Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains

Erin, Mike Thompson and I had the pleasure of spending the day with Jo's dad, John, in the gorgeous Blue Mountains a couple weeks ago. The Blue Mountains is about 90 minutes away from Sydney and has some of the most breathtaking views. We ended the day by watching the sunset and drinking a bottle of wine with Jo's brother, Grant. We had a blast!




On the train ride back to Sydney, Erin and I entertained ourselves by listening to songs on her iPod, lip syncing and acting out the lyrics and then made Mike Thompson guess what we were listening to. Most of the time, MT would figure it out within the first 15 seconds but let us continue to make fools of ourselves until the song was almost over. I swear we could have fun doing anything.

Erin and Mike Thompson in Sydney!

Last Friday, two of my best friends from high school, Erin and MT, made the 24 hour trip all the way to Sydney. We have been hitting all of the tourist spots like the Harbour to see the bridge and the Opera House, Bondi beach and Taronga Zoo. Tomorrow, they're heading to Hunter Valley for a full day of wine tasting. They're going to be smashed! On Thursday morning, I'll meet up with them so we can all head to the Blue Mountains. I've been here for nearly five months and I still haven't gone so I'm glad I have friends to motivate me to go.

Since the three of us say and do stupid things multiple times a day, we came up with the genius idea of keeping a record of all of these moments. I now carry around a pink notebook labeled, "The Burn Book" in magazine cutouts. The pages are quickly filling up with ridiculous quotes.

It's been fun for me to show my friends what my life is like here. My blog and e-mails can only do so much! On a side note, I plan to make my blog better now that I have my new camera! Woo hoo!

Anyway, I haven't slept in days so I'm going to attempt to get more than five hours of sleep now.

xo

Running break

After three months of marathon training, I'm sad to say that I have to take some time off from running. I tore my meniscus in my right knee about a month ago and have been unable to run more than 5K ever since.

Since I was training and fundraising for Can Too, all money raised ($1,300) will still be donated to Cure Cancer Australia. Once my knee has healed, I will jump right back into my training program to finish what I started.

I'd like to say I'm sincerely grateful to everyone who has contributed to this worthy cause. Big thanks goes out to:

-Janet Giangeruso
-Christina Gambino
-Chris Cruz
-Melissa Blohm
-Craig Dobson
-Chris Lowe
-Lindsey Franco
-Arthur Pliaconis
-Karen and Alex Newton
-Kelly Conley
-Warren Wong
-Meagan Mather
-Lisa and Kim Satterfield
-James Stewart
-Chris Mercer
-Eddy Dere
-Ashley Commins
-Maura Rioux
-Hasan Bhatty
-Grant Webb
-Susan Shannon-King
-Stephanie Sandor
-Colleen Hester
-Leonie Baranowski
-Harrison Cytryn
-Everyone who attended the Twilight movie night :)

I'm overjoyed to have family and friends in my life that support me so much. Thank you for all the support. I'll be pounding the pavement in just a few months!

M.I.A.

Wow! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've updated this thing. So much has happened so I'll do my best to give the highlights.

-Last month, on July 7, Josh took his first steps. A month later, he's practically running around the house. He went from a baby to a little boy in a matter of a few weeks. It's so cute watching him be so independent.

-James is saying new words. He learned how to say "Josh" instead of "Dosh" which is adorable but I think I'll still say Dosh.

-Last week, we moved out of our Annandale house and are currently staying in a rental house in Moss Vale. It's a massive six-bedroom house with a tennis court, trampoline, pool table and more room than we know what to do with. The bad part is that cell phones and Internet don't work very well here so we're on a technology detox. I think I've spent a total of 30 minutes on the Internet in the past week which is a drastic decrease for me.

-I have booked my flight to return to the U.S. I'll be flying into San Diego on March 15. It's been almost five months since I've been in Australia and I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. I'm loving every minute of being here.

-I am all caught up on my American shows including, The Bachelorette, The City, The Hills, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. When I really think about it, I have to admit that I watch the crappiest shows. Of course, that won't stop me from watching them though.

-Now for the bad news. A few weeks ago, I had trouble running a 22K. By the last 5K, I felt like I couldn't even lift my right leg because my knee hurt so much. I saw a sports chiropractor and found out that I tore my meniscus. You can imagine my frustration as I was really pumped up about running the marathon next month. My plan is to rest it and get treatment until it's better and hop right back into training and do the next marathon. I'm so determined to do this.

-I'll end this on a good note, though. Erin and Mike Thompson are coming to visit this Friday and Craig will be here a week later. It's going to be so much fun to have them all here at once. I think it's cool to be able to show my friends from home what my life is like here. Plus, I've given them lists of things to bring me like copies of People and US Weekly, stuff to make s'mores, cereal, shoes and a whole bunch of other things I miss from home. It's going to be an action packed three weeks but I can't wait for it!

I'll try not to make it too long before I update this thing again. I'm off...