here's the thing...

HEY!

2012-01-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

if you want to know a tiny little bit of what has been going on in my life, you can check my other blog.

http://mountainstotrees.tumblr.com/

you may or may not already know some or all of it, but there it is...

love you all!

(all 2 of you who i think actually might read this haha)

for those of you who have read none of this blog, or those who just want to know where i am and what i'm doing...

2011-08-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

i've always wanted to live in one of the carolinas. we've been visiting my mom's family in virginia every couple years for as long as i can remember, and i've always had a love of the southeast... i've also always thought the carolinas were more classy than va, and north was more classy than south (why? i could not tell you...). i recently got a letter from my past self (an assignment in senior year calculus) asking if i was living in the south yet. seriously... it goes back further than that, too. keep this in mind.

fast forward to junior year of college, when i decided that i wanted to live abroad. annoying amounts of student loans basically limited me to one option in order to do that, so, after graduation, i ended up teaching english in south korea (one of the few countries that pay more than a living stipend to teach). my experience there was... not awful... but it was one of the hardest times of my entire life, both mentally and spiritually. BUT, while i was there, i realized what i wanted to do when i got home! living in a foreign country is hard, especially when the culture is completely different and you don't know a lick of the language. it was during a particularly hard day of attempting to go about mediocre everyday tasks (made difficult by the previously mentioned facts), while wishing that i had someone there with me to read signs, talk to people in charge, and understand what was going on and help me figure it out, that i realized: if it was that difficult for me in a pretty cushy situation, how hard must it be for people fleeing to america? could i be that person who helps refugees to go about the "easy" tasks that they need to do? does that job even exist? so, after a couple more months in korea, i realized that it really was not the best place for me to be (for a number of different reasons), and i decided to come home early and attempt to find a job working with refugees. (having never quit anything like that before in my life, it was not an easy decision, but i have not regretted it once.)

after a month of being home, still not really finding any jobs or leads, i went with Bryan back to uganda to volunteer at musana for 6 weeks. it was wonderful, but i also spent the whole time a little preoccupied thinking about what i would do when i got back to real life.

after getting home, looking around for jobs relating to refugees, and finding nothing, i resigned myself to the fact that i would probably just live at home for a little while and work at some job nearby to save some money and make payments on my loans.

and that was when i checked out idealist.org for the hundredth time.

i didn't even choose any specifics... not location, not job type, not even paid or volunteer. the first job that came up on the listing was a position assisting with youth programs for refugee youth in charlotte, nc. really? really. so i said, "i should probably just apply for it..." i showed it to my parents, who pointed out that it was an americorps position (read: you make next to nothing) and it was part time (read: really. not even enough to live off of). but, being me and not worrying about things like that until i have to, i sent in my resume, a week later i emailed to follow up, and a couple days later i got a call to set up an interview for a few weeks after that. after the interview, i was told that i would hear in a couple of weeks about the position, and i honestly didn't think i would get it. i even applied and interviewed for another job. but, right after that interview, i found out that i had gotten this one! i was so excited, until a few days later when it hit me that i really wouldn't be able to live off of what i was making, i didn't have a place to live or a car to get there, and i would be leaving my family again. after lots of talking it out and praying and reassuring words from people, i started to get really excited again, and things started coming together.

so, after a 2 1/2 day drive with my dad, lots of unpacking and decorating, and lots of awesome God things, i am here and so excited to see what He has in store for me here! my new job hasn't started yet (orientation starts september 1st), but i already love it here.

i made a new blog... i know i've had this one forever, but i feel like it's just time for another change. so the new blog is
mountainstotrees.tumblr.com
yes... i decided to switch to tumblr. who knows... maybe i'll hate it and come back to blogger. but really i'm not that picky, so i'll probably just stay there because i'm lazy.
anyway... go on to that to see what God has done here so far!

sidenote: for those who may be wondering why i was so quick to move away again when i missed home so much... it's true, i love home and i miss being close to my family and friends. but, the way i see it, compared to korea north carolina is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from home, and if i absolutely need to be there, i can get on a plane and be there in a few hours. also i can talk to people on the phone whenever i want, which really is a big deal.

someday...

2011-07-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

i will have children who do this, and we will have hoedowns in our backyard. it will be glorious.

i might not put dead animals in their rooms though... still haven't decided.

someday...

2011-07-17T13:39:00.001-07:00

if i ever end up in a nursing home (is a retirement community the same thing? either way...), it better be one like this.

(also it's annoying that blogger cuts off half the video... if you just click on the title it will take you to youtube. you probably already know that.)

...

2011-07-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

this made me chuckle.
there's no denying that this kid is insanely talented.
i'm so confused about my feelings about this song, though. on the one hand, i can't believe how ridiculous it is that it is about unfriending someone. but on the other hand, i'm glad he's not trying to act like he's older than 14, because i'm pretty sure at 14 unfriending is, like, the ultimate diss when you break up with someone.

here's the chorus:

So it's over now we're through, so I'll unfriend you
You're the best liar I ever knew, so I will unfriend you
Because I should have known, right from the start
I'm deleting you right from my heart
Yeah it's over, my last move is to unfriend you

really?
remember when *nsync had that song "digital get-down?" just thought of that...

...

2011-06-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

i have the bronch. and by that i mean i have bronchitis. today i went to urgent care (where the staff was freakin awesome) and i had to get a chest x-ray because they were worried i got tuberculosis while i was in uganda. but i didn't... just some bronchitis. so i had to take some medicine, and my mom said that it would keep me awake. and she was right. and now i'm laying in bed, weirdly hot, and thinking about stuff (but not very clearly).

i'm at the weirdest place i've ever been in my life right now. part of me loves it, and part of me is completely over it. i seriously have no idea what i'm going to do with my life. i definitely still have long-term goals for where i'd like to be in the next 10ish years, but as for the next months and years, i don't know. and i can't figure out what i even want to do. i don't know if i want to stay in colorado or move away. i really want to go to north carolina, but i don't know if i want to go now, or wait. and if i stay in colorado, i don't know if i want to stay up around ft. collins, or go back to denver, or go down to the springs or somewhere else. and the thing is, there's really nothing going on in any of those places that makes the decision any easier. i've always had some sort of idea of what i was going to do and was always working towards whatever it was... but right now i got nothin'. it's pretty ridiculous. prayers would be greatly appreciated... for direction, for faith, for a job.

i just finished reading the help. normally when books are on the best seller list and people tell me to read them, i avoid them for a few years until the hype has died down. because usually if i read them, i end up wondering what all the fuss was about because they are so hyped up. (harry potter is an exception to this. but i feel like that's a completely different type of thing... also it took me a looong time to get on that train.). but with this book, it was different. i actually really really liked it, and i understand why people have made such a big deal about it. i would recommend it. i don't know what i'm going to read next...

i want to go to a rockies game. i haven't gone to one yet, and that makes me sad. honestly, i haven't really been paying attention to how they're doing this year. meh.

this summer should be interesting. hopefully in a good way. i trust that it will be.

last summer i saw the backstreet boys in concert. it was epic. kevin wasn't there, but no one really cares about him anyway. here they are singing show me the meaning of being lonely. (followed by i want it that way)

living with ugandans=

2011-05-08T01:17:00.001-07:00

listening to the same music at ridiculous volumes at all times.

2011-05-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

it’s hot. like really really hot. i don’t actually think it’s any hotter today than it has been most of the other days i’ve been here, but for some reason today seems extra hot. i think it’s because the last week has been relatively cool. oh well… i guess being basically on top of the equator means you’ll have that.

david left last night. it was so great having him here. there are a lot of reasons, but i won’t talk about them. but a big one is that he just cracks me up and is always fun to have around. thursday night we (leah too) went to kampala and stayed just outside the city at the red chilli, a hostel, which was absolutely wonderful. we had a great meal, nice beds, HOT SHOWERS, and just lots of relaxing and hanging out. then the next day we went into kampala to see what the city had to offer. i didn’t think i liked kampala, but it turns out i actually really do. it was incredible to see the difference being in a big city makes. there were actually times where it didn’t even feel like we were in africa (which i honestly had a hard time believing was possible before i experienced it). in the morning we went to the craft market, which was really fun, then we went and wandered around the mall (including the bookstore) for a little while. after the mall we went to a turkish restaurant called efendy’s to relax and share a hookah (because, you know, that’s what you do here. haha not really…). the restaurant was in the middle of this park full of bars and restaurants. being in the park, you forget that you are in a big city. then when you go out of the gates, it’s immediately loud and crazy again. it was ridiculous. after that we walked over to owina, a HUGE market that i would never go to alone, if for no other reason than the fact that i would get lost in there forever. it was so fun, though, finding hats (for david… for some reason it was fun scoping out hats for him) and just seeing all the stuff they had around. after owina we ran and got a quick dinner before heading to the airport to drop david off and making the long drive back to iganga. it was a really fun last day with david, and i’m so glad we did it!

the kids are still precious and wonderful. we’ve been taking groups to the pool, which has been really fun. so far we’ve taken the oldest/youngest girls and the oldest/youngest boys. it was funny how different the groups were, in both predictable and completely surprising ways.

it’s hard to believe i only have 10 more days here. this time has gone by so fast. i’m definitely sad to think about leaving the kids and bryan, but i’m not gonna lie—i’m pretty excited about my own bed, hot showers, and the conveniences of home!

i still don’t know what i’m doing when i get back… i know that i’m looking for a job in a terrible time, which is scary. but i trust that God is going to put me where He wants me. so sending out resumes and filling out applications will be my life for the next little while… should be a good time!

in other news... i'm obsessed with this child! winnie... stinkin' wonderful.

these ones too. just kidding... but i really do love my brothers.

as much as this picture might suggest otherwise...

today...

2011-04-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

i watched a baby being born. awesome!

and i'm so happy that both of my brothers are here :)

and tomorrow we're taking the kids to the pool. it should be a fun day.

rough...

2011-04-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

today was a rough day. it wasn't a bad day... just a rough one.

first of all, we found some baby kittens (like maybe a week old, but more likely a few days) on the road on the way to musana. leah asked obama where their mom was and he told her that the owner had "refused them." so we took them to musana, and i tried to feed them some milk. i don't expect them to live through the night, but at least they are in relative comfort and safety, away from the mean kids on the street.

even though that was sad, the main reason today was so rough was because it's the first day of holiday. that means that the kids parents/guardians came and got them to go home. the ones leaving were so excited, and it was bittersweet to see them go. i was excited for them, but sad because i'll be gone before they get back. but my heart broke for the kids who stayed behind. these are the kids whose parents are dead, who watch their friends leaving and know that they don't get to go and exactly why. these kids are such little troopers, though. i can't even imagine all that they've been through, and yet they almost always have smiles on their faces and are so excited about life. selfishly, i'm glad they're staying because that means i get to spend more time with them (i've fallen more and more in love with them every single day). but i wish that they got to leave... that they had families to go home to. my prayer is that they know how much they are loved, because they are.

i've been struggling and praying and thinking about God's love lately, and what it means to show His love, and what His love means for these kids and the people who have nothing. it's a tough subject.

please pray for the kids, that they will know how much they are loved, by God and the people He has placed in their lives. and for the ones who went home, that they will have a good, safe, healthy holiday. and pray for me, that i will be able to show His love in the best way possible, for energy, for my project and finding someone to make the books for a price that i can afford, and for confidence in situations that arise.

thanks and i love you all!

carlos

2011-04-14T02:11:00.001-07:00

i have a friend. his name is carlos. he likes to hang out in the bathroom while i attempt to get clean in the cold shower (which is actually way more pleasant than you'd think). sometimes i think he's not there, but then i realize he is... never fails.

he's a cockroach.

on another note... i milked a cow yesterday! another thing on my life list checked off. it was very exciting, and i'm doing it again today :)

happy

2011-04-11T00:28:00.000-07:00

currently sitting in the shade at musana while the kids work on exams.

attempting to find a company who wants to help out with the yearbooks.

listening to sweet ugandan music coming from inside.

so happy :)

updates

2011-04-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

there are really not a lot of updates... except these ones:

-i figured out my project and i'm SUPER stoked! my dad actually had the idea before i left, but being here and figuring out how i'll actually do it has made me way more excited. i'm going to make a yearbook to give to the kids, their families, and sponsors/supporters back in the states. my love of taking pictures and putting stuff together on pages means that this will be really fun for me :)

-the babies are wonderful and i love them more and more every day. learning and remembering more names has been fun too!

please pray for these things:

-that musana will be able to get their NGO status! apparently it's tricky here in uganda when an organization works with children (especially if it has "children" or "orphans" in the name). an inspector came (or will be coming) today to check out musana and the kids and make sure they're not training up child soldiers (seriously). so pray that it will go well and smoothly and the ridiculous corruption will not cause problems...

-the yearbooks. i want them to be quality, which is expensive. i'm working on getting in touch with a few different photo sites and online yearbook companies to get a big discount or possibly get them donated (long shot, but it would be SO awesome! also God is good and could totally work it so the emails get to the right people :) )

-emma's hip surgery stuff (he's a musana kid who needs a hip surgery and they're working on getting him to the states to do it)

-looking for maria

-health and safety of course :)

there's that... i have lots of random little stories, but they'll be better in person.

thanks for your thoughts and prayers! love you all!

here!

2011-04-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

well... i'm in uganda now :)

i've only been here a day... but it's been a good one! i'm already sunburned, and i'm so excited to spend then next 6 weeks with these babies!

i'll write more later, but for now i'm just gonna put some things that would be wonderful to be covered in prayer!

-musana in general... that God would continue to move and bring the right people in-

-my project. i still have no idea what i'm going to do... there are lots of things to be done, but i'm supposed to come up with my own project to work on. pray that God will show me what is needed most-

-the kids! they are wonderful-

-relationships formed and deepened here, with fellow volunteers, the kids, ugandans, and bryan-

-health!!-

-safety-

-anything else you can think of :)-

thanks for your prayers and for being wonderful! i'll try to update on here a lot... but don't be surprised if i wait until after i get back to just put it all on here :)

tidbits

2011-02-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

today i went zorbing. amazing.

today i visited the glass castle and had green tea ice cream. awesome.

today i saw the vagina monologues. good. pretty vagina-y though.

yesterday i left school to go to the jimjilbang. best "lunch break" ever.

today i saw a few blossoms on a tree. i'm sad i'm leaving right before prime cherry blossom time.

up until last weekend i could count on one hand the amount of times i've really gone out since i've been here. i won't be having any more crazy weekends for a while.

i recently realized that sometimes when i drink i get to a point where i try to make myself sound sober by being very "reasonable" and "smart." in reality, i am not that "reasonable" and "smart" when i actually am sober. this is annoying. especially after the fact when i have to stick with what i said, even though sober me hates it.

wine bars are way cooler than i ever thought they were.

today my apartment started smelling bad. i'm pretty sure there's a sewage issue in the building. i'm pretty sure it won't be fixed very soon. i'm pretty sure i'm glad i'm leaving when i am.

this week i had haggis, tablet (both made by some scottish friends), bingsu, the korean dragon-shaped street food, and hummingbird cake for the first time. all of them were delicious. especially the cake, because it was made with love and southern hospitality.

tomorrow i am going back to the zorbing place to ride dune buggies. i am so excited.

in 3 days i am leaving jeju.

in 4 days i will be home!

praise God!

right now...

2011-02-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

what i should be doing:

sorting my clothes

organizing my kitchen stuff into piles for the different people it's going to

doing laundry

making sure i don't have a bunch of extra stuff to get rid of when i leave

packing to make sure everything fits in my suitcases

getting a card for my friend who's leaving

getting all my flight stuff together

what i am doing:

watching boy meets world

i've never been good at preparing in advance. or multitasking. or not getting addicted to shows.

these last 5 days should be interesting...

2011-02-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

so in my middle school i've had an "english camp" this week. it's not real english camp, because i don't get to do fun things like food and stuff. but i've tried to at least make it interesting for them because i still think it's terrible that they have to go to classes during their vacation.

ANYWAY... we've been talking about music and music videos. today we were talking about what music videos are for and how you can usually tell what a song is about just by watching the video.

i showed them this one and asked them what it was about.

their responses:

**5 seconds of silent stares**

a few girls: "he just lays everywhere!"

one girl: "he is lazy."

another girl: "he is sad."

a boy: "because he is homeless."

haha they are precious peanuts.

on another note... i'm coming home! don't feel like writing why, but i'm super stoked! and this is the best way to go out... with the best of my favorite kids, then a week of deskwarming to look for jobs.

haha oops

2011-02-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

i just left school an hour early legitimately thinking it was 4:30.

it wasn't until i just looked at my phone that i realized that, now that i'm home, it's only 4:08.

oh well... i said goodbye to my co-teacher and she didn't say anything!

this is what deskwarming does to me...

a list...

2011-01-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

i'm deskwarming, which means i'm sitting in my empty corner of the school. doing nothing. just distracting myself with mindless internet activities. and thinking.

i'm thinking about what i think my purpose for being here is. because i know there is one... i'm just not sure what that is yet. but i can guarantee that at least part of it is that God wants to teach me. and i have a lot to learn.

here are just a few of the things i've learned so far while being in korea:

1-enjoying kids and liking to spend time with them does not mean that teaching them is a good job for you.

2-language barriers are hard.

3-despite the language barrier, it is entirely possible to get by with charades, gestures, patience, and a willingness laugh at yourself.

4-middle schoolers are way more fun than elementary schoolers, even if they are a lot more difficult to entertain.

5-raw fish, tentacles, fish with bones and scales still attached, and loads of other questionable things are not actually that bad. quail eggs, on the other hand, can disappear forever and i will not be even a little bit sad.

6-a year is not a long time to be in a place.

7-a year is a very long time to be away from the people you love.

8-restlessness has nothing to do with location.

9-no matter how frustrating it can be, living with roommates is completely worth it.

10-i have completely taken for granted the community i've always had and the importance placed on it by myself and those around me. not everyone has that same desire.

11-i build things up in my head to be way harder than they actually are, even after i've seen and proven to myself that this is the case.

12-i rely too much on people and not enough on God. this is the hardest, most important lesson that i'm still in the process of learning.

13-it sucks missing things like weddings and holidays and random events.

14-it's relatively cheap to travel around asia. it's the getting over here part that's really expensive.

15-the whole north/south korea issue is really really sad. i've never really thought about it before, but the more i learn and the more i see how it does affect people's lives, the more blessed i feel to be able to talk to and see my family with almost no restrictions (even when i'm halfway around the world from them).

16-being surrounded by a solid community of believers who lead, support, and go alongside you is a huge blessing that should never be taken lightly.

17-heaters are the greatest thing ever.

18-there are some things that transcend cultures. like bieber fever.

19-even though respecting cultural differences is important, there are some things that are just a)wierd, b)frustrating, and/or c)wrong.

20-lots of times i feel stupid. ask me about politics and i couldn't tell you much. ask me about which celebrities are getting married/pregnant/broken up/caught doing something illegal, however, and i should be able to fill you in. is it bad that politics don't interest me in the slightest, but all of that keeps me completely entertained?

21-"the hawaii of korea" means nothing except that it's a volcanic island.

22-knowing all the right answers--that God is there, that He has a plan, that He's working even if you can't see it--usually does nothing to make me feel better. in fact, it usually just makes me annoyed.

23-sometimes the "best" plans are completely wrong.

24-it would be nice if God would just give answers in an obvious way instead of letting me think that i have everything figured out on my own. but He doesn't work like this... and if He does, i need to learn how to listen and stop thinking that i know what i'm doing.

25-i feel sorry for myself a lot. in reality, i know that i am truly blessed.

and there it is... there is a lot more that could be added to this list. these are just the things i can think of right now, without getting into snarky comments about korea.

i really do know that i am blessed, and that God is right here, holding me and teaching me and helping me through. it's just a long process of breaking and rebuilding that i've been due to go through for a long time now...

i love and miss you all!

really?

2011-01-08T05:16:00.001-08:00

sometimes i get in these moods where i just feel sorry for myself. i just sit here and think about how awful my life is and how if **insert anything here** were different, my life would be awesome. and then i have to remind myself of how blessed i am. i am in the middle of an experience that not very many people will ever get the chance to have. i have people who love me, i have a God who is so good, i have a steady, solid job during a time when so many people have nothing. i truly am blessed...

and yet, i tell myself all of these things, and i still feel sad. it doesn't make me miss home any less. it doesn't make me any more stoked on going back to work after this break. it doesn't make me feel like i'm really doing any good. it doesn't make me stop worrying that i made the wrong choice in coming here. it doesn't make me okay with the fact that i'm sick and i can't just drive an hour to lie in my bed and have my mom rub my back.

and then i get frustrated that i can be so incredibly blessed... and i know how blessed i am... but i still have such a bad attitude!

this is SO not going along with my prayer for the new year... and we're only 8 days in!

Dear God,

please fix this!

love, me

resolution

2011-01-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

so... my big new years plans were kinda changed by the BLIZZARD that was happening for the last 2 days, so my new years eve was spent playing bananagrams (which is actually what i was doing last year too!) with some friends. it was very relaxed and cozy and simple... and it was great. today was a lazy day, spent drinking mimosas all day long with a few other friends. i've never really been a big new years celebration person... and i also don't really do resolutions.

so, instead of making a bunch of promises that i know i won't be able to keep, my prayer for this year is this:

that God would take this year and do with it what He will... that i will be joyful and content in every day, not constantly waiting for the future... that i will have the confidence and the courage to sieze opportunities, whether they be experiences, conversations, or anything that comes up... that i will seek wisdom and grow in my faith and learn more and more exactly what i believe and why i believe it, and to be able to defend it with confidence... that God will continue to reveal Himself to me in ways that i can't even imagine, and that i will recognize it when it happens... that i will live my life with gladness in a way that brings glory to God in everything that i do... that people will see Him in me.

basically i'm putting this year in God's hands, because i know He's in control.

i praise God for a new year, for new opportunities, for where i am, and for all of the people i love. i pray that your year will be blessed and that you will constantly be amazed by God's goodness.

i love you all...

a tiny glimpse...

2010-12-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

so... obviously last week was the week before Christmas. sadly, as i've said before, korea does not know how to do Christmas, which meant that i worked all the way up through Christmas Eve. luckily it was an easy day at the middle school, and i just showed movies to the few classes i had. it was also my last day with my third graders (sad), and i got to hang out with them while they learned how to make different kinds of food. *the third graders finished their finals the week before, so i'm pretty sure they didn't have any real class for the last week and a half of the year.* anyway... i happened to have my camera that day, so i got to take pictures!

this was my favorite group to watch, because they made the most difficult food. also the kid on the left is my favorite middle school boy. i'm sad he's leaving... also that i don't know his name (i'm a terrible teacher!)

ignore the fact that i look like a sick bum in this picture... but this is so i (so ee), the most precious 3rd grade girl. she's the one who would hang out with me during every break and gave me a huge list of music to download. i'll miss her...

i took a lot more pictures, which i'll put on facebook because it takes a long time to upload them on here... but these are my 2 favorite 3rd grade students, so i figured they should get a place on the blog :)

so on Christmas Eve i called home and got to talk to my mom while i opened my presents. it was wonderful! this is an attempt to get a picture of us together haha. notice the presents under the tree...

madeline was fascinated by the candle

on Christmas morning i woke up to snow for a white Christmas! that hasn't happened on jeju in over 30 years!

madeline loved the snow.

so... i accidentally invited one of my students to come over on Christmas morning. she tapped me on the shoulder on the bus monday afternoon and talked to me, which shocked me because she never talks in class. here's how part of the conversation went:

so yeon: what will you do for Christmas?

me: i'm just having some friends over at my apartment.

so yeon: oh! i wish i could go!

me: haha oh ok...

so yeon: really??

me: what?

so yeon: oh thank you!

me: um...

then the next day she gave me a card that said how excited she was, so i really couldn't say no. she ended up bringing a friend, un he, who i already loved.

so yeon (right) and un he at their first "real" Christmas morning celebration

they randomly left in the middle of the morning saying they wanted to get a cake... this was the cake they brought back. all the cakes here are stinkin adorable... and it was funny because they gave candles with it. it was also a delicious cheesecake.

me with the girls...

all day people were coming in and out and it was really chill... then the puzzle came out and it was amazing. we got a good chunk of it done... now it's just sitting on my floor waiting to be finished!

i kinda failed at taking a lot of pictures on Christmas, but it was a really good day. i missed being home and with family, but i felt blessed beyond words with how Christmas (and the days surrounding it) ended up.

praise God for friends and family, new and old :)

peace

2010-12-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

yesterday was a white Christmas. today is snowy and cold again. it's the perfect day to cozy up and be with people... which is exactly what i'm going to do.

even though i still have to plan for my winter camps (because i didn't take advantage of all my free time at work these last couple of weeks), i just have a sense of peace right now.

i still miss home. i still question everything. i'm still not sure how i'll feel tomorrow or in the next hour. but i'm okay. i know that God's in control, and He loves me, and He's here with me and home with the people i love.

and that brings me peace and joy beyond anything i can understand.

it is good :)

i failed at taking pictures yesterday, but i have a few plus lots from the last week or so... those will come soon.

i hope that you feel blessed and joyful today and in this season... i love you and i praise God for you every day!

spirit

2010-12-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

first: open this in a new tab (or window).

done? good. now while that plays, continue.

so this last weekend was the jeju lantern festival. it was the first time that it has felt like Christmas season here, even though it's not a Christmas event.

but it was cold, and there were lights, and i was with friends. and it was beautiful.

the festival is held right on the river, down by a place called dongmun rotary. it's where the market that has the best 호떡 in jeju is (don't worry... i had some while i looked at the lights.). it's a wonderful area...

all of the lanterns are made with some sort of waxy paper and cut up water bottles, and they all have pieces of paper with stuff written. they were wonderful, and the colors were amazing.

and then there were random things like this on the water. it's really impressive, but what the earth are these kids doing??

gorgeous.

it was seriously magical. i was so happy.

there were random little lantern sculptures along the banks... these are some birds.

again... impressive, but what is that rabbit doing to the turtle? and why is it giving the finger?

this one was definitely the weirdest. it only had one thing that qualified as a lantern (the giant green ball of course), and then it had these naked statues, with the random little black one... again, what is it doing? i wish that i could talk to the artists to figure out what they were thinking. i'm sure all of these are perfectly innocent, but really? and this one was extra weird because it was all the way at the end by itself.

there was an owl! so cool.

before i went to the festival i put up my tree. it was bittersweet, because i was finally getting a tree up, but i was alone doing it. it really made me miss decorating at home :(

but sari and taylor came by halfway through and we drank wine and talked, which was really good. the tree is really pretty, if i do say so myself!

of course madeline was curious and in the way. this is the face i get constantly... she's right in the middle of a giant MEOW. i promise i have never met a louder cat... i'm glad i caught it in a picture.

and it wasn't 1 minute before this started. actually, she has been surprisingly good about not messing with the tree. i'm shocked!

*notice that she's sitting on my package from home... it's under the tree, even though it's still all just in the big box :) i put the one from the rozums under there too, but madeline tried to open it early, so i had to put it away until christmas eve.*

even though it's weird and sad not being home for Christmas this year, God has been blessing me with so many things to be joyful for right here. He is so good to me.

now listen to this

countdown...

2010-12-12T21:07:00.000-08:00

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

one class left.

then oh my potatoes monday is done!

(yes... i typed all of those individually.)

awe

2010-12-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

so... today i went to the 5 day market. it's always insane there... in the best possible way. i was making my way through one of the crowded aisles when i felt a tug on my hair. i looked back to see a young korean girl (probably like 5th grade) just holding my hair and staring at it with the most amazed expression on her face. she was saying something, but obviously i couldn't understand her. it wasn't to me anyway... i'm pretty sure she was just talking to herself. her voice definitely had an interrogative intonation. i just stood there and let her marvel at my hair for a while, but then i had to go. she stayed standing there and watched me walk away. it was one of the funniest things that has happened to me here.

God bless koreans and their funny ways.

(ps: taylor and i decided today that, while some things are just cultural differences, a lot of things that koreans do/like are really just weird. that's all.)

hmm...

2010-12-07T18:17:00.001-08:00

so the korean elementary school english curriculum is absolutely terrible. there's no other way to say it. (remember... i already talked about it here) but as bad as it is, it definitely provides me endless entertainment. a lot of the other english teachers try to avoid the videos as much as possible, even cutting them out all together. but i think they're hilarious, so i make my kids watch them and laugh.

one of my favorite examples of the weirdness is a 6th grade lesson titled "would you like to come to my house?" the chapter is based around thanksgiving, and it's set up to be taught right around american thanksgiving time. i won't even get into the fact that the key phrases are weird and unrelated to each other, or that they totally failed at actually teaching about thanksgiving. both of those facts are because this is what they were fixated on:

gosh this job is funny...

christmas trees and cigarettes...

2010-12-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

this post will get added onto this weekend (with pictures!) but i just need to say this real quick.

today i had my first disciplinary dilemma that made me sad at the middle school. but somehow the whole thing was also entertaining.... ? some of my 3rd grade middle schoolers dropped their cigarettes in class today, but i found them before they could. i had to decide what to do. it sucks not being able to reason with kids because you don't speak the same language...

the full story will come later...

working for the weekend

2010-11-28T02:42:00.000-08:00

*this is long. read if you want.*

so... i've never looked forward to weekends so much in my entire life. yes, weekends have always been wonderful, but i have never appreciated them the way i do here. there are a few reasons for this, and they all hold equal weight.

first of all, teaching is exhausting! i have so much more appreciation for my teachers and my friends who are teachers and all the work that they do. to put it how my best friend kellie (who is in her first year of teaching english) put it, you are basically putting on a show the whole day. as a teacher, you are expected to show up to school and be on your game, able to hold the students' attention while teaching them as much as you can in the most effective way. i could write a LOT about this, but it basically comes down to this: teaching is hard in general. teaching when the students can't understand 99% of what you say is even harder. and for that reason i so look forward to those glorious 2 days when i just get to relax.

but that is not the only reason i look forward to weekends. one of the main things i look forward to is church. i honestly get really sad when something happens that keeps me from church. it's a time where i just get to worship and be surrounded by people who love the Lord. i wish that i could describe to you the feeling i had the first time i walked into the english service at the church i've been going to... again, i could write a lot. but i'll just say this: God put me there at the perfect time, and He is so good.

and the other reason i love weekends is the fact that i never really know what is going to happen. sometimes i end up just having long days of relaxation and doing nothing (which i cherish!). but most of the time i end up doing something completely random and awesome. i guess none of it is that random... usually it's actually planned. but the thing about korea (and doing stuff with koreans) is this: you can never really plan it. it will almost always end up being way more than you signed up for, and it's great! this weekend involved one of those experiences and also lots of other fun stuff. it was a good one. (i guess i should also tell you a little about thanksgiving...)

so thursday i stayed home from school (as i said in my last post). but about a month ago, i was invited to thanksgiving dinner with fred, the man who gave me madeline. so i went to dinner, not really knowing what to expect. it ended up being a beautiful dinner with about 10 or 12 of the most random people that made me feel like a complete underachiever... it was wonderful though. everyone was really nice, the food was delicious (not thanksgiving food, but good still), and the night was just good overall. i will probably have to write a full post about fred, but for now i will just tell you that i am honored to know him. he's korea's longest living expat (he's been in korea for about 50 years and on jeju for close to 40), and he's basically a local celebrity among jeju natives and the foreigners living here. why he likes me, i don't know, but i'm glad :)

anyway... so friday nights i usually watch the office with caleb. i like it because it's when we catch up (we usually don't really see each other during the week...). this week there wasn't a new one, but we didn't realize that so we still hung out for little while. then i went and had pizza with a few friends from my orientation group, then i had dessert and good conversation with sari (my friend who lives in my building and who i do yoga/pilates with). that conversation made me a lot more excited about life. she cracks me up and makes me happy. it was good.

saturday morning i had my class that i have every other week. there are usually between 4 and 6 kids in there (this week there were 6). they are all low level middle schoolers who "volunteered" to be there (i'm pretty sure most of them are only there because they're parents made them). we ended up doing a really short lesson on summarizing then played scrabble the rest of the time... it's hard for me to force the kids to do stuff because i feel bad that they have to be in school on a saturday morning. after the class i had lunch with mrs. oh, my self-appointed korean mom. she's precious and i love her.

after lunch i had a few hours to relax before i had to meet up with nikky, caleb, and a couple other korean girls from church (caleb's church, the one i was going to before i started going to the foreigner service. i actually love the church and the people there... it's a tough decision choosing which one to go to, and it makes me sad that i can't go to both!). they were going to take us to a 사믈노리 concert, but first we stopped by the coolest hair dresser ever to pick up one of the girls who was in the middle of getting a perm (i'm telling you... random. it's fun when you have no idea what anyone is saying and then you just end up at these places... it's like a game to guess where you'll go next!). anyway, after that we went to the concert, which was awesome. it was a lot of traditional korean stuff, and it was really fun. after the concert the performers made caleb and i dance with them. (everyone else joined in if they wanted to, but we were forced because we were foreigners.) after the concert we went to get some chai at bagdad, an indian restaurant really close to my apartment. caleb left early, and it was just me and the 3 koreans (nikky was the only one who speaks english). but even with the language barrier, it was still really fun being out with the girls and talking about boys and life. i taught them MASH (so funny... they're all 28-30 and they loved it), and we just talked and laughed at how we couldn't understand each other. then afterwards they wanted to give me a ride back ("dangerous because you are beautiful!" haha... it's really not dangerous at all!), so i was following them to what i thought would be the car. instead we ended up at a stand getting fried octopus balls. yep... this is korea, and that is what they eat. then we went to the car and they drove me the 2 minutes to my apartment, where we sat in the car and ate leftover kimbap from dinner. it was so fun being with a group of girls just hanging out and laughing and eating midnight snacks... it was just what i needed. they blessed me more than they will probably ever know.

so after a really fun, late night i went to church this morning, where the message was so simple yet so profound and great (it was about loving and following Jesus, out of John 21:15-22).

after church i had to rush out to catch a ride with alpha down to seogwipo to go to the jeju united finals match! it was cold, but it was so fun, and they won! it was definitely very exciting. after the game a group of us got some food then caught the bus back home, where i came in, put on sweats, and collapsed with my computer on my lap.

and that brings me here... writing this long post while i put off planning my winter camp lessons. dang.

that was really long... sorry. but that's what i've been up to.

i promise i go back and forth in my head every couple minutes (not exaggerating!) between happiness about being here and sadness about missing home. it is weekends like this and the moments i've had that really add to the happiness... and i thank God for that!

He is good to me.

thankful

2010-11-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

*warning: this is a long and rambly thought-dump. if you want to skip to the end, go for it.*

today i stayed home from school with a migraine. honestly, i probably could have gone and been just fine. yesterday it came in the afternoon, and i laid in my office with my head on my desk feeling sorry for myself. then this morning when i woke up i had a little headache, so i called in because i didn't want to be at school feeling miserable again. i can fight through not being able to breathe, stomachaches, body pain, and most other things. but when it comes to headaches, i'm a giant baby. pair that with a little bit of nausea, and it's just not worth it to me. so i've had a long day of lying in bed, watching movies and cuddling with madeline. it's been a much needed rest.

today is also thanksgiving. at the middle school i've been teaching about thanksgiving this week, and i've ended the lesson with the most important part: it means it's now christmas season! my ct said she can tell i love christmas season just because of how happy i looked when i was talking about it. i've been going back and forth about christmas season this year. i'm definitely forcing it on my middle schoolers... we're decorating the room and spending all of december on christmas stuff. i'm pretty excited. i have a christmas tree and decorations for my apartment... so that should be good. but it's just not the same. i would never expect it to be... they just don't do christmas here like we do at home. it just puts a lot more pressure on me to make it exciting.

i'm not sure if it's because the holidays are coming up, or because i'm just exhausted, or just because i have a lot of thinking time... but i've been really second guessing everything in my life. i do this a lot... i've changed my mind so many times. and every time i always think that God is laying something on my heart. but i'm starting to realize that i really think i'm just acting on my feelings most of the time. and i know that God gives us desires, but what if i don't even know what my desires are? before i came to korea, i was planning on staying 2 years (at least). financially, it makes the most sense to pay off most of my loans and have a lot more freedom to do what i really want (live other places). as of right now, that's still the plan. but in all my thinking lately, i've been second guessing that plan. because now i don't know what my desires are. i miss everyone at home more than i ever thought possible. i knew that i would miss people... because i love you all so much. of course i knew that i would miss you and it would be hard at times. but it's more than just missing people and things. it's this desperate desire to be surrounded by the people i love, to be in the presence of those people who mean more to me than anyone, and who i know love me so deeply. i'm wondering why i ever wanted to leave... why i was so desperate to get out... why i thought i was missing something, when everything i needed was right there.

and then i remember the restlessness i felt right before i left. i remember the last year and a half, wanting just to get out, wondering why anyone would want to stay when they could leave and experience a whole different world. i remember why i came, and how it felt. and i'm glad i'm here. i really am. i know that i will not regret this. i don't regret it.

i'm just not so sure if this is what i want the rest of my life to be like. i'm wondering... what is so wrong with just visiting places? is it really impossible to make a difference in the world while living close to the people i love? is getting my loans paid off quickly really worth being away from everyone? i don't know... i don't even know how i'll feel in a couple hours, let alone the 8 months i have left before i have to decide whether i will sign on for a second year! and so, in the midst of all this wondering and feeling sorry for myself... i will go out, have my first thanksgiving dinner away from home, and carry on with life. because that is what i do.

so if you've read all this... sorry. sorry for the rambling and the whining and the dumping. just know that i really am ok.

and i am thankful. i am thankful for the opportunity i have to be here, to be experiencing something new, to be challenged, to meet new people, to grow closer to God in a completely different way. i am thankful for my amazing family and friends, who i miss so much but who i know will be there when i get back.

i am thankful for my life. i truly am blessed, no matter how much i tend to forget it.

praise God for that.

fighting!!

2010-11-21T01:03:00.000-08:00

so... today was the 10k! i was originally registered for the half marathon but when i looked at my training schedule a couple weeks ago and saw that i had not run AT ALL, i decided to change. and i'm glad i did... there is no way i would have survived the half! i was pretty stoked on finishing the 10k! i have been sick for the last week, and i've barely been able to breathe sitting still because my nose is so stuffed up. so i was pretty worried about running. even this morning i really didn't feel like going, but i sucked it up and went and it was totally worth it! i didn't really do very well... i walked some (on hills... the whole second half was uphill! but i only walked part of it). my final time was 1:04:26. i'm okay with that... it's definitely not the best, but i wasn't last either, so it's good. it was so awesome... every time i would start to slow down an old korean man would come up beside me and say "keep running!" this happened like 4 different times with 4 different guys... everyone is always encouraging each other and pushing each other. it's so cool to see! one man ran beside me for a while to make me keep running, and eventually he turned to me and said (in very broken english) "when i run with you, i am not tired!" haha... i was slowing him down a lot. anyway... i finished and it was good. i definitely could have used some running leading up to it, but now i've learned my lesson.

and it was really fun! marathons in korea are so awesome. everyone is really energetic and they have concerts and all the old korean men make speeches in their funny way of talking... it's just amazing. plus, since i was a foreigner i got a box of oranges and a sweet book about jeju! here are some pictures... there weren't as many foreigners as last time but it was still fun. and i put the rest on facebook so they're not on here...

kelly and me... she came to jeju at the same time i did and lives in my building. i originally convinced her to do the half with me, then i stopped training. she still did it though!

had to get the crotchpunch picture. also i wore my same outfit from the half... :) (the sun was behind me... thus the glary spot on this one and the next one...)

box of oranges and a book... awesome! they love foreigners here.

and there it is... the 10k. wonderful :)

praise the Lord for healthy legs and a beautiful day!

a story...

2010-11-16T03:19:00.000-08:00

so today was a come home from school and get cozy day. it's cold, i'm sick, and middle schoolers are exhausting. so i came home, put in a load of laundry, cleaned out madeline's litter box, and curled up on the couch to catch up on some shows. both the washing machine and the litter box are in the bathroom (this is important). so about 10 minutes after i sat down i looked over to see madeline with wet paws. "that's weird," i thought to myself. but she's always knocking her water bowl around or climbing behind the washing machine (sometimes water gets back there... it's annoying that she goes back there but there's not much i can do about it), so i didn't think much of it. then a few minutes later i noticed her go into the bathroom and come out wet again. hmmm... so i got out of my cozy little ball and walked to the bathroom to see that the whole floor was soaking wet. now... i had been in there about 20 minutes before and everything was perfectly dry. i was so confused. so i looked behind the toilet and noticed that there was a little drip coming from the tank. the weird part was that it was really not dripping a lot... but the whole floor was wet. it made no sense. **sidenote: they have been doing some work in my building, and one of the things my housing coordinator informed us of was that some people would be checking on pipes in the bathroom. i'm not sure if they came to my room yet, but the toilet has never leaked before. but it was perfectly fine when i first got home, unless i really just missed it. it's so weird.** moving on... so i emailed coordinator han and asked him if people had been in my room, and could someone please come fix the leak (keep in mind that it's night time, so it won't be fixed until tomorrow at the earliest...). so after i sent the email, my washing machine started beeping for me to put in the fabric softener (normal.). so i went in there to see that now the whole bathroom was covered in like 2 inches of water! the washing machine drains into the drain on the floor, and for some reason the water was not draining. i have no idea why... it has never done that before. so i rushed to get the litter box out so that madeline wouldn't be running in and out, and when i went back in, the water had drained! it was the weirdest thing ever... and really annoying. so now my bathroom has a leaky toilet and a questionable drain, and i have to take a shower.

fin.

today...

2010-11-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

i learned:

-it doesn't matter how much you can prove that it's not... koreans will still say that fan death is a real, legitimate danger

-if you have a slightly reflective surface (in this case, the tv screen with a black background), your students will use it as a mirror and (unbeknownst to them) provide lots of entertainment for you

-students are like bees when you smoke the hive. turn on the heater and they basically fall asleep. turn it off, and within 3 minutes they're back to being loud and crazy. it's the funniest thing ever to watch from the front of a classroom

-be careful when you wear a hat to cover up the fact that you didn't shower... one of your co-teachers will probably make you let her try it on, and your nappy bedhead will be out there for all to see

-watching kids' reactions to a funny video is usually funnier than the video itself

-"superstition" in korean is 미신

praise the Lord for entertainment in my day!

wednesdays are the best days.

2010-11-12T05:04:00.000-08:00

wednesdays are my favorite weekdays. it's the day that i only have 2 classes (with my favorite co-teacher jenny), then for the rest of the day i just get to relax (or get stuff done, of course). every wednesday i wish i had my camera, and i finally remembered it this week. so here is my wednesday...

every week jenny and i go for a walk. my school is about a block away from the ocean, so we usually walk down there.

this is a little boat... it is neat. it was a really nice day (after a string of COLD ones!).

this is a view looking inland from on top of a bridge... my school is in there somewhere. the square area with the little covered part is a pool that women will go to in the summer to bathe and wash clothes and talk to other women... it's really cold! jenny told me that her mom used to take her there all the time when she was younger, and she (her mom) still goes all the time when it's hot.

squid boats. when i first got here the ocean would be completely full of these at night, and the view from my window of the lights on the water was completely surreal.

my favorite co-teacher jenny! seriously... i can't tell you how much she has blessed me. she has no idea either. but she has helped me more than any of my other co-teachers, and she's only at the school once a week! i love our weekly walks... i look forward to them every week. she always gives me advice, and helped me when i was sick, and she always makes sure i remember my milk :) (i actually just learned that her husband runs a milk delivery company! that explains why she is so adamant about it haha) i would also like to point out her fuzzy vest. she was very proud of it... she bought it for herself as an anniversary gift from her husband.

so we were walking one day and came across this random little field. then jenny read the sign that was there and we found out that it belongs to our school! all the classes have their own little crop... this picture makes me laugh because it's the kindergarteners' crop... notice that it's just a bunch of dirt and weeds haha!

this is a little area with some wood paths over a pond. it's one of the stops on our walk :)

and jenny asked me to take another picture of her. i wish that i could express to you how precious she is. (she's the one who gave me the oven, by the way. i gave her some persimmon bread as a thank you.)

now back to school...

can you spot the waygook? there are actually 2 of us, but one is a lot more obvious.

as soon as the kids see the camera they want a picture. this one is funny because he's doing "kimchi!" everyone gives the peace sign in pictures here. it's seriously like an automatic reaction to a camera.

this is mi ri, my head co-teacher at sinchon. she's wonderful and works really hard.

here's what my desk in my office looks like! don't worry... i didn't bother to straighten it up. i like to keep things real on this bloggy blog.

here's from the other side. right behind where i stood to take this is a corner filled with books and a little table. and through the door and windows is my classroom! i didn't take a picture of it because alpha had a class in there... also i promise that i didn't realize it was pink until i took this picture. the only wall i ever noticed was the sweet wood one (on the left, behind the desk).

and this is alpha omega (talk teacher) and mj (talk co-teacher). they are fun to have around :)

and of course this would not be complete without the baby... here she is looking at me while we played with the laser pointer. if i turn it off, she comes and makes this face because she knows exactly where the light comes from. little does she know in this one that it is, in fact, right by her.

once she sees the light, it's on. notice it on her ear... she has no idea that she caught it!

and that is all.

praise the Lord for wednesdays!

a running tally...

2010-11-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

so... God is good.
here's just a little list of some of the things i'm thanking Him for today:

-persimmon bread for breakfast (seriously... yum!)-
-only 2 classes today-
-finding a topic for my middle schoolers on friday-
-my favorite co-teacher Jenny-
-delicious lunch-
-friends and family who love the Lord and recognize that blessings are from HIM-
and finally (and the biggest thing)...
-MY DAD BEING HEALED!-
here is a little snippet of the email i got from him first thing this morning:

"I returned to the nephrologist today for the oft postponed six month checkup for the status of my chronic kidney disease. His words: 'You are healed'. Confirming what I knew to be true, God has healed me! We then got to talk about some other things God has been doing; our recent trips, our families, etc. He told me there is no need and he has no intention of seeing me as a patient again. God is good!"

(in case you didn't read it or forgot, this talks about my dad's kidney issues...)

seriously... there's no other way to say it. God is so good!

i'm praying for you all today... that God will bless you immensely and He will show Himself to you in all the little (and big!) things!

here are some more that have happened since i wrote that a couple hours ago:

-getting my bank account and phone bill figured out (specifically jenny's willingness to help with this)-
-my weekly walk and good conversation-
-mi ri (my head co-teacher at sinchon) telling me the persimmon bread i gave her was delicious and then telling me how lucky she feels to have good english teachers at this school-
-being able to talk to friends from home while i'm at work-

really. i know there will be more.

all right... before i go to bed:

-an insanely pleasant bus ride home-

-yoga/pilates class with extra stretching-

-time with friends watching toy story 3 and eating snacks-

-talking to david, who i haven't talked to in a long time!-

praise God for the little things that are HUGE blessings.

currently obsessed

2010-11-08T16:07:00.001-08:00

i just rediscovered this little gem.

do it.

http://thewildernessdowntown.com/

the last month or so...

2010-11-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

so... here are some things i have done (in backwards order):

today i went to the jeju united soccer game in seogwipo (where i want to live.) apparently they are 2nd in the league right now, so they should have fans. but i guess the league sucks in general, so it's really not that big of a deal. BUT they play at the world cup stadium, so it's all fancy and cool looking.

it was a good time. we got some orange gear. this is sari. she lives in my building. she is neat.

i just wanted a shirt with the logo on it, because it cracks me up. it's definitely a volcano with horns.

this kid was the best part of the game. he loved us and kept leading us in cheers. he would run down like 2 steps, then turn around and do this, then run down a couple more, then do the same thing. it was awesome. that's his mom in the hat smiling. he was probably the cutest child ever.

so even though jeju is 2nd in the league, there are still not a lot of fans. tickets to games are outrageously cheap... this is the loud jeju cheering section at the end of the field in 3000 won (about $2.90) seats. we were sitting in the better seats because we just went where people told us to go and ended up with more expensive tickets. they were still only 9000 won.

and that was the incheon (the other team) cheering section. they were all the way down at the other end and significantly smaller, but still surprisingly loud! sorry the picture is blurry... the cardboard cut out threw off the focus.

so a little while after he led us in the cheers, this kid started coming up and giving us things (it's actually common for kids to give you stuff randomly. my students are always giving me gifts. usually it's food like oranges or little candies or something...). it was hilarious. you could tell that he was just digging in his mom's bag. i'm not sure if she knew or not, but he took a lot. eventually he just started giving me stuff because i was his favorite. he gave me coffee and crackers and a chip. it was stinking precious. i wanted to steal him.

and this was his little brother. he was maybe like 2. he was running around with his little dinosaur like crazy.

and this little thug was sitting right in front of us. he wasn't as precious, but he looked like a balla.

and that was the soccer game... we also saw the tallest waterfall in asia that goes directly into the ocean, but i didn't get any good pictures. i fail with the camera here... it's a goal of mine to be better.

moving on... little backstory: i've been looking at getting an oven since i got here. at first i was just going to get a cheap little toaster oven, but then i remembered that i really like baking, especially in the winter, so i wanted to get a little bigger and better one. so i was looking online a lot trying to figure out which one for a few weeks. my favorite co-teacher jenny knew that i had been looking, and, when i still hadn't bought one after a few weeks, she told me that she had one i could have. she said: "i have an old oven that i don't use. you can have it. it's round." i wasn't really sure what that meant, but i was so grateful that she would want to give it to me that i just said ok! so the next week she brought it... and i was really confused. i asked her if she had ever baked in it (she told me it was good for chicken and fish). she said, "no, but you should try." so i said okay and took it.

then it sat on my table for about a week... i had never seen anything like this oven. well the other night i finally tried it out. and here you go:

the oven. seriously... it's really an oven. it reminds me more of a crockpot... but the heat comes from the top (obviously). there's a fan in there that blows it around.

and it totally works! i got this tiny little heart shaped baking pan for really cheap (it's hard to find baking pans here that aren't really expensive, but i found a good alternative in aluminum lunchboxes...) this is persimmon bread (seriously... delicious.) i was eating a persimmon once and thought it would make delicious bread. turns out other people thought the same thing, and it's really easy to find recipes online. try it! it tastes very holiday-y. and it smells like heaven.

anyway... i can only make mini things but that doesn't matter... the important thing is that i can bake. and it feels like i'm in a spaceship when i do it.

next... last weekend was the foreign language festival. all the foreign teachers who went got 2 extra vacation days. and if you performed, you got another 1.

the picture is bad, but that's me in the middle playing the bongos. caleb is the one sitting next to me playing the synthesizer. he was the only person in our "band" that i knew. those were some of the funniest, weirdest 6 minutes of my life. totally worth the extra vacation day.

and then...

a few weeks ago was my middle school's field trip day. we went to an eco forest, then to the jeju rock park, which was actually really cool. (this is the field trip where i learned about the 3 things jeju has and doesn't have). these are a few pictures from that.

so this girl is stinkin precious. she's really soft-spoken and sweet. in the morning i saw her sweatshirt and got really excited. there was actually another girl with a denver sweatshirt too! anyway... all these koreans wear these shirts with english on them, but they really have no idea what they mean. so when i get excited and tell them, they get confused.

when i got a closer look at this sweatshirt, though, i wasn't so excited. i was more just amused. because, no, that is not a "denver" shirt. it's "denved." and that is how you know that it's just words to them... (there are lots of gems with funny stuff written on them. it's awesome)

so normally the kids wear uniforms. but field trip day is when they get to show off their cool clothes. and these 3rd grade (equivalent of 9th grade) boys just needed to show off their insanely tight pants.

these are some of my 2nd grade girls (and a random teacher). they are great. the one right next to me giving the peace sign is jiney. she really wants to be good at english, and she followed me around all day. she also declared us to be "be (bay) pu" which means best friends. and she got my number and texted me from the other bus on the ride home. hahaha she cracks me up.

this is ms. oh! she's my korean mother. i love her.

these people are (from left to right): the vice principal (who i found out during the field trip is in remission from some type of cancer), a guy i don't know, the principal (who thinks i'm awesome because i can count to 3 for a picture in korean), and mrs. kim (my co-teacher who intimidates me and is also awesome at the same time). it's funny because i was wearing toms and jeans and a t-shirt, but all the teachers were completely decked out in hiking gear with packs and hats and hiking boots. no... we were not hiking.

it was a fun day...

and finally, i will leave you with a picture of the baby.

this was the day she discovered the sink. she couldn't quite figure out what to do with the water (she has now... don't worry). this was right before she toppled right off the edge haha! you can see that there's not really much for her to stand on, so she was just laying there straddling it.

and there it is... some stuff in my life. i've done a lot more, but this is what i have pictures of. life is good... God is blessing me all the time :)

praise the Lord for that.

bleach

2010-11-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

for some reason i never feel like bathrooms are clean unless bleach is involved. i don't think my parents instilled that in me... i'm not sure where it came from. but i do know that i love the smell of bleach because it smells clean.

that being said... i just doused my bathroom in bleach. yay!

hopefully the fumes are not slowly poisoning me and madeline...

praise the Lord for bleach!

good morning!

2010-11-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

so... i just found out that the finals that i thought were over yesterday are still going on today, so i don't have classes all morning! wahoo!

AND i found out that i don't have any classes next tuesday for the same reason! DOUBLE wahoo!

except then my co-teacher seemed upset with me because i didn't go to her first when asking a question about my pay. oops! now i know...

praise the Lord for final exams! (and that i don't have to take them anymore haha!)

currently obsessed

2010-11-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

i love bill.

here goes nothin...

2010-11-03T20:21:00.001-07:00

i'm about to attempt a new strategy with my devil first graders... update in 45 minutes.

update: it worked... kinda. they were still crazy, but at least they were yelling the answers instead of just yelling things in korean and running away! it was funny because the one girl that is usually the worst started crying because i didn't give her team points every time. she was better than ever about participating though... then i found out how important the stickers were to her when i saw that she stole all of her teammates' from them! little turd.
anyway... hopefully with repetition this will be what works.

praise the Lord for stickers.

two things

2010-11-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

so yesterday at my middle school i learned that they built a new cafeteria. haha... i had no idea they were building one, but all of a sudden there it was! anyway... i was confused because the old cafeteria seemed just fine (the new one is nice, but it's not that much nicer). and mrs. oh (my co-teacher who i just want to hug all the time. she and her husband declared themselves my korean parents. i love them) told me that they are just tearing down the old cafeteria! what?!
so today, during our walk, i told jenny (my favorite co-teacher, who i work with at the elementary school on wednesdays and take a walk with every week because neither one of us ever has anything to do in the afternoon) about it. she explained that every year the POE (provincial office of education) sets a certain budget for each school. if the school doesn't use the entire budget, they get however much they didn't use cut from the next year's budget (so if they get $1000 but they only use $900, the next year they would only get $900). so at the end of the year all the schools rush to use up whatever money they have left so that they get their full budget the next year. it's funny because i've noticed a lot of construction projects going on, but i didn't realize why until she told me that. it's pretty stupid. and it's funny the things they choose to use the money for (pretty sure there are a lot of things jocheon could use more than a new cafeteria!). anyway... it baffles the mind. but, like they do here, i don't ask questions. i just go with it. that was random, but i found it interesting. i think it's a good example of the weird little things that go on here...
and this is a funny thing that happened a couple weeks ago that i remembered today:
so jocheon (my middle school) went on a field trip a couple weeks ago (i actually took pictures and have more stories to tell about that... so that will be a different post). for the first part of the day, i hung out with mrs. kim (one of my main co-teachers there. she's somehow completely intimidating and completely awesome at the same time. i still can't figure it out). anyway... so we weren't really talking about anything in particular, when all of a sudden she tells me this little anecdote:

"there are three things that you will never find on jeju--beggars, thieves, and fences."

it was completely random, but interesting. i didn't really think much of it until later in the afternoon, when i was hanging out with mrs. oh. we were looking at pictures in this museum when, again out of nowhere, she told me this:

"there are three things that jeju has too much of--wind, rocks, and women."

what?! did they get together and plan to inform me of these little sayings or something? it was so weird! but good to know i guess! and it was especially funny because normally people would say them together, but neither one told me both. they each just told me one. (by the way, the women part is because jeju traditionally has a lot of fishermen--makes sense--and they would be gone all the time fishing so the island would be overrun by women. this is also why jeju women are considered stronger than any other korean women... they have always had to take care of themselves while their husbands were away.). here ya go: read about it
anyway... both of those are super random stories. and they have nothing to do with me or my life here... just jeju information. sorry!
anyway... i like it.
praise the Lord for putting me on jeju!

flash

2010-11-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

today i taught my middle schoolers about flash mobs.
i started off with this video:

the best part of the whole thing was when the students would hear the song start and every single one would sing along.
the things these kids know and like never ceases to baffle me.
love it.

currently obsessed

2010-10-31T23:36:00.001-07:00

i can't get this effing song out of my head.
i love it though.
contrary to what you might think walking around here, there is actually lots of good korean music that is not kpop.

little helpers

2010-10-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

today i had my first jeju persimmon. jeju is known for their persimmons and their tangerines...
both are just delightful.
except i didn't know how to eat it, so when they gave it to me at lunch i just smiled and nodded and hoped when the time came i would be able to observe and follow (which i do a LOT of).
i didn't need to worry about that though...
so i asked my co-teacher how i was supposed to eat it. "do i just eat it like an apple?" she nodded then said something to the teacher next to her and they both laughed. (that happens a lot... somehow i always feel like i'm the subject of jokes between teachers. it doesn't really bother me.)
anyway... i'm going to bite into this thing when i hear a loud "NO!" coming from my other side. i look over and one of my students is staring at me and holding his persimmon. he points at the little stem thing on the top and motions for me to pull it off. so i do. then i ask (with gestures) if i am then supposed to bite into it. he shakes his head violently and gestures that i am supposed to break it in half. at this point every student at the table is staring at me (picture looking down a long lunch table and seeing about 20 korean 5th graders all leaning in and looking at you...). it's actually pretty hilarious. so i laughed. then i pulled it apart and looked to him to tell me what to do next. he motioned for me to suck the fruit out of the peel... so i did.
and it was delicious.
and all the children watched me while i ate the whole thing.
thank you child. you helped me immensely.
**i would just like to add that my co-teacher (jenny) is my favorite and would never try to trick me. i think she just didn't understand when i asked her how to eat it...*

praise the Lord for persimmons and helpful students!

He is so good.

2010-10-22T05:39:00.000-07:00

seriously... God is so good.

this week has been a rough one. i don't really feel like writing it all on here right now (mostly because it's a LOT and i need to go to bed). but every single day this week God reminded me of His goodness. it was in the smallest ways, but it was awesome. He is always doing that!

i love Him. and He loves me.

just being honest.

2010-10-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

a conversation i had today with one of my middle schoolers (chang un he, who was the first to tell me her name and make sure i remembered it):

me: how are you?

her: not bad. how about you?

me: ok. i've been sick.

her: yea. you look sick.

thanks un he.

wait.

2010-10-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

Wait for the LORD. Be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

suck on that, koreans.

2010-10-17T01:42:00.000-07:00

today i ran the 5k.

i did not want to do it.

i have been failing miserably in my training for the half, and i was just not mentally prepared at all.

but turns out it was wonderful, and it made me way more excited for the half!

and guess what... i was not last. i was not even close to last. in fact, i was in probably the first 30. and i was like the 4th or 5th girl. my time was about 27 minutes (they didn't actually time the 5k, so i'm basing that off of what the 10k timer was at). i realize that time is not awesome. so it's weird that i was so far up there.

here's why: the 5k was pretty much the family run/walk. so half the people i was running against were middle school students. and 90% of the 5k people were walking.

the first 6 people to finish were all foreigners... haha!

it was really fun though. koreans know how to put on a marathon (except it was weird because no one stood at the end and cheered people on really... sad right?)

but we got some free mandarin ice cream sandwiches and ramen and songpyan (delicious). and i got 2 shirts. and a calendar.

the last 3 days have been completely randomly awesome.

praise the LORD!

little hellions

2010-10-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

so... i've worked with a lot of kids in my life. and i understand that kids are kids and sometimes they are crazy. that's perfectly normal and acceptable.
i knew coming here that i would have my share of discipline issues and trouble children. that's just how it goes when you work with 500+ kids a week. but it hasn't really been too much of an issue. usually a stern look or the silent treatment will get them to be quiet and listen, at least for a little bit.
but i have this one class. oh. my. gosh. this is one of my smallest classes. and also the youngest (firsts grade.) now, i realize younger doesn't mean better. but, in general, the younger they are, the easier they are to distract and entertain. and the more they listen to you because you're so much bigger than them. my other first grade class is precious. they like the songs and the games and anything i do or say is fun for them. but this class....
oh man. i can honestly say this is the worst group of children i have ever encountered in my entire life. there are maybe 6 in the whole class that will stay quiet for more than 15 seconds or sit in their seats for more than a minute at a time. the rest will literally just jump up, scream, and run out of the room for no reason at all. they are always jumping on their chairs and desks, beating each other up (sometimes trying to stab each other with various objects), and demanding "GAME!!!" i wish that i could describe the way a class period looks with these kids... it's honestly so outrageous. words could never do it justice.
little hellions really is the most appropriate title i can give them. it's sad, but true.
BUT i can't help but feel blessed, because out of 22 classes i only have the 1 that is like that. i have some friends who seem to have lots more. that sucks.
AND they're so stinkin cute when they finally close their mouths :)
all i can say is...
praise the Lord for 40 minute classes and online games!

on the bus...

2010-10-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

so... this morning on the way to school the kid (probably like 12 or 13) next to me fell asleep. then he slowly started sliding until he was leaning on me just a little bit. then the bus bumped and he woke up. he looked over at me with a terrified look, but also sort of accusing, like he was blaming me for letting him fall asleep and lean on me.
i chuckled.

precious nugget... and some randoms

2010-10-13T05:31:00.001-07:00

so... on saturday i was hanging out in my apartment at like 4 in the afternoon when i heard some unusually loud noises coming from outside. now... it's always pretty loud because i'm on a busy street, but this time it was outrageous. so i went to the window to see what was up, and there was definitely a parade going on. but the weird thing was that it was only on the side of the road... traffic was just going on as usual right next to it. and NO ONE was watching. seriously... look at the picture. it was so weird. apparently the horse festival was starting... thus all the horses. **note: horses on jeju are really small. you can kinda tell... just look how big the people sitting on them look compared to the horses. it's something about them not being thoroughbred or something...**

this is my kitty. well... the back of her head. this might be my favorite thing about her. she seriously likes watching shows. and i'm not just saying that. if i put a show on my computer, 90% of the time she will come sit in my lap and watch it. it's hilarious. here she is watching glee... at this part she was trying to get closer to kurt.

here's another view after she relaxed a little bit... still totally into it though.

eventually she dozed off...

and then she switched to a more comfortable position.

she's definitely a cuddler, this one. oh and she has a name now. madeline. madeline nymphadora actually. and if we're getting really technical, like when she's in trouble, it's madeline nymphadora tonks otten. (think like david richard finney otten...)

but most of the time i just call her dody. some of my middle schoolers said to name her dod (pronounced like somewhere between "ah" and "oh"). they told me what it means, but i couldn't really understand what they meant. something to do with diamonds, maybe? either way, i didn't have the heart to tell them i already gave her a name. and i realized that i like calling her dody, and it totally fits. so there you have it... the no-longer nameless, but still probably confused, kitten.

anyway... i like her. she's definitely still a baby and has some things to learn, but i think she'll figure it out. and the fact that she loves just laying on me makes me forgive any mistakes.

so there you have it... some randoms. i have lots of other stories, but i just don't feel like writing them right now. sorry.

praise the Lord for this bundle of precious!

it's probably not good...

2010-10-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

that i think it's hilarious when i catch my middle schoolers flipping each other off.
or that i would rather let them watch their friends play a soccer game than teach them a lesson (because i want to watch it too.)
or that when i get to school and waygook (a website for foreign teachers in korea... aka: the best thing ever) is having connection problems, i have no idea what to do.
or that on the weekends i would rather lay around and be lazy with my cat than enjoy all the outdoorsy things this island has to offer before it gets too cold.

all of these are probably bad things... but i'm okay with them.

also it's probably not good that i never ever write on here. sorry about that.

YAAAYYY!!!

2010-10-03T02:05:00.001-07:00

i got a kitten!

she doesn't have a name yet... i have no idea what to call her. but i love her. she's 8 weeks old, and she's a tiny little peanut! right now her favorite place is her covered litter box (she's pretty scared, but i can already tell that she's gonna have a personality). i'm not complaining... if she's gonna hang out somewhere i guess it's good that it's there... hopefully that means she won't have any accidents!

anyway... she likes to move around, so it was hard to get a picture of her. but she's beautiful! here she is...

this one shows the sweet markings on her back... and the "m" on her forehead. fred (the guy that gave her to me... he's awesome.) said that usually means it's a girl. so i'm not 100% positive, but i'm pretty sure.

this isn't the best picture, but it kinda shows how small she is. that bar is like 4 inches off the ground. also she likes to hide.

and here's her precious little face! i'll let you know when i have a name... any ideas??

praise God for this baby!

**update: already peed on my bed. i caught it right away though... so that's good. good thing i'm patient with baby animals.
also, she still doesn't have a name.

here we go again...

2010-09-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

just registered for the half marathon...

gah! not sure if i'm gonna regret this...

somehow...

2010-09-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

even when i have literally 8 hours to do it, i manage to get NOTHING done. that is what happened today... i could have planned weeks of lessons. but instead i did nothing at all. i'm a procrastinator... it's just who i am. it works for me.
so, with 15 minutes before i leave school... here is a bullet point list of things i should tell you about:

sport day at school. it is the reason i had 8 hours of nothing today.
chuseok.
climbing hallasan.
how good i'm getting at using chopsticks.
decorating my apartment!
the people i encounter...
running. on hills.
something that hasn't happened yet but will happen in the very near future. i'll tell you about this one FOR SURE when it happens.

there's more i'm sure... things here have become just everyday life, so it's easy to forget that i should tell someone about them. sorry. but in the next few weeks i'm hoping to go on some adventures that will come with stories and pictures...

but until then, i'll just tell you this: God is so good. He is teaching me so much! i can't wait to see what else He has in store for me.

and i will leave you with this gem from my mom that i just thought about today:
before i left we were looking at my contract. part of the contract is that you get 90 days of maternity leave if you get pregnant while you're here with epik.

my mom's response to this (accompanied by an eager smile): "wouldn't it be funny if you got pregnant while you were in korea?"

no, mom. that would not be funny. who says that?
i love her :)

oh and also my dad and uncle are headed to uganda tomorrow! please keep them (and musana overall) in your prayers! i'm so excited to hear about their time there!!!

1.5 hours

2010-09-19T23:25:00.001-07:00

so... it's almost chuseok time. chuseok is like korean thanksgiving, and i'm so excited. mostly because i get 4 days off, plus the weekend. gah! i should be making big plans to explore while the weather's nice and i have the time, but if i'm being honest, i'll probably just spend my days running errands and decorating my apartment (which, actually, i'm really excited about). i am going to hike mt. halla tomorrow though, which will be good. and i'm *hopefully* going to a friend's grandparents' house for a traditional chuseok dinner with lots of traditional korean food! that will be wonderful.
it's funny... before i came (and the first couple weeks i was here), if someone would have told me i would be eating a lot of traditional korean food, i would have acted excited while really cringing on the inside and worrying about starving. but now when i hear that, i get so happy! because people... let me just tell you--this food is SO GOOD. honestly. you all know what a picky eater i used to be (especially when i was young). and you probably know that i hate all things sea food. and you also might know that i'm just not that adventurous when it comes to food... i like the things i like.
so before i came, i had never had korean food in my life. ever. i had no idea what to expect. all i knew was that, being on an island, there would probably be lots of fish. so i honestly *prayed* that i would be able to find something to eat. and God delivered. seriously... i don't know what happened. but i've eaten squid, some sort of tentacles, all kinds of fish, eel, duck... all kinds of stuff. and it's all so good! for real. delicious. koreans know how to cook. it's awesome. i'm sure it's not all delicious and i will find something that i don't like, but for now i'm just enjoying everything i've been eating! and i thank God every time i like something different, because i really think He answered my prayer.
He's so good! i'm seeing that over and over... i could write all the stories, but that would be really long.
maybe i'll write them over the break. that's not a promise... just a maybe.
ok... miss you all.
love you!

welp...

2010-09-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

so... i know i fail at blogging. sorry about that. i honestly haven't really done anything too exciting... i've just been working and running errands. last weekend i played in an ultimate frisbee tournament (actually i only played one of the two days... i literally have blisters on my feet from the burning sand and i wanted to go to church. also i got a ridiculous sunburn, so i figured another full day in the sun would not be a good idea). turns out i am absolutely terrible at ultimate frisbee. i guess i'm not that bad... as long as i don't have to throw it. i used to be able to throw a frisbee, but on saturday i realized that i just can't. really. like whenever i try to throw it forward it somehow magically ALWAYS goes way off to the right. not even kidding. BUT i did learn that running at high altitude has prepared me to run forever at sea level. i was the only person on my team who never had to sub for any of the games! and i wasn't even dying by the end (except in the last game because my feet were burning off, but my breathing was perfectly fine). also i can catch, so i scored some points. it was fun...
let's see... what else? nothing. i know i should write about all the different things i've learned about korea so far, but there's too much! and, to be honest, i still feel like i know nothing. i'm always messing up and doing things that are actually considered really rude here. and i can't speak more than like 8 words. but if koreans are anything, it is forgiving. especially if you are a foreigner. they know it's different and it's hard and they're always willing to help out or let it slide when you make a ridiculous mistake, because they realize that you are, indeed, not korean. this has been really nice.
probably the thing i've had the most trouble adjusting to (and still always forget) is giving and receiving with 2 hands. here, it is respectful, when you hand someone something, to give it with 2 hands, or with your right hand and your left hand placed somewhere on the right arm. and receiving is always done with 2 hands, and especially never with just the left hand. i think i have remembered this rule a total of 10 times since i've been here. every other time i forget and then remember right after i've taken something with my left hand or just handed someone something. it's the little things that you don't think about, but they are actually pretty important. i'm working on it, and hopefully it will just become a habit.
aaannnddd... that's all i have for now. lunch is almost over and it's time to go teach some kids about how "normal" americans talk :)
praise the Lord for grace and learning!
love you all!

aaaa*

2010-09-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

i just discovered something wonderful. i am excited.
so at jocheon i have been going to the different classrooms to teach the different classes. they are fine... nothing fancy. i hadn't taught the 3rd graders (9th grade... middle school grade 3) yet, so i hadn't been on the 3rd floor. so imagine my shock and awe when i was led to the *english room* that is right at the top of the stairs! it is definitely the nicest room in the school... which is kinda sad but whatever i'll take it. i'm not really sure why i didn't know about it. i think she mentioned it on my first day but then she didn't show me so i just figured it was not a big deal. but it is. it has all kinds of sweet materials i can use, and it's air conditioned! and i opened a cabinet and found like 30 movies... good ones! like harry potter and mean girls! i need to think of a way to use those... and i could actually probably have my own office up here, but i'll stick with my little desk in the teachers' room so they don't think i'm antisocial. AND i just found out that i can have all my english classes in here if i want. my head co-teacher said it echos a lot, which is why they haven't been doing it. but she said that i can try it out and if it works then i can do it! yay! i'll just have to think of a way to get the kids to be quiet... hmmmm. anyway... i'm excited.
praise the Lord for the english room!

life as i know it right now...

2010-09-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

so it's official... i have made an unbreakable vow with korea.

i got a phone today! and i signed a year long contract! my phone number is 010.8902.7432. probably you won't ever use that... but just so you know. anyway... it's bright pink and white... my co-teacher was shocked when i said i wanted the black one. then she said, "i prefer this one" and held up the pink and white one. so i went with it because she gave me a ride and stayed late away from her kids to help me. she's precious and i love her. haha everyone likes cutesy stuff here... it's pretty funny. actually only 2 of my 6 options for a *free* phone were anything but pink. but it does have an antenna on it that i can attach and watch tv... there are only 3 channels, but that perk just comes standard. i don't even have to pay extra for it... haha! some people have tv's in their cars here... just chillin on the dashboard. which is really foolish considering the way people drive. anyway... none of that is what i meant to talk about.

right now i'm in the middle of planning lessons. i'm actually really excited about this part... not so much the planning, but the execution. it's hard right now, though, because i'm not sure where all the kids are at in their books. but once i figure that out, i'm really excited to start playing fun games and hopefully making them love english class :) this week is pretty much just introductions... i'm introducing myself then filling the rest of the time with the kids drawing pictures and introducing themselves to me. it's fine, but i'm actually more excited to start teaching them real things. the "easy" things like i'm doing now are actually a lot harder than you'd think because the kids don't understand what i'm telling them. that's why i just have to use a lot of pictures and hope that they at least enjoy those. i'm really excited to get into a routine and start getting to know each class individually... i think then i will really be able to have fun and hopefully teach the kids a lot!

my apartment is slowly but surely coming along... this weekend i'm hoping to get some picture frames and stuff to decorate it and make it feel like home... then i promise i'll put pictures up. right now it's just kinda lame...

also when i have my own internet it will help. there is one spot in my room where i get some pretty reliable free internet, but my experience living in narnia made me realize how important it is to actually have internet of my own. sometimes i can actually pick up caleb's signal, but that's pretty sketchy too. anyway... once i have that i will be firmly established, and my next step will be to get a scooter! that won't be until i have a couple paychecks though...

anyway... i have stories and other funny things to share, but now i'm tired and i have to get up early.

one of these days i will have time to do a long series of catch up posts, with pictures, and it will be grand.

but until then... enjoy the little snippets.

love you all!

praise God for ways to stay connected!

still no phone or internet...

2010-09-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

BUT i got a yoga mat.

so it's okay :)

here it is...

2010-09-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

ok... so this is ridiculously long. pictures are at the end if you want to skip over the writing...

so… i’m in lax right now. actually, by the time you read this i will be in korea already. but i have some time to kill, so i’m going to go ahead and write about uganda.it’s hard to know where to begin… so i guess i’ll just start at the beginning (what a concept!) just know that there is a lot that is not included, because there was just too much to write about!

on the way there, we had about 7 hours to kill in london. even though heathrow claims to have lots of shopping and things to do… there’s really not. so we jumped on a bus and headed to windsor castle (because… you know… the tudors). we only ended up having like an hour there, and it was actually closed, but it was still fun to get out and see a little bit of the pretty countryside.

when we got to Uganda, we had to wait for a long time because we had eight bags. that was a lot for my tiny mom and me to carry, but we managed to get them on the carts and out to bryan… who, within about 30 seconds, already seemed older and more mature than when he left (and it wasn’t just because of the sick beard…). it was really exciting to see him, especially how he interacted with everyone and took charge. on the way to iganga (which is about 3 hours from the airport), we stopped in kampala to give pipih (musana’s volunteer coordinator and bryan’s friend) the chipotle he had requested before we left. (i forgot to mention that we had bag solely reserved for the 6 burritos we took, and we carried it with us everywhere… also there was a fun incident at London security regarding it… i’ll just let you imagine what 6 foil-wrapped burritos stacked in a bag all by themselves must look like on an xray monitor to someone who doesn’t have chipotle).

when we finally got to iganga, we were taken straight to musana, where we were greeted by all the kids singing and hugging us and dragging us around to tour the place. it was just a little bit overwhelming, but also really awesome. after a day of just hanging out, we walked back to the volunteer house where bryan lives. this was one of the most exciting times, because this was when we got to see the babies. and by babies, i mean the 20 or so kids living in a compound between musana and the house. bryan had told us about these kids (mostly just 2 of them actually), so i was excited to finally see them. and when we actually did it was even more awesome than i ever would have imagined. basically, these kids worship bryan. the second they saw him coming they all just dropped what they were doing and ran down the road to meet him, screaming “BLYAN! BLYAN!” the whole way. i can’t even describe the feeling i got when i saw it, but it was one of the most precious things i’ve ever seen in my life, and it made me proud to be the sister of blyan. and that reaction was basically the same every single morning and afternoon for the rest of the trip… (i actually got it on video but i forgot to put the videos on my computer and now they are in a different country than me, so that’s unfortunate.)

the next day i woke up feeling really sick, which was just from jet lag. so most of the morning was spent trying to get a little bit of food in my stomach and getting up the strength for the long walk to musana. once we got going i was fine, and the walk was awesome, but once we got there i started feeling sick again and had to take a nap in the volunteer room. so i don’t know what happened the rest of that day, but it was basically just hanging out.

then next day was Sunday, so we got to go to church. simply put: it was long and hard to understand, but the kids were awesome at paying attention and letting me know what was going on!

the next day was monday, and we got to go to the farm where bryan works a few days a week. we took a boda there (which is a motorcycle that you ride on the back of… pretty much the funnest thing ever), and when we got there we were greeted by Isaac (who runs the farm and is wonderful), some of the other farm workers, and a little girl named Brenda who didn’t so much greet us as just stand and stare. we gave her some stickers and then made our way down to the fields to harvest some corn. after about 20 minutes, we looked over to see a group of 4 kids, including Brenda, just staring at us and smiling. they all had the stickers stuck on their foreheads! it was awesome. so we gave them some more, and they all got so excited and took the stickers off their foreheads and handed them to Brenda, then ran away with the new ones. it was so funny… don’t worry we gave her some new ones too. after the farm we went back and hung out at musana some more.

the next day we went to musana, then in the afternoon we drove to jinja (a town about 40 minutes away) to go BUNGEE JUMPING! it was scary and fun, and i will probably never do it again. just sayin…

that night we stayed in jinja to go rafting down the nile the next day. it was so FUN! the nile is deep and doesn’t have a bunch of rocks that you have to worry about running into, so when your raft flips it’s just like being in a giant wave that eventually spits you out. and it’s warm. on our first flip i got whacked in the nose with a paddle and it was bleeding everywhere. they took a picture, but then they didn’t put it with the pictures we bought, so i haven’t seen it. i hear it looked good though. rafting was a long day, but it was totally worth it. that night we got dinner through the rafting company then took a taxi back to iganga.

**side note… the cutest little Korean baby is toddling around the gate right now, and i want to steal her.**

anyways… taxis in Uganda are absolutely ridiculous. they are set up with 4 rows of 3 seats, but really they will cram as many people as they actually can in there. also chickens. and i hear goats too, but we never had any. it’s pretty ridiculous, but it was an adventure.

the next day we taxied back to jinja to pick up our pictures and video and do some shopping… it was pretty uneventful. then we went back to iganga and hung out at musana for the rest of the day.

the next day we were pretty exhausted, so we kinda just lazed around before making the walk to musana (with an extra long stop to visit the babies). that night we got dinner at the café with all the other volunteers, which was fun.

on Saturday we hung out at musana some more and helped to put some new nets on the soccer goals. bryan had asked my dad to send the net with us, and the kids absolutely loved it! the little kids loved just hanging on the goals, which terrified me. we also learned how to roll beads, which is fun but hurts my fingers! my mom failed at bead-rolling, but i am good at it. in my mom’s (not well-thought-out) words, i am a “master beader.” HA!

on Sunday we went to musana for just a little bit before we got on a really long taxi ride to sipi falls. we had to switch taxis in a city called mballe, and the one that we got on was terrifying. seriously… it broke down twice on the way up the steep, windy mountain roads. but we made it, and it was completely worth it! sipi was absolutely beautiful, and we stayed in a really cool place called sipi river lodge. after a delicious lunch, we went on a short hike to 2 of the 3 waterfalls (we didn’t have time for all of them). we had a guide, a 15 year old Ugandan kid named paul(?), who knew everything about the area and picked passionfruit for us. the waterfalls were gorgeous and we got really wet! then on the way back, paul asked us if we wanted to try some of his grandma’s local brew. of course we said yes, and he took us to a little hut in the middle of nowhere that had a bunch of old Ugandans sipping warm beer through really long straws. we got to try some… it tasted like corn and yeast (because that’s basically all it was). it wasn’t as bad as you might think, and it was a sweet adventure. after we got back we had some tea and relaxed for a little bit before going back up to the first waterfall to watch the sunset. it was one of the most beautiful sunsets i’ve ever seen (and that’s saying a lot!). that night we had some good dinner and played some games, then went to bed so we could wake up early the next day to make our way back to iganga. it was a quick trip, but really cool.

when we got back to iganga, we had to hurry and get our stuff together before we went over to musana to say goodbye to everyone. it was really sad leaving and saying goodbye, and i really wish we had been able to stay longer and get to know them better! that night we got a private hire to take us on the long trip to Entebbe to stay in a surprisingly nice guest house! then the next day we had to get up super early to go to the airport.

it was really sad saying goodbye to bryan, but for me it was ok after seeing what he is doing and how important he is to everyone there (and how important they are to him!) my mom might have something else to say about that… but i am seriously so proud of him, and i got little bursts of extra pride throughout the trip. i’m really excited to see what else God has in store for him and musana!

so after the long plane ride, we had an overnight layover in London. even though we were both exhausted, i really wanted to try and see as much as i could since i had never been there. so as soon as we got there we went straight to our hotel to shower and change and head off to see les miserables! we had planned the time in London before we went, and i was really excited to see nick jonas in les mis, but then, sadly, i realized a few days before we left that he was leaving just 3 days before we got there. but, even without the best jonas brother, it was still an awesome show. we had every intention of going to a pub afterwards, but, considering my mom fell asleep multiple times during the show and i was ready to pass out, we decided it would be best to just go to bed. the next morning we woke up bright and early for a cheesy double-decker bus tour, which was great! we got to just sit there and see all the major sites! and the weather was really beautiful, which was great. after the bus part, we got on a river cruise that was included when we paid for the tour, which was also sweet. we went under the millennium bridge (the sweet one that gets blown up by death eaters in harry potter!), which i was excited about. after the cruise we had to hurry and get on the train so we could stop at king’s cross (of course!) before heading back to the airport. it was quite the whirlwind, but it was fun!

chips in windsor :)

mom and bryan pushed the giant carts of stuff... i took pictures.

pipih and bryan eating some chipotle... mmmm! bryan looks pissed but he really wasn't. i don't think.

our little hotel room with all the crap we brought! this picture does not show the full extent of either.

it's blurry... but these are all the kids waiting for us at the entrance to musana. they were all singing and it was awesome!

solomoni... sorry the picture is blurry. he's precious.

getting ready to go to church

these kids are awesome at drumming! seriously... so good.

haha they made these logs into motorcycles

haha the sticker kids at the farm! brenda is the one on the left.

all of us on the boda... and arafet with his sweet goggles that bryan gave him

just us with some kids... damali is the little one right in front of my mom. she's stinkin adorable

so the kids love to take pictures... and they are good at it. i love this one.

haha more of the kids taking pictures. this is dorothea... there are so many of her in different poses. she cracks me up. i'll put the rest on facebook...

bonding...

bryan bungee jumping!

haha my mom's arms were straight out like that until they pulled her into the boat. silly

me on the bounce

haha the boat guy took this picture...

mom all bruised up after rafting

naked kids love me...

mom and martha

this is the girl at the compound who loved me the most.

seriously... beautiful children.

yay! so while bryan was fixing the soccer nets the kids were scaring me by hanging on them and making them rock back and forth. don't worry... no one was hurt.

one of the kids took this one

haha... on the hike at sipi falls. it was beautiful

enjoying some home brew

watching the sunset from behind the waterfall... so pretty!

i love them.

some of the compound kids and one of the moms. notice that bryan is holding angela and andrew... his favorites.

bryan and angel. i love it.

haha this is bella... she was definitely asleep.

bescha in a tree

saying goodbye... mom was sad. they wouldn't let bryan sit inside with us

yay les mis! no nick jonas... but still awesome!

the tower of london, where anne boleyn was beheaded. our tudors obsession made this very exciting. haha... notice my mom's feet. she's short

no explanation needed.

i had a bunch of videos, but i never put them on my computer before i left home :(

anyway... overall, it was an awesome trip. i was so glad i got to go with my mom before i left, and i was really excited to see bryan so much sooner than i thought i would be able to! i can’t wait to go back and spend some more time with him and with the kids at musana!

quality...

2010-09-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

so... korea has a national curriculum. that means that every single school teaches from the same books and uses the same cd-roms to go with them.
sometimes they are okay. but most of the time they are like this:
**these are actual videos that i watched on the discs before i found them on youtube. this is why i'm allowed to change the curriculum around if i want to...**
this is jinho... and that is his uncle with "a long hair":

here we have ann and her dad:

and this is my personal favorite... joon's lost sock.

i hope you enjoyed these as much as i do...

my schools!

2010-08-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

here are the 2 schools that i'm working at:
sinchon elementary
and jocheon middle school
good luck navigating the sites... but there are pictures of the schools on there!
sinchon is the one that is beautiful and fancy... jocheon is not quite as nice, but still good. and i have to bring my own slippers there. i'm getting my own for both though, so it's ok.
anyways... there you go.
good stuff :)

work

2010-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

so right now i'm in my school... sinchon elementary school, right outside of jeju-si. there are no students, and i actually don't have to be here right now, which is why i don't feel bad blogging. tomorrow is my first day at my other school, jocheon middle school, and i actually have to do a lesson! really all i have to do is introduce myself and play games, but it's still intimidating!
anyway... i haven't seen that school yet, but if it's half as nice as this one it's going to be great!
can i just say that i think there is a reason korea is rising so quickly in the world, and it's because of their education system. i've only been here for like 10 days, but it's already very evident that they put a lot into education. on top of the massive amount that is just put into bringing native english teachers here, they clearly place a high priority on keeping the schools up to date and nice. maybe it's just this one, but it is honestly the nicest elementary school i've ever been in. it's gorgeous. it actually looks like it would fit right in in colorado... lots of wood everywhere, but still really bright. and the classrooms are really modern and colorful. and i have a smartboard! i don't know how to use it, but i have it! it's just really nice. and all the people i've met so far have been great... my co-teacher, mi ri, is awesome. she's really young and fun, but really dedicated to the school and doing a good job. also... this is the coolest... i get to wear slippers all day! i had heard about that before i came, but i didn't know whether to believe it or not. but it's true! when you come in the school, you drop off your shoes and put on a pair of slippers. they're super comfy and awesome, and everyone has them! haha... it's awesome. plus then the school is way cleaner because people aren't tracking in all their crap from outside. really, koreans do some things so much better than we do in america.
anyway... i'm excited to get students. also a little nervous, but i think once i do just a couple days i'll be good to go. it's going to be hard work, but it'll be good :)
tonight i'm going to dinner (at an eel restaurant!) with all my coworkers... including the principal and vice principal. by "dinner" i mean we will eat and drink a lot of beer and soju. also apparently the wine and whiskey i gave the principal and vice principal. oh gosh.
**right after that stuff was written my co-teacher came to take me to meet the principal. cue the most awkward 5 minutes of my life**
right after we walked in and i gave him his gift (crown... keeping it classy.), mi ri (my co-teacher) left to get us all some water. my principal speaks no english. and i have no idea how much i'm supposed to try to talk to him because of the whole heirarchy thing. so we sat in awkward silence for a long time. but don't worry because when mi ri came back, he told her he thought i was "pretty and beautiful"(her translation) and he's excited to show off his gift at dinner tonight. whew! this should be interesting, considering my first day at the other school is tomorrow and i actually have to do stuff. eek!
anyway... i promise i'll put up pictures and stuff once i have my own internet. and the uganda post is done... i just haven't been able to upload the pictures to go with it.
but i should have it soon and there will be lots to come.
God is so good! He's reminding me more and more of that at every possible moment :)
i love and miss you all!
oh yea... and if you want my address my mom has it. or just ask me and i'll send it to you.

yay!

2010-08-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

welp... i'm finally here! i moved into my apartment last night. it's tiny but i actually still have a lot of room. and i love it! it's right in the middle of jeju-si (jeju city), which is where i was hoping to get. AND i can see the beach from my window! and my friend who has been living here for 2 years lives in the same building! whoa! i'll talk more about it later (with pictures), but i don't have internet so right now i'm in an internet cafe.
but anyway... i'm here, i'm safe, and i start work on monday!
yay!
i just can't help but feel like this is exactly where i'm supposed to be... the way everything has worked out so far just shows me that God is right here with me. He is so good!

today i...

2010-08-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

ate fish with scales and fins... and it was not bad!

ate a quail egg. it tasted like a regular egg... gross.

saw my first korean cockroach. that's gonna be a treat...

...

2010-08-23T21:04:00.003-07:00

ok... we couldn't take any pictures of this, but here's a video of what i saw.

it. was. awesome.

fillers

2010-08-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

haha... i promise the uganda blog is coming! i just haven't had time to finish it or upload pictures yet...

but here's what i have been doing:

yesterday we took our first korean language class. we learned the vowels (a, ya, eo, yeo, o, yo, eu, i), some consonants (and i can't remember any except l/r) some words, and greetings. the only ones i remember are annyeong ha se yo (hello... or, literally, "are you at peace?") and kam sam ni da (thank you). the class was fun, and we have a few more to just learn basic survival phrases and such. it should be good...

today was stinkin awesome! we went to a traditional korean folk village to learn about traditional stuff, and we got to watch a few performances of some drumming/dancing, a guy on a tightrope (who was seriously probably like 80 and it was awesome), and a traditional wedding ceremony. it was pretty neat, but the best part came after. we went up to this other place (with air conditioning! yay!) and first learned how to do a mask dance, then how to play some traditional drums, THEN we got to do the best part!

we went to this performance called breakout that was basically a funny play about some prisoners, but it was all B-BOY STYLE! for those of you old people who don't know what that means... it's pretty much just awesome dancing that has things like break dancing, popping and locking, krumping, and other cool things that i wish i could do. it was so awesome. seriously.

so now we are back with a short break before dinner, and then after dinner we're going to go to this sweet shopping district that is nearby (oh yea... we went there last night too). i don't have room in my luggage, but i might just have to buy some of the ridiculously cheap stuff they have there and just figure it out later.

anyway... that's what i've been up to! i have pictures of some of the stuff, but i'll put them up later.

ok love you all!

first impressions..

2010-08-19T21:51:00.001-07:00

so i have a post about uganda that i started in the airport... but it's not done yet.

so here are my first impressions of korea so far:

it's hot. and humid. today we walked around the little area of seoul that we are in and i wanted to punch someone then go hug an air conditioner. i may be a little screwed living on jeju... but it's ok. i'll get used to it.

the people are really nice... i've mostly just been around other teachers and the EPIK staff, so i don't really have a real impression yet, but everyone so far has been pretty wonderful.

here's a funny story that happened today:

in our class we had to tell a little bit about ourselves, including our guilty pleasure (for those of you who were wondering, celebrity gossip and glee were said before it came to me, so i said pop music and told them i went to the backstreet boys concert... i don't feel guilty about it, but it works haha!) so anyway... one girl was like "i don't really have any guilty pleasures, but i have a guilty secret. can i share that?" when they said yes, she proceeded to say, "i secretly got married the night before i came here." HA! what?! who says that?! we all laughed, because it was funny. she was pretty serious though.

then the lady who is in charge of our class, a korean woman named yuna, was put on the spot to share hers. here it is (a little bit condensed): "ok, so i have a boyfriend. in korea, women my age... late 20s and early 30s... are supposed to find husbands. so my parents set me up on a blind date with this man with that in mind. and he's really nice. but he's about the same height as me, and i don't know how i feel about that." HAHA! that was her guilty pleasure. she's precious...

ok, so those are the things that have happened so far. i don't have any pictures... sorry. i'll take some when we start doing stuff, but right now there's really not a lot to see.

if you think about it, please pray for me to continue to stay healthy, to pick up on things quickly, and to trust that God is going to put me wherever i'm supposed to be (i have a preference, but i'm really trying to not get my hopes up about it because i know that there is a good chance i won't be there, and i want to have a positive attitude if i don't).

i love you and miss you all! i'll try and update soon!

a promise...

2010-08-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

so... in approximately 8.5 hours i will be on a plane headed to los angeles, where i will get on another plane headed to korea, where i will be for at least one year.

and i have been so busy that i haven't even had time to think about that fact, and i have a feeling the reality is going to hit me about halfway over the pacific. it should be fun. that is why i can't even really write about how i'm feeling about it... because i haven't really thought about how i feel.

this busyness is also the reason i have yet to write about pretty much anything that has happened... most importantly: uganda.

so here is a promise: as soon as i am in korea and settled down, i will write about uganda. also my first impressions of korea. also anything i might have forgotten about at the moment that seems important to write about.

so do not worry... it is coming.

until then... please pray for safe travels to korea, and for me as i go through orientation and get settled in with almost no preparation or idea of what to expect.

i love you all, and i will get back to you from the other side of the world.

promise.

until then... here's a preview of my uganda post:

meet chubby baby :)

yay!

2010-07-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

i'm going to uganda today!

don't worry... i will put lots and lots of pictures on here when i get back :)

pray for us!

sigh

2010-07-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

as most of you probably know, i am not easily stressed. i just don't worry about things in general. i am more of a *freak out for a minute then get over it and figure out how to make it work* type of person... which i actually really like. but the last few days have been ridiculous. i should actually say, last thursday and then yesterday were ridiculous... the other days in between were just kinda fillers. last thursday i got an email from my recruiter telling me what i need to send for my korean visa. one of those things is my actual passport. now... since i am going to uganda in a week (EEE!), i can't really send off my passport. especially since i still don't have all the other things i need to send with it. and i can't wait til i get back, because i only have a week before i leave again! so... i was a little bit concerned. but after a frantic skype call with my recruiter, i realized that i don't have to send my stuff off to korea... just the korean consulate in san francisco. good to know. i also learned that you can get a duplicate passport for these exact situations.

that leads me to yesterday. i had made an appointment with the passport agency , and i had all this stuff ready that i needed to have in order to get the duplicate. but once i got there, greta (the lady i talked to) told me that i needed "proof of conflict," which means i needed my itinerary for my trip to korea. but i didn't have that yet because i was told not to buy it until i have my visa returned... which requires me to send my passport! so i cried and called my mom (another thing i don't do... cry *not call my mom... i do that like 18 times a day*) then i emailed my travel agent and told her i needed an itinerary and step on it (i said it nicer than that). well... here is where God started showing His goodness left and right!

i went to work and came back to find that the travel agent had sent me an itinerary after only like 3 hours! then i had an email from my recruiter saying my other visa documents were on the way! then i went back to the passport agency today and greta told me everything was perfect and i could come back at 11 to pick up my new passport (as opposed to waiting 3 business days and cutting it ridiculously close like i was first told i would have to)! that's actually where i'm headed next. and just now, while i'm stealing internet from the cherry creek library waiting for my passport... i got another email from pam (travel agent) saying that she found another itinerary for like $500 less!

so this has been a good morning... praise God!!

randoms

2010-07-16T23:24:00.001-07:00

today i learned how to use a planer. in a dress.

*note the machine of majesty, the giant pile of shavings, and the freshly planed wood*

seriously... so cool

i am going to miss this view. i can't even tell you how many of this exact same picture i have, yet for some reason i always pull out the camera to take it. it never gets old...

tonight i decided to play with night photography... i've loved it ever since my freshman year of high school when one of my teachers showed us his night photos (he used a telescope and got pictures of galaxies and stuff... i can't do that.)

anyway... here's the big dipper. there's also a car going by and my neighbor's flag pole with a light underneath, but it's hard to tell when the picture is this small. this was only the second one i took, so i was pretty excited about it.

i like this dog. she likes to lay in this pile of sand that my dad has in our driveway... seriously she was there for like 4 hours. i think it's partially because she's old and had a hard time getting up. but also because she's a lazy fatty. i love it.

and here's a thought i've been having today: how cool would it be if owls could talk?! i think they would be super funny, full of dry sarcasm and witty banter.

God is good :)

my dad

2010-07-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

so... yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my dad donating his kidney. time flies... i wouldn't have even realized it if it hadn't been for my mom saying something about it in her facebook status.

that's partially because of the way my dad is. believe me... he's been through a lot since he had that surgery. but i probably wouldn't have known anything about it if my mom hadn't made him tell me, or just told me herself. apparently kidneys are kinda important... who knew? anyway... my dad is not one to bring attention to himself or tell you when something's wrong with him. so when his lone remaining kidney decided to crap out on him, he just passed it off like some minor little thing. it wasn't until my mom and david started worrying that i realized that it was a bigger deal than my dad was letting on. (seriously... i have no idea how bodies work or what kidneys do. well... now i kinda do, but not then. anyway...) but, in true my dad fashion, he kept the faith that God had everything in control. and he was obviously right. looking back, and even in the moments that things were happening, it is/was so clear that God had (and still has) everything in control. first, the doctor just so happened to be in my dad's mens' group at church. my parents didn't know this when they scheduled his appointment, and they even passed up on a sooner appointment with a different doctor to wait a month and see this one. awesome! and when all his numbers (don't ask me what they are or what they mean... i don't actually know. i know they're important though.) were not doing what they were supposed to do, it was scary. but he was covered in prayer, and when he went back for his last appointment a few months ago, the number that was the most worrisome had gone down! praise God! and the thing i love most about my dad is that he didn't attribute that to his change in habits (which i'm pretty sure he actually didn't do) or the good doctors (who actually couldn't have done anything), but he gives all the glory to God. and that's the way he lives his life. basically, my dad is awesome. and he's golden :)

so thanks for who you are, dad. and thanks for helping me and inspiring me to be who i am.

i love you

ole ole ole ole!

2010-07-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

so... i wanted spain to win :)

partially because of this man. i don't care if he has been sucking and didn't play the whole game, then in the 5 or so minutes he was in he failed then he just fell on the ground out of nowhere and hurt his hamstring. he's dreamy.

apart from that, though, i just wanted them to win because i didn't think they would beat germany, so when they did i just wanted them to go all the way.

that whole gallery of pictures makes me chuckle... i love how they all just look like little kids who are so excited! rightfully so...

i also like how amidst all the fun spain pictures there will be a random one of some dutch player laying on the ground or crying. it seems like a buzzkill... until you go on to the next picture.

anyway... praise the Lord for the beautiful game :)

prayer request

2010-07-02T18:00:00.001-07:00

hey! please pray for my brother bryan and his friend joyce in uganda. joyce is the sister of morris (the ugandan director of musana) and pipih (bryan's best friend there). she has HIV and is in the hospital right now. i know that bryan is having a really hard time, and it sucks not being able to be there for him. i don't really know a lot of details, but i know that God has everything in His hands and He is working through such a terrible situation...

so please, if you think of it, just take a few seconds to pray for bryan and his friends, for the doctors, for the whole family (morris, pipih, and joyce have other siblings as well), and for everyone at musana who i am sure is having a really hard time with all of this.

i am so thankful that God has blessed me with friends who love him and who pray! thank you for being those friends :)

it's been a while...

2010-07-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

so i haven't really been blogging lately. apart from the obvious short little posts that could be facebook statuses if i did those...

it's weird... i guess i haven't really felt like i've had all that much to say. i still don't really. i feel like i've been so busy but really i haven't. i only work a few days a week (and the family i work for is gone until the 9th, so i've already had a week off and i have another week and a few days...). it's finally feeling like summer. i just finished my last tefl unit (praise God!), and i genuinely have nothing to do. it's a weird feeling. it's funny how all the times when i am busy and don't have a lot of down time, i wish that i just had nothing to do. but then when i actually don't have anything to do, i am bored. i guess now's the time to catch up on my fun reading! my life is in a weird place right now... i'm going to write about it because i can (and i have nothing else that is begging for my time). feel free to not read... this could get wordy.

stuff with korea is *kinda* coming together. i got all my visa documents in at the last possible second (seriously... i got them in at like 3 in the afternoon a couple weeks ago and the next morning i had an email from my recruiter saying that all the positions were filled and if anyone hadn't gotten them in by 5 they were not guaranteed a spot!) i'm still waiting on the next documents and to find out where i will be placed. i won't be surprised if i have about 2 weeks to book a flight and get everything ready by the time i find out... but it's okay. it's all in God's hands.

that's another thing that's been going on. really, i guess it's something that hasn't been going on. even with all my free time, i have somehow managed to completely stop spending time with God. it's not like it has been before, where i really just don't see Him working or i don't desire to spend time with Him. it's really been more like... i just haven't really thought about it. i've just been waking up and going along with my days without even thinking about the fact that i hadn't touched my Bible or talked to Him in i don't even know how long. it's weird though because i've still been trusting Him. i've still known that He's there and He's in control. i've still been telling myself and everyone else that, and truly believing it. it's just my side of the relationship that i've been failing at. that makes me sad. this morning it really hit me and i had some good time with Him. i didn't have any amazing revelations or get any sudden peace or understanding about life... it was just nice to be with Him. i've really missed that. it's something that i'm looking forward to getting back into. i think sometimes life just gets in the way... and it's not even that it's so overwhelming or busy... it's just that it's all i think about. i'm just thinking about different things in my life all the time, and when i want to escape i turn to some mindless book or show and forget about what's going on for a little bit. i don't think that's too uncommon... but i don't like it.

anyway... there's that.

it's funny because really there are so many things lately that i've seen God doing that i've been getting so excited about! probably one of the biggest is what's going on with my favorite little brother. he's doing so well in uganda, and it's so exciting to read and see and hear about what God is doing through him... i can't wait to visit and see firsthand! that's another thing... i get to go to uganda! i guess it's not technically 100% for sure (more like 95 i would say...), but i'm most likely going with my mom at the very end of this month. i am so excited! i miss my brother and i can't wait to see him and see his kids and his life!

then pretty much right after that i'll be leaving for korea... which i am also incredibly excited about. it's funny because i'm really excited, but i'm still not in any rush. i think it's because i know that i'll be there for a long time... there's really no need for me to be in any hurry to get there. i know that i'm going to miss home, so i'm trying to take advantage of the time i have left here. but i am stoked. i think it'll get even more exciting and real once i know where i'm going and exactly when... that will be wonderful.

speaking of wonderful... it hit me the other day that i only have like 2-3 more weeks with my girls once i factor in the time until they get back and the time i'll leave for uganda! that's really sad... i love them. i'm going to miss them. stinkin precious little peanuts.

okay... i need to stop writing this now.

praise God for being so good... and for everything He's done and is doing in my life and the lives of the people i love.

aaannnnd if you want to know where i will be tomorrow night

2010-06-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

look here.

seriously... it's like i've de-aged 10 years in the last 10 minutes.

i love my life.

if you want to know where i'll be on saturday...

2010-06-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

this is where.

i'm not ashamed...

and that is where i run, which makes it even more exciting.

praise the Lord for twihards!

whoa!

2010-06-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

this is so cool! it's like the bellagio meets disneyland...

i love the bellagio.

AND i love disney.

bellagio + disney = coolest thing ever.

i want to go

(i tried embedding the video but it cut off half so you'll have to click on it...)

done and done.

2010-06-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

we did it! me with my running buddies... carly (my friend/roommate, who got me to do this in the first place) and rob (her dad, who is a rockstar)

yesterday was the half marathon! it's hard to believe that it's already done... but i'm glad it is! it was quite the day... let me just tell you about it.

so... friday night we stayed up at carly's house in edwards (about half an hour past copper). carly, her parents, dwen, kellie, and i all stayed up there, had a carb-crazy dinner, and played games. it was fun! i really wasn't that nervous... mostly just anxious. i still had a hard time getting to sleep though.

the next morning carly, rob, carla (carly's mom, who got up early to drive us down there), and i woke up bright and early to eat breakfast and go sign in for the race. i still wasn't feeling nervous, and everything was fine until we were almost to frisco. i started feeling really hot and like i was going to throw up. luckily carla is a mom and felt my head and knew we needed to pull over... we pulled over and i got out of the car and threw up. my purple smoothie got all over my shoes! haha it was gross, but then i was fine :) but seriously... who throws up before the race even starts? apparently i do. i'm blaming it on my cold medicine that i took before i ate.

so anyways... it was really cold and rainy, which was not fun before we started, but once we got going it was actually greatly appreciated. the first 7 miles were golden, then between about 7 and 9 i started feeling like i was ready to be done. that passed, though, and i was good until about 10 and a half, when we had to go up some steep hills. that was when i started feeling a little sick. but then i walked for just a little bit and felt okay. the same thing happened right at the end, too. carly and rob kept running, so i had to run faster to catch up with them, but it was okay :) then we finished and i couldn't even focus on anything except my desire to just lay in the grass... so i did. it wasn't fast or anything (2:36:20) and we were pretty close to the last people (i was 254/281, which is weird because they told us there were like 700 people doing it), but i'm still proud of myself. my goal was just to finish, and that's what i did!

i seriously could never have done it by myself though. i wouldn't have even done it at all, let alone done the training runs, without carly. and i would have walked a lot more if it weren't for carly and rob running with me. and seriously... seeing the cheering crowd EVERYWHERE was awesome! (by that i don't mean a ton of people cheering all along the route... i mean my parents, dwen, carla, and kelly drove along and waited at like 6 different spots for us! and kellie was at the first one before she had to head back for a job interview... that's dedication.) and all of that was in the freezing cold and rain! that was the best feeling ever... and it really did help!

thanks guys :)

so anyways... that's the half marathon story. afterwards we went out to eat and watched the us/england world cup game. it was fun, but i was tired! then later last night i went and sat in dwen's hot tub, which was wonderful until i started feeling like i was being cooked alive.

all in all it was a wonderful day :)

here are some pictures...

about mile 7... still feeling golden. i'm laughing at the crotchpunch sign.

at the very end... total tunnel vision.

haha... that's all i wanted to do.

yay! i can't leave out our other training buddy... kayuh. he went on all our training runs with us!

i love my family! thanks for being there guys :) that's bryan on the sign... gwen made those. you can't really see the one on the bottom but it's a picture of me crotchpunching the race... HA!

praise the Lord for getting me through! and for rain and cool weather, and for my family and friends, and for beautiful mountains!

tomorrow.

2010-06-11T12:44:00.001-07:00

check.

2010-06-09T15:55:00.001-07:00

i just shipped off my visa documents! hopefully everything is good and i won't have to do it again... it was expensive!

once they have those then they'll put in a recommendation to the education department to give me a position then they'll send me some more stuff to fill out then once that's back i'll have a job for real! haha... it's a lot of steps. i'm not even sure if i just got that right but i don't care... i'm happy to have everything sent out :)

praise the Lord!

sicky pants

2010-06-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

i'm sick. ewwwww. it's not terrible but it's not fun either.

but it's really okay... i was supposed to work tonight and i was stressing out because i didn't want to get the girls sick but i couldn't find anyone to cover for me but then i finally talked to tonya (the mom) and she said they had a change of plans anyway because the friend they were supposed to have dinner with has strep and couldn't do it anyway! praise God! not for her friend having strep obviously but for working it out so that i don't have to worry. He's so wonderful... always coming through.

i have to keep remembering that... seriously no matter how much He proves His goodness somehow i always manage to worry that for some reason He won't this time. i'm still waiting on my korea stuff, which i really should have sent in like a month ago. but, because of some unfortunate confusion and some ccu stuff, i still don't have my diploma or letter of completion, so i haven't sent it in yet. i'm worried that all the jobs will be taken by the time i actually get it. what if that happens? pretty much that means that i have to come up with a completely new plan... which sounds like the least appealing thing ever. but really, who am i to worry? hasn't God proven time and time again that He has everything in His hands? why would i think this would be any different? what if i'm really not meant to go to korea? isn't whatever God has planned for me a thousand times better than anything i could plan for myself? i know it is... i know He'll work it all out. i know that i shouldn't worry. but it's hard not to... i think that's only human. it's actually new for me though, because i'm really not usually a worrier. if i didn't have loans to pay off it would be no big deal... i would know that i could do anything really. but since i actually have to make money, it's hard to imagine what i will do with a global studies degree besides teach english... haha seriously it's a pretty worthless degree i think. i love it, but really what the heck am i supposed to do with that? God knows i guess.

wow i did not really plan at all on writing all of that... it's like word vomit but with my fingers.

i feel like it's really complainy (just go with that word...)

it's funny though because the last few days i have been thinking of all the random things that have seriously changed my life, even though they are stupid. but i'm really thankful for all of them!

here's that list:

-the new branch of my bank that opened seriously like 2 blocks from the other one... there are never any lines and parking is so easy! i love it!

-sunflower market. mmmmm.

-the redbox that just opened up at 7-11 half a block away

-gomusic

-sloan's lake

-my running shoes

honestly all of those things have changed my life for the better (even my running shoes! i know right?!)

i know that i have so much to be thankful for... i just need to keep remembering that. because God is good.

praise the Lord for that!

time management

2010-05-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

so... i started writing this in the library when i went to work on my tefl, because i had to download a video for it. except i forgot to read the thing before, so i didn't realize the downloading part would take an HOUR. and the video is an hour. so then i didn't have time to watch it because i only had 10 minutes left of my study room reservation.

so i decided write on here because i haven't in so very long.

here's what i wrote:

the last few weeks have been crazy... i feel like the easiest way is to do a list (let's be real... i would probably do a list anyway because i love them).

so... in the past few weeks i have:

-graduated from college. this is kinda a big deal, but i still don't really feel like it's done. maybe because i still have my tefl, which is basically homework.

-run 10 miles on the course that i will actually be running for the half marathon... that's in the mountains people. copper to frisco. i'm not one to brag, but i'm pretty proud of myself. i also know now that i am totally going to crotchpunch the actual event, so that's exciting.

-skyped with bryan. it was wonderful, even though his internet is terrible and we kept getting cut off.

then i came back and realized that's a really short list but i feel like i've done more than that.

i've also been working a lot, working on my stuff for korea, running, and watching lots of shows online. haha... that last one shouldn't count but i'm just being honest.

it's weird... i have a bunch of different emotions going on right now, and i can't pinpoint just one. i can't even really describe any of them... i guess i really don't know what i'm feeling. it's funny because now is a time when i really should be at the top of my planning game, but i've never lived so day to day in my life. seriously... i just take each day and hardly even think about the next one. it's strange... but also kinda wonderful.

praise God for the days.

i spy...

2010-05-05T20:29:00.001-07:00

today on my run around the lake i saw:
1 boy who could only be described as a *thug* happily feeding the geese by himself
2 couples snogging
3 jewish boys in yarmulkes up to no good by the water
4 people whose dogs were clearly running them
and bonus a man following his toddler daughter around plucking (not strumming) a guitar. she was not interested in him at all...

it was awesome.

praise the Lord for entertainment to distract me from running!

today.

2010-05-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

so... this weekend i got to hang out with my mom... i love her :) since bryan is gone and my dad is out of town it was just the 2 of us. we watched lots of movies and were lazy and we went shopping and i got a macbook! i'm so excited... now i can skype and edit pictures and not get viruses! also she got me an awesome graduation dress. i feel spoiled... thank you mom! it was a wonderful break from life...

i feel like my life is all jumbled up right now. except really it's not... i guess. i don't know.
i'm trying to organize my thoughts and i can't. i have lots of different stuff to be excited about, but it's hard to get excited about one or the other because there's just so much else going on... make sense?

i'm graduating from college in 5 days. that is weird. i can't even believe it... i have 1 more paper and some ministry hours to submit, then i'm done. crazy!

it doesn't feel like the end.

it could be because i'm staying in my house this summer, so i don't have that moving out aspect that i've had the last 3 years to remind me that it's summer time. or it could be because i still have 6 tefl units to go, so i basically will still have homework until those are done. or it could be because i still have to get all my visa stuff together. i actually have most of it together, but i'm waiting on my degree and final transcript to send it all out. also, like an idiot, i opened my transcript from australia and broke the seal, so now i have to request a new one. oops!
i don't know... maybe i'm in denial. or maybe i'm just over it. i was watching an old episode of laguna beach the other day (HA!) and it was the graduation episode. i had about 5 minutes of a sentimental reality check, but then it went away. i don't know why... i'm just not that upset about the idea of leaving college behind. i've never really been one to look back. i'm not a joiner... i don't go back and visit high school teachers, and i won't come back and visit college. it's just not the way i am.

i think the reason why i'm so not upset is because i'm more just excited about the future. i love my friends that i've made in college to death, and, yes, i am going to miss them like crazy. it does make me sad to think that i will not be here for some things. but more than that, i am so excited to see what happens. i'm excited because i know that God has a plan for all of our lives... this was just a short season, and it's only the beginning of the amazing things that He is going to do. and i can't wait to see it! i can't wait to see where everyone ends up, what they end up doing, who they end up doing it with, and how everyone will grow. i can't even imagine living not knowing that God has a plan... it not only brings so much peace, but it makes everything more exciting because i know that His plans go beyond anything i can imagine! it's such a cool feeling...

speaking of God's plans... bryan is in uganda! i got to talk to him on saturday and hear more about it... he loves the people and the country is beautiful, and he's already attached to some of the kids. it's so exciting for me to see him being exactly where i know God wants him right now. i just know in my heart that God has amazing plans for him there, and i've already seen how the Lord has worked things out for him. if you think about it, please pray for bryan that he will really find his niche and that God will show him what he needs to be doing there specifically (each volunteer is supposed to pick a project to do for musana... bryan doesn't know what he wants to do yet). and pray for the other volunteers and the organization as a whole, and for emma and nico, two of the kids that bryan has already become attached to.

also while you're praying... maybe shoot one up there for me and the half marathon (i registered today!). my foot has been acting up, so now i'm behind on my training. lame... but i've rested it longer this time, so i'm hoping that will make a difference and i will be able to train harder now.

anyways... this post ended up longer than expected.

praise the Lord for His goodness and for working everything out according to His purposes!

do it.

2010-04-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

just click here and do this.
warning: it's addicting. and AWESOME.
speaking of awesome... i love 1000 awesome things. it adds happy to my days :)
i know that awesome is a strong word... these things are not awesome in the way it really means, but they are great.
praise the Lord for awesome!

WOOP!

2010-04-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

i passed my interview! praise God! i found out sooner than i thought i would, which was nice. now i get to start the incredibly long and detailed process of getting all my visa documents together... it should be a good time. technically it's not a done deal until all of those are sent, but i have every intention of getting them in as soon as i possibly can. it has the potential to be very stressful, but, honestly, the only thing about it that i am slightly concerned about is getting my reference letter hard copies from australia. but i know that God is good and He will work it all out, so i'm really not worried.
anyways... i'm excited. a few friends and i went out for some celebratory milkshakes, which was delightful. but really, i still have a long way to go...
anyways, this weekend is all about BRYAN and his leaving for uganda on SUNDAY! i'll miss him lots, but mostly i'm just excited for him!
praise God for... everything!

time zones.

2010-04-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

in 1 hour i am going to receive a phone call from epik and i will begin my interview to teach in korea this fall. that's right... look at what time this is posted and add an hour. midnight. dang time zones. (i just realized that for some reason it's saying it was posted at 10. it's not... it's 11. so much for that neat little thing i tried to do...)
i'm not super nervous, but i am aware of the significance of the situation. my australian recruiter just called me and made me feel better by saying "you're going to nail this interview. they're gonna love you. you're an english speaking north american female... no worries!" it actually worked... i do feel better about it now.
i'll find out the results in about 48 hours... so expect an update then. eep!
praise the Lord that He has a plan and i don't have to worry about my life! that's all i can think about right now...

busy busy

2010-03-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

i actually haven't been that busy... i've basically had the last 2 weeks off from work, so i've had a lot of free time. but i've managed to fill it somehow, and now time has gotten away from me.
i feel like nothing terribly exciting has happened to me in these last weeks, but i also feel like i've been excited a lot over little things. and 2 really big things... but they didn't actually happen to me.
so here's a list of what has been going on:

i'm starting with the most exciting because... well... i want to.

BRYAN'S GOING TO AFRICA! for those who don't know... my baby brother has been wanting to go to uganda for years, and i have been pushing for it since he graduated high school. well, after a couple years of figuring his stuff out, he's finally going to live and volunteer at a really sweet orphanage called musana children's home. i somehow heard about it through my church (flatirons), told bryan about it, he got in touch with them, and they basically told him to come as soon as he can. so he's leaving in like 3 weeks, which is very soon, but also very exciting! i could go on and on about this because i love bryan and i know that this is what he's supposed to be doing with his life... but i'll stop now. EEE!

i'm still training for the half marathon (i know right?! i'm shocked too...) it's going well... i'm ahead of where my training schedule says i should be, so that's good. i can run a billion years on the treadmill (by that, i mean like an hour without killing myself. which is phenomenal considering like a month ago i could only go about 10 minutes before i wanted to die) and the other day i ran around a lake near my house, which is 2.54 miles (haha... and i really did go exactly that. i took note of the pole that i started at and stopped there.) this is about 3 times further than i've been able to run since i finished soccer my sophomore year of high school, so i'm excited. i'm still a long way from half marathon status, but i'm getting there :)

things are moving along with korea stuff... i talked to a recruiter a few weeks ago, turned in my application and one letter of recommendation, and i'm waiting on my second letter so i can do an interview sometime in the beginning of april. if i pass the interview, i have to hurry and send in a buttload of papers and stuff before i can be offered a job, so it's still pretty far off. if you think of it, pray for me that everything gets turned in and that my interview goes well! that would be wonderful!

i'm starting a mentorship thing through a program called mi casa that my roommate carly works for. i've only gone in a couple of times, and i haven't officially started yet, but i'll probably be mentoring a 6th grade girl named krystal, and i'm really really excited about it!

AND of course i am VERY excited about baby austin... and i will be even MORE excited when i get to meet him :)

that's all i can really think of right now... other than that i'm just working on school (5 papers and a presentation and i'm DONE!) and my tefl and hanging out... tonight i'm going home for spring break, which i'm very stoked on.

praise God for exciting things! for opportunities and strength and His plan and babies :)

inspired.

2010-03-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

this weekend was the spring retreat. the theme was (in)spired... essentially it was about figuring out your calling, but it was actually way cooler than that. mostly it was just a time to get away and just be somewhere else, which was good. but also surprisingly harder to do than i thought it would be... i just couldn't stop thinking about all the things i need to do.

but there was a short time where i was really just content. saturday we had a lot of free time, and for about an hour i just got to be with some dear friends that i love doing one of my favorite things in the world.

let me just tell you about some wonderful people.

larissa has been my friend since the first few days of high school. she was my photography partner (and just overall good friend) in high school, then we came to ccu together, had an... interesting... freshman year living together, and have grown in our relationship over the last couple of years. she always inspires me and makes me laugh, and i just love her. she is also an amazing photographer... and she's not opposed to getting all up in people's business to get the shot.

then there is melanie. she's a little hippie (even though she hates that label). she's a weirdo and i love it! but really she's just passionate about life and learning and loving and people, and she's not afraid to show it. she has a beautiful voice that is going to take her far... here she is singing. it looks like she's worshipping, but really she's singing "let it be," by the beatles of course.

and this one is just because i like it...

and finally... there's megan. i don't know how to describe megan. she's one of the coolest people ever... she speaks russian and loves being irish and from milwaukee and she tells the funniest stories, mostly because she does the most random things, and she has one of my favorite voices of anyone ever. seriously... ever since i met her freshman year, one of my favorite things is to just sit and listen to megan sing. it doesn't even matter what she's singing... she just makes my heart happy.

praise God for wonderful friends and those moments of peace and relaxation!

running hard

2010-03-02T14:20:00.001-08:00

so i've been having trouble focusing... you know.
and i've been so excited about this whole running thing (o yea... i'm now going to train for a half marathon with Carly! it's in june... i'll keep you updated on my progress. should be quite the experience.)
anyways... i've been praying for motivation and for focus and for God to give me His strength to run and for clarity about my life and what i'm supposed to do.
and then today we sang this song in chapel. and i realized that this is what my prayer needs to be.

give me one pure and holy passion

give me one magnificent obsession

give me one glorious ambition for my life

to know and follow hard after You

to grow as Your disciple in Your truth

this world is empty, pale, and poor

compared to knowing You, my Lord

lead me on and i will run after You

i think that if this is my prayer, i will see the way that God works all the other stuff out.

praise the Lord for that!

focus.

2010-02-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

so... lately i have not been able to focus.
i've been productive in some areas, but not in the areas that i really need to be. like school. and my tefl, which i should probably have finished by now.
and it's funny because the things like school and my tefl have been on my mind a lot, but i literally have not been able to take all the thoughts i have and focus them enough to put them on paper. it's like i have all these ideas and thoughts and troubling issues floating around in my head, but i can't seem to get them out in a way that makes sense. which is also the reason i haven't been on here. also i've been very busy.
i've been thinking about a few things recently. here is what has been on my mind:

justice

teaching overseas

plans

God's faithfulness

having faith and what it means

contentment

excercise (namely: running!)

the future

the past

missy

people

goals

papers

balance

joy

thankfulness

restlessness

i could keep going. but seriously... my mind is all over the place. i'm supposed to write a paper in my justice class. it's on a book that is one of the best books i've ever read. and it's funny, because i seriously just want to talk about the book and how i feel about it, but i can't get it out to write the paper. make sense? the book is all about justice and how God hates injustice and how we can't just sit idly by and let the terrible injustices around the world happen. but it's not a guilt-inducing type of justice book. it's actually very encouraging and makes me want to go out and do justice. and it makes me feel like i actually can do something. and it brings me back to the place that i've been for so many years where i just want to get out and do it. it makes me frustrated that i still have to finish school and that i'm going to be in so much debt that i can't just go and volunteer and be poor.

and i'm excited about going to korea and i know it's going to be awesome and hopefully by the time i'm done there my debt will be paid, but i wish that i didn't have to limit my options because of money. i hate money.

i just want to go volunteer. all i need is a place to sleep and some food please. someday i will talk about "my cause" on here. but right now it's hard to talk about because i know that what i really want to do is not feasable yet, and that is annoying. and then i get frustrated.

right now i need to write my paper. and work on my tefl. these are things that i need to do, but instead i am doing other things that are not quite as important but still productive and good.

like running. i hate running. i always have. really i've always hated all excercise that comes in the form of going to a gym or purposely doing something for the sake of excercise. except recently that is not the case. turns out i actually love it. not running. i can just stand running now. but i love excercising now. it makes me feel good. and i get urges to do it, which never used to happen. and i feel weird if i go too long without it. and i also get urges to run. which is weird. but actually good because i'm going to run a 5k. and my friend carly is going to run it with me. and then a few weeks after that one i'm going to run another one with my mom. and now that fact is out on the world wide web so she has to. and so do i for that matter. i'm excited.

see... these are the random things that distract me.

also the fact that i haven't written a letter and sealed it with wax in a while, and that is sad. i'll write one. probably tomorrow actually because tonight i have other things that need to be done.

ok... this is just ridiculous now.

praise the Lord for randomness and motivation, even if it is not in the areas that i think i need it the most.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

2010-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

WOOHOO!!!!!

i just realized how whiny my post from yesterday is. oops.

i promise life is good! because God is good :)

praise the Lord for birthdays and being GOOD!

missed you.

2010-02-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

so... i feel like i haven't written anything in a thousand years. even though it hasn't even been a week. the reason is twofold-- a)i've been busy touring breweries and spending time with people i love and b)i've had ridiculous amounts of ups and downs and junk on my mind, and i haven't been able to process it into something writeable (word?).

i still don't know if i've been able to do it. actually... i know i haven't been able to. but i'm getting sick of keeping it all in my head, so it's going on here. it's gonna be random. and it'll probably be long. and it'll be rambly.

so the last couple months i've generally been in pretty wonderful spirits. really, it's the closest i've felt to the Lord in a couple of years, and it's to most content i've been to really not know what's gonna happen. but the last week has been a little bit different. i don't know what changed. i don't actually think anything did.

you know how sometimes you just have those days, or weeks, or, in my case recently, years? it's not that i've been sad or upset or not able to enjoy anything. i've just been in a little bit of a weird mood. things that wouldn't normally bother me have been. and people who i genuinely never get sick of have bothered me. and i've been getting more and more excited to go to korea because i really just want to leave. usually, i'm excited about going because i'm excited about going. but recently, it's been a different kind. like if someone called me tomorrow and told me they were sending me to some awful, remote country, i would jump on the next plane just to get out. and it's funny, because when i think about saying goodbye to everyone my heart hurts, yet i'm still so ready to leave. don't worry... it doesn't make sense in my head either.

so i've diagnosed myself, and, based on previous experience and lots of thinking and asking why, this is what i've come up with:

i hate saying goodbye. and i'm selfish. and, with those 2 things together, i turn stupid. i start getting annoyed at things so i won't miss people so much. and i get mad when anything threatens to ruin my plan that i have so carefully prepared myself for--my plan of going alone and living alone and doing the next few years myself. seriously, it's taken me a good 2 years to get to this place where i'm ok with going alone. and, even though there are a lot of times when i wish that i had someone to go with, for the most part i'm actually excited about it. i know that it will make me stronger. and i know that i will have to rely COMPLETELY on God, and no one else (because that's another thing i've learned: i am waaay too dependent on other people. that's frustrating.). and now that i'm diagnosed, i need to work on all of this.

sometimes i wish i just knew what was going to happen. i wish that someone would just come up and be like, "kailey, here's what you're gonna do. enjoy." life would be so much more simple. except i know that my stubborn ass would never let that happen, and i would do the complete opposite just to spite them.
i guess i can find comfort in knowing that whatever God wants to happen is going to happen, and it will be good. sometimes it's just hard to really trust in that fact...

and on another note: i just want to say a couple of words about the precious peanuts that i nanny. their names are addi and annika, and i love them. seriously... they are so sweet and wonderful, and they crack me up everytime i'm there. they brightened my day today :) not that it was really a bad one... they just made it a thousand times more awesome.
praise the Lord for tiny children and His plan!

ZUMBA!

2010-02-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

so... here's the zumba update: it was sweet! it was perfect because i am slightly obsessessed with latin dance, and that is what it's all based around. there's also some belly dancing moves and other stuff. seriously... really fun. and a great workout! i would recommend it. i don't really know what else to say about it... i can't go next week because it's my BIRTHDAY and i'm going to dinner with my family :) but i will definitely be going back after that!
right now i'm watching post grad. it's weird because i'm almost where she's at. i can't believe that i'm in my last semester of college. eek! i don't feel ready for that fact.
HA! here's a funny quote from the movie:

"I know you like the taste, but some kids just don't like having their heads licked."

praise the Lord for fun, wonderful friends, and helping me to get through the rest of school!

justice.

2010-02-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

so... i'm back to what got me started back up with this whole blogging thing. i'm sitting here attempting to write a paper, and i just don't feel like doing it. i would rather write about anything else besides karen lebacqz's six theories of justice right now. honestly. and it's funny... because i love the class. and i love the concept. and i love talking and thinking about justice and how we, as Christians trying to live according to Christ's example and what God desires, are supposed to show justice. but when it comes time for me to study the theories and write the paper, i just lose all interest in the subject. that is just the way it works with me i suppose... which is probably something i should work on.
but, in my strong desire to write about anything else, i will write about the class that kicked my butt tonight. see, i (with a little--a lot--of inspiration from my dear friend larissa) have finally decided to attempt what i have been talking about doing for about 3 years now. i am trying to eat healthier and just live healthier, which has actually been going pretty well so far. well, one thing i did as part of my quest was join the rec center. and tonight i went to my first class (with kellie), strength on the ball. we were most definitely the 2 youngest people in the room, which was neat. but i realized just how out of shape i am. it was not unbearable, and i was able to keep up, which was good. but i am already feeling the repurcussions, and i know that i will be feeling it tomorrow. i'm excited... it's my favorite kind of pain (not that i like any other kind of pain... i'm a big baby).
it had no cardio, which is what i need to be doing the most, but wednesday we're going to a zumba class, which i am actually super stoked on! i'll let you know how that goes...
and now i must get back to my paper... pleh.
praise the Lord for justice and the best kind of pain!

joy

2010-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

i love my dad :) he is a good man. just sayin...

today i discovered the joy of cooking. i've actually always liked cooking, but i don't really do it a lot because our kitchen is crowded and i never have the ingredients i need. also i'm lazy.

but now i'm trying to eat healthier, so i am going to start cooking for myself. and today i had the most joyous cooking experience, and i made a delicious meal. i will give you the recipe (for the whole experience, of course)

to start: you of course need some good music playing. the ideal playlist has fun music that you can dance to, or just that makes you happy. i'm telling you... the music can set the mood for the whole meal. here is a sampling of what i was listening to this evening (really, these are just ideas. you just listen to what you love):

k'naan-take a minute

sublime-rivers of babylon

the killers-mr. brightside

tristan prettyman-simple as it should be

nappy roots-good day (note: i listened to this song every day on my way to work last summer...)

jonas brothers-lovebug

john legend-number one (haha this is an extra special treat... check this kid out! too much time on his hands? i think yes. also, this song is not very kid friendly, and i don't condone what it's about. but it is a very fun song to listen to.)

hanson-penny and me (yep... that hanson.)

now that you have some wonderful music going, make this insanely easy and very tasty recipe.

first get these ingredients:
-chicken breasts
-salt and pepper
-soy sauce
-crushed red pepper
-minced garlic
-an onion
-red and green bell peppers
-olive oil

1-cut up the chicken into strips. put salt and pepper on it.

2-cut up the onion and peppers into strips. set them aside.

3-heat up just a little bit of oil in a pan and put the chicken in it. cook it.

4-while the chicken is cooking, put some soy sauce, garlic, and red pepper in a bowl.

5-once the chicken will no longer give you salmonella (or is cooked just like you like it), put it in the soy sauce mixture and get it all coated. leave it in there.

6-put the vegetables in the pan. cook them.
**at this point i threw the chicken in with the vegetables just for like 2 minutes to spread the flavors around, but it's completely edible and tasty right now.

then you just put it in a dish and voila! a delicious, easy, fast meal that is healthy!
seriously... it took me maybe 30 minutes from start to finish, including all the cutting and stuff!

here's a picture of the finished product

yum yum yum! praise the Lord for good food!

here's the thing...

HEY!

for those of you who have read none of this blog, or those who just want to know where i am and what i'm doing...

someday...

someday...

...

...

living with ugandans=

today...

rough...

carlos

happy

updates

here!

tidbits

right now...

haha oops

a list...

really?

resolution

a tiny glimpse...

peace

spirit

countdown...

awe

hmm...

christmas trees and cigarettes...

working for the weekend

thankful

fighting!!

a story...

today...

wednesdays are the best days.

a running tally...

currently obsessed

the last month or so...

bleach

good morning!

currently obsessed

here goes nothin...

two things

flash

currently obsessed

little helpers

He is so good.

just being honest.

wait.

suck on that, koreans.

little hellions

on the bus...

precious nugget... and some randoms

it's probably not good...

YAAAYYY!!!

here we go again...

somehow...

1.5 hours

welp...

**aaaa***

life as i know it right now...

still no phone or internet...

here it is...

quality...

my schools!

work

yay!

today i...

...

fillers

first impressions..

a promise...

yay!

*sigh*

randoms

my dad

ole ole ole ole!

prayer request

it's been a while...

aaannnnd if you want to know where i will be tomorrow night

if you want to know where i'll be on saturday...

whoa!

aaaa*

sigh