I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! This has been a really fun week! It started off with a great Sunday with lots of festivities including Christmas choir, house group, and a sleepover! On Monday I traveled to Ohio to be with my folks. I have had some relaxing days here at their house with their foster girls. We have watched Christmas movies and played on the the Wii Fit Plus.
Yesterday I had a very productive day. I helped make chocolate covered creams, shortbread, and Russian teacakes. I even had a small ding in my windshield repaired. Throughout the day I was reminded of things that I love about being in the States as well as things I miss about being in Kazakhstan. I miss my family and friends in Kazakhstan. I miss getting to celebrate New Years with the children at the orphanages and with my Kazakh family. When I shopped this year, it brought back memories of shopping for hundreds of orphans.
I will have to say that yesterday a few of the conveniences of being here in the States stood out to me. In order to get the ding in my windshield repaired all I had to do was make a quick phone call. They then came over on the same afternoon (to the house) and repaired it. It was great! It took me five minutes to set it up and the guy was here 15 minutes fixing it. I was also reminded of the conveniences of life in the States when my mom and I picked up powdered sugar for some of my favorite cookies. We were able to buy all we needed at one store and even found 2lb bags. It made making some of my favorite cookies much easier!
Even with all the conveniences of being here in the States, this time of year causes me to look back and remember some very good times with close friends in Kazakhstan. Although I am thrilled to be spending the first Christmas in four years with my family, I know that when New Years comes, I will be missing my Kazakh family even more.
I mailed out a Christmas letter a week or two ago in order to update everyone on where things are for me ... if you didn't receive one and would like to, please let me know. I might not have your current mailing address. Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Work and Fun
This week has been one of subbing in the mornings and helping out with a Christmas store at Blood N Fire in the afternoons. It has been a fun week!
Subbing in the mornings was pretty easy. I was responsible for helping one or two children read every half hour. My only challenges were finding the children and staying awake while they read to me. :)
I had one subbing job at the high school in the afternoon. I primarily had one group of students for two hours straight towards the end of finals week. They definitely didn't want to study (which is what they were supposed to do). I had students switching names on me and all those fun "tricks" that students do to subs. One of these students was the one that the teacher told me was a responsible student that I could ask for help if needed. haha! It was a rough afternoon and I was glad it was only two hours.
My other afternoons were great! I got to help people pick out gifts for their children at a Christmas Store. Blood N Fire set up a Christmas store where low-income families can come and buy gifts for their children for $2.50 per gift. The entire store was set up extremely well. I was really impressed with all of the organization that went into it. The proceeds from the store goes towards sponsoring soccer leagues in Liberia. I think one of the things I liked the most about this was that those purchasing gifts had the chance to give back with their purchases.
I had a blast and am looking forward to a Christmas banquet today at Blood N Fire. It has also been a fun week with times to hang out with my small group and others. On Monday I will be heading up to Ohio to spend Christmas with my parents.
I sent out my Christmas letters last week, so if you have not received one and would like to, I probably just don't have your current address. If you send it to me I would be happy to get you a letter. :)
Subbing in the mornings was pretty easy. I was responsible for helping one or two children read every half hour. My only challenges were finding the children and staying awake while they read to me. :)
I had one subbing job at the high school in the afternoon. I primarily had one group of students for two hours straight towards the end of finals week. They definitely didn't want to study (which is what they were supposed to do). I had students switching names on me and all those fun "tricks" that students do to subs. One of these students was the one that the teacher told me was a responsible student that I could ask for help if needed. haha! It was a rough afternoon and I was glad it was only two hours.
My other afternoons were great! I got to help people pick out gifts for their children at a Christmas Store. Blood N Fire set up a Christmas store where low-income families can come and buy gifts for their children for $2.50 per gift. The entire store was set up extremely well. I was really impressed with all of the organization that went into it. The proceeds from the store goes towards sponsoring soccer leagues in Liberia. I think one of the things I liked the most about this was that those purchasing gifts had the chance to give back with their purchases.
I had a blast and am looking forward to a Christmas banquet today at Blood N Fire. It has also been a fun week with times to hang out with my small group and others. On Monday I will be heading up to Ohio to spend Christmas with my parents.
I sent out my Christmas letters last week, so if you have not received one and would like to, I probably just don't have your current address. If you send it to me I would be happy to get you a letter. :)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Professional Photographs
Last Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in Help-portrait. Several local photographers volunteered their time to take family portraits. Many of these people had never had a portrait taken. One of the fun things was that I was able to hang out at Blood and Fire, a community center here in Muncie. Although I had heard about their work for a long time, I was able to see it in action last summer. I worked with a group of youth to do neighborhood projects in conjunction with the staff at Blood and Fire.
Saturday was such a fun day. The photographers set up lights and backgrounds and did such a great job. Since I am not a photographer, my job was to greet people and make the feel welcome. I would offer make-up (which thankfully I was not doing) to the women. Many of them really enjoyed having Lee do their make-up. Then I would take them in to see the photographers. After their pictures were taken, each family got to choose one picture that they wanted a free copy of.
This is when the fun began. After their pictures were taken, we had snacks and drinks for everyone. I got to sit at tables and chat with people. Each conversation that I had was unique. One of the funniest was a discussion we had on snakes. One man decided that it would be really cool if we would have a snake there that they could get their picture taken with. His wife didn’t think this was a great idea. I think I had used all of my words for the day by the time we had finished three photographs. It was a reminder to me of how important a listening ear is.
Along with some of the funny talks we talked about hard things as well. We talked about the challenges that their children and grandchildren were facing. One couple had fifteen grandchildren. We also talked about the challenges of keeping their living spaces warm in the middle of winter.
I had a great time. I was reminded once again of how much God has blessed me. I have a wonderful family, a warm place to live, and food to eat. What a wonderful opportunity to help give back to the great people that I was able to meet on Saturday and to also be blessed by them.
Saturday was such a fun day. The photographers set up lights and backgrounds and did such a great job. Since I am not a photographer, my job was to greet people and make the feel welcome. I would offer make-up (which thankfully I was not doing) to the women. Many of them really enjoyed having Lee do their make-up. Then I would take them in to see the photographers. After their pictures were taken, each family got to choose one picture that they wanted a free copy of.
This is when the fun began. After their pictures were taken, we had snacks and drinks for everyone. I got to sit at tables and chat with people. Each conversation that I had was unique. One of the funniest was a discussion we had on snakes. One man decided that it would be really cool if we would have a snake there that they could get their picture taken with. His wife didn’t think this was a great idea. I think I had used all of my words for the day by the time we had finished three photographs. It was a reminder to me of how important a listening ear is.
Along with some of the funny talks we talked about hard things as well. We talked about the challenges that their children and grandchildren were facing. One couple had fifteen grandchildren. We also talked about the challenges of keeping their living spaces warm in the middle of winter.
I had a great time. I was reminded once again of how much God has blessed me. I have a wonderful family, a warm place to live, and food to eat. What a wonderful opportunity to help give back to the great people that I was able to meet on Saturday and to also be blessed by them.
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