Train Man

Everyone is super friendly in Castlemaine, which is nice and refreshing, and today I met someone who was no different.

Tomorrow I have to catch the train back to Melbourne, so in order to make sure everything would be ready to go I went done to the train station and had a chat to the vline man and he was very very very helpful. I think that I have more information on vline trains now than I will ever need thanks to my train man. I think what I liked the most was how passionate he was about making sure that I had all the information that I needed, it was a little crazy but I liked it. He really loved his job and I liked that...I hope that in years to come I am that passionate about my work and that I am also that helpful.

Anyway, I guess I take what I have been given by the train man and hope it works tomorrow.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Day 2

Just so you know, its Day 2 and I am feeling much better, I can do this...its not that scary...I can do this...I think.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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I'm not a student anymore...it's up to me

So today was the first day of my new job, of my career really...and now its done, its official I am a dietitian, but I tell you what I don't really feel like it.

Today was overwhelming, a half day tour of my new home... the hospital and then the handover to my ward. That's right, my ward. I am not a student anymore its up to me and its a little scary. I think that I expected to still have a little bit of supervision, someone to talk me through things, but I'm not a student any more. I know that my colleagues, not supervisors are there is I want to check something with them, but I am not a student anymore, its up to me. I am not sure I feel ready for this, that I am up to the challenge, but I am in it...I am the new dietitian and whatever happens is up to me now. I guess its too late to back out now, I am in, at least for the next little while anyway. I tell you what though, actually I already did...I am scared, and really really overwhelmed. But I know that this is where I am meant to be...and that God's word says 'Don't be afraid, Just believe' so that's what I am going to not be afraid and go back tomorrow and Just believe that God will be with and help me to do what I need to do...

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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The Beginning

Well its all happening...this morning after the first week back at Kids Church, Mum, Dust, Jake, Dave and I packed the truck and cars and drove up to Castlemaine and moved into my little house...it's too late to turn back now. Tomorrow I start my new job, but this afternoon was all about moving furniture, cleaning things out (thanks mum) and pizza around my little coffee table!

Davo drove the truck up, which I thought was pretty impressive...I don't think, well actually I know, I wouldn't have been able, especially with huge winds and rains we got blessed with today. Anyway, we made it up there safe and sound and once all my stuff (which is a lot of stuff) the little box that I call home looks much more homely and like me.

The hardest part though was letting everyone leave and knowing that this was what it would be like from now on. It was hard to say good bye to mum and the boys, but especially hard saying goodbye to Dave, because I was so used to having him only 7minutes away. I am not sure how I will do this or even whether I can, but it's happening and its really just the beginning. Tomorrow I start my new job and my new life in Castlemaine, its exciting, crazy and scary all at the same time, but here goes nothing...

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Just so you know...thats funny

What makes someone funny? Am I funny? Are you funny? How do you know? Tonight I went and saw Danny Bhoy at the comedy festival and he was hilarious, but it did make me wonder, how does something become funny? What is it that makes it funny?

I don’t know the science behind humour, but I am really glad God made some people funny, because life would be so boring otherwise!

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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The end of a chapter

Packing is sad and exciting all at the same time. It really signifies the end of one thing and the start of something new. So today I am very torn, I am sad about packing my things, I don’t really want my room to look different, but it has to if I am going to take things to Castlemaine. I think that the hardest part of all of this is not that I am moving, but that I am moving out. I guess what I chose to go for the job knowing it was 2hrs away, I didn’t really choose to move out, that just happened. I don’t really want to move out, and I certainly don’t feel ready to move out, its all happened really fast and it’s about overwhelming really. But even though I don’t want to, and I don’t feel like I am ready, that doesn’t mean that its not happening. It is happening, tomorrow I am moving to Castlemaine whether I am ready or not, and it will be exciting and challenging and new, and I will probably love it, but right now I have to pack pack pack….


I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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My Little House in the Country

Mum and I took our second trip up to Castlemaine this week today, after my initial housing plans fell through on Monday, mum headed back up to look at little granny flat that we found out about through the post office…gotta love country towns… Anyway, we headed up to this granny flat we had heard about to check it out…and well to cut a long story short, now its mine… That’s right…I HAVE A HOUSE! WOO HOO! Its not very big or glamorous, but I really like it. Its only really one room with a kitchen, a bathroom (which is attached to the side, not in the one room) and a little loft that I can put my mattress up on to sleep. You have to go on a little dirt track to get to it and its made of stone…its very very very cool. So there you go its all happening…I am actually moving, because I have a house…. So tonight, mum and I are off to Ikea…my favourite store so that we can get some things for my house…because I have a house…yep a house. I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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This is my piece of paper

Well I made it, its all official I now have little, well not so little, piece of paper that says that I am qualified. Its true, I know its hard to believe but it is true, I am qualified, ready to go and actually start my new job next week. I was really nervous about the whole graduation process, not because I thought I wouldn’t graduate of something like that, but more because after watching Dave go through it a couple of weeks ago, there are so many things that could have gone wrong. I was worried about wearing something inappropriate underneath my graduation gown, which it turns out wouldn’t have mattered anyway. I was worried about whether I wanted to be remember in my graduation photos with or without my glasses. I was worried about looking like a enormous fatty fat in my gown. I was worried about nodding my head to far and losing my hat thing…I think they are called morter boards or something…. I was worried about not tripping up the stairs, thanks dad. I was worried about ‘doffing’ in the right places and shaking hands at the right time. And most of all, I was worried about not looking like an idiot. But normal, I had nothing to worry about the night went off without a hitch. I think the best bit about the night was the hat, but second to that the ceremony actually made me feel like I had finished uni, and that my study chapter had closed, well for now. It gave me a chance to reflect on what I had achieved and to be proud that I could now actually call my self a dietitian and be telling the truth. So there you go, I am now graduated….hat and all!

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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True Fellowship

Tonight I had another last….tonight was my last songster practice, for those of you that aren’t down with salvo lingo, the songsters are basically the choir at the salvos, in most corps, the average age is quite high, but me and a few others were bringing that down a little at box hill. Anyway, while I am not so sad to see songster practice go what I will miss is the love and support that I received from that group. I think that checking up on people and encouraging others just for the sake of it, is something that the older generations do a lot better than my generation, despite the fact that it is probably a lot easier for us to do it with the help of facebook, texts, myspace, and all the other things we use to communicate. Its something that I want to be better at, and maybe moving away , will give me a chance to start doing some of things that had always just been good ideas in my head. We will see how I go I guess.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Goodbye and Goodluck

Today was full on…not just a little, but really really full on,

It started with cell lunch, where my Wednesday night cell group all went to Tania’s place for lunch. It was really nice to hang out with those guys in such a casual way, and when you combine that with fantastic food, what more could you want?

After cell lunch Davo and I raced into the city to Perri’s place to meet her and cal so that we could do and see Tripod at the comedy festival. Tripods show was a collection of video clips that random people had made put to some of their classic songs and it was a competition so the winner was announced at the end. The videos were fantastic and hilarious, a particular favourite included the murder of the a piece of bread after it ran away with another spread. I thought that it should have one, but apparently my opinion doesn’t count.

From there Dave and I raced back to my good friend Kirsten’s place because her and pheebs had put on a bit of a congrats on the job/going away sort party for me. It was so nice to have all my friends from church in the one place, plus it gave me a good opportunity to stock up on my photos so that my new house will have some current pictures. During the party I realized I how blessed I am, to have so much support around me. I know that it sounds stupid, but it was nice to know that I was important enough to people, that even though I would only be gone Monday –Friday to start with that people wanted to say congrats and say goodbye. The day was really tiring but it was good, I love hanging out with people and I can’t think of a better way to spend my time if its not with other people. So thanks Darryl and Tania, Pez and Cal and Kirsten and Pheebs, thanks for making my day so special.

Oh and only a week to go…

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Strikes, spares and a few gutter balls

Ten Pin Bowling….not the coolest activity / sport in the world, but its super fun. Tonight for our little Box Hill Salvos Young Adults shindig we went bowling…but it wasn’t just with people from Box Hill, I also got to bowl with some new friends from this year, and some old friends from my early high school days and it was super fun. I love it so much when you can hang out with a really random mix of your ‘network’ I guess it is and it works out better than you can imagine. I also love it when even though you haven’t seen someone in ages and ages you can just pick up where you left off. I love it!

Oh and after bowling, Dave and kitty and I had a sleep over, at which kat gave me the coolest present ever….After my attempt to make a character cake for her birthday she returned the favour with the best looking penguin cake I have ever seen! Check it out…
I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Billy Hyde Fun Fun Fun

Over the last four or five years I have been working at Billy Hyde Music, there have been some fun times and some pretty average times. In more recent times, I have been up there full time, as a little sidekick to the print and education departments and these times I think have been the most fun. Who would have thought I could be so satisfied by packing boxes, collecting stock and sending out letters. I guess it did help that I got to have my own desk and my little working posie was pretty rad (wow I have no idea where that sentence came from…the late 90’s perhaps) anyway today was my last day there with my full time buddies and it was a little sad. I know that I have never been good at goodbyes, but there were somethings that I thought I would be fine with, but today I found myself wanting to do one more of everything, one more delivery docket, one more box, on more invoice, one more thing through the till, it was quite pathetic really. I don’t know why I hold on to things, even when I know, well especially when I know that I am off to do bigger and better things, but I do. Anyway that’s not what I really wanted to talk about, what I really wanted to say that I have loved working there over the last little while and I think it has been all about the people! So this is a bit of a shout out to all my buddies at Billy Hyde to say thanks a bunch for everything, and believe it or not I will miss it there, but only coz I will miss all of you and because I am not good at goodbyes I am sure I will pop in and see you all soon…

I guess that's all part of the adventure! Read more...

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It's not fair

Its funny how one bad thing can taint a reputation forever. It’s not always fair, and sometimes it’s not even correct, but often the damage can take a really long time to repair.

Tonight Davo and I went out for dinner with Darryl and Tania and their beautiful girls to a Turkish restaurant that has had its reputation tainted. The company was awesome, the service was good and quick and most of all the food was fantastic!

Once upon a time this particular Turkish restaurant was ‘the’ place to go for Turkish food, until an unfortunate food safety issue, from which it just never got back on its feet.

It seems such a shame that negative things stick, despite the positives that either happens as a result of the bad stuff or in spite of the bad stuff. It is so hard to be redeemed when the judging is up to us. It is easy to just to hold on to damming evidence and never really look for new information that may shed a new light on the situation and not just for places but also for others. I know that in many western countries people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but often once a person is accused that’s enough, they are labeled by their accusation and it is very hard to shake it off even if its not true. I guess thinking about all this stuff just reminds me of how lucky I am that Jesus had died for me, and washed me clean from all the crap that I have been labeled both correctly and incorrectly. I hope that I can remember to give people, and places too a second chance, even when their reputation has been tainted.

Anyway, if you want a good night out check out this Turkish restaurant…it’s called…Alasya @ 555 Sydney Rd, Brunswick or http://www.alasya.com.au/

I guess that's all part of the adventure! Read more...

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The Beach, Buzz and a Baritone

Today I got to mix my favourite place some of my favourite people doing one of my favourite things…. This morning I got to sleep in and then woke up at our beach house and spent the day with Mum and Jake, and Jake and I even convinced mum to play some of my favourite playstation games…Buzz, Singstar and even Guitar hero… In the afternoon we shared milkshakes and hot chips in the park…it was the best way to spend a cold day at the beach. Tonight though, just in case I hadn’t been busy enough Jake and I drove straight from Inverloch into Dave’s gig in the city, because it’s something that I probably won’t be able to do for a while. I really like hearing Davo play, I know it sounds soppy, but I do… it’s good fun.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Adventure 1 - On the road again

So Monday we were on the road again, checking out a few of the more well known towns like Swan Hill and Mildura. On the way home I watched one of my favourite movies...."Horton Hears a Who". If you haven't seen it you really should...it's got some great one liners, I know its meant for kids, but it definitely has some humor of the older child in there as well, but I guess with Jim Carey and Steve Carell it is a given. Anyway one of my favourite line is where Steve Carell's character the major of Whoville gets called a boob, now I don't know if that means something different in the states, but a boob is a boob and I am not sure how they got away with it, but I am sure glad they did coz I think that it is classic.

Anyway, after 9 hours of traveling tonight I am traveling again, this time to Inverloch to spend sometime at the beach before I travel into the country...coz I really really love the beach!

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Adventure 1 - He is Risen

Last night's sunset was so pretty that I went back with Murray and Ness super early the this morning to watch the sunrise there on Easter Sunday, while I listened into a dawn service also happening at the site, it was very peaceful and a great way to celebrate Easter and the risen King. Sunday also meant Dave and I taking a trip to Broken Hill Corps, which was really nice. I really enjoy going to country corps as it is often at these corps that you get to see a real heart of worship where there are no distractions. It reminds me of how very blessed I am at box hill with all the bands, musicians, groups to attend and just people in general, but I think sometimes its easy to get caught up in all that stuff rather than what it is really about, and often worshiping somewhere else really helps me to get my perspective right.

That afternoon we also got to check out the 'broken hill' and the giant chair that is on top, which I think was actually the highlight of my trip...I tell you what whoever thought of a giant park bench was on to a good thing!

Giant chairs...who would have thought,

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Adventure 1 - Things to do, Places to see

Saturday in Broken Hill was our sight seeing day…. we got see not just the amazing outback, but some other very cool things as well.

We traveled to the a look out, where you can see nothing but open outback plains to the horizon, which for me was amazing experience, it made me stand in awe not only of this amazing country that I call home, but also how intricately perfect God’s design of nature is, its just so perfect. From there we had a look at the Ghost town made famous by the Mad Max movies which then reminded how futile making things here on earth truly are, coz even when they may have been the best thing since sliced bread at one stage, it doesn’t last.

Going down the daydream mine certainly took me out side of my comfort zone, it really made me glad that even though the world is stuffed, that I live in this day and age so that I have the opportunity to enjoy a long, safe and happy life rather than the short and miserable lives experienced by many of the working class Australians and migrants back in the day of the daydream mine.

I was able to check out the Pro Hart gallery, which was very cool, it did take me a long time to work out that yes he was the guy that did the ad where he painted straight onto the carpet. The gallery was very interesting, so much so that even Davo enjoyed checking it out.

On Saturday night I watched the sunset over the silhouette of some statues carved from rock, it was so very very very beautiful!

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Adventure 1 - Outback

So for Easter this year I went on my first big adventure as a 22 year old, I got to go camping, but not just camping down at the beach or somewhere I had been before, no for this camping trip, Dave, Ness, Murray and I headed up to Broken Hill for the Easter weekend.

Now, initially I thought that Broken hill was only about 5 hours away, but I was very wrong, the trip up to Broken Hill took us about 9 hours to do, with a few short toilet stops on the way (very important when you only have a little bladder like mine). Unfortunately because the trip was so long it gave me plenty of time to think, which meant by the time we made it Broken Hill I was very stressed (and teary) about what still needed to happen before my big move in two weeks time. However, before that the trip was quite exciting, we went through Castlemaine so that Dave could see where I would be working and living, and then we drove through lots of little tiny towns, through all of which Dave said…. “it could be worse, you could be working here”. I think it was supposed to make me feel better, and it did a little, there are certainly a lot of places I could have gone a lot further out, so 2hrs isn’t so bad.

Once we got there and set up camp and settled in for the night I had a chance to work through some of my stress and do a little planning which made me feel much better. I was also able to enjoy the sitting outside in the fresh outback air....ahh the Australian outback air.

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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Turning 22

So now I am 22, there isn’t much I can do about it, I am 22, no longer a young and carefree 21 year old but 22. 22 isn’t the first age I have tried to avoid, in fact I have cried before my birthday every year since I was 16 because I didn’t want to be the next number, it seems a little young to feel like this, I mean its not like I am 50 or anything (that was for you mum), but I just don’t like getting older. Now, don’t get me wrong I love birthdays, I just don’t like getting older, but today’s birthday was like no other.


This morning I woke up super early, super excited about a day all about me (which was surprising seeing as though I went to bed very late due to some Karaoke fun fun fun). My mum and my brother Jake came down to my room to wish me a happy birthday and give me some very lovely gifts. After I had been thoroughly spoilt I headed off to Eastland to met my friend Kat for a delicious Pancake Palour breakfast. On my way to Eastland I got a phone call, one that I was not expecting. The call was from job that I had applied for and had had an interview for only yesterday in Castlemaine, the call was offering me the position as Dietitian there starting on the 27th of April if still wanted it. At first I was really really really excited and called Mum and Dad, my brothers and Dave and told them the good news, that I had finally got a ‘proper‘ job and that all my years of uni were about to be paid off. The only catch was they wanted me to check out the contract and send it back to them by the end of the day so that they could let the other applicants know before the Easter break. However, I definitely got caught up in the moment, and spent the morning high as a kite with the news of my new job. I had my yummy breakfast with Kitty and then went to the movies with her to see Mall Cop.

After the movie, I ran home to get changed so that I could me another friend, Perri for the afternoon and I thought that I would just swing via church and see mum before I went into the city and send off the contract from there. However by the time I got to the church the reality of taking a job in Castlemaine started to hit home...if was going to work in Castlemaine, I would have to move there, which means moving out of home, moving away from Dave and my mates and giving up a lot of the things I do through out my week. Suddenly my very exciting news made me cry, but this time not just with tears of joy, but also tears or sadness, fear and a little bit of stress. So instead of going out and continuing to celebrate my birthday with Pez, I ended up sitting in my mum’s office crying and freaking out. But in the end, I signed the contract and sent it off and tried to pull my self together.

That night we went out to Tepanyaki, because I LOVE JAPANESE FOOD, with my family and grand parents, and celebrated with a fantastic Carousel ice cream cake, so my day ended on a high, but I tell you what it was up and down and up and down. I don’t think that I have every experienced emotional highs and lows like I did today and even though, it is super exciting and super scary all at the same time it is the start of the next chapter of my life. Its all just happening a lot faster than I has planned. This time in 2 and a half weeks I will be writing this blog from some where in Castlemaine having started a new job in a new town away from everything I am used to... but before I do that there are still lots to do like find somewhere to live, go away for Easter and quit my other job but...

I guess that's all part of the adventure!

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