A four-day birthday extravaganza!!

Today was my birthday and I am officially 25 years old. Life seems to just fly by these days but luckily it went slow enough for me to enjoy a long weekend full of fun.

First, on Thursday I received a formal job offer for permanent employment with Mission Australia here in Sydney. I can't tell you how happy I am to know that I will have full time work, a way to save money for plane tickets home, assurance that Jeremy and I can go back to school and not worry about money, and that we'll have a bit extra to finally enjoy all the exciting things to do in Sydney. It was a little hairy trying to negotiate a exit/start time between my current temp position and my new full time one but it was all worked out by lunch time and on Monday the 12th, I'll start my new job! At Mission, I'll be doing mostly invoicing work in just a general administrative temp role. And just to add more smiles to my day, I also found out that along with the job offer, the position I applied for was re-classified and the salary was increased by $5,000 p.a.!! It felt like two gifts in one. Perfect timing for my birthday.

Second, on Friday I kicked off myf irst professional photography gig taking photos for a Tall Ship cruise company in Sydney Harbour. The vessel was a 1922 tall ship built in Denmark to haul grain to and from the frozen country of Greenland. It was truly a wonderful opportunity and I had the best time. Okay, so it rained a little and the weather was less than perfect but the people were nice, I was given unlimited drinks (though I think I only had two) and I was invited to partake in some very good bbq! At the end of the day, I had some fantastic photos to give back to the company and they in turn offered to let me come back for another cruise--a pleasure one, that is--as I had offered them my services for free. It really was a great day out on the water and I can't wait to go back and take some more photos. Visit their website here.

(Since most of my photos were of the patrons, I decided I would only repost a couple photos from pieces of the ship and one of the crew--I don't think he'll mind.)

Isn't that a beautiful old rope??

But the day wasn't over. When I returned home Friday night, I found a beautiful bouquet of orange and pink tulips (my absolute FAVOURITE flower!) on the bed and a sweet hand made card from Jeremy. Is this guy amazing or what?! That evening we sat down to watch Star Trek (the new one) together and I must say, though I was aprehensive, the movie moved me to tears within 10 minutes. Either I'm just a hyper-sap or these movie producers are some smart cookies--who seperates love by heroic death at the beginning of a movie? I think this is how they planned to get the women in to it...

My tuplips. :) We were so lucky to find that vase. It was marked down to $25 from $85! Wow!

Saturday was a very wet and rainy day so we didn't do too much other than our weekly grocery shopping. Jeremy broke the computer (again) and had to re-install Linux and Windows (again). It was a painful experience for both of us. I was bored and he was a little frustrated. But it's all back together again and hopefully problem free for a whiel.

Sunday was our real outing day. In sticking with birthday tradition, I suggested we go to the zoo because I've been doing it for my birthday almost every year for the past 6 years. However, the rain was still pretty bad and we opted for the aquarium instead. Jeremy wasn't quite convinced that he would like it but we both ended up having a great time. We saw tons of sharks, stone fish, jelly fish, clown fish, lots of other tropical fish, platypus, a giant sting ray, dugongs, and three giant Pacific logger-head turtles! I think the turtles wer my favourite. I was quite surprised by how small the platypus actually is (I expected something of beaver porportions) but it was actually about a foot long.

The Platypus

Beautiful tropical fish. I've seen things like this snorkeling but it never comes out right in photo with those disposable underwater cameras...

I've decided that this buck-toothed dugong kinda looks like a dork but I like him anyway.

This was about a 3 meter wide giant sting ray!

Turtles! In Buddhism, turtles are a symbol of wisdom, and when you think about how old these guys live to be (some up to 150 years), it's easy to understand why.

Ah!! Sharks!!

What kind of goofy sea creature is that??

After the aquarium, we considered looking for some tasty food and ended up in the Lindt Chocolat Cafe! What a surprise!!! :) We couldn't really afford to waste our lunch money (or our appetites) on all the goodies inside but did agree to buy a few truffles and share them on our way to McDonald's (or Macca's as the Australians call it). And can I just say, Lindt truffles are little balls of heaven for purchase. They have been my favourite for years and Sunday I got to try a few new flavours: peanut butter (the best!), peppermint (very cleansing), and cookies and cream (over the top sweet).

After eating McDonald's in the park all the while trying to fight off Seagulls and Ibis, we headed over to the Latin Dance Fiesta--a free festival put on by Darling Harbour. It was so much fun and I kept thinking that Courtney should have been there! It took some convincing to get Jeremy to dance but he eventually did, and we swayed with the crowd to some very energizing Venezuelan music by a band called Mi Latino. Ah, it was wonderful! I miss that kind of culture. And we ate some DELICIOUS churros too which was a new experience for Jeremy as I am a repeat offender. :) After the Venezuelan music and the churro episode, we hung around for one more act: a choreographed Columbian dance group from Brisbane that put on a good show.

Mi Latino. I wonder if they are on iTunes...

The super cool Columbian dancers. Death was a pretty funny character. :)

In the end, our feet got the best of us and we headed home for another good meal: curry vegetables. (Can you see that this weekend was full of good food??) And to finish the night off, we watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Jeremy hadn't seen it yet and we just started reading the books out loud together before bed so it was a fun little continuation of our daily routine.

This morning, however, was my real birthday, and despite Jeremy's claim that he would be making me breakfast in bed, I found myself editting away on photos at 11:00 am while he continued to sleep. So much for breakfast. Hehe. But of course I didn't mind. He had done so much for me already. When he did eventually wake up, he made me a bowl of yogurt with fresh raspberries and some warmed up banana bread with butter. (If you didn't think he was amazing before, you should be convinced by now.)

After breakfast, I called my family and talked with Mom and Dad for a bit and Jeremy got to meet my dad for the first time on the phone (probably a bit awkward for both of them) and then I headed off to get a pedicure (my present to myself). I love getting my toes painted and my caluses shaved off. Plus, I secretly love catching up on celebrity gossip in all those trashy magazines--it's a guilty pleasure that I only allow myself while getting my toes or nails done. :)

And to finish the day off, we took a walk through the rain, back up to King Street, and ate dinner at Guzman Y Gomez--Sydney's premier Mexican take-away restaurant. I guess you can say it's more authentic than Taco Bell but when you gre up eating fresh tamales from a little Mexican lady or cheap tacos and sangrias from the taco truck, Guzman Y Gomez is a little... sanitized. Back at home we watched another episode of one of our favourite shows The World's Greenest Homes and we settled down for another early night--there's work tomorrow!

I was a lucky girl to not only have had a birthday on a public holiday but to have also had a wonderful boyfriend to spend it with. I am so blessed. Last year I spent my birthday trying to stay awake for a 3 am flight from Kygyzstan to Turkey but I think this year's more than made up for it. By something like 3 times.

So, adieu 24! Bonjour 25!