Two Internships! Finally Something to Do!

     The tender mercies from heaven have been POURING in! It has been beautiful weather, I've had delicious treats GALOUR, and (drum roll please...) I have TWO internships! Because of that, I've been to the city almost every day this past week! I love the city! It makes me feel like I have something to do - oh wait...because I finally do! Finally, I'm not just lounging around the house for 15 to 18 hours a day, or otherwise getting really stressed out because I know in the back of my mind I could be doing something far more productive.

Pretty sunset at Werribee Park.
I thought the perspective looked cool. 

     It may sound weird to some of you, but I actually like to have a project to work on. I like having something that gives me motivation to wake up in the morning. A feeling of purpose. Of course I love to exercise, but until these internships I was only filling my time with menial things that I could also do
back home.
     Going to the library...there is a library in Utah, TONS bigger 100 fold, by the way. Almost hate to say it, but the "city" library here is pretty sad. Only one floor of books that holds all sections non-fiction, fiction, and children's... That and my daily morning workouts was all I had to look forward to.
     Guess what, I can workout in the mornings at home too! Wow, isn't that just nuts...But now I've got something exciting giving me more drive to get moving in the mornings and even a bigger excuse to go into the city! Yes!!

So glad my efforts were not in vain! Here's for never giving up!

Cheers,

Jess

Parcell World Tour Continues with...Penguins.

     Adventure resumes, rather continues, on the #ParcellWorldTour as we headed to Cowes, Philip Island for the weekend. As in this occasion we had ALL seven children in tow it became necessary to rent a second vehicle for the trip. This being the case, Henry was very captured by the idea of having a new car to drive, so of course, where did he need to have his carseat moved to? That's right. So, I slipped my bag out of the "trunk" (if you could even call it that) of the new rental and moved it back into the van. A selfish endeavor of mine on this travel became that if I could get a couple of hours without Henry's whining, I was going to take it.

A cozy koala asleep at the Conservation.
Couldn't bat an eye for anyone.

     It was weird not having the bulky carseat bulging out on all sides of the backseat. Definitely more space, and much less suspense in the air that at any fragile moment the silence might be broken by the screeching frustrations of the toddler in all ears of the passengers in the air-tight space all around. The two-hour drive went quickly because of this when I looked up to see that we had come to the famous chocolate factory on Philip Island. The most appealing thing on the outside of the sign were the words that read "free sample" which was all Karly seemed to care about, and I can't help but agree! Who doesn't love free chocolate??

     The free sample nor the tour of the factory happened as it cost more money than anyone in the right mind should pay for such a thing, and we only utilized the factory for it's convenience of public toilets. We waved goodbye to the factory and sneered at the sad excuse of a "chocolate-themed" laser tag out back. Picture cardboard cut-outs painted and drawn on to look like chocolate bars...yeah. That was their chocolate-themed laser tag? Umm...no. Try again.

     The house rental was very pretty on the inside, though I would find out the hard way that the beds were not as comfy as they appeared. As I lay awake trying in vain to fall asleep later that first night, all I could think about was how much lack of support there was for my back where I needed it and how much it felt like I was stretched out across a springboard topped with a piece of sheet rock. Needless to say, I couldn't fall asleep. My only release was when I gave up on the bed, grabbed the extra blanket from the closet, and went out to the living room to make the straight, round-back loveseat as comfortable as possible. By this time it was about 5:45AM and I still hadn't even slipped into sleep stage: two.

     The only activity planned for the evening was to go see the "Little Penguin Parade". This little island in Australia is home to the world's littlest penguin that stands on about 12 inches tall (so cute!!). After tickets were paid for we walked all the way to the beach. I saw signs for such things as "General Admission" and "Penguin Premium". It turns on that everyone is shuffled down to the amphitheatre-like benches on the shore, and all we are to do is sit there are wait for the penguins to swim home after dark. What in the world a premium viewing is? I have no idea.
I suddenly became very appalled to the fact that these people had monetized something that occurs so naturally. We just paid you $25 a pop to watch some penguins swim up to a beach? It all seemed rather unethical to me, and I felt like a little bit of an idiot for falling victim to their scheme.

Beautiful sunset on the beach!

     We weren't supposed to take pictures, but naturally some dum-dums think they're clever enough to get away with it. Nope...one Einstein wannabe got caught TWICE! I really had trouble not laughing and rolling my eyes at him. Hmmm...yeah, I just wonder what that LED box in your palm could be, it couldn't possibly be a CAMERA, would it?? The rangers aren't that stupid, Watso. Nice try.
The penguins swam up, it was cute, then we all remembered we were cold.

     Our final day was LONG, to say the least. We drove up to Philip Island's Grand Prix track to have the privilege of watching my dad and Leo ride some go-karts. None of the rest of us could actually drive with them, because there is a "special" license needed to do so. The big girls hung out in the car for a good hour or so before the duo even started orientation. They got there eventually (Leo totally beat Dad, by the way).

Is here even trying to pass Leo?

     It was lunch-time, but there were no plans to scavenge for an appropriate lunch meal. No time to waste, Melbourne City was waiting with its giant dominoes stretched across the metropolitan. Our nook to watch a portion of the white concrete blocks tumble was cool and busy with the hundreds of other on-lookers.
Most of the children, meaning everyone except Henry, were hell-bent on getting some real food. Snack food is no substitute in place of a meal.

After doing her best to hold it together, my poor little sister's blood sugar had been tortured enough, and she just about ripped a box of pizza out of my brother's hands all for herself. I couldn't remember the last time, myself, that I had been so famished for the want of food that I wasn't just grumpy, but upon beholding the sight of sustenance I burst into tears. My dear sister, was so desperate. We were all on the grumpier side of the scale by this time in the day, we all needed a real meal.

The life-size dominos.
Not so big-as-houses as originally thought.

I was so grateful to be back at the house, and to have myself showered and clean.

Laundry time!

Jess

Queen Victoria Evening Market – Food Edition

     The day finally arrived that I would make my first cash advance with my credit card overseas and see it shink out of the National Australian Bank ATM in the form of monopoly money! Just kidding…but seriously. You think American currency looks like child's-play, just take a look at these! Whenever I received change back at my purchase I was ever so slightly tempted to say, “Um…no this isn’t real money, and no Pepsi is NOT okay.”

     The ride into the city is still a bit of a mystery as to how in the flippin’ WORLD we found the place. We got on the train to Flinder’s St, but Mom said to get off at Melbourne Central. No, we can’t get to Melbourne Central on this train we have to step off in North Melbourne, get on another train, go BACK, get off at Flagstaff and THEN get on another train that goes to Melbourne Central. It’s all very dizzying. From there, the plan was to meet up with my darling sisters at the Uni (sorry, university, these people talk funny) and head into the market from there. But of course, my twin always has another, last minute, great idea that somehow is always better than mine. Hmmm. Weird.

     You want to just meet up at the Vic Market instead? Okay! As soon as I figure ooouuutt…where Nooorth is…?? Right. There are no mountains or giant space needles sticking up in the horizon, remember? So, between my brother and me we shook up the etch-e-sketch board map (that’s how concrete travel plans always turn out to be) and made an improv route to the Vic Market via Franklin St. I think I only huffed at him once, and he smart-mouthed twice…or maybe it was the other way around.

     I don’t even remember where the heck that is now…it’s by La Trobe right? Running North- South? No…wait.

     We got to the Market just as they were setting up and smoking up the grills. So, I think we picked the perfect spot to wait for the slow-pokes (that’s right, we beat them there) wagging their tails behind them. A certain BBQ booth was burning hickory wood to roast their meat and it smelled DIVINE! Hoy Pinoy, Filipino grill was my first choice of the night. I chose to give variety the benefit of the doubt and went with not one, but two skewers of meat. One pork, one chicken. Do you remember the first time you tried eating pork by ripping it apart with the bare of your teeth? Yeah, me neither. One thing I DIDN’T consider before I made that choice.

     As we sat at a café table enjoying our spoils there seemed to be some sort of, um, “performance” going on at this stage set behind us. Picture this: the worst crossed-dressed, blonde-wigged, fitness trio from the 80s. Got it? Okay, now picture them flipping each other over themselves and other things, AND (this is my favorite part) dragging in the innocent bystanders as tributes. See it? Okay, now put all of that to the strangest-sounding, I’ve-never-heard-of-this-rock-band music ever patented on this planet.

     All I’m going to say is I don’t think ANYONE in a sober mind would attempt half the things they did. No, really. I’m pretty sure I heard a guy or two yell “OOMPAH!!” at the top of their lungs. Drunkards for sure, I’m tellin’ ya.

 

It was DE-LI-CIOUS!!

     After that it was a cinnamon chocolate-filled soft Bretzel (Bretzel. Not Pretzel, Bretzel) and two hot, freshly-made jam doughnuts from the American Doughnuts Kitchen. Pretty spot-on, Australia. Good job.

     On the way back, Maddie gave us all the latest at her *lovely job that she so adores, and about what enormously tasking duties she gets paid to do at a much lower salary than her superiors. Even here she manages a sense of humor. That is something I hope I can echo. As long as you can laugh, nothing is as bad as it seems.

*Insert the biggest amount of sarcasm you can muster.

     What a fulfilling night! I can’t wait to go back! It’s night’s like these I wish I had a bottomless appetite and an invincible metabolism.

Cheers,

Jess

A Battle Between Father and Son...Someone grab the popcorn.

As a journalist, I find myself taking in scenes in my life and thinking of how I might give them a good intro...  

     Tonight, Dad found his authority as the patriarch of the house being challenged by (duh, Duh, DUH!)...the baby. Dinner was about to start, which means blessing the food. Henry thought it had been previously agreed upon (due to the aftermath of a over-dramatic tantrum performance) that HE would pick out who he wanted to say the prayer, dad would agree, and all would be well. Sadly, however, this fantasy of Henry's is not his living reality, as he had hoped.
     Henry wanted Dad to say the prayer, but Dad wanted Millie to grace the deliciously-prepared food we would soon harbor in our bellies. When Dad insisted that he was okay giving Millie the privilege, let's just say that didn't rev Henry's respiratory engines the right way. Screaming, crying, and gnashing of teeth ensued as Millie began to speak her humble respects. The pitiful creature was escorted to his chambers to take a chill pill.

     While the seven pieces of nine enjoyed a scrumptious Mexican dish prepared by the nurturer of the home, Mama bear herself was trying her best to settle Henry down. Later a tear-stained, rosy-cheeked toddler came back out and said, "I'm sorry for screaming, can we say another prayer?" Yes, another plea to the heavens was given as he requested. Dad even agreed to say it this time. How sweet of him.

     Family Home Evening assembled shortly there after. We are, once again, venturing out of Point Cook on a little getaway inside of our #ParcellWorldTour. Everything from dominos the size of houses (okay, not really, but seriously) to go-karting and hanging (no pun intended) with some wedge-tailed eagles.

"Wedge-tailed eagles would eat bald eagles if they found one," Dad said.

     Wedge-tailed eagles eat the symbol of all America stands for for breakfast...wonderful.
Oh, Mom said we are planning our own seven out of the nine meals. We're NOT eating out every meal. Leo suggested that we make sure to eat white bread.

     The big girls are planning to go to the evening Victoria Market on Wednesday.We are? I mean, WE ARE!! Mom remarked that the evening Vic Market only happens on Wednesdays, because it's just a bunch of food. Jordan became flustered in amazement at Mom's tone of voice towards the idea of hosting an event solely featuring edible sustenance.

"It's JUST food??"

Millie wanted to come too, but Mom decided it would not the best picture.

"Because of school, and the age gap, and...we range from two-years-old to 23 to...*motioning at her and Dad* we're not going to talk about it...," Mom stated with ultimate firmness.

     It is planned that this should trip be a blast, however, should one of us die if something doesn't go as planned Mom assures we'll all make the best of it. She did so by reminiscing on a very peculiar Christmas traveling experience some odd years ago. It almost seemed irrelevant. We'll be fine, I'm sure.

     The right person needs to say the dinner prayer and everyone needs to kneel in a complete circle every night, that's all...

And that's the way it is folks.

Jess

Some Mindless Banter if You Care to Listen...

You know, I really wish you could pick the font-size of your punctuation in your facebook posts. Why? Because it kind of seems weird to me BOGGLES me when people respond to a post like, "That's funny." or "That's hilarious." It doesn't seem genuine to me. "Yeah, I can really tell that you enjoyed that post in the way that you misappropriated the punctuation to the statement." Let me rub it in a little just how much I noticed their lack of effort to emphasize the emotion that consumed the majority of their remark.

Androids should die. I'm sorry, no, I'm not sorry. I've spent that past three weeks trying to get used to a prepaid phone (that just stopped working already, by the way) and it's repaying me with a headache. Honestly, any phone that isn't an Apple doesn't belong in my purse. Besides, for the first time in my life I have the wonderous pleasure of data. This becomes an ENORMOUS reliability when I lose my way MINDLESS trying to find my way through Melbourne.
See this wouldn't happen if people built their cities on a grid and stuck with it. I have NO point of reference, thus I'm not even positivity sure which way North is (I know when I wake up in the morning the Sun is in the sky, that's about it). I can't look to the horizon and spot ANYTHING that tells me which direction I'm looking in. No mountains, no tallest-building-in-the-world-you-can-see-it-from-space, NADA. Only confusion and anxiety. It feels hopeless. I've almost become content with the assumption that if I ever moved permanently outside Utah, my death would be very quick to follow. I'm almost there...dear me.

Henry MUST have perfect symmetry before we begin family prayer. If we are not all placed in a perfect circle he will tell the misfitting individuals where to move as to complete the shape. Then he returns to his own spot in absolute contentment and closes his eyes (he's so cute sometimes).

Schmidt from New Girl is the funniest man alive, I swear. I can scroll through Pinterest posts/links for hours laughing my head off. Eventually I inhale to a good day renewed.

I'm done, for today. Goodnight.

Jess

Phillips Island and a Whole Lot of Rain

Cool rocks at Lorne Beach. Nothin' better than chillin' with the crabs.

     I had my overnight bag packed and ready, I also pulled myself out of bed at 6:30AM so as to have my shower time before the other seven people came banging on the door wanting their share of the hot water. My dad said to plan on leaving around 8:00AM, so I was completely ready, breakfast eaten and all, by that time however...not everyone else was. So in actuality we didn't leave until about 9:57AM - my family isn't exactly known for their punctuality. Guess who the fashionably-late-to-church champions are? Yep.

     I buried my head in my book as we pulled away and was surprised when I looked up to find that we were back in the exact same place twenty minutes later. Always forgetting something. Two hours and several chapters later we finally arrived. The rainy weather didn't stop us from hiking out to the lighthouse on the coast. Umbrella or not, it's Australia, we may never be coming back (I swear, guilt tripping is my family's favorite tool) so we all went up there. While the sky was not the friendliest, the waves quickly became my favorite. It was worth it.

How awesome is that?? Sunshine, a nice breeze, and some roaring waves. Nothin' better than that.

     Still, the treetop walk would have to wait for shinier, warmer skies. After some fish n' chips at The Salty Dog, Lorne Beach we finished the journey to the "hotel". I've come to the realization that my definition of a hotel must be an American one, because at none of the traveling accommodations we've stayed at has there been provided cute little bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Yes, towels and sheets (beds are not previously made up for you), but no personal hygiene items. Nope. However, in the places that had a little kitchen area there were plates, cups, utensils, dish soap, even a few cooking pans...is this a little turned on it's side, or is it just me?

     The rain forest walk the next morning was fantastic! It was a little warmer and the aroma inside the quenched wood was almost intoxicating! Come to find later that it was from the lemon myrtle trees. I wished I could've snapped a picture of that scent, I couldn't remember the last time I'd smelled air so fresh!

     The treetop walk was, to say the least, thrilling. A certain "tree tower" was 188 feet above the ground. I'm not afraid of heights, but...a little shaken. Speaking of shaken, the next part of the walk was on a structure that wobbled A LOT as we moved across it. The seven of us kids were more than happy to move on with the hike while dad lingered behind. We stared at him on the bridge above and across from us as he snapped pictures and blurted out challenges, that belonged in scouts, and the forest floor at Maddie. Did he want us to be at scout camp??

     Twelve Apostles rocks and our last venture of the day was one last hurrah to Triplet Falls. My younger sisters wonder out loud forever how much longer of the two kilometer hike they had left. They so very much longed to be back in the car. Karly tried making the best of it. She'd conquered Uluru, she could do anything.

     Lorne Beach again for lunch. A sausage roll from Grandma Shield's bakery and some more chips from The Salty Dog. I was more interested in the fact that cockatoos were just hanging out like they came here every day (because they DO!) There were about 10 of them perched above the fish n' chips shop and several more in the surrounding trees. One was so social that it straight up landed on Jordan, fully expecting to be fed. The devastating part of this story is it flew away before I got picture!

It's not Snappas, but there were pretty good anyway.

     Some ice cream and it was time to go home. There's something fulfilling about unpacking only taking five minutes.

Cheers,

Jess

On Top of the World in the Melbourne Star

Traveling around non-stop at exactly 1 kilometer per hour.

     What a week. After Jordan landed here in the land down under it was expected that she would have a period of rest to recover from an extreme case of jet lag (still recovering.) 

     As the day was gloomy, overcast and threatening of thundering showers Henry's request to go on the "spinning wheel" (a.k.a The Melbourne Star) were turned down repeatedly. However, Henry pretended to not hear this and continued to voice his desire relentlessly. Miraculously, the weather took a turn for the better, and my mom wasted no time in ignoring Henry's wishes. So, we pulled Jordan off the couch and were on our merry way into the city.

     It was a good experience, traveling at about the pace of a snail with an automated tour guide voicing his way into our observation hub. It was neat to finally be at the top and see the many waters that surrounded the city on the coast.

     To have something else to do we walked inside the little gift shop. Everything souvenir-ish from mugs and giant pencils to hand-cranking music boxes (much to the amusement of Maddie and Karly) and key rings were all plastered with The Melbourne Star and logo somewhere on it. With the exception of some crystal jewelry, everything was branded with The Melbourne Star not just Australia.

     Maddie's enthusiasm with the shop was draining quickly and she soon expressed her eagerness in leaving the premise. Then my mom did something really crazy...

     Instead of driving back home, since the car was park so conveniently underneath Costco (yes, even in Australia) she pushed all seven of us (all SEVEN) into the over-sized-everything-super-sized warehouse. She had an epiphany. She didn't think that it had ever occurred in the history of time that she had ever brought all seven children with her into Costco. Why did it take Australia, of all places, to bring this pivotal moment about? I have no idea.

     We graced through the store without a shopping cart. Who needs a shopping cart when you have seven kids? Honestly, sometimes I feel the only thing my mom thinks I'm good for is cheap labor...thanks, Mom.

All this is preparation for Phillips Island.

And that's the way it is.

Cheers,

Jess