One of the reasons i miss living at home....

..... is mum's cooking!!!! I know that sounds totally cliche' but it is soo true! Sometimes Grandad makes dinner, and this one is the very LEAST of my favourites... I am SO glad that i went out to the YSA pot luck dinner at the Prebble's house last night because i don't think i could have stomached this.....
Last time it had eyes on it too... Annette... PLEASE keep inviting me to dinner coz i think i will be accepting sometime in the not so distant future! =P

I am not hating it at Grandad's.. I have a new positive attitude, and no matter how bad it is i'm still looking on the bright side =) BUT- i AM feeling a bit nostalgic, and there really is no place like home....

Saying goodbye to Young Women's

*WARNING* I was shedding tears while making this video and writing this post, so prepare to as well!

I was fifteen, almost sixteen when i joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints... This made me the right age to enter the Young Womens programme which is for girls aged 12 to 17. I had two FANTASTIC years in there, with great leaders, activities and lessons.. I was SO sad when i had to leave ='(
Some of my fantastic leaders were; Jayne Christie, Toni Coward, Louise Triffitt, Emma Porter, Sherri Jackie Webster's daughter (wow i cant remember her last name!)...
But, i had the BEST TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE! (well, maybe not the best two years of my life, but the best two years of my life SO FAR!)

I had SO much fun, i laughed more than i ever have in my life! I sure cried a lot more than i ever have in my life! I made SO many friends, and had so many great experiences. I grew so much as a person, and i know that my testimony wouldn't be as strong as it is if i hadn't been in young women's.
I wouldn't be half the person i am today if it wasn't for the Young Women's programme. It changed me from a shy, crabby, young 15 year old who didn't smile or know how to have fun (just ask Toni!), to a confident, outgoing 18 year old who never stops talking! (what a change huh Jayne!?) ... I left the programme the kind of person who is confident enough to stand up in front of hundreds of people and tell them how much i love the church, and what i believe in. Before i wouldn't have even told two people!
I learnt a million things while in Young Women's. I learnt how to let the little things go and only worry about the things that matter. I learnt to laugh about little things until you cry! I learnt that food goes with just about every activity. I learnt that there are these young women out there in the world that are different to everyone else, they are confident in who they are, and what they stand for and i was so proud to be a part of that. I learnt so much about myself. The main thing i learnt was who i am and what i am worth- A daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me very much. That got me through some tough times. There are hardly words to describe my time in young women's. So i have made a video. I had something like 500 photos from 2 years, but i could only add as many as one song, so i picked my favourites.

Although i was feeling really old by the time i turned 18 and had to leave, it didn't make leaving any easier. I bawled my eyes out... I miss it a LOT!
I guess this is just to let you all know that i wasn't being ridiculous for being so upset when leaving the young women's programme, i was only so upset because i loved it SO much and it changed the person that i was becoming and am today, It also meant the world to me... I miss it so much, but i am grateful for the short time i was blessed with to spend in there and the experiences i had, and the things i learnt.

St Patrick's Day

First off, i know it has been VERY quiet on the blog front but this internet is dodgy as! There is something wrong with the USB drive on my own laptop and that is how you can plug the internet in... So i have been using this one, Orn's laptop.. it is SLOW and driving me absolutely MENTAL!!! Because it is so slow i cant even upload a single photo to my blog or email! SO from school i emailed some photos to the very kind Lisa King who uploaded them for me =D So a HUGE thanks!!!!!

Yesterday was St Patrick's Day, and as our school is called St Patrick's College there is a huge celebration every year... Because there are 1400 students in our school there are four houses, and each of those is broken into two smaller houses... I am in green house which is called Nagle, and the sub house Rochester, so i am in Nagle Rochester Four... I swear there is a point to this! =P
The day started quite early with a Nagle year twelve breakfast at Aromas cafe at 7am.. I was sad that i missed seminary, but i got bullied until i went to breaky ;) Nah it is grade 12, have to do it all...

Eve and I ...

This is Eve, one of our house captains, and also one my best friends...


There were no classes all day but instead a TWO HOUR long catholic mass.. and then an extended lunch, and then games and stuff on the oval, with all tutors (mine is NR4 remember?) against each other...

This is our group hands thingy, Eve got a great picture for us.. Ready....


And... Break!!


My tutor group (homeroom) is totally awesome.. We have THE BEST tutor teacher, her name is Ms Owers and she is awesome!! She is the nicest, kindest, funniest, honest lady you will ever meet!!!! She has made tutor every morning such a pleasure to go to... This is Dee, the other grade 12 in my tutor, Ms Owers, and myself...


This is Bella and I, a grade 9 in my tutor...


Group shot of NR4, dont you just love our banner!?


Eve and I decided that since it was our last year we would get right into it and silly... SO we painted outselves green! Totally fun! Everyone was laughing at us, and saying hey you look cool.. they also said we looked like the hulk, shrek and a leprecaun.. HAHA. It took AGES to wash off in the shower- i was scrubbing for literally 20 minutes!!!!
This is me painting Eve's face all ready to go...
I just love this one Lisa edited too... So i put both on here =P
This random little girl came up to me when i was painting Eve and said "Makayla will you please paint some stripes on my face like yours?" .. So of course i did, im not sure what her name was, i asked but i have forgotten.. She was totally cute though =P I also dont know how she knew my name!
Sarah, Genevieve, Rachel and I.. I really dont know what i am doing =P

After the day of games the winner of the St Patrick's Day cup was announced and guess what, it was Nagle house! Yippee! Eve was SO excited!!! So we went to Maccas for celebratory ice cream!
Beth was sad coz she's in Rice and lost =P

This is us in Maccas at the end of the day... The guy in the sombrero at the front is one of our school captains, Will.. The other one was taking the pic =P Our other Nagle house captain is the guy behind Will... Heaps of my friends are captains =P

It was actually a fun day... I usually have a great day, but this time it was even more fun as it was grade twelve and i was a psycho getting into it! I was even a bit too encouraging to the kids in my tutor group =P Ms Owers came up to me at the end of the day and gave me a HUGE hug and said thanks for being so encouraging to the younger kids and getting into it so they would.. Made me have a warm fuzzy moment =P

Sorry for any spelling/grammer mistakes, i have been watching How i Met your mother at the same time coz i need an early night =P BUT i have finally blogged!!!!!!! Thanks LISA!!!!!!!!!

A life changing decision??

Warning- This post gets a little deep and meaningful! =P

For the last 7 years all i have wanted to do when i have finished school is to become a psychologist. I have been dead set on it. I studied the right subjects and all that, but still kept my options open (except i havent studied a science limiting me to not be able to study medicine)...
Up until a few months ago this is all i wanted to do... Im not exactly sure what changed my mind. I know that Noah King played a big part in it, but other than that im not too sure. Anyway. Over the last five months or so i have been getting a "feeling" that it is not what i should do, that there is something else out there better suited for me.
I have been pondering that and praying about it. Bishop told me i would probably need to fast every single Sunday for 3 months before i received an answer. I didn't need to do that. The answer came straight away. I want to work with children with disabilities. Whether that be in a home based area or something like St Giles, i discovered that i am really passionate about this!!!!!
So i made an appointment with the careers counsellor at school the very next day- and she had a cancellation so i got in that very day and discussed what i should study beyond grade 12 etc. She said i can go to Uni OR Tafe.. But i would rather have a Uni degree behind me..
But anyway this is a long intro into what this post is about!

On the daily notices at school they advertised a gap year programme. They have been doing this for years and i have honestly never taken notice or even thought about it before. But it caught my attention. It is a programme called "Lattitude" and offer gap year placements in 15 countries around the world...

I went along to the meeting and met the lady and got some information. It is all about volunteering in another country. Some of the positions are: teacher, schools assistant, english teacher, outdoor activities instructor, community worker and caring assistant. It is for people aged 17-25 and they send something like 6000 people a year. It is a non profit organisation, and it looks fantastic!

They send people to: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Fiji, India, Ireland, Japan, Malawi, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom, Vanuatu and Vietnam. Where you do depends on what volunteer posistion you want to do. To know more go to http://www.lattitude.org.au/

One of the things you can volunteer as is a caring assistant. This means you will be working with people with disabilities in hospitals, homes, orphanages etc. There are positions for this in Canda, Japan, Uk and Ireland. I cant go to Japan as i cant say anthing apart from hello my name is makayla!
But i have decided that i REALLY want to do it! I told mum about it on the phone and she was like "hmmm, just bring the info here next time you come and we'll take a look" .. But i have decided that this is just perfect and i would love the opportunity! You can be gone for anytime between 3 months to a year, depending on where you go.

Of course there is a cost involved, but it is fairly cheap. The main cost is $2900. This covers accomidation and food etc. The only other thing you need to pay for are airfaires. They do deals with the flight centre so they're a bit cheaper. Oh and things like passports etc.

It sounds crazy, but it also sounds awesome! At first i was thinking, there is no way ill do that, ill just go to uni next year. But then i started thinking- why not!? What have i got to lose? I will be finished grade 12 with my whole life ahead of me, and this is a fantastic opportunity. Im thinking why shouldn't i!!?? When will i ever do it again? The only thing is you need you application in by May! Better make sure that i am sure very soon- and get saving!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you think????????