The race is on. Crazy how fast this first event has come and gone. I am now two weeks into my Australian journey. The Roxy Pro at Snapper didn’t go as well as I would have liked. Finished with a fifth place. Bleh. Pretty disappointing but everything happens for a reason and I am just trying to learn from it, push forward and get fired up for the next event at Bells Beach in a few weeks. I am hanging around to do the six start event at Merewether, Newcastle. Never been there before so I am excited about the new adventure. The waves here on the Gold Coast have been fairly small and the winds have been pretty bad. A couple days of pouring rain but other than that quite sunny, hot and lovely. Just been hanging around Dbah and Snapper trying to catch a few waves with my five hundred friends in the line up, haha. ASP banquet was pretty neat. I got all dressed up in my floor length gown, high heels, make up. I definitely felt a little out of my element and was more stressed out about getting up in front of all those people and saying a speech than taking the time to really enjoy the night. I have an awesome big shiny bowl now that I get to take home and I can’t wait to eat cereal out of! What else has been going on? Nothing much. Just enjoying my time here. Been hanging out with some family friends, went for a drive along the coast, watched a couple movies and shopping. Oh Episode 3 of my Title Break is up check it out!

The past few weeks have been fairly uneventful. I have just been surfing, training, sleeping and eating. It’s been a good routine. Just trying to get my body back into shape and stay healthy. My staph came back or maybe it never went away so I am back on antibiotics and cruising for a few more days. It’s pretty frustrating. I had to go back to the doctors the other day to get it sliced open. I am horrified of doctors, needles, knives, the whole ordeal was traumatizing. I have been trying my best to stay strong and not freak out. I realize that staph is quite common and there are so many people in this world with worst things going on. At the same time I think it’s okay to let yourself feel bad and admit it kind of sucks for a little while, then pick yourself up and move on. I was working out with my trainer the other day and just got to that breaking point where I started crying. It felt really good. I have been so angry at my body for not cooperating with me that maybe those negative feelings are keeping me in this cycle of not getting better. My body has allowed me to do some amazing things. Win a world title, love those around me and enjoy the world each and every day. I should be thanking it instead of being so down on myself. On a happier note, I have been having some really fun surf sessions, watched HALF of the superbowl this past sunday, dyed my hair dark brown, had a lunch date with my mom and little cousin, saw a scary movie, and have been skyping with my boyfriend:) haha There is a lot to smile about…

Hallelujah! I am back in the water finally. I haven’t stopped smiling from ear to ear since I put my toe in the water four days ago. I didn’t realize how much I missed the ocean and how depressed I had been until I paddled out to Backdoor. It was pretty much 4-5 foot perfection, sunny, glassy, and not that crowded. I paddled out and just sat in the lineup for awhile soaking it all in. Feeling the water move, the liquid on my skin, the taste of salt on my lips, watching blue barrels form in slow motion… it’s that feeling of connecting with nature and having the rest of the world melt away that I believe is so addicting, so freeing, so blissful. This love for the ocean and this feeling is a universal connection that all surfers have. I was restricted to forty five minutes but I could have stayed out all day. On the car ride home, I cried for a solid twenty minutes because I was just so happy to be back in the water. I had an epiphany that day. One that I would not have come to if I didn’t get sick for two weeks. Everything happens for a reason right? I just realized that the way the ocean and surfing makes me feel is like nothing else in the world. I am so lucky to be a surfer and I want to do this for years to come. I want to take care of my body, my health so that I can continue to do what I love. Sometimes I take for granted what I have and get lost in routine and going thru the motions. The things that I want to do then become things I have to do and I lose touch with how amazing surfing is. I am excited to be back in the water with a renewed passion for my sport. See…a little bump in the road can be good.

This one pretty much says it all:) been on repeat for past week… and don’t think I’m stopping anytime soon haha