New Home, Sunshine & Dragons

It's funny how once Uni was all done I still have remained busier than I had expected!  On Saturday morning I packed up everything and did a wee bit of cleaning.  In the arvo I headed into town to participate in this 'conversation' thing that I was selected to do (they promised they'd compensate with money so I was game!).  It was actually a really cool experience! For the past few weeks I've been filling out questionnaires and surveys to be apart of this 'conversation' even though I really had no idea what it was about, all I knew was that they wanted international students and I could get money so I was game! I got to the business office and discovered that I had been one of seven that were selected to participate in a government procedure to creating effective advertising for studying abroad students as well as building AU careers in North America.  Pretty cool stuff!  It was a video recorded and audio recorded session where they would show us various advertisements and we would give our opinions and thoughts on it.  I also met another Minnesotan there!  He had studied abroad there, then moved to AU to get his masters and further his work experience. I ended up chatting with him a little over an hour after the meeting... he gave me a really clear view on what moving to AU is really like and the processes he had gone through and all that jazz... which may or may not have been a good thing to hear... haha

Saturday night Ricardo & Marlon hopped on over (more like drove) to SUV & helped me move all my stuff to my new place! This is where I am living this month:  :)

I was pretty tired at the end of the day so I didn't unpack anything. Instead we all just watched some Human Planet, then went to bed!

Sunday I went to church, then down the the Buller Center for lunch and some neighborhood outreach.  I got to go door to door with this guy called Paul who was visiting our church. He's a worship leader at a church in North Sydney, but he moved here not too long ago from London!  Considering London is my fav place on earth I had plenty of questions. Probs talked the poor guys ear off! Nevertheless it is still cool to be super accepting of people who dont know anyone.  If Sydney has taught me anything, it's taught me that even simple conversations in an unknown place can really mean a lot to someone!  After that I headed off to work the night away!

Monday I was up early and hopped on a train for 30min to meet my mate David just west of Sydney.  We went on a little road trip down to the southern beaches, they are so ridiculously gorgeous!

It was the perfect day outside!  WAY warmer than it has been these last few weeks, I was even outside in just a t-shirt!  We climbed on rocks and even got to watch a few whales!  There was this cute old man that was showing us where the whales were and how to follow them.  Knowing me and how much I absolutely adore sweet old men, I loved how much he was telling us about them!  Then we headed to Wollongong to see a Rugby game!  David is like a huge Illawara Dragons fan so he provided me with the adequate gear for the game. haha

It was fun to finally get to see rugby live and it was actually a really really good game!  After the game it was pretty late so we headed home.  Traffic was horrible so it ended taking us a good 3.5 hours to get back to Sydney... but it was still totally worth it!

I finally got a bit of a sleep in today and unpacking. I've just been cleaning and reading and kinda bumming around today but it's a good bumming around. I'm off to work in a bit here, then hopefully off to wine tasting with Katrina in Hunter Valley which is a couple hours north of Sydney tomorrow... if we can find a car to take that is...

Life in Death

I went on a walk today, it was so relaxing!  I thought of a fun photography project and decided that taking my camera on a walk was the perfect way to start it off. I decided to just wander around new town and found some really gorgeous doorways and garages (I know that sounds weird, but trust me they were old and beautiful!).

I decided to go off of King Street because it had become so familiar to me.  In my travels I discovered the Camoerdown Memorial Rest Park. I thought, "amazing, a whole park just to rest" It was a really wide open space and with the sun shining perfectly it looked as if everyone laying or reading in the park was truly resting.  Little did I know that that wasn't the reasoning behind the name of the park.  On the far side of the park there was a long brick wall fully graffitied,

ever single inch of it.  I decided to wander around it to see if I could figure out why there was this massive squared off section of the park. I walked pretty much around the entire thing and finally found this gate way that led to this little locked up shut down church,

but behind the church there was a huge grave yard.  Now normally grave yards really freak me out.  Ever since my third grade teacher died the year I was in her class, I still remember going her funeral and going to the graveyard to bury her.  Ever since then they've just freaked me out, not necessarily in the zombie-ghost way, but there just seems to be something wrong with knowing that there are decaying bodies underneath the ground you walk on.  That's what freaks me out.  This yard was so different though.

First off it was ridiculously old.  I don't think anyone had been buried there in over a hundred years.  Second, it was the most natural graveyard I had ever seen.  Like most graveyards are perfectly kept, perfectly cut green grass, fresh flowers at tombstones and the such.  This one didn't have any fresh flowers (most likely because of how old it is) and it wasn't really kept at all.  There were broken tomb stones, trees that grew wildly, grass was tamed but wild in other areas and little pathways around it.

On one side of the yard you could look over the wall and see the city far off in the distance.  It just felt like I was in a mini sanctuary in the middle of such a huge city.  The beauty of the naturally growing plants and the combination of the graveyard just painted a perfect picture of life in the midst of death.

It was a tranquil peaceful walk.  I think the weather also contributed to the gorgeousness of this place.  It was the perfect fall day, the air was crisp and the sun was bright enough to warm the soul.  This little adventure has inspired me to do a little photo project with a chapter of Psalms that I've started to work on too.  Mmm mmm good :)

<actually written on friday 24/6>

Tea? Check.

SO last week was quite the stressful week. I had one final essay and three exams to do. I pulled a total of 3 all nighters in like 5 days! haha I took a break midway through the week to watch the 2nd Origin footy game with David & a bunch of his mates (it's a series of 3 games New South Wales vs. Queensland and it's a HUGE deal. Basically it's like the all-star players of each state against each other and it's like the superbowl(s) of the National Rugby League). It was a super intense game and the perfect study break!  I worked most of last weekend.  On Friday my buddy Micheal from Canberra was on his way home and stopped by Sydney to spend the day with me.  It was really fun to catch up with him and just be stupid together haha. Then on Saturday night it was my friend Jess's 21st birthday party which was hippie themed so I gathered all of my hippie clothes and threw them on.  I love being a hippie. Probs fav thing ever! Here's a photo of a few of us:

The I went to church & work on Sunday, pulled another all nighter studying, took my last exam on Monday morning and slept literally alll day on Monday!  By Tuesday I just didn't feel like really doing anything so I basically just bummed around, skyped some family & friends and did some cleaning to my already OCD room. On Tuesday night I headed over to Erins/Jess's/Ricardo(who just got home from his Navy duties yay!!) for dinner, then hopped next door for some prayer :)

Wednesday was another chill day I slept in then had lunch with Erin.  She is seriously such a blessing to me, every moment I'm with her I am just so encouraged not only by her words but by who she is as well.  After lunch I was feeling creative so I took my camera on a long walk, kinda working on a mini project that I'll tell you about more on a later date.  I also found the most gorgeous cemetery I've ever seen en my entire life of which you will also hear more about later!
After that I met up with Katrina from church for a tea date. We're both huge chai tea fans (the chai tea here beats American chai tea by like 50 million points, that's the only way I can justify spending money on it! haha). We split a piece of some amazing chocolate cake (the desserts here also beat American desserts but only by about 45 million, but they still win).  It was a lovely date, we just chatted about life for a good three hours. So relaxing.  Then we both headed over to the church, I helped her come up with some creative ideas for the Sunday morning announcement slides!  Then she had to head to dance, then Erin and Ricardo got home just in time!  We hung out, made dinner, ate dinner, and counted all of Ricardo's change haha such a good time :)  I spent the night there & had some legit pillow talk with Erin. I love pillow talk and sleepovers. I know, I'm such a girl, but it's the truth. How can you not like it?!

Thursday morning I slept in a bit then headed home for a short bit.  Then I met up with three girls from Student Life to celebrate the end of the semester. We had a thai lunch and had a good chat. I headed back to my room and chillaxed for a bit then headed over the Max Brenners Choclatier Bar for a little chocolatey fix with my mate Kaz from church.  It was so good to just spend time with her actually talking about life. Like I see her at church every Sunday but actually knowing someone for who they are is so much better! We ended up staying there chatting for a really long time.  Then Marlon came wandering in with a few of his friends. Kaz had gotten in contact with two other girls and the five of us decided to have a thai dinner together!  It was such a fun and spontaneous night!   Such great people, such great laughs and more hang outs planned for the future!  By the time I got home I was so exhausted (Erin doesn't have the best bed so I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before).

Today is Friday, Friday, lets get down on Friday!  Actually I did the exact opposite. haha I had pretty bad night terrors so I woke up extremely exhausted and didn't really feel like doing anything today. I ended up packing about half of my belongings... and there's def not enough room in my luggage for the other half of my stuff... this shall be interesting.  I got to skype Justin and Liz which was good to catch up with those cool cats! Went grocery shopping & had another tea date. (can you tell tea dates are seriously my favorite!?). I plan on spending the rest of tonight chillin and watching movies & hopefully catching up on some legitimate sleep. Tomorrow I get to move out of SUV. I am VERY excited about that. I get to have flatmates again!  Living alone has really taught me a lot about myself... but I'm ready to be done with this lesson and live with people again!! :)

Nothin but a Flighter

This past week I've had a ton of "study" time and quite a bit of alone time too, which I have enjoyed quite a bit :)  So there's not a ton to blog about honestly. I can't even remember what I've done this past week.  But I'm going to try....

Last Thursday I spent the majority of the day just chillin, this is when I legit started studying for Exams.  Most organized stuff and listened to missed lectures and such.  That night I headed over the Justine's house for a lovely little Bible study// dinner with some ladies from church.  She lives in Marrackville which is just one suburb over so it wasn't a long trek to get there.  She has the cutest little house!  It was like perfectly warm and she lit candles and it was probably the most fun Bible study I've ever been to in my entire life!  There were about six of us total ranging from 21-28 years old (I was the youngest :) ) haha We started off the evening just chatting about life and catching up on particular love lives while eating a delicious lentil soup that Justine made herself.  Other people brought chips, dips, pita bread, chocolates, cookies and delicious wine.  Let's just say it was a bit of a feast :)  After we had laughs over dinner we preceded to make Cake in a mug!  Yes, it's possible to make cake in the microwave in a mug!  We all got our mugs and added our ingredients and popped them in the microwave and watched the batter rise! They were actually terribly delicious cakes and we topped it off with some ice cream!  After that we read a Bible passage and Justine lead the study, it was really interesting and laid back.  We all just sipped wine together and talked about Jesus and his promises.  Not just like Sunday school answers but in relation to real life, with real emotions. It was just so laid back and relaxing and encouraging. I loved it!

Friday & Saturday were chill study days.  It rained the majority of those days, in fact the majority of this entire week. I miss the warmth of the sun!  Although it has been amazing falling asleep to heavy rain every night!  On Friday I wrote and entire final essay for my Love in Different Languages course.  It was actually pretty awkward and difficult to write because it was on the transformation of gay/lesbian definitions of love into society.  My professor is also a lesbian so it was hard making sure nothing I said would offend her, seeing how she would be the one grading my paper but at the same time I didn't want to sound super supportive of that life style.  It was a hard medium to portray, but it's done.  I am grateful for that!
On Saturday Church was having a 24 hours of prayer event going on and I signed up with my mate Hayley to pray for one of the hours.  It was really awesome, I don't know Hayley all that personally so it was nice to just talk through life and pray for eachother.  We were the only people in the room the whole time so it was just relaxing and chill.

Sunday, went to church.  It was an awesome church day, I'm honestly going to miss this church and these people so much when I leave!  It's crazy how much I've gotten so much closer to them in just the past two weeks!  On the way to church I listened to Explosions in the Sky. I. Love. Them.  It was just so relaxing and honestly just purifying.  It was also raining and I love walking in the rain so it was a perfect morning. After church I lingered as long as possible, seeing how I didn't want to go get my study on. A handful of us just stuck around church for like an hour and just chatted and ate brownies. 'Twas a good time!  After that they all went out for Thai food but seeing how I'm broke and really should study I decided to go with my better judgement and head home.  I spent the rest of the day listening to more lectures and creating a study guide for my History of Psychology and Philosophy class.

Today is Monday and it is the queen's birthday.  I appreciate the day off but I seriously think it is the dumbest excuse for a holiday, I mean really? A birthday? Haha I'm basically just frustrated that everything is closed and I'm out of food... haha I've been doing a lot more procrastinating today (hence the writing of this blog) because I need to finish the Philosophy side of my study guide and it's confusing so I'm ignoring the fear I have that I will never understand it and then fail this course.  Philosophy's never been my thing...  and I'm horrible at tests so the fact that it's worth 60% of my grade scares me even more. So fight or flight? I'm definitely a flighter. But I shall build up the mental confidence to conquer this Exam tomorrow morning!  (prayers would be very appreciated...)

City Lights & Sunrise

This week is already going way to fast!  I feel like these next two weeks are going to be gone before I know it, there's just so much to do in the mean time!

On Monday we had a little Spiritual Birthday party with Student life at AJ and Kyrin's place. They have a roof top with an awesome view of the city, it kinda looks like this:

Of course it was more amazing in real life, but that's just a snap shot! :)
Anyways the party was really cool, I had no idea what to expect because well I had never been to a spiritual birthday party before!  Basically there was tons of food and treats and we were celebrating 6 different people from 4 different campuses who have given their lives to Christ through Student Life.  What a cool idea!  We got to hear each of their testimonies and they were given devo books, chocolate and cards that everyone signed.  I volunteered to bake a cake... :)

It was a fun night to catch up with friends from other campuses that I haven't gotten to see since Connexions a few months ago.  I'm so excited that I actually get to see them again when I go to the Mid-Year Conference! yay!

I woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning and caught a bus at 5:40 AM to head to Coogee beach to watch the sunrise! I took my journal, Bible and Ipod and it was all I needed! I climbed to the top of some rocks and sat there for a little over an hour just journaling, listening to worship and reading me Biblia.  It was so refreshing, not to mention beautiful!! I have never actually gotten up to watch the sunrise on a beach before.  It was perfect :)

Then I stopped by a cafe and had some french toast cuz it's my fav. and I've grown quite accustomed to sitting down and having a cup of coffee or a meal someplace random all by my self. I used to feel so awkward going out basically anywhere by myself and now I love it!
Then I took a wee nap and spen the arvo doing a bit of deep cleaning& studying.
Around dinner time I headed over to Erin & Jess' place and Marlon joined us, we did some groceries and made and devoured a delicious meal.  After dinner we just hung out listening to music and working on a certain little surprise for a certain friend of ours :)

Today's been a chill day.  I've organized everyday for the next two weeks:

It is color coded and all. The purple highlights fun things I get to do and the yellow is all Uni work.  Not much fun in my future! haha

Well off to write an Essay now!

Life is Vivid

Survived the rainy season! yay!

This week's been pretty low key.  It was the last week of lectures and tutorials.  This next week is our Student Vacation before we have 2 weeks of finals.  I only have 3 finals and one final Essay to write. I'm not too stressed about them seeing how I only need to pass my classes.  Plus I'm a procrastinator at heart so come this time next week I may indeed feel differently... but until then I shall enjoy my happiness!

The best word to describe this week would just be fun! Tuesday night I headed over the Erin & Jess' apt and Hayley came over and we made a delicious homemade chicken soup and olive and mint bread. I felt pretty legit cooking an entire meal from scratch... even if Jess was the only one who really knew what she was doing ahah.  Then we all headed over to church for prayer night, which is always refreshing!

Wednesday I ended up skyping my mother for a good 3 hours which was pretty amazing.  That woman is such an inspiration to me.  Words literally cannot describe how honored I am to be her daughter. Seriously.  I just love talking about her to people here too, so people can actually understand how amazing my mother is! The phrase "she is my hero" is so generic but that's how I feel.  That and so much more! So that was really encouraging. Then I headed to work for the rest of the day/night.

Thursday was my very last day of classes! yay! After wards we had our very last Student Life meeting & dinner.  It felt so weird just knowing that it was going to be the last! I feel like it was just yesterday that I walked into the first meeting all nervous and now I'm the one welcoming strangers!  It was the perfect way to end to semester regardless, we just had time to share what God's doing in us and just take time to encourage and pray for one another.  I seriously love my Student Life family!  Then I went over to Jenny's appartment for a lil sleep over!  Hung out with some of her flat mates, played some old skool N64 Mario Kart, oh yea! haha

Friday I stayed at Jenny's till about noon, then I headed home.  I decided to go on a little adventure into Marrackville to find this shop called Supre. I was in a shopping mood but I wasn't in a big city mood so I headed to the suburbs!  It was about 30 min out on a bus.  It was a pretty dodgy area but I had hope!  I eventually found this like factory outlet supre store where everything was ridiculously cheep, right from the factory!  They had like dresses & tanks & sweaters for as low as $1!! I  kinda went crazy there... haha then I headed home lugging two large bags. I got weird looks on the bus haha.  After that I headed over to Zach's apartment & Mikul, Gavin Jenny and I learned how to make homemade pizzas!  They actually turned out ridiculously good, like I would say one it was in the top 5 best pizza's I've ever eaten in my entire life.  That good! After that I headed to work the night away!

Jenny stayed the night at my place and we spent the morning together again, it was nice to have a roommate again! :)  Then I got ready to go see... Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE at the Sydney Opera House!

:D My friend Dave was kind enough to go with me so I wouldn't appear to be so weird going alone haha. It was actually really fun seeing it live! My dream has come true! haha 

Then wen headed to Luna Park (the entrance looks like the pic above... it was horrifying...) which is this amusement park on the North side of Sydney Harbour. We hung out there until it was time for the Vivid Festival to begin which has been like this 3 week festival in Sydney with different artists (Yo Gabba Gabba was a part of the festival) and art instilations all around the general theme of Vivid colours and bringing colour to Sydney! So we caught the train back to the Harbour. We got to watch this HUGE projector light up the entire half of the Opera House, it was SO COOL! It was really hard to capture because we were standing really far away for the best view... but this is kinda what it looked like...

The festival also had many other buildings lite up and had different designs that moved and became 3D, the coolest was the building that would like change exterior colors, it was the most 3D design of them all.. so cool to watch!

Then we headed into the city for some good ol' pub food!

Today is Sunday!  Went to church this morning, which is always a blessing. I love the fact that I have to walk to church.  It is just the perfect amount of time to like clear my head/heart for church. I've probably said this before, but it's just great! Especially when like the sermon was exactly what I was thinking about the entire way to church!! We had some new Aboriginal women who came to church, I got to talk to one of the quite a bit.  They were really nice and they're planning on coming back so I'm pumped to get to know them better!  I've been learning so much about the Aboriginal history more through both sides of the looking glass.  It's really interesting and to be honest so heart breaking. There's so much that even Australians don't know or understand about it.  It really makes me realize how much potential this country has.  Like there's just so much in store for it I can literally feel the anticipation, and not just on a spiritual level. Anywho after church I went out to thai with some church mates!

I love it here.  All of my friends that were once studying abroad are now at home with their families.  At first I was expecting this to make me miss and want to be home even more, but it's honestly just making me love this place even more than before.  Just thinking about saying goodbye to all the amazing friends I've made here brings tears to my eyes, even though I still have 2 months left here I just feel like 2 months is not enough time!! haha Oh well, I'm just going to pray that God brings me back here... sooner rather than later.... :)