Busy Bee

I've been such a busy bee these last few weeks, but things have finally settled down.

Classes are great. I think I went into detail about this before but if not heres a quick explanation. They don't have classes MWF or TT like we do, they are usually just one day for lecture (about an hour) and then a tut (lab) and the times vary but most are an hour. In the tuts you have a presentation and have to pretty much teach the class for 15 minutes about that weeks topic. I've done one of my presentations already and it went very well!

We went to Cairns last weekend and I was able to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef! It was wonderful! Since it's their rainy season the town was a little gloomy but we found our own fun and had a blast. One of the days we were in Cairns we went on an all day tour around the city and were able to see (and play with) tons of kangaroos at a wildlife reserve.

The weekend before our Cairns trip we went to a parade down Oxford street called "Mardi Gras" We didn't know that you have to get there 5 hours early and we weren't able to see any of the parade! Regardless it was fun to be in the city with everyone and we met some great friends!

When we aren't attending crazy events we go to the beach, hang out on campus or watch movies.

I haven't really hit a snag yet or found something I didn't like here. It makes me nervous because I'm already dreading leaving!

I found the YoungLife here and got involved with their club! On Friday I went to club and this Thursday I'm planning on doing contact work at the school so that will be a lot of fun!

Other then that, nothing else seems to be new. I'll update more when more stuff happens!

Much love.

I like to Pray, Pray, Pray, Prapples and Prananas

As if I haven't spoken of it enough, I am leaving for Australia in less then 3 weeks. What started as a idea and motivated by an obsession with outback steakhouse commercials will soon be a reality.

A few moments after I got the email notifying me of my acceptance I spent a good amount of time with the Lord in prayer and praise. A few of you have asked me what you can be praying for and so I thought I might share a few of my prayer requests for this journey so they can be lifted up by my (favorite) brothers and sisters.

-God to be glorified during this 5 month trip
-Comfort for my family (especially my mom!!)
-My flight to LA and then Fiji
-The family I am staying with in Fiji for 10 days during my Environmental Studies class
-The other study abroad student I am staying with in Fiji with the host family
-My classes in Fiji
-My flight from Fiji to Sydney
-My roommates in Sydney
-That I will find/have a support system in Australia
-My flight to Cairns & The Great Barrier Reef/My flight from Cairns back to Sydney
-Safety in the Great Barrier Reef
-My classes in Sydney
-Friends I meet in Sydney and in Fiji to see the love of Christ poured out through my actions
-General safety
-Hopefully being able to go to New Zealand during one of the school breaks
-Remaining in constant prayer during the entire trip
-Encouragement to continue reading daily
-Not getting sick or needing to go to the hospital in a foreign country
-Flight back to US
-Great memories and friends
-God's Kingdom to grow

Thanks so much. Prayer is so important and I would feel so blessed to have you praying for me. Please let me know if there is anything I can be praying about for you.

P.S. if you are wondering what that picture is, it's a fish I had last year that I named Cairns so that every time I thought of him or fed him or cleaned out his bowl I would remember to pray for Australia and this trip. It ended with me being obsessed with him...over feeding him and finding him dead. RIP. Also, the background is a picture I drew of Australia. College rocks.

Pictures!

This is my seat at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium for the Arkansas/A&M first rivalry game. After camping out for 15 hours I have a seat at row 8, seat 1!




My fish Cairns!












My dorm room!!







My roommates & our living room!