Spring is in the air

Had lunch by the leith under the cherry blossoms...


with Rachel and Sabine :)

Welcome Home

I went out for dinner with some friends the day after I got back. We went to the espanlade at the beach. It was a warm spring evening. Heaps of surfers were out even though there was no surf!


What a beautiful sky!


It is good to be home :)

Eating my way around America

I had a grand time on my trip home! A whirlwind couple of days in San Fran and Sac, seeing family, getting in my first Mexican meal and enjoying the 100F temperatures! Then off to Knoxville for ASP, networking, giving a talk and hanging out with Emily, Devon and Katherine...oh such fun times! I was pleasantly happy to be in America amongst Americans, where I can be as loud as I please and not stand out...ok, maybe I still stood out, but it was totally acceptable to be loud. My talk went well and I had lots of questions and interest. Then on to Minnesota...by this point I had taken 8 flights in a week and was so ready to be home! I flew into Humphrey and my mom was waiting for me at Lindberg without her cell phone (it was in the wash machine...oops!) and it took me an hour to get to her...thankfully she stayed put and was sittting there waiting for me! Couple days with my mom, then I headed up north to see both dad's and Chad's family. Colder than it should have been for August...as you will see in the photos, we were often wrapped in towels on the lake trying to stay warm! Then back to my mom's for a week and half. Went to the State Fair (YUM), had another Mexican night, bbq at Tammy's, but mostly just hung out at my mom's. I'm happy to say I ate all the foods I've been missing...turkey (sandwiches and a drumstick at the fair), Mexican food (4 times :), pizza, brats, hotdog, breakfast sausge, my brother's sausage gravy and biscuits, blueberries (only available in NZ when in season), doritos, and a steak actually cooked to order (rather than well done no matter how you order it). My last day was spent at my aunt's in San Fran, just hanging out in the garden and relaxing! Check out the photo albums...