Friday, January 30, 2009

yay. new joy williams- ep!
i've been waiting for this day since her last cd came out. :)
i love her music...it's so fun and i basically wore out my cd collection of her.
so her new cd came out and i really love the song, one of those days.

hey hey hey what can i say
it's just been one of those...one of those days..

well i guess it's been one of those days.
it's been crazy and teachers are finally starting to load on the homework now that we've gotten through an entire first week of our 2nd semester.
erin and i planned to hang out today and then go babysit Meredith..but plans change...a lot.
so we're just going to hang out tonight and do whatever. then tomorrow morning i'm supposed to help with this video we're putting together about our biloxi mission trip. it's going to be awesome. then i work.

i've been helping one of my friends out a lot lately this week.
i'm really glad that i'm here to help...it just brings up a lot of...past thoughts from middle school. and let's just say that that was one of the worst times for me. but it's good to get through it and over it.

so now erin and i are just sitting in the computer lab...she's being productive and i'm sitting here reading blogs of all kinds and sorts. i'm reading about the Yetton's and my family and the Staub's and the Seay's...i love reading blogs. especially when they're really cute or funny like the ones i read today.

ok well i should go and help people and talk to erin....and text some more.
have a wonderfully, lovelyyyyy weekend

comewhatmay...
teia

Sunday, January 25, 2009

pictures from biloxi.

here's just a few pictures that are from the trip.
majority are ones that i took. a few are from kirin.
and of course there are a couple edited pics.

Biloxi_1

Friday, January 23, 2009

im back.
i've been back since sunday but i've been pushing writing off since then because of the tired and lazy factors that come with traveling.
here's a review of my past couple weeks...get ready. ;)

thursday (the 8th) :
we got to school and packed up the vans to leave by 9 am. we all rocked out to music provided by kirin and got really pumped for the upcoming week ahead of us.
8pm we finally arrived to our first night away. we stayed in frohna, mo at a school. after we got to the school we had to find out where we were going to eat. we decided the west end tavern and grocery was probably our best bet. we all had delicious food and then headed back to school for a good night's rest. the girls got to sleep in the gym and the guys were in the school hallway upstairs. so kirin, beth and i found some gym mats and put our sleeping bags on that and slept away.

friday (the 9th):
we got up early in the morning because we had to get out of the school before the kids started getting there. :) the whole group went to trinity lutheran, a few miles away, where the first LCMS church was started. we did a tour of the concordia church we had been at for the night and then headed on out to biloxi.
LONG DRIVING DAY... but made fun through laughter and continuous playing of kirin's ipod.
we got to camp biloxi at 8ish and then had a late night dinner at taco bell. we met jan, who was incredibly sweet and really kind. we all settled into our bunks and got a great night's rest.
our cabin/trailer things fit 3 bunkbeds and 6 lockers. all 6 of us girls were excited to be in a room together but we weren't sure how we were going to make it with such a small room! (this is me and beth chilling in our room. there is one more bunk...but kirin's sitting on it...not much room in here)

saturday (the 10th) :
we woke up for breakfast. and then headed out with the chaplain, drew and rava. they showed us some local houses and the owners were more than happy to share their story about Katrina with our group. we heard john and rava's story about how their neighborhood was wiped out and is now rebuilding. then we visited a house right across from the beach. it would have been a beautiful house. it was so interesting to look at the beach and then do a 360 and you were facing this house that had only been touched by looters after the storm and an occasional walk-through by the owner and a couple visitors. we met the owner and he talked to us about his wife and the storm. he stood on the porch of his house while evacuation notices were going out but he stayed on his porch where the water was up to his ankles. then the police came and took him to a safe place when Katrina hit. after that house we visited one on "the point". the owner there talked about his time during the storm and how the water came up to the 2nd floor of his house and then stopped. he had so many people in his house waiting for the end of the storm. after that house we visited this family whose house was just about finished being rebuilt. the mom talked about her time during the storm and how her and her son had swam for many hours waiting for help. she saw 2 sharks swim past her and was so thankful that they had all made it through safely.
our entire group visited some hurricane memorials and then we went and had devotions and time at the camp.

sunday (the 11th):
we went to church at the lutheran church of the good shepherd. then we headed out to New Orleans for the day.
it was a great time. we watched the dragon master showcase and went to the river's edge restaurant. we walked around the cathedral and looked at bourbon street (to see what it was like in daylight hours- because night hours are not good there.) after we walked to the french market and finally to cafe du monde. YUM! our table all got beignets and cafe au lait. it was so delicious.

monday (the 12th) :
we got up and ready for a 6 o'clock breakfast but soon found out it wasn't until 630 so we went back to bed for 30 minutes.
then we headed to a worksite where we were able to clear out some huge containers (they were basically "boxcars" full of tools and construction gear that needed to be boxed up for a move). we moved everything into a trailer and then kept going to unload the trailer and bring it back out our site.

tuesday (the 13th):
on tuesday we had somewhat of a "free" day. we went to some more houses and looked at what destruction was still left from katrina. then we went to the beach and had some more time to discuss what we were doing over the next few days. kirin, beth and i all took some great pictures and had an awesome time being our crazy selves. :)

wednesday (the 14th):
our whole group was excited to get on our first site! we went to this house and helped them build this trench for a drain so that the rain water wouldn't flood the house. we also started painting the house!

thursday (the 15th):
kirin, sara and i were able to go with the chaplain and go hand out food to the homeless. we had a really great time doing it. it was kinda scary at first because you don't know what to expect but it was so awesome to show them that they can change their lives around. and that there is hope. we gave out some prayer shawls and then lunch bags. the three of us also made 61 new lunch bags! we went shopping for the food and then put them all together. after visiting people we helped clean out the ambulance that is used for storage on the campsite. we visited this guy who was making food for 1000 people for the MLK jr. day celebration. after lunch we were pretty much done so we went to visit someone in long beach and played with the dog there for awhile. then the three of us went to the beach with mr. roeske and got coffee and talked about musicals and different things that we had in common!

friday (the 16th):
we woke up and had breakfast. beth, kirin and i were taking a bathroom break and then i got a text while waiting for the other two. beth read it over my shoulder and was like wait...you're birthday isn't until tomorrow...it's the 15th today. and i told her it was the 16th.
so we went back to our room and they sang happy birthday to me as many times as they could think of and to every tune they could think of. :) it was awesome.
kirin said happy bday to me everytime she looked at me. haha. and i got some awesome texts from people back home and a call from kristin!
we went and worked at the house again and worked worked worked away. we were able to eat lunch in the sun ...it was like a picnic. it was so awesome to be able to have it warm outside in the middle of january.
after working all day we went back to camp and the three of us had chili and then all of us headed over to the waffle house!
we finally got to go to theh waffle house. beth and i split two choc. chip waffles and a huge hashbrown. it was DELICIOUS. oh and i had some coffee too. ;)
then beth and kirin started playing the jukebox. they played all these waffle house songs and they found a happy birthday waffle house song. so they played that and everyone in the restaurant sang ...it waas really funny. and i was embarassed but it was all good.
then we went back and had a devotion and i was sung to again. it was a great day.

saturday (the 17th):
we got up early and headed over to get breakfast and be on the beach for the sunrise.
well we didn't quite get to the beach when the sun was coming over the horizon..but we stood and prayed and read some Bible verses on the beach. it was awesome.
we drove all day saturday...there was a lot of sleep and stops goin on.
our vans finally got to the church we were staying at at 8ish. the girls were able to stay in the youth room with all the couches and then the guys slept in the nursery. haha.
then our group decided that we were going to surprise some friends at the seminary. so we drove there and got some dinner and then got back to the church.

sunday (the 18th):
more getting up early and going to church. we all got to church and then went to breakfast and the arch. kirin, beth, abby and i didn't want to go in the arch because we'd been in it before but we walked around and took some hilarious pictures.
once the whole group got together we left and drove home. our last hour of driving kirin decided that we were going to play our fave van songs. ;)
that playlist included:
-i'll make a man out of you (from mulan)
-single ladies
-if i were a boy
-where in the world is carmen sandiego?

and a couple of others. it was a really great time.
i wish i could write more about it. but i dont think i can put any of the rest into words.

an album with pics is coming soon!

comewhatmay..
teia

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

chasm.
what a great word.

i'm going to be gone from jan. 8th through the 19th. we're going on our biloxi, mississippi trip.

and when i get back....i will be older, wiser and thanking the Lord for our wonderful time.
ok kidding.
but i will be older because my birthday is just in "9 short days..."
wicked songs are running through my head...like one short day.
moving on, i probably won't be wiser but it's always older, wiser...etc. :)

i'm excited for this trip.
please keep our entire group in your prayers as we travel from WI to Mississippi.
thanks and i'll write more when i get back on the 19th!

come what may...
teia

here's one of my favorite pictures from christmas break.
josh and i will probably do some pics for his next album here. yay.

comewhatmay..
teia
oh my goodness.
amazing night best describes what just happened to me in the past 10 hours.
it's so late. so i might try to keep it short. :)

my missions class for winterim is going really great. we're having a blast and tomorrow we're meeting from 9-1145ish. then i have choir for a bit in the afternoon and then work and packing. oh my goodness. i should sleep. i need to get so much done in the next few hours.
we leave for biloxi, ms on jan. 8th and are planning to get to biloxi sometime on friday. when we get there we will be helping with hurricane clean up. i'm really excited because i think it will be a great opportunity for all of our group.

tonight was amazing. josh picked us up around 400ish. we got some food at mcdonald's and our order was messed up...oh man. but then we broke out the new cd i made for the trip and started getting ready for the rest of the night. we made great time to chicago and got to the show 30 minutes before WICKED started! i can't believe i saw it. it was amazing. the actress who played galinda/glinda was phenomenal and hilarious. she was made for that part. she played it wonderfully and you could tell she was really into it. during the song, Popular, we were laughing so hard. i almost started crying i was laughing so hard. she was so funny. POOF.
"ga-lindaaaa." it was a blast.
then isabel and i got t-shirts. :)
we made it home in 3 hours because on the way home we stopped at the oasis and got more food because i was hungry...again.
the three of us had some great conversation and just blasted more WICKED music on the way home. but mostly we just talked which was great.

i love hanging out with isabel and josh because even though sometimes we don't get along....we do.
we're weird, i guess.
i'm exhausted and now my back hurts...josh complaining about his back affected mine...great.

ok, i have class tomorrow morning, so i need to write an email and then sleep for 5 hours.

comewhatmay...

teia

Thursday, January 01, 2009

happy new year.
one year. it went by so quickly.
last new year's eve. isabel and i werethe only two healthy people in our house. we stayed up till midnight and made a huge sundae with marshmallows, bananas, sprinkles, chocolate syrup and blue frosting that said 2008.
this year i brought in 2009 with erin. finally we spent a new years together. haha. she came over and we talked in my room and took some crazy pictures with sunglasses that were left in my room and used my computer. it was awesome. we watched some youtube videos and decided to make ice cream sundaes and iced coffee. :)
it was very nice.

the past couple of days have been pretty crazy. saturday i found out that kristin wasn't coming into town for a couple of days.
sunday we cleaned out some of the stuff from the old house. i went to borresen's christmas party and then kristin told me that she could come for monday and tuesday. so i cleaned up for that. monday i got up and ready, piera and i went to coffee and target. i finished up kristin's present. i made her this pencil holder thing with music notes for school and a pillow and i gave her some lotion. :)
she got here and we hung out just talking. she was able to hold zoe for a long while without the baby fussing. then dad got home and we went out to dinner at charcoal grill. it was really funny because we walked in and then i hear "hey teia." and jeff from work was sitting at the table next to us with his family eating dinner. haha. after dinner we picked up kellen from basketball. then we walked down to starbucks. we found this awesome book called 5. you list your top 5 values and your 5 goals/dreams. and what you want to do in the next 5 years.
that hit me hard... what do i want to accomplish in 5 years? in 5 years i will be 22...almost 23. that's as old as josh is right now. and i think about what i've done in the past 5 years. it's scary. i want to accomplish so much but at the same time it's hard to even put together what my dreams are.
i can't make decisions. i'm so indecisive. i can't pick what book is my favorite or movie. i can't pick what movie i want to watch or what i want to do with my life. and that's where it starts to freak me out. "what are your 5 dreams/goals in the next 5 years?" what? what? i need to figure this out. i want to know so bad. i want to decide. do i want to travel somewhere else in the world for a couple days or weeks? i dont know. do i want to travel at all? i dont know. i have no idea. i think i'm stuck in this world of me being "young" and not having to decide anything.
i can't just "go with the flow" anymore. i have to grow up and start deciding things for my own self. i want to know what i'm going to do with the next 5 years and i want to find dreams that i want to come true.

the book was an eye opener. "list the people you are grateful for."
"there is no better time than now."

it was fun to work on it with kristin. then we woke up on tuesday morning and went to dave's for breakfast with people from my work. jeff was the person who had me for secret santa. :) he gave me a pink swiss army knife. haha. i laughed so hard. kristin thought the people i worked with were pretty funny ..then we went to starbucks againnn. :)
and had lunch with josh. we went to qdoba. which reminds me. my burrito is STILL in the fridge. i didn't eat ANY of it. i was not hungry...dork. we had a fun time at lunch.
we came back here. tried on some of my shoes and i kinda had a little breakdown..yeah not fun.
kristin left.
josh got some boxes for moving. we talked. i went into depth about what was going on...why i kinda just lost it. i hate telling people sometimes..but at the same time i want to tell someone. and i kinda just dumped it on him. we had a good talk though...
today i watched zoe and the boys most of the day. then erin stopped by. and now i'm here.
i talked to josh again. he said that he moved today! we're both really excited. he's excited for himself. and i'm excited for him. tomorrow i might help him unpack a little...and check out his new apartment. yay.
winding down on christmas break...and then time for MORE school. gross. ...

time to go.......

comewhatmay...
teia