Last day of class

Finals.

Hey this counts as an update.

Recap

My new goal=update my blog more often!!!

Here is a quick recap of what I'be been up to the last five months:

1. Study abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico

2. Senior year at BYU

3. I'm finally 21!

4. New event coordinator for the NBA D-league Utah Flash Basketball team

5. Ongoing fun: BYU football, weddings, bridal showers, Utah Lake adventure, birthday parties, Halloween, and spending time with friends and family

Pictures to Prove:

Cheyenne and I in Guadalajara, Mexico

Daniella, Gerado y yo-my mexican brother and sister :)

Study abroad group

My roommates- Nicole, Andrea, Amie, Me

Back at BYU with Deidre and Cosmo

New internship with the Utah Flash

My 21st Birthday

Lauren threw me a surprise party

Friends

BYU football with dad (Great Grandpa Petersen's BYU Lettermen Sweater from 1935)

Jordan & Denver's Wedding Reception

Being a bridesmaid at Cheyenne's Wedding

Chito and I making Dry Ice ice cream

Stuck on Utah Lake for three hours...

Halloween Costumes: Ally-not really sure..., Me-Indiana Jones, Alyssa Jo-Go Go Girl

I hope you enjoyed my quick recap-hopefully I can be better at this so each post will include a bit more detail!

in limbo

I'm back! I have returned to the U. S. of A. after living in Australia for four months. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I made some great friends, learned a lot about working in the real world, and had some life growing experiences. It was sad to leave though.  Brief summary- I worked for UrbanTrans promoting a government program to the community on using sustainable forms of transit. I made many great friends, did lots of fun things, was visited by my parents, grandparents, and Mekelle. Lauren moved to Australia and we were able to spend a month together before I left-she will be there until July 30th. I went skydiving in New Zealand, scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, made friends with Kangaroos, and had an amazing time in Sydney. I really should have blogged more about it...I did write in my journal a lot though! And there are plenty of pictures on facebook. Maybe someday I will write more...

But right now, I am in a limbo.

On Friday June 18th, I leave for Guadalajara Mexico for summer study abroad. But until then, I am living in good ole Heber City with mi familia. 

It's nice to be home again. I love my family and spending time with them, and I love Heber Valley. I have helped my mom in her 2nd grade class, gotten Al pumped for her first year at girls camp, spent a TON of time with little buhanna (Alyssa Jo), had a BBQ with smores, and other exciting Cole family adventures. Today we went to a random Asian Festival and then played laser tag-it's my family's new favorite thing to do ha ha. I also spend time with the dogs-Daphne likes to sleep in my bed, and I take Zeek on walks...or rather he takes me on walks! The weather has been typical Utah weather. It was really nice when I first got home, sunny and in the 80s, but today it rained a lot and snowed in the mountains-I love it though! 

I have also been able to see some of my friends. It's hard to catch everyone because we are all off on our own adventures, but it's always good when we get together-Dirty Dozen party coming soon! 

But it is kinda weird being back at home. I can't really settle in because I'm just going to leave again. I don't really know what to do with myself. I have a billion things I should be doing though. For one, I need to finish my senior capstone project this week! Don't ask me why I'm writing this instead of doing that, or sleeping for that matter (my sleeping schedule is still a little off because of the jet lag and time difference issue...)

But yes, to start with, I need to finish my project, write a few papers about my internship experience, meet with my professor about it, get ready for Mexico, buy a textbook, pack for Mexico (after I unpack from Australia-I really need to do that...), visit with a few more people before I leave, make some money, and clean out my basement bedroom. 

I'll get it all done though. I'm way excited about Mexico. I know it will be another amazing experience for me. (Hopefully the swine flu doesn't break out again and cancel it!) I will be living with a family there in Guadalajara and Cheyenne, my friend from BYU, will be my roommate. We attend a university in the mornings to take spanish classes, and then do service for the people during the afternoons. 

I really am so blessed to have so many opportunities in my life and to have friends and family that support me in them. It was sad to leave Australia, but I'm excited to start on my new adventure in Mexico.

Until then, I am cherishing this limbo moment to spend time with my friends and family. 

Pictures

Here are a few quick pictures I have from Australia-more to come later!

Brisbane

These birds are everywhere-just like my old bird Sydney!

Kangaroos

My backyard in Caloundra

Brisbane LDS temple

Kangaroos!

I saw my first Kangaroo yesterday! There were like ten of them just lying there in a field. They hang around the Uni (university) a lot. So cute! Next I need to see some Koloas! Yesterday I also went to the Brisbane temple and did baptisms. The temple was very pretty. I like Brisbane city. There is a fun atmosphere there. There is a great view of the city from the temple that I will have to post once I figure out a way to post pictures. Today I went to church again. I met a girl from China who is living here going to school. She became a member a few months ago. I also met a guy from Zimbabwe who is investigating the church. Many of the young single adults in the ward are recent converts. I love having the comfort of knowing the church is the same around the world. It is a great support system and a good way to get to know people. I have also met lots of people through work. All the new staff started and they are way fun. We hung out with some of them over the weekend. –Oh!!! I moved into my new place! It is great! Basically I live at a resort in Caloundra. It has two bedrooms, there is a great pool and gym and the beach is right outside my back door-seriously! Work is going good, we got pushed back a week so we don’t go “live” until March 8th but everything else is going well. I’m going canoeing tomorrow with some people from work so that will be interesting! More updates soon to come!

Ok- so new update- its raining. A lot. Nothing happened to us with the whole tsunami warning thing, but i'm not going to lie-its rainy a lot a lot. And the sea looks stormy. And its suppose to rain all week. -on a better note, I saw more Kangaroos yesterday! Sarah and I were just walking to work when we passed by a soccer field and saw two HUGE kangaroos! I wasn't as close to them as I was to the other ones, but these ones were big. Some of my co-workers told me that they jumped over the six foot fence there! I knew Kangaroos jumped but I didn't know they could jump that high!

What's new

My cousin Brenn, and others, have highly encouraged-more like demanded- that I update my blog. Unfortunately with the internet costs and the fact that I still haven't bought a cord to connect my camera to my computer-I have no pictures to put up. I will let you all hang in suspense as you just imagine what it looks like here. Im doing great! The weather is great! Perfect for the beach, however, not so perfect for work. The office has no air conditioner upstairs where I spend most of my time. We have lots of fans though. Work is good. I like all the people I work with and it is starting to get more interesting. Sarah and I are still in pursuit of a new apartment. We believe we have found it, but we are having troubles actually getting the leased signed. Hopefully that will happen this week. I went to church here yesterday. Basically like any other ward, except the building did have a nice courtyard in the middle. So far mostly what I have done in Australia consists of going to the beach, walking around town, riding the bus a lot, grocery shopping almost everyday (as we do not know how long we are staying in the place we are now), going to work, going to the market, eating (the food actually isn't all that great here... Sarah and I did have our first BBQ in Australia the other night though! That was delicious! ), sleeping, and repeat. I really am having a great time here. I need to plan out all the things I want to see and do before I leave-I feel like time is already flying! First task-make plans for Easter weekend! Any suggestions?

G' day mate!

G’ day mate! So I’m finally here in Australia! The past few days have been crazy but amazing. I still can’t believe I’m living in Australia. Sarah, my co-worker and I arrived in Brisbane Australia Wednesday morning Australian time. We then took a bus to Mooloolaba where our hotel is located. The weather is wonderful here! Yesterday, however, there were a few minutes of down pour rain but then total sunshine. We walked around the town for a while and ate lunch, then went to the grocery store where everything is so expensive! We are in a touristy area so I think the prices are jacked up. We also got new cell phones and an internet card. This morning Sarah and I went to the beach. After, Sarah and I started house hunting. Our company put us in a hotel for two weeks and we are now in charge of finding our long term stay… no luck yet. Tonight we plan on taking a stroll down the beach, and then on to more house hunting tomorrow. We start work on Monday but I have some research reading to do before that. Not gonna lie-I have seen so many attractive guys here! I just want to find our long term stay so I can figure out where I will go to church and then start meeting people ;) Well sorry I have no pictures up. I don’t have a way to get my pictures off my camera and onto my computer yet. I need to buy something for that. Well until next time!