Monica

Looking back

2010-07-02T23:04:00.003-06:00

Tonight I went back and read my blog from start to finish. It is so funny, oh my goodness. There are times where the past few years have felt like a completely different life and than there are times where I can look back and remember everything I didn't tell you. It was so much fun, there were moments I was actually laughing out loud. Looking back allows me to see how far I've come. I find that I can't usually see the bigger picture or God's hand in every aspect of my life until I look back.

Time for a change...

2010-06-09T22:05:00.007-06:00

First, Gatsby received his summer hair cut. It's like a brought home a completely different dog. I think he lost at least 5oz in hair and he has the energy to prove it. It's exhausting to be the most popular house in the courtyard :) Don't tell him we're going to the vet next week for a bit more than shots...

Next, I decided it was time for a change. I took the plunge and changed positions. Instead of the global Process Improvement Lead for HR, I'm now the HR Business Partner Support in the Americas. Granted this comes with less travel, since Australia isn't exactly considered the Americas...but the hours are GREAT!!! It's been the most bizarre change. For the last couple of weeks I've been working about 45-50 hours a week and I have no idea what to do with myself. I'm thinking about taking up tennis. It's been such a long time. We're still trying to figure out what I do which is half the fun. This gets me closer to HR Generalist again while still keeping a lot of project work that I've discovered I really enjoy.

Since I know I'll be coming home while the sun is up and spring/summer has finally come - its time to ride my bike to work. Every summer I realize there are muscles in my legs I just don't use often enough.

How do you celebrate all these great changes you might ask...you go to DISNEYLAND!!! I was told that I needed to take some time off as a condition of my new offer :) so one of my friends and I are going to one of the happiest places on earth. It's been almost 8 years since I've been to Disneyland, I'm totally excited.

Gatsby

2010-04-29T14:02:00.002-06:00

So this is a picture of my little guy. This picture is a couple months old, but its the best one I have. Every time I try to take one his black eyes disappear into his face. I'll have to get Ashley to try again once we get cleaned up.

By no stretch of the imagination am I trying to compare having a puppy to having a baby, but it was a lot harder then I remember. The potty trips in the middle of the night, going to the bathroom all over the house (even after we just came inside), and chewing everything except his toys. We are making progress and its been so much fun.

Its amazing how quickly your life can change when someone else depends on you. I need to make sure I'm not gone for long stretches of time so I can take him outside, going outside in my pj's for the potty run (my neighbors are seeing a completely different side of me). Gatsby is also the favorite in my courtyard. On warm days our door bell rings about 10 times asking if Gatsby can play. And to go out of town for a weekend I needed to find a puppy sitter - thanks mom & dad :)

He weighs just over 6 pounds and is getting all his shots taken care of. We start puppy school in 3 weeks, I'm pretty excited - hopefully we both learn something new.

New Arrival

2010-02-17T09:27:00.003-07:00

Isn't he cute? His name is Gatsby and I'm hoping to pick him up in the next couple of weeks. Apparently he's a bit of a mama's boy and is more content to drink milk then eat solid food. I'm really excited about the new adventure. My mom is also getting his brother, Kirby. Kirby is the black and white one.

Catch-up

2010-01-07T19:17:00.002-07:00

So we've all accepted the fact that I am terrible at keeing you updated on my life. Does it help everyone if I tell you I'm REALLY boring? I feel better already. Let's see what's happened...

I arrived safe and sound. I can't tell you how exciting it was to leave 90 degree weather, 80% humidity and land in 24 degrees and snowing. It would be an understatment to say that I was cold - I'm fairly sure my lips turned blue walking in the parking garage. All I could think was that I sure hope no one asks me where I'm from because I wasn't handling it like a Utah girl. Once I made it home I was immediately on vacation. Did you know I only took 2 days leave before December, not counting holidays? I didn't either. Even though I was on vacation, I was still on call as HR finished year-end activities. There's nothing better then getting that phone call and knowing they can't live without you :)

Otherwise I've been pretty boring. Christmas at my mom's with my niece and nephew (grown-ups too), party downtown for new years eve and an awesome mocktail party to start off the new year.

And now its back to life as I know it - work, work, work. I am trying to pay attention to my work-life balance, but I'm thinking that's what April is for.

Time to go home again

2009-12-15T23:48:00.002-07:00

So it looks like I'm not much better at updating my blog when I'm away from home.

I can't believe that its already time to go home again. The past 4 weeks have gone by so quickly that it feels like it all happened in a snap of my fingers. Overall it was really productive and I got so much done so much faster then I could have from SLC. Its been so humid and so hot, I'm not sure how I'll do in the freezing cold snow. I'd like to tell you that my hours got better, but they only marginally improved.

Its been fun to come back again and see so many friends and places I love. When I moved to Brisbane in July of last year I absolutely hated it. The food made me sick, I didn't know anyone outside of the office and I had no idea how the city worked - just to name a few. It took me probably a good 2 months to learn to enjoy my time here and to figure things out. Coming back, I'm not sure what I expected. Interestingly enough, while SLC will always be home this trip felt a little like returning home as well. Its been fun to see and hangout with friends that I normally only talk to on the phone or chat with online and see some of my favorite places. Its something to stop and think about, or maybe its just me. Its one of those bittersweet moments.

What happens when...

2009-11-25T21:25:00.003-07:00

So what happens when you mix flat shoes, a flat surface, cell phone in bag, no ice, no water, no snow? What happens is you get Monica falling face first onto the sidewalk for no reason other then my inability to walk in a straight line. The goodnews is that the hotel has been fantastic and I'm using crutches (kind of) in a country without any ice or snow. The bad news it that my left foot is the size of my thigh. We all know how well I handle pain, so lets just say its not going well. Oh and did I mention that overnight all the other bruises on the rest of my body appeared and its nearly impossible to use crutches when the palms of your hands are bruised?

Don't worry, the x-rays prove that its only a sprain. Hopefully a minor one since I am supposed to be working.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm thankful for tylenol and room service.

Let the fun begin

2009-11-19T02:38:00.002-07:00

Today feels like one of the longest days of my life. I left SLC at 8:25pm on Tuesday and landed this morning (Thursday) in Brisbane at 8am. My meetings started at 10am so I was running. Thankfully I have trained myself exactly what to do while travelling so I was able to fall asleep about 10 minutes after they served dinner. For the most part I slept for about 9 hours, off and on, but enough that I haven't fallen over dead today.

I even called the hotel from LAX to have them get my room set up and have crackers in the room - jet lag usually makes me nautious, anyone remember last time I came to Australia????

Its nearly 8pm, so I'm going to call it a night. My blackberry isn't working, but hopefully the SLC office gets it working while I sleep - I promise I made it Mom.

On the Road Again...

2009-11-16T14:09:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I'm no longer grounded. I received the call last night and I board the plane to Brisbane tomorrow evening. I will come home in time for Christmas, but this means its the 3rd year in a row that I have to miss out on the FANTASTIC after Thanksgiving shopping. Between Africa and Australia, I know its been hard.

That said, I will be updating my blog a lot more often. I always feel like my life is more exciting outside of Utah and it keeps my mom calm if I give updates regularly.

And how bad can it be to leave the snow and head to the beach? I already have tickets to New Moon on Saturday.

Ashley Jones Photography

2009-11-10T10:07:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone, my sister is starting her own photgraphy business and has created a blog, check it out and spread the word if you wouldn't mind. There is also a link on the right hand side on my blog.

ashleyjonesphotography.blogspot.com

Grounded

2009-10-15T00:43:00.003-06:00

For all of you who have been wondering, mostly because my mom can't stop talking, it looks like I won't have any immediate travels in my future. I was pulled off the project that would possibly have had me traveling again, this is a good thing I promise. So until I finish off a few other projects, I'm definitely grounded.

This means I will get to have trick-or-treaters at my house, is it retarded I'm so excited for that? And maybe I can still pull a trip with the girls for Corie's birthday. And it means I'll be around for my favorite time of year, leaves changing and the first snow fall - not that a trip down under during the middle of winter wouldn't be welcome, hey it could still happen...

Give an Inch and You Take a Mile

2009-07-19T22:28:00.005-06:00

So I show you a picture of my house and now you want to see the inside. Here are some pictures of my family room, dining room and kitchen. If you want to see anymore you are going to have to come knock on my door.

So my couches are seafoam green. I originally ordered the same couches in cocoa, but after a couple of months of waiting and two stores, I was finally told they were not allowed to even sell me the couches in that color. After the customer service manager made me cry, the store manager took over my account and I ended up taking these couches. I absolutely love them and I cannot even imagine having cocoa--I think the seafoam adds a little something extra. What do ya think?

My house has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2 car garage, and a fun gas fire pit in my fenced side yard. The basement is unfinished which works out perfect for my storage - my suitcases don't mind at all :)

I think that about covers it, any more questions?

Home Sweet Home

2009-07-09T14:52:00.003-06:00

Okay so here you go, here is a picture of my house. I'm only a few months late, but better late then never...

A little update...

2009-07-03T04:17:00.005-06:00

Well, I guess its time for a little update since I haven't done anything in almost 2 MONTHS! Sometimes I forget that this is how people know I'm still alive.

In a nutshell, things are going so much better. My brother-in-law is home from bootcamp which means Ashley and the kids are beyond happy. Scott is doing absolutely amazing. He has been walking around and now he is even rairly without a cane - such an old man :) It really does amaze me how quickly he moved from walker to crutches to a cane to relatively nothing.

Okay, that pretty much wraps of my family. The next post will be pictures and a bit more about me and I promise I won't wait 2 months.

Change in Karma

2009-04-07T05:35:00.002-06:00

So lets just put it out there, this post is not going to be all that cheerful. I'm not really good at journals and I kind of need to write some things out. Since some of you are aware of the situations and probably want an update of sorts, I figured this could probably work to a level.

I'll be honest, things have been going pretty well in my family for a couple of years now. Not that anything has gone as planned, but it hasn't really been bad either. In the last 2 weeks I feel like my entire world has turned upside down. On top of buying a house and moving our of my parents basement, on March 11th my brother, Scott, had a tumor removed from his right foot--it was a big deal but not huge, he had the tumor removed a couple of years before. And then about 10 days ago the doctor called and said that the tests on the tumor revealed that it was an agressive type of cancer (I don't the name), but amputation was the only option. Scott has been so brave, last Monday he and my parents met with the doctor and it was decided that if he wanted any realy chance of a normal functioning life he would have his right foot removed at mid calf--it was better than the option that removed half of his foot. And to add to my mom's stress, my dad went in for surgery on Friday to have a hernia removed and it turned into a double hernia removal. The day of my dad's surgery, my mom and Scott went to visit with the amputee doctor while Ashley was with my dad. that seemed to be the turning point for Scott, I'm not sure it was real for him until that meeting and the therapies and recovery times were discussed.

In spite of everything, I am so grateful for so many things. My mom is healthy at the moment and is handling everything so well; Ashley is still living at home with her family and is a much needed support and help, priesthood bleassings, meals from my mom's visiting teachers, my extended family which has been there from the first second (as I knew they would be), and amazing friends. I've been a wreck for the last week and I hope I've been able to hide it fairly well. Let my apologize to any of you who have had to deal with me after I've had any time to myself to think--I haven't done well at keeping the red puffiness out of my eyes.

It seems so ironic that now that Scott has finally gotten his life in order and was getting ready to go back to school, he has to deal with a life changing challenge that no 21 year old should have to face (no one should have to face this). He never ceases to amaze me with his strength. I know he's struggling and is trying to deal with this as he best knows how, but in honesty he is handling this so much better than I am and I'm not the one having surgery tomorrow.

I know that this will work out perfectly and I know that this is part of a bigger picture that I cannot begin to comprehend right now, I know it all without a shadow of a doubt--but it doesn't make it any easier.

Sorry for the complaining; I don't like to be so negative and I'm sorry I still don't have pictures up.

I've Moved, again

2009-03-26T14:10:00.002-06:00

Well, I've done it...I moved out of my parents basement and into my own home.

I've been feeling like I needed to get my own place for a while, but like anything else that I feel is right to do I delay it as long as possible. Thankfully moving to Australia gave me a very good reason. But when I moved back home in December I knew that it was the next step for me.

My office is in Daybreak and I have always liked Daybreak--small yards, HUGE plus if you have no kids and are allergic to grass--but I refused to pay full price and I was on the impossible mission to find THE DEAL. It took some time, but I found what I wanted and I'm only a couple of blocks from the new temple and 5 minutes from my office.

I don't have any pictures just yet, but I'll get some up soon. Thanks so much to my family and friends who had to deal with the crazy and always changing moving schedule and the patience to deal with me on the verge of a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

If you're ever out my way let me know.

Draper Temple Open House

2009-01-17T22:04:00.003-07:00

I had the great opportunity to walk through the Draper Temple today as part of the open house. It was great, we were able to go through with almost all the Patterson's and it was neat to see all the little kids walking so reverently finally being able to see the inside of the temple.

The temple is absolutely gorgeous. The ordinance rooms are painted with scenes of the Wasatch Front and are absolutely stunning and the Celestial Room was truly celestial.

I've been so fortunate to be able to live so close to temples my entire life. They are so close and I do not go nearly as often as I should. Even while living in Brisbane, I was fortunte enough to have the temple only a 2-minute drive or a 45-minute walk. Going more often will be one thing I work on this year.

If you live close enough, I hope you get the chance to go through the open house.

Home Again

2008-12-22T22:25:00.002-07:00

Sorry, I've been terrible at blogging the last little while. I have finally made it home and it has been fabulous. I started sleeping through the night a couple days ago and finally did all my laundry and unpacked the suitcases. Tomorrow my parents, Scott and I head to Orlando for a Christmas in the sun. It should be great and I'm excited to go have some fun. Ash and Kimball and the kids are spending Christmas with Kimball's parents so its not a complete abandonment.

I'll make sure to blog again soon.

Santiago

2008-12-08T00:36:00.002-07:00

Santiago was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was beautiful. This was my whirlwind stop on my journey--I landed at about midnight on Thursday, I had training all day Friday and then Saturday on of my colleagues took me out to see some of the sites in the city.

Sole took me to a little village type setup in the courtyard of an old white church. In the courtyard is a ton of little stores with everything handmade by Chile locals. It was really cool to see everything. If I wasn't already dragging along 2 crazy heavy suitcases on this months journey I could have really done some damage. It was funny to see all the missionary pairs around every corner.

After that we went back to Sole's house for lunch with her family and then they took me around downtown Santiago and up to see the virgin that overlooks the city on the hill. I didn't get any pictures of the virgin because it actually felt disrespectful.

Overall it was great, I just wished I had more time.
Next stop is London, but I have a layover in Madrid so I will get to have lunch with my Uncle Bryan and his family.

One more week and then I'm home...

Johannesburg

2008-12-02T14:26:00.003-07:00

South Africa is continuing to open my eyes to the world I've never seen. As I've been reflecting on everything that I'm thankful for I can't help but think of everything I've seen. On my way to the Rhino & Lion Park I drove through one of the 'communities'. I know my driver was trying to make a point or maybe to get some sort of donation, but as we drove by the hundreds maybe thousands of shacks no bigger than a 8x8 square I couldn't help but be grateful for everything I've been given. No matter what I might think I have need to complain about, I know I will never be forced to live without a roof over my head or forced to go to work in my bare feet. It truly was one of the most humbling experiences. Words can't express the thoughts or emotions I had, but I hope we all take some time and are grateful for what we have.

Moving on to the Park...I had the chance to go to the Rhino & Lion Park over the weekend. Its like a Yellowstone but with African animals--does that make sense? Some of the lions were behind a chain link fence, otherwise there was nothing between them and me but the car. I saw 3 wild hippos, I pet a WILD zebra who was just off the reserve, white lions, wild dogs, and yes even rhinos. Unfortunately, the rhinos were too far away for my camera to be able to tell the difference between the rhinos and rocks. All in all it was a great day and one I will never forget. Here are some pictures...

Feeling Better in Polokwane

2008-11-24T09:05:00.005-07:00

Okay, so I'm feeling much better about my surroundings today. I've been here for a couple of days, but since as a white, female, american I'm not really encouraged to be out and about I haven't seen anyone or anything for days. When you already know the country isn't the safest (4 security guards in 50 feet, do you get the picture?) I have been jumping at every little sound--especially at night.

Being out among the living today really did me good. I almost cried when I saw the mission president walk in with his badge on for breakfast this morning. I mean really, the place can't be that dangerous if the mission president and his wife live in my little cottage hotel setting.

Also, probably one of the hardest training days in my entire 3 week expedition is now over AND they invited me out to dinner with them. That's right, I made friends--lets ignore the fact that its practically a company obligation and I am the white, female, american in country that doesn't really like me. Its okay, I'll take it where I can get it--and I'm probably the one buying tonight since I have the bigger budget.

Here is a picture of my cute little cottage/hotel room. I have a front room with 2 couches, a kitchenette, bedroom, and a bathroom. And don't forget the cute old lady who brings me my water (still and sparkling) and always seems to be the one to make my breakfast and clean my room. She was sad I wasn't moving in, sweet.

Okay, and here is my electric fence. Its probably 3 feet tall, on top of my 6-7 foot cement wall with a steel gate. And at night I also have 2 security guards. Don't worry, perfectly safe.

The Journey Begins...

2008-11-20T05:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, well the time has come. I leave for South Africa tomorrow. I'll try to keep you posted on the adventures to come.

Packing Again

2008-11-13T20:13:00.002-07:00

Well it seems like the time has flown by so fast, but it is time to pack my life up here in Brisbane and prepare to move back home. They are coming to pack up my things on Tuesday and I fly out on Friday the 21st--can anyone believe that I've been here for 4 months already?

Its amazing to see how things change. When I first arrived I was counting the days and weeks I was here and I thought 5 months would pass so slowly. Looking back it went faster than I would have though possible. Thankfully with my mom and Ranee coming down I was able to see a ton of things I hadn't made time to see and revisit the ones I say back in the beginning. In addition to Sydney, I think we saw everything in a 2 hour radius of Brisbane.

This weekend is my souvenir shopping expedition so I can have everything shipped home with my things. Since the US dollar is so strong here right now, everything's on sale and its a bit funner to shop. If there's anything anyone wants let me know and I will see if I can grab it for you. I will make sure to have my US cell phone on this weekend so you can call.

Even though I'm leaving Brisbane next week, I won't actually make it home again until mid-December. The project has another GoLive on the 24th so with that means more training and another whirlwind of travel. I'm actually getting pretty excited--this batch is a bit more exotic. I will be spending 2 weeks in South Africa, a few days in Santiago, Chile and almost a week in London. It sounds good, but traveling in two hemispheres means I have to pack for the hot and cold. I was quite nervous about the travel but the local offices are really taking care of everything so it is allowing me to actually get excited to see the new places. I will take plenty of pictures and I might even be able to squeeze in a safari--not Kilamnajaro, a real one.

Sorry this post is so long but its a little snap shot of the craziness at the moment. Talk to you soon.

Day at the Beach

2008-11-07T05:19:00.004-07:00

Well, since most of you have been out shoveling snow I thought I would show you what Ranee, my mom and I did today. It was Ranee's first time in the ocean and she was actually pretty brave, but by the end of the day she looked a little worn out.

Here are some of the other highlights of the day...

We've been plenty busy and I'll get some pictures up soon. Don't worry though, my mom and I are keeping Ranee out of trouble. When she wanted to jump into the bay to touch a jellyfish we didn't let her. And when she wanted to touch the "two-headed lizard" we tried to stop her. You know my mom and I always the sense of reason--please we've been able to trick Ranee into almost everything she's done so far. She's started to learn that when we tell her she should do something by herself that it probably isn't the smartest thing to do. Now we almost always have to show her how to do it before she trusts us enough to do it herself.

Definitely Moving Home

2008-10-04T20:58:00.002-06:00

Well its official, I'm definitely moving home in December. Most of you probably don't know that it was actually a decision I've been trying to make over the last 6 weeks. To sum it up, I was asked to move to Brisbane for at least another year and it was a harder question to answer than I thought even though I knew the answer as soon as they asked the question. Brisbane is great, the people are very nice and the country is beautiful but it has been very hard to adjust to. As nice as the people are, they are not that welcoming and are more clickish than high school. But Australia is also so far from home and everyone I love and it would really feel like I would be putting my life on hold. So I'll be moving home sometime before Christmas. I haven't been able to finalise the dates as yet because I will be traveling again for the end of November and the beginning of December.

The great news is that my mom and Aunt Ranee are going to come see me in a couple of weeks and I couldn't be more excited. They will stay for 10 days and we will try and see everything, including hopefully a drive down to Sydney. This is probably the best news I've had all month and can hardly stop talking about it to anyone who will listen.

Otherwise my life is pretty much back to normal again. My project has another GoLive end of November but the good news is that this one is smaller for me than the last one, so no more 23 hour days, we are only working 10-12 hours a day and only 5 days a week (mostly). Talk soon...

Sleeping like a baby

2008-09-19T20:03:00.003-06:00

Well, the last 3 weeks have been more than busy. I did get to spend 4 days with my family in beautiful Cancun--that was relaxing. It was fantastic seeing everyone again, despite my crying fit at the Cancun airport--that is a story that is only funny if someone tells you--lets summarize, 30 hours on a plane arriving in a country that does not speak english and having 4 hotels with the same name within about 2 miles (one of them was mine).

From Cancun I spent a few days in Salt Lake City, sorry for nearly everyone I didn't get to see. Unfortunately this was not an extension of the vacation it was mostly work, but I did get to take my manager Sole up to Park city and then treat her to a good old Patterson BBQ.

Perth, it took 20 hours to get there, I was there for 30 hours, got on a plane and landed in London 30 hours later. Good thing I can train quickly.

London was really fantastic, but I have to admit that I was completely exhausted by this point. I spent Sunday and Tuesday as a tourist with my training on Monday. It was great and I was able to see nearly everything that a tourist should including the 19 State Rooms in Buckingham Palace. I will try and get some pictures up soon.

I was in Perth on Friday and I landed back in Brisbane the following Thursday and I think I nearly slept for 24 hours straight. As much as SLC is home and flying into the valley is one of my favorite things, walking into my apartment was one of the best sites to realise that the traveling was over. Not to sound like too much of a baby, but in the last 7 days I spent more time on planes and in airports than I did anywhere else--exhausting even if I can sleep flat on the plane.

I'm appreciative for the opportunities that I've had and I'm even more glad to be on solid ground for a good 6 weeks, and then I'll start again but mostly sticking to the middle part of the world.

Life of Chaos

2008-08-26T09:02:00.002-06:00

Okay, so things are definitely getting crazy and not much is going to change in the near future.

The project goes live on Monday, 1 Sept which pretty much means I don't get to sleep until the plane on Sunday. Yes, that's right I'm leaving before the GoLive but I'm sure they will survive without me. I am taking 4 days of holiday with my family in Cancun, thank goodness I gain a day going that direction.

I will be in SLC from the 5th-9th. From there I will fly to Perth for 11th-12th, then I fly to London 14th-17th and then I come back to Brisbane. Don't worry, with the exception of Cancun I am working, working, working.

While I'm not looking forward to living out of an airplane and a suitcase, I am excited about the new places to see in the upcoming weeks.

Hopefully I see some of you soon.

North Stradbroke Island

2008-08-23T07:21:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we also went to North Stradbroke Island. I was told that this was one place I had to go while I was in Australia and I completely agree. It was absolutely AMAZING. It was so beautiful, even the ferry ride over was breathtaking.

We were hoping to see some whales, but apparently they were further off from the shore than usual. We did see some dolphins, but they were just 'floating' in the water so you can't even see them in the pictures, but it was still neat. The water is so blue, the sand is so soft, the pelicans, the fishing boats, and of course the homemade ice cream was fantastic.

Anything I say and the pictures don't even do the day justice, but definitely a day I hope I don't ever forget.

EKKA

2008-08-23T07:14:00.003-06:00

Last weekend a few of us went over to the EKKA. Apparently that is slang for Exhibition here in Australia, I don't really get it. This is HUGE, way bigger than Draper Days. It lasts about 10 days and you even get a day off to go. Our day off was supposed to be on the 13th, of course I was working so we went on the last day to at least see what it was all about.

It was a huge carnival with a monster ferris wheel and everything, shops, international food, and every animal show you can imagine--including chickens. Mostly Sole and I enjoyed the shopping, but we watched this horse whisperer that was pretty incredible--reminded me so much of Carl.

Adventures

2008-08-10T03:15:00.005-06:00

Here is a taste of what I've been up to...

Lone Pine-July 26th: Lone Pine is a koala sanctuary. I spent a few hours there looking at all of the koalas, kangaroos and other animals. The animals in this amazing country will never cease to amaze me. The Larakeets, the pretty little rainbow birds...while they might be pretty, attacked me. I happened to walk down a path during feeding time and their feeding bowls are a dark brown and circle in shape, apparently looking much like my head. Those around me found it very funny as they kept landing on me trying to find their food--needless to say I didn't stick around long. Did you know the white spots on the koala's bottom is because of gas. So, the more white spots...

Gold Coast-August 3rd: Eliz and her boys took me down the Gold Coast to Coolangatta, Point Danger, and Surfers Paradise-I'm sure we went a few other places as well, but I can't remember their names. On our way home, I couldn't help but take pictures of some of the street signs and the wild wallabie we saw from the road.

Esplanade-August 9th: We went to a park on the coast, it was absolutely beautiful. The boys had fun playing and I had fish n' chips.

Elizabeth

2008-08-10T03:00:00.003-06:00

Elizabth has been my saving grace while I've been here. Eliz is the lead consultant with me, she really is the brains in this operation. She has the pleasure of sitting next to me all week (and trust me when I say we are not working 8-5) and then graciously allows me to spend at least one day of the weekend with her and her family.

I didn't realize until last week how home sick I really was and realized that while I have moved to various places around the USA, I have never really done it by myself--I've always known at least one person. Here I was brave enough to move to one of the farthest points from home without knowing a soul before I arrived, really. If my geography is not mistaken, I believe Perth Australia is the farthest point from SLC and I am only two hours closer to SLC than Perth.

Back to the topic...Eliz, her boys and her husband have kindly made me feel like I belonged here and that despite how lonely I can feel, this really was the right thing for me to do--she is truly an answer to my prayers.

With the exception of maybe a couple of places, I'm there because Eliz is there and if there is a picture of me there--its because she is behind my camera.

Curbs and Windshield Wipers

2008-08-10T02:52:00.002-06:00

Well, I've now had a car for two weekends in a row and to my knowledge I have not killed anyone including myself. Lets just say that everything about the car was completely backwards, the only thing consistent was that the gas was still to the right of the break, but otherwise it was all on the wrong side--including me.

Nearly everytime I get in the car, I get in on the wrong side. Once I'm in I like to turn my widshield wipers on to super fast instead of indicating a right hand turn. Also, did you ever notice that at home you align the car with the left lane on the road, at least I do, as a result I keep trying to align with the left but that means my car swerves out of my own lane onto the curb--so embarrassing. So it is definitely a conscious effort to keep the car in between the two lines on the wrong side of the road.

Its been good though, I've been able to drive out to Elizabeth's house and then she and her family become my tour guides and make sure I see everything I can within driving distance.

I keep meaning to take pictures of the cars, but keep forgetting--next weekend. Right now I'm only getting a car on the weekends because I don't have a car park in my apartment yet, I'm on the waiting list. Hopefully by the time I get back to Brisbane beginning of September they will have one ready for me and then I can keep the car until December.

Clear the Roads

2008-07-31T21:25:00.003-06:00

Okay, this weekend is it--I'm getting a rental car. And don't worry I'm sure there will be no problems driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car. Be grateful you live on the other side of the world.

Not related to driving, the last few days I have been out in the city during the day and I have felt like I was at Hogwarts. The judges and official people all wear these black robes and some actually where WIGS. You know the blonde wigs that are curled like Shirley Temple--so far I've only seen men with the wigs which I think makes it even funnier. I think my office must be between a couple of legal buildings because there was a moment when I realized how muggle I am.

Beep Beep or Whoop Whoop

2008-07-27T05:28:00.002-06:00

So this morning I woke to the loadest BEEP BEEP BEEP in the world. The fire drill travels through the apartment PA system of which I have three speakers--keep in mind that my entire apartment can probably fit in my parents family room. I quickly grabbed my purse, passport, wrap and flipflops and ran down the 10 flights of stairs, only to realize that I had no idea which floor emptied to the street and the fireman had to tell me which door was the exit--I'm sure I was quite the sight to be seen in my pajamas, didn't comb my hair and quite hysterical because the building could be on fire and I don't know how to get out of the cement stairwell.

On the street there weren't that many people considering there are roughly 150 apartments in my building. That's when I remembered BEEP BEEP BEEP means stay put and wait for instruction, evacuation is WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP. Eventually more joined us and the apartment above me evcuated shortly after me. Don't worry we had three fire trucks and after about 30 minutes we were allowed to go back in the building. Thank goodness I was in the 2nd elevator because the first elevator got stuck.

I'm still not quite sure what happened, the smell was terrible (but not smoke) and the floor below me had the sprinklers go off (at least one of the four). I saw that guy in the stairwell and I'm pretty sure that he looked worse completely drenched and slightly gray and I think he was more confused than I was.

Church was good too, but definitely not as eventful as the morning--don't forget the basics...

Redcliffe & Montville

2008-07-23T21:05:00.002-06:00

Okay here are the pictures from last weekend. Redcliffe was the town on the coast and Montville was the town in the mountains.

Facebook

2008-07-21T17:02:00.000-06:00

Who wants to be my friend?

A Homesick Moment...

2008-07-21T03:49:00.000-06:00

Sorry I was surfing the blogs and realizing how much I have already missed in only 10 days - could you all please slow down and wait for me to get home???

The other day, it must have been your Friday night, I called home and was talking to my mom. I decided to talk to Kaden and he proceeded to tell me how he was watching Mickey Mouse with MaMa and Mickey was funny. When it was time to go I told him I love you and he said "I love you too" - I started crying and my mom thought it was pretty funny. Who would have thought a 2.5 year old could be so sweet without even trying.

Its times like that where I wonder if the 5 months will go by fast enough. To all you missionaries, I don't know how you did it. I'm able to talk to my family one a day or so, email, my beautiful blog, so many great ways to stay in touch.

Kylee, Erika and Kelsey - thank you for the pictures you drew before I left, they are definitely the best part of my apartment.

Love you guys!!!

Setting up House

2008-07-21T03:27:00.000-06:00

Things here have been more than busy...I finally have food in the house. It took me all evening on Friday and one trip on Saturday to get a decent amount of food in the fridge and cupboards. You wouldn't think it would be so hard considering I only live a 5 minute walk away from the grocery store, but its amazing how much you can't get when you have to carry it all back with you again. So you know, when I said I didn't like the cheese, that includes Mac 'n Cheese - I still have to confirm with Easy Mac but I'm thinking its not going to be good because that will be the powder cheese as apposed to the cheese in a can.

Tonight was shopping for the cleaning supplies - dishwashing detergent and laundry soap mostly. At the grocery, I found some cheap cover girl mascara - only $14.

The rest of my things are scheduled to arrive in Australia this week, so I should have all of my stuff by week end.

This past weekend I went up to the Sunshine Coast with some friends from work, we had lunch by the coast and then after we headed over to a small "mountain" village - it was absolutely breathtaking. I will get the pictures up soon. They loved my accent - I'm still not sure mine is the most interesting. Next weekend we are going to go down to the Gold Coast for a walking hike.

I found out this weekend that I might be home for a few days in September to deliver some training at the North America office - I will keep you posted.

Livin' Down Under

2008-07-17T17:58:00.000-06:00

Okay, here are the long awaited pictures of my stunning apartment. I actually think it is pretty cute, its little, but it works for me. Don't forget to decide whether to half flush or full flush...

I also have added some pictures of Brisbane and the temple. This weekend I am going to the Sunshine Coast and I will put those pictures up next week.

Jet Lag and Evacuation

2008-07-14T23:03:00.000-06:00

Let's just say that this has probably NOT been my best week at work (and we are only two days in). Let's do a quick recap, sparing the details you don't really need to know.

I am well familiar with jet lag and I know that I don't feel the impact until the day after I arrive. Traveling this way is not usually the problem, its usually worse when I travel back to the states. This trip was absolutely the exception. About 10am yesterday I started to have a headache and nausia, all acceptable and expected since I arrived on Sunday. Normally lunch resolves the matter, but unfortunately it seemed to make it worse. I became really dizzy and actually went and took a rest for about 20 minutes in the First Aid room.

About 2pm I had a meeting with a number of people, I excused myself before the meeting really began to go to the restroom and made it about 5 steps out of the conference room before I think I lost everything I ate for the last week-perhaps that was too much information. In order for you to fully understand what this means, we work in an open plan environment meaning we are all in cubicles and remember I haven't really worked with this team for the better part of 6 weeks and many I had not yet met. It was absolutely terrible, I was unable to control anything for a good minute and required assistance to make it to the restroom. I felt much better afterwards in case any of you were wondering. I actually still went bowling with the team that evening; many actually didn't even know what had happened-they knew I went home, they just didn't realize it was to change my clothes and shower--do you understand how big of a deal this was considering I don't usually even get sick when I have the flu.

Thanks Mom for letting me cry and my way back to the apartment even though it was pretty much midnight for you.

Today was much better in comparison, it was supposed to be an extremely busy day but at about 9am we were evacuated due to a gas leak and were not actually allowed back in the building until 1pm--another day completely gone. Really frustrating considering that I only received my computer today and I still haven't figured out how to get my phone to work and my US phone is dying and I can't seem to get it to take a charge--I'm still working on this one.

All in all I don't think it can get much worse since the team has seen me at my absolutely lowest point of humiliation.

I will try and post pictures of my apartment this week--its actually pretty cute.

Small Planes

2008-06-27T22:20:00.000-06:00

I have officially decided that I am done with small planes for a little while. Of the last 8 weeks or so, I figure that I have only been home for about 15-20 days and most of that has been travel on small planes. It always takes so much longer to get everywhere. This latest excursion for example, I had three days of travel for 8 hours of training. The trip was successful, but so exhausting.

Don't get me wrong, I have been to some fun and interesting places in the last year: Yellowknife, Canada; Juneau, Alaska; Gillette, Wyoming; Boron, California; Labrador City, Canada; Orlando, Florida; and Brisbane, Australia. The opportunity to see so many places in this world has given me such an appreciation for God's creations and the sheer majesty of his power and love.

As tired as I am right now, it really has been quite the blessing and a great opportunity. I have met and continue to meet such kind and interesting people that I am fairly confident I would not have met under any other circumstances. I also never thought that I would work in mining. True, I'm not actually the one pulling the minerals out of the ground, but what girl is complete without her own steel-toed boots and hard hat.

Movin' Down Under

2008-06-04T15:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, well its official. I'm back in Utah for about 6 weeks before I relocate to Brisbane Australia until Christmas. I'm moving with work, the project I'm working on is being run out of Brisbane so that's where I'm going. It should be a good adventure and I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I will feel better once I find out if I have the apartment I want--I should find out sometime next week. My requirements were pretty easy I think, NO BUGS! Apparently it is harder to find than I thought.

It will be good and I've moved before without knowing anyone--just never to the other side of the world, I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'll try and keep you all up to date through my snazzy new blog (thanks Ash) but while I'm home I plan on staying plenty busy with family and friend time. Talk to you soon.