Sydney or New York

After 3 flights and 17 hours of flight time (over 30 hours of traveling) we arrived in Sydney. Our flight from LA to New Zealand was 12 hours and then we hopped onto yet another plane to Sydney. We arrived on Monday morning after leaving Utah Saturday night.
We had a great hotel location. We were only 2 blocks from Darling Harbor and within walking distance of almost everything we did. Luckily our hotel room was ready so we were able to check in early. We cleaned up from our flight then hit Sydney for 6 days of exploring.
Sydney is awesome. There is something very familiar about the city. It feels like a smash up between New York and San Francisco. It is a big city like NY, but is more open like San Francisco. We ate breakfast at cafes, bought snacks from corner convenience stores, saw millions of Chinese people and besides a few minor accent issues (and the Chinese people of course) we could understand everything being said. I didn't even feel like I was in a foreign country.
Our first day we spent exploring Darling Harbor. It was so beautiful. I could have sat in a cafe drinking my hot chocolate, eating banana bread all day and simply loved every minute of it.
BUT we didn't do that. We went off exploring the city.
In no particular order, we watched Harry Potter 3D on the largest IMAX screen in the world (don't be fooled by the 3D, it only had 10 minutes of 3Dness...lame), shopped at Paddy's Market (basically just like Canal Street in NY), ate sushi from a conveyor belt (it was sanitary), buffet at Sydney Tower (the floor moves be careful), walked around a tree forwards 3 times then backwards 3 times (it was Sydney's famous wishing tree and I really wanted my wish to come true so don't knock it), discovered the most gigantic bats ever were just hanging around in the Royal Botanic Gardens (seriously huge and scary, but they didn't hurt us...luckily), explored a submarine and destroyer, learned all about swimming suits or lack there off (Swimming Suit Fashion exhibit at the Maritime Museum), put our feet in the ocean, pet a koala (yeah that is right I got up close and they are so cute promise), took pictures inside St Mary's Cathedral (it wasn't allowed, but I didn't know that until we left...oops) and rocked out to Ben Folds (yeah I know your jealous).

Cool water fountain at Darling Harbor

Playing in the sub. Couldn't believe their wasn't a size limit for sailors, I could barely fit places.

Those bathrooms were small

Rachel & Erika posing with the guns on the destroyer.

Excuse me I have a important announcement. "I'm a great destroyer Captain."

The results of my Tim Tam Slam. The most amazing way to eat a cookie discovered to date.

St Mary's Cathedral

Check out the Royal Botanic Gardens

Cool trees everywhere

There were gigantic bats just hanging around the garden

Oh Yeah we discovered a wishing tree. Make a wish and walk around 3 times forwards, 3 times backwards and your wish comes true.

Sydney Opera House

Ben Fold's concert at the Sydney Opera House...so good!

A day at Bondi Beach

Whale watching turned out to be dolphin watching

Harbor Bridge

The aftermath of eating Vegemite

BEST Part of the trip. I got to pet a Koala.

Looking good in our 3D glasses

Last views of Sydney...not too bad

More photos on Facebook.

Family Names

Last night I went to the temple with my friend Danny and Jannifer to do baptisms. They both have special underwear so they can go anywhere they want, but I'm stuck in the basement (for now).
Most of the time I go we just walk in and do temple names, but this time my mom had given me some family names. It was super cool to do the baptismal ordinance for family. Because I'm kind of a dork, I put the names in order of my favorites. Just a reminder I knew nothing about these individuals beyond the birth date (1767 thru 1817), where they lived (Austria) and their name. But I still felt compelled to classify them.
First was "Eleonara Altmann." I really loved her name, Eleonara, therefore she was my favorite and I wanted her to be baptized first. Next was "Alzbete Benisek." Her name was the strangest so she got to go next. Then came "Rosina or Zofie Benisek." Who couldn't love someone that you were a little unsure of their name. Next came the Maria Anna's. First "Maria Anna Novak" then "Anna Maria Altmann." I just liked that their names were flipped.
My family is pretty cool I would say. I hope they enjoyed my little game last night and that no one was offended. Maybe they will find amusement with my name. Because really is it Annette or Annie.

Utah State Fair

I promise I will post about AUS and NZ, but I'm waiting to get all the pictures from Erika and Rachel so you have lots of stuff to look at.
But in the mean time there are still fun going-ons. Last night a group of friends and I went to the Utah State Fair. Let's just say, go big or go home. Big corn dogs, big yellow slides and big awkwardness.
We were late leaving for the fair so we were starving and hit the food as soon as we got into the fair. Of course at the fair you have to try all the fried food goodness. They had fried Oreos, friend Twinkies and fried candy bars (oh memories of NZ). I opted for the foot long corn dog. I have to admit it was a good corn dog. It wasn't like the ones you buy at Costco and heat up in the microwave that are soft and a little soggy. Top it off with a strawberry & banana smoothie and you have a great dinner.

What can I say...really

Smoothie goodness

Talena, Jeff and I got a little too much of the awkwardness for the evening. We paid $1 to see the smallest woman in the world. As soon as I walked in I felt like a horrible person. There really is a small woman in the room. The excitement to see a women seating a big person's hand is gone as you see a small midget who looks very sad and shy. A sign indicates she doesn't speak English and is from a foreign country (I think somewhere in Africa, but not sure the country name). She doesn't make eye contact and she looks a little scared. I felt so horrible being in there looking at her. We said hi and she sort of smiled. We tried talking to her to ease the awkwardness, but it didn't help. We quickly left feeling ashamed of ourselves for going in there and looking at her. I promise I am not a horrible person, but I felt like one last night. Don't do it. It seems funny when you see the sign, but when you walk in you will leave sorry.

Not sad enough that we couldn't take a picture.

To get over our shame we decided to slide on the big yellow slide that is a staple at the state fair. The last time I had the pleasure of this excitement was when I was little. Rebecca decided to sacrifice the pleasure of the slide to take photographic evidence of the 9 person slide off. Unfortunately, I don't have the pic, but I do have a pic of the slide that someone else on the internet took...so enjoy.

Next we explored the animal houses. My favorite is always the "rabbit ranch." I love the cute bunny rabbits. I grew up with a big white bunny we named Roger Rabbit. It was a sad day the day my mom sold him at a garage sale. I have tried to make her feel bad for that ever since (not really though). But I did call her last night and ask if I could buy a bunny and keep it at her house. She said no.

Sheep! The best part were the purple warm-ups

We finished off the fair with a walk through the fine arts, photography and craft sections. Who knew you could get a ribbon for sewing a gigantic hamburger.
I left last night learning never to pay money to see a small woman and having taken last place in the slide off, but I at least I left with a carmel apple (my favorite).

Me and Amber at the fair

Yeah the Davis county exhibit. Hey Viking!

My new boyfriend. We meet in the Tooele county exhibit.

Good On Ya

I have spent the last 2 weeks traveling. First to Sydney, Australia and then New Zealand. It was an amazing trip which I could probably spend pages and pages writing about. Actually I did. I was really good and kept a journal while we were traveling. I have attempted this every trip, but have failed after the first 2 days. This time I succeeded. But pictures say a thousand words so stay tuned because I will probably do this over a few posts.
To get started here are a few of my favorite things from the trip.

#1 Banana Bread
Yes I know it seems weird to say one of my favorite things was bread, but it was really good bread and I ate a lot of it. Food in Sydney was not cheap, but when you ordered toast you got toast. They had thick slices of bread at all the cafes. I am pretty sure I ate my weight in banana bread. Breakfast of choice!

#2 "Good On Ya" & "Sweet As"
Everyone in New Zealand says "Good on ya" and "Sweet as." I mean when a 70 year old grandma and grandpa says "good on ya," you know that it is good stuff. To immortalize these phrases I bought a sweatshirt, it reads "Sweet As translation: I confirm that what you are proposing is good by me".



#3 Rugby
Because of our super awesome friend Doug we were able to attend the All Blacks vs South Africa rugby game. If you don't know rugby, South Africa is currently #1 and All Blacks #2 and it is hardcore sport. Rough like football, but no helmets or pads.
The game is played over 2, 40 minute halves and like soccer the clock doesn't stop. You can score 1 of 2 ways either a try which is grounding the ball (no spiking) in the opponents goal area or kicking the ball over the goal posts (similar to football). Kicking awards you 3 points and Trys are 5 with 2 extra points for a kick after opportunity.
The final score was 29 to 32 for South Africa. We were disappointed, but it was an exciting game and I think we are now big rugby fans.

At the game with all my All Blacks gear

#4 Aboriginal Art and Maori Carvings
I love art. Especially art I find while traveling. We were really lucky to be traveling in areas that have interesting native cultures and the expressions of their culture in art forms were amazing.
The Australian Aboriginal art was some of my favorite. I loved how simple patterns and shapes held so much meaning.
Maori carvings were beautiful and shocking. I say shocking because one type of carving is their body. Today's Maori tribes tattoo their bodies and sometimes their faces using ink and tattoo guns you would find in any tattoo parlor. But they used to cut (carve) the skin several times and then added ink to the exposed tissue.
Both cultures were interesting and I loved being able to learn about them through their art.

Tallest Maori Carving in the World

One of the men in our Maori show, example of the tattoos

#5 Fried Mars Bars
My sister Kelly served her mission in Wellington, NZ and one of her favorite treats was fried mars bars. In honor of her and out of curiosity for all things sweet and delicious we found a fish and chips shop that served fried mars bars. Coated in a donut like batter these candy bars were the most fattening and therefore the most delicious food (if you can call it food) we ate in New Zealand.

Tour of Utah

Yeah for doping control

I like to bike. Ok I'm a little obsessed. This last week was the Tour of Utah. Although the race is small and doesn't even compare to the Tour de France, it is still fun to see professionals riding around the same streets I ride every day. The race was 6 days long. It started up by the capitol and had days in Ogden, Provo, Mt Nebo area and even finished one day at Snowbird.

Friday night there was a time trial out at the Miller Sportspark. Some friends and I went out to watch. It was so fun. We could walk around down by the cyclists. I was just a few feet away from Floyd Landis (I giggle every time I say his name) from Team Ouch and Dave Zabriskie from Garmin Slipstream. It was so cool. We got to sit right next to the track watching the riders coming out of the starting house and just a few feet away we could watch riders crossing the finish line.

Ok so here is a biking lesson. A time trial is a race against the clock. There are team time trials were you ride with your team to the finish, but this was an individual ride. Riders started about 30 seconds apart. This length depends on how long the race is. This time trail was only 9 miles so it was pretty fast. There is no drafting in time trials, everyone has to ride their own pace. I think it really tells you who is the fastest rider. The regular stage races tell you more about a riders strategy.

On Sunday I went down town to watch the last stage. This was fun because they rode around only 2 blocks so they passed every minute. They took the corners so fast and every time they passed I nice gust of wind. It was a lot of fun to watch. I'm getting excited just writing about it. So if you ever want to chat about biking you know I will totally geek out on it.

Time Trail

Floyd Landis warming up.

Talk about some serious tan lines

Starting House

Coming into the finish line

Stage 5 - Last Day

Tight corner

Rock Racing leading the peloton

Yellow Jersey of Mancebo

My List

My sister-in-law suggested that I post my list of 26 things. I toyed with the idea for awhile because some of the things on my list are probably not going to happen and others are very personal. But seeing as very few people actually read this I thought what the heck.
I have probably always been a goal setter. I am sort of obsessive about it. Although this is probably the first time I have ever publicized my goals, I used to post a few goals each semester on my bathroom mirror. Usually I'm not too bad accomplishing them either.
So how it happened... A friend of mine decided to make a list of 30 things she wanted to do before she was 30. I thought it would be fun to make a list of goals to do this year (26 for 26). So without further delay here is my list.


26 for 26
1. Visit New Zealand and Australia (I leave in less than 2 weeks...YEAH!)
2. Learn to play the guitar (I already had my first performance of sorts at my roommates jam night. I played a few chords as Danny jammed some serious guitar magic. I'm still working on this.)
3. Learn to skateboard (Really I want to long board anyone want to help?)
4. Get a new job (I started working for LACO in May. This was the first thing checked off my list.)
5. Read all the conference talks - April & October 2009
6. Visit all the National Parks in Utah (Sadly this probably won't happen, not enough weekends.)
7. Bike 2 Century Rides (Finished! MS & ULCER)
8. Climb Mt Olympus, Mt Nebo & Lone Peak (Mt Olympus check...still hopes for others)
9. Hike Donut Falls (Check...add to list moose encounter... double check)
10. Learn Adobe In Design & Illustrator
11. Type Grandma Berger’s life story (I have started and can I say my Grandma is amazing!)
12. Read the Book of Mormon (This is what I call a maintenance goal.)
13. Hold a current temple recommend (Check)
14. Have a meaningful relationship
15. Conquer sleep (Seriously difficult, I can't get out of bed in the mornings. Life long goal!)
16. Read Jesus the Christ
17. Be able to do 5 pull ups without jumping (Don't laugh)
18. Be able to do 10 man push ups (Man push ups are defined as on toes, not knees)
19. Compete in 2 triathlons (This started out as 1, but it was so much fun I changed it to 2)
20. Learn 10 new Hymns
21. Visit Gilgal Gardens - http://www.gilgalgarden.org/
22. Go on 3 backpacking trips (Also sadly may not happen)
23. Mountain bike slick rock
24. Cross slackline, turn and return without falling (I'm half way there)
25. Give out 3 Book of Mormons
26. Read Preach My Gospel

So there is my list. As you can tell there are probably too many things to accomplish, but at least I have started check things off.

I don't hate myself...promise

I know it sounds a little weird to state, "I don't hate myself," but over a course of several hard bike races I think people are starting to think I do. Really I like me!
Last Saturday I rode in the 25th Anniversary ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride). The race is 111 miles long and runs from Thanksgiving Point through Provo, down to Goshen (I didn't know about this town either) and around the west side of Utah Lake all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. I rode last year and was happy to say it was my first ever Century ride (century = 100, just if you were wondering). This year my goal was to complete 2 century rides. First was the MS bike tour and second the ULCER.
So Saturday I joined 1500 other riders at the ULCER. It was a great day of biking. I rode the first 40 miles or so with a group of friends and we set a nice pace. The weather was both good and bad. It was a nice 70 degrees most of the day and cloud cover kept us cool. But soon after lunch we started getting into some heavy wind and by the 70 mile mark we had head wind all the way back to Thanksgiving Point. Head wind is probably a bikers worse enemy. Next cars (particularly over sized trucks driven by stupid men who are out to kill bikers) and then gravel (skinny tires and rocks bad combo). Head wind can really impact your speed as it did for us on Saturday. My pace dropped drastically and I tired quickly fighting against the wind. BUT...I did it. Thanks to my friend JD who rode that last 40 miles with me, even though he was a much stronger rider and could have dropped me at anytime, we crossed the finish line.
Sorry there are no pictures this time. I didn't drag my mom out of bed at 5:30AM to follow me around the entire day (which I may or may not have done last year). But my mom and brother Matt were awesome enough to drop in on me around the 80 mile mark to give me a cheer. And my sweet dad was there at the finish line. I also woke up to a note from my roommates giving me words of encouragement. It was great to have the support of my family and friends.
So as you can see from my track record, 60 miles (lrrh), 100 miles (ms) and now 111 miles (ulcer) and add in there 2 tris, it is easy to get the wrong impression. But I promise, I like me!