Is it really summer?! + Bels love!

Belgian weather is unpredictable. When you see this pictures you probably won't even think they were taken during summer. Early fall is what comes to mind first. Fallen leaves kind of do the dirty cheating trick here.

When we were shooting the sun suddenly came out and it was too hot in a parka.

These pictures were taken last week. I spent a fun day with Annebeth and her lovely sister Naomi.

I'm glad that I had the chance to meet these wonderful girls through blogging. Annebeth lives not so far away from me and we'd probably would never have met otherwise. THE HORROR! These two sisters are wonderful creatures with a rare sense of humor. I rarely met girls who are so intelligent, honest and strong! BELS GIRLS, I LOVE YOU!
Check out their blogs!! The Styling Dutchman & Canon Girl Does Fashion

So before you think I'm totally weird I proceed with my post. That day we spent the day at Annebeth's, took some pictures, chilled at the cemetery, danced ballet (or tried to), ate cake, made a delicious Caesar salad, drank Moscato and tried to save a chicken from suicide. Yeah, we're weird. The crazy chicken tried to jump under the train several times, while we were waiting at the station. We were definitely more scared than it was. It only, quite compulsively, followed this yellow line on the ground. Stoopid!

Anyhow, I had a great time and this is what we were doing, eating and drinking that day. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture of us three together, bummer!

Crazy, sexy, cool! It's all 'bout us!

I never miss a chance to grind a girl from behind!

Trying out some ballet.

Still crazy, sexy, cool!

Cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake....

Violent cooking & Naomi doing a lama face!

Heavy metal cooking!

CAESARRRRR

On the dot

As promised, here's my outfit from Tiany's event earlier this week.

That day I had a problem with deciding what I was going to wear. As I, and many other girls, have frequently.

I ended up in a Minnie Mouse inspired outfit. 

I know for a lot of people this look is too costumey, childish or even plain ugly.

But I couldn't care less. I was always the girl who wore "crazy" outfits. I just dare to wear them, it's as simple as that. If I'm choosing something, I'm not going to worry about other people opinions.

I'm all about challenges and so it is with fashion too. 

And believe me, this is not to pull attention to my persona. This is just me.

I was born this way, baby!

I like to have fun with outfits while I'm still young.

It would be pretty hard to pull off this look in 10 years from this :)

So, that day I ended up with this polka dot blouse that I just bought in a vintage shop and just ended up pilling the rest of the clothes around it. This is how I ended up looking kind of like a cartoon figure :)
I was glad to receive some nice reactions from the fellow bloggers on the event.

Wearing: Vintage polka dot blouse, H&M skirt and shoes, Modström belt, Sac d'Anvers bag.

The beautiful garden where the pictures where taken

Kickin' back, reading for fun, yo.

Hi, friends.  This is the first I've blogged since Thursday since I haven't been in a house with an internet connection.  So sorry.

I'm still adjusting to being out of school, so I'm still doing that thing where I feel a twinge of guilt & think that there must be something I should be doing, and then I remember FREEDOM and I sit back down.  Aaaaaahhhhhh.   It's lovely. 

Right now, I'd say I'm in the midst of 2 books, kind of 3, ignoring a 4th that is the one I meant to read this weekend.  Hmmmm....I should pick that one up. 
I'm currently focusing on Perelandra, which is a short read and I may finish tomorrow.  I haven't had a lot of reading time this weekend before this evening, though.  What I need to get on is College Ministry 101.  I tell you, friends, I'm hoping for some real gems there.  Knowledge.  Downloaded into my brain.  Revelations.  But my expectations aren't too high or anything. 

Tomorrow is Labor Day, and we will grill a tri-tip somewhere, preferably with a few family members.  Sleeping in is also on the agenda, and I want to go for a run at the high school track. 

What else have I been reading?  Ads for apartments and lots of websites about family law.  It's a glorious time.

Fantastic!

Today, I read 3 things: the end of Redeeming Love, which was nice; Hosea, which is in preparation for teaching tomorrow; and the credits at the end of Toy Story 3.

It was lovely.  I woke up after sleeping for 12 hours, and I went straight to my book and finished it.  It definitely is a Christian book, but it is well-written and not afraid of dark places.  I did roll my eyes a couple of times, because it always annoys me in books when people hold onto grudges or cockamamie ideas longer than they need to just for the book to go on longer.   But I would still recommend it.

Then I got to work on the yard, which was a sweatier job than I expected it to be.  I tied up the little dog in the front and let Underwood wander while Seth put up the front screen door (yeah!) and I raked, picked up piles, and praise the Lord- cut down our yellow rose bush.  I wasn't sure if there would be room in the greens bin for it, because it was so freaking tall, but I was determined and it is GONE! 

I puttered around the back yard a little bit, picking up weeds and a little poo, hosing off the clothes line, and just getting a move on. 

Seth and I then walked into town and saw TS3, which was good.  Yes, I like the Toy Story movies, but I'm not in love with them.  I probably like the first one best.  We laughed a bit and I cried a lot at the end, though I was fighting it, so I got a headache.  I enjoyed the fact that the Gipsy Kings sang "You've Got a Friend in Me" in Spanish, and, although it wasn't in the credits, one of the pieces of music in a sad part definitely sounded like "A Heart Full of Love" from Les Mis. 

We walked to the post, office, split a burrito at the mall, I got a decaf coffee with a Starbucks gift card, and we played in Brookstone.  Lovely.  We played Rock Band, but only for 3 songs, because I was much more tired than I thought, with a bit of a headache. 

Tomorrow is church, helping friends with a luncheon they're having after church to talk about their missions in Mexico (enchiladas!), and teaching tomorrow night.  It will be a great day.  Smooches!

A good day

Today I am finishing up Storm Glass and I started working more earnestly on my--can we just call it a "sermon" for ease of conversation? thanks--sermon for Sunday night.  Hosea is pretty heavy, and it reminds me a bit of Job, in the "Gee, thanks, God, for trusting me so much in this way!" sort of manner. 

I had planned on staying at church for all of Big Time (so, until after 9), but I just couldn't.  I did have a fantastic time talking, eating nachos, and laughing maniacally with some of my students, though.  We in the office had a slow night, so we just chilled, I watched some of the water jug baseball game out in the field, and then my comfy couch & book I'm almost done with called to me. 

So here I sit, on the web instead of reading, because The Internet is what I read the most.  Twitter, links people put up on twitter, links Seth sends to me, catching up on FB:  these are what I do the most.  But I have made better time for reading and have found a good balance between school reading and reading for fun.

If you'll excuse me, I have to find a way to look up movies about prostitution without finding porn sites. 

Ways in which I miss being a kid

 I was in the pool at the gym today for a few minutes, and I had a wonderful time.  I love swimming.  I love being in the water.  It has always been one of my favorite things in the world, but most days, if you were to ask me about swimming, I would say that it sucks.  That's because as an athlete, I've redefined "swimming" to mean "doing laps," which sucks big toes.  I'm not good at it, it's hard, and I hate it.  I had to do it when I was training for a triathlon, and I've barely been in the pool since, and that's sad. 

I love playing in the water, flipping around, maybe doing a little freestyle, but without goggles and with my hair streaming behind me or getting in my face. I don't know if I'll ever get over the fun of making the George Washington hairstyle, where you put all your hair in front of your face, and then fold it back to make a roll in front. I don't know why it's called George Washington, but that's what we called it in junior high. 

As I was in the pool, I remembered that I used to say that my favorite things in the world were swimming, dancing, and playing volleyball.  The only time I've really danced in the past, hmmm....10 years? has been at weddings. I used to love to go out dancing, but as I've gotten older, I've gotten more tired.  It's hard to stay up that late and go out, and I don't know of good places around here anyway.  Right now, I'm saying to myself, "You need to call Jenny & go out dancing soon," but it makes me tired just to think about it.

And volleyball? Sheesh.  As a general rule, most adults don't play volleyball.  It's just not around.  And when there is an opportunity, it's usually people who are Good and I am not Good Enough, at least in my own head, to play.  I'm too much of a perfectionist to relax and have fun.  And I don't want to make the serious players mad. 

My friends and I used to play wallyball fairly regularly in college, and that was ridiculous amounts of fun.  Sometimes we knew it was just for fun, depending on who came, and other times we got to be a little more serious and get some good exercise.  That was awesome.  I still have my kneepads somewhere.  Sliding is wonderful. 

Is there anything you miss doing?  Can/should we get together and just do them? If anyone is up for a not completely pointless, but no pressure volleyball game, please let me know.

Student Video from CHIC!!!

I mentioned in my CHIC post from August that some of our students made the winning video for the short film contest. It's very funny, and I hope you like it. The guy who plays the coach is Nunan, who helps lead youth, leads the college group that I work with, and Seth & I are in a small group with him & his wife. The other guys are Mark (the creator- tall w/red hair, interviewer), Agazy (the runner), JJ (foreign thumbs-up guy at end), and Zech (wearing a hat; runner's friend).