I love my church.
I've been going to ImagineNations Church in Penrith since I was 6 months old. The church is like my second family and I love them all dearly.
Our pastor is always putting others first and his dream is to go into all the world and tell people about God's love and show them His love. So at the beginning of 2008 he told us about his dream to plant 10 ImagineNations churches all over the world.
We plant hundreds of churches every year, but these 10 churches would be unique, because they would be run by people from our own church- not international pastors we've never met before.
We found out that the first church would be planted in Darwin and would be sending Troy and Nicole Davis to run the church. Ollie and Laura Mau would also be going for 12 months to help them start it up.
I am not a very "decisive" person. I change my mind about one simple thing at least a hundred times before I confirm my decision. Imagine what I'm going to be like when I have pick names for my children!
Some important decisions were coming up soon for me- would I go to university? Would I take a break? What courses would I pick for university? What did I want to do in life?
I was overwhelmed and completely confused. I hated all these questions- I wanted to escape somewhere quiet, away from exams, careers and life, and never come back. Sometimes I even wished I had lived 300 years earlier when girls had no choice in life and just got married, had babies and lived a simple life! That kind of lifestyle was EXTREMELY appealing at the time.
My mum and dad knew how these kinds of questions were getting to me. They, after all, had to put up with my mood swings and sullenness. So my mum suggested something completely out of the blue. Something I had never thought of before. Something which would change my life forever.
What if I went to Darwin for a year?
I was a mixture of emotions. I was happy, because it seemed like a perfect alternative to all my questions, and would give me an extra year to figure myself out. I was terrified of leaving everything and everyone I knew and moving to a hot, humid and remote place. I was scared because I would have to tell Lachlan.
What if he thought I was ungrateful? Cruel? Uncommitted? What if he saw no point in continuing our relationship? But in my mind I saw this as the perfect solution to my mental conundrum, and rejecting this idea would mean I would have to face those horrible questions all over again- and I didn't think I could handle them anymore.
So I told Lachlan. I told him my plans and waited, holding my breath and pinching the palms of my hands over and over- a habit I ALWAYS do when I'm nervous, or when I am confessing something I've done wrong.
He wasn't mad. He wasn't disappointed. He was sad. But he said he would support me if I truly thought this was the best decision.
My stomach sank so low. I think I would've preferred him angry! How could I be given such a perfect man?
291 days later, and he would still be the perfect man, saying goodbye to me as I went to board the plane...but it was going to be a bit of a bumpy, emtoional rollercoaster trip from now until then...
For now I would just cry and accept my decision. My life-changing decision.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Kings Cross, Boats and Empty Tanks
Daphne, Lachlan's mum was having a 50th birthday party. It was going to be fun affair as we crusied around on a boat through Sydney Harbour. I was actually quite excited!
This was going to be a very eventful evening!
The boat would be leaving the docks at 5:30pm and we had to be there by 5pm at least. Lachlan and his Volvo would not mix well with city driving, and so we opted to borrow Regan's Mercedes. Seemed to be the better option.
The first half of the journey went well with no dramas at all (sound familiar?) It wasn't until we hit the Lane Cove tunnel that things began to get a little more "interesting". I had a print out of the directions and was trying my best to remain calm and give the best directions to Lachlan as possible. Plus we had an in-built GPS system which we could revert back to if things got bad.
Lachlan hates the city when he has to drive and navigate his way through. So do I. We normally take the train, but it was going to be too late a night to catch a train back home.
For a moment I got confused and directed him down a main road, thinking Darling Harbour was in that general direction. How very very wrong I was!
We looked around us and saw that we were in the completely opposite end at Kings Cross! I was apologising profusely for messing it all up, trying to calm his anxiety. It wasn't working as well as I had hoped. Finally, we rang his dad, who was completely bewildered that we had managed such a mix-up! Plus he wasn't super impressed, as we discovered our tank of petrol was literally on empty. We had to find a parking space somewhere to avoid getting completely stuck altogether.
We managed to discover a random secure parking lot and made our way onto the main road. We were running late by this stage and the stress was building. Spotting a taxi we hailed it down and made our way down to the Harbour.
Luckily the rest of the party had not really arrived yet and we could relax for a little while before the boat was ready for us all to come aboard. Once that happened we spent a rather pleasant evening floating away on the still water.
I met various characters on this boat, all of whom I hardly remember now. Some were friendly, some were interesting and some, well, were just a little bit odd. But everyone we met just added to the colour, fun and variety of the night.
I do distinctly remember one particular character: her name was Leslie and she was certainly a colourful character. I know that Wes tried his hardest to avoid her the whole night. She took a special liking to one of Lachlan's cousins, and she did her best to convince us that we would make great parents. Even poor Granny had to endure an agonising conversation with the woman.
Whenever we think back to that evening, Leslie always comes up and we always have a good laugh. How can a party be truly authentic unless we have "Leslie" type characters?
The night came to a close, but ours was still far from over. Once we alighted back onto dry land we had to find a taxi and somehow remember where we had parked our car. Luckily though, Sam and Peta, Lachlan's brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law offered us their car to drop us off. Once we found the car we paid our parking ticket, which was a small fortune, and then hailed a taxi. The car was completely empty.
The taxi took us to the nearest petrol station and we bought a jerry can so that we could travel far enough to find another station. After paying the taxi driver, which was another fortune, we filled up the car and drove off.
However, we had to find a petrol station quickly before we became stuck again, and we had no idea where we were! We drove up and down random streets until finally, by God's grace, we saw a sign pointing towards the beloved Western Suburbs and we headed onto the familiar Parramatta Road.
Finding a station we filled up and eventually made it home. It was a crazy, fun-filled, adventurous evening which I will always remember!
But May was only beginning and it would be a much more crazy month than I could ever imagine!
This was going to be a very eventful evening!
The boat would be leaving the docks at 5:30pm and we had to be there by 5pm at least. Lachlan and his Volvo would not mix well with city driving, and so we opted to borrow Regan's Mercedes. Seemed to be the better option.
The first half of the journey went well with no dramas at all (sound familiar?) It wasn't until we hit the Lane Cove tunnel that things began to get a little more "interesting". I had a print out of the directions and was trying my best to remain calm and give the best directions to Lachlan as possible. Plus we had an in-built GPS system which we could revert back to if things got bad.
Lachlan hates the city when he has to drive and navigate his way through. So do I. We normally take the train, but it was going to be too late a night to catch a train back home.
For a moment I got confused and directed him down a main road, thinking Darling Harbour was in that general direction. How very very wrong I was!
We looked around us and saw that we were in the completely opposite end at Kings Cross! I was apologising profusely for messing it all up, trying to calm his anxiety. It wasn't working as well as I had hoped. Finally, we rang his dad, who was completely bewildered that we had managed such a mix-up! Plus he wasn't super impressed, as we discovered our tank of petrol was literally on empty. We had to find a parking space somewhere to avoid getting completely stuck altogether.
We managed to discover a random secure parking lot and made our way onto the main road. We were running late by this stage and the stress was building. Spotting a taxi we hailed it down and made our way down to the Harbour.
Luckily the rest of the party had not really arrived yet and we could relax for a little while before the boat was ready for us all to come aboard. Once that happened we spent a rather pleasant evening floating away on the still water.
I met various characters on this boat, all of whom I hardly remember now. Some were friendly, some were interesting and some, well, were just a little bit odd. But everyone we met just added to the colour, fun and variety of the night.
I do distinctly remember one particular character: her name was Leslie and she was certainly a colourful character. I know that Wes tried his hardest to avoid her the whole night. She took a special liking to one of Lachlan's cousins, and she did her best to convince us that we would make great parents. Even poor Granny had to endure an agonising conversation with the woman.
Whenever we think back to that evening, Leslie always comes up and we always have a good laugh. How can a party be truly authentic unless we have "Leslie" type characters?
The night came to a close, but ours was still far from over. Once we alighted back onto dry land we had to find a taxi and somehow remember where we had parked our car. Luckily though, Sam and Peta, Lachlan's brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law offered us their car to drop us off. Once we found the car we paid our parking ticket, which was a small fortune, and then hailed a taxi. The car was completely empty.
The taxi took us to the nearest petrol station and we bought a jerry can so that we could travel far enough to find another station. After paying the taxi driver, which was another fortune, we filled up the car and drove off.
However, we had to find a petrol station quickly before we became stuck again, and we had no idea where we were! We drove up and down random streets until finally, by God's grace, we saw a sign pointing towards the beloved Western Suburbs and we headed onto the familiar Parramatta Road.
Finding a station we filled up and eventually made it home. It was a crazy, fun-filled, adventurous evening which I will always remember!
But May was only beginning and it would be a much more crazy month than I could ever imagine!
The first couple of months
Our relationship had smooth beginnings. I went back to school to begin my final year, and Lachlan went to work to finish his 4 year TAFE course and become a fully qualified mechanical engineer.
I love telling people what his occupation is. They all look very impressed with my "catch", but really I was lucky to have been so amazingly blessed.
In March not much happened. I was trying to not get stressed about my half-yearly exams and I especially didn't want Lachlan to have a crazy girlfriend on his hands when it came to schoolwork. We went to a dinner at a friend's house one Sunday night, playing the Wii and spending a lot of the time whispering to one another on the couch. We were still taking advantage of our new "status" and so people were still quite alright for us to be anti-social.
But that would not last for much longer and we knew that we had to assure people that we weren't going to neglect our friendships with them simply because we had entered into a relationship. In fact I am always quite proud of the way we continued to value other people and not just spend every waking second with each other.
April rolled around and I went on a 3 day "missions" trip to Mudgee to do a kids program. It was a lot of fun and absolutely FREEZING! I miss Lachlan terribly the whole time, and I found my phone bill hurting by the end of the three days. We also received some bad news- Granny was sick. Her cancer in the throat had returned. I felt utterly helpless! I was so far away and I couldn't be there while Lachlan dealt with this terrible news. It made me realise how important family really was.
I sat my exams and passed. The relief was indescribable as they were quite difficult exams. Easter came and went. Holidays were treasured. The start of 2009 was going quite well in my mind.
May came along. Little did I know it, but this was going to be life changing month.
I love telling people what his occupation is. They all look very impressed with my "catch", but really I was lucky to have been so amazingly blessed.
In March not much happened. I was trying to not get stressed about my half-yearly exams and I especially didn't want Lachlan to have a crazy girlfriend on his hands when it came to schoolwork. We went to a dinner at a friend's house one Sunday night, playing the Wii and spending a lot of the time whispering to one another on the couch. We were still taking advantage of our new "status" and so people were still quite alright for us to be anti-social.
But that would not last for much longer and we knew that we had to assure people that we weren't going to neglect our friendships with them simply because we had entered into a relationship. In fact I am always quite proud of the way we continued to value other people and not just spend every waking second with each other.
April rolled around and I went on a 3 day "missions" trip to Mudgee to do a kids program. It was a lot of fun and absolutely FREEZING! I miss Lachlan terribly the whole time, and I found my phone bill hurting by the end of the three days. We also received some bad news- Granny was sick. Her cancer in the throat had returned. I felt utterly helpless! I was so far away and I couldn't be there while Lachlan dealt with this terrible news. It made me realise how important family really was.
I sat my exams and passed. The relief was indescribable as they were quite difficult exams. Easter came and went. Holidays were treasured. The start of 2009 was going quite well in my mind.
May came along. Little did I know it, but this was going to be life changing month.
Valentine's Day and Cricket
I was finally someone's girlfriend! I was Lachlan's girlfriend! For the next week I was on Cloud Nine and no one could take me down. I was the happiest girl alive.
I look back and think about that moment when he asked me. I was completely surprised, but overjoyed! I said yes straight away and we enjoyed the best first evening as girlfriend and boyfriend.
Sounds corny, I know, but I'll never forget it. It was a magical night. It was OUR night.
One week later was Valentine's Day and I nearly forgot about it. I had never been anyone's Valentine, and had never really payed attention to the day at all. But Lachlan insisted that we do something special. We decided to go out that night for dinner- I can't remember where we went in the end. But he bought me flowers and gave me the most beautiful gold sapphire earrings. I wear them 90% of days now.
Although it seems awfully terrible of me to not remember many details of our first Valentine's Day together, I can justify myself. Lachlan is always romantic. He always thinks of the most thoughtful, caring and generous things for me. He constantly surprises me and spoils me. After two years I have been lavished upon way more than I deserve.
Everyday with Lachlan is Valentine's Day.
The next day was the day we were all going to the cricket. "We" being Justin, my sister Emily, Lachlan and I. I was so excited. Lachlan, the dear boy, tried at least.
We found a good parking spot and had pretty good seats. I am an avid cricket enthusiast. In fact, cricket season is soon and I simply CANNOT wait for long summer days of watching endless amounts of the brilliant game. Lachlan, as I've said before, does not like cricket, but at least he tries for me.
The game was fantastic! We won by two runs and by the end of the game even Lachlan was standing up and cheering the Aussies into our victory! I was so proud!
As we left the grounds we heard the low, foreboding rumble of thunder and pressed on quickly, in hopes of reaching the car before the rain reached us. Unfortunately we were not successful.
We were in possesion of no umbrellas and we weren't exactly wearing ideal clothes for wet weather. But Lachlan handed me his wonderful leather jacket and I was spared the majority of the downpour.
I loved our adventures together. I loved how he always thought of me first. I prayed I would never take that for granted or forget. Unfortunately, I am not perfect and so not deserving of his (still!) constant love for me. But I know that remembering these times will remind me how good I really have it. I hope he truly knows that. I hope that i can spend the rest of my life telling him that!
I look back and think about that moment when he asked me. I was completely surprised, but overjoyed! I said yes straight away and we enjoyed the best first evening as girlfriend and boyfriend.
Sounds corny, I know, but I'll never forget it. It was a magical night. It was OUR night.
One week later was Valentine's Day and I nearly forgot about it. I had never been anyone's Valentine, and had never really payed attention to the day at all. But Lachlan insisted that we do something special. We decided to go out that night for dinner- I can't remember where we went in the end. But he bought me flowers and gave me the most beautiful gold sapphire earrings. I wear them 90% of days now.
Although it seems awfully terrible of me to not remember many details of our first Valentine's Day together, I can justify myself. Lachlan is always romantic. He always thinks of the most thoughtful, caring and generous things for me. He constantly surprises me and spoils me. After two years I have been lavished upon way more than I deserve.
Everyday with Lachlan is Valentine's Day.
The next day was the day we were all going to the cricket. "We" being Justin, my sister Emily, Lachlan and I. I was so excited. Lachlan, the dear boy, tried at least.
We found a good parking spot and had pretty good seats. I am an avid cricket enthusiast. In fact, cricket season is soon and I simply CANNOT wait for long summer days of watching endless amounts of the brilliant game. Lachlan, as I've said before, does not like cricket, but at least he tries for me.
The game was fantastic! We won by two runs and by the end of the game even Lachlan was standing up and cheering the Aussies into our victory! I was so proud!
As we left the grounds we heard the low, foreboding rumble of thunder and pressed on quickly, in hopes of reaching the car before the rain reached us. Unfortunately we were not successful.
We were in possesion of no umbrellas and we weren't exactly wearing ideal clothes for wet weather. But Lachlan handed me his wonderful leather jacket and I was spared the majority of the downpour.
I loved our adventures together. I loved how he always thought of me first. I prayed I would never take that for granted or forget. Unfortunately, I am not perfect and so not deserving of his (still!) constant love for me. But I know that remembering these times will remind me how good I really have it. I hope he truly knows that. I hope that i can spend the rest of my life telling him that!
Sunsets and the Opera House
We decided to do it.
We couldn't care anymore. This was getting too ridiculous. We were going to make it official. There was no more questions about it. My mum had relented and finally said yes. Now I just waited for him to "ask".
But before that could happen I had to solve a huge dilemma. Lachlan's birthday was just around the corner in the beginning of Feburary and I had no clue as to what to get him! His best friend, Justin, was my saviour in this instance.
We both thought buying Lachlan a ticket to the 20twenty cricket match where Australia versed India would be perfect.
Lachlan hated cricket.
We did not care.
Nana had bought him a really cool present as well. It was tickets to see Taikoz, a Japanese drumming group, who would be performing at the Opera House on the 7th February, a day before his actual birthday.
I wore a shiny blue party dress, and deeply regretted my choice, as I soon found myself battling with intense winds the whole time.
We ate some delicious food at a fancy resturant a stone's throw away from the Opera House, and were having a great time together. After eating we decided to make our way over to the Opera House and wait until the performance began.
While Nana went to the bathroom, Lachlan grabbed my hand and said, "Come with me! I want to show you something!"
Smiling I ran along with him, and began climbing the steps of the Opera House. We reached a landing and looked out onto the harbour. The sun was setting, and everything was beautiful. I took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and relaxed on the railing.
Lachlan began talking about something, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention. I wanted to just savour this moment in front of me.
"...so, I didn't want to wait until my birthday..." I could hear him babbling on. I continued my ignorance...
"...well, I was thinking, why not? Christina?"
I turned and said, "Yes?" a little irritated that he had broken my moment of serenity.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
We couldn't care anymore. This was getting too ridiculous. We were going to make it official. There was no more questions about it. My mum had relented and finally said yes. Now I just waited for him to "ask".
But before that could happen I had to solve a huge dilemma. Lachlan's birthday was just around the corner in the beginning of Feburary and I had no clue as to what to get him! His best friend, Justin, was my saviour in this instance.
We both thought buying Lachlan a ticket to the 20twenty cricket match where Australia versed India would be perfect.
Lachlan hated cricket.
We did not care.
Nana had bought him a really cool present as well. It was tickets to see Taikoz, a Japanese drumming group, who would be performing at the Opera House on the 7th February, a day before his actual birthday.
I wore a shiny blue party dress, and deeply regretted my choice, as I soon found myself battling with intense winds the whole time.
We ate some delicious food at a fancy resturant a stone's throw away from the Opera House, and were having a great time together. After eating we decided to make our way over to the Opera House and wait until the performance began.
While Nana went to the bathroom, Lachlan grabbed my hand and said, "Come with me! I want to show you something!"
Smiling I ran along with him, and began climbing the steps of the Opera House. We reached a landing and looked out onto the harbour. The sun was setting, and everything was beautiful. I took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and relaxed on the railing.
Lachlan began talking about something, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention. I wanted to just savour this moment in front of me.
"...so, I didn't want to wait until my birthday..." I could hear him babbling on. I continued my ignorance...
"...well, I was thinking, why not? Christina?"
I turned and said, "Yes?" a little irritated that he had broken my moment of serenity.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Summercamp
Summercamp was definitely the place where I got to experience my summer romance.
Yes, it is true that I was already in a romantic relationship with my not-yet boyfriend, but Summercamp was like the water and sunshine which helped our romance blossom. It was the most enjoyable three days of the new year.
Most of our morning was spent inside listening to our guest speaker preach, but the afternoons we had mostly to ourselves. On the first afternoon a whole bunch of us headed down to Soldier's Beach. It was a scorchingly hot 40+ degree day. We skipped across the hot sand and dove into the refreshingly cold waves.
Now I do not like waves. In fact I don't like most things about the beach; the sand, the constantly dirty feet, the wind, the sunburn and the seaweed. So it was a BIG deal for me to even be in the water, but it was just too hot to be anywhere else.
I was happy enough to sit in the surf close to shore, but to my dismay Lachlan headed further out into deeper water. He motioned to me to come and join him, but I was very reluctant. I am not a strong swimmer and waves terrify me. But I loved this man and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
Slowly and tentatively I swam out to him. I could feel my heart racing and I tried my hardest to not panic and turn back. The whole time the temptation to give up ran through my mind. I finally reached my man and stayed as close to him as possible.
Each giant wave rolled by in two second blocks and I simply let myself float over the top of them. Lachlan got concerned that I would wear myself out and told me to dive under the waves instead.
So I followed his advice.
I lost my tankini top...
My embarrassment was indescribable. I didn't think Lachlan saw anything, but I was still stunned and decided to head back to the shore. I was convinced- waves hated me and I them.
I now know that Lachlan did actually see the event, which does not encourage me to go into the surf any more than it did that horrible day nearly 2 years ago.
My embarrassment was over yet either. About half an hour later, Lachlan and I decided to head up to the rock pools to, um, look at the sea life...really we were off to find a secluded spot to make out in.
As we walked along the beach we went through a bit of a slippery patch and before I knew it I was on my back staring up at the bewildered face of Lachlan.
Red-faced and sore I picked myself up and trodded along (carefully). Lachlan kept asking me if I was OK, which I repeatedly said I was, but I didn't think my recovery from embarrassment was ever going to happen after this trip to the beach.
One late afternoon, well after my humilating experience after the beach, Lachlan and I lay on the grass staring up at the twilight. The whole time he kept telling me how much he loved me and thought I was amazing. I just lay there drinking in his words, cuddling them close to my heart, lest I forget and mess up the good that was in my life. Later on we swung on the swings and bounced on the trampoline, enjoying the innocence of our friendship and the young, fresh beginnings of our romance.
The time passed quickly and soon we found ourselves back on the road (minus random cafes and pit toilets) heading back to Penrith. Lachlan sat in the back of my car, and passed his hand through to my seat, quietly resting it on my shoulder. I felt so close to him.
Despite the events I wished to forget at the beach, I loved every moment of Summercamp. It started off 2009 on a high and set in motion the best events of my life...
Yes, it is true that I was already in a romantic relationship with my not-yet boyfriend, but Summercamp was like the water and sunshine which helped our romance blossom. It was the most enjoyable three days of the new year.
Most of our morning was spent inside listening to our guest speaker preach, but the afternoons we had mostly to ourselves. On the first afternoon a whole bunch of us headed down to Soldier's Beach. It was a scorchingly hot 40+ degree day. We skipped across the hot sand and dove into the refreshingly cold waves.
Now I do not like waves. In fact I don't like most things about the beach; the sand, the constantly dirty feet, the wind, the sunburn and the seaweed. So it was a BIG deal for me to even be in the water, but it was just too hot to be anywhere else.
I was happy enough to sit in the surf close to shore, but to my dismay Lachlan headed further out into deeper water. He motioned to me to come and join him, but I was very reluctant. I am not a strong swimmer and waves terrify me. But I loved this man and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
Slowly and tentatively I swam out to him. I could feel my heart racing and I tried my hardest to not panic and turn back. The whole time the temptation to give up ran through my mind. I finally reached my man and stayed as close to him as possible.
Each giant wave rolled by in two second blocks and I simply let myself float over the top of them. Lachlan got concerned that I would wear myself out and told me to dive under the waves instead.
So I followed his advice.
I lost my tankini top...
My embarrassment was indescribable. I didn't think Lachlan saw anything, but I was still stunned and decided to head back to the shore. I was convinced- waves hated me and I them.
I now know that Lachlan did actually see the event, which does not encourage me to go into the surf any more than it did that horrible day nearly 2 years ago.
My embarrassment was over yet either. About half an hour later, Lachlan and I decided to head up to the rock pools to, um, look at the sea life...really we were off to find a secluded spot to make out in.
As we walked along the beach we went through a bit of a slippery patch and before I knew it I was on my back staring up at the bewildered face of Lachlan.
Red-faced and sore I picked myself up and trodded along (carefully). Lachlan kept asking me if I was OK, which I repeatedly said I was, but I didn't think my recovery from embarrassment was ever going to happen after this trip to the beach.
One late afternoon, well after my humilating experience after the beach, Lachlan and I lay on the grass staring up at the twilight. The whole time he kept telling me how much he loved me and thought I was amazing. I just lay there drinking in his words, cuddling them close to my heart, lest I forget and mess up the good that was in my life. Later on we swung on the swings and bounced on the trampoline, enjoying the innocence of our friendship and the young, fresh beginnings of our romance.
The time passed quickly and soon we found ourselves back on the road (minus random cafes and pit toilets) heading back to Penrith. Lachlan sat in the back of my car, and passed his hand through to my seat, quietly resting it on my shoulder. I felt so close to him.
Despite the events I wished to forget at the beach, I loved every moment of Summercamp. It started off 2009 on a high and set in motion the best events of my life...
Toukley, roadside cafes and pit toilets
Three weeks has passed and Lachlan & I were absolutely blooming. Ever since that magical kiss at Christmas (which I had not told anyone about) I was more head over heels for him than ever before.
But as time passed so did my desperation for us to finally be together. I mustered up all my courage and told Joanne and my sister Emily about the kiss. They were so happy, but also concerned. It was definitely time for things to be made official.
Our youth group was preparing for a big trip up to Toukley on the Central Coast for a Summercamp. I was very excited about this camp simply because Lachlan was going to be there.
The day arrived and my sister Emily, my two friends Emily B and Aden and myself piled ourselves into my car and off we went. Lachlan was driving with someone else and had left a little later than myself. This made me very happy, because after 2 hours of driving I would at least have the advantage of freshening up and looking fabulous despite the long journey.
The first hour passed with no dramas. However we soon realised something- we were all STARVING! We desperately needed food, so decided to exit off the main freeway and head down a random unknown road to a location we had no idea about.
Not our brightest moment.
We took several turns and tried our best to remember each road and finally happened to pass a roadside cafe. Pulling up, we jumped out, stretched and basked in the scorching summer heat. Emily (my sister) and Aden headed up the hill to the toilet shed. Emily B and I went inside to buy some food and satisfy our hunger.
The food was disgusting. It was over-fried, dripping in oil and covered in flies. We ran out before anyone could ask us what we wanted to buy. The toilet stop wasn't much of a success either. Aden & Emily came to us pale-faced and distraught. They had never seen such a foul toilet in all their lives. We went to see...
We were getting back into the car and getting out of that random, disgusting place in the middle of nowhere faster than when we pulled up. After driving around for a while, we realised that we were slightly lost. We made random turns onto roads which seemed more major than not and looked for signs which told us the direction of the Freeway.
After about 20 minutes in silent panic we turned back onto the highway and continued our journey- hungry and more desperate for a toilet than ever before.
McDonalds was our saving grace.
Finally we came into Toukley and did that many U-turns it seemed utterly ridiculous. Finally my phone began ringing. Lachlan had not only beaten me, but he was now worried. I jokingly asked him if Foster was close to Toukley, which did not help his worries.
But he needn't have worried for we were only a few minutes away. And when we pulled up we breathed a big sigh of relief. That was the most entertaining, stressful and memorable car road trips I've ever had!
But the 3 days were only just beginning and many many things were still to come...
But as time passed so did my desperation for us to finally be together. I mustered up all my courage and told Joanne and my sister Emily about the kiss. They were so happy, but also concerned. It was definitely time for things to be made official.
Our youth group was preparing for a big trip up to Toukley on the Central Coast for a Summercamp. I was very excited about this camp simply because Lachlan was going to be there.
The day arrived and my sister Emily, my two friends Emily B and Aden and myself piled ourselves into my car and off we went. Lachlan was driving with someone else and had left a little later than myself. This made me very happy, because after 2 hours of driving I would at least have the advantage of freshening up and looking fabulous despite the long journey.
The first hour passed with no dramas. However we soon realised something- we were all STARVING! We desperately needed food, so decided to exit off the main freeway and head down a random unknown road to a location we had no idea about.
Not our brightest moment.
We took several turns and tried our best to remember each road and finally happened to pass a roadside cafe. Pulling up, we jumped out, stretched and basked in the scorching summer heat. Emily (my sister) and Aden headed up the hill to the toilet shed. Emily B and I went inside to buy some food and satisfy our hunger.
The food was disgusting. It was over-fried, dripping in oil and covered in flies. We ran out before anyone could ask us what we wanted to buy. The toilet stop wasn't much of a success either. Aden & Emily came to us pale-faced and distraught. They had never seen such a foul toilet in all their lives. We went to see...
We were getting back into the car and getting out of that random, disgusting place in the middle of nowhere faster than when we pulled up. After driving around for a while, we realised that we were slightly lost. We made random turns onto roads which seemed more major than not and looked for signs which told us the direction of the Freeway.
After about 20 minutes in silent panic we turned back onto the highway and continued our journey- hungry and more desperate for a toilet than ever before.
McDonalds was our saving grace.
Finally we came into Toukley and did that many U-turns it seemed utterly ridiculous. Finally my phone began ringing. Lachlan had not only beaten me, but he was now worried. I jokingly asked him if Foster was close to Toukley, which did not help his worries.
But he needn't have worried for we were only a few minutes away. And when we pulled up we breathed a big sigh of relief. That was the most entertaining, stressful and memorable car road trips I've ever had!
But the 3 days were only just beginning and many many things were still to come...
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