a year-end review, the best of 2011

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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?