Madama Butterfly

Last thursday I went to an opera--Madama Butterfly.

This was a first for me, and I loved it! I love cultural experiences of all kinds. I have this whole list of cultural experiences that I wouuld like to do, and this was one of them. It was in San Francisco in their opera house, which I am told is one of the biggest in the nation. It was beautiful, I just love the whole atmosphere, the lights, architecture, the people of all variety...We sat in the far back but not a bad spot could still see everything. The story was beautiful, about a Japanese woman who marries an American. I do want to put out a warning, it was sad, was not expecting that. I just happened to have a very bad day proceeding this. It is a different concept than a musical in the sense that you are reading the words as you are listening and watching so it is a lot to take in but beautiful. I really enjoyed the orchestra. My next goal, is to go to the symphony!

Contentment

I talked some about my lessons learned this past summer which now seems but a distant memory, but I have been reassured and learned some since then. I felt left behind this summer with everyone I knew who went off on their adventures both near and far...here I was on my own struggling with contentment of where I was and currently am. God has spoken to me through several people with encouraging words reminding me that there is a purpose. One such person, a couple of months ago encouraged me with the example of Moses in the Bible in how God prepared him for His great purpose. I was again reminded of this in my OT class as we have been talking about Exodus. Everything in his life, even the little things are what made him be a leader and to accomplish God's task....
Another person who has inspired me, is and I know this is random, Adoniram Judson. He was one of the first people to go to Burma and translated the first Burmese Bible. I have been reading his biography for one of my classes. He struggled with the preparation process, just wanting to take action and to go. There were points in his life when he got sick and was forced to stay home and read and study. He was an intelligent man with a special ability for languages and pursued school, he also used his speaking ability to bring attention to the cause.
God has a purpose for putting us where we are!

Halo Halo

Halo Halo-- means mix mix in Tagalog. It is also a Filipino dessert which includes shaved ice, ice cream, red beans, little jello squares, corn or just an assortment of things. I had some last night and it brought me back to my childhood :)
In light of all this I have also decided that these words are a good description of my emotions right now. Within these past few months I have...said goodbye, made new friends...
...learned to rest, to trust, to open up and much more.
I am still learning and being stretched in different ways this semester. I am trying to embrace the change that has taken over my life. I am excited about what is ahead and trying to make the most of the right now.
Today I miss people both near and far.

Sunshine and Flowers

Amidst the craziness that is my life right now, I am enjoying the sunshine and all the wild flowers popping up everywhere! Today it is superbly beautiful. I just wish I could be outside in it all day but no, school has got me attached to my computer. So, I try to take advantage of the little spurts of time I can taken outside, like on Saturday we took a spontaneous picnic for lunch. Pictures in my next post. I do want to find a field of wild flowers to frolic in :). Anyone know of one?

Home

Home is a Memory


But most important of all,
Home is but a memory,
changing while you're gone,
Home is your imagination,
caught in images, in your mind or your photo album,
something you only remember if you pull that album off a shelf
or you think a homesick thought.
Home is just a dream, gone if you go back.

by: Edward Finn

This is written by a TCK from my readings for my capstone. I just ran across it again in my notes, I really identify with it.

New Places

Since my dear friends Christina and April both beat me to posting about our experience I will only put up but a few pictures from the places that we went and really reiterate that when a friend suggests a place, why not try it! The above is the amazing mocha from Bittersweet!

Capstone...Need I say more...

The next picture from Bizaar cafe is not posting for some reason :(. I was excited to be able to show April this place and how lucky we were to be able to observe some interesting people that came in there while at the same time totally focusing on our capstone:).

Change

CHANGE

How can you LOVE and HATE something all at the same time? This is how I feel about change which is coming up in the next couple of months for me. My life has been somewhat defined by change, yet somehow I still have a hard time with it. I know I will adjust and things will be GOOD, but they will be DIFFERENT and that's the part I have a hard time with. Even though I have said goodbye countless times to people that are very important to me throughout my life, it never gets easier. I don't deal with it well. One hard part about the upcoming change for me, is that I am the one being left behind, I'm usually the one that leaves, weird. Decisions are usually involved in change as well, I have a hard time with decisions and I am going to have to make some...

On the other hand I do love change, the exciting possibilities, dreams being realized, new people and places!