Two Months Worth of Adventures

I can't apologize enough for taking so long to get this done. Mid-term assessment time came around and I suddenly had no time to do anything fun. I even spent my 21st Birthday writing a paper. But here's a recap of everything covered in this video:

The Barbeque:

"The Group" as it has come to be known, was just in its infancy when we were all invited over to Tim's for a genuine Aussie barbeque complete with Roo and Goon punch. It was decided immediately that Kangaroo is some of the best meat money can buy with a taste similar to steak, but leaner. The goon punch was pretty good, too. For anyone out of the loop, goon is boxed wine... pretty much the only affordable alcohol here in Australia. It's disgusting, but if you mix it with some juice and sprinkle in some other alcohols, it can be pretty good. After some swimming and cane toad catching (see picture below), things got pretty crazy. The blokes left us ladies alone in the house while they went to get pizza, during which Tim crashed the car. When they got back, we were pretty much swimming in a pool of goon punch on Tim's floor. Not a pretty sight... but awesomely fun nonetheless!

Crystal Creek:

Probably one of the most amazing weekends of my life was the weekend I discovered Crystal Creek. For those of you in Missouri who have been to Johnson Shut-Ins... Crystal Creek is WAAAY better. It's like Johnson Shut-Ins on steroids. We splashed around in the cool crisp water and jumped from awesome heights into the wells. We slid down the naturally smooth rock slides about a million times and just relaxed in the calmer waters.. all while looking out over the lush, green mountains and valleys that surrounded the area. That night when we came back, we took a walk over to the Ross River where we skinny dipped and swung from the tree rope into the water. We almost got caught... but I'll just let Tim tell the story. The next day we went back to Crystal Creek to have our fun all over again. This time, though, we stopped on the side of the road to steal some sugar cane, and then spent a considerable amount of time figuring out how we should eat it. Much more tasty, was when we stopped at Frosty Mango on the way back that evening. To say that the ice cream there is amazing would be an understatement. I had fresh Mango ice cream that was to die for. We continued our gluttonous adventure by stopping for huge pizzas that were the most American I've been able to find. Big, greasy, and full of toppings, just the way we like 'em. :) I'm not sure how I could have stuck anymore adventure in that weekend. It was absolutely amazing, and I spent it with AMAZING people.

My Biology Field Trip:

My field trip to Pallarenda Beach was full of academic discovery. We took a profile of the tidal zone, found lots of animals, and dug many holes. It was the first time in my life that I had seen wild sand dollars, hermit crabs, and bivalve siphons. I was pretty excited. This trip ended with an epic math fail. Damn subtraction.

Rock Climbing:

Ryan decided to take a bunch of us to a gym in Townsville to go rock climbing. We spent a few hours scaling up and down the wall. Actually, I'm pretty sure the majority of us spent most of the time on the ground sitting or doing hand-stands while watching Ryan and Rayna own the wall. While I was at the gym, I got a job there teaching Zumba, and Ryan got one supervising the rock wall. I'd say it was a pretty productive day! After we left the gym, we went to the Riverway swimming pool. The pool was beautiful and amazingly, it was free. Ryan got in trouble for climbing trees (what, the walls weren't enough?), and then we went to Dominoes for all you can eat pizza. I'm pretty sure all of us had enough pizza for 4 people each. So much for all those calories we burned throughout the rest of the day!

Bowling for Ryan's Birthday:

For Ryan's 23rd birthday, he wanted to go bowling, and so we did. We all had fun nicknames (mine was Pinky), and spent a lot of time bowling like crazy people. The first round, when I was bowling seriously, I bowled the best game of my life... 68! I was super proud. Ryan drove Sharon and I on his motorcycle (at different times, of course!) which was TOTALLY awesome! We ended the night drinking and watching Disney movies. Pretty sweet, if you ask me!

Well, those are only a few of the many adventures I had over the last few months that have yet to make it onto my blog.

It's coming!

I am currently working on the new video blog. It should be up by the end of the week. You'll be able to see things like: rock climbing, bowling, Crystal Creek, a biology field trip, and more! Thanks so much for your patience as I work around my busy uni and travel schedules to get these done!

I'm Defying Gravity

I have been listening to this song a lot lately. Gotta love it.

Defying Gravity - Wicked

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm threw with playing by the rules of someone else's game

Too late for second guessing
too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes...
And leap

It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down

I'm through accepting limits
Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But til I try I'll never know

Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love
I guess I've lost
Well if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down

Unlimited
Together we're unlimited
Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been
Galinda
Dreams the way we planned em
If we work in tandem
There's no fight we cannot win

Just you and I defying gravity
With you and I defying gravity
They'll never bring us down

...

I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy
My friend

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky
As someone told me lately
Everyone deserves the chance to fly
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I'm defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down
Bring me down
Ahhh!

:)