A Little Gathering.

Grateful tonight for a gathering of some very rad people to say goodbye to Jas and Anthony; you two are both so spectacularly lovely, I wish you every happiness and the best of luck :)

Grateful for swimming in the freezing pool, a hamburger picnic on the ground, a fire and a strange exercise machine, an amusing game, Steven's peculiar bird stance, a friendly cat and just generally grateful to Anthony and Jas and her parents for having us :)

Prior to the gathering, grateful for an absolutely hilarious day Christmas shopping with Mum and Aunty Becky. So pleased that I've got all the family's gifts sorted :) grateful to Aunty Beck for her assistance in scheming! The drive home, laughing so very hard at our stupid accents and sayings. It was such a nice girly type of day :)

Goodnight!
Lise xx

"Schoolies"

Grateful for the most fantastic, fantastic week, possibly ever, at Mission Beach this past week to celebrate the end of our secondary education. Grateful to Becca, Rere, Jarrah, Jas, Anthony and Ryan for their fantastic company and hilarious conversations and various shenanigans :) I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of one chapter of our lives and the beginning of another than by spending a week with six beautiful people such as yourselves.

Grateful for walks on the beach, chilling in the pool, Mighty Boosh and Monty Python, drinks on the beach, Xbox and time to read and think. Grateful for staying up all night and watching the sunrise over Dunk Island, dinner out even though it was quite a hike, collecting seashells, dancing like lunatics, finding a great gelati shop in karmic return for Woolworths being shut after we trekked all the way there, friendly wildlife like the snake that joined us for dinner a few times, amazing food and the most ridiculous and intriguing discussions. But it is you six wonderful humans that made the week what it was. Thank you, I'm grateful that it was you I shared it with :)

Grateful that there is no Sunday rehearsal tomorrow - I think all the seniors will be! Extra day of rest :) Speaking of which, I hope everyone's schoolies week was as spectacular as mine was and I'm now off to bed :) Sleep well!
Lise xx

200th Blog Post, and I'm a Graduate. We all are.

We did it. We survived high school. It's over now, we're graduates, we are the Atherton State High School Class of 2011. And we are done.

Handed in the chemistry, biology and English assignments on Friday the 11th November, finished  my last ever Maths B on Tuesday the 15th and had my last ever (high school) block exam on Wednesday the 16th, Ancient History. Returned all my textbooks and felt a mix of relief and wistfulness :)

Grateful for a lovely picnic with everyone at the grass on Wednesday, nice to have everyone in the one place, signing shirts and eating muffins :)

Wednesday night was the senior scavenger hunt, in which I'm proud to say we ladies finished first :) Annie, Brooke, Becca and Adriana, thank you for the amazing night, it was so much fun, so many laughs and great memories. Haven't run that much in awhile haha :) What an adventure. Love to you all. A shooting star topped the night off brilliantly.

Formal last night was a beautiful, beautiful event. Arrived at 8am to set up and chaos ensued, but everything was done and as far as I know everyone got away on time to hair and make up appointments :) Everything looked fantastic, an enormous thank you to everyone on the formal committee and to everyone who helped set up :) Thanks to Pompey for the loan of his beautiful '59 Fairlane and for driving me, and to Jodie once again for her gorgeous, gorgeous photography :) Thank you to my formal partner Daniel and to every one of the 2011 Seniors for making the night such a great success. It has been wonderful knowing you all and I wish all of you every happiness in the future chapters of your lives.

The after party, I was grateful for a bit of crazy dancing and some nice conversations. It had a nice vibe and I was happy to be there and a part of it :)

Today, amongst the many tired and maybe-a-bit-hungover faces, we officially got our certificates, graduated high school and walked through those gates for the final time. Not too many tears, but a lot of hugging and talking and lingering before everyone headed home.

To all the 2011 Seniors, and particularly those of you who I am privileged to count as good friends, thank you for an amazing senior year. We're off into the world now but I hope to see a lot of you  around at some point or another :) To everyone at the grass, I love you all and you've made the time fun. We've all had our moments, but overall its been a great, great year.

Tomorrow, off to the beach to celebrate the end of it all. I'm really looking forward to it :) Goodnight, all. Dream sweetly.

Lise xx

Two.

Grateful on Tuesday for a plot hatched during chemistry to infiltrate the school, Damian drawing squares and circles on the board to represent guards and where each of us would parachute in from and the like. :) such silly fun. Also grateful for a good night at dancing :)

Grateful today for a productive morning, the wonder of Neurofen, finishing my Biology draft and a delightful afternoon. TimTams and coffee and a lovely chat with Debbie on the back deck while the colour in my hair set for formal, a sock stolen by Joey the chihuahua and a successful hair trial for formal :) grateful for a night of trashy TV and humming to myself in the kitchen surrounded by newspapers and coffee attempting to imitate papyrus for my final English assignment :)

Chemistry continues now. Sweet dreams.
Lise xx

View.

Hello there.

On Friday I was grateful for the end of a long week, for a lesson to read my book and for a nap in the sun.

Saturday, for a lovely morning walk up Mount Baldy with Mum and Dad, Will and Grandad Mal :) such beautiful views, and still almost the whole day ahead when we got back down.

Sunday, a small sleep in and a successful shopping trip to Cairns :)

Today, grateful for an afternoon nap and getting a decent amount of work done.

I find it immensely bizarre that we have only one weekend left of school. Ever. Then off we go into the big, wide, scary world to do what we will. Very much looking forward to finishing up assessment, formal, scavenger hunt and all that sort of thing that comes with graduating :)

Sleep beautifully, everyone.
Lise xx

Three Days.

Tuesday:
Grateful for the opportunity and privilege of modelling at the Melbourne Cup luncheon in Mareeba. It was a lovely day and I had some great conversations, watched the race with new friends and generally enjoyed myself :)

Wednesday:
Grateful for a day off dancing, which gave me extra time for studying.

Today:
Grateful for a nostalgic day with Rere, playing Dropple and eating frozen yoghurt under a tree in the afternoon.

Now, off to study. Goodnight, with love.
Lise xx