the embarrassment, we were
presented with going away gifts and a few words from Michelle that almost
brought tears. After going through our gifts and thanking everyone we went back
to the food. After a bit we noticed that Michael was corralling people into his
music room for something. Then it happened! Our clinical instructor and our
fellow coworkers sang us a good bye song! I was shocked and slightly
embarrassed yet again. But it was actually good! Despite the embarrassment, the
evening was a success and we left feeling good about our year in Australia and
a little sad to be leaving our Australian family behind.
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