A rather wonderful experience.

---

When all good things come to and end.

Sadly, this will probably be my last entry from Tampa, Florida. This week has felt so surreal and gone by rather quickly as the anticipation of my departure on the 19th of January grows more and more intense. How did it get to be 2011? How did the last 6 months of my life flash by so quickly? By the amount of stuff that I HAVEN'T bought, you could guess that i've only been here for a couple of fun-filled weeks.

This week has basically been about getting anything that I can't get back at home, seeing everybody before I leave, and just doing things one last time, like eating at the Olive Garden! I know it's not the most amazing food but it's my favourite place here, they have awesome breadsticks and I'm really going to miss it at home =
Oh, and of course experienced the American lifestyle, that is, on so many levels, SO different to the australian culture.
But, alas my journey is not completely over just yet- I still have 4 fun filled days left before I meet my wonderful dad in L.A in order to fly off to Colorado, which i'm sure will bring me more photos and such things to post into another blog when I arrive back in Australia =]

Blog Update: Monday 17th of January, 2011.
So saturday took me to the Tampa Aquarium where myself and Will saw all the wetland animals, fishes, sharks, stingrays, upside-down jelly fish and more! We also got a surprise photo taken at the beginning of our journey and I got sucked into buying it because it was just such a lovely photo of the two of us. =] Later on we went to Trevors place (real surprise there) and just enjoyed the night by playing video games and "chilling out".
Sunday met us with the Salvador Dali museum, which was on all levels AMAZING. His use of surrealism in contrast with reality was, for lack of a better term, "unreal" but this guy must have been tripping when he created many of these pieces because many of them were just so haunting and so distorted, rather terrifying actually. That night Frances made the most delicious spaghetti with meatsauce that i've had for a while, beautifully home cooked and everything. Definitely going to miss your cooking <3

Blog Update: Tuesday 18th of January, 2011.
So today is my last normal day, as far as normal can be. Bags are packed, nothing left in any of the drawers that my things occupied, and a few boxes just for the things that just won't fit :P Today, we plan on doing as much stuff as humanly possible to fill in the time and really enjoy my last day.
This has been such a wonderful experience, and although I know i'll be back at some point, i'm going to miss my second home and all of the people in it. But, through the words of Dr. Seuss, "don't cry because its over, smile because it happened."

<3
<3
<3
<3
<3

Australia, here I come.

---