YAY!!! It's OCTOBER!!!!

Ok, I haven't updated in forever. I didn't do much last week. Sunday I went to church with Amy and Joe. It was really great to see them and catch up! Amy has a little baby bump!!! I'm sure some of you have seen it or her; she's back in the States now for 2 weeks and comes in the night before the second service of ReChurch! Anyways, we went to a Family Baptist Church I think near Riccarton, a major street in CHCH. It was different, as usual. I was expecting maybe a little less weirdness/spiritual talk because the preacher spoke about how he was raised Anglican, went to a Baptist Church during college, and found that there was no heart involved there, that it was completely a facade. It was an OK sermon...could have taken way less than 40 minutes but oh well. And there wasn't a lot of fire or passion to it...it was more like a lecture or something (as Joe pointed out). It was on the Beatitudes. After he was finished, there was an awkward time during worship where it just got really quiet and people were expected to speak out what God was telling them or something. Then worship started again...and they waved flags. I was singing and I saw this shadow behind me and just assumed someone was waving their arms, then realized as it got closer that it was someone waving a flag to the music. I seriously thought it was going to hit us, it was quite scary. I could feel Amy shaking with laughter next to me and thankfully I didn't look at her or Joe cause I would have lost it. We pretty much rushed out of there right after, Amy literally ran the last few steps to the car! It was so much fun. Anyways, we went for lunch after at a Mexican restaurant and it was DELICIOUS! I want to go back there again! After that I went home and did a whole lot of nothing...caught up on some reading, started writing my essay, etc.

The rest of last week was pretty much the same. Although I did go to trivia night for Ilam (our apartments) on Wednesday, and we won 3rd place! We're so gifted haha! AND we played against HEAPS OF NERDS! So we felt smart...I didn't cause the only question I even answered was wrong. Well, besides the finance/econ/accounting ones. I finally finished a stupid Art History paper that I'd spent most of the week "researching" and basically avoiding at 2 that night, and then couldn't fall asleep after. Thursday night, Sara, Daniel and I made a Tim Tam cake for Jayme for her birthday Friday. Tim Tams are the best cookies EVER! They are currently being sold at Target and I'm making everyone eat them when I get home. I'm bringing them to Thanksgiving as well, and I'll teach everyone how to do a "Tim Tam Slam" with hot chocolate. It's delicious I promise. Anyways, we had a mishap with the cake since I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing (go figure) and had to go get more cake-mix since I ruined the first one. I put in too much milk...Sara took out the extra milk since we'd added everything else, but you're supposed to beat the mix for 5 minutes...we don't have ANY kitchen appliances so we did it by hand. Turns out that you really have to get it mixed in well since the first cake turned out horrible anyways and was completely flat. It was the cheapest brand so I didn't expect much. Anyways, we finally finished it, made home-made icing, and added Tim Tams on top =). It ended up being super chocolaty and sweet, overall OK. Friday we went to the movies and saw 500 Days of Summer for Jayme's birthday, then headed to Pizza Hut for dinner. We ate the Tim Tam cake after that and played Dutch Blitz. Our flatmates came back drunk and tried playing with us, which was entertaining. We called it a night around 8, then I had a friend from Dunedin staying with me that night. The next morning we left for Kaikoura!!!

Kaikoura is a small town north of CHCH on the East Coast of South Island. It's really well known for whale watching and swimming with dolphins. It has an annual Seafest, which we attended this year. I was expecting something like the Taste since it cost us $35 just to get in. Instead, you still had to pay for all food and drinks. I mean, it was cheaper considering it was seafood, but still. I was disappointed. We spent most of Saturday laying around (it was gorgeous out) and laughing at the different costumes (apparently someone wins 1st prize for best costume). Eventually we left, went walking around the super small town of Kaikoura, and then headed to our campsite after dinner. Sara and I needed help from Nikki and Jayme pitching our tent, but to be fair Jayme and Nikki had directions and practiced before we came =). Anyways, we had fun, snacked, talked, and played on the Flying Fox, which was this awesome toy at the playground. Pictures of it will be posted soon ;). Anyways, we were all tired since we'd been up since 6 and the bus ride didn't allow for sleep haha. When it finally got dark we all pretty much crashed, except me. Instead, I woke up around 10 and had to use the toilet like never before! I was so mad because it was so far away, and I held it for as long as possible and then was afraid I was going to pee my pants haha! I couldn't even run because I didn't want to add pressure to my bladder =(. I made it though, and then tried to creep back to the tent. I woke Nikki up and scared the crap out of her. Then I heard people arguing literally right outside our tent, which scared me so I was wide awake for awhile. The ground was cold and I was freezing, so I didn't sleep well at all and woke up a lot! I woke early the next morning and waited around for everyone else to move. Finally we started moving around 7:30 and headed into town after packing up our tents. It was cold and rainy Sunday, so there was no chance for us to walk to the seal colony. We did a wine tour instead, which was cute, and met a woman from Manhattan who recently graduated from Yale Law School...a-mazing. All I could think was that she must be absolutely brilliant. When I asked her where she had attended, she said Yale, but was really modest about it...we all embarrassed her since we were like "oooohhhhhhhh woowww" haha. We ended up chilling at the winery for about an hour, trying to pass time since we had til 4 before our bus came and didn't want to be outside. When we got back to town, we went on a "cafe crawl" haha and wasted time in different cafes talking. When we finally got back to CHCH, I talked with Joshua for a super long time and it was fantastic. By the time he went to bed, it was time for me to go as well. Sorry babe =).

And that brings us to Monday, which I was sick for. I have a horrible head cold and felt like crap all day. I went to class and then took naps and watched The Mentalist all day. Sara and I planned our WWOOFing extravaganza and started emailing people. We are hoping to WWOOF at a Bed & Breakfast near Nelson or Marlborough, which has nice wineries and beaches and heaps to do. WWOOFing is an organization short for Willing Workers On Organic Farms...but it doesn't necessarily have to be "organic" or a "farm." Anyways, in exchange for 4 hours of work a day, you get free accommodation and meals. It's like moving in with a family for a few days and I'm really excited about it! We're looking for families with kids, and some of the places offer crafts like pottery classes and such. So we'll see how that goes, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. So, that finally brings you all up-to-date. Sorry it's taken me so long. I'll do better to update this. And I'm not sure if I've posted all my plans yet, so I'll do that as well. Love you all! Miss you!!!