the weekend.....

it seems every sunday i sit in amazement that another weekend has flown by and i am not quite sure if i am ready to begin the next week. saturday i took it easy.......i went to toy alley near one of the markets with helen. we are co-hosting bonfire night (a UK holiday) this upcoming saturday so went to toy alley to purchase fireworks for the event. it should be fun even though i am a little clueless as to the purpose of the day. bonfire, fireworks, pumpkin soup, and smores......what more can i ask for? here is a link to more information about this UK holiday-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

i got a cool "running around town" backpack in toy alley which was my big purchase for the day!

after the morning trip i felt a bit worn out and my throat hurt......again! i am really tired of the sore throat business. i called suzy and she went with me down the hill to an acupuncturist that one my student's parents recommended. his office is an actual oriental medical clinic. dr. moon speaks good english and was able to help me out all for a mere 4,500 won......yes that is only about 5 US bucks!!! WILD! i love this place when it comes to this kind of stuff. i will definitely go back. :) then we headed to sahruga, the local grocery store. suzy needed some things and i went along for the ride. she did help me make a sahruga card (the korean version of the kroger card) the only difference is with this card you earn points or something. neither one of us is real sure what it does exactly, but now we have one. :) my favorite item lately is the dark purple korean grapes! they are absolutely yummy! i worry when i move back to the states that i won't be able to have them any more. :( at christmas i am going to ko-mart on gessner and see what i can come up with there. i also want to check on some other items that i have become accustomed to. :) KOREAN GRAPES RULE!!! i also like cappuccino milk.....only in korea can i find the goodness. coffee in a can is also on my shopping list regularly.........not the best solo, but makes a great morning mixer with milk for a little latte action. the coffee in a can is chilled so it makes for a good morning wake up drink.

suzy also got us some street food for dinner----mandu, kimchi mandu, and the other stuff she likes a lot that comes with liver. i ate the mandu and left the sausage looking stuff that is boiled in pig's blood to her with her livery stuff too. interesting the things my friends eat! we managed our way home and ate dinner and had good time together chatting and conversing about the latest mental thoughts we had. we "window-shopped" online......she showed me her favs in the UK and i told her mine. then i gave her the picture tour of pics i have on my computer from home. it was fun!

today, after not sleeping well due to the throat action, i got up and went to church............throat still killer painful! thank goodness for some halls throat lozenges that i packed with me. we went to starbucks as usual.....i contemplated if i should get a warm drink or not since i had already had a cup of tea at my apartment that did not really help out that much. church was different today.....we had a missionary from china visiting and he preached on evangelism. a bit old style korean preaching from what suzy said and it did not do a thing for me. instead i read through acts.....starting with chapter 10 which is where the sermon was from. i just kept reading and making notes for myself. good stuff though! i had church in my head i guess. after we got these chicken on a stick deals in the church patio area.....they are yummy! then yes as always i got some hotteok before walking to the subway! good times! i love sundays! :) they rock! we made our way back to our side of town and made a pit stop in edae for some afternoon shopping. i just tagged along as i don't find anything here that fits me. jamie, wyatt, and suzy all made purchases......i just people watched. it was interesting to say the least.....always great people watching here in seoul. the fashion in itself is worth the watching.......it varies greatly and makes you wonder what they were thinking before they left the house, but somehow have managed to make it look good.

i snapped pics on the walk home of the changing colors of trees on yonsei university. check out the new pics...........you should have received an email about the new picture location. if you did not email me asap so i can clue in on how to get there so you can see all the pics that you have anxiously been waiting on for the last two months...........

i came home, drank more tea, and have been doing lots of nothing since. suzy came by to hang out and wanted me to help her set up her skype account. i updated addresses and other random stuff. i worked on my kids scholastic book order and attempted to pay bills, but all the companies are updating their web sites today so i have to wait until tomorrow.

this week should be an easier week......back to normal for the most part. i have parent conferences beginning thursday evening and all day friday. i would ask for prayers for this. the parental situation here is completely different than back home. i am praying that all will go well and there is no major issues.

19 days until katie arrives here in far east asia to visit
25 days until thanksgiving....yes, we are having a proper dinner with turkey
48 days until i am home for the christmas holiday in texas
59 more days until paul and i are dating one whole year.....how time flies

the rest of Korea Week....

i am just realizing it is over. it was a really long week! thursday we got to make Korean kites which was really intricate. Later that afternoon we learned how to play the instruments for the Farmer's Dance which saw a performance of on Tuesday. That was REALLY loud....small music room, lots of banging instruments......whew my ears were ringing. At the end of the day we watched a Taekwondo demstration which was cool......lots of board breaking. It was fun to watch and the kids really liked it. Friday was fun as most of the kids were hanboks (traditional Korean clothing), Taekwondo uniforms, or some sort of Korea flare. I told some boys that they should wear their Korea jerseys. It was fun. We took an entire elementary school picture on Friday morning in the Korean gear. It was really cool. After lunch we went to the gym for Korean snacks, games, and activities. Good times were had by all. I was completely wiped from the week as report cards were also due on Thursday morning. I came home on Friday afternoon and crashed major on my couch. I was totally drained. :)

hanji boxes

today was so fun! we went to a samulnori performance in the gym and then after lunch we made korean boxes, also known as hanji boxes. it was way cool! here are some pics.........

Samulnori Performance---6th graders from a Korean school outside of Seoul

making Korean hanji boxes with my kids

my finished Korean hanji box

3 and a half weeks until katie comes to korea and 6 and a half until i come home at christmas!!!! :)

it is now 54 degrees currently in korea............bbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrr!!!!!

KOREA WEEK

is this week at school. a week to celebrate and experience the exciting culture of Korea. it is fun. today we did not have anything planned but tomorrow brings a busy day of activities. we will watch the samulnori dance (farmer's dance). it is loud and lots of dancing around. it is fun and very invigorating. then at noon my kids have a Korean box making session. i am excited about this. on thursday we will get to make Korean kites, watch a taekwondo demonstration, and also have samulnori lessons. friday is hanbok day which is traditional clothing. i dont have one so i am not going to wear one as of now. that might change. i am going to get a taekwondo uniform before friday though and i will wear that. they are only 30,000 and i can take lessons then too. it should be a really exciting week and full of lots of excitement. :)

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRR..........

the weather has definitely taken a turn for the cold side. yesterday it rained most of the afternoon and now it is quite a bit cooler. this morning when i woke up it was 52 degrees here. the high probably made it to the upper 60's (maybe). then tonight it is cool again---55 degrees. the forecast looks like it will stay below 70 the rest of the week. i have afternoon recess this week and i definitely need a jacket to break the wind. i am now living somewhere that it gets cold for fall. :) i am making hot tea at the moment and feel like i should be preparing to carve a pumpkin. i don't even know if i can get one here. i have will have to ask around. :) to top it off....the boilers for the heat have not been turned on either yet. it is awesome! reminds me of my apartment. :) the boilers won't get turned on until november 1st. good stuff!!!

last week....

it ended with a bang! friday night was the 4th grade fun night from 3:15pm-7:30pm. it was good fun! we played games in the gym for an hour (dodgeball & capture the flag) and then swam in the pool from 4:15-5:15pm. then all the 4th graders went over to the cafeteria for dinner---pizza, capri suns, and ice cream! after dinner we watched a movie in robb hall which is the smaller, older auditorium. they got to watch my favorite-----yes, Because of Winn-Dixie. it was awesome to be able to hang out with my kids and get to know them all better including the other 4th graders. all the teachers were completely wiped afterward but it was really fun!

saturday i made homemade french toast again. i added some vanilla to the mix this time and it did not really make a difference to me. it was good. i then used the rest of the day to be a bum and rest! it was great! later saturday evening i went up to school to work in my room. normally this would be a big no- no for me, but i really wanted to get some things done and get caught up. i made my own reading assessment kit based on stuff i used at home and some of the resources we have here. i was thrilled that i got it all done. you would have been well entertained had you seen me in front of the copy machine though. i had the music jamming in my ears from my dell dj and i was dancing and praising around the copy room. it was great fun! no one was there......i was the only one working so i had the whole school to myself. fab-0!!! i left about 10:20ish after being very productive! i came home to watch more friends!!! i am almost finished with season 2. i think i have only 2 or so more episodes to go. luckily there is a girl here named launa who has all ten seasons. whew! what would i have done??? thank God for her! she is in my ladies small group on monday nights here at my apartment. :)

sunday was the usual-----starbucks, church, hotteok, and for lunch we went to bennigan's. not the same as home, but sufficed. then suzy, wyatt, and i went shopping in edae. well, suzy and wyatt shopped i just tagged along for the walk.

north korea

i know that you have all been hearing about the north korea nuclear stuff going on over here. first let me reassure that life here continues to be normal. there has been no concern with safety as of yet. the news does a really good job of making things seem way worse than they are. i know that there are plans in place if there is such an emergency so i am not worried. to be honest, i found out more from what you all have told me via phone or email than from actual news information here in korea. so no need to be worried yet. i would ask that you pray for the whole situation. i pray that they would find resolution and somehow make peace amongst all this. i pray that there be some sort of solution to be found.

the latest...

hi to all..........
sunday i went to church and the message was amazing! the guy who spoke was an onnuri pastor who has spent the last year starting a church in NYC. his name is mark choi and his sermon was about turning the world upside down. he referenced acts 17 when paul and silas "stir things up" in thessalonia. it was really inspiring and thought provoking. after church as always i had my favorite after church treat--hotteok.

jamie, suzy and i then headed to carrefour for some groceries and things. carrefour is a shopping mall area that is attached to the world cup stadium. inside there is tons of stuff---movie theater, wedding hall, doctor, shopping area, grocery store, two food areas, etc. it is wild! first we had lunch at lotteria, which is a korean version of burger king or mcdonald's. the burgers taste a bit different than american ones, but they are good. they also have a wide variety of types of burgers you can get. for example, they have bulgogi burgers, bulgalbi burgers, rice and kimchi burgers, shrimp burger.....the list goes on. it was really interesting to figure out what to eat.....i went with a cheese burger. :) then we went shopping. the place was sooo packed with people. they were everywhere. we finally finished and made out way to the very crowded register area. jamie had been all checked out when her american credit card did not go through. agh! it was so frustrating for her. thank goodness we had suzy to translate some. jamie grew up here in korea and she speaks better korean than most americans, but when the conversation gets our of her vocabulary range it can become challenging. suzy was able to fill in the blanks. :) suzy and i then checked out while jamie tried to call the company. she had to leave all her stuff there to go home, make the call, and hope to go back to pay. we had to walk to the street to get a taxi and we ended up walking in the middle of the road to try to get one....it seemed like there were none to be found. we were laughing since we were walking in and out of cars the whole time. finally i spotted one and we managed to make our way over to him. he took us a back way through neighborhoods which was nice considering i had not seen many neighborhoods. then we arrived home, jamie used my skype to call her credit card company which was also frustrating for her. no one seems to quite understand when you mention that you live in another country and are trying to get things straightened out. they always want you to call back during normal business hours which is always when we are sleeping....ugh! she managed to get someone who could help her and then we headed back to carrefour to make the purchase. the whole way we are praying that it will work this time. we got a taxi, made it inside, found the basket with jamie's stuff that they were holding for her, and then made our way to the same register. thankfully we did not have to wait in line again. she slid the card and........YES it worked! jamie was so thankful. we gathered the stuff and made our way back to the street to get a taxi home........yeah!

once we were back at my apartment i made the three of us dinner----grilled chicken breasts, green beans, and some rice. they liked it a lot. i made some extra chicken so that i could have lunch for a couple days. yummy! then we just all hung out at my apartment----jamie did school work, i organized my book case, and suzy replied to emails. it was good times!

monday and tuesday were pretty normal days. each week i am feeling better about school. friday is the end of the 1st quarter which is nice. i am nervous about the report cards and then parent conferences. i am already starting to pray about them. they will be on nov. 2nd and 3rd. we are already thinking about next year. we have to make the overseas order by the middle of november for it to arrive in time. i am trying to manage to organize some materials so i can decide what things i need to order that we dont have.

monday night i hosted a group of ladies for a book study small group. we are reading The Self Confident Woman by janet congo. it is the same book that my ladies group did back home last spring. it is an awesome read and one i think that we can learn a lot from. i had 4 ladies show up and another one will be coming on monday. so 6 total including me. makes for a nice size group. we had some great discussion this week and it went well. i was nervous about it before b.c i have never lead a group before and i did not want it to be "too" structured, but wanted more of a casual, laid back kind of vibe. they all enjoyed it and appreciated the fact that i took the initiative to get a group started. that was reassuring.

before they showed up i was buzzing around picking up my house. then i sat down on the couch with my dinner and was listening to some music when i just had this sense of peace and quiet. it was nice to be able to reflect on where i have been in the last two years and think how God has brought me to Korea and the other great things that are going on. it was really enjoyable to just sit here on the couch and be able to really have a moment. :) yeah for those kind of undistracted quiet moments............

tuesday after school we had a long faculty meeting............it seemed to never end. it just amazes me how people complain and frown at decisions that are made about things. i dont always agree, but i am trying hard to be able to just aceept it and be proactive rather than just to react about it. it amazes me how people get hung up on such little things when they are just "small fries" in the bigger picture.

i made some pizza when i got home. then i tried to hammer some curriculum stuff out on the computer. it did not go as well as i had hoped but i did make some progress. suzy came around to hang out and chat some. that was nice and a good time of conversation. then i prepared a salad for the rest of the week for lunches. yummy! she had some hot tea and we continued to talk. wyatt also showed up later and we all got to just hang out and talk about lots of stuff. good times! i like that my house has become the "hang out" zone. :)

today i was really tired all day. in fact after school i came home to lay down for an hour before going to dinner and i ended up sleeping for WAY longer. i slept from 4:30-7 and i woke up moved to the couch and slept a few more hours. wow! i guess i needed the rest. i had some cheese toast for dinner.

all this week i have been coming home for lunch at my apartment. it has been really nice to get away in the middle of the day and eat lunch at my table. i get to fix it up and have some quiet, down time. i feel really "on top" of things when i do this. i wash the dishes and go back to school quite refreshed. i never imagined that 30 or 40 minutes at home can do that to you. i love living 4 minutes from my job. :) definitely has its bonuses!

59 more days until i come home for christmas!!!!!!! i am looking forward to the time i will get to spend with family and friends. i really understand how important you all are to my life and how i miss you. i like life in korea and enjoy the adventure, but i miss the people from my life that i am have sometimes taken for granted. thanks for being my friends and the support and encouragement you all give!

until next time...................................................

a way cool moment.........

today i went to the salvation army's christian book store downtown with a friend. she was looking for a max lucado bible study to share with her study group. i had heard that they had a great selection of books and music in english so i wanted to check it out. it was a large store with a good selection considering that we are in south korea. i was looking through the music being the junkie that i am and i found a large selection of vineyard music there. THEN it happened.....i picked up an album, flipped it over to look for the date, and it says "Worship Leaders.......CAMERON DEZEN HAMMON!!!!!" i could not believe it. i got all gitty inside and felt really excited that MY close friend was on an album that i purchased in SOUTH KOREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! crazy stuff! go cameron! :)

then i came home and had to be at the mills' house for 6pm to watch their kids. mum and dad were headed out to a british school dinner and i was going to hang out with my 3 friends, arthur, isaac, and florence. it was good fun! we watched the BBC DVD of walking with dinosaurs. i learned about sea monsters. then i played a mix n match game with florence. after that i had a go at frustration! (board game like trouble) with the kids. i lost.....3rd place. arthur won! bed time called after the game so we read two stories and then called it a night. i laid with them for a bit until they were asleep. i spent the rest of the night reading a travel book about korea. it was nice to spend time with them! they are wonderful kids! :)

mmmm.......saturday mornings.....

i just love lazy saturday mornings! other than the four legged alarm at 7am for breakfast call, i was able to sleep in and really wake up whenever i wanted. i woke up and just have been hanging out at my apartment. thinking, resting, and spending time just to be me. it is awesome! i was hungry so i made homemade french toast. it was good although it needs some minor tweeking. i made a bit extra so i am saving that for tomorrow morning. :) it is hard to believe that i made breakfast for myself......actually made something, and i already have washed all the dishes! crazy i know. it is a nice feeling though. i am going to take some chicken out for later or lunch tomorrow. not sure what i will have with it, but i will figure it out. i need to go to the grocery store today. i was hoping someone might make a costco/tesco run, but so far no takers. i do have a few "possibly", but no for sure.

more sad news....

i am sad to report that since lunch i have been in mourning. i was told today by paul that the diedrich's by my old apartment is closing. no one really seems to know why, but paul and i are thinking it has something to do with the land owner. they are always busy......always! i am truly saddened by this news and would appreciate those close, to go by to pay my respects by having a mayan mocha for me. long live diedrich's forever!!!

tgif!

i am really glad it is friday so that i can rest and be a bum most of the weekend. today was a pretty normal day.....nothing wild to report. we did celebrate sydney's (one of my students) birthday today with dunkin' donuts. yummy! it was really nice to bring them for us all. after school i had swim squad and then on my way home i was stopped by the most interested event ever.

ian (a campus kid) had a praying mantis in a plastic container that he found here on campus. he claims that he has had it for about 2 weeks now. he caught a grasshopper today and fed it to the praying mantis. i have never seen a bug "go to town" on dinner. the praying mantis was muching away on the grasshopper. it was really rather intriguing actually. i went to tell my friend isaac about it so he could watch as well. :) we both sat in wonder and he explained to me that bugs are full of plants b.c that is what they eat all the time. i was asking him whether he thought the praying mantis was an herbivore or carnivore. he then went off searching for bugs to feed his pet spider. i helped him find an ant and he put it into the bug cage he has. :) florence and isaac then came over for a bit to see my house and meet sam and india. they were pretty taken by the cats. isaac even drew a picture of them for me. :) we had fun playing with them and watching them. i walked them home and played at their house for a while before coming back to have some down time at my house. i am tired and trying to rest so i can get rid of the allergy junk.

yeah that tomorrow is saturday.....................

adventures abound....

yesterday i was feeling really tired and my throat had that itchy, dry feeling. i have been battling allergies for the last few weeks. i was done with putting up with the itchy feelings and such so our school nurse called to make me an dr's appointment at the international health clinic at severance hospital just behind the school near yonsei university. my friend helen said that she would go with me as she has been there many times and she knows how overwhelming it can be the first trip. we walked over and they signed me in. a nurse took my blood pressure and my temperature. she used a thermometer that she held to the side of my neck......that was a first. then i was seen by an intern who spoke english but asked me to speak slowly so he can understand. it was a slow process but we managed to communicate. the whole time i was the in the room with him he was making notes on a desktop computer and such. then the senior doctor came in to visit with me. she was in a bit of a hurry as there was an emergency she had to get to upstairs, but she gave me a prescription for claritin. she is hoping that this will help with the symptoms and if it does not i am supposed to return. all in all it was a very efficient place. very nice even though they spoke limited english. it was a good experience.

then we went to the pharmacy to get my prescription. on this one corner there are like 3 pharmacies to choose from.....we picked one and went in. again i just smiled and nodded as the man spoke to me in korean. we took a seat to wait and a lady came up to offer us a beverage. little bottles with vitamin c drink in them. they are quite good and i was entertained that they would offer a drink while you wait. then the man called my name and spoke to me more in korean pointing to the prescription written in english. i knew what to do so i was not too worried. the odd thing is that they give the pills to you in a little plastic baggie instead of a bottle like back home. i also got a free pill organizer. score! :) it only cost 5,200 for 30 days worth.

we were both starving by this time so helen suggested the sushi place across the street. it is called niko niko (not the greek place) although i had to laugh at the name. the menu was all in korean but thank goodness there were pictures. i ordered a chicken on the run roll and helen got a spicy tuna roll. great place! the tuna roll was 7,000 and mine was 9,000. yummy! mine was like a california roll and then it had a small piece of fried chicken on top with honey mustard sauce dribbled over the top. good stuff! it was a place i will definitely go back to. many different choices of rolls and the prices were reasonable. :) suzy joined us later in the meal.

i needed to get my birks' sole fixed as they were almmost worn down to the cork bed. i had been trying but the little shoe guy where no where to be found each time i passed by. tonight i thought i would try again and suzy was there to speak korean. this was an experience. here we are the three of us sitting in this little shoe repair booth on a busy street watching this older korean man repair my sandals. now most of you at this point are imagining that he replaced the whole sole like usual on a pair of birks.......oh no! he had much different tactics. basically, he carved a bit to fill in the part that was really worn down on both of them and glued it in. then he placed a black tready part over that and the front part. it was a wild thing to watch. i really felt as if he were violating my sandals. no place else like korea would you get a show repair such as this. he did a great job and was very meticulous, but just really odd for a pair of birks. now my sandals are heavier and a little higher. it made me laugh.

then suzy and i made our way to Bible study at yonsei. we were a bit late as the shoe guy took a bit to repair my birks. it was a great time of fellowship and one i am trying hard to commit to. after we walked home and i stopped in to say hi to my friends, the dornbachs. they also are a birk wearing family and got a laugh out of my new and improved birk soles. :)

today was an ok day. nothing to major or minor went on. for dinner there was a korean cultural dinner which i went to for the new teachers. a way to learn more about the korean culture and food. we had bulgogi for dinner......yummy! the food was great and the talk informative. now i am at home just hanging out with sam and india. i am thankful tomorow is friday. i hope to rest this weekend and just hang out. :)

frustration........

the word o' the day! pray for patience and understanding. today was a discouraging and frustrating day. no one reason, but i just felt really mentally drained when i came home from school today. i am hoping that this feeling is temporary and will pass soon. i also have still not been sleeping well which is a bit frustrating as well. as most of you know i love to sleep and the fact that it has been good is really bugging. i also have not really felt healthy lately either. i have been having many headaches and my allergies have been flaring up also. overall i have just felt "blah". i would love to get my allergies tested here, but today i learned that it takes a long time. not sure why but that is the word from our school nurse. ok i feel like this whole blog is nothing but whining and complaining. i am trying to perk up and feel better, but lately it has been a challenge. i appreciate prayers and shout outs for me right now.

sam at his best....

another monday.....

today was the first official school day in the new classroom. it went well......just learning new routines and expectations for the new building. it is really exciting and nice to be in the building with the rest of the elementary school. i get to see lots of faces and see my team more. it was a long day though because i did not sleep well last night. not sure why, but it just made it a long day. after school i had much to look forward to since i was going to dinner with jeff, nicole's brother. the best part is that we went to eat at taco bell.......yes, TACO BELL! i know this sounds crazy, but that is where i wanted to go. most people thought i was a bit strange, but it is the truth that is where i wanted to eat. i had been craving it lately. i even got to take my friend jamie from school and she was thrilled. i had a chicken gordita, some steak nacho wrap thing, and some chips and cheese. it was yummy!!! then we walked around and just chatted. jamie and i headed back to school---we stopped at grand mart on the way home for some groceries. i also bought a cool rockin' sweater jacket for only 10,000 won in the subway underground. my first official clothing purchase. yeah! i am hoping that the rest of the week will go by quickly. :)

whew.......

another chunk of time has passed me by and i realized that i have not posted. sorry! i know who my avid readers are since they are emailing me wondering if i forgot about the blog or something! :) i appreciate the accountability and the reassurance that someone is reading about my life......even as boring as it may seem. i also realize that i have yet to post more photos........i know it has been over a month now that i have been promising to post all the photos i have taken. forgive me!

since i last posted i have had my kids participate in a farmer's dance on the field, moved classrooms, witnessed my students squeal with delight at the site of our empty new room, listened to beethoven's violin concerto in D major and bruckner's symphony no. 7 in E major by the kbs symphony orchestra with guest violionist vadim repin, hiked around a bamboo forest, rubbed elbows with intangilble culture property, heard more traditional korean music, taken lots of photos, been to a couple of inservices and worked hard in my classroom to sort it out, had an acupuncture treatment, spent 90% of the last four days in my pajamas being a bum around my house resting, watched more friends and scrubs, cuddled with sam and india, had a manicure and a pedicure, been homesick, had a few starbucks, went to church, made a commitment to not be such a wimp about going to my small group with church, made dinner for the first time in my apartment and had jamie over to share it with me, had another acupuncture treatment, and played with the mills' kids and managed to get shot with a water gun in the process!

now i am just sitting here updating my blog..........reflecting on the holiday and the past few months here in korea, my new home. realizing that i am really far away from my first home, family, and friends. i am realizing just how much each one of the people in my life mean to me.....even though i may not see all of them all the time or even on a regular basis........being 7,047 miles away from any of them makes my heart feel sad. just yesterday as i walked back from the nail place i asked God to make it really clear as to why i am here in korea. i know that there is a purpose for me here even though some days i wonder. i asked Him to comfort my homesickness and to fill me up with Him when i long for and miss my family and friends. i asked God to show me how to be strong in this new place of growth even when it feels impossible. i am learning quickly that i have to lean on Him.

my new do

here is a pic of me with my new hair do......... dark brown with a very blonde streak. the guy who did it said the blonde streak is in the shape of a nike swoosh......too funny! "very stylish" he said. :)