One year abroad in pictures

Yesterday morning I compiled a bunch of pictures from the last year to have printed and sent to my mum back in Sydney. After spending almost the entire day at the Albert Cuypmarkt and having no time to print them, Mats suggested I upload them onto an Australian photo printing website and have them sent directly to her house instead, that way she'll get them before Christmas. This morning I was getting ready to have them printed when I saw I could make a photobook instead, I chose that option and  put in the dates; 12.12.08 - 12.12.09 and it hit me, yesterday had been exactly one year since I had left Sydney. One year since we recklessly boarded a plane and moved overseas with no apartment or jobs lined up. One year since I said goodbye to my family and friends, one year since I last crossed Sydney heads on the Manly Ferry. Time has gone so quick.

So here is the book that is now waiting to be printed and shipped to my mum for Christmas, here is my life in one year (click the images for a larger picture).

Christmas in Norway 2008 (Then off to London to look for work - Jan 2009)

Hiring freeze in London, off to Lisbon & Sintra, Portugal Jan-Feb 2009 to look for work and enjoy the sun where it's cheaper, but it turns out it's not that much cheaper. Back to Norway Feb-Mar 2009 to look for work again.

April 1st 2009 we moved to Amsterdam

Spent the next few months exploring Amsterdam and some of the Netherlands, several friends visited and we celebrated our first Queensday.

Mats' Brother visits us in Amsterdam and we all go on a road-trip through Luxembourg, France and Belgium.

We fly to Norway in Aug 2009 for a Summer party hosted by Mats' parents.

Back in Amsterdam we're busy meeting some really cool new people.

Oct 2009 - We celebrate that I finally found a job by spending the weekend eating delicious seafood in Brussels.

Autumn comes to Amsterdam.

Dec 2009 we head over to Germany with some friends for the Cologne Christmas Markets.

This year did not start off easy, as nice as hanging out down sunny Portugal way might sound the truth was we were freaking out about work, money and about where we were headed in life. Deciding to go back to Norway to continue looking for work was a hard decision and we regretted having to leave London, but once we moved to Amsterdam everything fell into place and everything ran smoothly, so smoothly we're convinced it was meant to be.