some recent pictures

I'm posting a couple links for some recent pictures of life here in Hungary. Click on the title for students. Copy and paste the address below into your address bar for my recent trip to Ireland.


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=94691&id=601541014&l=a99d3

Hearts

These are my hearts I made for my students in my Anatomy/Physiology class. We had a heart party day, because we're currently studying the cardiovascular system and also to celebrate Valentine's Day! I had too much fun making these.

Here are Ben, Jon and Qiang making hearts and being emo.















And below, Jon enjoys my work of heart (ha).

SEW recap and Sr. Auction

SEW went smoothly, in spite of the fact that the speaker was only here for 3 of the 5 days. The storm in London kept him grounded for a day. But he will be sticking around for another week, so the kids are thrilled. He's been great, and the kids have responded really well to him. "Spiritual emphasis week" has been turned into yet just another week of living life with the Lord. "Everything is Spiritual" was Andy's (speaker) main point. In all we do, we are to set self aside, so that Christ can work in and through us unto the Father's will and glory. I seem to be hearing this theme from all points these days. "Let go of selfish desires and tendencies and allow the power of the Spirit guide you to the most fulfilling life, the life that is consumed and fully surrendered to Christ". I want this. And more than ever before I want to be the example of this for my students.

On a different note, each year the seniors hold an auction to raise money for their senior trip. It's a big, fun event that the whole community shows up to. They sell off things like home made cinnamon rolls, home decor consultations, aquatic park tickets, and other things that people or businesses donate. Each year I have donated hours of personal training. It's been fun to have the opportunity to practice and keep fresh those mad skeels. But more than anything, the senior auction is a fun social time.

Matt and EB Jackson, parents of one of our seniors, were the auctioneers. They did a great job. Talking that fast demands some skill.

Liz Jackson and Luke Sanders, a.k.a. Belle and Bambi =)

This year's theme was "Disney". Below see Gaston, played by Kasra

Here Audrey and I pose with our paddles. I loved that I got Trigger. "Don't you worry none, Sherrif. Safety's on ol' Betsy".

Can you see who the seniors wanted to win the Super Bowl? It says, "Seniors support the Cards". We actually have two families from Arizona here. They were happy that the Cardinals actually made it there. =) And they actually stayed up 'til 4am to watch the game live. Crazy. Totally not worth the sleep loss. Now if it had been the Broncos, I would have been right there with them.

SEW

...stands for Spiritual Emphasis Week here at ICSB. It's a week in which the school sets aside one period every day to listen to a guest speaker talk about whatever the Lord lays on the heart. It's a really special time, generally, and the kids take it really seriously. I'm excited to experience my third since being here. But more than anything I wanted to ask for prayer for the hearts of these kids, some of whom do not hold Jesus as Lord of their lives. May the Truth be heard loud and clear! and may we all come away encouraged and equipped to live out our faith.!

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God

Now that you have the song stuck in your head (sorry), let me explain my reason for gladness...no, excitement...no, sheer delight! that I'm part of His family. Since August, I have been sleeping on a mattress that is lacking in so many ways. The mattress is relatively thin and I can feel every single spring. It has no box spring, and while it has enough wooden slats to support it, the mattress itself just sags in the middle. Another issue that exists to compound this less than happy sleeping situation is that the windows in my room are very drafty (again, they don't believe in sealant over here) and even with towels stuffed around them, my room is very cold, and I feel it most THROUGH my mattress. So, early on I was on the hunt for a mattress pad, to no avail. Shortly after coming back from the states, one of the teachers here, Elaine (another mid westerner, hails from Minnesota), popped her head into my room with a big, excited smile on her face and said, "I ordered you a mattress!". What??? She had also been back in the states and had come across a really good deal on one of those memory foam mattresses at Kohl's, and so she ordered it for me! She even refused to tell me the cost, saying that she just wanted to bless me! and that it should be arriving in a couple weeks. So, it's been a couple weeks, and just today, she popped her head into my classroom again, and with her she had the mattress topper that I CANNOT WAIT TO USE!. I wanted to ditch school right then and go try it out. I'm so excited. But more than anything I'm SO incredibly touched by Elaine's generosity and evident love for Jesus. It is a good thing to live in this community.

Pulling out

The decision is made: I will be moving back to the states at the end of this school year.

It was after a semester of thinking and praying through the decision that I came to this conclusion. I have known that teaching here was a temporary situation, although somewhat open-ended in duration. I didn't know at first that I would sign on for another year, and then yet another year after that. But I'm so thankful and blessed to have been given the capability to do so, to stay on for three years. This has been such an incredibly rich time for me, and I will most certainly leave part of my heart behind when I say good-bye. It's gonna hurt. But I feel very good about this decision! I have a sense of peace about it and about what the future holds, as I hold His hand, even though I have no idea what lies beyond June... I'm confident that this is the step that the Lord would have me take, and I'm actually very excited to see what is in store for me when I return.

So one of my New Years hopes (I've stopped using "resolutions"... =) is to keep my blog updated more. Haha, I'm off to a GREAT start, nicht war? Well, I do have some Christmas photos to share, but in the next post. For now, here's the annual family shot:

procrastinating

I really need to grade my 9th grader's debate on Creation and Evolution, but it's such an involved, brain-consuming process that I am having NO PROBLEMS finding ways to otherwise preoccupy myself. Yeah, even blogging comes easy at times like these =).

So I started teaching the German 2 class here at school, and I must say that I love it. In part it's due to the kids in the class - FULL of personality! I love 'em! - but it also has to do with the fact that I love German. I am thrilled at this oportunity to learn it so much better and pass on to the kiddos a successful, meaningful time learning this language and hopefully a love for it as well.

A new nickname to add to the list below: Fraulein Simone. That was my German name when I took the class in high school, except it was just Simone back then. But every 4th period of the day, I am now Fraulein Simone.

Jezt muss ich meinen Arbeit machen, also bis spater!
Deine Simone