What a Difference a Week Makes

Life is funny, isn't it? And I don't mean ha ha funny, but more of the strange and unpredictable variety. I actually intended to post about this train of thought a couple of weeks back when some small fun things were changing my blase mood, but it is really more relevant than ever right now...

One week ago, I was on my way back to the US from Australia for a last minute trip to be with family in Florida. I had been told prior to planning this trip that I had a tumor in my liver, the cause was unknown and that carcinoma (cancer) 'should be considered.' How's that for some news out of the blue?!? One week before that, I had no idea that anything was wrong and that I would be returning to home in the near future. It's truly amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time.

Well, here we are one week into my visit here at home. And again, what a different frame of mind we all have now than we did last week. I have seen a doctor who has all but assured me that my tumor is benign, my blood work has come back cancer free and clear of any other major issues and I just have to get past the hurdle of tomorrow's MRI before I can put my mind totally at ease. And in one more week, I am sure that I will be 100% worry free and nearly on my way back to Australia!

In the meantime, I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my family and especially Bailey. I was pretty worried that she was going to forget all about me in the time that I have been gone, so the silver lining of this emergency trip home has been that I get to keep that from happening. I am not looking forward to leaving her next week, but on the bright side, I'll be seeing her again in July!

I'm starting to get the hang of these self-portraits

I'm sure that the fact I'm Stateside right now comes as a bit of a shock to many of you, but since this wasn't a social visit and I didn't know exactly what to expect while here, I decided to keep a low profile. I would love to see every last one of you if only I had the time! But I'll do the best to keep you in the loop on the blog until I do get to see you again. And in the meantime, here are some random pictures from this Orlando visit...

Celebrating St. Patty's Day, the sale of my house and my great health news!

Bailey cheering the Gator basketball team on to victory

One of the most clever things I've seen in a long time

Look Who's Back

Forgive me for the lapse on this blog. Between the holidays, some minor medical setbacks, and preparing to move abroad, I’ve been pre-occupied to say the least! If you are following my adventures on this blog, you most likely already know that I have made the move to Australia, am nearly one week in to my adventure, and life is good. More on all of that to come...

Let me quickly fill in the gaps for you. In November, I turned the big 3-0, and celebrated by throwing myself a boat party in Austin. My attitude is that if you don’t celebrate yourself, who else is going to do it for you? So, I assembled a crew of fun friends and we hit the waters of Lake Austin, decked out in our finest Florida themed attire. Being a Florida native, I’ve been teased by my friends in Austin for the last eight-ish years. And rightfully so...Florida is the birthplace of most of the ridiculous news stories you hear in the US. I challenge you to start paying attention to the most insane stories you read on cnn.com or any news site, and odds are 95% of them originated in the Sunshine State. From people smuggling monkeys on airlines in their ponytails, to people forcing their grandmothers to smoke crack, Florida continues to outdo itself. So, with this in mind, I asked everyone to dress as their interpretation of Florida, and I was NOT disappointed.

After the birthday festivities, it was just a short time until my family flew in for Thanksgiving at my place. This was a real treat as I am usually the one who travels for all holidays, but I was able to leverage my impending move to get them out to Austin. We ate, drank, went to the zoo, watched football and celebrated for five great days!

I then traveled to Florida for Christmas, where I got a chance to catch up with friends and family for just under two weeks. It was relaxing and very enjoyable. Of course, a major highlight was spending time with my niece, who is turning into a very entertaining and enjoyable little lady. By the time I see her again, I swear she’ll be driving! Oh wait, from the looks of things, she already is...

My last two weeks in Austin were jam packed with packing my house, moving everything into storage, organizing all of the details for my move overseas and saying too many goodbyes. My friends put together a going away gathering for me, and we were joined by our good friend Roger Clemens. But more importantly, everyone came out to say goodbye (for now) and wish me luck, and it was a very special night. Why am I leaving these great friends again??

So farewell temporarily to Austin...I’ll see you soon and hope everyone remembers and keeps a spot warm for me there!

30 Is the New...30!

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

In my next thirty years I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
And I'll do it better in my next thirty years*

I just turned thirty, and I couldn't be happier about what I've accomplished to this point or more excited about what is ahead of me!

Among the achievements I am most proud of in these first three decades are:

Graduating from the University of Florida
Taking a chance and moving to Austin on my own
Earning a Masters degree from the University of Texas
Buying a house
Working for the Lance Armstrong Foundation
Running the New York City Marathon
Raising thousands of dollars for charity
Being a loyal friend
Being a loving daughter, sister, and aunt (and mother to Bailey!)
Enjoying life to the fullest

Watch out world, this girl is just getting started!



*Please note that I left out the part of the song that mentions drinking 'not so many beers' as I refuse to make any guarantees in that department.

How to Entertain Yourself In the Sunshine State

Last week I took an impromptu trip to Orlando to visit with family and friends. I followed that up immediately with a long-planned trip to Jacksonville for the Florida/Georgia football game, which I hadn't been to in five years. That's a lot of Florida in one week, but I dare say I kept myself well entertained. Here are some sure fire ways to enjoy yourself the next time you are in the Sunshine State:

Play with your niece in a pumpkin patch







Celebrate a milestone birthday with your fabulous family







Drink beer from the mouth of a rubber alligator



Taunt Georgia fans





Tailgate!





Beat your rival in overtime

My Best Friend's Wedding

I'll be the first to admit that leaving Australia was much harder than I had expected. And if I wasn't returning to the States to attend the wedding (eight years in the making) of one of my very best friend from college, I'm not sure that I would have come back! I returned to Austin for a brief three day layover, and I mean that in the most literal sense of the word as I was lying in bed for most of that time. The jetlag combined with lack of sleep during my last weekend in Oz nearly did me in! One of the few things I did during my short stay in Austin was meet two of my favorite partners in crime for some Mexican food, margaritas and a much needed catch-up session.

Has anyone seen our other Bree?



My next stop was Cashiers, NC, en route to Clayton, GA for the wedding. This worked out perfectly as I got to visit with my grandparents, eat at my favorite local bbq joint, spend a night with my parents at their mountain house and be reunited with Bailey! The drive to Clayton was less than an hour from there and the wedding festivities got underway the next day.

12 Bones with Big Daddy and Jean



After much anxiety and concern about the weather holding out for the outside wedding, the day turned out to be beautiful and the ceremony went off without a hitch! There were even some gunshots off in the distance...we were in rural Georgia after all. Meghan and Mike have been dating since we were in college at the University of Florida, and they looked so happy on their big day that it brought a tear to my eye (or was that tear because I'm now one of the last single girls still standing?).

The beautiful bride



Kirsten, the next to get hitched (and my twin separated at birth)!



JoAnn, who recently learned what a french fried potato was...



The party following the wedding was one of the best in recent memory. We danced until late into the night and then Jaime and I apparently raided the fridge and ate the O'Malleys out of all of their cheese. Very strange behavior, but it made sense to us at the time!

Where the girls are the fairest...



J-Pratt, vW and Metzger



The 8 (including a stand-in for Beatriz...the resemblance was uncanny!)



Cheers!



Jaime and I were lucky enough to get to spend an unexpected extra night with the newlyweds in Georgia before hitching a ride with them down to Florida. Bailey also got to come along for the ride. Once in Orlando, I had a fabulous time with my family and friends. My niece stole the show of course; she is just too cute for words (me, biased?). I made sure to sneak in a few days at New Smyrna Beach and hit up two of my favorite NSB institutions - Mon Delice Bakery and JB's Fishcamp. They did not disappoint!

Love her to pieces



This explains why my phone bill was so high this month!



Swimming at the club



My dad always says the ocean cures everything. I think he's right!



Ahhhh...



Just some of the ambiance at JB's



They also had a picture of Tim Tebow hanging from a pipe...love this place



One of the best parts of Meghan and Mike's nuptials was that we got to celebrate them again the next weekend at a party in Orlando. The Florida girls were in attendance, as was Jaime, who also stuck around an extra week to be there.

Comedic duo: V-Dub and the former O'Malley



Apparently we love big belts



Bailey and I are now safely back in Austin, catching up with our friends here and figuring out our next move!