Tweet As a kid it was the norm that we could only eat out if the restaurant had grilled cheese. That was about the only thing I would eat. Oh and peanut butter. To say I was a picky eater was putting it lightly. Now I love my mom, but cooking is not one of her strengths which was fine by me because she could cook about five different meals and that was about all I would actually eat. (I am sure she could actually cook more than that, but again-I was a picky eater) This trend continued for most of my time living at home. And then I graduated…

Tweet Make it happen. If you had told me a year ago I would be leaving for Australia in 3 days, I would have said your crazy. I would have said that I am not one of those people who travel, I am one of those people who are jealous of people who travel.  Now I am becoming one of those people who travel and I love it. I just wonder what took me so long.  How did I do it? How did I get here? Plain and simple: I decided I wanted to travel.  It helped that I moved to a small island on the other side of the…

Tweet Anna, Andrea, and I spent Saturday and Sunday in Tinian. It’s a small island located about 5 miles from us..you can see it from the beach we normally hang out at. We took a very small plane over-the entire flight was 10 minutes! There isn’t much on Tinian. In fact, one lady said she thought less than 5000 people lived there. Its mostly green trees when you fly over it. However, all of us needed a break and it was on my list of things I wanted to do before I move home. We got there Saturday around lunchtime, checked in to our awesome room, and went exploring. We…

Tweet While you, my readers, may enjoy my deeper thoughts, I figured I would update you all a little on life in Saipan. I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by. In 102 days, I will be back home in Indiana, far from my beach, my friends and family here, and my simple life I have grown to love. But no need for sadness yet-I still have 102 days to live it up! Teaching is going well. This semester is definitely better than last. I am able to plan better and more accurately assess my student’s needs and weaknesses. I am still not in love with teaching, but…

Tweet Today I participated in a Hash Run. Hashing began in Kuala Lumpur when a group of British soldiers created a way to help run off their weekend festivities and stay in physical shape. They choose a Hare and the object is to chase them through the woods or jungle or wherever is available. Let me tell you, it was literally a run through the jungle. And running is an overstatement..it was more like walking fast. At point we scaled a rock cliff, crawled through a maze of trees and vines, and practically slid down a slippery incline. I have to admit, it was perhaps, one of the most fun…

Tweet Where every building looks like a temple, there is a statue on every corner, and the air smells of incense. Bali is a deeply religious Hindu island that still practices their rituals despite being a very popular tourist spot. The people are incredible and the culture is fascinating. The bad in the world seems to fade slightly into the culture where beauty and goodness are the supreme objectives. One week. 7 days. 24+ hours of flying/traveling. Four islands on my journey. The final destination being Bali, Indonesia. I set out on this journey with a purpose in mind, but as it goes, so often our purposes and expectations can…

Tweet I suppose its a made up word..but since Anna and I aren’t leaving on our adventures until Christmas day, we decided to vacation at home before we left. It has been wonderful. We have spent the week exploring Saipan, shopping, and spending lots of time at the beach. I have also used to the week to get caught up on some school work. It surely never ends, but I got my classroom super organized and finished up some other projects I had been working on. One morning we rode our bikes down to Garapan. It’s the very touristy area of Saipan. We walked around and went in all the…