Random things.

4/17/12 -

So we had a BBQ on 4/15/12. Lots of my host family's friends came and I was able to meet them all. I attempted my first ever Pavlova. It didn't really work. I believe mum gave me the wrong quantities of ingredients. I stood there for an hour trying to get stiff peaks (laugh all you like) because I was determined to make the best pavlova ever! Well this was not the case. I gave up at that hour as I was not getting any where. So I just put the mixture on the tray in the oven and it didn't turn out to bad. Definitely not the same as mum's but it was so good. And because everyone eating it besides me didn't know any different, it tasted great!!! It was a hit, I think I will be making dessert regularly. 

My ankle is slowly getting better/I have been real lazy and been doing not a lot (which is good) so it has stopped hurting so much! I am so pleased my big purchase of a uncomfortable ankle brace has finally started working.. 

I am off to see Katy Perry in four days :D I am so excited! My host mum's cousin brought me a ticket and I am going with her, her husband and her friend I believe. It is at the Naval Academy in Maryland. It is such an awesome place.. I am in love with that place.. Anyway I am really really excited to see Katy Perry live.

This is the view from the dining room window that I see every morning. It is our BACKYARD!!! It is so awesome. We have squirrels, deer, birds and their is a fox. I heard the fox the other night while I was watching a movie. It sounds like a baby being abused (not my own words). The forest is definitely a lovely place to explore and chill. The only bad thing is that there is a chance that we may end up with ticks on us over summer! Eeeek, not keen for that. Gotta wrap up as much as I can everytime we are outside. 

I have also been on a massive clothes shopping trip.. It was good for me but bad for the credit card.. But I am pleased with my purchases so I am not complaining. 

When I arrived, the host mum was telling me about how her and her cousin like to sing on karaoke when they have get togethers. So the first week I am in Virginia the cousin and her family come over and we played karaoke. I found out I loved it and I can actually do quite well. We were up till 12.30 that night. Well since then, the mum and I have played it a few times. We stayed up till after 2 the other night playing it. We are crazy but we have loads of fun drinking soda and singing to crazy songs I do not know/cannot sing!

I have been driving a few more times too. On Sunday, my host mum and I went to the store and I drove there :) So I got to park the car in a parking lot. I am getting more confident. Should be able to drive myself around soon hopefully (fingers crossed) Oh and by the way mum, we went to the store in our PAJAMAS! We weren't the only ones either.. 

As I am writing this, it is so flipping hot outside and in my room. This summer it is meant to be super hot.. I can only imagine what that means. Hello basement, the coolest room in the house and the community swimming pool. We will end up living there during the day just so I can cope! 

5/30/12 - 

I went to my first Nationals baseball game a week or two ago. The Nationals team is from Washington DC. They were playing the Padres who are from San Diego. When we arrived at the stadium it was bucketing with rain but it cleared up and the game continued. The Nationals got wasted but it was a good experience to watch professionals play!

I am starting to go out a lot more in the evenings and weekends. I have become good friends with two Germans. I go to the movies with one of them every Tuesday as the tickets are ONLY $2! And I go out with the other girl for Frozen Yoghurt on Thursdays. We are also joining a gym together soon. And because I am getting social I am also driving a lot more. I am very confident driving around here. I am use to driving on the opposite side of the road and the rules are all pretty much the same :) 

All for now xoxo

Easter

We had a nice relaxed Easter. I didn't get up till Midday when Hannah knocked on my door telling me to come downstairs to see my Easter basket. 

So in America they don't do Easter eggs, they do plastic eggs fill of candy. Such a different experience. Though, I did get a chocolate egg in my basket cause I did bring a bag of cadbury eggs for my family. 

Other than relaxing all day, we dyed some hard-boiled eggs and then had a egg hunt with the eggs we dyed. It was a lot of fun. 

My family also has a tradition to take family photos at Easter and Christmas. So we had cute family photos in the backyard in the nice sunny weather. 

I am so lucky, my family are just so wonderful. I do miss NZ tooo! 

Love you all xoxo

This is what the Easter Bunny did (:

My Easter Basket

Dying the eggs

The finished product

I am referred to as either NZ Hannah or H2

Colorado

Hi all.

We have just returned from our vacation in Colorado. We spent 6 days in Denver, staying right in the centre of the town so we were close to the main shopping area and in walking distance of restaurants and attractions.

My host mum had a conference in Denver and that is why we were in Colorado. But for us it was a vacation. And so we weren't up till like 10 everyday.. Just slept till whenever. It was great!

While in Denver we visited the zoo and the aquarium. They are both amazing places. The zoo had almost every animal you could think of. It was like a mix of an aquarium and zoo. It was so hot which was nice for a change! Colorado weather is so much like Palmerston North weather. It can be all two seasons (they only have winter and summer) in one day. They also have an aquarium so we spent a few hours there on the day when it was just Hannah jnr and I. They had mermaids swimming around in one of the tanks so Hannah was over the moon when she saw them. We were just lucky we walked the wrong way cause we found them having photos with the public, so Hannah got a photo with them. She was one lucky girl!

At the zoo. Just blobbing out.

On a merry-go-round at the zoo :)

Because of the weather in Denver, it snowed one of the days we were there! So the day after it snowed we treked up to the Rockies and went tubing. It was so much fun. And it wasn't very busy so we didn't have to wait in line for the chutes for the tubing! It was so hot too!

We also made a trip down to a little place called Florence (it is more a hole than Ashhurst) to watch my host dad's sons baseball game. It was a pretty amateur game, but it was fun to see a game I had never watched before. It was nice to see a bit of Colorado also while we were driving. There is a place called Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and there are unique red rocks there. It was an amazing piece of landscape.

Red Rocks at the Garden of the Gods

Baseball game in Florence. 

The vacation was lovely and found out today that we are off to Miami in two weeks for another conference for the mom, so we get to go to keep her company :)

Bye for now!

xx

Washington D.C quick tour

We had an hour or so to kill in Washington D.C so the host mom drove me around to see some of the sights of Washington D.C.

The White House

St Patricks Catholic Church

A random food stand! They are everywhere!

The museum of Natural History.

The capitol (like the beehive)

The Washington Monument 

Bye for now xxx