Update: Post-Broome, Pre-Down South trip

We leave tomorrow for our trip Down South, so here's your update before we get back.

12/4/09 Easter Sunday
Happy Easter! To catch up a bit, Saturday we left for Broome, and that whole trip was INCREDIBLE! It’s recorded in my journal and I don’t feel that I could type it all here… so I won’t. Friday came, and I woke up on my own at 9:30, read my book in bed for a bit, ate some brekky, and got my history paper back from Shane. I got a 90%, which is a high HD (High Distinction--the highest letter(s) you can get; to put it in perspective, 78% is an A at UP), and I was super happy about it! Actually, everyone I know about in the house got an HD, so that’s pretty awesome. I watched two episodes of Lie to Me, so I’m all caught up again. I also wrote both my reflection of the Kimberley, and a rough copy of my news story, so that was very productive. Also, everything was closed for good Friday, so it was nice to just have a complete day of rest. Community lunch and dinner were provided, so that was awesome, and I got the recipe for chocolate pie from Grandma. Also, I got the EWC app from Stacey and filled it out and sent it in for a small group leader. So, actually, Friday was pretty productive I guess. Saturday was lovely; I woke up and read my book in bed. Later on, Matt called me on skype and asked if I wanted to catch up since he’s coming into Freo, so I say sure. He came over and hung out for a bit, and then he, Denysse, and I went to the E shed markets, and those were pretty cool. Definitely going back sometime. When Sue and I got home, I realized that I forgot to get my key back from Matt, so I called him on Brooke’s phone, and he said he’d drop it by after Church. So… while we were all downstairs for Nic’s birthday dessert, the yell comes, “Katie, your bf is here,” and Matt was at the doorway since he already brought my key back. Later that night I decided to bake both chocolate pies… so I did. Then we baked the gluten free chocolate cake as well, so that Laura and I could go to Mass at 11. Now to today: EASTER! I woke up this morning very excited, since it was Easter. I got up and got all pretty with my Easter dress and everything (which I am still wearing) and put in my brand new (real!) pearl earrings for the first time. Everyone told me that my Easter basket was super easy to find, but I had about 5 minutes before we were leaving for church, and my clue was “People still use these.” But, I just looked around a bit, and saw it blatantly sitting in the open space beneath the payphone, so that was cool. I’m so happy Nicole hid easter baskets; it makes it feel more like home. Then Laura and I went to Mass, and it was incredible! St. Patrick’s Basilica is gorgeous, both inside and out. Matt told me it has the biggest organ in WA, so that’s pretty cool. I think I may go there for Mass again. The organist was hilarious, ‘cause he was so intense, and he kept swatting at his music. Also, the priest announced an anniversary (40 years today) and gave them a special blessing… then he kissed the wife on the lips right after the husband did. But actually the (normal) priest got chest pains this morning, so he’s in the hospital while the higher up guy celebrated Easter Mass instead. Hope everything’s okay. After Mass, we came back and I facebook chatted with David for the next hour and a half or so. We had a really good conversation. I told him about the girl talk with Grace and Emily last night, and how I said I always figured I’d just marry David, and he said, “Well we’re already married.” After that chat it was about time for Easter dinner, so I went downstairs, and met James. He’s from Botswana, but has now achieved permanent residency in Australia. He’s really cool, and I learned a lot about Africa. The deviled eggs were amazing! Although, dinner didn’t actually start til 4, but it was so so good, and I was so full! We had chicken, lamb, potatoes and green bean casserole and salad. For dessert we had the pies, the cake, and carrot cake. The pie didn’t set to well; I think I should have boiled it longer, but it was still good. I got a lot of compliments. And lots of people went back for seconds! It was so yummy though, because I felt like I was eating Grandma’s pie, which was cool since I just talked to everybody at Grandma and Grandpa’s earlier today, including Ryan. After dinner, I just came up for half an hour, and then Laura, Denysse, and I were picked up by her host family at six and taken to his house. (The Bakers). He has a pizza oven in the shape of a dragon in his back yard, and it’s so cool! Even the nostrils light up! The pizza was amazing, and it was just an all around good time; kinda reminded me of family events with the Beaubien family. I liked Tim, who’s 13 years old (on October 31st) and in year 7. He’s a pretty cool kid, and he’s with the friends visiting from Melbourne for Easter. He seems pretty down to earth. He also hid all the easter eggs (just chocolate eggs) and then we went looking for them after dark. Then Hannah invited us to sit with all the ‘youth’ at the pizza oven. It was really cool to just hang out and talk with people our age. The scottish couple was pretty cool. The girl, Amanda, was pretty hilarious. Then Gabby and her boyfriend (Simon) were cool. She’s 20 and he’s 25, but she seems so much older! He kind of has a mullet thing going on, but it looks good on him. Then Hannah is just gorgeous and sweet and nice, and very toned. Her boyfriend is cute too… he kinda looks like Ben Affleck… only brunette. But we hung out there for a bit; I had a few sips of Bailey’s and left around 9:30. Now we’re back and I’m gonna watch House, but I just wanted to get caught up real quick. Over all, it’s been a really unproductive but lovely day (uncharacteristically warm) and a really good Easter.