Brent in front of one of the caves
Me overlooking some of the nice landscape
London Arch Bridge
London Arch Bridge
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Hiking About
Even though I have been in Canberra coming up three years, I only just discovered a fantastic hiking area - Googong Lake. It is only a 30-ish minute drive from my house so you'd think I would have been there before but no! Anyway, just a few pics from our afternoon out there on a perfect Spring day.
Brent in front of one of the caves
Me overlooking some of the nice landscape
London Arch Bridge
London Arch Bridge
Brent in front of one of the caves
Me overlooking some of the nice landscape
London Arch Bridge
London Arch Bridge
Monday, October 10, 2011
Gardening and Cooking
It has been a long, cold winter here in Canberra and Spring is finally starting to settle in. The rain has returned and everything is turning green and growing like crazy. Flowers are blooming and the temperature is perfect for sitting on the deck and enjoying lunch in the slightly crisp weather. The only bad thing is that my sneezing has definitely increased - the price you pay for Spring I guess!
We started a veggie and herb garden in the back yard - something we have been planning to do since moving in almost two years ago so I am glad we finally got to it! When I say "we" I really mean Brent - I took pictures and fetched gardening tools and he did the back-breaking work - can't complain about that deal!
I like to cook most of the time, but Spring puts me in the mood to really cook! It is also good weather to start up the bbq again which is a good thing because Costco here sells Tri-Tip! Non-Californians probably don't know what this is - it is an amazing cut of beef that is so tasty and for some reason isn't really eaten outside of California. Even my siblings in Utah and Texas can't get it! I am not really sure why they sell it here, I have never seen it in Australia before, maybe it is because the US Ambassador is from California. For what ever reason, I am very happy!
So just going to post a few pictures of things around the garden and a couple of the things I have been cooking up. Hurray for Spring!
Tri-Tip and Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Mousse Filling (recipe here)
Brent planting the veggie garden and some nice flowers with a pretty bird in our backyard
We started a veggie and herb garden in the back yard - something we have been planning to do since moving in almost two years ago so I am glad we finally got to it! When I say "we" I really mean Brent - I took pictures and fetched gardening tools and he did the back-breaking work - can't complain about that deal!
I like to cook most of the time, but Spring puts me in the mood to really cook! It is also good weather to start up the bbq again which is a good thing because Costco here sells Tri-Tip! Non-Californians probably don't know what this is - it is an amazing cut of beef that is so tasty and for some reason isn't really eaten outside of California. Even my siblings in Utah and Texas can't get it! I am not really sure why they sell it here, I have never seen it in Australia before, maybe it is because the US Ambassador is from California. For what ever reason, I am very happy!
So just going to post a few pictures of things around the garden and a couple of the things I have been cooking up. Hurray for Spring!
Tri-Tip and Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Mousse Filling (recipe here)
Brent planting the veggie garden and some nice flowers with a pretty bird in our backyard
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
New Job!
I haven't updated my blog in a while but this time something really exciting has happened in the meantime - I got a new job!!
I applied back in March and started a month ago - government takes forever, haha.
So the job is as a Risk Adviser for AusAID - Australian Agency for International Development. At this stage in my career, this is my total dream job! This is a massive step in the right direction for my ultimate career goal (working for the UN) so getting this job was amazingly awesome.
I am so excited to be back in the international arena because I have missed it so!
And it gets better - there will be lots of travel! Part of my job will be to go out to our overseas posts to train them in how to manage risk. The majority of travel will be to Pacific Islands and South Asia, but hopefully a few glamorous locations like Paris and Geneva too!
So, in case you can't tell, I loooove my job! I can't get over how awesome it is!
If you get a chance, check it out: www.ausaid.gov.au
This is my office with the Millennium Development Goals on the windows:
I applied back in March and started a month ago - government takes forever, haha.
So the job is as a Risk Adviser for AusAID - Australian Agency for International Development. At this stage in my career, this is my total dream job! This is a massive step in the right direction for my ultimate career goal (working for the UN) so getting this job was amazingly awesome.
I am so excited to be back in the international arena because I have missed it so!
And it gets better - there will be lots of travel! Part of my job will be to go out to our overseas posts to train them in how to manage risk. The majority of travel will be to Pacific Islands and South Asia, but hopefully a few glamorous locations like Paris and Geneva too!
So, in case you can't tell, I loooove my job! I can't get over how awesome it is!
If you get a chance, check it out: www.ausaid.gov.au
This is my office with the Millennium Development Goals on the windows:
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Battle of Coral Sea Commemoration
On May 5, the Australian-American Association hosted the commemoration of the battle of the coral sea here in canberra. It was pretty cool and it was nice (and rare) to celebrate both sides of my family military history at the same time. Great day!
The "Catafalque Party" made up of Australian Navy and US Marines
The Governor-General taking a wreath to lay at the American Memorial
All the wreathes from various groups
The US Ambassador to Australia giving a speech
Me with the last two surviving Australian veterans of the Coral Sea Battle - they were hilarious!
Lame update...
So I haven't been on here in ages, I will try to do better! I have been working on my office the past couple weeks. I got a sweet desk, some wall stuff that I still need to put up (will take more photos then) and made an accent wall. Since I rent I can't paint or do wallpaper so I improvised with wrapping paper and sticky-tac! I am happy with it!
PS - couldn't get the first picture to rotate (it is from my phone) so tilt your head to the right to see it!
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