Celabrations!

Boomerang Beach.

A little campfire sesh.

November Bday's rule.

For sure there was some backgammon action going down.

Doing the honors.

This last month went by so quickly! At the beginning of the month I had my last regular season surf contest. I thought I surfed well, but it seems I wasn't judged on my perceptions and I went out in the second round.

The following weekend we down south to Wollongong, which is about an hour and half from Sydney. Analog, our surf brand, was putting on a movie premier at a surf shop. Melissa and I went down and camped on Friday night. The campground we were at was a caravan park, so the tent camping was pretty crap. There was a couple plots of grass in the middle of everything and right next to the bathrooms and play area. It was DEFinitely lame. The next morning we made a really good breakfast at, like, 5 in the morning. Since there were no trees or shade we got woken up by 1000 degree temps and annoying children running around. The breakfast was really good though. It was just too bad we couldn't enjoy it more.

We packed up and shipped out shortly after. I went for a surf with some friends from work that were down for the premier as well, and Melis laid out. Then, we went to another beach that was less crowded and I surfed some more and Melis laid out some more. About this time is when Melissa started to get really nervous.

For her big 29th bday I got her a skydiving jump. It's something that she has always talked about and something that she has really really wanted to do some day. Once I gave it to her though, she had a brief moment of butterflies and said, "...Now that I actually have to do it, I'm kinda nervous." So, that brings us back to the above paragraph and why she was starting to fret around noon. I had asked her if she wanted to get to the field early and she staunchly refused.

We ended up getting to the skydiving center right at the appointment time. There was a plane ready to go right then, so we quickly signed her life away and sent her off. Upon landing she looked fully comfortable and had a massive smile on her face. She loved it and said it was the best bday present ever! I think she says that every year though! haha.

Nancy came a couple days later and we showed her around Manly and the Northern Beaches. She loved the area as well and the fact that we are now under 10 minutes from the best pie shop in the world. (meat pies - not dessert pies). And, she fully agrees with me that sitting on our balcony is awesome. Which, just the other day I was having breakfast and coffee on the balcony and for a moment I thought I was in Bali. Even though I had to go to work in 20 minutes time slowed down incredibly and it felt like I had been there for two hours and still had a whole day of adventures ahead. Pretty sweet. Joe came out on Saturday and Sunday, and he too is excited about the closeness of the pie shop!

Thanksgiving was on Sunday and Melissa and Nancy did an awesome job. It was very very good and all our Australian friends were loving it! That day a new awesomeness was hatched and will be carried out soon. Ever since moving into our place I've been fascinated with the grassy area below our unit. I've envisioned the best slip and slide in the world. I expressed my dreams to our friends and they thought the concept is incredible. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to show you guys what we achieved!

My bday was this last weekend. We went camping up the coast. It was relaxing and we both had a lot of fun. The waves weren't that great, but I did get a fun surf in the afternoon. That afternoon/evening, we all just hung out around the campfire and had such a cool time just being there.

This weekend is both Melissa's and my Christmas party. For mine we're going on a boat in the harbor for the afternoon. After that I meet Melissa at hers which is in the city at the Shangri La hotel. She gets a room as well, so we get to stay there a night. The hotel is supposed to be pretty sick and we get to have a nice breakfast in the morning. Saturday we're then going south to our friends Mel and Matt's baby's naming ceremony.

Things are busying up, but will also be winding down as we settle into enjoying Christmas without the need to bustle around everywhere.