note to today

you were supposed to be better than yesterday. so what's up with the strawberry yogurt exploding in my backpack?!

not a blog about cows

this will not turn into a blog about cows. i promise. but I talked to Ami the other night and she had some great cow insight. so instead of my weekly update (which is coming sometime today) I am going to share why i am glad that i am not a cow.

first up, they spend all day puking and re-eating their food. I really dont think i need to expound further on that point.

Second off, and this is Ami's Point, Cows never really go fast they jsut sort of meander. I have nothing against meandering but Ami and i agree that there is no better feeling than going fast every now and then. Whether it's in a car with the windows down and the music up or just running as fast as you can. We think it would stink to spend all day in a great big open field and never really take off going really fast.

My life right now is flying by. It kind of feels like everything but me is going fast. in a few weeks (Nov 16) I'll celebrate my 24th birthday TWENTY-FOUR!!!! That's just a year short of half-way to fifty!! I am not ready for this!! I want a few years back!
This week marked 7 months in Slovakia which means only 5 months till i move back to the states. that's only like 20 weeks. and my list of things to do is growing, not shrinking. the video Klip and CampFest Hymn video will be done today. but i still want to tell the story of MPK (Youth for Christ in Slovakia) it's an amazing story...and there's still CF06 video to start and video o prepare for CF07 and more. I want a few months back!

The theme for CampFest '07 is "viac" in english,"more" as in Christ can do more than we ask or imagine, that God blesses us beyond what we deserve, and that we should give Him more of us. But what it feels like is that the next 5 months will be filled with more that i will have time for. Well, beyond what we ask or Imagine huh? it's all up to Him.

extra bonus note of the day, this picture is from Prague. when we accidentally ended up on the ritzy street in our dandering. not only is this cow on a street of stores that i couldn't afford to buy socks in, the cow is labeled "COW" cow cow cow how many times can i talk about cows before you get sick of me? :)

i'm lovin' it!

ba da bap bap baaa!



much thanks to kristen whom i also love.

also this seems as good a time as any to note that i recently discovered that the McDonalds in Kosice is walking distance from the bus station!!! :)

hit in the head with a cow

this may be the new way i describe my"stasi moments"as abi describes them

“When I was caught and subdued by Alonzo [the cow] and stretched out on the green grass under a pecan tree, I looked up at my father and said “What happened Daddy?” My father had a faraway look in his eye and he said “Son, you were hit on the head with a cow.” For at least a week after I received the blow on the head everything people said to me seemed illogical or disconnected; every conversation I heard seemed to end unerringly and pleasantly in confusion. ..... I feel as if I had been hit on the head with a cow.”
Joe Mitchell, published the above excerpted story, Hit on the Head with a Cow, in McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon in 1943

really that's what it feels like....just like the world doesnt make sense, the reason is totally nonsensical and to top it all off your head hurts.

i definitely like that better than saying i'm having a blue mood or feeling on the edge or any number of euphamisms for "Stasi Moments" that i've used over the years.

from now on if you ask me how i'm doing, i might just tell you that i feel as if i have been hit on the head with a cow.

i bought a truck

imagine just how cute i'd look getting out of my new truck!!


look at the cute detailing on her tailgate!!!


i'm having a sort of rough day, but posting pictures of my new truck makes me smile, see:

:)

question

Luke's hat?

what is up with it?

upping my language skills

I had a good Slovak lesson this afternoon, but this morning i made a humorous mistake. I wanted to tell Roman "i am waiting" (for rendering video). After I said my sentence in Slovak, he and Paly started giggling (there is no other word for it)....I really had said "I am hiccupping".....čakam vs.čkam.

(in case you are curious....the first is "i am waiting" the second is "I'm hiccuping" and the c wedge is pronounced lik ch in "chess")

anyway, i thought you might enjoy an account of one of my non-bathroom-language mix up. :)

A toofer--weeks 28 and 9

Hey all!

I had to make up for being timely and informative two weeks ago so I took a week (an a half) off! Don’t worry it doesn’t mean I did nothing, I spent the whole time trying to figure out how to spell toofer! (two-fer, tofer?) :)

Just kidding, really!

So lets start with Timothy School and the Ranch in Svarin! (Sept 29-Oct1) I had a rough weekend for no particular reason, let’s blame it on culture shock. About 30 young people came and things went smoothly as far as I could tell. The speakers were very good and the students appeared to get a lot from the small group times. The ranch is beautiful and it was so exciting to see young people in small groups scattered across the lawn and playing soccer and volleyball.... A small glimpse of all the things that God will be able to do through that place. Also I got to spend some time talking to and interviewing Jean Jacques Wiler, and was really blessed by his stories and messages.

The week after Timothy School I dove into editing, the music video for Strateny v Tme (Alone in Darkness) that we shot back in June. That is really what I’ve been up to the past two and a half weeks. Editing and editing and editing. It’s almost done now. I’m just getting feedback and tweaking the first half of this week and then I’m going to call that project done. I have really enjoyed this project in spite of a ton of little issues (like bad footage and repeatedly loosing power) that occasionally made me feel like either screaming or throwing things out the window. I avoided doing either and I’m pretty proud of how it is turning out.

Other news in the office the past weeks is that, Praise the Lord!, we go the money we were lacking to finish the Center/Office. This has led to again working in a construction zone with men drilling and pounding outside the windows but the building should be insulated and painted before winter hits full force. Please pray for this, that the work gets finished on schedule and that we don’t go crazy from the noise :)

This past Saturday, I took a trip to Kosice to take some pictures for a missionary family there. I took pictures of the horse ministry (kids riding horses not missionaries ministering to them), and a family picture for them. It was good to get out of Presov and cities. It was also inspiring to see what others are doing. It helped me re-catch my vision to have missionaries with quality media about what they are doing. Also, I rode a train by myself for the first time! (I had help buying the ticket)

Currently, Ron & Ruth Berger are visiting for a few days. Ron and Ruth do pastoral care for YFC missionaries. I’m the last stop of their trip that has included England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Rwanda and Uganda. They arrived last night and I have been blessed to have them here already. I will be taking some time off this afternoon and tomorrow to spend time with them.

Thank you for praying please don’t stop. You can pray for:
~Slovak learning still (I’ve had a few embarrassing blows to my language ego)
~Construction on the Center/Offices
~The Svarin Ranch (transition of ownership, a few small thefts, and some red tape that might make having CampFest there a problem)
~Ron & Ruth’s Visit
~My occasionally off-balance emotional state

I know I could not be doing this without your support and everyone here is grateful for your prayers as well. They were surprised here to hear that so many of you regularly lift up the ministry and happenings in Slovakia.

Next week's update will be on time (*crossed fingers*)

:) Stasi

a tad random

best thing that has been said to me recently.

Well, if your computer is giving you such problems give it to me. I'll sell it and buy a frisbee.

wouldn't that be something

black tea, and donuts make every morning better

tears

i cried this morning at staff prayer. it was a worship morning. i am not sure why i cried.
it might have been that i didnt know the words and felt lost and alone and just wanted to go home NOW
or it might have been that i didnt know the words and worried that i'll never fit here and i want to fit here so badly.
it might have been that, in spite of not knowing the words, i feel like i do fit here and sometimes i do not want to leave. and i only have half a year left.
or it might have been the release of a the tensions and a thousand little tears that have been building up inside of me for all those reasons and they finally came out because when i worship i feel safe and my guard comes down.
or i might just be crazy.

for your information

It is ill advised to tell your male co-worker who speaks British/Irish English that you are wearing a skirt because you need to do laundry and you have no clean pants. Especially if it is part of a conversation that starts “Aren't your legs cold?”

I did not realize this untill it was too late.

I was quite confused as to why he turned red and quickly changed the subject.

I was very embarassed when I finally remembered that in British/Irish English "pants" refers to a totally different piece of clothing that should not be discussed with male co-workers. Ever. Especially on the way to lunch.

I should have said "trousers" or "jeans"

I should have just done my laundry and the whole incident could have been avoided.

Mobiles :)

current blog trend in the blogging realm of my family seems to be leaning toward posting about your cell phone.....or commenting on the cell phones of others.
not wanting to be left out here goes my commentary.....
In Slovakia we call them mobiles.
I technically have two since I still have the one I fell on and crushed at the end of May. this keeps me in the running numericly, but since neither flips or takes pictures and only one works, i might be in last place. ('Cept for Alex...he doesnt have a mobile OR a blog to commplain about it on...at least i'm not last!)