Transitions

I recently read an article about niche construction and how many species adapt to the environment around them, or they relocate to an environment more appropriate for their characteristics. It got me thinking...am I adapting or relocating? In a sense - both. When I left Australia in 2009 I felt like I was leaving my true home in a sense. After a long time of traveling around I had finally found a place where I wanted to call my permanent home. Don't get me wrong, Utah, Oregon, and even Florida will always be other homes to me, but it's not the same. I feel as if I relocated to where my personality and other characteristics fit in with my environment. However, there is some adaptation necessary as well. Australia doesn't have sink disposals, many people don't have dryers, I don't have a dishwasher, and some of my favorite things just don't exist here. Nevertheless, I am eager to adapt and try to fit in.

I am now living at the Catholic place I mentioned last week. It's like living in a hotel, and I don't have much desire to cook really. Although it has some flaws, it is a great quiet place to focus primarily on my studies. Unfortunately since I still don't have my financial aid money I am still missing some useful room essentials like a comforter, fan, rubbish bin (trash can), and other related items that didn't come with the room. Hopefully in the next week I will be able to do that. The grocery store is just up the street so I only get whatever I am willing to carry back with me. I was very sad that they don't make my favorite cookies and cream Tim Tam's anymore. I think I have found some replacements however.

The rest of this last week had been mostly moving and getting settled into the new place. I went to church on Sunday at the Greenwich ward where my friend Pete Anderson goes. I'm on the borderline of two wards and Pete convinced me to try his ward. When I got there he had already set up a meeting for me to get my records moved there. It is an extremely multi-cultural ward with many Chinese converts, US couples, New Zealanders, and more. Everyone was very nice, but I was kind of sad that I didn't know more people. Once you get married it just seems weird to spend time with others not married or at least in serious relationships. The only exceptions are those that you have known for a long time. I'm spouseless for the time being and so I struggle to make new friends because my other half is missing.

Yesterday was my first day of classes and it was a crazy day! I was at the Uni from 8:30 am to 5 pm. I'm taking four classes, but two of them (Biology classes) have unusual time schedules.The Biology department had inductions (introductions) for both of those classes on Monday from 9-1 so I had to miss my first Statistics lecture at 12pm. Luckily in Australia it is really common to have iLectures where the audio for the lesson is recorded with the slides so you can basically watch the whole lesson later. Also, by missing the lecture I was able to get some lunch and buy one of my course books. The campus was absolutely crazy though! This week is O Week which means there are booths for loads of clubs and groups all over, music, free food, and activities going on. I walked around and took some pictures of some interesting groups I found. It was supposed to rain all week, but instead it was boiling hot! I talked to the LDS missionaries booth and they had stopped walking around because it was so hot. Despite getting really sweaty, I didn't mind the heat that much - I'm just happy to see the sun!

Later I had my final Masters of Research (MRes) class and then another Biology introduction. They had beer and pizza for this last discussion about postgraduate study. Although the pizza was dominoes I was sad that they have such thin crust pizzas unlike my favorite thick crust I get in the US. It was odd to be in an environment where professors and students alike were drinking beer (I had juice), and my teachers swear a lot, but it's what happens. Even members swear here because they have a different set of words that are considered swearing here.  We discussed the differences between undergrad and postgrad studies. Nothing was really surprising, but it is kind of depressing to talk about how bored, frustrated, and desperate you will get during your studies.

This is the beginning of my transition. The transition to Australia, postgraduate studies, being without my husband, and big changes. I can't possibly express my emotions right now with everything, but as I have a huge pile of research papers and book chapters to read for homework I don't have time to stress. I'm positive this year will be extremely difficult for me to adjust to a whole new way of school, but I am ready for the challenge. There is a lot of pressure to get 80% and above in all my classes because if I don't, I lose my scholarship, I may not be able to continue the program, and ultimately I won't qualify to do my PhD. What can I do, but the best I can? I am hopeful.

Dreams Come True...Eventually

If you haven't heard, I have officially moved to Australia!! Sometimes you just need to wait a long time for things to work out.

So here's what happened....Monday February 12th I heard about my financial aid where I learned I was going to get enough federal loans to cover all my tuition and living - Yeah! I finally didn't have to worry that I would arrive and be sent back due to lack of funds. Nevertheless, the Visa had still not come. Tuesday I had a mental breakdown because I was so tired of waiting, and I knew I was going to miss orientation on Friday! I stayed up late that night after I had calmed down, read my patriarchal blessing and some scriptures. I prayed to my Heavenly Father letting him know that I would wait as long as I had to, but I also knew if He chose - I could get my Visa the next day. Well, my prayer was heard because the next day I DID get my Visa (which is just an e-mail with a number in it by the way). I booked a flight for the next day and spent the rest of the time making sure I had everything packed and ready.

Valentine's day began with an early drive to the airport where Matt slept most of the time and I left to Honolulu. I had a 21 hour overnight layover there and no place to stay. Due to the holiday there were hardly any hotels open unless it was around $700 or more a night, and I tried to contact bishops in the area but they didn't answer. I figured since they would keep my checked bags I could wander around and sleep there if I had to. When I arrived I was thinking maybe I would get a rental and sleep in that - especially when I discovered I would have to take my bags and check them in the following day. Meanwhile my mom had been worried sick about my layover and after calling many local members without reaching any, she finally found someone that could pick me up from the airport. Just after that she got a return call from Bishop Black who said he had a couch I could sleep on. Soon after I arrived I saw the message from my mom and was picked up from the airport and had a great place to sleep! The Blacks were great and Debbie took me to a lookout so I could see a little of Honolulu. It was a relaxing day and I was really grateful for a good place to sleep before my 10 hr flight the next day.

Honolulu, HI Lookout

When I got to Sydney I had to lug my luggage to the trains so I could meet up with Brock Butler in Parramatta. The first train I got some help to get my luggage on the train, but the connection was more tricky. They told me to take a certain train that I could get access to by the lift (elevator). A guard helped me from there to the train, and then the guard on the train helped me get the bags off before the train left again. It was a long trip, but I made it to Parramatta! I got to meet Katelyn Butler (Brock's wife), and they are such an awesome couple!

Sunday we had stake conference so I got to see a lot more familiar faces. A lot has changed in 3 years since I was last here, but I'm glad to see people still remember me! Monday I went out to try and get things done. I was able to get a phone plan with unlimited talk and text and 4GB data for $40, although it took a couple stores to find one with a nano sim card for the iPhone 5. I did some things at the Uni (short for university) and was able to go look at a potential place to stay. The shared house was large, but had some major flaws...although the woman didn't allow partying, there were huge stains all over the carpet, and some areas of the house you had to go through a room to get to a bathroom, and to top it all off...there are 8 people in that house with only 3 bathrooms! Needless to say it made me quite weary of the Macquarie listings with many bedrooms. Later I had another appointment to look at a different house, but my phone was dead. So I had to go buy a USB cable and a plug with a USB outlet. I had to ask a woman at the library for scissors to open the container, then charge it before I could finally get enough battery to call the next house. Go figure, she was already showing it to some others and said she'd call me back. I ended up just going home since I had walked so much that day and my legs were aching. When I got home we left to go to couples FHE with Gideon and Clarissa who were recently married in December. It was a great way to end a tiring day.

Today I had an orientation for International MRes/PhD students. It was boring, but I learned a few things. I apparently need to get an Australian bank account so they can get me the money from my scholarship. As I was leaving a girl came up to me because she noticed I raised my hand that I was looking for a place to stay. I went to visit the place and it's actually a Catholic place with a chapel and everything. They have a separate building with a hallway with four separate rooms kind of like a hotel with each having their own bathroom. At the end of the hall is the kitchen with two fridges, a washer and dryer, and a separate room with a dining table - soon to have a TV. It's $800/mth which was higher than some others I was looking at, but it's just down the street from Uni, right next to a bus stop, and I really liked that they had a dryer and your own bathroom. I have to wait till tomorrow to see if I can do a shorter lease, but if it works out I found a place to stay! If not, I have a long day of house hunting!

I still can't believe I finally made it here, and as the director at orientation said, I was picked to be here out of thousands of applicants. I'm so grateful that the Lord has helped me to be here! Dreams really do come true, just all in the Lord's time.

Fun with Friends

Over the years I've moved quite often. I don't like to just visit places I like to experience them! So I've lived in various cities in Utah, Florida, Oregon, Namibia, and Australia. There are a few things that tend to occur right before I move somewhere. I've noticed things seem to be awesome right before I go. Sometimes I met an awesome guy, other times there were spectacular events I attended, but most of the time I was just having a blast with friends. In addition I have also seen how the Lord prepares myself and others for my departure. It's as if I suddenly realize I'm no longer needed. This is how I have felt this last week.

This week was a lot of fun times with friends. Monday we had Family Home Evening at our apartment where we watched the new Saints and Soldiers movie Airborne Creed. It was not like I expected, but it was still good. Matt and I went from never eating popcorn to suddenly wanting butter or caramel popcorn for every movie! It certainly makes a better movie night.

Tuesday Matt and I went to our tax consultant to do taxes. I had spent hours before sorting out all of our business expenses and income, and although Matt had made a lot more in 2012 we thought my Herbalife business expenses would balance it out a lot. We found out later that we owe nearly $6000 in taxes! Normally Matt always keeps money in savings to cover taxes, but we had to use everything we had to pay for deposits to go to Australia. So in the last year we went from being pretty good financially to be in more debt than we ever expected! This is easily the best timing for us to be taking the Dave Ramsey financial class.   This week's class was all about the myths about debt. For example some truths are...you don't ever need a credit card, or finance your car/house, or build up your credit score. The credit score is completely based on  debt! Here is the breakdown...35% is based on payment history, 30% is on debt level, 15% on length of history, 10% on new credit, and 10% type of credit. This does not measure how well you are doing financially at all! Now that we have more debt than ever before, we are creating detailed budgets and are going to attack our debt with full force!

Wednesday I went with Paul and Cassie to donate plasma, which turned out to be a painful experience this time. The woman kept digging around in my arm and this ended in pain even as I was pumping blood. I didn't think much of it, but I noticed after they wrapped it that it still hurt and I was definitely bruised. When I took the bandage off about 6 hours later I still bled! Not to mention it looked like I had a separate vein coming out sideways from where I was poked. Luckily it almost looks back to normal, but it is still a little bruised. When I went again on Saturday I was nervous about using my other arm, but in the end I was turned away because my blood work came back below acceptable beta levels. I'm not dying or anything, but they wanted to do another blood draw to see if the levels stay the same. I decided it wasn't worth it.

Thursday I went to Corvallis to hang out with my friends Laura and Valerie. It's great to have friends where you can just enjoy sitting around and talking. We didn't do much, but we just caught up on current events. Laura's baby is adorable, but it definitely changes dynamics of hanging out. It was a lot of fun, but I could tell that after being out of Corvallis for six months that things move on without you being a part of it. Friends will always be friends, but at the same time I think the Lord makes it easier for everyone to move on without you being a major part of things.

The weekend was crazy. I went to lunch with Paul and Cassie (had to wake them up for it) and then we went and saw Wreck-It Ralph at the dollar theater. It was a super awesome movie. When we got home, Matt was there and we had sloppy joe biscuits. Matt decided we should have a sleepover and play games and watch movies. First stop was the store and I got all the ingredients for a chocolate pretzel cheesecake with caramel on top. It was my first time making a cheesecake and will not be my last. Unfortunately I was having difficulty with the chocolate and put it on the crust before it was melty so I tried to pick the glob up and put it back in the bowl. This resulted in me severely burning three of my fingers, one was a second degree burn that blistered - yeah me. On the bright side this led to Matt having to do all the cleaning the next day because my finger couldn't touch hot water. The fun part was playing games and watching movies. To everyone's surprise I won Settlers even though I was easily most distracted by the movie Push that was playing at the same time. We also watched Hot Rod that night which I decided was kind of like Napolean Dynamite and pretty hilarious. Around 3 A.M. we finally went to bed although I struggled to sleep because my finger was throbbing like crazy since it wasn't soaking in cold water anymore. I tried baking soda, and then researched using aloe vera and toothpaste which allowed me to sleep. It must have worked because the blister was gone by Sunday.

We all slept in till about 12 P.M. and Matt and I made french toast and smoothies. Then we went to donate plasma which as I mentioned before led to me waiting about 2 hours for Paul and Cassie to finish. The day went by quick because of that and we were all surprisingly tired. Sunday I was still tired and took a lovely nap after church. Although I was hoping to hear about my Visa the whole day...the e-mail never came. So I packed a bunch of clothes and things, and will just have to wait until the Visa comes before anything else. Packing clothes was frustrating as Matt and I discovered many of my clothes don't fit right because I lost so much weight. At least I don't have to worry about more stuff I want to take! I'm just hoping I can leave by Wednesday so I can still make my first orientation! We shall see.

New Experiences

This last week was fairly uneventful. I'm still waiting to hear about my Visa. On Feb. 8th I'll have to cancel my plane ticket for the 11th if I still don't have a Visa. I now know that I have a mandatory orientation Feb 15th, but If I still can't make that I need to be there by the 23rd or I won't be able to enroll in the classes for my program. So I'm just trying to be patient. Nevertheless, I'm planning to be ready to leave a week from today just in case. I can't organize a place to stay until I get there, or at least solidly know when I will be there. Everything is still in the air!

This week was fun as I donated plasma for the first time ever! I've donated blood a lot and something about your blood going back in seemed gross and so I never wanted to try donating plasma. Some friends recommended I try it and that way I could help them earn some extra cash by referring me and I could earn some extra money by donating. I had to get up at 6 a.m. so I could eat a good meal and arrive at Talecris before they open. Finally at 7 a.m. they opened their doors and I was the only new donor there. First you have to read a booklet explaining the process and requirements to donate and what would not allow you to donate. Then you go into a screening where they test your blood pressure, pulse, blood protein levels and more that I can't remember. The screening is done each time and if you don't meet specific level requirements they might turn you away for the day or have you wait for a period of time. For example if your temperature is too high or too low (possibly due to hot or cold drinks consumed beforehand) they might just have you wait in the lobby for a time until your temperature gets in the normal range.  After that you do a medical exam and urine test with the doctor (only occurs the first time) and they ask you a bunch of questions to make sure you can donate. Some high risk behaviors that will not allow you to donate are prostitution, needles (like those used for drugs, tattoos, etc), and male to male sexual behaviors. Once you pass the medical exam you finally get to donate! They have multiple movie screens for you to watch a movie during the process (and in the lobby). The machine goes through cycles where your arm band tightens and you pump with your hand to help the blood flow and the plasma is separated from the blood, then the band loosens and blood is returned and the cycle starts over. For women you donate 690 ml which was about 4 cycles for me. When the blood goes back in it is a little bit cooler, but on the final return they include the room temperature anti-coagulant which makes me shiver like crazy as it goes back in. Finally you get a pin number to get your money out of an ATM type machine as you exit! It took me 3 hours and I earned $30! You can go every 3 days and twice in a 7 day period so I went again on Saturday which took me just over an hour to finish and I got $40! Matt went with me, but unfortunately because he uses an inhaler for his cat allergies they had to turn him away. He has to go 7 days without the inhaler to donate and with our cat that's not going to happen. Apparently donating can shorten your breath and it adds an extra risk, however a girl in the lobby left for a smoking break and she's allowed to donate - funny. Matt and I are super healthy, and he has fantastic veins and the doctor was really sad he had to turn Matt away. Naturally there are all kinds of people that go into these places and will try to lie their way through the medical, but the doctor's are quite talented at catching them in their lies. It's just sad that they have to turn away some good people too. 

Wednesday Matt and I had our next financial class which was way good. This week's lesson was about starting a zero-based budget for the month of February and to stick to it. I learned about what you do when you have an irregular income, which had been my excuse for not doing a budget for years. Also, this week's class talked about teaching your kids to save money. The age-appropriate strategies were really awesome! I'm not going to go into details, but it was a good class. Matt and I went home and made our first zero-based budget. It was hard, but we did it! Now the key is sticking to the budget! This might prove to be more difficult than planned because we didn't really know how to include Australia costs into it. Oh well. 

Yesterday was pretty awesome as we were able to go to Corvallis and see Laura Dexter's baby Liam be blessed. It was a great experience! I'm so grateful I am able to have such wonderful friends in my life, and be there for their special moments. Life is difficult, but there are so many new and wonderful experiences that the tough times are worth it.