puppy raising

as most of you know i miss rOXy like crazy. she is such an important part of our family, like another child to me...i know you non-dog people out there can't understand, but humor me. so it was too expensive/complicated to bring rOXy here with us and i have been missing having a furry friend around. we've (well, i have been, shawn isn't as keen) been tossing around the idea of getting a dog, asked our landlords, etc, when a friend suggested we look into puppy raising....where you get a guide dog puppy to raise for 14 months before they go to their official school to be trained as a service dog. perfect! they pay for the vet bills (score) we just get to love on it, walk it, and play with it, then return the dog before coming back to america (assuming we're returning). so tonight i filled out the application and will hopefully hear back from them soon! i'll keep you posted. yay!

heat & holidays

i'm confused these days...we walk around sweating and in tank tops, popping into the shops for some much needed air conditioning and over the speaker i hear christmas carols. huh?! yesterday we played at the mall a little to escape the heat (it's been 100+ all weekend!) and i heard 'last christmas i gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away'...oh, my romantic heart loves that old song...but right now it feels odd to hear it. christy gave us her fake christmas tree and each day evie asks when we can put it up. it just feels strange and i will miss the smell of a fresh tree. this week we're inviting friends over for an american thanksgiving...however everyone has told me that most people cook the night before (b/c of the heat) and have a cold turkey sandwich or something. okay...the mitchells will adapt and enjoy, and run the air con! :)

new food and new words

the other day my friend beck ordered the squid and it came topped with a tiny octopus. hmmm. she said it was delicious and i should try it. well, why not? i ate most of her octopus and loved the squid! who knew?! for someone who used to be the pickiest eater you have ever known, this is a big step! so when date night rolled around i surprised shawn by ordering the peppered squid. it was AWESOME! i shall now order it every where i go. please disregard my 'crazy' eyes in this momentous photo. :)

also on our date we came across this new word....how would you pronounce it?

snow white

most days we go out evie either wears her snow white outfit (red high heels and all) or her 'pretty pink dress' which is difficult to decide between her 3 'pink' dresses. the other day we went to the library, she click clacked her way through looking at books and smelling the flowers, which apparently don't smell so great...

tonight at dinner

we were all 'taking turns' talking, trying to teach evie to not interrupt. so she said it was my turn, ok...what do you want me to talk about? i ask...she said: Jesus. ok..so i proceeded to tell her and shawn what i read about that morning (story of mary, martha & lazarus, whom Jesus loved) evie interrupts with, 'did Jesus marry a mermaid?' What?!

the girl is crazy for mermaids and princesses...the other day she told me she wants red hair and purple boobies like ariel the mermaid....perhaps when you grow up little one, i said :)

i am the moving target

shawn so nicely took this picture for me...5 weeks in a row i was hit by a bird, i'm pretty sure the same bird, as i rode my bike to uni. my last ride to uni however, no one swooped to hit me. success! or so i thought. yesterday on my walk...so this time, no bike, no helmet, just casually walking minding my own business, and whammo! a bird swoops and hits me in the head! ouch! i started cracking up, thanked the bird and went on my way. sheesh! my team gave me the 'moving target' award. good times here in newcastle! :)

wrapping up at uni

it may seem strange, but it's the end of the semester here in newcastle. the year has gone by so quickly, it does feel weird for us to be wrapping up. our team had final discipleship meeting with students, last bible studies and a celebratory meeting hearing from the students how their walks with God have changed/grown the past year. we then spent a week meeting as a team, evaluating our effectiveness, planning strategically for the next year, praising God for what He accomplished and praying for the next year to be glorifying to Him as well. since then we've been hanging out casually with the students that are still in town, having meals, watching movies, playing games, going to the beach. its been great. we have 2 weeks before we head to the northern beaches of sydney for summer project. there we will spend 2 weeks doing beach evangelism with 20+ students from newcastle uni, sydney uni and macquarie. we're looking forward to that as well as our new teammates arriving in january...we'll have 3 more additions to our team--2 gals (stacey & kara) and grady. we are thrilled that they are coming!
here are somethings we celebrated from the year:
--that our team grew together in trust, being committed to each other, liking each other, having fun together doing ministry or not (creating fun memories like going to the Easter show, the gardens, mt.sugarloaf, our team retreat, lovefest)
--that 3 students we know of received Christ as Savior (Josh, Rhiannon & Sheena) plus one is still being met with (Marden)
--taking many students to MYC & the relationships made there between students
--our team teaching/leading at MYC
--we've all made friends here in Newcastle apart from ministry which has been a blessing
--attempting to start a weekly meeting on campus, having students help out
--student leadership team in place for next year
--our relationship with churches here in Newcastle are a huge blessing, we each feel supported and cared for 'heaps' by the body of Christ here

oh there are more, but it was just a fun time of celebrating together, laughing at the fun memories and praising God for what He accomplished in and through us this year.
as an escape from the madness of meetings i took our team on a huge bike ride to dudley beach. it was quite a trek (even evie on the back of my bike was worn out!), but we all made it. we played on the beach and went out for a fancy last dinner together.