THE STATES!

We are back in the States! All that is left is one flight!
We've got a 9 hour layover at LAX...So we're killing time in the Admirals Club.

We're going to get Chili's for lunch. Can you believe that I actually REQUESTED to eat there??

Once I'm back home and have gotten a new computer I'll be sure to update yall about the amazing adventures that have taken place over the last two weeks. :)

Thank you for all of your prayers during my time away.

New Zealand

We've made it safely to New Zealand. We are fixing to head down to Christchurch from Auckland.

Dad will be driving again from Christchurch to Queenstown...PRAY. ;)

family and sydney!

Just a quick update,
Dad, Denise, Lauren and Rachel all made it safely. We had a great time in Hobart.

We're now in Sydney having a great time. We'll be here til Tuesday morning then we're off to New Zealand. I'll try to keep yall updated but I'm having to pay for internet usage so they'll be short!

Love!

a couple of photos!

Me, Natalie and Tarni

Marc and I at his birthday dinner.

Roxy, the cutest little tassie devil!!

Last weeks in Tasmania

Hello all!!

Sorry I haven't updated lately. My computer is broooken! I'm not really sure what happened...I had Abdel and a couple of other people check it out and they have all said it's a goner. :/ Oh well...I guess it's best that this is happening now rather than 2 months ago!

On a better note, my finals are over!! Wihoo. They all went well. Now it's just a matter of time before I find out my grades.

Now I'm out in Launy spending some last minute time with Marc, Tarni and Abdel. :)

It's Sunday arvo so Dad, Denise, Lauren and Rachel will all be here tomorrrow!!! Not until pretty late at night but still soon!!

They'll be in around 9-10pm here (6-7am for yall).

Tuesday we are hiring a car and going to the Cadbury Factory, Launceston Lakes Wildlife Park and then to supper with Marc. Marc has student teaching starting this next week so he isn't able to come down to Hobart to spend time with the family; so we're just coming up here!

Wednesday we plan on traveling the coast a bit to see some of the scenic places around.

Thursday we'll go on a day cruise to Bruny Island.

Then Friday we're off to Sydney for four days and New Zealand to follow.

Hopefully I'll be able to find a computer to keep yall updated on everything. If not, I'll be home on the 7 of July! :)

First Final Down!

One final down - two to go!

I had my Public Relations final on Saturday. That is the class that I won't be getting credit for from Tech. I honestly debated on not taking it because of that reason. But, I couldn't let myself just take the easy way out so I went ahead and took the final.

It went okay, we had to create a Public Relations plan, produce three PR products (media release, letter, fact sheet, etc.) and write on our view of ethics in PR. I got all the formating for my plans correct...now it will just be a matter of whether or not my professor likes what I produced.

It was strange, when I went to take my final there was a man standing at the top of the stairs who wouldn't even let me on the second floor with my purse. I had to go and leave it outside of the book store. They are SO strict about people not cheating here. I'm not even sure how you would cheat because all of the tests are essay tests.

I feel like we're much more trusted at home. That or they just don't care if people cheat. Either one could very well be the case.

My next final is Thursday. It is Journalism, Media and Communications. I'm not entirely sure what I need to study for that. So I'm a bit worried!

I got a package from my amazingly wonderful friend Catie. :) She included goldfish (of course!), reeses, orbit gum, photos and milky ways!! I'm savoring my milky ways!

Dad, Denise, Lauren and Rachel will be here in two weeks! And I'll be home one month from today!

It's strange because everyone is starting to leave.

Marc and I had to figure out when the last time we'll see each other will be. :( That was a sad talk!

Everyone keeps asking if I'm ready to come home. I don't really know how to answer that. I'm ready to BE home but I don't think I'm ready to come home. I'm not ready to leave. Leaving here means going back to the real world where I have to work and school matters and I have to grow up. When I'm here everything is so easy...Life is simple and carefree. I am very ready for the perks of home though...summer (I'm very jealous of the 100 degree days yall are having), Paisley, my car, good food, an income, knowing where to shop for whatever I'm looking for.

I think, for now, I'll go to bed and dream of a life where Texas and Oz meet. Wouldn't that be nice...

Birthdays!

I'm done with classes! Wihoo!!!

I had my last class on Wednesday. I can't believe I'm almost to the end!

Wednesday arvo Natalie and I came out to Launceston.

Saturday we went out to Wings Wildlife Park. There were wallabies, kangaroos, monkeys, koalas, wombats, camels, bison, bulls, mini horses, roosters, bunnies, etc. Lots of animals! I got bit by a wallaby that I was trying to feed! Grr. I'm hoping that it'll scar and I'll be able to say "that's where I got bit by a wallaby!" haha. I doubt it will but that'd be really cool!

Yesterday (Monday) was Marc's birthday! Hooray! It was also his roommate Malcolm and my roommate Marina's birthday.

In the morning Marc and I went to the gym and then did some studying in the afternoon. Our day wasn't too out of the ordinary.

All Marc really wanted for his birthday was guacamole and Dr. Pepper. Haha. But I also got him a photo of us for his room. I got the boys a Bob the Builder cake, chocolate of course.

Oh, Natalie, Tarni and I had also gotten the boys a pinata. Neither one of them had ever had a pinata so we surprised them with one! We were a little worried if Malcolm would like it or not but he loved it! We did that Saturday night though because Natalie went back to Hobart on Sunday.

Malcolm went out to dinner with a family friend on Monday and came back with his mom and sister who had flown in to surprise him! How exciting! So last night we hung out with them and ate birthday cake. :)

Tonight we're fixin to go to dinner with some mates for the guy's birthday!

I'll be sure to post photos when I get back to Hobart. I forgot my cord that connects my camera to my computer so yall will have to wait a bit!

This weekend Marc, Malcolm, Abdel and Frase are all coming down to Hobart to do some tourist stuff and continue the birthday celebrations! It should be a fun time. :)

I've got my first final on Saturday so be sure to pray for that!

Cheers!

Nearing the End of Classes!

Hey yall!

I have been SO bored lately! All of my friends still have assignments due so they're working hard on those while I'm being a bum. I guess that's the downside to having classes only three days a week.

Speaking of which, this is our last week of Uni!! I only have three more classes left and then finals. I have three finals to take. They'll be the 5, 10 and 18 of June.

It's getting really cold here. And it's only going to get colder. We're kicking ourselves for complaining about the cold a month ago. Our house is so poorly insulated that sometimes it's colder in our house than it is outside...strange yeah? We've found that turning on the heater in our living room and all of us hanging out in here is the best way to stay warm and efficiently use our electricity.

Because it's so cold it also makes it kind of hard to want to go out and do stuff. Natalie and I have been trying to plan stuff to stay busy.

On Tuesday avro (afternoon) we went into town to do some shopping! I needed to buy a jumper (aka hoodie sweatshirt). After town we went to a free dinner that TUU Housing was putting on for all the students who rent from them. :) It was just some nasty pizza but hey, free food is free food.

Wednesday was pretty boring...nothing exciting happened.

Thursday Joey, Natalie and I all went to some of Joey's friends house. We watched Talladega nights. It's always good to watch a movie other than the few that I brought with me!

On Friday we just hung out during the day. We went into town that arvo just to have something to do and because Joey needed to do some gift shopping. That night Joey, Natalie and I all watched a movie at Nat's house. Then we went and caught up with all of our friends at one of their houses.

Saturday and Sunday were the most boring days ever. Okay, I'm exaggerating. I did get to talk to both Dad and Momma on skype though so that sure was nice! But after these two days I'm looking forward to going to class tomorrow so I have something to do.

This Wednesday Natalie and I are going up to Launceston. I don't think we have anything planned to do yet but I'm sure it'll be exciting!

Sports, Sports, Sports!

Hello hello!

The weekend/beginning of the week after Mom and Curtis came I was busy busy with school. But now I'm done with all of my assignments! It's such a relief.

On Wednesday after my classes I went up to Launceston.

The trip was full of sports and exercise!

Wednesday night I went to watch Marc's basketball game...they won! Yay.

After the game Marc's friend Fraser came over and we had hot chocolate. The marshmallows here are so gross. You can taste the food coloring in them it seems like (they have pink and yellow ones).

Thursday Marc and I did some grocery shopping.

We hired out the movie Zombieland. It was pretty good! I wasn't too keen on seeing it but I actually liked it.

That evening we went up to Uni Gym and worked out for about 2 hours. Marc knew the girl who was working up there so I didn't have to pay to get into the gym. It is normally SO expensive here. If you don't have a membership (which is about $300+) then it costs $9.50 each time you want to go. How insane is that??

On Friday Tarni, Marc and I went and played volleyball up at the Uni Gym. Every Friday they have a group of people play volleyball. Tarni and I were kind of nervous because we had no idea what to expect. It turns out that we were the only girls there. Everyone else was a bunch of old guys or guys who didn't speak any English. It was fun though! Tarni didn't have too much fun though, shes still learning volleyball so she wasn't too comfortable playing with other people yet.

Saturday Malcolm, Marc and I played some footy. I was SO much better this time! I think it helped that I had my tennis shoes this time...it made kicking the ball much easier. It still really hurts to punch the ball though. After our "kick-about" we went home and watched a movie with all the house mates.

That night, Tarni and I took Marc to his basketball game. Then she and I went to a football party that one of Tarni's friends had invited her to. It was way out in "whoop whoop" (aka the boonies). Tarn's friend, Emma, was really sweet! We're going to hang out with her again next time I go up there. :)

On Sunday I got to skype with Lauren and all the family. Everyone was together to celebrate her GRADUATION!! Hip hip hooray! :)

Marc went up to the gym to do some basketball training. After Tarni and I ate breakfast we walked up to Uni and she went to the library and I went to meet Marc at the gym.

I didn't want to pay the $9.50 so I paid still ridiculous amount of$3.80 to just go to the basketball court. I was going to play volleyball but I forgot to bring my ball up there and it costs money to borrow one from the gym. Since I didn't want to spend more money I decided to play basketball with Marc. He was doing his training though so mainly I just helped him with his drills and rebounded for him.

Malcolm just bought a thing where he can watch television on his computer so everyone in the house is pretty excited about that. We all watched a couple of shows together that night. Before bed Tarni, Marc and I watched Full Metal Jacket.

Monday was pretty uneventful. We just watched some sports. Marc is SO excited that he'll be able to watch the NBA finals.

That arvo Marc and I skyped with his mom.

Then Tarni and Marc took me up to the bus station to head home. :(

Back in Hobart I went to catch the bus back into Sandy Bay but there wasn't one for another 25 minutes. I decided to go on ahead and walk to Sandy Bay. I stopped at Subway and ate a sandwich real quick. Then headed on towards my house. I decided to check at one of the bus stops to see when the next one would be there. Right as I stopped the bus that I would have waited 25 minutes for was pulling up. AWESOME!!!! And it was even the bus that stops on my street. You gotta love it when that happens!!

Today, Tuesday, wasn't too bad.

I went to my class...one of the last of the semester! We only have this week and then one more before finals start up. My finals schedule is good...I have then on the 5, 10 and 18 of June.

After class Natalie and I went into Hobart because I needed to buy a sweatshirt and sweatpants that fit me. I had the hardest time finding pants! But I did find a sweatshirt. :)

Tonight we had a free dinner at the TUU because we live in their housing. It wasn't the greatest food but it was free.

Now we're all back at home watching our television shows.

I hope everyone is doing well at home! It is getting so close to the end.

Stacey, my roommate, leaves on the 11th! Can you believe that? That's less than a month away. I have just over a month left here. So, I'll be seeing yall soon! :)

Thanks for following my adventures.

Love from Oz.

Momma & Curtis' Visit

May 1, Saturday

This morning I woke up at 11 when Natalie called me about going to the market. By the time Natalie, Joey and I all got up and showered and were on our way to the Market it was a little after noon.

At the Market there was a creepy lady who was painted white and was in a long white angel gown. She was posing and when people gave her money she would bless them. It kind of weirded me out.
It’s funny because it always has the same booths every weekend but we still go back and always look at the same places. However we vary rarely buy anything. This week the only thing I bought was a flower to have on the bedside table for Momma. I got her my favourite kind of flower here...it’s called a Protea Pink Ice. I’m not sure if we have them in the States but they’re really cool looking.

On our way back home we stopped at Coles for Natalie to do some grocery shopping. Then we headed back to my house to drop off her stuff before going down to meet Momma and Curtis!

Natalie and I went down at about 4:30 to wait for Momma and Curtis to get in. They got to Wrest Point a little after 5. I was SOOO happy to see them! J We rolled their bags down the hill from Wrest Point and then up the hill to the Cottage of Nelson Road (aka my house).

As soon as we got back here I showed them around my house...the tour took a grand total of less than 5 minutes. Then I started cooking them dinner because after a long day of travelling they needed some food! I cooked them spaghetti. Natalie abandoned her vegetarian ways for the meal! I was so proud. We all relaxed and ate dinner and watched television.
Joey was at a party at Metz. Stacey and Marina were on a day trip to the Tasman Peninsula. So it was just Momma, Curtis, Natalie and I.

Mom and Curtis were able to stay up fairly late...I kept telling them to try to stay up as late as possible! Once they went to bed I wasn’t far behind them. I was SO tired from staying up late the night before.

May 2, Sunday

Hooray for having Momma and Curtis here!!

Today we woke up and went down to Sandy Bay to get breakfast. We ate at Banjos. It was pretty good...I hadn’t been there yet!

After that we went into Hobart and walked around for awhile. We went to the museum...they have a new modern art exhibit.
Then we went down to the harbor and looked at all the boats. There was a full rainbow...it was so beautiful!! We ate lunch at Mures, a fish and chips place on the pier.
We went to the visitor’s centre and got some information about what we can do to stay busy here! J We’re going to have lots of fun things to do.

That evening we just came back home and chilled out. I can’t remember what we did for dinner this night.

May 3, Monday

Today I had to turn in a paper so we went up to campus for me to do that.
Then we went into Hobart and got lunch at the mall.

That afternoon we went to the Cascade Brewery! The brewery is so gorgeous. It’s a huge sandstone building with beautiful gardens around. Cascade is the oldest brewery in Australia...pretty cool huh? At the end of the tour they gave us three tokens for free drinks. Momma tasted her first beer EVER. That was so crazy! Of course she didn’t like it but she tried.

Once we made it back to my house Momma and Curtis took their stuff to go check into their hotel room. We met up not long after to go and get dinner at La Bella’s.

May 4, Tuesday

This morning Momma came over and we went to my Gender Studies class. She wanted to see what my favourite class was! I think she enjoyed it. She got to meet my friend Angelique.
After that class I had a test so Momma went to the coffee shop on campus while I went to that class. I think my test went okay.

We then went to the hotel to meet Curtis. We went into Hobart to get some lunch at Dome. They had potato soup there and I was SO happy!
After lunch we just walked around town a bit.

I went back home to do a little homework and nap.

Momma and Curtis came over that night for pancake Tuesday! J Natalie cooked the pancakes as usual and I made some scrambled eggs.

After dinner we just watched a little television before Momma and Curtis headed back to their hotel.

May 5, Wednesday

Today I had a full day of classes so Momma and Curtis went on a day cruise to Peppermint Bay (this always makes me want to sing the Shirley Temple song “on the good ship lollipop...”).

I went to class all day long. I met with one of my professors about an assignment that I was confused about.

That night for dinner we went to Taco’s to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! Yum!

May 6, Thursday

This morning I had to wake up super early and meet Momma and Curtis at their hotel at 8. The bus picked us up there and we were off on our adventure!

We went to Cadbury first. It was pretty cool...we learned how they make chocolate. The chocolate here is so good because they use Tasmanian milk. Interesting, yeah? They just showed us a video and then took us to taste some chocolate. It was a little disappointing...I wish there had been more. But we had kind of been told that was what to expect.

After that we went on a harbor cruise. Momma had to run to the store to get some gifts for people because we realized we wouldn’t have any other time to do that. So Curtis and I went on that lunch cruise. It was pretty! Really cold and windy up on top of the boat but we were able to stay on the inside.

Next we went to Bonorong Wildlife Park. There was a baby wombat named Mable. She was 6 months old; her momma had been hit by a car and they found Mable still in her pouch. She was just precious. I decided that I really love wombats. I bought myself a little stuffed animal one! There was also a really funny Kookaburra who had a feather stuck on its beak. It kept hitting its beak on a piece of wood trying to get it off. I think it was jealous that everyone was paying more attention to the wombat than him. Momma and Curtis got to feed wombats and kangaroos! They also got to take a photo with a koala bear. They weren’t able to hold it but they got to pet it and all. J

Our last stop of the day was Richmond, one of the old towns here. There they have the oldest bridge in Australia. It was a pretty little town!

We got back into town around 5 and stopped at the store so Curtis could buy some crumpets...he had just discovered that he likes them. We then wanted to get some authentic Tasmanian dinner...so we went to Macca’s. At the McDonald’s here they have an awesome family box deal that they should totally get in the States!

Momma and Curtis went back to their hotel. I went back home to get my big coat and do a little homework.
At 8 I went down to the bus stop to meet Marc.

We then went over to the hotel and Marc met the family! We sat and talked for awhile and then decided to go downstairs to the casino.

Momma and Curtis had won $16 the night before so we split that between us to play with. Marc said he didn’t gamble though so we split up his share. Once we got down and were playing the penny machines Marc decided he wanted to play. We called him out on not gambling and he told us he was just being “ironic” earlier. Mom was like “ironic? Don’t you mean you were lying?? Haha.” So, that quickly became the running joke!

Marc ended up winning $20 off of $1 though...so that was good! I unfortunately didn’t do as well! It was still fun though!

May 7, Friday

This morning I had to wake up at 5:45 to shower, make lunches and breakfast for everyone today. Marc and I had to be over at the hotel at 7:15.
The bus picked us up there at 7:30.

The first place we went today was Richmond, the old town that we had been to the day before.We hadn’t realized yesterday but there is a really pretty old church there...the oldest catholic church in Australia.

The next stop was for a Tasmanian Devil road sign...the only area in the world where they have those. A lot of Tasmanian Devils have a cancer on their face that is spread when they eat. Many of the conservation groups try to collect as many of the devils as they can and heal them of the disease before releasing them back into the wild. The place where the sign was is an area where a conservation group had release a number of devils who for sure didn’t have the disease.

Next we went to check out the dog lines that were set up to make sure prisoners didn’t escape from Port Arthur. They set up lines of mastiffs what would attack the escapees if they tried to pass by.

We then made a couple of stops that had awesome scenery. We stopped at Devil’s Kitchen which was gorgeous. I don’t remember the names of the other places but they were all in the Tasman Peninsula.

Our last stop of the day was Port Arthur. We went on a cruise around the harbor to see the boys reform island and the Isle of the Dead, the place where they buried everyone who died at Port Arthur; 1100 people are buried there.
We checked out the houses of the guards and commandants, the church, the living areas, the asylum and the separate prison. A lot of the building has been burned down during bush fires so it was a little hard to imagine everything. I wish they would’ve built it back up.
They had a place where you could search to find out if any of your relatives had been sent to Port Arthur...it seems very likely that I could be related to someone there! We found John Lake, James Lake, Thomas Lake, and I think it was Henry Stephenson. Crazy!
They had a cool thing where we were each given a card and we could were all different convicts who had lived there. I was a soldier who had been sent there for stealing two saddles. Curtis just so happened to get a black guy...we thought that was pretty ironic!

On the bus ride back to the hotel we watched a video about Tasmanian Devils. I ended up taking a little nap! I was exhausted.

Mom and Curtis checked out of their hotel and we headed back to my house. I cooked chicken strips and mashed potatoes for dinner. I packed one of my bags to be sent home. We all went to bed fairly early.

May 8, Saturday

This morning Momma and Curtis had a taxi pick them up at 3:45 AM. Marc and I both got up to see them off.

Marc had to leave at 10:30. So I walked him down to the bus stop.

Once he left I went back to sleep. I’m not used to having so much excitement here...it wore me out.

Tonight I went to see How to Train Your Dragon with Natalie and her roommate Kris. It was a really cute movie!! I liked it a lot. I’m really excited about the Toy Story 3 movie coming out!

After the movie we got dinner at Dome. I’m so happy that I’ve found a place to get good potato soup! J Of course it’s got nothing on McAlister’s soup but it’ll have to do for now.

Curtis and Momma as prisoners at Port Arthur!

Marc and me by the Tasmanian Devil sign.

Marc and me at Devil's Kitchen (I think).

Curtis, Momma, me and Marc

Momma and Curtis in Richmond by the oldest bridge in Australia

Curtis feeding a wallaby at Bonorong.

Momma feeding a wallaby at Bonorong.

Mable, the baby wombat!

Curtis and me outside the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.

Momma and me at Cascade Brewery.

Safe Arrival

Momma and Curtis made it here safely!!!

I cooked them supper when they got in and now we're spending time relaxing and watching tv. :)

Cheers!!

excited!!

Hey yall,

Sorry I haven't updated all week! NOTHING exciting has happened. Next week I have a paper due Monday, a test Tuesday and two more papers due Friday. That just so happens to be the week that Momma and Curtis will be here. So that has been my week; I'm trying to get a head start on all of those!

Momma and Curtis are on their way! Curtis is on his flight to Sydney and Momma is on her way to Fiji! Haha, if you haven't heard about that mess, basically there was a HUGE mess-up with the travel agent. So Momma gets to spend a couple of hours in the Fiji airport.

They'll be in at 4PM Saturday. I'm SO excited!!! I'll be sure to let yall know when they make it in safely. :)

Cheers!

photos from the wknd

Here are some photos for yall from Monster Trucks and the Footy game! :)

Malcolm and I at Monster Trucks! Malcolm now loves his flannel.

My favorite truck, Samson.

Marc and I at Monster Trucks. Bogan or normal? ...this is normal. Minus that scarf haha.

At the house before we left for Monster Trucks!

Marc and me at the footy game. The Hawks colors are brown and yellow, how ugly is that?

Monster Trucks & Footy!

April 21, Wednesday

Today I woke up at 7:45 so I could shower and get things sorted for my trip before my tutorial.

I walked all the way up the awful hill and to class. There were a couple of us sitting in there when a lady came in and told us that our professor wasn’t going to be able to make it and to go to a different tute.

I trekked back home and decided that I’d go ahead and head to Launceston because I didn’t want to make Tarni wait until after 4, when the next tute would be, to leave. So we quickly got all of our stuff together and headed the Launy!
The car ride was pretty quick. I didn’t sleep this time! I think that made Tarni happy. Haha.

When we got to Launy Marc was at the door to welcome us! Really he was just going outside to fix the electricity that was turned off for some reason. They had had a massive storm last night and the electricity went out from it.

Once Malcolm got home we all went to Wooly’s together to do some grocery shopping. We then watched James Bond: the Golden Eye. The boys are on a huge James Bond kick right now.

Just before the movie was over, Marc and I had to bail to go to his basketball game. Fraser picked us up in his awesome orange VW van. You know how some cars match perfectly with their driver? This is one of those situations. Haha.

Marc played really well. They were up against a team that had beaten them last time so they were out for revenge! They ended up winning by 12 points. It was tons of fun! I really enjoy going to his games...I miss basketball.
Speaking of, GO MAVERICKS! I hope we get it back against the Spurs!

April 22, Thursday

Thursday was a lazy day! After waking up I watched Let’s Go to Jail with Marc. Then we ate lunch and were going to study but decided to watch another movie. We were lazy literally all day.

That night Marc’s friend, Mark Townsend, came over for dinner. He is a lot of fun. He reminded me of Scott Heft; yes, he’s a red head too! Marc made an awesome pasta dish...it was so good. I’ve got myself quite the cook. J
However, every time we go to the grocery store to buy stuff for meals Marc and I have to go over the fact that I don’t like vegetables. Each time he’ll think of a new one and say “artichokes, you have to like artichokes! ...NO!?! Okay zucchini, you like these do you?...NO!?!” haha it’s like he’s shocked every time he finds out there is yet another vegetable that I don’t like.

After we ate dinner I baked a chocolate cake. Yum. We played Apples to Apples. It was quite fun. J

April 23, Friday

Rain, rain go away! It has started raining lots here! I don’t like it one bit.

This morning Malcolm, Tarni and I went into town while Marc was working out with Fraser. We went to a couple of jewellery shops trying to get Malcolm’s watch fixed. I bought a volleyball while we were in town because I’ve really been wanting to play!
We ate lunch at this place called Burger Got Soul. It was so yum. I got a cheese burger with avocado on it and the chips were nice and seasoned...yum! It was pretty reasonably priced as well.

After town we went home and changed out of our wet clothes! Then headed up to the gym to play some volleyball and meet up with Marc.

Malcolm and Tarni had never played volleyball before so I had to teach them. We didn’t have a net or anything; we just hit it around a bit. They did really well...there were of course some times when Malcolm would swing his arms while bumping the ball and it would hit the ceiling but all in all it was good! Marc and I were peppering back and forth and he spiked the ball so I got low to dig it; unfortunately a low spike for him and I are a little different. Low to someone who is 6’5” is apparently about the level of my face. Thank goodness he hadn’t hit it too hard! It didn’t really hurt but I like to give him a hard time about it now. Haha. Another time Marc went to backwards set it and missed the ball completely and it hit him in the face. Even?
After volleyball we played a little bit of footy. Then we played a bit of baseball. After baseball they taught me how to play cricket! I actually really liked it...since there were only four of us there was always something to be doing.

Once we got home from playing heaps of sports we all took turns showering and making supper. Then we decided to hire (aka rent) out a movie from blockbuster. We got Wolverine because the boys hadn’t seen it yet.

After the movie we went over to one of the boys’ mate’s houses, Andrew. We watched a little footy with him and just hung out.
I learned an interesting fact: Australian Football League has no regulation field size. Each field is just as big as the team/builder wants to make it.

April 24, Saturday

This morning Marc and I both had to study. I spent more time on Skype than I did studying though. I got to talk to Momma, Curtis, Rachel, Lauren, Dad, Nanna, Durwood and even Uncle Tommy! It was quite the happening day in the Skype world.
After my time skyping I did actually buckle down and get some reading done. I’m trying to get ahead on my work because momma and Curtis will be here in ONE WEEK!!! AH!

Tonight Malcolm, Marc and I went to MONSTER TRUCKS!!! We had planned on dressing as bogans but as we started getting ready Marc and I both realized we were actually just going as ourselves. I wore jeans, boots and a flannel shirt. He wore a jumper (aka hoodie), zoo york hat and skater shoes. The only one who was actually “dressed up” was Malcolm and by the end of the night he had grown quite fond of his flannel.
Monster Trucks was awesome! My favourite truck was named Samson and the driver was from Alabama. There was another driver from Salt Lake City. We were really looking forward to seeing the motocross freestyle jumps but the ground was too slippery for them to be able to go at it. That was a little upsetting. But the night was still fun. It was FREEZING! Goodness I can’t wait until I have my big coat!

Once the show was over we walked down to Macca’s to give Tarni some time to get over and pick us up. We ate some supper and got some hot chocolate to warm up with! It was tasty. .

April 25, Sunday

Marc and I had to do some homework after brekkie. Ugh, so boring!

Around 5 we went up to the footy game! It was pretty fun. The only bad thing is that we had general seating...which means standing. And the stadium is really small...it looked like a high school baseball stadium. The field wasn’t build down into the ground like it always is in the States. Anyways, it was really hard to see what was going on. Half the time I couldn’t even see the screen! And it was cold!! Even though I seem to be complaining about it...it was fun! It was really interesting getting a glimpse of Australian professional sports. ...it’s very different than in the States. In the States there are food places built into the stadium...here they’re just little tents. In the States the crowds are yelling the WHOLE time...here they only cheer when something good/bad happens. In the States they have an announcer at the game...here they DON’T, that was quite upsetting for short little me. It was a good experience.

Back at home Marc and I made pizza for dinner. We then did a little bit of homework.

Stacey's 21 Birthday!

April 19, Monday

This morning I got to Skype with Momma and Curtis! We talked about what all we’ll do while they’re here visiting! J

In my Journalism class today we had a mock media conference where the mayor of Glenorchy, a neighbouring town, came in and talked to us about the school reform. We have to write a 500 word article on it and then a 1000 analysis of our article. Ugh.

After class I went down to Chicken Feed and Coles to get stuff for Stacey’s birthday. I bought her a bunch of chocolate...the guy at the register probably thought I was a total fatty. Haha. I explained to him that it wasn’t all for me.

They told us that it was best to write our news article tonight so I started working on that when I got home. It was actually kind of hard. So far I have 300 words and I haven’t put in any quotes yet so hopefully that’ll help! J

I skyped with Marc tonight. Then Stacey, Joey and I sat around the kitchen table on our computers doing homework and playing words with friends (aka Scrabble) on our ipods. Haha, yes, we are nerds!!!

April 20, Tuesday

Happy 21st birthday Stacey!!!!

This morning I did NOT want to get out of bed!!! I finally forced myself to though.

I went up to the library to print off what I had written so far for Journalism so I could have my Tute teacher read it over.
While I was at the library I got a call from Dad telling me that it may work out that he could bring Lauren and Rachel when he and Denise come to Australia. He asked me what I thought about that and I said YES!!!!! He told me that he was going to wait and ask them on Friday and said I’d have to keep quiet until then. Knowing myself and how excited I was I told him to conference call them NOW and ask them if they could come!

I had Gender today which was good because Lucy lectured! YAY! J We talked about masculinity and how society defines it.
I had made my facebook status: “Sara Lake has her fingers crossed! J“ because I was really hoping they could come!!! I checked it during class and Rachel had commented saying “I don’t like this, I LOVE this!! J” So I assumed Dad had called and talked to her so I asked and sure enough he had!!! She had already arranged her classes from the summer to make it possible for her to come visit me!!!! Then I checked with Lauren to make sure she was a go as well and she said she had to double check with Kyle but she didn’t know why she wouldn’t be able to go! AHHHHH!!! I’m SO EXCITED!!!! I just couldn’t focus in class anymore!!!

Dad called me between my break and was shocked to find out that I already knew the good news!!! Haha, come on, the internet world goes quickly!!
Then I had Journalism and we spent the day learning how to correctly use apostrophes. Yes, we learned about possessive words and contractions and all that good stuff. Go uni!!

After class I came home and conference called Lauren and Rachel on skype so we could talk about how excited we are!!
I was supposed to make cupcakes for Stacey’s birthday but the kitchen was disgustingly dirty from Stacey baking apple pie last night and from it not being cleaned for over a week. We had issues with the chores chart because of mid-semester break. The last time it was cleaned was last Monday. So, as you can imagine it’s disgusting. I really didn’t feel like cleaning the kitchen, when it isn’t even my week for that, in order to bake cupcakes. So I decided I’d pass on that.

Not long after Tarni got here! Yay! Then we all got ready and to celebrate!!!

We were supposed to all meet at Tacos at 5. For the longest time it was only Joey, Natalie, Marina, Tarni, Stacey and me. We got tired of waiting for everyone else to show so we finally just ordered food. Right as we were eating April, Amy, Carli and Marielle showed up. It was a lot of fun! I had a passion fruit and strawberry margarita that was so good! J

Once we were home Stacey opened her birthday gifts from her friends back home.

I then got to skype with Momma and then Marc. It was a wonderful end to a wonderful day! J

Finally Up to Date!

April 13, Tuesday

Not much happened on Tuesday. I went to my journalism tute and then straight up to the library to write my public relations paper.

That evening we had pancake Tuesday! Stacey attempted to master pancake making. However, somehow her pancakes turned out like of like a turtle because they were hard on one side. It was strange and we didn’t know why that was happening!

Anyways, that’s about all that went on today! As I’m sure yall have noticed, the blogs from each day are getting shorter. That’s partly because I get behind and have to write a lot of them at once. Also, I’m getting into my normal everyday life here. Contrary to what you may believe, living in Australia doesn’t mean that every day I’ll be out sighting echidnas or petting wallabies. I honestly feel like I’m just living in a different state. I never really went through culture shock. It’s hard to believe my time here is about half over. But hey, that means that I’ve still got half the journey ahead of me!

April 14, Wednesday

Today was such a drag day. My house is officially freezing. This morning the cold made it impossible to get out of bed.

I went to my Gender, Power and Change class. We now have a new lecturer/professor for that class. It’s strange, here they will switch professors half way through the course...one of the lecturers will do the first half on their topic of knowledge and the second will step in and do the second half of the course. So, we have a new lecturer. She’s okay; Lucy was definitely more entertaining to listen to though.

After class I came home and made lunch and was pretty much a bum ALL DAY LONG. Ugh it was awful. I watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Past hoping that I’d be able to take a nap but I wasn’t able to.

I did get to talk to Momma tonight for a little bit. We’re trying to plan out what we’re going to do when her and Curtis comes down in two weeks!!! J I can’t believe it’s almost here!!! We’re thinking we may go to Melbourne Thursday to Saturday so that way they’re getting to experience the mainland.

April 15, Thursday

Aussie Words:
Devode = pronounced dev-ode = short for devastated
*Note that I am not sure about the spelling for a lot of these Aussie words. I just have to guess!*

What an absolutely boring day. I woke up today at 1. Yeah, I had to do a double take because I couldn’t believe it was so late! I had stayed up till at least 3 last night watching Seven and then 21 so I guess I was pretty tired.

When I got up I talked to Stacey for awhile. We both decided not to fix our internet just yet so that we’ll actually be productive today rather than just sit around on it.
I started some laundry because it was sunny outside so I’m hoping that they’ll dry quickly.
I was able to ALMOST fully catch up on my blog. Ahh, getting closer!

I worked out this afternoon. It felt really nice outside today so I wanted to be outside. I went in the backyard and did sprints, lunges and squats. Then back inside I did an abs work out. J

Then I called the internet company and tried to get our internet problem solved once and for all. And of course, that didn’t happen. After I got off the phone with him we had issues with it again. The only way we can connect right now is if we use the Ethernet cord. Bummer. Oh well, it’s better than nothing!

Now that I was able to connect, I went to buy Marc, Malcolm and me tickets for the monster truck rally next Saturday. However, I don’t have an Australian bank account so it wouldn’t let me do it. And it wouldn’t let me use my Pay Pal because the site wouldn’t ship to the US even though nothing even needed to be sent. UGH. I was so “devode.”

We didn’t really do much of anything tonight. We all hung around the house, took it easy and watched some television.

April 16, Friday

I could NOT sleep last night. For some reason I was awake until 7AM.
That being the case, I didn’t wake up today late. I felt so bad because I’d told Stacey that I would go into town with her today.
When I woke up she wasn’t here so I assumed that she had gone without me.

After waking up I hung out with Joey for a bit. Then I took a shower and was planning on going to Chicken Feed to get some warm socks and other groceries. However, I couldn’t remember what time they closed. I thought it was at 5:30 so I didn’t want to walk down there and find out they weren’t even open.

So Joey and I just hung around the house for awhile.

That evening Natalie texted and asked if I wanted to go to Coles with her. I figured I should get out of the house a bit so I said I’d go with her.

Joey, Natalie and I then went to La Bella’s because it was Danny’s last day at work and we told him we’d drop in. He’s fixing to move to the Gold Coast with his girlfriend. It’s going to be so sad going to La Bella’s without Danny there! .

April 17, Saturday

Stacey, Natalie, Joey and I had planned on going down to Salamanca Market at 11.
I woke up at 11 and Stacey was awake in bed so I asked if she still wanted to go and she said yes. So I quickly got ready. Natalie texted me and told me that she wasn’t going to go. I went and asked Joey if he still wanted to go and he said that he did but he’d just need a 30 minute warning. I told Stacey that, thinking that she’d say to have to get ready straight away but she didn’t. Stacey was talking to someone on AIM so I guess she was caught up in that. Finally she said Joey should go and get ready because she’d be ready in 30 minutes time. However, by the time Joey had showered and gotten ready Stacey was still in bed in her pjs. She said that she’d changed her mind and that she had a paper that she needed to work on at home.

While I waited I got to talk to Dad. Denise was at work so I missed out on talking to her. Dad asked lots of questions about Marc. My favourite was when he asked if I loved Marc more than I love Paisley. He promised he wouldn’t tell Marc my answer to that question. ;)

By the time Joey and I headed down to the market it was about 12:30.
The only thing I bought there was some post cards.
Then we went into town. I needed to get my bogan outfit! I found a flannel shirt and then I got leggings. It’s going to be perfect! J I also got a scarf for only $2!! What a steal.

When we got back home we chilled out before going to April’s house tonight to hang out.

April 18, Sunday

Today was one of those Sundays where you don’t even change out of your pajamas. J Wonderful!

I woke up at 10 and skyped with Rachel and Jub.

I took a nap this afternoon because nothing was going on and I was pretty bored.

I woke up from my nap around 4. Joey was skyping with his girlfriend Erin so I got to meet her! I made some pasta that turned out pretty gross because the sauce was way too runny.
Joey and I watched some television. Australia’s Got Talent came on and all of us housemates watched it together. I think I’m in love with this boy who sings like John Mayer. He plays the guitar and everything. Unfortunately he’s only 16. I think that’s legal here...? haha.

Now Joey and I are fixing to watch Valentine’s Day. We’ll see if it’s a good movie!

Photos. :)

This is at the Melbourne Aquarium. The sting rays were MASSIVE (obviously). That sea turtle was so cute because she was so hungry and kept trying to stick her head into the bucket to get more food.

Stacey, Natalie and I at St. Kilda Beach.

Marc and I at the BMX/Motocross rally. (He looks like a total bogan in this photo. haha)

Natalie, Stacey and I with Skipper from Madagascar at the Melbourne Aquarium.

Marc, me and Abdel enjoying the Dr. Pepper that we discovered at a fruit market in Salamanca. :)

Visiting Marc and My Second Set of Housemates!

April 7, Wednesday

Oh man, it was so good to be back in my own bed and to be able to sleep in. J After waking up, I was a lazy bum all day long. I showered then packed my bags for Launceston. Basically I just took my laundry from the week out with me and I’ll wear those clothes again! Easy enough.

On the way down to the bus station I stopped and got some Macca’s for lunch considering I don’t have any food anymore after throwing out everything that had gone bad.
I had gotten a note in the mail saying that I have two packages waiting for me at the Sandy Bay post office! Yay! I stopped in there and had a package from Nanna and one from Dad. The one from Nanna was filled with Easter candy! The one from Dad had goldfish, cheetos and reeses. Yum yum yum.

Marc had bought me a bus fare for the bus that left Hobart at 3. I hauled all my bags and my two boxes down to the transit centre. They told me there was a full bus so I was going to have to put one of my bags underneath. Bummer, I hate full buses!
Fortunately when I got on I was able to sit alone. I figured sometime along the ride there would be someone who needed to come and sit by me though. But having my own seat for part of the way is better than nothing!
Lucky for me, I had my own seat the full way! HOORAY! J

When we got into Launceston Marc, Tarni and Abdel were all there to pick me up.

We didn’t really do much that day...Marc cooked pasta with chicken. It was delicious! He is such a good cook...I should keep him around if only for that reason. Haha.

Marc has started doing boxing training with Abdel. Tarni and I had told him that we’d do it with him today. I however thought he was doing it in the morning so when my bus was later in the afternoon I thought I’d have already missed it. When I found out they do it at night I was already all showered and everything and didn’t feel like getting nasty sweaty so I said I’d pass on today.

We went to blockbuster that night and rented Friday Night Lights. Watching that movie totally made me miss West Texas! I can’t wait for football season. J The others were kind of upset because they couldn’t wrap their mind around the fact that that really is how serious football is in Texas. Malcolm couldn’t believe that a high school state game would fill up Reliant Stadium in Houston.

April 8, Thursday

Marc and I got to Skype with Dad and Denise this morning. They finally were able to meet him! Dad and Marc talked about sports and all that good stuff. Marc seemed to like Dad.

I got to meet Andrew, one of Marc’s good mates out here. He dropped by between his classes.

Later on, we went to Woolworth’s and to the vegetable store to get food that we’d need for the week.

That evening the housemates and I all went up to the uni and had a “kick-about” with the footy. “Footy” is their nickname for Australian Football.
That sport is ridiculous. The ball looks like an overstuffed football, I guess kind of like a rugby ball, and it’s really hard and slick. The only ways you can pass the ball are by kicking it or punching it. In game situation, you can only run 15 yards (I think) before you have to either pass or dribble the ball. The players don’t wear any pads or helmets. The scoring is that you have four metal posts sticking straight up into the air. If you get it between the middle two then you score 6 points. If you get it between the outside two then you get 3 (?) points. If you hit the pole you get 1 point. If the other team is about to score and you are able to touch, punch, or kick their ball before it passes through the poles then they only get 1 point. One strange thing is that they don’t have any immediate punishment for fouling. After the game they go back and review everything that went on in the back field and if you are caught fouling people then you get fined and in extreme situations suspended. I think it’s weird that the fouling doesn’t affect the outcome of the game. I guess because it is such a fast pace game that it’s hard to keep track of everything going on.
I did okay playing. Sometimes my kicks were better than others. The punching really hurts though! The form that you use is kind of like underhand serving in volleyball. Except the ball hurts really badly!

That’s about all that went on today. Cheers!

April 9, Friday

The weather here has turned so blah! It has been raining quite often. And it has gotten cold. I thought Australia was never supposed to be cold!?!

This morning I made cinnamon toast for Marc for breakfast. Marc and I studied for awhile. I have a paper due Monday and he has a big test coming up next week.

I also got to Skype with Momma. If he didn’t think it before then I’m sure Marc now thinks I’m crazy after seeing me talk with Momma. We kept being so stupy! J

I can’t think of what we did Friday night. We were supposed to go watch basketball with Fraser but once Marc wanted to keep studying.

Marc invented a new game. It’s a mix between monopoly, charades, movie trivia, and battle of the sexes. Malcolm, Tarni, Marc and I all played tonight. It was pretty fun!

I think that was all for our exciting Friday!

April 10, Saturday

This morning I made cinnamon toast for Tarni. She was jealous that she’d missed out the other day.
Then Marc, Tarni and I got ready to go to the BMX and Motocross rally. J

It was raining outside so we were pretty worried that it would be cancelled but thankfully it wasn’t. Yay. I had never been to a BMX or motocross show so I was excited. It was pretty cool...the show didn’t start for awhile after we got there but in the time being we got to watch them warm up.
The most fun part of the rally was people watching! Talk about bogan-ville!!! It was hilarious.
I really enjoyed it going; it was a cool new experience.

I’m SO excited, next time I come to Launy Marc and I are going to a Monster Truck Rally. Neither one of us has ever been so we thought it’d be a fun adventure. To make it even better, we decided to go dressed as bogans to fit in with everyone there!! We’re both so excited. I think we’ll have more fun dressing up than anything else. Marc has this ridiculous idea that he wants to dye his hair blue. I told him that this would be the only day he is allowed to do that.

Marc, Malcolm and I had Tarni take us up to one of the bars around 3 to watch a footy game. I don’t remember which teams we watched play but they were okay. It was nice to be able to watch and learn about the sport considering we’re going to a game in a couple weeks. Our friend Fraser came up and joined us for awhile. When the guys told me we’d go up to the pub to watch the footy, I imagined the bar would be packed full of rowdy drunks cheering on their team. However we were the only people up there to watch the game. There was another party who were there for a little while but they sat outside. Malcolm said that most people have television so they just watch it from home. I was a little disappointed; I love people watching in situations like that.
Once the game was over we had about 3 hours to kill before the next one started so we decided to walk home. The rain was only a sprinkle at that point so it was okay. It was still pretty cold though. Marc insisted on me taking his jacket and, even though I said I didn’t need it, I was very grateful.
About halfway home, we saw Tarni and Abdel driving by, headed to meet us at the pub. We told them our plan so then we just got a lift back home with them.

We went up to Lloyd’s to watch the second game there. There were only two stools and no table available so it was kind of awkward because we just there in the middle of the bar watching the game. Oh well. One of the teams playing, whose name starts with an E, was red and black so I instantly picked them to be my team. This game was much more exciting than the earlier one. The teams played dirtier so it was more fun to watch. The team I picked happens to be Marc’s favourite team...I knew I picked a good one! And they ended up winning! YAY!

I believe that’s about all that happened that night. Once we got back we all just went to bed.

April 11, Sunday

Paper writing day! So, in other words, it was a totally lame day. I don’t own the book for Public Relations because its $70 and I didn’t want to spend that much money for a book in the class that doesn’t even count. That made writing the paper a little bit difficult. The paper isn’t dues until 5 on Monday so I’m going to go up to the uni tomorrow when I get back and use the copy of the book in the library.
Marc was able to get a lot of his studying done. He has a huge anatomy and physiology test on Tuesday.

Marc and I worked out later that day. We did some abs and push-ups. It wasn’t a long work out but it was still good.

That night all the roommates went to blockbuster to rent Paranormal Activity. The movie was pretty good...it would’ve been much scarier if we hadn’t talked throughout it!

April 12, Monday

My bus today left at 1. So after waking up, packing and stopping by macca’s, Tarni and Marc dropped me off at the transit centre.

While waiting in line for my ticket I saw my friend from class, Angelique. She had been up in Burnie visiting her boyfriend and was going to be on the same bus as me back to Hobart. It was so crazy that we ran into each other! We sat near each other...we were each able to have our own seats though. She had a magazine that she let me borrow which was good because Stevie Wonder (my ipod) died halfway through the trip.

Once we got back to Hobart I took the bus home. It was so perfect; the bus that I got on took me all the way to Nelson Rd. What a wonderful surprise!!

When I got home I Skyped with Lauren. J It sounds like she’s having a pretty stressful week in school...but she’s almost done!!! Hooray!

Stacey and I then went to the grocery store. I had to buy heaps of groceries since all of mine had gone bad when our refrigerator turned off.

I made tacos tonight for supper. They were so yum!

Then it was time for bed!