Thankfuls 2012

Every since I was like 10, I have written a list of 100 things I am thankful for on Thanksgiving. The tradition began one year when I was bored while riding in the car to Grandma and Grandpas. It is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving now. (Thanks Phumi for joining the fun this year - you rock!)

You would think with 28 hours (24 hours of driving and 4 hours of gas/food/etc breaks) of traveling this past Thanksgiving season, we would have had more than enough time to write out our thankful list.  Alas, we did not.  But better late than never.

A thought I had several times this past Thanksgiving season: Whom are you thankful to?

For me, the answer is easy: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  

But what if you do not believe in God?  Then whom?  I mean in saying, "Thank you" there is clearly a someone referenced...so who do you reference?  Just my two cents.

As always, this is no particular order.

Here we go: (the ones in blue were stated by Ian - p.s. he was in the middle of something and I started with the "what are you thankful for?")

1. God is good.
2. and He is faithful.
3. My Love (that would be me)
4. Jesus
5. family
6. a big oven
7. Emily P. Freeman
8. Kakao Emoticons
9. Christmas lights
10. a good, patient, funny, husband that eats whatever I cook with only compliments
11. a vacuum
12. spell-check
13. M, B, & C - the kiddos I nanny for
14. G & K - the amazing parents of the kiddos I nanny for
15. books
16. computers
17. Seminary
18. warm blankets
19. big closets
20. gift cards
21. towels from the dryer
22. 908 lovely and fabulous days of marriage - and many more to come!
23. pretty authentic Korean restaurants in America
24. coffee
25. coffee creamer
26. Tsh
27. starting AND finishing cross-stitch projects
28. the ability to run
29. American grocery stores
30. God provided, God is providing, and God will provide
31. cereal + milk
32. warm (or cold) running water
33. being able to own and read the Bible in my language
34. Christmas music
35. Grandpa + Kathryn
36. treasured memories of my grandparents who have already finished the race set before them
37. America
38. cookbooks
39. pizza
40. making potato cakes
41. sex
42. Colorado weather
43. running club
44. friends (there is a lot here I could say, but I will keep it short - friends.are.vital.)
45. hamburgers
46. meatloaf
47. meatballs
48. our car
49. being part of the Church
50. the freedom to vote
51. World Vision
52. treadmills
53. checking the mailbox to find it is not empty
54. ice cream
55. paper snowflakes
56. grace
57. Facebook
58. the view out our window
59. libraries
60. those who have gone before me in high-altitude baking and left a record
61. slippers
62. smartphones
63. GPS
64. electricity
65. ranch salad dressing
66. lazy days
67. our Korean adventure
68. the Holy Spirit - our seal and guarantee
69. being done with the "I am adjusting to the high altitude" phase of running
70. candles
71. Laura
72. going on dates
73. Skype
74. touchscreens in the back of airplane seats
75. the change of seasons
76. the hubs making amazing, delicious food
77. the space heater
78. early birthday presents
79. the Word became flesh and dwelt among us
80. good health
81. places to pass along items that we no longer need (Goodwill/Salvation Army)
82. Google
83. beer
84. airplanes - getting us from point A to point B quickly
85. jokes
86. Therefore now, there is no condemnation for those of you who are in Christ Jesus...
87. discount grocery stores
88. online sermons
89. things that make running more fun, mainly my Garmin and the Zune
90. being able to get-up and go whenever we want, where ever we want (cough, we don't have kids yet, cough)
91. time to reflect
92. cheese
93. board games
94. staplers
95. my memory
96. alarms, timers, and watches
97. music
98. Ian giving me sips of his coffee or bites of his food
99. Advent
100. knowing and being set free by Truth

Interview with {no other than} Alissa!

I can't believe that we have been in America for over 2 months!  I also can't believe how sweet my friends (dare I say, 'community'... a word I never thought I would use post-Greenville) have been with checking in on how transition to America is going.

Instead of emailing everyone individually, I thought I would interview myself (I am pretty sure that all the cool kids are doing it).

Here are some of the most popular questions that we have gotten over the last few weeks/months.

Q: How do you like Colorado?
A: We LOVE it.  The low humidity is amazing.  And it is sunny a lot.  One thing that we are still adjusting to is suburb living.  It is a whole different beast.  I can do city living (like Daegu) and I can definitely do small town or rural, but suburbs are...interesting.

Q: What do you miss from Korea?
A: the.people. No doubt about that.  We do miss some of the food, the simplicity of non-American living, and I miss the financial stability/security of having two incomes (but God IS good and He DOES provide, so we are okay, I just like to feel security in earthly things like a paycheck.)

Q: What do you do?
A: Currently, I am a nanny.  I get paid to hang out with three pretty cool kids (ages 8, 5, and 2.5).  Most days are pretty fun, some days are not so much (those days I come home saying, "we are NEVER having children"  When  you have kids, they live with you ALL the time, like, the parents never come home and you get to leave...yikes!  I think it is a huge blessing that all humans are born as cute, helpless infants.   So glad that no one accidentally pops out a teenager....or a two and a half year old.)  Anywho, it is a pretty good part time job.  I will get a full time teaching job (eventually).

Ian goes to class.  He learns cool stuff and tells me about it.  He seems to like classes and is doing well! 

Q: What do you like about living in America again?
A: the.people.  It is SO great to be near family again.  We love having a car again and being able to communicate easily with people around us.  Our grocery bill is considerably lower as well :-)  There are a lot of little things that are nice too: not needing a proxy to watch Hulu or listen to Pandora, being in similar time zones to most of my friends, knowing that we will have Thanksgiving and Christmas off (YES!), seeing other women out running etc, etc, etc.

Q: How do you like your apartment?
A: We love it!  Usually we do a video tour of the place we are living, it is coming...eventually.

Q: Are you still running?  How is running in Colorado?
A: Yes, I am still running.  I thought I was going to move to Colorado and have about 23,489,302,948 insta-running buddies...not so much.  Running has taught me endurance, so I am trying to endure until I can find someone to run with.  I do go to a running club on Wednesday nights.  They write really hard workouts - which is fun, but the demographic is a bit different than what I am looking for.

I think that is about it...anymore questions?  Ask away and I will be more than happy to answer :-)

A Craggee 10 Days!

Whew, it has been a crazy (Koreans say crazy, "cra-gee" and now I say it like that) 10 days.

• 10 days ago we were in Korea.
• 7 days ago we were loading the U-haul.
• We have seen so many precious people in the last week!
• We are finally over jet-lag (for the most part).
• We have about 20 more wooden stirring spoons than we need.

Okay, so the last one is not that interesting, but it has been fun/interesting to unpack all of our stuff and see what we have.  We have a lot of stuff (to say the least).  My stuff from college + Ian's stuff from before we got married + Stuff we got from the wedding + Stuff from Korea = lots, and lots, and lots of stuff.

Before we left Korea, some of my fellow waygooks asked me to blog about reverse culture shock.  Here are the things I have noticed since coming back into Western culture:

• I feel an overwhelming sense to say, "You speak English so well!", especially if I am talking to someone who looks Korean.
• I feel guilty if I take something from someone with only one hand.  I still do two hands or the-hand-on-arm if I hand people stuff.
• America.is.huge
• the people are huge (vertically and horizontally), 
• the cars are huge, 
• the parking lots are ginormous, 
• our kitchen is huge, 
• and Target is about 3 times bigger than I remember it being.
• Along with hugeness, there are a lot of big open spaces where you can see forever.
• American shopping carts are annoying to push. The wheels only go forward or backwards.
• I almost cried when we stood in front of the cheese aisle.  I seriously was getting emotional in the cereal aisle.  Groceries are SO cheap :)
• I still feel like we are going to go back to Korea next week.  I feel like we are on vacation or something.
• Americans do not know what Gangnam Style is...so don't start doing the dance that goes along with music video.

 

•  I say Assah! (awesome) and Jinja? (for real?  or really?) more often than I thought I did.
•  Ian says that my voice is more gravely since we moved back (don't ask me).  I think it is the dry Colorado air.  I am thirsty all.the.time.
• The food is nooky-hada (greasy) and ma-chee-sigh-yo (delicious).
• I miss public transportation.
• Lots of Americans/Coloradans run. 
•  No one points, whispers, or stares when I run past them.  
• No one covers their children eyes' either.  
• I was super excited about running in a sports bra, but it is cold here.
• Speaking of which, I had to carry a sweatshirt everywhere we went for the first week, because it was freezing inside all of the restaurants/stores/homes.  It is August and I have jeans on -craggeee!
• Everything is huge! (Maybe I said that already).
• I stare at people. 
• Ian and I got used to people having no idea what we were saying in public.  It has been hard to remember that other people can understand what we are saying - hahahahaha.  
• Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow  - not necessarily culture shock but a good truth to remember when you are feeling culture shock.  God knows Korean culture and American culture.  Jesus was the ultimate waygook (foreigner) and we are foreigners too - no matter what country we are in.  Heaven in our real home. 

Running Tip Tuesday {July Edition}

I am going to guess that even if you are not a runner, you can identify with some part of this post.

So we have to start with a story: I run quite a bit (maybe 6 days a week).  And I don't run just for fun.  I time my runs.  I measure my runs.  I do math in my brain while I am running about how far I have run and how my mile (1600 meters) splits are.
A few weeks ago, I realized that some of my runs were a bit sluggish - not a big deal.  I am all about letting my body run slow if it wants to.  But then it was becoming that all of my runs were slower than they should be (for the sake of this post, let's not delve into "slower" and "should be"... roll with me folks).  I was getting really frustrated with myself.  I was starting to feel shame about how slow some of my runs were.

And then I went running and had a spiritual crisis (kinda, I can be dramatic).

This is what I realized.

Running at a certain pace (9 minute miles on recovery days) had become an idol in my life.

Auto-kay (in case you don't live in Korea that translates as "What to do?")

Do you know Pete Wilson?  He is a pastor in America and he wrote a book about idolatry.  He views an idol as anything we seek to get something from that we should only get from God.  (I don't know if those are his exact words, but it is his overall idea).


So working with this definition of an idol, I asked myself what I was seeking from running (9 minute miles on easy days) that I should be getting from God.  Let's fast-forward through the superficial stuff and get to the point: acceptance.  I wanted running to tell me that I am good enough.  I wanted to try hard and get rewarded because of my efforts.  I wanted to place my identity in running.  I wanted running to tell me who I am.

But that is not the Gospel!  So let's remind ourselves what the Gospel is: God saves (saving) sinners.  I do not try hard enough and eventually save myself.  There is nothing for me to show God that would be good enough to save me.  What I have done (sinned) has made me enemies with God.  My good works (my trying hard) are like filthy rags.  I am not good enough.


Thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)

God has provided a way!  Yay!  When I trust Jesus to be my Savior, I get a new identity.  My identity is found in Christ.

How does this relate back to me and my running?
I redeem lies with truth:

• Out of the heart the mouth speaks, that means the Words of God comes from His Heart.
• He says that I am I am good enough.  Not because of anything I can or can not do.  But because of what He has done for me.  I am enough.  I am accepted and not condemned.
• God is passionate about his glory.  I want running to bring God glory.  There is no reason for running to bring me shame, regardless of my pace.
• I am saved by grace through faith; and that not of myself, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• Psalm 115:8 says that those who make idols will be like them and so will all who trust in them. I would much rather trust in God and be conformed to his likeness.  (I think the end of Romans 1 also goes along with this idea.)

I do believe that my theology applies to my everyday life.  It is important for me to step back and examine the thoughts/beliefs that motivate my actions.  What else in my life is an idol (anything we seek to get something from that we should only get from God)?  How can the gospel redeem me?

So to end my story: I am still running sluggish some days.  On those days I preach the Gospel to myself while I run.  I end my runs thankful for God's goodness and faithfulness, instead of berating myself for my slowness.  God is love.  He is not going to run out.  I am confident that He is well stocked in grace, patience, and compassion as well.

So, what idols are in your heart?  (that is rhetorical)

p.s.  Thank you, Ian, for listening to my 28354235 minutes of whining and complaining working through this.

Clearly, we disagree Ms. Nagy

I think it is important that you read this article first (the title of the post is: Why I Believe Marriage Shouldn't Be Allowed Before Age 25).  I am writing this blog post in direct response to what Ms. Nagy has written.

Well, respectfully, I disagree.

First and foremost, I would like to express that my heart breaks for you, Ms. Nagy.  As in, I read a few other posts you have written (this one and this one) and I was seriously almost crying.  But I am at work right now and bawling my eyes out for someone I had never met in my life before did not seem quite doable.  But oh sista, I am so sorry for you.  I do not want to say this in a cold or harsh way, but Ms. Nagy, you need Jesus.  He won't make you happy all the time.  But He will be the best thing that ever happens in your life.  I promise.

Secondly, (sorry to the English High School teachers that are inwardly groaning right now, but it seemed like a good word) trying to suggest a law about what age you can marry is foolish.  If you read some of the comments of the blog post that Ms. Nagy wrote, you will quickly see that there are a plethora of counterexamples.  I do not need to list anymore here.  I do have concern that if a government would make a law stating that you can only marry after a certain age (say 25), that the rate of co-habitation before marriage would increase.  This concerns me greatly as co-habituation (in my humble opinion) is not healthy and studies show that co-habitation before marriage leads to a higher divorce rates.  

Thirdly, I sense that this is an underlying idea to Ms. Nagy's post.  If you wait until you are 25 to get married, then you won't get divorced.  If you discover yourself before you get married, then you won't get divorced.  It seems that she holds the idea that if you x, y, and z before you get married, then your marriage is divorce-proof.  Sadly, I found this underlying idea in a book I saw advertised recently.  (I guess I should say, that I could be wrong.  Maybe neither one of the individuals holds this view and I made it up in my mind.)  Here is what I have observed: divorce-proofing your marriage is not so much what you do before you get married (although those choices factor in) it is more what you do day-in and day-out of your married life.  It really saddens me that people are worrying about divorce-proofing marriages.  

It is like suggesting that we go swimming and then worrying about drown-proofing our time in the pool.  Why don't we just focus on swimming?  In my experience, it is really fun (both marriage and swimming).  Of course, you (we) need to guard against the foxes, but if your concern before you get married is about getting divorced, you might want to take some serious time to reflect on that. 

I believe, Ms. Nagy, that the purpose of marriage is to bring glory to God.  I guess you got confused or missed the memo and thought it was about personal happiness or discovering yourself.  (For the record, I think getting married young helped me to discover myself.)  But it is not.  It is not about puppy-love lasting forever.  It is acknowledging that I am a broken sinner, as is my husband, and yet God can bring something beautiful and worthy of glorifying His name out of our union.  That is amazing and humbling to me.

And no, I don't believe that unicorns or fairies exist.  I do believe that God is faithful and He will continue to sustain my marriage for many, many years to come.

Just sayin'...

Reflection

The last four weeks have been interesting for me.  I don't want to go into details (my goal is to reflect not to offend people.)  I did not realize how reformed I have become.   I did not realize how complicated evangelism was.  I did not realize how fun evangelism can be...when you are tag-teaming with your amazing husband (who amazes me).  I did not realize how much sweeter grace could be than it was already was to me.

Let me clarify, grace is sweet.  More than I could ever describe to you.  Grace is radical.  If you don't understand grace, go read the New Testament.  Write down every verse about grace.  Then read the Old Testament, see where we were before God Incarnate came to Earth.

Or better yet, go chat with someone who does not understand grace and thinks that we can earn our own salvation through doing good things (yikes!).

And as I told someone last night, "We are not put on earth to do.  We are put on earth to glorify God."  (That was the light bulb moment was I was like, "Self, you have now entered the territory know as 'reformed'. ")

My heart needed to read this today.  I knew it.  But I needed to be reminded.

Revisiting New Year's Resolutions

I am a big fan of making New Year's Resolutions.  So I thought I would check-in and see how I am doing.  (aka I can not even remember all the resolutions I made this year).  The pictures in this post do not have anything to do with my New Year's Resolutions, I just thought you might like to see some of my favorite Korean pictures :)

• Physical: Run a marathon.  
• Preferably in 3 hours and 59 minutes or less.
• Update :: I attempted to run a marathon.  It was not even close to being under 4 hours.  I did not meet this goal in 2012, but this is a life goal of mine, so I still have time to accomplish it (assuming that I live a long life.)

I love spring!

• Emotional:  Set healthy boundaries, mainly in the time management area of my life.  
• This means one free "night" a week.  One night that has nothing on the schedule.
• Update :: Ian and I do try to schedule one "free night" each week and it is heaven.  I love knowing that I can come home and do whatever.  I am also trying to limit how much time I spend on Facebook.  I am trying to only get once a day.

• Mental: Read books and Blog
• I will read my fair share of novels this year for fun, but I want to read 2 "deep" books.  Right now I am thinking one of them will be Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
• I want to post on my blog twice a week.  I also want to devote January to updating my blog and finishing up the posts that were scheduled for 2011, but I did not get completely done.
• Update :: I started Mere Christianity, but I have not finished it.  I have read Practical Theology for Women and On the Incarnation.  I am hoping to finish Mere Christianity and maybe read one more book of depth this year.  Also, you can tell be glancing through the blog, that I have not been posting twice a week.  I really want to record life in here in Korea.  So hopefully I can spend some time planning out blog posts and capturing memories here.

• Spiritual: I want to delve deeper into the Spiritual Disciplines.
• Ian and I have purposed to read the entire Bible in 52 weeks (as of right now, I am not sure if this is going to happen or not, but we will at least give it a try!)
• My verses for 2012 are from Ezekiel 36:25-27, "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command."  I added the bold part.  I love these verses.  God has been convicting me of how hard my heart can be in some areas of my life.  I want a soft heart. 

Update :: As you can see, I am rockin' the Bible reading.  I want to see how close to the end I can get by the time we leave Korea.  I did not foresee being this far ahead.  Praise God.  God is still working on my heart (as he will be for the rest of my life.)









• Marriage: I want to pray for Ian more.
• I am going to try to use my 30 minute walk to and from school to pray for my amazing husband.  
• Update :: Fail.  I do not pray while I am walking to or from school.  I think about 9283423094 other things, but prayer never seems to be one of them.  And when I ride my bike, I mainly think about getting to school in one piece.  I would say that Ian and I are praying together more consistently.  I need to find some time in my day to pray for Ian.  So if you have any good ideas, let me know :)

Hopefully my update at the end of the year will be full of triumph (insert me humming Victory Through Jesus). 

A post on perseverance

"Maybe this is God closing a door."  Do you know how many times I have heard that recently?  Too many.  Yes, we are embarking on making a big life decision soon.  Where will we live next year?  What will we do?

I don't know {yet}.  We don't know {yet}.

I am sure next year at this time we will know what God planned for us (because you know, by that point in time, we will be living it).

I do know this:
We don't serve a manipulative God.  We have a compassionate, wise, sovereign, holy, just, awesome God.  And he does not take us places he is not.  And he is good.  And he is faithful.

He does not crack open a door, let his glorious light shine through, and then as we start to walk towards it slam it close in our face.

I think God is teaching me that the door is open.  You can call it a window, a door, a hole through the wall, whatever you want :)  The door may be far away.  It might be a rough and hilly path to it.  But He is leading.  And my job is to follow.

The best part about the door being far away is that we get to learn perseverance along the way.  And patience.  And we get to grow our trust in the Compassionate, Wise, Sovereign, Holy, Just, Good, Awesome, Faithful One.

Just think: what if Peter and John thought the "door" was closed after fishing all night and not catching anything?  What if they never threw their nets in one more time?

What if Joseph thought the "marriage" door was closed because his fiancee got pregnant?

What if Paul thought the "missionary" door was closed because he was beaten, rejected, stoned, imprisoned?

What is Abram and Sari thought the "child" door was closed because they were old and barren?

My simple answer is this: God's glory {for that circumstance} would not have been revealed to us.

Yes, I know, friends.  I am young.  I have had an easy life, you may say.  Wait 50 years and see what I say.  Maybe then my open or closed door thoughts may change.  We are told in 1 John 4:1 to "not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."  Just because an opportunity arises does not mean that it is from God.  We get to use our minds and hearts to discern (emphasis on the discern).

But at the end of the day (or at least today), I am still going to say that God did not close a door.  I just saw what I thought was an open one and God refined my ability to discern.

God is good.

Uncharted Territory

Ahem, this is going to be a post of uncharted territory for me.  But it is my blog so that means I can write about whatever I want.  I won't be posting this to Facebook, but if you happen to stumble upon this post, feel free to read, comment, or ponder the following.

Just my thoughts ya'll.

When Ian and I were dating, he would open the car door for me.  He would walk on the street side of the sidewalk.  He would do lovely and sweet things for me.  Some people {not everyone} would say, "Just wait until you are engaged..." like he would stop doing those things once we were engaged or married.  Well then we got engaged, and he still opened the car door for me.  He still walked on the street side of the sidewalk.  He would still do lovely and sweet things for me.  Some people {not everyone} would say, "Just wait until you get married...".

Well then we got married. (Do I need to insert a rant about "oh you are still in the honeymoon stage"...You can just insert in your brain).  Folks, he still does lovely and sweet things for me.  He carries the heaviest grocery bags all the way home and does not complain.  He works hard to provide for us.  He takes responsibility and leadership in our family.  He probably does more lovely and sweet things for me, than before we got married.  And still some people say, "Just wait until you have kids...".  I married the best man I have ever met in my life.  He has become my best friend too.  I seriously doubt that he is going to stop doing lovely and sweet things for me.  (But if he does, we will cross that bridge when we come to it, instead of critically evaluating every action "oh maybe he is finally turning into that man that does not do lovely and sweet things for me anymore...that was just before we got married").

Here is where the uncharted territory part comes in (good Lord I am blushing already).  I decided early on our marriage that I was not going to be a "I have a headache.  I am tired.  I am {put any excuse in you would like}." wife.  I was going to be an honest, communicating wife.  Ian is so great about sitting with me in coffee shops and chatting about matters of my heart.  I would be SO HURT if I started sharing something that has been on my heart and he rolls his eyes, and says, "okay, let's just make it quick.  I have a headache. I am tired. I am fill in some excuse."  You can connect the dots and blush along with me now.

I am not trying to be legalistic here.  I am trying to be real.  I am trying to provide a different perspective than what American culture has shoved onto me for the past 20 years.

And still there are women who hear my perspective, give me the look and say, "oh just wait until you have kids, then you will really be tired".   (I may or may not think this in my brain when I hear this: Did your husband still find time to connect emotionally with you after you had kids?  I certainly hope so)

Love is a choice.  Joy is a choice.  How we spend our time is a choice.  How tired we are is a choice.

I will get off my soap box now.  Oh yeah - by no means are we perfect.  We still need grace and have a lot of lesson to learn.  But we are striving.

Happy Hearts Day!

China 2012

Korean moments

I was thinking about titling this post Precious Moments, but then I thought you might think of the figurines.
This post has nothing to do with little statues, but with moments of my day that are sweet and precious.

There are no school buses in Korea (in the city at least).  But there are taekwondo vans.  Taekwondo is a pretty big deal in Korea.  So the taekwondo master (guy or girl in charge of the taekwondo place) picks up the kiddos every morning and delivers them to school.  After school, the kiddos go to practice taekwondo and then are taken home (generally, there are always exceptions).  Anywho, when I walk to school in the morning, I pass several different taekwondo masters helping the kiddos out of the van and then before they leave the taekwondo master says something in Korean (it sounds very taekwondo-y) to the kiddos and all the kiddos say something in unison back and then they bow.  It is so cute!  I am sure it does not sound cute if you are sitting in America trying to picture this scene in your head, but believe me, it is precious!

Second precious moment of my day.  I was checking Facebook today after lunch (FB informs me of all major news and keeps me up to date with American life...) and I realized that my co-teacher was humming.  That's nice I thought.  Then I realized that she was humming a song I knew (please watch this video, it sums up my childhood I think...gotta love the 80s and 90s).  I just sat and listened to her for a few moments, settling into the presence of God.  I finally interrupted her to tell her that I knew the song that she was humming.  This particular co-teacher is really into practicing her English, so I let her guess at the English lyrics and told her what I remembered of the song.  It was a sweet and precious moment of my day!

What are favorite moments of your day?

Read this please :)

My running buddy made a list of things that we, waygooks,  do that might seem odd to Americans :)

Click here to read the list

I would like to add to the list:

22.)  I eat garlic straight up now.

23.) I eat onion straight up now.  Or onion in bean sauce: yum!

24.) I hand things to people with two hands.

25.) I bow often (probably like 50 times a day).  I am really hoping that this does not happen in America.

26.)  I talk about money in "thousands" (how much is it?  5,000)

27.) I will definitely say thank you or hello in the wrong language at least once while in America.

28.) I stand up when someone older than me comes in a room (unless I am eating).

29.) I say things like, "We will go first."   "It is good for your health"   "I am so Korean"  "hogwan" "nooribang"  "adjuma"  "jinga?"

30.) I slurp my noodles.

31.) When I get super excited I raise my eyebrows and say, "Waaaaa"  {I am hoping to break this habit about 3 seconds after getting to America}

32.) One can of soda, 5 people?  No problem.

33.) I only like to buy things at the grocery store that have other things taped to the box (i.e. buy a box of cereal with a blanket taped to it or buy a carton of milk with three things of yogurt taped to it)

34.) Korea is the best country in Asia (possibly the world if you ask Koreans)

35.) I have no problem walking to store 20 minutes away, buying groceries and then carrying them home.  (Well, I have a little problem with this when it 500 degrees outside, but whateve)

36.) I will add "eee" to the end of seemingly random words: pageeee, Englisheee, How mucheee?  (this drove me nuts when I came, now I think it is cute)

37.) Speaking of which, everything is cute.  I say cute about 94089509549 times a day.

38.) I will switch out the "f" sound for "p" sound or the "r" for "l" sound and find it hilarious (I crack myself up when introducing myself to Koreans)

39.) I will look over my shoulder when walking on the sidewalk to make sure there are no cars or delivery boys about to run me over.

40.) I can not remember some words in English.

Edit: after making this list there are 4 more that came to mind:
41.) My friend Katelyn said that we use your cell phone, tvscreen, computer, anything with a dark reflective surface as a mirror.  True, true.

42.) I will ask what to do with trash.  Where is your freezer bag for food?  Can I put this in the regular trash? I completely forgot that people in American will throw all of their trash in the same garbage.

43.) If I am walking down the street and I notice a man standing with his back to me or partially hidden behind something, I will most likely avoid him at all costs.  I have developed quite the case of  scared-of-interrupting-men-peeing-on-the-street-phobia.

44.) What do you do with your hands when taking a picture in America?  I can't remember.

And in about 12 days some of you Americans will probably be able to add to the list :)

6 Reasons to Smile

I have a lot of reasons to smile today (in no particular order)!

1.) God loves me!  Jesus died so that we can be forgiven!  These thought always brings a smile to my face.

2.) I won!  I entered into a giveaway on Keeper of the Home and I won!  Woohoo!!!!!  Are you wondering what I won?  I won a NaturoKits basic first aid kit from NaturoKits.  Thanks to Keeper of the Home and NaturoKits!  I never win anything and I won!  Yeah!  I was freaking out this morning when I got the email.

3.) The countdown is on!  3 weeks from today we will be in route to America!  I have 6 school days,  6 camp days, 2 days of desk warming left for the semester!  Don't get me wrong - I love life here in Korea, but I am so ready for a break and some vacation!  Family, decaf coffee, friends, Target, sports bra runs, ground turkey, dryers, ovens, American Chinese, American Mexican, family, Panera, friends...I am ready for all of that and more!

4.) My friend who is a rockstar woke up early in America so we could Skype.  I love it when my friends spoil me!  It was so great to chat it up!  Thank you for waking up early!

5.) Thanks to the Heavenly Homemaker, I have found a great way to use left-over zucchini!  And I found this recipe too: No Bake Cinnamon Rolls (they are actually bread, but I take what I can get).  I am going to try this recipe with 65 little precious ones during summer camp.  I'll let you know how it goes!

6.) The hubs who is amazing and I hung out with one of his co-teachers last night.  We learned how to make gimbap.  I will tell you about the process soon - there are so many steps!  I tried to take pictures of all of it.


Why are you smiling today?

Still a secret

Remember this secret?

Can I just say the last thirty days have been humbling?  Here are some things I have learned:

1.)  I do not necessarily say mean/negative things that often, but the way I say things is definitely negative.

2.) God showed me how full of pride my heart is.  And no matter how hard I try to fix myself, I am powerless.

I think in times like this, it is best to keep on keepin' on.  I am going to keep this secret.  And keep trying, praying, and allowing God to work in this area of my life...

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20&21

26.2 miles later

Just in case you have not been keeping up with my blog as of late, let me fill you in on the excitement in my life.  I have been training for a marathon.  I (finally) ran the marathon!  I give myself a B-.  My B goal was to run 4 hours (my American partner totally ran 4:00:21 – you go girl!).  My C goal was less than 4:38.  I was closer to the B goal than the C goal, hence the B-. 

Let me sum up the marathon for you.  The first 13 miles (or 21 km) were wonderful.  The birds were singing, the sun was shining, I was running, I was happy, my running partner and I were chatting.  Life was good.  Maybe we went out a little too fast in our excitement…but life was good.  I was eating my gu, I was a happy camper.

I had one not three

Then we got to mile 14, I was like, “I am feeling good” I am going to speed up a little.  STUPID!  Note to self: next time I say this during mile 14 of a marathon, don’t speed up.  Wait a couple of miles.  Miles 14-18 were pretty blissful.  I was running by myself, but still birds singing, cherry blossoms blossoming, I was still feeling good.  Then I got to mile 18 (30 km) aid station.  I walked so that I could start in on my second gu and some water.  Then the 4 hour pace group passed me.  I was like, bah start running.  Then my running partner caught up to me.  At this point, we were still on pace to hit 4 hours (Thank you Garmin for being awesome like that).  I honestly do not really remember kilometers 31-35.  What I do remember is that I thought I was going to die.  I seriously thought my legs were falling off.  I was in agony to say the least.  I had hit the wall.  I remember at one point looking over (I think I was attempting to jog at this point) and seeing that the curb was unusually high…it looked like the perfect place for my derriere (um, I always thought that derriere was spelled dairyair until 5 seconds ago)   I really, really, really wanted to sit down.  I even stopped running so I could stare at the curb (I tried to look like I was stretching or something other than dying).  I thought to myself, “If I sit down, I won’t have to keep running.”  It was the most beautiful and most appealing thought in the world to me.  I knew eventually someone (a.k.a my Amazing Husband) would find me.  But then I also realized that I would not finish the marathon.  The first thought that came to my mind was, “If you can survive uprooting your life and living in Korea for 7 months, you can run for one more hour Alissa Jo!”

And then

Jesus came (I thought I was going to be at the pearly gates soon after this moment….I was like, “take me now Jesus!”) 

 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” 

I sang the Philippians 4:13 song (from the Donutman) in my head.  I started walking.  I sang the song again and I started running, jogging.  I sang the song again and kept running jogging.  The song was on repeat in my head.

I do distinctively remember getting to the water station at 35 km.  I finished off my gu and started chugging water and Gatorade.  My goal at this point in time was to finish.  Nope, actually, my goal was just to make it to the next aid station for more water and Gatorade.  As soon as I left one station, I would start searching the horizon for the next one.  

Eating chocolate with electrolytes

 To make this long story a tiny bit shorter, let’s just say that I finished.  Finally.  4:14:something. I placed 29^th out of 65 women that ran the full marathon.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, I found my amazing husband.  He had some Clif shot blocks for me.  (Note to self, do not eat shot blocks after the next marathon).  For whatever reason, I felt horrible after running and the shot blocks left a weird taste in my mouth…like I was going to upchuck.  So I did the logical thing, I laid down and went to sleep using my backpack as a pillow.  An hour later I awoke to the tent around me being taken down, so we moved to a different spot and I slept for two more hours.  I am not sure how many people lie on the ground and sleep for three hours after a marathon, but you should try it, it really refreshes you.  (and takes away the upchuck sensation in your stomach).

Training for and running a marathon changed my life (sounds cliché maybe, but true).  I never thought I would find a running partner in Korea.  I did.  I never thought I would run 50 miles a week after college.  I did.  Or do 18-20 mile long runs.  I did.  I never thought I would run a marathon.  I did.  I can all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Marathon running buddy (before)

Usually when I do not hit my time in a race, I get pretty disappointed.  I think it is a natural reaction, but honestly, I was okay with it.  My identity and self-worth is not in the time on the clock at the finish line.  There is this great song that I love to listen to on a nice day while driving with the windows down (not that I do that much driving now days…).  Anywho, here are some of the lyrics: I am not the shoes I wear, I am not the clothes I buy, I am not the house I live in, I am not the car I drive, I am not the job I work, you can’t define my worth by nothing on God’s green earth. my identity is found in Christ, it’s found in Christ.  I love this song!


For now, I am hanging up my running shoes....for an entire week!  I am going to let my body rest and recover and then start training for another race.  I am not sure the distance or the place...but I will race again!


Do you have any accomplishments in your life that you never thought you would obtain?

Never Say Never...

1.) Let's get one thing straight: I never, in a hundred million bajillion years, ever thought I would live somewhere else besides America.  Never.  I am not one of those people "who likes to travel".  I am one of those people who like to stay home.  Furthermore, if I lived somewhere besides the good ol' USofA, I thought it would be in an orphanage in Africa.  But here I am, living 7000 miles from home.  Thank you amazing husband for suggesting that we live somewhere else.  Thank you that it is not Russia.  Thank you God for bringing me here and teaching me things that I could never have learned anywhere else.

2.) I tuck my shirt in.  I tuck my shirt into my pants.  I never thought I would do this.  Never.  I hate tucking my shirt in.  I think it looks horrible. (I wear several layers so that you can not see the tucked in layers.) But. I do not have a dryer.  My pants do not fit anymore.  Well, they fit for about 2 minutes after they come back from the dry cleaner.  sigh.  So in order to keep my pants where they are supposed to be, I now tuck in my shirts.

3.) I never thought I would actually run a marathon.  I thought it would be something that I always talked about but never did.  I neverever thought I would run a marathon in Asia (see #1 on this list).  I better get a good T-shirt out this race.  I need to proclaim my accomplishment to the general public whenever I get back to the USofA.

4.) I never thought I would actually learn how to use chopsticks well.  I can now fillet a fish with my chopsticks and spoon (they do NOT take the bones out of fish here....I got a lot of extra calcium the first few weeks we lived here).  I can use chopsticks well.  I am quite happy about this accomplishment.

5.) I now listen to instrumental music (insert me making gagging noises).  Yuck.  I like music with words all the way.  I am not a classical/baroque music type of person.  But.  I like to listen to music at work.  My office is a loud place, so if I listen to music with words, I can't hear the words.  I refuse to turn up the volume as I plan on still having my hearing when my grandchildren come to visit me (which will be in, like 60 years, right?)  So I have started listening to music without words.  I can still have the calming presence of music in my life without getting frustrated with missing the lyrics.  What is this world coming to?

6.) I never thought I would start thinking, "subject, subject marker, object, verb" before speaking a sentence. Learning Korean is one of the more interesting endeavors of my life.  I never thought I would learn Korean.  (see #1).  The more Korean I learn, the sorrier I feel for my precious kiddos who are trying to learn English.

7.) I added this in later because I forgot about it at the time.  I never thought we would drink tap water while in Korea.  We do (now).  After boiling countless pots of water for 7 months, we have begun drinking tap water.  No one has died or gotten sick.  I guess we could have started after just one month, but I was too scared.  I seriously thought we would boil water the whole time we were in Korea.  Koreans do not drink tap water, so I thought it was not safe.  It is.  end of story.

For the time being, those are the top 7  items on my "things I never thought I would do" list.  For the record, I never want to get a dog or cat inside our home.  I never want to home-school my children.  I never want my family to doubt my love for them.  I never want to tuck in my shirts again once I have a dryer.  I never want to have more kids than a mini-van can hold.  I never want to listen to instrumental music in my mini-van.  I never want to loose contact with my girls from college.  I never want to become a golfer.  I never want to stop growing closer to my sweet Lord Jesus.

This one is for the kiddos!

Korean children are cute.
Korean children are adorable.
Korean children are precious.
Korean children are cute.

Now you know what I think to myself all day every day.  I thought at first I was just not used the cuteness of Korean children, but after 7 months of being here, I am still infatuated with the cuteness!  They are so cute!  So, so, so cute!  They do not always act cute, but they look cute.  Korean children eating with chopsticks warms my heart everyday - it is so cute!

Seriously, ya'll need to get on a plane and fly here, because I could never fully describe the complete cuteness of Korean babies to you.  If Korean children are cute, then Korean babies are....cute x 100!  I LOVE seeing Korean mamas carrying the baby packs.  (They look like a backpack but have a baby and no zipper, like a modern day papoose - sorry if I just offended someone) Korean babies do not like me.  They usually cry upon seeing me.  Korean babies are cute x 200 when they cry big fat crocodile tears.

One of my favorite parts about my amazing husband is that he is the only other person that I have met in South Korea that is equally infatuated with Korean children/babies.  We are always telling each other stories of our cute students or pointing out cute babies to each other in public.  No one else will abruptly stop a conversation to stare at Korean children with me.  I love my amazing husband.  He is the best!

My all time favorite Korean baby, Hyuk...isn't he cute?

Korean children are cute.  Korean children are so cute!  End of story

Birthdays

Today is my amazing husband’s birthday!  Happy Birthday to the best husband ever!  And it is my college track coach's birthday (also the man that introduced me to my amazing husband!)  Happy Birthday Coach P!  
So, I usually bake up some delicious sweets for my amazing husband's birthday, but baking is not happening so much these days.  We have to settle for store bought.  As I type this, I realize that you might not know how amazing my husband really is…so don’t take my word for it.  Here we go:

Attitude my husband has a great attitude about life!
Brother  Did you know that Amazing husband has a twin brother?  (btw Happy Birthday brother-in-law!).  Amazing husband is a great brother!

Content - He is the most content person I have met.  See attitude.

Discernment – Did I even know what discernment was before I met him?

Encouraging – my poor husband always has to listen to me (sometimes I complain).  He is so great about finding ways and words to encourage me.  He also is a great encourager to his students.

Hiking in Colorado

Forever Faithful – He is faithful to God and me forever.  He promised.
Generous – He is so generous.  He is generous with money, time, and mercy.  And if you are his wife, he is generous with mocha cream bread 

Height - I always prayed that my husband would be taller than me.  God answers prayers 

Ice cream buyer – He always know what flavor I am craving!

Just – I feel like my amazing husband grasps justice like few others I have met.  And for one so young…

At my brother's rehersal dinner

Kicker – uh, I had to fit soccer in here somewhere… he likes to kick soccer balls and likes to watch soccer.  Note to self: the next time we go on our honeymoon, do not schedule it during the World Cup Soccer tournament (if he is reading this, he is thinking, “but she was running on the treadmill”…long story)

Leader – I am so glad that I am not the leader.  I am even gladder that he is the leader.

Monopoly typhoon - Do not play monopoly against him. Unless you want to loose

Nerd – his goal is to read 25 books this year.  They are NOT fun, easy to read books

Optimistic – (See attitude) He not only sees the glass half full, he has an important lesson to learn from how full the glass is (figuratively speaking that is)

Engagement photo

Patient – one of the first words that I think of when I think of my amazing husband is patient.  He.is.so.patient.  I love him!

Quick-witted: My amazing husband is quite funny, he always has me (and others) chuckling.

Respect – he has all of mine.  He shows respect to others too.

Security- He structures his life around that which is eternal and cannot be taken away

Teacher – I had a hard time picking the a word for letter T (there are too many true ones..thoughtful, Truth seeker, trustworthy...you get the idea).  He teaches me about the Cross, grace, and love like none other has.  Oh yeah, he also teaches cute children English.

I love this picture.  I love my hubby!

Unselfish – He always gives me the last bite.  Always.  Even it if his favorite dried mangos

Valiant – he is my knight in shining armor – he kills the bugs and goes in the dark scary places first.

Wise – sometimes he is so wise that my jaw drops.  He knows the difference between wisdom and knowledge

Xtra ordinary – have I told you that I am married to an amazing man?  I am!

Yummy - well he makes yuumy food!  Amazing husband is an aahhmmaazzing cook!

In Korea - the best adventure ever!

Zany – he is so fun!  My amazing husband can make any activity fun.  even riding on an airplane for 14 hours.  I am pretty sure with anyone else it would have been boring, but not with him.  It was fun true.story.  


So there you have it!  My husband is amazing!  And he is a year older now too!

Reflections

Sometimes, we get too busy in life.  We do not take any time to slow down and reflect on where life has brought us and where we are headed.  I think February 10th is a day I will always remember.  The same is true for February 11th.  My maternal grandma passed away on 02.10.2009.  One of my best friends in college lost her mother on 02.11.2007.  Both events taught me about grief and mourning.  The following are thoughts and memories of my Grandma

We called her Grandma Owl (I think it was something about my grandparents living in Iowa, but our inability to say Iowa at a young age, so it came out Owl?  I do not know?).  One interesting fact about my grandma is that she was 100% Norwegian.  She could make some delicious Norwegian food!  I always enjoyed spending time with her in the kitchen.  My freshman year of college she mailed me a whole shoe box of Kringla cookies!  Each cookie was singly wrapped in plastic cling wrap.  I remember sharing the cookies with ALL the girls on my dorm floor!

One special memory I have with my Grandma is going to visit her and Grandpa for a week one summer when I was in high school.  As a high schooler, I was super busy all the time.  That week I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, I relaxed!  It was so nice to hang out and do nothing.  It was also the week that my Grandma taught me how to cross stitch.  We got a kit, and I sat in one of their recliners and cross stitched all day.  What a fun week with my maternal grandparents!

One more fun fact: my Grandma taught me about miracles.  For real.  She was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) my freshman year of high school.  They gave her 3 to 6 months to live.  She lived for 6 more years!  Praise God!

And even though I still sometimes grieve the loss of my Grandma here on earth, I do not like grieve like those who have no hope!