New Beginnings Start in Spring Term.

School started again on Monday :) The parking and traffic were HORRIBLE!!! GRRR *pulling out hair* That whole week was kinda depressing. Number one lessened learned that even if you only live 41/2 miles away from COCC you still have to leave about 45 minutes early...30 of those minutes spent on parking. I also had to go to court about the ticket I received a couple weeks ago for talking on my cell phone...long story short I have to pay the state 170 dollars!! WTF not fair...why does no one else get caught??  I also had NO food at my house and my hours got cut at work....

On the flip side the end of the week started getting better, I was able to go to an awesome bible study that my roomate Mary invited me to, and yesterday the weather was SO nice that I was able to go hiking up at Smith Rocks with Matt and Lilly and Matt's dog Abby. I even got some color on my pasty white arms hehe :P Today I am babysitting the foster kids for my mom, I love them! I have to drive to Bend and close tonight at work and then drive back to watch the kids until tomorrow. I also was able to have a really good talk with my mom last night...you know those kind of talks that you have been waiting SO long to have :) I love my mommy <3

Well Im going to take the kids out to ice cream...God Bless and hope all you are having a good weekend

Lately in my little life

http://www.youtube.com/wakawaka

This song makes me want to pack my bags and head to Africa right now!! =) I just want to travel, and make a difference in this world! ...

SO I have applied for UO recently and just waiting for the acceptance letter now. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to study Human Development and Family Sciences, with a minor in Early Child Hood Development. The choice in careers I could have is soo broad, which worries me, but I don't have to worry about that just yet. I have thinking pretty hard about doing this YWAM based in Madison Wisconsin, how cool would it be to go to that after I have my BA through UO?!

As for now Winter term is coming to an end at COCC for me. I already have my Spring classes all set up so that's good. I'm getting "OK" grades kinda wish they were better though :( Work is going really GOOD, I love my little work family its awesome! My room ate, her baby, and I have been pretty sick for the past couple of weeks, I never knew it would be so hard for me calling out of work sick. Matt and I are doing amazing by the way lol. My mom is till raising all those little foster kids. Four of them are going back to their bio mom soon ;( its good but its very very sad...so my mommy will be left with the three kids that she is adopting. A 6 yr old girl 4 yr old boy, and 5 month old baby boy....awww they are soooo cute! And the baby is doing so good, gaining 1/2 pound a week (good thing i don't gain weight like that lol) and developing a little faster with the help of his nurses and my mom.

OK well I have to go study for my final! TTYL

College....Life

:D haha Mary(my roommate) Matt(my boyfriend) and I had another poker night last night! It was soo much fun although Mary won with two full houses!! :P After poker night I had the idea that I wanted to hike the Butte...so Matt and I loaded up and off we went, to later realize that I didnt think to bring a flashlight! So we had to take a quick trip to 7/11. Finally we started the hike up...WOW was it beautiful!! The stars were perfect :)

Today I woke up and said happy birthday to my best friend Emily, whoot whoot she is 19 now!! Then we went shopping. Now I have a TON of homework to do and alot to study, midterms are this week AHH >_< 

Im on a pursuit of happiness

"la la la wait till I get my money right...nah la la la then you cant tell me nothen right."

So im just layen in my bed thinking again...How is it that I get to have an awesome job, an awesome boyfriend, a super sweet roomate, and a dog who loves me to death? AND all my family and friends who support me no matter what:) Sure I can look on all the negatives in my life right now, but why do that when there is soo many awesome good things happening in my life. Life is short...live it happy :)

SO im gonna put my freaken happy glasses on and look at the good things in life! Join me?...

Im Back(with a purpose)

Sorry for the short post last time...I was in a hurry:) Before I start though, I just want to say congrats to my awesome roommate Mary for re-committing her life to Jesus!!=) WHOOT(the angels are having a freaking huge party right now) Last night was movie night at our house...we attempted to make delicious nachos...but for some reason the stupid cheese stayed super thick!! It was ok though everyone loved it!

Anyway Mary and I have been cleaning our house of any bad spirits and only allowing positive things/people come in:)

I know my last post was a little random but as I said before I have been really thinking of how I want to live the rest of my life or even the next 5 years of my life. Someone pointed out to me the other day that they noticed that the general community of Christians keep lowering their standards/morals/values to fit in with the world everyday...but why? Why try to be normal?? As Christians we are supposed to stand out from the crowd, be leaders of men, and share the good news! But it is definitely a struggle, and its NOT supposed to be easy at all, but seriously does it have to be this hard?! (lol) I was just thinking how selfish of me would it be to know and to love Jesus and keep him all to myself...never telling anyone how he has changed my life, or all the good things that come from being a Christian. So I have been thinking about different ways to talk about Jesus...from small things I do everyday to doing something drastic like attending a YWAM mission http://www.ywammadison.org/dts/faq/ This one I found focuses on children at risk in other country's. I have known almost my whole life that my calling is to help kids, especially kids who really need help, who need to know that Jesus is their dad that will never leave. I am going to keep praying about this, where there is a will there is a way! Please pray for me!!

Dont Just go through the motions...

Goodnight:)

ok ok...need to do laundry

I know its time to do laundry when I have to dig through the very bottom of my closet to find something decent to wear, hehe. So I was thinking I just need to get it in my car and drive to somewhere that I can wash it...hmm then I got to thinking...(you know what happens when I start to think)...lol...I am at a point in my life where I need get my butt to church and wash the so called "dirty laundry" out of my life...to be continued

My 19th birthday

HOLA everybody:) So as you know I turned 19 yesterday! WOW I used to think that was sooo old LOL. I started my birthday morning with my man taking me out to breakfast, and then shopping with a good friend at Rue 21. I was surprised at work with some Delicious cupcakes, and awesome birthday wishes! After work i was surprised again with my boyfriend (Matt) and some friends from high school, we all went bowling at Sun Mountain Fun Center. I totally lost, it was really sad how horrible I was at the game :p Didn't get home until 3am, then off to work at 9am...Thats ok Im only gonna turn 19 once!

I just now got off work and promised my roomate that I would write in my blog so here I am writing so that she can read it.

I have been thinking alot about the purpose of my life lately, and what God really is calling me to do. One thing I have decided is that I will learn how to speak spanish fluently, and I will spend at least 3-6 months in a foreign country. Now all I have to decide is how and when? I was thinking back on my mission trip to Costa Rica and remembered the skit we performed while there. I couldnt find the video of my team performing it but I found the same video that we learned it from...I would like to share it with all of you...enjoy:)

lifehouse "everything"

WOW its been awhile!!

So it is 2011!! I can't wait to see what this year will bring me. There has already been soo much going on in my life. I moved out and now i am working and going to college full time. What an adventure! My mom is still raising the foster kids...although we got a NEW arrival a couple weeks ago. A little baby boy:) He is a sibling of two of the kids my mom cares for. They all have such interesting/sad stories...which I cant say much about because its confidental, but I can tell you that it has made me alot more thankful for the people and experiances I have in my life. I am just glad that now 7 kids have a happy life and are cared for by one of the best moms in the world!

Continued Costa Rica

March 26th- 27th:

Our team headed to Los Guido; one of the poorest cities in Costa Rica. We put together a VBS for about 100 kids. I was in charge of face painting, they loved it! I got to practice my spanish alot too, since thats all they new! Our team also performed a skit called the "Prodigal Surfer" much like the "Prodigal son", the kids laughed so hard. I met some teen bible students that were from America who came to help us out that day.

We had a hot dog lunch with the kids and parents of Los Guido; wow hot dogs must be a delicacy there because each child ate about two or three, and then stashed away some to bring home for the family. It made me happy to know that the moms wouldn't have hungry kids for at least a day.

After lunch we got out the hundreds of water balloons we were filling out that morning. It was a war, kids started showing up out of no where!! Everyone was wet!

Later that evening then some guys in our group put on a Christian concert for the youth of Los Guido; and I performed the skit Everything by Lifehouse. There was tears in the eyes of even the biggest guys there.

March 27th:

Had a non-productive morning. In the afternoon then the team split up, half went to Los Guido and the other half went downtown. I was with the group that went downtown. We walked around and prayed for people and saw some sights. It as Palm Sunday so it was very busy and the streets were full of action. I saw some people juggling fire!!


March 28th:

Headed for the Caribbean bright and Early!! about a 7 hour drive but well worth it. After riding in the car all day then we decided to go walk around and see the beach, although it was late at night. After enjoying the views of the night life in the Caribbean we started to head back to the hotel. This is when the story gets scary...we werent being very aware of our surroundings, too excited and focused on what we were going to do the next day that we totally brushed off the fact that we walked by two very scary and angry looking men on bikes. I took one look at them and it gave me the chills, after walking past them we never looked back.(bad choice) They followed us the whole way to our hotel...the next thing you know the same two guys came up from behind on bikes and grabbed Linda's bag. It knocked her down and they drug her about 3 feet in the gravel. She held on with everything she had. Russ started throwing rocks at the guys and they ran off,  leaving their bikes behind. After ALOT of praying and waiting for the police (who didnt care) then us girls decided we did not feel comfortable staying at that hotel, so we were able to switch hotels. Linda was ok other then a broken finger, black toe, scraped up elbow and knee, and a few bruises. To this day I thank God that he was protecting us, I mean what if they had knives?! OR a GUN?! They could have easily harmed us all, thank God they didnt.

The Girls

The Guys

 

March 29th-April 1st:

We all enjoyed ourselves at the beach very much. The water was very warm, about 83 degrees and very sunny. While at the beach then a small group of us bought some groceries for a couple who couldnt work due to physical problems, they were so happy! We walked in their house(which was more like some wood and scrap metal) and handed them a couple hundred dollars worth of food! I couldnt imagine living in a house like they did. They started crying they were so happy, we also prayed and talked with them. The older guy was telling us how God would watch over them by not letting any of the rain from outside come in where it was important such as their bed, table, and where their clothes were kept. As he was telling us this it started to rain and we witnessed for ourselves that the rain did not go any where near the places he was telling us...but only came in where it was ok to. Like the door and middle of the house where it didnt matter if it rained. WOW what a miracle!!

April 2nd:

Woke up at 2:30am got on the plane and didnt get to bed till about 11:00pm. Finally home!!!

My time is Costa Rica...

Our team arrived on Costa Rica soil late March 22nd. We are going home April 2nd. I have been way to busy to update my blog, and for some reason the computer is not letting me post pictures. Here is some of what we have been doing.

March 21st:
Drove to Portland, had dinner at Shari's, stayed at the Comfort Suites Inn.

March 22nd:
Woke up at 4:30am got dressed loaded all our bags on a bus, headed to the airport. Made all our flights on time! Security is crazy though, they took away Pastor Brians Crisco but let me keep my four pounds of brown sugar lol:) After a ten hour plane ride arrived we FINALLY at the Costa Rica Airport, and we all had our first experience of driving here. (probably the most dangerous thing I have done!) on the ride to the place we were staying I saw TONS of garbage, lots of stray dogs, and street dog fighting. Its so different here!

March 23rd:
Had a rest day. Although hiked up a steep hill for about 11/2 hours, got my first sunburn!

March 24th:
Went to Sojourn Academy, a missions school located in Costa Rica. We lead a VBS for about 100 kids, also did some songs and a skit for them. LOOONNGG day! I taught the kids on how to do the Hula. They are soo cute. The kids there dont really have a choice to be there, they are there because their parents are training missionaries. Imagine leaving all your friends and family to go to a 3rd world country surrounded by a language you dont know. They loved hearing songs in english!


March 25th:
WOW, what an amazing day! This morning we all woke up and headed to the Sojourn Academy “bright and early” we lead the worship to the adults that are attending the school. I was going into it thinking, “what would I have to offer to these adults that are missionaries in training, wouldn’t they know way more then me?” That kind of thinking stopped about 10 minutes into worship. These adult missionaries were crying, coming to us teens for prayer! They were so happy to be able to worship in their native language (english). It was such a blessing to know that my words have the power to change someones elses situation.

Right after worship time us girls decided that we had to get our “baby fix” and headed down to a small orphanage near the Overall’s house. The kids were so welcoming and very excited once they saw that we had face paint and tattoos! We also put together bracelets and hearts. There were about 10 kids from the age of 4 months to 7 years. At the end we all prayed with them and said our goodbyes.

While the girls were at the orphanage then the guys decided to head down to San Jose to check out a spot that we could perform our skit “Everything” on the street. I heard they also did some shopping…also Nathan got to lead a fashion designer in prayer and handed out some of their bands cd’s.

We all met back at the Academy at around 2:30pm and led much needed worship and prayer time with the teachers of the Academy. We all paired up and prayed with every person their, it was intense! Pastor Brian, Preston, and Anthony were really getting into their worship…although I heard that Preston fell asleep while playing the piano…ssshhhh…(don’t tell) he is just that good!!

Today I learned that no matter where you or who you are then the spirit of the Lord can show up at any time, any place! Tomorrow our plan is to perform our skit on the streets of San Jose, we had skit practice tonight and all the men were in tears after watching, even Jairo was crying and he only speaks spanish! It was amazing and I am getting very excited to see what God is planning for us tomorrow!

WOW! I have been so busy lately, college, sr. project, planning for Costa Rica, homework, essays, friends, family...the list goes on and on. I havent told you guys this yet but I am going on a mission trip to Costa Rica in San Jose. I will be gone from March 21st-April 2nd! While down there I will be performing a skit, working at an orphanage, interacting with the people of the community and much much more! Hopefully I will be able to get on here and update on some of the stuff I do.

Just Starting

Dear Readers,
Today I turn 18 years old, someone asked me how it felt to be an adult, and I replied, "stressful."

I decided to start this blog because I live with and help raise six foster children and a puppy, all under the age of 7 years. So as you may know there is a lot on my mind on a day-to-day basis. This blog will tell about the ups and downs of foster care, the struggles of helping my mom raise all these children and still trying to juggle high school. Also about me trying to be a somewhat "normal" teen.

So a little about my family...
My mom has been raising kids for 27 years now, and fostering for 4 years. She has 6 of her own "biological" kids ages being 13-27years. She has been married to my step dad for 16 years now, and is currently getting her B.A. in Midwifery. I have a twin sister, and no we can not read each others thoughts...:)I am a senior in high school and probably know more about raising and having kids then any teen I know. I have yet to find a boyfriend. I will be going to college for my Early Childhood Education degree.

Enough about me for now, I have to go eat my birthday dinner. Later