STOP KONY 2012

Ingrid's new album...and COVER!

Ingrid's new album came out yesterday...so in honor of her musical brilliance, I did a cover of one of the songs off of it. It's called Ghost...

Enjoy!!!

 Peace & love,

 me. :)

Psalm 24

we have a book of some of the Psalms adapted from the Hebrew, and this one really stuck out to me as I was flipping through it this morning. I've been ruminating on it all day.

The earth belongs to the Lord,
  and everything in it is his.
For he founded it in empty space,
  and breathed his own life-breath into it,
filling it with manifold creatures,
  each one precious in his sight.

Who is fit to hold power
  and worthy to act in God's place?
Those with a passion for the truth,
  who are horrified by injustice,
who act with mercy to the poor,
  and take up the cause of the helpless,
who have let go of selfish concerns,
  and see the whole world as sacred,
refusing to exploit her creatures
  or to foul her waters and lands.
Their strength is in their compassion;
  God's light shines through their hearts.
Their children's children will bless them,
  and the work of their hands will endure.
                                   -Adapted by Steven Miller

What do you think?



peace. :)

a drop in the ocean

Since my last post, both pre-K and elementary programs have started, and life has gotten pretty crazy. In the elementary program, I have the 1st and 2nd graders, which is wonderful but exhausting. I've had 6-8 students every day, and they've gone from angels to screaming and running in circles around the classroom. I have discovered, though, that the more prepared I am for homework time (i.e. the classroom set up, extra work for whoever finishes their hw, distractions out of reach), the better the kids are.

For the most part the kids are pretty good - there are a couple of trouble makers, one little boy with a short attention span (think "i'm bored" every five seconds), and another who is easily distracted (by anything and everything). One of the six year old girls, Kenyatta, has been consistently good every day, even when everyone else in the class is running and screaming. She is just the cutest, most precious girl. And another boy, Z (the easily distracted one), is precocious and so darn cute that I can't even really get mad at him when he gets distracted.

Z, eating his birthday cupcake!

The pre-K program started the 14th instead of the 12th, so we've only had two days of program so far, but they were super fun. We have 6 students signed up, but only 3 have come so far - Najamoney, Christina, and Nakeem. The girls are good - they've been best friends from day one - but Nakeem can get a little whiny and throws temper tantrums if he doesn't get his way...hopefully he'll learn quickly that that's not going to work in pre-K. 

Overall I feel like I'm starting to settle into my place at BFF nicely...I'm still getting used to program, and there are new experiences every day. Today, for instance, Kenyatta told me that her mom never wanted kids and is annoyed by her and her twin brother Kimball. It blew my mind and broke my heart that a six-year-old would ever hear her mother tell her that she was unwanted, and especially that she was so matter-of-fact about it - she just accepted that her mother didn't want her. I had no idea what to say to that, but I think what ended up coming out was that I didn't think she was annoying, and her mom was lucky to have her and her brother. It's strange to me that this sort of announcement and experience is normal in these children's lives...it makes me want to take them all home and tell them how special and good they are. I'm praying that by spending time with them and working in the programs at BFF, they'll realize that.

There are times when I feel like what I do or say at work isn't truly going to make a difference - that whether my kids sit quietly and do their work or run around the room doesn't matter - but I keep telling myself that it does...I guess I'm just hoping that I'm right.

I find inspiration in this quote from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

peace. :)

is this real life?

I started work at my site, Bishop Foery Foundation, on Monday. Lucky me, I'm basically a pre-K teacher for the year in the mornings, and then I get to work with K-2 graders afterschool! I'm super pumped to get to hang out with the little ones - they're my faves. So far at work, I've looked up lesson plans, crashed internet explorer 7 times, discovered that my key to my office doesn't in fact work for my office (but emily's key does), and heard wonderful and horrifying stories about working for Catholic Charities in the South side of Syracuse. I have not, however, been priveleged enough to see the kids yet - pre-K doesn't start until the 12th and elementary program starts the 7th - but TOMORROW I get to go to the NY State Fair with a bunch, so I'm SO excited!! (And a little worried - 8 hours at a fair with young kids will be exhausting).

The house has been awesome - all 11 volunteers have clicked almost immediately and we're getting along really well. It's weird (and sad) to think that the Costa Rica chicas will be leaving on Sunday...it's so great having the whole community in one house! It's definitely bittersweet though - I know they're all anxious to get to their sites and start work too.

As everything starts to get busy, I'm realizing that time management is going to be key this year - knowing when I need to get to bed to be energized in the morning (and I'm going to need my energy - no time for RedBull breaks in the middle of the day...), and knowing when I need some me-time. I'm not very good at me-time, but I'm learning.

I've been spending my down-time at work reading this blog. It's highly entertaining, and actually fairly enlightening (when it wants to be). My favorite article today was one about preschool (for obvious reasons).

Finally - I'll leave you with some new music (because that's really what I'm all about)...

one you probably already know

one you maybe havent heard yet


peace :)

i think you'd like my new hair.

i'm in love.

(it's new music, of course. the whole album is good, but my faves (for now) are single girls and wicked world.)

you'll like it if you like: priscilla ahn, joshua radin, regina spektor


peace. :)

13 is a lucky number.

On Saturday, I moved into the Syracuse house for my year of service with FrancisCorps. Already, it's so much fun! There are 11 of us in FC '13 - 5 Costa Rica volunteers and 6 Syracuse, and only one of them is a guy...he'll be living with the 5 girls in Syracuse, which will definitely be an adventure for him.

We had a BBQ on Saturday night for all the volunteers and our families, and then on Sunday we were commissioned at Assumption church - we all received Blessed Tau crosses to wear. After, we blessed our house, and then the parents headed out and we were on our own. Now, we're on retreat for the week - at Alverna Heights retreat center until tomorrow, and then headed down to Seaside Heights in NJ for the rest of the week. It'll be wonderful to be at the beach again!

The view from the house at Alverna Heights...so gorgeous.

You know in Annie when she moves into Daddy Warbucks' house and everyone offers her stuff and she sings "I know I'm gonna like it here"? Well, this is only my 4th day, and I'm definitely not living like Daddy Warbucks...but I'm pretty sure Annie was right - I'm gonna like it here.

peace.