Happy President's Day

Today we are enjoying  a nice relaxed day.  Matt does not have class on Monday's so we are enjoying a game of scrabble with our house mates.  Tiffany is meeting with a girl today to help her with chemistry which will be good.  The sun is starting to peak out again which is going to make it a little warmer here...again, that is good.  Tiffany just may enjoy a nice warm beach for her birthday...(that will be a first:)  We hope all is well.  We love hearing from home and all of your encouragement.  

Sydney Pics

Due to popular demand...We must post some pictures of our Adventure in Sydney...so here they are...Most are pretty self-explanatory...others are just places we saw along the way river on the way into the city.

Also, Tiffany's interview went well on Wednesday.  She was asked to stay for a second interview later that afternoon which also went well.  She now has to get overseas police clearance and should find out in a couple of weeks if she has the job.

Matt's classes are going well.  He is starting to see what his schedule will be like this semester and it looks pretty busy.  He will be in class all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  On Thursdays, he will work on a street team where they go around the community to help serve.  On the weekends, he is working at an extension service about 45 minutes from where we live in Villawood.  We don't know much about the service yet but he looks forward to start using his talents in ministry.

Oh yeah...our new home phone is 612 8883 5185.  We also have internet at the house now which is so exciting... it will be a little easier to stay in touch with you all.

Pray for the Victims of the Bushfires

As most of you have heard, much of the southern edge of Australia is experiencing tragic bushfires.  Many lives have been lost and many homes quickly turned to ashes.  Please keep these people in your prayers and pray that the winds will slow and the rains will begin.  We are quite a safe distance from these fires.  In our area the weather has turned from extreme heat to cool and rainy, which we praise the Lord for daily.  Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support as we continue to settle in.

Heat Wave

Well we lived through our first Australian heat wave.  Temperatures were predicted to reach 47 degrees Celsius (that is about 116 degrees F.)....Sizzle, sizzle!!! Luckily, we were able to find a ride home from church today and a ride back to church this evening...which of course was awesome.  Matt is really enjoying school, however, he is experiencing a bit of information overload.  Tiffany has an interview at the church daycare on Wednesday at 11 (thats Tuesday at 7 pm for those of you on EST)  Please pray that God's will is clear as she goes through this process.  

We were able to go into Sydney last night which was great.  Not only did we meet up with a great couple for dinner, but we also got a glimpse of the sights of Sydney.  We rode a ferry into the Sydney harbor where we got a great view of the Sydney skyline, went under the infamous Sydney harbor bridge, and pulled in right next to the opera house (Aaaaaaah!!--sing it out loud and high).  For all of you coming to visit, this trip is a must (the best part is it only cost $7.70 each--any takers :) ) We love you all and miss you dearly.  We can't wait for some friends and family to visit...Thanks for all of your prayers and support.  

Happy Birthday Mom!!  

p.s. our home # has changed (long story) we will post it soon...

Our House

So here are a few pics of our house!!! At least of the space that we occupy!! we know many of you are curious. You can see matt in the small middle window. The three windows on the right are ours. The small and large one are our bedroom and the other is to our bathroom...Let's go inside..
When you walk into our door we have a little entry way with a loo to the left and then straight ahead is the living room and dining room area. After you walk through the dining area there is a kitchen and second eating area to the right and the laundry room is off of this area. We have two sliding doors at the end of the living room that open to our backyard where can cook "shrimp on the barbie".
Next is our master suite. Notice the windows...we try to block the sun a little as it sets on our side of the house making our room really warm in the afternoons. The hinged door goes into the hallway and the pocket door goes into our closet and bathroom. We are grateful that God has put us in such an amazing living situation. The house may seem big, but remember we share with 5 other wonderful housemates. We have already been blessed by their international flavor and genuine friendship. We love you all and can't wait to entertain our visitors from the States. P.S. I hear it is cheaper to call on our land line...if you want to call the house number is 02 8882 9062.

Happy Australia Day!!!

You may be asking yourself..."What is Australia Day all about?" Well I am so glad you asked...because now I know...basically it is the Day England let them go, but they got off a lot easier than we did..no wars or anything...I guess the Brits were tired of losing wars after our excursion...Anyhow, their celebrations are much the same, go to the beach, enjoy cookouts, and picnics in the parks...and a few fireworks. We of course jumped into the traditions and enjoyed the day on Bondi beach with our friend (and housemate) Frances (she is from London). We had a great day! We had to take a series of public transportation venues so it took us about 3 hours to get to the beach, but the adventure was well worth it :).

We still do not have the internet at our house, but we are working on it. We have to walk down to McD's for free wi-fi. It is about a 15 minute walk.

Matt started school today and had a really enjoyable day. He is learning a lot about what he will be learning and meeting a lot of people. Tonight...he is tired.

Tiff took a trek to Rouse Hill which is a shopping center a couple of miles from where we live...No, she didn't walk there, but she did miss her bus stop on the way back adding a couple extra steps to her trip...Dad, I went to Big W...it reminded me a lot of a store we have back home... :)

Tonight we are relaxing..we had a meeting with all of our housemates who are quite lovely. We are in the international house with mates from Switzerland, Norway, England, Malaysia, and Canada.

We met a couple on Sunday night and they have invited us to dinner tomorrow night with their parents. Her mum is a teacher so we hope this may give some insight to job opportunities for Tiff. Please keep us in your prayers as God continues to work in amazing ways.

We hope all our friends and family are doing well. We should have Skype up and running by the end of the week so you better get those webcams ready.

We are here...

So we made it to Australia...finally...
We are both feeling a lot better, which is good b/c we hit the ground running. When we arrived our friend Ken was in the airport awaiting us with a sign with "Matt Scott" on it :). We made it through customs really easy which was great. We then piled in to his cozy BMW with our 10 pieces of luggage. Tiff had the guitar in her lap :). We got to see the big bridge (it probably has a better name, idk) and the Sydney Opera house on our way to the College.
Once we arrived, we were plesantly surprised to find out we were going to be in a furnished house. (why do we continue to be surprised at God's perfect plan?) Ken then kindly took us to our residence. We are in a 5 bedroom house that we are sharing with 6 other girls (poor Matt ;(). We are in the master suite with our very own bathroom (Yeah!!). We have a queen size bed, a chest of drawers, and night stand in the room, as well as a nice sized closet. What an answer to prayers.
After going to the house , Ken took us to the Telstra store to set up phones and internet. We purchased a pre-pay cell phone so we would not have to get into a contract. Next week, we will also be getting a house phone with a great international plan and the internet. Back to the pre-pay phone. Australia is great in that you do not get charged for incoming calls. Soooo, if anybody wants to call feel free(although it is not free to you :). Our country code is 011 followed by our number which is 0429025979.
OK, soo we did a little shopping last night...and...when you consider the conversion rate, different brands, and jet lag...this was quite the experience. We then went home to clean, unpack, make our bed and get in it...
After a good nights rest, we are here at "Maccas"" (McDonanlds) enjoying free wi-fi. We don't have a whole lot of plans for the rest of the day...just meeting people and finding our way around town. We are beginning to see we may need some mode of transportation, buses are pretty expensive and it is in the upper 90's outside. (oh yeah and the big hole in the ozone is right over us...) We know God has a perfect plan and will provide for our needs. We ask that you pray that we can find a job quickly and a reasonable and reliable form of transportation. Please keep in touch. We love you all!!!