My silly pup

Eloise is growing up super fast, and getting bigger all the time! She has such a personality, it's so funny to watch her, how she reacts to certain things and just the things she is able to do.

This picture makes me laugh - a cat wandered in our yard and she was glued to the window watching it like a hawk.

She always looks goofy in pictures, she squints her eyes right when I take the picture. I love how she is just sitting there all posed though :)

These last two pictures made me laugh so hard. She has the craziest expressions I have ever seen in a dog.

Youth Convention 2009

This past weekend was the annual Youth Convention that our youth group goes to every year. This was my 6th year attending but my 1st year attending as a chaperone instead of a student. It was such an awesome experience. Last year we had about 20 people going, this year we had...43! Our church bought a bus a few months ago that fits 30 some passengers, with the intent of being able to fit everyone whenever our youth group took trips, but no, we still had to take another vehicle. Our youth group is really growing - Praise God! We left Thursday morning, the drive took us about 6 hours.

Jessica and I entertained ourselves by taking pictures along the way, trying out settings on my new camera.

We borrowed someone's crazy glasses and couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Day 1 was super fun. I was put in charge of a room of 3 girls, Jessica, Amanda, and Lexi. I felt a little awkward at first, as a chaperone, but it was a good stretching experience. The service was very powerful, lots of people were effected in big ways. I was very nervous because I knew in previous years that the chaperones have to go up front during altar calls and pray over people. I knew I would probably have to do the same thing, and that is definitely out of my comfort zone. I did, in fact, end up having to do that, but it was so cool! It made me feel like a real 'adult', plus it was so cool to see God work in people and to be able to speak into their lives.

This song is so powerful, please listen to it. It was kind of the theme song of youth convention. It is so empowering and awesome!

Jess and I on the start of Day 2. Basically all of the pictures from this trip consisted of us 2.

One awesome part of this trip was that I got to see my very best friend. She is going to college in Minneapolis but they were having a booth advertising the college at convention, so she was able to come! I hadn't seen her since August, so it was awesome to see her again. It has been our tradition over the years to take a picture by this fountain of us 'wishing'.

We had lots of free time in the mall so we tried on a few different things that caught our eye. I was trying to decide between this white jacket and the black one.

I ended up getting the black one, the white color intimidated me a little bit as I tend to somehow always spill on myself.

This jacket was so random and reminded me of something a biker would wear, but I couldn't quit glancing at it. I gave in and tried it on, and liked it a lot, surprisingly. I didn't buy it though, maybe if it goes on sale :)

Lexi, Jess, and me on the way home.

Everything went so well and I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it! I feel like I made even more progress in the transition from 'youth' to 'adult'. I'm loving it!

Little update on LIFE.

So so much has happened this summer and is continuing to happen. Mostly all of my previous posts have been about China and now that I've finally conquered covering all of that, I can write about everything else!

This summer was a busy but awesome one. I saw old friends, hung out with new ones, and went to CHINA, just to mention a few things. 11 days after I returned from China, I had my 18th birthday. All of my previous birthdays have come and gone without me feeling instantly older or more grown up. Almost immediately after turning 18, however, I really did feel different. It was almost as if my previous view on life was only halfway visible to me. Right as a turned 18 it was as if my eyes were opened wider and doors were opened, not literally, but it felt that way. It is so weird to actually be an 'adult'. I look back on when I was younger and I'm amazed at how quickly I got to this point. Things go so much quicker than we realize. Also, I'm usually big on fearing uncertainty and you'd think that would have risen to a whole new level now that I am adult, but, in fact, it hasn't. I'm really learning to trust in God for EVERYTHING. He knows what is going on and me stressing and freaking out about it does nothing whatsoever, besides wear me down.

Anyways, moving on from that! I'm still working two jobs but that will be going down to one soon. I'm also taking a couple classes online. I'd like to get some more classes in, but with work and everything else, I could only do 2. Maybe next semester. Also, I'm co leading a girls bible study with my youth pastors wife. We both have had young girls laid on our hearts, and we wanted to figure out some way to minister to them. We chose a small number of girls that had talked to us specifically about struggling or searching, and we are starting a bimonthly bible study next Sunday. I'm so excited for it. It'll be a stretching experience for us both. We are both on the shy side and this is out of character for us both, but we know what God is burdening us with, and we're willing to work with that and go for it! Also, we're starting a young adults bible study on the book Crazy Love (so far it is GREAT! Check it out!)

Also, I already have my next foreign trip planned! January 28th through February 8th I will be in...GERMANY! My friend Stephanie, who I met on my China trip, lives in Germany with her family. Her dad is in the army. We talked numerous times in China about me visiting her before her family is transferred back to the US in July 2010. Two other girls from my China team, Rianne and Katie, wanted to go visit Germany also, so we started planning almost as soon as we got home. We found tickets were relatively cheap in winter months so we started searching around winter dates. We are all very very excited to see each other again. Not only will we be going to Germany, but we may get to visit Paris, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and a few other countries near by. Talk about AMAZING! :)

Pictures from the last few months

Abby and I spent a beautiful September day taking some outdoor pictures.

My pastor has a sheep named Bobby (think baaaahby) I was a little obsessed with the poor thing and took about 20 pictures with it.

My friend Kayla and myself :)

Kiaran and I discovered we had matching shirts, so we couldn't resist getting some pictures.

Post-China thoughts

Since I've been home from China, it has been an emotional roller coaster. It's hard to explain, it's hard to get your point across to people that were not there with you. It doesn't really make sense to me, but this song puts my feelings into words. One of our leaders talked about the lyrics in this song during one of our team devotions. When I got home, I downloaded the song, and could not quit listening to it. Brooke Fraser, the girl who sings this song, went to Rwanda, and met an orphan there, named Albertine (the songs title) she wrote this song after the girl. It is based on the bible verse James 2:26, about faith without deeds being dead. The whole song describes perfectly the whole China experience for me. I love the chorus. As hard as the things I saw and experienced were to witness, I've seen them, and I can't push it under a rug and forget about it. Anyways, I'll quit rambling. Watch the video though, and listen to the lyrics. It is such a pretty song, but also so powerful.

This video is one I put together of some pictures of the kids. I think I'll be showing it in church when I speak about the trip. I still have some editing to do but I wanted to put it up in this post, so just keep in mind this is the rough draft. I heard this song a few weeks prior to leaving for China, and it really spoke to me. It became my prayer and desire for this trip. It is such a good song.

The last two babies shown at the end of this video, Hudson and Pearl, passed away in the few weeks after we returned. So sad & hard, but now they are complete and they don't have to hurt any more.

Day 15/16 (August 15th/16th) Traveling home

Our last day in China was very hard. It consisted of saying goodbye to the kids we'd fallen in love with and the country that had become our temporary home.

Here's a group picture with the sheet we signed and decorated, it will be hung up somewhere at New Hope Foundation.

This picture is our group with the wonderful leaders of the orphanage. They are in the front, with their adopted daughter in front of them. They were such nice people with such a cool ministry.

We headed off to the airport to begin the long process of boarding. International flights take much longer than domestic ones. Stephanie and I found this sign a little silly, so she documented the silliness by taking a picture of me.

The flight was long and silent. I watched a lot of movies and listened to music, thinking about everything that had happened. We were all so so exhausted. The minute the plane landed, sadness really set in. Everyone except 8 of us had flights to catch immediately. I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone, as everything was very chaotic. Thankfully I still had Stephanie. Our flights didn't leave till the next morning, so we, along with Kayla, got a room at a hotel. Also, Katie and Rianne, Elizabeth and her mom, and our team leaders, Aimee and Wendy, were staying at the hotel.

Stephanie, Kayla, and I went out to eat with Katie and Rianne's family. It was sooooo good to eat American food again!

Stephanie and I didn't have flights till the next afternoon, so we had some downtime at the hotel. We stayed up ALL night (crazy jet lag!) talking and getting ready to leave.

The hotel had such a delicious breakfast. It wasn't continental; it did cost, but oh it was good!

It was very hard to say goodbye to Stephanie, as her and I had gotten so very close. She was the first team member I met, and the last team member to say goodbye to. I'm thankful we had some extra time together, and I can't wait to see her again!

Day 14 (August 14th) Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, Pearl Market, & more

This day was jam packed full with sightseeing and more. It was a very memorable day.

They drove us past certain building where the 2008 Olympics were held. Here is the 'Birds Nest'

And the 'Water Cube' It was hard to get a good view since we were driving, but it was still cool to see.

We felt like we were in the movie Aladdin while walking through this place.

They had LIVE scorpions and seahorses on sticks. You could eat them live or choose to have them cooked.

We walked through this beautiful garden to get to the Forbidden City.

I got so excited every time we saw a soldier. I think they look so neat.

The Forbidden City was getting some work done, but it was still cool to see.

We kept looking around for 'Mulan' but never spotted her :( We did see this monk though.

We walked through an underground tunnel, instead of across the huge intersection, to get to Tiananmen Square. We even had to go through a security check in the tunnel. I guess I don't blame them considering what Tiananmen Square is most famous for.

After Tiananmen Square we went to the Pearl Market. I got a lot of shopping done there. It was so fun! After that we went and ate Peking Duck at a really nice restaurant. Our last big event was the acrobat show we were going to attend. Stephanie and I took pictures while waiting for the show to start. We didn't know what to expect but were excited to find out!

And so ended our VERY busy day! It completed the whole Chinese experience. I can't believe I had the opportunity to see so much different aspects of China.

Day 13 (August 13th) Shopping at the Silk Market

At this point, our missions work was now over. The last 3 days were going to consist of shopping, sightseeing, and preparing to come home. We still had daily team devotions and we were still able to play with the kids in our free time, but we no longer had specific tasks to do. I was too caught up in shopping at the Silk Market, that I forgot to take pictures. I only have these two. The first one is Rianne and myself at Starbucks. We went there 2 or 3 different times throughout our whole trip, it was an awesome treat and a little taste of home :)

Katie H (there was also a Katie L) Rianne (they are sisters) and myself found these silly glasses in the Silk Market, and had to take a picture.

I didn't do much shopping this day, I was too overwhelmed by everything there was to look at. Also, shopping was very difficult as there were Chinese salespeople yelling at you constantly. If you stopped to check out that purse or shirt, beware, they would be on you in a second. "HEY LADY! YOU LIKE?" was a resounding phrase that day. It was so interesting to see more Chinese culture and the way they live. It is so very different than here in America.