I still call Australia Home but I miss the pizza

Ten days ago, we found out we would need to fly to Perth Australia, our home town, to finalise the last bit of necessary paperwork to obtain our visa. Whilst this was a big disruption to my husband's work, I was excited as for me a free trip home meant a holiday and a wonderfully unexpected chance to catch up with family, friends and our beloved dog Jess.

Unfortunately, this year seems to be proving to have many obstacles for us and hasn't gone as we thought it would. Our trip home was no different.

My wonderful in-laws look after our dog (think home cooked meals, a bedroom with a sofa of her own and twice daily walks) and had warned us that she was off her food and wasn't her usual energetic 'I'll stare at you until you take me for a walk' self. Despite my in-laws spending a fortune at the local vet, I just had to take one look at her and realised just how sick she was. So, my intended week of shopping and coffee dates with girlfriends turned into spending the whole week taking Jess to the vet and finally visiting her in intensive care at the doggy hospital. I was so touched by all my family and friends that have been sending their well wishes as they all know how much our dog means to us.

Jess is being treated by a wonderful vet, Dr. Fleur James at the Murdoch University hospital. So, I have been visiting the university every day and really experiencing a 'blast from the past.' I graduated from the same university in 1999 and I can't believe (with my 30th birthday looming by), how old I feel when i see all the young students around me busily typing away their assignments at computers next to me.

It got me thinking that I had never dreamt 'big' whilst I was at university. I had never imagined I would even get a chance to visit Italy let alone live in Firenze and wake up to some of the most beautiful places in the world. And now that our visa issues have finally been resolved after six long months, I look forward to returning to Italy (once Jess is treated) and continuing our rocky but amazing year.