Melbourne Aquarium

So Cool!!!

FISHES

This little guy is fish. Look closely and you can see his eyes and mouth.

MORE FISHES

EVEN JELLY FISHES

I spy something green... it's a turtle

New Apartment

It has been a while since my last post, but we have been REALLY busy the last couple of weeks. We only had that first apartment we were in for one month so we had to find a new place and be out of the old place by November 12^th. The place we found is tiny. So, tiny that we weren't sure if a double bed would fit in either of the rooms. We are pretty much settled into the new place. It is turning into a pretty cute place with all of the little touches I have added. Today I am thinking on an inexpensive way to build a short wall around the AC unit that sits on the balcony. It's nice today and not too hot so I was going to sit out there in the sun for a bit. Then came the BUT... a big smelly BUT in my sun-sitting plan. Someone (a previous tenant) got the bright idea to put a pea-green shag rug on the balcony, but when it rains it gets all wet. Well, rain after rain after rain and that rug REEKED. It smelled so bad that I was starting to wonder if something had died under it. Just thinking about it makes me gag. I took one for the team and managed to get it into a garbage bag and down the trash shoot it went never to be seen again. Swept off the balcony and now it's back to that pesky AC unit. I just don't want to stare at every time I want to go out there. I think I've learned that fabric is the wrong way to go, but wood or metal paneling might be expensive; not to mention that my tool set consists of a $10 tool set we bought at Walmart. Oh well, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Back to our new place. We are further north than we were before, but are still basically in the CBD. We are walking distance from Lygon St. too which is turning out to be nice. There are lots of little shops and restaurants there. There is lots of Italian with some Greek, Indian, Thai, and Japanese also. Ian and I went for a walk just the other night and ended up getting Gelato for dessert. Sooooo good. Kayla, my big sis, would probably say not as good as real Italy, but I like to think it's close. I got a kick out of the fact that we moved to AU and flew 9,000 miles (14,000 km) to live in a primarily Italian area. Lucky for me that I love Italian food.

We are much closer to the market now too. We still aren't going any more than we were before, but we don't have to walk as far to get there. Got more kiwi and mango when we went last. They are so sweet that I just can't seem to get enough of them. Sprite too; I love Sprite here. Can't hardly stand it at home, but since everything is made with sugar it is delicious. Mt. Dew is not the caffeine sugar rush that it is in the states which makes me sad, but I think I can survive without it. I've learned to put milk in my tea. Sorry Dad, but that's just how it is here. I kept ordering tea when we went out and couldn't figure out why it came with a side of milk. I decided I should at least try it and it's pretty good. I tend to add one teaspoon of sugar to one cup of hot water and add one tea bag. I let that sit for a few minutes then remove the tea bag. I then add just a little bit of milk; only about a tablespoon or so. A little bit goes a long way when you're adding it to tea.

What else? I found a Domino's close to our apartment. Sometimes you just need a little bit of home and cheap Americanized pizza is exactly what we needed the other night. It's not as cheap as Little Caesar's Hot and Ready, but it tastes just like it does back home.

I was able to talk with my parents for a while today; that was really nice. I get to see my Kona when I call home too. I miss my puppy more everyday and my mom says she misses us too. I can't wait until Friday (it will be Thursday at home) when I'll get to talk to the whole family.

I should probably go get ready to leave. Ian and I are going to St. Kilda today. It's warm and sunny and I want to go walk on the beach for a bit. That's right, while you are all snuggled inside away from the snow we are going to the beach. Also, when the sun goes down the penguins head back to their rocks. Ian didn't go the last time I went down there and he wants to see the penguins. We might get a beautiful sunset tonight too. I'll take lots of pictures if there is anything worth taking pictures of.

Bats

Almost every night if it's clear enough these bats fly around the top of the building. The light attracts bugs and the bats feed on them. It's pretty cool to see since this building is actually pretty far away. That means these are fairly large bats. If you look really close above the blue lights you can see tiny blue dots. Those are the bats. I tried to take a video too, but it didn't really turn out well.

Mmmmm..... Tasty

I'm trying to cook more since we have easy access to fresh meats and veggies. These two turned out so well that I feel I have to share. 

Beef Roast: Cut about 12 slits into the roast and put 1/2 a clove of garlic into each slit. Salt and pepper outside of roast. Finely chop 2 tablespoons each of fresh basil, thyme, and rosemary. Mix herbs together and put onto outside of roast. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes then reduce heat to 425 until roast is cooked to your liking. Side dish: Saute red pepper, yellow pepper and carrot with some of the extra herbs chopped for the roast. Salt and pepper to taste. 

This link is the original recipe I used. It's for pork though and doesn't have the garlic in it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/herb-crusted-pork-tenderloin-recipe/index.html

This one I think everyone should try. This pasta is to die for. Can't believe I made this and it didn't come from a box. You really can have restaurant quality pasta at home.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cheryl-smith/bowtie-pasta-with-mozzarella-saute-recipe/index.html
Meat was left-over from the night before and the veggies are just steamed.

Mario and Freeplay Festival

Yesterday was AWESOME‼‼! The same group that puts on Game Night every Thursday also put on the Freeplay Independent Games Festival which happened yesterday (Saturday Oct. 29, 2011). It is for their games exhibit space, in the National Gallery of Victoria, that I made Mario. He's up near a nice sunny window where even people passing by on the street can see him. I did it Mom; I have art in the NGV :) all that Girl Scout time paid off. (I didn't make the little Mario Stars, Sayra Lothian did.)

 Lol, we pinned his nose a little crooked

So back to the games. They started at 10am, but I didn't get there until about noon. We played...

Checkpoint: A team of smugglers attempts to move an entire picnic, piece by piece, from one location through a public space and rebuild it at another location. There is a team of guards who try to stop the smugglers from completing their goal. The smugglers can run, but once tagged by a guard they have to surrender any picnic item they carry and go to "jail" for a short period of time. This was a great game and confused everyone in Federation Square that wasn't playing (it was a pretty busy day for people there).

Lemon Jousting: Each player gets two wooden spoons and a lemon. Place the lemon on one spoon and use the other spoon to knock other people's lemons to the ground. Once your lemon has fallen three times you are out. Last lemon standing wins. We sometimes played without the drop limit too. This was fun.

Noodle Fencing: Each player wears a sparkly plastic top-hat and holds a foam noodle (you know, the once you swim with). Use your noodle to knock your opponent's hat off.

Art City (not sure what this was actually called): Cardboard city decorated with colored paper, markers, colored pencils, cut-outs, or anything else people thought of. This was great for when you needed a little break from the other games.

Earpiece: Downloaded onto an iPod are instructions that tell you what to do. You follow what is told to you no matter how silly it makes you look.

Werewolf: Each person draws a card from the stack. You are now a townsperson, a bodyguard, a seer, or a werewolf. One person leads the story (God as we called him). At night everyone puts their heads down and closes their eyes (NO CHEATING) God then instructs the werewolves to awaken, they quietly point to their target then go back to sleep. God then asks the bodyguard to awaken, that person can pick any player to protect including themselves, they go back to sleep. The seer awakens and can ask God what any one player is (God signals with a silent hand motion); back to sleep the seer goes. Everyone awakens and God announces who, if anyone, is dead. The players then have the option to lynch a player they think is a werewolf. If they pick wrong they themselves are killed. If the players fail to eliminate the werewolves before the werewolves kill off the town then the werewolves win.

Blink: Two groups of people at equal distances from a central person who stands over a lemon. You can move toward the lemon only when the person in the middle can't see you. If that person sees you move then you return to the starting line. If you get the lemon you win and now have to guard your lemon from the group. This was SOOOOOOOOO fun‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼!

We played so many games that day, that list isn't even all of them. We even got people in Fed Square to join in. One guy was headed home for dinner and stayed to play games instead, "I can always re-heat dinner" he said. It was a really great day. There are pictures and videos, but I don't have access to any of them right now. Finally got home at about 10pm that night exhausted and I am definitely feeling all that fun again today. Who needs to work-out when you can just get a bunch of people together and play games instead?

Shoes

So, I just realized that I haven't told you all about the shoes... OMG Australians love their shoes. At the outlet stores across the road every other store it seems is completely devoted to shoes. Some sell bags and accessories also, but mainly just shoes. I'm not talking about run-of-the-mill tennis shoes; these are heels in every color and style you could possibly think of. They are like art you can wear. We are in the CBD (Downtown) so there is a lot of shopping in this area. Most of it is very expensive though. Down our street is Myer; the entire first floor is just cosmetics. Think of going to Macy's cosmetics department, now take out all of the surrounding departments on that same floor and fill it with cosmetics. Every department is like this at Myer too, it covers half a block and has eight floors. It will be a while before I can afford to shop there, but I can still dream. The girls wear dresses here too. Beautiful dresses to match all of their fancy foot wear. Everyone with their own unique style and enough stores for each of them to find something they want and can't live without.

Sorry for the short post. I'm off to the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria). Big day for Mario... pics to come :) And it's a day of games down there. I love games. More soon. Love you all and miss you more every day.

A Moment in Yarn

My new friend Sayra made this for me. It's called "A Moment in Yarn" because it represents one special moment or memory. She did a great job and I love it very much. ~Thanks Sayra :)

I use to take Kona (my German shepherd) outside in our back yard and throw her ball for her. Depending on the day it was a blue ball the size of a large grapefruit, a red ball the size of a tennis ball or a normal tennis ball. Kona likes the blue ball the best, but I like the red one. The best days were early in the summer before it got so hot that neither of us wanted to be out. The sun would be shining, the birds would be out and the flowers would be blooming. Kona doesn't mind the birds and shares the yard with them; they tend to stay out of here way though. The gold finch is my mom's favorite bird (they are a cute little yellow and black bird) and they love the vegetable garden. My mom gardens a lot and has turned the entire perimeter of the yard into garden space. Three of the sides are flower beds and one (on the west side) is a vegetable garden. The flowers are different shapes and sizes with a variety of colors. The yard is bright green that time of year and almost always smells of fresh cut grass. Kona and I would spend hours out there. I would throw the ball for a while and when she got tired I would sit on the patio swing and she would lay in the grass close by. The patio swing sits at an angle in the southeast corner of the yard on a slab of concrete. It's darker than tan, but lighter than a chocolate brown. A dark tan I guess. You can see the entire yard perfectly from that swing. The bird feeders and the bird bath too. Those days were great; so quiet and peaceful.