12 Days of Christmas

Highlights from "12 Days of Christmas" this year and the 6,000 miles I covered during them...

Day 1 (Dec. 21) - a trip to the new Trader Joe's in Tallahassee, lunch from Hopkins, a visit with the Gilberts--one of my favorite families, and a Christmas celebration with my Tally aunt & uncle

the best sandwich in the world (Hopkins ultimate turkey on rye-pumpernickel)

Day 2 (Dec. 22) - "Christmas morning" with the fam (we opened a few presents that we didn't want to take with us to Seattle),  church at Four Oaks, and seeing my long-time friend Kathryn

our camellia Christmas tree :)

Day 3 (Dec. 23) - a drive to Atlanta and a long flight to Seattle, but without any problems or delays!

Day 4 (Dec. 24) - Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, a chai latte from the original Starbucks, Christmas Eve service at church, and tamales for dinner

the original Starbucks, Pike Place Market

the flower shops at Pike Place

sight of the infamous "fish throwing"

family pic in front of Pike Place Market

carrying on the Nochebuena tradition even in the U.S.

Day 5 (Dec. 25) - Christmas Day--yummy breakfast, delicious Christmas dinner, present exchanging, laughter, Spanish Bananagrams, relaxing...a great day!

Sibling love: without having any idea, we bought the same gift for each other

The cousins

Day 6 (Dec. 26) - a trip to Mt. Rainier-- snowshoeing, a beautiful & sunny day, and a picnic lunch back at the lodge, then back to Issaquah and the Village Theater for a great production of Les Miserables--my absolute favorite play

Snowshoe Fun

Glorious Mt. Rainier

at the theater

Day 7 (Dec. 27) - walking and shopping around Westlake, viewing the gigantic gingerbread houses at the Sheraton, a visit to the flagship REI store, and a hilarious and very competitive game of Encore

Westlake Christmas tree

Culinary teams and architects team up to create these masterpieces.  This year's theme: nursery rhymes

100% edible 

Day 8 (Dec. 28) - ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, a visit to a bakery in the quaint town of Poulsbo, hiking in several places along the edge of the Olympic Peninsula, then the ferry ride back to Seattle at night

On the ferry to Bainbridge Island

Seattle, breaking through the fog on a chilly morning

town of Poulsbo

our lunch spot on the Olympic Peninsula

a whole herd of elk

So serene

Seattle by night

Day 9 (Dec. 29) - church in the morning, a trip to the movies to see Catching Fire for the first time (so good, but definitely got teary-eyed several times), and tasty salmon (that my uncle had caught previously) for dinner

Day 10 (Dec. 30) - Seattle City Center for lunch, the Chihuly Museum, monorail ride from the Space Needle to Westlake, a visit to the public library, and a good last night together at home watching a movie and looking at old photos :)

Chihuly Glass Museum

a classic Seattle day

Seattle Public Library

"the Living Room" of the public library

Day 11 (Dec. 31) - flight back to Atlanta, then Underground Atlanta and the Peach Drop...won't go into details, but it's the sort of thing you only do once in my opinion

Mt. Rainier from the plane

the Peach Drop + this year's bonus: the Peanut drop

Day 12 (Jan. 1) - brunch at Cracker Barrel with my Atlanta relatives at Cracker Barrel and then back to Birmingham, just in time for work the next day

How to Survive Working Full-time and Getting your Masters: Christen-style

As of a week ago, I am officially finished with my Master of Science in Gifted Education.  [Insert shouts of joy, sighs of relief, etc.]  Since I am already the gifted specialist at my school, my position or job title will not change.  However, here are a few related effects/results from finishing grad school:

1. I will get paid slightly more.
2. I am officially certified to teach gifted students and more importantly, well-equipped to meet and understand their needs.
3. I still love Samford and believe you get a great education there from some truly caring professors.
4. My classmates have become dear friends and colleagues. 

These are all very valuable, and I am definitely glad that I pursued this degree.  But it has been anything but easy.  Honestly, I had no idea how difficult it is to work full-time (at a job that is already fairly consuming and often more than 40 hours a week) and attend graduate school.  Each semester also got increasingly difficult in terms of workload and time required for the courses.  That's probably a good thing though--I may not have ever started if I had know all that it would entail.  But by God's grace and a lot of self-discipline, I made it.  

Through this process, I developed my own personal strategy for survival: rewarding myself with trips. :)  For the last three semesters, this plan worked very well for me and brought me the extra motivation I needed.  

Spring 2013: Went on a mission trip to Haiti at Spring Break--had a ton of work before & after, but it was so worth it and good for my soul to do ministry again in that capacity

Summer 2013: Actually managed to finish my massive concept-based curriculum unit 2 weeks early so that I could go to Puerto Rico with friends and enjoy a few days of complete relaxation before the school year started again

Fall 2013: Diligently worked on my practicum requirements & e-portfolio all fall so that I could go to Mexico and visit many dearly-loved friends at Thanksgiving, then came home and pushed through to finish everything the first week of December

So, that's the story of how I survived working full-time and getting my Masters.  Now, I'm ready to enjoy having more free time... bring on weekend road trips, watching TV, getting more sleep, and blogging more than once in a blue moon! :)

with my family on graduation day

Peace with the Paradox

I think it was something about the way the sky looked.

Today, I was driving to the trail to go for a run right around sunset but before twilight, and I had a sudden flashback to running around Fresnillo at that same time of night.  I can't even really articulate it, but it was a strong and vivid memory much like the memory that smelling a certain aroma or hearing a particular song can give you.  After a day of working up in the colonia, I'd sometimes come home to our house and go for a run around downtown Fresnillo before it got too dark.  Thinking about that tonight made me homesick for Mexico again and stirred up a bittersweet feeling in my heart.  It's not that my runs in Fresnillo were always great or joy-filled.  Often, my mind was full of loneliness or worry, but those runs were a part of routine.  They were my routine and my reality for two years, and there's something comforting about that.  And I even though I have a new routine now, there's still a nostalgic place in my heart for my old routine.

It's funny how moments like these sneak up on us and send us back in time.  People talk about how you grieve in waves or pockets when you lose someone you love, and I think we can grieve places or time periods in our lives in a similar way.  I no longer cry nearly as frequently as when I first came back to the States or miss Mexico as intensely, but my life there will always be a part of who I am.  Memories like the one I had tonight remind me of that truth but also make me thankful to be emotionally whole enough to let the paradox rest in my heart.  I can be grateful for and miss my life in Fresnillo while at the same time appreciating my life now and accepting my current reality as well.  It may sound insignificant, but I'm thankful for these moments and how conflicting emotions can coexist within us.

And as the saying goes, "Running is cheaper than therapy." :)

30th Birthday Extravaganza

Over the years, my best Samford friends and I have done a pretty good job of having regular reunions.  At least one or twice a year, we try to get together in a city that is within semi-close proximity of everyone.  About a year and a half ago, one of my friends had a brilliant idea: since we'd all be turning 30 in the near future, we would all take turns going to visit the city of whoever's birthday it was.  It would space out the reunions fairly nicely, and it would be a fair way of distributing travel.  This worked great for the first 30th birthday among us.  We had a great reunion in Tennessee that was attended by everyone (minus Lauren, who lives abroad most of the year).  The next friend's birthday/reunion in Kentucky was only attended by three of us, but it was still a lot of fun.

Among our friends, three of us (Kathryn, Lauren, & myself) happen to have summer birthdays which meant we were all turning 30 during summer 2013.  We also live pretty spread out (Bham, Raleigh/Durham, and Budapest) and didn't think our friends would be able to travel to all of those places in one summer.  So, we decided to combine our efforts into one big birthday bash which we affectionately dubbed the "30th Birthday Extravaganza."  And since we all grew up in Florida, we wanted this celebration to be more than just a trip to Destin.  We started researching places in the Caribbean and decided on Puerto Rico because it had the cheapest flights.  However, you only turn 30 once, so we splurged on luxury accommodations: the Ritz-Carleton.  We invited all of our other friends, but none of them could come so it was the "tres amigas" that headed to Puerto Rico for the 30th Birthday Extravaganza...

Instead of writing about all the details of the trip, I decided to sort-of make "superlatives" for our fabulous adventure:

Best Travel Perk that I Don't Take for Granted: All of my flights being on time and having no problems with my luggage

Most Delicious Thing I Ate: Tres Leches cake from Café Puerto Rico in Old San Juan

Best Part of Traveling with Old Friends: enjoying a great mix of deep conversation, hilarious laughter, comfortable silence, and happy reminiscing

Most Beautiful View: a tie between our beach on Isla Verde at sunset and the same beach in the middle of a bright, sunny day with sparkling blue-green water

Best “Turning Lemons into Lemonade” Moment:  Going to the Plaza de las Americas, a huge mall, on the day it rained and buying 8 articles of clothing for a total of $130 due to some great sales at Banana Republic and Gap

Most Awkward Moment: Going to a club to celebrate Lauren’s 30^th (per her request) and realizing we were about 10 years older than most of the people there and were dressed liked we could be their moms

Best Beachside/Poolside Reading: Is Everybody Hanging Out without Me? by Mindy Kaling (literally laugh-out loud funny)

Most Helpful App: Yelp (helped us find some great, nearby restaurants)

Most Interesting Cultural Observation: Puerto Rico is a fascinating mix of American affluence and the "developing country" feel you find in other Central/South American countries.  Still pondering this a bit...

Favorite Spanish-speaking Moment: After talking to the Walgreens cashier for awhile, he told me that it surprised him when I spoke so well in Spanish because I didn't look like someone who spoke Spanish.  I laughed and said, "I know.  It's because I'm what Mexicans call a guera."  He said, "Well, here we call them gringas, but yes." :)

Best “You Know You’re at the Ritz-Carleton” Moment: When the offered us guava mimosas while we were paying our bill at the front desk

Coolest Historical Site: El Morro in Old San Juan, a 16th-century military fortress that guarded the harbor 

Best Surprise Travel Moment: Kathryn and I were on the same flight out of San Juan on Saturday morning and sat next to the cutest nine-year old boy.  He was Puerto-Rican/American and had been visiting his grandma for three weeks and was now heading back to his mom in Orlando.  His grandma had dressed him up, complete with a tie, and he was one of the sweetest and most respectful kids I've met.  We spent most of the flight talking with him. :)

*photo courtesy of Kathryn Evans

All in all, I'd say the "30th Birthday Extravaganza" was a huge success!

Simple & Sincere

The Lord's Prayer from The Jesus Storybook Bible
(by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago)

"30 Before 30" with a Twist

I love the concept of a "30 Before 30" list.  I have several friends who have made them.  However, most people I know don't actually get to do everything on their lists.  It's mostly just for fun.  As described earlier this year, my goal-oriented, first-born, overachiever personality can't quite handle this yet.  So instead, I decided to make a "30 Before 30" list sort of in reverse...I looked back at the last decade and made a list of 30 things I actually did in my 20's.  This was actually quite life-giving and fun, which is the point of all "30 Before 30" lists anyway.  Some are deep and profound; some are silly and trivial.  I also tried hard not to make them all about travel, though that certainly is a prominent theme. :)

So in no particular order, here are 30 "noteworthy" things I did before 30....

1. started blogging
2. went fishing for the first time
3. lived in a foreign country for two years a missionary 
4. maintained the exact same optical vision
5. bought my first (and second) Macbook
6. ran a half-marathon
7. fulfilled my dream of walking on green grass with snow-capped mountains in the background a la Sound of Music (in Switzerland)
8. drove into a hurricane
9. started playing guitar
10. taught more than 200 children
11. read through the Bible in one year
12. lived in the inner city of New Orleans for a summer
13. attempted to and successfully water-skied for the first time
14. learned to speak Spanish (nearly) fluently
15. joined Facebook and Instagram
16. graduated from college
17. sang regular karaoke and Korean karaoke (noraebang)
18. watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in person (something I've wanted to do since I was a kid) 
19. became a regular hot tea drinker each morning 
20. started contributing to a Roth IRA
21. survived two very serious car accidents
22. learned how to mow the lawn
23. began graduate school and completed more than half of my M.S. in Education
24. walked along the white cliffs of Dover, England
25. lived with at least 15 different roommates 
26. ate at more local restaurants
27. helped plant a church  
28. went snowshoeing for the first time
29. discovered I love bell peppers
30. visited multiple foreign countries and got my third passport

So, there it is.  My "30 Before 30" list.  When you're doing it in retrospect, it's hard to keep it at just 30. No plans for a "40 Before 40" list at this point, but I do hope to make it to Italy and Machu Pichu sometime in this next decade.  And who knows, maybe by age 40, I'll be laid-back enough to make a "40 Before 40" list and only do half the things on the list. ;) 

NYC: Birthday Edition

Since I'm fortunate enough to have been to New York several other times, I already knew that I loved it and also had an specific idea of what I wanted to do this trip: enjoy the local neighborhoods.  My guidelines for our visit were eat all of our main meals at local restaurants and walk as much as possible to explore the city.  As you can probably tell, I like to dream of living there at times.

Although our trip started out quite rough, from the moment we actually reached LaGuardia, it was a great trip.  After arriving at the airport, we took a taxi to our hotel in Midtown Manhattan.   What a sweet surprise to find that they would go ahead and let us check into our room even though it was only 9:30 AM!  It was nice to freshen up and change our clothes before beginning the day’s adventures.

The first part of the day included visiting the 9/11 Memorial (very moving and impressive), walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, eating pizza at the famous Grimaldi’s in Broklyn (and it really was delicious), meeting up with our friend Rachel from Tallahassee and walking along the Brooklyn Promenade and later through Chelsea and the High Line.  We also explored Chelsea Market a bit.

Since we were still full from lunch, we had a light dinner from the street (hot dogs) before getting ready to go to Broadway.  We saw the musical Cinderella, which was very enjoyable with classic Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes and a few modern twists.  Against our better judgment, we also took a short ride one of the rickshaw-like bicycles, which was a fun (albeit expensive) way to see Times Square at night.

The next morning we ate brunch outside at Pastis, a charming French restaurant in the Meatpacking District.  We walked around for a bit afterwards and also bought a few things in Chelsea Market.  After a subway ride uptown, we entered Central Park from the West Side and walked around for a while.  Since I was still on my "pretend I am a New Yorker" kick, I enjoyed seeing “everyday life” there like picnics on the Great Lawn, runners on the trail around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, and pick-up basketball games on the courts.  We took the subway back to Midtown and saw the play A Trip to Bountiful with Cicely Tyson and Cuba Gooding Jr.  It was a great show full of emotion and insight, with humorous touches. We did a little bit of shopping after the play and then headed back to our hotel.

Saturday night was the night we deemed my birthday night after the travel fiasco on my actual birthday.  We took a taxi to Greenwich Village and walked around Washington Square and some nearby streets.  It was right around dusk and in the 70s, and there were so many people out – it was the perfect summer evening.  From the crowd gathered around a man playing piano to a few people practicing salsa off to one side, I loved soaking it all up in Washington Square.  Afterwards, we ate dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant called Palma and then topped it off with gelato from down the street. 

Sunday morning we headed to the Upper West Side again to attend church at Redeemer Presbyterian.  We chose the West Side campus simply because they had the earliest service, but it was a neat surprise to find out when we got there that Tim Keller was preaching at this location today.  We both enjoyed church a lot and then headed just down the street to Cafe Lalo (made famous in the movie You've Got Mail) for a scrumptious brunch.  After brunch, we sauntered around the Upper West Side and then through Central Park to the Upper East Side and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We didn't have enough time to go through the Met (a Sloderbeck favorite) this visit, but we did enjoy shopping at the gift store for a few moments and just being inside the massive building again.  Then, it was back to the hotel and then off to the airport...where we thankfully flew directly to Atlanta!