Hello dear ones! After 33+ hours of travel I am home at last in my beloved Queensland, Australia. 🙂
I can’t tell you how good it is to be home. To wake up knowing I get to stay here, that I don’t have to catch a train, bus or airplane, that I can stay in my pajamas all day if I want to. 🙂
I am dead tired but so happy.
This week I’ll be moving in – doing laundry, stocking my kitchen, painting my rooms, setting up my office. It’ll be heaps of work but I’m so excited to get started, to carve out my own little niche in this world. 🙂
On the way home from the airport my friend took me to our favorite second hand shopping spot. I found the first few additions to my new life here: three gorgeous colored glass bottles that will be just perfect for storing flavored oils and vinegars, and an old copy of a Louisa May Alcott book to start my new library. 🙂
I may not be blogging much until I get settled in, but I will try to post pictures everyday on Facebook, so you can follow my little adventures there if I’m not here. 🙂
It’s wonderfully stormy and blustery here today, so I’m off to brew a cup of tea before I start hanging clothes in my wardrobe.
How are YOU doing? Do you have any advice for making a new place home? 🙂
Much love to you, dear ones. Â xo
Oooh I hope you’ll share the second hand shop details with me.
You bet I will, Barbara! 🙂 My friend Ann knows all the best spots around here and I’ll fill you in. 🙂
treasures you find through your passing days, then tucked into nooks and crannies help settle any place as home….I will pray God blesses you as you build up the new home feeling… if He is present, it is always home. Blessings to you dear! It is always so exciting to settle in someplace new. So many new discoveries, new friends… and there is always time to venture to old homes when the heart gets hungry with the memories.
Thank you so much, dear Susan. 🙂 It IS exciting to start over, building a home from scratch. I’m loving every minute of it. 🙂
Glad to hear you survived the long journey to Australia Krista. Â All the best for your new life. Â Can I ask which Louisa May Alcott book? Â Funnily enough, last night I started reading ‘Eight Cousins’…
Thank you, Anita! 🙂 I don’t mind at all. It’s Good Wives. For some reason I’ve never read it! 🙂
Thanks Krista 🙂  My curiosity has been satisfied now.
Welcome home Krista!
Thank you, dear Val! 🙂 I’m so happy to be here. 🙂
So happy for you Krista! That is a lot of travel, but looks well worth it…looking forward to seeing more of your photos on Facebook and also hearing about how you’re settling in – good luck setting up your office! Sounds like that will be an excellent spot to blog from 🙂
I am exhausted, Tuula, but you’re right, it was well worth it. 🙂 I’m so glad to be home and settling in. There’s a lot of work to do but I’m loving it. 🙂 XO
Wow. You’ve done a lot of traveling, Krista, but I know you loved every minute. And it probably gave you the energy to start your new life! I love beginnings. Keep us posted when you can!
I really did love it, Barbara. 🙂 It was the perfect start to my new life, giving me so many good experiences and relationships to strengthen me in body and spirit. 🙂
Ah, home sweet home 🙂 Enjoy! I highly recommend pinterest.com for finding lots of great DIY ideas for the home.
Thank you, Christine! I just signed up for Pinterest but haven’t started using it yet. 🙂
Oh wow – you moved to Queensland?! One of my favourite states in Oz…so exciting! Wishing you all the best in your new life in Australia – let us know if we can help you with any information – I’ve done the expat to citizen journey there myself =)
I sure did, Andrea! 🙂 And I absolutely love it. Best decision I’ve made in years. 🙂 I would love to talk with you about citizenship/visas etc. It can be SO confusing!!
I know you will enjoy your new home and do well in the new life you have fashioned for yourself. I’m wishing you all the best. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Thank you so much, Mary. 🙂 I really appreciate your support!
I am happy for you; as a nester myself, I appreciate the feeling of relief and happiness you must feel; my advice would be to take it easy things will come, build it one stone at a time; the photo on the top made me want to move there!Â
That is excellent advice, Joumana. I’m afraid I want to finish everything NOW instead of puttering away at it, but that really is the best way. 🙂 I’ll try to be more patient. 🙂
Welcome back. It will be fun settling in and getting your home and new life organised. So much to see and do…. Enjoy it
Thank you so much, Jenny! I am so very, very happy to be here. 🙂
 You must be exhausted after that long flight! Happy settling in and unpacking, always exciting to start afresh x
I am completely tuckered out, Lana. 🙂 I haven’t had a real rest in a long, long time and I am loving these days of downtime. 🙂
It’s wonderful that you are home! I think the best way to make a new place home is to cook and bake and share it with friends old or new. Those memories will make it your home.
🙂
That’s a lovely idea, Mary, and so very true! Friends came over and brought dinner for me on Sunday and it was so cozy and lovely to sit around visiting with them for hours. 🙂 It really did make it feel like home. 🙂
Welcome home!! I will check your facebook posts.
Velva
P.S. your wordless wednesday photo will post on Wednesday, October 19 at 6:00 EST. Thanks for letting me host your photo.
Oh, thank you for letting me know, Velva! 🙂 You are so welcome. 🙂
Feeling home becomes easier with the help of a lot of images and pictures. Decorating while putting the ones of your beloved ones up on a wall, onto a picture calendar or some where else always helps me to feel home very quickly again. And you will have a lot of images from your travels to source from I bet 😉 Welcome home!
I love that idea, Carina!! Most of my photos are still in storage, but it wouldn’t be much trouble at all to print out a few and get them posted. That would make me so happy. 🙂
I am so happy for you. Â It will be fun doing the work because it is yours. Â You know what I love most —— the Louisa May Alcott book. Â I grew up, reading her books and I absolutely love them. Â The are the most pleasant memories for me.
I want to walk into that photo. Â It is stunning but more so, it is welcoming. Â I love coming here and I stay much too long, usually. Â Right now, I am still holiday cooking so I can’t browse but I did want to say hello. Â I love when you stop by and if I am not getting here enough to tell you, please understand.
I will be following your settling in. Â Don’t worry about blogging. Â Blog when you can. Â Share your photos on Facebook and that will be our shot of Krista.
Best of luck Krista! Talk soon xoxo
Hurray for new adventure and settling in, so glad to hear you’re home in Oz. Wishing you rest and strength as you settle in. =)Â
OMG I’m sooooooo excited for you and your new life!!! Much love!
Yipeee for being home! Make cookies… cookies make it really, truly home!Â
Oh, I’m so happy for you, Krista! There’s really no place like home, is there? My best advice for making a new place feel like home is to bake something! 😉
You made it!!!!!! Â The top picture is so gorgeous. Â So looking forward to your new life and you sharing just a little with all of us. Â Huge step! Â Enjoy your tucking in.
Hooray! I’m so glad for you. Many happy wishes for settling into your new home!
Yay! I’m so happy you’re finally home. It must feel so good.
Sounds lovely! You must be so excited to settle in. I always find that baking helps – bringing the scent of homemade goodies into your home just makes it automatically cozier! 🙂
Krista! I still can’t believe you are really there! So glad to see your beautiful photos of your new home… you’ve got such a great eye for things 🙂
Congrats and welcome home!
I really love that second picture! Dreamlike.
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m exhausted, too! Â We spent a long weekend wine tasting with out-of-town friends in Sonoma County. Â It was extremely fun but I’m ready for a rest. Â Making a place a new home is confusing, I think. Â The place always feels odd to me at first. I never know where things are, where to shop or eat out. Â And too, for me at least it takes me a bit of time to meet new people. Â But I love unpacking my things and reminiscing over this or that item that I haven’t seen or really had time to think about in a while. Â Certainly the adventure is great at the start, which makes the re-adjustment easier. Â Can’t wait to see more of your gorgeous Australian pictures. Â You make me very curious about that country indeed.
welcome home 🙂 take your time settling in, it’s such an exhausting process. but I bet you’re excited too.
Looking forward to reading about your new life, sending all my positive energy your way 🙂