random

The night before Colloquium

2011-12-08T01:12:00.000-08:00

3 minutes. The last 9 months of labor (late night group meetings, hours staring at my computer screen, IRB, posting flyers, interviews, transcribing, coding, themes, abstract, APA, drafts, faculty feedback, rewriting drafts, and practice, practice, practice) boils down to 3 minutes. So small, so insignificant. Yet it's keeping me from sleeping right now (at 1:15am). "No pressure, it just has to be perfect" says my research faculty advisor Sharon.
Geez, someone get me a spoonful of Nyquil.

The 25 one

2011-11-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, November 25, 2011 was my 6th week of being 25 years old. Why is that important? Well, because I pierced my ears on my 25th bday and 6 weeks marks when I can change my studs into fun earrings! Yay! Today I wore the fun beaded earrings I purchased when I was in Africa!

Here was my motivation to pierce my ears...

Okay, just kidding. But getting my ears pierced have been something I've always wanted to do, when I was 16, then again in Australia when I turned 20. I remember my Saipan principal Barbara saying how she collected fun earrings from her travels around the world & her husband Sean loved listening to the stories of where her earrings were from. So when I turned 25 I thought, why not get my ears pierced now? Why wait?

On a different note, my friend JP had a bucket list of 25 cool things to do while 25 years old. Some of those things included: skydiving, running 25 miles, tomato fight, and going to 25 concerts that year. Some of the things on his list I've already done, some things I have no interest in doing, and some I'd love to do, too! I was inspired by his list and I'm thinking of doing one myself. I'm not sure what would be on that list of 25 things to do while 25, but I know I can check off at least 1 so far...get my ears pierced...check!

the piercing...

Stay posted for more.

The Altus Academy One

2011-11-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Let me just start this off with saying: I'm thankful for Thanksgiving break.

Summer quarter, we started our Program Development & Design class, which is a class exactly what it sounds like. Our OT department coordinator Liane picked about 8 different facilities that were in need of OT. Then individually our class ranked in order the facilities we were most interested in, putting us into groups of 4-6 students per facility. Along with my classmates Mandi, Giselle, and Mariem, I was assigned to work with Altus Academy elementary students with emotional disturbances.

After being a teacher in Saipan for a year, I knew for a fact that I never wanted to be a teacher, yet somehow I was drawn to Altus Academy, and that age group. So, as a group we did a great job in the summer completing lit reviews, needs assessments, and coming up with fun activities & snacks ideas for that population. But this (Fall) quarter was the tough part. These kids...were a handful. nuts! Oh, I guess I should maybe give some background on Altus Academy: it's a school for students who get kicked out of regular schools due to bad behaviors. They attend Altus Academy because it's the last option to keep them from staying home (and off the streets) all day. The school is on constant lock down, you have to unlock and re-lock every room you go through. AND All 6 of the guys in our program were assigned to the Altus high school students because one year a student had an outburst and beat up one of the teachers.

So anyway, we met every Tuesday morning this quarter for 7 weeks at Altus for our program, where we had activities for the students to work on teamwork, accepting others, bullying, etc. This made Tuesdays my worst days. The students would act out & throw little fits to test out our reactions. F bombs everywhere! One student, one change in the environment, or maybe a bad weekend sets everyone else off! But as time progressed we learned to provide the students with challenging yet engaging activities, speak to students as adults (rather than children), use a combination of outdoor & indoor activities, use a combination of tabletop & movement activities, and divide students into smaller (and much more manageable) groups. But I think most importantly we learned to accept what we cannot change. I mean after all, the students are at Altus for a reason, who knows what happens to them at home...

T-Shirts we spray painted.

The name of our program was RPL=Run! Play! Learn!

Setting up...

saying prayer & getting stoked before a session

tie-dye shirts (the students really loved these!) & "Thankful Turkeys" the students made

The students made Thank-You cards & read them to us on our last day!

Everyone was able to get 10 stars and choose a prize on the last day =)

front & back of our shirts!

Last day! Our group with the junior high group in tie-dye shirts

The New Post

2011-11-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

Four years ago, I started this blog when I was a student missionary in Saipan (maybe also out of peer pressure from my roommates), I wanted important people (my family and close friends) at home to know what was going on. In reality, those important people at home already knew what was going on because I would talk to them over the phone. When I came back, I kept it going so my close friends and family in Saipan would know what was going on (because I still read all of their blogs or look at all their pictures). I failed at doing both of these as there are only 16 actual posts, half from Saipan and half from California, and about a dozen unfinished, unpublished posts. Then I thought I'd be cool if I made it into a travel blog. Again fail, because I don't travel much (maybe once a year, if I'm lucky) and I haven't posted anything on those travels. So with all that said, I'm going to forget all of those reasons to have a blog and just post in this thing for myself. If anyone still checks or stumbles across this, enjoy!

The Kaiser Permanente One

2011-04-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

The last three months (January 3 - March 25), I've had the opportunity to do my first 3-month fieldwork/clinical rotation/affiliation/internship/whatever you want to call it, at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana. When I first started, I found myself running around the hospital like a chicken with it's head cut off, lost, and completely overwhelmed. I knew that it was my turn at a physical-disability, acute inpatient setting, but I was not prepared to see patients in so much pain, nauseous, weak, unmotivated, unresponsive, tubes and lines coming from every direction, hooked up to ventilators, bariatric, you name it. Every morning dreaded the drive over to the hospital and what the day ahead would hold. I felt so inadequate, couldn't understand a diagnosis, unable to comfortably talk to patients, be therapeutic, or chart fast enough. To top it off, I didn't have the best of CI's (clinical instructors) out there, mine had gone to school in another country and had a completely different mentality than those who studied in the US. I had to learn quickly in such a fast paced environment. I was lucky to have 2 other PT students doing their affiliation there too, and co-treating with them helped me get through the 12 weeks. Also what helped me get through was knowing that once the day was done and we were finished seeing patients and charting on them, I could leave everything behind and enjoy the rest of my day. After a lot of quick thinking on my feet, ROM & MMT tests, contact guard isolations, screaming patients, confused patients, coding patients, toilet transfers and poop trails, seeing private parts, lifting patients twice my size, and as much as I hate hospitals, I was able to survive those 12 weeks and pass my fieldwork experience! The therapy office encouraged me to apply for a position after I graduate, I probably won't, but it's nice to know that working in a hospital is now totally doable.

I'm now back in the classroom finishing up my last 9 months of classes/research/project development. I'll miss having free evenings, but at least I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's coming.

One thing I must say I enjoyed about KP is the way they encourage healthy living. I always took the stairs up to the OT/PT Rehab office on the 4th floor, and each level in the stairway had an interesting saying/phrase painted on the wall. I'll leave you with a few that I remembered:

"It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor."

"Your body is a temple, but only if you treat it as one."

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

"Live well. Be well."

"Your health is our biggest cause."

"We could all use more hugs and kisses."

"Live healthy, eat right, pray hard."

There are probably a lot more, but I only took that one stairway...

The Amazing Amazon

2010-07-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to put up a post of my trip to the Amazon, but there are just too many pictures to go through and pick out. I don't think any of my pictures could ever do Brazil justice, so instead I'll post a video that one of my friends took. My friend Ricky Oliveras came on this trip with us to make a promotional video of the trip for LLU, it's been shown all round campus in Chapel and for vespers. He did a great job at summing up the trip in about 7 mins. Here's his video, I found it on YouTube:

So there's pretty much the gist of what we did in Brazil. It was a medical mission trip, so I got to see a lot of patients, stick a needle in a couple people, hold a flashlight during a few exams. What I loved most was the interaction with the Brazilians because they were so open, friendly, and accommodating to us coming to their home. When I wasn't helping in the clinic, I was playing with the kids, coloring, soccer, games, face painting, it was a lot of fun. After a few days though I caught a viral infection and spent a good 3 days just laying in my hammock on a liquid electrolyte diet, and there was a time I had to get an IV started. I don't know how I still had diarrhea even though I didn't eat solid foods for 3 days. We ended up going back early and stopping at a hospital because so many of us were getting sick, it was really a scary and really sketch experience. But thank God we all came back the next morning healthy and blessed as we headed back to Manaus. There we stayed on our own private beach for a just off the Rio de Negro. And finally, we reached our hotel, checked in, took actual showers (not from river water) and toured the city! It was an overall huge blessing to be able to go on this trip, I was taken completely out of my comfort zone and my eyes were open to a whole new culture. Looking back I am totally missing the simple lifestyle of the Amazon, I'm wishing I was back there right now....

The one about the BRAZIL AMAZON RIVER MISSION TRIP..in a month from now!

2010-06-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Bloggers and Friends,

I have an awesome opportunity to participate in a mission project with Loma Linda University and Student International Missions Services (SIMS ) this summer (July 7-20, 2010), along the Amazon River in Brazil. Loma Linda University and SIMS, partner with the Central Amazon Conference (ACEAM) in Manaus, Brazil and a non-profit organization Social Action Volunteers of the Amazon (ASVAM), to provide care to indigenous people who live in villages along the Amazon River and Rio Negro.

Our group works with local Brazilian doctors, dentists, nurses, pastors, and other volunteers to travel by boat to villages along the Amazon River. Each day we will set-up medical and dental clinics in the local schools, under trees, or possibly even in homes. The majority of the health issues we treat are, but not limited to, malaria, worms, pre-natal care, leprosy, skin rashes, dehydration, gum disease, and a variety of dental needs.

While people are waiting to be seen in the clinic, we provide dental and personal hygiene education for the families. We also hold a Vacation Bible School for the children; sharing Bible stories, sing songs, do arts and crafts, play soccer, and much more. We serve anywhere from 50-200 people in one village.

Our newest project that we have incorporated into this trip is the Latrine Project. The people use the river to wash their food, bathe, brush their teeth, use as a restroom, as well as obtain drinking water and fish. This contributes to the health issues that the people are dealing with today. Our goal is to build latrines and provide environmental health education to the villagers.

Will you help me raise $1800 for this Brazil Project? Your tax deductible donation will help purchase medical, dental, Vacation Bible School supplies and building materials for the latrines. Follow this link to make a donation.

Thank you for partnering with me on this project. I am excited to see what God has in store for me this summer and please keep us in your prayers!

In Him,
Just Jess

The one about Practicum 1

2010-02-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

I just got the news of where I will be spending my first 2-week practicum! This place called Orange County Therapy Services in Laguna Hills! It's a place that works with infants and children who are experiencing motor and sensory developmental delays. It'll be a great experience. The plan is to stay at my classmate Brianna's family beach house in San Clemente (with is only about 30 mins away) and another classmate Giselle and I will commute from there. I'm super excited. My how time flies! I feel like it was just yesterday it was summer and I was consumed with memorizing O's and I's for gross anatomy. Now, the worse part of winter quarter is over: I finished my research paper on hip dysplasia plus my presentation, finished leading Group Dynamics, presented my activity for Therapeutic Media, reviewed and lead discussion for 2 articles, and submitted most of the papers for the quarter. Now I have to concentrate on tests and final exams, then off to do fieldwork in the OC! I can't wait, wish me luck!

The one about REVO

2010-01-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

What is REVO?

I found myself asking the same question a couple years back when there was a REVO event at PUC. I missed it because I was away in Saipan that year. Anyway, REVO is a grassroots movement that started in Hawaii on the simple basis of love. REVO, comes from "revolutio" in Latin, means "a turn around," and says that we'd like to change the world by becoming the change. This means we will not just watch social injustices as they happen, stand by while people suffer, or go on life as if there is nothing we can do about it.

Living a life of REVO does not necessarily mean drastic change every day, but a way to rethink our lives, to redefine what we think is necessary, to see the needs of others and put them before our own. This could mean anything: smiling at strangers, inviting a homeless person to a meal, being nice to the people we can't stand, and so much more.

Change is a big, and we can't do it alone. REVO is a movement that allows us to connect with each other, and to a world outside that we might not have even known existed. It connects us with people across the nation and even the world, who are all striving for the same thing: Love.

Sarting this year, there is a REVO La Sierra which consists of students at La Sierra Unversity in Riverside, California, working with the community around them, both far and near. I got this info here. Interested? Check it out. REVO La Sierra will be raising funds for the project of Gakoni Orphanage in Rwanda. More on this to come.

The one with all the Longboarding

2010-01-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

I have a penchant for longboarding.

Longboarding with the girls, for the last time at PUC.

For my therapeutic media class, we each have to analyze and teach an activity to our class. At first I had no clue on what I would do, but my old roommate Ashley blurted out, “you should teach longboarding” and the idea stuck. I spoke with my teacher, and she could tell I was excited about the idea so she supported me fully. Then I called up some friends to gather boards for my group of classmates I’d be teaching, I was able to get 11 longboards! The next step was analyzing the activity of longboarding. When you break down longboarding, like we OTs were taught to do last quarter, there are so many steps to longboarding, along with client factors, performance skills and safety precautions. As always I was nervous about my presentation, but on top of that, I was concerned about the weather because it was so rainy and stormy weeks and even days before. But overall, it turned out great. I am really loving my Therapeutic Media class. I’ll probably blog about it more once the quarter is over and we’ve done everyone’s activity. Anyway, here are pictures from my little teach:

going outside to try my activity, partnering up, wearing helmets because safety comes first!

ways to adapt: partner up, have friends guide you, or sit on the board.

My teacher even gave it a try

After my presentation for class, my week didn't slow down. I had to study for a test in another class and write a couple more papers, but as soon as the weekend came around, the sun was out, and I had to go for my own longboarding ride. Here are some snapshots from that afternoon =)

The REVO SD one

2010-01-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I trekked down to the REVO San Diego event held at Australian Bar & Restaurant The Bondi in downtown San Diego. Downtown San Diego really reminds me of a cleaner, smaller, slightly warmer downtown San Francisco because of all the confusing one way streets. Anyway, this REVO event showcased donated work by local artists and a silent auction, like the one in LA, this time benefitting Street Angels Ministry a church ministry organization reaching out to local homeless youth. SAM representatives were there inviting people to participate with them in engaging in kindness. There was also a DJ featured, spinning a sweet indie mix and tons of hipsters making a fool of themselves on the dance floor! I love to people watch. Here are some pictures I took of the place:

This giant painting was placed right at the entrance. I didn't get a shot of it in its entirety.

The bar, with some awesome surfboards.

There were booths made by tons of metal boomerangs

some green art, made by recycled cardboard

Remember when you were RAD?

My friend Jaylene and I in one of those booths. Look out, she's organizing a REVO LSU. More on that later.

The new one

2009-11-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

Guys, I'm gonna start blogging, again.

There are about 4 pending blogs since summer 08. "The one in Hawaii" "The Summer one" "The one with all the running"

It's Fall 09, I wonder if anyone still checks this...

The Nothing one

2008-04-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough couple of weeks for me. I was psyched for 4th quarter to start, to push it hard for the next few months and have a great end to the school year. Instead, I've been overwhelmed because lets face it, it's been eight months already and I'm still finding myself incapable. I don't have the knowledge, experience, ability, endurance (or fill in synonym here) to pull it off. I have nothing left to give. The students know this too, I'm certain. "If only you had a degree!" or "Nothing degree!" or whatever. It's hard to take. I feel like I'm sinking under the pressures of being a Christian, a student missionary and a teacher. I look at the remarkable and profound people who surround me here and find myself feeble and timid in comparison. I feel like Peter, when he walks out on the water to meet Jesus but at the first sign of an intimidating wave he sinks because doubt.

And, on the topic of nothing, it is usual for villages in Saipan to have scheduled blackouts. In our house, we've adopted the phrase that many of our students use: "Nothing power!" Monday, we overworked that phrase because of a lengthy blackout during the day from dawn to around lunch time. So, "Nothing water, nothing air con, nothing light!" The poor Saipan economy is dwindling down to (that's right, you guessed it) nothing.

The one for Missy

2008-01-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

Missy left Saipan a week ago, and I miss her already. She has the personality that gets along with everybody. And it's such a shame I didn't take the opportunity to get to know her better. I always thought, we have all year to get to know each other! It makes me understand that our time (ten months) here is precious.

The one under the sea

2008-01-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Sean, Mai and I went out on our first official dive as certified divers with Ken and Crystal. It was an amazing first dive at Lau Lau Bay, even though we've had all our open water dive lesson at this same site, this time seemed more exciting.

Mai, Sean and I

we saw a morey eel

a hawksbill turtle that was so close to us,

and a big ball of fish

The one in Southeast Asia

2008-01-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." -C.S. Lewis

Sean's Christmas gift...

...homemade cookies, breakfast of champions

Day 1. Manila at a glance

Jeepney

Day 2. Thrilla in Manila

just outside the SM Mall of Asia, second largest mall in Asia

Pretzels at the Mall of Asia, yum!

Waiting for our flight to Bangkok!

Day 3. Jaylene and I at some temple in Bangkok

where we met a nice monk

his name is Phrakrupiyakunaporn

riding in a longtail boat in Chao Phraya River

Floating Market in Chao Phraya River

Day 4. Lunch at Cabbages and Condoms

Condom Santa

Day 5. Our transportation to Laos

Transportation in Laos

Day 6. Markets in Vientiane

Jonathan and his broom

Good people don't....well, you know

Day 7. Sabbath in Laos

Jaylene

sticky rice at potluck in Laos

Day 8. BTS station in Bangkok

Day 9. Wat Hua Lamphong

man on bike

ice cream sandwiches at Lumphini Park

there were lots of big shinny gates

a 5 year old baby elephant on the streets of Bangkok

Day 10. New Years 08

the swarming crowd in Siam Pavillion

Day 11. Kristin excited on our way to Railay

Welcome to cheap accommodation…

...for a price

the porch of our Bungalow

and inside

Kristin got a manicure on the beach by some lovely ladies

sunset in Railay

Day 12. monkeys

a ginormous tree

Judith, Kristin and I on the hike down to the Lagoon

a mud sculpture in muddy the Lagoon

the viewpoint, we decided to hike back barefoot.

Day 13. Rockclimbing

Kristin and I waiting for green papaya salads

Judith and Kristin

amazing cliffs behinds us

another pretty sunsent in Railay

I don't even know

The view of a cave

the view from that cave, with a bat flying by!

Our Gecko Bar friend who gave us...

…these flowers

Day 14, 15 Penang, Malaysia

Malaysian Ringgits

Day 16. Dinner with Dennise in Kuala Lumpur

Day 17. Friendly family in the Philippines

Home

Helper Catalyst

2007-11-06T03:50:00.001-08:00

I love long weekends. So thankfully I'm in Saipan because we had Monday off school because it was Citizenship Day. Sunday was pretty productive and relaxing. Woke up early and went for a morning run on Beach Path (all the way to Quartermaster Street!), which was good apart from the "I think I'm going to throw up" feeling. After chilling in the ocean, we came home hungry for some banana pancakes, but we were all too lazy. I said I'd make them even though I've never done it before. To make the story short, we enjoyed a very yummy breakfast despite my deformed pancakes. Plus, I got a phone call from down under, which made my day!

I couldn't sleep in at all Monday morning. When I finally rolled out of bed around 7am, Judith and I really didn't want to sit around the house all day. I suggested going for a walk. She suggested using the ghetto bikes in our room. Then the word beach. Then Micro Beach. Genius! So we left our roommates a note saying we couldn't sleep in and biked to Micro Beach. Meet us there and bring the truck (so we don't have to bike back). It was pretty spur of the moment. Made me realize that I'm a catalyst after all. Our plan was to walk to school to pump up the tires, but on the walk there, Pastor Eliki and family gave us a ride to the tire shoppe. We were good to go and with only a few stops (for drinks and photo ops), we were there in no time! We bathed and burned in the sun, frolicked in the water, and soon Mai came to our rescue. The three of us then headed to Coffee Care and enjoyed a delicious lunch!

On our road, the start of our adventure

The view from Coffee Care

October Overview

2007-11-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

October is finally over. It has been a busy busy busy month. Now things can finally slow down.

It started off with a step in the right direction. Week of Prayer at school, and I had volunteered to help. It wasn't as bad as I thought, planning/working with Pastor Eliki, spending time with him and Nem, teaching new praise songs, and watching the students learn to pray. What a blessing!

Pastor Eliki & some students during prayer

The first weekend of October was our only free weekend, so we took the opportunity to go camping at Managaha Island. It was nice and relaxing being away from tourists, without electricity, laying out under the stars, sharing creepy riddles, and listening to Riki's sweet music.

The ferry boat ride to Managaha

Mai, Judith & I up in a coconut tree

Mai holding a crab

Riki jumping off the dock

Derick with a blue starfish

View of the tiny island from the water

Me, basking in the sun

We had the Monday off from school because it was Commonwealth Cultural Day here is Saipan, but it was also Canadian Thanksgiving. Mai made pumpkin pie and Judith cooked crepes for breakfast so we stayed in our pj's eating the delicious food and watching a movie.

Mai posing with her homemade pumpkin pie

Judith being Judith

Yummy crepes

Breakfast and a Movie

After that weekend, I started noticing that I had a cough that just wouldn't go away. I finally decided to see a doctor because it was so exhausting coughing all the time. I felt fine, I was over my cold and my voice was back back, but the cough was ridiculous! I was so worn out! The doctor informed me that it was the viral infection bronchitis that had spread down my throat because of the cold I caught weeks ago. That busy, desolate week finally passed but Friday seemed to drag on forever. I was out running errands with Sean all afternoon and buying our Scuba gear. We arrive home past sundown even more pooped than before. But as I walked in my mood changed because my roommates threw a surprise birthday dinner for me, and everyone was in our tiny house greeting me with warm smiles and yummy food.

Trying on my new scuba gear

The weekend continued and was full of blessings, we found the cutest little puppy, did some door knocking in Kagman and had diving class & ice cream on Sunday.

Sunday dive lesson

Sean was pretty stoked

We had ice cream at Big Dipper to celebrate my b-day.
It was a very memorable Birthday.

There was no sign of slowing down, the next week was spirit week at school. Here's a glimpse of it.
Monday- Pajama & Bad Hair Day.

Sisters: Rinka, Uran & Anna

Tuesday- Cartoon/Superhero Day

Tyler was Muscle Man

Staff picture: L-R Daphne, Ninja, Catwoman, Violet Incredible, SpongeBob, Hercules, Belle

Wednesday- Decade Day

70's

Thursday- Dress-up Day

Friday- Olympic Game Day

The White Team trying to be 'White Ninjas'

Tug of War is hard

That weekend there was a Japanese Lantern Festival. It reminded me of Loma Linda Japanese Church. I miss it. Look how cute these Japanese girls look:

Fast forward to the next weekend: Our JV Volleyball team won first place at the tournament! We had a pep rally to pump up the team. Judith and I painted our faces white and blue to support them and kept it on while running our various errands. It brought me back to the good ol' high school days.

Sabbath at Kagman: Tons of yummy vege food!

After Church service and Potluck, we went out again to pass out fliers inviting people to come to the meetings. It was very hot and muggy, we passed by this house with a beautiful yard. They were outside so we talk a little and we learn her name, Linda, and she invites us to sit in the shade and have some drinks with her. She is a pretty amazing woman with ten children! I love how the Chamorrow's are so family oriented and friendly.

A few shots from Linda's beautiful garden

Relaxing at Tank Beach

Momma dog and her puppies

Sunset in Kagman

Sunday morning rain was pouring. It was productive, Mai, Judith and I went running in the morning and had breakfast at Shirley's Coffee. Mai glances over to the next table and notices SDA in the newspaper with the heading: "SDA dethrones Wispering Palms" Exciting! We left the coffee shop in search for our own copies of the Sunday Saipan Tribune.

It's been a very eventful month, and on the 31st it ended with a tremble. It was during my break around 1pm and I noticed the heavy bookshelves clattering. My heart beating a little faster. I run into the other classrooms and sure enough, they felt it too. A 7.2 earthquake that originated near the northern island of Pagan. I hate earthquakes. To me, they're the most terrifying natural disaster because there is no getting away from them. But thank God we're alright. Hopefully I wont be experiencing anymore.

Happy November.

TGIF

2007-09-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

I’m terrible at expressing myself with words (i mean, haven't you noticed I'm a quiet person). So I’m sorry for my lack of skill and Blog posts. But here goes:

Every week, I start off by wishing it was Friday again. The days never seem to go fast enough; it’s always a vicious cycle of early mornings, long busy days, and nights worrying about what needs to be done the next day. I’ve never genuinely said “Thank God It’s Friday” the way I have been lately.

Last Friday was really amazing. Barbara was so generous; she let me off work one hour early so that I could go to Guam for the weekend to see my friends. I went with the Pierson’s who were going there for the Guam SDA Clinic’s 50^th Anniversary celebration. It was a busy weekend. But I savored the two full days of not worrying about school, spending time with friends, meeting new people (who were my age), seeing the beautiful island, and having no responsibilities! Here are some pictures from Guam:

The Pierson's during Sabbath at the clinic in Guam

We're in an old WWII cave

This Friday there was no school and we had our Staff Retreat at the Maturana. It was nice to enjoy Thursday night street market, and sleep in a little on Friday morning. I think we all really needed this weekend, not just to relax, but to reflect on our purpose of being in Saipan and connect (or reconnect) with God and each other. It was just what the doctor called for. I think we should have staff retreats every month! Here are some pictures from this weekend:

Here's Barbara : doing the leadership thing

Hand & foot pampering with Riki's sweet music

Cooking in silence

Waiting in silence

Look at the banana's I found just growing right outside! I decided to share:

Judith & Eva deep in prayer thoughts

A different perspective

Veronyka and I =)

candle, Judith & Jesus!

While I was waiting for our next activity to start

Coconut trees along the path leading up to the Maturana

That's all folks, "back to life....back to reality!"

Oh but wait, here's another from the Church's baby shower. Ha, look at Sean I bet he's in the middle of saying: "one for the blog" or something like that....

a first

2007-08-06T03:49:00.000-07:00

today was a first for many things. the first day of orientation: working with the staff and in my classroom. my first feeling that i belonged here because i felt accepted by the other girls. and my first time blogging (i'm doing this just cause rosana said so). Today she helped decorate my classroom. (i'll be teaching esl to grades k-4th and Bible classes to grades 5-10) we put a tree up where there was a post in the middle of the classroom.