Blown away

Really though. We almost Got blown away. We went all the way to the top on the elevator. Then we went to the second level and when we decided to go down we took the stairs. Well that was a bad idea. Going up in the elevator freaked me out because I am terrified of heights and going down the stairs was worse. When we gotto the first level, which mind you is still very high up, dad had to buy me a glass of wine before I would go the rest of the way down. Note to my momma: I drank merlot and liked it! Now you don't have to buy me sweet wine all the time! While we were sitting and drinking our wine a storm started coming in and it was sooooo windy. I really would have hated being at the top at that point. We went down and as we were leaving the lights turned on and then they started flashing like a light show! It was neat!

Ok so here's a quick run down of the trip so far.
Madrid was great and we went on a great tour and dad got to meet my Spanish family. Success! Until the ATM ate my debit card.

Then we got on the train to go to Paris which was just long and not comfortable. Didn't sleep well but were in Paris now!

We saw noted dame which was exquisite and both of our favorites. We went to Versailles but did not go in to see everything. Then today we went to the louvre and are leaving at 5 for bayeux. Tomorrow is our tour of the d day beaches and we are both stoked for that!

Here's a bit more...

This blog has really just turned into my journal. It's been good to reflect on things and write them and if you like to read them that's cool!

I'm really excitd that it's July tomorrow. I will be home before July is over so that is exciting! More importantly, I get to travel with my dad soon which I have obviously been looking forward to!

Today I got barfed on. I'm a little irritable and tired. But I'm trying this new thing where I see the positive instead of the negative, so here goes. I am thankful for this experience. It has taught me so much, like patience, Spanish, how to make paella, and that when you sing nursery rhymes all day you also lose your voice.

When you are in a new situation you adapt. I've adapted to doing life without really having my family or friends be a part of it. I'm having fun and it's a great experience but I don't like it overall. It is awesome to meet new people and experience other cultures and learn other languages and travel, but it's worth a lot more if you are sharing it with the people you are closest to. God has been a part of every day here and that is enough. But I also want the other people in my life to experience with me too. This just says a lot about what awesome family and friends I have :)

There was one day while I was here that I had a momentary lapse of reason, or rather one of faith. As I have had way too much time to think, one day while we were driving it suddenly occurred to me that I am scared of death. Not just me dying, but more so those I love. God made a good save though when he reminded me that this life isn't ours. Living these past six weeks away from everyone has taught me that I am capable of a lot when I trust God to handle it. It has made me realize that as awful as it sounds that I can live without the things and even people that I think I need. God is the only necessity. We all die at some point! I love dustin, but I could live without him because he is not my soul mate; Jesus is. And I know Dustin feels the same way. He doesn't need me, but he loves me anyway. I think that's how God loves us. He doesn't need us, and we are really awful most of the time; but he loves us anyway. God is just a lot better at loving unconditionally than we are.

I have learned a lot that I will use in teaching and eventually parenting. I have also learned that I need to make the most of every day I get to wake up to. I think life is mostly just about realizing how lucky we are and being thankful for what we've been blessed with even though sometimes that can be the hardest thing to do. So I'm going to try to be better at that.

Just a sneak peek...

Of what God has been teaching me. But I'm tired so I'll just throw out a few things and explain more later.

God can surprise you!

He is always faithful

I am capable of more than I think when I've got my priorities straight

Seeing the negative in life is a whole lot easier than seeing the positive in most situations

But God can give you perfect peace if you let him.

I like tomatoes and cucumbers!

I have a lot to work on next year, I need to keep developing my patience and work on showing love through all of my actions, not just when I feel like it

I need to sleep more.

Going with the flow

Well this was quite the weekend.Saturday Bethany came and we hung out in Madrid and ate mcdonalds and went to a museum with some strange exhibits. Then we hung out with my family and celebrated the four year Olds birthday! We woke up Sunday and found a message from a guy we knew that lives in fisher saying he wanted to meet up with us in Madrid. The problem was that he did not have constant internet connection and once we leave the flat neither do I. So long story short Bethany and I took quite a few hours to finally find him, then he didn't have a place tO stay so we stayed in a hostel. We got to finally show him around Madrid some but then the ATM ate bethany's debit card. What I'm getting at is that we just really don't have control over some things in life and it's best to just go with it otherwise well spend our entire lives stressed out about things we can't change. And that seems like a waste. This weekend was kind of flown by the seat of our Pants but it was an adventure. And I found a great tapas bar to take my dad to when he gets here in 6 DAYS! I'm so excited! Knowing this is my last week with the kids though means I will really try to enjoy and appreciate the last few days I have with them.

I must say, really reiterate, that it has been and continues to be such a blessing that ive been able to travel so much and see all of the things I have, but everytime I leave God teaches me to appreciate coming home more and more. I am blessed no matter where I'm at because God is everywhere I go.

P.s. We should take more time to eat and share food and enjoy it. Because it's delicious and fun! And it's a great time to spend with people that you like a lot :)

Oh my!

I've found that as much as I repeat certain things I would love for the kids to learn that they really just pick and choose. I've sung countless nursery rhymes in the past five weeks but what the twins say most is "oh my!" I do say this often, but it is not something I have directly nor intentionally taught them.

This can go both ways. I know it's super premature to be thinking about parenting, but I can't helP but observe and make mental notes while having the experience ofliving with another family. So what I kePt thnking today was how many hints parents teach their children unintentionally. This goes many ways: you can unintentionally teach a child how o be deceitful, but you can also unintentionally teach them what love looks like. Or how to say "oh my!"

I guess what I'm getting at is that I think that's a big part of life. The way I live will unintentionally affect many people around me and that means I want it to be in a good Way.

If you can't tell, I have a lot of time to mull over my thoughts. I'm getting restless and am ready to travel with my dad. But God gives us perfect peace if we let him so that's what I'm going to shoot for.

Casting call

I don't know if I've written about this before or not, but here goes: the kids go try out to be in commercials and ads. I didn't know that kids did this, but it makes sense when I think about all the kids there are in commercials in tv: of course they have to try out. So today we went to a casting call. Mostly these are crowded and take forever and are stressful bcause you have to keep the kids occupied while making sure they don't run out into the streets of Madrid. Today was no different. But at least we got out of the house!

Here are my thoughts on casting calls though. The applicants have to meet a certain criteria before they can even try out. Then only a select few are chosen for the commercial or job. Now stick with me here. And correct me if I'm wrong (yes, you can actually leave commments!) but isn't this concept of a casting call eerily similar to the way we look at "religion"? Every religion in the world thinks that they are right. And every religion has a set of criteria that one has to meet before entering into this "religious" state of mind. As Christians, we say you must realize you are a sinner. After this realization we are allowed to try out, to ask God to forgive us and to try to live our lives by Jesus' example and ultimately be picked for the part to spend eternity with God. It's a casting call.

I honestly don't really have anything else to say about that other than to question; have we boxed up God to such an extent that our faith has become like a casting call?

I have a feeling that God is much bigger than that.

Just a sidenote: I passed by an apartment today on the way to the casting call that Picasso lived in for a couple of years. It was rad!

Stepping on toes...

Literally though. Manuel has been deliberately stepping on my feet multiple times a day lately. And hitting is a problem as well. But today he got in trouble because I talked to his mom about it when she saw him step on my foot today. So why did I not do more about it earlier? Considering this is my fifth week here and all. Well what I've found is that it's awkward and hard to know what to do in situations such as mine when you are living with a family. And being paid to teach their children.

Today I was so fed up with his behavior ( becaus he does not listen to what I say) that I just started ignoring him. It's his birthday Friday and I didn't want him to get in trouble and get his party taken away or anything. But then his mom saw him and he got n trouble. Hopefully this will mean things will be better, and that my toes will be spared.

I have been learning so much patience and many positive reinforcement tactics! I thought that coming here, Gid would mostly us this experience to help prepare me to sPeak Spanish better, but I'm finding that He's actually aimed it more towards classroom management and parenting! These will be just as applicable as s