Christmas everywhere

Friday marked the 9th annual Variety Show for HIS- what a fun night! I am always so impressed with how Korean kids just embrace the stage. Our kids are talented; they sing, dance, act, speak Chinese and really know how to entertain! Adam was part of the show this year- he and 3 other male teachers wrote and performed a rap/hip hop song about their jobs at school. Adam was soooooo great on stage- thugged out in baggy sweats, wearing a baseball cap with a hoodie and hitting every beat!
I was a proud wife in that moment :)
One of my 7th graders and I emceed the opening and closing of the show; a fun opportunity to try something new and wear and dress up for the stage :)
Twinkle lights are starting line the streets downtown and it even SNOWED on my way to Seoul on Saturday- it's been 2 years since I've seen snow!
Saturday, some girls and I, headed to Seoul for Mexican food, Coffee Bean and shopping. Seoul is seriously one of the COOLEST places I have ever been shopping. Myeongdong is lined with leggings, hats and jewelry, back to back people and Dongdaemun's mega stores with 7-10 levels of fashion is open until 5 AM. What a rush!

Happy Christmas season everyone!!
Embrace the moment, wherever you are.

variety show

snow!!!

Gingersofties and Momma's Eggnog

We decided, last minute, to host a small gathering for Thanksgiving with our small group and close friends. We couldn't pass up amazing Thanksgiving food :) My make-shift double broiler for chocolate crinkle cookies.

Crock pot stuffing

happily preparing

Brodee dishing up some YUMMY FOOD!

Jeremy making a gingersoftie (his coined phrase) and pumpkin dip sandwich

Favorite of the night:

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/mamas-eggnog-recipe/index.html

This guy ROCKS!!

apples, oranges and cinnamon

It's a great time of year for baking..and eating..and gatherings with friends. A few weeks back, we invited our small group over for drinks and dessert and I tried a new apple cider recipe in my crock pot (which I have found  to be my current FAVORITE way to cook!!). I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

8 C. apple juice
1/4 C. sugar- or less if you don't like it very sweet
1 orange quartered- I kept the peel on hoping for richer flavor
1/2 lemon- with peel
2 cinnamon sticks- or 2 tsp. of ground cinnamon since I haven't found the "stick" in Pohang
15 whole cloves
1 inch of fresh ginger cut in slices- or ground, since again, we do what we can in Korea :)

Place everything in the crock pot for 2 hours and it's ready!!
(http://www.recipezaar.com/Crock-Pot-Spiced-Apple-Cider-273091)

the gospel reminds us that we are beautiful and wretched (The Irresistible Revolution)

As a perfectionist, I'm always striving for everything to be just right! I want to have a clean house, have the healthiest dinners at home and yummiest desserts at social gatherings. I want to wear comfortable and matching outfits, stay in constant contacts with close friends, get enough sleep, be the best teacher I can be, spend quality time with each individual student that needs me, have a serving heart, a listening ear, get along easily with all kinds of people, appropriately control my emotions, always contribute the right comments and never be tired! I want to be liked. I want to be a significant piece of the plan. I want to take advantage of every opportunity for getting to know people and having fun.Weariness is my biggest enemy!!
However, these piles of expectations not only bind me but make me feel defeated when I can't "accomplish" all that life and God bring my way.
Last night I laid in bed with a mind bursting of thoughts and worries about my work today. It's Saturday and I have to work, but not until 2 PM. For some reason, maybe because it's the first time I've done this particular job, I am just so stressed about it because I want it to go perfectly smoothly. Finally, at about 12:30 AM, I realized the reality of myself in living out this life....I can do nothing..of any value....unless it's coming from God.
So, I surrendered my fears and surrendered the work and asked that it would be exactly as God wanted it to be. I prayed that He would use me in His plan and give me everything it takes to accomplish what outcome He wants.
Recently, a friend shared with me that one of the ways she feels most encouraged by God when reading her Bible is the journal all of the affirmations that He gives her through the Scripture. I would never think of that. I would only think to make a list of all the things I should be doing....and yet I never seem to remember those things. How much more actively loved would we feel if we knew daily how God feels about us!

Thank you God for the freedom that I have to lean and rely on You and not myself. Thank you that you've called me to love You, desire You and to make myself available to You, knowing that only You can make me good; only You can make my life significant.

"So I'm thankful that I'm in capable 
Of doing any good on my own....
'Cause by grace I have been saved
Through faith that's not my own
It is a gift of God and not by works
Lest anyone should boast..."
-Thankful, Caedmon's Call

11/11

Pepero Day: Students buy each other boxes of pepero chocolate sticks and give them to their friends and teachers. This was my pile before 10 AM!! I'm pretty sure I ate about 3 boxes yesterday...

So Bek San

This week, we took our entire school of 170+ students, plus teachers, on a 3-day camping excursion to So Bek San, a mountain north of Pohang. It was a great getaway from teaching, studying, preparing, planning, meetings, grading and classroom managing!! Anytime we do any kind of extracurricular activity with our school, it seems to do wonders for our community, building memories and renewing everyone's spirit! We were definitely tired after long bus rides, sleeping on hard floors and being in constant "teacher mode", but it's such a valuable part of working at our school.
The first day, we took a short ferry ride, explored caves, visited the set of a Korean drama and performed hilarious skits/music video impressions in front of each other. Day 2 was the long hike; lots of complaining, motivational pushing and tired legs before topping off the day with a fabulously fun and energetic bonfire dance party. The kids had a blast! Day 3, students chose to learn about a traditional Korean tea ceremony or lift their sore calf muscles for Taekwondo fighting positions. We also visited 2 temples, which Buddhists build at the very top of steep hills, in order to separate the week-faithed followers from the true, devout believers. By the time we got home, it was so nice to shower and sleep!!
used to make spicy, red sauce they put in EVERYTHING
Adam's team got him to dance to KPop songs; he was sooo funny and GREAT on stage