Flyinggg

Soo this is a brief overview of this last week since its been crazy busy, but a good busy..

At the beginning of the week I got to go flying in a little jet because Emily and her dad are both taking lessons to get their pilots license. So she asked if I wanted to go flying and I said umm yes...

So it was a lot of fun, the instructor is named Earl Tillman and he's a funny sweet old man. Here are some pictures... It was a tiny.. It could hold 4 people... Emily was really good at talking to the radio towers. She sounded like a seasoned pilot. The last picture is when we flew over Rome and took a picture of her house.. If you look real close, in the front of the house you can see my little silver car on the light part of the driveway. Maybe not on this blog.

It was cool... I want to be a pilot now. Not really but maybe.. I got an internship type job at Floyd Medical Center. This family has been so gracious in helping me get plugged in and finding something that I really want to do... I'll be working in the Pediatrics unit and just kinda showing them what I can do, helping the kids, showing them the idea of a Child Life Specialist... More like an activity coordinator, i'll be planning activities and hanging out with all the kids that are there... So it's perfect, I don't have strict hours and they are really excited to have some extra help with someone that knows a little more about the hospital then most volunteers. I get to wear scrubs everyday so that is a huge bonus... Last night we went out for sushi, Em had to babysit so I went with the parents and it was a hoot...THe internet has been down because of all these storms coming through but Ill try to post at least once a week or so with updates and info on the job.. That's all I got, I hope everyone is doing well!

Georgia on my mind

I am finally in Georgia!!! This trip kept getting postponed, but I made it! I left Monday morning at 9:30-ish and traveled out of Texas, in and out of louisiana and mississippi (which was gorgeous and lots of fun to drive through) then into alabama where I stayed to see some friends for the evening. It was perfect timing because Kim got back from the Ranch the night before and was leaving this morning for the beach and it was perfect that I was passing through that night so I got to see her! So after 9 hours in the car I made it and got to hangout and see some ranch friends then eat breakfast this morning with them and hit the road to rome! I got here this afternoon and unloaded the car, ate some lunch and visited with Mrs. Brock for a little bit. This family seems wonderful and I am so excited to live here for the next several months!

Some prayer requests: For mom as she continues to heal from surgery and for a healthy/speedy recovery because I know its killing her to be waited on and not be able to do anything herself. As well as prayers for this semester as everyone is beginning new adventures and figuring out which direction to go..

I'll post pictures of the Brock's and their wonderful home when I get some more spare time..

:)

Micah 7:8

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;

When I fall, I will rise;

Though I sit in darkness,

The Lord will be my light.

The Bachelorette

So last night I went over to the Edmonds house and watched the Bachelorette with Emily, Caroline, Collin, Melissa Petty, Alanna Blair, and Paige Legan. After we watched it everyone was pissed. It was mildly entertaining because no one expected Ed to win. We were all going for Kiptyn or Reid. But here's why I'm glad that Kiptyn didn't win: I think that so often we get dumped or end a relationship and wonder what is wrong with ourselves. When your evaluating the situation you think of ways you could have enhanced the situation or continued to let it descend. Whether that be consciously or subconsciously, I think we all have reasons we blame ourselves for the relationship ending. As America watched this season, I think most people would say Kiptyn was not a bad person, there is nothing wrong with him, and he seemed like a good guy- yet he still got the boot. Just because something goes wrong or the relationship ends, maybe its nothing more than it wasn't as good a fit. Kiptyn will have no problem getting a wonderful girl and if Jillian is happy and was being true to her heart, then hopefully her and Ed will last.

I realize that was a semi in depth analysis for a reality tv show but that was just a thought I had last night as this happened.

Beginning again..

So I have decided to start blogging again due to the fact that I am moving to Georgia and I hate talking on the phone... For those of you that I have not talked to in a while, or just haven't told (which is more likely), I'm moving to Rome, Georgia. I'll be living with Emily Brock, one of my good friends from the JH Ranch that I worked at the past 2 summers.

So I'm trying to get used to blogging again, so I'm going to just start with my week thus far. Also, because its been somewhat eventful and mildly entertaining.

Monday, I drove back from Abilene with my Grandparents who have been staying with us so that was fun. On Monday night Paige Legan, Emily Edmonds, Alanna Blair, and myself all went to the rangers game. We met up with Hutton Harris and he sat with us for the game and then after we all went to get drinks and appetizers in celebration of Emily's 23rd birthday. It was a lot of fun and it turned out to be a gorgeous night. It was supposed to rain, but didn't at all and we beat the Red Sox. There were a ton of Red Sox fans there so that made it even better.

Tuesday I took Justin to the airport and then after had an eye doctor appointment. The guy that was helping me before my doctor got in dilated my eyes. Which is normal and I have had done before, but he tried to use an old bottle of dilation drops and it was empty so he grabbed a new one and poured a TON. Not just a drop or two, I'm talking like 5. I couldn't see anything close up which is normal but everything was super blurry. Awesome. So I needed new glasses and after my check up and everything I still couldn't see close up, just from a distance. WHen we were trying on new glasses I had to look into the mirror from far away but couldn't see close up. My sweet friends that work up in the Ballard office, Mona and Jan, helped me pick out glasses that I'm anxious to see what they look like on me, now that my eyes are working again.. We'll see, I'll keep you posted.

After that I went to work for a couple hours since I have been gone for the past week in Horseshoe Bay and Abilene. Straight from work I got to go to the Coldplay concert. It was INCREDIBLE>> I loved it. They are amazing in concert and if you ever have the chance to go, you should.. Cause it rocks. They played all my favorite songs, some old, and new. I went with Carly and Ben, Landon, Zach and Kara, Ginny, Shelley, and a few others and it was so fun. It was a HUGE crowd and I saw Emily and Paige who were there sitting right behind us, So I ended up sitting with them for the concert.. Hutton was there with his brother and he came and watched part of the concert with us. It started at 7 and was over around midnight. They also gave away free CD's at the end of the concert which was legit. They are neon pink and green and the CD is neon orange.. It's called "Left Right Left Right Left."

So now its wednesday and I got to start my day off at the dentist. I really like my dentist and I have known him since I was young as its one of Justin's childhood friends' dad. ALso, I have never had a cavity in my life, which I don't say to brag because I should have had more, but so that you understand where I am coming from when I retell this story. Never having a cavity, I have no idea what to expect when I go in for a filling. I get there a little bit early and am waiting to get called back. Once I do, I go back to the chair and she starts telling me what's going to happen, taking my blood pressure, etc. I told her that I had never had a filling and was kinda nervous due to the fact that shots/needles are involved. I am sitting there and she uses numbing cream and I start to think too much about what's going to happen. This mistake dooms me for the rest of the morning. I start to breathe heavy, even though nothing is happening I'm thinking about what's to come. Dr. Proctor comes in and within the first 5 minutes I can tell I'm about to pass out, but of course I don't say anything because I'm thinking i'll be fine, just breathe. False. I black out. So its just for a second but they are like are you okay, your fine, but I told them I just am bad at this. They let me rest for a couple of minutes and then begin again. I think I'm fine again, but of course, I'm not. I start the whole thing over and then next thing I know I have cold paper towels on my face and a fan blowing on me. Once the color came back to my face and I stopped sweating profusely, the doctor tries to start on a tooth that he didn't think needed to be numbed. But of course because I'm a freak, I can't handle that either and my stomach starts hurting. He tells me to relax, he's done with shots but that doesn't help. It's not that I don't know this, and I wasn't really nervous anymore about the fillings, but I just couldn't calm down. So then he puts an oxygen mask on me and tells me to breathe. He ends up giving me laughing gas because I wasn't relaxing as much as he wanted. So needless to say, it was a horrible experience. Afterwards I realize its not a big deal, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to calm down once I get going. Haha the nurse was like do you get panic attacks often? I said, uh not really, just when needles are involved. I'm glad they were all such good sports about putting up with me and said it wasn't a big deal, but I felt stupid.

Well thats all for now, I'm just trying to get back into the habit of blogging but as always I love comments, so feel free to leave some!

paris!!

oh my... paris was probably one of my favorite trips if not my favorite. it was so much fun and paris is absolutely beautiful. sooo here it goes..

day 1:
wednesday was full of traveling.. we took the train to pattington, underground to waterloo, and waterloo to paris on the chunnel.. it was fun and it didnt seem as far away as it is.. once we got to paris we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed to our bike tours. we were doing fat tire bike tours and it was on of my favorite things... it was night time and we had a tour guide that took us around paris and showed us all the major things and while it was night everything was lit up and just gorgeous. we stopped to get ice cream and it took a about 3 hours but it was a real leisurely ride and we had a blast after traveling all day-- it was a perfect way to get some energy out. after the bike tour was over we went on a boat ride around the river and it showed us major spots of paris while just chillin on the boat..once it was over we headed back to the subway station but who knew the subway station closed? not us. soo we ended up having to get taxis and that was stressful but it was fine. we made it back safe and it was a good first night.


on the chunnel

getting ready to bike around paris! cool vests huh? we thought so.

roomies with notre dame in the background!

the louvre at night lit up

on the boat afterwards being goofy

the rest of the group on the boat!

day 2:
thursday was a good day.. we didn't have anything planned because our whole group went to normandy but elise, meiko, ashley, and i didn't want to so we decided that since we had so much fun on the bikes and paris is so much easier to get around on bikes, and cheaper bc it was only 2 euro an hour, we would just bike around all day and see some spots. we rode around and it was so much fun, unfortunately i don't have pictures but they say once you learn to ride a bike you don't forget but after this trip i swear thats not true. so biking in paris is a only a good idea if you know how to ride a bike.. we ate lunch at les deux magots and it was goood a little over priced but not bad at all... there is a strip that has a ton of shops so we just parked our bikes and walked up and down the strip for about an hour.. it was fun and relaxing. we decided to return the bikes and then go take pictures around the eiffel tower. so once we were at the eiffel tower we were trying to get a group picture but bc we dont speak french it was hard to ask so we just took turns taking pictures until someone came to ask if we wanted a group picture obviously observing that we were having difficulties. it turns out the guy that came over worked for fat tire biked tours and after chatting with him for a bit he invited us to sit on the champs de mars (the lawn in front of the eiffel tower) with him and some of his co workers. they were all from the states and all went to OU, UT, or aTm.. it was crazy but fun to chat.. turns out one of the guys that was there i graduated with his little brother.. so that was fun they told us things we really needed to do and things that wern't really worth it.. it was good to get some good pointers from people that had actually been living there. so after they took us out for pizza and it was amazing, so good and so cheap and they were all nice.. with all of them we had a connection knowing them with a mutual friend which was crazy and random being in paris.. anyways it was a good first day and by that night we were exhausted.


meiko and i at les deux magots

elise and i after lunch!

elise and i in front of the tower

at sunset with the tower lit up!!

taylor, one of the guides who showed us around!

day 3:
so friday was fun, we woke up around 6am and left for versailles.. we got there in the morning and were there all afternoon. we didn't leave till around 4pm. it was gorgeous.. ridiculously huge but it was fun to see everything. we spent the day walking through the palace and then headed towards the back of the property to see marie antoinette's cottage and house. we got done with all this about 2 hours early before the meeting time so we went to grab lunch and crepes and just laid out in the lawns. people were everywhere having picnics on the lawn and taking boats out on the canal. it was such a beautiful day i dont think i could have asked for better weather. once we met back with the group we hoped back on the train and headed back. we went in the louvre because students get in free on friday between 6-9 or something so we got to go for free and see the mona lisa and lots of other stuff. it was fun but we were exhausted we ate dinner and just hung out at the champs de mars almost every night. it was so much fun and relaxing.. the phrase of the night: "can you believe we are sitting in paris?" "who does this?" "we are looking at the eiffel tower.." "we are in paris..." among many others.. basically we were kinda shocked we were really in paris.


beautiful versailles

versailles!

having fun at versailles!

day 4:
so this was our last day and we wanted to make the most of it. we had seen pretty much everything we wanted to with the exception of a few things that we planned on seeing that day.. we woke up around 10 and got breakfast at a french bakery and then grabbed some american coffee at mcdonalds while we ate our breakfast. after we jumped on the subway we headed towards the musee d'orsay. by far my favorite museum so far. they had degas, monet, van gogh, all the impressionists and it was amazing.. the louvre had the mona lisa but this was just all my favorites so it was a million times better. after that we headed back to the champs de mars to meet up with the group for a picnic and to talk about what we wanted to do for the rest of the day. we ended up splitting up and renting bikes again.. we got bikes and rode around for a little bit, went back by the louvre, and we decided we wanted to bike to the arc de triomphe.. not a good plan.. in order to get there we had to bike the champs-elysees. horrible idea. one of busiest roads in europe. its full of major designers and huge sidewalks packed with people. we were the only ones on bikes for sure and we got off after about the 12th honk in about 3 seconds. not a good idea at all but luckily we are alive. after that we had had plenty of excitement about to die more then once. we weren't having the best luck with the bikes either and my chain popped off in the middle of going across the street. we decided it was about time to take them back and grab food because we were starved. we took them back and hung out for a while waiting for everyone else to show up. we grabbed some food for a snack.. everyone was exhausted but some of the group went up into the eiffel tower and i didn't go but we just played frisbee, soccer, catch and stuff on the champs de mars.. once they got done we all went to a nice dinner together and then hung out on the champs de mars to watch the lights. at the top of every hour they sparkle and then for the finale at 1am they turn the orange back lights off and just sparkle the white lights. some people went back to the hotel because they were tired but we decided to stay cause i mean its paris..

picnic on the champs de mars

kissing the tower

group shot in front of the tower

pinching the tower

chilling with an elephant outside the musee d'orsay

after we bike the champs elysees and looking at the arc de triomphe

roomies with the tower at night

trevor, katie, me and meiko!

day 5:
we headed back, that morning we went to get some souvenirs and one more crepes before jumping back on the chunnel to head home. it was such a fun relaxing trip. some of the other acu students that came before said they did everything in paris in one day, versailles in another, and then they left and went somewhere else for a 4 day weekend. there is a lot to do in paris but since we spread it out over 4 days it felt more like a vacation then a rushed time trying to see everything else. it was sooo much fun and it was fun to meet up with some other americans who showed us around and some fun stuff to do!

waiting for the chunnel

easter in oxford!

so easter was absolutely fabulous here! probably one of my favorite days i have spent while i have been here!! friday night we went to st. aldates anglican church and participated in the seder meal which is a typical jewish meal. the next night we went to our favorite restaurant in oxford called smollenskys.. its delicious! but on sunday is when the real fun began.. the day started early for an easter sunrise service. we walked to port meadow and had a bible study/church/devotional that was led by our peer worship team for the week. we had an amazing lesson and it was just gorgeous sitting outside enjoying the amazingly beautiful sunrise and fabulous port meadow. we hung out there for a little after and janine made hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls. it was an amazing morning but thankfully it was only the beginning.

my table at the seder meal

kate and i in front of the best tree in oxford on a gorgeous saturday afternoon

elise and kate at dinner saturday night

meiko and i at smollensky's!

the sunrise devo in port meadow!

after the sunrise devo we came back to the houses and the girls had an easter basket exchange, sort of like secret santa, and it was so much fun! i had brianna allen and mimi barnard had me. i got a mug, a huge cadburry chocolate egg, some tea, and more chocolates! it was so much fun..

exchanging gifts!

after that we had a cookout in the backyard! it felt like we were back home but it was such a beautiful day and it was fun being surrounded by my oxford family! we had hotdogs, hamburgers, crisps, fruit, ice cream and cake!

colin, me, elise, sarah, doug, and wayne in the back, at the cookout!

eating lunch in the backyard! (the people next to me and meiko are janines friends who came for the weekend) and janine is at the head of the table

another table of girls!

easter bunny kate with trevor and courtney

me, sarah, and laura

after the lunch cookout elise and meiko and i headed to university park to read and hangout outside.. we didn't get much reading done but we had a blast just hanging out and goofing off. everyone else came to the park a little bit later and we played outside for the afternoon. we played a game of football then ultimate frisbee, and some rugby. after we were exhausted some of the kids had set up easter eggs all over the park and we had a little easter egg hunt! it was so much fun and it was just a gorgeous day outside! after this, we were all dead tired so we came back showered up and then everyone watched a movie!

one of the only good pictures we got trying to balance the camera on a timer in the grass

playing football!

one intense game of football

elise and kate before the easter egg hunt

ready, set, go! the beginning of the hunt!

it was amazing being outside and enjoying all of God's creation all day and just loving life in oxford... i hope everyone else's easters were just as fantastic!