The day. after. tomorrow.

These are some pics of my last few days...celebrating the wedding of my sister's best friend, spending time with my family, saying goodbye to my dear friends (Nan and I spent 3 hours in an arboretum today and then Rubie and I roamed around a deserted downtown and ended up in a beautiful courtyard. Good day!)...

My to-do list still includes:
-Go to bank
-Pray (yes, I put it on my to-do list)
-Send a thank you
-Clean my room so as to not make Mama crazy
-Find people on Skype (I swear I do not remember my Skype name so I always have to search for others, hmm)
-Put apartment boxes in storage
-Lunch with sister
-Paint toe nails
-Stop by pharmacy
-Find headphones
-Charge electronics
-Change voice mail
-Pack

I'm hopeful.

I've also started my summer reading list...I decided to make this a re-reading summer because it's been a while since I've read some of my favorites.

The Great Gatsby-Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird-Lee
Fairest (not old, been meaning to read)-Levine
some Narnias-Lewis
Persuasion-Austin (I've read it half way through about 5 times now...finally bought the movie the other day so I can have some help...it's a slow one but I know there's a good ending. I mean it's Jane Austin.)
maybe A Summer Life-Soto

I also picked these for their compact qualities; I own most of them in paperback. My challenge is to NOT over-pack this year. I tend to bring too much, but the one thing you should never travel without: scissors. Seriously! You'll always need them at some point and people will love you for having scissors.

One more full day until I take off...I will do my best to update again before that happens. Blessed evening, friends.

Nomad

I've moved out of my apartment! Moving out after the school year is over is always a bitter-sweet process for me. I had the joy of never having to move during my growing up years. I lived in the same house from birth until college...but now, moving in and out of dorms and apartments has become a yearly norm. In a way, maybe a move when I was younger may have prepared me to handle closure better.

I do not like goodbyes. I don't like saying goodbye to loved ones and I don't even like saying goodbye to familiar places, like my apartment of 5 months (I know, that went by fast!). I especially don't like saying goodbye to people I've only known for a short time...this is something I get nervous about when thinking toward my trip. I know at camp we, as counselors, will bond quickly and (in hopes) cohesively because of the nature of our work and the close proximity we'll share. Though I LOVE team-building and leadership-setting friendships, I hate saying goodbye at the end.

Mission's trips, weekend trips, wedding parties...this is always how I feel when short ventures come to a close. I think: I've made great friends and now I will probably never see them again on this side of heaven. But there is where I gain comfort: usually the people I bond to closely in a short amount of time are Christians and as C.S. Lewis said, "Christians never say goodbye". I know that I will have eternity with my new quick friends to worship Jesus together and even hang out together. I just imagine part of heaven being this great reunion of all the people you wanted to get to know more while on earth.
This reminds me that I am a nomad. Earth is not my home because on earth we have to say goodbye!

In another sense, I've been quite the literal nomad this week. After moving out in a couple of phases, I've slept in an empty apartment, on the floor at home, on a couch at home, and on a bed at Jamie's house. We have some lovely European guests staying at home right now. It's been fun to get to know them...but I've also had to be on the lookout for a place to sleep every night (don't tell Mom, she has been very apologetic and gracious. It's ok, Mom, I like the adventure!). All this to say, I am very eager for tomorrow when I will get to put my packed up boxes away for the next apartment in August and start packing for Turkey...where I'll continue to be a nomad for the summer, living in at least 3 different locations during my 7 weeks there.

God is definitely stretching my heart to be flexible. And he is so good to provide rest and time wherever I am...he knows my needs and he loves to teach me about my needs as well.

Peanut butter, natural birth, Kenya, Çıralı...

I made these with Jamie on Saturday (she's home, she's home, she's home!). I got the recipe from this fun website that features numbered cupcakes...one for each age?? I don't know but if so, I'd like to go back to being 17 forever because cupcake 17 (pictured) was delectable.

And I never want to turn 23 (are you tracking?). I once threw up 14 times in one night from eating bad lemon meringue pie. Yes, I was 11 but I still can't take it! No way am I ever enjoying a lemony dessert again. K, now that that's settled...

Let's just make this good links day. I watched Pregnant in America on hulu today. Why? Well I thought it was going to be yet another movie about a pregnant teenager discovering the difficulties and responsibilities of motherhood...who knew that would ever become a genre? Anyway, it was an enlightening documentary about natural childbirth and the horrors of America's health care system. I made some very new decisions about how I will be giving birth...that's all I'll say about that. If you have a movie-amount of time to spare, it's worth it! Just the exposure to this culture of natural mothering is new and interesting.

I'm (mostly) done with the semester! Yawheoooow! In my heart, I'm singing a song I learned in Kenya when I was 16. You are so faithful... if you listen close between all the "ehyayaya"s of the children, you can hear the beautiful chorus emerge:
That's why I praise you in the morning
That's why I praise you in the noon time
That's why I praise you in the evening
That's why I praise you all the time!
And it's impossible to sing that song without the beautiful Euro/Kenyan accent. What a beautiful place Kenya is...

Really and truly, God has been so faithful to me. To the me who needs reminders every morning, noon time, and evening; to the me who sometimes needs to start over at each of those times...and even more often. He is so faithful and that's why I'm praising him this ev-e-ning. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me through this tough semester.

I think today I need to number my thoughts. I know they have no cohesive theme. Oh wait, links! K, what link can I share with you to explain just how excited I am to leave for Turkey next week? I do not know. I think I would usually refer people to my blog at this point, but...

Here! This is what I am ready for. This is a picture of the sea we sit by every day at camp. More importantly, however, I am ready for the people I will meet, learn from, minister to, reconnect with, share a few weeks of life with. The people are what make any land enchanting, aren't they?

Thank you for excusing my scattered brain this evening. Did I mention I'M DONE WITH FINALS??

18 hours, 18 pictures

Thanks to Sticky Mango Feet, I got this fun idea. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not an "all about my day" blogger (neither is she), but sometimes the mundane/every day inspires the greatest ideas. This day happened to be NOT so mundane...and here it is. 18 hours, 18 pictures.
5:15am-up!

6:00am-Getting to work on that research paper.

7:00am-Coffee.

8:00am-Still workin'.

9:00am-Spiritual Direction at school.

10:00am-A quick stop at work to finish up a project (Hi Diane!).

11:00am-Leadership Development...last day of class!

12:30pm-NOT presenting this painting I hauled around all day. Bummer, but we ran out of time in class, which means an extra thing to do during Finals week. Oh well!

1:00pm-Wisking myself away to the library to finish the research paper.

2:00pm-Afternoon SCHLUMP. Coffee break before my shift at work begins.

3:00pm-Working!

4:00pm-Found this little guy to give me an aesthetic boost.

5:00pm-Still at work. No, I do not work in the medical field, my boss just likes to teach me fun things, hehe.

6:00pm-Internship class.

7:00pm-In between signing our internship covenant, prayer, and class evals...Lauren flew to San Flisco (hehe, just for you, Lauren) today to get her visa for India. This makes me grateful for Turkish customs!

8:00pm-HOME sweet home.

9:00pm-Little Women. Yes, I do find it refreshing, thank you.

10:00pm-A little sumo wrestling with my roommie before going to bed.

10:30pm-Goodnight (Woops! That's 19 pictures.).

Ready, with Creative Juices Flowing.

Türkiye...I'm coming, beautiful country! It's fun to hear about my friends who are returning this summer. My co-intern is on her way right now!

(Listening to Bennie & the Jets isn't quite helping the contemplative mood I'm aiming for, but it's cheery.)

I'm writing a research paper for my internship class, which I thought was going to be a total snooze (the paper, that is). It turns out we have to research our host country and learn a bunch about current events, trends, heros, you know, all the things that make a country culture-rich. So I learned the Turkish national anthem last night (ok, didn't LEARN it, but listened to it and can now recognize it)! I also studied a bit on current politics (I know, me?? I hate politics). This is so interesting. With the research paper on top of my already excited spirit, and reminiscent photos making their way back to my eyes, I'm ready to board. Though I think a 15 page paper for a 1 unit class (yes.) is a bit ridiculous, I am enjoying myself. Getting in touch with my interests and practicing the joy I have in writing may just turn out to be a blessing.

Speaking of creative things (my brain was speaking of creative things, though that may not have been conveyed) I just finished a painting! And I'm taking a painting class next semester. AND I'm writing a book.

I

am

serious.

It will be an autobiography which I plan to publish and sell online. I'd like to get it done by the end of this summer... we will see! I'll keep you posted.

Progress...

I am simply overwhelmed with the Lord's faithfulness this morning. Since I'm turning into the ever-so-slight insomniac, I awoke at 6:30 and had the best slow morning I've had all month! And you know how I love slow mornings.

Beyond that tidbit of joy, I have just $455 to go in my support raising for Turk II (what I'm calling my internship in Turkey at the moment). Then...I just got crazy overwhelmed again when SO MANY people responded saying "yes" to being on my prayer team. To think that so many friends and family members WANT to be updated? WANT to lift me up before Him? Thank you. Thank you because I know the many of you reading this post are on that team.

I made an optometry appointment for contacts. I got a haircut (thanks, Lydia!). I'm getting my DVD drive fixed today. I bought a few more Turk-appropriate outfits. I had a dream that I was at a McDonalds in the London airport and realized (gasp!) I'd forgotten my passport! (I'm not even flying through Heathrow.) My appetite is on and off. And...in case you're wondering, yes, each of these factors has to do with my trip.

So I'm praising Him for all the steps and generous acts of my people. And I'm getting into the mindset that I will be leaving the country for seven weeks in less than 25 days. Woo! Cheers to progress.

Pictures from Çıralı, Turkey last summer.

Remember "All About Me" Poems?

Come on, you've got to remember. I feel like most of us wrote one of these in elementary school. Today...I'm inspired!



Christine
Fun, detailed, passionate, wise
Sister to Laura, Oliver, Aaron, Alisa
Lover of coffee conversations
Who fears contact sports
Who needs her patient God...and a pen
Who gives hospitality
Who would like to see a true Italian villa
Resident of California
Nichole

Check It !

Please join me at Sorta Crunchy (a.k.a. Big Time Blog) today for my guest post (eek!). And please join in the commenting party there! Thanks, friends.

(see link below)

"hope is in the changing seasons"