I Went "Hiking"

A couple weekends ago a few of us decided to go to The Blue Mountains - but at about 1:00am the night before a road collapsed and caused a pipe to burst that ended up flooding our blocks power-grid. We ended up being kicked out of housing forcing us to couch surf the whole weekend. So needless to say we didn't end up going that weekend, but I got a good story out of it!

A few days ago we finally made it out there, and it was amazing. I'm saying "hiking" because there were man-made stairs all throughout the mountains. I am proud of myself though, because some of those stairs were stupidly steep, and I have an irrational fear of heights. So, go me!

An announcement before the pictures: I got a job! It's a cute little cafe that one of my flatmates works at. It's going to be fantastic. Now back to the mountains...

Yay For selfies

The trees here are so big! #hook'em

Just one of the many lookouts

A little blurry but cute nonetheless.

These bolders were breathtakingly huge.  

Like I said.. Huge.

Im not in this - but I took it! 

I Can't Believe it's Been A Month.

Today I realized that 5 months here is absolutely not enough time. At all. I haven't stopped moving since I arrived and I haven't had time to post about everything, so I'll sum a few things up!

I've decided so far manly is my favorite place. (Granted I haven't really been many places out of the CBD - But it's still fantastic nonetheless.) We have been there about 4 times already!

The University here is great. They give out free tequila. Well, we won it during triva. Which actually makes it better.

I have gone a few typical tourist outings in Darling harbour to the zoo and aquarium. I haven't been to the Taronga zoo yet, but it's on my list!

For some reason these turtles seemed so dopey

The First koala I saw! We actually got to see them during feeding time, so they were jumping around from tree to tree!!

This lizard was awesome. Look at it. 

First ever real life Kangaroo! It was a baby though, so I still don't really count it.

To make up for the lack of posting I will have another one for you tomorrow! Until then -xoxo

I really am here!

So I'm finally here y'all!! And it's just as awesome as I thought it would be. I've only been here for 2 full days now, but I feel like I have done so much!

My Flatmates (roommates) are wonderful. I am living with 3 other girls (two are Aussies one is moroccan) and 2 guys (both Aussies). The first night they took me out to Oxford street (the equivalent of 6th in austin) and we had a blast.

After finally sleeping, we decided to go see The Opera house that next morning. It was Beautiful!...

A beautiful building on the way

There is art everywhere

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Opera House

They City

Me - Your welcome

Castle in the garden (I will do a proper tour of the gardens eventually) 

Just a street

I went shopping!

Okay so I obviously didn't buy Ashton Kutcher. But a few days ago I realized I will most likely have a lame camera on my new phone in sydney. So I decided to buy one. An awesome one. An Ashton one. Because once I leave Sydney, the only thing I will have is the pictures. 

Nikon Coolpix S6500

Picking out a camera was difficult. I tried to look online first, but there are so many it's overwhelming. I eventually went to Best Buy and narrowed it down to two. I went with this nikon because:

1. Ashton Kutcher
2. Ashton Kutcher
3. It was under $200 (on sale)
4. Super Easy to use 
5. It takes awesome pictures
6. I can send the pictures to my phone (if I ever wanted to)

I obviously played with it when I got home. Here are a few of the pictures we took:

My Parents - They match

Me - Your welcome. (Look at that Quality)

A Panoramic of me. You are so blessed.

My beautiful sister - Tried to use party capture here (still learning) 

One of my adorable puppies 'Haggis' (this is a cool instant effect that the camera does) 

From University to Uni

Being a Texan it was only natural that I would attend The University of Texas (UT) in Austin. This longhorn will definitely miss the weird city of Austin for the next 6 months.

A rally before a football game #hook'em

At the bat festival on Congress.

The beautiful UT Tower

While I am in Australia I will be attending The University of Technology Sydney! So far it's been a challenge to set everything up from 8,463 miles (13,620 kilometers) away. But that was expected. 

I will be living in a 6 bedroom apartment with two other girls and three guys. I have no idea who they are yet but I hope they are fantastic. The apartment is right next to central station, a 5 minute walk to Uni, and a 30 minute drive to Bondi Beach. Perfect. 

Oh, and I can legally drink there. Vineyards here I come. 

My new Uni

My Apartment - Yura Mudang

I can't wait to have my own pictures and not just Google Images! only 12 more days y'all... 

Strawberry Dr. Pepper Will Change Your Life

There are two theories about how Strawberry Dr. Pepper came to be. Both of which take place at Chili's.

The first is mine. I was being a fantastic sister and annoying my little sister Jessica (who is now 16 and driving, which makes me feel old - and afraid.) Throughout lunch I was putting 'straw-fulls' of my strawberry lemonade into Jessica's Dr. Pepper; which she kept claiming tasted weird. Eventually she caught me and made me drink it... And it was FANTASTIC! 

The second is my mother's. According to her I just couldn't decide between Dr. Pepper and Strawberry lemonade and accidentally told the waitress that I wanted Strawberry Dr. Pepper. After bringing me both drinks I decided to mix them together to see how it would turn out...

Of course Todd (my step-dad) claims he doesn't remember. Smart guy. 

Either way, we somehow attached an Australian accent to the whole situation (everyone working at Chili's probably thought we were insane.) Little did I know, this fantastic drink would help me make a really big and exciting decision. 

In about 13 days I will begin my 6-month study abroad adventure in Sydney, Australia! I constantly feel like I'm going to throw-up, yet so unbelievably stoked. I want to share every part of it -- pictures and such for my family, gossip for Avi (my lovely roommate who will be in London), and tips for other students who want to study abroad.

So welcome to my adventure! It's gonna be bumpy y'all.