Hello All, I'm back from New Zealand, and just becuase i sorta want to remember what happened, i'm going to type it here. :)

We got to New Zealand on the 24th of June, it was a beautiful day. I couldn't believe that it wasn't raining. We flew Emirates. which is an arab air line, but they had the most international crew i have ever seen. It was super cool. Also, they have this "award winning" entertainment system, which means that even in econemy, everyone had their own tv in the back of the chair in front. It was cool :) On the way over i watched "Last Holiday" which was really good. I liked it. :) Dad and i had fun playing with the touch screans while mum watched hehehehe.

Ross picked us up from the airport (sarah declared her snake skin shoes as we went through customs :P) and we went back to the Bailies. It is alwasy good to see thoes guys. I had a tea, and most other people had a coffee, but we sat around the table having a good old chat. We had hotdogs for dinner and then we got ready for the party. It was Ross's 50th birthday, but it was a fairly small thing. about 35 people, mostly close family friends and family. It was pretty fun though. Sarah and I were in action taking around plates of food and stuff - mum's training never fails :P - but we had a good night talking to the boys (Carl, Greg and Scott) and their friends Tim, Courtney and ... that gril... C... something. Meh... at around 10:30 we got sick of eating loads of food so we went out of the room they had it in and into the main hall place, and had a good time playing piano and what not. then I taught Greg and Scott and the girl to do some Modern Jive... ehhehe it was very cool. then we all sat around playing cards untill midnight. :)

Got home, and went to bed. I was a bit cold to start with, but otheriwse it was a good sleep. Sarah and i were sharing Carls room, or what will be Carls room eventually. They are still renovating their home... it's been going on for over 10 years i realsied, becuase i can remember in 1996 it only being half done. It's the most compleate i have ever seen, but the bathroom still needs finishing and then carls room... yeah long story.

Anyway, Sunday... we all slept in and then had left over food from the night befor efor breakfast, :) by the time everyone was ready, it was 11:00 and we were going shopping. We went to Dress Smart first, I got a cool levies Jacket and a pair of jeans. I had been physcing myself up for this, i mean, 5 days in New Zealand iwht my family- there has to be shopping. And besides, i could really use a pair of jeans that fit.... :) Anyway it was pretty Good, Carl and Scott and I had a lapse where we were judging other shoppers but otherwise it was ok, after shopping there for ages, we went to St Lukes which was another mall, but with more than just clothes shops :P we ate lunch there (yum, karage!!) and then did some mroe shopping. I saw some cool boots, but they didnt fit... meh. When we met back up, Ross said he was goign to go back and get this box set of Tin Tin episiodes. I was like... all the episiodes?? Man i want that!! They were on sale for only 50$ so bargin!! yeah for me!! :D:D

When we got back home we did some hanging out and ate chicken stuff and styed up watching Troy on TV and then realised the boys had to go to school (well Greg and Scott anyway) and went to bed.

Monday morning, i slept in and didn't get up untill about 10 when everyone else had goen to school and work and what not. After breafkst, we bused into the city and did some shopping. I went around with sarah who is this insane shopamaniac!! I got another pair of cool as jeans and a nice top from Glassons (sarah bought about 10 things, dispite the fact that she had been in the same store the day before.... 8-) ) we had lunch at Smith and Caughes (which is like the NZ verion of David Jones) and then did a bit more shopping (picked up a great pair of boots for 29$) and caught a bus home. Sarah wanted to stay in the City, but were were going out to dinner with Pauliene and Earnest (other NZ friends) and had to go home and get changed. :)

Got home, got changed, went back to the city for dinner. Chinese, Very yum. :) we were sitting down though, and they took away the chopsticks - clearly thinking we were forginers and wanted forks :P i was devastated!! so i asked them for 2 chopsticks - one set for me and one for sarah, and they only came back with one set - and gave them to sarah!! :P eventually i got a set and it was ok :) Ernest dropped us home which was good. The Bailes only live across the harbour bridge which connects the north shore of the bay to Auckland City. It's really close and has a great view of the city as you come across the bridge.

Tuesday we went back to the city and did more shopping, Sarah is insane. I went up the Sky tower (mum dad adn sarah had done it last year) and got a great view of auckland. the weather was just beautiful. I got too cool as dresses for Dancing. they look really good. :) I'm satisfied ehehheeh. After that we walked down to the other end of town and picked up a car and drove back home. Tuesday night we stayed up so late with the Bailies. Sarah straighted Gregs hair, and then he went to soccar which just made it curly again. hehehe. Ross opened the bottle of Moet he got for his birtday (v. expesive champane) and we sat aroudn teh table ( i drank vodka and orange :)) drinking it. :P We ordered gormet pizzas from the place where Greg works, they were super nice. One had chicken and cambert on it... yum!! afterwards, i sat in Gregs room listening to the musical songs he's going to sing in this thing he's got coming up. It was alot of fun. He introduced me to this cool song called "Big Ass Rock" from the full monty muscial. hehehe After that we went out and sat in the lounge room with everyone else. It was like 11:30... but we sat up for ages talking. Then we took "the couch photo" with a pillow where fiona would have been. *ahhh* the couch photo - good times good times.

Wednesday i got up early to say good bye to Ross and Colleen befoer they went to work and Greg and Soctt before they went to school. Carl was sleeping :P then we packed up and got in the car and drove away. We went down town Auckland and found "the Tin Tin Shop' hehehe which was cool. I got a shirt and a long sleave thing too. fun stuff. :) then we did some more shopping - or rather i followed sarah around as she tried to get even mroe stuff before we left :P

When that finally eneded, we got in the car and headed back to the airport. The line was huge, the flight was obviously packed, but when we got up to check in, the girl said "oh you aren't sitting togehter" and then looks thought ful and decideds to up grade us...!!!! it was great!! we flew business class back to Aus. It was cool as, so much leg room and the food was so much better than econemye - too bad flying makes me sick :P We got in early and Fiona picked us up from the airport.

It was cool. Sarah, Fiona and I all sat up watching Mr and Mrs Smith - which fiona recently bought hehehe and went to bed about midnight. Mum and dad woke up about 6:30 this morning :P

Today, Scott, Carl and I all discovered the differences between real shoppers and the pretend shoppers.

While spending 4 hours shopping, we gathered numerous observations of our fellow shoppers. To distinguish a real shopper, one must always start with the feet. If the female shopper is wearing heals of almost any kind, or points, they are clearly a serious shopper. if the person has stylish flats, also it is posisble they are serioius, if they are wearing joggers - definatly they are not serious shoppers, they are just pretending.

In female shopers, the layering factor of their clothes is also a tell tale sign, with layers indicates a SS (serious shopper) and with out, a PS (pretend shopper). One must be careful not to be put off by someone with one stylish accesory, for a serious shopper, all criteria msut be met.


Incidently New Zealand is fun, :)

It's official, I will not be receving a 7 in Japanese.

My exam was today and before hand Nick and I went down to check my oral marks. Adding everything up, out of the 70% of assement we have had, I am on 55.65%. Which means even if I did ace my 30% exam, I'd only just make the 7, and we all know that's not going to happen.

At best, I can probably expect a 5.

Some people get 7's and then some people, no matter how hard they try, will never get anything better than maybe a 6.

I'm ready to go home at any time if; I live each day for my Father in heaven wher ehe has built a house for me. But i suppose, if i did not live each day for my Father in heaven, it would hardly be my home... would it?


weeee... random post!!

All around me are members of my Opera Studies class talking to each other and comparing notes and doing genral before exam craming. I am siting by myself, having talked to absoloutly no one since saying thank you to the bus driver.

A thought occoured to me however; what if Piano Repitoire dosen't have a timetable becuase it is an external subect? I doubt it though. It is very probable that i should email some one about it. Stupid music department. (incidently listening to my music class talk about Pelleas and Melisande, is just confirming all i know about the opera. I am just as good as them. How dare they marganilise me!!)

*sigh*

Poor confused Paula

Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to buzz and fly.

It’s the work of make up, therapy and strong drugs…

I’ll be perfect when I’m dead

If this is your first night at Music Club, you have to fight...

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy.

People like to follow fools. They dont feel so alone then.

My toothbrush keeps telling me that the toaster is plotting against me. I tend to believe him because whenever I see the toaster, it's always smirking, and I haven't made toast in a long time, but I have great dental hygiene.

Yarrr, here there be treasure

Everything you are is everything someone else will want you to be

You’ll thank me when you share my politics

Scientists believe that the universe is infinite, or at least indefinitely finite.
The odds of there being life orbiting one of these stars is ten to the power of fifty-three against.
That is 1:1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.
We orbit a fortunate sun.

Larger than most fish

Balloon animial serial kiler

Emoticontraindication

Yesterday i was walking home from the bus stop and I saw a musli bar wrapper on the ground, and so, trying to do the right thing, i stopped and picked it up to throw in the bin. About 20 meters later, i see something else, a dollar. :)

"All things work for the good of God's kingdom"

As I was on the bus today going to meet with the Preist from my church, i was thinking about God and how great he has been to me, and that lead too all sorts of things, but eventually got me thinking about work. On the oval last week with Carl, we were talking about how, when one kid hits another (eg, Timmy hit's Tommy), more often than not, Tommy will hit back. It is really sad to see because then they both have to get in trouble and it is so impractical for life. Are we allowed to yell back when our bosses are eating our heads off for something?

So i was wondering, why do the kids hit back? Carl was saying that alot of the kids parents tell them to hit back, but I've been thinking while that may be the case, there is something else. The kids genrally know, if they hit someone, one of the supervisions will know and send the culprit up for time out (punishment :P). So why don't they wait untill us supervisors come along?

Why don't we wait untill God judges before we jump on top of people who hurt us? When was the last time that someone said something mean to me, and instead of being patient and waiting, i jumped back and said something eaquly mean or worse. Despite knowing that God is going to take care of it in the end, we continually feel we can't wait, that we have to jump in and take our revenge now. And it's not like the people around us are helping... People we think know better, who we can trust for good advice, can often tell us things that are really impractical.

I think it's time i remembered to listen to God first, and remember that if i hit back too, i'm going to be in time out for a while untill i can come to God and ask forgiveness. I'd ecnourage everyone to wait for the Big Supervisor before judging whoever has hit you. In the end, we are all in this together.

Where to start? I sat down last night and I worked out the next 3 weeks of my life in highliter on recycled paper. :) Now it is alot less confusing than I originally though. One day at a time and things will be over before i know it. :) I am currently listening to Gagaku, the court music of Japan, which i really slow and full of strange sounds. It's a good thing the little Dino is still asleep :) Better news than that is that I found my iTrip :) was in the bag i had already check about 4 times :P

The Sad News is that I have lost my ring. The ring i always wear. I stood up last night after watching TV and i heard it drop off and I looked around but i couldn't find it at all. :( I had another look this morning, including lifting all the chairs and taking off the cusions (despite the fact that i heard it fall on the floor) but alas, the ring was no where to be found. My finger feels naked. :( I might even have to get a new one.

In other news, Ron is coming to MYC! :D Steve is coming to MYC! :D Edgar is coming to MYC! :D Wade is thinking about coming to MYC! :) and Maq is thinking about coming to MYC! :) yeah for MYC! Nick however might not be coming becuase he's just gotten engaged to Nicole and they want to get married in December, so they are saving money... *sigh* oh well. It's still going to be a ball :D MYC!!

The American team at uni have been doing a great job of out reaching to the Nathan and Mt Gravatt students. I have spent so much time with them that I have almost very much perfected my American accent. :P It's quite amusing. I was talking to them the other day though, and they said something interesting about outreach. Sharing the Gospel with people is fairly spirituarly draining, and if you don't recharge, and get plugged back into God and let him fill you up again, eventually you are going to feel exausted and run down and like you can't go on any more. This matches up with what Norm said at the LINC retreat in Feburary. He has been living with God for so long, and he has seen so many people fall away, becuase they just die from spiritual exaustion. (should there be a h in exhaustion?) He said that a key thing to being "a lifer" someone who is following Christ, is spending time with God every day, and always working on your relationship with Christ.

Have I spent time with Christ today?