Busy January

I have had a relatively busy month so far. I have had some wonderful short weekend getaways with friends. 3 weeks ago my friend (Dani) and I went up to Hunter Valley for the weekend. Hunter Valley is defiantly a place to visit if you will be in Sydney for a while, it's about a two hour drive away, and Hunter Valley is wine country. It's full of vineyards and some great wineries. We decided since neither of us wanted to be the designated driver that we would take a tour. So we picked a tour that took us to 5 wineries, lunch and the cheese/chocolate shop at the end of the day. It was a lot of fun to try all the wines, and hear/try some new ones that are common to that region. It was a fun filled day and I would recommend that if you are going up to Hunter Valley to take a tour like that so everyone in your group can enjoy themselves. The wine tour we took was good and inexpensive.

The weekend after, Nicole (a girl I met the first week here) and I went on a kayaking tour of Middle Harbour in Sydney. It was a 4 hour tour, and it was my first time ever kayaking. I enjoyed the tour and the areas that we saw, however I would recommend maybe the 2 hour tour the first time instead of the 4 hour one. By the end my arms, back, abs, legs were KILLING me. The rest of the weekend was filled with fun things, like happy hour, dinner, brunch, and a BBQ. It was fun to do something different and new and I plan to kayak again when in New Zealand.

Yesterday was Australia Day, and I celebrated it similarly to how we would back home. Friends, music, alcohol, and a BBQ. If the weather was nicer there would have also been some sun action, however the weather gods decided that a cool overcast day was better.

It has been a very fun filled January and I am looking forward to February and March as my traveling will be ramped up with my trip to NZ. Over the next 3 weeks I plan to continue to save and get ready for my trip to NZ, I also need to stay close because very soon baby #2 will arrive and I will need to help the family out during with #1 while they are in labor/delivery.

Bye for now <3

Happy 2014!!

As I look back at the previous year and gear up for the year to come, I am eager for so many new adventures that I will conquer this year.  Last year was a great year for me professionally and personally.

I finally, after 8 long years, achieved my professional goal of becoming a fully licensed mental health therapist. The accomplishment of becoming a therapist was a long battle, with pay cuts and companies struggling to stay afloat, and many months wondering if or when my next paycheck would arrive. I also worked with a population I never had a desire to work with, adults; and realized that I actually enjoy working with adults too. In the end I finished my requirements and now have many options for me as a fully licensed therapist. 

I also after almost 2 years of saving and planning accomplished a personal goal to move to Australia for a year.  I have been enjoying my time here so far, and having a blast seeing new places, doing new things, and meeting new people. I have been here almost 4 months, but it feels much longer, I seem to not notice the accent or the fact that cars drive on the opposite side, it's all become normal to me.

As 2014 starts I am looking forward to all the fun things that I have planned this year. Next week I will be going to visit Hunter Valley (wine country) for a few days, later in the week I will kayak Sydney Harbour, and soon I will have a surf lesson at the famous Bondi Beach. Next month I will be going to New Zealand for a month, and traveling both islands. I will visit extended family in New Zealand, that I haven't met or seen in many many years. I will get to meet heaps of new people, and do many new exciting activities while there. Later in the year I will travel up the east coast of Australia, seeing beaches and islands, and ending that trip with a visit to the Great Barrier Reef. I am very excited that one of my best friends will be joining me for that leg of the trip; as a graduation present to herself for finishing her PhD. I look forward to showing her the wonderfulness of this country, and will enjoy having someone to share that experience with. 2014 is going to be a great year full of heaps of new adventures/activities/events and many of them will continue to push my comfort zone.

Travel is a interesting thing, I seem to be willing to do, try, and experience different things when traveling. Even though a lot of the things that I have done or tried exist back home, it seems that I'm more willing to spend the money or try the new activities or food here, because I'm abroad. Everyone should travel, and see what the world has to offer.

Bye for now <3

Christmas Time Pictures

 View from the weekend beach house

 jellyfish

 About to attempt to surf

 After my attempt

 Happy Christmas Chrissy

 Christmas cracker

C

 crowns are inside the Christmas Crackers, you get one if you win.

 friends

My Family's Christmas tradition

Bye for now <3

Christmas Down Under

This was my first Christmas away from my family, and although I missed my family I was flooded with the warmth and generosity of my friends and their families. I spent Christmas Eve with my friend Danielle and her family, for their annual Christmas Eve party. I woke up Christmas morning and was surprised that I had presents of my own that Santa had left me. I then left and had Christmas Chrissy breakfast, presents pressies, and a huge Christmas Dinner with Sarah and her family. Santa somehow found me, yet again, at Sarah's house. Christmas is similar but different. It's my favorite phrase to use to explain things here, because families still get together, open presents, and eat food, but my family take turns opening/watching each other open gifts, where at the houses here everyone opens at the same time. At dinner they had Christmas Crackers , which I had never seen or heard of so enjoyed experiencing them. They had some of the same foods, but different ones too. Over the two days I had ham, turkey, pork, crackling (pork rind cooked until it's crispy and crunchy), roasted vegetables, bread, and LOTS of wine. There was also several salads at dinner, that I didn't eat. I brought candies, toffee, and cookies to both houses to share some of my Christmas traditions with them. We had left over ham for about a week to continue to eat, even after the massive Christmas Dinner. I spent the next week with Sarah and her family down at their beach house. It was wonderfully relaxing, spending time on the beach, paddle boarding, taking daily naps, and not having to do or go anywhere unless we wanted to. Sarah was a wonderful tour guide, showing me some of the tourists areas around there. It was a great Christmas and I am so thankful to my friends and their generosity. I would say that there were several moments of feeling homesick during the Christmas period. Such a weird feeling, although there were Christmas trees, presents, and Christmas music, it never really felt like Christmas. I enjoyed seeing how the Aussies do it, however I did miss my family and my Holiday traditions.

Now that it's 2014 I'm looking forward to all the fun and new experiences that I will have this year. In February I will be going to New Zealand for a month, and in May I will head up the east coast of Australia all the way up to the Great Barrier Reef. And who knows what else will come up along the way. The end of 2013 was great, and I'm hopeful that 2014 will continue to bring some extraordinary adventures.

Bye for now <3

Christmas in Summer???

So this is my first Christmas away from family, first Christmas overseas, and first Christmas in summer. So far I have struggled to feel like it is truly Christmas. The sun doesn't set until about 8:30pm, and the average temperature is about 26C (85F). I also have noticed that people and places don't seem to decorate (inside or outside), play Christmas music, or seem as excited about the season as America. People seem to be more focused on the school holidays aka summer break, and are planning fun summer trips and events rather than focusing all their time on Christmas like we do back home. I do have to say there are still plenty of people here that are as excessive in their holiday cheer as we are back in the states, but as a whole there seems to be less Christmas spirit.

I have discussed with several locals, my concerns about not feeling like it is Christmas. They believe that a lot of the differences have to do with the season. We have cold, short days, where we don't have anything to do or look forward to besides the holidays and the traditions you have with friends and families. Here, it's summer, so although they celebrate they also are outside enjoying the wonderful weather and doing "normal summer stuff".

I have struggled to find Christmas things here, however with the help of my fellow Northern Hemisphere friend we were able to find a Christmas light display and Christmas carols in the city. We also viewed the David Jones windows (like the windows in NYC, they are known for their Christmas display). I have started to make the traditional candies and goodies that I make every year with my mom, refuse to listen to anything but Christmas music, and had a night of Christmas light looking and Christmas movie watching with my friend that lives near by.

Although it's been hot and it's sunny for 10 hours a day, it's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas with some of the familiar traditions from back home.  As I am introduced to the traditions and experience of Christmas in Australia, I am also trying to share some of my traditions from back home with those I know here.

 Christmas at the house I'm living at

 Tree in Sydney's Martin Place

 Christmas light looking in the burbs

Santa in his shorts, sunnies, with his surf board

The light show on the side of Town Hall

Bye for now <3

Pictures

Per the request of some of my friends without Facebook, here are some pictures from my past few months in Sydney.

Trip to Taronga Zoo:

This past weekend I took a trip to Minnamurra (2 hours south of Sydney) to visit my friend and her parents. It is at the end of a river, where it meets the ocean. I was able to try paddle boarding and have a swim in the beautiful water. Looking forward to spending almost a week here again between Christmas and New Years. This is the spectacular view they have whenever they decide to have a quick weekend away. :

Bye for now <3

Thanksgiving Down Under

So Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it. I had Thanksgiving twice this year. I made a full turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy, and rolls for dinner on Thanksgiving evening for the family I live with and an English friend. I wanted them to experience a tradition that we have back home, that is unique to America (and Canada). The family enjoyed the food and they were stuffed by the end of the dinner and enjoyed all the food. The one question I got at the end of dinner was "Now is it time for pumpkin pie?!?" I didn't know that pumpkin pie was unique to America, and not something they have here in Australia, everyone I have met/talked to about Thanksgiving has mentioned pumpkin pie. I however did not make pumpkin pie that evening.

Sunday evening I went over to a friend's house and made Thanksgiving again for her and her friends, we had turkey breasts and thighs, mashed potatoes, candied yams, salad, and pumpkin pie. Thankfully there was enough filling left after we made the pie (from scratch!) that I was able to bring home some filling and make pie for the family I live with. Everyone LOVED the pie and enjoyed experiencing an American tradition. I'm happy that I was able to share some of my traditions with a few people and am looking forward to experiencing several of the Australian traditions in the months to comes, like a summer Christmas, Australia Day, and ANZAC Day.

Bye for now <3