Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

Have you guys ever watched this show? The acting is horrible, the story line is horrible, the messages it portrays are horrible...but I can't stop watching this train wreck! Basically, the story goes that the chick in the picture has sex one time (at band camp, no less) and gets knocked up. She's, also, only 15. She decides to keep the baby and along the way gets married to some dorky boy (still at age 15) from her class who she's dated for all of about 3 weeks. I guess on the season finale, she had the baby.

I was out of the loop, having only seen this show once at Nae's house with her, Boyfriend, and the Camp Counselor, and then a few more times at Mom and Dad's with Nae. I saw that the show was coming back last week and decided to start watching it again. On the first episode of the season some ultra-Christian girl decides to lose her V-card to her college boyfriend. She tells her parents of her plans and they are unhappy. She isn't on speaking terms with her Dad in the episode because of her sex plans and she doesn't speak to him before he's off on a week long business trip. She ends up having sex that night and of course her Dad's plane ends up crashing and he is killed without her speaking to him. Her Mom comes home crying and the girl says, "Don't worry Mom, I just had sex." And then her brother with Down Syndrome yells at her that she's killed their father by having sex.

Ummmmm, awesome! Hahaha, so basically the message of this whole entire tv show is anytime you have premarital sex you are going to F* up your life in a big way....you're either going to get pregnant or kill your Dad. How did her having sex bring that plane down I wonder? I had to stop watching the second episode of the season to post this because they are still going on about how she killed her Dad by having sex. And now they are also blaming her friend who is sexually active for making "sex look like fun so Grace would want to do it, too." Really, Secret Life, really?!? This show makes my blood boil because of it's stupidity and the messages it sends to teenagers and yet I still can't stop watching it. Yes, I think you should be in a committed relationship and use birth control before you start having sex, but everytime you do "it" someone's not going to die and you wouldn't get knocked up if you had proper education about birth control. As an adult, I can laugh about this dumb show and the hysteria it perpuates about teen sex, but if I was watching this as a teenager, I'd be really scared about having sex (even more scared than I already was from my Catholic religious education on sex) and I guess that's their goal?

But hey, here's an idea....more education, less hysteria!!! Abstinence Only Education is not working and has not worked. Let's empower kids with knowledge. Kids are horny, they are going to have sex for the most part anyway, so let's give them the education where they know how to do it safely and so that they know where to get help and what kind of help is available to them if they do get in to trouble along the way.

I've got my fingers crossed (but won't hold my breath) that one of the adults on the show finds some sense and tells this chick that having sex does not bring down planes. How would the mile high club exist if it did?

A Little Help From My Friends

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends

Once again, Boyfriend and I have reason to be thankful for our awesome friends. They've never failed us and today was no exception. Shortly after writing the last posting, I called Croc and asked him if he knew of anyone with a bombed out car we could rent or borrow for a month or so. He didn't know but said he had seen a car for sale on the side of the road for $800 and he'd go check it out for us and even lend us the money if we needed it. His other alternative was that Boyfriend could park his car at his (Croc's) mechanics business which is a 10 minute walk from another train station and he'd lock it up at night when he left and leave Boyfriend a key to get in for now until we work something else out. Then, just now, the Teacher called and invited us to dinner tonight at their house, figuring we wouldn't want to cook after doing moving stuff this weekend. And last night, I had messaged LC to fill her in on the parental drama and she messaged back straight away offering to come pick me up and take me home if I needed her, too, and as you know, she is about to give birth any second now.

So even though our parents aren't stoked or are downright angry about the situation, at least we can lean on our friends to support us right now and be happy for us. It is such a good feeling to know that there are people out there looking out for us, you know? I mean this really genuinely, Thank God for these great friends in our lives. I had a little cry just before and Boyfriend was like, "It's going to be ok" and I said "I know, I just think we are so lucky to have such good friends" And he laughed because I was finally crying happy tears. While I wish our parents could be more supportive, I'm glad we've got my sister and our friends on "Team Lil D and Boyfriend"

Unity, As One Stand Together

So really, who knew it was going to be this hard to find a job?? Back home I see that others my age are in a similar situation...moving back in with parents and working shitty retail jobs until the economy changes and they can find work in the field they got degrees in. Living in a foreign country and being jobless and slowly running out of money comes with its own challenges. Mainly how do I continue to live in that foreign country without much money and what to do about the boy I've fallen in love with?

Boyfriend and I are your typical first children...we strive to please our parents and avoid doing things that would disappoint them. That is, until now. We are also both fairly traditional people for our age. We had always said through four years of dating that we didn't want to live together before marriage. After discussing it for a few months and my bank account shrinking further and further, we realized that we didn't want our relationship to have to end because I was having trouble finding a job. Why should we be punished personally just because I was suffering financially? Things between us have been going well and we don't want it to end until we've exhausted all of our possibilities.

Boyfriend struggled and stressed trying to work up the courage to tell his parents that he was moving out and in with me. He put it off until the very last minute, the day I had to tell my real estate agents if I'd be moving out. He did it and it didn't go over very well. His Dad said he didn't and wouldn't accept it and he said his Mom didn't say much. It was horrible for Boyfriend and he was really upset. I felt really bad for him, but also was thankful that he had gone through with it and obviously really wanted me to stay.

I told Nae before I told my parents. I wanted to wait to tell them until after Boyfriend had told his parents, just to make sure it was really, really happening. Well Nae didn't know this and was telling our godsisters about it and my Mom overheard. Nae says her reaction was "What??!!" Followed by "She's a big girl. She can make her own decisions/mistakes" When I spoke to her on the phone, she said it isn't what she and my Dad want for us, but Boyfriend and I are both adults and it is our decision to make.

Other than that conversation my parents have been fairly quiet on the issue. Last night we went to Boyfriend's parent's house and I felt like I had been ambushed. We were having a quick dinner there and then all headed out to see a family friend perform in a play. Once again, our situation was brought up and we were told how much they didn't like it and that if she was my Mom she'd want me home and I'm just not finding a job. Boyfriend stood up for us again. When she left the room, I was quietly crying. Then she popped back in to the room to announce to us that even though she had asked us whether or not we planned to get married, to not get excited about that either, because she didn't think we were ready and basically it wasn't her condoning that idea either! Then she left again and I broke down crying. I asked Boyfriend if we could just go home and he said he wished we could, he wished we hadn't gone over there at all, and that he really didn't want to disappoint the family friend by not being there (especially as our seats were in the front row) so he gave me a kiss and told me how sorry he was and I wiped off my face and put on a neutral face for the rest of the night.

There had been discussion last night, as well, about how Boyfriend was going to get to the train station each morning. They don't want him leaving the pick-up truck at the station and I don't have insurance so I can't drive it to drop him off and pick him up. They said they'd be picking it up this (Sunday) afternoon. Boyfriend does have his own car, but it's a classic car from the 1960s, and sad to say it but the area is so ghetto that he's afraid it'll get vandalized if he leaves it there while he is at work. So it's 9:30 Sunday morning here and I'm waiting til about 11am to try and call Croc and some of our other friends to see if they have any old bombs that we could rent from them each week for now just to be driven to the station and back each morning. Boyfriend is even talking about riding his bike to the station in the morning (no idea how many miles that even is and considering it's winter, it would not be a fun ride at 6am).

We get it, they don't like the situation, they're going to make it hard on us, hoping that we will give up and Boyfriend will come home. I really hated that I had to be a part of the reason that Boyfriend's parents were disappointed with him. Boyfriend is still really bummed about the whole thing but strong in his conviction that he wants me here and wants to be with me. I told him to look on the bright side of all this; that I guess it meant his parents really love him and can't bear the thought of him not living with them anymore.

My parents said to me before I left, about being out of school and really being on my own for the first time, that this point in your life is supposed to be uncomfortable and a struggle. They weren't saying it in a mean way, just that this is the time when you really find out who you are and figure out how to make your life work for you. Boyfriend and I are in the struggle right now for sure. We've got each other's back. I hope that we make it out the other side of the struggle and will be devastated if we don't.

Kind words, thoughts, and prayers are much appreciated right now.

California

When I first came out to Australia, it was supposed to be a four month deal and Boyfriend and I were just going to keep things light because we knew I would be leaving after only a very short while. Obviously, we fell pretty hard for each other in that short amount of time and I ended up staying but I came across this song today by the Kooks (I just started listening to them yesterday and I'm already downloading everything of theirs I can find because they are that good) called California and it is totally the song that could've described our relationship when we first got together.

Check it out:

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/California/456084

Don't you know baby I'm a leading man
I dig down deep when I say I love you
Well I can hold my own with the best of them
I guarantee you, you never seen nothin'
Nothin' like this again

California, say that you love me
From all the darkness I couldn't break through
Now, I miss the ocean when I go to sleep
Oh man, it's gonna break my heart

Don't you know that I did the things I did
I rubbed your back when you were sleeping
But all along baby it was understood
That you were leaving, absolutely
The very first day we met

California say that you miss me
From all the darkness I couldn't break through
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss you

I'm gonna miss ya
I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss ya
I'm gonna miss you

Coffee, Mate?

Never ever in my life have I bought CoffeeMate back home, though some of the holiday flavors they have always tempted me to. Well, last week I really started craving iced coffee, being poor and not having a Starbucks near by (or really any cafe for that matter) I looked in to whether or not CoffeeMate was sold in Australia so that I could add it to my own iced coffee at home. It is, in fact, but only in the powdered form or in those a 10 pack of those little cap sized containers and at like $4 for a pack I figured I could make my own at home with "real" ingredients rather than chemicals and stuff and maybe for cheaper so I did some googling and here is the recipe I came up with, modified from ones I found online. I have been having an iced coffee with breakfast and lunch for the past two days and they are so delicious (and doing it this way with the skim milk products, not too bad for me, either)!

Vanilla "CoffeeMate"

2 cans of skim sweetened condensed milk

3-3.5 cups of skim milk (depending on how thick and sweet you want it to be)

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract*

*if you wanted to make an almond flavored one, you could add 2 tablespoons of almond extract instead, or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to make a chocolate flavored one, or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and a tablespoon of either mint or raspberry to end up with chocolate mint or chocolate raspberry flavor, the possibilities are pretty endless

I poured all these ingredients in to a washed out milk container and then just shook it vigorously (cap on obviously) until all the ingredients were combined. If you don't do that, the condensed milk won't mix in and will just sit on the bottom of the container.

This stuff will supposedly keep for 2 weeks. I only made half the recipe and I will be out of it before the week is up I'm sure so I won't be able to test whether or not it really does have that long of a shelf life yet.

Just for Fun

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bored_with_the_internet.jpg

Boyfriend just linked me to this comic and it is totally me. Whenever we do something fun, I end it by saying "This is going straight on the blog!"

Random Photo Post

I'm bored and was going through some pictures on my phone and thought I'd share them with you. Sorry, as always, for the crappy quality, but I am just using my little camera on my phone and it isn't that great. Hope you enjoy. The first half are all from Australia and the next half are from last Christmas and the last one is from 2 summers ago before we went to Mexico.

I didn't know pointsettias (I think of them as Christmas flowers) grew in to trees but I spotted this one near the first scuba dive site Boyfriend went to last Friday.

This little guy was hiding behind my trash cans when I took them out. I wonder what kind of frog or toad he is?

This was the end result of our "In-N-Out Night"....Animal Style fries, cheeseburgers, and shakes

I got this shirt for my Mom cause she raises money for an anti-whaling group. She wore it last time she went through the airport at Japan...she's such an activist, I love it!

This stick bug flew up and landed on the outside of Boyfriend's patio one day while we were on the driveway talking to his Mom....huge!

The pelicans in Australia are also huge, at least compared to the ones I'm used to in CA. They do a daily feeding for them locally; it's neat to see.

This is at my old and really nice apartment in Newcastle. Boyfriend got me flowers and I didn't have a vase so they ended up in the blender!

Check out the blue thing with the bright spots...it's some sort of sea slug (nudibranch I think is the proper name) that we saw in some rock pools when Mom and Dad and Boyfriend and I went exploring one rainy day they were here.

Our Christmas tree from this past year. Nae and I cut it down ourselves. She did the majority of the work. It was super tall and beautiful. I wish I was sitting near it and our fireplace right now.

These are some Christmas cookies I made with Mom to take in to work. We made "Aussie Icing" to decorate them with. We are as good as Betty Crocker, I tell ya.

Some other Christmas cookies I made with Mom to take to work with regular American frosting...some don't look too hot because I was trying to frost around sprinkles....Dang, all these pictures are totally putting me in a Christmas mood...Good thing we've got a Christmas in July celebration planned for next month!

Boyfriend had never seen a sand dollar before and when I sent him these two pictures he said "How did you make the design on each one the exact same?" I died laughing and thought it was too cute. I guess we don't have them here in Aus? We collected all the sand dollars ourselves for it on the beach out in front of Mom and Dad's house.

I think I could totally sell these wreaths at like the Farmers' Market or Flea Market next Christmas. I think it looks really neat and is just made from found sand dollars, silver ornaments that we got on sale for like $2 for a box of 20, and an artificial wreath from Michael's. Don't steal my idea all you crafty bitches who read this! ;)

Some cupcakes I made for when Mr. G and his wife and son came over. I love playing around with food dye and seeing what colors I can make.

This is Mod, one of Nae's cats. Nae thought it would be a good idea to buy Mod a poncho...Mod didn't agree! Once it was on, she couldn't figure out how to walk so she just kindof fell over and laid there til we took it off her...it was so much fun!

Working It Out

How is it possible that I still don't have a job? I've put in my resume at a bunch of stores (grocery, clothing, discount) and emailed out resumes to schools for admin positions and I don't hear back about any of them. It's been two months since I went to all the local schools and put in my substitute teaching resumes and I still haven't gotten any calls to substitute teach. I think I should call them back and remind them of my existence and the fact that I live super close to the schools so they can call me late in the morning and I can still be there on time.

Anyway, because of not working, sometimes I get a little restless. It doesn't help the fact that it is freezing and raining outside. We all also know by now that I've got a bit of a sweet tooth. So what does one do on a boring, cold and rainy day when they are poor? They think about what they've got in the cupboard and how they can bake something fabulous out of those ingredients.

Today I bring you Microwave Chocolate Cake! (I know it doesn't look lovely in my picture, make fun of it all you want, but it's good and it only took 5 minutes to cook and you can't beat that can you?)

Mine wasn't as chocolatey as I like it so I will tweek the recipe down below and hopefully that will help you when you try and make it. I also added some Betty Crocker Vanilla frosting to mine and that could be why the cake didn't taste so sweet because that stuff is super sweet.

3/4 cup of flour

1/2 cup of sugar (I used brown cause it's what I had and it worked fine)

1/4 cup of oil

2 teaspoons of cocoa powder (I used this fairly unsugary italian style hot chocolate powder I had)

1 teaspoon of vanilla or vanilla essence

2 eggs

1/4 cup of water

1.5 Tablespoons of baking powder

(pinch of salt....that's what the recipe I based this off of said but I didn't use any salt and it was fine)

(2 big squirts of chocolate syrup or another tablespoon of hot chocolate to get that bigger chocolate cake--I didn't do this, but I will next time)

So mix your flour, sugar and baking powder together. Sift it if you want to be fancy, but I don't think it's necessary.

In another bowl, mix the cocoa, vanilla, water, and oil together til well blended.

Add the eggs to the flour mixture and combined well.

Pour in the liquid mixture and mix the wet and dry together til all of the liquid blends in to the dry stuff and it looks like a regular cake mix (my liquid sat on top for awhile, I really had to mix it through for it all to combine).

In a separate, large microwave safe bowl or dish, coat with oil or butter and pour the cake batter in. (Make sure the bowl is pretty big, as my cake started to spill over the sides a tiny bit when it rose.)

Put in microwave on high power for 5 minutes.

And that's it, after 5 minutes the top of the cake should feel spongey and that's how you'll know it's done.

Eat it as is or throw some frosting on it to make it even more cake like.

You can make Aussie frosting (actually icing) by mixing together some milk and powdered (aka confectioners) sugar together til you get a thin icing consistancy....I think it takes lots of sugar to make.

If anyone wants to send me money or offer me a job, that'd be awesome!!

Sunrise, Sunset

I'm hoping to get pictures and go in to more detail then, but Boyfriend and I had a really great weekend. We were up with the sunrise on Friday morning to drive down to Sydney so that Boyfriend could go on two different scuba dives. Then Saturday we spent the whole day out on the sand dunes of Stockton Beach 4 Wheel Driving with Croc and the Teacher and their family. Although it was freezing, we sat and watched the sunset and it lit up the clouds in to an amazing red color. Saturday night we went to the Farmer and Tinkerbell's house with Croc and the Teacher and LC and Bob Marley were there, too. It was just a nice, mellow night hanging out and talking and I'm sure I impressed the Teacher and Croc with my driving skills when we gave them a lift home.

As we were driving to do errands on Sunday morning, Boyfriend and I talked about what a great group of friends we have and it's really, really true and to have such nice and awesome people in my life makes me so happy!

Hopefully pictures that I took from the dunes will be emailed to me soon and I'll post them and give you guys more details our adventures and the many animals we ended up seeing. Hope you are enjoying yourself where ever you are...I am wishing for some warm, California summer weather right now, but instead I am bundled up inside with the heater on and it's raining.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Brrrrrr! It is now officially winter here and it has been cold, cold, cold the last few days. Junior's birthday was the last warm day I think we'll have for awhile. The high today was 13 degrees (55 F), but was really windy and meant to feel more like 9-10 degrees (48-50 F). That, coupled with my teeny tiny budget, means I've been searching for comfort food recipes that I can do cheaply.

I've been making peanut butter cookies recently for dessert because all you need is 1 egg, 1 cup of sugar (or I do half cup of white sugar and a half cup of brown sugar), and 1 cup of peanut butter. Mix together, throw on a cookie tray and bake for about 8 minutes, or until the edges start turning brown, at 350 F. A cheap and yummy dessert for sure.

I also found a recipe for "Cheesy Chicken Tomato Skillet" over at the blog "...And a Cookie for Dessert" (brooke-cookiejar.blogspot.com). It looked so yummy and like the perfect comfort food for a cold, wintery night. I'll give you her recipe straight from her site and put my changes in paranthesis as usual. I really liked how this turned out, it almost had a pizza-y taste to it and, in my book, you can't go wrong with something that tastes like pizza! I had a big serving for dinner and it looks like I have enough for another 3-4 big servings again so this would be perfect for a family or maybe frozen in individual containers for other singles like me. P.S. Isn't that like the hardest thing to do, cook for one? I hate it and always make too much. Anyway, the recipe...

Cheesy Tomato Chicken Skillet

2 cups of pasta ( I used half a pack of organic spaghetti)
3/4 lbs chicken, cut into pieces (I used a 7 pack of chicken drumsticks and then took the meat off the bones)
1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup (I thought I had grabbed cream of chicken off the shelf, instead I ended up with condensed chicken noodle and a can of cream of mushroom already in my cupboard)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I think I used about an 8-10 0z can, but more tomatoes would be good)
1 1/2 cup of milk (I eye balled about 1 cup of skim milk)
1 tbsp dried basil (I just used all the different Italian herbs I could find in my cupboard)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (I grabbed a couple of handfuls and sprinkled it on)
(couple of tablespoons of garlic because i like it)
Cook the pasta as directed (as always, add the salt to the water like the package says, I cannot emphasize what a difference to the pasta consistency this makes). Heat 10 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken & cook thoroughly. (I browned the drumsticks earlier in the day in a pan with olive oil and garlic, then threw them in a croc pot on high for about 3 hours. Then took all the decent looking meat-I'm picky about it looking too dark or like it had blood on it- off the bones.) Reduce heat to medium; stir in soup, tomatoes, milk and seasonings (I used a really big skillet and sprinkled all the seasonings in the bottom of it, then poured in the can of tomatoes, the milk, the liquid from one condensed chicken noodle soup can plus the whole can of condensed mushroom soup, the garlic, and the chicken and mixed it all together and then let it simmer for a minute or two.) Stir in cooked pasta. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until bubbly & heated through. Sprinkle with cheese. Reduce heat, cover & let stand about 5 minutes. (They also served theres with home made breadsticks that looked delicious and would be nice to do if you have a bigger group eating this with you.)

Pretty easy really and it turns out pretty yummy for not a lot of work/money!

Swallowed by the Sea

On Friday, Boyfriend and I made Mexican rice and he brought over tortillas from the Mexican food place in Sydney and we had burritos for lunch. We then headed out to one of our local beaches, Soldiers Beach (the above picture claims to be it, but I think it is actually the next beach over, Jenny Dixon Beach, but thought I'd put it up so you guys can see what my local beaches look like= gorgeous and clear water like Hawaii). The beach is a big semi-circle, probably about a mile long, and we thought we'd walk to the end so we could look out and see the other beaches past it and also explore the rock pools that were there. The weather was warmish, but did get chilly off and on as the sun disappeared behind the lingering rain clouds still left in the sky. When the sun was out, it shined through the water and you could see the sand and shells at the bottom. We walked out a little ways in the water and it felt so warm. Boyfriend thought warmer than when he had last been out at summer. When we got to the end of the beach there was a calm spot that was shallow for a ways out and I said to Boyfriend, "Let's go for a swim" but he just laughed and said we didn't have any towels or bathing suits, for that matter. So we walked on the rocks a bit, but didn't see anything in the pools and the rocks were sharp and hurt our feet so we started to walk back.

We had just started walking back and the beach was deserted and the sun had come out and was shining through the water and I said again to Boyfriend "Let's go for a swim" He said that he would watch me and I said, "No, come on, it'll be fun, come with me. We can use my shirt and undershirt to dry off when we get out. It'll be an adventure and funny" So he said alright and we waited for the only person on the beach to walk past us then I stripped down and ran into the water in just my thong and bra, laughing because if anyone was around they would see my big, white bum for sure. Boyfriend then came jogging down and into the water in his boxer briefs, too. Just then, the sun decided to go behind some clouds and the water wasn't as warm past our legs as we thought it would be. It was actually spooky being in the water and it being all gloomy, but we laughed and shivered and dove under the water a few times anyway. Boyfriend said he'd wait in the water while I got dried off and changed so I raced out of the water and tried to dry off and change back in to my workout pants and sweatshirt as fast as I could. I got done then Boyfriend came out of the water and started to dry off. Then some people were coming from down the beach near the rocks so he raced back in to the water and stood there til they had passed. They kept looking at Boyfriend and then looking at me and smiling and then looking back to Boyfriend. Finally, they passed and Boyfriend came out of the water and dried off as best he could, too.

Later that night was when we were due at the Hairdresser and the Soccer Player's place for dinner and right when we walked in the door I announced to everyone that I had had a relapse. That it had been four years since I last jumped in to a body of water naked (the last time being when I had first met Croc and the Soccer Player and jumped in the pool naked on a dare in the middle of the night) and I had felt today that the time had come for me to do it again, but this time I had convinced Boyfriend to do it with me, too. They all laughed at us and probably thought we were crazy since it is winter here and all, but it was totally fun and I would definitely recommend that the next time you find yourself walking along a deserted beach with beautiful clear water that you be adventurous and go skinny-dipping or semi-skinny-dipping, too!

Celebrate Good Times!

On Thursday night Boyfriend got a text from the Hairdresser and the Soccer Player saying "Dinner at our place tomorrow night, 7pm, attendance is mandatory" So last night we arrived and LC, Bob Marley, Croc, and the Teacher were already there. The Hairdresser announced that she was going to be having a baby!!! Yay!

It is like baby mania around here these days: Junior's 1st birthday party is on Monday (it's the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend here), LC is due on the 26th of this month but is considered full term as of yesterday and could pop at any moment, and now the Hairdresser and the Soccer Player will have a new baby around Christmas time!

So exciting and so much to be thankful for!

Hope and Validation

We're a little bit behind the times down here in Oz. Today's Oprah episode is from the day after the Presidential Election! It's neat to sit here and watch it and get that excited buzz all over again; to remember that moment when I had a little part of changing history. I did a mail in ballot and had to read up on all the Props in California to make sure I was voting the way I wanted to. I was deeply disappointed when Prop 8 (aka Prop H8te) passed and disappointed again last week when it was upheld, but I figure maybe we'll get it right the next time it comes up for a vote. But I was also glad when my fellow Californias voted for Prop 2, which meant livestock (chickens, pigs, cows, etc) had to be caged/stalled in a humane manner from now on.

I will never forget sitting on my couch in my apartment in Newcastle for 5 hours straight watching the Australian coverage of the election. My heart soared each time a state was called for Obama. Boyfriend and everyone at his work was watching it online and we'd constantly message back and forth as news came in.

When the election was finally called in his favor I remember feeling so much pride in my country. I remember crying out of happiness, probably the only time I've done so in my life up til now. I remember calling my Mom and her screaming in the phone because she was so excited and us talking about how big this was. It was an amazing moment. Watching John McCain give his concession speech, I was proud of him as well because he did it with grace and without bitterness. Then when President Elect Obama got up there I was a mess of tears again. "Yes, we did!"

So I know that we're behind the times in TV here and I know this post is months too late (though this damn show has me tearing up all over again!), but I wanted to tie it in to that message of hope that President Obama stands for...

When was the last time you felt hope or thankfulness? Like really felt it? Up until yesterday I can say that I don't think I had felt hope since the election. I had been thankful for all the big things in my life, but how often do we all overlook the little things we have to be thankful for?

I was out on a walk between storms yesterday and was overwhelmed by the awesomeness around me. The lake was like a mirror and reflected all the different colors of the clouds overhead in it, the air was fresh and clean, and there were so many birds flying around me: kookaburras laughing, white and pink parrots screeching, little purple, orange and green lorikeets screaming from the trees, huge pelicans trying to steal fish from the fisherman on the bridge, and the tiniest little song birds flittng around in the trees that I could only see when I stopped walking and watched them dart from branch to branch.

It was then that I began to feel hope for things that have been bothering me lately because of all the little things I was thankful for. I know I'm getting in to some hippie-sounding crap here now so totally, if this isn't your thing, skip this posting and the next one will for sure be lighter, but if not and you want to stick around reading, I'd like to share with you all the things I am hopeful for and the things I am thankful for. I'd also like to challenge you to think about the own things in your life that could do with some hope and all the things you have to be thankful for. It's amazing how much doing these two little things can lift your mood!

Hopes:

I have hope that I WILL get a job.

I have hope that I will be able to stay in Australia with Boyfriend.

I have hope that everything will work out.

I have hope that things will get better....money wise, housing wise, job wise

I have hope that Boyfriend and I will someday get married and that we will be able to figure out some of the things that stand in our way (i.e. where in the world to live?)

Thankful for:

As always, my amazing family

Still having a little bit of money in my bank account

Having a roof over my head

Having a boyfriend who loves me heaps

Having a great 2nd family of Boyfriend's family and friends here to support me

That if I did have to leave here my family would welcome me back with open arms and help me in that transition back home

And then there are the things that are so easy to forget to be thankful for:

Being able to see so that I can see all those amazing birds I hear in the trees

Being able to hear because I love music so much

Being able to walk and not having any types of other physical or mental disabilities

The fact that I've been able to live in another country for over 4 years

That I have been able to travel the world before I was even 25 years old

So that's it for me trying to be all deep/cheesey and stuff...I'll get back to posting junk food recipes, tv show reviews, and travel adventures now!

You'll be the Prince and I'll be the Princess

I started downloading "The Tudors" about a month ago and me and Boyfriend are so into it now. If you can get your hands on seasons 1 and 2, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. They are probably available to rent in the States and in the UK. I've had to download all the episodes from online because I don't think the series has shown in Australia and it took 2 weeks to download each season. The third season just ended last Sunday so I hope it'll be quicker to download those episodes.

It basically covers King Henry the 8th rule over England. For those of you who don't know any of the history behind Henry the 8th, he's the one who decided he wanted to divorce his first wife to take a new one, thus causing England's split with the Catholic Church when the Church would not allow him to divorce his first wife. He soon tires of the next wife, and the next wife, and the next wife, etc, always finding ways to justify getting rid of them in some way.

Girls will like it because there are lots of hot guys, hot naked guy bums, and the costumes are amazing. Guys will like it cause there are lots of naked boobs and bums and lots of beheadings. The whole thing revolves around sex, ambition, and betrayal.

We were both blown away by King Henry's ego and Jonathon Rhys Meyer does a great job of playing the character. After seeing this series and reading all the stuff by Phillipa Gregory, like The Other Boleyn Girl, life at this court seems even more interesting than history books made it out to be!