Time Marches On

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I wrote last. Honestly the days have sort of melted together and the weeks have flown by! We really are in quite a pattern now, Joe with his regular work shifts and me with the ins and outs of my days. I've been working hard at the primary school, and hard at my writing...all in all it makes us both exhausted at the end of the day and so ready for rest. Isn't it funny how life is? I mean, in a sense it's tempting to be disillusioned by the fact that our dreams are so big and sometimes reality is a far cry from what we envisioned for ourselves. For example, before we came here I had these big aspirations for travelling on the weekend, exploring, camping, etc. Yet, we don't have time much less income for such things! Goodness Emily, what were you thinking? And so instead, here we are in Australia and for the most part we can't even really explore the city we are living in because at this point we are still trying to get our feet on the ground. Yet, at the same time life has sent so many hidden blessings our way because we are having to work so hard. We are closer than ever, and the simplest things give us SUCH great joy! We worry together, yes, but it unites us in our faith and hope and drives us to aspire in a new and better way. We rejoice over a teensy, semi-rusty, 13 year old car that seriously seems a miracle to us. Just a few years ago I would not have felt that way about it. God knows what He is doing, and He has made us so HAPPY, that's all I have to say about that.

What can I tell you? Well, last time I wrote I promised to recount our Thanksgiving celebration. On Thanksgiving Thursday here in Melbourne we rejoiced in Joe's day off! We headed into Melbourne to do some errands. While we were in the city we stopped at the Queen Victoria Market. Usually we are pretty simple when we shop there, the prices are just so amazing, but on Thanksgiving we bought a whole roasted chicken, a loaf of olive bread, and hummus. OH. MY. GOODNESS. You've never seen such a feast! We ate it right then and there, and honestly in that moment I was so content....we felt so rich and so spoiled. We had to sit and digest for a bit after. Here are some before and after pictures of my American hubby on his holiday.




Also, we picked up our beautiful little miracle car! Joe was seriously a CHAMP learning to drive manual and learning to drive it on the wrong side of the road. He picked it up in half an hour, and that very day we were able to drive half an hour home without so much as one stall or tense moment. I can't quite describe the sense of freedom I had when we were driving home. I was thinking...this was all us, we accomplished this together, and boy does it feel amazing. We took a picture with our new set of keys....

I think that is all for tonight. It's 9:00 pm here, and Joe will be home in about 45 minutes from work so I am off to make him some dinner. We are striving to live a holy and faithful advent, but it hasn't been easy! It is so easy to lapse into routine and forget to make time for prayer, or to start feeling tired and allow prayer to be the first thing to go. In a way, it's quite easy to feel united with the Holy Family this Advent. We are far from home and uncertain of what is next. Unfortunately, so often I find myself behaving in ways far from Holy Family behavior (aka selfishly)...and so we try, try again!

We love you all and miss you so very much. We pray for you and all of your intentions this Advent season and of course we ask for your prayers. xoxo

So Much To Be Thankful For!

Well, once again it's been a few days since our last update. Lots has happened, as seems to be the case these days for us because everything is new and everything is changing quickly! Phew, it's hard to keep up sometimes....

 Before I give any updates I have to say that I was overwhelmed with love following my last post when I mentioned that I was feeling lonely. More than anything, the response from beautiful friends all over the world reminded me that we are not the first people who have done this, and certainly won't be the last. Right now there are friends everywhere who have left family and home and who may feel lonely and afraid...and we all need to pray for each other! Also, so many people had good advice for me, and I really was struck by the fact that if we are inspired to reach out to someone, in whatever way, to follow through on that inspiration because chances are it is just what the other person needs. I think sometimes we are afraid of "imposing" but the love felt behind a few caring words can change someone's day so, be courageous!

A few wonderful things have happened:

1. We are buying a car!! A priest from the John Paul II Institute has finished his degree and is moving back. So, we are buying a 1997 Mazda 131, manual (wrong side of the car, mind you), and with only 74,000 kms on it. How BLESSED are we? Without it being a priest who wants to  sell his car for a low price to a young Catholic couple we would be totally unable to afford a car. Yet, here we are...in a few weeks we will be mobile, even though I need to learn how to drive manual...and we can stop ruining our shoes with all of our walking :)

2. I've started volunteering at a primary school nearby. It is wonderful! I am there all day, working with the "prep" children who are 5 and 6 years old. It is getting towards the end of the year here and so the teachers are desperate for help. It is an absolute balm for my heart to spend all day with these sweet little people. Also, it is very cute seeing them all outside playing in their matching hats. It seems that all children (until year 12) are REQUIRED to wear hats at recess. They all look like little safari kids!

3. I was hired by Demand Media as a freelance writer. It is an American company but I get to write articles for places such as livestrong.com and ehow.com. It gives me something to do and a way to earn a little extra income. As of yet, I've not submitted my first article but truly, it gives me a sense of purpose here, as of late, which I think is a relief for Joe.

4. Joe and I went on our very first dinner date out since we've arrived here. When we first came to Australia we were watching our budget so seriously that we just bought groceries and ate hotel picnics, etc...and i'm not complaining, I love picnics! But, on Sunday we went to 6 pm mass because Joe worked all day, and then we went for a beautiful Italian dinner. Oh, it was just GLORIOUS, I felt reconnected with my husband, I felt young and loved, and it was so nice to be just the two of us. Also, wine was too expensive at the restaurant SO we picked up a cheap bottle after and (please don't judge) drank it as we walked the 4 kms home. We had so much fun! The laughs, the dreaming, the remembering. It was just what we needed. Not only that, but it is large rubbish week here in Australia, which means that everybody puts their large "junk" out and people can just pick up what they want until it is picked up by the city at the end of the week. Now, we've seen washers, dryers, fridges, etc..none of which we can pick up because we don't have a car. However, on our walk home we found a tv with a remote and a really nice side table. It was too good to pass up!! So, there we were in our church clothes walking home carrying a tv and a side table. The TV works and we are very proud of our effort :)

Anyhow my dear loved ones, we celebrated Thanksgiving today (because it is Thursday the 25th here). Tomorrow I'll write about that. Until then, thank you for your prayers and love..we truly feel so blessed. We miss you, we love you, and we always pray for you. xoxoxo

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