i'm back

Due to irreconcilable frustrations, Wordpress just didn't work out. I'm back to blogger and having fun with some template changes. Change. Yes, I'm getting back into the groove of change and I think it's consuming me.

I'm doing well. My life is spread so thin right now and it's beginning to wear on me. It's like when your favorite pair of jeans starts to wear down and you know that the crotch seam is going to tear at any moment. Yup, that's kinda what it feels like only I'm truly hoping none of my seams come undone.

It's hard to fit everything in. I have to prioritize my time and it never feels fair. I want to spend all my time with the people I love, but instead I'm waiting on tables, taking care of office duties, and sneaking in naps whenever I have a second to escape. There's never enough time.

Wednesday night I went for a walk with my friend Jen. Although I was tired, I was so glad for the company and the walk was a true escape from everything. Good friendships are great for that aren't they? They are the cream inside the Bavarian donut! Good friends are like the salt on the rim of the margarita glass... how? Well, you can figure that out for yourself.

Tonight is another such escaping night. I have the privilege of watching my friend Jon Troast play his music again. A night of acoustics, coffee, friends...one more night spent doing the things I love the most.

That's all for now. Thanks for putting up with my blogging temper tantrum. Love you all!
www.aprilchristeen.blogspot.com

i'm moving so much my life feels like a dance!

I've moved! (electronically)

Here's my new address: www.aprilchristeen.wordpress.com

Please make note of the change or else you'll miss out on all the fabulous things happening in my life!

Thanks!

friends 4-ever!

Spent the day with a good friend.

Stories, laughter, honesty, friendship...although our visits are seldom and never long enough, they are good ones, rich ones, just plain perfect.

Thank you for spending time with me Bobbie, you are wonderful!

here i go again

This photo was taken while I was traveling up the Lynn Canal in southeast Alaska. It was at the beginning of my trip, although I had been delayed for 3 days already. I had slept the night before on the floor of Juneau Airport next to a large taxidermified grizzly bear and an older man who looked like he lived in the woods. Good times!

But I'm not going to tell you stories about Alaska. You can read last August's blog entries for that. I posted this picture because it was a very significant moment for me. I was embarking on an adventure and in hindsight it was one of my best adventures yet!

And now I have to tell you that I'm preparing to leave again, this time to a land far far away. This time I'll be teaching little kiddos how to speak in English in the bustling world of South Korea.

It's another new chapter for me. Another chapter in this really great novel I've been living. 3 months from now my culture will be colliding with different customs, strange mindsets, curious food, and my soul will be beaming with excitement! I am nervous, I am slightly intimidated, and at the moment I am frantically overwhelmed--but I'm working on that.

For the time being, I'm processing papers, getting documents notarized, choosing a contract, putting all of my belongings into storage, moving home, finishing the final weeks of both jobs, and spending any leftover time with good friends. There are many bittersweet moments realizing how much I will miss but the future beckons me with new hopes and new challenges and I cannot resit.

So I look again at that picture, my face to the wind, awaiting a clever adventure that unfolded with grace and mystery. And here I am again, and oh it feels so good!

life

There are so many things happening in my life right now. I am overwhelmed. I have heartburn and I know it's related to stress. And my stomach has been sensitive too. Everything is in order, it's just moving so quickly and it's constant. I'm holding my breath, and just one hiccup could throw everything into disarray.
Pray for me. Please.

For those of you who are uninformed, stay tuned for updates. I'll explain everything later.

Love to you all.

never failing to amuse me...thanks michelle

And my favorite-

Kids. They make me laugh.

I've been working at Chili's for the past couple of months. It's a fun job, especially when I am able to interact with kids.

Last week I had a table with 3 little boys. After their dinner, the oldest boy (6 years old) got my attention.

He said, "Excuse me!! Excuse me!!!"
(I turned around)
"I think I know you", he said.
"Really?"
"Yes, I think I've seen you before...at my school. Aren't you the lady that cleans the bathroom?"

Last night I had a table with a little girl, she was 5 years old and very proud to tell me so. She ordered Mac and Cheese for dinner.

I crouched down next to her and I said "Can I tell you a secret?"
She said "What?"
I said "Mac and Cheese is my favorite thing to eat!"
She became very excited and said in a loud voice "ME TOO!!!"
Then she said "Macaroni and Cheese is my favorite, and you know what? You're my favorite too!!!!"

One more...

I served a family with a little boy who was 6 years old. He was playing with this cool cowboy action figure.

I said "That's a pretty cool cowboy you have!"

He showed it to me with pride.
I said "Are you going to be a cowboy when you grow up?"
He said, "No, when I grow up I want to be like you!"

down down down way beneath the weather

Man down!

I'm sick.

Yucky sick, thick, heavy, sluggish. Everything seems to take so much energy. Even thinking takes effort. I'm exhausted just by the thought of any given task.

This bug is a mean one.

I've been in and out of work all week. Hopefully I am climbing upwards into fresh breathing and invigoration. Let's hope!

I got two new seasons of Friends in the mail this week. I started on season 5 last night but I didn't even make it through the first episode. Sleep....sleep overcame me.

I slept from 5:00-9:00 on the couch. My new llama slippers,
my big squishy pillow,
a big heavy down blanket...
what more could I ask for?

I had some weird dreams. I was humiliated by a very mean professor who kicked me out of her speech class. And I located a friend who had ran away from home.

But today, today I'm feeling better. My voice is crackling it's way back to it's norm and I'm considering my power-flex weightlifting class tonight. We'll see, it's still too early to tell.

Love you all!

update

Dad found a window at the junkyard for $40. He fixed it last night for me. My dad rocks.

they took my stuff

Someone broke into my car tonight. I hate that feeling of my space being violated. It's a feeling that makes your heart beat faster and you suddenly feel walls of mistrust guarding all sides of you. I hate it.

They didn't steal much, there wasn't much to steal. They stole my iPod. I rarely leave that in my car but I was in a rush and forgot it in my bag. I'm really bummed about that. I also feel very irresponsible since it was a gift, and a very pricey gift at that. Also in my bag were my work clothes...my favorite black dress pants! Honestly I don't know what all was in my bag. I fear that I've lost important papers or anything with insight into my life/finances. I working on trying to recall everything.

I stopped at Walgreens on my way home. It was past midnight and I don't think I was in the safest neighborhood. But I wanted to buy a clear shower curtain and some duct tape.

While I was standing by the duct tape this big, beefy and kinda dirty black guy came up to me and said "Hey, you gonna buy that duct tape?"

I said "ya".

He asked, "Are you going to use all of it?"

Well, in my generosity I told him "Hey, if you help me tape up my window, I'll share my duct tape with you."

He was thrilled, bling, grill and all!

So there we were taping up my window and he was actually a big help, kind of annoying...a little sketchy...but a big help. And then I gave him some duct tape and while he was watching me tape the rest of the window he said "Damn baby, you're smart! What are you, a teacher?"

I said, "No, I'm just really smart!"

So he said "Oh".

And then he said "Hey, do you know where I can buy some good weed?"

I said "Umm...nope. I'm too smart for weed."

And as he walked away he said "Okay baby girl...you stay safe..."

Sometimes I wonder what God thinks about people like that man. I mean seriously, if we are all made in God's image, what's to say about that man? What part of God's image does he bear? I can see it now. I can just see Jesus Christ with a big grill and some bling hanging 'round his neck, his pants half way down to his knees, his cigarette sitting there stuck the side of his lip, a pimp walk...there's Jesus saying "I got you a crib up there at yo big daddy's crib in the sky..." Ha ha, I don't know, I just find people like him so incredibly ridiculous.

I'll be honest, I didn't feel very safe when I was at the Walgreens. I don't like that feeling. I am usually pretty brave and confident but in times like tonight, times when I already feel vulnerable or violated, I just hate the fact that I'm a woman, alone in a big city. I guess that's just life, that just my life.

P.S. I'm taking donations if anyone wants to help me buy a new iPod!