Home.

I'm home.
I've been awake for 24 hours.
I didn't know if we would get out of Germany today.
I got a crash-course in faith, particularly over the last four days.
Lola is being super-cuddly at the moment.
I will share trip details soon. Now I will sleep. :)

What missionaries do when they're bored.

What missionaries do when they're bored.
Originally uploaded by bekkabess

A pile of matresses and blankets. A little time to spare. This is what happens. :)

Lots more fun photos on my flickr.

It's almost time...

...for Poland! At the moment I'm experiencing an interesting mixture of excitement, anxiety, stress, with little spurts of giddiness thrown in for good measure. :)


I don't know if I've shared many details about the trip. Fifteen of us are going, plus one that has been there since the beginning of the month. We will spend two days in Krakow. During that time many of us in the group will visit Auschwitz. We will head to Wisla at the end of the 2nd day, and will attend a church service. We will work with two Vacation Bible Schools during the week, and will also do some construction work on the church.


I'm excited about working with the VBS -- at this point it looks as though I will be working with crafts for the younger ones. Yay! :) One of our crafts is a foam pencil case. The edges are hole punched, and then stitched together -- I don't even know how many holes I have punched this week getting those ready! I think Mike will be working with recreation/games with the older (middle school age) kids. In the evenings, we may be hanging out with the teens who will also be working with the camp.


I am excited to have the opportunity to spend time with these kids. Not so excited about my inevitable butchering of the Polish language - lol. Mike and I listened to a tape and practiced basic phrases tonight -- wow!


If you could, please keep our group and the VBS that we'll be helping with in your thoughts and prayers over the next couple of weeks.

I'm really hoping I will get to blog while I am there. I'm gonna have to be a laptop bum, though, as my computer is just a bit too big to take on the plane - hehe.


Any last minute travel tips? :)

Catch-up time!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. Mike and I have been visiting the parental units this week, so it's been difficult finding time to blog.

First of all: eight days until Poland!!! I'm getting more and more excited by the day. And my friend Stacy is going to watch Lola while we're gone -- big relief! All I have to do in exchange is take photos of her son. :)

I'm at my parents' house right now. I'm making a quilt square by hand -- I used to sew a lot, but the "by hand" part is new for me. But I was inspired by her massive stash of fabric, and am almost finished with a "Jacob's Ladder" block for her quilt.

We saw the Tecumseh outdoor drama with Mike's parents on Monday night.
They used cannons.
Real cannons.
I kinda freaked out, because I knew they were going to go off -- I just didn't know when.
Probably a good time to mention that I really, really, really don't like sudden, loud noises.
But I made it.
I seriously wanted to cry, though.

I've been taking an online class this summer about technology in the classroom. One of the activites this week was to familiarize ourselves with the SMS language (for texting, IM, etc.), because this is how many students communicate with each other. One of those "good to know" things. We had to translate a letter we would normally send home to parents/students into SMS language. I had so much fun with this, so I just had to share!

j2lyk:
trip 2 rgnl TSA comp fast apprchin. will b deprtng 4 comp from PCHS Feb 28 @ 7:30 am.
expctd 2 rtrn 2 HS @ 4:30 pm. pls sgn & rtrn attchd frms & return 2 Mrs. B by ths Fri. ty 4
ur hlp & spprt.


Oooh, I just got tagged by Lisa! (I'm alternating between catching up on blogs that I missed and catching up on my own blog, so if that just seemed totally random, that's why.) :)

Question #1: What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I was 18. I was getting ready to start college, and was working concessions at the city pool (coughcoughcitybathtubcough). Definitely the worst job I have ever had. Nasty, disgusting place. Super rude lifeguards. Working every. single. day. No days off.

Question #2: 5 things on my to do list for today.
1. Finish this post.
2. Finish my quilt square.
3. Go for a jog at the lake.
4. Make brownies (cheesecake brownies).
5. Play with the new camera. (We decided on a Canon SD8hundredsomethingorother. I like it.)

Question #3: Snacks I enjoy.
Cheesecake brownies, carrot sticks and creamy italian dressing, Wavy Lays and Tostitos queso (I don't partake of that last one very often -- it's horribly addicting and bad for me and yummy.)

Question #4: Things I would do if I were a millionare.
Invest wisely. That way I could stay a millionaire.
Also, buy a house. Fix up my parents' house. Donate to causes I believe in. Travel.

Question #5: Places I have lived.
Staffordsville, KY
Berea, KY
Paris, KY
Cynthiana, KY

Now it's my turn to tag some people. I choose: Tania, Jill, Melonie, Charin, and Traci (and of course, anyone else who wants to join in!)

I looked at the calendar today...

...and realized that in three weeks, I will be in Poland! I seriously did not realize our mission trip is so close! Wow. Lots of firsts - first mission trip, first time overseas, first stamp on my passport... I am very excited, and freaking out just a little bit. But only a little bit. :)

A few things going on right now:

• SIStv is having a 20% off sale today. So I browsed through the boutique and saw this! Yeah, that's me! That totally made me smile! So, should I add "t-shirt model" to my resume? :D (ETA: I just checked back, and they changed the photo. And that was the story of my short-lived career as a t-shirt model.)
• I got bored and bought two new rolls of duct tape today. Purple and turquoise. So pretty.
• I've been trying to leave lots of flickr love lately...flickr is one of those things that I forget is social from time to time. Sometimes I treat it like photo storage, but there is so much to see there!
• Oh Traci, I forgot to get back with you about the photo editing website...www.picnik.com. I've been having so much fun with it lately!
• Check out this girl's tutorial -- super cute, simple albums for ATC cards. I heart you, Brandy! :D

Would anyone be interested in an ATC swap? I know a few people have mentioned doing this on their own blogs, but that was back when I had no time to read blogs, so I found out about it a month or so after the fact. I have gotten out of the habit of making ATCs (though I love making them), and would love to make some that didn't have a theme. Let me know if you're interested. I'm feeling the need to challenge myself!

Oh, and my birthday is tomorrow!!!

The SISiversary post, and more...

So I'm finally getting around to posting about last weekend. I had so much fun -- I'm already starting my fund for next year's event! There was so much going on -- I'm actually kind of glad I didn't take any classes, because I would have missed out on so much! I met so many amazing people -- I don't think I'll list them because (1) the list is soooo long and (2) I'm afraid I'll leave someone out. I didn't sleep much -- my brain was on overdrive! And I became very familiar with Steel Magnolias, thanks to my fantastic roommates! :)

On the way there, I ran over a freshly blown-out tire from the tractor trailer in front of me. $731.90 worth of damage. Nothing major, mainly body. Yay for deductables! (Still waiting on the insurance adjustor to grace us with his/her presence...)

Here is the link to my SISiversary mini book. It was a make-and-take from the event, and I added in a bunch of other make-and-takes. It was a fun, random little project!

And here are my photos from SISiversary.

I'm so glad I went -- I can't believe I was a little nervous about going! That feeling went away almost as soon as I got there -- I was hugged so many times before I even got inside the hotel! :D

Some randoms:

• I have a new goal of collecting duct tape in every color. Can't get enough of the stuff for my layouts.
• I have to work for the next three days. Curriculum planning. Ugh.
• I am playing with the new scrapstars kit. It's so fab -- and it's available in a couple of weeks.
• My head hurts. Sinuses. I opted to skip church this morning and sleep it off. Felt bad about that, but still enjoyed the sleep.
• Our phone number is very close to the phone number of a taxi service in a nearby town. Drunk people + inaccurate dialing = my phone ringing at 3 am. I was surprisingly cheery to the person who woke me up at an odd hour last night...at least he was calling for a cab and not driving.
• We're going to buy a point and shoot camera before our trip to Poland next month. Any suggestions?
• I really want to add a Flip to that purchase. :)

Well, I think I'm off to evening church services. During the summer, they are held at the church park (lots of cooking out, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee!) But it looks like it's going to storm, so maybe we won't...

Happy Anniversary, Mike!!!