for the last time

So, I am officially in my second and final year of my time in Australia. Well, that is if I stick to my contract of only two years and leave next August. That is the plan right now but you never know what the Big Guy has in store.
To the point of this post that is just a tad out of the blue.
All of last year I was doing things for the first time. I went to a bunch of beaches for the first time, had Christmas in Australia for the first time, went to several camps for the first time, ate certain food for the first time, you get the picture. All of the sudden I am doing things for the last time! It is the strangest feeling! I dont really like it at all. This last weekend we went to a camp down in Victoria called Revive. When I arrived here in August last year Camp Revive was the first major event I attended. It was fantastic then and it was awesome again! And now I have just gone to Revive for the last time. This is the beginning of doing things for the last time. But more importantly it is the beginning of seeing certain people for the last time. Which I already know is going to be the hardest thing about leaving.
I'm not really as depressed or emo about this like i might sound. It's just a really strange feeling and I wanted to write it down.
I do know if I go back to the states in August it doesn't mean I will never return to Australia and experience any of the things again that I am doing now for the "last" time. Okay, enough of being a downer. Things are fabulous here and I have learned so much about myself, church work, my relationship with God and others, who God is, and on and on and on. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Also, since I'm posting. I have passed the one year mark now, as previously stated. Some people/churches had committed to giving monetarily once each year and since then have decided they are not able. I know God is faithful and will provide. If you get the feeling He wants to work through in this way, this is how you would go about doing that.
Mail a donation to:
Memorial Road Church of Christ
Attn: HIM Program
2221 E Memorial Road
Edmond, OK 73013
(and note that it's for me)

Thanks so much to those who have given, those who continue to give monthly, those that will give again and those who are praying for me.

visitors and neighbors

Here are a few of the things we've had visiting or living near us lately.


We've had around 5 slugs in our kitchen, that I've seen, in the last couple months. The last one escaped beneath the linoleum before I could chuck it outside. Between seeing that and some new soft spots we're beginning to be a bit concerned about our floor.


This guy lives in a huge web between our tree and back fence. It's hard to tell how big it is from this picture but I'll just tell ya...it's huge.


This guy thought a cozy spot between Sammie's hammock and the fence was a good place to settle in.


Thank the Lord we haven't had any of these at our house yet. This monster was at the church building last month. I have been told about these spiders called "huntsman" spiders for a while now and how they are huge but completely harmless but I honestly don't think I could handle seeing one in the place I live.

Michelle's visssit

oookay obviously this post didnt get out as soon as i intended and it turned out helping with sport got canceled because of the rain so i dont even have an excuse.
but anyway...here are some great pics from michelle's visit at the beginning of january.

we ate some kangaroo burgers at this great burger place before playing at the beach.

of course michelle had to buy a bunch of new balls and a paddleball set because we didn't have enough toys to satisfy her.

we went to the zoo and got to feed the giraffes! it was SO cool!!

we went on a swim with dolphins adventure. we got lost on the way, thought we almost missed it and then spent 45 minutes on the dock because the boat was late. but we saw tons of dolphins and had an amazing time even though it was freezing and i was terrified.



we went out to the blue mountains and on the way stopped at featherdale wildlife park! michelle looooved the feeding the kangaroos and petting the koalas.



we spent the last two days at surf camp which was just such an all around strange experience but really fun! we got spend some time on some beautiful beaches, see lots of dolphins and learn how to surf!


the whole thing was ridiculous amounts of fun! we all successfully stood up and surfed for at least 1.5 seconds. and i learned that surfing is not the sport for me :)

that's it for michelle's visit. now you know what kind of good time i can show you if you come to visit so COME VISIT! okay see you then.

catching up

is it possible to catch up on over four months of my amazing event filled life? probably not, but here are a few highlights since september:

halloween
we had a bunch of people over to celebrate this fabulous candy filled holiday that doesn't get near as much celebrating at it deserves in this country.
















softball
softball is going really well and proving to be super fun! i finally remembered how to hit fast pitches and ever since then i dont feel like such an idiot.
















erin
erin downing was here with on her pac rim study abroad program. it was SO nice to see a familiar face and get to hang out with an old friend. it was a blessed soul refreshing time.















fishing
if you know me at all you know i LOVE fishing, and especially deep sea fishing! you just never know what you will catch. i had the opportunity to do this with the pac rim group and had an amazing time! i caught 5 fish and the were all different types. and i saw a whale!
we also got to go fishing with a guy from church named Jack. we just went to the beach and we didnt catch anything but we did see a beautiful sunrise and had a good time anyway!











new home
at the beginning of november we moved into our own place! finding an apartment is ridiculous here but God blessed us with the lower half of a duplex. we have a spacious living area (compared to most of what we looked at), with 2 bedrooms and even a laundry room out back! we lived for quite a while without modern conveniences such as washer, dryer, microwave, TV, etc. but now we actually have all of those things and the best part was all of it was either a gift or found on the side of the road! God is so good, and i am so thankful He uses His people to share. i have my own room and sammie shares with chunni, one of our chinese friends.

christmas
the funny thing about christmas is that it meant summer is also here. i'm still trying to reconcile that in my mind. it isn't easy.
we were given a tree and lots of decorations, we also made and decorated cookies and hung stockings, it was nothing like being at home but it was a tolerable substitute.
we had abi, rob, ann, sherry and yuka over christmas day from korea, chile, australia, china and japan. quite a cultural variety! we ate too much delicious food, played some games and then went to the beach. it was a really good day!


camp challenge
this is a pathetic picture to represent camp challenge but it will have to do. camp challenge is the big summer bible camp here. lots of people came and we had a great time! i taught a class of 3-8 year olds for two hours every day which was exhausting but really fun. i was also a counselor for the teen girls but i never really figured out what that meant or what my duties were haha, i just slept in the same room as them and told them to be quiet every once in a while. this camp is a little different than my camp at home. there were lots of different activities in the afternoons such as horse back riding, swimming, water sliding, archery, flying fox (zip line) and more! the evenings were lots of fun and included a trivia night, an auction, a talent night and a dress up (costumes, not fancy) night. the last evening was new years eve and we had a huge spoons tournament. you probably dont even have to ask who won but i'll tell you anyway. it was me :)

youth day
three weeks after camp the warringah church puts on something called warringah youth day, this is in place of the youth night we put on once a month. this gives everyone a chance to get together soon after camp before school starts again. we had a big barbecue, i cooked a freakish amount a fried onions (and haven't been able to enjoy them properly since), after that we went to the beach and played sand volleyball. we ended the evening with great singing and a talk by adam frank who spoke on the importance of church family and being a part of the body and how important chocolate is.









this is just a snippet of things i've been doing the last four months. i couldn't even begin to tell you all of it. hopefully i will post more frequently from now on to avoid posts like these. and right after i get back from helping with sports at curl curl primary school in the rain i will post pictures from michelle lair's visit which needs a post all its own. but right now i have to go prepare to get wet!