9...

Today it is officially 9 days until The America Trip! We're getting to single digits!


It is getting so much more "real" now!

We have our tickets, our itineraries, even those little name tags you put on your baggage!

I've been starting to think about my wardrobe for the trip... since we're going to LA & NY, I need to pack for 2 different seasons! Lately it's been about 23 degrees in LA (similar to the weather right now in Sydney) but about 10 degrees in NY!

The advice I've gotten is to "layer" clothes. I've been stocking up on scarves to take with me to America (which not only ward off the cold, but also serve my other purpose - dressing Sex & the City style!)


I've also been shoe shopping since I'll need some sturdy walking shoes for LA. The problem is, most of those sturdy looking shoes are often really ugly or really expensive!

The countdown is on!

Less than 3 weeks until The America Trip (I thought it deserved capitalisation!)

According to my countdown, there's 19 days to go... today at dancing one of the girls was so excited, "We've hit the teens!"


Anyway, as exciting as it is, the planning and preparation is certainly not my favourite part. I have to hand in a lot of my uni assignments early, as a few of them are due when I'm away. I have a Developmental Psych report on the gross motor development of 4-8 year olds, an Abnormal Behaviour testing & diagnosis report on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and part of an Advanced Stats report to hand in before I leave.


And, because I'm not busy enough, I also have had 2 presentations to do (one this past Friday, one this coming Wednesday) that I volunteered to do early on in the semester. Why do I do this to myself?!

I guess the upside is that I can come back from The America Trip relaxed and have an easy rest-of-semester (except for the rest of that one Stats assessment that's due the week I get back).

Ryan & Tegan

Some photos of Ryan & Tegan... at a McDonalds playland, where all good memories happen!

I have discovered Paint.Net (a free version of Photoshop) so I've been playing around with this a bit and seeing what happens.








What do you think?

America update

5 weeks exactly until we leave for America!


I've set up a blog http://coasttocoastgirls.blogspot.com/ with Claryse & Haylee that details our adventures!

We will all take turns updating it so you can hear individually from us before, during and after our trip.

Make sure you check it out, as it will be our main source of communication with you all while we are away.

Back at uni...

So, I'm back at uni... 3rd (and final!) year of my B.A.

On one hand, it feels like I've been at uni forever. On the other, I can't believe this will be my third consecutive year at uni (and let's not forget, my sixteenth consecutive year of education! Wow, that's a long time! With no breaks!)

This semester, I'm doing 3 Psych subjects and 1 elective.
My core Psych units are:

Abnormal Behaviour & Psychological Testing (love this unit- we get to diagnose people!)

and

Advanced Survey Design & Analysis (basically, a fancy name for Advanced Statistics)


As a 3rd year Psych student, you also have to choose a Psych elective from the "prescribed pool" (and there wasn't a heck of a lot of choice, let me tell you).
I chose Developmental Psych. The lecturer is one I had last year in the unit Social & Developmental Psych, so I knew she was really good and that made me want to choose this unit.


Finally, I had one 'free choice' elective to choose; this can be anything. As teachers-in-training (with the aim of doing a Masters in Teaching next year), we are required to do 2 units about teaching maths to kids during our degree (however, the Board of Studies only brought this into effect last semester, so we have had to suddenly find the time to take on this extra unit in our last few semesters!)

So, my dilemma was: do one of the maths units to knock it out of the way, or do the unit Children's Literature (which I have wanted to do since 1st year but have never been able to fit into my timetable) and hope that the Maths units were available in Summer School. After mulling it over and asking everyone's opinion on what they thought I should do, I decided to do what I want instead of what I have to do (for once!) and do Children's Literature.

I love the unit, and the lecturer is awesome (seriously knows her stuff!)

But my tutor? Ugh. I don't know what it is, but I don't like him. There's nothing in particular that I can say that would describe why I don't like him, I just... don't.

(FYI, he is also the "old, stretched white t-shirt" tutor I Twittered about today. Also, I think he is wearing a really old pair of JeansWest jeans, but I can't be sure. Or maybe I'm just in denial that our jeans look like that. The hems are all ripped and scuffed and they are seriously stretched out of shape. It's not that he's fat; he's quite average sized, they are just old. Old, wear-around-the-house-not-in-public-and-certainly-not-when-you're-teaching-a-class-and-trying-to-make-first-impressions jeans. It almost makes me want to offer him my services as fashion consultant or sales assistant or something. Maybe if I liked him, I would.)



Anyway, my point. So far, I like all my classes, the subjects are interesting, and I have one weird tutor dude.


And I'm definitely in the right job. Although I can't be sure if in fact, JeansWest fits best.

I'm in Love...

I have fallen in love with all things "preppy".

Weird, considering that on a whole, Australia isn't that big on such things.

Nevertheless, the internet is a powerful tool.



I discovered http://monogramchick.blogspot.com/whilst jumping from blog to blog to blog, and quickly decided that I needed one of their monogrammed tote bags.




Here's mine:

I take this everywhere... dancing, uni (it's the perfect size for my uni books!)



And now I have discovered http://myflipflopz.blogspot.com/ (also from blog-jumping!)

They make the cutest custom hand painted signs! I am such a sucker for all things pretty!

Seriously, how cute is that?

(I think I may have fallen in love with the pink-and-green colour combo too!)

Material Girl

When I was younger, I used to sing and dance along to Madonna's The Immaculate Collection (even though it was the 1990s, not the 80s). My favourite song was Material Girl because at the time I thought it was such a fun song about being a girl.

As I've gotten older, I can see that material possessions are - in the grand scheme of things - unimportant. Watching the coverage of the Victorian bushfires on TV has made me think about what my life would be like if suddenly all my worldly possessions were destroyed. I'm sure I'd be devastated. Hearing people's stories of losing literally everything has made me so much more grateful for what I have.

Often material possessions are the building blocks of what our life becomes. I can't wait to have my own house so I can decorate and make it my own! Things like books, photos and trinkets tell our stories and make life more fun!


One night after watching the news coverage of the bushfire tragedy yet again, I decided to make a list of things that I own that I am grateful for or that I feel have contributed to my life. I know that things are really inconsequential in the face of such devastation, but I think being appreciative of what we have includes enjoying what we have.

In no particular order, these are the things that make my life so fun:

- my video iPod.
A-maz-ing. I got it for Christmas as a surprise and it has changed how I listen to my music.
I have had iPods before, but this one allows you to upload photos and videos and has an enormous storage capacity which means I have a much larger variety with regards to music. Often I'll lie in bed at night and watch a video on my iPod. It's the way of the future, people, I'm telling you!

- Trinny & Susannah's The Body Shape Bible.
This could be a post in itself! Trinny & Susannah have changed the way I dress and shop.
The book details 12 body shapes with criteria that allow yourself to figure out which one you are (I'm a Vase) and then it tells you how to dress to flatter your respective shape (I'm supposed to go for the 'Miss Moneypenny on Viagra' look, apparently). It is awesome.

- eBay.
Oh my gosh, the amount of time & money I spend on this one website alone is ridiculous. I am almost addicted. It's just so cheap! It's changed the way I shop. When I see something in a store, the thought always crosses my mind- could I get it cheaper on eBay? The variety is astounding.

- cheesecake.
How did I ever not simply love this? I remember hating it as a kid. Clearly I was delusional.
I can never turn down cheesecake. I love it, but I'm not sure it loves me back.

- ballet ribbons.
It's amazing how the addition of 2 satin ribbons to a pair of shoes can make such a difference. Something about doing them up makes you feel pro. They're so pretty too! So I guess that helps. Ballet ribbons just make me feel that much more accomplished as a dancer because you only get them once you've reached a certain ability. Almost like being on pointe, but without the hard work!

- honey tea.
Who would've thought it could taste so good?! I don't even usually like honey! But it is the only way I can drink tea. Seriously, I could have 5 cups a day. When we run out of honey, it is a disaster of epic proportions. I go into withdrawal, I'm sure of it. (PS. Don't knock it til you've tried it!)

- classical music (especially with violins!)
There's a reason it's classic. It's only since I've started the violin that I've been able to appreciate the sheer talent and ability of classical musicians. Classical music is so beautiful. (And kudos to Grandma Val for introducing it properly to me when I came to visit in November!)

- Muffin Break gluten free muffins.
For allowing me to continue my love affair with all things baked. Praise the Lord! They're the only muffins I eat these days. (Seriously, the other day at work a girl who works there recognised me because I'm there so often!)

-damask.
For years (and I'm not exaggerating) I have been trying to figure out the name of this pattern:

I finally figured out it's called damask and I'm in love with it. If I was brave enough, I would wallpaper my room with it. Everytime I spot something that has this on it, I feel a very strong compulsion to buy it just because of that very reason.

- The Twilight Series.
This series got me reading for pleasure again. Originally I just borrowed the first book off my friend Claryse because I wanted to know what she was always talking about with "Edward this" and "Bella that". From the first chapter, I was hooked. I've now read the whole series (and I'm going to study it at uni as part of my Children's Literature unit!)


- the colour pink.
You didn't seriously think I could write a list of my favourite things without including this, did you? Pink makes me happy. Any shade. I love it all. I am naturally drawn to anything pink. I spot pink clothes before those in other clothes. I'm just made that way.