am I the worst blogger ever?!?

Yeah, I NEVER think to actually share stuff here now that we're all settled into life in South Carolina. But, let me say that again for all you west coasters---Settled. Into. Life. In. South. Carolina.! We've been in our new house for 3.5 months now and it's finally finished (except for the nursery and that's an ENTIRELY different story!) It looks amazing and we love love how it turned out. It's comfy and stylish and totally us :-D

Daniel's been permanently here since the end of August and it's so great to finally be together after his 7 months in Nowheresville, Alabama. I got to fly over to visit him in Aug and he made the loooong drive to Charleston every few weeks. He's finally settling in and starting to go back out on travel a little more now. After taking a co-lead on a blade repair project in AL for the month of August he's proven himself as quite the smart leader (at least I think so and I'm highly un-biased!) There's even a new repair job coming up that's going to require ultrasonic testing and he told the big-wigs he wants to take the lead on it and they agree! Awesome!! I married such a smartypants <3 On the bad side, he tore a disc in his back doing the Marine Corps Mud Run a few weeks ago but, after 2 weeks of walking crooked, he's on the mend and recovering well. He's got PT to do and can't run, but he'll be back on his bike this weekend for a nice long ride. Hopefully it'll be the beginning of him getting back out there.  At least we squeaked in one sprint triathlon this summer and, for not training all year, he did awesome! My wave started way before his so I even had the energy to go back and re-run the last half mile with him to the finish. He always did the same for me!

James Island Sprint Tri July 2010

USMC Mud Run 9/25/10

As for myself, I'm back serving at the Renaissance Charleston and loving being back with Marriott. I'm not super stoked about the insanely early mornings, but after 5 months I'm finally used to it and love that I get off in time to enjoy the daylight. Hopefully I'll move into another department soon; one that allows me to sit down some. These long days on my feet "walking the pavement" have my ankle so damn sore and swollen it's not even funny. I really don't want another surgery, but I need to see a specialist sometime soon to determine what to do. I don't want to be that 30 year old using a cane! I joined a tri club back in March and have met some awesome workout buddies. I've been riding at least once a week, but it's hard on those days when I work 6-9 hours on my feet! Now that the weather is cooler and nice out it's so much better out there!

Of course, on the family front, I miss my family and my home state much! I dream of sunny CA with it's green hills and (soon to be) snowy mountains. I can't wait for my mom and dad and the Hier-Lennons to get here for Thanksgiving. It's gonna be a fun filled week!! Then we'll be going to CA for Christmas and I'm super stoked there---Tahoe here we come!!! Daniel and I have been off the snow now for too long--even he's itching for it! We're already planning our trip to Sugar Mountain in NC to board for my birthday in Jan and we're planning a trip to Sugarbush in VT for Feb. Who knew there was a mtn on the east coast with 2000' vert rise??? I certainly didn't and I'm excited to check it out . (and when did law start requiring all mountains to have "sugar" inthe name??) If we can survive the crap icy snow of Mt Ruapehu, NZ then we can certainly shred it up in the Atlantic NE!


That's all for now, a quick update to cover the past 6 months! Hopefully the next post will have exciting news on the baby front--it's becoming a journey for us but definitely looking positive now!!

Cabo here I come!

It's that time of the year again...no, not spring...it's CABO time!!! Unfortunately, though, this year has gotten a bit messed up. Somehow Cabo Villas' "week 16" and Cabo Bonito's "week 16" don't add up and we're gonna be there the week before everyone else! What a drag!!! Who's gonna join us for the wed night party? or show us where the tortilla and carnitas place is? or go scuba diving with us? Such a bummer! AND to top it off, Daniel has to go to this stupid conference up in Clemson and so he's not going at all!! So lame! I'm so sad :-( This is our yearly vacation where we do nothing but relax on the beach and drink mango daquiries and eat dollar tacos all day long. Sometimes we throw in a random trip to "dinosaur egg beach" ;-) or some random spot...depending on  the lady of the hour...(Daniel knows what I mean) but, seriously, it's the one week of the year where nothing matters, all we have to do is whatever we want; and that involves a lot of ice, sunscreen and beer/rum/taquila! This year it'll just be mi mamá. We're gonna relax, drink daquiries and go to the spa...a new adventure! if you want to check up on us and see how we're doing, just check out our resort's web cams. Cam #2 has a great view of our balcony spa!! Try not to get too jealous people! (if you're looking at the webcam, our spa is the 4th floor...there are 2 above us)
click here for webcam #2!

already 3 months into 2010!

Well ladies and gentlemen, today is Daniel's 28th birthday! Almost 30 I keep telling him. Each year gets better and better for us though. We're planning on starting a family soon...*yikes* and I'm starting to get that feeling of "no matter how prepared you think you are for kids, you're never prepared enough"! Well bring it on little ones!

Daniel and I are back into the grove of things in the south. He's working in Dothan at Walter F George powerhouse; back doing the "site-engineer" thing and overseeing the "damn" rehab. Yes, I do mean damn! It's a long, hard job which keeps him living in and out of hotels, working 10-12 hours a day and not getting enough sleep. At least he's getting paid well for all these out-of-town hardships. We thought 3000miles was too far apart but 500 miles seems almost as much. It's a 7 hour drive to visit eachother! I haven't started working yet, still searching for that perfect job...ok, well, almost ANY job to start helping put $$ away. But i'm able to take the time to get out there and stay in *yikes* Dothan for a few days. Daniel's really getting sick of being at this project and wants so much to move into his new position in Charleston so he's talking to the Savannah District people (Chief of Hydropower) about getting him to Augusta for the interim period. They Chief of Ops and the Chief of Hydro in Savannah have said "OK" and they're finally interviewing for the Chief of Ops position in Charleston, so they should be able to get a final "OK" on moving him to the St Stephens plant sometime in April. I say there are too many Chiefs in the wigwam! At least Augusta is only about a 3hr drive from Charleston, so depending of if I get a job soon, we'll be able to visit more on weekends or I can go over there for a while after I return from Cabo (that's another story!) Of course Cabo is coming up soon, April 17-24. This year will be different with my Dad off in the South Pacific...somewhere between Hawaii and Fiji! Mom and I will have the villa to ourselves...with Rick, Suzan, Cindy, Don and the gang over at Benito Blanco like norm. Unfortunately Daniel has to go to some stupid 'Joint Hydro conference' and give a presentation...I tell him to make sure and throw some NZ, Aus and Cabo pics in just to lighten the mood. 

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 In memory of my grandmother who passed away this week. With love always in our memory. 

Ash's goal:

Time to get moving again!

   

Well, we've been back for a month and a half now and it's been awesome. Back to the land of the cheep burrito and plentiful (free) internet. After a few weeks in CA over the holidays we drove back across the country to Florida, again. This time we went through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri (and a little of Illinois), Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, back to Alabama then Ashley flew out from Atlanta back to San Fran after a week. 

  

Daniel's currently back in Dothan working at Walter F George plant up near Abbyville...fun times. Back on the TDY bandwagon. At least he's back making $$$ and travel $ and overtime. It's unfortunate though that he has to work there temporarily since it means I can't really do anything for work now. I came out to CA to be with family and work on a few things there. The plan was for it only to have to be a month....so far it's been 2 weeks and we should hear something this week! yay! If all goes as planned we'll be settling down in Charleston, SC. I've already found where I want to work (Marriott Renaissance Charleston) and I've been in contact with them about positions and it's very positive that I'll start work right away. If we get the "OK" this week, I will head out and drive across country AGAIN this time hitting up Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Atlanta and ending in Charleston. At least there are so many routes across this great country!! Hopefully Daniel will be able to fly out and visit my grandparents in AZ with me and then drive across together. All depends on flights at the last minute. We're getting good at going with the (travel) flow! 


CA has been fun for me. I've spent the time busying myself helping Mom clean and organize from the crazy holidays. Finally yesterday I went back to Petaluma to pick up boxes from Dad's and visit family in Santa Rosa. It was weird driving around my home town 'one last time' before moving away for good. (Last time we knew we'd be in AL for only a year) Now we're going to buy a house, have kids and really settle down in SC! 


My dad finally left for his sailing around the world. He'll actually just be in the South Pacific area this year, but they're in Hawaii now getting the boat all prepped for the long haul out. in about a week they'll leave and not see land for 6 weeks! You can see his trip here. So that's about all with us for now. Hopefully we'll be able to keep this blog updated as we make our way to our new home...agian! lol...maybe someday we'll make the drive from East to West!!


new facebook photo album here: 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2319656&id=6406809&l=b12ab9f589

is this trip over yet??

We are so over this trip! Vacationing is one thing, traveling around by Greyhound bus in an expensive country is another! Well, actually it would be really cool if we were in a country that was more interesting and not so y hot! There isn't much history and culture to see in Australia, it's pretty new and, along the coast, the towns are so much alike. They're touristy but not as cool as the beach towns of Southern California. Apartments and hotels and over-priced restaurants. We finally said "to hell with it" and got to Sydney a week early so we could rent a car and head out on our own for a week. For the price of getting a hostel for the week we got a little car and headed out to the Blue Mountains. The 1st place we decided to camp was back down a dirt road for about 7kms. We didn't expect to find anyone back there but, low and behold, we drive up at 3:30pm just as the last stragglers of an all night rave were winding down! There was a DJ still pumping out rave music and people slowly packing up and leaving. There was trash everywhere! We didn't stay at the official camping area but moved a little down the road to a better, more private place. At least the people who put the rave on were cleaning up, but it took them all afternoon and they were still at it when we left monday around 10. At least they were quiet that night, I can't say that much for the birds. This country is filled with the loudest and most annoying birds!!!

The Blue Mountains weren't what we expected. It's actually kind of like the Grand Canyon (they even have an area called the Grand Canyon) but it's not desert. It's hot and dusty fields and gum trees that cover the mountains. There are a few pines as well, but mostly eucalyptus trees. The 2nd night we camped at an area that looked down out into the canyons and it was actually quite beautiful and, best of all, no loud birds at all hours! We stayed until about noon on Tuesday jsut relaxing and reading. Too bad that meant that we were headed out to sightsee in the hot HOT day. I think the temps were between 35 and 40C (that's around 100)!! Not to nice. We went to some caves to tour the caverns and it was actually nice and cool, but there wasn't a good camping area that we expected so we kept driving after that....and kept driving...and kept driving. Ok, not all night or anything, but we finally happened upon a random "tourist park" around 6:30 that night and for $20 we got to camp, have a little outdoor kitchen and a great hot shower! Oh yeah, I forgot before, we hadn't had hot showers since the Friday before!...or was it Thursday...I can't remember. Anyhow, after our first night and on the way to our second camping area we passed a comunity pool in this big, country park so we decided to have a little soak and shower...too bad the showers turned out to be freezing! Oh well, at least we were clean!

This brings us to tonight, our 4th night...Daniel came down with a cold and just wanted to have a good place to rest and sleep in a nice bed, so we stopped at a McDonalds to check for hotels...as it happens, in this country, you get FREE Wi-Fi at ALL McDonalds,.How cool is that?! So we found a nearby Holiday Inn and used up some more rewards points to book it for a few nights. Turns out it's not a bad joint. It's connected to the local RSL (Retired Services League Club--or Returned Services...something like that) It's got a casino with slot machines and a few restaurants and cafes and a gym. The hotel has a nice pool so it'll be nice place to relax for a few days before hitting up the city.

On Saturday we'll head to our hotel in the city, well, in the outskirts of the city. With Marriott rates at $54 a night it's great! Hostels in the city would run about $50 a night for shared dorm room so this is much better. They have a great rail and ferry system that runs into Sydney and it's only about a 20min ride by rail. We're actually going to be staying by the Olympic Park in a cool little town. It'll be so nice to have a place to call home for a week without sharing it with roommates. And on Thursday we'll finally move into downtown Sydney and stay in some Marriott luxury for the last few nights before flying home. Only a week and a half away and we can't wait!!!!! I'm at an internet cafe right now and the RSL Club so I can't upload any pictures, but when we get settled in at the Courtyard we should have good internet and be able to let you see how our pretty little mugs are tanning and doing. Well, I'm still pretty, Daniel has turned into "Mountain Dan" since he hasn't cut his hair since Cabo last April or shaved since we left for New Zealand! Get ready for a treat when you see him in person!!

3 weeks into OZ and we finally update...oops

Well, we've been in the great expans of East Coast Australia for 3 weeks and am now just getting to an update. Traveling here hasn't been as easy as NZ because we're going by Greyhound and staying at hostels along the way. Our 1st few days in Cairns were hot, but relaxing after we got some winter clothes shipped back home (for a small fortune!). We took our 3 day dive trip out the Great Barrier Reef and completed our Advanced Diving course. We did 11 dives, including 2 night dives and saw tons of marine life. Got a start to our summer in the tropics with rain storms and muggy nights, but it was a good start. From Cairns we traveled down a few hours to Townsville and took a ferry over to Magnetic Island for a few nights. There we got to know the local tropical wildlife sounds of birds and bats constant through the night! We also finally saw exotic fauna in the wild...koalas! Even pet one while on a hike! After a few relaxing days on the beach there we headed back to the mainland and went south to Airlie Bewach. A party beach town with an awesome salt water "lagoon" to swim in. Like in Cairns, there isn't a good beach to swim at in these places so they make these man-made swimming lagoons that are sparkling clean with sandy beaches and shady grass areas. Nice when it's 100 degrees out!

From Airlie Beach we went south a little more to Rockhampton--and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn there. We only stayed here to visit some caves 15km north of town, but there was no transportation to the caves, so we were sorely dissapointed and spent the day in the sweltering heat roaming the botanic gardens before hoping on the next bus south.

We rode the bus all night and just to be let off at 5am "near" where we wanted to go--The Australia Zoo. Only problem was that "near" was 15kms away, Crikey! So off we went....walking. We walked for an hour and then got breakfast at a small gas station place, walked for a little more and found a nice park type place to nap on a picnic table, walked for a little more and by then it was getting hot and we had walked 8kms. 2kms later we hit the nearest town and knew we could get a bus from there. The next bus wasn't for an hour but the guy told us we could walk, it was only 3kms to the zoo! We decided to wait! Got breakfast and finally made it there at 10am. It was a fun day seeing the crocs, feeding the elephants, seeing the tigers and all the Steve memorabelia. Not a bad day....LONG, but fun. A bus picked us up from the zoo (luckily!) and took us straight on to Brisbane, only about an hour and a half away. Brisbane turned out to be a pretty awesome big city so we decided to stay about 10 days here. After 3 days we met up with some friends from the ski field and it turned out they were headed up the coast to a beach villa for the week and they invited us along....awesome! So it was back out of the hostels and up the coast...straight through the town we walked to! And from the highway to the town it was a 10 minute drive. What took us almost 3 hours to walk was a short buzz in the car! We spend three awesome nights on the coast just chillin and hanging out in luxury before coming back to Brisbane. Since we had pre-paid for a week at the hostel we got an extension for the nights we were gone and are finishing them up here. It's been fun, we've walked a TON but it's super hot and we're ready to go. The hostel isn't the greatest (diiiirty, cramped kitchen!) but we have a 4 person room with a private bathroom so it's bearable. There's only so much you can do on the cheap in a big city and we've done it. In 2 days we'll move on down to Surfers Paradise for 2 nights at a (free) Holiday Inn which is a super nice hotel there and we'll recharge and relax in the air-con until we move on again in a few days.

In all, Australia has had it's awesome moments, but it's super expensive. Things here cost so much more than in the states and we're eating through our $$ like a kid at Christmas. Only 3 more weeks until we get back to California and we can't wait. It's sad we missed Thanksgiving, but at least we got to talk to our families and "share" in the festivities over the phone. At least we'll be home for the Holidays. Check back soon for pictures :)