Not So Awesome Kids

This week of campers left quite a bit to be desired. If constant biting, pushing, hitting, and screaming isn't enough, it was topped off by the lack of a common language. English is not a first language for most of the campers, but now we are getting campers who don't know a single word of it! How do you stop someone from screaming and hitting when you can't tell them "no"?! ... Especially when (s)he is 3! Oh well. Tomorrow is Friday, and we'll all be ready for next week after a couple days' rest.
Tonight was pretty fun. The day camp counselors went to Disney Sea after work, so the CDC (those of us who work with kids under 5) counselors stayed after work to swim for a while, and when we got back to the hotel, I had a date! We eat a lot of our meals at a restaurant downstairs at the hotel, and I have spoken with one of the chefs a number of times in passing. Yesterday he asked if I would like to join him for coffee sometime, so tonight we went for a walk and had some coffee. Ronald (that's his name) is from Mauritius, a small island country I was embarrassed not to have known about. Since my date I have been researching the country and am absolutely fascinated! ... I hate to say that I have two web browsers open right now, one for my blog and the other for plane tickets to Mauritius. Anybody up for a vacation this fall?
I am off to bed - 11:30, and still not tired... perhaps a late night double shot of espresso wasn't the best idea?

Week 2: Said and Done.

Whew! What a week. Our first week of camp with kids went wonderfully. We had thirteen campers (all 3-4 years old) in my classroom for the morning sessions, and only 6 in the afternoon. I think that was the perfect break into camp so we could establish what we’d be doing and really get to know each other in a work setting before we get into the big numbers (We’ll be up to about twenty in a couple weeks). We take the kids swimming and to the park every day (morning and afternoon switch between the two) and between that and art projects and snacks the day is pretty full. There are only a few really spoiled kids (the ones that cry about everything we do because it’s not their idea or they’re afraid to get dirty), which is nice as I expected a lot more (I figured Embassy kids would be spoiled). The girl I work with in my classroom, Lora, is a very good worker and the two of us keep the classroom running pretty well.
(These are pictures of our room - I am pretty proud of my tree idea most of all)

I certainly have not let the weekend slip away. We walked around town Friday night, and I met some cool skateboarders – of course I asked if I could borrow a board and made a fool of myself trying to do tricks on the brick street, but I felt pretty cool when would even try a trick. A bunch of us had a slumber party in one of the girls’ hotel rooms and after three hours of sleep, we got up at 4:30am to go to a fish market. Supposedly, 90% of the fish bought in Japan is sold at that market between 3am and 8am every morning. I think we missed the real rush since we didn’t arrive until about 5:30 or 6, but it was REALLY cool to see how fast everyone was moving, and all of the different fish, and the whole backstage of where my food comes from! Only four of us were brave enough to stick around afterward for breakfast. I had raw cuttlefish tentacles, egg sushi, a snow crab hand roll, and a tuna hand roll for breakfast. I was a little disappointed because I think it was yesterday’s fish, not fresh from the fish market as we had hoped, but it was still pretty good. After breakfast we walked around the outside of the market where a whole farmers market of fish was set up for blocks around. We tried tons of free samples - a lot of completely unidentifiable things… some of which were better than others. After a nap we headed out to Shibuya, the largest intersection in the world (woo hoo…?) to do some shopping. It was not the highlight of my week, but it was fun. Then, after some dinner (yay oatmeal!) a few of us headed back to Shibuya for some clubbing, which turned into our first night of karaoke! I was a little sad because, apparently, karaoke in most Japan is all private. You pay for a room for a certain amount of time, and your group all just sings to one another. So, we didn’t get to see any Japanese karaoke, and we didn’t get a chance to publicly embarrass ourselves, but we did have a really good time. Hopefully we’ll be able to find a public karaoke sometime.
Today they say a tropical storm is moving in, so it is all rain all day. This works out well for me so I do not feel bad about having to spend the whole day inside doing programming for camp. Yes, I came all the way to Tokyo to do more Camp Adventure homework. Oh well. It’ll be nice to just stay in for once, I suppose.
I hope everyone is well – thanks for keeping up with me! Please enjoy this video I made of the fish market yesterday!

Whoa! Just heard a huge crack of thunder! This is our first Tokyo thunderstorm... I think it sounds a little different over here... maybe.

So this is the first week with the kids. Monday was... well, it as good after the first fifteen minutes or so when I got kicked in the face twice and punched in the eye. Luckily that girl is not in my room, so I didn't have to deal with that any more. All of the kids (3 and 4 year olds) in my room are SO cute and they are really good. I am extremely impressed with how independent they all are! Everyone gets their food and cleans up from snack/lunch completely on their own, they all keep their bags, bathing suits, extra shoes and clothes and lunch bags organized, and they even get dressed into and out of their bathing suits on their own! They're three!

More later, I have to program a couple weeks of camp before Friday, and I am a little behind...

What A Weekend!!

This weekend was fantastic!! It started with an evening walking around the Roppungi area (VERY huge party area) on Friday night - we didn't get wild, or even stop for a tea, but we did some good exploring and got a good idea of what to do Saturday.
We got up bright and early (9:00 we took off, but that's pretty early for a bunch of college kids/grads) and navigated the train station to the Imperial Gardens. We walked around the whole palace and had a blast walking the gardens and learning about the construction and history of the area. Most of the group got tired and wanted to head home, but a few of us (Hank, Alena, Lora, and myself) had to keep going.
After a few hours we came upon the boats Hank had read about, and decided to take them for a spin - at 5 yen per boat for a half hour we couldn't pass it up!
We enjoyed a relaxing paddle boat ride and headed back to Hero-o to get ready for the night.

Saturday night was not quite as calm as Friday. We checked out the party scene in Roppungi and did a little partying of our own. We were careful though to not miss the last train (12:14am) of the night, as we didn't want to buy a cab and needed to get up early to be on the road again Sunday!
Sunday we went to Harajuku. Girls dress up REALLY crazy and just walk around and pose on this bridge... I don't think there is really any rhyme or reason to it, but I guess Sundays that's just the thing to do. Harajuku is also a VERY huge shopping area - like hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people crowd onto one street and.... shop. I don't really know what all the hub-bub is about, but it was really cool to see (albeit a little clausterphobic).

Then tonight (Sunday) after we got back I went out to dinner with Toyoko (my second cousin once removed). I was SO excited to meet her, and we had a fantastic time! We went to a restaurant called Gonpachi. It was WAY swanky! I guess that is where the past prime minister took George W. Bush. If that doesn't tell you how nice it was, then maybe the fact that I sat next to Hinano Yoshikawa, a very big television and movie star in Japan, at the sushi bar will give you a hint. It was the most delicious food I think I have ever had, and I tried so many new things that I absolutely LOVED! The only thing better than the food and the atmousphere was the company! Toyoko was absolutely delightful!! She was so much fun, and I cannot wait to hook up with her again!

Ah! I need to get to bed! Tomorrow is the first day of camp with the kids. In case I don't make it, thanks for keeping up with me!

Working Hard

This is my roommate, Jordan, and I being extremely cool in our hotel room.








On Tuesday we went down to the Roppongi district for sushi, which was phenomenal! Japanese sushi definitely has something on Iowa sushi. I was surprised at how different the ginger was too! The ginger was SO good! I thought I liked pickled ginger, but this stuff is in a whole new league. After dinner we went to "Vortex". It was a big arcade, but we were the youngest people there... and we're all between 19 and 28. Most of the people there were older men, one of whom I showed here. He was wearing the face mask that many Japanese wear while he played a crane game - attempting to catch a teddy bear.







This is the garden in the US Embassy housing compound where we work. It is SO beautiful! There are tons of perfect shrubs and flowers. This is one of the two ponds. It has a ten foot waterfall and two little fountains. It's really nice because it is right outside of the classroom I am in, so it's a beautiful view for me!



This is the "before" shot of the room we are working in. This is the dress-up/ kitchen area. There are about five different centers that we set up (reading, building, arts and crafts, and puzzles). We have totally redone the room and are in the process of decorating it with posters and fun stuff now. Yesterday (Wed for me) was our "painting party". We spent 12 hours painting posters to decorate our rooms, and I think we may need to dedicate today to the same thing.
This is my super cool US Embassy ID. It lets me onto any embassy or military site in the world!!! (Until August 31st). The Japanese people who took the picture thought it was pretty funny... I guess maybe people don't give the camera a thumbs-up every day?



A beautiful shot of our lovely hotel room. Jealousy is a natural reaction upon seeing this.







This is part of the gang posing in front of a giant pot sticker/wanton outside the first Japanese restaurant at which we ate called Osaka Osho.










This is right after we landed in Tokyo. On the left is Jeff, one of the only three Iowans, and on the right is Lena, a sweet Californian girl.

Sorry these are so out of order. This Blogspot thing is not the easiest to work... it's actually kinda' annoying.

Day 2

Today we began setting up our rooms for camp next week. The 3-5 year olds that I will be working with will be split up into two rooms. We will have about 20 kids in each room - mine will be 3-4 year olds and the other will be 4-5 year olds. I am a little nervous to have SO many young children in one room with only two adults to contain them... but I am sure it will be fun.

Last night was our first dinner out. We found a cheep little restaurant down the street about a half mile - maybe a mile. I would say it was the Japanese equivalent of a greasy spoon. It was small and had a counter, where most people sat, along with a few tables. It was fun guessing what the menu items were, and my sweet-and-sour-ish fish was DELICIOUS! Tonight we found a sushi restaurant and I had my first real Japanese sushi!! It was SOOO good! We went into the Rapungi district (one subway stop away from where we live) and found a really nice little place. I got one octopus, one squid-leg, one tuna, and one salmon nigiri sushi along with this really cool seaweed wrap with some sort of fish I had never heard of. The wrap was really cool; it looked like a flower bouquet. 

Today was also my first experience on a crowded Tokyo subway. We rode one last night, but it was not crowded at all. This morning, however, it was crazy!! The train pulled up and people's faces were literally smashed to the doors it was so packed. We crammed ourselves on, and it was absolutely incredible! Besides our American banter (which my coworkers seised once they got enough dirty looks) the subway was completely silent. I mean, there were no cell phones (they are actually not allowed on the subway- there are signs saying so), no ipods, no nothing. Just thousands of silent people smashed together.

I really need to download some pictures. Sorry I am so slack on that, but thanks for keeping up with me!!

Day 1 in Tokyo

Today we went to the US Embassy and got our official ID's. It is fun to see all of the securities the US implements here to enter the grounds. Once we got our ID's we went to the living compound where we went through the classrooms where we would be working. They kinda smell like pee, but I really can't complain when I look at how wonderful my own accommodations are.
I was unable to sleep past 4:15 this morning and have hardly been able to keep my eyes open all day. Darn time differences.
I hope everyone is well, and I promise to write an entry with more substance once I can fully comprehend my surroundings and produce a cohesive thought. In the mean time, take care!

Touch Down In Tokyo!

Hey Everybody!
I made it to Tokyo with no delays and no surprises. We drove in to Tokyo after dark, and this city looks beautiful at night! We drove by Tokyo Disney World, which was gorgeous, and drove across the "Rainbow Bridge" into Tokyo. The bridge was great because it was way out in Tokyo bay and wrapped across. We could see the whole city totally lit up!
I just got all settled into my hotel (New Sanno, if you want to Google it or anything) where I am rooming with a really nice girl named Jordan from UNI. There is, unfortunately, only one bed, but we will take turns sleeping on the pull-out couch.
It is actually getting pretty late at night here, so I'd better get to bed - have to get up and start work in the morning!
Thanks for checking up on me, and I can't wait to show you all what I'm up to here!

Don't Stop Checking In!!!

Hey friends, family, and any strange people I don't know who have somehow found this blog!!

Don't stop checking my blog! I know I never really update you much, but that is about to change!! In just a few short days I will be taking off for Tokyo where I will be spending the summer on the American Embassy working as a camp counselor for Embassy kids! The program through which I am going is called Camp Adventure. It is based out of the University of Northern Iowa. I am getting all geared up and excited to go, so I hope you will all join me via blog on my next adventure!

Forgotten Blog

So hey, I don't know if anyone checks this any more - sorry if you do, I obviously quit posting for another six months there. Anyway, if you are reading this now, hi!
Things have been going very well in Iowa since April. I took some fun trips this summer: first I went out west (Badlands, Yellowstone, and a four day white water rafting trip down the Yampa river in Colorado) with a geology class lead by my friend Jeff. It was an absolute BLAST! Then I took a week trip up to Canada to visit my friend Courtney, the one from Tasmania. It was SO good to see her again! It had been almost a year, but we have been in good contact since we parted Tas. I took a summer class, Intercultural Communications, which took a little turn with the flood here in Iowa City, but it turned out we only missed one week. Fortunately we were not affected much by the flood (well, besides not being able to cross the river, go to school, use the internet for a couple days, etc). It was actually kinda' cool to see the city come together like we did to help one another. Then Dad took me to Chicago for a week for a judicial conference in August. That was a REALLY good time too!!
Then the fall semester began. I am only taking 13 hours of class, but I am also doing a research assistantship with one of the professors in the Communication Studies department. She is writing a book on the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. And I am watching an adorable 3 month old baby (the daughter of Jeff, the geology professor) three days a week. So, I am staying pretty darn busy.
Of course in September I had to take a week off school to go to Maui. Lizzie got married on September 23rd to Andrew Gillman. It was the most perfect wedding with the sunset on the beach, and it was so great to spend a week with the whole family (the Gillman family included).
So, now it is just pounding out the school work and waiting for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and ultimately Christmas break!
Thanks for keeping up with me!!

Wrapping up the semester

Phew! It's almost over!
The semester is winding down, and, though it's time for all of those "fun" final presentations, I am enjoying the end of the semester. I have been working as a cashier at Hy-Vee for a couple months now. It is exceedingly tedious, but I have met some cool people and really enjoy interacting with the customers.
I am getting VERY excited for the summer to begin! For the first ten days after school gets out, I am taking a geology field trip for a class I am in. We are going to go to Wyoming (Yellowstone) for five days camping and hiking, and then to Colorado to raft down the Yampa River. We will just raft all day and pull over on the banks to sleep at night. These rapids will be a LOT crazier than anything I experienced in Tasmania - we will be encountering a lot of level three rapids and even quite a few level four!!!! (level one is like a lazy river, and level five means you will most likely die - just to give you a scale to go by) Then a week after that I am going to head up to Canada with Mom and her friend, Emily, and they will drop me off (on their way to Emily's folks') at my mate Courtney's place for the week!!! (Courtney is my best friend that I ran around with so much in Tasmania.) After that I will take a couple classes until August, and in August I get to take a trip with my dad for four days - which will be great!!!
In the mean time I am keeping busy with school, work, hanging out with my roommates, and bumming around with my friend Scott (with whom I went on a three and a half hour bike ride yesterday... I am SO sun burnt, I am maroon!).
I hope everyone is well and enjoying this BEAUTIFUL spring weather!
Now for some random pictures:


This is me being a dork with my cool "tatoo"... That's what happens when I sit in class for five hours a day.



This is my friends Chris and Chuck at the Fraternal Order of Eagles "2nd Chance Prom Night"



And this is my sweet house (where I live with six other people... yeah, seven total. We used to have eight!)

Semester 2

And so it begins, the start of another semester. Classes do not seem to be too bad so far. My interpersonal communications teacher is really cool - it's a small class, and very interesting subject matter. Persuasion in society is proving to be rather tedious and not all to engaging, but philosophy should be fun as my friend Seth is teaching it. Core concepts of communication will be a lot of work, and my essay workshop should be a fun challenge. Geology doesn't start until after spring break, but I cannot wait for that one!!
Today is a snow day (woohoo)!!!! I have been watching movies and snuggling on the couch with my roommates all day. This afternoon we will go sledding (that's what snow days are for, right?), and then it's cocoa city!
I have been keeping busy with school and hanging out with buddies, but will hopefully be starting work at Hy-Vee next week. I am excited to have the opportunity to make new friends, and to put a little more Starbucks money in my pocket! Haha! No, really I spend the better part of my free time at Starbucks in Coralville - it's such a quiet place to study, and it's far away from the bustle of the city.
Hope this weather is treating everyone alright! Just think of the snow removal as a free workout!

Semester 2 about to begin

I really need to work on this blog thing, don't I?
Well fall semester is over, and winter break is coming to an all-too-soon close. First semester went pretty well - much better than I had thought it would! I have settled (Finally) on a major in communications studies. I was going to minor in astronomy as well, but after realizing the requirements are far greater than those for my major (and would keep me in school another year or two) I decided against it. Now I will be able to graduate (HOPEFULLY) next December!
This semester looks to be a bit of a busy one. I am taking 17 credit hours and none of them (from philosophy to interpersonal communications) look to be too terribly easy.
I will have to let you know how it is though once I get settled into my classes a little though. I hope everyone is having a happy 2008 so far!

Whoa!

My apologies, blog readers! I guess I didn't realize people still read this thing! I got all caught up in life in America, and forgot about this blog!


So, I have come back up to Iowa City to finish up school. I moved into a sweet house this year with somewhere between 6-8 people living in it (people are coming and going here toward the end of the semester) . It pretty much rocks. We have parties and stuff sometimes.



This is our Halloween party. The king is one of my roommates, Brian, and I think the girl in the background is another one named Renee.


I also live with my landlord, Stevie (on the far right) who is a nurse, and her sister Tiffany (in the middle) who is a fitness instructor. They are the absolute sweetest people in the world!

Other than just hanging out and doing school stuff, I have been busy with Iowa football.
We had a lot of fun this year as the whole family came up to the last game, and the siblings, Mom, and Dad came up in different combinations all season. Not the best season we've ever had, but it's Iowa. You can't expect too much.

Of course I have been doing dumb things and having fun being silly as well. It's what keeps me going.

Sorry again for pooping out on the blogs! I will have to try and keep you all updated a little better.
Thanks for keeping up with me!!!

Mom and Jenny!!!!

Yay! Mom and Jenny came down a couple weeks to visit me in Tassie. It was so great to have them down and see them again! Their first day Slim and I picked them up from the airport, and we hung out all day, settled into their hotel, and walked around Hobart.

The next day the three of us and Courtney went on a tour of the Cadburry factory. We got a deal and took a boat cruise with lunch after the tour!

Then we went to an animal park the next day. It was really cool! We got to feed wallabies, kangaroos, emus and freaky ducks. AND we got to see Tasmanian devils and wombats!












We took a road trip (Mom, Jenny, Courtney, and I) to Port Arthur, one of the oldest penal colonies in Australia where we went on a ghost tour and toured the whole town the next day. We stayed in a really nice cabbin, and made pancakes for breakfast. This is Jenny and I in prison.

We also went to Richmond a couple times to see the Richmond Gaol (the oldest gaol in Australia still in its original state) and the oldest bridge in Australia. That is also where Slim and his brother, Danny, live; so we went down there a couple times to hang out with them.

Oh and we went to the Cascade brewery to go on a tour. Our tour guide was a Michael Jackson look alike. Cascade is the oldest brewery in Australia... how weird is it that everything we did included the oldest something in Australia... does that mean something?

At some point during all our fun I had my Indigenous studies exam. It went really well! I think. I felt really confident about it at least. Grades come in on July 16th, so I'll find out then.

And another time we went up to the top of Mount Wellington. It was all snowy. This is Mom and Slim on top of Mount Wellington. It was quite cold and windy!

We went out with Slim a lot. He had a couple gigs with his band (Full Tilt Boogie) that (I think) Mom and Jenny really enjoyed. Well, that is until we got kicked out for line dancing and buying water. No really, we got kicked out for exactly those reasons... I know. It's impressive.

And another time we went to the royal botanical gardens. This is Jenny eating a Fern in the royal Fernery.

Sorry this is so crazy. We just got in last night... well, I took a different flight rout home, so I got home at about 2:30am and Mom and Jenny got in about 8:30pm. I'm not all together yet. But if you really want a good detailed trip through Tasmania, check out Jenny's blog. She has some really good pictures and fun stories up. Go to jennyinanutshell.blogspot.com
Thanks for keeping up with me!

Tassie Road Trip

Phew! Finally a minute to sit down and breathe. Sorry I've been so slack on getting this post up. We got back from our road trip, and I had just enough time to wake up the next morning to go get Mom and Jenny from the airport. No time for computers until now!
Well, the road trip was a blast! We took off on Wed. afternoon around three o'clock and headed up to Queenstown. Erin (from Devonport, a town up north), Naomi (from Japan), Courtney (the Canadian), and I rented a little Nissan and headed out. We made it to Queenstown by about 8 or 9pm and got a really nice hotel room. It was like a full apartment (actually quite a bit larger than the apartment I lived in last year in Iowa City!). We made one-eyed monsters for breakfast before we checked out the train museum and took off for Straun. Courtney had fun stealing clothes from the mannequins, and I was hard at work on the rail road tracks! It was crazy because they didn't have anyone watching over anything in the whole museum; it was just open to the public- no cameras or anything.


Straun was beautiful! It is right on the west coast of Tasmania. We were a little disheartened when the fudge shop was closed, but we went on a small hike, enjoyed a local bakery, and hung out at the saw mill. I thought that was really cool because the guy that was running it had been working there since he was ten years old! The saw he used was over 100 years old, and took about 20 minutes to cut one log (which he cut especially for us).
Next we went to Roseburry for the night. It was a tiny little town (it had two streets coming off the main highway) between Straun and Cradle Mountain where we were planning to hike the next day. We got a little trailer to stay in (and since they don't believe in heating or insulation I woke up every hour with the shakes it was so cold!). We found the local bar which was quite happening... Here we are with the cook at the restaurant behind the bar. She actually bleached her hair every night before bed and re-died it in the morning with different wacky colors. We kicked up the juke box later on and definitely gave the whole town something to talk about for the next few weeks... we got a little wild, but what can you expect from four crazy girls?!

In the morning we loaded up for Cradle Mountain. We saw a place along the way that gave horse back tours around Cradle mountain so we stopped to check them out. The guy told us he'd be back in an hour, but when he got back (we were waiting at our car, eating some lunch- he drove right past us and waved on his way in) he took off with two horses and we didn't get to ride! We were very upset!! But climbing Cradle Mountain was a blast! It was incredibly beautiful, and we were SO lucky! Apparently Cradle mountain only has 50 clear days a year. I guess the mountain is always just covered in clouds (especially in the winter.... which it is now) but there was not a cloud in the sky all day! Oh yes, and Courtney got violently attacked by a crow... or some sort of big black bird. It was actually pretty scary.

So after a great hike we drove up to Devonport where we stayed a couple days at Erin's house. We all snuggled up and had a movie party the first night. We made pancakes in the morning and hung out on the beaches of the northern coast and climbed around on some rocks by the light house. Our second morning in Devonport Naomi made some home made doughnuts (yum!). From there we went to Launceston. That was a fun town! We stopped at the Harley Davidson store (the only one in Tasmania) but the store was closed for the holidays (the Queen's birthday). We were very upset at this, but the guy at the bar said that if we came back in a couple hours the shop manager would come in and we might be able to check out the shop. So Courtney and I dropped Erin and Naomi off in the city and went back. We got lots of Harley paraphernalia and ended up hanging out with Mark (the store manager) and the owner for hours. It was a blast!!
We were planning on heading to Maria Island the next day, but we missed the ferry and came back to Hobart early. Then Mom and Jenny came, and that is a whole other blog!!

Fisher Rugby!

Sorry it took me so long to get this up. My Internet ran out last Sunday, and I haven't been in Sandy bay during business hours for a week to get it turned back on. I should be good now until I depart Tassie though.

Last weekend was the big rugby weekend! We (John Fisher) played against Christ College. Unfortunately our rugby jumpers and shorts came in a week late; so, we looked like a bunch of bogans in our borrowed jumpers and mismatched shorts, (note the back of my jumper in the next picture - 1p) but we had an absolute blast!

Our girls' team had just enough girls to make a team, so we didn't have any substitutes when Tanya and Adelle got carried off the field. Christ had more than enough girls to make two full teams (why couldn't they just share?!), but for being only part of a team we put up one heck of a fight! We ended up losing by two tries, but we felt like we hurt enough Christ girls to feel victorious inside.

The John Fisher boy's team didn't have enough boys to play, so the game was forfeited a week before, but a bunch of the old boys came and played a game that was just for fun. The boys mopped the field with Christ. They played an awesome game, game and a great victory. It was a great day for sure! I felt really honored at the BBQ Sunday night after the game. I was awarded the 'Coach's Player of the Game ' metal. I thought that was really cool!
Of course there were a few boo-boos. But what would rugby be if no one got hurt?! I was a fortunate one who didn't get beat up too bad, but I bruised up my legs and back, and I buggered up my ankle a bit.

Well, this is the last week of classes. Man has time flown by down here! I don't think I'm ready to leave yet, but I guess I have a few weeks of hard work and tests left to change my mind about that still! Courtney and I are planning on taking a road trip around Tasmania next week. Hopefully that will be something worth another blog entry! Thanks for keeping up with me! I love getting comments from everyone on here!! Can't wait to see you all again!!!