Oh yeah one last thing! Brighton and Wendy have finally caught up to the good part aka to when I arrived! :) haha I'm joking of course! If you want to check out their blogs though you can click on the link right from my page! Oh and sorry that last one was kind of long, I would say I just like to hear myself talk, but I can't actually hear my own voice when I type so I don't really know what my excuse is!!

The Weekend!

This is us feeding a kangaroo! Who took this sweet picture anyway? Oh yeah, that was me! :) haha

Oh yeah, it's that time again! The weekend was here and we were ready to get our P-A-R-T-Y on!

Friday June 20
Friday was awesome! We met Brighton for lunch and tried out this delicious bakery that had all kinds of homemade stuff like quiche, meat pies, croissants, breads, dessert pies etc. Everything was awesome and I love it that there really are so many different little bakeries on every corner!

Later that night we were going to watch a band play. Wendy and I on one of my first days here had been walking around Bondi Junction (the ginormous mall thing by us) and we saw this way sweet candy shop where they make the candy right in front of you, so we stopped and watched and the two workers started talking to us one of them was older and the other was probably around 25ish had gage earrings, tattoos on his arms, lip rings, and a wife beater (and yes I was strangely attracted to him :) haha) his name was Ben, but he was super nice and gave us lots of samples! And it was the most divine candy I've ever had and pretty much we go there every week now cause we eat the bags of candy so fast! Anyway, in talking to him we found out he was in a band and had a gig coming up, that naturally he begged us to come check out! So we got the address and decided it could be cool! So Friday night we took a taxi to this totally dodgy looking bar called The Bald Face Stag that's far enough away from the closest train that it cost us $25.00, I haven't quite figured that out in miles but it was enough! I just don't know why we keep getting ourselves into these awkward anxiety filled situations! :) haha So we walk into the bar and it looks pretty deserted, we ask the bouncer if there was supposed to be a band playing and he had no idea so we started to get a little nervous. Don't worry though we found them, the stage was just in a back low lit room full of Goths, no not people dressed as Goths these were actual Goths, I don't even really know what that means but they looked like they meant business! Ben had told us his music was Pop Rocky and that their groupies were 14, but apparently he meant Goth Rock because that's what it was and I couldn't validate the 14 year olds because we were at a bar, maybe they were out back waiting for the after party?... :) The music was actually pretty good minus a few parts where it turned screamo. Their name is Mz Ann Thropik and they just started recording their first real album to be released. The lead singer was a chick and she had a way strong voice when she wasn't yelling! At the end the guy on bass decided to take his shirt off, so the girl was like, "Why do guys get to have all the fun?" and then proceeded to take her shirt off and did the whole last song just in her bra! haha After the show we even got to hang out with the band, I've never gotten so many dirty looks from people wearing eyeliner (aka The Goths) it's like they didn't think we belonged.... Weird! Overall it was a really fun night, we got invited to the after party at some Goth club and had to respectfully decline, but we still visit Ben at the Candy shop all the time and I'm sure we'll remain lifelong Australia friends!


This is the band minus the singer! The drummer is next to me, the bassist is hiding behind him, then it's some random lady, then, Ben and of course Wendy and Brighton! Yes Brighton and I did wear our Bon Jovi and Pink Floyd shirts to show that we really do know how to "get crazy and rock with the best of them"!

Saturday June 21


This was the day the train gods were apparently not pleased with us! The train to the zoo only came every half hour and we literally ran on to the platform as the train doors were closing and they wouldn't open for us! :) haha Later on we just kept taking the wrong train that wouldn't stop at the stop we needed, it was a rough day! So we decided to make the most of it and play a little cards!


Well Saturday was supposed to be our big day at the Blue Mountains. We had gotten home super late and didn't actually get to bed until about 3 after making all our plans. We all set our alarms for 5 so we could get up and get going because it is a 2 hour train ride out there! Next thing we know it's 8 am! None of us had heard any of our alarms go off once! haha I guess that's what we get for staying out so late! So we decided to make the most of it and do the Blue Mountains another day. Wendy was getting so mad at Brighton and me for not waking up! When we finally did get up we made a delicious breakfast of crepes (one of our staple foods here for sure) with yogurt and raspberry jam, and nutella and bananas! Mmmmmm!! Afterwords we headed off to Featherdale petting zoo! It's supposed to be for little kids, but we had heard lots of good things so we decided to check it out!


This is the entrance to Featherdale! It's located right in the middle of a neighborhood!

The zoo was awesome, they had lots of different areas that were fenced in that you would just walk around with the Kangaroos and Wallabies and Emus and feed them and pet them! It was crazy! There were lots of momma Kangaroos with their Joeys sitting in their pouches! We acted like little kids we were so excited every time one of them jumped around! The Emu's were a little scary though (Emus are huge birds that are as tall as me), they were in with the Kangaroos and they had food you could buy and fill with food and then feed it to the Kangaroos but the Emus loved it too so they would randomly just come at you to get your food. One time we were all standing there trying to get this Kangaroo to jump for us when this Emu starts charging Wendy for no reason! Naturally she screams and tries to run so Brighton and I scream and run too! Everyone was laughing so hard and just staring at us it was so funny, I'm pretty sure a few of them got it on tape and kept watching it over and over! :) We looked like squeamish Americans who had never been around animals before in our lives! haha It did make for a good laugh though! In there we also got to see a huge Crocodile, Dingos, Penguins, Tasmanian Devil, Wombat, Cassawari and so many other birds! It was way cool cause it was just lots of animals that are native to Australia!


This is a real life Koala we got to pet! Normally you get to hold them, but he was taking a nap so we missed out on that.


Don't even worry this is just a 20 ft long Croc waiting for his dinner, we're brave!


This picture doesn't even do the Emu justice, when it's head is up it's way bigger and scarier looking, really!


I don't even get why Brighton is making this face? I feel like she's saying "Jayne it's not ok for you to hold my hand on a public bench, even if it's only for a picture".... How rude!

After the Zoo we headed to Newtown, it's kind of the trendy part of Sydney where you can buy lots of vintage stuff (the only thing different I could see about vintage was that they seemed put a higher price tag on it) and a lot of the new and upcoming styles! We ate at this African restaurant that was awesome! Everything was served on wooden plates and we had flatbread and lamb and veggies and chicken and cous cous with all sorts of different sauces! It was very tasty and we are starting to feel like quite the worldly eaters trying a little bit of everything! :) haha


This is the African restaurant, strangely enough we only had Indian servers? Explain that one?....

Sunday June 22, 2008
Well, Sunday we were back to business as usual and by business as usual I mean yes we were late to church.... :) haha So we stayed after and went to the Chinese ward for Sacrament, you think Sacrament in English is boring? Try not speaking the language... After church we went home and made yummy tin foil dinners (I'm pretty sure I eat way better here than I do at home)! Later that night there was a party for this American that was leaving the ward. It was pot luck and we decided to go at the last minute so we had to throw something together and ended up making a semi peach cobbler type of dish that was amazing even if no one else thought so! One of our friends from the ward, Jess, took pity on us and gave us a ride to the party! It was way fun, just at some random girl in the wards apartment and so many people showed up! It was way cool just to see how close their ward really is! We even got everyone to play this hand tapping game, it was hilarious!

Monday June 23
Monday started out as just another day in the land down under, but after Wendy and I had made our plans for the day we knew it was gonna be so much more! We met Brighton for lunch after she was stuck in her office all day alone! We had authentic Turkish Kebabs and they were pretty great! After that, the real fun began! On Saturday night in Newtown we had discovered this coffee place called Gloria Jeans that had free wi-fi with a purchase. As some of you may or may not know our internet at our flat is limited, so we are stuck missing our favorite show So You Think You Can Dance every week! This sadly enough is all three of our biggest regret (and by regret I just mean the thing we're saddest about) about coming to Australia, that's how much we love it! So when we saw this we knew this meant big things for us and the show! So Wendy and I had packed our lap tops with us and we headed to GJ's! We bought our delicious shakes, mine was Tim Tam flavored hers was coconut, and went to town downloading all the dances from the first episode! We even made a spreadsheet to keep track of what we did and didn't have! :) haha We're freaks but we saved them and that night it was pure bliss as we all sat down and enjoyed! It was like a weight was lifted from my heart!


These are the beloved chairs where the magic happened!

Sunday 6/15- Thursday 6/19

We love Tin Foil Dinners, I just want to eat them everyday, but apparently that's not normal to do....? :)


Yummy Thai Food! Yes I am wearing a Corona shirt.... Awkward! :)

Am I already a week and a half behind? Uh oh I'm in major trouble, because I think I'm actually getting lazier! :) haha This past week has been great I've pretty much been sick all week :( but, here are a few highlights or just random things that make you go haha (ya know it's like play on words, things that make you go hmm....? No? Ok)

Sunday
We went to church, and it's just in this random big building right in the middle of town the first floor is where the missionaries stay and the second floor is the actual church. It's so small, there's a chapel which is tiny and then maybe only four other small rooms. In the chapel there's a piano and an organ and then the relief society room has like an electric keyboard and I think those are the only pianos in the whole place, that has to be a church record or something! :) haha Our ward is a Young Single Adult ward and there are a few Australians but for the most part it's just a lot of Asians and then a few Americans! It's weird having to ride the bus and the train in to church, it makes it feel not real! :)

After church we came home and Brighton was so tired she just wanted to take a nap,
but I was very hyper and didn't think that sounded like a lot of fun so I decided to crawl on the top bunk with her and try to change her mind! :) Needless to say there was not a lot of sleep that happened this day! haha


Wendy was thankfully able to capture this sublime moment, you can really see how much fun we were having!

Monday
There's an awesome running path that runs from Bronte Beach, which is the beach right by us, up to Bondi Beach that's a little over 2 miles. It's right along the ocean and seriously the most amazing view! I don't love to run, but if I do run I wanna do it along the ocean from now on! :) It was kinda rainy when we ran and also after as we walked to Bondi Junction. Along the way we found a Dominos that had a lunch pizza special and we were so excited to eat our Hawaiian Pizza at a bus stop outside we just couldn't even contain ourselves! With the weather being rainy and cold and then walking around in it all day, I got a little sick and fell asleep super early that night. But Brighton and Wendy were up and apparently I kept drifting in and out of consciousness saying random things to them that didn't make sense because I was so confused at what was happening!


This is Bronte Beach and the run goes up along the rocks and around to another cove!

Tuesday
I had developed a little cough from the day before so Wendy and I went to the pharmacy to get some cough medecine, once we got outside we couln't remember how much I supposed to take because it was only listed in mL which doesn't mean a thing to either of us and we couldn't remember if it was 3 or 4 teaspoons or 3 or 4 tablespoons. I was in a lot pain so I decided the latter sounded like a better option and took a couple big swigs right there on the street. It was nasty stuff of course but after I felt like I was on cloud nine! Upon closer examination and figuring out, we realized I was only supposed to take 3 teaspoons and instead I had downed half the bottle! :) So needless to say, I walked around the rest of the day feeling a little tipsy! :) haha I'm also ashamed to say, that this day we gave in and ate subway for lunch, we've been so brave trying new food everyday but we just couldn't hold back! For dinner we also got all the stuff and made Tin Foil dinners! It was so delicious and so just like sitting around a campfire singing 'koom bai ya'!


Tuesday we also invaded Brighton's work!

Wednesday
We decided to go on a little trek around our neighborhood to see what we could find and we came across this way great park (there are parks everywhere here) that had a rugby field and lots of space and we think it was some kind of cricket batting cage or something and then all these basketball courts only the baskets didn't have backboards just hoops and they don't dribble the ball they just pass it around like ultimate frisbee where you can't run when you have the ball, it was weird. All these little kids were playing everywhere, and they were so cute especially the little 8 year olds that were playing tackle rugby and they loved it so much! Wendy and I also played a little frisbee and then got some reading in!


I love Dragon books!

Thursday
We tried Thai for the first time on Thursday, it was so cheap and so delicious! And apparently the official food of Australia! We tried Pad Thai and a couple other things it was way great! One thing that is weird to get used to, is that all the prices you see anywhere are after sales tax and you pretty much don't tip anywhere, so if a menu says it's $7.20 that's all you pay, no tax no tip nothing! It's kinda nice not having to worry about that stuff and Australians think it's so weird that when we go to the store and stuff we never know exactly how much we're going to pay because of tax!

Saturday June 14

Hott isn't it? Oh wait, were you talking about the opera house? :)


This is the cafe we ate at with the ocean behind us! Across the street is also where a bird pooped on Brighton, everyone keeps telling her it's good luck, but I just don't see how that can be true!

Holy cow time flies! I can't believe I've already been here a week and a half! This weekend was awesome! On Saturday we decided to take the ferry from Circular Quay (which is where the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge are) to Manly. Manly is the cutest little town across the bay from Sydney! It looks to me a lot more like a tourist destination slash somewhere that people really live, just the way the condos and hotels were setup, as opposed to a commercial area like in downtown Sydney. It has the most amazing beach and tons of different shops, just like everywhere else. The weather was a bit windy and rainy, but that of course didn't stop us or the many crazy surfers that were out in the water. It was fun watching them and you could tell how much they must have just loved it because first of all it was freezing outside and second they all just stayed out in the water as long as they could even when it got dark you could tell they just wanted to stay a little longer! We ate at one of the many cafes that just looked out over the ocean right at sunset, it was beautiful!


This is Manly Beach at sunset, all those blacks dots in the water are surfers!


This is the other side of Manly Beach!


Wendy and I don't need actual waves to surf, we're pretty good just the way we are!

After dinner we took a stroll along the beach and just wanted to talk to some hot surfers, but sadly enough they were all on the run once they got out of the water. Don't worry though we just pretended like they were too nervous to approach 3 cute american girls and then we felt better about ourselves! :) haha Later that night we heard some ruckus and loud cheering coming from one of the hotel bars so naturally we went to ch-ch-ch-check it out and everyone was watching a rugby game England vs. The All Blacks (New Zealand), we really had no idea what was going on, which frustrated Wendy that she couldn't answer a sports question, but it was kind of exciting and everyone was getting so into it and there were some really cute rugby players! I'm pretty sure The All Blacks ended up winning!


We love bread, yes we do! We love bread, how bout you?

After that we headed to our favorite shopping destination in Sydney, Cole's aka the grocery store! :) Pretty much all the breads they make here are fresh, it's like Europe in that people buy bread almost everyday so it's not as common to have like a Grandma Sycamore or Wonder Bread. Along with that the bread obviously goes bad faster, well we've discovered if you show up at just the right times at night and especially on Saturday nights they mark the bread and pastries down really cheap! We have fondly come to call this dollar days! Whole loaves of bread, full size baguette's, 12 medium sized donuts, ginormous cheese and bacon rolls all for only $1.00!! You'd think we were a band of starving ruffians the way we attack that aisle when those dollar stickers are up! :)

Friday June 13

This isn't the best picture but this is Bronte Beach behind us, it just doesn't even do it justice of how beautiful this place really is!


This was on our way to party it up in the big city!

Sorry this is kind of a long post, but really it was just a crazy night and there was no way to really condense it down! :)

Friday was another great day spent at the beach! The weather was not as good as Thursday but we just couldn't resist it! After Brighton got home we were supposed to meet up with a friend of a friend named Sean at this bar called Le Chifley in downtown Sydney. If the taxi had been any indication of what kind of night it was going to be we should have known this would be one to remember! After riding the train into downtown we had to take a taxi to get the rest of the way, as soon as we stepped into the taxi we knew it was a mistake! It stunk of strong BO and Indian food, two things that should never be mixed in a cramped space! I could have looked past that, but I'm pretty sure the driver was on drugs! When we told him we were from Utah he said, "Oh yeah I know it, it's right by Tennessee" and then tried to argue with us that the 2002 Olympics were in Los Angeles! After arriving we tried to call Sean, who conveniently or not didn't have his phone turned on, and we didn't know what he looked like so we didn't have any idea who we were looking for. So there we are three young innocent Mormon girls standing in the middle of this dodgy bar trying to figure out what to do next. This was not a big bar and not overly crowded so everyone in the room was for sure aware of our presence and not quite staring just questioning. We just decided to make the most of it since we had already paid for the taxi so we headed for the front to order some drinks (in our heads we were just praying that they had something other than alcohol) when these two guys start hitting on us. One of them was late 20's semi cute and sorta looked like Harry Potter the other one was probably 45 and looked like Uncle Fester! Their initial pickup line was horrendous and had we known where to run to we probably would have, as it was we didn't really have any better options or options at all! After playing the state game and finally figuring out we were from Utah and Mormon they asked us how many husbands we had back home and what it was like to live with no electricity! For some reason everyone over here gets the Mormons and the Amish mixed up! It carried on like that until finally 40 minutes later Sean called and came to our rescue! We then met all his friends who were from all over, France, India, Iran, South Africa, New Zealand etc. (it's amazing how many people in Sydney are not from Sydney) but his friends were way nice and kept offering us wine, but we told them no it's ok we don't drink and they were like no really just have some and went and got glasses and even poured some for me and we just kept saying no really we don't drink over and over and they wouldn't believe us so finally I was like, "No really, we can't have any we're recovering alcoholics" and they were like "oh, ok that's fine" and dropped it as if that really could be the only possible explanation for why someone wouldn't drink! :) haha it was seriously funny! We still had a really great time, the problem is we're just as crazy without alcohol as most people are with because we just don't even have any normal inhibitions to begin with! :)

It was about 1 when we decided to head home and we just took a taxi, this one was much better and BO free! He drove us down Oxford St. which is like gay central! Apparently Sydney is like the San Francisco of Australia! They had rainbow flags flying all over up and down the streets and there were flocks of guys together everywhere, holding hands walking down the street, hugging waiting to get in clubs, standing in groups smoking, it was seriously the strangest thing I've ever seen, but I just couldn't help but laugh!

All in all it was a way great night, but when we told our flatmate Jorge about it, he said he wasn't going to let us go out again on our own! :) haha

Yep, this is really real! Oh yeah and can everyone comment on how pretty Brighton looks, she's feeling really left out that this is the first picture of her I've put up! :)



So one day I was telling Wendy that I thought it was weird there were so many adult book stores everywhere we went, when she casually replied, "Oh I know I only go into them when I'm not with Brighton and I can spend so long there!" I was like "What?!?" and then she was like "Wait what did you say?" :) haha She only heard the book store part! So we naturally had to take a picture of Wendy with her new favorite past time!

Thursday June 12

Hey guys, it's been a few days, I'm sure some of you were starting to get worried but never fear, I haven't forgotten all my friends! :) Thursday was way great Wendy and I decided to check out the beach since it's so close! The weather was awesome, I still don't get how they could possibly call this winter, and there were so many old men in Speedos so it was like a double bonus! :) We packed a lunch and ended up spending pretty much the whole day there taking naps people watching etc. The setup is so cool, they have a massive grassy area with picnic tables and just open space and then there's a big path that runs along the shore that goes from our beach (Bronte) to Bondi beach a couple miles down the way and then there's still plenty of beach to just layout and chill, maybe play some beach soccer! There was some surfing going on, but I think the waves are not the best.



This is my new friend Rufus we met at the beach! Holly this is for you!

After that, the missionaries had asked us to go to a discussion with a girl from Korea who had been raised not believing in the idea of a god at all. It was so crazy to imagine coming from that kind of background and having to try to grasp the idea of Christianity! When the missionaries asked her if she had any questions she just kept saying, "I could believe it but I can't, I want to believe but I just can't". It was very interesting!

We met Brighton for dinner and ate at an authentic Noodle House, no really that was the name Noodle House! :) It was similar to our Chinese food and very tasty!

This is a park Wendy and I spent an unacceptably long time acting childish and having so much fun! Look at my sweet air!! :)




I know what you're thinking, this is too good to be true! Seriously who is lucky enough to get to go to Australia for two months and develop hives? Well let's just say I'm one of a kind!


Yesterday we had such a great day! After getting ready we went and played frisbee in the park and then walked around this place called Bondi Junction, it's huge!! There was an endless amount of stores and shops! My favorite part was there were two electronic stores kind of like Best Buy, one was called Harvey Norman and the other one is JB Hi-Fi, I just made Wendy walk around them with me for so long! I think she officially thinks I'm a freak but it's ok I didn't even care! Prices were crazy though, and only my friends at Best Buy would probably understand this but there was a 1000 series monster 3 foot HDMI cable that was $400, which is ridiculous! Also they have so many cool cell phone shops everywhere! I just love looking at all the cool phones that don't get released in the US! The thing that amazes me so much about being over here is that there are not food chains here like in the US, pretty much all the food places are locally owned minus that there are McDonalds and Starbucks on every corner! Anyway I hope that everyone is surviving without me!

Syndey here I come

Hey everyone! I'm finally here, can you believe it? I still don't even feel like it's real, it's so amazing though! The flight was awesome and by awesome I mean really I loved it! On the way from LA to Sydney it was a huge plane with our own screens which is pretty normal, but the part that was so great was there were so many good movies to choose from I didn't even want to sleep and I ended up watching four movies and the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds concert! I couldn't have been happier! I left on Sunday night and got to Sydney at 9:30 in the morning on Tuesday, so Monday didn't even exist for me and I'm just glad it wasn't my birthday or something important like that! My friend Wendy and our flatmate Jorge came to get me and we took a bus to our flat, on the bus we met a funny old man who just kept saying "God bless America" after he found out we were from the US, I felt just like a celebrity! :)


This is the cute little cafe we went to right by Brightons work for lunch! Don't worry at this point I still hadn't showered or brushed my teeth, I look good :)

After this Wendy and I just wandered around Sydney, we went to Darling harbour which is so cute and there's tons of restaurants over looking it and lots of shops and stuff! It really is just the coolest city, we found China town and I swear there's just shops everywhere you go it never ends! After Brighton got off work we went shopping for food stuff, everything is so expensive I really can't even believe it! Potatoes were $4 for 4 lbs and a jar of the cheap peanut butter was $5! I guess it's good that their minimum wage is $16.70 because I really don't know how anyone would survive!

It was way rough staying awake with the jet lag but I pushed through the pain and we made it home so I could finally fall asleep around 9:00 (where I slept for 11 hours), but not before I noticed somes sore red little treat all over my legs that burned and itched and by little treat I mean yes I developed hives! I'm so cool, what else is there to say! Pictures to come later! :)

What time is it?.... Summer time!

This is him! Notice how his girlfriend is staring me down with that vicious glare. Don't worry I played it off really cool after I took this, pretending to take a picture of some benches right by us!

Hey everyone (and by everyone I mean, hopefully someone other than my mom looks at this)! Well my trip has officially started, even though LA is not quite as exciting as AUS and NZ I think I have some pretty exciting things to share. First and foremost I saw my first real life celebrity, well unless you count Jeff Hornacek but that's beside the point. We went to California Adventure on Friday and there I was minding my own business, running around like a little kid in a candy shop when who should I behold?.... Jorge Garcia aka Hugo "Hurley" Reyes for all the LOST fans out there! As most people know I'm usually pretty calm and collected, but the sight of this person I get to watch every Thursday at 8/7 c on abc was almost too much to handle. I followed him around like a creepy stalker/lovesick puppy dog, minus the lovesick part, trying to get a picture! Maybe I didn't get one of his face, but I know it was him!! Second, I got to see the High School Musical 2 parade where I got to dance and sing along to all my favorite tunes from the movie!! Seriously what more could a girl ask for from one theme park? Nothing, I say! Today was also way great, we went to Disneyland, and after seeing all the cute little girls in princess dresses, I decided I wanted to relive my childhood and spend all my days in a tiara with a sparkly wand and a frilly dress, I think that really would have gotten me somewhere! The countdown is officially on and I leave in less the 24 hours! I'm getting so nervous and exited I can hardly stand it, and really I think my mom might throw me out the window if I remind her one more time when I leave! :) Hope this post find everyone well!