I'm moving to the country y'all

Weekend in the country

Will invited some of the Americans out to his farm for the weekend. The first night we stayed in town in Goulburn at this parent's house. We had a home cooked meal and went out to some small pubs. The next day we drove about hour outside of town to their farm. They have a house and more than 1000 acres. Tara and I tagged along while the boys hunted and did some hiking across a lot of their land. It was pretty cold but so beautiful.

23 days left in Oz

Aussies are obbsessed with themed parties. So at the devil and angels party I dressed up as the latter, obviously :)

Kel, me, Tara, Jess, Vanessa

These four girls are by far the best thing that I got out of my time spent in Sydney. I never knew it was possible to get to know and become attached to people in only 5 months. I am excited to get home and see my family but leaving these girls is not going to be easy.

This picture is at Kel's house in Sydney. Her parents invited Tara and I to celebrate Kel's sisters 18th birthday. The house was so beautiful. Tara and I felt like we were at a vacation home because it was on a cliff overlooking the beach. It was also nice to be in a house with a home cooked meal. (made me miss you, momma).

This is my Swedish friend, Magnus and I in downtown Sydney. One of best parts about travelling over break was that we met people from all around the world. Our friend Will from Canada just left Sydney and Jack from England is coming next week.

These last two pictures are at the bar/restaurant right on campus. It's nice to have somewhere nice to sit outside in between classes, because yes, I do go to class!!

Opera House

Vanessa, Charlie, and I went into the city to see a play at the opera house last night. The play was terribly boring, 2 and a half hours long without an intermission, and made absolutely no sense but all in all it was a good night. Darling Harbour is by far my favorite part of Sydney. After the play we sat on the patio of a restaurant right on the water, overlooking the bridge. It is crazy to think that I only have about a month left in Sydney but I am enjoying it while I can.

P.S. I am starting to think that Australians don't like Americans as much as I thought. The play was set in the year 2039 and kept referring to the "fall of the American Empire" in 2015. I think they're trying to jinx us. Also, the slang term for Americans is "seppos"referring to septic tank because we are "full of shit". They say it is all in good fun but septic tank...really???

Pictures from break

Our group in Surfer's Paradise.

Woke up to watch the sunrise and swim at the beach :)

All of us in Cairns.

Koalas and kangaroos

Me, Chris, Jess, and our new English friend Jack went to the biggest koala sanctuary in the world when we were in Brisbane. Kangaroos are super soft, koalas not so much. It was an amazing day.

Who studies on vacation?

ME! (not happily, but i still did it :)

Just to ease your nerves dad....

The Great Barrier Reef

We had two weeks off for semester break so we went to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef, Brisbane, and Surfer's Paradise which is on the Gold Coast. I started off the break with strep throat but after I got some antibiotics in me it was the most amazing time of my life. We stayed in hostels at all 3 places and met people from all over the world. Diving the Reef was by far my favorite day. Never seen anything so beautiful! Here are some pictures we took with an underwater camera.

Aunt Brookey or Auntie Brooke? Decisions decisions.

This will be my first purchase for my favorite nephew. I would go ahead and buy it in baby blue, since I know it's going to be a boy, but I am broke (surprise, surprise). I may not be able to spoil him for awhile, but everyone knows that I will be the world's greatest aunt.

So, Beri called me on Skype to tell me she is pregnant. I then broke down into tears (happy ones) and I think we had one of our most amazing sister moments. I will have to make sure the baby gets along with his siblings like Beri and I, because my sister has given me the best friend I will ever have.

It's true, I have girlfriends.

"We didn't study abroad to find our future hubands. We studied abroad to find our bridesmaids."

This is how we study in Australia...

Dad, look I am writing a paper!

Mom, please fedex me orbit gum and ketchup.

Alex, Lauren, Brittany, Vanessa,Tara and I at toga night.

My new friend Jess from Indianapolis. Love her to death.

Jess and I with our Australian friends.

Me, Australian Will, Tara

Me, Will, Aussie boy who loves Tara, and Tara

So I am even more settled in and loving it here so much. We are almost a month into school so everyone has started to buckle down and do a ton of studying. I wrote my first paper so I am eager to get my grade back because we don't know exactly what the professors expect. Not so much to report for now...just going to school and enjoying meeting so many amazing people.

p.s. the gum here is no good and the ketchup is even worse. have y'all tried vegemite?? aussies put it on their toast and it's the worst tasting thing i think i have ever ate.

And for anyone that hasn't seen the picture below of my parents trip to Mexico in February...Pretty sure they win the award for the cutest couple of the year.

G'day

Here are some pictures from the beach, Mardi Gras, etc. Time is going by much faster now that school started and I have gotten into a routine. We started talking to a travel agency about the trip we are going to make over semester break. We are all leaning towards Cairns so we can snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. Maybe I can swim with more sharks!

p.s. watched cricket with some Australians the other day...most boring sport ever. good thing they thought I was joking when I said "why don't y'all just play baseball?"