Admission

Tomorrow is the day...

Tomorrow is the day that I go before the Supreme Court of Queensland and get admitted to the roll of legal practitioners in Queensland!

It is the culmination of 5 years studying to attain my Bachelor's degree and Grad. Dip.

It is very hard to believe that all that work has finally paid off and that admission is here!

I am very excited!!

xx love Breanna

Catch ups!

I used my holiday to Melbourne to catch up with some of my lovely Melbournian friends, whom I haven't seen for far too long!!

In actual fact, only my beautiful friend Sara is a true Melbournian. The other friends I caught up were actually friends from Brisbane who have moved to Melbourne.

On the Monday when I got to Melbourne I caught up with my good friend Shaun for dinner. Shaun and I went to school together and have done some awesome things together, along with some of our other friends, including a month long trip overseas in 2007/2008, some camping trips and schoolies! Shauny moved to Portland in Victoria for work in 2007 and after that we don't get to see each other as often as before. About six months ago he moved to Melbourne to work and so when I knew I was going down I organised to catch up with him for dinner.

I met up with him after mum and I went to the tennis and Shaun and I went for a walk along Southbank and ended up stopping for dinner at the Meat & Wine Company. It was a relaxed little place with a nice vibe and we enjoyed a really nice steak, a few beverages and had a really good chat! We then headed to my absolute favourite gelati place Benne Tutto. Then we went and sat down by the Yarra and continued to catch up! 

On the Friday I had the chance to catch up with Sara and meet her beautiful six month old bub V. He was so gorgeous and had an infectious little smile!! He is totally going to be a heartbreaker!! We went had lunch at a little cafe in the Crown Complex and chatted. 

While it was only short, it was still so fabulous to see her and catch up! 

Then on the Sunday night I got to catch up with another school friends Polina and her hubby D. I always love catching up with her! P, D, my mum and I went for dinner at an Asian restaurant on Swanston - one of their personal favourites. While I was away another school friend of P and I's sent us both a text asking if we would be her bridesmaids. So P and I eagerly discussed how exciting it was. I think we bored mum and D! But too bad :P haha. 

Shauny then came to the airport and said goodbye to mum and I on the Monday when we left. It was very sweet and lovely of him to make the effort. I'm looking forward to seeing him again soon when he is in Brisbane next month :)

xx love Breanna

Monday, 17 January 2011

On the 17th of January, my Mum and I jumped on Qantas flight 609 and flew to Melbourne for a holiday. I actually used the flight as time to write a blog post, however with no wireless internet I didn't actually get to post it... So it may be a little late, but here we go anyway!

Today is a day of mixed emotions for me. Today is the start of my first holiday in FOREVER!! Mum and I are heading to Melbourne for a spot of shopping, the Australian Open and to catch up with friends! I am very excited! I love tennis and I love the Australian Open! This is the third year in a row that I have been.

The first year, I had very little interest in Tennis – I mean I would watch it on TV, maybe even sit up late to watch the final of Wimbledon… But I would never have guessed that I would love live tennis so much!! 

Here is a photo from last year. This was a match between Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer:

This was a photo I took this year during a match between Mardy Fish and Tommy Robredo.

And this one was taken from my front row seats at the third round match between Marin Cilic and John Isner. 

Today is also my goddaughter’s 2^nd birthday!!! Happy birthday gorgeous Lola! I can’t believe how quickly you are growing up! Seems like just yesterday that I was visiting you and your mummy in the hospital after your birth!

This is Lola and I during a lunch I had with her Mummy when LolaBear was only a few months old:

And this one was from a few months ago. She is growing up so fast!! 

Today also marks the 1 year anniversary of the death of one the most important and influential people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Pete, also known as my pseudo dad, had, and will continue to have, a huge impact on my life. He only ever wanted the very best for me, and as someone who enjoyed some of the finer things in life, he liked to expose me to them as well. For everything he taught me and everything he exposed me to, I will be eternally grateful!

I cannot fathom that I haven’t seen his smiling face, or had a big bear hug, or heard his infectious laugh in 365 days. They have been the longest 365 days of my life. I miss him more and more each day and cannot wait to be reunited with him at some point in the future.

I know he is up there looking over me though, just the way he did when he was here. 

Miss you so much Pete! 

xx love Breanna

Queensland Floods

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware that so much of Queensland has been affected by floods! I heard a comparison the other day that the affected area is equivalent to the state of Texas or 5 times the UK.

Luckily I wasn't affected by the floods at all, but I have friends who have lost everything, friends who have family missing and friends who had to evacuate due to the rising waters.

Unfortunately I've had to work all week. I would have loved to have been able to get out there and help people. So instead of my physical presence I have donated to the Premier's Relief Appeal and will be buying some baby toys for a friend's friend who lost everything and is expecting in a few weeks.

If you can, please donate your time, or your money. So many people have been affected by this. Lets get everyone back up on their feet as soon as possible!!

You can donate to the Premier's Relief Appeal here!!!

xx love Breanna

Mecca Bah

A few months of go, two of my PLT friends - Claire and Ang - and I went to Mecca Bah in Fortitude Valley for dinner. We were so impressed, mainly with the talent of the male waiters, that we decided to go back!

So last night we braved the torrential rain and went out for dinner and... WE WEREN'T DISAPPOINTED ;).

After dinner, we went to Freestylers for dessert and between the three of us we shared 2 desserts - and that was more than enough. We shared a warm chocolate flourless cake and a sticky date pudding!!

Claire took some photos but she hasn't sent them to me yet so I can't upload, but once I get them I will update this post :)

xx love Breanna

Countdown to Japan

In 2007/8 some friends and I went skiing in Canada for a month.

This was a photo I took at Big White Ski Resort.

Ever since I got back, I have been desperate to go again! The problem with being at uni for so long is that I haven't been earning as much as I would like and that made affording ski holidays difficult.

So, when my friend Sian said that her and her hubby and some others were going skiing in Japan in February I jumped at the opportunity to go with them!

Today I went to the ski shop that is very close to my place to grab some glove liners and thermals. Being in the shop was very exciting and I cannot wait to jump on that plane and hit the slopes in Japan!

Only 40 days to go!!

xx love Breanna

Admission

For those of you that know me, you will know that I have spent the last 5 years at Uni and the last 4 of those studying Law and doing my practical training requirements in order to be eligible for admission to the legal profession.

After taking what seems like forever to get to this point, my actual admission date is coming around VERY quickly.

In order to get admitted, there are a bunch of steps you have to take and they all have specific timeframe requirements. Today was the first "important date".

I travelled into the City to meet up with some of my PLT friends and we went through the process together.  First stop was QUT to pick up my certificate of completion, then the Supreme Court Registry to file my originating application, then QLS to comply with their requirements and then finally to the QLD Law Reporter to place my advertisement. It was a busy couple of hours, but now that is done I am oh so close to actually being admitted to practice law in Queensland!!!!!

Just a few more minor things and I am there! YAY!

xx love Breanna

Things I Love: The Brisbane Broncos

From a young age, one of my favourite things to do was to go to the football! A good friend of my dad's was high up at Ansett Australia when they sponsored the Broncos prior to them going bust. He used to give us free tickets all the time, and trips to ANZ Stadium became a regular family outing.

Then Ansett went bust and the free tickets stopped... And so did the family trips to ANZ. I was forever asking to go to the footy, and Dad and I used to go a fair bit. But then he lost interest. I didn't!

From the age of about 14, my friends and I used to go to home games together and at 22 (almost 23) nothing has really changed! In fact in 2009, I only missed one home game and that was a Friday night game after I'd had a general anaesthetic that morning. I fell asleep on the couch at home at 4pm and didn't wake up in time to make it to the game... I totally would have gone otherwise!!

I don't like missing games!! When I can't go to a game I make sure I watch it on TV. I've even travelled interstate for a game or two...

My friends Donna and Mellie love to go to the footy too! Donna and I actually took Mellie to her first live game in 2009 and she has been hooked ever since! This is a photo of us at Mellie's first game against the Eels.

xx love Breanna

Brisbane International - Take Two

Tonight my Mummy picked me up from work and after a little miscommunication between Dad and I, Mum and I were on our way to the Brisbane International for the night session on Pat Rafter Arena. We had bought the tickets months ago, and when the order of play came out last night we were a little disappointed. That is the problem with tennis: you have to risk it and buy tickets and hope someone good is playing, or you have to risk it and wait until the night before and see the draw and hope if someone good is playing you can still get tickets.

First up was Marcos Baghdatis v Lucasz Kubot. Nothing against Marcos, he is lots of fun to watch and the Cypriots in the crowd always make it entertaining. But Mum saw him play yesterday while she was at the Brisbane International and we had both seen him play in Melbourne numerous times. It was the first time I'd seen Lucasz play and I was kind of impressed... Baghdatis ran away with it in the end.

Second up was Mardy Fish v Radek Stepanek. Hmm, now how do I put this nicely?!... OK, lets just say that I REALLY REALLY wanted Mardy to win. I actually like watching Mardy play a lot. I'm not so fond of Stepanek. Mardy was off his game tonight and it was disappointing to see him lose the way he did. Hopefully he gets it all together before the Australian Open in 11 days time!

Also want to send a huge shout out to my friend Donna who, along with her hubby T, went out of their way to ensure that I had somewhere to park my car tonight! Thanks heaps guys! Really appreciate it! It was so nice to be able to jump in the car at the end of play and not have to worry about trains etc.

I put my camera on the charger this morning so that I could include some photos with this post... However, that little miscommunication I mentioned at the start resulted in my camera being in the wrong car, which, of course, we only realised once we were in the stadium. Sorry!

I will try and include photos where possible from now on :)

xx love Breanna

Back to work...

So today was my first day back at work after a lovely 10 day break over Christmas and New Years and I am already eagerly awaiting my next holiday...

Having been a uni student for the last 5 years, I am struggling a little with full time work. My "full time" uni course consisted of approximately 12 hours per week of contact time. So for four and a half years I had a fairly easy, relaxed life (minus the exams!! They were the worst!)

In June I started an intensive post graduate course, which consisted of 4 days per week on campus at QUT, in an office environment, from 9 until 5. That was the first shock to my system. It was the first time in my life since school that I had to be up and working by 9. I certainly never did that during undergrad!!

At the completion of that course I had to do a 4 week placement in an actual office and at the completion of that they asked me to stay on. So this 5 days per week thing has definitely taken a lot to get used to! And in the 10 days off, I slipped back into old habits VERY VERY quickly!

Going back to work today was hard. Especially when I would have loved to have either been at the Brisbane International, or at home watching it on 7 or watching the cricket (even though the Aussies are doing terribly!!)

Lucky for me I only have 8 more work days before I am on holidays again!!!

xx love Breanna

Brisbane International

In January 2009 I developed a new appreciation for tennis. While I was happy to watch bits and pieces on TV, I had never considered going to a live match. But my Mum had wanted to go to Melbourne for the Australian Open for years. I bought her and I tickets as a birthday present in 2008 and so in January 2009 we headed off to Melbourne. And so began my love affair with tennis!!

Mum and I went back to the Australian Open in 2010 and have bought our tickets for the 2011 Aus Open... But I've never actually been to the Brisbane International... You know, the tournament that is actually held in my home town!

So today, I changed that!



My beautiful friend Sian and I both experienced our first time at the Brisbane International. In fact, it was Sian's first live tennis experience. We had such an awesome day on Pat Rafter Arena. We saw three Aussies, the highlight of which was Sam Stosur.

Sian was also really keen on having a photo with Mr Ball Man (as she liked to call him)... I really didn't want to but Sian made me!

>

All in all we had a great day and it definitely wet my appetite for when Mum and I go out for the night session on Wednesday!

xx love Breanna



** All photos courtesy of the beautiful Sian!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading about some aspects of my life!

xx love Breanna