Assimilation

Phew it's been a while, mates!  I hope this post finds you all going really well and that you had a beautiful Chrissy with your family and friends :)

Well, I'm not sure where to start.  I guess I'll just recap the rest of the year since I left you in August.

• The trip home was wonderful!  Got to catch up with all my besties.  Mom's wedding went off with out a hitch...except her hitch to Mike (haha).  And Mallory's wedding was the same.  Wow, what an amazing trip!  I can't believe it has been so long since I have been back already.  Missing green chile, and all my friends and family heaps like always!!
• Got to travel to Freo, Western Australia, where I presented at the Australian Conference for Science and Medicine in Sport.  It was my first presentation at a conference ever and Dr. Robergs said I did really good.  We also had a ton of fun while there!  Got to go to Rottnest Island where we did some snorkeling and rode bikes all around!  What an amazing time!  Glad we got out of there when we did - an American was eaten by a shark 2 days after we left in a bay just around from where we were at most of the day...yikes!  This was such a good trip all together, I got to see the Indian Ocean and further my experience in my field - couldn't have asked for a better time!
• The couple months following this trip were filled with writing my thesis, working when called in and getting to know my new flatmates.  Everyone I moved in with upon returning from the states is awesome.  Seriously awesome.  We do trivia every Tuesday night.  They love drinking Shiraz wine, which I love also.  We do themed dinners - I have made mexican food several times which they all enjoy.  We've also indulged in homemade sushi, laksa, salt and pepper squid, apricot chicken, you name it.  Thanksgiving was fun for everyone as I introduced them to the extremely filling feast!  By the end of the night they were complaining for have food babies.  Mission Accomplished :)  Altogether, all 4 of them are just really awesome flatmates and we get along so well, I couldn't imagine being in a better place.  They have made my return to Aus that much easier and better.  Unfortunately, 2 of them will be leaving us soon, but I am sure we'll be able to find another one to come in and fill the spot just fine :)
• The past couple months have also been full of fun times with Amy and Tegan - the two girls I couldn't live without down here!  We all took a trip to Canberra to go to the ForeShore Music Festival with Tegans 2 brothers - this weekend was awesome!  The weekend before we did an 8k run in a small town just 30 minutes from Bathurst - the Church Hill Climb was the name - damn that hill was a tough one but we made it, without stopping once!  We'll keep searching for more runs in the new year to keep us training for something :)  Tegan and I finished our Theses and turned them in, an also received offers for scholarships for the PhD program next year!  Tegan received the Australian Post Graduate Award.  Being an international student, I wasn't eligible for this, so instead had to apply for the CSU International Scholarship - I took the offer with conditions that I receive a First Class mark on my honours thesis - fingers crossed please!!  I should find out in the next month so we'll see.  
• Sister and Marty were here just a few weeks ago!  Had heaps of fun with them.  Picked them up from Lithgow and brought them to my home in B-town.  Showed them all around, and took them to the Church Bar to eat delicious croc pizza.  Then went and spent 4 days in Syd where we got private surf lessons at Manly Beach and did all sorts of touristy things!  Ahh it was amazing!!  So lucky to get to see them on Christmas Eve before they flew back to America after their awesome 2 week tour around New Zealand!!  So sad that they have come and gone already though!!
• Just before Chrissy, Amy finished up her 3rd study for her PhD.  The final three days were full of muscle biopsies and blood analyses that we helped her with in the lab.  3 days of super early (4:30am) starts and exhaustion but we got it done with no major dramas!  (Aside from the 5ml of blood I splattered all over the floor at one point...).  Otherwise, things were good and two days later Amy and I found our selves driving to Sydney for a week long of holiday-ing which we have yet to finish.  Right now we are on a day break back in Bathurst, and then will head back towards Sydney for the new year soon!  Anyways, details of the holidays will have to be in another post as this one is getting quite lengthy...

If there is one thing left to say, it is that things are back to going great.  I feel so good about everything yet to come and can't wait to get my mark back for my thesis that confirms my entry to the PhD program.  I said to mum the other day that if for some reason I don't get into the PhD program, I don't know what I am going to do...I sure am not ready to assimilate back into American culture.  Looks like I'll have to find a nice Aussie bloke to get hitched too :)  haha well until I get a chance to tell you alll about Chrissy on the Beach and my travels all around NSW..from Bathurst to Sydney to Picton to Gymea back to Sydney to Newcastle back to Sydney, out to the Farm (Forbes), back to B-town, tomorrow out to Mudgee, and then back to Sydney), I hope you stay well and have a beautiful New Years!  Heaps of love to you all! xx