Family

This might be a bit of a random post but that's alright. Actually, it's a very random post that has little to nothing to do with my time in Australia, it's a bit of a personal post as well.

If you know me well, you know I adore kids and babies, I love them to pieces. During my flight to Australia, I had a connection in LAX and I was able to sit around for a bit to wait for my flight. I proceeded to start a crossword puzzle before a family with a baby and girl around the age of 2, came over to sit down. This 2 year was absolutely adorable; she turned around to loudly proclaim her name to me, at which point I just laughed. Then, she crawled all over the seats (and me) pointing at things and yelling. I was loving every minute (I even got to read her a book); I found out they were on there way for vacation in Brisbane. 30 minutes later, another family came over to join us, this couple had 5 kids all under the age of 9, including a small baby. Again, it was love at first sight for me-these kids were so precious, and so sleepy, snuggled up next to each other. Through conversation, I discovered that this family was not on vacation, rather they were missionaries from Boston returning to Papua New Guinea. I was encouraged by the strength of this couple, traveling halfway across the world with 5 young children, in order to give others life and hope. Can you imagine doing that? I'd like to say that I would be able to.

Watching all these parents and children only made me want to have kids even more, but I've always frequently mulled over the topic of family size. How many kids is too many? Is there such a thing as too many? What about birth control? Could I handle a large family? I believe that children are gifts from God (Psalm 127:3-5), and so right now, I believe that God should determine how many kids I have; that's not an easy thing to say or do though, because that requires me to put all my faith and trust in God and his ability to take care of me, and do what's best for me. I think that God WILL give us more than WE think we can handle, but there is nothing that GOD can't handle. Look at Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, God has faithfully taken care of that family and they have 19 kids! But I'm almost 100% sure they have days where they get overwhelmed and frustrated and stressed.

I really don't know what my future holds though; I do know that I want to be a wife and mother, and I believe that is a desire God has placed on my heart, but other than that, I'm clueless. Happily and perfectly clueless.

Blog readers, any opinions on the topics and questions I've brought up? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

P.S. Australia is going great! I have had my days though where I've been hot, tired, and frustrated but that comes with the territory of studying abroad :) Anecdotes and pics coming soon.

Slight Sticker Shock

I think I'm finally finished shopping for the essentials. After going to city mall yesterday, and forgetting more than several things, I decided to go back out today with a new New York friend I made. We took the bus to Stockland, a shopping center (essentially a mall) very close to campus, and returned with pretty much everything we needed. Prices are definitely higher than in the states though:

- 2 pk. of small laundry detergent: $10

- sunscreen 8.45 oz: $10

- tube of pringles: $4.50

I bought the cheapest brand of everything possible, since many brand items I could get at home were out of budget:

- $6-7 dollars for a bottle of tresemme or Garnier Fructis shampoo

- $15 dollars and up for regular sized boxes of laundry detergent

- $15 for Banana Boat sunscreen

I was also for some reason dying for a Coke-I don't drink Soda on a regular basis but a Coke just sounded amazing. So after pricing them at $3 dollars a bottle in the BigW, I headed towards the familiar McDonalds for a cheaper one; I was disappointed to discover that I paid $2.50 for a medium and the cup was the size of a small-don't want to know what the small looked like. I guess in the states we are so used to Super-Sizing everything, so I look on the positive side and think, at least I saved calories :)

I've made friends with more Americans, as well as a German exchange student, but while I enjoy spending time with them, I am also hesitant to get too comfortable JUST being with them; we were warned over and over again before we left UNCG, NOT to get into an American bubble, so I'm hoping O Week will lead to me making more Aussie friends. It is very hard though to break out of that American circle once I'm in it though, because I'm comfortable around them, we are all experiencing the same things being in a new country. Definitely a challenge. Another challenge I'm facing is finding a job. I really need one in order to make ends meet, so I would love your prayers in this area!

Lovely Day

Another lovely day here in Townsville :)

The weekend turned out to be a pretty good one; I went swimming with a group of AUS students I've been hanging out with, at Riverway in Thuringowa. Riverway is basically a free outdoor rec. area on a river with a huge outdoor pool and picnic tables where you can barbeque. After not being out in the sun in a bathing suit since August, it felt fantastic.

I've been keeping a record of differences I've noticed between AUS and America:

- We went to the supermarket before going to Riverway, and there is so much fresh food! Also, they refer to ketchup as tomato sauce or just sauce and the favorites for topping hot dogs are ketchup and BBQ sauce.... not mustard which is what I usually eat.... but the BBQ was good.

- Hot dogs are referred to as sausages.

- They have whole-meal bread which I believe is our equivalent of whole wheat?

- Passionfruit juice is very popular

- Soda is referred to as soft drink

- Driving has really thrown me off as they drive on the left side here, therefore, the driver's side is on the right.

- Parking spots are referred to as car parks

- Everything is in Celsius and Kilometers so there is a learning gap when I talk to the AUS students because neither one of us can convert; I was talking to one student and he stated that the coldest it had ever gotten in his hometown of Cairns was 10 degrees.... I thought about it.... then I said "You mean 10 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?" He laughed and said "Celsius" and I told him he was going to have to do the conversion for me so I could know just how cold 10 degrees really was; he did the conversion and replied " 50 degrees Fahrenheit". I just laughed.

- Trash is referred to as rubbish and the trash can is called a bin.

- They love to say "oh, righto"

- Vegemite is a popular food spread

- I spent some time talking to one bloke this morning mainly about college life here: There's no such thing as in-state or out-of-state tuition. Cost differentiates based on what you're studying; med students pay more because their classes require them to use alot of equipment, expensive equipment at that and their professors usually are highly educated so they need to be payed more. It is not at all difficult to get into some majors like nursing or law. They don't have things on campus like sororities and fraternities or students clubs; you do everything with your dorm, and things are just very laid back.

Yea, thats it so far, it's just really interesting to discover that even though we may both be English speaking countries, and very Westernized, there are many differences.

Hello from Down Under

Good morning from Australia everyone!

While many of you are experiencing chilly temps. and even some snow, it is 90 degrees and humid here; doesn't encourage much getting out.

I arrived at JCU around 11:30A on Friday, and have yet to meet any other international students, but have made friends with a group of students from AUS. I haven't done much since it's the weekend, other than unpack and hang out with people.

So far, I'm really enjoying it here. The campus is lovely, and the people are friendly. As far as food is concerned, the way they serve it on campus is different a each dorm has their own caf. and the selection is very limited. For lunch yesterday, it was make your own sandwich day and then dinner was a choice between some sort of pot-pie item, a veggie bake, and battered fish with boiled potatoes, corn, and salad as sides; couldn't quite get used to the salad which had veggies and lots of pineapple in it.....I'd say their diet is alot healthier then how we eat back in the states. Oh, and they have Subway-I had that for lunch on Friday.

Even though they speak English here, the still have plenty of lingo that can take a bit to pick up on. They don't have classifications for students like we do in the states (freshman, sophomores, juniors...) the first years are referred to as "freshies" and then all upperclassmen are "fossils". Their school divisions are different, they thought it was funny that we have elementary, middle, and high school; here, they only have primary and secondary. Flip-flops are not referred to as such, rather they are called thongs. Dorms are referred to as accommodation. When they tell time they don't say 10:15, they say half past 10. College is referred to as "uni". Air conditioning is called "air con" ( not AC ). They do tend to eat with their forks upside down. That's just what I've picked up on so far.

American music is extremely popular. The ipod playlist last night included Lady GaGa, Owl City, and the Black Eyed Peas. I traveled across the ocean and still could not escape hearing "Fireflies"!

Hopefully, I will have pictures to post soon; I have a welcome session on Tues. and then orientation week starts the 15th, so I should have some by that time.

Snow on Sandy Beaches

So good to see snow in an area that sees little but warm ocean breezes, plenty of sand, and little shrubbery (save the sand spurs). We saw about three or so inches on the ground by 9:00 before it changed over to all rain by 11 which left a very slushy mess of melted snow and puddles by later afternoon, but I got the chance to play in it with Roxy around 8 before it got too messy. It was also a blessing to hear mom made it to work in Norfolk safely (she left at 4:45 AM and made it to the hospital by 7), despite the fact that none of the roads were plowed (VDOT was waiting to plow until there was at least 2 in. on the ground......) and she couldn't see the sides of the road at times.

Woke up this morning too ice and a new blanket of snow which made me decide to stay off the roads and watch NHC live on ustream; my favorite parts of the service involved Pastor Rick imitating Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music" and his rendition of the very famous "Pants on the Ground" :)

Packing is pretty much complete, considering I've packed and repacked; I have confirmed my flights with the airlines, and have everything in order except for a few odds and ends. So excited and nervous at the same time. I haven't had great experiences flying so far since I tend to get car sick so that leads into me getting a little air sick, so this time I'm really hoping that I experience no upset tummy issues during my flights. Prayers are appreciated!

I'll put up one more post before I leave Wed. afternoon, then my next one will be written in the land down under :)

2 Weeks and Counting

Exactly 2 weeks until my departure for the land down under :)

Muffins

The amazing muffin recipe revealed.... no, really it's amazing because Steven actually ate them.

Banana-Walnut Muffins (Yield: 8 Muffins)

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 Tsp baking powder

- 1/2 Tsp baking soda

- 1/4 Tsp salt

- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas)

- 1 Lg. egg

- 1/4 cup 50/50 butter blend (smart balance), melted

- 1/4 cup 1% buttermilk ( we used powdered buttermilk)

- 3 Tbsp canola oil

- 1 Tsp vanilla extract

- 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped and divided

1. Heat oven to 350 and coat 8 cups of a standard size muffin tin with cooking spray OR just use muffin liners

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl

3. Mix banana, egg, butter spread, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture and stir till blended. Add 1/3 cup of walnuts and mix thoroughly

4. Fill up muffin cups and sprinkle remaining 2 Tbsp of walnuts over tops

5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until a wooden pick inserted into center of muffin comes clean

Enjoy!