Fun Times Coming Soon

Hey guys!

Haven't really had much to post about lately. Everything seems to be coming to an end, including my time in Australia, which makes me incredibly sad! We had our last rugby game, all of my tv shows, including LOST had their season finales this week, and we had a meeting for international kids who are leaving after this semester. I've only got 39 more days left in the awesome country that is Oz. Ah! How is it almost time to leave (expect to hear that in about every post between now and the time I get back to the states)? And I only have 2 weeks of classes left!!! Crazy.

On the bright side, I still have many more adventures left before I have to go. This weekend, I'm doing my advanced dive certification on Magnetic Island. Included in that is a dive that I've been waiting on since I got here: the Yongala. I'm just ready for the dives this weekend. We start out with a night dive on Friday and then the Yongala is on Saturday. I don't really know the rest of the schedule, but I'm sure it's going to be fun. Also, a bunch of the kids I hang out with are doing their OW certification that weekend too, so we'll all be able to hang out on Maggie!

The weekend after that, I'll be heading to Melbourne and Sydney with Julia and Leandra. It should be pretty fun. We leave Townsville at 7:40pm on Friday, hang out in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday, then head to Sydney at noon on Monday. We get back to Townsville Thursday morning (which happens to be my sisters' last day of school in the states!) It should be a fun adventure, staying in hostels always is. After we get back, I have another week off to study, and then exams Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Then it'll be time to pack everything up and leave:(

I've been talking to the lady at STA travel about changing my flights to include a stopover in Hawaii, and I found out you can only fly from Fiji to Hawaii on Sundays, which cuts my Fiji stop down considerably. Considering it's not the safest place to be unless you're staying at a resort (which I will be doing), it's okay with me. So I go to Fiji with Julie, her mom, and Emily from June 26 to June 28, then I fly to Hawaii and stay for a week! How crazy is that? Look at me being all adventurous and staying in Hawaii by myself! Crazy, eh? Though I'm still open for travel companions! Then I will fly back to good ol' SC on July 5th, after watching the fireworks at Pearl Harbor on July 4th. Woot!

In the past two weeks, we've had our last two games of rugby season: GR and John Flynn, the last of which we almost won. Final score was 15-10:( Oh well...it was a fun season and I can't believe it's over!

Rachel, Colleen and me...Colleen, Rachel and Mandy looking tough


Best #, too bad Bobbi's on the wrong team...and Mandy, Bobbi and me ready for a scrum


Most of the RAW Rugby girls at our end of season party:)

I've been doing a lot of school work lately, including taking some shots for my photography class. Here are a couple of my favs:)

Rody: Resident Rotary Dog


Shots for our advertising project:)

I also crashed the WC Tradies/Ladies party...just got dressed up and hung out. Fun times:)

That's all for now...expect long posts in the coming weeks! Love and miss y'all!
-Jess

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

The Loudermilk family

I'm in Australia and all the cards say "mum," and I forgot to post one so it would get there on time. So, here's my online Happy Mother's Day to an awesome mom who puts up with our craziness (see picture of her and Emily below), let me go to Australia and took that crazy last name of ours! You're the best mom, and you know I love you no matter where I am in the world, even if it is on the opposite side that you're on! Love, love, love you, and I hope your day is great! Can't wait to see you again in 1.5 months!

-Jess

Mama putting up with our crap once again.


Old school pictures of the daughters of the best mom ever!


Some of the luckiest girls ever

Where Have The Last 3 Months Gone!?!

So, I was looking at my calender the other day and realized that I've been in Australia for 3 months. 3 months!?! It's so crazy to think that I've been gone for so long, and that I'll be returning to the States in 2 months. Though I can't wait to see my family, friends and the beautiful Clemson campus, I really am just not ready to leave Oz. I feel like there is so much to do and explore, and I've only just scratched the surface. I wish that I could just hang out and travel, without the burden of schoolwork, but alas, that is not the case:( Hopefully when I find my rich boy I'll get to travel all of the time. PS - I've decided my dream job would allow me to travel EVERYWHERE!

Let's see, not much happened in the past week...just getting assignments done, visiting the doctor to make sure I was a-okay, playing rugby and celebrating my birthday with the kids of the WC. Turning 21 here is way different than it would have been back at Clemson...much more low key, but still good times. I also got to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was really good.

The rugby game last week was really fun. I got super tired because I ended up playing almost the entire game (except for a few minutes in the beginning), because Anne broke/dislocated her finger. Ouch. Anyway, one girl tried to kick me in the face after I tackled her, I got tackled around the neck and Megan slammed into me on accident when I was tackling a girl from the other team. I think I got more whiplash from that game than I did in the car accident! lol...you know it's not good when I felt too bad to eat my chocolate birthday cake after the game! But I'm fine and super excited about the game against George Roberts tonight...it's going to be awesome, because I know some of the girls on their team:)

That's about it for now! Love and miss y'all!
-Jess

Here is my week in pictures:

Me running with the ball...and then getting double teamed.


Me tackling some girl...line out, I'm lifting:)


Me and Mandy trying to figure out what to do...me running again.


Me running and getting past an opposing player.

Getting tackled...Bobbi (GR rugby), me and Mandy after the game

Hanging out at Uni Club...Mandy, Julie and me


I heart this picture...Betsy, me, Mandy and Danielle.