summer 2011 in a nutshell

Yet again it has been quite some time since my last post. I have decided that I really like blogging though... not necessarily for the people to want to read or follow it, but for my own sanity. Just to get things out sometimes. Sometimes sad i suppose, but also just to share my joy!

So basically... a lot of things have happened since those first couple weeks of summer.

1. I went to Palm Desert for 2 weeks with a family that I nanny for and love dearly. We stayed at their house there, that is on a golf course. They have a pool which is the only thing that made those 110 degree days bearable...

Mary fixing my non-existant "owie"

We rode around in the golf cart a lot and played and shopped and just everything. Then every night when we were finished and the kids were going to bed, I got to go to my little casita off of the house and just relax. Watch some tv, have snacks, shower, and sleep. All in my own little space. It was the very best and i thoroughly enjoyed that couple weeks I was able to spend with them. It was awesome to observe another Christian family, 24/7 for two weeks and see how their family unit works and functions.

Belle and Mary in the golf cart after getting ice

 

2. After that fun trip, they flew me back, but i went to the San Francisco airport because I was meeting my family there, who had driven all the way there from Washington! (This is the longest road trip my family has ever had... and i only had to go on it one way... hehe) I had to take a semi-scary train type thing called the BART... Bay Area Rapid Transit, to my destination where my parents were meeting me. Meeting up with them was a joyous occasion and it felt awesome to see everyone again. We spend a few days in Danville, CA where my family lives (mom's cousin... but age of an aunt for me... so our cous-aunt she decided) and then we traveled to their beach house in Monterey, CA and we went on bike rides and swam in the freezing ocean and visited and aquarium and it was awesome.

3. Driving home was quite an adventure... We left and drove all day until we got to somewhere in Oregon, where we found a hotel and stayed the night. All this time I am just thinking about all the awesome people that I know who live in Oregon and wondering if I could see anyone... So I called the one and only Danielle Christine Scherlie to find out her plans. Long story short, we were able to leave early enough to make it to her home town area, and go to church with her that morning! (i was especially excited because i had been church deprived for over three weeks until then... sad day!) But getting to see Danielle was the greatest thing ever. Living with people for an entire year, makes it hard to go all summer without seeing them. Then we went to lunch together and off we went, all the way home :)

4. Suddenly I'm in the 2nd week of July and wondering where in the world my summer has gone. However, getting home from California was extra exciting because Chris was here! Ah i just love so much, spending time with him and getting to know him better, and really, i'm just super glad that we are friends and that he has had the awesome opportunity to visit so much. We spend about three wonderful weeks together where he stayed with me most of the time, and we always had a blast :)

Also somewhere in the mix of all that, we were able to go to Spokane for a weekend and we went to my baby cousin's birthday! She is so tiny and precious and it was awesome to be with my family. I also got to see my sister which is always such a blessing when that happens, because it really isn't very often.

5. The end of July and Chris has to say his goodbyes. We know that he will be back but losing a friend for at least a year is really rough and sad no matter how great the month was that he spent here. We had a going away party that even Kimberly was even able to make it to :) We miss Chris but he is doing civil service for his country at a hospital in Vienna right now, which is awesome!

6. This is where the real countdown begins... 4 days after Chris left, I had a flight that was going to take me to Guatemala. SCARY! How did that happen so fast? It just jumped out at me.  But when it finally came, it was just like all the the anticipation of the last (almost) 9 months, caught up with me and I was feeling so many emotions that i just felt...                        ..... like that. haha! I want to give a quick Guate run down because... Maybe there will be another to follow after this one...

     1. Nat drugged me twice, and i have now learned my lesson of taking medicine from her...

     2. All 9 girls made it safely there and back

     3. Nat and i were placed into "Mis Pasitos" which was a miracle

     4. My family was awe.some.

     5. There was so much love, happiness, laughter, strong friendships and relationships

     6. Also, a fair amount of stress, frustration, poop stories, tears, sickies, and sad tummies.

     7. I found out while in Guatemala, that Kimberly had transferred to WSU, and that due to a flight

         delay and other things, that Hope was not in Uganda and had decided to stay home.

     8. God was present there. We were able to supplement in some ways, the light that was already

         there, but especially looking back, God was doing amazing things. duh.

     9. The children are so loving, i was miss susana or seño. And they loved getting abrasos y besos.
   10. The typical greeting is the coolest things ever, a hug and kiss on the cheek. I miss that
   11. The culture is awesome. Hard to get used to in some aspects, but all in all, a wonderful experience

Coming back was kind of hard, but I know that there are people who love and care about me and want to hear about my trip and who can relate to my experience.
I have learned so much and I am continuing to learn more and more about my experience and how it relates to my daily life.

I think that the rest of this quarter deserves it's own post... so that will be coming soon. I'm so behind but talking about it on our floor has re-inspired me :)
loves <3

summer time!

Summer time has finally arrived! And I have welcomed it with open arms.
Spending days just relaxing, sleeping in and doing nothing but catching up on my shows and bonding with my cat.

This past week started very hectic. Graduation and grad parties galore. Too many to even count. But they were all so much fun. They are such a great time to see all of your suppor and the people who love you and wish th best for you. It has also been weird though, just thinking about the fact that, it was me just one year ago. The exciting walk down the carpet in my white robe in the Tacoma Dome, the grad party and family coming in from everywhere... seems like it was just yesterday. But now we are welcoming a brand new class into our midst at college. A new freshman class and an entirely new set of people. It just crazy to think that although this year simply trudged by at times, this year has just flown past me. Such a whirlwind of events. Meeting new people and trying new things and going new places an having adventures. It's just crazy to believe that year number one is over and gone.

After the craziness of graduation settled down a bit, I got a break, although I got to take Claire the graduation present that I ordered for her to her house... which lead to an invitation to the cabin... which is always a fun time.

 

The last day of school for the district was on friday and so Maddy and Hannah and I had a little photoshoot at Sunnyside beach and at Chmbers Bay. They were both lots of fun and really gave us a good chance to hang out and just begin to feel like it was really summer time.

Kimberly came over friday night and got to spend the night... she got here pretty late friday night, but this morning, we went and got our nails and our toes done and the nail place down the street which I LOOOVE! We had such a great time, just a girls day and getting to see her again was so much fun and much needed :) I hope that we get to hang out again before school starts back up!

Now I am just really looking forward to the time that I get to spend in California soon! Although I will be pretty sad to be away from home already, but it will be nice to get some time in the sun and just playing with kids. Also, for the third week that I will be there, I am going to be in San Fransisco with my family and I am so excited! We will be in Danville and Monterey to see and spend time with my mom's cousin Cathy and her husband Garrett.

It's always an exciting time there... but for the rest of the summer, I will continue to have my mind on Guatemala. Just for al the things I am excited for and for all of the unknowns. And all of the clothes I got for the trip :) haha! But it should be a lot of fun and i just really miss my team a lot!

So full of joy and love right now. God is so great.

love love love always :)

sprint retreat

Well this is my second blog post about this because the first one vanished into cyberspace. But basically there are not words to describe my weekend. It makes me just want to go and serve right now and not have to do or worry about school and I just want to be there and not here and never have to come back! (except sometimes to see my fam bam of course)

My team is more amazing than anything I ever could have expected and I am so thankful that God had this specific trip in mind for me because I know that all of the lovely ladies were meant to be in and have this huge impact on my life.

This weekend consisted of cold, being ill-prepared, team bonding, life stories, Jesus, tears, worship, love and laughter, a helping hand, understanding, strengths and weaknesses, spooning/snuggling, embarrassing stories, Guinn crush convo's, being sick, being loved on and cared for by my team, and just a lot of being together and getting to know eachother on this deep and personal level.

I cannot wait for the time that I get to spend with them, putting eachother first and learning to trust God and to grow a heart for serving. I just am so pumped that it's typically a problem because I want to go so badly right now! But sometimes it's all that helps me get through tough things. I just really am, not only looking forward to the trip but I am also looking forward to every meeting and every time that we get to be together. I'm really starting to get anxious about some things though. I'm starting to get more and more worried about the financial aspect of things, and I'm anxious to give my life story and to talk about things. But I came to the concensous that I don't have to literally say everything about my life. I can include or take out anything that I want to. But sometimes even the most openminded people can form an opinion or someone based on one thing, or experience or story they hear.

But mostly I'm just excited to live in Guatemala for a month and to get to engage in that culture and just to get away from here for a little bit. I will get to be selfless and not have to worry about missing things or having other things that I should be doing. I'm so grateful for this opportunity! I get to be the hands and feet of Christ and fill the needs of his children in Guatemala!

It will be an absolutely incredible journey and I'm so excited already. After I came back from sprint retreat, I just felt so filled with love, it was the greatest thing of my life. ever. I LOVE SPRINT!
and i love Jesus :)

ah lovelovelove :)

distractions on 1W

So I decided to change the look of my blog. Ya know.. get a little more crafty with it. But this became dangerous SO fast!

One second I was looking through all the preset backgrounds, wallpapaers ect. The next, I'm surfing the web for pre-made backgrounds! I never ever in my life would have guessed that there are so many to choose from!

I ended up with this one with the hearts which I LOVE and the Eiffel Tower which reminds me of Mrs. Blackner and Mary.. and my new passport cover!

But this decision literally took me days! I probably changed it a million and one times and played with even more headers... Which honestly I just chouldn't figure out one that I liked and how to make it work.. so i ended up with this lovely picture of me and Maddy which I think is so great and just reminds me of that great evening... ;) SO much fun! You too Shley!

Anyways, I worked on this almost all day until our floor PANTY PARTY! Which was SUCH a hit and I everyone seemed to love it!

Everyone but one certain stinker, participated, and brought undies for their secret recipient.

All the undies were so cute and so funny and I think that everyone is ready to have another exchange next quarter because it was just so great :)

I have yet to receive my pair but I'm just even more anxious to get them now and super excited!

But here are a couple examples of the gifts given to the lovely ladies of First West Ashton :)

   

 Kimberly's undies from KFunk. American Eagle

Katie K's undies from me and the matching ones I got myself. Victoria's Secret.  

Sefanit's undies from Kimberly. "GET READY FOR SOME FUN". Victoria's Secret.

                                    

All in all, a very grand day in the life of a 1W resident :) now just homework stress and the everyday stresses of a college student. This weekend promises greatness :)

lovelovelove :)

Emotions

This last 18 months of my life, has been an absolute whirlwind. I have had the highs and the lows of my life.
I have shared joy, spreading it like no one's business! And I have felt sorrow. Being strong isn't always an option. But when joy comes to me, I embrace it to its fullest potential! I love to be joyful and I hope greatly that the people who know me best, see me as a very happy person :)

Lately, I have been home a lot and I don't think that a single trip home, has been without the question, "So do you guys still talk?" it's mostly coming from my mom. But from my dad, my brother, my aunt, my cousins, my gramma, my sister too.... It's the worst. It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. Like I should have done things differently. I always talk poorly about him. That I don't like his haircut, or he hangs out with bad people, or that his friends are cuter than him. But honestly, none of that is true. And I hadn't come to realize that until recently. I have found that I make fun of him, the way best friends joke around, or the way that siblings give eachother a hard time about everything. I lost my best friend, and I realized that I just straight up miss him. I miss hanging out and talking. Having someone to go to meals with when you missed dinner with your floor and now you're at it alone. Having someone there to rejoice with you when things go great! And to be the helping hand when things aren't going your way. I miss listening. The togetherness of a best friend, hearing them out and being available to assist in whatever way that you can. When they know everything about you and you know everything about them. When they just seem to 'get it' and no one else does. My friends at school have been so amazing and so supportive. But no one knows all of who I am like he does. He knows my gifts and my flaws, my recycled stories, my likes and dislikes, my biggest regrets and mistakes and the things I am most proud of. He knows my secrets and as far as I know, has been able to keep them to himself.

I don't really know what happened. Why we broke up. Why we don't talk after being best friends for a year. All I know, is that I miss the person I was so close with. And I would give anything to have that friendship back. I guess what they say is true. You never know what you have until you've lost it.

WAY too long.. now we're playing catch up...

I do believe that it has been since Christmas break... maybe even prior to Christmas break that I last posted. I have been very busy since then. Every week is another adventure filled with a million and one things to do. But I really enjoy being busy.

A lot has happened but a quick run down...

CHRIS got to come visit here and stay with me for a whole week! It was fantastic but it went by WAY too fast!

Winter quarter is going just swimmingly. Classes are tough but I'm feeling much better than last quarter.

I've been home quite a few times more this quarter than last. I think I'm coming to terms with facing the reality of home. It's so very comforting to be with people with you know will always love you.

I'm volunteering and attending Bethany Community Church in Green Lake. I love this church; it reminds me a lot of my beloved UPPC.

I have just started baby sitting, once a week so far and hopefully more days are soon to come. She was one year old in January and her name is Parker. She is so precious :)

My whole floor went on a retreat to my house last weekend which was stressful and eventful but so much fun.

I think that my biggest news so far though, is my slowly but surely, summer plans that are beginning to develop. I applied for a mission trip through my school call Seattle Pacific Reachout International, or SPRINT, in November and early last month I found out that I had been accepted to the Guatemala trip. This was not my first choice but I know that God places me on this team for so many reasons and I already feel blessed by being with this wonderful group of ladies.

The trip will be August 1st-29th but there is a ton of prep work and bonding experience that we will get to go through together. I will definitely be posting pictures of our journey, from now until next year when all is finished.

SPRINT retreat at Warm Beach is next weekend and i'm really excited about going and getting to know my fellow SPRINTer's better.

I got to come home tonight so I'm blogging from my own bed and it's so great... I just love it! :)

I hope to get all... most of my hw done tomorrow before I get back to school. But I guess we'll see how that goes.

Now pictures to get a better visual of recent events in my life :)

lovelovelovealways :)