New Website And Blog

#*#*#* NEWSFLASH *#*#*#

We have moved our blog to a new website!

www.kurtandbeca.com

You can check out our new blog or view our new media page with photo's and movies that we have taken.

Along with the new website, you are able to leave comments or drop us an email.

We look forward to hearing from everybody!

Kurt & Beca

Weekend Away

We managed to get out of town last weekend for the first time in 4 months...it was fantastic. We spent a couple of days in Adelaide shopping and catching up with Darren. We even went to see a movie in a real theater, well better than a real theater...Gold Class!! We headed to Renmark on the Sunday to celebrate Kurt's grandparents birthdays. It was good to catch up with his family and to meet even more of them. On the way home on Monday we stopped in Port Augusta for Kurt to have a CT scan (just a check up), which meant that it was getting late by the time that we were approaching home. We caught this beautiful sunset around Woomera. I won't promise that we will be more consistent in our posts, but we will try.

I can read this, can you?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

One Year Clear

Well as the title of this posts suggests we are celebrating around here, it has now been 1 year since Kurt finished chemo and he now only needs tests evey 2 months...this is very exciting for us. He had a CT scan last week and it came back clear, I feel very positive that we have left the cancer behind. I still get scared every now and then especially recently while Kurt had a cough that he just couldn't shake, 2 rounds of antibiotics later and it seemed to finally go. He still coughs a bit though when he exerts himself too hard, like the other day when the car got stuck and he had to push...read on for that one. I don't know whether the ability to shake the cough is affected by the lung scarring he has been left with after chemo...either way I worry whenever he says something doesn't quite feel right.

Now for the car story. It rained about 10 days ago and it really rained...I think it was about 3 days worth, almost non stop. That doesn't happen often and so people got really excited by it. Except for the fact that it was so incredibly humid, 99% one day. It flooded in many places in the outback, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy got a lot of it. As a result of the rains a lot of lakes filled up and in particular one about 40kms south of Roxby, Lake Mary. So we went out there on Saturday for a drive with Kurt's dad and we stopped in some soft dirt and the car got stuck. We were lucky that there were some school teachers around who helped push the car out. We have attached some photos of the lake and a few others for you all.

Just after new year Kurt and I moved out of his parents house. His friend Darren and his fiance Lisa were moving into a 3 bedroom house and invited us to move in and half the rent. It is a good chance for us to get some independence back and to give his mum and dad some space. Darremn and Lisa are only staying in Roxby till the end of the year so after that we will move back in with them.

The other big news is that we have booked our tickets to head home to NZ for a visit. We will be there from March 9th till the 25th, spending time in Christchurch, Wellington, Hastings and Auckland. We are both really excited. I am so excited in fact that my boss worries I won't return, I do fear that by going home it will stir up homesickness just when I am really getting used to this place, but nothing will stop me from going.

There is not much else to say for now...will try to be more consistent in our postings.


Lake Mary


900yr old Gum Tree @ Orrorroo

Christmas Greetings

Wow what a crazy year 2006 has been. I was just looking back through our calendar and can’t quite believe how time flies. This time last year I had every intention of writing a Christmas letter but circumstances got the better of me. Kurt’s cancer was the scariest thing that either of us have ever faced and when I think about it now I still can’t quite believe that we actually made it through. I am so immensely proud of my husband for his strength and courage at a time when he had every right to feel as though the world had turned against him. His illness so soon into our marriage taught us huge lessons about living every day to the full and cherishing every moment that we have together. Kurt keeps asking me what I want for Christmas and I continuously have to tell him that I don’t need anything because all I want is for him to be well, and I have that.

His illness also taught us that life is too short to be unhappy so we decided a change was in order and a move to Australia seemed like the best change there was. After a whirlwind of organising and moving we arrived in Roxby Downs in May and haven’t looked back, ok well that may be lying, but the looking back has only been brief glances. Now 7 months on I can positively say that this has been a great move for us. We have paid off our debts in NZ (except my student loan) and have started saving. But it isn’t all about the money. I am getting to know Kurt’s family an opportunity that I would not have had if we had stayed in NZ, and we are enjoying a much more relaxed way of life.

We have both continued studying this year and both continue to pass despite the huge changes in our lives. I am now over halfway into my Masters and if all goes right then I will be almost finished this time next year. Kurt has transferred his degree to Open Universities Australia and is now studying a Bachelor in Information Technology. He seems to be enjoying it but often has to be reminded to study.

Work is going well. Kurt really enjoys his job and is learning so much while I am enjoying the more casual pace at the library.

This Christmas we are both thankful for so much and have so many people to thank for the fact that we made it to today. Without all your love and support the past 12 months would have been even more difficult.

May God bless you all and keep you safe over the holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Love Rebecca and Kurt.

EMU IN THE STREET!

On a walk last weekend, we ran into an Emu just walking down the street. I managed to get a video of it on my cell phone. Press play on the video below!

Roxby Races

On Saturday August 5th we went to the Outback Cup at the Roxby Races. It was a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky and only a slight breeze which was good because as you can see the race track and the surrounding areas is all just dirt. We went with a group of people most of whom we didn't know but that was ok cause it was a good chance to meet new people. We had a shade tent and lots of food which was just as well because without that drinking champagne in the sun all afternoon could have been a recipe for disaster.

Here are a few photos of the race track and one of the 6 races of the day and a couple of photos of me and the girls.

I didn't grab the camera from Kurt so there are no photos of him, but I promise next time I will make sure there are more photos of the both of us to publish here.