Community

I've been attending my church, Mosaic, now for just under two years. I've tried to get involved several times, wanting to join a home group and/or be on the worship team. Unfortunately I've always had something conflict. I tried out a home group last fall and then my schedule at work changed so I couldn't make it. When I did have a schedule that worked, my car died. Usually the home groups start at either 6:30 or 7, which is very tough when you get off work at 7. Finally though, I've succeeded in not only finding a home group, but getting my schedule changed so that I can attend such home group, and I have a sister living in Portland so there is transportation to get to said home group. Now we just have to find one!
A little over a month ago, Stess notice a lady sitting next to me in the service. She told me that the lady looked familiar, so after the service Stess went over and started talking to her. Turns out, Stess knew Alisha (this lady) from her days when she was at Concordia working on her bachelors. Well, somehow the topic of home groups came up and Alisha mentioned that she's a part of one that meets on Tuesday nights (good because Stess doesn't have class that night) and meets at 7pm (great cause I'm off at 5 most nights)! So, Alisha invited us to her home group and then proceeded to introduce us to Amanda, part one of the duo that leads said home group. Amanda was fun and quirky and told us that we were more than welcome to come and that the group tended to be a bit sarcastic (something I'm so NOT) and that if we didn't like the group, no hard feelings and we wouldn't need to avoid them if we see them on Sunday. Well, i was pretty much hooked!
So we showed up the next Tuesday and had a great time. Just like any time you are new, there was some awkwardness, however I really liked the group. We've been going ever since.
About two or three weeks into going , Zach, part two of the duo, was leading us through a portion of John and pulled out play dough. We each had a plate, to keep the play dough off the carpet, and our own color of play dough. We got through the exercise he had planned and at the end of our time, he proceeded to chuck his ball of dough at Stess and messed up the creation she was making on her plate. In the car that night I told Stess that I think we were in. :)
It's been a blast to get to know these people and we have a really great time and wonderful Bible discussion. Sadly, for the next four weeks I'll be training and wont' be able to make it. I'm really bummed. So much so that I even volunteered to come in at 5am for work! Those who know me know that I am NOT a morning person!
So, I'll miss out on a month, but I'm so glad to feel a part of this group and glad to get connected to community.

Eww

I am SO excited! And honestly it's just about this tinney little thing, but it makes me happy, so I'm sharing :)
My whole life I've bit my nails. Never to the point where they bleed and are half way down your finger, but short none the less. My sister has always had beautiful nails and I've always been jealous. I love the look of long nails. I've spent much money on the fake nails, as a kid I got the sticky ones with fancy colors like these...

but never actually the Hello Kitty kind. As I got older I started doing my own and got pretty good. I could make my fake nails look like the expensive kind you can get done at salons. I did splurge a few times on the acrylics, but they never last long on my nails, usually about a week or less. Every time I was done with paying for the nails I was determined 1. to not spend the money on them again, and 2. to stop biting my nails! Of course, it lasted for about a week if that before I was back to biting.

When I went to the Philippines I immediately noticed one of the other trainers had beautiful nails! I must confess, I envied her :) Anyway, she and I went to get manicures at the mall because they were so cheep! I decided to do acrylics, because it was so cheep, but after 2 hours of work and knowing after about 20 that I wan't going to like them, I again was determined to stop bitting. Well, the nails lasted 2 days. They weren't done well at all and my hand slipped opening the door...

Since my nails now looked aweful, I headed to the store to see what I could find to cover them up until they grew out. Well, I found this product

It works! It tastes really bitter and I'm amazed and kind of grosed out at how many times my hands were in my mouth! Eww! Well, it's been about a month now since I started and my nails are longer than they ever have been! Yep, I'm excited. Thanks for letting me share :)

Turbulence and Jet lag

Well, after a long flight to Japan, a few hours in the airport, a 4 hour flight and an hour getting to the hotel, I'm finally here! I arrived at my hotel this morning, Friday, around 1 am. The flight to Japan was uneventful. I flew on Northwest airlines, and honestly, not that impressed. The last two times, going to Mongolia, have spoiled me. Then we had our own screens and multiple movie/tv choices. On this flight there were small screens in the aisle that all showed the same movie. At first I thought the flight was going to be pretty empty and that I would have my own row, but alas, I did have to share. My neighbor wasn't an issue, but the idea of having your own row on a ten hour flight, was really encouraging! The flight from Japan to Manila was shorter by far, and I did have two seats. I was so tired I slept through dinner, but really, dinner at 10pm wasn't very apetizing.
Arriving at the airport I knew what to look for, thanks to Bonnie and our Mongolia trips. I had everything I needed and made it through customes with no problems. Both my suitcases made it through without issue and I was headed out the door to find my driver. When I got to the area where drivers were waiting for passangers and family was meeting their guests I got a bit overwhelmed. It was raining, dark and humid and there were hundreds of people! I stopped on a ramp and looked out over the croud scanning for anything familiar. Finally I saw my company logo on a sign and knew I'd found my driver, Gani.
After loading up my luggage into the air conditioned van, Gani and I took off. Driving here is not like the US, that's for certain. Lanes were a guideline, lights a suggestion, and blinkers are an annoying noise your car makes when you turn hard in one direction and accidentally push down on that lever on the side :p And yet, just like in Mongolia, I have yet to see a car accident!
My hotel suite is just that, a suite. It's great! I have a kitchenett, a dining room, living room, huge bedroom, large bathroom, great closet space, and even a little vanity area! Best of all, it's air conditioned!
I'll take pictures and post them later. Right now it's almost 10 and I've been fighting sleep for a few hours now. I'll try to keep this updated more often then I have in the past :)

Up, up and away!

23 hours and counting! For the last two weeks I've had a little white board at work counting down the days until I leave. Yesterday it switched to hours :) No my coworkers have taken to adding little comments on my countdown.
Stess is up here, waiting to take me to the airport. I fly out tomorrow at 2:15 for a ten hour flight to Tokyo and then another four hour flight to Manila. I'll get there at 11pm on Thursday.
So, I'll try really hard to keep this updated. I'm borrowing a camera so I can add pictures. In the meantime, have a great month!

T minus 8 Days!

Well, my trip to the Philippines is still a go! No, I'm not excited... Not even a little ;p

I fly out around 2pm on Wednesday, July 29th. It's quite a long flight, but I honestly don't mind. I love flying! In fact, I was at the airport on Friday night, to catch a shuttle to go to Corvallis, and got excited seeing the planes as they land!

I've always been that way though. I remember when I was growing up, my family lived near the airport and we knew all sorts of missionaries, so it was quite common for us to go to the airport to pick up people. This was all in the days of guests actually being able to wait at the gate and see the plain coming in. We have pictures of my sister and I standing at the big windows watching eagerly as the plains are taxing in. So, as long as I can remember, driving up Airport Way in Portland, headed to the airport gets me excited. There are so many possibilities! Anyway, I'm getting off track...

I haven't written much lately, so I'll update you on what's been going on. Contrary to how it may seem, I've not just been stuck on the Philippines. Over the 4th, Mom, Dad, Stess and I headed to Victoria BC for the Northwest Tandem Rally. We drove up to the river, parked and then took our bikes on the ferry. It was a lot of fun! We were there from Thursday through Monday morning. Victoria is beautiful, if not a bit hilly :) It got to the point where I dreaded a down hill, because I knew that another up hill would follow, but over all, had a great time and I'd do it again.

Dad, Stess, Mom and I on Victoria bay

Dad and I at breakfast

Stess and I entering Butchart Gardens

Just before the rally starts

Just look at all those bikes behind us!

Following Victoria we headed across the state of Washington and landed in Sandpoint Idaho for several days. Dad's Aunt and Uncle celebrated 50 years of marriage, so the rest of the family was already there, we just joined them. It's been a while since I'd been to Idaho (Mongolia tends to get in the way of that :) and it was nice to be back. We were there earlier in the year, so it was a bit cooler, but all in all, had a wonderful time!

Last weekend was busy as I went down to Corvallis for Kate and Howard's wedding! I had such a great time celebrating with them and I got to catch up with a lot of long lost friends. It went by too fast...

Now that I'm back, yes, I'm constantly thinking of the Philippines. I do have a count down at work where I can change the number when I come in. I know, kinda cheesy, but I'm excited! There are two guys leaving this Friday and I'll follow them over on Wednesday. I've got my visa, in my passport, and have started accumulating all those little things that you need when traveling. While there I'll have a computer, so I'm hoping to update this often, and Stess is loaning me her camera, so there may even be pictures! In the meantime, for those of you on Facebook, I'll be updating that often and of course email is always a good way to get a hold of me.

For now I'm set to be there for a month, but they have asked if anyone is willing to stay longer and my response... no surprise here, I jumped up and down and said, "Heck yeah!"

Oh, one other exciting thing... I know, so much going on! Stess has been accepted to Concordia's master's program and is moving to Portland! So, when I get back, I'll be moving. You can pray that we find a great place to stay, at a great price since I'm the only one making money!

Until later, have a fantastic week!

Home Sick

Right about now I get a little bit "home" sick. No, it's not for my childhood home or where my parents live, though I miss that home too. But today I miss my Mongolian home. For the past two years I've either been there now or headed there soon. Unfortunately, this year, I'm not going and that's sad. I'll readily admit I can see why and I see God's hands in this (especially since I'm going to the Philippines!!!) but still, I miss my Mongolian home.
I've been looking at my pictures tonight and thought it'd be appropriate to post some. So, though you may have never been, I hope you enjoy them even half as much as I do!

Ulzi and Moogi and their family. They're in the Philippines right now!

Our breakfast table...

Having fun in the river

I'm pretty sure one of the kids was taking this picture... :)

Turtle Rock in the background

goofing off while playing cards... again, I think the kids were taking this picture.

Ruthie's nickname was "Chainsaw"

Batsingle, Burnee and Sandra

I love this girl!

On the road again **Update**

About two months ago, an email went out at work. It went something like this on a Friday afternoon,

"I (being my boss' boss...) am looking for a list of volunteers who would go to the Philippines for three months. There would be no time to come home for a break during this time. I need an answer to give to the Company by Monday."

Being the somewhat reluctant traveler that I am (NOT!) my response was "something" like this...

"I'LL GO!!! When is it?"

Unknown to be was the fact I had accidentally hit respond to all, so every manager and every senior, saw how "un"willing I was to go...
That was Easter weekend. I told my family, got all excited about the possibility, and moved on. Again, being the "reluctant" traveler that I am, I didn't get online and look at flights to the Philippines and I didn't try to find where I would be located. Of course I didn't look up World Venture Missionaries in the off chance that I'd go and get to see them, and I didn't get really excited about my Mongolian friends who are in the Philippines studying at a seminary. Oh, and of course, I didn't go looking for blogs on the Philippines so I could get some idea what the culture was like. Nope, not me!
Anyhoo, Monday came around and I didn't hear anything, accept for one co-worker coming around asking if we had valid passports. Seeing as mine was renewed last year, I double checked. Is an expiration date of 2018 a problem? No? Okay, I'm set...
Tuesday rolled around and nothing...
Wednesday came around and the training manger comes by my desk. Now, the email and the rumors going around indicated that we weren't going to send trainers overseas, so I'm thinking nothing of the fact that he's standing at my desk. Probably something coming up, like new product or something... He leans over my desk and quietly asks me,
-Is your passport up to date?
Yes (see above)
-Do you have any plans for June through August?
No! (Well, technically, yes, I was going to go on vacation with my family, but I'd already told them, "I love you, but... Philippines or a bike trip? Hmm, guess what? I can bike next year right?") so, No!
-So, unofficially (you can't tell anyone yet) I'm going to send you to the Philippines for two to three months... followed by some details that aren't important....
YES!!! (just a tad excited with a HUGE grin on my face)

Fast forward two weeks and a few conversations later, I'm jazzed and I'm gone! It's still unofficial, however I've got the list of shots I'd need, the list of passport photos that I'll need, a few details on the classes I'd be training, enough to really be gone already and I get this message from my boss...

-you're not going to the Philippines. Sorry.

Oh, man, totally destroy my day!

Life's gone one. I still occasionally read the blog, but I took all the markers off my google earth, and I don't remember the missionaries any more and I told my Mongolian friends I'm not coming. And I'm excited about that bike trip with my family... Until Saturday when a car decided to hit me (but I'm still going), and then Monday not much happened. I was in lot's of pain (to be expected) but glad to find a doctor across the street (literally) and then Tuesday when I went to work, just cause I was bored (well, kinda). I ran into my training boss and was telling him about what happened. He looks at me and says,

-do you think you'd be okay to take a 15 hour flight in July?

Yeah!

So, once again, I'm supposedly going to the Philippines! Not as long this time, only for a month!!! In theory I'm leaving the end of July and will be there through August. It feels a bit more official this time as he's emailing me the visa applications this week and he was telling me this in front of other people. So, yeah, seeing as I'm not so keen on travel, I'm NOT AT ALL EXCITED!!!!!!


***UPDATE***
I have an itinerary!!! Leaving July 29th. Returning August 29th!