[Chinese] New Years Resolutions

Soo... i realized around January 15 that i forgot to make "New Years Resolutions" for this year (2011).

darn.

Thus camille, not to be outdone by time, is being creative and starting her "new year" w/ Asia... and going to do a "[Chinese] New Years Resolution" list :) :)

however, camille does NOT like those "daily goals" (cuz she always fails after day #3 and then gives up for the rest of the year). so we're gunna get a little more creative....

here's the list of things which camille wishes to accomplish within the year of the Rabbit (year 2011):

1. get a closer relationship w/ the Lord.
2. go skydiving (almost did last year...)
3. going to hand-make something (like a scarf, hat, ____??)
4. going to do 5 5K's and get my time under 25minutes
5. going to do one half marathon
6. NOT going to do a full marathon... just thought i should throw that in there.
7. going to take more time to get to know my friends 1:1
8. going to spend more quality time w/ my siblings
9. going to ride in one [horse] gaming show
10. going to get solid A's in all of my classes this fall (Lord willing and i end up going to school)
11. go water skiing
12. do a [sprint] triathlon (possible with two other people... that's good enough for me) :)
13. go somewhere randomly w/o telling anyone where i'm going/what i'm going to do
14. road trip w/ a friend (or two) for 4 days
15. go on a MISSIONS TRIP (somewhere other than Taiwan, cuz to me, this is HOME) <3
16. hug a child who doesn’t know love

17. go up in a Hot Air Balloon
18. go to New York
19. regain Joy
20. start learning a new language (...or "finish" learning Spanish)
21. be able to hold a long conversation in Chinese

Bible Verse for this year:

"Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" - Hebrews 11:1

Quote for this year:"If you are at the place in your life where you feel like you can't take one step without the Lord's help, BE GLAD. He has you where he wants you." - Stormie Omartian

**yes, i did steal some of these idea's from Joelle W.  - you're an inspiration to me, girl <3

i figure since i'm turning 21 this year, that this is a long enough list... for now. believe me, there are many, MANY things i want to add to this (and probably will end up doing so). i'm actually more excited for this new year than i have been for any new year in the past! i believe that God is going to do crazy amazing things w/in this next year and i can't wait to see what that's gunna be!!!

Lots of Love <3 <3

the unknown chapter

people who know me know that i'm not too fond of reading.
the reason being that i find that a majority of the stories are far too predictable.
the paths may vary here and there, but after reading the first chapter, you can basically skip to the last chapter and get the whole jist of the story... (it's true).

::sigh::

i really wish that my life story were that simple.

people who know me, also know that i've had my life planned out since i was 6.
i was going to go to college for 4 years to get my nursing degree.
work in the USA for a little bit to gain some field experience.
and then i was going to move to Asia (India) and work in various orphanages/hospitals over there until I died.

that was my life. and i was so passionate about all of it, that i was sure that it was totally God's will and it was going to happen!

Early Summer 2007 happened, and I ended up in Taiwan for a year.
BEST YEAR EVER.

in fact, it was so good that for a while i thought that i'd be coming back for a second year.

but college and nursing was still important to me... and so was my family... so i went back stateside.

went to BU... which ended up being a smart, yet extremely stupid decision...
many good things happened at BU - meet some amazing friends, got more involved in music, great professors, awesome roomies, etc.
but BU had downsides too... like being overly priced (by a TON of money), had a few "bad crowds" of ppls, and even though it was a "christian college"... i ended up loosing sight of God ... and my passion for my future.

i got to the point where i had no idea where to go/what to do w/ my life anymore...

so i went back to the last place where GOD was REAL for me...

 i went back to Taiwan.

not gunna lie... this year (past 5 months) has been HARD.

i've cried
i've attempted to eat chocolate, cuz it's supposed to make one "feel better" (that's a lie. it doesn't work)
i've past many sleepless nights
i've downed coffee to stay awake for classes
i've argued and "fought" with God (kind of impossible to fight w/ someone who made the whole universe... just sayin)
i've been done... and have literally sat down w/ God asking Him WHAT my purpose here is

I WANT TO SEE THE ENDING!! NOW!!!

... sometimes i feel like He just likes keeping me in suspense...

however... in these past two weeks, i've come to realize a really simple fact... one that made my heart break...

what happens in the middle is just as important as what happens in the end.

my life is a book. and it's being written... slowly, but surely.
and sadly enough, this is not a book that i can just "skim the beginning" and then jump to the end.
this is a lifelong process.
and i can't expect all of it to just fall into place.
i want a happy ending.
but that's not going to happen if i don't push myself toward that.
yes... crappy things have happened to this "book" in the past.
but many, MANY good things have happened to.

honestly... a thought that has been constantly triggering in my mind these past few weeks was this, "if tomorrow was the "last chapter" of your book... how would it end? in other words, where am i in life right now? am i satisfied w/ who i am? if not, what am i going to do to change that? what do i want my life to say about me? what have i done to end w/ a "bang"? and why wait? why not change NOW?

 ...cuz who knows... tomorrow might just bring about the end chapter.

(ramblings of a tired camille... please forgive me if this made no sense)

Lots of Love <3

It Happens in 6 Days

...it started by ending with a GREAT week with AWESOME KIDS!!!

There was so much laughter that week.

singing random chinese songs.

dancing in the halls.

early morning classes that revolved around coffee.

lots of smiles.

amazing hugs.

basically, they were really precious children.

Kind of hard to say Goodbye to all of them a day early...

 

So, week [whatever number] was great. but i had a flight to catch at noon, so i had to leave early on friday morning. that meant i couldn't be there for the kids' graduating ceremony. dumb!

ah well... mmmm... where to start.

Almost cried when my alarm clock went off at 5am on friday morning...

walked through the down pouring rain to find a taxi.

got to the train station and waited for the first train for 30 min.

(1st cup of coffee inserted into my system at this point)

got on the *slow* train... (literally... it stopped at EVERY platform/train stop)

on which i traveled on for about an hr to TaiChung (or somewhere around there)

got to the HSR (high speed rail), for which i traveled on for 30 min to Taoyuan.

took a bus from the HSR station to the airport.

walked from terminal 1 (check in) over to terminal 2 (where my flight would take off)

I WAS 3HRS EARLY FOR MY FLIGHT.

lol.

the airport was literally empty and i was the first one to check into my flight.

nice :)

Thank the Lord for Wi-fi @ the Taoyuan airport!

That was a really long (and BEAUTIFUL) airplane ride!

I love the vroom of the jets right before the plane takes off... it's like, everything is going slow/quietly... then there's like this under pressure/deep growling noise and it instantly gets your heart racing cuz you KNOW what follows that... the airplane gets faster and faster and you wonder if it's EVER going to get off the ground... and then it does. and it's amazing. lol. couldn't help but relate it to when i was a "gamer" (on horses)... getting through those gates... waiting... waiting... and then taking off and feeling like the world was yours to own! lol... yeah. that might have been a stretch ;)

Anywho.. got to the Tokyo airport... waited for my luggage at the WRONG baggage claim... for 40 minutes. DUMB! but, in my defense, it TOTALLY said "from Taiwan to Tokyo"... i just didn't see that it was for a different airline... :P

And then the moment arrived... I GOT A HUG FROM APRIL!!! :D

::sigh::

Soo.... then we headed over to there college/dorm/place-where-we-would-sleep. however, we had to navigate through the millions and MILLIONS of trains. wow... I thought the MRT's in Taiwan were confusing, but we've only got about 6... Tokyo has about 60!! it's ridiculous! and so cool! ...and one thing you should know: no one (NO ONE!!) talks on the trains... which means someone should tell camille this stuff next time before camille starts rambling on and on  and on about absolute nothingness :P

Well, the next 2 days were a blur.... we walked EVERYWHERE... train-ed everywhere... ate lots of food... met some pretty awesome (and random) ppls, and basically LOVED it. It was very "Americanized", so... idk. I really wish i would've seen the more rural parts of Tokyo, but with only 3 days on my hands... and a curfew... there was only so much i could do ~ and it was really nice to see some other Americans/friends/APRIL as well <3 it was a much needed time away :)

Anywho... left Tokyo around 10am on sunday morning

got back to Taiwan around 5pm

Iris (Grandma) picked me up around 6-ish and we went out for dinner (hot pot = YUUMMM!!!)

then i took a train from Taoyuan ------> Taipei

met up with the rest of the crew (Jo, Yellow, Blanche, Joyce, and Jenny)

took the MRT over to Jenny's house

got to share a spot (and a blanket) on the floor w/ Jo (comfy nights right there!)

woke up at 7am to go to the flora expo

walked around ALL DAY

bought LARGE coffee's at 2 different starbucks coffee's... and one i had to wait in line for 15min for...

and then another 30 min before it was ready. SO WORTH IT!!

took lots of pictures

went back and fell asleep at 8:30pm... and woke up at 2am... and was WIDE AWAKE!

dumb.

(note to self: do NOT go to bed before midnight. ever!)

the next morning consisted of coffee.

the end.

lol.... wait. no...

it consisted of camille thinking she was absolutely STUPID for bringing a 40lbs of luggage for a 6 days trip! and then having to haul it ALL OVER ASIA.

dang, i've got one big right arm bicep now... ;)

[hehehehe]

Anywho... we woke up at 7am (again) and camile slept-walked to the MRT station... where we went to the OTHER side of Taipei... and then walked for 20 min over to our hotel.

(**yes, i have blisters on my hand... just fyi)

When we got to the hotel, i was instantly flooded with memories...

we TOTALLY had our TESOL retreat there back in 2008!!!

weird.

well, the rest of that day consisted of lectures (in 2 languages), getting to know the other ppls who we were "working with" (yet, on other ends of the country, so we never see them), food, COFFEE, and lots of laughter and good fellowship!

went swimming that night.

dang... i didn't know i could swim, but i did! And after doing several laps, i felt AMAZING!

(new goal: look for a pool that is close to my school!)

stayed up waaaaay too late that night... but i was chatting w/ my best friend, so it was all good ;)

woke up early.

sat through more lectures.

walked around more of Taipei w/ the rest of my teammates (and my bags).

and finally... got on the train back to Douliou.

i was so stinkin excited to go back to familiar ground/get unpacked...

it felt like i was going home :'-)

::sigh::

Soooo.... that was my last 6-ish days in a nutshell.

Can't wait to tell y'all what God's doing in my life...

but it's time for a team meeting and so that'll have to wait for later today ~

Keep me in your prayers. God's doing great things... which means the devil is totally working overtime to make my life a whole lot harder... o_O

Love y'all much <3

ps. below are some various/random pictures that were taken throughout the past week. I'm too lazy to put them in order, so enjoy :)