Tales from the Seven Seas

Update on my Grandma

A few more bits of bad news: my grandma's doctors have returned with test results. The prognosis: a Granulosa-Theca Cell tumor. Treatment for this kind of cancer is almost always surgery however my grandma just had sugery about 6 months ago to remove tumors and her doctors don't think she can handle another so soon. So, they'll be doing more tests this week to find out how fast the tumor is growing. Please keep praying for us.

A Temp-ting Opportunity

I've been working this week at ThomsonReuters (which is where Jeremy works) and have found myself more challenged than I previously expected. I really wasn't sure what I going in to when I said yes to the position because it was just described as "administrative assistant" but I've since learned that I'm doing quite a bit of web work and html coding. FYI: I don't do web work or html. No better time to learn though, right?! It's been a challenging week as my supervisor wasn't really ready to train me once I started and then she had to unexpectedly leave halfway through my second day and I ended up doing the entire third day on my own. Wahhh! It was a bit stressful and extremely slow going because I was trying to figure everything out on my own. I had angry phone calls from clients who we disatisfied with their listing and wanted it fixed (ha, that was fun to figure out!), we ran out of purchase orders, I found several inaccuracies in our web holdings, and I ran out of work all together on Wendnesday. I keep repeating in my head, "Sink or swim. Sink or swim. Damn it, I'm gonna swim!" I'm glad to say that I did figure it out and somehow managed to work through nearly everything I had to do yesterday (even if it was slow going). Let's hope next week goes better!

The Future's so Bright...

This week I had an interview for a managerial position with Scene to Believe which operates Santa Photography kiosks in malls throughout November and December. Much to my delight, the interview went really well and I feel confident I'll get the job. It'll be full time, 6 day a week work managing a team of about 5 people and it should be fun! I'm super excited about the opportunity to be working in photography even if I'm not going to be the photographer. :) I'm also supposed to hear back from Mission Australia about my application for employment with them--I hope that works out too! I would be full time for atleast the next 6 months but I imagine that would be extended as soon as I get my temporary visa approved...

Will I be able to shop with this? Speaking of visas, I haven't said it yet just because I've been busy and still trying to wrap my head around it, but Jeremy's parents loaned us the money to pay for the visa application and the taxes. It really is such a blessing and has taken quite a bit of worry off our minds. We've already been talking with the immigration office about what we need and today (assuming I'm on top of things!) I'll be ordering my background checks, finishing the application, contacting our references, and starting my statement regarding our relationship. There is A LOT of work to do but I hope that we can get it all in by the end of the month--wouldn't that be great?

Visitors

A couple weeks ago, we had Jeremy's dad over for the night while he was in Sydney for some reunions. It was really great to see him and spend some time catching up and eating delicious food! He took us out to a great restaurant in Sydney for what is undoubtably the BEST meal I've ever had. Wow. Amazing. It was also pretty cool to hear his dad call me his son's "fiance." I mean, we haven't been referring to ourselves as engaged but I guess that is essentially what we are. It's just wonderful to be accepted as a part of his family, to be seen as a serious couple, and to feel like this life we want to make together has already begun. What an exciting time!

Free Photos!

I recently posted an add on Gumtree (the Australian CraigsList equivilant) offering my photography skills for free in order to get some new stuff into my portfolio as well as some valuable contacts. Man, I feel like a stinking genious! I have has such a HUGE response from people: models, landscapers, athletes, people graduating, mothers who want pictures of their kids, local artists, musicians, and the best one is for a local business man who runs some city cruises on his 1918 colonial-style ship! Ahhh!! I am SO EXCITED about all of this! My first shoot is tomorrow with a couple of girls who need some new modeling shots for their portfolios and then I have some more set up for next weekend. This is going to be great. Honestly. I'm getting good exposure, going to have my stuff displayed on websites, making some good, professional contacts, building good references, getting some free stuff, and having fun! I'm also getting some free training and experience with professionals who need assistants. I seriously feel so proud of myself for coming up with such a good idea. I can't say all of the responses have been good though... I have had a few requests for porn photos and such. Ick. Even though I got a good response for awesome opportunities, I also got a good reminder that there are lots of sick people out there on the internet... Hopefully I'll be posting some cool photos in the near future.

When the Dust Settles

I'm not sure if you've heard (Australia is pretty removed from everything) but two days ago we had a giant dust storm roll through the city, leaving the entire place covered in orange and red particles. It was so strange... Jeremy called me to the door shortly after we work up telling me that everything was orange outside. And sure enough, it was. The whole city was covered in the dust which had blown across the state from South Australia and south-west New South Whales where a major drought has left the red earth prime for a big gust of wind. It all cleared up by mid afternoon but for the majority of the day it felt like a scene from War of the Worlds. You better believe that car wash companies are making big sales this weekend!! But aside from Sydney's crazy dust storm, there was also some wild weather elsewhere in Australia. That night, there were wind storms, bush fires, tornadoes, earthquakes (especially odd since Australia isn't really on top of any fault lines and doesn't have any volcanoes), thunderstorms, and massive rain fall. What a crazy planet!!

Here's a photo of the street outside from the orange morning. Unfortunately--of all days!--I had to work Wednesday morning and wasn't able to go out and take some really good photos of the crazy weather. But this gives you an idea of what it was like.