I keep doing this… I keep going far too long in my blogging venture that by the time I settle into my couch to start writing, I spend the first half an hour staring endlessly at the blinking cursor.
So my dear friends and family, please pardon the random assortment of sentences that are about to be strewn upon this page.
Oh, heads-up, I watched “Becoming Jane” the other day and I’ve been in a poetic state since. So if I sound old-fashioned, it’s simply me trying to be like Jane Austen herself.
I’m swept up in a busy Spring with work, new classes, serving at church events and attempting to make the most of my time here!
After a cold winter (who would’ve thought in Australia!) the sun is back! The flowers are in bloom, the birds are out, (and the bugs. EWW) and the scent in the air is similar to what it was when I first arrived.
2nd semester classes (New Testament, Christian Doctrine, Personal Evangelism, Spirit-filled Living, and Songwriting) are absolutely blowing my mind!
For one of my assessments in songwriting I was paired with a guy named Damon. The goal was to write a praise or worship song, record it, make a chord chart, blah blah blah and send it in. Then out of the 13 groups in our class our trainers chose 3 songs that would be work-shopped and used for our final performance. Mine and Damon’s was one of the three that were chosen! So now our class has been split into groups and we are doing some rewriting and then we will share it for our final performance. Exciting, and a little scary, but it’s an honor!
For my next songwriting assessment I was given an artist that I have to imitate their style. Guess who I got? (I’m wincing as I write this…) Lady Gaga. Me, of all people, is required to write a Lady Gaga song. I don’t even know where to begin! My guess is I will *attempt* to lay a sick beat and layer meaningless lyrics (repeated tirelessly) over the top. We’ll see how that goes... My thoughts for how to get inspiration? I could ‘just dance,’ play poker, or get in a ‘bad romance?’ Nah, that won’t do… I’ll just ask ‘Alejandro’ for help. Teasing, I’m only teasing. For those over 25- those are song references. Don’t worry; I haven’t fallen off the deep end. :)
For my next songwriting assessment I was given an artist that I have to imitate their style. Guess who I got? (I’m wincing as I write this…) Lady Gaga. Me, of all people, is required to write a Lady Gaga song. I don’t even know where to begin! My guess is I will *attempt* to lay a sick beat and layer meaningless lyrics (repeated tirelessly) over the top. We’ll see how that goes... My thoughts for how to get inspiration? I could ‘just dance,’ play poker, or get in a ‘bad romance?’ Nah, that won’t do… I’ll just ask ‘Alejandro’ for help. Teasing, I’m only teasing. For those over 25- those are song references. Don’t worry; I haven’t fallen off the deep end. :)
Anyways… Life is good. Life is so good.
God is continually working in my heart, and I’m learning so much. Just when I think I’ve got it figured out (it must be a teenage thing) He gently reminds me that I’m not all that and a bag of potato chips. Oh pardon me, here in Australia, they are called crisps… my bad. :)
As my time here dwindles, I’m in a constant state of reflection. Sometimes I forget who the girl was who got on that plane 9 months ago. I’ve changed so drastically, and yet, I’m still me. A very hard concept to comprehend.
I think I will realize how different I am when I return home. How much of the Aussie slang will I retain? What will I miss the most? (Colorful money is on the list!) Will I ever see these friends again? Will anyone in America truly understand everything I experienced? So many questions that will remain unanswered until I’m able to walk through it.
Yet, despite all of those things, I am also enraptured at the thought of coming home. On December 2nd, Blake, Joslyn and I will fly to LAX together. We will depart from this yearlong Australian adventure and return to American soil. The months of depending on skype for communication will be over, as I will be reunited with those that I love. It will be a bittersweet departure to say the least.
And that’s my cue to stop writing about it, for it makes me melancholy just thinking about it!
ANYWAYS- Thank you dear ones for all of your love and support. I could not have done this without you. Thank you for making it so difficult to be away. “I’m so blessed to have something that makes it so hard to say goodbye.” But then, we never said goodbye… we said, ‘see you later.’ And that ‘see you later’ will shortly be fulfilled.
All my love,
The silly girl singing, “it’s the final countdown…”
P.S. I don't think it's necessarily protocol to put postscript in a blog post, but whatever.
Anyways, once again, miss you!
P.S.S. Brother Jon, I'm glad you're okay. You literally and figuratively 'took one for the team.' And hey, the football moms are probably making you heaps of cookies. I was about ready to jump on a plane two months early to get to you.
