La Sonya

It's that time of year. I know all of you have been waiting patiently for the list of 100 things I am thankful for. I don't want to disappoint you (don't worry I'm in therapy to get over that burden) so here is the list in all of it's thankful glory. Family Friends Community Teaching Outdoors Practice dates Travel Life's journey My car, the Lone Ranger Teaching Credentials Thanksgiving Restoration Hope Grace Beans Veggies Fruit Baking Routine Adventures Good convos Warm fires Mountains Snow Running Books Photography Creativity with friends Animals Cuddling Touch Music My students *Sparks* Sunshine Beaches Car Rides Road Trips Colours Big salads IKEA Flowers Cafe talks Scarves Starry Night by Van Gogh Art Outer space Quiet moments My bed Warm feather duvets Photo albums History Potential Church family Getaways Guzman's Weig's  Cats that are friendly Creativity Warm drinks Skype SMS Reunions

I am so close to the finish line of my current "teacher summer camp". It is almost painful how close I am. Yet. . . I am still so far away. I need to study my heart out tonight so I can pas my test in the morning. Please, Jesus, let me pass! I have two more Bible tests and one Math test. I feel that once I am done with all these horrid little tests I will be a million times lighter and a million times free-er. I studied all yesterday. I took two tests and have started studying for the next Bible one. Tomorrow is the Math one . . . oy. Math. Not my favorite but tomorrow, tomorrow he's mine! I will conquer him once and for all! When I am finished you bet your bottom dollar I'll let you know. There will be a party of Biblical proportions. Amen.

The noise is crashing in the room. It oozes from the cracks in the door. I can hear the yells, cries and shouts from outside. Praise God I am inside where I am safe. Safe until 12:30 when the constant noise comesNo back in. These days are going fast, thank God. They are just not as much of what they used to be.

I went to the beach yesterday. I had been wanting to go for a long time. A LOONG time. It was great because I looked up surfing competitions going on this summer and found out that the Vans Surfing US Open was starting this last weekend. So obviously I went! To make things even more exciting we got up really early to get a head start and score a sweet parking spot. It all paid off. We were able to get to Huntington Beach in an hour and found a great spot by the beach entrance. Winner! While my friend went biking I headed over to the grandstand and pier to watch the competition. I don't know much about surfing or competing but I love it none the less. It only fueled my passion to surf and soak up the salt water. It was only the beginning of the men's trials that I saw but it was gnarly all the same. I was a nerd and even bought a sweater from the Vans store. Ha! I developed several more freckles during the day and my hair, sigh, was magical. Seriously, I lov

I get lost in tiny details. Please don't ask for a tiny detailed play by play. It's too much for my brain to plan things out so finite. This is the burden I find in planning out lesson plans. In my classroom I have my own way of lesson plans that I can read. I don't need to put a script in them or a play by play of what will happen next. I'm good enough to figure things out as I go. Because of my background in improv and a natural ability to read the audience I can see if things are going well and change it in a moment. Also my own personal struggle is that I am also a principal and so I don't always take time to fully write out my lesson plans but I know what I am doing for the most part. Blech. Anyway, all of this is coming about because I am in a class that is requiring me to write out full lesson plans. No thanks. It's one of the reasons I avoided the Education Department all together. Over all I'm not sure I can make it much longer this summer. I am

I'm at La Sierra these days. I hate not knowing where anything is. I find it frustrating trying to understand the way things are run at a new school. I just got used to things at PUC. I think the last two days I've just wandered around looking for classrooms, offices, study locations, friends, important people and parking places. Mainly I feel like I just wander. In case you have been on campus the last three days don't be alarmed by the lady who looks perpetually lost. I'll finally figure out where everything is by next Thursday. Until then just point me in the direction of the Communication office cause that's where my all time favorite teacher from Southern now works! Lynn Caldwell was THE best teacher EVER. EVER. EVER. She'll be around next week and I can't wait to visit. From here

A while back I asked a friend for some good book titles. One of the ones was Safe People by Henry Cloud. I devoured the book and took lots of notes and underlined lots of quotes. I thought I'd immortalize them in the interwebs for the rest of my life.  Here are a few of them. (I do recommend the book!) "Safe people, for example, admit their weaknesses. They are humble. And they prove their trustworthiness  over time." Pg28 We grow in part by confessing our faults and weaknesses to each other (James 516; Ecclesiastes 410) All close relationships hurt, because no perfect people live on the earth. 31 Love, however, depends in part on our ability to own and share our faults. The one who is forgiven much, loves much (Luke 7:47) 36 In a relationship, honesty is bedrock foundation of a safe relationship. 37 We were created for intimacy, to connect with someone with heart, soul, mind. Intimacy occurs and we are open, vulnerable, and honest, for these qua

Sometimes in life I need to distract my mind from things. So to do that I recently decided to make a list of things to do the next time I visit Collegedale/Chattanooga. Spend unreasonable amounts of time and money at the Samaritan Center Buy cookies from Piece of Cake Bakery Eat large quantities of Chinese food from China Kitchen Buy a vegan pizza from that great place on the corner of Four Corners Wander around the Biology Trail Pay my respects to Dr Beitz Have an Earth Day/Birthday picnic (even if it’s not April 22) Gossip and snub all the changes to campus Visit Maria & Dean Sager (I tried calling him John a couple times but it was too weird) and ask him to cook something amazing while Maria gives me wisdom Visit the Livanos family Capture the Little Debbie factory smell in a bottle (but not on a burned day) What else should I do? Any ideas?

When I was in OZ a couple months ago I bought some Vegemite and Marmite to bring home. I was told by my friend that I should eat a little bit on my toast everyday for a week and then I'd like it. So. . .. I've decided the first week after school I'm going to try it. I'll eat Vegemite every single day on toast for breaky for one week. We'll see if I like it. I'm encouraged by these two clips. Partly because apparently it's a fad now in America, partly because if I do it right I should love the stuff, right?

This, this was my day today. Please Jesus, make tomorrow better. Or if you could just make it so I can skip ahead to June 5 that would be great. Here are the lyrics :) Brand New Day Some kind of magic Happens late at night When the moon smiles down at me And bathes me in its light I fell asleep beneath you In the tall blades of grass When I woke the world was new I never had to ask It's a brand new day The sun is shining It's a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know, I'll be ok Most kind of stories Save the best part for last And most stories have a hero who finds You make your past your past Yeah you make your past your past It's a brand new day The sun is shining It's a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know, I'll be ok This cycle never ends You gotta fall in order to mend It's a brand new day It's a brand new day For the first time in such a long long time I know, I'll be ok

These last few weeks have been some serious prayer time. I haven't spent time like this with God in a long while. I didn't plan on needing this time alone with Him but I'm glad now that I did. Life doesn't always go as we plan. It has turns that are scary, sad and waaaaay crazy fun. I haven't been broken by this last turn, more along the lines of curious as to what the next turn in life will bring. The last turn did however bring me back to God to talk and ask hard questions. Last week I left work early and would go for a run and sit in the sun and have my conversations with God. What did I come away with? I'm not sure myself except that I am at peace (most of the time, I'm human after all). I was reminded that I need to refocus on my mission, making disciples for Christ. If in all the twists and turns that life brings I can focus on what He has asked me to do, make disciples, then nothing will shake me. When people come and go in my life, which they will,

I'm needing some distraction in my life. So I'm writing a list of things I am thankful for. Here it is in all it's glory: 1.        Work 2.        Friends 3.        Good adventures 4.        God 5.        Forgiveness 6.        Spring 7.        Teacher Summer Camp 8.        Changing my room around 9.        Sunlight through the window 10.    Reading time at school 11.    Warm sunny recess 12.    Sleeping in 13.    My IKEA feather duvet 14.    Bright colors 15.    Puppies 16.    New markers 17.    Coloring pages 18.    Art class 19.    A good school day 20.    A big salad 21.    Travel 22.    Airplane rides 23.    Kips 24.    Other languages 25.    Mentor friends 26.    Distraction 27.    Mangos fresh 28.    Guavas fresh 29.    Baking 30.    Cookies 31.    Mail 32.    Packages 33.    Getting packages 34.    Cakes 35.    Seeing God work 36.    A good book 37.    Kendra, my roommate 38.    Fro-Yo frien

So far I am really liking this year of life. Last night I ate supper with the group of people who love me the most in all of Oakhurst. If I needed to describe the evening I would describe it as a love bomb . For those of you who don't know what a love bomb is (I'm guessing that's most of you) it is a situation where you are surrounded by people who are doing nothing but loving you. There is no agenda other than loving on people. So I'd say it was the best love bomb I've had in a long, long while.  In the last 6 months of my life I have come to realize that I am incredibly blessed by the people here in Oakhurst who are actively in my life. This is a rare thing, to find so many people I can be me with and still be loved. I have found that when exciting things happen in my life these people rally around me and let me talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about it. They ask me questions and check in with me to hear more exciting things. When I am uncertain abo

For spring break last month I had a grad adventure. After almost three years of snoozing on the shelf I dusted off my poor, lonely passport and put it to good use. I flew down to Australia, the country and the continent. I just spent my holiday in Australia. Wowzers. I never thought I'd say that! In fact Australia wasn't even on my list of place I wanted to visit, simply because I never really had any good friends to visit and it is sooooooo far from any other country. In fact it wasn't even on my list of places I didn't want to visit. It was just so far away from my mind! Ha, it's funny how life goes sometimes. Here's how it happened: Over Christmas a friend from my Camp Wawona days asked me to help one of her Australian friends out and show him around Yosemite for a day, to which I did my best at with the time we had. It turned out to be a quick trip from the train station in FresNO to Mariposa, the big trees (which are my absolute favorite and I love to

I think I'm going to get a camel. I'll buy it and love it and take good care of it. I'll visit it frequently and bring it treats. Perhaps I'll get the friendly pair. Everyone needs a camel. I am now taking name suggestions.

I found this video last night. It is from Christmas 1993. A real gem of a find. I was 10 years old and it was the year all my grandparents were in one place for the holidays. I love listening to my Papa John and Damama's genteel Southerner drawl. It's so smooth and warm. Especially my Papa John's voice. What I wouldn't give to hear that voice again. To tell him the stories of my adventures and my dreams. I hope they would be proud of me. Not only did I watch footage of my beautiful grandparents, parents and (squeaky big) brother but I also was able to watch little 10 year old Sonya make what might be my first real public commitment to God, my baptism. Knowing what I know now about myself I find it a little bit, scratch that, I find it really funny how terrified I am. My stage presence maybe was a gift from God that came from baptism? It must be because I look like I am about to vomit everywhere. It might not help that I am wearing what appears to be the tapestries or