deev's adventure

beautiful snow...

2012-01-23T14:12:00.001Z

on the day I leave... of course. haha

slip sliding

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000Z

trying to figure out how to put a tobies caramel roll into my mouth without getting it all over my face. hilarious!!

oh my goodness. they make angry bird beanies. haha. so cute.

so, I'm up in duluth and the weather is really getting colder, but not much snow still, which I suppose is good, seeing as I've been driving around. tonight I went to meet up with one of andy's friends and go out to a

movie, dinner and drinks. so f course it snowed a little. on the way there, I came to a stop at a stop sign and started sliding sideways onto a major road... fun fun fun... how

DOES one stop when they have their feet fully on the brake??

Then, climbing up a hill in town, a car at the stop sign infront of me started slipping towards me in the ice. I was a fair way away cos I wasn't trusting anything or anyone, but still it was a little interesting. how far was the ice there for him to slip? he changed his route, and I decided to take his new route, as the previous choice seemed a little icy!!!

on the way home (I only drank one local brew beer!!! so don't worry!!) it was minus 21 degrees celcius and OH MY GOODNESS, did I feel it!!!! I only had my fingerless mittens on and I was scared the tips of my fingers were actually going to fall off!! ouch!! it hurt so bad, and the car took forever to spit hot air out. I was almost home beforehand hands started to thaw.

WELCOME TO DULUTH!!!

north star roller girls

2012-01-16T04:34:00.001Z

it was beautiful. someone apologised to me on behalf of Minneapolis, minnesota AND America, for the lack of snow. and asked me please to not hold it against him that he could not provide as much snow this year as they had last year! loved it.

never thought I would be 'too warm' walking. i walked into downtown Minneapolis and was hot. man... bring on the snow! woohoo! I did, however, notice that lots of people seem to waddle over here. and on closer inspection, I realised I waddle too. it's the winter coats that cause it. or the mighty ducks... I think that was filmed over here. quack, quack, quack.

"A quarter of an inch, Charlie."

"Yeah, but a quarter inch the other way and you'd have missed completely."

"I never thought of it that way."

yeah, it was totally filmed over here.

things are really sweet over here, like juice and bread. that's my random thought. ih, and another one... so many people with carabeenas on their keys.

oh, and I went to my first roller derby here. fun to watch!! I'll have to go again in sydney.

anyways, bed for me now. I've been back at Mandy and andy's for the past couple of night, and tomorrow I borrow their car and drive off to duluth. I'm really looking forward to it.

night,

love to you all.

it's snowing... oh yeah it's snowing!!!

2012-01-11T17:49:00.002Z

not a lot and probably not for long, but I don't mind!!!

woohoo

Minneapolis... the cities...

2012-01-08T19:20:00.003Z

happy new year!!

I woke up to a crying Noah at 7:00am on new years eve here which was midnight in sydney!! perfect timing. so wished you all in sydney a happy new year (in my head! haha) and then went back to sleep! we then drove up to st Paul to have a dinner on new years eve which was kindly cooked by a friends sister. it was a gourmet 5 course meal and few, it was divine!!! and to top off a decadent evening of eating, it snowed!!!!! so we drove back to Hastings in the most glorious fluffy snow. it was lovely to bring in the new year so beautifully, although unfortunately, the snow didn't continue... but it stayed on the ground for a couple of days. apparently the weather at the moment is more like April weather than January weather. I think I am the only person hoping for snow!!! everyone else is loving fact that it is mild.

on January 3rd, I left Hastings and came up to Minneapolis. I am living in a house called the greenhouse. it is an amazingly beautiful old house close to downtown minneapolis that was rundown and gutted and has been redone. there are 10 adults who live here plus me at the moment, and 3 kids under the age of 2. they are associated with a church called the salvage yard, although not everyone who lives here goes to that church. I have wandered around downtown and a coupleof other places in my time here. I have also spent some time getting to know some of the people in the house. they are so hospitable and I really do feel right at home. I am sharing a room with joi and we went to an art gallery together on Friday. she is kinda like me, bubbly, random, sarcastic, and busy. we get on real well. I have been lucky to go to a few community things of both their community and a few other communities that are friends with these guys. I hung out on a street corner last night and handed out free coffe/hot chocolate/soup to anyone who passed and then went out to a cafe called 'hard times' that draws a crowd of anyone, punks and bickies and hippies and intellectuals and really everyone. it is open til 4pm, serves organic vegetarian or vegan food and you can play boardgames there.... an experience in itself!

I have been spending a lot of time reading, chilling and learning how to just 'be'. this has been interesting for me as i thrive off being busy. I am loving it though. learning how to listen to myself. I have also had some time to reflect on different patterns and things that are going on in my life and also been dared to dream a little. what fun!

anyways, I'm just sitting in a common area being quite rude on my phone, so I might go back to chatting to the others in the room.

happy good day!

don't know way happened to the font, but can't figure out how to change it on my phone... sorry!

m i double s i, double s i, double p i.

2011-12-26T03:03:00.002Z

Mississippi... yep... that's how you spell it. was a lovely walk, although most of it was dark. but it gave me a chance to see some great Christmas lights. I wanted to eat one house with how decorated it was.

I'm excited about tomorrow night, it will

be fondue and games with the Langenfeld clan... I'll have to crank out my fondue set when I return home. yew!!

well, I was inspired to write and now I'm not... sorry! but hope you all had an awesome Christmas and boxing day!!! all the best for the end of the year!

Hastings, Minnesota.

2011-12-25T22:43:00.003Z

well, here I am in Hastings. it's Christmas day here and boxing day in Australia. I wonder what the weather is like in sydney today. it's cold here, but sunny. still haven't gotten that white Christmas that I've longed for... maybe in a few years. haha. it has been so much fun staying with Andy and Mandy. and to meet Noah. wow, he is just so big!!! almost 11 months... he had a new baby cousin born yesterday and apparently he looks real big compared to her. it's

funny to think how small he looks and how much smaller he would have been a year ago.

I'm going to go for a walk now, to the Mississippi river... ha. the only reason I know how to spell that is because of Annie. haha.

I'm gunna go before it gets too dark. I'll write more when I get back from my walk... maybe. haha.

love you all,

merry Christmas, joyeux Noel, Feliz navidad.

i'm going skiing

2011-09-09T03:59:00.000+01:00

i'm going skiing... i'm going skiing...

and that is all...

I'm going to NZ tomorrow!!!!!! woohoooooo

2011-05-18T16:05:00.002+01:00

pigeons anyone??

'you are always away'... yep!!!! and i'm very excited!!! i'm going to windy wellington tomorrow morning (well this morning if you want to get technical...)

just thought i'd put that up here... but first... some lovely photos from work the other day... yes, i went to luna park... just for fun, just for work. yay!!!

enjoy my beautiful city!

back to the grind.

2011-05-09T02:31:00.005+01:00

my beautiful country!!! woohoo!!!!

ok... so, i'm back to school and they've just dropped me to 1 3/4 days. haha. so now i'm gunna figure out what on earth to do with my life... take it easy, chill, think, rest in God and just see what happens. or actively seek out a few things. I've been having some great conversations with people and meeting some interesting people of late, so i'm going to try and spend a bit of time seeing what I can learn. Bring on the learning!!! woohoo!!!!

so... what have i been up to?? camping was fantastic! I went to melbourne with michelle garratt for conference called "surrender" and then decided to sign up for a week down in melb living in a share house of people helping to run a soup kitchen. I went to Radelaide twice and just bummed around being me.

here are some lovely photos for you to enjoy!
=)

holidays...

2011-04-19T12:05:00.002+01:00

it's hard to believe that it has been 11 school weeks since i have updated this thing.. wow... must be going through a very lazy time at the moment... I have thought often about updating this, but haven't gotten around to it. I do have a few exciting things (for me at least) going on in my life at the moment...

i'm off camping with my flatmates and a few friends over the easter weekend... I'm really looking forward to that. I had a few girls around for a Johnny Deppathon the other evening, where i cooked the dinner from scratch... it was awesome!!! hummous, dips, falafel, zucchini fritters... yummy.... haha.

righty-oh... i'm trying to watch the curious case of benjamin button... so i might get back to that.

woohoo!!!
hope you are all well.
=)

xx

And now home

2011-01-25T03:36:00.000Z

I sit at the airport about to come home from my trip away. My time away has seemed so long and so short all at once. So many of the kids on the community go to school in Melbourne, Darwin, Lismore, sydney, it's really interesting. I wonder how/why they choose the schools they do.

Wow... I have had such a good week. Not knowing what to expect, just hanging around with the kids, helping the sport and rec centre to do what they do and get to know some of the kids. The community we were in was pretty small... 600 or so people I think... A different world, but a great one. Has made me think about life and what I do and why I do it (once again).

I am so excited about this year and who I spend time with, learn from, what I learn, how my mindset is influenced by the people around me. This year is going to be a great year in my life's journey. I can't wait til the end of the year and I can reflect on the year that was.

Australia day tomorrow and I can't wait to celebrate how lucky I am to be Australian, but also to remember the past of my country and the repercussions of that now.

Anyways, that's all from me for the moment and I'll put some photos up when I get back. And try to remember some stories to put up here!

Hope you are all well.
:)
Xx

The train, the rock, Alice and Darwin.

2011-01-12T03:13:00.000Z

My pack towel does really well as a blanket on the train from Alice to Darwin, the Ghan. I am also surprised at how many times I can get pins and needles in one nights sleep and just how many ways I can sleep in a single chair on a train... And the shower... I don't think I ever thought unwound have a shower on a train... Haha. But I have. The whole thing is really quite fascinating. I can tell you about it one day!

I have fallen in love with Alice springs and want to move back there to teach. I met an older guy in the pub that told me an hours worth of reasons for why I shouldn't move there, but then said when I do move back, I need to buy him a drink, as I'm going to hate it there... His was of saying 'I told you so'. Anyways, this year is a sydney year, so I'll have to just holiday for now and see how life pans out.

I met a few travellers on the train and we're going to hire a car together and see where we end up. There is one English, French, swiss, Swedish and Chilean... Pretty good cultural pot! That's a good thing about long train journeys.. You meet some cool people (like Oscar when I caught the train from kiruna to Stockholm).

Wow. So you pay a small fortune for a morning breakfast tour of Uluru and find out when you jump on the bus you need to pay more money for the national park pass... I'll have to check the fine print on the brochure... I'm sure it didn't say extra cost. Ahhhh, they'll get you for everything.

I'm also amazed at how many people are awake at 4:30am for trips such as mine. My bus was the 7th bus to my lodge in the morning before 5am... Craziness.

Anyway, WOW! so I love pretty much everywhere, so it doesn't seem to count, but this place really is something else... I need to come back here to explore more... Nature will never cease to amaze me.

Oh, and the stars... There was a huge lightning storm the other night all around the resort. Such a great sight from the lookout. Lightning all around, then stars above. Saw so many shooting stars and satellites. And I've been pretty lucky with the weather, not too hot at all.

Ok. This does not read well, but i've just been jotting down notes for putting on my blog through my phone, and this is how it goes...

Sorry!
Good luck making sense of it!
Xx

Let's see if this is possible from my phone...

2011-01-08T06:12:00.002Z

So... I'm at a big rock... In the middle of Australia. I found accommodation here for a reasonable price. I'm glad the backpackersnhad space. I didn't do my research before I came and didn't know just how close the olgas are and that they look phenomenal... I'm a just going to have to come back here... June methinks... Anyone keen??? :)

Just relaxed yesterday and today, going for breakfast at the rock tomorrow before going on a bus to Alice... Wow. It's so green... Apparently they've had 4 years worth if rain in 1 month or something. Not really the red centre at the Moment.

Went for a nap this arvo because it was so hot... Woke up and it is raining... Good for relaxing and reading a bit. It's good to have some 'me' time. I don't do that enough in sydney... Maybe that's something to focus on this year. Anywyas, I'm going to get back to my book. Just thought I'd see if I can post from my phone (wonders of modern technology!!) if this posts... Then it's worked. Yay.

Enjoy today!
Xx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2011-01-02T02:24:00.004Z

so... it's the 2nd of Jan. I'm going to the moonlight cinema tonight, because i have lived so close to it for over a year now and haven't gone since i've lived here. tonight is the night. oh yeah! (except it has just gone from a sunny day to looking like it will rain... oh no!!!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe it's 2011 already. I've been back in australia for over 2 years now. WOW. how quickly time flies. I still feel like things are going pretty well. I have quit my job at one of my schools, but i have left the recorder group in capable hands. haha. and at my other school (if they can have me), i will start a new recorder group. fun fun fun. I took my recorder away for new years and was playing at peats ridge. who knows, next year i might be one of the acts in the chai tent. except hopefully next christmas i will be overseas.

I never do new years resolutions, although this year I decided to. I'm going to focus on good relationships and look after my well being a bit better. in the last 6 months i have discovered some amazing people who i really enjoy spending time with and they bring out the best in me. So i'm looking forward to how that plays itself out in my life this year. BRING ON 2011 and all the growth it will give.

I had my first peats ridge festival. it was so nice to be camping again. and i'm looking forward to more camping in 2011. last year i did a few weekends away, and so i'm sure this year i can get away a bit more.

on friday, i leave for the northern territory. i've got 2 weeks exploring from Uluru north by myself. I'm looking forward to reading and discovering and just being. After that, i have a remote area kids holiday program and 4 days of travelling with a friend. I can't wait.

Right. I downloaded some photos today, so here they are...

most of the group for new years

haha... me and kay at the lights that luke was excited about

west african dance anyone?? it was pretty fun

me and my lovely bro at christmas, don't know where his crown was though... oh well...

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

i'll try and update this thing from the NT.

feed the world, let them know it's christmas time...

2010-12-09T11:29:00.003Z

have that song in my head... so thought i'd share it.

wow... almost christmas. i have 3 days left of school for the year and only 2 at one of my schools. going to a festival for new years, then the NT and then well, who knows what is instore for me next year. hopefully more work at my other school. But then again, maybe not. If not, there will be something exciting happening for sure! haha.

rode my bike home from dinner in north sydney today. i was pretty proud of myself (ha, well, someone needs to be).

what else? it's almost time for our annual family christmas party... if you weren't thinking of coming... think about it! haha. oh and keep australia day free to come to my place for a bbq and the hottest 100!!! oh yeah!

i just realised i haven't downloaded any photos onto my computer recently... although i do have some photos from my phone of me slacklining... oh yeah!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/davinarodgers?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/aOk4qSweBew

http://www.youtube.com/user/davinarodgers?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/oYDlzbdYv7I

haha.. yes, i'm showing off... but let me! haha.

http://www.youtube.com/user/davinarodgers?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/nn8y226DQT0

(and my great slacklinine guru/teacher/friend, yeah!)

and now for a few phone photos from the past month or so...

st mary's cathedral, sydney

me slacklining (then playing round with it afterwards) in hyde park... about 50cms off the ground. YAY!

some of the 'art auction' stuff at school

and bondi to bronte sculptures by the sea... a lovely day out with frankie, rach, jana and kay... oh yeah!

hope you are all well!

catch you soon

can't believe it's november!

2010-11-02T10:47:00.006Z

argh, i didn't win anything in the melbourne cup today!!! grrr... haha, oh well, maybe next year.

where has the last month and a bit gone?? it is hard to believe it is november already, before we know it, it will be christmas (actually, i walked past david jones this evening and their christmas window is up... totally christmas already)

actually, most of the last little while has gone into reading a book. It's kinda blown my mind... It has helped me to rethink a few things in my life and align what is actually important to me. so many things that I am now rethinking. (yeah way to go to try and say something without saying anything at all). i suppose if you want i could expand, but couldn't be bothered to here, just ask me, haha).

so.... have been thinking about things that are important to me and how that has changed over time. and going on a journey of discovery, but i haven't discovered too much yet... it's a fun journey though. and i'm meeting some cool people in the process.

i'm hoping to get out slacklining a little more, but the rain has stopped me (this awesome spring. sunny one day, rainy the next few). i have been riding my bike a bit more and exploring the loveliness that is australia. I went away in the holidays to canberra for a few days, went camping in the royal national park a couple of weekends ago and also went to melbourne last weekend.

apart from thinking too much, i don't think there is really anything else to add, so i'll just put some photos up for you... and hopefully put some content up here later if anything exciting happens in my life. haha.

enjoy your day!

deev

(so, the top photo is my grandparents at the floriade)

and the royal national park on our 'not very far' hike to Uloola falls. i recommend it to anyone, so close to sydney and so beautiful! and the blue tent is my new impulse buy only $80... and it even lasted more than one camp!!! hurrah!!!

bowling with the housemates, lucas, rach, jan and some others above... i think i came last. haha, but it was fun

a great microbrewary place in canberra... totally worthwhile visiting (of course after the furber road brewary, our favourite place, haha)

and finally, chess in canberra somewhere and kay jumping for joy at parliament house.

yay!

a quick look at the last little bit...

2010-09-18T09:42:00.002+01:00

the vennies... from many moons ago... (and some random chick)... ahhh, the greenwood... haha. i'll have to scan in the photo from when we all caught up last time... gee, 2004 or something... good to see we're all going strong. haha

and then the beer house of ours... awesome party dan!!!

the flags and beer symbols on the windows... it's our biergarten!

a beer wench with her stein.

the early crew all dressed up... the 2 german beer maids and the birthday boy... plus early arrivers... can't wait til next year...

that's all at the moment. i can't believe it's almost the holidays again then only 10 weeks left of the school year... my goodness... how fast this year has flown.

anyways, off to enjoy my saturday night... sorting out my jewellery infront of a movie.

GO THE TIGERS!!!

the city-to-surf

2010-08-08T13:02:00.004+01:00

so... today i did the city-to-surf for the first time. haha... didn't run. haha. but i did love taking in the atmosphere of all the different walks of life who took part in it. and also a view of my beautiful city that i haven't seen before... I almost kicked myself for not taking my camera with me. oh well... next year.

also i've been doing some thinking about lots of things in life. i have some great questions, but not answers. haha. I was speaking to a man this evening about 'unlearning'. How do you start to explore ideas that go against what you have grown up to believe and be ok with the contradiction? can the contradictions work hand in hand?

anyways... if i find out some amazing answers, i'll have to write a book to share them all with the world. haha.

hope you all had a great weekend too.

p.s. the warm weather has been so amazing to be out in... more of this!

oh my goodness!!!

2010-07-28T13:26:00.008+01:00

the remarkables; a oark in Radelaide; my beautiful sydney

so, i e-mailed a lady i used to work with in London... and she reminded me that my year 7 and 8 kids are now going into year 11... WOW... how time flies. i might have to try and have a trip back to london to check them all out. CRAZY. i kinda miss it in some ways, but absolutely love being back in others. I did have a really good deal at my school there. But, i'm glad i've come back and love all the opportunities i've had here in the last couple of years.

anyways, enough of the reminiscing of london. what have i been up to recently?? i can't believe i haven't put up any photos of my skydive yet, or photos of camping with tami for her birthday, RADelaide or heaps of things that i've been doing recently... so, here they come.

I think i'll just explain as I go... sorry it's been so long for the photos, hope you enjoy what i've been up to as much as i enjoyed getting up to it!

love you all!

the awesome Radelaide. Me and lisa at the beach; the party to end all parties; marilyn

ummmm.... mmmfm (oooh) and me! yay

my birthday party stayers at the Local... and the beer paddle.... mmmmmm
hike to pindar caves... what a lovely view

the camping weekend down south at the beach; tami and her girls, spread around australia. love you lise and jess and tami!

pretty self explanitary... before the dive, that's fear in my face; the free fall; the beauty

kylies new wall in her garage of her new place.. love the artwork!!

kate and dan at the remarkables on the chairlift; and the go kart track at queenstown and the view from the top of the furnicular with kate and dan. thanks for a good holiday guys!!

in auckland with clau and shane, eating our fish and chips...yumm. and such good weather!

and a lovely weekend away with Hez and Frankie in Taree.... thanks for having us hez!

hope you are all doing well are having a good week and enjoyed my photos of the march to july that was...

as for me, no more adventures planned just yet, but still... a few ideas in the pipelines.

where else but queenstown...

2010-07-13T04:42:00.002+01:00

ok, so the post complete with pictures from the last few montsh didn't come as promised... maybe when i get back from queenstown. =)

i am currently sitting in a hostel looking out over the lake at queenstown, waiting for my flatmates to come back from a day of boarding so i can touch base with them and get ready for the next 3 days of skiing... YAY!!! looking forward to a couple of bevvies, a nice meal and a catch up of their last few days on the slopes.

and have had an awesome few days in auckland with my friends claudia and shane showing me around their fantastic city... i'll have to show them around the north shore of sydney one day to see how it compares. haha.

hope you are all well and enjoying the fair weather. i have been lucky with sunny days in auckland, although according to shane, it is like this every day in auckland... i find that very hard to believe.

enjoy!
love
deev
xx

p.s. felicitaciones a espana!

long time... update with pics of life coming soon

2010-06-04T09:01:00.002+01:00

well... i have it in my list of things to do for me to update my blog... and i haven't... whoops. i've been doing some awesome activities and thinking...

it's my brother's birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN) and i just realised that i haven't put an update since before my birthday... whoops.) so i'll definitely have to try and update this thing this weekend.

hope you are well.

RADelaide...

2010-03-02T12:46:00.003Z

ok, so, i have a new computer... and it's taking me a while to get used to it. it's a mac. woot woot. AND... I'm going to RADelaide this weekend AND next weekend i'm going camping... so i'm really excited about this month. go March.

BIG but... i've now been home for a year and a bit. and tonight i had a moment of skyping friends overseas and man... I MISS being overseas... and I really love my friends... (both overseas AND back here!!!!)

I was going to start writing some awesome information about what I have been up to, but i've just been doing stuff... Hez had a birthday party at James Squires, that was a really fun night out, i have been to 2 eastern beaches and went to a moonlight cinema at the beach (thanks for a good night out rach!). oh, and went to the school swimming carnival and got to spend time in the pool swimming with the novelty events... lots of fun.

ok, sorry, i don't have anything else that interesting to write, so some more photos for you!!!

enjoy...

so, the first one (up the top) is the original suburban dropbears, the trivia team, reunited at hez's party!!! woot woot!!!

the screen at the cinema at clovelly. it showed happy feet. haha, love that movie.

the driving dog and as stu pointed out, with hello kitty seat covers... haha, he was loving it. (this was at the noodle markets with michelle h)

and the last two photos.. the stayers at hez's and then me and the two oldest smiths...

have a happy good week! and i'll see you round soon. (hopefully!!)

just wanted to put another photo... cos i like it...

2010-02-13T04:41:00.003Z

guess which ring is mine... haha. (these are the ones that rach made, talented little cookie)

and which watch is mine... haha.

a catch up

2010-02-12T22:29:00.007Z

so, last night, i was sitting at home after a lovely dinner with tami and jess. (thanks girls) and i was meant to go out to an art exhibition, but didn't... because i was too lazy and it was pouring. so i watched 'groundhog day' for the first time. i was falling asleep watching it when 3 drowned rat housemates and some of their friends arrived home too... they had been at the cricket and it got called off due to the rain. they continued drinking (as one does at and after the cricket apparently) and so i joined them in some of dan's homebrew. the beer wasn't the best, but the cider was delicious. we watched the rest of groundhog day and put on 'point break', what a classic movie... haha. such good acting. and had a time of housemate family time... it was beautiful... i looked out the lounge room window and there was almost waves in the intersevtion of the 2 rivers that were once roads... it was amazing. our front and backyard were also flooding and we had to save our poor drowning plants and bikes... i think they will survive to see another day (except my poor chillie that has had a run of bad luck recently... so sad.)

anyways, that was just last night... an end to a lovely week... rach has just bought a place (woot woot) and she had a housewarming last week, it was good to see old friends from different friendship groups... it's weird, our worlds intertwine in a way that 3 years ago i wouldn't have thought... so it was nice to catch up with some of my old friends courtesy of rach's housewarming. her flat is really cute too...

besides one round of trivia, wandering aimlessly through the city and catching up with people, i don't seem to be doing too much. oh, i have started riding my bike a bit more. tried to ride to work and failed... haha... no stamina... but i'll get there.... build it up. poco a poco... oh. i also started spanish classes again... so hopefully my grammar will get better... we'll see how it goes.

working 2 days a week... it has been confirmed... doing the recorder group again. got a trip to radelaide and a camping trip booked for march... haircut tomorrow... don't think there's really much else happening in the world of deev at the moment...

so now some more photos... this time, of peru... i don't think i put many up before... oh and then at the end, a few other random things...!!!! yay

margaret and jesus overlooking Omas... the village we visited
the preschool in Omas for the christmas presents we took. basic, but good education

new years eve karaoke... i couldn't think of a better way to bring in the new year!!! that's nelson with the hat, freddie, me and sandra. (nelson and freddie are the brothers of sandra)

Elena, Renzo, Sandra, Nelson and me... at elena's place.

me peruvian family whom i love a lot. Cesar, Candy, Tamara, Jonothon, Raul y Ofelia

the peruvian girls... we had a lovely night out in the tourist part of lima. sandra, me, sandra, elena, (i've forgotten the next girl's name) and sandra... and this year, all the sandra's are in england.

the view from la tablada church. i love the colourful houses... if you can call them houses. most of them haven't been finished yet.

sandra, sandra, me, carlos and nelson. i spent a lot of time with these guys in peru

oh, not back to oz... and the festivities that have been going on here since my return...

the 'pool' at our australia day bbq...
me and the beautiful tami... thanks for coming to the bbq!!
ok, whoops, back to peru... me dancing with a 5 year old at his graduation ball!!! sooooo cute!!! if i had known i was going to attend the deb, i would have taken a ball gown.
the game of cranium at the oz day bbq
jesus and margaret at the preschool in Omas. we had a lovely morning tea with paneton y chocolate caliente....mmmmmmmmmm

and below again, me and jeremy with the toiletpaper tower at rach's flatwarming... toiletpaper courtesy matt e... awesome present man; some of the rain on a day out in town.; tim, jono and pete at the lord nelson pub (on our day out in the town);

rach's flatwarming; tim, jono, pete, muz, rach, me, and some random dude who gave up his chair for me after i tried to sit on a stool of stacked schooners; rach, carol, tessa and jeni @ rach's flatwarming;

muz and rach concentrating hard on the lego @ TAKE YOUR TIME: OLAFUR ELIASSON exhibition at the MCA; and a colourless me in the yellow room at the exhibition... my rainbow scarf was not so rainbow =(

anyways, that's a bit of the goings on of me for the moment...

hope you enjoyed your trip in my adventure... send me a postcard! haha.... aaahhhh, so funny.

catch you soon.

love

deev

the south of chile

2010-02-03T02:16:00.004Z

so, it was almost the time of the wedding, i didn't know where i was going to next. i looked in my lonely planet for some ideas... the north looked quite different (san pedro de atacama, desert) and the south looked nice (apparently like queenstown in NZ). so in the next few days, i would need to look at the bus times and prices to see what i want to do... just pick a destination...

then, i arrived at Claudia and Shane's wedding... and Pollo checked that the reception hall was ok... and i went with her... and then she saw some people she knew, and this girl called Ely, came and spoke to me. 'hola, como estas'... it didn't take her long to figure out that i wasn't from chile. she has been living in london. she asked how long i had been in chile and when i was going to leave. i told her i still had a a week and a half before i left and what i was planning... then she invited me down south to go camping with her brother and 2 of her brasillian friends. an offer too good to refuse, although they were leaving Viña del Mar the next day. i was planning on hanging around for the next 2 nights. we figured out there is a bus to where they were staying, so i would join her on the tuesday (this was the friday). so, there, my plans were made. all i had to do was say farewell and thanks again to the Capels and join Ely in Pucon.

and i did. it was great! no trouble whatsoever. so, i arrived at Pucon (well, Villarica), pretty much in the centre of Chile, met Marco (Ely's brother) and then went to the campsite on Lago Calafquen, met the 2 brasillian girls (Luana and Elen) and had breakfast with them, before we packed up camp to go to another camping spot in the Parque Nacional Huerquehue. And it was COLD and RAINING... i only had my summer clothes, but they had lots of spare jackets for me... yay (and a sleeping bag i could borrow from their friend... because, me, being the good scout, didn't have one... haha).

so, the conversations were interesting... Ely speaks spanish, portugese and english, Luana and Elen speak portugese and english, marco speaks only spanish and i speak english and a bit of spanish. made for good conversations. although the others could all understand each other if they spoke clearly and slowly.

so, we camped in a lovely campsite right on a lake. went on a few walks up up up the mountains (one lasted 8hours... and saw snakes, spiders and ants that bit... and i developed arachnophobia of the tarantulas here!!! nearly fell off a cliff jumping from fright), chilled at the campsite, chatted with the neighbours, went on a canopy (flying fox), thermal pools, waterfalls and i experienced lots of traditional chilean food with lots of salt.

i couldn't have planned for a better trip... it was amazing. and i am so glad to have met ely and therefore marco, luana and elen.

we stayed here for 4 nights or so and drove back up to santiago for marco's 30th birthday party which was lots of fun... gee, all the boys at the party could dance sooooo well. the merengue music came on, and they all grabbed a girl and started twirling and swinging and just having a ball... it made me realise how important dancing is for me... and generally just having fun... they had the same crazy hats at the party as they did at the wedding... soooo much fun.

and then just spent a few days with the girls and exploring santiago and then a few days with marco exploring santiago. he was on holidays and wanted to explore too. it was interesting him not knowing much english, and me not knowing much spanish... but we could still communicate enough, and with the help of my little orange friend (my spanish dictionary tori gave me a few years ago), although we tried to not rely on it. because usually you could phrase something a different way and it could be understood.

oh, something which i found amazing through peru and chile was the hospitality of the people i met.... it was as though you were part of their family or a long-time friend the way they just opened themselves and their homes up to you. a great lesson that i can try and put into practice back home. how i can be generous with what i have.

and if this worked... then you can see some youtube clips...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTsnmTI6Ak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4H-Nk9q7wk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkyT34NUuP8

and now some photos...

don't know why this one is sidewards... sorry... the thermal pools near pucon.

Ely on the canopy

the road to our camping spot

the camping group at lunch in pucon, me, luana, marco, elen and ely
at the top (or near the top, marco got vertigo, so we didn't go any higher) of our 8hr walk... it's pretty much a sheer drop to each side of where we were on the path.
the crazy hats/masks at the party

more party funtimes... me, algelina, ely, elen and luana... the girls... woot woot

the japonese garden at san cristobel, a mountain in santiago

me, ely and angelina out on my last night in santiago... with the piscola!!!!

so, that's it for now... i might get the the other photos of peru and the wedding up soon... but no promises...

anyways, what's happening now??? i'm wasting time at home (had a long list of things to do today, but haven't done any of them yet except for washing... whoops... oh well, i might get some done.) i'm definitely working 2 days a week at my school and maybe 3 days (i find out in 2 weeks time the final timetable). i'm also starting to take spanish lessons again and well, as for the rest of my life, i'll see what God has instore for me.

focussing on being more generous, learning spanish and slacklining for the moment.... we'll see how that goes.

hope you are well!

I'm back in Aus... woot woot.

2010-01-25T02:46:00.001Z

so, i arrived back yesterday to my new house in centennial park. it is nice to be back, but so much to think about from an AMAZING trip away. I watched the movie all about steve on the plane on the way back, and i wish i had a better vocab, like sandra bullocks character... AMAZING, just doesn't do justice to anything that i have done since i have been away.

I think i wrote already, i left just before Christmas Day. I spent 2 weeks(ish) in Peru, and 2 weeks(ish) in Chile. The time in Peru was mainly spent shadowing Margaret as she goes about her daily duties. I am going to look up working with homeless kids in Lima soon. I have so many things on my list of 'to think about' when i return home (and now i'm home, time to get started!). First, hanging around in trees and learning spanish better. Haha.

After a month away, my spanish has improved, but i can still only speak in the present tense and have trouble understanding when people use past and future and who they are talking about. But we get there eventually.

After Peru, my trip was clearly divided into 2 sections... Time in Vina del Mar with Claudia, her family, Shane, his family and a guy called Biggy (Shane's friend). Then, I moved down south and i'll write about that trip in another blog entry..

so... Vina, lots of wedding preparations and it was great to chill with Claudia and her family. Her mum called me her 'buena energia' because through all the stress, i was just a good energy staying there and helping out where possible. Claudia and Shane had a civil ceremony on the Wednesday and the church wedding on the Friday night. Both were beautiful. Claudia's dad Denis did a fantastic 'muy rico' BBQ that would put aussies to shame. but i think it was soooo tasty cos all the meat was totally covered in salt. they tend to put salt with everything over there.

so, a few photos from lima and chile... then i'm going out to explore my city a bit!

woot woot!!!

the crazy hour at the wedding about 2am, when the hats, leis, masks, glowsticks, maracas and whistles come out and everyone has to have fun. this is me and some of shane's family

hora loca, crazy hour again

me and ely, my new friend. haha. more to come about this in the next post.

claudias dad and mum, claudia and shane, and shanes mum and dad

some of shane's family, shane and claudias sister 'pollo'

claudia and her dad at the civil service BBQ, best meat ever...

me, clauds and biggy and the civil service

pollo, clauds, me, loreto and claudia.... some of the capel peeps

ahhhhh..... bienvenido mr reynolds and mrs capel!!! congratulations guys!!!

a beautiful couple, a bueatiful wedding and a beautiful time in a beautiful country!

anyways, i'm off to go and explore sydney a bit...

more to come from chile and peru a bit later!

love you all

deev

Viña...

2010-01-05T22:42:00.003Z

Pamela Anderson is in Viña del Mar...
as is davina!!! woot woot... i don´t look so good running down the beach.

haha.
we´re looking at claudia´s dress tonight... yay... and then i leave her house and go to a hotel... =(

it has been fun living with her and pollo... oh well... i´ll get to visit again in NZ.

thanks mrs capel for having me! it´s been awesome!

hope everyone is well wherever they are!!
besitos!
xx

Omas

2009-12-30T17:14:00.002Z

so, margaret, jesus and I jumped on a bus this morning at 5.30am to return to Lima after 2 nights in a Village called Omas. It´s tiny but has a great school and amazing infrustructure. We visited one of Margaret´s friends from Chincha. I had a great time with the kids playing all sorts of games and singing songs. They loved my elastics (game with the big elastic) and of course the bubbles.

and now, catching up with sandra again and two of her friends also called sandra. haha. and going shopping in the tourist area. and tomorrow i will have lunch with ofelia and her family. which i am looking forward to.

anyways, margaret just came and i need to go to meet sandra!
love to you all,
i´ll write some reflections up here and put some photos up when i get a bit more time.

xx

LIMA!!!!!!

2009-12-28T15:10:00.002Z

Well, i´m back in Lima and having a great time!
this will just be short, sorry, because i have to go on a bus soon.

I am staying with Margaret a missionary linked with my church in London. She is AMAZING!! I have visited some families I met last time i was here. and it is so good to see them again. I have been to a few church services and caught up with 2 of our translators from our trip. Christmas eve was spent eating turkey that ofelia gave us and watching fireworks from the rooftop of margarets house. christmas day i met some other missionaries here and had a delicious christmas lunch.

then visiting more people. now we are taking a trip to a village where margaret is going to take a group to tell people about God. I am reading her amazing book which she has written and am thinking about how God wants me to use my life for him.

New Years i think i am spending with Sandra and Carlos (the translators,friends) and then only a few more days until i fly to chile.

love you all,
deev
xx

marvellous minneapolis and happening honolulu

2009-10-22T00:18:00.007+01:00

well, happening if you like beaches and shopping and tourist. haha.

oh, first, the hike over the long weekend with grae me and liz (who i am going to start working for woot woot) and a few other people. some good conversations and a fun group of people to be away with. it was raining on the saturday night and we were leaving on the sunday, so i rang grae me to ask if we were still meeting at 6:59am at central the next day (hoping he would say, no, we're going to cancel... but he didn't, and we did meet at crack-o-dawn). so, of course because i was running late (as usual), i missed my bus, which actually came early and was going to miss the train. but some others slept in because of daylight savings... so i was saved. we then did the hike and it rained... but when we had to set up tents, it stopped... and it didn't start again until the next day when we had already packed up the campsite... we were looked after. oh, the hike was the south coast walk in the Royal National Park.

breakfast on the beach!!!! with the sun out. a nice start to the day

the campsite, right near the beach

the rains and beautiful scenery of the royal national park

on the way home, i stopped off at steve's new pad in mortdale. he's bought a slice of his own and he's done very well. it was nice to be able to see it. then home to see mum and dad, pick up a few things and get ready to go to america!!! wow, i was so excited. and i had a really relaxing and calming time. it was just what i needed.

had a 12hour stop over in honolulu where the weather was just AMAZING... bright sunny day, hot hot hot, and so i went shopping and slept on the beach. watched a gorgeous sunset over the beach outside ala moana shopping mall and then found my way back to the airport to fly to minneapolis.

andy met me at the airport and we looked at the 3M library of reflectors (all different road reflector colours and how they wear over time and shine in different lights.) and went home to meet mandy. they have bought a really cute cottage type house in Hastings and have redone it.

that night i was whisked away to catch up with andy's mum and dad, maggie and dave. i was lucky to ride on a 1928 firetruck that andy and his dad own AND i even got to drive it. i experienced a corn dish that contained corn kernels, creamed corn and cornmeal. they have a lot of corn in minnesota.

what else... i got to meet quite a few of andy and mandy's friends, had a houseparty, (although i didn't drink any of their homebrew but i'll go back and next time i will experience these delights!), went to a drive-thru ATM, the Mall of America, saw the mississippi river, shot some clay pigeons (cos everyone in america shoots things no? and i was suprisingly good at shooting moving targets), tasted great delights, and did heaps more. i also had some great conversations with andy and mandy about their life, their theatre and what they believe. i was going to have mandy do a hot-stone massage on me, but when we were getting ready andy rang to see if we wanted to go canoeing. i was sad to not have the massage (save that for next time too!!!) but i was excited to go canoeing.. i saw a few bald eagles, some deer, a woodpecker, and many other animals as well and really enjoyed being out in nature with no-one around except for us... so serene.

it was soooo sad to say good-bye to andy and mandy, but i will see them soon. i am so blessed to have such generous and honest people to spend time with.

then onto honolulu. kristy picked me up from the airport and then only a sleep until rach arrived. the next day kristy and rach and i had lunch at waikiki and reminisced on school memories whilst rach and i were amazed by kristy's belly. haha (she's due late december). the next few days were spent beaching, SHOPPING (with the good AU$ it was great), beaching, relaxing, catching up and just being. we also went to Pearl Harbour to explore the memorial there and hanauma bay.

then it was home and back to work for 2 days, experience a bit of the crave festival and just being glad to be back, but missing my holiday already!!!

i can't believe it's only 9 weeks left of school for the year. wow. and i've been home now for over a year. CRAZY.

anyways, here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

rach, ty and me after our last dinner together, sniff sniff, next time, she'll be a mum!!

me and rach parasailing in honolulu

scooby-snacks!!! yumm yumm... so much sugar!

ahhhh, the sun...

the clouds that seem to linger over the mountains at o'ahu

andy, mandy and myself at the cornmaze

the snow in hastings... a change from hawaii weather!
the cornmaze.... it was great to be a tourist!

the drive-thru ATM

me shooting clay pigeons (dave loading them up)

mandy and me in the mall of america... that is a theme park

the mississippi river from the yellow room at the theatre in minneapolis, can't help but be happy there!!!

small car parking... that's not a small car to me! everything is big in america, especially portion sizes!

candy corn! yummy!!!! goes well with salty peanuts too!!!

and finally, the firetruck that we drove!!!! yippeeeeeee

enjoy!

the september that was...

2009-09-30T01:38:00.006+01:00

the birthday girl and me

so, i sit here, i think i'm on holidays (my temp job is on holidays but i might still get called to work casual, although i doubt it). and i am planning what i need for the next few weeks of activities. I'm off to the South Coast Walk this weekend and then Minneapolis and Honolulu the wednesday after... it is so exciting to be thinking of seeing Andy and Mandy in Minneapolis and Kristy (a pregnant Kristy) and Shayne in Honolulu.

but what about the september that was?? as i can't seem to settle, i keep flitting away and i had a weekend in melbourne with ange catching up with claude and meeting her beau eddie... thanks for a fabulous weekend claude! i was also lucky enough to catch up with luke from london and kristal, dan and sexy rob (gee, a blast from the past... i keep thinking whether i should still be calling him his nickname from when we were 17, seeing as now he is married and a father.... oh well). and it was just lovely to explore melbourne and get lost as a tourist. which i'll be doing tomorrow night in sydney. oh yeah, oh yeah!!!

what else, after melbourne i went to brisbane for the weekend... i met up with the gorgeous julie in brisbane with her mum too. my weekend in brisvegas was a blast from the past, meeting up with 2 people i went to chile with when i was 16 (julie and alex) and also catching up with dane who i met in perth when we were 12. haha. it made me feel really really old!!! i met some interesting people at the hostel and had some great conversations that opened my mind to the things i know about... always great to have these experiences i think.

i've also rekindled a friendship with Grae me a friend from gangshow and he has some great green friends. so i've been spending some time with them. i'm going hiking with them this weekend and i'm looking forward to just chilling in a tent. i really miss camping, so i'm glad i have been inspired by grae me to get out there. and that he is a doer, so all i have to do is go along. (cheers grea me!)

what else... lots of thinking about life, chilling with friends and catching up with people, a wedding and oh, of course, a night at the pickled possum... and lots of fun!

so even though i am now back in sydney, life is still an adventure and i am really enjoying it. few other different thoughts happening, but i'll post them as they develop a little further...

enjoy your day!!! and smile at a stranger!

xx

me and julie in brisvegas.... ahhhhh

oscar the grouch and cookie monster muffins in melbourne

the view from the top of the eureka tower through some fancy thing....

some graffiti in st kilda.... lots of cool arty stuff to look at in the streets

3 sexy ladies... although you can't tell cos of our masks
a beautiful lunch for claude and eddie at rach's... a great spread. and a lovely spot of tennis, unfortunately no cucumber sandwiches. haha
the cousins at marissa's 21st

me, carol, bin and ange the school group at bin's wedding

some random park artwork in brisvegas
brissie 'beach' with the lovely river in the background

sydney before the dust...

same view with the dust... where did the bridge go??

it was interesting actually, chatting to tori about out travels and how self-centered we are when we keep diaries... and i was thinking about this blog... and it is very much me centered, not event and place centered... but then again, my life revolves around me. haha. so yeah, if you want to find out about the actual places, not just my take on things, then you'll have to either ask me for more info, or look up the places yourself. haha.

enjoy

i would do anything for love.... but i won't do that

2009-08-22T03:45:00.003+01:00

THEN WHAT WILL YOU DO???

haha. meatloaf is on the tv... oh yeah, love it... not the extended intro version unfortunately...
and what better to sing after a night at the pickled possum?? where lots of bonnie tyler and bon jovi was sung.

oh yeah, oh yeah!!!

thanks to those who had a lovely fondue dinner with me!!! and joined me for the pickled possum!!! loved it!

cheers guys!
oh yeah!

and RETRO tonight! can this weekend get any better???
=)

xx

august, well the start anyways

2009-08-19T04:29:00.005+01:00

Tonight, I won't be alone, but you know that don't mean I'm not lonely... haha... good old Bon Jovi... just listening to him at the moment. wasting my day away. i have done some productive stuff... like looked up spanish courses, (for next year i think i'll start again then) and had breakfast in the sun, finished a book i was reading... ummm, ok, so nothing THAT productive, but hey, i'll get there. oh no, i have! i've rspv'd to a few things that i had to. haha, does that count?

so, it's wednesday and i'm not working today... and I won't be lonely tonight, because i'll be at trivia. i'm not working tomorrow either because it's my day to not work and to do some other stuff. Here's hoping work will come on friday, but if it doesn't, then i'll wander into the city to enjoy it! i'll just have to leave my wallet at home so i don't start spending money... a favourite pasttime of mine.

anyways, the past few weeks, the weather has been AMAZING!!! so beautiful. and so on sunday, a group of us went for a walk from the spit bridge to manly. i had a fabulous day (and i think the others did too). so, here are some photos.

oh and i saw barnsey... he ROCKED. he was fantabulous. i still don't understand how he could possibly scream for that many years and still be going.

i think that's pretty much all the 'exciting' stuff i've done over the last few weeks. this friday has a dinner and return to the pickled possum instore!!! oh yeah!!! and saturday is my first trip to Retro. which i am thoroughly looking forward to!

ahhh, a lovely beach (well, obscured... haha) along the walk

the group, rach, matt w, ruth, me, j-na and frances, we were joined by matt and alex at lunch on the beach... yummy.... fish and chips and coldrock!!! mmmmm, coldrock!

kim, me and kylie after barnsey

and the man himself!!! with a harp, to flametrees... loved it. even though it's a chisel song, not his own.

enjoy your day, hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

kitchen nightmares...

2009-08-11T14:16:00.002+01:00

haha... no, i'm just watching gordon ramsey's kitchen nightmares... i can't believe it... i got work for tomorrow! woot woot... i'm really excited that i have got another day for this week (means not only can i pay my bills, but i can afford to eat too! haha) but i'm watching this atrocious show at 11:20pm... just to see if the restaurant survives... my goodness... can they do it??? haha.

i really should be going to bed... anyways, you get to hear about this random piece of news. and that is my pointless piece of information for this evening...

and it finished... they did it! hurrah!

night.
xx

the snow... oh the snow...

2009-08-05T05:09:00.006+01:00

we're going skiing.... we're going skiing... is all that you could hear come out of my mouth last week, but unfortunately... it's over... and i've gone skiing... i've gone skiing... but it doesn't really have the same ring to it...

so, what have i done the past few weeks?? ummmm... i had holidays and i didn't do too much, went to wollongong, planted some herbs... oh, the life!!!

and now i'm back at work (yes, my whole 2 days a week!) and have 2 extra days this week, which will be nice. and oh yeah, i went skiing!!!

i also went to tori's housewarming which was lovely. kinda like in london again with houseparty and dress-ups... and kinda like being here before i left with a few of the rovers there. her new place in surryhills is nice. makes me want to move there... but i'm very happy here for the moment!

so, not much to report, but i just wanted to put up a few photos for you all.

so, here they are.

some of the rovertype people from the good old days... matt, luke, steph, jeremy

me and tori in true style of dress-up... it's been too long... looking good tori!

ahhhh.... the snow... that's our track that we were skiing along

tami in tree number 1... ahhh, the beautiful gums..

tami skiing up to scope out our lunch spot... it was really windy, so we needed a place with protection. and the first photo (at the top of the post) is our lunch spot!!! in the sun and out of the wind... perfect! and a nice ski back down to the track.

oh and i didn't fall over on the weekend, which i was very happy about!!!

anyways, hope you are all well!!

it's finally here!

2009-07-18T05:33:00.007+01:00

so, i'm at home for once and have tidied up a bit and am contemplating walking to mosman to see if i can impulse buy anything and thought whilst i'm waiting, i should update this thing with some photos. so... here they are!!!

What have I been up to over th past few months besides pretending to update this thing???
well, i went to Rouse Hill for dinner the other night and they have a 'new' town centre. the above snail and water feature is there. i really enjoyed it! and went to an awesome mexican restaurant with amit there. i would recommend it, but i can't remember what it's called. sorry!

ummm.... i'm working two days a week at a local primary school and really enjoying that. I'm teaching music. and at the moment, i'm just covering beat, rhythm and melody. but the kids love it and i am enjoying it too, so couldn't ask for better. i'm casual teaching the other days too (when the work comes). if work doesn't come, i'm catching up with people for lunch and coffee etc. it's a hard life for some! haha

oh. i've been to a few weddings and still loving trivia (how sad, i know!) and just bumming around booking trips interstate and overseas and skiing and well, just enjoying life.

Cremorne is a lovely place to live and i'm enjoying it here. went for a walk around the point the other day.

anyways, i'm not thinking that coherently (not that i ever do) so i'm just going to explain some of the things i've done through the photos below...
enjoy!!!

back to the pickled possum, jeremy's favourite place. he brought a group of people!!! lovely to meet you all!!! he brought them from campbelltown to go there last night!!! oh yeah!! love it. but our silver fox wasn't there last night... so sad. hopefully he'll be back next time. haha

amit and el toro, the backdrop at our mexican restaurant in rouse hill

wedding 2... ruth and drew! you guys looked amazing, such a beautiful day! glad i could celebrate in it with you!

lucas and me: being let loose in sydney!!! woot woot!!!

wedding 1: spleen and erin... such a LOVE-ly day!

some of the gang at the kiddy table at spleen and erins' wedding... me, paul, spleen, ruth, adam and grae me. oh yeah! i think we win table of most fun at the wedding!!!

hunter girly weekend away. such a relaxing weekend away. wish i could go there again!

trying to be 'arty' at the hunter

our cottage at the hunter... middle of nowhere and no phone reception, rach did well to find us with no directions and no phone reception!!! well done!

tami and i went to young to visit tim and lauren! this is our ride in the back of a ute looking for poddy lambs. only 2 this year. i love going to visit tim and lauren!

me and michelle in byron. yet another relaxing weekend away. and it was amazing to go to her church and see how her life is in byron. a great thinking time for me also.

luna park by night taking photos with amit. sydney is just so beautiful, i hope to try and capture even a little of it on 'film'.

the sunrise over sydney from the bridge on anzac day

luna park at sunset when nikko from adelaide and i were tourists for a week. have i mentioned that i love this city??

at manly wandering around with nikko

sitting at lavender bay one afternoon in an awesome garden there looking into the city. a beautiful place to sit and waste the day.

look at that sky!!!! wow! that is a walk that rach organised... the bondi to bronte one... beautiful day, beautiful company, beautiful scenery... (any one got a thesaurus for me??)

ooops, it's sidewards... rach and i at V festival. we had a fantabulous day, watched duffy, le kingste, the killers, snow partol, and man, i can't even remember who else.... it was in march...

oh and saw adam hills and bought tickets to barnsey!!! (WOOT WOOT, can't wait!!!! it will be awesome to see him live! love that screamer!)

righty-oh. think that's a bit of my life in a nutshell. at the moment i'm in the middle of my holidays and am not really doing much except for catching up with people and enjoying myself. then back to school in a week and prepare to go skiing for a weekend. BRING IT ON!

hope you are all well!

love and hugs

davina

yo yo... ummm... march to june...

2009-06-27T09:52:00.002+01:00

well, it's a cold night and i'm sitting infront of the heater about to go out to Opera Bar and the lovely Opera House to say fare-the-well to a friend (Lisa from Batlow) who is moving to dreamy Adelaide town...

and i just spent way to long on the phone and am now late... so what was going to be a disciplined blog entry with photos and the likes, is now going to end here, with a pox excuse... so... watch this space for an update soon... haha... hopefully i will be disciplined and do it by the end of the week... cos i have had an awesome few months! haha

xx

march to june update coming soon!!!

2009-06-20T03:23:00.001+01:00

watch this space... sorry it's been a while (especially to you pam!)

but... my sick computer is now fixed (thanks jono) and i'll be updating again my adventurous life here... for your perousal... woot woot!!!

still going well and enjoying myself..
hope you are too
xx

march mayhem, madness and marvels...

2009-03-29T11:07:00.003+01:00

so, i've been working pretty much full time this term which has been lovely. on a kindy class. my stint will be coming to an end next week then a few days off and another 2 weeks at school on a year 4 class. so yeah, the working side of things has been great.

what else?? joined the gym (fitness first haha) and have been going with rach to try and keep fit. I've also started back at frisbee and started riding my bike randomly. i went across the harbour bridge the other day after work. it's nice to be back and able to do things like that. speaking of which, rach organised a day out today which was a walk from bondi to bronte. it was such a lovely day with the sun shining away and just generally enjoying sydney... and for free too! (well done rach!!)

went to V festival yesterday. it was expensive, but worth every dollar. saw le kingste, duffy, the madness, the kaiser chiefs, snow partol and the killers. and the weather was stunning... not a cloud in the sky... i could not have acutally asked for a better weekend.

hard to believe it is almost easter and alex and i (in true style of our last easter holidays adventure, although that was a public transport one) and vic are going down to melbourne and along the great ocean road. looking forward to that.

haven't found anything like the simon community (my homelessness stuff in london) but i am looking an organisation that i will start doing some stuff with in the next few weeks, so i'll keep you posted on that.

and hopefully found a church tonight too... which will be exciting for me.

not much else i suppose... still going to trivia at the greengate on wednesday nights... still enjoying life and hanging out on the other side of the bridge more often these days as it's just a quick busride home... (hope you enjoyed friday night rach! haha)

well.... i should be going to bed soon. cos i haven't quite prepared enough of my school work for next week... whoops... it's hard to be motivated cos i only have a week left, but hey... i'll try my best)

hope you are as well as i am!
xx

the argyle for claudia's farewell... sniff sniff... we'll miss you claud!

my cactus garden after my housewarming... it's been relocated to my new ikea shelf in my bedroom
the 62MG girls... rach, kylie, claud, me and ange
me and rach and my lego earrings at my housewarming

oh yeah, forgot i had my houswarming and pickled possum night... a great night, oh yeah!!!!
more of that fun to be had.
xx

is sorry for being silent for a while...

2009-02-22T11:12:00.003Z

hey hey.
well, it's been a while (story of my life, sorry)
and i've done quite a lot since writing last time, so it's time for an update. although it will only be brief... sorry!

you are looking at the new improved deev... haha... well, looking at her blog.
still lazy, still busy, still pretty much the same, although, moved out of home! woot woot! and i LOVE SYDNEY!!! it is great to be home for the moment.

i've been to a few weddings, been on a houseboat, been to terrigal with the 62MG girls, been to melb with the same girls, won trivia, come second in trivia and just generally had a ball!

i've also taken on a few weeks teaching at a local primary school which i am loving. although teaching kindy kids is taking it out of me physically... acting all day long. i love it... the singing but gee... they really wear you out.

anyways, i should get some stuff ready for school tomorrow... this was just a brief update. i'll put up some feb snaps and say goodnight!

xx

kylie, ange and rach... the 62mg girls (although i only lived there with ange for 2 weeks)
me and ange down the south coast before work started back
michaelmichael came to sydney for work, was lovely to catch up with him... oh, and our dutch friends have a new style of photo... just like the above... they call it the deev shot. haha... apparently i take a lot of those photos

and the houseboat... with zbik, bron and jane... a lovely weekend organised by tami

so there's a snippet of the millions of things i've been up to recently. nite
xx

davina, the procrastinator...

2009-01-10T02:19:00.005Z

haha... once again, sitting at mum's work. I am meant to be finishing off a Real Estate Course, which i will finish, i just need a break. although, in true deev style, i should be realistic and acknowledge that the course would be a break from the break. I am up to the last of the readings, currently on consumer protection. and once i've finished that, i just need to do the online exam, and i'll have my certificate. that just means i can help mum out a little bit.

\so. i had a lovely christmas in which i've done lots of things. still catching up with people. and spending a lot of time wich friends who have also just come back from overseas. that has been refreshing, because none of us are really settled yet, so we know how each other feel. a godsend when you start to feel a little down about was this the right choice. but i know it was the right choice, and i am really glad to be back.

i've done lots of thinking about life and looking at possibilities of work and extracurricular activities. i still haven't come to any amazing conclusions, but i will be moving out and living in cremorne and from there i will see where life takes me. so far the thoughts are live there, casual teach (hopefully get enough days to cover my rent and bills) and then volunteer and get some skills up in the social field. although i don't know if my plans will become reality, it's just a thought for now. i have a return ticket for the uk, that i need to use before october, and that is looking like a mighty-fine thing to keep in mind, even if only for a holiday.

so, had christmas. went back to st james (my old church) to visit some friends and go to the christmas carols. it was lovely, but it is now time to start looking for a new church in cremorne or close, so if anyone knows of any, let me know. and then hung out with a few friends in aus on the boxing day and had to pack for New Zealand. just got itchy feet i suppose. and two friends were off to queenstown for new years. so why not join them!!!

it seems as though everyone is in NZ at the moment, or were over the new years period. first of all i went over and met michaelmichael who flew in the day before me. he is mountaineering at mount cook for a month. so i drove him and his friend sean to mt cook before then driving onto queenstown.

once in queenstown, i found my favourite kiwi and his newly announced fiancee (congratulations guys!!!!) and their friends and our lovely lovely apartment close to the city. then time to relax and unwind kiwi style! it was lovely to see shane and claudia again and hopefully i'll be able to have a trip to chile for their wedding whenever that is.

i had an amazing time in queenstown. besides the people being great. and being beached as and not able to eat plankton, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA the scenery was beautiful. i would love to go back and explore NZ in the future for a longer period of time. (any takers?? haha) we did the jetboating and the nevis arc... whoa, action packed adrenalin activities. fully recommend. next on my list is a skydive. we also just hung around, drank quality nz beer, vodka, played putt putt golf and watched lots of countdowns on the tv... gotta love cable. new years came around and we watched a mtv countdown and had dinner and aperitifs before heading out to the monties pub and watching the fireworks... then went back to the pub and made it home bu 2am to watch more of the countdown... haha... i can't believe i was so excited to see what number 1 was. and i can't even remember.

then time to say goodbye to my kiwi and chilean friends as they headed back to auckland before sunny warm london (currently been snowing there) and bummed around in queenstown for a few more days before exploring christchurch and it's parks. caught the bus up to christchurch (unfortunately it was the same way i drove down, so no new scenery) and ran into a beach mission friend danielle. and then had dinner with tami and ben christchurch. read 2 days away (and thought more about life) and caught up with jon, anneke (congratulations on getting married!!!) and katie and amanda from uni. then departed nz. lovely lovely lovely!!! unfortunately i missed mark as he was arriving on the sth island a little after i left.

oh, random story, i thought i was going to be killed in christchurch. i had seen a fight in the bus station street the day before i left. decided it was cheaper and better to sleep at the airport than to pay for a hostel room and then leave at 3:00am. so, i went to the bus station at 11:20 to catch the 11:40pm bus. there were a few people around, so i sat and read my book. when i looked up, there were only 2 people left. the lady turned to me and asked me if i was going to the airport. so i said 'yes'. then she said, christchurch is a dangerous place for a girl alone. 'oh, thanks, i'll be fine, i've travelled a lot before.' (oh no, is it really that dangerous??) then she said, especially at night time. you never know who could be around. (gee thanks lady!!!!). i just kept reading. then she turned around again 'so where you flying?' 'oh, sydney' 'you better be careful being by youself'. 'thanks'. she then turned to her friend and said, 'you ready'. oh gee, i nearly pooed my pants... ready for what?? to kill me, oh my goodness, i'm going to die at christchurch bus terminal. then as she left she turned to me and said 'remember, it's not a good place, if you miss the bus, get the police to take you to the airport'. ok, i'm outta there. when i get outside, i go to the bus stop and there were a few people around drunk and friendly. i felt a bit safer there. i made it home, so it wasn't too bad!!! haha.

so. that brings me to now. spent the last few days doing trivia (lovving it!!!), cleaning up my grandmas house and catching up with people. it's great. i'm moving next weekend and tonight... I GET TO SEE JANA cos she has arrived in aus for a whole year. woot woot!

well, today we have some photos.. hurrah!

and a whole lot of rambling. sorry.

hope you are all well,

see you when i see you

love

deev

my welcome home 'do' at the pickled possum. tori, tami, francis, jeremy and me

the HUGE chess in christchurch

the putt putt... it was amazing... and indoor

the famous FERGBURGERS

the new years eve gang

the deadly drop

dikko and sean at lake tekapo

me, reyna, marissa and jordan at christmas

returned citizens; stu, helen, alex, mark and me...

have a happy day everyone!!

back to the norm... although it's not really norm

2008-12-06T01:10:00.002Z

so... have arrived back in sydney from the holiday back home.

I had a lovely rest of my time in Melbourne, the wedding was AMAZING... congratulations Kristal and Justin! (photos to come methinks... when i get off my butt and get them up here).
so, i visited Raol and Katrina in Albury for a few days, and it was lovely to see them. then i went to Canberra to visit my grandparents and met up with a few friends. Alex (from aust, but my travelling buddee in the UK) drove me home from canberra and then i went to Young with jono to see tim and lauren.

then came back to sydney, jumped straight back into the casual teaching which has been great and started catching up with old friends. oh gee, it's nice to be back.

Today, i am just at my mum's work, helping out by manning the office so that she can see clients and i can answer the phones. it's a nice day, not too busy so i can do my own things, but also help out. And what sort of things would i be doing besides studying Real Estate for mum, but also booking my new years trip to New Zealand and also trying to get some paperwork from the UK finalised so i can get more money...

well, back to the real estate course i think.
hope you are all well!
xx

so... I'm back in Aus and the adventure continues!

2008-10-29T05:17:00.004Z

well, i arrived back at sydney, ummm, a week and a bit ago. Mum, Dad, Jordan and Mel met me at the airport... was good to see the family there!!! I had some rellies and a few other friends over for a bbq that mum kindly organised for me. It was great to see everyone who came. thanks for making the effort! it means a lot to me. (just realised i didn't take any photos that day... very unlike me!) so sorry, i can't put them up!

and the sun was out... couldn't have asked for a better day.
the next day, i had to wash and pack as on the tuesday i was on a plane to adelaide to see Michaelmichael my friend michael (ooohhhh) and FINALLY meet his lovely girlfriend. they have only been going out for 7 years. so it was about time. that was a great time too. and i got to meet up with a friend from uni... sucks she lives so far away, but that's life... flying may be bad for the environment, but it helps me stay in touch with people.

and now... well, now i am in Pakenham, Melbourne. It is great here. I decided to come back to Aus because my friend Kristal is getting married... then she asked me to be in the bridal party, so i am really excited to be back here to support her in this time. I have met her fiance justin and think he is great for kristal. i am staying at their house at the moment, just chilling and helping out for the wedding where possible... it's so nice to see kristal again after over 3 years. and so i'm back in aus, finding my way back to sydney eventually and just seeing what life throws my way from there.. it's pretty exciting at the moment. although it kinda hit me that i can do anything... so that's cool, but also a bit scary... where do i start looking... haha, i'll figure it out!

tomorrow i'm going into the centre to catch up with another friend i met in chile, danjamin. (kristal, mmmfm and i all met in chile)... good times, good times. and then well, it's kitchen teas and other fun things over the weekend. i can't believe the wedding is getting so close... WHOA.

anyways, that's all from me for the moment... i havne't proofread this, so hopefully it makes some sense...

love you all
xx

kris and a crocodile... ooooohhh
jade, me and kris... shopping for her wedding... well, wasting time, pretending to shop...
lian and the pigs... you have to see the pigs in the laide
me and dikko (mmmfm ooooh) in the bush...

righty-oh and that's me done...

konichiwa

2008-10-15T05:49:00.003+01:00

me with a mo

ok, so i don't know how to spell it.

but i am in tokyo for 3/4 days inbetween London and Sydney. I arrived at 9:00am and had no accommodation booked and no money... and then my cash card and credit card wouldn't work in the machine... luckily i had some aussie dollars tucked away in my wallet for when i got home... and the tourist office at the airport booked me a bed in a hostel in Asakusa Tokyo. It looks nice enough and has free internet.

I am sooo tired and worn out, and have a cold verging on flu... so i think an afternoon nap and a brief walk of this area are on the cards for this afternoon. i don't want to be sick when i get back to aus...

ummm... i have now left a fantastic house with all lovely housemates in london and am sad for that, but extremely happy to see what life throws my way now...

Ciara from church gave me a most wonderful farewell present, a video of most of the dearest people to me at church... i watched it at the airport and i think they had to close Heathrow T5 for the floods of tears... haha.

well, i'm going to put a few photos up that i keep promising and never delivering... but sorrym, my brain isn't working too well.
and actually, my phone doesn't work here... so if you want to reach me, e-mail is the best.

cheers,
love youse all
deev
xx

ben and laura from church
me and amit with a london telephone box

two visions of london... thames and changing of the guards

almost on the closing stretch...

2008-09-23T10:38:00.002+01:00

so,
1 day left of spain for this time in my life...
send off boxes
1 trip left with rach (so excited)
leave london,
japan,
sydney...

oh my goodness... i am really i don´t know... overwhelmed, excited, scared, looking forward to what´s in store...

i have written some thoughts down about my travels in a book for me to transfer onto my blog, and of course it is locked in my bag in a locker, so it will have to be done after. sorry.

and today... wander around barcelona for one last day, enjoying the rain (and hopefully not swimming through the streets like i did yesterday) and soaking in the city for what it is... LOVE IT (but i think you all know my thoughts about spain)

anyways, off i go i suppose.
later
lots of love and hugs
besos y abrazos...
xoxoxoxoxox
xoxoxoxoxox
xoxoxoxoxox

whoops

2008-09-09T20:41:00.002+01:00

ok... so i haven´t written anything since lima...

well, i went travelling with jen in france for 1 week. a few days in paris... love that city.... a few days in limoges with clement (thanks for having us clem!!!) where jen bought me a lovely pair of porcelaine earrings... she has collected limoges porcelaine since she was 8 years old. and then onto a farm just outside toulouse where we were spoilt with fresh farm produce for eating... WOW is all i can say.

then back to london where i said bye to jen, alex, andy and mandy and then moped around the house pretending that life was not happening as i had to pack it all up and put it into boxes... now this should have been easy as i love putting things in boxes (especially people) but it was hard... cos i had to sort through 3 years of my life and decide what was worth keeping... and face a lot of stuff that i had been realising about myself over the last little while.

so... then onto spain... first stop barcelona where i could not get the smile off my face because i went in the water at the beach for i think the first time this year (thanks for taking me there José)... oh my goodness... it was so lovely. and the sun was shining... i spent a few days wandering around just enjoying the sun. and then pete (a guy from my mission team to lima) and eliot were in barca, so i spent some time with them and went out for eliot´s b´day.

then had a bit of an emotional time as i was packing up my stuff to leave José´s place to go travelling by myself for the next little while... it realy struck me how 'alone´one can feel... and i started thinking 'what am i doing with my life? i am happy here'. but i really want to go back to australia... and i do feel my time here is finished for the moment... i'm looking forward to a relaxing time in aus and then seeing what life is going to bring me. it's just going to be really hard to leave the things i have grown to love in london (and the people) behind.

anyways... that moment was gone and i was on the train to granada to see my friend Rocio. and she took me on 2 day trips out of granada and i had a lovely time catching up with her... trying to practice my poor spanish and her practicing her english. i love granada because if you drink, you get dinner for free with tapas... AMAZING!!!!

sorry, this is brief, but running out of internet time... and need to figure out what on earth i am going to do tomorrow... wanted to go to cadiz, but can´t find any accommodation... do i wing it, or go somewhere else??

from granada, an unplanned trip to ronda, cos i could, a beautiful city on a mountain with a great canyon in the middle. here i got chatting to denis, a homeless english guy and he ended up buying me a drink... haha, the things you end up doing when you travel alone.

then onto algeciras where i went to girbraltar and then today i went to morocco.. another impromtu visit... just cos i could. here i had some dude say, ahhhh... aussie... let me take you around. so i spent most of the day with a tour guide for free... i said i couldn´t pay and he said it didn´t matter and just walked with me... a bit freaky, but ended up ok!! (haha, sorry mum).

on the way back from morocco, the passport control guy was shaking his head at my passport and saying ´mucho viajes´ 'you travel much' to which i replied 'poco' 'a little'... he just laughed at me...

and so now i am in algeciras... trying to decide what to do tomorrow, and wishing i had someone to travel with... i have a good book my ex-housemate amy gave me, but there´s only so much reading one can do... so thought i would update this briefly to let you know a bit about what´'s been going on for me kinda.... sorry it´s been a while...

love to you all... just over a month til i am back in aus... and just under 2 months til kristals big day... (so cant wait!!!)

xx
xx
xxxxxxxxx
besos y abrazos

deev is...

2008-07-31T17:43:00.002+01:00

really enjoying stuff in Lima.

we have done lots with kids in poorer areas including running a 6hr kids program on david (shepherd boy,with goliath,as king) put together in half an hour... today doing more kids stuff.

the team is working well together and it is such a blessing to work with Margaret, Sharon and others and the locals over here in Peru. it´s great that we have a whole world apart, a language barrier, but the same God who loves us all... and that has brought us all together. (praise Him.)

anyways,i´mrunning late now... whoops...
later!

love you all
deev
xx

lima

2008-07-28T23:16:00.002+01:00

hey all,
i´m here in lima with a group of people from my church and it has been great. such a different world to that what I am used to, but it is amazing... i woould love to come back here for a little while at some point in my life... who knows

anyways, umm, we´ve arrived safely. the group is great. kate and charlie are our leaders and the team is me, steph and gavin (married), pete, ros, philippa and verity. we all have different abilities and strengths.

we have pretty much just been hanging around with a lady margared and helping her out in the work she does here with different churches... amazing. a lady of inspiration. it is great to see that God is a God all over the world and is the same, even in a city that is totally different. and He loves everyone!

anyways, not too much time, i don´t have many stories, but i will try and get to the computer again in a few days to update and tell at least 1 story.

hasta luego, (chau)
muchos besos y abrazos
davina
xx

2nd may long weekend, may mayhem and june joviality

2008-06-26T17:41:00.004+01:00

hi hi... well, today it is a glorious day, and i should be tidying my room (of course, but i am not) and I am just catching up on a bit of life before i go out to Mark's pub to see a music night and have a catch up. Looking forward to it... haven't been to a music night there... just the trivia which i LOVE.

so... the last almost 2 months at a glance...

concerts:
the waifs,
the swell season (oh my goodness... these guys are amaxing!)
passion band
radiohead

plays:
into the hoods
the mousetrap
cinderella
andy's performance

other exciting stuff:
camping in croyde,
exploring devon and cornwall with alex
cultural night at the TATE with mandy and nina
dinner with tami
ascot!!! (so glad i went)

and next week, my aunty will be coming to visit which i am really excited about, although i only have 3 1/2 weeks left of school and then my life as i know it changes... but i am very excited. and sooooo excited to be going home. I will miss england, but i can't wait to be refreshed in aus. arrive sydney october 19th... hurrah and then get to visit kristal in melbourne.

but before then, a few more adventures and hurrahs to have before i leave the motherland and head back to that sunny island.

hope you are all well.
love
deev
xx

the 1st may long weekend

2008-05-04T23:54:00.002+01:00

welcome to my attempts to be more regular at filling people in with my life... haha. i don't even know if that many people read this any more...

well, as i sit at the computer, waiting to skype my brother for a catch up (have tried a few other friends, but no-one seems available.. grrrr), i think, how else can i waste 20mins at midnight... and tidying my room just doesn't really seem like a fun option... i don't have any photos (what's new??!!) but i do have some ramblings, so here we go...

it's a long weekend, so whilst i should be in bed at this time on a sunday, i don't feel the need to be. weather is forecast to rain tomorrow as i catch up with pip and woody and their lovely daughters...oh yeah, it rained this weekend last year aswell... of course. haha. but to be fair, i remember the weather in sydney being not that exciting when i left (granted it was the middle of winter) and at least here it is light till 9:00pm now... awesome!

i had a lovely day in the park yesterday with rach, alex and nina with the sun shining and having nothing better to do than sit in it. then we went to go to alex's housemates party, but we couldn't get into the pub with our bags (of picnic rugs), our soft drink and my bottle of vodka... at least in london you can drink alcohol in the parks without getting arrested, so yesterday was a very lovely civilised picnic with wine and vodka in hyde park... thanks girlies! had a great day.

today i went to street caf, they've just set up a sunday one in the city. and i loved it. i am really enjoying working with the guys. they aren't all homeless, but most of them are or have been at some stage and just want a bit of food and 'company'. for some that just means sitting down in a safe area with others around them but not interacting. it will be sad to leave these guys, but i have heard of a similar community back in syd called rebecca's community, so i might look into it.
don't really know what i am going to do when i get back home, but have a whole heap of areas to look into which is really exciting. also, don't know how long i will stay around for, but that is cool too. i'm learning quite a lot about myself over here and will enjoy continuing to grow back in aus but in a different way i am sure.

oh and this evening schelle and i went to christina's baptism. it was really nice to support christina in her public declaration of following christ. it was great to experience another church in london.

well, i think that is my time almost finished before i can ring my bro... night night... i'll try and write more regularly, but don't hold your breath!

love to you all
xx

italy, excitement and old age

2008-04-18T08:54:00.013+01:00

ok, well, i am back to school after a lovely holiday in italy and i have really enjoyed getting tired from doing absolutely nothing and then falling asleep during the day to the rest of the italian/tourist world passing by beneath my open window. actually, it happened a few too many times. maybe i should eat some more meat. i'll look into that.

so, i don't really know where to start telling you all about my italian adventure. i love italy, but spain really does still have the place in my heart! haha. (no mum and val, no spanish boys as such, but i just love the language, the culture, the country, the people,... ... ...)

so, arrive home on thursday and the sun was shining... and on friday as i sat procrastinating my school work that i had to do on my last day of holidays, the clouds were out in full force and the wind was howling... reminded me of italy! ha. I am really sorry if the tenses change throughout this blog entry, i'm just going to type as it comes to me instead of trying to make it make sense (as usual, i'm sure you are all used to it by now and i started it a week ago, ha, estoy flojo)

anyways... the sun finally decided to come out on my last day in italy (venice) and i was able to sit in a park on the grand canal and wait for my bus... a beautiful day, very different from 3 days before when i was in verona, certain i was going to freeze to death or drown! see, i didn't bring many warm clothes with me because italy is meant to be warm, and i accidently left my umbrella in como where it had been pouring with rain and i didn't remember until i was half-way to verona with my friend oscar and he realised he didn't have his umbrella either...GREAT. although he did have a poncho. so there we were, quite a sight, two people running through the streets of verona under a poncho with no preripheral vision and having to 'cambio' frequently because our arms were getting tired from holding it up. we get a few laughs and had a few ourselves (especially when we tried to go around opposite sides of a pole... whoops). anyways... i'll get back to verona later... to start with roma!

so, it's saturday the 5th april and an early start to the day. I am in the taxi with schelle and we are both going to heathrow to get in separate planes to rome... hooray! it was easy to find the hostel and there we met rach and i changed into my skirt because the sun was shining... HURRAH!!! (apparently today it was snowing in london). If only i was to know this would be the last chance i would have to wear my skirt. so the 3 lovely ladies wandering the streets of rome enjoying the sun and the amazing history and feel that the city has to offer us. we saw a church with lots of monk bones, an interesting display, and wellust wandered. we went to the spanish steps where we met up with nathan and his friend amanda and then went off to meet tami and gabby in piazza navona for the first of many delicious coffees.

Back to the hostel to change and get ready for take 1 of birthday celebrations... the aussie time zone. We met up with nathan and amanda and went out for dinner, and then a lovely gelato, but didn't end up going out... we're nanna's now. haha. so to bed.

wake up to be 25... HURRAH! so old! (but still the youngest in the room =p) We has some breakfast and went to visit the colosseum. WOW... HUGE, old, amazing. (ok, so i could use better words, but my literacy level has decreased since being away. I would recommend going here if you go to Rome. actually, i preferred the palatine hill, but it is all close together. And so old... especially to think that the buildings in Aus are how old??!!! So, had a birthday lunch and said goodbye to tami... bye ybe!!! and had to give her back her jacket. it was quite cold today. oh well, i can always buy a jumper or find some italian boy to keep me warm! (kidding mum and val!) oh, thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes... i had a great day (well few days) i like the whole go away for your birthday thing... righty-oh... some more exploring and eating and then time to say goodbye to schelle. then there was me, rach and gabs. we met up with nathan and amanda again for birthday dinner take 2 and again had quite an early night.

rach and i went to st peters to go up to the top today, but the line was huge... mental note... go earlier next time. so we gave up and met gabby for lunch. after lunch, bye bye to rach and gabby and i explored the streets once again, this time by choosing our direction by which street had more sun! haha. and then bye bye to gabby... then there was one.
so, the next day i try my luck at st peters again before going off to florence. BINGO! 8:30am, not too many visitors. i went into the top of the church and curved my way upto the roof. (wouldn't want to be too tall, even i had to twist my body to get through). it's definitely an amazing church, but not my favourite. After the top, i explored the immense inside and spent some quiet time with/before God and by the time i was leaving, crowds of people were coming in... i think i chose a good time to go. so, definitely recommend if you go to GO EARLY! now... off to florence. ahhh, the rain is out again! hurrah!

and the hostel i ask at has no vacancies... whoops. maybe i should have booked ahead... next time! but they are lovely and show me a place around the corner who does have vacancies and a few lovely americans to chat to in my room. yay. catch up with nathan (amanda is sick) and just wander the streets and go out for a lovely meal (should have had florence beef, but didn't, oh well). i think i like the feel of florence better than rome, but it also is a little bit polluted. tomorrow nathan and amanda are off to slovenia and i am off to pisa and lucca.

I have heard that pisa isn't that great, but i actually quite enjoyed it, although maybe it was just because the sun was almost shining and it wasn't freezing cold. i decided to climb the leaning tower and you could actually feel the lean as you went... i didn't really expect that. it was pretty cool. and i loved the architecture of the whole area there... and it is all marble... that i did not realise. Another lovely coffee and then onto Lucca. i think i would have liked lucca if it wasn't raining the whole time. a lovely city to get lost in and always find new piazza's or a place to hide from the rain and have dinner and then another place to have a gelato crepe (for example). I got back to the hostel just before it poured down. and was going to go out to explore the town by night, but the weather had a different agenda for me... remind me why i did not bring my raincoat??

Now... onto the cinque terre (5 lands, fishing villages over the coast). I have heard that this place is just absolutely amazing, although i'm sure everyone who has told me this has gone in the summer. ha, but actually, i do like it here. I tried to book at the hostel, but they don't take bookings under a week in advance, so wander through and try my luck at a walk-in. €40/pppn... WHAT??? hmmm, do i take this or try my luck at the next village? i'll take it... i don't want to wander around in the rain... what, another room for €20?? SCORE! i'll take it! Do i walk around these 5 villages this afternoon or spend a whole day tomorrow? Today, I'll read and wash and walk the coastal route tomorrow. The next day it rained... and rained... and rained. Maybe i should have walked yesterday... oh well. I caught the train between the villages and looked around a little. I then walked a paved part of the walk and went back. by evening, the rain stopped, so i walked from Varnazza to Corneglia. and it was AMAZING... well done everyone for telling me to come here. off to dinner. i walked into a restaurant just because there were aussie accents coming out the door. there seem to be so many aussie parent aged people travelling through italy... there you go mum and dad, for retirement!?!?

Then... onto Milano... shopping?? fashion?? And i didn't even bring my nice clothes or high-heels. Oh well... I'll meet oscar and find out it's ok to wear jeans. haha. so, meet oscar (who schelle and i met in sweden with some of his friends on a night-train... long journeys, cards... instant friendships... haha)my guide for the next few days. We went to drop my bag at the station but the lockers were full... oh well... no passa nada... it's fun to walk around the versace, dolce&gabana & tag shops with your backpack on. At least the sun is out! Around the city and to the duomo. this place looks amazing from the outside, and I wonder what it looks like from the top... oh, no bag drops here... ok, so, up the stairs with my pack on. it was a bit of a laugh as i couldn't move up the stairs if others were coming down, and it was a common staircase for up&down. but so worth it. WOW!!! the view from the top was FABULOUS!!! i love it! possibly my most favourite cathedral, the view is great, the architecture is great, everything is great! A lovely place to pause from the world (actually, there are lots of places like this in italy, and i love that!). It reminds me a little of the sagrada famillia in barcelona. now, out of the sun... shame, wander more of milan and catch the train to Como where Oscar lives/studies and onto a party for one of his housemates.

i get called mexican as i tried to speak to spanish and had holes in my socks but actually, i was not doing so well. here i am in italy trying to speak spanish with oscar and his peruvian housemate (and failing), as they speaks spanish, italian and english fluently (cabrones!). Well, at least i was able to teach them a new word... plug. no wonder they don't know what it is... they don't have one.

and my first mexican dish in italy... it looks like... ummmm ummmm.... mud??? (or fondly called chicken poo.) it's a chilly chocolate chicken dish and is actually quite tasty. haha. then some apperitivos and off to a party party. a great night with some uni of milan international students from all walks of life. Eating... drinking... and being merry.

next day, the sun was out again... hurrah! and was just spent relaxing and wandering around the lake wondering what it would be like living in the lazy life with the hills, the lake, the amazing scenery and just enjoying the sun... well, until it clouded over, of course.

And tonight, a peruvian dinner with housemates and some more of their uni friends for Renzo's (oscar's housemates) birthday party. -14degrees celsius (renzo's argument against poverty. so we all need to get together and knit woolen socks and send them to the kids there. don't worry renzo, i'll take some socks over when i go).

So, what else to do?? i know, let's go up to the tower/castle and walk through some of the hills?? oh yeah, that's right... IT'S POURING AGAIN! HURRAH! OF COURSE! so what better to do than watch Ocean's 13 on dvd. it's the whole oceans 11, bellagio, lake como like. hey, that works with me! and i haven't seen it yet, so why not?? I need to get out of the house though, so we go and pick up the train tickets to verona and almost freeze and drown getting the tickets. an early night as the train to verona is at 6:30am... that time shouldn't exist on holidays!

so, back to milano and onto verona... oh, train delayed... hehe. I could have been sleeping. oh well, onto fair verona. In Fair Verona we lay our scene... and it rains. i don't think this is how it started for shakespeare, but this is how it started for me. so... we get our 'umbrella' (poncho) and start wandering the streets to juliet's tomb and for a coffee and a sit for a while to give the rain a chance to stop. the rain didn't take it's chance, but we sat at the arena (a mini colosseum) and onwards to juliet's house. and of course a rub of her right breast for good luck. onto a defrost in a a department store where there are more aussie accents (of middle-aged people). and, lucky i rubbed juliet's breast cos THE RAIN STOPPED!!! HURRAH! time for a packed lunch picnic with tortilla chips and beer on the lovely river. now i am starting to enjoy verona more as i am not freezing my butt off and drowned anymore. wander around a bit more and enjoy a dry verona and off to have a GREAT thick hot chocolate... the best i have had in a long time. and onto the train to venice.

when oscar and i met on a train, schelle and i taught him and his friends a card game. so, now that we are on another train trip, i thought it fitting to teach oscar another card game. I'll have to think of another one for the next train trip... whenever that will be.

So... my first experience of venice was by night, and trying to find a hotel at 9:30pm. we managed, so no sleeping in the station for us. hurrah. then wander around the maze of streets that is venice. i am liking venice, although not my favourite place in the world. next day, oscar is back to como to go back to uni (well for one day until he scoots off to granada) and i wander around venice in the sun. well, at least 2 hrs of sun and then of course it clouds over and begins to rain. ha. stupid unpredictable weather. but i found a free vivaldi museum with violins and other stringed/wooden instruments in it. and suprise suprise, when i got out, the sun was shining. a little more wandering, an afternoon nap and then venice by night take 2 - solo.

this time i was propositioneda few times whilst wandering, but i must say, i was never hassled. i don't know if anyone can answer this, but when i went back to st marks, the water was rising from the ground... is this a cleaning method for all the bird poo, or was it flooding from all the rain? hmmm, well, i didn't hang around to find out. back to my hotel to retire to my room and watch an american murder mystery in italian. and an early nights sleep so i could wake up early and explore venice for the last day of my birthday adventure.

ok, so didn't get up early, but that is cool. had my nicest continental breakfast so far this trip (with another great coffee) and read in a park by the grand canal in the glorious sunshine waiting for the ryanair bus. and then my trip was over.

so... highlights of italy...
the coffee, palatine hill, lake como, duomos at florence and milan, and generally just wandering and 'being'.

the annoyances, actually, nothing! i just should have packed my thermals and raincoat. would i go back there?? ummm, maybe one day and explore the south but who knows... as i said, spain still has my heart, so explore more of there first.

and so the photos... ummm... maybe use your imagination to see where you think they are and who is in them!!! haha.

i love my coffee... ha
the lovers walk. and the love locks. apparently people write their names on padlocks and put them in romantic areas... locked in love forever, ahhh, how romantic the rain...

oh, and since coming back, rach had a bbq in 62MG, it was great. although i am glad i don't still live there, it was nice to go back! doing well rach. and then a lovely birthday lunch for alex. happy birthday alex! my friends from aus the woods are over with 2 kiddies one whom i've never met and one i met once, so looking forward to spending some time with them over the next few weeks too.

righty-oh... off i go! but it has been nice filling you all in with my extrememly long winded ramblings of my last few weeks.

love to you all!
xx
xx
xx

i'm getting bad at this...

2008-03-13T22:19:00.002Z

so, i promised some photos... and they will come... I am just being lazy. I had a 'night in' tonight, which has been lovely. Watched 7 years in tibet with my new housemate kim and had a list of things to do, like update this little fella.. but alas, did not.

although, i did look for some stuff for when my aunty comes... and also booked a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin for the easter weekend... so now i have a car hired, 3 lovely ladies to go travelling with and also a ferry to get us across to Ireland. We plan to go and explore the Northern part.

hopefully one day i'll get off my butt and get some photos up here... sorry that i haven't yet!

but i am going well. handed in my resignation now!! that means i'll be kicked out of the country soon after july. haha. so defo home by november. and maybe even a blog entrance before then.

haha

later!
xx

guten tag aus Berlin

2008-02-22T08:42:00.003Z

(sorry if the title is not correct... i don't actually know any german, except for montag uhm acht heur. hello, ich heiße waldolf... waldolf bauer, ich bin neu hier etc...[spelling??])

Well, i have now spent 2 days wandering the streets of berlin taking in the sights and enjoying what the city has to show me. I arrived on tuesday evening and walked into the hostel to meet 1 peruvia, 1 italian, 1 american and 4 spanish who were all talking about religion and philosophy until the early hours of the morning... WELCOME TO BERLIN??

wednesday i wandered through the city on a free walking tour and learned a bit about Hitler and also the East/West divide... yesterday I just wandered myself the whole day and explored the East side gallery (part of the wall that was given to artists to paint on) and then back to checkpoint charlie and the museum of terrorism and then gave up and came home after too many hours of wandering. my roommate is a dj and invited me to go to watch him spin, but i had a pretty huge headache... so maybe tonight... as it is my last night here. I am really enjoying this place... definitely one of the highlights of europe.

oh, and yesterday after i had a really cheap and lovely lunch some guy came up to me to ask me if i knew about the situations with the banks... and if i wanted to give a donation to his cause yadda yadda yadda.... and then i said, well, i'm not from here and then he asked to give me a sheet in german... well, not speaking or reading german, i decided to say, I'm not going to read it, save the trees or give it to someone else who can and will read it. then he said, oh, so i care about the trees, but not about the economic welfare of the world and then gave me a huge lecture about how i am selfish and that i will get what i deserve and that i am a cold hearted b#tch... yeah, ummm, thanks dude... that's going to want to make me read up more about your cause...

oh, and then i went to buy some fruit and my camera cord got caught on a sign in the supermarket, and i heard it fall, but i didn't click (and the area was pretty dodgy and had a sort of roma feel about it...) so i kept walking and luckily a man ran after me and gave it back to me... (praise God). then a security guard saw him do that and said he is a roma... you understand... and don't forget that... random... but I am very lucky being in that area 1)that i wasn't pickpocketed and 2) that something that fell out of my pocket was actually given back to me... I think i was being looked after!!

and so, today, hopefully go on another walking tour and go to the riechstag... which means that I should get going... but i have had a great time here and just really enjoy soaking up the atmosphere and thinking about all the past and where berlin has come from and now is...

righty-oh... hope you are all well... I'll be back in london on sunday... and have a list of people a mile long who i would like to phone... so, you might be one of them!! haha... and if not, please don't be offended!!!

love to you all!
deev
xx

oh, thanks tami for having me and schelle stay with you in Oslo, and taking us on a lovely cross-country skiing tour! I will write up about that in my next blog entry and add some lovely photos from berlin and my norway adventure.
=p
and found out that rach is moving into 62MG funtimes... my first room in London. haha... that means I can still use my old (now her new) backyard in summer... bring it on!!!! congrats rach... i hope your times there are as good as mine were!!! oh memories... haha

february fun times...

2008-02-12T21:57:00.000Z

well hello hello to you all... i'm sat on my couch in my loungeroom with charlie and the chocolate factory running and all of us (and two friends )being very sociable on our laptops... haha... it's quite fun.

i was going to tell you all about all the great things that i have been up to, but i am not going too because i am too tired... (might be the glasses of red wine i had with dinner with rach). we had brie on steak with rice and a few veggies, followed up by maltesers for dessert.... see mum, i am looking after myself!!! and i'm not even having healthy choice meals.

righty-oh, just touching base, don't even know if anyone still reads this... but i am still alive and kicking, going to norway on friday for the weekend and then to berlin... should be quite exciting

anyways, bed for me soon.
love to youse all
deev
xx

p.s. val and grandma, i go to spain because i am learning the language and love the country! no other reason!!!!!
=p

helloooooo helloooooo, it's been a while

2008-01-18T21:28:00.000Z

so, mum has been bugging me (hi mum!) to update my blog. my computer seems to crash everytime i try to update it with photos, they don't want to be loaded... so let's see what i end up with this time.

it's a friday night and i am just watching gordon ramsay on the tv... mouth watering. i went to a body combat class at the gym, lots of fun and so am now bumming on the couch thinking about what sort of things i should be doing... the washing is in... my room is almost tidy and i am love love loving my house.

can't wait for tomorrow... it will be my first time to the walkabout since i have lived around the corner from it.. very exciting. and will be making sushi with some friends before i go out... yay!

ok, i have probably said this before, but i am aware i overuse 3 dots, but that is fine, i love them, hopefully you don't have an issue with that... haha.

ummm, my photos go backwards, starting with schelle and my christmas and new years adventures, and then back... i spose you have to just scroll down to see what else is there. it will probably be really badly set out, but please just deal with it.

our lovely chocolate bars... i'd like some plopp please??; the lovely flavoured cider; me and schelle in stockholm for a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

snow angel in Kiruna; our bakery we went past 4 times until it was open (the coffee was good); me with snowflakes on my eyelashes and cheekhairs...

ooooooh, the ice hotel and the ice-bar... our ice-cocktails... very lovely, you can even eat the glass

dogsled rides; skidoo rides; and boat rides?? (well, the view from out boat hostel)

our apartment in kiruna; schelle asleep on the night train (our first view of snow); the crazy art work at the ice-hotel; more awesome art in the ice-hotel; me and schelle on christmas eve on the ferry... MERRY CHRISTMAS! (i sang karaoke that night... first time, and i loved it. so going to a karaoke bar in london!; schelle with her new friends in the dutyfree shop on the boat.

ummm, interesting sign.... we're looking for a...; the awesomely tall housey things in stockholm...; tadaaaaaaa, our little room on out boat... this will make a great christmas eve venue for watching lots of mTV
some arty photos from different places around tallinn in estonia. i really enjoyed tallinn... our first port of call on our trip... really beautiful city. recommend it for a visit!

rach, me and schelle at their birthday celebrations (thanks for letting me borrow the skirt schelle!)

schelle and me drinking celebratory cocktails... yummy... good venue guys; some of the yummy shots; ryan and schelle, 1/2 the happy other end of pennard rd crew
and below, rach, schelle and mandy, 3 very lovely ladies.

the other photos here are my visit to the german christmas markets. i had a ball. me and jana drinking our gluvine; jana with the markets; muenster and it's christmas tree; duesseldorf; me and lots of gingerbread... yummmmmmmmmm

and as promised... some photos of oxford. rach and schelle at the alice sweet shop. and the two lovely ladies in the rabbit room in the eagle and child pub (where great writers used to meet)

the lovely old streets of london and ummmm.... schelle wearing all of her birthday presents, pj pants, belt, bangles...

chris' 'housewarming' and the awesome dancepad!!! suprise! (i think chris schelle and i took about 15 photos with different expressions.... haha, what are we like?!?) and me, helen and mark (sure that's for movember) eating at one of my favourite restaurants abeeno too. (the abeeno original is around the corner, but i still haven't been there)

some photos from poland... a cafe; the watch out for bumpinchers? sign?? oh, watch out for pickpockets... i get it., auswitz, me deciding what to eat from a newspaper in a 'traditional' polish restaurant; schelle and i with out new haircuts; and a lovely teahouse... very quaint.

the loos at auswitz, they could only go 2 times a day... imagine it in the snow...

and the Natural History Museum ice-skating... it's still really cool to go skating outside... this was with my cluster group at church.

here are some of the concerts... the powderfinger ticket; rach, schelle, me and chris at powderfinger; the fray tickets; the roof at my favourite venue, royal albert hall; andy, ryan, me, amit, schelle and chris at crowded house.

i haven't put up photos from the spicegirls concert, but i only went there on wednesday night, so they are still in my camera.

but hopefully this will keep some of you going until i am able to think properly and maybe write a bit more about what i am actually doing instead of just writing explanations of photos...

enjoy!
love you all
deev
xx

almost 2 months...

2007-12-18T23:03:00.000Z

oh my goodness... it is hard to believe it has almost been 2 months for me here in this house. and i seem to have been quite busy...

concerts, concerts and concerts, a few plays, a trip to germany... it's hard for me to even catch up with myself at the moment...

this time, i haven't put my photos in because i seem to have lost my camera cord in my mess of a room... it must be in here somewhere, or maybe in a handbag... hmmmm... i have some good photos from the crowded house concert in the royal albert hall, that was lots of fun. i met up with a friend amit, who i haven't seen for ages, so that was really nice, and a few other people came along... it was quite a nice night... i do like the royal albert hall for events... i particularly like their sound donut things hanging from the roof... i'll put a photo up when i find my camera cord.

another concert i went to, or more of a gig was dan smith who played in soho last night (hezz's friend anna's cousin... ha) his music is interesting, but good. it does an awesome layering effect with just himself, although his style took a few songs for me to get used to.. but still AMAZING!!!

oh and for some reason i impulsed tickets for radiohead in july next year... i do like them, but not that much... i must have been mad the day i did that!!!

what else?? I saw Jana (whoop whoop) on the weekend for the christmas markets in munster, although schelle didn't end up coming along because she didn't have her passport. (and she still doesn't, so we thought we might have to cancel christmas, but i've been assured it is in the post for tomorrow). It was great to see Jana and eat crepes, roasted nuts, potato fritters, munster's best hot chips, gluvine (spelling??) and lots of other things.... although a sad part of the weekend was when i left my neckwarmer on the bus... However, i went to decathlon today and they had another one for £2, but i bought the £10 one as it was a similar colour to my old one and more my style. I also impulse bought some ski pants and a ski jacket for FINLAND!!! hooray!!! Even though i have warm clothes, you know, you can never have enough... and i'm sure it will be freezing. We will be going there on Saturday on those stupid early flights that i keep promising myself i am not going to take ever again. but i am looking forward to it. looks like it will be cold or freezing and everyone keeps telling me i'm stupid, should be following the sun, but, hey, that's where santa is and also, it's nice to be different from aus!

schelle and rach's party was a lovely night... it seems like such a long time ago that i can't really remember it... but i'll find some photos to put up here too. we had lots of fun in a bar just off carnaby st. i spose you can just wait till the photos come up. and i decided that for my 25th b'day, as it's a sunday in the holidays, i am going to go to rome and then travel around italy for 2 weeks... so if any of you are free on the 6th April... come to rome!!! it should be AWESOME!! (nothing like a bit of forward planning!)

well, i'm off to bed, cos i'm heaps tired and have my last day of school tomorrow and then out homeless community christmas party, which i'm really looking forward too.

righty-oh.. hopefully some photos to come soon!
hope you are all well
love
deev
xx
and a big hug too!!!

found the photos!!!!

2007-11-24T17:59:00.000Z

haha.i found those photos. i saved them on my desktop so i wouldn't lose them... whoops... haha.

anyways... here are some photos... i can't really remember what i have been up to, but, tomorrow i am off to powderfinger (for michelle's birthday)at hammersmith and next week going to see crowded house, so it's the week of the aussie bands... haha. and last weekend schelle, rach and i had a weekend break in oxford which was nice. this weekend is a party for schelle and rach's 25th b'days and then next weekend schelle and i are off to germany to the christmas markets and also to see jana... HOORAY!!! can't wait to see her again.

apart from that, how am i going?? i am going quite well... school is good. london is getting cold, but i am enjoying it. it just means we all have to wear warmer clothes and turn the heating on. ha. and today, i couldnt' figure out the rain. rain, pour, wind, sun, rain, sun, rain, pour, sun... i don't know. but it's kinda cool... you never know what to dress for and it's always going to be an adventure.

other stuff, church is great at the moment. i am having a really lazy day today and so didn't quite get to the gym class that i was going to go to, I also didn't get to cluster (our church group), but at least i am getting this done i suppose. was also going to bake a banana cake for schelle's birthday, but decided on the banana pancakes instead... just as tasty and easy... hooray!

right, i might just go and chat about these photos then...

anna, hez and alex on hez and alex's last night! a lovely night.
soph (random friend of a cousin of a friend who knows someone i teach sunday school to... ) on hez's farewell.
me, rach and schelle at church's fireworks
the fireworks with the church in the background
haha.. sorry, me, arnout and sjoerd in our ikea glasses in zwolle (where my family comes from in the netherlands)
me and nick eating panda's in bognor after our trip to plant cucumbers... it wasn't dodgy, i promise!!!
schelle and the jenga tower at our housewarming party.
3 of the housemates... maria, me and amy... at our housewarming party. was a lovely night.
me and alex at my housewarming party... she's off to aus, but back to london... hurrah!! it will be good to have you back alex!
i can't even remember why we were here... oh, that's right, we were about to go shopping in lillywhites before going out... haha... that's us lovely ladies in piccadilly circus... who has been to london and not had a photo here??

oh matty... we'll miss you!!!! matt's farewell... catch you back in aus!!
the fray... AWESOME concert
Hilltop hoods, in the shepherds bush empire, just the other side of where we live...
chris, schelle, me and rach on the river near borough markets... i was still looking for a house this day, but now i have a lovely lovely place... yay!!
hola guapa... or is it loca.... hmmmmmm, well, that's me in las ramblas with my impulse buy t-shirt that is 1)yellow and 2)says loca (crazy) with a girl in a cartwheel... i had to get it and it was very much me. haha

ok, so i have added 10 more photos, but the stupid internet keeps crashing before i get them on... and i'm tired and want to go to bed... but next time there should be some pics of krakow, outdoor ice-skating and maybe even some from oxford (just saw that schelle put hers up on facebook).

nighty-night to you all.
love
deev
xx

home sweet home...

2007-11-15T17:29:00.000Z

ok, so, here i am in my lounge room of my new home sitting with the new internet connection and my not so new laptop... and FINALLY i have some pictures in my laptop of my adventures from the past, oh i dunno only few months or so. although, i have just had an almost heart attack, as i have deleted them from my camera after saving them in my computer and in a 'moment' can not remember where i saved them...

ok, so stress... i'll write more later.

right... sorry, what a waste of time this was... haha.

love
deev
xx

by the way, caught up with hezzy and matt smith today for breakfast... farewell to matt in london, see you in sydney!!! welcome to hezz again in london... hooray for an adventure.
xx

hopefully photos haven't been deleted and then i can put some up... sorry!

yay!!!

2007-10-20T18:21:00.001+01:00

I have a new house, i have a new house, i have a new house hey hey hey hey!!!

I have a blue guitar, i have a blue guitar, i have a blue guitar hey hey hey hey!!!

i spent my first night at my new place last night... and it was really exciting. I was actually the only person there last night, but it was still fun. last night schelle's housemate helped me move some stuff to my new place and i spent some time packing stuff into my mass of cupboards (although not quite enough to hold my mass of stuff). and today schelle and I wandered round shebu taking stuff from her house and mine and unpacking some more... so lots of fun to be had there...

tonight, off to a pub in chiswick to watch the rugby, ohhhhh, who's it going to be??? and tomorrow unpacking some more stuff... joy joy joy!

hope you are all well, i am going great!

love to ya,
and a big hug,
deev
xx

e-mail me if you would like my home address.... it's fabulous... yay!!!

life update...

2007-10-14T14:24:00.000+01:00

ok, ok, i will get some photos up here really soon.... because, soon i will be moving into a new place.

After way too long of looking around, i have found a beautiful 4 bedroom house. it is still in shepherds bush and it is just up the road from schelle and still not too far away from rach. it's close to school and well, it's basically just around the corner from where i used to live. it's costing a bit more than 62MG, but it is a lot nicer... i do miss the MG, but it was time to move on and I am glad i have.

school's still going well, as is everything else. I'm can't remember if i have already written this, but I am off to poland in a week and a bit with schelle and then i will go to the netherlands on my way back to london... so really excited about that. giving my credit card a good work out at the moment, but i do get paid soon... i hope...

and some other news is that i have decided i will be coming home for a while. Kristal told me the date of her wedding (CONGRATS AGAIN MY DEAR!!!) and so i will be in melbourne next year for the 8th November... that means i will finish up the school year at my school, go to my beloved spain for a little whilem tie up any loose ends here with tax and all that jazz and then head home (on a return ticket). After that, who knows, although i would love to come back to europe to live in spain for a bit and then travel to south america, maybe to do some charity work or something... so once again, just ideas and i have no idea what life holds for me, but whilst i'm staying in london, things are good, but this is not where i want to end up forever and well, my 2 year adventure is already entering it's 3rd year.

so, that's a plan at this stage, although, who really knows where God will take me in my life... planning, but also ready for Him to tell me otherwise... it's pretty exciting though.

lovvin it!!! (ha, i should work for maccas or something...)

right, the sun is shining and i'm just sitting on schelle's couch writing this, when i really should be outside... so... off i go!

love to you all,
see ya when i see ya

deev
xx

change of plans... again

2007-10-06T17:52:00.000+01:00

well, this time the rugby didn't go so well... alex and i are no longer moving in with each other (hopefully she is going to get a job up in scotland) and well, i'm tossing up between finding a place in a share house or going into a 3 or 4 bedder with a friend of a friend. so let's just see what happens with time...

although, it is almost half-term and i was definitely wanting to find a place before i went away... for the half-term, schelle and i are going to poland for a few days and then i'm off somewhere for the weekend on the way back. so that should be good.

oh, and our school just got ofsteded... which means the government give us 3 days notice to come and inspect our school and rate us to how we are going... if you fail then you have to do heaps of stuff and they could close your school down... BUT, we got good with outstanding features, which is really good.... we knew we are a good school, but now we really know it.

anyways... i;m going out tonight somewhere to dwell on the rugby, or maybe just staying at schelles and watching sky... schelle just got sky plus and all the boys are out, so it's just me, schelle and emma (her housemate)... we had a girlie night last night, but you can never have too many girlie nights.... ha.

so, off i go... nothing too exciting happening, but i am happening still... ok this is making no sense as usual... so

bye,
love
deev
xx

quick not a lot

2007-09-16T13:16:00.001+01:00

well, the rugby is going well, and school is going well, and the weather has been beautiful... but i am still without home. alex and i are going to get a 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom and move in somewhere around the area... the only problem is finding the place. she moves out of her place on the 20th, and well, i am still inbetween rach's and schelle's houses... eventually i will have a house... i'm sure!! haha.

anyways, that's all... i am tired, but going well, i think an afternoon nap before church tonight will be nice.

love you all!
deev
xx

back in london

2007-08-31T14:33:00.000+01:00

righty-oh, well, i write this sitting at my school computer on my last day of holidays... welcome back to the real world. London is cold and looks as though it is going to rain. for some reason i am wearing flip-flops (thongs, jandals, whatever else you want to call them without laughing at me) and am feeling the cold. the only time i have worn shoes in the last month was in barca for one night when it was raining and for 'la tomatina'... and my puma's still stink like rotting tomatoe. haha

anyways, spain was a month of firsts. first time 'living' in a foreign country (we had our own flat), first churros con chocolate, first learning a language in a country, first time sleeping in an aiport (long story, we missed our rental car and couldn't get hold of the guy, so we stayed there just incase we could get in contact with him), first time driving on the other side of the road and first time free camping.

right... ummmm, travelling with hez and anna was great!!! i'll try and get some photos up soon, however, i am staying with rach and she doesn't have internet... although next week i think i am staying with schelle and she does have internet, so will see if i can get some piccies up for you all. sorry, back to the story... we explored barca together and jumped in a car (a day late) and travelled down from barca past tarragona, to morella, really cool place then to umm, somewhere else and then bunol for 'la tomatina'.

now i'm back in london looking for a place to live close to shepherds bush or kensington, so if any of you hear of anything, let me know!! please pray for a house too, if you are the praying type, and if not, why not pray anyways. ha, i said something about prayer to my head teacher this morning and he just smiled at me and said it's good to see that i haven't changed in a month off and that i am just as crazy as ever... haha.

right, off i go. have to do some more assessments and then try looking for places to live... lots of fun!

love to you all,
deev
xx

barca barca barca

2007-08-25T10:36:00.000+01:00

ok, well, this will be quick, cos i am trying to just book a train ticket before going and doing some final sightseeing for my last day in barca...

wow, the time here has gone real quick... it has been great to catch up with Hez, anna, jose and two lovely canadians i met in sevilla....

we went to la sagrada familla, parc güell, the picasso museum, montserrat, and wandered plenty of streets... having a lovely time and really enjoying what spain is sharing with us.

right, that's all for the moment... wander a bit more and get ready to get my stupid wet clothes (hanging on the roof top, and it keeps raining when i am not home, so they don´t dry...grrrrr) and go to the airport to pick ùp a car with hez and anna to drive a bit on the wrong side of the road.... what fun!!!

hope you are all well, love and hugs,
deev
xx

en sevilla

2007-08-20T11:42:00.001+01:00

¡ hola chicos!
so, I am now in sevilla, (with my new hair that my school teacher in granada cut... hooray.. still getting used to it, dad, hope you like my fringe) however t I leave on a night train tonight for barcelona... yay yay. I think i am spending like 6 days or so there, so looking forward to going to the beach, going into the sagrada familia and spending a day reading and writing postcards in parc güell... should be good. hooray!

and today, again it is hot, although it doesn´t seem as hot as yesterday... but who know's, i have´'t left the hostel yet. at the minute, i am trying to download my photos onto an old computer, so it is taking forever, but hopefully i will have them backed up online and also be able to put a few up on here... if not, hopefully at least facebook.... wait, and as i was typing, it happended... hooray!!!

righty-oh... a few piccies and a brief explanation and then well, maybe explore the beautiful sevilla one more time before i head out of here...

me and rocio, my granadian friend who i met in bristol a year and a half-ago... she lives in a beautiful house (a Carmen) in the Albayzin.
mmmm, churros con chocolate... mum, you would love this!!!
ummm, which free tapas should we get??? anna, eric, jerome and emma all checking out the menu
me drinking one of my favourite drinks in our favourite teteria

me and helen in madrid in a mexican restaurant
me and dikko (MMMFM Ooooo) at the jamboree 8 years on.... awwww
ben, anna and jerome, the 'party animals' hehe
one of my study spots
and the alhumbra

hey again

2007-08-16T11:16:00.000+01:00

well, I have now been in granada f0r almost 2 weeks... and it has gone so quickly. I went to the alhambra, done lots of walking, caught up with danica, rocio and met lots of new people. I have also been to tea quite a few times with some really nice teas, been to tapas lots of times, been to a beach, cut my hair (well a spanish teacher did, ha) and learnt a little spanish.

tomorrow is my last day of class, and i wish i was here for 4 weeks more so i could learn some more spanish, i don´t have a lot, but little by little (poco a poco). so, saturday morning i will get on a bus for a tour to seville with the school and then stay there for a few nights before going to barca to see Jose and catch up with hezza and anna. hooray!

well, now i have to find how to get from seville to barca.

hasta luego todos...

¡besos!

deev

¡Hola de España!

2007-08-09T15:23:00.000+01:00

hola todos, ¿Qué tal?
soy en granada para clase español para dos semanas.

ok, so i have been in spain now for almost a week. Granada is beautiful, and well, i am enjoying myself. I have just over a week left of classes (although i will need a lifetime of classes to become fluent in spanish) and then travel around for a bit. I am trying to work out where to go inbetween granada and barcelona... maybe the beach or sevilla. and also trying to figure out how on earth i am going to get home... the flights are really expensive... but where there is a will, there is a way.

anyways, i´m off. doing a tapas ´tour´tonight where you buy beer and get free tapas. Danica a friend from london is coming visiting tomorrow, hopefully go to the alhambra on saturday and then 1 more week of class. then travel a bit and meet up with hez and anna in barca. HOORAY!!!!

photos tocome ummm, later.
right, off i go for lunch and a nap.

love ya and miss ya
deev
xx

my farewell party, Oslo, Michael Michael and packing...

2007-08-01T14:55:00.000+01:00

bbq, england style... haha...
man, i'm gonna miss my backyard.

give me an 0 (o), give me an s (s), give me an l(l), give me an o(o), what does is spell??

well, I should be packing right now... I have a pile of stuff for 'spain' and a few boxes for 'moving' and a whole heap of other stuff everywhere in my room.... oh and a list a mile long of things 'to do'.

haha... oh well... I'll get there eventually i suppose. Schelle's housemate has been lovely and offered me his services with his car, so i will be making sure i have finished packing tomorrow, for both moving and spain, get my boxes to both schelle's and rach's houses and then farewell 62MG and then one last sleep, take my bedding to rach's and head off to spain for a month, CRAZY!!! then staying here for at least another school year and then as the wind takes me and God leads me. i'm at a little bit of unease about it right now, but that will pass.

anyways, my last week has been GREAT!!!! farewell to 62MG party with good weather and a bbq in my backyard that i only now have for 3 more sleeps... scary. my goodness, i don't know if i am ready to move out yet, but it is time.. very torn. i like the backyard and my room, but the house is a little worn and i have done my time here... time to experience something new... change is good. see what God has instore for me.

pics of the bbq in the backyard... ahhhh

anyways, went to oslo with schelle to visit tami and stayed there for 2 nights, then went on a train to stavanger to climb Preikestolen or Pulpit rock... rainy the whole time, but beautiful none the less. came home on monday, did my homeless stuff, which i was really looking forward to, spoke to a few friends from home, went to bed really late and then go up early for an exciting new adventure. it was to see michael michael my friend michael (ooooooh) at the airport and spend the day with him. was lovely!!! we went to camden markets and wandered to primrose hill, then down to trafalgar square and went to dinner at wagamamas.
schelle, tami and myself in the 'sun' at pulpit rock in norway...
and us girlies in oslo
dikko (MMMFM (o)) at camden... and the sun is out in london... hurrah!!
and us again on primrose hill in the glorious sunshine

today i was packing my room. and then had MM and some of his friends and schelle and rach over to dinner... another lovely successful bbq in the backyard... bring on english summer!!!! (hopefully the new place will have either a garden or a terrace). had a lovely evening.

tomorrow i am going again with michael to the jamboree and then schelle's housemate is bringing his car around and i am getting my final boxes to rach and schelle's house... and then farewell 62MG, hello spain!!! (and breathe).

but now i must go to bed, cos we are leaving london at 6:30am SHARP tomorrow to go to the jamboree, so a bit more packing and sleep for me...
is it obvious that i am stressed??

righty-oh. i'll e-mail you all my new address when i get one, until then, 62MG mail will get to me.

love you all!!
deev
xx

(for those of you who have facebook, i was meant to get my photos up already, but haven't yet had a chance... so hopefully i'll get them up later!!!)

holidays and also oslo

2007-07-25T00:32:00.000+01:00

well, i really should get packed and get to sleep.

i have had a lovely week with a girly bbq, holidays starting, lots of fun things at school, a farewell to my house bbq, ealing fair, collecting boxes, starting to pack, taking boxes to rach and schelle's houses and dessert with andy and mandy.

now all i have to do is pack my bag, (what do i need besides my head... passport, wallet and keys... should do the trick) and then off to bed... or should i do bed then pack?? i don't know.

and for some reason i borrowed the new harry potter book from my new housemate angela (aussie) and so i will probably read some of that before bed... hmm, will i end up making it to the airport on time tomorrow... only time will tell.

so, norway with schelle to see tami (yay) for 5days, a few days here (with michael michael... yay) and then move out of my home and fly to spain... CRAZY!

well, the sensible option now is pack some then bed.
night all!

love
deev
xx

london, hezzy and stuff...

2007-07-13T16:42:00.000+01:00

hmmmm, what did i say last... i can't remember... ummm, well, here are some photos i was meant to put in last time...

me, chris and rach at the ceilidh at church...
me and kristy at her farewell to london (and just found out she is engaged... CONGRATS!!!!!)
chris, me, schelle and rach watching the live earth concert 'live' from chris' loungeroom... it was great! and chris made a lovely roast dinner.

and what have i done this week?? umm, had people looking at my room (kinda getting scared about moving, but it's time for a change, and well, i'm a little excited too. i get to try a different house, surely it can only be a good thing unless i move into the house from hell.. dun dun dun...)

had an awesome streetcaf and streetwork. Lou and i went out piccadilly and had some great chats with people... and got greasy looks from people in the tunnels for being a tiny bit rude... BUT THEY STARTED IT!!! ha, sound like one of my school kids.

ummm, then on tuesday morning i went to heathrow airport to pick up hezza. and anna came along to surprise hez (anna was meant to be arriving in london the next day). and we came back to mine to have breakfast and then matty came to surprise hezzy (his car was broken, so he couldn't go to work... how convenient!) (oh and thank you ben and beth for sendingyour gift... it was so great to receive it!!! i love you guys heaps)

so we had some pancakes and then went into the HUGE primark in oxford street, and wandered. ummm, and went back to anna's (cousins) house in Wimbledon (SOOOO NICE) to have a lovely homecooked pizza and salad meal... it was great. and hez, it was great to spend the day with you!!!!

wednesday, back to school as normal and saw some more people at the house. umm, thursday, school as usual and went into the city to go to a musical with anna and hez and had a beer with matt (although i had a cider). we saw caberet... haha. didn't know what to expect, i didn't even know the story line... i think we were all surprised when we discovered the level of nudity in it... so sheltered, so sheltered. haha.

and today i took a group of kids out to the science museum to learn how to become spies... it was really fun.

next week should be good... not much teaching and a whole week of pay... oh and this year i am being paid for the summer holidays... that is really exciting for me!!!

can't remember if i wrote this, but in the summer holidays schelle and i are going to norway to visit tami and explore a bit and then i am home for a bit... pack up my room totally, see Michael Michael and then off to spain for a month... HOORAY!!!

this summer is hopefully going to be awesome!

and now some pics of hezza and co...

anna, hezza, matty and me eating bananas at trafalgar square (please ignore the double chin... i haven't put on weight... i promise, it's just the angle!!! promise!!)
anna, hezza, matty and me last night before cabaret...

matt, what on earth are you doing to your sister???
just above henman hill outside the fence of wimbledon... we were so close!!! (except it has finished for the year.. haha)
and me with all my goodies from ben and beth (cheers buys) on the tube back to mine at some stupid hour in the morning...

and here endeth this post
xx

whoops...

2007-07-08T22:19:00.000+01:00

totally forgot to put some stuff up here... ha.

well, hmmm, what to say?? paris was fabulous. i really do love that place... (except we think chris and i got bed bug bites... that was chris' second experience of them in paris, but hopefully i didn't bring any of them home this time.... GRRRRR, but i only had 2 bites on the back of my neck... come to think of it... VAMPIRES???)

just wandered around heaps. caught up with Geoff and Amanda a bit (but forgot to take my camera out to take a piccy of them... stupid stupid girl, but guys, it was great to see you both!!). Stayed in Monmatre with Chris and Danica and just wandered around and had a lovely time.

ummm, met up with Louis and chris and danica went to the moulin rouge, and whilst they did that Louis and i wandered to the Centre Pompidou, but that was too swanky, so we went to the fairground in the louvre instead and went on the dodgems... lost of fun.

last week, umm, went to 'Wimbledon' with schelle and rach, but only ended up going to dinner at a restaurant, as by the time transport for london got us all together at southfields station, it was too late to go... but it was a nice evening all the same.

and hezza arrives this tuesday, so i am taking the day off school to meet up with her. and we will hopefully catch up with matty a bit and her friend anna, should be GREAT.

oh, on wednesday night we are having people look at my room... i decided to leave 62MG, it's time to move on and have a bit of a change of scene, although then i keep looking at my room thinking, but i like it and the back yard is great. but mmmm, my time here is drawing to an end. In August i will save a months rent as i will be moved out and i will also be travelling through spain and doing a language course there, so that should be good and then well, worry about the world (and where to live) when i get back. But God will provide, so i'm not too worried, just trusting that He will provide.

this week, hopefully hezz, anna and i (and maybe rach and schelle if they come along) are going to see a musical, which should be nice. and then off to somewhere with hezza and matty for the weekend... see where the wind takes us there.

had sunday school today which was great. I am really enjoying getting to know a few people at church a bit better. and the kids in my group are year 5-8 at school, and quite awesome kids, so looking forward to developing relationships with them next year.

and totally forgot, oh friday chris, rach and i went to a ceilidh (whatever that is) at church. my cluster (small group) ran it and helped make ethiopian food for it. Had a ball of a time and will have to get those photos off my camera for next time.
then saturday day sleep in, gym, coffee with other michelle and then off to a farewell of a uni friend... (try and remember to put that photo up too.) and then onto chris' for a lovely lovely roast dinner that she made with dancing and singing to live earth on her big big sky tv. (and you can see wembley in the distance from her window... so like we were actually there). it was a laugh with schelle, chris and rach dancing and singing and shenanigans... can't wait till next time (hopefully put some photos from then up also... my goodness, i do need to load some onto my computer).

and today, showed a few people around my room (**sniff**) and had schelle and her boyfriend tim over and then andy and mandy over for a lovely lunch in my backyard (**sniff**), IN THE SUN!!!!! my goodness, it has decided to come out... how exciting.

right, just rambling as usual... and making up excuses for not putting more photos up... BUT, to be fair, i am just having too much fun... hahahaha, or just too lazy... whichever of those excuses fits my mould better.

so, bed for me, ready for my last two weeks of school... this week lots of topical videos (the kids and i have worked hard all year and deserve it) and a trip on friday to the science museum and then next week, sports day, movies (to get paid to see harry potter) and then THORPE PARK (just like australia's wonderland) BRING ON END OF TERM!!!!!!

right... NIGHT!
love you all to bits!
deev
xx

the dodgems that we went on and then below is louis et moi.

centre pompidou
danica, chris and me umm, on the seine wandering around just before we had a nice hot chocolate, but not the best one i have ever had.

ok

2007-06-26T22:13:00.000+01:00

ok, so, i'm off to paris again this weekend which should be lovely... i'm really looking forward to it.

and yesterday was my first paid sick day. i haven't been sick for ages. but last weekend i was heaps drained and don't know what came over me... so on monday, rang the school, e-mailed through some work and then slept through from 8:30am till 4:15pm bar when a friend called me cos she was off sick too. so, that was my monday, and today i was back at school, but still quite drained... hopefully i will be right for tomorrow. everyone asked me how glastongbury was... thought i was wagging.... I WISH... no, i was sick in bed all day... hooray!

oh, i started helping out with sunday school too. last week was my second week doing that. so probably quite a lot less travel for me. i will still try and get away once a month or so and maybe try to use london whilst i am here more.

hmm, can't think of anything else that exciting that i have done recently...
so, a quick few photos and then i'll be off to bed... cos i need an early night.

later,
love
deev
xx

ummmm, a group of us at 'the church' same outfit as last year... hehe... actually, that's a lie, i was wearing new shorts!
rach, me and our new friend toby who we met in ireland... with harrods in the backgroung... oh yeah, that's what i did on sat... rach and i went to ikea and bought way too much stuff and then caught up with toby...
and then we went to hyde park to listen to a concert (crowded house was on) but then the rains came...
us later that day.... haha... drowned rats... and freezing cold... hmmm, the start of my cold maybe???
me and rach at the cliffs of moher in ireland... say CHEESE!!!! (that's one of the promised ireland ones)
me, schelle and rach at jo and jeremy's party, do you like my new h&m dress??
that looks like a sydney ummm, button... in dublin
rach and toby in gallway (a day after we met toby)
me and schelle at the church... talk to me goose
schelle and i at the hare and tortoise in kensington... one of our new favourite restaurants.

whoops, it's been a while

2007-06-15T17:02:00.000+01:00

well, i have almost forgotten about ireland already. it was only 2 weeks ago, but school has been hectic since. It was a fabulous time away and well, Ireland was a beautiful country to travel through. AMAZING. And since then Rach has gotten herself a job (congrats) AND a place to live just down the road (congrats again! praise God) and i have had reports due, but loved every minute of school, even the hard days. I love it when the kids start giving you grief about things you have no control over... and then the teachers start too... ha. I have been a little stressed out with organising a school singing club performance at the last moment and a few other fun things, but the weather has been beautiful and at the minute I am sitting outside in the backyard in the sun, so it's not all a stress. (although these stupid big dark clouds keep coming over and blocking the sun looking like it will rain, and then sun out again... crazy).

I am still enjoying the work i do with homeless people on mondays and on thursday a few of us went to see billy elliott... FABULOUS musical. I really enjoyed the dancing and the songs and i didn't know the story but at one stage i had tears streaming down my face... it was truly fab.

this sunday i am starting my first day at helping out at sunday school at my church which will be interesting. I am really looking forward to it. but that will mean less travel for me as i will be committing to sundays there, but the timing is right... i really want to start serving in my church, so a good opportunity for me to do this.

hmmm, what else? I'll just give you a quick rundown of ireland... so, all the free stuff... haha, met some dude called toby (great to meet you buddy) and gave him a lift from Doolin to Galway and rach and i hung round with him a bit. so what was it?? drove from dublin airport to waterford, (via Kilkenny where i had a kilkenny in kilkenny) stayed just outside waterford at tramore and rach was quite sick at this stage. ummm, went from tramore to killarney via cork and blarney castle (where of course we kissed the stone). From Killarney we drove the ring of kerry, stayed again in killarney (which is where i wrote my last posting) and then viewed the beautiful cliffs of moher (nothing on the 12 apostles, but not bad) and stayed the night in doolin. (where we met toby and went out to a pub dinner). then drove to and around galway, from galway drove through the connemarra and tried for another night in galway which was packed due to a long weekend (and so the prices jumped heaps to like €26pp), so we tried for a village between galway and dublin called... ummm, aughrim (i think) and stayed there for €17... bargain! then drove onto dublin which we weren't very impressed with. from dublin stayed the night in a hostel with some more interesting characters, went out to the temple bar area which was nice enough, but a whole heap of drunken people (particularly hens and stags weekenders) so we went back for an early night. next day bummed around and then flew home.
oh and we did tick off the guinness and baileys too (maybe the baileys a few times!)

i will put some piccies up soon, but unfortunately they are not working today... grrrrrr.
apart from that, i am going well (as usual). looking forward to a lazy night and a lie in tomorrow... i am just exhausted. I have burnt myself out this week, so it will be nice to be lazy (and finish off those reports that were due today, but they won't be working on them over the weekend, and i did check with the head teacher that i could hand them in on monday.)

ok, well, i should probably make some way on them... i am way over half-way, just got to finish them.
love to you all!
deev
xx

ireland, driving and lovvin it!!!

2007-05-30T09:48:00.000+01:00

well hello there. I am currently using free internet in a hostel with rach sitting next to me chatting to a french-canadian. we just had our free breakfast and are lovvin the free things. last night we stayed in a pretty cool hostel in Kilarney (cool except for the guy who was 'under the covers' but half out playing with himself right by the door and loving freaking us all out.' hey, i spose that was free too!!!). the night before we were in kilarney too, but stayed at a hostel for €1 extra with no free things... pfffft to that! AND, talking about free stuff, on our first night, we stayed in an airport hotel and got free airport transfer, free internet and free apples. on our second night, we got free eggs, that we are still cooking and eating... hurrah for free things... we are doing not too bad. if only the car rental was free... hehe.

anyways
so far, irish things we have done:
drink a killkenny in killkenny, tick!
limerick in limerick, to be completed tonight
kissed the blarney stone, tick!
driven through the ring of kerry, tick!
enjoyed listening to the irish accent, tick.
drunk a guinness anywhere, to be completed tonight (see, i've been driving)
drunk a baileys anywhere, to be completed tonight (for the same excuse... hehe)

ok, probably not that much else... photos to come, sorry, haven't put them in yet.
so, it has been lovely weather, but today it is raining, so a good day for frogs, leprechauns and driving.

off we go... later
hugs and kisses.
deev
xx

to be sure to be sure...

2007-05-27T00:25:00.000+01:00

we're in a hotel room in ireland, just outside dublin airport... transfer was free, apples are free, tea and coffee is free, internet is free, and we couldn't figure out the plug. but after we rang reception, a man didn't understand me (he wasn't irish) but he passed me onto another dude (who was) who told me it's a swivel plug. you push one side and then it flips... seems so easy now. i couldn't figure it out after like 5 mins of looking EVERYWHERE in the bathroom... haha.

oh... i think the guy who answered the phone is the same guy who checked us in looking up the wrong name and telling us we weren't booked in and he's terribly sorry, they have no vacancies (everywhere else was full too...) but when he got the right name, we were booked in and now have access to the free things the hotel has to offer.

in the morning, after our free coffee and apple, we will take the free transferbus, back to the airport where we will pick up our not free car and drive around ireland.

really looking forward to it.
we will now have internet access, as i brought my laptop with me... so feel free to e-mail us... hehe.
night

love to you all
deev and rach.
xx

brief update

2007-05-26T00:51:00.000+01:00

WELCOME RACH!!!!
well, rach and i are off to ireland tomorrow for a week. so don't know how good i will be at e-mails etc this week.

umm, oh yeah, rach has arrived!!! she got here last sat morning. i had a huge friday night with meagan's 30th rollerdisco and then mathieu l's suprise b'day at the fez club. really fun. then woke up at 8:00am to make sure i was awake when rach arrived at 8:30.

had breakkie with schelle and rach
and then wandered around a little and then got ready for our bbq. a great night, starting off at home and then rolling round to the walkabout.

pretty cruisy week. just got home from a lovely night with matt, jana, geoff, richard and tom in Old street. and need to go to bed. but thought i'd update this quickly... sorry it is not as frequent as it used to be... but i am still here and still having fun. the photos from tonight are still in my camera, but i will put some photos of the past weeks up.

oh, forgot to say, i went to a housewarming down south at kati's place... here is a cheesy photo of her and me
and her rooftop balcony... a lovely place and an amazing price!!! but not in london
a photo from Holland Park... i think it looks like a frilled neck lizard.
my new moroccan shoes... aren't they cool?? and the awesome dancefloor at the fezbar... LOVED IT!!!
me and the french guys from home at Mathieu's suprise party... (ok, my make-up is from the 80's rollerdisco on the same night... i don't usually dress like that... promise!)
me, schelle, matty and rach... a kind of random mix sydney crowd...
me and schelle in (yep, you guessed it... the walkabout.) my saturday night was complete as i was able to dance to Gunners (i do axl's dance perfectly) and chisels... what more could a girl want in one night... it truely was a perfect night... haha..
oh, our BBQ broke (and we found that out just before our bbq started on sat... so a quick dash to argos... love that place, to buy a new one). this is our new one.
and here are the 62MG gang at our last bbq... mat l, diane, mat d, me, clem and barry.

me, schelle and gabby eating smores... some american goodness thing... cheers for teaching us them gabby!!!
me and geoff... i think we are singing gunners, but there doesn't seem to be enough sweat and feet moving for that... so maybe not
our new table and garden from the upstairs bathroom window... haha, me trying to be arty i spose
oh... on thursday, i was delegated to take some of our kids to the london youth championships boccia tournament. we had a great day (which i came home with a ripper headache from). we didn't win, but i now love the game and the kids all had fun... good work guys!!!

right, that's all for me, cos i am ubertired and need sleep... need to pack tomorrow for ireland! haha. to be sure to be sure.
looking forward to it.

love you all!
deev
xx

praise God!

2007-05-13T22:30:00.000+01:00

well, I am loving church at the moment, not so much for the relationships (but they will come) but for the sermons and how God is working in my life. AMAZING is all i can say. so, i have this blow with the housemates and find myself getting angry and what does God say to me??

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.'

Ha, GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES... so i have to learn how to do that (with God's help).

oh and tuesday's verse (can't remember if i wrote that one down or not...)

Ephesians 4:26ish
'"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.'

so yeah, i need to listen to what God is telling me, cos it's what i need to do at the moment... a great learning experience for me... praise Him!

anyways, that's all for now.
love
deev
xx

may day

2007-05-11T22:03:00.000+01:00

not help me may day, but the may day long weekend... and stuff leading up to it and following it i suppose...

so deev, how are you going?? not that great. I am realising how much of an angry person i am (thanks mum and dad, i'm sure you could have told me this already!!!) anyways, issues with the housemates which i get angry at, and then they get angry in response and due to what i put down to a lack of respect (but then you know, why should they actually care about anyone else) they stay out in the garden late... and now we have a note from our neighbours, a call from the agency (telling us of a complaint and reminding us of our tenancy agreement) and a note from the police (reminding us of how to be good neighbours in london). And so, i am getting frustrated and angry as i have tried to tell the housemates, but they don't listen and now it has got to this... 'they have every right to enjoy their garden'... fair call, but NOT AT 12:30AM and NOT WHEN WE KNOW WE HAVE A NEIGHBOUR WHO HAS ALREADY COMPLAINED!!! I mean, common sense??? and i think i have a right to live in my house without the fear of being evicted... so quite a fun week really. so trying to be loving in this (in God's strength, cos i can't do it in mine). and some of the housemates haven't spoken to me since monday... i mean, GROW UP... let's deal with this. i know i am not perfect, (again mum and dad will agree with this especially) but i deal with immature/disrespectful people all day long at work, i don't think i should have to deal with them at home too(and my kids have special needs and hormones they are trying to figure out that kind of excuses that behaviour...) especially when i am the youngest in the house
ok, so i think i am over my rant for the moment... not sure where to go from here... address the issue and see what to do later...

so... well what have i been up to??
umm, it was the may day long weekend last weekend... i stayed in london for once and decided to use what the city has and spend some time with schelle... soooooo.... we went rollerblading in hyde park on saturday. I LOVED IT!!! i want to buy some blades. and then on tuesday some girl zoomed past me on my way to work and i thought, i could get to work so much faster if i bladed. so might buy some when i get paid in june... my goodness spending heaps of money at the moment. just booked some flights to ireland (so excited rach) and then a spanish course in Granada in August (for 2 weeks) and (mum, you'll be proud) some home insurance, and who knows what else... lots of stuff i'm sure i need.

anyways, sorry, that was a sidetrack... and then saturday night went to AKA bar in Holborn for Geoff's 25th B'day drinks... a lovely night with a lovely bunch of people!!! hurrah!!! it was great to see you all. they all went back to geoff's to watch shark attack 3. apparently a great movie, but schelle and i went home...

sunday, lazy breakfast with schelle (pancakes) and we missed the movie we were going to see at the electric theatre, so we went to prince charles theatre instead and watched perfume:the story of a murderer... a FAB movie! whacked, but good. i would recommend it.
then church, another ripper sermon... i am loving the way God is speaking to me through the talks at church at the moment.

monday, schelle and i went for a run to battersea park to look at the morris dancing and maypole, but it was pouring with rain... and we couldn't see anything, so we went home (by bus, soaked) and then we watched oceans 12, (loving julia roberts... currently watching sleeoping with the enemy as i type) and had jaffles and hot chocolate.

then i went off to LOUDER LONDON, a christian concert at the royal albert hall. saw third day, african children's choir, toby mac, and others i had never heard of. it was a great night! awesome to be in such a big place, 3/4 full of mainly christians. WOW. and then off to street work. we did Covent Garden... met some AMAZING people. one guy was on tv and had been given a book (i think it was called wasted) about a guy who ended up on the streets as he was working at a place where they got paid board and then his job ended and he didn't have enough savings... BUT, he worked his way out of homelessness. and the guy we saw was really inspired. the author signed the book for this guy and it said 'if i can do it, so can you'... it was awesome.

then tuesday, all this crap with the housemates was in full flight (as when i got home on monday night they were in the garden with a fire at 12:30, when we had already had complaints from our neighbours) and so i was angry at them for not thinking of the other housemates and just being disrespectful to me, the other housemates and our neighbours... i struggled with this all day and that night at biblestudy, the preacher read this verse - '"In your anger do not sin":Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.' Pretty crazy stuff... so i gave my anger to God, but it keeps coming back, so keep giving it to Him. But am loving the fact that every week at church (or all but) the sermon is so on with what i am going through in my life. God is just letting me know He is there and looking after me.

can't really remember what else i have done... i am sooooo tired... had a stressful week at home and at work. My boss actually commented on how i had sent more kids down to the office than usual and for reasons that are not like me. he was worried about how i was going... so that was nice... he actually values me (at least a little) and thinks i usually deal with my kids quite well... hopefully after a relaxing weekend, i'll be refreshed, the kids will be refreshed and we'll be ready to start again.

and this weekend, another one relaxing in london and catching up with a few people...
anyways, enough grumbling from me...

I am still healthy!!! and besides being angry and a bit down, i'm not going too badly!!! haha.

love to you all, enjoy my photos below!!!

HOORAY FOR EUROVISION TOMORROW!!!

schelle and i and my yummy cocktail matt picked for me... the fruit was a physalis... i told you guys it had a weird name!!! they sell them in morrisons.
the gang: tom, matty, amanda, geoff, schelle, richard and trents hands... haha. and i am taking this one
oh, isn't this lovely??? so many cranes... i am enjoying them all. this is my view to and from work every day!!! IT IS A NEW WESTFIELD!!! hooray, i love westfield, although i don't think they will have a sportsgirl or a jeanswest... bummer.
schelle with her rollerblades on... now what?? how do we make these things go??
me and my rollerblades... so buying a pair!!! (karen, chris wanna go blading?? it will be great fun!!!)

and that's it for me... i really should go to bed jessica... i'm tired. although being john malkovic just came on and i've never seen it... no, bed is the wiser decision.

night, love to you all again!!! sorry about the whinge... i needed to get off my chest. (yes, i'm aware everyone can see this, but it's my thoughts...)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MUM!!!

home

2007-04-27T17:41:00.000+01:00

well, i was walking home today and saw a dude who 'lives' around the corner... well, he is homeless but shebu is his 'home'. it's crazy how you can have a home and not feel at home, and you can feel at home when you don't have one... ok, doing lots of thinking at the moment about homeless... backpacks and piles of cardboard now have a totally new meaning. i am still enjoying the stuff i do on mondays and at other times too.

right, anyways, spain and morocco still have no story and all the stuff i have done since. i don't even know if i might be able to get it all up, i seem to have lost a lot of memory at the moment, as i am soooo tired and just keep doing stuff. (ha, once again you have to bare with me as i just keep writing what comes into my head not making sense).

so, it's saturday and little miss social is getting bullied by her housemate clement as
he saydvfgrtdtrrdytdyt(that was him) says that she should not do her blog and go out partying with a whole heap of rude french people... hmmmmmmmmm what should i do??? to be fair, it's not clems friends who are there rude ones... and so the party tonight would actually be quite good, but i have been out everynight this week and i am running below empty... i even left home at 4:00am on wednesday to go to the anzac day service so i am very very tired after a week of late nights and work. it was a good service... but what was fabulous was walking around after dawn (still before 6:00am) with NO-ONE around. i took photos at buckingham palace with just me, mark and his two friends... (sorry mark forgot their names). then had breakfast in victoria at 6:00am and wasted time until it was time to go to work like 2 hours later.

i think this entry i will try and work backwards. today i went to IKEA with schelle and bought an outdoor table... hurrah!!! (we put it together and it LOOKS GREAT! check out our house blog to see some backyard pics... www.62mg.blogspot.com) i also slept in, soooooooo great.

"hi mates, just to say that if deev is sometimes a bit suspicious about everybody she is still a great housemate and i will be very sad to discover australia without her before we get married!!" - that was written by clem, who is visiting in july/august and would love to meet some of you guys, cos he has heard so much about all my beloved australian friends. by the way, i am not getting married to him, he has just had a bit to drink tonight... whilst listening to W. AXL ROSE spells WAR. guns and roses... we love it!!!!

ok, ummm, friday night went to a theatre school party with Andy and Mandy (from church)... thanks for inviting me guys!!! it was lovely. it was nice to see them outside the church setting and great to see how the theatre folk are. Andy is a student at a theatre student and mandy is a massage therapist.

nothing lasts forever... even cold november rain.

ummm, then thursday, went to see John Butler Trio. THEY WERE FANTASTIC LIVE!!!! my goodness... a very talented group of people that i never quite understood from listening to them on the radio... i was amazed. i went with clem, michelle and nick from spanish, it was nice to all be together again after we all left spanish class.

wednesday, just had coffee with danica (another lovely arvo) and did some streetwork... streetwork was a bit depressing tonight. but it had been a really nice night on monday with streetcaf and streetwork, so it all evens out in the end. i suppose it depends on the people you see and their stories. tonight we ran into a guy who was meant to be in a nursing home, but ran away and didn't want to go back, so it was street or a place he didn't like... which is worse?? makes you think.

school has been good this week. we have been focussing on braingym... whatever that is. nah, it seems to be ok. it's a bit of a craze... get kids doing physical things to help increase their focus and hearing and stuff. so at the beginning of most lessons, doing a few activities. the kids seem to co-operate, so it isn't a bad thing.

now... my holiday!!! (sorry, this posting is mammoth). On Good Friday (my birthday, happy 24th deev... hurrah). i made my way to stansted airport at a decent hour, for once, to take a flight to Zaragoza. Then, i was met at the airport by Jose (my spanish ex-housemate). he lives in barcalona, but his home village is a 6000 people village just near Zaragoza in the region of Navarra in northern spain. it is near basque country. ok, i might have said that in a previous posting, but you get that. i went to meet his mum, dad, grandma, uncle, aunty, cousins....... the list goes on... but it was lovely. then we went into the main square and met some of his friends in a pub and watched the Good Friday Procession through the village. it was my first catholic easter experience... and it was lovely.

anyways, it was lovely... lovely to be in a spanish village, lovely to see Jose and Txema again, lovely to be listening to a foreign language that i am trying to learn... just lovely. i took quite a photos which make the village look a bit like a 3rd world country... it's not all like that, but i suppose i haven't really experienced and old fashioned village like that, so that's the side i tried to capture... it isn't 'just another eurpoean village', and i really liked that. i was getting a fairly true representation of life in a spanish village. at one point a siren went down the steet we Jose lives and his mum and dad, (and aunty, uncle and grandma downstairs) raced to the window to see what was happening... oh and everyone else in the street did too... you see, in Corella, apparently a siren doesn't happen very often, so when it does, you know something big has gone down. Jose and i didn't even realise, because life in the city means that a day doesn't go by that you don't hear one or infact many sirens.

ummm, we bummed around corella for a few days (jose being driven insane by his mum being so hospitable to me.... always 'mas mas mas' (more, more more)... NO MUM, SHE DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE!!!! haha... which i didn't. then we caught a train to barcelona. and then i spent almost 2 days just bumming around exploring barca.

i took a flight from barca and to madrid to catch another one to Marrakesh which was delayed... GREAT. (the first of my issues getting to marrakesh which was NOTHING compared to everyone elses.... michelle lost her wallet and briony paid for 3 flights to get there... long stories!)

anyways, so when i got to marrakesh, i jumped in the cab that was sent from the hotel. my driver said to me in broken english that he couldn't take me all the way, i had to walk... ok, that's fine... then he stops and some other man takes my bag and starts walking at a fast pace through the medina... which would be fine, but there were cars, people, bikes, donkeys, and everything else coming from every direction and i didn't know where to look or walk. then we turn into an alleyway and then turn a corner and it's dark. and then light again and then another corner and soon i am in a maze of alleys... no idea where i am, or where we are going to. (by the way, my phone battery was about to die). then we stop at the end of an alley and knock at a door. to which there are no signs... and wait... no-one there. so the guy knocks again. oh, did i mention it was 10:00pm in a foreign country and this new guy speaks no english?? i swear i thought i was going to get taken inside and sold into slavery or something. so i try to ring michelle and she doesn't answer. then the guy takes my phone to ring someone... no answer, my battery goes flat... GREAT. no idea where i am, no idea what is going to happen... crap crap crap crap crap... i'm going to die!!! we keep knocking and nothing. then, my goodness, the most welcome noise, 3 chirpy girls walk around the corner talking in aussie and laughing. praise the Lord, I am not going to die, I'm fine! hurrah! it was such a relief to see them! (even alex and briony whom i had never met).

then off to the atlas mountains for a few days, hiking in the lovely clean air. a sick michelle, went back to marrakesh and the rest of us kept trekking (alex sick too). we had a donkey to take our packs, hurrah!!! and we also had Hassan, our muleteer and Rashid, our guide. they were great. check out my myspace for a video of hassan singing one day in the mountains... beautiful... very lucky to have him as our muleteer. umm, went back to marrakesh a few days later and had a lovely relax shopping in the markets.

ok, so can you tell, i am a little over writing now... but it will have to do. i would recommend Marrakesh and would love to explore more of morocco!

oh, forgot, my sushi making... met with katie from uni when i got back to london briefly (good to see you love, pity it wasn't longer). looked forward to seeing tami on saturday and as i was getting ready to meet her in hyde park, got a call saying that she had had her wallet stolen (grrrrrrr, stupid busses in london) so she came over to try and sort things out, and eventually we got back to the park. had a good night with her and some of Gabby (tami's friend)'s friends. then sunday, they came over again and we made sushi with schelle... now that was fun... in our clean backyard (but with no new outside table). great to have you stay tami, and cheers for the flowers, mathieu planted them today... hope they go ok!

love and blessings to you all, missing you... and now the photos... (extremely out of order, please bare with me)

briony, alex, hassan and ayeisha (our donkey) in the atlas
a man in his jelebah in marrakesh
umm, a mosque. i felt weird being back in london not hearing the call to prayer througout the day.
me eating the sushi we made with tami.
me and katie in our brief meeting... hope you enjoyed the UK luvvie, see ya
me and schelle... ummm, what do you do now??? oh and enjoying the sun... look, short sleeves.... LOVELY weather!
schelle, tami, gabby and me after sushi making in my very messy room (might tidy that tonight)
ummm, me standing in flipflops on the roof of a riad in a village in the atlas mountains... night 3... only 1 day of uphill walking to go... we can do it!
two men in their jelabahs near the jewish quarter
on the river just outside corella... so beautiful!
jose's dad's farm (think the building was made in 18something... so old!!!) and then one of the 12 churches of the village. and the cranes.... a nice mix of old and new!
a view from our first riad in the atlas mountains
briony, alex and rashid at our favourite lunch on the hike. had some little shepherd boys come and watch us and then eat the rest of our food... a lovely setting.... creek, shade, village, mountains... ahhhh, this is the life
a man praying on his roof
there were heaps of feral cats in marrakesh, the kittens were sooooo cute

the streets of corella with jose
me and txema.... ahhhhhhhhh, spain should be warm, but it was pretty cold!
me and jose at the river... at least, i think that is him.
a little part of the good friday parade. the whole village pretty much stops to watch. we were in a pub and the lights turn down and everyone goes to the street. it was lovely

me in marrakesh in the main square at night time... a busy busy place
and me, gabby and tami at a wetherspoons the day of the crime... but a lovely arvo in the park afterwards!!!

and i'm spent... sorry it's long, that will teach me to keep it so long between postings... or maybe not.

later

post from the last few weeks coming... i promise!!!

2007-04-24T18:16:00.000+01:00

ok, well, i am about to go out to the gym, and then to biblestudy!!! but i keep thinking of updating my blog... i promise... no really!!!

i'll ummmmm update it soon. spain, morocco, streetwork, sun, sushi making... the list goes on!

love to you all!
xx

españa

2007-04-11T13:07:00.000+01:00

hola todo,
ok, well, that´s about all the spanish i can manage... haha. Have had a great few days in a little village called Corella, near Tudela and Zaragoza in Navarra, a region in the north of spain. I stayed with Jose (ex-housemate) and his family. It was nice to see him again, to see Txema again (one of Jose´s friends who stayed with us in london) and to experience a village easter.... particularly a quite traditional and catholic spanish village.

On friday was a procession of the bible leading up to Jesus death and what was to come. And on saturday i went to a resurrection service at the church with Jose´s mum. It was particularly interesting as i don´t speak much spanish, his mum speaks no english and it was a catholic service. but very lovely. and afterwards jose´s mum topok me around the village showing me a museum and the house where (sorry, i forgot who, but i´ll ask jose).

then we bummed around a lot. the weather wasn´t too nice. but most days were spent going to one pub and then another with people coming and going all the time. drinking little beers and beer with lemonade. anyways, more later (if i can remember it! ha). today i am in barcelona, and i fly to madrid tomorrow to fly out to morocco. (was cheaper than flying to morocco from barcelona... go figure.
and then, well a week in marrakech and then back to good old london town.
photos to come
love to you all!

deev
xx

new week... new hair!

2007-04-01T23:08:00.000+01:00

here are the 62 gang in our 62 shirts... ahhh, how sweet... a real family house.
well, by now you all are probably used to the changing hairstyles of deev... but to be fair, i don't actually change it that often, it's just that when i do, it's quite drastic... above is a brief glance, but there are more photos later on for you to admire my new look... still 'growing' on me... hahaha, get it?? get it??

so, my week this week... fighting hard to stop a cold from arriving. Once again, monday loved street caf, and had a good night doing streetwork. Met a fellow aussie working for simons this week, Jo. was really nice to do streetwork with her. we wandered around Marble Arch again. Tuesday, went to see Amazing Grace at the Coronet at Notting Hill, was lovely actually, fitted in really well with my black slavery lessons i am doing in history at the moment, and a movie to make you think.

wednesday, had a great lesson with my year 10s. I decided to talk about derogatory comments and why we should not use certain 'labels' to describe people... some of the kids got fully fired up. and it was fantastic to see that 1, they had an opinion and 2, that they were happy to share it with the others... FABULOUS!!! then, thursday evening i had a girlie dinner with a group of random girls over, and we had a great night (cheers for coming!!!) and they even enjoyed the good i cooked them... hurrah!!! trimmed my hair tonight (by myself.. yes, AGAIN) in anticipation for tomorrow night
(this is the hair in the bin after i cut it)

thursday was meant to be chris cutting my hair, but unfortunately she had to work, and i was so looking forward to a hair cut, that i got clem to do it... he died it and then cut it... cheers clem.
(the cut clem gave me, obscured by a glass, sorry)

friday, got lots of comments on my new 'sophisticated' hair cut... which makes me want to change it, cos that's not the look i was going for... and then went out for drinks after work... but i had to get home, cos it was our house party party party!!!

another great party!!! a good time was had by all! no crazy spaniards, but lots of cool aussies, a whole heap of french and a few english and others thrown in for the mix. Mat from chile came again, and he enjoyed it just as much as last years party. I missed not having steve and erin around (unfortunately they are back in aus), but i had lots of people from different groups come along... even Tony and Marion (a more 'mature' couple from spanish)... and quite a few others too.

saturday slept in, and went to the regatta in richmond, but it was cancelled due to wind. but still had fun seeing lexi, vic, rebecca (a friend of lexi) and adriaan (lexi and karen's housemate) again. oh and fyi, lexi is the london alex... i have to remember to call her lexi from now on! (hehe, personal joke, sorry!)

then finally left lexi's place to meet up with mat and one of his friends (mark) in Piccadilly. Came home to join Mat D watching the end of Finding Nemo... mat and some of his friends have a great idea where someone goes to a pub dressed in a clown fish costume. sits there all night drinking until others go round to all the pubs in the area trying to find him... great idea, would take a few weeks in london i think. ha

and then today, had a lazy morning with mat (and forced him to watch Adam Hills dvd... still find him incredibly funny) and then met up with Chris in Regents park for coffee and a stroll in the park. lovely lovely day!!! and a great end to a lovely lovely week. oh and the sermon at church was great... the speaker was an english guy who is a pastor in sweden, so real.

ok, that's me done... i have 2 1/2 days of school next week, then leave on friday (and this is just a small hint, which is MY BIRTHDAY!!! so looking forward to all the messages for it!) to go to spain for a week and then morocco... hooray.

and now the photos

lexi, adriaan, barry and kati (kati and i used to be in scouts together many moons ago and it is great to catch up with her every now and again!)
clem and jb having an exciting time at the party
me and jp?? having an exciting time at the party... maybe it is just something about those stairs.
stu, me and mark... i love my aussie boys!!! (ok, so i didn't really 'know' stu in australia, but i have been to his house once or twice)
the kitchen, not as busy as last year, but still not bad, not bad, and the majority of people were in the lounge room (i mean sitting room) and front corridor.

ahh, the birthday kiddies, in order. mat (3rd), me (6th) clement (14th) happy april birthdays to us!!

me on the river at richmond... or gunnersbury or somewhere... after lunch with alex, vic adriaan and rebecca. was sunny, but very very very very very windy, so made it cold. grrrrr

hope you all enjoyed my post and that you are all going well, hopefully you can tell i am going fabulously and still having a ball. (do you like the 'new hair'?)
love you all
deev
xx