M.I.A.

Hey everyone who actually reads this blog! :)
Sorry I've been "MIA" lately. The past month has been absolutely crazy and draining and busy and overwhelming and by the time I landed in Cairns on Monday- I crashed. We've been living here with a lovely family for free for 3 nights and I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep!
But I've been having a great time being back in civilization after over 2 years, and also just enjoying a vacation with my parents. Because of the way our flights worked out, we're here for 2 whole weeks! This actually ended up being a blessing, because even though I'm antsy to get back to the States- it gives me a chance to have some time with my dad before he goes back to PNG in July.
SO...We have: eaten, gone to the mall, eaten, explored the esplanade, enjoyed FREE internet, gone for long walks, eaten, visited Palm Cove beach, jogged, swam, eaten, shopped, tv and eaten some more. :)
Some of that may seem like boring, everyday, whats-the-big-deal? things to you, but these are luxuries to us and just down right fun and relaxing!! 
It has been so nice and though it's winter here, the weather is still great. Shorts and t-shirt everyday! 

Yet, as great as this all is, my heart is still recovering from the heartbreaking experience of saying good-bye to my home and dearest friends. It's going to take a long time to process this all and the transition isn't and won't always be easy. I've gone through my share of culture shock, and I even came two tears from breaking down in the middle of the over crowded food court of the mall in my exhausted, overwhelmed state. But I know that God is walking along this little MK's footsteps as I try to walk on my own in the intimidating "real world". I'm still drained and it'll take a bit of time to regain my strength, but I know "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." God's got my back. :)

I have some stories I'd love to share with you from my last couple weeks in PNG and I'll put those up soon.
But first: a quick picture re-cap of our first couple days in Cairns. :)

First fast food in 2+ years. Yum.

Oh, how PNG is missing out...

First time I've actually been to a real Aussie beach (and we've been here 6+ times!)

Love birds. :)

Love the relaxing feeling of listening to ocean waves and having sand between my toes.

Cairns. One of my favorite places in the world.

As I just said, Cairns is one of my favorite places in the world...and it was #1 until PNG just pasted it by a couple weeks ago.

Reasons why I love Cairns:
1) It's touristy, but not. It has a lot of things for tourists to do, but it's not all just "fake" and over run by tourists. It's nice and built up but still has a small town feel.
2) Practically everyone is really nice.
3) Great malls.
4) The Esplanade. A boardwalk full of shops, snack spots and music (& great people watching!!). The atmosphere is always fun to be around.
5) The night market. After the Esplanade you can hit up the night market, full of little shops with random souvenirs and cute little treasures. Cheap massages. Food. and again, a great atmosphere.
6) It's well kept. Like really...it's nice.
7) It has great weather. Warm, tropical, great for swimming and frozen cokes. (and it's really pretty)
8) It has a loooot of variety of things.
9) Just a down right relaxing place to be!! :)
10) It's almost meant something happy for me- either re-entering civilization, or going back home to PNG or family vacations!

I'll be back soon. :)

X marks the spot

(lets take a break from the depressing subject of transition and I'll tell you a story about my random awesome adventure I had today! ok? ok. ;) )

Today I went on a treasure hunt!!
Let me start at the beginning...a while back a friend of mine collected photos from everyone and compiled a cd so that we could have it as we go forth in the world. As people headed out this friend burned the cd and gave it them. Well, it was time for this friend to leave this morning and no one who was going to be left on center had a cd, so I asked her to burn me one. Which she did.
But come 7 o'clock this morning, in the teary farewells this cd did not make it into my hands.
I was disappointed and wracking my mind on how to get a copy sometime in the future when I got a text.
It's from my friend and she tells me that she forgot to give me the cd and so she hid it. Yes, hid it.
She went into great details exactly where I could find it. I could not believe my eyes when I read it.
This is PNG for goodness sakes, the chances of it still being there is slim to none.

But when I saw some of my guy friends at the store I asked them, though it's crazy, to drive me off center and look for it. They finally agreed so we were off on a little treasure hunt.

Once we got to the spot which best fit her description we looked all around, (ignoring the confused onlookers) and I tried to call her a couple times...no answer. I was just about to give up when I read the text one last careful time, really thought and glanced at the best potential spot...and guess what? Something white caught my eye.

I grabbed the cd and held it up triumphantly! The boys could not believe it!! (Come to find out, they used my text I forwarded them and went to look for it before they picked me up because they wanted to "prank" me by moving it...after not finding it they thought there was NO WAY that I was gonna get it. In yo' face, boyz! :P)

Every-time I think about this I still think it's ridiculous. It makes me laugh and I'm appreciative of the unexpected adventure I got to have today. This is definitely a memory I will never forget. ;)

am I ready for this?

"A whole new adventure is out there waiting for you."
I heard those words once again tonight. And I know it's true, and it's not that I don't appreciate the optimism and encouragement, but at this point...they aren't the words I really want to hear.
I want to be here.
I'm not ready to move on and start that adventure yet. I don't want to go or give up this life I have here. And I bet God is up there looking down kind of shaking His head at me because I probably look like that pathetic little kid who is throwing a temper tantrum for not getting a lolli-pop when really, if they just wait 5 minutes- they'll get a full blown dinner. (I've used this analogy before...)
But then I ask myself...will I ever be ready? Like really, Leslie. You've lived here for 15 years. More of your life has been spent on PNG soil then in civilization. I don't think you should be ready to move on.
But that's the thing about life...we often gotta do what we don't want to. It's not always going to be easy, but that doesn't mean it still isn't what's best.

You know how when you're playing hide-and-go-seek the counter often says "ready or not, here I come!!!!"? I feel like that's how it is right now. I've run off to hide and whether I'm ready or not, it's coming. I don't have a choice, so I better either jump in and do my best given the opportunities rather then just standing there dumb, stunned by the fact that I wasn't ready.

So ready or not, here it comes. Hold on tight cause it's time for a whole new adventure just around the bend.

High School?...been there, done that.

The past weeks have been crazy as I finished up my High Schooling and start to pack up my life here in PNG.
I've hit milestones and made memories. I laugh, I cry. I pinch myself and pray that I won't miss one moment of this.


Here is a recap of how my last moments of High School went down.

Senior Prank:

Kristin caught in action -covering youth pastor's floor with cups full of water.

We put banana tree's everywhere (including Vice Prin. office) to "protest" against all the trees they cut down this year. ;)

Frank! We put fish in all the sinks and beakers.

We did so much more, like writing random things with chalk everywhere, putting tree huger signs everywhere, taping, hanging boxers in the quad etc. :)

Grad Dessert Night:

A special evening for Graduates & their parents.

We <3 PNG.

A special evening filled with appetizers, funny stories, a slide show, Graduate Trivia, delicious desserts, pictures, devotional, letter sharing with our parents, and just down right good fellowship.

The last day of school:

The last day of High School. Ever. :D

Passing over my powers to Seong Eun!

Graduation!!
And finally...we made it. Graduation: June 12, 2012.

Class of 2012.

It's legit.

Super excited!

Praying.

Reception.

I feel like this is just kind of the cliff notes because there is so much more I could say or post, but didn't want to bore you tooo much.

Q.O.D.

(Question of the Day)

(I'm starting to wonder...)

Pinch me.

This can't be real life. I'm like...graduating!

I can't believe that this weekend is already here! New Years was hard enough to believe- how did we get to 2012 so fast?! Weren't we just in the 90's? But now...it's June?! Already.
June 2012 was a month that has been a big milestone mark we've had in front of us for like...ever. And it seemed so far away, but here I sit in it!
Yes, this time of year feels familiar, cause I've done it several times before- but what I can't wrap my mind around is that this time...it's me. I still go through out my day, hanging with my friends, feeling like it's just another day in the life of an MK until I stop and realize...this time next week, she won't be here any more- yikes!
Yesterday I went to the river...no, it can't be my last time out there.
Tonight is Grad dessert night...that dress hanging there can't possibly be for ME.
Tomorrow is Tissue Sunday at Soul Purpose...it can't actually be my last one ever.
Tuesday is Graduation...I'm just confused thinking that I'll be the one on that stage.
Wednesday the goodbye's begin...nope. This must all be a dream. Wednesday morning as that plane takes off, someone will pinch me and I'll wake up before the nightmares begin...right? Please?

In all seriousness, the reality of all this really isn't sinking in. I know it in my head, but right now my heart won't accept what this all means.
I did go through a grieving stage a couple weeks ago, so I don't know if I'm at peace now because I've already been through this, or I'm just still in denial.
I havn't really packed up my room yet, like most of my friends, cause I'm staying here longer after grad, so this all feels normal to me. I pulled out a suitcase and put it in my room, just so I could start getting the idea.

But I know there are still lots of fun things going on the next couple weeks...and great things waiting in the States. I'm just not ready to have to face all these goodbyes.
 I'm trying to live as much as I can in this very moment. Drinking in every ounce I can. Capturing memories and living all 60 seconds of each minute.
We're in a race against the clock and we just can't run fast enough.

I don't know when it will hit, but I know when it does...it'll hit hard.
Prayers appreciated :)

Count your blessings.

On the very first day of the this last term, waaay back in April, I came home to find a letter and calendar from my dear mom on my bed.
Here's what she said..."I wanted to give you this calendar, not to count-down-the-days, but to encourage you to write in the square one little something to be thankful for each day...one little (or big) gift that God gave you that day...I think it can be a very precious memento of this this last term and be a reminder that it was filled with extraordinary and ordinary gifts. They are there every day if we just look for them and unwrap them."

I loved the idea and enjoyed reaching the end of my day so I could write down all that I was thankful for or achieved. Some days were easy, with just simple blessings. Others were filled full with fun adventures and memories. And yet some, where rather hard to find things to write down...but those were the days that I really dug and realized that we can find blessings in everything. I didn't just write one thing each day, like my mom suggested, but packed the boxes full sometimes. I can't believe that I'm already standing here at the end of the term, all these weeks later...yet whenever I feel like I'm dreaming this- I can just look back at the calendar and see how full it is.

I know you can't really read them, but you can see that it's like solid text.
oh yeah...and today's says "Finished High School" umm yeah...no biggie. ;)

This is the weirdest, most exciting, scariest, confusing, sad, emotional, happy time of my life...ever. I appreciate having this calendar to be able to look back, and not have to remember all the times of tears and fears, but look back and remember all the great things I was able to do and how God blessed me.

You might consider having one yourself, or a thankful journal you write in each night. It's a great way to end the day positively and have record of God's great faithfulness. :)

Steals or Deals?

Yesterday afternoon I skipped studying and went into town with some girlfriends for a quick shopping trip.
Yes, we often talk about missing the mall and how excited we are to go shopping in the States, but yesterday I was reminded of the beauty of second hand shopping.
Well yes, you have to look real close because half the lights are burnt out, you have to sift through aisles of the randomest stuff, like fat people's pre-used leotards, and ignore all the people watching you. Most clothes are wrinkled and dirty, but a little washing and a fixing of a button is not to hard. So why is this so great? Because you can get great clothes for cheaper then anywhere else.

Here's what I got yesterday:
(I was mostly looking for summer clothes, so I don't look like a bum burning up in Texas when I land in mid-July). 
2 tank tops. Cute swim shorts. Sun-dress. A couple cute tops. Aztec skirt. Sleeveless cardigan. A nice formal dress for sometime in the future.
They look a bit frumpy now, because they need washed and are just strewn on the couch- but I have some great I'm-attempting-to-somewhat-fit-in-and-be-somewhat-trendy-non-MK-outfits planned. Exciting stuff. :)

Guess how much I paid for all of this?

$10. Yep. I'll give you a chance to collect yourself...

That's more then the average person spends on sunglasses. Or on a lunch. Or on a t-shirt for sale...ok I could be totally wrong here...it's been a while since I've seen "real prices".

Oh second hand shops, how I'll miss you...but don't worry- I'll visit you again before I go to the land of expensive clothing...:)

So...

...you wanna know what actually has been keeping this girl from blogging?
It can pretty much be summed up in the fact that these are my last couple weeks with my class. For like ever.
Well yes, I'll see some of these people again...but not all of them, and not all like this. *tear*

So here's a quick glimpse into all that has been going on in my life lately to make these past couple weeks...what they were. Fun. Bittersweet. Memorable. Adventurous. 

"President Snow" cake Kaela and I made for our Hunger Game viewing party!

Taking like 20 people to JG cliff.

Spontaneous class BBQ's

Nerd day.

Saying good-bye to Daphne. The first of many...

Special Bible Study times with my girls.

Class of 2012 Senior Pranking. :) (more later)

We also :
-randomly went fishing in Tim's river. We started with hooks and string, and left the rest up to nature.
-ran around center getting flowers to deliver to Adrienne for her anniversary
-drove out to the fish hatchery to buy fish for our senior prank.
-invaded friends houses to talk and hang out
-made random food at those invaded friends house

-had "study parties" where there is 0% progress made on actual school work
-girls sleepovers.
-class movie nights.
-girls "picture walk".

...and we still have 2 weeks. :)
It's amazing how much people are willing to do when they realize that time is ticking. Wish they noticed the clock a little sooner, but better late then never, right?

The other big thing is...I have a new pet. Now I'm usually not really a pet person, but I always have said that someday I'd get a fish because they are easy (ier then a cat, dog, hamster etc) so after our snr prank (which included putting fish in all the different sinks/toilets/science beakers) I brought one home.
Mario. He's "cute", I care for him and we're soul mates.haha
The plan is to keep him until grad, and then let him go free in the wild. Kinda like me...

THE after party.

So here's that post I promised about what happened after 2:00 am.
Our totally awesome Bible Study leader, along with some other ladies and alumni planned us a great afterparty!
At 2 they blindfolded us and ushered us into the middle of the empty meeting house where they completely splattered us all in glow stick-ness so we all glowed. We ripped off our blind-folds the beats started and they party began. We just played with glowsticks and danced. The stage was filled with couches and food. The back of the meeting house had a nice little cafe complete with a whole plethora of drinks (all named after seniors!). There was also ping pong, glowstick bowling, karaoke and sumo!! Just dance later, and lots of people just played random games. In one corner there was a photo booth thingy that I had fun in.
It was a fun fun night. And they had tons of food!! :)

At 6:00am I loaded up a truck-full of girls and we drove to the top of a hill to watch the sun rise. It didn't really rise, it just was. But we had fun talking and reflecting back on the fun filled night. It was a great end to a long night. Just quietly sitting with these dear girls watching the fog roll through the trees on the mountain and see our amazing community slowly wake up.

The awesome master minds of the party.

We're Princesses :)

no lie.

the Senior drinks.

Sun"rise"

The lovely ladies.