i wish this was an early april fools.

Sooo... I wasn't accepted to intern with Crusade.

I could really use your prayers because I am REALLY sad and a little turned around as to what I am supposed to do now. Staying in Melbourne to me is really the only option unless I just run away and move to England or something. I dunno.

emily is 22

Emily and Gina are going to..

The filming of it is on Thursday Night, and we won tickets! HOW AWESOME! Hopefully I can upload a photo on Friday day of us and Hamish and Andy!!! OHEMGEE I am so excited.

sl is over...

well for me as a student at least. and i will blog about it later as i am really tired and have an aching head at the moment. we had an open mic end of year party tonight. it was super fun. smash sung "for you i will" - which made me REALLY happy cuz i asked him to sing it like 2 weeks ago and he said he wouldnt, but then he did. yay! and i have a bunch of photos and videos that i will put together some time and show you. but enjoy this.

i did. best but worst line at the same time:

"Had to leave you crying on the stair case, begging me please dont go"

Best Of..

Watch Me!

Ok, this is one of my favorite youtube videos, and gets funnier everytime you watch it....enjoy!!




I'm sure you'll be mad, mad you didn't know about that!


love, abby and sara :

Watch Me!

skype?

skype!

Ug.

Hey guys,

Quick prayer request. My grandma just passed away a couple of hours ago. It was extremely unexpected and my whole family is really hurting right now. She has lived right next door to me for the last 11 years of my life so needless to say, I was really close with her. So if you all could just keep my family in your prayers that would be wonderful.

love, abby

So ready for fall.

Hey Everyone,
So, I just started my first week of classes as a senior :)
I'm working on a video to post and hopefully will have it up in the next couple weeks.
If you all could pray for my brother and parent that would be so wonderful, he's having a really hard time at his new rehab center and its really taking a toll on everyone, including me.
Nicole- I think you should get the bangs they'd look so cute!

I can't wait to talk to all of you soon. I've been thinking about you all so much lately and I REALLY miss you and love you !

Abby

3 youtube clips to watch.

Some Classic Australian Culture for you:

One of my favorite songs at the moment:

Mary Poppins Most Clever moments:

At this moment...

Here is a brief look into my life. This month I am...

-raising support for STINT

-getting excited about Chuck

-growing my hair out for Lock of Love

-considering getting bangs when I cut my hair

-training for the Richmond Marathon 8k

-missing Virginia Tech, my friends and the amazing community in Blacksburg

-learning about the power and importance of prayer

-re-reading all of the Harry Potter books (a forth of the way through Goblet of Fire right now)

-cooking and baking heap of new things

-reading A Heart Like His by Beth Moore

-listening to Hamish and Andy podcasts to gain insight into Aussie culture

-trying to find an inexpensive hobby (suggestions welcome)

-getting excited for VT football to start up (1st game is next Monday!)

-going to weddings...3 down, 2 (possibly 3) to go

-soaking up time with friends and family

an actual video!

Chicago!

Last week was STINT briefing! I was shocked at how much God taught me in such a short period of time. Still processing it too. I think the biggest thing the renewing of a vision for reaching the world. I have had a heart for the world for a couple of years now and recently more specifically a heart for Australia but the passion for it had been in a bit of a slump. I have been focusing so much on Melbourne and Student Life I wasn't realizing God's bigger plan. As I looked around the room at 400 people who were going out to the world,God reminded me the power of every single person. Each person is carrying the light of Christ into the darkness.

Yeah, deep. Another part of the briefing was team bonding. I love our team! Please be praying for Katherine, a potential teammate. She was originally going to Botswana, Africa but there are not any other girls going. She expressed interest in joining our Melbourne team and I think it would be a perfect fit for her and our team (it would be nice to have an even number of single girls too). Pray that she will have discernment for what God wants.

Sadly I had to start saying goodbyes :( I have a couple of friends STINTing in other countries and I wont see them for a year and a half. It kinda hit me all at once. But I am excited to see how God will work all over the world.

The next couple of months are filled with support raising, spending time with family and hopefully some Virginia Tech football games. Its going to be a bit harder now with everyone back at school and no real community here. But I am thankful that I have experienced such great community that I have something to miss now. Better get to bed-early morning tomorrow.

-loci

My Knees Suck

Soo, these aren't really cool tights. A few weeks ago, I jumped off a 45-foot cliff and my left knee hit the water wrong and twisted. I have a hinged brace for that knee, and I've been doing physical therapy to get it to heal. It's still kinda stiff but felt a lot better this morning. Too bad as I was walking down the steps in a parking garage, I put all my weight on my right leg and that knee collapsed! There was a nurse practitioner right in front me, and she held my knee together while her husband called an ambulance. My knee was on the side of my leg! They took me to the hospital and the doctor popped it in back in place (OUCH). Now I have two braces on my legs and feel like a total loser. Cheers!

Bess

Leaving for Chicago in the morning!

So, secretly, I have judged y'all in the past for not posting on the blog enough, but I haven't posted anything since April Fools, and that doesn't even count! I fail at life. I'm sorry...but here's a quick update!

I'm leaving for Chicago in the morning for STINT briefing! I really could not be more excited. I can't wait to spend a week with the team (especially Nicole) and get trained for what we're going to be doing in Melbourne. Be praying for Nicole and I this week; I am really expecting big things from God. I am especially looking forward to being in such a beautiful place where I rest and spend some time with the Lord. I have not been seeking him nearly enough, and I want to correct that. Here's a link to the place we're staying...http://www.pheasantrun.com/. It looks amazing!

Also, this week I started nannying two adorable little babies, Davis and Lilly Claire Winn. They are 14 months old, and they were miracle children to a couple at my church who thought they were barren. I am already in love with them, and I expect it's going to be really difficult to leave them in January. Here's a picture...aren't they absolutely adorable?





Missing all of you and ever thankful for the friendship we share!

Bess

104 degrees + long distance trips = not good

So on the way home from my cousin's wedding in Charlottesville my car started spewing smoke (probably from overheating). Luckily my brother was with me (and had a working cellphone). After stopping, consulting my dad for what to do and driving very slowly home it sitting in the driveway in a pathetic state with hood (or bonnet) up and smelling. I really need a working car for support raising and traveling to wedding & STINT training so please pray that it will be fixable and I can use it. Thanks girls!
-loci

You wouldnt say no.

"I love Jesus and want to date you"

http://storage.people.com/jpgs/20100628/20100628-750-93.jpg

Why You Should Always Carry A KGP

Today I worked all day from 10.30-5.15

I expected it to be a normal busy Saturday, selling, talking, doing not a lot else! And it was, besides the busy part - I didn't do a lot today.

Here's the story:

So I was just at the counter and this guy came up to me and said 'I know this might sound weird but I'm doing this personal development program and one of the things we have to do is give this envelope to a random stranger and they have to read it to me. I don't know what's in the envelope. Do you wanna do it?' So I took the envelope and opened it and read it. Sure enough it said something about a program and thanks for doing this for the person..lalala. The questions were things like 1) When do you feel most loved? etc etc... And so I was like...'Well I'm working at the moment but would like to do this properly so I'll go on my lunch break and we can sit down and talk?'

So we went and sat and I went through the four questions with him. Found out he's been going to this personal development crap because he previously was an atheist and wanted to figure out where his place was in life. Anyway, he said all sorts of stuff that was semi buddhist I think, where yourself is a god and it's all about you blah blah.. And then after he finished I told him that I was a Christian and asked what his experience was with that. He said he'd been to a church when he first began searching and didn't like it's morals or teachings and it turned out that a few months later the leaders were convicted of fraud or something. I told him that sucked that he had a bad experience..BUT 'Do you know what Christianity is about? And has anybody ever shared the Gospel with you?' He said no. So I whipped out the old KGP and shared the Gospel with him.

It was insanely awesome/crazy. He didn't become a Christian or anything but he was definitely listening. And it was a pretty quick gospel presentation coz I had to go and actually eat lunch and he had to go. But we swapped numbers, he took the KGP and I told him to text me if he read it again and tell me what he thought of it. In hinesight...may not have been the best idea to give him my number, but I'm trusting God with that. Because I KNOW God was all over this. Out of so many people in the shopping centre, this guy came up to me and it so perfectly led to spiritual conversation and was the right opportunity for me to share the Gospel.

So that's why you should always carry a KGP, you never know when God will present you with the opportunity to serve Him. (Or alternatively, Why You Should Always Carry the Gospel In Your Brain)

em why seeeeeee

Hey girls

Just got back from MYC and wanted to give you a quick update. I'm feeling like a Skype date or skype conference call or something skype related is due...NOW. But I also know that may potentially not happen for awhile so I'll give you the lowdown.

It was a very big learning curve for me. I've had a few things on my mind and my role at RMIT has been playing a bit on my heart. I went with high expectations and was disappointed in one sense. I guess it's silly to think I'd be feeling the same way I did last year. Especially because I'm not the same person I was, of course God would be teaching me different things. I struggled getting into worship so I didn't wanna sing for the sake of singing and being fake about it. It wasn't like it was flat, but I guess I was just a bit disappointed in not being moved by God the moment I arrived.

I'm pleased to report that after amazing John North talks, a few DnMs with solid friends and a big long walk with God I sorted out my disappointment and really understood what God was trying to teach me.

The other exciting things that went on this week that we can be praising God about are:

• Abraham and Matt Pat deciding to join RUMU servant team!!!!!!!!
• A new guy called Ashley who goes to Melb got the KV agreement and signed it on the spot. He's totally awesome, good fun and good quality. I'm really excited to have him on board.
• Our new RMIT kid Vincent being totally on fire for our campus. Wanting to get straight into everything and use all the stuff he learnt at training. He's most likely going to be a KV
• Emmie from Melb being really convicted to commit to SL and is thinking about becoming a KV as well
• Dan Mahoney had a positive experience but I didn't get a chance to really talk to him so I'm trusting God that He's working crazy amounts of awesome into his life.
• Joy's friend Trung who isn't a Christian was just really opened up to God and the amazingness of having a relationship with Him. He was openly praying, enjoying the community and talked with a lot of missos. I'm praying that he'll be challenged to make a decision about all he's learnt and understood about Jesus. I'm also going to be inviting him to RUMU SL stuff because he goes to Swinburne which currently doesn't have an SL.

Also the SUMMER PROJECT are awesome! They're so ridiculously fun, although I did have a chat with a couple of them about the team dynamic and at the moment they're still finding their feet and trying to get to know each other better, which is totally understandable given they arrived and went straight on MYC (like you guys!) Nicole: the VT peeps are good quality! Chris is so fun and funny haha I just laugh at him. Jess is just so beautiful and I got to spend some really good time with her last night. And all week Helen and I had been saying we really needed to get to know each other but still haven't had the time to sit down properly. She's loads of fun too! The other kids are from multiple places: New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia...(they're the main ones I remember hahah) And I'm getting along with them great. It just makes me remember meeting you guys at MYC and how much fun it was. Miss you a lot! DTM is his same old self, making jokes and all that. I'm loving how we can pull the SPers legs at everything. We got them the same way you guys fell for...drinking cordial straight. And the new awesome kid Ash got them really well. Here's the scenario:

Summer Projecters Aaron, Helen, Holly, Chris, Amber, Jason, Julie and JJ, students Ash and Gina are sitting around the table in the Grand Lake View Room. They are eating Pizza Shapes. We mention our favourite flavours and I talk about Chicken Crimpy. They don't believe me. But I reaffirm that there IS a Chicken Crimpy flavour. Then in a moment of brilliance, Ash begins the con.

Ash: Hey guys did you know there's a Chicken Tim Tam?

SPers: WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

Ash: Yeah!

SPers: THAT'S DISGUSTING! ARE YOU SERIOUS? GINA IS HE BEING SERIOUS?!

Gina: Yeah! There's a Chicken Tim Tam

SPers: But why didn't we see them at the grocery store???

Gina: You just missed it, they were there!

SPers: Oh my gosh I can't believe that, what do you mean? Like there's chicken or what?

Ash: It's chicken flavoured, so there's the flavour and the chocolate mixed together

DTM walks over. Gina takes this opportunity to stop the doubting by the Americans, knowing that DTM would definitely go along with it.

Gina: Hey DTM, there's a Chicken flavoured Tim Tam isn't there?

DTM: Mm it's more like Chicken broth Tim Tam

SPers: *Gasp in astonishment* Are you being serious?!

DTM: Yes!

Helen: Ash I want you to swear in front of God you're not lying.

Ash: Let's just pinky swear

Helen: Ok. (They pinky swear)

And then...Ash breaks. Gives it away that he was lying and DTM and Gina are in disbelief.

Gina: Ash...you started it and we finished it

DTM: You mean he started it AND he finished it

Gina: Yes that's what I meant

SPers: OOOOohhhhhhhhhh you were lying. (or something like that)

End of scene.

Also the Sum Proj entered the dance comp on the final night doing the Cupid Shuffle. And then pulled lots of people from the crowd to join in a learn it. It's much like the nutbush but less tiring I would say!

We had a huge sing-a-long at the campfire after the party. Average time everyone went to bed was about 2am. Lots of different songs and the busting out in worship for a good hour, it was amazing.

Next week the SPers be doing training, the scavenger hunt, going to Geelong to help out I think and hang out with the other Summer Project arriving to Geelong on Friday. Then the week after is RMIT campus stuff, then Melbourne the week after, then RMIT Bundy and LaTrobe for a day each. And follow up. We're doing the Are You Connected? Outreach material. So it should be good stuff being apart of all that. I remember last year I was too busy hanging out with you guys and doing all this stuff that I didn't do ANY uni work until you left. That may or may not be the same this year HA.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you the same way we did last year. Well, perhaps not exactly the same way. But I remember that night so well and it makes me happy. I hope your day was SUPER fun.

To the rest of you on the other side of the world: I miss you, and Lime MYC wasn't the same without you. I needed you a few times but am pleased to say - got through it. Maybe I won't struggle so much without you next year after all.

So I can finally post the MYC videos I made to show you guys, but I won't do it now because they're not uploaded onto anything yet so I'll do it tomorrow or Sunday or whatever. I will however leave you with this picture:

Thinking of you, missing you and love you all xxx

All i can say is...

RMIT Would.

tree tunnels

One of my favorite things in the world are tree tunnels. Where the limbs from one tree reach over and meet the other one. This is from a peach orchard that I went to with friends to celebrate my 22nd birthday.




It was a great break from raising support, despite the 102 degree weather. Its been about a month of raising support. There have been ups and downs. Minus the amount of answer machines I get, its been really encouraging. Looking forward to seeing Bess, Abby & Em this next week and Gina I know you are going to have a blast with the new summer project kids!

Cheers,
lapi

Pups

So, I'm house sitting right now for my friend's family. They have five dogs and a chinchilla. Little did I know when I agreed to this, there was much more to come. I got a call last week that one of the dogs was prego and due any day but hopefully she would have the puppies before the family left. That didn't happen. So, I got up this morning (it was about 7am) and went to check on the prego dog and she was acting like a crazy dog. About an hour later we had our first puppy, little Abby (unfortunately it was a boy but too bad thats what its being called). It is now 2 pm and we are up to 10 puppies and one or two more are still on the way. Needless to say, I am a bit overwhelmed for the next seven days I will be taking care of 17 animals total. Luckily I have my brother to help and will be making a lot of money! hahah I miss you all very much and I'll put some pictures of the puppies up too :)


love, abby

p.s. Bess this is my puppy blog for you!

It's June 2

I'm in RMIT building 9 writing an essay. There's no one else around me. Bess is currently on Skype and I wanna talk to her but I shouldn't so I won't. In a few moments I'll be going down to the edit suites to edit my group short film. Yeah that's the update.

We have an MYC Rego Party this Saturday at the caf from 1-5pm. I hope people come and sign-up!

That's pretty much my life. Just finishing essays and films. June 8 get here alreadyyyyy

Much love.

What Can We Expect From MYC 2010

The 3rd promo video I've made for MYC.

After this I hope to do another ad, but that probably won't happen because I just don't have any time. And a countdown video to play before every session at MYC. Hope you like it!

Happy Birthday GINA!

MYC PROMOS!

Hey guys so I've been making MYC Promos. Have a look!

For this first one you have to watch this ad first to understand the parody we did.


Now watch the first ad


And this one!


Now how do you feel?

Who Is He?

Here is the video we made for the Who is He outreach! Enjoy.

[Thats Chris Thele.]

thesis

I'm done. my thesis is complete. I sent in the files earlier today and in a week or two I will have a professional bound book of my work.

It seems really strange to have finished. For four years I have had a project I have been working on. It consumed my thoughts, ran my schedule, affected my sleeping patterns. And now, nothing. The creative/thinking part of my senior year is over. The rest of my time in studio is spent doing mindless work (construction documents). I am now realizing that my brain doesn't know how to turn off. Luckily I have the project of planning Olga's bridal shower (yes, my roommate got engaged!) and a senior girl graduation trip.

My entire book is around 73 pages but I took the main parts out and uploaded them if you want to see what I have been doing all year:
Part 1
Part 2


Gina & Em- there are 3 VT students going on summer project! There are two junior girls, Jessica & Helen, and a sophomore guy, Chris. I am really excited that they are going and that you are going to be able to hangout with them! And of course DTM is going again too (and you will love his co-leader Julie).

Hope things with the outreach are going well!

<3 bw

RUMU Outreach

So we're planning our first big outreach of the year. Heres what we want:

• Balloons


• Lollies


• Music


• Soularium


• Student Lifers


• Uni Students

Our theme is 'Who is He?' Here's the poster.



That's the quick update, I have to go to a lecture. Love you!

April Fools

I think I only got Nicole. But I'm a lying fool. April Fools:)

Really Terrible News

Hey. I'm just going to write this on here because I really don't want to tell everyone individually/talk about it really. Basically I got an email yesterday saying that upon further evaluation of my application, plus the size of the STINT team in 2011, I don't get to come to Australia anymore. They want me to consider going somewhere with the MidSouth, but I definitely don't get to go to Australia. I have emailed people, but there's nothing I can do. I'm trying to have a good attitude but I just can't help being so angry. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know. :(

whould you?

so..me and gina are sitting next to each other typing to each other.

this is the result.

YOU KNEE WORK

So that lecturer I talked about before that is the guy who first started vlogging, well this is his class. Every week we have to make a video task and in our tutes we critique them but also use each others to make a web project.
Anyway I'll show you this one because the first two are too embarrassing to show. (But I don't care if you see them on your own accord, but be warned they're not worth watching and are awful quality)

Blues from Gina Liu on Vimeo.

Boxed Wine cracks me up every time.

C.H.I.C.A.G.O.

okay....so I havnt hard any time to make a Chicago video or anything and I realized that most of it wouldn't make any sense to you all any way. here are the highlights:

Pacific Garden Mission- homeless shelter that pairs service and the gospel in such an incredible way! We served Chipotle (leftovers from the day before) and got to hangout with the people there

Good News Daycare- Mrs. Pearl runs a daycare/preschool out of her home for teen mothers. I played with infants all day, served the kids breakfast and helped make books of Mrs. Pearl's testimony

"Mom"- I was given the duty of lunches, 100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day. and making sure that everyone got thir lunches in the morning. That, and a bunch of other things, got me the nickname 'Mom' for the trip *note: I was still called boxed wine by Dan & Allen, Josh however called me mom*

SHAMBLES- the catch phrase of the week that is catching on here at VT just as much as 'Yup Cheers' did. And started by Mr. Allen Bowman too. For example, "This car is in shambles after driving 11 hours" or "I am in shambles after being in a car for 11 hours"
The phrase "We have rooms" was to Chicago as "Been here since October" was to Melbourne

Here are a couple of short videos:

Allan is driving, Joe and Josh are the other performers


The guys (Dan, Curfman Joe, Gerald and Jonathan) place a chair in front of where they were sitting, as soon as someone (in this case Julie) sat in it they crowed around the chair, picked it up and sang. At the end of the song they placed the chair in its original spot, sat down and pretended like nothing happened.

Nothing Is Impossible

Our friend Amy introduced us to this song by Planetshakers called Nothing Is Impossible. I think its pretty rad so here is two versions of the song for you to download and then decide which is better. It's a sick song and a really good reminder that we should totally trust God and his plans for us!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/78lp08

http://www.sendspace.com/file/qf1chi

love love

Redemption

I would just like to note that I did however, put an Australian Flag temporary tattoo on yesterday. Where do you think my loyalties are now?

Reflections on Abby's Betrayal

I guess I'm feeling a myriad of emotions right now.

1. Surprise: I thought I knew where Abby's loyalties were. I expected a certain amount of respect and dedication from her, and I feel shock that she has been putting on a face for so long.

2. Abandonement: Metaphorically, I am about to fall of a cliff and my fingers are slipping. Even though Abby is standing there, she is not helping me and I am falling, falling, falling, but Abby is not there to pull me up.

3. Despair: I want to sit in my room and cry because Abby thinks she's too good for things that she used to find joy in. Abby, if you are too good for Temporary Tatoosday, you are too good for me!

4. Like Crap: I thought our Temporary Tatoosday was next Tuesday, March 7! But I just checked my phone and March 7 is a Sunday. Dang!!!!

Bess

Confession

I lost my temporary tattoo for yesterday. I have no idea how it happened and I am very sorry. I feel like I have let everyone down.

-Abby

Last First Day

Today was my last first day of uni. Which blows my mind! and makes me feel reeeaalllyy old!

but i will tell you about it later.

i just wanted you to check out this video/ song.

you wont understand what it means or anything, but know

that when i was a little 9 year old i knew all the words, and today, 12 years later, i can still sing along pretty freakin well!

1st Day Back

Today was our first day back at you-knee.
We also had a servant team meeting as RUMU.

I just wanted to share a fun fact. The class I'm taking on Mondays is called Integrated Media. It's basically a follow on from the subject I took last semester (Networked Media). We work in these awesome new labs that I'll take a photo of one day to show you. And again I have to maintain a blog of my learning. The fun fact is coming..just wait. So my lecturer and tutor is called Adrian Miles and he told us today that he is one of the first 2 people ever to vlog. He pioneered vlogging. He's ahead of the pack in terms of new advances in technology ahahhaha.

Yeah that's all. Uni's gonna be a lotta work this year. My timetable's looking very full!

It's autumn now and suddenly heaps colder. In fact, first day of March and it's freezing!

Love Gina.

O-week at the RMIT's

This is the video that i made to send to my church to thank them for giving us money for o-day.

thought you would like it SLASH thought we needed a new video!!!

e

Big Breakkkkk

"if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"
So, once again I had my mind set about not doing something (going to big break) and what happened??? Oh, I'm going to Big Break-- Shocker. God is so funny in always making me do exactly opposite of what I think I want. Last time it turned out pretty well (Australia!) so I figure this will too. If you all could pray for me though while I'm there that would be awesome, we'll be doing a lot of Evang and I haven't really done that since sumproj so it'll be a challenge. I have a lot to tell you all so I'll post a vlog soon.


LOVE YOU!
Abby

thoughts bouncing around in my head

Here are my ramblings and thoughts...

I will be praying for O-week, keep us posted about how things are going or any specific requests.

Josh, Allen, Dan & I are going to be going on another trip together and I am getting excited to be able to hang out with them again but it is making me miss all of you even more. Spring break is coming up in a couple of weeks and the four of us (plus 40 some other Cru. Hokies) are going to Chicago for a service project mission trip. I'll be sure to report anything good that happens.

I have been experiencing cabin fever these past few weeks because of all the snow, ice and wind we have been getting but we got a break from the weather and saw the sun today! Tomorrow is the Interior Design Career Fair and I am unsure what to do at it. I know God is bringing me to Melbourne next year but for some reason I feel like I need to go to the career fair too, wondering what God will show me tomorrow.

People here are still calling me boxed wine (nickname I received from Dan on the plane BACK to America). Thought you should know that for some reason.

Does anyone else think it is ironic that we no longer post vlogs? I'll put a video of Spring Break together for you all (as long as it doesn't crash my computer)

love & miss you! thanks for reading my random thoughts
<3 cole

Kick-Off & O Week

2010 is officially starting for SL. We just went on Kick-Off Camp in a gross scout camp that had bugs everywhere and it was super hot. We would sit and do nothing and sweat. Yuk. But it was about training and preparing for the year ahead, in particular O Week. Here's the line-up of our stall days. Please pray for O Week, the students we meet, the surveys we do...

Tuesday
RMIT Bundoora: 11-2pm (Me, Lime, Sheila, Nate, Ron..maybs others)

Thursday
LaTrobe: 12-2 (Joy, Yenny, Jerusha and others)
Melb Uni: 11-3 (Amy, Amy, Kristen, Craig and others)
RMIT City: 3-7 (Me, Lime, Josh, Sheila and maybs others)

Friday
Melb Uni: Pool comp and roaming outreach
RMIT: Social event (ice skating)

It's gonna be a busy week preparing and praying and trusting.
Lime and I are making the survival packs to give to interested students and there'll be an O Week wrap-up video I'm sure!

Oh and Melb Uni and RMIT are combining servant teams. We're becoming RUMU.

AND IM SO EXCITED BESS AND NICOLE!!!!

I'm coming back!

It's official for me, too! I'll see you in one year!!!!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

So, here we are in Radford and we have gotten so much snow in the last two weeks it has been ridiculous! Unfortunately it all keeps falling on the weekends so we haven't really gotten any school off. Our fist snowed in weekend (Feb. 1-3) my roomates and two of my friends camped out in my living room for the entire weekend! We moved the furniture and basically made a huge bed on the floor and didn't move the whole weekend. I think the movie count was at 9 or 10 by Sunday evening. haha we were lazy bums. This past weekend (Feb.8-10) we were snowed in again however we were actually active. Due to the great success of the weekend before we once again camped out in the living room this time we did more than watch movies though! On Friday night we stole lunch trays from the cafeteria and used them to sled=funnest thing ever! We did this for quite a while and once again on Saturday (see the awesome video below and there are more on facebook) for some reason everyone laughs at me when sledding I guess its because I get super excited. We also had a massive snowball fight on Saturday I'm pretty sure there were 50+ people there! It was awesome and the next day my arm hurt ! haha So now I'm sitting in class waiting for the next wave of snow to come through. I'm also quite excited because Bess will be here on Thursday!!!!!!! And this weekend I'm going to the NEXT conference cru puts on which I think will really help me to decide what to do after graduation. I also get the opportunity to watch my little sister play volleyball (her tournament is about 15 minutes away from my hotel) which I am so excited about. I'm going to surprise her :) I love to watch her play and spend time with her. So thats a quick update on whats been going on these past couple of weeks. I miss you all and want to skype soon please! Check out this video: I'm the one with my hands in the air (clearly). LOVE, ABBY!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=471937520163

-I'm going to try and get the original file and actually post the video up here

its official!

More exciting news. I have now been officially accepted & placed on the Melbourne Australia team for 2011!
<3 LP

a hop, skip & a jump...

Well, I'm just a hop, skip and a jump away from official acceptance to STINT in Australia! I have been pre-accepted. Yep cheers-a couple of steps closer!
-Nicole

Shut the front door!

I feel like I'm always posting non-serious useless things. I think it's probably because I'm on holidays.
But to begin on a mushy note - I'm really super glad I got to skype with everybody recently!! It was real nice.

Now to the essence of this post:
So I was reminiscing back to the all-nighter and had a good laugh at 'Shut the front door!' But i've got a question.
What are the rules of Nertz again?? I was trying to teach some kids and failed miserably and now they think it's just a lame game. I think I was teaching it ALL wrong. Please remind me, it was SO fun!

Nicole: our women's bstud was talking a lot about glorifying God this week. We all concluded that we were pretty fearful of what that exactly meant in our daily lives and that we do actually pray for it but don't really mean it. Mostly because it's hard to remember to glorify God in everything we do. So if you could be praying that we would not only remember but be humble and sincere about it too.
I suppose a more specific one would be...well i writing it on the internet...oh whatevz, couple of you already know and saves me repeating it. A few weeks ago I found a lump in my breast and got it checked out and ultrasounded. The doc said it was benign and nothing to worry about. I just have to eat healthier (thats bull, i eat healthy haha) and free range chicken coz of hormones or something. Anyway she said if it didn't go away in 6 months to come back and see her. If you could be praying that it heals and just buggers off because yeah it's still there :( But don't worry because I'm not worried!

In other news: I'm going bike-riding tomorrow morning can you believe it?! Just around the block though haha. And next Monday Lime, Joy & I are going to the Aus Open.

Please podcast Hamish & Andy.

Love Nidge.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God

last first day of class

As you can tell from my title, today was my last first day of class. Seems strange. I am taking Geography of Wine, Music Appreciation (online) and, of course, Studio. Doesn't look like a lot but studio is 6 credits & will take up most of my free time.

With the start of a new semester (and year) I have made a couple of resolutions. Exercise at least twice a week, cook something new each week and a few others. One of these is to pray more specifically for people....which means you! So, send me your prayer requests!

I'm still waiting to hear back about STINT and am getting a little impatient. The Mid-Atlantic Region is a bit slow with applications, I turned it in 6 weeks ago and thought I would hear back by now. So that is something you can pray for me about. Getting the acceptance soon and patience for waiting for it.

<3 LP

New Semester, New Sebby

So, I'm sitting in the Computer Lab between classes and I am reveling in the free time that I haven't had for months! Unless you count Christmas break. But whatever.

Here's what I'm realizing...when I have time to think, I think about you people! Maybe my brain is finally catching up for all the time that I wanted to think about you last semester, but I couldn't, because my life was crazy. I love you all so much it's ridiculous. Anyway, here's what's happening with me:

I am taking Shakespeare, American Film, and Women in American Literature this semester. I haven't been to Shakespeare yet, but I love my other two classes and I'm pretty much in love with SS as well, so I think it's going to be a really good semester. I'm also writing a thesis about how feminism actually devalues women...it should be interesting. I'm going to try to write it from a Christian perspective, so pray that I would be able to articulate myself clearly! I want to be able to reach out to my professors that read it.

Also, I got accepted to STINT officially!! They asked me to pray about leading a team to a partnership in the MidSouth (which is my region), and I told them I would. While my heart really wants to be in Melbourne, I know that the MidSouth really has a need for STINTers. I'm not sure what will happen, but I'll keep you posted.

That's about all, except that my family is having some pretty serious struggles with the idea of me leaving for a year. Please pray for them! I have hope that God is going to do some awesome things in my family, but we are definitely seeing some hard times right now. I love them and am so thankful for them. These struggles also make me very thankful that I have you all to point me to Christ. I love y'all and still miss you everyday!

Bess

Best Friends Moment.

Hey Friends.

I want you to sit, and enjoy the best part of the WHOLE series of friends..

SUMMER PROJECT VIDEOS!

Straight after project you guys asked and asked about our time there, luckily we recorded many moments to show you our experiences. In true Lime & Nidge style, the videos are up and ready to be watched. Hope you enjoy them :)

On a side note: Hope you're having a blast at Radiate and that you're learning lots!

And lets Skype soon ok? xxx