Welcome to Alaska

I'm currently living in cold, beautiful Alaska! This place is so gorgeous, and I feel so blessed to get to spend these six months here. I'm studying midwifery with a missions-focused midwifery school, and I'm learning so much. I came here thinking I would go to this school and then go through an apprenticeship, but I've been thinking about going to nursing school and becoming a nurse midwife instead. This crazy life has taken me so many cool places, and I'm excited to see where I go next. In this time, God is teaching me so many new things. You know when you think you have life pretty much figured out, and then you're put in a new setting and WHAM... you learn you do not actually know how to "life." I pretty much thought I was a drama-free, normal person... nope. I've got so much drama. Here are just a handful of the important things I've been learning about myself:

• I tend to run away from emotions
• Whether these are my own emotions or others' emotions, I just do not know what to do with them. I first noticed this when one of my friends here was crying (for a very valid reason), and the only thing I knew to do was to go on a walk alone. I've recognized this tendency to run from emotions, so at least I can start working on it. I still want to run, but I can make slow progress from here.

 

• Needles give me more anxiety than I imagined
• We had a random day where we took blood glucose tests, and I started getting super anxious and crying. I had no idea where this weird fear came from. I've had shots and blood draws, and I haven't felt anxiety like that before. I started thinking back to times in my life when I had been around needles, though.Once, when I was in middle school, I had some sort of brain scan done. I had to wear a cap with weird probes all over it. The probes looked like needles and poked at my head. In my mind, I thought for sure they had put needles into my head, and I think the fear started there. Since then, I have despised needles, but I have never been as anxious as I was in that class. The unexpectedness of the needle may have caught me off guard, or maybe I was anxious since we are practicing on each other without experience. Whatever the case, my mom shed some light on this whole needle anxiety. She said I would be able to empathize with patients who also have needle anxiety and tell them about my experiences. Hopefully I can appreciate this anxiety some day.

• Running hills invigorates me
• I do not have my gorgeous mountains to climb here, and I'm really missing them. There are beautiful mountains to look at across Kachemak Bay, but there are no trails going up or through them... plus they're across a large bay. I've been trying to keep up some physical activity, so I won't be so far behind when I get back to Colorado and want to climb 14ers. I've been running hills to try and accomplish this, and I stinkin' love it. I guess I do not actually love them. I kind of hate them. It is a weird love. Like the feeling of accomplishment makes me love them. I had the goal of running all the way up West Hill before I left Alaska, and I'm only about 1/4 a mile away from this goal. I'm thinkng I could even accomplish it this week. Hopefully I'll be ready to hike those beautiful Rockies when I get home.

• Apologies are often necessary
• I cannot even remember how may times I have had to apologize since I've been here. I've also had times I should have probably apologized, but didn't. I've written grouchy e-mails in frustration from the lack of organization in this program. I have reacted instead of responding. I have made weird faces at speakers. I have told people I did not like their compliments. I have shot things down before attempting to understand them. Apology after apology after apology. Let's just say I'm getting humbled as I'm finding I have many more flaws than I previously thought.

• It's not okay to grouch at people who do not meet your cleanliness standards
• Philippians tells us to do all things without grumbling or complaining. I've had to change my attitude so many times in that complaining aspect. I struggle with wanting to control things. This manifests itself most in my physical environment. I want my bed made. I want a clean floor. I want the dishes done. I don't want clutter. I don't want food left in the food stopper or hair left in the shower drain. I want, I want, I want. It sounds pretty selfish, huh? Every time I live in community, I have to lay down my selfish ambitions. I have to choose to live in joy. This means if I want the floors clean, I should sweep them joyfully. If I sweep while complaining, I'm only doing myself a disservice. If I grouch at my housemates, I only sew discord. I'm learning that if something is dirty, I need to either clean it with a grateful heart or let it go and embrace the mess. After all, this life is one big, beautiful mess.

• Getting defensive only makes the situation worse
• This has been an issue for me. I want to be right. I have a drive to "win." This means I want to "win" arguments. Often, the person I'm competing against only wants a civil conversation and has no desire to have an argument or to win. I have been working on understanding my friends' viewpoints instead of getting defensive. It's been a little comical just how defensive I have become. One night, I got into a heated conversation about race and ended up telling my friends "Okay, I'm racist. I'm racist and I do not care." Whoa, Tiffany! Do I actually think I'm racist? No. I let my defensiveness get me deep into a conversation I did not even want to be in. I'm practicing the "smile and wave" technique for next time a heated conversation arises. 

• Uplifting words are gold
• GOLD! I have felt so honored by the uplifting words I have received since I have been here. From grace when I apologize to prophetic words to encouragement when I'm down. The people surrounding me fill my tank to full daily. I was told just the other day that God says I'm a breath of fresh air. I was told that I add a lot to the classes. Someone encouraged me to study to become a doctor because of the brain God has given me. Another person told me I am filled with joy. I was told God says I'm worthy of the call God has placed on my life to go into the nations.These words are treasures.

• Relationships are more important than grades
• There's a little story with this one. You see, the founder of the GoMidwife program is this super rockin', hard-working guy named Derek. He created the curriculum, grades all our homework, makes our quizzes, heads up the science and technology department for University of the Nations, fathers his three boys, is a husband to a beautiful wife, and much more. Needless to say, the guy has a lot on his plate. I used to send him an e-mail every time I found one little mistake in the curriculum or if I felt I unfairly lost points on a quiz. The reality? I have really good grades. All the correcting and questioning was only giving Derek unnecessary work and adding to his already overflowing load. I recently decided to be content with the work and the grades unless something major is wrong.I am learning to love people more than grades.

• I actually enjoy one-on-ones
• Before meeting Kylee, I had the worst view of one-on-ones. I thought of them as forced friendships. It felt like I had to find "problems" even if I didn't feel like I had any. In the past, I had this conception that during a one-on-one I was supposed to talk about all the things wrong in my life. Kylee has made it so much easier than that. I don't feel any pressure to make up problems to talk about or talk about super deep things. Our last one-on-one we got a large fry from McDonald's and ate it in her warm car while watching the ocean waves and just talking about fun things. It was PERFECT! If this is what one-on-ones are supposed to be, I am forever pro one-on-ones.

• Midwifery encompasses so much more than catching babies
• Furthering the Kingdom of God can be done in so many different ways. Developing nations need so much more than baby catchers. As midwives, we can help families with nutrition, clean water, counseling, friendship, newborn care, family planning, women's health issues, etc. We get to help develop communities by coming alongside the community and helping the people to help themselves. Most important? WE GET TO SHARE JESUS! I do not need to wait until I am in a developing nation to share Him with others, either. I get to do it here, in Alaska. I get to do it at home in Colorado. I need to stop the small thinking. I need to expand my views of God beyond the box I tend to put Him in. I'm so excited to be on this journey to become a midwife.

• Praise produces breakthrough
• I heard this phrase in a worship setting years ago. I do not even remember where I was or who said it, I just remember how those words impacted me and stuck with me. Whenever I am searching for breakthrough in my life, I tend to try and "break through" in my own strength. It is not possible, folks. Every time, without fail, I am drawn back to praising my king, and it is so beautiful. I want to live a life in full devotion to my savior. He is worth all the praise and adoration. 

• Lastly, it is okay to not know my next step
• I mentioned earlier that I like to control things. Beyond wanting to control my environment, I also want to control my plans. I want my next step planned. It is rough to be in a place of complete openness to the Holy Spirit and His plans, but He is working on me. So many times, I have made plans and watched them fall through, because His plans are always better than my own. I want to plan so badly. I''m even already planning on going to nursing school, but I know He could change those plans around at any minute. Any you know what, I'm open to that. After all, this life is all for Him. 

• 

All About Me

I'm coming back to the heart of worship where it's all about You, all about You, Jesus.

Those are very popular song lyrics, but am I lying everytime I sing them. The words are often my prayer, but not truth in my life. "Lord, bring me to a place where it really is all about you. Keep me focused!" And then the next thing I know, my focus is on me again. I can't stand it. I love my Jesus and just want to be able to keep my focus on him knowing all things will fall into place when I do that. I worry, though. I worry about money. About making/keeping friend. About my future: future husband, future kids, future job. I worry I won't even have any of the "good life" since I've never even been in a relationship! I think about myself and use the word "I" way too much. Just look at this paragraph and that is evident.

Where is this coming from? I'll tell you about today.

This morning I woke up and decided I should start a fast. At a Bible study I went to the other night some girls were talking about doing a 21 day fast, and I figured I'd join because I want to deepen my relationship with Christ. I still do. Well, I didn't eat anything until 1 as I tried to figure out if I was doing just fruits, veggies and water or just liquids. I finally decided I'd do both. The morning was great. I spent time with Jesus and it was wonderful. Later though, I became more obsessed in thinking about my "fast" like more of a diet than a fast. Why do I do this? I drive myself crazy. Instead of using my extra time to worship my Savior, I spent it thinking about how "good this fast is going to be for me physically."

I think I will continue the fast. I don't know if I'll do 21 days, but I'd like to at least try. And I want to change my focus, too. I'm expecting spiritual growth. I'm expecting God to do crazy, wonderful things in my life. I'm ready, Lord!

Tolerance

     One of my good friends recently told me, "Republicans just aren't tolerant." I forget my exact reply but I think it was something along the lines of "yea that's probably true" (I tend to avoid debate). At the time, I didn't thin it was true at all. In my mind I thought, us republicans are more tolerant than you democrats. We love people. But after thinking on it for quite some time, I realized she actual was right. Republicans aren't tolerant... but that's okay with me. I don't want to be tolerant!
     I think tolerance too easily leads to complacency. If I were to become tolerant of one's beliefs I didn't agree with, I wouldn't be doing anything to change it. Let's start with war as an example. I am pro-war. Nations can't get by without war and I think it's right. Someone who is against war may say "Yes, I am against war. You should be tolerant of my beliefs though." My reply? WRONG! I shouldn't be tolerant of your beliefs. I shouldn't let you try and make it so there is no more war if I believe in war and it's necessity. I believe in soldiers fighting for our freedom. I believe in people dying so that YOU can say "let's not go to war." You know what would happen if we pulled all our brave troops out of war? Absolute chaos and destruction! Our nation would fall and we would slowly become a push-over, poor, hopeless place. We simply can't risk it. Now I'm not saying I'm pro killing innocent people. I know that's happening and I don't agree that it's necessary in all cases. I'm not pro having our soldiers (dads, moms, sons, daughters, real people) killed at war, but it's a reality of war. And In this war, people knew what they were getting into when signing up for the military. They volunteered to put their life on the line. Okay, another subject I refuse to be tolerant about? Abortion. I'm sorry, but I don't agree with abortion unless the mother is for sure going to lose her life if she has the child. That is very VERY rarely the case. I don't want to be tolerant of women having an abortion, either. I want to be the voice for those without a voice. I refuse to become tolerant just to make others feel goo. Not going to happen.
     There's another problem with the label "not tolerant" that was put on republicans. Democrats aren't very tolerant either. Sure they parade tolerance throughout the street. Sure, they're tolerant for unbiblical, ungodly things, but what about when it comes to the Republicans? The Christians? There is no tolerance there. They don't want to hear our ideas. They don't want to compromise like they say. They want their way just as much as we want ours. I think their "tolerance" is a mask they put on to cover up their intolerance. If they can say they're tolerant because they accept sin, then why can't we say we're tolerant because we accept truth? It just seems hypocritical. Now, I realize I am making many generalizations here and when I do, please don't be offended. I realize this isn't ALL how all Republicans feel, and I'm sure there are many Democrats out there who aren't at all how I'm describing them. I'm just explaining what I've seen.
     Last, I don't want to be tolerant because, contrary to popular belief, tolerance does not equal love. I won't tolerate the actions of a gay couple, but I promise you I'll love them to death (I have a good pair of gay friends). I won't tolerate the actions of a girl getting an abortion, but I will love her and treat her with respect. All these people making poor choices are more than welcome into my life. I'll love them, hang out with them, even become their good friend, I just won't tolerate their actions. Jesus loved without being tolerant. He hung out with the lepers and the drunkards, but he rebuked people (don't worry folks, I don't plan on doing that anytime soon. I'm an imperfect judge, He is perfect). He didn't tolerant sin. He did more than tolerate the sinner. He loved them. He cared for them. He did His part even when they didn't do theirs, but I don't, for even a second, believe he tolerated them. No way. There is a difference.
     Those are just some random thoughts aiding me in procrastinating on my paper due soon. Hope it doesn't come across as hateful. Like I said, the person calling me not tolerant is my friend, my good friend. Her and I study together, eat together, work out together, and are able to have civil debates together :-).

Setting Priorities

Life. There is only a short time I have here on this earth to Impact people, to grow, to touch lives. But in the 18 years I've lived, I don't feel like there has been a whole lot of that going on. My life instead is filled with comfort. My family, school, friends, Internet, etc. I don't want to hop out of my comfort zone. I don't want to go up to a random person who I don't know in a store who seems to be struggling and ask if they need help. I don't want to reach out to the broken who might seem "dirty" to me (they aren't to God). But these are all things I should be doing. These are things that after doing them not only will I have helped someone else, I will have helped myself.

So, in order to try and get my priorities straight, I'm taking baby steps. It's not something that can be changed overnight. It may take me months, even years, to change my attitude and my lifestyle. I need to be spending more time with my Jesus and more time connecting with the people in my life so I don't lose them.

Those baby steps I talked about started today. I deleted my Facebook. Well I did it for a couple reasons. Apparently there was a shooting last night in a movie theatre in Aurora. 50 people were either killed or injured. I found this out over Facebook. That's something devastating that I would much rather hear from someone I know then the Internet. And EVERYONE HAD THE SAME POST ABOUT IT. This shouldn't irk me as much as it did. After all, I'm guilty of posting what everyone else is posting, too. I hop on that bandwagon if it's snowing , with the fire, if something big happens, etc. But thinking about it, 80% of my friends are in Colorado and have heard about it and the other 20% heard about it on the news. Yes, it's sad. Devastating. I feel for the famlies. But what are people trying to get at when they post a status about it. I also heard about my grandfather's (who I was pretty close to) death on Facebook. That is probably the worst way (for me anyways) to hear about something like that. The night before he was in the hospital, not in the best shape, but I thought he had longer, and then the first thing I did the next morning was check my Facebook only to see that he had passed.

I also didn't need the self-gratification I was getting from Facebook. Every time I post a photo,status, etc. and someone commented or liked it, there was a little piece of pride swelled up inside me. "Oh look, I got a comment."

Now I don't think I'll keep my Facebook deactivated forever. I hope, though, that I can keep it deactivated until I get to college in August. It's only a little over a month, but it will be a nice break. Who knows, maybe I won't make it that long, but that's what I'm shooting for.

Anyways. That's my rambling for today. :-)

Waldo Canyon Fire

So on Saturday a fire started in Colorado Springs near where I live. It started out small(ish) and since then has grown and grown and grown. Here's a picture I took on Saturday from our back deck:

The fire has only been 5% contained pretty much the whole time (excepot when it was 0% in the beginning), and it was kind of like "okay this isn't good" but not a huge danger to anyone until last night. Last night it nearly doubled in size. Right now it is around 15,000 acres. 32,000 people required to evacuate (and others by choice). 1,000 firefighters working on containing it. More than 100 homes have been destroyed (vs. last night when there were none). We're getting rain, but it's more harmful than helpful because it's just a drizzle and it's bringing more wind. The fire has stopped moving South for the most part due to I-24 (thankfully) but is going crazy North. Now although this is devistating, I am a little fed-up hearing everyone's "we're in danger" posts. I'm ready to delete my facebook!

Okay but seriously, people are not really in danger. Firefighters, yes. And you better believe I'm praying for them. The citizens, though. No they aren't really in danger. Fires don't move super slow, but they move slow enough for the people to get warning and to be far away safe before the fire even comes near them. Notice it's been five days with a raging fire and how many deaths? ZERO. So many are making it seem as if we're all dying. Not the case. We are all very much alive and well. Some have asthma and I've heard all the smoke has been making their asthma act up, and I feel bad. I mean that has to be horrible. I do believe this is a situation we need to be praying in. I don't believe this is a situation where we all need to be making statuses and freaking out. We can be calm in this situation knowing God is in control.

Okay, so I realize this post is slightly hypocritical. I'm saying "why is everyone posting about the fire?" and then I go and post an entire blog on it, but I'm just trying to say we don't all need to make it seem like the end of the world/Colorado Springs.That's all.

Here's some pictures others took:

P.S. I know this is a boring post, but it will be nice for me to look back on. Maybe one day I'll tell my kids about it and can lead them to this post. Who knows?

Highlights

My life is wonderful right now. I thought I would be absolutely miserable here in the states rather than being in Ecuador, but I'm really not. Now, I would still rather be in South America, but right where I am now is the second best place. I think it's so great because it's where God has me right now and I know that it's such a short time so I have to embrace it. I love knowing I have a plan and I know where my next step is. That confirmation is the best!

So, what's next? College of course. Dordt College in Iowa! I am super stoked for it, too! Many people have asked things like "Aren't you nervous?" or "I bet you're a little worried.", but I'm really more excited than nervous or worried. Maybe I'll get more nervous as it gets closer, but for now I just am elated. I am excited for the independence, the new start, new friends, small town, christian school, everything really!

More exciting news... my super good friend Julianna is here from Ecuador! She just got here yesterday morning. My friends and I went and picked her up from the airport in Denver. We got to hang out with her sister and some friends last night for something called the "Truth Project". Last night was the last lesson so it was a little funny we went but super fun. Then afterwards we went to Ihop and stayed there until like midnight. Today, our friends' school got cancelled due to a power outage so we had them come over and we played this American Girl game. It actually turned out pretty fun.

I am working now! I work for my dad at Eddington Eyecare and I've already gotten two pay checks which will be nice for college if I stop spending all of it :-)

Graduation Party. Crazy. Madness. Fun. My mom worked super hard to give me a party I didn't really want in the first place, but I am very appreciative. I didn't like the crowdedness or all the people, but I am BLESSED! So blessed. Let me tell you, people were VERY generous with their money/gifts and I am so thankful! I'm just also glad it's over.

Hmmm I'm sure so much more has been going on, but I just can't think of it. Lots of babysitting jobs, lots of laughter, lots of family.Life is happening and I'm loving it.

I'm at the office I work at and some sweet ladies just came in and handed the women in here roses to appreciate the working women. They also gave me lip gloss. They didn't have anything to sign up for or anything I had to do in return, just sweet ladies. Again, blessed!

Little Mouths

Kids can say some of the cutest things, am I right? You don't have to answer. I already know I'm right. But really, I just love the things kids say. I babysit quite a bit and sometimes I'll write down a quote from some of the kiddos. Here are some of my favorites:

Me: "Maybe you'll find a worm in that hole you're digging, Ev."
Evan (4) "Yup, you're 'aksadutely' right, Miss Tiffany."

Isaiah (6) "I know something funner than finding worms or putting sticks in a hole or finding snakes... a race!" (after this we did indeeed stop the digging for worms and snakes and raced each other).

Evan (4) "There's lots of b-e-t-s... berries!" (this was when he was learning to spell and trying to spell everything. So cute!).

Evan (4) "I wish you were our real mom and our real mom was  our babysitter!" (I thought this was super sweet... although I didn't tell his "real mom" about it ;)

Dylan (7) "If I had to estimate I'd say he has about 1,000 legos."
"My dad beats about 50% of the people he plays chess against." (this kid is a genius with a huge vocabulary for his age).

Wesley (4) "Listen to this song I made 'I'm naked, I'm naked, in the naked squad." (although he wasn't naked while singing this, he had two bloody noses so he sang it with a tissue up each nostril. It made it 10x more funny).

Wesley (4) "Tiffany?"
Me (thought he was sleeping so a little suprised) "Yea, buddy?"
Wes "I don't really all the time know how to sleep."

Evan (5) "I've decided that I've been working too hard, so I have decided to have you help me build my robot."
Isaiah (7) "Miss Tiffany, decide which is more important: Evan's robot or my chocolate playdough cake."

Athena (4) (while checking freezing weather trying to convince me it's warm enough to go to the park) "Not bad, not bad at all" except x7.
Here's another one from her. This is completely out of the blue while we were playing legos "I wanna' be four. I'm staying four forever!"

Evan (5) "I know what God looks like."
Me "You do?"
Evan "Yes, sometimes he's a burning bush and sometimes he's a twister."
These kids melt my heart!

Nick (4) "Boy colors are just blue, pink, purple, and white. All colors in the world are boy colors!"

Luke (4) (I think he was trying to convince me he was old enough to do something. I just forget what.) "I was supposed to be four, but then I turned five."
Here's another: Luke "Hey what is these?"
Me "Milk duds."
Luke (to me) " Hey these is milk duds!"

Me "Hey Wes, what type of tree is this?" (about some sort of fruit tree in their back yard)
Wesley (4) "That's a potato tree. Growin green potatos."

Erika (5) (pointing to a random house outside my house) "My friend Jake lives there. No... Justin Bieber lives there. Justin Beiber isn't real... he's my boyfriend  not yours, though." And yes, she said that all to herself. In one breath. She's so spunky!
Here's another, a sweet one "Did you know in God's word I'm your sister?"

Faith (6) (while playing doctor) "Tomorrow we're going to have a really bad surgery. It's going to hurt like crud!"

Erika (5) "CJ is not my real dad... only my mom is because she was pregnant." (CJ is indeed her "real dad")

Nick (4) (while driving him home from a birthday party) "You're a good driver Miss Tiffany, but not as good as my mom because you are just a kid."
Here's one from his prayers that night "Dear Lord, please help my to get a  black volvo with a speed track." (and that was his whole prayer lol. This was right before Christmas)

Paxton (2) (to his baby sister) "Evie watchu, want? Watchu want? A cobra? Okay!" (and then he gave her his toy cobra which she wasn't even particularly interested in).

Evan (5) "This house will explode like an exploding poopy!"

Isaiah (7) (defending the neighbor who Evan said he beat when he raced her because she was slow) "That girl wasn't slow. Her dad took care of my lizard when my dad was gone. She's NOT slow!"

Selah (4) (smelling a pumpkin spice candle) " Mmm smells good! Smells like cookies and... SALT! Tastes good, too!"

Selah (4) (while watching a thunderstorm on the lion king) "'Funder' is not fun... well sometimes it's fun."

Luke (2) (I was heading to the garage to throw out a his dirty diaper) "Where go wis ma diapa?" (Where are you going with my diaper?)

Me (I see a little knat thing on the watermelon) "Oh oh, there's a bug on there!"
Selah (4) "That's just watermelon."

Jadon 8 (talking to his little sister (6) who had just sang a prayer song before dinner) "Hannah that's not a prayer, that's a song. Well it's a song that's a prayer."

Elizabeth (8) (gives her little brother a butter knife to cut his bread) "If you cut youself don't cry." then she turns to me "that's a figure of speech."

Evan (5) (to Asher (3)) "Asher, it's not a train ttrack! It's a pancake!" (About playdough that Ash was putting his train in).

Jackson (6) (while wrestling with David who thought they were fighting as animals) "We're in a wrestling contest. There's no animals, just people. So stop trying to be a snake, okay?"

Bella (2) "Fruit means orange, okay? Can I have a fruit?"

Zach (4) (to a little boy with long hair at the park) "Are you a boy or girl?"
Max (7) (right in front of the boy and his dad) "It's a boy. He just looks like a girl because of his long hair." (probably one of my most embarassing babysitting moments).

I hope you enjoyed those as much as I did. I love the cute little things kids say! They're so adorable!

Holding on to Memories

So here I am. Sitting in the Quito airport getting ready to go back to the States and have life move on. Let me tell you, though, this is difficult. Super difficult. I hate goodbyes, I hate leaving, I hate everything associated with goodbyes and leaving. I would really just like to stay here forever, but I'm trying to have a positive attitude about it. I mean, praise the Lord I even got to go to Ecuador in the first place. I have so many wonderful memories, new frieds, pictures, etc. And there are perks to going back to the States, too. For instance, family, friends, gym, driving myself, starting fresh in college in a couple months, etc. But it's still hard to leave.

These three months with the Shedd family have been absolutely amazing. I would even go as far as saying that they have been the best three months of my life. It's been very carefree and relaxing (no babysitting or appointments). I am so blessed to have gotten this opportunity and to have one of the best friends anyone could ever have to spend it with. We laughed nonstop, cried a little, and just had a blast. Our inside jokes are endless (jellyfish, anyone?) and I will always remember these times for the rest of my life.

Obviously God has me moving on to a different season in my life now, and I can only pray that it's just as good as the season I just came out of. That I continue to grow in Him and have life-changing experiences. That I'll have Godly friends placed along my path that I can connect with. That every step of the way would be guided and I'd listen to His voice even when another way seems easier. I promise you, without that Man, I wouldn't have had any opportunities like this and would be a completely different person.

So here's to the past, it'll be remembered. Here's to the present, it will pass quickly. And here's to the future, God has everything taken care of.

P.S. The girl I'm sitting across from in the airport just threw up and is now just sitting there as if nothing happened. What?!?!

Living It Up in Ecuador

Wow where to start? So much has happened since I've been here. I think this is a good time for a bullet point blog :-) Here's some of the many things I've done since I've been in Ecuador!

• Mindo Ziplines: I had a BLAST goingon these things. You hike up a short way and there's something like 12 ziplines (I'm not sure the exact number but it's around there) you go on. They're super long and over these canopy trees in this foresty area of Ecuador. Breathtaking!

 

Doing the butterfly with the guide, Leonardo.

• Otavalo: This is the shopping center of Ecuador. You go here to get things made by the people in Ecuador for low prices. You can bargain and get the pice really low. It's super nice. Before, we get Bizcocho (butttery yummy bread) and after we eat at the pie shop.

• New Years Eve: We went to the Yorks' house and did what they call "burning the old man". We played hand and foot for a good portion of the night, then at midnight we headed outside to burn our paper mache (how the world do you spell that?) Shrek (our "old man"). Needless to say, it was a memorable New Years. 

Me with our old man.

• Going Through My Grandpa's Death: Yes, my grandpa died while I was here in Ecuador. It all happened really fast and I'm devistated, but doing a lot better. It's so hard going through a death without your family near to grieve with, but if I had to choose somewhere else, it would be right here with the Shedd family. They are so great and have encouraged me so much!

• Weekly Orphanage Visits: It would be hard to go more than once a week with all the homeschool and real school going on around here, but those once-a-week visits brighten my entire week. I am in love with those precious babies! They are too sweet and I really just want to take them home with me!

Precious little guy!

Oswaldo and Fernanda!

He is one of my favorites!

• Shell: This is a town about 5 hours away from Quito. It has this orphanage where the people are really relaxed. We went for just one night, but I reallly enjoyed it. We got to love on those sweet babies!

Me feeding Frixion.

• Papallacta: We went here for Carnival to get away from the madness of Quito. It's a city about two hours away. Julianna and I took a bus half way, and then her dad picked us up and drove us the other half. Her family went up a day before us, but we decided to stay so we could hang out with friends and not be in Papallacta so long. In Papallacta, we played lots of hand and foot (super long, but fun card game), ate everything,  played football in the rain, played bored games, did dishes for over 20 people (yuck!), and went to the hot springs at night. It was a great time!

Getting ready to leave :-( Micah, me, Nelson, and Malcy (Malcom).

• Movies: The first movie I went to was New Year's Eve with some friends of Julianna and Christina. It was a pretty good movie and lots of fun. The next one was Underworld 4 with Julianna, Christel, and Negro. Not a great movie, but it was still fun. During Underworld, I made the stupid decision of throwing Julianna's flip-flop in the theatre it it hit some lady's head. She was really mad (and rightfully so) and like yelling and everything. I couldn't find the shoe before the movie, but luckily I found it afterward. Note to self: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!

• The Beach: This was an absolute blast! 5 days of just relaxing and boogie boarding and pools! The only downsides: sunburns and jellyfish stings. Still, it was such an amazing time. Some guys asked to teach us to surf after we jokingly yelled "Ensenanos!!" as they surfed passed us. Haha. It was a great time, though.

This was taken from our patio. So stinkin' gorgeous!

At Paco Foco our last night at the beach. Super yummy food.

The sunsets every night were astounding.

• Making New Friends: With school and church I have made so many new friendships! None of them are very strong friendships (I have only been here 2 months afterall), but they are all so fun. Carlita, Stephy (Saarwr), and Solange crack me up! They are super nice and always have something funny to say. Erin (Jonky) is a hoot, too. She's very witty, but I usually don't understand the point she's trying to get across. Anabel is so much fun! She is so easy-going and gets along with everyone. I love that girl! Christel is super sweet and really fun to hang out with. Negro is my sis and is also super fun to hang out and talk with. Jorge is a different bird, but he is a real gentleman and not to mention super attractive. Salo is going to kill me... haha just kidding. Salo is alway playing around and is super cool to mess with. I'm sure I'm mmissing lots, but what do you expect at 11 o'clock at night?

Me and my sis Josue.

Julz, me, and Solange :-)

Anabel, me, and Christina

• Climbing Ruku (sp?): Or attempting to climb it anyways. I forget how tall the mountain is and the elevation we started at, but I do know we didn't have a long ways to go, but still didn't quite make it. We went with Brenden and Alyssa which was super fun. It was rainy and cold so Mr. Shedd set a time limit for the hike (1 hour I believe). We got almost there, but had to go back because time was up. On the way back I fell three or four times and got my butt all dirty. Whoops!

Yes, our butts did get quite dirty when we fell.

• Inside Jokes: Umm if I could list them all I think the list would go on forever! We have so many funny things happen!

• Talking in British Accents: The number one rule in this house besides love God.

These are our "British Faces"

• Teaching English Class: Actually, the credit for this one goes to Julianna. I don't really do anything except press the buttons on the computer.

• Lots of Computer Time: Ummmm I've definitely become lazy here! With no gym to go to and no car to go out with, I've spent so much time on the computer. I've been youtubing, chatting, pinterest-ing(?), and whatever else you can think of. I will for sure need to change it up when I get back to the states.

• Laughing: I laugh sooooooo much here! I love it. Julianna is super funny and we often laugh at things we have no reason to laugh at (especially late at night).

Our "science experiement".

• Going to Help at the Daycare: We were doing this every Thursday at school, but we haven't gone the last two weeks. Maybe we'll be able to go tomorrow! I certainly hope so. The kids there are so cute! Sexto is doing it as their "senior project" type thing.

• Eating Good Meals: Seriously, I've never eaten so good in my life. There is seriously dinner on the table EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! And it's good food, too! I love it, but my hips and thighs most certainly do not.

I'm sure there are millions more things I have done since I've been here, but I am much too tired to think of them now. For now, I'm sleeping. I can't guarentee I'll post again while I'm here (I leave March 22) so here's a little head up of what else I'll be doing. I'm hoping to go to a Liga futbol game this Sunday with Negro, Julianna, Katelyn, and Megan. Next Thursday I'm going on a retreat with the school to some cabins for a night. Aaaaaannnnddddd... that's about all I know for now. I'm super stoked for the rest of my time here, though and I pray it doesn't pass too quickyly.



I LOVE My God!

     Wow! I was just reading my last blog post from a little over six months ago and am so amazed at how God works everything out! That's what I love about Him. I was going through a really tough situation then, but now life seems to be downhill for a while and the Lord has given me all the desires of my heart. I can't believe how good He is to answer all my prayers.
     Anyways, since I'm going on and on about it, I gues I should explain what happened. In my last blog post I felt like I had only two choices and was forced to choose one or the other. God, however, has made the impossible possible and given me both! I'm writing this blog post from Quito, Ecuador where I will be staying for three months. It's more for academics than missions... BUT we live right next door (literally) to an orphanage I can visit whenever I want! I'll tell you how this all came about.
     One of my best friends, Julianna, had moved to Ecuador back in September for the second time since I've known her. We met in 9th grade and went to school together for 9th and 10th then she moved to Ecuador for our 11th grade year. She came back May 24, 2011 and was going to stay in Colorado forever, but God had other plans for her family so they moved back to Ecuador after spending the summer in the states. I was devistated when she had to move back, because I couldn't see God's big plan and had no idea I, too, would go to Ecuador. Now I have been to Ecuador before (November-December 2010 for two weeks), but this time I'm "living" I guess you could say instead of visiting. Sorry I'm getting sidetracked... on with the story. So soon after Julianna got to Ecuador she was supposed to start school She called me up and we kind of joked about how we wished I could be there, too, for her first day of school. Soon, though, it wasn't even a joke. We both talked to our parents who agreed and I started getting things ready to come early in November and stay until May. After talking with my school we found I wouldn't get any credits if I left half way through the semester, so I made the decision to finish up first semester at James Irwin and then leave for Ecuador after that. This was a little dissappointing because it meant we couldn't start school together, but I was still way stoked to go. As we began to get everything ready to apply for a visa (Plane ticket, school enrollment paper, HIV test, etc.) we found that the information we got off the internet Ecuador visa website was outdated and you were no longer able to mail-in your vise. We would have had to travel to Nevada or Texas or Chicago or some other far off place if we ever wanted to get that visa. On top of that, the visa would have only been for four months since Julianna decided to come back to the states in April to get a job and get ready for college. We decided to not get the visa, which meant I could only stay three months. We had to change my flight (not a big deal, just a bit of money), and then everything was set. I left at 11:55 p.m. on December 25 (yep, Christmas) and arrived here in Quito around 9 p.m. the next day.
     That's the story, and now I think I'm going to go to bed as it is almost midnight and I have school  in the morning. If I remember/have the time I'll write about what all I've done here so far/what I'm going to do/upload pictures sometime soon!