March, April, May 2008

I’m back!!! Sorry it’s been a while since my last update. What can I say, I’ve been a very busy girl! :-)

Okay, let’s recap the last couple of months….

Over the 4 day long weekend for Easter, Leah and I flew down to Tasmania. We rented a car in Hobart and drove through Hartz Mountains to Cockle Creek on the south coast. We hiked down to the coast where we could see Antartica...well, sort of! We found a campsite next to some very nice Aussies who let us borrow some of their wood to get a fire going. We made S’mores…Yay! The next day, we drove up to Freycinet National Park on the east coast and hiked around beautiful Wineglass Bay. Our campsite was on the beach and had some amazing views.

The next weekend, I went to V Festival with a few of my football mates. It was a gorgeous day of good music, cold beer, and great friends! You’ll probably be hearing loads about them from now on. We are with North Sydney FC (the football club I joined last year). They are a really great group of girls, and we have so much fun on and off the pitch. We use mostly nicknames, so this list will be pretty funny….Some of them are Judge/German, Doc, Comedy, Salami, Scottish Jenny, Irish, Little Irish, Jess, Heather, and Roxey Music.

I flew to Griffith (a small country town that’s about an 8 hour drive from Sydney) to play in a 9-a-side football tournament with a few girls from the club. It was a blistering 40 degrees, and we only had 2 subs! We played well, but partied a bit too hard Saturday night with some of the Mathildas (the Australian women's team), so we lost in the semi-finals on Sunday morning…Just too hungover to do anything! Judge fell over on the pitch, and the ball wasn’t even near her! :-)

Alana (who I met in Nepal) invited me up for a fun night on the northern beaches with her boyfriend and his mate. We made sushi, and thanks to her boyfriend, who is a fantastic cook, it turned out wonderfully! We had a great night playing trivial pursuit and singing karaoke!

Since the North Sydney FC season has now officially started, we had a fun social in the city to get to know one another a bit better. Lots of alcohol and dancing! We seem to go out every weekend now and find some trouble to get into (which usually involves a few cute boys)! ;-)

I went to the Surry Hills Festival, a fun, outdoor event that is really all about the dogs. I brought Roxie, of course, and we entered a few of the competitions during the day. We didn’t win, but we had a fun time anyways. Doc, Judge, Jess, Salami, and Josie cheered us on!

Steph booked a last minute flight to visit me for about a week and a half….I was so excited to have another visitor from the States! I knew my family would make an effort to come out here, but I never expected anyone else to! She arrived at 7am on Anzac Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_day, and we met up with my football mates at the Kirribilli Pub to play 2-Up. In the evening, we went back to my place for a BBQ and then headed out to the Marly in Newtown for more drinks and dancing. Steph made it until 9pm, a great effort considering she hadn’t really slept in over a day! The next day we went to watch the Waratahs rugby game at Aussie Stadium.
Since I don’t have any holiday time left, Steph was on her own during the week, but I kept her pretty busy with my “Things to see and do in Sydney” list. Anyone who has been out here can be happy to hear that I ran her all around the city as well…May have even caused a few blisters. :-) The following weekend we went to the Blue Mountains. We stayed at a cute little B&B in Oberon. The owner, Patricia, reminded us of Mrs. Doubtfire. :-) Saturday night we went to “The Only Place To Be” pub in Tarana. They sold stubby holders with that saying on it, so of course, we each had to buy one! Sunday we went on a nice 2.5 hour walk through the Grand Canyon, and then stopped at a delicious Austrian bakery before heading back home.

Last night I went to see Stereophonics with a football mate. It was at a great venue, The Metro, in the city….small, so everyone has a good view. It was an incredible show. I’m in love with the lead singer, Kelly Jones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Jones Mmmm…yummy! :-)

Tomorrow, I’m running a practice 21 km and going to see the Newtown Jets rugby game. On Sunday, I’m running in the Mother’s Day Classic 8km run in the Domain and Botanic Gardens before playing football in the afternoon. I’ll be exhausted!

Next weekend is the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon. I’ve been slacking on my training the past couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see how I go. Then, I’m going with some mates to see the Socceroos play Ghana in a World Cup qualifier in Sydney.

I’m exhausted just typing all of this up…Never a dull moment over here!
Oh, yes, and in other news, Heather and Zac just had their beautiful baby girl, Aubrey Leighe Willard. She was born on 5/May at 1:36pm, and was 8lb 10oz, 20.5 inches. Congratulations!!