Korea vlog Installment #1

Video!

I started getting ready to pack for Korea last night, but I needed some music to listen to.  As I was on my computer, I thought it would be a good idea to record the packing process as a part of the Korea adventure.  After the filming and editing, I got a snack of baked plantains and vanilla bean ice cream... But I did pack a whole suitcase afterward.  :)

Mr. Gene's in the paper!

Check this out, guys!  My dear friend is famous!

That's him looking especially dapper in the bottom right corner of the bottom picture!  This is part of an article by The Newnan Times-Herald.
"Student-Vet Connect: Veterans bring history alive for students"
Author: ALEX McRAE, Date: May 21, 2011, Publication: Times-Herald, The (Newnan, GA)

And something else?!
HIS BOOK IS FREAKIN' IN PRINT!!

I have a signed copy on my bookshelf this very moment!
It's being sold at local bookstores, the Peachtree City Books-A-Million, and Barnes and Noble wants to sell it, too!
Talk about awesome!

This is truly one of my proudest moment from my favorite adventure.  Hooray!

After the Storm

I came home from the greatest wedding of all time yesterday just in time to get settled in before a huge storm.  The trees looked angry with each other as they danced in the wind.  It was very frightening for me; strong wind makes me feel rather uncomfortable.  A tree was blown across our power line and it dragged down our post, snapping the line and killing our electricity.  I pretty much went into freak out mode.  Our security alarm going off and freaky noises coming from the basement didn't help.

What did help:
My dog's company
Txts and calls from my friends
A neighbor girl coming over and asking if I'd like to stay the night with her family

After a restful night's sleep with my neighbors, I am, at this very moment, enjoying some internet and electricity in Newnan, Georgia's, favorite coffee shop, Espresso Lane.  (I'm trying to pull off the put-on-my-makeup-in-half-light-and-haven't-showered-yet chic.)  Mumford and Sons and other soothing music is appropriately playing in the background.  It's a good place to be.

Image via Espresso Lane's website

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Thank you, Jesus, for looking out for me last night.  For calming my dog and making her a serene presence, for giving me a letter to write to keep my focus on good things, for sending my neighbor and for giving me company last night, and for the electric company's quick response.  And thank You for chai lattes and for all the coffee shops in the world!

Summer!

Yesterday was the first day of summer, friends!  Happy new summer!

I love this quote I found via Pinterest via this Typographie blog!

Fireflies!
Image: Kristian Cvecek via Daily Mail

Aviators!

Image via Pinterest via Tumblr

America's Got Talent - Favorite show of the summer!
Image via Wikipedia

Ice cream trucks!  They tour our neighboorhood in the summer.  Sister and I smile every time.
Image via Make Mine A Mojito

Fried Green Tomatoes!!  Mom makes the best!
Image via How Stuff Works

Swimming!
Image by Harley Haskett via Cup of Jo

The smell of sunscreen!  I love that smell.
Image via Tom Terwilliger's site

Sleeping with my window open - It's warm enough, and I love when the insects outside sing me to sleep.  It's reminiscent of the coquis that live in Puerto Rico.
Image via the Nature Sound Cd on  iOffer.com

Dragonflies and butterflies
Image via Imagine Childhood

Summer flowers like Queen Anne's Lace in the warm and hot sunshine
For sale as a 5x5 print on Etsy

And, of course, Humidity!  Summer means heat, stickiness, and sweat.
Image via MoonBattery

Imagination

I've had a big imagination since I was very little.  It's grown up with me from my favorite imaginary friend Snowy (a brown cocker spaniel with blue eyes, given to me by Elmo) to sometimes pretending my '98 Explorer is a Corvette.

Lately, I've been pretending it's a hippie van, and that makes me so happy.

via The Vegan Bohemian

New Obsession: Crocheted shoes

Millie and I were wandering around downtown Abbeville and stopped in at Abbey's Alley.  It was there that we beheld the first pair of beautiful crocheted shoes.

(Imagine beautiful pictures of the prettiest shoes here.)

Unfortunately, the shoes were to large for Millie and too small for me.  You can imagine our bliss when similar ones were spotted at Rue21 and Wet Seal at the mall last weekend!

Image from Rue21

Image from Wet Seal

While both pairs are cheaper than $20, I couldn't buy them.  They just didn't arouse the same feelings that that first pair in Abbeville or these gorgeous puppies do.

Image via TOMS
A similar pair is also available at Nordstroms for 5 cents cheaper.  :)

July 2, 2011 edit: P.s. Rocket Dog has them, too!

Wedding things

My BFF is getting married in a week and a half, and, yes, I do hope to have my own wedding one day, but last weekend, I got to see weddings from the other side.

I got to be hired help for a South Carolina wedding reception!  I got to wear white and black!  I got to find out just how much South Carolinans love their sweet tea!  And I had a blast.

When the owner of the venue was telling Millie and I about this wedding, we were a little unsure about what was going to happen.  Here are the owner's own words:  "The flower girls... they're going to be pulled down the aisle by the little ring bearers.  And they're going to stop at the end of the aisle... right between the pouring sand and the doves."  We all shared looks of anticipation for the hilarious disaster.  Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened on their lovely day.  In fact, it was all very nice and sweet.

The bride looked gorgeous.  When she came to the pavilion for the reception, I would sneak glances at her from the pitchers and the cups I was refilling.  I felt like she was a celebrity.  It was kind of neat.

My get-things-done nature was off the radar with those pitchers and cups.  I was totally in the zone and I was loving it.  I really did have a great time, and I would love to help out with a wedding again sometime.

Lesson Learned

Even though nothing bad happened, don't try this at home:

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Images are from Chicago Wedding Blog, Fancy Pigeons For Sale, and  Masterfile respectively.

Project: Korea update

Well, friends, God is amazing.

I found out Wednesday that, if I didn't get my apostille in the mail by Monday, my visa would not be completed in time and I wouldn't be able to make it to my job in Korea.  Over the next few days, I was in a strange fog of disbelief, resignation, and a lack of direction.  It was pretty miserable.  On Sunday, the Lord gave me a very sweet time with Him at night church in Greenville, and we got to talk together on the ride home for two hours.  I felt blissful when I got home at 2 Monday morning.

Monday afternoon, I got a call from my dad back in Georgia.

"I have your apostille in my hand!  It came in the mail today!"

"WHAT?!"

Disbelief all over again!

All of my necessary documents will be on their way to Korea tomorrow, and my visa process will hopefully be carried out as planned and in time.  I'm again in a strange fog of is-this-really-happening?  I feel hesitant to barge forward, but, as Corrie Ten Boom said, “Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”

But, gosh!  Isn't that bizarre how He waited till the last possible moment?  And isn't it poetic how He waited until I had found rest in Him again?  Isn't He wonderful, and doesn't He take care of me in exactly the way I need to be taken care of?

I love Him.

The good kind of uncomfortable

"Come Thou Fount" has been one of my favorites since hearing it.  We sang it a bunch in chapels at Bryan College.  But, did you know?  The version we usually hear in church or on the radio doesn't have the five original verses.  Some have been switched up in our current hymn, and that's all right, but check out this second part of the original third verse.

Millie is planning on including this song in her wedding worship service.  She showed me these verses last week and explained that, as we prepare our hearts for worship during the service, we sometimes need to feel uncomfortable.  I think she's right, and I think this verse does an excellent job of beautifully sharing the truth.

3. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

I encourage you to see it all on Wikipedia!

Redemption

Whether it sounds cheesy or not, this rings loud and true in my heart.  I want to be about truth, love, and life.

Just like yours, mine is a story that shows what a savior Jesus is.  For redemption to take place, there must be brokenness.  Who can the hero save if there's no one in trouble?  Therefore, I will not be ashamed of where I've come from.  All of my story is His.  So I will tell it.

As I read on a church plasma screen this month, "we live to communicate redemption."

May Father teach me to do this with all I am.
And, boy, is that a bold request.  And, boy, am I hesitant to say it truly.  But, boy, am I willing to be willing.

It's a little ridiculous how many crappy roadblocks I've had to go through.

Here's an update on what's going on with Project: Korea.

I've got the job, I've got the excitement, and I've got the supportive friends and family, but I don't have the authentication for my FBI clearance.  It was hard enough getting those blasted fingerprints!  I thought I was golden once I got that manila envelope in the mail saying I wasn't a criminal, but then I had to get an apostille for this sucker.  Sure, I've gotten an apostille before, I knew what to do.  Ah, but this is a federal document, so I have to get a federal seal for it, so I have to send it to the U.S. Dept. of State and ask the Authentication Office to apostille it specially.

The Authentications Office received my documents, my check to pay for the fee, and a prepaid envelope on May 9th.  My recruiter says that it's strange that it's taken them this long.  I've emailed them inquiring about the status of my request 4 times and I've used their website question box twice.  No word.  Nothing.

When I think about it, I start to panic.

What if I don't get this in time?  I won't get my visa.  I won't make it to Korea for the start of my job.  I won't have a job.  I'll be lost again.

I really, really don't want that.

The next thing I'll think about after the panic is God's sovereignty and how He's worked through this whole process.  He gave me this position, you know.  He gave me this dream.  He hooked me up with Amanda and with Emily and with Footprints Recruiting.  He prepared me for years so I would be ready for that interview and so I'd be excited to go to this other country.  He gave me that internship two springs ago so I'd learn to enjoy teaching ESL to young kids.

And He loves me.  He loves me very much.

He sees my unrest, and He knows that He's so competent.  He wants me to lean on Him.  He is the only One I can lean on.  He's the only one in control.  And He knows all those people in the Authentication Office.  He knows the situations in their DC community.  And He knows all of my situation, too.

It's interesting when trust is the only option.  Because, really, what else can I do?  I am helpless and hopeless, but I have my God.

And He has me.

"So much pretty!"

 I know I talk about Millie like she's the bomb-diggity, but, the truth is, she's a bit of a bad influence.

I'm joking, of course.  We just both like to spend a lot of time looking a beautiful things, especially beautiful things to wear.  I remember the first time we were introduced to Modcloth by a Facebook ad.  We sat together scrolling through the dresses and ooh'd and aah'd for a good while.

In short, I've found three nice new places to look for pretty clothes!

 Reasonably priced adorable dresses

More reasonably priced adorable dresses

Even more reasonably priced dresses

Now, be sure I won't be buying all these dresses.  I haven't purchased any from the internet yet, but, if I do, I have plenty of options out there now.  And, of course, plenty to look at in the meantime.

Zebra ears

I helped Millie and her parents move many of her things up to where her new home will be near Blacksburg, Virginia.  Friday night all of us were wondering where we'd find some delicious dinner when Sweeny (M's fiancee) told us about the highly recommended Lefty's restaurant.  We headed there, and I'd now like to add my recommendation to the long list!

Not only was the food wonderful, but the service was great.  Our waiter was a guy named Matt.  The first time he came and left our table, I looked over at Millie and Sweeny and told them, "Gasp!  He's just like Abed!"  Friend, if you've even seen a clip of that brilliant character from Community, you have a perfect idea of the speech, looks, and mannerisms of this fellow Matt.

 

Matt was walking by when Mrs. Amy was setting aside the onions from her burger on the table.  He noticed the onions, reached right around her to pick them up, and brisked away saying, "My family's very Italian.  We just do things."

We warmed up to him pretty quickly, and I think he enjoyed having us around.  He at least felt comfortable enough to say to us, "I don't remember why I came out here," when we saw him out by his car later.  We looked back and forth at each other, and he saved himself with, "Maybe it was to get these zebra ears."  Then he walked back to the restaurant with a set of zebra ears on his head.

When Millie and I asked if he'd take a picture with us, he readily agreed saying, "See?  I told you I wasn't normal."

 

He made us laugh a bunch.  Thanks, Matt!

Let the Good Times Roll

I am now living with my best friend Millie!

I arrived on Wednesday, and I'll be here till the day after her wedding which is on June 25th.  In addition to helping with wedding tasks and moving her to Virginia, I'm just going to be living here.  I'm going to do all I can to phase out of the guest status to someone the Joneses could depend on to do, well, big girl things here in their town.  A better way to put it: I want this to become my town, too.

Millie and I went into town on Thursday to run errands.  I know where the post office is now, the Ingles, the best restaurants, the barber shop, the two thrift stores, the gym (where I got a month-long membership!), and the library.  Millie was naming all the streets for me, and I was asking about all the different buildings.  I'm all of a sudden fascinated with any history offered about this town.  And I like it.

An especially nice part about the area is the lake!  It's about 15 minutes from Millie's house.  We went there for Wednesday's sandwich picnic dinner.  Relaxing at the lake looks so much different than relaxing at the house.  I didn't know how to do it at first.  (Really, I had a moment where I consciously thought, "Woah.  I'm doing nothing.")  After a while of sitting on the life jackets in the water and watching the sunset in the kayaks, I was pretty sure I'd gotten the hang of it.

Here's a picture of the lake shore by KS and Greg from his blog A Landing A Day.

Bits from the Interwebs: Photography

I like sharing things.  These are all first via Pinterest.

Mike Lloyd

Cheetah cub
via Spoki

Even after using TinEye, I still don't know where this picture is from!
It was posted to Pinterest from Imgur, and the archives are no help there.
If anyone finds the original photographer, please do let me know!

Graham Owen