Twenty Years Young

TWENTY TWENTY TWENTY! 

I just celebrated my twentieth birthday

I just turned twenty in Australia

I am no longer a teenager & am now in my twenties

It's such a strange feeling
I definitely feel twenty 

My brain is having a hard time grasping the concept though

How to celebrate this new exciting time of my life, 

while in a foreign country where I knew so few people? 

I couldn't have asked for a better night with better friends. 

It was also the first time my three roommates and I all went out together! I love them.

I turned twenty on Thursday, September 19th, 2013

My morning was spent working on a research paper

 it was such a beautiful morning so I sat outside at an organic cafe near my uni to do my work

My afternoon was spent at work, at Woollahra Public School 

running around with the kids that I love so much

My night started at Spice I Am, one of the best Thai food places in Sydney, 

with a group of 12 lovely friends

The menu wasn't very big but my food was delicious: black bean tofu with veggies in peanut sauce 

I love peanut sauce too much. 

After dinner we went to a retro/vintage bar called the Soda Factory

My wonderful new Aussie friends met up with us at the bar to help me celebrate! 

It was the absolute coolest bar I've been to

When you walk in it just looks like an old fashion hot dog stand, 

then you walk through a door that looks like a coca-cola refrigerator 

and are suddenly back in time. 

From the vintage green leather couches, to the band dressed from another era, I was instantly in love. After a few hours our group had dwindled down to myself and 5 Australian friends.

We realized it was 11:30pm and so there was only 30 minutes left of my birthday

With that 30 minutes, my friends danced circles around me, 

we danced a conga line in circles around the entire bar, 

they made me swing dance through the tables of chatting people, 

and keep in mind... no one else in the bar was dancing and I NEVER dance but it was so much fun! 

The next few hours were spent dancing, singing, 

sneaking on stage to pretend play the drums until we got kicked off, laughing 

and enjoying the night with amazing friends. 

They sang me birthday songs all the way back to my apartment 

I can't imagine starting my twenties in a better way. I am so blessed they came out to help me celebrate. 

Love & Responsibility

I love love

I love learning about love

I love reading books about love

I love hearing people's love stories

 I love loving everyone around me

I got an email from my Aussie uni with the subject 'How To Love?' 

It immediately sparked my curiosity

The email explained that 'How To Love?' was the #1 google search in Australia and the United States 

and the #2 search in New Zealand and Canada in 2012

The University of Notre Dame Sydney was starting a 6 week social series about love & responsibility "A fun way to make new friends, nibble on free food and sip on hot chocolate, whilst chatting about how to grow in authentic and genuine friendships and relationships"

Sounded awesome to me! 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go was to meet Australians and grow in genuine friendships 

I had been here for about a month and I was friends with about 2 Australians and 20+ Americans

 that wasn't how I wanted to be spending my time abroad

I was ready to meet more Aussies.

Throughout the 6 week program we ate lots of chocolate, brownies, tim tams and hot cocoa. 

At the start of each night we would gather as a large group, 

listen to readings from Karol Wojtyla's words on Love & Responsibility, 

break up into small groups to discuss the readings and talk about any questions we had, 

and then come back together with everyone to share our thoughts. 

We talked about everything from virtuous relationships, sexual attraction, fatal attractions, 

sense and sentimentality to the gift of ourselves, tenderness 

and of course:

LOVE AND RESPONSIBILITY! 

At week one of this wonderful event I met Patrick and Lauren Langrell 

not even realizing, until later, that they were related

Patrick was the first person to come up to me on the first night

I'm sure I looked as awkward and out of place as I felt (the bottom picture shows my awkwardness)

I didn't know a single person at the event but I was there to meet Australians and learn 'how to love'

Pat came over to me offering chocolate 

and the most friendly face I could have imagined in a courtyard full of strangers

As he was busy running the event 

I sat and listened to the readings and joined a small group which was led by his sister Lauren

Another joyful, friendly face in a crowd of strangers

I immediately felt at ease chatting with her about the readings and discussion questions

We bonded over our love for coconut hot chocolate from Max Brenner 

She was soon off to help move her older sister to New York City to join the Sisters of Life, 

a beautiful group of religious women devoted to poverty, chastity, obedience, 

and the sacredness of human life. What an amazing family! 

These two have made me feel so welcomed into their lives 

Inviting me to different events, masses, nights out, introducing me to more lovely Aussie friends, forcing me to go Cuban dancing and planning road trips, 

and weekend adventures for the coming weeks. 

I also met their brother Tom in the following weeks, who is as great to know as they all are.

I am so thankful that Patrick sent out the email that brought me to Love & Responsibility 

where I met some of the greatest friends 

I am so looking forward to getting to know them better and making more unforgettable memories. 

Exploring the Beautiful Australia

Time to start exploring!

I got to check out the Taronga Zoo with my good friend and her visiting family

This is my third zoo since being abroad 

I don't even like zoos that much! 

Taronga was the best by far though 

They had so many elephants, giraffes, zebras, a huge aquatic life area 

It was more than double the size of the other zoos 

It really was one of the best I've ever been to. 

And it didn't hurt that it overlooked the Sydney Harbour and the Opera House.

One of the things on my 'must do' list for my semester abroad was to go hiking. 

The smallest things make me extremely happy

 Like seeing the water 

I get really excited seeing the Harbour reflecting the lights of the city and bridge at night 

Or walking a trail and getting lost for hours

My friend Katrina and I were craving a good Aussie hike

We took the train out of Sydney about an hour

Found ourselves in a ghost town that had not one store open 

We took the bus too far but finally found ourselves at Lane Cove National Park

It was a beautiful walk along the river 

We found some awesome graffiti walls, a small waterfall 

we hopped on rocks to cross the water and continue the hike

It was a great time until we tried to find our way back 

We ended up walking along a highway for over an hour in search of our starting point or a bus stop

We made it home safely before our stomachs started to eat themselves 

It was a great day loving on all the nature. 

More than I was missing the beach a few weeks ago, now I was really missing the ocean

Salty hair

 Salty skin 

You know, mermaids can only survive for so long without the necessary dose of salt water

Good thing TEAN planned a surfing lesson for us at Bondi Beach! 

I have grown up around surfers- my dad is surf obsessed

but I have never been too keen on it myself

Regardless, there was no way I was passing up an opportunity to get in the ocean

I suited up in a full length wetsuit because it is winter over here 

the water is very very cold; I grabbed a red soft top longboard and hit the waves 

I probably only stood up on three waves but I did better than I thought I would 

I loved every second of being on the water with the salt consuming my body and hair

It was a beautiful morning that was over much too quickly

I will find my way back into the ocean soon! 

During my first week in Sydney I spotted a face across the Harbour Bridge

Not a human face but a huge, clown-like, scary looking face

Turns out its an amusement park called Luna Park 

I've been wanting to go ever since 

It looked pretty small and really cute, minus the creepy clown face

I never got around to going until now

I went on Friday night with two of my roommates- Sam and Mackenzie 

and Mackenzie's boyfriend Tim

It was a BLAST! 

I felt like such a kid, there was hardly anyone at the park 

The four of us just ran around and did every single ride until the park closed 

Mackenzie got sick from all the whirling and twirling and spinning and upsidedown rides 

Three of my favorite things at the park were:

1. bumper cars 

2. this huge, steep slide in the fun house that you sat on a rug to slide down and went super fast 

3. a ride that looked pretty childish but once the cars got moving we were spinning so fast  

I was literally stuck on Sam's lap and couldn't move if I tried

There was also a ferris wheel 

it overlooked the Sydney Harbour, Bridge and Opera House when it reached the top

So freaking beautiful! 

Again, it is the little things that make me so happy 

That Friday night I was having more fun than any kid at that park.