A Series of Events

It is so easy for weeks to fly by without anyone noticing. When we spend each day or week thinking about what has happened sometimes it seems like a lot has happened, but the longer we wait to look back the less "events" we seem to remember. So here are the events of the last two weeks that I can remember. 

One of the young women that I teach from church loves anime and cosplay so she informed me of all the big expo's that she is planning on attending. Most recently was the Supanova Expo on June 14th. Kaytlin Butler often goes to these expo's to represent their institute and tell people about the different design, graphics, audio, film and other degrees or certificates they offer. When I told her I planned on going I was able to get a free pass to help her out!

The expo was pretty awesome with thousands of people in attendance, crazy costumes, and hundreds of booths to see.

From My Neighbour Totoro

I spent most of the time with Brock and Kaytlin and the other students at the SAE institute booth and even helped hand out flyers and explain the college to people. I felt it was only fair that if they got me in for free I should help out as well even if I'm not a student there. One of the other students later asked me what I did for SAE and was surprised that I wasn't affiliated with them since I had been talking to people about the college half the day!

SAE Graphic Design student-Amanda

She made this in just a few hours

One of the major events was the panel with Stan Lee, but Kaytlin and I opted to go see Jon Heder (Napolean Dynamite) who is also a member of our church. He was really funny and the best part was the super fan that went on stage to show Jon Heder his Napolean dance, and he even brought the music. In case you are wondering, it turns out his famous "dance" was completely freelance and filmed on the spot. That just makes it all the better!

I would have enjoyed the expo and seen a lot more if I didn't have a really painful headache. By lunch time I was not doing well and bought a coke to help. Although I hate coke, the caffeine helped until I ran out. Then a student at the booth gave me a V energy drink that helped for another couple of hours.  Finally, I went to the First Aid area and got some painkillers and was fine 20 minutes later. I should have done that earlier before I consumed all the caffeine!

After the expo I went to meet Josie Mackie for gelato in Parramatta (click here for stores). They had an amazing apple pie gelato that was so yummy! We had a great time chatting and I am always amazed at how much we have in common. We're both really chatty so that always makes for good conversation that isn't one-sided. I'm excited for when her sister comes to visit next month!

Everything after the expo seems very uneventful. A few small events have involved my camera surveillance system. While testing it at home I found that I had two cameras that were faulty and had to be replaced, then while testing it all at Uni we struggled to get the video on the screen (eventually we worked it out), and lastly we tried to work with the mic they gave us and gave up on having the audio at all.

Although I think we've sorted out the equipment stuff now, we are still waiting on getting approval to put them up. Apparently someone has to approve the "ethics" of doing it and then we arrange a time with the zoo electricians to put them up. On the bright side I have checked the audio I am getting from the second song meter (audio recorder) I put up near the tiger enclosure with big Satu and he has some great vocalisations!

Another event was Matt and I signed another 12 month lease to stay at our townhouse for another year! Our rent went up slightly ($1580 to $1600/mth) but we are happy we can stay where we are at. We have many friends close by, it's a relatively easy distance to uni and work for Matt, and we have plenty of space.

Matt has also been really blessed as he is continuously finding painting side jobs to do. He will finish up with our neighbour Catherine's place this week and she has already referred two of her friends. Although this means I don't see him much, he's happy earning extra money and this will really help us for the future whether paying for visas to stay in Australia or paying to return to the US.

Unfortunately I only took a picture of the food.

Last Sunday Matt and I went to hang out with the Barnett's and others for a "shortest day of the year" get together. We had great food, great company, and a great time! I'm always amazed at how well all of the young couples get along in the ward. The only hard part is that our ward is growing with more awesome people so it is difficult to have everyone together at one place. Luckily, the Barnett's had plenty of space for everyone that came. Some day I'd like to have a large house where I can invite as many people as I want to things and never have to be concerned about the space available.



Last Wednesday I went on splits with the sister missionaries. All of the missionaries do splits with members where one missionary goes with one member to visit people that may be less-active or a referral from another member. Unfortunately the sister and I didn't find who we were looking for, but met some of their awesome neighbours! I was surprised to learn that the missionaries are not encouraged to do much tracting (knocking on doors). In my mission that was a major part of the work, although I wouldn't say it was the most effective. The missionaries are out and about looking for those that are ready to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and sometimes going out and knocking doors is a good way to find those people. Nevertheless, I trust that the Lord will inspire the missionaries to find those people that may be ready to return to the church, or those that want to learn about and accept the gospel.

The only other minor events involve the cat. We got him a new toy which he had de-stuffed in a few days. Also, a few days ago I noticed Matt hadn't left out vitamins for me as usual (I always forget to take multi-vitamins) and I quickly discovered why. I found two of the tablets on the floor, one with a piece bitten off, but the third fish oil capsule was nowhere to be found. My only assumption is that Shade had thoroughly enjoyed the fish oil one and therefore no traces was left behind.

Well I hope everyone has a good week!