adventure! part one

holy cannoli! its been ages since ive done a post! ive been going a million miles an hour since april 30th, and today, right now, this very minute, is my first bit of spare time. and im doing what any proper geek would do: blog about their adventures :)

we got back from the field last swing and i was in perth long enough to write up a report and send it off to my client. getting pesky work business out of the way freed up time for more important things. like packing for my trip home and buying presents for friends and family. i tried to think of fun things to take home, but turns out that most things that you take home from somewhere else are inherently cheesy and tacky (sorry for buying you placenta cream mom lol). however, i DID buy $50 worth of australian chocolate and biscuits....i mean how many opportunities do americans have to try curly wurlys, freddo frogs, chokitos, white nights, or wonka mud sludges? (i had a blast buying all this! the names were so funny i felt like i was buying harry potter candy)

i could barely get to sleep the night before my flight cause i was so excited. luckily (?) my flight was super early and i had to leave my house around 3:45 am, so i didnt need to fight to sleep for very long. my travel experience went something like this: sleep on plane. arrive in sydney. wait in a long customs line. wait in an even longer immigration line. transfer my bags. wait in a quarantine line (no, im not trying to smuggle fruit, nuts, or veggies out of australia). get on another big plane. pull threadbare airplane blanket over my whole body like a mummy cause its cold as fuck and pretend to sleep for 14 hrs. get motion sick and yack in lavatory. arrive in LA. do happy dance cause in back in america. change clothes and have a hobo bath so i dont look like a zombie. sleep on plane. arrive in slc. do another happy dance. dart from gate to baggage claim (mow over mormon missionaries who may or may not have been in my way). see shane waiting for me with a rose. attack with hugs and kisses.

after seeing one love, i made my way to see my other love. indy.

my dad welcomed me home with a big ole hug. we grabbed some beers from the trusty kegerator and headed out to the sunny backyard to relax and catch up. my mom joined in on the reindeer games too! she came out to give hugs and loves. so glad i got to see both parents on the day i landed. very lucky to have such an amazing family.

next morning shane and i had breakfast with his mom and grandma before heading out to moab. great seeing and chatting with my bf's other leading ladies :)

after cramming food in my face we hopped in the car for a road trip to moab. best part of a road trip: eating crappy gas station snacks, listening to music way too loud (sorry about the ke$ha shane....), and awkward and slightly comical experiences at the price albertsons grocery store. the whole reason for the road trip? my mom had organized a family river trip through cataract canyon! i know youre jealous, and its okay to be. we had an amazing time!

river trip highlights? id go with shanes drowning turkey noises when we'd go through rapids. it started out as excited yelling, and then big waves would crash over our boat, and all i'd hear is excited water-logged garbling. our boatman was an over-eager hippie and was easily persuaded to re-run the rapids, so we got 3-6x more big water than the rest of the boats. loved having dinner and hanging with my family on the riverbank as the sun was setting (absolutely gorgeous!). and we did an amazing hike up dark canyon and got to swim in a turquoise pool of spring water, complete with waterfall. excellent way to be welcomed back to utah. thanks for the fantastic trip mama!

i purposefully didnt make plans when i went home because i didnt want to feel overwhelmed by a busy schedule. but it turns out that i had so many friends i was dying to see, that i ended up filling every spare second lol. i surprised shane with tickets to the jazz playoff game on monday! we made a date night of it and had tasty sushi and sake at tsunami before cruising to the game. despite all our cheering and yelling the jazz lost. dang!

i crammed in some mall shopping (omg, things are SO cheap in america compared to australia, i bought loads of crap i dont need. as you do when on vacation haha), and had lunch with my best friend allie (i love our lunch dates because they always include shameless gossiping and cocktails!). i did manage to forget what side of the road i was supposed to be driving on for a split second in the mall parking lot. why cant everyone play nice and all drive on the same side? it messes with my brain. i managed to pull myself together for an afternoon visit with my good friend rachelle who is about to have her first baby. she's due at the end of may and i cant wait to meet the little guy!

shane met up with me and we had an evening visit with my old neighbor and dear friend kate and her dogs sierra and cleo. kates fiance just accepted a post doc position at dartmouth and they are moving back east at the end of july so this was my last chance to see her before next year when i crash their wedding. yes kate, crash. and just like the movie wedding crashers, i will be requesting that the dj play the song, "SHOUT!" haha. love you :)

next morning i met up for coffee with my old friend and blogginista (is that a word?. it seems pretty awesome and i feel like it should be) janetha! crazy how when i met her we were young un's who had nothing better to do than snowboard and drink beer and now she's married with two dogs and im off frolicking in australia. crazy how times flies.

i made it home in time to help my dad plant his annual garden. i was stoked for a couple reasons: 1) i love hanging with my dad and this was no exception, 2) it was a gorgeous day to be outside, 3) i desperately needed his obi wan kanobi-like garden wisdom garden advice for when i plant my own next year. so we dug some holes and jammed some stuff into the ground. indians planting corn. not the first time thats ever happened in history haha....

i even had some spare time to play with the mutts. man i love dogs! especially my indy-pants <3

i cleaned the dirt off my hands and got showered up because i had a girls afternoon planned with my mama! we treated ourselves to pedicures. man, i tell ya, there is nothing more relaxing than sitting in a massage chair while getting a foot and lower leg massage. oh yeah, and my toes look nice now too lol. we wandered to the grocery store since she wanted to cook dinner for my last night with her (my mom is WICKED busy with her job and was leaving the next morning to hobnob with fancy folks in park city). me, my sweetie, brother, mom and wayne had an amazing dinner out on the patio, enjoying the sprummer (spring/summer) evening.  sad saying goodbye when i left, but it definitely wasnt as emotional as when i moved in january. love you mama xoxo

my brother from another mother, dillon, called and wanted to get together so we decided on the two b's: beers and bowling! dilly and i have a history with bowling alleys and due to an unfortunate incident with a bowling ball and an emergency fire sprinkler, we are no longer allowed at olympus hills lanes. anyhoo, i rounded up a crew of friends and cousins and we all met at fat cats. bowling is retarded. we all know that. but you cant deny that its super fun to wear dorky shoes, dance to bad music, yell taunts, and cheer loudly when someone gets a strike. my cousin tori and i had some "cousin magic" happening lol. we'd line up and bowl at the same time, and managed to put two strikes away for each of us before the cousin magic turned and we both ended up with gutter balls. damn!

we also decided that the fun shouldnt stop at bowling, so we went to the highlander for some karaoke! i cant sing a note to save my life, but that has never stopped me from picking up a microphone. shane was wise enough to decline a duet with me, but i suckered dilly into it. we managed to slaughter...er, i mean artistically perform a unique rendition of "just the two of us" lol. and to top everything off, we were joined by my pric allie! top night i say!

the next morning i had breakfast with my other best friend summer. we went to the belgian waffle inn, and i somehow managed to out-eat the pregnant lady. the food was there, and then WHOOSH! i had shovelled it in at lightning speed! what can i say? i like waffles. we got to catch up on everything id missed since i left, and talked about her new house and the little one on the way. she was a glowing mama to be on the day i saw her. today was her due date and looks like little baby nora isnt ready to come out. i can only imagine being that anxious and excited to meet your daughter and having her be late. thinking "water-breaking" thoughts for you summy haha. love you xoxo

and somehow during all the friend and family frenzy madness, shane managed to take me out to my favorite restaurant, and the scene of our first date...el chihuahua. he even got our original table. such a sweetheart. love you babe xoxo.

friday flew by in a blurr of coffee date-ness (shanes sisters and grandma. couldnt ask for a sweeter family to weasel in on lol) errands, packing, and goodbyes. said goodbye to my brother early in the day, he had to take off for an interview with a fancy hotel to be one of their chefs. fingers crossed man! and said goodbye to my dad in the afternoon before he left for work. sad, but like what happened with my mom, not nearly as sad as when i moved back in january. feels like i'll see them all again very soon ;) i wrangled both my boys into an afternoon bed snuggle and they made a jamie sandwich: shane, me, and indy. i soaked as much of it up as i could before having to get up and leave for the airport.

saying goodbye to shane is always sad, but im a very lucky girl and get to see him again in approximately 14 days 10 hours and 34 minutes! he's flying into melbourne and we get to celebrate our birthdays together in an amazing city. super excited!!!

it took me 33 hours of travelling to make it back to perth. and you know what was weird? as sad as it was leaving everyone in utah, it wasnt nearly as sad and lonely coming back here because i've made my own little version of home in perth. it was nice to come home to my house, my bed, and my irish family member who had been missing me terribly (i mean, who wouldnt? lol).

loved every minute of my trip. thanks to everyone for making it so amazing! 

xxxox