Merry Christmas from the Vargos

G'day everyone,

It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since Doug and I celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple in Nicaragua. 2008 has proven to be an incredible year of change, challenge and new beginnings.

With the first half filled with continued adventures in South America, we landed in Melbourne in late April to begin our new life in Australia. Little did we know that we came back with more gifts than we had paid for. Within a few weeks of our arrival I began to realize that I could no longer tolerate the glass of wine I so enjoyed in the past, and on Mother's day 2008 we discovered we were pregnant. Over the past 9 months Doug and I have watched my belly grow and are extremely excited to welcome our daughter into the world in mid January of 2009.

The pregnancy itself has been wonderful and we already feel very attached to our little one. I can however tell that a powerful alliance has already been formed between Doug and our daughter, as she unfailingly responds to his touch whether fast asleep or running around throughout the day. The bond is so strong that Doug is even able to use her to get his lazy wife out of bed in the morning. A simple touch to my stomach and she is awake and high-fiving him from the inside. You try and sleep while a yoga class is being conducted inside your belly!! We definitely have "Daddy's little girl" on our hands.

Having found a beautiful apartment on the Yarra in Richmond, Doug and I quickly adjusted to our new, more settled life. Having travelled for 11 months prior through Central and South America, it really was an adjustment to have more than 7 consecutive nights in one bed. That being said however, it is amazing how quickly one can accumulate "stuff" when staying put in one place. Within two weeks Doug and I felt as though we had been living here for years.

In July this year Doug began work as the Financial Controller for an Australian sportswear company called 2XU. The company make high performance Triathlon, Running, and Cycling gear and in only 3 years of operation are already the World leading triathlon brand. Combining his management skills, CA designation, worldwide experience, love of sports and enjoyment of showing up to work in jeans and a T-shirt...Doug is really in his element and absolutely loves working there. They've just started making a fantastic woman's fitness line, so I have certainly been reaping the rewards of his annual clothing allowance as well !! With a great team behind him, he has already made his mark and will no doubt continue to bring great success to the company and his future.

In true Doug style, Doug has also thrown himself back into anything fitness. A couple of months ago he completed his third marathon, and has since joined the 2XU sponsored Gatorade triathlon series which sees him in the pool, on his bike or on the run at 6am each morning. With 2 down, and another 5 or so triathlons to go, Doug is definitely in fine form... and as his pregnant wife loves to complain out him "being a bad-unsympathetic husband as she is forced to watch the weight-scale numbers rise while the only thing rising on him are his abs!!"

I also have great aspirations for my career in Australia as the Australian National Sales Manager for a Canadian company called Empowered Nutrition. Empowered is a fantastic business that builds personalized nutrition programs for individuals looking to meet their various physical goals. (i.e. weight loss, muscle gain, beach body etc). The company is hugely successful in Canada and the UK, while quickly growing in the US as well. Unfortunately with the pending birth of our daughter, not to mention the expected delays of starting a business in a new country, we are looking at more of a mid 2009 launch here in Australia. The opportunities in Oz are limitless however, and I can't wait to get started and see how Empowered spreads in this country.

With Christmas here and new years around the corner, the next few weeks will no doubt fly by, and you will soon be receiving a new baby Vargo announcement. If she is anything like her mother and father she could very well enter the world the practical joker with an "extra part". We were given an 80% chance that we are having a girl, so should she be a boy her father and I will laugh knowingly and love him with all our hearts. I guess we will find out soon enough.

In the meantime we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, and look forward to catching up with you all individually in the new year.

All our love,

Doug, Lydia and soon to arrive little Vargo.