i still call Australia home...

so i went for a late night swim on friday at the lake. i also went for a swim in the lake yesterday. the late night swim, unanimoulsy, was the better swim, even if we did have a handstand competition yesterday. the bit i missed was the waves. where were the waves? i missed the ocean. i missed my beach hair. i missed my bikini not staying on properly? hmm. not 100% sure about that last one, but it an be pretty funny, especially if beth is around...

i have realised, even more so over the last few days, how much i really really truly do love Australia. and i always knew that i LOVED Australia. i love the culture, i love melbourne, i love the weather (though you guys are probably not loving it so much right now, they told me yesterday that it gets down to -20 here in winter and that's without the windchill!!!!), i love the people. i love the colourful plastic money. i love it all really. i could go on, but i won't. the welcome note on my phone is 'i still call Australia home' and sometimes i will sing that song to myself and if i am not careful, i could cry!

so what has made me miss it more? well, dad leaves tonight to go home for three weeks. then kez and hil have just booked a trip home in september. i admit that i am a little jealous. but, mum arrives here on friday for a week, so that will be fun. and i also have to remember that right now the weather is much better here too - today is a scorcher, i think they are saying around 40 with the humidity factor.

anyway.

have a good day.

how did i forget?

i can't believe i forgot to post something that happened last sunday. matt and i were walking to church and we were almost there, maybe 50m to go, when maybe about 5m in front of us, a blatant crack deal went down. the thing that astounded me most, because i know this type of thing goes on all the time, was how, in broad daylight, sunday afternoon, they weren't in any way shape or form, trying to conceal what was going on.

i guess i think there are some things in life, i am talking in general now, that are meant to be done privately. and there are some things that are meant to be done publicly. on the theme, drug deals, if they have to happen, shouldn't they be done privately? and then things like marriages (just thinking of dave and denise who got back from their honeymoon) they should be done publicly.

of course there are plenty of situations that aren't black and white. in fact, most probably aren't. but there are some for which there are no exceptions.

hope i didn't lose you, i think this is a random blog.

aren't they models? no, that's my family

So, due to some requests, well one request, i thought i'd post two of the pictures of these beautiful models. oh, hang on, they are not models, it's my family. ha ha. when i was in seattle at easter, the family was all together for only the second time in three years. so, of course, mum wanted pictures taken. these are just two of the many!

ha. a mistake.

so i had wondered about why the william booth comment wouldn't have mentioned God. but today i found out that it does.
the quote is supposed to be...'your days at the most canot be very long so use them to the best of your ability for the glory OF GOD and benefit of your generation'
now it makes even more sense.

william booth

i know i have mentioned wiliam booth (love him) before - founder of the salvation army. i read a new quote from him today...

'your days at the most cannot be very long, so use them to the best of your ability for the glory and benefit of your generation'

question - what are you doing with your short life?

PINK FLAMES

i hear you asking 'pink flames'? what's that about?

did i see some freaky fire?
did i join some Grease fan club and alter the name of the infamous pink ladies?
did i burn some pink marshmallows?
did i make a bonfire with all the pink clothes that i own in a weird cleansing ceremony?

no, no, no, no.

so what are the pink flames? pink flames are on my motorbike helmet. that's right. my motorbike helmet. two weeks ago matt purchased a motorbike. a 1982 nighthawk. it's a pretty sweet looking bike (just don't mention the little tear in the seat to him - it will drive him crazy). so what's the point in your boyfriend having a motorcycle if you can't jump on the back? not much point. so i had to get a helmet. and it's black with pink flames.

so next time you think of me (and let's face it, you are all reaing my blog, so you must think of me fairly frequently), think of me riding around the streets of toronto on a motorbike, wearing my helmet with pink flames.*

ahh, the pink flames.

(*mum, you can be the exception to this, i know that it will probably be bad for your blood pressure, if you'd rather, you can just imagine me walking around the streets of toronto, wearing my helmet with pink flames...)

roo + wayne

congratulations to the roo, who plays this weekend, his 300th game of afl footy. what a champion. the captain of the greatest team in the league, so make that the world. if i was ever going to be a footy player, i'd let roo play on my team. look at him, what a man. love the roo.
(for any canadians, or non-aussies really, you guys really should get yourself some afl footy action - you will LOVE it - greatest game in the world - afl = australian football league - you won't have seen anything like it).

enough about roo. here's what i found on my cousin wayne's (also known as luke) myspace the other day.

it makes me smile. i love my life and i have excellent friends. i love hanging out with friends but i also like being alone and thinking. sometimes i have such a sense of peace and freedom that blows me away. i really like listening to music, not in an ipod on the bus kind of way, but sitting down on a chair or bed and listening to a whole album from start to finish. i choose not to drink alcohol. i choose to drink milkshakes. i think brian wilson is a genius. one of the things i like the most is falling in love but i am yet to find a love that doesn't involve heartbreak. i'm sure it exists. i own a motorcycle and a car. i'm so blessed to have a place to sleep each nite. the movie "about schmidt" has touched my soul in a way only a few do. one last thing - the day of christ's return is fast approaching and the presence of evil is increasing everywhere and sin is being cleverly disguised and concealed in the pursuit for happiness. the whisper of the evil one is becoming more deceiving, don't be fooled! there is a spiritual battle taking place and unbeknownst to many, we are all involved. time is running out and now is the time to choose a side. accept jesus today as your lord and saviour, you will be choosing to sacrifice your own life for a kingdom whose cause is far greater than your life and any happiness a TV show, holiday, car, girl, boy, alcohol, drug, milkshake, ipod, internet site, magazine, impulse buy, whitegood, band, club, song, sport, hairstyle, item of clothing or restaurant can offer. not that there is any thing wrong with these things but in the end it will all pass away and the only thing left will be the choice you make. do not stand in the middle ground, there is no middle ground. it is far better for you to join the enemy. if you choose to reject christ then please, be in league with satan and cast some spells, witches. bring it on!

and just for the record - i love luke, i mean wayne, more than roo.

IGNITE (and i'm 27 now, everywhere in the world)

27. sounds kind of old. but it's ok. i don't feel old (especially seeing as i am in the 27 club with marty mikles - we are the presidents of it). as mum says, or at least she did once, your age is wht you make it. and i tell you what, i am going to make 27 goooooood!!!!!

so here is some news, it looks like i will stay on here in toronto until december when i will head to seattle to have Christmas with the family. then back to aus for beth and matt's wedding. part of the reason i am staying is because i have found myself a job. well i didn't really find it, it jsut kind of happened. but it's good. i am working at the church running the Ignite program. so, as we are in recruiting mode right now i thought today i would post what the program is about...just in case you or anyone you know might be interested...


IGNITE(yeah, so i am not clever enough to get the logo in here)

Ignite is a 10-month urban mission training program for those who wish to live out God’s mission while being trained and equipped as a disciple of Jesus. Ignite team members live together in an inner-city community and spend each day in intense and sacrificial mission. They are challenged to grow in their relationship with God and their love for the least, the last and the lost through teaching, mentoring and ministry.

The Ignite year begins with five weeks of orientation, followed by continued teaching and practical application at their chosen campus. Campus locations, 614 Regent Park Salvation Army and 614 St Jamestown, are located in the downtown Toronto core only a few kilometers from each other. Both neighbourhoods are multi-cultural housing projects, characterized by drug and alcohol abuse, refugees, domestic violence, sex trade, homelessness and high youth crime rates.

Ignite will commence September 5th 2006 and run through to June 22nd 2007. The program is open to any committed Christian aged 18-30. Applications are now open for Ignite 2006-2007.

For more information, and an application form, check out www.ignitegapyear.com or contact the Ignite Coordinator at ignitegapyear@gmail.com or write to Ignite Coordinator,77 River St 2nd floor, Toronto ON, Canada, M5A 3P1.

it is my birthday yet?

so i'm australian and in australia it's the 16th right now, so it's my birthday...but in canada it's still the 15th so tomorrow's my birthday. it's a bit too confusing so i am declaring as of australian time, it's my birthday right through till it finishes in canadian time. sweet.

anyway, i did my first canadian wedding hair today. for denise. she married dave today. they have a great story. here's it in short. they are both mid-late 30's neither have ever been married. this time last year, she was in aus visiting cate and had this really weird experience when she was praying that God told her her husband was already at her church. now she was a little confused by this clear message, seeing as there was no one at the church who she was even slighty attracted to. anyway, she came home and the next weekend, met this guy dave who she was instantly attracted to, but she met him with a married woman and she assumed he was the married womans husband. turns out he wasn't. they hooked up and by their 3rd date, or maybe after 3 weeks (or somewhere around there) they were both like, so how soon is too soon to get married. crazy. turns out that day that she felt she clearly heard God tell her that her husband was at her church was the day that the new 614 plant down the road opened and he was attending there that day. anyway, they are perfect together. she looked, no, they both looked so happy. what a lovely day. oh and of course her hair looked good too, well at least i thought it did.

have a great day on my birthday.

2 sleeps

only 2 sleeps to go...

i thought i'd share some thoughts that i've had. we were discussing what makes someone become weary. i came up with three things.

1) not doing something for the right reasons
it can be easy just to do things because you can, or because you are good at them. it can be easy to continue doing something just because you have done it in the past. it can be easy to do something because you were asked by someone you like and they had 'no one else' to do it and that made you feel bad. you get where i am going. all these are not the right reasons. you have to keep focus as to why you do what you do or you will get weary.

2) not using your gifts and abilities appropriately
so there are obviously things that we are good at and things that we are bad at. we should all stick mainly to things that we are good at. i am not saying you shouldn't ever do something that challenges you. what i am saying is, if you don't like getting up in front of groups, you hate kids and are not good at explaining things, don't become a teacher (i am not having a go at anyone, i am just giving an example with which i have experience). i think you get my point and if you don't, then stop reading my blog, i am too smart for you! (ha ha)

3) not leading a balanced life
i think there is a lot to be said for taking time out. to rest. to play. this goes as much for everyday life, as it does for taking vacations. i also think it's important to eat well and exercise. life can't all be about work, work, work, though neither can it be about play, play, play. there is a happy medium that must be discovered. there's a time for seriousness and a time for laughter. make sure you have both. all the time.

so there are some of my thoughts. i know it's not the lightheartedness of a day in niagara, but it's my blog and i'll blog what i want to.

tonight i am off to make the famous hailes receipe (well it's not really a hailes receipe, i tihnk kez just found it somewhere) of spinach and mushroom risotto. yum. hmm, i am just wondering if i have actually ever made it before. we'll soon find out...look for my next blog, it may be called 'best chef in the world' or 'dinner'.

oh, one reason why THE FLY is my favourite is because he takes super strength pills...

one place i'm not taking mum

so mum has booked a trip to come and visit me. she arrives 3 weeks today and will be here for a week. sweet. i am looking forward to that.

howver, one place i am not taking her is Niagara Falls. (unless she really really really wants to go...then maybe). we went yesterday. me, cate, matt and matt. it kind of sucked. the weather was terrible. we went anyway. it takes about an hour and a half to get there. there weather wasn't too bad there. so we saw the falls and went ok. sure they were fine. but i wasn't blown away by any means. the fear that i had at the grand canyon of arriving and going 'oh nice, can we go now' came true at the falls. then there isn't really much else to do there, unless you are willing to spend a fortune to do crappy things. we did see The Ultimate Ride advertised and did get kind of excited, until we saw the crappy little cart that you rode around in and realised that not even an ant would have found riding that cart any fun. oh, did i also mention we found a parking place and paid $10 to park and then we walked out and literally next door we found the first of many $5 all day parking places. doh. we all agreed - niagara sucks. but we had a good day anyway.

4 sleeps to go...

just in case anyone has forgotten, it's my birthday in 4 sleeps. that's right, sunday 16 july. don't forget. remind everyone else too.

don't forget to email or leave a message on my blog or send me cards or gifts or money - all will be accepted. ha ha.

oh yeah and today i am going to niagara falls.

and on sunday, my birthday, i am going down to new jersey for a week. i'll tell you more about that later.

The Fly

i just need to quickly let the world know that i have a new favourite superhero...THE FLY.

well that's a first

today i experienced a few firsts. well not that many. but one very noteable one. today we had to have church outside the building where we usually have it. that's not the first, i've done the whole outdoors church thing before. we don't actually have our own church building, but meet on sunday afternoons at the local community centre. today however, we couldn't get in the building. it was all locked up. the police had the building under lockdown due to some shootings that happened this morning right outside it. it doesn't sound like there were any injuries. i have heard shots fired the last two days now. it's kind of surreal. you hear it and it's like, oh that was gunshots. i should add that generally there are no random shootings around here (thought i should say that in case mum reads).

summing it up - my biggest first for the day - not being able to have church inside due to having the place locked down due to gunfire. haven't had that happen before.

what makes someone rich???

before i get to that question i just have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTY. i know it was yesterday but i didn't blog yesterday, so today will have to do. warm up that 27 club. only 9 days till i am there (for all readers, take note - 9 days, 16th july, my birthday - don't worry, i'll remind you again...and again...and again).

today i went to centre island with matt, cate, zoe and tim. we had a good day. we got the ferry over - dad, i know you are jealous - then pretty much just hung out on the 'beach'. it was very pretty over there. i think i will have to take mum when she comes. i think she'll like it. the weather was lovely.

tomorrow i am going to see the toronto argonaughts(???). they are the football team. i scored a free ticket. i am a bit excited. though i hope i am not going to be bored. i'm going with tim, cate and naike, so i am sure we can make our own fun if we do.

anyway - the blog title - i have been thinking about this question today.

my most obvious wrong answer is money. money doesn't make anyones life better. sure you can buy more stuff. it can ease some issues of life, but money doesn't make you rich.

some answers that i was thinking could be right were to have good relationships, a good family, to be successful in your job, etc, etc. but you know what, i decided that even all of these great things probably aren't the answer for me either.

it came down to one thing. what makes someone rich is to know the love of God. i can't get past that. He in incomprehensible (nice word) but even if you can grasp just a small part of who He is, then you would know what i am talking about. to have a relationship with the creator of the universe. to have even some idea of unconditional love. to live with absolute freedom. i could go on...i think this is what it means to be rich. nothing else compares. nothing else even comes close.

where to start...

so much has happened over the last few days that i almost don't know where to start. so i will just write a few things today and then add to them over the next few days...

there has been a few shootings in the area over the last few weeks. one fatal, though not instant. it's kind of weird to have that happening in the city in which i live. while i know it's going on and i even know people who it's affected, it still seems so far away from where i am at. tonight we did door to door prayer in the community and the issues of peace and safety were on the lips of nearly all we met.

my house has turned into an international hotel - it feels like. we have two aussies (me and cate/cath), tim - a brit, naike - an italian, and heather the lone canadian. keeler left today, the last of my initial housemates. strange.

today in part i lost some of my freedom. i got a cell phone. oh i have even converted to calling it that rather than a mobile. kind of sad. i liked not having one. and i didn't like not having one. cell phone. that's about the only language i have taken on. everything else is still very very aussie. i even refuse to calls thongs flip flops even though here thongs are underwear. speaking of thongs, yesterday i spent what felt like forever shopping with matt for thongs, until he decided in the end just to buy contact lenses. good one.

to all my vermont loves, i hope that this new term is brilliant and exciting. i know it's going to be long and that you will all find it tough that i am not there. but don't lose heart. i still love you guys and miss you lots.

and lastly to my bro brad. good one. hope you are very happy. your comment on my space turned out to be prophetic??? sweet.

new and old, good and bad

the last few days have been really busy. i got meet up with some old friends and got to make some really good new ones. there was great things that happened and sucky things too.

i played baseball for the first time today. i managed to get to bases when hitting, and i managed to drop a few balls in the outfield. we lost miserably, but it was good fun. i figure my baseball career can only go up from here.