And it's off to Sydney I go...

Time flies when you're having fun/really busy/have lots to do still!

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour
Live in me from day to day
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God, my Father,
Rule my life in everything.
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing
This is victory.

RAINING!!!

It seems to be monsoon season at the uni of newcastle ;) rained today, sprinkled yesterday, poured the day before, rained the night before that (cool lights and sound fx with that one too :P)

So on a fine saturday morning (i got up at 9! then spent an hour in shower - mmmm) i'm contemplating doing my washing (starting to really need clean clothes) and thanking God for dryers. And thinking of all those poor people wandering around in the rain on open day and hoping they're not too wet or miserable...

Ok so it's been another 2 weeks...

and I am indeed a terrible blogger...

but here's another post just to keep the imaginary fans happy ;)

on the med front: in the midst of renal failure, kidney stones and i think at some point we'll look at the fascinating (really.) world of micturition (urination). Yesterday me and mikey went to Raymond Terrace to do a day of GP placement and it was AWESOME!!!! We had a fantastic GP who was not only really nice but let us do heaps of stuff as well - we got to watch excisions and curettings, take stitches out, watch lots of needles, and watch him burn lots of stuff with liquid nitrogen, talk to patients and get fed coffee and biscuits all day by the lovely practice staff :) and now there is lots of work to do, as usual.

on the life front: in between going to class and stuff, and studying occasionally, i've had a complete change on the music front of sorts as i've learned that having CDs on your computer is STILL illegal (in Australia at the moment anyway) hence i'm only listening to physical CDs, internet radio and FM radio at the moment .. that doesn't mean that i've stopped listening to new stuff or finding new stuff to become addicted to - at the moment i'm in love with the Cat Empire ;) - but now i can do all of that with a clear conscience :D

and joyce needs to run off to class!!! *runs* nasi lemak in PBL today!! I LOVE YOU YANI!! ;)

Ok, I'm a hopeless blogger. (hey it's only been 2 weeks!!) In justification of the prior statement - life has been incredibly full-on and busy for this semester. (not that I'd have it any other way, I'm loving it!)

Med-wise, we've just finished our 5 week unit on the gastro system and we're about to start another 4 or 5 weeks on renal (i.e. we can stop looking at poo now and progress to the joys of urination), had my third and last abdo exam skills tute yesterday (which means i've formally finished learning how to prod people's tummies) and GP placement is looming in early september! There's heaps of work but as always is a stack of fun :)

NCS-wise, we had mission week here last week which went "awesomely" - keeping on praying for people that heard the gospel that week and that God will work in their hearts! We often take the privilege of evangelism for granted - last week was a great reminder to me that it's such a massive privilege to be out there sharing God's message with people! Last weekend I headed down to katoomba reachout with a carful of college people which was a great weekend about mission (keep 3rd weekend of august free next year!!) And now it's back to balancing course on Islam, college bible study, bible talks on wednesday and med bible study with work and the rest of life :P

And as for the "rest of life" - I'm heading back down to Tamworth this weekend (today!) for the Conservatorium showcase - since lil bro won the violin scholarship last year, he has to play something for the showcase this year, and since big sis (me) is an overprotective perfectionist, NOONE is going near the piano part!! *growls at everyone including head of conservatorium :P* Going with another girl in 1st yer med, so it should be heaps of fun :D and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone at church on sunday :)

So there's a short summary before I dash off to class ;) (happy now?? :P)

-- Now playing - Jack's Mannequin - I'm Ready

Well I'm ready
I'm ready to drop
I'm ready
I'm ready so don't stop

well it's been an awfully long time since i posted anything in here.... *vacuums cobwebs and spiders* just acknowledging that this site still exists... and then going to sleep...

i am alive! i am here! and i have a flu so i'm just posting to say i am alive and here ;) uni started again today i am in newcastle. zzzz

Lying on a mattress in the living room with my doona and pillows reading and surfing the net and watching dragonball z all day = a great way to spend the hols...

even cuter than piccolo (and yes, even cuter than gohan or trunks..) : the soot creatures from spirited away!!! *soooooo cute!!!!!*

CONGRATS ANTHONY AND BETH! :D

Back in tamworth.. again... but this time i have no cello :( but... i have something else to occupy me now - i've dug up the dvds of dragonball z that my cousin from malaysia gave us... and found out that we have all the episodes from trunks to the end of cell!! and 2 of the movies!!! so at at rate of 15 eps a day... for the next 3 days.. i think i have something to do apart from watch the soccer, eat and sleep now... YAY!!!



Piccolo is my hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHSU1zL2Jic

For an awesome and really cute lego soccer video - Germany vs. World All Stars - there are several plot discrepancies but overall it makes for a great insight into the real workings of the world cup ;) and it's really cute ;)

and it's definitely time for bed but dad and joel are on computers in the living room at the moment (which is where i'm sleeping)... ridiculously enough we're all on laptops, despite the 2 desktops that are looking lonely in the corner... (but you can't sit in front of the heater with a desktop on your lap :P) - i give up it's time to plug myself into crouching tiger hidden dragon until they decide to pack up and go to bed....

did i mention that this hols i've been doing a lot of cooking? :P (when bored, play cello. when sore, plug laptop into internet. when sick of that, cook! when done with that - EAT :D) - the laptop usage and cooking can be simultaneous if i'm trying to decide what to cook and using the laptop to help to do that ;) the "recipe book" is now outdated, as i tried to explain to mum the other day :P

so far, it's been pork in plum sauce, crackling, standard chicken stirfry, pastry "boats" stuffed with .. stuff.. and a really really really yummy lemon sponge pudding thing with icecream and custard - next time i think i might put a layer of condensed milk in and maybe some coconut on top... mmm.... (i reckon the thing that made it so good was forgetting to soften the butter before trying to mix it with the sugar and lemon zest then going 'aaagh this isn't mixing!!' then sticking the bowl in the microwave (oops melties!) then going oh stuff it i'll just keep going - kate you'd be proud of me :P) i'm thinking tomorrow i'll try this brocollini and tofu salad thing that looks pretty good.... it involves frying so it can't be tooo healthy... lol look at me i'm going on about cooking!!! (only because joel's fixing computers with dad so we can't play skibi :( and mum and my cousin from adelaide who just arrived today are talking (and talking and talking and talking, as females tend to ;P) so we can't start watching crouching tiger hidden dragon....)

time for more reading on couch with warm comfy doona and snow patrol's new cd playing in the background, tummy is contentedly full (and it's no fun cooking when you're not hungry...)

-- Now playing - Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from here to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

Wow it's thursday morning already!

The last few days have been filled with cello playing, cold tamworth weather and shopping with mum and watching chinese movies and playing the ultimate 2player LAN game with Joel - Skibi's Tower Defense (on Warcraft 3 - Frozen Throne)!!

tonight/last night/whatever you want to call it - i shall hereby name it tonight - anyway - tonight's NYSF (national youth science forum - science camp 2 weeks on campus at uni of canberra in y11-12 hols) training thingo with Tamworth Rotary club provided an interesting sense of.. "recall?" - 3 years ago i was the nervous little NYSF hopeful trying to get ready for a set of nasty interviews for the biggest camp of my life... (NYSF is an apparently prestigous thing to have on your resume - not that i've ever encountered any prestige from it :P the selection trials were rather stringent tho - first you have to get selected by the rotary club you apply to, then you have to be selected for the rotary area through a set of 4 interviews...) - 3 years later, i've been on the camp, been asked back to be on the interview panel, and given tips to 2 sets of people on how to get into this thing that in hindsight, was probably overrated... 2 weeks away from home was good, doing the entire sciency careers thing was.. interesting, meeting loads of people was fun, and a couple of months after the majority of us had got over the whole thing and moved on with life. so there you go - random topic for the night - that's NYSF and what i think about it (anyone in year 11 thinking about going for it - i'd head overseas for 2 weeks with the spare time and money :P)

hmmm 12 hours until haircut and i still haven't decided what to do with it yet - i'm sure some form of inspiration will hit me tonight, otherwise it'll just another case of "yeah whatever you want to do with it" (though my hair has a bad habit of either halving length or volume or both every time i say that...)

*yawns* yep i guess it's time to give the fingers a rest and stop typing and go to sleep or something since there's no soccer tonight - cello+cold = ouchies joints - lol i'm getting old! (or at least my fingers are!)

-- Now playing - Dance, Dance, Christina Päffgen - Anberlin

Don't need no drugs, you're my chemical
Now I'm dependent, no not cynical
Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight
I need a fix in those heroin eyes

National day of mourning (or as some would have it: "weeping and anger")...

Here's to our valiant Socceroos who had every right to that game :'( Oh the injustice of it all.... well at least Australia has shown the world that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with in the game of football - thanks to GUUUUUS..... *collapses into more crying* *plugs into "Anberlin therapy"*

--

in other news: my old phone's broken so new mobile number please!

--

-- Now playing: Into the Airwaves - Jack's Mannequin

So hang on
It's gonna be a hard day
So hang on
Don't panic
Don't panic there simply is no need
It's gonna be a hard day
Don't panic
Don't panic we are hanging here
We are hanging here

I'm back in Tamworth!

Last night was absolutely fantastic - went to see Urinetown, a production by the Sydney Theatre Company (musical) with Lisa McCune in the lead female role and David Campbell in lead male (he is SOOOOOO AWESOME - it's incredible how one guy could be blessed with a great voice and good looks and be naturally funny at the same time! actually great voice doesn't really capture it - his voice is something many would probably kill for :P) - other names in the cast included Rhonda Burchmore, Shane Bourne, Gary Down, Gerry Conolly - it's so strange how TV/film actors turn into musical theatre singers... the music was incredible, choreography was great, the set was fantastic and best of all, we got in on student rush tickets that were only 10 rows back, right in the middle - AWESOME! (thanks Andy for organising everything!)

Sydney, incidentally, is a large scary city - i've never been on such a packed bus before, let alone at 11pm ;) staying at the St Barnabas terraces with the girls was great - it's like having 4 IH townhouses right next to each other in the middle of town (or, in their case on glebe point road) though they're each 3 storeys high - living on top floor would make you so fit... - the girls let me sleep in the living room with the tv too! (so i didn't sleep much just watched the soccer/napped) - i've also found that the universal game of addiction on the xbox is proevolution soccer 4 - not just a phenomenon seen only in novocastrian males, the game arrived in andy's house yesterday, and for the entire afternoon/evening (and i suspect night) the guys were up playing it :P

and now that i'm back home - time to satisfy chinese movie craving and start off with a night of Hero!!!!!! (then i'll have to get crouching tiger hidden dragon tomorrow night i think :) YAY!)

I'm FREEEEEE!!!!!!! it's such a beautiful day - socceroos get through to the next stage and no more exams!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEE :D heading down to sydney tonight :D YAY! *blissful expression*

In 18 hours from now Joyce will be very very happy... and in 20 hours she'll be well on the way to sydney... and in 48 hours from now back in Tamworth!! countdown isn't so scary any more - not too much longer to go!!!

*chomps through incredibly yummy tandoori lamb wrap* - my "this isn't just meat" tastebuds are yelling at me because there's obviously vegetable matter strewn through the psuedo-meat, but it's still incredibly good (first tandoori thing that's tasted like tandoori all year!) mmm

one last night of study! YAY

midnight snacking is bad for your weight and can be habit forming - i highly advise against it... but sooooo goood....

After another relatively unproductive and food-filled day, i'm actually feeling motivated to knucke down and start studying again! skelly is being gradually covered in yellow post-it notes in a last-ditch effort to study for hubs...

I've cleaned up the computer desktop and removed all those icons cluttering the surface... (*heartbreak!* then again, i never used most of them anymore anyway) and now it's time to clean up the physical desktop the computer's on!

I'd just like to point out the incredibly cool dock that has replaced the windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen:





in a mac-inspired procrastination effort, i decided to mac the desktop - it's actually a lot more functional (i'm finding that at the moment anyway) than the windows taskbar, and a lot better looking anyway ;) all with a bit of help from Turn your PC into Mac and a free version of object dock (couldn't be bothered to completely maccify it - i'm not that bored just yet!)

time to study again...

I know one day, all our scars will disappear, like the stars at dawn,
And all of our pain, will fade away when morning comes.
And on that day when we look backwards we will see, that everything is changed
And all of our trials, will be as milestones on the way.
And as long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone’s broken heart
And there’s no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends

Have I mentioned yet that I really love Thrice? ;o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!!!

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King!