New Couches!

So Heidi outranked me on a blog! She got hers out so fast it made my head spin! Way to go Heidi!! I don't blame her though, yesterday was an exciting day...if you want some great details on the main event you can click on Heidi's link! I'll just add that I think that our new couches are 'super awesome' and I can't believe how many cushions we have (I'm getting lost in them right now)!! The school (and Dona Ruth) made a great pick! This means that we have a comfortable cushion bed that can be made for any visitors that would like to come down! ;)

Today Kyle, Melodee and I went downtown...and picked up paint swatches. That's right, we're thinking of a living room with colour! Now we just need to figure out a nice colour that goes with brown couches, cream walls and black, grey and white floor tiles. Any suggestions? We are still thinking of getting a car as well. Yes, these are big decisions that have lengthy commitments stamped on them. Because of this, I echo Heidi's request for prayer about what we should do next year. The Lord is great and has been faithful to us this year - I've been enjoying my grade 9 students immensely...they have opened up and are excited about telling me things in class (not always the best time for such things...but...anyways) - it would be hard for me to let them go...yet I see Canada in the background...it's a matter for prayer, the Lord's will be done!

Photo of the day: Our New Couches!

Refer to Heidi's blog! ;)

In Him,
-Amy-

Last 3 Day weekend of the Quarter

On Friday we tried to go to a concert...the key word being 'tried'! Heidi, Kyle and I went downtown with one of our students, got to the concert and had to stand in a crowded line to get tickets because we had been indecisive and not bought them beforehand. No problem right? Well the line just kept getting wider and the only tickets left were for the grass section, and we knew that we'd have to get into another line just to enter the stadium (and by that time the concert might be half over). So we decided to shove through the crowd (literally) and try for an easier entertainment...which happened to be looking for forks in the mall. Small things amuse us! ;) Actually we ended up watching a movie and safely getting back to the apartments before too late.

We are in another three day weekend! We've basically used it to finish grading everything under the sun (at least that's what it feels like to me!). The weather has been rainy, probably effects from the hurricanes that are moving past. In all honesty we haven't been hit hard by any of the hurricanes this season! The weather did make us stay indoors and rest ...well, at least partially...I still got together with the grade 10 students for the play. It's shaping up! We are working on set changes - the students are starting to wear their costumes (which look very posh!). Kara, Betsy, Chris and I will be immensely tired by the time the play goes on - the next two weeks we'll have practices every night...sometimes extended to 5:30pm. Please pray that we will work together, the kids will take it seriously and the Lord would be in control!

Right now we're having a marking party. We're working into the lateness of the night so that tomorrow we can have a 'hammock' day. It's good we're doing this since next week is exam week! Quarter 1 will be over...

Photo of the Day: Nathan and Mr. Matt Kamps at the track meet we went to recently. The students did great, getting a lot of ribbons for our school! ;)

In Him,
-Amy-

A 3 Day Weekend

I guess I should mention that I have successfully survived another Phalanx presentation from my grade 10s...they did not spear each other and enjoyed strategizing on the field. Here's a couple pictures of what my viewpoint was. One group went so far as to salute the Principal!


This weekend was packed full. Katie Wells bought a puppy and brought it to the apartment, she bought it outside of McDonald's...hope that doesn't say anything about their meat sources! :S (j/k!!) Corinia is the cutest little pup! We even got Melodee to hold her. On Saturday Heidi, Melodee and I went to Yvonne's and got our hair cut...I actually had straight hair for a day and a half...that's like a record.

Sunday afternoon we played a pretty competitive game of giant dutch blitz...Brian Swanson was the champion of that game, diving into other players - including his own kids!!

But the main event was when the Canadians banded together and had a sweet Thanksgiving meal together at the Franck's apartment. Ivan and Carol Franck are shown in the picture to the right. What a great fellowship! The food was excellent...the atmosphere was like Christmas - this was due to windy weather, a dark night, and a fireplace with garlands stretched across it! There were even whitish steps outside that looked almost like snow (yah, I know, that's pushing it)! ;) After we were done eating, we all gave a word of thanks, a memory of Thanksgiving or a Bible verse that has touched us. We were mostly taken up with God's constancy and how He would never change even if everything else around us did. What an Awesome God we serve and I am truly blessed to have Him shaping my life!

Photo of the day: Our Canadian Thanksgiving group!


Thankfully In Him,
-Amy-

Spiritual Emphasis Week!

A lot has happened this week. Pastor Tim, Jason and Richard came and spoke to the students each day. I had them come into my classes and speak personally to my grade 10 students. True leadership was the main focus, which is a good topic for these particular students. After a full week of fellowship we had to say goodbye to these three men. (In the picture to the right we have Tim, Richard, Jason and Mr. Laparra). We had a large Bible Study at the Laparra's house to send them off. We ate together, worshipped, watched a silly video of the retreat and then Tim closed his time with a moving message. The students appreciated his coming and we are sad to see all of them leave. There was a lot of students out to say goodbye.

On Saturday I got up early to help the grade 10 students with the play. We decided to hold it in the library because the echo in the gym was making it too hard to hear anything. They were going to practice from 10 to 3 (that's an amazing long time for students to stay focused), Kara is a trooper! The students are doing well and taking this production seriously...I'm impressed. We had a game day at the Priest's house as well, it was fun (as long as the competition didn't get too fierce). We ended off the day with a couple movies...good ones...that don't need 3D glasses to be fun! :P

I'm also impressed with the amount of support I received for my loss. The staff has been so sensitive and has surrounded me with encouragement and prayer. The students have also been there for me. My grade 9 class all got up and gave me a hug when they found out on Friday. Yah...Friday was a rough day. I had to go home halfway through the day and sleep or else I would have had no energy to teach. The Bible Study and Play practice were tough on me, but I'm glad I went. I did find out that my Grandpa contracted pneumonia which weakened him and led to his passing. The funeral will be held on Monday at 1:00pm with my Dad leading the service. This Thanksgiving is a little hard on us, but the Lord is good and we know He's able to see us through.

Photo of the day: The Staff of Pinares with Tim and Jason.

In Him,
-Amy-

My Grandfather

Today my Grandfather passed away at 4:20pm. My parents are heading to Cobalt tomorrow to take care of everything...and I am here. It hit me harder than I expected, even though I knew that this could have happened any day. I guess I was in denial about what my Grandfather's condition actually was. Please pray that my Dad would be able to handle everything well, the funeral may be on Tuesday because of the holidays. This is a hard week...

But, as always, I am ever in Him,
-Amy-

Student Retreat

The Retreat was amazing! I was pretty stressed about it the night before as I had a lot of responsibilities...I was in charge of games with Heidi, plus they wanted me to take care of announcements, organization and logistics (basically a quasi-director). Though there were some shaky times where things didn't seem to be smooth (in my mind anyway) - the students enjoyed it!

Friday we left for Bagope after teaching the first five periods of the day. Now that's a challenge, breaking from being a teacher to a councellor in a matter of minutes! We arrived safe and sound, ready for crazy times! Team rivalry began right away between Kara and Kyle, probably a good thing since their teams followed suite and were pretty psyched. We had a great Praise Time led by Jason (a worship leader from the States). Pastor Tim dove right into his messages "Stand Up! Stand Out!", which made the students geared for what was coming! (His picture to the right). We had team unity points given for making a flag and showing team spirit...some of those flags looked a bit shady...I don't understand why the Blue Team needed to be called "Captain Underpants"...and why the Red Team needed to have "Eat your food Tina - you fat lard" as one of their quotes (off of Napoleon Dynamite). But, it was all for bonding right? The students were able to show off their skills playing 'Samurai Sword', an intense game that requires agility and speed! :) After which we ended the night with Camera Hide and Seek.

All throughout the weekend I had students yelling "We love you! We love Geo!" ...what great students right? I'm sorry to admit that it was all bribery! I was the point master and gave unity points for everything (but not for bribery, HA! I showed them!). Saturday we had a great day. The messages challenged the students to be fierce in their Christianity and not mediocre, take a stand and not give in to pressure. Heidi and I were unable to take our small group time since we had to take care of games preparation - sadness (that was for you Melodee). The games went pretty well, except for a harsh injury to Joseph...we played 'Grinder', a game where four teams have a tug of war using inner tubes...his arm got caught on the rope which wore the skin off completely! Not a pretty picture! He was taken care of by Bethanie (our nurse) while the rest of his team kept on like troopers getting hit with waterballoons. We had a lot of violent games! And for some reason, the kids liked eating mystery foods really fast...we weren't going to have it this time because of all the sick kids last year, but they insisted!

The students enjoyed the water park which we went to in the afternoon. The Lord is good, the weather was exceptional! We were afraid it was going to rain all weekend, but it ended up only sprinkling when we needed to be indoors! The waters at the park were high and not very clean, but great for cooling down and relaxing in! I think it drained us of all energy though. We had a talent show that night where the students sang, acted, and pulled silly stunts. It was great to see their creativity! I think the star of the show was Pastor Tim acting out a car crash scene in different ways. Jason also performed, with a song he wrote about 9/11. It was pretty emotional. After talent night we went outside for a bonfire. We played Chubby Bunny, ate marshmallows and listened to a story from Ivan Franck, which was hilarious - it was about what happened to students in 30 years. Then came a time for sharing and songs. The students opened up about the weekend and how they felt about what they'd been hearing. It was good to see, but hard since we knew they were only beginning to open up and we had to leave the next day...I'm so thankful we still have Spiritual Emphasis week to get through (Pastor Tim will be speaking to the whole school all of this week).

Sunday morning we packed up and went home. I guess I should mention that Kyle's team won, but it was only because they were good cleaners in the end...the Yellow team was pretty much in the lead for the majority of the time! ;) All of us went to the Laparra's place today to debrief and talk about how the retreat can be better. There were some great ideas, most of which had to do with discipleship afterwards, we'll have to work on making them a reality! Heidi and I aren't ready to teach tomorrow, something about exhaustion and lack of sleep! I'm hoping that we can get geared up for it anyways!

Picture of the Day: Dulce, Eimy and Caroline at the waterpark (3 of my grade 10 students).

In Him,
-Amy-