Traveling Journal

A month ago, I was boarding the plane to what feels like my third home. (My first being heaven, my second being the South, USA.) It's still in the south--as a good friend said, you can't get much souther than Melbourne...

I went to Australia to visit my good friend, Alysa, in what was their (very mild) winter-- beautiful, green, and crisp. And I found so many things to love--so many that I'm afraid I can't still name them all. I'm afraid, however, that if I don't try, I'll forget what I do remember. So here's my go of it: let's hope I don't miss anything.

• "Let me just pop that in there for you... " I love the English influence in Australia; so much more than in the U.S. Their politeness defies expectations. It's expected that you small-talk with a cashier--not something I claim to be particularly good at. After one such exchange, I asked Alysa, "Do you know her?" Of course, she didn't.
• The beach. The ocean. The shore. It's incredibly beautiful, no matter where you go and no matter what you call it.
• Fish and chips on the shore. Yes, "chips" aren't very different than French Fries in the States--but they're still better. Five Guys comes close, but not quite.
  
• The people--not only because I have such a very good friend that lives there. But also because of the other amazing folks I met--people that made it feel as if I've known them much longer than I have.
  
• Good coffee. Everywhere.
• Small towns, and the small town mindset. People bring their dogs to town and wear Wellies as if it were the most natural footwear in the world. In Australia, dogs seem to be a family-oriented sort of animal to own, even more so in the U.S.
  
• Natural-feeling heating/AC-- I doubt people are prone to freeze themselves in the summer, as they didn't roast themselves in the winter.
  (My dad's favorite seasonal words are get acclimatised, so I appreciated it.)
  
• The local, small-town shops. Every town seems to have a vast selection of family-owned, beautifully kept shops, not invaded by chains, and willing to special-order for you. The bigger towns and suburbs are the ones with the chains.
• Wool shops. And wool. and tea shops. and tea.
  
• Amazing views. Beautiful countryside.
  
• Staying with Alysa and her family--and her mum allowing me to invade her kitchen. :)
• Jokes galore. That wingey-wongey sound... :)
  
• Realizing that cooking in Australia isn't much different than cooking at home, as long as you cook from scratch.
• Aussie grocery stores... I spent some lovely time comparing U. S. to Aussie ingredients. :)
• Local open-air markets.
• Amazing meetings. Christ-centered prayer. Holy Spirit Power and Presence. The peace of God that passes all understanding. Blessings that last through the return trip to my U.S. home.
  

I didn't have enough time-- next time I go, I'll stay longer. If real, practical life were the same as my trip, I could live in Australia in a heartbeat. That is, if I could move everyone I love over with me. :)

Crossing the Bar

Please pray for the Carver family, and the Tabernacle of the Lord church family. Bro. Gerald Carver passed away yesterday. He'd been sickly for a while, but it was a shock for us. It's hard to lose a man of his caliber.

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

God Bless

Wowee! Sis. Sam!

Okay--this is a note to anyone who might be involved in reading both of my blogs--my nearly nonexistent blogspot, and my dying xanga....

About 2 months ago, my school district blocked xanga. I don't think it was just because of a silly first-year teacher, but I think it was also because of the volume of students using it. Sooo... I'm going to start posting on blogspot again, and then copy/pasting into xanga. Because (sadly) the majority of time I used to spend on xanga was actually at school.. And I know why. It was a great diversion to clear my head after a long day at work.

So here I am at school, once again typing away--they haven't blocked blogspot yet! --lol-- Hopefully, they won't.

I don't think I'll try to catch you up on every solitary thing that's happended since the Christmas holidays--suffice it to say, I've been pretty busy... but God is so good. He meets our needs when we don't deserve it--in spite of ourselves.

~~About this weekend~~

I had a great time this weekend--and got to meet a dear friend! Sis. Sam, you are such a wonderful gal--it was terrific to spend time with you and Bro. Ben--and singing, discussing God's Word, laughing, plain Chat-Chatting, and just generally having an awesome time.

Next time, hopefully we'll get to spend more time together--and hopefully Heather can make it next time! We missed you.

May God bless you both!

Hope your trip back wasn't too icy--we didn't get a thing here, despite the fact that I really wanted a 1/2-day or 2-hour delay today! I coulda caught up on some sleep that I lost!

(I wish I could think of more right now--but my mind's kind of blank after teaching 60 students today--some are out.)

~I just realized.... I forgot to do a valentines post.

Funny things that happened:

1. I forgot that it was valentines. I came into school (late--not so unusual) wearing black and grey-- the only red I had on were my burgundy Dansko (teacher) clogs--!
   
2. My students are such gimme monsters... their response to Valentines Day is, "what did you get me, Ms. R?" --at least I don't teach elementary school--it would have been a sure-fire disaster if I'd forgotten what day it was there!
   
3. Sweet stuff--one of my students gave me a rose. (well, actually two, but her big sister came back to claim one of them so that one of the other teachers could have hers--lol!)
   
4. Hilarious stuff--one of my students gave me a valentine marked to Mrs. (big black line over Mrs.) Miss R------ !!!
   
5. I ended up playing with Isaac and Samuel all evening, so that Will could take Beth out--fun, but unusual for valentines' day! (grin)