Lady Luck is my new best friend!

Last night, right before bed, I checked my email and happened to notice an email from a few days ago that I had overlooked. It was an email about a travel expo being held on base about Cairns, Australia. I really wanted to be able to take my little sister there, so I decided I'd stop by the expo today to pick up some brochures and travel information. Prices can be so unreasonable though! Anyway, I met up with Kristina and we browsed the kiosks together. I also happened to fill out an entry form for a weeklong luxury/adventure vacation they were giving away as the grand prize. The drawing was later that afternoon, so I figured I'd go home and hang out until drawing time. Shortly before drawing time, I headed back to the expo...

AND I WON!

Can you believe that?! The mayor of Cairns did the actual drawing and as she picked my ticket out of the big barrel, she hung on to it and gave a speech about what an honor it was to be here giving out such a great prize. I was thinking "Good grief woman, tell us who won!" And then she said my name. MY name! I think my jaw hit the floor. It was just SO exciting! I had to pose for pictures with all sorts of people and fill out some paperwork, which was all a blur. I was just SO excited! And if you're wondering who my lucky guest will be, it's none other than my awesome sister, Katy! Benjamin will be deployed, so we're going to take the trip as our birthday present since our birthdays are six days apart. :D But don't worry, Benjamin will get to see Australia when we visit on a second trip next spring!

So what exactly did I win? Roundtrip airfare for two from Guam to Cairns, Australia.

6 nights, 7 days split among two beachfront resorts:
Castaways Resort & Spa

Shangri-La

Skydiving (and the coolest part is that we literally will land on the beach right next to our hotel),

whitewater rafting,

an excursion to the Great Barrier reef for snorkeling,

an excursion to Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve including breakfast with the beasts (Which is ironically enough breakfast served while the lions savagely maul and eat their own breakfast. I'm not making this up.),
an Army duck tour (hmmm, ok) *Note, I just looked it up and it looks awesome. It's a WWII Army Duck which is an amphibious boat... ha! I was think "Ducks? How boring"*

Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience and

Koala & Wildlife Park tour where we'll handfeed kangaroos and wallabies and cuddle a koala.

The only thing I'm going to add to our trip is a day at the tropical rainforest. I think it will be a really fun experience and a great friend of mine (who is an Aussie) said that you absolutely can not go to that part of the world without seeing the rainforest. *EDIT... just realized the trip already includes that!*

CAN YOU BELIEVE MY LUCK TODAY?! I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!