Back to Life at Home

Hey hey

I've been home for a month now. I don't know whether it feels like that or not. On one hand, things are getting back to some sort of rhythm but also I still feel like I only just got back. I guess in the grand scheme of time I haven't been home very long at all, so that is a little comforting.
I'm back at work with a fair few hours to keep me busy and pay off my fabulous trip, I'mm back with GWO (Ginninderra Wind Orchestra) having heaps of fun with some incredible people who I missed a lot, I'm back being involved at church with such a vast and vibrant community and I'm back at home with Mum, Dad and Joel.

Thing are going pretty smoothly at the moment, I'm keeping myself busy and trying to spend some time with different people to catch up after being away. I'm getting closer to getting my Ps, so there's something that will make life a fair bit easier.
Next year seems to be approaching very quickly and I'm excited to see what it can bring as I head off to Uni and start back in the rhythm of studying.

All in all life back at home is pretty excellent. The trip was incredible and I have so many photos (only a small selection of which made it to this blog) and awesome memories.

I now need to sit down and work out what comes next for the last months of this year.



Oh and I also came home to a car. THANK YOU :D



Canberra.
Justine

VIDCON 2015!!!

Hey hey 

Our last days in the USA. We flew in to LA on Wednesday night and then made our way to Anaheim ready for VidCon in the morning. 

VidCon. Wow. I mean wow.

Day one was crazy. I'd seen how massive the convention was but hadn't actually processed it to the point of being a part of it. On day one alone I saw an interview with Jon Cozart (Paint), then an interview with Colleen Ballinger, met Michael Arranda and went to the opening ceremony. At the opening ceremony we saw John and Hank Green, Rhett and Link, Miranda Sings and Dad Sharp as well as a few others. We then stayed for a  two panels. The first panel was Women on YouTube and was fairly interesting, and moderated brilliantly. The second was a panel of comedians including Glozell, Craig Benzine, Jenna Marbles, Colleen, Mamrie Hart and Dan Howell. The panel was fantastic, if not for all the screaming that erupted every time Dan moved. 

The day ended earlier than we expected as the expo hall closed at 6. We decided against the movie that was screening and the concert that night in favour of heading back to our accommodation and getting to know our host. 

Day two was incredible. We got up early to go and see some of the expo hall in the morning, I then went off to my second meet and greet, getting to meet Jamie Currie (Jamie's World) it was a little bit more awkward than the first but it was still awesome to see her. Then I headed off to the main stage to see panels for the rest of the day. The first panel was called Power of Words and was really interesting to hear opinions from panellists about how the power they have been given through such immense followings is something that really has to be part of their mindset when creating, but shouldn't stop them from staying true to their content. 

The second panel I saw was one on Sexual Orientation on YouTube and I found it incredibly interesting, plus Hannah Hart was a surprise panellist which was awesome. I found that the moderator (Michael Buckley) was a little too involved in the conversation rather than guiding it and I was more interested in hearing was the actual panellists were saying. But it was fantastic to hear opinions on responsibility and exposure as creators. (I also got to meet Ashley Mardell while waiting for the panel). 

The last event on the main stage that day was a Nerdfighter Q&A with John and Hank Green. The highlight of this was of course when they answered one of the questions that I had tweeted in... and Hank Green favourited my tweet. I was definitely buzzing for the rest of the day... ok for the rest of the trip. 

That evening Yooga headed off to the movie that was screening and I headed off to the concert at the arena. Two of the performances were The Driftless Pony Club and Hank and the Perfect Strangers. The night was so much fun and full of energy and I also got to make some awesome friends that I definitely hope to keep in touch with. All in all, an absolutely fantastic night.

The last day of VidCon was spectacular! We split fairly early in the day after seeing an interview of Lily Singh (iiSuperwomanii). I then stayed for part of an interview with Jamie Currie before heading off to my last meet and greet with Craig Benzine (WheezyWaiter) Oh and I bumped into Joey Richter (Starkid) on the way. Craig was awesome and friendly and definitely the most fun to meet. I then headed off to find a seat and the Holy Trinity Q&A (Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart). The Q&A was hilarious and awesome and they spent a lot of time talking about their pets. They also announced that they're making another movie.

Yooga managed to find me and we stayed for the Closing Ceremony. There were lots of announcements including movies and albums. Just before the end of the event Troye Sivan announced an exclusive jumper available only at the DFTBA records stall and teenage girls streamed out of the mainstage hall to go buy one (as an uninterested party it was very entertaining to watch the disappointment when they had sold out).
I then got to meet Emma Blackery as part of an impromptu meet up before she left.
When Yooga and I managed to find each other with no reception after we'd been split up (relatively stressful) we headed back to the accommodation to get ready for the VidCon Prom.
At VidCon Prom we met up with the friends I'd made the night before and we all just spent the night dancing and having an incredibly fun night.

We spent the following day slowly packing, we slept in, lazed around and just got ready to head off. Pretty sure that Yooga was quite sick of hearing me tell her how many hours it was until we were home. But that was it, our trip was over and all we had left was a 15 hour flight back to Australia.

Anaheim.
Justine

Seaworld and Aquatica

Hey hey!

So after a weekend spent redoing our favourite rides in universal on Saturday and then shopping on Sunday, we spent Monday at Aquatica and Seaworld. 

Yooga braved 1 ride at Aquatica to humour me and then we went to the 'rapids' which was basically like wet'n'wild's lazy river but faster and had cool small rapids points. We opted for life jackets purely for the lack of effort we would then have to use. 

It was awesome and we stayed in the rapids for ages. So good that after lunch we neglected the other rides to go back to the rapids for a while longer. 

After a bit of rain we decided to move on to Seaworld. At seaworld we saw stingrays and dolphins. We went to a rescued pets show (adopted pets did tricks and the like) and then finished by seeing the main stunt performance which involved dolphins and people and birds. 

The day wasn't too long and we didn't see everything in either park, but we still had a really good day. 

Also we saw flamingos. 

Orlando. 

Justine 

Leaving Orlando

Hey hey!

So it has come to the next step of the trip. Today we fly to LA (and then travel to Anaheim). 

Yesterday was incredible. I have no regrets about our choice to finish our time here with Harry Potter world. We did a little more shopping, rode the rides again and generally just thrived in the atmosphere of the wizarding world. 

Oh and I tried a cauldron cake, which was pretty damn good. 

The place is amazing and one day, I will come back. 

Then finally after waiting 2 weeks I had my first shot at putt putt golf. We had heaps of fun messing around and not really keeping score. Although I did get 2 hole in ones... holes in one? One had a par of 2 the other a par of 3. Very exciting. 

Over the past two weeks I've done a lot of thinking about things I'd plan differently next time or wondering what I could have done better this time. But last night it really got me that it doesn't matter. I've been having so much with what I planned and I've had awesome company (even if we both admit that it's definitely possible to have too much time in each other's pockets). 

Super excited for VidCon in the coming days. Something I've wanted to be at for the past few years and never expected I'd actually get to.

In transit. 

Justine. 

Disney Days!!!

Hey hey!

So Thursday and Friday were our two days at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. We decided against Disney's other parks and just to take our time around one. 

Now before anyone asks, no we did not to Space mountain despite the multiple recommendations. We used our time mainly for meeting characters and shopping. 

Which was awesome. 

The whole experience was so exciting, being such a lover of Disney, I felt like I was buzzing most of the time. On Thursday we met Ariel, which was brilliant, thanks to my childhood self I still have a high lo email of mermaids. 

She talked to me about how Scuttle had told her about glassamaggigs and was really helpful when Yooga and I clarified the difference between them and sungoggles. 

We went and saw a small interactive dramatic piece about Belle. Which we were very happy to hang back and not fully participate in until we regretted it at the end when only the 'cast' got photos with her. But the puppetry of Madame Wardrobe and Lumiere was mind blowingly good. 

I also met Aladdin and Jasmine who were very interested in my long magic carpet flight from Australia to America. 

(Also notice Aladdin's perfectly groomed eyebrows, just something Yooga pointed out). 

We finished Disney day 1 by watching the parade and me finally deciding which ears I wanted. 

Disney day 2 was brilliant. I did feel like I was pulling Yooga from one childhood dream of mine to the next. We started off by meeting Tinker Bell before soon moving on to meeting Mickey Mouse. 

(Unfortunately the photographer with Mickey screwed up and didn't pass on the photos on the photo card we had and the character handler only took one photo on Yooga's camera, so we're not particularly thrilled with that outcome but at least we have one). 

We then spent the next part of the day using our schedules fast passes. We started off with the Buzz Lightyear ride where we shot lasers to defeat Zurg (very similar to the MIB ride at Universal, I have discovered that I like these rides a lot). After a quick lunch we headed to the Speed Racer (which is nothing like it sounds because you don't get to choose your direction and you can't overtake). But it was still hilarious as Yooga tried to steer around the predefined track and I controlled the acceleration. Very very funny when I stop the car without any warning and she freaks out. We have learnt that real driving is much easier that whatever it was we were trying to do there. 

Before our next scheduled part of the day, we went and met Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse, in all their circus sideshow getup. We then went to Cinderella's castle to watch the show that happens every hour or so throughout the day. The show taught the audience that if you believe, dreams really do come true.

Then we went and met Rapunzel and Cinderella! Again we were both I prepaid kind of unnerved about the characterisation of the cast at Disney. 

Then we had a ridiculous amount of fun giggling and taking selfies on the merry-go-round, or as they're all called 'the carousel'. Then we went on a tide through  the story of the Little Mermaid which was incredibly nostalgic. 

We finished our time in Disney with the light parade and light show on Cinderella's castle and an awesome display of fireworks. With the long day and the amount of sleep we're running on mixed with adrenalin and nostalgia and a night time light show, I got super emotional and yes, I cried during the fireworks. It's was Disney and it was magic. 

Orlando. 

Justine 

Harry Potter World!!!

Hey hey! 

So if I'm completely honest, pretty much the only reason I planned to come to Orlando was to go to Harry Potter World. Granted, we then made the time here long enough so we're able to get to other parks but the true reason I'm here is HP. 

So we scheduled 2 1/2 days for HP. The half day is to be our last day here but we spent Sunday in Diagon Alley and Monday in Hogsmeade. 

And OMG IT WAS AWESOME. 

I don't even know how to start explaining how amazing it was to be there. We went into Weasley's Wizard Weazes and Florean Fortescues Ice Cream Parlour. We had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. I watched a performance of Celestina Warbeck and a couple of dramatic telling a of Tales of Beecle the Bard. We went to Ollivander's and saw a wand choose a wizard (unfortunately they choose kids aged approximately 11, bummer that we're 18 and 19) but still bought a wand from there. We saw Knockturn Alley and went into Borgin and Burkes. We went on the Gringotts ride (a lot). And that was just day 1!

We caught the train to Hogsmeade again and we went into Honeydukes and Owl Post and Dervish n Bangs and had lunch at the Three Broomsticks. We also went on the Hippogriff ride and the Dragon Challenge and then we did the Hogwarts ride. 

We got to walk through Hogwarts and see Dumbledore's office and the Gryffindor common room and herbology and DADA classrooms. Aaaaaah it was just so cool. Then we also got to watch some of the Hogwarts Choir and the Triwizard Rally. 

Aaaah can't wait for our other half day!!

Orlando. 

Justine