Job? What Job?

So I mentioned in my "I'm back" post that I had got and job and then subusquiently quit that job. Let me explain,

Since I am a EU citizin I can live and work in Europe visa free! What a wonderful blessing and opportunity. Being a "making ends meet" missionary the idead of finding a job had a alsways been on my mind. I would go around and apply every few months. I working in a friends waffle shop for a few months in spring 2010 until they had to close down. The Economy.

Then I'd try and find another job but it was hard as I would be gone for a month in the summer and for a month over Christmas. No one hired me. After I came back from Cali I asked around at a few shops but didn't hand in any CVs (resumes). Then I looked at my responsiblilities for church, the Neglias and counseling; and decided that a job mght not be practical. I prayed and asked God to provide just through support and gave up the job search. This was March.

Not two days (!) later did I

get a call from a friends mother. She was opening a cafe and wanted me to come work. I had actually spoken to her way back in September of 2010 when I was still searching for a job, I told her when you open, I'd love to come work for you. Well I hadn't heard from her so I definitely was not expecting a call 6 months later!

I felt a bit obligated but also the idea of working in a cafe a few days a week didn't sound too bad!

So I started in mid March and it was fun at first.

She had never worked in a cafe before let alone started one so I was hired for my expertise and advice. The place need a lot of work, not major things but just working out a good flow of productivity, honing our menu and recipes, organizing the stock etc. I told myself I couldn't get too involved. I was currently in the 4 bible study, sunday school lesson writing, Eoin tutoring, and various church responsibilities stage of my life and couldn't take on setting up a cafe. But I still cared a lot. Coffee is one of the things I'm passionate about and especially in cafe where customers and money are involved I want to present the best possible product, cleanest environment, and all around good atmosphere.

So basically I couldn't let things just go. The problem was that all my my suggestions were dismissed or ignored. I could go on and on but it was just very frustrating to be hired to make a difference and then be unable to do so.

It was getting so stressful that it was affecting my attitude and my body. I started eating a lot of comfort food and was sore and achy. I even twice in the morning would be so stressed out getting ready for work that I actually threw up my breakfast. (those who know me know that I'm not that kind of person, this was serious) My attitude was very bad too. This is when I got in to arguments with my housemates, with whom I had live a year and a half tiff free!

Well lets wrap this up, I talked with the boss lady and was basically attacked for my ideas and grievances. I decided then that I was going to quit. She was going on holiday though for two weeks and would need her employees to work more more shifts, or would have to be closed half the day. My mother often tells me I'm loyal to a fault, so true to nature I told her I would work until she came back. Those two weeks were great! I organized, worked, cleaned without opposition. She came back and I was done and that was that.

What made this whole thing just awkward is that she is the mother of a friend and fellow Christian. I hate, even painting a possible negative picture of her because she is a lovely lady, I love chatting with her, she is terribly interesting. But that doesn't not make her a good business woman. And that was the disconnect I had to make in my head. That cafe closed down just a few weeks after I left and she moved to Scotland.

A strange experience to be sure. I think I shall not work for friends anymore but shall stick to established places of business.

Heal My Heels!

So in my list of events from the last months I failed to mention excruiating foot pain! How could I forget!?

In May I started noticing my feet were really sore in the morning. Then after walking around town for a day it started to feel like I was walking with a thick nail in each heel. Not so fun. I asked our prayer meeting group to pray for it and the next day the pain wasreduced! By the end of the day it was gone! Praise God! noticeable

Two days later the pain returned. I did a little WebMD research and though I have not seen a doctor I am pretty sure I have Plantar Fasciitis.

Planta- what-now!

Plantar fasciitis (say "PLAN-ter fash-ee-EYE-tus") is the most common cause of heel pain. The plantar fascia is the flat band of tissue (ligament) that connects your heel bone to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot. If you strain your plantar fascia, it gets weak, swollen, and irritated (inflamed). Then your heel or the bottom of your foot hurts when you stand or walk.

Delightful!

So I sent out a prayer request and started to take care of my feet.

Unfortunately that meant not walking, and i live in a city with no car, I walk everywhere! So I think I sat in my room for about 2 days. My feet felt better but again, after a just 30 min of walking there was the Pain again.

So I went to the drug store and took a look at shoe inserts. There was one with my name on it! It also had a 30 euro price tag! Well I got them and a foot massager. And tried to get lifts/rides when ever I could.

Thankfully with prayers and good care it's manageable. I also learned that it doesn't last forever. My aunt had it and now she it totally fine. So now my feet are managed by these rules (open to debate by other suggestions but this is what works for me!):

No flat shoes, at least a one inch heel to take the pressure off my heel

No going barefoot, not even at home if I can help it

Minimize walking, not more than 30 min at a time

Massage feet every night

Soak feet a few nights a week

Take ibuprofen daily

And Prayer!

So that is what I'm dealing with now! I'd greatly appreciate your prayers! Those two shoes pictured above are the only shoes I can really wear. And the tan ones gave me blisters on my toes (that is why my feet look so gross, sorry!)

I know it sounds silly but a girl can't wear one pair of shoes with every outfit! And the heels are wearing down cause I wear them every day! So pray for heeling (!) and pray I can find suitable shoes.

Back at Last!

I'm back! Forgive me readers! I can truly say that March, April, May and June have been the busiest months I've ever had in Ireland. To be completely honest there we some weeks I didn't know how I was going to do it all. I would even go days with out wearing any earrings! And for those that know me, that is a big deal! But now in July I can relax a bit more, catch up on some things and try and enjoy the Irish summer (which is 50/50 split between rain and sunshine)!

So I know I left this blog without finishing retelling my california adventures, but I'm going to skip a head to the now. I may cheat and do some post-dated entires just to finish my story! But to catch you all up here is a breakdown of my last 4 months!

• Getting a job at a cafe
• My dad coming to visit
• Counseling a women in church
• Teaching a single women's bible study
• Easter!
• An Irish Wedding!
• Rachel and Eoin go to California for 3 weeks
• Quitting my job at the cafe
• Redecorating my living room
• Throwing Rachel a western birthday party
• Tiffs with roommates
• New Sunday School curriculum
• Throwing a friends a going away party
• New washer and stove
• Bathing in the Irish sea!
• Going to Berlin for 4 days
• Eoin writing his first letters!
• And finally blogging again!

Whew! See, I have been busy! And all this with my usual bookkeeping, cleaning, sunday school, supply shopping, babysitting, sleeping, eating and living!

So thank you for being gracious. I've to hop in the shower now cause I'm going to work with Eoin in a bit! See you soon!

Getting things done

How did you not manage to blog at all last week?!?

How you ask? Well let's take a break from our California trip and get a news flash update!

Things have been quite busy! First up, I have a part time job! Oh the irony! Back in November, a mother of a friend of mine was in the process of opening up a cafe. She was planning to open in December and wanted me to work part time. As I was eager for a job then I agreed but said I would be gone for a month over the holidays. When I came back and was still thinking of working, she hadn't opened yet! She kept getting delays of every kind so I just gave up on it. Which suited my fine since I was becoming so busy. I decided to shelf the job search and just focus on ministry. God had blessed me with some individual supporters on my trip to California and I would be okay for money. Then I got the call, the cafe was opening. What timing! I tired to think of a way out but I had promised, she truly needed me, and I honestly missed making cappuccinos. So I started last week! It is a lot of fun but I am busier than ever now.

To top it off I also got sick last week (and still am at the moment). What started as the stomach flu has progressed into a good ol' fashioned cold. I really don't like being sick! It's hasn't been fun since I was a kid and being sick actually got you out of responsibilities and you had someone to wait on you hand and foot. Needless to say I miss my mom!

And thirdly my dad comes this Wednesday! I am so excited to spend time with him and show him the country, city, and people that I love so dearly. We re going to do a trip driving around the Ring of Kerry. A scenic trip around one of the western peninsulas. It should be amazing!

And there is a lot going on in the church too! We hare having a Seder on Wednesday night. It's a little early I know, but we are going through Deuteronomy and it fits in with the text this week so we're doing it now! We also have a men's breakfast, women's tea party and 3 day seminar in the next week.

So please pray for me! There is a lot to do, little time to do it, lots of distractions (good and bad) so please pray that I get everything done! It's my desire to spend and be spend for the Lord but I like to live to see 25! That's a little over dramatic but I'm sick so I'm a little whiny these days.

That is what's going on! I hope you are having a good, less busy week!

California # 4 - Missions Conference

So once again I'm afraid I have no pictures! I really should have thought this out, the whole Photo Reflection thing. But in any case let's get on with my trip to California before anymore time goes by!

After the Missions day at Santa Barbara, I headed south to Murrieta California for the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference. This year I particularly looking forward to it as I would be attending it as a full guest and not just for a day as in past years. Plus my dear friend Annie Johnson was coming down from Minnesota to the conference!

Now Annie and I met in Germany, oh so many years ago. I can't remember exactly when but it must have been in 2005-06 because I wasn't living in Siegen anymore. Right away, we knew (I did at least) that we were kindred spirits but we never seemed to have enough time to become great friends. With scattered and quick opportunities throughout the years we have become great friends. We would find ourselves in a same place for a day or two and make a point to hang out. She is wonderful! So I was really glad to get to spend a whole week with her at the conference.

The conference runs from Monday to Thursday with loads of speakers and workshops. It was such a blessed time. Not only to hear great teaching, but to see people who I hadn't seen in years! I kept bumping into people! The most amazing was problem my roommate from my time in Mallorca Spain, who now lives in Arizona, but came to the conference! Or wait, a girl from my first semester in Germany who now lives in Texas was there! Crazy!

Each day was filled with amazing meals, meeting new people, seeing old friends, making new connections, inspiring and enlightening messages, amazing weather, and the presence of God.

One things sticks out the most to me that is from one meal, either a breakfast or a lunch, Annie and I sat at a table with 6 girls all under 11. I have a real heart for kids growing up in ministry as I was a pastor's kid from the womb! I asked them what they liked about being a missionary kid and this is what they said:

Katie (10) - Helping people

Trinity (8) - Helping poor kids

Rachel (7) - She likes Sunday School and Church time

Lindsey (11) - Building houses for poor people

Savannah (10) - Helping others and telling people about the Gospel

I about cried! It was so encouraging to see these young girls loving the fact that they get to share in the work of God where their parents serve.

Another missionary daughter, shared with me her song journal where she wrote a chorus for a Psalm. She hadn't shown it to anyone yet! It was the sweetest song I have ever heard! Her heart of praise to God at 10 years old!

The whole week was like this, just wonderful stories and testimonies.

I must confess I did skip a few sessions to relax or nap! But it's supposed to be a relaxing time!

Then I dropped Annie off to catch a train in Oceanside and drove further south to San Diego to meet up with my dear friend. But that will wait for next time and I promise I have pictures of that!

Reflections of Cali # 3 Video Link Edition

So where were we....

Oh yeah Christmas!

So after Christmas I was just visiting friends, going to the prayer meeting in Santa Maria, I went to midweek study in Thousand Oaks; did some shopping and eating frozen yogurt. I was also preparing for Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara's mission Sunday on the 2nd.

But first New Years!

Unlike most people I know, I actually really like New Year's. I find it very anthropologicly (word?) interesting. Here is mankind, who has created a system of tracking time and when the allotted "year" is over mankind celebrates the passing of time and the future all at once. But I have yet to have an amazing New Years. :(

One year I did go to San Francisco, but I had to work the next day which meant I had to get up at 6 am to drive back down to Santa Barbara. Bleh! Then my first New Years in Ireland was fun, but I was with a bunch of people who aren't really so excited about "New Years" so it was more of a holiday party. Fun but not what I was hoping for.

So this time I decided to make New Year's great! Anyone who has known me from my early adult years know I love 80s music. I just can't get enough! ;-)

So there is a place in Hollywood that always has a big 80s New Year's bash. This was what I wanted. I convinced my good friend Bri to join me, even though she said she is not so much into dancing. This just shows you what a great friend she is! SO Bri was on board! Then my brother Nathan lives in LA! A place to say! No one wants to drive 2 hours back to Santa Barbara after dancing all night! Plus how fun to celebrate New Year's with my bro!

So Bri and I drove to LA, to Nathan's house. Then spent a good 2 hours getting all done up with Nathan's girlfriend Cera. I am such a girl because I love the "getting ready" part of an evening our. We teased our hair, adorned loads of jewelry and tried on many variations on the same outfit! Nathan was a dear and went and got pizza for us!

We took to metro to Hollywood Blvd and made it to the club with 5 minutes to spare for the discount early door fee. And then we danced the night away! It was so much fun! We cheered the count down, danced some more and then took the metro home! A good night! A great New Years!

Bri had to work in Santa Maria in the evening so we left LA at about 11. I went home and took a nap! Then went straight to work on my presentation for Mission's Sunday.

I was given the great opportunity to get up before the church and share about what I'm doing in Ireland. Santa Barbara, supports so many great missionaries and many were there so I knew it was a big deal that I got the slot. Unashamedly I know the pendulum swung my way because of my father but as a missionary, any opportunity to get your face out there is appreciated. My dad told me in the days leading up to it, "Aan-Sofie it's got to be good."

"I know dad, I'm working on it."

"No, it's REALLY important that you do really well on Sunday."

"Oh... okay...."

Not that I was going to do a lazy job but I sudden'y realized the gravity of the situation. David Guzik had given a speaking slot to his daughter. If I bombed, it would reflect poorly not only on myself but on my father's judgement and decisions. So I went over and over my text. Saturday afternoon I did a dry run in front of my parents. They said it was great. My dad gave me the nod of approval and I continued to work on my videos and table decorations.

Sunday came, I wore my new dress, curl my hair and read furiously over my notes. I was so anxious as I walked up the steps to the podium. I had decided to have a slideshow of Eoin and me playing while I spoke. Partly to just show people what I do, but also so that they would look at the video and not me! It worked! I was nervous but as I spoke I was more confident. When you are sharing something that you are so passionate and invested in, it is easy to speak. So I was done, my dad gave me a hug and I walked back down, took my seat and breathed!

I had to do it once more for the second service but I was much more confident then.

In between services and after the last one I manned my table in the lobby. I had "lucky" Irish pennies to give out, prayer cards and smiles! I got to speak to many people who had special needs kids or work with them and they were touched by what I do. Since many americans have Irish roots I met several who were glad to hear what God is doing in Ireland.

All around I'd have to say the day was amazing! God blessed me so much, my hard work paid off, and the church was encouraged to hear my story!

You can see my presentation at the link below. It's the whole service. First another missionary speaks, then my dad, then me about 33 minutes in:

http://www.calvarychapelsb.com/videos.php?q=view&id=733

Next up Missions Conference! (but that's for the next post!)

Photo Reflections of Cali #2 (minus the photos)

So I don't have any pictures of Christmas since my mom took them all! I wasn't able to get them off her camera because she lost it at Magic Mountain (they found it and sent it to us praise God!) so for a week when I could have downloaded the pics the camera was mia.

But... Christmas! It was a 3 days event! Our family traditionally does everything on Christmas Eve but Calvary Santa Barbara was putting on a huge production, actually 2! A christmas play and then my dad did a message. Plus it was at a real theater downtown! So Christmas Eve my family, myself and Nathan's girlfriend Cera opened presents, had an early dinner, then got ready for the event. We had to get a bit dressed up so Cera and I spent some fun girl time in the bathroom curling our hair and putting on makeup. Then when we got to the theater we were shown our seats and we were sitting in those raised box alcove seats! I've never sat in the box before! I felt like character in a Austen novel, although usually the rich characters were not the nicest so never mind. The play was amazing and dad's message was great. But as there were two performances my brother, Cera and I hoped in the car and went home to have some dessert. Then Cera had to go to her mom's house and Jonathan and I watched tv. Mom and dad came home, then Nathan and we probable ate some more then we went to bed.

Christmas day just so happens to be Nathan's birthday! Another tradition in our family is breakfast in bed on your birthday. Since the emptying of the Guzik nest there hasn't been a birthday breakfast in bed in I don't know how many years. So it was really special to be able to all be together for this. What you do is walking into the birthday-ee's room carrying a tray of their requested breakfast foods and everyone sings "Happy Birthday". Then you watch them eat, take pictures of their "just woken up" sate and hand them gifts in between bits of lucky charms and french toast. It is loads of fun! Then we kinda just chilled the rest of the day. Nathan went to spend some of the day with Cera's family.

In the evening Jonathan and I went to our uncle's house in Ventura where the Guzik clan was gathering for the sake of the cousins to see each other. Hannah now lives in Oregon, Sam in Washington, Josiah goes to school in San Diego, I'm in Ireland, Nathan in L.A., Jonathan had been in Germany, Melissa, Mark live in Carlsbad. So needless to ay we don't get together very often. My Aunt Carrie made food, we ate said food. Then we played games and watched old movies of us as kids! Oh, I forgot to mention, Nathan joined us! So were were all together!

Almost done! This was a three day event remember!

The day after Christmas there was church in the morning. That was fun because I ran into so many people that I remembered from my time in SB! We went home and then had a traditional Swedish Christmas Smorgasbord! Pickled herring, hard boiled eggs, crisp bread, meatballs, potatoes, pickles, smoked cheese. Amazing! We opened a few more gifts, ate more sweet things and then Nathan had to go home.

the best thing of all was being with my family. Merry Christmas!