La Plata Canyon

Sprawled across the bench of the kitchen nook and bathed in the warm afternoon sun, I was perfectly content to cradle my book until I'd read the very last page. "You guys look bored!" my grandma (incorrectly) observed, "let's do something! Do you wanna go for a hike?" Reluctantly, I placed the book in my lap, "Sure, Grandma. That would be fun." Off we went on our adventure, hiking through La Plata Canyon!

Cameron seemed less content than I was to hang around the property that afternoon, but nonetheless he was the least enthused for our new venture. Later he recounted, "Misha, hiking involves trails. You know, like a path." Okay, so maybe it wasn't a hike--more like rock-hopping and bush-whacking with Grandma leading the way. I couldn't help chuckling a little thinking of what a strange group we must've looked with Grandma picking her way among the rocks and yelling, "It's okay if you get your feet wet! It's not as cold as snowmelt!" and her two grandchildren following unsteadily behind.

Although, in the pictures I got, Cameron doesn't look too unhappy, by the end of the short "hike" he'd grown sulky and quiet. Don't ask me why; the answer remains a mystery. Boys, I will never understand them. Despite my brother's attitude, I enjoyed the Colorado scenery and tried to engage my Grandma in conversation. We stopped a few moments at a quiet part of the river, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually, we found a path leading back to the dirt road and walked back to the car on...smoother terrain. The wind ruffled the treetops, filling the air with the shhhh shhhhh-ing of leaves against leaves. It was all so beautiful, so enchanting, I decided not to click my camera and simply enjoy this moment, perfectly content.

Through Cameron's Eyes: Grandma's Garden

 Grandma keeps a 1-acre plot of land for her gorgeous flower garden! Though wildflower season in Colorado is wrapping up, there were still a few purple ones remaining. Cameron took most of these photos (all except the white one above)

For a while, I entertained a little daydream about someday getting married in Grandma's garden. It is so beautiful and the flowers are already there! (Not to mention Colorado's gorgeous, albeit sometimes sporadic, weather!) Looking around with fresh eyes, it was clearly not designed for a wedding, but I think it is still a promising venue! I'll hold on to my hopes a little longer! In any case, it is still early to be thinking about that, but I'll admit, that Grandma's garden has definitely been on my mind!

Horseback Riding and Tractor Driving

 As I mentioned in my first post, there are several horses on Grandma's farm (and one donkey):

Haha! That picture ^ makes me laugh! ...and we got to ride some of them! I'd ridden a pony before when I was nine years old, but that was also ten years ago. (Amazing how time flies, huh? I feel so old!)

 I remembered quite a bit from my first experience, mostly the brushing part before you buckle up the saddle, but the first time, Lisa used a lead rope for me. Unlike last time, this time I was maneuvering the horse myself!

Downtown Durango

Isn't it beautiful?? *swoon*

At the moment, this is the view as I sit in a quaint little coffee shop in downtown Durango to write this post. (Quite an agreeable wifi situation for the time being.) We decided to come into town today instead of Monday so I could post pictures and check emails for work. I took Cameron to Fuzziwig’s candy shop just down the street where he learned that the pounds add up when you’re buying candy! “Fastest twenty bucks I’ve ever spent!” he said. Haha! I'm sure he learned his lesson!

I was a bit less heavy-handed with the levers, because I knew I wanted to purchase an iced coffee. I settled for a little less than half a pound of sour candy and this gigantic peanut butter cup:

That's about all I have in terms of an update. The peacocks crowing woke me up pretty early, but it afforded me some time to keep chipping away at The Hobbit (still a few chapters left to go) and chat with Grandma over some tea (Green tea for her, English Breakfast for me). After helping Edit keep the sheep from escaping again, we enjoyed a leisurely morning together at the breakfast nook where Grandma showed me old photographs of (young) Grandpa and the houses they built together back in the day. I'd never heard much of their history together, so it was wonderful to hear all her stories for the first time. Tomorrow, we are planning to visit the Badlands south of Farmington. We thought about going today, since it would be slightly cooler with cloud cover (which makes for better photography, most days), but I think my body is glad we didn't because I am still quite tired from yesterday's journey!

Welcome to the Farm

Shortly after we arrived, Grandma gave us the grand tour of all the animals! Goats and horses and piggies, oh my! These are the cream of the crop; I could definitely use a lot more practice! But not a bad start, if I may say so. 

I've gotten quite an education in farming and agriculture in the short time since we've been here. Since I haven't been exposed to much "farm culture" up close and personal, I'm finding it very interesting! We've even seen a few escaped sheep!

The other family on the property introduced themselves to us--Edit, and Greg, and Finn and Atalantia. There are a few more children who are off visiting friends, but we'll be able to meet them in a couple days. At dinner, we had a very enlightening conversation about the world and different cultures and countries. I loved every minute of it!

Hopefully more pictures to come; we'll see how the wifi situation goes.

Arrival

via Gratisography

I am pleased to report that I successfully navigated the 10 hour trip from Tucson to Durango, CO with relatively few difficulties. Of course there were a few mishaps ("Cameron! Which exit do I take? Cameron! Is this it? Cameron!!") and close calls (exceeding 80 mph in a 65 speed limit to pass a car while driving across a dotted yellow line) but otherwise the trip was uneventful. I couldn't have done it without Cameron acting as my copilot/navigator/DJ/secretary.

We only stopped three times along the way: once halfway through Salt River Canyon for a stretch break and photo opp, again in Show Low for gas, and lastly in Gallup for some food and a quick power nap.

Salt River Selfie!

For most of the trip, we alternated album picks: Of Monsters and Men, Walk of the Earth, and tons of Mix CDs that Jake burned for us.

Unfortunately, the wi-fi signal here is less than desirable and I am temporarily operating from a Mac computer (which I do not know how to work in the slightest) so I will have to give a more complete update (with all the pictures!) at a later time. 

Road Trip Itinerary

"Bisti Badlands" via RoadTrippers.com

I ambled up the driveway slightly more deflated than I'd been when I left the house earlier. I'd just gotten off the phone with Melissa, who had to back out of our girl's road trip we'd been planning all summer. "College is just coming up really fast," she said, "and there are a lot of extra expenses we weren't anticipating." As I went through the rest of my day, a grey cloud hung over me and I wallowed in my disappointment. "Maybe I'll just go up to the Grand Canyon or something." I said for the third time that day.

"Misha, there's a lot more to see in Arizona, than just the Grand Canyon." Cameron grew exasperated with me and pulled up Google. Fingers flying across the keyboard, he typed in various attractions across all Arizona and New Mexico and announced them (even the boring middle-of-nowhere ones) in his big, cheesy voice. Roused from my depressed mood I suggested he look up the Bisti Wilderness. "Me and Melissa wanted to go there, but we couldn't figure out how. It's too out of the way to do it on the way up to Grandma's house and too far to make a day trip from here..." 

As the search engine pulled up photos, Cam's jaw dropped, "It looks like an alien landscape from Star Wars!!" A little search on mapquest informed us that the Bisti Badlands were only 2 hours away from Grandma's house! We could easily make a day-trip out of that! Our unspoken agreement was sealed: we were going on a road trip together instead!

Besides the Bisti Badlands, we also hope to:

• Hike the Animas River trail through Durango
• Visit Fuzziwig's Candy shop (Cam's idea)
• Stop by the Grand Canyon on the way home.

My goal for the trip is to practice my travel-photography with Dad's fancy camera! Hopefully, I will be able to blog them as we go, but I'm sure the shots will get onto the blog eventually! I'm so excited!

Carpe Diem

Via Death to Stock Photo

Perusing the library's shelves in the teen novel section, I had nothing in particular in mind; I just wanted something "light and fluffy" to read. Flashy titles advertising mystery, secrets, and intrigue jumped out at me but they were not what I was looking for. Then the natural tan spine of Autumn Cornwell's Carpe Diem (Latin for "Seize the day") caught my eye and a quick skim of the back told me everything I needed to know. This was the One. The book coming home with me! The story follows an over-achieving 16-year-old whose extensive plans for the future are sent into a tailspin when she is forced to spend her summer traveling Southeast Asia with an obscure relative.

Vassar Spore is an ambitious student with even more ambitious goals, including graduating valedictorian with a 5.3 GPA, getting her PhD from an Ivy League school, and publishing an award winning book before the age of 37. Her well-meaning parents have encouraged and supported Vassar in all her endeavors, even perpetuating her inflated ambitions. However, for all her plans and organization, nothing can prepare her for what Grandma Gerd has in store for her: a three month trip through three countries in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos. At first glance, Grandma Gerd is everything Vassar is not: adventurous, unpredictable, chaotic. Grandma Gerd's LIM (Live In the Moment) philosophy combined with her massive "found art" collage project propel the story forward as the unlikely pair traverses the exotic terrain of Asia. Southeast Asia mirrors Gerd's unpredictable and chaotic personality putting Vassar in very unfamiliar terrain.

The novel follows Vassar's fantastical adventures as she trails Grandma Gerd and tries to figure out the "Big Secret"--a mysterious piece of information responsible for Vassar's being there. Along the way, she chronicles her adventures in novel format for her Stateside friends. Vassar's character begins the journey as pretentious and ungrateful, spoiled and unwilling to change. But time goes by. Sticky situations abound. And slowly she does change. At the climax of the novel (Spoiler Alert!) 

1st week of School!

Stats:

inches of rain: 3
goals scored: 2!!!!!
assists: 1
hours spent at school: 5
reading: To Kill A Mockingbird
listening to: Walk Off the Earth
learning: the value of evaluating and adjusting, the importance of good work/life balance
highlights: reading, receiving a letter in French! (pictured above), grading student introductions
looking forward to: Road trip over Labor Day Weekend!!!

Weekly Update:

Before I begin, can we first take a moment of appreciation for the delectable aesthetic in this picture? All those natural tans and browns... Mmm mm. Delicious. I just finished reading Carpe Diem last night and I found it a very charming read! Post pending.

The first week of school has passed relatively smoothly, despite one parent complaint over the amount of homework I assigned, which caused me some additional stress. It really was an honest mistake. Thankfully, everything has been smoothed over for now and I conceded to be more conscientious in the future. So far, my favorite part has been grading papers! Not because I like to wield a red pen to and fro, but because I enjoy reading their work and commenting on it. Since we only have so much time in class, I am beginning think that it will be through grading papers that I will have the greatest impact on these students, in the ways I correct and comment on them.

Not sure if there will be any stats next week since mon frère et moi will be ROAD-TRIPPING!!!!! Over Labor Day weekend, we are heading up to Grandma Ingrid's in Durango, CO. I'm hoping it'll be a good sibling bonding trip and I'm already shopping iTunes for some good driving music. Stay tuned for our adventures!!

Flood Zone

As Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix wrapped up, I yawned, thinking I should probably head home soon. But I changed my mind when a crack of lightning ushered in a torrential downpour. "Guess I'm staying for a little while longer!" I laughed. Right on top of us, the lightning blinded and the thunder deafened. I finally understood a phrase in the psalms about "shaking the foundations of the earth." This was not your average rain storm. An hour after it began, the rain let up enough for me to make the 20 minute drive home. I knew to be cautious, but the closer I got to home, the more I just wanted to be in the safety of our carport. And despite all my caution for the first leg of the trip, I still got told off by a police officer as I approached the last intersection before entering my neighborhood. Half the street was flooded and guarded by police cars to keep any more than the one stranded vehicle from passing through. "Slow down!! Look at the conditions!" admonished the officer. "Sorry!" I just want to get home. Shaken, and a bit shamed, by the officer's words, I drove slower the rest of the way home, squinting to see where the road was covered and how deep it might be.

We received two inches of rain across Tucson (at least!) and there was flash flooding at Saguaro National Park, leading to dirt road closures. There was even some flooding in our neighborhood! A woman was rescued from her car a few streets over yesterday! Phoenix was also hit pretty hard with flight delays at Sky Harbor and flooding in the Metro area. My dad even showed me a video of the Ritz-Carlton foyer which looked like it came out of the Jumangi movie! (An excellent movie for a rainy day, by the way, as long as you can get past some of the 90's attempt at CGI animation.) Grandma called yesterday to make sure we are doing alright. Yes, we are fine. But we've certainly had some adventures this week!

Gettin' My Teacher-Game On!

All things considered, the first day of school went relatively smoothly! Of course, I am learning a lot as I go and constantly evaluating and adjusting my teaching. (For instance, I don't know how much more utterly silent independent work we will be doing in class, as it was only somewhat productive and I didn't know what to do with myself during the time. Independent-time might come back, but only on rare occasions, I'm thinking.) I've also learned the necessity of communicating with the utmost clarity and have been virtually kicking myself for several things I neglected to mention in class. Regardless of my faults though, the students are all very courteous and it was a pleasure to read their first papers--a simple introduction I assigned before school began. I can already tell it's going to be an excellent year and I am going to be learning a lot about what it means to be a teacher!

Small Steps of Faith

Used under CC0 license via Unsplash

Adrenalin rushing and heart pounding, I considered a radically different future than all my carefully structured plans could ever paint. Why? In a word, a book. Over the weekend, I finally finished reading David Platt's book Radical. The subtitle, "taking back your faith from the American dream" expresses Platt's examination of how the iconic concept of the "American Dream" has distorted and diluted the gospel message. Honing in on the command of the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 20), Platt proposes that Biblical Christianity is much more radical than we've made it out to be in American culture. As I read, this book challenged me to re-think my mindset about my future and role in global mission work. The text convicted me to move but I didn't know where or how. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the (im)possibilities before me, I began with one tiny step--reaching out. Indeed, there was an email collecting virtual dust in my inbox with two missions-related resources: Brad Voeller's contact info, and a link to GoCorps.org. 

Fry-day Stats

Stats:

episodes of The Office: 3 (awkwardness level: 8)
movies: 3
orders of french fries: 5
rainy days: 2
errands run today: 6
lessons planned: 8
latest celebrity crush: Sophie Marceau
reading: Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
learning: 7am is not. early. enough. to go running
highlights: IEW en français! making mail art! skyping with Maike!
looking forward to: the start of the next soccer season, and the first day of school!

Weekly Update:

This week brimmed with lesson-planning, movie-watching and french-fry eating. #noshame #OKmaybealittlebit Of course, there have been plenty of productive things mixed in there like reading, self-reflection, errands, and quality time with people (Jake, the fam, Maike, and Melissa)! And I've hit all my pre-school (not preschool) goals for the week--which included the aforementioned reading, mailing a few important letters, and answering emails. In fact, despite the fries and movies, I've been a busy lady!

The only other news to report (besides my first day of teaching on Monday!!!! Ahhhhh! Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. *hyperventilating*) is that once again, dad and I are training for another 5K, this time with Cameron in tow! This one will be a cross-country race on a pumpkin farm! A pumpkin farm!! For this race, my goal is to run the whole thing! Stay tuned, come October!

IEW en français!

Img by Jonathan Reyes, used under attribution-noncommercial license

The curriculum we use for the writing program at Veritas is called Institute for Excellence in Writing (or IEW) and the program steadily teaches children how to write by having them rewrite paragraphs incorporating stylistic techniques as they go. In this way, the program teaches students the style and technique of writing while removing the pressure to invent original, creative content simultaneously. As students mature, less content is supplied by the teacher (or article or whatever) and more content is generated by the student. It’s a very useful program that makes writing easy for kids, especially boys who are primarily concerned with fort-making. 

More Exciting News

This morning's breakfast

Stats:

journal entries: 7/7
students: 13
movies watched: 4
hours spent in Starbucks: 5
lessons planned: 15%
feeling: excited and overwhelmed
reading: Radical by David Platt
learning: it's okay to not know what I'm doing
highlights: Jake is acting for Gaslight theater! Having old friends over for dinner, meeting my students!
goals for this week: 1) finish Radical by the first day of school 2) send out an overdue package 3) finish planning the first quarter

Weekly Update: 

Since I posted about meeting my students yesterday, there isn't much to report in the form of this weekly update. But we had the privilege of hosting dinner for a few friends visiting from Santa Rosa. There was a lot of catching up to do amidst much laughter, story-telling, and great food!

In other news this week, Jake has accepted a position with Gaslight theater as an understudy!! Gaslight is a long-running playhouse here in Tucson, known for their dinner-and-a-show style comedy theater. We went and saw one of their shows, "Ghost Blasters" on Tuesday. Everyone there is very talented and I am confident that Jake will make an excellent addition to their team! (and I'm only a little biased.) We are both very excited for this opportunity for him to continue acting.

Next week, I'll be doing a lot of lesson-planning and miscellaneous tasks in preparation for the first day of school on August 18th(!!!!) Stay tuned to find out how it goes!

Middle Schoolers like Batman and Bacon

Courtesy of Death to Stock Photo

"Once upon a time, Batman ate a lizard and a [noun I can't remember]. He got sick and he went to the mall and had a ginger-ale. The bacon consumed Batman. A man pounded the bacon... To be continued" 

Apparently, 7th graders love Batman and Bacon, as they composed the above short story in class. Today, I got to meet all my students in 7th and 8th grade and talk about what we'll be learning in writing class this year! I'm not gonna lie; I was more nervous than the adolescent bird we found in our carport, but the day went pretty smoothly and I'm feeling better now that I've met the students.

The first class was difficult because 5/6 students were ten minutes late, so I had that awkward moment making small chit-chat with the one student in my class. Then, I made a spur-of-the moment executive decision to deviate from my notes and not talk extensively about the class rules (a mistake I will not make in the future), so I ran through my content for today's lesson so quickly, I had 8 minutes left to spare! To be truthful, I would've panicked if I hadn't thought of a game to play while sitting in on the math class just prior to mine. So, to fill time, we wrote the above story about Batman and Bacon together, one word at a time. I am most proud of the words "ginger-ale," "consumed," and "pounded" because those were the moments where I encouraged the kids to give me a quality noun and strong verbs. They are already off to a great start!

The bacon theme continued in my second class when I asked my students to tell me their name, favorite food, and highlight of the summer. Both the boys listed bacon as their favorite foods! This second class was much easier because I learned from my first mistake! "I have one rule in my classroom," I told them, "and that is respect.
"Scripture calls us to respect God, respect authority, and respect one another. What are some ways that we do this in the classroom?"

Bam. Hands raised, and my 8th graders knew all the right answers and that was that. We talked about what we would be learning over the year, reviewed MLA format for all of our assignments, and even discussed some of the "extra credit" projects that would be available. I gave them their first assignment to turn in on the first day of school--just 2-3 paragraphs about themselves so I can get to know them better. I'm looking forward to reading what they write!

After my classes were finished, I lingered around the school a little to observe classes and collaborate with the other literature/writing teacher on assignment topics. The more I get into this, the more my nerves dissipate and I start to think, "This is going to be a great year!"

Friday Stats

Stats:

hours spent in teacher training: 13
cups of coffee: 4
movies watched: 3
podcasts listened to: 7
mood: excited
currently reading: Radical by David Platt

Weekly Update:

Whew! It has been quite a while since I've posted stats or a decent update! It's funny how fast life slips by in the summer. Most of the big stuff that's happened this month has already been posted. I'm still recovering emotionally from my week serving as a counselor for Royal Family Kid's Camp (links to their main website), which is the main reason why I haven't written about it yet. (I intend to, but who knows if it will actually make it onto the blog.) In case the piece does not get published here, let me just say that it was intense, but it was also an incredible and life-changing week.

There were so many times where I literally thought, "Oh God, I cannot do this. I am never doing this again. Why did I sign up for this? This camp is the worst thing I have ever volunteered for!" etc. etc. I didn't believe Kristina at training when she told us we'd be in the fetal position, crying and flicking the lights on and off by the end of the week; but I was hysterical--sobbing my guts out, outside the craft room hysterical--by day 2. But you know what? When you pour out yourself, your whole self, for the ones God loves, He gives you supernatural strength to endure. I was right in those moments where I thought, "I can't do this." Because I really couldn't, but through the Lord's strength he enabled me to keep making those sacrifices, even without the reward of recognition. And there were lots of sacrifices--I smashed beetles and caught bugs with my bare hands. I quietly took care of pee clothes after one of my campers wet the bed. I carried water bottles Bibles and miscellaneous items in my backpack at all times. I gently reminded my campers of the rules every hour of the day. I gave my boyfriend only side hugs all week long, because "At Royal Family, we give really good side hugs!" My personal space was violated almost every day. I wrote kind notes when there was no kindness left in me.

God gave me everything I needed and more--patience, kindness, strength. And by the end of the week, complaints and fatigue and all, I could still say with a smile (and maybe the twinkle of a tear or two in my eye) that yes, I could do it again. It was one of the most challenging weeks of my life, but by God's grace I survived and by his Spirit, I will serve again in the future. If you are interested in serving foster kids who have been neglected and abused, please don't let this scare you off. It's not an easy sell, but at the end of the day, it truly is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

That turned out to be much longer than I thought! Otherwise, I think it's safe to say that work has effectively consumed much of my time lately. Lots of remote work for CP and paperwork (and fingerprints!) for the Academy, plus teacher training the last three days and all the time that reading the manual and prepping lessons takes.... I've been a busy lady. But I am grateful that things have fallen into place for now. I can deal with the hectic activity for now, knowing that a routine is coming in the very near future. (And hopefully more of these updates!)