Anywhere in the world

Being in Sydney often feels like you could be anywhere in the world. There are people of every color, accent, etc. But then there are certain things, like the opera house, that remind you where you are!

GUNNI GIRLS IN SYDNEY

Where to start? Sydney has been fantastic! It's been fun to explore a place with friends. How random for three Gunni girls to meet up in Sydney?! We've gone hiking, dancing, surfing, and apartment shopping! Tamara has been a wonderful gracious host- she's in her last week of classes and has taken Ericka and I in anyway! Sydney is very ethnically diverse and has a great mixture of architecture and fantastic transportation, beaches and Eucalyptus trees! This is me, Tamara, and Ericka at Bondi Beach.

A chance to visit family

Sorry this is a bit out of order again, this is the first opportunity I've had to add pictures. I'm writing this blog with the entire screen in some asain text, so we'll see if I end up remembering which buttons to push without labels!
I wanted to put this picture on from my time in San Diego. Happy Birthday great-granddad! He just turned 102! Also pictured is my great-grandmother (100) and my grandmother! It was a fun time to be with family, share stories, and take naps!

Safe & Sound in Aussieland

I made it! I'm feeling the jet lag, but I think if I can make it to tonight without falling asleep I think I'll be all better! It's so good seeing Tamara, she is doing well and just finishing up her semester. So I came at the perfect time to distract her!

Venezuela

And since I'm in the pictures here is one from Venezuela. We are at the Parque Nacional los Paramos. We are at 9,000ft. in the Andes which is why we look cold even though we are in the tropics. In the picture is Leo, Janet, Sergio, myself, Tatiana and Rudy. Here's to hoping that the folks in Australia are as nice as the friends I made in VE!

We had some fun too! Here we are out to dinner on our last night in New Orleans. We got some evening trips to Bourbon street and the nightly beignet run to Cafe Du Monde. Fried dough covered in powdered sugar is a good way to end the day!

Katrina Relief- Spring Break 2007

Here's me and the Western State College students who went to New Orleans over spring break to do relief work. It's crazy that a year and a half later there was still so much damage. We spent a couple of days working with little kids and then 2 more days gutting this school. It was a lot of dirty, gross work but it felt good to help out. And it felt good to be out of the van! 27 hours each way made for a long drive, especially when I could only trade off with one other driver, but we made it.

Cross Country Skiing

I also got into cross country skiing this year! Here's a picture of me skiing up Mill Creek, outside of Gunnison with my neighbor Lynn. I got a day or two in almost every week. Who knows, next year perhaps I'll be up for the Grand Traverse :)

Skiing

So here's going back a couple months! This is my friend Stephanie at the top of Paradise Bowl at Crested Butte. Stephanie, Jason, Bob and I carpooled up to the mountain pretty much every weekend this winter. They all snow board, but they still let me go with them :) Towards the end of the season I even learned to ride a bit as Stephanie and I would switch gear at the end of the day.

Blogs are weird

So as I'm heading off for Australia in a few days I thought I would once again try to maintain the blog. But I've been thinking about blogs and they are weird. Really, I want to use it to keep in touch with people and share stories about my life, but with whom? Well since everyone and anyone can read my blog, my entries are therefore appropriate for all audiences. So maybe you won't get the juiciest stories. Perhaps you won't read about me being detained at borders, or my latest crush, or my death defying solo backpacking trips. After all my parents, students, co-workers and well, anyone really, could be reading this. But, I'll try to at least put up pictures for this trip! And that way you will still have incentive to see me in person- and get the rest of the story!