Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon

On Sunday the 21st of September I woke up at the ever so evil time of 5am. I enjoy nothing about this time what so ever, but it had to be done. The reason for this early wake up call, is that I was participation in a half marathon. Now no, i'm not known for my exceptional running skills, or having ever been interested in doing such a thing in my life. But I was roped in as my host mom's support team. So off we went. We were only fast walking it as she has bad knees and calves or something like that. But really fast walking was fine with me. The race didn't actually start till 8am. We go there at 6.30 so we had some time to "warm up", and look really professional. The race eventually got underway and as it was a staggered start our corral didn't start until 8.35. Once we were underway we were going at a solid pace. Fast walking actually meant that we were passing many of the "runners" (or people who look like they are running, just really, really slowly). So the first 8 miles I was feeling good. By the 9th mile I started experiencing some tightness in my thighs, and blistering on my feet. Not so pleasant really, but you know what they say "no pain, no gain". I wasn't going to let a little pain stop me really, so I powered on. At this stage I was kind of really sick of walking and just wanted to run. But I had promised to do it with Jen so I stayed with her. At the 10th, mile to my utter frustration, Jen started slowing down drastically, she hadn't been feeling well that day so I understood. But I couldn't handle people passing us due to my competitive nature. I just keep pushing her along until the last mile where she gave me permission to run ahead. So I ran the last 1.1 miles and boy did it feel great. I started passing a tone of people, and actually felt like I was accomplishing something that day. I crossed the finish line and collected my "participation medal", along with all the other free drinks and food they were handing out. Jen finished, we took our post race picture and left. 

My favorite thing about doing this was the sense of accomplishment. No we didn't have the fastest time, and we mostly walked it. But still it just showed me that I can achieve more than I think. As much as I was sore the days after and during the race, I want to do another race again soon. This time I want to really train for it. 

The Rock n Roll Marathons are great because they are held in many of the major cities in America. The marathon is designed so that we get a tour of the city and see the history behind it along the way. At each mile mark they also have bands playing. It's a fun race, where people of all fitness levels are participating. I defiantly recommend the Rock n Roll Marathons if you are just looking to have some fun, whilst also exercising.

5 more months

I think it's easy when you are away from home for a long period of time to feel sad and just wish the days away. Of course I want to see my friends and family, and be at home. But right now I need to live in the moment. I can't keep looking towards February and wishing that I was there now. I've been given an opportunity that I might never get again. I'm extremely fortunate to be able to be here. So I doing my best to try and live everyday without wishing it would hurry up and end. Some things I have been doing to get myself out and about and exploring are: Hiking at Valley Forge - which is the site of a famous battle in American history- it's a massive area with many trails to explore, you can even see some of the old shelter houses where soldiers took refuge from the constant fighting. I've explored a few different towns in my area, I go to the coffee shops, or the parks, different boutiques, and book stores. I go to the gym, I have been trying hard with my health and fitness, but I really needed more motivation to work out. So actually going to the gym is the motivation I needed, once you're there, you look stupid if you aren't exercising. I've been trying to make new friends and I see them during the day when I can, and when they are available. This has given me a greater understanding of many different cultures as most of them aren't American. 

There are a few things that I want to do here before I leave, and i'm going to try my best to do them all:

-Skydivng (don't tell my mum)
-visit California
-Florida
-New York at Christmas time
-Ice skating in Central Park
-Do a half marathon
-Learn how to Snowboard
-visit chicago

I know I might not be able to do everything, but they are just some of the things that I really want to do.

In 28 days my family are visiting me, and I couldn't be more excited!

Oh Canada!

On the 14th of August we all packed up the van as one big happy family and started a 12 hour road trip to Canada. The land where the maple syrup flows, and the honest humor hits you from every direction. The van we rented had a TV in the back. So the boys played xbox for the majority of the trip. I tried to watch a movie but car sickness got the better of me, and Preston played the iPad for what felt like 5 hours straight. Our first stop before Canada was Michigan where Jen's mum lives. I can't say I've ever had a desire to visit Michigan. Which was a whole lot of what I like to refer to as woop woop. A lot of farms, grass, and small towness. But it's another state to cross off I guess. 

On the way, so excited clearly!

Isn't he just the cutest

The whole trip I knew I would be meeting family, and old friends of the family. Which I also knew meant the weekend would be full of awkward chit chat. So having prepared myself for that I met the first lot of family friends when we were having dinner with them at 10 O'Clock at night. The journey to michigan had taken 10 hours and by this time I was tired. But seeing as we were only their for one night we had to see as many people as possible apparently. So I did all the awkward greetings, saw more stunned expressions when people found out I was Australian. Got asked about the wildlife in Australia (I'm honestly not sure why they all care so much), then proceeded to do my dutiful role of entertaining the children. 

The next day we hung around with Grandma for a while, had some "world famous pizza" for lunch. Then headed off for the two hour journey to the Canadian border. When we got to the border it took us an hour to get across the bridge. Paul thought that they would pull us over cause I was with them. But I just smiled politely, answered all their questions. They stamped my passport (which excited me cause I have another page stamped now), and sent us on our merry way. In 15 minutes we were at Paul's parents house. Who thankfully were normal and weren't awkward. We spent a couple of hours there. I met Paul's brother who lives just around the corner. Then we headed off for dinner at Paul's sisters house. Now that was the fun family affair. Everyone was there. But I found that Canadians and Australians have a similar sort of attitude towards life. They are more relaxed and more humble than Americans. They also treat me more like an adult, than a child. Are also very warm and friendly, making everything a lot easier for me.

The next day was the big family reunion. I of course was a little worried about going, cause i'm not obviously related to anyone there and everyone else is. But it turned out to be ok. It was held on a farm (not so fun). But everyone was really welcoming and friendly. I even met some people who had been to Tasmania before, I thought what are the odds of that (not very high). I was asked many questions about Australia, more specifically about the wildlife. I'm not sure why everyone has this perception that in Australian we basically co-exist peacefully with snakes and reptiles. It's like they think that to everyone person in the population, that there is also a creature, and they roam the streets freely with is. I have a felling that Steve Irwin may have had something to do with that. My other favorite thing is when people start to try and guess where i'm from. Most of the time I get British first, then they arrive at Australian. But a couple of times I go from being British, to New Zealand, to South African, and then we eventually arrive at Australian. It was one of those family reunions where you play the old games like three legged race, sack race, shoe kick, tug of water, and water balloon toss. For us it was all whilst in the rain. It was defiantly an interesting afternoon, but it was nice to finally meet Paul's family and see where he grew up. 

Preston in the sack race

Preston on the ground

Fun on the farm. AKA Whoop Whoop

Sunday rolled around and we geared up for the long drive home. We drove to Niagara Falls this time to cross the boarder there. Niagara Falls was incredible. It's certainly breathtaking. It was one to tick of the bucket list. We then crossed the boarder and were on our way home. It was a quick but fun trip and i'm glad I got to see another part of the world.

USA side of the falls

Famous Horse Shoe

Me and Morgan

From the boarder bridge

Opinions Opinions

During the past couple of days, since the news of Robin Williams death. The internet has be plagued with post about their love for Robin Williams. Picture after picture. Heartfelt message after heartfelt message. He truly was an incredible man, a man who filled my childhood with laughter. He was a comic genius, and extremely talented. He bought life to any movie that he was apart of, he put 110% into everything that he did, and it showed.

On the flip side of the love that people have for Robin. There are the opinions, so many opinions about his death. It has been ruled as a suicide and linked to extreme depression. So of course that has now opened a can of worms in regards to whether depression is a viable illness, or that suicide is ok or not ok. People think that he is now free, which does send a message that suicide is ok. So then the opposing side come back and say that no it is not ok, that suicide is not the answers. I myself am not going to give me opinion. I know what it is and if I talk to someone about it in person I will share it. But on the internet and in this current situation, I think that we need to sometimes just keep our opinions to ourselves. Plus there are plenty more out their, and you don't have to look hard to find them.

In regards to Robin Williams, I'm choosing to remember him for the amazing work that he did, and not the way his life ended. He was a man that touched world, with his little spark of genius. I watched Mrs Doubtfire the night I found out he died, it truly is one of my most favorite movies of all time, and that's how I'll remember him. As Mrs Doubtfire, as Peter Pan, as the Genie, as Teddy Roosevelt, as 'Wizard', as a reverend several times, as Fender, as Bicentennial Man, and as the Professor in Flubber. I will remember him for the laughs that he gave me, and the characters that I remember.

I just want to end by saying that Depression is a mental illness, one that you can seek help for. But also remember that if your friend or family member doesn't seem fine, ask them if they are ok. Be persistent, because as a society we have somewhat turned asking for help into a shameful thing, it's not an easy thing to do. So instead we need to maybe just look outside of ourselves and see the people around us, just stop for a minute in a hectic lives and think about the ones we love. Because there is always time for that.

A weekend with Bek

Last weekend my friend Bek came into town from Virginia where she is also an AuPair. Bek and I have known each other since we were 9 years old. We have been at school together on and off since then. We had Sociology class together last year, and it was during this time that Bek was talking about this whole AuPair thing. Something I honestly didn’t even know existed. So it’s all on Bek that I’m here. 

It’s so nice knowing that someone you have known for so long, and someone from home is in the same country as you. She came down late Friday night, which began with some excitement. It turns out the bus stop she was at wasn’t the one that I was at. So when she arrived it began with the challenge of trying to actually find her. On the way there I look in my rear view to find that a cop is behind me flashing his lights. Oh shit went through my head and my heart started pounding. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what I had done wrong. I knew I wasn’t speeding and I had literally been driving in a straight line for a while, so I couldn’t have made a wrong turn. Turns out I hadn't put my headlights on. The car I drive has automatic dim lights that are on all the time, and as the city of Philadelphia is well lit, I didn’t notice that my main lights weren’t on. He didn't give me a ticket or anything, just told me to be more cautious. After that I finally found Bek a this stage is was 12.45am.

It took us another 45 minutes to get back to the house and by this stage I was overtired and wide awake, however we were good and went straight to bed as we had a busy weekend ahead planned. Saturday morning we awoke and had to head off to my stupid monthly meeting that I have with other AuPairs in my area and my LCC (Local Childcare Coordinator). The meeting was at my LCC house, and what I thought would only take an hour, took nearly three! This is due to the fact that my LCC doesn’t have any friends and we are the only people she can talk to once a month. I’m actually being serious, she doesn’t even talk about things relevant to us, it’s all about her. Anyway we finally left and headed to the shops. Something I thoroughly enjoy doing nowadays. We shopped for a couple of hours and then went to the supermarket to get some healthy food for dinner… Um did I say healthy? I mean ice-cream and Potato Gems. We headed back to the house where we had a pretty boring evening. There was absolutely no alcohol consumed, no swimming, and no fun had at all.

The next day we arose and headed into Philadelphia for a little bit of what I like to call ‘tourist time’! We went down to the water front an area called Penns Landing. When we got down there we couldn’t figure out why on earth this area had been recommended to us as there was nothing and no one down there. After walking a couple of miles we found out what they had been talking about. There was an event that had been set up for the months of July and August. There were around 50 hammocks set up in the park, food stalls, a beer garden, plus a heap of shipping containers converted into mini arcades. 

Bek soon found out that the big love sign was in fact in Philadelphia and not New York. So we left the waterfront and headed there. We took a few snaps, then headed to Max Brenner for some chocolatey goodness for dinner. I can just say it was amazing, and extremely healthy! After we were put into a chocolate induced coma, we tried to shop a little, with only a small amount of success. By this time Bek needed to be back on her bus. So we said so long, farewell, and I drove off into the sunset towards Jersey Shore. The land of people who look like tanned leather bags!

First run in with the law

So this isn't always the best experience, a run in with the cops that is. However coming out from it, I can now just laugh, and it's a good little story to remember. Plus it wasn't anything too serious. 
So this happened nearly two weeks ago one the 8th of July. We had driven back up from the shore to the house in Pennsylvania because the dog was sick and needed to go to the vet, and Ethan had hockey practice. The vet appointment was at 1pm, and we had no food at the house so I needed to get them something before we went there. I stopped in at Panera Bread which was on the way. Of course the dog had to go with us because we were taking him to the vet, I rolled down all the windows in the car at least two or more inches and we went inside. Now yes it was quite a hot day, but we weren't inside for any longer than 10 minutes. As I walked outside there was a police car parked behind my car blocking me in. I walked towards the car to ask them what the problem was, when this lady who was talking to the police started yelling at me asking if i cared about my poor dog and if I was a dog hater. The police asked her to be quiet so that they could talk to me. Apparently in that 10 minutes the lady had seen the dog in the car and called the police. The officer explained to me that for every minutes the car is left off the temperate inside rises by 10 degrees. All I wanted to say to him was "thanks for the fun fact", but I had to restrain myself. They told me that I shouldn't bring the dog out next time and that I needed to, as a pet owner, be more responsible for my pet. They weren't going to charge me or anything, they just wanted to let me know the risk of leaving your dog in a car.

After taking my name, address, and number they said that I was free to go. When the lady who called the police found out they weren't going to arrest or charge me. She started to come towards me yelling that I was evil and doing the work of satan. This is what was the most terrifying part. The police officers had to hold her away from me and they told me to get into my vehicle and leave. I guess she must be a real dog lover.

So that was my little experience with the police, it's not the most exciting story, but it really got my heart racing for a second. A bonus was that the cop was really cute. Oh and yes the dog was perfectly the fine, he was happily sitting in Preston's car seat the whole time without a care in the world. 

Baby in the Summer time

Ahhh Summer time. A wonderful time of the year. The weather is hot, the people are happy, and the days are exciting. After the dreadful winter that the US experienced it's fair to say this summer was welcomed with open arms by everyone. For me this summer means looking after the boys full time on Jersey Shore (no i haven't seen Snooki yet). My days are filled with looking for cheap or free ways to entertain the boys, cleaning up after them, and running errands like none stop grocery shopping, as the boys like to eat us out of the house on a daily basis. 

Some of our favorite things to do are of course spending hours on the beach, swimming, building sandcastles, surfing - I should really say badly attempting-, and soaking up the vitamin D. We go for long bike rides or walks to Atlantic city, which is roughly 3 Miles away from the house. There is lots to just look at there, but it's hard to stop the boys from asking me for money every five seconds. Morgan loves spending hours at the Apple Store, Ethan in the sporting goods stores, and Preston is just happy to browse around any shop as long as it's not for too long. We often go to the local park which is a short two minute walk away, or even the library, where the boys don't do so much reading but they do pick out movies. 

For me i'm just trying to see this time as a great chance to enjoy the surroundings and be more active. Even though the boys do drive me crazy and I would really love for them to be back at school sometimes. I'm getting the chance to get to know each of them better, and to just have fun with them. Yes of course there are things that their parents want them to do like reading for school, and cleaning the house. But really for me summer is about having a break from all the school stuff and just having time to do what you love most.

Some of the fun things that we did this week were baking some very interesting peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. The boys didn't want me to help them at all, so the end result was a pile of stuck together cookies, smothered in Hershey's Chocolate sauce. Let's just say I didn't eat much of them, but the boys were super proud of themselves. Ethan and his cousin who are visiting wanted to paint my nails Spider-man themed (for what reason I don't have a clue). But I let them and the result was quite hilarious. The boys did the Habanero Pepper challenge, which resulted in a lot of red faces, itchy tongues, and milk being consumed. We made a short film with Morgan, where he experimented with slow motion and sound effects. I got the wonderful role of producer (not sure why) and boom mic holder (yay for me).

All in all it was a busy and somewhat stressful week with their cousin being here. But I'm just trying to look at the positives and the fun that we had. On Monday the 21st it's going to be my 19th birthday. Not a big one in terms of year, but it's still a birthday, and I can legally drink in Canada now, bonus! I love birthdays so i'm really excited for it, but of course I wish I could be with my family and friends back home to celebrate. However the family here are being amazing and making sure that I feel really special. They are taking me out for dinner, and i'm being treated to a mani/pedi. I will do another post all about my birthday.

Until then i'm going to keep enjoying my weekend and hopefully a great week next week.