Hello.

So I know that I have been an absolute slacker with posting lately and I have to say, I don't think it is going to be getting any better. You see, I have been doing nothing exciting lately in the sense of blogable... I have just been hanging around the city in areas that I have already posted about. I do plan to do some new things this week and I will make sure to add them. Casey gets here in 13 day (soooooooo excited) and I am just preparing for his arrival and our two fabulous weeks of traveling.

This weekend I locked myself up in my bedroom with the intentions to start and complete the last research paper of my undergraduate degree. Well... its 6:30pm on Sunday night and I am on page 2... not really the progress that I was hoping for. I have to get this paper done before the semester is over so that it can be graded and added to my transcripts and then my degree will be sent out... Thank the lord above! :) I am going to make a goal to work on it ever night and to complete on page every day... I would like to have it out of the way before Casey gets here.

I am coming home to SLC in less than a month. My time here in Australia is coming to and end. Its so weird to think of these last few months... they feel so long yet so quick. It feels like I have been here forever, feels like I have missed so much in SLC. However, I am fully aware of the fact that when I return home it will be the same. There is something so comforting about that. I think that my days of interning are over, the days of moving and leaving everything familiar are gone. I am ready to come home, start a new chapter in my life and love every minute of it. I am ready to see my family and Friends. I know how cliche the phrase "distance makes the heart grow fonder" is, but Utah I miss you. I am so excited to be in your arms again. I want camping and cabins and lunches and hugs. I am really looking forward to seeing you all again.

Here are some pictures of people that I love and miss and cant wait to see... there are many more, I just didn't have any pictures of you! xo

St.Kilda.

This last Sunday I headed down to St.Kilda beach. Its probably only a 15 minute tram ride from the city, but it might as well be a different part of the universe. Melbourne has been so cold a dreary lately but this weekend was beautiful. We got down to St,Kilda and it felt like I had been transported to Southern California...San Diego? It was sunny, bright... (Have I mentioned that the sun here is so much brighter and harsh... its like unlike anything I have ever seen) warm and inviting. I could hardly believe that I was wearing a jacket because it felt like I should be running around in a bikini! There is a little amusement/roller coaster park next to the boardwalk and it is very fitting.

Anyways... there was an adorable, all hand made art market and I loved it! I guess there is also a cake market on Sundays but we didn't get to see that. Next Sunday Maybe...

Things are good... I am counting down the days till Casey gets here... That will signify when the real fun starts... Traveling with my best friend! So excited.

I love and miss you all. I hear Utah is hot hot hot... cant say that I miss that :)

More Kangaroos.

Here is a video of the Kangaroos ahead of us in the trail. I like this because I think it is fascinating to see them hop away...

Kangaroos.

So after we walked down to the beach and had tea, we resumed our walk to the end of the trail. As we were walking all of the sudden every one stopped... there was a kangaroo in the middle of the trail maybe 150 feet ahead of us. Clay had hoped that we would be able to see Kangaroos feeding so he had timed it that we would be walking back right before dusk. Sure enough.... There was a kangaroo. It is one thing to see a kangaroo at a zoo or an animal sanctuary where I got to feed one earlier, but it is a totally different (and incredibly amazing!) thing to see a kangaroo in nature feeding and going about its daily life. It was so great. After the Kangaroo hopped away, we looked to the hill side down from the trail and there were tons of Kangaroos scattered all along eating their dinner. I know that some of the pictures are a bit hard to see, but if you double click on them it will enlarge the picture and you can see more clearly... try to see how many kangaroos you spot in the different pictures, they are very well hidden!

The final destination

The Beach!

More....

Cape Schanck.

Hello everyone. Sorry its been a few days... I have gone into the city the last two nights to hang out with Tom. Tom is now en route to the statesto hang out with Jessica... they are going to have such a great time! He has been such a good Friend to us while we have been here. Thanks for everything Tom!

Back to Mornington Peninsula- So when we arrived at Clay and Joy's house and they had the weekend planned out. Saturday was supposed to be the day to go hiking... but unfortunately it was way too wet and rainy for that. So we stayed in Saturday and woke up on Sunday for the outdoor excursion. The hike that we took was near Cape Schanuk and that is where the light house is. It starts at the lighthouse and ends about 6k down the coast. It was amazing... We walked down to a rocky beach then made our way essentially up and over the cliffs down to another sandy beach where we had tea. Yes, Clay carried in cups, a burner, tea and milk so we could have some tea on the beach. They drink a lot if tea here, and it is all welcome. It was such a beautiful beach and walk to get there. Tons of beautiful birds and lovely trees and plant life. Its winter here so every thing is so green and lush, I actually feel blessed to be here in this weather. Well enjoy the pictures...

Mornington Peninsula Part one.

These next few days I will be posting pictures of our trip to Mornington Peninsula. I took about a hundred pictures, but I will not subject you to all of them as I will pick out my favorites.

Kate has a friend in her office named Clay and he had extended an offer for us to go stay at his house on the Peninsula. He had arranged this to happen over the weekend because his nephew , Charles, was in town visiting and he was bringing along his American girlfriend, Lauren. Clay and Joy (his wife) had us set up with lovely accommodations and great company. There was a terrible storm on Saturday so we sat around the fire and read as well as taking a drive around the wine regions of the peninsula. I was so happy to get out of the city and I could not have imagined a better way to spend a weekend. Our hosts were gracious and having home cooked meals was such a treat!

We went for a very long and exciting Hike/walk on Sunday and many pictures of that will come., as it was truly magnificent.

Here are a few pictures from the two days and there is a picture of the four of us all together prior to our beach excursion.

I am very thankful for the times that I get to spend with people that are so genuine and kind. Clay and Joy showed us such a good time and it relaxed my heart to be near a wood burning fire accompanied by good people. Life has so many little surprises, you just never know who you are going to meet and what experiences are ahead.

You can also click on any picture to enlarge it and see more detail. I recommend doing this with the picture that looks like just the ocean... It is very faint but it is actually the Melbourne city scape in the distance...

Mornington Peninsula.

There are so many stories to tell about our weekend trip, new friends, bush walks(hiking) and Kangaroos.... I am just too tired to tell them. So let these pictures be a peace offering and a taste of what else is to come. One of the best weekends I have had here so far.

Symphony.

Kate and I went to the symphony on Tuesday and it was a really interesting experience. We arrived and picked up our tickets and got our seats. Upon arrival we knew nothing of the symphony other than it was called ears wide open and the tickets were free...well turned out that it wasn't your run of the mill symphony- It was going to be an interactive symphony where the conductor talked for about a half hour of the time and wanted the audience to sing along at one point...WTH? Although it was a bit different than what I was used to, it ended up being very good. So they played the piece of music all the way through once at the beginning, then the conductor broke the music down bit by bit explaining what our ears were hearing, what the composer was thinking and what instruments were being played. Then at the end they played the piece all the way through another time. It was nice. The art center is beautiful and here are some pictures of Hamer hall and the tall steeple looking thing is the art center and inside is the symphony hall... I of course did not take the outside picture, but wished I had :)

One of my earliest memories is of Grandpa Marlon and Grandma Rose sitting with me at the table, I even think I might have been in a high chair of sorts, telling me what a composer was and guiding my hand as if I was composing and orchestra....Every time I see a composer I think of how I was taught at an early age to appreciate their talent.

After the symphony we went down to the riverside to grab some dinner. We arrived at a restaurant and I ordered a spinach salad with sweet potato. The waitress talked me into adding chicken to it. When the dish arrived I took a few bites of the Chicken and thought that it tasted a bit funny and pushed it aside. I was up all night with awful stomach cramps and ended up staying home from work because of my lack of sleep. I felt terrible but I am feeling better now. I called a few people since it is a rarity that I am home around the time to reach any one in the states. I called Grandma Rose's house to talk to her and I knew my mom was there as well. I told them I had been sick and chatted a bit. A while after I got off the phone I received an email from my Grandma Rose... she was telling me that she had hoped I would feel better... and her final quote was "Sweet potatoes and spinach are fine but be very careful with fish, poultry or men.."

This happens to be one of the best bits of advice I have ever received. World- I love this Woman and That is all I have to say! (p.s. Be careful what you say or write to me, It might end up on the Internet :)...sorry grams!)

I am headed out for the weekend to the peninsula. I will take lots of pictures and I will post them at the end of the weekend. I went out to the country side today with Kate and another girl from her office and it was lovely to see more of Victoria. Also today marks one month till Casey arrives... I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I just cannot wait for our adventures to start. I love you all!

Marysville and the Bushfires.

A couple of weeks ago when Mary took Kate and I to the Healsville Sanctuary she also took for a drive through the main area that was devastated by the bush fires back in February. I have never in my life seen an area that was completely devastated. There is a very curvy road that takes you to Marysville. There are huge trees that stand taller than the mind can imagine and small short ferns scatter the grounds. The most amazing thing about the forest here is how resilient it is to natural disasters... here you would look out to a whole charcoal black forest and all you see are little specks of green covering the black scorched trees. All of the ferns have bright green growth a top the blackened bases. It was hard to imagine that growth had started and life had sustained through this awful devastation that was only a few months back.

I couldn't really grasp the damage at first as we entered Marysville, as the government has done a great job of initiating a severe clean up effort. I was not very struck at first until Mary had to explain to me that all of the sticks from the ground were where homes used to be....There would be one house standing, then ten vacant lots where the houses had burned. There was still a bakery standing on main street, but it stood alone as all the other shops had been burned down.

I guess it is really interesting to be here and think about how close it would have been to Melbourne. Here are a few pictures of the devastation, I got most of them off the Internet as I was not able to take many quality pictures. There is one picture that really hits home... its the first of the bunch. Christabelle forwarded me this the other day and it was taken from the roof of the shopping mall near my house. Its a beautiful picture but can you even imagine looking out and knowing that the fires were that close to your home, that massive and coming your way... How scary. That picture was taken on what they call Black Saturday, because it was the worst day of the fires and I believe the deadliest.

God Bless firefighters...Thanks Grandpa Marlon! xo