And the blog slacking continues. Seriously I should just kill this thing. But then I think I shouldn't, so I don't. And let's face it, killing it would take a vast amount of effort that I don't even normally exert to actually bloc here. So I might as well use the time already spent and actually add some content rather than erasing it all.

I'm glad that's settled. So, I've been back from Russia for like three and a half weeks and I can't really believe it. It's weird, sometimes three weeks can seem like forever, and other times it doesn't feel that long at all. Still so many memories. Still miss my kids a lot (though I've stopped crying every time I think of them). Still miss my teammates a lot. Honestly it's been a rough few weeks. Not really for any huge reason either. Obviously there's going to be a bit of a down time when you get back from any trip, but this hasn't really been due to that. Really I didn't feel very culture shocked at all. I don't know where I'm going with this. Life's just been a bit blah lately. More than a bit. But the past couple days things have been looking up. Or maybe I've been looking up...you know what I mean. And it's really funny how when I let things go to crap spiritually how it's always God that initiates. Maybe that seems like an obvious concept and it's something I've noticed but never really grasped the full meaning behind that. Normally I'm thinking, "Of course I'm so lame, I don't have any discipline and instead I wait and wait and wait until finally God breaks through in this unexpected and undeserved way and we kinda start from where we left off." Except it's not really where we left off, and I've been missing the beauty of that moment. See, all along I was thinking of it as some last resort, some horrible failure on my part. And yeah, this does not excuse my lack of discipline, spiritual pride, selfishness, laziness etc. I think this time I just realized what this has to do with the fact that I'm spiritually bankrupt. It's like it clicked all of a sudden. Of course it's up to God to bring me back. It always was. It always will be.

That's one thing. Here's another. We're past the year to the date (that was last Thursday), but it's been a year since I left for Australia. I was thinking about that last night not so much in a sentimental way, but just looking back on where I was a year ago and all the crazy things that I was yet to experience. I'd like to say for the record that this has been the fastest year of my life. I know I'll be saying that every year for the rest of my life, but seriously I can't believe that was a year ago. But then again, I can. Because I remember what stage in life I was at at that point in time and I'm totally floored it was just a year ago. I was totally tired, filled with anger and bitterness, self-conscious in more ways than I cared to admit...those are just the major things. And then 12 months passed and God just dealt with those things. Sometimes it's hard because the memory of those things is distant or the memory of God's presence during that time seems far off, but I can't deny that change. And I was thinking last night, if one year held all of that, what will this next one look like?

I'm really anxious to get back to school. I've never wanted to get back to school this badly before. I'm longing for the schedule and the people and (some of) my classes. Mainly the people. And I'm just longing to be done. To enjoy myself and then move on. I've been kinda stressed out about my future lately, but not stressed like you're stressed about an assignment or a test. It's been this under the surface stress that most of the time I don't even know is there. But it surfaces in little worries and attitudes that I have. Let's just let the world know: Krystle has no idea what to do after college. I don't know what I even want to do. If I could pick a dream job I couldn't even come up with one. And I have these worries about settling and living an easy life, or just not waiting for God's call or missing out and all this stupid stuff. It is stupid, and it all comes back to my underlying fears of failure and inadequacy. I think I'll be fighting those demons all my life, though it is certainly helpful to know they're there and be able to recognize them under the layers of...well...life. So many tangents. Let me summarize...I'm basically so unsure of my future but in the last couple days have been hopeful about some things. And coincidentally (or NOT) that all coincides with just hearing the voice of God and slowing down and actually reading his word and talking to him about some of these fears. It's amazing how differently you think and feel when you go about things that way.

I think I'm just going to stop there because I'm already incoherent enough. I'm not even going to proof-read, sorry. Besides that it's just been work work work. I think I'm going to be in the studio a couple weeks from now which is exciting. And this weekend I'm heading down south for a wedding and some quality time with Mom in San Diego. I'm looking forward to the break. Peace.

For pictures of the most amazing kids ever go here.

Back from Russia, back at home, back at work, back to "normal." Not really normal. Mainly a slightly culture shocked, still exhausted version of life. Still so much to work through. Have had not nearly enough alone time yet to process what's going on. As each new day passes I'm afraid I'll keep putting it off and never will learn. Please don't let me do that. Pictures to come.

So, how about Russia in three days.

I've been reading the book of John recently. About a year ago I read it all in one sitting at the recommendation of a friend. I was amazed as I watched things unfold. All these miracles and healings; so many amazingly tender moments; so many difficult and stirring teachings. Reading it again this time I'm mainly seeing the teachings. There are such long sections of Jesus speaking. I guess it's that way in all the gospels (sermon on the mount, hello) but in John Jesus is totally putting it out there. He's not telling parables, he's speaking about himself. He's saying all this crazy stuff that's totally pissing people off. Again and again people are picking up stones and ready to kill him but he slips away. This time I'm seeing a strong and complex Jesus. It's interesting.

I realized something today. Look how worked up I got over that book. I was so stirred to learn about something new, so pissed off at injustice. Why aren't I as changed by the book. Interesting question. The bible speaks even more explicitly about justice and love and the way we should live. I should be more stirred.

Spent 7 hours today painting. If I see any more yellow I'm going to scream.

Tonight has to be the slowest night ever. It might have something to do with the fact that I got home from work an hour or more earlier than I have most of this week. But still, the night has just been crawling. I finished my book, which basically managed to hold my attention and piss me off for the last two weeks. I'm still not completely sure how much I enjoyed it. But then again, I kept reading it so I must not have disliked it. Maybe it's just impossible to enjoy a book like The Poisonwood Bible. And if your heart wasn't breaking over it, then you probably would have never bothered with it's 600+ pages...and we're not talking Harry Potter 600 pages. I don't really feel like going into the plot of the book, but basically it traces some of the history of the Congo between 1959 up to the 80s or 90s. You see the injustice and the pain and the differences. And you see how the US proceeded to screw yet another struggling nation over. It's funny what I've realized about this nation in the past year since I've actually left it. It took a US history class in Australia for me to learn that the whole Vietnam thing was a ton our fault. Why the hell are we toppling foreign leaders and setting up ones that we like? As if we know anywhere near enough about what it takes to lead the people of Vietnam, or the Congo, or Iraq for that matter. Just because what we have here works (sort of) for us, there's no guarantee that it will work in another culture. Do we understand hundreds, if not thousands of years of cultural differences? Things we understand as "gospel truth," completely obvious, might not be so in other places. Perhaps somewhere behind everything there is an inkling of good intentions. Even so, so much has been lost. As if a newly elected leader in the Congo is really going to pose some Communist threat against the rest of the world. I think a corrupt, selfish leader (aka the one we set up) is much more dangerous to the world than any self-elected leader of the Congo would have been. Utterly ridiculous. I need to do some reading up on this history.

Enough of that for now. Too much time on my hands tonight. I'm getting lonely I think. It always works out that way during summer. No one my own age is around. I don't really have friends around here to spend time with so I'm left with myself and my thoughts. Few outlets, few breaks, few escapes. The same memories always come flooding back when I'm at home. It makes me wonder if I'm over-emphasizing certain periods of my life. Do I need to let go and move on? Are these things to dwell over? I am thankful for those years. But in five years will I look back on this time as much? Will I see it as another pivotal moment? I feel like so many of my actions lack intention or consequence right now. I might as well be floating through my life. But I know I this feeling can't be true. Here I stand (or sit rather), 10 days away from three weeks in Russia. This isn't nothing, this is very much something. See, too much time to reflect.

But it's not too much. I hate it when I don't have this time. At school I feel so cramped and strung out at the same time. I wish I could find the balance between the two. But really, there are a lot of times I feel just as alone and without an outlet there as I do here. Maybe a byproduct of all the different compartments my life has been put in to...all the places, all the people, all the different lessons and roles and likes and dislikes. It's not just the obvious physical things that make me into fragmented pieces. I do it to myself. I am one way around one person and another way around another. God stays confined to my bedroom where I read and pray, and occasionally makes his way to this chair when I am having a deep conversation with a computer screen (sometimes there is even a person on the other end). Creative musician comes out very rarely these days. Intellectual thinker stays, well, in my own intellect pretty much...especially without a classroom for an outlet right now. Even so, that part of me has become more silent in the classroom over the past year.

In my paper journal I keep expressing the same fear to God. This is it: someday I'll wake up and realize I've done nothing with my life. Or maybe I will have done something, but the whole time I've only been getting by. Maybe to others it will look fantastic, but I'll be left hollow, wondering what good any of it did. I'm afraid I won't finish the race. That I'm not committed. The the immaturity I feel even now isn't just me being young but is who I am and is something I will never overcome. Maybe I thought I'd have a lot more figured out by now. I know I'll never be perfect. I guess I just hope somewhere along the line I'm better. Not just better, but exactly who I'm supposed to be.

This has been on my mind recently. Found out on Friday night. I've played at Paradise Found several times. I attended this woman's church on and off for about a year during high school. I sat next to her daughter Shawna every time I went. Seems like some sick twist of fate. The type of person she was always trying to help is what killed her. I don't understand why.

It's been two weeks at home. Feels like much longer. Actually just this last week has felt like an eternity, which is especially odd seeming how I was working all week. Every day just seems really long. I guess I shouldn't mind that right now though.

Been thinking about timing lately. Things are really odd in that department at the moment. Basically if I had just graduated this year I could have two jobs that I'd absolutely love right now. I could be living here in this county, close to my family, stay and work at my home church, and still have excellent discounts at the store. But I haven't graduated. Instead, my church is interviewing people for a worship director position, my job at the store remains just for this summer, and I have no clue where I'm going to be a year from now. Makes me wonder if this is all on purpose because it would be too easy. If it all happened at the right time I don't think there'd be any way I would pass it up. Maybe this is the only way I can. I don't know.

My birthday is in October. That puts me on the older end of my class. It doesn't make me way older or anything, but I could have made the cut for the class ahead of me. My parents actually tested me out for kindergarten that year when I was four. Turns out I wasn't ready. But on many occasions I've wondered what would have happened if I'd started school that year. Many things would have remained the same, but so much would have changed. Just different friends means a lot. Would I be who I am? Would I even be in this boat now? I don't even know.

All this questioning however is not really due to any bitterness on my part. It's more a curiosity. I really don't know what's up right now. I don't know how the next year is going to pan out. I don't know if I'll be staying here or changing states or changing countries. It's just odd. But odd is very much the way God seems to work in my life. Nothing really comes about plainly. Seems like God has to set up a long succession of miracles for anything to happen in my life. Not anything, but you know. Maybe you don't. The friends I have, the way I met them, the places I've been...so many things, so many stories - all of them ridiculous. This has a small twinge of ridiculous to it. I'm hoping one of these days the surprise ending is going to come into view on this one.

New topic. I am exhausted. Who would have thought that working 4-6 hours six days in a row could make me this tired. I don't think I even felt this tired at school. It's like 10:30 and I'm dying here. My whole family has gone to bed. I've been getting to bed early, but I keep waking up in the wee hours of the morning. I fall back asleep but am plagued with strange dreams and friends and family and Russia. Many of them have to do with Russia. Sometimes I don't really remember anything but the gist of the dream when I wake up, but I feel like I have to spend the first hour I'm awake shaking off what didn't really happen. I don't want to be restless anymore. I want to get a solid night's sleep. I want to wake up to my alarm in the morning and have not been awake 20 minutes earlier.

At this moment everything about Russia pretty much freaks me out or stresses me out. I think that's just the stage I'm at. Yes, there are things that could go wrong and preparations to be made and all that. But worry? Do not worry about anything. Let the peace of God rule your hearts and minds. Those are commands. So right now I live in sin. And it's probably an attack. Obviously temptation...that I'm not really fighting. Attack mixed with some hormones I'm sure. I'd really like some peace. And don't even get me started about things at home. That's another can of worms.

Today marks full day number three back at home. It's been nice to relax and just have nothing to do for a while. I'm unpacked, though I still have some boxes laying around my room, and spent some time cleaning yesterday. I pretty much feel like whenever I come home I just have to get rid of a bunch of stuff because I always accumulate more. Lately it's been good things like books though. So there's a lot of clearing old things from my childhood off the shelves and putting up all the books I've accumulated...some due to my interest and a few due to the bookstore not taking them back. Thankfully most fall in the former category.

So, family dynamics can always be a bit interesting especially since we're in a bit of a family dilemma right now. This dilemma does not involve me however and I think it would be best if I just kept my nose out of it and my comments to myself unless they are positive. I don't have many of those presently so I'll just be keeping my mouth shut. So the days of strength and self-control have begun. I'm trying to view my time here at home as something substantial and important, not just as in-between time. This isn't between school years (even thought it is). This isn't even before and after Russia (though it is). Can I believe that God has things to accomplish and lessons to teach me and miracles to work during this time? Do I believe that his power will be made manifest during this time? Do I believe in his capacity to heal and make things new? I was reading Ephesians 1 today. Paul prays for the Ephesians that they would know the power of God working for them, which is the same power which raised Christ from the dead and set him at the right hand of God above all powers and authorities. That power is working for me. That's a lot of power. Maybe I should trust God a little more.

Fund raising for Russia is over. Yet again God came through big time. Saw my deficit go from about $1600 to $85 in two weeks. Craziness. God's good and has taught me a new lesson in trust. He's done this whole thing in the most upside-down, First Corinthians chapter one sort of way. The foolishness of God shaming my wisdom. It's incredibly humbling watching families who you know are struggling give sacrificially, and the people that are doctors and brain surgeons surprisingly remain silent. Not by might but by my spirit says the Lord. I can't be trusting in the power of man.

So I'm off to work in a few to try to secure a job for the summer. Same music store, many of the same people, probably the same random jobs. I'm hoping things will be a little more regular than they were last summer. Really, I'd love to work tons because I know I'm going to be spending a lot this summer going to Russia. We'll see how it goes.

A rant about worship music might be coming in the future. Then again, any prediction I ever make here never comes true, unless it's a prediction that I won't update. Maybe I've prove myself wrong this time. Peace.

One piece of momentously joyous news: school is over for the next four months.

I have officially been called on to fulfill one of my responsibilities as an American citizen. That's right folks, this girl's been called for jury duty the week of the 30th. I'm hoping the fact that I'm leaving the country less than two weeks later will be enough to eliminate me from the whole thing. Despite the inconvenience I'm glad the government had the courtesy to refrain from calling upon me until they granted me the right to drink alcohol. Though somehow I'm thinking that was just a coincidence.

It's finals week. In seven days I'll be basking in the glory of nor cal once again. Everyone's starting to move stuff out and it's a little freaky. Don't have any tests until Wednesday, so today's been a little bit of studying, then I'll really buckle down tomorrow. Finals week is always weird. There's nothing to do...except study. I've never seen so many of my friends on AIM at once, it's very funny.

God provides in ways beyond what we we expect or imagine. That's all that's on my mind right now.

Whoops it's kinda been a while. As I predicted though I never did update from home. And that's not at all because I was busy, because I wasn't. I spent most of the week relaxing and sleeping and watching tv. I got some homework done too, but nothing too complex. Had a great time seeing the fam and the rolling green hills of nor cal. I always forget how beautiful it is there.

This past week has been a load of stress trying to finish up a term paper, only to find out it wasn't really due yesterday. It was, but it wasn't. Basically my prof doesn't care when you turn anything in and will still give you full credit. Since finding that out I've been as happy as a lark. Last night was a vocal competition on campus. Fifteen singers, about 6 original songs. I went second to last. Made for a bit of a nervous night but it was tons of fun. It was so good to play with a band and just get up there and do my thing. Had a guy who does recording with his roommate walk up to me and give me his card and tell me he liked my style. I feel inspired (yet again) to start writing music and performing. I've been slack on both, and now unfortunately I'll only be down here for one more month so I couldn't really get any gigs. Next fall I'm going to have to hit places up right away. Doesn't mean I can't start writing new stuff right now though! Hung out with some friends afterward, watched a funny movie that was meant to be serious, and ate great homemade cheesecake. Definitely one of my favorite nights in a long time.

I also got to talk to one of my friends from Oz on the phone yesterday afternoon. First time I've heard her voice in almost four months. The accent was a bit strong. It was so good to just hear her and be able to talk with her, even at times when I didn't have anything to say. I miss the people there a lot. I found out another one of my friends will be coming out here later this year, and yet another should be able to come out within the next year. I can't wait to see these people.

That's all for now. Probably the worst post I've ever written but I'm just exhausted today. Probably has something to do with my extreme lack of sleep this weekend...and the gas that's leaking into my apartment...

Today is the day. That glorious day. The day I go home. Four hours from now I'll be leaving here on a jet plane. Bless the Lord. This day has been much too slow in coming.

With that said, it's been a good few days I have to say. Spent Wednesday hanging out with Mel which was awesome. Much too short a time, but I'll take anything I can get. I definitely ditched all my classes for that. Then that night I ended up hanging out with one of my roommates and two other friends/acquaintances (they're more her friends) which was great. We were talking for ages, then one of them said she had a craving for ice cream. So we tried to go to Foster's Freeze but it was closed, so we went to Wendy's and got frosties. Quite an excellent evening of unexpected fun. Yesterday was lax. My one real class was cancelled, so I did random things during the day, had choir, then went to a jazz concert at CSU Fullerton. Allen Vizzutti was a guest artist, and he is freaking amazing. He's one of the most talented, versatile trumpeters out there right now. I obviously only heard him play jazz last night, but he's also huge on the classical scene, not to mention a funny guy. Before a set of songs he was going to do with the CSUF band, he took out a picture and said "I always bring a picture of Jessica Simpson with me to look at. It reminds me to keep my solos simple." So funny. He also said he knew he didn't have to worry about Jessica showing up to the concert. Funny times.

Today was chapel, going out to breakfast/lunch with some friends, chilling, ditching a class, going to another class for extra credit, and packing. Tonight I'm catching an early dinner with a girl I don't really know but want to get to know. Exciting stuff. You've got love this list format I have going on. It's got to be so boring. I don't know if anyone cares. Anyway. After my dinner it's off to the airport for me. I cannot wait to see my MOM. She has next week off so I get to hang out with her and have a grand old time. And I get to write a term paper. YES! No.

With that I'm off to do a few more things before I head out. Next time I type it will be in lovely nor cal (unless I skip this thing altogether). Peace out.

So it's 10:30 and I'm waiting for a phone call after which I will go to bed. I'm tired tonight, which is a good feeling. Last week I felt like an insomniac and I did not like it. I don't know what's changed. I certainly haven't been more active. Whatever it is, I'll appreciate the extra sleep.

So time lately has grinded to a complete halt lately it seems. Maybe it's just the spring-break-can't-come-fast-enough phenomenon, I don't know. But I feel like things have been crawling for the past two weeks. But in just three short days I'll be on a jet plane headed home and that's a great feeling.

A lot less deep thinking lately. Not entirely sure why. A combination of needing rest and being lazy I think. I definitely don't want to give up on any of those topics (nor will current circumstances allow me to) but they're not as forefront for me right now. Honestly I'm in survival mode right now, which I actually really don't like. I shouldn't live in survival mode. Luckily the next few days are pretty dang full so hopefully they'll go by pretty fast. Tomorrow's a day of ditching to go see Mel in LA. I'm stoked. Soooo stoked. We haven't seen each other in over a year, which marks our longest absence since we met for the first time. Definitely a great reason to ditch class and even miss a quiz. Thursday is a whole stack of classes then a jazz concert at CS Fullerton. Hopefully it's a good one.

Russia meeting tonight was really good. As I came in we were taking prayer requests, which is something we haven't done as a large group before. I caught the last few and shared my own, then we all prayed together. It was bloody awesome. Everyone is really worn down and stressed out and just really under attack, so it was great to just slow down and be honest with each other and bring things to God. After we prayed a girl gave her testimony and it was just really cool. It wasn't that dramatic or anything but I was just so intrigued by her and her story. It was someone who I haven't been completely drawn to thus far so it was really cool to hear more about her and see a piece of her heart. Hopefully I'll have a chance to connect with her soon. What really blew me away is how much she remembered and how well she must listen. At different times she referenced two slightly obscure things from other people's testimonies (including mine) in comparison to her own. I know I definitely listened and was interested when other people have given their testimony, but I'm not sure I could pull out stuff like that. It was really cool.

Lately I've been listening to this chick named Bethany Dillon. She definitely cut her first CD when she was 15, and it's totally ridiculous. I've been listening to her acoustic EP a lot, which is totally amazing. This girl is really talented and best of all isn't the "pop princess" icon that the Christian music industry tends to make out of young girls. Deep lyrics, good music, and a voice that shouldn't be coming out of a fifteen year old. And she seems to be so mature and have such a sense of her calling. I've been pretty blown away by that recently.

I think that's enough for now. No phone call yet, but I'm thinking it's time to get ready for bed.

So the test from hell is over. It's so lovely. I pretty much have nothing going on school wise until after Spring break, which is so nice. Of course after Spring break the flood gates are going to break loose and all hell will rise, but that's a good three weeks away. Let's not think about that now.

Lots of things on my mind recently. Most of them have been building over the semester and some of them are more recent. I definitely wrote 7 pages in my paper journal last night on some of these topics. I think I've been letting myself become a bit intellectually constipated since I've been back here. Everyone's just so busy and everything I haven't really had too many conversations on these kind of issues. Or like none at all. I think none would be more accurate. Let's outline some of these topics:

- Am I more impacted by the fact that I am an American or by the gospel of Christ
- Is there any hope for the unpersecuted, consumeristic American church (which I am invariably a part of)
- Is a worship service all just emotional manipulation
- How do I comfort others going through difficult circumstances
- How do I comfort and love others without fostering dependency
- Why are so many people struggling with self image at my school and why is it that many of them didn't struggle in this area until they came here
- Why are 15 out of 19 people that come into the cardio room within half an hour at my school female, and is this related to the above question

That's just the tip of the iceberg folks. Lots of deep stuff, and all things I don't have figured out yet. I've been really haunted by that first question since I've been back from Aus, and it keeps coming up all over the place here which I really appreciate. I don't think I was ever fully aware of how much a product of my culture and of the world I am. Even my views of people and poverty and punishment and those sorts of things are so shaped by American republic and democracy rather than the Word of God. And we treat people really crappy in American culture as well. I know, this is the nation of "have it your way" and "the customer is always right," but that's all for a buck ya know? How do we treat each other outside of that? We're so wrapped up in our own little lives. My Russia team leader was telling us how in Russian culture if you tell someone you want to spend time with them they'll set aside like a whole day for you. In my stupid college bubble lets hang out means "okay I have an hour, let's try to squeeze in as much as I can." I understand business, I really do...but are we really loving people? Am I really loving people? I think my view is really skewed most of the time.

I think that's enough ranting for now. I just lost my train of thought.

Yet again so behind. Most of my day today has been spent studying for a monster mid-term I have on Monday. Baroque music. Need I say more? This is the most horrible exam I've ever had to study for. Oh yes, it has surpassed HIST 335 at Macquarie. Now that's saying something. At the end of day one of studying I finally feel like I'm actually understanding what I'm reading. That must count for something.

Spent this morning catching up with a friend who I rarely get to spend time with. She's extremely busy, and I treasure any time I can get with her. This morning was really good time. It wasn't "okay I have an hour for you, ready go." It truly was quality time, which is so important to me. And she knows it's important too. I always feel so wonderfully listened to whenever I hang out with her, and she's always very honest with me as well. I had the chance to show her my pictures and tell her some stories. I've shown my Oz pictures to two people at school. This was the first time I felt like I actually got to take my time. I've been back for [almost] three months. That's ridiculous (both about the pictures and about being back).

So most of my life lately has been filled with school work. Mid-terms are in full swing. Right now I can hardly see past Monday. All I know is that when I get home Monday evening around 7:30 my shoulders are going to feel a lot lighter than they do right now. Two more weeks until Spring break, I think I can make it. I can't wait to go home.

More serious things than that have been going on, but my brain is too fried to go through them right now. I've felt like things have been very intense spiritually lately, but in a good way. Relationships are interesting right now too, but I'm learning to trust God with those things. I know He's at work. I see Him at work already, it's amazing. So for now I'm going to keep watching The Sound of Music (the best movie of all time) and let myself wind down a bit. Maybe a bit more studying, then off to bed, only to do the same thing tomorrow.

I miss Sydney today. Just now. And this whole weekend really. Which is funny because I had a really great weekend. Maybe the good times and good people reminded of it...and the fact that I saw Brooke Fraser in concert on Friday night. Freakin awesome. Can I go to Hills on Sunday for church? Or how about Hillsong Women. I bet that's starting up again soon. Anyone wanna buy me a plane ticket?

Wow I'm really behind in this thing. Not going to catch up now. I just wanted to share a fun fact from one of my classes yesterday. My prof was talking about translation, specifically from Hebrew into other languages for the Old Testament. He was saying how it's difficult to translate metaphors from language to language, and you have the decision to either translate it literally or just carry the metaphor over. For example, things like "the Lord's right hand" cross over. Now here's a great one that he shared with us that doesn't cross over. Whenever the Hebrew text says that God had compassion, it literally says that God had a uterus. I think that's the funniest thing ever.

Sooooooooo I just found out that my plans for this next weekend have completely changed. For the past month+ I've thought I was going to Mexico this weekend for a retreat with my missions team. The plans changed about a day ago. I guess everything is way too wet and muddy down there and it would be totally impossible to accommodate 200 people camping. So no weekend in Mexico, which is a little disappointing, but mainly really good. Instead of three nights in rainy, cold, tents we now have one day session of training at a church in town, and then team time on Saturday. We're not even doing anything on Sunday. I'm bummed that we won't have as much bonding time, but seriously it's such a blessing in terms of schoolwork and health and sleep. Hmm good thing I just got a bunch of stuff for Mexico today. Oh well.

So I just spent the last almost two hours talking to one of my team members. So good. SORE good. I went to talk to her because I missed most of the meeting today and had no idea what was going on - as in I still thought we were going to Mexico. So she filled me in on all that, then we just sat and joked and talked for ages. It was so great. Such good bonding time. I told her before I left, see we didn't even need Mexico! This girl is so great, I'm so stoked to get to know her better. And I'm so happy I get to sleep in my own bed this weekend and not be freezing cold!!!! Now I'm really wound up but I need to go to bed. Eating chocolate right now probably isn't helpful.

So while I'm awake I guess I'll write out this thing I just kinda put together. While I was talking to this girl I was telling her about my times overseas and how God seems to put those things together in my life - namely by ridiculous circumstances. And I was saying how God has been gracious enough to make things really obvious in my life because he'll do the most miraculous and ridiculous things. I was thinking about that and realizing how 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that is, with the foolishness of God being wiser than man's wisdom and how God has choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and all that. That has been so true of my life, and that's really amazing especially since my tendency is to rely on myself and my own wisdom. The fact that God chooses to work in my life in such a ridiculous fashion is so amazing of him because it makes it so plain to me that it's not by my might but by His. He doesn't have to do that, but he's chose to and that's really incredible. So that's what I realized like ten minutes ago. And now it's time to stop eating and get ready for bed.

Had a nice weekend down in southtown to see some fam. A portion of them were out with the flu so I didn't get to see them at all, but it was still nice to be down there and see who I could and just be away from school a while. Unfortunately my times down there usually equal less sleep (as this weekend did) which puts me a bit tired and behind when I get back to school. Still, it's worth it.

I always end up thinking when I see my family in San Diego. I think about life and priorities and how I want to end up raising my kids. On Sunday I went shopping for a little bit with my cousin and her 10-year-old girl and her friend. Let me tell you, it is frightening to watch girls half your age walk through Pacific Sunwear and Abercrombie. My 2nd cousin wants this skirt form Abercrombie and my cousin told her no way (as she should). It's crazy. I don't know if I could raise a child in this society. I don't know if I could do it. Things are so so hard. I think it's amplified in California, especially southern California, but it's really insane. So much materialism and pressure and standards to live up to. I didn't know what name brand clothing was when I was a kid. My little cousin was wearing an Abercrombie sweatshirt and her little friend one from Volcom. People my age shop at those stores, not ten year olds. Not to mention I won't even shop at Abercrombie out of principle.

So lots of thinking, which I don't have time to go into more because I'm going to be late for class. Today is going to be a long day, I can feel it.

So what happened to that writing every day or nearly? I'm definitely skirting the edge of "nearly" right now. Ah well, this is definitely more frequent than the previous while. I've had a pretty good last couple of days. A little up and down, but what else is new? A bit more toward level though which has been nice. Spent Superbowl Sunday alone which was a little tough but not too bad. I ate entirely too much. Probably comfort eating, oh well. But I got to talk to my parents for the first time in a week since I've been home which was nice.

Monday was filled with class. Pretty good times in class though. Then I got out of my last one early which is always extremely helpful. Tuesday is one of my favorite days of the week because I have my Russia meetings on Tuesday. And to make things even better I got to spend some one-on-one time with my team leader early that afternoon. We talked Sydney and Nor Cal and a bit about plans and music. I'd kinda forgotten until a couple of days ago that my leader doesn't know me and therefore doesn't know that I play guitar or how big a part of my life it is. So I talked to her a little about that and she's put me in charge of that aspect of things so that's really awesome. Learning Russian songs. Oh boy. I've heard Russian is extremely difficult. Thank goodness these will be children's songs, we couldn't handle much more.

Had a great time at our meeting that night. Sat next to someone new and had a great time making little comments with her and getting to see her personality. She is definitely someone I want to hang out with. Good times. Our leader really stressed the importance of being in the Word daily and said that as our time to leave gets nearer that Satan is going to be attacking us more and more. Just the night before I'd told one of my friends to ask me how I'm going with God like all the time. I'm really trying to be disciplined in the time that I spend with God. Even though I don't "feel" much right now it's still really important for me to spend that time and to be rooted in the truth of God. And she asked me today how things were with God, and it was cool to be able to say "good" because the past couple days have been good. I've been reading Nehemiah. Israel has a fatty revival in Nehemiah, it's really awesome. And I really like saying Nehemiah. It's not as fun to type.

I really like some of my classes. Or maybe just my church history class, I don't know. But today we were talking about some of the theological differences between Luther and Zwingli (Swiss reformation leader), namely, communion. Zwingli thought of communion as symbolic whereas Luther holds that the body and blood are present with the bread and wine. That was so important to him that he couldn't call his Swiss reformers brothers in Christ. Crazy. I admire how much Luther wants to take Christ at his word, but seriously I don't think we can take every word of Jesus literally. I really don't think he was holding his body in his hand at the last supper when he said "This is my body." Kinda the same thing as when he says you must hate your mother and father etc. if you want to be his follower. You don't have to hate them. You're not supposed to hate anyone. He was making a deeper point. Speaking figuratively. I think that's what he was talking about at the last supper as well. I could go deeper but I don't really want to start a deep theological discussion. But if you disagree with me, know that I have deeper thoughts on it than that, I'm just not putting them here.

Today's Ash Wednesday and I'm thinking I'll probably end up going to the service we're having on campus tonight. I've been debating since it starts late and I have a test tomorrow, but I'm feeling semi okay about the test and I have time to study in the afternoon. I really want to have that time of reflection, especially since I want to take the season of lent more seriously this year. I figure if I need discipline and a time to seek God then lent is definitely a great avenue toward that. Several years ago during lent I decided that I would memorize a verse of Scripture every day. Let me tell you, it was a-ma-zing. I've decided I want to do that again this year. I'm almost good on today's. Only have a few hours left on that, I should probably get it down stronger. So I'm excited for that. That's good for now.

So I was thinking tonight (okay like ten minutes ago) about journaling and how it's been helpful in my life. In the past week or so I've looked back a couple of times at old stuff and I've realized how much I saw God at work during those times. Part of that is the phase of life you're in. Things work in seasons. But a lot of it is just looking for it I think. A lot of times I let the day go by and don't even reflect on what's been good and what's been bad and everything else. I think I miss a lot of stuff by doing that. I've got to admit that sometimes that is completely intentional. I think it's been that way for the past couple months.

So I'm wondering if I should turn over some new leaf and really commit myself to examining my day. Or maybe not every day, but something close to it. I didn't do much today, but I know that God was present in the midst of it. I didn't get depressed today. That's pretty huge for a weekend. Weekends tend to equal depression. Not much to do, confined to the apartment all day, boring homework...it's not fun. The whole week there are classes and work and people to block things out, but when you get the weekend...well, it's just you. You and your homework, which is even worse. I miss the sense of feeling like where I was at was important. In Australia if I felt that way at least I was still in Australia. I was having an adventure in another country. Now I'm just in the arm-pit of the San Fernando valley, sitting in my apartment with nothing but homework and some laundry to do. But that didn't depress me today.

I went to...I don't know what to call it...some kind of outdoor park/wilderness area with hiking trails and such today. Not the prettiest place I've ever seen by any means, but nice to be out of the apartment. I sat myself down on a rock by a stream and listened to the water flowing by as I did some reading. I think I'm going to have to do stuff like that a lot or I'm going to go insane. I wanted it to be Australia. I wanted it to be the path by Leah's and to walk amongst cool plants and hear the extra noisy (and large) birds and listen to the water lap up against the boats. I wanted to see my little brown boat and think about the things God has promised me and spoken to me in the quietness of my heart. I wanted that kind of beauty. Instead I had mountains with extra large power lines through them and a barren river that ran through rocks and had a pipe going through it. I will never live in Southern California. But it was something. It wasn't alone in my apartment with homework and laundry. So that was God's grace to me today. Sitting by an ugly stream and not being depressed.

I had a good day today with my roommate too. Though we were both gone for most of the afternoon I got to hang out with her last night and tonight. Obviously since she's my roommate I see her a lot, but I haven't had alone time with her, which I really miss. It was a lot like old times these last two nights. Things are different in my friendships now, and that's hard. I'm trusting it will come back to normal, but right now is an adjustment period. Sometimes I feel really awkward around people; people that I know well. But not this weekend (at least not with her) which has been great fun. And I think that's enough processing for now. That's a good healthy start, and I even enjoyed it.

Things I have learned recently:

• Parallel parking
• Don't show Russians the bottoms of your feet
• God is not absent even when I don't feel Him
• Prayer works
• Not getting 8 hours of sleep makes for cranky Krystle

So since I'm between activities and don't want to do any kind of work because it's Friday night (or maybe I haven't wanted to do work ever) I should try to catch this thing up with a little more detail.

Two weeks have now gone by in so cal and things are going alright. My classes look okay and the subjects are somewhat interesting. It's certainly different than school was in Australia, and it's good to be semi-interested in my classes again. Today in my music class my prof was stopping this video he was showing and making commentary about all sorts of strange things. At one point he talked about how he'd like to stage some opera with OJ Simpson. I didn't understand. I don't understand. But it was really funny. He looks like Mr. Magoo.

The biggest thing in my life over the past month is the decision to go to Russia. While I was in Australia I knew that I needed to look into overseas mission trips for this summer, and over a few months Eastern Europe really popped a lot. I had/have this strange desire to go to Ukraine. Russia isn't Ukraine, but it's close and they have similar history and problems having both dealt with the Soviet Union and communism. So through a lot of different circumstances and praying and some conversations with friends it ended up being Russia. We're going to spend most of our time there working at a summer camp with orphans. Yeah. Picture a summer camp. In Russia. And put orphans in it. It's going to be crazy but it's going to be so awesome. I'm really really excited. I cannot even express how excited I am. We had our first team meeting earlier this week and I seriously wanted to jump up and down when I got home I was so excited. And I started to look for people I could call just so I could tell them how excited I was.

So this week has seen the monumental task of sending out support letters. I've never done that before. It was pretty weird. I kept thinking, "Am I really doing this? Am I really going, or am I just sending a fake letter to these people?" It's an odd sensation. I suppose a little bit of it is that it came up pretty quickly for me, but it's probably weird anyway. Did I mention I'm excited?

This afternoon I caught up with one of my roommates from freshman year. She was gone spring of last year and I was gone this past semester so we hadn't seen each other for quite some time. It was great to see her and talk about the overseas experience a little. Basically she doesn't want to live in America. She wants to be a translator in a Spanish speaking country. I think that's really awesome, and I think she'll do it. So long as she doesn't get in trouble with the CIA or FBI. I told her not to go to any protest rallies.

I got my other old roommate's phone number from her and called her this afternoon. I don't think I've seen her since freshman year, but I've heard a bit of how she's doing from mutual friends/acquaintances. Basically she's married now and has a little girl. A lot has changed, but it sounds like she's doing really well. She's going to drop by next week for a while to say hi. I'm really really stoked to see her and catch up on the last couple years of life. And I think she's going to have her little girl with her too. I saw pictures and she's adorable.

So that's me in the last few days. Sometimes feeling out of place but overall doing reasonably well. God's really gracious. And very patient. Very very patient. I'm trying to seek Him again on a regular basis. Sometimes that proves difficult, but he's patient, and loving. Yesterday I was walking home from class alone and was looking up in the sky and it was just this weird moment of "the universe is so big and right now I feel alone in it but I'm not alone because God's with me right now." So it was like just me and Him walking along. I talked to him a bit. I talked in short unimpressive sentences. I'm glad He's okay with that. I'm glad I can walk home with him.

Who's going to Russia in six months? Oh that's me. Unless all my referencers hate me.

New template still needs a lot of work.

Whoa time flies again. Or maybe not, it's actually gone a bit slow. Today's the day and I haven't started packing yet but we're heading about half way to school tonight. It's pouring out and there's supposed to be a storm this weekend which makes for excellent driving conditions. And the grape vine might be closed, which means a hefty detour taking 101. What can ya do?

So lots of changes and big decisions to be made. Strong possibility of more overseas travel this summer. Trying to work it all out. Hoping for some divine revelation from God. I had a dream last night about a gig gone bad. Not gone bad, but gone stressful and hectic. My dreams always have to do with me being out of control or inadequate in some way. I think the dream had nothing to do with these trips, but my friend Tim was in the dream which makes me miss him. Maybe I should just go to Sydney again. (Somehow I don't think that's what God is saying.)

I'm reading a book called The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus by Brennan Manning. I guess it used to be called Lion and Lamb. Anyway, my friend gave it to me to borrow while I stayed over in LA for a couple of days. I'm about 2/3 through and it's really good. It covers sort of a broad range of topics, but I guess it's really about the Christian life in light of the character of God. I would definitely recommend it.

I guess that's all for now. Prayers for the travels would be appreciated, I have a feeling the roads are going to be pretty bad this weekend. Until later...

Lots of time has passed, things have happened but I don't feel like writing them now. I've been in the US over two weeks, and have been in nor cal for exactly two weeks. Feels like forever and no time at all. But this is more important right now.

Help Children and Families Affected by Earthquake and Tidal Waves in Southern Asia

Could an update be any more overdue? Somehow I don't think so. So here's the low down. Uni finished, and I spent the next week and a half running around with friends doing anything and everything. Made it to the beach, out to the mountains, and spent a lot of time in the city. It was fun and exciting and happy and sad all at the same time. Last Friday Dec 10 I got in a plane at about 3:15pm in Sydney Australia. Friday Dec 10 at 10:30am I stepped out of a plane in Los Angeles. You can work that one out. I spent the weekend with friends from school. Had a good time, felt a little weird (or more than a little) but I know I'll get used to life there again. Sunday evening I made the trip home and was greeted by my dad at the airport. Two hours later I walked through the door of my house and saw my mom. Slept in my bed that night for the first time since July 20.

So that's very much the short version of the last few weeks. More pictures are up from the last two weeks. Now it's trying to adjust to life here again. This morning I woke up really confused about where I was. I had to talk myself through all my travels, realize I was at home, and realize that this is my final destination for a while. So now I'm sitting here with my laptop picking up some random wireless signal from somewhere. So thanks to whoever is paying to send the signal out, cause I like getting it for free.

Well I'm just killing some time at the library before my LAST exam in Australia! In a few hours time I will finally be free of my studies here and can goof off to my heart's content! I had a somewhat social weekend which was nice after such a grueling week of studying. I had some great Thai food with Leah (though thanksgiving dinner would have been better I have to admit), played at a youth group with Tim and Steve, spent a great afternoon in Avalon for a Christmas light extravaganza, and made it to Hills last night for church. Intermix that with a little bit of studying and it was a pretty rocking weekend.

One momentus occasion for this weekend . . . I tried the Australian phenomenon which is Pavlova for the first time. Let me tell you about pav. It's like pure sugar in squishy form. Sort of like angel food cake, except squishy and basically no flour. It's sugar. Seriously. And I don't get it, because Aussies will always say that American cakes/lollies/etc. are too sweet but yet they eat this pure sugar-cake thing. Talk about a double standard. I - the American - couldn't even finish my slice. Give me a fat slice of rich chocolate cake any day my friend.

Lastly, pictures are up from Cairns. http://pictureoz.blogspot.com

I was thinking last night about how I've done such a crap job keeping this thing up to date while I've been in Australia. I had really good intentions when I left of having this be a document of my time here. So much for that. Honestly it's all a matter of accessability. I don't have easy access to the internet here, which really doesn't cater to the spur-of-the-momentness that a blog often requires. Instead I feel like I'm just catching up every time I post here, which is essentially annoying. So I don't do it. Sorry to those of you who mostly rely on this to keep up with what I'm doing.

So, here is a bit of catch-up. My five days-ish up the coast of Queensland were great. I got to see and learn about Aussie wildlife, see tropical rainforest, eat ice cream made from fruits I'd never heard of, and best of all see the Great Barrier Reef (and Nemo!). The highlight of the trip was most certainly the reef. I got to see it twice; the first time off the coast of Cape Tribulation and the second time off the coast of Cairns from an island called Franklin Island. I had the most fantastic time snorkeling. I realized that was actually my first time in the Australian ocean. It's been too cold in Sydney to hit the water at the beach. I really like swimming in the ocean. I have really huge sand issues. I like to be clean, and I hate having stuff between my toes. But Australia and its beach culture are teaching me that it's okay to feel dirty for a while. The sand eventually will come off, and I will be clean again. It's becoming less of a crisis each time.

I'm sure you really wanted to hear about how I'm obsessive compulsive.

Now that I'm back it's been all study study study for exams. I had my first one yesterday and have my second one tomorrow. Yesterday was fine, quite easy really. Tomorrow's the really big one, and probably my hardest. I've been studying since I got back though, so I'm feeling okay about it. And I have all afternoon and evening today to devote to it. I would definitely appreciate prayers for God's favor though - there are certain essay questions I'd definitely prefer over others and it would certainly be God's grace to see those questions on my test.

Here's a random moment that I actually made a mental note to remember. My favorite part of this week was seeing my roommate from Hong Kong stir her pasta sauce concoction with chopsticks. Italian meets Asian. I love it. I want to eat with chopsticks. It's something I've learned here, and it makes eating very fun. It's sort of like a game, and it makes me eat more slowly.

Tomorrow will be great rejoicing that my essay test is over, and hopefully a trip into the city to The Basement. Friday, yet another trip into the city to meet with a guy about a music dist. website, dinner with Leah (hooray) and wrapping up the night at Hills. Oh, and somewhere in there will be yet another chat with my Jehovah's Witness pal Rosie. I like her a lot. She makes me think about what I believe. Unfortunately she's quite deceived. Wow I just made a little rhyme. I hope one day she comes to know Jesus for who he really is. And with that, I'm off to start studying once again.

I saw little Nemos today swimming in an anemone. It made me very happy. Less than one day in the tropics to go. I think my skin is quite glad about that.

Tomorrow I'm off for Australian traveling adventure number 2. I'll be heading up the coast of Queensland to see beautiful rainforrest and the Great Barrier Reef. My friend told me today not to walk a dog while I'm there because it will attract crocs. I told her I'm not bringing a dog. She said that I should walk with anyone that does have a dog. That's really good advice. She is the smartest person I know. Must have something to do with grad school.

So I'll be gone until Thursday, which I'm now realizing is going to put a bit of strain on my studying for exams. Oh well, you only live once, and you only go to Australia once...or something. Even though I've been here twice.

Yesterday I went to Hillsong Women and the woman who spoke was Canadian. I totally called it once she said "aboat." She talked about thanksgiving and said her family celebrated it. I wanted to ask her if I could come to her house. I'm so sad I'm missing thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite days of the year. For sure my favorite meal of the year. But my Mom told me today that we'll have turkey on Christmas for sure so that makes me feel a little better. Oh Thanksgiving, how I long for you.

Finished my last assignment today and all I have left is exams. A couple of killer exams. I'm going to be studying my head off when I get back. I got a pretty crap grade on an assignment in one of my classes, which means I'm going to have to kick butt on the exam to pull out an okay grade. Don't you just love that kind of pressure. But I'm glad that my value doesn't rely on my performance. God loves me just the same. I have been telling myself that all week. It's been really good. And with that, I'm off to do some more errands and pack and make banana bread. Yes, make banana bread. I'll take it with me and it will be my breakfast each morning. How's that for a money saver.

You know you've been in Australia too long when you start having dreams about cricket. I did. I know. How bad is that. But, in my defense the cricket was really nothing like cricket. In my dream it was an "alternate version" and it was basically baseball with a cricket bat and a baller. So I adapted the dream to my own tastes. But seriously, how weird is that?

It's been a long week, but a good one. I had a fantastic birthday last weekend. It was such a rich day filled with so many great things; I couldn't have asked for more. I had a mini celebration on Sunday night as well with a couple of other friends. Then on Monday my family's package arrived. I have never been so excited to see taco sauce, or reeces peanut butter cups, or jam. It's been fun to give peanut butter cups to people from other countries and see their reactions, because it's a very strong candy. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day, which was a great Aussie cultural experience. It's basically like the Kentucky Derby except everyone takes time off work to watch it and it's a bigger deal. Only in Australia would there be a day where everyone takes the afternoon off to spend in the pub/hotel. Well, not only in Australia, but certainly not in America. The last two days have been somewhat boring, filled with uni work and running errands. It was hilarious to see US election coverage in Australia. NBC took over one of the networks here basically and we had continuous live coverage for like 5-6 hours.

Today is a day I've greatly looked forward to though. Tonight Leah and I once again head off to the Opera House and get to see/hear the Mozart Requiem. So much excitement. And we're having a little Mexican Food party (or should I say fiesta) before we head off. Happy day.

Last night (this morning) I got up at 1:15am to register for my classes at home. It was not very fun, I wanted to be sleeping. But I got up anyway and tried to register. Yes, tried. It didn't work. I've ended up having to play email tag with someone at registration this whole morning and now I'm finally enrolled - all done by the reg office, nothing by me. I hope at some point I regain access to my account. What a pain. But at least I have all my classes, so everything worked out okay. I'll be so glad when I never have to register for classes again.

Today has already been deemed a lazy day because I have my lazy, comfy black pants on. Plus I got up at 10 because I was so tired from my failed registration ordeal. And it's raining outside, which just makes me feel lazy. It's not too bad though, it's a lovely spring rain so it's not cold at all. I hope it lets up tonight though, I don't want to be walking around the city in the rain.

I can now officially drink in any country I want to.

Just FYI I deleted the guestbook this afternoon because I'm sick and tired of it being filled with porn. I think anyone who comes here has pretty much learned to stay away from it so it wasn't much of a loss anyway. Sick people.

So once again time has flown by without so much of a word from me. A lot has happened in this past week, and so much of it excellent. Things like cell group, great speakers at Hillsong (including a Ukrainian with a great accent), fun hanging out with friends, a great gig last Saturday night which included the selling of many demos (YAY), and more hanging out. There's some new pictures up from the gig and from hanging out. Beside that I've been working on a couple papers all the bloody time. I can't wait to have these things done and have them in on Monday. I'm about 95% there which is excellent. I've never had such a hard time with a paper my whole life.

So tomorrow's the big day. That's right folks, it's the big 2-1 for Krystle. We'll be having a BBQ at a friend's house so I'm really pumped for that and I think it will be a pretty chill time. I know it's customary here to have speeches on your 21st so last night I was thinking about what I could say to everyone and I totally started tearing up as I lay in bed! Granted Josh Groban was also playing on my computer which is just BEAUTIFUL and emotion provoking...but still! I certainly didn't expect that. But what I realized is that I've met so many beautiful people here who have been so supportive of me and so unbelievably generous.

That is all for now. Hopefully I'll have great stories from this weekend and will actually take the TIME to put some of them up here. We can hope anyway.

Oh, and I've officially spent 1/4 of 2004 in Australia. WEIRD. How did this ever come about?

I just wanted to take the short moment I have to say that God is amazing and it's incredible how quickly he can take my self-absorbtion and completely turn it around. I'm so stoked for the things God is doing right now and the opportunities I have coming up. Just needed to say that. Hopefully more explanation sometime later when things aren't so hectic.

Nothing new is going on really, I'm just bored and feel like I might be able to get some stuff out here. Lately it's just been research and homework for me. Which really is fine considering how little work I've done this whole term. I don't mind sucking it up for the last couple weeks and putting in some hard core work on some papers. It's about time I had to do work. The only other thing of consequence happening is that I'm opening for my friend's band this Saturday which is quite exciting. I'm only going to get to play 3-4 songs but I'm still really stoked to perform and to see my friend's band as well. It's going to be a good night.

Lately I can't sleep. Well, I fall asleep eventually but it takes forever. Really I haven't been sleeping all that well for about a month, but this past week has been especially ridiculous. I had a couple bad nights when it was so bloody hot, and I haven't recovered since. I lay down, and no matter how tired I am I can't get comfortable, and my mind starts to swirl with all these thoughts and half of them don't even make sense. I think about uni and the papers I have to write, or about the gig on Saturday. I've thought about home tons. But I don't really miss it. I just think about it. Like target in my home town. Why in the world is a picture of target popping into my head? Or my grandma's front yard? Or my bedroom? Or my drive to work? I can't get these things out of my head, they're just relentless as soon as I lay down to go to sleep. And I've even tried putting on music to distract me, which normally works. But I caught myself last night thinking THROUGH the music and completely ignoring it. It was Sara Groves even. How one can ignore her music I'm not sure, but I was able to do it last night. I just want some rest. And I want to sleep through the night. I've woken up every morning sometime between six and seven every morning for the past month I think. And this comes after not being able to fall asleep until about 1am. Why am I waking up? Why can't I shut my mind off? Why does everything I think make absolutely no sense? I need rest Jesus.

How quickly time goes by and how little I write in here. My first inclination is to say "not much has happened" but that'd probably be a bit false. Seeming how I've been to an opera at the Sydney Opera House, a major album recording at Hills, and booked a trip to Cairns since my last blog, maybe those things are worth mentioning. Oh wait, I already did.

The opera was astounding. I saw The Barber of Seville and the whole production was entirely mind-blowing. The music was incredible, and the acting and set and lighting were so magnificent and backed the music up so well. I am a sucker for tenors, let me tell you, and it certainly helps that two of the main characters in the opera are tenors. Me gusta mucho. Quick side note - sometimes when I go to Circular Quay I get really excited because I find Spaniards tourists who are speaking in Spanish. Sadly I can hardly understand them as they're speaking so fast with a Spanish accent and my Spanish sucks at this point, but it still makes me excited. End side note.

I've been to a couple things at Hills this past week that have got me really pumped up. I went to Hillsong women for the first time ever last Thursday morning and it was excellent. Bobbie Houston is hilarious. She was telling all these stories about Joel and how he got dropped on his head and all these crazy other things. This girl who goes to Hillsong who's my age also played some songs before Bobbie got up to speak. Apparently she's gone platinum several times over in New Zealand (she's a Kiwi) and her album just came out in Oz recently. She has an awesome voice. Her name is Brooke Fraser, and I bet she has a website so you should check her out (i.e. I'm sure Mel will do this). I got her CD a few days ago at Target (oh Aussie Target you have redeemed yourself...for now) and it's pretty good. Not what I expected, but it's totally grown on me. Though I have to say the CD doesn't quite do her live voice justice. Seriously this girl is awesome, and so completely rooted in God. It's all very inspirational.

Next Hillsong excursion was the recording on Saturday night. To bring back a phrase from my past - it was off the hook. Seriously. Some of the slower songs on that album are amazing. The fast ones are a bit hard to get into as they're pretty much rock songs with worship lyrics, but they can be learned eventually. The whole time I was just so amazed at the hearts of the worship leaders and the people there. Hillsong is a church that is so seeking after God, it's pretty amazing. And He shows up there in incredible ways. After a couple months I'm a bit more "used" to things there; meaning, I'm no longer super distracted by the differences while I'm at church there. So it's been really awesome to be there and worship and seek God 'in the house.' Yeah, God is good.

Last topic, Cairns. Cairns is at the top of the east coast and it's basically this great rainforest/beach place that I'm sure will be hotter than hell but absolutely beautiful. And I'll get to see the Great Barrier Reef, which is such a privledge and something I'm so excited about. I'm definitely learning here that you need to get out and take opportunities. Granted these things are costing me some of my savings and I can't always live like this, but there are certainly times for adventure and this is one of them. I think my life is going to be characterized by more adventure from now on...at least I want it to be.

Now I feel like I must offer explanation as to what my non-serious song is about. The weather in Sydney has been a bit odd lately. Sunday it was gorgeous; I spent the day at the beach. Monday was absolutely weird with near rain but hot weather. Yesterday it poured all day, but Wednesday it didn't rain at all. BUT, it looked like it was about to rain any second the whole day. So, trying to be smart, I took my umbrella with me whenever I went out on Wednesday. I went to the library at Uni for a bit to do a little research, and it's common practice to leave your umbrellas at the entry of the library. There's also a sign posted that says in essence, "We aren't responsible if your umbrella gets stolen." Since it wasn't raining and since there were few people in the library as it's holidays at the moment, my umbrella was the only one at the entry. As I set it down I had this thought that it might not be there when I get back. But I decided I couldn't be bothered to carry it around with me everywhere.

Well, when I had finished what I was doing my worst fears had come true...my umbrella was gone! Luckily it wasn't raining so at least I didn't have to get soaked walking home. But really, who steals an umbrella from outside the library when it's not even raining?! It's not like there was any force of desperation driving them to lift my umbrella. Weird people. So now I have no umbrella, not to mention this was probably the coolest umbrella I've ever had. It was lime green. If I ever see anyone at with it at Uni I'm going to beat them up. So my "serious song" is actually about an umbrella. But not everyone has to know that.

October. That's just messed up. Time has certainly flown. I wrote a song yesterday, though it's not the song I've been meaning to write. This one just sort of happened. It seems serious, but it's not.

Goodbye

You gave me shelter from the rain

I let you be my canopy

I couldn't find you there today

I wonder where you could be

They stole you away

They stole you away

They stole you away from me

No one wants to take the blame

Say I must take responsibility

That's all fine, yeah it's okay

But others' actions can't be changed

They stole you away

They stole you away

They stole you away from me (2x)

I don't know if I'll see you again

But if I find you in the hand of another

Be sure I'll take a stand for you

I promise that I'll make things right

They stole you away

They stole you away

They stole you away from me (2x)

Sydney's weather is really confused right now. It looks like a miserable cold day, but then you step outside and it's like 26 degrees, which is nearly 80f. It's very odd. So I've had a pretty non-eventful last couple of days. I've been trying to organize things again since I've been back from Tassie. I went out to Manly beach a couple of days ago and did a little reading and work. Despite today's weather, it's definitely warming up here and I'm stoked for that. More trips out to the beach for me!

So Saturday morning I was hanging around getting some laundry done and cleaning up and someone buzzes my apartment. It was only like 9:30 or 10 so I was wondering who the heck would be coming by. Turned out it was Jehovah's Witness. So we talked for a couple minutes through the intercom then she ended up coming in and we had this almost hour long discussion. It was really interesting to see where we agreed and where we disagreed and it was also really challenging. I must admit I really admire the Jehovah's Witnesses for how well they know the word of God (though they misinterpret it) and how diligent they are to share their faith. So we ended up talking a bit about the trinity towards the end of our conversation because that's the main place where Jehovah's Witnesses differ from Christianity. It was somewhat frustrating how she could pull out scriptures to prove her point but I didn't know the ones to give in response to her just off the top of my head. I guess that's what happens when you're used to evangelizing and getting into discussions with Christians a lot. She gave me this pamphlet about the trinity and where the doctrine came from and basically why you shouldn't believe it. I haven't looked at it tons but what I have seen is pretty much a bunch of bull ha. I have been looking at Scriptures that do talk about the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and talk about the deity of Christ. The deity of Christ is definitely vital. JW are missing a huge part there unfortunately.

I came up with a new chord progression the other night that I really like. It's nothing complicated but I really like the sound of it and the melody I came up with. I'm really pressing to try to write some words as I have a sense of urgency about this song. I feel like I have something important to say, but I'm not quite sure how to say it yet. I'm excited for it though. Hopefully something will come soon.

So that's all really, nothing too exciting going on here. I've felt a bit under the weather the last couple days so I've pretty much been confined to my apartment. I'm feeling better today though so hopefully I'll be up to something today. Sorry for no Tassie stories. Don't know if I'll get to those or not, it's just too hard to find consistent internet time.

Just a quick one to say I'm back from Tassie and had a really great time. Though I spent most of the trip on the go it was still so relaxing and so good to get away for a while. I'll try to get some stories up sometime this upcoming week, but it probably won't be much detail. Nothing beats live storytelling aided by pictures. I've posted a lot of pictures at the other blog, but I have about 100 from the trip so posting over there hardly makes a dent. Right now I'm still a bit exhausted, my room feels like a mess, and I'm catching up on laundry. My roommate left early this morning for Melbourne so I saw her for a total of five minutes when I came back yesterday and now I have the apartment to myself until Tuesday. It's pretty nice and a good way to ease back in to Sydney life. So check out the other site for some pictures and hopefully they'll be some stories up soon.

Today's the long awaited day. The day of my midsemester exam! No wait that's not right. Well, it is the day of my midsemester exam, but that's not what I've been waiting for. The point is, it's the last day of school and after today I don't have to go to class for two and a half weeks! This makes me very very happy. Actually it still hasn't hit me fully that after today I don't have to go to class and I have a minimal amount of work to do. Oh, then there's that fact that tomorrow I'm getting on a plane and flying to Tasmania. Right. Maybe I should pack for that. That's one of the goals for this afternoon. Of course it has to be a goal for today sometime, doesn't it. So I have my packing to do, a couple last minute things to buy if I can find them, and that test to tackle this evening. A-ma-zing. I've been here for a long time. I've been through seven weeks of school. The semester is half over. Half of my schooling experience in Australia is over. Absolutely insane.

So this blog is a bit of a goodbye and I should come back with plenty of stories. Whether they'll all make it on here I'm not sure...I haven't decided what mass means I want to tell stories by. Pray for me . Pray I'll be safe and smart and pray for boldness. I really want boldness. Less than four hours to freedom ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Hey I wanted to give a little shout-out to my pal Suzie Q. I'm sorry you're craving tim tam slams and are in a country that cannot provide them. I have a constant supply of tim tams at my apartment, it's quite excellent. Hmm now I kind of want one. Anyway, thanks for saying something, hope you're doing well and I'm stoked you've been reading here.

Well I might as well write about some other things while I'm here shouldn't I? Not a ton has been going on this week, just classes mixed with some hanging out. I got to hang out with Ali earlier this week which was really awesome. I hadn't seen her for a couple weeks so we hung out and played guitar a little bit and just talked. Sometimes it's good to just sit down with someone and have a good long talk. Some serious, some goofing around, some storytelling...It was a good mix. I also found out that the guy Tim I've been hanging out with actually knows Ali and a whole bunch of her friends. Only in Australia, seriously. Turns out I've met several people that Ali works with through Tim and one of his friends, and Tim knows people I've met through Ali. This country is way too small. I like it though.

Last night I went out to Manly with Tim and his bro and a few friends. We got some ice cream and walked down this path down by the beach. It was a nice night (though a little cold with ice cream) and it was good to be out of the apartment for a change. I've been feeling a bit cramped lately. Soon I will be on an airplane and far away from this place. I can't wait, Tassie I'm coming. I've heard it's very odd, I'm stoked to see it. One more week of school until break! Wooohooo I'm so stoked. I can't believe the semester is half over already. I just have to get through this paper and an exam on Thursday which shouldn't be too bad, then it's two weeks of fun for me! Tis all for now.

It almost snowed in Sydney yesterday. Really, I promise. Actually we just had the most amazing hail I've ever witnessed in my life. At my apartment we had about cm sized hail pouring for 15 minutes easily. The ground was completely covered and the power at the intersection by my place went out and cars were sliding all over. It was pretty nuts. But you know the cool thing was it actually put me in the best mood. I was emotional this weekend. Very emotional. It could definitely be classified as an emotional breakdown, possibly even multiple. But when that hail started yesterday it seriously put me in the best mood. It was really weird. Definitely God's grace to me at that moment. I think there's just something about childlike wonder...the fact that I was staring out the window for 20 minutes just watching lightning and hail and all the craziness. It was awesome. Aussies really like to call everything awesome I've noticed.

Yesteray I had this great Chinese dinner with one of my friends and his family and a few other friends. It was actually a potentially very awkward situation but it ended up being such a good time and such a great finish to my otherwise crap weekend. How bad is this, I ate almost an entire like 300 gram Cadbury chocolate bar this weekend. That's like binging man. That's how emotional I was. But today's been a lot better. And it was beautiful outside today, like hot. What's up with the weather, it's seriously skitzophrenic.

Today during my philosophy tut my lecturer called my idea a good one then proceeded to give me a list of books I could use for a paper on the topic. It was totally awesome. So I'm ditching another tut right now (for the third week in a row) and getting those sources at the library. And blogging. Yeah, I was really set to go to this tut today but I just couldn't do it in the end. Next week though. Really, I promise. No, I don't promise. I am such a slacker here...well at least a slacker for me. I've never ditched so much in my life, or not done so much reading. But seriously, none of this stuff is necessary. Or at least I hope not. Maybe I'll be kicking myself at the end of the term, but somehow I don't think so. Anyway I'm certainly over my 20 minute limit on this computer but no one keeps track so it doesn't really matter. One last word though, thanks God for hail storms and Chinese food with new friends and their family.

Oh dear it's about time isn't it. Actually I wanted to post yesterday but blogger was broken so I could not. But here I am. It's September. Does anyone else think that's weird? First of all, why have I been in school for a month and NOW it's September? I guess the weather is starting to look more appropriate for September, except we're supposed to have a high of 9 degrees today, which isn't very September-ish. I'm just very seasonally confused right now, not to mention when I date my lecture notes each day I feel like I'm skipping through the months because they put the day first instead of the month. Today is apparently the 9th of March. No that's not right is it.

Wow I'm not sure where that came from. Anyway, I haven't been up to much; nothing big anyway. Stuff for school has become a bit more demanding, though it's still not all that demanding. I handed in a paper yesterday which sounds impressive, but it's really not. I wouldn't call less than four pages a major accomplishment, though I certainly don't mind receiving easy assignments like that. I have a pretty big paper coming up in two weeks though and a 40% of my grade midterm as well, so the next two weeks are definitely going to be spent doing some work. Hopefully not too much though.

The theme for the past week and a half has been "slow down." For a while I was doing too much and it was totally catching up to me. This week has also marked a renewal of culture shock and missing home. So I've spent more time at home, have been getting to bed earlier (for the most part) and have been telling myself that I don't have to be doing things all the time. I've been hanging out a lot with the guy in my philosophy class that I mentioned on the last post. He's invited me along to a lot of things with his friends and I also went to church with him this past Sunday. He's a really nice guy and he's kinda taken me under his wing. He told me he's just going to keep inviting me to stuff but I should feel free to say no. He wants to make sure I'm okay and having a good time while I'm here in Australia. I appreciate all he's doing so much; he's been a huge blessing.

I don't think anything else is really going on. I've just been going to class (mostly) and doing homework and hanging out. Two more weeks of class until the break and I go to Tassie! I can't believe school's almost half over, but then again that has a nice ring to it doesn't it. That's all for now.

Well I figured I should update since it's been quite a while since I've done so. Things have gotten a bit more busy, though not a whole lot more. I'm not really sure what I was doing last week that prevented me from updating. Nothing I don't think. Anyway another week is gone and mainly it was a lot of schoolwork and those sorts of things. But I had an excellent day on Friday as I spent the whole day with Al. We went to the city for Harry's pies, then had some excellent chocolate and headed out to Bondi and walked along the beach. All and all a wonderful day, capped off with some excellent Mexican food. God bless fajitas, seriously. Australia needs to learn what black beans are though. Really, they're just little black beans folks. It's not that hard. They're so essential to fajita making. They were still good without them, but I did miss their presence in my little tortilla. Or should I say tortillas. I had three. I really liked them.

Yesterday Leah and I saw the Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Opera House and it was absolutely amazing. I seriously can't say anything beside that. We just walked out of there totally amazed and relaxed and just really content. I love going to things like that. I just wish they didn't cost $30. Which I guess really was quite a deal but not everything is that (relatively) inexpensive. Leah and I need to find a secret entrance into the Opera House so we can go there all the time for free. Note to self: find secret entrance.

After the Symphony we had some excellent gellato at the quay before catching the ferry back to Leah's. Soon we were off to church, which unfortunately I was somewhat falling asleep during. I haven't been sleeping very well lately, and I think the lack of sleep combined with the relaxing effects of the Symphony put me out. It was good though; it's good to be in the house of God and hear from God's word even when you don't necessarily feel like being there (or being awake).

Today was an interesting day. Last week I had just briefly met this guy in one of my classes at the Christian club meeting on campus. So today we hung out and talked a bit and it turns out we have heaps of stuff in common. So he came back here on our lunch break and we jammed and played guitars together and had a really good time. We're interested in the same types of music and knew a lot of the same stuff which made it pretty easy. He asked me to play some stuff and for whatever reason I did. Turns out he's in a band and he said if I ever want to open for them I could and it was just really cool to make a connection in that respect as well. He goes to church really close to campus so I think I'm going to check that out this Sunday and see how it goes. It's always good to make friends in classes as lectures can be a bit...wide open sometimes. Other than that, I skipped my history tut today which I think was a great decision. Maybe it really wasn't, but I'm fond of it. That's all for now.

I must say I had a lovely weekend. It was filled with things to do but not too filled. Things started off with Powerhouse at Hills on Friday night which was good. Maybe I should say interesting. I think I had Hillsong culture shock, it's a bit to get used to. An American guy spoke though and I totally forgot I was in Australia until a guy got up and said something after he spoke and I got really confused for a second. After Powerhouse there was a party which was a very good time. There's nothing better than a great party with lots of food, lollies (candy), and non-alcoholic drinks all for free! I got to meet some cool people as well which was really nice. I think I went to bed that night at 1am. Definitely my latest night here by far. Saturday I hung out and did a bit of homework, then I took the bus out to Chattie to meet up with Ali and her homies to drive out to her gig in Newtown. It was a good time and Ali did really well. There was also this amazing group there called Jenani. It's just these two girls but they're just incredible musicians and have a style all to themselves not to mention voices to die for. Plus one of them plays violin extremely well. Ahhh that was definitely my favorite part of the day. They played a long time so that made me happy.

Sunday morning I made the trek out to Leah's, which apparently can take 2 hours by public transport though she's only 20 minutes drive from me. But that's on Sunday with less routes going. I didn't care anyway, it was a nice trip out and a good chance to see some of the suburbs around here, not to mention that I love taking the ferry. I hung at her place for a few hours, then we headed out to her church where I played for worship team with her. I must say I love playing the drums and I miss being able to do it often. It expels a lot of energy, especially nervous energy that I would probably just spend figiting or biting my nails. So that was great and the service was just really good. I love Leah's church because people are really involved and take time to share with everyone what God is doing in their life and what prayer requests they have and all that. After church I went back home with Leah, where she made us extraordinary peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Leah was wonderful with her meals on Sunday, it was legendary. Not long after our meal we went to bed, then she brought me back here today on her way to uni.

I'd like to say as well that I have my most boring classes today but I decided to stick it out and go and it wasn't all that bad. Plus they're having this poster sale on campus right now and I got two great posters for $19! That's like $14US. A-ma-zing! One is black and has a bunch of Beatles album covers on it, and the other is this lovely picture of a boat with a small island in the background. In my short time here the picture of a single, small boat has come to have a lot of symbolic meaning, so I figured this picture would be perfect for my room. Not only is it beautiful, it reminds me of God's love and call on my life. Good stuff. Now it's time for me to stop typing. I've been on the internet a really long time, but it's been productive stuff so I guess that's okay. Stuff like planning my trip to Tassie. HOORAY!

Introducing http://pictureoz.blogspot.com, where you can view whatever photos I've uploaded to my computer and deemed worthy of the public eye.

I would like to say that I did something somewhat compulsive yesterday, but I'm thinking it was a good compulsive. I was checking out some tickets on virginblue.com because I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do over my break in September. So I was cruising around, seeing if I could find any ridiculous deals somewhere, because Virginblue often does this. Well my friends, who bought a ticket to Tasmania yesterday. I'll give you a hint, she likes to sit in sandwich shops to gain free internet access. Yeah, so I bought a ticket to Tasmania yesterday for cheap as and I'm totally stoked! So today I'm going to the bookshop with pen and paper in hand and I'm going to take advantage of tourist books as if I was in a library. Good deal.

Can we say today is a new day? Yeah it definitely is. I think starting the day with a lovely mocha is the way to go. I treated myself to a muffin and mocha and the shopping centre today for breakfast. I have decided I'm going to do this once weekly as the muffins are great and it gives me a little something to look forward to. I got a Sheryl Crow compilation and the best of U2 1980-1990 for a reasonable price. Then it was off to uni for a philosophy tutorial, formal logic to be exact. Our convener for our tutorial is totally hilarious, I love that guy. Tuts are going to be really fun with him I think. Unfortunately he's only with us for the first half of the semester then we have another guy. I hope he's as cool as this first guy. So I had a lovely tutorial, after which I wandered around campus checking out the various booths that are set up this week. I found out for sure where the Christian club is meeting next week (couldn't find them yesterday) and talked to some people at the Hills booth for a while. I'm going to go to a cell group tonight run by one of the girls at the booth. While we were talking a friend from my complex came up and we all started talking about Hills and cell groups and blah blah. Long and short of it is that she's going to come tonight as well and she's a Christian and I didn't know it! But looking back it very much makes sense that she is. You can see it in her actions and the way she carries herself.

So anyway, here I am, great music to listen to, a bit of work to do, mobile phone finally working again after I sucked it up and bought a charger, and I have bible study ahead of me tonight. What else could a girl ask for? Okay well I guess if they had fresh baked cookies at this bible study that would be about the most I could ask for. Or tim tam slams. But lets not go too far with our dreaming.

Sandwich shop. These people are probably tired of me sitting here without giving them any money. I did get a mocha the other day though. And let me just say, coffee is so much better here. Aussies are so high maintenance with their drinks and it pays off.

Anyway. So we (I guess just "I") had breakdown number 2 1/2 today. I add that 1/2 because the other day I sorta had half of one before I had my whole one. Oddly enough it came for a lot of the same reasons the first one did, having to do with missing and event and feeling abandoned and alone. Imagine that, flying to another country than feeling alone sometimes. Baffling, I know. But seriously, life will be fine, but after a while I just can't take being alone anymore. I need some friends. I need to meet people. Heck, I need a venue to meet people, and I don't want it to be the pub. Answer this, why does it seem like every single time I try to do something that's going to put me with other Christians the possibilities just get smashed. Honestly, tell me it's an attack, because if it's not I'm just going to be pissed off. I can deal with an attack, at least that means something good is happening. But I don't want this to be some sick kind of game. Let's keep bringing Krystle to a breaking point. That's really not cool with me, and I'm not going to be able to handle that. It's just too much heartache.

So I spent the afternoon in my room really not doing anything because I was too emotionally drained. Luckily I can afford that because I don't have very much work to do. But really I'd rather be doing work than sitting there feeling horrible. I know it's going to pass, and I know tomorrow's a new day. God's mercy has so completely been new each morning I've been here, and I'm entirely grateful for that. I just hate these days. And I hate going through them alone and not even having anyone to bounce this stuff off of. I'm tired of listening just to my own thoughts all day long. I just hate days like these. I don't long to be somewhere else really. I don't find myself wanting to pack up and go home, I just don't want to feel like this.

I don't want to be all complaining either but I just needed to get this out. God's really using this time to do major reconstruction on my heart and I'm glad for that, it just goes along with some hard times. Hopefully in another week or two things will start to get easier. Maybe not easier, but better somehow. So I guess I'll try to figure out what I'm going to do the rest of the night. Maybe drown my sorrows in some more Tim Tams. They're good for that.

I'm at the same sandwich shoppe, different seat, and a different attitude than last time I sat here. Things are going well. Classes started this week, and it's hard to believe that it's only Wednesday and I've only gone to class for two days. Each day is so long. Not in a painful way, just in a very drawn out way. I suppose as things get busier though it won't be like that so much.

Thus far my classes here are very similar to how they are at home. The grading however, is pretty different. I like some aspects of it, and dislike others. I definitely like the fact that my history lectures are online and I don't really need to go to that class. I also like the fact that all I have to do is write one paper and take a final. I'm trying to plan and be on top of those kind of things now so I'm not overwhelmed at the middle and end of the term. Seems like all my papers are due the same day, it's pretty lame. I don't think things are going to be very hard though which is a relief.

Last night I saw Spider Man 2 with some friends from my apartment complex. It was pretty good, excellent from an artistic standpoint. In general I'm not a fan of the Spider Man story just because everything's so jaded and his life is always destined to be miserable. Drives me nuts. Anyway, it was good to be out of the house for a bit and with people. It's been hard adjusting to being alone. At home I have my family and at school I'm living with friends so there's always someone around if I need them. Not so when you're living with strangers. I'm sure I'll get used to it though, and alone time is never a bad thing.

I had a really refreshing this weekend. I spent Sunday out at Leah's and it was just a really really good day. Saturday night I took the ferry out to her house and she had The Sound of Music on when I got there. I love that movie, it's my favorite. Sunday we both spent some time with God in the morning which was amazingly good. One of the best times of prayer I've had in quite a while. We went out to lunch with a friend from Leah's church and I got to meet three of her four kids. They were totally hilarious and a lot of fun. I had my first drink since I've been here. Pretty weak and sipped it for two hours. Better to be safe than sorry when a person has ZERO tolerance. We spent the afternoon at Al's, watched Calendar Girls (funny movie) and went to church that night. Church was really good as well, and God used that time to reiterate what He had already spoke to me that morning. I came back to Uni on Monday feeling a lot more peace and a lot more strength.

Today and tomorrow I just have one lecture and it's not until 5pm. My schedule here is definitely very different than it is at home. Ali's coming out tonight and I'm stoked to see her again and hang out. I think that's all I have going right now. Hopefully I'll get some pictures out soon.