Tweet Patience- the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset If I am anything, patient is not it. Perhaps a product of growing up in an instant culture, I struggle majorly with patience. And on top of that, I am stubborn. So it takes a really long time for me to realize God is trying to teach me to be patient. I just keep hitting my head against the wall thinking one of these days it will move rather than step back and realize if I walked two steps to my left there would be an open door. Something else you should know…
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“I lived on an island last year”
Tweet “I lived on an island last year. “ I find myself saying that a lot when I meet new people. Funny thing is, while I was living in that island and even now, it doesn’t seem that huge. I almost say it nonchalantly. Like, oh yeah, last year I lived on an island. And traveled the world. And rode an elephant. I am not bragging. Honestly, anyone could do it. Sometimes though, when I am talking about it, I step back and realize, “I LIVED ON AN ISLAND LAST YEAR!!” And swam with a shark. And made some amazing friends. And fell in love with Asian food. And cultures.…
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Just a typical Saturday spent jumping out of a plane
Tweet Yep, that’s right. I jumped out of a plane. At 10,000 feet in the air. This girl who still does not like to ride in an elevator. Who still will not ride a roller coaster that involves standing up. And who still gets scared of the dark sometimes rode in a perfectly good airplane up to 10,000 feet and then jumped out. Not to worry, I did not jump out alone. The guy strapped to my back had done this oh around 3800 times. I had nothing to worry about. And quite frankly, I was not really that scared. There was a moment when I was sitting…
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Skydiving
Tweet It’s official.. in the next month I will get to check two things off my bucket list. The first, run a half marathon. Training is going great and I will for sure cross the finish line!! (More on this later) The second thing and point of this post is….. SKYDIVING! Yes, you read that right. I am going skydiving. This is a true test to the fact that I am an adrenaline/adventure junkie as I really do not like heights. However, the thought of jumping out of an airplane 12,000 feet up in the air makes me so excited I want to squeal!! It is my…
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The Next Step Is…
Tweet I should know to never get too settled or make too many long term plans. God always seems to keep me in limbo just long enough to doubt Him and then BOOM! There is a plan that happens so fast my head is spinning and my emotions are trying hard to keep up. Thus the past week of my life. One big whirlwind of emotions. I went from having no plan to having a very defined, long term plan. And the craziest part-its not one iota of what I thought the plan would be. Go back 1o days ago or so. Its a Thursday night. Always on the…
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Brutal, but Beautiful
Tweet Crash. Burn. Flounder. Flail. That most accurately describes my transition back to life here in America. I don’t say home because well, I am not sure where home is anymore. More appropriately, I am realizing that home is not a place, but an idea and a sense of belonging to wherever you are. And of course, this world is only my temporary home thus it will never truly feel like home. But back to the transition. I have learned a lot about myself over the past six weeks or so. Starting with, no matter how hard I try, I just do not transition well. I was determined…
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See Ya Later
Tweet I HATE saying good-bye and I have done my fair share of it lately. And I promised I would blog this week so while I am not sure how many people read this, I figured I should follow through. Sadly this is not the post most were hoping for. In the past two and a half weeks, my life has changed in almost every way imaginable. Some of those changes were anticipated, but some caught me completely off guard. They have all left me feeling very frustrated, overwhelmed, depressed, lonely, and often like an utter and complete failure. While I realize this is hard to understand, as I have…
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The Longest Monday of My Life
Tweet Literally. Thanks to the world being round, my Monday will officially last 38 hours. That is almost how much people work in a week, but instead of working 5 days, I will spend one very very long day traveling. Here is how my 38 hour Monday will look: Wake up 3:30am. Take quick shower and say good-bye to Anna. (probably a very tearful one!) 4:00am. Head to Saipan Airport. It will take me about 5 minutes to check in which leaves me 1 hr and 55 mins to sit in a tiny airport. Dumb airport regulations. I will then spend the next 30 hours flying/sitting in airports to reach my…
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Leaving without a Destination–or How I am Becoming a Risk Taker
Tweet Play it safe. Have a plan. Know what’s next. Stick to it. Those have been my life mantras. I have always known what I am doing next. I have never quit a job without having another one. I have never left without knowing exactly where I was going and what I was going to be doing. I research, plan, and write down every detail about everything I do. I have just never been one for taking risks, for just showing up, or for enjoying the ride. I am always looking forward to what is next. That is all about to change. In 4 days I am leaving…
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The Final Countdown
Tweet Three weeks. 21 days. 504 hours. That is how long I have left in Saipan. And while in some respects that still seems like a long time, I know its going to go by so fast that in a blink I will be sitting on a plane wondering what happened to those three weeks. Time in Saipan is an odd concept. For the past 10 months, I have had basically no concept of time. Aside from the fact that I show up at work on time everyday, the rest of life sorta moves..well, differently. The weather never changes here so where most people mark changes by seasons,…