So much to be thankful for!!!

Well, we just finished up our first turkey day down under!  It turned out perfectly!  The food was amazing and I felt so blessed to be with great new friends during the holiday.  I know we all missed being with our families but being so far away from them, we still managed to make our Thanksgiving all about delicious traditional food, lots of wine, tons of laughter and I know we all left feeling extremely thankful for our amazing lives down under! :)

We did a pot luck style dinner, with everyone bringing a different Thanksgiving dish or two!  We had sooo much food and we all divvied up the leftovers-- which I'm excited to eat the rest of the week!  As I said in the last post, Brian and I cooked the turkey-- for awhile we were worried it was going to turn out like this...

But it didn't!  Although, the turkey "wasn't a looker" as Brian put it :)  Oh well, it was tasty-- plus it was our first try at cooking turkey so no one judged us!!

The feast consisted of..... Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, carrots, cranberry sauce, cornbread, poached peaches and of course, pumpkin pie!!!  YUMMO

It was a really gorgeous evening (thank goodness, you never know around here!)  so we got to eat our dinner outside!  When we all sat down and had all of the aluminum foil covered food on the table we did a big unveiling by taking the foil off everything -it all looked beautiful!  None of us had even seen what the other food was under the shiny silver covers!  We then did a quick toast and dug in!

I don't think we left a drop of wine in any of the bottles which led to finishing the night up, quite late, with random crazy stories and watching funny you tube clips :)  Probably not a whole lot different to what we would have been doing in America haha

This was an amazing Thanksgiving and got me thinking about all that I am so very thankful for!

-- my wonderful husband who I adore and feel so lucky to be sharing this crazy life adventure with
-- my family, who I miss more than you can know! (both family in Texas and Kansas)
-- technology-- I seriously don't know what I would do without skype!
-- my friends both old and new-- you are all so special to me!
-- brody my sweet little puppy who brightens my day, everyday!
-- I am also thankful for the opportunity we are getting by living in such an amazing vibrant city in an beautiful part of the world
-- mine and my families health
-- and most importantly God who has blessed my life so much!

I hope YOU have as much to be thankful for and I hope everyone feels as much joy and happiness as I do right now!  Love you all!

my 2 sleepy boys :)

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!  GOBBLE GOBBLE

Birthday Boy's weekend of fun

This past weekend we celebrated Brian's 29th birthday!  It was a great, fun-filled couple of days so I thought I would share a few pictures.

On Friday, which was Brian's actual birthday, we decided to go out for some Italian food.  I made reservations to go to a restaurant in the city's Little Italy!  I figured the Italians would know how to make delicious Italian food and I was right!  It was great, the food was amazing and the wine was fantastic!  We also enjoyed seeing a different area in Melbourne because it was our first time going to "Little Italy".  Its funny because on the way home we drove from little italy through chinatown then through the city and then home! It's so diverse... now we just need to make a trip to the greek precinct, little saigon and little india just to get all the yummy food demographics :) Anyways, we kept it pretty low-key because we had big plans for the next evening!  I did however, make Brian a Bourbon bread pudding-- his favorite dessert-- It did not last long, maybe I should have made the entire recipe (which serves 8) if I want it to last longer than a 24 hour period.....

The next night my friend Lauren and I had a FIESTA for Brian and her husband, Tim's, birthdays (they are only a few days apart)!  It was a lot of fun and we had a great turn out!  I have been seriously CRAVING mexican food lately so we decided it would be fun to have a mexican fiesta for their party!  We made fajitas and had margaritas-- as well as, salsa, queso, avocado dip, bean dip and spanish rice!  Brian's one request was sombreros and moustaches..... so we of course, obliged...

Here are a few more pictures from the festivities!!!!!

aussie friends :)  for awhile trying to teach me how to "correctly" say the words NO and SO, I still don't understand how we can pronounce 2 measly letters so differently (nor can I say it the way they do... my aussie accent is awful!)

hostesses!!!

It's hard to smile with a moustache....

Brian's coworkers

tequila shots-- yuck!  Sorry we didn't have shot glasses so they are extra massive!

my moustache family :)

a fiesta is not complete without a pinata!!  (they are not that easy to find in australia either!!)

Brian looks like he is fishing...

He was feeling a little guilty for being the one to break it!  Haha

Blowing out the candles from the most delicious chocolate with peanut butter icing cupcakes!!

Birthday Boys!!

Dressed in his full mexican attire (like speedy gonzales)

The next morning/afternoon Brian and I went to the V8 Supercar series car races!  (Dont ask me any detail about what this mean or what kind of cars they were...)  We got the tickets for free for signing up for Norton antivirus :)  It was a really nice day (although maybe the loud noises, bright sun and cars whizzing round in circles was not the best idea after a night of margaritas)  I tried to get a few pictures but i kept missing them as the would go by (they are going freakishly fast!)  but I did manage to get a few!

My favorite part/ the scariest part was when they had a special show in between races of crazy motorcycle trick riders!  I think my heart stopped every time they did a move!!

AHH!  They have to be insane...

Anyways, It was a great weekend and Brian had an amazing birthday!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are going over to Tim and Lauren's along with about 6 others for the festivities!  They have a large table on their back outdoor area and it is supposed to be a beautiful spring evening!  Since I am not working (and everyone else is) I will be cooking the turkey-- wish me luck (Brian should be home as well, so I think I will be fine!)  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

We're off to the races... and the PROM (!?)

Ok, I really do realize I'm being super blog-tastic... I mean this is my 5th in one month!  But... we did just go to the Melbourne cup (horse races)!  Which is a super big deal here, it is even a state holiday!  I think its great that everyone gets a day off work to drink too much champagne and spend too much money betting on horses!  Hey, I'm going to go with it!  Halloween got mostly ignored this year, as far as, dressing up goes.  It was my friend Lauren's birthday so they had a fun get together with Halloween decor and yummy pumpkin dip (I have got to get the recipe and so should YOU- it is the best!), chili and other fall style food-- but come on, its SPRING here, doesn't feel at all like fall so we just add in little fall touches when it feels necessary- such as Halloween!  The next morning Brian and I had a pre drink party/brunch for the Melbourne cup!  It was 9 am so we had fruit salad, breakfast casserole bites, and buttermilk blueberry bars!  YUM-O Not to mention our bar set up with do-it-yourself mimosas, bloody marys and mint juleps!

DRINKS

FOOD

Anyways, it was a lot of fun but we needed to get to the races!  Oh my gosh- I forgot to mention.... So Lauren's friends were in town for her birthday and when they got on their flight from LA they found out that Sarah Jessica Parker was on it and that she was going to Melbourne cup, as well!  I really wanted to see Carrie Bradshaw all dressed up in a big hat!  (Did I mention the hats??  I was sooooo excited, ever since the royal wedding, to wear a hat!!! YAY)  So we left our house hopped on the train and head to Flemington Racecourse- home of the Melbourne Cup!  Elizabeth (one of Laurens friends from Boston) said that she felt like we were in Harry Potter off to Hogwarts with everyone all dressed up with big silly hats going up and down escalators  in a train station! haha

With the girls!  Beautiful day for 5 minutes at the house

Ok, Ok-- Im not technically wearing a "hat" it's more a "fascinator" but I was too scared to wear a massive hat... maybe next year?!?!

Work it, Work it :) haha

We quickly got to our area and got a few bottles of bubbly :)  The races here are ALL about champagne!  We sat out at a table for about half the time and the other half we went into some stadium style seats to watch the actual races!  They had about 6-8 the entire day.  We picked a few horses to bet on...  I chose the horses from the names (which were WEIRD-- we actually won a little on "African Pulse" ew and I insisted on betting on "Princess Layla", there was a "Huevos Rancheros"--  Brian's favorite was "AmeriCain")  We had such a fun time sipping on champagne and betting on horses!  I guess thats what the day is all about!  

I found out later that Sarah Jessica Parker was NOT at the races that day (if anyone was wondering...)  She went to the races on Thursday (dang just missed her)  The races go on for quite awhile.  Kim Kardashian was supposed to be there Saturday (but went home early-- family drama, duh)  Buuuuut I did find out that Adrian Grenier (from Entourage) was there, Miss J Alexander, Elizabeth Hurley, Joan Collins ummm former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins (ok Im stretching- felt like the list needed at least one more name haha)  

We left the races around 4 when it was over and had a few drinks out in the city.  I continued to wear my "fascinator" until bedtime :)

The next day I took Laurens friends, Jaclyn and Elizabeth around the city a little bit and then the next day they invited me to go on a wine tour they had booked.  I had been wanting to go to the Yarra Valley wine area.  Its only 45- 1hour from the city.  They had a bus pick us up and drop us off and included TONS of wine and a really delicious lunch.  All in all, a great day!!!!  The valley is absolutely beautiful!  I just booked a trip for Brian and I to go together soon-- I think he was a bit jealous that I went without him :)

I am telling you, we have been non stop lately-- until today-- but I swear typing this all out and organizing pictures takes me almost all day!  So at the last minute Brian suggested that this weekend we go on a roadtrip (the one we were meaning to take earlier but got a flat!) to Wilsons Promontory aka the PROM! (I've mentioned how Australians like to shorten things, right!)  The prom is a massive national park with mountains, beaches, wildlife, rivers.... everything!  We left around 9 packed a lunch then took off in our new-ish convertible!  It was a gorgeous spring day!  My first day in Australia to wear shorts and a tank!

And we're off-- do you like the wind blown look??!

A good portion of the prom was closed off due to bush fires burning most of the park in 2009 and in March of 2011 they had a horrible flood and a lot of the trails etc were destroyed... they just reopened the main camping grounds-- probably 3/4 of the park is still closed!  

Wilsons Promontory is at the southern most tip of mainland Australia (Tasmania is an island state in Australia and is further south)  It has always been a park but in WW2 they used it as a commando training ground... ok enough factoids for now!

Look!  Im bushwalking :)

Thats where were headed-- Norman Bay

And we made it! :)

We hung out on Norman Beach for awhile... it was very long and the water was bright blue!  So pretty!  Once we got to the other end of the beach there was a river that ran into it.  It was pretty brownish clearish (great description, I know) but looked really nice and rustic with huge rocks next to it.  I just read that the water in Tidal river is an odd purple- yellow color because the area has many tea trees, and the tannin from them stains the water, giving it a tea-like appearance.... God, I love wikipedia :)  We then walked up the river to a really nice campground-- not that i am much of a camper, but if I was, that's where I would go!

Tidal River going through the beach

Tea water :)

Our shady lunch spot

We then left for Picnic Beach- thinking it would be a great place to eat our picnic- duh!  I was really thinking it would have facilities, picnic tables, umbrellas- Kind of like monkey beach in Thailand was full of monkeys-- I just assumed.  No picnic tables, no complimentary napkins or forks, nothing at all "picnic-y"  Just another long beach!  We hiked down and found a shaded spot on some rocks and had a lovely lunch without any amenities at all  :)  Brian had packed a lunch before without me even knowing-- he's so sweet!  So we had sandwiches, nuts, granola bars, grapes, strawberries and kiwis!  We then had a plan to walk down a trail in the "bush" to get to Squeaky beach! 

Picnic Bay

Brian hiked up pretty high to get this next picture-- but you can really tell how pretty the water is! Can you even see me in this picture?! haha

We then went up the trail just a few about 50 yards and Brian heard a rustling in the bush... I was kind of freaked out but he shortly realized it was a kangaroo-- or wallaby- hell, I don't know!  Either way it was so cool!!!  It didn't seem to mind that we were right near it taking pictures!  It was pretty tucked back in some thick brush but we got a few good pictures.  

Hey, there little guy-- we see YOU!

 We had heard a little more rustling and then out came a little joey (no not out of the pouch- but how cool would THAT have been!)  He was soooooo cute!!!

They finally got sick of their "paparazzi" and bounced off!  By the way, that is the first time I have seen kangroos (wallabies) in the wild!  We got to see koala bears on our first trip in Australia but not wild kangaroos (dead ones on the side of the road :( do not count )  Anyways, super exciting!  The walk to Squeaky beach was really nice and we got some beautiful views!

After a beautiful hike we finally made it to Squeaky beach!!!  And to tell you the truth-- it WASN'T very squeaky!  haha  Well maybe a little if you walked funny and stomped on it!  But it was a beautiful day and it was nice to walk around-- we brought flip flops to put on and we even got our toes in the Australian ocean and boy was it FREEZING!  I have no idea how people were swimming in it!  

My little pack rat getting in the water

brr shivers! :)

It was a very nice day out at the prom-- but after our trek back (which was mostly uphill AHHHH) I was pretty exhausted and we decided to drive back home!  It is such a beautiful drive!  I love that you can just be a short distance out of the city and it is completely empty and all farm land!  The grass was so incredibly green and hilly!  It didn't even look real.  I told Brian it looked like what I would draw (if I could) picture perfect hill in grass green crayon with a little house on it and the sun in the background-- classic 5th grade picture :)  Anyways, here's a picture of the shire, as Brian and I decided to call it!

Ahhh I love country Victoria!  

Ok!  Im done for at least the next week!  I am starting back work tomorrow!  My job as nanny has been postponed for the past 2 months while the family was on holiday and they are now back and I am now going to be working again :) YAY!  I hope everyone is having an amazing fall!!  MISS YOU :)