My To-Do list. . .

This Week:

Open a high-yield savings account

Invest in a retirement plan

Buy Billy some Nike Boots (yes Nike)

Return CDs to the library

This Month:

Open my OChem book more than once a week

Plan some sort of piano party/recital/thing

Save money to give to someone else to give to someone else. . .

This Year:

Pass all my classes

get more sleep so i don't cry so much

GET SOME DANG PATIENCE!!!!

78 days and counting. . .

HOLY COW! this semester is so busy.

if you know me and my sleeping habits and subsequent moods based on those habits, you should know that i require ohhhh 8+ hours of sleep to function. 9 if you want me in a chipper mood.

well. i'm learning to fake that chipper mood this semester. everyday, i spend a minimum of 6 hours on campus (fridays are my little exception, but the 12 hours on thursdays make up for it), 2 hours commuting, MTW i spend 6 hours teaching. THEN to try and do some homework, have to keep up with House and Parenthood (for my sanity's sake) and maintaining normal human contact (1 person in particular) AND my mom, of course. i just struggle when my alarm starts singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked at 5:55 every morning. I can't even Defy my pillow, or my teddy bear, let alone get up and soar outta the house. oh elphaba. my little dose of motivation every morning. it's waring off quickly.

So i'm into this semester a little over a month now. I'm still alive. and i don't think i have an F in any class. Actually, i think i'm floating all A's or B's. woot woot. for 17 credits? i'm happy with that. . . just pray it lasts.

but i've just been focused on the future as of late. next semester, i should find an internship, and start really looking for jobs. but is that what i want to do? ugh. part of me still wants to sign. i find myself interpreting half of my classes in my lap, making sure i know the specifics. or teach piano? i swear i am NEVER giving that up. sometimes i whine about going for so long. but it's worth it. watching these kids succeed is so much fun. SOOOOO- life. lots of directions. lots of options. i'm blessed with the struggle to decided between so many different courses my life could go. i love it. but i am recently feeling that responsibility. EEEEK!

quiet time. . .

well. I'M HOME!

and finally adjusted. i still get made fun of for being quiet. but whatever.

These few weeks home have been amazing. I keep finding that i have no motivation to work towards starting my last year of school at byu. My schedule is planned but i have an online class that has to be done before that works out. but heading into this year will be different. my experience at byu has been one. . . well i'll definitely look back on often, not sure how sweet the memories will be. The classes and the education are amazing. but the culture. eeek. While in ghana, some great girls helped me see a new perspective on the whole "dating" scene and what culture outside of the single's ward practice. interesting. i found myself totally in agreement. . . dating differently, waiting to get married till you're older and more mature, finding more of yourself so you can glorify God more, and then to your found self, glorifying God together. Well to most of that i still agree. but the dating differently and marriage. . . i may just have to follow suit with this accepted Utah culture. i didn't think i ever would. . . that is till i saw him at the bottom of the escalator in salt lake city. oh yeah. THAT'S who i cried myself to sleep over missing so much in Ghana. well, and my mom of course. but being back=heaven. i have found more of myself and who i want to become. but, how much more of myself do i want to discover on my own? it just sounds like so much more fun if someone is standing next to me, lending me support.

here come the water works. . .

so. last post from ghana. what do i have to say.

well update from last week. yeah no school friday, so i am another day behind. i finally got all but one lesson covered and understood so i feel confident in what i've taught them, now just to review with them. dang. looking over last year's test (thank you Selorm), they are expected to know some off-the-wall things that i would have never tried to memorize in my life. different culture. different education expectations i guess. so, been trying to work around what i think they find important in order to prep them for next week's test.

i had a proud mom moment today. we had to move bunk bed pieces from last years guest house to the school. i asked a few of my jss 2/3 boys to help. so emmanuel, larty, isaac and patrick wandered over to the house with us then moved everything from the storage to outside. then loaded up these beds and mattresses, and pretty much carried all of it on their heads. smart boys. i was just entertained by their engineering skills finding ways to get it all to go together so we only had to carry minimal things. oh i love those boys. they are awesome (and being paid with american candy :) so yeah. proud of them. awww.

so two days left of teaching and one day of partying (crying) left for me in Ghana. then i can say i've lived in africa. how cool is that?!?!? oh oh. and i have a special place in one african man's heart (he said that himself). then i have a marriage all lined up to one of the teacher's sons. a place to live when i come back and stay for a year. a cook for when i come back on my honeymoon. an extra dad who expects to interview any marriage prospects. taxi drivers to take me to shop for avacados. i just love the ghanaian people. they are so willing not only to give help, but to receive it. i feel like they may not have benefited from my time here as much as i would have liked, but i feel so loved and appreciated for giving of myself to the students and the people here. i don't know how i have helped specifically, but i know ghana has changed and helped me. i'm so grateful for the people who have willingly given of their time, talents, and knowledge to help me feel comfortable and loved in this country. i can't wait to return.

so. i leave in 3 days. *tear* but i've done what i came to do. and really am looking forward to some ice cold lemonade. and cheese. and my mommy :)

i don't eat enough peanut butter. . .

So getting on the plane over 50 days ago, i had a problem. my suitcases weighed too much. a lot too much. but i couldn't give up the peanut butter! so, i carried stuff in my arms and only giving up one grape jelly, i got to move on to boarding.

now i realize, i just wish i had some fruit snacks. i have MAYBE eaten 1.5 cups of peanut butter. that's rounding up. so my 3 unopened jars are collecting dust (k maybe mold. . .) in the cupboard and wanting to find new homes. So, i think i pawned one to Kelsey. I think i have some willing consumers in Mampong. I just don't eat enough peanut butter. Sorry mom.

well, after trying to organize my room so Charity can find her way onto my side of the room to do her hair in the mornings, i realized how much of Ghana i am bringing home. NO WAY that peanut butter will fit. I'm so excited about the things i've collected and the memories they hold. i can't believe i've lived in Africa for nearly two months now. Sorry America, i know it was your birthday and all, but i kinda don't want to come home yet. YET. i am looking forward to a nice glass of ice cold lemonade.

but with two weeks to go, our group sat down and made some goals. Mine? prepare this jss 2 class for their test. I want them to have confidence in their test taking skills, not only their recollection and understanding. I feel like they are so concerned about how to write the test, they overwhelm themselves to the point of overall confusion. so, go back at night. keep up on correcting their exercises. give them lot's of example questions and start to link their courses and understanding together. oh. and learn all their names again. i forgot some and i feel bad. . .

So it's revision week this and next week. we are supposed to be finished with the scheme of work. HA. not funny. i have at least 2 lessons to go. . . so hopefully i can get it done this week and review with them next. pray we have school all this week. it would make for our second or third full school week we have had since arriving in mid-May. crazy. it's been better now that they can't complain that they're tired from staying up too late watching Ghana in the world cup. . . oh yeah. that loss was SAD. ghana was sad. i was sad. watching Papa screaming and rolling on the floor cheering for his Black Stars, then seeing his look of disappointment, heartbreaking.

So the 4th of July in Ghana was fun. we got together and boiled corn on the cob, had watermelon, guacamole (thanks mom) and Lemonade! it was a little taste of home. we listened to our Americana music while enjoying the Sunday afternoon. Oh- Hollie even had pop rocks- fireworks for our mouths :D Not the same as those illegal ones i'm sure my brothers found time to sneak in between the cop drive-bys but hey, good for an African style Fourth of July.

well, let the countdown begin. ahh! or not. i don't wanna know.

love you all

Happy Citizen Day

So this last week of school was interesting. We had class monday/tuesday. then w/th/f. . . well. weren't school. wednesday and thursday were spent cleaning, organizing, decorating, and getting things prepared for the special occasion friday would bring. It was citizen day, and marking the one year anniversary of L'oreal sponsoring the Vocational Hair School. One girl, Dita, actually graduated so there was a ceremony, dancing, speeches, food and gifts to celebrate! So fun to see the success of some of the students there. and dita- she looked gorgeous!

Saturday- we headed to Accra. A bunch of us were able to attend the Accra, Ghana Temple and spend the morning there. It was so fun! Then we headed back to the mall, where Wallace met up with us to have lunch and shop around before the BIG GAME! Becky and I were on the trotro headed home from the art center when the US national anthem came on. OH me. I slap my hand over my heart and sing for those <20 people in the car. Gutsy i know. But then, the Ghana song came on. some woman started slapping my chest. "eh? whattt?" she said, "you're in ghana. get your hand up there. you cheer for us." yes ma'am. haha. fun experience. some kid even let me share his headphones so i could listen to the first half in english. well, we know the outcome of that Ghana vs. America game. I got phone calls seeing if i was ok, if i needed tissues, got some victory texts, not to mention that Tutu, the town right next to us, ERUPTED! it was so loud! and for so long! yeah. well. it was a hard loss. but then again, not at all. my kids loved talking about it on monday after my science lesson.

Oh science. I felt successful. I started to ask why i brought the examples i did last monday and what forces they represented. They remembered! and were fingerspelling the forces without their books open! i was so proud. so i got to move on to surface tension. it is going to be a race to the finish to see if i can get through all of the scheme of work before i have to leave. Can you believe 18 days? and for me that's 8 class periods left (that is if they have school. . . ever). So i just hope that MWF, we have school. Tuesday/Thursday. . .well. Today was voting for prefects. and thursday is African Union Day. . .so no school. SO! we will see about friday.

well. all is well. i swear a new breed of mosquitoes is out and they LOVE me. and- they must bite through clothes. nothing is helping. their bites are my african mementos. . . and i can play connect the dots if i'm ever bored.

Yes, i'm still alive.

So. school. it continues. i really am teaching science. still. pretty exciting that i can rely on that. not that relying on school happening is ever a good idea. things are always so flexible in ghana. so i've learned to be as well.

but in my jss 2 class we have moved on to the different types of forces, and me being the kinesthetic learner that i am, decided i didn't just want to explain in sign anymore. i wanted us to DO. i don't know if they were ever allowed out of their seats to swing water over their heads before, but for my lesson, we were playing with magnets, throwing chalk, and yes, my favorite centripetal force, swinging water over our heads. so i've been finding my ways to communicate science to this half-sleeping, half-focused class. i just pray some of it sticks. i mean, who could ignore me swinging water around and signing? i felt like a circus act...

this last weekend was half way! do you believe it??? i don't want to... but all the SOHI volunteers traveled to cape coast for the weekend to have a little bit of a break. well, let's just say that the canopy walk, slave castle tours and the beach could have been more of a break if i wasn't in the sun, in a black shirt, trying not to die of heat exhaustion. but i mean. overall. it was awesome. back to the canopy walk. SOOOO COOL! we were high. i wasn't very brave... none of that dancing or no-hands-ing it across the walk, but i looked down! and took lots of pics. then we went on to a slave castle at Elmina. what an experience. we toured the cells the slaves were kept in, and were taken out of "the door of no return" to look over the atlantic. i still can't comprehend how one human can treat another human in such ways, but thinking about those things really helps me be aware of my actions towards others.

but we are back at school this week with new motivation to teach. i'm excited to spend these last 4 weeks motivating and helping the students. i just really wish the power was a little more reliable so i always know: 1) i can shower 2) i can email 3) the students will show up 4) i can sit in front of the fan to prepare my lessons :) haha. but i'm a happy girl. loving it here. but can't wait for some mac and cheese...