One of the last trips this semester was to Sydney. Me, Angelina, Danielle, Tuva, and her friend Sara all decided to go the weekend of my birthday. With no one able to drive us to the airport we took a bus and two trains to the Brisbane airport then flew to Sydney at 9:00 pm. Then it was another two trains and a bus to Macquarie University where we met up with Jared who I work with back at St. Norbert. The whole trip took 10 hours and we were exhausted. After one night in Jared's hell hole of an apartment :P we decided to book a hostel closer to the city. Jared and his friends were so nice and showed us around! We saw the red bull air show (the ones you may have seen on commercials where they make floats and try to launch them off a ramp) and got some amazing pictures with the opera house. That night for Jared's birthday he took us to a German restaurant and we enjoyed a few drinks at other bars. One bar we went to had a beautiful view of the city from the roof but we weren't able to stay long because there was a wedding reception taking place. We found out that we had a roommate for the next two nights named Leo. He was 26 and was originally from Australia. He is now living with his girlfriend in Sweden. He was really nice and thought we were pretty hysterical. He now cringes at the thought of having daughters :)

My roommate Michael being a goof and his girlfriend Ashleigh (they got me perfume and my favorite cookies!)

Twenty One!!! I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend my 21st birthday in Australia! While I did miss my friends and family back home, Angelina went crazy and made sure I had an amazing birthday weekend. I woke up to breakfast in bed with beautiful flowers from her and Art. She bought a ton of decorations and we decorated my room for people to come over and celebrate! Then she made my favorite dinner (tacos) and people came over to my room for a party! You'd think since it was a 21st birthday party that it would be crazy but let me assure you this was the most legal and sober party ever! Ever single person except Angelina and I had decided to run a 10k the next morning so no one was drinking! We made it fun though by playing card games etc. Angelina gave me a huge birthday card everyone had signed as well as an awesome picture frame. The next day we went out to dinner at a mexican restaurant. I got a big bowl of guacamole for my meal and we all enjoyed sangria. It was delicious and then the waitress brought out chocolate moose with a sparkler on top! Just when I thought it couldn't get any better I came home to a birthday card and cake outside my door from my roommates. We watched Jaws and I opened up some more amazing gifts and cards. Overall it was a fantastic birthday :) Now the pressure is on to make Angelina's amazing (hers is on Nov 23rd).

Aussie friend Ryan and Angelina

Danielle and David

Justin, David, Vega, Ole, Chris

Angelina, Tuva, Ingrid, Karianne, Susanne

In Australia there is a horse race called the Melbourne Cup. It is comparable to the Kentucky derby and is where thousands of people around the country dress up really nice and wear big hats or hair pieces and head to the races. Melbourne is pretty far away so we went to a smaller horse race in Caloundra. It was so amazing seeing everyone there wearing suits and fancy dresses. We drank champagne and had beautiful weather!

Two people I met that night but I thought had pretty neat makeup! Me and my roommates Matt and Alice Matt's friend who yes is wearing my clothes and makeup Angelina went as Facebook! Halloween in Australia was a blast! There was a costume party held by the school so a lot of people went all out on their costumes. I decided to keep it pretty simple this year and went as a Starbucks cup...clever I know :) Anyway here are some fun pictures from Halloween!

On the last day few days of our road trip we headed south to surfer's paradise. We got there and had terrible rainy cold weather but we decided to bite the bullet and head out in the ocean! The water wasn't too terribly cold but the waves were huge and there were a lot more experienced surfers there so after a few failed attempts to surf I ran back and got the boogie board. It was still a lot of fun! I tried Thai food for the first time which was delicious. Here are some pictures from surfer's paradise :)