We Live!!

I apologize for continuously reminding you guys that Linds and I were suffering in our illness and then not updating for awhile. We are better. Antibiotics are wonderful and saved us from much pain :)

It's been raining here quite a lot recently. I love it, even if it doesn't cool down and stays the same hot humid sticky weather.

Linds and I did not get to have the same days off this week so our parasailing plans were moved to this Sunday before our evening shift (both at Lover's Cove! it's a miracle).

I should warn you guys that we won't be on Daydream for too much longer. Only until the second week of December actually. We are going to spend Christmas with Jeff and Amelia's family, working temp jobs for a few weeks before moving on. Next stop is either another island called Lord Howe or working along the Gold Coast until March when we can move to Melbourne for our last 6 months.

This gives us more of an opportunity to see other parts of Australia, earn more money, and do more things than we would be able to here on Daydream. Pray it all works out with jobs. Jeff and Amelia will always make sure we are fed and sheltered :)

Our last few weeks should include parasailing, ocean rafting to Whitehaven, and Lindsey getting her tattoo :)

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers while we were sick and also for everyone's continued love and support.

Love,
Britt and Linds xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Close Encounters with Popcorn

You know you're integrating into the Aussie culture when you start using the Aussie language, for example saying, "rubbish" instead of trash, but the defining moment came for me Saturday night.

I was still sick, having only gone to the doctors that afternoon, but I was determined to get out of the room and was feeling better than I had earlier so, upon hearing there were going to be two movies played just for staff, I got dressed, plopped myself down on a chair in front of the outdoor cinema, and hunkered down with a free 'get well' smoothie from Tobias (awwwww) and some popcorn (which is always free for staff).

Now, you should probably take note of the 'outdoor' part of this story and remember we do have more than a few animals on this island. I didn't realize how laid back I had become since my first day here when Linds and I were so excited to see all the kangaroos and different birds, even some of the lizards, until we were halfway through the second movie and a smaller sized kangaroo came slowly crawling up to me and tried stealing my popcorn! Ironically, later I found out his name is also Popcorn (pretty much raised by staff and not afraid of people much), but getting back to the story....There I am minding my own business when Popcorn gets all up in my personal space nosing around for some food, and do I freak out that there's a kangaroo two inches from me sniffing at my popcorn?....nope. I tell it off like I would a neighbor's dog back home, 'No! This is not your food. Go away.'

Ken, another staff member we've recently befriended who was sitting with us, remarked as Popcorn crawled away empty handed, 'Ummmm, so he got pretty close there.' He said it with a nervous chuckle too. And then it dawned on me.....

I had a kangaroo in my face and I didn't even pet it!

Not all days are good, but there are silver linings

         Okay, okay, we're sorry. It's just we haven't gone anywhere exciting and we never think you guys want to hear too much about what's going on with work. But I think I can pull together a pretty informative update.

First of all....Halloween. One of my favorites :) Mostly cuz dressing up and candy!

Apparently it is a holiday Aussie's know and celebrate. It's not as big or as extravagant as some places in the States, but still. Staff had a Halloween party put on by the Social Club. Linds and I spent four hours catching up on Supernatural (fitting) and then got dressed. We kind of pulled outfits together a few hours before (we got ideas off pinterest).

Linds dressed as a scarecrow (straw hat, checked shirt, jeans, and face paint) and I got my idea from talking to Molly. We've read this book called The Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern and the theme of this circus was all black and white. So, I had a black and white dress with some cool designs on it and Linds did my make-up. (the internet is being stupid so I cannot upload pics here. there are some on facebook if you want to see).

While there was no bobbing for apples or halloween music besides Thriller, we did have a really good time. Some people went all out with their costumes and it was pretty cool seeing them and all the hard work they put into a few hours at staff bar. Megan should have won best costume for her Mad Hatter outfit but she arrived too late :(

I will confess that I did drink way too much and I don't really remember much of the second half of my night (eep!) and if it wasn't for Amelia I would probably be dead (a bit dramatic, but still). No, seriously, she took care of me and she is amazing and I love her.

I have vowed though never to drink again so we'll see how long that lasts. Probably until we go to Denman's again :)

Unfortunately, Halloween on Thurs night was the last good day for most of us. Jeff had flown home for three days to get his last check up at the hospital (HE IS 100% CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!!)
and he got back Friday (so he missed the Halloween party).

(for those of you who need an update, Jeff and Amelia are pretty much our closest and most trusted friends on the island and we love them and would die for them)

Anyways, we've all had continuously bad days at work. We're all pretty broken when it comes to work at the moment. Just complaints from guests, service falling apart, heat from managers, etc.) And to top it off, I haven't been steadily feeling worse and worse until today, my throat felt so swollen and I couldn't swallow without it feeling like glass shards tearing it up and my head hurt so bad...I still managed to pull my butt out of bed at 6 a.m. the past two days to work breakfast and dinner last night and breakfast again this morning...ugh.

I'm calling in sick tomorrow. I can't work another breakfast shift. But even then, in order to get off work I have to still walk ten minutes to the North End and see the nurse to get her signature on it :(

And those who know me know I hate being sick and missing school or work because of it, but no one here is taking me seriously when I say I'm not feeling good. I've had so many people say 'oh, it's the heat. you just need to drink lots of water.' Linds finally got home and I made her feel the sides of my throat and that got her attention. She made me tea with mint, cinnamon, and honey and she went to get me ice cream (oh the coolness felt so good!) and she's asked Amelia to grab me some proper dinner :)  I love my sister!

So yeah, drunk parties, awful work days, and sickness are what we are going through at the moment. We wanted this blog to be a place we can put our good times on but I think everyone needs to be aware of some of our bad days too.

On a more positive note (and I do have Lindsey's permission to put this up), Lindsey is going to finally get her tattoo on Friday :)  She's going in with Jeff, who is getting his cancer survivors tattoo on his arm. I am determined to drag myself with them if I still feel sick. I want to watch and take pictures!

She's super excited. She's been thinking about this for over a year now and has known exactly what she wants to get. It's just never been the right time, till now. Stay tuned to here and facebook for a picture :)

Oh, and I have decided I am going to post the 'poem' I wrote. I haven't written anything besides school papers since Freshman year and it took some talking to Jeff to get me wanting to write again. (He's apparently also a published poet and won an award at 16. He's also a photographer, master cheese maker, international wine judge, magnificent hospitality worker, and has survived cancer, so.........he awesome!) Anyway, we got to talking books and poems and then he wrote something spontaneous at a wedding and included us in it, which made me teary eyed, and then I couldn't help but want to write. It was kind of driving me nuts.

I ended up writing this. It's definitely not a finished piece, nor may it all forever be true, but here it is:

I fell in love with sunflowers

By Brittney Wheeler

I fell in love with the smell of petrichor,

        And from there, learned to relish

        Thunderstorms, to marvel in the power

        And beauty.

I fell in love with the color of dying leaves

        And the sound they make when they crunch

        Beneath my feet.

I fell in love with the way the light plays

        Across the water and through panes of

        Glass, shifting, shimmering light.

I fell in love with the sound of mirth

        And the sparkle in laughing eyes

        The struggle with held back smiles

        And shaking shoulders.

I fell in love with the night

        When the sky is clear and

        Black nothingness draws your eyes to

        Tiny pinpricks of light, silence.

I fell in love with falling

        Heart pounding, racing towards

        The ground and that small uncertain

        Feeling that the chute may catch

I fell in love with a girl

        The rapier wit that falls from her mouth

        Even when she’s grumpy or sad

        She keeps me grounded,

        Grounded in this world and several others

I fell in love with travelling

        The freedom of choosing where you want

        To go

        Meeting people, listening to stories,

        Learning how to be a better person

        The person I dream of being.

Bolder, Calmer, Powerful, Still, Silent.

I fell in love with singing at the top of my lungs

        Dancing in dresses that twirl about my

        Hips, swish about my bare feet

I fell in love with the smell of lipstick

        And the way it reminds me of my

        Grandmother

        The way she would let us dress up in hats

        Too big for us and pearls too valuable for a childs hands

I fell in love with words

        Not just their meanings and defintions

        But the way they sound in your mouth

        Twist you tongue,

        Tug your heart,

        Trick you mind into saying them over

        And over and over and over

I’m so caught up in the look of words

        I want to brand their script into my skin

        Keep them with me forever, infinite.

I fell in love with possibilities, opportunities,

        Long nights, and early, hazy mornings

        When there’s a car trip to

        The airport, a new destination waiting

I fell in love with the surety of peace

        A grace given to those who just believe

        And trust that the hard parts are worth it

        That storms are worth standing your ground

        Sometimes

And sometimes,

        Storms are meant to break you, just a part

        So you can be put back together with gold

        The cracks more beautiful all

        For the splendid multitude of them

I fell in love with fictional characters

        The Little Prince, Ender, Celia Bowen, Eragon

        Danica Shardae, Maximum Ride, Eve Dallas,

        Captain Malcom Reynolds, Fat Charlie

        They taught me loyalty, strength, passion, dedication

And I fell in love with their creators

        Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, J.D. Robb

        Who taught me that good doesn’t always win

        But love is always worth the risk

        There doesn’t have to be a happy ending

        Your protagonist doesn’t necessarily need a lot of morals,

        Just needs to be recognizably human in their imperfection

I fell in love with sunflowers and Halloween

        I love both sunshine and midnight

        Those blessed and cursed

        With fairies, werewolves, magic, symbols, dead languages

Oh, how I’ve fallen in love with languages!

        The way they lilt and catch and rasp

        Through your entire being

        And your brain is telling you it doesn’t

        Understand, but your ears are

        Straining to pick up every sound

        (Gaelic, Arabic, Japanese, Creole, any African dialect)

I fell in love with a married father

        On a 30 minute flight from Dublin to London

        For telling his son that the clouds

        Were marshmallows, that our plane

        Was the Enterprise, and, with a great sigh,

        “I suppose you can be Han if I can be Chewy.”

I fell in love with the idea of being heroic

        Making that snap decision,

        Not for the glory, but for

        The knowledge that I am capable

        Capable of taking care of others

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

As always, thank you for your love and support.

We love you! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Britt and Linds