These are a few of my favorite things! (and least favorite)

It is a beautiful Saturday here in Melbourne. I have taken a few days to write another post because I've been in a foul and negative mood, my poor husband, and there is no use complaining about things that are only made more dramatic by my perspective. So, I took a few days to breath and everything does seem to be brighter! I've not had really any reason to be in a foul mood, all things considered we are so blessed and things are going well for us, but I must admit I'm desperately lonely. Lonely days are not easy days. I'm hoping to meet some friends soon!

Anyhow, moving forward let me start with my least favorite thing about Australia so far. Australians are coffee snobs. They do not believe in perculated coffee, you know, the good old coffee machine that you put the filter and the grounds in, press start, and soon have the comforting sound of the drip, drip, drip, and the comforting smell of the deliciously hot mug of java? That's right, they don't believe in it. However, most Australians are either too lazy or don't want to invest the money into an espresso machine, so instead they drink, get ready to die of horror, INSTANT COFFEE!!! Not only that, but the decadently delicious flavored creamer we are so spoiled with in North America, doesn't exist here. So, you stumble out of bed exhausted, only to sip into a thick and bitter cup of coffee with skinny milk. Bleh. :) Poor Australians, they do not know what they are missing! I know, most of you are probably thinking "if thats the worst things are going well!" and it is true, if that is the worst we oughtta see just how lucky we are. But STILL......cooooooffffeeeeeee!

Joe and I have discovered a favorite thing about Melbourne, and that is the plethora of walk-up Sushi stands. They don't sell the rolls like in North America, sliced into small rolls of bite sized sushi. Instead, you can just order a roll and it is long, seaweed covered, rice and fish filled, meal on the go. They are only ever about 2 dollars a piece and two seems to be enough to satiate Joe so, we have taken quite a liking to them. Case in point...YUMMY!

Another of my favorite things is seeing how well my husband is making his mark on the basketball community here.  Joe is truly thriving. He is working very hard, taking every shift possible upon himself to earn a little extra money, getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning to train kids for basketball or to train clients. He has been asked to sit in on several meetings for the basketball corporation here in Melbourne to contibute a marketing perspective, and just the other day he recieved an email from the secretary of the CEO of basketball Victoria (the state we are living in) asking if Joe had time to meet with him. Who knew? I am amazed at how confident, tenacious, and dedicated Joe has been, he is putting me to shame with his determination. I have so much to learn! Today, he marched in a local parade with a few teammates and some of the little kids from the community. The kids just ADORE Joe, so much so that one little boy has been asking his parents every day if he could please bring Joe to show-and-tell. How cute is that? Anyhow, I took a few pictures of Joe today marching...the little one on his shoulders is Ben, the show-and-tell buddy, and the cutie whose face is in the "c" is Kristie, the girl whose family we are living with.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Tomorrow we will have been here a full month, I can hardly believe how the time is flying. I am grateful for everything we've experienced so far, good and bad, because as my friend said in the letter from my last post, in the bigger picture it seems that the good and bad are both part of the greatest good. So, we persevere, we find so much joy in the little things and in being with each other. What more could someone ask for?

We miss you, we love you, please pray for us and we continue to pray for you! xoxo