Twinkle Twinkle

Star gazing has always interested me. I especially like closer views of heavenly bodies. This weekend looks like the time to see them!

Mars will be making a pass of earth coming a mere 43.1 million miles away. (everybody wave at the martians!)

Now doesn't this pic look like a jack-o-lattern?

Where am I??!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life....or at least I think that is how the quote goes.

today I found out that the visa I wanted to apply for, I am (yet again) unable to apply for. Thus, I am frustrated. I am not sure how to get back to my home. I just want to come home. Why can't the Australian government SEE that!!!

damn terrorist paranoia!

wedding moments

Over the weekend, my sis came to visit. Being that my mum is a very driven person, she decided that even though becky would only be available for one day of shopping, we would spend that day searching for brides maid dresses for becky (as well as luggage for her 2 international trips next year). As many times happens when brides maid dresses are being considered, we went to bridal stores.

I was asked at every one, "are you the bride?"

"Yes" i replied kindly.

"Are you excited?" they would ask.

It is at this point i'm not quite sure how to respond. i mean, the obvious answer isn't the right one, because if it was, they won't have asked the question. so i pondered over which response to make:

"no. its an arranged marriage. i've never met the man."

"not really. my last 3 wedding weren't that exciting either".

"My father sold me to a man for three magic beans, so a wedding isn't as exciting as the beans"

"Yes, but i expect the wedding night to be a real drag!"

What was I thinking?

I've agreed to help my mother by doing some relief teaching for her. While I find the job easy, you will not find me doing this long term. Somehow the idea of spending more than a week with grades 3 & 4 sends chills down my spine (and not in a good way!).

I must congratulate my mother. She has taught these children VERY well. They listen, obey, and think through problems. I'm so proud of them.

Yesterday they started learning about Australia. The books that are available to them seem to portray that NZ and OZ are the same country. One little girl said to me, "I know how to say war dance in Australian. Haka!"

Turn your knob to BOB

As I desperately try to figure out what radio stations play decent music around here (aka ANYTHING besides country) I came across BOB FM. It has a slogan that nearly caused me to run my car into a tree when I heard it.

"Turn your knob to bob!"

Now that phrase may not cause much of stir for Americans but for anyone who has been outside the USA and heard the word "knob" used for parts of the male anatomy, you can imagine my disbelief when I heard it! I couldn't stop laughing!

Sigh...the price you pay for having a slightly different vocab.

Maryhill Museum of art

Who would have believed that a beautiful place like this is nessled in the bleak plains of Washington/Oregon? This is an art museum. A beautiful place!

Here i saw a plethera of Chess sets from all over the world and throughout many different time periods.

I found beautiful carvings/busts/ and paintings that all made me wish i could create great works of art.

Art from Native American Indians were on display, as were historical pieces from Sam Hill, an inventor and thinker in the 1800s. Facinating stuff.

Mini dresses

I definately didn't intend to set off the alarm, but i did. Maryhill museum of art has a collection called theatre de la mode. It features dresses by french designers right after WWII. Very facinating. All the dresses were sewn to fit a miniature doll (see above doll). The buyers would choose their dress after looking at the miniature and the dress would be ordered. This saved on fabric, something that was not readily available.

Now how did i set off the museum alarm?? Simple. By reaching out and touching the hem of the dress of one of the dolls. OOPs! the security guard appeared immediately and shook his finger at me.

"I'm so sorry" i said pitifully. "i wasn't thinking!"

uh DUUUH!

i felt so stupid! It didn't help that the security guard, my mother, AND her friend all were laughing at me.

Born into Brothels

Born into Brothels is a documentary by Zana Briski. It depicts the lives of a few calcutta children who have been born into brothels. Zana teaches these children to take photos. She gives them cameras. She tries to get them out of the brothels and into schools.

It is a powerful story that really moved me. I love how these children see their lives change and are grateful.

It is my hope that i will not only be grateful to the people who have positively changed my life, but also be willing to help change the lives of others for the better.

QUOTE

Over the past weekend i saw old friends and met a few new ones. The best quote of the weekend, though was Jodi's. She saw that her flatmate (who is mildly allergic to nuts) had eaten a chocolate that contained walnuts. Her immediate question was:

"Are you going to die??!!"

Blah blah blah wedding

I think i should change the name of the blog from "where is the justice?" to "where is the wedding?" For some reason my whole world seems to be turned upside down trying to figure out what colour is best for a wedding! oi!

But i thought i would ask a question of my dear readers...

Chris and i have not yet decided on where to have our wedding. we know we want it near Cooranbong so our college friends can come...we also know we DON"T want it in college church...Thus we are stuck trying to decide where we are going to have it. Jillian suggested we have it in the stone chapel at the asylum. "It has a lovely view of the water and kangaroos!"

She's right. it is a lovely view. Beautiful place too...but an asylum???

Any ideas guys?

More Wedding ARG

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Adele brought up an interesting delema. What do we have for music? Finding "just the right music" is hard! how do i know it is "right"? Do we only pick songs we like? cause if we do, we probably won't have many love songs. (sadly, there aren't many i like)

Do we pick the best of the love songs? We we use old or new? oi...i wish chris was here...(or i was there) and we could do this more smoothly...as a team. This sending stuff back and forth is proving to be a real pain.

ARG!

Weddings. they are of the devil. I've only been working on mine for a couple of weeks and already i feel frustrated at them! Lets start with the wedding dress:

Do i want white? off white? white with a pattern?

What colour of white should the bridesmaides where?

Should i order the fabric online or from the store?

Should i order the trim for the dresses now or later?

Should the capes be velvet or satin or just some cheap black fabric?

What sizes should i make the capes?

Should i use the accent colour on the capes?

should i use our accent colour on the dress?

Should i request that the bridesmaides dresses have a hint of the accent colour???

Should they carry flowers or something else?

Should i carry flowers or something else?

And just think...i haven't even gotten to the colour of the table clothes yet:P

Weather Pixies

Just in case anyone is wondering about the differences in the weather pixies, here is what's new with them.

The one on the left still depicts the weather for the Sydney Australia area. The pixie on the right depicts the weather for the Salem, Oregon (USA) area.

Not that I expect anyone to really care, but I wanted to be able to get the weather for both my homes at once.

wedding...

Okay, i've found the PERFECT wedding dress. It is in the form of a pattern. Yes, that is right, i'm making my own wedding dress. This is turning into a real pain in the a$$! Let me give an example.

I go into a fabric store and ask the lady at the counter about a specific fabric. She gives me a blank stare. i re-word the question, "Will this fabric be warm in winter?"

"This is wedding material, dear." she says.

"yes," i reply. "I'm getting married."

"Oh, your getting married in December?" she seems pleased with herself to have guessed my date.

"Um, no. July." I reply.

and we're back to the blank stare.

i'm so proud!

I was chatting to my mum about different places to shop around the area. She told me that Wal-Mart was around but she refused to shop there cause they abused their workers!

I think i must be having some sort of an influence! She is boycotting a company that doesn't support her values! SHE CARES! i feel so proud of her!

Well, my work here is done;)

We need to talk

Okay leaving australia was terrible. One of the hardest things i've ever had to do. But they say that with every cloud comes a silver lining. my silver lining came in the form of Chris. (no he didn't come with me to the USA)

At the airport just before i was ready to start down that long coridor to the security check and further on, the plane, Chris pulled to a quiet cornor of the airport. (surprisingly, there was one!)

"this will do" he said.

He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I (of COURSE!) said yes.

So now that i'm here in the USA i'm working with mum to make a wedding dress (which is going to be AWESOM!) and counting the days until i can return.

(Note to adele: just cause we're getting married doesn't mean that i get into the country any easier) sigh....

The Flight of Kristin

Well i finally booked my ticket today. It was a painful process. 3 hours of working to find an afordable ticket and figure out how to pay for it. oi!

well, now that it is booked i can report that i will be officially leaving the country on 22 September 2005 at 11:30 am.

The bad news (as if the previous news wasn't bad enough) is the flight itself. for 10 hours i will fly to China. Once i get there i'll have a five hour layover then fly again for 11 hours to that states. Once i reach the states i'll have a couple hour layover in San Fran then spend another 3 hours on a plane to Oregon. (will some one PLEASE shoot me?!)

sadly, this is the better of the two flights i've booked. The return flight is a REAL nightmare. well, maybe not cause i'll have something like 16 hours to get out of the plane, walk around the city...yeah, that i will be nice. I'll get another stamp on my passport!

Isn't life wierd?

Today i woke up early. I didn't recognise the room i was staying in. Probably because i'm at Avondale for the weekend.

I woke up thinking about this trip back to the states.

Will i find work?

Will i be able to further my career?

How much will distance from Chris hurt?

What will my relationship with my Aussie friends be like when i come back?

Is this the best thing for me?

Is this the best thing for my friends?

Is this the best thing for Chris?

There are so many questions. Not enough answers. but life's like that really. (Or maybe its just my life) Lots of questions not many answers. At least not many answers until you ablsolutely need them.

I'll miss it here.

Thank you!

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers. While it doesn't appear that i'll be able to stay in Australia, i do have peace with my decision.

You probably all want to know what that decision is...so here it is... (insert trumpets)

I'm going back to the USA for a few months. I hope to be able to return in a few months time to a job that offers sponsorship. If not well...maybe chris can sponsor me (wink wink)

We considered going to New Zealand (thanks Ben for the offer!) but we decided it would be too expensive to do that for as long as would be required.

I'll miss australia more than words can convey, but i am looking forward to seeing family and old friends again.

Thank you again for your prayers. It is the only thing getting me through this.

Now what??

I opened my mail today to find a letter from the immigration department. I have been refused a visa for further stay in australia.

Now what?

I feel like my heart has been jumped on from a huge height. Who knew i was so in love with a country that detains immigrents in a jailcell??

I could try and fight this...but...can i? i'm not sure i have any options left except to leave.

i need wisdom. Quick everybody PRAY!

i just want to know what to do next...