New Year, New Blog! Happy 2016!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I know it has been almost 5 months since the last time I wrote, I blame that on my busy school schedule until the end of November and then I blame it on procrastination, laziness, and the inability to bring my laptop to the beach.

I will sum up August, September, October, and November as the hardest semester of my life. They were not kidding when they said it is the hardest semester in law school but when you combine, evidence, company, equity & trusts, and social justice clinic together, it works out to having absolutely no time at all. The girls and I went months without going out because our noses were buried deep in books. But as I watched my social life disappear (not that I have much of one) with glass of wine in hand and eyes squinted at the computer screen trying to make sense of another journal article I was sure to forget once the assignment was finished, I moved on to year 3 aka the last year of my degree aka the last year of university ever because I will never be stupid enough to think I need to further my education again!!!

In October I did venture home yet again, for yet again, another wedding. My wonderful friend Amanda got married, and although I don't have the professional pictures from that wedding yet, I do have one from the photobooth!

I don't know how the bride got stuck in the back, she definitely should have been front and centre, but oh well it is an absolutely adorable picture of us all. Hopefully when she eventually gets the photos from the photographer I can post them all on facebook for the world to see!

And because I was home in October, I made my mom have early Thanksgiving because Australians are weird and don't celebrate this holiday! So she made me a turkey with all the fixings the day before I left, and I ate way to much and it was amazing!! Also some genius decided we should get a family photo that night (minus the sister-in-laws, no idea where they disappeared to...) and I totally forgot I had it until I was scrolling through my photos and found it a few weeks ago!

I'm actually pretty impressed we are all looking at the camera and not pinching, punching, or kicking one another. It's a normal family picture!!

When I got back to Australia, Meena and I hosted our annual thanksgiving at our place (2 years in a row can be called annual right?) We had chicken with all the fixings, and I tried my hand at making candied sweet potatoes for the first time, and omg were they ever delicious!! 

Lots of wine, lots of good food, and lots of good friends. This is my Australian family from left to right - Meena, Hillary, Matt, Mike, Amber, Phil, Paulina, Nicole, Alex, and Me! 

And these are the girls that constantly get me into trouble (just kidding), but we have bonded over the past 2 years over wine, beer, sunburns, wearing pink on Wednesdays and our hate for certain law subjects.

After Thanksgiving was cram for finals time and after cram for finals time was beach time. So here enjoy some random photos of after finals enjoying life in the land down under! 

At the top we have us drinking beer celebrating finishing our second year of law school, and on the bottom you have Amber and I waiting for some bevvies after a hot afternoon at the beach, then in the middle with Meena a very rare picture to see her at the beach and with her toes in the water! And the last one with Amber, was when we decided it would be a smart idea to shield the sun in our eyes by wearing sunglasses for endless hours and ending up with racoon eyes. My excuse was that brain power was exhausted during finals and it was not replenished by the time that decision was made!

Then New Years Eve rolled around and off to Sydney I went along with 2 million other people trying to watch the same fireworks I was watching. Needless to say they were amazing! And although the crowds made me dislike mankind, I would probably go and see them again! The photos and even video do not do them justice. 

When I get home and get my brother to help me with the technical compute stuff to make things look pretty and such, I hope to add a whole album of the fireworks!

I will be coming back to Canada in the next few weeks to help prepare and celebrate my best friends wedding, and once that wedding is complete, no more weddings...ever! 

Happy 2016 Everyone!!

Wedding Bells

So I know it has been a while, I just checked the date of my last post, May 26, yikes, that was almost 3 months ago. In all honesty thought, I haven't felt motivated to write, I've stopped taking random pictures of Newcastle and random Australian things because they just seem so normal to me now, it's like taking pictures of things around Regina, just flat out boring. But today, I got motivated, I got excited to write, why you may ask, well let me tell you.

I bought my first piece of furniture in Australia!! Yup, that is my motivation, I bought a dresser and built it all by myself, it is quite a beauty. I know my mom is reading this right now, being like why did she buy a dresser, she has to many clothes, and yup I do have to many clothes, it really is a problem, I have a major shopping addiction but hey a new dresser will solve all my closet issues at the moment! To me this is a big issue, I am very proud of myself, cause when I bought my house back in 2011 and moved in, I needed some serious help from my parents and brothers to put stuff together, but not today, today I didn't have to go to dad's garage and figure out which screwdriver to get because I own screwdrivers, today I didn't have to call mom being like why won't the two pieces fit together, because I shimmied it myself, today I didn't have to call my brother to come lift it up for me, because I am now a big girl and can do it all by myself. You guys are probable all laughing at me right now, which is totally understandable, but I did it so yay! Secondly I'm very proud of my dresser because it is a piece of furniture, and you know what owning furniture means, settling down and finding a home. Now I'm not saying this tiny little apartment with Meena is a home, but it makes me happy to own something of sustenance in Australia, makes me feel oddly at peace.

So since my building of the dresser got me motivated, I guess I will continue to tell you about my life. June was boring, not much happened, I studied for finals, wrote my finals, then flew home to enjoy the sunshine and leave the Australian cold behind! I was a bridesmaid in two wedding this July. the first one was one of my best friends Michelle, it was absolutely lovely, and we had so much fun.

Isn't she a beautiful bride? I thought she was and so did her husband!! We had fun chatting, celebrating, and dancing, oh and I caught the bouquet! Yay go me! If tradition stands to be true my knight in shining armour should be pulling up in his Mercedes any minute now...haha I know right if only dreams were realities! When I caught the bouquet, the girls were laughing at me and said I dived for it, I was like no I may have stepped to the side to catch it but I definitely didn't dive for it, little did I know there was photographic evidence....

Every time I look at this picture I laugh may face off, it is so funny. So much for being graceful like a lady, clearly those skills went out the window when I decided to become a football player to catch the bouquet. 

The next wedding I was in was my baby brothers, the professional pictures from that wedding aren't back yet so fortunately you don't get to see any more candid shots of me diving for bouquets, even though I missed that one! I just have the few I took on my phone throughout the day, they are quite candid though :) 

Me being vain and taking a selfie because I think I look amazing!!! 

Me and the bride waiting to be picked up!!

Almost time, its time to get nervous!!!

My baby brother, the handsome groom, he is so grown up.

The super sexy bridal party! We had some good times in that limo.

Me and my date, we were inseparable....

Me and my big little brother, damn we have good genes in our family.

I'd say I'd post the professional pictures one I get them, but since I've been so slack in writing my blog i'm not going to make any promises!! 

While I was at home for the month of July not celebrating bridal showers, bachelorette parties, or attending weddings I managed to get my foot in the door and work at Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan, helping them catch up on a bunch of their data entry, I also got to go to court, and attend some client advice clinics. It was quite the experience, and opened my eyes to a side of law that I never gave any thought to before. 

A few days before I was due to fly back to Australia I finally got out to the lake for some relaxing time, I got to go on the quad, I read a book in the sun, I burnt my face, went fishing, and relaxed by the campfire. It was a perfect day.

Now I'm currently in semester 2, about to start week 4 of 13. This semester I am taking evidence (not nearly as interesting as CSI), equity and trusts (so far I've learnt that it's flexible....), Company Law (quite interesting but also quite mind boggling), Social Justice/Public Interest Clinic (very excited about this course, I get to help boat people try and get TPV's!!!!), and the my diploma course which includes civil litigation and trust accounting. 

So I think you're all caught up on my life for now, and I've lost motivation, and I'm hungry, so time to go pour myself a glass of rouge vino and make myself some chicken! 

Ciao!

Wine, Beer & Whiskey

Okay so I am completely determined to write this blog, I have started it like 10 times and never actually finished it because I got side tracked by school work and assignments and all that other stuff that like to interfere with the fun stuff in life! I know it has been a month and a half since I last wrote, and I do want to give pause here and give a shout out to all the bloggers out there that write a blog regularly, like one every week, because I just can’t find the time in my life! Anyways back to my life now and how awesome it has been this past month!

So it is week 12 at school, aka the last week of school for the semester, how crazy is that. All my assignments are done, and now just one more paper to write (instead of a final) and 3 finals to prep for! So before I bury myself in my textbooks and notes and only come up for air, I figured I would pound out this post (with mostly pictures), because  nobody really reads these things anyways, they just want to see the awesome pictures of Australia.

So first off, we had a very bad storm, it was actually a mini cyclone. According to the news winds got to 135 km/h. There were a lot of people who got flooded, and houses drifted away in the flood waters, and trees fell over and blocked roads. I live on the 7^th store of the apartment and somehow even my floor got wet in my room. This storm caused the university to close, which was exciting for me because I have never had a day off due to poor weather ever! I mean I live in Regina, Saskatchewan, the city of bad weather, 8 feet of snow and minus 55 Celsius and school is like make sure you bundle up so you don’t get frostbite.

The wind was so strong that it blew trees over into the middle of the road.

This tree is on campus and it was huge, and it was just blown over taking the concrete and brick that was surrounding it with it.

Next on my list was another wine tour, just you’re probably all rolling your eyes at me, being like another wine tour really, but honestly when you get good deals on things that involve free wine, why would you turn down the opportunity?! I know I cam to Australia for school purposes, but if you can’t have a little fun what is the point really?! It was good times with good friends!! 

Can't forget the vodka shots in test tubes!

The picturesque Hunter Valley

Now is the most exciting part of my past month and a half, my mini trip to Tasmania. I went to Tasmania with Meena and Andre and I fell in love with the state, everything about it. It was fall in Tasmania, so it was cool just like at home, but unlike at home it was surrounded by mountains and water and the views were beautiful.

So excited to be leaving for Tasmania!!!

And we flew off into the sunset. I could not believe the gorgeous colour of the sky. The dusty pastel colour was out my window, and the vivid colour was out the other side of the plane, it's a shame I couldn't get a better picture of that side as well.

The first morning we went to Mount Wellington. Mount Wellington is the highest point in Hobart and gives amazing views of the whole city, this is all I can really say about it, because it was by far one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The pictures do not even do it justice. 

Mount Wellington from the ground.

 So high up this I'm above in the clouds.

Gorgeous Hobart from above.

The first afternoon we went Cascade Brewery, it was a beer tour, and they told us how beer was made and then we got some awesome free samples. Cascade makes some very amazing beer, thankfully Meena was driving that day so I could enjoy the tasters. Do not ask me how beer was made because I honestly couldn’t tell you, as in I totally can’t remember, all I know is that they use barley! Take a look at the factory! 

Some large barrels making some beer.

The Cascade Brewery with Mount Wellington behind, such a beautiful country.

The second day we went to the Cadbury factory in the morning, it’s where most of the Cadbury chocolate is produced in Australia. Unfortunately they do not do tours of the factory, they only show a video of how the chocolate was made but they did have a giant chocolate store.

The second afternoon, we went on a whiskey tour at Lark Distillery. This is the first time I have ever had whiskey on the rocks, and boy was it smooth. We went on a tour of the factory where they make the brewery and got to try the whiskey at all the different stages of the process. Some of the stages were absolutely disgusting, while others were not to bad. It was very interesting to see how whiskey was made and how close to the beer making process it actually is. I do have to say that I need a more refined palate to drink whiskey full time without feeling the burning in my throat! 

Tasting some whiskey at the very beginnings of the process. Not the greatest tasting.

This oven is what gives the whiskey the smokey taste, they roast the grain with peat moss.

Tried some 63.4% alcohol, pretty much started my mouth on fire. So gross.

The cask that the whiskey ferments in

My whiskey drinking glass

Some very strong single malt whiskey. No longer sold on the shelves. Very limited edition.

That night Andre and I went on a ghost tour, unfortunately Meena wasn’t feeling well so she missed out. Unfortunately we didn’t see any ghosts, but we did get a good scare in one of the underground tunnels. It was very interesting to hear the stories and to learn about the history of Tasmania. Here are some of the interesting landmarks that are haunted in Hobart.

Some very haunted houses.

This tunnel gave me the heebie jeebies. I had the light on my camera on, and then all of a sudden it shut off and the camera shut down by itself. Freaked me out.

The next morning, we got up nice and early and I dragged Andre to the farmer’s market because I love farmer’s markets, its just nice to walk around and look at all the interesting things that Tasmania has compared to what we have back home.   After that we got in the car and the three of us started on our long journey to Wine Glass Bay. It was gorgeous to see the countryside and the sheep and horses and cows roaming the hilly fields. Made me think of home, just not flat and covered in wheat fields.

Wine Glass Bay was amazing, I honestly don’t see the wine glass shape of the bay, but maybe I would have if I was there, Andre and I hiked up the mountain to get these picturesque views, it’s a shame it was so cloudy, so the water didn’t sparkle like it would have in the sun, but it was still well worth the hike, next time I go there I will definitely make sure I have more time to spend, and wear a pair of runners so I don’t have to hike in flip flops!

A little wallaby we found on our hike up the mountain.

If we had more time and it was a bit nicer we would have walked all the way down to the beach and maybe gone for a swim in the water. 

Once we got our pictures taken we hopped back in the car and drove to the Bay of Fires. Tasmania has very bad cell reception so we actually had to pull over to an information store and get a map to direct us. People my age don’t use maps anymore, we are all reliant on google maps, so definitely an experience to go back to an old school map. The bay of fires was gorgeous. It is called the Bay of Fires because of the red markings on the rocks, which you will see in the pictures below. Yes I went climbing on the rocks, because, hey why not right?

Me about to start my journey climbing the rocks!

The gorgeous white sandy beaches

Thanks to Andre for this awesome picture of me watching the waves crash against the rocks, trying to decide if I am mermaid enough to go for a swim!

I didn't realize the rocks were this big until I looked at this picture, and compared my size to it.

How would you like to live on this farm? Wake up in the morning and do your farming chores then go down to the beach for a swim in the crystal clear ocean!

After seeing these gorgeous landmarks around Tasmania we drove to Launceston that we arrived in very late that night, checked into our hostel ordered some Chinese food and then went to sleep. Meena and I had to catch our flight back home the next morning. I was very sad to be leaving Tasmania to be going back home to Newcastle, and I definitely can’t wait to go back!

So long little Island, I'll be back soon!!!

Other then that, I haven’t really been up to much except schoolwork. As the semester comes to a close it gets very busy trying to finish everything that I procrastinated doing earlier in the semester, and also what I am doing now. This coming weekend though I am going to Vivid Sydney, which if you remember from last year led to some awesome pictures. I will maybe just post a picture blog this weekend when I come home from seeing it, to share the amazement with you.

I will leave you with a wind blown selfie as I try to continue to stay warm, while you all enjoy the sunshine!