My Little Corner of the Web

The Amazing Race - Rewa Styles

Hey ya-all, dont worry im trying not to go overkill on the updates... besides over the next few weeks i probably wont be able to update much, due to those things we love to hate - exams :p

Anyhow, Sat nite i went on a Kiwi/local version of 'The Amazing Race' (probably the closest ill ever get to being on the real thing sadly..unless they change the format to include Kiwis/Aussies) put on by Manurewa Baptist youthgroup. twas great :) really well organised. We went in and around the city and out South using buses, trains, cars etc and it included various road blocks and detours. A few teams were disqualified for taking their cars into town instead of taking the bus (yep they were a few of the guys teams) haha. My team came about 3rd to last overall i think, but yeah was good fun. The only not so great thing as a result from it, is i think i managed to pull the tendon or muscle (one of the two) in my leg...probably from when i did this sprint as part of the first road block :/ i like to think of myself as fairly fit seen as i walk to the train and around uni everyday but yeah...there is a vast difference in walking heaps and running, believe me. The latter i haven't done much of. ah well, hopefully it'll go away soon.

Last nite i started my defensive driving course :) was at MH. the guy leading it is a Cook Isl Maori guy, hard case but cool. We were given these 'street talk' log book thingies where ya have what he calls 'home assignments' to complete (he refused to call it homework heh) as well as other handouts to read. So yeah it goes for the next few weeks and then after that we get our certificate...roll on Jan man...then i can finally go for my full :)

Well i betta go finish off reading Macbeth for English. Then i need to go pick up another assignment and maybe go talk to the people at Arts Students Centre about how to plan out the rest of my degree. Im thinking of doing a double major in Hist & Geo but haven't finally decided just yet...

catch ya l8r all,
God bless

ps took a few pics of the Cambodia Team when they left on Fri. will try post the group one of them on here sometime soon...

posted by Priscilla @ 10:31 AM 1 comments

Awesome song!

I want to share with you guys the lyrics to this song I downloaded today by this great Christian band. I really love the lyrics, they mean heaps to me:

Grace And Love
Many things in life are hard for me
Many things can pull us down
I don't understand why I do what I do
How could I take my eyes off you
After all You've done for me
And after all You've done for me

It's by Your grace and love I am saved
It's by Your grace and love You've forgiven me, hey
And by that love and grace, I'm amazed
It's by Your grace and love I am free
I am free

And it's by grace and love that I am free
I'll live with you eternally
I thank you Lord that I am free
I thank you Lord for loving me
I thank you Lord for dying upon the tree of Calvary
I thank you Lord for loving me
I thank you Lord for dying for me

Because it's by grace and love I am saved
It's by Your grace and love You've forgiven me, hey
And by that love and grace, I'm amazed
It's by Your grace and love I am free
I am free

Many things in life are hard for me
Byt my grace and love You've forgiven me
And by grace and love we are free

-- Kutless

The tunes not too bad...im wondering if it would be singable enough for us to do at church?? should be. hmm...

posted by Priscilla @ 10:45 PM 1 comments

NZ in trouble - the evidence

Hey ya-all. how you doing? good i hope. Sry for the delay in updates lately..been kinda busy with uni and other things. Will fill you in on that in a moment. First of all i want to show u guys this article i got sent from a friend - should be of interest:


New Zealand In trouble - the evidence

1) New Zealand has the developed world's highest rate of births outside of marriage (44%), and the third-highest teenage birthrate (after the USA and UK). Nearly a third of all children grow up in fatherless homes.
2) Research in Christchurch revealed that 65% of youth offenders were not living with their father.
3) Since 1970 the rate of marriage has decreased 66%, while the number of divorces has tripled.
4) For youth aged 15-24 years, New Zealand has the second highest rate of suicide for males among selected OECD countries.
5) Since 1960 central government spending per head of population (in today's dollar terms) has increased by 320% on welfare.
6) New Zealand's public spending on primary and secondary education is highest-equal (with Iceland) per GDP in the OECD. It was 4.6% of the GDP in 2000.6 Despite this, the average New Zealand student scored in the bottom third of two major international tests on reading, mathematics and science.
7) Of the 1999 teaching graduates, 34% had left the profession within two years.
8) We now have 348,000 people on welfare in New Zealand (excluding superannuation). In 1970 there were 28 full-time workers for every person on a fulltime benefit (excluding superannuation). Today that number is four, and falling.
9) New Zealand is conservatively spending $5.7 billion a year as a direct consequence of family breakdown, or close to 5.5 per cent of GNP ($3000+ for every taxpayer).

The New Zealand government does not track family structure in relation to many social outcomes. However there is relevant data from the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia - countries which compare closely with New Zealand on social issues:

10) Examination of English court records between 1982 and 1988 found that children living with their mother and her cohabiting boyfriend were 33 times more likely to be abused than those living with their married, biological parents. In turn, the risk of abuse for children whose mothers were cohabiting was five-and-a-half times greater than for children with remarried parents.
11) Out of 52,000 child abuse cases reviewed for the US, 72 percent involved children in a household without one or both biological parents, even though these households comprised roughly a third of all households with children.
12) Toddlers living in Canadian step-households in 1983 were about 40 times more likely to become registered victims of intermediate physical abuse than their two-genetic-parent counterparts.
13) In Australia, the rate of sexual abuse of children in de facto couple families is more than three times the rate in natural or adoptive families. A high proportion of child killers are either step fathers or the mothers' boyfriends.
14) For every dollar spent on a child brought up in a two-parent family, the government spends $10 on a child brought up in a single parent family.
15) Fatherless children are worse off in terms of health, educational attainment, work ethics, income and lifetime wealth. They are more prone to crime, drug addiction, divorce, unemployment, illness, truancy, suicide, poverty and depression.

Uni & Stuff
As i said b4 uni has been keeping me pretty busy up until recently....on Fri (just gone) i had 2 assignments due + a test....fun, fun, fun! :p so yeah i'm glad they're all out of the way....the "test" was for History and was an essay which is kinda stupid. Now i only have this little lab thing to hand tomorrow and then.....no more coursework due!!! yay....in saying that though, time is marching on towards exams :/

Had a pretty good w/end....my family went off up north for a few days so i had the place to myself =) twas great...had a friend come to stay the w/end. Just hung out at home Fri nite and watched a dvd; Sat nite went out with a couple friends to that newish indoor mini golf place at Botany, then went to Xtreme only to find all the lanes were booked out, then we decided we would head out to Maraetai for the heck of it hehe. Was cool, not many people there. My fam came back early tho on Sat nite b/c the power was out from like North Shore all the way to Orewa/Warkworth area (lightning hit the power supply base) so yeah. And then Sun was church, and then headed to shared lunch at the Peeks, was good seein Christy again. Can finally play a little bit of guitar now heh. I figured i might as well since we had a guitar lying round not being put to use.

Well that about covers it for now...

ka kite ano

posted by Priscilla @ 3:26 PM 3 comments