Furnishing the New Place

Sometimes when too much time passes it’s difficult to motivate myself to write a blog when I feel like so much has happened!

I finished my last Stats exam last week and I know I did terrible, but at least it’s over! Hopefully I did well overall, and I’ve already gotten some marks back that were pretty good. I nearly got an HD on that literature review I spent hours and hours working on and revising that I thought was terrible. According to my classmates the work load for this last semester has been overwhelming, but as I had nothing better to do I didn’t think it was so bad. Since Matt will be here next semester, I’m hoping the work load will be easier.

I got keys to my new place last week!! Since then things have been pretty crazy. As I walked into the new place I noticed a lot more flaws than I remembered. Nevertheless it’s still heaps better than my previous place! Check out the pics...

 

 


Since I’ve had the new place I have been working to get all the things I needed. Luckily my friend Kaytlin didn’t have work for a couple of days last week so we spend Monday buying some things I needed like a microwave, a mattress and whatnot. I had to move out by Friday so it was a blessing Kaytlin could help me move and get the things I still needed. In one trip we were able to move all of my stuff, however I didn’t have a fridge so she had to store all my refrigerator food.

My favorite part of that day was when Kaytlin and I went to Costco and at the entrance was a giant stuffed panda!! Kaytlin thought I was crazy as I searched for the perfect one and stuck it in the cart. We got some seriously great looks and some people asked me where I got it. I also have some sentimental reasons since my favorite stuffed animal was a large panda that got wet when I was at a sleepover on a friend’s trampoline. We stuck it in the dryer only to discover it completely fried the fur. So, in my opinion, this even bigger panda was $30 well spent!

Also early last week I got a washer, but when the guy showed me how it worked the door wasn’t locking so he had to come back later with his boss. Unfortunately this was quite a hassle because I had to go back and forth from Marsfield and Dundas (about 50 min by bus) since I didn’t have the things I needed to live at the new place. Also I had arranged to look at a refrigerator on gumtree (Australia’s Craigslist equivalent) which resulted in me having to ask Kaytlin for a ride to meet the washer guy in time.

The refrigerator proved to be a huge frustration. The Indian family I got it from couldn’t get rid of it until their new fridge came on Saturday and I had to arrange a way to get it picked up. I arranged with my ward to find someone with a ute (truck) to pick it up Saturday at 5pm with hopes I would be able to make my 7pm meeting for Vemma in the city. I grossly underestimated the time and it took us 3.5 hours to get the fridge down the family’s stairs and safely stored on the ute, then pick up a TV unit nearby, and be able to unload it all.

I’ve learned my lesson…in Australia it is easier to just buy stuff new that is deliverable, or pay for a courier to pick up and deliver things. There’s a reason why most Australians hire removalists to take care of all their stuff when they move. Nevertheless, I was able to get a nice couch set, table, TV, bed frame, and dryer to be delivered.

Over the last couple weeks it hasn’t been all moving and furnishing. I hung out with a new couple in my ward and we went to Pancakes onthe Rocks.

Last Wednesday I also went to a friend’s house to watch the 2^nd State of Origins game. We had a terrible loss and there wasn’t even a great fight. It was great to see old friends there though that I haven’t seen since I studied abroad here!

On Sunday I had to get to my ward in Greenwich from Dundas. It took me three trains to get there and it was difficult trying to hold my umbrella in the rain and stare at my phone to figure where I was supposed to go. Church was fun as our last lesson was all about modesty. I got a ride to a train station to save me time getting home and on the bus ride home I missed my stop and got stuck in a different city. Although I got home 2 hours later than planned I was mostly glad I had a granola bar in my bag to eat. It's a good thing my new ward is just down the street.

Yesterday was fun as well as I went to see Man of Steel with Brock and Kaytlin for FHE. It was AWESOME! I didn’t realize it would go so much into the background of Superman so I thought that was pretty cool.

Now I have just a couple of days before I go back to the US! I’m excited to see Matt after all this time, and really glad we’ll be able to have a little vacation in Florida and the Bahamas! Life is pretty good!