Day 30 - 10 things I want to be remembered for

April challenge
Day 30 - List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Oh wow, we're at the final day of the challenge already! (Haha, although I'm finishing it up a little late due to not much time on the Internet during our term break.) This month has really flown by. And it's been really fun to write something on this blog every single day. I don't think this blog has seen so many posts so close together since my final year at Southern when I was required to write at least three sentences every single day of both semesters for Creative Writing classes. It's been great to get back into more creative-esque writing again!

So again, this post topic is probably going to be hard for me... I might have to enlist Jonathan's help again. We'll see how I do. Again, this list is just in the order that I think of things.

1. For being a helpful, caring, kind, and loving person.
2. For being a good and loving wife, parent, grandparent, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, etc.
3. For always being there for family.
4. For being at least a fairly good writer.
5. For being a faithful and caring Christian woman.
6. For laughing a lot. And for laughing a LOT more than frowning.
7. For taking the time to communicate with the people I'm close to in any way I'm able to.
8. For being willing to try new things.
9. For trying to alleviate at least a little bit of the pain and suffering in this world.
10. For seeking God's will for my life in everything I do.

Oh wow, as soon as I started typing out the first one, more and more came to my mind! It only took a few minutes to type them all out. And I didn't even consult Jonathan at all. I guess it wasn't too hard to find 10 things and I'm sure if I kept thinking I could come up with more. But I'll stop with these ones. I think they cover a lot of things.

Well, I guess this concludes my first-ever 30-day writing challenge. It was a blast, but oh so hard, too. I think I said "Wow, this one is hard!" for at least two thirds of the topics, if not more, haha. While many of the topics were hard, I think the thing that made this whole challenge really a challenge was that all the topics challenged me to do some important thinking and to be very honest. And that was really good for me. I really enjoyed it.

Now, we're going into May. And I want your opinion. Should I do another random-topic kind of 30-day writing challenge on this blog. Or should I kind of switch gears and get back into actual creative writing posts again? I'd like to do the creative writing posts, but I'm worried that if I don't have actual set topics to write about, I won't be as strict to write every single day. Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments and I'll decide tomorrow what I should do for the month of May. I do have another 30-day writing challenge with random topics that I can do if the majority of you vote for that option, but if you vote for the other, you might have to help me come up with things to write about. And better yet, if you also commit to a 30-day writing challenge, we can work together to come up with things to write about. Anyway, I hope you'll leave your opinions and help me out here. And thanks so much for reading my posts for the past 30-days!! You guys are great! :)

Day 29 - What people misunderstand about me

April challenge
Day 29 - What do you think people misunderstand most about you?

Wow, once again I have no idea what to write. But I'm sure that as my fingers typity-type along, I'll come up with something.

Hmm, well from my point of view a lot of people, when they first meet me, probably think that I'm pretty shy and quiet. And they're right. I'm an introvert and I don't generally open up my heart to every person I meet. But that doesn't mean that I'm a totally shy and quiet person.

But let's just stop there for a second. I just cheated and asked Jonathan what he thought people might most misunderstand about me. And he said, "They might not realize that you're an introvert." What?! I couldn't believe that he said that. So I asked him what he first thought of me. And he replied, "I don't remember, that was a long time ago." Then he said that when we were first getting to know each other and I hung out at his apartment with him and his roommate and my siblings he never got the impression that I was shy or quiet, but that I was comfortable socializing with people. Haha, wow! Well, if he's right (which he must be because that was his first impression of me) then I'm completely off-base! So now I don't really know what I should write. Maybe I should just pick a different topic of misunderstanding...

OK, I went to do something else for a few minutes, thinking I'd be able to come up with something else and then come back to finish this post. But so far, nothing. I'm sure there's lots that people misunderstand about me, but right now I can't think of anything except for what I initially wrote. So I'm just going to leave it that way for the time being. If you can think of anything you misunderstand about me, let me know in the comments. I'd find it interesting to know.

Day 28 - My love language

April challenge
Day 28 - What is your love language?

In August 2010 Jonathan came to visit me and my family in BC for a week or so. Then we flew to Maine together and spent two weeks there before I headed over to Africa. During that time I found a copy of "The Five Love Languages: Men's Edition" that Jonathan had sitting on his bookshelf and read it. I've heard about "The Five Love Languages" book quite a bit and done those sorts of quizzes for classes, but that was the first time I ever actually read the book and did the special book-edition of the love languages quiz. The top results were pretty much what I could have guessed. I have two pretty equal primary love languages: words of affirmation and quality time. If someone gives me a compliment, especially about something I really care about (ie. my writing or other skills I've worked hard to get good at), I can glow for days. And if someone makes the effort to spend time with me, I've also in heaven. But I already knew those were my love languages. Now for the other results. The lowest on the list was receiving gifts and next lowest was acts of service. Which leaves physical touch right in the middle. While my primary languages were no surprise, I was a bit surprised that physical touch was third instead of last. I've never really been a touchy-feely person. Sure, I like hugs from family members, but I don't go out of my way to touch most people and I am not too fond of most people, especially ones I don't know too well, getting too far inside my personal bubble. So I found that interesting. And, while I have two top languages, I certainly don't mind getting some of the other ones, even if they aren't the primary way I receive love.

Anyway, I'm a fan of the Five Love Languages books and I'd like to read the original one at some point and see if it's much different than the men's edition. OK, I've shared with you so now it's your turn. What's your love language or languages?

Day 27 - My favourite body part

April challenge
Day 27 - What is your favourite part of your body and why?

*Note: I know the original list spelled favourite without a 'u' but I added the 'u' because it looks strange to me without it, despite the fact that I have to make sure it's spelled without a 'u' for the textbooks I edit.

Hmmm, another thing I haven't really thought about before. I'm not sure I have one. Let's see. It's certainly not my hair. It's the thinnest stuff I've ever seen in my life (except, of course, my hair when I was four - that was even thinner). And I have a wonderful (sarcasm) cowlick right in the front where bangs would usually go. This makes the bangs stick out at weird angles if I neglect to blow-dry my hair or the air is the slightest bit damp or humid. OK, so now we've figured out which part I dislike the most. So let's regroup and try to actually answer the question. Well, I rather like my fingernails. They cover a nice-sized portion of the tips of my fingers. But I think the thing I really love most about my fingernails is that they're string-player fingernails. As soon as the ends grow out enough that I can see a bit too much white, they've gotta be cut again. It just feels wrong for them to get too long. And it gets hard to type as well. OK, so although I like my fingernails, I can't only write about that small part of my body. Hmmm, well I guess I'll just have to be un-unique and say that I probably like my eyes the best. I like that they are lighter than brown eyes because, let's just face it, brown eyes would just make me look even whiter than I usually look. I also like that they slightly change colour. Not as much as my sister's eyes do, but they do the little look-blue-when-I'm-wearing-blue and look-greenish-when-I'm-wearing-green thing slightly. It's kind of fun. But I think the thing I like the best about my eyes is that they're very, very similar to my sister's eyes. It's fun having that feature very close in common. Our eye shapes don't look too much the same if you study them both, but the colour can be almost exactly dead on sometimes. And I think that's pretty cool! Love your eyes, Bryn! :)

*Another note: Well, today we're taking off for our five-day term break. We're heading to the east coast and hoping to see and do a lot of fun outdoorsy stuff, like climb at least part of Mt. Seoraksan, and spend time at some hot springs and beaches. So I'll try to post if I can, but I might have to just do the last few days when I get back. Just so you know.

Day 26 - Popular notion the world has wrong

April challenge
Day 26 - What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

Hmm, I have to say that I don't have much authority on this topic. But I'll just put in my little two cents worth.

While I've never really been an avid shopper, my views on even my own shopping habits changed drastically last year while I was living in Tanzania. For the first time in my life I experienced eight whole months of no consumerism. There were no Halloween decorations overtaking grocery stores from September through the end of October, no Thanksgiving reminders in the form of giant turkeys (in either October or November), not even much going on around Christmas or Easter. Yes, I missed the festive spirit during Christmas a little bit, but really I was having such a blast preparing to spend a week with my sister in Cairo that I barely stopped to think about the lack of commercialized Christmas hubbub. All in all, it was the most peaceful consumer year of my life! Yes, I bought things throughout the year. A good bunch of food (but the cheapest fruits and veggies I've ever bought in my life, and probably the freshest). I did some friendly bartering with the Maasai merchants at the local Maasai market for keepsakes or souvenirs to give loved ones when I got back home. I even went on two safaris, and one trip to Pemba Island when Jonathan came to visit. But, none of that was motivated by any sort of commercialization. If I wanted a certain something, I thought about it and if I deemed it worthy of buying (or necessary), I bought it. No commercial, ad, or billboard told me to do so. And that brings me to the one popular notion I can say, from my own experience, that the world has most wrong. Buying stuff. Yes, buying stuff can be nice. It can be fun and exciting and give you good memories. But buying too much stuff, and especially stuff you really don't need or even want after a few weeks, is never good. I will always vote for putting money towards experiences than things. Every single time!

And I'll just mention one more thing that North America, at least (if not some other places as well), has gotten wrong in the past decade or so. The idea that helicopter parenting is OK. I know I shouldn't really be able to give my opinion on this matter yet since I have no children of my own, but I have spent a good deal of time around children, and ones that I love very much, too, and I will never, never think it's OK to be a smothering, never-let-your-children-out-of-your-sight-for-one-millisecond, helicopter parent. My new favourite blog (well, one of them...you should know by now that I have a lot of favourites) is Free-Range Kids, a blog dedicated to letting overprotective parents know that their kids CAN do things on their own, even from quite young. You know, our grandparents used to. So why shouldn't our kids be able to, too?? Check it out sometime if you are interested. (She also has a TV show Bubble Wrap Kids on the Slice channel in Canada and World's Worst Mom in Europe.) I pretty much agree with the author on every single article I've read of hers so far. Kids are just happier when they're given some free time to just do things their own way. And when they're empowered by their parents to know they are smart and capable enough to do some things on their own. I don't think that will never change.

*Note: This post might or might not have been inspired by the latest MMM blog I've read. But really, I've been thinking these thoughts for awhile now, so anything I've read recently has only just reinforced my own thoughts.

Day 25 - Dinner with anyone in history

April challenge
Day 25 - If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

This one makes me smile. It's just an easier version of an assignment I had in my grade nine English class. We had to pick three people (I think) to invite to a special dinner. Like today's topic, they could be from any time in history. There were more parts of the assignment and we worked on the project for about a month or so. It was one of my favourite and best remembered projects in all of high school.

For that assignment I picked quite varied people: 1) Amelia Earhart - because I was completely into aviation at that time (and still am pretty interested in it) and what girl who likes aviation isn't going to pick the world's best-known woman aviator? 2) One of the first people to climb the Matterhorn - I don't know who exactly it was because I don't have my copy of Banner in the Sky here in Korea with me. But it's whoever Rudi Matt in that book is supposed to represent. (Also, just found out the book was made into a movie! Wow, totally watching that with the family when I'm home this summer!) Ever since my parents read that book to us when we were kids, it's been a favourite. 3) I don't actually remember, but I think it was probably one of my ever-changing favourite composers.

Anyway, enough of the good old reminiscing about that assignment. It was a lot of fun, but we have real work to do now. Again I have to think of a person to have dinner with and talk to over the meal. And this time I really can't figure out who I'd want to choose. There are just too many interesting people in the world.

Oooh, I just thought of someone who I find very, very interesting these days. King Sejong, the fourth king of the Chosun Dynasty in Korea. I first heard of him when I was teaching an upper level junior (kids) class one day in November or December. "Who is King Sejong?" I read the sentence to the class. "Who is King Sejong?" They obediently repeated. "He invented Hangul." I responded to myself. "He invented Hangul." They intoned after me. Later I learned a bit more about the 15th century Korean monarch. He's called the Great King here in Korea because of his invention of Hangul, the written Korean language that is known for its scientific structure and easiness to learn, as well as many other inventions he and his scholars produced. All his inventions were to improve the lives of his people, and he is a much-loved historical figure over here. So I think I'll pick him to be my dinner partner. Not that there aren't many, many other people I could choose, but because he's a current interesting person I've been thinking and learning more about these past few months. As for what we'd eat, I'd probably just ask him for his recommendation. I mean, he was a king, after all. I'm sure he knew of some pretty great dishes. I'd just ask that they not contain meat and not be too spicy. And if he asked me what I'd prefer, I'd probably mention kimbap (I wonder if that was around when he was...) to keep the Korean theme going.

Hmmm, turns out it wasn't all that hard to pick just one after all. Of course, ask me the same question in another month or two and I'm sure I'd have a completely different answer. But that's OK, I'm allowed to change my mind. So now let's hear from you. Who would you chose to have dinner with, why, and what would you eat?

Day 24 - Family dynamics

April challenge
Day 24 - Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.

Wow, hard one again. I don't even know how to describe my family dynamics. For starters, most of the time we all get along really well. We're a pretty close family in general and I'm especially close with my parents and my two younger siblings who I lived with most of my life (and even went to parts of college with). I don't think there's too much that has changed since I was a kid to now in how our family works together. We were never a democracy, but for sure never a dictatorship either. I think it was more like a democracy in which my parents has a few extra votes. They definitely were in charge, but they did a good job to ask us our opinions on matters, especially important ones, before they were actually decided. I really appreciated that about my parents. We had disagreements, of course, as any family does, but we worked through them and I feel like we just came out stronger and closer after each one. And I don't think that's really changed. Now it's a bit different, though, since nobody is living at home full time. But it's just a new season in the wonderfulness of our family dynamics. Now the kids can play host to the parents when they come to visit. And we all have more equal votes, although my siblings and I, I think, will always carefully factor my parents thoughts into what we will eventually decide to do. All in all, it was a pretty great childhood and it's shaping up to a pretty great adulthood as well! Love all you guys, you crazy awesome Q. family!

Day 23 - 5 hobbies

April challenge
Day 23 - List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.

I think this one is going to be easy. Finally!

1. Reading - Hands down my favourite thing to do. I would not be the person I am if not for books and a mother who loved reading to her children and has an incredible knack for finding amazingly interesting and inspiring books.
2. Writing - While not as much fun as reading, writing is very therapeutic for me. Well, sometimes it's frustrating, but mostly it's therapeutic. I find it most useful if I need to get something off my chest and soon I'll just be writing away in stream of consciousness. Ahh, I can imagine stress rolling off of me even while writing this, and I don't even need to get anything off my chest right now.
3. Organizing/cleaning - I'm not quite sure this qualifies as a hobby, but for me it can also be pretty relaxing. I work best when I'm in a clean and fairly-well organized space. And luckily, I quite enjoy getting my space to the level of clean and organized that I work best in.
4. Traveling - It's not a hobby I can afford to do all the time, but when I can get away to travel, even for a few days or a weekend, I just love it. I love exploring and learning about new places, meeting new people, and discovering as much as I can about the world around me.
5. Being in still, quiet places - Again, not sure it's really a hobby, but when I was living at home I often took my dog, Pepper, for walks beside the creek that was just a few minutes from our house at the end of the main road. It was so relaxing and rejuvenating to wander along the trails beside the creek alone with my thoughts, but with a happy companion trotting by my side. Those times really were the highlights of my days.
6. Bonus: Singing - This one isn't a hobby I really think about, but since I do sing quite a bit during most days, I figured it should go on the list. I have been known to sing about pretty much any subject that comes into my head. And what irks my family members (other than my mum who also unconsciously sings) is that I usually don't even know I'm doing it. One time driving around near Southern I sang a very repetitive song about hot dogs for about three or four minutes before one of my siblings finally pleaded me to stop. Most of the time, though, I'll sing actual songs that real people can identify.

Day 22 - Where do I see myself in the future

April challenge
Day 22 - Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?

Wow, hard topic again! And here's why. My future life-view has been completely transformed and turned around so much within the last few years and especially within the last 8-12 months. It's mostly due to Jonathan finding a great blog (that I've mentioned on here before), Mr. Money Mustache. We started reading from the beginning last September, and are slowly catching up. The good/bad thing is that MMM (as he likes to refer to himself) has kept on posting great articles. Good because there's more great stuff for us to read, but bad because, having not yet caught up to his current posts, there are always more and more to read. Anyway, we're already trying many ideas from the blog and others we've come up with on our own since reading it. And we really want to keep many of those up when we get back home. Here's just one example. Back before we started reading the blog, Jonathan planned to buy a used 4Runner when we got back to have in addition to my awesome little second-hand 1989 Honda Accord that is still working wonderfully well. Now we're not looking into owning two cars for the time being, but instead getting two reliable bikes and doing our best to use them most of the time, only using our Accord for longer trips. Of course, at this point we have no concrete plans for where we'll work or live or any of that stuff, so we'll adapt as we see fit. But we'll continually be thinking of ways to consume less and be happier with less. It's worked for us over here so far and we've really enjoyed some of the things we could have thought of as annoyances (tiny apartment, no vehicle, etc.). Really, though, living here has way more conveniences than inconveniences. A three-minute walk to church and two-minute (for Jonathan) or five-minute (for me) walk to work. Yes please! A great little independent grocery store four-five minutes away that has more than enough variety for us (we tend to stay away from the fresh squid and mussels, etc.). Wonderful! Extensive and really well groomed trails covering the ridge directly behind our campus. Awesome! Loads of free or very cheap, interesting, and culturally diverse things to see and do here in Seoul as well as within a few hours from the capital city. Wow, how will we ever get it all in before we have to leave?!

So I'm hesitant to write too much about what my specific dreams and wishes are for five, 10, or 15 years in the future. Yeah, in five years I'd like to have a kid or few. Maybe a paid-off house with a yard in 10 or 15 (I just decided today that I'd be pretty happy in a little log cabin in the woods that we made together from scratch, but again, no promise on that, just a current thought). But I think most of all, what I hope for my life in five, 10, or 15 years is to be perfectly happy and satisfied with how my life is. I'm pretty close right now (I could definitely do without the sewage smell that suddenly jumped into existence with the end of the cold weather), and can only hope to become more and more satisfied with my life the longer I live. So that's all I can give you for this post. Hope it was at least a little bit interesting.

Day 21 - A superpower I'd want

April challenge
Day 21 - If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?

Wow, I haven't really ever thought of having a superpower before, so this is some new territory. I looked at the topic earlier, thought about it for a couple hours, and now I'm back to write up my thoughts. Sure it would be cool to be invisible or be able to fly or that kind of thing, but I don't think either of those things would really make my life all that better in the long run. But there are two things I came up with. Here they are:

1. The ability to read books really fast. That was my initial idea because I have an ever-growing list of books I want to read. I'm not sure I'll get through with all those books (and the others I'm bound to add over in future weeks, months, and years) in my lifetime, even if I had as much time as I liked to read. But then I got to thinking about how my book-reading experience has changed over the years. From when I learned to read up until I was in my first few years of college, I would whip through books really fast. Some Sundays when I had more free time I could even get through a book or two in a day. But then I discovered the joy, and really the skill, of reading more slowly. Of really digging deep into the text and enjoying every word, phrase, and well-crafted sentence. Of fully understanding what the author meant by each paragraph. I still read books rather quickly, but not nearly so quickly as I used to. I sometimes stop, even in the middle of paragraphs or sentences, to re-read something that is really beautifully written or to think about something that really grabbed my attention and made me think. And it's a lovely experience. So now that I've thought about that all, I don't really need or want a superpower to read books really fast. I already do read as fast as I'd like to. All I need is to reorganize some of my time to leave more space open to sit down and really get into a good book more often.
2. The second thing I thought of is the one I really would love to have. The ability to learn languages really fast. Yes, I would ADORE this superpower!! I have taken nine years of French classes (although the ones I'm counting from high school and college were really just semesters) and my French abilities are quite awful. Of course none of those nine years focused on speaking skills, just writing and listening skills. But I'm not even that great at those. It doesn't help that I've never spent any significant time in a French-speaking area, despite living in a bilingual country. So my French skills are desperately lacking. Let's continue the sad story. The bit of Spanish I picked up while I worked at an orphanage in Guatemala hasn't stuck with me either. I had a pretty good repertoire of greetings, colours, numbers, food and animal names, types of weather, and other assorted good-to-know words. Yep, pretty much all gone. Then there's German, the language of my heritage which both my maternal grandparents spoke at home and in elementary school while growing up on the Canadian prairies. I only know a couple words and a song or two in German. Last year in Tanzania I learned quite a few words in Swahili, despite working in a mostly-English environment (about the same amount as what I learned in Guatemala). And while certain Swahili words will never stop being part of my vocabulary (I have urges to say wewe (you) to Jonathan at times, whenever I see a pair of underwear I think chupis, and if I see a bug my mind automatically says dodo), I struggle to come up with any phrases anymore. I don't even remember how to say good morning or other easy phrases like that anymore. And don't even get me started on my Korean. I know about four words in Korean so far (kamsamnida- thank you; an-nyeong ha-se-o - hello; debak - awesome or great job; and fighting - a Konglish term that means 'go for it!') plus the numbers from 1-10 if I think about it really hard. That's pathetic. I learned way more words in my three and a half months in Guatemala than I have in six months here. So that's the story of my language skills as of right now. Ridiculous. There are so many I want to learn and I can't even keep up the ones I did learn a little bit of. Anyway so the superpower I would chose would be to learn languages really quickly, retain them, and speak them perfectly. And of course what I would do with that skill first would be to travel to the countries of the languages I learn and be able to speak to the locals without any stumbling and mumbling and checking of phrasebooks and feeling foolish. Haha, I know it's just a pipedream for here on earth, but hopefully in heaven I'll finally get to learn a few languages well. If we still have various languages there. I kind of think we might and I think it will be really fun to learn them from the native speakers.

Day 20 - 3 childhood memories

April challenge
Day 20 - Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.

Hmm, this could end up being a really long post if I'm not careful. But I'll do my best to keep it short. Mostly because I need to practice my sermon for vespers once more and then have a shower and figure out what I'm going to wear. So here it goes. I'm not sure how significant these memories are, but they all are from pretty early on in my life and are pretty distinct. I remember lots of details about each one, but I'll pare them down to the minimum for this post.

1. Getting my kitten, Lumby. I begged my parents for a cat for, as I can recall, quite a long time before I got one. Finally when I was four my parents took me to a pet store in town called ChowTown with a blue and white checkered pattern on the sign above the door. Inside I looked around and finally decided on a beautiful white and brown kitten romping around in the cat pen. I remember being quite surprised when the man at the checkout said the cat was a boy. Up until that time I had thought all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. It was a very educational moment. :) And that's all I'm going to write about that event. If you want to read more or see a picture of my cute cat, you can read a long post I wrote a few years ago about my Lumby memories.

2. Another memory I have is getting lost during a family vacation to Puerto Rico, which took place the Christmas just before my fourth birthday (when I got Lumby), as far as I recall. My little sister, Bryn, who was less than a year old, got a major asthma attack during our vacation and had to be hospitalized in the SDA hospital my uncle and aunt lived near (my uncle taught for the SDA university and my aunt worked at the hospital). My mum stayed in the hospital with Bryn for most of the time she was admitted. One day my dad took me to the hospital. I believe my older sister, Becky, was along, too, but I might be wrong about that. Anyway, it turned out that only adults, or older people, could go up to Bryn's floor. So my dad told me to sit in the waiting room and just wait until he ran up and saw Mum and Bryn and could come back down and be with me. I waited for an eternity (probably about two minutes) and then decided he had abandoned me. So I went to find him. I went out of the hospital lobby and looked up and down the sidewalk in front of the building. No Dad. So I walked across the street and into a little grocery store that we might have gone in a few days before. I looked up and down each aisle and still no Dad. So I started crying and then a sweet Puerto Rican lady in the store picked me up and took me outside to try to help me find my parents. I think she had a little girl or two with her and I don't really remember being afraid of her (wonder of wonders...). Well, pretty much as soon as she carried me out of the store we saw my Dad coming down the front steps of the hospital. Boy was I ever relieved to see him! That's about all I remember of that specific memory. I sure am glad, though, that I decided to wander off on an Adventist campus rather than somewhere else.

Most of the family saying Bye-Bye to Puerto Rico

3. Here's another memory about my sister, Bryn. (Lots of my early memories center on her since she was quite the interesting sibling.) Bryn was the exact opposite of me as a kid. When I was learning to walk my parents just said 'no' if they didn't want me to go somewhere or open something and I immediately obeyed them. They only have one story about me putting my hand in water and then reaching toward an electrical outlet. They said no, but apparently I had a fascination with the outlet and disobeyed. Of course I got a shock and I'm pretty sure that's the last time I tried anything like that. So my parents never had to put child safety locks on any of the cupboards or doors for me. But for Bryn they bought the whole works. She was into everything. One day I walked into the bedroom that we shared (so she must have been at least 6 months or more, I don't exactly remember when we started sharing a room) and found that she'd moved the ladder to our bunk bed right up next to the dresser that was beside the bed. Then she'd climbed the ladder, pulled open the top dresser drawer and crawled in. When I walked into the room, she was happily tossing all of my socks, undershirts and underwear down onto the floor below. If I weren't so angry with her I'd have really enjoyed watching all my things flutter to the ground. But it was such a mess and also, it kind of looked like fun and I was a little sad that I hadn't thought of the idea first. Anyway, I ran to down the hall to tattle on Bryn to my mum and she came to take care of the situation. Bryn was removed from the top dresser drawer, my clothes were returned to their rightful places, and I finally giggled at my funny little sister.

And that's all for today, folks. I do have some childhood memory blogs all written up and sitting in my drafts section of this blog. I'm just waiting to have my mum find a few pictures of some of the events before I post them because people are more happy with a blog that has a picture or two. So stay tuned for some written-up memories in the next few...weeks or months, I guess.

Day 19 - Where I want to live

April challenge
Day 19 - If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

Yes, finally an easy one! :) This is a cinch. While I love traveling and want to see as much of the world as I can in my lifetime, there's absolutely no place like home. My dream place to live is Canada, my home and native land, and more specifically BC, my home and native province.

That being said, I don't have any desire to live in my hometown in the Okanagan Valley, although it will always hold a special place in my heart. I'd rather have a little more land and be a little more out in the country. I've never been partial to the Lower Mainland area near Vancouver either. There's some beautiful scenery out that way, but again too many people. Plus, BC is full of beautiful scenery. You just have to sometimes go a little bit off the beaten track to get to it. Give me the coastal mountain range or Vancouver Island or even the Shuswap area, just a couple hours north of the Okanagan Valley. I have no idea where I'll end up living in my life, but one vital key is that there have to be some form of mountains (even just big hills will do) and there has to be a few evergreens hanging around. A good-sized body of water definitely wouldn't hurt either.

In recent years my sister and I have schemed up ideas of living in small Sicamous on the Shuswap Lake. It's a nice small community but it has most things any person needs (school, grocery store, post office, etc.), but it's not swarming with people (except for maybe during the two summer months of the year when houseboat season is on). It's got great mountains, lots of green trees, lake access, and a little bit more of that living in the country feel without actually being the country. And best of all, who wouldn't want to live in a town pronounced sick-a-mouse?!? :) Only problem is I can't for the life of me figure out what my dear husband could find for fulfilling work there. So who knows. That's just one idea. I've got a few more bouncing around my head.

With the bro and a couple cousins on Kalamalka Lake (one of my favourite BC lakes)

Rocky Mountains in Fairmont (one of my many favourite places in BC)

Day 18 - Most difficult thing to forgive

April challenge
Day 18 - What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?

Hmmm, I don't really know for this one. I think for the most part I can work through forgiveness without too much difficulty. I can't think of any really long-lasting grudges or unforgiving times that I've had. But there is one that I'm still working through.

Last year I worked with ADRA in Tanzania. Although it was a great year in many ways, the work part of my time there was rather lacking in solid guidance, general focus, and for the most part I had very, very little to keep me occupied. In a way, I kind of feel like I wasted my 8 months in Tanzania and didn't really learn much, at least job/writing-wise. That's a little hard to digest still because I was so excited about working and writing with ADRA when I finally was chosen and approved for the position. All that enthusiasm quickly vanished a few weeks or maybe a month after I got there. And I feel like the only redeeming part of the year was meeting so many amazing fellow volunteers and giving my heart totally and completely to the babies at the on-site orphanage. Without those two things, though, it would have been a really disheartening year, and even much harder than it already was being so far away from Jonathan for so long, especially leading up to our marriage. But God knows what He was doing and I'll just have to accept that He had a plan for my year in Tanzania. I hope someday He'll let me know what His plan was.

Day 17 - What I wish I was great at

April challenge
Day 17 - What is the thing you most wish you were great at?

Wow, how about everything? But really, if I just had to pick one thing I think it would have to be socializing. My parents and grandparents are the friendly, talkative sort, whereas I always feel like a bumbling and awkward conversationalist. Especially with people I don't know very well. Most of the time my brain knows what it wants to say, but somehow it usually never comes out very smoothly. But I hope that someday I'll be able to do as good a job of hosting people as they do.

Day 16 - 5 greatest accomplishments

April challenge
Day 16 - What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?

Wow, do these ever get easier?! I guess not. But they are fun to work through. Here I go (and I'll try to keep it relatively short this time...):

1. Getting over my fear of everything (well, not everything, but many things). I still have lots to work on, but it's nothing like when I was that scaredy-cat four-year-old.
2. Mastering the violin. Sure not easy to learn, but definitely fun to have as a skill-set! The biggest things I owe to my classical music training: 1) appreciating good (also known as 'real') music, 2) discovering the fun of ensembles, 3) meeting my husband.
3. Coming around full-circle to one of my earliest career ideas and finally graduating from college after only four/five major changes (changes two and five were the same major...).
4. Doing missions. Not sure if that really counts as an accomplishment, but every time I go out on a mission trip, whether short or long, I grow a whole lot. Hopefully I've helped a few people along the way, too.
5. Establishing a good Bible study method. For years, and I mean years, I aimlessly read a verse, passage, chapter or book here or there in the Bible. I read Christian/SDA magazines, devotionals, books to help you along in your Christian walk, all kinds of stuff, and never found any clear or focused method to actually get into the Bible and study it. Well, I have one now and boy is it ever working for me! I used to think that a shower was the only thing that could really wake me up in the morning, but a good morning Bible study does just as good a job!

Day 15 - If I were an animal...

*Well, I've fallen behind. You can blame the cherry trees for FINALLY blossoming and my upcoming Friday evening sermon for my accidental disregard to this blog challenge. But I've made up my mind to catch up tonight and tomorrow. Get ready for a whole slew of blog posts coming your way.

April challenge
Day 15 - If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

Wow, this is a hard one! I have to choose just one animal?! But I have so many favourites! I guess this topic isn't about favourites, though. Maybe it's about the animal I would be best as.

Jonathan, when I asked his opinion, said I would be a cat because I enjoy lying in the sun. This is true, especially on cold winter days if there is a window big enough to get some good sunlight. But I don't think I have enough feline-esque qualities to make me a good cat.

I considered penguins for a little bit. I like to swim, I sometimes look comical, and I like being around others. But that's not a perfect fit for me either. I definitely need some individuality and some alone time. I don't think penguins have quite enough of either for me. Colobus monkey? I like being in trees, and sometimes I have funny hairdos. They even have alone time or together time depending on how many of the group decide to move on to the next tree together. But they don't seem quite excitable enough. They're kind of like moderately quicker sloths. I talk fast with people I know well and I always walk fast. Nope, the Colobus isn't quite right for me. Sharks have a little too much solitary time and I do need people sometimes, too. Plus, they don't have family and that's pretty important for me. OK, how about a Canada goose? They have family, and even have a nice set schedule telling them when it's time to get a move on. And they get to travel a lot! But, then again, they go to the bathroom right in public. Soooo, not me!

Alright, so here's my final choice: dolphin / orca. They're in the same family so I figure it's OK to pick both. Both have been a favourite animal of mine at one point in my life (OK, let's face it, all the animals I mentioned in this post are favourites...) and I think I can see some Ali-qualities in both of them. They also get to travel and explore. They live together in a group, but you can sometimes see small groups of them and maybe once in a while even a singe dolphin or orca hanging out by him/herself. They can be defensive if they need to be, especially to protect the weak ones of the group. They're good at team work and pulling their own load. But best of all they have a fun joy about them that's contagious. You just try to not smile when you see those happy faces! Always being joyful is something I have to work on, but someday I hope to get that all-encompassing joy and zest for life that all the dolphins / orcas of the oceans are born with!

PS - If they'll have me, I'm SOO having all of those animals and more as pets in heaven! :)

Day 14 - 5 strengths

April challenge
Day 14 - Describe 5 strengths you have.

OK, here's the other half of yesterday's topic. I'm guessing it will be equally as hard to think up five things.

1. I'm good at organizing (even papers when I get into it). This being said, when I try to help other people organize their things it's a lot harder for me than to organize my own things.
2. For the most part, I'm a hard worker.
3. Although not your normal take-charge type of person, when I'm given a leadership role I can usually do an alright job of it, mostly by delegating different jobs fairly to those who are appointed to help me.
4. I'm pretty good at understanding kids. I think this is mostly because I have a quite extensive memory of my own childhood and since I remember all the frustrating parts of being a child, I can understand what most kids need or want.
5. I'm fairly good at saving money and not spending it on things I don't need. Where I do spend money, though, is on traveling, which of course is more expensive than say a new T-shirt or pair of jeans from the mall.

Well, there are five. Phew, these posts are just getting harder!

Day 13 - 5 weaknesses

April challenge
Day 13 - Describe 5 weaknesses you have.

Today's and tomorrow's topics are going to be hard. I'm never good at finding and/or recognizing my own strengths and weaknesses. It's so much easier to do in others. Isn't that just the way it goes... Alright, here's to learning how to find and improve my own strengths and weaknesses!

1. I'm not sociable enough in groups of people that I don't know very well, especially large groups.
2. I'm afraid of trying anything new, especially if I haven't ever observed the new thing I'm supposed to be trying.
3. I'm bad at giving people my full attention when I'm busy doing something else.
4. I'm not good at graciously accepting criticism (constructive or otherwise). I may look gracious on the outside, especially to people I don't know very well, but it's not how I'm feeling on the inside. It's a work-in-progress.
5. I need to work on having consistent Bible study. Definitely a weaknesses for me in the past, but I'm really working on making it a priority in the present and for the future.

And for fun: Bonus - I'm VERY ticklish! Haha, yep, that's definitely a weakness of mine. I'm ticklish pretty much everywhere and sometimes people can tickle me just by wiggling their fingers in the air and not even touching me.

Day 12 - A day in my current life

April challenge
Day 12 - Describe a typical day in your current life.

This topic will be the easiest to write up so far, I think. A typical day in my current life is nothing too extravagant or complicated. So here it goes:

I wake up whenever Jonathan wakes up (around 7ish), but usually stay snoozing in bed, happily knowing that I have an extra hour after he leaves to teach his first class before I have to be at work. He does his Bible study and then gets ready for his day. When he is ready to leave, I get up, say bye to him, and do my own Bible study. Then I do a quick check of my e-mail, and if time allows, Facebook and Google Reader, while I scarf down some easy-to-make breakfast - usually toast, yogurt or a package or two of Quaker oats (don't worry, people, we carefully priced it out at Costco and found that it was enough cheaper than the fancy organic plain oats they stock to justify buying a large box of it). Usually by the time I'm done breakfast I realize it's getting close to when I need to leave for work so I scramble to get ready and almost always make it to the office by 9 a.m.

Then I work there until noon. At work right now, I'm mostly just doing whatever editing needs to be done. My part of the office, the Adult Textbook section, finished our big government project about a month ago. Since then we've been helping the Junior Textbook section with their big project, revising a set of textbooks called the WISE Master books. (I have yet to find out if the WISE part is an acronym for something.) An earlier version of these books is being used by another English institute in Seoul, but I just found out today that next term a few of SDALI's smaller institutes will be piloting the new revision for junior classes instead of the Yes I Can and English Time books we currently use. So we're all scrambling to get these books done so they'll be ready for next term (which starts in about two and a half weeks). So far, for WISE Master I've been editing the Teacher's Guides and writing extra reading passages for some of the books. This term there are four foreign workers in our office and all four of us are working on various levels of the WISE Master books right now. I'm mainly working on the Junior level (the middle one between the Starter level and the Intermediate level). There are 12 books (one per month) in each level so it's quite a large project.

At noon I walk home and make lunch with Jonathan, who fortunately doesn't have a class from 12-1.We generally keep our lunches pretty easy since I only have an hour free. Just before 1 p.m. I do the five-minute walk back up to the office and work until 6 p.m. Then I rush home again to eat supper with Jonathan. This term he has evening classes from 7-9 so we again only have an hour to eat together. That means our suppers are pretty simple, too. Actually most of the time our suppers are much smaller than our lunches. I'm usually not even really all that hungry for supper by then if I've had a semi-big lunch. Then Jonathan leaves for his English class at 7 and I usually do work on my computer while he's gone - usually some e-mailing or blogging or just catching up on Google Reader feeds. If I had my library of books over here I'd probably do some reading as well, but I've been through most of the books we have here so my reading time is quite lacking compared to what it's usually like. Recently I've sometimes been using the first hour of my evening along time to watch an episode of 7the Heaven. It was a favourite with my sisters and me when we were younger and I still enjoy catching up with the Camden family from time to time. Actually I found a great site that has all 10 seasons and since I've never seen some of the earlier ones, I started watching from the beginning. I used to keep up with a lot (and I mean a LOT) of TV shows via the networks in college, but I've since realized what a time waste it is and have pretty much let them all fade away. And wonder of wonders, I don't really miss them at all. But I think I'm hanging on to 7th Heaven right now because it reminds me of home and my siblings who I miss. (Haha, if that sentiment continues, I might end up taking on Full House next. Bryn and Becky, we should have a Full House marathon someday for old times sake, eh?!) And since it's about a minister's family, it's pretty tame compared to most TV shows these days and tackles a lot of sticky issues. Anyway, enough about that. About 9:20 or so Jonathan comes back home and we finally get to hang out together for longer than an hour. This two-month term ends at the end of April and then Jonathan will have a new teaching schedule for our last term, May and June. We're both hoping he won't have evening classes every night and we can hang out together for longer some nights. Then around 11ish or so we head to bed.

See, nothing really unusual or remarkable. But I have to say, it totally beats the socks off last year when we had all of two weeks together out of the eight months I was in Africa. Have I said before how awesome married life is?! :) Anyway, if you'd like to SEE a few minutes of our lives, check out our apartment tour on our Korea blog.

*Note - Now that my daily schedule is down in written form, I can definitely see some areas I should improve on. I could just get up when Jonathan does and shower then instead of trying to frantically squeeze it into a few minutes just before heading out the door to work. It would give me a more relaxed pre-work time. I could definitely cut down on my computer or show-watching time while Jonathan is gone in the evenings. And instead I could definitely spend more time with God. So I'll try to work on those in the next little while. Yay for these blog topics actually showing me ways to re-prioritize and improve my life!

Day 11 - 10 pet peeves

April challenge
Day 11 - Describe 10 pet peeves you have.

Whenever people talk or write about their pet peeves (me included) it always sounds kind of like they're saying "I think/know I'm right and you're wrong." I know that's probably not what people mean when they write that, and it's not what I mean either. I just wanted to get that out there before I start my list in case, by the end of reading it, you think I'm totally stuck up. I hope you believe me when I say I don't think I am... (Again, this list is made up as I think of things.)

1. Being told I'm a picky eater. I've tried to rationalize my eating habits to people once in a while, but they usually don't like to give me the time of day to explain. So, since this is my blog and I have the time of day to explain, I'm going to. The way I see it, I'm an extremely NON-picky eater because I am quite satisfied with meals that most others would find much too paltry and plain. Give me a plain and nutritious meal (without meat) and I'm happy. Give me a meal filled with weird food combinations (ie. sweet and savoury combined in a dish), slathered in sauces or dressings, or covered in hot spices and I'm not happy. I'm not sure how that makes me a picky eater, but apparently most of the world think it does. But even if I am, I really have no idea why it's other people's business what I do or don't eat. (Well, OK, to be fair, I do think it's a parent's business to help children learn good eating habits, but other than that I don't think people should try to dictate what others do or don't eat unless their opinion is specifically asked for.)
2. Hearing/reading the word 'busy' freely tossed around. I covered this topic in depth on my other blog so I won't say much about it here. I find it kind of amusing and a lot annoying when people say they can't do such and such because they are too busy. They are too busy because they chose to be busy doing the things they are busy at. And I think that's their choice and it's fine, but it's not a reason for people to complain/whine about how busy they are. We're all busy, but we choose to be busy with the things we do each day. I'm trying to ween myself off of doing this myself because I realize how silly it is to sit around exchanging stories about how busy we all are. So now, if I find myself without enough time to get something done, I realize I have to re-evaluate the things I choose to do each day and re-prioritize my life. I know I'm quite guilty of this one, but I'm really trying to cut the often-used word 'busy' out of my vocabulary.
3. Similarily, hearing/reading the word 'boring' freely tossed around is another pet peeve. That word was a no-no in our house (as it had been for my mother growing up) so with a mother and a grandmother who despise that word, you can believe that we kids grew up knowing to avoid it. And if we didn't, we could expect to get some work given to us to keep us from being too bored with our current circumstances. I certainly think I'm better for our childhood Don't Say Boring rule.
4. I was just going to type 'grammatical errors/typos' when I realized that in my line of work that shouldn't be a pet peeve, but something I am grateful for since I wouldn't have a job otherwise. Of course, I myself make a good number of grammar mess-ups and typos, but if I find them, they really bother me and I make sure to correct any I'm able to correct as soon as I spot them. So I'll refine my point #4 to say that grammatical errors and typos really bother me in professionally printed materials. I find no reason that these mistakes should show up in materials printed by large book or newspaper companies that employ probably more than a couple copy editors. Whenever I find mistakes in books that I read, I find a good editing pen and correct them right away. My mind gets too distracted by the errors otherwise.
5. Uncleanliness. While not a total neat-freak, I do like a cleanly-looking space. And luckily I really enjoy cleaning and organizing so that's a plus.
6. Movies being vastly different from the books that inspired them. I think it's an outrage and if I were an author who wrote a book that someone wanted to turn into a movie I would try to make sure the movie stuck to my original story line. There's only one movie that I forgive of this error, and that is my favourite, the Anne of Green Gables series, because I started watching the movies way before I ever read the books. I like both equally, but they seem kind of like two different stories to me, so it doesn't bother me that the movies aren't just the same as the books.
7. (This and the next one might seem like oxymorons, but stick with me here while I explain.) People bugging other people about not saying words correctly. I can't stand people saying that I don't pronounce words right. I'm not sure who decided that the American way of pronunciation was the correct one, but I don't agree with it. I have no problem with Americans / Canadians / Australians, etc. pronouncing words the way they want to pronounce them. But I do have a problem with people telling me that the way I and my fellow countrymates (or other people from other countries) pronounce something isn't right. I maintain that it's OK for words to be pronounced differently, as long as people can understand each other. And I think it's OK for someone to ask politely for something to be repeated if they didn't get it the first time. That's much nicer than just automatically saying "you say that weird/wrong," etc.
8. People who say words incorrectly - as in, not because of where they're from or their accent, but when they actually mix up the order of the letters in their pronunciation. Let's take my good old favourite (or least favourite, as the case may be) as an example. The word 'ask' is much too often mispronounced as 'aks' and it bugs me like crazy whenever I hear it. People who say it like that are completely mixing up the letters. That's the main word I hear messed up like that, but there are a few others as well.
9. People talking about coffee/Starbucks all the time, like in a status symbol kind of way. I confess that I don't drink coffee, don't even like the smell, and will never try it because of the many times my siblings and I encountered coffee grinds spilling out of garbage bags that we then had to sweep up during our stint as janitors at my dad's cabinet shop. Those grinds are disgusting and completely gross me out. I was raised in the era of the no-coffee Adventist church and the sudden rise of coffee to popularity in the SDA church really baffles me. I have no idea why gabbing about lattes and other such fancy and not-particularly-healthy drinks is really all that interesting of a subject. I would never go around talking to people (or writing on Facebook) about my daily tap-water or orange juice intake, so why is coffee so much more acceptable of a topic? It doesn't make sense to me at all.
10. People talking about how bad the economy is and/or never having enough money for things they need/want. Jonathan found a really awesome blog featured on Lifehacker last September and we've been reading through all the posts since then. I'm actually almost caught up with all the posts and have learned SO much great advice on finances, how to be happy with less, and how to retire much earlier than most people think is actually possible. Since I started reading it, I've really started to notice how often people say they don't have enough money for this or that. Mr. Money Mustache, the blog author, has written quite a few articles showing how he and his wife saved like crazy for 10 years while living pretty frugally before both retiring when their son was born and now spend copious amounts of time together as a family. And I only wish he'd started the blog about 10 years ago so I could have copied him. Anyway, if any of you are interested, here are a few of the posts* that I particularly enjoyed about how to gain financial independence: 1) Get Rich With Bikes 2) The Coffee Machine that can Pay for a University Education 3)  The True Cost of Commuting 4) The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
    *Just be aware that Mr. Money Mustache enjoys the occasional swear word for emphasis, in case that would bother you.

OK, that was a book. I'm sorry it was so long. Ugh, I've really got to cut down on my word count or I might lose readers rather than gain them. Anyway, if you haven't yet gotten your fill of Ali-commentary, I had an inkling I'd already written a post about pet peeves in my early days of this blog. So I searched around in the archives a bit and found it. Here it is if you care to look. It's MUCH shorter than this post. I find it rather interesting that a few of my pet peeves are still the same more than two years later.

Day 10 - Most embarrassing moment

April challenge
Day 10 - Describe your most embarrasing moment.

I hate today's topic. Mostly because a lot of really embarrassing things have happened to me throughout my life, but I can never remember them when I'm supposed to tell an embarrassing story. They always pop into my head at times when they're not really needed. Also, I don't like when someone asks for the most embarrassing moment. I mean really, how can you really classify that anyway? All embarrassing moments are embarrassing. For me there's not really one that trumps the others. They're all situations I wish hadn't happened to me.

OK, well this is one that just came to mind so for now let's say it's my most embarrassing. One day a few summers ago my family went boating. We spent a great day on two lakes that are linked through a small channel and did some water skiing and tubing. Toward evening we pulled the boat up to the loading area and started preparing our boat to be pulled out of the water and taken home. I unzipped my life jacket, which I had still been wearing since my last tube ride, and my younger sister stared at me with her mouth hanging wide open. I looked down and realized my swimsuit top was, umm, not quite covering all of the top it was supposed to be, probably pulled out of line from the rambunctious tube ride. In a flash I had the life jacket closed and rearranged my wardrobe before attempting to take it off again. It wouldn't have been THAT bad had there not been a mother and daughter on the shore looking in what seemed to be my direction at the time. Thank goodness the father of that group had been in the water worrying about his boat and not on the shore with the other two! Yeah, it was kind of embarrassing, but at least the people on shore weren't people I knew and therefore I figured I'd never see them again in my life. They might have got a show, but I hope they've forgotten all about it by now.

Day 9 - 10 people who have influenced me

April challenge
Day 9 - List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

Only 10? Really? OK, here it goes. (These are going to be in no particular order again, just as I think of them.)

1. My parents. They are, without a doubt, the most influential people in my life so far. Their careful guidance and support throughout the years has definitely moulded me into the person I am today.
2. My grandparents. Even though I didn't get to know my paternal grandparents as well as my maternal ones, I have wonderful memories of Sabbath lunches at their small house with the interesting backyard. My Grandpa Q. was always going to auctions and buying new and interesting, and probably most of the time not-very-useful, stuff. But we always thought it was great fun to root around the toy box in the living room and find new acquisitions whenever we came over for a visit. The items around the backyard were fun to play with, too. There are pictures of us climbing and playing around the big willow tree (the site of one of my first bee stings), pretending to ride the old rusty bicycles leaning against the garage, and pulling each other in the wooden wagons. And of course the always-filled glass candy dish on a bookshelf near the living room always held a lot of appeal for us youngsters as well. One of my favourite and most cherished memories of my Grandma Q. was on one Sabbath afternoon (or maybe another day, but we seemed to mainly go there to visit on Sabbath's and holidays). That candy dish was tantalizing, but I was too scared to pop open the lid and grab a piece myself. I walked back and forth in front of the dish with a hungry look on my face while the ladies were preparing Sabbath lunch in the nearby kitchen. I think my parents told me not to get any ideas because I should eat my lunch first before scarfing down any candy. But later, when no one was looking, my Grandma Q. showed up, gave me a knowing and conspiratory smile, and sneaked me a piece or two of candy. I kept that special secret for quite some years before sharing it with my parents. And I'm quite sure I ate a hearty plate of Grandma's amazing gluten steaks despite the couple pieces of candy. And then there's my maternal grandparents, the set I was much closer to after my Grandma Q. died when I was eight. They only lived a 5 minute bike ride away from our house and I have so many great stories of my times of them babysitting me and my siblings while our mum went out to do errands. I remember the great sandbox/play house my Grandpa W. built with the help of my cousin. The wonderful canned peaches my Grandma W. served at many meals. The fun Christmas Eve's exchanging gifts with our relatives at their house. Oh, so many things. They were always my biggest fans and still are!
3. My grade four teacher, Mrs. Halravich (no idea how to spell her name anymore...). I will always remember post-lunch-hour reading time in her class. She introduced me to so many of my all-time favourite books and for that I will always be grateful.
4. My grade five teacher, Mr. C. He was my first male teacher and in my opinion he did a great job. My favourite memory from his class was a social studies unit on the forts that Canadians used to live in back in the day. Our group project for that unit was to make our own model forts and he encouraged us to use things we could find outside. It was the most fun I've ever had in a socials class (and that's saying a lot since it's one of my favourite subjects) and our groups had a great time learning to work together (and to safely wield hot glue guns) to design our own old-time Canadian forts.
5. Mrs. Smith, my high school home ec teacher. While cooking is definitely not something I really enjoy, I did like all of the classes I took with Mrs. Smith. She always had a bright smile on her face and had such a positive personality. Even the kids who didn't like school liked Mrs. Smith as a teacher and enjoyed her classes. The only thing I wasn't crazy about in her class was the rule that we weren't allowed to taste our food while we were cooking, only at the end when everything was finished. I had no idea how we were supposed to know if we liked how our food tasted or if the dish needed more seasonings without being able to taste it. But that was just a minor inconvenience, and the food almost always came out tasting amazing, a true testament to her wonderful teaching and cooking skills. And I was always amazed that even in a cooking class, her love of God shone through everything she did.
6. My violin teacher, Bev. I learned more from Bev than from probably any other person not related to me. Probably more than all of my school teachers combined. Not only was she an excellent violin teacher, but she also knew a lot about kids in general. She did an early childhood education degree before deciding to get her RCM certificate (Royal Conservatory of Music - it's a Canadian thing) and teach violin. And I think that was what made her so amazing. She realized that not all children learn things the same way. And she formatted her teaching style to fit each and every student she taught. I've never known another teacher to do this and find it truly remarkable! Whenever I see highlighters I think of Bev brandishing a multitude of colourful highlighters and markers on enlarged photocopies of music to visually show where we needed to shift into another position. I could go on and on here, but I could never do justice to how big of an influence Bev had in my life. One thing I will say, though, is that she was instrumental in discovering that my sometimes-lazy-eyes were the reason I had such a hard time reading music. Once we figured that out, we could be proactive in trying to fix the problem. Without Bev I might never have known why I could play a piece through so easily after listening to it, but struggled for so many hours trying to learn a piece by only reading music.
7. Mrs. Semiotuk, a professor and later chair of the journalism department at Walla Walla College. A fellow Canadian, I felt I had a connection with her that some of the other students didn't have. Even though my time doing journalism at WWC was tough, she never doubted that I could make it in that major if I decided it was the one I wanted to pursue. She was also one of only two teachers in all my time at WWC who held a class somewhere other than in our classroom. The one time we had class at the bakery down the road from campus will stick in my mind as a very creative teaching opportunity and to this day I really appreciate it. I've kept that textbook, too, and plan to someday go through it again and redo the course on my own. The only thing is, I have to wait for a time when I know I won't need to read anything because one requirement is taking a week off from all reading (to enhance your own creativity). It was terribly hard to do once, and I don't know if I'd have the fortitude to do it again.
8. My sociology teacher from WWC (can't for the life of me remember her name right now). She was the other teacher who taught a class somewhere other than our class. It was a three hour once a week class on Monday nights about race and ethnicity. And for one of our final classes she had everyone over to her house near campus and made us Ethiopian (I think) food since she and her husband had been missionaries there (or some other nearby country...man alive, what's wrong with my memory right now??). It was a fun evening with every class member bringing a dish from their heritage for a big potluck. She wasn't in my life for very long, but I enjoyed her class and her method of teaching.
9. Mrs. Ball, my adviser and journalism professor at Southern Adventist University. She is a wonderful lady and her classes were a joy. She was also a great adviser and worked hard with me around some pretty tough circumstances (such as me losing credits for transferring from a quarter system school to a semester system one) to try to get me graduated as quick as possible. Whatever we came up against, she always found a solution, and she always listened to my ideas as well. I suspect she's the one behind getting a bunch of useless and not-needed classes waived for me, even when the ones I took at WWC didn't exactly match up perfectly to the ones at Southern. I thank the Lord for her!
10. Ms. Chamberlain, another journalism professor and my boss for my last semester at Southern. She was probably the hardest teacher I had in my whole college career, but I learned so much from her. I'm not a designer, in any sense of the word, but somehow I passed her design classes, even pulling an A (a very rare thing apparently) in her web design class. (But I think I owe that mostly to the TA who put in a lot of time and work helping me on all my websites, especially my final project.) Ms. Chamberlain was a journalist in the true sense of the word. She was passionate about unbiased journalism and correct AP editing. And through her teaching, I too, became passionate about those things. It also didn't hurt that her office was always pristine, while also being aesthetically pleasing to look at. That designer thing again, I guess.

OK, well if you look at that list, it seems parents, grandparents and teachers are the biggest influence in a child/teenager/young adult's life. I was so surprised to get up to 10 so fast. I hadn't even gotten to my church family yet. All you Orchard City Church members, you're all really specially and influential to me, too. I love you all! Wow, I'm so blessed to have all of you really wonderful influential people in my life! 

Day 8 - 5 passions

April challenge
Day 8 - What are 5 passions you have?

Ack, this one is going to be difficult, I think. But here I go. (These aren't necessarily in any particular order, just as I think of them.)

1. Well, first of all, one passion I have is working with children, especially less fortunate children (as you saw in my Day 6 post). On all the short-term mission trips and long-term volunteer positions I've been involved in, I've made it a point to spend time with the children. I love the way children accept others. They don't care how old someone is, what colour their skin or hair is, what language they speak or how their accent sounds. Children just want to be loved by anyone who will spend the time and energy to care for them. As one of my friends reminded me in a comment, "Spending time with [children] always reminds me that 'of such are the kingdom of heaven.'" She's so right and it's one reason that wherever I am, I am constantly watching the children of the culture. They're all so unique, so different and individual, but still so alike in all the best ways!
2. Another passion I have is literacy. Being a bookworm, I want everyone else to love books as much as I do. This was a subconscious passion until my last semester at Southern. That semester I took a class called Literary Journalism. It was an amazing class* where my five classmates and I had to read three types of journalistic books** (immersion, reporter, and experiential) and do a 20-page paper in one of the three styles. I decided to do immersion and chose the topic of illiteracy. So for that semester I immersed myself into illiteracy in Chattanooga. The most startling part of the project came when I visited an adult literacy class to observe the class and interview the students. Some of the things they told me were shocking and just downright unacceptable. I wrote my paper and finished the class, but my heart still longs to help the many people all over the world who struggle with illiteracy. One of the most interesting things I've learned about South Korea so far (and this may extend into North Korea as well, but I'm not completely sure about that) is that nearly 100% of the population is literate. This is because of King Sejong, the fourth king of the Chosun Dynasty. He gathered a group of scholars and together they worked out the current Korean written language, Hangul. It is a symbol-language and very scientific based. And because of the hard work of this king for his people, it is probably one of the easiest languages in the world to learn to read. Last week Jonathan randomly came across a series of graphics someone made up that can teach you how to read Hangul in 15 minutes. Truly. 15 minutes! Now is that remarkably amazing or what! I have half a mind to bring Hangul back to North America and revitalize our archaic language into one that actually makes phonetical sense... But in all honestly, one of my life dreams is to teach someone to read. Yes, I think it will be pretty cool to teach my children how to read, but I also want to teach an adult, someone who may have suffered hardships and humiliations throughout their life because of their illiteracy, to read sometime in my life.
3. My third passion is mission work. I'm currently in my third long-term (which I define as anything longer than a two-ish-week mission trip) mission position. I think missions, whether short-term or long-term is so beneficial, not only for the people being served, but also for the person serving. Each time I've gone on mission trips or SM positions I've grown and learned so much. And not only about the country I'm in or the people I'm serving, but also about myself and God. Each position has had different challenges and hardships, but each has brought so many rewards to my life. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything!
4. I also am passionate about family. Apart from God, I think family is the most important thing in this world. I love my family, both immediate and extended, so much and have learned so much from my older and wise family members and also from my younger ones. I don't know what I'd do without my family. They are truly my heroes!
5. The last passion I'm going to mention (but for sure not my last passion) is writing. I've been doing creative writing since I started grade one, but I didn't do too much of it outside of school until I was 9 years old and in grade three. That year we had moved to Lacombe, Alberta and I spent a lot of time writing letters to my grandma, back home in BC. Along with the letters, I liked to include short stories written on tiny notebook pages. My grandma is a lovely and kind woman and always encouraged me to keep writing. She kept all of the stories I sent her and later gave them back to me to keep and read over. Boy oh boy, when I did read through them again, I giggled like crazy! They were the most hilarious stories I had ever read. One story had a mother giving birth to her baby after a "long, hard two-month pregnancy." Hahaha, like I said, hilarious stuff. I bring them out now and then whenever I need a good laugh. But I'm so glad my grandma kept the stories and always encouraged me to keep writing. I'm also so glad my mum kept my elementary creative writing journals and also encouraged me to keep writing and doing what I loved. I'm sure I wouldn't be where I am today without their encouragement and support.

Huh, turns out it wasn't really all that difficult. And now I've even thought of more than five passions I have. But we'll just leave it at these five for now.

*Just went digging through this blog and found some interesting posts about the class here, here, and here, for anyone who cares to learn more about it. You probably won't be able to understand everything in the posts since I was writing them to fulfill a requirement for my Creative Writing class (write at least three sentences every single day of the semester) and not to be particularly explanatory. But I find them amusing and you might as well.

**For anyone interested, the books were "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe, "Oranges" by John McPhee, and "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs (reporter, immersion, and experiential respectively).  I loved the first two, but, as a Christian, found the last one a little bit offensive and derogatory for my tastes. I haven't read any of Jacobs' other books, but I have a feeling I'd like them better since they are not trying to show the ridiculousness of other's religions.

Day 7 - My dream job

April challenge
Day 7 - What is your dream job, and why?

Oh man, if you read my post for Day 1, you probably noticed my mind was constantly changing on the topics of future careers. And just in the past few years, my brain has changed so much on this topic. When I transferred to Southern, being a magazine writer or editor was my dream job. Two years later, during the first semester of my last year at Southern, I was convinced I wanted to be an author, specifically a children's author. I even went so far as to take Survey of Children's Literature that semester. It was one of the most fun classes I took during my whole college career! I learned so much, and had so many things reinforced that my mum had told me throughout the years (she's the one who recommended I take the class because it was her favourite college class, too).

But later that year, I discovered my real joy and passion. At the end of that semester, one of my journalism teachers asked me to be her grader for two classes she was teaching the next semester - Publication Editing and Advanced Reporting - both of which I'd taken the year before. That spring semester I realized how much I love editing. I really enjoyed and valued the time I spent sitting in her neatly organized office correcting assignments and articles. To me, it never even seemed like work, but was relaxing and soothing. Working alone in her office and being able to concentrate in the silence and solitude gave me such peace and tranquility, and I began to understand how much I desired to have a work environment like that. By the end of the semester I'd realized how much more rejuvenated I felt doing editing than writing. How happy I was by the time I'd finished all the grading for each particular session. My other student job that year, Southern Accent News Editor, Southern's student newspaper, was also fun for me. But it was a lot more hectic, time consuming, and stressful. I think I did both jobs fairly well, and both certainly pushed me to improve my skills, think outside the box, and grow journalistically. But I was always much more excited to go to the journalism department and edit than I was to go to the Accent office on Tuesday evenings and fix mistakes and problems in the news section of the paper. I do think working on the Accent gave me a lot of things being a grader didn't. First, I had to work with other staff members, particularly the editor and managing editor. We had to brainstorm together to work through problems that came up. I had to deal with underclassmen who wrote the news articles for their News Reporting class. I had to write any extra stories that weren't assigned to the NR class. I had to constantly keep my eyes and ears alert for any news item on campus that needed to be written about. That job was a great experience and I made a lot of closer friendships with my journalism department staff members than I ever would have just in classes together. But I definitely realized I could never work as a journalist for a full-time job. And, I discovered that editing is in my blood. It makes sense, really, since one of my uncles worked as a copy editor at Pacific Press for many years before retiring and still does some occasional copy editing jobs for them when they ask him to.

All things considered, I really think my dream job is to do the kind of work I'm doing right now (you could have known this already from reading my post for Day 5). While I loved editing news articles, editing for ESL materials is just so much fun! I really love my job of assisting with the development of ESL textbook materials. I know some of my career choices have had to do with writing, and I do really love writing, but I think editing is really where my heart lies. Right now I am really trying to find somewhere to work when Jonathan and I get back home and somewhere that God wants me to be. Even though I'd love to stay in the editing field, if he wants me in writing, I won't hesitate to do that. But I think copy editing will always be my favourite job in the writing/editing field.

But, like Olivia, I also have to say that, ever since I was a kid, I've always known I want to be a mum someday. I think it's one of the hardest jobs on this planet, but just from the work I've done with other people's children, I think it's probably one of the most rewarding. I just hope I can do the job justice. I have some pretty amazing people to follow (my mum, my grandmothers, ladies in my church, etc.).

Day 6 - Hardest thing I've experienced

*Note - Jonathan and I are heading off to the annual SDA Language Institute teacher's retreat in a few minutes. We won't be back until sometime on Monday and I have no idea if we'll have internet. But Jonathan is bringing his laptop so I'll be sure to make time to write about the daily topics and post them all when I get back, if I can't do it sooner. Sorry for making you wait... But, in the meantime, you can read this post from our Korea blog and watch us try to sing in a Korean choir. It might make you smile. :)

April challenge
Day 6 - What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?

This is the easiest topic for me to write about so far. But the hardest to think about. When I looked through the list on Day 1, and saw the topic for today, I instantly knew what I would write about. The hardest thing I've ever experienced is saying goodbye to children that I love.

When I worked at Hogar Los Pinos Adventista in Guatemala City I fell in love with a beautiful baby boy on my first afternoon at the children's receiving center. His name was Dani and he was instantly "my" baby. A month or so after I arrived at the hogar, I talked to Anabela, the director, and learned his story. I have it written down in a notebook somewhere in my bedroom and can't remember all the details right now, but I do know he was abandoned by his mother when he was only a few weeks old. Health testing soon after showed he had inherited an STD from her (my brain can't recall which at the moment). He was about four months old when I arrived and I just realized last week that he is six years old now. I can't believe it's been six years since I last held him, since the last time I kissed his perfect cheeks! I often wonder what he's like now. Where he lives. If he got transferred to the ICC (International Children's Care) children's village several hours out of Guatemala City. Or if he got adopted and is living a happy, healthy life with a family somewhere. Or if one of his own biological family members found him and took him home to live with them for good. I don't know if I'll ever find out on this earth. But wherever he is, I'll always love him.

Smiley Dani-boy

Last year I worked in Tanzania, not at an orphanage, this time, but with ADRA. But, as luck would have it, the ADRA TZ campus happened to house an orphanage started up by the ADRA director's wife. So as soon as work was done for the day, I quickly changed my clothes and headed up to Cradle of Love for my fill of rambunctious, noisy, usually dirty, and completely adorable babies and toddlers. Since I didn't spend all day with the kids, I didn't form bonds with them as fast as many of the Cradle volunteers, but around late November I started forming an attachment with one precious little girl, Nina (you can read more about this here). Nina is an identical twin within a triplet set. I loved all three girls, but Nina quickly became "mine." Her story was quite different than Dani's. Nina and her sisters, Anya and Tessa, are Maasai and were born in a Maasai village along with their brother, Quinn. Their mother couldn't provide enough milk for four babies and they were taken to Cradle of Love to be cared for until they could return to their village. Sadly, Quinn died (I think of pneumonia) while at Cradle, but the three little girls grew and thrived. When I left they were two and a half years old and ready to move on. They were some of the most westernized kids at Cradle and we volunteers worried about them transitioning back to their Maasai village. All three girls were terrified of their father every time he came to see them and shrieked throughout most of his visits. And they were also afraid of the dark (or at least Nina was) and that could be a problem in a Maasai village where all the huts are small and dark, even in the daytime. This past fall all three girls were accepted into a Maasai boarding school in the city near Cradle and they'll grow up there together with other Maasai girls. I know it's not the same as being with family, but they'll have a good upbringing and lots of love and care. The good thing about this is that current volunteers and former ones who go back to Tanzania for a visit should be able to stop by and see the girls and give the rest of us updates on how they are doing. Unlike with Dani, I might be able to watch these three grow up, through pictures, videos, and stories from those who go to visit them!

L-R: Nina, Tessa, me, and Anya at Cradle of Love Baby Home

I know it was probably cruel of me to keep tickling Nina, but her laugh was just so adorable I couldn't help myself!

There's one more child I feel I have to mention here. And this one might have been the hardest experience of them all. I spent three and a half months with Dani and eight months with Nina. But I spent a year and a half with this boy. It was a fun time, and also a very hard, tough time. But if I had the choice I wouldn't go back and live that time without him. The boy was my brother Jeffrey and he came into my life when I was around 10 years old and he was six and a half. He fit into my family right between my younger sister, Bryna, and my youngest brother, Tyler. And for a year and a half he called my parents Mum and Dad and my siblings and I sisters and brothers. But, for many reasons, the adoption didn't work out between our family and Jeff. And when we were just getting used to him being in our lives, he was gone, back to living with his previous foster family. Our family had hurts then. Ones that didn't heal overnight or even over several months. Eventually, over the next few years the hurt dulled, but the memories never did. I haven't spoken to or heard from Jeff in 16 years. Now he would be nearing 24. I have no idea where he lives, what he does, or if he's even still alive. But in my mind, he's still my little brother. And I hope somewhere in his heart he still thinks of me as his older sister.

Q. kids 1995 Christmas picture

Day 5 - 5 things that make me happy

April challenge
Day 5 - What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

Oh man, I have to limit myself to just five?! I feel like I could mention 20 or 30 or more. But, I'll stick within the prescribed amount.

1. Being married! That's number one for sure. Being married and actually living with the person you love is by FAR much, much better than being separated by an ocean and a continent like we were last year when I was in Tanzania and Jonathan was in Maine. It was a hard year for both of us, but so many great things happened during that year, too. But nothing can top living in a cramped little Korean apartment together!
2. My job. I absolutely love my two original coworkers and I am really enjoying getting to know the other people in our new integrated office. It's really a pretty perfect job for me. I get to sit at a desk for four and a half days a week and use a bright red pen to edit page after page of stuff other people wrote. Occasionally I'm called upon to write some passages myself, but those are fun, too, because I can be completely creative as long as I'm sticking within the subject matter of the chapter (for instance, today I wrote passages about Music & Art, Studying English, Modern Electronic Devices, Rainforests, and several others). Although I'd never have known it when I came to Korea, editing ESL textbooks is probably my dream job. It's fun (like phonics!) and interesting and actually quite informative. I've learned a lot of interesting material since starting to work at the textbook office. I have no idea where I'll find a job to equal this when I head back to North America in the summer.
3. My new-found favorite beverage, honey lemon tea. Ever since I randomly happened across a very easy recipe for this wonderfully relaxing drink, I've been partaking quite often (mostly because both Jonathan and I have had colds back and forth for the last month or so). One of the best things about the tea is how simple it is to make. A cup of hot water, 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. And voila, you have yourself a mug of yummy warmness slipping down your throat. Bliss! And I'm not even a big tea drinker. I usually prefer hot chocolate. Well, hot chocolate, move over, there's a new drink in this apartment. (Recipe from HowDoesShe.com)
4. Relying on my own two feet. Since coming to Korea I've walked most of the places I need to go. To the institute, to the store, home again, etc. When we lived in Cheonan we did take the city bus once, the subway into Seoul once, and a taxi a few times, but for the most part we walked when we needed to get somewhere. And since moving to Seoul, we've been walking more than ever. We haven't yet taken a taxi here, and while we regularly use a bus to get to Costco and a subway to explore the city, when we're in our neighbourhood we walk everywhere. It's wonderful to know I'm getting around on my own steam, and I really want to keep it up when I get back to North America.
5. Seeing tiny green buds on the trees! I've been waiting and watching for spring to arrive for what seems like months now. I really expected to see the start of spring sometime in February. And now it's the beginning of April and it is only just barely starting. You'd think that coming from Canada I'd be used to spring taking a while to push winter out of the way. Well, I am. But I'm not used to winter being so dull and brown. At home we have evergreen trees covering our mountainsides. So when the snow melts, the dark green trees keep things from getting to drab. Here there are many trees all over the city and countryside, but very, very few of them are coniferous. I am just itching for the brown to turn into green. It's coming, though, slowly but surely. All the rain we had on Monday and Tuesday have opened the buds and every time I walk outside I notice more colour. I couldn't be more thrilled!