{oh, happiness}

the barnes family comes to visit.

2012-02-16T22:37:00.002-06:00

2 days until I leave for Bangkok

Feels a little weird knowing I'll be gone in 2 days. We're trying to finish up as much stuff as we can in these last few days. This definitely includes going to Chick-fil-A a couple times and loading up on as much sauce as we can to pack into our suitcases. It's safe to say I'm pretty maxed out on my 50lbs. of weight. We've had a good time this week hanging out with our UWM friends and getting prayed for by the office staff.

Earlier this week the Barnes family, our team leaders, came to visit. It was so fun finally meeting Heather and the kids. I have to give a special shout-out to Heather for having endless convos with me about what to bring and not to bring, how to get a visa, which airline to take, etc. She's the best and it was so good to finally meet her! They'll be headed back to Bangkok in April and will be so impressed by my fluent Thai speaking (or not). Speaking of language I start language school March 1st so be sure to start your prayers then. And pray extra hard please.

jacob. ronnie. heather. amelia. andrew. kristen. walker. me.

hopefully Thailand is ready for this awesomeness...

the cove.

2012-02-14T23:04:00.003-06:00

4 days until I leave for Bangkok!

Last week I spent the week at the Billy Graham Retreat Center in Asheville, NC for a spiritual retreat. I met up with my teammates, Kristen and Walker, and some of the staff and board members from UWM. It was such an amazing week hanging out with everyone and getting to spend some time resting before the craziness begins. The retreat center was beautiful and I spent most of my days sitting in a comfy lounge chair by the fire and hanging out with the Lord. It was so cozy and beautiful to go out on the deck and see the mountains in the distance. It even snowed one day! I loved getting to see it snow as I know I won't be seeing anything like that in a long time.

I didn't really know what to expect going into the week but was excited to get the chance to slow down and meet with Jesus out of the chaos and confusion of life. We went through a series of spiritual exercises reminding us of who God is and our chief purpose of being created. Most of the week was focused on how to really have a relationship with Jesus, which I fear is a topic that is so overlooked in churches. We spent a lot of our time alone in reflection which I struggled with because of my constant need to be around people. However, I realized how I was in desperate need of solitude with the Lord and it was so nice to have it forced on me. It was a much needed time for me to reflect on leaving and get ready for what is to come. It was also really special to spend quality time with my UWM family and get to know them better. I am so thankful to be apart of UWM and the family that they are. I love how intentional UWM is about ensuring their missionaries are spiritually healthy. This same retreat is being done all over the world with other UWM missionaries. What a blessing!

The entire week was amazing and I really felt renewed and ready to conquer the next stage of life. These quotes really hit me hard on the first day and I was constantly reminded of them throughout the week. I was struck by how true these words were and how sad I was to admit it. I was reminded over and over again how much God loves and desires a relationship with me. I am so thankful for this love.

"....The real issue is why the church is so unaffected by the transforming presence of the living God."

Erwin McManus

"North American Christianity is 3000 miles wide and 1/2 inch deep."

J.I. Packer

a few snapshots of the week:

view from the deck.

yay snow!

breathtaking.

lobby at the retreat center.

my nook for the week.

timeline of billy graham's life.

an inspiration.

the lovely lisa pointing out our trail route.

the lovely karen who processes all my donations to UWM. teammate kristen.

some of my favorite ladies. theresa. kate. lisa

the girls.

friday night mountain music. oh, what an experience.

woody himself. so presh!

just loved this.

spiritual friendship group. me. theresa. kristen.

UWM family.

"my heart is restless, o God, until it rests in thee."
saint augustine

goodbye texas party.

2012-02-12T16:58:00.002-06:00

6 days until I leave for Bangkok

I must confess that I've neglected my countdown this week. It has been a little hectic the last week or so and I haven't had too much down time to blog. I apologize. Fortunately this week I have a little relaxation time while I'm here in Charlotte, NC before the craziness begins!

Last Saturday before I left Texas my parents threw me a little goodbye party - complete with gumbo (a family tradition) and tears. It was a really sweet time to spend with my family and I felt very loved and blessed by everyone. The whole time I was packing up all my bags and getting ready to leave it never felt like I was really going. I think because I was going to be in N. Carolina for a couple weeks it just didn't seem real. Now it's only a week away and it still doesn't feel real! I think probably a week or so into being in Bangkok is when it will hit me hard. I'm already anticipating the emotional rollercoaster I will be feeling.

Here are some shots from my goodbye party...

me and jake.

my sweet brother decorated my cake for me. my aunt name is "fer-fer" for those who don't know and now the name has spread to my whole family.

me with the grandparents.
my stylish grandma decided to match me.

glenners. me. bethers. (aka the parents)

the besties/travel buddies. me. uncle lunsford. lala (she's an amazing stylist. check out her fashion blog).

the fam minus a few. jake. kalan. me. mom. dad.

texas i will miss you and the bluebonnets, tex-mex, football, crawfish, big cups, and everything else great you have to offer.

(source)

deep in the heart of texas.

2 & 15

2012-02-03T20:43:00.000-06:00

2 days until I leave Texas

15 days until I leave for Bangkok

going to miss:

Jason's Deli (aka. the deli, j.del, jasons). if you live in Beaumont the deli is the place to go and you are pretty much guaranteed to see someone you know. it's close to my heart as beaumont is the birthplace of the deli. i just love it. my mom thought it was necessary to have me take pictures of all my favorite places before i depart.

excited about:
Songkran - the Thai new year and a 3 day water fight throughout the whole country. so pumped.

(source)

So the packing is still happening and i'm feeling a little overwhelmed about it. I'm pretty sure tonight I am enlisting the help of my lovely mother. It doesn't seem real that these are my last few days with my family. We've been having fun spending time together and playing a lot of Ticket to Ride (super fun game)! I really don't know how I'm going to say goodbye. I apologize in advance for anyone hanging out with me in NC for the next 2 weeks because I'll probably be an emotional wreck.

3 &16

2012-02-02T21:25:00.001-06:00

3 days until I depart Texas

16 days until I depart for Thailand

going to miss:

Christmas time. I know I'll celebrate, but it will just be different. No family get togethers, money jars, drama, kickball, hallmark movies, cold weather, and warm fires. Not that those things are the meaning of Christmas but still they will be missed.

(source)

excited about:

remember this from the movie Tangled?

(source)

well it happens in real life in Thailand. get excited!

(source)

Best thing about living in a small-ish town is that today when I went out to eat and to the mall I got to say goodbye to about 5 different people I ran into. So everyone please go to Target in Beaumont tomorrow so I can say bye to you too. Thanks.

4 & 17

2012-02-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

4 days until I leave Texas
17 days until I board the plane for Bangkok

going to miss:

coats, boots, scarves, hats, and all other things warm

(source)

excited about:

riding in one of these. at least once.

(source)

dear audrey girl,

a happiest birthday to my favorite 7 year old niece!

remember when you looked like this?

and now you're all grown up and look like this...

who told you that you could keep growing. stop right now. and don't have any fun dancy dance parties without me.

love you lila!

love, fer fer

online classes: week 4

2012-02-01T13:01:00.001-06:00

My work from week 4 at Nicole's Classes...

before:

after:

online classes: week 3

2012-01-31T23:46:00.001-06:00

My work from week 3 at Nicole's Classes...

before:

after:

online classes: week 2

2012-01-31T23:41:00.002-06:00

Here's my second week work from Nicole's Classes...

online classes: week 1

2012-01-31T23:35:00.004-06:00

This past month I decided to take an online Photoshop and Illustrator class from Nicole's Classes to learn and become better at my design work. I've really enjoyed them and learned so much! If you're interested in taking some online design classes they have everything from Photography to Typography. I would highly recommend them! It was so helpful to finally learn Illustrator instead of making everything in Photoshop. This week the classes ended and in order to win a free class I have to showcase my work! So I'll be posting all my work from the past few weeks:

week 1:

"you are my heart"

check out my photos & her blog here

5 & 18

2012-01-31T22:59:00.001-06:00

5 days until I leave Texas

18 days until I'm on the plane headed to Bangkok

does anyone who loves to pack want to come over this week and help? please! my room looks like this

(source)

so come over and help! what should i bring? suggestions?

going to miss:
my favorite stores. i'm thinking i probably won't be able to find them there. and don't worry i'm savvy and always shop the sale racks because i can't afford the real price tag.

(source)

(source)

(source)

excited about:
learning a new language...maybe? get back to me in 6 months and i'll really tell you how i feel

(source)

Tonight I got the privilege of being invited to my mom's girls group dinner. Her friends from many many years ago still get together for every birthday. Its always fun hanging out with them because they are so rowdy and I just fit right in. Thanks for having me ladies!

6 & 19

2012-01-30T23:26:00.002-06:00

So my countdown took a little leave of absence. My weekend was jam packed visiting with people and I opted to spend some quality time rather than tend to my blog. I'm not really looking forward to this week. I will be spending all my time packing and saying goodbyes. This morning I had to say bye to my brother and sister-in-law and their little cuties. It was rough. And then I said goodbye to my cousin and lifelong bestie, Stephers, and that was hard. It's just too many goodbyes! It's safe to say that I have been overly emotional this week. I cried through more than half of the movie, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." I cried when I passed by the convenient store in Brenham where my family has stopped for the past 25 years to get ice cream on the way to Austin. I cried when I heard the Justin Bieber song "Baby," because it reminded me of all the dance parties I had with the cuties. I mean ridiculous. Who cries over a convenient store? I mean it's not like I'm never coming back. I guess I'm just being a girl, but I don't think I can handle any more of these breakdowns.

Okay enough of that back to the countdown.

6 days until I leave Texas

19 days until I leave for Bangkok

going to miss:

Texas. I love this state. The people. The food. The football. And saying y'all and all y'all. There's just no place quite like it.

excited about:

beaches where you can actually see your feet in the water. I do love Texas but sorry Crystal Beach you're just not doing it for me.

(source)

I also got to spend a little time in my favorite city, Austin, this weekend. I met up with one of my college roomies, Amanda, and Sarah. We all met my sophomore year at A&M when I lead a small group in the organization we were in. It's crazy to think it was 5ish years ago when we all met! Time just flies by. It was so fun to catch up and spend some time down on Congress Ave. Here's a few snapshots from our time together...

sarah, me, amanda

seriously this cracked me up. in DC i saw a Thai restaurant called "the Thaitanic." too soon?

happy monday!

10 & 23

2012-01-26T21:12:00.002-06:00

10 days until I say goodbye to Texas

23 days until I say hello to Thailand

going to miss:

baking in a big oven because apparently not many people have them...
(if you're looking for one of the most fabulous lemon cake recipes try this one below. its my fave)

(source)

excited about:
doing the official Thai greeting, the "Wai". because apparently everyone, including Ronald McDonald, does it.

(source)

Today I got the pleasure of spending some quality one-on-one time with one of my favorite people, my SIL, Shannon. It's not very often we get to hang out together without any kids during the day but since all the cuties were at school we were able to. It's been a crazy and hectic time in Temple hanging out and seeing a lot of people before I leave.

me and Shannon. a few years ago.

I was also able to hang out with one of my friends I met during my time working at my office. It was truly a blessing getting to work there and I never imagined I would make so many friends there. It is so neat to see the way the Lord puts you in the exact places where you need to be. And it's even better to look back and see the way the Lord was working when I was wondering what the heck was going on. I never imagined that I would make so many sweet friends in my office that would support and encourage me as I embarked on my journey. I am so thankful that the Lord's ways are higher than mine. He knew exactly where I needed to be. My sweet, sweet Jesus.

me and Retta.

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11 days..

2012-01-25T22:59:00.001-06:00

11 days until I leave Texas

24 days until I leave for Bangkok

going to miss:
Chickle-fa (as Clarky likes to say)

(source)

excited about:

thai food. apparently its delicious and cheap.

(source)

Today was special as I got to spend it with some of my teammates who are currently at home on furlough, Michelle & Daniel Seabourn and their two girls. It was so much fun getting to meet them and being able to ask all my questions. They were so fun and I had a great time playing with their girls. I couldn't be more excited about serving with them when they get back to Thailand in the summer. I know Michelle and I are going to have some super great adventures!

12 days...

2012-01-24T22:32:00.001-06:00

12 days until I leave Texas

25 days until I leave for Bangkok

going to miss:

h.e.b. tortillas. I seriously feel bad for everyone who doesn't live in Texas and can't buy them. You're missing out.

(photo credit)

excited about:

meeting my team and serving alongside them.

various observations from my journey to moving overseas:

-people tend to give you the special treatment if you really need to get an appt. or have something done and you tell them you are leaving the country for 2 years. its been super nice.

-most people confuse thailand and taiwan.

-its hard to say goodbye over and over and over again.

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countdown...

2012-01-23T23:20:00.002-06:00

What's a better way to spend my last month-ish before I leave than reminisce on things I'll miss and think about the things I'm most excited about. So the daily countdown has officially begun.

13 days until I leave Texas and head to Charlotte,NC

26 days until I leave Charlotte for Bangkok

going to miss:

my nieces and nephews. i'm obsessed, i know. but look at them...

excited about:

living in a big city, and I mean big (pop. approx. 12 million).

(photo credit)

I am also fully aware that this may be the very thing I am least excited about in 26 days.

But for now I'm excited.

The last couple weeks have been jammed pack as I've been getting my things in order to leave. My plane tickets are bought and things are finally starting to feel real.

The Lord was also faithful to get my visa processed and approved in record time. I am all set and ready to go, except for the packing. Who wants to help? Any good suggestions on what I should bring?

This week I am hanging out in Temple this week with my brother's family and soaking up all the cuteness of my nieces and nephews. I honestly don't know how I'm going to leave them. I was introduced this past week at my church in here, Temple Bible Church, and prayed over as I went out to the field. I could not be more thankful to have so many churches and friends and family who are passionate about seeing God's kingdom come to the ends of the earth. If you are a financial and/or prayer supporter for me I am so thankful for you. I feel so blessed to know so many generous people who are constantly encouraging me along the way.

I'm also trying to make sure I have everyone's email and contact info before I go. If you want to keep up with what I'm doing when I get to Thailand you can subscribe to my newsletter here:

Subscribe here

25

2012-01-05T20:03:00.000-06:00

can't believe i'm a quarter of a century old. here's to 25.

this year i'm partying like i was 6 again...

las & me

my perfect party...

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6

a year-end review, the best of 2011

2012-01-02T15:10:00.000-06:00

farewell 2011....can't believe it's already 2012. How come no one told me that once I graduated college that life would fly by? What is that about? Is this seriously how the rest of my life is going to feel?

2011 was such a year of growth, life changes, leaving my job, going to Africa, deciding to move to Thailand, living in North Carolina, moving back to Texas, meeting new friends, and saying goodbye to old ones. I am really looking forward to 2012. I don't think I have ever been this excited about what a year had in store - moving to a new country, leaving behind everyone I know, learning everything all over, hopefully speaking Thai, and most importantly bringing the LOVE of Christ to the hurting, needy, and afflicted.

So I'm not good at making & keeping new year's resolutions BUT this year I'm making a PROMISE to you & myself that I WILL be a better blogger. Since I operate best on deadlines this whole blogging thing is hard for me because let's be honest I don't give myself a deadline. However, I figure since I am moving halfway across the world my family will constantly be hassling me to post, so in turn hopefully I will be better. Since I spoke this on the world wide web then I will have to do it. So if I don't post often please feel free to bug me until I do.

My other new year's resolutions are to: learn a new language, learn a new culture, move to a big city, try new food, wear different clothes, and go to asia. Oh wait, I'm already going to be doing all those things. I figure if I make resolutions that I'm already going to do then I won't fail! Win-win situation.

In order to remember 2011 I decided to do a year-end review. here it goes. enjoy.

i celebrated my 24th birthday. with the biggest balloon ever and a flower delivery from a special little girl.

i hung out with this cutie...a lot.

and this one.

i helped out with YoungLife and did a Snooki cameo. and put a toilet paper roll in my hair to make the poof poofier.

i baked a lot of cakes and had too much fun with my co-workers.

it snowed. i almost ran off the road. i played in it instead of worked. and i built the smallest snowman.

i met these two lovely ladies through YL.

i played basketball (baseball, soccer, football) a lot....and lost a lot.

i made more cakes.

my brother and sister-in-law adopted these cuties from rwanda, africa. it changed my life.

and i went with them

and i got touched, hugged, tugged, and loved by these cuties.

my friend sarah from college moved to belton and we got to reconnect. she's the best encourager i know.

audrey left me some important notes whenever i left the house. "earthquakes are happening in japan," "lady gaga concert," and my favorite "dear fer fer, thank you for nothing."

saw matt wertz & ben rector in austin.

took a lot of pictures for people.

hung out in waco with bexy. won the RG3 giveaway. and loved me some Perry Jones III.

laughed, danced, played, snuggled, read, slept, and ate with these cuties. and bawled my eyes out when i moved out of the house.

left my job and decided to move to Thailand. got a goodbye cake with a mysterious object that turned out to be an airplane.

the biebs came to my goodbye party at work.

had a lot of family dance parties. got to love the kinect.

and made even more cakes.

went to the beach with my family.

stephers moved back to texas and the three cousins/besties were reunited.

finally visit my college bestie, Chelsea, at Pine Cove.

roadtripped with Chelsea to visit our other college bestie, Lacey, in Memphis. all three finally reunited after 2 years.

made a crowd go from 4 to 30 due to our mad kareoking skills. "no scrubs," "PYT," & "i want you back" are always classics.

my college bestie, ashley, came out with a cd. go buy it now. trust me.

met up with my beaumont besties in Tennessee and saw the largest firework show ever in chattanooga.

lived here for 11-weeks in union mills, NC in the smallest apt. ever also known as the hobbit hole. it only had one window.

finally met my parnter and roomie in Thailand, Kristen.

almost broke a leg roller skating.

made some dear friends moving all over the world to share the hope of Christ.

took a road trip to D.C.

visited every monument + smithsonians + some in one day.

and my feet almost fell off.

made a phineas & ferb cake.

and then dressed up for the party. good thing i watch cartoons on saturdays with the nieces and nephews so i'm in the know.

saw a real fall with leaves changing.

and my breath was taken away.

had the best halloween costume ever. would doesn't love a gnome?

made a new family at training.

sat in these chairs for what felt like 123298723 hours.

this little cutie stole my heart. he came by our apt. about 3x/day asking for a snack.

we climbed a mountain. kind of.

went to the biltmore.

and i left my camera with them.

the beaumont besties came to visit in NC.

went to DC again to speak at a GoCorps event and went on a hunt to find the underground currency of DC, the Potomac.

met these amazing friends headed to spain.

met the older version of me. exactly the same. love her to death. cried a ~~little~~ lot saying goodbye.

joined the UWM family.

drove 17 hours in 1 day and made it back to Texas just in time for this wedding and college bestie reunion.

and the three of us got to meet up again!

explored downtown ft. worth.

and the college besties were reunited again. flat greg even decided to make an appearance from brazil.

took some photos of my beautiful cousins.

and took pictures for my cousin's new fashion blog, Sparkles & Stripes. (shameless plug, you're welcome Las)

isn't she lovely?

christmas came.

and we decorated.

i hung out with all the beaumont besties.

and we spent a lot of time in the country

with my crazy family.

and was constantly entertained by all the littles.

and we had a firework show that backfired on us and we had to run for our lives. luckily luke hovered over grandma to protect her.

had our annual edgar family kickball game.

and soaked up enough of the Edgar christmas madness to last me the next couple years. enjoyed my family. didn't win the money jar. and cried thinking about how much i would miss them next year. but rejoiced in the opportunity the Lord has given me to share the true meaning of christmas with those who have never heard.

and the Lord remained faithful throughout all of it. he is good.

and a little something to make you smile...

looking forward to 2012.

community and tears

2011-10-26T01:58:00.001-05:00

It's 2:01am and of course I am blogging even though I have class tomorrow at 8:30. This week we started a new section called 'Dynamic Teams' and the people from Chickle-fa or more commonly known as Chick-fil-A are coming to do some team building activities. I know it sounds fun and all but hear me out....they aren't even bringing food! How can you expect me to live out in the boonies and not be upset when my favorite restaurant is coming to me! I mean so cruel. My time with Chick-fil-A is limited before I won't be able to eat it for 2 years....now that is sad.

(so today ended up being so much fun and the people were pretty cool so naturally i had to forgive them for not bringing food. maybe i'll get chick-fil-a soon. maybe.)

I'm pretty sure I have cried more this week than I have in a very long time. It's okay to be emotional every once in awhile right? A couple of things of significant sadness were happening and then sometimes I just have to have a good cry for no good reason. I really had to wrestle with God last week because several of my ~~friends~~ family were done with training and leaving me! Now I realize that I did a whole section on Transitions and learning how to effectively handle transitions but not yet, not this soon! I thought that was information for when I leave to go on the field. I didn't realize I was going to have to be dealing with that right now. So, God and I had a talk....'Why did you bring me here to training and form such close knit relationships only for them to be taken away so soon?'

Because he was teaching me transitions AND love AND his faithfulness AND a lot of other things.

If anything this experience has showed me how in a mere 7 weeks true community can be formed. LOVE can be shown. My heart can open up to people and develop deep bonds and family.

So last weekend I had to say some of my first goodbyes. Thankfully God is always good. Even if I came here just for this community I would do it again in a heartbeat. I learned so much from people's histories, stories, this community, moms and dads parenting their kids, families, and life. God was so faithful to give me relationships that I never dreamed I would have made. There is something so unique and special about living and fellowshipping with other believers who share your same passion and heart. To share with those who have the same desire to follow Christ and be obedient to His commands is amazing.

and who wouldn't BAWL their eyes out if they got this note with pictures of all the things we did together...

tears are streaming.

from this little cutie...

me and abbie.

and you were leaving these little precious moment eyes, who always comes to your apartment and asks "can I have a snack," like I am going to say no? are you kidding? I do not have that much self-control.

my little levi.

and to continue my crying...some of the girls and I drove down to Charlotte at 5am (eeek!) to ~~run~~ (if anyone knows me they know i don't ever run unless its to catch the ice cream man or something) walk in a 5k. Our director here at CIT lost his daughter several years ago to cancer and this race was named in memory of her. Afterwards, him and his lovely wife took us to the grave site of their daughter. Tears begin flowing again. For them to bring us there and share together with us about the life of their daughter meant the world to me. After 7 short weeks to open up and be that vulnerable held a lot of meaning. I felt special. I felt loved to be sharing in that moment with them. and all they could do was continue to praise the Lord for his FAITHFULNESS. It was well with their soul.

so I've come to the conclusion that it's okay that i cry. it's good practice for me before I leave. God is just preparing my little heart.

that is all...

CIT

2011-10-04T22:57:00.001-05:00

The past few weeks at CIT have gone by so fast! This week is the last week of our first class, Equipping for Cross Culture Training, and next week will start, Second Language Acquisition. I have been staying very busy going to class, doing homework, and writing a 15 pg. research paper. But we have still managed to have some fun in the mean time. Everyday the Lord is growing and stretching me in my faith. I am so blessed by my time here and all the new relationships the Lord has given me.

here's a little of what's going on...

Our team leader in Thailand is back in the States on leave and came to visit us. It was so good to get to talk with him and find out more about what we will be doing.

team Thailand.
Kristen, Ronnie (team leader), Walker, me

The classroom that I sit in for hours upon hours a day. We like to keep things fun and interesting by having skits. Who doesn't love a good 80s workout skit?

CIT classroom.

class.

80s workout. yes, please!

and since we are out in the middle of nowhere we have to make our own fun. hence, slip-n-slide...

so fun.

my little friend, benny.

levi and madeline.

yay, slip-n-slides.

and we have already had several birthdays to celebrate...so I got to make cupcakes!

cuppy cakes.

levi and me.

training - week one

2011-09-11T21:32:00.007-05:00

Last Monday I arrived in the ~~thriving metropolis~~ very small town of Union Mills, NC to CIT (Center for Intercultural Training). CIT will be my home for the next 9 weeks until mid-Nov! This week has been full of learning, meeting new people, gushing emotions, and so much fun. First highlight of the week was that I got to meet my partner going with me to Thailand, Kristen Foster! We've been talking on the phone for a couple months so it was exciting to finally meet my roomie for the next 2 years.

One of the best things about CIT is the other amazing people here. Everyone stays on the grounds in an apartment so it is like living in a little community and I absolutely love it. Kristin and I share an apt. that leads out to a patio where everyone congregates and hangs out. The community aspect of CIT is so special. I have never felt at home with so many people I don't know. We make up 7 countries and 4 continents, praise the Lord! It is so exciting knowing that Christ's love will be spread literally all over the world because of these people. It has been the biggest blessing getting to share and open up with people who have been on the same road as you and have the same heart as you. I have learned and grown more in my spiritual walk in this past week than I have in some years of my life and this is just week one. I know the Lord is going to do more amazing things throughout the weeks to come.

This week in class we took both a personality and mind style test and evaluated the way we were and how we think. It was really interesting to really understand the way I am and the way I process thoughts in comparison to my team. It has been a blessing to understand where I am strong and to see the areas in which I am weak and need growth, and also the importance of understanding how I operate and where I would work best in a team setting.

On the weekends we don't have class so we were able to head out of town and do some exploring nearby. Our first stop was a county fair which brought back sweet memories of the SE Texas State Fair. I got great joy out of drinking a cup of fresh-squeezed lemonade and eating funnel cake - my staple fair foods. Saturday we went to Pisgah Forest to the Sliding Rocks. Basically it is a small slide-type waterfall which you can slide down into a pool of water below. Little did I know that it would be the coldest water I would ever feel in my life! It was bone-chilling. The slide was super fun but then you plunged completely into the water below and.....wow, it was freezing. It took me awhile to catch my breath once I came up for air. On Sunday we were encouraged to try out a church that was different then what we were used to in order to prepare us for what was to come in our culture. To our excitement, right down the road was an African Methodist Episcopal church. It was an extremely small church and you could definitely spot the visitors but nonetheless it was a great experience. It was really interesting to get out of my normal routine and see how others worship. I loved it!

So far week 1 has been amazing and I can't wait for week 2. I feel so blessed by the Lord for bringing me to this place and I am confident that this is exactly where he wants me.

snapshots of the week, enjoy....

my partner Kristin and me.

county fair.

part of the training group.

sliding rocks.

yes, i'm screaming because i'm about to experience the coldest water ever.

this guy got really creative.

amy & kristen.

waterfall.

union hill africa methodist episcopal zion church.

on the way to training...

2011-09-11T21:12:00.008-05:00

Last week I said goodbye to Texas and headed to Cleveland, TN on route to my training in NC. It was so fun to spend the weekend with two of my best friends from Beaumont, Katherine & Brittany. I don't get to see them often so we had some good quality time catching up before I left! We took a day trip out to the Smoky Mountains, which were beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining most of the time but it was still great to see. Afterwards we headed to downtown Knoxville for Boomsday - apparently the biggest firework show in the US, or so I've been told. Seriously it was the most amazing fireworks all set to music and over a bridge in downtown. I loved it and did sequel several times out of excitement! Here are a few pics from the weekend....

Kafrin. Me. Brittany. Amanda.

seriously it looks like outer space.

waterfall fireworks from bridge.

love it.

smoky mountains.

church.

really glad i wasn't riding a bike. scary.

craziness

2011-08-08T11:54:00.002-05:00

The past couple weeks have been non-stop and thankfully this week I will be in one place for more than a couple days. In the past month I've been to Galveston to Beaumont to Temple to Austin to Temple to Beaumont to Temple to College Station to Beaumont to Austin to Temple to Tyler and back to Temple. It's safe to say that I have been busy! This past month leaving my job and focusing full-time on support raising has been hard, humbling, encouraging, but awesome. God has proven so faithful in every aspect and really given me a lot of favor. I am so blessed by those who are willing to sacrifice what they have in order to support me for the next two years. Although it has been hard at times and tedious and uncomfortable I know that it is worth it in the end as I so desperately long to be in Thailand.

The best part has been the quality time I've gotten to spend with people I don't often see. Since my love language is quality time I have felt so loved and blessed with great times of fellowship and encouragement from my friends and family.

A couple weeks ago I got the opportunity to meet up with Clay & Megan Sandoz who are also missionaries with UWM...and they are pretty awesome. They served in Belgium for 2 years and are getting ready to leave for Prague long-term. We also just so happened to all be at A&M at the same time! We had a great time sharing stories and it was awesome to get to listen to their experiences over their time served. They even visited the Thailand team I will be joining and went on and on about what an amazing team they were. Little do they know now that we are great friends I get to come visit them in Prague! Get excited...

It is crazy to think that in less than a month I will be headed to training. Today I started to clean out and packing a few boxes. Sad day. I am definitely going to miss all the sweet time I have shared with Josh, Shannon, Audrey, Clarky, Alex, and Elle Belle. It has been the most fun and I am dreading the day when I leave all my babies behind to come back and find that they are such big kids. As in the words of Audrey "I will cry my balls out." She definitely meant to say "Bawl my eyes out." That's why I love that kid.

Anyway, I will leave with some quick highlights of the past month...

elly belly's 1st birthday

father's day. seriously, how cute is this?

galveston

what a great dad.

alex. turned 2 in July.

love this little cutie, eleni.

other brother quality time.

elle & bethers. unfortunately she has inherited her dad's facial expressions.

highlight of my life. watching the aunts dance with the kinect.

annual crawfish boil

fourth.

some very important ladies in my life. grandma + mom + all the aunts.

HP7P2. Yes, I did love it. Yes, I did ask the guy the concession stand if I could have a butterbeer. Yes, I did ask the ticket guy if he would take a picture. And yes, he said NO!

finally got to go see Chels at camp. miss my bestie. and I got to go to Canton so I can cross that off the bucket list in my head.

reunited with the bigs.

through the gates

2011-07-18T20:47:00.005-05:00

I'm currently reading Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot and my mind is filled with so many emotions. Joy. Fear. Anxiety. Passion. Excitement. Delight. Reverence. Sadness. I know I am a little late in reading this but I really felt that it was important to read from those who sacrificed their lives sharing the gospel. Reading the stories of their missionary journeys is so encouraging to me. God really does take normal people like myself and is able to work through them to do amazing things for His glory. The excerpts Elisabeth shares from her husband's, Jim, journals are beyond words. His words are filled with so much wisdom and eloquence and true passion and love for Christ.

Only the love of Christ could move a man into an area where he knew that it was a strong possibility that he would be killed. He truly understood what it meant to love Christ and he was going to do whatever it took to share it. How I long for that to be me. How I long for my heart to be like his. How I long to be that passionate about my God that nothing could ever hinder my pursuit of Him. How I long to have the love of Christ wipe away all my fear and all my fleshly desires. Lord I pray that I would love you like this.

"I only hope that He will let me preach to those who have never heard that name Jesus. What else is worthwhile in this life? I have heard of nothing better, 'Lord send me!' " Jim Elliot

Any other reading suggestions?

new beginnings...

2011-06-27T16:51:00.015-05:00

so for those of you who haven't heard I'm moving to...

Bangkok, Thailand

For the next 2 years I will be living in Bangkok and ministering and evangelizing among university students. I will be going with United World Mission (UWM) and partnering with long-term missionaries already on the field. This past month has been a whirlwind but I am so excited for this next stage of life. This is something that has been on my heart for about a year and through a lot of prayer it has finally come to fruition. It is definitely not where I thought I would be but God has proved more than faithful in this journey. He has been speaking to my heart and giving me a lot of wisdom and insight into His will for my life.

For some of you this may come as a shock. I mean I am not a missionary. I am not capable. I am not equipped. I never even wanted to be a missionary. But I am willing. Its funny what God does when you are actively seeking Him and are finally obedient to His calling. I could have never in my wildest dreams even imagined I would be doing this a mere 2 years ago, but God is faithful. He has changed my desires to become more like His own and He has completely broken me. I couldn't be more excited about this new journey in my life.

After taking Perspectives about a year ago, I was broken over my personal walk and how I had failed to do the exact thing that God commanded me to do.

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

I finally saw how the entire Bible from beginning to end was God's story of redeeming all people for His glory. My walk of faith had always been so selfish and my eyes were so fixated on me that I was blinded to my purpose on Earth. By the grace of God I came to the realization that the purpose of my life on Earth is to glorify God and share His gift with everyone around me. Everything else was inconsequential. In all honesty I didn't have time to do that because I was so obsessed with myself.

I grew up thinking that people were "called" to missions but now I know that is such a cop-out. Where in the Bible does it ever say that only certain people are supposed to go make disciples? We as Christians have done ourselves a disfavor by creating our own Bible based on the things we want to believe and ignoring the hard things. We choose to believe only the things we want. We are not "called" to missions, we are "commanded' to make disciples. It is not optional. Why else would God leave us here on this Earth after we came to know Him? If we weren't supposed to spread the good news then we would have been taken immediately to Heaven upon believing.

The best thing about being commanded to make disciples is that everyone plays a unique role. Not everyone has to go. Some have to stay. Some have to give. Some have to pray. Some have to mobilize. Some have to send. There is a place for everybody but we must all play a part. Where do you fit in?

Coming to this realization I was convicted as to what part I was playing. I had this gift of knowing the one true God who loves like no other and I was hoarding it. I was depriving people of knowing God and experiencing the true life that comes with it. Did I not love people enough to want to share this God? There were people who had never heard the name of Jesus. People, unlike Americans, who were persecuted for speaking of Jesus. People who would never be able to know the limitless love of God because no one cared enough to tell them. Wow. Was I so selfish in that everything in my life was more important that this?

Then I found out some stats. Even if every Christian talked to every single person they came in contact with about Christ and then every one of those people believed, there would still be 1/3 of the world who was lost. Those 2 billion people would never come in contact with Christians therefore would never hear unless someone went and told them. They are unreached. As of now only 10% of our missionaries are amongst these 2 billion unreached. Even more shocking is that only 1% of money that comes through the church is given to unreached missions. 10% of missionaries and 1% of funds to the unreached. I was broken when I heard that. I was burdened by the way I spend "my" money and how my spirit can be so unwillingly to give. My heart was broken knowing that we as Christians are not doing a very good job at reaching the unreached. Why? Because its hard. But we are blessed to know Christ so nothing could ever be to hard for us!

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15

So where did I fit in? I knew the part He was calling me to was to "GO". He didn't want me to stay. I had to make a decision in my life. I was at a crossroads and had to decide whether I was going to obey God's commandment or live for myself. God was at work and I was desperate to be a part of it. I knew that this could change the rest of my life. I kept imagining myself sitting at the throne of God and being able to say that I played a role in reaching every tribe and every tongue for His glory. After much prayer and relenting of my will, I am going. There is no greater peace or joy than knowing you are doing exactly what God wants you to do.

Don't get me wrong I'm scared and nervous and every other emotion in between. But if God can take my selfish heart, love me unconditionally, and change it to be more like His then He is able to use my life for His glory.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"faith without deeds is dead"

Happy Birthday Audrey!

2011-02-01T15:18:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday LilA! My adorable little niece turns 6 today. I can't believe it has been so long. We constantly tell her she has to stop growing immediately. She is so incredibly smart, loving, a caretaker, and super fun. We love to have spontaneous dance parties and read books together. Every day is a blessing with her around.

here's some of the latest pics I've taken of her...

Hope you have a fabulous birthday little girl! Love you lots.

love, Fer Fer

the civil wars

2011-01-25T18:07:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite bands, the civil wars, just released their newest video and I wanted to share. i saw them last year at David Crowder's Fantastical Music Conference and fell in love. They were simply amazing and very fun to watch in concert. I just love their folksy indie flare. If anyone remembers old-school Christian singer Joy Williams...well this is her collaboration with John Paul White, who I must say heavily resembles Johnny Depp. They are about to release their new album. I have every intention of going to see them in concert in either Waco (March 14) or Austin (March 15) or maybe both! So go check it out...

Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars Videos

24

2011-01-24T22:21:00.003-06:00

how else to celebrate your 24th birthday than at chuck-e-cheese? our familee's tradition is to celebrate at the CEC no matter your age. gotta love it. i had a great birthday both with my fam and at work. my co-workers bought me a super massive balloon and a camera case for my new camera! they were sneaky and even called shannon to see what I needed. so here's to 24 years...

besties.

love.

we really get into it. las definitely has a ticket in her hair.

mariokart = best game ever.

katherine. audrey. lauren.

david is a carny who beats every CEC game.

torture.

biggest birthday balloon ever from worky.

love me some GACC.

Warren

2011-01-24T21:04:00.008-06:00

Our familee headed to warren,tx during the holidays. my grandparents still own the house my great-grandma used to live in. we used to come here all the time when we were little, so everyone has such fun memories. my grandparents recently bought the house next door to the other one so we had a fun time going to visit. best part of the trip is when grandma starting crying because we were all there together having so much fun. she said that granny would have loved to see us all out there...

the pond

audrey....what a cutie

clarky.

effers.

eleni. our newest blessing from ethiopia.

gavin. jerry. clarky. aud.

carlos. newest jacobkalan family member.

charlotte. audrey. greenlee.

david aka thai-thai.

heart melting.

yeah this is my mom. trying to pole vault with a stick. go bethers.

get it.

got it.

good. great.

joshy. bethers.

trix

yeah that's my momma.

miss her.

snakers.

clarky. calvin. lukeface.

kendra. shannon.

christmas 2010

2011-01-23T21:29:00.012-06:00

few pictures from Christmas...

the yarn & ornament wreath i made. real simple but time consuming. love it.

felt garland

Salado stroll with Bex and Chels

christmas lunch at cheeves with the co-workers.

aprons i made for the girls

family christmas 2010

back to blogging.

2011-01-23T21:21:00.001-06:00

new year. new camera. back to blogging. hopefully I will be better at this than I was before. here we go....

thanks bethers & glen for the best christmas/bday present. unlike some people i totes don't mind the combo gift. love it.

Paradise

2009-10-11T16:56:00.007-05:00

So I know I haven't updated in awhile....and in awhile I mean like over a month but I've been crazy busy doing all sorts of things.

For the last month or so we have been so many places:
...Tasmania
...Camping for a week with the family we are staying with in New South Wales
...Gold Coast which is up north in Queensland
...Cairns/Port Douglas which is at the very north of Australia

So we just got back from Queensland a few days ago and have 1.5 more days in Melbourne before we fly out to New Zealand for a week.

Then we will be home on OCTOBER 22nd! Crazy!

Port Douglas was one of my favorite places on the trip. It was amazing! It's been cold down here in Melbourne so it was really nice to go somewhere hot and tropical. Port D was the equivalent of Paradise. It was the perfect place to vacation. The town is really little and not really commerical like most of the beaches we are used to. Our hotel was only a 5 minute or less walk to one of the most beautiful beaches ever. You walked through all these overhanging palm trees on this little footpath and then you came out right on the beach. It was picture perfect. The water was blue. The sand was white. There were mountains in the background. It was just crazy. The best part about it is that there was not really that many people on it at all. We are so used to beaches with 2034898342 other people but this wasn't like that at all! One of the girls that we met at church and became friends with, Jenna, decided to come with us so it was fun to have another person.
Port Douglas is located near the Great Barrier Reef so one of the days we went out there. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I decided to be crazy and go scuba diving because apparently here you can scuba dive without having to get certified. But no one else wanted to do it with me. I was actually the only person on our boat of about 40 people that decided to do it! I was freaking out because I didn't want to be the only person. So after much persuading I convinced our friend Jenna to come with me. We took a little course on the boat ride about everything so then we were good to go. We snorkelled at the first reef site we went to with Chels which was amazing! Then we went diving for the next two sites we went to. It was a little scary at first but once I got down there it was the best feeling ever. The reef was spectacular. I truly felt like I was in Finding Nemo. We saw Nemo in the sea anenome exactly like the movie. Schools of fish would just swim by us like it was nothing. I got to touch all sorts of things like huge clams, sea cucumbers, starfish....so cool! Then to top it off Chels spotted a sea turtle and I got to see it right before it swam away. It was just amazing. Indescribable. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. I can't think of any more adjectives but you get the point. Here's a few pics from our little trip out to the reef. There was a photographer on board that took pics of everyone so no these are not mine.

Here's a pic of the reef from the boat....we took about 1000 pics like this.

The three of us headed out to the reef...

Chels and I snorkelling

Dan, our dive instructor, Jenna and me getting ready to go out. I could barely stand up because the tank was so heavy. Don't make fun I know I look stupid in the goggles.

And here we are...underwater. This pic is so awkward. I mean really? It's hard to know how to pose under the sea.

Anyways, today is our last full day in Melbourne and with the Hansen's. Tonight is our last night to spend at our house. It's a really weird time for us. We are both excited to come home but really sad to leave all the community we have made here. We have been so blessed to meet so many amazing people here that have truly been so amazing to us. It's all very bittersweet. Thursday we are headed to New Zealand for a week of fun and then home. I'm not sure I'll post anything until then because we will be super busy doing all of our Lord of the Ring tours. Anyways, well I'm going to go enjoy the day!

what day is today....

2009-09-05T21:57:00.005-05:00

...today is Father's day!

So I hope everyone wished their father a Happy Father's Day.

Apparently Australia celebrates Father's day on a different day than us....who knew?

Mother's Day is the same though. But get this several people have asked us when Christmas was? Too funny. They thought it was in July. Christmas in July. Strange.

Today we celebrated and got up and all had brekky together with Rob. Rob is our pseudo-father here. Then we gave pressies....Chels and I gave Rob some Cadbury Chocolate because he LOVES chocolate like every other Aussie. Then we had Angie and Rob's family over for a get together. Being around their family just reminded me of mine....loud. We just love their families and feel like in a way they are ours too now. I am so grateful to have that feeling of family here. I don't think I could have made it this long without it.

Anyways, so here's a small tribute to my father, Gleners. It was tricky finding a picture of the guy because he is always the one behind the camera. He's a terrific guy if you know him. If you don't you should meet him. So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY dad. Missyou and love you!

haircuts

2009-09-05T21:25:00.003-05:00

the other day we got haircuts.....I know exciting right? Our friend, Telestra, from church did it. She's the best. Her actual name is Telisha but I don't have a very good memory. After we met her the first time I was talking about how we met her to Alice. I thought her name was Telestra and Ali laughed so hard at me. Actually Telstra is the name of a phone company over here so I just took a spin off of that. Anyways, Ali told Telisha what I called her and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. So now she always knows when I'm talking to her and it's even caught on. Everyone is starting to call her that. Well enough about that. Telestra cut our hair and she's the best. It's going to be hard having our hairdresser in Australia but you know we just live that glamorous of a life. We will have to come back just to get our hair cut.

Just thought you should know that we got haircuts.

i'm in love...

2009-09-05T21:14:00.011-05:00

...with footy.

Aussie Rules. AFL-Australian Football League. Footy. Football....whatever you want to call it. It's Melbourne's favorite sport and mine too.

We went to the footy game a few weekends ago with our great friends, Lisa and Kiara, from church. Someone gave Lisa tickets to sit in the "expensive" seats. So she told us we had to dress up nice because well that is what you are supposed to do. For the first time since we've been here we put on our "fancy" clothes to go to the game...weird...I know.

I had been watching footy on tele. to get an idea of how it was played but going to the game was even better. I don't really know how to describe it its almost like part American football and part soccer. The object of the game is to get the ball through the goal posts at the end of the oval. However, you can't throw the ball you have to either punch it or kick it. It's really exciting and very fast pace which is why I think I like it. Not to hate on American football which stops every 10 seconds and 30 min on the clock could last 1.5 hours...eeek! The clock always runs on footy so I couldn't believe after 2.5 hours that the whole game was over.

But the best thing about it was the players....let's just say that most of them are good looking. I didn't really think about it at first but I found the reason I think they all are attractive. #1...they don't have helmets and big pads on them so you can actually see their faces. #2...they are super strong because they don't wear pads or helmets. awesome. I managed to get a few shots of my new found love and favorite player so that's exciting. Too bad I won't be able to follow my new favorite game in the US. I don't know how often ESPN shows footy games so I may be out of luck.

So here are the pictures from the game...

Chels, Kiara, Lisa, and me pre-game

The footy field. It's a humongous oval and they are always running around the entire game. I don't know how they do it. Its intense. They have to get the ball which looks similar to a football but with more rounded edges through the posts at the end of the oval. You get 6 points if it goes through the middle ones and 1 point if it goes through the outer ones.

My new love #2 on Carlton's team, Jordan Russell. Thanks dad for the camera with the really awesome zoom. I'm sure you are proud I'm putting it to good use.

Ryan Borden anyone...if you know him?
Signature open mouth picture....

The game was awesome. Great time with great friends, great game, great players. I love Australia and footy.

just when you were tired of seeing the beach....

2009-09-05T21:09:00.008-05:00

So I know everyone is sick of the beach pictures but I just can't help it, it's so beautiful. I think I'm seriously a little picture crazed because I just looked and I have 1,224 pictures that I have taken since I've been here. That is why I can't update my blog because there are too many to chose from. But I fully intend to have a picture night when I come back where everyone can view all my photos if you like.

Here are some more pictures of the beach. Spring is coming! I can't wait for it to get warmer. I told Chels the other day that I didn't think I could wear long sleeves anymore. I just couldn't do it. I'm so sick of the cold. And the best part is that it will just start getting cold when we get back...hooray! Two winters in a row! Everyone in the house laughs at me because I like to wear shorts around the house even though its cold. Oh well, I just can't be bothered wearing pants.

So we were walking home the other day along the beach and I took some pictures...here they are!

This is a picture of a hedge in front of a house we always pass by. I really don't understand. It's very Edward Scissorhands to me. Weird but hey its Australia....

The view from the hill that we go down everyday

Swimming anyone? Apparently there are lots of jellyfish this time of year. Not that I would be swimming in the freezing cold but definitely not with these things. They had all washed up on the beach.

Favorite pic....this old man and his little dog. Precious.

Love it. love it. love it.

I'm going to have to live by the beach when I get home. I don't know what I will do. It is just a constant reminder of how great God is.

So I'm moving to the beach when I get home.

i just love it here....

2009-08-25T22:45:00.002-05:00

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful. A lot of days the weather is cool and a little rainy. Whenever there is a warm, sunny day we always take advantage of it. There is hope that spring is coming! It has been a big change to come from 100 degree weather to 60 degree weather. It isn't too cold but I was just getting used to warm weather so it's hard to get back in the feeling of winter. Lately, we have had a few really gorgeous days. Chels and I love to go down to the beach on those days and just walk around. Words can't describe how amazingly beautiful it is here. As we were walking on the beach the other day I just got sad about leaving such a beautiful place. I'm going to go in shock when I go home and see industrial buildings. God is just written all over creation here. I love it! Here are a few pictures of the other day when we went down to the beach with Angie. We got ice cream and ate it while walking on the beach...it was a perfect day!

More cute boat houses...

The water is so clear! I love this pic...

One of my favorite pictures...

A couple of weekends ago we went and stayed with some friends of Chelsea's family, Graeme & Bette. They are an older couple who are amazing! They offered to let us stay in their flat in Brighton but we decided to stay here in Mt. Eliza instead. They are very blessed but give so generously. Graeme is the Chairman of Samaritan's Purse here in Australia. He started the Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry in his garage here. We felt so blessed to be know such an amazing man of Christ.
They showed us some videos of when they dropped the shoeboxes off in Cambodia and it was amazing. I was just crying watching the video of all these kids receiving probably the only gift that they will ever get in their entire life. They were ecstatic! For everyone who has done one of the shoeboxes we all know that there is nothing really expensive or amazingly awesome in them. But these kids LOVE them! They were holding their box like it was precious treasure. So, we just got to hear Graeme and Bette's stories of shoebox drops and all their trips around the world. It was really awesome. They also drove us around to look at the scenery. We saw some more beautiful beaches and then we drove past all the rolling hills. I just can't get over how much the scenery changes in an hour of driving. Ocean, rollings hills, mountains....love, love, love it! We then drove past a few wineries that overlook the ocean. It was just one of the most beautiful things I've seen. I know I keep saying that but seriously it is! Everyone is just going to have to visit and see for themselves. My pictures can't even do it justice. Anyways, I took a few photos so you can try to imagine how beautiful it is.

Here is a pic of one of the wineries that overlooks the ocean...

If you can look closely you can see the rolling hills in the background...

crappy days...

2009-08-19T07:55:00.004-05:00

today....

i got pooped on.

yeah i know. sick. gross.

Chels and I were in line waiting to get on the bus when all the sudden I thought someone threw something at me. Then Chelsea screamed. And I was like "what the heck?" And then I slowly looked down to see a whole lotta bird poo on my shirt. Sick out! A stupid seagull pooped all over my shirt and sweater! Chels is then still freaking out because it got in her hair. So we are frantically trying to find something to wipe it off with and all we had was a piece of paper. But I could not stop laughing because it was just too funny. Like one of those instances where it's funny but not. You know? So anyways that was definitely my "LOW" of the day. Every night at dinner we go around the table and say our "HIGHs and LOWs" of the day. Its always such a task to find something different to say from Chelsea because let's be honest we are with each other literally 24/7. That isn't even an exaggeration. So we always have to get creative when we go after the other one trying to say something remotely different. But you know its all fun. So now I'm rambling but I'm not even done with the poop stories.

....So yesterday it was a beautiful day outside so we decided that we would go to the beach. We wanted to just sit on the beach for an hour or so and read, relax, etc. Well the Hansen's have a dog, Buster (see picture below) or Busta as the Aussies would say because they drop all of their "r"s. He's a spoodle and really cute...most of the time. I really love dogs like so much it's not funny. Buster really likes to go on walks so I thought we could bring him. However, Chelsea was rather hesitant because he can be pretty buckwild sometimes. But he kept looking at me outside the window and so I was weak and gave in and brought him. Well on our walk to the beach Buster stops to do his business. But it is seriously taking forever. Well apparently he is a little constipated because he starts to whimper while trying to go. Sick! So we stand around for like 10 minutes waiting for him to drop the Cosby's off at the pool but nothing is happening. Then we get going again and I look down at Buster's backside and he has just a little bit hanging out....disgusting. SO the trip was not fun but gross and highly educational because I never thought of dogs getting constipated but apparently they do. So yeah I apologize for the vulgarity of my post. That's all for now! adios!

day in the city....

2009-08-15T21:23:00.006-05:00

Last week or so Chels and I took another little escapade into the city. We went down to the Melbourne Museum since we are so studious. Since we aren't in school anymore we haev to enrich our brains by doing something scholarly. Actually I wanted to go into the city because I was craving a burger. They don't really eat them as much as we do. I really needed one! I honestly couldn't stop thinking about a Bacon Cheeseburger from Chili's. I'm such a typical American. But there aren't any Chili's here so I was out of luck. Then we heard of this great burger place in the city so we decided to go check it out. I even got Chelsea, who eats ver little meat, to crave one too. I am such a bad influence. We got the burgers and they were pretty good. I mean they weren't Chili's but it hit the spot. Ok...enough about food..I sound like a pig. The museum was great because we got in free and everyone loves something free. They had some relaly interesting exhibits on dinosaurs, bugs, the human body, Australian history (which was weird because we knew nohting about it), and Pompeii. Here are a few pictures from our journey. Don't worry they aren't that exciting.

A church in the city

Outside of the museum. I don't know what this building is but it looked awesome.
Walking up to the museum...
Museum entrance...
The crest of Australia...yay!

Bethers...this one is for you. Remember the movie Paper Moon?

Some sort of dinosaur bone, maybe like an arm bone? who knows...haha

Adam---this is for you. They have a Star Wars exhibit in the city somewhere. I thought it was at the museum and I got excited but it wasn't! So I need to venture off to find it...

Ok well that's about it...Check out Chelsea's blog to see awesome pictures of me stuffing my face with my burger. Or you could go there and look at her pictures of other stuff too. Adios!

Movie Review part II

2009-08-15T21:12:00.003-05:00

Ok...so I'm back for the next series of movie reviews. Last night, Chels and I went out with a few friends from church to the movies. Apparently the boys picked the movie and so I just went with it because we are now called "the Americans" and we just don't really have any say so. Well, the movie they decided on was called District 9. So I just went with the flow not really knowing anything at all about this movie. Once the movie starts I am seriously thinking this is going to be the worst. 5 minutes later my theory is proven and it really is the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. Words can't describe how terrible it was. Something about aliens inhabiting the earth and trying to make them civilzed and move them to their own alien territory in Africa??? I mean what the heck? The only thing keeping me sitting was the people I was with. Instead of focusing on the movie I turned my attention to the barrel of popcorn that I had. I figured if I could focus on eating then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But then when the lead character began to turn into an alien himself I said no more. So Chels and I politely told everyone we were going to go wait in the lobby. I couldn't justify wasting 2 hours of my life sitting in front of pure trash making myself miserable. Well after unsuccessfully trying to get my money back....apparently I waited to long to come ask...we sat in the lobby. About ten minutes later a few more people joined saying it only got worse. So, heed my advice. If it ever entered your mind to maybe spend your free time seeing this movie --think again. It was really the worst.I am going to go ahead and put it in the negative range of numbers for my movie review. Probably about -100 out of 10. So if you waste your money and go see it don't blame me and don't tell me how it ends because I could honestly care less. Yay for terrible movies and good stories!

Dandenong Mountains

2009-08-04T07:24:00.005-05:00

A couple weekends ago we went and visited the Dandenong Mountain Range. Oh and I definitely pronounced it DandeDONG and all the Aussies made fun of me! So Dandedongs! Angie's niece, Claire, took us out there to see the sights. Claire is so amazing! We are so lucky that Angie has such a great family. Claire is our age and has really helped out by hanging out with us and showing us around! Love her! So, we went up to the Mountains which is about 45 minute drive from Rob & Angie's house. I honestly just can't believe that these people live like this. They live on or near both the ocean and the mountains. Its the best of both worlds! We keep telling them not to take it for granted. We are hoping to go back and do a little more sight-seeing up at the Dandenongs! Here are a few pics....enjoy!

This was on our way to the top of the mountain. It was gorgeous!

Chels, me, and Claire at the top!

"Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep."

Psalm 36:5-6

Beaches

2009-08-04T06:32:00.005-05:00

Everday since I have been in Australia I have seen the beach. It's glorious! It is just unbelievable to me to live somewhere that is so beautiful. I mean I know I live in Beaumont which is short for "Beautiful Mountain." However, I think that the person who named it was just dreaming of Australia or something because it's neither beautiful or mountainous. Maybe they were delusional and just wanting to see mountains. Who knows? Anyways, our house is a 10 minute walk to the beach. It is just so great to live near the ocean...or bay (actually we live in the bay). So Chelsea and I have made several trips down to different beaches and it is just the best. Their is also a tennis club that the girls play at that is right on the beach. When they play tennis it overlooks the ocean. So amazing! The water is crystal clear and blue. Imagine that....Crystal Beach anyone? We love to walk to the beach especially at sunset. One night we saw the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. Words can't even describe how amazing it was. Unfortunately, it was the one time Chelsea and I didn't have our cameras glued on us. So I guess God only wanted to share it with us...sorry! But I snapped some photos of other sunsets that are pretty too. The best thing about the beaches is the little boat houses on them. They line the beaches with their bright colors just adding to the already awesome beach. I have never seen any thing like them, they are so cute! I don't know what I am going to do when I have to go home! Guess I'll move to Destin! Here are some of the pictures I have taken of some different beaches. Enjoy!

Sunset at beach in Brighton. There were all these guys windsurfing. I wanted to do it so bad!

The cutest little boat houses that line the beach!

We tried to snap a photo to prove that we were there....
More little boat houses...

Sunset down at the beach near our house. Here's the Hansen's dog, Buster, running around in the sand!

Top view looking down from Arthur's Seat.

"God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. " Genesis 1:10

at the drive-in...

2009-08-04T06:22:00.003-05:00

So, for months we have been planning on going to the drive-in for Sophie's 14th birthday! Yay! Well I was, of course, super excited about the idea of going to one since I had never been before. To top it off we were also going to see Harry Potter! However, after our little excursion I just wanted everyone to be forewarned about the nostalgic drive-in movies. Since we had 10 people and only 2 cars there were 5 of us to a car....not a good idea. Chelsea, Alice, and I all sat in the front seat where we had to sit down low enough for Rob and Angie to see over our heads. And let me tell you that after awhile my back was killing me and I was getting leg cramps because the steering wheel was in my way. I was fighting my restless leg sydrome by stuffing popcorn in my mouth and trying to somewhat enjoy the movie. Then the windows kept fogging up, so we decided to turn on the car and let the fan run. Oh and the sound from the movie was coming from the car radio. Well apparently we ran the battery out of the car so the sound went off three fourths of the way into the movie. So we were forced to turn up the sound in the other car loud enough so we could hear it. Then, the battery in the other car died. I mean don't you just love it when these things happen. So Rob had to run and rent some radios to put in the car! Too funny. So if you are ever going to a drive-in be sure to go with just one other person and remember to turn your car on and off every once in a while.

Here's a picture of us with Sophie and Alice with Sophie's birthday cake that we made her!

movie critic

2009-07-27T20:55:00.004-05:00

So if anyone knows me they know I LOVE to go to the movies. Chels and I have had to pass the non-eventful times somehow so we have gone to several movies. Since we can't find jobs I have decided to become a movie critic. I'll go see movies and then post on my blog how awesome or terrible they were so people can be forewarned. However, it has not a cheap pastime like in College Station where it cost $4 to go to a movie. It is $13.50 and that is the student aged discount! So it normally is about $16.50 or so. Whoa! So I may end up losing money with this job but who cares. Oh, and another funny thing Australians watch all American movies. I mean I guess I expected them to have their own movies but No. So it was weird going to the movies because I felt like I was in America and I had to keep reminding myself where I was.

Anyways, Alice was dying to go see Hannah Montana a couple weeks ago so naturally Chels and I said we would be glad to accompany her to the movie. So for anyone who hasn't seen it...its AWESOME. Loved it. I would give it 8 out of 10.

Harry Potter also came out while I was here. I was a little nervous it wasn't going to come out at the same time as it did in the US but luckily it did. Its funny because it came out on the same day as in America but since Australia is 15 hours ahead it actually came out earlier! So I forced Chelsea to come see it with me. But I prepared her by making her watch the other ones before we went! So these pics are for you Lunsford, Effers, Thai Thai, and Lala....I wish I could have kept tradition and seen it with yall! This movie was super amazing. I was freaking out about it...you can ask Chelsea! I didn't want it to end and I think it was my favorite out of all the movies. Except not too accurate with the book. Oh well I give it a 9.9 out of 10.

The stairs in the movie theater!

Some angry Death Eater ripped off Harry in the cutout so I volunteered to replace him...

We also went to go see My Life in Ruins. Definitely not my fav. I really thought it was going to be great because of My Big Fat Greek Wedding but not so much. I mean it was cute but a little sketch. I would give it a 5 out of 10.

So, if you were behind on your movies hopefully I could fill you in on what's happening. If you are using my critique service don't hesitant to send me some money for all my efforts. Ok just kidding. Well thats all! Adios!

the City

2009-07-27T20:17:00.006-05:00

Ok people. Here I am again. I know its been awhile but I have been semi without internet during the past week. I know....I'm sure you are thinking how did I survive. Well we found a library so that was interesting. I don't think I've ever just gone to the library to go. But anyways, we stayed in Brighton last week in the apartment that another family Chelsea knows is letting us stay in if we want. It is only about 15 min from the city so we decided to check it out last week. We walked all around Brighton trying to ask around for jobs and didn't have too much luck. We would tell people where we were staying and everyone was like "Ohhh Brighton it is so nice there." Apparently, it is a really swanky suburb but we honestly had no idea. Anyways, the flat doesn't have a dvd player but lucky us it had a VHS....holla back. So while we were at the library I looked over and saw a section of VHS so I had the amazing idea that we should rent some. Naturally we rented awesome movies like "She's All That" and some other terribly awesome 80s movies. But once we got back to the flat the VHS player was broken....I mean I should have known. So we resulted to reading and watching really bad television at nights. It gets dark at about 5:30pm here so we were in for the night pretty early. Since I am a person that can't sit still for very long and constantly has to be entertained last week was a little rough. Anyways, we traveled to the city a few times and I figured that yall would want to see how beautiful it was. The city is just really pretty and so clean. Everyone here has a respect for the places they live unlike the US. Anyways, here's some pics I snapped while walking around. The first couple are actually from the highest point in Melbourne. We went to the tallest building and it had a deck where you could look around the whole city. It was awesome!

This is the building that we went to the top of to see the amazing view...

This is downtown Melbourne looking down from the building....

I love this picture because you can see the Dandenong mountains in the background....which I will blog about later because we went out there the other day. The big round stadium is where they play Aussie Rules or Footy. Everyone is keen on taking us there so hopefully we can go to a footy game soon!
A few pictures that I shot while walking around. This is the Yarra River which runs along the city.

Notice the Australian flag on the boat!

When we went to the city we headed to this amazing chocolate cafe called KoKo Black. Bethers...you would have loved it. I must say these Australians are super crazy about their chocolate. They are turning us into Chocoholics. Cadbury is THE IT chocolate here, they have a factory somewhere nearby. Seriously after every meal they bring out the choc. Even after we have dessert we will normally have choc as well. Crazy! So this is Chelsea, Caitlin, Alice, Sophie, and me all enjoying our delicious chocolate desserts. Yum!

So, last week Chels and I headed back to the city to hunt for some jobs. Then, we saw this awesome looking building which so happens to be the library. Being the super studious young adults that we are we took a browse inside.

We now have a newfound appreciation for so many things like old art, philosophy, history, etc....

More pics of just around the city...

So that is just a little tour around the city. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Adios for now

Phillip Island

2009-07-17T19:45:00.007-05:00

After we left Wilson's Prom last week we headed down to Phillip Island. We rented a really nice beach house and just relaxed for a few days. The first day we went to a Wildlife Park to see all the Australian animals. It was so much fun. They gave you a small package of food and then let you go around and feed all the animals. I seriously was freaking out because I love animals. The best part about it was feeding the Kangaroos. There were so many of them and they would just hop right on up to you and eat from your hand. As you can see from the pictures they were fearless. They just grabbed on to my hand and ate right out of it. Then their was the kangaroo with the joey in its pouch. I was seriously freaking out. It was the cutest thing you've ever seen. We also saw the cutest koalas ever. They were all sleeping but they were still really cute. We even found these two snuggling together!

Sunset on Phillip Island...

So I desperately tried to pet the little joey and this mom actually let me! The other ones were so protective of their babies!

Here's the kanga who seriously was attacking me to get food. He would just come right up and put his claws in my hand which hurt by the way.

Here's Chelsea's mom, Laura, feeding all the kangas.

This one just woke up from his little nap.

The two snuggly ones! I couldn't handle it!

Later that night we headed down to the beach for the world famous Penguin Parade. http://www.penguins.org.au/. Every night at sunset hundreds of penguins come up from the ocean and waddle ashore to their little burrows. They have stands set up outside for everyone to sit in while you wait for the penguins to come. Then all of the sudden they all start coming up from the water and forming little groups. Once their groups are big enough not to be hurt by predators they walk across the beach. The Park has sand dunes which all the little penguins make their burrows. So they built a boardwalk around the dunes so you can watch the penguins find their homes. The most amazing thing is that they always come back to the same place even after a few weeks hunting for food in the ocean. Then once they reach their burrows they stand outside of them and just socialize and mate. So they were really, really loud. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. I was definitely freaking out the most at this. It was so cute. The penguins are like 1 ft tall and weigh like 2lbs! We weren't allowed to take pictures so I found some on the internet so you could understand the cuteness of the penguins. To top that off the sky was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. There were thousands of stars in the sky and a milky dust going through it. Since there were not really any lights around it just magnified the light from the sky. It was breathtaking. I could not stop staring up at the sky because I had never seen anything on it. It was crazy to think that I was staring up at a different set of stars than I see in the U.S. So, that night was truly amazing. I just felt the Lord's presence and His Glory poured out into creation. I honestly couldn't look at those penguins and believe their wasn't a God. It was so crazy how they came back to the same spot every time and some even walked 1km to find their burrow. You know there just has to be a God for those penguins to be designed so intricately. I know I've said that so many times but I really am just seeing it over and over again. I feel like He is speaking directly to me through His creation. I just love it!

**Apologies for the ghetto pictures, I had to google some since I wasn't allowed to bring my camera**

Here's a picture of me trying to hug the penguins.....love them.
Here's me and my new family admiring the cuteness of the penguins

This is what they all look like when their headed to their burrows....

How cute are they? I can't handle it!

"O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens...
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?"
Psalm 8:1-4

The Hansen's

2009-07-15T19:31:00.003-05:00

I wanted to introduce everyone to the Hansen Family. They are the family that we are currently staying with in Mt. Eliza. They turned their shed into a studio for Chelsea and me to stay in while we are here. They are absolutely wonderful! I don't know what we would do if they weren't here to help us. They have been taking us places, showing us things, and teaching us how to be Aussies. So in the picture we have Angie, Alison "Ali" who is 10, Sophie who is 13, and then Rob "Uncle Rob....as I like to call him". So, Bethers you can breathe now that you can actually see who we are staying with.

Wilson's Promontory

2009-07-15T18:33:00.008-05:00

Hey everyone! So, last week we went camping out at Wilson's Prom National Park. We rented a cabin and went hiking and sightseeing. The weather here has been cold and rainy which is never fun. But, God was so great and the entire time we were there the weather was warm and sunny! We saw so many amazing things. We also saw lots of Australian animals.....so fun! A wombat was just hanging around our cabin and a kangaroo just hopped right by it. It was almost like it was staged. The entire trip was absolutely awesome. I was really reminded of how awesome the Lord is and shown His amazing love through His creation.

Chelsea and Me on the beach the first night.... .

The next day we hiked up Mt. Oberon and got to the top and saw this ridiculously amazing view. The last bit of the hike was hard but it was all worth it when we saw this!

"²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20
I just kept thinking how great the Lord was and how he speaks to us through all of His creation. I had this moment where I just experienced the Lord and His glory when I was looking out on this view.

Everything was absolutely perfect!We conquered the mountain so of course we had to do my signature pose on the top of it!

We went back to the beach later that night and the way the sun was setting was beautiful!

Here's a picture I shot of Rob and Ali out by the water.

The way the sun was shining on just the mountain was breathtaking!
Signature pose again in the sunset...

The next morning we set off to go find Squeaky Beach.

This is on our way up the mountain to the beach. The water was so clear that it provided a perfect reflection!

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This is one of my favorite pictures I took because it looks so fake. I joked that it was so perfect it could be on a postcard. There was this huge boulder in the middle of the river so the Glen Morrison photographer in me saw this shot and had to take it!
We took a trail up to a point that overlooked everything. It was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The water was so blue, the beach was white sand, the water was calm, and their were mountains in the background. I just could not get over how picturesque it was. It almost seemed unreal to have all those elements together.

The water was so calm it was almost weird.

Here's everyone staring at the Beach from the rocks. We climbed over all these huge boulders to get to Squeaky Beach. It was unreal how beautiful the view was!
We finally made it to Squeaky Beach! It was cold but the water was so tempting so we had to take off our shoes and run into it! I guess its given why they named it Squeaky Beach but its because the sand seriously squeaks like crazy when you walk on it.

"I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips....Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the main who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34

Travel Mates

2009-07-14T03:19:00.004-05:00

Ok, so for anyone who doesn't know my bestie, Chelsea, I figured I would put a little picture for all to see! We met our sophomore year of college and have been great friends ever since. She's so great. Love her!

Sydney

2009-07-14T02:04:00.008-05:00

WELCOME TO SYDNEY!

Here's a few photos from our short trip to Sydney!

Sydney Harbour Bridge
Bondi Beach

Sydney Opera House.....seriously we took about a hundred pictures

The Sydney Harbour Bridge
but wait, if you haven't seen enough you have to see the Opera House at sunset....
Chelsea and me on the ferry

This is Sydney Harbour at night...
We really wanted to go to Hillsong, but we weren't in Sydney over the weekend so we decided to go to their Friday night Youth Service. It was really amazing. Chelsea and I felt a little odd because we were definitely older than everyone else, but I'm sure we looked their age so it was fine. They made us participate in all these crazy games and such. The funniest part was when a dance group got on stage and danced to a medley of rap songs. After it was over one of the girls told me that was Australians version of black people. Awesome!
This is the Olympic Torch located in Sydney Olympic Park
This is the monstrosity of a stadium that they built for the 2000 Sydney Olmypics. It was really amazing inside. The jersey in the back of the stadium was put up for a Australian Rules Football game or as the Australians say "Footy". The Rabbitohs is the team owned by Russell Crowe.

Sydney was absolutely gorgeous. I loved every minute of it! I'm really hoping Chels and I can go back and visit. We saw some cheap flights so hopefully we can!

I'm Here!

2009-07-10T07:21:00.000-05:00

We officially made it to Australia last Thursday. We spent a few days in Sydney and then flew over to Melbourne! I was exhausted when we first got here. We are 15 hours ahead of everyone so we skipped an entire day on all our plane rides. Once we got to Sydney we were non-stop. It was absolutely breathtaking! I was just in awe of how amazing it was. The Sydney Harbour was so picturesque. Chelsea and I were joking because we seriously took about 100 pictures of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I'll definitely post some later. We walked all over the place and then some. We went to Hillsong for a youth service, the Sydney Olympic Park, Bondi Beach, and so many other places. If yall ever get a chance to go to Sydney, GO! We only had a few days there but it was so much fun.

So after all our adventures in Sydney we finally headed to Melbourne. Chelsea's parent's best friends, Rob & Angie, picked us up from the airport, along with there two little girls. We have been staying with them in Mt. Eliza which is a small suburb outside of Melbourne. They even took their shed outside and turned it in to Chels and my own personal studio. They put our beds out there and everything! So we have a little pad in their backyard. So fun! We are really enjoying hanging out with them and their familee. We also had another offer of a place to stay in Brighton, another suburb a little closer to Melbourne. Another couple that the Williams know offered us to stay in their flat. We went to visit it the other day and its a 3 bedroom apartment in a really nice part of town. It's also very close to the beach. They gave us the keys and everything. But we haven't decided where we are going to end up living. It depends on who wants to hire us and where we can find jobs. We are also limited by the public transportation and bikes (which we might be getting soon). So this week we will be searching for jobs and decided on a more permanent residence. We are so blessed to have so many options!

The culture is definitely taking some getting used to. It is so weird because although they speak English everything is just a little different. I feel like it's almost more weird than going to a completely foreign country. You hear words that are English but I still have no idea what they mean. The driving on the opposite side of the road is also really strange at first. You feel like you are about to get into an accident every time you take a turn....which is a really great feeling. The time difference is also hard to remember. I've pretty much adjusted by now. Although I get tired at like 10pm and that is definitely not like me.

Ok, well I know I wrote a ton. But I figured that my family would like to know what I've been up to especially Bethers. I'll try to post some pictures to show everyone soon! I am having an amazing time and am so thankful that I have this opportunity. The Lord is so good! Please pray that we can find jobs and really find ways to serve where the Lord wants us. I really miss everyone and love you all!

Here it goes....

2009-06-30T02:21:00.000-05:00

Well.....I told everyone I would start a blog while I was off on my adventures. So, after much anticipation and countless sleepless nights.....I proudly present my new blog. Yay! Now I know what everyone is thinking. Why would you ever update your blog, you don't even have the attention span to post pictures or read/reply to emails. Well, I promise I will give my best effort with the help of Chelsea to periodically post what's going on in Australia. So here it goes....