out with the old, in with the new

That's right, the other American has arrived in Perth, and it's only a matter of time before I'll be saying my good-byes and jumping back on that jet plane to go over to the other side of the world. My good friend Taylor arrived here on Wednesday, and it's been so great catching up with him and showing him around the city. This week has been really full on for me, but I got to spend time with lots of people that I care about, so that's been the important thing. Here's a brief rundown: Pay close attention.

Monday: breakfast with Jade because she didn't have school. After lunch Amy and I went and visited our good rriend Anna who just had a little boy about 6 weeks ago. It was great to see her and their new addition, Timothy. That night we had a church meeting, in which we talked about the future of Westchurch.
Tuesday: Josh and I spent a good three hours in Borders bookstore in the city, talking about church things and finding all kinds of things to distract us while inside the store. I always tend to drift to the girly magazines, you know the ones that are like a novel and are full of shoes and clothes and make-up. But I love them! That afternoon, I babysat Billy and exhaulsted all of my energy spinning him around and around in circles until we were too dizzy to stand up on our own.
Wednesday: Dylan and I caught up for a late breakfast and chatted about his adventures in America coming up in December. Then Josh, Dylan and I went to the airport to pick up Taylor and proceeded to find the nearest Han's Cafe and fill up on the best Asian food in the city. We took a walk through Subi and dropped him off at the Nevill's so he could unpack and try to get over jet lag. That evening I babysat until about midnight. I think I was seeing two of everything by the end of the day.
Thursday: Taylor and I ventured into the city and again found ourselves in Borders glancing through all the books. I got suck in the magazine section again, go figure. That evening was volleyball with the girls and then prayer group at the Nevill's.
Friday: Taylor and I went for an early morning run in hopes of breaking in his new running shoes, but they were actually giving him more pain than aiding in helping him run. We went to St. Stephen's High School to eat lunch with some of the year 12's and met up with Josh for coffee afterwards. Friday night was youth group and we all played Squash for about 3 hours. It was so intense, but I loved it! Not only am I addicted to Racquetball, but now I love squash.
Saturday: a bit of a quiet day, caught up on some reading and emails and just some "me" time. The boys came over for "V for Vendetta" and pizza that evening, it was nice to just chill.
Sunday: Combined church service in the morning, which was super encouraging. Afterwards we went into Ledderville and ate lunch in the park, while watching some pre-teenagers skate board. I begged some of the guys to play on the see-saw with me, it didn't take a whole lot of coaxing to get them to participate. We love to pretend like we're still kids. Today was the West Coast Derby, which is the footy game between the Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles. Now most of the people in Perth probably support the Eagles, but I've always stood by the underdogs, the Dockers, and well, we KILLED them! It was great watching the game, no one believed they would win. And we ended the night by going to church for an evening service, which was full of singing and fellowship, followed by evening tea. I love how in Australia, everytime you get together, there is usually tea, so soothing.

Here are my recomendations for the week: Music- Evermore(album: "Real Life") Movies- Memoirs of a Geisha, V for Vendetta Books- Cage of Stars by Jaqueleyn Mitchard