It’s way too late for me to be writing or to even be awake but for some reason unbeknownst (what a fun word) to me insomnia has come to visit and instead of tossing and turning in the bed I decided to do something and that something for now is write. I probably should put a disclaimer on this post that I may say stupid, silly, careless or just odd things but oh well you’d probably figure that out anyways.

1. I am going to straighten my hair right now. Yes I usually let it go curly these days, especially in the summer but for some reason I wanted to have straight hair tomorrow. After I took I shower tonight I washed my hair and dried it but did not straighten it. I planned on doing that in the morning. But since I am awake now I figured I might as well do something useful. 

2.  I normally straighten in the mornings except for when I am home I might do it on a Saturday night so that I can get ready really quick on Sunday mornings. I love Sunday mornings because it’s church but my body still doesn’t seem to get that when the alarm goes off so instead of doing the mad dash around the house and looking awful I get ready on Saturday night and allow like 20 minutes for the morning.

3. I am terrified of penguins. Had a bad dream about them attacking me. Scarred me for life. 

4. Currently I am working with the world’s most awesome four year olds. I mean it. While they do try my every last nerve somedays I have to admit that they are super cute and lovable and that I love them. I have been with this group of kids for 2 years now so it’s fun to see them “all grown up” and to actually hold semi decent conversations with them.

5. My wonderful dog Sammy (short for Samantha) had surgery today. She had a dislocated hip. I was very unhappy about this - I bawled my eyes out. When I said something about it at work today one of the kids goes “are they going to take her leg off?”. I told him no that they were going to fix it and the conversation moved on. Kids say the funniest things. I really hope my Sammer is ok though and that she recovers quickly. The hardest part is that I am not at home to be with her.

6. This semester is a last for me. My last semester here at school before I go home to student teach. I am sad. I really am. I have some great incredible friends here not to mention the fact that it’s absolutely breathtaking living in the mountains. My goal for this semester is to work hard and prepare myself as much as possible for student teaching but also to have as much fun as possible. Not in the wild partying sense but in the take each moment and make sunshine sense.

7. I have been living the life of a lactose intolerant person for the past week or so. No I’m not actually lactose intolerant but let’s just say that my stomach isn’t doing so well with dairy. But seriously, have you ever thought of how much dairy you eat, even in small amounts? It’s so hard to not eat any because A LOT of foods or recipes contain dairy. I feel sorry for my lactose intolerant/dairy allergy (amy and ashley) friends and I now have a higher level of appreciation for the way they eat. And soymilk? I used to love the stuff. Now I hate it - blech!

8. I have 5 new purses. Yes five. No I did not buy them. My dear friend Katie was purging through a bunch of her stuff and decided to get rid of a bunch of purses as she has like millions of them (ok not really but the girl loves purses and she knows how to pick them) she told me and a couple of friends to take the ones we wanted. I was thrilled. I picked 5 adorable bags that I now love. The only sad part is that I can’t wear them all at one time.

the sleepiness may be kicking in. we shall see……

Today is my roommate’s 21st birthday. Rebecca and I have been living together since last fall and it’s been amazing. We were friends before we were roommates but living together always helps you get to know someone so much more. We have all sorts of special things we do together including:

- Watching the Office and Friends really late at night when we should be sleeping.

- When we are bored we walk into each other’s rooms and sit on the other person’s beds. This usually means we want to talk or just hang out. I think it’s fun.

- On Snow days if school is delayed or canceled we bundle up and walk over to Panera to have some breakfast. I love this one so much! 

- Rooms can cook a pretty good meal and started cooking a lot last semester. I would get home from my internship all tired and exhausted and there she would be in her apron cooking up something delicious. She’s become quite the domestic girl.

Rebecca is such a wonderful, godly girl who is full of life and love. I am so blessed to have her as a roommate and I can’t wait for her to come back so we can celebrate and enjoy our last semester together!

Also, this awesome girl has her very own blog called May you find what you’re seeking wherever you roam. You should definitely check it out!

“Patience is a virtue, a virtue is a grace. Put them both together and you get a pretty face.” 

I remember hearing that phrase from one of my friends when I was younger and somehow it has always stuck with me. Right now I am learning a lot about patience and trusting God’s timing instead of my own. I am still at home and have two more doctor’s appointments tomorrow and then maybe I can leave on Wednesday. It’s just been very hard for me as I was SO READY TO LEAVE and then wham I got hit with this. To me it was the worst timing in the world. I just couldn’t understand why this was happening.

I got a good perspective check when I talked to my dear friend Jaimee on the phone on Saturday. She told me that maybe there was a reason God didn’t want me at school yet and that there was something going on that I don’t know about. This reminder totally shifted my perspective. 

I have no clue what is going on. I don’t know why I got sick right now or when I will be 100% better or even when I will get to leave to go back to school. I don’t know what God is doing right now but it’s about time that I started to trust Him completely and be patient. Patience comes only through trials and times of waiting and I feel that God is really trying to grow me up in that right now. 

It’s difficult to put my own thoughts and questions aside but then who better to trust than the One who created me and knows me inside out? It seems silly that I don’t go to the Great Physician before I call up my doctor. 

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts and ramblings as I process through this and try to wait patiently. More to come later.

 

don't I look happy? please excuse the awful hair

 

 

I forgot, in all of my un-excitement of late to point out that I GOT A MAC! I have been wanting a mac for a long time and I finally got one on Thursday. It’s wonderful. I haven’t even discovered all of the cool things it can do.

remember how I said the other day that I was going back to school and that I was all excited and could not wait? yeah well scratch that off the record. I”m still at home. No, I don’t want to be here. In fact I am quite angry that I am here. But it’s not been my choice that I am here.

I’m sick. yes again. abdominal pain. that’s all I am going to say. severe abdominal pain that cannot be explained after multiple tests. one doctor, one surgeon, lots of tests and no definitive diagnosis. 

of course it’s the worst timing ever as I want to be at school having fun with my friends and getting ready for a week of hanging out with four year olds. not to mention the fact that I was ready to leave and needed a change of pace from here anyways.

oh dear.

I’ll have to be here at least till Monday because I have to have a follow-up appointment. I hate this. Ugggghhhhh.

1. I leave for school tomorrow.

2. I am going to work/hang out with four year olds for the next two weeks before school starts.

3. I can’t wait.

4. I am ready for the cool mountain breeze, hammocking on the parkway, hikes, and live bluegrass.

5. ditto on the ready to see friends

6. wearing glasses for reading currently. I think that they make me look smart.

7. I hate change. It makes me nervous and I get this weird feeling.

8. Actually after a discussion with a dear friend last night it was decided that what I really hate is transitions. Change is good and I crave it frequently in small doses I just suck (sorry for lack of a better word) at transitioning from one thing to another.

9. stars are beautiful and a great way to remember that God is still the same no matter where I am.

10. I detest packing.

I usually don’t post these surveys or other things that remind me of middle school but hey I’m bored and my dear friend lauren did tag me so I guess I will succumb to the peer pressure.

Where is your cell phone?  charging

Your significant other?  Jesus

Your hair?  wet

Your mother?  sleeping

Your father?  ditto

Your favorite thing?  people

Your dream last night?  forgotten

Your favorite drink?  tea

Your dream/goal?  adventure

The room you’re in?  bedroom

Your hobby?  blogging

Your fear?  spiders

Where do you want to be in 6 years?  travel

What you’re not?  patient

Muffins?  blueberry

One of your wish list items?  macbook

Where you grew up?  germany

Last thing you did?  showered

Favorite gadget?  ipod

Your pets?  sammy

Your computer?  heavy

Your mood?  excited

Missing someone?  kira

Your car?  loved

Favorite store?  books

Like someone?  ha

Your favorite color?  pink

Last time you laughed?  now

Last time you cried?  forgotten

And just because I can I tag Rebecca, Natalie, Lauren, and Anna.

Now, I am off to have a Skype date with Kira! I am so excited to catch up with her!

I like to think that I can be a spontaneous person. Random adventures make me smile and thrill me. Tonight my friend Sybil and I were bored. We had just seen a movie and were driving around bored. I suggested that we go to the airport to this little observation park where you can watch the airplanes take off and land. Off we went. The sun was just setting and there were LOTS of planes on the strip. A gentle breeze was blowing as well. It was great.

I looked out at the sun and thought, man I would love to be on one of those planes. I would just love to be going somewhere, anywhere. As we left and drove away I thought about this some more and told Sybil that someday I just want to go to airport with one bag and a couple hundred bucks and just go somewhere random. I even said it would be neat to simply fly somewhere, eat dinner or do something there, and then fly back. She laughed at me and said that it costs too much money and that I am rediculous. I agree to both of those, but still, there’s that part of me that just wants to go anyways.

Life is way too short to bypass adventures. Every sunset is meant to be cherished and every day a chance to live for Christ. I just hope that I always have some spunk and spontaneity left in me, that I don’t ever become bored or stagnant in life.

Who knows, maybe I’ll do that airplane adventure someday. Anyone want to join?

I got an e-mail last week from my friend Caleb, who was a leader for my India team. Caleb and another friend Wilson are both part of a non-profit they formed and are in Asia learning about how they can help end human trafficking, specifically child prostitution. Caleb told a touching story in his e-mail about their recent trip to Cambodia where they saw many brothels full of young, precious children who are being exploited in awful ways. He told us that Dateline NBC was airing a special on child prostitution in Cambodia that was airing last friday night. I DVRed the show and watched it Saturday morning, and it was so heartbreaking.

Children sold into slavery because their parents cannot afford to feed them.

Pimps and Madames bragging about how young the girls were.

Awful, hazardous conditions in which the girls live.

Tourists traveling to Cambodia to do more than just look at the architecture.

All of it made me so sad but the part that really wrenched me was watching the girls cry and scream in fear as they were freed as a part of a large sting operation. Dateline partnered with the International Justice Mission and Cambodian officials to set up the sting operation. There is a lot of corruption within the government and police and somehow the plan was disrupted. I watched as these girls cried and screamed in terror as the IJM official took them into a back room to protect them from the shooting and violence of the pimp. As the girls were placed into a vehicle that took them to a safehouse one girl had her hand against the back window and was bawling.

I think that is the saddest thing ever - when children have been so oppressed they don’t even know what freedom looks like. I cannot even imagine going through what they did. The show really opened my eyes to the pain and suffering of children around the world and caused me to ask my Abba Daddy to please hold those girls, to give them the love that is greater than all hurt.

The special was called Children for Sale. I encourage you to check out the information and International Justice Mission:

• Dateline NBC, Children for Sale
• Stop Human Trafficking
• Invisible Children

“Doing what Jesus does, telling the truth and loving needy people, is inherently unsafe in a fallen world of lies and selfishness” -excerpt from a message given by Gary Haugen, president of the IJM, entitled “DISCERNING GOD’S CALL - When the Will of God is Scary”

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed an adventure. I had that day off so instead of laying around the house I called up my friend Sarah and the adventure began. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, only that I wanted to go to this used bookstore downtown that I had always heard great things about but hadn’t been yet. And so an adventure began.

Sarah

the awesome bookstore

some super delicious chili - this is the sampler you get at the beginning to help you make up your mind

we ate outside, there was a breeze blowing, it was wonderful!

we took a walk and I got this picture while holding the camera at my waist and pointing aimlessly

I got artistic and made sarah pose next to the cool brick wall

underneath the railroad tracks

It was a great day of spontaneity and fun with a dear friend!