Catch Up

Wow it's been a long time since I've been on here. Alot has been happening. I'm back to normal life, and everything is going wonderfully. Just to mention a few things that I've been up to;

1. Oakbank Easter Races. It was alot of fun this year, I really enjoyed it. Great weather, great friends, great atmosphere. We got a great spot in the race centre, close to the betting area, toilets and the race track. I did put a bet on or two but did a poor job, no wins for me. I did see alot of people I havent seen in so long though; my uncle michael, the lenswood crew, and andrew and his family. Cant wait for next year!

(Liv in the background, and Me enjoying the wonderful sun in the foreground)

(Huw Heffna, Unknown Girl, Kylie and Tim)

2. Jessica and Shayne's new house. They have finally moved out of here and into their new house in Strath. I must say its great that they are gone, even though its much quieter then normal but no fighting Whoh. Their house is beautiful, very homely and warm. I actually brought them a house warming present home from America; a gorgeous hand-painted cherry tile from a little boutique in Hood River. It suits their house so well, as the theme throughout is red and black. Now they are waiting for their tank to arrive, pity it didnt come earlier to catch this great rain we are getting. They also bought a little puppy last weekend, he's so cute! His name is Chevy and he's a 9week old Border Collie. I secretly want him but shhhh.....;)

3. The Painting Adventure. I have recently painted our house (parents house,) it was a HUGE job and boy did I regret saying yes the first day. My body was so sore and the ceilings were terrible to do, however I pushed on and painted everyroom, 14 rooms big and small. The family did help a couple days, however the trainee (mum) wasnt very good! I guess she did get better by the end of her time, she could only get better! hahaha (Don't u agree mum??) Anyway the house is looking fresh and I'm loving my new bedroom colour. I really should take some photos soon, so everyone can see.

4. Friends. It was mum's 50th birthday in March, we didnt celebrate with a huge party as we wanted but we did have a great meal at the Balhannah Hotel and then another meal at Jess and Shayne's. So all and all it was still pretty good! The next birthday was Kim's (best friend) 19th birthday earlier this month, we celebrated with a wonderful dinner at the German Arms and a win on the pokies by me (only a $5 win though.) It was a good night, and I hope she enjoyed too! Today was James' (friend) 18th, Lucy and I celebrated with him over a breakfast at Tea Tree Plaza. Early morning for me! But it turned into a whole day; left home at 8:45am and didnt get home until 5pm, and I went out for BREAKFAST!!! Oh it was alot of fun though. Last time I saw those two, I hit a curb and lost a hubcap off my car and then I bruised my hand from hitting the glass light shade while playing wii. Funny time! But it's great seeing all my friends, they are alot of fun and many laughs.

As you can see below we had alot of fun out at Kim's birthday! (Kim, Kim's boyfriend, James and then Myself)

5. Work. I have a new job at the cafe in the Adelaide Hills Market in Lobethal. First days last weekend, its only weekend work but its alright for the moment. It's a good job, local and it does get busy. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do at the moment, I'm not sure if I want to be a nurse, I think I'm too creative however I have to think about that!!

Anyway I think thats all for now, I'll take some photos of the house and blog again. :)

Some useless facts:

#1 "Natal Cleft" is another word for bum crack HAHA

#2 If a walrus eats enough food, it can grow wider then its length.

#3 43million burgers are sold world wide from Maccas everyday

#4 Couples who marry in January, February and March have the highest divorce rate

#5 An average lab mouse runs 4km per night on its treadmil

HAHA oh I laugh at these stupid facts......

The Weekend

Last night I went to town with Kim, James and Tash. It was a good night, we went to the Griffen Head first, for happy hour. It was good fun there, we put on the juke box and sang, kinda made our own fun. And then we headed to The Elephant down Rundle Street. That was great, they had an awesome band playing which really gets everyone involved. I loved it, alot of dancing!!

I had a great time, pitty about what happened after alot of drinking influenced by James. But now I'm feeling much better.

This weekend we've been moving Jess and Shayne into their new house. Its been a big thing, as they have SO MUCH STUFF. But I think maybe one more load down and that will be it. We can then start moving into their old room ... whoh! It will be good in a way that they've gone, less arguing and room however it will be much quieter, and we can have sleep overs :)

Back home in AUSTRALIA

Sorry I haven't blogged in quit some time.

I'm now back in AUSTRALIA, yay its great here. I'm glad I'm home but nothing has changed. It was so good to sleep in my bed and to have a sleep in. Aww so good!

(my family in New Jersey)

Before I flew home, I flew to Portland, Oregon after leaving New York. It was a good flight, I had a couple of nice people near me so that made time go kind of fast. When I arrived in Portland Stacey picked me up and we went to a hotel, thank gosh as I wouldnt have stayed away all the way to The Dallas. We stayed in a very nice hotel, very modern. And on the friday we went into Portland and did a bit of shopping which was good, as I then finished off my gift shopping. The streets are so gorgeous there, lots of boutiques. On the way to The Dallas we could see Mount Hood and a little bit of Saint Helens, which was awesome! (They are live volcanoes.) When we got into The Dallas, we went out for tea with a few friends. I finally got to meet some people who my family talk about alot. It was a nice little tea, nothing out there but was good.

On the Saturday, Stacey took me down to Hood River which is about a half hour drive from The Dallas. We had lunch at the Golf Club as they had happy hour on. It was such a nice place, it over looked the golf course and the mountains, gorgeous! We did a bit of shopping in Hood River, I bought a house warming gift for Jess and Shayne. I also saw a Bernese Mountain Dog (we use to have one) he was so cute.

I want one!!!

That night we went to the 'Ducks Unlimited Banquet,' it was a fundraising night to raise money to preserve the wetlands for the ducks, but then they shoot the ducks. Little confusing! haha It was a good night though, they had alot of things you could auction on and game you could play. Mitch won a package of clothes which he bidded on. They also had a Golden Lab (dog) there for auction, he was soooo cute. I wanted to bid haha he went for about $600 US, not much considering the bidding started at $500.

Sunday John and Doriene showed me a little around The Dallas and then we went up to, Timberline on Mount Hood. Timberline was named that as thats where the trees stop growing on Mt Hood as its too cold further up. It has a lodge and ski lifts. Nice little place. It was pretty snowy when we got there, a little dangerous actually. It was so cool though, I bought a jumper, and a few other things. Doriene bought me a necklace of the ash from Mount Saint Helens. Shes so nice. After that we headed to a shopping mall where we went to 'Bath and Body Works' where they have some really nice body lotions. And then we went to German restuarant for tea, that was soooo nice. We had a cheese fondue for entree, I then had a pasta dish for main and then we shared a bread and butter pudding and a chocolate moouse. Very good food I really enjoyed it there. We then visited Randy and Mary in The Dallas, as they wanted to see me as they stayed with us here in Australia. Very nice people. By then I was nearly done, such a long day.

Monday, we had a nice breakfast in town at a french cafe. I had the best hot chocolate there, it had cream and chocolate sauce on top. Lovely! Anyway so I have breakfast there and pretty much chilled before we went into Portland to the airport.

From Portland I flew to LA, from LA I flew to Nadi, Fiji. It was a 10 hour flight and luckily the plane wasnt full so I was able to get another seat and was able to spread myself over 4seats, it was so good. I got a pretty good sleep too. :) From Fiji I flew 4hrs to Sydney. In Syndey my flight was cancalled however I was put on the flight an hour later. I finally got into Adelaide at 6pm Wednesday night. :) YAYA. I was finally home.

I havent done much since I've been home, caught up with some friends, and chilled out. I helped Jess and Shayne take a load of stuff down to their new house, moving in next weekend. And then on Sunday I helped Dad and Shayne cut down some trees around home, that was hard work...I might have even worked out the 'American fat.' I had a great weekend.

I'm happy to be home, its good to ge a little sunshine on my very white skin!!!!

This week not much has happened, I had Wyatt Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He has been sick so he was a little grizzly at the beginning of the week but he's much happier now. He's so cute, he just loves smiling and laughing. His favourite toys are the plastic containers, cake tins, and Jack's (dog) toys. He's such a good kid. He loves coming in my room, as its like a place he's not allowed so he feels a little cheeky if he makes it in without getting told off. He managed to come in one day and he found my shower cap. Awww it was such a great photo moment!

This week I decided I should start to get fit as I may have put on a little from my weekend at Nicolette's, but oh what fun we had. I rode this week but my greatest accomplishment was riding 16kms on Thursday :) Whoh! And as I was riding, a looked out the window and saw a few deer, it felt as if I was riding outside.

On the Friday I couldnt be bothered riding, so I took Wyatt for a walk down the street. It was a great day a little cold but we battled on. I was talking away to him when I thought I'll just see what his face is like when suddenly he was ASLEEP! hehe He was so gorgeous. So anyway I pushed on, up this big hill and we stopped at Nikki's bus stop as I didnt want to wake Wyatt up getting him out the stroller so we were waiting for her for half hour, which was a little tough in the cold. We had a good day, that was the second time I've gone for a walk around the area, I havent been more often as it's cold and the motivation is just not there when its cold. I may go for another one if I can be bothered before I leave.

I leave Thursday evening, so thats a little exciting to be heading home. I cant wait actually. To get back to a normal routine, see all my family and friends. However I will miss the america life of eating poptarts lol no no I will miss my family, driving on the right hand side, and the snow (even though its cold.)

Last night my family took me to 'Outback - steakhouse,' its an Australian resturant. Inside they have photos of Australia, didgeridoos and a windmill. It was pretty nice actually. However the food was all pretty american; burgers and fries. However they have pretty good steak, so I think for the second time in my life I ordered steak. I ordered a 7oz filet with veg and sweet potato. It was SO good, I really loved it. I've never had a sweet potato though with brown sugar and soar cream, not sure if I liked that but Wyatt did. :) We even got dessert :D YES! Nikki and I shared, thank gosh too as it was huge, we ordered a 'Chocolate Thunder from Downunder' which was a pecan brownie with ice cream and cream. It was sooooo good, very filling but we did finish it with a struggle. I had a great night out, I loved it. It was very busy in there so obviously Australia is a hit in America. WHOH!!!

That really all from me, today I'm heading to the movies with Ursula to see MILK and something Million. So that will be good.
Take Care and bye for now
SARAH

Mahopac with NICOLETTE

This weekend I headed to Mahopac, (about an hour and half from NYC by train) to see an Australian Au Pair I met at the training school, Nicolette.
As it was the President's Day weekend, my family headed to Upstate NY to snow mobile so I could leave on the Friday. I met Nicolette in 'the city' (aka New York City.)

Firsly we headed to a resturant to eat, it ended up being the restuarant at the bottom of the Empire State Building. It was good, I finally had a BURGER, it wasnt to bad actually, and Nicolette had chicken strips. It would have been cheaper to go to a fast food place, but it was still the experience we enjoyed.

Next stop was going up the Empire State Building. It was an experience getting up there alot of friendly men who worked there giving compliments, a little creepy actually. So Nicolette and I pretty much flew up to the top to see the view, a what a view it was! Oh my Gosh it was great. The day was just gorgeous, clear and a little sun but being so high the wind was blowing hard. But that didnt stop us, we took alot of photos, however we didnt know what we were looking at as we didnt want to pay for a map. HAHA That was Nicolette's fault. haha But we really didnt need a map, we were just in ore of the view. It was SPECTACULAR! I really reccommend it to anyone whoes travelling to NYC, its not all the badly price, $20US for the Obseratory platform. As the sun was taking for ever to set we dicided to leave and get on with some things.

We headed to 'Starbucks' at the bottom and ordered a 'Vanilla Bean Frappe,' with cream and caramal sauce on top. OH man it was sooooo good. That was the drink of the weekend. So good! We got outside and as I was squarting down in my bag, I here a RIIIIPPPPPP :O oh ow, I just stared at Nicolette, she didnt know what happened so I told her and we just bursted out laughing. It was another 'Cannon' moment HAHAHAhaha Oh man...lucky I had my tights on under neath as I had already had a rip in my knee. They were my favourites jeans, and I wore them to death (so to speak.) Awww good time had with them. Anyway continuing with the story, it wasnt all the noticable from behind so I kept walking. Hahaha

Next stop was the Levi's Store :) We were heading there before my jeans ripped. I bought a pair of Levi's, it was probably more expensive there but it doesnt matter, at least I have a pair now :) They are so comfy. As I was putting my ripped jeans back on they ripped EVEN more, it was now noticeable :O

What a memory, I ripped my jeans in the crotch in the middle of NEW YORK CITY. I bet that doesnt happen very often. Last week I fell of the cannon, now this week ripped jeans in NYC. What will next weekend bring......??

We then headed to the Toys'R'Us Store, it has a big faris-wheel (spelling) in the middle of the store. It was pretty cool in there! We took a few photos and left. We needed to get to the train station and buy our tickets before it left.

Once we got to Mahopac we bought some 'choc chip cookie dough ice cream' and digged into it when we reached 'home.' :) It was soooo good, but little piggy's we were. Haha!

On Saturday we went to the local mall, which was about 15-20minutes away. That was pretty awesome. I bought a jumper, an over shoulder bag and a pair of boots. :) Spent a little but oh well its dont now. Saturday night we hired 'My Best Friend's Girl' (I think that's what it was called.) It wasnt bad...

Sunday morning we had a great sleep in, which was much needed. In the afternoon we went back to the mall and I bought a pink-orange jacket, it was a little expensive but I really really loved it. I would have regretted it if I didnt get it...hehehe :) Its really gorgeous though. Anyway we also went to the movies and saw 'Confessions of a Shopaholic.' It was pretty good, funny and we so felt like her after our shoppingspree weekend. That night we hired another movie, this time it was 'Made of Honour.' It was sooo good, I loved it. Way better then the movie last night - my best friends girl.

Monday morning Nicolette had to help her family get the kids ready but then she came back to bed and slept for ages haha...meanwhile I had a shower and got ready. We headed back to the mall just to see if my jacket I bought the day before was reduced due to the President's Day Sale, but nope it didnt. We then headed to the train station and my trip was all over.

I had the best weekend, I really enjoyed spending time with Nicolette and just chilling out. It was BRILLIANT! I was sad to say goodbye to Nicolette as that was the last time I saw her before I leave for home, until she gets back in 2010. Shes really an awesome girl, we really are simular. We believe we were seperated at birth, a bit like Kim and I ... OMG TRIPLETS :O hahahahahaha

I also met Nicolette's host family. They were really nice and welcomed me. They have two boys who are fun and love Spongebob. So cute. They were very good boys while I was there. They have a gorgeous house and view....a view that looks over the lake. It was wonderful. Nicolette will have such a great time with them!! :)

Thats pretty much it about my weekend. Not long now until I leave for Portland, Oregon about 9 days and about 2 weeks until I reach HOME = Adelaide :D YES....

Take care and I'll blog soon xxx
Sair

A LITTLE UPDATE

Heya everyone!
Just thought I'd do a quick blog. As you all have probably noticed I've updated the look of my blog, pretty cool hey?! I think so.
This week not much has been happening, just been looking after Wyatt. Last night the kids and I attempted to make 'Monster Cookies' they were a bit of a flop actually. But they still taste okay.
Yesterday was the best we have had since I've been here weather wise, it was about 18C. It was warm compared to the 18 we would have at home. I even went to the bus stop with NO jacket on, Oh my GOSH! It was beautful. Today was the day I planned to go for a walk, eck...but I still went!! I battled the wind. Its terrible actually and everywhere is windy. I was watching the news before and at least 3 people have died due to things falling on them with the windy. A little scarey actually.
Dawn has left already with the kids to up upstate New York. They are going up to her parents 'shack' to go snow mobiling. I've decided to stay here and go to my friend, Nicolette's house in the White Plans. I leave tomorrow (friday) and get back the monday. It was a very difficult decision, I really needed an extra weekend here so I could do everything I wanted but not to worry.
I leave New Jersey in 14days, I'm a little sad to leave everyone but excited to see everyone in Portland and back home.
Anyway I better go for this walk before it gets dark and the wind gets worse.
SAIR xx

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My Trip to Boston

Where do I start, Boston was so much fun. Very exciting and interesting!

Emma and I left NYC about 7oclock after much hurry, it was to take us 5hours to get to Boston however it took us 4, much relief. I slept a little however it was hard when you have a stranger next to you and a hard chair. We arrived in Boston at 11:00pm, wondering where Nicolette was at we were suppose to meet up with her before we head to the Hotel. However no Nicolette, where was she?? We called and she was actually in another place 1.5hrs away not Boston as she thought. Poor thing I felt so bad for her, in the middle of somewhere on her own. However luckily she got to the hotel about 2:00am safely. We didnt get to sleep about 3:00am, and then Megan was up at 7:30am. Not much sleep at all.

Anyway on the Saturday we did a few touristy things. First we walked over a bridge with an unknown name, by the time we got to the 'Bunker Hill Monument' Nicolette and I were already so worn out. And it wasnt even 11:30 yet, how were we suppose to last the day. Anyway so we climbed up 300 plus steps to get to the top of the momument.

It was a pretty awesome view I must admit, but the walk up was terrible. You could see a 360 degree view of Boston. It was gorgeous really. We then had to get back down, and man when we got down were our legs jelly or what. I had to rest for a little......a while!!!!

After that we headed to the USS Constitution. That was very interesting actually. We took a little 30 minute tour. We went below deck and saw; the cannons (they were HUGE) the area where they sleep (in hammocks) and where the higher up people slept (little rooms.) It was great to hear what the sailors went through and how their food was stored. I was pleased we went there actually. All the people were very nice and everyone kept asking where I was from, why not the other girls always me?!? After our visit we headed over to an old cannon to take photos, this is where I nearly wet my pants with laughter!! It may not seem funny to you guys who werent there but TRUST ME on this one it was HILAROUS. Anyway so Nicolette and I get our photo taken with THE cannon, and so she moves over to the balls (I cant think of there names, the bullets of the cannon) mean while I've climbed onto THE cannon, ready for a photo. However I'm feeling myself slip so I try to grab hold of something but nope to late......I FELL OFF. HAHAHAHAHA omg it was the funniest thing. I fell a metre face first into the snow. Great I thought, now I'm all wet! But arh far out we couldn't stop laughing, I had tears and mascara running. It was soooo funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm even laughing right now, everytime I think of the moment I crack myself laughing again. It will be a hilarous memory to remember.

Any moving on, next we headed to Faneuil Market Hall Place. This is were a little gifts were, and a huge list of places to get food from. So many choices I just didnt know what to get. We also saw some apples covers in chocolate with M&M's and sprinkles. Very out there!! Anyway I bought a Boston hat and t-shirt. :) I was very excited about that. Also we saw the 'Cheers' bar and gift shop. That was interesting, however I haven't really seen the show 'Cheers' to remember the set. After that we headed back towards the hotel. On our way we saw the State House, the ice rink, and the State Library. The library was great. It was big, I couldnt get over how big it was, just for a Library, obviously a lot of books are kept there. The artwork on the walls were gorgeous. I cant even imagine to think how look it would have taken them to do. After that I pretty much ran to the hotel just for a sit down. Awwww so tired!

It was a wonderful day, very interesting. I'm not one for history but it was good. I enjoyed myself. For tea we went to a food court which was down the road. It was great, not as many choices at the Faneuil Hall but still a little too many for my liking, I just didnt know what to have. In the end I had some chicken, and veg which was delicious. Ben and Jerry's were on our minds (an ice cream parlour) so after that HUGE walk that day I thought I owed myself some ice cream. I had choc chip cookie dough, and chocolate macadamia. They were awesome, the cookie dough was the best though. We all went back to the hotel room, and we started watching 'Wedding Crashes' however we all crashes our selves.

On Sunday we were up about 8:30 to go have breakfast and to see a few shops before we headed home, however the shops didnt open until 11:00 am!!! So we went into Border's and looked at some books. A bought an owl handbag and the book; the secret life of bees (its also been made into a movie.) We left there and pretty much headed back to our room to check out. We subwayed to the bus terminal and we were all on our seperate ways back home. I had a great time with Nicolette, Megan and Emma. It was brilliant!

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VERMONT

Well I'm back from Stowe, Vermont. It was great besides a few little things but no to worry it was lots of fun.

We arrived in the dark after a long 6hour drive. Wyatt was good he slept a little however Dave kept asking 'are we there yet.' But finally we reached our cabin. It was cute but a little small. We went up with another 3 families and another couple arrived on the friday night.

On friday the kids had ski school so it was an early rise for everyone. They loved it. I watched from inside, it was a perfect day for skiing but I just had no motivation to get out there. It was so beautiful up there, massive mountains and gorgeous (but expensive) cabins everywhere. So friday was kind of a lazy day just watching the kids learn.

I finally got to ski on the Saturday it was great. Preston was my teacher, man he had so much patience. The first run was terrible, I was so close in quiting. Haha It sounds so easier, just do this and put pressure there but truely its not! Anyway so the first run I on my bottom the whole time. Hahaha. I then thought ok well I'll try again and we how I'll go, YES I was much better. I fell once and I actually skied! WHoo--HOoo!! It was brilliant I had so much fun. Until.....Preston and the kids were like ok lets go to the next mountain (it was much steeper then what I was on.) Yeh ok, lets go. So we took the chair lift and up the steep mountain we went. I was thinking, what the heck am I doing!?! So as I'm coming down I'm thinking this is sooooo steep and all the things Preston had just taught me flew out of my head and I just stiffened up. I was so scared, but I had to get down the hill that was the only way. I finally got down but I didnt go back up believe me. I just stuck on my little slope haha! It was great I had a brilliant time Saturday.

(the bunny run that I loved)

(the snow was seriously up to my knees and thighs - not a good photo)

On Sunday we were going to go skiing but then the adults decided to go into town and have a look around. I stayed home with one of the mums and the kids. I kind of got a little sleep, as I was sooo tired. The kids were good, they were outside most of the day in the snow playing with two golden lab's (dogs) that appeared out of no where. When the adults arrived home, the kids decided to go sledding down the drive was. It was so much fun, I was going to join in but I wasnt dressed correctly. They had a ball!

The "Superbowl" was also on Sunday night. It was the Steelers verses Cardinals. The Steelers won by about 2-4points. It was great to see the match, as thats the big 'thing' in America, I didnt under the rules but I made out I did. (hehe)

The Monday we pretty much cleaned up and drove another 6 hours to home. It was good I got a little bit of a sleep, but really sleeping in the car isnt the greatest. Especially when your neck is bent in stupid ways.

All and all it was a great weekend. This weekend I'm going to Boston with some Australian Au Pairs so I cant wait for that. :) That will be lots of fun. And the weekend after I'm not sure if I'm going to go to the White Plans to see my friend or to Upstate NY with my family to go snow mobiling. We'll have to think about that one. I have a total of 23days until I leave for Portland. :) I'm also very excited about that. Whoh so many things that are coming up, time will fly!

Ok thats all from me at the moment.
Comment if you wish (yes do comment :)

P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRUCE WHO TURNED 19 AND TO MY GORGEOUS TWINS, ABIGAIL AND EMILY WHO TURNED 3. :) I wsh I could have been home to help celebrate.
xxxxx