Joan's Blog

christmas time is here again

2011-12-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

well fall 2011 is finished, and i did pretty well on finals. i now have a break until august... so far i have been doing a lot of reading and embroidery. i am looking forward to having some down time, but am nervous to hear back from schools. i have to wait until march to hear back from the programs i applied to. i hope to get into UT austin, but i know that it is a competitive program. however, i can honestly say there is nothing i could have done to make my application any stronger.
i am looking forward to going home next week, it will be nice to have some cold weather. after christmas i will be heading to idaho falls to spend new years with richard and jimmy. REALLY looking forward to that.
conor and daralee had a whirl wind trip to austin a few days ago. it was wonderful to see them. i have been a little down lately because so many of my close friends have moved out of austin the last six months. it was great to see some old friends, even if it was only for a short time.
well there is a quick update! thanks for stopping by.

daralee and conor.

joan and conor

unfinished brain embroidery.

finished brain embroidery.

unfinished middle ear embroidery.

finished middle ear embroidery. (thank you gift to my teachers for writing my letters of recommendation).

two year austiniversary

2011-09-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

hard to believe i have been in texas for two years now!
really learning to love it here.

texas fires

2011-09-07T03:40:00.000-07:00

thanks everyone for the concerned texts/emails, but lucky for me i haven't been involved in the fires. they are, however, a little too close for comfort. here are a few resources if you want to see what is going on down here in the lone star state.

this is a real time map, if you click on the flames it allows you to see how large each fire is and the % contained.

this map shows the smoke range of each fire.

if you want to donate your time or physical/financial donations this is a composite of websites where you can do so.

this video illustrates how quickly the fires can spread.

also here is a google image search for pictures.

summer daze

2011-08-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

school is back in session for the fall, and i didn't update my blog once this summer! time has flown! i am excited for this semester, not only am i in classes that seems like they will be very interesting but i only have classes two days a week. i go from 8-5 on tues and thurs, but this means i can work mwf and have the weekends off if i like. trying to decide if i will stay on-call with mom's best friend or if i will attempt waitressing again.

the summer was good, spent about a month in kentucky observing at a few facilities in lexington. i observed at st joseph's east hospital (with wonderful aubrie), cardinal rehabilitation hospital and the commission for children with special needs. it was wonderful to get some hands on experience and spend a little extra time with my family. speaking of family, tommy and amy gave birth to lincoln thomas quisenberry on july 9th! a new baby cousin! they seem to be doing well, only had a little correspondence via texts and emailed pictures.

after leaving kentucky i went to colorado for the 4th of july, you can't beat the wonderful view from cheyenne mountain. it was nice to be in cooler weather for a bit as well. drove back down to austin with my mother and she spent a long weekend with me. we did a lot of running around (even visited the alamo drafthouse twice!).

summer school went well; took statistics and audiology. i enjoyed audiology much more than i thought i would and have decided to switch from a speech pathology masters to audiology doctorate. this means i will have a few more years of school, but hopefully it will offer more job opportunities and a higher salary.

austin is great, but the town is feeling empty. tsouni moved back to london, gwynne and cameron moved to denver, and my friend leigha moved back to boston. seems a lot of people are pursuing options outside of texas. however, i do still have some great friends here, and now i have people to stay with in other cities! with the weather acting the way it has i can't blame them for leaving. we have had 70+ days of over 100 degrees, supposed to be 110 tomorrow. fortunately one can always go swimming at barton springs.

my birthday is tomorrow (can't believe it has been a fully year!). i am going thrift shopping with jenn in the morning, having a massage in the afternoon and finishing up the day at a breast cancer benefit. should be a great day!

april

2011-05-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

april was a good month, spent a lot of time on school (now i am working on my blog instead of studying...). i am looking forward to some time off from school, but will be going to summer school in a few weeks. at this rate i will be finished with the leveling program at the end of the fall, that means i can start working as a speech therapy assistant while applying to grad schools. OR i can make a new career decision and do something completely different... either way i will finish my second degree.

tsouni's birthday was this month, her mom came in from england for a visit. on her actual birthday we went to karaoke at the high ball (always a good time), then had a quick dinner at whole foods and some pool.

xanadu room at the high ball.

cat cake i made for tsouni.

trish and tsouni playing pool at the grand.

new shirt from blue velvet.

this summer i am planning an extended trip to kentucky. tommy and amy are expecting a little baby boy in august, so i need to get in and out before summer school. :P they are getting married this weekend in lexington (congratulations!).

on a separate note i watched a wonderful documentary the other day called hear and now. it follows a 65 year old couple as they get cochlear implants, and was filmed by their daughter. check it out if you have time.

east side boil

2011-05-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

for the last ten years my roommate (jeff) and landlord (daniel) have been throwing a crawfish boil. it started out as a group of friends and has grown into a huge event. they throw a huge party, but also raise money for the east side community center. this year daniel raised about $15,000 and 600 people attended. i didn't eat any of the crawfish but had a good time anyway!

truck from louisiana, the trailer truck combo was as long as the house. the trailer had three separate cookers for the event.

boatloads of corn (didn't actually get through all of it).

crowd at the start of the day.

people eating.

crowd towards the end of the day.

annie ray took pictures. here i am with some of my speech therapy friends.

roy enjoying the leftover boxes.

luckily daniel had interns pick up most of the yard! it is all back to normal, possibly even better than before.

hot water bottles

2011-05-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

i never posted pictures of my christmas craft project! i made hot water bottle covers for my family, then i embroidered their names on the front.

developed my own pattern.

pinned product.

finished cover.

embroidered for mom.

winter.

2011-03-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

here is a quick snapshot of my life the last 5 months...

November:
spent thanksgiving in houston with mary catherine and brad.

December:
went home for christmas and new years.

view from the rent's place.

spent most of my time next to the fire.

christmas tree.

January:
spent most of my time working at frank and started back to school as a leveling student for speech therapy.

February:
work and school.

March:
lots of people were in town for sxsw. minna came over with some friends from australia, and a whole slew of people came from colorado. didn't go to as many shows as i would have liked since i was working so much, but did get to see shannon and the clams at cheer up charlie's!

April:
april is just around the corner. i have left my job at frank in order to focus on school, going back to nannying i think. makes it easier to juggle school and work when i can make my own schedule. austin is warming up nicely and i am looking forward to summer.

here are some pictures on my flickr. sorry to have such a short generic posting, but so much time has passed since my last one that i just needed to get one up. i was called out by a few people for my lack of posts... school is going well, keeping me very busy. it is nice to some intellectual stimulation and my program is full of wonderful people. once i finish this second degree i hope to get into grad school, i figure if i apply to enough places somewhere has got to take me. :P

recent crafts.

2010-11-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

i made a scarf for jimmy, similar to this one.

long scarf.

hidden pocket.

this is for michael and larisa's baby anna.

had a fun time drawing up a mini-calendar for maria. figured it will be nice to have in africa when she leaves for her assignment.

seasonal fruits and veg of texas.

seasonal fruits and veg of texas.

currently working on some things for christmas presents.

grandpa turned 90.

2010-11-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

went to kentucky last weekend for a wonderful weekend with the family. grandpa turned 90 and trudy and phil were nice enough to host all the family at forest retreat for the weekend.

i was horrible and didn't take many pictures with my camera, however i have poached a lot from jimmy and tommy.

the weekend started with a trip to keeneland, always a wonderful place to go. we placed bets, but to my knowledge no one won anything.

walking around the show area.

coming around the last corner.

after the races we headed out to the farm. that friday night we had a family dinner, then on saturday trudy hosted a large bbq for family/friends. lots of eating and socializing. jennifer even saddled up the horses so we could go for a ride! i went through and picked out some random pictures to post.

drove out in the porsche.

we started the day with some horse riding. helen and doc.

jimmy, doc, maria g

daddio just watched.

even james got on a horse!

petting dijon.

hanging with baby james.

chuckles, daddio, ro, mom, me, helen

mah bro and sis.

marge and the birthday boy.

all the family.

when trudy asked grandpa what he wanted for his birthday his response was 'fireworks'.

grandpa gets what grandpa wants.

maria g and me.

maria w and baby james.

after fireworks helen and jimmy decided to carve pumpkins. helen made a cat.

helen, jimmy, pumpkins.

finished products.

me and my maria.

fantastic mr and mrs fox

that sunday was halloween, jimmy took pictures (i didn't...) so i will have to filch those sooner or later and post a few on here.

thanks so much to trudy and phil for hosting such a wonderful weekend. also thanks to everyone who came to the bbq. grandpa had a wonderful time, i don't think i have ever seen him smile so much. time to start planning the big 1-0-0...

thursday. craft day.

2010-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

had an unbelievably successful craft day yesterday! started out with some sewing lessons on my new machine with anna's friend michaela. she was very patient going through all the settings with me and showed me the difference between all the feet etc. she has a bernina, i have a singer. they are different from each other (her's is electric, mine manual), but we were able to figure it all out. unfortunately i can't put of pictures of what we made because it is a present for someone who checks my blog regularly.

did some watercolor painting when i got home, however this too is a gift and so i will have to put up pictures once it has been given.

fall is in the air

2010-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

and by fall (in texas) i mean the high is usually somewhere in the low-mid 80s. however, after some of those 104 degree days it is great to open up the windows and let some fresh air into my room. things have been interesting the last few months, seems like every time i turn around someone i know was getting into an accident or i was breaking something. all i am going to say about this stuff is please be sure to wear your helmets and seat belts, simple things like that can make all the difference. be careful out there.

since last writing in my blog i was lucky enough to go on two trips and have moved house. the first trip was to new york city, got to visit with so many friends! megan was there visiting laura, stayed jenny in park slope, and hung out with pat. did a lot of eating! A LOT of eating. besides seeing all the people the best part of the trip was the boat ride i went on with jenny. her cousin works for a company that does water tours around Manhattan island, we had free drinks and food while taking in all the sites.
here are a few pics of people, more can be found on my flickr site.

laura, megan, jenny.

sushi with pat and jenny.

laura's office at PS 1... megan being a creeeeeepppperrrrr.

when i got back to austin i took on a lot of nanny jobs and then was able to go to england for my great aunt mary's 90th birthday party. i couldn't afford the ticket so trudy and phil were wonderful and bought me one with their air miles. wouldn't have been able to go if it weren't for them. thanks!

the night before leaving i had a little get together at the dog and duck for my birthday. it was great to see everyone before heading out. tsouni and anthony gave me this great mug.

i flew into lexington the day before and drove to owensboro to pick up grandpa, hadn't been back to owensboro in about three years. funny how a place can feel so different yet look exactly the same. after a quick afternoon tea with kay wimsatt grandpa and i headed back to lexington. we flew to london on my birthday (even got drinks in the delta sky lounge during the lay over!).

grandpa in the sky lounge.

while i was on the plane maria was completing an iron man. go maria! best birthday present ever.

we spent a few days in the city then wen to porlock to stay at the anchor inn. porlock is beautiful, so nice to visit especially since i hadn't been there in about twelve years.

porlock.

porlock.

had a great time with stephen and alex in bristol. it is such a same that i only get to see them about once a year, two of my all time favorite people. i always know where i stand with them, and i always know i have a place with them. it was exciting getting everything together for the party (which was a huge success).

video of sasha.

here is one of the family.

after the party i spent a little time floating around visiting with family in wiltshire and bristol. met up with tsouni's parents in cheddar and had dinner at their house one evening. i think trish and andy really hit it off with my parents, hopefully they will all be able to meet up soon.

ended the trip with david in london, which is always a good way to end a trip. david is always so hospitable and wonderful (not just saying that since i know you will be reading it... it is true!). spent that friday night at graham's 90th birthday. started my week with a 90th bday and ended my week with a 90th. not many people i know have done that! last 90th of the year will be at the end of october with grandpa in kentucky.

on my final night we went to see sophie perform in her new group birrddy chick-chick perform. she always puts on a good show!

birrddy chick-chick

the trip back to austin was uneventful, watched a lot of movies on the plane. moved to my new place the weekend after i got back. i am now living on the east side, i share a house with two guys and one cat. scott and jeff have pretty different schedules to me so we are never really all home at the same time. it is nice to live in a house again. i have my own bathroom, which is always a plus, only ever had my own bathroom once before. here are some pictures of the new place.

this is roy. girl cat with a boy name.

the living room. tv! with cable!

kitchen and dining area.

big fan of the stair railing.

the front of the house.

my room (feels a lot less cluttered than it looks)
trying to decide what to do about all my paintings, don't want to put holes in the walls if i don't have to.

my room.

bed with drawers.

backyard.

austin city limits was this last weekend. brian came in, but i came down with a weird strain of strep throat. spent fri night throwing up and sat/sun with a fever of 102. on antibiotics now and feeling much better, but only got to visit with him for a day. maybe i will get to see him over christmas. had a good time at highball karaoke before getting sick!

sean, luke, brian, shannon, clint.

spent the last few days getting better and it is back to work tomorrow. hopefully will be meeting up for a sewing lesson this afternoon and will have things to post in the next few days.will plug the flickr site again if you would like to see more pictures.

i think this has covered most everything from the last few months. hope you are all well and will update again soon.

life intermission

2010-07-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

i feel like i say this every time i update my blog, but it really has been a long time since the last time i updated this thing! life has been pretty routine since may, nothing too excited has happened in austin.

in mid june i went to amber's wedding in kentucky at good ol' days farm in midway. it was nice to see kim and amber, the wedding was outside so it was a bit hot but all around lovely. nice picturesque setting on the lake with a romantic barn shelter.

my trip to colorado springs for ten days was great! it was wonderful to see my family and visit colorado for the first time in ten months. the weather was exceptional as well, no humidity. charles, maria and james came out for about a week too. we spent the 4th on my parent's porch watching the broadmoor's fireworks and grilling dinner. the saturday of my visit i went to titwrench in denver with conor, courtney and katherine. saw a wonderful singer songwriter (who lives in austin) named amy annelle. attending kickball for just a minute before i had to head back to colorado springs and visited with alexi and jimmy for lunch.

back in austin for the time being. filling out applications for all sorts of things and trying to decide what my next step will be. going to new york city to visit pat and jenny in about three weeks. megan will also be in from australia, haven't seen her in a year and a half!

it will be a reunion of epic proportion.

might be going to england at the end of august as well for aunt mary's 90th birthday, i am a very lucky girl with a wonderful family.

now a quick shout out to tsouni. here she is with her new camera!

caleb james

2010-05-16T02:11:00.000-07:00

my friend jimmy went to thailand to cover the protests, some of his videos were even posted on CNN! i am very proud of him; he was very brave to go over there and i think he did a wonderful job with his reporting.

Caleb James
~World's Best Reporter

yoda

2010-05-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

i nanny for a lovely family here in austin. the older son is gaga for star wars. he has star wars books, movie and DS games. we worked on this yoda embroidery project together.

james traced yoda from his book.

we then used transfer paper to get the image onto his t-shirt.

head and hands.

finished shirt.

new embroidery crafts!

2010-05-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

just a few pics of some of the stuff i have made recently.

some cards are not pictured below (accidentally sealed the envelopes before taking pictures...)

cards for all the bayston family!

baby present for bex at c3

birthday present for tsouni.

we meet again blog

2010-04-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

things have settled in down here in austin. since the last few blogs a lot has happened. i finished sewing the quilt.

my newest craft project has been embroidery. over christmas i bought a nice instruction book from sublime stitching. made these cards last week.

card in progress.

the finished project (minus the custom initials. don't want to give away who i sent it to before they get it!). i will tell you it is going out west.

this card will be sent overseas.

this card was sent to the west coast

sxsw 2010 occurred.
a lot of people came in from out of town; jenny b and katherine p stayed at my place.

there were about 10 people from colorado who came down in one van.

i was lucky enough to be able to meet up with ricardo after not seeing him for two years! couldn't believe it had been that long.

by the end of the week i think jenny and i saw somewhere around 30 bands in four days. not a bad turn around! including the melbourne based band the crayon fields.

another highlight band was the morning benders, saw them twice.

the week ended with a huge bbq in honor of jenny, chris, and amos's birthdays. started at 4:30 in the afternoon and continued through the night until 2 am. here is a group shot! hard to believe you can have so many people wonderful people in one place.

amos was recording in the studio so he was running a bit late, which meant he wasn't there to blow out the candles. jenny and chris were sad.

jenny ate amos's name and amos ate jenny's nns.

a band from philadelphia called the hermit thrushes showed up around midnight. here is a picture of me and andrew doing a high five handshake.

jenny was more responsible than i was and took a lot of pictures/videos during sx. once she puts them up online i will re-post some of them here!

work has been going well. still working as a temp at the agency, but thanks to marc and anna i have also started working a few hours a week as a receptionist at c3. this is still a new adjustment, i will have more to share after working there a bit longer. i am in charge of four phone lines, it is a bit intimidating, but i think i am handling it alright so far.

craft day with shannon.

2010-02-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

shannon and i decided to make this box. here are some pictures of our project!

painting the wood.

boxes for the back of the painting.

another view of the boxes.

shannon nailed in the wrong spot.

working hard? or hardly working?

shannon's finished box. mulan.

inside of my box.

my finished box. hilary.

gorilla glue and paint will stain your hands.

we could have been sisters.

craft update!

2010-02-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

i started the quilt. it is taking a long time, but i have finally made some progress.

8 hours with a rotary cutter...

laid out the pattern.

only 11 more rows to go!

crafts

2009-12-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

I have decided I need more crafts in my life. I have been trying to learn how to use my grandmother's sewing machine, but have encountered some problems. I think I need some professional help, until I can afford the expensive sewing classes I have decided I will try to lean how to embroider. I bought this book by Austin local Jenny Hart from Domy (neato local bookshop). I am also going to make this quilt (well a slight variation, as I will only be using various shades of green). Purl Bee is a great site and has so many creative ideas.

i got my texas driver's license...

2009-12-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

... i guess that means the move is official!

things in austin have been super so far. i am a super nanny with a nanny agency called mom's best friend, which basically means i passed the background check and participated in two training sessions. things are a bit slow at the moment, but hopefully it will all pick up in the next few weeks. the house is coming together (we still need to get a coffee table). i really like my room, probably one of the best i have had in awhile. i would post a picture, but i seem to have lost my camera in the move. i will have to hunt it down this weekend.

i have met a few people since moving down here, but that will pick up in january as i will be going back to school. i was accepted as a non-degree seeking student which means i will be going back for a post-bac in speech pathology. hopefully i will do well enough to get into the graduate program in about a year and a half. this means i will probably be settled here in austin for about 4 or 5 years, which will be a good thing.

went to a monster exhibit at domy books with shannon and stewart yesterday. while talking to the guy who worked there i found out that jenny hart will be putting on a show in the spring. very exciting stuff!

this is just a short update for those of you who still check the blog regularly. i need to get back into the habit of updating it on a regular basis.

halloween

2009-11-01T07:54:00.001-08:00

halloween in austin was a good time! sarah had to work later than she thought... a lot later, so by the time she came home and we got dressed it was almost 11. we went to a house party her friends told us about.

zombie girl scout and rag doll from HELL!!!!!

sarah with luke (who didnt dress up at all...)

can i have some flesh cookies please?

luke let me drive his 1957 dodge! i have to get one of these.

this is where i live now.

2009-10-28T13:46:00.001-07:00

i officially live in austin the city! we found a place right next to shoal creek and it is super super central. time to make up for all that time commuting from lakeway.

my room. it now has a bed and should be getting a desk in the next week or so.

view from the balcony.

kitchen. soooo many cabinets.

living room area.

dining room/stairs.

i like the blue detail tiles.

my street!

we are the one on the left.

communal sitting area out the back.

sorry it has taken so long to get pictures up. things have been pretty hectic around here, and without a regular source of internet i slacked off quite a bit. we will have internet installed on friday so i hope to post more regularly.

chicago was a great trip (ages ago...). it was so nice to visit with conor for a few days. he seems to really like his life there. here are some links for things i did. it was so long ago i dont remember everything, and i cant seem to find my journal records.

chickpea
art institute of chicago
surgery museum (free on tues)
graceland cemetery

this could be why i dont have a job...

2009-10-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

... i spend all my time making these.

austin

2009-09-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

finally made it to austin! it was an exciting drive with grandpa, we did the whole thing in one go. he was a good travel partner, however i did have to repeat myself.... a lot.

the condo is great! here are a few pictures sarah sent me before i arrived (i cant seem to find my camera, im sure it is in here somewhere).

stairs. sarah is upstairs and i am downstairs.

living room.

kitchen.

courtyard.

upstairs balcony.

the place is huge so come visit everyone!

ill post a summary of the chicago trip within the next few days.

vacation weekend

2009-09-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

im super excited to head to chicago tomorrow. it will be good to see conor, jenny comes in on wed as well! then finally tyler and i will hang out on fri night.
soooo... for those of you not going out of town this holiday weekend, have a mini vacation with your computer. i found this site a few years ago, but rediscovered it earlier today when going through my old bookmarks.
enjoy the holiday everyone!

extraordinarily lucky

2009-08-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

man oh man pickathon was great! ill get some pictures up soon, ill also write a more extensive description.

this post is to point out how lucky i am. i have been able to visit so many places in the last six months, which means i have been able to visit with almost every single influential person in my life (this includes present influences as well as previously influential). thanks so much to everyone who has let me stay with them, met up for coffee, met up for dinner and everything in between. i dont know how i do it, but i really do seem to meet the best people in the world.

thanks everyone for reminding me how important it is to stay in touch with the people you care about.

bird video

2009-07-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

oh yeah! lindsay loved this video.

new mexico

2009-07-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

this last week i was lucky enough to get down to new mexico to visit lindsay. she moved there a few months ago and is in a small town called placitas. it is about five and a half hours south of colorado springs, right off of i-25. the drive was pretty uneventful (which is what you hope for during such a long drive!) and the scenery was much greener then i was anticipating.
lindsay and john's house is amazing; it is adobe and located in a small subdivision. most of the houses in the area are empty, so they don't really have any neighbors. the whole thing kind of reminded me of arrested development.
after john got home we watched the tour de france, then lindsay and i went for a walk. it was amazing to see all the different bugs and lizards. at one point we saw what we thought was a little animal skull, turned out to be a rotten avocado pit. i guess our imaginations got the best of us! after the walk we watched little miss sunshine and made some pizzas.

7.10.2009
lindsay and i decided to go to santa fe for the day. i was interested in seeing the georgia o'keeffe museum and my friend pam suggested we check out SITE santa fe. the artists showing at the moment are klara kristalova, ruben ochoa, and brent green. out of the three i have say i liked kristalova the best, but the green videos were also pretty interesting. after the museum we walked and visited some art galleries in the area. we found a shop called the spanish table and i bought some chorizo for john (he is originally from spain). we bought some frozen yogurt and tried to find our way to ghost ranch. we found ghost ranch in santa fe, however it was just a convention center and not the ranch that inspired o'keeffe. turns out that ghost ranch is about 60 miles outside of santa fe.
we walked down to the georgia o'keeffe museum, which has free entry after 5 pm on fridays. we drove back to placitas and went to the flying star cafe for dinner. since it was friday night they had live music; the combo of company, music, and the outside patio made it a perfect evening.
we popped into under charlie's covers to check out some fine used books before finally heading home.
we watched ratatouille and went to bed.

7.11.2009
lindsay had a dance class so i hung around the house writing letters while she went off to do her thing. she got back to the house and we drove into albuquerque to visit old town. its a neat area, but super touristy. the main purpose of our trip into town was to stop into the rattlesnake museum. i'm not going to lie, it was super rad. i would suggest going there if you visit albuquerque, it was only 5 bucks to get in. i had no idea there were so many different kinds of rattlesnakes. after the museum we walked around for awhile, then headed back to her house.
we sat on the porch for a long time talking and watched little bunnies run around her yard (her rock yard). john suggested that we go to the sandia casino for dinner and a taste of placitas culture. it was a great dinner and the view from the top of the casino was amazing.

7.12.2009
lindsay and i decided to make the drive to the other ghost ranch, where o'keeffe actually lived. on our way there we stopped into a flea market where lindsay found a genuine steer skull. she bought it for the house to add some new mexico flair to their living room.
the scenery was amazing; all of the reds, yellows and oranges really make for an interesting sight. when we got to ghost ranch we were surprised at how little there was there. the scenery was amazing, but the whole place had the feel of some kind of rehab facility. we walked around for a bit then decided our time would be better spent going across the highway to abiquiu lake. however, while at ghost ranch we did meet a 41 year old horse named lady bug.
we hit up the lake and put our feet in the cold water. there were a ton of people there, most of them were riding around on jet skis.
lindsay had to be home by 6 for a conference call with her comic book guild, so we headed back to her house. john grilled a lot of veggies and made a delicious veggie casserole. he is a wonderful cook and we ate on the back porch. they really are a great match.
after eating we watched borat (i had never seen it before) and i was in bed by about ten. i had to get up at about 5:30 the next morning to drive down to texas.

now i am in houston visiting with my aunt carolyn and uncle david. ill be heading to austin on friday to see shannon and clint, then it is back to colorado. after being home for a few days ill be driving to portland with kim for the pickathon music festival. ill post more once i cover some more miles!

pickathon 2009

2009-06-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

hello all!
i will be volunteering at this year's pickathon music festival in portland. im going to be driving the beetle out there, so if anyone wants to tag along let me know. i have three extra seats at the moment.
tooooooodles!
joan

san francisco. my kind of place.

2009-06-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

my trip to san francisco was wonderful! brian and colin joined me for the first few days, then i was able to spend a lot of time with emma.

5/26/2009
-woke up pretty early so i could pack for the trip (i have a bad habit of waiting until the last minute to pack; however, i am getting pretty good at it and was able to keep my baggage down to my backpack).
-helen was heading up to cheley so she dropped me off at the airport on her way.
-the first plane was uneventful. the second plane i was upgraded to first class!
-brian and colin were running late due to weather. since i wasnt listed on the hotel reservations
and it was prepaid i wasnt allowed to check into the room until brian got there. so i left my bag with reception and walked around until about ten when they finally got in.
-we walked around union square area for a little while then stopped into a thai restaurant for dinner.

5/27/2009
-since the boys were used to being on eastern time and we were in the western time zone we all woke up about 8 am. we adventured next door to the taylor street coffee shop for some grub.
-we then made our way toward fisherman's wharf, which was on the other side of hills like this one. the hills were so steep they actually had steps cut into them. great for the buttocks.
-our first stop at fisherman's wharf was the musee mecanique, which has all kinds of antique arcade machines. i took some videos.

-after continuing to walk down the pier we decided to take a little boat ride around the bay. the tour was pretty good, our boat was full of french tourists. we were given personal headsets to listen to some history about the bay. it was amazing how much colder it was out on the water! the bay is a beautiful place anyway.
-once the boat trip finished we stopped in boudin's for some soup. then we walked up to ghiradeli square. we found a neat art gallery called dennis rae. amberlee rosolowich is one of my new favorite artists.
-after some consideration we decided to buy a city pass since it included most of the museums we were interested in visiting, as well as unlimited bus/cable car rides. if you are going to san francisco, this is a real deal.
-we caught the cable car back to our hotel (brian rode on the side in the front of the car!!!).
-emma came round for dinner. we walked up hills (both ways!!) to north beach and ate at a restuarant called the stinking rose. apparently it is a bit touristy, but it was pretty tasty. garlic ice cream is actually better than you would think.

5/28/2009
-woke up around 9 then headed out for coffee at a little cafe.
-colin figured out the bus system and we headed out for the academy of sciences. this is one amazing museum. they have an aquarium, platetarium, living roof, and all kinds of neato stuff.
-after exploring for a few hours we stopped in for some dim sum. pretty much everything was super meaty so i ate too many seasame seed balls... puke-o-rama.
-stopped into the hotel for some R&R and ate dinner at mel's drive in.
-i was so tired when we got back i fell asleep in my clothes.

5/29/2009
-had breakfast at our usual place then headed out to the exploratorium. my favorite station had these hot and cold coils twisted together, when you placed your hands on the coils it sent conflicting information to your brain (is this hot? is this cold?). it would read your experience as pain, however it wasnt actually painful.
-we walked all the way through the marina district and ended up back in fisherman's wharf. i love being able to just walk and be able to figure out how different neighborhoods connect.
-had some dinner and headed back to the hotel. i played amateur surgeon on brian's iphone, im so addicted.

5/30/2009
-brian and colin's last day!
-went to the museum of modern art for a few hours before heading down to the mission district to meet up with my cousin's friend anhoni. she works for sf station, a cultural guide to san francisco.
-stopped into mission pie for a slice, then we headed towards valencia street. we stopped in all kinds of boutiques. they sold everything from stationary to taxidermy mice. we also walked down some of the mural alleys.
-headed back to the hotel to pick our bags since we were checking out. we had dinner in the restaurant downstairs, then the boys headed to the airport and i headed to emma's.
-emma's house was having this massive party. her housemate does painting in the backyard and decided to have a mini-art gallery opening in their house. he set up a big board out the back and they spray painted designs.

finished picture

back of emma's house

went to bed about 3 am. pretty rad party, everyone was incredibly friendly.

5/31/2009
-woke up about ten and listened to the lucksmiths until emma and oliver got up. we made our way down mission street to a little mexican grocery where we bought wonderful fruit and things to make croissantwiches.
-after eating oliver had to go pick up his bike. emma's friends emma and matt stopped by for some socializing. we were going to go play kickball, but it was canceled last minute.
-we sat around talking for a few hours then started to make our way to oliver's house in oakland. matt and bonnie were driving so i squeezed into the truck with them. emma took the bart.
-oliver's house is amazing. all the rooms have lofted beds, which isnt that bad considering the ceilings are unbelievably tall. the back yard is a monster yard! emma will be moving there so she plans to make it into a nice garden. also during the summer bonnie and matt will be living in a tent in the backyard. it will be a great place over the summer.
-we cooked dinner. we had black eyed peas, cooked greens, corn bread and key lime pie.
-stayed on the couch. i had a weird dream about melbourne.

6/1/2009
-woke up and showered. sat with emma for some one on one time. it was wonderful to see her! seemed like we had just hung out last week. i think it will always be that way with her.
-before heading back to san francisco emma had to check on her bees. YES BEES! they were amazing, such calm creatures. i was only wearing my normal clothes and didnt get stung.

-we caught the bart back into the city. san francisco seems like it has qualities from all the places i have lived, im 90% sure i will be moving there once i figure out logistics.
-we hit up the mission for some burritos and sat in dolores park for a while. talking talking talking.
-emma needed to do some research so we went to a coffee shop. i wrote postcards while she worked on her computer. emma number 2 came down and joined us for a walk back to emma's house.
-we stayed in and watched netflix movies while drinking wine.

6/2/2009
-headed to get bagel sandwiches in the mission. emma needed to do a lot more research so i hit the city on my own.
-i caught a bus to the presidio. this area is amazing because you go from being in residential areas to a forest just by crossing the street! while walking through i didnt see a single person until i got to the national cemetery. i then found my way to the pet cemetery (katherine told me about it!).

-i continued along until i reached crissy field. i walked around the exploritorium again. then i heard from emma and we were going to meet up at the conservatory of flowers (most museums are free the first tues of the month. good thing to know). then i looked in my guide book and realized it closed at 4:30, it was 4:20. we met up in haight and ashbury instead. we did some window shopping, i eventually broke down and bought some cute clothes for my nephew.
-andrew was going to meet us at casanova around 7:30 for drinks. i had never met andrew before, he used to work for radio 1190 and is one of the best tour guides in all of san francisco. he has been living there for about eight years and from what i could tell knew everyone in the mission. we had some thai food then got ice cream from bi-rite creamery. they are known for mixing weird flavors like salt/caramel or balsamic/strawberry. emma had to head home after ice cream so andrew and i went to a bar for some more talking.
-he walked me back to emma's and i went to bed.

6/3/2009
-emma and i did a whole lot of nothing. we cooked some coconut rice with mango and had fruit salad. her friend tara came over for a visit. tara is wonderful, we got along so well.
-emma was helping her friend tovy (tovi?) put on an event called risky business old surfers of the second wave. i am pretty sure this is the exact event, i didnt keep up with my journal the last few days. since emma was volunteering i went out to dinner with tara and her friends. after watermelon margaritas and smores nachos tara and i went to a bar near emma's to wait for her. went home and went to bed.
-it was my last full day!

6/4/2009
-woke up and packed all my stuff back up. enjoyed a coffee with emma and caught the bart to the airport. it took a little bit longer than i thought it would to get there, i almost missed my flight. however i was extremely lucky and the plane had been delayed, by the time i got through security the plane was just pulling up to the gate. it was a direct flight from san francisco to denver.
-my dad picked me up and we drove back to the springs.

i am now located in colorado springs until i figure out my next step. if anyone knows of any part time jobs etc please let me know! i am not sure where i will be moving (denver and san francisco are my two top choices), and i am open to just about anything. for the meantime i will be buying a bike and taking up hobbies. suggestions welcome.

san francisco update

2009-05-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

fortunately there was a lot of interest in my road trip to san francisco, unfortunately no one could actually commit due to grown up responsibilities. therefore i am flying to san francisco on tues may 26th and will be there until june 4th. luckily brian has a few days off so he and colin are going to fly out from kentucky for a few days! super exciting.

hopefully this trip will give me a better idea of where i want to end up!

adventures with sally ball

2009-05-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

sally and i went to copenhagen and malmo sweden.

day 1 4/29/2009
*got into the hostel about 6 pm. it seemed like a nice place, however upon staying there it was dirty and kind of gross.
*went to the gas station to get a drink. they have coin machines you pay with rather than giving the attendant your money. sally and i were very confused by this and when the girl started talking to us in danish we were consumed with a giggle fit. the girl working thought it was funny too.
*figured out the trains and went into the city center. walked around and watched all the super hip people. it seemed like everyone was fashionable to the max.
*stopped into sam's bar for some cheap chinese food. became entranced by danish karaoke. we asked sally's friend sophie what this song was about, apparently it is about a parrot from america.

day 2 4/30/2009
*went into the city and walked around again.
*sat in the king's gardens and had coffee. then found a grocery store and bought an ice cream each.
*walked down to the water's edge and saw the opera house.
*walked back to the center of town and found a little courtyard filled with locals drinking beer. sally and i sat for a bit, then some gentlemen at the table next to us accidentally threw a cork at us. in an effort to apologize they poured their beer into our beer glasses and created a super beer.
*sat in a public square and ate pizza then headed back to the hostel.

day 3 5/1/2009
*before going to malmo this was the only thing we had seen.
*caught the train to malmo, sweden (which only took 20 min!). since we both loves trains we were a little disappointed the trip was so short.
*malmo was a quiet city, we forgot may 1st is a public holiday so a lot of places were closed.
*walked for a few hours then had some wine at a nice restaurant. bought some food from the grocery and cooked at the hostel. had ballerina cookies.

day 4 5/2/2009
*walked into the city along the malmo stad. enjoyed looking at the lake and seeing all the street.
*stopped in the lilla torg for some coffee at the rock and folk cafe. exchanged drinking stories.
* went to the design and form centre.
*found internet and tried to book our hostel in copenhagen, but we were unsuccessful. decided we would just wing it once we got back there.
*had lunch at falafel 1.
*sat in the park for a bit before going back to the hostel. once at the hostel we were hit on by a disgusting polish man, he was waaaaay too interested.

day 5 5/3/2009
*caught the train back to denmark. thought about taking the ferry, however once on the train i was glad we didnt because the water looked super rough.
*found a hostel with room but couldn't check in for a few hours. so we went and sat in a public square and had lunch.
*bought some wine from a bottle shop then went back to the hostel so jesper could pick us up for dinner.
*saw sophie and jesper's house. it was super super cute. it was part of an apartment building and had a giant courtyard out the back. they walked us down to the water, near the oprah house. we also saw the little mermaid, we were worried she was not going to be there since she is taking a trip to china soon.

day 6 5/4/2009
*jesper picked us up about 11 to go to the viking museum in roskilde. it was about an hours drive from copenhagen.
*sally and i tried on viking clothing and sat in viking ships. its amazing that they can trace their history back so far!
*after arriving back in copenhaged jesper took us out for open faced sandwiches and beer. we ate them in the courtyard behind his house.
*after lunch jesper dropped us off at the round tour in the city. sally and i climbed to the top then got our daily danish ice creams and headed to the hostel.
*sat and read for a bit then made our way to bobi bar. this was probably one of my favorites places in copenhagen, the atmosphere was comfortable and it was full of locals.
*had sam's chinese again then went to lades and back to the hostel.

day 7 5/5/2009
*the weather had been wonderful the whole time we were in denmark, then on the last day it was rainy and cold.
*walked down to christiania. had a danish danish! and coffee along the way.
*walked around the center of town and did a little shopping. i bought a new bag from a german company (which was good because my main bag sally was borrowing broke at the airport...). we went to marimekko and i found a wonderful little black dress. sally bought a mustard coat.
*stopped in thomas's sandwich bar for a sandwich.
*had to head straight to the airport after lunch. got back into london pretty late.

final day in england. 5/6/2009
*walked around london for a bit with sally. visited the orangery for tea, anyone who visited me in london knows this is one of my favorite things to do.
*met with david for dinner at bistro one.
*went to the commercial tavern with sally and then back to her house for bed.

vietnam- the third week

2009-05-21T08:52:00.001-07:00

long overdue and i have had trips in between... better late than never i guess!

monday february 16th
*woke up kind of early to head out on a trekking adventure through sapa.
*tom paired us with Vu, a 19 year old hmong girl (she looked about 12)
*had a mini entourage of hmong girls. there were three young girls 10-15, one 21 year old girl who was married at 14 and has tow sons aged 1 and 3.
*walked downhill for a few hours while the young girls bounced around on the rocks like mountain goats!
*the views were amazing and the weather was perfect.
*once we were to the village we were attacked by a touting mob. bought a few things from the girls who helped lead us down the mountain.
*after lunch Vu walked us through the village she grew up in. we saw her school and she told us stories about people from her village. apparently there was an albino child.
*took a van back up to the hotel and arrived back about 3. we hung around the lobby area and walked around a bit. caught a bus at 4:30 to go back to cao lao.
*got on the train, which was a beautiful business class cabin. there were bottles of water, proper blankets and air conditioning. since the person who booked our tickets messed up the dates they upgraded us for free.
*the door became jammed and we were stuck in the cabin for about 20 min. we screamed until a lady opened the door... may not have been jammed...

tuesday february 17th
*arrived in hanoi at 4:00 am.
*took a taxi back to the hotel. it was one with a speedy meter, so i had to stand up to the guy and refused to pay three times as much for the ride. we paid him about 50,000 dong (it usually costs 30,000). the guy was arguing with me but as soon as the receptionist opened the door to the hotel the taxi driver ran off.
*since it was so early our room was not ready. there was an elderly couple leaving so the receptionist gave us the key to their room so we could sit somewhere more comfortable. those people were booooze hounds. there wer three bottle of empty rum. i finished reading high fidelity and slept for about two hours.
*we had breakfast and headed to the ethnography museum abut 12:00.
*the museum was a bit further out than we had anticipated, but well worth it. it had so much information about the different tribes we saw in sapa. i think it was a good thing we went after traveling around vietnam since we were able to recognize some of the clothing etc that we had seen. out in the back there were all kinds of life sized huts.
*there was a wedding shoot going on outside. not sure it was for real or for a magazine shoot.
*went back to the hotel to write postcards. then went out for gin and tonics at a bar called mao's.

wednesday february 18th
*woke up at 4:30 am to catch a taxi to the airport.
*we were all a bit hungover from the gins... so we bought pringles and coke. breakfast of champions.
*arrived in hue and took a taxi to the hotel. since our rooms werent ready we had breakfast. then they offered to move us to another hotel (they said it was a part of the chain), which was not as nice as the hotel we had prepaid for.
*we asked another guest how much they were paying for their rooms and it turns out they were paying have as much as we had pre-paid for the other place. sandi got our passports back from the front desk and we went back to the original hotel and demanded a room.
*went walking while they got our rooms together. when we got back the rooms were ready and amazing. there were flower petals on the bed! in the bathtub! it was like a romantic holiday get away with sandi! :P
*went to the citidel for lunch. it was interesting because we were some of the only tourists so we were being watched all the time.
*we didnt have a card for the hotel so we had a hard time figuring out where to go. eventually we figured out where we were and stopped to have dinner at an italian restaurant.
*sandi and i watched a horribel thriller movie on hbo when we got back. which was a bti sad since neither of us like scarey movies!

thursday february 19th
*woke up about 7 and headed to the citidel again. bought tickets to get into the imperial citidel.
*there was a pond near the front gate full of fish. you could buy food and throw it into the water and the fish would swim all over eachother, crushing one another into the wall. it was the most disgusting thing i have ever seen.
*walked all over the gardens and through the buildings. it is a massive palace. it was very serene and calming to be there. a lot of the buildings are being restored so there was lots of work going on.
*we tried to go to the royal fine arts museum but it had been moved to the other side of town. so we trekked over to the new location, which was a royal house built in about 1917 and is currently being restored. sandi was very helpful to have along since she does similar restoration in australia.
*went to the tropical garden restaurant for dinner and saw traditional vietnamese musicians.

friday february 20th
*decided to rent bicycles and hire a boat to take us down the river so we could see the royal tombs.
*the boat we hired out was actually a family home. it was run by a husband and wife. we payed extra for lunch and stopped by the market so the wife could go in to get the food.
*they took us to the thien mu pagoda first. then we stopped on a steeeeeep bank. we had to carry our bikes up this sharp incline in order to get to the road that went to the tombs. we visited the minh mang, and tu duc tombs. unfortunately this is the only day i didnt actually write about in my journal so most of this is coming from my memory.
*it was beautiful to be on the boat going up the river. i wish that we had rented bikes earlier and had ridden around the area a bit more. to be honest i think this was probably the best day in vietnam. it was so beautiful and everything seemed so peaceful on the water and at the tombs.

saturday february 21st
*walked to the citadel from our hotel and had an 8 course imperial lunch at a touristy restaurant. it was over priced and not very good. however it was pretty cool to see the imperial cuisine.
*after lunch we had to catch a taxi in order to get to the airport for our flight to ho chi minh.
*went to blue river, it was nice to be back somewhere familiar! turns out the place was full so thuy set us up in another hotel not too far away. unlike hue we knew this was not a scam, thuy said we were her vips! she was a wonderful girl and works very hard. the place was a bit less expensive as well which was nice. also seemed to be filled with vietnamese people rather than tourist.
*i fell ill (damn overpriced imperial cuisine!) and couldnt eat the mixed noodles the girls got from a local food stall (by mixed i mean tongue, kidney, liver and who knows what else).
*watched a bit of bee movie, felt miserable and fell asleep.

sunday february 22nd
*the hotel was super quiet and since i was exhaused from being sick i slept extemely well and woke up feel like a million bucks the next day.
*moved back to the original blue river after breakfast.
*went to the ben thanh markets and went shopping crazy since it was sandi's last day.
*finally bought a copy of the quiet american (inside joke), well i didnt buy it. it was a gift from sally. it was a photocopied version so some of the words are glued into the binding...
*went to this crazy restaurant near the hotel for dinner. they had weasle, dove, pidgeon, tortise, and everything inbetween. minna and sally ordered the hot pot and the whole restaurant laughed at us while we tried to eat it.
*finished dinner then sandi had to head to the airport to head back to melbourne.
*went helmet shoping for minna.
*had massive sandi-withdrawl.
*had a beer then went back to the hotel for bed.

monday february 23rd
*massive phantom sandi attack.
*we did a bit of a quiet american tour. found dong khoi street and stopped in the continental for drinks (at 11...). we sat and talked for a few hours in the air conditioning, which was wonderful.
*took a cooking class. which really didnt have any cooking invovled, basicly we just has bowls of ingredients we had to measure out and mix together. the 'cooking school' did everything else.
*traded pictures with sally.

tuesday february 24th
*had a final breakfast at blue river.
*went to the spa and had facials.
*packed up all of our things.
*moved sally to her new hotel, he dad was going to meet her a few hours after we left.
*caught a taxi to the airport and flew back to melbourne.

my trip to vietnam was amazing, anyone who is thinking of going should go as soon as they can (it will probably get very touristy in the next few years). it was beautiful and very easy to get around. i think it is safe to say it was one of the best trips of my life. thanks so much again to minna, sally and sandi for traveling with me. if ever you get a chance to travel with any of these girls, dont pass it up.

san francisco

2009-04-26T01:14:00.000-07:00

i am planning on going to san francisco about may 26th - june 7 and i am trying to decide if i should drive or fly. is anyone interested in joining me for a road trip? please let me know!
xoxo
j

still in england

2009-04-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

ive been in england since my family left about two weeks ago. that first weekend i was lucky enough to stay with sara and andreas, however since i had the flu they were not so lucky... costas and tiffany invited me to their house for easter dinner, a bbq on the back porch. it was a great mix of people and it was great to see the two of them. they both look wonderful and are busy planning their wedding which will take place in greece next year. after that i went to bristol to stay with alex and stephen for about a week. it was nice to help alex with her errands during the day then sit down to dinner once stephen got home. most nights were spent catching up with british tv shows/count downs like this one. this was the top song, we didn't even see it coming.
unfortunately alex and stephen had to go out of town for a few days but fortunately for me sally made the trek to bristol (only two hours by train) for a weekend of fun! we went out to a gig at a place called the mother's ruin the first night, but the bands weren't very good. this meant that we drank too much, then went back home to cook up veggie sausages. all in all a fun night! since the weather was nice we did a fair bit of walking around the town and made it down to the clifton suspension bridge.
after leaving bristol i went to trowbridge for a few days with mary. i always like visiting with mary when no one else is around, she seems to be a lot less stressed. i didn't do much for those few days since it is so difficult for mary to leave the house and i didn't have a car. since the weather has been so nice we were able to spend the afternoons in the garden drinking tea, then i would go for walks and do some reading. hard to believe that when doing so little the days could go by so quickly!
i am now back in london again and staying with sally. the crayon fields played a gig at the buffalo bar the night before last so sally and i met up with them. amos met up with us a little later. it was a good night, even though the crayon fields were so were nervous!
yesterday was the anniversary of the carnation revolution. sally lives with a couple from portugal and they hosted a small dinner to celebrate (only about 9 people). since i have never met anyone from portugal it was interesting to hear them talk about their lives back home, and their memories of revolution celebrations. for most of them their parents were actually involved, hard to believe something like this happened so recently. after talking until about 1:00 i was feeling pretty shattered so i skipped off to bed.
not sure what the next few days will have in store but sally and i will be heading to coppenhaged on wed (very exciting!). ill try to be on top of things and actually take some pictures.

the oexmanns invade england- part 2

2009-04-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

im just going to get straight into the pictures!

amy on a lady bike.

tommy with james at sally lunn.

my dad has been bought out by american airlines.

gillian meets her god son's son.

charles, maria and james in front of shockerwick.

the cathedral in steeple ashton.

alex and stephen's house in bristol.

grandpa with james. helen is watching.

grandpa with alex.

group shot!

another group shot. everyone LOOK AT THE CAMERA!

dyrham park.

amy running like a deer...

handsome family.

charles with yani.

mary's house.

i like to look at amy through the window....

exactly how many people are in this photo?

we stayed near the butts. helen was really close.

mom with teapots.

where did grandpa go?

tommy and grandpa enjoying a pint before the art show.

jenevera, grandpa and graham.

grandpa and graham.

colvin telling me my duties.

michael, sasha and larissa.

group.

graham with tommy.

grandpa, jenevera and tommy.

giving the purchase prize winner his award.

kiddo awards.

children EVERYWHERE.

the prize winner in the adult competition.

michael (one of the original staff who helped grandpa start the award) and grandpa.

sahsa and michael.

sasha, michael, larissa and james.

sahsa with james.

james with grandma joan's picture.

the awards room.

kiddo pictures.

kiddo pictures.

kiddo pictures.

adult gallery.

adult pictures.

adult pictures

adult pictures.

graham, grandpa and david.

the museum gave grandpa some books.

grandpa taking in some artwork.

this is the man who started it all.

adult table at dinner.

dessert zombie.

adult table... kids table.

dad, jenevera and david.

helen and me.

action shot!

david.

that is it for the 2009 oexmann art award. thanks to everyone who participated and we will see you all again in two years!

the oexmanns invade england

2009-03-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

my family is in the midst of a much overdue reunion. we were fortunate enough to get together ten american relatives organized enough to travel to england for the oexmann art award this year. we rented a house in steeple ashton, and have spent the last week visiting family friends and relatives.
here are some pictures from the last few days (including some from the art show)

my adventure started in lexington, with a mini-reunion.
trudy, sarah, maria, charles, james, me, tommy, amy and phil had dinner at trudy's house.

charles and his girlfriend maria.

trudy made tommy a belt!

the first night in england.
daddio at michael and larrisa's house.

grandpa reading the paper, while maria helps james swim.

larissa with james and maria.

grandpa making a joke!

my second cousin sasha. he is almost two.

my mom with james in mary's kitchen.

grandpa in tesco buying bread.

everyone at lunch at the black swan in devizes.

st mary's. the church where my grandparents were married.

the vicar's wife. we had to pee so we knocked on her door, she then made tea for all ten of us. it was amazing.

charles, maria, and me.

my grandmother's grave.

this should be a good enough fix for the moment. ill be sure to upload some more pics from the award later this week!

honestly....

2009-03-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

... australia has been great, one of the best years of my life! thanks to everyone who made me feel part of the community and included me in their lives. i am looking forward to seeing you all in the near Near NEar NEAr NEAR future.

some of the best people live here in melbourne. i just hope i was able to express how wonderful you all are while i was here.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

vietnam- the second week

2009-03-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

monday february 9th
*caught a 10:30 taxi to the airport and rode the 20 ks to danang in order to catch our flight to hanoi
*minna isn't too keen on flying, she was nervous for the first plane ride of the trip
*we had tried to book the classic one hotel but when we arrived at the hotel we were at the classic street hotel; which was decorated in burnt orange... obviously hadn't been remodeled in awhile
*we decided to walk around the town a bit. we were just up the street from a tiny lane way market, the food looked wonderful
*a ton of touters mobbed us. the lady handed us her fruit baskets and told us to take a picture, she said it was free. then after the pictures she insisted we buy fruit. needless to say we were sold rotting bananas. we learned to be careful of the touters.
*we had lunch at little hanoi (megan's suggestion!)
*walked, walked, walked, walked some more
*the city is built around lake so the streets are pretty round about. the entire time we were there we had no idea how we got anywhere. the first day it took us two hours to find the lake, turns out it was two blocks over from the hotel
*our lunch was massive, so we decided to get a few drinks then head down to minh's jazz bar. while at the bar a rat climbed down the wall and down sally's arm. she freaked out and it was hilarious. even the waiters were laughing!
*after an hour of vietnamese jazz we wandered back to the hotel

tuesday february 10th
*decided to go visit the ho chi minh museum and mausoleum. the museum was not as informative as we thought it would be, most of his letters and diary entries were photocopied. the mausoleum was massive, but unfortunately it was closed to the public by the time we made it there
*there was a tiny pho restaurant near the museum. we were served lunch by a lady who had to be about 85. she kept feeding and feeding us, and at the end of the meal gave us the fruit from their family's shrine
*visited the temple of literature it was amazing to see the first university of vietnam. there were five courtyards in all and amazing grounds
*sally treated us to tickets for the water puppet show. the music was amazing, but we were so tired from the trip that i dont think we enjoyed the performance as much as we could have
*stopped into a french restaurant for soup and tea on the way back to the hotel

wednesday february 11th
*columbus cruise picked us up from the hotel to take us on our over night tour of ha long bay
*apparently our boat was undergoing some maintenance so we were upgraded to the pinta boat. this meant roses in the room and 8 course meals
*ha long bay was fantastic! it was bright and sunny when we arrived. the boat was beautiful. our guide, hi, was amazing. he was very friendly and knew a lot about ha long
*went to the hang dau go and hang thien cung caves. there were great views of the water from the top of the caves (about 150 steps high)
*we went back to the boat and watched the sunset from the deck as we made out way to where we were going to anchor for the night
*we ate dinner and then sat on the back of the boat talking until about 9 pm. then we went to bed, such old ladies

thursday february 12th
*i wanted to get up to watch the sunrise the next morning, however it was too misty to see the sun
*we had a massive breakfast then looked at the floating village from the boat deck
*next we climbed into our kayaks and took off between the island. i was paired with sally, and to be honest we struggled to keep up with hi! it was fun, but i had never been kayaking before and sally had only been once. in the end we did alright and were not the last group back
*hi bribed some boating officials to let us into a secluded cove. we kayaked through the rocks into the empty space
*we had lunch on the boat then caught the bus back to hanoi
*we showered and planned the rest of our trip. we were pretty tired so we went out for dinner and gin and tonics

friday february 13th
*we were heading to sapa that night so we booked into a hard sleeper
*woke up about 7 and hung around the hotel until pretty late packing up our stuff
*we made our way across the street to the travel agent and booked the rest of the flights and hotels for the rest of the trip
*walked around the other side of hanoi and stumbled upon the opera house
*had the best lunch in all of vietnam for about $2.50 AUD each
*sat in a small garden and talked for a bit
*went out for a drink at the 'sponge bob' bar
*dinner at pho 24. sandi ordered the beef balls... turned out to be a mistake. the stomach of steel was defeated
*caught the train. it was a 6 person sleeper so there were two other people in the carriage with us. i climbed into the top bunk, took a sleeping pill and was out until the next morning

saturday february 14th
*arrived at the lao cai train station around 8 am. apparently one of the women in our carriage was very strange and didnt really understand train etiquette. sandi woke up and the woman was staring down at her from her bunk. she was referred to as 'spider woman'
*we were scammed into paying three times as much than we should have for a ride up the mountain. minna was furious and confronted the taxi driver, but suddenly they didnt remember how to speak english
*our hotel was called the royal. it had a beautiful view of the mountains. most amazing place we stayed, by far
*we cleaned up and walked around sapa. the town isnt very big, but has beautiful views of the mountains and a lake towards the edge of town
*bought the girls valentine's day presents. tickets to the ba cah markets on sunday
*we stayed in for the night and watched 'only you' with marisa tomei and robert downey jr

sunday february 15th
*the van ride to the ba cah village, which is right on the chinese border. our tour guide was named tom and he was very stylish
*the ride was hilly, but beautiful. the lady in the seat in front of me got car sick
*once there we walked around the market. we saw the water buffalo area, horse area, dog area, pig area, and the handicraft area. the minority peoples of the area made most of the stuff being sold at the market
*the market was packed and is a major place for social interactions for the surrounding villages
*we visited a small village next to the market and tried corn wine
*drove back down the mountain and stopped to have a look at the official border gate into china
*tom invited us out for drinks at the local disco once the tour was over... we didnt go
*sandi and i went for a walk. then we all went out to a cafe up the street for a pho dinner

vietnam- the first week

2009-03-01T02:44:00.000-08:00

i would like to thank sally, minna, and sandi for such a great trip. honestly, there is no way the trip could have been any better in any way.

since i am covering such a large time frame this blog will consist of the bullet points from my journal. i uploaded my pictures to facebook with the thought that i could place a link to them on here, however ill have to email you the link directly if you are not on facebook. send me a message or comment on the blog with your email address and ill send you the links. thanks for checking in!

sunday february 1st
*woke up pretty early since i had to finish packing all my stuff to move out of lygon
*finished packing and moved all my extra stuff into hannah's room (thanks for keeping it safe while i was gone!)
*went to small block for breakfast. it was just as delish as usual
*pharmacy adventure, resulted in enough medical supplies for a small army
* sandi and i were on the same outgoing flight so al picked me up and gave me a ride to the airport
*the flight was pretty uneventful (which, in my opinion, is generally a good thing); however, i did meet a greek lady named joanna. she was sitting next to me, on her way to join an intrepid tour in saigon. she didn't have a place to stay so i told her to ride in our cab and we would be able to have my hotel help find her a place for the night
*we got off the plane to meet our driver, who was holding a sign reading 'sandi oexmann'.... apparently we got married
*there were motorbikes everywhere! it was amazing. some bikes had up to four people riding on them; most everyone wore helmets
*arrived at the blue river hotel and were given pineapple juice while thuy checked us into our room
*sally and minna had already arrived. they were in another room on the 3rd floor
*adventured out for some dinner. experienced our first of many meals consisting of tiger beers and noodle soups
*went back to the hotel and crashed

monday february 2nd
*woke up fairly early and had breakfast at the hotel
*while eating we took a gander at the lonely planet disease section. it was a bad idea, we got into a habit of self-diagnosing ourselves the rest of the trip
*wandered around ho chi minh for a few hours
*finally made our way to the war remnant's museum. it was pretty interesting to see the way the vietnamese viewed the vietnam war (or american war as they call it). most museums are pretty neutral and don't prescribe blame to specific groups, but it was quite obvious the vietnamese did/do not approve of the way the americans interfered
*the museum closed for a few hours during lunchtime so we went and found a street stall for lunch
*minna heard that if one drinks a coke after eating questionable food it would kill anything that would possibly make the person sick. needless to say a coke chaser, prompted by our disease paranoia, followed lunch
*we walked over to the reunification palace, which had been kept in the same condition since the north and south were reunified in the late 1970's
*booked a tour to the cu chi tunnels for $8
*walked around again
*saigon is a great city. there were so many people and motorbikes everywhere! could tell i was going to enjoy the trip

tuesday february 3rd
*woke up early to catch a tour bus at 8 am
*rode the bus for about two hours then stopped at a disabled handicraft factory. it was a sad place, most of the workers just seemed incredibly bored as they strategically placed crushed eggshells into decorative plates
*our tour guide was called slim jim and had a mild obsession with cockney slang. originally from the mekong delta, he worked as an english teacher for a few years before becoming a tour guide for TNK
*stopped into great holy see temple- the center of caodaism
*the temple was full of older people saying their daily 12 pm prayers
*i couldn't believe the colors of the walls, robes, wall decals, and dragon columns
*the women and men had separate entrances. it seemed that most of the participants weren't too keen to have the tourists view the ceremony
*drove the rest of the way to the cu chi tunnels
*saw the craters carved out by american bombs. the tunnels they built to hide themselves from the american bombers were tiny, the tunnel we walked through were expanded to twice the size of the original tunnels
*rode the bus two hours back to saigon

wednesday february 4th
*booked the afternoon train to head to nha trang. we decided to travel during the afternoon, even though it was a 7 hour ride, so that we could see the countryside in the daylight
*we arrived at the train station and were told to run to our carriage. once we got on the train sally had a hard time getting her backpack up on the ceiling racks. most of the carriage was staring at us, laughing at sandi and sally struggling with the bag. eventually a guy from the front helped the girls
*we had a moment of panic where we thought we were on the wrong train. sally showed the lady behind us our ticket and she said we were on the wrong train. we started rushing to get our bags when a train official came over and told us to sit down because we actually were on the correct train. the entire carriage thought this scene was hilarious
*it was amazing to watch the scenery pass by. there were all these tiny mountains that started popping out of no where
*read one flew over the cuckoo's nest and listened to my ipod
*while stopped at a station a lady in the row in front of minna and me started telling us how she lives in boston during the winter but was raised in vietnam
*we stopped in cam lam station and there was a huge commotion in the back of our carriage. we had no idea what was going on, but there was a lot of yelling and shoving. minna gets the giggles when she is in stressful situations. she was trying not to bust out in front of the rest of the train. turns out four guys tried to sneak onto the train through the bathroom window, the train official caught them so they shoved him to the floor and jumped back out the window
*arrived in nha trang and the entire cabin made sure we knew it was our stop
*caught a cab to the hotel we were hoping to stay in. someone on the sidewalk told the cabbie that the hotel was full, so he drove us to his friend's hotel... bad idea. it was a dodgy hotel with pillows that smelled like old people and were covered in hair
*went and got dinner at same same but different cafe

thursday february 5th
*realized nha trang wasn't the place for us
*adventured out and got breakfast at a small cafe
*found our way to a tour office and booked a night train for that night. took off for the beach
*we spent the rest of the day sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and drinking betty boops
*indulged in massages on the beach
*headed back to the hotel to get our bags so we could catch the taxi to the train station
*sandi and minna went to get sandwiches for the ride, but were ripped off by the people at the street stall. the son was telling the girls to watch out for scammers, while at the same time the mother charged them double for their sandwiches
*we bought a bottle of dalat wine that, unfortunately, tasted like rotting eggs
* slept on and off that night. woke up around 12:45 and didn't sleep for most of the rest of the ride
*arrived in da nang at 6 am

friday february 6th
*caught a cab to hoi an with a belgian guy
*it was pretty foggy, but beautiful
*arrived at our hotel and rather than letting the cab driver tell us it was full we made sure to go in ourselves
*turns out it was actually full. the receptionist helped us try to find another hotel. after eating a full breakfast we walked down the street to the huy hoang I hotel
*we booked in for a few nights. minna and sally fell asleep after we checked in so sandi and i decided to go wandering. we were surprised by all the touters asking us to go into their shops to have clothes made. we visited a tailor, who also happened to be the sister of the receptionist
*we got coffee at a small cafe a few blocks from out hotel, then headed back to wake minna and sally
*minna's friends from sydney suggested a tailor, we went to price with her as well
*measured for clothes. ordered a coat, dress, shirt and cords
*walked 5 km to the beach. had dinner at a small table set up at the back of the beach. the ladies were cooking the meals right there on the sand. ate cao lau- the hoi an specialty
*caught a taxi back to the hotel and got cleaned up
*walked around the city some more. tried to find a vegetarian restaurant called green moss. turned out the green moss was at the other end of the street, so a nice guy from a street stall called the restaurant and walked us all the way down so we wouldn't get lost again

saturday february 7th
*sandi and i were kept up all night by rats running and squeaking between the walls. we were literally going crazy by the morning
*the other girls were up and ready to go before us. sandi and i were going to take a shower while they went to get coffees. i went in the bathroom to brush my teeth, there was rat poop ALL OVER my toothbrush. it was so disgusting
*we found the girls and let them know we were going to find another place for the next two nights. we decided to book into the hotel that was attached to the cafe sandi and i had coffee at the first day in hoi an
*moved hotel and headed down to old town. we saw lantern shops, the japanese bridge and toured an ancient vietnamese home
*sally was feeling ill so she went back to the hotel
*around 3 pm we went to pick up our tailored clothes. they were wonderful. i was really happy with what i had ordered... so i ordered another dress and skirt
*sandi bought a wonderful electric blue blazer, i can't wait for her to wear it out
*bought a few beers and went back to the hotel to write postcards
*sandi, minna and i wandered down the river walk to find cafe 96. it was one of the best restaurants in vietnam

sunday february 8th
*went to the tailor first thing in the morning, picked up our new clothes and headed back to the hotel
*wanted to rent bikes, but sally seemed to have forgotten how to ride... it was hilarious
*walked down the river and crossed the bridge to cam nam island. it was pretty empty on that side, mainly new buildings
*took sally to cafe 96 since she missed it the night before
*after lunch she was feeling sick again so we put her in a cab back to the hotel and went to find the hoi an museum
*went back to the hotel for a bit then went back down by the river to have dinner at cafe des amis. the place has no set menu, the meal consists of five courses of whatever mr kim wants to cook. there were vegetarian, meat and seafood options. this was probably the absolute best meal in vietnam. the restaurant was full of old french couples, amazing
*the full moon festival was going on (completely by chance). the walkway along the river was flooded, so people were walking through the water with their pants hiked up
*we bought lotus candle holders and released them down the river for luck
*next we decided to rent a boat to float down the river, this way we were able to see the giant water statues up close
*this was probably my favorite night of the entire trip. we were some of the only tourists, the place felt spiritual (not to sound hippy dippy)
*we stopped for a coffee on the way back to the hotel

ill try to get week two up later tonight.

vietnam

2009-01-31T12:21:00.001-08:00

i am leaving for vietnam, and rather than updating my blog along the way i think i will write a massive post at the end of the trip. see you all in 3 1/2 weeks!

on the road again.

2009-01-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

i've spent the last two weeks traveling around australia a bit. i visited a few people, and saw some new places. thanks to everyone who let me stay with them and/or showed me around. i had a wonderful time.

1/8/2009
i spent most of the morning running errands around melbourne, then most of the afternoon cleaning my room... its amazing how quickly it can get dirty! especially because it is so small. at around 3:00 christine's friend tim picked me up to drive out to mount beauty, which was a beautiful place. the mountain in victoria are quite a bit smaller than the rockies, which was to be expected, but still have a similar feel. mt beauty is in north east victoria and over looks mount bogong, the tallest mountain in victoria. i spent the night at barb and tim's place (alas i didn't take any pictures), which really was a mountain home. it was built on the side of the hill and had this amazing deck that wrapped half way around the house.
barb and tim's son tom was there as well with his girlfriend. they have the cutest dog i have ever seen! her name is maggie, we had an instant connection. i think she is a staffordshire bull terrier.

1/9/2009
christine and i woke up pretty early because she had to get back to newcastle. on the way out we took sue to the airport in aubury to pick up her car. after that we stopped in holbrook to get breakfast from one of christine's favorite bakeries.
the drive from mount beauty to newcastle is about 9 hours long. christine let me drive the car, and was very patient with me. i didn't have much experience driving on the left side of the road, and it was michael's' nice lexus... so i was pretty nervous. i did a good job and only turned on the windshield wipers about two or three times. (for those of you who don't know, the windshield wiper and the blinker are on opposite sides of the steering wheel. i would think i was putting on the blinker, then suddenly the wipers would go on!).
we got into newcastle around dinner time, so we went out for chinese.

1/10/2009
christine had some stuff to do around the house, so it was a laid back day. i spent most of it reading.

1/11/2009
katie came up from gosford for a visit. she took me to darby street for coffee while michael and christine went to meet up with their motorbike club. michael grilled out for us and christine made a wonderful salad.

katie and me.

michael at the barbie!

after michael and christine went to bed katie and i went out on the town. we started out at a place called the irish, definitely a good example of an australian pub. after a bit the place filled in and a band started to play. they were interesting... though after two songs katie and i had had enough so we ventured out to a few more iconic newcastle hot spots. this included the kent and the brewery (which were both filled to the gills with 18 year olds enjoying a saturday night). for the final hoorah we tried to get into a place called fanny's, apparently michael went there as a young lad, but were not let in due to an early lockout. on the way home we decided it would be a good idea to call charles and maria to wish them good luck with james's christening, which in all reality wasn't such a good idea since we had been out drinking.... they didn't seem to mind it though! :P

1/12/2008
katie had to head back to gosford that afternoon, so we hung around the house until she had to leave. then michael and christine took me out for a kebab on newcastle beach. i asked michael if sharks ever attacked anyone on this beach, he said it was pretty rare. someone was attacked the next day; i jinxed them.
after the beach we went home for a bit, then to lake macquarie to see the yacht club. michael's brother mark is thinking of putting his boat on the lake. we drove back into newcastle and met up with their motorbike friends bob and claire, who went to vietnam a few weeks ago. we went to the newcastle yacht club and claire gave me all kinds of advice about what to do/where to go/etc while in vietnam. it was some great information.

1/13/2009
i drove down to sydney with christine to see her niece, nephew, and mother. christine's mom is named joan as well, and i hadn't seen her since i was one year old. their house was amazing, it over looked a harbor. i'm not sure what the name of the suburb was, but looking around i couldn't believe how beautiful the area was. their house literally looked out over a small harbour filled with little sailboats. it seemed very tropical, and i should have taken a picture but forgot my camera.
we went to the powerhouse to see the star wars exhibit, but the line was so long we decided to head over to china town for lunch first. we ordered all kind of dumplings, way too many for the five of us. afterwards we walked back to the powerhouse, but decided not to pay the extra money for the star wars bit. nobody was that interested.

1/14/2009
christine and i went for coffee at a little cafe on the beach before she drove me to the airport to head to brisbane. i went up to spend a few days with the heathcocks, who i hadn't seen since about 1996. they are family friends from kentucky. we spent a few christmases and halloweens together.
i took the train in from the airport and brisbane is a beautiful city! i had heard so many negative things about it, i was amazed to find out how beautiful it actually is. everyone is always talking about how brisbane i hot, and kind of a country town. it was a very mild/regular temperature the whole time i was there. most of the city is built along a river so there is generally a cooling breeze through the whole city.
i met heather at the station and stored my bag in her office she she had a few more hours of work. when she was finished we caught the city cat back to their house.
claire (23) and andrew (26) came over for dinner. it was amazing to see how much we have all changed in the last twelve years. we all look similar to the way we used to, just more grown up now.

1/15/2009
i headed out into the city at about 8:30. i walked all along the river front and met with claire and andrew for lunch. claire works at the art gallery and showed us around on her lunch break. i then went over to the modern art building with andrew after lunch. i didn't take enough pictures, but here is one of the river walk.

1/16/2009
i spent most of the day walking around the heathcock's neighborhood, i had a pretty late start since i was booking flights to sydney etc. i then ventured over to the botanic gardens and had a walk around there.
i met up with jane and her housemate sarah for drinks. they picked me up and we went to a place called the lark. it was a beautiful little cocktail bar. we then headed down to 'the valley', which isn't actually a valley, for dinner. we talked about jane and sarah visiting the US next year, i hope they do!

1/17/2009
heather didn't have to work so she drove me to the gold coast. i couldn't believe how many giant apartment buildings were squashed into such a small space! the streets were packed with cars, but there didn't seem to be many people around.
we walked down to surfer's paradise, but couldn't sit and enjoy the beach due to the weather. it was pretty windy and the sand was being blown right into us.
we had lunch and drove back to brisbane.
that night i went to andrew's birthday at the lawn bowling club. i had never played before, so they had to explain it to me. i had no idea what i was doing, but someone managed to win a few games.

1/18/2009
heather and i went to see her local golf club in the morning, then hit up the southbank markets. there were so many stalls! i didn't buy anything, but it was still neat to look at all the clothes/food/crafts. there was a street band performing, a woman and a man. the man was playing a diggery doo, the drums, a tambourine, and the bongos. the woman had a drum and a few stringed instruments. i usually don't like those kinds of street acts but these two were pretty good, they were selling their cds left and right. we also went to a cafe called flowers of the world, apparently the daughter of the owner went to school with claire.
claire picked me up and we went to visit lone pine, a koala sanctuary. she had been talking about it all week... ill let the pictures speak for themselves.

baby koala having dinner!

the emu was stalking us, it was actually pretty scary!

wombats look like foot stools.

lorikeet feeding time.

lizzie with the birds.

hungry birds!

they like claire!

claire shouted my kangaroo food.

claire with a wallaby.

feeding the wallaby with my three hands...

claire has a thing for ducks.

didn't feed him fast enough! he actually took a chunk out of the bag!

double feeding time with lizzie.

full and sleepy.

after we finished at lone pine claire drove me up mount coo tha. apparently it only takes twenty minutes to walk up... but it still had a great view!
we then went back to the heathcock's to meet up with john and heather for andrew's birthday dinner. we went to a nice turkish restaurant down by the river.

1/19/2009
i left for sydney that afternoon. heather had to work so i woke up early to say goodbye over breakfast. i decided i would take the city cat in to catch the train, after all it isn't every day i can use a catamaran during my commute! i got to the airport and arrived in sydney right on time. julia arranged for rob to pick me up so i wouldn't have to take the bus.
her house was amazing! it is located in an area called paddington, which is next to oxford street. there are a lot of shops and little cafes around there. after dropping my stuff off rob and i went to a used book store at the end of her street. there were so many books, well over 60,000 (according to the sign). after browsing for a bit we went to get a few drinks at a pub, the beer garden was lovely. the weather was perfect and we talked for awhile. we then went to one of his favorite indian restaurants in surrey hill, where i tried my first dosa. it was huge! and delicious! julia finished work and we met up with her. she was quite tired so after one drink we headed back to her place.

1/20/2009
sydney is a beautiful and amazing city. it is a super hodgepodge of surf culture, business workers, and everything in between. i lefter her house at about 8:45 and walked down oxford street to the city. i stopped at the new south wales state library. i walked through hyde park, st james park and into the royal botanic gardens. it was massive! i decided to pay the five bucks to get into the carnivorous plants and orchids exhibit.

orchids.

giant leaves.

carnivorous plants.

tropical greenhouse.

giant tree.

i then walked along the edge of the park down to the opera house. i saw it the last time i was in syndey from the other side of the harbour bridge, it was good to actually climb the steps this time.

afterwards i took a bus to bondi beach, it was packed! i have never seen so many people on the same beach, which makes sense since it is a city beach afterall. on sandi's suggestion i walked from bondi to bronte, which took about 45 mins. it was beautiful scenery, however against my better judgement i walked it at about 1:00 in the afternoon. i also forgot my sunscreen. i had put some on that morning so it wasn't a horrible burn, just a little annoying.

after my walk i headed back to julia's place. we talked for a bit before she had to go to work, then i went out to explore darlinghurst before going to see slumdog millionaire. finally made it back to julia's about 9:30 and read until she got home at 10:30. rob came over and we looked through their vietnam photos, i'm getting very excited for the trip!

1/21/2009
christine drove to sydney to pick up julia and me. we went back to newcastle, i did some reading while julia sorted some school stuff on teh computer. she had applied to several architecture programs and was trying to decide which shool she would like to go to.
we met michael for lunch at a nice pub called the duke. julia is planning her 21st and they were thinking of renting out their function room, so naturally we had to do a little food research.
christine invited claire and bob over for a vietnamese dinner in order to celebrate julia's return. we made so much food, it really was a feast! again michael was out at the barbie.
after dinner julia and i watched a few episodes of six feet under. it is a pretty good show, i think i could easily get addicted.

1/22/2009
julia's friend madeline met up with us for breakfast at the three bean cafe. afterwards julia drove me back to sydney so i could catch the plane to melbourne. the plane was delayed for five hours, then diverted into avalon. they never told us why it was so delayed, but at least i wasn't stuck at the airport all night! finally made it home at about 11, did some unpacking and read until i fell asleep.

as a final note i would like to suggest that if you are going anywhere sunny you should take two pairs of shoes. i took the one, which was a mistake... this is for you jenny b.

2009

2009-01-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

happy holidays everyone!

christmas here in australia was pretty interesting. on christmas eve i went over to pat's house for a few drink, the weather was beautiful and we were able to sit outside for most of the evening. during the day it was so warm i actually wore shorts! unbelievable. christmas day i went with the bayston family to al's parents' house in camberwell. it was a gorgeous house, with two massive libraries. all of al's siblings were there with their significant other, and quite a few kiddos were running around. lunch was delicious, loads of fresh veggies. after eating the kids went swimming, they have been taking swimming lessons and have improved greatly. after digesting a bit the baystons drove me home to brunswick, and chris was having a party in the backyard. he spend christmas eve with his family, so this meant he had a bbq for 'all those who have nowhere else to go'. he invited people from his backpacker poker night. by the time i got home there were about 6 people left. we just sat on the back couches and talked about being in australia, most of the people were from other parts of the world. i met a very nice couple anna (finnish) and owen (irish), and they were drunk of their faces. eventually the house next door started to have a party, and since our back gate was open most of their friends stopped by our house first. eventually anna and i decided to go over for a look at the house. the house is similar to mine, just flipped upstairs. after exploring for a bit we went back to my house and continued to talk. i went to bed pretty late, all in all it was a pretty wonderful christmas. laid back, warm and i had some wonderful unexpected company.

i didnt have many plans for new years eve. i went to sandi's friend al's house, i only knew about three people there at first but as the night went on we all got to know a bit about each other. eventually we left their place and headed to fitzroy to another one of their friend's house. very laid back evening, but still a good time. i missed not having alex and stephen around, i spent the last two years with them, maybe next year...

meredith music festival

2008-12-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

i was lucky enough to attend the 18th annual meredith music festival this past weekend. here is a link to the festival website . it rained all weekend and the tent collapsed. fortunately i did not get wet, however pretty much everyone else in the tent did...
i saw some bands i have seen before, but there were a few i had never seen. the first night i saw man man, great live show. there was a break in the rain so the crowd was going crazy, most of them were incredibly drunk. the next day i was blown away by the energy during the bronx's performance, there wasnt another performance during the weekend with the same hold over the crowd. i finally got to hear little red, an australian group i have heard a lot about. one of the lead singers, quang dinh, was fantastic and im looking forward to finding out more about his solo project. grand salvo (mentioned in a previous post) played as well. it was the last morning and it was great to listen to his songs while getting little glimpses of the sun. we ended the festival with adam green's performance. his energy was fantastic and was able to get the crowd to smile (which after all the rain and gloomy skies was a pretty big accomplishment).

here are some photos from the weekend. i didnt take too many because i was afraid all the rain might ruin my camera. ive never been so wet in my entire life, hopefully all the rain will get victoria out of its drought.

the tent collapsed...

fatima all dressed up for the cold!

sandi stuck in a sink hole.

olga found a dollar in the mud and kissed it.

boots in the mud.

a shot of the crowd.

a group shot. minus danae. :(

now for just a quick word from our sponsors

2008-12-15T23:53:00.000-08:00

leisa and angela, the ladies i babysit for, have recently started their own t-shirt company! the designs are simple, colorful and very cute. if you are looking for original kiddo t-shirts, printed in australia, this is the place to find them.

www.blissykids.com

travel partner wanted

2008-12-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

hello all,
i am planning on what i will be doing once my time in australia is finished. i will be leaving here the start of march, after about a week at home i will be heading to the oexmann art award in england. after visiting with my family there i would like to travel to spain and walk the camino de santiago de compostela. tommy told me it is a six week trek, so it would be april to the start of may. if you are interested or know anyone else who be interested please put me in touch with them. right now this is all just an idea, not sure if i will actually follow through. however, it would be a great adventure...
thanks,
j
ps ill be posting some stories soon.

here are some links with information.
http://www.vagabondish.com/hiking-camino-de-santiago-de-compostela/
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/

thanksgiving down under

2008-11-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

since the last post ive been doing a lot of the same thing. working a lot, still saving. things are slowing down now which is good. meredith is two weeks away, then it will be christmas, then time for falls, and soon after i will be off on more adventures. time is flying.

i celebrated thanksgiving a few days ago with pat and sierra. we cooked dinner at pat's house. it was a lot of fun. good company. good wine. good food. not much more a girl could ask for!

we cooked:
twice baked potatoes
mashed potatoes
carrots
corn
mac and cheese
salad
stuffing
a frozen apple pie (which i SWEAR tasted like chicken soup!)

pat was in charge of the twice baked potatoes, here he is with the finished product. he looks like a super dweeb.

the full table.

my plate. lots of carbs... im still exhausted from digesting.

even possum had some dinner.

nana's pie and vienetta. we are pretty sure nana (as larissa would say) had alzheimer's.

all in all a very good thanksgiving. for those of you who celebrated i hope you enjoyed your holiday! for those of you who didnt celebrate i hope you enjoyed your day as well. :P

look at this little guy!

2008-11-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

super cute

plans under way

2008-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

i finally bought my ticket for vietnam! ill be going at the start of february and i am very excited. i am also planning a trip to tasmania with christine in january, i think katie might be coming as well. meredith is also just around the corner! so much to look forward to.

ive spent the last few weeks working a lot, just trying to pick up as many shifts as i can to save up for the travel fund. it hasnt been to bad though as i really enjoy most of the people i work with/for.

this last week has been pretty busy. michael and christine were down from newcastle for a conference. leisa and al invited us all over for dinner and the next day i met up with them in st kilda for lunch. i met some of christine's family. after lunch i met pat's mom and we went down to chapel street.

i went to see the lucksmiths again last week, for their cd release. they always put on a good show.

i took a quick trip with pat and his mom to phillip island and wilson's prom. they rented a car and we all drove down together, well pat drove. he actually did a pretty good job! turned on the windshield wipers once and i only got scared about twice. it wasnt a very long drive down to phillip island and we got there right as the penguin parade was starting. we werent allowed to take photos of them because of the flash. im just going say that penguins are very cute, but smell horrible. http://www.phillipisland.net.au/penguinparade.html we stayed in a cute little hotel and got up the next day to see the nobbies. the nobbies are huge blocks of volcanic rock and the waves crash into them, then because of all the holes water sprays out everywhere.

the next day we drove to wilson's prom (didnt get lost!). wilson's prom is a national park and it was so cheap to get in! i was amazed, only 10.20. the main road throught he park is pretty uneventful and is surrounded by 'bush'. suddenly you get to a point with a huge valley on the left, then the ocean appears to the right. the beach we went to was called squeaky beach, because the sand squeaks under your feet! it was a gorgeous beach, literally the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. there were giant rocks everywhere and the sand was amazing. it felt very surreal to be in such a beautiful place. after the beach we headed back to melbourne.

last night after babysitting i went with pat to the rooftop cinema opening party. i dont go out as often as i should so it was kind of neat to see all of the well dressed melbourne hipsters drinking on a roof in the middle of the city. it is a really nice bar and i am looking forward to getting up there in the next few weeks.

nobbies.

nobbies.

view on the other side of the nobbies.

squeaky beach.

pat and his mom.

squeaky beach.

pat's mom at squeaky beach.

being crushed by rocks.

pat's mom on the rocks.

tight fit!

James Alexander George Oexmann

2008-10-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

i am aunt maggie! how strange.

here is maria with james.

he was born in lexington, kentucky at st joseph east hospital at 4:45 pm on october 23, 2008.
charles, maria and james.

9 pounds 10 onces, 21 in long.
charles and james.

more free time= very good thing

2008-10-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

so after much consideration i decided to leave my job at torta. things were getting a bit hectic trying to juggle all the jobs, also i realized i can make more than enough with catering and babysitting. this means that i now work about four days a week instead of working almost everyday. i have submitted a volunteer application to RRR and hope to hear back from them soon.

the last two weeks have been pretty good. last sunday i went to vic markets to do my grocery shopping. i enjoy going to the market, however it seemed that most of my fruit went off quicker than normal. in fact the basil i purchased went off the next day! maybe i didnt store it properly. that night pat and i went to the alderman for a drink. i looked across from where we were sitting and i saw the girl from AIH chatting with the bass player from the lucksmiths! i was too nervous to say anything, even though i interviewed her a few months ago, so eventually pat got up and introduced us to them. we had a nice talk about boulder and the recording session they did for 1190. i also made a fool of myself and looked super creepy in front of mark. i kept saying things like: oh god im so creepy! sorry for interrupting you! ive seen you play so many times let me recount EVERY DETAIL of those nights!... i really need to learn how to carry on proper conversations.

the week was pretty slow, did some babysitting for leisa on wed. that night i helped her and al set up for gabe's third birthday party. it was pirate theme and all the kiddos dressed up. leisa made a pirate cake while al transformed the trampoline into a giant pirate ship. i was the consultant and stood watching them with my hands on my hips giving directions. the party was a big success. the kids walked the plank, went on a treasure hunt, and played pass the parcel. there were also lots of temporary tattoos floating around, three of which formed a pirate sleeve on my lower left arm. temporary tattoos are just as much fun as i remembered, but a lot more difficult to remove... i scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed but couldnt get them to come off. finally i soaked my arm in a tub for about twenty minutes and after a little scrubbing they came off.

well its a big night in tonight so i think ill go make some dinner! thanks for checking in!

the parental units come for a visit!

2008-10-02T04:01:00.001-07:00

g'day everyone! its been a hectic last few weeks! i got the chance to play tour guide for my folks (we probably should have hired a professional....). i had pretty much the whole time off, except for about three days.

the first day they were here we spent out time walking around a bit. i showed my parents cafe e torta and we went to the grocery store. mom and grandpa fell asleep before dinner so daddio and i went out to dumplings, lucky for us neither of us got food poisoning. the second day we went down to st kilda and saw some of the board walk opening. later that day we met with leisa and al at southbank. we went back to st kilda the next day to meet up with my dad's friend john. after breakfast i was lucky enough to get a massage with my mom while grandpa and daddio soaked in the salty sea baths. they pump salt water from the ocean into giant hot pools. grandpa loooooved it. in fact he enjoyed it so much that daddio got him a week long pass. the two of them went almost everyday. we all drove up to newcastle and my parents were fortunate to be able to visit michael and christine. i rode up with them in the car, but decided to fly back so i could work the day after. it was a long ride, however it was nice to visit. my parents spent the weekend in sydney with michael and christine. i think they had a wonderful time. once they got back to melbourne we had a few days to hang around before they had to head back to the US. the first day back mom and i did some shopping while grandpa and daddio explored the area around the apartment. we also went to leisa and al's for dinner that night. the next day dad and grandpa went to the forest to see the sawmills for dad's wood business. that night a few people came around to meet my parents, it was very laid back and i think everyone enjoyed the evening. on the last day before they left daddio and i took a drive down near frankston. it was nice to have a car to drive along the coast, it made me even more excited to start traveling. the next morning we checked out of the apartment and got coffee from torta before my parents had to head off to the airport.

this is my dad on his birthday (also the day they arrived). he is opening his birthday present. i was so excited they were coming that i went and checked into the hotel early and waited a few hours for them to get there. i also bought them happy birthday/welcome to australia muffins.

richard. he looks pretty good for having just ridden back from kentucky by car and suffered through the flight to australia.

here is is doing a tim tam slam. megan and pat came over with tim tams. daddio is obsessed with doing tim tam slams, i became a bit worried when he started doing them by himself.

tim tams and some coffee.

we had lunch at southbank with leisa, alister, hanna, gabe and josie. josie enjoyed riding on dad's shoulders. he also gave her ice cream for the first time!

here is leisa and gabe.

grandpa crashed that night! too much excitiment with the kiddos.

we popped into my house to have a look around. here i am with chris in out livingroom.

unfortunaly all the pictures from the car on the way up to newcastle are not flattering enough to put on the internet, so there will be no visual documentation from that portion. the car ride was pretty long but not unbearable. daddio drove the whole way. it was good to see michael and christine again, my parents were so excited.

here is michael at an overlook near newcastle.

michael trying to convince grandpa to go hang gliding (he even offered to pay!).

grandpa next to the hang gliding sign.

my mom at an overlook near nerlson bay. you might recognize this location from some of the pictures in an earlier post.

mom, michael and grandpa at the overlook.

mom on the beach!

the day after my parents left micheal was going to a biker event. here is grandpa warming up the seat for him!

grandpa in his couch potato shirt.

mom and grandpa behind michael's bike.

michael taking grandpa for a spin. ro's face is priceless! daddio is making sure he doesnt fall off the back.

grandpa looking at the rental car's engine. it was a wekkend of machines!

view from their motorboat on sydney harbor.

christine and mom in the hotel room in sydney.

grandpa and christine's father in sydney.

these are almost all the pictures i have at the moment. i didnt get any of the other ones off dad's camera. hard to believe they were here a full two weeks! time went by so fast!

now it is back to work to save up money, things are still good in melbourn. i have a few babysitting gigs this week (today i had the task of supervising 7 kids all under the age of about five....). then im going to see mt eerie on tues with megan and the schonberg ensemble on thurs with pat. i also found a great compilation CD of melbourne music, it is called melbourne waters 2. i havent been able to find the first CD at the library but might by it from a local store. check it out if you can find it. i also found a CD by a guy named grand salvo, ive really enjoyed it. i am also reading no one belongs here more than you by miranda july. it is a collection of short stories and was suggested by a friend. it is a quick read but pretty good for tram rides.

3 month aussieversary

2008-09-18T04:13:00.001-07:00

hard to believe i have been away for three months! i have met so many great people and it feels like i have known them most of my life!

things are pretty much routine around here. just enjoying working and saving up some money for my travels. work is going well, which is good because i have been working a lot. to be honest i have no clue where the time has gone.

megan celebrated her birthday yesterday. i spent the day babysitting then met up with her, fatima, pat and sandi for dinner. we ate at a small italian restaurant then went to the vegie bar for cake. it was some of the best cake i have ever had! it came with two scoops of ice cream, 'really WHO DOES THAT?!?!' http://www.vegiebar.com.au/ afterwards we went to see a girl named megan washington play at a place up the road. she is pretty good live. i am obsessed with her song clementine, however we arrived late and i didnt get to hear her play it. all in all a good laid back night. i just hope megan enjoyed herself.

the other day pat and i went to the alderman for the first time in a long time. i met the owner, lisa, and we had a nice chat about different places in the area. brunswick is a great place to live.

on a different note my parents will be here in less than 48 hours! hard to believe they are actually coming. grandpa is coming as well and we are all going to stay in a serviced apartment. they are ariving on sat (which is also daddio's birthday) and will probably just go to bed early. since it is grand finals next weekend i will have to work since it will be very busy. this means they will be staying here for about three days and then they are driving up to sydney to see michael and christine. they will head back down here after about a week, visit for four more days then it is back to the US. all together they will be here for two weeks then it will be time to head home. it will be good to see them.

spoke with helen the other day and she seems to be enjoying boulder. she has joined a new club and hopes to meet more people. i also received an email from maria and it looks like my nephew is growing at a rapid pace! he is due at the end of october (she is hoping he gets here before halloween so he can wear his chilli pepper costume... SO CUTE!) and is already four pounds.

well that is all the news i have at the moment. expect parental pictures in the next post.

i went to the zoo and turned 23

2008-09-07T22:38:00.002-07:00

hello everyone! here we have another long overdue blog post.

so much has been going on since the last post. i have been working full time and have barely had any time to do anything, in fact today is my first day off in over a week. this is good thing and even though i am very tired i am making quite a bit of savings. i am planning on taking a trip to vietnam in feburary and will need to save up quite a bit for the airfare. i am also thinking of making a trip to england at the end of april for the oexmann art show. i have been fortunate enough to have gone to the last three and it is important to me to remain involved. i am not sure what my plans are after april but will keep you posted on here.

since i have been working so much there really isnt too much to update you all on so i will let these pictures do the talking for me! please excuse the order, i am not sure why they are all so messed up...

since the last post i have celebrated my 23rd birthday, it was a pretty great day. my roommate chris cooked a feast of a bbq and almost everyone i know in melbourne attended. i probably drank and ate too much but it still turned out to be a great night. pat and i also took a trip the melbourne zoo. i was expecting a pretty crappy zoo because everyone around here says to go to sydney for the zoo (because the melbourne zoo is crap). however i thought it was a wonderful zoo. i was able to see all kinds of australian animals and spent almost the entire day walking around.

here is a picture of the grill, sooooo much food!

megan and fatima made me a cheesecake. it was delicious!

here we have fatima, danea, pat and eliza cutting the cake. instead of candles the top was filled with sparklers. they burned down before we could get a picture.

olga, fatima, danea and eliza.

here i am eating my cake!

here is chris prepping the skewers.

this is max, he is awesome to the max...

my roommate hannah bought me some traditional australia presents. which included a cork hat and a boomerang. this was the wrapping.

pat is a true australian now as well, please note the footy paint on his face.

wow im an aussie now!

now for the zoo pictures

peacock hanging out near the cafe.

contrary to popular belief these are wallabies not kangaroos...

wombat.

sleeping koala.

some birds having a meeting.

there are some more pictures from the trips and i plan to upload them to a flickr album soon.

thanks for all the book suggestions on the last post! ric i am starting middlesex today.

im off to dinner now, talk to you all soon!

lychee berries, new room, footy game and friends!

2008-08-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

the internet at my house is all screwy so i have to make library trips in order to update my blog... which means less updates. however there are going to be lots of pictures in this one! ill start with the pictures...

this is megan, she is wonderful and we have a lot in common. we are strangely similar... she really has to 'wee' in this picture. :P

ps pat lives with her

here is a photo of all of the girls. from left to right it goes sandi, danea, eliza, fatima (also one of pat's roommates), and olga. olga burnt her fingers at work which is why she is holding them up that way, she is also the one who got me the cafe job. this was taken in pat's living room on mexican night #2.

this is a view of my backyard.

here is my kitchen.

my living room.

half of my current bedroom, i will be moving down the hall next week. my new room will be a bit smaller, but will cost a lot less.

my room used to be a kitchen so i have my own sink!

al took us to a footy game at the mcg. it was a neat experience even though i didnt know what was going on.

it was richmond vs hawthorn. richmond won.

this is a picture of hannah, gabe, and al. leisa and josie didnt come to the game.

pat and i took some lychee berries from megan. after peeling them and eating a little i decided they looked like eyeballs and held one up to my face.

obviously it was hilarious.

this was also the same night pat, fatima, megan and i stayed in and talked about farts for about five hours. we just kept telling jokes and laughing. it was definitely one of the funniest nights of my life.

last wed pat and i went to meet with some couchsurfers at the st kilda pier. there are these tiny little penguins who live on the rocks near the pier, they come out just after dark and make some of the cutest noises i have ever heard. http://stkildapenguins.com.au/

went out after work on thursday with fatima, megan, danea, and eliza. we went to a place called bar open, it was pretty nice there. the couches were very comfortable.

friday night pat and i went to wintertones and had a blast. the bands were really good (even though i didnt know most of their names at the time). we saw local acts pikelet, bachelorette, beaches, crayon fields (my favorite, the guy is also in another band called sly hats) and love of diagrams. beach house was the headlining band, they were pretty great as well. the place was pretty empty to start but filled in to max capacity within an hour. the bands played on two separate stages, so it was a pretty large space. there were so many by the time beach house went on that it felt like a sauna!

i had to work yesterday but went out afterwards. kate (the girl who did my training) is moving to new york so there was a small going away party for her. afterwards we went to northcoate to eliza's friend's house. it was just a house party and i didnt stay too long since i was tired from working this past week. this morning danea, eliza, pat, and i went out for breakfast. we went to this tiny restaurant that only had about five tables, very cute. i had baked eggs (i had never heard of them), they were a bit strange but it was a good breakfast all in all. those girls are hilarious.

things are settling into a routine here. it is nice to finally have a job and actually be making some kind of income. work is nice, everyone is really friendly. however, i am glad i will only be working here for a few months, i really couldnt imagine doing it for longer than that.

righto. the library closes in about ten min and i still have to find a book! my reading list is running low so if you have any suggestions for what i should read next please let me know.

ira glass is my best friend these days

2008-08-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

i have been catching up on this american life the last few days. it really is a spectacular radio show, i find myself relating the stories to my everyday life and relating my everyday life to these stories. maybe someday i will actually be on the show! probably not... ive also discovered the all songs considered concert series podcast, so ive also been catching up with those. im currently reading a multitude of sins by richard ford, it is a collection of short stories. the package from my parents finally arrived as well so i have been testing out my watercolor set. the set used to belong to my grandmother and the case was made during WWII. a true gem.

things around here are picking up the pace a bit. ive started working at cafe e torta (www.caffeetorta.com.au), next week will be my first official week. they have me part time at the moment so about 14 hours over two days which means i can get another job. i will probably get another part time job, all of that combined with the catering and babysitting should be more than enough to live on. especially since i can cover my rent with the cafe e torta shifts. i applied for a job at the melbourne recital hall, just for front of house staff, but should be pretty interesting if i get it.

this weekend has/will be pretty busy as well. i went out with my roommate hannah and her friend nicole last night. we went to a place called manchester lane, which was located on manchester lane. there was a salsa band playing so we did a bit of dancing then headed home. tonight megan's friend is having an olympics party so pat and i will be going to that. tomorrow there is a footy game, al is taking us. should be a pretty game from what i have heard. i dont know much about australian football, but going with a real aussie should be good.

here are some pictures of my new house:
again sorry there will be no new pics my connection keeps getting reset. i will try again with the next post.

busy busy busy

2008-08-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

this past weekend went really well. on friday night pat and i attempted to see pikelet play a free gig at the forum, however there was too much talking so we left 20 min into her set. after leaving we went to st kilda to watch the olympic opening ceremony. pretty spectacular. we went to the veteran's club, which in itself was pretty interesting.

saturday night i went to the forum again. this time daniel and sandi came. we were a bit late so we missed jessica says but caught his girl named sophie grays (?? not sure if that is really her name), she was alright but i think i got enough of her in one performance to last a lifetime. after the show we went to sandi, olga, and eliza's house. they are all wonderful. megan and fatima showed up with danea. we left for a party on sydney road. the theme was glaminals or glam animals. there were some super costumes.

sunday i went to daniel's birthday gathering at the retreat. it is a pretty nice place, sometimes they have bands. it actually reminds me of a lot of the places in denver.

monday i didnt do much. went to pat's house and we bought out tickets to wintertones. looking forward to this festival. http://www.last.fm/event/621799 here is the lineup.

tuesday i worked for chris. he was hosting one of his company team building cook-offs. it was the biggest yet! something like 140 people. i had to set up all the places with jen, bartend, clear plates, and perform other general waitressing tasks. it was a long day but i made $250 which is super. over half a month's rent in one day, bam!!!

tomorrow i have a trial run at cafe e torta in the cbd. my friend olga works there and was nice enough to put in a good word for me.

well time for bed i have to get up in five hours for this trial. it will be a very long day, but i am glad to finally be making some money.

is this new move just to keep moving?

2008-08-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

throughout all my moves the last few years i have come to realize a place can have some impact on your life, however it is the people you meet that can really make or break the majority of your experience. the relationships i have had throughout the years have shaped me in so many ways it is almost a bit scary. i have learned what i will put up with from people, learned my own personal limits, and have had a lot of support from all kinds of people. that being said i think that for me once my travels have finished it will be best to choose a spot where i have a stronger connection to the place rather than worrying about my connections with people. friends come and go; it is important to be able to appreciate past relationships and look forward to new ones. i realize people are fleeting, i have the choice to keep people involved in my life or simply let them go. just because friends drift away it doesn’t mean i have to forget what a support they were at certain points in my life. i have always considered myself to be a reasonable person, and fairly independent. one of my biggest faults is i tend to clam up when it comes to my emotions, i have a horrible time expressing great interest in people for fear i come off as a bit weak. now im going to get to the point, i would like to thank anyone reading this blog. if you are taking the time to sift through my thoughts and adventures then it means that for most of you our relationship extends past physical contact. you have taken enough interest in my life to invest your time to check in on me, and when traveling that thought is more comforting than any of you could ever realize. sorry if i dont offer you the support that you have given me and just remember that i am always available for a talk (or couch! :P) or anything else i can give that you need.

please excuse me for being such a sap, but i stayed up until 5 am the other night sifting through these thoughts. i wanted to get them out there for you all to see, and i hope that this all makes sense.

august already?

2008-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

so im back in melbourne and 100% moved into my new house. it is a pretty neat place located on lygon street. it is above a shop and has five bedrooms. the bedroom i am in now used to be a kitchen, so i have my own sink. also my book shelf is an old icebox (the kind you would have to put an ice block in to keep your food cold) and my tshirt drawer is a vegetable bin. not a bad set up actually. however, i will be moving into a room down the hall at the end of the month. this will be a good thing, especially since the rent will be a lot less.

the roommates are all very nice. there is hannah, who is never really around. von (about my age) from brisbane. ron from newcastle (quite a bit older than me) who moved in after separating from his wife, a sad story all around. finally there is chris, the one who also runs the catering company.

i still have not found a full time job, but am enjoying being able to read/listen to music/explore. i am kind of bored but know that a job should come soon enough. i signed up for artshub.com.au and have found quite a few interesting prospects. i have been searching a government site and various other job sites as well. ive also walked around handing out my CV to any shop with a help wanted sign.

i helped chris with a christmas in july party last week, it was amazing. the company used their warehouse space and brought in all kinds of video game consoles. it was a bit scary to walk around with a tray of food when everyone was bowling on the wii!!! there were also fog machines, which were a bit annoying after awhile. i am helping him again on tues.

i have done some babysitting for leisa as well. her kids are wonderful, very well behaved. there is josie (9 months), gabe (2 years), and hannah (4, but turns 5 on sunday). hannah and gabe both have very red hair, ill try to get a picture to post up here.

my life has become a bit routine, which really is a bittersweet thing. while i enjoy my free time it is a bit difficult to find motivation. speaking of motivation i better finish this post and attempt to get some things done!

thanks for checking in.

it has been a long time....

2008-07-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

... since i last updated my blog! i cannot believe how quickly time has passed. since my last post i have had a few adventures and am finally back in melbourne.

my new room wasnt going to be ready until the 27th of july so i decided that it would be a good time to make my way up to newcastle in order to visit the collis family. it had been a long time since out last visit (we figured that last time we saw each other was in 1994!). i bought my ticket and emailed them my itinerary, however the email did not go through so i surprised christine with a call from the airport. she was nice enough to come and pick me up, she had the week off work and didnt mind making a run to the airport. the first day there i went with her to buy a USB stick for her computer, produce shopping, and helped her cook dinner. she also bought a car that first day. it was interesting to sit in with her while the salespeople tried to make her add on all sorts of extras. she held strong and didnt give in to their pitches. she also took me to blackbutt reserve that day. i was able to see all kinds of natural australian animals in their 'natural' habitats. the coolest thing i saw was this tiny baby koala, it couldnt have been more than two inches long. apparently few australians have even seen such a small koala!

the next day christine took me to visit nelson bay. it was really neat to go up the lookout and see some of the smaller islands just off the shore. here are some pictures of the bay.

port stephen

these crazy lilies. i think they look like they belong in jumanji. they were really tall (refer to last photo) and incredibly bright.

another view of the bay

christine took me for a drive around the bush. we ate lunch at jerry's, which is a biker lunch place .

christine eating her sandwich!

that sunday christine and michael had to attend a wedding, so i stayed in and watched 'no direction home' (the bob dylan documentary by scorsese). it was pretty good, i watched 'im not there' a few months ago so it was neat to watch this documentary as well. earlier in the day michael and i went shopping at a german supermarket called aldi. it was the most efficient shopping i have ever experienced! it was amazing how quickly they were able to get people through the store. http://www.aldi.com.au/ almost everything being sold was australian, and fairly priced. amazing.

the next day i decided to make my way into newcastle to see the site. newcastle is an industrial city. i walked around the beach nearer the train station.

here is a view of nobby's lighthouse.

other end of the lighthouse.

view of the city from just under the lighthouse.

more of newcastle.

the bridge to stockton.

katie came down from gosford that night. it was really great to catch up with her. we talked a lot and it seemed like we had been in touch regularly over the last few years. im looking forward to meeting up with her at least a few more times over the next year.
the next day i found a walking path, apparently it used to be the train route but has since been covered with pavement. it now serves as a decent sized walking and cycling path.

the day before i left i decided, with michael's suggestion, to venture to sydney. i dont know anything about sydney and figured i would figure out what i was going to do for the day once i got there. i caught a train at 6:27 am and made the 2.5 hour ride. i arrived at central, got a coffee and called my dad. from there i made my way down to the circular quay. i was going to go to the museum of modern art, however it was only 9:30 in the morning so it was not open. it was at this point i saw a sign for a free ferry ride so i hopped on. i wasnt really sure where the ferry was going, but decided it would be an adventure. turns out it went to a place called cockatoo island. cockatoo has an interesting history. originally it was a prison, and was later converted into a naval shipyard. this year it is also the home of a biennale exhibit. the building were filled with different installation pieces. my favorite artist was william kentridge (http://www.bos2008.com/app/biennale/artist/40). however i only had an hour on the island so i wasnt able to visit all the exhibits.

cockatoo island!

view of some of the buildings.

not sure what these were used for.

large crane.

not sure why anyone would want to go here.....

view of the inside of one of the buildings.

this tunnel had one of the creepiest exhibits. it was pretty much just a recording of someone breathing. veeerrrryyyy creepy. i only walked in about ten steps before i had to turn around.

view of the harbor bridge form the island.

another view of the harbor.

here are a few shots from the ferry ride back. i was one of three on the ferry, talk about a personal ride! i was able to sit right up front. it was pretty cold and started to rain, but the sights were impressive.

the opera house.

after taking the ferry back i was able to meet up with julia. it was nice to see her and we got along very well. she took me to a nice lunch place near her house and then we ventured to bondi beach. super touristy.

a picture of me at bondi beach.

i caught a train home at around 4:30. it was neat to see the countryside between newcastle and sydney. wonderful views.
the trains were pretty amazing as well. they were double decker and the seats could be swiveled to face either direction.
it was a good trip all in all. it was nice to meet with michael and christine and hear all kinds of stories about my dad when he lived in sydney. there were some really funny pictures as well! it helped me to appreciate that they were both young once and had what seems like a different life before having children.
i made my way back to melbourne on thurs afternoon. it was rainy but the flight was pretty uneventful. pat and i made mexican for his roommates again. in total 11 people showed up for the feast. it was a pretty good time, except i invited our friend andy. who turns out is a pretty big creep and kept hitting on all the girls and saying offensive things. dont think we will be meeting up with him again....
friday night we went to acmi for the melbourne film festival. we saw american astronaut, which is one of pat's favorite movies. i tried to watch it once before but fell asleep. i must say it was a lot better this time around.
saturday we attended a 'sweet jelly roll' night on lygon street. it was a 30-50s rock n roll theme night. everyone was dressed up and the music was great. we met up with this girl talor, who pat met on the internet. she is a barista and had a wonderful personality. she was a ball of energy when she showed up, it was good to meet her.

pat as a greaser

me as a 50's housewife.

whooo that was a marathon post. i forgot my notebook at home and i am sure i am leaving something very important out of this post. i will check my notes and post a follow up to this one, it will include all the details i have missed from going off my memory alone.
enjoy all the pictures! until next time.

adorably clueless

2008-07-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

i am officially moved out of my stinky dirty house and it feels great. i have spent the last few nights in my new house on lygon street. it is a great area and there is a great bar called the alderman right next door. i live above a shop and i will post pictures in about a week and a half. i am not officially moved into my new room. the house has five bedrooms and the room i will be renting is not available until the 27th, so chris (the guy i rent from) was nice enough to let me have another room. however this room will only be open for a few more days before someone moves into it. i will then be couch hopping and visit newcastle until my actual room is available. confused yet? i will be leaving for newcastle at 7 am on thursday for a week visit with michael and christine collis. it will be nice to visit another part of australia. also the weather should be a bit warmer there.

since writing in my blog last i have been on a number of adventures. on sunday i went to visit the natural gallery. they have all kinds of special exhibits including prints by otto dix, a video installation from latin america, and (what i went for) an art deco exhibit. it was really neat to see all the different exhibits in the museum, they really have something for everyone. in all it took pat and me about four and a half hours to walk around (and im pretty sure we didnt even see everything). the only problem was the place was packed, we didnt even think about how many more people would be there on a sunday afternoon.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/

we also visited the aquarium. it was a pretty nice set up as well, there were so many fish i had never seen before including some crazy seaweed seahorses. there was also an area called the fish bowl, basically you would stand in this little hallway and fish in the tank would swim over you. there were sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, and other large fish in the tank. the aquarium is located right on the yarra river so before going in i walked along the river and enjoyed the scenery. melbourne is a very pretty town.

yesterday i visited the melbourne cemetery. it wasnt the prettiest i have been to but it was still pretty cool. the place is divided into little cemeteries in order to make up one large one. there is an italian section, jewish section, greek section, catholic section and a few others. here is a picture of the map. it was a wonderful day for walking around, literally the best weather since moving down here. here are a few pictures from the cemetery. it seems this was the only day i remembered to bring my camera... a bit morbid i know.

map of the cemetery

i have never seen so many flowers on a grave, the couple died about ten years ago as well

angel tombstone

there are mountains beyond the city, hard to see in this pic

the cutest garden on rathdowne street

super cute mailbox (they are all over the place!)

entrance to luna park

rainbow from st kilda beach

on a final note (and a final picture) I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT! its very exciting. here is a picture of the little boy due in november.

familiar faces in strange places

2008-07-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

i am in the library and i swear to god brian just walked in. the only way i know for sure it isnt him is because this brian has a long ponytail and is a bit smaller.

moving on... my house is pretty disgusting and i dont think i can handle the cigarette smoke anymore. i am looking at a new place tomorrow which seems a lot nicer. it is about a ten min walk from where i live now, which is good because i like the area.

i spent all of yesterday online sending in for jobs and all of today walking around handing out my cv to restaurants/cafes/shops in carlton. hopefully something will come up in the next week. now i just have to wait for call backs.

here are the pictures i wanted to put up in the last post but couldnt because the internet was too slow.

st kilda pier

st kilda beach

st kilda beach

st kilda beach

that is all the news i have for now. check ya later dudes. :P

the biggest pineapple i have ever seen!*

2008-07-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

*i do realize this is not a real pineapple but it was really funny at the time!

hello again!
long time, no see. sorry i have not updated the blog in awhile, things have been a bit hectic on my end.
last weekend was pretty great. wed before last was fatima (one of pat's housemates) so her girlfriend megan planned a surprise party for that thursday. she did a great job getting all of fatima's friends over to the house to pop poppers in fatima's face. after the surprise we all went to a nice dinner at an indian restaurant down the road. it wasnt very expensive considering there were about 14 people there (13 girls and pat). i got to see the lucksmiths on friday (swoon!) and attended my first ever australian house party on saturday. the lucksmiths show was great, not as good as the london show two years ago though. however it was neat to see them on their own turf and hear everyone around me talking about how many times they had seen them. the house party was pretty interesting. not much different than those at home, except i only knew a few people at this one.
monday night pat and i cooked mexican food for his roommates. all the tortillas a the store looked like they were made of paper so we decided to make them from scratch, and too be honest they turned out to be really good. pat and i are going to set up a mexican food stall at the queen victoria market if we dont find jobs soon.
tuesday i walked down st kilda beach. here are some pictures

actually there will be no pictures here. i am having trouble uploading them and will try again at a later date.

wednesday i finally moved into my house in north carlton. i was very tired for some reason and passed out at about ten that night. the house is pretty nice, i have minimal complaints. my roommates seem nice enough. caroline is irish (a nurse), michelle is english (a nurse as well) and luke is australian (not sure what he does). in total the house has five bedrooms, two kitchens and two bathrooms. i am pretty sure it used to be one big house but was split into two separate apartments but then merged back into one big house again. my room is huge, it is bigger than some studio apartments i have seen. i have my own balcony as well (see pictures below).

view from the front

view of one of the windows. the shade was stuck so i couldnt put it back up!

the other side of the room

all in all the house is alright. a little bit dirty and my roommates smoke in the living room (which is super gross because they told me they didnt smoke inside!). i cant wait until the summer when i can open up the windows and sit on the porch.
the job search is going alright as well. i have applied for a few online and posted my resume on seek.com.au. i have also acquired the phone numbers of a few temp agencies from the girl who used to live in my room. i figure i will register with them and wait until something comes up. i was also fortunate enough to find a babysitting job with michael collis's sister leisa. she has three children. josie is nine months, gabe is two and hannah is almost five. gabe and hannah have beautiful red hair. all three of them are very well behaved, probably the best children i have ever seen.
all of this should bring everyone up to speed. my house does not have internet so i am not sure when my next post will be. probably when something big happens (ie i found a job or something).
until next time!
j

TIM TAM SLAM!

2008-06-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

things are still good on this side of the world, however i seem to have hit a brick wall with my apartment hunting. ive looked at quite a few places but havent seemed to click with any of them. so i am trying to decide if i will stay here in melbourne for an extended time, or start off with some traveling. my weekend is already planned out so i wont be making any decisions until next week. ive spent the last week exploring the city and looking for an apartment. i am trying to find a place to live before settling into a job since i would really like to work close to where i live.

pat has found a really nice place in st kilda (just down the street from luna park) with three lovely girls. they have been super hospitable and dont seem to mind that i am staying on the couch. i am looking at a place tomorrow morning then will be meeting up with michael collis's sister in the afternoon. friday i will be going to see the lucksmiths, then on sat pat's roommate's friend is having a 21st birthday party. it will be nice to go out!

well im a bit shattered at the moment, im having quite a bit of time getting over this jetlag for some reason. also i will post a few pictures soon. i am having trouble finding my camera cord, it is hidden in the depths of my bag.

i will be in touch again soon,
j

its june.....

2008-06-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

... and the leaves are falling!!!!

i made it to australia and the most shocking thing is it is fall here. i knew it would be this way, however it is still a huge SHOCK!!! it is so cold in fact i decided i needed to get some hot chocolate. so here i am having one of the best hot chocolates from a place called 'chocolate by the bald man max brenner' and borrowing wifi from dlink. pat is here too and can confirm the hot chocolate is amazing. this has been a long day, it started about 5 am for me. the jet lag isnt too bad, but i did go to bed at about 6 last night. should be back on track after today. it is still a little too early to call about apartments but will be contacting people this afternoon. my job search will begin once i have found a place to live, i would like to work near my house so i can walk to work. everything is going well and i am looking forward to the next few months. i purchased a pay as you go phone and will be more than happy to give you my number if you send me an email (i think it would be a bad idea to post it up on a public blog....). not much has changed over the last few days, except my location, so i think i will end this post here.

stay tuned for pictures of the new apartment, new job listing, and other important details!

lots of love,
j

moving to australia

2008-06-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

i am moving to australia in about a week, so exciting! i am also egotistical enough to think that you might be interested enough in my move to check in on this blog. :P this blog will allow you to check in on my travels if you would like while at the same time keep your in boxes free of massive email updates. i will try to update it regularly with photos, stories, etc.

thanks so much for your interest.