A somewhat new development in the move to Europe: Luke and I are contemplating pitching tents in campsites throughout Europe. According to one of our favorite travel guides, Rick Steves, there are 10,000 sites that Americans overlook on their European vacations. For obvious reasons, probably. However, it is very common for the middle-class European family to camp out and take advantage of the cheaper lodging. So, why not us?
I even mentioned buying a camper (kinda like my parents did) but more like an RV to tote around and Luke didn't seem quite as jazzed about the idea. Maybe I can convert him before July.
My big test, though, will be our little vacation to Alabama on Memorial Day weekend. We will be celebrating our nieces birthday, camping, and swimming; I am seriously excited minus the swimsuit part. The last time I slept in a tent was in Africa and that experience wasn't too pleasant with the massive ants and such, so I am curious how well I will do and how much I will really enjoy it.
A negative with camping, I guess you have to tear it down everyday before you go and explore. This might get a little tiresome, but if we are running low on funds or want to save, this will probably be the cheapest option. Either way, it'll be quite an experience!
05 May, 2013
22 April, 2013
Live Fearlessly
Everywhere I turn I am reminded of precious life is. Last week was challenging for many Americans especially those who knew anyone in Boston or West, Texas. I have no personal connection to either place really, but I am not immune to the devastation left behind, mentally or spiritually.
These tragedies seemed to reemphasize the fact that America is not exempt from anything. In recent years, since 9/11 in particular, it seems the public became more aware of the terror that exists in the world. Mentally unstable people paired with a never sleeping media has aided in this realization. Even though the plant in West was not a purposefully malicious act, the accidental or natural disasters are still very real tragedies in American life.
For some, events such as these can cause them to live a life of fear. They let the emotion come into their mind and then it spreads like wildfire throughout the body; it crawls deep into the soul and leaves a burning that cannot be put out. Fear. Its grasp can paralyze your passions and desires so that you forget who you are and who you want to be resulting in an empty-shell ravaged by disease.
The age old questions come to mind: What is life all about? What's the point?
Death is not a wall but a door. Live life fearlessly. The beauty that exists in this world is only a fraction of what is in store for us in eternity. It is waiting for us, but we must live a life worthy of it. How do we do this? Naturally we are not worthy of anything, but if we understand the Grace that was given us and undergo the transformation, life will come a little easier. Of course there will be heartache. Of course there will be challenges. But when you know what is on the other side of the door, you can be fearless.
These tragedies seemed to reemphasize the fact that America is not exempt from anything. In recent years, since 9/11 in particular, it seems the public became more aware of the terror that exists in the world. Mentally unstable people paired with a never sleeping media has aided in this realization. Even though the plant in West was not a purposefully malicious act, the accidental or natural disasters are still very real tragedies in American life.
For some, events such as these can cause them to live a life of fear. They let the emotion come into their mind and then it spreads like wildfire throughout the body; it crawls deep into the soul and leaves a burning that cannot be put out. Fear. Its grasp can paralyze your passions and desires so that you forget who you are and who you want to be resulting in an empty-shell ravaged by disease.
The age old questions come to mind: What is life all about? What's the point?
Death is not a wall but a door. Live life fearlessly. The beauty that exists in this world is only a fraction of what is in store for us in eternity. It is waiting for us, but we must live a life worthy of it. How do we do this? Naturally we are not worthy of anything, but if we understand the Grace that was given us and undergo the transformation, life will come a little easier. Of course there will be heartache. Of course there will be challenges. But when you know what is on the other side of the door, you can be fearless.
07 April, 2013
Leap of faith
I realized that last year around this time, I wrote two posts that seem to still resonate with me. I find myself once again trying to be brave as my husband and I go on a new journey in life.
A few of my passions have crossed paths and I will attempt to tackle them in one grand wrestling match. The husband has always known my love for travel, people, art, and writing, so in a grand gesture of spontaneity and love he purchased round trip plane tickets to Italy, presenting them to me at Deep Sushi on our Valentines Day date. (Just so you know, we are not regular V-Day participants, but this was still rather special).
Since then, I have been scourging the complex tangle of the world wide web for places to work. Two places in particular have caught my eye. In no particular order...
#1 The International School of Florence. It is an American school located in Tuscany but seems so much more than that. Let's look past the obvious attraction (serene natural beauty and my artist heart's true muse), the school has another beauty it instills in its students: community service. As part of their graduation requirements, students must complete so many service hours their 9th and 10th grade year and then complete a more rigorous service task the last two years of Upper School. Their community service can have many faces, but the message is all the same: the desire to place someone or something above yourself, even if just for a moment.
#2 The American Overseas School of Rome. Another American independent school which highly values theater and expanding student's imaginations with creative performance. The website is packed with pictures of past performances. Naturally, I am drawn to this aspect of the school.Plus, the school has a required summer reading. Last year, it was The Great Gatsby and each grade was asked to connect the classic with another genre. An English teacher's dream.
Both schools emphasize providing an exceptional education that prepares students for American and International universities. If my applications do not lead to interviews, I know that God has something else in store for me, but I would really love an interview; these schools make my heart go pitter-patter with excitement!
Pray for for understanding and patience.
A few of my passions have crossed paths and I will attempt to tackle them in one grand wrestling match. The husband has always known my love for travel, people, art, and writing, so in a grand gesture of spontaneity and love he purchased round trip plane tickets to Italy, presenting them to me at Deep Sushi on our Valentines Day date. (Just so you know, we are not regular V-Day participants, but this was still rather special).
Since then, I have been scourging the complex tangle of the world wide web for places to work. Two places in particular have caught my eye. In no particular order...
#1 The International School of Florence. It is an American school located in Tuscany but seems so much more than that. Let's look past the obvious attraction (serene natural beauty and my artist heart's true muse), the school has another beauty it instills in its students: community service. As part of their graduation requirements, students must complete so many service hours their 9th and 10th grade year and then complete a more rigorous service task the last two years of Upper School. Their community service can have many faces, but the message is all the same: the desire to place someone or something above yourself, even if just for a moment.
#2 The American Overseas School of Rome. Another American independent school which highly values theater and expanding student's imaginations with creative performance. The website is packed with pictures of past performances. Naturally, I am drawn to this aspect of the school.Plus, the school has a required summer reading. Last year, it was The Great Gatsby and each grade was asked to connect the classic with another genre. An English teacher's dream.
Both schools emphasize providing an exceptional education that prepares students for American and International universities. If my applications do not lead to interviews, I know that God has something else in store for me, but I would really love an interview; these schools make my heart go pitter-patter with excitement!
Pray for for understanding and patience.
11 September, 2012
Movie Nights Part 2
In order to please my dear and sweet father, I will add some good summer movies to my list of things to see. As summer winded down and we had a little more free time once summer school ended we have some more films to recommend:
1. Dark Knight Rises was a great conclusion to a series. Only wish is that Nolan would change his mind and press on with another one. I fear whoever takes up where he left off will only bring ruin. Hathaway was surprisingly bearable and while Bane's voice was over-magnified, he was creepy and massive beyond belief.
2. The Odd Life of Timothy Green was a sweet way to end the summer. Luke guessed the conclusion super early, but we still enjoyed watching the cute little family on screen.
3. The Bourne Legacy (as my dad pointed out) is a good one to see, but it does lack that certain Matt Damon quality the other flicks possess. Renner does a good job on the action sequences, which seemed too few, but his character seemed a little off. Renner isn't completely to blame because of some poorly written lines and cues.
4. The Campaign... eh. Will needs to find another way to make people laugh. Galifianakis was the best part about this humorous take on current politics. Make much else to say about it though.
5. And last of the "summer" movies... Lawless. I'm a fan of period pieces and a fan of movies about rule-breakers because I will never be one! There is an element of a tall tale, but I rather liked that. Interesting fact: the author of the book and family this movie is based on works at UT Dallas where I am an alum. Too bad he wasn't there when I attended. Tom Hardy does another excellent job in this film and even made me laugh out loud which I didn't think would be possible at the beginning of the movie. While Luke and I watched this movie at Valley View Mall, a popcorn machine overheated and caused the fire alarms to go off and resulted in our evacuation. After 15-20 minutes of watching and picking up a free vochure to AMC theaters, we were able to complete the movie. All in all, not a bad experience since we liked it AND got paid back for it. We plan on using the free tickets on the upcoming LINCOLN film in Novemember. I figured this way we wouldn't have to pay to see Luke in the film. (He is an extra in this one... crossing my fingers that we may see him in the fuzzy background)
2012 had a decent summer viewing list... can't wait for some fall Oscar contenders, though!
1. Dark Knight Rises was a great conclusion to a series. Only wish is that Nolan would change his mind and press on with another one. I fear whoever takes up where he left off will only bring ruin. Hathaway was surprisingly bearable and while Bane's voice was over-magnified, he was creepy and massive beyond belief.
2. The Odd Life of Timothy Green was a sweet way to end the summer. Luke guessed the conclusion super early, but we still enjoyed watching the cute little family on screen.
3. The Bourne Legacy (as my dad pointed out) is a good one to see, but it does lack that certain Matt Damon quality the other flicks possess. Renner does a good job on the action sequences, which seemed too few, but his character seemed a little off. Renner isn't completely to blame because of some poorly written lines and cues.
4. The Campaign... eh. Will needs to find another way to make people laugh. Galifianakis was the best part about this humorous take on current politics. Make much else to say about it though.
5. And last of the "summer" movies... Lawless. I'm a fan of period pieces and a fan of movies about rule-breakers because I will never be one! There is an element of a tall tale, but I rather liked that. Interesting fact: the author of the book and family this movie is based on works at UT Dallas where I am an alum. Too bad he wasn't there when I attended. Tom Hardy does another excellent job in this film and even made me laugh out loud which I didn't think would be possible at the beginning of the movie. While Luke and I watched this movie at Valley View Mall, a popcorn machine overheated and caused the fire alarms to go off and resulted in our evacuation. After 15-20 minutes of watching and picking up a free vochure to AMC theaters, we were able to complete the movie. All in all, not a bad experience since we liked it AND got paid back for it. We plan on using the free tickets on the upcoming LINCOLN film in Novemember. I figured this way we wouldn't have to pay to see Luke in the film. (He is an extra in this one... crossing my fingers that we may see him in the fuzzy background)
2012 had a decent summer viewing list... can't wait for some fall Oscar contenders, though!
15 July, 2012
Movie Nights
I am finally finished with my summer schooling! Yay for 4 blissful weeks left of summer. I am sure it will be filled with lazy days by the pool, daily workouts (my goal), afternoon lounging with a book, and movie nights. Even while teaching, I have had time to see quite a few movies this summer- some were rather good, some are must-sees. Here are some I have seen:
1. The Avengers (excellent summer flick)
2. Snow White and the Huntsman (Kristen Stewart didn't annoy me as much as I thought and it was a bit frightening to see Charlize Theron so wicked)
3. Finding a Friend for the End of the World (Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are delightful match)
4. Brave (I'm a fan of cartoons and didn't mind that there was a bear and a mother/daughter theme)
5. Prometheus (not a huge alien lover, but the underlining message made me think)
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In addition to movies, I'm a sucker for a good TV series. Since we don't have cable (just one more way to save those precious dollars) we don't get to TiVo and we are not able to roam the channels, but we do have Netflix and although it can be a disappointing selection at times, we have found some jewels. Recently we have finished Downtown Abbey, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad in that order. One of my guilty pleasures is Pretty Little Liars. My husband does not watch this show with me for obvious reasons, so it will probably take me a bit longer to finish it.
Up and coming... The Dark Knight Rises, July 20th. We entertained the idea of going to the midnight showing, but more than likely the shows have been sold out for at least a month now, so we will have to wait with the other suckers who didn't purchase tickets early. Even though I am not thrilled about Anne Hathaway playing Cat Woman (why do Cat Woman yet again? Halle Berry wasn't successful at creating her own full length verison and she is pretty hot, and who says Anne's portrayal will be any better than Michelle Pfeiffer's?), I am still excited about the film. Christian Bale is one of my faves even if he can go a little crazy off camera.
1. The Avengers (excellent summer flick)
2. Snow White and the Huntsman (Kristen Stewart didn't annoy me as much as I thought and it was a bit frightening to see Charlize Theron so wicked)
3. Finding a Friend for the End of the World (Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are delightful match)
4. Brave (I'm a fan of cartoons and didn't mind that there was a bear and a mother/daughter theme)
5. Prometheus (not a huge alien lover, but the underlining message made me think)
In addition to movies, I'm a sucker for a good TV series. Since we don't have cable (just one more way to save those precious dollars) we don't get to TiVo and we are not able to roam the channels, but we do have Netflix and although it can be a disappointing selection at times, we have found some jewels. Recently we have finished Downtown Abbey, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad in that order. One of my guilty pleasures is Pretty Little Liars. My husband does not watch this show with me for obvious reasons, so it will probably take me a bit longer to finish it.
Up and coming... The Dark Knight Rises, July 20th. We entertained the idea of going to the midnight showing, but more than likely the shows have been sold out for at least a month now, so we will have to wait with the other suckers who didn't purchase tickets early. Even though I am not thrilled about Anne Hathaway playing Cat Woman (why do Cat Woman yet again? Halle Berry wasn't successful at creating her own full length verison and she is pretty hot, and who says Anne's portrayal will be any better than Michelle Pfeiffer's?), I am still excited about the film. Christian Bale is one of my faves even if he can go a little crazy off camera.
29 April, 2012
Is it the Journey or the Destination?
My 9th graders are reading the Odyssey and so I am rereading the epic poem. The unit begins with a question: IS IT THE JOURNEY OR THE DESTINATION? I honestly did not bother presenting this question to my class, but it's been lingering at the back of my mind for weeks and then popped up the other night as I watched a movie called The Way.
The movie draws few similarities to Homer's Odyssey, but nevertheless, the themes seem to revolve around the same question. Martin Sheen stars in his son's [Emilio] film about a father paying homage to his deceased son who died on a pilgrimage across France and Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. Not only is the film visually striking (who doesn't like rolling hills and quaint villages with remnants of the Romanesque, Baroque, and Gothic architecture?) but the actors bring desperate characters to life.
Although the pilgrimage is usually a spiritually journey, each character has their own unique reason for trekking the El Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James). Along the way, Martin Sheen's character picks up 3 tag-alongs who seem to be more of a disturbance to him. One of his unwelcome companions likes to take the route slowly, enjoying each rounded bend in the road, each new scenic change, and each village's food speciality. In contrast, Martin Sheen walks briskly, with purpose and determination to reach the end of the El Camino.
While watching this film I kept thinking- what IS more important? At times, I feel as though I am constantly looking forward to the destination and in doing so, I forget the journey. I forget to notice the beauty that surrounds me, the people whom I love, and the conversations I have. So in this way, I believe the journey should be valued and treasured. However, God does not want us to get caught up in worldly materials. Our ultimate destination is in Heaven with our Lord Savior who has given us life. How can the journey be more important than that?
I have come to this conclusion: Both are equally important. The trick is learning to balance the two in perfect harmony (something I have difficulty with). But the journey is nothing without The Mission. Our mission as Christians is the reason we have a journey and destination to look forward to. Enjoy what God has given you on this journey of life! Enjoy the moments you have to further His kingdom.
Which is more important to you?
The movie draws few similarities to Homer's Odyssey, but nevertheless, the themes seem to revolve around the same question. Martin Sheen stars in his son's [Emilio] film about a father paying homage to his deceased son who died on a pilgrimage across France and Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. Not only is the film visually striking (who doesn't like rolling hills and quaint villages with remnants of the Romanesque, Baroque, and Gothic architecture?) but the actors bring desperate characters to life.
Although the pilgrimage is usually a spiritually journey, each character has their own unique reason for trekking the El Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James). Along the way, Martin Sheen's character picks up 3 tag-alongs who seem to be more of a disturbance to him. One of his unwelcome companions likes to take the route slowly, enjoying each rounded bend in the road, each new scenic change, and each village's food speciality. In contrast, Martin Sheen walks briskly, with purpose and determination to reach the end of the El Camino.
While watching this film I kept thinking- what IS more important? At times, I feel as though I am constantly looking forward to the destination and in doing so, I forget the journey. I forget to notice the beauty that surrounds me, the people whom I love, and the conversations I have. So in this way, I believe the journey should be valued and treasured. However, God does not want us to get caught up in worldly materials. Our ultimate destination is in Heaven with our Lord Savior who has given us life. How can the journey be more important than that?
I have come to this conclusion: Both are equally important. The trick is learning to balance the two in perfect harmony (something I have difficulty with). But the journey is nothing without The Mission. Our mission as Christians is the reason we have a journey and destination to look forward to. Enjoy what God has given you on this journey of life! Enjoy the moments you have to further His kingdom.
Which is more important to you?
14 April, 2012
Being brave
I wanted to be an actress because I would be able to be anything and anyone. There are so many things I wish I could be. Some days, I randomly think about being a firefighter or doctor or lawyer. If you know me well, these professions probably wouldn't work out so well. I prefer cooler weather, I close my eyes on shows like Grey Anatomy, and I hate to argue. But with no acting career in sight, this may be the reason I have turned to writing.
When reading a book I am transported through space and time, navigating through worlds of science fiction, romance, or mystery. My attempts at writing fiction are slow going. Ideas are often easy to develop but the resolutions are like mist. I just cannot grasp them. So, now I have thought more and more about other forms of writing, but I must be brave. I do not have a degree in journalism or even creative writing, so jobs in reporting seem unattainable. But I am going to try my hand at freelancing.
I must take a step out of the familiar and stretch myself. I must not fear rejection. I must not fear the fact that I may not have ideas. I must be brave.
When reading a book I am transported through space and time, navigating through worlds of science fiction, romance, or mystery. My attempts at writing fiction are slow going. Ideas are often easy to develop but the resolutions are like mist. I just cannot grasp them. So, now I have thought more and more about other forms of writing, but I must be brave. I do not have a degree in journalism or even creative writing, so jobs in reporting seem unattainable. But I am going to try my hand at freelancing.
I must take a step out of the familiar and stretch myself. I must not fear rejection. I must not fear the fact that I may not have ideas. I must be brave.
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