Time. Should. Freeze.

Why hello again. I keep forgetting to blog and get side-tracked all the time. There is always so much going here. I feel like it could take me a year just to catch everyone up with my past week-oofta!

Time is flying by way too fast here. I don't like it at all!!!!! We all keep telling ourselves that we still have half our trip left but realistically we are way over half way done :( Since Easter break it has been even harder to be motivated to get schoolwork done. It just put even more of a travel bug in me and my friends. Don't worry though-I am getting all my schoolwork done in time! It is just done the night before by pulling an all-nighter.

Hmm well I will skip everything I have been up to before Melbourne (there is just too much to try and get into it...sorry!) This past weekend Adriana, Betsy and I went to Melbourne. We left Thursday night and was picked up at the airport from a friend of Adriana's, Mark. He went to UF last year and the had been facebooking back and forth. We ended up staying at his house all weekend, well his parent's house. Ads, Bets, and I had heaps of fun there....his family spoiled us rotten! His mom literally gave us breakfast in bed!!!! Anywho, on Friday we didn't wake up until noon-no joke! I think all the traveling the day before really wore us out.

Friday after we finally rolled out of bed we decided to go to this Penguin Parade thing. It was like an hour and a half drive to the country. We had high expectations for this place which was not the smartest idea. I mean, it was pretty cool, and sunset around 60 little penguins came out from the sea and waddled to their homes on land. We had the impression it was going to be hundreds of them, but oh well. We made the best of the situation and still had a blast!!!!!

Saturday was footy day! We went into the city around 2pm to meet up with David, Alex, and Jason. We planned to meet outside the MCG stadium, which is the largest stadium there. While we were waiting for the boys to come, a man came up and handed us 4 free tickets. We were SO pumped!!!!!!!! The boys met up with us and got tickets for the game (at first I felt bad they had to buy tickets, but then they told us that the night before they won like $300 at the casino, so I didn't feel so bad!!) We all headed into the game and had a blast. The teams that played were the Richmond Tigers and the Brisbane Lions. It ended up being a really intense game. And the boys won money at the game-you can place bets at the stadium about who will score first, win overall, get most points, etc.

After that we headed to the casino at the Crown Hotel. This place was beyond amazing! The hotel part was huge and gorgeous, it was super surreal. As we were walking in us girls were talking about how this would be the most amazing place to get married, and just as we said that a bride and groom were walking down the grand staircase. It was super cute, and we were VERY jealous haha. The casino part was unbelievable. It was one of the first times I have ever been in a casino, but I still have yet gamble there. Maybe next time....

We were at the casino for like an hour then we headed to our 2nd AFL game of the weekend. Mark got our tickets early and we got to sit in a huge suite area. He works there part time and got us amazing tickets. There was even a dress code to sit where we sat!! His boss told us to order what ever drinks/food we wanted and he would cover the tab. By the ended of the night our tab between the four of us (David/Jason/Alex did not come to this game with us) was easily over $500. His boss kept coming up and asking if we needed anything else. Hahaha we kept joking about how we better enjoy this lifestyle because it is not something we will ever see again. After the game we headed out for a night on the town-heaps fun like always.

Sunday we spent the day roaming about the city. I absolutely love Melbourne. It's small town vibe blew me away, if I was ever to live in a big city Melbourne would easily be it. The small cafes and stores were super captivating. We never wanted to leave....

We came back home on Monday. Already we are trying to plan were we can go next. This weekend I think I will probably just hang out in Newcastle, it will be the first time in over 2 months that I will stay here for a weekend. Next weekend we are talking about taking the train up to the Gold Coast-it is only like a $60 train ride. The Gold Coast is suppose to be one of the most beautiful places in Australia. We'll see if we actually make it up there. New Zealand is also on the top of our to-do list....

I hate that I feel like I am running out of time here. But I am. I have less than 45 days here. Ick! I hate that. I hate that so much. Don't get me wrong-I am anxious to see everyone at home. However I am unbelievbly sad to have to be leaving all my amazing friends. Everyone that I have met here is so chill and fun to be around. It is going to be super hard saying good-bye and not knowing when we can hang out again...I don't like that one bit.

I am trying my very hardest to be so grateful for my time here and not dwell on having to go home. I mean-look at how blessed I have been to have had the opportunity to come here. I need to be optimistic and appreciate my time I have had here and the time I have left instead of being sad about leaving. Don't worry-I am definitely taking this experience to the fullest and not missing out on any opporunities that have come my way while living in Australia. It still is going to be terribly sad to leave though.....

Well I better get scooting-I think we are heading to Stockton Beach today to climb the sand dunes. I know I know, what about classes? Well my classes today were canceled so I am taking fullest advantage of that situation and taking a mini-roadtrip :)

I hope that all the moms had a fantastic Mother's Day!!!!

I miss everyone heaps. Love lots!

Stac