I've Applied!

Yesterday I sent my resume in to the Hospitality Center for Chinese to apply for the position of Program Director. In deciding what I'm going to do with my life after college--go study abroad for a semester or take a job somewheres--I figured why not give it a shot? We'll see where this takes me...

Happy Halloween!

(Photo: Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. Makes me want to watch Linus in "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!")

I have two costumes I'm wearing today: at work I'll be a lady bug and when I come home, I'm changing into a cowgirl outfit. Martin will be a hippie.

What are you dressing up as?

Fall

(Photo: Maple leaves? Not sure...)~*

Credentials Can Wait

(Photo: Ripple in the water.)

I've decided to put off credentialing due to the requirements of a certain amount of hours I have to fulfill speaking in front of people or being involved in another aspect of that kind of work. My year will be busy enough as it is and I might as well wait for Martin to get the discount!~*

It's Supposed to Snow Today

(Photo: Curly seaweed, found this on the shore at fall retreat.)~*

Asia Minor?

Me and Martin are contemplating (and praying) about possibly doing an Asia Minor (yes, that is it's name) next Fall. What does that mean? It means we might spend a semester abroad in China learning language and doing direct research at Chuxiong Normal University.

I have been thinking about this for the past week and I took a brochure on the program from my advisor, who was thrilled, and put it on my dresser. I didn't know how to ask Martin because I know the transition would be difficult but the benefits would be unbelievable. Yesterday night before leaving for Young Adults, he saw the brochure and looked at it. He was really interested in the program as well. The entire ride to pick up dinner and go to church, we were throwing around the idea and imagining what we would have to do to prepare financially in order to make this work--a task that I had thought too great to take on. But it actually seemed feasible.

The school has scholarships for this kind of program and there are very few people signed up for it, which means more of a chance for me to receive one--advice from my advisor. There are two things that could keep this from happening and one of them would be my acceptance of an excellent job position at the place I've been interning at all summer.

Help us in praying for God's will and what he would have us do! Thanks!~*

Water Sprinkler

(Photo: At school.)~*

Lamppost

(Photo: Lamp post in the park.) I'm really tired today~*

"Barges"

(Photo: A leaf.)

Barges (a song from Girl Scouts)

Barges, I would like to go with you;

I would like to sail the ocean blue.

Barges, is there treasure in your hold?

Do you fight with pirates, brave and bold?

Out of my window looking in the night

I can see the barges flickering light.

Silently go the barges to the sea

And I wish that they would carry me.

Barges, I would like to go with you;

I would like to sail the ocean blue.

Barges is there treasure in your hold?

Do you fight with pirates, brave and bold?

Starboard shines green and port is glowing red,

I can see those barges from my bed.

Silently go the waters to the sea,

How I wish that they would carry me.

Barges, I would like to go with you;

I would like to sail the ocean blue.

Barges is there treasure in your hold?

Do you fight with pirates, brave and bold?

*~*

Good Quotes

"...we are most truly human, most fully ourselves, most profoundly free when we live in response to God's grace."

-Daniel L. Migliore

"Life is not about toning down and repressing your God-given life force. It's about channeling it and focusing it and turning it loose on something beautiful, something pure and true and good, something that connects you with God, with others, with the world."

-Rob Bell

Berry Tree

(Photo: A berry tree of some sort, taken at the park near my school.)~*

In the News: Stress-free Living Improves Grades!

I found this today at work and I thought it fit well with the "order" study that I'm doing with my friend Kim. Click on the link below~*
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/31261604.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUvDE7aL_V_BD77:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU

I Am My Mother's Daughter

I would like to go and work out for a few hours, but I need to watch the news and drink my coffee first. I am my mother's daughter.

When I went shopping for sweaters last week, I glanced over the bright sales signs for that sensational word, "Clearance," and almost immediately made my way to the back of each store in search for that very phrase. I am my mother's daughter.

I change the channel when commercials for horror movies flash across the screen. I revel in a clean house and do my best work in the mornings. I get mad when women are portrayed in an airheaded light and open my mouth to say so no matter who may or may not be standing near me. I am my mother's daughter.

I like homemade gifts and unique pieces of jewelry. I love to teach and I've already stocked up on a ton of books to read to my kids someday. I peruse garage sales because I know I'll find some treasure I can repurpose and add to my house to make it a home.

I am my mother's daughter.~*

Sleeping In on Accident...

(Photo: Taken in the park next to my school.)~*

Item #4

Item #1: put my house in order and keep it that way. Item #2: step down from multiple roles at my church because the question, "How are you?" should not always be followed with the answer, "I'm busy." Item #3: Set a menu for 2-3 weeks in advance and grocery shop according to the menus (less stress, saves money, keeps us healthy because we're not eating out all the time). I've discovered some amazing benefits to accomplishing these above items, including more free time to do the small, yet important, things in my life which had come second in priority--like item #4.

A few years ago, I was really good at making a habit of item #4 but I had pushed it to the back-burner under the notion that I had no time for it. Since I now have more time, I figured it's time to check off yet another item on my list: working out.

Item #1 has taught me that I need order--structure--in my life. I need structure in my spiritual life (which the Holy Spirit creatively asked me to do concerning prayer) as well as my physical life. To go about this haphazardly would be entirely a waste of time. So I've decided to maintain some sort of order in the physical fitness aspect of my life as well.

Because I'm a process, list, type-A sort of person, I think it fitting to write things down, otherwise forgetfulness and unaccountability set in. I'm not sure what my routine will look like quite yet, but here are some things that will help me get-going:

• Check each week to see what my schedule looks like (class, work, holidays, etc.), then figure out when a good time to work out would be.
• According to recent studies, working out 2.5 hours a week can help keep you in-shape. Depending on my light or packed schedule, I can choose to work out 30 min. during the week or combine times (ex. 1 hour Monday, 1 hour Wednesday, half-an-hour Friday--the days I only have one class)
• I've also learned (from watching The Biggest Loser) that drinking skim milk during work-out regements can get you get the daily protein you need and can also help build lean muscle
  
  

Any other motivational thoughts you can think of would be greatly appreciated!~*

Can't Sleep...

(Photo: Taken at a skate park across the street from campus.)

Long Weekend

(Photo: Taken near the Dazwo? Village in China) I've just returned from youth convention today so I'm slightly exhausted but fresh with ideas with what to blog. Stay tuned...~*

Button Up

(Photo: One of my new sweaters) After working this morning, I think I will jump in bed for a few-hour nap. Zzzzzz...~*

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

(This photo is from fall retreat. I submitted this in my photography class.) My photo of the day is from a few weeks ago because I spent all afternoon shopping for sweaters. (Brrrr! It never hit the 60 degree mark today.) My sweater supply wasn't as stocked as I thought it was so I went bargain hunting at the mall. I was inspired to shop partly because of this dilema and partly because of cabin fever with being on-duty all week.~*

The Order of Things

It seems that after 25 hit, I began to realize I needed organization in my life. I forced myself to get in a routine of having a place for everything--including my schoolbooks--and doing something about my always messy house. I can proudly say that since the middle of September, I have been consistent in the discipline of organization, my house has never looked better, and I have never felt more at peace. The phrase, "Cleanliness is close to godliness" has begun to make more sense to me. I was telling a friend one day that there was something to this having order in my life that reflected something spiritual. After the conversation that night, I picked up my Bible before bed and decided to start reading from the beginning in the book of Genesis. It just so happens that the small devotional thought in the margin was about God's order in creation. I smiled. There truly is something to having order in life; God created order by seperating sky from earth, light from dark, water from land. If we are created in his image, how much more should we enjoy order in our lives? I called my best friend, Kim, the other day and we talked about this and decided to do a study on God's order of things. God's orderly plan doesn't just end with the first few chapters of Genesis, it's written throughout the Biblical narratives. I'll keep you updated on our discoveries...~*

Bright Morning

(Photo: A tree outside.) I'm in day 5 in my week off for fall break. Yesterday was really cloudy and gray but today the blue sky is bursting against the golden yellow tree outside my living room window. I'm glad I got to stay home for this.~*

In Honor of...

(Photo: Mine and my husband's pajama's all tangled up at the foot of the bed. I found these after I ate breakfast this morning and thought it was sweet.) I'm currently in a photography class and I'm loving it. I've always like photography. After reading the book, "3191: A Year of Mornings," I've decided it would be neat to post one picture a day. Check out the website for this book in my Site-Seeing section.~*