3 years

Really? Has it been three years since we got the news about Taylor? I think about it at least once every day...still. Sometimes death and loss seem so hard and impossible to deal with. I can't imagine what today must feel like for his family and close friends. I've been thinking and praying for you all day.

Of course, thinking about Taylor, my mind drifts on to Eric. I pray that the class of 2006 has seen better days since those ones in our past. We faced some hard times, but I know we were tightest class to come out of Hereford. I'm sure of it. If you were there graduation night, you know. I'll never forget the TC on our hats and Eric taking off his gown to reveal is Marine uniform seconds before his name was called.

One of the biggest honors of high school was being named "Unsung Hero" with Eric in our Senior Superlatives. Who would have known?

TC
ER

Today I helped with a HUGE clothing drive. There's an organization called "River of Hearts." A couple times a year, people in the Shanghai area can donate their old clothes, and then a huge group of volunteers gather on a Saturday to sort and bag, and then they are delivered to villages through out China.

It's amazing to walk into a school cafeteria and see 100's of people sorting bags upon bags of clothes. I met people from Africa, New Zealand, the UK, USA....people from every corner of the earth, gathering together for one purpose. Awesome. I'm completely blown away sometimes.

I don't know why, but heart is breaking for Mexico today.

a little taste of...

It's walking into the Super Brand Mall and passing a Sephora and realizing that it smells just like the one in Towson Towne Center.
It's having my iPod on shuffle and then Deereco Road or the Apathy Eulogy come on.
It's having 5 new emails in my inbox, all personally written just for me.
It's having my screen saver pop up and seeing all of the pictures that are on my computer cycle through.


It's a little taste of home. Not enough to make me sad, just little reminders that make me smile, no matter what I'm doing.

50 random things

So, on my friend Suz's blog, she made a list of 50 random things about her. I love things like this because I think that we're all random and quirky and there are things about people you might never know unless it came up, or you asked. So, I decided to make a list.

1.) my middle name is irene
2.) i go by kristen, k hoov, hoover, sissy, irene, krisgey, and in china, if i hear them say anything remotely close to "chris," i'll answer to that too.
3.) the right song can make or break my day
4.) i love maps. i google map everything.
5.) i can successfully tell you where every state is in the U.S.
6.) i've been to 30 states, i will go to all
7.) i love real estate. just about every city/town i go to, i always look for the free real estate magazines.
8.) i could go for a chocolate molten cake from chili's
9.) my electricty just went out. i'm not afraid of the dark, but i don't really want to be alone, in the basement, in the complete dark, in china
10.) i never ever thought i would miss balitmore so much. i knew i would miss the people, but the actual city
11.) i feel 100% safer walking around china at night then i ever did walking around baltimore...sometimes even in the day in baltimore
12.) my life dramatically changed on a trip to mississippi in '06. i mean, dramatically changed.
13.) i love meeting new people
14.) i take things way too personally
15.) i would love to have a job in the music profession. something backstage.
16.) i would love to be a nurse
17.) i would love to work with kids
18.) i would love to major in foreign languages and be an interpreter
19.) i would love to be a flight attendent
20.) see why i've had a hard time picking just one major?
21.) i still sleep with the blanket that my aunt made for me when i was born. it's in china with me right now
22.) i love plans. i love having everything planned, although my life does not often reflect that.
23.) i love school. i know that i'll go back when i get back to the states, that why i've never had a problem with taking a semester off.
24.) i REALLY like school supplies. new pens and notebooks are the best.
25.) i like singing and i'm good at it. i never ever want to sing as a job. i'd rather be behind the scenes
26.) i cannot act. at all...although i'm very dramatic and animated.
27.) i make myself at home very very easily, so don't say that unless you mean it.
28.) i know we're friends when you don't knock on my front door, you just walk right in, and when you're fine with me doing the same.
29.) when you're late, i think you're rude. even if we're best friends.
30.) i always ahve to go to the bathroom.
31.) i love airports...i could sit in one all day
32.) when i'm having a crappy day, i go get my hair cut.
33.) my favorite movies are probably prince caspian and the inn of the sixth happiness
34.) i don't ever want a dog, but i like them...but we're not gonna be best friends or anything. i think they're cute, pet them, and then i'm over it
35.) i like structure. i like having my days organized full of routines
36.) i love hereford. i can't help it
37.) one of my favorite things to eat is sweet potatoes from let's dish.
38.) i bite my nails.
39.) i'm a morning person
40.) i could look at floor plans all day
41.) i just recently found out that sitting the back of a car in stop and go traffic, makes me nauseous.
42.) i've watched more tv in china than i ever did when i was home
43.) but, 42 is a result of knowing a place that sells dvds at less than a dollar for one.
44.) i love driving.
45.) my ipod goes everywhere and i listen to it all of the time.
46.) i'm really picky about how my iTunes is organized
47.) i can't wait to go back to school
48.) the clock in my car was always 14 or 17 minutes fast
49.) i wish i was born in the 40's so i could have grown up in the 50's and 60's
50.) a couple of years ago i made a decision that changed the course of everything in my life. if you're curious, ask me.

recharged

Tonight, as I sit here at my computer, catching up with people, I came across a song.

You know those songs that just....hit you.

I had my iTunes on shuffle, and "Before the Throne" by Shane and Shane came on.

It really isn't anything new that a Shane and Shane have this affect on me. There are songs by them that hit me right in the heart. Either out of conviction or joy. But tonight, as I listen to this song, I feel recharged and renewed and re energized. When songs have such truth to them, it's hard for me to only listen to them once. I just sit here soaking in every second and word.

Ah, I love this feeling.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

Musica

So on Facebook, there is this thing going around, asking for 16 albums, cds, records, whatever you want to call them, that impacted your life. I saw it and immediately wanted to do it. Music is a HUGE part of me and how I process things and yeah...so I wanted to give it a try. These are cd's that made me laugh, smile, cry....a bunch of different emotions. Ones that once I listened to I got goosebumps or couldn't sleep until I listened to it at least 10 times in a row.

This is in no particular order...

1.) Matt Wertz - Twenty-Three Places
2.) Dave Barnes - You and Me and the World
3.) Phil Wickham - Cannons
4.) Apathy Eulogy - Beauty for Ashes
5.) Dave Barnes - Brother, Bring the Sun
6.) Shane & Shane - Clean
7.) Starfield - I Will Go
8.) Jon McLaughlin - Jon McLaughlin
9.) Matt Wertz - Everything In Between
10.) Erin McCarley - Love, Save the Empty
11.) Incubus - Make Yourself
12.) Incubus - Morning View
13.) Muse - Absolution
14.) Caedmon's Call - 40 Acres
15.) New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones
16.) Jason Mraz -Waiting For My Rocket to Come

It all started...

It all started with a trip to the Coffee Beanery. When I got there, they were filming something. There were lights and a bunch of cameras. The director even had a little hat and he would yell "ACTION" and "CUT" in English. It was all in Chinese. I knew it was a big deal when I saw this car:



I really wish that I would have gotten a picture of the Chinese people who were pretending to sit on it while they took pictures. I always feel weird taking pictures of other people, although, they are never shy with their cameras around me.
After I spent a significant time at Coffee Beanery (they have the best peppermint mocha in town...probably best in China.) I went over Chrissy's. She had made some chili and invited me over for that and maybe a movie or two. We needed some sour cream, and knew that that in itself might be a challenge. Sour cream is one of those things....seems simple, but in China, it could be almost impossible to find. We decided that we would go to City Shop (one of the import convenience stores, it has random products from the US that you can't find other places), then CarreFour, and then our last stop would be Pines (the biggest import store around, but often has completely empty shelves...). Sounds simple...right? If only we had known, that our night would be very different than planned...
Not even 100 yards from Chrissy's apartment, her scooter had a flat tire and a dead battery. We knew the battery might die, but then a flat tire? So she pushed the scooter to the Community Center and then we walked to my house to borrow a bike. She says that she "knows" the way to the City Shop through a short cut in my neighborhood, we end up riding around what I'm sure is the biggest complex in China for a while....eventually we find the store. They do in fact, have sour cream.
Then, we were off to CarreFour. Chrissy wanted to get a manicure set. We succeeded in finding that as well. We had almost everything. We had sour cream, PLAIN (not a hint of lime) tortilla chips, cheese, manicure set. Chrissy heard about this sparkling wine, and we knew we could get it at Pines. Rule of thumb for China, you almost NEVER are able to get everyone on your list when shopping in China. You always always always end up not being able to find at least one thing.
BUT, we found the wine. We found every single thing we had sought out to find. Three hours, a dead battery and a flat tire late, we were ready to eat chili.
After dinner we went to get pedicures. Turns out the wine was a little stronger than expected and the pedicures were a LOT of fun. We read seventeen magazine and found out "How to catch the perfect guy" and "What jeans look good on your figure." Half-way through I mentioned something about wanting to cut my hair, and mabye get 2 or so inches cut off. Chrissy said that if I did it, she would get bangs. So, we asked, and they had openings. We asked for prices and they said "Hair cut and shampoo: 60 kuai, Haircut and shampoo AND shoulder massage: 70 kuai." For those who don't live in China, the exchange rate is 7 kuai for 1 US dollar, so basically, for a $1.50 more, we could get massages. Uh, of course we said yes.
Well, a couple Celine Dion songs later, we each had new hair. Chrissy got bangs and about an inch or so off, and I got about two inches off. I'll take pictures of my new hair soon. It's nothing too different. Just a little change. There's nothing like a brand new haircut. It really is a form of therapy for me though. And, who can say no to a pedicure, hair shampoo/cut/style and a shoulder and head massage, all for less than $25.
It was a lot of fun. It wasn't a Saturday I ever thought I would have, and we had a lot of fun. Only in China could a day starting with a movie filming and a flat tire be so promising.

Hey there one in a million...

Okay, as a total side note...I canNOT stop listening to the cd "Love At the Core" by Run Kid Run. Check it out. The first time I listened to it, I def thought it was catchy, but I wasn't in love with it, but the more I listen to the lyrics and the louder I play the songs, I just can't get enough of it.

I've actually always hated that about this blog site; they don't have a space where I can say "What I'm Listening to.." I guess I could make my own section, but that requires work and never really comes out right...

Okay, now onto real life. Today I spent some time at an orphanage. It was hard. Most of the orphanages in China are filled with disable children or girls. In China you're taxed when you have more than one child and girls are really looked down upon. So, if you have end up having more than one, and it's a girl, or disabled, you do what you can to get rid of the child. So, government orphanages are built and that's where they live.

Most of the kids lacked basic skills. Some because they were disabled, but most because all they do is lay in a crib all day. They go from the crib, to a chair (if they're lucky), back to the crib. The chairs they sit in make it so they aren't able to get up and walk around. It made me so sad. To think of all the things that come so naturally to me; walking, standing up, skipping, talking, picking up a crayon, these kids, can't do. I think I'm gonna keep going back. It was really hard to see, but it's one of those things that I need to be reminded of. I'm so fortunate in a lot of ways and it's easy to forget that. One little girl, who couldn't have been older than 18th months LOVED it when you just touched her face and held her hand. She would smile and laugh and her whole face would light up. It definitely shook me up a little bit.



I really do hope to be more consistant updating this. For the past couple weeks there wans't a lot going on. I'll post pictures of my room soon! I finally have hung some pictures up and presonalized it a bit.