A Tearful Reunion

As I get older (about to turn the ripe old age of 25 - so this is said seriously but also can't help be a little tounge-in-cheek) I'm starting to reflect more on the relationships that have helped to form me as a person, and the people who have had an influence on me without me even really realising their importance.


On Saturday I had the joy of seeing one of my many other "Mums", Mary Lewis. Mary is the mother of my good friend Phili, (whose Blog you can check out on the right of the page) and therefore, by default also became another "Mum" to me as during my high school years in Adelaide it was often the case that if I wasn't at home, I was at Phili's and that often meant enjoying Mary's company as well.


I ran into Mary, quite to my surprise (and her's) on Saturday at a "Ridley Women" (as in the Bible College) Mentoring Day, after not having seen her for quite a number of years. At morning tea I tapped her on the shoulder and (after she figured out it was me - it can be hard with a married name!) gave each other a warm mother/daughterly embrace! What a joy it was to see this amazing woman of God again and to see the way in which God brought us together at that exact moment when I needed a motherly embrace from someone who has seen me grow up all through my adolecence (and it's been almost 12 months from my own Mum). I was taken aback by the strong affection and connection I felt with Mary after such a long time of separation, for, as I said at the beginning of my post, it hasn't been until the last couple of days since seeing her that I have reflected as an adult on the impact she had on my life. So thanks Mary, for being one of my special "Mums" (and thanks Phili - for sharing her with me while she's in Melbourne!)

And because I knew Mum would love a photo:

An Extrovert Living an Introvert's Lifestyle

My apologies for a severe lack of blogging of late. No excuse really as I've been at home more than I would usually be with uni only going back next week. I've been spending large amounts of time at home working on my own as Tom has been working his second job binding books at Swinburne Uni. I've been thinking about what it was that was sobering my mood of late and came up with the title for this blog "An extrovert living an introvert's lifestyle". You see, I would not normally choose to spend 8 hours on my own, let alone more than once a month! So the past few weeks have left me like a fish out of water - kind of limp!

But tomorrow marks O-Week, a full day of on campus work. Chalking, meeting new people, catching up with old people and a general happy extroverty kind of vibe. (And a free lunch because there's a CU BBQ!) So hopefully this will wake me up from my dazy time of trying to live like an introvert, ie. reading books, sending emails and generally enjoying space, give me people and lots of them in all their fullness, then maybe I'll wake up enough to start blogging again (what an introverted thing to do!)

A Yarra Valley Day Out

Had a very fun weekend with Josh (my cousin) and Jayne (his girlfriend) down from Sydney for work but also to hang out with us for the weekend - lucky us! Tom and I had been planning the day out for some time as Jayne mentioned she had been to Melbourne a few times but not really seen much of Victoria! Unfortunately I don't have too many photos but the day started out at the Yalley Valley Dairy (mmmm, cheese...) where Tom, Jayne and I tried out their taste-tester selection of cheeses (the tastes were a little too strong for Josh).

We then drove on to the Yering Farm winery, where we were able to taste both wines and jams and then we had a coffee together overlooking the beautiful (if not so green) countryside.

We then drove on to the famous Healesville Pub for lunch, and then, because the day was not yet old enough, we drove them through the Black Spur to Marysville, where we stopped once again for coffee, cakes and to see the lolly shop.

And because it made for a good photo...

Thanks Josh and Jayne for a chance to take you out for the day. And to all our other friends interstate... we'd do it for you too if you came to visit us!