Third wheel

This week I've been out spontaneously three times. First on Monday when I went to the Teahouse after the GAP night, then on Tuesday I went to see Knocked Up with some college friends. There was way too much swearing in that movie and a few other questionable things, but generally it had a sweet message. On Thursday I went to Veronica's party that I only found out about on that day. I went with Sean and Fiona...hehe, I'm still trying to figure out how this three-way thing works. We hung around at the Mac Centre and were generally idiots...then they politely tried to suggest that I have dinner at college to give them time by themselves. It's alright. It's better then them having time by themselves when I'm still actually around. There were a few little uncomfortable moments and I do feel like a third wheel sometimes. But Sean is a sweet friend and Fiona is becoming a really good friend too. Fiona wants to set me up with someone so we can double date.....not entirely sure how I feel about that. Otherwise, Veronica's party included karaoke! I got up and sang Evanescence's Bring Me To Life, and Robbo did an awesome rendition of Can't Touch This by MC Hammer.

God is doing so much for the youth at my church at the moment. We've been back for three weeks this term....the first week we had seven kids come, then we had twelve and this week we had sixteen! Praise God! This was the first week we broke off into two groups - older kids and younger kids - and that worked much better. I'm leading the older kids group which is something different for me but I enjoy it cause I get to talk to the kids on a deeper level. As well as having the talk about why Jesus died (essential, heart of the gospel stuff so it was awesome) we also had a time where kids could share what God's been doing for them personally. It's encouraging to hear kids talk about how God is actually real to them. And for the first time, two of our church kids brought their friends along. Lots of things to praise God for.

There are a whole lot of things going on that are all coming together, and getting kind of overwhelming. I'm really tired, I think emotionally more than physically. But a bit of that aswell. The thing that sucks is I live with a whole lot of people who I know only on a superficial level, so it's like I have to pretend everything is good. Lots of things are good, but at the same time lots of things are not.

Cheap and goodlooking...and more serious stuff

It is amazing how people can bond over shared problems. I realised I am going to struggle financially this term with college fees. I was talking to Mum about that, and felt pretty annoyed at Centrelink. Then I went to the common room, and found someone who was having equally annoying financial problems. We talked about all our financial problems and managed to have a decent conversation. Hmmm...it's interesting how that works out. This is a cool part of semester at college, when I'm still meeting all the new people.

Hanging around with friends is awesome fun, and the main reason why uni is so enjoyable. I guess everyone has heard the exciting news of the week, about Sean and Fiona. Aaaww, they're so sweet. They're both such good friends to me, so it's lovely to see them together. I'm really happy for them, but I'm kind of now thinking again that I want a boyfriend, and eventually a husband. I know that my comfort and strength is found in the Lord, and I tell myself that. The fact that I'm twenty-two and have never had a boyfriend, I'm pretty okay with that mostly but sometimes I really wish that I had someone that I could eventually marry. But I am so blessed with friends, both girls and guys, so I am thankful to God for that.

Hehe, today Roxi, Manda, Katie and I accompanied Chris to the Mac centre to buy sunglasses. Chris shared his philosophy on what to look for when purchasing items: Cheap and goodlooking.
Then we wondered if that translated over into other aspects, such as choosing a marriage partner. In the end, Chris got some sunglasses that were both cheap and goodlooking, so the shopping outing was a success.

Simpsons quoting is the best fun ever...but I'm in need of Ventolin

This week has been lots of fun so far. I like the first week back of semester, it's generally pretty laid back and I get to see everyone at the CU stall. It really is awesome seeing everyone so soon after MYC. Hehe, yesterday was particularly fun hanging around the CU stall with everyone, generally making a whole lot of noise. I love that everyone in CU is crazy in their own way. And after class this afternoon, I went back to the caf and had a fun, loud Simpsons quoting session with Chris, Sean and this other guy from my lecture. Oh, I really do love the Simpsons. But quoting it like that with other people is almost more fun than watching it. Yes, you can imagine, we were being *very* noisy. Both today and yesterday I have laughed so hard that I've needed to take Ventolin.

MYC fun and craziness

I'm back at home after an awesome MYC, and I have to pack again to go back to college tomorrow. MYC was so much fun, and really amazing in terms of being challenged and encouraged in my faith aswell. A little segment of conversation I particularly liked seems to encapsulate the main idea of the talks, in addition to the craziness that is CU...

Bella (to Sean): You're a complete Christian even if you stand on ladders cutting basketball hoops with knives.
Sean (to Bella): And you're a complete Christian even if you go around spraying people with deodorant.

Such crazy times. MYC is always great cause I get to spend lots of time with all my friends, and build deeper relationships. But I've also met so many new people that are really cool, and I look forward to seeing everyone again this week. I also look forward to seeing all my 2nd year education friends at 9am this Monday for an EDUC262 lecture, hehehe won't that be fun?!

At other MYCs the talks have been full of different ideas, related to eachother but different. This time, though, it seemed like there was one main idea repeated and elaborated and reinforced over and over again. But that idea is the most important in the whole world. If you were only going to know one thing in your life, it would be that salvation comes only through faith in Christ and not through our own works. I thought it was awesome that we did spend so much time dwelling on this amazing truth and praising God for it. I also really liked Scott's answer to the question I asked during question time about whether having the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are different things.

'We don't get more of the Spirit. The Spirit gets more of us.'

It is a challenge to be daily offering my life to God, and to be offering more and more of my life to him. God is so awesome and completely worthy of all our praise! I've been reinspired to live for God, and I pray that this passion doesn't fade, but also that I'll be faithful and joyful even when I don't feel like it.

I think it's pointform time now, as I reminisce upon all the wonderfully crazy and sweet things that happened over this week.

* The Bens, Bec and Sonny wearing school uniforms on the first day and having prefect elections.
* Amalya and Isabella being there.
* The black nails club - Sean, Shan, Ali, Roxi...for some reason I had trouble convincing others. But then the nailpolish looked like it was going to run out so I stopped trying to recruit new members.
*Playing twister with Roxi and Ali, and also watching other people play once I had changed back into my long skirt.
* Watching Sean attempt to cut the ropes of the basketball net with a kitchen knife. Not so much funny as scary. But a little bit funny.
* Having tea with 6 sugars one morning and watching everyone elses reaction...then watching my reaction. If you noticed carefully, I didn't do that again.
* Shan's death metal Galatians performance. I walked in and had that hilarious look on my face because I knew *exactly* what was going on.
* When we were voting at the AGM, Fiona wanted to put a simpsons quote on her form. So she decided on 'One for Martin, two for Martin'. She didn't want to write it while Heather was standing next to us collecting forms so she waited, but by the time she'd finished the forms had already been taken into the next room, so she ran to the other room and gave it to the people there. So, unfortunately, her 'one for Martin, two for Martin' wasn't as anonymous as she hoped it to be. It was pretty hilarious at the time.
* Thankyou Manda for your commitment to serving us through music. I know there were heaps of issues to organise and work through. Thanks heaps. And also thanks for talking in small group.
* Singing Kumbaya in a circle of girls, and sounding beautiful all together.
* Going to the beach on the last night...having good conversations, witnessing craziness and Roxi telling me my theme song which is 'tale as old as time' from Beauty and the Beast. Other people got theme songs too.
*The emotion and thanksgiving that was in the open mic time. Then it made me all emotional. Hehe, I'm a little emo. Not really.

Just because I'm getting really, really bored

For some reason I was reminded of the underpants game - that one where you take wellknown sayings, titles or quotes and replace one of the words with the word underpants. Oh yes, its a classy game. It's a very fun game to play, anyway. I've realised that the titles of the Harry Potter books are particularly hilarious. I was laughing out loud just thinking about it.

* Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Underpants (or the underpants stone)
* Harry Potter and the Underpants of Secrets (or the chamber of underpants)
* Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Underpants (or the underpants of azkaban)
* Harry Potter and the Underpants of Fire (ooooooooooow - or the goblet of underpants)
* Harry Potter and the Order of the Underpants (or the underpants of the phoenix)
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Underpants (or the underpants prince)
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Underpants (or the underpants hallows)

Or Harry Underpants, or Underpants Potter...

Hehehehehe....ah, I am so bored. See, this is the kind of thing I think about if I'm left at home for too long. Yes, the underpants game is fun.

I love this song

We've started singing this song at church and it's one of my favourites at the moment.

What the Lord has done in me

Let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich
Let the blind say I can see, it's what the Lord has done in me

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again.

Into the river I will wade, there my sins are washed away
From the heavens mercy streams of the saviours love for me

I will rise from waters deep into the saving arms of God
I will sing salvation songs, Jesus Christ has set me free.

Hosanna, hosanna to the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna, hosanna, Jesus died and rose again.

Quality Christian fiction...?

I paid a visit to Koorong today, and as I looked at the fiction part of the store, I was reminded of the blog discussion of only a few posts ago. The one about the lack of quality Christian fiction. I don't know where you can find quality Christian fiction but it doesn't seem to be at Koorong. There are some excellent books at Koorong, about theology and general Christian living, but the fiction books there all seem to be lightweight romance. The kind of books that have a warm and fuzzy message but are generally superficial or have underdeveloped characters or are just badly written. I'm all for romantic subplots in books, but romantic fiction generally doesn't interest me, particularly if it is poorly written. I'm not sure its edifying to be presenting so much romantic literature anyway. Then again, I haven't read any of these books so I can't really say much about them. Maybe some of them are okay. But I'm looking for books that will challenge and interest me, both spiritually and intellectually. There has to be some good Christian fiction out there somewhere, right?

'Go Sean...it's your birthday....'

Hehe, Sean's party was crazy fun. There weren't that many people from CU there, just me, Roxi, Shan and Fiona...and Sean, of course :P Then there was one other person I knew from class, and the rest were Sean's school friends. Yes, they are incredibly crazy, particularly when they are drunk. And for any drunk people who wish to ring me, my mobile number is o4.

Sean had booked the Redoak for before dinner, but when everyone got there, we found it was closed. So we went to P.J. O'Brien's Irish pub, where I had my one alcoholic drink for the evening. Brilliant! By the time we got to the Teppanyaki restaurant, some people were already drunk, but the majority weren't so it was alright. Teppanyaki is fun, and I managed to catch most of the fried rice they threw at me, just a little bit got on my skirt. It was a black skirt so that was okay!

After dinner we went to this bar that apparently was supposed to be really good. When we got there, there were absolutely no people there, but that rocked cause it was like we had our own little private bar. And with cheap drinks, you can imagine some of the people got even crazier. I had a raspberry cordial with lemonade, which I think affected me more than the beer! We played pool and, just cause it was his birthday, Sean sunk a whole lot of balls and won the game. Then there was the singing I've had that stupid 50 cent, In Da club song in my head since then, but with the lyrics 'Go Sean..it's your birthday...and so on. Hehe, it's always fun to meet friends of friends, and now I know who those people in that inferno's email are. The people who hoped it would be a jacuzzi/stripper place.

Happy birthday Sean!!

Hope you've had a great day, my lovely, crazy chauffeur!


I've spent the whole day doing Tongan things. It was the opening of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations Tongan branch, so there was a big service at Auburn Uniting Church. I got to dress up in Tongan clothes, and thats always fun. The actual service ran very much to islander time. It started about half an hour late, and went for almost three hours. But the music was so good that it sort of didn't matter. I got really really bored in the sermon though, as it was in Tongan and I didn't understand what was going on. Tongan music is completely awesome though, particularly this choir that sang today. And after the service there were some Tongan dancers, including one girl from my church. Tongan stuff is cool...I am really blessed to be involved in their culture the way that I am.

Some things I've been thinking about recently...

I've been thinking about what kind of books Christians should read, and what kind of movies they should read. How can Christians engage in the media of this world and still remain holy? I know there are some differing ideas about this issue, from different theological perspectives. I'm not entirely sure why, but Harry Potter seems to be a big example, although this issue is certainly not limited to that. Books that feature violence or sex or magic or whatever it is.

Today Mum was warning some of the parents at church about letting their kids see Harry Potter. She explained that the Harry Potter movies were too scary for kids - which I completely agree with - and also said that they encourage witchcraft so are not good in that sense. That's one view, particularly about books and movies with magic in them. I suppose this idea comes from a more charismatic perspective, that emphasises the reality of the spiritual realm. Therefore, witchcraft and magic are real, dangerous things and reading about them opens you up to negative spirits. I don't exactly know if I agree with that.

Then there are other Christians who think its okay to read Harry Potter (just keeping with this example for the moment). Lots of people I know from CU, including you guys, hold to this perspective. And I know you guys are completely commited to God and are seeking holiness. I haven't heard much of the argument about this perspective, why it is okay for Christians to read Harry Potter and other such things. I've heard the arguments for the other perspective over and over again, so it would be cool if I could hear your ideas.

Hmmm...I hope this makes sense. It doesn't make that much sense in my head but it's something I've really been thinking about lately. I want to be holy in what I think about and read and watch, but it's pretty hard to work out what's okay and what's not. Is it more to do with the actual subject matter or the way you respond to it? Yeah, I don't really know.

Stine's blog

Stine has succumbed to procrastination and has got herself a blog...

http://stinetizzle.blogspot.com

It's going to have lots of pretty pictures, I'm assuming.

Taking inspiration from Em....

Things that I love

*Rain...particularly waking up to hear rain

* Cooking...I made shepherds pie for dinner tonight, it was good.

* Reading...at the moment I'm reading a book of Arthurian legend. Violence is funny when written in archaic language, lots of smiting

* My new computer

* Daisy...she found her way into my bedroom today (!?)

* Maddie...she sleeps on my bed all day

* Singing praise to God

* Being loved by God even though I do stupid things

* Cold nights and a big warm blanket

* The Simpsons...6:00 every night!

* Music

* My family even though they annoy me sometimes

* Jam and cordial (Maite works for Cottees now, so when I was over at their house, I was sent back with a big box of jam and cordial.....sugar overload)

* Church

...and I probably could go on. I'm feeling much better than I was this time last week. So many people have been getting sick recently, it's so not good. I pray that you all feel better soon. I'm still at home doing nothing. It kind of sucks living so far away from everyone during the holidays but I will see you all at MYC, hopefully sooner. And I got to see my church friends on Sunday. I haven't been to my home church for weeks, so it was awesome to see people. Fatai and I always manage to have good talks about the books we are reading. The sermon was awesome too - about being washed in the blood of Jesus, and about coming to him for forgiveness everytime we sin. And the music is awesome, as always.

Just in time for the holidays, I have come down with a flu. I've had a high temperature and a headache for a few days. Fortunately, I've been able to stay at home doing absolutely nothing, so I'm recovering kind of quickly. I got Zoolander on DVD for my birthday, so I've watched that. Funny stuff. Although with me, I'm never quite sure if I've fully recovered. It's hard to know. Hopefully I'll be all good for MYC. Some more useful advice: don't drink large amounts of apple and blackcurrant juice if you're feeling sick. I drank heaps cause I needed to keep my fluids up, and I threw it all up...and freaked out cause I was throwing up red stuff that I initially thought was blood. Yeah, not so good but pretty funny.

That was such a fun birthday dinner last night! Thanks to all who came and made it such a memorable, crazy evening.

My birthday apart from that was not particularly eventful. Lots of reading and crosswords and listening to loud music...all good. My first birthday that I didn't spend at home with my parents, I feel sort of grown up. But not really.

It really was great to have dinner with everyone. I had so much sugar that night, and I've had heaps more today aswell (eating those jellybeans Ali and Tom gave me). The packets of sugar were an interesting source of entertainment for me, Ben and Ali last night. Sugar is good...but I didn't get any where near breaking my record for the most packets eaten in one go. Maybe that's a good thing. Another hilarious moment was when I received a sweet-smelling deodorant from Michelle and Jo Dear, and I sprayed it around Ben's face. Hehe, Manda couldn't stop laughing after that. I also sprayed it around Sean and Shan so they smelled pretty, and also snuck up behind Pete and sprayed his newly shaved head. As a result, Pete said one of the funny quotes of the night...

Pete: You're 22. Grow up!

There were some other interesting conversations, particularly about whether the queen farts in public, and also Shan's pirate impersonations. After everyone left the restaurant and most people went home, Sean and Shan helped me carry all my stuff back to my room, and they stayed at college for a little while. Just imagine those two guys in my room trying on hats and dancing around. Hehe, completely random. Then we played pingpong...fun fun fun. Unfortunately, Shan had to get home early again so they couldn't hang around for too long.

Thankyou all for my lovely presents. I love the hat and the scarf...very nice and matching! And I've already written 4 pages in my pretty journal, all about this magical evening, hehe. The jelly beans are nearly almost gone (also thanks to my sister who came to visit today) and thankyou, Ali and Tom, for the book and the mug. There were some funny messages in the birthday cards aswell. Mum was looking at them today and she wondered what Matt meant when he wrote 'keep being yourself...except when you're around fire'. Then there were the amusing emo references from both Sean and Shan, typically. But the prize for the funniest card absolutely goes to Katie. Mr Box, Mr Chart and the Transport Minister...they were all there, as was Katie's full title. And Stine gave me her present today - Carl Barron and Ross Noble DVDs...hehe, I'm going to be giggling myself stupid tonight!

I'm on holidays!! My exam this morning was full-on. The type of exam that it was meant that I had to identify grammatical elements and make up charts even *before* I could start writing the actual answer - so it was a *lot* of writing. But still I finished early. Partly cause I didn't particularly know what the last question was about. But that's okay. Afterwards I hung around with Roxi and Sean in the caf for a little while, and now I'm planning to read all afternoon - I have about 100 pages left so I should be able to finish my book! I want to finish it today so I can start reading something new tomorrow.

So excited! Holidays now and birthday tomorrow!!

Kate's party was fun fun fun! Naturally, I got excited seeing all the hats...and I tried on most of them through the course of the evening. Some extra-funky hats included Helen's feathery, colourful result of procrastination and Tom's uni-notes hat...and Jenny's hat, and Shan's hat, and Doug's hat, and Ali's hat, and Katherine's hat, and Manda's hat, and...oh, so many hats...so exciting! And Sean looked like an army fisherman, hehe.

If seeing all those hats in such a small space wasn't exciting enough, just as the party started there was a blackout. It started to look like Kate was going to have another murder mystery party after all. Then the candles were brought out onto all the tables...and candles mean fire! Playing with fire is amusing. But I'm not a pyromaniac, really I'm not. The lights came back on throughout the party, but in my opinion that wasn't as fun. At least I could see what I was eating, though. Who would have thought strawberries and cream cheese would be so good?

As usual, craziness was everywhere. Some particular highlights I remember:

* Doug, Sean and Shan's Irish accents while lamenting the lack of pints of Guinness at this party.

* Shan's accents in general (changing depending on what hat he was wearing), and his air guitar...hehe, he's very crazy

* Ben coming dressed as Charlie Chaplin - that was cool, although he looked just slightly overdressed for this party.

*Ali, Katherine and Manda singing while sitting on the kitchen floor.

*The complete crowdedness in the Teahouse...as it was too cold and dark to go outside.

Yay, so I have one more exam on Monday morning and then I'm finished! And I'm looking forward to Tuesday. This will be my first birthday that I don't spend with my parents, so that will be sort of interesting...but I get to see all you guys so it's okay!!! And I see my parents on Wednesday anyway. I think I must go study now...but, I shall leave you with an interesting quote from Stine

'If the throneroom is what I think it is, then Metamucil must be the drink of kings'

I thought of an idea for the greatest generic kids action movie ever....

Pirate Dinosaurs

Yes, it's confirmed. I'm mad, hehehe. Does anyone want to go see Pirate Dinosaurs with me?

Happy 21st birthday, Katus!!!

I think the pressure of exams is manifesting itself in strange ways at college (think in the same way as Katus and I with the little green frog). This evening, instead of studying, I played a hilarious game of pingpong....exceptionally bad playing but lots of hysterical laughter. Ah, its good!

I'm really trying to procrastinate at the moment. My next and final exam is on Monday, so theoretically I have lots of time to study. But, knowing me, I will probably put it off until late....but I really do need to study for this one. I've looked through some past papers today and they are hard. Grammar analysis is not the most fun thing in the world...I get experiential meaning but the intertextual and interpersonal completely elude me. If you understood that last sentence, maybe you can help me! This exam is worth 50% so I really do have to study. Yeah, I think it will be okay.

Hey, someone's shining a torch into the computer room...as if I wasn't distracted enough as it is! Reading is also incredibly distracting. When I reflect upon the fact that I read approximately 70 pages a day, and study a lot less than that, I wish for holidays. Some advice...don't start reading an interesting but irrelevant-to-your-course 900 page book during exam time, unless you want to procrastinate. But yeah, I kind of do want to procrastinate, even though I know I shouldn't : P

Less than a week till my birthday...wow, 22 sounds really old. But, then again, my age will be a palindrome. That hasn't happened since I was 11.

Finished my EDUC260 exam! And finished the whole subject :) The exam was actually pretty easy, well, most of it was anyway. Now I have almost a week to study for my next exam....and my birthday is in one week! And another thing, I bought a new hat to wear to Katus' party - it's quite mad.

Yay, time for a Pollyanna post...haven't had one for a while. Get ready for pointform!

* RMC end of semester dinner - it was great to see the dining hall looking fancier than usual, and having something other than chicken and rice. The dessert was really good, berry sauce, yoghurt and pear. I sat with my really good college friends, and got in lots of photos. It's a bit sad, though, that some of the people I met this semester will be leaving to go back home (mostly America) in only a few weeks. But I'm sure we will keep in touch.

* Belly dancing - after the end of semester dinner, I hung around in the c-block common room with some friends, and instead of going to the ranch like other people, we had our own little dance party in Rym's room. She's Algerian, so she shared some of her culture and taught us all how to belly dance. That was so much fun, but I'm sure we looked really silly :P

* Being home - it's crazy and Mum's not feeling well, so I have to look after her a bit, but it is nice to actually be at home for more than 2 days. I actually get to cook! I go back to college Wednesday this week.

* Reading - at the moment I'm reading a novel about Irish history, mostly about Catholic/Protestant tensions...very interesting stuff. And that book's 900 pages, so it should keep me entertained for a while. Reading while sitting on the trampoline is lovely.

* Cold nights - sleeping with three blankets! So much fun.

I hope everyone has fun studying for exams. I'm currently researching stuff for my take home exam due on Thursday. Fun fun fun.

Aarr, I'm supposed to be writing my essay thats due tomorrow, but I'm been having lots of fun procrastinating. I watched Shrek 2 (yay, can't wait to see Shrek 3), and I played with Daisy for a little bit. I actually have done a bit of my essay, though. It's only 1000 words but I have no idea how to write 1000 words for a grammar analysis.

Really, though. I've been reading through some blogs, and it seems that people are going through hard times, or have just come through stuff. I don't know all the details about things, but I do love all my friends with a fierce affection so I am praying for all of you. It's really hard to recognise things within yourself that need to change - and I have those things too. I think I need to be a bit more responsible, and stop taking things for granted. And I've got to read the bible way more than I have been recently. But, my lovely friends, don't change too much. I thank God so much for you guys, for the way you are all so supportive and committed to God. And crazy. That's a good thing.

I really need to go back to writing my essay.

Mmm, things kind of suck at the moment. First of all, I'm sick. I've got a really sore throat, a headache, a sniffly nose and a unsettled stomach. Not fun. The worst bit about that is I don't know how long its going to be like that for. I don't want another long term sickness, but I can't imagine getting better anytime soon. Then there's stuff with me and Sean, I don't know whats going on with that. I really do like him. And I'm living at college, and at the moment there aren't many opportunities to actually talk to people. Lots of time for round the world ping pong and laughing in large groups, but I kind of feel more like sitting down quietly with good friends and talking. Right at the moment, though, I feel like sleeping.

Still, God is good.

Yay...my 100th post!

Anyway, Sunday was very interesting. A couple that used to go to my church, but moved to Queensland a few years ago, came back to visit. Completely randomly with no notice so it was such a nice surprise to see them there when I arrived at church. The great thing, which shows God working so much, was two other people who used to be good friends with this couple turned up aswell, and they haven't come to church for ages either. So God brought all of them together, and we ended up going for dinner spontaneously after church.

What was also very interesting was hearing about some of the kids I used to be friends with in early highschool, and what they are doing now. One of them, who I haven't seen since Year 10, is about to become a father at the age of eighteen, and his girlfriend is due to give birth anyday now. That was such a shock when I heard that! I'm praying for them, because having a baby is a huge thing at any age, but when they are so young that makes it harder.

On another note, youth group attendance is really low at the moment, but the kids that are coming really seem to be thinking seriously about God. I suppose that's better than having lots of kids that are there just for the games. The biggest challenge at the moment is reaching the wide age group that we have. Because there are so few kids, it doesn't make sense at the moment to divide into age groups (on Saturday we had 2 ten year olds and 1 sixteen year old). As you can imagine, it's difficult. For this sixteen year old girl, it seems that all the stuff we say is real to her, that she wants to live as a Christian, and she needs to think about faith issues on a deeper level - praise God! But how do you encourage and challenge her while also spiritually caring for the ten year old kids, who need different things?

Other than that, I'm almost finished my round of antibiotics and I'm still not feeling much better.

One of the kids at church said I remind her of Jennifer Hawkins...hehe, that's pretty funny!

Em's party!!

Em's 21st party was lots of fun, as I expected it would be. So many birthdays coming up, so exciting. And other exciting news - Heather and Rohan are engaged!! I actually remember having a conversation with Heather last year where she told me she was content being single :P And it's also Heathers birthday, so happy birthday to her.

Back to Em's party....possibly the best bit was rediscovering my pyromaniacal tendencies by burning those little bits of silver ribbon that came off Roxi's hat. Those little ribbons curl and dance and melt and do all kinds of fun things when put near flame. Surprisingly, Jo Dear was also fascinated with this. I never would have guessed she was a pyromaniac. Going on the trampoline was fun, watching other people on the trampoline was interesting. Reliving quotes from various movies/tv shows/internet cartoons, such as Men in Tights, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Trogdor, etc...was extremely funny aswell, although Saladfingers is still creepy. It was really croweded in the Tea House last night, although outside was slightly more spacious. Then suddenly it got quieter when most people left...and Mike arrived, hehe. Watching Em opening presents was fun, although she didn't make nearly as many squealy noises as Manda. I am coming to see you guys more and more as my family...my family is crazy!

It was nice to be back at CU on Wednesdays! Good talk today...almost was disagreeing on some things, but then Scott mentioned that all the other stuff (experience, tradition, etc) is good but needs to submit to the authority of the Bible. That is so true. And I actually do think God still talks to people using dreams, visions and the like, but there are no new major revelations.

Anyway...there are so many birthdays coming up! Ems, Ash, Kate, Chris, myself, Lissa and, somewhere within all that, Maddy and Mike's bub. I just hope we'll be able to work out something where no-one's parties clash and everyone feels their birthday is celebrated. Hmm...could be tricky. I'm thinking just a simple dinner with friends on my actual birthday, cause if I wait for a Saturday to have a party, it will probably be some time in August. Then there's the complications of working out where to actually have the party....dinner sounds good.

I went home as quickly as possible after class today...then when I got home I found out my tutoring was cancelled today, so I could have frolicked and 545-ed anyway. Oh well :P And I am so very busy with assignments at the moment, I had a little stress episode today once I got home.

Clothes swap was so fun! For some reason, Manda and I got *really, really* excited. Yes, hyperactivity is genetic. I liked hearing Myfanwy's talk about putting on the good characteristics of Christ, and getting rid of the old stuff...and appropriately, I found a t-shirt with the fruits of the spirit written on it. I also got some pants, a jacket and 2 hats - one that makes me look like a little cupcake. And I also got some incredibly small, incredibly pink tops for thy Stiney. It was fun fun fun finding clothes and watching other people find clothes - and there were *no* catfights, despite what Sean thought! I loved all the silly dressups that were going on...like Ash's leather outfit, Manda's scary vamp and the dancing leotard girls!! Dressups are so fun. Also was great to have some college girls come.

Also funny at the clothes swap: during Myfanwy's talk, I got the giggles when Adrian was walking around outside whistling. I don't know why, but it was really funny.


By the way...

Happy Birthday Ben!!

Woohoo, finished prac! And I got above satisfactory in my final prac report. Hehe, it was *such* a good idea to transfer to primary ed. It's kind of funny thinking prac's over cause it was only for five days...still I will miss the kids (even if they were crazy some of the time). I heard the most random quote today at school, from one kid who I wasn't even sure was talking to anyone. I just heard him say, while sitting at his desk: You lose your licence if you read a book in the car and you're the driver So very true...pay attention all you drivers :P

I have 4 assignments due next week :( Only one of them is a big assignment, but still its not fun. I have heaps of reading to do...hmmmm, you probably won't see me in the caf so much over the next few days...probably!

My throat's sore and I'm kind of tired....but, then again, that's normal. Really, if I stayed at home everytime I felt a bit sick, I wouldn't end up doing anything at all. Hehe, I'm a sick little monkey. Even so, my week has been pretty good. Prac teaching is fun, even though the kids are crazy. Particularly in the afternoon, when they're ready to go home, and so am I. A group of kids spent most of the afternoon one day chanting the 'don't chop the dinosaur, daddy! chop it!' ad, much to the annoyance of the teachers and the other kids. Another funny quote I heard: 'I'm the oldest out of all of you. I'm 6 and a half.' Also interesting, if not disturbing: 'I don't want to go on Big Brother cause they film you in the bathroom' which was followed by hysterical giggles by the other kids. Teaching is fun...only 2 more days of my prac left.

Let's see...what else happened this week. No frisbee on Thursday, but much excitement about some psychology surveys that were going around. I didn't actually get one, but it would have been funny to say that I was the most popular person at CU but also frequently felt like I couldn't cope with feeling so alone :( just to screw up the statistics a bit....maybe it's good I didn't get a survey. I have really random little drawings in my EDUC260 lecture notes now, thanks to Ash and Sean. Round the world ping pong is fun. (those two random comments had nothing to do with eachother)

Also, on Thursday at college we had this guy from Nigeria come to talk about the work he does in his village. Stuff like building wells for cleaner water, building hygenic toilets and also preaching the gospel and planting churches. Awesome stuff, and definitely something to pray for.

Hehe, on Friday, after the TEP290 stuff, Ali and I were making lists of Dr Nick quotes:

Dr Nick: If it isn't my old friend Mr McGreg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg

Dr Nick: If you're not sure about something. Rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, its your window to weightgain'

Medical board person: You operated using a plastic knife and fork from a seafood restaurant?
Dr Nick: But I wiped them with my napkin'

Medical board person: ...gross misuse of cadavers
Dr Nick: I get here faster if I use the carpool lane..." that one's gross.

adopt your own virtual pet!

I finished my assignment and I slept! Mum rang me while I was asleep, cause she had no idea. So, she woke me and I talked to her for a little while, but I didn't really feel sleepy after that anyway. Now I'm awake and no longer need to work continously on my assignment, I can reflect upon the happenings of yesterday.

I woke up at 6:00am and got to bed at 4:00am, so thats twenty-two hours of being awake, I'm thinking thats a record. And it was a very busy day - all good stuff, but very busy.

During the day, I was at Meadowbank Public School helping out with Year 1. It was fun! I had a tutorial at six, and then got all dressed up like a pretty bubble fairy for Manda's party. I brought bubbles with me, cause they remind me of Manda....and there were bubbles there at the party! I thought that was funny, and very exciting. For the first part of the night, anyway, I amused/distracted/annoyed many people with my bubble blowing. It was fun seeing everyone dressed up. Kate's Les Mis French revolutionary, Ali's anime girl and Ash's Sailor Jupiter - that was fun, Ben's geology outfit with the hat I tried on, Em wearing Manda's skirt (the less said about what happened with that skirt later in the night, the better). As far as I can tell, Manda reminds Sean of himself, cause he came dressed as himself - not so sure what Matt's dressup theme was either :P Then there was Doug's t-shirt which had a little picture of a girl on it, so that supposedly reminded him of Manda. Hehe, dress up parties are fun.

I know there were lots of funny and memorable quotes of the evening, but I can't remember any of them! Hopefully someone else wrote them down or at least remembers them. Hmmm...memorable moments, let me think. The dancing was fun - I love dancing when there's no pretence of looking good, when its all silliness and attempted tau'olunga. Oh, and I'm helping Katie with the pronounciation of the Islander names in her prac class! Sometime around the beginning of the night I asked Matt and Sean if they were going to dance at the party - Sean said he'd dance if an upbeat song started playing (at that time, a slow song was just finishing). No sooner had he said that, then the slow song stopped and Staying Alive, the classic disco song, started playing. The timing was very hilarious and we all cracked up. But no-one danced to that particular song, we waited until the second time. And Shackles, which in itself is a great song, got kind of annoying after the 3rd time :P

I liked the idea of going barefoot, until I saw that pick that Ben was carrying around. Actually, it didn't bother me so much with Ben holding it. Just when Doug started waving it around, I started to get worried for my feet.

*Then* after the party was all finished, we went back to the Teahouse - fun fun fun fun fun fun fun! At first, I'd never heard the Teahouse that quiet before...then the quietness somehow dissolved and everyone was laughing and generally carrying on like normal (or what can loosely be referred to as normal). It was great watching Manda open her presents, such funny sounds, and very amusing watching Ben decorate himself. Manda, I'm very pleased you like your pretty blue necklace. I saw it in the shops and immediately thought of you. And thanks must go to Ben for kindly eating the pricetag I forgot to remove from the present. That sentence looks so strange now I'm reading it back, even in context! Watching people open presents is something previously I'd only done with my family, so as we were all sitting there I definitely got the 'one big happy, crazy, slightly worrying family' impression.

I'm trying to work out how I can write 1000 words for my assignment and then afterwards still feel like writing a big long post in my blog. I think it must have something to do with me actually being interested in the subject matter.

I got to bed at about 3:30 last night and got to sleep at around 4. I woke up at 7, I lay in bed for about half an hour before realising that I *wasn't* going to get back to sleep. So I got up and I've been running around crazy on 3 hours of actual sleep. I have to work on my EDUC260 assignment today...

By the way...Manda's party was so fun! I will post a more thorough reflection when I actually have time (i.e. when this stupid assignment is finished)

Woohoo, just finished my first day of prac! And there's only four days left - I think it's going to be good. The teacher in my class is easy to work with, and there's another Mac student in my class. I'm getting to know the kids, and they all seem nice, if a bit rowdy. It was raining today, meaning the kids didn't go outside for lunch. They also stayed inside and did their Happy Healthy Harold books instead of playing sport :P I'm hoping the kids won't be too rowdy when it's my turn to teach a lesson.

There really wasn't much teaching going on today, though. Most of the day was taken up by Anzac day related activities, such as going to an Anzac service and colouring in pictures of Anzac wreaths.

I miss human interaction. Stiney's at home but is always in her room on her computer, so I don't get to talk to her...and today when I tried to talk to her, she brought up annoying stuff I did when I was about seven years old, hehe. I was a somewhat hyperactive child.
Reading and writing and watching amusing television episodes are all fun things to do, but there's only so many times you can do those things each day before it starts getting boring. At least I get to cook while I'm at home.

Maybe I should start work on that other assignment...

It was my cousin Libby's wedding today...and I'm very tired now even though it was a lovely day. The wedding was out Wilberforce cause that's where Jon's family is from, and then the reception was in North Rocks, meaning a *lot* of driving today. It was great to see all my family. Pretty much everyone was there, even my aunty and uncle who are now living in Singapore. I think they fly back tomorrow. Libby's dress was absolutely beautiful: a white dress with a beaded bodice, it was strapless and fitted and then the skirt part flowed out with a long train. Hmmm, describing dresses is fun. The bridesmaids dresses were pale green and apparently made by one of the bridesmaids. The funny thing is, this time last year my other cousin was getting married. Actually, it's her wedding anniversary tomorrow.

I sat with my cousins for the reception, and my dad, aunties and uncles were at the table next to us. It felt like sitting at the 'kids table' again. While sitting and talking with my cousins, I was reminded that my craziness is definitely genetic - throughout the day people were throwing lollies into other peoples drinks, swapping empty lolly packets for full ones, and other such amusing things. The chicken that was served for lunch came with a very interesting sauce. Stiney got a nice gravy with her lamb, but I had the chicken :P

Other fun things I have done this week include going to Shellharbour for a little daytrip with some church people, and going to Koorong and seeing Jo Dear there unexpectedly. And I've been reading a lot and watching a lot of TV, as you do in the holidays.

Hehe, my dog Daisy has a boyfriend. There's a chihuahua that must live somewhere near my house, and as it's a really little dog, it always seems to escape from its house and wander around. It's gone past our house before, and Daisy always barks and wags her tail...but today the chihuahua, who Mum called Pablo, actually walked straight through the bars in our gate and came into our front yard. It stayed for the whole afternoon, and must have left when it got hungry. Daisy is a female dog with ladyness and Pablo has manness, so you can imagine what they were doing most of the afternoon. It was pretty hilarious, considering the size difference between a labrador and a chihuahua. When he finally went back to his home, Daisy was sitting at the gate, howling for her love :( Hopefully he will come back to visit tomorrow.

Yesterday I was feeling stressed and sick. I had a sore throat and a headache, and wasn't feeling particularly hungry either. To add to all that, I was still slightly worried about how I'm going to pay my college fees - I'm really behind in paying them, but I'm working at trusting in God that he has it all worked out. Then, if that wasn't enough, for a little while it seemed as if the assignment that was due on that day wasn't going to print *so I had a minor little stress attack* but it all worked out and I handed that assignment in, along with another one. After I handed those assignments in, I felt mentally exhausted, and physically dodgy, so I didn't talk much at all during small group. Still, even though I felt like that, hearing Scott's talk about the resurrection was awesome. God is awesome, and I really did feel like the weary and heavy laden in that verse, and I came to Jesus for rest :)

Much thanks must go to my lovely friends who made me feel better yesterday: Ali, Em, Ash, Sean, Shan, Michelle and especially Holly. I wasn't feeling as bad by the end of the CU frisbee hour, except then I had to go to the EDUC260 lecture. Hehe, the guy who's doing the rest of the lectures for that subject is a nice enough guy but he talks *really* slowly and he waffles about I don't even know what...so I don't pay much attention. To cope with our boredom, Ash drew a pretty picture on my hand. On each of my fingers, she drew animal print patterns. And on my hand she drew some cartoon animals, representing the CU people sitting in that very lecture. I was a hippo, Sean was a giraffe, Ash was a monkey and our dear friend Pete was a pebble. Hehe, that was her idea! Unfortunately, the picture has washed off, but I took a photo so the memory is preserved forever.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services at Trinity chapel have been an awesome opportunity to come before God and worship him and thank him for what he has done in Christ. And there have been some great songs to sing: Rock of Ages, Amazing Grace, When I Survey, My Song is Love Unknown, The Servant King...and it goes on.

Another thing to praise God for - Ali, you are a lovely Nana but my real Nana is also very lovely. She gave me and my sister $100 each to buy new clothes for winter. that's awesome, cause on my own, I'm just struggling to pay for accomodation, let alone get new winter clothes which I kind of do need. So that was such a blessing...and me and Stiney are going clothes shopping together :)

God is so good! Over the past few days I've been a little bit stressed about paying for college fees, and home was particularly stressful this weekend. But I went to youth group on Saturday and church on Sunday morning and evening. God met me there...being reminded about God's love and goodness, and singing praises to him. And now I'm happy and slightly hyperactive...

And I have actually got some work done this morning...which is always good!

Maybe it isn't a good idea for Sean and I to drink coffee right before a lecture and then sit next to eachother. I retained none of the information given in the lecture, due to all the suppressed giggling and drawing in one another's lecture notes. But, hey, at least now I know what a crazy Christmas emo elf looks like!

It was really hot today. My HIST109 tutorial was pretty funny this afternoon. There was no fan or air con, and everyone was really hot and tired. Our tutor tried to get us into small groups for discussion, and nothing was happening. Usually small groups start out discussing the topic and then get on to other more random topics, but today no-one was talking at all. I felt kind of sorry for our tutor, cause she kept trying to initiate conversation, but what can you expect at the end of a hot day?

And a funny quote that came from college bible study on Wednesday. Our study leader had poured out some hot chocolate for us to drink...

Debby: The best bit is it's 99% fat free.
Bridge: My thighs are cheering.

Amusing highlights of today

* Learning how to ep. Kate, Bec, Shan, Katie, Jenny and I were all epping in the rain after the public meeting
* Katie's good friend Mr Box, who is a teaching resource for early stage 1
* Hearing the story of Ben licking Katie's lollipop. I don't think I need to repeat the whole story...
*Attemping to read an article about male and female roles and thinking immediately of 'manness' and 'ladyness'
*The hug that got passed round the table at dinner this evening. Really sweet, and funny that it was an all girls table
* Jelly and cream for dessert!

I just finished looking at Em's photos from the murder party. Oh, it looked like so much fun and I really wanted to go. But I really felt God was calling me to stay at youth group and give that gospel talk. And even though it wasn't as fun, I suppose God was glorified through that. I talked about the lost son, and how it's like us and God. We do stupid things and he forgives us when we come back and repent. Stuff like that. In the culture these kids are growing up in, the idea of the son going completely off the rails is sadly a real issue. A few of the kids have family members in jail, and its good for them to know that if they ever have done really bad stuff, God will forgive them. But, I also mentioned that they've made God angry even if they've just had bad thoughts about a person. After I said that, some of the kids said a prayer of confession. And we finished up talking about God's forgiveness. I really pray that these kids come to know God personally, not just going to church because their families do. So, I do think that it was worthwhile being there at youth on Saturday...but it would have been fun to be at the Teahouse.

I think now that its the end of week 3, I should actually start working on my assignments. Hanging around uni and college are both great ways to procrastinate, as demonstrated this week especially. I am reaching the conclusion that, although spiritually it gives eternal life, being a Christian is bad for your physical health. Due to all the lollies and chips consumed at various bible studies and other Christian gatherings.

Lots of fun and randomness this week. One such thing was Sean forgetting that those seats in the lecture theatre actually do fold up when you're not sitting on them. Therefore everyone in the CU meeting saw him fall over, hehehe. And the skits this week were excellent, congratulations must go to Ali, Em, Manda, both Bens, Bec and definitely Chris for his suffering for the sake of the gospel. I think I am also a member of the Mumbling Christians - I am the prestigious, extremely talented player of the scrapey fish.

This week has gone so fast, I go home tomorrow. And I get to see my Mum!!! I didn't get to see her last week. I also get to be almost knocked over by an extremely excited Daisy.

No-one's been posting blogs except Kate....Katus wins a hypothetical prize and all us other blogring members hang our heads in shame :)


The teahouse warming party was fun fun fun. I love the fact that it started at 2pm, and was *supposed* to finish at 5pm, or something like that, and I didn't get back to college until after midnight. 7 Brides for 7 Brothers was hilarious though, and those guys definitely did look like the Wiggles in their coloured skivvies. I'm very glad to hear that people like their grater...I want one now. Then again, I'm not at home enough to justify getting new cooking utensils. And, Kate, another memorable moment to add to Manda and Helen's horse race. While we were in the kitchen, Chris and I raced the little magnetic animals three times around the fridge. I won!

I just heard random screaming coming from the common room...that must be a pretty interesting game of pingpong.

I'm feeling sick at the moment, and I don't like being sick at college
:( I think I need to go back to sleep

It's *so* good to be back at uni! Not particularly for the uni work, although my subjects dont look that bad this semester. It's all about the CU fellowship, which is awesome as usual. I love O-Week for the CU stall and for the freebies - this time it's popcorn and icetea. Hanging around the CU stall, chatting to all my friends who might happen to be there, and talking to other people who want to sign up...it's all fun.

I didn't get to go to the public meeting today, cause I stayed back to look after the stall. Allie bought me a burrito, which was delicious. After the meeting was finished, everyone sat down on the grass which i liked a whole lot more than the caf. Fresh air is good...unfortunately the air was a bit too fresh and it started raining, and was a bit windy. As anyone who has ever worked with kids or animals will know, windy weather makes people go crazy. Possibly its because the weather is hyper, so everyone else is too. But I was filled with surplus energy, and other people were too. Congratulations must go to Katie, who today became the 1st Class Honourable Dame Master Doctor Katie Perret, PhD, RU! I look forward to the actual public meeting tomorrow.

I had my very first primary education subject - EDUC260. I'm in a tute with Pete and Susan, so I know people! And I know lots of people from college and CU who are doing that course. Its all good.

Praise God for what happened on the weekend at my church. Kids actually came to youth group. It was pretty funny. As Mum and I were driving to church, we saw a van that looked like it belonged to one of the youth families, but they were ahead of us and we couldn't see for sure. They live in the street next to us, and they kept going in the same direction as us...and Mum actually went through orange lights so she wouldn't lose them, cause she wanted to find out if it was them :P Mum generally *never* goes through orange lights. Thankfully there wasn't any need to go through *red* lights! And it was that family, in the end, driving to youth group. Apart from that, the kids participated very well in youth. The theme was holiness, and thinking about areas where we find it hard to be holy. I was impressed with how open the kids were in sharing, even though they were really shy at first. And I am loving teaching the little kids Sunday School - usually its just 3 or 4 kids, but with the under 8 age group, thats a nice sized group. Even though I'm officially a primary education student now, I still love working with little kids like that :)

Last Monday training night....but it was fun! I'm sure it was much more fun than the grass party I missed, although everyone at the training night got to sort of go to the grass party, as you could definitely hear it from the chapel. As soon as I heard 'Eagle Rock' playing, I thanked God I was there, not over at the party. For anyone who doesn't know, it is an RMC tradition to play 'Eagle Rock' at every party, and when that song plays, thats the cue for all the guys to get their pants down and start dancing around in their undies. Scary stuff.

I really enjoyed Stu's talk, I thought it was really interesting how he talked about God's word going out to the nations, and how *we* actually are the ends of the earth aswell. And of course congratulations to Garreth for such an exciting, expressive reading of the Scriptures. For Mike's bit, I was in a group with Doug, Tom, Bec and I think it was Ana...and as you can imagine there were some interesting moments. For example, when Mike asked us how we would respond to our friends talking about what they like in the opposite sex - Doug cried out 'boobs!', which led to talk about being 'real man' and 'real woman'. Ah, it was funny. And an interesting quotable quote:

Bec: Hey Doug, I have a new pick up line for you (puts her arm around Ali) 'So, are *you* washed in the blood of the lamb?'
Ali: Pick up lines shouldn't have blood in them.

I thought about going to the grass party after the training finished, but everyone was going to Maccas and I thought that would be more fun that trying to meet new people. Anyway, there's heaps more parties and opportunities to get to know people this week. Macca's was fun, as it always is when a large number of CU people congregate. Sean introduced me to symphonic metal, beautiful songs and kind of random but probably very hard to sing along to cause the vocals are so high. Manda is back from NZ, so are Ben and Tiff! For some reason, we ended up singing the Trogdor song at Macca's...Manda made a sheep noise and that somehow made me think of Trogdor. TROGDOOOOR!!! One of the most exciting things of the night was seeing Bec's awesome signs for the Doors of Snnnnn. I want one now! House of Snnnnn moves in tomorrow!!!

Oh, and Kate...I heard the bicyle song on the radio this morning, just thought you'd like to know.

Just a little bit of random amusement in my day: I went to bed at 11:11pm last night, which is an awesome looking time - so symmetrical. So before I actually closed my eyes, I just looked at the time until it turned 11:12. And, just a few minutes ago, I happened to look at my clock, and it was 11:11am! So I got to do it again. Oh, the little things that amuse me!!

What else can I say about Monday night? Kate and Em have summed it up rather nicely. Even so, it was very fun and I am so thankful to God that CU has a beautiful combination of solid, faithful bible teaching and awesome, if sometimes bizarre, fellowship. Too often, Christian groups have only one or the other. But we have both, which rocks! I was very encouraged to hear Scott's talk about Acts, and to remember how sovereign God is. Even through persecution, God is growing his church. And God is powerful to answer prayer! I am really thankful for the awesome Christian friends that God has provided me, that's all of you crazy guys and girls!

Hanging around Macca's was crazy crazy fun, and it was such a good thing I was sleeping over at college. I got to talk to lots of people, and the conversations got more and more random as the night went on. Kate has posted some funny quotes and I can't remember any others...except me saying I can quote the other Homer and Doug wondering if I meant the Iliad. I didn't, hehe.

Hehe, this is good. I'm staying over at college just for tonight....so I'll be able to come to the CU thing after all. Yay!!

Well, I didn't end up playing drums at church. Kea was at church and she actually knows how to play drums. Probably a good thing...I probably would have stuffed up the rhythm at this stage. BUT I can practice, hehehehe.

And it was my Nana's birthday yesterday, so we went to my aunty and uncle's house for her birthday party. Not that there were many people there, just Mum, Dad, Stiney, some aunties and uncles and Nana. Unfortunately cousins weren't there for various reasons, as they're all grown-up and married now. But it was very sweet to see family, especially as I only saw them a few weeks ago anyway! And Aunty Kathy cooks the best food ever!! Sweet potato and onion bake, and a delicious berry dessert (hehe, berries are good).


I really don't think I can get to the Monday night thing this week - stupid living 2 hours away from uni - but I hope whoever goes has lots of fun. Next week, I will definitely be there, and will be going to Macca's afterwards aswell!

A lovely, if slightly disturbing, thing happened at music practice today. I say slightly disturbing because thats what the implications probably are for all the people who live with me! Unfortunately, when we got to music practice, we found out that our usual drummer had broken his arm (carrying heavy cupboards across the church hall-which is another story-not so good). Then Mum asked me if *I* wanted to play the drums for today and tomorrow in church. I said yes cause drums always look fun, and I'm constantly tapping away with my fingers on whatever surface I can find.
Yes, it was very very fun. I managed to keep the rhythm to the songs we were playing and hit the cymbal at the end of every song. The only thing was, during songs, when people were discussing musical details, I couldn't stop banging the drums unless I put the sticks on the floor where they were safely out of reach. Fun fun fun fun fun. So, I will be playing drums in church tomorrow. Then who knows where it will go from there. Mum says I should learn to play drums, but I have a feeling that after I've been playing for a little while she'll be begging me to stop, or at least to stop practising at home :P

Even now, I'm tapping out some kind of rhythm on the computer desk...but I've been doing that *way* before today...hehehe

I've finally enrolled....that was very complicated. I'm going to be really busy this semester, so its a good thing I'm at college. I'm actually looking forward to starting uni again, although by a few weeks in I'll probably be wishing for holidays again.

I'm really thankful to God for how he's been working all this stuff out, even when I wasn't completely putting my trust in him. He is definitely worthy of praise and the weather is really lovely outside right now, another reason to praise God! Can't wait for the weather to get colder, especially at night.

I am completely sunburnt after my Australia day expedition to the beach! I only ever get sunburnt once a year, on Australia day...cause thats the only time I spend all day at the beach. We were at Cronulla Bay, which was really pretty and not-crowded, as I'm sure the actual Cronulla beach would have been. The water was shallow and there were no waves, so there was plenty of opportunity for walking around with Stiney and Hala in the water, talking and laughing and other such fun stuff. And the little kids had their crazy fun splashing in the water, playing beach cricket and climbing on boats that didn't belong to them :P One amusing incident: Paea was batting in their game of cricket, and for some reason, instead of hitting the ball, he flung the bat right into the middle of someone elses picnic.

For some unknown reason, there was not as much Tongan food as there usually is at picnics like this. Just the barbeque meat, the potato salad, taro and watermelon. No siope sui or seafood salad :( Still, the food was very good and there is lots of watermelon left over. And Tefa brought her ukulele, for some sweet islander-style music, even though the songs were mostly in English so I could join in :P I am so looking forward to going to Tonga....as soon as another church family say they're going, I'm coming along with them - I've still got my Tonga money. I shouldn't have to wait too long, at least one family goes every year!

Youth group was very excellent today - an impressive start to the year. We combined with another youth group thats also currently lacking in numbers, so we had a decent sized group. And, we are definitely not the only crazy Christian group around, I found out today :P There was also a pretty good number of our youth kids there aswell...hopefully we can improve that even more throughout the year, as there were some that weren't there. Got to keep praying, and praying hard!

If this is what youth is going to be like this year, I think it will be amazing. The way its going to run is this: firstly we're going to have a prayer and worship time, then afternoon tea, and then bible study groups. The worship was awesome, I've never worshipped like that with other people, only in front of God in my own room. Basically, in the church, we put on fun worship music, with words to remind us how great God is, and we danced, or waved flags around, or just sat in God's presence. It's about being before the Lord, worshipping him and praising him and experiencing his presence. I know some people go on about how we can't rely on our experiences, and, yes, you don't want your experiences to overtake and contradict what you know from the Bible. But....actually experiencing God's presence in your heart is really really really important! God didn't just do something amazing 2000 years ago (which he did, by the way!), he is also in a real, living relationship with people who trust in him right now! Experience is GOOD, and so are emotions....just don't let them contradict the bible :) And I don't think that the way we worshipped was really theologically different to CU, just a different style. It'd be sweet if we could do that at CU though....maybe :P

It is so encouraging to see young people joyfully praising God. Otua ko koe koe ofa! (and, because we're supposed to have a translation - GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!) Ah, I'm in a bit of a silly mood, hehehe, but its all the joy of God!

I'm back from Shellharbour....did you miss me? Matt seemed *really* tired after he got back from KYLC, but I don't really feel tired at all after my week away. Probably because I did little else but read, eat good food and go to the beach. All very good things to do :P I'm also attempting to write another kids novel, all about mermaids and such fun things. Being at the beach inspired me. All the people in the shops were really friendly. I had to check the uni website almost everyday, to see if I could enrol (which was annoying). I think the lady at the internet cafe knew me pretty well by the end of the week. I also found a really fun bookshop that specialised in kids books. And I found a very pretty dress that was supposed to be $65 for $25...and I bought a wig for the wigorade ball.

Today was extremely hot...which was lovely for the day we planned to go on a picnic. Still, it was alright. We sat in the shade and ate lunch. There was much craziness as usual, Ben climbed up a tree and found a dirty rope, which he used to tie up people and waved it in Kate's face. And Em said something about taking a bite of drink....after we finished eating, we went to Kate's house cause it was definitely too hot to stay outside. Unfortunately, I don't think Tolly appreciated us invading her house.

It is going to be very interesting when Em, Kate and Manda all move in together. Very fun and crazy!

I'm going to Shellharbour for a week with Mum and Stiney, and Dad's coming down for a few days aswell. So...I shall not be blogging or commenting on blogs or talking on msn for a while :(
Still, should be fun and maybe I'll come back from the holiday with a new hat....or a wig.

Yesterday I saw Abi, a friend from school who I haven't seen for ages. She's studying medicine in NZ and she goes back Friday. She's got another 4 years to go...and I thought I was going to be at uni for a long time!

Anyway, Stiney, Abi and I went to Parramatta Westfield and much craziness followed. I love having friends who are not afraid to make idiots of themselves in public places. First we looked in Myer, at the little kids clothes which are all either skanky replicas of women's clothes or marshmallow-like dresses made out of white tulle and satin. Those dresses looked like wedding dresses, so for some reason we suggested that Stiney was getting married and was going to wear that dress. After giggling at some very 80s fashion, we headed off to Toys R Us and found some more things for Stiney's wedding eg. her shoes, her wedding castle, the pirate ship where she will have her reception, and of course her groom - Superman! After that, any time Stiney saw someone wearing a Superman t-shirt (we saw 4 people) she cracked up laughing.

Lunch was particularly interesting. Once we'd finished eating, we acted out random stories involving Superman and Stiney using straws, spoons, napkins, etc. We also made Abi say 'chips'...and she can still say it correctly, even though she's been in New Zealand for 4 years.

You say: It's impossible
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: I'm too tired
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: Nobody really loves me
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: I can't go on
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalms.91:15)

You say: I can't figure things out
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)
*******♥♥♥♥♥*******
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***♥♥♥♥♥+++♥♥♥♥♥***
***♥+++++++++♥*****
***♥♥♥♥♥+++♥♥♥♥♥***
*******♥+++♥*******
*******♥+++♥*******
*******♥+++♥*******
*******♥+++♥*******
******♥♥♥♥♥*******
You say: I can't do it
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: I'm not able
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: It's not worth it
God says: It will be worth it (Romans 8:28)

You say: I can't forgive myself
God says: I FORGIVE YOU (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: I can't manage
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: I'm afraid
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: I'm always worried and frustrated
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: I don't have enough faith
God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

You say: I'm not smart enough
God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: I feel all alone
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16

I am now officially enrolled in the BA.DipEd primary course! You all have to put up with me for another 2 years, hehe. Praise God!

My church is sweet - today we had a time when people could come up and share what God has done for them in the past year. Praise definitely goes all to God for what he has done!! There were not that many people here today, but baby Haamea was there, and so was Fatai who has her birthday today! Happy birthday if by any chance you are reading this :) Birthday dinner tonight!

Spiritually, this week has been excellent. If you have never experienced Tongan worship, I urge you to come along to a service at my church sometime. The music is beautiful, but maybe more importantly, there is such a passion for God and for holiness. There was a huge prayer focus this week: we prayed for the world, for protection against natural distasters, for the governments of Australia and Tonga, and for the beauty pageant favourite...world peace :P And the Kapani family are going to Tonga in August this year....so there's another opportunity for me to go.

I just got back from the final prayer service of the Uikelotu. I will post more thoroughly about the week tomorrow, cause there's a lot to write and I'm a bit tired. But I'll just say tonight was amazing! It was a time to dedicate this year to the Lord, both for our individual selves and for us as a church. We all came up and knelt at therail and we all got an individual prayer and blessing. Then everyone was singing 'I surrender all' (which was the only song we actually sang in English), with our hands lifted up high in the air. Awesome praises to God!

And I love Tylah Haamea, a 3 month old baby boy who came to the services with his mum and dad. He knows me now, and he settles down when I hold him, not like at the beginning of the week when he wriggled all over the place. Haamea also has an interesting fascination with my hair, possibly cause it's not black, thick and wavy like his mum's and aunties' hair. Using his strong baby reflex grip, he grabs strands of my hair and pulls them towards his mouth. Ow! And Stiney took off her glasses to show him, and Haamea grabbed them and didn't let go. I thought they were going to break as Stiney was trying to get them back! Babies are funny.

Anyhoo...I am going to bed now, cause I'm really tired.

Happy New Year everyone

New Years celebrations, Tongan style: A whole lot of people from church, including Fatai, Lupe, Hala, Kea and Mereia and their families, came to my house last night for new years. Leading up to 12:00, we sang a variety of different songs - Tongan hymns, Fijian hymns and songs in English. That was awesome, probably different than what most people were doing at that time. Then, at 11:15, we had a few bible readings and reflections, led by different people. And amazingly, we managed to keep time pretty well :P The main idea of the reflections was trusting in God for this new year, and the Colossians passage about putting on love, patience, forgiveness and all that other good stuff.

Then at midnight we did the standard coundown and 'happy new year!!!!!!' but straight after that we all started praying out loud at the same time, praying for ourselves and our church for the new year. Really powerful, and I think an extremely good way to start the new year. And, after all that, then we partied and ate and jumped on the trampoline. I took charge of the music played, and found to my delight that the hip-hop obsessed church kids like Relient K! :P I spent most of the party talking with Stiney and Fatai, talking about new years resolutions and playing air guitar along with the music. All good!

New Years Day also marks the beginning of the Tongan Uikelotu, or holy week. Every day this week there are worship services at 7am and 7pm. Which means....I was up on new years day at 7am. Everyone at that service looked so dead, hehe, but it was awesome cause it was the service dedicated to thanksgiving and glorifying God...and Tongan singing is always good. I went straight back to sleep though when I got home, and just woke up a little while ago. I've got a really big day today...at 2:30 I'm going to a baptism, and at 4:30 there's a memorial service for a woman from church who died this time last year. In fact, the woman who we'll be remembering is the baby's grandmother, so it's a extremely busy, emotional day for that family. Then they're holding a big dinner that I'll be going to. And at 7pm is the next installement in the Uikelotu. I am going to be exhausted by the end of today.

Yesterday in a worship service, Mum was saying a prayer for Tonga. She meant to pray for the capital city, Nuku'alofa...but she mispronounced the name pretty significantly (she always forgets the name of the city, for some reason). According to Lupe, what she actually ended up saying roughly translated to 'forgetful love'. I thought that was funny. Hopefully, everyone knew what she meant.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Christmas service was so good today, including Christmas carols from the Tongan, Indian and Fijian choirs. And I sang a lot as well. My voice is in definite need of a rest. Other than my sore voice, today has been fun. I got good presents and had a fun dinner with my family. And the Bella wine I was saving for Christmas was really sweet :)

I hope all of you had a really good Christmas, and hopefully we'll all meet up lots more times in the holidays.

It was really hot today....annoying.

But last night's Christmas party at the Yagers' was fun. I made mango pudding and, according to Matt and Jace, it was good pudding. And the bowl was emptied, so I'm assuming other people liked it aswell. Another highlight of the party, and what I think is a significant achievement: I beat Matt at a waving competition. Originally it was him, me, Shan, Sean and i think Robbo (if I remember correctly, or maybe he was just watching). Then it was only us two left in the competition. By that stage my hand didn't feel like it was moving, it just felt like there was a weight attached to it. Because my hand was moving so fast, my whole body started to move, meaning I spilled the drink I was holding in my other hand. When he saw this, Matt stopped waving - meaning I won! Yes, it did result in my arm covered in coke, but at least I can say I beat Matt at a waving competition (vague recollections of hearing about having glory over people, from one of Mike's talks)

It was *so* good to see Tiina at the party...I haven't seen her for ages, and I really wasn't expecting her to be there. Matt C, one of the other people I was friends with way back in first year, always hangs around CU events, but I haven't seen Tiina since the end of 2nd year. Ah, I've been at uni a *long* time - and still 2 years to go :P

And it just isn't a party without music and dancing - and it isn't a CU party without crazy dancing. I love Ash, Bec and Katherine's interpretive dance, and then there's my tau'olunga, which looks so much better when danced by real Tongan girls! Hopefully there shall be lots more socials throughout the holidays, it's pretty boring at home. But I've got the youth group Christmas party tomorrow night.

My mum saw the photos from NTE. After seeing a few of them she asked me

'How old are these people?'

It's official, in case she didn't know before, Mum thinks my friends are crazy!

Q: What do you call a man with a shovel on his head?
A: Doug

Yes, I know everyone's heard that before, and so have I. But I got such a funny mental picture when I heard that read out today at a Christmas lunch.

Back to NTE....spiritually it was awesome. Most of the time during the Canberra part, I was feeling physically dodgy but spiritually excellent! Both Richard and Phillip gave very challenging but reassuring talks (I love it when talks are both simultaneously). Although, I *still* don't know why Richard is so against portraying images of Jesus. He brought it up last year aswell (fair enough, when he was talking about Deuteronomy) but I didn't really understand why he thought it necessary to bring it up again. For me, it's a secondary issue. But anyhoo, other than that I liked the talks. God is completely awesome...and we are living anno domini...the year of our Lord. I loved the distinction between BC and AD...it really showed how different we are to the rest of the world, and how we *should* be different.

I was really inspired to pray...for the world, for IFES around the world, for missionaries, for churches, for AFES campuses...prayer is such a beautiful thing because we can make a difference, we can talk to God, *anywhere* and anytime. I don't pray enough, though.

Mission in Blacktown was a very good experience....at first I was kind of sad that the team was split up, but really, i thought our Blacktown team was full of awesome people, and we all worked together really well. Ben Johnson is an absolute legend, and so is his wife, Louise. Just to see their genuine compassion for the people of Blacktown, especially those who are disadvantaged, and to also see their faithfulness to the gospel in all of this, was really encouraging. I was really impressed with everyone, especially people who gave talks and testimonies eg. Rohan, Lauren, Tiff and Chris telling a story to the Sunday School creche kids.

One thing that has challenged me from this mission, for stuff with my own church, is to be more explicit with the gospel. It's great to sing beautifully and God can really minister to people through music, but then its also really important to have the gospel presented clearly in words. And there are also a lot of disadvantaged people around my church....lots of opportunities to reach out to people.

It's not even Christmas and i've already been having so many Christmas dinners. Yesterday was the church fellowship annual dinner, and today was the retirement home dinner. Me and my friend Lupe sang there so we were invited to the dinner. And tonight is my dad's birthday, so there will be a dinner tonight aswell!

Hey, I'm finally home after the madness and beauty that was NTE. It seems really quiet at home, although Daisy is over excited at the moment. How can I possibly write down everything that happened? I'm sure over all of our posts, we will cover most things. I didn't write anything down at NTE, so I am relying solely on my memory. Even against Kate's warning of losing momen-en-te-nen-ten-um, I will post in two parts, to cover two very different aspects of NTE. First, the crazy, socialising...wait a minute, this is just as crazy at home. Stiney is talking to me about spelling bra with two i's...bra-ii!!!! Don't ask. Back to NTE.

Some notable moments..the ones I can remember anyway
*Ash's van...sitting in the back seat with no suspension and going over speed humps. Awesome
* Doug's 'wafer? wafer?'. I don't know if I'll ever eat a wafer again, just for the principle of it.
* The girls photography outing to the lake
* 'Macquarie, the Innovative University! Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!'
* Not quite as good a catchcry....'Fenner fenner fenner, funner funner funner...then I have no idea what came next'
* Frozen custard
* Everyone trying on my hats eg. Jono, Robbo, Sean, Jasmin, Kath...I hope no one has headlice!
*Walking to Rydges....and then hundreds of crazy, dusty uni students walking into Rydges with people in suits looking at us
*All that singing! Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun
* Kate, me, Nat and Jarryd getting back in the same strand group again
* Playing with trolleys in the Fenner dining hall with Shan and Sean (their names sound the same...heehee)
*Later on, looking at Doug riding in a trolley and realising there is a big difference between being pushed down a corridor in a dining hall and being pushed down a hill onto a road.
*Getting to Blacktown, and being asked if play time was all organised...yes, the look on Matt's and my face must have been priceless
*The kids ministry team...what more can I say. Good idea putting the most immature people on mission in a team together. Kath's crazy dances, Sean riding around like a horse, Ali and Bec teaching me the sheep song, which inevitably lead to....
* THE SHEEP OPERA!!!!!!!!
*Kate and I getting giggly for some reason, and acting out 'Galoomph went the little green frog' with a toy frog at our billet Rachel's house, while she was on the phone
*Then having lovely dinner table conversation about heart shaped scabs and kitchen burns (mine, of course)
*Being with the eastern suburbs people eg Tharma, as they realised how some people live out in the west
* Ali and Bec being 6 years old, and me being 4 and a half. I start big school next year
*Ajo thinking Pier's mum was cute...and Mike laughing during the prayers because of that
*Fondue! Strawberries and raspberries and blueberries and banana, all dipped in chocolate

There's probably a lot more...but I can't think of any at the moment. And today I get to put the Christmas tree up!!

Another lovely quote from Thy Stiney, my geographically challenged sister.

Stine: Where's Maroubra?
Bella: It's on the coast and kind of south
Stine: Is it on the North Shore?
Bella: Stine, the North Shore isn't south.

I am *really* excited about NTE. I've been getting all the emails from Mike...hey Matt, it looks like we'll be organising a puppet show again!

My cat is so irritated at the moment, due to her own fussiness. She only ever eats one brand of cat food....and recently, that brand added some kind of dental ingredient...which is supposed to make it better. But, simply because of the slightly different taste, Maddie doesn't eat it. And the original catfood isn't available anymore. So now Maddie is angry at us as if we aren't feeding her, even though her food bowl has been full for the past two days. I'm hoping she'll get hungry enough to just start eating anyway. She really is fussy, she doesn't even eat leftover chicken or fish from our plates! And when she's angry, she scratches :(

Not so good...I got back my applications for doing primary education at Mac next year, and I did not get in. Which sucks. So I might not be at Mac next year, but I will be doing something...it's all very confusing at the moment. Even so, if I'm not at Mac, I will visit you all alot. Prayers are important

Hey, I thought this was funny

http://www.gizoogle.com/

The funniest thing was, I was looking at my church friends sites, and basically I couldn't detect much of a difference!

All finished for the year! I had my last exam today, and as it was an English exam consisting of two essays, I waffled on about nothing in particular for as long as I possibly could - as you do in English exams. But I'm now on holidays (not that I was really working very hard before) and can turn *all* my attention to NTE. I'm so looking forward to it. One thing I'm not looking forward to is having a name tag that says *Ms* Bella Hibbard. I don't like that, I don't feel old enough yet. Still, that is a minor imperfection for an otherwise exciting prospect.

This is also my last day at college for the year and, as I only really use the internet to check my email and friends blogs, I still have some credit remaining from that $25 of internet money I paid way back in Feb. So...I am trying to use it all up today. I've looked at all your blogs several times today, hehe.

Exam supper is on now....I am off to score some free food!

I saw this on Em's blog and I thought it would be a good idea. There are so many things to thank God for...

Things I love:

* God! The fact that He is the most powerful, holy being in the whole universe, and he still loves me and works out so many blessings for me
* Praying to God, bringing to him the huge issues of the world and the trivial little aspects of my own life, and knowing that he is always listening and always answering prayer.
* Reading the Bible and being reminded about God through it
*My mum and dad, because they look after me but also help me grow up, and they nurture my spiritual development and somehow converse with me about my crazy theological issues
* Thy Stiney, who is always crazy and pink
* My animals - my dog, my cat and my two guinea pigs
* All my CU friends - for the craziness and the Spirit-led Christian encouragement, and the fact that most of them are going to be at uni with me for the next 2 years
*CU in general, because of the faithful bible teaching and passion for God, even if sometimes I feel a little too charismatic/pentecostal for it
*My church, which is where I get the charismata from - raising hands, speaking in tongues, multicultural singing, praising God, flags and banners, symbolic prayers,....*and* faithful bible teaching!
* Islander culture, islander time, islander music, islander dancing, islander food, islander clothes, islander people...the fact that the people at church have so readily welcomed a palangi girl into their culture is awesome
*Teaching kids, especially my three tutoring kids who I work with now. They're 11 and 12 year olds and completely different to eachother, but they're all cool
*Staying at uni for another 2 years
*Milo - Em loves tea, I love milo
*Singing praises to God, mostly in the form of traditional hymns both English and Tongan
*Reading because it always amazes me how words on a page can evoke so much
*Flowers - daisies, frangipanis, roses, violets, lilies, jasmine...such a beautiful example of God's creation
*Making paperdolls. A beautiful remnant of my childhood
*Quoting the Simpsons - endless fun
*Good, culturally authentic food
*Cold weather, compared to hot weather(Kate, are you with me?)
*Being 21 but acting 12 most of the time (as was demonstrated at my 21st when I swapped the numbers around)
* Meeting up with old friends you haven't seen for ages and realising you're still as close as you used to be
*Writing my kids stories, and not worrying if they're any good or not
*Enjoying loud, fast, fun pop-punk music without being called a poser
*Playing with my yo-yo even though I can't do any interesting things with it
*Other cultures - whether contemporary or historical
*Rain and the way grass smells after it rains
*Good dragons
*Making lists and realising there is so much to thank God for....

It looks like I'm still going to Tonga. Apparently, its settling down, so it looks like it will be safe to go over Christmas. Still, I'll have to be watching the news to see if anything else happens...and of course, it's still important to pray. But it looks like God has been answering prayers already.

This is not good

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20773729-23109,00.html

I met up with Fiona in the city yesterday, which was really good. Fiona is my best friend from school...we've been best friends since we were twelve and unfortunately I don't get to see her as much as I like, cause she's a ski instructor. So during winter she works in the Snowy Mountains, and next Friday she goes over to America for a few months for their winter. So she hasn't had any summer at all for about three years. The way it works, Fiona is away from home for Christmas, her birthday and my birthday. So I hadn't seen her for months and it was very good to see her again. How good is it when you see someone for the first time in ages and you're still friends like you were the last time you saw them! She teaches little kids how to ski, so we spent a lot of time swapping amusing little kid stories (Em, you will know what I mean!) She isn't a Christian, so please pray for her. She definitely knows I'm a Christian though! I love her because of her caring nature and her crazy sense of humour, and she's all grown up and working now but she's also still like a little kid. Praise God for friends! If I had enough money, I would go visit her in America....but that is *so* out of the question....still, the Snowy Mountains are a little more realistic. Maybe next year I can go visit her and she can teach me how to ski!! Oh, won't that be fun?

It's all coming together. I handed the final part of my application form for doing primary education next year. So...all I need to do know is wait and pray. Please pray that I get into this course, so I can stay with all you guys at Mac next year.

It completely amazes me how much God has been working in all of us over this past semester, especially. Not only in the fun and laughter and craziness that everyone has, but in the way we care for eachother and encourage eachother and pray for eachother. It's all because of God, working within us. Just another thing that shows me how great God is! And at the moment, I have no money because I spent it all on a ticket to Tonga...that is going to be so worth it though.

My little adventure for the day: Dad was driving me to the house of one of my tutoring kids, as always happens on Monday afternoons. But while we were driving, a car slammed in to the back of Dad's car...which then caused Dad to hit the car in front of us. And *then* the car who hit us drove off. So Dad's car is smashed on its front and back, and it had to get towed away. The police came and everything. We got the number plate of the hit and run guy so hopefully the police will catch him.

Thanks to God, even though the car is all smashed up, I'm not hurt at all and neither is Dad. It was funny, I was ringing up the second family I tutor on Mondays, to tell them I couldn't come today, and they're like 'I saw you on Hoxton Park Rd, are you okay?' So now, until Mum gets home from her prayer retreat on Thursday, we have no car.

I've always liked Rove McManus, so I'm very sad to hear that his wife died. I think they were only married for about 2 years.

I have a throat infection and have to go on antibiotics....which is why you haven't seen me at all this week. I never quite got around to going to college, so I've been home for the whole week.

Just cause I was bored....I looked up people's names on the internet, and this is what I came up with....


Kate Hewson

http://www.news.wisc.edu/10375.html

Amanda Smith

http://docsouth.unc.edu/smitham/menu.html

Alison Weaver

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/mis/217548917.html

Matt Sit

http://nuforia.spaces.live.com/ (this was actually the first thing that came up on the search)

Emily Hoare

http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=AHN&db=:1116031&id=I1050

and finally...Bella Hibbard

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/CAN-ONT-WENTWORTH/2000-06/0962200608

Much on the masquerade ball later - but first, a funny incident that happened at home. Keep in mind, after a while, Stiney was completely joking, or was she?

Bella: Stine, do you actually know where Rio is?
Stiney: Italy...Greece...somewhere in Europe
Bella: South America
Bella & Stiney: *laugh loudly*

a few minutes later
Bella: Hey Stiney, what country is Rio in?
Stiney: (triumphantly) South Africa

one more try
Bella: What country is Rio in?
Stiney: South America
Bella: What *country*
Stiney: doh!
Bella: Brazil
Stiney: I always thought Brazil was in Europe...

keep in mind, for this one, Stiney was actually joking
Stiney: I always thought anything that wasn't the US or Africa or Australia or New Zealand was Europe. Is England in Europe?
Bella: Yes
Stiney: Is Ireland?
Bella: Yes
Stiney: Is Scotland?
Bella: Yes.
Stiney: Is Jamaica?
Bella: No.

It's All Saints Day today - personally I like this day. It's a day to think about how faithful God has been to his people throughout history, and to thank God for all of his people throughout the ages who have served him, and especially those who have given their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Also, the bible says we are all saints, because we believe in Christ. So All Saints Day is also our day, so I thank God for all of you guys aswell.

Today, a Wednesday, was crazy as usual. I'm not feeling so good, though, so it was a bit hard to focus on all the merriment going on. Fortunately, I have handed in my last assignment and I only have one exam to go. So I can rest and hopefully get better soon.