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Zdravstvutiye! I know, you're thinking "can you FIT anymore consonants in there?!" but welcome to the Russian language! That is Russian for "hello" according to my correspondence in Kazakhstan, but according to Alta Vista Babel Fish he added an unnecessary "y" in there... oh well, I should worry about saying it not spelling it :)

Well, summer is here! Kinda... besides the early apocolypse (is it 2010 or 2012? Because the Spokane sky is wondering...) it's been beautiful over here.... granted, my standards for good weather are based on the Westside of the state, so everything looks good to me! I ended school in a high fashion with a few performance-based finals on Tuesday and my Advanced Cell Biology final on Friday. One of my finals on the Tuesday was a mock interview for the Education department. They brought in administrators from neighboring Spokane public schools and had us participate in a half-hour mock interview in which we were evaluated based on our answers to the questions and our professionalism. It was a ton of fun! The interviewer that had me said she would hire me in a heartbeat, which was bittersweet since I have still been unsuccessful in landing a job here... but flattering all the same! She said it was one of the first times that she had no constructive criticism to give, so I feel as though the Education department here at Whitworth is giving me all the tools I need to do well in the job market :) when it comes to teaching jobs of course... otherwise, I'm still trained for nothing!

After my last final on Friday (take THAT, Advanced Cell!) I went with a few friends to eat me some 5-pound burrito (and no, I still couldn't do half... the guy friend with us ate more than my friend and I combined. He was a fistful away from finishing it in one sitting, and of course he's thin as a board...) and then promptly slept for 14 hours unintentionally. Laid my head down for a nap at 5pm and didn't wake until 7:30am the next morning. I don't think I've ever been that awake or peppy! Some of my housemates did not appreciate it I think :) That weekend I tied up many of the loose ends (pretty much picked off my whole to-do list for the summer minus the ongoing projects... felt awesome!), went to graduation on Sunday (promptly freaked out, too, when I realized that that was me in a year...), sang at Baccalaureate beforehand (which apparently is a fancy word for prayer service when I thought it was a fancy word for graduation... school can be over and you can still learn!) and celebrated my birthday! It was great and very low key; most of my friends went home for the summer or were graduating and were with family, so I only spent the evening with four other friends and had a great time. It's crazy to think how fast time has flown and that, four years from now, I'll finally be grown-up enough to rent a car! CRAZY! I look back at myself when I was 18 even and cannot recognize myself... I am so incredibly thankful for this transformative time and all the people who have been part of it. Thanks everyone :)

So with another year at Whitworth under my belt and one more to go (BAH!), I've been keeping busy... had some leads on jobs that friends had heard about, such as a position at a youth center and daycare, but still have had no luck in my applications. If you can keep this process in your thoughts and prayers, I would deeply appreciate it. As of right now, I've given myself a deadline: if I still have no luck in landing a job by the end of the month, I'm coming home. Everyone has been so wonderful in trying to help me and in understanding my fluidity in my decision-making, but I want to do what's best for everyone else as well as myself... I just hope I can figure that out. It's all so confuzzling! I trust Him though, and what needs to happen will happen regardless.

So after doing odds and ends stuff in the morning, I've been having fun playing at night with friends I haven't seen in a while... it's been a great time! Right now I'm working on getting Haiti all squared away, including buying plane tickets and figuring out which immunizations I need to get (joy... pure joy). Everything looks as though it is progressing though! And I spend a wee bit of time either studying for the West-E, my teacher certification test in this state that I need to take in November before I student teach (based on my content, aka Biology), and learning a wee bit of Russian and a some Kazakh phrases. These are ongoing projects, including packing up and getting ready to move to my new house sometime in July! YAY! We're so excited and think it will be a wonderful change, minus the killer driveway in the winter... we'll just wear pillows in our pants to ease the falls is all :) in all, everything is looking bright! I also had a fantastic visit with my cousins Carissa and Chris, got to show them the metropolis of Spokane and all of its outdoor wonders, and just had a great time spending time with them. Thanks you two for such a fun time and for being great family to me :)

Steph landed happily and safely in Tanzania a few days ago and had a fantastic African birthday celebration (her birthday is exactly a week after mine, so she got to spend her 21st in Africa... lucky...) and is working at a daycare/school. It sounds as though she is incredibly happy, but I would love your help in keeping her in our thoughts and prayers for safe travels and good lessons. Thanks in advance.

Anyway, I best be going... my pa is coming into town! I'm going to say hi to him really quickly, head of to work/tutoring and then the fun begins. My mornings this week are being spent at Northwood Middle School helping Dave Gamon run his Charities Week deal and dad is coming tomorrow to meet him... and on Thursday mama is coming on over too! Can't WAIT to see my family, I miss everyone so much and Spokanistan is getting lonely :) well, I hope you all are well and that the world is treating you kindly. Love you and will hopefully see you soon!

Asalaam Aleykum,
Chels

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures... they're all in my head :)

The End of All Things Junior

Oh hey! How are y'all?! I think the Spokane twang is getting to me a little bit... which reminds me, I was sitting at the DOL this morning getting my license renewed and someone's cell phone began ringing the most high-pitched, blue grass country tune I had ever heard. And that's when I realized; welcome to Hickville :)

Well, these past few weeks have been hard work but extremely rewarding. First things first, I finished my unit plan! It turned out to be 45 pages single spaced and multiple sleepless nights and weeks, but I actually had a blast doing it. I've already received feedback and my professor called it a "masterpiece" and is going to use it as an example for future students AND has shown other parts of it to the School of Education dean and professors. Apparently she was proud of my work :) Also, my advisor has asked me if my online teaching portfolio (obviously a working document) could be the chief student evidence used to help the School of Education renew their accreditation. I feel very accomplished and blessed; it's very humbling to know that God's call on your life is not only something you love but something you have the potential to be good at! It'll take YEARS upon years of experience, but I'm getting the best start possible at Whitworth. As far as other school things go, I wrapped up two of my three field experiences (thank goodness!) and am working on making my presentation for the Institutional Review Board for my behavior intervention. Good news, the kid's still living and we didn't completely tank his schoolwork. I count that as a success for being a newby, yes?! :)

In other breaking news, next week is finals week! HECK YES! I cannot be more ready for this semester to be over, but at the same time it has been the most growing semester and time of my life I think. I really feel like I've crossed the bridge from Kidville to Grownuptown... it's okay, you should be scared. I have become a huge advocate for children and feel ready to try my hand at adult life. With Haiti (which has been officially paid for :) I cannot thank you all enough for your support), Kazakhstan (I officially downloaded an English to Kazakh dictionary for my computer... did you know that atan means a castrated camel? Apparently it's important to know... it's a good thing I'm growing up, but apparently not fast enough), student teaching with Dave Gamon, graduating and living, I feel like I have been blessed beyond compare. Along with this, relationships here, gaining and losing friends, and building my relationship with God, I feel ready. Ready to affect others, and ready to share joy. He has given me the patience and ability to trust that I needed to get to this place, so I am oh so thankful. Okay, enough of this stuff, I seem to be doing it a lot :) next week shouldn't be too tough for me which is nice; the rough part was last week, it's all downhill from here! I have a huge Advanced Cell exam that I could use good juju vibes for on Friday, but other than that it is completely manageable.

A few weekends ago, Steph and I were visiting our Sudanese friends the Zaki's and was told by the five-year-old about his garden. He wanted to show it to us so badly, so we trekked outside and were taken to a weed-ridden plot of dirt with nothing useful growing in it. We asked him what seeds he had planted, and he replied "these!" and promptly grabbed a rock, buried it in the ground and watered it. It was both kinda sad and adorable :) so Steph and I decided to help him create his own garden a few weekends ago. Apparently he was up at 2:30 in the morning waiting by the window for us to come (which wasn't until 4pm...) and asked his dad to call the news stations. He said, "tell them to bring video cameras! We are making a garden! It's huge news!" Needless to say, parents = not so pleased with us :) So we borrowed a shovel and got to work.

We bought carrots, radishes, blue flowers and tomatos. You can see he was giving us a lesson. The look on our faces... we felt more scared than we look.

We found worms. He said we had to protect the worm homes. We did. So there. It was a ton of fun, and he goes out to check it every 20 minutes or so. Every kid needs a hobby :)

Last weekend was fantastic, it was our Women's Choir concert! It was called, "All Shall Be Well", and went off wonderfully. We sang mostly in English this time (who woulda thought!) except for one song in Latin called "Vivos Voco" and five songs that comprised a set called "The Hebrew Love Songs" in... well, Hebrew.... this set is my favorite. If anyone would like a copy of the CD, just let me know! There are a few pictures down below...

Typical.

These are the choir officers this year. Amy, on the left, was El Presidente, and Janelle, on the left, was the Chaplain. Tada! I'll miss these two Seniors!

Starting July 1, I will be living elsewhere! I'm very excited about this, as are the other housemates, and we think it'll be a perfect fit for us. But I really wanted to show you a picture, even though I haven't taken one of the place yet, so here's the Google Maps street view image of the place:
Lovely, huh?! We're on the right side of the "Magic School Bus", so the side with the garage door open. Can you see why it's called that? Pretty obnoxiously yellow... we love it :) After move in, we plan on planting a garden and fixing things up, even though it'll be pretty dang perfect. This summer will also be full of camping, playing outside and other frivolities. Still looking for a job; beginning to think I have more resumes out in the Spokane area than I have extended family members... but I'll keep trying. My best shot right now, I think, is at a small bakery behind the school called Le Petit Chat, but it's a long shot. I'm trained for absolutely nothing, I have no skills! I tell people that I have worked with kids at a theatre arts camp and was an RA and a tour guide, and do you know what that equates to? I'm trained for nothing. I'm also diligent though, so I'll be sure to keep you posted :)

Well, I'd better get back to work. I just need to stay strong for another week and I'll be golden! I love you all and hope you're enjoying your weekends. Hope it's as beautiful on the Westside as it is over here :)

Peace and love,

Chels

P.S. Have fun wth Payton if you're going to see her... give her a hug and a kiss from me :)