Merry Christmas!

May God bring you peace, joy, and love this season. Let him restore you if you need that, too!

What's been going on

oh how the days go by. it's already september and, thank the Lord, we've had some cooler days.
I want to praise God for His peace in my life. I've been anxious lately - mostly about things that i make up in my head. I've been having lower back pain that goes into my leg after running. I've had similar hip pain after running before, but nothing that has stayed as long as this. Here is where my anxiousness shows itself: I worry that this pain is caused by a tumor or some sort of fatal illness (namely cancer). It's a consuming worry, and I hate it. Troy reminded me tonight to take captive every thought.

the past few months have been both wonderful and difficult. i think i'm still dealing with all that happened to troy and me. we haven't told a ton of people, but we miscarried this summer. it began while we were in Costa Rica on a really great missions trip. God had his hand in surrounding us with love and support.

when we found out we were expecting i bawled my eyes out; i did the same when the miscarriage began. it's something i've always been afraid of, but never thought would happen to me. and now i think that's why my fears of other things (ie. cancer) seem like such a big possibilty. to say the least, it's been an emotional rollercoaster. i've been both brokenhearted and happy, scared and calm, questioning and thankful. in spite of everything, God is so good (all the time, all the time God is good). i want to remember his presence in my life, i need to remember it.

i have an appointment with the chiropractor this monday. hopefully the running/back pain issue can be unfolded and sorted out there. :)

finally, i don't mean to write all this for anyone to feel overly sympathetic for me. it's more therapy - it feels good to write it down and get it out.

i hope you are doing well. tell me about it.

SUMMER!

The school year has come to a close, and I am so delighted to have some time off from work. hip hip hurrah! I found out this morning that i may be transferring schools next year - to a larger full-on elementary. Right now i'm a teacher's assistant in a montessori classroom, so really I'll be following the teacher I work with. The district is trying to put all their montessori classes in one school building which is good for the montessori program.

This summer holds plenty of good things, too: travel, free-time, cleaning, cooking, walking. I praise the Lord for that.

The funnies

Did you know that there is a 'world's funniest joke' wikipedia article? I always thought humor was pretty relative, but i guess if enough people voted on the same funniest joke, that would be it.. right? nah..

I must admit, though, the top UK joke in the article is quite a winner!! Enjoy:

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."

haha! what are some funny jokes you've come across recently? :)

post spring break

Last week was glorious; it was spring break. My job is not difficult, but when vacation rolls around, i wish to be a stay-at-home wife. That's just it, though, stay-at-home-wife. not mother. and right now I certainly can't justify not working. But God has blessed me with a job that follows the school schedule - so, i guess, I'm what they call a ...summer-stay-at-home-wife... and, by golly george, I'll take it!

My spring break started the saturday before last with a morning mud run hosted by MUSC in Columbia. Troy, my sister, Beth, her husband, Steve, and I were a team. It took us alittle less than 2 hours to finish the 5 mile - 32 obstacle course. Obstacles were things like - climb the wall, crawl under the logs, run the dirt hills, shimmy across the rope, and such. On one of my favorite obstacles, we had to run up two dirt mounds, jump into water from the second, swim across, and climb out. On my least favorite obstacle, we had to wade through chest high sludge; it was probably the grossest thing i've ever done. I struggled between breathing through my nose (it was stinky) and breathing through my mouth (what if the sludge got inside?).

Lots happened after the commencing mud run. We had some friends over for dinner, I visited my sister again in Columbia and my dear friend, Amy, in Greenville, I spent time with another good friend, Anna. We celebrated Easter at a huge family potluck, and ended the break by watching The King's Speech late Sunday night. Good movie, I thought.. as did most of America.. In highschool, my friends and I had a crush on the Pride and Prejudice Colin Firth. Funny, huh? But, wait, who didn't find Mark Darcy endearing? Have you read Bridget Jones' Diary? :)

It's back to work now. Five and a half more weeks until the summer. Not bad. not bad, indeed :)

Oh, also, I finally chanced papermaking. It turned out okay, but definately needs improvement. Next time I'll use a lighter colored fiber as the pulp base and find a better way to flatten the paper sheets while drying. Any suggestions?

hello

So, i have definately not been posting weekly blogs...
nor have i been stretching everyday.

what i have been doing:
working
cooking/eating
sleeping
going to the y (woooo!)
reading harry potter 5
watching the first season of scrubs/buying the scrubs series so to watch it all!
helping out with wednesday night youth :)

i'm interested in making home-made paper. my friend, amy, gave me the idea. and now i have the gumption. i actually ordered a book about it online. so, now i'm waiting for it to arrive before i go off to gather what materials i'll need. wish me luck. i'll let you know how the first attempt goes.

what new thing have you taken on recently. what ideas have you been thinking about.hm.

i declare

okay, it's been a long, long, long time since i've blogged anything... my life has changed quite abit from last september.. well, really, there's been one really big change: troy and i are now married... :) which is..... soo nice - great, wonderful, loads of fun!

i like how even though i still have the same job, same clothes, same insatiable (sp.?) relationship with coffee, time is different, now -it's mostly, wonderfully- automatically spent with a friend. my closest friend, my pfl (partner-for-life). haha - um, really though. :) (have you seen modern family? the pfl is a sort-of-reference to phunny phil..)

i've always liked a bit of time to myself, though. i think i need it to function properly. and this is what i'm doing right now. typing alone in starbucks while troy begins his new job - translating for a law firm. kuddos to troy - he's really great with languages. something i really admire about him... :)

on to a completely different topic, it's a new year, and i made one resolution: to stretch every day. i'm afraid that my body is already waning at the age of 25. that just will not do. so, hopefully this is something i'll stick with - it's simple enough, yes?.. it would be fun to continue blogging once a week, also. i'm not making any promises, but that's something i'd like myself to do. . i like reading other people's blogs..we don't have internet at our house, right now, so it will be a nice excuse to go for a cup of coffee or such.

the speed of time is sometimes faster than the cheetah

... it's been quite awhile, hasn't it.

in three months to this day - troy and i will be getting married!! i suppose that is still a ways away, but time has been flying lately for me. the day speeds on and i remember it's been a week since that.. and suddenly i'm getting older. i'm old.

"how old are you? ilang taon ka na? cuantos anos tienes?" (84, and i can't even remember how i got here).. is what i'll be saying in sixty wonderful years (aka seemingly 60 months?).

i've also been reminded (by our good friend the scale) to eat better and expend energy more. that's one thing that's nice for fall (besides lovely tree colors and warm coffee drinking) - being able to comfortably run outside. my goodness - thank God the deadly hot will soon go away for a time :)

so...at the end of this day- here shows our turning, spinning, timefull earth hanging from the wooden ceiling.. sleep tight!!!

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

i am newly engaged to be married... and i couldn't be more happy! haha. sappy public broadcasting, but - really - it's wonderful.. :)

we're not getting married for another 6 and a half-ish months. so the idea of planning for it seems silly. I've been told otherwise.

that said: i think i want a wedding color of brown.

finally, (above) here we are on a more serious note. it's a sort - of irony to the typical nature of our relationship. ba hah!!.... we laugh alot together :)

had it up to here

eeee. i'm sportin' a 'tude about the bug pests in our house. but, seriously, it's ridiculous. i woke up two hours ago to a massive (MASSIVE) amount of little black wingful pests next to my bed. most of them were dead, but some were still fluttering around, and still even some had come to snuggle up beside me. - what in the world?!?! i'm mostly in shock at this because we also have been having issues with fleas....

so, anyway, i 'cleaned the mess' - what have you - up with wet paper towels, found garden bug spray on our front porch, and sprayed that in my room. now i sit here hoping and praying for something to keep the critters away.. (note: call rental agency tomorrow.)

buttttt, i suppose i shouldn't complain so much!!.. yes, it's terribly annoying, but wait - i have a job and a home (where - if insects had to pay rent - would be free) , i'm well-fed, God's blessed me with an amazing family and friends, the world around us is gorgeous... God is my God

and so, this song just popped into my head: (haha)

Oh, God you are my God
and I will ever praise you

I will seek you in the morning
I will learn to walk in your ways

and step by step you'll lead me
and I will follow you all of my days

(do you know it?!).. the melody is simple and pretty, pretty simple.

anyway, this week i want to remember particularly to praise God in everything - even with pesty friends in the house. ba ha ;).

help, i'm alive

I have to find a job starting in july. something along the lines of teacher, barista, librarian. did you know that librarians have masters degrees. i think they often specialize in a particular area - i imagine something like ancient civilizations .

oo, or to be a museum worker - to know so much about something that you're in charge of presenting it to the masses. in fact, i'd be thrilled to visit a museum. a science museum filled with things to play with, or an art museum.

maybe i'll start writing stories. for children. or one piece comic funnies. like far side (which is hilarious).

one thing i've missed lately is traveling. i forget all the possible ways of living. and i get stuck in my middle - low class american mind-set, you know - where my world is the town i live in and not much beyond.

anyway, i'd be grateful for job ideas? :)

what to do

next week is my first spring break - as a teacher. I'm pretty thrilled about the idea of one whole week to do whatever i want. (sleep in, take short trips, hang out during the week day!)

summer is also fast approaching. how exciting!!.. there is only one thing i'm worried about: death by heat stroke in my car?... the driver's seat window of my car gave out a few weeks ago and no longer rolls down. hence, i might die this summer while in it. honestly, my car becomes this mix between sauna and steam room.. ( what's a girl to do? )

other than that, things will be wonderful :)

oh, to speak of many things

i want to grow a collectable source of conversation topics...

here are some things i already know how to talk about: foods, traveling, the beach, wishes, feelings and thoughts, personal events and memories, the Bible and things I read, running, things outside e.g. trees, sky, plants, time, plans...

here are some things i'd like to better know how to talk about: currect events - local, national, global, interesting facts - about people, animals, nature, and social organization... i want to know more about how the human body works, as well - in regards to exercise and diet, i've always found that fascinating.

anyway, one obvious conclusion would be to start reading more. i'll set a goal, something like - read from 2 sources (articles, books, adds, blogs) a day... then, I suppose, I should also start conversing more. practice, practice, practice!! so, 'have at least one interesting conversation with at least one person every day.' hah!

if you have any interesting topics for conversation, post it here. lets get this show on the road. :)

my sister and me

oh, what a beauty she is.

my, i'm sleepy.

heaven forbid, the night starts here.

goodness me :)

I'm grateful that the weekend starts tomorrow. God bless it.

also, i realize this particular post really has no purpose. i simply felt like it was time to put up something new. so bombs awaaaayyyyyy.....

bluffton

this was taken over the christmas holiday in ohio. in bluffton - where my parents live..not to mention where my eldest sister, sarah, her husband, and her two children live, as well.
I used to live there, too - in sixth grade, tenth grade, and for several summers after highschool graduation. actually, you may notice a sort of 'dot' in the lower right portion of the photo.. this is my bird-friend. gnarles. he says, "greetings from the midwest."

on another note, it's just slightly past 9:15 and i'm about to go to bed!! i must say - this teacher business that i've been involved in - for about 2 weeks now - is pretty tiring. or it's more that I need to become better about getting more sleep - namely I should go to bed at a decent hour and/or such. I've been enjoying the job, though, so far. :) my particular goal for the rest of this week is to lovingly interact with my students... yes, amen. that is what it will be. for me, this means to: smile, converse, and laugh with them, keep a never ending bowl of patience, support their learning successes - emotionally, socially, cognitively..., provide and show interesting lessons to them, and listen to them. i'm sure there's a lot more i could do. so, if you have suggestions, do tell. :)

ultimately this source of loving interaction comes from God - hopefully, at least, on my part. that said - as always, i need to be mindful of his presence and power! ra. :)

what's outside.

Blue skies and bare limbs. Room for warm growth. :)

the 12th

hmm, what a week. last week was. i barely worked which meant I had ample free-time to go here and there, to and fro. here's a picture from a mini-midweek-adventure. wooo :). it's taken from the inside of an old church.

Also, something exciting - I officially have my first real career job. i am now a career woman!. it's a teaching job and i'm thrilled. it's wonderful how God provides..in his time. in his time for my life, your life, our lives..

anyway, it starts on thursday! so, this week will be my last week working at starbucks-where i have currently been employed for almost the past two years. wow.. i'll miss it.

new years resolutions

my darling friend amy has challenged me (and YOU) in her latest blog to write down several new years resolutions.. so here:

*some of these have been inspired by others. so thankyou if you recognize something similar to your own resolution(s)...

-always be mindful of God
-be more thoughtful of others, both when with them and not with them
-read more - Bible, literature, articles
-travel somewhere i've never been - and stay there for at least a few days (maybe by myself, or with a friend. that would be nice)
-figure out how to pay school loans online and start paying them
-learn to be more confident/assertive in appropriate situations

well, i will now go to bed and chew on these resolution morsels. mmmm. :/. sorry, again, no photo. good thing i didn't make that a newyears resolution... bah ha ha.

oi

so... i kindof failed with the 2009 blog challenge. tis okay- the new year begins in less than twelve hours and all will begin fresh.. like after a clean bath with some good soap. i also don't have any new photos to post. at least any that have been transferred onto this computer. although.... i was given a new camera for christmas!!. it has good manual settings and will be fun to play with : ). thank you mom and pop! (i haven't downloaded the software onto my computer yet :/.)

anyway, a lot has happened since last blogging several weeks ago. this december month has been really busy - finishing school, graduation, family visiting, traveling to ohio, christmas, the new year festivities.. i finally slept in late today. and it was wonderful. granted i feel alittle gross, but lack of sleep has been pressing on me lately.

so, yay. praise God. for everything. particularly this year of 2009. ! yip yip.

attempting

So, my two closest friends - amy and anna - are taking part in Gwen Bell's the best of 2009 blog challenge...(you should read their blogs, they're quite entertaining).. i think i'm going to give it a whim, as well. we'll see: ) For the challenge you reflect on 2009 in choosing prompted 'best of' moments.. There's 31 prompts for each day of December. but i'm going to be choosy and just do the ones i want to - when i want to. bah ha. so, with no further ado :

*Restaurant moment: share the best restaurant moment you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?
I think about this in terms of the people I was with. my most memorable meal out this year wasn't necessarily one evening - but all the times combined that I've gone out to eat with my three wonderful roommates. We always eat mexican food when it's the four of us. and we always laugh a lot. That's what makes it amazing - because I honestly have so much fun laughing about the dumbest things with them. top three dishes to get: huevos rancheros, steak or sweet chicken nachos, and warm chicken soup with avocado and sour cream. mm. My one downfall at these mexican fiestas is when i eat too many chips. I hate that.

*Book: what book - fiction or non - touched you? Where were you when you read it?
well, i've come to terms with the fact that I don't read as much as I used to. This makes me a little sad. I find myself starting books, reading the first few pages or chapters, and then just losing interest. At home, I read The Stranger this summer by Albert Camus, and for some reason, really enjoyed reading it. actually, here is maybe why: it was short and the writing was thoughtful and personal, to me. I was intrigued by the protagonist's core of apathy and 'aimless inertia' towards his life circumstances.(i stole that 'aimless inertia' phrase from a commentary I read about the book! take that!) All in all, the story was both depressing and inspiring - as it reminded me of the human need for hope and something more than just what's in the world. namely - the need for God.
Several verses in the Bible, God-breathed (author), have been sticking with me lately too. I sometimes read my bible indoors, outdoors, in a car. I also don't read it nearly as much as I should and could.

That's all i'll be writing for now. I want to blog with a picture soon. so, perhaps, i'll prepare for that in the next post. Also, can't believe that Christmas day is in two weeks!! woo hoo. :)