Archive for 2010

the end of 2010

what a year it has been. one that will be important for the rest of my life. it was one i will look back on thirty years from now because it brought about so many significant things. so much pain and in the midst, joy, growth, love. it was a year in which i learned about myself and other people. it was the year that the meaning of love became real to me. it was the year that i stopped believing that all people are good, they are not. it was the year that i learned that there are so many good people all around. it was the year that i started to believe in what the Lord was doing with all my heart. it was the year that i learned that bad things happen for good reasons. for great reasons even. it was the year that the glory of God in everything became real to me. it was a year of highs and lows but we have to grateful for the highs and lows and we have to find that faith, you know, of a mustard seed, to be able to trust and be grateful for all of it, high or low. and we have to know that even the low can be so good when all is said and done. it was the year of so many things. i can go on forever. but a new one is coming. God was in this one, He will be in the next one:) He will have control and i am going to be there for the greatest ride:)
happy new year. cheers!

so much...

goodness coming your way! but for now watch this:) i'm so sleepy but all smiles. God is good. amen and amen

love, love, love.
good night:)

christmas at home- part dos:)

on tuesday, i was able to spend the morning with kim and ashley and i got my haircut and just love, love, love it! thank you ashley:) after the haircut, kim, linda, jenna, and myself went to las brasas(LOVE) and had yummy mexican. oh, i missed them. the conversation was wonderful and they are such lovely ladies.
on thursday, i got a visit from robishka and janell and that was the best. we sat down for hours and just talked and laughed and had such a nice time. we ate too....you will never leave my mom's house hungry...NEVER:) and i received the neatest gifts! one homemade sufjan stevens piggy bank and one very beautiful owl blanket, very beautiful. thank you:)
after my sweet friends left, aura and i planted ourselves in the living room and watched desperate housewives....ehehehehehe, we really did:) oh gosh, that is a blog for another day:) i just love being home. i love seeing sweet faces all around me. i love getting to catch up. i love my family. i love what this trip has been thus far and am looking forward to more! i will have another christmas post, um, tomorrow? it will cover Christmas eve and day! MERRY CHRISTMAS:)
love,
roxi

christmas at home-part 1:)


it is christmas morning and what an exciting time:) we take this time to remember the birth of our Savior. we take this time to remember that we serve a God who was completely willing to empty Himself and to become flesh and blood and to walk humbly among His creation as one of them. and that is AMAZING. and we have so much to be grateful for.
this is part one of christmas at home. it has been so wonderful being here with my family and seeing friends. on sunday, we had our annual gingerbread house battle and the results...well, they were pretty awesome. both teams worked very hard and in the end, one had to win. AND it was the ladies:) but the guys were so creative and they built a spaceship and they were awesome. we had such a neat time and it was the perfect way to begin Christmas week. together and with fun.

a worthy update...

at least i think so, and you might too:)
i got a haircut:)

home:)

i'm home and happy and i feel so sleepy so i'm off to bed:)

overwhelmed....

by the kindness i'm getting from my students. seriously, i kinda like finals week. because students come by and they sit and we get to chat. i like getting to know them. in getting to actually talk, i learn even more and more, how blessed i am to be a part of tis crazy amazing community. and even beyond that, they have been showering me with smiles and cards and little presents and i just feel like there is no way to really express how grateful i am:)

just an ordinary day...

sort of. i have grading...ap exam grading to be even more specific. wowee. that is all i can say about it.
so i took a break and looked at photos:) because....i like to look at photos, especially nice ones:) that's it, and i think that is a perfectly good explanation.
because books are full of stories...
and kids just like to have fun...
and everyone likes a good cup of tea...
and there is nothing like dancing in an open field...
and the greatest thinkers thought their best in solitude..
and because west side story is just the loveliest...
and someday we will take a train...
and because different is ok...
and hot air balloons open eyes to the lovely world below...
and because everyone likes a good tree...
and this last one...it's because i just want the outfit. i like it...so much:)
and just a bonus:) i mean, who doesn't love to be inspired???

when...

big kids have sleepovers, i am pretty sure they are supposed to look something like this:)
happy wednesday.

older folks...


you know what i mean, old people. i was thinking about old people quite a bit and everything around me sort of pointed to them. from a student talking about saving old people from drowning because he is a life guard to driving down the road and seeing the saturday morning group sit in a circle on the corner of the street for their saturday morning hand out:) all of it. so what about old people? are they just old and getting older? what about them? well, that is such a funny question because i absolutely love old people. you know when you look at someone and their soul is just oozing out of them and it makes your heart jump? old people have the ability to do that to people. age is beauty. i know it. because as you live and experience more life, it does something to you. it grows you as a person and your beauty grows from the inside to the outside. old people have the ability to just melt me in the deepest spots of my heart. they know life. they are the reason we are what we are today. they paved the roads. there is so much beauty in that.
if you know me, you know owls are my absolute favorite. it has a lot to do with the fact that owls represent wisdom, something we should all be seeking to gain more of. you should never be ok with just existing. you should have ambition for life. people who are ok with shooting others down for having vision exist and unfortunately they are all around. but if you have a vision, follow it! and don't you dare let anyone convince you that there is something wrong with you because you have dreams. shame on anyone who would step on another person because they have goals.
old people, there is something about them. they make me feel like my goals, my dreams, like they are possible. they make me have hope. not some unrealistic fantasy. just hope, that they made it and are still going strong, so it is ok for me to know that God knows exactly what He is doing and He's doing it. and nothing silly i do can stop Him:)
i noticed that on saturday mornings, there is this group of old people by the shop. they have chairs set up in a circle and they sit and just hang out:) i love that so much. i was listening to this song called new day by the Robbie Seay band just as i was driving by and it said:
and it might not be the prettiest thing you ever did see.
i was thinking about how we see older people. our eyes lie to us when we look at them because there is no beauty like the beauty of older people. they are the most beautiful. them and new babies. there is something really special about both. people in general are beautiful and i love them, but old people....they are just awesome:)


quick thought...a little scattered perhaps:)


this has to be one of the loveliest songs. i think the lyrics, they are just a perfect love song. one that we should sing to our sweet Jesus daily. i just think He must long to hear us say i am your, i am yours, i am your forever. i really believe this, more so, i think i just know it is true in the core of my heart. i listened to it a few times and it just made me all teary. this morning i was sitting in my advisory and i was able to have the sweetest conversations with one of the sweetest gals ever. and she said something so nice. basically, that all the pieces fit for me being here, in the classroom. and i believe it. it is one of those things. one of those things we don't really believe. that if we just surrender, He will meet our needs. we suck at really believing that. because life happens and well, sometimes we just don't have time to go there or we just choose not to or whatever. which is fine. to each his/her own. for me, well, i need that. i need that surrender. i need to just know that i DON'T need to be in control because luckily there is someone out there who actually knows what He's doing and he's got me covered:)
these past few weeks have been sort of earth shaking for me. for a couple reasons. big ones. God has just shown Himself so clearly in so many undeniable ways. well, i guess if someone chose to deny it they could, i can't. i don't know, my heart just feels grateful, full, hopeful. it is nice. long awaited. `
yesterday during 7th period, something pretty amazing happened. in a classroom of 15 people, including myself, we were able to sing happy birthday to one special gal in ELEVEN different languages. i don't think i will ever forget that. that was such a special moment. like i said, i am so grateful:) really looking forward to going home in just a little over one week. see ya soon:)

monday morning, review, and so on...

it is monday morning. still mostly dark out and somewhere in the 50's:) perfect if you ask me. it is so hard to believe that this time next week, students will be taking finals and two weeks from now, i will be home with family:) ah, the sweetness:) last week was so....full of hope. i wish i could come up with a more beauitful way to describe it but you know, to say that something is full of hope. sometimes that is a lot. and i feel like that expresses so much for me these days. i love that. i love that simple words, concepts, have so much meaning and are so powerful. and that i don't need more.

this weekend was just beauitful. too busy and i wasn't able to do some pretty important things but the things i did get finished and the things i was able to do and conversations i was able to have...my heart was filled. it is crazy to live one day at a time. when we do, there is something new and exciting everyday. things don't become little and not important. everything counts. i like that.

this week is review week because next week is finals week which means that i survived first semester! and it was brilliant:) that had a lot to do with my lovely students:)

it is almost Christmas, a time for family fun, celebration, love, miracles, the list could just go on forever:) enjoy today. cheers to a lovely season!

angel tree.


there is this thing called angel tree. if you know about it, do it. if you don't know about it, it is a good thing and maybe you should do it if you can:) a few weeks ago Mosaic announced that they were going to be participating in angel tree and that made me so happy. kids whose parents are not able to be with them for christmas because the parents are in prison get presents for Christmas from their parents and we can make it happen:) it is such a beautiful thing and it is so right because those sweet little kiddos get to open something on Christmas morning and the best part is that the card is signed mom or dad:) i did my shopping yesterday and the day before and found the perfect wrapping paper and wrapped last night. Chloe tried to help and after a lot of work, she got sleepy(the truth is, i was pretty sleepy too:) and was ready for bed:)
it is almost christmas. i go home in 16 days:) see you soon:)

thanksgiving







this thanksgiving was different for me. for many reasons, one of the biggest was being away from home. not being with the people that mean the most to me. me being here, them being on the other coast and in tennessee. i wasn't too sure how it was going to go. well, it was lovely:) the Lord really provided such a wonderful day with the most delightful families. i felt grateful that i was able to be a part of that. good company, good food, fun games. happy day:)

ticket!

speeding ticket? parking violation ticket? ticket to a show? NOPE! a plane ticket...HOME:) see you so soon southern california! it will be a lovely three weeks, i know it:) good night and good night. or as they say in romania...and in the united states too and other places too...if you are romanian or maybe you just like the language or something of that nature...noapte buna:)

morning...

i like mornings. everything is quiet. nature and man asleep. i went for a little walk this morning. it is gloomy and cold out. perfect. and i had my little friend, ipod, with me. this song, it came on. i hit repeat. and this is all i listened to for the rest of my walk.
i thought about the fact that God, He is always with us. always. i smiled. and breathed in all of the goodness around me.
happy saturday.

WHOA!!!

why i love sufjan. because he is brilliant.

just to catch up:)

three in one day? yes. it is so hard to keep up to date:) things here are so busy. all of my days just sort of collide and sometimes i just forget and need to post a few things in one day. i think a little while back i wrote about a few students from the school signing with pretty well known universities and some of them are mine:) well, first and only, the students here, they are really smart. i mean it. and here are some photos of that afternoon:)
good noche:)

thanksgiving feast 2010


last night we had Thanksgiving feast at Montverde and i just have to say it was such a lovely night. the amazing students were there. a few sweet parents. the wonderful faculty and kitchen staff. the food was yum and just the entire night was exactly right:)