working girl

I know I have a lot to catch up on the last week or so, but we're going to backtrack and start with Tuesday :) I got a phone call last week from Randstad Education to come in for an interview. I headed to Sydney early Tuesday morning for my interview, which went well and i'm officially employed again! I'm still kind of surprised it was kind of a whirlwind day to say the least. Randstad Education is pretty much an employment agency, they contract out casual teachers for jobs. It could be short term, long term etc. So its still "casual" work but then again thats all i'm really allowed to do under my visa and its a job with a paycheck, so i'm not complaining! Of all days for me to get a job, Tuesday was pretty much perfect. The 26th was exactly 2 months that i've been in Australia. I'm so thankful and excited for this new job and it really is another reminder that God's timing is always perfect. I was watching a show last night and one of the ladies mentioned this quote: "We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." -Joseph Campbell
I love that quote and have found more and more over the last few months that it is so true. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would move half way around the world and even more so move half way around the world and not have a plan! I'm a planner, i'm organized, and yes sometimes i'm even a little ocd. But if there has been anything i've learned through my experiences in the last few months is that God's plan is always better than mine. I've given up my entire life in the US to move here, its been a huge leap of faith but God has and will continue to provided for me. And on the days when I get overwhelmed or homesick i'm thankful for the people God has put in my life here that remind me that He will always take care of me.

Besides getting a job, it was a fun day in Sydney! I love living on Central Coast because its so laid back, but I love that the city is only a train ride away. I also love that i'm learning my way around, how to use the trains etc. I'm feeling more and more like I actually belong and less like a tourist. I was walking around Circular Quay and one of the cruise ships was parked in the harbor right across from the Opera House. There were so many tourist walking around, taking pictures, looking at maps and it just made me smile. I met up for lunch with Dan, who is my cousin in laws, brother in law...is that confusing enough? lol...I just consider all of the Browns, Mowdays and Wenner's my family here. We had a yummy lunch at a corner pub, I did a little window shopping and then headed back to the Central Coast.

Last week my cousins were on holiday in Queensland so I got to spend the week at her parents house. It was a really good week, its always nice to have a change in scenery. I got to tag along with Scott a few times for work. He had to drive up north to Port Stephens to look at some properties. It makes for a fun little day trip. There is not a lot to do up there by any means but we did find a good little cafe to get a coffee and some lunch. I love getting to see more of Australia. The more time I spend here the more I love it.

photo op

So, I'm not actually driving yet...but i've been trying to pay close attention to the rules of the road when being a passenger. For the most part i've found most of the rules from the US are the same here, except I'm pretty sure you can't make a left on a red, which for us would be a right on a red. But thats beside the point. A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with my cousins about rules of the road here and they said something about stopping for ducks crossing the road because here ducks have the right of way. I don't really remember the conversation exactly but I remember something about ducks and thought, "huh, thats weird." Yesterday we had just left the shops and were heading home and up ahead at an intersection I saw 2 rather large ducks just hanging out in the cross walk. I was riding with my cousin in laws parents, Deb and Kev, and they started telling me about the duck law. I think its just crazy! Not to say that in the states we would run over ducks or anything but its actually a law here! And yes, every single car stopped and waited patiently until the ducks finished crossing the road. It would have been a great photo, if I had my camera out.

I went away this weekend with my cousin in laws family to Myuna Bay. Its about an hour north of here. Their church was having a family retreat weekend. It was a lot of fun, very laid back and relaxing. I love getting to see more of Australia, its such a beautiful place! I was not near as good as I should have been about taking photos this weekend, but I did get a few.

new loves

Since moving to Oz I've discovered many new things that I love, one being cooking. Not to say I didn't like cooking before, lets just say my cooking skills were limited. Its much easier to grill a piece of chicken and heat up veggies for one person than to cook a huge meal with tons of left overs, again for just me. So its been nice to be able to try out different recipes and have people to cook for on a regular basis! One of my favorite new meals is Baked Pumpkin & Ricotta Cannelloni and as promised for some family and friends I'll even share the recipe...which we found in the Recipes+ magazine, not sure if they have that in the states, so here you go :-)

Baked Pumpkin & Ricotta Cannelloni

Ingredients
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled & chopped
olive oil cooking spray
200g fresh ricotta
12 cannelloni tubes
1 can of pasta sauce (I use tomato basil)
1 1/3 cup grated cheese

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 200c (which I believe is almost 400f), grease rectangular shallow ovenproof dish
2. Bake pumpkin for 15 minutes or until tender (we put it in the rice cooker and steam it, its much easier I think)
3. Mash pumpkin & ricotta together, spoon or pipe into cannelloni tubes (or if you're me, I just use my hands!)
4. Poor some of the pasta sauce over the base of dish, place cannelloni tubes in a single layer then top with the rest of the pasta sauce, sprinkle with cheese.
5. Cover dish with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, uncover; bake for 10-15 more minutes.

I've learned that I need to work on my presentation skills, but lets face it...its just food it only matters how good it taste, right? So here you go...it was yummy, ask my cousins!


Of course i've come to love many other things besides cooking since moving here. As silly as it sounds, I love sleeping with the windows open! Mostly because thats something I would never do at home, because of the yucky weather but here its so beautiful. The only downfall is being able to hear traffic starting around 7am but hopefully i'll learn to sleep through that soon. That would be the short list of 'new loves' for now. Stay tuned though, i'm sure i'll have more to add to the list next week :-)

writers block

Ok, so I really haven't had writers block. I've thought every other day or so that I need to update my blog, but it just hasn't happened. I guess some weeks are just like that.

This past week was a little more overwhelming than weeks past. Its starting to feel more and more like home and I'm feeling less like someone who's just visiting. I'm learning my way around and how to get to places, although i'm not driving yet its still good to know your way around! I'm getting used to communicating with family and friends through skype and email. It's hard to explain in some ways, but it just feels like this is normal now. Of course every once in a while I think, oh my gosh I live in Australia...its still crazy when I think about it. I realized a lot this week with why this adjustment has been harder on me than I thought. For starters, i've been very independent for the last 7 years or so. I went from working full time, supporting myself, living in my own house, having a car, etc to living with family, not driving and having to be driven everywhere, etc. I know its not that big of a deal, I think personally for me its just harder to rely on other people because i've been used to having to do things on my own. But I certainly think its a good lesson i've needed to learn, to let go of the control a bit and rely on others. I also have to keep reminding myself that this is just temporary, one day i'll be my independent self again.

I think since deciding to move here I've been surrounded with all the exciting and happy feelings where as this week I was hit hard with the fear of everything. I was really homesick one night and talking with a friend from home, it was one of those moments where I thought "what the hell am I doing?!" you know...I quit my job, moved 10,000 miles away from home, that could not have been the smartest decision. I was telling my friend that sometimes I feel like I can't do this, but she reminded me that I already did. When in all reality she's right, the hardest part is already over. I already made my decision, said my goodbyes, got on the plane, and now i'm settling in here. As far as the fear part goes, its scary starting all over. I honestly can't remember a time that i've had to start all over like this. I mean, from high school I went to college, which just happened to be with people I went to high school with. When I graduated college I ended up moving to Little Rock where I knew a bunch of people from college.Yes, I know people here and have been making friends but its hard starting a whole other part of my life one that my family and friends from back home in the states won't really know about just like my life back in the states that no one here really knows about. Its a scary feeling. I know in some ways i've held back because I'm afraid of failure, afraid of loving it here and not wanting to go home, afraid of building relationships with people here and maybe leaving one day. But I can't let the fear take over. As scary as it may be starting all over, its worth the risk. I would much rather take risk in life than have regrets later on.

So, change of subject...on the job front, well not a lot has changed. I've been really discouraged the last few days with figuring out what to do about working. Part of the "problem" is since I only came on a 1 year working holiday visa most people don't want to hire someone they think will only be here for a year, which I completely understand. I've been debating on what to do with the teaching thing, which I think i've decided to go ahead and work on that. To be honest, I love teaching thats what i've always felt my calling is. I know maybe I could learn to do another job and maybe love it, but its hard to think about doing anything else when i've already had a career that I love and know i'm good at. So, I guess we'll see what happens. I'm still praying though and I know the right thing will come along.

Sorry I have no photos to share. I'm not sure i've taken any in the last few weeks although I've actually been "busier" than normal. I went to work with my cousin one day last week, it was good to get out of the house and of course get to see what she does all day. I got to tag along with Scott last Tuesday for work, he had to go up north to a town called Salt Ash to look at some properties. It was a fun little day trip, I love getting to see more of Australia. I also ventured to Hornsby last week, its a town in between here and Sydney. They have a Westfield which is basically a huge mall. I may not be spending money right now, but its nice to window shop. I guess its a lie that i'm not spending money...I bought a pillow yesterday. No, its not just any pillow. Its an arch pillow, which i'm guessing is an Aussie thing because I had never seen them until I came here. My cousins have them and love them, and I just had to have one. It's amazing!

I would love to tell you about how wonderful the weather has been but the last week it has just been down right yucky! Its rained a lot and been very overcast. I think we really only had 1 sunny day last week. But from what i'm hearing having a wet spring is good because it helps prevents bush fires in the summer. I usually don't mind the rain but its starting to interfere with my laundry schedule and my running. I already don't like running outside and I really don't like it when its wet!

Hope everyone has had a restful weekend :)

1 down...

Its hard to believe that as of yesterday I've been in Australia for a month. In some ways it feels like I never left the last time I was here, but when I think about how long its been since i've seen my family and friends it feels like i've been here a year. According to the visa I came under I only have 11 months left here...but hopefully that will change and i'll be able to stay! I finally got my tax file number about a week ago, so now i'm able to work. Still working on the job search. I've been playing around with a few ideas, trying to decide if I want to go through the process to get qualified to teach here. It cost a lot of money to do that, so i'm looking into a few different options...casual teaching in the schools here or possibly an office job. I'm just praying for the right thing at the right time, and I know it will all work out.

I had a little homesick moment last week. I think it finally hit me that this is "home" now and i'm not going "home". Its not even that I want to go home, I had a moment when I though, oh I need to call so and so about this and I thought, aww I can't do that. And it just made me miss being around my family and friends. According to my cousin, i'm right on track with adjusting to life in a new country. I know i'll have other homesick days and thats ok. I do love it here though, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I'm so thankful for my cousins, Zach and Elisha and Elisha's family. They have made this whole transition a million times easier!

The weather here is warming up and I'm loving it! Of course its weird to think that its almost October and warm outside. I do miss fall at home...the pumpkin candles, candy corn and peanuts, leaves changing colors, etc. But I did get to go to the beach the other day and i'm pretty sure that made up for it! I love the weekends, mostly because everyone is off work and we're busy! This past weekend was so much fun, Saturday the weather was perfect! I believe the temperature was 28 (celsius) which translate to 82 (fahrenheit)...I would tell you i'm learning all the conversions, but i'm not. I cheat, I have a converter on my computer. But I do know that if its going to be above 20, thats a good day! Since it was such a nice day my cousin and I headed to the beach to get some sun which was much needed because i'm pretty sure any tan I came with has faded. Saturday night we got dressed up in our country best to head to my cousin's friends engagement party which was a country western theme. It was a fun night, beautiful weather, good food and drinks, a massive bond fire and even some square dancing. Sunday after church we went to a nursery cafe for lunch with Elisha's family for her mums birthday. One thing I love about Australia, the food. Everything we eat is amazing and so fresh! So different than eating in the states. Of course with all this eating, I had to buy a scale last week. haha. My cousin said she didn't want one because she would be on it all the time, so i'm going to have to hide it! I will say the scale I bought is in kilos, which I knew it would be (which is fine because I have my handy converter on my computer) but it also had stones as a unit of measurement. I had no idea anyone still used stones?! Luckily my little bit of working out has canceled out all the eating, but I still need to get back into a better routine asap.

Here a few pictures from our weekend.

Day in Sydney

Yesterday I took a little day trip to Sydney. Mostly just to get out of the house, but I haven't really been back to Sydney since I flew in 3 weeks ago. Sydney is about 40 miles from where I live on the central coast, so its about an hour train ride. The public transportation here is so much better than in the states, between the trains, buses, and ferries its really easy to get pretty much anywhere. I headed to one of my favorite spots, Circular Quay. As soon as you step off the train you have a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbor bridge and the Opera House. I didn't do a whole lot, just walked around the harbor and the Rocks district, the Opera House. Had lunch, took lots of photos, and did some window shopping :-)

Here are a few photos of my little day trip.

the place to be

Apparently Australia is the place to be :-) I've been watching Sunrise the last few mornings with my cousin, its like the Aussie version of the Today show. Well yesterday, they showed Tim McGraw arriving in Oz and this morning Usain Bolt (sp?!) arrived. Also if you haven't heard apparently Oprah surprised her studio audience with a trip to Oz. She is coming in December and bring 300 people from her audience and 150 crew members with her to 4 different destinations and is going to film 2 shows at the Sydney Opera House which everyone here is calling the Oprah House now...all I can say is wow, thats just nuts! Talk about an expensive holiday!

It really is an exciting time to be here! The new prime minister, who just so happens to be a woman is being sworn in this week. And beautiful spring weather is in full force, I can't wait for a summer Christmas!

A few things i've come to learn about life in Oz...
1. Not only do they drive on the left side of the road, the trains are on the left, escalators are on the left and when passing people on the footpath (aka sidewalk) they generally stay to the left. I find that the hardest, I guess its just a habit I need to break.
2. Aussies LOVE their tea. They call it a 'cuppa', and I probably have at least 2-3 a day. Depends on where I am and who i'm with, sometimes its more like 4 or 5. Everyone has a kettle, which is my new favorite kitchen gadget.
3. There are no drive through banks, coffee shops, etc. But there are tons of cute coffee shops and cafes, which I love!
4. No, kangaroos do not just run around everywhere. I'm sure they do in the outback but I live in a city and the only time i've ever actually seen any was at the zoo.
5. I love, love the Aussie accent! I'm pretty sure I could sit and listen to them talk all day.
6. Some of the lingo... boot=trunk of the car, arvo=afternoon, bottle-o=liquor store, grog=alcohol, ring=call. They also use words like: heaps, no worries, cheers, etc. I just love it all :-) I could write a whole post just on the lingo.

I'm sure I could write a whole post about all the things i've learned about live here so far, but i'll spare you. Life certainly is different here but in a good way. I kept saying all along I was ready for a change and needed something different. Well I got it alright. I needed to be taken out of my comfort zone, some place I could relax, clear my head and get my priorities back on track. Not that things were out of control or anything but for a few years now my life had become consumed with my job which is silly for a 25 year old. I'm thankful to be where I am and for this time in my life. And I can honestly say that no matter what happens, I'll have no regrets.