Hey everyone. Just thought I'd say hello from the south coast, from my grandparents house :D. The last three days have been so jam packed, but great none the less, and it has been wonderful to catch up with people and get to do some pretty cool stuff. "Pretty cool stuff" sounds very vague, but it encapsulates about everything I have done in the last 72 hours. I will try and quickly list what has happened:

1. Unofficially became a year 12 on Thursday. Learnt how to sent up a tent and how to say goodbye to some amazing people. Also went to the beach (for the second day in the row) in celebration of finishing our exams!! On Wednesday it was a fantastic feeling that I had FINALLY finished my exams!!!
2. Thursday night, my sister and I stayed up packing until about 11:30. On Friday morning we got up at 6:30 (groooaaan) to leave for Penrith. This short amount of sleep is an achievement in its self.
3. FRIDAY! We got to Penrith, bumped into Kieren straight away!! It was really great to catch up with everyone... :D
4. Heather and I left to get our haircut... weee.. my hair is now layered (finally) and looks great straightened or with a blowdry. At the moment it looks horrible, but I'm on holiday, so it doesn't really matter.
5. Friday night, arrived in Canberra. Watched Ms Congeniality!! For the first time! Great movie. Caught up with Bethany, Jane and Chris. Felt right at home there. I really would love to spend more time there.
6. Saturday- straightened my hair. Felt like a rockstar. I wore my red shoes- (how i love my red shoes...) and travelled to my grandparents house. (Down the south coast..). Went to my Mum's old high school and saw some of her old class mates! (it was my mums 30 years class of 77 or something reunion..) Met Ralph. He is so incredibly cool! My mum went to school with him.
7. Sunday- MAGIC MOUNTAIN! (Small Amusement park) SO MUCH FUN! I went on the Go Karts, the silver slidey thing, the roller coaster seven times in a row (i was really dizzy afterwards...), the maze, the slipperydip with carpet and mini golf. I did these activites several times, and my sister has now decided that she won't come in a car with me because i didn't use the break in the go karts. hahahaha. I was really proud that i defeated my fear of rollercoasters (even if this was a small one..). Caught up with Lilly, Trish, Andrew, Meg and Kate. After that we had CHOCOALTE PADDLEPOPS! and then went to Trish's to watch the football. *tear* Manly. At least we came second!! But i can't BELIEVE what happened to player number one!! :O! I think he has a right side brain injury, because his right hand kept curling up.
8. So now I sit on Monday at my Pa's computer typing away. I've started reading "The Power of One' and it is an amazing book. Really confronting. It's made me go teary a few times, and i have only read about 150 pages!!!

I've dressed up the last two days, which has been great, it makes so feel like you are on top of the world. But right now I am sitting in my tracksuit pants and my U2 tour tshirt and this feels just as good. To think that I will be in Year 12 next term doing work that counts towards my HSc is kind of daunting, but I'm coming into terms with it more and more. I guess all my previous years of schooling and life experience has been preparing me for this time, this chapter in my life. And there is no use fearing it, but embracing it. I know i can freak out saying next year I'll be 18 etc, but i think i am just going to enjoy life now. Not worry about the future. The future will come, and I'm just going to trust God in the future, and hope that the decisions and paths i step and carve now will carry me into the right future. This is our time. Our HSC. Let's embrace and make the best of it.. :)

Well I went to the Sydney Uni Open day yesterday. I'm in love. Head over heels. I am DEFINITELY going to Sydney Uni. I just feel so comfortable and at home there.. the buildings are beautiful!! :D. I went with Ashleigh, Tavis, Serena and Hayley-Jayne... we all went to the courses we wanted to see and everything and I bought a sydney uni note book!! Weee it looks so great.. (except now i have 6 new unused notebooks and I have come to the conclusion that i am slightly obsessed with notebooks.. although it's fair to say that I got a whole heap of notebooks (YAY) for my birthday, so i didn't purchase all of them :P.) Anyway, Sydney Uni is tops, and i can't wait to be there in 2009. *eeeeeeek omgosh HSC*.

This week has been interesting... I'm still behind in my school work and my social life apart from going to Sydney Uni is non existent. But i think that's the way its going to be for quite a while. Let's see how long its going to take for me to go insane.. I'm guessing just before prelims. I'll die. Sanity death wise, not physically. Yeaaaah.

It's really interesting seeing how people relate, and how people have changed. I reckon a lot of life is about growing as a person- and that growth comes from how you handle situations. Will you rise above them, step on top of them or will you just stay complaining about how things never worked out when I was 5 because my big brother didn't give me a lolly? lol, i mean obviously the past is going to influence your future, but it will either be positive or negative. I love it how God can heal the bits in your past that hurt and stop you from moving forward, and then by Him healing your heart, you can then go into the future.

*new topic* My sister and I had this random arguement the other day about how she thought it was sad that I was 17 and 'had never been kissed' or had a boyfriend. (lol, haha the first guy i kissed was like when I was 6 or 7, in a garden shed, when we were getting married. Lol, i guess thats not really a proper thing.. oh and LOL last year at HAA.. that's right.. the 'first' guy i accidently kissed was gay hahahahaha. Ok i hope if you are reading this you can tell i'm being silly in these brackets.. :P) The thing is, I don't believe that my life would be any more complete by having that boyfriend or having that first kiss. I mean sure, it would be great, but i really don't see anything working out with anybody at this time in my life. Lol, and anyway i need to focus on my hsc. A lot of people think that they need a significant other but for me i think i would rather wait. Until i'm at uni, finished school... that kinda thing. Lol because i know when i meet a guy that i would love to spend the rest of my life with, i think i'd just go head over heels (haha more so than my love for sydney uni). And i don't believe that every teenager should have to go through their first love and their first heartbreak and their first whatever. And I'm not going to use 'love' to fill a hole or to complete me.

ANYWAY sorry massive long ramble. I need to finish my AH speech. Hope you are all well and healthy (stay away from the flu!!) and have a great week!! xox

P.s. My haircut is working :D!

WOW. I got a hair cut. And it's rather short. WOW. Hehe light and breeeeezy. No more stupid ugly fat gross under layer.Weee... it's just a bit longer than my chin. And i looks good bobby pinned back. Wee... so happy with it! I had to straighten it but it was sooo worth it.

When i take some pics I'll post them here. It was rather funny, there was a long line to get your hair cut at John Brennan, so I made an appointment at another hair dresser for 1pm. I went back to see how much it would cost, and it would have cost me $79! For a hair cut! I was shocked! So i was like sorry that's too expensive.. and went back to John Brennan. :D. My hair feels so different.. but good :D. Yes! I finally have a haircut.

It's a really nice change. Because I've started a change, well more like I've gone to God, ok I reallllllly neeed to change. I reallly need self discipline. And I found this verse.. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline."- 2 Timothy 1:7. So that means on of the 'fruits of the spirit' is... SELF DISCIPLINE! Wow, yup, i was amazed. But it works. I've been going to bed at 9:30 the last two nights (Lol I only started this 2 days ago) been really working on school work and not wasting time (apart from now since I am writing this blog.) but its been great. It takes 28 days to make or break a habit, so in 28 days man I'm going to be super Emily! It's really nice to be disciplined with my bed time and get sleep (i really need it) and to be able to work and then do the things I want to do. It's like you do all the school work first, then in the night I get to do things, like write in my journal :D. I'm also having my shower in the night time so I have time in the morning to pray. I know these are only little things, but they make you feel so great! It's like a mini lifestyle change. Feeels goood!

Anyway I've got to go and finish my (well more like start) my S & C essay. I've practically finished my English Extension essay *yay* so i'm getting there! I've still got a heap of work to catch up on after being sick, but I'll get it done eventually :)!.

Have a good weekend!