First Official Post from Australia

So, I have officially been in Australia for 1 week and 5 days! Its already beginning to feel like home.


Life here is beautiful. The sky is breathtaking, even in its day to day blueness :) ... My housemates are lovely and so welcoming... and God is just ... well words can't describe! He has been so overwhelming in this journey so far and already see glimpses of what is in store through other students and the work He has done in them. I get overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions just thinking about the journey I get to have with Him over the next year - happy emotions that is!


I wont overwhelm you all with too many details but do want you to feel apart of what I am doing here since SO many of you were a HUGE part of getting me here both by prayer and financial support!


First I will share some exciting news with you guys...
A little background:
So when I first arrived, John (a guy from North Augusta who went to school with Danielle @ ACS) picked us up from the airport and took me to one of the girls house here that i'd be staying in for the first week until college housing opened up on the 11th. Well, it was conference week and the majority of the time spent with the girls was sleeping... But they were all so welcoming and super sweet. We connected immediately, although I wasn't completely open since it was all so foreign to me - we still had a great connection. Well, after conference (which was amazing, and will go more into detail about that later on) I spent Saturday & Sunday with the girls and really just felt a part, but still had no clue where I was going to live. That week I had emailed Joy (who is over accommodations) to see if it was possible for me to take 1 of the 2 empty spaces in the girls house. When she wrote back saying she had already placed me in a different home and that it was closer to the school - I decided to stick with her plan. So the following Monday I went to the school and got my housing stuff sorted out and went to visit my house! Well, it wasn't what I was expecting and didn't help that I had been spoiled for a week with lovely ladies who LOVE a clean house! :) Not that the other house wasn't clean it just was nothing in comparison. It is one of the girl mansions here in the Hills and had 11 girls living in it, in comparison to 7 in the house I was staying in. Well, long story short, I visited the house... wasn't 100% thrilled about it but wanted to give it time - so I dropped my stuff off and packed a small bag of things to stay at the other girls house for a few nights while the girls in the mansion got their stuff sorted out and moved out. Well in those next 2 or 3 days I connected even more with the girls and really felt like I was "home" while in their house and already in their routine so was just praying really hard on what I should do. SOO Wednesday night some of us girls were out celebrating Charity's birthday and one girl wanted to stop by and see my house - so we stopped by & I instantly felt like it wasn't meant to be! Nothing terrible about it, but just wasn't meant for me! So I emailed Joy again to see if it was possible still to get one of the spots in the girls house... AND.... IT WAS!!!! There was a little bit of work that had to be done but it was such great news to know that I was going to be with this amazing group of girls that wanted me and I wanted to them! It was such a relief to say the least.
I have just settled right in ever since! No longer living out of my suitcases, and sleeping in my own bed! AH... such an amazing feeling... and it feels normal! Totally the Lord!


SO... My housemates currently are:
Kaitlyn, who welcomed the idea to let me stay with them the week of the conference! It was such a huge blessing! She is from Atlanta, GA and is actually done with school and heading home on the 22nd... its sad to connect with her and then her leave!
Kelsey, who is also from GA area and such a huge help getting around at conference and making Blake and I feel welcomed. She left the day after conference so haven't really got to know her yet. But look forward to it! :)
Charity & Sus... who I have got to spend a lot of quality time with, and wouldn't change it for anything!
They are both sooo precious and such an encouragement! They both have so many stories of how God has shown up tremendously in their life while here at college. Charity just turned 19 and is from Canada and Sus recently turned 20 and is from Holland! She bakes a really good apple pie! :)
Im so excited about our friendship and look forward to spending the next 6 months with them!
Then there is my lovely roommate Rachel who is 21 & from Wales.. she is super sweet and again such an encourager. She loves to cuddle and has such a welcoming spirit about her... which will be lovely when the homesickness comes around.  She is great!
Then we have Chelsea, who is in her own room and LOVES cleaning which made me smile when I saw her awake at like 8 am scrubbing the railing of the stairs :) She is lovely and has an amazing voice... she actually performed in one of the openers at conference (will post a video). Her family came to visit this week so haven't seen her much lately but excited to hang out with everyone and get to know them!
We will have one other new student moving in with us and i'm anxious to meet her and see what characteristics and fun things she will bring to the group of girls! Her name is Rebecca, but that is all we know for now. She was suppose to arrive today but hasn't made it yet.
So... God is soo good in opening up this spot in their house for me and I have loved every second so far... not saying its going to be perfect always - but definitely a blessing!

far left top row... Rachel, Charity, Kelsey, Chelsea, Beatrice (who already left)

bottom row from left... Suzanne and Kaitlyn

(this is an old pic I stole from one of the girls... but to give you a visual)

I have cooked tons while i've been here & enjoyed every second of it!
Yesterday I made my moms amazing Chili & Noodles... and surprisingly tasted a lot like hers!

Tonight I thought i'd experiment some and made a Chicken Pesto Alfredo Pasta... pretty amazing if I do say so! :)
I've enjoyed it and Charity & Sus have as well so... hopefully this will be the beginning of a good thing!

 Since I have been here I have... done a lot of walking (only more to come), visited the city, ridden a train, bus & ferry multiple times, cooked lots, eaten lots of nutella, drank lots of hot tea, visited Manly Beach, watched like 5 movies, skyped, obsessed over the sky & how amazing God is, ridden on the wrong side of the road, fell down our stairs (of course!), seen Jesus Culture live, went to 1st service @ Hillsong Church, had fajitas 3 times ( and mexican isn't big here), met some amazing people, celebrated 4th with cookout & sparklers, tried Tim Tams & Anzac cookies, broke down in the middle of the Apple store, spent a lot of change (which is hard for me!), froze to death (which I am doing at the moment), hang dried my clothes :( (not sure how you'd say that) , said "no worries" a few dozen times, and heard Priscilla Shirer, Jentzen Franklin, John Maxwell, Nick Gumble, Brian Houston, Judah Smith, Bobbie Houston, Christine Caine, Julie A'bell & Robert Ferguson speak... all amazing!


Some of my favorite sights thus far:

my first view off of the plane

lunch at the harbour with my new friends under the beautiful big sky

real life... beautiful

view from the ferry ride to Manly Beach

Manly Beach

real life surfers :)

will leave you with this beautiful view of Manly Beach

Miss home and the normalcy of life back home but embracing life here and loving it thus far. Anxious for classes to begin and to see how life will be once in the normal routine. 


Love you all!!!! Please Please Please... write often and keep me posted on life back home. I feel like I've said it a million times, and I at once thought it would be bad to hear about things and feel like I'm missing out, but it is actually helping me still feel a part of home, rather than having to guess that life is perfect & amazing without me! haha :) Silly Im sure, but it helps! 


I have my official address -  so for anyone who is interested, comment me your email & I will send you all my information!




You will have to excuse my writing - I know it is not the best! :-/ 
My blog will be a mixture of things... both for you guys back home but also for me to look back on and remember this remarkable journey I am getting to go on.


There will be updates of normal day to day life here as well as journals recapping amazing lectures I hear, or Words from the Lord to inspire me and others... just a little bit of everything! 
Hope you enjoy and I hope the Lord uses my journey to inspire some of you to DREAM BIG! 


Love living life with YOU! 


Katelin :)