16.12.2011

Shaun and I went to the shops yesterday to purchase some things for dinner – we made falafels – and look what I found at Coles! If you look closely in the bottom left corner, you can see the cow's name is Heather..... it made me laugh!

Anyways, will write something longer this weekend. We have been in Perth for several days now, and I am so happy to be back. Have been to the beach for the past 3 days in a row, and will be going again in a couple of hours! I am taking heaps of photos, and will start up a new set in Flickr soon.

Can't believe Christmas is coming up so soon! Shaun and I have decided to not buy gifts for each other this year, and I am actually quite happy about this. People get so crazy about spending so much money on meaningless things this time of year – there is so much more in this world that is important!

15.12.2011

I always feel like a badass when I wear this shirt.

9.12.2011

Happy Friday, everyone! Although, for most of you reading this, it is probably still Thursday. This week has been so very busy.... I have had so much uni stuff to do; this is going to be a very busy semester for me! On Tuesday, I had my interview with the Director of the pre-school I will be interning at in January. That all went well and I will start on 9 January. I looked at a couple of flats, and will be turning in another application today. Still haven't heard about the application I turned in a couple of weeks ago.... not too sure what is going on with that. Our flight for Perth leaves later this arvo (another Aussie term for you: short for "afternoon"), so I am busy getting everything cleaned and packed and ready to go. Can't wait to get there!

Sorry for the quick post, but I don't have much time today. Mainly, I just wanted to show you these pictures! I have recently discovered all these wonderful things growing in the back garden at Dryandra. You may remember my post with pictures of the orange tree, and in addition to that, there is a pear tree, mint, oregano and rosemary! How great is that?

Anyways, gotta run. Need to run a few errands and stop by Shaun's office to use the fax machine. Next post location: Western Australia!

Much Love

6.12.2011

More travel photos added to Flickr: Peniche/Porto and Strasbourg

5.12.2011 v.2

Cookie-making day was a success! We made soft sugar cookies with 100s and 1000s (hundreds and thousands – what Aussies call sprinkles!) and cherry-almond butter cookies with chocolate buttons. YUMMY! We listened to Christmas music while we baked, and it was a really nice afternoon. I packaged the cookies up in cute little boxes and delivered them to friends today! I also made extra cookies to take to my trivia team tomorrow night. Did you all know I was on a trivia team? Well, it is true...... we are called The Meerkats and we play trivia at the pub every Tuesday night. We have been on the team since we moved to Canberra, and it really is fun. So, tomorrow is the last trivia night until the New Year, so I thought I would bring some cookies for the team. I hope we win!

5.12.2011

This post is for my sisters – some of my favourite girls in the whole world! So, Coca Cola is doing this marketing campaign here..... not sure if they are doing it anywhere else or not. Anyways, the new campaign is "Share a Coke with _______ ". It could be "Share a Coke with your Nan" or "Share a Coke with Jonathan". They have lots of different names and they are printing this slogan on Coke cans and bottles.

My sisters and I have called each other "Sis" for as long as I can remember, and I really do love the nickname we all share. So, as you might imagine, I was quite delighted when this can (featured in the photo) rolled its way out of the vending machine! It made me think about how lucky I am to have 4 amazing sisters and put a smile on my face. Adrienne, Erika, Jamie and Julienne – I love you all more than you could know!

4.12.2011

On Monday, I started three new classes, so it is back to being extremely busy again. I don't know if taking on so much was really a great idea during the holiday season, but I really want to finish my degree in as little time as possible. The classes I am currently taking are: Numeracy – Birth to 8 Years; Health, Child Protection and Physical Education; and Professional Practice in Early Learning Centres. The last class is pretty much exactly what it sounds like..... I will be working in an early learning centre, full-time for 4 weeks in January. It is going to be a pretty full-on work load, and I hope I don't stress too much.

We leave for Perth in 5 days, so I am pretty excited about that. It will be so nice to be back on the coast! And seeing friends that I haven't seen in a long time is very exciting. Can't wait! But, if I had the choice, I would much rather be back home with family and friends in Tulsa. I can't believe this is my third year to be away from Christmas. As much as I love living here in Australia, it is always hard to be away from home at this time of the year.

I've added more of my travel photos to my Flickr account if anyone is interested in viewing them. Malaysia and Lisbon are now there.

Not much new from me. The weekend has been nice so far. We had dinner at my friend Fatima's house last night, and that was quite nice. Met some new people who seemed really cool and exchanged numbers; I look forward to catching up with them again in the new year. Today, Shaun and I are going to listen to Christmas music and bake cookies to give to our friends as little gifts. I'm actually really looking forward to that, as I haven't really gotten much into the spirit of it all this year. Not sure why, as I generally love the holiday season. Maybe this will give me a kick start though.

Lots of Love