BLYC- rodeo, rainy days and aussie time! :)

sorry it has been awhile lovelies! just having far too much fun. here is a quick update! :)

last weekend was camp meeting where i got to catch up with a couple of people from BLYC last time which was fabulous!! this week the weather has been pretty horrible, so while it was good for us to get a little break from work, it wasn't so much fun for the kids who couldn't do the activities that they had signed up to do, or the counselors who had to deal with them. and then the horses were acting up for the rest of the week which isn't so much fun for us. so keep us in your prayers for good weather! i don't need any more bruises or rope burns! otherwise still having a fabulous time- getting to know more of the staff which is fabulous, and makes for great days off. speaking of which we are having an Aussie day off this week! so so SO excited. its going to be nice to be able to speak and be understood. i can't believe how fast the summer is going, its crazy thats for sure! but with bonus weeks its still another 3 weeks of camp and then 30 days of travelling. :D so its not too bad when i look at it like that. although i have to admit to being a little homesick this past week (shock horror i know!!! please don't all die from shock) so if you have Viber on your phones (get it if you don't) you may get a random call or txt from me. :D

exciting news is that we are starting a rodeo here at Big Lake. i am completely over the moon about this and totally in my element planning it all out! but please keep us in your prayers as we practice certain things such as barrel racing, pole bending, jumping and vaulting. i wont explain the last one, just pray for safety and not too many bruises! but it is going to be fabulous! unfortunately i can't use any of my horses so i will be riding ones that are not overly familiar too me which makes it slightly more difficult. maybe by the end of the summer i will have our rescue horse ride-able as he would be brilliant if only he would stop shaking when people got on him and didn't try to take off. although he is getting much better, i get so angry when i see the whip scars on him, he is such a beautiful horse and loves cuddles to death! :) i will do my best to upload some pics soon, although our biglake internet haunt doesn't seem to allow me to upload pics i am sorry! i do try every week! but i will keep trying and hopefully this weeks D-O with real internet i will have a better chance!!

well love to you all. i must hurry to bed so i don't get caught by nightwatch and have to do early morning kitchen duty! hope you are all well and safe and sending lots of hugs and love your ways! xox

D-O, (Day Off)

So excited to have a day off!! hitting up Sisters and Bend with Bek and Jazzy, Brittany, Joanna and Sarah. sisters coffee house, then floating down the river in Bend, hopefully some shopping and MEAT! so excited to be away from campers for a little while and to just chill and not have to worry about where i am supposed to be and at what time so i don't get kitchen duty! missing staff training but its also good to be getting into the swing of camp and having more of a purpose. I have made a full recovery it seems from my little head dive of Juneau, so not more limping and i can see straight. so i had a few days off work from thurs to sunday. but monday i was back into it and teaching my first class how to ride (eek!) it seems to be going well altho its a steep learning curve and i try and figure out what i should be doing. no one has fallen or hurt themselves yet so that is a big relief! camp in general is going fabulously, and soon we should know whether or not we have the pack trip next week or not. i hope i do as the adventurers scare me they are so small! and im already sick of walking in circles! but i don't think my chances are that good unfortunately. i am going to be turning off my phone as its being too expensive. but i will still be able to check in on my days off and to call through Viber on my iphone whenever i have wifi. hope all is well down under! think of me enjoying the sunshine when its cold and rainy! haha eating watermelon and staring at beautiful lakes and snow capped mountains. :)

Stage 3- BLYC- family fun day, horses an staff training

So today we only had a half day, the afternoon we spent chilling playing mini golf an temping bowling an messig around on the bumper cars so it was awesome fun. Looking forwards to the staff banquet tomorrow night- tropical paradise theme! Altho the snow is melting it really isn't 'tropical' in the slightest! our staff video is done an looks awesome even if I so say so myself! Haha we had fun having snow fights, messing around with the horses, pushing trees over ect. All set to an awesome aussie band called Jinja Safari. There's not much to say as I only wrote a few days ago. But things are going well an am having fun. Our horse assignments are fairly set, I have Tucker an Juneau which I am very happy about! So is shaping up to be a fabulous summer! (altho the weather could be a little warmer! But I'm sure that will happen) I am thinking of you all an are hoping that you are all well. Aending much love.

Stage 3- BLYC, horse battles, singing prayers, fun an games

So I can't remember the last time I posted. Or what it was, I think I did once in Pastor Montes cabin, but so much has happened since then! Meeting new people an making friends. The weather is slowly warming up with is LOVELY! It's melting allthat snow which is awesome. Staff trainig is full on but going well. Though were all exhausted an were glad for the sabbath yesterday an the afternoon off today! Me, Bek, Jason an Kevin (two guys from 06) are chilling out in Sisters an Bend today so can't wait to hit up taco bell an red robin! We got our horse assignments the other day, I didn't get Spice, but I'm loving working with Juneau, though all my horses are challenging I think Juneau an I have a real connection, she's getting less flighty around me. Bonita is also a bit nervous but she's a sweety an Tucker is going to be my biggest challenge this summer so well see how thy goes, as he an I have a bit of a personality clash. I love the wranglers, they are all lovely an Brian is getting less shy around me an Bek, our Aussie ways have been a little overwhelming for some people, but most love it an everyone else is getting used to our accents an ways of speaking. I disnt bring my laptop today so still no photos, but I will try an remember for next time! I'll also take some of my babies an Beks so you can put names to faces! Im not sure how I survived 5 years away from here. I just feel like I'm home, that I'm exactly where I need to be right now. Well Im going to go an enjoy my day off! Love to you all. I am still alive an well, albeit with a few battle scars from Juneau, but I won so I wear them proudly! Haha x

Stage 3- Big Lake, snow, horses and friends

Well I have been here at Big Lake (BLYC) for 2 full days now (we arrived on sunday arvo). We started training with the horses monday morning and have done two full days and two evenings of Parelli training, which has been challenging but very useful and well sometimes fun! but i can really see the difference in the horses i was working with in the end! we get our horse assignments for the summer tomorrow, so wish me luck in getting Spice and Juneau! the two big goey girls. :) the wranglers are all really lovely, nicole and kelsey are darlings that Bek and I get along with fabulously! and it has been so amazingly good to catch up with old staff members!! though we're all pretty busy so i havn't had too much time to catch up with them all extensively yet. though that will happen soon i'm sure. tomomrrow the rest of the staff arrive, so then staff training really starts!! next sunday the kids arrive so that will be fun. really looking fowards to hitting up Bend (the second closest town an hour away- Sisters is only half an hour but doesn't have much in it) and bring on the Taco Bell and Red Robin!!

well hopefully soon (probably when I get into Bend) I will try and upload some pics to show you all the snow (we have an iceberg in the corral. and some of the snow is up to the roof!!) but its not as bad as i was expecting, though we do have alot of creeks running through camp! I havn't been brave enough to test the temperature of the water yet though!

Stage 2- (Portland) Basketball, photoshoots and bluegrass

well its been lovely have a few days to settle in, spend some time with my american family- the wonderful Torkelsens, getting to know the boys again- who are all very into and good at basketball, (i have been to a basketball game every night since i arrived for one boy or another!) though i tell you what, i have never seen anyone eat as much as those boys do! it makes cooking a challenge for someone like me who comes from a predominately female family! Brandon left the other night on his way to Greece for summer school, and Bek finally arrived from Australia yesterday afternoon and Darla and Monte headed away for some alone/connection time before summer camp leaving 3 aussies and two american boys- should be fun!! haha

Today we heading to church, and awesome church where they played bluegrass songs and they had real coffee and food! i was so impressed!!! it was a lovely church called the city sanctuary and i ran into Christina Perry from camp 5 years ago and Jason Robinson as well which totally made my day! of course we headed home and made haystacks- apparently its sabbath lunch food everywhere in the world!

Tomorrow Bek and I will be on our way to camp, so this will probably be my last blog post for awhile, and fb will be even less so. although when i finish editing the photos from the two photoshoots of the Torkelsen family i will post them up (we had to do two as the light was bad in the first and the boys were messing around too much!) it was hilarious, but didn't result in many good pictures, though when they want to the boys are very easy to photograph!

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, giving me my first view of the beautiful snow capped mountain thats you can see from the back yard between the stately pine trees. as beautiful as it is, I can only hope that the sunshine will help melt some of that snow! though it is raining again today of course. got to keep that greenness going!

Stage 2- (Portland) Starbucks, greenery and Elk

So after a stressful wait in Sydney airport to see if I would get on a flight (which obviously I did, thanks to the wonderful Qantas staff who looked after me so well) and then a long, cramped and practically sleepless 14 hour flight to LAX (thanks to the two big guys beside me who took up all my room and the kid behind me that delighted in making lots of noise and was constantly banging on my chair) i arrived, made my way through customs and found my alaskan airlines flight dad had booked for me when we knew I was on my way out of sydney. I made my first purchase in america- which i'm sure you can all guess what that was! yep, Starbucks ;) a delicious Mocha Coconut Frappe to be exact.

After a nap all the way from LA to Portland I arrived to find Monte and Calvin Chuang there to pick me up, much to my relief as couldn't be sure if dad had gotten through to let them know I was arriving early. but there they were and Calvin made us a lovely dinner before we all headed over to see Chad's basketball game (which they won in the last quarter). after which i went and had myself 13.5 hours sleep! and I'm STILL tired. but just chilling today, which is nice after all the stress and travel over the last few weeks and days.

I am loving the greenery, the cheap EVERYTHING, the beautiful countryside (they had an Elk in the backyard yesterday before I got here!) and looking forwards to it finally getting warmer- at the moment is cloudy, occasionally raining and only a little warmer than Perth's winter. I am told by Monte that there is now only 50 inches of snow at camp, so it is melting...slowly (thats still a meter and a half!) so I'm hoping for sunny warm days to melt the rest of it between now and sunday but I'm not too optimistic! haha

For those of you who know Monte and Darla Torkelsen, they are very well. the boys are growing up fast! Brandon is heading over to Greece for summer school tomorrow for six weeks which is very exciting, and I believe that Chad and Trent will be coming to work at camp this summer. The boys all tower over me now, even Trent who is an 8th Grader. but they are all well albeit very cheeky! I will post photos soon as Darla has asked me to take some family photos before Brandon leaves.

Stage 1- Sydney (Photos)

Stage 1- Sydney part 2

Well unfortunately as most of you may know my trip to sydney got cut a little short due to volcano eruption messing with flights, but i still had 2 amazing days chilling out with my beautiful girls! sunday consisted of an amazing brunch, naps, then chilling with friends ending in a girls night of fondu and Burlesque (the movie)- with Yummy Thai for dinner of course! followed by Monday morning breakfast with Anna, Tammy, Grace, Taki, Wolf, Jena and Joel at the cooranbong cafe. After which Tammy and I made our way down to sydney, delighting in a Chilli Choc Chai at the wonderful T2 before enjoying a night in with more Thai as Tammy was at work (I have to admit it was nice to have and evening to myself in the view of probably not getting to enjoy one of those over the next 4/5 months!) then up Tues morning and to the airport I go to try and get on an earlier flight! fingers crossed it all works out!

Stage 1- Sydney, part 1

Well although it has been a rocky start, the adventure has finally begun!! :D first stop sydney where two beautiful girls, Anna an Tammy who are truly the best friends anyone could ask for picked me up from the airport an whisked me off to a delicious dinner with Moses an Rob in Newtown (Sydney). After which Anna an I enjoyed some quality time together driving up to the bong (Cooranbong) where I spent the last 3 years of my life studying. I must admit that it feels damn good to be back. Who would have thought that I would actually miss this place?? An I am very much looking forwards to having some quality time with my girls, not to mention the ever present yummy Thai an fondue! Bring it I say- after a shower an a by of sleep though ;) wish me safe travels an available seats for the rest of my journey! :) much love- Lelle x

the Nepal/Thailand trip Awards

because we don't look at this enough. and grad is coming soon, and who knows WHERE in the world we will all end up! love you all in IMMENSE amounts!!!

IDS Field Trip 2009 Awards

Rochelle Hockley: The 2009 Chiang Rai Bus Station award- Given in
recognition of unsurpassed bravery and committment to high adventure
while bungee jumping in Nepal, and for falling down a single step while
exiting a bus platform in Thailand.

Gifts: 1 delux St John's First Aid Kit. 1 litre of dog and small child
repellant cream- with free refills for life. 2 10am sleepins followed by
Starbucks Coffee.

Krissie Hopkins: The Kodak young photographer of the year award. In
recognition of unsurpassed calmness during vicious monkey attacks,
dedication to taking unflattering portraits of travel friends and to
unswerving belief that more really is more.

Gifts: $1,000 gift voucher for photo-developing
because she lost her cards>, 12 hour moonlight elehphant ride with the
world famous, very handsome, French Photo-journalist and editor of
National Geographic, Mr Claude Van Amazing.

Anna Tennyson: The South Carolina random IDS student of the year award.
In recognition of entertaining commentary, strange dreams, impulsive
speech, lihgt conversation and for helping keep the group amused and
entertained.

Gifts: 12 bulk No Doze tablet packets. Not just any cute monkey faced
alarm clock. This one jumps on you at 6am and pulls your clothing off.
3 months of round the world cruising with Mr Costa Rica, paratrooper,
rockclimber, lover extroadinairre,

Tammy Zyderveld: The Last Resort swan dive award in recognition of
elegance and the quest for high adventure.

Gifts: the 2009 Avondale medal of valour and Starbucks award granted in
recognition of sustained bravery against overwhelming odds and a valiant
lone stand against room lapping cockroaches, random bugs and sucky mouth
fish.

Kimberly Ellison: The 2009 Este Lauda award for elegance and serenity
while exposed to extreme heat.

Gifts: Her very own giant swing located on one hundred acres of pasture
and gardens. Also, a tiara, prince charming and Hemp ballgown- because
real princesses wear their high- they don't smoke it. Plus, a royal
Beagle, trained as a sniffer dog.

The end of another era...

From originally being enrolled in Conservation and Wildlife Biology with a double major in Marine Science at Murdoch university in Perth, WA, to Screen and Sound Studies at the same university for one year and then a massive, unplanned and surprising (for me most of all I think) to Avondale College in Central Coast NSW studying Communications and International Development Studies, it has been an epic journey through these last four years!

But I wouldn't change one bit of it. Through all the anger, tears, frustration, homesickness, absolute certainty that I made the wrong choice, determination to prove that I can do it, here we are. the final home sprint- the finish line so close I can almost feel the ribbon. And along with me are the best friends in the world that a girl could ask for, six artistic, amazing, blonde kindred spirits whose concern and love for those around them and passion for helping others less fortunate, who speak out for what they believe in and constantly make me strive to be the best person i could possibly. Their love and support I have come to rely on like I never thought possible, and the knowledge that they will always be there for me makes me believe that anything is possible and the world is mine to claim.

From mad may, to movie nights, chaffs, bi-lo runs, yummy thai/paulies/aladdins/indian, many, many train rides and flights all over the country (so much so that I think I have a super bag for it to have survived) as well as study tour to Nepal and Thailand that changed my life forever, late night fondue and much dancing Avondale has been a great experience that I wouldn't change for anything, no matter my love/hate or should I say hate/love of the place, coming here was definitely on of the best decisions of my life.

As the scariness and sheer excitement and relief of graduation approaches and the unknown of next year looms overhead- the questions of what will you be doing next year? spin round and round me till I'm dizzy and I end up with less idea than before they asked me, I do know that whatever I do decide to do with the next few year, to the rest of my life- it is going to be one hell of an adventure that I am so totally excited about!

RYLA 09

so i thought that i was pretty lucky getting asked to be a facilitator on RYLA 08, as i hadnt applied, and wasn't sure that i was good enough to be in the role of fac in 08, but i was insane enough to say yes with less than 2 weeks notice, and thinking that it would be my only chance to be a fac on RYLA (as i was heading off to avondale for the next 3 years) i had the best time with my co-fac edy, and learned alot, despite being sick and loosing my voice for almost the entire week!

but luck struck me again. i recieved a call from Chris while over east at college still, asking if i would again be a facilitator- this time with my 'big/little brother' jase. (big coz hes bigger than me. little coz hes younger..but he treats me like a little sister!) i ummed and ahhhed for a few weeks- as i had also had been asked by jess if i would come to summer camps at Logue Brook Dam and be photographer/videographer. so it took me awhile to choose between the too great offers where i knew i would learn alot from both- and also had something to give to both. in the end Loz told me she would never speak to me again if i didnt do RYLA. so i couldnt have that. (i also wanted the chance to learn more and to work with jase and the rest of the fac team). so for the second year in a row i was a RYLA facilitator...and i have never applied to be one!! :)

it was the right decision. i had the week of a life time. learning so much about myself and others and how to deal with certain situations. so many valuable lessons! RYLA 09 saw the best group come through ever- even breaking the standard that my RYLA (07) had set. from the word go, they all got on and saw each other through many challenges with their support and encouragement. which grew into a love for each other that you only ever see from a RYLA friendship/family. despite character and personality differences everyone formed a bond of some sort- even if it was just simply- we survived the tunnels together, or you helped me get over my fear of heights on the ropes course.

my small group was fabulous and i wouldnt change it for the world. i learned so much from them! we were what i called the biggest group of mixed nuts you would ever find. we were all so different and from so many different walks of life, and from learning about each other and trying to understand where each other had come from and why each was the way they were- we all came to care and love each other for who each was- all helping to created the highly-effective working team that yellow team "Ramrod" became. i was even luckier to have one of my best friends as my co-fac (co-facilitators, a girl/guy team runs a small group together, 5 small groups all up) Jason and i had been in the same small group when we were participants "we are blue! who are you?" and he was always there for me and made me able to keep going when things got difficult and i didnt think it was possible to keep going, with a hug, a smile and 'dont stress, it'll be fine' always there for me, i came to realise that i could do this!

some things i realised from the week- you can amazingly survive on 20 hours sleep for one whole week (albeit everything is that much more funny!) you can become the best of friends with someone that you never thought that you would. you learn why you have the morals that you do and why others have different and where they are coming from without any debate. you learn how to communicate more effectively, the different leadership styles and who are some great leaders in our community. . goal setting, time-management, public speaking and small group dynamics all lead to working effectively as a team. combined with self awareness, emotional intelligence, and the values walk gives you a greater understanding of yourself and also of others, helping you to better relate better to others in all areas of you life.

through many different activites created and modified by the facilitator team- all designed to test each participant in ways they never dreamed possible- the participants began to learn and develop each skill evident in a great leader, stepping up and rising to the challenge or stepping back and giving others the opportunity to step up and become the leaders they were born to be. throughout many trials and harships they became not only friends but a highly effective team. from braving crawling through the hot and (at times) smelly tunnels, to dangling feet above the ground on high ropes, flying fox and leap of faith, to challenging to fac team in building and racing rafts, to seeing how effective their small groups work as a team in the adventure journey. RYLA is a wild emotional journey through many extreme highs and lows, creating many amazing experiences and best friends and becoming- the best week of your life.

busso, pinnacles and eagles!!! :D

we all had a lovely time down in busso and margaret river (us being kyla, erin, cherie and me!) weather was a bit wild but we had awesome fun!
sat we were at church (carmel) and then went for a lovely afternoon walk. :D
sun was another walk to lesmurdie falls (shaz-the dog, thought that all her christmases had come at once! :D) then on to the west coast eagles game with jess and brian (we lost :( but it still was a very good game, we put up a good fight against st kilda. but 3 of our best players were missing...)
and then today was on to the pinnacles where erin and i spent a lovely day doing what we do best (goofing off and taking lots of pics and vids! :D)
tomorro, early morning start to spend the day at rotto (rottnest) island!!! where we are going to bike ride around to see the sights! here are some pics from all of the above mentioned activities! hope you enjoy them! (blogger is being a biatch, so for more pics take a look at www.myspace.com/lella_bella i will try and get up the last few days plus pictures soon! :D

American Fathers Day

last sunday was fathers day in america, so Erin and I being the dutiful daughters that we are- though Erin's father be in america, decided to make a fathers dinner. :D here are some pictures from that lovely meal that we slaved over (and managed to burn some off! :S lol (but the rest was lovely!) :D for hours on end. it was a wonderful meal but! :D :D

cohunu wildlife park

today cherie, erin and i took a lovely trip to cohunu wildlife park, also known as cohunu koala park. heres some pictures of our lovely time! :D for the next few days we are also heading down to busselton and dunsbourough, as well as margaret river! WOO HOO! :D with cherie and kyla, so we're going to have a great time! hopefully have some pictures up from that sometime soon. :D

Wave Rock

i forgot wave rock!!!

wave rock did come before the farm but oh well! we still did go to both so i guess it doesnt really matter which one i write first. :D hehe

well on wednesday, mum, erin and i took a little (haha- it was rather long- 3 hrs both ways) to wave rock, which funnily enough is a rock, that looks like a wave! :D we also drove down and expored hippos yawn. wich is a rock that looks like a hippo yawning. :D

anyways, here are some pics. :D

THE FARM!!! :D

hello all!

this last weekend we went down to our friends the Calais, farm- about 3 hrs drive out of perth. so Erin got to experience a true blue aussie farm! woo! was heaps and heaps of fun! anyhoo, some of the things that we did were:

>roo-chasing
>motorbike riding
>touring of the farm
>seeing "grass-trees" to be politically correct
>horse-riding (my favourite)
>shooting guns
>patting kangaroos
>looking at the stars (they are SOOO much better there!)
>and much much more, will put up some pics soon! :D and also the video when its done!

the only bad thing about the trip, was mine and josh's unfortunate fall off of the four wheeler. anyway, ive ended up with a roaring headache these past few days, and every part of my body aches seeing as i had no padding nor a proper helmet on, and i skidded across rocks for about 3 meters!!! there is dirt imbedded in my jumper, which ended up being my cleanest jumper after erin took us through the sheep manure so we both smelled lovely. :D :D haha

check out erins blog

www.abstoninaustralia.blogspot.com

First few days

well well erin has been here for around 2 1/2 days now.

so far the comments have been "its soo cute!!! :D" as in talking about the city, the hills, the skyscrapers etc etc etc

but i do believe amongst all of this she has enjoyed herself! :D haha the last few days we have just been resting and relaxing and settling in, been down to a cafe on the river- with a doggy beach for shaz of course. :D had a taste of freo, cicerellos fish and chips, shopping at hilary's boat harbour and sorrento quay. kings park and drive through the city, an seen a bit of the family! :D

tomorrow we are going to the pinnicles, all day trip obviously, and then thurs and friday maybe a bit more of fremantle- the maritime museums, freo markets, and of course the freo jail. then its off to the farm!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

so heres some pics, we have been taking a few, and a bit of video as well! ;P but then what more can you expect from two media girls?!!! :D

ERIN IN PERTH!!! WOO HOO!

Erin Abston is coming to Perth!!! YIPEE!!!

so keep and eye out for news on all our adventures and activities and lots and lots of fun!

She will be here for three weeks in total and we are doing amazing things such as going to the farm- roo-hunting, horse-riding, motorbiking and showing her what a real aussie farm is, busso and margaret river, perth, fremantle, Eagles football game, Cohunu wildlife park and rottnest island just to name a few!

i am TOTALLY excited in case you hadnt noticed!!! :D

we already had some hickups in the plan, as Erin was supposed to meet Larissa in Sydney for a few days, but due to almost flooding and being trapped at Avondale, Erin is now flying straight to Perth, which means i have a day and 1/2 more with her! :D but LArissa doesnt get to meet Erin :(

anyhoo, check out Erins blog as she will probably post more than me!!! ;P

www.abstoninaustralia.blogspot.com

but i will put some stuff up eventually!!! :D