there and back again.

put a CORK in it.

2012-01-29T09:57:00.001-06:00

Ah, Cork City, Ireland. The second largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the first largest city for awkward moments.

It was friday night, and there were four of us, Ludie, Lee, Kala and me. There was a missions conference going on, and we went to represent OM Ireland by setting up a booth offering books and information about what we do. We traveled by green van - as you can see in this picture, is a beauty.

After a lot of traffic and a side-trip stop, four hours later we arrived in Cork. We needed to grab a bite to eat, so Ludie, remembering a takeaway from a previous trip to Cork, makes Lee lean out the window and ask someone "Can you tell me where KC's is?" The lady says "you mean, that KC's?" and turns around and points at the building behind her. There it is. We stopped right in front of it. Awkwardly saying "yep, that's the one," we got out.

KC's is big enough for a line (or, queue) to fit inside and that's it. It was delicious. I got a polynesian chicken pita and it was so good.

We then headed to the missions conference, where we set up our booth. The first night, there were about 50 people there and the crowd got progressively larger with each meeting.

Saturday morning, we had another meeting until 1pm and then didn't have to be back until 7pm. Ludie dropped us off in Cork city centre at the English Market and we had the day. We got some sandwiches in the market, and walked for ages trying to find a place to eat them. We ended up eating them at the entrance to the market - standing up. It was raining outside and inside there wasn't anywhere to sit down.

We spent the day exploring the streets, small shops, and back alleys. Cork didn't seem too much different from the rest of the cities in Ireland, but then again, there are only six in the Republic. We went into Dunnes, which is a major Irish department store, where i proceeded to spill my entire water bottle in my purse, leaving a nice water trail everywhere I went.

Like all of Ireland, shops started closing around 5:30, so we met Ludie and decided to hit up KC's again since it was so good. I guess we went at prime time because the queue was very long. And the best part about it is, it's away from the city centre, so not too many tourists know about it i guess, because we were the only non-locals in line.

We headed back to the last session of the conference, then packed our bags and headed home.

off key.

2011-12-11T17:32:00.003-06:00

It didn't effect me too much when the Irish said the Christmas season didn't traditionally start for them until the 8th of December. I still put up my decorations and tried not to play Christmas music too loud in the office.

It didn't effect me (although throw my whole childhood off balance a little bit) when I found out families from the Netherlands claim St. Nicholas comes from Spain and his elves are all named Pete and are black.

Those are differences that can be lived with. I've come to find out today, there is one Christmas season difference that can't be celebrated differently. Somebody has to change the way they've done things for years. Well, I guess you don't have to, but if you're like me, you end up sounding really terrible singing Christmas carols. I had to work my way through worship today, and it wasn't pretty.

I give you two examples: Away in a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem.

First, Away in a Manger. Classic American version

Away in a Manger. Classic Irish version:

Second, O Little Town of Bethlehem. Classic American Version

O Little Town of Bethlehem. Classic Irish Version

It's Christmas time in the city..

2011-12-08T17:10:00.001-06:00

Locations: London, Dublin, and my little humble town of Roscommon.

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks

dressed in holiday style

In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas

Children laughing

people passing

meeting smile after smile

Strings of street lights

even stop lights, blink a bright red and green

as the shoppers rush home with their treasures

the small things.

2011-10-31T09:23:00.000-05:00

When one travels, it's the big things that bring the most excitement and pleasure: the new scenery, the mixing of different cultures, the different accents, the different styles of buildings, the hustle and bustle of life outside of what you know it to be. I think for a place to become a home - to become no longer an extended vacation, it's the little things that count. In your hometowns I can guess you don't smell the air, take in a deep breath and say "ah! would you look at that skyline." or "ah! would you look at those trees!" What makes life your life is what you do with it. The people you become friends with, a special meal, the excitement of new clothes.

So, I give you a glimpse into those things for me. Little things that make a big difference.

bonfire with s'mores and music

new autumn dress

my new car!

Korean night - such good food

enjoying that food.

strawberries and creme with a nice coffee

"fancy a coffee?"

boat tour on the river shannon

snapshots of home.

2011-10-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

Each of these shots were taken in about a 20 minute radius of where I live. (don't forget you can click on them to make them bigger. :)

Finally a picture of who I live with!
Lisa is on the left, and Andrea is in the middle.

Portrunny (a port of the river Shannon)

classic.

Thatched-roof cottage

we had to pull over so he could get by.

hopefully no one comes over that hill at full speed...

our post office

Sunsets on the drive home from work

National Ploughing Championships

2011-09-28T06:43:00.001-05:00

To the majority of my American readers.... "ploughing" is our word for "plowing." Like ... farming.

If you want to read a report I wrote about the Ploughing Championships, you can download it here.

Don't forget you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Over 190,000 people attended

Everyone wore "wellies" (rainboots).
And by everyone, I mean everyone.
Even men in business suits!

So many good samples!

Prime place to see stereotypical old Irish farmers.

Baptist Association tent whom we partnered with

Ashley and Colm serving tea and sweets

Seong Bok and I trying out the face paint

a picture is worth a thousand words.

2011-09-18T09:59:00.001-05:00

... and that's why I have a lot of photos this time. Because to describe everything would take about 400,000 words.

Before I get into the scenic photos of Ireland that everyone sees in coffee table books or calendars at Barnes&Noble, I wanted to give you a little taste of what every day looks like for me.

Here's my office. I was sitting at my desk when I took this photo. Whoever is doing finances for the day, sits at the desk in the left hand corner (on this day, it happened to be Julianne). And the right hand desk is my overseer, Alastair's desk. You can see him in the nook of our office rather than his desk chair.

The OM Ireland family, when we're all together, consists of about 80 people. 80 divided by 12 ... let's see ... that would put us at an average 6-7 birthday's a month. We're always celebrating something. This particular birthday was Anna's 21st, and we hosted it at my house.

The next set of photos are from a 3-day trip up to county Donegal. I went up there to do some training with a woman who is passing the torch to me. On Saturday we got to do a little sightseeing, so I thought I would share these pictures with you so you can say (like I said, as I stood on top of a mountain) "Ah, now this is Ireland!" (reminder, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

moments of a month gone by...

2011-09-06T14:37:00.000-05:00

I realize that it has been almost a month since my last post. Meaning, I've been here for over a month! Can you believe it? I can't. I've been to Germany, Holland, and managed to settle into Ireland. It seems like it should be longer, but it has felt like days. I guess that's a good thing, right?

My first assignment at work was to design a magazine that OM Ireland puts out twice a year. (well, they're supposed to, but since they were lacking in the communications department, the last one came out a year ago.) So I was given all the articles and told to lay them out in an 8 page spread. Here's a sample of what my finished product looks like:

The morning I got the final "it's good to be printed!" from the printer, I hopped on a plane for Holland. OM has a conference called the GO conference for people who are joining OM (anywhere in the world) for 1+ years.

The GO conference was amazing. There were people from all over the world going all over the world. And all with the same message of Jesus' love. Again I was blown away by how global our God really is, but at the same time, how personal He is. One of my favourite things about he conference was getting to hear how God had called everyone to missions in a personal way to them.

Holland, not gonna lie, looks a lot like Indiana. Cornfields, driving on the right side of the road, flat... but Holland is not Indiana.

First of all, sprinkles are a normal part of a Dutchies balanced (or, not so balanced) breakfast. and dinner. Every household has a large box (or two) of sprinkles. You can get chocolate or fruit flavoured. I prefer the chocolate because the fruit ones tasted like Pez.

Second, in an Indiana field, you would not see windmills.

Third, you would not have markets with miles of gummies.

And, lastly, the thing that America is greatly missing out on, is the wonder called stroopwafels. These little guys are so good. So, they come in packs of 10, and it's two thin little waffles stuck together with a cinnamon sugar syrup substance. But after being packaged, everything is hard. While they are good on their own, the secret is to place them on top of a mug of hot tea or coffee (and they are perfectly sized for this very act) and the hot steam melts the cinnamon sugar syrup substance, making your stroopwafel a warm, gooey delight.

Now that I'm back from Holland, I'm here to stay for awhile. At least until Christmas. :)

night owl + work ethic

2011-08-19T19:00:00.000-05:00

This is how I feel (and probably look) after my first full week of work - when I'm still trying to balance staying up late and getting up at 7am.

sometimes you should judge a book by its cover.

2011-08-15T17:12:00.004-05:00

In an old, secondhand bookshop called "John's Books," I found myself talking to whom I assumed to be John. He sat at the back of the store - which was about 20 square feet - behind a desk stacked with papers and old books.

He asked me where I was from, and we had a conversation about California, the one state he's been. He asked me what I was doing here and for how long, and after explaining for a bit, he told me that he admired my faith. He was a pantheist, but he admired my faith. "Almost to the point where I might say I envy it."
I would've told him that he could have the very faith he envies, but he stood up, walked over to a shelf, and pulled off a book. He said "Who wrote Jane Eyre?" Good thing I'm super smart and knew the answer (okay, let's be honest, I just saw the movie). So I said "Charlotte Bronte." And he showed me a very old copy of the book. But it was written by Currer Bell. Good thing I'm super smart and didn't pick up on what that meant.
"The initials. Notice that they're the same. This book was published before women's writing was considered equal with men's."
"How much is that worth?"

He smiled, put it back, and pulled another one off the shelf.
"Sometimes, it's not the content of the book, but the binding."

He pointed out various marks on the leather that matched a family seal on the inside, meaning the binding was done by a wealthy family. Impressive. But not as impressive as secrets! He laid the book in his hand, so the front and back cover lied flat, and he held the pages of the book up with his thumb and index finger. Instead of gold leaf, like a gold leaf Bible or something, it looked a little tye-dyed. (This is hard to explain so I'll use pictures.)

He pushed the pages so they spread a bit,
and I gasped. It was like being a part of the Da Vinci Code. All of a sudden, it was a scene. A landscape of a field with a house and trees. Hand painted.
"How much is that worth?"
"3,500 Euros" ($5,000)

And that, is reason #467 that I love Ireland.

getting acquainted with home.

2011-08-09T09:57:00.003-05:00

I've had a few days off to recover from TeenStreet before I start work on Thursday.
Sunday I slept, ate and did my first loads of laundry. I hung things out to dry on the line in our garden and had to hover around it and constantly look out my window because the Irish rain is so unpredictable. It was a success.

Yesterday, my housemate Andrea took me around Roscommon to get me acquainted with some of the usual sites around town. We first drove to Molloy's bakery for a snack/lunch. I had chicken and corn soup with brown Irish bread that was delicious. But just a word of warning - the Irish serve their soup hot. Needless to say, my tongue is still recovering ... I have a feeling I will be frequenting Molloy's quite often. It's right down the street, it took me about 7 minutes to walk there today (but I didn't go in). And it's wonderful.

We went to the castle afterward. This is the first moment I truly felt like I was in Ireland. The scenery was so green, and this was the first castle I had seen. The grounds were well kept - there's a huge loop around the site to walk on, there's benches, a lake, and a playground for kids. It took me 20 minutes to walk there today.

Next stop was into town to get groceries. I was informed that we'd have to get groceries on a weekly basis because none of the food here has preservatives like the States. I stopped by a bookstore called Easons and bought a map of Ireland. I needed it to gather my bearings and see where I've been and where I want to go. I already started sticking notes on where I went with my school five years ago and would like to go back.

Today I tried to see if I could walk to castle. Like I said, it took me about 20 minutes. I like the walk better than the drive because you can see more scenery and notice all the little details like cows in the fields or who has the best garden or who keeps a donkey in their backyard. And you might have a little old Irishman totter past you on his bike and say "lovely day, it'n it?" and smile at you. Made my day.

survey. Reader response requested!!

2011-08-08T07:09:00.000-05:00

Okay everyone. I've been having a little "American" discussion about kettles. In America, or at least my household, we don't call them kettles, but just "water boilers."

Here are two examples. Now, when talking with my American, British, and German friends about these, the Americans all said that it was a UK, western European thing and that Americans didn't use them. Personally, in my household, we've gone through a few because we've used them so much. The American's just said "well, maybe you're just more British and fancy than the rest of us." I was shocked to hear that my fellow American's never had one in their homes in the States.

So here's my survey: leave a comment saying what part of the United States you are from (or what country you're from if you're outside of the US) and if you've had one of these in your home. You don't have to leave your name. I just need location and if you own one or have ever owned one.
Thanks!

REAL. experiences

2011-08-07T10:22:00.010-05:00

It's 3:37 in the afternoon and I'm sitting in my pajamas, staring out the window, hearing nothing but the whirr of a lawn mower. The night before, I went (or rather, tried) to sleep in a concrete-floored warehouse, listening to the tear down team pull an all-nighter dissembling the entire stage with nothing but 4 plywood walls separating me and the fork lift. The last night at TeenStreet.

This was my third TeenStreet (TS), and I think this was the most successful and spiritually challenging one I've witnessed. The theme was "REAL." with each day having it's own theme to fit inside that.

Sunday - REAL. Jesus [who Jesus was as a man.]
Monday - REAL. identity [finding our true identity in Christ.]
Tuesday - REAL. shhh [how to be quiet with and listen to God.]
Wednesday - REAL. encounters with Jesus [outreach in the city, and how it feels to encounter Jesus.]
Thursday - REAL. last supper [what Jesus' death accomplished and what that REAL.ly means to us.]
Friday - REAL. GO. [how to take what you've experienced at TS back home with you, and a missions emphasis.]

This week, the teens got to experience what a real relationship with Jesus looks like, and many were healed emotionally, physically and spiritually.

3,665 people attended TeenStreet this year, with around 2,000 being teens and 1,500 staff. Like I previously mentioned, my role was co-leader of the Newsletter team. The newsletter team is one small section of the Communication Team.

Communications Team

Here's what our little world looked like:

Our "office" backstage. Brainstorming "white boards on the walls."

The befits of working backstage...

our boxes for each language of the newsletter

Newsletter team's gotta have their inspiration!

Santa paid us a visit. You never know what's going to happen at TS.

There are a few significant and fun things that happened this week you should know about.

First, the official TS band [The Outbreakband] recorded a live CD during one of the worship sessions, and the CD will be available in October! This is one of my favorite songs by them.

Then, on Outreach Day, the teens had the opportunity to go into the city and make an impact on the people. Before we came, the TS programme [I'm going to have to start using British English] team asked the city if there was anything we could do. A goal of theirs was to beat the record for "Germany's longest coffee table." So, with 1,375 meters [4,511 feet] of 625 tables in the city centre, we served coffee and cake to the city while helping them beat the record! The people of Offenberg were also prayed for, given Bibles and roses, and served in lots of other different ways.

Lastly, I thought I'd leave you with a few pictures of TeenStreet in general so you can get a feel of what my week looked like. If you want to see more pictures, read the TS blog, or watch videos from the week, you can check out the website.

Teen lounge

worship with art

this wasn't planned, plaid is just all the rage in Europe! :)

communications creative crackers comics pt.2

2011-07-30T06:09:00.004-05:00

you'll have to click on it to make it bigger...

"you've got to be a little bit mental to be in communications..."

2011-07-29T10:37:00.002-05:00

getting those creative juices flowing with the help of German crackers...

just some helpful tools

2011-07-28T14:48:00.002-05:00

Hey guys - on the side of the screen, I just wanted you to take note that you can now see what time it is where I am, and what the weather's like!

the power of prayer.

2011-07-28T12:58:00.001-05:00

(note: the words that are a different color are links to other pages.)

Hey everybody! This world traveler is in Germany a little more than a week. I'm at TeenStreet again. You can check out a little what TeenStreet looks like from my blog update last year. I'll do another one for this year once we get further into the week.

I arrived yesterday, on the 27th. This morning I led devotions for my group. I did my devotion on prayer, which was really renewing for me, and something that I feel led to share with you.

I'm reading a book called Too busy Not to Pray. It has really convicted me that although I shoot a quick prayer almost on a daily basis, if I had more understanding, my prayer life and therefore my life would be more fulfilled, grounded, and blessed.

The author of the book, Bill Hybels, says "Many of us have pressing personal needs and serious problems that ravage our lives, but we don't ask God for help because somewhere, well beneath our surface layer of faith and trust, we don't believe God as the power to do anything about them."

Neither this book nor I can set your hearts right, but we can give you examples and thoughts to meditate on to start cultivating it. I know I need a change of heart to change my prayer life.

We must believe that God has the power to change our circumstances. In Acts 12:5-11, Peter is in jail and because of the demand of all the Christians to release him, the jail increased their security. The night before Peter's execution, verse 5 says "So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church."

To summarize what happens next, Peter is asleep, and an angel wakes him up and leads him out of the prison. What actually surprises me more than the angel leading Peter out of jail is that Peter was asleep. When I'm nervous about anything in the least bit, the first thing to be affected is my sleep. Peter had such confidence in the Lord's plan - whether that was to live or die, he didn't know that God was going to save him - he could sleep.

Things that hold us back from prayer: guilt, we think God has more important things to attend to, and we're not in the habit of it.

Regarding habits: Seeking change and developing habits have to start with making non-negotiable decisions: "I will learn what disciplines are necessary to my prayer life, and I will practice these disciplines regularly without fail."

Regarding God and more important things: First, we must accept that God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is equally concerned about all his children. Second, God invites us to pray. [Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.]

Regarding guilt: Sometimes when prayer is one-sided, we feel guilty and when we feel guilty, we stop prayer regularly. By one-sided, I mean we just pray help, or we only pray to confess sins. When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with the Lord's Prayer . It covers praise to the Lord, confession of sin, giving thanks to the Lord, and finally asking requests. Jesus' response ends with "If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Lastly, when our motives are wrong, guilt follows closely. Here are some suggestions of what you could ask yourself: Would this bring Glory to Him? Would it advance His kingdom? Would it help people? Would it help me grow spiritually?

Feel free to comment - I'd love to hear ways that help you take time out to pray or ways that you've been encouraged by prayer.

virtual tour

2011-07-24T08:20:00.003-05:00

Here's where I live! (just so you know, any pictures I post, you can click on them to make them bigger)

My front door

The front of my house: it's a duplex, so my house ends where that drain pipe is.

View from the front door.

Looking in: left: living room. back two doors: kitchen and dining room.

living room

View from the kitchen window

back patio

dining room / hang all our clothes to dry room

upstairs (the open door is my room) the door on the right is the bathroom.

bathroom. so european.

the honeymoon stage

2011-07-23T14:16:00.001-05:00

After a hop to Chicago and a giant leap to Dublin, I arrived safely with no problems and all my bags at 8am.

One of my housemates, Andrea picked me up. When we first started talking, I thought in my head "hey... they told me she was American, but she's Irish. cool!" But after telling her I was sorry that I couldn't think in Celsius yet, she said "I'm from Atlanta, so I'm okay with that." What? She's been here a year. I would love if in a years time I have that much of an accent.

My house is really nice. Downstairs is a living room, dining room, and nice-sized kitchen. Although, the walls are still pretty bare and doesn't seem to have much "personality" I decided the less overwhelming thing for me to do is just decorate my room like crazy.

My room: is upstairs. Upstairs we have three bedrooms, a guest room, and a bathroom. My room is in the back of the house, overlooking our small fenced in yard and all the other houses. They're quite close together. Here are some pictures to illustrate:

Sounds from my window include two children playing in their back yard, a baby crying, the neighbor's piano wafting in from their house, and what I think is an ice cream truck. An ice cream truck that visits the neighborhood at least three times a day. It blasts the loudest carnival music. If it's not an ice cream truck, then I must live next door to a giant carousel.

After getting unpacked and making my room look more like my room, I settled down for a nap. A solid 5 hour nap. I haven't slept that well in weeks.

It's hard to think about how quickly my life changed in an instant. It was like I was traveling fast down a river, grabbed ahold of the bank, pulled myself up, and toppled headfirst into another river going the opposite way. I can't comprehend that I'll be here for two years, it's just something I can't put my head around.

But as my housemate said, right now I'm in that honeymoon stage where everything is new and exciting. Which it is. I love that in Evansville it "feels like 101" and here it's 59 degrees and everyone is wearing shorts because it's a warm day. I love that it's overcast. I love that the furthest point away from me in Ireland is 4 hours away. I love that on my drive from the airport I saw castle ruins, sheep, and the river Shannon.

not all those who wander are lost.

2011-07-22T09:51:00.001-05:00

Tolkien is my favorite person to quote for travels and adventure.

"It's a dangerous business going out your front door. You step on to the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

It may be a dangerous business, but it's an exciting business. I still can't comprehend what I'm saying when I say "Today, I am moving to Ireland."
Keep checking back in the next few days because I feel there will be lots of updates. At 2am Evansville time today (or, technically tomorrow), I will be arriving in Dublin.

Just for future reference, Ireland is 6 hours ahead of Evansville time, or CDT

So say a prayer for me, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

going to Ireland

2011-05-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! It has been about four months since my last blog/update. I can't believe how fast time has flown, and I'm sorry for not keeping everyone updated or just enlightening you with my amazing creativity... just kidding. But, as this is mainly a blog for my travels, and I'm about to embark on my biggest of big adventures, I knew I needed to update you. I decided a video would be much more ... interesting ... than me typing out all this information.

After watching the video, feel free to contact me, e-mail, facebook, comments, anything. I'll be happy to answer any further questions.

-Adrienne

an attempt.

2011-01-24T23:51:00.000-06:00

last night's snowfall made me think about Robert Frost. I guess I was in the poetry mood, because this morning, I sat up, listened for a second, grabbed my computer and typed this up in about 3 minutes.

it's been a long time that i've tried to create some sort of art in general. and, i felt like i wanted to illustrate what i had written. it's been a long time since i've attempted poetry. like... 10th grade long time. so, with all those disclaimers....

| insert non-cliche title about a new year and new beginnings |

2011-01-11T23:09:00.002-06:00

A year goes by and I'm staring at my watch again, and I dig deep this time, for something greater than I've ever been, life to ancient wineskins. And I was blind but now I see.

([above]I always have to quote a part of the song New Years Eve by Five Iron Frenzy on the New Year.)

As I looked to the approaching new year, I realized a lot of things are going to be different.

My brother Chris and his wife Angela are having a baby. The first grandchild/niece in our family.
My other brother Nathan is getting married in May.
I'm moving to Ireland.

2010 was grinding to a halt, and 2011 was revving its engine. Normally, I try to stay in the year and prolong Christmas as much as possible, but this year was different. The three things I previously mentioned are waiting in the future, and this is the first year in the history of my life that I'm not affected by the school calendar.

Anyway, I wanted to start off this new stage of my life with a solid foundation. Something to focus me - start the new year off right. So I went to Passion. Passion is a Christian conference in Atlanta. That's an entirely different blog post that I'm honestly not going to write. So why don't you just ... check out the website?

The Passion conference was a huge blessing, and a great way to kick off the new year. So here's a bit of what's been on my heart for my future.

Jesus Christ must be my one solid motivation for everything I think, say and do. He is the LORD, and the best possible thing for us, therefore if my life is solidly based on the fact that I believe my motivations are His motivations, then I will be a living testimony to Him and that's all I can hope for.
I believe that my peers and I have the power to affect the Church. And I feel an obligation to be the change that I want to see in the Church.
The Holy Spirit is on the move. Everywhere. And I think this is one of the most vital things that if the Church could grasp, things could change drastically and be cause for motivation and movement. C.S. Lewis wrote this in his Screwtape Letters (backup if you don't know about the Screwtape Letters. They are letters from one demon to another. Lewis used this book as a major work of "reverse psychology" for Christians.)
One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do riot mean the Church as we see her spread but through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes I our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather in oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbours. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like "the body of Christ" and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy's side. No matter.
So, do you have any New Year's resolutions?

Hallelujah to Hallelujah: two NYC concerts that were too hot to Handel

2010-12-07T00:28:00.001-06:00

It was said that when Handel was trying to write the famous "Hallelujah Chorus," he spent days in solitude, barely eating. At last, with tears streaming down his face, he finished the piece, claiming he had seen heaven itself and God before him.

You know, I really don't doubt it. In a small but beautiful Presbyterian church in New York City, it still causes the heart to stir, and tears to come. No wonder the queen stood up.

That was really the first Christmas-y thing I've done this year, and I wouldn't have kicked off the season any other way. Amidst one of the busiest and consumeristic places in the world, I still experienced peace.

-------------------------------

Number 1 on my bucket list (now written out in tangible form) is to see Rufus Wainwright in concert. When Moulin Rouge came out 9 years ago, my absolute most favorite song on the album was "Complainte de la Butte" by Rufus. After listening to that song over and over again, I looked him up and thus begin my love for his music.

Tonight, number one on my bucket list was fulfilled. And in Carnegie Hall nonetheless!

It was really like two shows in one. The first half was crazy. I know I overuse that word a lot, so let me explain:

Before the show started, an announcement was made that we weren't allowed to clap at all until Rufus had completely left the stage after the first half. When the lights went out, the stage door opened, and out walked Rufus in a black dress with a long train (similar to a black wedding dress) and a black feather collar. He glided towards the solo grand piano in the middle of the stage and proceeded to play the entire "Songs for Lulu" album without stopping. In the background on a large screen was a video playing of a single eye, that was completely surrounded by black makeup, opening and closing at a really slow speed. Every once in a while a tear would fall from the eye.

His performance of the album itself was beautiful. A few of the songs were Shakespeare sonnets that he set to music, and the rest were original pieces. It really really showed off his talent. There were a few things that surprised me about seeing Rufus Wainwright in person:

1. He's old? I always imagine him at the age of 30 (and looking like this). Never aging I guess. But now he's 37. You don't look like that three years away from 40.

2. He doesn't open his mouth. Rufus can sing. Loudly. But at those really climax-y loud high belting-it-out moments, his mouth is barely open. Honestly, it kinda weirded me out.

3. Rufus is extremely extremely talented at piano. I knew he played his own piano parts in concert, but I didn't realize how good he really is. And singing while playing these complex pieces, too! I really think it was just as much a piano concert as it was singing.

After intermission, Rufus was back to his, what I assume to be, usual self. He joked around about the first half being super intense, he was wearing a very Rufus-esque purple velvet blazer and orange striped tie, and he won me over even more by singing almost every one of my favorite songs, including some Judy Garland covers.

He had a few surprises for the audience:

1. The opera he wrote/composed will be performed in NYC's opera house.

2. His dad and sister were in the audience.

3. His sister, Martha Wainwright, sang a few duets with him.

4. He's engaged, and his fiancee was in the audience as well.

The most disappointing song of the evening was the famous "Hallelujah" originally made famous by Jeff Buckley (whom Rufus tributed by singing one of my favorites - "Memphis Skyline"). First, he choked halfway through the song and had a mini coughing fit. I mean, I really only felt bad for him. It wasn't like I was offended or anything. It's really just too bad for him. But his sister sang one of the verses of the song, and although she was awesome as a complimentary singer for him, she didn't sound so good on her own.

As I was just thinking about my favorites to include on here, I realized that everything was my favorite. But if I had to pick, it would be the songs I had never heard before. One was from his new "Songs for Lulu" album: "The Dream," and another one was a duet in French that he and his sister sang together. I don't know the title of it, but I'll try to locate it later.

Rufus Wainwright in concert is now in the top 3 of my most favorite concerts. I don't know what place it's in yet, I need to make a list of the concerts I've been to and get back to you on that.

But I wasn't disappointed. At all. In fact, it exceeded all expectations even though mine were super high. I actually didn't expect him to sound so good. His voice is either hit or miss with people, but I think in concert, everyone would like him. I think he's one of the few artist whose voices sound a lot better and purer in concert than on a CD.

a series of unfortunate events.

2010-12-01T23:12:00.003-06:00

(Oh hey blog, I'm traveling again, so time to dust you off the shelf.)

DO NOT BOAST ABOUT TOMORROW, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A DAY MAY BRING. - old Christian proverb (27:1) -

PROLOGUE
It all started about a month ago when I got a phone call from Expedia. My flight out of Indy at 4:30 to New York City was cancelled and they had to reschedule me to an earlier flight at 12:30. Slightly inconvenient because my brother Nathan wouldn't be off work yet, but nothing serious. Sure, Delta, that's fine.

A WHITE BEGINNING
Fast forward to 8:30am this morning ( Wednesday, December 1) when I checked the status of my flight. All good, despite the fact it had snowed about 2 inches that night. 9:30 am - driving to Indy in the snow and ice and slip-slidin' around when I get a phone call. My flight was cancelled, and I was rebooked on the next flight out at 1:30.* .... *Bonus: flight now has a two-hour layover somewhere. Needless to say, I spent a productive 2 1/2 hour car ride (which should have been 1 1/2 hours, but thanks to the snow...) rebooking my flight to a direct flight. But, again, sure Delta, no big deal in the long run.

So I get to the airport at 11:15 and see that there is a flight to New York leaving at 11:45. I run to the counter and ask to be put on standby. I want to get out of the airport as soon as possible because the snow is still coming down, and that could get messy.

The 11:15 flight gets delayed to 12:30. At 12:30, they announce that due to bad weather in New York, all flights have been delayed until 2:00. I go to my original flight's gate, because at this point, standby doesn't matter since all flights are leaving after 2pm. At 2pm, they announce that all flights into New York period have been cancelled.

"Come to the counter to rebook flights for a later departure."

UP IN THE AIR
After spending 20 minutes on the phone with Delta - while standing in line waiting to get to the counter - I manage to book a flight that leaves at 7pm that night with a layover in North Carolina, putting my arrival time in NY at 9:15. At this point. I'll take it.

My brother calls me and says that he wheeled and dealed with Delta and they had a flight open at 3:15 that wasn't cancelled. He rebooked my flight again for me. At this point, I've reached the counter. The lady at the counter tells me that the flight he just rebooked me for was just cancelled. And oh no! The flight connecting in North Carolina has just been filled! Nothing until tomorrow morning at 7am.

At this point, I admit defeat, go collect my bags and get out my phone to start making calls to friends that live in Indy that could possible let me shack up for the night. Everyone from my millions of cancelled flights have already stormed out of the place cursing Delta's name. As I'm about to get on the phone, I hear on the overhead: "Would flight attendants for Flight 5988 to New York please return to the boarding gate to prepare for departure." ...

...

Wait, what? Curious, I find that gate. Lo and behold, it's that 11:30am flight still hanging on strong after a 4-hour delay! But alas, other people heard the same announcement as me and were already in line begging for standby. With my last amount of effort and a lot amount of prayer, I get in that line. I tell the attendant that I put my name on standby early that morning. She tells me to have a seat and see if someone doesn't show up for the flight, but my name WAS on the standby list.

NOTHING YOU CAN'T DO
Three people didn't show up for their flight. Guess who was number three on the standby list? If I hadn't put my name on the standby list that morning, who knows where I would be now? I do know that all things considered, I pretty much arrived exactly the same time I had originally planned when I booked my flight for the first time 2 months ago.

EPILOGUE
And where am I now? Sitting in an apartment in Chelsea, two doors down from Ethan Hawke, and stuffed full of expensive NYC cuisine.

The subtle subliminal messages of Barnes & Noble

2010-11-14T23:41:00.002-06:00

(*first off, I'd like to note, yes, I am back after a month and a half of inactivity. Sorry about that, I really haven't been doing much and have no excuse. I'm a little out of sorts.)

Everyone needs a getaway. Like Holly Golightly needs Tiffany's, and that lady in Mary Poppins needs the steps so she can feed the birds, I need Barnes & Noble. It's not necessarily a getaway from life, but rather to life because if I don't have a place to go, I get all cooped up at home and forget there's life outside of my house and normal routines.

So my thoughts lately are taken up by one of two themes:
1. What God's grace means in my life (I know, heavy, right?)
2. relationships. a la dating. (let me clarify: I am not dating. but I'm a girl. so I think about these things, okay?)

As I'm sitting in Barnes contemplating #1 by reading Romans and trying to shove the ever-present #2 out of my head, Amazing Grace starts playing on the speakers. I smile and thank God for the extra reminder and continue reading.

I kid you not, the NEXT song was "That Old Black Magic" by Frank Sinatra. That "old black magic" is referring to love. Ironic, no?

God's funny. If He wants to teach me a lesson, He's going to get it through my head somehow. Why not the sound system?

Here's the lyrics:
That old black magic has me in its spell,
That old black magic that you weave so well
Those icy fingers up and down my spine,
The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine,
The same old tingle that I feel inside
And then that elevator starts its slide,
Down and down I go,
Round and round I go,
Like a leaf that's caught in the tide.
I should stay away but what can I do,
I hear your name, and I'm aflame,
A flame with such a burning desire,
That only your kiss can put out the fire.
'Cause you're the lover I have waited for,
The mate that fate had me created for,
And every time your lips meet mine,
Darling, down and down I go,
Round and round I go,
In that spin of love that I am in,
Under that old black magic of love

and Amazing Grace:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come
'Twas grace that brought me safe this far
And grace will lead me home

When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright-shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun

I decided it was a good time to listen to the lyrics of the black magic song, and I heard the part that said "the mate that fate had created me for." And all of a sudden, I was a little repulsed. Again, let me clarify: I'd be totally cool with dating. But, at this moment the words "'twas grace that brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home" sounded a billion times more pleasing.

What sounds better? That fate created me for a mate that would last no more than 100 years? or That God created me and drew me to Him because He loved me before I existed so that I could enjoy him forever?

This is definitely not one of those "Jesus is my boyfriend/husband" posts. I'm just saying sometimes God's reminders come in weird ways, and today, it was Barnes & Noble's sound system.

Design Inspiration

2010-09-26T01:52:00.004-05:00

I stumbled across a Christian design site recently and continue to look at this page at least once a day:
Word: Original Design Project

This guy was inspired to design cover art for books of the Bible. I was really jealous that he thought of this idea first, but then I thought it'd be a good challenge for me since I'm trying to teach myself some more adobe creative suite techniques. And the Bible would be a place full of inspiration.

So now I post my first attempt at this thing. Inspired by Ezekiel 3:3 -

"'Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.' So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth."

Top 10 Snacks of all time.

2010-09-16T17:14:00.013-05:00

...according to me.

I decided to make a top ten list of my favorite snacks, and I realized that each one has a story behind it. So, if you ever need to know what to get me for my birthday, Christmas, or any time you feel like being nice to me, these are always a great back up plan. Or ... plan A.

1. Cheetoes Puffs

Now I'm not talking about those crunchy cheetoes that look like little clubs from the stone age that Bam Bam carries around. I'm talking about the puffy ones. My addiction started 3 days before Halloween last year. My roommates and I were throwing a party and we bought

a huge tub of those cheese balls. We wanted to break into them before the party, but we knew we'd eat them all, so for 3 days we stared at them. When Halloween came around, I ate cheese balls like there was no tomorrow. Ever since, I've been hooked on the puffs. Cheetoes formula: 3 days of deprivation = >1 year of addiction

2. Funyons

I have my sister-in-law and her sister to blame for this. I was introduced to these during our very first sleepover and they've been a movie night tradition ever since. I mean, who doesn't like onion flavored rings?? Also I'm pleased to share this love with Shaun and Gus from the TV show Psych.

3. Ben and Jerry's half baked

Once again, blaming the sister-in-law and sister duo. For introducing me to the fact that it's "okay" to pack in ice cream during movies. We'd each get pints for ourselves and this is the one I grew to love. It's half chocolate chip cookie dough, half chocolate brownie. Can it get any better?

4. Kettle Salt and vinegar chips

I'd have to say all my travels to England and Ireland did me in with salt and vinegar. I never thought I'd like vinegar for more than just the fact that you needed it to dye Easter eggs. But, alas, I can't get enough.

5. Peanut Butter m&m's
The classic Clayton family + Adrienne road trip essential. Any time I go on road trips with my best friend and her parents, we MUST have these.

6. Sqworms

I love sour gummi worms in general, but Sqworms have a special place in my heart. A friend from high school used to get them every day for lunch and for some reason, we thought that was hilarious. I just have a good association with these.

7. Happy Hippos / Koala Yummies

Aren't these the cutest?? Not only do they look good, they taste good. They're both similar, they have a sweet shell with nutella type stuff inside.

Unfortunately Happy Hippos aren't not sold in the states, so if you go traveling to Europe, be sure to check these out. Koala Yummies can be found in Asian food markets or World Markets.

8. Toasted baguette with chevre and honey

Yeah, I just got super fancy. This is my likes-to-pretend-to-be-classy side coming out. My brother made these as an appetizer for my family once (he lived in France. enough said.) and taught me how to make them. Sounds like a weird combo, but I haven't found anyone who didn't like it.

9. Ritter Sport
First, I like chocolate. Second, I'm a sucker for variety. What better combination? My friend and I ate these like hotcakes in Germany and had to be sure to to try all kinds!

10. Toasted pita and hummus
Now my too-cool-for-school self coming out. My housemate Britani would make homemade hummus and it was the best. We started buying pita and toasting it to go with it, and it was awesome. Great appetizer at Mediterranean restaurants.

of mice and men.

2010-09-08T01:12:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, well, most of the time, I wish Pixar movies were real life.

It kind of goes along with wishing I would catch my stuffed animals talking or moving.

Here's my problem: I just saw a mouse run across my floor.
Here's an even bigger problem: This is the third one in a week.

Here's a few options of who this little guy could be:

Remy:

Here's to hoping I'll wake up in the morning with a little gourmet breakfast in bed.

Rabid Scary Mouse:

When I am awakened by scuffling around the room, truth is, I'm going to imagine this.

Mission: Impossible Mouse:

What he'll probably end up doing if we set a trap.

Stuart Little:

Here's to hoping he ran under my bed to go retrieve his sweater and car that he forgot when I saw him.

Cinderella Mice:

Let's be honest, this is the REAL reason these mice are in my room. They know Prince Charming's right around the corner so they're gathering to make my new wardrobe.

Distant shores

2010-08-30T00:09:00.004-05:00

Life comes in themes. Like your refrigerator, dishwasher, and washing machine breaking at the same time. Or everyone you run into tells you about his or her vacation last summer in Switzerland. Or you just so happen to go to three different churches within a month, and they are all preaching on the same thing.

My current theme can’t be simplified into a sentence, so I thought I’d share the different things that I’ve been running into lately. Or maybe they’ve been running into me.

I first started thinking about it in the car, when I was listening to a song by Five Iron Frenzy called “On Distant Shores.” The chorus of the song said “If mercy falls upon the broken and the poor, dear Father, I will see you there, on distant shores.” I had this quote hanging up in my room for a long time, so in the car I was thinking about why. Because when I was a kid I was neither broken nor poor. Or at least I didn’t think so. The part that I really loved was the concept of distant shores, and meeting God there some day.

I continued on with my Five Iron Frenzy playlist and again, the idea crossed my mind when another song called “Far, Far Away” played. The chorus sang,

“Can you hear the bells are ringing far, far away? Can you hear the voices singing far, far away? I know that one day soon a song shall rise. You’ll hear it with the sleep still in your eyes.”

All this talk of distant shores and far away singing made me hungry. Hungry for some Lord of the Rings. I daydreamed my way into the scene of the movie where Gandalf is talking to Pippin about dying.

“The journey doesn’t end here. There’s another path; one that we all must take. The gray rain curtain of this world rolls back, and it will change to silver glass, and then you see it. White shores; and beyond them, a far green country under a swift sunrise.

I imagined being on a boat looking out towards a sunrise and hearing distant, beautiful music. And with the sleep still in my eyes, my heart is stirred and filled full with joy and anticipation and I don’t know exactly why. But I know it’s coming, and I’m almost there.

Even now, typing it out makes my heart beat fast.

I decided to dive into the Word for similar glimpses of hope, and found this: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

Like Paul also says “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” But he also realizes that staying is important so he can share the Gospel and fulfill what God wants him to on earth. It’s like being gone a long time from home. I think traveling a lot helps me understand this. When I’m traveling or out of the country my heart is never settled. I never feel as truly at rest or relaxed as I am at home. Our citizenship is in heaven. So it just makes me incredibly excited to know that even when I’m “home” in Indiana, I’m not feeling how much more at home and at peace I’ll feel one day when I am approaching those distant shores.

Besides the song playing on my ipod and getting my attention, most of these discoveries were self-induced. But I heard this quote this week under completely different circumstances: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.”

And in a very strong and tangible way, my limited understanding makes the peace I mentioned earlier overflow into this life.

there and back again.

2010-08-06T22:38:00.003-05:00

I think I appropriately titled my entry with the same title as my blog, because I am now back in the U.S.

The previous entries describe TeenStreet as a whole, and by checking out that stuff, you can get a good idea for what it is like.

Leading the Newsletter team was great. It's funny how fast you learn your strengths and weaknesses when thrown into a leadership position. At first I thought I was given this opportunity so God could show me how I am as a leader and if I can do it or not, but looking back, I think that was only about 10% of the reason. I really think I was put there to meet certain people and have certain conversations that wouldn't have happened if I was just a writer.

Yesterday morning at 6:30am Hannah and I woke up in Oldenburg, Germany. We took three trains and three planes* and landed in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 9pm. Our friend Ryan picked us up.

All summer it seemed like all of my friendships started out as get-to-know-you games and by the time we got comfortable enough to reach a deeper level, it was time to move on to a different location. It was incredibly comforting having a friend pick us up who immediately said "Food cravings? Taco bell?" Now that's someone who knows us.

So what's next?

I've heard this question ... maybe ... 23 times this summer. I will do my best to make this answer as broad and ambiguous as my future. For the next 3 days I will be in the wilderness of Minnesota with Hannah and her family. Then we'll be heading to Minneapolis to hang out with our friends from school, Ryan and Kevin. Next Saturday I'll be heading home to Evansville.

I'll probably spend a few months at home organizing my life and preparing for the future. I've narrowed down the search for what I will be doing, but due to the uncertainty of the situation, I'll need a while before I can give a lot of details. Bear with me, though. Although I am at home, I am going to make it a goal to keep updating my blog - less description, more thoughts.

_____________________________________

*Funny story of the day: Hannah and I got upgraded to Premium Class on our flight- so our chairs were like little Lazy Boy's and had a lot of leg room. Instead of folding down from the seat in front of us, the trays came out of the armrest and unfolded sideways over our laps. As we were eating dinner, I was talking about something where I had to use the phrase "So this is my worst case scenario:" As soon as those words came out of my mouth, my tray just slid forward onto the floor and spilled out into the aisle. Hannah and I didn't even need time to process what had happened. Immediately tears of laughter spilled down my face, and I'm sure everyone around us thought us too immature to be seated in Premium Class.

Opening Night video!

2010-07-30T02:58:00.000-05:00

Check out the premiere on YouTube!

TeenStreet 2010!

2010-07-29T14:35:00.004-05:00

It's amazing what can happen in a few days, especially when you're running around Europe and changing locations what seems like every week.

I'm currently in Oldenburg, Germany at a youth conference called TeenStreet. It's the same one as last year, just in a different location, more teens, and new personal responsibilities.

Check out our stories and see us on the webcam here!

I was informed the second day I arrived that I would be head of the Newsletter Team. The original leader unfortunately couldn't get the right paperwork to be here, so we didn't know until the last minute if she could come or not. We miss her a lot, and wish she could be here, but we can already see how God was working through that before we knew there would be problems in the first place.

So my team (it still feels weird and arrogant to refer to them as "my team") consists of 7 people: four writers and three graphic designers. It was kind of unnerving that a few hours after I took this new position I saw my name and photo in a team leaders packet for the conference.

I'm proud to say that my team was an hour and a half early for their first deadline yesterday (celebrated with late-night ice cream), and it looks like we're going to be almost two hours early today. I feel like I should be doing a lot more work, but the entire team is so great - they're making it really easy on me. (Maybe it's because I'm used to running around scrambling for content 2 hours before deadline for the student newspaper.)

The first official day of TeenStreet is today, and the kickoff ended about 30 minutes ago.

Quick Statistics:

Total number of people at TeenStreet: 3,587
Teenagers (13 - 17 years): 2,060
Leaders/Service Team: 968
Countries represented: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Bolivia.
Translation: The newsletter is translated into 12 different languages and the main sessions are translated into 13!

So as you can see, TeenStreet is very international, and once again, I'm amazed at the tribes, tongues, and nations gathered to glorify God.

Here's a few photos from the beginning of the week!

Here's the office:

The main stage area:

The main stage area FULL!

OM International:

Our favourite town square with our favourite ice cream cafe!

five fun photos

2010-07-24T10:50:00.005-05:00

(Don't forget you can click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

1. The Queen's Garden- Regent's Park

This is where we had our friend, Nathalie's, birthday party. Beautiful place for a picnic and definitely made me feel like I was in a high - society Jane Austen scenario.

2. The Dining Hall- Oxford, England

You might recognize this shot from Harry Potter as the Great Hall in Hogwarts castle.

3. Christ Church - Oxford, England

The courtyard featuring a well and a Olive tree.

4. The Tent - London, England

Made in 2010 by Hannah, Bianca, Adrienne, and Andrew, this tent features multiple multi-coloured sheets, flashlight lighting, and three couches inside! Ideal for scary stories and chocolate.

5. a cool castle that I can't remember the name of - near Carlisle, UK

The smaller part peaking over the hedge on the furthest left of the picture is Karen and John's house. It's the chauffeurs cottage of that castle. Since the castle is shut down, Karen and John's backyard is the castle's backyard. Best dinner ever.

farewell to London

2010-07-22T03:32:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the lack of updates, it was a whirlwind these past three weeks.

Yesterday was my friend Hannah and my last day in London. We're in Carlisle right now for about three more hours and then we're off to Germany for TeenStreet!

So another quick overview of what happened the last three weeks (in list form!):

My friend from university, Hannah, arrived in London to be a communications intern with me.
We spent hours writing/designing brochures, powerpoints, postcards, and newsletters.
We were also a part of outreach teams (we requested to be on two separate teams to cover more ground)
During the outreach, my team stayed at a church with no showers. Challenging, but the 15-minute walk to the pastor's house every other morning was ... invigorating!
On our first day off, Hannah and I went to see Les Miserables.
On our second day off, Becky, my supervisor boss lady from last summer came to London to visit Hannah, Lori (my supervisor boss lady in London), and me. We had a fun day eating, talking, and just catching up together.
When the outreach was over, Hannah, our friend Dominic, and I went to Oxford for a day trip this last Monday.
The next day, Tuesday, was our friend Nathalie's birthday, so we went to Queen's Park (a rose park/garden inside a larger park in London) with a group of people to celebrate and then we ended in a very local pub. It was amazing, there was a pianist who was playing songs from the 1920's - 40's and everyone in the pub knew all the words. There were people from ages 20 to 80 and they were all singing "On the Street Where you Live" and "I could've Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady. It was a fantastic birthday for Nathalie, and a perfect last night in London for us.
Wednesday (yesterday) Hannah and I took the train to Carlisle and had a fantastic dinner with a couple that I had met here last year. But I think that dinner deserves an update by itself.

Okay, so I will be doing a picture blog within the next few days because some stories and things we did just deserve pictures. BUT for right now, I will leave you with another video that Hannah and I put together for our blog readers. So enjoy!

vlog for the blog

2010-06-29T19:32:00.002-05:00

Thought you guys might like a break from reading!

hannah's blog: http://post-it-noted.blogspot.com

two weeks down, four to go.

2010-06-25T12:38:00.003-05:00

Well, I just spent a two weeks going from 7:45am to 12am every night, talking to people about Jesus every day, running around London via bus and Tube, and everything else you can possibly imagine.

I've learned a lot about God, myself, and His people these past two weeks. I've learned that God answers prayers immediately, one day later, a week later, a year later, 5 years later, and some we're still waiting on. I've learned that God is faithful, unchanging, a Father, friend, confidant. I've learned that he doesn't just love Christians, or good people, but everyone. And most importantly, I'm still trying to learn that He loves me.

I've learned that I'm a lot more outgoing than last year. I've learned that God has been preparing me all year for this without me realizing it. Which proved to me that God is constantly working in our lives, even when we aren't trying. I've learned that we all have something to bring to the table: God's table. I've learned something different from each and every one of my team members, and have been blessed by it.

I've learned that everyone in the world has a story to tell. Yes, this I should've learned from being a writer, but this time I've experienced it first hand. I have talked to people from different countries, tribes, languages, and although there are these different stories, there's all one we share in common, and that's love. But more importantly and greater, His love.

I'd love to talk and tell you stories, but as you can see, I'm quite busy. So drop me a line or e-mail or reply, and I'll try to get back to you. God bless!

London Calling

2010-06-18T08:15:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I have now completed the first of my 5-½ weeks here in London. My team consists of 8 people – I am the only American. I think I get a funny look every time someone says “football” because they all know that I’m thinking “American Football” and this happens quite often since the world cup is going on. Speaking of which, I might suggest not watching an England vs. USA football game - in England - with a large group of people in which you are one of two Americans in the room.

Every day here is different. Some days we’re taking classes, some days we’re out on the streets or in the parks talking to people (sorry, I have to be a little vague when talking about these things). The other day I helped out in a mothers and toddlers group where I got to play with Portuguese, Arab, Chinese, African, and British children, all speaking different languages to their mothers, but English to each other and me. It’s really really fascinating and amazing to experience such a diverse culture in London.

Today we went to a park to hang out with kids. We had different activities like playing with a parachute, balloon animals, face painting, football, and story time. I was supposed to paint kids faces, but after two butterflies, the children were quite taken with the parachute, so I had the privilege of talking with a woman for an hour and a half. We talked the entire time about our religious beliefs over some mint green tea she had brought from home.

Every day we’re out until about 10:00pm. Then we come back to the church where we are sleeping and hang out with each other as a team and get to know one another. We spent the first night playing hide and go seek in the dark (yes, in the first two seconds I tripped and fell over the stage.)

Funny story before I wrap up- The first time we went out on the streets to talk to people, I went with two Korean girls from a different team. It started raining, so I rolled up my pants. I noticed one of the girls staring at my legs and when I looked up at her she said to me, “Maybe if you got tan, your hair would not show when you do not shave.”

If you could remember to keep these things in your prayers throughout my time here, I would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc. too and I’ll try to answer them in my next update.

-My team- (bonding, sleep deprivation, wisdom, etc.) Kerry, Bianca, Michael, Aki, Hanna, Dominic, Mandy, and myself.

-The woman who I talked with in the park today.

-Everyone we meet/have conversations with on the team.

-Story ideas for me to write about and be able to share with people

-moms and toddlers group/ children’s ministry in the park.

awkward video

2010-06-11T15:06:00.003-05:00

Okay, this is probably the most awkward video I've ever made. But I thought I would unprofessionally and quickly throw it together because I want to "wrap up" Katie and my trip so I can start anew. Here's some video footage I took. The first part is me and Katie in our hostel in Lauterbrunnen and then the majority of the footage is of the Trummelbach falls that I wrote in a previous entry. Then it ends with Katie laughing at me yet again for accidently filming. Touch screen cameras are hard to control sometimes.

Be sure to check out the last couple of entries because I just posted a lot over two days.

France!

2010-06-11T13:27:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone! I arrived safe and sound in London this morning, so now begins my 6 week adventure. Although life will be fast, I don't have another plane, train, boat, bus, taxi, etc. to take for six weeks.

Tomorrow all the teams arrive - I arrived a day early - so nothing to report just yet. Meaning.. more pictures! But from France this time.

Marseilles coast

a restaurant on a boat! unfortunately we didn't eat there.

One of my favorite statues I've ever seen. Inside a cathedral in Marseilles.

A boy (that looks very similar to my neighbor) and a fisherman at the daily fish market.

This is self explanatory. It is just toooo cute.

An awesome Frenchman selling cherries.

Here she is, Teresa, queen of the market!

a photo of lavender that I hope to see hanging in my parents bedroom sometime soon.

a picture for my mom.

A mysterious photo of Katie at the beach in Nice.

Photos

2010-06-10T18:09:00.006-05:00

I promised some photos, so here they are! Don't forget you can click on them to make them bigger if you want. These are just from Switzerland. I should hopefully be able to post some from France later, but there may be a chance that my internet connection will decrease after tonight. Enjoy!

Also, I just wrote another post below this, so be sure to check it out!

Misadventures of Katie and Adrienne

2010-06-10T08:59:00.007-05:00

I thought I'd share a few mishaps along the way. All taken as non-seriously as possible, of course.

French Fry Overload- Katie and I needed to eat lunch during an lay over to Venice, so we went to a restaurant in the airport called "Cafe American." Katie ordered in Spanish, and in Spanish, the man at the counter said "I can't understand her." The boss yelled to him, "She's speaking Spanish if you would just pay attention!" So Katie ordered her veggie burger with fries and promptly dropped the burger on the floor. The manager was nice, so he gave her a new one, complete with fry side dish. One sandwich, two orders of fries. My turn. I ordered the chicken wrap with fries. I just got fries. I had to reorder, fumbling over pronunciations of "pollo wrap." I was also given a wrap and fries. Assessment at the end of the day: one veggie burger, one chicken wrap, four generous orders of fries. This is when I proclaimed "We could feed the 5,000 with these fries!" and Katie retaliated, "You really think so?" and I said "Well, no. You probably couldn't even get 1,000 pieces with these." In which Katie replied, "That sounds like a challenge!!" With the following photos, you can guess how we spend the remainder of our lay over.

before... after... ladies and gentleman, 1,000 pieces of fries hand-torn.

2. Cough Attack- Of course when you know you're not supposed to laugh, you laugh more. Well, as Katie and I were waiting for the opera to start we got a bad case of the boreds so we started playing a game where we would pick people out of the audience. Apparently we were doing this a little too loudly, and the lady in front of us turned around a gave us the stink eye. Well, when you're sick and everything makes you cough, trying to hold in fits of laughter proved to be unsuccessful.

3. not so easyjet- With large backpacks and large purses as our carry-on's, Katie and I were always a little weary trying to get on the plane without having to check our bags. We were successful until our easyjet flight which required one bag only. Not a carry-on and a personal item. ONE bag. So we shoved our purses into our backpacks carrying the larger items our in our hands because they just wouldn't fit. We were in the terminal sitting on each others backpacks trying to smash them down as much as possible. As soon as we got on the plane Katie and I were separated because the seats were first come first serve. So we were both nervous because there was no way our bags would fit in the overhead. We both shoved our bags under the seats. Well, the girl sitting next to me had a nice, clean carry on suitcase under her seat, and the flight attendant (who was really intimidating and Katie and I now refer to her as The Stickler) called her out because her suitcase was sticking out three inches underneath the seat. Not into the aisle, but just into her leg room space. The Stickler took the lady's bag from her and checked it. I'm in slight panic mode, so I'm trying everything I can to avoid my bag being seen. I was sure she would've made me apologize to the plane and then kick me off if she would've seen it. I'm covering my legs with the in-flight magazines, I'm taking my coat off and draping it over my legs, and that lady STILL caught me. But it was too late, the flight was taking off, and she had to go strap herself in! ah HA! Apparently the same thing happened to Katie too, and we made it. But not with a little more grey hairs showing up on my head.

4. First impressions - Our first dinner in Venice was supposed to be a nice, local dinner. We wound through back alley's, got lost, everything to find a place that looked more local than tourists. We thought it looked local when the chef, wearing crazy pants that resembled pj's and suspenders that had old men picture framed on them. We fumbled through ordering in Italian, and we could kind of tell that everyone was already looking at us weird. But the first big mistake was not us, but the crazy chef. He knocked over our pitcher of water with his elbow, and Katie, trying to make conversation, asked if those were the U.S. Presidents on his suspenders. His lack of response, and a closer look on our parts, informed us that his suspenders were of Mozart. To add to everything on top of that, we realized the French couple next to us had left their map. We were in need of a good map, because the only one we had was from the bus station, and roads weren't labeled and we had already been lost multiple times. So the crazy chef gives us their map. When the French couple returned for their beloved map, ol' chef ratted us out!

5. ice castle- Katie and I were at the top of Europe. Advertised at the top of Europe was an ice castle. 15 minutes before the last train left for the bottom of the mountain, Katie and I decided to hurriedly follow the signs to this ice castle. We descended some stairs and opened up a freezer. It literally was hallways and rooms made entirely of ice. We skated through the halls snapping photos. This was only a misadventure because we only had about 5 minutes to explore the thing. But that was also a good thing because we were the only people there the whole time. It was kind of creepy, but being in a room where the floors, walls, and ceilings are ice, you want room to slip slide around!

6. Scrabble Scramble- Here's a Swiss tip for you: restaurants in small mountain towns close early. The entire town closes early. Katie and I were ready to go eat when we discovered everything was closed. Including stores. Luckily, we found a vending machine, and we had left overs from our lunch so Katie and my nice Swiss dinner consisted of chips and salsa, bread and cheese, two candy bars, half a bottle of grapefruit juice, and a capri sun. We ate this delicious meal at our hostel and decided to make the experience all the more better by playing scrabble while we ate.

7. horriblenogoodverybadday- Flight was at 7:30am. Get up at 5am, be in the cab by 6am. Check in at 6:30. Wait at the gate until boarding. Busy morning, but we did it. Our first bad omen was when we got out of the cab, walked into the airport, and Katie just stood there looking weird. I asked her what was wrong and she just threw up. In the airport. On the floor. Second bad omen. When it was ready to board, we got in line, and gave the attendant our tickets. "Ummm it says the 2nd. Today is the 3rd. Your flight was yesterday." You don't want to hear those words when you have hostels booked, train rides to catch, etc. We took a cab back home, and booked a flight later on in the day and slept off the mornings mishaps. Flight take two. Everything was going smoothly this time around. We were waiting in line and I picked up my backpack and a pain shot through my lower back like nothing I've ever felt before. I felt like I was 90 years old. I pulled my back out. Everything seemed to fail us that morning, and it caused us to arrive at our hostel at midnight, but a flight, 3 train rides, and a 15-minute walk later, we were there.

8. Paper airtrains- Fact: when you are on a train at night and can't see out the windows for two hours, things get a little boring. I realized things get boring when I was writing in my journal and I get a paper airplane thrown at me. I look up and Katie has crazy eyes that are saying "HA. Take THAT." So of course we have a paper airplane fight that turns into our own version of "horse" like the game you play with a basketball, but instead our fists were targets (sometimes moving to make things more challenging) and our basketball was the paper airplane. Fact 2: Katie is much more skilled at paper airplane throwing than I am.

9. French Elevators- If you don't know what the French do for elevators, let me enlighten you. They stick a birdcage on an electronic pulley system in the middle of their spiral staircases. Katie and I, needing to get to the third floor, forgot about this, so Katie goes directly in and realizes that she can't turn around with her big backpack on. Realizing her mistake, I backed into the elevator so I could press the button. Well, I couldn't get all the way in so I smashed Katie who had to twist herself in a position where our backpacks would fit together. But as soon as the doors closed, she realized how bad it was hurting her, so I smashed up against the front doors of the elevator. Anyone who looked in on us would've seen my two hands and cheek smashed to the glass elevator sides, and Katie the contortionist somewhere around me. When we got to the top, the doors wouldn't open because I was smashed up against them. (These kind fold in, not slide apart) So we had to smash all backwards again and then spill out into the hallway. I'm pretty sure we woke everyone up by screaming, then laughing, then yelling "ow!" then laughing again.

10. Chateau d'If: the boat ride - We wanted to go on a tour of Chateau d'If (kinda like France's version of San Francisco's Alcatraz) made famous in the book/movie Counte of Monte Cristo. The water was too choppy, so the tour that docked at the Chateau was cancelled, but we caught a boat that rode around it and the coast of Marseilles. First, we were the youngest people by at least thirty years. We were also the only non-French speaking people on the boat, so we understood nothing of the tour guide's announcements. Then the boat was full, but we asked the captain if we could sit outside on the front of the boat. She said yes, but we'd probably have to come in once we left the dock because the choppy water would get us wet. Whatever! We felt like champions with the best seat in the house. After we left the dock, no water. But boy was there wind! Too stubborn to sit inside we were whipped around by crazy wind, and since the Chateau was at the end of the tour, we were determined to stay outside the whole time. Once we actually circled the Chateau, the water did in fact come, getting us pretty wet. When the ride was over, we had dried off, but the salty sea still got the best of us leaving us with chunks of salt all over us, our wind-tangled hair, and our clothes.

before... after...chateau d'if

over the river and through the woods.

2010-06-08T18:02:00.003-05:00

this is ahqt q nor,ql sentence aould look like if i used qn q,ericqn keyboqrd:

translation: this is what a normal sentence would look like if I used an American keyboard.

I am using a french keyboard so please excuse my atrocious punctuation. i have still to locate the apostophe.

Bonjour! Je suis dans France, mais je ne comprend pas le français.

translation: I am in France, but I cant understand French.

First, let me backtrack a bit:

For Katie and my full day in Lauterbrunnen (pronounced lauter.. like water... brew-nen), we hiked around the main waterfall and then took a 45 minute walk through beautiful fields of wildflowers with the river and the alps as our background to Trummelbach falls. I'm providing links because i still cant upload pictures (but check back in two days!) and this picture of Trummelbach does not do it justice. We happened upon it by chance but it is a series of 10 waterfalls inside and outside of a mountain. The falls are all from one river, but it's so powerful, it has shot through multiple walls of the mountain and caves inside it causing a series of falls. I have never seen so much water power in my life. This river alone is the glacier drainage for all three tallest alps in Europe. It was absolutely incredible.

(on that last picture of the three mountains if you look closely at the top between the middle and right mountain, you will see a little speck that looks like a castle sticking up. That's where Katie and I went.)

The next morning we left Switzerland and headed to south France. We spent our first night in Nice. In the morning we went to a picturesque flower, fruit, and vegetable market outside, and we even got a famous "socca" (a crèpe made out of chickpeas) from Terèsa- the "queen of the market." We spent the rest of the day on the beach before heading to Marseilles this evening and enjoying the native dish, bouillabaisse. It's a type of fish stew.

I've decided that my favorite thing about France is that everyone can pronounce my last name correctly on the first try, and with the real pronunciation: none of this "shadow-in" business, but "showd-wah."

Tomorrow marks the last full day of our journey. Then we head back to Madrid for less than 24 hours before Katie returns home to the States and I head to London for six weeks.

Oh, what are men compared to rocks and mountains?

2010-06-05T13:02:00.001-05:00

Bonjour, Guten tag, hello!

We have come to discover the Swiss are trilingual. When anyone looks at my name, they speak french to me. And then when I can say "je ne parle pas francais" they switch to English. Katie looks more German, so they speak German to her. On the train, when they took my ticket, they said "merci" and then looked at katie and said "danke" unfortunately, they finally realize we're American and halfheartedly say "have a good day."

I don't think anyone could have a bad day in Switzerland. That's what I've decided. Everywhere is absolutely beautiful and majestic. The first two nights we stayed in the valley of Interlaken in the oldest hostel in Europe. It actually seemed very new and was extremely more organized than our hostel in Venice, and they gave us local "Swiss cheese"!! The view from my window was overlooking the tallest mountain in Europe, called Jungfrau.

Our full day in Interlaken was spent being pretty outdoorsy. We took a hike for the first half of the morning passing a brewery, playing around on old castle ruins, walking by a river, and walking into town to take pictures of the extremely picturesque wooden buildings with amazing carvings and brightly colored shutters with flower boxes in each window. The second half of the day was awesome. The most exhilarating two hours I've spent in a long time. We went white water rafting down the river that cuts through the valley. My biggest fear was falling out. The only scenario I didn't think about was losing my paddle. So of course, ten minutes into our two hour excursion I lost my paddle. I got my paddle back about 20 minutes later, but for those 20 minutes our guide had to make fun of me, and christened me group photographer, so I moved to the back of the raft with him and filmed and photographed the rest of the team. He saw I was enjoying myself way too much and claimed I did it on purpose and scoffed "women." After I got my paddle back he used his paddle to dump water on my head.

So all that being said, I did NOT fall out. And the trip down the river was extreme, and I was definitely under a two-hour adrenaline rush. It was awesome.

Today we headed further up the mountain to a picturesque town called Lauterbrunnen. (Don't even ask me how to pronouce that.) The most charming feature of this small town is not its 930 inhabitants, an amazing view of the tallest Alps, or the little wooden houses dotting the side of the moutain, but the HUGE waterfall that gushes out of the side of the mountain. It's the predominant feature of the town, being able to see it from every point because it's so large. Unfortunately, I can't upload pictures right now, but if you want to google "Lauterbrunnen" you'll definitely get some good pictures.

Our hostel is run by older mothers. We have to take our shoes off to enter the house, and there are signs everywhere that say "you are old enough to clean up after yourselves." Katie and my beds are in a loft, and our own personal window has a view of the waterfall.

Today we took a train to the top of Jungfrau (the tallest mountain in Europe.) We can officially say we've been to the top of Europe. The view was spectacular, too aweseome for words. So I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Tomorrow we're going to take it easy and hike around this area, then head back down the mountain and we're off to the sunny beaches of south france. C'est la vie!

mambo italiano

2010-06-02T08:28:00.010-05:00

Ciao!

(just to let you know, you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger)

I'm sorry for the lack of updates, internet connections in hostels aren't very good. So prepare yourself for a long post covering all of Venice.

Katie and I left bright and early Saturday morning for Venice, and after 2 flights, a 45-minute bus ride, an ambiguous map, and using mapquest on my phone, we arrived at our hostel: A Venice Fish (our hostel had it's own bridge- pictured above).

Hostels are always an adventure. It had a great location and a beautiful view, but the hostel itself was highly unorganized and we got moved around every night because they forgot that we were staying there for three days.

Katie and I were both pretty sick the whole time. Which was unfortunate, but we have some pretty hilarious memories because of it. Our sickness included a runny nose and a bad cough. We quickly learned that laughing causes horrible coughing fits, followed by a huge runny nose. We also quickly discovered that when it's wisest not to laugh, you tend to laugh a lot more. I'm pretty sure that everyone in Venice thinks we're the grossest people ever. We'd get into a huge laughing fit then we'd start coughing like crazy and then we'd both have to blow our nose. I think we were bad business for outdoor cafes.

So Venice (or Venezia, as the Italians call it). Venice is magical. It's a lot smaller than one would think, being a larger tourist spot in Europe, but it would take us about 30 minutes to get from one side of the city to the other. I say it's magical because it's like a combination of every cute Italian movie stereotype and Phantom of the Opera. I think the Phantom of the Opera should've taken place here. It could take place today and still look the same. The city is old, and it goes to sleep around 11pm, so the streets are deserted. It's both creepy and cool because it's like you get the city to yourself.

The first night, Katie and I were exploring and we wandered down many empty streets that

were so narrow, we could touch both sides with our hands. We wandered our way to the largest piazza (or, plaza) in Venice called St. Marco's Square. We were looking around when we both heard music and assumed it was playing from a speaker because it sounded like a symphony.

But we followed the sound and found that it was actually coming from a small stage surrounded by cafe tables and chairs. There was a small band of a violinist, bass player, pianist, and an accordion player. They were playing songs both familiar and unfamiliar to the people eating at the cafe and a few onlookers. People were dancing in the lamplit plaza. It was a great first impression for both of us. And it helped that they played a Phantom of the Opera medley!

(I put together a quick video of this, combined with an opera performance we went to.)

The food was wonderful, of course. We had homemade pasta the first night, and the next day, and the next. For breakfast one day we had these awesome pistachio croissants with chocolate chips in them, I had the best basil pesto I've ever had, and we had to eat gelato at least twice a day. A wonderful food we discovered was pizza. Yeah, pizza is going to be good in Italy, I know. But street vendor pizza. It's 2 euros per slice. But check out the picture to see what a "slice" is.

It's impossible for me to describe everything, so I'm leaving you with these pictures and a few tips/facts about Venice.

Pigeons should be fed when you are completely done eating.
Being by both the river and trash means that you will most likely see a rat. Ones that I mistake for small dogs.
You will get lost - but you are never really lost. You will always end up somewhere unexpected that turns out to be some of your best memories (stumbled across the empty plaza [below] that way).
If you sit on steps leading down to the water, leave a step or two for waves from passing boats.
Cheap pizza is like taco bell. There's entirely way too much food for so little a price, and you know it's not good quality, but boy is it good.
Always follow your ears and/or nose. It will be worth it.
When staying in a cheap hostel, prepare to be flexible.
Venetians work on their own time. Prepare to be flexible.

HOLA.

2010-05-27T20:23:00.003-05:00

Let me start off with recognizing all the men and women out there who have been foreign exchange students. I will forever admire your courage and willpower.

I realized today that this was the first time that I've been in a foreign country (in which I didn't speak the same language) by myself. Katie had class today, so I went out exploring on my own and every second I got nervous because I was afraid someone was going to talk to me.

Example one: I hadn't even left the house yet and I was straightening my hair in the bathroom when someone knocked on the door. I opened it to a flood of Spanish, so I just moved out of the way, because I think somewhere between the pointing and flailing of arms, I figured out she needed something in one of the cabinets.

I also realized today that having a good sense of direction is REALLY beneficial. Katie showed me a map of Madrid and the metro, and without being able to read signs or talk to anyone, I got myself through the metro system and to a plaza and walked around without ever getting lost.

Most interesting thing I saw today: fat spiderman. Apparently he's pretty famous and on a "Top things to see in Madrid" list. It's pretty self explanatory, but see picture below:

Besides being charmed by this superhero, Katie and I walked through the oldest plaza in Spain (Plaza Mayor), and some streets of Madrid, and ended with a small dinner party of 5 at a friends apartment. So far it's been relaxing and a great way to start the summer.

I love Europe. I wasn't off the plane 10 minutes before I saw a vending machine with the usual European sodas and small bottles, and I just had to smile. Europe is like a second home in a way. A lot of my biggest life changing memories took place here, and still continue. The smell, the way buildings and shops look, the way people dress, the metro systems, the pigeons, the fountains with people sitting around them. It's good to be back.

Transitions.

2010-05-24T02:59:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

It has been quite a long time since I last updated. I think I find travel adventures easier to write about than normal life adventures. Although I have been told I should start doing that.

Here's a quick update on my life:

1. I graduated from Taylor University on May 22 with a BA in Media Communication.

2. I leave for Europe tomorrow for 2 1/2 months. Two of those weeks will be spent traveling Spain, Venice, Switzerland, and south France with my best friend Katie. The rest of the time will be spent doing what I did last summer in London with Operation Mobilization.

3. When I am finished with OM, I will be flying back to the states with my friend Hannah who will also be working with OM this summer, and we will hang out in her home state, Minnesota and look for potential jobs in Minneapolis.

this is hannah and me as we try to imitate the stereotype of "graduates in a movie"

Here's how I'm feeling:

Graduating is a strange thing. My thought process has been something like this: "Wait, I don't have to do homework ever again? Am I supposed to feel crazy? Everyone is asking me how I feel during this great transition. What transition? The transition from leaving school on Saturday and leaving the country 3 days later? Or the transition from school to no school? Will that question finally hit me when I don't go back to school in August? Am I supposed to be pondering graduating? I don't have time to think about that. What about my friends? Will I ever see them again? Why didn't I get to say goodbye to everyone at school that I wanted to? Will I ever even speak to them again? I most certainly will never see them again unless by chance. Where do I want to live? Where do I want to work? Should I be thinking about that when I only have 3 days to pack, repack, throw a party, and leave again? Where are my passport and plane tickets again?"

Here's my hope for the future:

The future to me is the time period from May 25 to August 15. I'm extremely excited about what this summer is going to bring. I can't wait to spend time with my best friend tramping around Europe and being free from school and every obligation. I'm hoping this will be a great time to catch up and reconnect with Katie and just soak in our new stage of life.

I'm equally excited to spend the rest of my summer in London and ending with the youth conference in Germany again.

Then, I'm looking forward to a few relaxing days in Minnesota to debrief the summer with Hannah and our good friend from school, Ryan, who also lives there.

Like last summer, I'll keep you updated as frequently as possible, and hope that you will continue to read and keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I embark on a new chapter of my life yet again.

The Integration of Faith and Culture

2010-02-07T20:07:00.003-06:00

I'm on a cabinet here at school called IFC for "Integration of Faith and Culture" we were asked to write about how we view that phrase. So I'm just copying what I wrote.

In the movie Never Been Kissed, the main character is a journalist, and she starts her article like this: “Somebody once said, ‘to write well, you have to write what you know.’ Well here’s what I know.” So to quote a quote that quotes a quote, I’m going to write what I know because I, too, am a journalist. Well, I’m a Media Writing major, which is essentially the same thing.

When we talk about culture, we think of American vs. international culture, Taylor vs. other college cultures, even different dorm cultures. I believe cultures intertwine; we’re not in specific ones that we can necessarily pinpoint, but we’re in a mixture of cultures that make up who we are as individuals. I have my cultures that shaped me: my family, town, home church, mission trips, Taylor, internships, vacations, friends, my specific major, etc. Each one of these little cultures combine together to form me and my passions.

I could talk about how I mix the American culture and my faith. But I think we’ve been taught, especially here at Taylor, what it means and how we should do it. But what I’m talking about is the big picture. The integration of culture with my faith, for me, is where everything meets in the middle, and it feels like an epiphany, and it feels like “this is it. This is what life is.” To me, life is half culture, half faith: the things that make us who we are in this world, and the God who makes us who we are in the spiritual world.

I never knew what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t know what kind or what I would write about. I listened to people talk about what makes them feel alive, without being able to relate, because although I’ve been privileged enough to do a lot of awesome things in my life, I never knew the feeling of being “alive,” or at least I didn’t understand the meaning until it happened.

This summer, I worked for Operation Mobilization, which is an international mission organization. For two weeks, I joined their team in London for a mission trip. I guess you could say that I was a special case, because while everyone else there was there to participate in this two-week mission trip, I was going to do the same thing, except at night or on a day off, I would write stories for the organization. I process things with the written word, not verbally, so it worked. Never before had I gone on a mission trip where I was expected to process my experience in writing.

One day, when we got back from street evangelizing, my team talked about their individual experiences and conversations. After we had processed it together, I got out my computer and started writing about it. I remember thinking, “This is it. This is what fits.” It was like my life had built up to that moment. Not that the moment was the climax of my life, but it was like all my little cultures and my faith had built me up to that moment just to reveal that this was it for me. Never have I felt more apart of the kingdom of God than when everything in my life just met in the middle.

So I’m not saying that missions is for everyone, or that’s what is going to make things click. But I am saying that there are moments in our life when things feel completely right, and that is when our small cultures that define us on earth meet with our faith that defines us to God, and it fits.

Fairy Tales

2010-01-29T00:09:00.006-06:00

Hey everybody, it has been awhile since my last post. There are lots of life updates I could give, but for now, I will just say that I took a photography class for one month. I may post up my best pictures from the month later, but for now I'm going to post up my final project. The requirements were 10-20 photos, and they needed a theme. So my theme was fairy tales. I know some of them aren't the greatest composition-wise, but I had a lot of fun, and thought I'd share them with you.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

Alice in Wonderland

Hansel and Gretel

Pinocchio

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Snow White

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Humpty Dumpty

Little Red Riding Hood

Christmas around the world

2009-12-16T02:50:00.004-06:00

Being the naive American I am, I kind of assumed that Christmas was one of those world holidays where everyone celebrated it the same way or another. Sure I've read Mickey's (stay-as-secular-as-possible) Christmas Around the World pop-up book that informed me in some countries they used shoes instead of stockings or don't use a tree, and the only thing really different is the style of their houses and skin color. But this year, due to friends being world travelers and informing me of such holiday traditions, I realized I am once again oblivious to the world around me.

I'm just typing word-of-mouth things without doing research, so here's what I've gathered. In Spain, it's much more of a religious holiday than anything. There are few decorations, but not as crazy as other places. Mainly, they celebrate the birth of Jesus. And it's not the typical Dec. 25, it's January 3rd.

In the Netherlands, these things take place on December 5th, but it's not a religious holiday. It's when Pere Noel (okay, that's french, i just mean some form of Santa Claus) comes and puts goodies in shoes and knocks on the door and leaves a bag of presents.

In Ireland, it is celebrated like us, and I sure know they like to decorate Dublin a lot. That I've personally experienced.

After that around-the-world tour of Christmas, you're probably not as enlightened as I was. But, as I was listening to recounts of tales and travels and updates on international holidays, I was reminded that despite the differences and ways these traditions have evolved in different countries, there's still a common background. No celebration of countries gaining independence, no feasts with pilgrims only in our land, no celebrating the Queen's birthday, but celebrated something international. And to beat around the bush as much as possible without actually saying the ever-cliche sermon topic of Christmas Eve "Jesus is the Reason for the Season," I will leave you with this:

Il y avait, dans cette même contrée, des bergers qui passaient dans les champs les veilles de la nuit pour garder leurs troupeaux.Et voici, un ange du Seigneur leur apparut, et la gloire du Seigneur resplendit autour d'eux. Ils furent saisis d'une grande frayeur.Mais l'ange leur dit : Ne craignez point ; car je vous annonce une bonne nouvelle, qui sera pour tout le peuple le sujet d'une grande joie : c'est qu'aujourd'hui, dans la ville de David, il vous est né un Sauveur, qui est le Christ, le Seigneur. Et voici à quel signe vous le reconnaîtrez : vous trouverez un enfant emmailloté et couché dans une crèche. Et soudain il se joignit à l'ange une multitude de l'armée céleste, louant Dieu et disant :

Gloire à Dieu dans les lieux très hauts, Et paix sur la terre parmi les hommes qu'il agrée !

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

procrastinating.

2009-10-28T23:22:00.002-05:00

This isn't for my web writing class, yet I find myself writing about another "Christian issue."

Any time I write a paper, I flip through some of my favorite books to get good quotes so it looks like I have cool sources. I'm now writing a paper for Astronomy, so I figured it was time to pull out the good ol' Mere Christianity. I must admit I'm a poser Christian. I've owned this book forever, and alas, I've never read the whole thing. But since I was writing about space and the universe and all that, I figured it was a good time as ever to read the chapter titled "Time and Beyond Time."

Of course this is one of those times where I'm least expecting it and God shows up and says "learn THIS about me!" and I learn a little bit more about my creator.

I guess since the majority of people who read this are Christians, you've probably already read this book/chapter and don't need me to talk about it because of course you already know. But it's one of those situations where I have to process it, and we all know I can't process anything without writing it down.

Anyway, the passage I'm talking about is this:

"God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel. He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world."

I think if maybe I had put two and two together, I could've figured it out myself, however never as eloquently as that. But I knew these things about God: he's out of time and space, and He died for me individually.

I think I always have viewed God like I view a popular person. Like the good popular person. The one that knows everyone's names, even the nerds and unlikeables of the school. The one who is personally invested in everyone's lives, and everyone is willing to tell this person everything. Everyone wants to be their best friend. I viewed God as a large-scale popular person. He knows everyone's names and personal stories, he listens to everyone when they talk and I kinda waved off the fact that 6 billion people were his concern at every moment. He's God, He can do what He wants.

So I think I also always assumed that when Jesus died on the cross he ran through his mind everyone's name that will ever exist and what sins they committed and took them on himself. Which, to some extent is what He did, but I was thinking along the popular kid lines like if this kid was having a party, he'd quickly go through everyone's name and put it on the list. We all mattered, but it wasn't that personal.

But this author/not constrained by time illustration just blew that out of the water. "He does not have to deal with us in the mass." So I got to thinking. I'm an author. What if I wrote a book about someone? I was their creator, so I automatically knew everything about them. What if I invested my whole life into this one book and it took me a lifetime? It reminds me of Stranger Than Fiction. This author is writing about someone's life and when she realizes that it's a real person, she is so invested in him because she actually "knows" him, she can't kill him like she had planned. Also, she doesn't kill him because the man knows he's going to die, and accepts it, but ends up alive. What if the author had to die so that her character would live?

So, since God is out of time and space, and to really stretch this metaphor for all it's worth, I imagine him picking up a blank book and completely investing a lifetime or more to get to really know me by creating me and being my author. Just me and Him. To me, that makes Jesus dying for me extremely more personal. When Jesus died, He was spending that lifetime with me and reading all my flaws in the book and knowing that to save me, he would have to die. What a personal God we have.

Fall Festival

2009-10-05T15:56:00.002-05:00

This week, the fall festival started in my hometown. Every year, my brother calls me and leaves a voicemail of an improv song about it. So I thought with my new technology, I'd make a small video out of his talent.

Mysteries

2009-09-09T13:12:00.008-05:00

After a weekend at home for Labor Day, I was driving back to school listening to my ipod. Of course I'm tired of the over-430 hours of music I own, so I was brainstorming what else I could listen to. Then I remembered some podcasts I had downloaded at the beginning of the summer.

Okay, I'm not the most intellectual podcaster. My podcasts consist of Rhett and Link, MuggleCast (the Harry Potter Podcast), and Secrets of the Lord of the Rings. My more nobler podcasts are short stories by classic authors and NPR's talk of the nation. Okay, I've listened to the latter twice.

At first I chose the short stories and listened to a few by Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and H.G. Welles. I was drawn to the Secrets of Lord of the Rings podcast, but the first time I tried listening to it, the man speaking spent the first 15 minutes describing his walk through the gamer version of The Shire and Bilbo's house. I decided to give it a second chance and listened to the one titled "Tom Bombadil" and that brings me to the subject and reason of this post.

Tom Bombadil is first featured in the Fellowship of the Ring in the Lord of the Ring series by Tolkien. (PLEASE before you disregard this as a nerdy analyzation of a character, know that I will describe Tom Bombadil just to preface what conclusions I have come to because of his character.) Throughout Tokien's trilogy, different characters refer to Tom by different names, but all have around the same meaning- the Eldest. Some say the oldest being on earth, some say ancient, etc. Tom also puts on the ring and nothing happens to him, he makes it disappear and brings it back, and he also can still see Frodo with it on. The podcast explained that Tom is such a carefree person, and that he cares only for peace and not for power, the ring has absolutely no effect on him. It also answered the question I had asked, "why didn't Tom carry the ring?" he was too carefree with it. It had no meaning to him so he probably wouldn't understand the grave task, and either lose the ring or not care who got it.

But nonetheless, Tom remains a mystery. Where'd he come from? Why is he so carefree? Why do the trees and the rest of nature listen to him? The thought crossed my mind that to Tolkien, this could be the God figure. But i came to the conclusion that Tolkien, though his stories have Christian themes, is different from C.S. Lewis. There isn't a black-and-white God figure. There isn't even a black-and-white good and evil except the ring/it's maker is evil and destroying it is good. But Frodo, he's supposed to destroy it, but even in the end he can't really do it. Gollum is evil, but he has Smeagol which was his once-good side. Gandalf the grey dies and comes back to life as Gandalf the white but even he can't take the ring because he knows it will use him for evil.

I think in our culture, we used to like things black and white, especially in dealing with good and evil (superman, james bond, action movies in general, etc.) but even in relationships, it's always guy gets girl. But our culture is shifting. We no longer like the black and white. Movies like The Dark Knight make Batman neither good nor evil. The movie He's Just Not That In to You took relationships to that grey area.

I think people like these more because it's closer to truth than black and white. Nothing is truly good except for God. There's a definite evil, but rarely do we run into something or someone that is truly evil. Good and evil are intertwined in this life. So I think Tolkien got it right. Evil is in this world, and it's wrapped up in everything. But there's also light, and glimpses of God in that light. God can be seen through the sacrifice a person makes for someone, or He can be seen through a gentle, peaceful mind of another.

I saw a movie today where there were nine parts that functioned on their own, but together they formed something beautiful. I guess it could be seen like the Church, and how each person has a role to make up the entire Church. but God is also like this, that goodness inside each of us, that act that we do that someone else notices was a little piece of Love itself, and one day, we're going to see those pieces together, and all that Love combined and it's going to be overwhelming in a beautiful way.

whirlwind

2009-08-26T23:41:00.005-05:00

I can't believe the last time I posted anything was during TeenStreet! I apologize for the lack of updates.

After TeenStreet, I had about five days until my parents and friend from Taylor, Maggie, came to visit me. They arrived on Thursday, August 13 and spent some time in Carlisle and met the people I had worked with over the summer in the office (especially my supervisor boss lady).

On Saturday, the four of us left for Scotland which was an adventure of its own, and later I will retell the tale and post pictures. But for now, I must be quick.

We arrived back in the States late Friday (Aug 21st) night, which as soon as I got home, I slept for 12 hours. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of visiting people, dinners, showing pictures, etc. I barely had time to unpack, wash my clothes, and repack. But thanks to mom, that was all possible.

In the morning, I leave for Upland, Indiana to embark on my last year at Taylor. I'm a senior...eep!

This isn't the end of my blog though, as it is titled there and back again. So in the next few updates I'll talk about Scotland, final thoughts on the summer, and then I'll start doing updates of my senior year since I will be co-editor of the Life & Times section of my school newspaper, and have various things (including more traveling!) planned for the year.

onsdag Woensdag mercredi Mittwoch Wednesday!

2009-08-05T02:45:00.005-05:00

Hello! It's midweek of TeenStreet 2009. I'm still alive, yet exhausted and in some desperate need of "5 minutes Peace" Even during "shhhhh time" they have to play classical music over the speakers. constant noise.

BUT! All is going well. The newsletters are running smoothly, I'm getting compliments from people who know I've written some of the articles, I wrote one of the feature stories, and I am currently working on another one.

Kids like to hear from themselves, so a lot of the time, I go around and interview the teens directly during their free time. It's a little hard because a lot of the teens don't speak english, or if they do, it's not very well. Here's an example of an interview I had with two German guys. They gave up on English after 1 minute, so I just interviewed them in German and had a translator transcribe it for me. Quite funny actually.

I got to experience some time with the teens other than interviewing them. A few people from the team played ultimate frisbee and asked a few teens to join us. By the end we had swedish, german, american, and a few more that i can't remember playing with us. I also joined a team for about an hour playing sand volleyball. Good times, good times.

another video is up, more hilarious than ever, and an article i wrote (click here, again!) The video is called "Good Morning" and my article is right above it, called "Ministering Through Cocktails?" the article above that is an interesting read as well, but not mine.

Any questions? Comment and I'll try to answer them in my next blog!

TeenStreet 09!!

2009-08-02T03:13:00.002-05:00

Off to a crazy, dancing, loud, crowded start!!

watch this video, the interviewer is a fellow intern and friend of mine.

click here for: Why Are You Here? Video

and so it begins...

2009-07-31T16:33:00.004-05:00

Since my last update, a lot has changed since just walking around and "preparing mentally." ha! The rest of the team arrived, so there are 13-14 of us: graphic designers, photographers, writers and our spiritual leader. Our team is really great. Every day we meet at 10:30 and do a half hour devotion and at 11:00 we have a brainstorming meeting.

It's been really fun getting to know the team and hanging out by playing frisbee, sharing our favorite music, and going to the cafe in the city square. A friend of mine from school is here on my team. We only found out a few weeks before TeenStreet that we were both coming here. It's been really great having a fellow Taylor person here to connect with.

Today the teens are all arriving. Since I'm backstage (with an official backstage pass!), I didn't realize how many kids were actually here. It was a big shock at lunch when the line was a mile long! So far, I've written three stories for the website, and it's about to be four. When you go to the website's blog page mine are titled "TeenStreet is off to a running start" "More than just an Event" and "TeenStreet Bookstore" my next one will be titled "Art Zone"

Also, check out the webcams! (click here) especially check out the backstage cam and see me sitting at my desk!

Here's some pictures for you:

Here's the ibus we traveled on. Equipped with computers at each seat.

This is the OMNIvision team and a few others we traveled with on the Ferry.

This is the box in which I take showers...

backstage! This is where my team spends all their time.

This is where I sleep! In one of these boxes with Janet. There's about 50 of us in Box Town.

Guten Tag!

2009-07-28T09:34:00.003-05:00

After a 4-hour bus ride, an overnight ferry ride, followed by another 8-hour bus ride, I am happy to say I am in Offenburg, Germany.

We arrived last night around 7pm and Janet (my fellow writer) and I walked around, set up our air-mattresses, and took showers while the rest of the team (OMNIvision - the technical team) unloaded the bus and trucks. Some say writer's have it easy. It's true. Sometimes.

Today Janet and I have been walking around getting a feel for the campus. It's like a state fair campus. There are a few arenas where different events will take place. There's the main hall, dining hall, and another hall for smaller group events, and halls where everyone sleeps. The staff that I'm a part of has our own special tents. They're very large and white, not like camping tents.

The actual camp starts Saturday. I came so early because we traveled with OMNIvision who is in charge of everything technical, meaning they need the full week to set up. Janet and I are mentally preparing by getting a feel for the place, meeting people who will be useful contacts throughout the week, and thinking of story ideas. We can't really start writing until the actual event starts taking place.

Here's a link to the website again! (click here)

Also, update from my team in London. One of the places we would set up has been shut down. It has something to do with the rules of being able to set up things in a public area, so no danger issues or anything like that, just technical problems. But this place was really important to the London ministry, so although it is sad and frustrating, we have to trust that God has a reason!

A few things you can pray for:

The kids at TeenStreet

The staff at TeenStreet

The whole TeenStreet event in general

Keep praying for OM's London Ministry

OM's Italy team, they're having trouble with transportation to TeenStreet

2009-07-24T10:00:00.002-05:00

Hello! This week I have been back in the office finishing up stories and being tempted by the constant supply of Digestives on my desk.

I was really blessed on Tuesday to go out to coffee with a woman here, Karen. You know those people who will listen to you forever and stay constantly interested, and then say things that are exactly what you need to hear? Yeah, that’s Karen for you. So I left the conversation feeling much better and really thankful for that time together.

Wednesday was my day off, so that was a nice time to do much needed laundry (I had to hang my….”unmentionables”…up on the clothesline outside! Eep!) and take some R&R to read and watch movies purely for fun.

Yesterday after work, Becky (my supervisor boss lady) and I went to The Near Boot Inn for some good ol’ pub food and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Let me tell you, STP is the best. I can’t believe American’s haven’t discovered this one in a kind dessert yet. After the pub, we went to Becky’s place to watch Blades of Glory. She’s such a bad influence on me. Haha! (She reads this blog.)

A glimpse into the future… Sunday afternoon, I leave for two weeks again, this time to Offenburg, Germany for TeenStreet, a youth conference. We’re (by we I mean me, Janet-the girl I’m living with, and OMNIvision-the media team) driving to the coast and taking an overnight ferry to Germany, then driving 8+ hours to our destination. I’m flying back at the end because everyone is going their separate ways.

Oh, while I'm at TeenStreet, you can check out their website. (for those not-so-savvy computer people, you can click on the word "website") You can actually look for me on the webcam that's updated every few minutes, so if I walk by the camera, you'll most likely see me. It's not up yet, but keep checking the website for updates!

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-07-20T04:20:00.007-05:00

I made a rule only to talk seriousness on the first Tuesday of every month between noon and three (taken from Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband), and my last few blogs have gone against that. So I will take this opportunity for a more lighthearted tone, and show you the fun and crazy things that are going on in my life. Accompanied by pictures, of course!

Okay, here's my team. We were the Stonebridge team, because that's the church we lived at for two weeks. Back row from left to right: Peter, Marc, Timo (peter and marc are from the Netherlands and they are brothers. Timo was our team leader and he's from Germany)

Girls from left to right: Christina and Mary (not related, but both from Pakistan) Irina (from Germany, our Women's leader), Katie (from texas), Sa Rang (from Korea), Kim (from Minnesota), and me.

This is the sanctuary where the girls slept. This is my bed made out of chairs and a sleeping bag. Hey, it's better than the floor!

This is my team leading worship at prayer night. The guys led worship all week, but for one night, our whole team was in charge.

Sarah, Kim, me, and Katie. Sarah wasn't on our team, but another one. She's from Belfast, Ireland.

What you can't see is that we were riding a double decker bus. It was the first time for everyone except me and Kim, so we were taking tons of pictures.

This is speaker's corner.

Marc (left) wasn't satisfied until he beat everyone on the team in arm wrestling. This room is our dining room in the church where our team ate meals together.

This was a day that I observed the Children's Ministry in the park.

The park we were at was right near the Central London Mosque. Those are some clowns from our team.

I got my face painted. Thought I'd take advantage of a face painter on site. I forgot I had it, and wondered why I was getting all these funny looks when I was riding the Tube home!

It was the last night, and we had chocolate sauce...

Back in Carlisle: Debrief

2009-07-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

After reading over my last two blogs, I must start off with an apology for my horrible grammar. I was updating on my phone, which allowed me to see only one line at a time, so sometimes I would forget what I had written. You were probably thinking, "Why is she doing an internship for writing?"

With that being said, I'm back in Carlisle now. I arrived here last night and just crashed and went to bed. I dreamt about my team in London all night long, and got a Charlie Horse in my leg while I was sleeping. So I woke up this morning with a sore leg and a sore heart.

During church this morning, the pastor spoke on Ephesians 5:15-17 which talks about making the best use of our time and knowing what the will of the Lord is, and being filled with His Spirit. Applicable, especially when you're going through one of those emotional times.

After church, my housemate and I went to her fiance's house for a cookout with a group of people. 4 americans to 6 Germans. I tried learning everyone's names, we made fun of each other about different racial issues, and played Mario Kart. Sitting there with this new group of people, I got to thinking about how I felt like I had just been picked up and placed back down somewhere else, and in a few weeks, I'll get picked up again and placed back home.

To refrain from writing a 10 page note, I will just list the conclusions (or just reiterations) I have come to over the last two weeks.

1. Living for Jesus Christ is the single most important thing in life. When all else fails, He is the only thing to fall back on. (Read Ecclesiastes for a more thorough explanation.)

2. Knowing the Bible is vital. Being saturated in the Word daily is so important for yourself personally, but you also never know the people you're going to encounter and the questions you're going to need to answer.

3. The body of Christ will always be the body of Christ. We may come and go to places, meet new people, and leave each other. But no matter where life goes, you will always meet again someday. In one place, for eternity, in Paradise where there are no goodbyes.

4. With Jesus, we have hope, peace, a purpose. Our God is love and mercy, and it is our purpose to share that with the lost.

2009-07-13T06:11:00.002-05:00

Hi all! this is my second time getting on a computer here in London, so I'm sorry for the lack of updates. they'll start again after saturday because i'll be back in carlisle. I can't describe everything we've done here, it's been absolutely amazing to see and hear what God is doing in this place. I've met so many incredible people and God has really revealed that he's the God of this world. the whole world. not just evansville, or even indiana, or the united states. but He's the God of England, and Europe, and the rest of the world and of all people no matter where you come from or what you've done.

Please pray for my team, that we will continue to have boldness to share our faith, and that we will see the world with the same love that saved us. Also, a specific request, I'm already having worries and feeling sad about leaving my team on saturday. God has blessed us with such joy and close fellowship so much, that I know I will miss it.

a quick story: one night i woke up from a terrible nightmare and continued to have them all night long. i woke up exhausted and talked to the other girls on my team and they had all had bad dreams as well. one girl who had been to the place we were going to that day said that she had always felt an evil over the place we were going. i felt as though the girls on the team had been attacked so that we would be tired. so when we were out, a man came up to me and asked if our group offered prayer. i said that we did, and asked him what i could pray for him. he said that he was having terrible nightmares. i told him about our group and he was interested and asked me what i thought it meant. i got to explain to him about spiritual warfare, but that we can have confidence in Jesus Christ. I was really excited to share the Gospel, but then he told me that he was already a believer and was even the piano player at his church. he just believed in the power of prayer, and the more people praying the better. Even though i didn't get to share the Gospel to an unbeliever, it was just a way of God reminding me that He overcame death, and will defeat evil in the end, and that if we pray and trust in Him, we can have that confidence.

well, have a great week! i'll probably update again saturday.

there's no place like london

2009-07-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry that it has been awhile. I don't have internet access so I have to use my phone. London is great. It's funny how much God blesses you when you do his will even though you don't want to. I have used many more gifts than I would ever have thought, and have learned more than I would have in a whole summer at home. First of all my group consists of 10 people: 2 from germany, 2 from Netherlands, 2 from pakistan, 1 from korea, and 3 from the u.s. Very diverse! It has been great just getting to know all of them and their cultures. While i've been here I helped lead worship by playing drums, and I got to help design the organization's next newsletter because I knew how to work their programs on the computer, and I've finally written my first article. Ill post it when I can. Tomorrow is my day off. Going to the national british museum and to westminster cathedral. Okay well, I can't really write much more because it takes forever on my phone. But if you could pray for me for boldness and wisdom to share the Gospel, and other things for my time here, that would be great. Signing out!

Happy (almost!) 4th of July!

2009-07-03T11:45:00.003-05:00

Well, today was my last day in office for two weeks. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I head to London for 14 days. I'll be back on Saturday the 18th.

Since it was Friday, and tomorrow is July 4th, the Americans in the office celebrated by having "American Splits!" (get it? splits...from Great Britian...) and they served banana splits. But these were no normal banana splits. They made 4 of them. Four GIANT banana splits and we all ate out of them. Like pigs in a trough, I tell you. (Sorry mom, I shared food with people today...) No one seems to care that we're celebrating our independence from THIS country. Of course "good riddance" and "you couldn't stay away" jokes were made, all in good fun.

Today besides the party we had another training session about cross cultural adaptions and spent some time with Becky going over details for the trip to London. OH, also, I spilled my drink in my lap and it definitely looked like I wet myself. That broke the ice for some people in the office and we all had a good laugh. Especially since it seemed like it took hours for my pants to dry.

Tonight we're having girls night, where all the women in the office get together for dinner and a movie. Should be fun!

Since I'll be sleeping in a church, I don't know how much internet access I am going to have, so updates will definitely not be as frequent as they are when I'm here in Carlisle.

pictures:

1. American's in the office!

2. Most of everybody

3. mmmm banana split trough

4. everyone partaking in American Split.

10:30 quiz Thursday!

2009-07-02T11:06:00.002-05:00

Back at the office again today.

We started straight away with training, but it was a fun session. We talked about our writing styles and works that inspire us, and went over some examples.

A man in the office holds a quiz on Thursday's when he's here. So at 10:30 a few of us gathered in the common room and broke up into two teams. The man had a quiz book and he would ask one team a question, then if they didn't get it, he let the other team have a chance. Some of the questions were British-geared, and my team was the only team with a British man on it, so I think that's why we won. But they were trivial pursuit-type questions, therefore hard. I am proud to say that I got three of them right for my team. One was about the Indian guitar, which was the Sitar, and one I knew that the Diagnosis Murder guy was Dick Van Dyke (I gave out thanks to my mom). and the other one was a quote from a Shakespeare play and you had to name the play it was from. It was from Othello. and if I may brag on myself, the man giving the quiz said he was "quite impressed" that I knew that. yessssss. cool points!

We did another training session about the website, then went to the OMNIvision site (which is the media/video/audio place for OM) to get a tour of it. So I got to come home early today which gives me a chance to pack (heading to London Saturday!) and do things so I can go to bed early. No falling asleep during devotions tomorrow for me! Oops, I didn't do that already once this week...

Day 2 on the Job

2009-07-01T15:17:00.003-05:00

This was my second day in the office, seeing as after only one day in the office, the whole communications department took a day off to go to the Lake District. I see my work ethic has already rubbed off on them! Haha

When I arrived this morning, the whole OM office had devotions and prayer time. Everyone introduced himself or herself again because there was another new intern that arrived yesterday, and there were some people who weren’t in the office on Monday. After devotions and prayer, the interns went through a small training hour on security in letters, blogs, updates, and e-mails. Lunch was with everyone in the main building where one of our coworkers taught us how to make the perfect cup of tea! It’s funny, because here, it’s pretty much a must to have cream and sugar in your tea as well as coffee. So when I said “no thanks” to both cream and sugar, the person fixing my cup of tea said “you drink it black?!” Which is the response one would expect if they were drinking coffee.

My favourite (I have to get used to the British way of spelling things) part of the day was after lunch. We met with Jim, a communications guy, who let us judge a photo contest. We reviewed about 100+ photos and picked our favorites that fell into the categories people, modern cities, and ministry. It was great looking through pictures from all over the world and getting a look into OM’s ministry through the eyes of a person who was there. What we didn’t know was the contest had already been judged and the pictures that won (some of them being the ones we picked!) had been put into a magazine. He then showed us the steps they used through Photoshop to edit the pictures and place them in the magazine. I got to see the work that people did using programs that I myself know how to use. After that lesson, Jim showed us some Bibles he has put together in many different languages and they had even designed the cover. He showed us different designs that they presented to clients. He showed us which ones were rejected and which ones were approved. It was really awesome and beneficial to see how these skills can be used for ministry and done in such a professional way. Jim and other people on the team have great skill and talent in these areas, and I admire their work. Seeing their work makes me excited and nervous at the same time. I love using Indesign and Illustrator, but I am not as skilled at it as they are. I think I would have to have a lot more training in the programs to be at a similar level as them.

After that, Emily and I took a break and went to Asda. Becky sent money with me because she owed me a coke :) I said that the daughter in Mamma Mia was also in the movie Mean Girls and Emily and Becky didn’t believe me. I’m not allowed to say that we bet on it, but she did buy me a coke after we discovered I was right, and I think Emily is going to be “generous” and buy me ice cream tomorrow.

After work, Dawn in the communications department had all of us girls who went to Keswick yesterday over for dinner. She was a very good cook, and she has a beautiful home. We hung out there and talked for a long time.

Learning British-English:

just one for today: "Made redundant" that's what they use here instead of saying someone got laid off. In a sentence: Last year my dad was made redundant at Fifth Third.

And just one picture for you, my very own sign-in name tag! I look awkward...

Keswick adventures

2009-06-30T17:09:00.003-05:00

I am going to try to be quick because I am tired and need to go to bed, but so much happens in a day!

Today, the girls of the communication department took a day trip to the Lake District. The Lake District is a large area with lots of mountains, hills, lakes, and towns dispersed throughout it. We went to the town of Keswick (pronounced "kezzick") and its lake, Derwent Water. The town was quaint. I think that's a good way to describe it. Lots of shops, so we stopped at a cafe, and walked along the lake and ate lunch. It reminded me of a mix between the Gap of Dunloe and Glendalough, for those of you who kept up with my Ireland blog, or were actually there. :)

At 3:30 we took three of the women back home, and the three interns and Becky went to Newcastle to pick up one of the intern's friends from school. All of the interns from their University are meeting in Italy to debrief. Cool, eh? Taylor should do something like that. On the way back from Newcastle we stopped at a pub in a place called Once Brewed. The pub was called The Twice Brewed Inn. I had a traditional steak pie with chips (basically like roast beef in pie crust with fries on the side).

British-English lesson before pictures:

"gorgeous" - used to describe food here. Comes from the word "gorge" so when you say gorgeous, you're saying the food is so good, you could gorge yourself on it.

"Loo"- as you probably know, it means the bathroom. In France, in really nice hotels, they didn't want to label the bathrooms because they thought it wasn't very fancy to do that, so everyone fancy knew that the bathroom was always going to be Room 100. The British thought this was really funny, so they changed the numbers into letters. Therefore 100=loo.

"Posh"- used to describe something fancy or high class. Originated on ships, because the fancy people wanted portside out, and starboard coming home.

Photos:

1. Keswick town center

2. Looking over the lake

3. from left to right: Emily (other intern), Dawn (works at the office), me, Esther (also works at the office), Becky (my supervisor-boss-teacher :) ), and Janet (also works at the office)

4. some gardens at Keswick

5. inside the Twice Brewed Inn

First day at the office

2009-06-29T13:28:00.002-05:00

Today was my first day at the office. We all met in a large room and sang worship songs, shared some stories, and Emily and I were introduced to everyone. Then just the communications team met in a smaller conference room and we got to know each other a little more and prayed together. Then Emily and I got the grand tour from Becky, and we met people individually and heard about their specific role in OM.

We ate lunch outside because it was really nice weather (around 80 degrees and sunny which is very unusual for Carlisle) and walked to Asda which is their large supermarket in the area. It's actually part of the wal-mart chain. After our lunch break Emily and I proofread the monthly international update newsletter which had to be sent out by the end of today. Then we met with one of Becky's bosses, Brian, who went through an overview with us of OM, what countries were doing what, etc. Slightly confusing, but I think after being immersed in it after a little while, we'll catch on.

All that being said, so far so good! Tomorrow we're going to the lake district to sightsee and picnic. So, no work for me tomorrow!

Adventures on a Sunday in Carlisle

2009-06-28T16:58:00.003-05:00

Today was pretty eventful, I would say.

Becky and I went to church this morning at Elim Community Church. It's Presbyterian, and slightly charismatic, but it just felt like a toned down version of Bethel to me. :) Everyone was so nice, and the church felt like a family. The pastor was funny, there was a church quiz, and they announced birthdays, anniversaries, and even a little girl's achievement at school for getting the compassionate award. These people were given a giant twix bar for their special occasion.

After church, we went to my hosts house (which I am in now). Her name is Christine and she's 33. Becky and I ate lunch with her, a very English lunch which consisted of bread, soup, and cheese. That kind of lunch is one of the things I miss most about Ireland.

Becky left and I settled in, then at 3:30 I went for a walk to kinda get a feel for Carlisle. I went by myself- I was planning on taking my time, browse shops, then stop and read my book in this park. I had to be at Becky's house at 6:00, so I figured 2 1/2 hours would be plenty of time. Of course, I can't do anything without having some sort of adventure or encounter, so here are my accounts.

As soon as I left Christine's house, I called my mom. Well this guy was walking close to me and when I hung up, noticing my accent, he asked me "Where going?" This was no British accent. It was something else, and so thick that it took me three tries before I understood it. Finally I answered "oh, just for a walk." He looked at me funny and said "Czech Republic" and I said "You're from the Czech Republic?" and he said "yes, yes. You?" Then I realized he was trying to ask me where I was from but he spoke very little english. So I said America and his eyes got really wide and he said "George Bush!!" and I laughed and said "yes, but not anymore" and he said "oh yes B....Bar..." and I finished it for him and he said "yes. also Michael Jackson. die" and I said yes and then he went into this thing where I think he asked me questions and I think I may have heard "king of pop" or something, but I couldn't understand a thing, so I just nodded. Then he asked me what I was doing so I said "working" thinking he meant what I was doing in England, because I had already told him I was going on a walk but clearly we weren't good communicators and he said "WORKING?! on Sunday!?" then I tried to explain and then he stopped and said "This my house. Goodbye." and walked into the door we were standing in front of. Very bizarre.

And that was the first 5 minutes of my walk. I walked passed the Carlisle castle, then I moseyed around the Carlisle Cathedral which is more of a tiny village. It has different houses and buildings surrounding the main cathedral that make up the whole sight. It's really beautiful. I couldn't go inside yet because a service was going on. Then I went to the town square and looked in a department store. So I thought this park under the bridge was right down the street, so I walked pretty far before seeing a bridge. A girl stopped me and asked me to "Pop in the shop and buy some fags" and after her saying that about 23 times and me finally getting that sentence, I realized she wanted me to buy her cigarettes. Saying "no, sorry" I left her with her friends who were now mocking me.

So I started to see a bridge, so I thought I had found it. Turned out to be a different bridge, and when I got to the main arc, I looked out and saw the spire of the Cathedral way far away. The Cathedral is only about a 3 minute walk from Becky's house, so that was my reference point. Thinking I could go around, I wound up in a neighborhood cul-de-sac and had to turn around. I didn't go back the way I came to get back, I just made a gigantic loop. That all took me about an hour and a half. So I was glad to get to Becky's and meet the other interns and some girls working for OM.

Last thing before a few pictures: my new house that I'm staying at is about 2 blocks down from a McVittie's factory. For those of you who are unfortunate not to know what McVittie's is, it's a cookie company. They make my favorite cookies (called biscuits here) called digestives. So the area I'm in smells like cookies. Hey, if there's going to be a factory around, vote that it's a cookie one.

Pictures:

1. Carlisle Castle

2. Carlisle Cathedral

3. Town Square

4. Taken at 10:15pm. Told you it didn't get dark!

Day 1: 30 hours of no sleep!

2009-06-27T15:44:00.005-05:00

I flew out of Evansville on June 26, at 11:30am. After layovers in Memphis and Atlanta, I found myself sitting on a plane next to someone who was neither fat nor a crying baby. That is all I wished for.

Here are 3 things that I think sound funny if said in a British accent (heard in the ATL airport)

1. Barking Mad

2. The Real McCoy

3. Have you heard of the ice cream "Rocky Road?" (just say this sentence out loud in your best British accent. Funny, no?

I will have more of these to come since I talked to about 327 British people today.

Things of importance on the flight: I finished Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I highly recommend it to anyone. Turbulence was bad, and their reasoning was that we were flying near a storm. That's a really good thing to tell the passengers when only a few weeks ago a plane disappeared because of a storm over the Atlantic. Therefore every time I got close to dozing off, the plane would shake. Causing me to turn into a nervous wreck and pray until I calmed down. Then it happened all over again. No sleep. Also, we flew over Ireland, and through gaps in the clouds I could see the rectangular fields of different shades of green and the Irish sea shores. Something stirred in my heart that I haven't felt for 3 1/2 years. I didn't leave my heart in San Francisco, but a piece of it on the Emerald Isle.

Here are 3 signs you know you're in England:

1. When someone says "Excuse me, are you in the queue?" And you look at them with a blank face.

2. When you go to step on the moving sidewalk in the airport and realize that it's coming towards you. Oops, left side!

3. When 5 o'clock hits and suddenly everything is closed except the Pub which is suddenly full of loud men.

After arriving and meeting with my boss (I'm not really sure what else to call her. She's just helped me through everything and is the one evaluating me at the end.), Becky, we waited for another intern to arrive, but she missed her connection, so we had to wait an extra two hours. It was no big deal, really. Extra time to get acquainted. When Emily finally arrived we stopped in a small town called Lancaster. Very old with a big castle and cathedral. It was really pretty. We went into a pub for dinner that was very much like a hobbit hole. It was in the side of a hill, so you could walk in the front door, but it was underground. I ate fish and chips. A big man who had too much to drink announced that Pippy Longstocking was there. (I was wearing my hair in pigtails, and he caught sight of me on my way to the loo)

God works in mysterious ways. Here's an example: We parked in a parking garage type place, and when we went back, the gates to get in were closed and locked. There on the side was a sign that said "garage closes at 5:15. 30 pound penalty if we have to remove it after hours" It was close to 6pm-ish. eep! Then a man and his son came up and they had done the same thing. They were British, so we didn't feel like ignorant Americans. So it had downpoured earlier, and apparently everyone's money was so wet, it jammed the machine and a guard came to look at it. So he let us out for free since we didn't call the number on the sign. He said it was a good thing he was there. I wanted to say "It's a good thing God let it downpour."

We drove to Carlisle through beautiful hills that reminded me of Ireland so much. I unloaded at Becky's house, I'm staying with her just for tonight, and we took Emily to another host family's house.

I'm about to go to bed soon, but since we're so far north, the sun doesn't completely set until about 10:30/11:00. It's bizarro! I'm about to pass out, but I'll leave you with some pictures.

what they are:

1. View of Lancaster and the castle

2. Just a normal street.

3. The cathedral next to the castle.

4. just our room of the pub.

5. Wicklow-esque mountains/hills.

made it!

2009-06-27T04:15:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I'm sitting in manchester airport waiting for another team member to arrive from california and for my boss to meet us and take us to carlisle. Ill give a longer update later but I'm on my phone and its taking me forever to type this. Thanks for your prayers. Praise the Lord for smooth flights!

Family Reunion 2009

2009-06-24T21:54:00.002-05:00

Another family reunion in the bag.

For those of you that don't know, my dad's side of the family gets together for a family reunion once every three years. So we go big. This year's reunion was in Myrtle Beach, SC. The hotel and beach were great. I'm not much of a bathing suit, laying out, beach-goer but every once in a while it's good for the soul. And by that, I mean my pale legs get to see the sun.

It was good to see everyone and how the kids my age change so much every reunion. Three years is a wide gap. Three years ago, I was right out of high school, and this year I'm going to be a senior in college. So much has changed since then.

I read HP and the Half Blood Prince in three days. I was pretty proud of myself. I'm just hoping someone will go see it with me in London. That would be awesome. I got halfway through Blue Like Jazz. It's pretty good so far. Donald Miller's writing style reminds me a lot of my own. Maybe not so much my writing style for other people to read, but it reads a lot like my journals.

Yesterday, after a few rounds of mini golf and catch phrase, Chris, Angela, Nathan, cousin Justin, and I went to the midnight premiere of Transformers 2. Not such a good idea all around. First of all, it wasn't that good. Secondly, we got back at 3am and had to leave our hotel at 5:30am to catch our flight. I hadn't packed, of course, so I got approximately one hour of sleep. Therefore I am off to bed at 1030.

36 more hours until I'm off to England!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-24T16:01:00.002-05:00

I just sent out e-mails and letters with this blog address, so if you are a new reader, welcome.

I haven't been anywhere in the past year besides NYC, but the first entry of this blog is a link to my old blog about my trip to Greece and Italy following the Footsteps of Paul, and my semester in Ireland.

The previous post explains what I'm doing, but now the countdown is almost exactly a month until I'm heading back "across the pond" (as some people, not sure who...like to say)

I'm officially out of school (with official senior status!), I got home Thursday and have spent my time with family so far.

As I prepare for my trip, I would ask that all of you pray for me and my preparation to leave. Here are a few specifics:

God would send along anything and everything to help me prepare mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Traveling will run smoothly
the people I meet and encounter and the relationships I build
my writing that I'm doing, that it will be God-breathed
a blessing for those that are praying for me and for those that helped me out financially

Those are pretty general prayer requests right now, as I prepare, I'm sure I will have more specifics and I will keep you updated. Thank you all.

what am I doing with my life?

2009-04-25T21:30:00.003-05:00

Update on my life. I have a feeling I'm going to be using this a lot more in the near future to update friends and family.

So here's the news: I got an internship for the summer. I'm going to be writing overseas for an organization called Operation Mobilization. Here's a quick look at my schedule. 27 June arrive in Carlisle, UK. Train for a week, then head to London for two weeks working and writing about their happenings. Then back to Carlisle for writing/work there. Then in late July, head to Germany for a youth conference called Teamstreet. Apparently it's over 3,000 teenagers from 33 different countries. I'll be helping put together a daily newsletter that will be translated in over 10 different languages. Wish I would've paid more attention in French class...

After Germany, I'll come back to Carlisle again for a week, then I'm finished. I'll meet up with my parents and hopefully we'll travel for a week in England and up into Scotland.

This is a huge opportunity for God to open and close doors for me in what He wants me to do with my future. I'm asking that you'll pray for me and my time there.

In other news, I'll be 21 in two days.

And since I like to add what I've been reading/watching etc...

rhettandlink.com - funniest guys ever.

Just watched Memento. I've never seen it. I'm surprised I haven't. Or maybe I just forgot....ha...ha.. lame joke. But it was really good.

I'm currently reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I know I'm a little late in the game in the Christian community... that tends to happen to me a lot. But it's really good so far, and he's coming on Monday (my birthday) to speak at Taylor and also spend a night in our Cardboard Community, which I'm doing. So hopefully I'll be able to hang out with him there. I'm looking forward to it.

let's make haste, reduce that waste, and have water with a better taste

2009-01-26T18:21:00.003-06:00

I told my friend that when I have an abundance of work, I tend to wander. So after wandering to her neck of the woods for awhile, I decided to come back and post to my blog like I said I was.

J-term is coming to a close. I have one final tomorrow and one on Wednesday, and I'll be done. After a few mishaps in the class, I still stand by what I said in the previous blog about enjoying it. Thursday, I got to tour the water sanitation plant, and today I presented a plan for installing a butterfly garden and an apple orchard on campus.

The environment is serious stuff, dudes. Just last night Obama ordered the Transportation Department to begin drawing up rules for more economically friendly cars. Apparently revamped vehicles are supposed to be ready to be sold by 2011. The American car industry is failing, but Obama wants it to be the lead sellers in fuel-efficient cars. Also, he's enforcing the law that requires a 40% improvement in gas mileage in cars and trucks by 2020. Supposedly Bush didn't do anything to enforce the law, but Obama is laying the smack down.

If everyone in the world lived like we do in America, all of our world's resources would be used up in weeks. We watched this video about the rise of the middle class in India. They are starting to have a consumerism society like we are, and a few Americans in the film expressed concerns that there is not enough resources for them to do this. The Indians were retaliating by saying that if America, the country that other developing countries are looking up to, can live this way, then why is it wrong for other people to do the same? Is America capable of humbling itself to let everyone else live like us or better? I would hope so, but I don't think so, unless some large changes are made and new laws are enforced.

Throwing out random statistics to make you feel terrible about America is not my agenda, but this one...well, decide for yourself:
Americans spend $42 billion each year to lost weight. The world needs $24 billion each year to eliminate poverty.

to watch his woods fill up with snow.

2009-01-14T13:48:00.002-06:00

Today is pretty significant in the weather area, so I guess that is means for an update. Also, it's J-term and I have an amazing amount of free time on my hands.

I'm taking Enviornment and Society as my j-term class. I have to take it for a gen ed. credit, but I have come to find out that the classes that don't have anything to do with my major are some of the most beneficial courses I have taken during college (beneficial personally, not necessarily for my major). Someone in class called someone during a break today, and they had the worst attitude about the class. They had a very high-school mentality, which I'm sure they'll grow out of. I'm pretty sure I had that my first semiester on campus. Now I'm thankful for the classes I have to take, gen ed. or not.

So in other news, it's snowing a lot. Around a foot so far, I'd guess. I had to scrape off about 2+ inches off my car this morning, and then do it all over again with about 4+ inches that had accumulated on it since the first time. I'm hearing a lot of people complain, but I like it. I think it's beautiful. I wish there was a place where we could go sledding, but here in the flatlands of Indiana, those are hard to come by. If this keeps up, maybe classes will be cancelled. And no one can hate the snow for that, eh?

A little music critique and update. First of all, hello free download of the week last week. A Bach concerto! Kudos to iTunes for having more culture than I thought. Alas, they lose points for the really horrible music video, Sweet About Me by Gabriella Cilmi.
I got an iTunes giftcard for chrismtas along with the rest of the world, and I'm still debating what to buy with it. I kind of want to use it for individual songs rather than albums so I can expand my artists, but even that is still debatable I've only bought one song so far and that was On the Night My Love Broke Through by Cold War Kids. I like them, and have one of their albums. Their song/lyric inconsistancy stops me from buying their newest album, so I just gave all the songs a 30 second listen and picked my favorite. It was worth it.

father Time

2009-01-02T01:17:00.002-06:00

As soon as the ball dropped, confetti flew all over my house, fake champaigne glasses with sparkling grape juice clinked together, and my aunt said, "The year 2008 is no more!"
That struck me differently. No one has really said that before. It's all about welcoming Baby New Year in a celebration. This year I realized that Father Time just died at the stroke of midnight, and I got heavy boots for reasons I can't put a finger on. A lot of stuff happened in 2008. I feel as if I should list that.

2008

Started off by going to Greece and Italy for J-term
turned 20
my dad lost his job in April
my uncle died in his 50's of a heart attack
I worked as a bank teller for the summer
dad got a new job
went to Disney world
started my junior year of college
got published (outside the school newspaper) for the first time, multiple times
went to macy's thanksgiving day parade in NYC

I'm not going to make goals for 2009. I don't do the whole New Year's resolutions. Although, I am stuck in the tradition of eating black-eyed peas, rice, ham, and spinach on New Years day.

Every year my house hosts the New Years Eve party for the high school and college groups from my church. We normally have around 50 people in our house coming and going. This year we decided not to do it, and had close friends and family over. We played a lot of games, shot off fireworks then played on the wii until the wii hours of the morning. heh. Who knows what 2009 will bring. I have no expectations at all, and I'm starting to wonder if I should. And now I'm going to leave a little excerpt from the song New Years Eve by Five Iron Frenzy.

It's New Years Eve and I feel my insecurities, are haunting me like ghosts, this sinking quicksand. And then with thunderous praise and lofty adoration, a second passes by, yet nothing changes. I hate my skin, this grave I'm standing in. Another change of years, and I wish I wasn't here. A year goes by and I'm staring at my watch again, and I dig deep this time, for something greater than I've ever been, life to ancient wineskins. And I was blind but now I see.

With a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

2008-12-25T00:22:00.001-06:00

There's magic in the air this evening
Magic in the air
The world is at her best, you know
When people love and care
The promise of excitment
is one the night will keep
After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas

The world has gotta smile today
The world has gotta glow
There's no such thing as strangers
When a stranger says "Hello"
And everyone is family, we're havin' so much fun
After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas

'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous
With a burst of pleasure we feel it all right
It's a season when the Saints can employ us
To spread the news about peace and to keep love alive

There's somethin' in the wind today
that's good for everyone
Yes, faith is our hearts today, we're shinin' like the sun
And everyone can feel it, the feelin's runnin' deep
After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas
After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas day

'tis the season to be jolly and joyous. fa la la.

2008-12-20T01:35:00.003-06:00

whew. The past week has been a doozy!

Monday through Wednesday I went to St. Louis to visit some friends from school. We pretty much had the best time ever. We played Mario Kart by the hours, and goofed off, really.
Nathan and Lindsey (my brother and his girlfriend) are flying in from NYC tomorrow morning. My parents and I have been getting the house ready for them. I'm excited for them to get here. It doesn't feel like Christmas at my house until it's filled with people coming and going all the time.

Okay, so my Christmas Break goals list has changed around a bit.

I accomplished Mario Land 2 on gameboy. That went pretty quickly. And I've watched the 3rd Lord of the Rings, Return of the King. And I'm on disc 4 of 24, season 4. Too many fours.
I'm adding Turn of the Screw by Henry James to the list. I've been meaning to read it, and it's not very long.

simply, having a wonderful christmas time

2008-12-12T18:27:00.002-06:00

Finals are over. School is over, well, for the semester. I don't really feel like writing about a wrap up of the semester.

I got home last night and ate a gingerbread cookie still warm from the oven. Then I dipped buckeyes with my parents, and two of my friends came over and we sat by the fire and caught up on our semesters. That's why I love Christmas time. Fires, cookies, old friends.

Apparently at my house I'm the Director of Decorations. When I got home last night there were no decorations, except for a half put together christmas tree with one strand of lights on it. So today I put the whole tree together, put the lights on and tinsel. Then I wrapped garland around our stairwell and put lights on the outside bushes. Nothing gets done around here without me. -said all in good spirits.

I'm really excited about Monday. I'm going to St. Louis for three days to hang out with some friends from school. Can't get enough of them apparently.

Goals for break:
-read Crime and Punishment and The Brother's Karamazov both by Dostoyevsky.
-Finish season 4 of 24.
-watch season 1 of Pushing Daisies
-watch all three Lord of the Rings
-beat Mario Land 2 on gameboy

As for now, I'm headed for my brother's house to watch Christmas movies.