(The internet has not been nearly as readily available as hoped... but alas, we are at trusty old McDonald's with their free wifi to enjoy!)

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Paddington Market and enjoyed a bunch of outdoor stalls selling clothes, food, and hand-made goods. Breakfast came first, of course, and it was fried eggs, grilled tomatoes ("tah-ma-toes"), fries ("chips"), toast, bacon and tea. Yum. We enjoyed a lovely dinner right on the harbor, with the Opera House in view behind us as we ate. Then it was off to our cultural experience at the Drag Christmas show. We were all rather entertained, to say the least. Today we said good-bye to our travel mates as they are on their way to Cairns now. Tim and I took in some free museums around town and read some leisure reading in a park near the harbor for the afternoon.

I have yet to see a real-live Christmas tree. All of the Christmas decorations and festivities are pretty lousy over here compared to American standards... The weather was better today, and we are still free from sunburn!

Our last day in Sydney is tomorrow (Monday); I think we are going to try to track down some meat-pies to try. (Can you tell that food is an important part of the experience...?) :)

Until we find some more free internet ~
Tim and Deb

Day at the Beach

For the past few days we have been at the Northern Beaches - the beaches on the peninsula that extends North Sydney. They have all been gorgeous! Our "travel guides" Natalie and Andrew took us around and showed us all of the good parts of town and the best beaches. These few days have been filled with lots and lots of walking. We've gone on some pretty incredible hikes, saw a moon rise (just like a sunrise, but with the moon), rode the ferry across the bay, saw some penguins, and done a lot of exploring. We also visited the Sydney Fish Market, and took a behind the scenes tour to see the bustling auction floor where all of the fish are sorted and sold. We weren't expecting Sydney to be so cold... It's probably remained in the 60's, dropping down lower with the wind and at night, getting warmer when the sun is shining. It has been a whirlwind of a trip so far, but we are both very much enjoying Sydney. Tonight, we are off to the Opera House to take in a rather "cultural" show. :) Oh, and they have some really interesting signs here too.

We Made It!!

We are here - safe and sound in Sydney. We hit the ground running too. After getting our stuff locked away in our hostel - we met up with our good friends Andrew Scandrett and his wife Natalie Thomson and headed out into Sydney. I think we ended up walking 10 miles today - ALL over. Enjoy some pictures from our day!

Off to Australia!

So yes - we know - it's been almost an entire year since we've written on our blog. 2009 has been an amazing year filled with so many exciting things. However, I will save a year in review blog for later. Right now the big news is that tonight, at 10pm, we depart on our hugely anticipated 3 week backpacking trek through Australia!!! We've known for years that Oz is a place we must see - and it just worked out this year. We'll be going with our good friends Sam and Ellen Wu. We land in Sydney and stay there for a week, then head up to Cairnes for a week diving the great barrier reef, and finish our trip out on the West Coast in Perth to hang with our good friends Bree and Lisa Dudek. We're going to do our best to blog along the way and post pictures of the trip. So check back in with us. Who knows - maybe I'll be able to post a video or two. Here are some pictures of our preparation.

A New Year!

Welcome to 2009 readers :) So far 2009 is going pretty great! Hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing and enriching Holiday time. I'm usually kinda bummed when it's all over - but this year I'm actually doing great. We had a great time for New Years. Deb's family came out and joined us for year #2 at the rose parade. YEP - we acted homeless again and slept on the street waiting for the big event. It was a blast! And now I have some high hopes for things to come in '09.

First - I'm still pretty excited about this voiceover stuff. My commercial demo is now completed and ready! To go. If you're interested in hearing it - click here! I'm now working on my animation demo - and once that is done - I'll be shopping it to some agents and see where we can go with it all!

I have some interesting ideas for comedy this year in terms of viral type videos to make. I also hope to get more opportunities to perform out here. I go back and forth with my passion for standup - but I still want to do it and see what kind of things come my way.

Debbie is EXCITED for her second semester of grad school. She had a GREAT first semester getting A's in BOTH classes - 4.0 baby! This semester will be a bit more challenging, specifically with her Pathophysiology class (you should see the size of the flippin book) - but she is up for it!

But we'll keep you posted as we move ahead! Happy New Year to you all. I hope this is a blessed year for you all indeed!

Timmy

Merry Christmas!

It's 7PM on Christmas evening and I wanted to just write a brief note to wish all who read a very MERRY Christmas. I realized many of you east coasters are getting ready to go to bed - but I wanted to get my seasons greetings in. I hope you had a very peaceful, wonderful day. Though I'm alone on Christmas day - I'm very thankful for this Holiday and it means a great deal to us. We had a WONDERFUL visit back home with our wonderful families in PA. It was sad to return - but my awesome brother Kyle came back with us. It was so great to show him around LA.

Hope you have a great Holiday time. Bless you all!

timmy (and deb)

Home for Christmas!

Well - we are excited! This Tuesday, Deb and I are heading home for an early Christmas to the state of thrills and unending excitement - PENNSYLVANIA! It really feels like it's been a while since we've been home - so we're just so excited for this visit. We'll, of course, split the time between my fam in Harrisburg and Deb's in Pittsburgh. But we're just planning to relax and enjoy time with the people we love. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see some of you. If we don't - so sorry. But you can ALWAYS come visit us out here!

This week, I'm proud to say, I recorded my commercial voiceover demo reel! My producer, Cynthia, my engineer, Chuck, and I cranked it out on Thursday evening. I can't believe how fast we did it. I was in and out in less than two hours (voiceover is nice like that because the only instrument you need is your voice). Now it's in Chuck's hands to engineer the whole thing. The demo will be 1 to 2 minutes in length with about 10 different voice samples. He'll string them together seamlessly AND insert sound tracks behind each sample. So it will sound like a bunch of actual commercials. I can't wait. I'm very confident that this will open the door for me to start getting work! Next step, after Christmas, is to begin producing my animation reel. I'm excited for this one because it will be all character based so I can capture as many of my funny voices as possible! Of course you'll be able to listen to them when they are ready!

Well - that's it for now. Hope this advent season is a joyous time for all of you and that you find yourselves in a loving community in which to share it!

blessings,
Timmy (and Deb)

ps - if you're interested in buying a Honda Scooter, let me know. We're looking to sell ours.