Prince AXE

Hey there everybody!!!  I'm gonna get this thang kicked off the right way.  Pam has put me in charge of starting off the blog and i'm gonna try and kill it.  Our life has been pretty boring lately.  We have just been saving money for some of the traveling we are gonna be doing in the next few months, so basically we have been hitting up the gym a good bit lately.  I would like to inform you that we have officially met the smelliest person on the face of the earth.  He is about 5'2" and of indian/sri lankan ethnicity.  I have never experienced anything like this in my life, its seriously not even funny.  Watching Pam while he is in the gym is a sight to see.  He goes to one end of the gym, she goes to the other.  Its almost like he his chasing her with his stench.  We have appropriately nicknamed him "AXE" from the deodorant spray.  Probably should be more like "Garbage Pale Kid" or something racist, but sometimes names just stick.

The Queen of England and my favorite Prince Phillip arrived this afternoon in Perth.  They are so old and you can tell Prince Phillip has been taken orders from that old bag and has just completely given up on life. They are having some festivals in the middle of the city so we are gonna try and catch some of the festivities.  Also, friday night we are going to our first Aussie birthday party.  One of the guys I work with wives is celebrating at a BYO Thai restaurant.  So we are excited, i'm just hoping Pam can keep it together and not ruin this chance for us to make some best buds.  Lord knows she is the weak link in our socializing the past few attempts (i think we all know that is a joke).  Anyhow, love you guys and hope all is going well.  kiss kiss hug hug  ---- Merrick

I think Merrick tackled the main points.  The only other thing I could think of is that Australia officially does not care about Halloween and Thanksgiving.  I told Merrick I wanted to carve pumpkins and find a bar party to go so we could dress up.  Pumpkins they have here aren't that big and are like $8 bucks a kilo. No thanks to that.  And the only thing they have "Halloween" like is for little kids and their parents. So, if we were to dress up this year this is what we would of liked to be.  Merrick the sexy sailor and me the lovable  turkey! Great combination huh?

They don't have the Thanksgiving dinner essentials (cranberry sauce, stove top, pecan pie..etc) here either so we are just screwed when it comes to our favorite holidays.  We are going to try and have a Thanksgiving feast here before we leave for Bali.  It won't be the same as it is back home, but we'll just have to do!

On a good note, they love them some Christmas though, shops are already stocked full with Christmas stuff.  We will be having a beach and beer Christmas this year with Santa hats!

Travels

Hi Everyone!!

We got our tickets to Bali and we will be there November 23rd-28th!! We are so excited and can't wait to go!  It is exactly one month till Matt Park arrives and we can't wait till our travel partner comes!  Matt has requested that we take him shopping as soon as he gets here so that he can get his Bali attire.  In that attire, includes matching outfits for Merrick and Matt to sport while they go "clubbing".  I have seen some of the things Merrick is interested in and if it holds with Matt I think you guys will be really pleased.  But until then it will be a secret.

Things on the itinerary:

We are staying at the Ashton Kuta Hotel, which is in the middle of everything!  Merrick's only request with the hotel is that it had a swim up bar.  Wish is granted.  He thinks he's single and that the swim up bar is going to be where he picks up the ladies.  I'm letting the leash go on this ladies and I want to see what this little Panda bear can produce.  I am on the search for a little video camera to take with so that I am able to document what Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum do.

Some of the touristy things we want to do are: Turtle Island, Monkey Forest, explore the Temples, get Bintang tank tops, go to the water park, elephant ride, and maybe a little snorkeling.  The rest of the time we want to take advantage of the cheap alcohol and food!  Apparently their beer prices are between $1.00-$1.50 and the food is around $3.00-$5.00! I think we will definitely be abusing those!  Everyone I have talked to says that everything is dirt cheap.  You guys know I love dirt cheap so I will be coming back with a bunch of Christmas presents!

Other than that we have just been exploring Perth little by little.  We went to Fremantle (about 20 minutes away from our house) last weekend and went to the Little Creatures Brewery (local beer) and grabbed lunch and a few beers.  It's a really cool place and we will def take Matt there when he comes.  It's right on the water and it's HUGE! After we were there we walked around and went to their Farmers Market and grabbed a few things.  They have produce, seafood, cheeses, wines, free samples of salami (our fav), and other stuff.  It's always fun to go there a look around.

We are also waiting on Matt to get here to go to Margaret River.  I think I talked about this place before it has really cool hiking trails, caves, wineries and beaches.  We will take a weekend there after we get back from Bali.  While we have a third person here we will def take advantage of exploring!  We are going to take Matt to the horse track to bet on horses, casino, and I think we are going to see Foo Fighters at an outdoor arena as soon as we get back.  Merrick will have to work most of the time Matt is here so I am responsible for taking him around the city.  Knowing Matt he is going to just take charge and tell me where to go.

Cottesloe Beach

But for now, Merrick and I are just going to different beaches and seeing which one we like the best.  We love Trigg Beach!  It's like a miniature Great Ocean Road, but there are cute bars and restaurants. We also love Scarborough and Cottesloe beach.  Cottesloe was on the news the other day because a man was killed by a great white.  He was just swimming his usual morning route and BOOM, got eaten.  They said all they found of him was his speedos! Seriously! We went there all the time, but since then we have stayed at Scarborough.

Me, Emma, Nicola, & Victoria

I almost forgot!!  I am a world record holder! Yes, that's right I made a spot for myself in the history books!  My friend Victoria asked if I wanted to do Zumba for a spot in the Guinness World Record Book.  I said where do I sign up?!?! It was pretty cool. 1401 people doing Zumba for 30 minutes. Here is the video of the event! I was a Zumba Latina! :)
Zumba World Record!


Miss you guys dearly and will talk to y'all soon!

Swirls & Nuts

As most of you know, my cat of the last 20 years passed away on Tuesday.  He was having trouble standing up and his eyes were red.  My mom fed him and wrapped him in a towel and put him in his basket.  By the time she got home from work he was gone.  I of course found out on Facebook.  Merrick woke me up and straight up said, "Pam, Boots is dead." and then rolled over to go back to bed.  I looked at him and said you are kidding? He said,  "Nope,  he's dead."  I start crying and then say, "No more Boots?"  I knew he was close to death, but didn't think the day was ever going to come.  It came.  He is gone and when I come home I he won't be there.  He was a great cat.  I will miss him a lot!  I appreciate all the love on Facebook.  I didn't think Boots meant so much to people, but he did.  I love Trent's comment the most: "I only got the privilege to meet the little guy a couple of times and his breath alone gave me an ever-lasting memory.  A great feline in his own right.  He will be missed."

Well, on to other news...Merrick and I have another double date tomorrow with the people we met after our first run (the people who work for Fluor and know Mills).  We are finally on the same schedule and will meet for drinks tomorrow.  Josh texted Merrick after 3 weeks and asked if we wanted to meet, he's excited. We will see how it goes.  I will keep you guys posted!

(Merrick wants to chime in)

hey guys its merrick.  Pam has got really crazy, all she cares about is our tomato plants outside.  She is really great though, I cant believe how good of a cook she has become.  I know she hates me saying it, but the girl really has a talent.  She does homemade hummus, tazikiki, pickled peppers, and can cook up a storm! Its awesome!!!!  I really hope everyone will save up some $ and try and take advantage of our situation and come out here.  Its so much fun you cant believe it.  Im sure we will come home eventually, but right now we are just living it up.   besides that I have to be stupid....I walk around the house in my underwear and she hates it.  I keep hearing the same line "Merrick, put some pants on!" it really bothers me.  Love you all.  I hate pants.

He drives me nuts, but I love hims to pieces!  He is my skinny best friend.  I have been so proud of him with his weight loss and him building his "beach muscles".  He has been working really hard at the gym and you guys would be really proud of him. Wait till we head to Bali and you see his ultimate reveal! :)

On a sad note, my best friends will be united in Greenville this weekend for Erin's baby shower.  I will not be in attendance, but I will be there in spirit!  I love you ladies and I hope you all have fun!