This is my 4th birthday with a blog. Ummm… WOW!

25th Birthday - Toronto
26th Birthday - Las Vegas
27th Birthday - Indonesia

And now, lucky me, I get to share & record my 28th birthday in Melbourne, Australia(!) with you. And lucky for you (not me), we have a beautiful visual shot of exactly how I looked on the morning of my 10,232nd day on this planet. Courtesy of Mathew, of course.

Ahh yes. The act of sleeping. Top 3 of my most enjoyable things on this planet right there. Usually I use a pillow. Must have been feeling rebellious that morning.

ANYWHO, I was actually excited to go to work on my birthday this year, why? because I A) had a new, pretty, dress to wear, and B) wanted to see the lovely ladies I work with (*cough Katie cough*) FINE, and, because I knew there would be cake. Hmmm cake.

Everybody was so kind, and they surprised me with a gift card to Myers (like Macy’s) which I was/am so thankful for.

And then as it does, work finished and I went to meet Matt. Now. Now there are a lot of wine photos coming up. Do. Not. Judge. Me. Be jealous of me. Wine, especially Shiraz, is delicious.

After a bottle, hilarious chatter (always. and forever), a chicken salad, and a kiss (or five), I noted how we should head to the casino to make a gamble. I rarely slash ever gamble. Actually, it BOGGLES my mind how people gamble (especially slot machines), but I figured losing twenty bucks would be worth the experience… and? WE WON!

I placed a $2.50 chip on #3 (as Dec 3rd is my bday) and BAMN! I won nearly $200. So that was obviously awesome. And then, despite the cute, old, asian lady’s shock and horror as I was “good luck,” we left. Pretty sweet, I must admit.

Apparently I turn into a greasy spoon when I’m in a casino. Cool life.

THEN. Because this story is gripping your attention, I can tell, Matt and I walked along the river and admired the pretty city of Melbourne. Now. If I was being a (funny) asshole, I’d mention how Matt’s poor directions led to us walking an extra 1/2 an hour, which would have been cool & all, had *freezing* rain not started, but nope, not me, I won’t mention that because he made up for it by buying me ice-cream.

And taking me to a big, Christmas wreath.

And THAT, my friends, was my actual birthday day. Pretty simple, but awesome. I am a lucky girl, with awesome people in my life.

Tomorrow is my birthday.
December 3rd.
That’s my day.
I’ll be turning twenty seven.
Twenty seven!
My God, when did that happen?
The past year has been good.
Really good.
With some bad thrown in too.
But that’s over.
Thank goodness.
And of course, lessons were learnt.
Funny where life takes us though.
Isn’t it?
How a year ago today I was in Las Vegas
Running a full marathon on a whim.
And now today I sit in Indonesia.
Huh. How about that?

In the past year so much has happened.
So very very much.
Love.
Loss.
And new adventures.
There was a sad death.
But weddings too!
And of course running.
[injuries and accomplishments]
Cough the Berlin Marathon cough.
I quit my job.
(that was huge!)
My secure, pay check reliable job.
To travel to far off places, without much of a plan….
Umm whoa. 
I hiked to Everest’s Base Camp
Which just may have been the highlight of my life
Fell in love with Cambodia
And crawled through Vietnam’s war tunnels.
I stayed on a floating village in Thailand
Nearly died water rafting in Malaysia
And spent an insane amount in Singapore
But of course, it was worth it.

I followed my dreams in the last 365 days
True, it was scary as hell, but I did it.
Am doing it.
And,
I’m following my heart.
Which actually seems scarier at times..

My life is the definition of uncertainty
But that’s the way I like it.
Where will I be on December 3, 2012?
I have absolutely no idea.

Tomorrow I turn twenty seven. 
I still can’t quite believe it…
But I must confess something first…
I’d be lying if I said this is where I thought I would be at 27.
Everything so uncertain.
So undecided.
So up in the air.

But I’m not complaining.
At all.
I’m happy where I’m at,
Still learning.
Still struggling.
Still exploring.

I still have lots of goals
One Twenty Five
An Iron Man
A job I love-love-love
True love.
A family one day
The pyramids
The Taj Mahal
And to live in a city I’m obsessed with
(I’m looking at you Chicago)
To name a few…

But when the clock strikes midnight tonight
And I am officially twenty seven
I’ll be proud (so proud!) of myself
For the running, and traveling, and fleeing into the unknown.

Because I did it.
It was all me
Leaping into the world around me
Holding my breath as I jumped.
Because if there’s anything I learned in this last year,
It’s that I can’t sit around forever
Fighting myself, my weight and my life
If I don’t like something,
I must simply change it.
Through planning,
Or through a leap of faith.
This is my one life,
And it is short,
So short,
So I must do what makes me happy when I can
Not sit around complaining,
Not sit around making and reviewing plans,
Quite a simple lesson, I must say!

So, Happy Birthday Eve to me!
And now I must go party :)

Hi Hi Hi Friends! Happy December 1st! Word on the street, and by street I mean Internets (I’m looking at you facebook, twitter and tumblr) is that it’s snowing in The Canada, eh? I’m sorry about that. But! But I have a plan. Catch a fight and come meet me here, mmmkay? Or if you can’t make it this winter season, put “Gili Islands, Indonesia” on your “must see life list,” why? (<— you) I’ll tell you why. Better yet, I’ll show you why… (because that’s what I do.).

—-

Yesterday I rose, and shone, and gave God the glory-glory, and ate a delicious banana pancake breakfast for five. Well, I ate my portion (but between you and me, I could have eaten all five. Obviously. And seriously)

When Naomi (y’know, girl from my University who I have had many-a-debaucherous-times-with-and-is-traveling-with-me-for-two-weeks!) and I took our boat from Bali to the Gili Islands (island next to Bali) we met three Americans from NYC, whom we ended up getting a pretty, little, cheap villa with.

For those who are curious Georges it was 750 rupiah ($83 CND) a night, which meant it was $16 each a night (I know, I’m such a math whiz…) - very cheap for a villa steps away from the ocean. With, breakfast included (See Banana pancakes above. Ahh, now JJ is stuck in my head —> Maybe we can sleep in… I’ll make you banana pancakes… Pretend like it’s the weekend now… ). ANYWHO, it wasn’t quite in the location we wanted, so after breakfast the 5 of us rented bikes and moved local.

Naomi and I moving our backpacks. Note to the world: This was really hard - my backpack weighs a hefty 18kg, and then combined with the pot holes? well, I’m lucky to be alive. Really. But not really. But really it was soooo hard.

Luckily, just down the beach, we found another even cuter, even cheaper ($13/night) little hut (with A/C thankyouverymuch), which meant the day was ours to have. The five of us decided to bike around the island. It was hot, and beautiful, and hard (bikes + sand = nearly impossible), but as we were such ballers we survived it.

Bikeling.

AND AND AND the most fat photos of me were taken EVER. Like, whoa. I’m posting this as a reminder to myself to RUN RUN RUN. And EAT LESS. AND RUN. Also, white shorts was a terrible idea, but I swear it was my laundry day. And again, reminder to self: CALORIES COUNT. ALWAYS AND FOREVER.

And of course, just like any other crew of westerners slash people, we posed for the camera… why? because we’re models. Obviously.

Exhibit A: Yours truly. Such a sex kitten, I am.

Exhibit B: Chi, working what her mama gave her.

Exhibit C: No folks, that’s not Heidi Klum, or wait? Maybe “Naomi” is my key word for “Heidi Klum…” Think about it. Maybe…

So, after a tree covered in flip flops, a detached bike chain (where Chi and Klum came to the rescue), sweat dripping off our backs at lightening speed, a spontaneous swim in a pool (the sea was too warm) and seeing a big storm roll in, we continued on our way for a late lunch.

Another chubster photo. But whatevs, I like the clouds.

This is where we sat for umm, what? a four hour lunch. Or perhaps five. Time is irrelevant here. Usually we look at the sun and throw our predictions out, but then don’t actually confirm what the time actually is.

A skinny photo! Say wha?!

Then we continued biking to the west side of the island to watch the sun go down.

I accidentally said, “look at me bikeling!!” I’m so witty and smart it hurts.

Another photo shoot. Deal. With. It.

See those spikey things? They are the tree’s roots. Very cool, it was, very cool.

Ahhh, friend love. And that’s me in the middle! Candid shot ftw!

iPhone photo FTW. So grainy. (My SLR was about to die)

After the sunset the 5 of us sat at a little table and watched some guys from California doing some sort of karate-dance routine (as seen in the video of this night), and some locals doing a fire dance.

Look at me being all different and throwing in a vertical shot.

Just me and my shutter speeds, y’know, taking it slow… PUN!

Again, because I’m such a gansta at photography. 

When all was said and done, and happy vibes (re: alcohol) was running through my veins, my camera died, which means my memory died, which means this story is about to die. But-but-but, yesterday was so amazing. Like, cliche, Bali-style amazing. Like, watch this video here to somewhat get the vibe of the beach, at that time, in that moment. It was perfect, you guys, perfect.