Top 10 Things I Won't Miss When I Go Home
1. Roundabouts!!!!! Seriously, those things are dangerous!
2. Eggs not being in the refrigerated section at the store
3. English slang...as if it isn't hard enough to understand already
4. Topping up aka putting credit on my phone
5. Noticing an accent not because it's English but because it isn't.
6. Not having a dishwasher...don't get me wrong I don't actually mind doing the dishes, but they pile up so fast!
7. No dryer...Hanging my clothes to dry takes soooo long.
8. Winter days getting dark at 4 (I'm told later it will stay light ridiculously long too!...I prefer the happy medium of home)
9. A 5 hour time difference between me and my family...we communicate at odd hours
10. Being a minority...I think it is good for everyone to experience at some time in their life but it isn't something I will miss
Top 10 Things I Will Miss When I Go Home
1. Crunchies....mmm...or pretty much any of the weird candy they have here
2. Tea... where the American coffee addiction failed to snare me the English tea addiction has (I still take it with enough sugar for Rachel to turn her nose up at)
3. Working at my school and the sense of accomplishment it brings me
4. My children... I love them even when they are frustrating
5. The soccer hype!!! Everyone here loves soccer :)
6. Compline (Anglican prayer service on Wednesday nights)
7. Surprisingly enough...choir...a lot
8. Seeing things I never dreamed I would actually get to see....It is a great adventure I will never forget
9. My team
10. All the people here who have become my dear friends and English family
Top 10 Things I Already Miss From Home
1. My pillow...smushy, cold, the occasional pokey feather...sigh
2. My boots...and scarves...and sweaters...pretty much all my winter clothes
3. My mom's baked spaghetti...actually, any food made my parents or Grandma
4. Mennonite 4 part harmony
5. DRIVING!!! and with that comes not relying on people for rides
6. The smell of home... you know that smell when you first walk into your house after being gone and having that instant feeling of recognition and calm.
7. Thunder...how can that be when you're situated in a country that is known for rainfall you wonder?...well for all the rain there is rarely thunder...I like thunder.
8. Proper snow...you know....when the white stuff actually falls from the sky...and then, miracle of miracles, sticks to the ground.
9. Working at Ten Thousand Villages... I used to ogle the jewelry section... a lot!
10. My family, friends and my dogs...I don't believe this one needs any explanations
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Ave Maria
This past Sunday Rachel, Kaihle and I, along with 3 other women, sang Simon Lindley's Ave Maria at the Anglican church for the service. We absolutely loved the song and wanted to share...hope you enjoy it!
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum
et benedicta fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Dominus tecum
et benedicta fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus. Amen.
ora pro nobis, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus. Amen.
Translation:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
Pray for us, now in the hour of our death
Pray for us sinners. Amen.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
A planner with a plan
I finally feel settled and at peace. I don't know why it has taken me so long...well actually I do but we will get to that in a bit. You are probably reading this thinking to yourself what is that girl talking about. Here it is. I wanted to come on a mission trip. I wanted to come on a LONG TERM mission trip...ever since going to the Dominican Republic with the church when I was in high school. So I am in England now with Radical Journey having the experience of a lifetime. But...and there is always a but...the decision to come NOW and not earlier or later was because I had no idea what to do with myself...and the timing was perfect. I finished school literally just a few weeks before going to Chicago for orientation...and I actually OFFICIALLY graduated after I was already here in England. Yup, that's right...I graduated from my Indiana university while I was in a different country (only me... right mom?).
That degree was hard earned...and I don't mean I just worked hard (which I did also), the actual 'doing' was hard...there were days my parents had to talk to me about why I couldn't quit, how I was so close, I just had to finish...there was even those days where I didn't feel like going to class and instead of letting my parents know how tired I was, I would head out to the library in town and just sit there for hours - I was always careful not to lie about where I had been when I came home which was tricky because I didn't want to disappoint my parents but I needed those days away from school sometimes...there were more of those days than there should have been. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy what I was studying... that's not it at all. I am perpetually curious about just about anything and the classes I got to take peaked my curiosity. It was that I was lost. I couldn't see the purpose in what I was doing.
My degree can open all sorts of doors to all sorts of occupations or further schooling but by the end I didn't know what I wanted to do. My mind changed more than a few times about where my future was headed and for a planner that is just not a good feeling. I was floundering. What next?...I asked myself that question more than a few times...as did my parents...and my family...and my friends...and their families...and pretty much anyone that I knew and happened to run into. It's very likely that a lot of these people think I'm doing different things with my life because my direction changed often enough I told lots of people different possibilities, what I was considering...you know the usual. But I just wasn't sure...which is one of the reasons I had applied to Radical Journey so early during my last year of school. I was sure I wanted to do mission work and because I had no idea what I was going to do with myself after I graduated it was perfect. A perfect opportunity to do something I had been wanting to do for quite some time and also give myself time to figure out my future.
And I love it here - absolutely love it, but I had continued to feel off balance, unsettled. Not in the work I have been doing here...that I have no problem with and I love. I felt unsettled every time I thought about my future after the completion of my term here. What was I going to do next?...what came after this?... What was I going to do with my life?...I had lots of ideas but no plans. A planner without plans is not a good thing. They worry and worry and worry. I'm young but I felt too old not to have a plan, not to know what I was going to do with myself. But finally, FINALLY I have an idea, a direction, a plan. And as quickly as I decided the general direction I wanted my life to go, I felt settled. A weight lifted off my shoulders. I became a planner with a plan...you know...like how it's supposed to work. Suddenly the end of my time here in England is no longer looming in the distance, a symbol of the end of certainty for me. Nope...no longer. Its still a symbol but it symbolizes something much different now...its a beginning now, not an end. Its a transition from one stage in my life to the next. Don't get me wrong..my future is still pretty wobbly. It's going to be hard work and a lot of it...waiting, hoping and work. But it's a start...a direction...and having that direction has brought me a sense of peace. Something to work towards.
It lets me feel settled...finally.
That degree was hard earned...and I don't mean I just worked hard (which I did also), the actual 'doing' was hard...there were days my parents had to talk to me about why I couldn't quit, how I was so close, I just had to finish...there was even those days where I didn't feel like going to class and instead of letting my parents know how tired I was, I would head out to the library in town and just sit there for hours - I was always careful not to lie about where I had been when I came home which was tricky because I didn't want to disappoint my parents but I needed those days away from school sometimes...there were more of those days than there should have been. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy what I was studying... that's not it at all. I am perpetually curious about just about anything and the classes I got to take peaked my curiosity. It was that I was lost. I couldn't see the purpose in what I was doing.
My degree can open all sorts of doors to all sorts of occupations or further schooling but by the end I didn't know what I wanted to do. My mind changed more than a few times about where my future was headed and for a planner that is just not a good feeling. I was floundering. What next?...I asked myself that question more than a few times...as did my parents...and my family...and my friends...and their families...and pretty much anyone that I knew and happened to run into. It's very likely that a lot of these people think I'm doing different things with my life because my direction changed often enough I told lots of people different possibilities, what I was considering...you know the usual. But I just wasn't sure...which is one of the reasons I had applied to Radical Journey so early during my last year of school. I was sure I wanted to do mission work and because I had no idea what I was going to do with myself after I graduated it was perfect. A perfect opportunity to do something I had been wanting to do for quite some time and also give myself time to figure out my future.
And I love it here - absolutely love it, but I had continued to feel off balance, unsettled. Not in the work I have been doing here...that I have no problem with and I love. I felt unsettled every time I thought about my future after the completion of my term here. What was I going to do next?...what came after this?... What was I going to do with my life?...I had lots of ideas but no plans. A planner without plans is not a good thing. They worry and worry and worry. I'm young but I felt too old not to have a plan, not to know what I was going to do with myself. But finally, FINALLY I have an idea, a direction, a plan. And as quickly as I decided the general direction I wanted my life to go, I felt settled. A weight lifted off my shoulders. I became a planner with a plan...you know...like how it's supposed to work. Suddenly the end of my time here in England is no longer looming in the distance, a symbol of the end of certainty for me. Nope...no longer. Its still a symbol but it symbolizes something much different now...its a beginning now, not an end. Its a transition from one stage in my life to the next. Don't get me wrong..my future is still pretty wobbly. It's going to be hard work and a lot of it...waiting, hoping and work. But it's a start...a direction...and having that direction has brought me a sense of peace. Something to work towards.
It lets me feel settled...finally.
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