Working Days Are Here Again...

Sooo, I am now currently working again! Not full or part-time, but casually.  Casual work is another term here that we don't seem to have in the States.  At least not that I know of.  It is sporatic hours.  Joseph helped me get connected with Karingal, http://www.karingal.org.au/, to become a PWS, or a personal support worker.  So far, I am working with younger adult men who have acquired brain injuries, and helping them with their independent living skills.  I may help someone out with their exercise regime, food prep, house cleaning needs (step by step directives, so it gets done), and then go out for a coffee or a movie or shopping or a meal.  It's rather nice and the pay is decent- around $23 an hour.  It is not my dream job, of course, but it is my first employment in Australia.  I've gotten my foot in the door!  Today, we went to the gym and did a client's workout regime (I did some exercise along with him on some awesome Nautilus equiptment since they have multiple machines of each) and then to a weekend market, where I bought some fresh, crusty bread to take home and he bought a verry cherished, new Led Zepplin Hoodie :o)  He was all smiles with his new treasure.  I cannot share names and specifics, obviously, for confidentiality purposes, but wanted to give you a general idea of the job description.  The goal is to get them to become fully sufficient in taking care of themselves again through establishing an order to things and making a schedule become habit.  Of course, some may always need the transportation to and from places such as the gym...

Right now, I have three clients, so mondays, wednesdays. and fridays are my working days.  Hopefully, I will get another client or two soon as well. The pay is always useful, but I also like being able to help the clients.  They always have interesting stories about their past lives before their accidents, and they still have hopes and dreams.

Wedding plans are slowly finalizing (I now have to spell that "finalising", as over here, they don't use the z's too much- and z is pronounced "zed" here, not "zee"), and I am pleased to announce my Aunt Shirley is making the trip over to be present for the big day!  I am now just needing to get the flowers for the church and reception completed and the reception music figured out.  Dress alterations and a makeup trial is on schedule for this upcoming week, and my hair trial is next week.  I found two great people in this little town of Lara!  What a miracle! Oh, and I found out that tanning beds or "solariums" cost about $95 for 10 sessions.  Holy crike-a-billy!

I am still not sure what we are doing for the honeymoon, we are just taking off down the coast and not turning back until we have to...There are so many awesome seaside towns along the way.  It's all like a holiday for me here, as it is all so new, so I am happy with that as the plan.  We were going to go to Tasmania, and we may very well still go, we just haven't prioritised the honeymoon plans as much as the wedding plans... we still have over a month to figure it out.

Anyhow, that's news from here.  Driving around in the car on the left side of the road is second nature now, THANK YOU GOD!, so that has helped the stress level go down immensely. Having to drive clients around for appointments has helped me learn the different towns quickly. The brain is an amazing thing, isn't it? It adapts so well after some transition time.

I hope to hear from you, dear friends and fam, soon.  I miss you all and hope you are all well!

Toodles from Down Under,

a.

Wedding Plans...

Just a quick update that all is going well.  I am just not able to blog as much as I am getting most of the wedding plans set. Church, reception dinner, videographer, photographer, dresses, flowers, cake, bombonieres, music, invites, etc.  The list goes on and on.  Thank God we moved the date back to August 20th , however, it is going well. There is just so much to plan, and I have never been involved in wedding planning prior to this experience.  And in a different country to boot. I will have to say, however, that I have met some kindred spirits along the way, and that is always lovely...

I hope everyone is doing well back at home! Please drop me a message every now and then.  I miss you all!

Blessings,

Angie

What I miss from Indiana...

So, last night, I had some bad food poisoning. I assume, from the prawns I ate on the pizza for dinner.  Not 100% sure. But as I recuperate from both that incident that kept me in the bathroom throughout the night and tackling a job interview today, I am a little nostalgic for certain things back home.  Especially foods. As my tummy rumbles because I am hungry, but feel too nautious to eat, I am thinking of...

1. A great cup of joe from Starbucks or at dad's house (good old Maxwell House).
2. Papa John's pizza and a rootbeer. Rootbeer is REALLY hard to find.  I finally found an asian shop that had  an A & W in the frig. I don't drink them often, but it's always been my fav for a fizzy, sugary drink.
3. Vogel Dairy in Franklin, their raw milk and cheese products...sigh.  I miss that the most-est for food.
4. Kroger's organic sections for foods- the supermarkets aren't all on the up and up here yet. You have to go to a market for a good variety.
5. TJ Maxx- I miss a good deal.
6. Karla, my hairstylist in Greenwood (they totally whacked my hair here). I miss her, miss her, miss her.
7. Central Heating
8. Squirrels moving around outside
9. Seeing Cardinals and the sound of our birds in Indiana.
10. cheap prices, cheap prices, cheap prices!
11. Mexican Food.  Good mexican food.
12. 24-7 adoration chapel at a church to go in anytime to pray and meditate

Don't get me wrong.  I looove it here.  But I don't have access to certain things I enjoyed anymore, and these are just some of them...So, if you get a chance, enjoy some of them for me.  Now you have an excuse!

Toodles...:o)

Holy Smokes!

I thought some might like to see these prices on cigarettes over here in Victoria.  Soooo glad I no longer smoke! (God helped me out on that one over 7 years ago...)

Crikey!

Send her to the juicing room....

So Joseph and I are starting to juice more often.  We just bought a HUGE bag of carrots, like almost 20 kilos, to juice along with other vegetables.  Hopefully, we will become more energized!  We are like two cuddly koala bears right now, and with the wedding three months away, we need zapped with something to get us moving!

Carrots are about the same price here, unless you buy organic, then they get very pricey. Eggs are insane, if free range and organic, too.  It makes you want to have your own farm and garden here. Bananas are, due to the floods, about $2 each!

Our mechanic, Joe, gave Joseph some fish he had caught yesterday, and so we had red snapper with veggies  for dinner. It was EXTREMELY wonderful. Joseph had given him a huge bag of mushrooms he had found at his mother's while mowing the lawn last week, so they exchanged.  I like it when people do that! No money involved, just balancing out the wealth of product...

I thought I might also add here, just for fun, some different phrases people use here, or words, we just don't often or ever use in Indiana...
Fair Dinkum  (authentic, honest, true )  i.e. Fair Dinkum Prices on whatever.....

A fair go (a chance)

Bloke  (guy)

With a top of.... (With a high of 70 degrees today...)

Give Way (yield) as in our road signs....

No worries (you're welcome)- they never seem to say your welcome....like, never!

She'll be right... (It'll be ok)

Bikkie ( a cookie.. as they call them biscuits here)

Brekkie (Breakfast)

A dropkick or a wanker, as Joseph says  ( a no-good loser)

That's enough for now. :o)

Blessings to the good ol' USA! Bye!

All Gone!!! YIPEE!!!

Hello,

If you read my last blogging, this is a quick and exciting update that using the tinctures has taken the infection completely out! YIPPEE! I absolutely love natural medicine! It is so amazing to me that we can make our own meds and they work super quick and efficiently without negative side effects.  Within 5 hours, the pain was gone and never came back. It (the infection) was still there, however, so I took the tested amount of the tinctures each day (morning, noon, and night) and TODAY I TEST IT IS COMPLETELY GONE! YEAH!!!! It took 6 1/3  days.

I feel like I was my own guinea pig to see if the tinctures would work, so I am actually not upset at the bladder infection. I am glad it's gone, but also I would not have had a testimony without the test, right?!

Anyhow, it's not a pleasant subject, I know,  but those of you who know my work in the herbs know how exciting this is for me, and so I share.  Please remember, if any of you need to go see a muscle tester, Mary Beth Arends is in Indy and so is Dr. Jerome Weber. They are worth going to!
MaryBeths' website is chock full of great info......http://www.herbalanswer.com/ 

And also, I must add here, many thanks to my friends Pat and Donna at Franklin Schools for my lovely care package. They sent me some drip coffee, bakers chocolate squares, some newspapers and a lovely card. You are angels! It was absolutley perfect timing, just when I needed a pick me up. God is sooo good to us.

Blessings!

A Day in Bed...

So... I am stuck at home as I have a bladder infection. BOO!!!!

I am just resting for the day, while Jospeh is up at his mother's chopping wood. I am drinking lots of water and, of course, after assessing what herbs I need, have taken up a schedule of olive leaf, cinnamon and U (a combo blend I brought over) tinctures to get rid of this imbalance. It may take a week or so....but I would rather do it naturally. I will let you know if it works (it will) :o)

I find it ironic that I have made homemade versions of the two tinctures I actually need! God provides!

We made our first tinctures over a month ago (March 21st) with 100 proof vodka and fresh olive leaves from John's trees (Joseph's brother).  In a month's time of brewing, this homemade tincture has out performed the Good Herbs, Inc. tincture I brought with me.  Yippee! It tests well over 50 % more potent- very exciting for us! More bang for your buck is what I see!

Olive Leaves and Vodka

100 Proof vodka is hard to find here and a bottle like the one above is $50- way expensive. We may begin to use brandy (most are usually under 80 proof) as our medium for the tinctures.  For the cinammon, I used apple cider vinegar to see if it would be as potent as an alcohol tincture if brewed longer.  I am taking it now due to the bladder imbalance and it tests fine.  I will have to purchase some from the herbalist here to compare it through muscle testing.  I hope it does just as good as it has been brewing for some time....

Brewing is basically just sitting in a sterilized jar for 3 weeks or so with a shake each day. The chosen liquid leeches out the medicinal values of the leaves, roots, blossoms, etc.

Well, I will end here for the day...

 Know that Jospeh and I are doing splendiferously. I am still slowly looking for work while we work on recognizing my education credentials... I am currently looking for my wedding dress (I found one, but very pricey, so still looking). The food and reception are booked and the invites are ordered...flowers are being looked at....things are coming together slowly.....but surely.

God bless from Down Under!