Romania {Part 2}:Rose

The lovely Rose & myself. 

{a few notes first}

I have an admission to make: I've been procrastinating. As soon as I got off the plane, home & settled back into daily U.S. life again, the very thought of trying to collect together my stories, pictures, thoughts sent me crawling away mentally! That was because, even though I know in truth that my trip was only a mere 11 days (and there are much longer periods of time, for example years, that people go overseas for) ...to me, this trip was huge & very full. SO much happened! So many memories of faces, conversations, gestures, songs, words, scenes, and feelings are still...almost a month later...swirling in my mind.

Basically, I freaked myself out thinking that I needed sit down to write up a huge, long letter and blog post, showing all the pictures & detailing everything that happened, even down to the meals I ate! (I exaggerate things in my head too much sometimes...) and everything I learned, did, heard, saw and felt.

Now, while I'd still like to do that in a way, I'm going to do it differently: bit by bit. So if you'll be loving & patient with me, friends & family, I'll get all the important things out on paper (or screen) for you to read...but it's going to take me a little time. :)

{now onto the good stuff!}
    So to start, I'm going to highlight one of the neatest, loveliest things that happen to me on my trip. It's a pure example of God trying to make me smile with His love, and winning. :) That beautiful thing that happened is Rose. About one year ago, I was looking for new friends to follow on a book web world I'm a part of (called Shelfari) and I happened to come across this one girl's profile who immediately sounded like someone I would really be able to connect with. Her name was Rose. :) Turns out....she was Christian too, and near my age, and loves the United States as much as I love the country of Romania....which as it turned out, that's where she's from! 
We've been emailing, sharing books recommendations, and keeping in touch for about a year now often dreaming  together 'out loud' about "how neat it would be if we could meet someday!"
It was fun to imagine. :)

Little did Rose or I know....what God had in mind!
As soon as plans were confirmed for this mission trip to Romania, I emailed Rose with the news: I'd be in her home country very soon!!
   Ballistically excited, we tried to figure out how to meet up!  After a while, it didn't seem it was going to be easy to meet, since she lived some distance from the area were the team a& I were going to be. I almost gave up hope! :( But after some messaging, and and phone call (it was so amazing to hear my dear pen pal's voice for the first time!) things lined up. Rose took the train a whole 3+ hours to see me! We met up in Sinaia, and we had lunch together, walked around the town, and spent time talking. Her calm, sweet manner impressed me. :) Along with her beautiful English! And her HUGE love for Jesus. :)) The best part of her is her joy for God that radiates out of her.

   We were so lucky (blessed!) and Rose also got to spend the rest of the day with us all, and the night too, eating dinner and hearing our speaker & friends Becky Walsh, from Casa Shalom, talk. :) I don't really have words to describe just how fun it was, being with Rose! I wish she lived next door!

So, although my Romania friend, Rose had to leave early in the morning the next day, it wasn't before we got some good pictures together and had a chance to have some lovely conversations. I really cherish my time with her in my heart and thank the Lord for putting it all together for it to happen. :)

Rose,
I miss you already! And I hope and pray we will meet again someday!
God bless you abundantly over & over.
Love,
Your American sister,
~Hannah

Rose and my team members, Steve, Beth & Paul out walking before dinner.

Rose, surprised me by writing a blog post in response!
Go check out the rest of the story from her opinion
{Here}

'In Summary...' Part 1: My Trip to Romania & Back

Village children who were eagerly waiting for our arrival...

Amazed.
touched.
overwhelmed.
filled.
stretched.
confused.
enlightened.
challenged.
drained.
inspired.

During my time in that country (Romania) and through everything that we did over there I have experienced all of the above sensations at different times. It's really quite hard to explain exactly what happened 1) in me, while there and what happened 2) in Romania, while I was there. I honestly don't know where to start!

I do know I can say: I am so glad I went.
So very glad I was chosen to go, and quite honored really that anyone --especially God Himself--would think that a 20 year old girl would be any help! I know that if anyone of the precious people over there were blessed by our songs, testimonies (and dance, in my case) ...then we were blessed, ten times over.

Just to be in a different country, and in someone else shoes for a while not only shook me up (in a good way) but also caused to be stop and view my own 'shoes' in a different way. Compared to the multitudes of folks' everyday lives in Romania, we, you & I, live like nobles...like rich people! Physically, we have everything we need (and more) and we think nothing of it. Emotionally, (I know everyone's story is different but ) I at least have been given a very safe, loving and stable home life. So, so many of the Romanians kids, and young people we met & talked to ---like the under 18 yr olds in the juvenille prison--grew up basically on their own, left to their own devices, with little love, direction or guidance. No one lived out an example of Jesus' love for them! No one showed them that their was anything more to life than alcohol, sex, drugs, cutting, pornography, etc, etc... it was so sad to see their breaking hearts, trying to hide their pain from their faces.
My prayer after leaving many of those kinds of places (like prisons, kids homes, etc.) was,
"Lord, show them You, Jesus. Please wrap them in your love over & over, while You show them the truth of Who You are." 

And you know, the thing is... I need that prayer for myself too.  
Don't you? I think we all need more of Jesus, less of 'us'.


{More posts about Romania to come soon.}

{These are Blessings Indeed!}

I must say, I've been blessed. Truly, truly blessed. You all have blessed me! God has smiled on me.
And I don't say that in a cliche "ohymgoodness" sort of way....I really mean it.

The fact that I'm even alive today is a miracle.
The fact that I have a supporting circle of loving people is a true, real gift.
That fact that I have a loving family, and a beautiful, safe home to live in is worth celebrating too!

But today, what I'm thinking of the most is the hearts of the those.....my friends and family....who decided that the dream God gave me of going to Romania, and loving on those lovely, needy people was worth sponsoring.
Worth praying for.
Worth believing in me for.

It's amazing to me!
Because, really, even if I told everything I know and feel about Romania, and what God has said so far to me about it....and even if I admitted that I don't know exactly why I'm going or what will come of it.....it doesn't seem matter to you all!

I'm not talking just about monetary giving for my trip here. (No, but in that respect, I've been extremely blessed as well! Everything has been provided for! Many, many thanks...) I'm thinking of the love, the kind words, the prayers that these folks have given me....each was special!

And I think I'm just standing in awe of God right now.
How He works things out and, how he worked this out for me.
I feel so special! and yet so little, and unworthy of this trip, at the same time!
I promise I will try not to worry about my abilities because "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and I promise to carry myself well in Romania, and serve with all my heart, soul, mind & strength! As would befit someone who has been so, so blessed....

I must thank you, my friends, my family & my church.
Love in Jesus,
~Hannah

Rainy Day Things

Not much time for dilly-dallying lately....

especially with an international trip * coming up... 

....but I did manage to finally finish painting that living room....of my dollhouse....it's a buff color now, as opposed to that dreadful pink! Couldn't wait to see that go...

Next, it'll be either 'paneling' (with a new paint color!) or papering it...haven't decide yet. :)

I do know that I want to call it the "Rabbit Room" 

and it's going to be celery green...cream..&..brick red....

Like so!

Also, besides frantic check-listing for Romania, I've been working on some art.

I did this one (below) this afternoon....but please don't scrutinize it too carefully~! 

It's only marker, you see..... 

I think life is immensely more color-FULL than noticed. 

Happy Weekend, everyone!

* {Which got all paid for by the way!! Thanks, friends & family!}

I'm in Love....Yep.

Cybele's Secret

&

Wildwood Dancing

Did you hear? I know there's this little bird...he gets around....or maybe you haven't heard?

Well, in any case, let me be the first to tell you: I just fell in love. It's true!

I fell in love with Juliet Marillier & her books....specifically Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret. I discovered them whilst perusing blogs...and I found this one blog of especially note (for it's prettiness & creativity!)....Fairytales, French Fries and Baby Kisses by name....kept by two sisters, I believe. Lovely blog. :)

And.....and.... way down hidden amongst older posts, I found this post which was more than enough to pique me curiosity. So, I looked them up at my library, found out that we have almost all her books (yay!) and checked out the two books above to start with.

What did I find?

I rediscovered two things through this book........ my love of fairytales (I love love love them!)

and ......my love of Romania. That's right! These are Romanian fairytale stories!

Needless to say, there's not much else to say......I've read each book twice already since Wednesday, and I've got the others on hold at the library......

Thank you, Bethany & Esther. :)

Here's Something ...

If you can't already tell, I am currently in a huge blogging slump...
Haven't felt like writing anything.
Haven't had time to write anything other than school papers,
and thoughts are flying in & out my head so fast
I have not been able to catch them lately.

So sorry about that....

But here's an interesting picture! It's of antelope bounding across the prairie out West (most likely South Dakota.) It was really beautiful out there. That trip was what taught me that I actually do love traveling; I just didn't know it.
Not sure which one of us was holding the family camera on this one though, so the credit goes to "our general family group"! lol.
I pray God that you all are well and less busy as me!
~Hannah

Andie (Re)Introduces Me to Levi

"Levi"

I was exploring photography websites of friends, and those of friends of friends. I came across Andie, from Portland, Oregon. Man, do I love her photography! This girl is really good behind her camera and the results are fine, crystal-bright high quality photos. Plus, she is making a living doing what she loves to do and that's my personal goal!

*officially inspired*

Austin and Gideon

Also, on a side note: There was this one post of hers of band photos for these two guys named Austin and Gideon. Turns out this was the band I had been looking for, Levi (previously called Feng Shui) ever since I met Austin Kearney, one of the singers, at his home church while visiting friends in Oregon this year. He may be remembered from the small film his acted in, Come What May. Now, I know what their music is like and I find it to be awesome. What a great sound! Go friend them on Facebook and MySpace.

To Ohio & Back: Part III

{As yet more happened!}...

Saturday: Canoeing, Park Day & Dancing
8am~ Despite the ungodly hour we were up at the night before after that late night scavenger hunt (and prank-pulling on the guys by a few of the girls!) we still had to get up early and leave for the canoeing/rental center by 8am-ish.

Before we went, we donned the new (first-ever-official!) CP! T-shirts we had received the night before and took groups photos in the morning sunlight.

 

Snazzy, no? :)
Collee Plus! Dayton, Ohio Event group photo
Left to Right: Rebekah, Bethany, Marie, Morgan, JD, Hattie, Brittany, Mac, Emily, Alex, Derek, Noah, Nate, India, Benjamin, Merry, Steven, Amanda, Marissa, Lisa, Atalie, Hannah (me), and Leah.
courtesy Brittany Wellvang



Goofy picture! Love this one. ;)



 Did I mention I loved the car/van rides that went on during those four days? :) It was one of the best parts of this event! How can one not have a blast being squeezed in with a bunch of other people in a vehicle and talking/singing/gabbing the whole way to your destination? ;) It's just fun.

9:30am~ We arrive there, pay for our canoes & life vests, and team up into pairs of 3-a-person per canoe. I, lucky girl, got to canoe with two of my favorite people: Ben & Hattie! :D We made a good team, if I may say so myself. ;)
10ish~ The rental center helped us find vests and bundled us into their big 15-passenger vans, over to the launch site, four miles upstream. By 10:30am, I think everyone was on the water of the creek/river. It was funny watching everyone try to grab enough oars for themselves, steer the canoes into the water, and get in without tipping over! Of course, it's funny until...it's your turn. :) Ben, Hattie & I got in fine.

Did I mention that that was my first time canoeing? It was! :D I've kayaked before, but never canoed.
I loved it; a great first experience. And Ben and Hattie had done it before so I was in good hands all around. Ben took the rear/steering, Hattie the middle, and I at the bow/front. Let me tell you, canoeing really builds arms muscles! ;)



Our canoe is the red one all the way to the right, a three-seater.
We were one of the first canoes to finish too, I believe. :)
Picture by Steven.



It was a gorgeous warm (but not hot), sunny day and the woods and surrounding areas around the creek were very pretty. I truly enjoyed this CP! activity. Kudos to whoever thought of it (the Sanders family most likely. :)

11am~ We all made it down the stream, four miles in total, with only one canoe capsizing. (I will leave those folks to anonymity. Everyone in that canoe was fine, just wet.) Thankfully, the creek was down in water capacity considerably, so the water wasn't too rough, fast or deep. :) I will look forward to trying tougher canoeing later, but in time. In time. ;)

12:30pm~ Merry, Alex, (who else? I can't remember.) went to the Waynesville grocer to pick up somethings for the picnic happening at one. That was fun too. :) The grocer reminded me of the old, old Kennie's Market we used to have in town here. Water, soda, chips, hot dogs, and...to the park!

1pm~ Park Time
Another wonderful way to spend some time hanging out and getting to know each other. :)
It took a while for everyone to get there, but eventually they did. We had a superb time eating lunch & talking and got to meet some new people too! We prayed and ate and swung in the swings, and hit balls around, played Frisbee (and Ultimate), blew bubbles, shot tiny squirt guns, laughed, talked , lounge din the grass, played four-square, explored the park, and generally had good, no GREAT time. :)

Group picture at the park!
(Noah's photo)

Nate, Mac, and Alex. Doing....what they do! :)
(Brit's picture)

Benjamin getting some serious air on those swings!
(Noah's photo)

JD & Brittany, rocking those crazy shades that got passed around all weekend!
(Emily's psychedelic ones, left; and Brit's Gucci's, right.)

~ People under the pavilion. ~
(picture credit: Steven)

Swingin'...
(Photo credit: Steven)



Leah and I, with the watermelons. Contemplating how to slice them
and enjoying their big, roundedness? I guess! ;)
Picture credit: Steven



And believe it or not, the day wasn't over yet! I'll have to save telling about the rest of this day, and Sunday, until the next post.
I'll be back....
:)

To Ohio & Back, Part II

The continuing story....

Thursday- Arrivals & Bowling
Ah, yes! The rest of Thursday I can't remember much about, except a lot of "Hi, Hello, What's your name?"s and lots of laughing & talking & settling in. Several other people showed up in the afternoon that day as well I think(?) Hattie, Amanda, Lisa and Mac, was it? :) Anyway, the more there were, the merrier! :D I could tell that it was going to be a wild, fun 4 days.



Breakfast at Grandma's again. :)

 9pm~ Bowling! That night, after pizza at a local, yummy pizza parlor, we all went over to a bowling alley for games! Only $1 per person per game, $5 for the shoes. I was on a team with Leah, JD, Steven, and Emily. I think we did really well! The guys were in contest and I was just trying to stay OUT of the gutters. :) My final game score was a personal best: 121! But even for those who didn't score high (like me, the first two games :P ) we all still had a lot of fun. :D My favorite try was throwing my pink bowling ball under my legs with Marissa and getting a strike! Leah also bought me fries which I restrained from organizing. ;) *cough*cough* Barely.

Bowling!

11pm~ We also had a late night Walmart run, whilst Leah and I found *cue music* DIET, CHERRY, VANILLA Dr. Pepper! And Skittles & Sour Patch Kids, of course.

Friday- Work Day & Movie Night.


Car ride over to the church for the work day!


10am~ Everyone up and dressed & fed, ready to head over to the Sanders' church. They were in need of some cleaning, painting and repairs. So...what better way to get it done really fast than call in a couple dozen young, able bodies? :D JD gave us a pep-talk, Leah and I made sure that we had plenty of 'fuel' for our day, and we signed up for the various teams.
The Moving/Lifters
The Cleaning Ladies
The Painters (They had the most fun, it sounded like!)
...and then there was Brit, flitting around with the camera. ;)

I was one of the cleaning ladies, as I ADORE cleaning. :) We did a complete scrub-down and organizational tornado in the nursery! Lots of windows to clean, chairs to scrub (with magic sponges) and toys to wash. Those magic sponges really worked, but they wear themselves out doing it. *boohoo* lol. I also discovered lots of dead spiders and grime in the kitchen windows.  The painters had a blast singing while painting... Brit recording it all on film. :P :)
1pm-ish~ Lunchtime! Merry and Rebekah (I think?) worked on making a sumptuous chili for all of us! It was delicious. :) Everyone chowed down, while I discovered that there is a strange chemical reaction that happens when you put soda + Skittles together. (They turn rock hard and the soda loses its sweetness! Strange....) After lunch, people started finishing up and doing whatever.

2-4pm-ish~ Me and a couple others headed back to the house to take showers that couldn't be gotten in any other time while Merry and Beks hid the balloons for the BIG scavenger hunt that was to happen later that evening. :) Balloons allllll over the yard! It looked hilarious. Then, back to the church.
Turns out, the rest had a great jam session/hymn sing while we were gone! :( Sad to miss that, but it was nice to get cleaned up.


Brit & I! <3

6-9pm~ Cleaning up the church areas, moving the furniture back in, rearranging stuff. I finished the toy-cleaning and paint roller washing with Mac. We all watched The Emperor's New Groove (which I never saw before, but is a hilarious movie!!)

10-12pm~ Back to the house for that scavenger hunt! We divided into five teams and went out. it turned out to be a lot trickier than we thought, because several of the balloons popped and it just wasn't that easy seeing the balloons! The winning team had garnered around 500+ points from the balloons they found, which included a black one (100 points.) :) Way to go people!
1am~ Crash time! I was T-I-R-E-D. Made a call home and then went right to bed. :)

To be continued...

To Ohio & Back

I'm just going to pick up right where I left off on my other blog, Grace Upon Grace. The reason I have now switched back to Blogger is because of one thing: convience! Having everything connected (via Google) is extremely convient, if questionable internet-saftey-wise. So, here I am. Happy now that I can put multiple pictures per post into my writing and have all these amazing customizable abilities at my fingertips! I knew I always liked Blogger better. ;) Plus, I can now follow my friends blogs easily as well...

Now, about that "big Ohio trip" I just took!

What was it?
A CollegePlus! approved student recreational gathering, open to any CP! student, nationwide.

Who came?
Quite a few CP!ers! We had a group of at least 22 students, not including their siblings and families that showed up at different times. :) It was amazing! I finally got to meet all these people I've only talked to on the CP! forums or Skype or Facebook. It was great to finally put names to (sometimes hiliarous and crazy) "faces". ;) I made some new friends too!  All of these guys were outstanding, humorous and courteous kids! I thought we felt like long, lost siblings or something; it was awesome. :D

One of the new CP! friends I made at the Ohio gathering: Hattie!
I actually met her first through her blog & Etsy shops. Photo credit: Britt Wellvang

Where was it?
At the home of the wonderful and gracious Sanders family (whose daughter Emily, is in CP!) in Waynesville, Ohio! It was a beautiful area that really reminded me of my favorite place on earth, Sullivan County, PA. :) Lots of sunshine, trees & hills! We spent most of our time at their house talking, eating meals, sleeping etc. The girls, all 15 of us, sleep either in the house in various rooms, or out in the pop-up camper one family brought. The guys (all 8 of them!) slept in a 10'x12' cabin in the would with double lofts--packed in like sardines! But they thoroughly enjoyed the arrangement, you could tell by all the bonding that went on and late night talks we heard about. ;)

The inside top floor of the "Waynesville Antique Mall", where I found several goodies. :)

A walk through the woods to Grandmother
Sander's house for a delicious, huge breakfast!



Downtown Waynesville, which was positively LINED with antique shops!

 What went on?
LOTS went on! It going to be hard to describe it all! I'll try to start by day, and see what I can remember:

Wednesday~ 5pm I head out of PA with three other CP! guy friends (Ben, Noah & Steven) in Steven's white van, packed out with our stuff. :) Lots of talking & jamming to music involved.
7pm ~ We stop for a break and dinner at Burger King. I got a huge chicken sandwich, yum! But I somehow grabbed a coffee straw for my extra large root beer and the soda machine spurts all over Noah's hand! lol We hop back in the van and keep driving. Favorite new thing: hold-your-breath contests through the tunnels. (Noah can hold his breath for 3 minutes flat!)

Yes, Steven drives *that* fast. (jk!!!)

12pm ~ We arrive in Waynesville and find the Sander's home after only one small turn around. :) Turns out several CP!ers are already there, waiting up for us while playing 'Psychiatrist'. Intros all around and then we jump right into the fun. We drove poor Alex nuts with that game! :D Eventually, everyone decides we *should* go to bed soon enough. "Goodnights!" to all... and onto the next day.

Thursday~
8:30 am~ I take a walk down the Sander's road to the main road & back (about 1 mile.) Refreshing! Then by the time I'm back, more people are getting up & looking for the "life juice": Coffee. :D 

The "blue" T-shirt team for a day! L to R: Merry, Emily
(the two best friends & CP! organizers for this event) and Atalie.

9:30~ The boys come out from their cabin and join us for a breakfast of lots of fruit & cereal. (Everyone was just trying to wake up I think.)  Atalie arrives! She lives only a couple hours away in Ohio.  After Ben, Steven, Alex and Amanda head out to pick up people from the airport, the rest of us head into town for antique shopping! This was so fun.

12:30pm~ Lunch at McDonalds downtown (where I organize my fries and get teased for it!! ;) and then back to the house.

1-2ishpm~ Derek & Marissa arrive (they drove) from Canada! :D Not bad time, eh?

To be continued.....