fading tans and other melodramas

My tan is fading. I know, I know. I have a tan in January. I get it. But it is more what it is a sign of then the tan. Life is moving on. It feels like such a wierd thing. There was so much prep, so much build up, that to now be standing on the other side with memories attached, just feels rather bizar.
So my life is once again slowly starting to take shape (I say slowly on purpose). I will be full time nanny-ing (still havn't figured out how to spell that silly word) for a dear friend until mid March. The situation has 'God's fingerprints' all over it, and I am definatly ok with that. After that there are again more question then I have answer to, so I'll let them sit for a while :-).
And that is about all she wrote. friends that I love and family I miss, old wars and a few new struggles, and definatly more grins and giggles then I can shake a stick at.
Jesus is grand.

And P.S. - because this is the fish story I will be telling when I am 80, I feel the need to prove it. Meet my shark...
and yes there is a pic of me holding it...and no I'm not posting it here

Home...

As of tomorrow I am one week on this side of the big blue. Jet leg is still alive and kicking, and culture shock is leaving bruises. I am not sure which is more overwhelming, The things here that have...and havn't changed, or the me that is trying to walk back into a life that still feels like it was a millions miles ago. For right now, I am home safe, feeling more loved then ever (it has genuinely amaized me), and the thousands of questions are staying mostly at bay in exchange for a little rest. And that is enough. P.S. this was my welcome home gang. Stacy left, Annie bottom, Barrett top middle, Willie big guy on the right. :-)

Back across the ditch to the smaller island...

I head back to wellington NZ today, then across the big blue tomorrow night. This is my last day in Sydney, My last 24 hours on this side of the world. To say I am a flurry of emotions would be the understatement of the year. this week expecially had brought some pretty extreme highs and lows. I did the corney thing and almost cried when I saw the opera the first time. It just a building, but for me it was a very long dream, and that made it absolutly amaizing. the flip of that was the lows. A mix of three months build up, some pretty fierce spiritual warfar (sorry for the big word usage) and God deciding it was time to tackle a few major issue. The whole week has left me a little daized. and of course add on to that the flying home after three months. yeah, definatly dazzed. But in honor of these lands in the south pacific, yep, you guest it......a tribute

Sydney:
Favorite food: Tim Tam slam (I'm bringing some home....you will soon know the wonder!)
Favorite locals spot: Harries on the water front (very famouse locals spot on the water,)
Favorite quirk: communting by ferry and train. who knew me and public transit could get along.
New favorite person: a guy named rob....and no, I'm not saying anymore...:-)
Second Favorite site:....(you already know #1)...Sydney aquarium and the blue mountains, its a tie
Best new move: walking. I will never again beleive I have a limit to how far I can walk in a day...getting lost cured that
Favorite weather: bringing the rain with us, of course.
Favorite animal: though many, i gotta go for the cookaburro (and i know i'm buchering that). Its lound, beautiful, and sound alot like someone laughing. -
biggest surprise:...Sydney becomeing my favorite city....I don't even like cities!
Best moment: seeing stacy at the airport, after worlds worst travel experience to get there.

New Zealand. the land of the long white cloud;
biggest triump: flat tie - tramping the driveway / catching the shark
Favorite spot: Nugget point hands down
Favorite food: Cadberry milk choc. They sell the stuff in huge bricks in 20 varietys. And are WAYYYYY better then hersheys.
Favorite cultural moment: the Haka. wow
Hardest part: leaving - home to get here, and here now that it is so much a part of me, and the friends you know you probably won't ever see again
Biggest adventure: getting locked out of wellington airport at 2 am on new years, haning out at the gas station playing cards
Favorite new person: all of the random people that make me happy - one wonderful stewardess in route, one random shuttle driver, the gang at ywam auckland.
Best marrate batch: swimming at Jesika's. (I didn't get the hunting one.....oh darn :-)
Biggest struggle: feeling physically frail for alot of reasons. ug.
Favorite by product: the amount of writting I've gotten to do.


There are things learned from this trip that won't easily be forgotten. In the beginning I said this was a trip about rattleing foundations. In the end it has been very much that. I know now stronger where my heart is and where I feel God wants me. I also know now the depths of my failings. Both have left me a little overwhelmed. This time of islands in the south pacific in my life is at an end. Here is to the seasons ahead.
Soli Deo Gloria

Sydney eh

Hello from the land downunder. I'm here, I'm zonked, and more excited then I think i've been in years. Trip over had bumpes, including a ruff ferry ride, and the airport terminal being closed over night (amaizing shuttle drivers send by God come in really handy, so does a deck of cards for killing time at the gas station next door :-), and getting locked out of housing and stranded in a far away land. Now this is adventure! I'm here with my friend who has been mia for 6 months, off doing one of those silly 'seeking God at costs' DTS's...and it's grand. We go home the same day, stay at the same place, but I can't begin to tell how much God is doing in the time we have here. Including pounding thru build up from the last three months. Ug.
Up for this week include the blue mountains, aquarium, musiums, and you guest it...the opera house. They have a 'back stage tour'. a hike thru every bit and piece of the place. It's expecsive.....grrrr....but so grand I can't talk myself out of it. And now that I am here, in the process of planning it. I'm so excited I feel like I am going to come unglued!
I am excited to be almost done, but love this last week. Such a mixture of emotions. Looking forward to seeing everyone, and already missing a land that feels like it has become a part of me. I get the feeling it is going to take a while to process everything that has happened here.
So anyhoo. Hopefully more to come this week now that we have found the trusty library with internet.
On a bigger island in the south pacific. :-) Me