Our News

It’s been a while since our last web update, and things have changed a bit since then!

In January with no Dental Technician work coming Dawn’s way in the Berkshire area we even started to entertain the idea of going to live in Australia a few years earlier than planned. We were both working temp jobs in Reading, not sure what to do - so I had Dawn call the lab in Sheffield where she worked during October. Firstly the position hadn’t been filled, and then they were more than happy to offer her the job again! So we’re now back in South Yorkshire, living in Sheffield!

We came up in early February and 2 weeks later moved into a flat. Dawn is happy with returning to Dental Technician work, and is finding working at this lab to be a learning curve - it’s proving to be good as she is learning new things, and a higher standard is expected than where she previously worked in Brisbane.

I’m currently not working - we’re actually making a quick trip to Australia soon so I can validate my spouse visa. Originally it was going to be just me going, but we found a deal so Dawn can also go with me, and be on the same flight. Although it will be a week late, we are intending on celebrating our 1st anniversary in Melbourne! We will also be visiting Sydney and Brisbane, so it’s quite a busy itinerary that’s coming together as I type!

Windows managed to break itself on this PC through doing a scandisk - and my Windows CD’s are still in Reading! So currently I’m stumbling my way through Linux until I can get XP back up and running. Once that happens I’ll look into playing around with this website again - maybe updating a few photos to begin with.

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Happy New Year to everyone! I have had a few moments to reflect over the last two weeks, being off sick helps with this, and I have been amazed that we have managed to fit so much into just one year!

We began 2005 with a huge bang - our DTS students who went to Albania will understand what that means! I have never seen so many fireworks in my life! Then we spent time in Albania and Romania with quick visits to Bulgaria and Greece squeezed in there. That was an amazing time as most of you would already have heard. 2006 did not come in with such a big bang, but courtesy of our fellow residents of Woodley I was still treated to a few backyard fireworks displays which I could see from our bedroom window. It was no Sydney Harbour, but New Year’s eve is not the same without at least a few fireworks!

When we returned from our overseas outreach 2005 continued with a whirlwind 4 weeks to get ready for our wedding. Shows what can be done when you put your mind to it. We were blessed with a lovely day for our wedding (well, it only rained before and after we had our outside photos taken!) and the second reception and time spent in Australia with our families and friends was wonderful as well. Then we finally returned to the UK in June for a few days, only to turn around and get back on a plane for our official honeymoon in Spain! Half the year gone already!

The next few months were punctuated with highs and lows - mine and Rob’s visas were granted in record time - a huge blessing, as well as months of searching for and finding promising jobs which never went anywhere for various reasons. The up side was we got to travel to Scotland and Sheffield and we never lost the opportunities to do some sightseeing and be total tourists. Turning down the job in Sheffield was one of the most difficult things of the year. I still don’t really fully understand why, but I do know that God had his hand in it, and that he has never stopped guiding us through it all.

Just after this we received news that my house in Australia had sold - this was a huge answer to prayer, as we are finally able to get ourselves out of the debt which has built up over so many months of unemployment. Soon after we returned to Reading from Sheffield Rob and I both got jobs - not exactly what we would call our ideal jobs, but a blessing nonetheless. Then after about a month working in the department store I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with a rather large gall stone which is what has been causing me so much trouble for the past several months! Doesn’t sound like a blessing, but having a diagnosis and a plan to make it right is so much better than just being in pain all the time and not knowing why. So I consider myself to be very fortunate. It also forced me to not festively overindulge, and I actually lost 3 kg over the Christmas period! It was also wonderful that I was able to leave hospital on Christmas eve, and spend my first Christmas with my new husband.

So what is all this schmaltzy reminiscing for? Well, 2005 has been a difficult year in many ways, but I just wanted to share how truly thankful I am for all the awesome things that God has done for me despite this. Rob and I have learned so much about each other through this year and I am even more thankful than ever that God was thoughtful enough to bring him into my life! I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers during this important first year of marriage. It means so much to me.

I also wanted to wish you all a fantastic, prosperous and blessed 2006.

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We’re now both working in Reading - Dawn is working at a store, and I have a temp job doing data entry. Hopefully after Christmas something else will come along for both of us, but right now we both have an income at least!

The house in Brisbane is now sold, well the settlement date will be next week so it’s pretty much there! Julie (Dawn’s sister), and the parents-in-law have been busy sorting out the house ready for it to change owners. This is good news, as we’ll be able to use some of that money to pay off credit cards and maybe put towards a new car or something, and put the rest into savings for some point in the future. We’ll also be in a position to put a good deposit down on a house in the future if we decide to do that, in whichever country we end up at that time.

I might get round to putting more wedding photos onto the website soon.. I have been changing websites round recently, as I’ve decided to stop hosting them for people next year. This website has changed host again, and should stay with them for quite some time now.

Christmas is almost here, and it’s got cold recently. This time last year we were getting ready to go to Albania - both of us would really like to go back there. I can still hear in my mind all the musical fairy lights that the Albanians had playing constantly (at least when there was an electricity supply), and therefore were beginning to sound very out of tune!

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Well, our lives certainly seem to be a roller coaster ride these days! We just arrived back in Reading after a month in Sheffield where I was doing a trial period for a Dental Technician job. It was a great job and I learned heaps in the tiime, however, unfortunately I had to turn down the offer. This was difficult and disappointing, but after much soul searching and praying Rob and I knew that we had made the right decision.

The day after I told them I wasn’t accepting the job, Rob was offered a job near Reading, so we felt that was confirmation we were doing the right thing. He started the job today, and I am back to the old job hunting!

We went back to Emmanuel church yesterday and it was absolutely packed to the rafters. Reason being - the baptism of 5 people. Seems a lot has been happening while we were away! I sense that God has great things in store for Emmanuel as well as Woodley in general. That’s one of the reasons we decided to come back - we want to be a part of what God is doing here.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Will let you know if I ever get a job I can keep!

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