Let me take a moment to brag...

... for Dave McKee...and his brother and sister-in-law....
this is Noah McKee, Dave's nephew.... (insert collective 'awwww' here)

Neil Bernard? ENGAGED? Could it really be?

Australia Pictures

I realized that I had abosolutly NO pictures from the Australia Extravaganza on this blog...so here are a few WE LOVE YOU MEGAN!!!!!!!
Me and my Sair-Bear
Christo Swart and Joel Emery

Me and my "big brother", Joel at grad night.
Me at the beach...after I had just been pulverized by a wave!
Josh Claassen and Hank the Huntsman
Me, Sarah and Melissa at the beach
My BFF Steve Irwin and I... ;). That was for you Christopher!

Thanksgiving in Lethbridge

Dave on the way back from Lethbridge
Right before we got hit by the semi...just kidding
This was at a toll booth somewhere in BC...the sign says, "Do Not Drink"
Me and Sheridan...smooshed in the weenie truck
My lovely Sheridan....Chris, this one was for you!

dave and my neice (Mackenzie) and nephew (Dawson).
Me (and Dave) at Boston Pizza in Lethbridge...I ahve heaps more of pics from that night...mostly cute coupley ones...let me know if you want one (There is a really cute Chris/Sheridan one, adn an awesome Nicole/Dan one)
Me, Mackenzie and Dawson
Dawson playing under Dave's chair
My sister Beckie and I

So yeah...there is a sampling of the Lethbrige pictures I have... enjoy!

Me and Nathan's Day In Victoria

So me and Nathan (a long time ago) went to Victoria to get me a tattoo....

first, Nathan sexually harrassed this mountie-bear (actually the belt was undone so he was doing it up)...

...then, we noticed that the big mural at the bay was a MAN IN A SPEEDO......then I actually got the tattoo...

...the end

J.K....just killin'........

i'm sitting here at work, on my break... bored out of my skull, and have absolutly nothing to report. my life has become such a routine! everyday of the week i know what i'm doing because... that's what i always do! i'm like the most boring person on the face of the planet now...so there is no point in asking me what's new or what i've been doing with myself...because it's more than likely what i did last time you asked.

I THINK I NEED TO LEAVE DUNCAN.

this is lame. nothing is spontaneous anymore.... just routine.

and i'm getting REALLY sick of it.

the countdown to may, and calgary, begins...

163 days until may 1st...

It's that time again! Have fun doing your shopping kiddies, and remember: you probably won't get something from me...because I'm poor! :)
(unless it's cookies)

...and the final answer...

ok I dont know what Im going to do with my life....

but how does Calgary come January sound guys????

What Should I Do with My Life?

Please help me decide this one....I'm starting to go insane.

- elementary school librarian
- crocodile hunter II
- interior designer
- children's book writer
- administrative assistant
or
- housewife (even though I failed housewife school...)

K ready set go....what should I do...????????

Kay FINE!!!!!!

....because I have APPARANTLY offended a million people, I figured that I should frigging apologize for it....even though I really don't care about what any of you think.

So this is my public apology...to everyone except Chris Blenkin...I don't really care how you feel.

So there. I did it. I'm never saying sorry for that ever EVER again.

About freaking time

So I heard that the croc hunter died. Really, if you ask me???? About time. The man was BEGGING to be done in by some kind of animal. I'm just glad that it wasn't a boring senerio, like a croc biting his hand off and him bleeding to death...

Funny story, did you know that if he didn't try to rip out the barb himself, he would have survived? ha loser.

Ok yeah...sucks for the family, but that's what you get for marrying the worlds most retarded celebrity.

Australia can be cool, once again.

I'm coming home..

A lot of people have been asking me about what I'm doing this fall... slash the rest of my life.

Here it goes (last I checked)

1. Go home and live with my mum (super cheap..and you ALL know I love curfews!!)
2. Get a job...or more than one...I'm that poor and I have that much time on my hands.
3. If all goes well, I'll pick up some classes at Malaspina (Mum doesn't charge rent if I'm in school!)
4. Live to see next summer....I hate winter and if I get hypothermia I might take my own life. Or looking back on my track record in life....snowboarding MIGHT just do me i this year.
5. Get a sweet tan...(Did I hear a Caleb say AUSTRALIA?...or was that Italy?)
6. Go to Malaspina full time next Spetember....haha spetember? Sweet. Yah I want to get my BEd. MMmmm bed....super tired...
7. Get married....no Neil..I won't die alone... SO THERE! BAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
8. Live to see my 73rd birthday...

That's all I got..

Now here is a sweet picture of me and a pitchfork

I Cook Peoples Food...

hehe

Anyways, I'm now at qwanoes....dispite the love/hate thing and the "im not going back" thing. Im here for the rest of summer basically. Right now, im in the kitchen...well not NOW now...this week Im working in the kitchen - and challenge course. So if you want me ... come here and see me. Im in a bubble that doesn't seem to be poppable from the inside.

kailem, Malissa, chantelle....this means you..

rachael..Im not in Rm304 .....308 poop

Look on a map...

...and see how far it is from Lethbridge, AB to Swift Current, SK....
I drove that from 2am until about 7am...

bring on the red bull


and yes... my family drove (in mum's civic) to Winnipeg. Me, Jackie, Garry and my mother. HAHA.. what a gong show.

Anways, thanks to my midnight driving, we got here monday evening...and alive...kinda.

I saw a bear though...and deers...and foxes and elks...AND A WOLF...but it was dead...and I killed some small animals while driving, which makes up for the NOTHING i killed in Surrey. Anywas, we got here and it's bezautiful...but I'm allergic to Canola flowers...adn there are tons here so I'm sniffling.

On a total serious note though, this place is where my heart is. Not that I would move here...but all my family on my mum's side is here...including my Baba Annie (Great Grandma)
It was great to see her again, as it might be the last time. She'll be 95 in February...and drinks like a fish! Anyways, me and her sat on her front steps, had a beer and gossipped about family. She gave me so much life advice...also telling me to "get on it" with finding a husband...haha..thanks baba. Really though, she's an amazing woman. She has been through so much in her life and it's absolutly facinating to hear her stories. Wow. Also, she has such a sense of humor! She's totally hilarious. I love her with my whole heart! It was just really cool to see where I come from and to see some heritage. If I'm anything like her when (if) Im that old, I'll be so happy. As old and wrinkly as she is, she has this beautiful glow in her.Her eyes are soooo blue and sparkly and she has a gorgeous smile. I'm so proud that she is my background.
Well baba, I guess I'll get on it ;)

my day tomorrow

sitting on the porch...


...sunbathing...


...with a 22...


...waiting for small, unsuspecting animals to pass me by...


...except they won't "pass" me....

...they'll be dead.

If you haven't noticed...

I gave my blog a facelift...

I'll try to keep more "on top" of this blog thing....it's been a while, so to get back in the groove of things might take a while... we'll see

Oh....so I thought that I wouldn't get a sunburn here because Australia was all hardcore withtheir 'no o zone' and such...anyways, thats a lie..

aloe vera? My new best friend.

Shannon...consider yourself forked....happy late bday

Happy 50th Old Man.

Well...my dad turned 50. My mum and sister showed up at the party making it the first time in like 5 years we've all been together...and the first time in 13 years that my mum came to Surrey to hang out with all the people she used to be best friends with. Fun times. So yeah. This is photo evidence I guess...

all's well that ends well...

well....the end of another chapter in Barb's book of life...
Grad dinner was a lot of fun before, during and after....
beforehand, the girls dorms reeked of perfume and hairspray and the halls were filled of half dressed girls screaming for things....fun fun fun. Then an hour of photos...which is when I got into the "boys only" picture!
Dinner itself was amazing (staff did a steller job!) and Josh (my date) made the night a million times more fun for me. (Cheers to squished ants Joshie!)
Afterwards we all hung out in the main lounge for more pictures...then we cranked dance music....the waltz! hahaha
So yes...capernwray is done - life as I know it? Gone.
But if the saying "all's well that ends well" is right...then all is heaps awesome.

MY OWN MOTHER...

has a blog...and there are 4 pictures of me from Australia.
barbandjackiesmom.blogspot.com
If you are desperate to see my beautiful face in pictures, talk to my mum and she can probably send you a cd of the pics.

ciao for now!

Glen Innes...The Town of all Retirement Villages

So I'm in Glen Innes on my Prac Week (Prac Week is a week where we put what we learned into action)

Glen Innes has 6000 people and is so cold it's not fair. You'd think because we're 10 hours NW of Sydney it would be warmer..nope...yay elevation!

Anyways, we are really just in charge of church services and leading bible studies. We figured our motto for the week should be "Blessed for blessing" because we are really doing very little but these people are ALWAYS feeding us and doing things for us and loving us and planning fun things for us to do. They're amazing.

We went to some of the little kid schools and did scripture and we also visited the oldies home. Other than that, we've gone to farms (I rode a sheep!!!) and we are going to hot springs tomorrow and OOOO we went FOSSICKING (like panning for gold but we were looking for gems) I found some sapphires!!!

We've also played a lot of sport including Ultimate Frissbee, Footy, Cricket and Grounders....yes...grounders on little kid playgrounds... Shut up. It's so fun.

Anyways, I should go because I have a hair appointment in a little bit.
I love you all and I miss you like a fat kid misses tim tams (double coat!)

once upon a time...

Once upon a time...

There was a girl...

And she kinda liked a boy...

But her friends figured they knew better...

So they told her it was a bad idea..

Except for one of her friends.

She said to "go for it"

Rochelle Nickel...what the heck does THAT mean?!?!?!

Anyways, back to the story....

So this girl likes this guy and has no idea what to do about it...

So....as of NOW thats all I know of the story....when more happens I sure will let you all know...you know, when my heart gets broken or something like that/.....

once upon a time...

Once upon a time...

There was a girl...

And she kinda liked a boy...

But her friends figured they knew better...

So they told her it was a bad idea..

Except for one of her friends.

She said to "go for it"

Rochelle Nickel...what the heck does THAT mean?!?!?!

Anyways, back to the story....

So this girl likes this guy and has no idea what to do about it...

So....as of NOW thats all I know of the story....when more happens I sure will let you all know...you know, when my heart gets broken or something like that/.....

DON'T HATE ME

I'm SO sorry that I never ever write in this.

Anyways...we got back from 2 week break 2 weeks ago... I made little to no money...but I had fun. Too much fun.

i got kissed by a boy...
got a moblile phone...
got a package from home....
came back to school to find out 2 of my buddies are DATING (YAY)...

did I meantion I was kissed?

011 614 3967 9984 is my phone #

I have no time to BLOG but Ill see you all in a few months...aka summer....
to retrieve my clothes and guitar etc from Calgary....and yeah....weddings etc.
Love you all

Days turn to weeks...

and weeks turn to months...

sorry its been so LONG!

Speaking of which...this can't be long. Im in a library...

Anywho...not much really has happened (seeing as I live in a bubble)

Things are going awesome and making better friends and getting closer to God...it's really been heaps of fun. I reckon it can only get better from here on in.

Oh...I broke my nose...having a flour and water fight.

I miss everyone SO much and I can't wait till I see you all again. I miss LOST nights SO much, it's ridiculous.

Did you know that there are no Sweedish Berries in Australia?!?!

Anyways, I have to go, but I looooove you all.

xoxo

Feel free to send me letters...or emails at the school!

DON'T FORGET MEEEEEEE!

YAY! A NEW POST!

Hey guys!
Sorry it's been so freaking long. I don't have internet access AT school...so I have to make my way into the little town of Bowral to get emails and update this lil blogger.

Things have been totally amazing here. I arrived on January 28th and basically spent the day settling in. That whole week was "orientation"...aka rules etc...kinda boring, but I guess it needed to be done.
THIS week however, was WAY more interesting....I have an idea...here's a "day-in-the-life-of-Barb" thinger...

6:ooam...I wake up and get ready. I usually have about an extra half hour just to sit and have tea. A little morning chat with God while looking over the river in the BEAUTIFUL Southern Highlands of Australia.
Brekkie is at 7:30am....toast and cereal..EVERYDAY...gets monotonous...but yummy because I have SO much vegemite.
Lectures go from about 8:30am to about 12:30pm....with Morning Tea at about10:30am...Lunch is at 1pm...and then we're off from lunch to Tea..which is at 6pm. After tea we usually have another lecture starting at 7:30pm and ending at 8:15pm....except Fri-Sun because thats the weekend....Curfew is at 10:30 on weekdays....midnight on weekends....Wednesdays are different because its WORK DAY! YIPPEE! We have to clean everything and do gardening and ... basically everything that you could wanna do at a house gets done by the 52 students once a week.

That is my bubble.
I love it.

In fact....I wanna stay for second semester...except Im poor...so feel free to sponsor me if you'd like! :D

I have made some AMAZING friends here...I have Sarah, Shereen, Melissa and Rochelle...like my best buddies....Along with Kevin and Evan and Joel..
That is my groupie pack....but I love everyone here and I would really love to put all of their names in that. It's so inspiring to be able to be with a bunch of christians 24/7 knowing that they are praying for you and that they're there for you no matter what. My roomate (also named Melissa....) is awesome as well...Things probably couldn't be better...

....and I know you girls are wondering.....

....no I don't have a husband yet.....

Happy Australia Day!

Ahh....Australia Day..A Day to sit in your boat on the harbour and embrace the sunshine while thanking God for the finer things in life...
Like cutesey lil animals



Vegemite (MMmmm..going to go eat some right now..)

The TV shows....like "Scrubs" and "Kath and Kim"
(though it seems they're all Futurama/Simpson's/family guy fans here)

Not enough awesome Aussie things to be stoked for this Jan 26th??

How about the fact that God himself placed 17 of the TOP 22 MOST VENOMOUS SNAKES in Australia (Including the top 10)

Or the spiders that can kill you in less than 3 seconds....

Hmm..okay. Maybe that's not so awesome..

But we have GORGEOUS beaches and no sun-tan oil needed! (Also highest precent of skin cancer in the world.... :S)

We have tennis and cricket...No hockey, football, basketball....bobsleds....
(MMmmm Lleyton Hewitt...)

We have something amazing called Tim Tams..I suggest you order them in..
Chocolate wafers with chocolate goodness inside....

There is, however, one thing that may actually drive me back to the frozen wasteland which is Canada....

There is NOWHERE in Australia (besides SubWay) where you can get ranch dressing.

So it's official...

Im a lobster...

Im so burned now...hahaha. Today me and Dave and Dan (a friend) went to the Central Coast to a beach there...it was beautiful. Water was clear and turquoise...rip was huge (aka waves) sand was soo soft...and the sun...NO OZONE...need I say more?

Anyways..every part of me is burnned..but I love it. I don't even care at all. Sunscreen does almost nothing here.

ANYWAYS...after the beach we came home...showered etc..and then went to Hillsongs church...SO HUGE. It was an awesome service..really powerful.

Mike-I couldn't help but think about your reasoning about big churches...and church in general. This place puts Center Street to shame..makes it look like a matchbox. But it was awesome. Some thing about it made it feel smallish..and people were so aweosme and welcoming. I think that must be the key to having a great BIG church.

Tomorrow Dave and I head up the Blue Mountains... Im really stoked...even though I dont have a camera...besides the few pics left on my disposable..hahaha o deary.

Tea-time for me though..(dinner)..I have yet to eat this evening and am becoming a little faint.

Peace out
Word to yo' motha

So hot....

im over heating.....but I love it.
Got here safe and Dave picked me up...loved the plane ride and everything. it was a BLAST!!!
So far....I've been to a BEAUTIFUL beach, downtown Sydney, a little amusement park called Luna Park, a wildlife reserve...and of course both Dave's house and Steve Cooke's place!
I love it alot and (actually) am already sad at the thought of coming home.

Ill post more later...perhaps with pics...
but im tired and (more imoportantly) scorching hot...
(I love this country!!!)
bed....

Adios amigos

Well...it's been fun...

Goodbye Calgary!

This has been a greattime though..for sure...

From the killah squirels with Ashie


to the zoo...getting lost in the CANADA section with Jay while Mike and Ash...uhm...dissapeared i guess...


Jay's birthday...




....explicit pumpkin carving....






Gracie!


Sheesha-ing withmy mama...(the pics dont wanna work :( )

and many more that are not photo-documented :(
Like Kilks, ice blocking with Mike and Storm...shopping adventures...scary movies....watching Team America with Jay...earl's girl night...the mynt...getting lost with Davey on our way to Niks and getting scared by that big effing dog...Shannon being haunted...making cake with Ashley...and dancing....Tantra...Christmas and New Years with Jaka...watching the hockey game with my mum and her friend...
...and SO much more...

So here goes the sap..

thanks guys...Ihad so much fun here and I'm going to miss you all terribly. Keep in touch while I'm gone...and I'll see you all when I come back in July!

And don't get too jealous! Remember:

"The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines."

Henry J. Tillman