I don't get it but i'm curious

i like the bible and i like food, it's just rather suprising to see this book in the window of my local Vinnie's shop.

now you can see me

...because i've got a camera, i took the plunge and bought one! I think i got a good deal and better than i expected for the amount i wanted to spend.
it was $300 and is 6 mega pixels and is the
olympus brand. i didn't need 6megapixels though.
I bought it from mid-city camera world after looking at a couple of other places.

I won't be needing this anymore (see picture below) :

Sharing seadragon happiness

Sometimes i really want to tell somebody something that I've just seen or done or thought but don't want to in case they aren't interested and wouldn't understand why I would be excited about it. This often applies to things about plants or worms. Fortunately because one of my flatmates, Matt, is also interested in these things I can share the joy of a home-grown tomato or apricot without having to go further than finding him baking bread in the kitchen or watching TV in the sunroom, or watering the tomatoes in the backyard. Ofcourse there's many other things to be excited about too...

I've decided that my blog is an ideal outlet for me to share these things that bring joy without the risk of someone not being able to appreciate it. Here on my blog you have visited because you wanted to (unless you accidentally stumbled upon it) and so you have come to listen to my thoughts and I haven't foisted them upon you without your consent - and then I don't have to worry about any boredom that you might experience - you'll have no one to blame but yourself for spending time reading this!

Anyway I saw something today that most sensible people would find exciting - a seadragon whilst snorkeling at Kingston!! One of my flatmates, Steffi, and I went snorkelling next to the boat ramp at the end of Kingston beach and around the adjacent rocks. We went with the hope of seeing a seadragon since we had heard that there were supposed to be some there. Steffi asked another person snorkelling around the boat ramp and he found one and then brought it over to us (he picked it out of the water, walked over a few rocks and then handed it to us!) we let it go again in the water, after showing a young girl sitting on some rocks next to where we were snorkelling. It looked like the one in this picture that I found after a quick google search. We had been snorkelling for at least 45 minutes before our seadragon experience but even before then I had a great sense of wonder at the beauty and complexity of life under the water. I had a weird sense of suprise, but knew I shouldn't be suprised, that there's a of amazing beauty and detail to God's creation (and things that he done) that we don't know about and may never experience as individuals. It's like good secrets waiting to be discovered. Or perhaps it's more like a puzzle of a rich and beautiful picture that we only see one tiny piece of and then gradually get to see a few more pieces throughout our life time and then at the end we will get to see the whole picture. But I am talking about the Creator himself not just his amazing creation. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor 13:12).

The suspense is hard to bear....

Discouragement and Pride

"If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride, because it shows you trust in your own powers."

- Mother Theresa as recorded in the book that collated her writings and speeches called "The Love of Christ" by Georges Gorree and Jean Barbier.

Joy

"Some of us seem so anxious about avoiding hell that we forget to celebrate our journey toward heaven".

- Phillip Yancy in What's So Amazing about Grace? p. 14

Blogging is SOOOO 2005....

I often think i'd like to make my blog one that has lots of interesting thoughts that i've been thinking about or something that is a bit more personal. I don't think i have many coherant thoughts and a lot of them get repeated a many times in my head. Every now and then there's a good one, but i either forget it or am not able to express it clearly. Unfortunately i don't seem to have that typical female trait of putting thoughts and feelings into words. English was not my favourite subject although I know how important it is. I'm not really one to keep a journal either. No it's not to be for the moment and i shall bore internet-land with some events, news and other external things.... I've become very good at managing my life through a diary with times and dates. Maybe that's what the "Grind" does to a person. Fortunately as you will read below, this year I'm not back to the Grind in the full-time way as last year - it's will be 4 days per week and include a new little job that's rather exciting... I should say that i do enjoy my other work to a large extent and feel very blessed to have my 2 jobs as a dietitian (was 3, now back to 2) so i can't complain, it's just mentally draining to have life so filled up will it. I have to think about food nearly all of the time!!

I have a new job with TEAR Australia as Education Officer in Hobart. It's 7hrs per week working from home but hopefully i will be out and about a lot. It's also a 3 years contract, which, other than my permanent 1day/wk at the Rehab unit, it's the longest contract i've had! It's a new position for TEAR and I pray that I can make it a worthwhile investment for them. My job will involve supporting volunteers (esp TEAR support groups), TEAR church reps, form relationships with churches and christian goup, helping to organise events and a few talks to schols, youth groups and uni groups. It is exciting to be working for an organisation which is so closely aligned with my beliefs and passions. Visit www.tear.org.au right now if you haven't before!!

I've nearly persauded myself to buy a digital camera..... let me know if you have any recommendations of good ones.