Storm Moves

SO COOL TO WATCH THE STORM PROGRESSION OVER THE OCEAN!....these pics just give a simply representation.

ZAP ZAP!

I recently just got back from a wonderful beach trip with my family and was able to spend a lot of time doing nothing! poolside and by the ocean! the weather was perfect the whole week and there was one storm the last night that was really entertaining to watch from our 18th floor balcony. I think it is interesting that when people are around the environment where everyone is in a bathing suit most of which are rather skimpy on material, the topic of discussion is about cosmetic things, at least in my experience. I only spell this out because i was talking with my aunt and we started talking about body hair and how annoying it is to have to shave it all the time and that lead to the topic of Laser Hair Removal. i had always heard advertisements for that on the radio and always thought it interesting. anyways, long story short...my aunt had recently had some done and knew a friend that would be willing to work on me too at a discounted price. I was like that sounds like a wonderful opportunity, especially since i have had some interest in the matter. So, today i went to have my first treatment done and i can only describe it as being snapped by a rubber band many times...not painful but not pleasant either. and it smells like burning hair for a while...because the hair is literally being burned off. turns out that you have to have several treatments to get all the follicles because your hair has different periods of growth...which i didn't know so its always cool to learn something new.

so now i wont have to worry about shaving as much and its a life long thing...quite and interesting investment...i wonder how much time you can actually save throughout your whole life by not having to shave....*pondering* probably not that much because i imagine that extra time would be used for something else.

Pool Side and Surfin Turf

I'm at the beach with mi familia for the last hoorah before i leave for australia. Once i come back the packing process will begin!...which i am not entirely looking forward to. i wish there were no restrictions on trips that were longer than 4months! it would make it so much easier to pack!
anyways, I love the beach and always will. i'm just soaking up the sun for all its worth which is actually good strategy because i can develop a great base tan so i wont get so fried down under.
We are staying on the 18th floor which provides for an amazing view but a huge wait for the elevator. However, i have decided to try and put into practice my little bit of extraverted skills and get to know people that i get stuck with on the elevator....haha they can't run away until the door opens...
speaking of elevators, i find it really funny how strangers will not look each other in the eye when riding. i got stuck with 3 boys all from a different floors on the way down once and all of them stared at the door, buttons or the ceiling. hahaha. i was deff. chuckling inside.
what's so wrong with engaging someone else that you don't know and who is in close proximity.in a conversation..granted that they aren't a creeper...but still it seems so unnatural for me and others to utter the first word....which always ends up being : "where are you from", or complaining about the elevator in some fashion. sometimes its been like we have been trying to play the game about how many human bodies we can fit into a confined space before someone starts freaking out or passing out.....and if you are like "Monk" you just keep thinking to yourself..."Lobby,Lobby, lobby.lobby..." and incessantly pressing the lobby button!
(if you don't get the reference, im sorry)
Anyways, a little rant on elevator riding is always good for the soul...and i still got a whole week to meet many more people in the most awkward way.
In other news, N. Korea better keep there hands to themselves so that they don't bomb the US and disrupt my plans for australia....i will be royally pissed if i cant go because all planes are suspended. Just something else to put into God's hands and pray about!
though, according to the ancient incas (i think) they predicted that the end of the world would happen in 2012....so we'll see.....hahaha

home for a few days...

Just got back from Lake Burton down in Ga. I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather! it was absolutely beautiful...I find it interesting that when you are allowed to enjoy and bask among God's beautiful creation it always entails self-reflection. It is very freeing as if you can leave all your fears and worries buried at the bottom of the lake.
It was also alot of fun! i got to wake board and knee board which is always a special treat for me since those opportunities are few and far between. however, that doesn't mean i love it any less...
i'm home long enough for my sunburns to heal a little and for my sore muscles to get better before i head off to the beach for a week with the family! last escapade before i leave for Australia! scary thought,....i don't think i am ready yet!

my aussie mobile!

I have to admit unfortunately that i feel safer when i have my cell phone....i would even go as far as to say that im very very dependent on it and would probably go through a very stressful period if it was not available for my use. So, with this up coming adventure in another country half way around the world, one in which i will be pursuing on my own, i decided to use some of my birthday money and invest in a pay as you go cell phone for the land down under.
I do not intend on doing much with it besides having it for emergencies and staying in contact with the friends that i do make there, because it costs alot more than it does in the US and maybe it just seems like that because most of my texting is free and i rarely call people.
But anywho, i placed my order and it will be ready for me when i arrive at my orientation on july 13th...and though this may confirm that i am completely dependent upon a technological device, it will greatly decrease the amount of anxiety i will have about being over there alone...atleast for the beginning stages.
on a funnier note, the company that provided me the special plan and phone is called "talk down under"....i just think that is a cute name for a mobile "cell phone" company. they even gave me my number: 0466021368 though i don't advise calling me from the US...im sure those rates are scandalous!

Making Connections

Facebook has allowed for some amazing connections! I have already "met" people that i will be flying to australia with and even a girl i will be going to the same university with. These connections are very helpful for my anxious nerves about meeting people. Now i feel like when i arrive in LA for the long haul flight, i will atleast have some faces that i can recognize and people i can hangout with at the gate.
Anyways, I love making connections and i am now even more excited for Australia now that i have made some of these preliminary connections.

Good Times and Great Friends!

This is Ben Sollee and he is an amazing cello player! I got to see him live at berea coffee and tea which is a very cute coffee shop in Berea, Ky. I had the privilege to listen to his set with my cousin and all his friends who actually became my friends in a very short amount of time. that gave me some confidence for my Australia trip because i am hoping that i will make lots of new friends quickly.

Life is good right now... not too much to report. I'm just slowly starting to mentally prepare for my adventure abroad. I did find out that i am going to be working with the conservation of "mahogany gliders" which are flying squirrels. i was hoping to work with kangaroos but flying squirrels are just as cool. Apparently, after doing some research....they are very much endangered because of the cutting down of the rainforests for development. their habitats are being destroyed. i'm not exactly sure what the conservation efforts entail but i do know that is just one of many animals that are on the endangered list because of the destruction to natural habitats. Should be an interesting trip especially since i will have to camp in the rainforest. should i mention that i have never been camping what so ever...let alone in a rainforest. im kinda nervous about that but im sure i will be with professionals.

Another interesting fact is that "Aussie Rules Football" which seems to be a mixture of football, rugby, and soccer is a huge sport there and i got information to play while im over there. they also said that if i love it that much there are "Aussie rules football" leagues in the united states which i think is kinda funny. i watched some youtube videos of it and it seemed like a really intense game so we'll see if i end up participating. I was thinking that soccer was a big thing there but i have been told that it is not played that much which surprises me because they are of English decent.

What, im twenty?..when did that happen?

So, It's that time of year again when we go through the motion of celebrating birth, and tomorrow that celebration would be for me. Fabulous! unfortunately this year, i don't really feel like putting to much excitement into my own celebration when there are plenty of other things just as deserving for equal or better celebration such as Graduations, the ending of a bad situations and the beginning of better ones. compared to these, turning 20 doesn't seem like such a big deal. Yes, it is true i am officially no longer a teenager, however the connotations that the word teenager provokes i never lived up to so leaving behind that stereotype isn't too hard.
Honestly, i still catch myself at times referring to myself as 18....for some reason it was like once i reached that point, i just kinda mentally stopped and wasn't wanting to grow up anymore. so i really have to think before i answer a question about my age....which is ridiculous.
i feel like the early 20's are a confusing period, even more so than what they said the teens were going to be ...but for me, never really were. In the 20's is when you are either finishing up school, trying to decide on more schooling, getting a job (which might be impossible to find), get married, and start a family......those are life decisions, and compared to high school drama, these are a little more serious!
No pressure, really!.........in comparison to all that, they can also be the most exciting times ever by going through the processes in which those previously described decisions are made.

I don't know, i suppose i am ready to embrace it all...as if i really had a choice! but i do choose to be joyful for whatever comes my way!