Hello Everyone!
Not much has been going on around here. Just school, hanging out in the sun and spending time with my friends. This past weekend was really relaxing. We went out a few nights and had movies nights--> lots of fun. I had a ton of homework to catch up on so I also did that. School is getting pretty intense with assignments and tests so I've been trying to get on the ball with all that. Been thinking about you all a lot. School is almost over for the U.S. so you guys will be on summer break soon and I'll still be in school (boo!). I'm getting very excited for my mom and sister to come visit--> been planning a lot of cool things for us all! It was my cousin Leah's birthday the other day so I surprised her by calling and talking to her. She was super excited and so was I to hear her voice! She's getting so old! Her communion is coming up in a few weeks and I'm sad I have to miss it. I'll just have to make up for that on the cruise (spend every second with her!) haha. My sister Jenny's birthday was the other day as well! Surprised her with a gift and cute card! She loved it (yyaahhh!!). Miss her too and cannot wait to have her experience Australia with me!
Ok love you all for now. I'll keep you updated on cool things in the future!
-Manda
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
SB'09 Pics
Spring Break Pics:
#1- View of the mountains after our day of white water rafting. So pretty. I know this picture doesn't look like the rapids were big, but they were HUGE! This is the calmer part of the water at the end of our day.
#2-Me swinging on a rope into the swimming hole.
#3-The boat we took out onto the Great Barrier Reef for our scuba diving day. So much fun and soo nice!
#4-Scarface. The humongous crocodile we saw on our crocodile boat tour! He's huge!
#5-The Rum Runner sailboat we took out onto the Great Barrier Reef for our snorkel tour.
#6- Where the rainforest meets the reef. So beautiful.
#7-Hilarious sign by the beach we stayed at in Cape Tribulation. We DID NOT swim here.
#8-The killer coconuts that kill more people in Cape Tribulation than anything else. Haha. We avoided these at all cost.
#9-The spiders the size of dinner plates that were all over our hostel in Cape Tribulation. The locals said they were "small" this season. I think they are crazy big!
#10-Another funny sign we found in Cairns warning us to avoid the coast of the beaches.
#11-Daintree River; freshwater crocodiles live in here as well as bullsharks! Dangerous River!!
#12-Crazy bark of a tree we found on our rainforest walk! The rainforest was soo green and soo pretty!
#13-The HUMONGOUS box I received from my awesome family for Easter!! It was like a junkfood treasure chest! Love you guys! Thanks for all of my favorite foods that I'm craving and can't get down here! Don't worry I will eat every single thing in there! <3
Enjoy.
Spring Break '09
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!
Just got back from the best spring break ever! I went up to Northern Queensland to a town called Cairns (pronounced- cans). This town is in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef! My friend Mel and I flew up there on Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. I'll go through the trip day by day for you all (don't want to miss ANY of the details):
Tuesday-
Flew into Cairns. Arrived at our hostel called Cairns Beach House (We only paid 12 dollars a night, so we were kinda scared as to how this hostel was going to look, smell, be in general but it actually turned out great! We loved this place and met so many awesome people here!) It was raining on and off this whole day so we headed into town and went shopping and become accustomed to the town! It is a really touristy town but we had fun none the less. We called it an early night because we had been up for literally 24 hours prior (We didn't sleep the night before our flight because we were both scared we would sleep through our alarms and miss the plane!)
Wednesday-
Woke up super early to catch our bus up to Cape Tribulation. Cape Trib is a town up in the Daintree Rainforest. The daintree rainforest is the oldest known rainforest in the world, it is also the only rainforest in the world that runs right into a reef in the ocean. (As the locals call it "Where the rainforest meets the reef".) It's about an 1.5 hr trip up there so on the way up we stopped and did some fun things. First stop was a crocodile river tour. We stopped on the Daintree River and went on a boat cruise in search of crocodiles. We SAW huge crocodiles. One was named SCARFACE. The crazy part about this is that it's a freshwater river and because the river runs right into the ocean; the crocodiles can swim up the river and live here. Soo creepy. Ahh they were crazy. Later that day we got to our hostel in Cape Trib called PK's Jungle Resort. It was so cute. We stayed in cabins in the rainforest. They have spiders here the size of dinner plates. I will post one later (the funny thing is the locals told us that the spiders actually were smaller than usual this season; haha wait until you see the size of these suckers.) Jenny (my sister) would have been peeing her pants at these creatures. We walked to this swimming hole later in the day. There was a rope tied to a tree and we could swing into the water- so much fun! There were huge fish in the water too that nibbled at your toes...hilarious! Once again Jenny would have peed her pants! LOL. That night we got to know our roommate Mario who is from England. He was soooooo funny. One of the funniest people I've met up to date on this trip. He literally had me crying at points I was laughing so hard, we had a good night with him!
Thursday-
Woke up extra early again today for our Reef Tour. We were taken to this Sailboat called the Rum Runner where we spent the day out of the Great Barrier Reef!! It was the most beautiful day and the clarity of the water was insane. We snorkeled in two areas of the outer reef and so some amazing things. Stingrays, sharks, sea turtles, sea stars, nemos, colorful coral, soo many fishies, and jellyfish. One man actually got stung by a jellyfish in the face so the rest of the day Mel and I were very cautious! haha. Some interesting facts about the great barrier reef: It was declared a national park in the 1980's, oldest known reef to mankind, some of the coral has been growing for over 300 years, they have certain fish that are known as "cleaners" which their main job is to go in the mouths/gills of bigger fish and clean it all out (as if they were going to the dentist)--> we got to see this in action while snorkeling! We had a great day in the water and on the way home we were able to relax and sunbathe on the sundeck of the sailboat! Such a wonderful time!
Friday-
Layed out on the beach all morning. You aren't allowed to swim in a lot of the beaches in Cairns because of the massive amounts of jellyfish and crocodiles that live so close to the shore. They have signs everywhere advising people to avoid the water for these such dangers. We decided to just hangout on the beach. Haha. Ohh another fun fact: Coconuts kill more people in Cairns than anything else. It's the #1 killer to Cairns locals. This is because the size of the coconuts are so big that when they fall out of the trees, the can crack skulls! How crazy is that! Mel and I were constantly covering our heads when we walked through the rainforests haha! Later that day we took our bus back down the Cairns. Along the way we stopped at Mt. Alexandria Lookout and were able to see the whole town of Cape Tribulation from up above-absolutely beautiful! We also stopped at Port Douglas which is this really rich, famous people kinda place. A lot of acclaimed famous and movie star people have beach houses here! While we didn't see any of these people (gosh darnit) we did see pictures of Bill Clinton and his family at their beach house. They come down here once or twice a year locals said, how cool! Our last stop was at Mosman Gorge where we were able to go for a swim in the gorget and jump off cliffs into the water (haha I did this!!) When we finally returnd to Cairns later that evening, Mel and I decided to see the nightlife in Cairns and went out. Had a great time on a pub crawl and met so many people!
Saturday-
Actually were able to sleep in today. When we finally woke up we went to town to walk around and grab lunch. That afternoon we went White Water Rafting! Our tour guide from Cape Tribulation actually hooked us up with a great deal and was our rafting guide for the day as well! It was a lot of fun because we all already knew eachother so we had some laughs together! Rafting was CRAZY...I cannot tell you how many times Mel and I came so close to falling out of our raft (of course we were the two girls put in the front of the raft). We had a good time! That evening Mel and I were craving mexican food (yes, I like mexican food now). We found this cute little mexican restaurant in town! It was called Montezumas and we had yummy sangria and burritos....ohhh soo good! They have this thing in Cairns called "night markets" where all these sellers get together and have their shops open at nighttime from 6-11pm. We had a good time walking around and shopping.
Sunday-
We woke early once again for our scuba diving tour! We went on this GINORMOUS boat that took us out on the Great Barrier Reef again! We were able to scuba dive twice this day and went down to about 45ft. We got to hold sea cucumbers as well as kiss a sea turtle! I had an underwater camera for this dive so I hope all those pictures turn out!! We had a great day and met some pretty awesome people. This one girl Alicia was from the states and had been living in New Zealand for the past 6 months. This was her last stop before heading back home. We really got to know her and had tons of fun together! Later that night we met up with Jason who was also in Cairns for Spring Break. The three of us got food and some drinks together--> great night! We were all sad to head home from such a great week but all missed Brisbane so much! Brisbane has become a home away from homes for all of us and it's nice to have somewhere to settle down into. It was so fun reuniting with everyone and seeing everyone's face again. We all stayed up super late telling stories and catching up with one another! I missed my friends and it's so awesome that I feel so close with them that we were all giving eachother hugs and such because eventhough it was only a week, we are all so used to being together! I love that feeling of being a part of something so much bigger than you realize until it's gone for awhile. Love my brizzie friends!
Long Week-
After such an awesome week in Cairns I had to come back to reality with school. I gave a presentation on Monday about Unoffical at U of I, which was hilarious. All of the aussies were so interested in learning about what we do at Unofficial. They all were like "Oh I want to experience an Unofficial" so I invited them all out next year haha! I also had a 2000 word essay due and a midterm! Long week but soo glad it's over with now! The weekend is here again!
ANZAC DAY-
Today is Anzac day, which is like the Australian fourth of july day. Anzac stands for the Australian soldier/warrior who fought for the country during times of war. There are festivals/parades and such today. We are heading to the beach for some festivities! It's SUPER hot today (30 degrees celsius) which is like 90 back home! We are gonna have a fun day.
Well I've written my face off. Hope you are all doing good! Miss you and love you!
-Manda
Just got back from the best spring break ever! I went up to Northern Queensland to a town called Cairns (pronounced- cans). This town is in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef! My friend Mel and I flew up there on Tuesday and stayed until Sunday. I'll go through the trip day by day for you all (don't want to miss ANY of the details):
Tuesday-
Flew into Cairns. Arrived at our hostel called Cairns Beach House (We only paid 12 dollars a night, so we were kinda scared as to how this hostel was going to look, smell, be in general but it actually turned out great! We loved this place and met so many awesome people here!) It was raining on and off this whole day so we headed into town and went shopping and become accustomed to the town! It is a really touristy town but we had fun none the less. We called it an early night because we had been up for literally 24 hours prior (We didn't sleep the night before our flight because we were both scared we would sleep through our alarms and miss the plane!)
Wednesday-
Woke up super early to catch our bus up to Cape Tribulation. Cape Trib is a town up in the Daintree Rainforest. The daintree rainforest is the oldest known rainforest in the world, it is also the only rainforest in the world that runs right into a reef in the ocean. (As the locals call it "Where the rainforest meets the reef".) It's about an 1.5 hr trip up there so on the way up we stopped and did some fun things. First stop was a crocodile river tour. We stopped on the Daintree River and went on a boat cruise in search of crocodiles. We SAW huge crocodiles. One was named SCARFACE. The crazy part about this is that it's a freshwater river and because the river runs right into the ocean; the crocodiles can swim up the river and live here. Soo creepy. Ahh they were crazy. Later that day we got to our hostel in Cape Trib called PK's Jungle Resort. It was so cute. We stayed in cabins in the rainforest. They have spiders here the size of dinner plates. I will post one later (the funny thing is the locals told us that the spiders actually were smaller than usual this season; haha wait until you see the size of these suckers.) Jenny (my sister) would have been peeing her pants at these creatures. We walked to this swimming hole later in the day. There was a rope tied to a tree and we could swing into the water- so much fun! There were huge fish in the water too that nibbled at your toes...hilarious! Once again Jenny would have peed her pants! LOL. That night we got to know our roommate Mario who is from England. He was soooooo funny. One of the funniest people I've met up to date on this trip. He literally had me crying at points I was laughing so hard, we had a good night with him!
Thursday-
Woke up extra early again today for our Reef Tour. We were taken to this Sailboat called the Rum Runner where we spent the day out of the Great Barrier Reef!! It was the most beautiful day and the clarity of the water was insane. We snorkeled in two areas of the outer reef and so some amazing things. Stingrays, sharks, sea turtles, sea stars, nemos, colorful coral, soo many fishies, and jellyfish. One man actually got stung by a jellyfish in the face so the rest of the day Mel and I were very cautious! haha. Some interesting facts about the great barrier reef: It was declared a national park in the 1980's, oldest known reef to mankind, some of the coral has been growing for over 300 years, they have certain fish that are known as "cleaners" which their main job is to go in the mouths/gills of bigger fish and clean it all out (as if they were going to the dentist)--> we got to see this in action while snorkeling! We had a great day in the water and on the way home we were able to relax and sunbathe on the sundeck of the sailboat! Such a wonderful time!
Friday-
Layed out on the beach all morning. You aren't allowed to swim in a lot of the beaches in Cairns because of the massive amounts of jellyfish and crocodiles that live so close to the shore. They have signs everywhere advising people to avoid the water for these such dangers. We decided to just hangout on the beach. Haha. Ohh another fun fact: Coconuts kill more people in Cairns than anything else. It's the #1 killer to Cairns locals. This is because the size of the coconuts are so big that when they fall out of the trees, the can crack skulls! How crazy is that! Mel and I were constantly covering our heads when we walked through the rainforests haha! Later that day we took our bus back down the Cairns. Along the way we stopped at Mt. Alexandria Lookout and were able to see the whole town of Cape Tribulation from up above-absolutely beautiful! We also stopped at Port Douglas which is this really rich, famous people kinda place. A lot of acclaimed famous and movie star people have beach houses here! While we didn't see any of these people (gosh darnit) we did see pictures of Bill Clinton and his family at their beach house. They come down here once or twice a year locals said, how cool! Our last stop was at Mosman Gorge where we were able to go for a swim in the gorget and jump off cliffs into the water (haha I did this!!) When we finally returnd to Cairns later that evening, Mel and I decided to see the nightlife in Cairns and went out. Had a great time on a pub crawl and met so many people!
Saturday-
Actually were able to sleep in today. When we finally woke up we went to town to walk around and grab lunch. That afternoon we went White Water Rafting! Our tour guide from Cape Tribulation actually hooked us up with a great deal and was our rafting guide for the day as well! It was a lot of fun because we all already knew eachother so we had some laughs together! Rafting was CRAZY...I cannot tell you how many times Mel and I came so close to falling out of our raft (of course we were the two girls put in the front of the raft). We had a good time! That evening Mel and I were craving mexican food (yes, I like mexican food now). We found this cute little mexican restaurant in town! It was called Montezumas and we had yummy sangria and burritos....ohhh soo good! They have this thing in Cairns called "night markets" where all these sellers get together and have their shops open at nighttime from 6-11pm. We had a good time walking around and shopping.
Sunday-
We woke early once again for our scuba diving tour! We went on this GINORMOUS boat that took us out on the Great Barrier Reef again! We were able to scuba dive twice this day and went down to about 45ft. We got to hold sea cucumbers as well as kiss a sea turtle! I had an underwater camera for this dive so I hope all those pictures turn out!! We had a great day and met some pretty awesome people. This one girl Alicia was from the states and had been living in New Zealand for the past 6 months. This was her last stop before heading back home. We really got to know her and had tons of fun together! Later that night we met up with Jason who was also in Cairns for Spring Break. The three of us got food and some drinks together--> great night! We were all sad to head home from such a great week but all missed Brisbane so much! Brisbane has become a home away from homes for all of us and it's nice to have somewhere to settle down into. It was so fun reuniting with everyone and seeing everyone's face again. We all stayed up super late telling stories and catching up with one another! I missed my friends and it's so awesome that I feel so close with them that we were all giving eachother hugs and such because eventhough it was only a week, we are all so used to being together! I love that feeling of being a part of something so much bigger than you realize until it's gone for awhile. Love my brizzie friends!
Long Week-
After such an awesome week in Cairns I had to come back to reality with school. I gave a presentation on Monday about Unoffical at U of I, which was hilarious. All of the aussies were so interested in learning about what we do at Unofficial. They all were like "Oh I want to experience an Unofficial" so I invited them all out next year haha! I also had a 2000 word essay due and a midterm! Long week but soo glad it's over with now! The weekend is here again!
ANZAC DAY-
Today is Anzac day, which is like the Australian fourth of july day. Anzac stands for the Australian soldier/warrior who fought for the country during times of war. There are festivals/parades and such today. We are heading to the beach for some festivities! It's SUPER hot today (30 degrees celsius) which is like 90 back home! We are gonna have a fun day.
Well I've written my face off. Hope you are all doing good! Miss you and love you!
-Manda
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Weekend
Hey Ya'll!
Sorry about not writing in awhile, been kinda behind on the whole computer thingy. I've just been having so much fun! hehe.
First things first-->
Thank you thank you thank you to Aunt Donna for the awesome easter mail! I looooooooooved the card (always so cute and creative) and the candy was DELICIOUS! Ate it all up!
Thank you to Mrs. Keating for the adorable kangaroo washcloth! Soo cute! haha. I laughed as soon as I saw it because that is SO something you would find and send to me! Love you.
Thank you to my Momma for the sheets (ahh love them) and the new memory card. It will definitely be getting used on Spring Break!
Thank you to K. Gawne (she's the best) for the awesome Easter letter! Love you girlie and thank you for always making me smile.
Now. On to what I've been up to.
Stayed in Brizzy this weekend because I leave for Spring Break in Cairns on Tuesday. I've been honestly living at my friends apartment because we all spend every second together and I LOVE it! The girls (Melissa, Kim, Theresa and I) have been running almost everyday now. Mel is training for the Disney Marathon and I'm really considering trying to run the Chicago Marathon in October. We are up to 7 miles now and still going strong. I love it. There is this really pretty path along the river that we run on. It's very relaxing and scenic so I really enjoy it.
The weather has been rather crappy lately (raining a lot) so we decided to go to a movie on Friday. We saw the new ZAC EFRON (he's from HSM for those of you who don't know and he's GORGEOUS) called 17 Again. It was pretty good, I liked HSM better though! The movie theater we saw it in though was HUGE and the seats were so comfy, they reclined and the screen was honestly from one wall to the other. When Zac came up on stage, it was like he was right next to me, I LOVED it. haha.
On Saturday, the weater still wasn't great so we decided to do a brewery tour of the XXXX factory. It's the famous beer here in Brisbane. We had SUCH a great time on this tour. Learned a lot about how to make and store beer and then got to taste all these different kinds. It was fun and just something different for us to do.
Sunday was EASTER! We wanted to do something fun today so we went to the city and just walked around for awhile. Alot of music was being played and there were shows (like Magic and Myme (sp?)) going on so we watched those. We then went to see another movie called Pink Panther 2. HILARIOUS. I would recommend seeing it to anyone. Steve Martin was awesome in it. We then came home and had a really good meal and some chocolates! Yummy! Easter in Brisbane didn't compare at all to that in the States but we made the best of it. I missed you all and thought about you all the whole day.
Oh a few new interesting facts for you all:
Alcopops--> They have these things here called alcopops which are literally served in a can and it's already a mixed alcohol beverage ready to drink. It's crazy. I haven't tried one yet but they are super popular down here. I've seen kids with them and they said they taste good, I dono. (Example--> Rum and Coke already mixed and in can ready to drink for you.)
Classes-->I don't know if I've told you this already but something different that UQ does here compared to U of I is that instead of having a 50 minute class two or three times a week like I'm used to back in the states, I just have a 2 hour class once a week. It's pretty nice because then you are done with that class for the rest of the week and don't have to worry about it. I might mention it to U of I. haha.
Driving--> I thought my mom was a crazy driver. Aussies are PSYCHOS! They drive SO fast down here it' crazy! And I'm still not quite used to them driving on the opposite side of the road! I'm still getting used to having to look right then left as I cross the street. I want to try driving just so I can say I did it. haha.
No Shoes--> Nobody wears shoes down here. Literally people walk around barefoot everywhere and I love it. I go to class somedays without shoes on. Shoes are not required anywhere. Just a fun fact that I really enjoy while being here in Australia.
Schoolies-->This event called "schoolies" is like a HUGE graduation party that lasts 3 weeks for high school graduates. After the high school grads get there "leaving certificate" what we would call a diploma, the Gold Coast (the party hangout) hosts this 3 week party for the grads. It's just like beach parties, BBQs, concerts and shows for 3 weeks. How cool is that?? Really need to recommend that to high schools in the states. haha.
Wicked Campers-->They have these cars or vans called wicked campers down here. It's like a van you travel in/live in as you backpack through the country. They are these crazy colored/artistic vans that people rent to travel in. I love seeing them and I take a picture with any I can find. They are cool and I'm contemplating buying one (haha yah right but I wish).
I'm super excited to leave for Cairns in a few days. I feel like I haven't been traveling in a while and definitely could use something different. I probably won't be on my computer for a few days so until I get back, Love you all!
Cannot wait to share all of my Spring Break experiences with you all!
Love you!!
STAY BEAUTIFUL.
-Manda
Sorry about not writing in awhile, been kinda behind on the whole computer thingy. I've just been having so much fun! hehe.
First things first-->
Thank you thank you thank you to Aunt Donna for the awesome easter mail! I looooooooooved the card (always so cute and creative) and the candy was DELICIOUS! Ate it all up!
Thank you to Mrs. Keating for the adorable kangaroo washcloth! Soo cute! haha. I laughed as soon as I saw it because that is SO something you would find and send to me! Love you.
Thank you to my Momma for the sheets (ahh love them) and the new memory card. It will definitely be getting used on Spring Break!
Thank you to K. Gawne (she's the best) for the awesome Easter letter! Love you girlie and thank you for always making me smile.
Now. On to what I've been up to.
Stayed in Brizzy this weekend because I leave for Spring Break in Cairns on Tuesday. I've been honestly living at my friends apartment because we all spend every second together and I LOVE it! The girls (Melissa, Kim, Theresa and I) have been running almost everyday now. Mel is training for the Disney Marathon and I'm really considering trying to run the Chicago Marathon in October. We are up to 7 miles now and still going strong. I love it. There is this really pretty path along the river that we run on. It's very relaxing and scenic so I really enjoy it.
The weather has been rather crappy lately (raining a lot) so we decided to go to a movie on Friday. We saw the new ZAC EFRON (he's from HSM for those of you who don't know and he's GORGEOUS) called 17 Again. It was pretty good, I liked HSM better though! The movie theater we saw it in though was HUGE and the seats were so comfy, they reclined and the screen was honestly from one wall to the other. When Zac came up on stage, it was like he was right next to me, I LOVED it. haha.
On Saturday, the weater still wasn't great so we decided to do a brewery tour of the XXXX factory. It's the famous beer here in Brisbane. We had SUCH a great time on this tour. Learned a lot about how to make and store beer and then got to taste all these different kinds. It was fun and just something different for us to do.
Sunday was EASTER! We wanted to do something fun today so we went to the city and just walked around for awhile. Alot of music was being played and there were shows (like Magic and Myme (sp?)) going on so we watched those. We then went to see another movie called Pink Panther 2. HILARIOUS. I would recommend seeing it to anyone. Steve Martin was awesome in it. We then came home and had a really good meal and some chocolates! Yummy! Easter in Brisbane didn't compare at all to that in the States but we made the best of it. I missed you all and thought about you all the whole day.
Oh a few new interesting facts for you all:
Alcopops--> They have these things here called alcopops which are literally served in a can and it's already a mixed alcohol beverage ready to drink. It's crazy. I haven't tried one yet but they are super popular down here. I've seen kids with them and they said they taste good, I dono. (Example--> Rum and Coke already mixed and in can ready to drink for you.)
Classes-->I don't know if I've told you this already but something different that UQ does here compared to U of I is that instead of having a 50 minute class two or three times a week like I'm used to back in the states, I just have a 2 hour class once a week. It's pretty nice because then you are done with that class for the rest of the week and don't have to worry about it. I might mention it to U of I. haha.
Driving--> I thought my mom was a crazy driver. Aussies are PSYCHOS! They drive SO fast down here it' crazy! And I'm still not quite used to them driving on the opposite side of the road! I'm still getting used to having to look right then left as I cross the street. I want to try driving just so I can say I did it. haha.
No Shoes--> Nobody wears shoes down here. Literally people walk around barefoot everywhere and I love it. I go to class somedays without shoes on. Shoes are not required anywhere. Just a fun fact that I really enjoy while being here in Australia.
Schoolies-->This event called "schoolies" is like a HUGE graduation party that lasts 3 weeks for high school graduates. After the high school grads get there "leaving certificate" what we would call a diploma, the Gold Coast (the party hangout) hosts this 3 week party for the grads. It's just like beach parties, BBQs, concerts and shows for 3 weeks. How cool is that?? Really need to recommend that to high schools in the states. haha.
Wicked Campers-->They have these cars or vans called wicked campers down here. It's like a van you travel in/live in as you backpack through the country. They are these crazy colored/artistic vans that people rent to travel in. I love seeing them and I take a picture with any I can find. They are cool and I'm contemplating buying one (haha yah right but I wish).
I'm super excited to leave for Cairns in a few days. I feel like I haven't been traveling in a while and definitely could use something different. I probably won't be on my computer for a few days so until I get back, Love you all!
Cannot wait to share all of my Spring Break experiences with you all!
Love you!!
STAY BEAUTIFUL.
-Manda
Monday, April 6, 2009
KJ <3
April 6, 2009
One year since my friend Kevin died. I cannot believe it's already been a year. I miss him a lot. He always talked about taking a year off from school and going around the world to travel; I feel like I'm not only living my dream right now, but his as well. It's crazy how much one person can impact your life and Kevin definitely did that. He taught me to be free, live life and always have a smile on my face. I've been trying to do all of that while I'm here. :) Please keep him in your thoughts, hearts and prayers today. He meant a lot to not only me, but every person who's life he was apart of.
Only The Good Die Young, May Angels Lead You In. Love you Kev! <3<3<3
On a lighter note, I've been thinking a lot today. When something as tragic as losing a friend becomes a part of your life, it makes you think about how lucky your life truly is. I know I always complain that I'm not a lucky person and luck is never in my favor. Well, truly when I look at my life, I couldn't ask for a better family, group of friends or history. In many ways I have been lucky and really do appreciate each and every person who has come into and impacted my life. Here's a song to represent how I'm feeling today and how much I really do love each and everyone of you.
Blessed. -Martina McBride
"I have been blessed
And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed..."
Love you all.
Manda
One year since my friend Kevin died. I cannot believe it's already been a year. I miss him a lot. He always talked about taking a year off from school and going around the world to travel; I feel like I'm not only living my dream right now, but his as well. It's crazy how much one person can impact your life and Kevin definitely did that. He taught me to be free, live life and always have a smile on my face. I've been trying to do all of that while I'm here. :) Please keep him in your thoughts, hearts and prayers today. He meant a lot to not only me, but every person who's life he was apart of.
Only The Good Die Young, May Angels Lead You In. Love you Kev! <3<3<3
On a lighter note, I've been thinking a lot today. When something as tragic as losing a friend becomes a part of your life, it makes you think about how lucky your life truly is. I know I always complain that I'm not a lucky person and luck is never in my favor. Well, truly when I look at my life, I couldn't ask for a better family, group of friends or history. In many ways I have been lucky and really do appreciate each and every person who has come into and impacted my life. Here's a song to represent how I'm feeling today and how much I really do love each and everyone of you.
Blessed. -Martina McBride
"I have been blessed
And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed..."
Love you all.
Manda
Saturday, April 4, 2009
A Brizzie Weekend
Hey Everyone.
Nothing much new around here. I stayed in Brisbane again this weekend. Needed to catch up on homework and my Zzzz's. It's been really crappy weather out lately. Thursday it honestly down poured the entire day! It was so bad in some parts of Australia that they had flood warnings, cars were floating down the street. Haha. I wish I could see that, it sounds hilarious, but in all seriousness it was honestly like a monsoon. We had to walk to class and I could have won a wet tshirt contest; I was SOAKED even with my umbrella; the rain was honestly blowing horizontally. Then in class they have these buildings with their AC cranked up to like negative degrees because it's always so boiling, so I literally shivered through an hour discussion class. Haha. great fun. Friday wasn't too bad, the sun finally came out so Melissa and I went to the city and the mall. Had some fun there. :) Later that night we decided to go out and went back to the city with some friends. We are at a club and decide to leave and we look outside and honest to god, monsoon weather was back, we were stranded. Finally we decide ok let's just leave, we are gonna get wet no matter what. Well AS SOON and I mean AS SOON as we walk outside this cab comes driving down the street and literally drenches Mel and I from head to toe. It honestly could have been a scene from a movie, the water splashed so high over my head, it was insane. We both screamed and then started laughing and were like ok well now it doesn't matter if we get wet anymore so we played in the rain as we walked all the way home. Saturday was a very lazy day. We stayed inside most of the day and worked on homework. You need days like that sometimes. Today's Palm Sunday so Mel and I are going to go to the city and go to church. We want to try and get as much homework as we can done before Spring Break so I'm going to be working my butt off this week! Ahh, tons to do!! Well I love you all and think about you all everyday! Keep reading...spring break in 9 days...........yah yah!!
-Manda
Nothing much new around here. I stayed in Brisbane again this weekend. Needed to catch up on homework and my Zzzz's. It's been really crappy weather out lately. Thursday it honestly down poured the entire day! It was so bad in some parts of Australia that they had flood warnings, cars were floating down the street. Haha. I wish I could see that, it sounds hilarious, but in all seriousness it was honestly like a monsoon. We had to walk to class and I could have won a wet tshirt contest; I was SOAKED even with my umbrella; the rain was honestly blowing horizontally. Then in class they have these buildings with their AC cranked up to like negative degrees because it's always so boiling, so I literally shivered through an hour discussion class. Haha. great fun. Friday wasn't too bad, the sun finally came out so Melissa and I went to the city and the mall. Had some fun there. :) Later that night we decided to go out and went back to the city with some friends. We are at a club and decide to leave and we look outside and honest to god, monsoon weather was back, we were stranded. Finally we decide ok let's just leave, we are gonna get wet no matter what. Well AS SOON and I mean AS SOON as we walk outside this cab comes driving down the street and literally drenches Mel and I from head to toe. It honestly could have been a scene from a movie, the water splashed so high over my head, it was insane. We both screamed and then started laughing and were like ok well now it doesn't matter if we get wet anymore so we played in the rain as we walked all the way home. Saturday was a very lazy day. We stayed inside most of the day and worked on homework. You need days like that sometimes. Today's Palm Sunday so Mel and I are going to go to the city and go to church. We want to try and get as much homework as we can done before Spring Break so I'm going to be working my butt off this week! Ahh, tons to do!! Well I love you all and think about you all everyday! Keep reading...spring break in 9 days...........yah yah!!
-Manda
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