Snapped up in the moment
With one quick snap my year launched into a madness I simply could never have imagined.
We had just beaten Malaysia 4-1 to start our 2014 Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow when we got a chance to meet the Queen. It became probably the most bizarre moment of my life.
Hockeyroos teammate Brooke Peris and I thought we might be able to get in a photo with her in a selfie. We knew where she would be walking so we took two shots as she came out the door.
We thought nothing much more of it because we met Her Majesty straight afterwards and she was just beautiful as we chatted about the village, the field and the weather. She was delightful.
On the bus home we checked our picture out and realised she was actually looking and smiling at the camera. It was a great picture but not for one second did we think it would blow up like it did.
Brooke doesn't have Twitter so she posted it on Instagram and I put mine on Twitter and it quickly went viral. It had more than 500 retweets after an hour and is now up to about 14,500 - as well as more than 13,000 favourites - and people are still doing it.
Reflecting now, it's hard to put into words because it's such a once-in-a-lifetime reaction.
Brooke and I were rooming together, too, so it certainly heightened our already amazing Games experience.
We're not the kind who put ourselves out there and we certainly didn't think it would get the attention it did.
We were quite humbled and a little overwhelmed that we got a little bit of recognition from it.
It was beautiful because it was such a raw reaction and the nicest thing was people saw the Queen in a different light with a beaming smile.
Two days later, we tried to get a selfie with Prince Harry but he said he hated them so a normal photo had to suffice.
All of it was entirely different to 2013, which was ruined by a foot injury and I was told it I may never even be able to run again. To literally have a gold and silver lining after that last year was something I'll always remember.
There were two major tournaments - the World Cup and Commonwealth Games. The thought of playing in the cup kept me going in my rehab. I was in good shape, playing well and gave myself every chance.
But team selection is always a horrible time and unfortunately I was one of the disappointed ones.
Elite sport is funny like that. In an instant you can suddenly hate everything you love about what you've committed your life to.
What I had done though, had me as the next athlete in line and when a selected player was injured I was included in the team.
This tournament was incredible. The last major I played was the Olympics where we were a disappointing fifth. But this was different. We played the Dutch in the final amid a sea of orange and came away with silver.
Only a few weeks later the Games team was selected and I was elated to make my second Comms' team. A slight injury nearly derailed me but good treatment kept me on the pitch.
We were favourites and dealt with the pressure well until the final against England. We just couldn't get a goal until the last minute - and that was to equalise. We won the gold metal in a shootout.
The success and experience of the World Cup in The Hague reaffirmed that I wanted to play for a season in the Netherlands.
I contacted clubs and after the Games I was talking contracts with HC Bloemendaal and moved to Amsterdam for two months.
I'm now home in Perth for the Amsterdam winter and will return for the second half of the season this month.
But I have great new friends in a different culture and being able to play against the best is something I'm not taking for granted.
A year ago at 29 I didn't think I'd be a dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist, a World Cup silver medallist, a resident of Amsterdam and, with Brooke, for quite possibly the best photobomb/selfie of the year.
