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:

chocho

is hothot.

today i bought my first little bit of food from the street. are you scared?

along the streets in trujillo there are vendors everywhere selling this or that, food and everything else. they set up along the street and are there in the mornings or at night. usually in the mornings you can find carts with fresh juice being made, which is nothing short of DELICIOUS. theres also always someone with some sort of food, kind of like ceviche. also, on good days, there is a man with baskets and baskets of baked goodies, including this awesome cookie that goes very well with coffee ;-) ive only tried the habas before, which are a roasted bean. and also the cookie that compliment coffee. but today i stepped out and am trying chocho. and it is hothot. maybe because there are bright red peppers surprising you every now and then with the seeds still intact. but its good nonetheless, (actually... the more i eat the more its growing on me... and the peruvian teachers here are pretty excited that i am eating it... not sure exactly why..) and full of cilantro which is my favorite herb. its made of a type of bean mixed with cancha which is a corn that gets popped but doesnt fluff up like popcorn. one good thing about it... it only cost me one sol. so one bowl full of healthyness for less than a dollar for lunch. i'll take it. we'll see how my stomach feels later about it... haha luckily i have not gotten sick yet from eating anything here. and its been three months. im not sure how this has happen, i am very lucky. i tell everyone that it must be the meat that they are eating, because i am the only one that hasnt gotten sick and i am also the only one that doesnt eat meat. haha

new cycle new classes new weather

A new cycle has started, yesterday actually... and yesterday began not only the first day of the last cycle for the year... but the first day of the last cycle before Christmas!!! It is incredibly hard to comprehend that Christmas is coming soon. The weather instead of getting chilly and miserable like i hear all my friends complaining of back home... is getting more beautiful with each passing day. Not your typical leading into Christmas kind of atmosphere. For a few weeks the sky was too indecisive for my liking... raining one moment.. sunny the next... cold... hot... sweater and scarf weather one hour and t-shirt weather the next hour. But this week it seems to have settled for peaceful rays of sunshine and wind that blows the dust from the streets up into your eyes if you aren't strategically careful. Also this week... Thanksgiving is coming!! For our students that means an excuse not to have classes... and do.. whatever they do when they aren't at SALI. haha. also for us it is a day away from teaching, and a day of gorging ourselves with food food and more food just like it happens back home. or so that is what i have been hearing. Gillian has been telling me that i need to prepare for the massive amounts of food that i will be consuming in the approaching thursday.. another intern was telling us that he couldnt remember it being so huge.. to which gillian, in an ever so gillian tone, responded with... 'you were in a food coma thats why you cant remember eating so much' haha

with the new cycle this month i am also getting to meet some new students, i am teaching two classes which i haven't before. and well, i havent met them yet. yesterday was the first day of classes... but its very very common for peruvians to skip the first day of classes. so... my 3:45 class... im there on time... 4:15... nada. then my 5:30 class... 6:00 rolls along and nada. finally in my conversation class later i got to meet a few students. im excited and a little nervous about this class. it's a basic conversation class... what does that mean? im going to be laughing at all of my cheesy jokes by myself. thats what that means. because right now my spanish is as basic or more so than their english. but i am excited, the three students that did come yesterday were full of smiles. 

the following pictures are from a few weeks ago... there are a few markets here in trujillo where you can find a little bit of everything. everything. i wanted to find some buttons to make some more earrings with and when we happened upon the vender selling buttons... why i stopped in my tracks, eyes glazed over, and basically just standing in awe, my friend cynthia exclaimed "julie!!! what a good housewife you will be!!!" ohhh cynthia. thats her new joke with me now.  

also in this market... mangos. fresh oh so fresh mangos. yum. i think you need to come to peru and experience just how fresh fruit and vegetables can be. then you won't want to move away. ever. because you will realize that the flavor you thought you experienced from your kroger or publix natural and organic produce is practically bland in comparison to the party that your taste buds experience here. 

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! 

sunny sundays

my left foot has one swollen toe. ants. darn sneaky things. it makes me walk a little funny.  i laugh at myself about it so you can too. yesterday was as pretty beautiful as Sundays get.

usually i have to roll into work at eleven, so the morning is me dashing from the eight forty five service to home, to change back into my smelly work attire then to dash to work. with all that dashing theres not really much time to absorb the beauty that is a Sunday morning. 

but yesterday, yesterday there was no work involved. so lezlee and i took up a seat in the second service instead of the earlier. theres more people in the second, and more that i know, as well as more chances that i wont be able to see the words to the music on the screen. this is a little frustrating and makes me realize i take for granted the thinner first service. 

nonetheless i enjoyed the service. sometimes i hesitate to use the word enjoy, but i realize this is just silly. i suppose thats the part of me that feels like i should feel a wave of serious conviction when i go to Gods house. but there's nothing wrong with saying yes, i felt renewed, refreshed, and reminded of my purpose, and i enjoyed it. i would hope i could describe going to church as that way every time i go, otherwise i dont think my heart is in the right place. 

i truly appreciate finding community bible. the messages are so solid, a mixture of learning biblical facts as well as application. the people i meet are so friendly and encouraging, overall so genuine. im really excited that God has placed me there. i have learned so much already, and i am excited about opportunities to join their family in the future. 

we took communion yesterday, which is one of my favorite parts. its such a personal thing, yet you are sharing it with so many others that are on the same road you are, maybe at different mile markers, but all on the same road. its just quite powerful. 

the rest of the day was just as lovely as the start. i had lunch with my friend lezlee. sushi and seaweed salad. then we spent like 3 plus hours at the park. i used to go there alot... but i will openly admit that i am a little skiddish when it comes to the ducks, especially the oversized ones, and the flock of geese. anyway we were there for quite a while. we planted our blankets apparently near some ants. and apparently my tactics of just letting them do their thing on my blanket unless i thought they were on me, didnt work out so well as i was the one that ended up with a bite and lezlee is ant bite free. (she was constantly shooing them away) and the geese just nearly surrounded us at one point. i was a little anxious about the way they kept getting closer and closer. lezlee just laughed. i did however finish up a narnia book. one more to go. and i will have officially read the chronicles. i recommend that if you, like i, didnt read them as a kid... go do it right now. 

the tax collector.

my awesome friend bailey gave me a bible read through list, quite a while ago, from New Cov.. as a guide to read through the whole Bible. i havent been as regular with it as i had planned to be, but i am working on it none the less. today i read a passage from Luke chapter 18, 9-14. a parable. a parable Jesus told to "people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt" have you ever read a passage and went ahead and just photoshopped your own name into the story? no i dont mean in an exalting way, i mean in a jesus is giving us a heads up about this and that means you too Julie, no exceptions. anyway, i read it over a couple of times and was blown away. the pharisee is counting off the things that make him great, and saying yeah im so glad im not like that guy over there even, the tax collector. (whom was in the same temple too) the tax collector couldnt even look up to heaven, but was asking God to be merciful to him, 'the sinner!' 

sometimes its too easy to count the good things we do, and live in an imaginary world about the ways we dont measure up. as if we are going to be able to do anything to deserve the grace that God gives us anyway. we must be kidding ourselves. 

the honesty of the tax collector in that parable is just so beautiful. God knows our hearts anyway right? theres no need to lie to ourselves about it. 

"for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted"

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! 

lettuce,

tomato, and avocado sandwiches will rock your face off.

you should give it a try. 

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. 

take me home country roads

my grandmother informed me that i wasn't allowed to only post pictures anymore. okay, thats not quite the way she put it. 

i made my way up interstate 85 yesterday to come home for a few says. of course i had every intention of leaving early, but we both know that didnt happen. it all worked out anyway though, and i made it in at a little after nine. to a big bowl of homemade vegetable soup. without ground beef. my grandmother is more than amazing.

i knew i was back home.. after not being at her house for an hour and finding a tick on me... yeah. and then this morning i left, giving myself plenty of time to make the drive to charleston.. to come to a tree fallen across the road. there was a whole line of cars... and i was so close to the interstate! i was thinking to myself... okay there are enough of us... if we all get out and work together, we can SO move this thing. yeah, then it was my turn to turn around and i saw how big the tree was. i withdrew my silent idea. it was a little on the large side for a tree moving bonding activity. 

 

i decided yesterday, during lunch before i left... that this trip was going to help me get rid of a layer of my shyness. i decided yesterday to do this in two ways to start: to sing in my car on the highway if i wanna... even when im passing cars or vice versa... and even if im really into the song. and to take a picture if i feel like it, and not care that people are looking at me like im crazy. these are the results:

restroom tile somewhere in virginia.

restroom sink somewhere in virginia.. after taking this picture i laughed out loud for at least five minutes. there was this older lady in the restroom while i was taking it... and when i left the bathroom and started walking outside.. i saw her standing with whom im assuming was her husband, her hand cupped over his ear whispering... and him staring at me. it was so obvious she was talking about me. that was so worth it. i can just hear her now .."that girl.. yes that one there... the bathroom sink! yes! the sink!"

side.walk.

let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

and the dark street winds and bends

past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow

and watch where the chalk-white arrows go

to the place where the sidewalk ends.

shel.silverstein.

someone sent me flowers. made of paper. 

they are pretty much more than beautiful.

i.love.them.

this ones kind of girly

so i decided to take on the task of crocheting myself a shawl. i got this awesome vintage dress a few months ago when i was in savannah with cassie.. and ive not worn it yet. i dont do much that requires a dress. although i suppose dresses arent only for dress required events. so ive got no excuse. except that i didnt have something fun to wear over the tiny straps. so, in the next couple of days i am making myself a shawl!! (because im going to break out the dress for graduation aka a dress required event) its a pretty simple pattern so i think i can do it. i am incredibly excited!! i may also note that i am ridiculously excited that i dont have classes anymore and i can crochet! (its when i make comments like this that karrie refers to me as an old woman, hmph!) this feeling kind of reminds me of when i was a kid and i would read like crazy. i read babysitter club books like it was going out of style when i was thirteen or so (yeah.. what about it?) and thos RL Stine pick your ending books. i would read like three a day. it was that serious. i would wake up, and lay in the bed for an hour reading. and i will not confirm or disconfirm whether or not that was because i knew that getting up meant chores outside waiting on me. ;-) 

anyway the progress after an hour with the shawl: (and its green... of course, it seems like nearly everything i crochet is green) 

its the size of a bandana right now (hey... did you hear that one about why pirates spell bandana with a d? ....no? ... because if they didnt, they would be wearing bananas!!!! har har)

;-)

a day in the downtown.

im thinking of something a friend told me not too long ago...

"anybody can take a pretty picture of a pretty flower"

carrots and walnuts

who would have thought that slivers of carrots... chunks of walnuts... and sweet raisins would fold together so nicely to make a muffin? well, they do. and i love it. 

im spending this morning ...(okay maybe more like early afternoon) at panera getting to know my new pet computer, and doing some studying... for my last final!!! ladies and gentlemen i am about to be a graduate. of college. !!yay!!  its almost surreal thinking about a life that exists without rediculously expensive textbooks..and tests... and research papers. but it is approaching ever so quickly!

also, like i mentioned earlier... my new pet computer. 

i have been saving up some one dollar bills from my tips each week... and when taxes came in... and with a little help from my amazing parents.. i was able to get a much needed new laptop. mine was good to me for the four years i had it... well with the exception of those times that the hard drive died and when the battery cord decided to join it... it has seen better days. and well.. i joined 'the cult' apparently. ;-) the cult that is mac. for practical reasons they offer a sweet student discount and well... those that know way more about computers than i can ever hope of knowing in my dreams.. assured me it was the best choice. so i dove. im 'one of those people' now.  im not gonna lie... i like it.  Thanks to Marie and Rob for advising me in the ways that are technology. ;-)

B12

i have felt a little off lately. i think its stress from so many things that have to get done.. in combination with me probably not getting enough B12 (which is mainly obtained through red meat, but i think you can get through fish and milk too...) in my system lately. i dont usually keep track of how much i am getting but.. im almost willing to bet i havent been getting it in recent weeks. i need to get this checked out. please remind me. i will blow it off.

low B12, or whatever it is i am experiencing these days results in what can best be described as..

a drunk equilibrium.
and a brain that stutters.

thats the best fitting description to my knowledge.

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!