Hey all,
It has been a long time since I've had the time to post anything on the blog. Sorry about that. It seems like we have been busy ever since we came back from Australia, so I have uploaded a bunch of pictures of what we have been up to recently. Keep on scrolling!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day
It's Valentine's Day around the Peterson household again, which means another awesome home-cooked meal. That consisted of braised short ribs, scallops in lemon cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and fried green beans.
And for dessert, molten lava chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. All good fuel as we train for a half-marathon in March. I love you, chocolate cake. And I love you too, Sarah.
Foreign Service?
Hey all,
I received some interesting news a few days ago. Last summer I took the Foreign Service Officer Test, which is the first step toward working as a U.S. diplomat overseas. I was surprised to learn that I had passed and they wanted me to take the second test, which is a series of essays. I turned those in as well, and was surprised again to find that I had passed. They wanted me to sign up for the Oral Assessment, which is an all-day interview where they test you on the qualities they find most important for a Foreign Service Officer.
I was fortunate enough to receive a passing score on this as well (albeit just barely). So what that means is I now have to pass a security and medical clearance check and I may be asked to join the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer! We're not sure if that's what we want to do, but it's a nice option to have. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any updates. For now, if you would like to find out more about what the Foreign Service does, you can read this article recently published by BYU magazine.
http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2986
I received some interesting news a few days ago. Last summer I took the Foreign Service Officer Test, which is the first step toward working as a U.S. diplomat overseas. I was surprised to learn that I had passed and they wanted me to take the second test, which is a series of essays. I turned those in as well, and was surprised again to find that I had passed. They wanted me to sign up for the Oral Assessment, which is an all-day interview where they test you on the qualities they find most important for a Foreign Service Officer.
I was fortunate enough to receive a passing score on this as well (albeit just barely). So what that means is I now have to pass a security and medical clearance check and I may be asked to join the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer! We're not sure if that's what we want to do, but it's a nice option to have. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any updates. For now, if you would like to find out more about what the Foreign Service does, you can read this article recently published by BYU magazine.
http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2986
November can't come soon enough!
It's been a while since I've done a movie post, so here's a quick one. The new James Bond movie is called Skyfall and it comes out this November. It will be set in Shanghai and India and there are explosions and stuff. Here's the first official image. Enjoy.
Sarah's Birthday(s)
January 26th was Sarah's birthday, but that doesn't mean we didn't spend most of the month celebrating it. We started with a delicious homemade yellow cake with strawberry frosting that we made for her in Arizona.
Next, came some cupcakes at home with friends.
Finally a delicious salted caramel chocolate cake that I slaved over to share with her family. Good thing we're running a half marathon in March! Happy birthday, babe!
New Year's Eve in Arizona
After Australia, we spent a couple of weeks back at work in DC before heading out to spend New Year's with my family in Arizona. We had a great time visiting all of our relatives and giving them all the kangaroo jerky and Vegemite we bought them. We also went to the Fiesta Bowl Block Party, which is one of the biggest New Year's parties in the U.S.
We watched a concert by the Gin Blossoms, which was cool, and then watched the chip drop (since the party is sponsored by Tostitos, they have a giant tortilla trip instead of a ball). Well, Happy New Year everyone, even though I'm writing this in February.
AUSTRALIA!
Well, it's been almost two months since we came home from Australia. It's been such a busy time for us that I haven't had the chance to sit down and put up some pictures of our trip. We had an amazing time in Australia. It was the trip of a lifetime.
We started off in Sydney after about 22 hours of travel by way of Los Angeles. We arrived at 9:00am Sydney time, and the airport lost my bag, which meant that I got to spend the first day in the clothes I'd been wearing for two and a half days. We started off by seeing the big sights, like the impressive Sydney Opera House.
We also had some amazing views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which connects both halves of the city.
We also stopped by some of the major highlights of Sydney, like the Zoo and the Aquarium. We made it to the aquarium in time for the penguin feeding, since there are apparently penguins that live in the harbor.
We also took a train to a suburb of Sydney called Katoomba to see the local rain forest. There's also an impressive rock formation there known as the Three Sisters. Apparently, before an impending battle between two tribes of Aborigines, a medicine man turned three sisters to stone to keep them safe. He then died in the ensuing battle and no one knew how to turn them back.
We also did a little hiking in the Blue Mountains nearby. They're blue because of the way the light reflects off of the Eucalyptus trees.
After that we headed out to the Outback, specifically Ayers Rock right in the middle of Australia. Since it was the height of summer there, it was pretty warm, but that didn't keep us from doing a lot of hiking.
On one of our hikes we stumbled upon a couple of kangaroos, who didn't seem to mind us too much. This one even had a joey sticking out of her pouch.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to throw my own stuff on the grill in the Outback. That night we cooked emu, crocodile, kangaroo, and buffalo. The kangaroo was surprisingly tasty.
We suffered only one casualty on our trip. Sarah caught a piece of dirt that scratched her cornea. Fortunately, she was right as rain after a quick trip to the doctor.
Once we had our fill of the Outback, we flew to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We took a boat out to the reef and had a great time snorkeling.
We went to several wild animal parks around Australia. The one in Cairns was our favorite, however, as they allowed us to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. We also went to a crocodile park, which was pretty fascinating.
We also made a trip to the Kuranda Rain Forest while in Cairns. We had to take an old train that had been carved out of the forest, with some stops at waterfalls along the way.
After all that, we finally made our way back to Sydney for a few days. We spent most of our time at Bondi Beach, primarily so we could learn how to surf.
We enjoyed surfing so much, we went back to do it a second day. I'm hoping this becomes our new hobby.
We also made another trip to the Sydney Opera House, this time so we could see a ballet of Romeo & Juliet. It was apparently a "modern interpretation," meaning part of it was set in ancient Egypt, but it was interesting nonetheless.
People in Sydney (or "Sydneysiders" as they call themselves) are crazy about their pies, and there are pie shops on every corner. One of the best is Harry's Cafe de Wheels, which serves a beef pie topped with mashed potatoes, topped with mashed peas, topped with gravy. It may sound nasty, but it's pretty amazing.
And last but not least, Sarah's dream came true when she finally got to hold a koala. Sadly, he wouldn't fit in our luggage, and had to stay here when we made our trek back to the States. We'll come back for you, little guy.
We started off in Sydney after about 22 hours of travel by way of Los Angeles. We arrived at 9:00am Sydney time, and the airport lost my bag, which meant that I got to spend the first day in the clothes I'd been wearing for two and a half days. We started off by seeing the big sights, like the impressive Sydney Opera House.
We also had some amazing views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which connects both halves of the city.
We also stopped by some of the major highlights of Sydney, like the Zoo and the Aquarium. We made it to the aquarium in time for the penguin feeding, since there are apparently penguins that live in the harbor.
We also took a train to a suburb of Sydney called Katoomba to see the local rain forest. There's also an impressive rock formation there known as the Three Sisters. Apparently, before an impending battle between two tribes of Aborigines, a medicine man turned three sisters to stone to keep them safe. He then died in the ensuing battle and no one knew how to turn them back.
We also did a little hiking in the Blue Mountains nearby. They're blue because of the way the light reflects off of the Eucalyptus trees.
After that we headed out to the Outback, specifically Ayers Rock right in the middle of Australia. Since it was the height of summer there, it was pretty warm, but that didn't keep us from doing a lot of hiking.
On one of our hikes we stumbled upon a couple of kangaroos, who didn't seem to mind us too much. This one even had a joey sticking out of her pouch.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to throw my own stuff on the grill in the Outback. That night we cooked emu, crocodile, kangaroo, and buffalo. The kangaroo was surprisingly tasty.
We suffered only one casualty on our trip. Sarah caught a piece of dirt that scratched her cornea. Fortunately, she was right as rain after a quick trip to the doctor.
Once we had our fill of the Outback, we flew to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. We took a boat out to the reef and had a great time snorkeling.
We went to several wild animal parks around Australia. The one in Cairns was our favorite, however, as they allowed us to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. We also went to a crocodile park, which was pretty fascinating.
We also made a trip to the Kuranda Rain Forest while in Cairns. We had to take an old train that had been carved out of the forest, with some stops at waterfalls along the way.
After all that, we finally made our way back to Sydney for a few days. We spent most of our time at Bondi Beach, primarily so we could learn how to surf.
We enjoyed surfing so much, we went back to do it a second day. I'm hoping this becomes our new hobby.
We also made another trip to the Sydney Opera House, this time so we could see a ballet of Romeo & Juliet. It was apparently a "modern interpretation," meaning part of it was set in ancient Egypt, but it was interesting nonetheless.
People in Sydney (or "Sydneysiders" as they call themselves) are crazy about their pies, and there are pie shops on every corner. One of the best is Harry's Cafe de Wheels, which serves a beef pie topped with mashed potatoes, topped with mashed peas, topped with gravy. It may sound nasty, but it's pretty amazing.
And last but not least, Sarah's dream came true when she finally got to hold a koala. Sadly, he wouldn't fit in our luggage, and had to stay here when we made our trek back to the States. We'll come back for you, little guy.
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