Bush walks, spiders and plants

While I was thinking of how to start this blog, I read through my past entries and noticed that I started a lot of them with, "First of all..." Well today I am not going to do that. So here we go. 

I apologize for not having photos actual photos of the venue. They made us leave all electronics in our bags and we had to leave them in a locked room.

Today, as part of my Biology preliminary course (Year 11), I had to go on a mandatory fieldwork trip to the Bicentennial Park Education Centre at Homebush Bay. Throughout the excursion, we had to fill in a booklet that required us to perform experiments and collect information from various tests which will then be a part of our final results at the end of term 3. 

During the bus ride, my friend Mike and I pulled our Nintendo DS' and played Elite Beat Agents, which is a seriously fun rhythm game where you tap the buttons in time with the song. We went up against each other over and over again until we got to the place; playing songs like Walkie Talkie Man - Steriogram, ABC - Jackson 5 and Sk8r Boi - Avril Lavigne. 

We got out of the bus and walked to the site, which was where we ate our morning tea while they explained what was going to happen, and where we had to leave our bags. After that, we got split into our classes and went off to our separate routes. 

My class was led by a guide named Mel, who was lovely and very helpful when it came to filling out the booklet, to an area called "The Mangrove Classroom". Here, we had to collect data of abiotic features in the area, such as humidity, soil pH and water salinity. The activities didn't take long and half an hour later, we were off to our next destination. 

I'm going to bore you by writing ALL of our activities but this is a list of activities we had to do:

• Count mangrove seedlings and crab holes and draw conclusions from the data (trends that have occurred etc.);
• Design an experiment to figure out the "relationship between the height of pneumatophores (root system) and tidal inundation;
• Recognise and expand on the adaptations of the Grey Mangroves and a mangrove animal;
• Create food chains and discuss the outcomes if a producer or consumer were taken out of the food chain;
• Collect more abiotic features in another area (Saltmarsh Community).
• Fill in a table on relationship terms, allelopathy, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism);
• Draw a profile of the vegetation in a 100 metre area (this was where a big spider crawled up on my leg!);
• Identify impacts of human activity on the ecosystem.

Oh wow! That is A LOT. I apologize for boring you out from this but I just had to include it. If you got this far without awesome pictures (I know I wouldn't have) then thank you so much for reading!!

Be safe and take care :)

♥

Volleyball Gala Day

First of all, if you don't know what a Gala day is, basically it's just a day out of school where you go to a venue and play a certain sport for the whole day against other schools. 

So today I had to wake up extra early (6:30 am) to be at school by 7:10 am. Honestly I think I was still half asleep when I got to school because I kept on dazing in and out of conversations. Once the roll was marked and we got on the bus, you would think that I would've gone to sleep because I'm so tired. Well... I tried but my friends wanted to play card games during our 30-minute bus ride to Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush. 

We got there and got into our jerseys and won our first game. All of us still sleepy and tired so winning the first game was quite surprising. We lost the first set by 9 points, I think, but we came back, winning the next two sets as well as the game. The next game was slightly easier and we also won that game two sets straight, however there were minor injuries in the team. 
Two games later, we had three wins and a loss, on top of jarred fingers, scraped knees, swollen wrists and throbbing legs and a fight with one of the coaches who kept on calling 'time' (out) when he clearly wasn't allowed to stop the game as much as he did. 

On our last game, we versed a "professional team" as we called it. They had all the gears and more; jerseys, matching bike shorts, knee pads, hair in ponytails and strapped legs, ankles, wrists, fingers and any other body part that could be strapped. 

Out of all our games, the team and I agreed that the last game was our best game, even though we lost. Our teamwork in the last was much, much better compared to how we worked together in previous games.

I think that going up against a stronger, much better team allowed us to step our game up a bit more and work better as a team because we knew what was going to happen anyway. So we tried different plays and tactics and, surprisingly, most of them worked!

All in all, today was fun despite the injuries we endured, an issue I don't want to get into because I don't want to make this post longer and there are no pictures, which probably makes it worse. 

You guys take care and have a good time :)

♥

My Valentines Day Story

For the record, this is a real story even though it took place around four years ago.

I was with my best friend at the library after school, you know, just hanging out and not wanting to go home. We were just hanging out and then my boyfriend at the time, with his best friend, surprised us from behind. Thinking back, it was really cute. Moving on. It was Valentines Day, obviously, but I wasn't really expecting anything. 

Out of the blue, his best friend suggested pizza for afternoon tea and we all chipped in. When they came back, I didn't see a pizza. Instead, there was a red rose. I stared at it thinking, "Where the heck is my pizza?" I was upset because I was hungry at the time and wanted pizza. 

I realised I was just staring at the rose he was holding and he looked nervous. I felt bad for keeping him waiting so I took it and gave him a hugs and kisses. Our best friends were just laughing in the background but I didn't care. It was nice to be thought of once in a while. 

So yeah... That was my Valentines Day Story

♥

Finalmente Oh Dios Mios

First of all, I don't really speak Spanish, except for numbers and random phrases here and there. Anyway, I am just so happy because FINALLY FINALLY my laptop is back, system board and fans replaced and good to go!!! And thank God too because I had homework that can only be done on the computer so YIPEE!!!

I am so happy - BIG SMILES :D

♥

Valentines, Procrastination and Birthdays

Now first of all this won't be about my loneliness on Valentine's Day, which is tomorrow by the way. I haven't got a valentine but that's fine because I don't have to share my Ferrero Rochers. OH YEAH!!

It feels like FOREVER since I last posted. Mainly because my laptop went back to repairs because apparently they didn't fix the problem in the software. That's another week without a laptop and another week of doing homework through my brother's laptop or in the library. 

Speaking of which, it was my younger brother's birthday yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Bro!!! YAAAYY!!! He turned 14 and to be honest, he's still pretty much the same.

I tried, I really did, but unfortunately I didn't get the bottom bits
Shout out to The Cheesecake Factory - I LOVE YOUR CAKES!! 

A lot has been happening. School has been a pain, especially waking up at 7 a.m. and making my own lunch everyday. I've been put into a group of three, which included a girl that I didn't really know because we didn't hang out in the same circle, and one of my good friends. I tried to be friendly but this chick is so freaking snobby I wanted to just call her up on it; Or alternatively just punch her face. We had to do a group project and she did her part in her computer and told me that she would send it to me via my school email. I check my email. None from her. Douchebag. 

School has been pretty light homework-wise but the teachers are oh-so-slowly giving us more and more homework. Like today in Maths, we've only been doing the intro stuff to calculus for the past week and a half but today I have to do quite a few exercises, which is just over two pages. In Biology, I've got to read and summarize three and a half pages and put it all in a table. Now these aren't that bad but:

Procrastination and laziness just takes over, leaving you absolutely no time to do work. 

I'm sure a lot of you can relate because I know ALL of my friends procrastinate and get lazy. Even the smartest person in my year group gets lazy once in a while. It's completely normal. It's a way to get away and relax. However, as much as I sound like a teacher or parent, there should be a balance. One of my teachers said, "Earn your breaks." 
And so you should! If you've been working for an hour, give yourself a 20 minute break to eat, rest and just relax. You've earned it :)

Apart from these small bumps, school has been fun. the teachers are friendlier and more lenient towards us because we're seniors and it's been awesome hanging out with my friends again five days a week. 

Well I really have to do my homework so I don't fall behind, and seriously you DO NOT WANT TO FALL BEHIND because CATCHING UP SUCKS NUTS.

♥

Oh Happy Day

I wasn't planning to post today but when something awesome happened just when I thought my day was going to be so bad, I just had to write about it.

One day, I turned on my laptop and this came up...

A few days later, I tried turning it on but, apart from the lights appearing from the buttons, there was nothing...

This morning, I had a double period with a teacher who said that we had to have our laptops otherwise we would fall behind. I think you can see where I'm going with this but let me finish. When class started, she asked the usual questions, "Who can't log on to the internet?" and "Who's laptop isn't working?" All that jazz. You see, I had told her during the previous lesson that mine was in repairs. I had also shown her a note in my diary from the IT office. 

The next thing I know, I was being grilled at for sitting next to my friend who had a working computer. Not that I really cared. I told her that my laptop was in repairs but she still blew off at me. Nothing I could do about it, so what do you do when someone is talking nonsense? 

Stare at them, nod once in a while and let their rubbish go into one ear and out the other. That is one of THE MOST valuable lessons I have developed in high school. 

So I had to listen to drag on for almost two hours, and mind you these were the first two hours of the day. As you can see, I didn't have a good start. Fast-forward to the second half of lunch, at around 1:20 pm, and you see me going into the IT office asking if my laptop was ready. THANK GOODNESS IT WAS!!! OH MY WORD!!! The absolute joy I felt after having to do my research and homework through my phone and blogging with my brother's laptop for the past 5 days was difficult but definitely not impossible, because you know, nothing is impossible. 

When I opened my laptop, I saw my familiar desktop... 

It was working properly!!! YAAAAYYY!!! 

That's my happy story of the day.

♥

Off To The City!

I am currently still using my brother's teeny tiny laptop because mine hasn't made it out of repairs just yet so for now I'll work with what I've got.

Since I attend a catholic all-girls high school, we have an annual opening mass and this year it was held in St. Mary's Cathedral in the city to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the school. Once we got there, beautiful doesn't even begin to describe this church. I was in awe from the intricate designs on the building, and this was only on the outside.

Once we got inside, my jaw literally dropped. It was magnificent. Everything was just gorgeous. It's one of those places where you have to actually see it to be amazed and to be able to appreciate it because firstly, it's just incredible, and secondly, photography is not allowed. At least that's what the sign says. If you're really curious, Google it or go on Wikipedia.

Now you're probably getting bored with how much I'm talking about the church and, I don't blame you. I'm getting pretty bored myself but I SERIOUSLY HAVE TO talk about the next part. After the mass, the ENTIRE school had to go outside and take a school photo in front of the cathedral. This was probably the most frustrating part of the day. 

First, we had to wait inside the cathedral until we were taken out by year group and since I'm in year 11 , we got taken out second last. When we got out, there was this HUGE crowd; parents, teachers, photographers, one of them in a cherry picker, and students from year 7 to 10. We had to go in height order, which took a while but it didn't matter much at the end. We were placed in our positions and then it was the year 12's and finally the teachers. 

Now I don't know what else the photographers were doing but it took SO, SO, SO LONG to have the photographer to start taking pictures. In fact, it took so long that I think 7 year 7's (coincidence or what?) fainted or got heat stroke or something and had to sit out of the photos. I heard one vomited but I didn't see it. Oh well. 

FINALLY, FINALLY!! They finally take the photo, all the while making us say the same words over and over again; 'twisties' and 'holidays'.
It was kind of odd that strangers walking or jogging by were also taking pictures of us. They also took less than 30 seconds to take photos of us. I wish they were the ones that took the actual photos. 

So that's the highlight of my day, apart from the extended lunch we had where I was teaching my friend the 'Cup Song' from Pitch Perfect, which is my favourite movie right now. Love you Fat Amy.

♥

A Pinch and a Punch on the First Day of the Month. No Returns.

So I am currently using my younger brother's teeny tiny laptop because mine is broken. It won't turn on so I had to take it to repairs (ICT Office in school).

A pinch and a punch on the first day of the month. No returns.

When I went to school this morning, the sky looked gloomy. Like that weather where you know it's gonna rain some time soon but you hope you don't catch it.Unfortunately for me, school didn't finish quick enough and I had to walk home in heavy rain; Not to mention the thunder and lightning that was happening during last period and my walk home.

My mum opened the door when I buzzed, took the mail from my soaked hands  and hit me on my shoulder with it as I walked in. Thanks mum. Feeling the love there. In addition to the "I told you so!" remark about bringing an umbrella today. Psychic much?

Here is my not-so-awesome-photography-skills-because-I'm-a-beginner.

Dark, gloomy sky from my room but great sleeping conditions

The gutter from the balcony. As you can see, it's like a mini flood.

I thought this would emphasize how much rain was pouring down. I don't know. Maybe?

I think my favourite one out of the bunch.

Now I'm at home, you know TGIF and all that jazz, playing Dead Space 2 on the ps3. Seriously, if you get scared easily, then I don't recommend this for you. YOU WILL GET A HEART ATTACK. YOU WILL GO INTO CARDIAC ARREST.But then again, I am NOT a professional, just putting that out there, so consult with your doctor if you can play this game without any risks.

I don't play a lot of video games, unless you count phone apps (ahem... nope), but my brother wanted to get a game that was part of the 2 for $40 deal so I decided to go halfsies with him because I am a nice sister. 

It's fun, I really like the game. One thing I don't like is, because I suck, I have gotten myself killed almost a dozen times. And that's only for the first chapter and a half. Ahem, rage quit. 

The other thing that kinda bugs me but makes me laugh at the same time is that my mum finds it so hard to believe that I play video games.I don't understand this though because she has seen me play Tekken countless times  on the big screen, right in front of her face and she gets shocked when I play other games. I honestly don't get it.

Help, anyone?

♥