Gathered around Doris (Trina and Kirsti's pimp ride). 

Those boulders are utterly ridiculous. 

Mike squashing Trina. Me frolicking in the background. 

4 da shorteez

Yeah...School is crazy right now. I have 3 assignments and an exam this week. On top of that I have a ton of stuff to do for my environmental club. But I'm proud to say I feel like I'm handling all this like a pro. I'm not stressing (too much) and I'm being super productive. I made some pretty awesome decisions this weekend. I stayed in both nights to study. I went to ChCh during the day on Saturday and ran errands like a housewife on steroids (is that offensive??).

On Sunday I took the afternoon off and drove to Castle Hill with Trina, Kirsti and Mike. We put on our bathing suits and fleeces and jumped into a freezing river. We walked upstream through the river into a cave. It was a walked called the "Cave Stream Walk." They don't lie--it was a walk through an ice cold cave stream. At one point we were trying to get over a waterfall and I slipped and went underwater. Kirsti didn't want to complete it so I went back with her. Ain't no thang, it was a great time even though I didn't finish it. Afterwards we walked around Castle Hill, where they filmed the battle scenes in Narnia.

Overall it was a great weekend. I got a lot of time to myself and it was exactly what I needed. ChCh (Christchurch for you newbies) and Lincoln are really feeling more like home. This week is going to be hectic, but I'm not too worried about it. I'll go on a 2 week long holiday break after that. Here is a rough layout of my plans:

1. Drive south to Dunedin
2. Drive further south to Stewart Island. See a wild kiwi.
3. Drive north to Fiordland National Park. Kayak in Milford Sound and hike the Routeburn Trek.
4. Jump off a cliff or bridge at Queenstown.
5. Drive north to Abel Tasman National Park.

There are 6 of us going (2 Americans: 2 Germans: 2 French). We will have 2 cars and 3 tents. This might very well be the best 2 weeks of my life coming up.

I hope everyone is just as busy living as I am!

--Lizzie

The Cats vs. The Crusaders. GO CANTERBURY! 

Paquito! A French game. The translation to English can only mean "chaos." 

A what? A whale! 

Don't have a cow, man.

Dude.

I haven't updated in a while. I don't have too much time, as school is tightening its death grip and commitments are looming. My current life rating is much higher than my last entry. That was a bad week, no doubt. Since then my family has come and gone. It was great to see them, but the visit was too short and they are sorely missed.

I went to Kaikoura again with my family. We played with marine mammals--swimming with dolphins, harassing fur seals and watching whales. It was really fun. Then, I came back to school and cranked out some work while my bro and pops skipped around Arthur's Pass.

This last weekend was also eventful. I went surfing Saturday morning. It was my first time, and I had massive amounts of fun looking like a damn fool. Immediately following the surfari I jumped in a diesel guzzling van with 3 boys to Waiupa, a former gold mining village turned ghost town. After a 4.5 hour drive we chilled with a friend of a friend and her friends. I crashed early (surfing had me pooped). The next day we drove back and stopped by a friend's mom's farm. Home cooking and pear picking ensued. Bruce tried to catch a rooster to put in his empty backyard pool, but it hopped over a fence and off to freedom.

Now I'm back and my body is being rapidly compressed by school work. So why am I updating this stupid thing?!?!!! So that Amy and Michael can leave me comments.

Pictures to come soon.

--Lizzie