Friday, December 18, 2009

budapest

i'm in my favorite city in the whole world..

...hanging out with one of my favorite people...

....drinking my favorite beverage...

ahhh

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Books and other things


cold, wet rainy days makes me want to stay inside and read..


Here is a great book I'm reading.. it's about how we have forgotten about the Holy Spirit. Not over the top, not undermining, just right. Thought provoking.
Looking forward to a calm weekend in Lynchburg.
Doing some projects.. card making, knitting and yo-yo sewing.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Getting back into Photography

I was able to photograph a beautiful couple who is newly engaged. There is nothing like a beautiful fall afternoon, a beautiful couple and an amazin photographer ;) hehe I kid. Anyways, I did these in Downtown Lynchburg and had a blast. Here is just a sampling of the hundred's of pictures I took!





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Friday, October 23, 2009

verses/running

I know, I know..I kind of just blog about running.. well... its not all the way true.

Yesterday, Christina and I went running (by the way we killed our last time.. of 4 miles in 42min..we did it in 38min) and while we were running she asked me what was some of my favorite scripture..

.. sadly, I wasn't sure how to respond.. sure I have a few favorite verses and a psalm or two.

Does this mean that I'm not in the word enough? Do I not practice meditation enough? ..

something I'm pondering..

off to DC for the weekend to visit the lil sister!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Williamsburg
















Being a VA resident, it is an atrocity that I had never been to Williamsburg. Finlay, on the University's dime, I was able to experience Colonial days. We took 8 students and enjoyed a relaxed day in different parts of the town. I think the best part was the amazing food we had at the King's Tavern.. corn chowder soup and Fried Chicken (can't ever take the southern out of me) and amazing rolls.
I enjoyed the town and learned a lot. My favorite story was about the Randolph's. Mrs. Randolph had ordered china from China and while at sea the boat (carrying the china) capsized and sunk...well recently in the last few decades, divers found the boat, recovered the china and they restored it. So what I saw sitting on the table had been at sea for more than 200 years. Pretty neat huh!

nature and running




As we all know, I've really taken to running. After a long day at work I look forward to putting on my shoes and hittin the trail. I've done my share of treadmill days and recently I've taken it outside..well since August.




Today, I ran a trail which follows a creek all through the city of Lynchburg. I was able to enjoy the beautiful creek and look at leaves falling and really enjoy being outside. Especially since soon winter will be here and I'm going to be running in the cold ;) Maybe not so enjoyable.
Anyways, the trail which I run is about 20 miles? long and I only run about 4 miles round trip. I love running farther and checking out unknown paths.. today I ran across.. well .. I walked across a swinging bridge..kinda scary ;) and passed some beautiful bamboo sections of the woods. I love this time to myself and try to keep it sacred every day!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

U2 and Dad


I think I have the coolest dad ever. We went to see U2 and Muse play at Scott Stadium in Cville. It was an amazing show. The whole set was spectacular and I danced and sang the whole time.. right beside my dad who did the same thing ;) That is why he's so cool.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fall is here

Fall is here.. this is just one reason i love it...

..... sweat capri's + nort face fleece..night run to Starbucks with my fav intern.. .. pumpkin spice soy decaf latte...

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Apple Orchard











We dragged our students to the Apple Orchard... a rainy Friday did not look promising but they were awesome and we had so much fun!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

ELI Picnic



We had a welcome banquet for our students. It was a great way to begin the year. My students are already complaining about the monotony of the food in the dining hall.. so I think when they saw the goodness of the kebabs, veggies, shrimp, rice and fruit salad they were excited.

We played soccer with a beach volleyball..girls vs. boys...girls lost but it didn't matter ;) We played some cornhole.

It was a great way to get to know my students outside of class.

I am culture shocking a little bit.. only because Asian students are really diligent and it is such a contrast to my Hungarian teenagers ;)...but maybe that is just because they are teenagers.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

better to give than recieve

I sent a package to my friends in Budapest.. this package was loaded..it does help that I used to live in Bp so I know what you can get and what you can't.

I got an email from my friend telling me how excited the kids were and how great all the snacks were. I just wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they were opening it!! She said that she heard "I love Joanna" come from her kids mouths a million times!

I love giving and I know its one of my love languages. I had the biggest smile on my face all afternoon after I received that awesome email that they had gotten their gifts!! ;)

I know many of you are overseas.. but if you aren't.. sending a card or a package really brightens the day of those serving!! Nothing like opening your mail box and seeing a letter inside!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Challenge




On Saturday morning..bright and early (5:30am) I woke up and got ready to run the Charlottesville Women's 4-miler! Sami had driven down from PA to join me in this race. We signed up in June and have been training since. I wasn't so rigorous in my training and 2 weeks before the race I got sick and was out for a week. Nonetheless the race was still on and we donned in our pink Nike fit tanks drove onto Foxfield's property to join the other 3600 women to run or walk the 4-miler.

It was amazing to be apart of such a fun and powerful event. I was surrounded by women who were survivors of breast cancer, who knew loved ones who survived and many who died. We were all there for a cause and it was fun to be apart of it.

Sami and I lined up with the 11 minute miler folks and we all lined up.. then we were off. It was crazy to run with such a massive amount of people. It was hard especially because of the hills but we pressed on and finished faster than we'd (at least I) had hoped.

It was great to see so many people cheering me on, being my hometown, I'd hear my name shouted and it gave me motivation.

Thanks to all of you who sponsored me and who cheered me on from near and far!! ;)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The New Job

I love my new job. I love working with internationals and university students who have a passion for ESL. There is nothing like being surrounded by people who share the same passion as you do.. English as a Second Language and Linguistics.

I've met my three interns. They are awesome. I am going to be their guide (kinda scary) in ESL. I'm hoping to give them a practical approach of ESL and how to become a good teacher and administrator.

There are many parts to my job. One part is that I am in the intern coordinator, a second is that I'm the Study Abroad Coordinator for LU. A third is that I am the Community Projects coordinator for our outreach English Adult Program and a fourth.. I find host families for our students.. then to top it all off... I teach two language labs and one vocabulary class. Whew! ;)

We have met our students and I LOVE being in front of the classroom again. Currently we are just doing orientation and assessments but these students are fresh, new and unsure of what to expect. We are trying to motivate them to learn English and take the time to do it!

Yesterday, I was able to get to know some of the students then pray over them. I prayed over two Chinese students and one Japanese students. I prayed for them by name and asked for specific things to pray about. They told me and I prayed. One of the girls started to cry after I was finished praying .. I asked if she was okay and she said that she was.. just that she was in shock over how kind, nice and loving everyone at Liberty was. ;)

I know my ministry.. I know my job.. I just need to practice the presence of God.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Matt's Departure


Last Weekend, I said good-bye to a great friend, Matt. He has moved to Budapest to replace me ...I mean replace me.. he lives in the old apartment, maybe he'll hang with some of my friends, go to the church I went to.. teach at my old school.. and you never know.. he might even sit on the same Hev seat I sat in ;)

Please pray for him as he is adjusting to new everything. I'm super excited for him and know that he is going to do great! Those of you in Europe you should hang with my friend!!!

Here's a pic of us right before I drove him to the airport!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Tubing




As an office, we took the day to relax and go tubing down the James. We were out in the sun from 11-430. It was so fun getting to know one another at a personal level. Here are some pics of my colleagues!!



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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

...purpose

It's almost the end of a 12 hour work day. That is so American.. to work all day. ;) I'm about to teach a class that is apart of our Community Groups here at the ELI. I'm looking forward to teaching since it has been a few months.

It hit me yesterday, as I said good-bye to Leslie that I'm really not going back to Hungary. Well for this year. As I was sitting in our ELI faculty orientation this morning, we sang songs, prayed and dedicated our year. It was significant to me because I was able to rest and see purpose again for being here in the states. As I've been diligently working on projects and documents to prepare my students for the upcoming year..I've started to get really excited about everything. I'm excited to meet my new students, to interact with my interns and find community here in Lynchburg.

I have really enjoyed getting to know my colleagues and have a wonderful office mate, Emily. I am really seeing how an English Language Program works in the states and that is exciting. I am also able to develop professionally because I am going to attend some TESOL conferences...oh yeah and amidst all this.. Grad school ;) I'm gaining purpose .. professionally. The pieces of the puzzle of why I'm here are definitely coming together. It excites me.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

New Stuff

Here's my new car ;) Thanks mom and dad for the trade in of their old car so I could afford my pretty Toyota Yaris its a 2009. 5-speed because I'm 1/2 European. Any ideas for a name?

This is my townhouse!

The living room

The kitchen
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