Same 'ol same 'ol....

Nothing really to exciting to report this week, just the same stuff, day after day lol

I finally figured out how to call US with my phone so that was nice but it was annoying cause i had to keep calling Wells Fargo to figure out my account...it was so dumb every one i talked to was more interested in talking about the fact i was in Australia rather then getting me my money back. One guy was like.."so is there kangaroos hoping around?" "Have you checked out the night life, how is that down there?" All i was thinking was..seriously!!!  So dumb, but hopefully that is all took care of.

Friday night i hadn't heard anything from anyone so i just stayed in... Adam and Pip and I just stayed watched a few episodes of Gavin and Stacey, Its a British sitcom..its pretty funny, and had some drinks. By the sounds of it i might beat this "so called wonderful" Kim they keep talking about. So that makes me feel good since im not really doing anything special and its only been a month so far. They also are looking to me for ideas of unique girl names for the new baby. So thats nice since when i first got here they said they were gonna keep it a secret so now i guess they are comfortable enough with me or something lol idk

Saturday Alyce picked me up from service and since she had been gone all week she wanted to make it a long day. We were with this one brother who is from the Philippines and said he "loved to hear American accents" so i felt obligated to talk lol and then the whole time he called me "Leslie" So funny cause i have reminded him and told him my name 10 different times...so i just went with it.

After service we went back to her house and they were having a BBQ...witch isn't Hot Dogs and Hamburgers its every kind of meet imaginable and that it all meet..sausages, beef, chicken in every shape and form.  They had invited Shaun and Elise over for dinner too. 

Now i have a loud crazy laugh but...put Shaun and Alyce's dad together..thats just ridiculous. First Shaun laughs at almost anything and not just a giggle or a chuckle...its a full belly..mouth wide open barely any sound coming out half the time laugh. At everything!!!  Then Alyce's dad...who i cant even think of his name lol has the girlyest laugh i have ever herd from a grown man....its this high pitched giggle....not only that he too laughs at pretty much everything. So when we were all together....half the stuff isnt that funny but i am laughing at them lol it was a fun night. 

Got to sleep in on Sunday witch is always nice, since i cant really do that at home cause there is kids running around and screaming at 7:30am. At least i am a deep sleeper and can sleep through anything lol but anyway we went to meeting and then the girls dyed my hair..back to red!! Yay i love it..its not exactly what i wanted but it works for now and it is definitely RED!!  Then we just watched movies. And that was my weekend.

Some things that are still annoying me...not having the candy i want.....not being able to drive....that i havent been to the beaches yet.....that i am always along for the ride....i havent gotten todo anything really cool yet...Adam does this weird cough/clear throat thing allllllllll the time.....wish i had a car.....wishes it was a bit warmer......i could txt people from US.

But i must say for the first official month of being here...everything is going great. Met some really nice people, the girls are behaving themselves better, Pip is talking more to me lol

Next week should be more exciting!!

♥lynds

uuggh...annoying!!

This week annoying things keep happening or i myself am annoyed at something.

The week started off good, and everything was just like normal.

Then on Wednesday and Thursday Pip stayed home from work, witch is fine but is just a little bit awkward. Either telling her kids what todo in front of her, or like on Wed  i was just hanging out Skyping with people (while girls were at school) and she was just there. Just a little awkward but i guess ill get used to it. Then on that Wed afternoon when i went to get the girls from school it was just dumping rain..and i had to walk in it :(  not fun!  So that was annoying.

 Then on Fri night i got invited to 2 different things but earlier in the week Adam and Pip asked if i could babysit while they go to a movie, and i told them it would be fine. Then when i got those invites i was all annoyed cause i wanted to get out of the house and do something.  Adam kept saying how i should invite my friends over and watch a movie and that he would put some bubbly in the fridge for us. But everyone already had plans, also its hard for me to want to invite them because if i was them i would rather hang out at my house then some random peoples. lol 

Anyway so then Sat i went out in service and this was the first Sat of doing the Convention tract work, so i got to do that, and when i thought about it it had been my 4th time doing it. (1st) Pheonix (2nd) Whenatchee's(3rd) Omak's (4th) Australia.

But i like doing it so it makes going out in service way easier and fun! Here though, if the person is not home then you just put it in their mail box. If there mail box says "No Junk Mail"  then you get an envelope and put there address on it and away you go. So we did that until noon and i had nothing else to do or anyone to go with so i  was gonna go out in the afternoon but they don't meet up til 1 so the bro and his family i was working with insisted i come home with them and eat, witch was really nice. And then i stayed out until 3--3:30ish.

 After that i got dropped of with Rachael and we were gonna meet up with some people to go to the movies. It was the first time i had been to the movies here and its pretty much the same thing except....everything at the concessions is self served...and there is assigned seating.

We went and saw Captain America..witch was good except I was sitting in between Pradeep and his sister Prea....who were talking the whole time all loud. So annoying and the guy in front of me kept turning around and he was just as annoying.  But other then that good movie, then we saw the trailer for "The Avengers"  so then everyone went back to one of the girls house and we watched Iron Man.

Then Sunday morning i got to sleep in, witch was nice. I slept inn til about 9:30 and it was funny when i woke up Adam was like, "Your gonna be late for church!" lol   i was like ehh no I'm gonna go to the 1:30 one and he was all oh ok. But then i had all this time to do nothing, and they said they were having some people over for lunch so then i felt all awkward because i didn't want to be lingering around when they had friends over, so i got dressed and started to walk to The Towers. Thought i would get a coffee or just wander around the mall for awhile. By the time i got there my flats had giving me a blister the size of a quarter on my baby toe and the back of my foot was bleeding...sooo annoying!!  So then i was in pain and couldn't just walk around, so i went to the closest store and got some band-aids. They helped a little but it still hurt. By this time it was getting close to meeting so i walked to Sean and Elise's (special pioneers in our hall) who live like 2 blocks from The Towers, they were taking me to meeting this week.

 Meeting was good,i am still meeting Bro and Sis i haven't met before and I try to pay close attention to who is commenting because i don't remember half of any ones names. 

After meeting i went home with Rachel and helped her cook dinner for some friends that were coming over later. I think by the time i leave here..I'm gonna be a total Wine-o...everyone drinks wine like its beer here. So then we ate and watched a movie and then i got dropped off at home! :) 

Then today was good..except i go online and find out that my bank acct has been hacked or that someone took like $300 from me...that right there annoys me, then i cant get ahold of my bank through the international number..that's annoying. Then i try to call my mommy to help and she doesn't get back to me all day so i have to Skype Hannah....who then calls my parents...where my dad is completely confused and can barely hear me as i am yelling to the computer so he can hear me on the phone, and Hannah is just cracking up. So then finally like an hour later my mom gets online, before i tell her anything is like, "Some guy from your bank called this morning and said something about fraud, did you tell them your going to Australia??" Then I was a little annoyed just because i have been trying to get ahold of her all day and then she thinks this guys is calling cause i was dumb and didn't call my bank. But anyway she called and got it all figured out and they have to close my account and issue me a new card and i get my moolah back so everything is good..its just annoying all the hassle. 

So that's whats been going on this week, few other things that have been annoying;

• That my microphone was on the wrong setting so when i was skyping with people they couldn't really hear me, but i fixed that so that's better. 
• They don't have the same kind of candy.
• Hulu and Netflix doesn't work here.
• How freezing cold it is inside the house. 
• How i have absolutely nothing todo after work, during the week.
• How early the malls close.
• How i wish i had ALL my clothes with me.
• How i wish i had smaller feet so i could buy some new shoes, for walking.
• That i haven't figured out how to do international calls on my cell phone, even though i should be able to.
• I am annoyed at myself that i haven't been taking pictures.

The biggest thing of all that is gonna annoy me probably the whole time unless i do something about it...that i dont have a car!! :(  I hate it...absolutely hate it.  I dont think there is anything worse then that. If anything down here, that is gonna be the death of me!!  Just talking about it makes me upset.

For someone like me who has had a car since the day Ive gotten my licence, for someone who drives EVERYWHERE, who just this year has driven across country 3 times , to all the sudden be useless..have no freedom, have no say in where i want to go or what i want to see is the most horrible feeling.  Then on top of that have to depend on everyone else..make everyone go out of their way to help me, makes me not want to do anything, makes me just sit home and do nothing all week. It is sooo freaking annoying. 

Anyway enough of me venting..my Aussie words for the week:

• Knickers = Underwear
• Rubbish = Garbage
• Pram = Stroller
• Lolly = Candy
• Biscuit = Cracker
• Crisp = Chip
• Petrol Station = Gas station
• Plaster = Band Aid
• Zed = Z

Lets hope next week will be better!

♥lynds

Week Two

     This week hasn't been to exciting, just getting used to everyday life. This is sorta a summery of how everyday goes...I wake up and go sit on the couch all wrapped up in a blanket..then Adam leaves for work and the girls are usually watching cartoons, then i have to get breakfast ready and usually make lunch to pack up.  Then we go get ready and then were off to where ever were going to that day. When we get back the girls rest..or just chill out and watch a movie or show. Then i try to get them to settle down and spend some time working with their letters and numbers. After that i usually start making dinner or do something else..while they just play around. We might make it over to the park or do some arts and crafts.  Then its dinner time for the girls and so they eat and then up to the showers they go...sometimes they stay in there for 30 min and sometimes its 5 min. After that we go down stairs and read a story and if mom and dad arnt home yet then we will watch a show. 

Then after one of the parents get home i can do pretty much whatever i want.  So that's pretty much a how it goes everyday.   There actually is alot more down time then i thought there would be so i can just hang out and watch tv too or go on the computer or skype or do whatever i want.  Its really nice that they have each other because they will just go off and play dolls for an hour or something lol

I had some pretty funny conversations with Adam and Pip, he was asking me a million and one questions about whats we can and cant do up in Omak. and  one of the questions was have you ever seen a moose?? And i was like ya..then he started going off about how his cousin says they are about 15 ft tall and i was like i don't think so..they are big but not that big. But he was convinced that they were, Pip didn't believe him either. I said maybe 9ish feet.  So then the next day i am checking my email and i have 10 email from both Pip and Adam, with random moose facts. One e mail was about the biggest moose on record and then the others were on moose measurements and it just went on and on and on. It was sooo funny. Come to find out the biggest moose was just over 7ft and had 6 ft antlers so that's still just 13ft lol

Then it was time for the weekend once again...Friday night i didn't really do anything just stayed in, i watched Hairspray to get into the mood. I hadn't herd from anyone and i did want to push it i feel bad always having someone come and get me and drop me off. I think that is the biggest issue i am having right now. I just hate it..i hate to rely on other people and for them to go out of there way to help me. Anyway on Sat i was gonna go out witnessing but it was sooo cold so instead i went to the mall and bought a few sweaters and a jacket. I knew its gonna be warming up soon but if its raining, i don't have a jacket to  go walking out side in the rain.

Anyway at noon Alyce came to pick me up and we were headed to the city to go watch Hairspray. My boss had giving me two free tickets. We were both really excited about it. The seats we had were perfect and super close. The whole thing was just sooo awesome!!  I mean the movie is funny but the theater version was hilarious. I was laughing seriously the whole time, it was just all the ad libs and just everything. So we had a super good time

. After we were gonna meet up with some people for dinner at a Chilli Jam. It was a really cute Thai restaurant. I met a few more people but the most i had already met. This group was the local people that i will be seeing alot more of. After we ate we drove like 5 min to an Italian  place that was Coffee and Gelato. It was really really good! Then the next morning we woke up pretty early , and we decided besides the meeting it was gonna be a veg day. So we went and watch a movie in the big theater room and then we went to the meeting. Then we went a rented more movies and just watched those the rest of the night.

And that was that. I really need to start taking more pictures. I have taken a few but i need to take alot more and just of randoms things they don't have back in the states.

I am gonna start making a list of all the funny words they say here's a few to start off:

• Breakki = Breakfast
• Kindy = Kindergarten
• Jumper = Sweater
• Heaps = Alot
• Wee = Pee

There is sooo sooo many more, those are just off the top of my head. I will have to keep better track of it.

♥lynds

Australia

Its been one whole week since I first arrived in Sydney.  It has gona by very quickly and kinda slow at the same time.  I have met about 100 + people and only remember about 15 of their names. 

The first big adventure was the 17+ hour flight here, wasn't half as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I was sitting next to the window but it was right over the wing so it wasn't the best view but it was nice to sleep on. The lady i was sitting next to wasn't very friendly so I kinda just kept to myself.The whole time i just..slept...ate....watched a movie...slept...ate... watched a show or two....ate.....slept... then it was time for landing.  As soon as I got off the plane and a lady over the airport speaker  started talking and i felt i was on a cruise. I went from other people having accent to me having an accent. I went through  all the different check  points and finally had to get my luggage. When I  finally got all of them and went to  finally get into the country  the lights went out. I kinda screamed cause I was thinking this kinda thing doesn't happen at airports unless its bad. But i looked around and everyone was carrying on like nothing had happened and all the airport workers pull out flash lights and it was fine! 

I finally got to walk through the doors that said "Welcome to Sydney" and on the other side a little ways away were two cute little girls jumping up and down yelling my name!!  So we say our Hello's and head to the car, after we get everything loaded in the car  Adam offers me to sit in front..so what do i do but head to the right side of the car, hes looks at me and laughs and says "Oh you are gonna drive?"  I totally had forgotten about the whole steering wheel on the opposite side. lol 

So we get home and they give me a tour and then let me settle into my room. The girls were super excited and wanted to be with me at all times and helped me unpack, plus i had told them i had presents for them so i think they were looking for that also. They were so excited for every present they got..i have been spreading it out through the week though.  

The girls in the dress's i got them!

Imogen in the Blue

Madeline in the Pink

Later that night we went to "The Towers"  witch is just a really big mall that's like 2 min away from our house. We went to get some food for dinner. All of their grocery stores are in the malls, so that was kinda weird but it was cool, just different.

So then the next day we had a kid party, with 12 to 15 kids..so i got to meet alot of the parents from, preschool and playgroup and other things the girls are involved with.  Everyone was super friendly and very nice and welcoming. So that lasted pretty much all day..by around 8:30pm (3:30am USA time)  I could start feeling my jet leg a little, so i went to bed pretty early.  

So then Monday was the first day of the official job...it would be the start of the transitioning and learning all the ropes around the house and all the roads to and from places.

Their previous nanny was a really really sweet little girl from Italy, her name was Stephonia or Stefy for short.  So i got to spend the week with her and the girls.

Everything was pretty straight forward 

• Monday - Kindy Gym @ 10:15
• Tuesday - Play group  10-12
• Wednesday - Kindy 9:15 - 3:15
• Thursday - Dance - 10:15
• Friday - Play dates/Clean parts of house

By Tuesday I had everything pretty under control so she took the afternoon off and then by Thursday afternoon she was moved out...and the girls were mine.

I felt kinda bad a first because i was always calling the girls out on things but Adam had said be as strict as you want with and get them back into decent behavior.

Anyway on Wednesday of the week  I got picked up by Bro. Staden and his wife(whom my mom had been emailing) to go to the meeting.  It was really nice, they have a small but very friendly hall...it was very multi cultural witch is different but neat. Its gonna take me awhile to understand everyone clearly. It was nice to meet everyone and they actually have quite a few girls my age in the hall. They also made an announcement that said, " We want to welcome Lyndsey DelBiaggio to our hall she is from America and she will be with us for awhile, and if you don't know who she is , shes the one with an American accent."  Then some random brother later that night introduced himself and then then made a comment about how i have long toes!! It was a bit weird but whatevers.  

It was funny because I was getting ready one morning and my converter wasn't working or something went wrong and i blew a fuse...so i txt'd Adam to tell him and ask where the fuse box was and he called right away and asked what happened, and told be where the fuse box was but he was so surprised that i even knew what that was, he said that his wife or any of the other nannies would have no clue what todo. I told him i knew what todo i just didn't know where the box was and he was a bit weary so he told me if i wasn't sure of ANYTHING don't touch it. So i went out there and flipped it back on and it was perfectly fine. lol

Then on Friday Alyce (21 year old..reg pioneer) invited me to go Ice skating, she said a big group of witness's usually meet up. So she picked me up and she had her friend Paris with her who is from a town 4 hours north of Sydney. So we all headed to the ice rink, i met quite a few people  but only stayed around a few, it was kinda a hard place to talk or whatever because everyone was kinda doing their own thing. But come to find out most of the Bros were from Bethal...Heyo!!!  lol  

I had no clue Bethal was so close i thought it was like a 6 hour drive from here but i guess i was wrong. 

After that we just went home because we were gonna do early morning witnessing. We got up around 7:30 and got on the road around 8..we went down to the Sydney markets where there is hundreds of hundreds of people  buying fresh produce or there is a section where its every random thing you can think of people are trying to sell.   So we were there for awhile and then had to head back to meet up with the service group.  Once we were there we got some territory and  head back out in the ministry. I ended up working with Rachel (girl i had been emailing before coming down) witch was nice. We ended up staying out until about 3. After that Alyce wanted to go to the gym to Paris and me went  with her just cause we had nothing else todo lol  it was a brand new gym and had all these electronic things and i of course was making my self look like a complete retard. lol 

After that we were gonna go into the city and meet up with some of Paris's American friends who had just flown in.  So we went to dinner and it ended up being like 20 of us there. 

There was her American friends...some local friends..and then they had friends visiting from Russia sooo it was interesting group of people but very funny!!!

Paris, Rachel, Me

on our way to the City!

After that we walked down to a bar called "Cruise Bar" and it was right down on the water with a perfect view of the Opera House and of the Harbour Bridge and the skyline as well. Later we went home it was around 11:30pm. Its funny cause people don't really stay out late here, Alyce said that she usually is home before 12.  Then I was talking to Stefy (previous nanny) and she said she usually came home at  1 at the very very latest. But I was fine with that because I was sleepy, but it was nice we got to sleep in because the meeting wasn't until 1:30pm. After meeting we all kinda hung out and all of us girls (Alyce her sister Rachel (18) her other sister Breanne(15) and her mom and Paris and me) helped make dinner.  Then after that some others came over and we watched a movie, Alyce's dad is big into theater stuff so they have a mini theater pretty much in their house and her sister works at a video store soo she gets free movies soooo its a pretty sweet setup they have going on.

Later that night i got dropped off at home and went straight to bed, since it was like 12.

But that is a pretty detailed summary of my first week in Sydney!

It was fun and i think i am gonna like it here!!!

♥lynds