My last day in Lombok, Indonesia. I got to work at an orphanage with some workers from Eastern Australia who built these benches and tables for the kids

Ok, so we in the Western culture are striving to get tanner when the Asian population is trying to get......whiter??

I'm official now....graduate of the SoFM

" I'm dreaming of a.......summer-like Christmas??"

Yes, the flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and.......it Christmas time? Yep! it's Christmas time and I'm celebrating it with shorts and beach trips! Ok, for some of you, this would be a dream come true. However, for those of you who are dreaming of a white Christmas....well, don't come here :)

For those of you who don't know, I am back in Perth, Australia working on the base here. When I came back from Indonesia a few weeks ago, I hit the ground running. First, I've been working in a group that focuses on community development in Indonesia and mobilization of the local people into other countries. I guess the word "group" is not the right word since it's pretty much me doing the work since the couple that leads it also leads 3 other groups. I find myself quite passionate about what I'm doing so I'm getting a lot done.

Other than working like crazy, I have found time to enjoy the holidays a bit. I had a Christmas party at my house the other weekend and have been baking banana nut bread for my friends' stockings. For Christmas, my base puts up a stocking for everyone who is there in our auditorium. I'm looking forward to tonight since there's a mad rush of people doing last minute stocking stuffing (me being one of them). Maybe I'll get a picture of it for my post.

Ok, that's about it for now. I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your thoughts and words of encouragement. Please remember to stop and meditate why we celebrate this season. And, enjoy the pictures!

Our base performs "Carols by Candlelight" in a near-by neighborhood.

So, nobody was giving a Christmas party this year. I decided to change that. I made the little white balls on the right (our family traditional Christmas dessert)

one of my housemates and also my good mate......she gave me grits for Christmas.....what a gal!

I did the lighting