Ryan

The Joys of Knowing God - Much Better Then Anything Else

2009-06-02T01:19:00.001-07:00

Recently, I have been going through a “weird” season of life where God has really been showing me some stuff. The most important thing that I think God has shown me, is that in comparison to pursuing Him, everything else means nothing! Now, are there things in life that are good things? Heck ya. Does God receive glorify in our careers and relationships and talents? Absolutely. But I finally realized that if nothing for the rest of my life worked out the way I would have hoped, it wouldn’t matter because I still had God. And I had to ask myself, would I be okay with that? Would I be okay with serving God and receiving the joys of pursuing Him, even if He didn't give me some of the things I desired? And I honestly decided that pursuing God was enough for me.

Now I definitely do desire many things. I desire to have a good career, a working car (which is a rare thing to come by these days in the Bendinelli house!), a relationship, and many other “good” things. But if God is the sole priority of my life, then there is "peace" about life. There is a "calmness" about it. There is such a "joy" about knowing that if nothing in this life ever works out how I expect, I still have the greatest thing, and that is God Himself. God showed me that He wants me...100%. If I give Him 100% then He'll "take care of the rest." God Himself wants my whole attention. He doesn't want me to focus on any career or any girl or anything else. He wants ME – ALL OF ME. HE IS A JEALOUS GOD. Once I give Him my all, then the rest is up to Him. In a sense, this makes things easy :) All I have to do is serve God and follow His promptings on my life, and then He will orchestrate the rest perfectly according to His plan...and He is God, so He knows best and the things He has planned for my life will be the most amazing things that I could ever fathom in my craziest and wildest dreams.

There are things that I desire that are amazing to me. But they are not everything to me. I know that if God wants me to have any of these things, then in the end of the day I will receive them. Now does that mean I can just sit back and do nothing? Heck no. God still calls us to follow His promptings and act upon them. I feel so deeply that He has called me to pursue certain things in life and so I must be faithful to do so. Even though sometimes it is pretty dang hard. Recently I have had to do some pretty hard things! But God has put it on my heart to do so. What better position could I be in!!!? The Lord of the Universe called me to do things out of my comfort zone. Things “the world” would call crazy and un-doable. Friends shot it down. My classmates shot it down. My coworkers shot it down. BUT God said otherwise. GOD SAID OTHERWISE. Therefore, I have nothing to lose. The world can doubt, but God uses the most impossible situations to show His glory. He wants to make those "un-doable" situations do-able. He wants to make those "impossible" situations possible. He wants to make "doubters" believe. He wants to show us that He is God. And at the end of the day, if it doesn't work out, guess what? I still have God. And that's all that matters. So if that is the truth about God, then I can make a fool out of myself all day long because He knows what is best.

There is a thing, however, about following God's leading. Does it mean that if we follow what God calls us to do, the outcome we expect is gonna happen? Not necessarily. I do feel that God has called me to be faithful to pursue certain things and do certain things. I have felt His presence and His calling and His will concerning that. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I will end up ending up where I feel He may want me to end up. He may be calling me to pursue these things for a different outcome. He may be calling me to these things to build my faith, or to build my trust, or to build my love...but not necessarily for me to end where I feel I may end up. At this point, I am going full-force. But I also need to realize that His plans in the end may be different and if something that I feel is unexpected does happen, I need to trust Him that He is fully sovereign over the situation. Is God calling me to pursue certain things? I believe so. Will I end up being or having exactly what I would like? Not necessarily, but there’s only way to find out :)

Psalm 3:5-6 says:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”

In terms of this verse, I think God calls us to LEAN ON HIM...TRUST HIM...LOVE HIM...and not on our own understanding. He wants us not to make decisions based on what WE THINK IS BEST or based on WHAT MAKES SENSE TO US. But to the contrary, He wants us to throw our faith in Him and throw 100% of our joy in Him. If we do this then He will reveal Himself to us. He will reveal His will to us. He will reveal to us what He wants us to do. What decisions He wants us to make. What things He wants us to pursue. And when this happens, we need to DIVE in and live the fire for Him. Sometimes the things God calls us to do won't always make sense and they definitely may not be easy. But that is why He calls us to lean NOT on our own understanding. Don't do things based on what makes sense to US but do things based on what the Lord Himself leads us to do. Our job is to not focus on our goals or jobs or relationships or finances or anything else. But we must FOCUS ON GOD...100%. If we do this, He will make everything else perfect. He will "take care of everything else" and it will be beautiful. Live the fire my friends. Live the fire for God.

Much Love,
RB

The Fiiiney Assigney!

2009-03-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

Today is a great day...In fact, today may be one of the greatest days ever! As I look back over my life, I think that there may be only a few days that rank higher, such as:

(1) The day I was saved in Christ.
(2) The days my daughters Stitch, Sonni, and Leanitis were born (gotta love my doggies :)
(3) And the day I was able to eat two Chocolate Molten cakes from Chilis

However, apart from those days, this day is the one to remember...actually, this hour is the hour to remember. For I, Ryan Bendinelli, have just completed my final pharmacy school assignment! Ever!

The Fiiiney Assigney :)

Yah, yah, yah, I know a few more weeks of rotations are at hand. And following that the board exams must come. But for now, I will relish in this moment. And I will forever remember this moment as the moment that was almost as great as when I got to eat two Moltens...almost as great :)

much love you ya'll,
Ryan

The Pueblo Slopper...Should This Thing Be Illegal?

2009-02-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

So Pueblo has come...My sis Natalie told me the transition from Aussie during the summertime to Pueblo during the wintertime would be a rough one, but sadly I did not know it would be this rough! The 'BLO, as the locals call it, is not nearly as magnificent as the land of OZ. In fact, it is very similar to my previous Alamosa rotation in the sense that Wal-Mart is the most exciting place to be in this town :) I have had one exciting (or should I say nasty) experience, however. When thinking back over this experience, I really do not have much to say...except that I am thoroughly disgusted with myself after eating a "Pueblo Slopper". The Slopper should be illegal! This thing has to be killing people all over Pueblo!!! But they say a picture is a thousand words so I will leave ya'll now to your imaginations. I introduce to you The Pueblo Slopper :)

Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

2009-02-12T21:54:00.000-08:00

And to Australia I now must bid farewell. The time that God has given me here has been full of just about alittle bit of everything...Fifteen hours in first-class definitely kicked this trip off with a bang and now a fifteen-hour flight will return us back to our homeland (although the return flight will prolly feel more like 20 hours because it will not be first class this time haha). In between, I have experienced sooo many things. I have been able to explore the beautiful city of Melbourne, of which I am still convinced is the most magnificent city in the world. I've made my way down to the stunning city of Sydney and have seen for myself that the beauty of the Opera House overlooking the Sydney Harbor is definitely not over-hyped. I've strolled across the tiles lining the capital building floor and have discovered that although different governing systems stand in place in differernt countries, they all are designed to lead and protect the people of that country. I've sailed the seas, ridden out the waves, and have been able to grace some of the most beautiful waters and beaches I can ever even imagine. I have dove with the most colorful of fishes alongside some of the most dangerous and poisonous creatures. I have thoroughly been amazed by these creatures but have grown to respect them in the abilities that God has given them. Additonally, I have now come to know penguins as my new favorite animals and think that they should be considered the new Kings of the Jungle :) I have played in the whitest sand...relaxed under the biggest trees...and walked through the pouring rain. And through all of this, this country has made its way into my heart as my new home-away-from-home. However, this experience has also shown me how much I love and miss my Momma and Daddio, my brother Jordo and seeeeestirs Kerr, Britt, Natalie, and LMNOP Marie, my cuz Julian, and of course all of my AWESOME friendies. I leave you now with one of my favorite songs that the Lord has used many times in my life to point me back to Himself. It is simply called...Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (by Matt Redman). The lyrics speak as follows:

So fearfully and wonderfully made...How could they say, "There is no God?"

Reminded every breath that I take...its by your hand I have been formed

So what am I gonna do with this life you gave me?

What could I do but live for your praise?

You gave me this breath and you gave me this strength...and everyday I live to obey you

With all of my heart...with all of my soul...let every breath I breath in display you God

Oh, theres elegance in all you create...your grand designs leave us amazed

The wonders of the way we've been made speak of your power...tell of your grace

So what am I gonna do with this life you gave me?

What can I do but live for your praise

So, once again I bid farewell to the country that has housed me for the past month-and-a-half...I bid farewell to the country of OZ. Much love. RB

Refreshed And Ready To Go

2009-02-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, we have arrived back to Melbourne. Boy does it feel good being back in my Australian home-sweet-home :) After traveling up the entire eastern coast of Australia, we returned back "home" just in time to catch the Super Bowl (of which we all know the mighty BURGH won). Being back in Melbourne has been extremely nice. Since we had previously "devoured" the entire city before we left on our travels up the coast, we have been able to keep it quite low-key for about 5 days now and this has definitely rejuvinated our traveling spirits. So with a new refreshed vigor, we have packed up the backpacks once again and the travels are to be continued tomorrow. Before we launch onto our next excursion, however, I think I should provide ya'll with some pics of our last expeditions. Check 'em out below.

Airlie Beach - Prosperpine, OZ

Getting ready to sail to the Whitsunday Islands.

Our majestic voyager.

This water was incredible blueish-greenish. You can see Whitehaven beach in the distance. It is called Whitehaven for the sand that is perfectly white.

The color of the water against the brightness and purity of the sand was just incredible.

Whitehaven Beach

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. In addition to snorkeling, we had to wear these "stinger suits" anytime we got in the water because it is stinger seasone here. The Box Jellyfish becomes in abundance this time of year and it is in the top 10 most poisonous creatures on the planet.

Approaching Long Island where Brian and I stayed for 2 nights. You can barely see the lodges we stayed in, but as you can see they are literally right on the water.

Just relaxing on Long Island

Brian and I layed in these hammocks that lined the beach one night for a couple of hours and just watched the sunset while we listened to music. It was one of the most peaceful times of my life where I was just able to contemplate life and "chat" with God for a couple of hours.

The next day we took a hike through the rainforest.

Determined to touch this shark in a lake on the island. This is the weirdest-looking shark I have ever seen.

Let me tell you...The bugs on this island were MONSTERS!

These are Wallabies. They are relatives of the kangaroo but are much smaller. They ran around everywhere on Long Island.

This Wallaby has a little baby in its pouch.

Preparing to make the trek from Prosperine to Cairns (or Cans as the locals say). The buse ride was suppose to be 9 hours and 50 minutes but due to severe flooding it took us 13 hours. At one point all the roads heading into Cairns closed down!

This was a funny moment. I was listening to my iPod and it started to downpour rain. Then I looked down and the song that came on was "Let it Rain" by Yanni (yes...I did just confess I was listening to Yanni :)

This is in Cape Tribulation (where the Daintree rainforest and Great Barrier Reef meet). We were on a skipper boat looking for Crocs, which are commonly swimming up and down this river.

I don't think I even have to say anything about this picture. But as you can see, the spiders in Cairns are ridiculously big. This spider was just hanging in the middle of a boardwalk in the rainforest. We almost walked right into his/her web. Did I mention that I am not a fan of spiders in the least!?

A bannana tree.

Another man-eating spider.

This moth is literally called the Goliath Moth. Up close it looked like a bird.

The rainforest overlooking the ocean.

This is the Mossman Gorge. It was AWESOME. It was in the middle of the rainforest and the water (although it does look green) was perfectly clear. Although a bit cold, it was an awesome place to swim.

The sunset from Port Douglass.

So there ya have it. Just wanted to let ya'll see what's been going on in my life and travels. Tomorrow Brian, John (who we met up with us two days ago) and I are renting a car and driving down the Great Ocean Road. It should be interesting because the steering wheel is on the opposite site! It will take us about 3 days to drive it so should be pretty fun. We decided that it would cost to much to find housing along the way so we are gonna be sleeping in the car every night...so it should be quite a cozzie fit! But it will be memorable and fun. When we return we will be backing up all our belongings (and gifts! Oh my goodness, Natalie, you are gonna love your gift :) and will be making the trip back to the US. Hate to see this trip come to an end, but we'll just have to go out with a bang. Much love to you all.

Undercover cops checking passes on the tram...Are you kidding me?

2009-02-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

Getting arrested and publicly humiliated by an undercover cop on the tram for not having a pass? Check.

After over 2 weeks of riding the trams in Melbourne for free, we have come to realize that they actually do check passes to ride...We just didn't realize that they used undercover agents to do the checking! I thought that those undercover guys were only used for big jobs, like stopping a drug ring or possibly to protect the president. But now from personal experience, if you don't have any money and you ride the trams in Melbourne, keep an eye out for the Undercovies (as Natalie and i like to call them). After flying back into Melbourne from Cairns, B and I decided to venture into the city to find a place that sold the Star Wars Trilogy...and I won't go into much detail about why we were doing this, but let's just say Brian has never seen Star Wars! The poor boy! Once finding this out I took it upon myself to introduce him to some of the greatest movies ever. But while riding the tram into the city, 2 large men approached us and whipped out badges...just like they do in the movies! But it wasn't a movie and the men definitely felt the need to show their manliness. They asked us where we were headed and thankfully I decided to leave the Star Wars part out of my answer. But we told them we were from the states and were sorry for the misunderstanding. They were not happy with our answer at all and told us it was a "serious offense" to ride the trams without a pass and they were going to "discuss what to do with us". I'm not gonna lie, it was kinda exciting. Meanwhile, however, there was about 30 other people on the tram that were staring at us...the 10 minute ride with the manly cops and the 30 pedestrians staring was a bit uncomfortable. Good news is I am not in an Aussie jail - I told the officers I was Barack Obama's brother and they decided to drop all charges :)

Much love,
Ryan

PS - We did immediately go to the nearest 7-11 and purchase a week tram pass. It set us back 29 dollars but it is good to know we won't be brushing shoulders with the Undercovies anymore :)

Sailing Heaven-On-Earth, Then 13 Hours to Cairnatalies

2009-01-29T23:12:00.001-08:00

After last leaving the beautiful (but somewhat small and boring) capital city of Cranberra, I have jumped to the opposite end of the excitement spectrum. We flew from Canberra into Brisbane (~ 2 hours) and then from Brisbane to Proserpine (~ another 2 hours) where we stayed the night in a hostel on Airlie Beach. To our gratitude, we got to stay in a room with just two beds. In the hostel world, this is quite a luxury. Early the next morning we hopped on another bus that took us down to the peir where we boarded a boat named Camira. Getting on this boat almost gave both Brian and I heart-attacks because we had accidently wrote down the boat name as Camilla. When we approached the man monitoring who gets on the boat and asked him "...where can we find the Camilla dock?" the man gave us a dumbfounded look and told us "No boat with that name exists...Never heard of it EVER. You'll have to go back to the city and talk to someone else." Is Camilla and Camira really that different that he couldn't put 2-and-2 together? :) But we eventually straightened things out and set off to Whitehaven Beach. Whitehaven Beach was by far the most absolute fantasticly beatuful place I have ever seen. As I try to imagine what heaven will be like one day, I have to say that this beach is the "heaven" of this earth. It was stunning. It took us about 3 hours sailing to reach the shore, and the sailing alone was great. The boat, CamiRA (not Camilla!) had two large net-like structures stretching across its front end. I can't really describe this structure very well so just take a look at the pics below. As we coasted along, we were able to lay on the "net" almost like a hammock hovering above the water. As the boat would sail along, air would rush underneath it and come up through the holes in the net, giving us a feel almost as if we were laying on an air-hockey table as the air came up through the hundreds of little holes. Every now and again it would rain (and being out in the middle of the ocean I'm talking downpour). When this happened, everyone on the boat (there were about 30 people in all that were with us) would go inside the cabin. Brian and I took this time to soak up the beauty, as we layed on the net and had the entire outside boat to ourselves. After getting to Whitehaven Beach, we swam in the water for about 2 hours. We had to wear wetsuits because it is jelly fish season in Aussie and some of the stingers can be quite fatal. In fact, the Box jelly fish is among the top ten most poisonous creatures in the world. But being protected with wetsuits, the water was SOOOO warm. At one point it started to rain fairly hard while we were swimming around and it was almost a surreal experience. As you looked around, we were completely surrounded by blue ocean, apart from the one stretch of beach that we were on and the faint mountains in the far off distance. As we swam around, the pouring rain created an amazing sight against the water...it was truly incredible (and romantic! although, I was with Brian so that took away alittle from the romantic aspect :) We also walked along the coast for some time through the whitest sand I have ever seen, hence the name Whitehaven Beach. After awhile we left the beach and continued to sail to another point where we jumped overboard and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. Because it is jelly fish season, there were literally thousands of jelly fish. When I first looked under water I was completely startled because there were at least 20-30 jelly fish touching me at all times...they were EVERYWHERE! It was an incredbile sight and the rest of the reef was just as incredbile. Brian and I were able to see a stingray and were within just a couple of feet from it. Boy those things can swim fast when they want to. After getting pretty close to it, we must have startled it because it bolted off. But in all, the reef was amazing. While I was snorkeling it, I was really struck by God's creation and His creativity. There was a moment where I was swimming around and seeing various things and was just completely awwwed by God. It was striking how incredibly AWESOME God's creation truly is and how this awesome creation really reflects on how powerful and glorious a god He truly is. I was truly thankful that He used that time to point me back to His glory. After we finished up we sailed to Long Island where Britt and I stayed for the next 2 days. If I had to describe Long Island to you in the shortest amount of time possible, I would simply say..."Jurrasic Park" This place was crawling with creatures, and it had its fair share of weird ones at that. Kangaroos were walking around everywhere, parrots were flying around, bats were hanging in the trees, geckos, spiders, lizards, toads, etc etc etc...you name it and it was there. We were joking that we were just waiting for the dinosaurs to come out and try to eat us. After having our fill of Long Island for 2 days, we took a boat back to Proserpine where we quickly jumped onto a bus that drove overnight to Cairns. The bust trip was originally suppose to take just under 10 hours, but due to floading on the roads it took us 13. The floading was so bad at one point that we had to pull the bus over because the roads had been closed. But through it all we arrived safely in Cairns and I have finally been able to settle down at a computer at the hostel. Tomorrow we will be leaving for Cape Tribulation to see the rainforest and also take a trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef. Much love to you all.

PS My computer is not working very well so I can't post pics...will get them up ASAP.

To One Of My Biggest Heroes...My Sister Natalie

2009-01-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

It is Wednesday, January 28th here on Long Island in Prospertine, Australia...which means it is January 27th back in Colorado. And this means it is the birthday of one of my most favorite people in the WORLD...My seeeeeestir Natalie. Nat, Happy Birthday sis. Hope you have a good day. Wish I could be there to hang with you. I miss you like crazy. Can't wait to get back to CO so we can watch The Suite Life of Zach and Cody together or go to Costco to get berry smoothies or build that roof-top table we talked about or just kick the ball around. Maybe for old times sake you could play a game of chess against yourself like I taught you how to do :) that way it will be like I'm there with ya. But have a good b-day and can't wait to see you in a few weeks. I bought you some pretty cool stuff throughout my travels so can't wait to give 'em to ya. I might a even found a leather bracelet or two :) but you'll just have to wait and see. Keep livin' with passion. Keep dreamin' big. Live humbly but still be strong like a rock. Keep playin' hard, but train harder. Remember, it's not worth it, if you don't fight for it (someone wise once told me that :) Be amazed by the gospel daily and keep honoring the Lord. I love ya oooodles.

Your Italian Brother,
Ryan

Canberra: Spending A Day With The Aussie Prime Minister

2009-01-24T23:36:00.001-08:00

Today I spent the day with a pretty important person in the Aussie community...the Prime Minister himself. We arrived in Canberra on Friday after traveling by bus from Sydney. Canberra is not the most exciting place to say the least, but it is the capital of Australia. It is a really laid-back town. One of the most stand-out things here is that everyone parks their cars in their front yards. Hardly anyone parks in driveways. Sometimes, even if they have a driveway, they still park in the front yard! It is pretty funny to see. We have been staying with Brian's aunt, which has been nice. It has definitely been good to sleep in a real bed and get a hardy home-cooked meal. I feel like I am refreshed and ready to get on the road again!

I've been sleeping on this pull-out couch. It's been like sleeping on a cloud compared to the bed I was sleeping on in the hostel on Bondi Beach.

Driveways are not used at all!

But back to the Prime Minister. We went to the capital building today and toured it. The building was incredible. Since arriving in OZ, I have seen more incredible buildings then I thought existed. So it is hard to say, but I think the capital building was one of my favorite. It was originally constructed in 1980, so it has not been around for very long at all. The inside has more granite then you could imagine. Granite walls, floors, handrails, etc. This gives it a very classy feel. Also, the building was constructed right into the side of a hill. So much so, that you can actually walk up a portion of the hill directly onto the roof of the capital. On top of the roof, there is a flag pole that is quite big. Brian's aunt told us that it is actually the biggest flag pole in the world. I guess Aussie has more to brag about then just nice beaches haha. Tomorrow is Australia Day (which is like the equivalent to 4th of July in the US). Because of this, the Prime Minister was outside the capital building. You wouldn't believe the lack of security. Brian and I walked right up to the podium that he was standing at. I literally could have had a conversation with him. The most ironic part of the whole situation was that there were hardly any security guards or police officers. There was only a single security guard standing between me and the Prime Minister. Also, there were no checkpoints or anything at all in the entire place that checked people's bags or purses. In essence, you literally could have brought in whatever you wanted and walked almost directly to the most powerful man in Aussie. It was interesting to see the difference between Australia and the US...if it had been George Bush or Obama at that event, there probably would have been about 600 secret service agents, a few airplanes and helicopters flying overhead, and maybe even a tank or two! We asked Brian's aunt why the security was so low even though the Prime Minister was present. She simply told us that he's not that important and if he was assassinated people would only be a little upset for a short period of time! Overall, the experience was one I won't ever forget.

The capital building.

Inside the capital building.

Inside the House of Representatives.

Aussie Pride.

The Prime Minister is the man farthest to the right.

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.

Yep, a pic with the most powerful man in Aussie in the background.

Keep smilin' all...I'm off to fly to the Whitsunday Islands :) Much love. Ryan

Half Ice Cream Bar, Half Ice Cream Sandwich

2009-01-24T04:26:00.000-08:00

Throughout my time in Aussie, I have become more amazed by God, as I have been able to observe some of His amazing creation. In addition, I have been introduced to God's most amazing gift to Australia...Maxibons! Half Ice Cream Bar-Half Ice Cream Sandwich. It's pretty much like morphing two of the greatest things in the world into one. Need I say any more.

Melbourne, skinny jeans, haircuts, and Sydney

2009-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Skinny jeans, skinny jeans, skinny jeans! They are everywhere here. I never thought I would see so many people (both guys and girls) wearing jeans that seem to be several sizes too small. As influential as this style may seem, I think I will remain one person who will not be influenced by it. Alot has happened since my last post. I got a new haircut...and yes, I finally shaved. I've also had the opportunity to explore Melbourne quite a bit more extensively. I discovered nature's side of things by going to the Melbourne Zoo, the Melbourne Aqaurium, and Melbourne's botanical gardens. The gardens are world-renown and they were huge! It took Brian and I hours to walk through them. It was well worth it though and well-deserved :) I say well-deserved because the day before we traveled by tram for almost an hour to get to the gardens and we got there at 8:47...they close at 8:30 haha so we definitely soaked up the beauty when we went back the next day and walked through 'em. Also, I was able to visit some more beautiful buildings including St. Patrick's Cathedral, which I think ranks as the most impressive and magnificent building I have ever been inside. But enough of Melbourne because I am now in Sydney! I got here on Tuesday and am staying in a hostel right on Bondi beach...I'm talking right on the beach! B and I are staying in a room with 4 other people (total of 6 people to a room). One of our roomates is a 50 year-old lady who claims to be a "devine channeler". As you can imagine there have been quite a few interesting convos going on between us since our arrival. The first night we were there, she told us that if we snoored she would do energy exercises on us to release the bad energy! She also told us that she doesn't really sleep during the night and usually "listens to messages she receives from the people staying in the room"...WOW, I didn't sleep too well that first night to say the least!

This is home-sweet-home for the time being...It is quite luxurious.

Hangin' out on my bed the first night we got to the hostel.

Brian reading up on what we should do in Sydney. Thanks for the book momma. It has been most handy.

We found this old broken toothbrush on the bed ha ha gross! Just what I needed...a backup toothbrush :)

Since we are so close to the beach we have gone three times in three days. The sun is glorious and HOT HOT HOT. It was almost 40 degrees Celcius, which as a science guy I am ashamed to say I am not sure what that correlates to in Farenheit, but either way it was HOT. Believe it or not, I even got sunburned, which is weird cause I hardly ever burn. Sadly, today my whole face is peeling. Regardless, the beach was amazing and brought back memories of the numerous hours I used to swim in the ocean in VA back in the day. Swimming in the ocean here in Aussie has been the first time I have done so since moving from VA when I was 12! Today we went to downtown Sydney for the whole day. I got to see (and touch) the opera house and we also walked across the famous bridge that spans the Sydney Harbor. It was too cool! The last cool bridge I walked across was the Golden Gate with Jordan during spring break during my first year of pharmacy school. Jordo, wish you could've made the hike with me this time too!

Street performers in downtown Sydney.

Ahhh, the world famous Opera House.

This building is pretty awesome looking.

This is the bridge we hiked across. I would guess it is about a mile long. At the top of bridge you can barely see two Aussie flags. It was pretty cool to see them up there flying above the whole city.

This was a public piano that anyone could play. It was standing right outside the Opera House.

Downtown Sydney.

The outside of the Opera House was made completely by small tiles...hundreds of them. From far away you can't tell but from up close it looks really cool.

Thought this was pretty cool.

This was a wall in an underground tunnel. The entire wall was covered with people's footprints. I bet you can't find mine!

Gettin' ready to cross the bridge.

Julian in Sydney.

Pic with the Opera House taken from the bridge.

You can't see it that well but this is another pic with the Opera House taken from the bridge.

Tomorrow we are takin' a bus to Canberra. We leave at 1:30 PM and are scheduled to arrive at 5:00 PM so it's about a 3 and a half hour trip. We are gonna stay with Brian's aunt for a night or too and hopefully get some home-cooked meals :) Then we are flying to Cairns (in Queensland) where we are taking a tour on Cape Tribulation...Sounds intense! It is a 3 day/2 night trek through the Queensland rainforests and also through the Great Barrier Reef. There have been alot of shark attacks and even an alligator attack recently so hopefully God will keep those critters away while we are in the water! Luv you all and will post again soon.

R

PS - I'm glad to see The BURGH made it into the Super Bowl. Dad, Jord, and the rest of the Fam, I wish I could be there with ya'll to root 'em on.

Melbourne: Learning the Ropes

2009-01-06T03:49:00.000-08:00

So my time in Melbourne continues to be amazing. We are living in a second-story dorm room at University College of Melbourne University. In Australia, the word "college" refers to a dorm hall. So we are living at the dorm hall called University College, which is apart of Melbourne University. The room is actually rather nice (from what Brian tells me, dorm rooms are usually not very nice). It has a kitchen, one bathroom with an awesome shower head in the shower, one bedroom with two beds, an outside patio, and a family room with a small TV that has 7 channels :) In addition, our building has a huge game room and a computer lab with internet access. We get served 3 meals a day in the cafeteria. The food is pretty good, although the chefs (or should I say cooks) usually serve leftovers for a few days in-a-row! But beggars can't be choosers and getting food for free has definitely been nice.

This is the outside of the place where we are living

Mom, I took this one for you

Brian and I both work in pharmacies that are about 2 miles from where we are staying. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk there in the morning. We literally work across the street from each other so we get lunch together every day. We have been trying out all kinds of different foods...but the street we are working on is known for being highly populated by Italians so there are so many good Italian restaurants :) That is obviously a good thing!

Tonight we took our first trip to downtown Melbourne. We took the "bus" adventure for the first time. We had no trouble getting to downtown. In fact, we were almost like Melbourne Bus Experts! The way home, however, was a different story! We got lost for quite awhile before finally re-tracking our steps all the way back from where we started before finally figuring out the right bus to get on to get home. Buses in Melbourne ride pretty much anyway. You can buy an all-day pass for 6 dollars at 7 Eleven. This is about 4 American dollars (about 70 American cents is equivalent to a buck in Aussie). While in the city we went up to the top of the HIGHEST observing platform in the western hemisphere. It was called the Eureka Skydeck and was 88 stories high! I was absolutely terrified! While at the top you can go outside the building onto an outside deck that is enclosed by a chainlink fence. This is to allow you to feel how windy it is at the top of the building...and boy was it windy! At times the gusts of wind were so powerful they almost knocked you over. Look at the pics of downtown Melbourne that I took from the top of Eureka...They are pretty awesome.

This is Eureka...It was massive!

Downtown Melbourne

I'm standin' in the outer deck. As you can see, the only thing keeping me safe is this chainlink fence. The winds out on this deck were really wild.

In addition to Eureka, we walked around downtown Melbourne for several hours. It was by far the coolest place I have ever been. In general it was full of the most imaculate, creative, HUGE buildings I have ever seen. There were statues on every street corner. There was a lifesize chessboard. The Yarra river runs right through the middle. In essence, it was beautiful. Also, it was the most culturally diverse place I've ever seen. I have never seen so many different kinds of people! TONS! There was a chinatown, a spanish town, and a vietnamese town. I guess the best way to describe it is if you took Denver, Boulder, Arvada, and Aurora and blended them all together ha ha. I have posted a few pictures below but will post more tomorrow (with the time difference it is 5:40 in the morning for me and I'm exhausted). I am crashin' hard so I gotta sleep. Until next time, luv ya all.

Much love,
Ryan

First Class to Melbourne, Australia

2009-01-03T16:44:00.001-08:00

I've arrived in Melbourne, Australia...Wow, the place is absolutely amazing! and GREEN! and WARM! It's currently 11:43 a.m. here on Sunday (back in Denver it is 5:43 p.m on Saturday - there is an 18 hour time difference). The plane flight was a story in itself! After flying into LA from Denver, Brian and I were called up to the desk and were given different seating assignments for our flight to Melbourne. The desk clerk gave us no explanations but we didn't question the changed seating. When arriving into the plane we realized that the new seats were first class! Oh my goodness, it was the most comfortable area I have ever been in (the seats were probably more comfy then my bed at home!). We weren't sitting for more then 5 minutes when the stewardess asked us if we would like any champagne...haha that should give you a pretty good idea as to how plush this first-class section was.

We both had our own personal TV's and buttons on our consoles that activated massaging chairs...

They also offered us face cream, hot face towels, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. But best of all was our unlimited leg room (which was definitely good for Brian who is 6'4'') and of course the food (mom, the food was delish but your snacks still came in very handy :)

In all, the flight to Melbourne was amazing to say the least. The trip is off to a great start!

Love and miss you all already,
Ryan

2008-12-02T14:14:00.003-08:00

So what do you say in a blog? I created this account in August and have been so good at posting stuff (considering this is my first entry). But I've decided that avoiding the posts has gone on long enough!

Here's a catch up on my life...

I just got back to my temporary home-sweet-home in Alamosa, CO. Alamosa is know to the locals as "The Dirty MO" Ha Ha...but trust me, it's not as exciting as it sounds. It consists of only 2 one-way roads. Thankfully, however, there is Wal-Mart :) of which my roommates and I visit almost daily to stock up on stuff. Well, now that I think about it, we actually just go there to waste time! But Alamosa is turning me into a rough and scruffy mountain man, so that I'm thankful for. I'm here doing my 5th of eight pharmacy rotations...I am graduating in May and will finally be able to legally distribute drugs! It's kinda a scary thought - I am terrified that I'm gonna make a drug-mistake. But thankfully God is sovereign over even the drug industry, and in that I can rest assured.

Recently, God has been working in alot of areas in my life. Its funny how when you grow up being immersed "in the church" you can become complacent with your walk with God...at least that has been something that I've been convicted of as of late. I've been reading Desiring God by Piper, and the introduction chapter alone can only be described as WOW! After reading it, I was convicted that sometimes I let myself forget how awesome God is; how amazing the cross is. I went away from the intro re-focused on my chief end as a man: To glorify God BY enjoying Him forever...It's incredible how we serve a God who calls us to glorify Him by finding our joy in Him. I pray God continues to work in my life.

And with that I am all blogged-out. I gotta work my way up to longer entries in the future!