Its Good to be Back!

Jesse

I’ve been back in Brisbane since the 13th of August and have been keeping busy doing a lot of different things.  I have been very blessed to have so many places to stay.  For the most part I am staying with a family from my church until the end of December.  They have even set up a room for me to have my own space and unpack my bags and hang my clothes up, what a treat!  Its has been fun getting to know Mike and Lee and their 4 month old Jesse.  He is quite a delight to be around and to watch grow up.  His little voice brightens my day!

I have been able to work every weekend since I’ve been back in town.  I am working for a catering company that has booths set up at different events all over the Brisbane area.  I’ve mainly been working as a cashier at races and rugby matches.  I’ve gotten to see a lot of interesting things and people at these different events, but more importantly, I am able to make some money to support me the rest of my time in Australia and beyond!  I have a job with another company that I will be working for 6 days next month at Oktoberfest.  Yet another place to see interesting things and people!  I will be selling drink tickets...I'll let you know how that goes.

I have been keeping pretty busy catching up with friends over lunches, dinners, coffee and tea, helping out friends when and how ever I can, babysitting, cleaning, cutting my hair, photo snappin' around Brisbane , enjoying local art exhibits and spring festivals,  trip planning, trying to get back into a regular running routine to stay fit and of course working when I can. That's right, I chopped off all my hair!  I've always wanted to see what I look like with super short hair and thought this would be a good time to do it.  My hair was already short and I wanted to keep it that way, so I figured this way t would be short for a long time...and I wouldn't have to get it cut for a long time as well, double bonus.

Riverfire

One night after work I got to see the most amazing display of fireworks I have ever seen!  It was on the river, as Brisbane City has a river winding right through it.  One of my friends had an amazing spot right in front of the Story Bridge, which made for an awesome place to catch heaps of good photos.  I will show...one :)

I am also slowly preparing for my trip to the Thailand-Burma border, getting shots, studying the culture and trying to interact with some of the Karen refugees right here in Brisbane.  One night I had the opportunity to help some Karen kids out with their homework.  It was a pretty fun night, the kids are just lovely.  Easy to love, easy to love.  From what I hear, its pretty easy to fall in love at the border as well.  The Karen people are such a loving, gentle people and always positive and smiling even though they have nothing and have been through so much.  I am excited to go and help out and share the life God has given me with these people in January. 

For the next two weeks I am staying with one of my friends, Linda whose roommates, Rachel & Lauren are out of town.  Rachel has been so kind to let me stay in her room and use anything I need, including her car.  This is a huge blessing!  I have been having a bit of a hard time the past week or so, feeling as though my independence has been stolen a bit.  Its really hard and uncomfortable sometimes to rely on other people for rides when you have been able to do it yourself for so many years.  Its humbling really.  So it has been nice to be able to have my own ride for a little while :)  Its also fun staying with Linda, she is such a bubbly delight!

Its been rainy for the past couple of days, so I haven’t done a whole lot or felt like doing much.  But I have been able to catch up on my blogs and add pictures to them and fun stuff like that. 

As for future plans down here.  I was hoping to go to Tasmania at the end of October, but decided to cancel that trip due to a lack of funds.  I am still going to try to plan on going to New Zealand in the middle of November for about 3 weeks, but we will see how much work I am able to get before then.  I still have to pay for my trip to Thailand as well.  I’m sure everything will work out just fine though.  I think from the middle of November until February are going to be pretty crazy months for me.  I’m looking forward to coming back to the States, but I think its going to be a very emotional time, so please be keep me in your prayers and be prepared to extend many a bear hugs to me :)

That’s it for now.  I will try to check in next month to let you know what all is going on down here.