Finally in Sydney :)

After much anxious excitement I have finally arrived to Sydney, Australia. It took about 24 hours of traveling to get here, including layovers and flight times. It's so crazy to think about flying across the ocean for 14 hours...

We landed in Sydney on Saturday the 16th and I did the whole tourist/sightseeing thing with Dad and Terri for the weekend. Sydney is such a huge city and it's always alive with different activities and things to do.

Monday I went to Hillsong College to get settled in and meet my roommates. I met a few different people in the office and they were all amazing and helpful and welcoming. I also met one of my roommates, her name is Beth and she is from London! She is the sweetest girl ever and I'm really glad we're roommates. We're still waiting on our other two flat mates to arrive. My apartment has 2 bedrooms 2 bath 1 kitchen 1 living room and a big patio and we're on the 7th floor. I was definitely pleasantly surprised when I arrived, it's pretty nice!

So far I've set up my Australian bank account, got a cell phone, and moved all of my clothes into the apartment (I brought too much stuff). Our apartment is pretty empty at the moment...we have 2 mattresses in our room..oh and a dryer and a dishwasher that came with the apartment. We just need to get living room furniture, a refrigerator (that one is pretty important), a microwave, washing machine, bedroom furniture..and the list goes on. I know God will provide...I'm already having to rely on Him more than ever and I LOVE that!

Yesterday a bunch of the new students went to the beach..it was a great time. People are from all over the world...Canada, Montreal, Norway, Holland, Africa, all of the U.S. and so many more places. Everyone is really great and I love all of the diversity...these people are going to be like my family for the next few years and I already know many of them will be close friends for the rest of my life. It's so weird to go from one season in my life where I was basically living on my own and then come into this community type living with more names than I can remember with friends from every inch of the globe!

Last night was my first night in the new apartment..it doesn't feel like home yet and I found myself feeling a tinge of homesickness but I'll get settled in soon enough. I really do miss all of my family and friends back home...and if yall are reading this just know that you're in my thoughts and prayers every single day.

For anyone that wants to send me a letter or anything my address is:

214/11 Potter Street

Waterloo NSW 2017

Love you all!

Anticipation.

In exactly 4 months from now I will be on a flight on my way to Sydney, Australia. I'll be going to Hillsong International Leadership College to major in worship music. People from all over the world are going and I could not be more excited for this amazing experience that lies ahead. The best way to describe what I'm feeling 90 percent of the time lately is anticipation. However, I know that I need to treasure the time I have at home for now because these 4 months are going to fly by. I'm going to Australia completely on my own without knowing a single person there. I think that's the beauty of it though, it's an adventure and it's just me out in the big world, with God of course. I love that. It gives me a chance to go to a place with a completely blank slate and people will simply see me for who I really am and who God transformed me to be, but they won't have to see who I used to be.

Interesting things about Sydney:
- It's the largest city in Australia.
- The warmest month out of the year is January, which is when I'll be arriving :)
- A resident of Sydney is known as a Sydneysider.
- Sydney has one of the lowest population densities and highest living standards in the world.

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Isaiah 55:12-13