Spring Break, and April Update!

Ok, so last you heard from me, I was in Japan on my way to the Philippines! Well, the Philippines was AMAZING! I have no words to describe how great of a trip I had. We shopped and had fun in Manilla for a couple of days. I met lots of people, and so many thought I was Filipina...which I LOVED!!! Then we spent some days with Joeie's family in Pampanga. They were so nice and very hospitable. We then took a trip with them to the 100 Islands in Pangasinan. WOW was that AMAZING! SOOO BEAUTIFUL! Then they decided to take me to Baquio City, which was just so nice. And we had FRESH STRAWBERRRIES!!! They were so yummy! It had been a while since I had some strawberries due to the fact that a small box of them here in Saipan are about $9.oo. Where as there, we got 1 KG for 75 pesos which is just a little less than $2. They were AMAZINGLY yummy! That day I got sick and had a really high fever for quite some time, but thankfully, I had 2 angels with me that spent the entire night watching over me and making sure I was doing good. There was just SOO much from the trip, that truthfully, I am really just briefly going over it because I'd probably end up writing a book if I wrote about it all! There was so much that I learned from this trip about the Filipino culture that has truly amazed me. I feel like i'm so much more connected to my church family back home, and that is exactly the reason why I really wanted to go to the Philippines! I'm so Thankful that the Lord allowed me to experience this! Here are just some pics from the trip, as I came back with about 700+ pics and cannot load them to my computer because its running out of space lol. Hope you enjoy!

Pre Spring Break

Ok, so tomorrow I will post my blog on my trip to the Philippines. It's taken me quite some time as I have been SUPER busy with school ending =( and lots more! G-d has been blessing me more than I would have ever imagined! I'm definitely his spoiled brat! That is the only way to describe His abundant blessings on my life! So when I came back from the Philippines, I was sick with Strep Throat and was just feeling kinda yucky, but thankfully the Lord gave me the energy and health to continue. Thinking back on April, its sort of felt like a whirlwind that has sped up sooo quickly and its not stopping! I guess as they say, it really is downhill now, which just gives me bittersweet feelings! April's blog will be posted hopefully tomorrow! But lets try and see an overview of Pre-Spring Break:

- We have a new family in town! They are the Staffords and they are AWESOME! Mike is the new Dentist at the clinic. Then theres Andrea, Allen, Andrew and Alyssa. They are such a wonderful family and in the time that i've gotten to know them, i've truly grown to love them quite a lot! The kids are great! Super energetic and just, well, GREAT kids! They were in Africa before coming here, and its just so neat to hear all of their great stories. I'm so glad you're all here!The Staffords (L-R) Allen, Dr. Mike, Shy Andrew, Andrea and Alyssa

The welcoming crew with the Staffords!

- Our class, along with the pre-school, took a fieldtrip to the Saipan Zoo. It was such a great experience! The zoo is very interactive. They let you feed the animals, and even have this cute bear that when you throw a banana to the top of its cage, it climbs up and gets it. It was really a lot of fun to go there and just experience the animals that we had been learning about! My kids truly enjoyed themselves, as did I!

My kiddos at Saipan Zoo. I really liked this sign!

- Before I left to the Philippines, we had our Easter Party. Baskets our here are quite expensive and not very common to see, so I had our kids make their owns baskets! They had a great time making them and even more fun finding their eggs! We had some fun and games that day and they just enjoyed themselves. I had them all dress in eastery colors so that we could take a nice class picture. I had a great time with my kiddos that day!

Our own homemade baskets!

Our Easter Picture! Not the best, but its ok!

I hope you enjoyed the update on my pre spring break. You should expect the Philippines trip as well as the April Blog hopefully tomorrow. I'm not able to upload most of the pictures to my computer yet because there isn't much space left, so I'm having to do it from another computer.

Please keep praying for me. G-d is blessing and guiding. I'm excited to see what He has in store next!

Going to Manilla

I'm right now in Tokyo, about to get on a plane to go to Manila! Tokyo is soooo awesome! Please keep me in your prayers! love u all! I will try and keep you updated as much as i can!

LOVE TO ALL!!!

"Smile G-d Loves You!"

Have you ever....

• Have you ever felt like you were so happy that it was unfair to the rest of the world?
• Have you ever felt like you were so sad that you weren't sure how you'd survive?
• Have you ever felt like you're a piece of a puzzle that fits in so perfectly?
• Have you ever felt like you're a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle?
• Have you ever felt the warm acceptance and love of a stranger?
• Have you ever felt like the people that you've known for months now have a hard time accepting you but accept a new comer?
• Have you ever felt like there was so much love in a room that you weren't sure how long the walls were going to stand up?
• Have you ever felt like there was so much tension in a room, that you wished the walls would cave in?
• Have you ever felt the innocent love of a child?
• Have you ever felt the piercing words of others?
• Have you ever felt: love, joy, happiness, peace, forgiveness, fear, sadness, redemption, excitement, stress, tension, sorrow, loneliness, bliss, aggravation, nervous, frustration, incompetent, outnumbered, incomplete.

Fortunately and Unfortunately, since I've been in Saipan, i have felt all of these and more. As you can see there's been complete opposites but also a lot that have been alike. My emotions and well life have been like a rollercoaster ride. I'm never sure whats coming up next or where the turn is going to take me, whether up or down. I never know if at the end i'm going to feel nauseated or an adrenaline rush. I never know... I haven't had much consistency, if any since i've been here, except for one thing. The only thing in my life that has been constant, is G-d and His love for me. I've had my great days where the children are learning, everyone's getting along, and the sky is BLUE! But i've also had my horrible days where the kids don't want to learn, they're crying about everything, people are doing (what seems like) everything in their power to hurt me or make me feel bad. But, even in both scenarios, i can still see my wonderful G-d. Amazingly enough, it seems like i see His blessings more on yucky days than on great days. I think its because on those yucky days, i need those blessings to survive. This week has been a crazy and emotional week for me and Friday just seemed to be the crown of it all. I found myself, just in the first 2 hours of school, in a closed bathroom, crying my eyes out. But i couldn't stay in there, i had my kids to look after. I walked out and well it seemed like the entire day kept getting worse. However, as i look back, i can't remember when i've gotten that many "I Love You Teacher" and hugs in one day. So although unfortunatey i've got all these weird emotions, I thank G-d for my not so good days, because they allow me to see His blessings easier. I ask for your prayers as i'm going through these things. These last few months are the most emotional ones i'm sure. Bittersweet feelings all around, but i know now to focus on my one constant thing: My G-d!

(Here are some pics of the past two months.)

Where's Vero?

So what have i been up to since my last post in January? Well lots, hence my lack of posting lol. I'm very sorry about it, but i will be posting a couple of blogs in the upcoming days about my highlights of the month. I am doing well. My kids are doing great, and best of all, they are ALL READING! i'm so happy that they are. Yesterday, my last little boy that wasn't reading, read an entire story for the first time. This is the same little boy that walked into my class barely knowing how to hold a pencil, let alone write his name! Its amazing how fast time passes, but even more amazing how great G-d is in giving me the abilities to actually teach this child. He's come a long ways, and i can't help but thank G-d for that wonderful miracle. I know that it was only through Him that i was able to help my student reach this far. I leave you with a picture of our fieldtrip to the Saipan Botanical Gardens. I hope to blog more in these upcoming months! Thanks for staying in touch

My roomies...my friends!

They say that when you live with someone, you get to know ALL of them. The good, the bad, the ugly...well...for the past four months, i've lived with 3 wonderful ladies. There has been bad times, there have been ugly times, but most importantly, there have been good times. Like most relationships, we have been through some rough patches, and i'm sure that there will be more to come. But even through those moments, I knew that the girls i was living with, were girls with values and a love for G-d. So now we've been living together for about 5 months and we're a little past the halfway point, and i think i can honestly say, that i'm quite happy being here with them. They are all unique in their own ways. So here's a blog dedicated to the 3 wonderful ladies that i live with:

Mai - She's our veteran. She was here since last year and sort of has a history with the Island. She loves teaching and...she's.... CANADIAN! (and very proud of it!) My favorite thing about Mai is when she laughs from the inside or at herself. She just looks like a little girl again, and i can't help but smile or join in the laughter.

Jessica - She's the one i've known the longest since we met in Hawaii. She's really cool and is just so random at lots of things. She can always say something silly or well random to make you laugh. She's from Loma Linda and despite contrary belief (or what she may say lol) she really does love her ESL students...and they love her just the same! My favorite thing about Jess, is when she says something random, especially if its during a patch of silence.

Judith - She's the baby of the group (took my place lol) but she definately doesn't act it. She runs those high schoolers like a little army. She's loved by her students very much and is doing a great job. She's from Boise, Idaho and attending Walla Walla College. My favorite thing about Judith is how passionate she can get about something.

There you have it, the girls i live with! Like most families, we have had our ups and downs, but in the end, they each have a special part in my heart and always will. I thank G-d for them daily and know that we were each hand picked to be here and live together for some reason that only the good Lord knows. I ask you to pray for us, in our daily lives, and for our little home! Its not easy, but always possible when the Lord is guiding.

L-R: Me, Judtih, Mai, & Jessica eating banana pancakes

Love you girls!

Saipan Holidays

My December started out pretty good. As soon as it rolled around, the festivities began. On the first day of December, we had our talent show and celebrated Eva's birthday.

Eva has been one of my closest friends here on island. I'm truly glad to have her in my life and thank the Lord daily for her. I call her my Island Angel because she has helped me through some of the tough times. So Happy Birthday to you. Te Quiero Amiga!

Eva and Me

After that, my first order of business was to decorate my room and make it more "Christmasy". Thanks to my elfs in Miami (aunts), my room was able to have the Christmas spirit. It truly allowed me to feel the spirit a little more.My Christmas Corner

Our School this year was involved in a competition with all the schools in the area where we had to make Christmas ornaments out of recycled items. It was lots of fun to do, but also a lot of work. Since Eva and I have the young ones, we spent a couple of sleepless nights working on it, but it was quite worth it. Our "Recycled" Christmas Tree

About mid December, we had our staff Christmas party. Instead of giving each other gifts, we bought presents for the children at the hospital. Then we went (with a couple of students) and sang Christmas carols. It was a GREAT way to spread the holiday cheer!

Our Staff and some students at the hospital

After the staff party, all our efforts went into the school Christmas program. This year we had a Mission Impossible theme. It was truly a GREAT play and the students did an AMAZING job! My kiddos were the sheep and also were little spies as part of the K-4 choir. We spent probably the entire week practicing with a dress rehearsal the morning of the program. The students (and teachers lol) worked really hard and the turnout was an amazing performance with a really great message behind it.

My sheep waiting patiently at the dress rehearsal

My personal spies!

Our staff....at the half-way point!

The next day was the last day of school. We had our class Christmas party. It was a REALLY crazy day, because our pizza order could not be made so I had to go out and buy some frozen pizza's and returned at around 11:00 and school was being dismissed at 12:30. Eva and I combined our parties and although it was a crazy day, it all worked out really great!

My kiddos with their antlers

Our class in front of our Christmas tree just before they ripped through their presents

Just as they started ripping through their presents.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I do have the most AMAZING parents in my class. Thanks to one of them, I was able to have all these great pictures with my kids! Thank you Lord for my parents!

The following sunday (day before Christmas Eve) I spent the entire day baking cookies and wrapping presents for the kids of the island. As I had mentioned before the Lord allowed me to collect gifts for the children here who otherwise may not have had a Christmas. It was a lot of fun both preparing and actually handing them out. I baked about 20 dozen cookies and wrapped about 30 something gifts. I truly felt like an elf! lol Then on Christmas Eve day, we went out and distributed the gifts and cookies. That night we went to the Paez's house and had some yummy food and games.

Christmas cookies for all

Some of the kids with their gifts.

(The cards are specially made by Kindergarteners in GA. Thanx Allison!)

Tali Paez with her sparkler (cool pic huh?)

Christmas day started to feel a little hard since I was alone for the beginning of it. Then the Lord gave me an AMAZING gift. I was able to spend about 3 hours on the webcam with my family back home while they were having their Christmas Eve dinner. It was a true blessing. Later that evening, I went to the church for our Annual Christmas Party. I was in charge of games for the little ones and we played 2 games one of which was called a Rudolph Relay Race. Later we had a gift exchange among the adults where we played the game "White Elephant". It was fun to see the adults become kids again while they "stole" each other's gifts.

Our church kiddos with their red noses!

During this time, our school hosts a winter school where students from Korea come down to learn english for about 2 months. I decided to start tutoring them during their time here. I have 3 boys in my current group right now and they are a blast to be around. I really enjoy spending time with them and helping them learn english.My three boys after our last class

Finally, as we all tend to culminate our holiday season, we come to the end of the year. This year I spent New Year's Eve with the Maycocks and Riki's parents. First, we went to The Garlic Restaurant. It was really yummy food and we all shared plates so we could try everything. Later, we went to the Mandi Spa and just relaxed around lazily talking and getting to know each other better. It was awesome to be there at night and was just a great time. Finally, we welcomed the new year at the top of Mt Topochau. After a very fun and rough ride to the top, we met up with Virle, Joeie, Girle, and Antonee. From this point, we could see the entire island. It was really cool because we could also see all the firework shows being displayed throughout Saipan. At around 11:50 p.m. Sean brought out some glasses and bubbly cider and we welcomed 2008!

Happy New Year to all!

So as look back at this year, I thank the Lord for His many blessings that He's poured down on me this year. Whether I've counted them blessings at the time or not, I know that everything has worked perfectly for His will. As I sit here in my living room floor on my little island in the Pacific, I pray that the Lord pour down His many blessings on you and your family this upcoming year. Whether you're a close friend or just an acquaintance, I thank the Lord for you because in someway, you impacted my life this year. Thank you for your prayers and support. I love you all and many blessings in 2008!