I'm In Love

I'm in Love - Alex Gaudino is the song de jour. It's one of the first songs that plays in the CD that plays in M's car whenever we go driving. Missing him so much. Had a week off of school so I went to Sydney and spent the week at the apartment. M only had to work twice but one of the days was a 24 hour long shift, ugh. So I was home alone all day and was super boring, R had to work so I didn't even have my Sopranos buddy.
M and I went to a couple bars, did some shopping, R won a meat raffle (yeah it doesn't get much more Australian than that) so he made us an amazing steak dinner Friday night. Then M took me to Darling Harbour to go see the Sydney Aquarium. It was so awesome, we saw some really cool fish and jellyfish and coral thingies. And also huge sharks, a giant dugong (coolest animal ever .. google it) and a giant sea turtle! Was even bigger than the one I swam with in the GBR. It was such a lovely afternoon, then we went to this place called the Star Bar for lunch, it was pretty rad, giant, with pool tables, huge trippy chandeliers, statues of Ned Kelly, The Terminator and an ewok. The chairs were so great too, wooden, with cow hide material on the seat and back, and big silver studs covering the nails? I'm not doing it much justice, it was really cool.
Then the shit hit the proverbial fan ... Heaven claimed another angel. My chi hair straightener died :( So sad, tried a bunch of different plugs, M even took it apart, performed open heart surgery on it and replaced the plug but it still didn't work, think it was just it's time to go. So sad though.
Sunday morning we set the alarm and woke up at 4:30 am, bundled up in jackets, sweaters and hats and drove to Watson's Bay. We hung out on the edge of the cliff and watched the waves roll in and the sun come up and the fishing boats set out to sea. It was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed until about 6:30 then got back in the car and blasted the heat as high as it went! Then we drove past Bondi Beach again. I can't believe I won't see these places again for a whole other year.
Sunday we just hung out, went to buy a new straightener (it's no Chi though) and then we went to the bar that R works at. We played the pokies, a couple games of pool, and this shooting deer/gun violence game thingy. Then grabbed a cab and headed to the train station.
It was pretty hard to get on the train, knowing M will be going to sea for so long, and it will be seven months before I see him again, so it was pretty tearful and I sobbed for about an hour after getting on the train. Just wishing I could jump out and go back home with him.
Got home this morning and crashed, was exhausted from excessive drinking, crying and being on the train for so damn long. Will post pictures of my shopping adventures soon! Have NOT been sticking to my budget. Oops.

The Red Tent

It's my first mother's day in another country, without my mummy. I miss her like crazy and can't wait to see her again. It's also possibly the ugliest mother's day ever, rainy and overcast and cold. I miss easter colours and pastels and flowers blossoming and the sun warming the winter chill from the air.
Anyways, here's to my mom, the one who taught me about Carole King and James Taylor, who taught me how to grow up, who inspired my love of fashion and shopping, who taught me how to open a wine bottle and also how to drink the whole thing with no one being any the wiser.
Miss you KP, you're my best friend, my favourite person in the whole world, I'd be lucky if I turned into half the person you are. I love you <3

Joking Smokers

Sportsgirl sweater $80.
Chanel earrings - from F
Messy bun + laundry day = commando Thursday

All The Lonely People

I failed another essay, with 49% again ... this is so unfair. Give me that extra one percent, one fucking percent! I'm an exchange student, we all know I don't give a crap. I really assumed that if I wrote the correct word count, used the correct amount of references, cited properly and vaguely wrote on the right subject/topic/theme - that should at least score me a 50%...
Obviously not. That and Aussie profs mark stupidly hard! If I got an 85% on an essay at home, it would probably be about a 60% here, no kidding. It is absolutely ridiculous. They say they never give out higher than an 8%, because something that would be a grade of 85% would be on par for submission to an academic journal .. wtf? At Carleton you won't even get close to getting in a journal as an undergrad. And maybe if no one ever gets higher than an 85%, then maybe your stadards are too damn high! Shouldn't the best paper in the whole class get close to 100%? Maybe it's a bit of an unrealistic expectation if it's so completely unattainable!
Ugh, I'm stressing, Two failed essays, three BIG essays due next week, and getting another essay back in my tut today .. in an hour and a half. I'm very nervous.

Under my Thumb

So I'm back in Melbourne from my Fiji trip! It was really cool! I spent my first night getting very drunk with Fijian locals around a bonfire on the beach, and spent the next day hating the humidity and heat with my awful hangover. Then I had lunch with a friend A, and he ordered fish and chips and so began my demise! I've never had real "fish n chips" before, so I tried some of A's and it was amazing! Really fresh fish, local Mahimahi, beer battered and served with chips, ketchup, tartar sauce and limes! So delicious but soooo unhealthy. I ended up eating it 7 times .. I was only in Fiji for 8 days, you do the math. But to be fair it was the best thing on the lunch menu, and dinners were so awful I ended up asking if they could pretty please just make me a toastie instead of a $20 giant bowl of mish-mashed pasta with a chunk of melted cheese on top. Yucky.
Days were spent lounging by the beach, under coconut trees, in hammocks, on the bamboo swing, on the grass overlooking the beach. I went kayaking in the lagoon, comandeered an abandoned bamboo raft, swam in the pool and took a day trip to Suva, the capital of Fiji. Evenings were spent having dinner with the assorted come and go crew of couples visiting Beachouse, then we'd play "Killa Pool" or Kings Cup and make endless trips to the bar.
I also got a Fijian massage one day! It was $20 for an hour and the woman lubed me up with coconut oil, half naked except for bottoms, on this burre looking onto the beach and had her way with me! She was very thorough, it was nice though! And I smelled amazing for the next 24 hours.
On the couple days that it rained I began drinking at brekkie, ordering iced coffees and adding my personal stash of rum or whiskey to it. Then we made coconut bracelets (you take a smashed peice of glass and scrape the hair off the coconut, saw off either side, then spend hours sanding it until smooth.)
The last day I got peeping tom'd which was nasty and pervy and made me feel quite disgusted and ready to leave. But all in all it was a great trip, I'd love to go back to Fiji with a whole lot more money and a partner in order to take advantage of all the activities and things that I wouldn't want to do alone.
Flight home sucked, but K and F picked me up from the airport which was awesome, I missed them like crazy. We went to Maccas on the way home - typical us, idk how those girls are so thin with all the Maccas they eat .. I sniff it and gain 2 kilo's,
Last night I found out I failed another essay (this is the second one in two weeks) and don't have a great chance of passing finals. This was depressing, but I'm trying to buck up my act and go to all my classes (Except next week...) and bring my laptop to take notes, and I'm meeting with my bioethics tutor this morning to discuss if there's anything I can do to improve my final essay ... which I conveniently haven't started writing yet. Fuck.
Also have exciting news!!! News that I have only told 3 people and they were all very excited and their reactions made me so happy. But I can't tell because I'm keeping it a secret from certain people, for a couple more weeks at least :)
Last night W and I made bruschetta (well I watched), and tea and hung out and swapped travel stories. Damn I missed that girl while I was gone, she always knows just how to make me feel better.
Now I'm just doing school work, thinking about starting the million loads of laundry I have to do from Fiji, and thinking about things to bring to M's house next week, since I won't have room to bring it all on my last trip there before I fly home.
Speaking of M, I'm so excited to see him next week, but I also don't want to because it means it's the last time for a very long time. I've never been in a relationship that I've actually missed the guy, I'm usually quite happy for them to eff off and leave me with my biddies, but he makes my world spin. It's going to be so hard not seeing him. Boo.
Anyways, so yes, school, exams, boyfriend .. I'm stressing hard about this. But I'll try not to because there's no use. If I fail school I do an extra semester, and deal with it, ugh.

When The Rich Wage War It's The Poor Who Die

Ohhhh Australian Navy you dirty bastard. M got a surprise deployment, leaving sooner, and staying longer. So this changes some of our plans, I mean it's not a big deal, it just sucks because I knew that his job is very unpredictable, and he told me how quickly things can change, I just didn't think it would happen to us, I thought that was other people. So according to the new plan, I have one visit left with him. I emailed my prof's and told them the situation and 2/4 have replied so far and told me that I can have extensions, they won't mark me down for missing classes, and to take all the time I need. Very sweet of them, so I'm going up to Sydney and spending the whole week at the apartment, M will be working every day but at least he gets home pretty early in the arvo so we can still do fun stuff in the evenings and everything. And R will be home, so that's always fun, he's introduced me to this show called The Sopranos, it's gross but totally addicting. And there's always whiskey hanging around :)
And in other news, I LEAVE IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!! And haven't packed a damn single thing! Ohhh Fiji here I come, I know I'm not enthusiastic about it, but I think it's just nerves, travelling alone is nerve-wracking, I mean I know I've done this alone but at least I had L with my for a lot of the backpacking stuff. I'm just worried about making friends in the hostel. Although it's Spring Break so hopefully there are other people there who want to do activities and drink kava :) And if not, spending my days lying on the beach, reading books and magazines, painting my toe nails, drinking rum and coke, and doing some solo kayaking and snorkelling doesn't sound like the end of the world. I also want to get a massage, apparently they have a great masseuse at the hotel, who does it for $20 FDJ, which is like 10 bucks in our money. Check please! If it's good who knows, maybe I'll get one every day! Oh life can be so hard :)
But yeah, either way, if I make friends fantastic, I'll have people to party with, and maybe someone will want to hop in a kayak with me, and if not then I can jam out on my own and do some soul-searching. Also, the dude at the hostel apparently has a paddle-board and let's people use it after he teaches them how. Sounds great :) And I'd like to find some more surfing lessons!!
Well now I'm excited, this will be fun, and a nice way to relax from the stress of school, changing plans and uncertainty (we control freaks don't deal with sudden change well, at least for me it kind of throws me off my game) but I'm trying to learn how to roll with it and just keep on truckin.
(Pics are totally random, Kayaking with a friend in Curacao, Hotel room in Curacao, Byron Bay beach in Aus)

Bad to the Bone (Thongs & Combat Boots)

I'm gonna be here for you baby
I'll be a man of my word
Speak the language in a voice that you have never heard
I wanna sleep with you forever
And I wanna die in your arms
In a cabin by a meadow where the wild bees swarm

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

I wanna honor your mother
I wanna learn from your pa
I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw
I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better than it's ever been

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

We'll follow the rainbow
Wherever the four winds blow
And there'll be a new day
Comin' your way

I'm gonna be here for you from now on
This you know somehow
You've been stretched to the limits but it's alright now
And I'm gonna make you a promise
If there's life after this
I'm gonna be there to meet you with a warm, wet kiss

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us
I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll win your trust making memories of us

Free As A Bird

So here's my first outfit post in like months! I've been so narcissistic publishing my entire personal life on the internet that I totally forgot to include all the wonderful things I prance around in.
So these jeans were given to me from F, they are Bubblegum, the mocassins are Minnetonka's and were $70 I beleive, the green khaki button down is from Sportsgirl ($80), then I've got my Seiko watch, boyfriend's dog tags, and ombre fringe earrings from Lovina ($13).
Also, look at the brekkie I made! Bf fed me grilled tomatoes and I totally fell in love, so I made a toastie with multigrain bread, a friend egg, vintage cheddar cheese, fresh basil from the garden in my courtyard, grilled tomato, and sliced avocado. Such a lovely meal!

Making Memories of Us

Day two on the Great Ocean Road was equally amazing. The driving was awesome, very fun and scary, like a roller coaster ride. The sights were insanely beautiful, endless beaches, with powder fine sand and the brightest turquoise blue water. Waves crashing up on shore and upon huge rocks that have been there since the beginning of time. When we finally made it to the Twelve Apostles we had to park in a lot, walk through an info booth and cafe, and under a bridge to get to the footpath that led to the lookout. It was incredible. Thankfully the clouds broke and the sun shone through, making the apostles the brightest, sandiest gold. It was an amazing thing to see, just like the pictures but so big and I couldn't stop thinking about how old they are, and how much they have changed over the years.
We also drove home and stopped at Bells Beach, where many very famous surf competitions happen. It was freezing cold and the water must have been icy (not to mention shark-infested ... seriously), but there were tons of surfies out there bobbing up and down in the water, waiting to catch the perfect wave. Very cool.
On our drive back home we passed Reedy Creek, which we obviously had to run across the road to and take pictures of. We took the city way back to Melbourne, through Geelong and such instead of the ferry because it's much faster. When we got home we threw our leftover meat on the barbie and ate more delicious toasties! Yum yum.
Then on Sunday my man had to leave, back to work for him, so it was a teary goodbye and he made it home in good time, 9 hours again. Miss him like crazy already, woke up this morning at 6am and panicked because I reached for him and hit the wall. Shook me up to think that this is what it will be like for months and months until I see him again in Canada.
We're going to make things work though, I'm confident. I'll wait for him and I know he'll do anything for me. Even sing me really cheesy country songs at the top of his voice in the car when he's dead tired and back has cramped up. I'm one lucky girl to have found this man.

Anything But Mine

Friday morning M and I got up at 7 and packed the car, hit the grocery store for some man food (meat) and an eski, and began our drive down to Sorrento. We stopped in Sorrento and walked around the beach, saw a beautiful old bar that M used to drink at with his father when he worked at the base down there. The ferry over to Queenscliff was cool, we walked around and saw a group of dolphins jumping right beside the ferry, and swimming around in front of us. My first dolphin sighting! Very cool.
When we got to the other side the Great Ocean Road began, we drove through the countryside for a good long while and it was completely gorgeous. The speed limit on the road is 80, some people go faster than that, locals I'd assume (and us of course), but because we're driving along the side of cliffs for a lot of the time, the speed limit in some places are 30 and 40 km/hr. It was pretty scary going so fast around the sharp bends and passing other cars, but we were definitely not the fastest drivers on the road, the locals with trucks would zip around like maniacs, overtaking like 3 or 4 cars at a time, which was crazy because it's just two lanes, and a lot of the time it's dangerous to pass because there's a turn in front and you can't see any of the vehicles coming ahead. But it was so fun and M is an amazing driver so I never felt unsafe. Except when some Asian tourists were going wayyyy too slow and everyone started getting crammed up and angry and trying to pass and it was chaotic!
We pulled over every 20 minutes or so, at scenic lookouts on the side of the road, we saw so many incredible beaches, views of the ocean, crazy mountainsides and farms full of sheep and cows. We also saw the most adorable little sea-side homes, as well as modern mansions, like one that was all glass, up on a pillar about 100 feet above the road. Insane!! But wow what a view they all had!
By about 4 or 5pm we arrived at Skenes Creek campsite, a little camping ground with about 20 or 30 sites, right on the beach in Apollo Bay. We set up our tent, sleeping bags, mattresses, lawn chairs and made a sangria in less than a half hour. Pretty pro :) Especially since the guys beside us took over an hour to set up two tents. Cute.
That evening we had BBQ, it was great, M is a wonderful chef :) We had steak, snags, and grilled tomatoes and onion, delicious!! Then we drank some sangria, and jack and coke, and went to bed by 8pm. And I had the best sleep I've had in weeks and weeks. It was so warm in our tent and so cold outside, and I fell asleep on M's chest, with the sound of the waves coming up on the beach outside, and other people's campfires crackling. Beautiful

Aint Going Down Till The Sun Comes Up

Last weekend I took the train up to Sydney to go to work with M. The Navy was having Family Day, so I came up, we went to HMAS Sydney bright and early Saturday morning and spent the whole day on the ship. We saw many very cool things, most of which I couldn't name to save my life, but there were some big missiles, the flight deck where helo's are landed, and the place where the captain steers the ship. We had to run all around the ship, up and down a couple floors, through these little circular holes in the floor and down a steep ladder. It was terrifying and is a miracle that I didn't break my neck falling down them! Matt took me to the canteen that he runs, and it was pretty cool, they mostly sell smokes and Shapes. And HMAS Sydney lighters. Cool shit, and the girls who work for him were very nice and it was also cool to meet his boss. When we were on the flight deck we watched some of the sailors demonstrate their gun skills, they shot a whole bunch of guns and sniper rifles and stuff. Very intense and also v. loud, everyone wore ear plugs. Then we had a lovely BBQ and hung out, walked around the ship, saw all the different room like the Ops Room, which had a skull on the door, was all dark inside and had radars and torpedos and stuff!
But it wasn't all destroyer/war ship stuff, we sailed past the Sydney Harbour and into the ocean which was absolutely gorgeous, and the ship did a series of manouvers, like leaning over from side to side and stopping really quickly, besides being afraid for my life it was pretty cool.
We got back to dry land by about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and M had to work the night so I cabbed back to the apartment, watched The Sopranos with R until he had to go to work, and made pasta and meatballs. Nom nom.
Then boy came home in the morning and we hung out all weekend, and packed for our road trip from Sydney to Melbourne! It took over 9 hours, but I had to pee every 5 seconds and we also stopped for petrol, Maccas and to see a giant submarine in Holbrooke. All in all it was a nice drive, took a while, but fun to be stuck with M in a car for that long, just joking around and smoking and singing bad country songs. Very sweet.

Seven Bridges Road

Let's not pretend we don't all know what goes on in here.
It's on campus, behind residence, near the lake.
Perfect.

No Air

This past weekend when I was "going to Broken Hill," I was actually on a train to Sydney to suprise M. R let me into the apartment when I arrived, and then M called me, while I was sitting in his bed putting on makeup, and told me he was coming home, so I had to make this giant lie about being on the bus on the way to Broken Hill, but everyone had gotten off the bus for food so thats why there was no noise in the background. Either way it was a giant tangled web of lies and there's no way I'd have been able to keep up with it. So a few hours later he walks in the front door, drops his bag and just stares at me trying to figure out how I must have gotten there. But I think he was pretty happy, we had a wonderful weekend together, just what I needed. We mostly just hung out and watched movies, making cocktails and food (well he cooked ... meal #1: rack of lamb with roast potatoes and gravy and steamed veg). We went to the grocery store, took a couple walks, went to the bar, played pool, played karaoke and just goofed off. He's perfect :)
This week back in res was slightly hell for me, I had an essay that I wrote in one hour, had an adventure in the library trying to find a computer and figure out how to print stuff. Ugh such a mess! Then my insurance messed up so I had to buy more, my $10 worth of printer credits don't work but I can't get the money back, and I can't get a parking pass for M and I for next week.
So Thursday night I'm off, back to Sydney, Saturday is Family Day so M is taking me out on the ship. I'm excited but slightly nervous to meet all his friends and boss and everyone, but it will be cool seeing what he does :) He even told me if I'm good he'll let me put on his fireman suit :) Woohoo. Then we're living in this tiny room for the week while I'm in classes, and driving the Great Ocean Road and camping during the weekend. Should be perfect.
Then it really is cram time, I have tons of major essays due, a trip to Fiji in a couple weeks, and have to make my summer decision about if I'm leaving after school, and not seeing M again until December, or if I'm staying the whole summer, and therefore have to look for a job in Sydney and start making some friends. I want to decide this before M leaves for a 10-week tour at sea at the end of May, because it could be the last time I see him for a very long time.