a new project (and a short blog)

well... so much has been going on recently. I've been enjoying myself... that is all you need to know. (also... I can't be bothered to write everything that's been happening... and I can't really remember either).

so... yesterday I went to Ikea and bought one of those artist's dummies (because it was cheap, and I've always thought they were pretty cool). so here is my new project...

change the pose of the dummy (which will now be referred to as bertie - because it was the first thing that came into my head when I was thinking of names) highly frequently (hopefully daily, but I doubt that), take a picture and post it on my blog. if all goes well... I may even set up a new blog dedicated to bertie and his many postures.

the first pose!!!

From Car-O-Line

Chritstmas and New Years fun

I haven't been home much since Christmas, so I haven't really been able to blog about it yet... but now I'm home and bored so I can blog about it!

Christmas eve:
Went to the Chong's for their annual Christmas eve dinner which was lovely as usual. I ended up arriving 45mins early because I wasn't sure what time it started, so I assumed it would start at 6pm (a regular dinner time)... I arrived at 6:15... I was rushing too because I thought I was late. When infact it started at 7pm. LOL.
After that I went to Rob's church for their 11pm service. It was a pretty good service. Good talk. It was very refreshing to hear about the real meaning of Christmas and to be reminded about God's love, amidst all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.

Christmas day:
Went to church in the morning for another good Christmas service. Then came home, and my whole family had a nap over lunch (seeing that we weren't having a Christmas lunch this year). I slept for about 4 hours. It was a good rest. Then me and mum started prepping for Christmas dinner. We decided to go easy on ourselves and have a BBQ, so me and mum just had to make salads and chop fruit. We had about 10 people over which was nice. Good to catch up with family and see little Rhys growing up and eating tasty food. Poor Rob was sick as a dog and slept most of the evening. When he did get up and come out... he was like a zombie. LOL.

Boxing day:
Went up to Muswellbrook to see dad's side of the family. Stayed the night there. Didn't do much there. The weather was warm but I forgot to take my swimmers so that was a bit of a bummer watching the kids swim in the pool and not being able to. I almost jumped in with my clothes on... it was so tempting. We drove around the country a bit. I did a lot of driving up and down.

A few days after that:
Me and Cler were supposed to go out shopping and movie-ing, but I was really sick. Couldn't stand up for long periods of time and feverish. So Cler came over instead and we watched "The Little Mermaid" and just caught up and stuff which was nice. She brought gifts from Hong Kong, including these cute stylus' for my DS. Unfortunately I had to go to work that night which probably wasn't the best idea, but everyone else was on holidays so I had to go in. By 7pm I was feeling so crook that I asked if I could go home soon, so the boss let me go. Lucky the nice boss was working.

30th of December 07:
Rob came and picked me up, and then we went and picked Erin up, and we set off on our road trip!!! We drove through Wollongong to Jervis Bay where we picked up Sarah M. We had lunch there which was really good after sitting down in the car for so long. And then we set off again to the Bega Valley (yes... Bega... as in Bega cheese). It was a pretty long drive, and it was hot. And we didn't really stop much because Rob just wanted to get there as quickly as possible. We were staying at Dan W's house which is in Bemboka, a little bit out of Bega. It was a really nice place and the family were very hospitable. Had a nice dinner and then got settled in for bed.

New Years Eve:
Started the day by getting a tour of the farm. Steve drove us in the ute while Rob and Dan stood in the tray. It was the full country experience, we had to stop and move trees which had fallen across the fire trail. After lunch, we drove to Warren's house. Then we all went to Merimbula beach for a swim. It was freezing! And I probably shouldn't have because I was still a little sick. We had pizza for dinner (and I criticised it as a pizzacutter does) and then went to the fun world there. We did lazer zone (for an amazing $8 only!)... it was my first time. It was fun. I came second last though (no teams). I'd do it again though. We did other games too. Dan and Steve did DDR and it was kinda freaky watching the twins doing the same moves... they are so alike and so cute together!!! There were fireworks on Merimbula beach which were really good (better than Sydney because there is no smog) and then we just chilled on the beach for a bit... doing acrobatics and normal stuff like that. Then we went back to Warren's hosue to count down the new year. Watched the Sydney fireworks on tv.

New Years morning:
After Warren's we came back to Dan's and saw a wombat in his driveway... we were chasing it with the car... it ran pretty fast... and then it went into the bushes. It was very cute. Then we all just sat around the dining table chatting and stuff. Then we went to bed.

Later that day:
We decided to start the New Year by going across the boarder - to Victoria. We also decided that 2008 would be "the year of the dance" so we did a few moves in the lounge room. So we drove to Pembula on a very empty tank, Rob probably had about 1.4L left in his car... so got petrol there (after passing two petrol stations that were closed... it was getting desperate). Went to Eden for lunch, fish and chips overlooking the sea. When we got to the boarder we stopped by the side of the road to take pictures. Sarah celebrated her first time in Victoria by moonwalking across the boarder. After all that fun, we decided to drive on further into Victoria, only to find that Warrren's car wasn't starting. And we had no phone reception. Luckily Rob's car was working still, so we drove to the nearest town... about 15kms away, and Warren called his Dad... his Dad knew what was wrong because it had happened before so we went back and fixed the car. So we head off again. Rob let me drive his car! It was only the second time that I had ever driven a manual. And I crunched it pretty hard at one stage... but once I made it into 5th gear I was sweet. It was funny... everytime we approached a town, I freaked out because it meant that I would have to change gears. I drove to Boydtown (not Boytown) where we stopped to check out the beach and had coffee, then drove back to Bega. We picked up some videos, then Rob drove back to Bemboka. That evening we watched "Hoodwinked."

2/1/08:
Drove Dan to work at the Bega cheese factory, and had a look around as well. Then the rest of us went to Tathra where we ate lunch, and then went for a swim in the lagoon. The water was really nice this time, but as it got deeper it was cold... but that was alright. Erin, Sarah, Steve and I were the only ones to go in and we had fun talking about open and closed ears, and other random things. Went back to Warren's for dinner, then picked up Dan when he finished work. Watched "Dodgeball" back at Bemboka (because Dan had never seen it) and also "The Bourne Ultimatum" which was a good movie (considering I haven't seen the first 2 Bourne's).

3/1/08:
Our last full day in Bega. We hung around the house a bit, then went to the cheese factory to meet Steve there and we got milkshakes. Then we moved onto Warren's house and watched his family home movies. By that time, Dan had finished work, so we went to Merimbula and saw "I am Legend." I'm not sure if I liked it. It was very freaky and it was done in a weird way, the story was a bit empty too. It was alright though. To counteract the freaky/scariness of the movie, we watched "Zoolander" back at Dan's house.

4/1/08:
Left Bega at 12:30 and took Steve with us. It was a nicer drive back because the weather wasn't as hot. Stopped at Goulburn for lunch and then dropped Steve off at the bus stop. Got back to Sydney for dinner, it was a little sad leaving Bega, but still quite nice to be home.

5/1-now:
Home is boring, we had a very fun time at Bega. I've been so bored I've had to resort to ebay and westfield. I've also been back at work which has been very quiet. I did get these new sandals though with the Christmas money mum gave me (which was specifically for sandals). This friday I'm starting a gen-ed at uni on the Silk Roads. Found out on Sunday that there is a reader that I should have finished reading before the course starts... which sucks because I don't like reading. I used to pick subjects based on if there was a reader or not... but I didn't realise this course had a reader. Oh well... I bought it from the uni bookshop and had it sent to me... and it came very quickly! The day after I ordered it :) So I been reading that. Some parts are interesting and some are really boring. I wonder what the lectures will be like... it is a short course, so the lectures go from 10am - 6pm! Yikes!
Tomorrow I'm going to see the filming of "Gladiators" in Sydney Olympic park. I got free tickets off a friend. I'm excited about it. It should be really cool. I remember watching "Gladiators" on tv when I was younger.

From Car-O-Line

P.S.: kudos to whoever has made it this far... sorry for the very loooooong blog. I will blog more frequently from now on.

sound bites

so much has been happening recently. thought I'd make a quick blog to fill you in on the exciting parts.

I have a nodule in my hand... and it's been there for a while. So I went to the hand surgeon... and he goes:
"it's quite simple to remove, I'll just stick a needle in and pop it"
and then I go:
"ok then"
and he goes:
*smiles* [gives me one of those... "I don't think you understand what I'm saying" looks]
and then I go
"oh... you mean right now???"
and he goes:
"yeah."

so... to cut a long and boring conversation short, he sticks the syringe into my hand... and moves it around. And it hurts. Then he takes the needle out... has a feel of the nodule (which is still there)... and the needle goes back in. This happens a few times. He also squirted this medicine stuff in there. He came to the conclusion that the nodule is too small and too mobile to pinpoint with the needle. So I'm going to wait for a few weeks to see if the medicine stuff makes it go away. It was hurting for a few days... but doesn't hurt now.

Yesterday, me and Rob made a gingerbread house for his mum's birthday. It was fun to do. Neither of us are too skilled with icing... it was going everywhere. But it's the thought that counts... and it does taste nice too. PHOTOS!!!



And that's not the only thing I've been making. I've been sewing... but I wont be able to show the fruits of my labour until after christmas. I'm quite proud of myself. If I wasn't so bad at cutting material, I'd sew more often. Prepping material annoys me... but putting it all together is very fun.

I've also been back at work. It's been pretty boring. No famous people coming in. Although I did get a strange call today (note: this is only an extract of what was a very very very long call):
Caller: I want a pizza with potato
Me: ok then... so there is a vege roast and a beef royale that has potato on it
Caller: no no no that's not what it's called. it's called *incomprehensible*
Me: hmmm... well what toppings exactly were you looking for?
Caller: I want potato and cheese
Me: [thinks this is a weird person] Would you like a pizza with just cheese and potato on it then? We can make one up for you
Caller: no no no it has a name. a pizza with potato on it
Me: do you have the internet? we have a menu online
Caller: no no no... don't you know the pizza with cheese and potato on it?
Me: I'm sorry we don't have a pizza with just potato and cheese on it
Caller: are you in wahroonga?
Me: Yes, at the rear of Redleaf ave, we're called Pizza cutters
Caller: OOOOOOOOOoooooo... I got the wrong place. Goodbye.

O.O
why would anyone just want potato and cheese on their pizza??? what kinda weird shop in wahroonga sells a potato and cheese pizza?!?!?!?!?!

From Car-O-Line

a journey around NSW

so so so so so so so much has happened since I last blogged. It'll take me forever to write it down... and I'm looking forward to enjoying my holidays... so I'm going to KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Beyond the Line:
is a program where the DET pays for a trip to a school in western NSW... in the hope of encouraging us to teach in a country school. I went to Nyngan High School. It's a town with the population of 3000, and there were about 170 kids in the high school. The kids are basically the same as Sydney students, just with a bit of extra baggage (family problems, etc). It was fun to go there. The teachers were really nice and also really skilled. I picked up a lot of things by watching their lessons. In conclusion to the trip, I would consider going to teach in western NSW because I can see that it can be a very satisfying job and that you can make a real difference to the kids there. One thing that worried me was the lack of Christian teachers, or Christians in general - their values and behaviours are quite different to mine. In a sense it would be good to go there for that reason... to build up the community and spread the gospel. We'll see what happens.

NTE Canberra:
National Training Event. Rob picked me up from Central station with Becky and we drove to Canberra, arriving at 11:15pm... and staying at the YHA (which was very snazzy indeed). Warren, Erin and Dan were there too. So it was a very long day... because I had been in the coach from Bourke for 12 hrs... then straight back in the car to NTE.
NTE was awesome. Good teaching from God's word - Hebrews was preached on and Hebrews is like the best book in the Bible. I love it that Jesus is our great High Priest. And I was very happy when we sang "Before the Throne of God Above" which is like a reinforcement of Hebrews... very moving. We were also taught about the Bible... sounds vague... but we saw that the Bible is (in my best rapper voice):
"Receiving God's word, written for his people, written by his Spirit, about his Son" - WORD!
I also was in strand 4 - Ethics of Work. We discussed a definition of work (and non-work), asked questions on whether it is better to do secular or gospel work, and debated what the Bible said about work. For the first four days we were basically putting out lots of questions, without getting answers. And then on the last day, we wrapped everything together and it was so satisfying!!! We covered a lot of things... and I think it would be pointless for me to write everything I learned there... it's really something that you have to go through yourself and wrestle with from reading the Bible and asking the questions yourself.

NTE Mission - The Lakes Evangelical Church Central Coast
We travelled from Canberra to Tumbi Umbi, Central Coast. Spent a whole lot of time in the church office with the lovely ministry team of the church. Ate so much BBQ but also had many tasty salads and veggies. Some of the things I did was letterbox drops, door knocking, scripture to the yr 7s and kids church. We were go-go-going for the whole week. We went to church on Sunday morning which was really cool. It was a very good experience. We were encouraged to think about how we can be supporting church plants (like the possibility of moving there to help build up the church).

So overall... the past 2 and a half weeks have been really awesome, and challenging too. I've been challenged to use my teaching skills in a western NSW school. I've been challenged to make my work decisions based on what God and his words says, and I've also been challenged to take part in church plants in the building of God's kingdom in Australia. Lots to think about the future.

From Car-O-Line

p.s.: this has been a very short and crappy blog about events where I've learned heaps and heaps of stuff. talk to me in the flesh about it to find out the full story.

to blog or not to blog...

that is the question.


I definitely feel the need to blog. I want to blog. And I have lots of things to blog about. And if I don't blog now, I may not be able to blog for two weeks, in which case I'll have to write a most giant blog (because I'll have to fit in Bourke and NTE stuff).

But I am tired. I will try to blog properly tomorrow.

I've just decided in a split second that I'll do a mini blog now.

This week was the 'crazy choir week.' I had rehearsal at 6-9pm on monday and wednesday, and also had rehearsal on thursday, before the actual concert. I think the concert went quite alright. It was fun.

Because I was around uni so much, I got to hang with people (notably Rob). Cler slept over on Sunday night, we got crafty and made a present for a certain 21 year old. It took a little longer than either of us expected... so we didn't get to finish our LOTR (extended edition) marathon, or listen to another 'Love, Sex and Marriage' talk.

And yes... got to hang with Rob a lot. He also had study to do... but now he has no study to do. HOORAY! (yes... this is going to be a very concise blog)

Also before choir concert, I went to Erin's house to make gingerbread people for the choir concert. Warren helped too. We made some hilarious looking things. And also had fun exploding jubes in the oven.

All week I had been writing up a talk on contentment for youth group. I did it tonight. I think it was ok. It was my first ever talk so I think I just need a bit more practice. I think the content was good... and I myself learned a lot just writing the talk. I enjoy writing Bible talks/studies because I learn heaps from it.

Tomorrow is voting day. Elections frustrate me because it's so frustrating. I've been reading stuff on all the parties to be able to make an informed decision. What bugs me is how everything is biased. But then again... bias can sometimes be a good thing. I'm going to attempt to fill in all the boxes below the line again.

well... that's concise enough.

From Car-O-Line

If only I had a proper exam period

Last week was the final week of uni work for 2007 for me. Now before all you students out there start getting jealous that I'm already done, you need to hear me out. On Monday, me and Rob travelled to the State library. It's a pretty scary place... all these forms you need to fill in. And you have to put all your posessions in lockers. And it was so quiet. And for all that travelling... I got to look at one book which was hardly helpful. We then had lunch in hyde park which was very nice. Then we split and I went to visit Cler. We were going to study, but ended up talking about things instead. On Tuesday, I read journal articles like crazy, and wrote a few words. Tried to make up a coherent hypothesis for my essay... but wasn't finalised yet. On Wednesday, I drove to Cler's house and we actually studied... and I wrote a considerable amount of my essay. Unfortunately I forgot to take the music score with me so I was unable to do some analysis (which was going to be a large part of the essay). I then went to uni for choir which was pretty fun. Then me and Erin went to the Rege for some tasty chicken schnitzel... with the best pepper sauce. Then we picked up Warren and his friend and went to get a free slurpee... because it was 7-eleven day. And we got free slurpees! It was very exciting. So exciting that we decided it would be fun to go to a cold park and drink our cold slurpees. Yes... it was freezing. But the swings were good quality. On Thursday, I went to the con library and met Naomi there. I found a whole 3 good books... they were very good... so I photocopied lots of things and highlighted lots of things... and referenced them (no plagiarism for me!). Then we split and I went to Atarmon, where Cler picked me up, and we drove to Rob's house were we had lunch of soup with Rob, Steve and (female-)Sam. It was impressive for guy-cooking. Then Steve brought out his whip and cracked it and we all had to study. It was pretty intense. I got a lot more of my essay done (had the score this time). Then people left... and me and Rob made a dash to the shops to buy some little things... then we started cooking... and people came over! We had dinner and chatted and watched "This is Spinal Tap." It was a fun night... and here is where it gets messy...
Friday. Woke up... quickly wrote the conclusion to my essay which put me within the word limit (yes!) and did a quick edit. Then I had to photocopy score examples and cut and paste them into my essay, then photocopy that, then label them. Then I did the footnoting. I HATE FOOTNOTES!!! I had never done footnoting before... so I got this "how to footnote" guide from the library... and it was pretty clear and easy to understand. But it took such a long long time to get all the references in. I had to run (literally) to the train station to catch the train I needed to catch. I was doing the bibliography on the train and the bus... right up until I got to the main walkway of uni. And even then the assignment wasn't finished... cuz I had to now print off the bibliography... and then I had to put together the listening examples. So my assignment got in 20mins late... I'm still pondering whether I should have just left it to Monday... I can vouch that I didn't do a good job on the assignment on a whole. And after I handed in the assignment and was halfway home... I realised that I had forgot to put on the running word count. GRAWH! I emailed my lecturer to tell him the word count. I just hope I pass this course and wont have to redo it... and that I wont have to resubmit the assignment because that would suck!

I got home just on 6:45... ate dinner quickly, and then went to Thornleigh Baps because they were holding this youth event. It was a weird event. There was all this wussy rock music, and the band were saying "we're all here to worship God" yet none of us knew any of the songs... and the song leaders weren't leading the singing... they were swaying. Then there was a gospel talk... it started with a very very very long story... which was hard to follow... and it didn't help that the speaker had a "70s porno mo" (yes... he called it that). Then when he came to the crunch point... yes... in our leader feedback none of us could agree on what the actual main point was. And I'm not too sure if it was actually sound...

On Saturday I went to Erin's house with Rob and other arts/colleges people to say farewell to Elsie (although no one said farewell... and she was late... and she happily read the newspaper in the corner as we all socialised with each other). Erin and Hayley put on a very very nice spread of food. And we were all stuffed... I didn't need lunch. The weather was nice too.

I'm glad that the weather is looking nicer now. I got to go for a walk today, and hang out the washing... and it was nice to get some sun. Tomorrow is me and Rob's 2 month anniversary. He's got something planned for Wednesday... but I'm not exactly sure what. Should be good :)

From Car-O-Line

who would have thought???

Cash Advance Loans

to do:

just a quick blog to say that i am now free of uni for this year... and i need to blog about:

-studying with Cler, Rob, Steve and Sam
-the drama of my last assignment
-back 2 basics youth event thing
-elsie's brunch


From Car-O-Line

i am alive

please forgive me for neglecting you - my beautiful blog. I do still love you. Although I didn't realise that I still loved you. It was only until I commented back on my post 2 posts ago that my excitement of blogging and it's usefulness in procrastination was revitalised in my mind. Oh and I can write really long sentences which make no sense to anyone but me and my blog will love me for it. oh what a wonderful blog.

so....

yesterday was my last day at uni for the year! (officially... I still have to trek in next friday to hand in an assignment). So I can waste time now! or maybe not quite yet. Gotta write this essay first... but then it'll be holidays. YAY!!! Here are my holiday plans:

-make a bag
-make a dress/skirt
-finish reading "disciplines of a godly woman"
-finish reading "nothing in my hand I bring"
-read either "knowing God" or "decision making and the will of God" (or both... depending on how reading excited I get)
-finish reading my "Bible in a year" (which I was supposed to finish last year... I'm halfway through december at the moment)
-hang out with Rob
-get into a good sleep pattern
-clean my room
-get a filing cabinet for my bountiful amounts of teaching resources
-cut pizzas
-drink tea
-have a bbq
-meet with friends
-go away with friends
-go away with family
-blog about everything

So there you have it.... my "Holiday Blogging" series. Hope you will get excited about it.

I'll also be going to Bourke for this school visit thing.. so I should blog about that too. And there is also NTE (definitely blog-worthy).

From Car-O-Line

p.s: Elsie... this blog was for you :)

Hello!

I haven't blogged in a long long time (although the last time I blogged... it was a very very long blog)

This session at uni, me and Elsie have been reading Ecclesiastes together and finding that the writer is particularly depressed. Reading one chapter a fortnight has made me question if the writer should just get over himself and start looking at the positive. Yesterday at church we had a sermon on Ecclesiastes. We saw that the writer is just giving a true depiction of the world. We live in a fallen world and it isn't that nice. We then came to realise that we seem to have very high expectations of the world. We always want to gain more from it, we want excitement and new things... yet the world we live in can get quite monotonous - we wake up, go to uni, come home, sleep, wake up, go to uni, come home, sleep, etc. Turning to Romans 8:18-21, we are reminded that God has subjected us to this world, so that we have reason to hope for something better. A time when we can be with God forever. It's exciting to know that we can be in relationship with God and that he is preparing a place for us.

From Car-O-Line