Things I miss..

Well I just passed the 5 month mark of being here in Melbourne, and my list of things that I miss has grown quite a bit. On top of everything I listed in THIS post, here is some more things I miss about home. Stick with me, this list much longer.

OUR TARGER. I say “our Target” because there is a Target here in the CBD. The logo is the same, so it tricks you into thinking you are walking into familiar territory but you aren’t. This Target is more like a JC Pennies or Dillard’s. The good new about this Target is that I don’t have to worry about emptying my bank account every time I go in.

BBQ SAUCE. I love me some bbq sauce, and Australians just don’t know how to make the stuff. Even the “Americanized” versions can’t compare.

AQUAFRESH EXTREME CLEAN TOOTHPASTE. They have some imitation version of Aquafresh, and while it is extra foamy just like the real thing, it’s a disappointment.

BLUEBELL ICE CREAM. There is nothing like it in the whole world. I never realized how lucky I was to grow up on this stuff. They do sell Ben & Jerry’s but even my sweet tooth can’t bear to spend $12 for a pint of ice cream.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. I was never a regular watcher of this show growing up, but for my last few years of college this show provided me so much entertainment. I was able to watch the episode hosted by Jimmy Fallon, and it was so freaking funny. WHAM BAM THANK YOU PEG

JIF PEANUT BUTTER. Choosy moms choose JIF. I’m not a mom, but if you’re asking me, I’d always choose JIF. 

LAWRY'S SEASONED SALT. Hanner where you at? Can I get a SHA NA NAAA NA!

PANDORA. Just one of the many websites that I don’t have access to over here in oz. 

PILLSBURY CRESCENT ROLLS. Can’t find anything like em here. Not even an off brand. Just looking at this picture is making my mouth water.

MY BIKE. This isn’t an actual picture of my bike, but I did have a fun little cruiser at school. I loved going on bike rides and having one here would be pretty convenient. If I weren’t so cheap, I’d spend the $100 it costs to buy one here. 

BAGELS. I didn’t even know I liked them so much, but when I don’t have the option to buy them, they are all I want. I did see some at the store a few weeks ago..4 bagels for over $4. It went on my splurge list so maybe I’ll go buy them soon.

MINUTE RICE. This stuff is incredible! Boil the water, add the rice, and its ready in 5 minutes. Here, you’ve got to wait the full 20 minutes after you put the rice in or it would be like you’re eating little tiny bricks. 

QUESO. And Mexican food in general. But especially queso. 

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! I know Christmas has come and gone already, but no one put of Christmas lights here! I would say that the Grinch lives here, but then I’d be offending people. Learned that lesson the hard way. 

I also miss unlimited internet, trucks, cable, chivalry, enthusiasm for holidays, award shows, boys in baseball hats, & garbage disposal. 

xoxo

2011: what a year!

Dear 2011,


Boy, you sure did go by really quickly. You brought some great memories and laughs with you, and I don't think I could ever forget you. Your friend 2012 is almost here to visit and I'd appreciate it if you could tell her to take her time. I don't like the way you years come and go so fast. 


You stayed for 12 months, and while I could easily pick a million things I loved about you, I thought it would be fun to reminisce for a minute and choose one thing that stuck out in my mind from each month. 

January kicked off the year right with a mini project reunion. At Winter Conference I got to see 9 people from my project family! 

February brought a snow day! We spend the morning building a fort and forcing our friends to stay and have fun with us! We watched movies and cuddled to stay warm, then all made dinner together as a family!

SPRING BREAK! Mid-march we packed the cars and drove to Mexico for a few days. Easily the best of the six spring breaks I got throughout my college career!  Sitting in an empty pro baseball stadium wasn't bad either!

In April I got to celebrate the wedding of sweet Reeders. It has been so fun to be involved in the weddings of these roommates! And now Megan and Stephen are expecting a little bundle of joy! 

May was gradation! As a student, this day couldn't come quick enough. As a recent grad, I'd do anything to go back to those times.

 Team Time in June! This was my going away party and most of my best friends came to the lake to hang out one final time! Such special people to me!  

July brought the biggest adventure of my life. I hopped on a plane with this girl and moved around the world! 

Wait a minute, is that the Sydney Opera House?! Yeah it is, suckers! In August I got to spend a few days in this beautiful city and literally could not get enough of this harbour. LOVED IT!

In September, Abby, Em, and I went to our first Footy match. Here we had no idea how the sport was played and it looked like extreme chaos on the field, but we loved it nonetheless. 

In October we escaped the city and spend the day hiking in the Dandenong Mountains.

I don't actually have a picture of what I remember the most about November, so this will have to do. In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving! Even though we are thousands and thousands of miles away from the Land of the Free, we weren't about to let the tradition die!

December helped one of my dreams comes true: I got to spend Christmas day on the beach!!! What better way to end the year than crossing something off your bucket list!?

If 2012 is anything like you it will be a year for the books. 2011, I loved having you here. See ya never

life as I know it

Well people, my world here in Australia was just rocked. Our friends have left to return home to the States. Their time here in Oz is over, and we have lost half of the girls that live on our street, along with two wonderful couples. I have been fortunate to be thrown into friendships for most major changes in my life. Transferring to Tech, I just joined in with Kim’s group of friends from the dorms. Those friendships continued to grow through college, and the friendships of the fab5 are still strong today. Going on Summer Project to Santa Cruz was over 50 forced friendship. You really have no choice but to become besties with those people, and a year and a half later they are still people who I care for deeply and have a special place in my heart. Coming here, there was a group of people who understood us right away. They knew what it was like to go through this change, and were able to be a great support to me over the past four a half months. They could have survived without us coming to Australia, but we couldn’t have survived without them.

I have always thought it is easier to be the one leaving than the one that is left. The one that leaves gets to go experience new things, get into a new routine, and has the excitement of unfamiliar ground. The one left has to find a way to continue their old routine, a way to survive without the familiar. Being in this position is not a fun place to be.

For their last night in Melbourne, we had a team dinner and then spend the night walking around the city looking at how they have jazzed it up for the holiday season. It was quite nice waking around in shorts and a tank top (:

So to Bess, Nicole, Nina, Michelle, Katherine, Lori, Chris, Jessamyn, and Jordan, thanks for everything! You have made my time here what it is and I'm so grateful for yall! Enjoy the greatness that is America! 

ello, mate

Well hi! After much pressure from Hanner and my family I've decided to give yall an update. I know it has been a while since you last heard from me, but there hasn't been much to tell you. Work has slowed down over the past month, which means I have spent plenty of time doing nothing. I know I should take advantage of where I am, and go explore but it is so hard to go on adventures that don't cost anything! 

Well way back when we celebrated Halloween, we dressed up as Indians. Melanie's boyfriend is living in India for a year and when he came to visit he brought us all parachute/Ali Baba pants! They made for a perfect halloween costume, and they are so comfy that they make great PJ pants too! 

Meet Guy Sebastian. He was the first Australian Idol, and was a judge on X factor over here. Guy was in Melbourne to perform at the Meyer Christmas Spectacular for Sunrise. Think Good Morning America but scaled way down. He sang a few christmas carols for us and kicked off a series of concerts for the morning. 

What better way to welcome the Christmas season than a night filled with cookies and Elf?!

With all of my free time, I have been reading plenty of books and I just got a library card so I can continue reading for free! I wanted to find something else to do with my time so I took up crocheting-something I have always wanted to do! I am just getting the basics down and I have a long way to go before I will be able to make something presentable, but you've gotta start somewhere right!??!

I got to skype with my family while all yall celebrated Thanksgiving, and this is the way I was greeted..aren't they wonderful?!?

Even Ackie Ammaw got in on the fun! 

Well there you have it. See, nothing special or exciting. Summer starts on Thursday and the temperatures are rising which means this girl will finally get some color again! 

I miss all of yall so much! XOXO

traditions and trams

So I've learned recently that Halloween is a US custom, and is not nearly as celebrated over here in oz. Well, you can take us out of America, but you can't take America out of us (: We decided last weekend that even though it is mid-spring here, we were going to have a night filled with fall traditions! We carved pumpkins, had some apple cider, and roasted our pumpkin seeds. They were so freakin good!

Here is Bess, Melanie, Sarah, Em, and Abby! I am behind the camera and sweet Michelle wasn't over yet. You might be thinking to yourself.. two pumpkins for 6 girls?? well folks, with the pumpkins being over $20 each (!!!!!!!) we all decided to just chip in a few notes and make it a team effort! 

Everyone, meet Em. She is the first Australian I became friends with when we got here, and she is wonderful. She is an encourager, a truth speaker, a nail polish share-er, and a fellow TV obsessor. She just invited Abby and I to spend Christmas Day with her family, and I could not be more excited about this!! PTL for this girl!

Here are the girls of MelRose! homegirl on the left had never carved a pumpkin before!!! silly chicky

impressed?

yup, I'm sending yall some aussie love!

ok, now fast forward to the middle of the week. 

On Wednesday, the 26th of October, the Queen made a very brief trip to Melbourne. She was here for the opening of the new Royal Children's Hospital, and then she went to Fed Square to meet her fans, had lunch at some important Government building, and was out of the city by 4:00. I knew all of this was happening, and I knew I had work. One might think that I played hooky, or called the agency and said I couldn't work because I wanted to see the Queen. I mean, really, how often does an AMERICAN get to see the QUEEN OF ENGLAND in one of the commonwealth countries?! Not very often people! But I decided to ignore the voice telling me to go see her and just go to work. It was possibly one of the worst days I've had as a sub here, so you can imagine how angry when I left the school. I MISSED THE QUEEN FOR THIS??!?!

Well, on Friday Abby and I decided to go spend the afternoon at a park because we had the day off work and it was gorgeous weather. We have seen the weather be so moody this spring so we knew that we had to take advantage of the nice day before a storm came to ruin the sun like it always does here. We were relaxing on a blanket, and according to some high schoolers "just being some hippies" when we saw the ROYAL TRAM drive by. Immediately we jumped up, even though we had to wait for it to go all the way to the end of the track and back before we could ride it. We didn't mind the wait, and decided that we would risk the $180 fine we could get for riding the tram without our passes. 

Yall, this tram is beautiful! The inside is all brand-spankin-new, and they replaced the tacky adverts with pretty posters welcoming her to our city! 

It was so difficult to contain all of our excitement when we got on the tram. All the other people were just sitting there like it was no big deal! We saw this orange seat, and since the seats are normally green it stood out. We thought..this is it, we are going to sit in the exact same spot where the Queen sat only 48 hours ago! Well it turns out, this is just the 'priority seating' and not where she sat but whatever. So even though I didn't get to see her while she was here, I can still say that I WAS IN THE SAME TRAM THAT THE QUEEN WAS IN!! how many of yall can say that?!?! point-australia! 

peace & love yall

Great Ocean Road

You’ve heard of the 17 mile drive, haven’t you? You know, the stretch of highway in California that takes you by Pebble Beach Golf Course, through some neighborhoods with houses that cost millions of dollars, and all along the coastline. Well last summer, when I lived in Santa Cruz I was able to do the 17-mile drive a few times and thought it was the pretties coastline I had ever seen….until now!

My roommates boyfriend was in town visiting, and Abby and I have been wanting to make this drive since we heard about it, so we grabbed a few more friends, packed ourselves in two cars and hit the road! The cliffs were dramatic, the water was such a rich color of blue and the rainforest was dense. Throw all that together and it makes for some of the most breathtaking scenery you could imagine. 

There were nice little reminders to drive on the left constantly along the drive. 

nope, we wern't excited at all for this day (:

We found a light house, and I love light houses! 

see yall..isn't this just so gorgeous??!?

Two of those pictures are from the Twelve Apostles and even though there aren't 12 standing anymore they are still incredible to look at. 

Hannah, if I had your superpower I would just upload a video of the whole day because these pictures do not do it justice. 

Now someone come visit me so that I can take you on this drive (: please & thank you!