A Little Craziness

Tuesday started like any other day... I went to work as usual, but on my home way home I nearly missed the bus. Since I worked late, I didn't know how long I would have to wait for the next one so I ran after it. The bus driver was a little annoyed, but he let me on. I took out my wallet with my bus pass in it and punched the card. I took a seat and settled in for the ride home.

I stopped by Coles (the closest grocery store to our apartment) for a few items I needed for dinner. As I was checking out, I reached in my purse for my wallet only to discover it was missing. I didn't panic at first because I figured I just stuck it in a different section of my purse since I was a little frazzled on the bus earlier. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I dug through my whole purse while the check-out lady was staring at me like I was an idiot.

I immediately called Anthony (slightly freaking out) while I turned my purse and my bag inside out with no luck. I re-traced my steps to the bus stop and all over the grocery store looking for my little black wallet with no success. Luckily, I did find about six $2 coins in the bottom of my purse (I love those coins!) and was able to pay for my groceries.

I called the number on the bus stop only to get an answering machine telling me the hours were 9-5, Mon-Fri. So, I walked home, stressing all the way. When I got home, I figured out that my wallet contained the following: my CA driver's license, my debit card for our bank here, my debit card for our account at home, my social security card (don't ask me why I carry it around with me - that will change!), my monthly bus pass that I just bought a few days earlier, and my blockbuster card. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night.

At exactly 9am the next day, I called the bus company. The lady who answered knew right away what I was talking about, and I can't tell you how relieved I was to find out they had my wallet in their safe!!

The lady gave me the directions to their office and said it was about 10 minutes from the City. I figured it wouldn't be a problem to go on my 1/2 hour lunch break. I left at noon and caught the tram outside my office. 40 minutes later, I ended up at the bus depot! I waited at least 5 minutes before a stout woman came up to the window to help me. I explained my situation and she left for 15 minutes before coming back with my wallet. I'm not sure what took her so long, but I was just glad to have my wallet back! Meanwhile, my lunch break turned into 1 hour and 40 minutes.

After a couple of crazy days, everything turned out fine. My wallet was just as I left it. God is so good! He watches over even the smallest details of our lives!

"Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you" Psalm 55:22

Traveling

We are going to Wilson's Promontory ("The Prom") tomorrow. It's the southern most point of Australia and it's about 3 hours from Melbourne. We are staying the night at a little cabin, so we'll be gone Saturday and Sunday. I'm so excited to venture a bit farther outside the City. One of Anthony's co-workers has said good things about this place so I can't wait! We will post pictures when we get back.

Then, next weekend, we are off to Sydney for 5 days!! We are so excited for our first trip outside of Victoria. It's about 2 hours by plane and we're leaving Friday afternoon and coming home that following Tuesday. We can't wait to see all the exciting things Sydney has to offer...they have some nice beaches too! We will definitely be blogging about that when we get back too!

We hope you all have a great weekend! Bye for now.

Melbourne Zoo

This post is actually a little late. We went to the Melbourne Zoo two weeks ago. We had good intentions, but we decided (quite ambitiously) that we would try to incorporate a slide show into the post to show off our pictures. We inevitably encountered some technical difficulties, which led to frustration (technology frustration no less) and then temporary abandonment of the project. We have since regained composure and had a second go (and I think we got the slide show to work - fingers crossed!).


We initially weren't sure what to expect at the Melbourne Zoo. We wanted to go to a zoo, but this particular zoo was not first on our list (it was actually third). Unfortunately, the other zoos were quite a ways out of town and required creative transportation solutions... and a little more planning than we allowed for. The Melbourne Zoo is in the heart of the city, so it was easily accessible. However, given its location in the city, we were thinking that this zoo might be a little cramped (for the animals, not us). That made me nervous (I blame a wildlife conservation class I took in college).


But we went, and the whole experience actually turned out to be highly impressive. The exhibits were all top quality and we even learned a few things (like what an echidna looks like - or even that echidnas exist). We both thought it was probably the best zoo we had ever visited.

Here's the infamous slide show of pictures from our visit:

Melbourne Zoo

Kristi also got a few videos that turned out pretty well. We wanted to adopt one of the little penguins as a pet. They are hilarious. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Anthony!

Anthony turned 25 on Tuesday! Since we both had to work, we just celebrated at home that evening. I made him one of his favorite dishes for dinner...spaghetti pie. For those of you who have never tried it, you're missing out! :) It's an italian recipe I got from my mom-in-law and it's to die for! We found a good Shiraz that complimented the dish and made for a great dinner.

Then, for dessert, I tried something new. I made a cake from scratch...no box involved! It was a Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. I was a bit nervous since I've never attempted one before, but it turned out really well! I would definitely make it again! It was so moist and fluffy and really good! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTHONY!!