Lets try this again... Hello Seattle

the latest and greatest from theFRAY

I am currently loving this song. The newest album by The Fray is fantastic by the way; if you haven't already listened to it please stop WHATEVER you are doing, go to www.myspace.com/thefray and enjoy. The song I am going to share with you is my favorite off the album. It's called Happiness. Here are the lyrics; I love them and the meaning behind them. Hope you do too.



Happiness-The Fray
Happiness is just outside my window
Would it crash blowing 80-miles an hour?
Or is happiness a little more like knocking
On your door, and you just let it in?

Happiness feels a lot like sorrow
Let it be, you can’t make it come or go
But you are gone- not for good but for now
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard
Happiness was never mine to hold
Careful child, light the fuse and get away
‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks

Happiness damn near destroys you
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor
So you tell yourself, that’s probably enough for now
Happiness has a violent roar

Happiness is like the old man told me
Look for it, but you’ll never find it all
But let it go, live your life and leave it
Then one day, wake up and she’ll be home
Home, home, home

tomorrow is a day for the city...

Yes indeed. I am SO excited to spend the day in the city tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to [TRY] to get to bed early, [TRY] and wake up at a decent hour and head into the beautiful city of Sydney.

So beautiful! Wish I could claim it... But no, I found it off google. :)


Tomorrow is going to be an experiment day of sorts. As much as I love photography, and would love to call myself a photographer, I really don't know much more about my camera then any average joe. I can point and shoot and that's about it.

But I shall have no more of that. I'm currently obsessed with the beautiful work of Audrey Hannah Brooks Photography. I had one of those knock-you-upside-the-head moments and realized that I'm not going to become a better photographer just by reading my book... I'VE GOT TO GET OUT THERE! So I say good bye to ignorance! Hello knowledge! Photo knowledge that is.

Wish me luck!

birthday wishes from oz...

Happy Birthday Ephraim!

I miss you little man. Can't wait to kick it with you this fall.

p.s. it is april 4th here in australia so no Amy I didn't forget your son's birthday.
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currently listening to...
So Contagious
Acceptance
Phantoms

i'm going to walk down the aisle!!

Woah there! Don't freak out!

It's my best friend Ashley who is getting married. No thank you, I am no where near jumping on that bandwagon.

Anyways, Congrats Smash, I love you dearly and I'm so so so so happy for you!!





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currently listening to...
My Love Goes Free
Fall
Jon Foreman

oh baby it's love

Love for surfing that is.

That's right... your very own Paige [officially proclaimed mountain girl] is head-over-heels-in-love with surfing.... or at least surfing on learning boards and baby waves. BUT surfing none the less.

So a group of friend's and I headed up for the weekend to a surf camp where we surfed all day and partied all night. And by party I mean hang out on the beach by night staring up at the INCREDIBLE night sky. No lights around meant MILLIONS of stars. And I'm from CO; I know good stars.

We arrived late Friday night and pretty much went to bed right when we got there, sleeping 10 to a room in our bunk beds and then the friendly little spiders in the corners.

Saturday morning we were woken up at 7:00am [ugh] and we received our first info session on everything from rips and the international signal for HELPIMDROWNINGPLEASETHISISNOTADRILL, to how to look cool carrying your surfboard [which was the motto for the weekend; Have Fun and Look Cool!]

We soon hit the beach with our learning boards [which were huge!] and our body glove wet suits [which really weren't flattering and were kind of gross so I quickly left mine on the side of the beach... cause lets face it, it's all about the pictures haha]. After a quick lesson on paddling and standing up, we were ready for the big time.

Look out Pacific here I come!

As we begin walking out into the oceans I quickly realize that the battle here doesn't actually have to do with surfing, it is getting you and your board out far enough to even begin surfing. You go ahead and try walking out with a HUMONGOUS board with the waves crashing on you and tell me you don't get REALLY tired. But I did eventually make it out farther; it probably only took me 2 min but it felt like 10.

With the surf instructor holding your board and pushing you into the wave and screaming you to paddle paddle PADDLE you were ready for surfing. I didn't make it up the first time BUT I did make it up the second time!!! What an amazing feeling, let me tell you! Totally worth the fight to get out there. And I know that these waves were super small, but still I felt pretty cool when I rode that wave all the way back to the shore.
And I was hooked... you couldn't take me out of the water for the rest of the day.

At one point later in the day, as I was sitting on my board waiting for a wave, a pod of dolphins started swimming around us!! It was SO AMAZING! There were only about three other people far enough out with me to see it, but the dolphins were beautiful. They were probably swimming about 25 yards away and it was just so awesome to see them in their natural environment.

So for the rest of the day we went surfing, and hung out on the beach. At night we all went back to the beach, most people with alcohol in tow but for the few of us alcohol free we just enjoyed the beauty of the night sky and the crashing waves. Did you know that sand can glow? Well it can. At night if you dig up some of the wet sand near the waves, you see hundreds of miniscule little glowing blue things.
I have no idea what they were, other than the fact that they were AWESOME. haha.

Sunday morning we woke up REALLY EARLY to watch the sunrise over the horizon. It was so beautiful!! God is good.

Sunday we went back to the beach and surfed some more and then it was on the bus for a 6 hour drive back. UGH. But I had a test to study for and I was so good I studied for like 4 hours straight!! Thats right! :D

Anyway, I know this is a really long blog but I even condensed it a little so really be glad for its length.


having fun on the beach :)


I'M SURFING!!


such a sweet feeling


carrying my freaking HUGE board


the beautiful sunrise over the pacific


heather and the sunrise


grommit, the camp dog. this dog has the life. never on a leash, camp left over each night, hanging out on the beach everyday and a new crop of kids eager to play with this friendly little guy every week. seriously. this is it.


the beautiful beach!


hanging out between surf lessons. i could get used to this.
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The Resolution
Jack's Mannequin
The Glass Passenger

a day in the life...

10:15am: So I'm still half asleep, but as I'm eating my breakfast I overhear Dave (at that point I had never met this kid) telling his friend that he has an extra ticket to SoundRelief (a benefit concert for the victims of the bushfires that had artists like Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon, the Presets, and way more!). I must have lit up like a light bulb when I heard this (coldplay and taylor swift are some of my favorite artists) because Dave looked over at me and offered me the ticket. I couldn't believe it. A ticket to go see coldplay and taylor swift!!!! I really wanted to go but after hearing that the ticket cost 75 dollars, I decided I really needed to start budgeting my money and I turned down the tickets. I know I know, crazy.

11:15am: I'm talking to my mom on skype and I tell her I just turned down a ticket to this show. After I told her the price she proceeded to ask if I was out of my mind and told me that if I didn't go to the show I was dumb. I make a good, financially sound decision by NOT spending money and my mom reprimands me; all in the name of good music. Love you mom!

11:30am: After running up to Dave's room, I find out that now all three of his friends have backed out of the concert and he is now stuck with three extra tickets. Well how convient considering I had two other friends just itching to go to the show.

SIDENOTE: By the way, to put things into perspective... Coldplay starts the show at 12:15pm. We live about 30-45min away from the city.

11:45am: Nic (0ne of my friends; also study abroad) and I pound on Sagan's door. You see Sagan (also another study abroad friend) has this incredible ability to sleep the day away. Although it was 11:45am Sagan was still DEAD ASLEEP. So Nic and I are pounding on her door screaming at her; "GET UP SAGAN GET UP! WE'RE LEAVING IN FIVE MINUTES FOR THE COLDPLAY CONCERT!!" She opens her door and I mean you could tell this was the sleeping beauty, sleeping for years, coma like state sleep. But she pulled through and was miraculously ready 5 min. later.

12:00pm: Dave, Nic, Sagan & I jump into the cab and head on our way. Coldplay is on in 15 min.

12:30pm: By some miracle, Coldplay delays their show and step on stage 15 min late buying us some time.

12:34pm: Our cab arrives and we can hear Coldplay's song Yellow (my favorite by the way) playing from inside.

12:36ishpm: We arrive and watch the rest of Coldplay's set. Wow, I have no idea what I was thinking earlier... the fact that I almost didn't see Coldplay because of 75 dollars is ridiculous. They are AMAZING in concert. Chris Martin was so energetic and he really engaged the crowd. He was personal, both in conversation between songs, and through playing his music for us. He was so passionate it was like he was letting us into his world of music, sharing with us.

12:50ishpm: In the middle of "Fix You" Chris Martin jumps of the stage and into the crowd and proceeds to run around the grounds in the middle of all the crowd. He manages to briefly escape the crazed fans and the bewildered security guards by jumping fences and hauling it through masses of people like a mad man. After, he jumps back on stage and finishes the song like nothing happened. Genius.

1:00pm: The four of us are now sitting in the warm sunshine waiting for Taylor Swift (she came on 4 hours later) and simply reminiscing the events that have happend thus far. Quite amazing if you ask me.

4:45pm: Sagan "Wow, those clouds are REALLY dark."

4:50pm: Paige "Was that thunder?"

4:55pm: It begins to POUR. Here's the end result.

5:15pm: After the rain storm the crowd decides to go NUTS. We were being pushed and pulled and swayed in every single direction. This photo may help show the craziness.

5:45pm: INTRODUCING TAYLOR SWIFT!!!! She was so energetic and so much fun to see! I really enjoyed her show and of course I was singing my little heart out to every song.

(check out that guitar... yeah that's right COVERED in rhinestones)

So that was my first Australian concert.... so amazing and definitely an adventure.

cheers

A month later

I'm so awful at this blog thing. Sorry to my readers (all 5 of you!) but I will get better I promise. Honestly the main reason I haven't blogged at all is because I haven't really gone out and taken any pictures here in Sydney. I know, I know it's wrong. But in my defense the weather the first week I was here was just awful, and this week I've had classes. So those are my excuses. Take 'em or leave 'em.

I do however have a couple of pictures from San Fran. Yes, unfortunately my delayed flight from Denver to San Fran led to a missed flight to Sydney. I was stuck in San Fran for 24 hours in my sweat pants and flip flops. Not fun let me tell you. But I did get some fun pictures. Take a looksie.

Weird/cool sculpture in San Fran.


Sail boats looking through a fence.


Some random pier

More sail boats


Coogee Beach- This was the view from my hotel rooftop... not kidding, no zoom. But unfortunately it rained EVERYDAY we were at our hotel except for the day we left. So I still haven't swam at this beach. :(

Other than not taking pictures, Australia has been amazing. God is so much at work in my life at the moment I now know that coming here was indeed part of His plan. For those of you who don't know, I was really struggling with coming here. I really didn't feel any peace about coming to Australia. Finally I actually brought the whole thing to the Lord and trusted Him.

To start off, my main prayer request while preparing for this trip was that I would be able to really make lasting and important relationships while I was here. All I wanted coming to Australia was to be a part of a community of believers who would not only influence my life, but where I could also be an influence. I didn't want to come to Australia and meet a ton of people but not really make lasting and intentional relationships.

And God has provided 10fold! The first week I was here I went to the college group at a church called Hillsong. I was all alone and this church is huge so I was pretty intimidated. I didn't even have a ride home because the buses stopped running in that area. I was just about to call a cab when a girl I never knew started a conversation with me. From this conversation she not only found me a ride, but she introduced me to people that I now consider close friends. I've only been to Hillsong a few weeks now but everyone there already feels like family. I feel so blessed to have all these new friends who I care about and I believe genuinely care about me.

I have so much more to share, but instead of one really long post I'm going to try and keep updating regularely so I'll write more then.

peace&blessings

colorado are you kidding me!?

January 21st saw a high of 69 degrees... Yes in the dead middle of winter CO decided it was going to share some love. I even was able to go rock climbing at Garden of the Gods. This is the CO winter that I LOVE.

Then only 5 days later, January 26th, the high for the day was 12 degrees!!! Oh my goodness that is the cold that makes me HATE winter. No I don't care that I live in a gorgeous mountain state! No I don't care that I get to go snowboarding on the slopes. No I don't care that the snow is so pretty. THAT IS JUST TOO COLD!




The thought that gets me through the frigid temperatures?

I LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA IN 12 DAYS!!!!!!
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Currently listening to...
Moving On
My American Hearth
Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather

awkward, but I love you for it.

My friend might the most awkward person on the planet. And I know that sounds harsh, but truly it's not, and she knows it. Because honestly, I am just as awkward, maybe even more so. It's probably why we love each other so much. There way too many side splitting laughs to count and I know she is always there for me... even when I'm acting like a complete idiot and messing up my life, she is there to support me, holding my hand to lead me back to the path of sanity. She challenges me spiritually by daring me to go deeper with my Savior, and she leads by example. She is so wise, I trust her judgment, and lean on her in times of need. And I know she trusts me and my opinions, and we help each other.

So thank you for being my friend, who is actually more like a sister (the fun sister, not the annoying one). I love you dearly and truly value our relationship.

i'm sorry california...

Ok, I admit it. I've been a bit harsh. If you had asked me a month ago my thoughts on CA, I would have told you how much I hated it. I would have told you that the smog is disgusting, the people are smug and extremely materialistic, and it was completely overrated.

Now mind you, all I really know of CA is Orange County. Yes the very Orange County that hosts shows like Laguna Beach (really who cares about rich whiny teenagers and their "drama") and The Real Housewives of Orange County (a real classy show about older women and their gossip and their sugar daddies and their plastic surgery). One time an acquataince explained to me that in his high school (smack dab in the middle of OC) girls are grouped into two categories: sluts and prudes. I'm completely serious. He told me when it came down to it, girls were judged on whether or not they could put out.

So I know these are all stereotypes, but I chose to believe them, forever associating southern CA as a personal nightmare (minus the fact that I had family there). So when I thought of the beach I thought it was completely overrated. I mean I live in a gorgeous state with the Rocky Mountains at my fingertips, and I will admit, I totally snubbed everything CA.

And then I went to CA this past Christmas, and I was won over. No matter the guards I put around my heart, the gorgeous sunsets, sunny december days, and sea salt air of CA melted my heart. I fell in love all over again. The beach reminded me that they really were just stereotypes, not exact descriptions of all of CA.

So here are some pictures from my reunion with good ol' CA


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Currently listening to...
Hey Stephen
Taylor Swift
Fearless