Oh Boys...

You'd think that, after us all knowing each other for the past four to five years in college, we would be perfectly comfortable around each other. For the most part we are...

But then again, I think this picture speaks for itself...I walked into this this morning, thinking the house smelled really good!

I might have to buy the boys this book:

XO - Cristin

Work, Work, Work...All Day Long.

I'm still currently in the market for a job...I've been looking for almost a week now without any luck! The boys, however, go to work at 6am, play soccer three times a week, and still come home yesterday to do even more work...like mowing the lawn!

They spoil me. Okay, not really. I've been cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and I had full intentions of surprising them by having lawn mowed when they got home from work! But when I woke up that morning to see that it had rained, I was a little disappointed. One, because I thought I was going to be stuck in the house ALL day, and two because I wasn't going to get to surprise them. I ended up taking a chance on it raining some more and I rode my bike to Redcliffe to get some errands done. Thank goodness it didn't rain anymore that day, and it ended up being a pretty nice day. Nice enough for me to still mow! Unfortunately the keys that I thought went to the shed with he mower in it was empty, and the only other shed in our yard was locked and the keys were nowhere to be found! So no surprise for the boys...

But I did get the an ice cold beer for all their hard work! Aren't I just the best!?

After the boys finished mowing, they cooked dinner. Steak, potatoes, and green beans! See, they do actually spoil me. I would totally cook for them, but they don't like eating charcoal...I am not a good cook, at all. They also eat, A LOT! 

For example, they go through FOUR LITERS of ice cream a week...fatties.

After dinner we decided to go bowling again. I kicked their butts!

They were mad that I beat them so badly, so they went to play the arcade games instead.

This basketball game was one of them. They asked if I wanted a try, but I didn't want to embarrass them in that too...

I did think that I had a job lined up today. Turned out that they lady Jonesy spoke to wasn't needing anyone 'til July...I cannot wait an entire month before getting a job; I'm already going stir crazy being in the house, and it's only been a week!

It's game day, by the way. So wish the "Boys in Blue" good luck!

XO - Cristin

Driving is "Standard" Here...

Had my first driving lesson last night. And let me tell you, I'm a pro! If by "pro" I mean needing someone to get the car in first gear from the parked position and then do all the shifting...I've got the brake and clutch down though :) 

No really, I think I would be good at driving a standard if I could get the car going from the parked/stopped position. But whatever you do, don't put me on a hill; big or small, we definitely won't be going anywhere! And do I really have to shift with my left hand?! I mean, I don't know if y'all know this, but my left hand is retarded. It's useless really. I feel like I need to start training it for this shifting business...maybe I'll start eating left handed, and brushing my teeth with my left hand. That'll help me, right? 

And let's talk about this driving on the left side of the road. I am CONSTANTLY in a state of paranoia that I am going to turn the wrong way, or run somebody over! 

Riding my bike and worrying about my own safety is hard enough...

I think my driving wore the boys out... It was either that, or their long day of work and practice?

For real though, it is on my bucket list (of life) to learn to drive a standard. How cool would it be if I learned (which I will, eventually) to drive one in Australia, where I have to do everything opposite?! All I can say is, watch out for me on the roads when I get back, America! I'll be all sorts of confused...

Let's hope the next lesson goes better...

XO - Cristin

Finding a Job is Hard...

I have two degrees, I've got this. I figured I would get down to Australia and find a job pretty easily. That's what the boys told me anyways...

Wrong.

Unfortunately my teaching degree isn't compatible with the schools here, so substitute teaching and childcare/daycare are out of the question. I kinda figured that before I left anyways, and when I was still back home, thinking about the type of work I wanted to do while I was here, I pictured myself in a coffee shop, boutique, or restaurant. I wanted to work somewhere laid-back and cool, where I could meet new people and talk to locals. Well, I've turned my CV (resume, for you non-natives) into fifteen different places and only two seem mildly interested!

• Debonair's Cafe - this is in the shopping center close to our house. I talked to the owner and he said he would be hiring soon. But when I asked how soon "soon" was, he said in about a month... Okay, that's not soon enough.
• The Coffee Club - this is a little cafe down by the water in Moreton Bay. This place would be AWESOME to work at. When I said I wanted to work with cool people, these are the type of people I was picturing! And this is the place that seemed kind of interested. They said they would look over my CV and maybe give me a call in about a week for a "trial." Fingers crossed, people!

Everyone else either says, "We're not hiring at the moment, but we're always taking CVs," or "Do you have any experience?" Which I don't...because I never worked in high school or college because of school and athletics; that was a full time job! Okay, I did have one job my senior year in high school. I worked at the UPS Store; I can pack and organize things like no other! The boys have already seen my skills... I also worked at Wilkinson's Mall in Conway for a while. But even with those two jobs, I have no experience in the food and coffee industry. If I could go back in time, I definitely would've worked in a coffee shop in high school or college...I would be set here! At least I think I would.

It's really hard to find a place to work, too, whenever you don't have a phone and only get the opportunity to check email every morning. I've redone my CV multiple times, adding qualifications that I think might make me more appealing to employers, and I finally added Ethan's international phone number. He said he would start leaving the phone with me, just in case I get a call.

Wait, what is this thing!? Why is it so small? What is T9!? Where's Siri?

Just waitin' on a call from these guys...

My list of places in Moreton Bay that took my CV anyways:

• Outback Jack's Bar and Grill
• The Ambassador - I need an RSA Certificate to work here, which'll cost me about $70...
• The Rustic Olive
• Cactus Jack's
• Abby Lee Fashion Boutique
• Sails Fish and Chips
• Surf Vision 
• Target

Maybe something will happen and tomorrow they will need a new employee...

XO - Cristin

Maroons 8, Blues 12...Dangit.

I watched rugby for the first time ever last night. QLD vs NSW. Queensland vs New South Wales. Maroons vs Blues. Jonesy and his wife had us over for dinner, FIFA, and haircuts before the game :)

Apparently silk boxers and a Maroons jersey was proper attire for the evening!

FIFA. The boys were losing...

Ethan Miller. Jack of all trades.

So back to the game. I was partial to the Maroons in the first place, since we're living in Queensland, but after seeing both teams' rosters, I was definitely rooting for Queensland. I don't think it's a common occurrence for rugby players to be good looking, but man, Queensland has beaten the odds! 

I meeannn, just look at the featured Maroons guy compared to the Blues....

Zoom in if you can. Trust me, you'll want to take a good look.

Okay, there was ONE good-looking Blues player.

Alright, enough about the players. Let's talk about the game of rugby. Holy cow, it.is.rough. Like I don't even understand how there aren't more broken bones, more concussions, and more blood in these games. I was constantly covering my eyes and cringing every two seconds because I hurt for those boys. How do you even train to take hits like that?! Without any pads or protection?! 

Does that look fun!? No.

I just don't get it. It's nothing like American football...not that I get that either. But tackles don't really matter, you basically get six downs, you're not down when your knee hits (you can roll into the end zone for all they care), you keep resisting and fighting once you have been tackled to the ground, there are no timeouts, and you kick a field goal from the sideline rather than the center of the field. A touchdown is called a "try." C'mon, that doesn't even make sense; they didn't TRY to score...they DID score! And what are these huddle things? It's confusing. And intense. 

I did get into the game though; it was fun to watch, and to hear people who actually know the game talk about it (and yell at the team like they know each person individually). There was one guy on the Blues team, who I swear was wearing a sports bra! It looked something like this:

That is obviously not a picture of the guy from the Blues team, because he's not the ONE guy I showed you earlier who was attractive from that team...and there was only one. This guy's alright, even if he does wear a bra...

In the US, we might say "he plays ball like a girl." But here in Australia they say, "he's got pink undies on!" I think I'm going to bring back a few of these phrases to the US! 

XO - Cristin 

State of Origin.

Apparently today the biggest rugby game in the world is being played right here in Queensland! Not sure if it's really "the biggest game in the world" or if the man at Taylor and Ethan's soccer game last night told me that because it's between the Queensland (QLD) Maroons and the New South Wales (NWS) Blues, which are both in Australia and we happen to live in Queensland.

Maroon and Blue are the color of their jerseys, by the way; but I think that's still what they're called...

Maybe we'll go to a bar downtown, or even closer to where the stadium is, and watch the game. Perhaps get the full on rugby experience without actually being at the game...who knows, it could be fun! And intense. If rugby fans are anything like the fans that watched Ethan and Taylor's game last night, it'd definitely be worth sitting in on. 

Speaking of the boys game last night...they lost, 1-2, but man was it an exciting game! Olympic is in a higher division than Peninsula Power, but I thought the boys' team played really well. They definitely had their chances to win. Taylor almost had a really sweet header, off a cross from Ally, to go up 1-0 in the first half. The Olympic goalie was good, like REALLY good, and I'm pretty sure that I had heard he was only 16!

I've gotta figure out how to take better pictures of the boys playing at night. If these were day games, I'd be good! Unfortunately I unpacked my "Nikon D3100 For Dummies" book right at the last second...

XO - Cristin 

So What's Next?

I know, I know...I've only been here for less than a week and I'm already thinking about what's next for me. Is that bad?

Wanderlust. I see this word on Pinterest all the time. It's definition: the strong desire to travel.

That's me. At this point in my life, I want to get out and travel. I want to experience new surroundings, and people, and things. I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to "Places to Go." It's not that I don't want to go back home, it's just that I want to travel more.

Since I'm here in Brisbane, I figure I should probably venture down to Newcastle, Sydney, and maybe Melbourne while I'm here. And of course I want to go to New Zealand, who wouldn't want to go to New Zealand!? So I started doing some random research and found this program called InterExchange. You can do all kinds of things through this company: work, teach English, be an Au Pair, volunteer, etc... Right now I'm looking into being an Au Pair in New Zealand, and possibly teaching English in Chile, Vietnam, Thailand, France, or Italy.

Now I just have to do more research...which is only difficult because I don't have 24/7 wi-fi, and most of my time is spent still looking for a job.

Those are not my pictures, by the way, they came from t he InterExchange website for each place I'm interested in.

"You'll travel safely, you'll neither tire nor trip. You'll take afternoon naps without a worry, you'll enjoy a good night's sleep. No need to panic over alarms or surprises, or predictions that doomsday's just around the corner, because God will be right there with you; he'll keep you safe and sound. Never  walk away from someone who deserves your help; your hand is God's hand for that person." - Proverbs 3:23-27

XO - Cristin

Check Out My New Ride...

So we have a car, it's a white Hyundai Sirion...super cool. They found it for $1000 bucks! Fancy, right?!

Unfortunately we don't all work at the same place. In fact, I'm still looking for work...but regardless, it won't be in the factory with them. So meet my ride: Black Beauty.

My mom would be happy to know, that here in Australia, you have to wear a helmet when riding; because if you don't they will pull you over and give you a ticket! 

By the way, I'm all about that selfie life now that I'm living with two boys who are always gone. How else am I supposed to document my being in Australia? For all you know, I could be pulling all these pictures straight off the internet and posting them as my own... 

Those things on top of my helmet are for magpies. Which are apparently these crazy birds that want to attack the highest thing from the ground...which would be my face if I didn't have those! I haven't encountered these magpies yet, but I'm not taking any chances.

Basically all day today I went around town looking for a job. No luck yet, but I'm not giving up! There was this really cool coffee shop, called "The Coffee Club," with really nice locals working who seemed interested in my working. They said they would call in a week for a "trial run"...so we will see what happens! Most of the places I looked today were in the bay area, which was really nice, and right on the water. 

They have these little fitness areas where you can workout right near the beach. Pretty cool if you ask me.

 This was the best, and brightest, house I saw while exploring the area:

There was some pretty neat art around there too...

And then there were these weird, annoying, creepy looking birds all over the beach bugging people for food.

But these birds made up for those annoying ones!

Bike riding is all fun and games until you realize you have to go UP that big ol' hill you just flew down!

That's all for today's adventure. More job searching tomorrow, but for now I'm headed to watch the boys play. It's a big game tonight...Peninsula Power vs. Olympic FC. Let's go "Boys in Blue!"

XO - Cristin