We are in it and you are not : -)
Let me tell you, 2007 is sooooooo much better than 2006. We have flying cars now and everyone lives in glass houses.
31.12.06
30.12.06
Speed cameras oh how I loathe thee
So Brandon and I have accumulated two speeding tickets over the span of a few weeks now. Ohh how it angers me. The first was on the way to the hospital so I think that one should be excused. The second was driving to the grocery store. I was going 55 in a 50, that converts to going 34mph in a 31 mph zone. 3 over!!!!! grrrrrrr is all I can say.
So that is about $300 in fines. Oh the joy.
All I can say is that it is good I don't have the mustang over here right now. I don't drive it really fast (by really fast I mean 100 mph) but I certainly don't stay within 3mph or 5kph of the speed limit. I realized too that if I was driving it here I would have real problems knowing how fast I was going since the dial is in mph instead of kph, I would constantly have to convert. Either that or make some kind of cover to put on the dial that way in kph.
28.12.06
God cares about the little things too
I just thought I would share this with all who read the blog,maybe it will help someone else.
Wednesday night I was feeling really homesick. Brandon and I were talking about being so far away from home and how we wish sometimes we could just get into the car and drive to our parents houses. I don't feel homesick every day but I think after the holidays it has been particularly hard.
When I feel homesick I try to pray and that helps me focus on why we are here and how God has provided for all our needs since we have been here.
On Thursday God showed me once again how he will provide even for needs that don't seem like top priority. Thursday morning my dad called. He said that he just felt like he needed to call. The call helped me in my homesickness as most spontaneous calls, letters, etc. do from friends and family.
Not only did the call help with my homesickness it also helped show me once again that God cares for even our smallest needs and that we should always be lifting them up in prayer.
A little something for the grandparents...
Jolene's first haircut. I only cut about 1/2 inch off or so just to even it up a little. I don't think it helped though. Her hair is too curly/wavy for it to ever look very even. Oh well I tried.
Here is Adele after her bath. I think she enjoyed it, what do you think? :-)
Wednesday night I was feeling really homesick. Brandon and I were talking about being so far away from home and how we wish sometimes we could just get into the car and drive to our parents houses. I don't feel homesick every day but I think after the holidays it has been particularly hard.
When I feel homesick I try to pray and that helps me focus on why we are here and how God has provided for all our needs since we have been here.
On Thursday God showed me once again how he will provide even for needs that don't seem like top priority. Thursday morning my dad called. He said that he just felt like he needed to call. The call helped me in my homesickness as most spontaneous calls, letters, etc. do from friends and family.
Not only did the call help with my homesickness it also helped show me once again that God cares for even our smallest needs and that we should always be lifting them up in prayer.
A little something for the grandparents...
Jolene's first haircut. I only cut about 1/2 inch off or so just to even it up a little. I don't think it helped though. Her hair is too curly/wavy for it to ever look very even. Oh well I tried.
Here is Adele after her bath. I think she enjoyed it, what do you think? :-)
26.12.06
White Christmas
well sort of.
We had a hail storm and for a few minutes the ground was covered in balls of ice. However it did snow in Melbourne, how funny is that?
Christmas day was very enjoyable and very multicultural. Here are the countries that were present.
Sudan, America, Ireland, China, Australia, and New Zealand.
Everyone brought something different to eat, some things from their mother countries.
We were at Graeme Hart's parent's house located in Lovely Banks. We ate, looked at pictures from the Hart's round the world trip, sang Psalms, played cricket, watched a nature movie on Australia, and of course told stories. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and came away very stuffed.
A good time was had by all.
Today we are celebrating Boxing Day. Not really sure how to do that so we just slept in till 9am (the girls actually allowed us!), did a little shopping, hooked up a gray water system for the laundry, and watched some cricket. Brandon is watching I am doing stuff on the computer :-)
Hope all of you had a good Christmas and have happy New Year!
Meg
p.s. I will post some pics soon of the gathering
We had a hail storm and for a few minutes the ground was covered in balls of ice. However it did snow in Melbourne, how funny is that?
Christmas day was very enjoyable and very multicultural. Here are the countries that were present.
Sudan, America, Ireland, China, Australia, and New Zealand.
Everyone brought something different to eat, some things from their mother countries.
We were at Graeme Hart's parent's house located in Lovely Banks. We ate, looked at pictures from the Hart's round the world trip, sang Psalms, played cricket, watched a nature movie on Australia, and of course told stories. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and came away very stuffed.
A good time was had by all.
Today we are celebrating Boxing Day. Not really sure how to do that so we just slept in till 9am (the girls actually allowed us!), did a little shopping, hooked up a gray water system for the laundry, and watched some cricket. Brandon is watching I am doing stuff on the computer :-)
Hope all of you had a good Christmas and have happy New Year!
Meg
p.s. I will post some pics soon of the gathering
22.12.06
Our tree
This is the tree that our moms and friends Robyn bought for us and set up as a surprise. Much better then the electric purple in the past post, don't you think?
Christmas day we are going to Graeme Hart's parent's house for the day. We are having a pitch in lunch.
Hey guess what is happening right this very minute as I am typing? It is raining!! And of course my laundry is hanging out to dry! I thought what are the chances of it raining? Especially since we haven't had any rain for a month or so? I guess pretty good :-) Oh well, they can dry during the night.
We are inviting the Young Adult's group from church over for New Year's eve. Hopefully we will be able to see the fireworks from our balcony. As long as there aren't any major bush fires that day we should be ok.
This is a pic of Adele finding her thumb, I don't think she has found it again since.
Tonight Brandon is having a bunch of guys from church over to play poker. B asked if I was going to play, I told him I didn't want to show them all up : -) You all know my mad poker skills. Actually I can say that last time I played I got second place. I think it was beginners "luck" though.
Later
19.12.06
Funky trees and Ashes
This is a pic of some Christmas trees for sale at K-mart. I know you are all jealous of the hot pink one! I really don't know what K-mart was thinking selling these trees, in my opinion they are pretty hideous. I mean how many people really want an upside down, gold Christmas tree? Does anyone know why there are upside down trees? I would be interested in knowing the story behind that one.
Our moms and our friend Robyn surprised us and bought us a tree. Thankfully NOT the hot pink one :-) It is nice to have a tree and to have my snowflakes around, reminds me a little of home. It is pretty hard to get excited about Christmas here. I guess it is mainly because of the weather. I am too used to having cold weather and snow, it is just too strange to have 80 F temps for Christmas. We are going to Graeme's parents house Christmas day. They are having families over who don't have their own families around. It should be a lot of fun but also sad at the same time.
Baby news :
The baby forecast is looking good today. We will start out with a nice long nap in the morning followed by several nappie changes and feeds. In the evening we will head towards a more restless time followed by a "tank up" and then a steady decline into slumber land. Tomorrow looks pretty much the same as well as the next day, and the next, and the next, well actually you can count on this forecast being true for the next month or so.
Jolene decided to give Adele a bath on her own the other day. Adele was sleeping and all of a sudden I hear her burst into screams. I run into the bed room and there is Jolene with an empty water bottle. Adele and the bed are soaking wet, Adele is looking pretty angry ( if babies can look angry at three weeks). Adele, welcome to the world of a younger sibling.
The Ashes -
I think I have mentioned cricket on here before? Anyway the Ashes is going on right now and it has given Brandon and I a good laugh. To inform you, the Ashes is a competition between England and Australia. There are five test matches, each of which is five days long. Yes, they play for 25 days to see which is the better team. Basically whoever wins the most out of five test matches wins the trophy. It is called the "Ashes" because a long time ago England beat Australia. Being the good sports that they are England took the wickets and burnt them, then gave the ashes to Australia in an urn. Those ashes in the urn are now the trophy for the competition.
Yesterday Australia won their third straight test match, making them the winner. This is the part where Brandon and I had a good laugh. These guys are playing for 25 days to claim the prizes and to become the next Ashes winner. I thought " wow, that is a long time to play, they must be getting the biggest trophy in the world for this competition". I mean that is what you would expect right? The longer the competiton the bigger the prize or trophy. Oh how wrong we are.
As we sat watching the news, we saw the Australian team gathered around celebrating. Camera flashes were going off, people were cheering, the team was smiling. So then I asked myself "where is the trophy?". I saw the team but where was the prize. I had to look carefully at the screen otherwise I would have missed it. Their coveted "Ashes" trophy is about the size of an egg cup. Brandon and I just looked at each other with disbelief in our eyes, could this really be it? It is quite comical to see a group of men huddled around something the size of an egg cup. I don't mean to offend the avid cricket fans I know. I'm sure this is the best sport ever invented and that it is a joy to watch. I am just an ignorant American.
Adele is screaming should probably go
Meg
11.12.06
News and pics
Well it has been a few weeks since writing, a lot has been going on down here since Adele arrived.
A little info on the labor part for those of you who are curious. My contractions started getting pretty painful around 4am Sunday morning. At this point they were around 6 minutes apart. Around 2pm Sunday afternoon I took a bath to relieve some of my back pain. When I got out the contractions were around 3 minutes apart. I figured since it took so long for Jolene to come that we had several hours still to go and therefore we were in no hurry to get to the hospital. I waited until about 5:30pm and at this point I was starting to feel pretty bad. We hopped into the car and stopped by the church to drop Jolene off with Josh and Sarah. We got to the hospital at 6:15pm and Adele was born at 7:16pm. I guess for the next kid we probably should not wait so long, we might end up having a kid in the car.
Oh, one other thing that happened that day...we received our first speeding ticket. Thanks Adele! I guess it is ok though, seeing as though we used public health care we will just say that her birth cost $180 (the cost of the speeding ticket). We are going to try and appeal the ticket, hopefully they will show some mercy :-)
So our moms have been here for a week and a half now. It has been a lot of fun showing them around our new state and having them meet all of our friends. I think they are finally getting over the jet lag, just in time to leave and face it again at home.
Earlier this week we took them on the great ocean road. We stayed at a summer house for two nights. It was fun exploring the two towns close to us and also the beaches. I saw an echidna, first time for that.
Saturday they all went on a ferry across the bay to hang out with the Blackwoods. I couldn't go because I was dealing with some mastitis (oh what fun).
Sunday, Adele was baptized. A little earlier than usual but it was nice for our moms to see it and nice for us to have some family present.
Today our friend Robyn from Sydney is flying in to surprise my mom. Robyn was a foreign exchange student who lived with my mom's family during college. It has been hard to keep the secret! My mom has been saying how she feels bad about not being able to visit here, little does she know :-)
Here is a link to more pics of Adele and also our wanderings with our moms, enjoy!
I will write more later,
Meg
A little info on the labor part for those of you who are curious. My contractions started getting pretty painful around 4am Sunday morning. At this point they were around 6 minutes apart. Around 2pm Sunday afternoon I took a bath to relieve some of my back pain. When I got out the contractions were around 3 minutes apart. I figured since it took so long for Jolene to come that we had several hours still to go and therefore we were in no hurry to get to the hospital. I waited until about 5:30pm and at this point I was starting to feel pretty bad. We hopped into the car and stopped by the church to drop Jolene off with Josh and Sarah. We got to the hospital at 6:15pm and Adele was born at 7:16pm. I guess for the next kid we probably should not wait so long, we might end up having a kid in the car.
Oh, one other thing that happened that day...we received our first speeding ticket. Thanks Adele! I guess it is ok though, seeing as though we used public health care we will just say that her birth cost $180 (the cost of the speeding ticket). We are going to try and appeal the ticket, hopefully they will show some mercy :-)
So our moms have been here for a week and a half now. It has been a lot of fun showing them around our new state and having them meet all of our friends. I think they are finally getting over the jet lag, just in time to leave and face it again at home.
Earlier this week we took them on the great ocean road. We stayed at a summer house for two nights. It was fun exploring the two towns close to us and also the beaches. I saw an echidna, first time for that.
Saturday they all went on a ferry across the bay to hang out with the Blackwoods. I couldn't go because I was dealing with some mastitis (oh what fun).
Sunday, Adele was baptized. A little earlier than usual but it was nice for our moms to see it and nice for us to have some family present.
Today our friend Robyn from Sydney is flying in to surprise my mom. Robyn was a foreign exchange student who lived with my mom's family during college. It has been hard to keep the secret! My mom has been saying how she feels bad about not being able to visit here, little does she know :-)
Here is a link to more pics of Adele and also our wanderings with our moms, enjoy!
I will write more later,
Meg
27.11.06
D-day
Just a quick announcement: Baby #2 has arrived!
Adele Xaris Fisher
Born 26Nov06 at 7:16pm
7lbs 12 oz
Megan is at the hospital now, hopefully sleeping. I'm at home since they don't allow partners to stay the night. The labor was much shorter this time but still no walk in the park as Meg did it without any pain-reducing mechanisms. She's tough as nails.
-b
PS We are pronouncing her name Ah-del Kar-eese. The spelling of Xaris is from the greek word for "grace" which actually looks like this: χαρις
23.11.06
D-day + 3
Well nothing has happened yet. Yeah, I know Gabe...I am such a slacker :-) Believe me if it was up to me we would be done with this already, but apparently "bump" has ideas of it's own.
So I went to the doctor today, nothing really exciting. We did schedule a day to be induced, Nov. 28th (will be ten days late by that time). I am praying that it doesn't have to come to that though, I would much rather it happen naturally. I'm sure all of you moms out there can understand. The doctor said "well since this is your second you probably won't need an epidural", I was thinking "yeah, but I might want one!". Inducing isn't usually the easiest and pain free way to go, hence the praying.
On to other things. Tuesday night we had some mighty winds come through (if you haven't seen the movie it is worth watching : -) ). It was one of those nights that if we had been in Indiana there would be a tornado warning out. Of course nothing happened, not even a drop of rain. I looked out the window and it was so smoky/ foggy looking. I asked Brandon why it was looking like that and he said it was probably dust. At the time I didn't even think about the repercussions a dust storm can have on the house, it might have saved me some cleaning time if I had. Because it was so hot we left the windows open all night, the next morning I awoke to a nice layer of dust, dirt, bits of plant covering everything within 8 feet of a window. When I swept the floor little plumes of dirt drifted through the air. Lovely : -) It is really starting to get dry. The backyard has these deep cracks in it, I'm afraid one might suddenly open a little more and swallow Jolene. These are a few pics of the yard...
Tonight we have our last Fellowship meeting until summer is over. This Saturday is the day we are celebrating Thanksgiving. We are getting together with a bunch of Americans from our church and from a couple other churches. I think I will make sweet potato casserole and of course green bean casserole. Here is something for you, did you know that Australia does not have graham crackers? Isn't that strange? I mean they are graham crackers!!!! Puts a damper on making chocolate eclair.
Meg
p.s. This is my favorite cereal right now. I have consumed almost an entire 600g box in a week, yum! They look like bricks but taste much better! How is that for advertising : -)
p.p.s. What I'm listening to right now : Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
18.11.06
Our goofy girl
We were on our way to the beach today and Jolene kept saying "bucket, bucket!". I wasn't really paying attention until she started saying "head, head, Head!!!". So I turned around and this is what I saw.....
What a goof!
Monday is my due date, so far nothing exciting is happening. I am having contractions but usually just at night. I think this kid is going to take it's time just like Jolene did.
Less than two weeks before our moms come to visit. We are starting to get excited!
In other news we thought that our digital camera was dead. When we would turn it on nothing would happen, just a blank screen. We were feeling pretty bummed about it because we just spent $600 on brakes for the car and were not really wanting to spend money on a new camera. Thankfully we messed around with it for awhile and realized that it was just the SD card that was not working, actually it is dead. So we only had to spend $50 for a new card and now the camera is working great. Living here in Oz our digital camera is a lifesaver for keeping friends and family up to date on what is going on. Pictures are always more fun to look at.
There is talk in the newspapers of water restrictions being moved to the final stage (stage 4) soon. If this happens it means that we can no longer water the garden or flowers, period. As it is I can only water on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I am struggling to keep the tree ferns alive, Jolene's bath water is a lifesaver. I could still use the bathwater but she only takes a bath twice a week. Not a whole lot of water to spread out between the garden, flowers, and tree ferns.
14.11.06
Almost there
Well, only 6 days left until the due date. I seriously doubt the baby will be here on time. I should probably say something like 14 days left until the baby comes.
There was talk on the news of parts of Victoria getting snow. Weird seeing as though we are on the verge of summer. There is a big front coming in tonight that is supposed to bring the cold temps.
A few books I am reading to pass the time...
"Roughing it" by Mark Twain
"Issues facing Christians Today" by John Stott
There was talk on the news of parts of Victoria getting snow. Weird seeing as though we are on the verge of summer. There is a big front coming in tonight that is supposed to bring the cold temps.
A few books I am reading to pass the time...
"Roughing it" by Mark Twain
"Issues facing Christians Today" by John Stott
11.11.06
Quarter of a century
So today is my actual b-day.
Last night I went out with some girls from church and playgroup. There were probably about 18 of us, a lot of fun. It was cool that a couple of girls from playgroup came. We don't do a whole lot together outside of playgroup, nice to be able to sit and talk without having to keep an eye on the kids.
Brandon got up at 4am this morning to go into work. He left the Honda there so he could have all the tools available to work on it. He has 5 days left to get it road worthy. He said he feels somewhat overwhelmed with all that he has to do, where to start? The next 5 days will be very long, except for Sunday a much needed day of rest.
Jolene gave me her birthday present early, she woke up at 6:30am. Thanks Jolene so much , just what I wanted :-) Oh well. I made pancakes for her, which she proceeded to inhale. Nothing like a good diet of sugar to start the day with. It is a birthday day though, can make a few exceptions.
There is a huge box on the table with a note on it that says I can't open it until B gets home or until it is my birthday in Fairland. Hmmmmmm, maybe just a peek :-)
Some sad news...our digital camera is dead. You turn it on and nothing happens, it is one very confused camera. It just keeps beeping and saying the memory card is full. There is another message that pops up but we can't read it due to the screen not working correctly. Brandon dropped it a while back and ever since then the top half is blank. When we go to Melbourne today we might buy one. Having a digital camera is the fastest way to show people what is going on over here. The grandparents need pic of Jolene and I like to have digital records of the pics. Blah, didn't really want to spend money on a camera right now.
Speaking of money, we just spent $600 on our other car's brakes. There was a lot that needed fixed. Brandon thought about doing it himself but with all the work needed to be done on the Honda there was no way it would happen. Apparently we have been driving around with the handbrake (emergency brake) stuck on. Whoops, perhaps that is why we have been getting such bad gas mileage? :-) The joys of owning cars.
This brake thing reminds me of bike riding with our church youth group when we were younger, reminds particularly of Daniel and Bruce Ray. Lol, I laugh now thinking of it.
We used to go on these bike trips and one time we had a trip over several hills. Of course going down the hills you would coast and not have to pedal. Daniel and Bruce were really working hard at staying up with everyone else. The reason became apparent when we went down the hills. You could turn around and see Daniel and Bruce pedaling down hill, what??? At the bottom we stopped and had a look at their bikes, their brakes were stuck on. I guess you have to know them to understand why it is somewhat funny, they were pretty exasperated.
Good times,
Meg
Last night I went out with some girls from church and playgroup. There were probably about 18 of us, a lot of fun. It was cool that a couple of girls from playgroup came. We don't do a whole lot together outside of playgroup, nice to be able to sit and talk without having to keep an eye on the kids.
Brandon got up at 4am this morning to go into work. He left the Honda there so he could have all the tools available to work on it. He has 5 days left to get it road worthy. He said he feels somewhat overwhelmed with all that he has to do, where to start? The next 5 days will be very long, except for Sunday a much needed day of rest.
Jolene gave me her birthday present early, she woke up at 6:30am. Thanks Jolene so much , just what I wanted :-) Oh well. I made pancakes for her, which she proceeded to inhale. Nothing like a good diet of sugar to start the day with. It is a birthday day though, can make a few exceptions.
There is a huge box on the table with a note on it that says I can't open it until B gets home or until it is my birthday in Fairland. Hmmmmmm, maybe just a peek :-)
Some sad news...our digital camera is dead. You turn it on and nothing happens, it is one very confused camera. It just keeps beeping and saying the memory card is full. There is another message that pops up but we can't read it due to the screen not working correctly. Brandon dropped it a while back and ever since then the top half is blank. When we go to Melbourne today we might buy one. Having a digital camera is the fastest way to show people what is going on over here. The grandparents need pic of Jolene and I like to have digital records of the pics. Blah, didn't really want to spend money on a camera right now.
Speaking of money, we just spent $600 on our other car's brakes. There was a lot that needed fixed. Brandon thought about doing it himself but with all the work needed to be done on the Honda there was no way it would happen. Apparently we have been driving around with the handbrake (emergency brake) stuck on. Whoops, perhaps that is why we have been getting such bad gas mileage? :-) The joys of owning cars.
This brake thing reminds me of bike riding with our church youth group when we were younger, reminds particularly of Daniel and Bruce Ray. Lol, I laugh now thinking of it.
We used to go on these bike trips and one time we had a trip over several hills. Of course going down the hills you would coast and not have to pedal. Daniel and Bruce were really working hard at staying up with everyone else. The reason became apparent when we went down the hills. You could turn around and see Daniel and Bruce pedaling down hill, what??? At the bottom we stopped and had a look at their bikes, their brakes were stuck on. I guess you have to know them to understand why it is somewhat funny, they were pretty exasperated.
Good times,
Meg
8.11.06
JW's, eBay, and other random news
I was writing an e-mail today and was interrupted not once but twice by the Jehovah's Witnesses. I always get flustered when they stop by. I don't want to be mean but at the same time I don't want to be accommodating to their beliefs. I wish they would stop by in the evening so B could be home.
They gave me a little pamphlet, as they always do. I thought the title was rather funny...it says "The End of False Religion is Near!". So are they predicting their own demise??
Brandon made a recent purchase on eBay. He bought a 1984 Honda Civic for $330AU. It is a little two door, silver car he picked up in Melbourne. Brandon was really starting to get tired of the 40 minute bike ride to work. The kamikaze Magpies were not helping the situation either. I was a little skeptical at first, I mean how great can a $330 car be? But I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled up in the driveway. It looks pretty nice, hardly any rust thanks to the lack of snow and ice here. He is taking it in on Thursday to get it looked at for the road worthy test. When you buy a car here you have to get it checked out to make sure it is road worthy. If there are problems you have 7 days to fix them or you have to pay for the test again.
I guess when the car was brand new it was quoted to get 55m/gal, not bad. We will see what it gets not probably still tons better than our family car.
The baby is due in about 2 weeks. I think we have a named picked out, I guess we still need to talk about it some though. Names are hard, you may think it sounds ok but the person next to you could be like "what are you thinking?".
I have had a few contractions but nothing to get excited about. Jolene was 8 days late, this one I am really hoping won't be that late. Do you hear that kid? Yes, this is your mom talking, if you don't come out before Thanksgiving your grounded!
My b-day is this Saturday. I and some girls from church are going to a place called "George and Dragon" for coffee and dessert. On Saturday Brandon and I are hopefully going to go to Melbourne and shop for awhile. Melbourne has a lot of markets and streets that are great for shopping. It is a very artsy city, very fun to explore in, and it is only an hour away.
They gave me a little pamphlet, as they always do. I thought the title was rather funny...it says "The End of False Religion is Near!". So are they predicting their own demise??
Brandon made a recent purchase on eBay. He bought a 1984 Honda Civic for $330AU. It is a little two door, silver car he picked up in Melbourne. Brandon was really starting to get tired of the 40 minute bike ride to work. The kamikaze Magpies were not helping the situation either. I was a little skeptical at first, I mean how great can a $330 car be? But I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled up in the driveway. It looks pretty nice, hardly any rust thanks to the lack of snow and ice here. He is taking it in on Thursday to get it looked at for the road worthy test. When you buy a car here you have to get it checked out to make sure it is road worthy. If there are problems you have 7 days to fix them or you have to pay for the test again.
I guess when the car was brand new it was quoted to get 55m/gal, not bad. We will see what it gets not probably still tons better than our family car.
The baby is due in about 2 weeks. I think we have a named picked out, I guess we still need to talk about it some though. Names are hard, you may think it sounds ok but the person next to you could be like "what are you thinking?".
I have had a few contractions but nothing to get excited about. Jolene was 8 days late, this one I am really hoping won't be that late. Do you hear that kid? Yes, this is your mom talking, if you don't come out before Thanksgiving your grounded!
My b-day is this Saturday. I and some girls from church are going to a place called "George and Dragon" for coffee and dessert. On Saturday Brandon and I are hopefully going to go to Melbourne and shop for awhile. Melbourne has a lot of markets and streets that are great for shopping. It is a very artsy city, very fun to explore in, and it is only an hour away.
30.10.06
Criminals for gun control, you think?
From Protest Warrior
We don't agree with everything on this site. However, there are a lot of good issues brought up and several that we do agree with.
Being here in Australia B and I have been able to view a society that has grown up without guns. It is strange for me to hear people freaking out when we mention that our family members, friends, and co-workers own guns. It is very surprising to some over here that we would know people or would own one ourselves. We did have a gun but it would take good aim and several shots to inflict any real damage.
Personally I think spending money on huge gun control programs is a waste. I see the guns not being the problem but the people. Seems like we should be spending the money in the justice system to make it work more efficiently then wasting time trying to control something out of reach ( sin nature, perhaps?). To me it seems that the focus should shift from the object of the crime to the crime itself and how best to deal out punishments. Granted there have been a lot of mistakes made when it comes to witnesses and evidence but all the more reason to spend the money in that area and to promote punishments for false witnesses and tampered evidence. I for one am for the death penalty, I think it shows people that there is value to human life. The death penalty when really enforced seems like a good motivator from certain crimes.
Brandon found an article about gun control in Australia and it is something all should read. It has been a decade since Australia enforced strict gun control laws throughout the country. This report looks at the data to see if these laws have helped in controlling homicides. Big surprise that homicide rates have not been effected by the controls put on guns. The only thing that has probably changed is the percentage of unregistered guns used in those crimes. It just goes to show that criminals can get a hold of whatever item they need to commit whatever crimes they want. The black market is something impossible to shut down completely.
Also a question - Is it wrong to own objects that could be used for protection? The sound of a gun being loaded would make any criminal think twice, just a thought.
Here is the article
Now, don't go assuming any wild ideas about me. I think it is good that there are background checks, hoops you have to jump through to carry one on you, etc. I just don't think taking guns out of the world will help solve the problem. If guns were not invented homicides would be committed with swords or something more medieval.
Human nature doesn't change just because an object is taken away. The heart, and as a result actions, can only be changed through Jesus Christ, everything else is futile.
M
26.10.06
New Music
Pic is from Threadless
A few bands we bought online recently, for all of you music buffs out there.
The Rapture - Cool website graphics, old school in a way
Peter, Bjorn, and John - their song "Young Folks" from the album Writer's Block is particularly fun to listen to.
The Raconteurs - Jack White's band, old scool website as well, reminds me of the old Strong Bad computer graphics.
The Killers-
The Cat Empire Project - Jazz sort of stuff
18.10.06
Beach pics
We went to the beach the other night for a few hours. We really must take advantage of it more often. I forget that we live so close. This particular beach is where the Barwon River meets the Bass Strait ( I think that is the name). On the river side the water is pretty calm and good for little children. A nice thing to do for a few hours before tea.
As you can see Brandon and Allen were having as much fun in the sand as Jolene.
16.10.06
Rain, rain please come our way and definitely stay another day
We have received the least amount of rain this past winter/spring ever recorded in the past 100 years of Victoria. Last week on Thursday the temp got up to 36 C which is over 100 F, along with the blistering heat were strong winds that basically wicked any surface water away. I felt as if I was slowly turning into a mummy. Even though it was so hot, it is dry here so you don't sweat much.
Our house doesn't have A/C so it got pretty hot that day. I think it was actually cooler outside because of the strong winds.
Because of the lack of rain we are already in Stage 2 of the water restrictions. This means...
-no watering your lawn
-can only wash car with bucket of water and you have to do it on the lawn
-only water garden and flowers on alternating days that correspond to your house number
-cannot use any water toys
-have to get permission to fill a swimming pool
Stage 3 restriction are supposed to be coming soon. Stage 3 is considered "critical".
I guess our family isn't really feeling the drought too much yet. It is the farmers with crops and animals that are being hit pretty hard. I read an article in the Age that told of farmers selling their animals and turning under their crops. They are going to have a pretty hard time if rain doesn't come soon. The problem is that the summer/fall seasons receive the lowest amount of rainfall during the year. Here in Geelong our water storage levels are only at %30 and we are going into the driest part of the year.
Here are a few articles if you are interested in reading about the drought...
1. Food prices will be on the rise due to drought
2. Extra cash to tackle drought
Living in a area faced with drought is something new for us. Back in Indiana there are not too many problems with droughts. I guess it could be more of the opposite, floods might be more of a problem.
If you think of it when you sit down to pray, pray for Australia's droughts. God is in control of the weather too.
Our house doesn't have A/C so it got pretty hot that day. I think it was actually cooler outside because of the strong winds.
Because of the lack of rain we are already in Stage 2 of the water restrictions. This means...
-no watering your lawn
-can only wash car with bucket of water and you have to do it on the lawn
-only water garden and flowers on alternating days that correspond to your house number
-cannot use any water toys
-have to get permission to fill a swimming pool
Stage 3 restriction are supposed to be coming soon. Stage 3 is considered "critical".
I guess our family isn't really feeling the drought too much yet. It is the farmers with crops and animals that are being hit pretty hard. I read an article in the Age that told of farmers selling their animals and turning under their crops. They are going to have a pretty hard time if rain doesn't come soon. The problem is that the summer/fall seasons receive the lowest amount of rainfall during the year. Here in Geelong our water storage levels are only at %30 and we are going into the driest part of the year.
Here are a few articles if you are interested in reading about the drought...
1. Food prices will be on the rise due to drought
2. Extra cash to tackle drought
Living in a area faced with drought is something new for us. Back in Indiana there are not too many problems with droughts. I guess it could be more of the opposite, floods might be more of a problem.
If you think of it when you sit down to pray, pray for Australia's droughts. God is in control of the weather too.
11.10.06
Charity Footy match
First, to all of you who were so annoyed that we still had the "edit-me" link on the site....sorry. Thank Gabe for lighting the fire under our rear. I just don't think about that sort of thing until someone mentions it. If any of you don't want your blog link up there then let me know and I will take it off.
Last Saturday Brandon played in a charity football match. The match is to raise money for cancer patients. There is a girl (Sarah) that used to go to the Geelong church who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She is 27 and they say she has only a few more months to live. She is married and has a daughter about the same age as Jolene. Please pray for her and her family. I can't imagine how hard it is for them right now. They are currently in Mexico seeking treatment, both natural and medical. They estimate that the cost is going to be upwards of $40,000. Everyone who played in the match paid. Also, that evening some ladies from church put together a concert in Sarah's honor to help raise money. With the money from the footy game and the concert, we were able to raise over $1600 for her. That doesn't seem like a big dent but every little bit counts.
So the footy match was good, Brandon's team lost but that is ok. There were only a few injuries (broken rib(s) and a swollen knee) but on Sunday all the guys seemed rather stiff. Everytime we stood up for a psalm you could look around and see the guys standing up very slowly :-)
Brandon received the "best on ground" medal. He said that he is going to melt it down and sell it to the pawn shop :-)
The concert was entertaining. There were several different families that preformed, including the Blackwoods.
In short it was a long day but a lot of fun.
Last Saturday Brandon played in a charity football match. The match is to raise money for cancer patients. There is a girl (Sarah) that used to go to the Geelong church who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She is 27 and they say she has only a few more months to live. She is married and has a daughter about the same age as Jolene. Please pray for her and her family. I can't imagine how hard it is for them right now. They are currently in Mexico seeking treatment, both natural and medical. They estimate that the cost is going to be upwards of $40,000. Everyone who played in the match paid. Also, that evening some ladies from church put together a concert in Sarah's honor to help raise money. With the money from the footy game and the concert, we were able to raise over $1600 for her. That doesn't seem like a big dent but every little bit counts.
So the footy match was good, Brandon's team lost but that is ok. There were only a few injuries (broken rib(s) and a swollen knee) but on Sunday all the guys seemed rather stiff. Everytime we stood up for a psalm you could look around and see the guys standing up very slowly :-)
Brandon received the "best on ground" medal. He said that he is going to melt it down and sell it to the pawn shop :-)
The concert was entertaining. There were several different families that preformed, including the Blackwoods.
In short it was a long day but a lot of fun.
30.9.06
New toys
We got our new laptop a few days ago, a MacBook (we got the white one). We also bought a large flatscreen so we can use the laptop as a PC, DVD player, stereo, and all around fun machine to use everyday (I like the splitscreen option). Got to go now, too many widgets to play with and so little time. HeeHee :-)
Oh, and today is Grand Final day. It is the Superbowl for Aussie football. Should be interesting. Brandon is playing in a charity football match next Saturday. Keep a lookout for pics.
One more thing, we have Skype again w/ webcam.
Meg
Oh, and today is Grand Final day. It is the Superbowl for Aussie football. Should be interesting. Brandon is playing in a charity football match next Saturday. Keep a lookout for pics.
One more thing, we have Skype again w/ webcam.
Meg
25.9.06
Funny thing, that fire
Jolene vs. dinner...can you see the winner?
A couple of humorous events that have taken place due to the fire...
1. Paying off my $178.46 library fine
Something I used to be able to pride myself on was the lack of library fines I had. If I did have one it might be for something in the range of a dollar or so. Last week I went to the library for the first time since the fire...the librarian who checked me out nearly had a bovine. You should have seen his eyes when my file came up. All he said was "whoa, you have a large fine". Of course when you are in the library everyone is quite and behaving like they should, so any announcements of fines can be clearly heard by everyone. This one especially. He must of thought he had won a prize or something, I could almost detect a hint of excitement in his voice. I mean you all know that fines like this may only come about once or twice in the lifetime of a librarian. His came at such a young age, pity he has nothing left to look forward to: -)
I tried to as loudly as I could to reassure him that I knew about the fine and that it was because of a fire. I was trying to save any shred of dignity I lost when the exact amount of the fine was announced for all to hear. I tried to tell myself that this was a lesson on humility, but at the time it didn't help my cheeks from turning a nice crimson colour (aussie spelling, trying to adjust :-) ). Anyway I chucked out $30.80 as the first installment and they let me go. I'm sure as I walked out the door I saw a few mothers grab their children as if to say "careful honey, she is a class LF felon (the LF meaning massive library fine)".
2. Finding a lost item
Now I am not sure how this happened but it did. A few months ago I realized that I could not find one of my favorite necklaces. I figured Jolene had crawled off with it never to be seen by human eyes again. Well a few weeks ago I was unpacking fire laundry ( several women in the church divided up all of our clothing and washed it to get the smoke stains and smell out) and low and behold there is my necklace! I have no idea how it survived the fire and ended up in the laundry, but it did and I was excited. So I guess the moral of this story is...if you lose something you really, really like, burn the house down and it might resurface. Hmmmmmm
need to make dinner, the natives are getting restless.
19.9.06
Our new home, 4 Bordeaux Dr., Waurn Ponds
Here are pics of the new place we are staying in. So far we are enjoying it a lot, although I do miss not having a park a block away and footy fields 1/2 a block away, but the great yard makes up for it.
The house
Meg
The house
Meg
18.9.06
Pic updates as promised
So before all the chaos (i.e. fire) broke out we were doing a little viewing of the country.
We left early Monday morning and headed for Mt. Baw Baw for some snow action. We traveled for the duration of the trip with Josh and Lucila Feldman, friends from church. At Mt. Baw Baw we met up with other church families, including the Blackwoods. We were at Mt. Baw Baw until late Tuesday night. Late Tuesday night we packed up and headed for the Blue Mountains where we were going to meet up with some of Lucila's relatives. We stayed in Lucila's grandparent's home there. The Blue Mountains reminded Brandon a little of the Grand Canyon. Not so big or dry but I guess if you used your imagination you might see the GC. I wouldn't know because I have never been to the GC. The mountains are called the "Blue Mountains" due to the bluish haze that surrounds them. They look blue because of all the eucalyptus trees that have a blue color to them.
After the Blue Mountains we drove Thursday to Sydney. About a 3-4 hour trip. Brandon, Jolene, and I stayed with Lucila's brother, Derek. He and his wife are renting part of the house from friends. Derek and Catherine are the ones who own the house we are living in right now. They are planning on moving to Geelong in about a year or so.
So we traveled around Sydney Thursday and Part of Friday. Friday afternoon we left Sydney and took the ferry to our friend's the Richardson's who live in Mainly. Manly is a suburb of Sydney, a very beautiful one at that. We stayed with the Richardsons until Sunday afternoon. We left Manly around 4pm Sunday and arrived back in Geelong at about 2am, where we stayed with Josh and Lucila due to the lack of housing we had upon returning. If you don't know what I am talking about see the previous posts.
So anyway, the trip was a lot of fun! We saw so much in a week it is unbelievable. We are thankful that Jolene held up through it all as well. There was only one day that she really exploded. I had to wrestle with her in the car, but she finally calmed down enough to take a nap. What a difference sleep makes!
Here are all the pics of the trip, enjoy!
We will have house pics up soon!
Meg
p.s. There are also some pics of Jolene at home and us at a 21st B-day party.
We left early Monday morning and headed for Mt. Baw Baw for some snow action. We traveled for the duration of the trip with Josh and Lucila Feldman, friends from church. At Mt. Baw Baw we met up with other church families, including the Blackwoods. We were at Mt. Baw Baw until late Tuesday night. Late Tuesday night we packed up and headed for the Blue Mountains where we were going to meet up with some of Lucila's relatives. We stayed in Lucila's grandparent's home there. The Blue Mountains reminded Brandon a little of the Grand Canyon. Not so big or dry but I guess if you used your imagination you might see the GC. I wouldn't know because I have never been to the GC. The mountains are called the "Blue Mountains" due to the bluish haze that surrounds them. They look blue because of all the eucalyptus trees that have a blue color to them.
After the Blue Mountains we drove Thursday to Sydney. About a 3-4 hour trip. Brandon, Jolene, and I stayed with Lucila's brother, Derek. He and his wife are renting part of the house from friends. Derek and Catherine are the ones who own the house we are living in right now. They are planning on moving to Geelong in about a year or so.
So we traveled around Sydney Thursday and Part of Friday. Friday afternoon we left Sydney and took the ferry to our friend's the Richardson's who live in Mainly. Manly is a suburb of Sydney, a very beautiful one at that. We stayed with the Richardsons until Sunday afternoon. We left Manly around 4pm Sunday and arrived back in Geelong at about 2am, where we stayed with Josh and Lucila due to the lack of housing we had upon returning. If you don't know what I am talking about see the previous posts.
So anyway, the trip was a lot of fun! We saw so much in a week it is unbelievable. We are thankful that Jolene held up through it all as well. There was only one day that she really exploded. I had to wrestle with her in the car, but she finally calmed down enough to take a nap. What a difference sleep makes!
Here are all the pics of the trip, enjoy!
We will have house pics up soon!
Meg
p.s. There are also some pics of Jolene at home and us at a 21st B-day party.
16.9.06
internet....finally I can live again :-)
I am finally writing due to the fact that we now have internet in our new home. Yippee is all I can say! We hope tp put up pics of the new home soon so you can all see where we are at. We love the house, it is fairly new and comfortable. I love the yard...lots of flowers, citrus trees, and a garden plot. I think the yard will be the hardest thing to say goodbye to when we have to leave next year.
We are beginning the process of looking for another car. With our moms coming out in November ( we are sooo excited!) to help with the new bub we need a couple of extra seats. Plus, the car we have now has horrible economy. We figured if we get something with better fuel economy we could save around $3000 over the next four years. Brandon is looking at Volvos, mind you very old Volvos. He looked at one a few days ago that was an 83'! Old cars are in much better condition here due to the lack of ice and snow.
The baby is getting bigger, and I am getting a bit more uncomfortable. I found out that I have a hernia as well. We are praying it doesn't get any worse, if it does I have to have surgery asap. Oh joy! I am just praying it can wait until the baby comes and then they can give me an eppidural. With the eppi I can get the baby out and have the surgery all in one sitting, not sure what the docs think about that plan but I think it is a great idea. I might as well get through all the pain in one sitting instead of two. Oh, for those of you who don't know ....Inguinal hernias are protrusions of abdominal cavity contents through an area of the abdominal wall commonly referred to as the groin, and known in anatomic language as the inguinal area or the myopectineal orifice. They are very common and their repair is one of the most frequently performed surgical operations. There are two types of inguinal hernia, direct and indirect. (Femoral hernias occur within the same "myopectineal orifice," but are usually classed as separate from the "inguinal" hernias.)
Umm lets see what else has been going on...I guess we are pretty much back to normal living. For a week we were without table and chairs but that has been fixed thanks to some friends from church.
I have had some good opportunities to talk to my moms group about the fire and how God has provided. I think the thing that shocks them the most is when I tell them that we let Allen move back in with us. They usually look a little surprised when I say that, which is a good thing I guess. I think in all they have really been able to see how the church family helps each other out and how God provides for all our needs.
Oh, I forgot one important milestone we have hit. Jolene finally started walking on her own. I am very thankful because I was getting very tired of holding her hand every where we went. She is pretty funny to watch, a little bit of a girl running all over the place. She is into swinging her arms while she walks as well. Miss independent, now when I try to hold her hand she yanks it back as if to say "I am a big girl now, thank you very much!".
Well that is all for now, I want to read some of my book before B gets back with a movie. Hope you all have a good weekend!
Meg
We are beginning the process of looking for another car. With our moms coming out in November ( we are sooo excited!) to help with the new bub we need a couple of extra seats. Plus, the car we have now has horrible economy. We figured if we get something with better fuel economy we could save around $3000 over the next four years. Brandon is looking at Volvos, mind you very old Volvos. He looked at one a few days ago that was an 83'! Old cars are in much better condition here due to the lack of ice and snow.
The baby is getting bigger, and I am getting a bit more uncomfortable. I found out that I have a hernia as well. We are praying it doesn't get any worse, if it does I have to have surgery asap. Oh joy! I am just praying it can wait until the baby comes and then they can give me an eppidural. With the eppi I can get the baby out and have the surgery all in one sitting, not sure what the docs think about that plan but I think it is a great idea. I might as well get through all the pain in one sitting instead of two. Oh, for those of you who don't know ....Inguinal hernias are protrusions of abdominal cavity contents through an area of the abdominal wall commonly referred to as the groin, and known in anatomic language as the inguinal area or the myopectineal orifice. They are very common and their repair is one of the most frequently performed surgical operations. There are two types of inguinal hernia, direct and indirect. (Femoral hernias occur within the same "myopectineal orifice," but are usually classed as separate from the "inguinal" hernias.)
Umm lets see what else has been going on...I guess we are pretty much back to normal living. For a week we were without table and chairs but that has been fixed thanks to some friends from church.
I have had some good opportunities to talk to my moms group about the fire and how God has provided. I think the thing that shocks them the most is when I tell them that we let Allen move back in with us. They usually look a little surprised when I say that, which is a good thing I guess. I think in all they have really been able to see how the church family helps each other out and how God provides for all our needs.
Oh, I forgot one important milestone we have hit. Jolene finally started walking on her own. I am very thankful because I was getting very tired of holding her hand every where we went. She is pretty funny to watch, a little bit of a girl running all over the place. She is into swinging her arms while she walks as well. Miss independent, now when I try to hold her hand she yanks it back as if to say "I am a big girl now, thank you very much!".
Well that is all for now, I want to read some of my book before B gets back with a movie. Hope you all have a good weekend!
Meg
21.8.06
Returning to "normal"
We have been so overwhelmed with the help everyone has given us. I told Brandon that it is all very humbling. I am the type of person that likes to take care of things myself and to not rely on anyone for things. I think God has really used this to humble me. It is hard to except so many gifts all at once, I guess mainly because I feel we don't deserve it. Don't get me wrong we are very thankful for all the help everyone has sent our way, it has been unbelievable. Reminds me of how humbled we should be when thinking about our salvation. None of us deserve Christ death on the cross.
We are staying with Josh and Sarah McEwen right now. They have been very gracious in opening their home to us, we have been here a week and are planning on staying another whole week. It has helped a lot to stay with people that remind us (especially me) of home. I think it has also helped Jolene, she gets to see Eleni every morning when she wakes up. It might actually be hard when we move out because they are really enjoying each others company.
God is good, and he provides what we need. We are moving into our new home on Saturday. Again, this is all very humbling. The house is way nicer than anything we have ever lived in. The house belongs to our friend's brother. They are closing on the house Thursday and we should be getting the keys on Friday. It is amazing to see God working so quickly!
Brandon is working on getting internet access to the new house asap so we should be able to keep you all updated on what is going on.
Brandon started a class tonight with some others at church. The class is on how to interpret the Bible. They are offering the class in hope that some of the young people taking it will be future Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers, etc.
Friday night we are going to a 21st birthday party of a girl from church. She really likes New York City and decided to use that as the theme. We are supposed to dress as glamorously as possible in any era attire we can find. I am looking forward to dressing up, we don't have many opportunities to do so! Sarah and I are painting a New York City skyline that will be used for a backdrop at the party. We will post some pics as soon as we can.
Thanks for all of your notes. We love hearing from those at home, especially during this time in our lives.
Meg
We are staying with Josh and Sarah McEwen right now. They have been very gracious in opening their home to us, we have been here a week and are planning on staying another whole week. It has helped a lot to stay with people that remind us (especially me) of home. I think it has also helped Jolene, she gets to see Eleni every morning when she wakes up. It might actually be hard when we move out because they are really enjoying each others company.
God is good, and he provides what we need. We are moving into our new home on Saturday. Again, this is all very humbling. The house is way nicer than anything we have ever lived in. The house belongs to our friend's brother. They are closing on the house Thursday and we should be getting the keys on Friday. It is amazing to see God working so quickly!
Brandon is working on getting internet access to the new house asap so we should be able to keep you all updated on what is going on.
Brandon started a class tonight with some others at church. The class is on how to interpret the Bible. They are offering the class in hope that some of the young people taking it will be future Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers, etc.
Friday night we are going to a 21st birthday party of a girl from church. She really likes New York City and decided to use that as the theme. We are supposed to dress as glamorously as possible in any era attire we can find. I am looking forward to dressing up, we don't have many opportunities to do so! Sarah and I are painting a New York City skyline that will be used for a backdrop at the party. We will post some pics as soon as we can.
Thanks for all of your notes. We love hearing from those at home, especially during this time in our lives.
Meg
14.8.06
Of Melted Metal and Toasted Mandarin Oranges
Here are the facts that many of you asked for concerning our recent trial:
We were on a holiday in Sydney when we received a call Sunday morning that our house was on fire. At first we thought it was a practical joke but soon realized much to our dismay that it was in fact true, the house we were renting was on fire.
The fire was started by a space heater that was too close to our couch in the living room. Allen Blackwood , as many of you know, was living with us while he attended uni. In the mornings it can be pretty chilly so Allen had it on to warm himself and the room. Allen left to use the toilet and when he got back the couch was on fire. He tried to put it out with wet towels but it was too large at that point. Allen then ran to the neighbors to call 000 (not 911), by the time he got back it was too hot to even enter the room. We thank God that Allen was not hurt , the fire was very intense and the smoke was really bad he could have been hurt badly. We are not upset with Allen, just thankful he is well. We realize that it could have been us who caused the fire instead of him if we had been home. God could have kept it from happening but for some reason he allowed it, he is teaching us something through all of this. One thing that we have seen already is the blessing it is to be a part of a church family. The church here has shown so much love and it is only the day after. We have so much help coming to our doorstep, from those here and from all of you at home. We really feel loved. God is in control and he is sovereign, we are thankful for that.
As far as our immediate needs are concerned. We have lost almost everything. It is a shock but almost all of it can be replaced. Our clothing was not burned but the smoke damage is so bad we may not be able to save some things. The living room, kitchen and dining room were burnt to a crisp. The rest of the house has the smoke damage. It is amazing what fire and smoke can do to things. Our laptop was incinerated, the heat was so intense that my Kitchen Aid mixer ( almost completely made of metal) melted into a lump of aluminum. Funny though what survived. On the counter I found some oranges that were toasted on the outside but still juicy in the middle, yum!!! In God's providence most of our wedding photos survived. I am not sure how this happened seeing as though they were in the room where the fire started. I think God knew that those meant a lot to me, and allowed me to keep them. I am thankful.
Some have asked about helping out with things we need. Shipping items to us is not very economical, shipping charges are outrageous. The easiest and most useful way to help would be gifts of money. Brandon's mom is on our bank account in the US. We have a US credit card as well so things can be bought with the card and then paid off through our US account. Of course we also value your prayers and words of encouragement, these are most important. You could pray for the below items...
1. That life could resume some normality soon. Being pregnant and having Jolene requires some normality. Pray that Jolene would adapt to living on the road again. She is becoming more aware of where she sleeps at night. I am not so worried about myself, more for her.
2. Pray that in the next few weeks I wouldn't become depressed over our situation. This past year has been hard in that we haven't had a home to call our own. We were just starting to feel like we were getting settled into this house when the fire happened. We will be living with families from church for the next few weeks until we find something more permanent. It is hard going back to life on the road. As soon as we know for sure where we will let our parents know.
3. Praise that God is already providing for us. The couple we drove with to Sydney have a brother/brother-in-law who is in the process of buying a house here in Geelong. He cannot leave Sydney for another year and was looking for someone to rent/house-sit for him until then. He already called us and offered the house. We will pray about it and see if that is best for us, but as of right now we are seriously considering it. God's perfect timing!
4. Praise that Allen was not hurt in the fire.
5. Thanks for the church, here in Oz and back home. Brandon and I were wondering how those without a church would be able to deal with something like this.
6. Praise for the peace God has given us. We mourned on Sunday and now it is time to put things back together again.
7. Pray that we could use this to witness to nonbelievers here in Oz. I was thinking especially for those in my play group.
Click here for pictures of the house before the fire
Click here for pictures of the damage
Zec. 13:9
"And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "
In God's loving hands,
Brandon, Megan, and Jolene
We were on a holiday in Sydney when we received a call Sunday morning that our house was on fire. At first we thought it was a practical joke but soon realized much to our dismay that it was in fact true, the house we were renting was on fire.
The fire was started by a space heater that was too close to our couch in the living room. Allen Blackwood , as many of you know, was living with us while he attended uni. In the mornings it can be pretty chilly so Allen had it on to warm himself and the room. Allen left to use the toilet and when he got back the couch was on fire. He tried to put it out with wet towels but it was too large at that point. Allen then ran to the neighbors to call 000 (not 911), by the time he got back it was too hot to even enter the room. We thank God that Allen was not hurt , the fire was very intense and the smoke was really bad he could have been hurt badly. We are not upset with Allen, just thankful he is well. We realize that it could have been us who caused the fire instead of him if we had been home. God could have kept it from happening but for some reason he allowed it, he is teaching us something through all of this. One thing that we have seen already is the blessing it is to be a part of a church family. The church here has shown so much love and it is only the day after. We have so much help coming to our doorstep, from those here and from all of you at home. We really feel loved. God is in control and he is sovereign, we are thankful for that.
As far as our immediate needs are concerned. We have lost almost everything. It is a shock but almost all of it can be replaced. Our clothing was not burned but the smoke damage is so bad we may not be able to save some things. The living room, kitchen and dining room were burnt to a crisp. The rest of the house has the smoke damage. It is amazing what fire and smoke can do to things. Our laptop was incinerated, the heat was so intense that my Kitchen Aid mixer ( almost completely made of metal) melted into a lump of aluminum. Funny though what survived. On the counter I found some oranges that were toasted on the outside but still juicy in the middle, yum!!! In God's providence most of our wedding photos survived. I am not sure how this happened seeing as though they were in the room where the fire started. I think God knew that those meant a lot to me, and allowed me to keep them. I am thankful.
Some have asked about helping out with things we need. Shipping items to us is not very economical, shipping charges are outrageous. The easiest and most useful way to help would be gifts of money. Brandon's mom is on our bank account in the US. We have a US credit card as well so things can be bought with the card and then paid off through our US account. Of course we also value your prayers and words of encouragement, these are most important. You could pray for the below items...
1. That life could resume some normality soon. Being pregnant and having Jolene requires some normality. Pray that Jolene would adapt to living on the road again. She is becoming more aware of where she sleeps at night. I am not so worried about myself, more for her.
2. Pray that in the next few weeks I wouldn't become depressed over our situation. This past year has been hard in that we haven't had a home to call our own. We were just starting to feel like we were getting settled into this house when the fire happened. We will be living with families from church for the next few weeks until we find something more permanent. It is hard going back to life on the road. As soon as we know for sure where we will let our parents know.
3. Praise that God is already providing for us. The couple we drove with to Sydney have a brother/brother-in-law who is in the process of buying a house here in Geelong. He cannot leave Sydney for another year and was looking for someone to rent/house-sit for him until then. He already called us and offered the house. We will pray about it and see if that is best for us, but as of right now we are seriously considering it. God's perfect timing!
4. Praise that Allen was not hurt in the fire.
5. Thanks for the church, here in Oz and back home. Brandon and I were wondering how those without a church would be able to deal with something like this.
6. Praise for the peace God has given us. We mourned on Sunday and now it is time to put things back together again.
7. Pray that we could use this to witness to nonbelievers here in Oz. I was thinking especially for those in my play group.
Click here for pictures of the house before the fire
Click here for pictures of the damage
Zec. 13:9
"And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "
In God's loving hands,
Brandon, Megan, and Jolene
4.8.06
A survey put out by the Australian Democrats
Friends of ours sent this to us. I guess this reflects some of Australia's culture and what things the nation as a whole is struggleing with. The survey is from the Australian Democrats.
God and Government: tell us what you think!
We are interested in your thoughts on what the relationship between religion and government should be. Please take a few moments to answer the questions below.
Remember that there's no right, wrong or ideal response.
1. Currently some churches run commercial businesses as part of their operations. These businesses benefit from the tax breaks that churches are entitled to. Should the commercial businesses run by churches get the same tax breaks as the charitable parts of the church operation?
2. A basic level of religious education (RE) is taught in public schools in Australia. It takes place within school hours under the jurisdiction of the school. Although it is not compulsory most schools have an opt out system, which means that unless parents specifically notify the school that they do not wish their child to be involved then their child will have to attend the RE classes. Should religious education be part of the school curriculum?
3. If yes, should it be compulsory?
4. Should it be opt in or opt out?
5. Should RE be linked to a particular religious faith or should it be more about comparing differing religious beliefs?
6. Should classes in ethics be taught as an alternative to RE?
7. Intelligent design is the idea that the complexity of the universe and living things is best explained as the result of the actions of an intelligent supernatural being, rather than a result of a scientific process such as evolution. Recently politicians have started to argue that this idea should be taught in science classes rather than in religious education. Should intelligent design be taught in schools as an alternative to evolution?
8. If yes, should it be taught in science classes or religious education classes?
9. Currently some public schools in states and territories have publicly funded school chaplains. These chaplains come from a variety of religious backgrounds and provide spiritual support as well as generally play a role in student welfare. Generally they are not required to have any specific qualifications or experience. Should taxpayers money be used to fund school chaplains?
10. Should funding for school chaplains be redirected towards funding for professional counselors?
11. Should school chaplains be subject to minimum educational qualifications regarding youth work?
12. Currently some religious groups/individual that receive government funding refuse to provide some services based on their own religious beliefs, For example, catholic run hospitals will not perform vasectomies or abortions and some chemists will not stock or supply condoms or the contraceptive pill. There are also government funded pregnancy counseling services that will not refer for abortion and do not make this clear in their advertising. Should hospitals that receive government funding be obliged to provide vasectomies?
13. Should hospitals that receive government funding be obliged to provide abortion services?
14. Should pharmacists that receive government funding be obliged to provide contraception?
15. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money have to refer for abortion if women ask for a referral?
16. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money and DO NOT refer for abortion have to make this explicit in their advertising?
17.
In which of the following areas do you think government policy has been influenced by religious beliefs
asylum seekers
welfare
drug and alcohol use
sex education
contraception
euthanasia
stem cell research
gay marriage
same sex relationships
adoption
abortion
war
industrial relations
18. Do you think that politicians who have strong religious beliefs should try to use the political system to turn their religious beliefs into law?
19. Do you think that religious leaders/churches/houses of worship should try to influence government decisions on issues?
20. In the last 10 years, do you think that political leaders in Australia have used religion for their own political purposes?
21. Would you be in favour of legal moves to formalize a separation of church and state in Australia?
22. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money have to discuss all three options for an unplanned pregnancy - adoption, parenting and abortion?
God and Government: tell us what you think!
We are interested in your thoughts on what the relationship between religion and government should be. Please take a few moments to answer the questions below.
Remember that there's no right, wrong or ideal response.
1. Currently some churches run commercial businesses as part of their operations. These businesses benefit from the tax breaks that churches are entitled to. Should the commercial businesses run by churches get the same tax breaks as the charitable parts of the church operation?
2. A basic level of religious education (RE) is taught in public schools in Australia. It takes place within school hours under the jurisdiction of the school. Although it is not compulsory most schools have an opt out system, which means that unless parents specifically notify the school that they do not wish their child to be involved then their child will have to attend the RE classes. Should religious education be part of the school curriculum?
3. If yes, should it be compulsory?
4. Should it be opt in or opt out?
5. Should RE be linked to a particular religious faith or should it be more about comparing differing religious beliefs?
6. Should classes in ethics be taught as an alternative to RE?
7. Intelligent design is the idea that the complexity of the universe and living things is best explained as the result of the actions of an intelligent supernatural being, rather than a result of a scientific process such as evolution. Recently politicians have started to argue that this idea should be taught in science classes rather than in religious education. Should intelligent design be taught in schools as an alternative to evolution?
8. If yes, should it be taught in science classes or religious education classes?
9. Currently some public schools in states and territories have publicly funded school chaplains. These chaplains come from a variety of religious backgrounds and provide spiritual support as well as generally play a role in student welfare. Generally they are not required to have any specific qualifications or experience. Should taxpayers money be used to fund school chaplains?
10. Should funding for school chaplains be redirected towards funding for professional counselors?
11. Should school chaplains be subject to minimum educational qualifications regarding youth work?
12. Currently some religious groups/individual that receive government funding refuse to provide some services based on their own religious beliefs, For example, catholic run hospitals will not perform vasectomies or abortions and some chemists will not stock or supply condoms or the contraceptive pill. There are also government funded pregnancy counseling services that will not refer for abortion and do not make this clear in their advertising. Should hospitals that receive government funding be obliged to provide vasectomies?
13. Should hospitals that receive government funding be obliged to provide abortion services?
14. Should pharmacists that receive government funding be obliged to provide contraception?
15. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money have to refer for abortion if women ask for a referral?
16. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money and DO NOT refer for abortion have to make this explicit in their advertising?
17.
In which of the following areas do you think government policy has been influenced by religious beliefs
asylum seekers
welfare
drug and alcohol use
sex education
contraception
euthanasia
stem cell research
gay marriage
same sex relationships
adoption
abortion
war
industrial relations
18. Do you think that politicians who have strong religious beliefs should try to use the political system to turn their religious beliefs into law?
19. Do you think that religious leaders/churches/houses of worship should try to influence government decisions on issues?
20. In the last 10 years, do you think that political leaders in Australia have used religion for their own political purposes?
21. Would you be in favour of legal moves to formalize a separation of church and state in Australia?
22. Should pregnancy counseling helplines which receive government money have to discuss all three options for an unplanned pregnancy - adoption, parenting and abortion?
27.7.06
Of big black birds
Jolene at our 4th of July party
So earlier today a very large, black bird flew into our living room window. Scared me almost to death, but not quite. What is gross is that the bird left spittle or eyeball junk on the window, yuck!
Today was a great day, very sunny and warm. I took Jolene for a walk down the sidewalk and then headed to the park for 30 minutes or so. I really like the location of our house. We are half a block from two footy fields and a cemetery (whenever I see the cemetery I am reminded or Rich Johnston's testimony) and in the other direction we are only two blocks from a large open field (what they call a reserve here, not sure what it is reserved for) and a park. I think we will be getting a lot of use out of both.
Monday I got my first injury from a footy ball. B, Jolene and I went to the playground for a while to enjoy the outside. Brandon took along the footy ball to practice kicking (he and Josh want to do fall training with a local team). So I was up in the playground equipment while Brandon was kicking the ball around. Wouldn't you know it but the moment I turned my head to say something to B, he kicked the ball. There was a nice collision between the side of my face and the footy ball. The ball was spinning just right so that the point hit my eye and everything. Brandon felt pretty bad. I have been hit in the head plenty of times with balls (mainly soccer balls) but of course that was my own choosing. It hurts a little more when you don't expect it. Thankfully there were no bruises, or Brandon would have felt really, really bad and I could have gone on a nice shopping trip : -) Maybe the bruises wouldn't have been so bad after all? : -)
This past weekend the RPCA held a women's conference at the Geelong church. Close to 40 women attended, which was an encouragement to all. I went to two different talks, one on missions and the other on hospitality. They were both really good and could have gone for longer then the allotted 45 minutes. It was nice to see all of the RP women here together. They don't have many conferences here, this was the first in several years. Some people from McKinnon/Frankston are thinking about going to the '08 international conference. I really hope they can go, to see the larger church body, to hear the singing, and to make new friends. I know they would love it!
19.7.06
Sigh
Our house is empty, Eleni got on a plane headed for LA this morning. It was nice having someone around during the day, Jolene isn't always that great for conversation. We are hoping to fly back sometime next summer so the family can see the new baby, that seems like forever away.
The above pics I took at the Geelong Botanical Gardens this past week. Eleni, Jolene and I went there Tuesday afternoon to look at all the cool plants. I really like the bottle trees, it would be nice to plant one in the backyard if there is room.
That night we went for a walk along the bay so Eleni could get some pictures of the bayside bollards.
Allen Blackwood is coming to stay with us on Friday for the rest of his semester. We have never had a student stay with us, it will be interesting to see how it works out. It will definitely be nice to have another option for babysitting : -)
Spring is just around the corner, I need to start thinking about planting a garden. You can grow some things almost year round. We might get a frost once or twice during the winter and that is all. I would like to have a lemon tree and if we have enough money maybe a lime as well.
17.7.06
LNI
My sister Eleni has been over here since June 8th. She came as part of a missions trip and then stayed an extra few weeks with us. It has been great having a family member over here. There are some many things that you want them to see that are just a part of your everyday life. When we talk on Skype now she will know what we are talking about, she will have images to go with names, etc.
Eleni helped me take the wallpaper off in the kitchen, now I just have to figure out what color to paint the walls. There is ugly, bright red tile at the bottom, not sure what color would look best. If you have any ideas let me know.
We have been trying to do some Australian things with Eleni while she is here. We took her to a footy game, Geelong vs. Caralton. Rode the train to Melbourne, which is always enjoyable. This past weekend Brandon, Eleni, Josh & Sarah McEwen, and I went on the Great Ocean Road to show her the sights. Unfortunately it was overcast and rainy but we still had a lot of fun.
We started the trip with dinner at Moby Cafe. Before we left the cafe us girls took motion sickness tablets for the road. Unfortunately the wine at dinner and the pills where not the best combo. By the time we got to our cabin we could only mange to keep our eyes open till 10pm. Pretty sad for a Friday night and vacation : -)
Saturday, we hiked to some waterfalls, explored rock pools, saw the Twelve Apostles, and were soaked by some gianormous waves (see above pic). The surf was really up due to some incoming storms, great waves to watch crashing into the cliffs.
Today we are going to hunt for souvenirs and go to some opshops before she has to pack up. Two and a half weeks goes too quickly!
More pics of trip HERE
13.7.06
Healthcare and NASA
So, being pregnant requires me to see a midwife every so often to make sure things are going well. Being pregnant has given me an opportunity to see how this free health care works. I must say that Brandon and I are liking the system over here. Before you cry out "socialist!" here my thoughts.
So far I have not had to deal with waiting long hours for appts. and dealing with people who don't know what they are talking about. Here in Geelong you have a private hospital and a public hospital. What is nice about Geelong is that if the public hospital can't help you they send you to the private one and it is still free. If you want to use the private hospital for all of your worries and woes you have to pay for the health insurance. Public, of course, is free. We are using the public system for this baby, and so far I can't complain.
There are three different routes you can take during your pregnancy.
1. See a doctor every time
2. Shared care, see a midwife and a GP
3. See a midwife.
I decided to go with number 3, but have the baby in the hospital (could have decided to have it at a birthing clinic if I wanted). So far the midwives have been great and I feel like the service is the same as it was back home.
Now some people over here like to think Australia as found the perfect system, public for all and pay extra for the posh private. I see their system being in the middle, with the US on one side and Canada on the other. Canada being totally socialist, not allowing private health care (so I have heard) and the US focusing more on the private and only those who have really low incomes getting the public.
There are problems with Australia's system that some people I have talked to don't see. First, Australia has the population on greater LA. Any system will work better and faster on a smaller scale. There are not as many people to take advantage of it and to clog the system. Secondly, you can still get some pretty long waiting lines for certain services. Getting in to see a public dentist takes being on a waiting list for awhile, so I have heard.
Of course the US and Canada have their problems as well. I see particularly the rising cost of health care in the US. We were paying $500 a month for awhile before Brandon was hired on at Delphi and we were not going for the best of the best. My aunt and uncle have had many problems because their son has asthma.
NASA - I think it should be downsized. Just read an article about Lake Vostok, the underground lake in Antarctica that was recently discovered. I think giving so much money to NASA is a waste when we are finding things like this on our own planet. There is so much of the ocean that still has not been looked at as well. Give some of NASA's money to exploring our own planet. I really don't care so much about planets and trying to find organisms on them when we still have plenty to discover at home. To me it seems NASA spends a lot of money trying to prove there is life outside of earth, that we are not alone. I say let the aliens spend the money to contact us, why should we do all the work? Let them chip in a bit. Where are all their signals and little metal gifts being sent to us? Haven't seen many. We have sent plenty, shows how much they appreciate them, that is if they are out there. I guess you could argue they are shy but hey we don't need to hold their hand. They must come out of their extraterrestrial shell in their own time.
Oh, and a tighter budget for NASA would probably help. They would treasure their expeditions that much more and choose which ones to carry out with greater scrutiny.
So far I have not had to deal with waiting long hours for appts. and dealing with people who don't know what they are talking about. Here in Geelong you have a private hospital and a public hospital. What is nice about Geelong is that if the public hospital can't help you they send you to the private one and it is still free. If you want to use the private hospital for all of your worries and woes you have to pay for the health insurance. Public, of course, is free. We are using the public system for this baby, and so far I can't complain.
There are three different routes you can take during your pregnancy.
1. See a doctor every time
2. Shared care, see a midwife and a GP
3. See a midwife.
I decided to go with number 3, but have the baby in the hospital (could have decided to have it at a birthing clinic if I wanted). So far the midwives have been great and I feel like the service is the same as it was back home.
Now some people over here like to think Australia as found the perfect system, public for all and pay extra for the posh private. I see their system being in the middle, with the US on one side and Canada on the other. Canada being totally socialist, not allowing private health care (so I have heard) and the US focusing more on the private and only those who have really low incomes getting the public.
There are problems with Australia's system that some people I have talked to don't see. First, Australia has the population on greater LA. Any system will work better and faster on a smaller scale. There are not as many people to take advantage of it and to clog the system. Secondly, you can still get some pretty long waiting lines for certain services. Getting in to see a public dentist takes being on a waiting list for awhile, so I have heard.
Of course the US and Canada have their problems as well. I see particularly the rising cost of health care in the US. We were paying $500 a month for awhile before Brandon was hired on at Delphi and we were not going for the best of the best. My aunt and uncle have had many problems because their son has asthma.
NASA - I think it should be downsized. Just read an article about Lake Vostok, the underground lake in Antarctica that was recently discovered. I think giving so much money to NASA is a waste when we are finding things like this on our own planet. There is so much of the ocean that still has not been looked at as well. Give some of NASA's money to exploring our own planet. I really don't care so much about planets and trying to find organisms on them when we still have plenty to discover at home. To me it seems NASA spends a lot of money trying to prove there is life outside of earth, that we are not alone. I say let the aliens spend the money to contact us, why should we do all the work? Let them chip in a bit. Where are all their signals and little metal gifts being sent to us? Haven't seen many. We have sent plenty, shows how much they appreciate them, that is if they are out there. I guess you could argue they are shy but hey we don't need to hold their hand. They must come out of their extraterrestrial shell in their own time.
Oh, and a tighter budget for NASA would probably help. They would treasure their expeditions that much more and choose which ones to carry out with greater scrutiny.
5.7.06
Move #4
We moved for the fourth time this year on Saturday, thus the reason for not writing for awhile. All went well and the move went very quickly thanks to all the help we received from our friends. Hopefully we will be able to settle here for the next several years, I am excited. It will be nice to have something we can start to personalize more. The house is great, nice and big. It needs some paint here and there and a few other cosmetic applications but I love the layout. We will put up pics soon.
Yesterday was July 4th. We had 35 people over to help celebrate the event. Lots of food as close to American as we could get. Sparklers, a patriotic reading, and a spontaneous singing of the national anthem help set the mood. Blackwoods came along with Eleni, McEwens, Harts, and a few other families all attended. We missed seeing fireworks but figured it was not worth ending up in jail to smuggle them across the border from Southern Australia. I guess Victoria outlawed them because too many people were getting hurt. I say they should allow them and if people get hurt then they need to learn how to be more careful. People get hurt in cars all the time and they aren't illegal. Anyway, the night was very enjoyable.
We are taking Eleni to a footy game on Saturday, go Cats!
My world cup prediction is not going very well. My final four teams are all out, so much for Brazil. Portugal is a surprise for me, might be cool if they won.
We had our ultrasound on Friday. The baby is alive and kick'n. We found out the sex....either a boy or girl, not both. We decided not to tell, : -) I guess you will all have to wait a few months.
I should go unpack some boxes, catch you up on more events later.
Meg
14.6.06
The greatest sport ever
Monday night Brandon, I, and a bunch of guys from church( I guess none of the other girls really cared that much) watched Australia vs. Japan. What a game!!!!!! We were pretty depressed up until the end when everything turned upside down. It is games like these that make you love the sport and tear you up inside because you are not out there playing. The pic above pretty much describes how we felt when the Aussies scored three goals in the last 8 minutes of the game. This has never happened in the history of the World Cup, something to remember.
Our hearts were saddened watching the US vs. Czech Rep. There is still hope though, and I am definitely hoping seeing as though I have the US going to the second round in my pool.
Australia is great as far as showing soccer on the tube. Every World Cup game is going to be shown on a local channel. That is great for those of us who don't have cable or satellite TV.
Keep your eyes on the Aussies!
5.6.06
Our first visitor
We had our first visitor this past weekend. Our friend Brandon, this caused a bit of confusion when I needed my Brandon to do something : -), from LA was in Alice Springs for a business trip. He had a few extra days so we asked him to stop by for the weekend.
We were able to explore the Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles, and a few other things on Friday. I got very car sick so I had to drive most of the time. It was a pretty nice day for the trip as you can see from the photos. The Twelve Apostles are really cool, actually that whole area is a lot of fun. You feel like you are on the edge of the world. Travel a few thousand miles more south and you hit Antarctica.
Jolene did pretty well for being in the car almost all day Friday. Thankfully she doesn't get car sick : -)
Friday night we watched "The Castle". If you like Wes Anderson movies then you might like this one. The humor is similar. We liked it and there really isn't anything bad in it.
Saturday Brandon took Brandon to a local footy game where they were entertained by a few fights, and the game of course. Brandon had to leave Saturday afternoon for Sydney. It was refreshing seeing someone from home. For a little peek as to what you could do if you come visit us look at the pics of our trip.
Saturday night we had ten people over for dinner. Three of those were from church and the rest were Indians from Deakin University. I think we have mentioned before that we are trying to start an outreach to the uni students. We thought it would be nice for them to get off campus and have a home cooked meal followed by some card games. The guys all seemed to have fun. We entertained them with card games and one of them entertained us by playing the piano.
The Hart's house has been getting some good use these past few weeks. I had my playgroup over last Friday. They seemed to have a good time and we all fit in the house. I wasn't sure if we would or not but it worker out well.
27.5.06
Two Australian Movies
We have been told by several people since moving here that there are two Australian movies that we must see to gain insight into the culture. The first is called "Cracker Jack" and the second is called "The Castle".
We watched Cracker Jack last weekend. It is about a lawn bowling club and the troubles they are going through as an old club. It is not the best we have seen but was interesting to a degree, once again it is about lawn blowing : -) There wasn't anything too bad in this movie, just some language and an implied sexual relationship.
The second, The Castle, we have not seen yet and will let you know how it is once we see it. Every time we go to the movie store it is out, so it might be awhile. We can't say if there is anything bad in this one seeing as though we haven't seen it ourselves yet.
I don't know if these can be found in the US but it might be fun for some of you to watch them, just to hear some of their sayings and to see some of the cultural differences.
On another note, it took us an hour to travel 10km last night. We didn't get home from our friends house until 12:30am. We had the flat of all flat tyres and then we had the flat of all flat spare tyres. UGGGGGGG, flat tyres are very annoying...but even more so when it is almost midnight and you have a baby in the car. Oh and the fact that the jack didn't work was not helping the situation. Thankfully our friends were not in bed yet and came to our rescue!
And another note, baby showers are not a thing to do here. In fact wedding showers have just become popular in the past ten years. Don't look for baby registries because they don't exist. Funny, at least to me that this hasn't caught on. I mean, it is pretty expensive to outfit yourself for a new baby. You would think people would just naturally come up with the idea so that they would not have to spend a million dollars buying baby things. Plus, it is just another way to have a party of some sort and that is fun!
I had an ultrasound on Thursday to see if the guesstimated due date was correct. Looks like the little bub will be coming into the world sometime at the end of November, around Thanksgiving. This makes me a little sad because there is a good possibility that I might be in the hospital on Thanksgiving which means there is a good possibility that I might miss out on some very good food. Instead of being with friends I may have to eat food at a hospital who does not know what Thanksgiving is, let alone celebrate it, let alone give the patients something that resembles turkey and cranberries. Am I being a tad selfish? Perhaps, but I really like cranberries:-)
We watched Cracker Jack last weekend. It is about a lawn bowling club and the troubles they are going through as an old club. It is not the best we have seen but was interesting to a degree, once again it is about lawn blowing : -) There wasn't anything too bad in this movie, just some language and an implied sexual relationship.
The second, The Castle, we have not seen yet and will let you know how it is once we see it. Every time we go to the movie store it is out, so it might be awhile. We can't say if there is anything bad in this one seeing as though we haven't seen it ourselves yet.
I don't know if these can be found in the US but it might be fun for some of you to watch them, just to hear some of their sayings and to see some of the cultural differences.
On another note, it took us an hour to travel 10km last night. We didn't get home from our friends house until 12:30am. We had the flat of all flat tyres and then we had the flat of all flat spare tyres. UGGGGGGG, flat tyres are very annoying...but even more so when it is almost midnight and you have a baby in the car. Oh and the fact that the jack didn't work was not helping the situation. Thankfully our friends were not in bed yet and came to our rescue!
And another note, baby showers are not a thing to do here. In fact wedding showers have just become popular in the past ten years. Don't look for baby registries because they don't exist. Funny, at least to me that this hasn't caught on. I mean, it is pretty expensive to outfit yourself for a new baby. You would think people would just naturally come up with the idea so that they would not have to spend a million dollars buying baby things. Plus, it is just another way to have a party of some sort and that is fun!
I had an ultrasound on Thursday to see if the guesstimated due date was correct. Looks like the little bub will be coming into the world sometime at the end of November, around Thanksgiving. This makes me a little sad because there is a good possibility that I might be in the hospital on Thanksgiving which means there is a good possibility that I might miss out on some very good food. Instead of being with friends I may have to eat food at a hospital who does not know what Thanksgiving is, let alone celebrate it, let alone give the patients something that resembles turkey and cranberries. Am I being a tad selfish? Perhaps, but I really like cranberries:-)
20.5.06
Jolene's new sport
Jolene has taken up a new sport thanks to Eric and Jean Bibby : -) She is following after her father.
17.5.06
Australian Wildlife
A couple weekends ago we traveled 3 hours inland to Charlton, VIC for a stay with some friends who attend the Geelong church with us. It was an organized "young adults" trip to spend a weekend away and to see some different parts of Australia. We had a great time getting to know our hosts, taking in a local footy match and attending the local church. The churchfolk where mostly farmers who were very interesting to talk with and reminded me of many small farming communities in the States.
Saturday night we built a bonfire from some dry brush and tree clippings. After putting a few branches in, I sat down by the fire and I felt something on the back of my neck. I quickly flicked at whatever it was and after realizing it was probably more than just a leaf, I went to look in the direction the thing might have gone. After a bit of searching in the dark we found the Huntsman spider in the video crawling away from the scene. While pretty big for a spider, they aren't dangerous but are creepy just the same. Who knows how long it might have been crawling up my back before it got to my neck?
-b
Saturday night we built a bonfire from some dry brush and tree clippings. After putting a few branches in, I sat down by the fire and I felt something on the back of my neck. I quickly flicked at whatever it was and after realizing it was probably more than just a leaf, I went to look in the direction the thing might have gone. After a bit of searching in the dark we found the Huntsman spider in the video crawling away from the scene. While pretty big for a spider, they aren't dangerous but are creepy just the same. Who knows how long it might have been crawling up my back before it got to my neck?
-b
12.5.06
Tickle Me
Just a few things I found humorous this past week, I guess you will get some insight into the type of humor I have : -) I enjoyed writing it out, made me chuckle, sorry if it doesn't do the same for you.
I was in the grocery store buying food, of course. Often I look at all the sale prices and see how much they are saying you will save by buying a product that is now on sale. They always advertise the amount you will be saving just to help you feel good when you buy the things you really don't need. There was one that I thought was worthy of writing about. I actually forget what the product was but this is what the tag said..." On sale for $4.53, was originally $4.58, your savings, $0.05!". I know isn't it great! I would save a whole $0.05 if I bought that product! Oh my goodness, quick get another cart (trolley here) and fill it to the brim with this great discounted item. The company must really be sacrificing for the customer to put such a steep sale price on it!
I used to work in a structural virology lab. We were working with bacteria, viral proteins, and other exciting organisms. I still get e-mails from the Structure Group reminding me of all the fun I miss. Here is one that I got this week...
Subject line: [structure-group] Liquid nitrogen left on again
Message:
Folks,
I found EM suite large nitrogen tank leaking nitrogen again today. If you got nitrogen after lunch, please be aware that you are not closing the valve all the way. Please, please crank it down very tight. I know its awkward; use the leather gloves to get a better grip.
Thanks! Valorie
It is such a bummer when the liquid nitrogen is left on, you come back from lunch and the whole place looks like it is getting ready for a rock concert : -), you expect to see guys with 80's hair cuts and skin tight pants to come strutting out of the men's bathroom. "Sigh", so much fog you can't see your feet in front of you! The troubles we deal with!
Actually the liquid nitrogen can be fun to play with, but remember kids you must always have an adult with you! Liquid Nitrogen can burn you!
Ok so I am weird, thats what four years of biology, chemistry, physics, and other things will do to a girl...that and sniffing to much formaldeyhyde and ethanol during genetics lab : -)
7.5.06
Jolene's 1st Birthday
Jolene celebrated her first birthday this past Friday!
I can't believe it has been a year since she came into our lives. So much has happened since that point in time, you never know where God is going to lead you.
We celebrated this monumental event by having a few families over from church who have children around her age. Jolene has jumped into the social network! Eleni, Ethan, and Rueben all attended. We had a cookout, although it rained so we ate inside, then Jolene opened her gifts (I helped, otherwise we wouldn't have finished until midnight), and then cake and icecream.
It was nice having some of our church family over since our family family couldn't be here. Nothing replaces family though, we were a little sad that we couldn't fly everyone over for the event : -(
Jolene loved her cake! At first she took a few small nibbles and then after realizing that something from heaven had descended upon earth, she dug in! Actually she picked up the whole piece and proceeded to stuff as much as possible into her mouth : -) We are starting her chocolate addiction early! Fun times and good memories.
Earlier in the day I went to playgroup with Jolene. I took a cake there as well and all the girls sang happy birthday and even gave her a few small gifts. I really was not expecting them to get her anything, but it was very nice of them. It made me feel like I was beginning to be part of the group.
I have discovered something new that Aussies do...
they hold their fork in their left hand and the knife in the right. It doesn't matter if you are left handed or right handed, the fork always rests in the left hand. I am not sure where this rule began but it would be interesting to see if American schools of etiquette would say the same thing or if this difference is just cultural.
I just found this off of the Ball State University site of all places : -)
There are two ways to use a knife and fork to cut and eat your food. They are the American style and the European or Continental style. Either style is considered appropriate. In the American style, one cuts the food by holding the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand with the fork tines piercing the food to secure it on the plate. Cut a few bite-size pieces of food, then lay your knife across the top edge of your plate with the sharp edge of the blade facing in. Change your fork from your left to your right hand to eat, fork tines facing up. (If you are left-handed, keep your fork in your left hand, tines facing up.) The European or Continental style is the same as the American style in that you cut your meat by holding your knife in your right hand while securing your food with your fork in your left hand. The difference is your fork remains in your left hand, tines facing down, and the knife in your right hand. Simply eat the cut pieces of food by picking them up with your fork still in your left hand.
I looked on a couple other sites just to see if good old Ball State was right, seems they are on track.
2.5.06
Morning Commute
Just thought I'd post some more pictures. I took my new camera with me one day when I rode my bike to work and took pictures along the way. I think its a pretty scenic trek and perhaps will give you all slightly different taste of Geelong.
You shouldn't have to sign in, just click on the slideshow thumbnail.
Commute Slideshow
After a long draught I went on a music-purchasing binge for the last couple days. Sounds that we're digging (I haven't found the first two on iTunes or AllofMP3 so I'll have to purchase elsewhere I guess):
Jolie Holland
Xu Xu Fang
Mattafix
The Strokes
Zero 7
Gnarles Barkley
Wolfmother
later,
-b
You shouldn't have to sign in, just click on the slideshow thumbnail.
Commute Slideshow
After a long draught I went on a music-purchasing binge for the last couple days. Sounds that we're digging (I haven't found the first two on iTunes or AllofMP3 so I'll have to purchase elsewhere I guess):
Jolie Holland
Xu Xu Fang
Mattafix
The Strokes
Zero 7
Gnarles Barkley
Wolfmother
later,
-b
We are the backbone of what America is, legal or illegal, it doesn't matter
Just a quote I read from an immigrant.
I actually think it does matter. There are certain rules that one must abide by and personally I don't appreciate those who are doing it illegally. I am speaking from the experience of spending thousands of dollars to come live in Australia. Yes, it took a lot of money and yes, it took almost a year, but it was the right way to do it.
Australia would be a great place to come illegally and live off the government. Don't have to pay taxes and get a big fat check in the mail fortnightly because your income level is below a certain amount.
Maybe I am seeing it wrong, do illegal immigrants pay state and federal taxes? Do they pay Medicare and Social Security taxes? Do they get Medicare and Welfare? I would say that the latter is the only one you might be able to say yes to as a whole. Prove me wrong if you know any good hard data. I am just assuming this from the natural state of human beings. I read an article on CNN about it and I think many of the proposals are reasonable. They include...
- illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, and eventually citizenship, by working for six years, paying a fine, undergoing a background check and learning English.
- a guest-worker program that will allow immigrants into the country to fill jobs that Americans can't or won't do
- Bush has adamantly opposed "automatic amnesty" for illegal immigrants already in the country, but he has expressed support for "a bill that says somebody who's working here on a legal basis has the right to get in line to become a citizen."
I have heard from news reports that American immigration agency is eternally slow and
needs fixing. I say "fine fix it, I'm sure it needs fixing because it is a government run project". I still don't think though it is an excuse for being illegal. Go through the steps, even if it takes a year or two. We did, we lived in limbo for that long surely 1 million others can too.
I know that some of these people come from really hard back grounds and countries that are not providing basic rights to their people, but there are still rules.
I know that it could mean splitting families up, fine give legal status to all those in a family, but something needs to be changed.
I actually think it does matter. There are certain rules that one must abide by and personally I don't appreciate those who are doing it illegally. I am speaking from the experience of spending thousands of dollars to come live in Australia. Yes, it took a lot of money and yes, it took almost a year, but it was the right way to do it.
Australia would be a great place to come illegally and live off the government. Don't have to pay taxes and get a big fat check in the mail fortnightly because your income level is below a certain amount.
Maybe I am seeing it wrong, do illegal immigrants pay state and federal taxes? Do they pay Medicare and Social Security taxes? Do they get Medicare and Welfare? I would say that the latter is the only one you might be able to say yes to as a whole. Prove me wrong if you know any good hard data. I am just assuming this from the natural state of human beings. I read an article on CNN about it and I think many of the proposals are reasonable. They include...
- illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, and eventually citizenship, by working for six years, paying a fine, undergoing a background check and learning English.
- a guest-worker program that will allow immigrants into the country to fill jobs that Americans can't or won't do
- Bush has adamantly opposed "automatic amnesty" for illegal immigrants already in the country, but he has expressed support for "a bill that says somebody who's working here on a legal basis has the right to get in line to become a citizen."
I have heard from news reports that American immigration agency is eternally slow and
needs fixing. I say "fine fix it, I'm sure it needs fixing because it is a government run project". I still don't think though it is an excuse for being illegal. Go through the steps, even if it takes a year or two. We did, we lived in limbo for that long surely 1 million others can too.
I know that some of these people come from really hard back grounds and countries that are not providing basic rights to their people, but there are still rules.
I know that it could mean splitting families up, fine give legal status to all those in a family, but something needs to be changed.
29.4.06
Baby #2
Well just in case someone doesn't know this yet.....
we are expecting our second child this November (I think).
I guess we will have to start another poll on the sex, weight, etc..
We are going to have an Aussie child! Actually I am kind of jealous because he/she could have citizenship in both countries.
In other news we finally found a house to rent!!!! It is in the suburb of Herne Hill. It has four bedrooms, a living room, a playroom, and two bathrooms (not two toliets, two bathrooms). Plenty of room for everyone to come visit us!!!
The house was a little more than we wanted to pay per week ($250/wk) but we will be renting from a Christian family which is a great plus. Also they are going to let me paint and redecorate some. What is great is that they will pay for all of it because they can claim it on their taxes! Can't wait! We will be moving July 1st and the Harts are getting home on July 3rd, I think. God's timing is good!
Today is Saturday and Brandon is having to work all day :-( The company who is ordering the machine needs it by Friday so they are in crunch time right now. He has been pulling some long days and it will probably continue into next week. I guess I don't mind too much because the extra hours are going to go towards a trip we are planning to Sydney with a few friends.
I guess that is all for now, sorry that I don't have anything in the current events, or social events to talk about right now. I will have to go to some reading for next week.
Laters,
Meg
we are expecting our second child this November (I think).
I guess we will have to start another poll on the sex, weight, etc..
We are going to have an Aussie child! Actually I am kind of jealous because he/she could have citizenship in both countries.
In other news we finally found a house to rent!!!! It is in the suburb of Herne Hill. It has four bedrooms, a living room, a playroom, and two bathrooms (not two toliets, two bathrooms). Plenty of room for everyone to come visit us!!!
The house was a little more than we wanted to pay per week ($250/wk) but we will be renting from a Christian family which is a great plus. Also they are going to let me paint and redecorate some. What is great is that they will pay for all of it because they can claim it on their taxes! Can't wait! We will be moving July 1st and the Harts are getting home on July 3rd, I think. God's timing is good!
Today is Saturday and Brandon is having to work all day :-( The company who is ordering the machine needs it by Friday so they are in crunch time right now. He has been pulling some long days and it will probably continue into next week. I guess I don't mind too much because the extra hours are going to go towards a trip we are planning to Sydney with a few friends.
I guess that is all for now, sorry that I don't have anything in the current events, or social events to talk about right now. I will have to go to some reading for next week.
Laters,
Meg
19.4.06
Dixon's Creek - aka "Dikko"
As true to aussie style even the camp's name we were at this weekend was shortened. We were at the family Dixon's Creek camp from morning till Monday afternoon. They call it Dikko for short just for your info. The area around the camp is beautiful. Rolling hills, little streams running everywhere, grazing cows, meadows, vineyards everywhere you look. A great place to visit.
The camp was great fun! Brandon, Jolene, and I stayed in a tent along with many others in the tent city. Jolene took her half of the tent with the pack N' play : -)
The theme was adorning the gospel, with special focus on the home, work, and church.
The food was great, thanks to the McEwen family. They had volunteered to do all the cooking and they did it quite well. I will have to say that it was much better than any food I have had at Covfamikoi but of course this was only for about 100 people not 250 or so.
Several sports were played, soccer, footie, and frisbee. The younger kids played on the playground and in the sandbox. Jolene loved exploring. If we would have let her she probably would have crawled into the forest without a care in the world.
All day Saturday and some of Sunday it rained. That put a damper on some of the activities but we still managed. I was getting a little tired of being cooped up in the hall by Sunday, especially with Jolene. Every time we put her down she would make a bee line to the outside door. I really did not feel like having a mud baby for two days straight. Thankfully the weather cleared up Sunday afternoon and everyone was able to get outside and run around.
Brandon and I took a walk Sunday afternoon and saw some kangaroos hopping around with the cows that were grazing in the field across from us. It was a strange sight to see. There were the normal grazing cows and then there were these brown furry things bouncing up and down behind the cows. At first I was like "what in the world" and then I remembered where we were.
We went on a hike in the woods, led by Dave Feldman, to see the fern gully. It looks like something from Jurassic Park. There is a gully that runs behind the camp that is home to these really old tree ferns. I guess if you keep walking down the gully you can see some really big ones that are hundreds of years old. Pretty cool looking. Dave said that the gully is one of the few remaining places in Victoria that the ferns still grow. We also saw a wombat running through the forest! It was pretty big. I guess I had pictured something the size of a pot belly pig. This one was probably three times the size and moved pretty quickly.
Saturday night we had a theme dinner where the different duty teams had to dress up in certain colors. The team I was on was the pink team, Brandon was on the blue team. So we all tried to dress up in a crazy way, some doing better than others. After dinner we tried some line dancing and square dancing. The music was provided by several at the camp and had a bluegrass feel to it. A good time was had by all.
See below for more pics!!!
Kodak Gallery
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