7.25 am tomorrow morning : Flying over to Sydney for speedy awesome weekend of Superstarness (ie seeing the majority of the Harris clan, woohoo!!) to assist in celebrating the 'sparkling' Susie's 21st :D
and then...
Monday = entering the marvellous (to keep with alliteration) Mizza's household for and entire MONTH (that's right, a whole month! No placing bets on who'll squabble first :oP) with my beautiful Sleepover Club girls...
Can't wait!! Now I'd better go pack ...
Friday, March 31, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
diamonds are forever ... or are they?
Two posts in one week, that's gotta be a record for me!
Has anyone seen the filmclip for 'Stupid Girls' by Pink? At first I dismissed the song as being overly cynical and silly, but i actually found myself chuckling, and then *gasp* laughing when I watched it the other day. It's funny and says a lot about how much we judge things on outward appearance in our culture- especially girls in how they (we) act sometimes. That's not to say that we don't place value on 'deeper' things and look past the surface to character, but that's just it-there always seems to be a bit of friction between judging by outward appearance, and not caring about that stuff. Like thinking on the one hand 'my gosh, I can't believe that person is wearing that, they must be a bit unsavoury' or something, and at the same time 'they look interesting, I wonder what their life story is'. Or seeing a show like Australian Story, and then in the same hour watching 'Australia's Next Top Model'.
Lol that's a bit random and not well expressed, but there's my random thought for the day :P I hope I'm not turning into a cynical arts student!
Has anyone seen the filmclip for 'Stupid Girls' by Pink? At first I dismissed the song as being overly cynical and silly, but i actually found myself chuckling, and then *gasp* laughing when I watched it the other day. It's funny and says a lot about how much we judge things on outward appearance in our culture- especially girls in how they (we) act sometimes. That's not to say that we don't place value on 'deeper' things and look past the surface to character, but that's just it-there always seems to be a bit of friction between judging by outward appearance, and not caring about that stuff. Like thinking on the one hand 'my gosh, I can't believe that person is wearing that, they must be a bit unsavoury' or something, and at the same time 'they look interesting, I wonder what their life story is'. Or seeing a show like Australian Story, and then in the same hour watching 'Australia's Next Top Model'.
Lol that's a bit random and not well expressed, but there's my random thought for the day :P I hope I'm not turning into a cynical arts student!
Monday, March 20, 2006
I don't know how it happens, one second I'm outside reading stuff for history, and the next I find myself inside reading blogs. How did I get here? It's like I'm driven by some strange force called procrastination ... I'm starting to get sick of that word! Actually the topic we're doing at the moment is really interesting - the Reformation and all that entails (much more interesting than the trade routes and empire expansion of the last couple of weeks ... well, easier to understand anyway)
Rode into Uni again today, which was good fun and surprisingly quicker to get there on the way there than the bus. I had to sneakily go cross-country on the closed off Dequetteville Tce amidst big pieces of machinery and massive seating stands for Clipsal- already there are so many roads closed off for it, it's crazy! I went thru the parklands and avoided most of the main roads - it's so freaky when a massive bus suddenly starts looming up behind you - I always think of the worst case scenario on main rds and imagine someone opening their car door, only for me to ride right on into it, or swerving into the bus or something dramatic, but there were no such dire happenings... Actually it was quite pleasant!
Philosophy's been interesting - partic the tutorials. I realised that kind of for the first time I'm in a debating situation with people who (in terms of Christianity, or belief in God) largely think a lot differently than I do. That's the reason that I decided to do the subject though, to be challenged out of my comfort zones. We were analysing an argument about intelligent design (this thing called the Paley's Watch theory - basically that if we see a watch or piece of intricate mechanism, we assume that it has a maker. In the same way all around us, in nature and the universe, are 'intricate pieces of natural mechanism's' all inter-relating and working together in complex ways, and thus we can infer that there is an ultimate Maker) the other day, and I was a bit surprised by my natural reaction to pull back a bit and be defensive (in my mind anyway) about my own beliefs. I guess it highlighted to me that I want to work these things out for myself, and can't always lean on other peoples opinions to pull me through, if that kind of makes sense.
In other news, it's almost a week since Lib left us for the States - everyone keep thinking of and praying for her!! Sounds like she's having a pretty rad time already, even if she's a bit homesick :P
back to the books...
Rode into Uni again today, which was good fun and surprisingly quicker to get there on the way there than the bus. I had to sneakily go cross-country on the closed off Dequetteville Tce amidst big pieces of machinery and massive seating stands for Clipsal- already there are so many roads closed off for it, it's crazy! I went thru the parklands and avoided most of the main roads - it's so freaky when a massive bus suddenly starts looming up behind you - I always think of the worst case scenario on main rds and imagine someone opening their car door, only for me to ride right on into it, or swerving into the bus or something dramatic, but there were no such dire happenings... Actually it was quite pleasant!
Philosophy's been interesting - partic the tutorials. I realised that kind of for the first time I'm in a debating situation with people who (in terms of Christianity, or belief in God) largely think a lot differently than I do. That's the reason that I decided to do the subject though, to be challenged out of my comfort zones. We were analysing an argument about intelligent design (this thing called the Paley's Watch theory - basically that if we see a watch or piece of intricate mechanism, we assume that it has a maker. In the same way all around us, in nature and the universe, are 'intricate pieces of natural mechanism's' all inter-relating and working together in complex ways, and thus we can infer that there is an ultimate Maker) the other day, and I was a bit surprised by my natural reaction to pull back a bit and be defensive (in my mind anyway) about my own beliefs. I guess it highlighted to me that I want to work these things out for myself, and can't always lean on other peoples opinions to pull me through, if that kind of makes sense.
In other news, it's almost a week since Lib left us for the States - everyone keep thinking of and praying for her!! Sounds like she's having a pretty rad time already, even if she's a bit homesick :P
back to the books...
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Woohoo for CFS sufferers!!
Some of you would probably know that when I was around 9 I got CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm 95% recovered from it now (I still get the foggy brain type symptoms and tiredness effects me a fair bit, but I don't know if that's just me anyway :P) which I feel pretty lucky about because for a lot of people it can be much worse than how it was, and last a lot longer. But ANYWAY there's a good chance that you've known someone with CFS or heard about it in some form, and you may be familiar with the 'real, not real' sort of debate about it because scientists have found it hard to find physical 'proof' apart from lists of common symptoms or circumstances. BUT read this article, I was so excited when I read it. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but theres so much stigma about CFS, and a lot of sufferers find it so frustrating when they can't put a label on what they've got and think they're going crazy, or it's just all in the mind (Leigh Hatcher's book 'I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just a Little Unwell' explains his experiences of that particularly well and honestly) that reading something like this is a huge relief, and a big breakthrough.
" Brain injury linked to chronic fatigue
New research into chronic fatigue syndrome suggests that it may be caused by temporary brain injuries resulting from a bout of glandular fever.
Australian scientists have monitored the health of people infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever.
Professor Andrew Lloyd, from the University of New South Wales, says they have found that those who go on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome are likely to have suffered trauma to the brain during their illness.
"It's an injury in the sense that it wasn't there - people were perfectly well - something in the acute phase of the illness went wrong and then it slowly recovers like a broken arm or a broken leg," he said.
"It's just that in this case its taking weeks to months rather than days or quicker."
Professor Lloyd says the findings show that chronic fatigue syndrome is a real condition.
"I personally have never had a doubt that it's real because there are people who have got a set of symptoms that are unexplained," he said.
"The real versus not real thing is often caught up in the mistaken notion about malingering or it's all depression but really there's no evidence to support that.
"So in a nutshell yes, it clearly supports the argument that it's real." "
" Brain injury linked to chronic fatigue
New research into chronic fatigue syndrome suggests that it may be caused by temporary brain injuries resulting from a bout of glandular fever.
Australian scientists have monitored the health of people infected with the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever.
Professor Andrew Lloyd, from the University of New South Wales, says they have found that those who go on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome are likely to have suffered trauma to the brain during their illness.
"It's an injury in the sense that it wasn't there - people were perfectly well - something in the acute phase of the illness went wrong and then it slowly recovers like a broken arm or a broken leg," he said.
"It's just that in this case its taking weeks to months rather than days or quicker."
Professor Lloyd says the findings show that chronic fatigue syndrome is a real condition.
"I personally have never had a doubt that it's real because there are people who have got a set of symptoms that are unexplained," he said.
"The real versus not real thing is often caught up in the mistaken notion about malingering or it's all depression but really there's no evidence to support that.
"So in a nutshell yes, it clearly supports the argument that it's real." "
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Autumn leaves fall and are swept out of sight ...
Welcome to Autumn! I'm appropriately listening to 'The First Day of Autumn' by Enya which is making me think the end of Summer's not so bad. Summer's my favourite time of year and I've had a fantasticly busy Summer, but Autumn is beautiful, and I'm sure will bring lots of challenging but exciting new experiences...
One of which is starting Uni this week! On the one hand I think it'll take a bit more getting used to than I anticipated, but on the other I've seen SO many people I know around campus and town that it reminds me I'm not alone in it all. I've also realised just how spoilt I've been for the past 5 years living next door to school - having to navigate my way into town by bus, bike or car is something I'll have to get used to (and isn't so bad a thing - biking will be great excercise, and I like going on bus' and people watching or contemplating). I think I'm liking all the subjects I chose - particularly Intro to Latin and Ancient Greek which'll be hard but fun. The other subjects I'm doing are Classics (no surprises there!), Philosophy and History, and also anthropology in the second semester which I'm really looking forward to. Oh and annoyingly though I managed to get through the entirity of year 12 without getting sick, I've managed to get some wierd fevery cold thing this week :S Oh well I can't complain really, a chance to get some good rest in :) It has meant though that I've found it a bit harder to be really 'with it' and make more of an effort to introduce myself to new people ...
Just to work backwards I also had a really good weekend - much of which has already been documented on Phili's blog articulately! An encouraging and thought provoking EFAC introduction to the Archbishop Jeffory Driver on Friday night - his own address was encouraging, and then the question time directed at him thought provoking. It brought my thinking about the 'women' issues such as ordination and in the home to the surface again, which is great! Saturday brought Ignition - a one stop training shop - where I did the youth ministry stream which was helpful and, dare I say it, ignited some ideas inside me. That night I accompanied Dan, Phili, Ali, Emily, Nick and Pat to 'Pluck' (a string trio - the two guys playing violin, and rather petite but agile girl playing cello) and then out to a fun Chinese dinner on Gouger street. Lots of fun and craziness! Sunday morning I did Sparklers for Mum (she was on the Women's Retreat, which went really well by the sounds of it) which was just fun - they're so gorgeous at that age (3-4 or 5ish), the comments they come out with! Then onto a Pancake Kitchen belated birthday lunch for Miz with Anne and Jordan, where we pored over a wedding magazine, and admired the rather sizeable ring we got her (eat that Jordan!). Before SAS I went to the new prayer meeting (which I'd forgotten to go to the previous fortnight) which I found quite encouraging - I find it hard to be disclipined in praying sometimes, so praying so specifically for prayer points in a group before the service helped shift my mindset to be more in line with God, and calm my scurrying mind.
Anyway, I'd better go get an early night as promised. Hopefully I'll sleep better than last night! *NB Thank goodness for Dad's (read: mine) - I felt very cared for as I was dropped off and picked up from each of my lectures, sniffling and keeping off a fever!
One of which is starting Uni this week! On the one hand I think it'll take a bit more getting used to than I anticipated, but on the other I've seen SO many people I know around campus and town that it reminds me I'm not alone in it all. I've also realised just how spoilt I've been for the past 5 years living next door to school - having to navigate my way into town by bus, bike or car is something I'll have to get used to (and isn't so bad a thing - biking will be great excercise, and I like going on bus' and people watching or contemplating). I think I'm liking all the subjects I chose - particularly Intro to Latin and Ancient Greek which'll be hard but fun. The other subjects I'm doing are Classics (no surprises there!), Philosophy and History, and also anthropology in the second semester which I'm really looking forward to. Oh and annoyingly though I managed to get through the entirity of year 12 without getting sick, I've managed to get some wierd fevery cold thing this week :S Oh well I can't complain really, a chance to get some good rest in :) It has meant though that I've found it a bit harder to be really 'with it' and make more of an effort to introduce myself to new people ...
Just to work backwards I also had a really good weekend - much of which has already been documented on Phili's blog articulately! An encouraging and thought provoking EFAC introduction to the Archbishop Jeffory Driver on Friday night - his own address was encouraging, and then the question time directed at him thought provoking. It brought my thinking about the 'women' issues such as ordination and in the home to the surface again, which is great! Saturday brought Ignition - a one stop training shop - where I did the youth ministry stream which was helpful and, dare I say it, ignited some ideas inside me. That night I accompanied Dan, Phili, Ali, Emily, Nick and Pat to 'Pluck' (a string trio - the two guys playing violin, and rather petite but agile girl playing cello) and then out to a fun Chinese dinner on Gouger street. Lots of fun and craziness! Sunday morning I did Sparklers for Mum (she was on the Women's Retreat, which went really well by the sounds of it) which was just fun - they're so gorgeous at that age (3-4 or 5ish), the comments they come out with! Then onto a Pancake Kitchen belated birthday lunch for Miz with Anne and Jordan, where we pored over a wedding magazine, and admired the rather sizeable ring we got her (eat that Jordan!). Before SAS I went to the new prayer meeting (which I'd forgotten to go to the previous fortnight) which I found quite encouraging - I find it hard to be disclipined in praying sometimes, so praying so specifically for prayer points in a group before the service helped shift my mindset to be more in line with God, and calm my scurrying mind.
Anyway, I'd better go get an early night as promised. Hopefully I'll sleep better than last night! *NB Thank goodness for Dad's (read: mine) - I felt very cared for as I was dropped off and picked up from each of my lectures, sniffling and keeping off a fever!
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
little red caboose chug chug chug
Just got back from Redcliff's camp on the Eyre Penninsula, organised by Luke and Jordan = awesome camp - great speaker (Leigh Cunningham), great people, great atmosphere, great fun, and many memories (and photos of course... ;) AND we got a free Redcliff's tshirt!! As Emma so aptly put it, 'every second' of it was good, from beginning to very end. I'm still on a camp high!
Valentines Day was very cool - I was notified by red rose and note that I was to be whisked away by Dave to a mystery lunch (sneaky), which was at the Spice Kitchen (soo yummy!!) and then we hung out at the Kensy Rd lookout - all in all very lovely :D
And BIG NEWS OF THE MOMENT :: MIRIAM AND JORDAN ARE ENGAGED!!!!! as of 6amish on Monday morning - very romantic, sunrise stroll along the beach, the ring was in a treasure box hidden in the dunes...
All my hearty congratulations to the happy couple (it was just a matter of time ;)!!
And in the spirit of Valentine's Day - I love you all - friends and family - very much!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
I think I'm going to cry!!
Did ANYONE tape the OC last night? I taped the WRONG CHANNEL and got the cricket instead, ahhh!!!! This is a desperate plea ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
u reckon it suits me ...?
I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!
You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.
Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.
new beginnings and near death experiences
After sitting through 5 1/2 hours worth of 'disclipine' talks at uni (!!) over the past couple of days (it doesn't sound like much, but boy did it feel it) I'm choccas full of course info, and the whole full time study at uni thing is all seeming a lot more real. I'm so glad I'm doing a Bachelor of Arts because at the moment I just want to study it all and don't want to limit it down- there's so much choice and flexibility and I figure, why not study this stuff now when I can? The main subjects I've been planning on doing are Classics (surprise, huh?), Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology, but now I'm toying with the idea of Ancient Greek or Latin, History, or maybe even music! Ah, the possibilities are almost endless. I've been seeing so many people I know as well - from high school, and primary which is like a wierd time warp thing but cool!
What's this about near death experiences you ask? WELL I have a bit of a freaky story of my own to tell (you may of already heard it, but read on anyway so I can get maximum mileage out of the story :P)... On Sunday we had a youth leaders training day thing up at Greg and Sum's in Blackwood. That's it. Freaky huh? Just joking (I think i've been sitting in too many info sessions...)! Incidentally I had a great time at it, I'm really looking forward to youth leading this year - it felt like there was a really good energy in the group, and I came home all hyped up and inspired, particularly talking about how character and servanthood is so important in leadership. Anyway, so I drove Anne home, down Old Belair road, think masses of windy bends, huge cliff drops on either side of the road, that sort of thing. I dropped off Anne, and went through a couple of intersections and pulled into the driveway and THE STEERING WENT - the engine started chugging really strangely (I thought it was just part of the song on JJJ at first) and it felt like if I turned the wheel anymore something would just SNAP. What had happened was that the steering belt (I apologise about my terminology to all those car buffs out there) thingy had come off some cog things, but the main thing was that if it had happened just 30 secs earlier I could've been turning on the intersection or something, freaky! I was just overwhelmed that, wow, God was watching over me :D
ps up there's a "random" picture I took of my cousin Michael when we were in Syd earlier in Jan (we had a bit of a photoshoot session along the beaches...) - talk about timing! (don't worry he didn't actually fall over, and his nice camera was safe :P)
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Casting Crowns
My fabulous Aunty Leone, Uncle Stephen and superstar(tm) cousin Michael gave me the latest Casting Crowns cd Lifesong for my birthday and I had the chance to listen to it and read some of the words some more today (bit hard to read them in the car with the whole car-sickness thing). It's really cool, they write a brief explanation and accompanying verses with the words of each song which puts it in context and gives it more meaning.
Love Them Like Jesus
The love of her life is drifting away
They're losing the fight for another day
The life that she's known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child's broken heart
You're holding her hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
She's desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She's looking to you
Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
And love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus
The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
A little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to gray
As the little one slips away
You're holding their hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
They're desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They're looking to you
Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus
The Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you
So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus
This one was 'follows the account in Matthew of the man full of demons... until he met Jesus.' I looked up the verses (Mark 5:1-13, Eph 2:1-10, Romans 8, Revelation 1:18) and what really struck me was just the difference in peoples lives before and after Jesus. I guess as I get older that makes more sense and I can see that in my own and other people's lives more.
Set Me Free
It hasn't always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains
Now I live among the dead
Fighting voices in my head
Hoping someone hears me crying in the night
And carries me away
Set me free of the chains holding me
Is anybody out there hearing me?
Set me free
Morning breaks another day
Finds me crying in the rain
All alone with my demons I am
Who is this man that comes my way?
The dark ones shriek
They scream His name
Is this the One they say will set the captive free?
Jesus, rescue me
CHORUS
As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide
Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to Me
(repeat)
You are free
You are free
You are free
Love Them Like Jesus
The love of her life is drifting away
They're losing the fight for another day
The life that she's known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child's broken heart
You're holding her hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
She's desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She's looking to you
Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
And love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus
The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
A little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to gray
As the little one slips away
You're holding their hand, you're straining for words
You're trying to make sense of it all
They're desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They're looking to you
Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus
The Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you
So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don't need the answers to all of life's questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
And love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus
This one was 'follows the account in Matthew of the man full of demons... until he met Jesus.' I looked up the verses (Mark 5:1-13, Eph 2:1-10, Romans 8, Revelation 1:18) and what really struck me was just the difference in peoples lives before and after Jesus. I guess as I get older that makes more sense and I can see that in my own and other people's lives more.
Set Me Free
It hasn't always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains
Now I live among the dead
Fighting voices in my head
Hoping someone hears me crying in the night
And carries me away
Set me free of the chains holding me
Is anybody out there hearing me?
Set me free
Morning breaks another day
Finds me crying in the rain
All alone with my demons I am
Who is this man that comes my way?
The dark ones shriek
They scream His name
Is this the One they say will set the captive free?
Jesus, rescue me
CHORUS
As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide
Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to Me
(repeat)
You are free
You are free
You are free
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
time flys...
when you're having fun! Well at least that's one of my excuses for it being over a month since I last posted. That and being interstate and then with lack of computer/technology for 5 days. As always after holidays there's so much that I could write about that's been happening, but if I wrote about all of it then ... it'll be mega long (or should that be meg meg long...) Let's just see where this goes then hey?
This morning I/we (being lisa, sez, stef, em, dave, law, G, phil, nic and alex) got back from our splendiferous and much anticipated camping trip at Second Valley. At the moment I'm sunburnt in many places, including my lips which is really painful and annoying (any ideas on remedies?), and just slept for 5 hours and am still tired, but it was way worth it. I love camping - time kind of happens without you realising it. It was so cool just to chill out with everyone and live together for a few days (even grumpy moods are bonding experiences ;) swimming, snorkelling (soo good down there - cuttlefish, jellyfish, star fish, big fish, small fish, creepy seaweed, squid and no sharks or blue ringed octopus!), exploring, walking over rocks trying not to knacker your feet, finding warm rock pools, watching sun sets, talking, play-grounding, making up wierd and wonderful words and stories, eatting (not only did we not die of starvation or over consumption of 2 min noodles, we ate darn well! bbq, spag bog, butter chicken, f&c mm mmm), climbing hills (and almost getting blown off), meeting fellow camp-site-iers and their dogs, sun burn and Phil's heaven sent Iced Tea relieving spray, photos (does it even need to be said? it's a given!), marrying inanimate objects ('if the sky was a man i'd marry it!' (dw dave, lol)), cliff jumping (well i wasn't there - went to Glacier Rock (must see destination *cough* lol), Granite Island and King's beach with Phil, Lisa and Lexi - but it sounded cool and I wish I could've done that as well!), singing in the car, and being out of touch with the outside world... AWESOME, love it! It was really good staying in Emma's caravan/camper thing (thanks Em!)- haha just like last year the guys had the coverless tent (which actually would've been kind of cool, even if everyone in the campsite could see in BB style) and the girls were living in the comparative lap of luxury - it did get pretty crowded/cosy last night when the "storm" was supposed to be coming thru and the guys squished in too :P
BEFORE the camping trip I went to Sydney for two weeks with the family which was a really great time as well (they just keep on rolling!). I'll go with my highlights/listing mood - we had Uncle Stephen's 50th on the 1st which began with the new years fireworks on the harbour - we ended up (after trialing many locations and being ushered to better ones :P) under the bridge on the right and it was amazing - I haven't done that since I was a kid, and it was so beautiful, especially when at the end there were those showery fireworks going of literally right above our heads on the bridge. Seeing all the Aunt's, Uncle's and cousins (more of whom than I realised read this, better watch what I write! jk ;) was probably the biggest highlight (and no I'm not just saying that because you guys read this). I feel so grateful to have a family who's I get along so well with, and who are strong Christians - it was a partic encouraging time that wise in terms of having a bit of a reevaluation of my faith actually. Wish we could spend more time hanging out with them - actually now I will, I'm going over for Susie's 21st on April 1st (I've been assured there actually is a party and it's not just an April Fools jk, haha!) , woo! Michael and I literally took hundreds of photo's so there's no shortage of visual aide to assist remembering the trip! Gotta love those photoshoots on the beach. Oh, and there were ACTUAL WAVES at the beaches which took a bit of getting used to compared to most of our South Aussie ripples. Just to salute the trip in an appropriately celebratory manner my cousin Jennifer and her husband Kirk had their second baby - welcome to the world Emily Eileen Barker (not Parker Barker as we had suggested unfortunately)! Go the middle-name-Eileen club!
On the way home we stayed with my Aunty Caroline and her partner Lynne at Blackdown estate in Bathurst that they're busy running at the moment which was gorgeous - looked like it had jumped off the pages of Country Style, and with the whole farm thing I felt like I was on McLeod's Daughters, v cool and a relaxing way to end the trip.
SO that's prob missed out a lot of stuff, but you get the gist. I'll get some photos up here soon!
This morning I/we (being lisa, sez, stef, em, dave, law, G, phil, nic and alex) got back from our splendiferous and much anticipated camping trip at Second Valley. At the moment I'm sunburnt in many places, including my lips which is really painful and annoying (any ideas on remedies?), and just slept for 5 hours and am still tired, but it was way worth it. I love camping - time kind of happens without you realising it. It was so cool just to chill out with everyone and live together for a few days (even grumpy moods are bonding experiences ;) swimming, snorkelling (soo good down there - cuttlefish, jellyfish, star fish, big fish, small fish, creepy seaweed, squid and no sharks or blue ringed octopus!), exploring, walking over rocks trying not to knacker your feet, finding warm rock pools, watching sun sets, talking, play-grounding, making up wierd and wonderful words and stories, eatting (not only did we not die of starvation or over consumption of 2 min noodles, we ate darn well! bbq, spag bog, butter chicken, f&c mm mmm), climbing hills (and almost getting blown off), meeting fellow camp-site-iers and their dogs, sun burn and Phil's heaven sent Iced Tea relieving spray, photos (does it even need to be said? it's a given!), marrying inanimate objects ('if the sky was a man i'd marry it!' (dw dave, lol)), cliff jumping (well i wasn't there - went to Glacier Rock (must see destination *cough* lol), Granite Island and King's beach with Phil, Lisa and Lexi - but it sounded cool and I wish I could've done that as well!), singing in the car, and being out of touch with the outside world... AWESOME, love it! It was really good staying in Emma's caravan/camper thing (thanks Em!)- haha just like last year the guys had the coverless tent (which actually would've been kind of cool, even if everyone in the campsite could see in BB style) and the girls were living in the comparative lap of luxury - it did get pretty crowded/cosy last night when the "storm" was supposed to be coming thru and the guys squished in too :P
BEFORE the camping trip I went to Sydney for two weeks with the family which was a really great time as well (they just keep on rolling!). I'll go with my highlights/listing mood - we had Uncle Stephen's 50th on the 1st which began with the new years fireworks on the harbour - we ended up (after trialing many locations and being ushered to better ones :P) under the bridge on the right and it was amazing - I haven't done that since I was a kid, and it was so beautiful, especially when at the end there were those showery fireworks going of literally right above our heads on the bridge. Seeing all the Aunt's, Uncle's and cousins (more of whom than I realised read this, better watch what I write! jk ;) was probably the biggest highlight (and no I'm not just saying that because you guys read this). I feel so grateful to have a family who's I get along so well with, and who are strong Christians - it was a partic encouraging time that wise in terms of having a bit of a reevaluation of my faith actually. Wish we could spend more time hanging out with them - actually now I will, I'm going over for Susie's 21st on April 1st (I've been assured there actually is a party and it's not just an April Fools jk, haha!) , woo! Michael and I literally took hundreds of photo's so there's no shortage of visual aide to assist remembering the trip! Gotta love those photoshoots on the beach. Oh, and there were ACTUAL WAVES at the beaches which took a bit of getting used to compared to most of our South Aussie ripples. Just to salute the trip in an appropriately celebratory manner my cousin Jennifer and her husband Kirk had their second baby - welcome to the world Emily Eileen Barker (not Parker Barker as we had suggested unfortunately)! Go the middle-name-Eileen club!
On the way home we stayed with my Aunty Caroline and her partner Lynne at Blackdown estate in Bathurst that they're busy running at the moment which was gorgeous - looked like it had jumped off the pages of Country Style, and with the whole farm thing I felt like I was on McLeod's Daughters, v cool and a relaxing way to end the trip.
SO that's prob missed out a lot of stuff, but you get the gist. I'll get some photos up here soon!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
me?
Can you tell I'm bored with three posts in the same amount of days, after like a week and a half of no posting?? Ahh holidays, work your bottom off to get to them, and once you're there you don't know what to do with yourself. Also I feel like I've been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster since school finished - one moment I think I'm having the best time of my life and things couldn't get much better, and the next I find myself feeling flat and about to cry or something. Anyone else feeling like that? Anyhoo, here's a test thing I think Lib and Andre did a while ago. I'm a bit annoyed about the 70% female cliche thing, but then again I am female so ... Advanced Global Personality Test Results
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personality tests by similarminds.com
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
birthdays
I remember a few years ago after one of my birthdays pondering the reason for their significance. I mean they're kind of a wierd thing - these days that come across once a year for people where they celebrate the fact that they were born. One day every year for the rest of their life. I wrote in my journal something like 'Birthdays: a worthless day that's an excuse for presents, or an opportunity to tell people how much you love them?', and I concluded that it really is your own choice, whether it be your own birthday or someone elses. This first half of December has been a bit of a birthday 'boom' as Stef so aptly put it - e.g. as many of you would know bcoz you were there, last Saturday I had a belated 'bad-taste birthday brunch' (two months to the day since my b'day! - see Sez and Lib's blogs for photos!), then I partied on to Golat's 18th Cocktail party (see Lib's blog for photos again! I thought it was time for a text entry rather than more photos, much as I love them!) (where we got to wear all our formal finery again, yes!! Though somehow a mozzie managed to crawl between the layers of my dress, and got squished as I tried to get rid of it resulting in a bizzare bug stain on my dress ... oh well, adds character!), and THEN it was Phili's 24th on sunday!!
But really, birthdays are so cool - you have a designated day to tell someone how awesome you think they are - things that may not always pop up in everyday conversation. To quote Phili on her blog "I have a love/hate relationship with birthdays because I feel awkward being the centre of attention but deep down (or perhaps not even really that deep down!) it is lovely to feel special and loved in an over the top way :)" Don't we all! That night before I went to sleep I had a read of all the cards again, and they were all so cool and special - the cards are as much of the gift as the present i reckon, and they're the sort of ones I'll keep forever (or at least a very long time!). I have such creative friends :)!
Which brings me to the topic of giving as well. I actually love christmas shopping for other people - it's when you can splurge and not feel guilty! It's just so fun to find something you know (or hope) someone will love, or putting thought into it. It's the one time of year I'm actually organised about present buying, making a list and ticking them off as a power-shop. Not so organised for birthdays unfortunately (I only just gave Lib her promised portrait for her b'day prez, and her b'day was in May!). I think my bro Dan is the master of thoughtful present buying - I went shopping with him last week for Phili's pressie, and it was so much fun - basically a collection of heaps of really cool small stuff. Like we'd see something funky that she'd like and be like 'let's get it!'. And he was so excited about giving it to her that he kept waking up at like half hour intervals in the early hours of her birthday morning! Go Dan, you're a present inspiration :P
So as we come up to Christmas lets take advantage of the opportunity to tell people that we love that we love them, however that may be in your own style. I mean Christmas came about when God decided to be generous and give us His son, lets follow suit! (Though I don't recommend giving away children, siblings or otherwise, that could come across as a little unloving if you're not doing it in God's context;)
But really, birthdays are so cool - you have a designated day to tell someone how awesome you think they are - things that may not always pop up in everyday conversation. To quote Phili on her blog "I have a love/hate relationship with birthdays because I feel awkward being the centre of attention but deep down (or perhaps not even really that deep down!) it is lovely to feel special and loved in an over the top way :)" Don't we all! That night before I went to sleep I had a read of all the cards again, and they were all so cool and special - the cards are as much of the gift as the present i reckon, and they're the sort of ones I'll keep forever (or at least a very long time!). I have such creative friends :)!
Which brings me to the topic of giving as well. I actually love christmas shopping for other people - it's when you can splurge and not feel guilty! It's just so fun to find something you know (or hope) someone will love, or putting thought into it. It's the one time of year I'm actually organised about present buying, making a list and ticking them off as a power-shop. Not so organised for birthdays unfortunately (I only just gave Lib her promised portrait for her b'day prez, and her b'day was in May!). I think my bro Dan is the master of thoughtful present buying - I went shopping with him last week for Phili's pressie, and it was so much fun - basically a collection of heaps of really cool small stuff. Like we'd see something funky that she'd like and be like 'let's get it!'. And he was so excited about giving it to her that he kept waking up at like half hour intervals in the early hours of her birthday morning! Go Dan, you're a present inspiration :P
So as we come up to Christmas lets take advantage of the opportunity to tell people that we love that we love them, however that may be in your own style. I mean Christmas came about when God decided to be generous and give us His son, lets follow suit! (Though I don't recommend giving away children, siblings or otherwise, that could come across as a little unloving if you're not doing it in God's context;)
Monday, December 12, 2005
Did God create everything that exists?
This is a fwd Dad sent on, I think a lot of you guys will like it ...
" This is a really great answer to a question you may be asked or have asked.
Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?
A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes He did". "God created everything?" the professor asked. "Yes sir, He certainly did." the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body, or object, is susceptible to studywhen it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.
The young man continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The young man replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality t he absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton'sprism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure theamount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir Does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime andviolence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.To this the young man replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has createdto describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
The young man's name was - Albert Einstein "
" This is a really great answer to a question you may be asked or have asked.
Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?
A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes He did". "God created everything?" the professor asked. "Yes sir, He certainly did." the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body, or object, is susceptible to studywhen it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.
The young man continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The young man replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality t he absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton'sprism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure theamount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir Does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime andviolence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.To this the young man replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has createdto describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
The young man's name was - Albert Einstein "
Thursday, December 01, 2005
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