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Days 43-47 | ROCKINGHAM & PERTH

January 17, 2014

DAYS 43-46 | ROCKINGHAM– I can’t say specifics about these days as many of them were just the blessing of Purri returning home, working from home, and brainstorming on helping him kickstart Perth’s Newest Tile & Grout Cleaning company; Kleen Slate! DAY 47 | PERTH– Gosh, the time has flown. Isaac & I stopped into the city to get the chance to

Day 42 | Renewed Christmas Dreams

January 11, 2014

Jan 11 | THE GOULD HOMESTEAD– The Gould Family Christmas was today. In the top 20 hottest days since the beginning of the records (1800’s), today was a remarkable setting for the family to come together.  By 9am, Isaac & my macaroons suffered yet another mishap as both the Turkish Delight & Salted Caramel fillings flopped in front of our eyes. We had a night, in between the cracked and fallen cookies, to accept their lackluster beauty. The filling flop however, was too much to take for this introverted kitchen novice. After conceding to try it again on a less high strung day, we were finally ready to open presents. I can’t go through everything that everyone got, and honestly I can’t even remember all the beautiful things that were bestowed upon me. The one thing that I am absolutely surprised and in love with were a pair of Australian UGG Boots (AUTHENTIC) that I was coveting online for a few […]

Days 37-41 | ROCKINGHAM, PERTH & GOLDEN BAY

January 10, 2014

Day 37 | PERTH– PURRI IS HOME! Steph, Seton, Isaac, & I picked up Purri late tonight. It was really cool to see Seton walk to Purri & Purri’s face light up seeing Seton walk by himself in person for the first time! Day 38 | ROCKINGHAM FOR SHORE– Steph & I strategically picked the day after Purri was back to get our nails done! First a picnic (turkey sandwhiches, fruit salad, Tim Tams, & Steph’s hummous dip!), and then we were released to go to Tiara Nails! When Steph and I walked in, there were two technicians in the shop, but they were completely empty. As walk-in’s we were a little concerned that they might be busy but it was a Tuesday mid-day… They accepted us anyway, and being my third time getting my nails done EVER, i decided to be a little more adventurous. While Steph was getting her toes done, I feverishly looked through Pinterest for nail […]

Day 36 | Oh The JOYS of Exotic Animals!

January 5, 2014

Day 36 | PINJARRA– Going to Leed Zoo was one of the highlights of the trip (thus far). I even got to hold a baby Kangaroo!

Day 35 | Front Row Seats to the Hopman Cup Finals!

January 4, 2014

Day 35 | PERTH– Okay, so they weren’t front row, but we were so close that when I focused on the game; it was like no one was in front of us. Lynne & Nat’s Christmas Present to us kids(to Isaac, Stephanie (Isaac’s sister-in-law), and myself), was more than any of us could have asked for to be able to share together! Included in the price of our ticket was a train transportation to and from the event. It was a short 10 minute walk to the stadium (I felt horrible as Steph’s wedges didn’t even survive the first 5 mins- both straps broke!). The Perth Arena is surrounded by a mix of old and modern architecture. The arena itself was a 700 million dollar stadium; modern shapes, an electronic roof that opened up to reveal the clouds/stars, and beautiful materials. Walking in felt like an honor, and even more exciting was to be sitting couldn’t have been more than […]

Day 32-34 | Local Foreshores & Golden Bay

January 3, 2014

DAY 32 | ROCKINGHAM FORESHORE– Because we missed our New Years Celebration, the next morning I had the brilliant idea to celebrate in time with Ohio’s timezone! We had a lovely lunch at the Steel Tree. We wrote down our greatest aspirations, and renewed resolves we wanted from 2014. We also got a chance to really enjoy the water. DAY 33 | MANDURAH FORESHORE– My first time to the Mandurah Foreshore today! It is actually the PERFECT setting for weddings! Mandurah made a move towards more vacation rentals a few years ago (according to Isaac’s Mum & Dad), and for that reason, their Foreshore is shaped much different then the Rockingham foreshore. Set up on a wooden dock that encircles the bay, high rise flats compose a good portion of the bay. Among it are shops, eateries, cafes, and sweet shops. We had gone with Isaac’s Dad & Mum (one of the few days off left on her vacation), so […]

Day 28-31 | Searching For Australia’s Heart

January 3, 2014

VACATION TO WINDY HARBOR DAY 28 | Isaac & I got up early at 5:30 am to make sure everything was squared away with our Freelance Clients. With work taken care of, we started our journey to Windy Harbor. We followed Isaac’s friends down South for the weekend. We packed a fair amount of food, Isaac’s double swag, and lots of layers for the changing temperatures. Though the drive was fairly lengthy (4.5/5 hours), I saw some of the most adorable little towns and gorgeous countryside. I was surprised by all the town and street names; they were not easy to pronounce! For a predominately English culture (though they try not to admit it; mocking their Brittish counterparts by calling them “pommies”), I found it weird that the names were so connected to the country’s aboriginals (their native people) language. Considering America where we just take over everything, put our own spin on it, and name it as our own […]

Day 15-26 | Tis a Season of Sunshine & Holly

December 26, 2013

Day 15- 21 | ROCKINGHAM– I confess I was pretty sick for about 4 or 5 days with a rather nasty upper respiratory infection that caused me to be quite the recluse. Most of these days seem to blur together (and honestly they were probably pretty unmemorable), but I know that a lot of it was spent spending time at Isaac’s brother Purri’s house before he shipped out. I think being sick made my temperature a little wonky and could be found outside napping on their sun-warmed black pavers. Towards the end of those sick days on the 21st, I had the pleasure of getting home made luska at the Powderhill house (thanks Alex!) and a Pre-Christmas Spoon Championship. Let’s just say that all the girls at the table had the pleasure of getting their spoon ripped out of their hand by their significant other. I have to say that when Purri shipped out, it was like the end of […]

“ The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. – Samuel Johnson ”

December 15, 2013

DISCOVERING AUSTRALIA This journey here has been a very humbling experience. Traveling these days as an American, its not a positive one. American’s have wonderfully attractive qualities like exhaustively loud conversations, manipulative tendencies, a need to be right, and above all a very pleasant way of over enunciating our words. It is my general view that when an American opens their mouth we are more white noise than embellished thought. Being so, having an Aussie boyfriend in the states got me used to everyone asking, “where are you from?”, “Awe, Australia, I thought so! I love your accent!”… I didn’t think there would be a novelty like this when in Australia (our accent kills that luster for most), but I wasn’t sure if I would be welcomed. I think I was more worried about that actually, than the Aussies I’ve met. Overall, people generally don’t often understand my accent, and have become a bit more shy in the process of […]