almost done

i have one more day of TC. these two weeks have gone by fast and the days were full. i went back to the apartments most nights tired and went to bed a little early. its kind of sad knowing that i'm leaving this 'safe' atmosphere. you get used to being somewhere and when its time to change again you feel some loss, even though i know i dont want to stay at training camp forever. it is just so comforting to be around people with similar values and futures.

this morning we heard from a retired member who has been with Wycliffe for 60+ years. he had a great testimony of the way God has worked through circumstances and people to make Bible translation possible in the past. we had time this afternoon to talk about transitions. i'll soon be transitioning back to school again, so that will take some adjusting. but for the most part we were talking about going to other cultures and leaving home behind. i cant even say when that will be for me, its so far in the future. i dont even know where i will be going. i hope i remember what we talked about when the time comes.

im getting really anxious to start something new. i realize this is new, i mean something more permanent. the next phase. back to meyers-briggs personality types... =) we took that assessment a couple days ago. im as convinced as ever im an infp. one of the things we idealists do is always look to the future. i have a hard time enjoying where i am because i want to get to something new. this isnt always good. i dont want to be disappointed or burned out when the novelty is gone.

oh, if i dont have your address and you'd like to get updates about what i'm doing and what God's doing, (my ministry-that feels weird to say!) please email me so i can make sure i keep in touch!

still here

i survived the first week of training camp. im really having a good time. except for getting up and giving a 10 min presentation saturday morning. That went ok but it was hard to prepare in 3 days that are already packed with classes and learning.

this weekend was a nice break. saturday night we went to the Universal Studio city walk (ie free thing!), ate at some bball restaurant not because i like the sport at all (i dont), and saw a laaate movie - mr and mrs smith at a theater there. it was very entertaining and funny but i dont want to see it again. i guess im getting to a point where a blatant disregard for life is getting old. we got back super late and i had a nice quiet sunday morning to myself.

ashley's family very awesomely invited abby and i over for dinner and to hang out. i got to ride in a sweet convertible for the very first time! and it was great to just get away from the apartments/office complex. it feels like a college campus- not many of us have cars here since we flew in. well im hungry. its time for really good food.

training camp!

i'm in orlando, florida right now. we got here saturday and have had about 3 days of learning a lot. about what you ask? we're learning about finances and how exactly those are supposed to work when you are raising financial support for your ministry and the organization. we're learning how to prepare and cope spiritually before we go and while we're on the field. we're learning how to speak to churches and maintain good contact with friends, family and partners while away. and most importantly ive been able to talk to and be around so many different kinds of people who are in the exact same place i am right now. some are young and single, others newly married, some have kids and some are retired. but its so encouraging to hear all their stories and to be right there learning along with them.

we're staying in nice apartments, right next to the Wycliffe USA main offices. there are 5 of us single 20-somethings in our apt for these two weeks. my roommates are nice and fun. there are also quite a lot of people who will be, or already have been and are returning, students at GIAL this July. i'm glad i will already know people when i get there and i'm getting more and more excited about what i will be learning since ive been around others who share my interests.

i'd appreciate prayer for me these 2 weeks. im learning a lot of important information and i want to get the most of this experience i can to be prepared for what i'll be doing for the next chapter of my life.

howl's moving castle

... is what the movie was called, Beth. it was very good and only slightly confusing =) but i liked it anyway. those movies are so interesting and different from your average movie. i love the worlds where they take place. there is so much magic and many funny and interesting characters. im sure a lot of the strangeness of it all has to do with cultural differences, japanese folklore and such. one of the critics said this one was too much like miyazakis other movies but i think that is why i loved it so much.

hot hot hot

i think this 90 degree humid weather is making it easier for me to go to orlando this weekend. i was dreading being there in the summer, but hey, it cant get any worse right? i mean, our weather has been exactly like florida for the past two weeks. humid days and many thunderstorms. im starting to get used to it. now if only dallas will be tolerable...

at work its a weird week. since my bosses hired my replacement two weeks before i was scheduled to leave and ive been done training for awhile, im doing odds and ends and helping with different things. we got audited friday so ive been sorting boxes of tax forms and figuring out who we need to call to get them. its not all as bad as it sounds. i just keep thinking about how friday is my last day.

leah and i have been hanging out since mom went to hawaii thursday. we drove to indiana for a fun girly wedding shower for tara. it was good to see her. and i got to see beth adn her big belly! that was fun. they seem very ready for a baby, with cribs in every room and a high chair and lots of daiper bag stuff. now that ive seen her pregnant i have to see the baby. i hope that works out.

tonite im off, right after work, to see hayao miyazaki's new film. i was surprised that its playing in not 1 but 3 theaters about an hour and a half from me (as opposed to the 5 or 12 hours it woudl be to drive to new york or chicago, respectively). yay for the nation's capital! so im crossing my fingers that we make the 730 show so i dont have to wait around for the one at 10. because i will see that movie today.

its almost time

i thought i would be ready to leave but now im not so sure. i have 50 some hours of work left (my boss is helping me keep count-they must really want to get rid of me). next friday is my last day. i wont miss the work i do but i will miss the friends ive made. i was realizing how many friends ive made at the office, i spend more time with them than i do my family. those 8 hours a day add up. i went to the pioneer club (wednesday night church for kids) picnic tonight. it was fun chasing the kids with water guns. but it was even better just sitting and talking with my friends from church as i ate. im really going to miss them all. i wont be home for another sunday for months to come =( just when im starting to really love my church. in a way im very glad that i will be doing something i love and i feel like im taking my own steps for the first time in my life. but i really hope i can radically change myself to be more responsible and much better at keeping in touch. as most of my friends can tell, ive got a lot of work to do.

tara and dave came over for the last time as an umarried couple. we had a fun luau shower for tara. we had leis and flowers and drink umbrellas, lots of fun things. even dave's friends came over for the weekend. i like them a lot, and im glad tara and dave got to see them. we played some dance dance revolution-one of my 3 favorite ps2 games.

oh yeah, i got a new cell phone. my very own instead of an extension of my parents plan. so i have verizon, i hope all my friends do so we can talk for free =) if you want my number email me and i'll get it to you. one warning, while im at home it wont work. we dont get service here, but i can talk when i go places-to and from work, shopping, so forth. so i'll check the voicemail until i'm in orlando for 2 weeks and then i'll be in indiana and then dallas. it should work all those places, so i'd be ecstatic for any phone calls. and its a camera phone so i can take and send photos! i know, im behind the times. but this phone is way better than my old one, that one didnt even have graphics.

i read anne of green gables for the first time this weekend. it was fun, a good story. i kept thinking about my red-headed ashely =) im spending some time trying to get everything organized for wycliffe. i am still putting a list together of people i think might want to hear about what im doing, maybe pray for me and/or support me. i'll also find out more specifically what i need to do when i go to orlando in a week and a half.