Oh my gosh, where has time gone!? I can't believe it's already December! WOW!! Christmas is right around the corner. I missed Thanksgiving a little more than I thought I would, so maybe I'll get around to making myself an apple pie and some mashed potatoes soon. It is hard to get excited for the holiday season when it's warm and there's no snow on the ground! Not that I can complain! But as much as I hate cold weather and the snow, I can appreciate it's usefulness in creating excitement for the season now. I am all done with exams and feel pretty good about all of them, minus one, which was a little rough. I am super glad to be done though, the end of the year was insanely stressful!! Now it's summer break ... read more

Yes people, I am still alive!! I had a rough last 2 weeks with final essays due, last week of classes, lots of shifts at my job, and of course watching the election took up alot of my time!! So nothing new or exciting happening in my life, but I figured I would let everyone know I haven't been kidnapped or anything :) I spent about 8 hours sitting on my couch watching election results... it was SO good to see some American newscasters and watch American news!!! :) A bunch of my non-American friends were really interested in the election and were texting me the entire day asking questions and letting me know how excited they were when Obama won. I wish I could I have been home in Grant Park for Obama's speech, though!! ... read more

Ahhh, life is great here on the other side of the world :) I heard it was cold and there were flurries in Iowa yesterday... well, I had on shorts and a tank top and was sweating in the 90 degree weather here. I know that's probably a bit mean to say, but I will most likely be rubbing that in all winter :) Anyways, just wanted to do a quick update of everything I've been doing - I have been keeping really busy and the next week and a half is going to be even more crazy!! I've mainly been stuck in my room working on endless amounts of essays. 2 down, 3 to go. What's even more crazy is that I have less than 2 weeks of school left!! Where did this semester go!? ... read more

HOME SWEET HOME!! After 11 days and nights of crazy Australian fun, I am MORE than glad to be back home! I had an absolute blast (and have a nice sunburnt body to prove it!) but am truly glad to be back home with my own bed, a clean kitchen, and my own bathroom with a hot shower! I definitely lived the life of a backpacker: sleeping with multiple foreigners in one tiny room, cold showers (or not showering for 3 days at a time... ew!), and eating/drinking the cheapest things possible! Needless to say, I am broke and will not be traveling for a long time, but am glad that I got out of Sydney for a bit. I met SO many people from ALL over the world and made some awesome friends along the ... read more

Hi Everyone!! Hope things haven been going well back in the states and you are all consuming mass amounts of Mexican food for me because I miss it SOOO much still :) Haha. It has been a very eventful past couple of days, all very fun, which was a nice change from the stress of homework. My first Aussie test in my Global Politics class went pretty well, much easier than I expected!! Turned in 2 papers and did a presentation, all of which I feel pretty confident about!! I can't say it enough, I LOVE SCHOOL HERE!! :) So, Friday was Conception Day which was like Iowa Tailgating basically, which was a blast, but let's just say I didn't make it through the entire day. I went to the actual event on campus but the ... read more