Harry Potter VS Lord of the Rings Current Winner: Harry Potter
Pepsi VS Coke Current Winner: Coke
Mac VS PC Current Winnter: PC
http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14963896/ Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:46:41 PDT




Woohoo!! Back from Ski Camp again. And it was awesome, as usual! Here is the run down...

Pre-Camp: Saturday
Beebs and I drove to Tinaroo the day before camp began. Was good to get settled and do some leader-initiative type activities (think high ropes) before the campers arrived.

Day 1: Sunday
Campers arrived! I have the Grade 9 girls, essentially the same group as last year. Dani, Tash, Helena, Millie, Carolyn and Joanna.
We played some group-intiative games to get to know each other and ended in a water/shaving cream fight. I got a faceful (and mouthful) of shaving cream from David ~sunderer92 That night we had a photo rally, where we were given different themes that we had to take photos of.
The speaker, Ed Springer, started his talks on the beatitudes. Today's was "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". The talks are AWESOME. Being poor in spirit means realising we have absolutely NOTHING to offer God. And what do poor people do? Beg. We are so messed up and sinful that we can't offer God anything, instead, we have to ask (beg) for forgiveness and salvation. Through this, we become children of God, and like Jesus, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Day 2: Monday
We had a touch footy/soccer competition, and my brother's team won. It was funny, because in the finals, my brother was on one team and my sister was on the other. I didn't know who to cheer for
Ed's talk today was on "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted". It means we must mourn all sin, not just our own, but the whole world's. So often we see sin and totally ignore it or laugh at it. Instead, we should mourn for it. Of course we will never completely mourn for it because we are imperfect, instead, we need Jesus to help us. And because we mourn, Jesus has promised to comfort us. He does so much for us!
Monday night we had a wide game that I ran. Two teams running around in the dark, taking each other's tags, stealing bottles from the other team's base, good fun.
Ed has brought a trainee guy, Paul, who is awesome. Paul and another leader, Joel Willis, have been making a daily "Tv show" called Tinaroo Today, with interviews with campers, reports on the daily activities, and "spying" on people with "relationships". The rule at camp is no relationships, which means, even if you have a bf or gf, you have to cool it for the week so that you get the chance to make friends with *other* people and don't spend the whole week with one person! Of course, the photos that Tinaroo Today broadcast were just set-ups, but Joel and Paul had good fun with it.

Day 3: Tuesday
Today was supposed to be the first ski/high ropes day, but it's raining and we don't want kids to get sick. So we decided to go bowling instead. It was good fun. Ed's talk today was on "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth". It means that being meek is being like Jesus. Gentle and loving and caring, but bold and standing up for what is right. We should be yoked to him and wanting to do things exactly as he would. Like the whole "What Would Jesus Do" catchcry. And because Jesus will inherit the earth (being God's son), if we are yoked to him and being meek like him, we will too.
Tonight was the Beatitude Theatre Sports night. Each group had a few grade 12s helping, and we were given a Beatitude, some props, and had to think up a creative skit to present our beatitude. Our group won, GO GROUP 7!! There were 3 judges, and we were the only team to be given a perfect 10 by a judge (thanks Craig!) We took the mickey out of Tinaroo Today and presented a mock version. It was great fun and very funny judging by the amount of laughter from the audience and judges.

Day 4: Wednesday
Today was the first Ski Day! I went to the ski day, there was also high ropes operating back at camp and a Mystery Tour. Ally and I got to go out on the jet ski with Ray and we got completely smashed. The first two stacks I simply wasn't ready and went flying off the back due to the centrifical force when Ray did a 180 turn. I came straight off the back once and hit the back corner of the jet ski with my butt and got a big bruise On two other stacks I hit either ankle on the side of the jet ski- one time Ally la... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14698336/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14698336/ Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:27:39 PDT

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*Sigh* I need to get back out with my camera, don't I? I haven't done any decent photography work in ages.

New Poll: Which Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows death cut you the deepest?
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Hooray! Yes, *Elorine caught my 7000 pageviews:


So here is the promised feature for whoever caught it! *Elorine started her time here on dA with a bit of photography, but mainly literature (which I've featured at the end). However, she's moved more to photography, and it has improved greatly, and she's really bringing out some good shots and experimenting with computer adjustments. Here are some of my favourites.





















<-- This certainly isn't a favourite chapter or anything, but I have been following this series for ages now and love it.

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Journal Feature for whoever captures my 7000 pageviews

My Facebook profile

Go and give a good deviantART welcome to my youngest sister, and to my brother. Be nice, they're only kids ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14665413/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14665413/ Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:49:45 PDT Haha, so anyway, HOW GOOD was the Cowboys VS Warriors game?! Dad and I got free Eastern Stand tickets, we were smack bang in the middle about 3/4 of the way up. Perfect view to see all of the action, no matter where on the field it was. The only drawback was the fact the game started at 4pm so it was broad daylight. Luckily the setting sun didn't get in our eyes til the last 5 minutes or so.

Anyway, the main reason I went was because David was playing with Pimlico's Brass Marching Band as pre-game entertainment. They were excellent. The played the Cowboys theme song ("The Cowboys are my team, and it's my dream, to see them at the top!") which of course everyone loved. Unfortunately they played early when the stadium was only half full. They also played "We are the Champions" and another one which I don't know the name to.

Then one row of boys came out the front and as Mr Millar played the stripper music on his trumpet, they stripped their shirts off (yeah, with all the drama etc., they hammed it up a bit ). David wasn't one of the strippers lol but then they all did the haka, seeing as we were playing the NZ Warriors. Only the "stripped off" boys and the next 2 or 3 rows of the formation did the haka, because the back 3 rows were made up of boys who were not on music tour (when they learnt the haka), and girls, who aren't allowed to do it. They were really good- when they were first stripping of course everyone was cheering and whistling, then they started the haka and everyone laughed and booed them. Once they got into it though everyone was cheering again, coz they were good. Mr Millar is a kiwi himself which is why he was so keen on the haka

So, here are some photos from the big day...

(I should have taken photos of the game itself, but alas, I didn't think of that. Just took them of Pimlico Brass.)


Initial formation


Circle formation


"P" for "Pimlico", playing "We are the Champions"- David's smack bang in the middle, beside the backbone of the "P"


Strippers


The haka. David's third column from the left, very front (still clothed) row.

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Journal Feature for whoever captures my 7000 pageviews

My Facebook profile

Go and give a good deviantART welcome to my youngest sister, and to my brother. Be nice, they're only kids

MY (other) SISTER GOT A GRAPHICS TABLET FOR HER BIRTHDAY O_O.

I shall steals it once she has a play on it

Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvanklestein will be visiting February 2008, get in touch... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14621896/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14621896/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:42:24 PDT They would also likely be printed without the borders you see in my gallery, so you could frame them how you liked. Let me know

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Journal Feature for whoever captures my 7000 pageviews

My Facebook profile

Go and give a good deviantART welcome to my youngest sister, and to my brother. Be nice, they're only kids

MY (other) SISTER GOT A GRAPHICS TABLET FOR HER BIRTHDAY O_O.

I shall steals it once she has a play on it

Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvanklestein will be visiting February 2008, get in touch with him so you can meet a fellow deviant from across the Tasman!

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Harry Potter VS Lord of the Rings Current Winner: Lord of the Rings
Pepsi VS Coke Current Winner: Coke
Mac VS PC Current Winnter: PC
Black VS White Current Winner: Black
Skiing VS Snowboarding Current Winner:Skiing
Day VS Night Current Winner: Night
M&M's VS Smarties Current Winner: M&M's
Pirates VS Ninjas Current Winner: Pirates

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Here are some stamps that tell you a little bit about me ^_^


~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14593805/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14593805/ Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:52:37 PDT against getting a Facebook. I already had too many social networking websites, I argued.

And then one night I was at Andre's (who usually doesn't have *anything* to do with the social side of the internet except Google Talk ) and found out he had Facebook. And I ran my eyes over his Facebook friends... Everyone was on there! Sure, I'd joined MySpace for that benefit, but most of my MySpace friends were "secondary" type friends- ie. not the people I hang out with on a weekly basis. My "primary" friends- those I *do* see pretyt much every week- were all on Facebook!

Well, there my decision went out the window. I've now been sucked in and superglued to the world-wide domination tool that is Facebook. I've decided to completely ditch Bebo and MySpace- I'll leave my accounts active, but really, my interest in them has all but gone. Facebook is where it's at- that's where my real friends are. After all, that's what social networking sites are about, right? I've already added far too many applications to my profile. Have joined far too many groups.

Luckily, though, there's no such thing as too many friends.

See my Facebook Profile

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My Facebook profile

Go and give a good deviantART welcome to my youngest sister, and to my brother. Be nice, they're only kids

MY (other) SISTER GOT A GRAPHICS TABLET FOR HER BIRTHDAY O_O.

I shall steals it once she has a play on it

Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvanklestein will be visiting February 2008, get in touch with him so you can meet a fellow deviant from across the Tasman!

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Pepsi VS Coke Current Winner: Coke
Mac VS PC Current Winnter: PC
Black VS White Current Winner: Black
Skiing VS Snowboarding Current Winner:Skiing
Day VS Night Current Winner: Night
M&M's VS Smarties Current Winner: M&M's
Pirates VS Ninjas Current Winner: Pirates

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Here are some stamps that tell you a little bit about me ^_^

~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14492023/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14492023/ Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:50:26 PDT yvanklestein so here goes...

1. Post these rules
2. Each person tagged must post 8 random (hopefully interesting) facts about themselves
3. Tags should write a journal of these facts
4. At the end of the post 8 more bloggers are tagged and named
5. Go to their page and leave a comment telling them that they're tagged.

I'm going to Tasmania at the end of the year- the last state of Australia I haven't been to! Mwahahahhaa--*cough*
I have two assignments due this week, two due next week, one due the week after... I hate assignments
I get seriously ticked off when people act like someone with depression should just "get over" it, or can help it that they have depression.
I've now been going out with Andre for 2 years and 4 months
I only have 9 weeks of my degree left.
I want to work in public relations.
I don't want to be a reporter
I'm going to be a bridesmaid next year

I tag *Elorine, ~10eel, ~sunderer92, ~Mickey-Mouse, ~ZmanzDaOnlyMan4Me, ~Jaymay123, ~polinius (when he actually comes on ), and *fearful-toxicin (Oh, but you guys don't have to tag anyone else if you don't want to.)

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Go and give a good deviantART welcome to my youngest sister, and to my brother. Be nice, they're only kids

MY (other) SISTER GOT A GRAPHICS TABLET FOR HER BIRTHDAY O_O.

I shall steals it once she has a play on it

I'm beginning to suspect a case of RSI in my right thumb... no, not from texting, from typing assignments! I use my right thumb for the space bar, not my left one. I also severely bruised the muscle at the base of my thumb last week when it got slammed between my leg and a desk, so I think that might be contributing to the pain...

Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvank... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14277478/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14277478/ Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:50:20 PDT
This semester I'm back to 4 subjects as usual.

Media and Race Relations
Television in Society
News Print Editing
Tourism Policy and Planning

Tourism Policy and Planning is a bit weird. We have no formal lectures. The tutes are voluntary. We only have to go to 3 of the 6 workshops offered all semester. We choose the number of assignments we do based on what mark we want to get. (ie. the more assignments you do the higher your mark. There is no C, D, HD for the assignments, just fail, satisfactory or satisfactory+). We set our own due dates. So for example, I'm aiming for a D so that means one Policy Planning Paper (compulsory), 3 workshops (compulsory), and 3 Topic Discussion Papers (compulsory to get a D, but not a P). And I set my own due dates for the Topic Discussion Papers. Weird o.O

I had my intensive subject on the holidays too, it was actually good. It was Tourism Transport and Technology, and it was held in Cairns for just over a week. We took the tilt train up there (crappy rail lines means the train only goes at 83km/hr) and stayed at the Student Lodge. My roommates were Lauren and Rae, we had good fun staying together. The food at the Lodge was terrific too.

As you know I've been experimenting with stamps recently, and have gotten well and truly immersed in writing this Harry Potter fanfic. It's good fun and good practice for writing I've also been doing more practicing with digital painting which I'll post a WIP for sometime.

Anyway I have a bible study to head off to now, so have fun and I'll be back later.

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MY SISTER GOT A GRAPHICS TABLET FOR HER BIRTHDAY O_O.

I shall steals it once she has a play on it

I'm beginning to suspect a case of RSI in my right thumb... no, not from texting, from typing assignments! I use my right thumb for the space bar, not my left one. I also severely bruised the muscle at the base of my thumb last week when it got slammed between my leg and a desk, so I think that might be contributing to the pain...

Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvanklestein will be visiting February 2008, get in touch with him so you can meet a fellow deviant from across the Tasman!

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Mac VS PC Current Winnter: PC
Black VS White Current Winner: Black
Skiing VS Snowboarding Current Winner:Skiing
Day VS Night Current Winner: Night
M&M's VS Smarties Current Winner: M&M's
Pirates VS Ninjas Current Winner: Pirates

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Here are some stamps that tell you a little bit about me ^_^

http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14173139/ Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:16:40 PDT Edit: As many of you may have noticed, I've started experimenting with stamp-making etc. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as for what else I could make stamps of. Feel free to suggest anything, whether you think I like that or not, I might just make it anyway if I think somebody else might use it! Just leave me a comment

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Is it just me, or did Scraps used to NOT appear in your gallery, and now they do?

Because mine appear in my gallery and I don't want them to

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Do you live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne? =yvanklestein will be visiting February 2008, get in touch with him so you can meet a fellow deviant from across the Tasman!

- - - - - - -

Skiing VS Snowboarding Current Winner:Skiing
Day VS Night Current Winner: Night
M&M's VS Smarties Current Winner: M&M's
Pirates VS Ninjas Current Winner: Pirates

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Here are some stamps that tell you a little bit about me ^_^




~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14129179/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14129179/ Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:14:26 PDT Some are emotes you'll recognise as now-standard dA emoticons... give some dA love to their original creators!










AAAAAND....



PS: Sorry for the random journal entries in your message centres which ended up not existing. I was just testing some random stuff and the preview box was stuffing up.

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Past Polls

Day VS Night Current Winner: Night
M&M's VS Smarties Current Winner: M&M's
Pirates VS Ninjas... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14067097/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/14067097/ Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:48:50 PDT ***Currently making Andre so very proud of my limited CSS knowledge***

I have won another subscription from =yvanklestein, this time, not for doing something cool like coming third in a competition, but simply for winning a bet.

FIRSTLY
As such, I'm going to be putting more polls up (once the sub arrives)- for things that are of common debate.

Things like my current poll: Pirates VS Ninjas.

Other ones I'm considering putting up are M&Ms VS Smarties, Violet Crumbles VS Crunchies, Night VS Day, Pepsi VS Coke etc etc.

If you have some suggestions, feel free to leave me a comment suggesting them.

PS- don't bother leaving answers to the above polls- you can have your say once the poll actually goes up

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SECONDLY
I'm going to do a feature journal, where you're free to suggest one of your artworks to be featured, PLUS someone else's artwork. (In other words, everyone suggests TWO artworks).

Feel free to start leaving suggestions in the comments of this journal.

Thanks!

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Edit: I've been tagged by ~10eel

The rules are:
1-post these rules
2-each person tagged must post 8 random facts about themselves
3-tags should write a journal/ blog of these facts
4- at the end of the post 8 more persons are tagged and named
5-go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged

1. I've currently become obsessed with Michael Buble
2. I've found some devWEAR I would *love*
3. I am fascinated by tattoos but it's highly unlikely I'd ever get one myself
4. I love Harry Potter fanart, provided it's canon-based.
5. One of my subjects this semester doesn't have any assignments or an end of semester exam. (Instead, it has 4 or 5 tests throughout the semester. Which works just fine for me).
6. I was once sitting on the end of my bed, and almost fell off backwards. I was just sitting there, and suddenly, I fell. But Andre grabbed me in time
7. I got a $20 gift voucher for any Ken Duncan shop today. HOORAY ^_^
8. If I could follow anyone around for a day, it would be Ken Duncan. Even if he was just sitting in his office at the computer trawling through hundreds of photos. It has to be done. I reckon I could learn heaps just from that.

Umm... not sure if Rule 3 means I have to write more. I suppose I can anyway. I became obsessed with Michael Buble when I heard him on Megan's MySpace, and then went to his MySpace, before following links to his website. I also found a CD of his at WOW for $10 so I think I will be visiting them sometime soon

Oh yeah- and I think it is SO COOL that Australia's most famous landscape photographer is a Christian. (I did already know that, but it's on the forefront of my mind seeing as I've been browsing through his website today).

Oh yeah, and devWEAR. Would love the iron-on badges so I can put one on my denim bag (which has a collection of badges on it from all over Australia). The lanyard would be cool too, but I really love the women's tank top and "When Clown meets Community" shirt

Umm.. yeah... the others are fairly self-explanatory.



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"I believe there is a force at work which is much bigger than you or I. The key is to tap into the Creator's power rather than your technical understanding which, by comparison, is very limited. This is a hard pill for many to swallow (especially "techno heads") because people love to be in control. Personally, I would rather be out of control. I'm just an average photographer with a great God." -Ken Duncan

... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13934394/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13934394/ Sun, 29 Jul 2007 23:30:07 PDT
Well, this is the last day of my sub. *Moment's silence* Ok, I'm over it.

In other news...

I READ THE SEVENTH HARRY POTTER BOOK. IT IS FANTABULOUS. (Don't worry, there are no spoilers until I warn you).

The epilogue at the end was kind of crap. It was good because it kind of tied the story up, but at the same time it was very vague. I read a news interview with JK where she gives a lot more info about things you discover in the epilogue, so if you're interested, just comment and I'll let you know


SPOILERS NOW, BE WARNED







HEDWIG DIED!! Omgosh NO! What did she ever do? Poor Harry. My jaw dropped when I read what he had to do.

OOOH OOH OOH... SNAPE WAS A GOODY! I KNEW IT! In your face, Snape-haters! *does a victory dance* I never liked him as a person, but I knew that he was ultimately a good guy. Despite those people who couldn't see past him killing Dumbledore.

And... he loved Lily?? O.O I've read fics with Snape/Lily, and though I never thought of him hating her... too weird. He's one messed up man. I suppose he might be a baddie in the sense that he supports Voldemort's ideals (eg. pure-blood dominance) but he's a goody in the sense that what he actually DID was going against what Voldemort DID. Even if it was just because he loved Lily and depended on Dumbledore to help him. Having Voldemort kill him was a bit of an anti-climax though.

And Mad-Eye died... no! That man is indestructible! Noooooo, damn it, NO! And... Lupin and Tonks... right after having a son... LUPIN! TONKS! Aaaaaargh I feel so sorry for Andromeda, losing her husband and daughter and son-in-law. I also freaked out when Hagrid jumped off the motor bike. I thought he was dead. And poor Colin

However, what I want to know... a few weeks ago I was researching for my fic, and wikipedia said Colin died in the Battle of Hogwarts. I thought it was referring to the battle in the sixth book. However, I didn't remember Colin dying. This was WEEKS before the release. WHO WAS THE IDIOT WHO PUT INFO FROM A LEAK ON WIKIPEDIA?!

And... and... and... Dobby! O.O Noooo, not poor Dobby! House-elf magic is awesome. Dobby died serving them!
It was so awesome when Kreacher started treating Harry's orders with joy. And when he lead the house-elf attack in Hogwarts. That was so cool.

I also always knew Narcissa was a bit of a softy at heart. Again, she might support Voldy's ideals, but her heart and love (especially for Draco) will always overpower that.

Peeves, as usual, rocked. Even in his small, almost insignificant role. So funny.

But the part that made me saddest, when I actually spoke aloud at the book, was when Fred died. My face went blank, I re-read it 3 times and was like "Fred... no! Not Fred! Nooo!"

And Neville rocks my socks. I always knew that he would pull through in some significant way in the final book, and HE DID, HE KILLED NAGINI. GO NEVILLE YOU GOOD THING!!

I also thought the Deathly Hallows were relatively insignificant and not all that necessary. There were simply, to me, a side-thing; Voldemort wanted them as an additional way of keeping himself alive, Harry was trying to beat him to them. They weren't central to the horcrux hunt or to actually killing Voldemort.

Although, then again, if it weren't for the Elder wand, then the wand with which Voldemort attacked Harry wouldn't have rebounded its curse upon Voldy. Still, we didn't need the whole "Deathly Hallows" legend surrounding it.
Which leads me to question, why did the Elder wand successfully curse Harry in the forest? (Ie. it "killed" him, sending him to 'limbo' or whatever it was [in the process, simply killing the horcrux within Harry]). Why didn't the Elder wand react the same way that it did in Hogwarts? Perhaps it sensed the part of Voldemort within Harry and so allowed the curse to continue, knowing it wasn't actually killing Harry.

I totally didn't pick up why Voldemort's curses weren't working on the crowd after Harry 'died'. But of cours... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13815840/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13815840/ Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:40:33 PDT
This is a lot funnier if you actually randomly list the names first.
no cheating !

1 Andre
2 Megan
3 David
4 Michelle
5 Kara
6 Jessie
7 Sarah
8 Murray
9 Johann
10 Heidi
11 Marnie
12 Sarani
13 Emily

DON'T LOOK AHEAD UNLESS U FILLED UP THE TOP !
QUESTIONS.

how did you meet 3?
David's my brother

how long have you known number 8?
I've known Murray my whole life. Or rather, *his* whole life, because he's younger than me

what do you think of number 7?
Sarah's lovely

what would you do if 4 confessed they loved you?
Umm... what kind of love? Michelle's my sister

a fact about 9?
Johann has 2 brothers and 5 sisters (hope I counted right )

who is 2 going out with?
*stifles giggles* Megan's going out with my brother XD

what's 5 do for a living?
well Kara's a student atm but she works at Bubs Baby Shop (and maybe still at her uncle's shop Royce Rollz? not sure.)

where does 7 live?
Sarah lives at Pallarenda, T'ville

what do you like about number 1?
Andre is my wonderful, gorgeous boyfriend ^_^ he's incredibly patient, friendly, loving, gentle, a hard worker, determined, fun-loving... I could go on and on

whys number 12 your friend?
Sarani- well originally because Kara introduced us lol. But also because she is a very good listener, we used to moan about our boy problems to each other in grade 11 and 12 lol (and still do sometimes lol).

do you miss number 6?
not really, I see Jess pretty often

what is your opinion of number 11?
Marnie is fun-loving and mischievous

would you ever go out with number 1?
YES XD I am... >_>

what would you do if 3 and 13 were going out?
that is wrong on so many levels. Emily is engaged and David is 5 years younger than her and has a gf.

ever gone somewhere with number 10?
I have gone to STACKS of places with Heidi. Not only in Tville, but we've been to Tinaroo, Sydney, Canberra together.

what would you do if 11 and 5 were going out?
Umm... well Marnie and Kara are good friends... but both are happy with their boyfriends last I heard

repost as:
"can you name 13 people"

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13788594/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13788594/ Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:09:29 PDT






















]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13650372/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13650372/ Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:08:12 PDT So I went through my favourites and decided to display some that I think demonstrate this the best, plus give some awesome artists some air time.

Go over and show them some dA love!

Harry Potter

(only a thumb, full-view is very cute )






Animals














People















<... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13547378/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13547378/ Sat, 30 Jun 2007 03:44:36 PDT yvanklestein who bought me a one month sub! YAY!!

Also a quick shout-out to one of my best friends Jessie who got engaged last nite! Congrats Jess and Jako!! SO exciting, I totally didn't see it coming

My Uncle Philip got married today.. it was so beautiful.. his daughter Louise was a bridesmaid and his son Tim was a groomsman, lol, Tim is only 10 and he's so small so he looked so cute with his suit and tie and awwww hehehehe I will have to sift through photos to see if there are any good enough to put on here. I got to use Philip's digital SLR *drools* so I had a BALL, but because it was a morning wedding the midday sun was horrible to take photos in. Oh well. I'll have to see how they look.

Okey doke well I'll be off now, have fun all

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13436722/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13436722/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:09:20 PDT
Just letting you know I'll be away for the next two weeks and will have very limited access to internet, so sorry if I don't get back to you for a while

I will be in Brisbane for my uncle's wedding for about two weeks before coming home for 4 days. Then it will be off to Cairns for a week (for an intensive uni subject) then back home for 5 days, then to Lake Tinaroo for Christian Union's Mid Year Camp for 5 days... then 2 days of relaxing before semester 2 kicks into gear

Yay

Talk to ya's later



To hear the music I'm listening to, go to [link]

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13273556/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13273556/ Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:17:11 PDT haha.

Uh-oh... now I've done it... yes, I've delved into the realm of fan fiction. Harry Potter fanfiction, to be precise. I'm not intending on posting it on here, unless someone really really really wants to read it. It will be posted at MNFF though. (MuggleNet Fan Fiction). I'll let you know when the first chapter is validated

I haven't written in soooooooooooo long... I mean, creative writing. I used to write stories all the time when I was a kid. I had a whole series going. I started writing it when I was 8 and finished it when I was like 15 or something. They could do with an awful lot of work, but I have to say those first few were pretty damn good for an 8 or 9 year old. I haven't done any creative writing since then though (except for one or two school assignments). And all this fanfic reading was making me get itchy feet to start writing again. Not to mention, Harry Potter is awesome material to work with, and there are so many directions the story can go from where it's currently hanging.

Current word count: 8, 124
12, 020
15, 058
18, 429

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13108309/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13108309/ Sun, 27 May 2007 02:20:18 PDT
Well it started with me sleeping in and getting ready in a mad rush when Alan came to pick me up for music practice in the morning Heidi and I lead singing for the wedding and had a practice that morning which Heidi couldn't make it to. Anyway, I think I got home at about 11:30am, and was able to bludge round, check emails etc for an hour until 12:30pm when I decided to start getting ready for the wedding. Iron dress, shower, wash hair, spend forever deciding how to do hair, do makeup, get dressed, check everything I need is in my bag, make sure house is locked up (Mum and Christine were at Paluma, Michelle, David and Dad were at the Relay for Life), and then Heidi picked me up at 2pm.

We go to the church early on purpose so that Heidi and I could sing through one of the songs because she didn't know it. We were stuck outside with some other early-arrivers because nobody had a key. Then "the guys" arrived... the groom James, the best man- my boyfriend Andre , and the other two groomsmen, Alan and Ben. They had a key so we could get into the church... we got set up, sat down on our special chairs right up the front of the church (not advantageous- we were stuck behind the groomsmen so couldn't see much) and then- waited.

There were more than 160 people at the wedding... and then "the girls" arrived. Talia looked so pretty, and her three bridesmaids' dresses were each a different shade of blue (the groomsmen's ties matched). Unfortunately I have no photos because I FORGOT MY CAMERA (I swear, I do that at EVERY wedding) but I shared Heidi's... and I know for a fact that Michelle Ayres got hundreds

After the wedding of course there were PHOTOS... photos at the church of the bridal party, James and Talia's families, the people who helped make the wedding happen (minister, church members, musicians and singers- yay for Heidi and me lol- etc), etc etc etc. Oh, and the music team got CHOCOLATES...

>_>

So anyway a bunch of us decided to go to Lukabean for coffee or whatever until the reception started. Andre's Mum and James's parents went, and then there was the "young crowd"... Heidi, me, Jessie, Jacinta, Jako, Scooter, Michelle P, Beebs, Aaran, JP... and there was someone else, who was sitting beside Scooter, I can't remember who it was... sorry!

And then we headed out to Talia's place at Rupertswood for the reception. We took a little detour, it was NOT my direction-reading skills' fault, it was the fault of the incorrect GPS directions we had.

The reception was beautiful, and SO MUCH FUN. At our table was me, Heidi, Jessie, Jako, Luke Henderson, JP, Scooter and Jacinta. The food was reasonable- it tasted good but was a bit cold, probably because our table was the last one to be allowed at the buffet (I blame James's brother Jeremy, the MC of the night... he purposely kept walking straight past us and letting other tables go first ).

Andre made a really good Best Man's speech... as embarrassed as I acted, I was proud of him It was honest, heart-felt, and funny (he got lots of laughs out of everyone). One of my favourite lines was about men being like fine wine... you have to stamp repeatedly on them in the dark (like grapes) until they become something you'd like to have dinner with

And then of course (after all the other speeches, toasts, etc) was PARTY TIME... we had half the backyard to dance on with lots of great music which we could choose ourselves from the computer set-up First of course was the bridal waltz, and after a wh... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13058245/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/13058245/ Wed, 23 May 2007 02:08:40 PDT
The NSW Origin team training session was delayed at Suncorp Stadium today for nearly two hours.

One of the players, while on his way back to the dressing room happened to look down and notice a suspicious looking, unknown white powdery substance at the end of the field.

The NSW Coach immediately suspended practice while the Police were called in to investigate.

After a complete field analysis, the Police determined that the white substance, unknown to the players, was the try line.

Practice was resumed when the officials decided that it was unlikely that the team would encounter the substance again this year.

GO QUEENSLAND!!!!!

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12819632/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12819632/ Wed, 02 May 2007 18:14:49 PDT
And seeing as what he did for the event was Heidi-melt-worthy (and anyone who knows Heidi Schwartz knows she has high standards), I'm going to tell everyone.

It started Tuesday night, seeing as both of us are usually busy Wednesday nights. I knew we were going to The Watermark on the Strand, so I got dressed up all prettiful, and then he came and picked me up at 7, with a single yellow rose. After putting that in a vase, we headed off down to the Strand, and arrived at the Watermark. When Andre knew the guy at the front register by name, and the guy (Grant) recognised Andre, I knew something was up... he lead us to our table, and lying on the table was another yellow rose ^_^

We ordered entree (garlic pizza bread with dips) before Andre ordered us a bottle of Shiraz (which, because we didn't finish it, he got to take home), and then we had our main meal- both of us ordered honey beer battered red emperor (SO GOOD... *drools*) with chips and a watermelon & cucumber salad, except I had the smaller entree-sized one seeing as I knew I wouldn't finish the bigger one We also had a side salad to go with it. Once we finished with that, our waiter Sam asked us if he could get dessert for us. Andre said that when he booked the place, the person on the phone had said since it was our anniversary they might be able to do a special dessert for us. So Sam sussed that out, then came back and said it was all good to go. It turned out to be mint beauvoire (a set mint cream type thing) with toffee on top, and pineapple pieces around the outside of the plate with chocolate syrup... then, written arond the edge of the plate in orange icing type stuff was "Happy Anniversary!!"! I was speechless for, like, 2 minutes straight. Ok, not quite. 1 minute maybe.

Once we were finished there we went for a little walk along the Strand and sat on a bench where I gave him a present- can't have HIM doing all the spoiling!- a Shawn McDonald CD and a book, before we headed home.

Right, but it doesn't finish there!

Yesterday morning, before I woke up, he came around and Michelle let him in (to my knowledge), when he proceeded to come into my room and scatter rose petals all over the place (Mum said he just wants to make more work for me when I clean it up ) then he woke me up with a kiss on the cheek. I sat up, saw the rose petals everywhere... and he had an arrangement of 8 more yellow roses!

Now, do I or do I not have the awesomest boyfriend ever? Even Heidi has said- numerous times- that I have one very awesome boyfriend No doubt Chiara will be equally as proud of him...

THANKYOU ANDRE!!! XD *tacklehuggles Andre*

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12658447/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12658447/ Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:44:36 PDT Elorine

List six things - likes/dislikes/habits/peeves/etc. - about yourself that someone on here might not know.

1. I loooooove Bass. It makes me sad that only one of our computers has a sub. And it makes me happy that I have a sub in my bedroom.
2. I'm opinionated, but I am actually willing to change my opinions (I know people who will vouch for that )
3. I love bass lol but I also love acoustic music. Although, a lot of acoustic also has bass but meh...
4. I am in complete and utter awe of JK Rowling. Not simply because she wrote an awesome series of books, but because of the complexity behind them. No seriously, in the Harry Potter books, the history (not of the books, but of the characters and events in the books) are so crazily interwined and complex, I have difficulty getting my head around it even when it's all laid out in front of me...
5. I'm impatient. If I'm doing something and can't see progress, I lose concentration and motivation.
6. Sometimes I can't study with music on, other times I can't study without music. Weird, I know. I've yet to figure out exactly what the pattern is.

I tag , , (when he actually gets online), and

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12610820/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12610820/ Sun, 15 Apr 2007 19:54:30 PDT
In short- everyone sins. Sin is rebellion from God. Lying, in and of itself, is not sin. Same as cheating, murdering, etc. It is only sin because it is a manifestation of our rebellion from God. God created the world and everything in it, including us, so he deserves our obedience. We were supposed to rule the world (us humans) but, as we can see from war, poverty, corruption, etc., we've obviously screwed up. Everything we do wrong is a manifestation of our rebellion from God- sin.

"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23

Because of our sin, and because God is a just God, he must punish us. He cannot accept our corrupted, sinful state in Heaven. This punishment is death.

"man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" Hebrews 9:27

Of course, because we have sinned, the verdict will be- GUILTY! And the punishment for that is Hell.

But God loves us and does not want us to go to Hell. So, he came up with a way to forgive us- instead of us dying and going to Hell, he sacrificed someone else. Someone who was perfect, and therefore, acceptable in his eyes. That someone was his son, Jesus. By dying, Jesus took the punishment for our sins.

"Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18

But that's not all- Jesus not only died, but was raised back to life again. This proves he has conquered death and now gives new life- and he will return to judge the world.

"In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

So that leaves us with two options-
1) Choose to continue living our own way, in rebellion of God- and face his judgment when Jesus returns. OR
2) Apologise to God for our rebellion. Repent (which means turn your behaviour around- try to live God's way). Submit to Jesus as our new ruler, and rely on his death as a substitute for our own judgment. The result? Forgiveness by God, and eternal life in Heaven!

For those who choose option 2- and therefore become Christians (Christian simply means follower of Christ)- we will still sin.

Remember, back in Romans- it said everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If we suddenly became perfect, it would mean we don't need Jesus' sacrifice anymore! But even though we sin, we still have forgiveness because of Jesus' death.

This doesn't mean we should just run around sinning because we have been forgiven. We should try to follow and obey Jesus out of love for him. The good thing is though, even though we do sin, when God looks at us on judgment day he will not see our sinful lives- he will see Jesus' perfect life. And that, to him, is acceptable.

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12561027/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12561027/ Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:27:41 PDT
To do this, they a) shut off the families' water supply, b) disabled their cars, c) turned off all their power, and d) locked their wheelie bins, disabling them from using waste disposal. They then give back these commodities, one at a time, with restrictions. Which to me, is the way to go.

Ok, now- how is locking up their wheelie bins helping them be more environmentally friendly? How else is their rubbish going to get recycled? How is this, at all helping the environment?

And disabling the car just means they get friends to take them places, or they use public transport- either way, they are still using vehicles (though at least they're walking or riding the shorter distances). True, it's one less vehicle on the road, but it means other vehicles are driving further.

Anyway, the show is stupid and obviously not about saving the planet but about making interesting television-watching. Stupid PR stunts.

*grins at the irony of being a PR student*

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12472186/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12472186/ Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:11:40 PDT )

Have fun and have a good Easter, and don't eat too much chocolate

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12421469/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12421469/ Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:05:23 PDT
[_] You prefer to watch your anime in Japanese

[_] You read Shonen Jump or Shoujo Beat magazine

[_] You know the difference between Clampet, Tokyopop, Shonen, and Shoujo just by looking at the pictures

[_] You know some Japanese but only from watching anime

[_] You actually USE your knowledge of the Japanese lang. on a daily basis

[_] The amount of manga you own exceeds the amount of books you own

[_] You have either been to or frequent anime cons/expos/jams

[_] You Cosplay at anime cons/expos/jams

[_] You have some of the songs from your favorite anime on CD or the computer

[_] You used to, or still do, watch Yu-Gi-Oh/Pokemon/Beyblade/Digimon

[_] You have in the past and still do play the card game for Yu-Gi-Oh

[_] You like the Yu-Gi-Oh yaoi doujin and pix online

[x] You either write or read fan-fictions

[_] You play DDR

[_] You can play DDR without looking at the screen and REALLY, REALLY well!

[_] The Blue Color Comedy Tour holds one of your favorite comedians ever

[_] You play D&D a LOT

[_] You’re a DM in an ongoing D&D campaign

[_] You use miniatures while playing D&D

[_] Your entire book collection consists of fantasy books (dragons, faeries, magick, etc)

[x] You Watch Star Trek (occasionally, when my brother or dad's watching it on TV )

[_] You’ve gone to or frequent Star Trek conventions

[_] You speak Treky(sp?)

[_] You have your comic books in protective sleeves

[_] You’ve read the Lord of the Rings more times than you can count on your fingers

[_] You actually have a map of Middle Earth on your wall! (my sister does)

[x] You’ve read the Harry Potter books more times than you can count on your fingers

[x] You’ve seen the Harry Potters movies so many times you can quote the whole thing

[_] You dressed up as a character for the movie premiers or Halloween

[x] You know all the lines to Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[x] Monty Python and the Holy Grail is your favorite movie of all time (one of them)

[x] You know of and have seen other Monty Python movies BESIDES the Holy Grail (I know of other MP movies, and have seen other MP skits)

[_] You feel as if Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy” was ABOUT you

[_] You go to Renaissance fairs

[_] You go to Renaissance fairs and dress up

[_] Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy are your favorite videogame series

[_] You like the Kingdom Hearts yaoi couples and like making up your own

[_] Axel is your favorite Kingdom Hearts character of all time and you were pissed when he died

[_] You play World of Warcraft

[_] You’re as good as that guy from South Park at World of Warcraft and it takes the “Sword of 1000 Truths” to kill your character

[_] You actually have debates about the outcome of an Elves vs. Dwarves battle/war

[_] You LOVE vampire books and shows

[_] You get up early just so you can watch Angel, Charmed, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[_] You REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like Avatar the Last Airbender

[_] Zuko is your favorite Avatar character even though he can sometimes act like an emo

[_] You say that you can play guitar really well, but it’ just your score of Guitar Hero that rocks and you can’t play for crap.

[_] You have the periodic table on your ceiling above your bed (We have one on the wall beside our toilet )

[x] You know the difference between a megbite, gigabite, and a kilobite (YOU SPELT THEM WRONG)

[_] You play miniatures games such as Warhammer 40k and Warmachine


Now to tally up your scores!!!

0 = Damn, you are one smooth son of a gun! Totally cool

1-15 = Oh, just 15% off cool!

16-30 = You are moderate. Just between cool and loserdom

31-45 = You are a nerd, a big one, but at least you’re not a loser

46-50 = Welcome to the lowest of lows. You are a total LOSER

I got 8- 15% off cool

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12383103/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12383103/ Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:12:10 PDT
Ok well hope everything's all good for everyone at the moment. I'll be back later!

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12188128/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12188128/ Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:15:27 PDT
Nathan: "I think your answer was tinged with a bit of predestination, to use the naughty 'p' word."
Greg: "Naughty? I like that word!"
Leah: "You only like it because it makes trouble."
Greg: "LOTS of trouble! "

Tim: "I'm just being facetious."
Nathan: "Tim. See that curtain? Go sit on the other side of it."
*Tim hides behind curtain*
Greg: "Much better."

Justin: "See? I'm such the most insightful person when you get 2 and a half coronas into me."

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12035877/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/12035877/ Sat, 03 Mar 2007 05:50:02 PST
So I'll be on sometimes, not a lot. Oh wait. Uni. I love uni internet. It's superfast. Yup, I'll be back.

I'm gonna live at uni this week...

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11970279/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11970279/ Mon, 26 Feb 2007 05:33:36 PST -First Best Friend: Kate Dearness
-First Imaginary Friend: never had one
-First Pet's name: Nelson & Annabelle (my parents had them already when I was born.)
-First Piercing: none yet
-First Crush: Oh wow... hmmm... ah wait no that's embarassing I would never live it down
-First CD: WOW2000
-First Car: none
-First School: Cranbrook State Primary
-First Kiss: Andre de Jager

9 Lasts...
-Last Time You Smoked: never have, never will
-Last Food You Ate: Chocolate brownies
-Last Car Ride: On the way home from the Walkers'
-Last Movie You Watched: The Pursuit of Happyness
-Last Phone Call: with Andre
-Last CD You listened to: Keith Urban- Here (I think)
-Last Bubble Bath You took: years ago. far too long.
-Last Song You listened to: something by The View
-Last Fight: o.O not sure actually. Maybe with Andre?

8 Have You Ever...
-Have You Ever Dated a Best Friend: well Andre wasn't my best friend at the time that we started dating... but he is now
-Have You Ever Been Arrested: No, but I've gotten a warning from the cops. (Long story but not bad. Quite funny actually. I'll tell you if you want.)
-Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Nope.
-Have You Ever Been on TV: Yes. The most recent one? I'm on the ad for Channel 9 news. Like, the permanent ad! And I'm wearing this big "Are You Lost" sandwhich board... how embarassing... I haven't seen it yet
-Have You Ever Kissed Someone and Regretted It: No
-Have You Ever Cheated on Your bf/gf: Hell no
-Have You Ever Been on a Blind Date: No
-Have You Ever Been out of the Country: No but I've travelled all over it

7 Things You are Wearing...
- Winnie the Pooh boxers
- yellow shirt
- hair tie
- underwear
- damn it... nothing else!


6 Things You've Done Today...
- done more shading on my deviation of Sarani on The Gimp
- went to a 1 on 1 workshop thingy at the Walkers'
- talked to Johann and Greg when they came round during a break at uni (it is so weird having people my age [Johann] in my younger sister's uni classes)
- done more colouring on another Gimp pic (of Peter Pan and Wendy. Took one of *bri-chan's sketches and am colouring it... and no I'm not posting it, it's not my pic.)
- Checked my uni timetable
- printed my uni text book list

5 Favorite Things (no specific order)...
- spending time with Andre
- learning from the bible
- listening to music
- any water-based weather (rain, snow)
- spending time with friends

4 People You Most Trust (no specific order)...
- God
- Andre
- my parents
- Michelle ~Mickey-Mouse

3 Choices...
- staying up late
- how much to study
- when to clean my room

2 Things You Want to do Before You Die...
- settle down with the love of my life and raise a family
- be used by God to bring more and more people to him

1 Person You Want to see
- Sarani

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11901868/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11901868/ Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:11:29 PST
1. If you reached the top of Mount Everest, what would you scream?
Wunderkind- Alanis Morrisette

2. My birth was like:
My Last Breath- Evanescence (o.O Umm, I think it’s the wrong way round…!)

3. My family is described by:
Accidentally In Love- Counting Crows

4. If you got lost on a desert island, what would you yell?
Lacrymosa- Evanescence

5. What I did last night:
Before the Dawn- Evanescence (haha… that actually makes sense. Kind of.)

6. My parents are like the song:
Ghost of a Good Thing- Dashboard Confessional (awww… they’re not just a ghost of a good thing!)

7. My make-out song is:
My Best Friend- Hillsong (well... that's kinda good... just not in the context of that particular song...)

8. Behind your back, your friends think you're:
I Must Be Dreaming- Evanescence (lol)

9. You'll have a good day if you hear:
Hips Don’t Lie- Shakira

10. At your funeral, they will play:
Come What May- Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge Soundtrack) (“I will love you until my dying day…” )

11. Having kids:
1000 Miles- Vanessa Carlton

12. The song that describes your grandparents:
Eyes Like Yours- Shakira

13. What makes you happy:
Taking Over Me- Evanescence (o.O)

14. My best friend is like:
Unwell- Matchbox 20 (lol… “I’m not crazy I’m just a little unwell…” no, I’m pretty sure, my friends are crazy!!)

15. Your day will be like:
Vindicated- Dashboard Confessional

16. Your innermost desire is:
Everbody’s Fool- Evanescence (haha )

17. To cheer yourself up:
Piano Man- Billy Joel (woohoo! I love the piano)

18. Your friends see you as:
There She Goes- Sixpence None the Richer

19. Happiness is:
Smooth- Santana (Feat. Rob Thomas)

20. The best thing about you:
For You to Notice- Dashboard Confessional

21. Your theme song?
Mad World- Gary Jules (lol)

22. At your wedding, they'll play:
Better Together- Jack Johnson (YES!! This is the song I have wanted at my wedding for AGES)

23. My deepest secret:
Addicted to Bass- Josh Abrahams (lol it’s no secret)

24. When you're in the shower, you sing:
I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker- Sandi Thom (lol… I don’t know if I’ve ever sung that one in the shower actually)

25. My alter ego is:
Field of Innocence- Evanescence (*bursts into laughter*)

26. Highschool?:
Pirates of the Caribbean- Klaus Badelt (lol )

27. Favourite thing to do:
Your Horoscope For Today- Weird Al Yankovic (Well horoscopes sure aren’t my fave thing to do… but mocking them like Weird Al? That may be another matter… )

28. Get down song:
Crazy- Alanis Morrisette

29. When you're sad:
Ironic- Alanis Morrisette

30. When you're bored:
Eternal- Evanescence

Grrrr Evanescence absolutely dominates my playlist... grrrrrrr >_<

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11888670/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11888670/ Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:30:31 PST shoeshine159

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
"geographic information science; mapping; remote" (from my sister's QTAC Tertiary prerequisites 2007 book.)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
it hits my sister.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
The Rich List

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
4pm

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
4:10pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The rollerdoor going up... mum and the kids are home.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
To ride to uni where I met up with Andre to have lunch.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
My most recent deviation.

9. What are you wearing?
Pink shirt and pink, white and black boardies.

10. Did you dream last night?
Well apparently you dream every night, but I don't remember my dreams from last night.

11. When did you last laugh?
I probably laughed at something Andre did/said.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Cream paint. A light. A picture. Picture hooks.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
What my sister ate for lunch. (It was toast with chocolate spread and cereal on it.)

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It's a bit different so that's good.

15. What is the last film you saw?
I saw a bit of Two Weeks' Notice... otherwise, I think the last full movie I saw was The Pursuit of Happyness.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I'd pay off all my uni debts that I owe my parents. I'd put some aside for a car for when I get my licence (I know, I know, I'm lazy, I should have it) and for a house and for when I get married and for the rest of my uni course. I'd give some of it away to the Leukaemia Foundation and to the Presbyterian Church of QLD's camping program so that kids who otherwise can't afford to go on camps can. And I'd give some of it to my church. And to our staffworkers at uni. I'd also put some aside for people's birthday/ Christmas presents. And I'd probably buy like an investment house or something. And I'd take a couple of hundred on a shopping spree

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.
Umm... I'm going to an engagement party on Saturday?


18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Dunno

19. Do you like to dance?
yes

20. George Bush:
's middle name is Walker

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
hmmm. There are a few names I'd consider. I'd have to think about it and I can't be bothered

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Same thing

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I'd consider it. It would depend on the reason.

24. What do you want your god(s) to say to you when you reach the pearly gates? Well done good and faithful servant.


25. 3 ppl that must do the same; ~10eel, ~Mickey-Mouse, ~waitingforgodzi

------------------------------

EDIT:

*has replaced "Roses Are Red" deviation*

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11806469/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11806469/ Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:01:53 PST
But anyway, he came round for lunch and I made him scrambled eggs with bacon and onion (which I knew he wanted ) and we had Sparkling Maison (yummy) and I gave him chocolate and this little bottle of lollies to keep on his work desk

BUT FIRST... when he first got to my place I thought I heard talking downstairs, but couldn't hear very well. So anyway Michelle comes upstairs and asked me to help her make Fairy Bread (she was having lunch with friends). So I started helping her when the doorbell rang. I went downstairs and there was a red rose on the front door step with a note saying "Find the others". I looked up and saw one on Dad's driveway. From there I found one in the tree beside the house. I then saw one stuck on either pole on the sides of our gate to the backyard. I then turned and saw Andre sitting under the "climbing tree" in the backyard, holding a whole bunch of roses. Except these weren't red, they were yellowy-orange with pink edges. I think I've decided they are my favourite. So I ended up with 5 red roses... but Andre said there were supposed to be six So we went back and I found one I'd missed, at the bottom of one of our palm trees.

So a dozen roses- six red, six yellow and pink. And I love them

And then we came upstairs and had lunch. I'll take photos of the yellow and pink roses (everyone's seen red roses before ) and submit them just so you can enjoy them too I might make some wallpapers out of the photos...

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11775705/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11775705/ Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:00:28 PST
Our internet is still connected now though, so I'll take advantage of it while I can...

Grrrrrr. So mad. Stupid rawnet.

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11704410/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11704410/ Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:09:55 PST
And I mean lots. There has been localised flooding around Townsville and further north... the highway was cut off and trucks couldn't get through. Which meant shops were running out of milk (which comes from up north). The police were telling us to stay off the roads, and a few schools were closed (only ones that got flooded, and some private schools.) Most stayed open. All the weirs are running over (not just running over, but flooded), the river has risen above its normal banks, and Ross River dam is overflowing for the first time in years. And not just running over, but pouring over in torrents- there was a depth of 3m of water going over the wall at one stage. However, it can't hold 100% of its capacity at the moment as the spillway has been lowered for construction being done on it. But the dam has gone from 20% full at about Jan 20th (and we were about to be put on Level 3 water restrictions) to 88% full (188,638 ML) in two and a half weeks.

The dam hasn't been over 35% in 2 years.

Paluma Dam has gone from about 89% two and a half weeks ago to 107% now.

WOO-HOO! No water shortages for Townsville in the near future.

It feels like such a waste though, to go to the weirs and see megalitres and megalitres of water flooding over the walls rushing down to the ocean, when the southern half of the state (and the rest of the country) is absolutely parched.

I can't remember the last time we had this much rain. Even in 1998 when there was more widespread flooding than what we've had over the past week and a half, that all happened in one night because the drains were clogged and there was a king tide.

Wow. Even at the beginning of last year we had a week of full-on rain and we thought that was crazy, but that hardly affected the level of water in the dam.

I guess it's because this year, we didn't just get a few days of torrential rain, but rather, a week of heavy falls (with breaks) followed by a week of almost constant rain, right through the nights too, and then this week so far we've had sporadic rainfalls. The ground is so waterlogged already that when the rain falls it just runs off (and straight into rivers and dams).

Even though the Low that brough all that rain is dissipating, there is a cyclone coming in from the gulf. While it will probably be a Low by the time it gets to the east coast of QLD it should hopefully still bring heaps of rain with it.

I never tire of rain Well, not two and a half weeks of it anyway.

I mean, come on people! Australia is the sunniest country in the world. And Townsville is the sunniest city in Australia! We are the sunniest of the sunniest! Something like 360 days of sun a year (officially). RAIN IS GREAT. All you people in England who whinge about the rain, be grateful, our country is dying because we have no water. (Except North Queensland now )

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11615478/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11615478/ Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:29:38 PST

So here they are for your perusal if you'd like

Jump!
*Burn
Gooone!
Waterskiing
*Chelley
At Rest
Waterski Panorama
*This Little Light of Mine
Townsville Skyline
Fun at the Creek
Fun at the Creek II
*Florence Bay Rocks

Ones with asterisks (*) are my favourites. Hope you enjoy

Oh, I also want to say that if you use my works at all, you must include a link back to the original artwork and include my deviantart address on the image itself (eg. in small but legible print on the bottom right corner or something). Otherwise I'll have to start watermarking my images (which I can do easily- I've got watermarked versions of all my artwork, ready to upload if I have to.)

Copyright Stipulations

Intro:
The Copyright Act 1968 defines an infringing work as "a reproduction of the work, or of an adaptation of the work".
I am giving you permission to use and adapt my work provided you use it in accordance with the stipulations I have given below.
The work in my gallery is not public property. For works where I have requested so, you must ask my permission before downloading images.

(1) Everything in my gallery is copyright Leah Williams 2005- 2007. (2) You may download any of my work onto your personal computer for personal use ONLY unless otherwise stated in the "Artists Comments" section of the deviation.
(3) The term "personal use" excludes the publishing of any work derived from my work unless you have adhered to the following stipulations.
(i) Only electronic publishing is permitted
(ii) There must be a link back to the original work at the place of publishing.
(iii) You must include my deviantART address on the actual image in legible print.

Ok, I think that's all. Thanks very much for respecting copyrights!

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11596212/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11596212/ Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:48:07 PST
I was a little nervous I suppose- our house isn't exactly small and I thought it would feel a little weird, sleeping in my room (downstairs, far western corner) with the rest of the bottom floor (incl. my sister's room) and all of upstairs (parents' room, brother's room, other sister's room) all being empty. It was ok though. I thought it would feel the weirdest while locking up the house at night time, but as it turned out, on neither night did I have to lock up at night time. Both nights I was out til late, so when I got home the house was already locked up from when I left, and I just had to go straight to bed. It was nice not having to go up to the empty upstairs late at night

On Friday I went to a friend of Andre's (Tim Chigwidden's) wedding. It was very nice, at a little traditional looking Anglican church in south Townsville. We then went to the Calvary Young Adults' Australia Day BBQ and played (well, the girls mainly watched, me included coz I was still in my clothes from the wedding) cricket. A few of us (Andre, me, and Luke) had to leave early to go to the wedding reception. It was good fun. Our table ended up being the "kids table" as we called it- we were all between the ages of 19 and 24 (I think) and were the youngest there (aside from the flower girls). I got my first taste of champagne- and me having bad balance during the Nutbush had NOTHING to do with the mixture of champagne, white wine and red wine I'd had! (I'd only had a sip of red wine to taste. Yucky ) But it was a great night. Andre and I have been very up and down lately, and it was just a good, fun, enjoyable night where we were both able to enjoy each other's company and have fun.

On Saturday I did some cleaning around the house and some internetting, then went to Andre's party at about 5. He had it at Citibeach Volleyball, so we played volleyball, ate, and swam all night. Andre loved all his presents (which included a lot of coffee, so he was happy ). I gave him one of his favourite movies (The Last Samurai) on DVD, Lindt chocolates and an iTunes gift card. (Girls, if you're ever in a "WHAT DO I GET MY BOYFRIEND/BROTHER/INSERT OTHER MALE PERSON HERE?!?!" situation, there are some hints!!) It was also a really enjoyable night, but Andre and I got into a very deep coversation-turned-argument on the way home, so we sat out on the driveway talking til the early hours of the morning, but it ended up with apologies and forgiveness from both parties and what I think was a good conclusion to avoid something similar happening again.

This morning I went to Andre's church then went to Gloria Jeans with him and his parents after church. I then went back to their place for lunch and had a catnap while he was doing a resume for a friend (his mum has a resume-writing business and he writes resumes for her sometimes, so he knows what he's doing ). We then went back to my place so I could get ready for night church and then we went to church at MY church After which we went across to Hungry Jacks as usual, then on to Playworks for some pool (Andre and I beat Alex and Renee, then Carl beat Andre twice- once by a long shot, and once by only one ball).

And THEN, I was able to come home- and see my family again Well, I saw Mum and Dad. All the kids had already gone to bed Michelle must have been tired- she's finished school now so she doesn't have to go to school tomorrow, but she was in bed when I got home at 10:45. However, she is going to school tomorrow, I don't know if it's just to see old teachers or to help finish the school magazine from last year.

But anyway. It's now almost 1am, and as I have had a few late nights and would like to go to Christine's first day of high school, I'd better go to bed. (Hehe poor Christine, she's the only one going tomorrow- Michelle and I are finished, and David [gr 10] doesn't start til Tuesday!) I'm not sure if I'll be able to go though, coz Mum isn't comin... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11536017/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11536017/ Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:06:47 PST

1) What are your 5 favorite animals (both real & myth)
Tiger, Dolphin, black breasted kite, brahminy kite,

2) Are you otherkin/therianthrope/wiccan?
No

3) How would you rate yourself from 1-10 as an artist of any kind at DA?
5

4) What was the last thing you wore yesterday?
Err... jeans and Two Ways to Live shirt.

5) Do you like to make/eat anything that may seem disgusting?
Well some people don't like Vegemite, and I love cheese and Vegemite grilled on toast. Otherwise, I don't think so...

6) What show is currently running on your TV?
Nothing

7) What was the last thing you ate?
Morning tea- lamingtons, cheese on bikkies, fruit. (Excellent food at the kids' Holiday Club ). I should get myself some lunch... or whatever you call it at 4pm

8) How many deviants are you watching?
Dunno. Can't be bothered figuring it out.

9) How many deviants are watching you?
38... I'm beating you Tenille!!!

10) What was the last game you played on any gaming console?
haven't played for ages.

11) Who are the 5 people you will be tagging? ~Elorine, *shoeshine159, =yvanklestein, ~polinius (whenever he actually comes on to dA )... can't think of a 5th person. I would tag Tenille but she's done it

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11383437/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11383437/ Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:43:48 PST
Well yesterday I got back from a few days on Magnetic Island (a 25 minute ferry ride from Townsville). It was great. I went across with my immediate family (Mum, Dad, Michelle, David and Christine) 3 grandparents, Uncles David & Philip, Philip's girlfriend Deb, Philip's kids Louise and Tim, and Andre. Yes, that's right- Andre's back from the Gold Coast! YAY!!

We had a great time on the island. We had lots of lying-round-doing-nothing time, as well as a bit of physical activity. Most people walked up to the forts, but Andre and I and a few other's didn't- Andre and I went swimming instead

One night Andre and I took the kids down to the beach (Alma Bay) with their headlamps that they got for Christmas and we saw some Rock wallabies which was fun. We were staying at "Alma Den", right beside the bay, and it had a path going down to the beach.

Another day we went to Florence & Radical Bays. At Florence Bay we (Andre, me, Michelle, David, Christine, Louise & Tim) went rock hopping out to one of the points. It was fun and a bit challenging in places- Andre had to give Louise, Tim & Christine a hand a number of times, and even the rest of us needed a hand sometimes.

There was one point where we found a 'dead end'- going to the right meant a sheer drop into the water below us, to the left was another high rock. The rock in front of us jutted out a bit oddly so we couldn't climb over it, but Andre being taller than the rest of us managed. He offered to pull the rest of us up, but we found a rock tunnel going from under & between the two big rocks (which Andre wouldn't have fit through). I was a bit paranoid going through there- It wasn't tiny but it was uphill and there wasn't much to push off, and I'm just always paranoid in tunnels like that that my shoulders or something will get stuck. But I managed it

At the tip of the point David was trying to jump down off one rock onto another lower one (at water level- an algae-slimy rock ) and slipped, his leg going down between the two rocks which were both covered in barnacles and into the sea. I didn't see it (thankfully) and I didn't even hear him "yell out in panic" (as Louise put it) but I heard Louise, Andre and Tim suddenly saying "What happened to David? What's happened? Is he ok?" And I looked up to see Michelle on top of the rock, frozen in fear. And Michelle never gets that scared. So that scared me! I raced ahead to check out how he was (almost slipping over myself in the process ).

When I got on top of the rock Michelle was on, I saw that David had gotten himself out but that he had cuts on his knee and blood was pouring down his leg. (It looked worse coz his leg was wet.) Our next task was getting him back up onto the rock we were on- probably a metre and a half higher than his rock. Thankfully Andre was with us (you're a legend hun ) and was able to pull him up. We sent the kids back up onto the dry rocks so we didn't have a repeat incident. David then got queasy from the blood and threw up, so I sat with him then took him down to the sea to wash the cut while Andre went to keep an eye on the other kids.

By the time David and I got back to them, Michelle was now feeling crook as seeing others get queasy sets her off. I wanted to get David back as soon as possible, so we split up- Andre taking the kids back (so glad I had him there!) while I sat with Michelle till she was feeling better. We ended up catching up with them before they got off the rocks. David ended up having cuts on his knee and grazes on his foot and upper thigh where he'd landed on the rock.

The next day a bunch of us (Uncle Philip, Deb, Andre, myself & the kids) walked from Radical Bay to Balding Bay then on to Horseshoe Bay. The whole trek is about 3km, not bad but made a bit nastier by half of it being uphill. (Not roads either, for those unfamiliar with Maggie Is. Just bush tracks.) Summer is really beginning to kick in now so it was pretty hot, but because we did it between 4 and 6pm it wasn't disgusting.

On the last day we went to Nelly Bay where Andre and I climbed one of the big fig trees. I ended up climbing the highest I've ever climbed in a fig tree (still not very high- 5m maybe). I'm not scared of heights (I've easily jumped off 12m poles in... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11230966/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11230966/ Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:02:37 PST

Hehehe yes it is my birthday... so yeah now I'm off to bed... I can enjoy the rest of my birthday when I wake up I'M TIRED.

Oh yeah. I'll update about Christmas and all that when I get back

In the mean time, I miss Andre (he's on the Gold Coast ) But then I get to spend next weekend with him & my family over at Maggie island YAY

Ok that's all.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE (for tomorrow nite )

-------------------------------

Heh. Well now my birthday is all over, and it is New Year's Eve. This entry's for you, Tenille!! (hehe I love you )

This is what I managed to score from friends and relatives for my birthday

Portable CD player (with Cassette player, Bass boost, USB port [for playing MP3 players]) and "Go" CD by Newsboys from Mum and Dad
Beaded belt from Michelley (~Mickey-Mouse)
Book from David
Chocolate "L" and a plushie tiger magnet from Christine
Computer speakers (for the CD player) from Grandma and Grandad
Jeans from Uncle David
Stuff from the Body Shop (hair anti frizz stuff, moisturiser, loofah [spongey thing], shower gel) from Uncle Philip, Deb, & cousins (Louise and Tim)
money (so far I've bought a red lacey shirt), bangle and lipgloss from Uncle Alan, Aunty Karen, & 'cousins' (Sharni and Jason)
Deodorant, shower gel, perfume, and other smelly stuff from Aunty Hazel, Uncle Stuart, & cousins (Murray and Hamish)
Silver & crystal necklace from Aunty Loraine and Uncle Geoffrey
money from Nanna
Cowboys Teddy keyring & "Girls Rule" book from Jessie

...and there's more coming (Andre, Uncle Bryan, and Tenille apparently )

Thanks everyone!! I had a good day (aside from missing a friend's wedding and having to return the CD player TWICE coz both of the first ones were dodge, ended up buying a completely different one yay ). I had Grandma, Grandad, Uncle... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11101737/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/11101737/ Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:04:16 PST is non-existent

2. I am listening to ---> nothing

3. Maybe I should...---> start getting ready for bed.. yes at 11pm.. shocking i know

4. I love ---> Jesus. God. My family. Andre. My awesome, awesome friends.

5. My last dream ---> I can't remember it

6. I don't understand ---> Me, a lot of the time!!

7. I lost ---> My fidelity...ring... but I found it again yay

8. People say ---> a lot of things. A lot of it is rubbish. A lot is true. You just have to figure it out

9. My birthday is on ---> 12 sleeps from now... December 30!!

10. Love is ---> hard work.

11. Somewhere, someone is ---> sleeping.

12. I will always ---> Be loyal to those I love

13. Forever seems ---> phenomenal

14. I never want ---> someone I love to die. But I know it's going to happen...

15. My mobile phone ---> needs more credit

16. When I wake up in the morning ---> I'm annoyed at myself for sleeping in

17. I get annoyed when ---> I can't make decisions

18. Partying is --> ...? Depends on your party

19. Kisses are the best when ---> there is a message, emotion behind them and you mean every second of it

20. Tomorrow I ---> will see Nanna again

21. I miss ---> Sarani

22. I am ---> Tired

Repost as "THINK FAST SURVEY"

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10769600/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10769600/ Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:16:10 PST Elorine

--------------------------------

1. What time did you get up this morning?
A little before 8... had to be at church coz the kids have Sunday School at 8:30. Not that we even stayed for church coz we took Michelle to the airport... my baby sister is all growed up

2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Ummm... I can't remember what order I've seen movies. It'd probably be Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (damn I hope #3 is better.)

3. What's your favourite TV show?
NCIS, Spicks 'n' Specks

4. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Just fruit juice. Apricot nectar.

5. What's your favourite food?
Hmmm. Hot chips are preeeetty good. Then again I love a good caesar salad too... and chicken or fish foccacias. And Subway.

6. What food do you dislike?
Hehe... too many, if you ask Andre I don't like capsicum, broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, coffee...

7. Favourite sandwich?
See above... foccacias are sandwhiches

8. What is your favourite type of clothing?
Jeans!!

9. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Ummm... probably Canada or Europe somewhere.

10. What colour is your bathroom?
Blue

11. Do you collect anything?
Clowns, tho I haven't gotten any new ones in a long time.

12. What are your weaknesses?
Umm... i can be oversensitive (not to what others do to me, but as in I can feel guilty easily)

13. Favourite time of the day?
night time

14. What year were you born?
1987

15. Favourite sport(s) to watch?
Rugby League. GO AUSSIE!! We gave Great Britain a hiding last night... bring on the Kiwis!

16. Do you wish on stars?
No but I saw an awesome meteorite the other night, I think it was the beginning of the Leonid showers even though they weren't supposed to start til Friday (and this was Thursday)... it was huge tho.

17. When did you last cry?
Umm, 2 weeks ago maybe?

18. Do you like your handwriting?
Providing I don't write too fast

19. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Haha dunno... I think so.

20. Are you a daredevil?
That depends. I'm a bit back-and-forth when it comes to that sort of thing.

21. Do looks matter?
Depends what you're talking about. Yes, they contribute to attraction but they definitely don't make or break anything.

22. How do you release anger?
o.O ...I don't really. Cry, maybe. That's more frustration though.

23. Where is your second home?
Church, definitely at church...

24. What were your favourite toys/games as a child?
Lol. I loved my dolls I also liked Mastermind, chasey, hide and seek, 1 2 3 Homebase, spotlight..

25. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Yes

26. Do you think that you are strong?
Physically? Meh. Not particularly but I'm not weak either.

27. What's your favourite ice cream?
Chocolate or mango sorbet.

28. What is your favourite colour?
Blue

29. What is your least favourite thing about yourself?
Umm... I'm not really sure. Not really stuff I want to dwell on either

30. Are you in love with someone?
YES 18 months and counting

31. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
The smile... and eyes

32. What is your favourite drink?
Chocolate milk is pretty good. I like Lemonade and Solo too.

33. Favourite Day of the Year?
Christmas.

34. Scary Movies or Happy Endings?
HAPPY ENDINGS!!

35. Sum... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10730739/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10730739/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:53:43 PST )

It was great fun. I could have, but didn't, stay the whole night. I went home at 10:30 to let the kids party without me hanging round I got heaps of great photos and some have been posted. Please note I am going to be stricter about downloading these particular photos.

Everything in my gallery is copyright Leah Williams 2005- 2006. You may download them onto your personal computer for personal use ONLY unless otherwise stated in the "Artists Comments" section of the deviation. The work in my gallery is not public property. For deviations where I have requested so, please ask my permission before downloading images.

This applies to the formal photos. For those who the photos are OF and who would like a copy, I can send you a higher resolution copy (or you can get them off Tenille when I give her a CD. Or I can burn you a whole CD.)

Everyone looked great, Michelle looked WONDERFUL- her hair was great, as was her makeup, if I may say so myself (I did her makeup, lol.) If you want to see more photos go to [link]

Michelle and some of her friends went to Matthew Gianoulis's house for photos before heading to the formal. Unfortunately, her friends who I know best weren't there, but hey, it was still fun.

Michelle and her partner Jeremy arrived at the formal in the back of dad's ute. They were sitting on hay bales, with black, gold, and starry balloons decorating the ute as well as black and gold streamers. Michelle's dress was a bronzey-gold and Jeremy wore black with a black and gold striped tie. So it all matched When the ute stopped, Jeremy jumped out and pulled a hay bale off the back onto the ground, before helping Michelle step down off the ute tray, onto the hay bale, then onto the ground It looked great.

And it was confirmed that yes, Geoffrey Birt IS the class pimp!! See my deviation "Geoffrey the Pimp"!!

I ate dinner at a table full of teachers- half of them my old teachers! (For ex- or current Pimi students, think Ms Lynch, Ms Rainbird, Mrs Jaswinsky (was Ms Milburn)). It was good fun to talk to them again- Ms Rainbird actually recognised me before I recognised her! It was the other way round with Ms Lynch though I also got to see Mr Bellocchi, Mr Goan (principal), and some other teachers I'd rather forget... (at least I didn't have to talk to her... )

There was only one dress double up in the entire grade- and while that may not be a considerable achievement for some schools... *cough*CALVARY*cough* (kidding guys ) it is for a school like Pimlico when you have over 200 kids there. However it wasn't that noticeable- I didn't notice, and I was taking photos!

Watching Cymon and Tenille dance to "You're the One that I want" also proved to be very amusing. I'll have a deviation up once I get access to a particular program on our other computer which is DEAD atm >_<

I also got to see Sarah and Emma ('the twins') again I saw Emma a few weeks ago at the school Awards night, but it's probably the first time I've seen Sarah in a few years. They're in grade 10 but were working as waitresses/servers etc. Their older brother Jesse was graduating and was partnered with Michelle's friend Alicia. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of them.

Michelle & co headed to Tenille's place afterwards for the after party, and by all accounts had a good time though they were pretty dead all night!! See ~10eel's journal entry for more details. Oh and Tenille- thanks for... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10630669/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10630669/ Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:09:32 PST
Dobbed in by ~10eel

The rules:

-List 11 things you want to say to 11 different people.
-Don't say who they pertain to.
-Feel free to comment, but don't confirm or answer anything.
-Never discuss it again.

1. Don't be down! You're a lovely person and a delight to be around- everyone loves you!

2. You're a crazy mix of ditziness, dramatic flair, and bounciness Who cares what other people do or say, just remember God loves you and wants you as his child

3. You're an absolute gem and I love you, no matter what downs we come across. There are always ups at the end. Don't worry about the future, God will see to that

4. You're another crazy mix- of dramatic flair, over opinionation and passion- although sometimes you just need to calm down!

5. You can be a pain but you're one of my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you.

6. I'm sorry for the changes we've gone through and wish everything becomes how it used to be, back in the good old days

7. Please don't get snowed under with all the different influences around you- remember God's always with you, and even though you might not feel like you have support, I am here and you know who else you have, and God is always there.

8. Sorry for the stupid stuff we went through. You're a great person and I wish you all the best for the future.

9. Thanks for everything. Thanks for being a cheer-me-up and always being around, a constant rock.

10. You have a knack of annoying me yet making me curious all at the same time. Remember that God is the only answer, no matter what the past may have brought.

11. You are amazing. I've done so much to offend you yet you have never left me. I don't deserve anything of what you've done for me- thankyou. You are so patient and gracious.

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10628669/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10628669/ Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:24:54 PST

[An old man turned ninety-eight,
He won the lottery and died the next day]
... is not ironic. Does it surprise you that a 98 yr old died? It doesn't surprise me. It would be ironic if it was the man died from heart failure after his doctor told him two days ago that his heart was healthy.
[It's a black fly in your Chardonnay]
... is not ironic. It's unfortunate.
[It's a death row pardon two minutes too late]
... is actually an example of cosmic irony

[It's like rain on your wedding day]
... is not ironic. It would be ironic if you were marrying a weather man, who set the date for the wedding.*
[It's a free ride when you've already paid]
... is not ironic. It's unfortunate.
[It's the good advice that you just didn't take]
... is not ironic. It's a "learning experience" (lol )

[Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
'Well isn't this nice...']
... is not ironic. It would be ironic if he designed the plane then died when it crashed.

[It's a traffic jam when you're already late]
... is not ironic. It would be ironic if you were a town planner going to a seminar to say how you've fixed the city's traffic problems.*
[It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break]
... is not ironic. It's inconsiderate office management. It would be ironic if it was in a cigarette factory.*
[It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife]
... is actually an example of cosmic irony
[It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife]
... haha. Yes. That's irony. And it makes me laugh. (I have no idea why).

So Alanis's song is not ironic.

... or is it?
----------------------
* Credit where credit is due: these ideas came from Irish comedian Ed Byrne

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10565061/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10565061/ Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:23:20 PST The CU Formal was GREAT fun.

The night started with me going round to Talia's place where some of her friends were helping her and Michelle get ready for the formal. I then went from her place to the Riverside Community Centre (where the formal was held) with them.

We mingled with people for a while, taking photos and trying to calm our nerves over what our boyfriends were planning.

Anyway, they turned up- an hour late, and to much applause of people waiting to start- in full plastic body suits that exterminators wear, with pesticide spray bottles etc.

So once they had their fun with that, they took off the pesticide suit things, and had their normal suits on underneath. Andre and I ended up at a table with Beebs, Bek, Alan and Lloyd.

We had the AGM first up, with a secretary's report courtesy of Scooter, a president's report(ish) courtesy of Craig, and voting for the new exec next year.

Results were...
President: Lloyd
Vice President: Esther
Secretary: me
Treasurer: Liz
Prayer Secretary: Gum
General Members: Sarah J, Reuben and Etienne

Results were unanimous except for 3 people- I won't reveal two of the names- but the other person was me, lol. There's the option of voting "yes" or "no"- and someone just didn't vote either way for me There was a dot in the "yes" box, as if they were about to tick it and then removed their pen- but there was no tick in the "no" box, either Heheh I don't care

So with that out of the way it was dinner time (with people mingling and taking photos while waiting for their table to be called). Dinner was good, as usual, and so was dessert (I had pavlova, yummm)- and then it was time for dancing

Progressive dances are always awesome fun. I can't remember the dances we did (we did the Monte Carlo and the Heel and Toe, I remember that) and then there were some line dances ( line dances are good fun too) including the Grapevine, Macarena and Nutbush. There was also some limbo happening (good old Jessie always starts some limbo happening although she rarely participates herself ) and I got the lowest I've gotten in a long time- and was sore for 3 days afterwards (my neck and waist, mainly). I was in probably the last 5 or so, which was pretty good, and I think the people who beat me were Kara, Gum, Michelle P, and Carla.

Then of course it was just free dancing for the rest of the night. Joel (who was "H-O-T-T hot!" in the words of Beebs) used me as a demonstration while teaching Ben M how to dance lol, and then I had to teach the stuff to Andre

So anyways, it was a good night, and we got to take flowers home at the end of the night. James took us home, taking Andre and me back to his place (which is where Andre had left his car), then Andre took me back home while James took Talia, Benn and Michelle back home.

It was muchly fun and hopefully I'll have some photos in the scraps soon for you to look at if you so desire

Peace out guys

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10532435/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10532435/ Fri, 27 Oct 2006 22:21:50 PDT

I was originally going to wear Michelle's awards night dress, but I found a classic LBD (little black dress), knee length (not full length formal style, those are too restrictive and formal- can't wear them as many other places) and and and it was $35 o.O (50% off $70) at In Touch Boutique

We have a flower theme- I have a few flower options, not sure what I'm going to use yet. I'll let you know later

And I don't know how I'm gonna do my hair- I'm not used to it in this style yet (I got it layered on Wednesday).

BUT ANYWAY. Should be HEAPS of fun. James, Andre and Benn are plotting something for tonight- I have no idea what it is- I don't think I WANT to know, either. Michelle A and I said that if it was anything too outrageous, we'd just pretend we didn't know them

Anyway, *wiggles happily* I'm off to go figure out the rest of what I'm wearing tonight. Ciao

PS- Oh, and I finished my television broadcast assignment. YAY!!! (Well, I finished the editing and stuff. I just need to finish the script now.)

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10407182/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10407182/ Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:21:53 PDT
Sign this petition to tell the government we won't tolerate it.

[link]

An embryo is a living human. It may not look like a human, but it is still alive, and God has created embryos for only one purpose: reproduction.

Say "NO" to therapeutic cloning.

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10397447/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10397447/ Sun, 15 Oct 2006 04:53:47 PDT Denkou-no-Ronin) He was 49% girly

Take this quiz and find out how girly you are. (GUYS TOO) Put x's beside each thing that's true. Each x that you put is one percent. Have fun!!

[ ] my fingernails/toenails are almost always painted
[x] during the summer the only shoes i wear are flip flops
[x] my favorite toys as a child were barbies
[ ] my favorite colour is pink or purple
[] I did Gymnastics
[x] I love skirts
[ ] hollister is one of my favorite places to shop
[ ] tight jeans are the only jeans i'll wear
[x] I love chocolate
[x] I've never had a real job

TOTAL: 5

[] my hair is almost always straightened
[x] I have at least 8 myspace pictures
[] I usually go shopping once a week
[] I love to hang out at the mall with friends
[ I have a real diamond ring or diamond necklace or earings.
[ ] I've gone to a tanning salon
[] I've gone to the beach to tan - not to swim
[x] I have at least 10 pairs of shoes
[] I watch either the OC or Laguna Beach
[x] I change my icon weekly
[ ] I wear a shower cap

TOTAL: 3

[x] I dont shop at Hot Topic
[] my cell phone might as well become a part of me
[ ] I wear mascara everyday
[ ] I've been or am on a diet
[] bathing suits are adorable
[ ] I dont know the difference between a sheep and a goat
[] big sunglasses are hott
[] I have gotten my nails done before
[ ] I own over 10 purses
[] MTV is one of my favorite channels

TOTAL: 1

[rofl... once upon a time ] all I want to do at sleepovers is talk about boys
[x] I love to have girls do my hair
[x (most)] I give and recieve hugs from all my friends
[ ] I hate bugs
[ ] carnivals are so fun!
[ ] Summer is THE best season
[x] my swimsuit has 2 pieces
[x I found him ] Im waiting for my knight in shining armor
[x heh... some] musicians are so hot
[] you write me a poem and tell me im beautiful and im all yours

TOTAL: 5

[x] I am self-conscious
[x...more than i used to ] I cry often
[ ] my car smells like vanilla or cherry
[x] my dishes get washed more than once a week
[ ] I dont do sports
[ ] I HATE to run
[x...sometimes ] I squeal when i am surprised or angry
[x sometimes ] I eat dried fruit as a snack
[x ] I love romance novels
[] Drew Barrymore is so cute (HOTT)

TOTAL: 6

[] I dance a lot
[ ] usually spend an hour or over to get ready to leave my house
[] I only have like 5 billion hair products
[x] I love to get dressed up.
[] every part of my outfit needs to match
[] I talk on the phone at least once a day to my friends
[x hehe that'd be fun] I would love to have a photo shoot
[ ] I apply lip stuff 50 times a day
[] I wish I were a model

TOTAL: 2

[OR NOT ] I wish I could meet Paris Hilton
[ ] I have been something that was semi
[x BEFORE THEY WERE COOL >_<] I own Uggs
[] Hip Hop is the best music
[] I pop my collar
[] I like to be the center of attention
[x] guys with Mohawks are crazy
[x] horses are beautiful
[x] I'd rather not pay attention in school
[x] Cats are adorable

TOTAL: 5

[ ] I write my own music
[ ] I would love to visit Hawaii
[x lol ok... ] Valentine's day is so cute!
[ ] white is better than black
[ ] I wouldn't be caught dead in all black
[x] my closet is STOCK FULL of clothes
[x] hate the grunge look
[x] I love to read magazines

TOTAL: 4

[] I love to gossip
[ ] I had Lisa Frank folders/posters/notebooks as a kid
[ ] I love Celine Dion
[ ] my bubble baths are 1-2hrs long
[rofl... *doesn't go there* ] My wedding only needs a groom because it's already planned
[ ] My friends and I are in a strict group.
[x ] I like little kids
[ ] Diet drinks are the best
[ ] I'm all about being vegetarian
[ ] I refuse to eat at McDonalds

TOTAL: 1

[x (msn space) ] I check my myspace everyday.
[x ] I love life! : D
[x] I have a lot of jewlery!
[ ] my screen name(s) have x's in them
[ ] either one of my myspace names has/had <3's or in them
[ ] I would never want to be the opposite sex
[x] It's not what he/she said it's the way he/she said it
[x (or cushions)] I have more than... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10319059/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10319059/ Sat, 07 Oct 2006 21:17:41 PDT and it was awesome fun.

Day 1: Sunday
Today the campers arrived (we got here yesterday). The Townsville bus beat the Cairns bus for the first time in history. By about an hour and a half, too. We kicked off camp with get-to-know-you bonding games which were good fun- I have a bunch of grade 8 girls- Joanna, Caroline, Tash, Gemma and Dani. Afterwards there was a big water/shaving cream fight that I organised- Note to self: do not pick on Shaun when he has a handful of shaving cream. It will end up in your face. Anyway that was good fun and ended up with us going for a swim in the dam, and the boys playing a game of footy in the water. It was pretty funny to watch, too. You'd have people doing these huge ankle tackles and getting dragged through the mud. Mwahahahaha. We watched the footy grandfinal tonight- AND THE BRONCOS WON! GO QUEENSLANDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beebs and I are bedtime Nazis. Luckily the girls aren't too bad and we were able to get them to shut up pretty quickly.

Day 2: Monday
Today was a sports day where we played touch, volleyball, and shot some hoops. We also had the first "Spiritual Challenge" today- the speaker's name is LT Hopper, from Sydney. He was really good and talked about Jesus being God on earth. Our small groups are pretty good, though the first day is always a bit tricky coz we dont' know each other properly. Tonight was the Roman night where we all got dressed up in togas and stuff and played Romanopoly. (I'm not going to go into details here ) Anyway, it was pretty crazy, with people getting thrown into jail, people telling their slaves to steal off the tax collectors (I was a tax collector and would just throw them in jail, mwahahahaha) and even an "attempt" on the king's life.

Day 3: Tuesday
Today half the camp went to the Ski day and half went to High ropes (and some went on the mystery tour). I went to Tinaburra with the ski group, which was awesome fun. David went kneeboarding and did a deep water start- go him! I can't deepwater start. Michelle went waterskiing and skied 4km. She did 2km straight then stacked it, then another 2km. I spent the morning looking after the kneeboarding roster, then spent the afternoon in the ski boat throwing ropes to skiiers and observing (which means keeping an eye on the skiier and watching for hand signals and passing the message on to the boat driver. The tops of my feet got a bit burnt but it wasn't too bad. Tonight was the Pensioners night. We all got dressed up as pensioners and Beebs and Jacinta had organised all these games based on what pensioners go through day to day. It was great fun and all the teenagers had a blast. It was a great night of bonding and people got to know each other a lot better. There was a lot of cheating involved too, lol.

Day 4: Wednesday
Today the two halves of the camp reversed, and I went with the high ropes group. I was able to do the Vertical playpen which is basically an obstacle course that goes- vertical! I went up with David (you go in pairs). I don't have much in the way of upper body strength so my arms were pretty dead half way up. But I ended up getting to the top We also did the leap of faith. It's basically a 7m pole with a platform on top. The platform is tiny- like 40cm squared. You're in a full body harness, climb up this pole, climb onto the platform (that's the hardest part! ). Then there's a ball hanging off a cable about 3m out from the platform and 1.5m up. The aim? Jump off the platform and hit the ball. I got the group to count me down from 3 so that I woudln't think about it too much - plus they'd been begging people to let them count them down.

Tonight was a Parables night. We were split into groups and given a parable to modernise then act out. It was hilarious. Our group did the Good Samaritan, star-wars style. Greg did the sound effects and was brilliant- people said afterwards they could have sworn R2D2 was in the room. We won a prize for best sound effects, and also tied as the winners.

Each night we had a camp fire to wind down, pray and de-brief the day, talking about our highs and lows of the day (which usually provoked... ]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10220787/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10220787/ Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:41:49 PDT
has---

52 Deviations [stats]
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1,577 Deviation Comments
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Thanks guys!!

]]> ~Maria87 http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10196142/ http://Maria87.deviantart.com/journal/10196142/ Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:04:07 PDT [link] They've stolen a HEAP of work off deviants, as well as digitalblasphemy.com which some of you may know.

You may want to cruise on over and see if they've stolen any of your work- there's quite a lot of deviantART work over there.

]]> ~Maria87