Newtown, Hillsong, Lights, Wines, oh my.

It's the simple things that make me happy, really.

I woke up on Friday morning with no classes, and the burning sensation to be outside whilst it was so beautiful and warm, but I also had a deep-heart desire to bake a lovely dessert: pumpkin/ginger/chocolate brownies. So I did both. I put on my strange five-finger shoes that people often make fun of, and went on a walk to the local fruit/veg market and asian shop. The best way to go is through the Botanic Gardens, so that's what I did. Slow and steady, and stopping to do some sit-ups and core work along the way. I was just really craving it okay? Then I went into the fruit/vege shop for pumpkin, and I cannot hardly describe to you how adorable the owner was. Oh, well, luckily I took a sneaky photo of him with my iphone! He was wearing a Thomas the Train sweater, and talking about how he didn't understand technology and the need for texting n such, and this old woman and I were standing there agreeing with him. She kept getting this attitude face on, like she was gonna tell those youngsters how it ought to be, and I reminded her that I was different than everyone else and didn't need the lecture on how obnoxiously invasive and impersonal texting and cell phones are. Then I went and got some Asian snacks, which were a mystery until I opened and tried them. Everytime I buy Asian things it feels like I'm getting a surprise present, one that I really don't know about. It's so fun!

Then I came home and spent the day baking. Bliss.

Next morning, bright n early, I headed up to Sydney (again, I know, I just can't get enough of it), but this time I went up with Ellesha, Minnie, and Jordy (their lovely friend). Minnie used to live in Newtown, and Ellesha is just really freakin cool. Our first stop? Baxter Street Bakery, where there was a line looping around the street corner, and the smell of fresh bread and coffee wafting out it's front doors. We enjoyed the most amazing lattes and quiches and chocolate pastries. Oh my. Then, after I bought an alphabet stamp collection from the stationary shop nearby, we headed to Glebe Markets, which hold all of the world's vintage treasures in a mere few stalls. It was cheap and beautiful, and luckily I had little to no cash, otherwise I would have bought many unnecessary, yet treasureful things. I did, however, buy some homemade lavender lotion. And I watched some sweet street dancers. And took a-many photos of random passer-byers.

After that, we went to the mainstreet of Newtown, and perused through a few vintage shops, whilst dancing to 80s music, trying on big red top hats, ballrooming in a record shop, and eating strawberry/watermelon/rose-cream cake. Then we parted ways, and I went to go meet my beautiful friend, Fyona, to go to Hillsong Church, while the girls headed home.

Hillsong was beautiful, the music was amazing, and the message was powerful. There was a guest speaker, by the name of Ray somethin-or-other, from Wales so he had the cutest accent (in an old-man-cute kinda way). I felt pretty shook up, spiritually-- like I know that God is really pushing me to the limits of my faith in Him. And I'm so pumped about it! Just gotta stand firm, even when the battle seems an improbable one.

After church, we went to The Rocks by the Sydney Harbour, which is one of the oldest areas in Australia. Lots of cobblestone roads, tiny alleyways, old buildings. Love it! Annnd there just so happened to be this Vivid Light show going on as well. So we wandered around twinkling, dancing, flashing, and burning lights, while enjoying some Asian Noodles and tea. We walked across the Harbour Bridge, as it is completely necessary to do, as a tourist and as one who appreciates the simple things in life. It was a beautiful evening with a beautiful date! Who needs a man? haha

Next day, Sunday, I actually went on another date though... an early-morning date with Jesus at Diggies Breakfast Cafe. Ordered my soy latte and a poached pear/fruitcake/homemade muesli meal. Fannntastic. And read Isaiah 35-37, which just really knocked me off my feet, as God confirmed that I can and should trust in Him. Okay okay! Then I went to church, and heard nearly the same message, just with different scripture again. Yep, Someone's trying to teach me a lil somethin, ey? hehe it was a wonderful day.

Fast forward a few days to Tuesday...
I went wine-tasting through the south coast countryside of New South Wales with the lovely, Sally Guest! It was raining, but a really nice, cozy, warmish kinda rain that makes you want to cuddle up by a fire and.. well, drink wine. Which is basically what we did, just at numerous places. All of the winery owners were so friendly, they made us feel like a part of the family. And there wasn't anyone else there when we were tasting, so it felt like our own little tour. I've never tasted so many amazing wines before. All so unique! And I could tell that these wine-makers were all truly passionate about their wine, which was beautiful and made me love them all the more. I think that I've determined that Cabernet Sauvignon are my favorite, but I also found a Chardonney that I really liked and this wine called 'Squid Ink' which was suuuuper intense, dark, bold, red, and heavy in alcohol, but would be real yummy with a comfort meal. My favorite wine that I got was called a Chaumbourcin, and it smells and taste of winter and comfort... hints of vanilla, oak, licorice, chocolate, spices, and cherries. Yumm! I'm gonna bring it to our camping trip this weekend.

Yeah, the day was so fun! I loved the rain, and I mostly loved the wonderful company of being with Sally. And I loved meeting the husky named Cody, seeing chickens greeting us to Two Figs Winery, being asked about our love lives by John from Silos, enjoying an amazing spinach quiche at Hedgehogs, and driving through rolling, richly green hills. Country, I love country.

I can confidently say that I am content and so thankful.

Mini-Surpises, Artsy-Craftsy, and Aquarium-Fantastico Galore!

Man, how good is God? I seriously have the most lovely friends out here, and I really really don't want to leave them in a few weeks. I've been really enjoying all of the surprises during my uni week, that make it not seem so uni-esque. Such as: watching Angry Boys with cuppa and stellar friends, mixed with random dance escapades in the living room. Doing gymnastics in my Biomechanics lab. Waking up for a sunrise walk at the beach paired with a latte bowl at Diggies Cafe with two fantastic chics. Catching up with friends and family via the wonderful technology of Skype. Sitting down to enjoy a cuppa with a beautiful new red-headed friend, amidst both of our intense study times. Wandering past Unibar only to hear the sound of John Mayer with the face of stranger, and then proceeding to enjoy a brew with my lovely pals and a game of pool as well. Relearning how to draw faces. Doing a yoga class again. Etcetera.

Anyways, you get the gist. Really good stuff. Just nice. God is lovely, all the time, in unexpected ways. I love Him.

Over the past weekend, too, we (Des, Holly, Jack, and I) took a slightly spontaneous trip up to Sydney (again, I know..) We went to this incredibly artistic and crafty market called Finders Keepers, in Newtown (my favorite place in Sydney thus far). Everyone was soooo cool-looking. It's hipster, but cooler. I mean, there were handmade mustaches out of yarn, stitchable tea towels, rings that had miniature cakes atop of them, homemade coloring books, and heaps of other beautiful things that inspired me to want to be more artistic. I was so mesmerized by how creative God had made all of these individuals, and so glad to see that they had an outlet for it, to sell their goodies to others who would really appreciate it.

After that, we trained it back to Darling Harbour and found our way to the Harbour Aquarium. Bought a coffee and sat on the dock to rejuvenate our sore feet, and then ventured indoors to the wonderful world of sea creatures. I could seriously sit and watch a lobster move its clampers around for hours. Or watch a jellyfish bob around. Or, or or... WOW I just love it all so much! I could almost hear David Attenborough speaking his soothing Planet Earth voice in my ear as I gazed through glass at these spectacular specimens. Once again, God is just sooo creative, isn't He? I mean.. upside-down jellyfish? Cuddle-fish? Dugongs? Seahorses? Fluorescent coral? Duuuude! Ridiculous. My mind/heart was blown.

Afterwards, we went out to dinner at a semi-fancy place on the harbour and we all got some sort of fishy food in honor of our Aquarium experience. Then we headed out to the train station and got majorly distracted by Chinatown, and more importantly, by Morning Glory, the most intense Asian-stationary shop ever. It was a really good trip to Sydney, and we all just had so much fun together. Aww boo I'm gonna miss them! (But I'm excited to be home too, no worries, friends).

cruising through Sydney

Mmk, so even though uni work has been feeling quite a bit heavier recently, there's always still time for fun. I am on vacation after all ;)

This past weekend I was invited to go on a night cruise around Sydney Harbour, and it was absolutely superb! We got all fancied up in our black dresses and heels; the cruise had a live band on it called Kinetic Method, and they rocked! One of the guys in the band had a shirt that would light up in response to sound... the girls found that quite amusing ;) At one point, there was even an electric didgeridoo was being played to a dance beat. Wicked. Goodness, we danced soooo much. And although it's been getting much chillier here, it was actually a very decent night, so we went up to the top deck as we passed by the Sydney Opera House and ducked under Harbour Bridge. Sometimes I'm still really surprised that I'm actually in Australia when I see things like that. We "stole" the captain's hat for a good hour and had way too much fun pretending to be in charge of the boat. I felt a bit queasy after we got off of the boat, but the night was lovely still.

The next day, I trained it up to essentially this same exact spot in Sydney, but this time I went to the Capital Theater to see Mary Poppins, the Musical! Aw it was sooo cute. We began our night at Max Brenner's Chocolate Shop (mandatory) and then went off to the show. We got cheap tickets in the second-to-last row but it was still plenty good enough to see the magical duffel, flying kites, rooftop sweep dancing, and much much more fantastical things. Overall, I would say the show was quite supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. We left the theater dancing and singing. I'm pretty sure I did more than a few balletic leaps across pedestrian walkways, and maybe even jumped off of a bench or two in the park, whilst spinning and heal-clicking in front of a "Jesus Saves" homeless aid van. It was a very good night.

buttons, bonfires, and billy tea

Despite the fact that I have been immensely neglectful towards my lovely blog, I truly have still been engaging in a few fantastical adventures over here in AussieLand.

For instance, the weekend just after getting back from New Zealand, I took the train up to Sydney, and then to the Newtown district, and then I proceeded to go a-meandering around that oasis of artsy-happiness for hours before meeting up with my friends later at Hillsong Church, downtown Sydney. I seriously love Newtown. It was a bit drizzly and a bit chilly, but nothing could take away the charm. There were more vintage shops than I could count on two hands and two feets. I found a shop completely dedicated to buttons! (And I bought a few spunky ones, but I have no idea what I shall do with them... they were just too cute to pass up). There was even a coffeshop/yarnshop... I always knew that coffee and knitting was a good combo. My favorite part of all, though, was the plethora of bookshops. I spent a majority of my time sifting through stationary, magazines, journals, travel books, fairy tales, C.S. Lewis, and postcards in a random few local bookshops. And then I sat and half people-watched, half-read for a while. I had lunch at a place called the OrganicPomegranate. And a nice coffee at a street-corner cafe where I had the privilege of people-watching some more. Oh, and speaking of consuming things, I also had the loveliest cake: date, fig, frangipani (yes, the flower), and pistachio. Wow. And I really didn't buy much of anything, besides those dang cute buttons and food and postcards (and a few other things that need not be mentioned). Overall, my day was amazing and simple. Going to Hillsong Church that night was pretty intense: I felt like I was at a concert! The music was just like the CDs that so many of us have. But the fact that I felt like I was at a concert was a bit strange still. Regardless, the Message was Good. Afterwards, they had an "after-party" for all the twenty-somethings, which involved going to a loft apartment in the city, where there were live bands, the Royal Wedding on a big screen, red wine (I accidentally bumped a guy while I was dancing and spilled all over his "vintage" shirt, which probably cost him way too much money anyway), and heaps of dancing. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 that night, and I felt like a regular crazy-kid.

The night after, a group of pals and I were planning on going fishing, but due to some drizzling rain, we ended up getting coffee, thai, and a fire. By the fire I mean this: Kate and I wanted to do something "local", so Jono and Nate devised a plan to head to an abandoned military barracks on the shoreline. Soon after slowly enjoying our delicious thai and wine, we headed out, with the added company of Hannah and Ming. The tunnel was soooo dark, and there may or may not have been bats hanging from the ceilings and a man with a chainsaw in one of the open, dark doors. We made it through to the other side, where we were situated above the beach, and the manly men built us a fire. We made "billy tea" which involves the use of a metal tea kettle (the billy), and your average black tea, plus heaps of milk and sugar. The night-sky was bright with stars, and the air wasn't too cold (the fire helped). The fellowship of those friends was (and is) just such a gift. Once again, I didn't get to bed until about 4, because we were all in a bubble where time seemed to not exist. Church the next morning felt really really early (but it was worth waking up for).

And then a week filled with school... (my assignments are finally taking time out of my "vacation"... weird)

The next weekend, I rode 40k (24.8 miles) in an awesome event called Ride Around the Lake (which went around Lake Illawara). The ride was put on by my church, Lighthouse, but involved heaps of people from the community. The ride was all about raising money for the homeless youth of the area (there's a surprisingly huge amount), and all the funds raised are to be used for building a new house for more youth! Yay, how cool! It was a crisp, beautiful morning, and I didn't fall off my bike once (quite an accomplishment, especially since I trapped my waterbottle in my wheel at one point). My lovely friend, Sally, was with me most of the day, we enjoyed yummy spinach and feta pies by the lake, soaking up the sun, as the event wrapped up.

That night, another bonfire was underway: this time it was on the beach, the fire was much bigger, and the flames were usually cooking some form of meat that the men were putting into it. I daresay, that if I were trapped on a desert island, I would take one of them with me, and I'm fairly certain that we would survive, and eat really well in the process. I tried roasting "marshmellows" but they don't have the same kind of mellows that we have in America, and it just was not the same. Instead, we had many melted caramels, and more billy tea. Walking on the beach at night with hefty waves is one of my new favorite things. I felt God's power so much in that setting, and heard His Voice, so soft and true.

Church the next day was Mother's Day (I certainly missed Momma Gough). My face was used as the face of motherhood though, so that was pretty entertaining. A photo of me was posted on the advertisement for the Mother's Day service, and it was called "You're Amazing". I literally walked around church all day, just looking at myself and having all of the posters tell me that I'm amazing. Needless to say, my self-confidence was pretty high that day. And don't judge me for my mirror-shot. It was all too necessary, I'm sure you understand.

and then I had a week of uni, once again...

It may seem, at this point, that I have been living for the weekends. But alas, my weeks have been filled with more that just classes. Everyday is filled with surprising moments and bits of adventure in and of themselves. I just don't want to bore you, so I shall refrain from spilling all (plus, many of the little adventures should remain as mine and God's to keep and treasure).

School is requiring heaps more of my time, though, since it's all coming to an end (so. many. essays.). Gosh, I cannot believe how quickly time has been flying by. I hope I don't look back and think of it all as a dream. Luckily I have too many life-long friends to be able to think that. And the weather has dropped like ten degrees in the past week. Winter is coming! Luckily, it'll be the heat of summer when I get home. I get to snuggle up for about a month and then I can whip out that swimsuit again!

More updates to come, thanks for checking in :)

adventures in New Zealand

helloooo dear friends! so, after much thought about how i would record my new zealand adventures on my blog, i decided to do virtually nothing, and just take pictures of the journal that i used while in new zealand.

by now, you may have completely lost all interest in the fact that i was in new zealand, but, well, it mattered to me, so i'm posting it up here anyways! i must apologize for the fact that i have the tiniest handwriting in the world, and that a lot of my writing time was spent whilst in our tiny car which led to very sloppy looking words.

anyhoo, take from this what you wish! i wouldn't expect anyone to read it all, but if you read a bit of it, it'll give ya some highlights.

otherwise, just make a date with me via skype. i'd like that :) and there's heaps of pictures up on my facebook to go along with these stories.

enjoi.