"Ohana" means "family"

I've felt a little homesick lately so that's where this blog comes from.

There is one place I can go all over the world that makes me feel like home . . . the water. I was born in a city in North Carolina. We didn't have a pool or live by the water when I was really young, but we spent every summer at Atlantic Beach. And when I can smell that beach air and see that water, I just feel home. And now my parents live on the coast so technically, it is my home. Maybe I just always knew thats where we belong. I'm not on the coast here in Australia, but each time I go to the coast, I walk out into the ocean, close my eyes and for a few seconds, I'm home. And here in Brisbane the city thrives around the river. Its not the ocean, but it still makes me feel close to home when I see the water. And I absolutely love that its almost always sunny.

My brother and I have a lot in common. In the winter when its dark and cold, we get kinda depressed and sad. We crave the sun and need it to be happy. Same with bright colors too. We're drawn to yellows cause its bright and happy. Like me, he's drawn to the water too. He went to college on the coast and I love visiting him and seeing all the palm trees. Another weird quirk is we both have this weird nausea in the mornings. We can't eat breakfast early and if anything smells weird first thing in the morning, its not gonna end well. But I like that we have those things in common. Its weird, but its familiar. I guarantee he doesn't take the time to read my blog, but maybe if I tell him I devoted a paragraph to him he'll read this one.

I've been in Australia over 2 months and only have about 3 left. Its going by so quickly. I still have so much left I want to do and not much time to do it! The last 3 weeks I'm here I'll be traveling with my parents and with all the trips I already have planned, I only have about 5 weekends left to plan trips. Not to mention, at some point I'm probably going to run out of money. In college when I'd run out of money I thought it was clever to call my parents and sing that country song "Dear Mom and Dad please send money, I'm so broke that it aint funny. I don't need much just enough to get me through." Look out daddy, you might get that call in the future, but I'm gonna try to make it last until you arrive, and then rob you. Evidently everything is laid back in Australia, including responding to job applications.

I was so homesick the other night that I ended up skyping with my whole family. I talked to my sis and wished Gavin happy birthday. I got to see his parents and her mom and sister cause they were all celebrating together. Logan was excited to see me, but more excited about the birthday cake. I then called my momma and chatted with her for about 30 minutes. After that I decided, why not call Carter too. He could only chat for a few minutes but said he was sad I wasn't home to help him with designing some tshirts for his fraternity. After I explained that the internet is worldwide he got excited and told me about designs he was thinking about. I forgot about it until I started blogging so I just cranked that out for him real quick. Hopefully he likes my idea.

So pretty much I just wanted to tell my family I love you guys and miss you. Being here is such an awesome opportunity and I wish I could share it with you all. I have tons of friends here and I stay pretty busy, but no one can replace family.

"Ohana" means "family." "Family" means "no one gets left behind."