Today I Choose...

NEW WEBSITE!

2010-03-13T19:03:00.001+01:00

I have created my new website:
www.laureeaustin.com

Check it out!

Snowboard Camp Defrosts My Heart

2010-03-04T16:19:00.005+01:00

“Can you come and share your story?” said Laura Hash, JV missionary in Poland. I kinda of chuckled, y’know in an insecure-anxious-seriously?-heck-no! type of way. But there was something going on in me before this call ever came. I just didn’t know what God was asking me to do with it, until now. And the first step was to go to a snowboard camp 7 hours north in Poland...

So it’s no joke or secret that I’m not a ‘wintery’ person. I mean, shoot, I was planning on moving to Africa before I moved to Czech. I can guarantee that their winters are better then anything in stock here. And by ‘better’ I mean NO SNOW! People have kind of snickered or laughed politely when I say that I don’t like snow. But I’m not trying to be funny. Let me be specific, because I’m not talking about large open fields with crystallized trees in the distance and enough thaw to hear the babbling of the nearest brook as the sun rises in the distance. I am talking about the snow that is slushed around and mixed with dirt and rocks to prevent slipping and then dogs (and some humans) feel the need to ‘doodle’ or toss their cigarettes, soda bottles, candy wrappers, receipts, used sausage plates with leftover mustard into the drifts.
So there is a certain irony of being asked to come to a snowboard camp, emphasis on the s n o w. I grew up within 45 min. of Mt. Hood (gorgeous mountain in Oregon) and have only been skiing once in my entire life. Nothing like a barney-purple-full-body-bell-bottom-snow-suit to send all those snow-studs into a frenzy when I was 12!

Fortuitously I wasn’t asked to come as an instructor, but as someone with some experience with life on the road with tours. Most specifically I was coming to their So You Think You Can Dance Night. The Polish version, You Can Dance! has become quite popular in the past couple years and they were having a theme night and dance competition. I use the word competition loosely

“Can you talk about what it was like to live on the road with all the dancers?” “Maybe what your job was” “What were the fun parts?”
Sooo many memories flashed in my head. And it wasn’t the ‘fun parts.’

That tour and that time in my life represented so much for me. It was the time and the place where I made some extremely poor decisions. At one point I remember looking in a mirror and not even recognizing the face that stared back. It was like my second grade school picture was held up side by side to my reflection and I desperately wanted to climb back into that little girl. So innocent, full of hope and excitement for life, endless possibilities. I was miserable. Trapped. Suffocating. Entangled in my lies, my sin, my choices. I had arrived at the place where I had always so self righteously stood against and said, “I could never do that.” Done. Did that.

That was two years ago. Forgiveness has been freely given by my gracious and loving God. I saw a picture of what grace is and the value of such a cost to my God. I like the picture that Deitrich Bonhoeffer draws in his book, Cost of Discipleship, cheap vs. costly grace. The essence of cheap grace is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing.

I walked around after tour, and that place of such spiritual darkness, feeling guilty for smiling. You may think that’s silly and stupid. But honestly, I felt a great sense of guilt and shame from my choices and I didn’t want anyone to think that I quickly and flippantly moved on with my life. I didn’t want to feel like I did that. I needed to feel and taste this place of saddening separation from God. I didn’t want to find myself here anymore. Bonhoeffer explains Costly Grace: It is costly because it costs a man (Jesus Christ) his life, and it is grace because it gives a man (me, Lauree Austin) the only true life.

It’s a beautiful and fragile place to be. I saw and felt the weight of forgiveness offered to me. But I think for the past few years, I haven’t known how to accept it. How to live free of my sin. Living in the constant state of, “yeah, but...”
“Yeah, I understand forgiveness. but I don’t deserve it, but I can’t accept it, but I should have to do something...”

For the past two years I haven’t been set free. It’s been a theory or wishful thought, not the reality of my heart.

And as I stood in front of a room packed with 15-30 snowboarders I shared my story.
At times my story is a comedy, I was actually capable of sinning? Get outta here! Me? Ba dump ching!
It quickly becomes a tragedy, drinking myself into oblivion to remove the feelings. A dark place of mental and spiritual destruction.

But...

Man! I have an epic story of redemption. My story shows a loving and merciful God who pulled me out of my muck and destruction. He did that for me! He brushed me off and pulled my chin up to his face and forgave me. “Welcome back Lo. I’ve missed you. Now let’s get back to it!”

I climb to the top of a mountain and do a Maria Von Trapp twirl as the music swells and my heart overflows with joy and relief. I close my eyes and and lift my face to the sky, letting the sun warm me. “I am FREEEEEeeeeeee!” I shout to the ends of the earth. Of course I assumed that my story was made into a movie, albeit a made-for-tv-after-school-special!

I had fun. It’s sounds weird and maybe a bit disrespectful with such heavy subject matter. But I stood in front of those kids and talked about my crap and God’s redemption and I had fun. It brought me joy. Because I got to talk about my God, my Savior, my Jesus. What a privilege! I think God brought this up and used it to heal me, to get me across a threshold that I have been stuck behind.

You may be reading this with a smile, reminded of your own epic and wonderful story of redemption. But if you are reading this wondering what forgiveness feels like from your creator God I want to invite you find your answer. Be free!

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand!
Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
Galations 5:1

Good News, I'm not celibate!

2010-03-02T09:29:00.005+01:00

So this morning as we were driving to work, I had a quiet moment of thought that led to some deep truths.
1) Sunshine and no snow is like free Prozac, which is great for those of us on a budget!
2) I really need to be more inspired to do something more than just put my hair up in a bun everyday.
3) I don't think that God wants me to be single forever!

Seriously! You should see my hair lately, blah!

As the first two points are easily understood (especially those of us living in GreyDale, something similar to a Seuss-ville-esque type of land that lacks rays, and forces us to bask in the light of imitation and electrical sun) I thought that number three should be unpacked and explained further.

My apartment is a mess. It's a mess right now because for the past week I have been strung out, getting little sleep working on a video project. I have a mug of coffee sitting on the floor in my hallway right now. It's sitting there because I was trying to get the very last sip I could as I tied my shoes and walked out the door this morning. I have laundry piled up because my washing machine is broken. This is not me. For peet's sake, Bernstein Bears Messy Room was my favorite book growing up, Office Depot was my fav back-to-school shopping and I was disappointed when my parents surprised me with a little sister instead of a closet organizer when I was 7. Organization is in my blood! And yet, there is no sign in my current living space that I'm that same girl.

That is what I was thinking about this morning. I was taking inventory of everything that I needed to get done when I came home tonight and wondering what it would be like if I lived with someone. Would I be this person still? Oh man, would I leave mugs in the sink for days?

No! (shudder) no I would not. And there are a couple of clear reasons why,

1) I care way too much about my reputation and facade of 'having it all together' to ruin it. This is powerful motivation! Although its a bit ironic that I'm telling you all about my hallway mug

2) One of my spiritual gifts is hospitality, like I said, in the blood! I love having people in my home and I want it to be a comfortable and relaxing place for them. This brings me a lot of joy to cook and clean for them. So I die...symbolically...when there is a chance that someone will see my mess. No one wants to relax and enjoy their time in a mess. It rubs against the natural grain of how God has made me.*

So why is this not being realized in my life when no one is watching? Which reminded me how much I was looking forward to living by myself to see and experience the 'real-raw' me. The person that I am when no one is looking. Not a woman that does things because I should but because it's want I want to do, as a natural expression of me. Year to Date Report: Yep! This is girl is expressing herself all over the house!

And finally my conclusion...and a tie back to the word celibate, which if you are honest is why you decided to read this blog post in the first place. Whoever says using sexy words is a cheap marketing ploy was right. I refer you above to my comment on budgeting, I'm tryin real hard.

I work and live better with people. When I spend too much time alone, I am undone, messy and unmotivated. I love the synergy that is created when a team of people come together on a project, I love laughing with other people (instead of only myself, that's just awkward) and I adore the shared experience.

Which tells me something. That God has designed me to be with other people. I have taken a liberal interpretation of this highly scientific and theological thought and concluded that this must mean that God wants me to be married!!! (I have already registered all of my kitchen dishes and Kitchen-aid freestanding mixers at Macy's in my head)

Maybe I skipped a step and made a conclusion beyond the data. Maybe God wants me to be a permanent roommate (Ugh! I'll work on getting excited about that one. Can I still register just for a few things, would that be awkward?) But whatever. Either way, I feel that this season of living alone needs to have an end date. It's been good, it's shown me the real RAW me, deep down. And I see that my hallway decoration with a mug, albeit a Polish Pottery mug, is not really the look that I was going for. I recognize my need for people and the motivation that comes from living with another person is a good thing. Honestly, it's hard for me to say that I need anything, but in this case I need a partner. Weather that be a roommate or husband (whichever one comes with the Kitchen-aid mixer).

*If there are any former roommates reading this, parents included, that want to bring issue with my statement that I would not live a messy life with other people I want to preempt your remarks. BEDROOMS are no go zones. If I need to I can shut the door and no one is the wiser about the state of my room. I only count on the public areas as places that should remain clear and clean and presentable. The issue of my time management skills, when I wake up late and am rushing and need to unload my entire dresser of clothes on my floor, and then take a few days to reload the arsenal, which is pointless anyway because it's only going to happen again tomorrow...those issues, are not the topic of discussion today.

Oh Happy Day

2010-02-04T14:41:00.000+01:00

I realize how important sunshine is to me...VERY! Today the sun is shining in Frydlant and the snow is melting off the building! It's shining so bright that it's hard to see my comptuer screen but I had to stop myself from complaining because its sunshine!!! Love it -
Here is the view from my desk, Lucka working with the sun at her back. Agh, can't get enough! if only it would stay like this until Spring.

This is what it's been looking like normally in Frydlant, kinda dark grey and cold. So I will take the sunshine

These are the days of our lives...

2010-02-03T08:30:00.001+01:00

These are some of the sights and sounds of my last month...
it's been snowing like crazy and when it's not snowing, it's just sticking around. Growing up in Portland we would marvel in the magic of the fresh snow and the small reprieve from our work at school. Unfortunately, life still moves on for work and school despite the snow.
It's pretty dark by 3:30 (getting better) this is the square in Cesky Tesin when I walk home at night.

View from my front window of the street in front of my apartment.

When I work from home, I love to sit at my dining room table with a nice cup of coffee or tea. I just recently found vanilla soy milk, which is a treat in my tea!

Katka and Kim turned 30 and Leah turned 35! So we had to celebrate..by going to Italy. We found killer deals from Poland to Milan and went for 24 hours!
Going up the escalators to the city...
L-R Kim, Lucka, Me Leah, Katka (Emily taking the picture)

Our scrumptious FREE Italian dinner that we found. Lots of laughs and getting to know each other better around a table and a glass of wine.

Hotel room? No thank you. We are hardcore international travelers on a budget. This all night adventure would have been great in the summer months, but when it's -5 outside it's not really conducive to frolicking all through the night.

Don't want to say the 'worst' but it was a miserable night at the airport, trying to stay warm and not being able to fall asleep. I have a weak mind, it doesn't settle down in thiese moments, but stays awake and goes nuts! I was freezing!!!

For such a time as this...

2009-11-16T12:56:00.001+01:00

In this season of absolute chaos there are few things that bring me peace and calm. My time reading and praying has been something I have sought in new ways to fill me up each day. I praise God for the things that he allows me to go through to push me to my knees and realize the inadequacy of...me.

(1st Row: Lucka, Amy, Me, Kim 2nd Row: Rebekah, Katka, Daniela and Jitka)

One of the other great things is my Monday night Bible study with my friends. We get together each Monday and study the book of Esther with Beth Moore. It's a great time to sit down and take a deep breath together and learn more about God and what he has purposed us for.

I am so thankful for these women. I have grown up with deep and dear relationships with my sisters and friends and God knew that I would need other deep and sincere relationships to make my life here in Czech work. Half Czech and Half American we are all brought together by Jesus - so rad! He is so faithful and good to me to provide these women!

Singin in the Choir!

2009-10-18T12:18:00.000+02:00

Funny story...
y'know how last week when I was in Katowice I was totally walkin down memory lane with the choir concert? Well this last week in Opava we attended the Tensing Choir practice. The choir was preparing to join the Dizmas guys at the end of their concert, I was sitting in the back of the room during the rehearsal, enjoying being a spectator.
The director came up to me and told me to join, because the kids wanted us to participate. It was hilarious. I was mouthing the words the whole time because I couldn't hear the alto part. My face was red, I was nervously laughing the whole time. Hilarious!
Thereza the girl next to me said that she would only sing if I did. Ha, yeah right! I'm all about ministry, but I do it on my terms. But after I confided the story to the choir director he was so surprised that she was actually at the practice and wanted to sing that I felt a pressure to sing in the concert. I saw her a few more times this last week and each time she reminded me that I had promised. I was in disbelief that I was actually considering singing. But...I did, here is the proof.
What can I say? A promise is a promise. Here I am in the middle of the choir and Thereza standing in front of me.

First Week of Tour: Opava

2009-10-18T11:05:00.000+02:00

First week of Exit Tour is done...(exhale long deep breath!) We spent 5 full days in schools putting on preview concerts, playing "American Reality Show Challenge" and connecting with kids during the afternoon activities. It was exhausting. Up early - going all day - and ending each night way past my bedtime. But on Friday night...it was all worth it!

Dizmas played to a crowd that was packed into the seats and was three deep in the aisles. All I kept thinking was..."they are going to hear the gospel!!!" The crowd was having a blast, the guys were rocking their butts off, it was a great night!

Zach sharing the gospel to the crowd! After he finished the crowd erupted in applause ?!?! Crazy stuff in an atheistic country eh?!

Polish Fieldtrip: Cheap Therapy!

2009-10-09T22:00:00.000+02:00

This morning I drove north into Poland to Bialsko-Biala to watch the local Katowice Orchestra accompany my friend Kelsey Carlson's school choir. It was such a great occasion to watch 'normal' Polish life and community. Kelsey did such a great job and looked so sharp in her choir outfit with the pink scarf - I almost signed up to get the free scarf!

It made me chuckle to myself as I remembered Mr. Gerards (jr. high choir teacher) telling my parents that I was tone deaf in my 8th grade choir. Ha ha! That scarred me for a good long time! I remember sitting in the back row at Azusa Pacific University during chapel and mouthing the words because I was so intimidated by all the amazing singers at APU. Or when I was in Ireland and sitting in a time of worship and prayer and I desperately wanted to sing a particular song, but self imploded before I ever got the song out. I was crying and blubbering on because I didn't want to sing the first note wrong!

Cracking me up! Everyone around me thought that I was getting rocked by the Holy Spirit, instead I was totally bound up in this narcissistic bubble!

Funny how a beautiful choir/orchestra concert this morning brought on all those memories. At least I just laughed about it today (on the inside of course:)

It was a great day to be with the Carlson for a couple hours and to see Kelsey's world! Thanks guys for the invite!

10 Days in Portland

2009-10-05T18:56:00.000+02:00

Man, I don't know what it was- but saying goodbye to my family has been something that I have been crying about all week long. And yesterday morning as I sat in Tiff and Tony's kitchen enjoying warm Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with all my sisters and brother in law and precious nephews, I cried the whole time. I guess I am an emotional person...never would have guessed that:)
I flew back into Krakow, Poland yesterday afternoon. Met Rebekah, the new Exit Tour intern and roommate at the airport (she waited for 7+ hours - brutal!), drove 2 hours to Cesky Tesin, unloaded all of my American treats all over my living room floor, watched Rebekah organize all of the treats into neat little piles, baked cookies for Bible study (we're gonna call them Jet Lag cookies because we were both so out of it that we would mix up ingredients and forget to count how many portions we added) showered, took some Tylenol PM, slept, woke up this morning for Bible study (we are doing the Beth Moore Esther study, so good to be back with the group in the word!) went back to the apartment and packed and came to Malenovice Hotel for the first day of EXIT Tour with all the guys! It has begun. Life is going to be super full for the next 3 months, more on that later but I wanted to reflect quickly on the last 10 days of my life and how God showered me with blessing:

10: Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Mom bought be a Starbucks card for all my coffee dates and I savored the sweet taste of Fall in a cup!

9: LA - The City of Angels. My angel Jodi (Mugavero) Young met me at LAX for my 4 hour layover on the way to Portland. She had a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Blueberry Pomegranate tea latte in hand and we got to spend 4 uninterrupted hours together chatting, celebrating pregnancy (hers) and life and friendship. We also did In and Out for dinner, which was a fun treat too!

8: Dr. Cliff & Joan Brock. They are such a generous couple and have taken such great care of me. Let me be clear, I HATE going to the dentist, something about it makes me nauseous. But each time I go to Dr. Brock he eases me away from the fear. I am SO thankful for them! If you need a new dentist, check them out!

7: Rachelle Ellis at Urban Colorz! Girl can hook a sista up. My beautiful friend keeps my hair looking fabulous all year long.

6: FRIENDS!!! I got to see so many friends while I was home. Even though time was always limited and sometimes it was just a hug, I felt refreshed and cuddly* to be reminded of what amazing friends I have.
*Don't ask - it was just the word that first flashed in my head

5: Canoeing around Ross Island with my Dad and family. It was such a beautiful day I actually got sunburned last Saturday. We packed up the Canoe, went down to the dock by OMSI and put into the water for the 2.5 hour trip. Canoeing through downtown Portland is so fun and it was great to spend some chill time with Dad and Nikki and my two uncles, cousin and friend! It's the best of the country and city in a boat!

4. Henry's 1st Birthday! I got to be there for his party! It was such a treat to see how much he has grown in the past year and all the little personality that is coming out of him. Curtis was a bit more into the cake then Henry was. He'll learn!

3. Curtis. My little boo.
This little man showed up at the airport at 3am when I flew into Portland and ran out from behind a post to surprise me. He was a bit shy at first, since usually I'm just a face on a computer screen but he was giving me sweet hugs within seconds and making up for all of those months away. I did have to correct him and tell him that I don't live at the airport, but the Czech Republic. He's hoping to fly over soon!

2. FAMILY. I got to see aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, sisters, parents from Portland and LA. After the past year and a half after my cousin Rebekahs death, there has been a deep desire to be close to my family. To laugh with them, grieve with them and live life closer together. It's been hard to be so removed from my family. So it refreshed my heart to spend time. It meant a lot to go up to Rebekahs graveside with my Aunt Lauree and Nikki and Annie. I love my family and feel extremely loved and cared for by each of them!
All of us girls went out for a special night in Portland. We went to dinner at Noble Rot and then hit the latest hotspot Departure Lounge and Urban Farmer (or Farm, crap I forgot.) It was a great night together, perfect company!

1. Lavish blessings of God. This trip was a last minute deal. Within 4 days I had to coordinate all of my trip and try to fill up every last minute. God worked it out and more. I felt so richly blessed by the time that I got to spend with my friends. All the worries that I had about the timing of the trip, the finances for the trip and during the trip, support raising, blah blah blah. All just worries. God lead me,covered me and supported me the whole time. It's a humbling and rewarding place to watch God work for you. I try to earn it - doesn't work like that. God loved me really well through a lot of people and I am so thankful.

Thank you all for all of your time, I know you were super busy with life too. I totally appreciate it! I don't know when the next trip back to Portland is going to happen. No plans for a long time. So I guess you will just have to come to Czech to visit me!

I'm going back on tour!

2009-09-15T20:22:00.000+02:00

This tour is going to be stinkin amazing! The tour team is 5 band guys, 2 tech guys, road manager, interns, translators, speakers and a late 90's model Volkswagen van! Bring it!

We will be driving across the Czech Republic spending a week at a time in 5 different cities. A whole bunch of names you won't recognize except one...Prague! Yeah baby - getting a free ride back to my city!

Taking over schools for an entire school day, leading lectures on Relationships, Sex, Holocaust Survivors, Drugs, and giving a preview concert. Each afternoon there are sessions hosted by the local churches and finally at the end of the week we give a FREE concert for the community and share the gospel in between sets! I have never been part of a concert and tour that had this much purpose and amazing opportunity for God to be glorified. I am stepping into this role with a lot of excitement and feel confident that the past 7 years of my life in concerts and events will be an asset.

Will you pray for:

Humility. In a position where you have screaming fans and autograph seekers (even for my signature!) it can play tricks on your head. Our head and heart need not be solely focused on God. He gives us worth and he is the only reason we are doing this!
Service. We are going to be a lot of people in a small space for the next 3 months. We need to be serving each other and looking to others needs above our own.
Alone Time. We need to be wise to protect the moments and time that we can pull away to be with God and settle ourselves. It gets crazy on the road and you get tired and this time can take a back seat.
Hearts. People are going to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!! Please pray that God would begin to prepare hearts and minds to receive this news and are ready to make some important decisions in their lives!

My Visit to the Foreign Police...(bum bum buuummmm)

2009-09-10T15:46:00.000+02:00

A little bit ago Lucka and I took a little adventure to the Czech Foreign Police for a new residency visa. I don't know what I would do without Lucka! She is amazing and remembers the details that I don't even know about. Getting paperwork sent from the states to be signed here in Czech and then sent to a translator for translation, then sending to a notary...blah blah blah.

When we got to the Foreign Police station my file was pulled from a drawer at the bottom of the wall of filing cabinets. I think it was the 'trouble' file. You see I have made some mistakes which I can list for you:
1) I had 3 days to report my visa from Bratislava to the Foreign Police in Karvina...didn't do it
2) I had to report my new address to the Foreign Police when I moved into my apartment...didn't do it
3) I needed at least one page in my passport for them to put the visa...didn't have it
4) I was supposed to have an existing address...the address that I insisted I lived at apparently didn't exist in their system
So when I walked into their doors and requested another visa to continue to live in Czech you can imagine that they looked at me and thought, "Shady Bidnez!" (my fav new phrase:)

But I got the visa! God opened the doors and allowed this wonderful Foreign Police woman to show me great grace in this entire process and I'm now legal for the next year!

My picture taken for the visa only proves how well I've assimilated into Czech culture, I knew right away that I couldn't smile and show any teeth and that my hair had to be pulled back to show my ears. It's a skill ladies and gentleman, a skill!

Things that make me miss Portland...

2009-09-07T11:38:00.000+02:00

#1: New Coffee Season at Starbucks...

#2 Nephew: Curt just makes me happy to see his face on my skype video.

#3: Fall in Portland

Can I get a Quack Quack?

2009-09-02T13:24:00.000+02:00

I just returned last night from Slovenia where we had the annual JV Kids Camp for all the missionary kiddos that live over here in 11 different countries. We came together for a week in the Southern Mountains of Slovenia right on the Croatian border for a week of singing, games and learning more about the Story of God! Here is a quick picture of my Ducks (the Jr. High girls).

I felt old when I showed them the ol'- cup-in-the-hair-trick that we used to do during camp when I was a kid. Which was kinda nice it was like I got credit for coming up with the hair'do of the century! :)

(L-R) Me-Czech, Kiley-Slovenia, Kelsey-Poland, Nina-Croatia, Becca-Slovenia and Emily-Slovakia

More stories to come...

Highlights from Romania Camp

2009-08-10T22:12:00.000+02:00

Romania is beautiful! Reminded me a lot of Oregon. We hiked into the mountains of Central Romania during camp and it was a perfect day, a little overcast and not raining.
It was a great time of talking with the campers and having a shared experience.

As you can see I've really perfected my skills in the highly intelligent game of "Viking." Let's just say that I was in the finals and I was killin it...as you can see!

My beautiful wonderful class! It was a bit different in Romania where some of the kids don't even know that it's an English camp so when they are put into classes and are expected to learn English for only 2 hours a day, they aren't stoked about it. The first day Cristi (brunette guy with the tan polo) was checking out his watch the whole time and I was so intimidated by him ruining the whole class. But at the end of the week I received a note from him saying that he loved the class and wasn't bored at all!! We had a lot of fun this week in class. Sebastian (young guy looking at camera in bottom picture) was 14 and had so much energy during class. He only wanted to play games and I made a deal with him that we could play games if he only spoke English in class. He lost that bet!

The Dream Team: Best Class Eva!

2009-07-28T09:58:00.000+02:00

This past week I hung out with 80 high school students at Malenovice for English camp. I was freaked out! The last time I was a camp counselor I was 18 with a lot more energy and less sleep required. Plus now I was teaching English and leading discussion group each night through a new meta narrative Story of God. Overwhelmed and feeling lost were just a few emotions. But I experienced such grace and care from God this past week. Leading me and giving me strength (to survive the beating that I was getting on the sports fields - man I have a ton of bruises!) throughout the week. More stories to come, but thought that I would introduce you to my sweet class. They had some great thoughts and ideas and I enjoyed getting to know the students from Cesky Tesin (my town).

Lucka and I are driving 17+ hours to Romania in two days to be English teachers at another camp down in Galati (5+ hours East of Bucerest). Please pray for safe driving, protection against corrupt cops and customs agents and another week of boldly proclaiming the love and redemption of God!

2009-07-09T22:16:00.000+02:00

I have felt like I have been struggling to stay above water. The good thing about thrashing around in the water struggling to stay alive is that you will eventually learn how to swim,

or die trying.

The Hallway from Hell!

2009-06-29T13:02:00.000+02:00

When I first moved into my apartment in March (4 months ago) literally, the first day I taped off all of the borders and started at the pink hallway.

Well today (4 months after I first taped a border) I'm still working on this blasted hallway!

It's been brown which was an awful brown and moved on to white, but I didn't know how to read the Czech label and picked something that looked a bit more like...hmm,well, it looked like breast milk. I think it was a primer. So for about 2.5 months I've had a pink base with a large brown blob on top and then the white primer on top of that. All the while with all of the doorways and borders with a nice yellow masking tape. I like to think that it's more of an abstract gallery for my guests! I'm finally wanting to end this fiasco. Between the wrong paint, the wall falling off as I paint and just frustration I've kept busy during my TV/movie fast the past week. It's literally been bit by bit - because I get frustrated and then just pack it all up.

But it will be done and will look like a show piece hallway when I'm done! (my fingers are crossed behind my back...as I type :)

2009-06-21T18:15:00.000+02:00

I am now on Day #4 of my 31-Day TV & Movies Fast. There have definitely moments where I want to just veg out and put on something. Even just for noise while I cook or clean. Which are all reasons why I just want to be quiet and cut out the distractions. I have just gotten around to reading books this morning. And after a quick chat with my Dad this morning I thought that it might be good to put my reading list out there so that I feel some sort of accountability to get it done. So here is my reading list for this month...

#1 The Sacred Romance by John Eldridge and Brent Curtis

#2 The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

#3 The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#4 Searching for God Knows What by Don Miller

Any other suggestions?

Cutting the Cord

2009-06-19T14:12:00.000+02:00

Years ago I was younger.

Simplicity was not an idealized commodity, but it was a daily lifestyle. I sought laughter, feeling the wind in my hair as I ran around with friends, finding the best climbing trees and making my older sister smile at me. Life was good, it was simple.

I am now older.

Right now that statement feels like it’s full of disappointment, failure, stress, burdens. My life is still good, but my mind – or maybe more to the point, my heart – is not appreciating the scenery. Taking for granted the moments of laughter, the smiles and hugs and being with great friends. Instead I feel like I sit, immobilized, watching a film of all of my great screw-ups and failures. I live under that weight. I know that there are fundamental faith issues with this state of mind...and yet I’m still here.

Ok enough of my diatribe. All to say that in some reflection today of what needs to change in my life to regain that joy. Joy that doesn’t come from flowers and sunny days but a joy that is birthed in the fact that my Heavenly Father desperately loves me and is proud of me and eventually to a place where I understand that it's not about me.

I was reminded of when I was a little girl (I’m thinking around like 5-8, somewhere in there) and we lived in a small little bungalow on Ainsworth street in Portland. Two summers in a row I remember my dad brandishing a pocket knife, and without any ceremony sliced through the power cables to our television set. Mom would shoo us outside to go and get some “fresh air” and we would only look back once before the adventures of our play would soon capture our attention for the next couple months.
We would build forts, pack suitcases and walk stoically towards a nearby hill and pretend we were the Von Trapp family singers and passionately belt out, “Climb Every Mountain,” make mud pies and play. Life was good.

I bring this example up of my youth because for the past months I have been feeling more and more convicted of my television habit. It’s not just a habit anymore, but it’s been a consuming force blocking everything else in my life. I can make excuses to shake away any responsibility, that I am a single person living in a foreign country and of course that I’m going to watch TV occasionally. However, I know myself and I know that it’s too much.

I have used it as a crutch, a shield, a friend and an escape.

Today I’m brandishing the proverbial Swiss army knife and I’m slicing the cords. I don’t want to be owned by anything but the God and father who has created and purposed me.

So today I start day one of a 31-day television/movie fast. I’m looking forward to reading, writing and enjoying more of life. And taking one step toward God, my creator, my father and what 'its' all about.

The Men of Our Vacation

2009-06-15T23:51:00.000+02:00

Mom and I were not wanting for male companionship while we were in Italy. Let me introduce you to some of the men that made our vacation fun!

#1 RICKY (aka Rick Steves)
He was always tucked away neatly into mom's purse or mine. We love to have a resident expert along to make suggestions. And his tips were brilliant!

#2 DAVE (Michelangelo's boy)the 'tid bits' were gently 'cut-out' of the photo. Gotta say, having this guy next to you all others would pale in comparison. Beauty and a healthy dose of confidence this guy is nearly perfect! After we purchased a puzzle of DAVE we were able to take him along with us for the rest of the trip.

#3 ITALIAN MEN (pay no attention to my drool line)
There was something about the swagger of Italian men. Plus the nice suits, great smiles and I, (smile) I was looking to relocate. Whew! After living in dating Siberia for the past year, there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of attractive men.

*I do have to apologize. I know that if my Dad were to read this he would give me a historical lecture that I remember from high school. After my sister Tiffany and I said that these guys in the mall were 'hot' my Dad lectured us, "Girls! Men are not a piece of meat. By you saying that they are hot, you are objectifying those guys so that they are are nothing but meat." I am kinda laughing at that memory! But in any case, Dad this was not a blog about objectifying men, it's just to share with my friends who we traveled with ;)

Guess who we "CRASHED" into in Prague?

2009-06-08T16:51:00.000+02:00

Terrance Howard, actor that was in Crash, Iron Man, August Rush...
I walked past him as we were coming back from our dinner on the water. He was just at this tiny little cafe with some friends. Mom wanted to go back and get a picture with him, I couldn't allow it. But I did allow her to take the camera when we were back up on the bridge to take a photo from up top. Crazy stuff -

2009-05-23T23:41:00.000+02:00

We went to Auschwitz and Birkenau today. The largest concentration camp during World War II, killing more than 1.1 million souls. There are no words sufficient for such a loss -

Mi Madre esta aqui!

2009-05-22T12:01:00.000+02:00

My mom flew into Krakow, Poland on Tuesday night! It's surreal to have my mom in my world over here in Czech. It's a blessing to have her eyes and heart in a place that I have tried to describe insufficiently for the past year. The first morning she was here she was not waking up and was dead to the world, but I insisted that she come with me to work, its like having a shiny new toy that you can't play with right away. But it's also helped her get over the jet lag quickly and get right into the schedule of over here. She has visited high schools, watched Holocaust videos with Czech students and met some of the amazing leaders for Poland, Slovakia and Czech!
Tomorrow we drive back to Krakow to visit Old Town and then Auschwitz Concentration Camp Memorial for the day. Then we leave by train on Sunday morning to travel into Prague, where she will experience her first hostel experience in a dorm room with 8 other travelers (I'm laughing just thinking about it!)
Then we are off to Italy

Getting my Groove On

2009-04-26T13:37:00.000+02:00

I am going back to school.
Professor "YouTube" has a thing or two to teach me about the fine "arts."

Lesson One: The Art of Flirting

This is groundbreaking new research! I have heard it said that in order to move on to the future you need to know where you came from (that may be a paraphrase.) Here's how I've done so far in my nearly 28 years...

You will need: Self Confidence and a positive attitude
Yeah that self confidence thing has always been a struggle, but I'm always positive that I do NOT want to be flirting with guys, makes me nauseous.

Step 1: Start with a smile
Smiling may seem like a pretty natural thing for me to do, I love to smile! And smiling comes very easily to me...normally
BUT, when I attempt to smile at the opposite sex to start the transaction of flirting, here is what happens - I give to you:
"SUPER excited to meet you"
"Trying to be cutesy by sticking my tongue between my teeth"

"I love the outdoors too!"
"Omigosh, your name is (insert name)! That's amazing! So is mine"

Step 2: Ask a Question that has more than a yes or no answer. Example: Where are we anyway?
First off, if I've arrived at a place and I have to ask a perfect stranger where I am, I should probably be heading home! And if any idiot prefers that line, than they are really only attracted to my winning smile, and in that case - they are idiots!

Step 3: Keep the conversation light, a light banter is preferred.
Noted. What is the conversation that would be in between People magazine gossip and the Economist editorials? I think I understand why people default to the weather! It is what it is.

Step 4: Fiddle a little, with your hair your jewelry your clothing.
I think my nervous, nauseous energy usually manifests this step into picking my face or hangnails, ooftah!

Step 5: Put a fun spin on whatever you say, people are attracted to a good sense of humor.
Does self deprecating humor count? Or maybe I should just add this line to end of all my sentences, "haha and that is another story of when I was in the circus."

TIP: Don't break eye contact...ever.
Do you ever have such deep eye contact that you can only look at one eye? And then you have to tell yourself to zoom out and look at their entire face and in those split seconds you are trying to remember how you just look at people's faces and not just the one single eye and then....ahhh, what did they just say? I've been looking at their one eye for the past minute. Crap! This isn't my most successful flirting skill.

Step 6: Lean in when the person talks, it makes them feel fascinating.
I don't think that guy felt fascinating when I bumped into his drink and it spilled into his lap. "hehe, (never leaving eye contact) another round?!"

Tip: see if his feet are pointed toward you, that will tell you if you are connecting.
LOL. Seriously, I didn't know it was that easy. Next time I'm at a restaurant, I will locate my next victim by the direction of their foot position. Stink! What if I'm seated at a bar? Noted, always go to places where round table seating is provided, I'm thinking it will increase my chances of feet in my direction.

Step 7: Touch them briefly to create chemistry
You have to understand my novice ranking in flirting when I ask this question, "Do guys think your flirting with them when you punch them repeatedly in the arm?" That counts for touch, yes?

and finally...

Step 8: When saying goodbye give a hug or a brief peck on the cheek to convey warmth and solidify your interest
This statement already has the presupposition that I want to convey interest. Inherently I run as far away as possible from guys that I'm interested in. (It's my 'chase-me' strategy. Working wonders for 28 years!)
But this step makes me nervous, guys make me nervous. You ever go in for a hug but your heads both go to the same side, so you do a cheek smash along with a hug and a lot of awkward chuckling sprinkled in?
Or the guy goes for a 'side-hug' (who invented those?) making you feel like a hussy for going for the full frontal hug. It would just be easier to grab his face and face him in the direction that you want to kiss his cheek or to direct his body to go in the opposite direction to avoid any unnecessary hugging moments.

That wouldn't be awkward would it?

Class Dismissed!

Most Creative Use of an Ice Cube Tray

2009-04-24T08:56:00.000+02:00

I was just reading Prevention, one of my favorite magazines, this morning and came across a great article that I'm definitely going to use from now on. Just thought I would pass it on to you...

Creative Projects

What is Your Most Creative Use for an Ice Cube Tray?

Lauree: THIS IS MY FAVORITE ONE THAT I'M GOING TO TRY TODAY!
"I Cube Coffee"
For a great-tasting iced drink, start with quality coffee beans and brew with twice as much as you'd normally use. Freeze the double-strength coffee in an ice cube tray. Add the cubes to a batch of cooled regular-strength coffee and you have a drink to impress your guests. --JoAnne Shaw, CEO, the Coffee Beanery

"I Store Fudge"
Freezing ice-cube-size portions of my homemade fudge sauce--made with the very best organic ingredients--lets me add a special touch to desserts, without too much guilt! You can also puree seasonal fruit like raspberries or strawberries to create a simple, no-sugar-added sauce. Thaw a cube whenever you want a drizzle of sweetness."--Bev Shaffer, author of Cookies to Die For!

"I Prepare Pesto"
When basil is abundant in my garden, I make pesto (without cheese), then line a tray with plastic wrap to prevent staining, fill it with the herb mixture, and freeze. The cubes add flavor to soups or pasta sauces."--Molasses, Prevention.com senior community host

"I Stock Up on Juice"
Got extra lemons or limes? Freeze their juice in the trays. A cube adds a touch of flavor to a glass of water. I throw a lemon juice cube into the blender when I'm making hummus--it chills the mixture and gives it a firmer texture."--Heather Ramsdell, food writer and stylist

"I Freeze Flavor Boosters"
Buy an extra tray and use it exclusively for leftover ingredients that bleed color or odors, such as tomato paste and canned chipotle chile peppers. The small portions are perfect when you need to add just a tablespoon or two of these flavorful ingredients to a sauce. You save money and cut down on waste by not opening a new can. I also fill the sections with diced bell pepper, onion, or garlic and a few drops of water so I can skip a prep step later." --Kati Neville, author of Fix, Freeze, Feast

"I Save Time on Smoothies"
I make smoothies when fruit is on sale or overripe. I usually end up blending more than I can drink at one sitting, so I freeze the extras in ice cube trays. The small frozen chunks are easy for the blender to puree, especially if you add a little fruit juice or water. It's a healthy, slushy treat that's ready in seconds." --Jaci Rae, author of 5 Meals for $5

"I Make My Own Sushi
"Lightly coat a plastic ice cube tray with toasted sesame oil, then tightly pack warm, seasoned sushi rice into the sections. Pop out the molded rice and cover each "cube" with some of your favorite toppings, such as sliced smoked salmon, cooked shrimp halves, or avocado slices sprinkled with sesame seeds. --Victoria Abbott Riccardi, author of Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

"I Preserve Purees"
When I'm making pumpkin muffins from a recipe that calls for less than a can of puree, I freeze the rest in an ice cube tray to use in other baked goods or desserts like pumpkin mousse. You can also puree fresh vegetables to make wholesome baby food. The trays allow you to freeze it in appropriate portions. --Renee Zonka, RD, associate dean, the School of Culinary Arts, Kendall College

"I Chill a Soup"
Make a batch of gazpacho or some other cold soup and freeze a portion of it in ice cube trays. Place a frozen gazpacho cube in a glass or bowl of the cold soup to keep it chilled on a hot day. Try this trick for Bloody Marys as well--it won't dilute the drink like regular ice cubes do. --Dave Kamen, professor in culinary arts, the Culinary Institute of America

"I Fill with Toppings"
Ice cube trays come in handy when "self-serve" foods are on your menu--especially with kids. Use trays to hold diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, and other toppings for a chili or taco bar. Or fill them with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and sprinkles for make-your-own sundaes. They also work well for serving veggie dips. --Susan Maddox, chef/owner, Le Titi de Paris, Arlington Heights, IL

I am just as human, just as sinful, just as capable...

2009-04-23T17:06:00.000+02:00

Recently I watched the movie "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and days later I'm still thinking about the ramifications of what happened in the film.
The film centers around a German family that moves out to the country because the father, a high ranking officer in the SS, is transferred to oversea the operation of a work camp for Jews. The rest of the family is naive to the reality of the camp and it's operations.
It's almost mindblowing to think that people didn't know what was going on at these concentration camps. Or that young children and sheltered adults could be brainwashed to believe that the Jewish people 'were not even humans.'

It takes me back a couple years when I was standing at Fort Amsterdam in Ghana, underneath the door that read, "The Point of No Return." The ocean beautiful, majestic, peaceful but almost a puddle in comparison to the vast history that I was experiencing in that moment.
I wept at the magnitude of evil that humanity is capable of . How could people do this? How could they see a human as a piece of property? Why would parents sell their children for some salt or butter? What is wrong with the world? How could parents tell their children that other people were evil or dogs because of their skin color or ethnicity? And at the end of the day...I am human and sinful, just like those monsters of our history and current events today. I am born into a nature that is inherently bad, capable of great goodness, but at the core I am sinful. The moment that I think I could never do that or be that, I am in a position of pride and ignorance.
Oh God, how your creation needs your saving grace. How we need the purity of your LOVE.

Bratislava: A great weekend spot!

2009-04-19T16:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I left Cesky Tesin super early and took a couple of trains to Bratislava, Slovakia to visit my friend Laura Troutman. Let me run down our activities (which as I note here are mostly gastronomic excursions!):

Walked around Old Town Square BratislavaWe had actual Burritos with black beans and big chunky creamy cheddar cheese from Taco Rey near the US embassy in Bratislava. Then we found a park bench and sat and talked for a couple hours, watching people and getting a little bit of sun! Amazing!

We walked to a mall in the afternoon and discovered a fabulous fashion show going on. Laura and I immediately and without any discussion went into American's Next Top Model mode and starting giving helpful critique to the models. Which i should mention were also 'slash-dancers.' Because, oh yeah, it was also a dance show, each little segment contained some nifty little choreography which spiced things up a bit. Fabulous!

Today after a great church service that I didn't understand a word, but good people, Laura and I walked into Old Town and had BAGELS!! We can't get bagels in Cesky Tesin, so this was huge! It was yummy and great people watching vantage points! Then we packed up and went to the gardens across the street from Laura's flat which happens to be the presidential palace, gorgeous grounds, gorgeous day, gorgeous friend. I swear sunshine is like a natural Prozac for me, sheesh!

Ode to the Popsicle

2009-04-16T10:29:00.000+02:00

Years ago, while I was but a mere cherub I remember my mom creating the most scrumptious summery treats in a plastic cup. Granted it was a plastic Tupperware cup with an old recycled "legit" Popsicle stick stuck in the bottom. Voila! Homemade Popsicle!

Well during my recent IKEA trip on Monday I discovered a much more chic version of the old DIY Popsicle.

For the past week, I have been making frozen yogurt pops. I just fill up each Popsicle with my latest and greatest flavor of yogurt and freeze away. At night I have a healthy and delish substitute to the ice cream shop. A couple of bucks on the set and I get a whole summer of fun*!

*All embellishments were not intended to manipulate or lie, only to make the story sound better!

A Charming Czech Tradition (from the Twilight Zone)

2009-04-13T19:53:00.000+02:00

On Easter Monday people get up early. The boys and men set off on a whipping trip through the village.
Boys stop at people’s homes and whip the legs of every girl and woman who live in the house. As if the whipping is not enough, a popular custom is also to grab the girl and throw her in a bath of cold water, known as an "Easter dousing".

Once all the whipping and dousing is over, the girl, strangely enough, rewards the boy with one of her painted eggs. She then ties a ribbon around his whip and he moves on to the next house.

As the boys progress through the village, their bags fill with eggs and the whips become more and more colourful, with many bright ribbons.

AUTHORS NOTE: This isn't just a tradition that I "heard" about from years past. ON the road today I saw men young and old with a firm grasp on their whipping stick marching along the road and up to doors to physically whip women. And I heard that a friend was placed in a bathtub from her brothers friends that were let into her home while she slept and placed her in the tub to splash super cold water on her....what the heck?! I'm totally dumbstruck. And then I'm supposed to reward the men for their uncouth behavior? I just dare them...they will have another thing comin to them, I guarantee! I'm not gonna bend on cultural custom on this one...but I will thank the culture for the Easter Monday holiday, because I got to stay home and enjoy the sunshine today! Love it-

Traveling Mercies

2009-04-10T08:16:00.000+02:00

Here are some of the pros and cons of traveling 30+ hours from Portland Oregon to Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic.10 hour flight from Portland to Amsterdam
PRO: it was virtually empty, so everyone got their own row of 4 seats to stretch out in with 4 blankets - never been on a flight like that before!
CON: the blankets were new and when I got up to get off the plane I quickly discovered that I was covered in a navy blue fur. The lady behind me offered her help and we started licking our hands and lint brushing me to ball up the fur. It followed me through the airport for hours. I found some danglers on the back of my legs in Czech!

Maximum Baggage Allowance of 2 bags at 50lbs each
PRO: I got to pack in as many American treats as possible and ended up getting away with a bag at 58lbs and 52lbs! Thanks Northwest Airlines :)
CON: I got into Prague and had to physically carry all of my bags (the two bags plus my Mary Poppins size purse and a 50lb carry-on) from the bottom of the hill up to and through the main Prague train station. This was all a great plan on paper but when I took my first step out into the road to cross the street my shoulder strap on the 58lb bag broke and the bag came crashing to the ground in the middle of traffic. Had to leave the bag, get my other things to the side of the road and then go back for the bag. All the while walking sideways as not to take my eyes off my purse that was now out of my reach on the side of the road. Had to carry the bags up three flights of stairs one at a time, while walking sideways to make sure that no one stole the bags from the top or bottom of the flight of stairs in the process. And then when they finally announced the platform to catch my train I hauled all of the bags again and as soon as I got to the top of the escalator (thankfully there was an escalator) they reassigned the platform and I had to go back down (sans an escalator or elevator) and go back up again.
PRO: a kind man helped me with one of my bags (notably the smallest one, c'mon man seriously!) and I was super thankful for his help. I really was.

Taxi Ride from Prague Airport to Train Station:
Pro: didn't have to find the shuttle and carry all my bags there by myself, just had the cabbie load my bags and drive...
Con: I think (but can't verify) that my cabbie was taking me for a ride (not literally but figuratively). Knowing that I was an American and thinking I was probably new to the city I think that he took me the longest way possible, and looped through Prague city center and the castle on our way to the train station. Stinkin jerk! That was a lot of money to pay for the extra loop
Pro: but it was a beautiful loop and I got to see the St. Charles bridge in the beautiful sunlight and the castle and happy tourists with tank tops, ah, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

I was met at the train station in Ostrava by my beautiful friend Katka who helped me haul the bags up more flights of stairs since the elevator was broken and then up to my apartment. I came home to fresh flowers on my table from Hayley, which are beautiful, thanks Hay! And it was really good to be home, yep I said it, home!I'm back in Cesky Tesin (above), it was a long trip but well worth it because I arrived back to SPRING!!! It's sunny and warm and kids are playing outside in the fountain in the square and below my kitchen window and its wonderful!

You're Invited: Coffee Talk with Lauree Austin

2009-03-23T09:03:00.001+01:00

WHAT: I have been living and working in Eastern Europe for one year! Thank you for your support, financial sacrifices, prayers, emails to me along the way!

My work helps support missionaries in churches in eleven different countries. I have been working to produce the 11 city Campaign Tour this past fall, as well as other video projects. I have the pleasure of working with passionate men and women who bring the Gospel to youth in the most atheistic nations on earth. I am excited to share with you what God is doing throughout the ministry.

I will only be in Portland for a week so I want to make sure to see you while I'm there.
My friend Angela is hosting us at her cafe, best latte in Portland in my well qualified opinion! Yummy desserts provided and gourmet coffee treats only $1, will you join me?

WHEN: Friday, April 3rd 7:00pm
WHERE: Manhattan Cafe - 3725 NW Broadway Portland 97212
CONTACT: Lauree Austin laustin@josiahventure.com

In Memory: Rebekah Kay Vance Sauter

2009-03-16T13:44:00.000+01:00

Rebekah Kay Vance Sauter - December 31 - March 17, 2008

One year ago I woke up to hear my mom screaming upstairs. I was alarmed and immediately filled with adrenaline. I raced upstairs to collapse at my parents feet while my mom was talking on the phone with her sister Lauree. My 26 year old cousin Rebekah had died in her sleep. The next hours...days seem kind of blurry. I remember desperately wanting tasks to do, to be helpful in some way. To make it easier for my family.
It seemed like we jumped right into grieving, or maybe it was a forced grieving. Even during that first day, sitting around and sharing stories of Rebekah and trying to laugh and eulogize her life. I look back at that and know that me and my sisters and maybe those around us didn't quite know what to do.I miss Rebekah. There aren't too many childhood memories that I have without Bekah in them. Playing dress up, making cookies, being jealous of her clothes and only daughter status. I miss her a lot. I miss the thought of her. I have spent the past year adjusting to life here in Czech and every time I think about Rebekah and am tempted to cry, I shut myself down. I can't afford to be weepy and I'm not sure if it will make me feel better. Rebekah is gone and my tears don't change that. But I also want to be in a place with my sisters and mom and aunt where we all understand the loss that we have suffered and crying with them would mean something.
I'm not sure what to feel today. It seems like yesterday I walked into Bekah's house in the middle of the night with the Medical Examiner and police and her body upstairs while we played with her kids downstairs in a trance.
Last week at women's conference in the middle of worship I felt that God was really asking me to worship him because of Rebekah's death. That might not make sense to you. I admit to not understanding it completely myself. But I need to believe that God is still good, still in control. Not becuase I need a crutch to make sense of it all, but because I know that God is real and true.
Rebekah is in heaven of that I am sure. She knew Jesus Christ as her Savior, recognized her sin and was made whole by his sacrifice. I know that I will see her in heaven one day and that God hasn't left us remaining on earth without purpose.To my cousin, friend and sister Rebekah. I cherish our memories and am thankful for the years we lived together. Until we meet again...

Some New Changes to the Apartment

2009-03-08T19:14:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures of the changes that I've made so far...More to come...

Calling all my creative "Martha" friends! Need help!

2009-02-26T22:05:00.000+01:00

Okay ladies (and gentlemen- if you read this blog and so desire)

I am beyond excited at this new step in life. My very own apartment. It's a blank canvas that
beckons me to create and express. But right now I'm having a hard time committing in paint color. I have an entry/bathroom hallway, a bedroom and a living room that I want to paint. (pictures provided in post below). I am thinking about painting the bedroom a dark charcoal gray (example below) and with all of my black and white frames my bright African paintings would totally pop on that. But I'm afraid that the concept is great but a gray room, in this gray world that I'm living in over here might be over the top.
So I'm waiting to be inspired by your ideas and thoughts. Send me pictures of your favorite room or design idea or even something that you've been wanting to do but haven't gotten around to it, I'll steal it and show you what it would look like in person! Or just take a look at the pictures of my apartment below and give me some suggestions!
Can't wait to hear from you!

I'm Swooning...kinda

2009-02-26T21:52:00.000+01:00

So if you know me you know that I grew up watching Anne of Green Gables. And a year ago I came across the box set at Costco (note to self walk through every aisle of Costco when I'm back in the states!). I have kinda started my own tradition of watching parts at a time when I have an hour. I love it. I love everything about it. I can't explain it, it transports me, it calms me, it makes me happy!
Well yesterday I came across the theme song on itunes. I think that I've played it so many times on repeat that it's now one of the my top played, it's just that good!
On iTunes it's called Anne's Theme by Hagood Hardy. Enjoy!

My New Apartment!

2009-02-23T18:32:00.000+01:00

So in the last week I came to the conclusion that I need to find my own apartment and after talking it through with Mel and Amy we just said that we would start praying for what the Lord provides. But after a week of looking at rental sites there wasn't anything that I was looking for in my price range and in the area that would work for me without a car....until last night.

Some friends of Mel and Amy's were over and he happened to mention that he had a flat for rent! Unbelievable! Mel and I went over to the apartment today and it's PERFECT location right next to the town square, within walking distance of grocery stores, train stations, gyms! It's a total answer to prayer. Here are some pictures of the apartment - I make a final decision tomorrow morning but I think that I already feel that this is the right move and that this is provided from God.Huge living room, with hardwood floors, and new windows. The windows look down at the pedestrian road that leads to the square.

Kitchen - parque floors, looks good - the cabinets are ok, not great, but they are not the communist metal ones that are popular over here.
Kitchen - the windows from the kitchen look out over the courtyard behind the apartments, there are some nice trees out there and it's not loud with traffic sounds.
Bedroom - yes the apartment comes with the piano! cool eh?
and the bathroom. The tile is BAALLUUEE, but it's clean and will do! I just have to make sure to put on my make up in a mirror somewhere else in the house so that I don't have weird lines and spots from the blue hued bathroom!

So I am really thankful for this perfect location and perfect budget place. I'm praising God for his provision - hard to believe that he really cares about these details! I think I am moving next weekend!

Standing before Everest...makes me want to cry

2009-02-19T15:32:00.001+01:00

Today, February 19th was my first official Czech language lesson. When I get the courage in a couple months maybe I will post a video of me saying, "Hello, how are you?" but for right now I will say that I'm overwhelmed. Yes I'm overwhelmed with making the right sounds for the vowels without my Spanish affecting me, and not having an "ha" sound before I roll my 'r's but most of all - I'm feeling overwhelmed with learning it all. I can barely say thank you and goodby without having to think about the pronunciation. It's like standing before Everest and thinking how the heck am I ever going to get to the top. Instead of taking a one step and then another. I want to pack it in and go back to the cabin. At least there is a fire and its comfortable and I can have relationships via video skype, not living breathing people:)

Guess who is my teacher? Katka!! It's gonna be a challenge for both of us because I have never learned Czech and she has never taught an adult Czech, so maybe we can help each other!

Oh Snow! Oh (Insert expletive here)!

2009-02-19T14:59:00.000+01:00

I have to laugh when I posted about a month ago that Spring was a comin. How naive I was! It has been snowing non-stop for the past month. This is new for me. I know that I am from the NW but I am not used 'living' in the snow.

The JV office in Frydlant nad Ostravici

When it snows in Portland it stops life as we know it for that special week of snow. Then it's gone...it doesn't happen the same way over here. I'm trying not to be Debby Downer with the whole 'snow' situation so here I am getting my fill of the cold wet stuff. Katka and I had to measure the snow level from the past couple days. Unbelievable. Does anyone have a sun drenched beach and mojito in their pocket they can send me?

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

2009-02-12T16:31:00.000+01:00

One year ago today I got on a plane in Portland, Oregon to Krakow, Poland. I had no idea what was ahead of me. All I knew was that I was going to interview for a job position with Josiah Venture's capital campaign and to meet the leaders.

That was 365 days ago. I'm sitting here crying feeling absolutely overwhelmed by all that has happened this year.

I flew home from Czech with not only a job offer but an absolute call from God to take this leap with Him. I gathered important women in my life to consult and share this news in my kitchen in Boring, Oregon. I didn't know it but that was the last time that I was going to see my cousin Rebekah Vance Sauter. She died two weeks later on March 17th...there really are not words to put here. I miss her so much, it hurts deeply.

For the next month my families life was totally upside down. Grieving, preparing, shocked. This was the time that God had determined would be my window to prepare and say goodbye.

I moved over to Czech on April 23. I didn't really have time to catch my breath because three days later I was directing a video shoot at the JV annual spring conference.

I spent the entire month of July on the roadtrip of my life. I was nudged into a new role of videographer and interviewer. I had to learn as I went but we weaved our way through camps, towns, cities and homes meeting and interviewing tons of youth. Phenomenal!

After a month on the road with a lot of miles (scratch that, kilometers) under me, I had two days back in Czech before I flew back to the states for another roadtrip. I did all the prep work for the Campaign tour in the fall. Another month on the road flying from one city to the next. It was great to get to spend time with old and new friends in each city.
I was back in Czech for 6 weeks before the campaign tour. We had a huge sign in our office which listed all of the things that had to happen in that period. We called it the 6 Week Miracle. And God answered each of those items, providing, strengthening, answering...blessing.
We left for the states not knowing quite what to expect but excited to execute what we had all worked so hard for.

Those were some of the hardest and draining days of my life. I was working hard. I was working in my flesh. I look back, not at the events, but at me and my heart during that time. I know that I needed to have done things differently. I'm learning from that time.

And I'm back here in Cesky Tesin. [sigh]

It's been this weird dynamic that I've had since I've been home. I don't have a big trip, big tour or big plans in the future. It's just a long stretch of life to live. And I want to do it well.
I feel like I'm living in this gifted time. By gifted I don't feel like my life is wrapped up in this perfect bow and everything is peachy. But I feel like it's space set aside for me. I have some major obstacles in my heart. I could continue to live out this life and you would probably never know the difference. But I know. and God knows.
And this is our time. It's been a long journey to get to this point and it hurts to be here.

Honestly - I wish that I could be home with my family. I wish that I could grieve the loss of Bekah with my sisters and aunt and people that knew and loved her. I wish that I had a 24 hour fitness down the road so that I could get a good workout in and watch The Office at the same time. I wish that I had a car to drive to my friends house or to work. I wish that I had more sunshine. I wish that I could sit on the couch with my sister and have her so close to me that I could smell her smell and listen to her heart. I wish that I could throw my little Boo around the house and be goofy with him and know all of his different laughs or crys. I wish I could be there for my dad when he went into back surgery. To help my mom take care of him.
Agh! So many things that would be good, be easy, be sweet and comfortable.

Even after saying all of that, I wouldn't trade where I am right now. It's hard, but it's right and in that I am at peace. Please pray with me for this time. that I would use it well - that I would continue to open myself to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He saves, he restores broken treasures, he wins battles and he rejoices when we overcome! In that I am fulfilled.

Ласкаво просимо в Україну "Welcome to Ukraine"

2009-02-09T10:54:00.000+01:00

Львів, Україна - A couple weeks ago I had the awesome opportunity to travel to Lviv, Ukraine for the JV Winter Council meetings. There were so many highlights for me that I will share briefly (kinda) below. It was a rad adventure that I hope to experience again someday soon.

Highlight #1: Time with Brittney Boatman. Brittney and I moved over here to Eastern Europe within 5 days of each other way back in April of '08. So a lot of the "settling in" culture things are the same for both of us. Brittney is a southern girl with plenty of sass from Arkansas. She gave up her bed for a week for me, no greater gift! We had a couple of great afternoons getting to know each other over a cappuccino and a great dinner. I was totally blessed and encouraged by our time.
We both have realized and appreciated the difficulties of transporting our lives into another world. We understand that this time of our lives is an opportunity for spiritual growth and maturity, for our own personal discipline development in our alone-ness moments and to ultimately seek comfort and security from our God who is all that we need and more.

Highlight #2: Customs Limbo and Lockdown

Interesting fact, when you travel from any country that borders the Eastern Bloc countries or Ukraine you have to change the wheels on the trains. This was a security measure taken by the Soviet Empire to protect themselves from attack from the other countries. So at the border of Poland and Ukraine we had to wait for about 3 hours while they jacked up the train and changed the wheels so that we could travel from one country to the next. Well, on the way back from Ukraine we had been up early and were all sleeping in our compartment. Mike Sullivan (I will call him out on this!) suggested that we go get a cup of coffee and watch the changing of the wheels. Susan and I put on our coats and winter gear and left our warm compartment for the promise of a cup of coffee. As we stepped off the train our wagon drove away and down the tracks out of sight. Susan and I hesitated as we watched all of our stuff disappear but continued to walk away from the departing train to the exit. Once we got up to the exit we quickly realized that we were going through customs. "Aw crap!" I said internally. I didn't have my passport on me. It was in the warm train compartment that was somewhere in the distance. Susan was in the same boat. We were without passports and couldn't exit the train station because technically we were still in Ukraine territory. So we went back out to the train platform to find our train but were met by friendly and heavily armed border guards which told us that we couldn't go back down on the train platform. I don't know if you are keeping track of our movement up until this point, but we were unable to go in and unable to go out...limbo!I tried my best and well practiced, "ha, ha this is great fun in a wild adventure sort of way" smile. The guards just thought I was amusing. Fortunately, Susan had a better skill at our disposal...she speaks Polish! yeah for language learning - I will get there soon. Not that Czech would help me in this situation.
She persuaded them to allow us to go out into the train yard to find our train. We trekked through the snow in the yard and found our train, jacked up and in the process of changing the wheels. We finally got to see our show! It was pretty cool -

But as you can see by the ladder about 3 feet pulled back from the train there was no way for us to get on the train in this process. So our friend Dan threw our passports out the window so that we could released from our early morning limbo hell!
Finally, we got through customs and I had to use the ladies room badly. I found the mensroom door and then the womens was a bit removed and behind a gate screen door. I went in did my thing and that's when the fun started.
I came out and saw Susan and Mike staring and laughing at the same time (not impossible). Kookie, came to mind when I saw them but I would worry about it after that blessed cup of coffee. As soon as I pulled on that gated screen door all of the laughter and staring made sense. I had been locked in this hallway by some random guy. Before Susan and Mike could do anything about it or realized what was going on he was already back into a another room. Are you flipping kidding me? I'm locked in this hallway? I pulled on the gate like some bad prison thriller (with the hot just-woke-up-from-a-Ukrainian-train-nightmare girl starring in it!) I had to admit I did start laughing - this morning was just getting crazier by the non-caffeinated moment.I walked up and down the hallway knocking on office doors hoping to find someone, anyone that would understand me when I was about to do a charades of, "I went to the toilet and am locked inside this hallway, can you unlock the door?"
Finally a man was trying to get into the hallway and a female guard appeared - literally- with keys. Relief! She opened the gate let the guy inside... and proceeded to close the gate - what the heck! Whoa! I'm here! Let me out! For a second she didn't believe me and was looking me up and down for a few moments (I was holding off doing a charades of "Are you kidding me? I just went to use the toilet. Maybe next time don't lock the women's restroom behind the gate!") before she acquiesced and let me through the gate.
After all this time, the latte that I got at the end of this journey was well worth the soaking foot drenched in a snow puddle on the walk there!

Highlight #3: Council Meetings

As I had breakfast the first day with country directors from Serbia, Romania, Estonia, Slovenia and stateside I was kind of in awe of my job opportunity. These men are amazing guys that love God and love people well! They have vision, they have great capacity for ministry and are thinking of new ways to stay relevant to the culture but ultimately true to the gospel.

I updated the council on the 2x3 Campaign, thank you for your prayers and encouragement while I was prepping. Up to the last second I was prepping and printing out material but I got it all done and I hope that the information I provided answered all of their questions.

Zac Shepperson, Slovakia; Mart Saar, Estonia: Dave Patty, JV President

The awesome conference room at the Hotel George downtown Lviv. Love the Asian chic interior!

Greg Carlson, Polish Country Director. Celebrated his birthday goat's head, Greg's got a super sensitive sniffer and was about to puke, seriously.

Highlight #4: Exploring Lviv

It was a cool city with lots of character. The slushy snow was beyond annoying and didn't necessarily add to the charm of the place but definitely set a mood for my first time in Lviv.

Can you guess what popular American company this sign is for?

Answer: McDonald's (that's how difficult the Cyrillic language would be to learn. You don't know if you are coming or going with the symbols. Mad props to Brittney for tackling this hard language!)
Weird little statues were hidden throughout Lviv. Don't know the story behind it - just quirky.
This is the stove that burns chunks of coal to heat our train compartment on our trip to Ukraine. Train Station in Lviv. This was the first night that we arrived. It was a great site to see, really beautiful and a great way to welcome me to this new place!The Ukraine team welcoming us to Ukraine after a 12 hour train trip. As you can see I brought my camera equipment and I had a chance to interview some of the Ukrainian national missionaries and get some shots of Lviv.

Overall, a wonderful trip.

A little bit of gossip

2009-02-02T15:35:00.000+01:00

I've been getting tons of tags on this from the facebook side of life so I decided to post this on the blog for posterity and fun! Here are the 25 random things about me...

1. I think that tattoos are mad sexy, the whole vibe works for me. I just have never had the nerve to commit to one for all eternity. But maybe someday soon...hmmm?!

2. I have two middle names, the second one is Dibble. "Dibbles'n'Bits" used to be a high school nickname.

3. I love the faint smell of cigarette smoke on a sunny day with fresh cut grass and dirt. Reminds me of years growing up playing softball all summer and there would be one parent that would be smoking in the distance, weird I know. But if you love the smell of gas stations...you can't talk.

4. I used to be a radio DJ in Northern Ireland for one month, every Saturday night. (If you are keeping track that would be 4 times, I was a DJ in N. Ireland 4 times. Exciting I know!)

5. I think the South African accent is super sexy, Australian and British take a close second. Although Spanish can be nice too...I guess anyone with an accent step right up, anyone from Fargo, North Dakota or Hicksville, USA need not apply.

6. I'm an adrenaline junkie and like to be near the action. I have Skydived, Bungee Jumped, White Water rafted and am up for the next challenge.

Skydiving in Perris Valley, CA 2004

7. I think that Disneyland is still a magical place to go and have been 20+ times.

8. I have seen my sin and it's hard to look at and deal with.
9. I am loved by my God who is forgiveness, grace, mercy, strength, faithfulness and love.

10. I have never had a boyfriend (unless you count my 5th grade steady - which I don't)

11.

My sisters, Tiffany, Nicole and Anna have shared their lives with me and I am thankful for

My mom and sisters in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

the blessing of their friendship and love. My sisters and my mom, Jana, are the most important women in my life.

12. I LOVE showtunes. Top favs: Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Wicked, In the Heights and all the old classics Music Man, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, ah! such great happy music!

13. I have toured the US twice. Once with Tony Hawk and the Boom Boom Huck Jam and the second time with So You Think You Can Dance. I have been to every state except: Hawaii, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Louisiana.

14. I have had to dig a hole in the dirt to bury my passport in Zimbabwe because people would kill you for an American passport, for what it was worth on the black market.

15. I have had my nose pierced three times - count em! 3 (Three) times - and I no longer have my nose pierced.

16. I once got stuck in a cave deep underneath Mt. Adams in Washington State for over an hour. My pants got stuck on the volcanic rock and I panicked and couldn't help myself. The guys told me to take my pants off so that I could slide out but I was too shy. I ended up ripping the entire back out of my pants when they pulled me free, oh well. I would rather be alive and seeing daylight with my butt out then die in a hole with my pants on.

17. The week after 9/11 I impulsively wanted to respond and help. I spent many long hours looking at going to grad schools in DC so that I could be in places of government that could influence our security measures.

18. My freshman year of college I was ranked the 4th Top Novice Speaker at the National Parliamentary Debate nationals in Nebraska, kinda cool.

19. I think I'm much more of a Martha, instead of a Mary. In fact some obnoxious guy told me once, "Stop being a Martha." Punk! The kitchen isn't going to clean itself!

20. I once did a solo hunger strike to raise money for The Bible League and didn't eat for 16 days straight.

21. I preached a sermon in Zimbabwe once from the book of Hosea and the congregation started filing forward for a spontaneous alter call. For a 20 year old white girl from Boring, Oregon from a conservative Baptist church this was a bit new for me.

22. I have sat in front of a woman in Honduras with her three children and her day old baby and she looked at me and told me that she had no food and no breast milk to feed her children. Her children were days away from dying of malnutrition. I gave her the food that I had in my bag but I left her hut that day not knowing if the help that she needed would come in enough time to save her kids. I have thought about her from time to time and hoped that she is alive today.

23. I haven't seen my natural hair color in over 11 years.

24. I have serious insecurities about always being the taller bigger girl growing up.

25. Of all my travels, adventures, exciting challenges my greatest peace has been found and experienced when I have humbled myself before my Creator and God and realized I am absolutely useless and empty without Him. He is the only one that brings ultimate peace and fulfillment, not always 'easy' and 'happy' but fulfilled and purposeful life.

Another run in with the Czech Police...

2009-01-24T17:22:00.000+01:00

Funny story, here's how it goes...
I was packing for my trip to Ukraine today and wanted to borrow a book from Nate. I started to drive into Cesky Tesin and quickly became lost down the one way streets and similar looking grey buildings. I was going down the main road and was blocked from turning down a side street by street signs that say no right turn. Well I just kept going straight..and noticed that I was about to cross the border into Poland. I started to slow down and saw a small turn off up ahead. I reached that point and finally saw that there was a security gate across my escape route!I saw that there was a car ahead of me going in the same direction it was stopped before the border and there were two policeman talking with the driver. I was creeping (emphasis on really slow driving!) down the road giving my best face that was supposed to read: "I'm lost and disoriented and don't want to cross the border" to the policeman. I don't think he spoke my face language. He waved me toward him and approached my window. He rolled his eyes when I asked if he happened to speak English.

*NOTE* Once this point in the conversation is clear that neither party speaks the language of the other the hand language becomes the dominant language. My praying hands clenched together to my bosom is the international sign for, "I'm so sorry. Sorry for whatever crime I have been guilty of (insert here) I am but a mere pedestrian in this big foreign land and would be so humbled if you could help me."

The officer motioned for me to get out of the car. I didn't know if this was to be frisked but quickly realized that if that was his intent he wanted to lead me down the street, parading in front of all the pedestrians. When he kept walking away from the car, I had to run back to the car (but first I made sure to say -with my hands- "Sir, I am going to run back to the car that I left running in the middle of the road on the way to Poland, and turn the car off and remove the keys. Is that okay?") and then I ran back to the officer. He marched me up to the first street sign which was the sign for DO NOT ENTER. I must have missed that when I was following the same officer as he waved me toward himself...hmm, odd. I just shrugged my shoulders and said (this time with my mouth) "Yeah I guess I wasn't supposed to go that way, huh?!"

We continued to walk, by this time catching the attention of all the shoppers and people looking out their apartment windows at me - I took the opportunity to wave hello, you have to always be alert to whatever 'missionary moment' may come along. He pointed me to sign #2, this one was not internationally known to me, it was a white circle with a red border and a sign in Czech that said, blah blah blah to me. Hmm? Back to the hand language, this time I threw them up in the air, and I said, "I know! This is where I wanted to turn around but then I saw you." He didn't hear me becuase he was searching through his POLICE PHRASES IN 101 LANGUAGES book *Note* must buy that book to help me learn Czech. He pointed out a phrase which read, "Motor Vehicles Prohibited." Gotcha - aha, this guy was not the nice policeman who was helping the damsel in distress, he was the manipulative policeman that needed a new pair of shoes. I wasn't surprised when he next pointed to the phrase "1000 kc fine" which is about $50! What? I was a bit hurt. I just wanted help, not a ticket - not cool dude!

I don't know if you know my history but I have had amazing luck at talking my way out of 7 tickets across Eastern Europe so far, and it was a moment of pride that I didn't want to accept this fate, plus there were way too many ways that I could make a case for myself in my defense, unfortunately, I haven't reached that level of Czech yet and I only had the hands...clenched together...to my bosom...and then I realized that I should call Nate. Maybe he could explain to this fine civil servant that it was an innocent mistake.

Nate got on the phone smoothed things over and all of sudden I now had a police escort to Nate's apartment. When we arrived they directed me to park in the Handicap space in front of the apartment and then parked their car next to mine and got out..wait a minute I thought that I was safe.
"Am I still in trouble?" Scratching their heads. "Am I a problem?" Chuckling at the American girl. "Am I BAD?! BAD? (mean face to help communicate the word)" I just kept smiling and laughing with them. But they still wouldn't leave. Nate came down and gave me the book. They started talking with him and wanted to know why an American girl was driving a Czech plated car and down the wrong way. And then they left. That's the end - it was a little adventure in the middle of the day with the nice policeman. Bottom line: I still have 1000 kc in my pocket and a nice story to tell! :)

putting a frame to it

2009-01-23T12:19:00.000+01:00

When I first moved over here last April I brought three of my favorite pictures that I have had for years. Two of them I had to remove from frames to fit them in my luggage. They have been tucked behind my dresser for the past nine months, until yesterday. I ventured to IKEA and purchased two frames for my pictures. The glass broke in one of them on the way home - bummer! But the one looks nice and makes me feel one step closer to 'home' here in Czech. Even though these are African photos and prints and I thought that Africa was going to be my home, it still holds a deep place in my heart and life. I'm excited to have these around the apartment!

Spring is a creeping in!

2009-01-21T13:47:00.000+01:00

In the time of two days I can now see the ground! The snow has melted and I can see the grass. I can't tell you how awesome this is for me! I've learned that my first winter living in the snow hasn't endeared to this type of permanent living. I'm much more of a summer day in Portland type of gal. Here are some shots of the grass from my office window here in Frydlant. Sky is still grey but that will change soon. Fingers crossed for no more snow until next winter!

Also if you would be praying for me. I'm leaving for Ukraine on Sunday for the JV council meeting and I'm very excited to venture into the mysterious world of Ukraine, but also wanting it to be a smooth border crossing and a safe time walking around with the filming equipment!
Thanks.

A Day of Filming in Czech

2009-01-16T10:59:00.000+01:00

Daniela Rajcova and I spent Wednesday and Thursday filming for a PR video for the EXIT 316 TV show that Josiah Venture produces here in Czech. It was a Loooong day!
We left the house at 4:20am to catch a train into Prague. Cool thing: we got to ride the new and snazzy Pendolino train, which is a super nice, quiet and does-not-smell-like-urine train (most trains don't but we also had that pleasure later on that day!) We got into Prague early enough to have a cup of coffee at Starbucks in Prague (that makes it all worth it!)

Also sidenote: on the way to our first interview I found a health food store in Prague and was able to buy some Agave syrup, which is a great natural sugar that has really low calories, can't find it near Cesky Tesin. Love big cities, so many options!Interviewing Josef in Prague. It was -10 degrees celcius and I had 5 layers on but was still frozen for hours after walking around Prague all morning.

Anyway, we started the day interviewing the head of the Breathen Denomination for Czech, super nice guy with lots of great books in his library. I interviewed students, pastors, directors of European churches, wonderful men who love God and are passionate about their ministries. It was a great glimpse into the world of the Czech church. Meeting each of these men was really a blessing for me. I don't say that lightly either. Recently I have felt disconnected and trying to connect to Czech and the church here. It's hard because my ministry is behind the scenes helping everyone else with more resources to do their jobs better and I feel out of the loop. So to meet each one of these guys was real encouraging for me because each one of them I wanted to stay and talk longer. I would want to go to each of their churches and sit under their teaching.
The first day of filming was super long, super cold, and grey. We traveled all over the Czech Republic in one day and at the end of the day we got on a train in Olomouc to get back to Cesky Tesin. We had to take 3 trains home and the last train killed me. We were only 4 stops away from Cesky Tesin and the train was not moving out of station. We waited and waited and finally the announcement came on that there was a train fire at the next station and we couldn't move until they cleared it up. I was so cold, tired and well, yeah mostly those two things that I wanted to cry.
We finally got home at midnight and all was well when I was able to crawl into bed and get warm. Then we hit it again the next day...

It's happened - the shock of culture.

2009-01-13T13:36:00.000+01:00

Of all the updates I have tentatively written in my head this is the one that I'm reaching out to my friends and family and expressing in actual written form.
The shock of living in a different culture and feeling like a complete outsider has really settled in. Last weekend I spent the entire time in my apartment. I told myself it was relaxing and restful for me. But after thinking about it more I realized that it was a serving a deeper purpose of avoiding the need to ask anybody for help. I didn't need anyone translating for me, or driving me, or taking time out of their life.
There probably is some obvious piece to this cycle that I am missing because I can't seem to solve it. I love serving others, I love taking care, being host, being needed for someone else. But I am quick to stop other people from doing the same for me. I feel like a burden, annoyance, anchor. There is fear in this for me and I am quick to hold everything tight to my chest. How do I move beyond this? How do I trust the hospitality around me? How do I adjust to having my 'life' here?
I don't want to feel like I'm putting my life on hold to be here, I want to live in the calling that God has placed on me to be part of this campaign, but I can't live my life in the independent way that I am used to. It makes me anxious, angry or defeated at points.
Please pray that God would open up relationships, bridges for me to this community. That he would increase my heart for Czech beyond the campaign.
That in my strength/independence he would give me a softness to receive with gratitude and joy.

Also if you could be praying for me in regards to my church community. I was asked to share my testimony during the service at the church in Karvina. Hannah was kind enough to translate for me.

It has been extremely hard to feel at home in a church community. The people here in Czech are extremely gracious and hospitable but the obstacles of language, proximity and time spent together create a distance that I haven't yet overcome.

Thank you for your friendship and prayers!
Lauree

Mighty to Save Video

2008-12-17T10:33:00.000+01:00

Here is the video that I was talking about in the previous post. This was the biggest blessing of the entire tour.

Mighty to Save - Joanna Martino from Josiah Venture | 2x3 Campaign on Vimeo.

And this is Joanna and me at the final show in Oak Brook, Illinois.

More Pics of Tour

2008-12-15T13:29:00.001+01:00

I thought I would add a couple more pictures of the tour and people along the way...This is part of the CREW section of the campaign team. (L-R) Jeremiah Horner, Sound Engineer; Katka, me, Jeff Priess, Video and Lighting Director. The four of us traveled the whole course and had a ton of fun together. These guys were total troupers, coming up with quick solutions McGyver -esque every day.
This was the dessert in Scottsdale, Arizona. Voted BEST DESSERT of the dessert tour. There were also Chocolate Covered Strawberries that took like 3 bites to eat they were huge! Worst dessert was Hamilton, Ontario - Drunken Strawberry Crepes with mint leaves thrown in for good measure. The presentation was less than appetizing and the dish itself was disgusting.My sister Nicole came was amazing (and so were my parents.) We didn't have enough volunteers committed in San Jose, California, so my parents paid to fly my little sister Nicole down to the event to help with whatever was needed. She helped set up, take down, shipping, and packing my luggage the next morning so that I could make some quick deadlines for other venues. She was super generous with her time and I totally take responsibility for making her loco. My other friend from childhood Becky Moffitt drove a couple hours down to San Jose to help out. It was great to feel so supported.Katka and I at the pier in Huntington Beach, CA on election day. Katka had never been to the Pacific Ocean before and I had to take her down to Jodi and Tim's hometown of HB. Tim and Jodi left a car at the hotel in Pasadena for us to use on our day off. They are so great. It was perfect - a beautiful sunset and good friends. We also stopped over at Margie and Larry's house (Jodi's mom and stepdad) for appetizers before we watched Obama's acceptance speech with Tim. Jodi is almost 8.5 months prego here. Doesn't she look radiant? I count her as a deep deep gift in my life. Ok, well technically this isn't a photo from the tour. But this is Katka and my nephew Boo (curtis) on a walk in Damascus a couple days before the tour started. I miss this kid!I was wearing flip flops on this night in Denver. Actually I was wearing sweats right up until when we opened doors. It was a close call. I raced up to my room to change clothes and quickly realized that I had left my heels in my suitcase which was on the truck already bound for Chicago. I only had boots or flip flops.
In my defense I tried the boots first but they were too hot and I didn't think that my pants could carry them off well with a lighter sole. So I slipped on my flip flops and hoped that people didn't become offended by the sound while I walked. I didn't see any complaints come across my desk, so I guess I'm in the clear.

You may wonder why there are so many pics of Katka and I, it's because Katka took all of the pictures. I didn't take ONE photo the entire tour. She was a camera maniac and happened to take a couple of us together. Otherwise I would have nothing as a memory. In some cases I'm fine with that :)

I'm Alive and Really Well!

2008-12-09T14:52:00.000+01:00

I can't describe all that has happened in the past 30+ days since the last post. Partly because the details could be hazy and partly because I just don't really want to relive and spell it all out. Life was busy, chaotic, emotional, draining, discouraging, joyful, confusing and full. We all live our lives through this cycle or a similar one right? A couple of highlights from the past month just to bring you up to speed and provide me some closure as I move on.

I have been in the states since October 22nd for the 2x3 Capital Campaign Vision Tour. We were in 11 different cities and hosted over 2200 donors and guests at receptions each night. It was a lot of work, a ton of flying across the country and at the end of each day my head would hurt from the details. I would have never gotten through that time without the friendship of Katka, my roommate and comedy relief. I loved getting to know her more and this trip definitely was a bonding experience because we barely left each others sides 24/7.The campaign nights themselves were a great time of meeting with friends and family across the country for many of our missionaries. We had over 60 North American and national missionaries come back to the states to attend the events. Each night it was cool to see the interviews with all the kids across Europe that I interviewed this summer on my roadtrip.
Some other pics from the evenings...

Biggest Blessing of the Tour
Back in September when we were preparing the material for the Capital Campaign Program I was rushed to pick the perfect song that we wanted to end the program each evening. I was listening to music for days reading through lyrics and listening to melodies. It needed to be perfect. It was going to be the last impression and I wanted the music to really tell the story of the JV's ministry. I would find a song only to hear one line that didn't fit into our story. I would have to start over again. Frustrating! Well we had our annual Fall Conference and Dave Patty wanted me to create some short video clips for the staff to see what to expect at the evenings. The music video was scheduled to debut at the conference and I was feeling pressure to lock in the right song especially with input from many other sources. I kept coming back to the song "Mighty to Save." It was the right message, giving God the glory for all the work that He is doing and it was clear and memorable. It totally moved me. I rushed to produce the video in a day for the evening program at conference. It wasn't perfect that night but it communicated the story of JV and stayed in my mind. I really liked the song and thought, "Ok, this could be the song for the tour." I still was open to other options. Well there are like 10 different versions of the song on iTunes. I picked one version by Joanna Martino because it was clear, it was a singular voice, it wasn't overly produced, it was simple and beautiful. I needed to get Joanna Martino's permission to use the song so I got on her website hopeful to find her management contact. She didn't have any contact information. Bummed, I was poking around on her site and started to look through her photo album. I came across one picture that had the caption, "Me and my class after winning the Amazing Race in Slovenia." Wierd, I thought. Josiah Venture does the Amazing Race with our English classes in Slovenia. I emailed the country director and found out that Joanna Martino, the American Idol finalist and singer that I had selected from the list on iTunes had come over to Slovenia 2 years before and served with Josiah Venture!!! I was totally stunned.
Well - I got the permission that I needed from her to use the song. But I also learned that she had recorded the song Mighty to Save because of her time in Slovenia working with the youth there! God had used it to show her his power and purpose there. I was floored. This was totally the confirmation that I needed to know that this was God's song and he wanted this to be the song for the program.
Each night I watched the final program and listened to the song with tears in my eyes. The faces of the youth in so many countries that don't know Jesus Christ as their personal savior...I was inspired, motivated, humbled. It was such a blessing to know that this was exactly what the Lord had planned for this, that I wasn't alone in the planning but God was in each detail and logistic. Best part?...
Joanna came to sing the song live in Chicago, our final stop on the tour. She drove down from Indiana with her husband and came to sing Mighty to Save live for our program. This time there were not only tears in my eyes, but all over my face. God was so sweet in this for me and I felt loved and covered. Joanna was an absolute joy to meet and an absolute beautiful singer. It was the perfect way to end the tour and all the hard work that I struggled through took a backseat on this final night. God is in the details and seeks to bless his children!

One down, ten to go...

2008-10-28T06:45:00.001+01:00

Jeff and I getting crazy with the kiddos. These are the super cool banners from Josh Longbrake that he took from our roadtrip this summer. If you haven't RSVP to any of the events, do it now!! Go to www.2x3campaign.com to reserve your seats.
Last night was the first Vision Night of the tour. We kicked off the tour in a great way. We had a strong turnout and were able to work out some kinks before we started. Even though it was a lot of work, it was worth having the run through time!

2008-10-15T17:09:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you just want to be home...where your heart is. This is my heart, my laughter, my joy, my tears, my secrets, my love. These are women that open their hearts to me and share life, these are my sisters and my mother. Miss them!

No one would call me a math 'Genius' but...

2008-10-09T13:35:00.001+02:00

I think I figured it out...

You know you are getting older when...

2008-10-03T22:33:00.001+02:00

the power of caffeine doesn't have as much zip as it used to! But I refuse to go the way of the Red Bull - that stuff will give you gut rot!
I'm now in the second all nighter of the week. Don't I look happy about it?
This time I have another location to keep me occupied in the wee hours of the morning. I'm in Sumperk, Czech Republic at the home (literally) of Vista Films. I had an exciting call today that I needed to get to Sumperk, about 2.5 hours away from Cesky Tesin, right away. Katka and I had plans to take the day off tomorrow and we had a friends car to go to Prague, so we packed up our offices and things for a overnighter. After getting here I realized that all of the film that I shot this summer all over Eastern Europe was not uploaded properly on my computer and all 60+ hours of film needed to be reloaded. So you can call me Ms. Loader tonight. Ah, I hope and pray that everything else that I needed to get done today will be taken care of - there doesn't seem to be enough hours until we leave in 2.5 weeks to come back to the states for the 2x3 event. And seriously, I'm not counting down the days, I'm counting down the hours because they are all nearly full with all the details.It is now 11:35 pm and I'm already ready for bed...gotta keep going...game on!
This was at 2:40AM, gotta keep up the energy!

The 6-Week Miracle!

2008-09-18T11:43:00.001+02:00

There is a lot of speculation about the 2x3 Capital Campaign. What exactly I do. What it's going to be like. When the invitations are going out. Is there a better quality logo that I could send. Do I know the brand of creamer that is going to be on the tables at the hotel in Minneapolis. Y'know...a lot of great questions. I thought that I would show you some of my facial responses that I have been working on for these questions. I wanted to achieve an authentic and committed look for everyone and every last question. How would you rate me?

I haven't really settled into a patented verbal response yet. Going with a lot of, "Wow, that's a great question!" But this is the most exciting thing that I have to tell people about...

The 6 Week Miracle!
This is not a diet plan, not a reading assistance series, and definitely not for the faint of heart. This takes a strong person to handle the absolute blessing of watching God perform miracle after miracle. Our Bteam has been praying for all the details of the campaign that have to happen in 6 weeks. We are now nearing the end of week 5, of the 6 week miracle and when I was going to bed last night, the very thought of Week 4 of the Miracle...FREAKED ME OUT!! Holy crow - 4 weeks, thats nothing!! That's a moment...we are not going to get everything done...pause *TIME OUT* deep breath. The whole point of a miracle is that it shows how wondrous God is and how faithful he is to carry loads that we break under.
So if you hear me refer to the "Miracle", it's a lesson in faith for me to believe and throw the burden on God who wants to show himself glorious in this entire campaign. This isn't my story, but a pursuit of God in Eastern Europe. It's gonna be good! Can't wait to see you there!

2 Days until you can register for an event nearest you! Stay tuned!

Weekend Vacation

2008-09-15T19:17:00.000+02:00

So after 2 months of going non-stop each other night is a new place, a new bed a new pillow. I am exhausted. I have lived out of a suitcase and travel bag all the while exploring how to be a videographer, interviewer, campaign manager... Girls is stressed! So this last weekend was intended for me to have time by myself. It was great. I was going to go into Prague but the finances of a train ticket, hostel and food plus any fun money, it was just too expensive. So I had a vacation in my apartment.
Just for the occasion I wore my bikini top on Saturday and I used my Aveda clay masque in the afternoon. So it was kind of like I was on a beach and getting a facial at the spa at the same time. I was supposed to stay away from any work this weekend but there were about 5 hours in there that I needed to get things done. Highlights of my weekend:

Back to the Future Marathon - Gosh, I love Michael J. Fox!
I remember watching this with my mom when we took my "Becoming a Woman" trip to the beach summer before my 7th grade year. Man, those were good memories of laughing and loving being with my mom!

I also enjoyed some lovely Pinot Grigio. My favorite type of wine. I like the taste and I like that it's cold. Enough said! I made a killer sandwich on Sunday ( and another one today for my lunch at work. I feel like that one guy from the comics Dagwood, who loved sandwiches, that could be me!)

I went grocery shopping at the local Tesco. (Grocery shopping up and down every aisle just wandering and seeing what I need, is relaxing to me!) I bought a chopping knife, a table lamp for my kitchen table, which often doubles as my desk at home, I've been doing a lot of work in the dark. I also picked up a pair of proper wine glasses, I've been using wine glasses that work for munchkins in Oz; which make me look like a total lush, when I fill up the entire glass with a proper serving. One of the other items was I picked up some Apple Cinnamon candles and air fresheners. This is my favorite scent and I wouldn't mind smelling it all year long. But it especially makes me feel like fall. The candle smells great. But the bathroom plug in scent smells...off. I can't explain it, just doesn't smell right. Aw, man!! I was so excited about that one. Anyway, it was a great weekend. I didn't get a lot of cleaning done, but I relaxed and that was the whole point!

Capital Campaign Videos

2008-09-11T08:50:00.001+02:00

These are the two videos that I made to help preview the campaign. One of them I made awhile ago I was just able to update the pictures with photos from Joshua Longbrake (the fantastic photographer that I traveled with this summer). Most photos are his, except the Berlin wall...because he wasn't alive then. Enjoy! I hope to see you all at the campaign tour in a city near you-

Next Generation

One Percent

My Peace Chair

2008-09-03T15:42:00.001+02:00

So for the past few days I have had the distinct pleasure of being in the same place for consecutive days in a row. One of the best parts is that I have the time to sit down in this super comfy chair right next to my window and enjoy a cup of instant Nestea coffee (no comment) while I read through my Bible study. Its been the best part of being home here in Czech. I have enjoyed taking the time to be quiet before my God. My God that is able to handle all the details that can keep me up at night. He is the purpose, the focus, the reason. I have experienced a great deep breath as I have sat in this chair and spent time with God.

And...we're back!

2008-08-31T17:01:00.000+02:00

I flew into Vienna on the 29th and I was so glad to see Hannah and Hayley Ellenwood at the train station. They came up to help me with my luggage back to Cesky Tesin. I could not have done it without them! Besides by the time that I was off the shuttle bus from the airport to the train station I was feeling quite sick, really hot and with a bad headache. Had a little 'episode' in the garbage can at the train station and the girls weren't too embarrassed by me:) We took commemorative pics in the photo booth at the train station (left). But I started to feel better and it was great to have company on the 5 hour trains back to Cesky Tesin. It's so good to be home! I haven't been getting to sleep until 3am or 4am and then waking up 12 hours later. But the weekend has been great to get caught up on sleep! It's started to get cold here, like Fall cold. Where the air smells so fresh and brisk and good. Oh, I love Fall it's my favorite season. I love getting all bundled up and walking through the leaves where you can smell leaves burning in burn piles ( I wonder if they have burn piles here, hmm?!)
I think I am most excited right now with being in the same place for the next 2 months. I can't wait. I can unpack all my luggage and leave it out - whew! The last 2 months have been so much fun to be able to travel and see so many new places, meet new friends, catch up with old dear friends and see more of this world that God has created. But it's always nice to have a place to come back to and unpack your stuff. I loved seeing all of my friends in the states, thank you all for your generosity and hospitality to me. I count myself so lucky to have you all. At times when I am by myself I think that I have very few friends, but this little tour through the states has reminded me how blessed I am to have some magnificent people to call my friends. This is Naomi Abdilla and I outside the Denver airport right before I flew out. I so enjoyed the time that I had with Naomi and Jason. They are cool people with great hearts towards others and I have loved to see their hearts towards each other develop as they celebrate their one year anniversary this year and a big move to Denver! What an adventure they have been having. I wish that I had pictures with the Staples in Phoenix, Jodi and Tim in Huntington Beach, Amy Lawler in Atlanta, Jes in Minneapolis. But I have great memories! Thanks everybody - love you all!

A Night with the Boys

2008-08-27T01:12:00.000+02:00

So funny thing happened the other night..while I was reading my new book outside a coffee shop in Atlanta I quickly became the heart of the smoking section for the cafe. I was sitting underneath the eaves and it started to downpour.
Before the rain it was just me my coffee, new book and ...Fevzi. Fevzi is a Turkish man that owns restaurants in Atlanta. He was so sweet and offered to buy me a coffee. Then we started talking about Turkey and where I should visit when I go (anywhere is a possibility!).
He then explained to me that I must come to his restaurant the next day for lunch while I was in Atlanta. If I wasn't able to come away from my appointments he would pack up the lunch and bring it to me. I am sad to say that I drove around the block for 15 minutes in downtown trying to find a parking spot that was $15 and when I wasn't able to I had to give up. I would have loved to have had some good falafal - I tried.
Anyway, after Fevzi left I was joined by the smokers Adam, Mosa and Imad. Mosa and Imad are both from Egypt super smart and funny guys. Adam was the fashion designer from Jordan, really funny too. We sat there and laughed and talked about stuff for over 3 hours I think. It was a great Saturday night. My new friends in Atlanta, of which I"m sure that I could call up at any time and they would help me out in any way possible.
Sidenote: at one point Adam was deeming me friends with Mosa and Imad and he was joining our hands and putting a piece of newspaper over our hands like a blessing, but it was totally a joke. Mosa got super serious and tried to pull his hand away and was telling Adam that that is serious and not to joke like that. Something about eye contact and the newspaper tire ad section draped over our hands and I had no idea what Adam was saying. But it was an adventure and if I happened to find out down the road that I'm in fact married to Mosa from Egypt, then 1) I will be super surprised 2) I will call him up and get it annulled, I'm sure he will understand :)

Oh Canada, My Home and Native Land...i forgot the rest of the words...oops

2008-08-24T16:34:00.000+02:00

I just spend the past couple days up North in Toronto with Sabrina Weins. We went to school together in Northern Ireland almost 8 years ago now. But somehow I have managed to have jobs that take me up to Toronto almost every couple years. So this was another trek up north and it was so good to see her again. We have that type of relationship where you can just pick up where you left off, now it's been 3 years since we have seen each other. It was a great time of laughing and sharing and I got to hang out with her youth group that she leads. Cool kids. Here is a picture of the two of us in front of the carousel kinda blurry sorry.

It's been a day...

2008-08-20T00:25:00.000+02:00

Since I last left you I have been to San Jose, CA...Phoenix, AZ...Denver, CO and now today I am in Wheaton, IL. and it's been a productive day of rest. I was uploading the numerous amounts of tapes that I have had to get ready for the video, I did three loads of laundry, went grocery shopping, cleaned out my purse, shaved my legs, made all the calls for Chicago and Toronto and had a sandwich, success!! I am also writing the script that has left me wordless for the past couple weeks. I sat outside today under a tree and had a good cleansing cry and prayer time with my God. He is a God that has showered upon me his help and mercy in my time of need. I so often walk in my own strength and I feel like the foolish kings of Isaiah's time that walked in their pride and ignorance and God cut them down (sometimes literally, whew!). I am not able to complete any of the things that I need without sustenance from my God and Savior. How foolish are we on this earth to that believe that we are here on our own design or power. He has created us, He has purposed us and He will sustain us in our times of infinite need.
If you think about it I would totally love to have you pray for me that words would appear on a page that are not from my pen or mind, but of Gods.
This morning I loved my time of solace and nature and sunshine. It lifted my soul to Him, who has created me.

Going hipster when no one is looking:)

San Francisco

2008-08-15T18:40:00.000+02:00

My mom was able to pick me up in Oakland and we drove over to San Francisco for lunch that day down at the wharf. It was a beautiful day and clam chowder in a soup bowl always is a good thing!

Home and Away

2008-08-09T20:45:00.000+02:00

I'm on the road again. I will spend the month of August on the road around the US. I am securing and preparing the venues in each of our 10 cities for the capital campaign.
I spent the first 4 days at home in Portland. Which was fantastic! I got to spend some time with the family, concerts in the park, birthday for my Mom and sleep!
I'm down in Huntington Beach, CA right now. Watching the Olympics - so fun! Jodi was so great to drive me around LA, Hollywood, Pasadena for the past two days looking at venues. Here we are at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood:Jodi and Tim Young in front of their new house in Fountain Valley - she is pregnant and due in a couple months.I also got to see my cousins and uncles last night from Yorba Linda and La Mirada. It was great to see them and see how tall they have grown. Rush and Shane are my boys! I used to babysit them when I was going to APU down in LA and they were babies, they are now full on 'guys.' I wish that I had gotten a picture with them. Next time.
I leave for Oakland on Monday -

Back in my Hometown!

2008-08-03T16:51:00.000+02:00

Well after 36+ hours of traveling from Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic to Vienna, Amsterdam, Minneapolis and finally Portland...I'm back! I'm enjoying a cup of ZEN tazo tea right now with steamed soy and I've found myself wandering around the house just seeing if anything has changed in the 3.5 months I've been gone. It's safe to report that the laundry room has been updated with some wonderful new prints hanging - nice touch mom!So glad to be in Portland! This was not a silent scream by the way...sorry other people-Aw! My wonderful mom - she gives great hugs!
I didn't know that Boo was going to be at the airport, so when I had given hugs to mom and Annie I was starting to head down to luggage and my mom said, "someone else came to see you!" and I see Tony out of the corner of my eye put Boo down and little Boo runs right ...past me. He didn't recognize me at first - he was staying away and then finally I picked him up and hugged him and he saw my necklace. He always used to play with my necklace and put it in my mouth and then I would spit it out only to have him put it back in again. He remembered me!! It was so great to see Tony and Boo there- thanks guys for coming all the way out to greet me! It was a fantastic homecoming!
Tiffany, Nicole and my Dad are all out of town in California this weekend so I will get to see them soon.After my family picked me up from the airport we went to dinner at Chipotle!! Yeah for black bean burrito bowls! My little sister Annie is leaving for her freshman of college in a month. I'm so proud of her. It was so great to be with my boo again! He has grown so much, but he still loves to sit down and read his books! This was my favorite part of coming home!Yeah for Drugstore.com! I had ordered mascara from them a couple months ago when I saw how expensive mascara was in Czech ($62 dollars)!! Plus I found some chapstick called Chicken Poop that I needed to try out. I was so excited to get it! Yeah for chicken poop! It's really great and shiny!

These are a few of my favorite things...Stateside!

2008-07-29T19:24:00.000+02:00

I am flying out of Vienna, Austria this Saturday morning at 4am and will be arriving on US soil - namely Portland, Oregon at 4:08 pm and I am counting down the hours! I thought that I would make an inventory list of the things that I need to do when I am home for the three days and open myself up for any additional suggestions of new things to try since I've been gone for soooo long (sarcasm:)
1. Give my family a huge long hug, but I need to give Kiki the longest hug, because I'm always accused of having a favorite sister, just need to go public with it!2. Eat a Black Bean & Cheese Chipotle burrito. There is just no such thing as good Mexican food here and Black Beans are even harder to come by. For those of you that know me, I am a faithful observer at A La Iglesia de Frijoles Negros. Here are the prized possessions that I bought every last can off the shelf when I finally found them here in Czech.3. Get my hair done! I chanced it once when I was here in Czech and went to a friend of a friend. Let me just say that when the hair colorist busts out the rubber cap, I was having flashbacks of my friend Adrienne Scott in 6th grade when her mom used to frost her hair with a rubber cap. All I could say to Hannah through clinched teeth was, "Pray, Pray Hard!!" It did nothing to comfort me in this time of high blood pressure when I saw that the walls in the salon were covered (I do not exaggerate here!) with hair. Or the brushes that he was using on me looking like they were well worn and covered with his previous clients hair. Upside: he has lots of other clients, so he must be good Downside: major health code violations and I think that my hair could have gotten a virus:)I am going to see Rachelle, a beautiful friend that works at Urban Colorz in Clackamas. You should totally check her out she is great!

4. Hoard all the time that I can get with my little Boo! Haven't seen him in 4.5 months, worried that he has forgotten me altogether. Must make a mark in the three days that I have with him! Plus, he is just adorable - I think that we have a zoo date so that all of his Austin Aunties will have taken him to the zoo at some point in the past month - lucky kid!
5. Go get coffee at my friends best little cafe in Portland: Manhattan Cafe. I think that I may have to spend some time here getting work done while on the road. But they are the sacrifices that I make while in Portland. It will be great to be back in Portland to enjoy a nice BIG cup of coffee, none of this mini cup, two sip junk over here in Europe:)
I feel so extremely blessed by this trip. The whole purpose of this trip back to the states is to confirm and do walk thru's with all of the venues that we have lined up for the campaign tour. HOWEVER, the cities that I am going to are like touring through my greatest friends list! I am excited for my Friends US Tour 2008:
Portland: Family obviously!
Orange County: Jodi Mugavero Young - I get to go to her baby shower!! I am so excited that I get to be there for my best friends shower and see her belly and go to a book club. It's too good to be true! Plus my LA Golden family!
San Jose: My Grandpa Erv. I get to stay at his house, I haven't seen him since my graduation a year ago. I miss him. Plus my mom is going to be there at the same time- nice timing!
Phoenix: Mark and Candace Staples, old friends from Hinson. I just 'ran into' Mark in Latvia and I will get to see Candace pretty and pregnant!
Denver: Jason and Naomi Abdilla. They just moved to Denver from Portland and now I won't miss them when I'm back in the states! Can't wait to see their new life in Colorado.
Minneapolis: Jena Buckridge O'Harra. We went to school together in Ireland and she is living in MN with her husband and two little ones. She visited me in Minneapolis when I was there on tour last summer. Dear friend.
Toronto - Bina!! Bina and I also went to school together in Ireland and she got me in so much trouble but the laughs were endless. I get to visit her new job as a youth pastor in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario.

Plus I will be making and meeting new friends in Atlanta, Chicago and Peoria! Can't wait.

Day 26-27: Home at Last!

2008-07-28T16:42:00.000+02:00

I am writing this 1.5 days after I completed my trip back to Cesky Tesin from Riga Latvia. The trip is officially over for me and I am relishing the isolation of my flat above the Ellenwoods home. The final days of the trip were full. We finished up at the Estonian camp with a baptism of Radgar, a cool young guy that has rededicated his life to Jesus. Peep Saar (right) the Estonian Country Director was there to baptize Radgar in a nearby lake to the English camp. I love baptisms. Something so wonderful about the body of Christ coming together to celebrate and witness a person publicly declaring their faith and devotion to Jesus Christ! Josh and I spent some time in Tartu, Estonia which was kind of a bust because a lot of the kids did not want to talk to me. They either spoke very little English or didn't want to be recorded. So I didn't get as many interviews as I would have liked but there were at least a handful that wanted to talk. I think my favorite quote of the day in Tartu, was this young girl named Alexandria who was 15 when I asked In you opinion who is God? she responded, "I am God." Done. Those are big words for a 15 year old. That's a big burden to bear to be God at such a young age. I wanted to know more about where she has come from and why she has come to that conclusion at this point in her life.
We said goodbye to Tartu and drove for 3 hours down the road to Riga, Latvia. Back to the Hargans apartment for one more night. They are so gracious and hospitable. They had three other interns at their house that night and still opened their doors to Josh and I. We had three in the living room and two in the guest bedroom and Kelly and Donna. FUNNY STORY: Kelly took Josh and I to the supermarket when we got into Riga to pick up something for dinner. When I was standing next to the fruit section I see a half naked man. Not missing a shirt, but missing his pants! I was stunned and speechless and just kind of pulled on Kellys shirt and said, "Kelly, Kelly, that man, that man doesn't have any pants on, that man...Kelly that man! I can see that man's butt, omigosh!" Apparently this man needed to adjust himself and didn't feel the need to secure any privacy for himself before he did it. AMAZING! No one blinked an eye except this speechless American girl (me) that was flabbergasted by it all. Man's pants around his ankles, hands down his underwear, fresh produce within reach of this whole incident, I feel like there should be some health code violations there.
We left early the next morning from Riga and drove for 15 hours straight, through Latvia, Lithuania and the behemoth of Poland. NOTABLE: I was pulled over twice that day. The first time the border police in Lithuania pulled me over when they saw my Polish license plates. When I handed him my USA passport he was bored with me and sent me on my way. The second time I was pulled over in Lithuania it was from a police car coming at me in the opposite direction, in my rear view mirror I see the lollipop come out of his window! Unbelievable how the police pursue their prey, kind of as an afterthought! I wonder if I could outrun them, hmmm?
Anyway, shady police man comes up to me and shows me the speed gun, he clocked me at 113km! I was actually excited in that moment because I don't think that I've gone that slow the entire trip! Unfortunately it was a 90km zone. In fact the entire country of Lithuania is 90km. Do you know how hard that is for me on a straight away when all I want to do is get there and I have to poke along at 90km? So shady cop instructs me to get out of the car and follow him. All beside the highway as cars are speeding past me, I say 'speeding' past me literally because I know that they are going faster than 90km, perhaps even faster than 113km, but it's me on the side of the road. Shady police man points to the car and says, "Git in" Not sure I understand him I ask, "You want me to get into the police car? In the front or the back?" He points his fist toward the front seat and turns away to occupy himself with lighting his cigarette. I guess I'm on my own with this one, I open up the door and bend my head into the car and smile my big American smile at the cop behind the wheel, "Hi! how are you?" He doesn't look at me but looks ahead into traffic, "You speeding on this road, illegal." I ask how much the speed limit was and was quickly informed of the national speed limit. I figured this wasn't the time to have a planning meeting on how we could change the constitution of Lithuania to spice up their life a bit and bump up the speed limit, he didn't seem like a planner. He seemed like a cop on a mission to get as much money from me as possible. He takes out a piece of paper and writes down 300 Lats, which is $136 US Dollars. I have learned the system that they like to shake you down on the road, tickets are for good cops. It seems that everyone in Eastern Europe wants to be the bad cop. I tell the guy that I don't have any Lithuanian cash and can't pay the ticket on the road. There is a just a long silence. Cop still has not looked at me, just staring straight ahead. I take a risk and insert a humble "I am so sorry" into the silence. Apparently that unlocked the spell and the cop came back to life and, still not looking at me, hands me back my drivers license and car papers and tells me to get out of his car. Yes sir! I can do that. I get out of the car and try to avoid looking at the shady cop on his smoking break outside. I get back into our car, put my seatbelt on and drive off. Tickets number 5 and 6 avoided. Can't explain it - I do feel a coming sense of dread that my other shoe is going to fall shortly. It's definitely made me more cautious. Cautious like 113km not 90km cautious:)
Josh and I finally made it to Krakow dropped the car off at the airport and took a cab to the central train station. Got our tickets, found an empty car, spread our stuff everywhere so that no one would want to come into our car and crowd our space. The conductor came in at some point to check our tickets and told us that we had to move because we were sitting in first class and we had only bought second class tickets. After driving for 15 hours and finally having a deep breath, I wasn't about to move again. So I paid a couple extra bucks for us to stay in our car. We missed our train connection at 1AM in Bohumin and then had to get a taxi from the train station to my house in Cesky Tesin, but it was worth it. Home at last- it felt so good!

Here are some of my favorite people and pictures along our trip!
This is Nina from Rijeka, Croatia. She used to be in a cult and through the testimony of a friend and God pursuing her she is a beautiful testimony of redemption. She shines Jesus to those around her. I love her story -This is a great display of what type of photography Josh got on this trip. This was a woman in Riga, Latvia. I loved that city, great friendly people and a fun atmosphere. If you are at all interested in Josh's photography go to his blog at www.thelongbrake.com. He was a fun travel partner and a super talented photographer.
I will post more pictures soon - but I will be in the states on Saturday and will be around the US to see you. Can't wait!

Day 24 -25: Count Em...4!

2008-07-25T21:54:00.000+02:00

The Good: Well I am proud to say that on our way up to Tartu, Estonia I was pulled over for the 4th TIME!! I was speeding... again. The cop lady opens her door into my lane as I'm passing her on a one lane highway and in my rear view mirror I see her waving her hands around directing me to the side (all via my rear view mirror). I pull over and give her my drivers license and she tells me that I was going 66 in a 50 kilometer zone. Mind numbingly slooooooow. She gives me a warning and lets me go - whoopee!! Numero quatro!
The Bad: I have been exhausted!! Thoroughly and utterly. Each day has been killing me softly - haha just kidding, but it has been wearing one me. Not a lot of sleep, long hours in the car and lots of sweaty hours in the sun with a camera bag on my back.
The UGLY: Last night was by far the most brutal. We arrived in Estonia and were told to bring our sleeping bags into the camp. Uh oh! I have been lugging my sleeping bag and tent around this entire trip and I haven't used it once. So I left it back in Cesky Tesin - and then this was the first time that I needed it. So I'm thinking that I'm going to sleep in the car - because it will be relatively warm and comfortable. Well around 11pm bombs started going off outside the school that the camp was being held at. I'm not kidding people, bombs. Now mind you they were bombs made by some punk local kids that were just messing about, but they were some sort of chemical bomb that they made in soda bottles and were hurtling towards the front doors with loud explosions. Apparently this was the second night of the bombings by the locals so the camp leaders called the police. All of this would have been very exciting and a sexy story to tell except for the fact that my car was inches from the battlefield. It was no longer a fun story it was a deterrent to me sleeping in the warm semi comfortable car. Plan B - sleep on the floor of the reception cubicle right inside the front doors. It was carpeted and thus the cold cement floors weren't going to affect me. I could curl my body around the curvature of the cubicle and all would be well. So I thought... Last night was the last night of camp and the chaos ensued all through the night, literally they were still going at it this morning. The chaos consisted of screaming, yelling, fire alarms being pulled and other such noises that make sleeping on a semi carpeted cement floor in a receptionist cubicle difficult. That is when it started to get cold. I thought the carpet would protect me - it didn't. So I ended up with two pairs of jeans on, two sweaters and for my blanket I had two sun dresses draped over my legs and topped off with my "all purpose" sarong. My pillow was the cherry on top - my puke green blow up neck pillow covered with my cute sparking scarf - not for comfort, just for decoration. It was comfortable for at least two seconds and then it was just painful and with all the other distractions around me, miserable. I was too proud to ask for help and too cold to stay there. So the pride took a hit. I got an old mattress that they were using for the craft room and slapped it down on the floor in a girls bedroom. Same blanketing and pillow but just a warmer room with a little comfort underneath me. It was an awful night - Advil was desperately needed and missing this morning.
All this to say - I'm tired but really happy to be back in Riga with the Hargans! It was a welcome refreshment to drive back into Riga. There are three interns, Kelly and Donna and Josh and I all staying in a 2 bedroom apartment tonight, but it doesn't even feel small - it just feels good! We played a couple rounds of Sequence - kinda a fun new game to discover! Ready for bed - leaving for Krakow tomorrow at 7am for a 14 hour drive to Krakow and then a 3 hour train to Cesky Tesin and HOME!!! Sweet blessed home! See you then!

Oh here is a picture of the Slovakia camp where we stopped off and said hi to Katka. The watermelon was delicious and the hug from Katka was even better!

Day 22-23: Riga, Latvia "Paris of the Baltics"

2008-07-23T22:21:00.000+02:00

The sound of cars driving on the cobblestone streets outside are creating a rhythm that is lulling me to sleep, but I guess it wouldn't be too hard these days.
After our monumental and unexpected drive to Riga from Warsaw we have been pretty beat. Yesterday we drove 2.5 hours to Kazdanga, Latvia yesterday to the English camp at an old mansion that was once a glorious estate and then was beat up a bit by the Communist Regime which turned it into a school. Greatest part of the trip was seeing Mark Staples in Kazdanga, Latvia! Mark was the youth pastor at Hinson when I was working with the high school group years ago. I was reminded of how much fun follows Mr. Staples wherever he goes. There was so much energy and 'fun-ness' at the camp. It was great to see him again!
Sidenote: It's been almost a month without any hair products or tools (some of you may be gasping:) and when I'm feeling like the smelly ugly kid everyday - it leaves a mark. SO...when I was home for 24 hours in Cesky Tesin - I took a super long shower and spent awhile getting ready and wore my sequined tank top to the movies, the one that I bought in Miami when I was on tour last year - "over the top?" you may ask. Perhaps, but it gave me a night of glamour that makes up for all of these moments like this picture, ha!
Another highlight was seeing my friend Jaycee that is the camp director up here in Latvia. Here is she is with Andia, one of the young girls that lives with her. Andia and her sisters moved in with Jaycee after they were too old to live in the orphanage. Jaycee has been an inspiration to me and I want to have her next door to me, not 20+ hours away! Such is life. We have been staying at Kelly and Donna Hargans here in Riga. Their flat is amazing - huge kitchen with tons of counter space - it's beautiful and within walking distance of the great downtown Old Town section of Riga. I will post a picture when we take one tomorrow morning. Also I want to tell you about the locks on bridges - ask me if I haven't blogged about it in a couple days - I'm just too tired now so I'm off to bed.

Day 20-21: Home and Away

2008-07-21T22:45:00.000+02:00

Here is a little catch up of the past few days:

1) Got some type of food poisoning in Prague. Nothing like being really sick and only wanting your mom to pull your hair back and have a cold washcloth waiting for you to put on your forehead, but instead you are in a hostel room with a room of only guys (I'm taking a guess they are Portugese, it sounded like a Germanic sounding Spanish) that are getting ready to go out and hit the bar scene. The cologne that was sprayed in that room should be a violating the Kyoto Protocol for their national country of origin - it was illegal! Didn't help me feel any better -
2) Caught a train back to Cesky Tesin and enjoyed 3 hours of alone time. The Ellenwoods were at a wedding, Josh was hanging out with Nate and I didn't have to shoot any videos. It was great -
3) Get Smart with the gang. Tyler Patty was celebrating his 18th birthday. So the whole JV crew met in Ostrava and saw the new movie (or new to us in Czech) Get Smart. There were definitely some laugh out loud...loudly, moments.
4) Sunday - while everyone was at church I was at the Church of the Holy Comforter on the couch, loving still being in my pajamas and I started to catch up on So You Think You Can Dance. Don't tell me any results, I'm still weeks behind.
5) Nate's B-Day - Sunday night we had a great BBQ and celebrated Nate Hughes turning 30!! Give it up for the NW boy - with the wicked cool new 'stache
6) Hanging out with the Ellenwoods. We didn't get nearly enough time but I love them! Hannah and Hayley are like two little sisters and I love and get protective with - Nikki and Annie know what I'm talking about. Amy is just a breath of fresh air - she is a wonderful friend to me. And a great host!!
The Roadtrip stories begins for Round #2:

THis morning we left the house at 2AM to drive to the Bohumin train station where we were to catch the train to Warsaw. Josh and I were there in plenty of time, I had already drove into Cesky Tesin earlier in the day to purchase our tickets, we were set - except there were no seats for us in any of the cars so we had to find a place in the main compartment. These two guys waved us down to a seating section of 4 that Josh and I could have to ourselves. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that these boys smelled, badly. It was all I could do not to move seats, but I didn't want to insult their generosity to us. We were supposed to arrive in Warsaw at 7:05 and find our train connection at 7:20. Well, we arrived in Warsaw Central Station AT 7:20!!! This place is an absolute zoo - there is no signs in English (I don't care call me ethnocentric, but it's an official language of the European Union, so there!) and no one spoke English. We were walking in a frantic sleep deprived stressed out and irritable circle for about a half an hour. FINALLY, we found the main ticketing and station lobbying - only to discover that the train we were supposed to be on is a once a day train. That means that we would have to wait in the train station for an entire day to leave - not going to happen.
We caught a taxi and headed over the airport. I had found a reservation online to rent a car from Warsaw and saw it listed at $394 for the week. So I felt that the research had been completed and I was ready to negotiate the best deal possible. I went to ALL of the rental agencies in the lobby Hertz, Dollar, Thrify, EuropeCar, Alamao, Avis and the cheapest I was quoted was 330 Euro!! EuropeCar quoted me 446 Euro to rent the car. I am not dumb. Leave that alone! so I called the car agency that had the cheaper price and I learned that they broker the deals with the agencies. So 15 min after I had refused their offer at Europe Car I approached them with a confirmation code that sold me the car for the week at 230 Euro!!! What a crock! Anyway- after only 2 hours of spotty sleep Josh and I embarked on another long car ride fro mWarsaw, Poland to Riga, Lativa. 4 Countries in 1 Day - whew. Everything in my body hurts. No, that's an exaggeration, but my eyes hurt the most right now. WHich reminds me, I'm falling asleep as we talk - nigh

Day 19: Prague "It feels like home"

2008-07-18T14:32:00.000+02:00

WARNING: I am extremely tired. I have been traveling much and sleeping little. I have every excuse for poor grammar, misspellings and other mistakes in this post. I don't think that I could say a complete sentence much less type one. You have been warned.
Let me catch you up since the "Serbian Incident" drove through Hungary without incident - felt good to get back into the Schengen Countries (whole big block of countries that opened up their borders to each other in Jan - google it)
Drove two hours out of the way to pay a visit to a camp in Slovakia to visit my friend Katka that I work with in Czech and for Josh to reconnect with Kenric one of the guys that he served with a couple years ago-. Mountains were gorgeous - it was great to get a hug from Katka. It's amazing how we have only known each other for 3 months and yet feel very connected, it's been great to get to know her and count her as my friend as I have transitioned to Czech! Here we are on the last day after we rolled out of bed a 4am to get ready and get her interview done (it was like pulling teeth with her! She's got a great story - she became a Christian at a JV English camp and now is leading teams! I look a bit messy - wow! We don't have a lot of mirrors out here on the road - poor Josh having to travel around with Pigpen!
We needed to leave early to get to Bratislava to pick up my residency visa. The Czech consulate in Slovakia is super flexible their hours are Thursday from 11:00-11:30. It's criminal- We got to Bratislave right at 11:00AM and promptly got lost. Trying to navigate the roads and find the Danube River as a point of reference all the while the pain from my bladder is giving me spasms because I haven't been able to use the restroom for hours- Long story short: started raining only wearing a tank top as we trekked through Bratislava for hours. Was slipping all over the stone work, almost pulling my groin a number of times, very nearly giving up and going barefoot through the city.
Finally met up with a friend of a friend who gave us keys to a warm dry apartment right in the middle of the city. Thank you Laura Troutman for letting us use your amazing big and cute apartment for the night. Although I'm going to need to buy you a pot to cook with - nothing like cooking pasta in the microwave.
We left Bratislava early this morning on our way to Prague - the morning was fresh, we had breakfast ready to eat, the highway onramp was right next to us...it just required a Captain Courageous U-Turn...and Josh got busted!!! It sucked - we got pulled over and the policeman told Josh that he was going to take away his Washington State license for a U-turn like that. He told us that it was going to be about $4000 Slovak Crowns ($200 USD) for the fine. Josh told the cop that we didn't have that money and the cop said that he would take us to an ATM!! They drove us to an ATM and Josh pulled out hte money and got his license back...sigh! There were so many things that we thought about afterward, like maybe we should have asked for a receipt for the ticket - we got not official paperwork saying that we paid the pigs anything - they probably had a nice breakfast on Mr. Longbrake. Also I don't think that they can take our license away from us if another government issued the license.
They are sneaky little a******s! They try to make you shake with fear and then drive you to a nearby bank where you pull out all the money they require of you. We should not quake in their shadow and demand due process or justice or non-jerky behavior. I felt really bad for Josh - that ruined his whole experience in Bratislava. And he later ranked Brat near to Belgrade with our least favorite of the trip-
Now we are in one of my favorite cities, Prague. Mel and Amy met us in Brno this morning to take our bags from us. We will stay in Prague tonight and shoot around the city and then tomorrow get on a train 5 hours back to Cesky Tesin. It will be so good to be home. And to have clean clothes to wear!
Then Round 2 of the roadtrip begins with our adventures up north in Latvia and Estonia. Stay Tuned!

Day ? (I don't even know what day it is): Shady McShaderville= Serbia

2008-07-16T12:07:00.000+02:00

This morning Josh and I departed the camp in Cardak, Serbia at 5AM! We have the entire drive from Kovin, Serbia up through Hungary to Slovakia. After getting gas in the morning and the guy behind the counter going through my credit cards and then charging me 2300 RDI. I ask to see the breakdown of my coffee and gas and then he rolls his eyes and waves his hands at me in a 'ok, ok, back off, I know' type of fashion and opens up the cash register and hands me a 20 Dinar bill. I'm kind of lost at this point - why is he giving me money when I just charged the gas to my credit card. Apparently this guy likes to "round up" for the foreigners - only by me looking at the charges did he feel caught and gave me the money that he had rounded up with. At that point I was cranky at Serbia for not having real coffee for us to drink on our early morning drive and for have shady guys at gas stations.
No more than 45 minutes later Josh and I are north of Belgrade, glad to be beyond the chaotic city when I get lollipopped! To be lollipopped means that a cop waves you down with this little stop sign that looks like a lollipop and pulls you over for speeding. You see my speeding habit has been rampant - I think treatment might be necessary. I was going 110km in a 60km zone. Honestly!! How do people drive at 60km, they must be bored out of their minds!
So I pull over and then the cops tells me (all in Serbian) to get out of the car and cross the two lanes of freeway to the center median to talk to the other cops in the car.
At this point I'm thinking that there will probably be a way to talk myself out of this ticket. Don't ask me why I think this, I have never been able to talk myself out of a ticket in the states, but I'm feeling lucky! He tells me that the fine for going 90km is 3000 dinar approx 40 euros. I have 30 Dinar (thanks to the gas station man 45 min earlier) They tell me that I have to go downtown back to Belgrade to handle the ticket because I was so grossly violating the speed zone. But they couldn't write me a ticket out there on the road because I'm a foreign citizen. I start to put on my stressed out face. Telling them that I'm in a hurry to get to Slovakia and there must be a way to handle this ticket issue now. It's going to take a couple hours downtown - I DO NOT want to go back to Belgrade. They are on the phone calling down to their inspector downtown and all the while other motorists are getting lollipopped and handing over wads of cash to the police right in front of me. This is going to kill my budget - I will not be able to get my hair done when I go back to the states! The cop takes my passport and tells me to go to the gas station up ahead and pull out the money. There is no ATM at the gas station. People laugh at me when I ask for one - Serbia is not my friend at this point.
I have no money only some crisp $100 bills from selling my car before I moved to Czech buried deep in my purse. When I go back and tell the guy that I couldn't pull out any dinar and that I have only 25 Euros (that Josh has in his pocket) the guys get upset and after another 10 minutes don't even look at me and hand me my passport back and tell me that I have a warning!! "You would not get a warning if you were in your America - but my inspector will give you a warning!" Thank you, thank you, Mr. Lollipop Police Man - Serbia has won me over. I am now a fan and a slower driver.
This was about 2 hours ago now- the adrenaline has worn off and I'm tired. We are at a McDonalds in Budapest with free Wifi and coffee to go - McDonalds saves the day! Gotta run-

Day 14: Rijeka, Croatia

2008-07-13T10:50:00.000+02:00

We have been in the coastal town of Rijeka, Croatia for the past few days - love it! I've loved spending time with Stevo and Sarah Vuletic the JV missionaries here. They love kids and are making such a difference in the youth ministry here in Croatia.
Great city...on a hill. This is has been a great trip of cleansing my body of all toxins with the amount of sweating I've been doing - or 'glowing.' Nothing like climbing almost 1000 steps to the top of the city with a 20lb camera bag on my back. But it's great exercise after spending a ton of time in the car. Our life is about extremes this month.
Yesterday was a bit brutal with the interviews downtown. I just set out with my camera and approach people in squares and ask them if they speak English and then ask them if they want to answer some questions for my documentary. Yesterday I felt like the dorky/ugly/red headed step child at the high school cafeteria trying to find someone to sit next to. I approached some kids in the square and asked them if they wanted to be interviewed they replied bluntly, "No" and then started laughing and speaking in a different language, causing a lot of attention in our direction. There was no graceful way to exit the situation, sweaty girl with a large camera bag and then the bug bites on my leg started to bleed down my leg - gotta say, not a shining moment for me! A 'character building' moment for me- as my mom would say. Ah well, it's over - I got an iced coffee and called a friend.
Here is a better moment of filming in Arad, Romania - cool kids. Good thoughts. I'm amazed each time when perfect strangers will open up about their thoughts and beliefs with me. I love my job!!
More often then not the response that I get from kids is that 'God is irrelevant or doesn't matter.' We are only created to reproduce for our race. I wish that I had the budget and the time to grab a cup of coffee with each of these kids and continue to ask them more questions. I have rarely found someone that speaks of their relationship with Jesus Christ. As I talk with these kids I just want to hug them (thanks Jo for your profound 'hugging' influence) but that is not the cultural norm - so I refrain.
We leave for Serbia tomorrow - gotta say, I'm a bit anxious about this camp, can't explain it. I'll find out.

Day 7-13: Idrija, Budapest, Arad, Rijeka

2008-07-11T16:10:00.000+02:00

First off, I'm pretty stinkin excited to say that we haven't gone too far off the grid here in Europe with our Skoda. There are no directions with street signs only cities in all directions. You have to know what city you are going towards or a city on the way to the actual city that you want in order to understand the street signs. But I think that we have managed to get into the mind of the Eastern European map maker -

We accidentally left the Idrija camp early (my mistake). I jumped ahead of my own itinerary. So on the way out of Slovenia on our way to Romania I started to count the days and realized that we were not supposed to be in Romania until the next day - so we detoured from Ljubljana, Slovenia up to Budapest, Hungary for the night - it was amazing! I was giggling like a schoolgirl when we arrived into Budapest. Now one of my all time favorite cities! We stayed at a hostel that was on top of the city called El Citadella. A pic of the view from our hostel:

We left Budapest and drove on to Arad, Romania. The landscape immediately changed once we entered Romania. Not as developed. DU, one of the JV missionaries that is from Arad was hosting us at her apartment and she took us out in Arad to show us around. We met some guys on the street and interviewed them, this is one of the guys named Fabia - sweet name! Cool kid - I think that we would be friends if I lived in Arad, Romania and hung out in front of City Hall on Friday nights.
Yesterday when we left Romania the guy kept asking Josh if he was serious about letting me drive! Ticked me off - So I was intent on driving the whole way - so I drove from Dezna, Romania (you probably won't find it on a map) through Belgrade, Serbia and into Croatia. That was a whole heck of a lot of passport stamps in one day. And everyone was so scared of us to drive through Serbia - for all those people, a smile at the border will get you in and out and without an enormous extortion tax! 10 hours and we made amazing time - probably because I'm embracing this whole 'really fast on the highways' vibe of Europe. I think Josh was clocking me in on average at about 90-96 miles per hour.

Oh yeah, this is fun news...I'm going to be back in Portland on August 2nd!! I will be there for about a week and then I'm going around to the Campaign Venues and then back to Portland before I fly out at the end of August back to Czech. Lots of travel in the next two months - but I'm excited to be home for a couple days. I would love to get together - so let me know if you have time!

Rijeka, Croatia is beautiful! I think I make transfer to the JV Rijeka branch soon. If you want to check out some cool pics that Josh has taken, check out his blog at www.thelongbrake.com/blog see you later!

Day 6: Off the Map

2008-07-05T22:29:00.000+02:00

So I picked up Josh last night in Ljubljana and we came back to Joel and Amy's for about 5 hours sleep before we headed out this morning. We went back to Bled so Josh could take some pics and then headed down to Ljubljana downtown. Cool town - ran into two groups of Good Shepherd girls when we were walking through the streets.
The backpack is amazing, heavy, but amazing!
Funny story - I don't think that it was an hour after I told Josh that I'm like a human OnStar with directions then we drove an hour in the wrong direction and almost drove to Italy before we realized that we missed our exit for Idrija - smooth!
Alright true to my word, here is our trusty stead...yet to be named.
The Skoda Fabia Classic (with AC, thank you Denis!) As you can see there are some bumps and bruises but it builds character. The only real flaw is this "Rent Me" sticker on the bumper - lame. I think it's actually Czech for "TOURIST TARGET" for the theft rings throughout Eastern Europe.
I handled the situation
Nothing to see here...We are in Idrija, Slovenia I'm exhausted, I don't know how Josh is still awake there are about 23 hyper jr. highers outside my door screaming and playing night games. And yet I don't think that I will have any problems going to sleep tonight - cau!

Day 5: The Bag has Arrived!

2008-07-04T18:12:00.000+02:00

I ordered a camera bag to haul all of the equipment around. It was supposed to be delivered to Mel when he was in Colorado for the board meeting a month ago. Well the bag was back ordered so I canceled the order. On the same day that I recieved my cancellation confirmation I got a shipment confirmation for the order, long story short, I ordered the same items twice! So the bag was already en route. And for the past three stops it's missed me so the bag has logged miles from Denver to Chicago, to Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and finally arrived this morning at the doorstep in the little village of Sencur, Slovenia!! I'm totally stoked. This is going to be a a life saver...check it out don't I look professional? I was hauling all of the gear in three separate loads and this will haul everything in one load including my laptop! It's gonna be good- other than that, I have been working from Joel and Amy's today. Trying to catch up on all the work that I can't do when I'm in the office in Frydlant.
I pick up Josh the photographer that is flying in from Seattle tonight at midnight and tomorrow we leave for a camp in Idrija, Slovenia and then on to Romania.

That would be a huge prayer request that I would have the energy to get all the taping and camp and city shooting done and then have the extra energy to go find an internet place and get all the work done that I am missing from the office. Thanks!

Day 2,3, & 4: Charm and Coffee

2008-07-03T17:05:00.000+02:00

Well let's see, I don't even now what day it is right now -
Upon my calendar consultation I realize that it is now Thursday, which means that I am now on Day 4 of my Epic Roadtrip. A couple of catch ups since the last post.

1) Nate and Lucka hooked me up with a room at the Krystal Hotel in Prague for Monday night. It was great and safe and a bed. Thank you guys!
2) Picked up my rental car at the Prague airport and was hoping and praying for a miracle and that the guy behind the counter at the rental car agency would help me out with Air Conditioning. It was a $325 upgrade that I couldn't justify in the budget. Plus it's stinkin hot here, by the time that I reached the airport at 10AM I was already sweating. Fortunately the beautiful man behind the counter that goes by the name of Denis (yes that's right it's only one 'N' ladies) granted me my wish, AC. I will post pictures of my trusty stead next time.
3) The first day of driving and my GPS system doesn't work and I lost my one map from Prague to Millstatt! Nice start - so I found a McDonald's that had WIFI and parked in the lot for 5 min to copy off the directions. Apparently you have to pay to park in the lot and I noticed the guy in my rearview mirror writing me a ticket. I rolled down my window and he started speaking to me in Czech. I shrugged my shoulders and held up the soda that I had purchased at McDonald's kinda like the body language for, "I'm a paying customer dude, back up." When I finally ventured to say, in English, "I don't speak Czech" he sighed in defeat and shook his hand at me and walked away. Score!! Ticket #1 Averted by the language defense.
4) Um, I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but I am pretty impressed with myself. I drove 7 hours on my first day, out of Prague, south to Germany, through the beautiful German countryside, pumped my own gas (give me points, I'm from Oregon), attempted to take pictures as I drove through what I think were the Alps on my way to Austria. And finally arrived in Austria just in time for the camp song to be sung.This was a castle that I saw out of the corner of my eye as I was driving. The photo won't win an award but it shows where I've been.
5) Did I mention that the camp in Austria is at a Castle? From the Krystal hotel in Prague to a Castle in Austria, that was an upgrade!This is the view from my room in the tower of the castle looking down at Millstatt, Austria. It's a rough life I know. I have a feeling that the other camps are not going to look like this.
6) Oh, another fun thing is that on my way to Millstatt I probably drove through 5 tunnels through the mountains that were approx. 6 miles long each. That is a long way to be trapped - at least that is what I was thinking when for a good 10 min. I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel as the traffic snaked through. But it was cool -
7) Last night at the Castle Camp it was Coffeehouse night. I helped to set up the cafeteria as a cafe and Christina Stanton and I served coffee for 3 hours, to be precise we served hot chocolate, apparently coffee isn't the drug of choice here for teens. It was super fun to see all of the kids laughing and talking together. They loved English Camp!!
8) This morning I left Millstatt and stopped at the post office to mail a letter to Chicago. I was in the post office for three minutes (approximately) and when I came out the meter maid was writing me a ticket. I didn't know what to do so I acted like nothing was wrong and walked past him to my car to leave. (It was really a scared and frightened girls attempt to be suave) Anyway, he was continuing to write me a ticket and that is when I turned on the charm (smile) and pleaded with him that I was only there for 3 min. He pointed me toward a sign, ALL IN GERMAN and was referencing the rule that I broke that was posted on the sign. Again I said, "I'm sorry I don't speak German." He rolled his eyes and walked off and this is why it's my new technique! Ticket #2 Averted by the language defense.
9) I filmed for the past two days in Millstatt and finally left this morning and drove to Bled, Slovenia. Apparently this is a place that is a medevil town with a castle, cathedral and an island (the only one in Slovenia) with a church with 99 steps. I would market it as something very different now. Because all I saw were speedos and old men. It wasn't really the historical treasure that I was envisioning but rather a club med for the older friskier set. But it's gorgeous all the same.
10) I arrived just north of Ljubljana tonight at Joel and Amy Woodards house in Slovenia where I will be for the next two days. It's good to see their world and family in Slovenia.
Until the next time! Cau-

Day 1: Epic Roadtrip 2008

2008-06-30T18:09:00.000+02:00

It has begun. I left this morning from Cesky Tesin at around 10:45am and am now sitting at one of the new Starbucks in Prague enjoying the air conditioning and latte that reminds me of home. After only 4 hours of sleep last night I am now wanting a nap of some sort, but I have some emails to catch up on and website layouts to approve so the work isn't going to wait.
Tomorrow morning I will go to the airport to pick up my rental car for the trip. I'm praying that they will miraculously upgrade me to at least a car with air conditioning. It's blazing hot here! I will drive 6.5 hours to Millstatt Austria where Good Shepherd Community Church is running a camp for a church in Slovenia. I will be there two days and then on to Ljubljana, Slovenia.
I left this morning feeling very covered in prayer by Mel and Amy, Amy even packed me some muffins for the journey, I love that women!
I look like a traveling circus with my luggage which consists of: 1 large duffel bag (the zipper already broke this morning), tent, sleeping bag, large hardcase camera case, tripods, laptop case, purse and ...yeah that's all. It's all a bit much for one person to carry. Thankfully we will have a car to trek everything and not lugging it all on our backs on trains.
I filmed for a bit yesterday at Malenovice (the hotel that is near our office) for the CeskyTesin English camp. It was good. Hard. No kid wants a camera stuck in their face and questions asked for them. So this will be something that I will have to overcome! I would love your prayers!
Ok, I do want to share funny stories from the road, but I got nothing so far. I could make something up but it would be too good and the real storeis would fall short. Ok, until the next post - cau!

Upcoming Roadtrip

2008-06-27T13:22:00.000+02:00

Thinking back to my college, or rather "college-aged years", one of my favorite memories were the roadtrips. Long stretches of road ahead to be paved with adventure, stories and the unknown. It was nearly thrilling as you pulled out of your driveway to embark on the journey. Jodi you were by the far the best roadtrip partner despite the gas station stops to pick up cassette tapes of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Duets!
Well on Monday I will be leaving on a roadtrip to top them all! Over 3,200 miles we will be driving across Eastern and Central Europe. The first week I will be by myself driving from Prague to Millstatt, Austria and then down to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I get to spend a couple days with Amy and Joel Woodard in Krans. Then on Friday night I go to the airport to pick up Joshua Longbrake, a photographer from Seattle who has worked with JV before. We will set out for the next three weeks going through Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czech, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia!
The whole point of the trip is not to relive my college "aged" days, but to gather photo and video for our capital campaign. Josh is the photographer and I, well I am the videograher! That's right I am now officially the JV videographer for the next month. It's been a steep learning curve but we will see what I can get. I've been practicing my skills on Hayley and Hannah's music recitals and Hannah's class skits. We will be going to camps and cities interviewing the youth of this next generation. Did you know that only 1% of the next generation here in E. Europe are Christians, only 1%! We are going after the other 99% to capture their life on film.
I will be keeping a travel blog of our trip and some updates on the photos that we have gotten. but I'm excited to see some friends along the way. We are going to be in Latvia while Mark Staples the old youth pastor at Hinson will be there with his youth group from Arizona. I will see Heather Canby, my little sisters best friend in Austria! Fun stuff - it's going to be great.

I would love your prayers for the following things:
1) Driving Safety - that is a lot of miles and a lot of opportunities for crashes, speeding tickets, random police stops, bribes, shady road conditions...so many things that could go wrong.
2) Personal Safety - I hesitate to write this because I know that my mom will probably read this at some point but, I would love your prayers on our safety from car theft, mugging for our laptops, cameras and equipment or cash. Hey stuff like that happens, I prefer that it won't.
3) That God would really inspire both Josh and I as we are tasked to take photos that will be breathtaking and emotional. That the material would tell the story of JV and inspire others to get involved.
4) That I would be diligent to get work done while I'm on the road. I still have a full load of work that needs to get done for the campaign. I will have to find internet cafes that will allow me to upload and download emails while I still make progress with marketing and venue information for the states.
Oh, yeah and I will be in the states in August! Stay tuned for dates that I will be in your town: Portland, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta!

So the next time I blog I will check in from the road

Cesky Tesin Gymnasium

2008-06-19T14:41:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to school with Amy and be a guest in her English class. After they practiced their English by asking me yes or no questions about myself, I had a chance to ask them questions and tape it for the campaign. These kids were fantastic! They shared really openly about their lives, their beliefs and their generation. I am really exited for you to see the video when we come to Portland with the campaign!
This is Amy and her class, it was the last day of class and they presented her with some flowers and a picture that one of the students drew for her.

Campaign Intro Blurb

2008-06-17T11:22:00.001+02:00

Hey I thought that I would post this - it is just a 2 second video clip that I put together for the beginning of a power point presentation. Just a clip, remember I am not the professional with the video and production, but for a board meeting I figured I could try to do something. I am learning and thought that you might like to see how I am spending some of my time - some of the backgrounds are doing weird color combos - but you get the idea

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

2008-06-15T15:04:00.000+02:00

Writers Retreat

2008-06-14T08:54:00.000+02:00

This weekend I am staying up at the JV Hotel Malenovice. My job is to complete the campaign fundraiser script. I guess it would be more accurate to say start and complete because there is nothing that we have so far. This is a huge task and I'm praying for diligence and creativity right now. It's a great time to get away and get my work done without the distractions of my life in Cesky Tesin. I can find a thousand things to do when I'm home, but it's just me and a computer right now.
PS- I had my root canal a couple weeks ago and I had another appointment yesterday, both went brilliantly! Dr. Daniel is very generous with the pain killer - although he injects it straight into the roof of my mouth! - and seems to be getting the job done! yeah for good doctors!

I've been attacked!

2008-05-28T10:35:00.000+02:00

By a tick! I'm trying to get over the grossed out feeling of having a live bug attached to me sucking out my blood. I found him (I assume that it's a 'he' because I have less sympathy for a male bug vs. a female bug. Can't explain it, don't ask) this morning when I was about to jump into the shower I saw something on my leg right above my knee. The little black speck wasn't brushing off of my leg and when I looked upon closer inspection there were LEGS! Eeww! I pulled my clothes back on and ran downstairs where Mel took a lighter to the tweezers and after numerous 'tugs' the little bugger finally came out! Super Sick. I have been told to be vigilant to watch and make sure that a target area doesn't appear around the bite, which would be an indication of Lyme disease. I've been assured that I can't die from Lyme disease, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the Lord has a more creative way for me to go when that day should finally arrive. Because I have never been bit by a tick before and have never seen them live and in person I did some research and found this interesting little Tick Encounters site that shows what ticks look like and what they do, WARNING you may be grossed out, but I would appreciate the comfort of not being the only one grossed out! Pray that I don't have Lymes!

I just learned how to cook my clothes!

2008-05-20T20:11:00.000+02:00

The apartment that I am living in above the Ellenwoods house has come fully furnished. Furnished with comfy and cute furniture which I love! A new addition to the upstairs apartment arrived a couple weeks before I did...a dryer! That's right I have my own washer and dryer up in the apartment. Stinking swanky!
I've been thinking it's been swanky- but stupid. You see the last two loads (of the three total that I have done since I've been here) took FOREVER to dry. I would set it for 2 hours and it still wouldn't be dry. I didn't want to bother Mel with the dryer thing, because they had just bought the dryer and honestly I didn't want to be the one to tell him that I thought his dryer was a piece of junk. I resigned myself to wait for sunny days and just hang dry stuff.
But last night I was delightfully educated on my dryer. It cooks my clothes! That's right. The dryers here in Czech don't have vents to the outside like we do in the states, it makes them more portable and flexible with where you can have them. But instead of the air escaping, it bascially boils your clothes and evaporates the water from your clothes and stores it in the water tank. I learned about the water tank last night when Krista (JV from Poland) was spending the night and I had mentioned my 'piece of trash dryer that didn't dry.' She asked if I had emptied the water container...'water container?'
Like you would empty the lint trap, you also have to empty the water tank when it soaks up too much water! I'm amazed and look forward to the next time that I can cook my clothes in my brand new splendid clothes dryer!
Thanks Mel and Amy for buying the dryer for the apartment! And thanks Krista for another little detail that I am learning about living life in Cesky Tesin!

Weekend Trip to Prague

2008-05-19T10:46:00.000+02:00

This last weekend Lucka, Nate and I went to Prague to do a little homework for the upcoming summer interns and have some fun!
On the 3.5 hour drive into Prague we were all very excited to stop off at one of the only McDonalds that serves breakfast. Our stopover definitely brought back memories of long roadtrips to San Francisco to visit my grandparents. Lucka and I were very excited by the breakfast sandwiches and Nate was surprised by the fact that Czech McDonalds' also employee Czech Ronald McDonalds.
Lucka and I went to Krivoklat and Karlstejn to visit Castles. It was a great day, albeit rainy, but beautiful sunshine moments, long train rides through the Czech countryside and time with Lucka! We toured through Prague for the weekend, had a latte at the brand new Starbucks, walked through the new Palladium mall. Learning #1.1 of living in Czech: it's stinkin EXPENSIVE! To help prove my point I will offer some examples: Lancome mascara in the states $23.50 Lancome mascare in Czech $61.00; Vans tennis shoes in the states $39.00 Vans tennis shoes in Czech $143.00! Window shopping was super fun and watching all of the crazy tourists pile into Prague.
On Saturday night Nate, Lucka and I decided to go see a movie becuase there aren't any English movie theaters near Cesky Tesin. I haven't seen a movie in the states in a long time, so this was going to be fun! We were in the final scene of Iron Man when there is glass raining down on cute Gweneth Paltrow when I started to feel cold drops falling down on me!! I looked up and saw water raining down on the theater. For a second I didn't know if this was a 3D movie experience, but when the fire alarm sounded a moment later I figured it out. This was not a cool 3D movie, this was the case of some punk kid probably pulling the fire alarm. So the entire theater had to be evacuated and then we had to climb back up the escalators to wait another 15 minutes to watch the last 3.5 minutes of the movie. All in all, it was a funny experience. Here I am on the St. Charles bridge, this one is for you Dad!

Update on the Tooth

2008-05-12T20:39:00.001+02:00

I may have already shared part of the story but here it goes in full...
I have been experiencing a lot of pain on my teeth for the past week. I haven't had a ton of sleep because I typically wake up around 3AM because the ibuprofen has worn off and my mouth is throbbing. I usually can't go back to sleep for another couple hours even after I have taken another round of medicine, it doesn't seem to kick in. We have tried everything, or rather more specifically Slivo, which is the typical Czech liquer which I thought was burning a hole in my mouth as I was rinsing my mouth with the stuff in the hopes that it would help and numb my tooth and Codine which hasn't been the miracle healer that I was hopin for.
Thank you to everyone that was praying for the pain because this weekend I slept through the night and I was convinced the God was healing my tooth! Unfortunately the Lord had other plans and yesterday the pain hit again.
Last week I went to the emergency dentist twice in hopes of finding a solution. Let me tell you what I found. First of all I was scared to go to the Czech dentist because Amy was telling me about when the dentist pulled Hannah's tooth when she was a little girl and they didn't give her any pain killer or warning they just yanked it out! So the first time I go to the dental ambulance Katka and I walk into a waiting room and hear someone screaming bloody murder behind the big blank door. It sounded like every tooth was being extracted and the kid was screaming and wretching in between. I looked at Katka, like, "Oh heck no!" and she just laughed. The little kid that came out of that room looked like a victim...I was not going to be a victim! I had fully prepared myself to take more sleepless nights but I could not take them drilling on my teeth!
The nurse was banging around in my teeth with the back end of the tools asking me which tooth hurt the worst. She had offered to drill for me but thought that we should try a preventative method instead. So she stuff or stabbed a swab of some cloth dripping in formaldehyde, or some similar substance, into my back teeth. This was supposed to help the gums if they were infected. She also gave me strict instructions that I was supposed to sleep sitting up and that I was not to lay down at all! After so many nights of no sleep this wasn't going to be easy.
The next day the pain was still there so Amy took me into the dental ambulance and the new dental woman was there to treat me. Now mind you both of these women looked like they got their training in the era of communism so the bedside manner wasn't exactly dainty. It was like they were wrangling cattle as they jerked my head around and were banging around in there. Well after the second dentist was shoving dry ice onto the left side of my mouth and asking me which one hurt worst I couldn't give an answer, they all were killing me! Then she pops out the drill, no not from a sterile place but from the overhead hook, she takes a piece of gauze that has been sitting out for each patient and wipes it around the drill a couple times and shoves it into my mouth! I stop and turn toward Amy with my eyes communicating my utter freak out about what is about to happen. "Amy, is she going to drill? Can they give me any medicine?" Amy quickly asked the lady if I can have some pain killer before they start drilling and the dentist/hack responds, "No, if I were to give her pain medicine that would mask the pain. I need to tell by her reaction to the pain which tooth hurts worst." That is a brilliant idea. Just start drilling away at my enamel and when my whelps turn into screams you've found the decay! Holy crap! What kind of dentistry is this? She starts drilling in my mouth and I don't think that there is anything that makes my toes curl like the sound of drilling. Even when I have total painless bliss, the sound alone makes me nauseas. This was beyond painful. I was curled up in the chair trying not to clamp down on her hand down my throat. Finally the drilling stopped and she said that she could open up the whole tooth and deaden the nerves to save me the pain for the next 10 days until we could get into a dentist for a permanent solution. In lieu of having my tooth fall out. Which would have sucked because she had the wrong tooth! So I just decided to wait until we could get an Xray to find out more definitively which tooth was impacted.
So I have had a piece of putty stuck up in the whole that she drilled in my mouth for the past week. Until today...
Today I went into a dentist that the Ellenwoods have known for years. Dr. David (I don't know his last name) was a student of Amy's at English camp and was part of the youth group when they first moved over here. He is gentle in the mouth and he uses pain killers!! Bless him! He started drilling three times today but each time I flinched he gave me another shot, I love him and want to marry him! My mouth is still numb even as I write this 5 hours later, my lips don't quite line up correctly but I haven't felt any pain in the last hours and for that I'm so thankful. I am going to need a root canal at the end of the month and then a crown put on the tooth. All of this is subsequent to the fact that I don't have any pain right now, hooray! I am going to try to go to sleep right now 9PM, yeesh! But I want to be asleep when the novacane wears off and hopefully I can sleep through it.
Thanks for all your prayers this past week. I feel like the problem is solved and I can focus on my job!
Peace-LO

I have a toothache

2008-05-07T16:07:00.000+02:00

I don't know what happened but something has gone terribly wrong with my teeth. I have had a toothache for the past three days that has caused me a lot of pain. It has kept me up during the night and aspirin doesn't seem to deter the pain.
So I am going to the after hours dentist today in about half hour. I'm totally scared because of so many stories that have circulated my way about Czech dentists that have pulled teeth without any warning and without pain killers. Ouch!

Side Note: This picture is not my teeth.

Life in Cesky Tesin

2008-05-05T13:37:00.000+02:00

I have now lived in the Czech Republic for 12 days! Amazing. I wanted to catch you up on the past two weeks and all the ways that God has blessed me...
1) "Send A Girl to Czech" Sale was an enormous success!! I earned $900 thanks to all the donations from friends and family!! That money went to pay for my plane ticket to Czech.
My best friend since 3rd grade Becky Moffitt was up for the weekend we hadn't seen each other in over a year and she was a huge help to me to get everything set up and prepped for the sale. Also Trena Heydel stayed until midnight the night before and then helped me load everything up after the sale. Such a blessing to me!
2) "Goodbyes" are not my favorite things in the world but to have so many hugs and people praying for me as I left gave energy to my spirit as I stepped into this new adventure.
3) All 7 pieces of my luggage arrived safely in Krakow on the 23rd! It was the easiest way to transport everything over to Czech, but it was difficult wrangling 3 luggage trolleys in a crowded airport, but I got through!
4) My first Czech sleep over was a success. Hannah, Hayley and I had a fun craft time Mod Podge 'ing journals and getting to know each other.
5) Shooting a new video. The 4th day in Czech I was directing the video shoot for the latest promo video and getting material for the upcoming campaign. It was great working with the Elemental Video crew from Slovakia. They are great guys who know what they are doing and made my job easy.
6) Spring Conference 2008!! The highlight of my time so far. We just got back yesterday from a 5 day conference up at Malenovice Hotel. This was a time for the North American missionaries to come together to worship and have teaching in English. Our speaker was Ray Pritchard from Mississippi and he spoke on being Fit for Battle. It was an excellent time to reflect and prepare to step into this new position with Josiah Venture. After meeting with so many country leaders and hearing about what is happening in their country I can't help but smile to think of what God is doing in eastern Europe!
7) Reconnecting with my past. It was unbelievable how many people from my past were at the conference. Amy Woodard - she mentored me my senior year of high school and we met each Tuesday morning at Coffee's On in Gresham. We had such a wonderful time of catching up on my birthday that I will always remember! Matt Mormance - Matt and his wife Sharon were at the conference to check out the ministry in Slovenia. Matt was my high school leader at Good Shepherd and was a great family friend. It was great to catch up with them and hear about their ministry in Lithuania with Campus Crusade.
8) My 27th Birthday. I had a great day with my new JV family. Alice Robbins who serves in Poland and Rodicka from Romania also had their birthday on May 3rd. We had fun at the family luau and my roomates Susan and Leah gave me a great present (polish pottery mug) and words of encouragement.

As I write this I am in a lot of pain with a toothache. I would totally appreciate if you would pray that this pain would go away. My teeth have been really sensitive since I left Portland after a dental appointment.
Life has been really good and work is about to take a steep curve upward. I will update on a more regular basis. Thank you for your support and prayers!
LO

Cesky Tesin, here I come!

2008-04-22T19:19:00.000+02:00

I am heading off to the airport momentarily and wanted to get one last post in from this side of the pond. I will be flying through Chicago on my way to Krakow and then a 1.5 hour drive down to Cesky Tesin where I will arrive tomorrow at 2:00pm. My whole life is packed into 6 pieces of luggage. I think that I should retroactively get the senior class award of "Most Likely to be a Nomad."
THank you all that have prayed for me, loved me, generously given to me. I have loved seeing more of who God is through my friends and community!
I will write more when I arrive- no tears...

LO

Truman Needs A Home

2008-04-17T07:47:00.000+02:00

That's right, my faithful and steadfast Truman is for sale!!

The problem is...it's still for sale. I haven't had any calls yet but if you know of anyone that needs a good call here are the details:

1986 Volvo 240 GL , $1,500 OBO

4 Door, 5 speed, Leather interior, sunroof (that doesn't leak), CD player and AUX input for iPods, Power Windows, Locks, Steering and Ski Racks.

Brand new Alternator & Battery. 1 yr. old tires.

Some additional Notes: the tachometer doesn't work (which shows you how many RPMs you are at, but if you know how to drive a stick you won't even notice.) Oh and I broke the rear view mirror off (maybe too much time doing my makeup in the mirror, oops!)

I need to sell the car by this weekend!! Will you pray that I find a buyer? Thank you!

NEW! Send A Girl To Czech Sale Friday April 18th!

2008-04-12T18:42:00.001+02:00

Yeah, I know, lame! But with so much going on right now with family, job and moving I didn't think that I could do the bang up job that I usually do with my sales. For example I like to categorize all my sections and slightly decorate each one with a theme. It's all about presentation. You have to have featured items that people don't dig for but see immeadietly and when those sell, then you need to have backups. It's quite a science this whole garage sale thing:)
Anyway, if you still have stuff that you want to donate to the sale give me a call and let me know where to come and pick it up! Thank you all that have already given stuff, it's great!

Send A Girl To Czech Sale! This Friday April 11th

2008-04-08T19:15:00.001+02:00

I am having a "Send-A-Girl-To-Czech-Sale" this Friday, April 11th!! It will be a 1 day sale from 8am to 6pm. I'm not posting this so that you will come and buy my junk (because that would be wierd right?!)

But if you have some junk that has been cluttering your attic, garage, kitchen, bedroom, laundry room...wherever- Give it to me!!

I would love to sell you stuff to help support my costs of moving over to the Czech Republic. So go ahead and email me or give me a call to have me come and pick anything up for you. Thanks! LO

I'm Moving to the Czech Republic! NEW DATE!!

2008-04-02T04:05:00.000+02:00

I am moving to the Czech Republic on April 22nd! I've taken a position with Josiah Venture, an organization that I worked with 10 years ago. God has been pursuing my heart and preparing the way for me to be working on the BTeam for the upcoming capital campaign. I am so excited for the opportunity to be working with people that are seeking God and joining with the youth of Eastern Europe to make a difference for Christ!

I would love to share more about what I'm going to be doing in the next two years.

Join me for dessert and coffee, April 8th at 7:00pm at my parents house. Email me for directions.

RSVP at lauree2736@hotmail.com or 503-515-5412

Rebekah Sauter Memorial Service

2008-03-27T17:09:00.000+01:00

The Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Rebekah Kay (Vance) Sauter will be held this Sunday, March 30th at 3:00pm at Portland Foursquare Church MAP.

Rebekah Kay (Vance) Sauter, 1981-2008

2008-03-18T06:40:00.000+01:00

Life doesn't provide any answers, but God...

Today I awoke at 3:30 am to my mom screaming upstairs. I ran upstairs and found my dad and her on the couch. My mom was on the phone with her sister and we learned that my cousin Rebekah Sauter died in her sleep. I didn't call her back that's what I was thinking in my head. We had been playing phone tag and she had called last week and I didn't call her back. I had every intention to call her but I didn't, I didn't pick up the phone and call her.

My beautiful cousin was 26 years old and a wonderful wife to David and mother to her 2.5 year old Joshua and her 8 month old Nicole.

She had spent the weekend in San Francisco with David for a little time away, just the two of them. They got home last night and picked up their kids at both of their parents houses. They went to bed around 11pm and then around 2pm their lost luggage arrived at their house from their flight. David went to go bring the luggage inside and was talking to Bekah but she wasn't responding. Her phone buzzed and he reached over her to get it and noticed that her hands were cold. He was getting no response from her and felt that she had no pulse. He called 911 and tried to revive her. It was too late, she had been gone for awhile.

She was the only daughter of Lauree and Rolin Vance and a wonderful sister to her 3 brothers, Ben, Paul and Jonathon. We all miss her desperately, she was a charismatic and funny person and we cherish the wonderful memories that we have made for 26 years.

There are no easy answers or explanations, it's not our right to have it all spelled out. Rebekah had a hope and faith in her God and Father and I know that she is in heaven right now, celebrating the full life that God blessed us all with!

I love you Rebekah, my cousin, my friend, my sister-

http://rebekahsauter.blogspot.com/

A Mission..

2008-03-10T01:04:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was cleaning my room and unpacking. Yes I know that I got back from my last trip on Monday, but I was gone on three trips in two weeks and then right back into work and I don't work at a very fast pace with such a low priority item as my room. So anyway I was unpacking and I was updating my iTunes another long story but I lost all of my music off my computer and iPod. I'm lucky!! and I remembered that I had wanted to find the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies The Mission. Well, I found it!! It hasn't been on iTunes since I last checked, but yesterday I found it!! For those of you who have never seen the movie, SEE IT!! It is profound. But you will then understand the passion that I have for this music. I love the journey that music takes us on. It tells the story, sells the story and enriches those that are reading the story. This music is enchanting, haunting, inspiring, contemplative...yes all of this in one CD. It's all instrumental and wonderful for a night where you need to be working, reading or researching, it's wonderful. Obviously I can't say enough about it. Yo-Yo Ma, world renowned cellist plays on one of the title tracks Gabriel's Song, gorgeous. The composer Ennio Morriconne won the Global Globe that year and was nominated for an Oscar for the soundtrack. As I sit in Panera, writing and listening to this music I'm reminded of the movie, the story that inspired and reminded me of my own decision and calling.

Anyway, it's a cheap $9.99 investment for a moment (or rather 48 minutes) of inspiration!

Have you met my Boo? Curtis Tom

2008-03-01T00:51:00.001+01:00

Is he not the cutest little boo in the world?!? Say yes!! Or else his big bad and loving Auntie/Godmother will have to slap you around a bit.

My boo lives in South Beach with my older sister TIffany and her husband Tony and I can't wait to see them in 2 weeks, whoohoo!

This little man brings so much life to our family, I can't imagine what it's going to be like with any more grandkids, but I hope that my kids (Lord willing) will get the same attention and absolute adoration that we all give to this little one!

2008-02-27T05:27:00.000+01:00

DELAYED...CANCELED>>> Please proceed to GATE 82 for nasty customer service and cheeky buggers behind the counter.

Ok, just for my own venting purposes I'm going to recount the past week and my air travel. (Although 'travel' would imply that I was going somewhere, however, I spent most of the time pacing, sitting and facing the wall trying not to cry.) Here we go:

1. Portland to Chicago: Delayed 4.5 Hours. Kicking/screaming toddler behind my seat for 4.5 hrs. Originally had a 5.5 hour layover. But when I finally reached Chicago I had to run through the airport asking employees where I could find LOT Polish Airlines. To which the typical response was "LOT?" or "I think that flight has already left, sorry." Nothing like arriving for your flight sweaty and stinky from running through the airport, yummy!

2. Chicago to Krakow, Poland: On Time, but my luggage missed the flight. Screaming toddler to my right for 10 hrs. I had a wedding the next day in Czech to which I had to rush out and find an outfit for that night. I finally settled on a plaid skirt, white collared blouse and purple sweater vest...I looked like Pam, the receptionist from The Office, not a good look!

3. Krakow to Warsaw, Poland: On Time. We had left the house in Czech at 6:45AM to drive for 1.5 hours to get to Krakow.

4. Warsaw to Chicago: Delayed 30 mins., screaming toddler to my left for 10 hrs. Had the 2 seats to myself but I couldn't lift up the armrests, it was like the seats were taunting me to dare to sleep. I had a 4 hour layover in Chicago,

5. Chicago to Portland (1): Delayed 4 hours. There was the potential that the flight was going to be canceled but we wouldn't know until midnight Chicago time which was 7AM Czech time I've now been up in transit for 24 hrs. and in Chicago for 8 hours. I opted to get a hotel room in Chicago and a guaranteed flight out the next morning.

6. Chicago to Portland -TAKE 2: Delayed 20 minutes.

2 days after I landed in Portland I was on my way back to the airport to catch a flight to visit my friend Jodi in Huntington Beach, CA.

7. Portland to San Francisco: Delayed 2.5 hours. This delay would cause me to miss my connection in San Fran to LAX. So I rushed down to the LA flight and asked to be transferred to this flight which is direct. 2 hrs. later I report to the gate area for the LAX flight where I am informed that the flight is delayed 2.45 min! I rush back up to the original delayed San Fran flight and get back on that flight, hoping to make the 5 min. connection time.

8. San Francisco to Los Angeles: Delayed 2.5 hours. I didn't have to worry about my connection time because I had plenty of time because of the delays! I got an overpriced cup of chowder and sat and waited with a bunch of cranky travelers. Finally I arrived in LAX at 11:30, and we sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes. With no explanation for the delay, we just sat within view of the gate area and our Jetway that beckoned us to freedom. At this point I was totally going berserk in my head. I actually had this whole vision/desire to kick out of the seat, throwing elbows in every direction, cursing, yelling, ripping hair out of follicles just to get fresh air. Of course no one would of guessed by my gentle, docile demeanor that I was having such horrid thoughts!

9. Orange County to San Francisco: Delayed 1 hour. I even called ahead to check to see if the flight was on time, which I was informed it was. So Jodi and I cut our lunch short and rushed to the airport. All monitors reported an ON TIME flight even after we were still sitting in the gate area and it was 30 behind schedule and there was no plane outside. Apparently, I was missing something...maybe the luck to have a flight take off on time! Yeesh!

10. San Francisco to Portland (1): On Time- Missed the flight. Because of my late flight coming from Orange County I missed my connecting flight by 2 minutes!! 2 Minutes, you would think that they could wait! Holy crap people! When will this end?!

11. San Francisco to Portland (2): Delayed 1 hour. Canceled. The next flight that I could get on was delayed an hour leaving at 11:10PM. So I had 4 hours to kill. As I lay waiting to board the plane in the gate area an announcer came over the loudspeaker and said that the flight was canceled and that we should report to the customer service desk at Gate 82. I rushed down to Gate 82 and was number #8 in line.

It took me an hour to get through the line and during that time the line behind me grew to probably 175 passengers strong, and only 2 sour faced Customer Service agents behind the counter. When it was finally my turn to face J.P. Diaz (I use his full name because it will be made public when I write my scathing letter to the NY TIMES and Budget Travel magazine as "Disappointed and Delayed and switching to Delta" to try to avenge myself) I approached him with my pleasant smile. I said, "Hey JP, it's been a long day for me and I'm sure it will be a longer one for you." Trying to make a connection with him..."Uh-huh," came his obligatory reply.

"I've been traveling for the past week and have had some terrible trouble getting from point A to point B, so if you could get me the best possible hotel room tonight that would be awesome!" My subtle reference to previous aggravations in flight and polite request for special accommodations for me seemed to perk up our little JP. "I can only give you what I have available, we'll see what you get." He replied with an attitude of 'don't ask me to do you a favor, who do you think you are?' Bristling under my skin at his lack of decorum and refusing to succumb to his power hierarchy, that I should be thankful for whatever he can do for me. Please!! "Listen JP, I understand that this is not your fault, but I've been on so many planes in the past week and so many delays and missed flights and I've not once been apologized to for the inconvenience that it's been to me and my schedule and-" JP rudely cut me off,

"It's not our fault, when the weather is bad, we can't do anything about it, so I don't know why I'm supposed to apologize!?!" What do I look like this is my first time on an airplane? Don't treat me like an idiot, you stupid little pipsqueak! "Of course I know that weather is not your fault, but the crew not showing up JP, that is United's responsibility. Is there any sort of compensation that you are providing to me for this inconvenience? Upgrades? Flight vouchers?" You would of thought that I had just asked for his prized hair pomade -because you know that he woke up early to get his hair to make those perfect little swirls on his forehead and sideburns! Shoot!- JP gave me the dirtiest look and said, "Ha! What if everyone in this line started asking for compensation?! Are you kidding?!" At the point that JP asked me if I was kidding, I started to have flashbacks of kicking and thrusting elbows in his direction!
Long story trying to end...

I refused the first flight home that JP offered me that routed me from San Fransisco to Denver to Portland. With my luck I would have been stuck in Denver due to snow! So my first flight out was tonight at 5:25.

12. San Francisco to Portland: Delayed 30 mins. I got home without incident and am safe!

It's been a long journey this past week with lots of time to think and process. I don't know if I'm going to be as loyal to United as I have been in the past and I will keep you updated on my claim for a free ticket, plus 2 upgrades, refund for my wedding outfit I was forced to buy in Czech, plus a Red Carpet club day pass. And my future letter to be published in aforementioned newspapers and magazines. I'm totally exhausted and going to go fall into bed. Good night-

So czech this out...

2008-02-16T12:45:00.000+01:00

I don't know how to say, "Holy Crap" in Czech, well I really don't know how to say anything in Czech except 'thank you,' 'please' and 'good water'. But there may be a language lesson, scratch that, immersion program in the coming months or weeks.

I have waited until more things were in place before I told people. But right now I am in Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic on the border with Poland and have been offered a position with Josiah Venture. They are the organization that I worked with when I was 17 years old, teaching English in summer camps in the Czech Republic. The events that lead up to this moment are amusing at least and a profound work of my God and Savior at the very best.

It all started with an innocent day at Mimi and Madres when I was messing around online and thought about JV and wanted to know what the Ellenwood family was up to. I hadn't seen them in 10 years but I wanted to see what they were up to. I sent a little email with, "I don't know if you remember me or not..." to which Amy Ellenwood responded that she did and wanted to know what I had been up to in the past years. I gave her a little synopsis and thought that it was sweet that they remembered me and wondered what it would be like to get on a plane and visit Czech again after so many years. Well Mel Ellenwood was reading all of the emails while he was in Chicago for some business and wrote me the next day asking if I would be able to get on the phone with him about a potential position with a campaign coming up for JV. Well 4 days later a place ticket was bought for me to fly over to Czech to meet with Dave Patty the president of JV and Mel Ellenwood the VP. I arrived in Krakow Poland, my luggage did not make it ( funny story, maybe I'll tell you later!) and I have been off and running since.

Everything is happening so quickly. At this point the thought of moving over to Czech is daunting to realize that my family and friend relationships in the states would now be a long distance ordeal. The idea that I would be moving into a culture where I don't speak the language and have limited mobility. Kinda- a lot scary!

I have been so impressed and comforted by the relationships of the people here with Josiah Venture. There seems to be a genuine care and dedication to each other, I would love to know that I would be coming here with a built in support system. So many things to think about and process when I come home. I would covet your prayers for my upcoming decision and a discernment for the Lord's direction for me. Thank you!