The World According To Sam

2009-08-13T19:57:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! (This is Sam... )

Just wanted to fill you in. We arrived in Sydney this morning and will be here for the next two days. Then we are headed up to Cairns to the beach!!!! Snorkeling and rainforest's ect...

Sydney is beautiful so far and we are headed for a tour of the Opera House and then a Rugby Game... good times. The weather is so amazing. Sunny and 70 degrees.

We have pictures coming of our Great Ocean Road trip. They will be up soon, so stay tuned.

Oh and I thought that I should clarify... when you see Casey's pictures with the little playmobil guys... those are all going up on the Tutoring toy website, I promise my Boyfriend does not usually carry around toys... well... maybe :)

I love you all and Cant believe that I will be home in less than two weeks. It is amazing to have Casey here and we are having such a great time. But I have fully prepared for these days to go quick, and they are doing just that :(

I will keep you posted.

Love from Sydney... Sam

Just Pics

2009-08-13T00:20:00.001-07:00

And You Thought Roscos Chicken and Waffles was A Weird Combonation.

2009-08-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Our Second stop on Sydney Road was a Kebab Stand that was also featured on the Melbourne episode of No Reservations. Now this wasn't your run of the mill kebab stand though, It was a Kebab stand and a Car Wash. A hand car wash. It was exquisite though and they were sooooo excited to have us.

After lunch we were off like a dirty shirt. We wandered the city killing time before meeting up for dinner with Sams friends. As we walked I was left to ponder the day. Coming to a realization. Aussies are kinda bad asses! They have numerous products and stores with the same names and even the same logos but with no ties to the American counterparts. As if to say ,'so sue me I dare you'. It got to be kinda funny waiting to see what came next.

Getting lost trying to find Anthony Bourdain.

2009-08-11T01:20:00.001-07:00

So our morning begins with a bang. The rental car has a flat tire and the doors wont lock. Great, just Great. So we hoof it into the city hoping to fair a little better. A train ride later and we were mere blocks from the "artsy" "hip" area of Melbourne.

That is when the Reds struck. Out of Nowhere 3 Ruskies decided to put a damper on our day. They made this slick wet metal grate appear out of nowhere and down goes my better half. Good thing Jacque and Olaf were there to vanquish these Cold War Villains.

An injured knee, some ibuprofen and breakfast later we were on our way to the illusive Sydney Road and a delicious Middle Eastern Lunch. This was my chance to Nerd it up as this street was recently featured on Anthony Bourdains No Reservations.
A1 Lebanese Bakery was stop number 1 on Sydney Road. MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

Just a few more things we saw.

2009-08-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Say Hello...to My Little Friends!! (Read this title in a Cuban Voice)

2009-08-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

So the city is clearly on to us. I decided if we are gonna make it here we'd need a little help. I picked up the phone and called in the C-Team. They are kinda like the A Team but if you had the A teams number you definatly would call them first.

With their help we proceeded on our journey through the city on foot,with all manner of beasts on our tail.

But at the end of the day we escaped unscathed. Victory was ours!!! Tommorrow will be a new day though. Stay tuned for more adventures down-under.

On another note, Kangaroo "sacks" are much harder to locate than anticipated.

THE CASEY SARTAIN TAKEOVER.

2009-08-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

SAMS BLOG HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER!!

For the next couple weeks Sam is going to learn an important lesson in sharing as I, Casey Sartain, borrow this forum to share my time here with her. When I first arrived they welcomed we with a giant red carpet.

I left the airport and met up with Sam. After a luggage drop and a shower we were off. I learned the bus system and in the process gained perspective on how lucky we are to ride the bus for a few dollars a day. Here its more like 5 each leg.

Once we were downtown I realized I was under strict instructions. Everywhere we went the code of conduct was clearly posted. It was at this point I reflected on the countrys history. This place is still like a giant jail. Rules everywhere.It felt like communist China for a moment. I mean to think, they thought they could dictate my Vacation. HA!! I'll show them.

The pulse of the city must of heard my thoughts and so they tried scaring me away with stories of Sea monsters. Its a good thing I know better. Plus I brought a little help. Which you know by now since that post is right above this one.

Federation Square.

2009-08-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and Family, have you missed me? I know that it has been far too long since I have caught you all up on Australian life, sorry for that... rest assured there has been good reason.

Life is going fine here. Today marks 3 weeks till I am home in SLC. Its so weird. I always find it so funny that you finally master the city and all it has to offer right as you are leaving it. I think that I have finally become a Melbourne city transit pro... I am able to get from point A to point B with out any problems and at an increasingly efficient speed. Ive also found that I know the city much better than I would have imagined. It is sad that my time here is coming to an end.

This is my last week of work. I have five more days to give it all I've got. To go out with a bang, as Casey likes to say. Well I am going to do just that... I will let you know how it goes :)

So Casey is going to be here in a week... I don't think excitement is an adequate word to use... I wish there was something so much more severe. I just cant wait.

Oh and about that... So for how many months have I been counting down the days till Casey's arrival? How many posts have I mentioned the amazing plans that we have arranged for the 2 weeks he is going to be here... like the Sydney Bridge walk, hiking in the Blue Mountains, Beach Walks on the Great Ocean Road, Snorkeling in Cairns, etc, etc..... WELL GUESS WHAT WORLD... NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Casey was playing with Ole in the yard and thought it a good time to break his freaking ankle...IN TWO DIFFERENT SPOTS! Yep... 10 days before the adventure of a life time Casey broke his ankle. Poor Guy. Poor trip... I was so sad. I spent all of last week calling all of the places that we had made reservations with inquiring about one-legged options, most of which will be okay. We will not be able to do the Sydney Bridge walk or the hiking trips, but other than that its all going to work out. What a bummer though... So sad.

So that is what I have been up to. I went to the Pompeii exhibit last week and it was great, they did not allow photos thus there not being a post following the excursion. I have VIP tickets to a swanky personal tour of the Salvador Dali exhibit Tuesday, hopefully they do allow pictures.

I hope all is well in the U.S. of A. I am sure it is. I love you all and will see you all too soon.

I suppose I should tell you about the pictures... So this is Federation Square. It is one of the neatest building I have ever seen. Some of the locals don't really think that it fits in the city centre, I think its great! :) There is like a two block area next to the art centre that has Flinders station on one side and this building on the other side.. I would say its kind of the heart of the city. I would also say it is an architects dream to create. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

More Federation...

2009-08-02T03:41:00.000-07:00

More cool pictures...

Hello.

2009-07-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-19T03:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-16T04:42:00.001-07:00

The Beach!

More....

2009-07-16T04:37:00.001-07:00

Cape Schanck.

2009-07-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-13T04:56:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

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

Footy.

2009-07-06T03:12:00.000-07:00

Australia is very sports obsessed, especially Melbourne. There is a sport called AFL-Australian Football League that is especially popular. They call it Footy. So the only way to explain this game is to say it is a mix between- Soccer-Rugby and American football. It is such a crazy sport to watch though... The players where no guards or padding at all. None. Players are constantly getting their bones in their faces smashed and concussions all the time. It is really hard core.

Well our Tom is a season ticket holder for Essedon (Bombers) and he got us tickets to a really great game last Friday night. Tickets is an understatement.... We were like ten rows up from the field. With 90 thousand people in the stadium, that makes a big difference. We had a really REALLY good time.

Here are a few pics to enjoy.

I apologize for the lack of posting as last week was a pretty hard week all around. I promise to step it up. I am headed to Mornington Peninsula this weekend to stay at one of Kate's co-workers houses. Mornington Peninsula is down the coast from Melbourne and has great beach side properties. By the way... It has been so cold here. I did not picture it to be this cold, I am really happy that I packed warm.

Also - so there is this new program that the government has introduced to get people more involved in the arts in Victoria, its called test drive the arts. Essentially you pick a few things like plays, dance performances and musical productions that you would like to see and you enter your name in a drawing to get free tickets. Well last week I entered my name in and I got a call today saying that I won awesome tickets to the Melbourne Symphony!!!! I am so excited. It is at the art center right off the river... and best yet, the tickets were like 150$ each and Kate and I get to go for free!!!! I am so ecstatic, I just think it will be so much fun. So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post lots of fun pictures of us at the Symphony.

D.R. Starr.

2009-07-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

The forth of July, as always, is never a pleasant day. This year it was peculiar to be in a different country. Not only did the forth come a day earlier than yours, but there was no celebration, no annual BBQ's and especially no fireworks. I enjoyed the vacancy of all these things. It allowed me to be quiet and reminiscent with out the hustle and bustle around the holiday.

I stayed at home most the day. I finished Jane Eyre, which I loved. It has been a very quiet, low key kind of a day.

I have such a hard time believing that it has been 5 years. I cannot say that time makes the pain any less severe.

David made us all better people. His love lives on inside everyone who knew him. I am so thankful for the days, though short, that I got to spend with him and know him. My life is such a better place because it was touched by Dave.

I love you all more than you know.

Dingo time.

2009-06-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

So this should be interesting... I have not tried posting a movie clip yet. So bear with me people.

I tried to film the dingoes howling, because it was so neat to witness, you could hear all of the dingoes around the park howling... however, I was talking a bit. I was really excited so I said "shut up"... Like insinuating... is this really happening... then Mary looked at me as to say "why do you want them to shut up?" So then I stated that I meant it in the best way possible, if there is a good way to put it... which there is not. I will no longer say shut up when I am excited. It just does not make any sense.

I hope you are able to play the clip and hear the howling over my annoying talking :)

Silly me.

Mr. Kangaroo.

2009-06-28T05:19:00.000-07:00

Soooooo.... I totally got to feed a Kangaroo. Yep, jealousy is a natural feeling that all of you should be experiencing right now :) I'm talking out of my palm people...

It was so exciting. So we walked into this big area where all of the Kangaroos were just lying around, Lazy little animals actually. There were two different kinds.... the red Kangaroos, which are not as shy and they are a bit smaller, and there were the grey Kangaroos as well. The red kangaroo was the one that I got to feed.

Did you know that Kangaroos use their tail to walk? I didn't... and it was the neatest thing to see. They prop their entire bodies up with the tail in between each step... They seriously are really neat animals.

Healsville Sanctuary.

2009-06-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

Healsville Sanctuary is one of the three zoo's in the Melbourne area. This specific zoo is home to native Australian animals. Mary took Kate and I, along with her son Jameson and Her husband Andrew to the Zoo on Saturday. We all had such a great time. It was a bit of a drive... maybe and hour out past the Yarra wine valley that I had visited previously. Beautiful scenery.

There were so many great things at the zoo. We were able to see more Koala's, a Tasmanian Devil, Dingo's (which I could have never imagined to be so cute...Casey, I am bringing one home to be Ole's new sibling) a platypus and some awful reptiles....

But the highlight of the trip was the Kangaroos!!!

Here are a few great pictures to take a gander at. Hope you enjoy.

Jane Eyre.

2009-06-28T04:44:00.001-07:00

Jane Eyre is my current read (mom...I know you are very excited about this). I bought it the other day at a book store for the purposes of being a reliable friend on my often, long bus rides into the city. I am not far into it yet, maybe 75 pages. However, I have loved every word thus far. There was one phrase that I really loved today as I was reading on my ride home. I thought I would share it with you.

A little backround....

I have been very distracted recently and the first few weeks here were extremely hard at work. For no reason other than a wandering mind and pre-occupied thoughts. Funny thing is, I wasn't sure what was occupying my mind. I have concluded that my mind and body were on extreme emergency mode. I had been going-going-going for months and my mind had started only responding to panic. I had finals, graduation, packing, parties, moving, Visa's etc.... stress...stress..stress..

I am feeling much better now. Almost back to normal... If ever there was a normal :)

Anyways- back to Jane Eyre... as I was reading tonight I thought the following phrase really summed me up lately-

"I seldom put, and never keep, things in order; I forget rules; I read when I should learn my lessons; I have no method: and sometimes I say, like you, I cannot bear to be subjected to systematic arrangements."

Totally random but it made me think of my recent struggles. I love this book so far.

Port Melbourne.

2009-06-26T02:19:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been very very long. I am so surprised by how much energy it takes to go out after a full day of work. Like I said, growing up is hard to do:)

I was able to go to Parliament twice this week and I really enjoyed it. After work on Thursday Kate and I went to dinner with Tom. He took us down to a really beautiful part of town called Port Melbourne. We ate at a restaurant that was right on the Ocean. It was so beautiful. It was inconvenient because it was dark so I was not able to many great pictures so I took a few of our dinner.

First, I don't think I realized that quail... the fancy food that you would order at a nice restaurant... is eating those adorable little birds that run along our yard at home... the ones with all of the really cute little babies that follow...sad. I never connected the dots there. Kate ordered quail and I felt bad about it all night. I however ordered a delicious vegetarian dish which was Moroccan flavored Okra with sweet potato and giant couscous...It was yummy.

Sorry about all of the food posts, that's just pretty much the exciting part of my days lately. I am headed to an animal sanctuary/zoo tomorrow and I will take lots of fun pictures. Love you all!

Lygon street and yummy italian food.

2009-06-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

I served an Australian man while I was working at Mazza maybe one month before I came out to Melbourne. I detected that he had a slight accent so I decided to be brave and I asked him where he was from... "Sir, may I ask you where your accent is from...?" I said bravely, I was wanting to try and pick up the difference of a English accent and an Australian accent..."The back of my throat, I am sick.." The man grunted.... His teenage son was sitting across from him and he started to laugh... "forgive my dad," the kid said..."he is from Australia".

I proceeded to tell him that the reason I was asking was because I was moving to Australia soon and was trying to get familiar. The man soon warmed up and it turned out that he was from Melbourne. I completely neglected my other tables as I sat and listened to stories of places that he was urging me to visit. By the time that he left I was even more excited to come here. Before he finished his dinner he wrote a few things down on a piece of paper for me.

I have carried this little piece of paper with me all through my journeys so far, and it has proved to be 100% correct. I have appeared to be so with it and I have even impressed locals with my knowledge of the fun, cool areas I know all about. I wish I could find that man and tell him thank you. If you look at the top of the note (which is front and back) you will see that it says Italian food-Lygon street. That is where we had dinner tonight.

We arrived at about 8pm and set out to find a place to eat. The weird, and not so appealing part of Lygon street, is the store owners that stand in front of the restaurants urging you to come eat at their restaurant. They beg you to look at the menu and immediately try to pull you in. It was very overwhelming. They even offer you free things. Kate and I got whisked away to some restaurant and the woman offered us free wine and appetizers. Weird. (BTW- the wine was Nobilo, my very favorite wine from Mazza...it is from New Zealand and I have been looking for it all over).

We had a great dinner... I had gnocchi with a red sauce and Kate had Alfredo. Mmmmm. We then went and had Gelato down the road. Little Italian restaurants and gelato stores littered this area. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Fitzroy area.

2009-06-21T02:59:00.000-07:00

Well I had a rather unexciting weekend. On Saturday Kate and I accompanied Mary to a women's liberal conference. It was very interesting. However, doing work things on one of the two days off a week (even though I had a great time, and I suggested that I should go) really puts a damper on the weekend. Before you know it, Sunday is over and the new week begins. Man, its hard to grow up. This responsibility thing is for the birds :)

Anyways, Kate and I grabbed dinner after the conference and then came back to my place to relax (my roommates were in Sydney so I had the place to myself, always a plus).

You want to know one really REALLY dumb thing about Australia.... All of the shops close at 5pm every single day... I guess they are not really worried about that profit margin. This is especially hard when you work a 9-5 job. I feel like I cant get around to accomplishing anything I need to because the stupid shops are always closed.... So irritating!

We decided to go explore around an area called the Fitzroy district. The main street is Brunswick and that is where we spent most of our time today. This area is right next to The University of Melbourne so its kind of like the hip, college part of town. I really liked it. I want to go back and just look through all the shops all day long, there was so much to see.

I am not sure what this week holds for me. Parliament is sitting this week so I anticipate that I will go down town, or to the city area at least once. Other than that, its looking pretty mellow. No big plans for this coming weekend, but we have tickets to an Australian Football League game next week, so that should be fun.

I have been a bit homesick these last couple days.... I suspect that it is because I have been mostly working and not exploring. I reckon that's the point of the internship though. This coming Wednesday will be 5 weeks that I have been here. That feels so weird. I miss Ole a whole lot and you all know that I miss Casey and everyone else. I guess you never quite know what you have until you are away from it for a while. I am thankful for every single person in my life. If you are reading this, that means you.

Australia v. Japan.

2009-06-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

Kate and I got tickets to this soccer game and we had the greatest time. It was held at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds that holds 100,000 people! It was such a magical stadium... it oozed the sports spirit that Melbourne has. We were so impressed that we are going to go again! Next time we are going to go see the Bombers v. the Magpies (Australian Football League) with our friend Tom. We are super excited for that!

We were told that we needed to have a meat pie at the stadium sort of like having a hot dog or cracker jacks at a baseball game. We did. We wished we had not. Gross. :)

It was a great night and just one more wonderful thing we have experienced here in Australia.

Pictures: We got there pretty early, so there is one shot of the stadium looking very empty...70,000 people ended up attending! The fire looking thing is a flare torch of some sort, when Australia scored people would light them in the audience.

Mr. Wallaby.

2009-06-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

At the Koala reserve we totally saw a Wallaby. We arrived to the reserve really early and we were the first ones there. As we started to walk around... I saw something hopping... I freaked out! It was a Wallaby. Wallabies are like smaller kangaroos.

It was incredible. I was so excited to see that and to see it out on the open/wild. I tried to take a few quick pictures. If you click on the pictures it should enlarge them for you.

I love and miss all of you. I don't have any super exciting plans for this weekend. I am headed to a political conference on Saturday and then Kate and I are going to maybe go see a movie and get dinner. Sunday I am headed to a really awesome part of town, the Fitzroy area. Its kind of grungy area with neat shops and lots of cafes. We are going to meet up with Tom for lunch and then shop our little hearts out. I am excited.

Koala time.

2009-06-18T02:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the Koala reserve on Philip Island to check out these adorable little creatures. This reserve has boardwalks that are elevated off the ground so you are essentially walking more or less in the tree tops. The Koalas were all asleep except for one of them. They are so cute, they look like little balls of fur hidden in the trees. Here are a few pictures and one is from google. There was a momma that looked like this there, but she was sleeping...so pretend I took the picture :)

Penguins.

2009-06-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

So like I have said before, the main attraction to Philip Island is the nightly invasion of the little penguins. Their technical name is the little penguin. Well, every single night these little guys swim onto the island and scurry away to their burrows. They live out to sea for apx 3-4 weeks. They are dark navy blue on their back sides and white on the belly's, this is to camouflage them from predatory birds from up top and sharks from below. Smart little creatures :)

We have heard so much fuss about these little penguins that we just had to go check it out. We got the plus seats which meant that we were able to stand about 5 feet away from the trail that the penguins took to get home on the hill side. We sat there for probably 30 minutes and we saw nothing. All the sudden you see this little pack of heads pop out of the water and apx 50 little penguins start wobbling across the beach. Really, it was on of the most amazing things I have ever seen. group after group came up out of the water. About 600 Penguins came out that night and in the hot summer season, sometimes there will be 2000! They said that all together the colony has about 6000 little penguins.

You are not allowed to take pictures of the penguins so I took pictures of pictures and also googled to find you a sight similar to what they were. They stood maybe 1 foot tall and weighed apx 2-3 pounds.

It was spectacular, and frightfully cold. :)

I miss him.

2009-06-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

I Miss Casey every single day. Its really hard to be away from the person that you adore the most. I wish he was here experiencing all of this with me. I can not wait for him to come here, He is going to loose his marbles over this place and all of its splendor. I love you WCMS.

The Ocean.

2009-06-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

I do not remember the last time I stood on a beach. It was so nice to see the ocean. The weather was a bit overcast which I thought made the experience even better. Here are a few pictures. Stay tuned.. I still have tons of pictures of the penguin experience, the koalas and the other fun things. I will have them all posted in the next couple of days.

Mmmmm...Fish and Chips.

2009-06-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

I love me some fish and Chips. Especially when the fish is fresh right from the ocean you are looking at. We had a local stop and talk to us as we were walking around looking concerned about our choices. She suggested this certain shop and it must be good because there were a bunch of locals eating there. I always trust the locals. Anyways, I had a fisherman's basket that had a little bit of everything...some calamari strip, a potato cake...fish...chips... prawns... all the goodies. I thought I would share a bit of my cuisine adventures with you!

Amaroo.

2009-06-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

When we arrived in Cowes we headed to our hostel. I had found this place on the web and I have not stayed in a hostel since I went to Boston (Allison- remember that creepy doll lamp...eeeewww). Needless to say I was a bit hesitant to be in a Hostel environment again but I am trying to conserve as much money as possible so I decided to try it out. Good thing... that place was awesome! It was so so so clean, Kate and I had our own room and It was really cheap. It was totally camp ground style with little cabins surrounding the grounds. In fact, Philip Island reminded me a lot of West Yellowstone in the way that they both have a cute little down town area, outside of a huge tourist attraction and then there are little cabins and summer houses tucked away in all of the trees. It was really lovely. The most memorable thing about this hostel was this sign that was in the bathroom. I guess its pretty typical here but I have never heard of anything like it. So as you should know, most of Australia is in a terrible drought and has been for some time. Example of this would be the crazy bush fires this last spring. Well in the hostel bathroom, inside the shower was a bucket. The sign read: please save you water, if you are showering and washing your hair or soaping up, let the excess water drop into the bucket and when you are finished please go water the garden! Isn't that CRAZY! I think its a great idea :)

Here are a few pictures of the place and you will see a kitty lying on top of the fire place, that damn cat had the best seat in the house. So toasty and warm.

Travel time.

2009-06-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

Philip Island is about 3 hours away from Melbourne. We had to take a train through all of the suburbs outside the city for an hour, then we transferred to a coach/bus for two hours till we reached our final destination of Cowes, the main city on Philip Island. The transit was fairly easy and the bus ride was nice. It was interesting to see the countryside of Australia. It was very green and little rolling hills covered the land. Here are a few pictures of our transit and there is also a map. Down at the bottom right of the map you will see a big green dot, next to that you will see Cowes, our destination spot. Melbourne is not directly on the ocean as it sits inland a bit. You can see how we basically had to travel all the way around to get to Philip Island.

Great Weekend.

2009-06-14T04:07:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely exhausted after a wonderful weekend.

On Friday night Mary (the MP that I am working for...MP=member of Parliament) took me out to dinner and to the theatre with a few of her Friends. We went to dinner at a lovely little restaurant where I had salmon that was delicious. Then we went to see Wicked. Seriously, Wicked was so great. It put such a huge smile on my face and now I finally know what all of the fuss is about. I thought that it was going to be a bit juvenile but it totally was not. I would see that play over and over again. I was so thankful to Mary for taking me out and showing me a great time. It was so much fun.

Well I didn't get home till late, and I had to pack my bags and get ready to leave town EARLY the next morning. Because I live a fair ways away from down town, I have to normally leave the house at 7 am on the weekends to make it down town at an early enough time to get breakfast or in this case catch a train to Philip Island. The transport to Philip Island was just great. We caught a train then transferred to a bus that took us to Cowes (the main city on Philip Island). The transport took about three hours. We arrived at about 1pm on Saturday and got back into the city at 7pm on Sunday, a quick but awesome trip.

I am going to be posting different blogs about the trip during the next couple of days because I took lots of pictures. Saddest part of the trip was the fact that there were no pictures to be taken of the little penguins :( They were so so cute.

I am going to be posting pictures of the Hostel we stayed in, Fish and Chips, The Beach, Penguin experience, scenery, koalas and the Wallaby! Stay tuned and I will get to it asap...

Love you all!

Tree of the day: part- more fruit :)

2009-06-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

This tree was at one of the vineyards that we went to. I believe it to be a kumquat tree. I think it was just perfect for the setting around it. I love all of these fruit trees and someday plan to have a luxurious garden surrounded by fruit and pecan trees. Ahhhh...to have dreams.

Things are going fine. It has been so rainy. I mean really rainy. Last night I barely got any sleep because the rain storms were so vicious and loud that they kept waking me up. I was lonesome and scared by the rain. That's when the time difference comes in handy, I just picked up the phone and called Casey... it was 11am SLC time and 3am here. He makes everything all better. Oh man, I am getting mussy being so far away- snap out of it :)

I am headed to Parliament with Mary tomorrow and I am going to be accompa

nying her to a community meeting after. It is going to be a long day. Because of Parliament, I wont be going to curves. I have been the last two nights and I am surprising myself with my dedication to it. That's not me... maybe I really am growing up...weird. Any ways I love you all and hopefully I will have some really great and interesting stories to tell about Parliament.

Tree of the day: part something.

2009-06-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

This tree was right down the street from Kate's house. I was so excited when I saw it, because Diane and I have always talked about having a green house specifically so that we could have a lemon tree! I guess the rule is that if you can reach the street fruit, its yours! Exciting! I Love LEMONS! also, there is a picture that I took after getting ready for work today.... I think my camera is the bee's knee's. It really takes the coolest pictures ever.

Chandon part one.

2009-06-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

First- This blog website will not let me upload more than 5 pictures to each post. That is why today you will see that I have made like 10 different posts, which I guess is nice because I am able to offer commentary with each section. Keep reading though. The new posts go down to vegemite, so even onto the next page. I hope you are enjoying these blogs. Also, I have heard that the comments are really difficult, sorry about that. I really love hearing what you have to say though, so if you are not able to comment...try emailing me :)

I had such an excellent weekend. It really helped me with my homesick feelings to go and see the city and what it has to offer. There are so many wonderful things to do and see here that I don't even think I will have enough time to do everything that I want to do! We got a real good look at the city this weekend both Saturday and Sunday. We went out to the Yarra Wine Valley today and did a wine vineyard tour and tasting. AMAZING! One of the best days I have had in a really, really long time. The valley was amazing. Australia surprises me everyday.

Chandon was the last stop on our tour and it was the prettiest scenery for sure. I really wanted to by some champagne and wine to bring home to all of you (that drink) But there is no way to get it back to the US. Except ship it, and that is crazy pricey. But its the thought that counts. I love you all! I Love Australia!!!!

Chandon part 2.

2009-06-08T01:07:00.000-07:00

We took a really great tour of Chandon, a really huge winery... owned by Moet Chandon. This was probably the most education tour that we took. We were able to go into rooms that normally are not accessible. Like the room where the rotate the bottles, the pictures look really bright because of the camera flash but it was actually very dim in the room. It was raining so hard when we went into the tour, but it was beautiful when we came out.

Rochford Wines.

2009-06-08T00:56:00.000-07:00

Rochford winery was our second stop. It was lovely. We had a wonderful lunch here as well as more wine tasting. I had roast chicken with couscous and a yogurt sauce... it was divine. Because it was a holiday today, there were too many people to fit in the regular bus that they take for the tour. So instead, I got to go in a smaller bus that was very intimate and alot better. There were nine of us on the tour and I enjoyed everyone that we were with.

Yering station.

2009-06-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

Yering station was the first stop on our wine tour. Yarra valley is a beautiful valley to the north of Melbourne. It really was only about a half hour from my house, but more like 1 hour out of downtown Melbourne. Closer to me because I live in suburbia :) It was all so beautiful.

I think that the Yarra Valley wine region would be comparable to Napa Valley in California.

Yering station was a great little winery and we tasted some great wines. There was also a lovely little market inside the winery, Casey would have loved this place...minus the wine :)

It was really interesting to go on this tour not only because the valley was beautiful and the wine was great, but because this was the region that was ravaged by the bush fires. There were areas of the valley that were just totally taken out it... red burnt orchards. So sad.

Federation Square.

2009-06-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

Federation square is considered right in the heart of downtown Melbourne. It is really great. Today we picked up the bus for our wine tour at St. Pauls Cathedral which is on one of the corners of federation square. There is the neatest building there, It has the craziest architecture ever... there are teleprompters running down different angles of the building and it has many different sizes of triangles as the base of the building. Really cool area and I am sure that there will be many more pictures to come from these places. This is just your first taste.

Southbank.

2009-06-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Across the river from downtown Melbourne is an area called Southbank. Southbank has great views of Melbourne. Kate and I met up with a Friend of my friends from Salt Lake, Tom. Tom was such a gracious host and took us all around Melbourne and took us to an adorable little cafe, bought us lunch and took us took an art market. We had such a lovely afternoon. Southbank is where he lives and it is such an amazing part of town. It is right by the art center so it has tons of sculptures and a bridge that weaves over the Yarra river and it is just great. Here are some lovely pictures that we took. Tom is the guy in the yellow shirt :)

Fitzroy Gardens.

2009-06-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

Fitzroy Gardens are located somewhere between Kate's house and Parliament. It is such a Beautiful place to walk threw. I had a few things that I loved. There are these massive plants that look like something from the prehistoric times that are all over the freeway here, This one happened to be in an arrangement at the garden but sometime I hope to get a picture of one in its natural state. There are also such beautiful magnolia trees everywhere. I cant even picture how beautiful it would be here when they all bloomed. Interesting fact, I guess in most of the parks down town there are tons of possums. They are real pests, I didn't see one but their droppings littered the sidewalks, not cool. Really pretty garden though, I was so impressed.

Misc.

2009-06-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures-

1-Kate and I in our first cab ride

2- Kate and I at the Bachelorette dinner for my roommate

3- This lady was at the Queen Victoria market running one of the stands. I had to take a picture of her shirt. She had no Idea what Utah was and thought that S.L.C. stood for some sort of abbreviation for slut. Thats why she liked it. :)

Vegemite.

2009-06-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

I only have one thing to say about Vegemite. Awful. Australians put this stuff on toast in the morning and they absolutely adore it. I think it is the most repulsive thing I have ever tasted in my adult life. I don't remember the last time I ate something that really made me almost throw up. Truly awful. Kate and I had breakfast on Saturday morning after meeting up at Parliament. Breakfast was lovely and the cafe was quaint and cute.

Pictures: Kate at the cafe, awful vegemite and me waiting for the bus.

Healthy Living.

2009-06-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

I have alot of time on my hands on the week days after work. It is too far to go into the downtown area and I am also too tired for that after a long day at work. This week I was getting some fresh produce from my favorite market near my house and I noticed that there was a curves gym next door. Grandma Prestwich has always raved about curves and how great it is, so I decided that with my spare time after work, on my way home... I am going to pop into curves and get a quick work out. It looks really easy... the main premise is that you hit up 14 different machines 2 times for 30 second... Well.... easy is not the word. I was so surprised that I could get such a good work out in 30 minutes.

I have also been eating really well since I came to Australia.

Tonight was my second time at curves since Wednesday and the day went something like this: wake up at 6am, shower...talk to Casey...check my email...get dressed ect. Catch the bus to work at 8:15.... get off bus at 8:25, walk to go get a latte at the coffee shop down the street. Get to work, latte in hand 8:40. work, work,work...lunch...work, work, work. I always walk home from work which is about one mile. 6:15pm walk to curves (it is on my way home), 7:00pm, walk out of curves sweaty and happy....7:05 go into subway (still sweaty...hahahah) and get delicious turkey 6inch sub...7:15 get home enjoy dinner and play on the Internet for the rest of the night :)

I am hoping to continue on the path of eating healthy and exercising while I am here, hell... for the rest of my life actually! I mostly want to be in better physical shape, especially because Casey and I are going on a 3 day snorkeling trip up in the tropical part of Australia when he comes to visit and I don't want to miss a thing!

Wish me luck.

Philip Island fell threw :( We are going to go next week instead. The bus doesn't run on Sundays here out to the Island and this whole place is closing up on Monday, so we wouldn't be able to get there or come back. Instead Kate and I are going to tour the Wine Yarra Valleys on Monday. We are taking a bus tour all day to 3 vineyards and having lunch and wine tasting... It is going to be magnificent! I will still take lots of pictures this weekend as I explore and conquer! love and miss all of you. xo

Pictures: Me post gym...showing you my extreme muscles and my delicious dinner of subway, steamed veggies and local fruits.

No Pictures Please.

2009-06-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

I found out today that there are no pictures to be taken on days where the Parliament is in session. Ooooppppsss. I got a few out front of Kate and I, but was not able to get any during the day. Such a shame. It was so interesting to be there today. I really enjoyed it. The bantering back and forth is enough to keep me giggling for hours. Those silly legislators :)

That is pretty much all I did today. Kate and I got a chance to catch up and we are both really looking forward to our time here.

I am very excited for this weekend. I saw a few pictures of Philip Island and it looks magical.

Meet Kate.

2009-06-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

Kate is the other Intern from the University of Utah. I am so relieved that she is here. Kate worked for the Hinckley Institute for 2 years. We both graduated this last spring and here we are together in Australia!

It is so nice to have someone familiar. Really. We are going to travel together to Philip Island this weekend because it is a 3 day weekend (its the Queens birthday celebration). Philip Island is about 3 hours from the city and the main attraction is the sweet little penguins that migrate across the Island every night. We are going to stay at the main hostel/campground on the Island on Sunday night and travel back to the city on Monday. I am really excited. My main focus while being here in Australia is to see and do as much as possible. I think that I need to take advantage of the beautiful country around me. I am so lucky to be here.

This week has been very mellow. I am headed into the city to go to Parliament on Thursday which will be exciting. Then this weekend I have a full load of fun planned even besides Philip Island. I will make sure to take lots of pictures while I am out and about....

Parliament.

2009-06-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

Christabelle took me down to Parliament today to get my pass as well as meet up with Kate. I am so excited that Kate is here, have I mentioned that. Anyways... We got a quick tour of Parliament and I am so impressed. It is such a beautiful building. Old fashioned and kept up to look that way. Nothing infuriates me more than society imposing "new" and "upcoming" fashions and architecture on buildings that are intended otherwise.

It was lovely. The picture of the green sitting room is their lower house, comparable to our House of Representatives. The bright gold Picture is of their upper house, Like our Senate. The lovely red chair is for the Queen. No one has ever sat in it except for her (and she only has once). The Spiral bookshelf is in the library where I have been told I will be doing most of my work when I am at Parliament. Mary has an office which is quite small, but intended for her and Christabelle. I am obsessed with her office.... It is a redone horse stable. Back in the old days they would put their horses up below parliament and now it has been redone into offices, but it still resembles the stables which I LOVE!

Fascinating building. So many winding staircases and secret door ways. I am truly looking forward to spending more time there. More pictures to come!

Tree of the day: Part Three

2009-06-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

So this tree can be found in downtown Melbourne, behind the Parliament building. I saw it the other day and thought that it belonged in my collection. Doesn't it look just like a giant Bonsai? Just like the one that is home with Casey thriving on water and sunlight (Hint to Casey....take care of the Bonsai while I am gone... or else...).

I think it is a lovely tree. Kate arrived today and I am so relieved to know that she too, adores the trees here. She said it best, they all look like trees that you would see in the jungle or in the African desert... I assume what she means is we are anxiously awaiting swinging monkeys :)

PRESENTING...dun da da dun...

2009-06-01T01:39:00.001-07:00

Samantha Starr... Official Parliament Intern! I got my badge today down at Parliament and I am mighty proud of it! Reminds me of the time I got my DNC badge too... little interns take great pride in small things :)

I miss him desperately.

2009-05-31T05:08:00.000-07:00

I had no idea how much I would miss this little guy. It breaks my heart to think of him and I cant wait to see him. I cant imagine how having children feels.

Still getting adjusted.

2009-05-31T04:58:00.000-07:00

I am finding myself getting more and more used to the ways of life here. Which is great! I am staying up later... going to bed around 9pm or 10pm Aussie time (5am or 6am SLC)... I am experiencing better food too.

There are however things that are taking a bit more time. Laundry is one of them. There is not a Dryer where I live. Do you know what that means? EVERYTHING must be hung to dry. I am used to hanging up my jeans as I have always had long legs and been in fear of my pants shrinking. However it is a totally different story to hang dry socks, under ware and towels. I wont ever get that fresh out of the dryer feeling from a towel while I am here.

If ever there was a time (Casey will tell you there absolutely was) where I was negligent with my clothing or unaware of how much I would wash things, You better believe that those days are gone.

I am not complaining, just more so explaining. I will get used to it, I am sure.

Aussie phrases vs. American slang.... to be continued.

It has been a few days.

2009-05-31T04:34:00.000-07:00

Please do not get discouraged if I go a few days with out posting. Sometimes I can not come up with anything creative or I forgot to take pictures. But I promise, I will always keep you updated :)

First, Happy Birthday Grandma Prestwich (sorry about being a day late)- I love you very much.

Second, I had a very eventful weekend. Saturday I followed along with Mel and Christabelle as they went to get their dresses sized for the wedding. Mel and Mat, my two roommates, are getting married in July. There is tons of wedding excitement in the air around my home. After we went to do that, Christabelle dropped me off at the Westfeild shopping mall. This mall is huge and has so many stores that I have never heard of before. I spent a good 3 hours there just walking around shopping and looking at things. It is so interesting to be in a place that is so unfamiliar. Sunday I mustered up the courage to venture down town for the first time by myself. I was a bit panicked as I am aware that the buses are even more unreliable on the weekends. Casey helped me sort out my transportation plan and before I knew it, I was headed for downtown. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get down town on the bus, which seems forever to me. I got down town and headed straight for the Queen Victoria Market. The biggest market of its sort in the world! Its aslo the 3rd rated attraction in Australia. It was so fun and so huge! I couldn't even get through the whole thing and I was there a good two hours. Clothes, souvenirs and nic nacks as far as the eye could see. There is an adjacent market all for food and I have been told that it has the best produce in town. I had a falafel sandwich and baklava for lunch, it was yummy. Hardly as good as Mazza though. (I miss Mazza's food very much... yum). I had a great time at the market and even found my way back home (Thanks to constant coaching from Casey... I love you). It was very eventful and I am relieved to have my first trip down town out of the way so it wont seem so intimidating.

Kate arrives tomorrow and I am go glad to have someone to explore with. Next weekend is a holiday so I am thinking of taking a train to somewhere exciting. Details to come.

I am headed down to Parliament tomorrow to get my Parliamentary pass. I will accompany Mary downtown this week as there will 3 days of government sitting. I am really looking forward to that!

.Office time.

2009-05-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am feeling so much better. My terrible cough is mostly gone and I am relieved of my chest pains. I am so grateful for that. I had a great day yesterday. I went to work and then after I accompanied Christabelle to dinner with some of her friends from University. It was a great time. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant and I had my first really great meal here in Melbourne. I had a yummy cesear salad. I am posting a picture of me at my office... getting ready to eat a delicious pear and also a picture of my personal workspace. I should be posting lots of lovely pictures over the weekend because it is my first day off that I will be feeling well enough to go explore. Stay tuned. xo

Australian Currency

2009-05-27T01:53:00.000-07:00

Australian currency is so much more attractive than American money. Well at least to me. I didn't really leave the house today so I have no new pictures of trees so I thought I would write about the money. The first thing that I love about the money here is that there are many women featured. There has only been one woman pictured on American Currency and that was well over a hundred years ago. Any ways, I am posting pictures that show paper currency as well as their coins. Interesting fact, Australians do not use pennies. Everything is rounded up and down. The coins are arranged in most valuable to least- pictured is a $50, $10 and $5 bill as well as a $2 coin, $1 coin, .50cents, .20cents, .10cents and .05cents coins. The thing that was interesting to me was the fact that the $2 coin is one of the smallest yet it is worth the most. It has been a bit weird getting used to their money and it still feels a bit fake to me. It sure does not go far though. Things here are quite pricey, more so than I would have thought. So even though the exchange rate is higher, it really doesn't matter because money all spends the same. I went to the store and spent $30 on a 2 liter of water, box of granola bars, yogurt, and 2 lean cuisines. ooouch!

Also, in the corner of all of their currency is a little clear box. I think that is the neatest part of their money. I continuously put it up to my eye and stare threw. I am pretty sure my flat mates think I am a nut job! Most of you would agree :) xo

Tree of the day: Part two

2009-05-26T01:17:00.000-07:00

I left the house just briefly today to go to the store and buy some soup. I have to say that not only are Australians incredibly more environmentally conscious (there will be a blog coming soon about this) But they are also very health conscious. All of the food seems to be much better for you and there seems to be much more variety in the way of good healthy food.

Any ways, that is not the intention for this blog. Tree's are :) I found some lovely things on the way to the store and I also took a snap shot of the park that is right next to my house. It is called Donvale reserve. It looks lovely. If I am feeling better during the day tomorrow, I am going to pack my lunch and go eat it there. We will see.

Here are a few random pictures:

1. beautiful flowers on a bush, I just loved them.

2. The skyline by donvale reserve.

3. A cool tree with the sun shining threw.

4. More pretty flowers.

5. Last but not least, this amazing tree with the bark falling off. My first day here I was reading a book about Australia. This specific chapter was about understanding Australia's environment and why it is the way it is. It explains why Australia is so different and one of my favorite quotes is " The first naturalist were astonished by what they found... it truly was an upside down world, where many of the large animals hopped, where each year the trees shed their bark rather than their leaves...." I think think this picture should be right next to that paragraph in the book.

Sick girl.

2009-05-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

I was not feeling very sick when I went to work, but apparently my cough was scary enough for my co-workers to not want me around. Linda suggested that I leave about 5 minutes after I arrived. Sad. I was disappointed to go but it was for the best because now I am feeling quite terrible. I think I was pushing myself too hard. I have a fierce pain in my chest and I started taking antibiotics today. Hopefully they will kick in soon and I will be able to be invited back to work :) I am staying home tomorrow as well and I plan on watching movies all day and resting. Just like I did today. The Royal Tenenbaums is possibly the best movie ever. With out a doubt.

I got to talk to loads of family today via skype, phone and gmail chat. I think I am staying in better contact now that I am away. Which is so funny to me. It is lovely to talk to you all and keep up, I am just so thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life. xo

Tree of the Day: Part one

2009-05-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what this is called but I keep seeing it around. I love it. It thought it would it be a perfect way to start off the series.

.Monday. First real work day.

2009-05-25T01:52:00.001-07:00

I arrived to work today on time and in one piece. I should have arrived a bit early, however the public transit here is totally unpredictable and I waited for thirty minutes for a bus. I really should walk to work and I am going to make a goal to walk to or from work every day. If nothing more than to save money because the public transit here is crazy expensive ($3 each way). I only live .8 miles away from my office.

I had a nice day today. I got introductions to the office and the procedures from the lovely ladies that I work with, and I was able to sit down with Mary and talk about the projects I will be working on during the next few months. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and my mind is having a hard time concentrating, but that normally happens to me when I am getting adjusted. Casey tells me to drink some tea, he is normally right on with predicting what helps me.

It is raining something fierce outside right now. It was raining terribly hard before I left work, cleared up for about 30 minutes as I was making my way home and literally started puring the minute I walked inside my house. I normally tell Dave thanks when things work out like that, because there is no way that is just coincidence. I give Dave thanks for alot of the amazing things that happen to me. I know he is possibly responsible and continuously looking after me.

I am super tired and hope that I get better adjusted soon. I am also feeling really sick. I have a bad cough and an awful stomach ache and head ache. I anticipate that these are all symptoms of jet lag.

Keep watching this blog because I am going to start something really fun, Its going to be called the tree of the day. I LOVE all the different trees that they have here and all of the different bushes. So I decided that I am going to photograph one favorite tree every day and post it. I absolutely love trees and birds so forgive me if it is boring to you, because I cant get enough.

Well I am going to get to bed. I should sleep well, I've got my window open and the sound of the rain is very soothing.

Sunday

2009-05-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

I did not post for yesterday, primarily because I was extremely exhausted when I got home. I have been going to bed at about 6pm or 7pm local time here in Australia (which is 2am or 3am Utah time). I really need to start stretching it to 8pm or 9pm, so that I don't wake up at 4am wondering why it is not light outside. Yesterday I went down to the convention with Christabelle again. It was so nice to drive down town two days in a row and see the city. I was able to get a better grip of the city, and I am almost sure which way is North now. The two pictures I am posting are from right in front of the convention center. The trolley cart is amazing because it is not your average trolley. It is a restaurant inside the trolley cart!!!! I am going to make Casey go and eat inside it when he arrives into town, just so we can patrol the city while fine dining. The second picture is just of me and the city.

Soy Sauce

2009-05-23T01:11:00.000-07:00

You know how it sucks when you get soy sauce packets and you rip the corner open and it all leaks. Well I once heard a comedy sketch about it and how we Americans are too dumb to find a more proper way to store out individual packets of soy sauce. Well good thing the Australians are way smarter :) Here is a little soy sauce container that I found so entertaining. Hey, I didn't say this blog would be incredibly intelligent, however, you just might find it entertaining.

First day at work.

2009-05-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

Well Kind of.... today was the first day of the Liberal Party of Victoria's state convention. I didn't really have to work, but I am very happy I went. It was boring, as most political conventions are. However it was so nice to go with Christabelle and get to know people here in Melbourne. Christabelle is in charge of Mary's policy and has worked for Mary since she was elected. Mary is the Member of Parliament that I am working for. Christabelle is so very sweet. She took me around all day and even gave me a ride to Target so that I could buy a few things that I did not have. I am really looking forward to spending more time with her.

I am going to go to the convention tomorrow as well and Mary will be speaking. That should be a good time.

I took a walk this evening around my neighborhood and wow, Melbourne is so Beautiful. There are loads of Magpies and Gumtrees all around which I find so magnificent. Its a bit lonely right now but the last few days have already flown by so I am assuming the feeling will wear off. I am totally looking forward to Casey coming out. He is going to absolutely love it here. Everything in life is better when Casey is around.

I took a few pictures today but not as many as I intended. We were mostly driving and in the convention hall, which neither are adequate for picture taking.

I have really lost my appetite for both food and sleep. I am not sure what that's about, but I sure hope that it comes back. I am assuming that it comes along with travel and when my internal clock its adjusted I bet I will get it back.

Spiders.... ewwww... I have not seen any yet, knock on wood, but the woman I am living with says that there are no big ones in the house, just deadly ones. Um, excuse me? Did you say deadly? sure enough. Now, all I can feel is little tiny legs crawling over my body all of the time. great. Thank God for Ambian.

Very random and there will be more to follow tomorrow.

I love you all. I miss you all.

2009-05-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

What I am missing right now, Ole. I miss his sloppy kisses that always made me want to come home. I miss his puppy dog eyes and his happy yelp at the door when ever he saw me. I hope dogs are not smart enough to know distance in time or else that poor little gut is going to think that I have abandoned him.

Sooooo Tired

2009-05-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

Well I arrived in Melboure at 10am (local time)( 16 hours aheaD Of SLC). I got all of my luggage back to my new apartement and I am already unpacked. I am so tired. I have been awake for almost 44 hours, of course with a little bit of shut eye on the plane, but I assure you, not much. I have heard the best thing to do is to stay awake as long as possible so that one can go to bed at the regular time. I have watched the sun set, and rise and set agian. It is currently six pm here in Melbourne. I will be going to bed at eight. Oh sleep, how I have missed you so. I am going to take a shower and then head to bed. I start work tomorrow, even though it is Saturday. I guess there is some sort of convention down town and my boss offered so I accepted. I will take lots of pictures and repost tomorrow.

Well Im Packing It Up

2009-05-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am packing right now. Getting ready to leave. Stay tuned I hear Australia is awesome.