uncertain times

It was only after being home for 5 weeks this November than I truly realized and understood the economic crisis at home in the UK. It was more expensive than ever, particularly the price of food... I couldn't understand how I was going through money at a rate of knots. I was home for 5 weeks and blew $1500, a lot of money considering I didn't do anything particularly amazing, I didn't buy any clothes, I didn't really have to pay for food, I didn't have to pay rent... the only thing I did pay for was my fuel for my car, my phone and a random outing here and there. An expensive trip.

The situation at home I feel has hit my age group the hardest, two fifths of the unemployed are under 25 years old. Right now I feel like if I really wanted to be at home I just couldn't. Its almost the case that I'm over qualified for a lot of jobs out there and they wouldn't employ me because they know I'm only going to be there until something better comes along. Then the jobs I actually want that would have been available to me in the past I'm under qualified for and people that have been in the industry for a few years are snapping up opportunities that graduates would have once taken. The dilemma with experience is the biggest problem of all, no company at this time can afford to have an unexperienced graduate amongst their team and I can't afford to do an unpaid internship. What to do? I consider doing more education, getting a masters maybe... but that can set me back up to £18,000. So I have to ask myself is it worth investing my time and thats much money into doing a masters? Will my chance of being able to get the Graduate Scheme I want be greater? The economy is set to get worse before it gets better, so who knows what the future will hold. I guess all we can do is work hard and be optimistic.

new years resolutions

I'm not really a big fan of new years resolutions to be honest, you make them and then you usually break them by the end of the week and feel pretty shitty about it... not a great way to start a year in my book. My Dad without a doubt makes the best new years resolutions, its always the same... "never to make a new years resolution", I think he's onto a winner there.

I haven't made one in a long time, but I've decided to this year... so my new years resolution for 2012 is to be more decisive about the decisions I make and stick to them. For those of you who know me pretty well will know that in the past I have always been super decisive and never had any trouble sticking to the decision I made... it verged on stubborn sometimes, I think 2011 has been a little bit of a blip for me. It'd be fair to say that I haven't really been myself at times.

2012 is about bringing Lizzy back, bring on a happy, prosperous and bright 2012!

summer weather kit

It would be fair to say the rainy season has well and truly hit Cairns. I am well and truly unprepared. A few of the things I need for the summer ahead...

the fact of the matter

Since I was 18 years old I have packed up my life at least every 6 months, either to go home or go back to uni, or go snowboard for the winter, work in the desert, or move to Australia... it doesn't really bother me that much to be honest. I do really like traveling and meeting new people and at least with moving on every 6 months you never get super bored of a place, so I guess you kind of always leave with pretty fond memories. The thing is, is yes I do love to travel and see new things, but I am no backpacker. Thats for sure. The fact of the matter is that I am a terrible backpacker, I am completely incapable of traveling lightly, I hate staying in a 'dive' as such, I'm not a huge fan of shared bathrooms, I like camping but I have to have ALL of the correct camping gear... and if thats the case I wonder why I didn't just stay in a hotel. I love to eat out for dinner and experience local cuisine... a ramen (25 cents noodle) diet just doesn't cut it.

Sometimes I wish I could just do the whole backpacker, I know for sure my bank balance would be far healthier. Well however you travel, whether your a backpacker, or like me or even at the far end of the scale and are addicted to 5* resorts I hope 2012 brings you all the adventures around the world you dream of... My dream for 2012 is that I get to settle some place lovely for at least a year.

my new work place

Villa Romana is the italian restaurant I have landed myself a job at. It seems pretty chill there, the food looks incredible and its suppose to be one of the busiest restaurants in Cairns. Im pretty happy to have a job and I'm happy that it took me less than a week to find.

another perfect man??

A few days ago I randomly stumbled across a Christmas card that listed qualities of a loved one, it made me rethink my 'perfect man' and his qualities list that I posted earlier this week. These qualities were:

Loving
Kind
Generous
Thoughtful
Compassionate
Giving
Helpful
Patient
Nurturing
Considerate
Beautiful
Respectful
Supportive

Now I don't know what qualities do make the perfect man or even how I'd prioritise them. So after all this I'm not sure if there even is a list of qualities that make the perfect man or even if I believe in the 'perfect man'. I think I believe that no man is perfect but really its about how well your compatible and at the end of the day your qualities have a lot to do with it too. I guess if you can be a great team thats all that matters, I have realized that being a team in a relationship is more important than anything.

guess what santa brought me for Christmas?

my new set of wheels :-)

Merry Christmas x

To all my family and friends. I hope you all have the most amazing day. Each and everyone of you are in my thoughts. Wish I could be spending this special day with you.

Lots of Love xxx

the perfect man?

I wonder do we all have the same basic idea of the perfect man? ...would yours be the similar to mine? and do you reckon the virtues we want to see in a man are the same as what men want to see in us?

My perfect man is...

Funny
Smiley
Hard Working
Protecting
Appreciative
Ambitious
Caring
Romantic
Affectionate
Thoughtful
Proud
Focused
Manly

proving manhood?

Mass whale culling a way of proving yourself ready for Adulthood?? Really... its an old tradition of the Faroe Isles that proves nothing and needs to be Stopped! I thought there was no room for such an injustice in todays society!?

first snaps of Cairns

...the reason I haven't been swimming yet

Cairns pier in the distance

Cairns by night

The lagoon

self promotion

Totally random post. Are the days of facebook for networking amongst friends well and truly over? My facebook account has updated itself into this stupid timeline thingy, now every time I look at my page, I feel like I'm looking at an advert of myself/life. What the hell? Hate it! I don't want everyone to be able to see a condensed summery of 2006 or what ever year. Hmm.

Ruder than rude

I know I'm in Cairns and I should be blogging about how amazing it is and what not, but you know how it goes people always have to share the bad stuff... and so far I haven't done anything amazing yet, just doing the boring stuff, searching for a job, looking for a house, sorting banks out and getting to know the area and what not. Its also been pretty wet and miserable everyday we've been here, which i guess is to be expected considering it is the wet season... although today we were lucky and it was sunny, I wasn't out for long and now I'm pretty pink to say the least... its true what they say, the sun is super strong here!

Now for what I really started blogging about; the bad stuff! Today I met easily the rudest person I have EVER met! She was literally so rude I could barely even tolerate her, for those of you who know me well, you will know that my tolerance levels are pretty low at the best of times and when I'm agitated I get severely annoyed quickly. My mood deteriorated rapidly and considering how we were her customers and source of income her manners didn't improve at any point. I was literally taken back, she talked at us and not too us, she was arrogant, unhelpful, she tried to tell us what we wanted, never said please nor thank you and then to top it all off we had to witness her having an argument with other customers and ironically her calling them rude. The whole experience was unbelievable. Words cannot describe this woman, she definitely does not deserve to have a business.

Rant over. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a more uplifting post.

Finishing on a positive note... Errol has a job and starts tomorrow.

Seriously???

so disappointed right now... fingers crossed this all changes

safe arrival

Just a quick one. After a hectic 24 hours of traveling, finally arrived in Cairns, Australia. I've lost a day of life along the way too. While I was flying today, I figured out that over the last 5 weeks I have spent over 55 hours on a plane. So for now, I'm happy to stay well away from planes. Now we just have to start making more of a solid plan, need to sort a job each, get a phone set up, try and buy a car... the list goes on and on.

Let the adventures begin....

a few quotes

So I'm sat here at Salt Lake Airport with my entire life packed into 3 bags, leaving one of my favorite places on earth and a group of people who mean the world to me... to say I'm feeling a little nostalgic would be an understatement. I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes...

"Life is what happens while your making other plans" John Lenon

"Life must be lived as played" Plato

"If you cant explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" Einstein

"I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious" unknown

"Hope is a walking dream" Aristotle

"Great hopes make for great men" Thomas Fuller

"A pencil and a dream can take you anywhere" Unknown

"Belief creates the actual fact" Unknown

"When your finished changing, your finished" Unknown

"An unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates

"Tell the truth and run" Unknown

Next time I post it will be all the way from Australia.

stirling last shred day

Cutie

a view of PCMR and Deer valley

what a girl

Katie, my best friend, ever. When Katie came to visit me in Lake Powell it literally made my summer. We had the most amazing time, I hadn't laughed that hard in so long and I had a grin on my face for 7 solid days! We hiked, we wake-boarded, we drank, we danced, we sang, we laughed, we swam, we ate... and much much more. I had the time of my life. Thanks so much for coming to visit. Out of all the pictures, this had to be my favorite...

love and appreciation

Over the last few months I've learnt many things and really learnt to appreciate who and what I have. I'm a lucky girl. Since finishing University I've had some of the most fantastic experiences, met the most amazing people, made friends for life and learnt some valuable lessons. Despite the awesome times I've had I've always thought about and missed my family so much, I have the most wonderful family. I can't thank my parents enough for everything they've done for me and helping me achieve everything I have. I couldn't have done it without their love and support. My brother is the bravest guy you'll ever meet and has a real heart of gold. Sammy my little sister is the cutest girl in the world, she has so much love to give. I love them all so much. I wouldn't change them for anything.

I guess I've realized sometimes I worry about the future too much and forget to appreciate what I have right now... and right now I have the world at my feet, I can go anywhere and be anyone.

to do lists...

The last 2 weeks I feel like my life has been a never ending 'to do' list, which has seemed to be growing and now shrinking. A few days ago I compiled my final to do list, including all the small insignificant things that I want to do. It was rather daunting when I first wrote it, but right now it kind of feels good... its all coming together and all the small little things seem to be done now, all but a few.

So this is what's done:

1. Do laundry
2. Order OZ dollar 
3. Put listing on craigslist/KSL 
4. take ring to get fixed at jewelers 
5. take back red boxes 
6. pay rocky mountain power bill 
7. open up xoom account 
8. book hostel
9. Print travel docs n visa off 
10. Collect cash
11. Print tax form n fill out 
12. Take stuff back to dog funk 

...and this is what's left:

1. Do RSA
2. wire cash to Australia
3. Book airport transfer
4. go to the bank
5. Clean Jewelry
6. Pack

The end is near, and I'm feeling a whole lot more relaxed. I should have all this done by tomorrow. Stoked! Australia I'm almost ready...

2x2

goals and achievements

I only have 14 days in Park City and six of those have already passed by. It disappoints me that I will only be able to snowboard for two weeks this whole winter season, because of this I'm trying to push myself as much as possible while I'm here. Its the only chance I have. So by the time I leave Park City my goals are to be very comfortable at switch and to be comfortable on the boxes in the Park so that I'm ready to progress to the next step. What ever the next step is? Today I hit the park for the first time in two years, once I'd done it, I wondered why I'd left it so long? It wasn't scary at all. I've also been practicing my switch every time I've been up the mountain, its slowly coming along. My first day riding switch again looked like I'd never been on a snowboard before. At least now its fair to say I can actually carve in switch. I'm probably going to be pretty sore by the end of next week.

what a doll

Russian store: Amsterdam

cold crisp day

the canyons this morning

boarder control

On the Thursday I flew back to the States. It was definitely a less than perfect experience. After a 10 hour flight from London to LA, I was just glad to have landed and off the plane... I didn't feel like this for very long. When we got to immigration I realised very quickly that the guy wasn't happy with me at. He was super quiet and thoughtful for ages, he asked me a few questions about why I was here and what my intentions were and continued to look through my passport inspecting my past work visas. Then this guy showed up from no where and I was asked to leave with him. Hmm, my mood deteriorated rapidly. I was taken to this little room, and the first thing i was told, "be prepared to be sent back to the UK today"... I was like 'Great!'. Just what I needed. It was so frustrating, as I knew I had all the information I needed to get into the country, but apparently having it on your phone or laptop isn't good enough, and the US immigration need it in paper. They continued to quiz me for over an hour about how they thought I was here to work Illegally and how I should be responsible and carry paper documents for everything. What the hell!? I've never needed to do that in the past. In the end they told me I either get paper proof that I'm leaving the US (flight itinerary) or leave. Whilst all this is going on the time between my connecting flight is ticking away, they were literally being as awkward and as obnoxious as possible. I was so frustrated I wanted to cry. Totally felt like a criminal. In the end Errol manage to get American Airlines to print off my itinerary and have it brought down to the immigration office, and then I was sent on my way... just in the nick of time to catch my next flight. Thank God. Definitely not what I needed. The most Ironic thing about the whole situation was that I would say none of the guys in immigration were original American nationals ... most of them were from the Philippines, some chinese and the rest I have no idea, but they certainly didn't originate from America.

Joys!

mi familia

Today my brother (Mark) arrived home from Afghanistan for R&R (Rest and Recoup), Tomorrow I fly back to Park City. Typical. I haven't seen Mark in over a year, he was suppose to be flying home on Monday but the British Army being as organized as ever this didn't happen, luckily he returned home today. I was glad to see him, although I had hoped to spend more time with him. Today was a special day, dinner with the whole family... an occasion I was once took for granted.

Love to them all and a safe journey back to Afghanistan and home again for Mark x

a walk in the park

St James Park, London

the coolest ducks you'll ever meet

These ducks don't have a name. Really its a Love Hate thing. I cant help but Love them, but they are a pain... big time! They almost match geese on their guard dog capabilities, long gone are the days you could chill in the garden and have two cute fluffy yellow ducklings snuggle and sleep by your side. Now your more likely to get sat on and nibbled to death. Even the Dog is weary. All that aside, they are hilarious to watch and each of them oozes its own character and personality. I could sit and watch them for hours.