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My mom's family got together Sunday for my cousin's profession of faith at her church. It was a great celebration and a chance to see the whole family. The pretty lady in this photo with me is my grandma Miller. She likes to tell everyone she meets about how she took care of me from the time I was six weeks old and now even though I'm older, I'm still her lambie pie. 

Monday meant a trip to the baby store to scope out Stacey's chosen baby crib. I wanted to see it in person and get measurements so I could plan for the bed skirt. The crib itself is so cute (they are getting it in white) and the bedding the store had on display reminded me of Amy Butler. 

I spotted this cake in display at Meijer and had to take a picture and tweet about it .. the "bunny trail" just looks like a poopy mess. I returned to Meijer a few days later and had to look again - but they changed the trail to use fondant instead of icing and it looked much less crappy. I like to think I was responsible for the change. 

The weather is getting nicer in Michigan, which means spending time outside whenever possible. My mom works from home so she's been taking her lunch outside and enjoying the nice weather. Buddy is enjoying the nice weather too! 

I went out to breakfast with my grandma and stopped into her house to visit. Scooter was very interested in my sandals while I was there. "Interested" isn't quite enough - he was in love with my sandal, rolling around and licking it like it was the best thing he'd ever had the pleasure of romping around with. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen, and all I can think is that there were remnants of Australia on the shoes that made Scooter go crazy. 

Bri and I decorated eggs this year using a new technique I saw in Martha's magazine. It wasn't as easy as she made it look, but nothing ever is when it comes to Martha. Overall the eggs turned out really cute and colorful, which made them easy to spot come Easter morning! 

Saturday night I went out with a couple friends from high school. I hate living so far away, but whenever we get together we are able to pick right up like we haven't spent a day apart. Matt took me to a nice Italian restaurant in East Grand Rapids and then we met Leann and Jacob at a bar called The Green Well. It is a LEED certified business with toilets like in Australia and a great wine selection. Plus the walls are painted a fantastic color green. If you are in town, be sure to check it out! 

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Sunday was our last day in Australia - Tom and Andy packed us up and took us to the airport. A few friends met us there to say a sad goodbye. Over the past two years we've made a lot of lifelong friends in Australia, and it's never goodbye, but rather, see you next year. 

After a 15 hour plane ride, we arrived in LA on Sunday. Yes, we time traveled, and got to enjoy Sunday twice. This photo is me and Curt in front of the Hollywood sign (trust me, it's back there, above my head.)

While in LA we played tourist - went to Hollywood, saw the stars, drove through Beverly Hills, and went to Pink's hot dog stand. Curt opted for a plain ol' chili cheese dog, but I had to try the Martha Stewart dog: 10" dog, relish, onions, bacon, tomatoes, sauerkraut, and sour cream. It was a good thing! 

Another photo of Curt stuffing his face, this time at famed In-N-Out Burger. It was my first time eating there, despite past trips to California. I'm not much of a burger person, but it was tasty and the fries and shake were good. That night we went to a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Scott Wolf was the main guest, along with Neon Trees and Matisyahu, who both performed. Overall a fun way to spend our last day in LA. 

March 24 marked my 24th birthday. I spent it alone, in airports and planes. The boys were on other flights because their trip was booked at a different time than mine. It wouldn't have been so terrible, except I ended up getting stuck in Denver for a long time. Something about no plane to take us .. eventually we got on a flight, but sadly, it was officially the worst birthday ever. 

It was great to be back in Michigan with our families. This barn was so cute with the bright blue sky behind it, I couldn't help but snap a photo. Call it a need for Americana after three months of all things Aussie. 

I got to my parents' house to find this contraption set up in the basement. My dad's baby plants, growing their way through the still-cold spring under that heat lamp. It was quite the rig, but my dad was very proud of it. 

It was so great to be home with family again. Curt went back down to Nashville right after we got back, so that meant lots of time with my sister. Enough time for an iPhone photo shoot. I think the only thing that makes us look like sisters is our teeth, but others seem to think we're practically twins. In fact, just that weekend, two of our uncles mixed us up. And not just the typical Brittney & Brianna name confusion - no, they had entire conversations with the wrong sister, haha! 

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We played a lot of Monopoly - it's a good, quiet way to spend a few hours. Until we got into fights about money and properties and someone threatens to quit the game. But that's just the way it goes sometimes, isn't it?

Say it with me - "Awww..." Baby Mali was born at the Melbourne Zoo when we first arrived in Australia and it was my goal to see her before we left. She was adorable, sweet and playful, tiny yet still huge. And without a doubt the most popular elephant around (until that other one came back from the dead at the Sydney zoo .. but he was ugly.)

This is a planning sketch for the Tula Pink nursery. I planned and planned, even emailed Tula herself, and it all turned out great! 

We visited Philip Island one last time to say goodbye to our friends there and catch a few more rays. I believe this either Smiths Beach or YCW .. not sure, but still beautiful! 

After an unfortunate encounter with Macca's hot tub, I was covered in spots. And I mean covered, head to toe - my legs, my stomach, my - ahem - everything. It was painful and disgusting and soothed by hot compresses all night long.

March 19 marked the last Australian show of the tour - Youth Alive. It was a great crowd, a bunch of friends came out, and the boys had a great time wrapping everything up. 

Saturday was one last hoo-rah, but not for us. It was Kristin's 21st and she had a huge party to celebrate. It was a great party, like, MTV Sweet Sixteen worthy. We had a lot of fun, and got to say goodbye to a ton of friends who were also at the party. 

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*Okay, to get caught up really quickly, I'm going to post weekly updates to present day. Then we'll see what happens from there.*

Sunday we flew from Sydney to Melbourne, where the guys played at church that night. We were all so tired! Curt and I didn't sleep the night before because we were in Sydney really late for the BSB concert and then had a very early morning flight. We slept a little on the plane, but I'm pretty sure soon after I snapped this picture, I passed out on the church pews. These were new shoes I got at Cotton On in Sydney - me feet were so tan they practically matched the color of the shoes.

I happily finished a new sock. I love the pattern, but am not so happy with the fabric this knit into. Too scratchy for my liking, but they will make a hearty winter sock.

Jason got his new iPhone and needed a case to keep it safe. I would typically sew one, but this crochet version worked just fine. 

Jason joined me in making Thank You cards for our host families in Sydney. He was very proud with his end result, which he designed and built all by himself! 

For one of my cards, I recreated a previous card to say "Thanks." I still love, love, love this design and I'm going to need some flower punches of my own very soon. 

Take a guess - what do you think this picture is? No, not a tennis court. No, not something else you thought of. It's the bathroom floor - where my eyeshadow fell of the counter and shattered. Don't you hate it when that happens?!

The boys played Frisbee. A lot. Like, constantly. And look at that concentration! I can only imagine that he caught that one. And look at Jenny's blossoming garden in the background - all those veggies and herbs, it was beautiful! 

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I'm just going to put it out there:

We went to a Backstreet Boys concert. 

Curt knows a guy on the tour, which happened to be stopping through Sydney the same time we were. A few emails and five free tickets later, we were sixth row, center, singing along like teens of the early 2000's. It was fun, funny, embarrassing, and a great way to celebrate Jason's birthday.

And PS- Nick is still taking himself seriously. Very, very seriously. 

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Jason, on the eve of his 30th birthday, modeling an excellent handlebar mustache he'd been working on for weeks. It was so gross.