24 days until I go home....and the reasons why I'm excited

1. To see my beloved family and friends...I miss them more than words could say.

2. Tim Hortons

3. Christmas

4. To have my own room again

5. My piano

6. Snow...yes, i admit it...I miss snow.

7. Heavy Rain Conference.

8. To see my beloved youth again!

9. Swimming at the pool

10. A fireplace

11. Living in a small town

12. Road trips with friends

13. Mike & Ikes

14. Hot tub chats with my mom

15. Downtown Shopping

16. Figure skating

17. Starbucks

18. Coffee with my daddy

19. Day trips and late night chats with my bestie.

20. Being able to watch the news.

21. Fuzzy peaches

22. To get my G1! after 4 years i'm finally going to get it!

23. Grey's Anatomy

24. My parents pasta sauce.

A few videos of my housemates and I at Hannah's birthday!!

I'm in the depths of despair!

You are Anne "would you please call me Cordelia" Shirley!

A dreamer with a great imagination, you spare yourself the horrors of reality by putting up a wall and believing the best is yet to come. You're fiercely independent, a leader, and you don't take any crap from any boys. You're willing to smash a few slates over some heads to get the respect you deserve, and you're willing to walk the roof of many a kitchen to one-up any jerk that stands in your way. You do carry a lot of sorrow hidden deep within your soul, so be careful not to let it eat you alive. You must take comfort in the words of wisdom from your bosom friends and other kindred spirits and release your inner demons through creative means; whether acting, writing, drawing, singing... You are a true kindred spirit.

And now make your own Quiz!

Millions of people will take it - its really easy and fun!

"Gilbert drew her close to him and kissed her. Then they walked home together in the dusk, crowned king and queen in the bridal realm of love, along winding paths fringed with the sweetest flowers that ever bloomed, and over haunted meadows where winds of hope and memory blew." - From Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery

So I've been on mid-semester break this past week! Last night my housemates and I watched "Little Women," followed by "Anne of Green Gables." Tonight we have moved onto "Anne of Avonlea".  I miss these movies. They bring back the memories of my pre-teen days.  Anne, is probably one of my favourite movies of all time! My mom & I used to watch them together... Mom, I think we should watch them together this Christmas...what do you say!?! 

As Anne would say, " I feel as though someone's handed me the moon... and I don't exactly know what" to do with it."

4 months ago....

I left my beloved friends, family, & home to begin a year long journey in Australia....

It has been an amazing 4 months.  I can't believe how quickly it has gone, yet at the same time I feel like I have been here for so long.  

Lets recap the first 4 months.... here are some of the highlights!

January 

I arrived on Jan 16 @ 9pm.  

I was taken to my beautiful home and started off on my journey in Sydney!

I spent the first few weeks settling in and meeting heaps of new people.  My roomate, Jillayna and I had a pool party with about 40 new students at our house and had a fabulous time!

We spent the afternoon in Sydney with a few of our housemates and I experienced my first Australia Day!

Powerhouse retreat was at the end of January.  We went away for the weekend, met tons of people, spent a weekend away at the beach and received more from God!

February

The first week of February we started school.  The first two weeks were intensives.  I got to meet more amazing people & my expectations for the year became so much more! 

On Valentine's Day, I got to have a lovely valentines day dinner with my lovely, beautiful, amazing housemates! 

March

March was full of fun, I got to spend a day in the city at Manly beach.  Soaked up the sun and a some long walks on the beach!

The first part of the new Hillsong album was recorded at the beginning of march.. Above is some of my choir friends and I!

Colour was the first conference of the year I got to experience.  It was on the last week of March and was an action packed week!  It was amazing to see 13,000 women come together for a week to worship God and to honour and bless them!

In between the 1st and 2nd Colour conference we had the 2nd recording for the new Hillsong album (it comes out in July)  It was an awesome night of worshipping God!

April

I spent Easter with some of my lovely friends.  We ate amazing food and spent time listening to each other play/sing songs we've written.

I Spent a day in the City with Daniela, Jillayna, & Lisa.  We went to Circular Quay, the Opera House & then went to the city campus to go to Powerhouse (the young adults group here)

May

Here we are! In May.  I am currently on mid-semester break.  I went to the Taronga Zoo yesterday with a few friends & then headed to Manly beach for the evening.  We got to watch the sun set and then had dinner at a restaurant near the beach.  It was soo beautiful!!

(I miss you Andrew & Peter!!!)

(Here I am just hanging out with the Kangaroos!)

(Renny, Jillayna & Sarah)

(Manly Beach)

Overall I have had a phenomenal time! God has been amazing.  The journey has just begun and I am so excited and expectant to see all that God is going to do in the remainder of my time here in Aus.  I am so thankful for the amazing opportunity and privilege to be here.  I have been blessed with an amazing house, awesome housemates, incredible friends, and a fun, crazy, and amazing roomate!

God is soo good!!

I'M BACK!!!! ..... I promise...

Okay so I am back to the world of blogging!  

It has been 2 & 1/2 months since I have written an update... oh my! 

Good morning!

Life has been soo good these past couple weeks. I apologize for my lack of updates!!

We have been in school for four weeks now.  This semester I am taking Personal Leadership, Communication in Ministry, Songwriting, Old Testament, Musicianship, and Church and Ministry.  The courses has be phenomenal so far.  At times it’s a little overwhelming because we are learning so much and getting given so much information, but everything we are learning is so good!  We have really been challenged these past couple weeks to be cultivating a healthy personal devotional life with God spending time in the word, prayer, and journalling.  I have started to try and follow a bible reading plan that one of our lectures gave us and it has been great so far!  We are getting ready for Colour Conference in three weeks! I am stoked!

Last night we had one of three recording that are going to be used for the new Hillsong album!  I sang in the choir, which basically meant I was right in the front with the moss pitt.  It was pretty full on, but lots of fun.  The new songs are amazing and God is so glorified in them.  So looking forward to the CD coming out =)

Well I am off for now... It a beautiful monday morning and I’m going to get started on an assessment I have due next week and maybe I’ll spend some time in the pool this afternoon as well!

Love to you all! xoxo

Nicole

Just a quick message to say:

- I am still alive!

- School is awesome

- Church is amazing

- Life is crazy busy, but great!

- I miss you all in the land of snow

- I will write a proper update sooon!!

xoxo

Love is in the Air....

“You have stolen my heart my sister my bride, you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes” Song of Songs 4:10

Today was a day filled with love.  It amazes me how in just one month of being in a totally different country, at a brand new church, and with a whole new group of people that I have found amazing, genuine, caring friends.  God has been so good.  Though today wasn’t filled with “romantic” love, I definitely experienced being loved by first of all my Daddy God and all these amazing people here with me.  Love is such a huge part of our culture and lives, but It’s so important to find the true meaning of love.  We love Him because He first loved us. Today is a day that I can rest knowing that God is my one true love. Although my surroundings are different, the weather has changed from unbearable heat to winter, I know that I am loved and valued by my dadddy and that is such a good place to be at.  I pray that for any of my lovely friends who are reading this today back home today, that you will discover the love, the true love that God has for you.  That you can walk in life, in every situation knowing that you are loved by the perfect lover.  

L.o.v.e.

Perfect love casts out all fear

it never fails

it surrounds me

it is like a warm blanket which covers the core of who I am

it never goes

it is the softest of breezes 

that loudest of roars

it comes in many shapes, sizes, and colours, yet it will never fade

it is patient

and hopeful

it provides guidance and direction for the future

it brings a sense of belonging

it is identity

it is how we are created

to love and be loved

after all we were taught how to love from the perfect lover

Nicole Mauro, May 7, 2007

I spent today with some of my lovely friends.  

Here are a few pictures to share!!'

Update!

The past week has been crazy busy, but so good!  On the weekend I went to Powerhouse Retreat, which is the young adult ministry here at Hillsong and it was AMAZING!!  God broke through and did amazing things in worship and during ministry times!  On the second last night the whole building of just over a thousand young adults broke out into spontaneous dance for like half and hour praising God and seeing his love and presence come in such a real way.  It was a beautiful night!

I started college on Tuesday and it has been pretty full on.  We had Robert Fergusson speaking to us for 4 hours on Communication in Ministry.  It was really intense, but he has some amazing revelation and wisdom to offer.  I caught a cold this week, so I have been trying to fight off a sore throat, stuffy nose, and headaches.  I’m feeling better everyday, but I need this to clear up!!  College has been amazing so far and God is showing up and doing awesome things here.  This whole week and next week are intensives, so we are doing two courses, Communication in Ministry and The Church and Ministry as well as chapel services.  Today all the girls in college went to Sisterhood (the women's network here) and we enjoyed a service with a few hundred women of God and then got introduced into where we are going to be serving on Thursday mornings while sisterhood is on during the semester.  I’m going to be serving in the Kid’s department!!  Not sure what age group yet, but it will be between ages 0-4, so I’m really looking forward to it!  This weekend all the vocal majors in the worship stream are going to start being in the choir.  I get to do the evening service on Saturday and Sunday night!  It’s so exciting..

Anywho, sorry to keep this short, I will try and post again soon!

much love to you all xoxo.

This past week has been great!  I got to go shopping a couple times in around where I live which was great.  I bought some sweet summer dresses and skirts because it has been crazy hot here.  A couple days ago it was 45 degrees with the humidity! It was crazy!  God has been so amazing though! It’s awesome to have a pool that I cn jump into anytime!  

This past Friday our house threw a Pool Party for all the new students this year. It was heaps of fun.  There was about 30 of us all together and it was great to spend time getting to know all the other students and also enjoy a barbie and a afternoon in the pool!  

Monday was Australia Day!!  Our house spent the morning together making pancakes and then in the evening we bussed down to the city to Darling Harbour where we grabbed starbucks and dinner and then watched the fireworks! They were great!  It was raining the whole time, but I bought a full length Aussie flag for $5 and wore it as a cape to keep me dry!

Today was the first day of Orientation and it was amazing!  God did so many amazing things today and it was only the first day!!  Holy Spirit was so present in the building all day.  One of the pastors from a Mexican Extension Service spoke at the last session we had today and he was totally going for it!  He was speaking out prophetic words over us and people were receiving gifts of the Spirit for the first time.  It was soo good.  God is amazing, I am just in awe of how thick and awesome His presence is here.  I am so excited for all that God has planned in this next season for me and all of us at college!  Chris Hill was here this past weekend and he was prophesying that this year was going to be a year of a double anointing here in our lives and in the church bodies.  It can honestly only get better from here!

I leave for Powerhouse Retreat on Thrusday and I’m so pumped for all that God is going to do this weekend! 

Much love to you all! 

xoxo

So...I killed a spider today...

It has been a great couple of days here in Sydney!  The weather is beautiful, it was over 30 today I believe.  I got lots of sun, but it's been great!

Here is the rundown on what I've been up too!

I went to my first service at Hillsong on Saturday night and it was AMAZING!! I loved every minute of it.  It's a lot shorter than a normal tacf service - its about an hour and a half, but soo great. The worship is amazing and then they have a time of where they share testimonies and prayer requests with the congregation and we all pray for those people (their names are just on cards that one of the hosts read out) and then someone shares the word.  The teaching has been really good already.  I love church, the people are so genuine and everyone makes an effort to introduce themselves to you!  It's crazy, I think I've met like 300 people since last week!

I spent Sunday morning at church as well, followed by a lunch with some of the 2nd year students at their house!  The 2nd year students are amazing here and are so helpful and hospitable, its just amazing! I went to the service on Sunday night as well and God did some AMAZING stuff that night.  It was full on.  

Monday was another great day.  Met up with some students for coffee and I taught aquafit to a few of my roomates at our house (oh, did i mention we have a pool in our backyard?)  So that was tons of fun!  

Today, about 20 of us went to Rouse Hill, which is a shopping centre here.  We bused down ($4.40 each way, yikes!) and then spent some time shopping and having some good fun.  Then this afternoon I spent by the pool soaking up the sun.. It was soo hot here today!!

Anywho, just wanted to keep you all updated. I love you all and miss you.  Leave me a comment so I know you are reading this!!

Lots of love,

Nicole

oh ps.  did I mention that I killed my first spider tonight!! yes, I know, very exciting indeed.  

The First Few Days...

Hello beautiful friends and family,

So, I'm going to bring blogging back for you all to keep you updated on my adventures here in Australia. 

I left Toronto at midnight on Tuesday we arrived with my friend Jillayna at 9pm on Wednesday in Sydney.  We have a really long flight with some nasty plane food.  I experience the most dodgy chicken ever!!  We were so happy to arrive here at and it a beautiful summer evening!!!  We arrived at our house after being taken grocery shopping very quickly by a college graduate and then we talked to a girl, Richelle which is living at our place for the next few days...she was a college student last year...

The house is AMAZING!!!  We will have 11 girls living here in total for the year, so it will be quite an adventure I think!  So far its Jillayna, myself, Lynn and Helga from Norway, and there are 6 returning college students arriving next week and we have another newbie coming at some point!  We have a salt water pool in our back yard which is sooo nice!!  We're a 10 minute walk to the college which is amazing!  Right across the street from Hillsong Church is a small shopping centre...with a grocery store, banks, bakery, and of course gloria jeans (this is starbucks in Australia!)     I will post picturs sof the house soon!!

The first day (Thursday) in Sydney we spent at the college and shopping.  I had to go pay the college some money, had to wait like 3 hours cause there were so many people there...all were so many new students too, but it was great to meet them all!  There are soo many Canadians here!  Then in the around dinner time Richelle took us to the mall about a 10 minute drive away where we got some house hold items, including a $10 full-length mirror that makes anyone look anorexic!  We also did some grocery shopping and got our phones set up!

On Friday, we met up with a girl Heather who is here for college too, shes from BC.  We had coffee at gloria jeans and then she came over and we spent the afternoon in the sun and in the pool... totally not trying to rub in the BEAUTIUFUL weather in Sydney right now..

Tonight is my first service at Hillsong since being here!  I'm so pumped!!

Hope this update thing isn't too boring!!  I will try and get some picture up on facebook soon.

Love you all and please pray for me here, the weather is soo hot sometimes....it's hard to walk to college in this extreme heat..

haha LOVE YOU ALL!!!