just me...

growing out a pixie cut is not the easiest thing to do in the world...you go through a ton of awkward stages and the urge to cut it short again is a very real struggle.  I've had my pixie cut since the summer of 2013 so it's time for a change!  I am so grateful for Taylor Hiester, one of the members of our PacRim2015 team.  She is becoming one of my good friends and she is also a hairdresser! yay!  She recently gave me a set of cornrows to switch things up from my usual let-it-do-its-own-thing style with my hair...I loved them!  Sometimes with going through awkward hair stages, it becomes hard to just feel pretty.  And although this trip is teaching me a huge lesson in humility, sometimes a girl just wants to have cool hair and have her confidence boosted!  These did just that and gave me a little extra push to re-gain some self- confidence.  Ok honestly hour only because it is fairly late and im listening to music that gets my emotional/creative side out:  I'm homesick.  I have only been gone a few weeks and I already miss home like crazy.  Folks, this is not a feeling I am used to.  Although I love my family dearly, I am the kind of person that takes pride in being pretty independent.  And maybe its because I just talked to my parents the other day, maybe its because I talked to my super awesome boyfriend, Brian, today, maybe its because I recently received some bad news about my great grandmother...I just miss home.  But God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.  I have a family of 22 other people here who are willing to sit and talk to me, or write me encouraging notes, or to make me laugh.  I really love my team and I am excited to grow with them.  Having a support group such as this is incredible.  To those on my team reading this, thank you.

a day at the beach...

Finally!  The day we had all been waiting for!  The other day we went on a trip to Mission Beach, and we were not disappointed.  The weather was perfect and the water was warm.  Adorned in our togs (what the kiwis call swim suits) we took on the day!  After spending a few hours swimming and tanning, we headed back to Laidlaw and watched a movie called "Whale Rider."  It is a movie about Maori tradition and it was actually pretty good.  If I had to define a perfect day, it would be this one.

starry sky...

While we are staying here at Laidlaw, we have made some friends with two of the local kiwis: Jeremy and Nick.  They are both pretty cool and they are gracious enough to take us to new places when we have free time.  On one night they took a group of us to another mountain so that we could investigate some creepy tunnels and look out at the night sky.  It was gorgeous.  The sky was crystal clear and we could see a ton of stars.  These two pictures have officially made their way up to some of my top favorite pictures I have ever taken.  At Christmas, I received a remote and tripod for my camera and I was thrilled to put them to good use.  This night, they achieved their goal of making me very happy and with just a 20 second exposure I was able to capture some of the grandeur of the night.  God is so good.

chinese class...

As I had said earlier, we are taking a Chinese course...it is hands down one of the hardest classes I have taken in my entire life.  Seriously, I have never studied so hard in my entire life!  We have to learn the pinyin (putting the correct tones in the word), the characters, and the English translation. Our teacher, whom we call laoshi (means teacher in Chinese is a hard woman who terrifies me and amazes me. She really is an impressive woman and a brilliant Chinese teacher, she just kind of intimidates me.  Chinese characters make sense but I am finding it to be quite the challenge to remember everything.  We have class three days out of the week for three hours at a time.  Needless to say, I had a splitting headache after our first class.  Thankfully, things started to get easier and made more sense.  Today we received our Chinese names!  On one of our first days of class, laoshi asked us all what we enjoyed in life.  When it got to be my turn I told her I loved to run.  Today she told me that my Chinese name would be Feng Jin Ma, which means golden horse!  I approve.

a view from mt. eden...

Soon after we arrived, we took a small trip up to the top of a mountain called Mt. Eden.  We discovered how delicious kababs are and what New Zealand pop tastes like.  But most of all, we were able to see how utterly beautiful the land is.  We stayed until it got dark and I was able to learn more about shooting in low lighting and managed to capture some epic shots.  Seeing God's creation at this place was amazing.  I just had to sit in silence and take it all in.  In New Zealand it gets chilly pretty quick after the sun goes down so I was thankful that I grabbed my jacket!

the next adventure...

Hello New Zealand!  The place we have all been waiting for...beaches, warm weather, wicked awesome accents!  After the worst plane ride of my life (the seats did not even recline...YOU try flying for 11 hours and not being able to sleep and see if youre not cranky too) we finally made it to Auckland, New Zealand, our home until February 21.  We are in a town called Henderson which is a branch off of Auckland from what I understand.  It. Is. Incredible. Here.  I love it!  While we are here, we are staying at a college called Laidlaw.  We each get our own rooms, which I am very grateful for, and we are starting our classes.  While most of them are online, we are taking Chinese and an Area study class together.  We eat most meals together and have free time in which we can go and explore the city or do whatever!  Apparently, there is no ozone layer over New Zealand so one of the most common phrases we hear is "Don't forget your sunscreen!"  and it is so true...you can burn to a crisp in a minute!  But it is nice to be able to work on my tan while everyone back home is freezing (bragging rights, sorry not sorry).  The above picture is from a place called Mt. Eden...more on that in my next post!