Teenage years

1999 - I was 13yrs old the things that mattered most were swimming, swimming, swimming and more swimming! Every week day I trained twice a day, add to that gymnastics training twice a week, surf club at the local beach (I screamed whenever they tried to make me go in the water though, 'cause I'm really scared of waves!), and then every weekend was away at a swim competition.

2000 - I was 14yrs old, I still swam just as much, had dropped surf club and gymnastics to be able to concentrate on swimming more, and the highlight of the year 2000 was the Sydney Olympics! Also watched my first ever test match on the TV, seeing Glenn McGrath take a hat-trick at the WACA!

2001 - I was 15yrs old and my youngest brother was born, I was excited & at the same time not sure what having a little baby around was going to be like. Because he was born early, and had to stay in hospital, I first saw him when he was around 1 1/2 months. Life really changed since he was born, but he's really fun & cute.

2002 - I was 16yrs old, and swimming was still my main focus, I didn't go to competitions as much, but our swimming club did travel 1800km by bus to Port Headland, and that was great fun, as it was my first time away from home without my parents.

2003 - I was 17yrs old, and who can forget Steve Waugh's 100 at the SCG!! I will not forget that day for the rest of my life! It inspired me SO, SO much that he could come back at everything thrown at him so convincingly that at the swimming country champs the next fortnight, I swam to 9 golds and 14 medals in total.. and I had only ever won 1 medal in the past 4yrs at that event. I also set 85 club records that year. In October I went and saw the cricket at the WACA ground live for the first time! It was truly amazing, and I got to get Steve Waugh's autograph :)

2004 - I was 18yrs old, In January I went to 'Waugh at the WACA' the last 50-over game the Waugh brothers would play in WA, it was a complete sell out, with 19,000 people cramming in, and to top it off, I won the 'Western Warriors fan of the day.' So at the drinks break, they bring me and the sponsor up on the big screen (in front of Steve Waugh! who was out in the centre batting, and was watching!!!) and asked 'Who is your favourite player', fully expecting that I would answer that one of the Western Australian players - 'Steve Waugh' I said. 'Who do you think will win this game?' 'As long as Steve Waugh is batting, NSW will win' I said, 'If not, it's in the balance'. I was picked as fan of the day for what I was wearing.. I had my Western Warriors shirt on, with a yellow skirt, and I had blue and yellow ties in my hair, and had a NSW Blues hat on, with 'GO STEVE' written on my face in zinc. The next weekend I watched the last 4-day match with the Waugh brothers in, and while the match was on, Steve Waugh was named Australian of the year for 2004!! So suddenly the ground was flooded with journalists, and I even got to look after the camera of the guy who takes the pics for the back pages of the West Australian newspaper. The Athens Olympics started in August, and inspired after seeing Hicham El Guerrouj win the 1500m final, I started pre-season cricket training, only to hurt my ankle and then find out it was a rare nerve damage, and, at worst I might never walk properly, let alone run again, that day all I did was cry, but then I thought that I couldn't let it get the better of me, and by December I was walking, although I couldn't do stuff like squat down, put lots of pressure on my ankle, or run.

2005 - I'm 19yrs old, the BEST year of my life :) I started work in December of 2004, and am still working at the Indian restaurant in town, to save money to travel around the world (well mainly to India!) I also started studying for what I've wanted to do since I was 12yrs old, fashion design. I've made some really nice friends over the net, and started a blog in July..

So that's what I've done in my teenage years... It was really fun :)