My Week in Bucharest

As I wait going on midnight to put my last load of laundry in the washer. (That what happens when five girls are living together getting ready for camp.) I thought I would put a blog post up considering I don't know when the next time my internet connection will be good enough that I can blog.

This past week has been fun. Learning how to live in the city was an adventure. I rode the tram (public transportation) not once but a few times by myself. Woah. It might have only been down the street to the Guess'house but it was a start. 

The first few days consisted of me hanging out by myself. I ventured out to the grocery store. Went on a few runs. Started watching the "Office" recommended by Jenny.

But Tuesday I went to the new water park with Jenny and Christina. It was pretty cool. 

Wednesday is when I learned how to ride the tram. Thursday I got to go to the baby hospital with Christina. Christina use to be a short term missionary herself so it was neat to see all the things she use to help out with. I was so happy I got to go to the baby hospital. Most of these kids are abandoned by their parents. It's a really sad situation and the nurses just do the bare minimum to take care of them. 

Then Thursday night we headed out to the movie theaters to see "Despicable Me 2" with the Postemas Kids. Highly recommended movie, it was hilarious! 

Friday consisted of babysitting the Guess kids, eating my first Shaorma, resting up for camp, and packing. Which is what I am still doing right now early Saturday morning. Only a few more hours till we leave for camp. Woo. I also got to skype my family and friends (A little shout out to my mom, sister, Andrea, and the Stoner's.) It was so nice to see the kids today over skype and them telling me what they have been up too. My heart is happy they haven't forgotten me yet. 

p.s. Please keep the Guess Family in your prayers. Mihi is having to fly back to the states this week for a surgery. She just found out this morning. They are an amazing family, who have been through a lot these past two months. 

I miss my dog!

I miss my dog! The big furry love of my life. I try not to think about how much I miss him cause it kinda makes me homesick. But last night I was woken up by some ruckus, what sounding like to be squeaking and whispered talking. It kinda freaked me out! I sat up in bed to reach for my dog. Who naturally was not there... So I convinced myself that I had mice in my room and that it must be the Stoner's talking and none of that could hurt me so I fell back asleep. 

When I headed upstairs to talk to Melissa this morning, I over heard the other missionaries talking about the noise too. So it was a relief to know I don't have mice in my room but my second thought was, "who was talking loud enough for everyone in the apartment building to hear. So by the time I made it back to our place I asked Rachael what had happened last night. And it turns out our apartment trash can was blown over by the wind which happens to be right outside my bedroom and some of the other missionary family went outside to see what was happening. 

I was happy to find out nothing was really wrong after all. But I still miss my dog. And I know if he was with me last night he would have figured out the problem a whole lot faster then I did. 

So in honor of my dog today, I thought I would share some pictures. 

Isaiah has always been there for me. Letting me try to drag him on runs, helping me get ready for prom, and taking my senior pictures with him. 

But I know he is in good hands and everyone is taking care of him back home.

The Perfect Little Trail

In my mind it is the perfect trail... a trail to run my long miles, a trail walk and talk to friends with, a trail to remind me of home. 

The trail along the river is so beautiful with the view of mountains and the sound of the river. It reminds me of the towpath back home and it's a nice quiet escape from town beside the many bikers on the path. If I could capture the beautiful surroundings for you I would but I don't think it would be doing it justice. So I thought I would just share with you a picture of Rachel and I on our many walks on the trail. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. At first I wasn't very excited about it. Spending my thanksgiving dinner with close to 90 people that I have only know for two months now. Didn't sound exciting to me. ..But when I woke up yesterday morning to people cooking in the kitchen I felt like I was at home. And I hurried to go get the kids to take them to the thanksgiving craft time, that Sarah one of the missionary teachers had organized. It was so cute all the girls making pilgrim bonnets and boys with their pilgrim hats. 

After craft time with the kids, I went running with Rachael we are trying to stay in shape during our crazy time in France. It was like we were having our own turkey trot run ;) After our run we spent our day in preparation for Thanksgiving meal. It was so much fun. We all ate so much food. And I think the Brits, French, and Dutch really liked our American traditions. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Chateau de Miolans

My poor Josiah boy is sick today so I offered to stay home with him today after church instead of going to the lunch in after church... With Josiah slowly falling asleep as he watching his favorite Winnie the Pooh, it leaves me time to blog and tell you about how my weekend has been going. 

Friday we ventured out to a local castle, Chateau de Miolans which was really cool. We were allowed to tour this castle and they had the information available in English so I could understand. Which was a plus.

By the time we got home from the castle Friday it was still a little light outside so me and Rachel decided to go check out the french carnival...

It was very different then our American carnivals... if people are worried about spending their kids to American carnivals they should take a look at a french carnival. Sometimes I think I will never understand the french and their ways.

Saturday my morning started out great with a long run by the river. Then I spent some time with the Stoner's at the local park and took a trip to the grocery store with Rachel so we could make dinner for the Stoner's. Naturally I should have had more common sense then to use an american recipes when I am trying to cook something in France. I couldn't find half the ingredients I was hoping for. So I had to find a simpler recipe. But through all the trouble of finding the ingredients. The dinner turned out wonderful!

A Week of Vacation

I have seemed to have done everything and nothing all at the same time this week... I will tell you a little about my week. Monday I hung out with Rachel all day just chilling watching movies nothing special. Then Tuesday Rachel and I headed out to Chambery. Even though everything was pretty much closed do to vacation and the fact that it was Tuesday and apparently museums aren't open on Tuesday's in France. We had a good time. 

We ate lunch at a creperie place. 

And got to see the fountain of elephants... Those two things made me pretty happy.

We made it back to Albertville a little afternoon so we headed to the local pool and went swimming. Spending the majority of my past three years at a pool. I was very excited to finally to get to go here. It was just as I thought it was going to be...

France has only a couple of rules but they are pretty funny rules about their pool but when you really think about it they do make sense but they are rather odd. 

1. Guys are only allowed to wear speedo's. (Due to the fact that guys like to wear the swimming trunks out and about making them dirty so when they wear them to the pool they are making the pool dirty also.So naturally you have to wear speedo's to the pool cause nobody wants to wear that out in public.)

2. You have to wear a swim cap. (So your dirty hair stays to yourself and you don't use any hair in the pool.)

No where did I see in the pool area any signs saying no diving in the shallow end or don't run on deck... None of these things seem to worry the french, me being a lifeguard at heart saw tons of kiddos diving in the shallow end and running on deck. I found it rather weird that the french are more worried about the cleanliness of their pool then the safety of the patrons. But who am I to judge...

 Wednesday I had this grand I idea I was going to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing except read a book but so Lydia got sick and was unable to go out with the Stoner's to a friend's house from church. So I stayed with her I still got a lot of nothing and reading done, the poor girl slept all day.  

Then Thursday, yesterday, Rachael and I went out for our morning run and made it to the market on our way back. The people at the market really seem to like Rachael and I. They also make an effort to say bonjour or hello to us. There are certain vendors we just can't avoid on market day. Thursday afternoon we decided that since it was so beautiful we were going to go check out a lake in the mountains. None of us were really thinking that the farther you went up the mountain the more snow there would be.. But oh the more beautiful it was up there. 

We finished out excited day eating fondu and playing settlers with fellow Togo teammates till late into the night. Leaving me completely exhausted this morning and giving me a great reason to blog. ..

Firecracker 5k

So when I got my tattoo last Sunday the tattoo artist said I could run as long as it didn't me pain. Which was good news considering I signed up for my town 5k three weeks ago. Can't back out now. 

Before I tell you about the 5k, I want to share with you why the 4th is one of my favorite holidays. Naturally my favorite holiday is Christmas because you get to celebrate it for a whole month! So the 4th is my second since we get to celebrate it a whole week. Since is the time of the year I truly love my small town. The week starts out with a little parade which I am usually am in for our local library. Following the parade is the carnival which last all week, which is pretty exciting beside the scary carnies. Then finishing the week up, we have our annual firecracker 5K and fireworks! For us being such a small town, we do have some pretty nice fireworks. Don't mind my bragging. 

Well back to the 5k. I don't know what the temperature was in your state but Ohio was having a major heat wave by eight o'clock it was already 80* and humid. So the race was pretty miserable but it was fun to run with some friends. 

Canton Half Marathon

As many of you may have already know. I ran a half marathon today with my good friend Andrea! And yes we made it the whole way! 13.1miles. How exciting, right?!

Even though I was no were near my goal time. I had a great time and I am surprisingly still in great pain from the run. Hoping you all have a nice recover from your weekend too :)

Less then three Days

The count down is on till our first half marathon. I thought I would give you guys a little preview of how it is going so far. 

My toes may look a little beat up but it is totally worth it. I am getting excited about volunteering for the country fest this weekend and for our half marathon on Sunday. I am sure when this weekend is over I will be so happy that I accomplished some of my summer goals :) 

It Feels like Summer!

I knew my day was going to be good when I got in my car this morning at 5:25 and "American Boy" was playing on the radio. Love that song. Followed by a somewhat non-drama day at work, which doesn't seem to happen much these days. 

Started my afternoon off with a three mile run. Dang, did it feel good on this beautiful sunny and 70* day. Followed by a afternoon of tanning with Andrea and Sarah. Later which we went to clean out Andrea car and busted out our moves with Rachel during Tyler's hip hop class. 

And it was a good day even though it wasn't near any beach :)

Moody Marathon

Get In the Race
 Moody Virtual Marathon Cleveland—an opportunity for our friends and partners to race against each other in a friendly competition, share Moody Radio with their friends and social networks, and win some fantastic prizes along the way!

How it works:

1. Earn Distance 

Answer daily questions, recruit friends and family, listen to Moody Radio for the daily checkpoint password and try for bonus distance by simply visiting this site every day!

2. Win Prizes. 

more than 100 prizes —including a trip to Israel with Moody, iPads, Bose headphones, iPods, gift cards and more! Prizes will be awarded on a weekly basis, so you can join in at any time.

3. Get Started. 

Start gaining distance today and get ahead of the competition! Get going—the race ends January 31!

Join the race with me and win prizes :)

New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year! 

I hope 2011 was as good of a year for you guys as it was for me. I was filled with a lot of blessings during 2011. First of all I graduated high school. Yep, I survived all 13 plus years of school it was hard work. I have a job with good hours which is more then a lot of people have right now. I am enrolled in college class' for next semester and am currently being interviewed for one of my dream jobs of being a nanny. I would say 2011 was pretty good. 

And I would like 2012 to be just as good. So I made a few new year's resolutions to keep me on track for the new year. 

1. Eat healthy.  

I was doing good really good last spring about eating healthy and working out. But then I got busy with work and lost time to work out and with the holidays I most definitively ate a lot of sweets. So my goal is find more time to work out and get fit by eating healthy. 

2. Run a half marathon. 

My real goal is to run a full marathon but since the farthest I have ever ran was 9 miles while I was training for the Akron Relay I have decided a half marathon is the perfect start to my marathon goal this year. 

3. Learn how to cook. 

Yes, sad to admit but I don't know how to cook. Somehow cooking was gene that missed me. So pinterest  has helped me a lot to find simple recipes to help me start :) I am excited about this new adventure. And my uncle has said he would pay for the groceries if I made him dinner. So its a win win. 

4. Blog more.

This past summer, I have really gotten away from blogging on a regular basis. So I need to get back on track. So hopefully 2012 will bring me enough adventures to blog about. 

5. Get good grades in school. 

Now that I was going to be going back to school with a little more purpose this time. I plan on getting good grades in all my class'. No excuse for me to slack off this year. 

I hope you guys had a great New Year's Eve and that you will have many blessings in 2012!

Akron Relay

Today I took on the fifth leg of the Akron Relay which consisted of 7.9 miles and un-till this morning I was thinking it was close to 9 miles long. So you can imagine how happy I was when I found out it was only 7.9miles. 

Andrea, Sarah, and me :)

And it gets better because our relay name is . . . . "The Goat Herd".( I wonder who came up with that name. Andrea!) Now everyone try to say "Goat Herd" real fast. Yep you all just said "Go Turd". Everyone was having a good laugh out of our team name :) 

Our Team Results.

4:51:25

Distance: MAR

Clock Time: 4:58:12

Chip Time: 4:51:25

Overall Place: 1020

Division Place: 695/751

Leg1: 00:40: 49

Leg2: 01:54:49

Leg3: 03:04:54

Leg4: 03:29:56

Leg5: 

Divtotal: 751

Good Job!

Cute And Comfortable

The other day I brought a new pair of running shoes. They are everything I was looking for: cute and comfortable. I am currently training for the Akron Marathon Relay and I am running the nine mile leg. Eeee! I am a bit nervous about it.

I have been working hard to get my mileage in and that's why I needed my new pair of running shoes because I had my old ones so long that I was getting blisters all over my feet. But now that I have my new cute running shoes. I shouldn't have any more problems running :)