Busy Weekends

Lately the social calendar has been extremely full. Which is a good thing, but often means I am tired when the weekend ends.

Two weeks ago my friend Erin and I went horse ridding. Something we have been saying we would do for a number of months. Guess what we got around to it! It was a lovely day out in the hills of Perth. The weather was cool and sunny, the horses where nice.. expect when mine rapidly tried to scrap my off his back using the closest tree or bush. But I have come to expect this from horses.. and it doesn't bother me, its just a good idea to see the tree coming first before you hit it.

This is Erin and I standing next to my cheeky horse with a mind of his own!

This past week I was in Melbourne for a cultural dance conference. It was hosted by Ausdance Victoria and it was an amazing conference. I had never been to Melbourne before, and I had a good time exploring the city. The first day I arrived I had a late afternoon to kill so I went over and checked out the aquarium, I saw some beautiful fish, and some funny penguins! Australia has amazing aquariums nothing compares to them, Australia is the capital for really interesting sea animals and fish! 

I also went to the National Gallery of Victoria - The International Gallery. This place is worth the trip to Melbourne. The international gallery blew me away. I saw some 15th century works I thought I would never get the chance to see. It was amazing! National Gallery of Victoria Australia

This stained glass ceiling was gigantic at least 100x250 ft

I arrived back in Perth on a Saturday evening to a houseful of guests. Graham had a BBQ when I got home! This made for an exciting arrival home again.

This weekend we have a friend from Sydney staying with us, Expat American Drinks and a big party down the street on Saturday night. So another fun filled weekend is awaiting. To bad its only Monday!
Cheers!

You know your from Indiana when

You take March Madness seriously..


Your neighbors leave their extra tomatoes and zucchini on your porch fully knowing you already have to many from your garden..


You know your neighbors.. 


You caught lightning bugs and kept them in a jar over night at least once when you where a kid or you have done this with your kids..


You know what a cookie exchange is...


You have attended a fish fry.. and know what fried Indiana catfish tastes like..


You have had deer in your headlights more then 10 times..


You have walked though a corn or soybean field to get somewhere.. Or just to see what its like to stand in one..


You know Wabash is a place and a river ... and there is a song all about it..


You know what month the Indy 500 is in..


You know who Lady Victory is and where she lives..


You can make at least 5 different kinds of casseroles..


You were a Colts fan when it wasn't cool to be one..


You truly believe with your whole heart that basketball was invented in Indiana.. and not in Massachusetts..


You call yourself a Hoosier and your proud of it..


Back home again in Indiana,
And it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight still shining bright
Thru the sycamores for me,
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
From the fields I used to roam,
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash,
Then I long for my Indiana home.
- BALLARD MACDONALD

I love it when Graham cooks for me!

I am a super lucky girl, I know most lady's don't get husbands who cook amazing meals for them. But I am one of the lucky few. Graham spoils me at least 2-3 times a week with a wonderful meal, often from a complicated recipe. He cooks every night of his school holiday breaks. Last year after his last exam he came home and cooked a chicken for 4 hours in a hard brick like dough, the chicken inside the bread brick was so yummy!!

This picture is from last Good Friday this year, Graham's family came to visit and he made this snapper dish. It was melt in your mouth delicious! It was an expensive meal so we have not had it since, but I can't wait till next year, I will request we have this again on Good Friday!

This week I came home from a meeting and Graham was baking ginger bread men.. in August.. they where good, although they felt rather Christmasy to me..

My favorite Grazy meals are:
Lasagna
Bread (he bakes all our bread, we don't buy store bread)
Home made Pizza's (from scratch)
Grilled Snapper
Chile Mussels
Crispy Chicken Tacos

Thanks husband for being amazing, your a medical student, but you still find time to cook me yummy things! I love you!

Heavy Things

So life has been a  bit heavy for Graham and myself at the moment.


I am not normally a complainer.. I hate being a complainer and burdening people with my problems... I only have a handful of friends I burden them on.. and for the most part I just really like to support my friends and listen to them complain.. Is there something wrong with that??


Graham is pretty tired and worn out at the moment with school. Doing a medical degree is intense, most days he gets up before 7am and is at the hospital until 5pm and then studies at home until 9pm (when I start to yell at him to come out of his office already). But all his hard work pays off and he is a great student and an even better student doctor. If I was ever in the hospital with some unknown illness I would want Graham as my doctor.. he would figure it out.


I was recently told I better hurry up and have babies or I won't be having any.... I was also told that I might have problems having them on my own.. So next month I am having a surgery to work out what I am going to do. Thank goodness I live in Australia where my medical treatments are paid for by the government (if you like the sound of that America, start voting for a national health care system).


I also recently lost my Grandma.. She had a long and amazing life, and its been a real honor to have her as my Grandma.. She always made me feel loved and special. We had a lot in common where it counts. My family traveled to Connecticut for the funeral and I was unable to go to America to grieve with them. Luckily I have some of my Grandmother's family in Perth, her Sister in Law and Niece, so I did spend time with them. But it has been hard being way out here when all I wanted to do was go home...


My homesickness is pretty bad at the moment. I go through 3 month cycles of being homesick, then being okay.. then being homesick again. At the moment the homesickness is pretty bad.. about as bad as I had it when I first moved to Australia. I just want to go home and sleep on my Mom's couch and look out the big picture window and stare at the big cotton wood tree across the street. I want to sit on the back porch, I want to lay in the summer grass with Jack my parents dog. I want to listen to my Dad talk to his friends on the ham radio. I want to hide in the basement during a summer storm. I want to laugh with my American friends, drink bad American beer, and eat my Mom's cooking.  I want to go to the fair and look at gigantic pigs, eat a turkey leg and ride on a tractor pulled train. I want to buy a gigantic fountain coke from the gas station with about a ton of crushed ice in it and then drink it all in under an hour and not feel sick or guilty about it cause I'm an American.... I want to go to a "gas station" and not a petrol station.. I want to go for a run past corn fields and soy beans... I want to raft the Boise River with my girlfriends, paint our nails, and talk for hours about nothing and everything and take silly pictures.. I guess sometimes you just want to go home.


To put it mildly... Life is a bit HEAVY for us both... We could really use a vacation and time together... We have not had a vacation together (alone) in over two years.. So I am ready for this year to end and for us to start all over again.


Now.. I hope you don't feel burdened after reading this cause thats the last thing I wanted, or do I want you to feel bad for me.. I just needed to get some things off my chest.
Hugs and Kisses from way over here.....