pizzas and diplomas

pizza!!!! every tuesday night the papa john's and the pizza hut here run specials for delivery customers... if you buy one pizza you can have a second for one sol.. a sol is our currency, about three of them more or less make up a dollar. 

many of my students are quite familiar with the world of pizza... but Bania had actually never experienced pizza before! I had her in my class.... sometime last year maybe November, when i first learned this and we spent too much time since then trying to figure out a time to get her to try out the food that we are so used to. in case you lost count... that was november... this is may. finally we found a time to spend together eating pizza. and, well shes a fan. so much so that in class today during a magazine activity she was drawn to the pizza section. 

it was a lot of fun, ordering in pizza, making peanut butter cookies, popping popcorn and just in general watching the interaction and personalities of my students outside the classroom.  here's a picture of the majority of us. 

Also.. at the end of April.. we had a graduation!!! I am very excited to share this news with you. Since coming to SALI in August, this class, although it changed so much with additions and subtractions along the way, has been very special to me. I was their teacher off and on, but more often than not, since I came to Peru. Often times they were my sanity at the end of a day. Our class began at 7:15 and ended at 8:45. For a while, the class that I had right before them... tested my limits to say the least, and this class was always there to remind me how to have fun during class. They studied very hard, each of them, and are now ready to take the TOEFL exam. That exam gives them credibility for knowing the English language, for visas or universities in the US or wherever their new skill takes them. 

some sushi... some music

if i am not remembered for anything else.. i think i might be remembered as the intern that brought sushi to trujillo. right before i came to Peru some friends and i ventured into exploring how to make sushi.. and it was much more fun than we imagined. so.. i brought my skill to Peru. hehe. since i have been here we've made sushi on many different occasions, ive done it with friends in our house, and students both, ive made sushi two or three times with students. if you have found yourself out of ideas for your friday night, i highly suggest that you venture into the sushi making extravaganzaness. the best part is, it doesnt matter if your sushi falls apart or not.. good news! it still tastes the same! (yes, we've found that out by experience..) there are two sushi restaurants in trujillo, and one just recently opened up, i haven't been there yet but i have heard that it is pretty awesome so apparently i have some competition... however i am pretty sure that at the actual restaurant you cant get your hands into the seaweed rolling process, maybe that gives me an advantage. ive had mixed reviews from my students about sushi...  a lot of them start it with the mindset that it is going to be like the peruvian dish cebiche... which is well, nothing like sushi. cebiche is quite awesome, but i dont think it will ever be put in the same cook book as sushi. this past wednesday night one of my classes and i made sushi together. these are some pictures from that night... it was more fun than i can tell you, and it was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other better. especially since this is my first month with the majority of this class. i can tell, after that night, that the class seems closer and the class is more relaxed over all and they each seem like they feel freer to participate in class. im excited to see the way that evolves this month. i hope you enjoy the photos! and i hope it inspires you to try it at home yourself ;)

advanced 2: pre sushi... see the scared look on their faces? they asked me that night if i was going to show these pictures at their memorial if they didnt live after the sushi. 

little rice, little seawee, little inka cola... nothing out of the normal..
leilan dressed for the occasion ... and her sushi was quite artistic...
carlos probably blames his unclean cut rolls on the dull knife... i dont blame him... i would do the same. 

however wendy was quite the pro:
also, with the same class but in another direction...

each week our classes have a different kind of test, this week we have a listening test... and as a way of sharpening their listening skills, some of the activities we do is to listen to music. for the activity in the following picture, i take a song in English, cut up the lyrics then scatter them out and let each student put the song back together as they listen to it. the students usually enjoy it, they are learning but also having fun listening to music at the same time. usually afterward we discuss the meaning of the song, and the words within the song, and compare the music with others. this week i used the music of a friend, who just recently created an album, that is quite beautiful in all honesty, and you should check it out at well, this is the Itunes link for her music: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=306287820&s=143441

Esther, my students love your music!!!!!! (seriously you should come to Peru)

these times they are a changin...

Well, for you... not for me. I forgot today that the time was changing (Peru doesn't do the daylight savings thing)... until I told a friend that I would be online to talk with her before five o'clock... so to my suprise she wasn't there at 4:15 my time. Well, a time change for you is a good enough excuse for me to give you some info from Peru. Wouldn't you say? So, mind if I inform you in two parts? Okay ;) 

part one: the students of the four o'clock conversation class.

For January and February for the hour between four and five o'clock I spent time with various students (of various ages... 14 to 40) for... conversation! In January the group was very very large, almost 15 students. It was so much fun getting to know each of them. We played a lot of conversation games, and discussed a wide variety of topics. We also experienced different kinds of food... I regret to say that I do not have pictures of the day we tried sushi.... many of them wanted to "take it home for later..." haha but we also made egg salad sandwiches together, which they loved. One day we made different kinds of cookies, actually one of the students came early to learn exactly how to make them. She is moving to the united states soon, and she didn't know how to cook! Another day we tried cocacola floats... that one... went over well with some students and not so much with others. The majority of the students loved them, but there were a few (see below) that.. well weren't fans. Either way, it was definitely fun to watch them experience foods from the united states. January and February were both a lot of fun for me. Getting to know the story of each student is like a new book, each student at a different chapter of their lives. Many of the students in those conversation classes are on their way out of Peru. One student, Alexandra, I became very good friends with, she helped me a lot with Spanish also outside of class. Alexandra moved in February to Spain where she is going to start studying medicine. There were also other students that were going back to Lima to their universities, or starting school altogether, and a couple that are moving to the united states soon. This month I am teaching a different class, but those two months were so much fun getting to know those students. 

Part of February's class:

Coke float fail:
The girls that 'tried' to improve my Spanish... hehe 
Part of January's class and Egg Salad Sandwich day:
Need there be words? ...Egg Salad... in the making:

installment two: the chacra

several, several weeks ago now Gillian and I were invited to visit the chacra. what is the chakra you are now asking yourself? well... a chacra is more or less a family farm. our friends Omar and Jamesson invited us to visit the chacra for a day. they are brothers, although... unless i had been told i would have never guessed, they are very very different both in personality and in physical appearance in my opinion. but, they both take classes at SALI and are both an incredible amount of hilarious fun to hang out with. they have an uncle who owns a farm, about two hours ish away from Trujillo. so.. one saturday gillian and i prepared for a visit to the farm... chickens and cows and hay here we come? no. not so much. haha i think that mostly the farm is made of rice fields, although... i am no expert on what blade of grass is different from another... so there maybe be much much more there, and i also heard jamesson tell us that they have avocado trees somewhere... so our future holds fresh guacamole! (gillian and heather make amazing guac) 

the day at the farm was wonderful, to say the least. we went with omar, jamesson, and their uncle, who may be 50( or+..) but he definitely has the heart of a 20 year old. it was fun just to watch them all interact together. the view on the way there was beautiful... mountains and towns and flowers and people and lake and... just everything. here are some pictures, i hope you enjoy:

to me this is a perfect picture of the personalities of omar, jamesson and their tio (uncle) they like to joke around a lot, and make everyone laugh. 

yes, yes this lady is crocheting along the road. she is awesome. 

omar thought we were taking a serious picture.... 

there was mud... everywhere... and of course by the end of the day we all had mud all over ourselves either by accident, or on purpose because they guys thought it was funny to throw it. okay maybe gillian and i joined in. there wasnt anyone else around! we could act like kids! the funniest part is a story that their uncle told one of this friends when we arrived back in town... he told his friend... i came with four girls... and the two peruvians fell in the mud! (both jamesson and omar fell into the mud.. gillian and i were a little more graceful)
rice fields... yes they really were that green. they were beautiful
in peru its common to see more than one person on a one person bike... it doesnt look that comfortable but we see people on the streets of trujillo all the time like this. so... there was a bike at the farm.. and gillian and i gave it a try... i think we laughed more than we moved anywhere. and yes, it was uncomfortable. especially on a dirt road. 

installment one: something of students

my students.... 

are amazing! each of them have their own awesome qualities and personalities that they bring into the classroom. usually i am constantly in laughter. other days ...like the ones where they seemed to have declared it speak in Spanish during English class day... i need to remember my laughter from the day before to keep smiling. each day is a new experience with them, and i wouldnt trade it for anything. 

each class we have at SALI goes in a cycle. a cycle is about a month long, give or take. so far i am into my third cycle, and one class i have been able to teach since i first arrived in Peru. they have truly helped me to adjust to teaching English. some of my other classes have been a little more difficult, as far as connecting with students and keeping on track with lessons... speaking English instead of gossiping in Spanish. this class in particular is at the end of my teaching day, and they have been a breath of very welcomed and needed fresh air to end my day with. they laugh at my jokes, at least when they understand them.... and tell me i am strange to my face instead of keeping it in whispers amongst themselves. haha. im not shy about telling them they light up my life. they arent shy about laughing at how funny that sounds to them. we have a very well rounded relationship. it works. 

this is a student from one of my advanced classes. advanced 3. they all speak English very very well. actually, i am in awe sometimes at their skill. but sometimes fun mistakes catch up with them, and we all laugh about it. and... sometimes those laughs get recorded... 

most of our students i would say are college age. 18 to mid 20s. but every now and then there is a student much older... or much younger.. one of my students was 14. it was fun to watch her interaction ...or lack thereof... in class. and after class. she draws very well and is in love with anime. and everything japanese. and loved to draw all over her tests as such:
our weeks are split up with a different kind of test each week. a writing test. a reading test. a listening test. and oral test and a final. what do we watch during listening test week you ask me? bring in on zach morris. we are in love with your innocently cheesy 90s humor. 
the boys of my advanced class:
the girls of my advanced class, minus one:
these students blow me away with their smarts most days. not just with english, but in general. they are smart cookies. and have big dreams for their future. i admire a lot in them. i am so glad that i get to be in just a small part of their lives. to me, this is one of the best parts of teaching at SALI. i don't just teach them english, i get to be a part of their lives. and learn about them. and laugh with them. i think that we laugh just as much as we breath in our class. there is always something... from laughing at small english mistakes that sound funny... to hearing one girl say what??! you are a vegetarian?? are you sure? ...but.... the vegetarians here are ... so... skinny... (thanks i thought... thanks...haha, this turned into a big joke)... to me pronouncing one girl's name, mercedes, like the car. which is wrong.....to me making a deal to drink milk like a cat if one student passed her driving test (i drank the milk...)... to laughing at one of the guys because he loves motorcycles and talks about how safe they are but that he has had... oh 8 wrecks. haha... to laughing at the other boy for how many girlfriends he has (i dont think he does for real but we like to pick on him because he makes it funny). 

these are my students. we watch 90s sitcoms. we laugh. we learn english. they light up my life. ;-)

installments

according to my macbooks dictionary... installment has three meanings:

• 1. a sum of money due as one of several equal payments for something, spread over an agreed period of time
  
• 2. any of several parts of something that are published, broadcast or made public      in sequence at intervals
• 3. the process of installing something

what can we gather that i mean by telling you the available definitions of this word??

there are installments to come!! 

i and my heart are very heavily aware that i have left you in the dark. void. without words. alone to only imagine for yourself what is going on in Peru and in my life. 

therefore. the time has come my friends. if there is anyone anywhere still checking from time to time to see if i have written a letter or two in some sort of informing and understandable order... then your day is here!! yay!!

here you are my friends... my overdue gift to you... 

a saturday a pen a coffee

sometimes its just good to get away by yourself and drink some coffee/ do some reading/ drown out all other noises with caedmon's call in your ears. i rediscover how much i love this band each time i listen to them. its just encouraging and deep and relaxing and all things good for you, wrapped up in melody. 

i am about to tell you something that may surprise you...

..i am currently sitting in a starbucks. see that one coming? now either you are feeling one of two emotions i am about to describe or you are the unpredicted and unforseen variable  and well, irrelevant. just kidding you arent irrelevant, just in this paragraph. since i have had people ask me about my 'village' here in peru i imagine there is a group of you that are struggling imagining a starbucks in the middle of a forest of huts. i commend you for your imagination. then there is a group of you that are saying, why are you in a starbucks? to you i say reread this blogs introduction. im getting in some good reflection time. two days ago marked my first month here in trujillo, and so much has happen that it truly feels as though i have been here so much longer than that. although, i would also venture to say that i may set aside time to 'reflect' but i think i am reflecting and growing and reflecting and growing all cohesively in each moment im blessed to spend here. 

one of the things that i have become more aware of teaching esl in a foreign country is the meaning behind our words. i think a lot of the time we just get so content with what we know our words to mean that sometimes we forget their meaning and we become nonchalant with the way we understand them and use them. (im so sorry if that doesnt make sense) im fortunate to have on my mac this wonderful dictionary program that is full of all sorts of  helpful info and ideas when trying to describe the meaning of a word. ive noticed that probably my most used way to explain meaning has been through example, which is probably especially true since i dont speak the language yet, but even the best example has its own faults. because one example doesnt explain the meaning of the word in entirety and other examples are necessary. which i discover over and over when i describe a word to a student only to have them look more confused and i look at the sentence they are reading and add "oh but in this sentence it means... " haha, oh how i must confuse them. 

anyway this observation has bled somewhat into the way i read my Bible or think about my devotionals. and its made me seek out the meaning of words which i 'know' but help me to understand more deeply if i take the time to think about them a little more than giving the verse a scan. i think taking a moment to look up a definition in a way is helping me to stop and consider further what i am reading. im sure that there is some technical term for this which i cannot tell you, because im not really a technical knowledge knowing kind of gal, but i would like to encourage you to give it a try yourself. 

being in Peru has/is truly being an eye opening/growing experience for me in ways that surpass the typical surface changes that are more obvious. its a time in my life where literally everything is new and the only thing the same yet still growing and changing is my relationship with God and my faith in Him. im overwhelmed with thanks for the experiences i get to share in here and the way that they are molding the woman that God created me to be. and I am oh so thankful for each of you that made it possible for me to be here. there is a lot going on in Peru Mission now, such as SALI, where i teach reaching record numbers of students. As I become more understanding of the way things work here i will keep you updated, but please keep our ministry here in your prayers as it continues to grow and change. 

getting acquainted with a new friend

the kind of friend you expected by the title of the blog?

i didnt think so.

on wednesday, i experienced the central market of trujillo with gillian and heather. (both girls i live with, and teachers at SALI) and we came back with... a gatito! 

a precious addition to our six girl filled apartment. he craves attention every second of every moment, and he could quite possibly be a gold medalist in the olympic kitten crawling division if such a league existed. like just now, he decided to crawl from the floor up the couch and up my clothing to my shoulder, with no assistance provided by me, to chill and find some sleep while i work on my computer. how adorable is that? you know it is, even if you are a dog person you know you find that awesome. you now wish you had your own crawling gatito don't you? 

in other news...

we just finished our first week of classes at SALI for September, and i just finished my frist week of classes at SALI ever. whew! i was a little nervous, all week i wasn't so sure i was cut out of the right mold for the whole teaching thing. but i love my students. already. they are great, and make teaching a little less intimidating than it could be. plus, when i picture teaching, i picture teaching someone much younger than me... but my students are all teenagers and my age. also, i get to hang out with them outside of class too. 

also.. just so you know.. the abundance of raw meat here is... endless. 

out our living room windows we get to witness chicken meat or intestines or whatever being hung out to dry all over the roof across the street, for the restaurant downstairs..

and this morning i entered a bodega (store) in our neighborhood.. hunting for fruit to make pancakes with gillian. all of a sudden i think to myself my goodness whats that smell... if you will, picture me with a pinched nose turning my head ever so slightly to the left... to check out the three chickens hanging out, not staring back at me. and smelling quite ripe. 

all i can manage to think to myself is....exit the room. just exit the room. yeah, that doesnt make me desire to change my vegetarian ways. if anything it quite confirms it. 

kind of like finding out that none of the girls i live with own a brush. this confirms that we are to be best friends. at least in my mind. ;-)

well, there is your update for now friends! i hope everyone is well!

and please, continue to keep peru mission in your prayers!

she made it to peru!

a look outside my hotel room in lima for a night. which was still gated into the airport parking lot. thats convenience. 

and in Trujillo! getting all oriented to my surroundings, getting ready to teach on Monday morning! Of course macs are cool in Peru too. (actually, four of my five roommates have macs. haha. yes, we have mac parties at night, i will admit it) 

This is my friend Ivan, he tells me that in a past life he was a vegetarian. haha. the first time i met him  i was with a group from one of Gillian's classes and he ordered the pizza for us. After questioning me over picking out the sausage and whatnot, he apologized over again for not asking me before he ordered it. 

thanks for your prayers for safety for my trip here. i appreciate them. it was a little bit scary coming into the airport through customs and what not, not really knowing what was going on and knowing i wouldnt really be able to understand them if there was a problem. but all went very well, and i am safely where i should be. no bags lost, no awkward encounters, no scary moments.  go on ahead and take a breath of relief mom/grandma/all other concerned female family  ;-)

August 25th

friends, i know it seems i have taken a break from everything, not posting... leaving everyone in dire wonder of what is going on in my life. 

i know. 

i know. 

you open up to shemustandshallgofree and think maybe today will be the day... maybe today i will open her blog and she will have told me about her day, maybe just a hello, maybe just a picture, line of a poem, sonnet of love, something surely today is the day.  haha.

well it's here!! i am so sorry i have been so slack of an individual that i haven't even loaded a photo or two. and its not that i have been living mundanely, there has actually been quite a lot going on! this is where i am passing the blame: over the summer i was going to panera or jittery joes or wherever to get internet connection, and well, when i get so distracted it gets harder to write. i think i could be diagnosed with add. but then again i really think we all could. so i dont think i could be diagnosed with the real thing, just the general add. thats why i havent been posting, that plus ive just been slack. im sorry i haven't kept you posted, it has been an eventful summer, i will try to catch you up here and there. 

but in the mean time... remember how you knew i was going to peru at some point? well the time is here! i am currently updating you from the toronto canada airport. in about an hour i will boar my flight for lima. and tomorrow i will be in trujillo!!! i am so very excited. well, excited isnt the best way to describe it. i have been experiencing a wide range of emotions over the past week and even few hours as i realize i really am about to be in peru. they are all good growing emotions though i assure you! 

but please, continue to keep me in your prayers. please pray that my transition will go smoothly and that i will be able to pick up on the language, relate/ be encouraging to my students, and be receptive to new experiences! 

threads and paint..

so, i came out with paint all over myself (of course, be it baking or painting i always make a serious mess) and our bathroom... because for some reason i have a thing for doing painting in the bathroom lately...(but dont worry yourself rach, its cleaned up! haha).. anyway i have the first few shirts done! i am incredibly excited over them. i wont lie, carving out the stencils with an xacto knife was torturous... and deciding on the lettering, and size and everything may have been the worst part. but here it is!! and my lovely friend cassie offered to model them for us, how sweet! 

well okay so the conversation went a little like this... 

(cassie had tried her shirt on)

Myself: yay! so can i take a picture of you in it?

Cassie: sure

Myself: great! can i put it on my blog?

Cassie: uhhhh

(later she pre-approved all images and of course deleted the rest)

so, by all means, if you would like a recycled t shirt hand made by me, including a llama image, please email me at : jules.ann.rogers@gmail.com with a size (which varies in kids sizes, adult sizes, and womens sizes) and i will make one specially for you! 

support raising

is for extroverts.

just in case you were wondering.

what was at least one thing i learned through my four years at anderson?

i am about as introverted as they come. 

please pray for me.

go green in a supporting way.

t-shirts... fabric paint... stencils.... rulers... scissors...that can only mean one thing!

where can you find the words peru, julie, recycled, and a hip picture of a llama all within one frame of view you ask? well i will tell you! im working on a shirt for fundraising purposes. and the makings have begun my friends. all you upper body clothing wearers out there,  you are going to want one of these. and your friends are going to want one too. and your great aunt ellie doesnt want to feel left out either. she has a soft spot in her heart for fluffly llamas. 

granted this is the beginning, i am just getting you all the heads up. this is how i picture it:

[front] "helping send Julie to Peru...."

[front left side/part of back] picture of llama (as seen above)

[back] "...and recycling too"

or something along those lines anyway.

recycling you may be asking yourself?

well, i shall tell you. im assuming you probably know me pretty well, if you dont then here is your heads up. that i love to recycle and and i love me some thrift stores. and honestly, i get more compliments on things i get from thrift stores than from stuff ive gotten off department shelves. its easier to find yourself, or at least your unique self within a rack of variety than on a shelf of buy 2 get the 3rd half off, and end up with three shirts the same shape but different shades of purple. [but hey im not knocking those sales.. old navy tanks are some of my best friends]

anyway so the shirt. 

i think the idea really reflects my personality and i hope you guys like it. 

im buying t shirts, some plain, and some with graphics on them, in different sizes...

and recycling them! im making stencils of llamas to put as pictured above, and fabric painting them as well as words to make a unique reused shirt. plus since they are pretty cheap for me to make, i dont have to charge you guys much for them. im not sure what i am going to ask for them yet. but... i am excited about them! hope you are too! if you have any suggestions, please give me a heads up, i am totally open to them. for support raising in general as well as with the shirts. 

Peruvian Update!

Okay guys, everything is getting started in a hurry! It is so hard to believe that in just a few weeks I will be a graduate of College! But beyond that, in just a few months I will be headed to Peru!!
This is all so exciting, and there is so much going on. Please, please keep me in your prayers through all of this. I wanted to let you know that I am working toward setting up this blog so it will be a little bit easier to see how things are going.. more news on that to come. And also that I am going to be trying to post more often. With tests and papers and presentations around every corner, by the time school stuff is over with I dont want to even look at a computer screen or book! But I promise to try to be better at it in the near future.

For all you Andersonians... (all 2 of you or so.. haha)
I do have an event coming up this weekend as a fundraiser for Peru!
The Corner Bagel Shop has been oh so kind as to provide the place, and some guy friends of mine are going to be playing music there this Saturday night at 8! The cover charge is $5 (which c'mon.. is like the price of ONE fancy schmancy coffee drink) and all that money goes toward support raising money. So, you should definitely come out and have some fun with us this Saturday (April 12th) !!!

So, that is what is going on right now! Please continue to pray for me, and come out to have some fun this Saturday!!

spare a moment, please.

I have so many things to do Im not even sure how to sit down and process making a to do list. Please keep me in your prayers for this week as I try to sift through everything. I have so many things due for school, its not cool. And I really want/need to spend some time on Peru stuff, so please pray that I can find some extra time and know what to do with it wisely.
This is also my apology for the lack of blog posts lately... there have actually been quite a few things going on down here.. but I have been slack on posting about them. Quick update:

1)Lots of things are happening with getting ready to go to Peru. Expect your support letter in the mail soon! Opportunities for support raising are coming from no where that I didnt expect. It is awesome. God is definitely in this. I have a friend that offered to have me come speak at her church, another friend that is going to do fund raising for me with his youth, and the Bagel Shop down the street is doing a benefit. Some of my guys friends are playing music there. Its all so exciting, but please keep this process in your prayers.

2) Since Fatz Cafe has the guests interests at heart, and is on the edge of technology... ha...their employees now wear a ball and chain. All the servers have 'watches' (which i just noticed actually does have the time on it too.. how about that) which correspond with this device on each table. When a guest needs a refill on some o that sweet tea or more cocktail sauce, or just the never dying need to see their server run to their table... they 'mash' if you will, a button and it vibrates the watch, displaying the table number, with ironically a smiley face. For the most part its been a good thing. A conversation starter at least with tables. But then you get the table that thinks its funny to hit the button just to see you come to the table... and then hit it quickly as they are leaving, and watch from behind a plant that they think hides them as you in return watch them because they think you are going to walk to an empty table. Then there are the people that say "does it shock you?!" with a glimmer of excitement in their eyes. the next person that asks me that.. i am pretty near to have an intense conversation with them over the health of their mind. i mean seriously, they say it with such anticipation that i think they really want me to get shocked. this, is disturbing. i, am not a lab rat. although i do have one on a computer program for a psych class.

3) Karrie and I took a trip to Aunt Juanita's and Uncle Bill's in TN for a few days of my spring break. It was so much fun. and very good to get away from SC for a few days. we did a little shopping, little of this, little of that, got an old tyme photo done. but i think my favorite day was when we went hiking. we hiked six miles to the tallest waterfall in (im assuming the TN portion) the smoky mountains. It was quite a steep hike, especially when you arent used to it. but it was more fun than i would trade for just about anything. plus we felt incredibly accomplished when we got back off the mountain at the same time that these four hardcore hiker guys did. the looks on their faces to see us behind them was priceless, they, or the information lady for that matter, didnt think we could do it. but we did. because we rock.



4) Graduation is just around the corner.. May 3rd. I am both excited and anxious. It marks a new chapter in my life to come. But at the same time I am a bit anxious about everything that I have to do before then.

5) Never drive without a license and insurance and decide its a good idea to run a red light. Then lie to the policeman about who was driving your vehicle. Its just not a good idea any way you look at it. And the person you would theoretically hit will be very grateful. (this sums up the reason I shudder as of lately when I go through an intersection. ...I am the one that theoretically would have been grateful if the other people had, well, stopped at their red light.)

6) And last but not least... how I spent my Easter. I am not real sure why I didnt plan my Easter. I think it, like many other things lately, just slipped my mind. I went to the early service at church like I usually do. I really appreciate how they held their service. It was undoubtedly evident that it was Easter, by the pastel shirts everywhere at least. And it was acknowledged that it was resurrection Sunday. But it wasnt your stereotypical Easter service. Because we as Christians should be living every single day like its easter. It shouldnt take a holiday to fill our churches. the pastor spoke on resurrection, but with a different twist. He used the story of Elijah resuscitating the widow's son. And Jesus raising Lazarus. I am very grateful that God brought me to this church, I only wish I had found it earlier in my college experience. Although, I dont think that I was at a point in my walk with God where I would have appreciated it enough, until this year. So, of course, God's timing is for the best.
I started to get a little bummed after seeing everyone with their families that morning and getting to work and just seeing more of it, and hearing my coworkers talk about wanting to leave to get to their mommas cooking. Started wishing I had gone home, and didnt really care for the taste of the fish that was my lunch. But, it all turned out, because thanks to the encouraging words of a friend, I packed up my pity party and took myself to the park that night. Put on my new, big sunglasses, pretended i was someone else and took some fun pictures. Then I ate fresh strawberries. And appreciated the life I was given to live more. Because there is nothing like spending some time with God in the fresh air, and with Strawberries.




I think that sums up everything going on right now... hopefully there will soon be more to come!