| (no subject) |
[Nov. 28th, 2006|12:07 am] |
So...I've just been sitting around western trying to soak up as much time with my friends as possible in the last week. I've been done with school completely since the 23rd. But all of my friends still have finals going so it's been sad just sitting around watching them study. Kris has exams until thursday... :(.....so he's been studying TONS....Erin didn't even start exams until after i was done... and my other friends have finals randomly spread out throughout the weeks....
On saturday...Erin, Christie and I went diving on the S.S. Yongala..It is supposed to be the best dive in Australia. It's a sunken ship that went down in 1911 in a cyclone about 3 hours off of Townsville. It's the grave to 122 people and is home to some AWESOME marine life. HUGE grouper...when I mean huge i'm talking like 6 of me in one fish....lol...they alsoo have huge rays, sharks, lots of sea snakes, sea turtles, and a great variety of tropical reef fish.
The dive was really awesome.. ONCE i got under the water. The Sea was sooooo choppy that day and we had to do about a 50 yd. surface swim to the decent point....IT ABOUT KILLED ME....no lie. I was soooo scared it was the hardest thing i'd ever done and needless to say I went into panic mode. Oh well.. the dives were worth it and a great experience.
People have started leaving today...Our friend Cahill is leaving any minute.. i'm waiting for him to call right now so i can go say bye. And more leave throughout the week. I'm pretty much all packed at this point...it's so hectic trying to get 5 months of living supplies home in two bags haha....
I'm glad to come home to family...and the few friends i have in pontiac and surrounding areas haha....BUT i am really going to miss this place... the people are so relaxed and nice....so is the atmosphere....i'm going to miss the girls....kris...the sun as opposed to snow....I WON'T MISS THE FOOD...i'll miss the drinking age....(not too much ..don't worry mom)....hahaha..
Here are some pics from the dive....
 i little hard to see cuz the bubbles... but this is me and erin underwater..i'm the one giving the 'ok' sign
 sea snake
 Turtle
 ray
 Us girls with the dive crew who saved my life.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 19th, 2006|02:40 am] |
13 days and counting...
This is ridiculous..
-happy
-sad
-stressed
-excited
-nervous
-depressed
too many emotions are starting to happen.... |
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| Airlie Beach |
[Nov. 18th, 2006|02:59 am] |
One exam down and two to go...
Sooo on Wednesday Erin and I got a ride down to Airlie Beach with our friend Cahill who lives on D block with us. Such a fun car ride....we stopped in Bowen where there is a HUGE mango....took back roads he didn't really know....and sang really random songs...FUN!...
Once we got to Airlie...Erin and I decided to try out the hostel/backpacking lifestyle and stayed at Koala's Backpacking Resort. We checked in and were a little intimidated by the situation of living with 7 other strangers...but it turned out to be the best experience ...
The first night one of the guys in the room was from Denmark...his name was Casper...He went out with us after dinner that night and it was soo cool hearing his travel stories...He's been to Thailand and rode through the jungle on an elephant, he's been all over malaysia and was in Australia for a while before heading to New Zealand,Fiji, and then the states. The second night in the hostel there was a girl Nina from England and a guy Tom from Holland that we hung out with. They were so awesome....lots of fun with heaps of more stories...We went out with them the second night as well...ended up meeting a guy...Nick...who was from Orlando. He is only 18 and has been traveling around the world by himself since about August....
They've seen sooo much it makes me so jealous...and it makes me want to see more....so that's a goal i'll just have to work out here in the next few years...
The second day we were in Airlie we took a boat cruise out through the Whitsundays...BEAUTIFUL!!!....We went to Hamilton Island and Whitehaven. Whitehaven's beach is like pure silica and sooo white and amazing. The day was so much fun and helped a bit with the tan. Airlie was seriously just a really sweet little beach town with awesome people...I would love to go back...
We got back friday night around 7 and I had my first final saturday morning at 8am....I was exhuasted to say the least...I'm not exactly sure how i did but I completed all the questions and was more confident about it when i left than i though i would be. Now i'm study for my last 2 exams which are on wednesday and thursday.
here are some pictures....
 Casper...from Denmark
 the giant mango..
 Whitehaven beach
 Tom and Nina
 Me and Nick...
 Erin and I at Airlie |
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| VACATION |
[Nov. 11th, 2006|02:52 am] |
Alright... classes are over....CRAZY!!!
I seriously cannot ...CANNOT....believe that i leave here sooo soon. I try my best to avoid thinking about it... but the reality is that I have to. I must admit I am going to enjoy probably the first 10 minutes i'm back in Chicago when i'm not sweating and sticky...although after that first 10 minutes i'm sure the goosebumps and cold nose will set in and i'll be sick of the dreary Illinois winter haha...
I was so happy today when i got an email from my cousin Nathan asking me to be a sponsor for his son Jackson for his baptism. Being so much younger than most of my family sometimes I feel kind of left out of things like that... It was a really great feeling to know that he wants me to be part of Jackson's life....i smiled lots today!!!!
I guess another thing I have to look forward to is seeing all my family on Dec. 3rd for Thanksgiving dinner...I will probably be jet lagged and crying.. but they will be there to support me and I can't wait for that.
BUT... while i'm still here ... i'm going to try to think about that haha
SOOO this week was pretty relaxed since everythign was finshing up. Now we have a week off before finals start. Most people ( Americans ) have gone a holiday ....Erin and I were planning on staying here the whole week.. but today we decided that we would go down to Airlie Beach for a few days in the middle of the week. It should be beautiful there and I'm so excited to spend time with her before we leave.
I only have 3 finals and will be done with them by Nov. 23...and then don't leave until the 2nd of Dec. so that will be nice to have a week or so to relax and say goodbyes and all that.
This week I went to the Lagoon pool...REALLLY NICE!!!! and tomorrow erin and I are going into town early morning for the market to gather some goodies for ourselves.. since we haven't really bought ourselves many souvenirs...
HEre are a few pictures from Thursday night.. which was the last UNI club night until Dec. 1st when it is the LAST night i'm here and it's Drink The Club Dry Night.... that should be interesting....I'm not drinking that night though... i don't want my goodbyes to be impaired....
Love and miss you all...See you very soon :)
 Me and Ashleigh
 cooling off under the fan that I am scared of because it may potentially fly off and decapitate me...is that how you spell that?
 Me and erin..
 a good candid picture of me being really happy |
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| Last week of classes |
[Nov. 7th, 2006|02:03 am] |
So..it's the last week of classes here at Uni.. and i'm not even kidding when i say that I am soo sad that it's almost over...
Crying comes easy these days apparently for me....when things get brought up about leaving and stuff it's really emotional.. i guess you don't realize when you sign up for these things that ...while they are great and amazing...they do end...
So the past week or so I've pretty much been trying the school thing...hanging out with friends....trying to escape the heat...but mostly just trying to make the most out of the time I have left.
Over the weekend almost everyone who is normally around was gone.. so pretty much martha ann and i held down the fort...We decided one night to dress up and just run around B block like idoits...GOOD TIMES!!!! Until i got sad...It really stinks how sometimes things will get you upset that normally wouldn't.. but when you just so stressed and bothered about other things you just lose it....it stinks cuz it's really hard for others to understand what's going on.
I was having a chat with mom the other day about my time here and things... she fears i've grown distant lately...I know that i have been slacking at updating this and contact IS hard... I just want you guys (family and such who depend on this ) that it is nothing intentional and is just a result of the busy schedule i have here...time difference...and just really trying to get out a bit more around here so i dont feel like i'm wasting any of my precious time with these people who i may never see again...
Here are some recent pictures...
 a bit older.. but a funny one of me and my friends
 all the girls hanging in my room before club night
 hanging in my room
 the night we dressed up |
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| VAL BALL |
[Oct. 30th, 2006|02:47 am] |
AHH soo i have had a really busy week....
For starters i had this huge paper due worth 50% of my overall grade in this one class...STRESSFUL....but i got it done and was pretty happy with it so that's nice...I have another paper due this week and i had two projects due as well. School is starting to get to crunch time...
Last Thursday which is club night at Uni...like 40 people were in my room before we went to the club...since my room is huge compared to others...it was a lot of fun and we got to hang out with some new people.
Saturday was the long awaited Valedictory Ball!!!!! It was amazing....we spent all day getting ready in the very very very very hot summer weather that has decided to invade our lives here in Townsville....It felt like prom all over again. The ball was held at the casino in town and was a blast. Here are the photos from the past week....
 Us american girls with our new friend David
 Ready for val ball
 All the D block girls
 Me and Laura at Val
 Erin and I playing in the bubble machine at val... i loved it...
 me and Kris...but we all call him tiny...australians love nicknames...
 D block girls dancing... |
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| I'm sorry |
[Oct. 24th, 2006|12:32 am] |
Alright...i just finished writing the intro to my second paper for the week out of three that are due by friday... FUN!!!! I know that i have not updated this in AGES....and I am really really really sorry for that....I have been so busy... there is actually school work to do here unfortunately...
Sooo what's new with me.. um.....I'm doing better in my Marine bio class than i expected which ROCKS!!!! i thought I was failing miserably .. BUT i'm not at all!!!! I have been working on this huge report for my rainforest ecology class and it's soo hard... if i understoody any of the data i'd feel much better about it... BUT i don't....
Besides school which isn't exactly on the top of my list of things i want to talk about....there has been a lot going on in my social life. 2 weekends ago we had 'Ass on the Grass' which was a HUGE outdoor party and my dorm with jello pools and slippery slides and such. It was sooo messy but sooo much fun...The night before that erin, april, and I had gone out in town and gotten mad at each other so I went to the party alond and ended up meeting a ton of new people and having a great time. Things have still been kinda weird between erin, ashleigh, april, and I ....just because I started hanging out with other people too.. but things are getting better. This past weekend we went on on saturday and it was awesome because usually there are 2 different groups of girls whom i'm friends with both but they never hang out all together... UNTIL SATURDAY!!!! it was great....we all went out...got along.. and had a great time...It was probably the best weekend i have had here.
Here are some pictures from recently...but really besides hanging out with friends and writing endless amounts of words i don't understand... not that much is new with me....
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| Finally have some spare time... |
[Oct. 6th, 2006|02:41 pm] |
Alright SOO....i've been busy haha...
Tangalooma was AMAZING...sand tobogganing...naps on the beach.. time with mom...it was all amazing...But honestly the funniest part about the whole experience out on the island was the night time entertainment. Now.. i know anyone reading this should be familiar with the movie Dirty Dancing...and I'm not even kidding when I say that mom and I very well could have been staying at that very resort haha... The enviroment at night was sooo similar.. GOOD OLE FAMILY FUN!!! HAHA....The first night we were there the entertainment was the Tanga Races. This game was AMAZING! They had 6 wooden horses on like poles and this grid on the floor and they would role 2 dice to see the number of the horse and then how far it moved. Little kids got to be the jockeys...is that how you spell that??? And this guy Terry who basically ran the entire resort i'm pretty sure haha he commentated the whole thing and was awesome. However not only did you just watch this crazy entertainment.. you ACTUALLY placed bets and won money...
I bid on two horses...both which had my name in them so it was a lucky choice since I won both times....I should be in vegas haha...
The next night they had a dance which was a bunch of kids running around loving life. Makes you think of the days when you were that innocent and unknowing of all the other stuff going on in the world...
Speaking of... while on vacation...another international student over here from the states that I am friends with was in a car accident and passed away. It was a horrible tradgedy and I really still can't believe it happend... RIP Phil "Maryland"....
so...break is now over and a full week of school has gone by...it's getting to crunch time.. lots of projects and papers due. STRESS!!! but the bad thing is I AM TIRED ALL THE TIME....I am really worried I may be falling back into mono....I am trying my best to keep rested and take it easy.. i sleep alot.. but it never seems to help...ahh i dunno i'll be home soon enough i guess and i can rest up...
Since returning to Uni on Sunday Erin and I have seen the movie Step Up in theatres THREE times haha.. WE LOVE IT!!!! best movie in a long time haha...I RECOMMEND IT !!!
Let's see what else...12 weeks til christmas... SCARY.. saw a sign in the mall the other day that said that and it was crazy. Where the heck does time go?
I am really starting to miss home...jon...my dog...MOM of course...breakfast NOT consisting of spagehtti...REAL food...stores open past 6 pm...it not being 100 degrees at 8am...jon...my car...real food and not just toast...
as much as i miss those things... i will really miss things here and it's hard to think about because I really don't know if I will EVER see some of these people again.. but this world i all about connections i suppose and I'm definately making those these days...
I'll shut up now haha here are some pictures...
 mom and i at sunset on Tangalooma
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| TANGALOOMA |
[Sep. 28th, 2006|08:33 pm] |
Well... we are on the last leg of our journey here down under...
Gold Coast was fun...the weather was a bit disappointing..but what can we do...We definately were able to catch up on some well needed rest after footing around Sydney. Mom was able to hold a Koala...pet some kangaroos...lay outt..eat at Hard Rock...ya know.. all the stuff you're supposed to do here.
Today we headed up to Brisbane to get the ferry out to Moreton Island and Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort... IT'S GREAT!!! the weather was beautiful and we were able to lay on the beach all afternoon resting and soaking up some sun...Tomorrow should be eventful as we have a desert safari trip ( which includes sand tobogganing ) and then a whale watching cruise and THEN the wild dolphin feed.
Needless to say we need our rest... sorry no pictures until the end of the trip most likely....these internet kiosks do not allow our jump drives.
Miss you all...
Allison and Lori |
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| Surfers Paradise |
[Sep. 26th, 2006|10:34 pm] |
Well we've made it safely to the Gold Coast...Surfer's paradise to be more exact...it's a lot like daytona beach and very nice for some leisure time.
Once we got in today we slept for a few hours and then headed down the strip for some dinner at Hungry Jacks..like burger king in the states...we are trying to save ourselves some money.. haha...
Pretty non eventful day to say the least.. BUT in our free time we have gotten pictures so... here ya go.. ENJOY!!
Miss you all |
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| Sydney...Day 2 |
[Sep. 24th, 2006|08:05 pm] |
Wow..walking is seriously getting to me! Today we opted for more taxis as opposed to walking to save our feet for the 6 days we have left on this trip. Today we went to 'The Rocks' district of Sydney to this huge market they have every weekend. It was an amazing market with lots to buy. It was in the oldest district of Sydney so...very cute and almost felt like Europe.. or i guess what i think europe would be like since i havne't been.
After that we went to the Wildlife World..which honestly was a little disappointing.. so we will be needing to visit another zoo here at somepoint ...their collection of roos and koalas was a bit scarse for Sydney...we thought.
We mostly shopped today and took a look around at things....Now we are getting ready to head to dinner and get a good nights rest for our flight to the Gold Coast tomorrow. BEACHES!!!! we can't wait....our feet will love us for the sand and ocean.
Glad to hear back from you guys :)....keep in touch...more tomorrow once we arrive at the beach...
Allison and Lori |
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| Spring break |
[Sep. 23rd, 2006|10:08 pm] |
G'day from down under...Mom made it here safely and we are now in Sydney having a wonderful time. My two friends Erin and Martha Anne got delayed overnight on their way to New Zealand and so we had them crash in our hotel in Sydney the first night.
Our first day was quite the adventure and has left us both exhausted and with sore, burning feet. Oh well.. what it takes to see this world I suppose. We started walking at 9am and didn't stop until 5pm with less than an hour of sitting that whole time...i'm impressed. We saw the Opera House, bridge, aquarium, Darling Harbour, Hyde Park, some crazy shops and the largest department store i've ever seen with the MOST shoes and purses in one place at one time i'm certain. It was chaotic..ha...
We ate at the Hard Rock tonight which was delicious. Considering at school i honestly eat nothing but toast. For lunch we ate at the Sidewalk Cafe right outside of the opera house. Very picturesque! We have over 150 pictures from today alone, but the internet kiosk here at the hotel does not have a USB for our jump drives...so pictures will be up in a few days as soon as we find a good cafe to upload in.
As for now.. we are pooped and have another eventful day in store for tomorrow. We will keep this updated for your viewing pleasure...
We encourage your comments because quite frankly...i hate writing to this and not hearing back...BORING..and besides.. i want to know what you all are doing ...
We love you and miss you all....
Allison and Lori |
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| Lazy weekend |
[Sep. 17th, 2006|09:06 am] |
Ahh...another week down....it's going SO fast I can't believe it. This week was pretty good,i actually started doing school work. With the quiz and then I had a practical notebook due friday. Oh..but I'm pretty sure I have started living in the lab due to our rainforst ecology project. I have never spent more time in a lab in my life. It's pretty cool though..i'm learning alot.
Thursday night was pretty uneventful,we usually go out to the club on campus but i stayed in and watched movies with a friend and i don't plan to do much besides school work this weekend. I have a huge test on wednesday and i'm getting REAL nervous about it. Ashleigh and April are gone on an adventure weekend with the program they came here with so it's just Erin and I holding down the fort. We are having a blast though. Last night we watched Titanic and high School Musical ( DUH!!! ) and then my friend jon came over and we all played cards and stuff.
Today (saturday) the plan is sleeping in.. which i've already messed up since it's 9 am and i'm updating this...but she's still sleeping so i must wait for breakfast...anyways..we plan on studying...making videos to send home...studying...studying...watching One Tree Hill...studying...
All I have to say is that it sounds like a GREAT day haha...
 from my marine bio field trip on Maggie Island...with the cutest little sea cucumber..
 Walking into the water.. in tennis shoes..BAD IDEA...but they were my only option
 Our lab...GORGEOUS!!!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 14th, 2006|11:50 pm] |
So...I finally got a new room on Tuesday night...i'm in a single now and loving every second of it. The good thing is my room used to be a double but now is a single so it's huge...i guess i only had to live in hell for a month to get the good end of the deal. Let's see what else is new...the 4 of us girls are planning a surprise for D block for next thursday and went costume shoping at the thrift store ...we got some goodies...Dress up was fun!...i had my first quiz of the school year today and I'm pretty sure it killed me. It was for marine invert. and it was the quickest thing ever...we only had 2 minutes to answer each question that had like 5 parts. SOO stressful..
Soccer games were tonight and the boys won both games... i'm in love with soccer now...it's so much fun to watch and get into. I ate at Hungry Jacks for my first time today as well. It was delicious...Bacon Deluxe Meal...YUM!!! Let's see.. tomorrow is thursday and i have a lot of work today .. this weekend Erin and I are dedicating to study so i'm hoping it rains and i don't feel bad about not doing anything.
I need to get going on figuring out where i'm taking classes next semester and all that jazz...
enjoy the new pics...I am making a video soon and will hopefully be able to get that link to ya'll somehow...
 in our costumes..
 me and my bestie Erin
 me and April
OH YEAH... DID I MENTION THAT ALL 4 OF US GIRLS ARE ONLY CHILDREN...
It explains so much of how we act hahahah |
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| IMAX |
[Sep. 11th, 2006|09:28 pm] |
Well...we went out last night which was a good time. I honestly feel like I know more people here than I did back in Charleston. I think because in Charleston we lived in our suite and were pretty isolated and my roomates and i all got really close where here the dorm is a lot more social and everyone does school activities and stuff. It's so much fun and nice to know you have the company of so many. The dorm next to mine had thier pub crawl last night and we ended up running into them at the end of thier event at a pub in town... that was interesting. Their theme was white trash and tycoon...so there were some interesting people roaming around.
This morning the girls and i went into town to the aquarium to watch the IMAX all day. We saw two of the shows....Deep Sea ...and Whales. Erin and I were in love the whole time haha. It was a lot of fun. I swear though.. everything is closed on Sundays and it's impossible to find food.
Other than the Imax...it was a pretty easy going day....i've just been working on my homework and relaxing listening to music tonight..i think i'm going to head to bed here soon and watch a movie.
I still can't stand my roomate....realllll bizarre ....i don't understand...my friends don't get it either....oh well...
I can't wait for semester break... seeing mom will be AMAZING...
some pics from the weekend...
 my friend mike.. who really wants to be a pirate..
 SMURFS??? haha i loved it
 Erin and I at the aquarium |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 10th, 2006|07:59 pm] |
"One More girl"
I took off my iron smile babe
cause i felt it weighed me down tomorrow when the world wakes up i'll be in another town
you dont know what you want at this moment could be me
you move your hand across from me turn me into some novelty
i guess i'm one more girl on the stage
just one more ass that got stuffed in some jeans
it's one more day that you dont find true love because you dont know what it means yeah.
did you ever take the time to think about who i might be?
where i've been what i'm thinkin who i love what i've seen yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
one more crowd on the road there you might pass on your way home
someone sister, someones wife or just some bitch who's probably got no life.
some old girl on the stage just one more ass that got stuffed in some jeans.
and it's one more day that you dont find true love
because you don't know what it means yeah.
"Lay me Down"
You let me in cause after all it seemed like the right thing to do
I close my eyes and let you fall
I wonder what you could possibly know
about breaking down that I don't
It's been a while since I begged for anything now I want more
So lay me down I'm lonely
you don't understand me
you never even tried to anyway
I hear you say it's not the same
i'm sorry it's just something I just can't explan
So shut your mouth and hold me close
we know it's better than being alone
I don't mind killing time
as long as I can't see it in your eyes
lay me down I'm lonely
you don't understand me
you never even tried to anyway
If wanting you is wrong then I'm wrong I admit it
Time after time you'll realize you don't mean it
lay me down I'm lonely
you don't understand me
you never even tried to anyway
You don't understand me, you never even tried to anyway
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| Maggie Island |
[Sep. 10th, 2006|07:44 pm] |
So today was good fun....we had our field trip to magnetic island for my marine ivert. class. My friend April and I got up at 8:30 to get ready so we could eat breakie and catch the bus at 10:30...but of course we messed up the bu schedule so the bus was really at 10:10 which would take us into town to catch another bus so we could get on the 12 ferry to the island...but needless to say...we missed the bus...
Luckily we knew someone with a car who was going too so we waited for him to take us...well he was a slow poke and we lef at 11:30 and made it to the ferry with one minute to spare...ahh close call...haha
Once we got there the field trip was real cool. We had to transect 15 different plots 5 plots in 3 different tidal zones and then classify the sediments and analyse all the different invertebates present. We saw a bunch of sea stars...sea cucumbers..flat worms..crabs..snails...eels...brittle stars...it was awesome. My friend had the camera so i'll have to wait for her to upload the pics...but here are some on the ferry....
Going to town tonight....
 April and I happy we made the ferry
 real smelly and tired on the way home.. |
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| Late night labs |
[Sep. 9th, 2006|05:50 pm] |
Ah.. another intense week here at JCU is over... and i must say it was a pretty good week. Since I was gone on monday i was a little confused starting my week on tuesday but it made it go quickly. Lot's of class and stuff...and then there was the lab work for my rainforest project. My group spent many long hours in the lab this week including last night which lasted from 4-9 in the lab...It was pretty crazy though becasue our teacher had to go home and he just left us alone in his lab to do this stuff...which is partially why it took so long.. but we did it...It was fun and our group is great so it wasn't really work. haha...I really love the people i'm meeting here... it is so weird to think we'll all be leaving and going back to everyday life in the USA in a few months.
Break is almost here.. I can't wait... it'll be a very intense very weeks leading up to it though. I have another field trip tomorrow for my Marine Biology class out on Maggie Island. It should be fun.. we are pretty much sectioning off the beach and then identifying the different invertebrates we find and stuff like that...
I got to lay out today by the pool which was refreshing. I haven't swam in a pool in a long time..Taylor and I were having a blast. I think it's going to be a pretty low key weekend...probably watch more High School Musical...One Tree Hill....and work on some homework.
OHHH so as you may know I'm in love with High School Musical as are the other three girls i spend all my time with.. and my entire floor for that matter...but anyways.. High School Musical 2 comes out in 2007 and we've decided that that will be the perfect opportunity for a reunion. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! here are some pictures....
Hope everyone reading this is doing well...I miss you all
 working in the lab...
 i'm not kidding when i said it was a long night...
 High School Musical Fan Club.. and 4 great friends
 this is Anna.. she knew Paul from SIUE... and we love not liking him.....it's a really funny thing becacsue she knew about me and then we met here and were like OMG haha.. prety funny stuff if you ask me... |
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typicalystrange's journal
