and the End is here.

Today was my last official day working as a therapeutical au pair.
All days now will be considered moon shining.

- July 1,2011

Spiderman

I watched the first SpiderMan night Elanor. I forgot how good it was. “With great power comes great responsibility”…makes me think of this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmFZhNqg_2w

When the goblin’s alter ego was screaming at him, it reminded me of the demons constantly haunting Christians. The demons are always trying to lead our train of thoughts to sinful acts and beckon us over and over to pursuit it. But then again, we don’t need the demons to lead us towards evil for our human nature wants us to be bad. We naturally tend toward sin. Only by the grace of God can we ever overcome  evil.

Another quick note about superheroes- I recall  this interesting podcast by ThisAmericanLife  about superpower/ superheroes (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers)and basically what it’s about is superpowers and how people would use a superpower if they had one. . Growing up with characters Superman, Batman, and Flash, I (and I know it’s cultural) expect super powers to always be used for good. However, the survey found that people would generally choose a super power for their benefit and would rarely use it for “good”. The discovery that the podcast found was while people would say they like the idea of using superpowers for good, in reality, they would use the superpowers selfishly. Invisibility to shop and steal any item, flying to dodge air fares and gas prices, super strength to hurt anyone who angered them, and maybe even x-ray vision to feed their lust. We would want to benefit ourselves as much as we can. The survey confirmed what the Bible clearly states- “The heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it?” -Jeremiah 17:9  We are fall human- “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”- Romans 3:23

We are not “basically good” as we would like to believe. We are sinful and corrupt.

We enjoy superheroes so much because we like the idea of being saved. Of having someone there in case something happened, and we seem to only enjoy  it fiction. However, Christ is real Saviour for He saved us from the ultimate – Hell. All superheroes are modeled after Him. 

Wrote this is in April 2011. I dont know why I never published it.

music

I am more faithful to Twitter than blogspot and facebook put together. So some life updates,  fave quotes and thoughts (all that fit within 140 characters) will be found on Twitter.

That being said- I want to blab about something- music.

Before I left for Tonga, I fell out of sync with new, popular music. This was in January 2011. Why? I was disgusted with the radio- the autotune crap, the less-than mediocre lyrics, and consistent sexual references (which are not even subliminal anymore.) .I resorted to songs I already loved and decided that “old” music is not “bad” music.  If Old songs that were a pleasure to listen to back when it was released and still sounds good TODAY,it means it’s GOOD music. As the saying goes “Good music never dies”- think Beatles, Queen, Johnny Cash, The Four Tops, Gladys Knights and the Pips, and one of my all time favourites- Relient K…. etc…

During this time, if anyone played ANY popular music and expected me to roll with it received the death glare…and “this music sucks” statement. Think- Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Usher, Katy Perry…

Also, everything sounded exactly the same. I felt like I was listening to the SAME song sung by different artists. “Creative” took on the definition of “recreated- over-edited”.

Then in Tonga, I had no choice but to fall out with popular music (well, pop culture all together).  What a blessing this was. Think about it- not being bombarded by “this is what’s cool to listen to…” no - and even greater- the freedom from the sexual references (and this was just not in music.) There were no billboards with mild, sexual references, no tv ads or junk mail, and because Tongans don’t make sexual jokes in English, it was such an escape.

I enjoyed this escape. While I did wonder “what’s new?” , I felt freedom in listening to whatever I wanted to blast. Popular music does make it’s way to Tonga, but it does not have the in-your-face affect as the States. I even dug deeper and listened to songs I hadn’t listened to in years and found that these songs that spoke truth into my life, made me dance like a fool, and sing my heart out still had the same affect.

I enjoyed the hymns that were carried from the church next door, early Sunday mornings, I heard a variety of international music blasted from cellphones (some good, some terrible and should not even exist), and I even learned some Tonga nursery rhymes (which I never, ever, ever learned.) I even got “Tongan Pop/reggae”. I feel like a traitor saying this, but it’s not genre I will ever willingly listen to…however, some of cousins feel very differently. There were times when I just wanted to go deaf because the “music” was just terrible (my taste…)

But after, four months curiosity got the best me. Thank you facebook and youtube for keeping me a bit updated. All those lyrics statuses were put to good use (especially when facebook blew up with Paradise- by Coldplay) Listening to that magnificent song while being IN paradise was something to cherish.  

I know you’ve all heard it but I want to point out the first verse

“When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach so

She ran away in her sleep

and dreamed of

Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise

Every time she closed her eyes”

Coldplay is definitely talking about me. Thank you Coldplay for narrating my life.

And the of course the chorus tops it off –

“and dreams of Para-para-paradise”

In Vavau- my last month in Tonga- I was beginning to get desperate. My itunes no longer could satisfy my music needs, youtube and 8tracks took forever to load, and I was locked out of all the FREE- music streaming websites due to copyright- playlist.com/spotify/etc.  I was tempted to pirate a bunch of music. Fortunately, one café in Vavau, Mango café had great mixes! Country, alt rock, pop punk, oldies, light rock, hard rock, heavy metal, bumble gum pop…. I later learned that most of the Americans were contributing the mixes- American TEENS. Ridiculous or what? So while enjoying coffee, blogging or just chillin, I got music fix.

Then, New Zealand happened.

Reverse Culture shock galoooreee.

And one of the weird things was the music.

Everything I had escaped came rushing into my ears at 100mph. Along with that New Zealand has a very different music culture. Reggae turns out to be the most popular genre.  Australian and European Artists (predominantly UK) dominate the radio station. This was a nice change. But, I was overwhelmed. The fact that all these songs were in English took some adjustment.  For a while, the bass-line was all I was able to hear. My reticular activating system blocked out most of the melody and even the voices. 







I wrote this in February 2012. and I I have nothing to add. because whatever brilliant things I had to say, died. This is my Mona Lisa. #unfinished 

Ziplining

The video pretty much says it all.



Let me take a five seconds to rave about the experience - They told us that through the tour they wanted us to know it's part recreational, environmental, spiritual,educational, and supports the local community, and also programs for kids in South America. best deal ever.
I didnt know this but when we arrived, we discovered it's a Christain camp that hosts the tours and runs the whole thing. They're incredible! totally open to questions and comments but they werent throwing the Bible or any Christain idioms in your face. So often, Christains are portrayed to be unloving, inhospitable, arrogant human beings. It was so awesome to be a part of something that was the total opposite of that. On top of that, the staff were genuinely kind, helpful, FUN people. I seriously felt like I was going to summer camp. (how I miss camp days!)
Our tour guides were very insightful. They taught us a lot about california, trees ( redwoods, sequoia trees, douglas firs) while keeping us thoroughly entertained with some very chheessy jokes and quite a few witty remarks. Ivan and I were laughing the whole time. seriously. Our tour guides should win some sort of award. They seriously made the experience. It couldve been a lame 2 and 1/2 hours in the trees but no, they made sure we were having the time of our lives. They engaged us in conversation and encouraged us to talk to the complete strangers who were also part of the tour. Entertainment and laughter aside, I also felt completely safe the whole time. Not once did I doubt the staff, their knowledge, or the structures. It's a really awesome set up. It's basically a tree house (consisting mostly of ziplines...)complete with bridges and all for adults. seriously. If youre an adult dying to release your innerchild, this is the place to do it.

Our guides definitely felt like a pair of really cool camp counselors. I was happy to have them guide us along the tour. As we were leaving the camp, one of the complete strangers (who was not so much of a complete stranger after the tour...) commented on the tour guides energy, enthusiasm, positive attitude and their ability to keep it up all day. They mentioned it felt very genuine but also questioned who could they possibly do it. I wanted to scream JEEEEESSSSUUSS!! It's because they have JEEESSSSUUUUSS!!!!

www.sonomacanopytours.com

see- people really do notice. keep living for Christ yall!

and Mom, thanks again for planning this adventure for Ivan and I. You're the best!

Old Crow Medicine Show

Caityln dragged me to this concert. kidnapped me, tied me up and threw me in the back of her trunk. sped off to San Francisco and forced me to attend the concert. Corrie was her accomplice.

jokes. 

I was supppeerr stoked for this concert. not because I'm huge a OCMS fan. Because I was stoked to hanngg with Caityln. On our way, Corrie joined the group and it was a partay. 

I will summarize the drive to San Francisco in one word- hectic. 

One moment we're detouring to Corrie's for an outfit change, next we're stuck in terrible SF traffic, and then we're trying to find the craigslist guy who had our tickets. 

We finally find parking after witnessing a few very San Francisco happenings. Kids, dont get lost in the Tenderloin. 

Now parking. Parking in San Francisco is a cake walk. You'll always find an affordable, not sketch parking area. not. But that day it was! "FALSE!" - you cry. We not only got a pretty good parking spot, we also got to park in the city for FREE. Some guy walked up to us, told us he just parked but just decided to leave and asked if we wanted his ticket he just purchased. Fancy that. It's nice to travel with two beautiful girls, they get what they want. *wink* 

Corrie didnt have a ticket so we had to buy them off scalpers. Let me say what I've said a million times and will say a million more times- I know you have to make a living but I hate scalpers.

The concert itself- Well, I have never been around so many rednecks in my life- clapping, dancing, stomping and singing- It was awesome. I knew a couple of random songs but I mostly just danced to songs whose lyrics I could barely understand. #concertlyfe OCMS is great folk and country. Genres that I'm still fairly unfamiliar with, but I love their concerts.

Of course, I was there for really one song and one song only- Wagon Wheel. sang my heart out and carried out the Barn Dance- The Electric Slide.

After that song, we left. 

Concert- Success. 

Adventuring and having too much fun with Caityln and Corrie- Major Success!

Modeling in the Warfield. haaayyy

We became bffls with the security and the successfully photobombed this picture and we love them.

I just met these two beauties last year and we've all made so many memories together already. God is truly kind to me in blessing with friends who are just as crazy as me. New Friends who challenge me spiritually, emotionally, but at the same time- have the same ideas for having fun!

The Struggle is real

The continual struggle between



and



This is literally my life.

Narcisstic and what not rambles

How do you blog about your life and not seem a little narcissistic?
How do you share pictures on instagram that  you genuinely enjoyed creating without coming off as a little narcissistic?
How do you post anything on facebook without it seeming like youre waving a big banner saying "check out my life!"
How?

How do you just share genuine moments of your life with your friends/family/ hoping they enjoy it?
Hoping that theyll enjoy the moment with you.

How.
How do you do THAT?