American in Paris

Christmas

2009-12-29T03:42:00.000-08:00

snow fun

2009-12-21T02:43:00.000-08:00

2009-11-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

I live with a cool girl, someone who I always wanted to meet before I met her, and now I got to live with her, I think she’s just as cool as I thought she was before I met her. Ha.
I’ll tell you why she’s cool. She’s cool because there’s no pretending or pretentiousness with her, what you see is what you get. When I first came here I felt I could talk to her like I could with my sisters, just honest to goodness chats where there’s not a whole lot of mincing around with words. She’s got some of the best advice around and her practical down to earth way of talking helps me to put things into better perspective. She makes me laugh and the best part of all is that she laughs at me.
I think Sofie is loving. I think she is loving because she’s not afraid to compliment other woman, to tell them exactly what she admires in them, without thinking about herself and how it may make her feel about herself. I think she is loving because she is honest with herself and others, I think she is loving because even when certain things don’t come naturally to her, she fights for them anyways, I also think she is loving because she is a good listener, and she’s always got a answer for every problem and a bit of encouragement.
I think this home wouldn’t be the same without Sofie’s fresh originality and uniqueness. She’s brave enough to be completely herself and that is something I admire.
Happy Birthday Gretal, you should know I love you(I also like you…love is what we’re supposed to do with everyone) and your unborn spawn and I’m really happy I’ll get to be around when ‘’it’’ is birthed. I hope it won’t be in denial of how much it loves me like some other kids I know….
Love ya!
Ps.I am posting this picture so everyone can see your loving face, it goes along great with the post, n’est pa?

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Someone told me once a while back, that if I scored Peter I would be getting one of the best guys around-- Well, what do you know? I scored him, and I’ll have to agree with them on that point, I did get the best guy around. Peter has been a wonderful example to me and others of someone who has gone through much, and is still going through much, but who’s brave and uncomplaining and yielded to whatever the Lord asks of him. I know there are things on his heart that he wants more then anything, but he’ll never mention them or lament the fact that the Lord chose not to give them to him, he trusts the Lord so emphatically that it puts me to shame, and I can truly say I’m so blessed to have this aspect of him every day.
I know many people who have met Peter, even for a brief time, that have been touched by him in some way, even if its just that he has a calming effect on them and took time to listen to them. I’ve had people who barely knew him telling me that there was something very special about him. He’s lived in two different homes in the last year and half and they are still getting over losing him, and hold out hope that some day he’ll be back. He is a quiet person by nature, but yet he has the gift of listening to people and understanding their hearts, what they are really all about. He makes a terrific shepherd because of the humility and wisdom that he has gained in allowing the Lord to break him, and in giving to the Lord the things he valued the most.
I don’t think I could accurately describe just how good he is to me as a boyfriend, he’s simply too too good, and I’m afraid I don’t deserve it at all, but yet I am very thankful. He takes the cake in the unconditional love department. He’s my best friend and the person I can be completely myself with, he supports me in everything I do, because seeing me happy makes him feel happy, he gives me a lot of allowance to be a brat, which anyone who knows me will testify that I am, but yet he’s firm enough to tell me when enoughs enough. He’s the calm at every single one of my storms and brings so much balance and stability to my life..in fact, I can’t think of a time when I was more secure and stable. I am so thankful for him.
He’s such a good Dad, firm, yet loving and concerned. He’s a amazing witnesser, and has a lot to share with people, I’ve seen him take on all kinds of roles, and do them to the best of his abilty, even if they weren’t his favorite. In fact when I first met him that’s what stood out to me the most, his availability to do whatever was asked of him, big or small, or however undesirable the task was, that to me is the epitome of manliness.
Even the people that love me most in the world tell me I don’t deserve him, ha! Again, I’ll have to agree and part of the reason of why this post is so long is because I often fall short on telling him and showing him just how much I love him, and how he has changed my life and how I am at my best when I am with him.
I hope some of your personal dreams come true for you very soon honey, you deserve it. Happy Birthday! I love you.

2009-11-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today during wordtime with the kids, we were doing a skit of Samuel as a boy being woken up by God calling his name. Cynthia was doing the part of Samuel and when ''God'' called her, she said, ''speak Lord, for thy servant is deaf.'' I had to fight back my laughter as she was in earnest and acting her part out so seriously. All I can say is, thank God for children.

2009-10-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't actually known Joyce for all that long, not even a year, but yet she literally overnight became a very close and dear freind, because thats just the kind of person she is, she finds her way into everyone's hearts, and then keeps her place there. Some people you meet and befreind and then they go their way and you go yours, and that's the end of it, but Joycy keeps and invests in all the people that have come into her life. She's loyal, fun, a solid diciple, a bold witnesser and a fighter. So Happy Birthday Joyce! I am sorry this post is a tad late. I am so thankful you came into my life, and most of all I'm thankful that your still very much a part of it although we live apart. Your a keeper! I love you.

I left my heart in Switzerland!

2009-10-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be able to visit for a couple days, staying with Mike and Simz who were incredible hosts, Thank you guys!
Switzerland, as you can see by the photos is a gorgeous country, everywhere you look there are green hills, beautiful pastures, lakes and rivers. Not to mention that the Swiss are incredibly efficent and punctual...Tra La La. All in all a wonderful trip that I hope to do again soon. Enjoy the pictures!

2009-10-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Richard Bach describes soul mates as "A soulmate is someone who has the locks to fit our keys, and the keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we; we can be loved for who we are and for who we're pretending to be. Each of us unveils the best part of one another. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person were safe in our paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life. "

Virgo

2009-09-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say a little something for all four of the most wonderful woman I know on their birthday month. I am very lucky to have them in my life.

First of all my sister. Clare is rather more like a best friend then a sister. She’s the most down to earth, practical and encouraging person I know. Most of the tough decisions I’ve had to make in my adult life were backed by her faith, and if it weren’t for her encouragement things would have been a lot harder. She’s never lost the spark that’s made Clare Costello quite famous and well known in parts, and I’m very proud when I tell yet another person who commented on ‘’That girl Candina, the one with the beautiful smile and glowing spirit’’ ..that I am her sister. So Happy Birthday sis! I hope you, Jaz, and your way too talented kid have a couple more good years coming, and that the Lord rewards you mightily for your faithfulness.

Esther Korkames is someone who I couldn’t completely sum up in one blog post, and even if I tried it wouldn’t do her justice, so I am going to stick with saying that here’s a person who truly lives their life in self sacrifice to others, and everything that she does or puts her hands to doing is motivated by love, and that makes her the most wonderful friend. I haven’t always been the best of friends, but that doesn’t seem to matter to her, because she’s only interested in what she can give, and not what she can get in return. Well, I owe her a lot, and I hope you know Este, that Peter and I still think and talk about what you did to help us get to see each other while he was away, it meant the world to us. So thank you for everything, but especially your friendship. I love you dearly. Come visit us soon.

‘’Those Hot twins’’

I love em’! What’s more to be said? Not only are they beautiful, talented and ridiculously good cooks, but they are some of the sweetest most generous girls I have ever had the privilege of living with. They are always thinking of others and their well being, they will go out ( and I mean out) of their way to make someone feel comfortable and at home. From the moment I walked in the door they made me feel as if I had known them all my life, and things haven’t changed since that first impression. They are quick to forgive and slow to offend, they are fun and goofy, yet serious and understanding, your joys are their joys, and there have been many a time that they turned a gloomy, frumpy day, into a fun and even exciting day. I feel very privileged that I get to live with them, and most of all that they are good friends.

Holland

2009-09-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

I got to spend a weekend in Holland with half of the band. They have a freind that they visit regularly, and this time I got to come along. He thoroughly spoiled us while there and gave us a tour of Rotterdam. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

http://s622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/idlewild1420/Holland/

Fairy Tale Party

2009-08-23T06:47:00.001-07:00

http://s622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/idlewild1420/

23

2009-08-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

I am now of the age where I stop counting, and when someone asks how old I am, I take a moment to remember, because its just all the same to me now....somewhere in my 20's.
22 has been a good year for me, and some of the Lord's most beautiful gifts have been given to me this year. Some unexpected things did happen its true, but then again thats just life for the Lord, and with those unexpected things came experiance, places and people that I would never trade in for the world.
Happy Birthday to me!

Handsome.

2009-08-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

2009-08-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Life is always changing dearest, and the best that one can do is to flow with it, to surrender it into my hands, and to just flow! You will never lose the most beautiful parts that make you YOU, because I haven’t designed or intended it so. All that’s happened is that you’ve surrendered the childish part of you, and you embraced the world of adulthood and responsibility, breakings, tests and trials, and with that has come much. Maybe you feel that you have lost the parts of yourself that were attractive to you and others, but trust me on this one, what you have gotten back is ten times more beautiful than what you have given up. Putting away childish things once and for all is never easy, in fact you may look at some of those beautiful things or think back on them and how well they served you, how attractive they made you in the eyes of man, and what a thrill they gave you, and you may feel like you didn’t want to give them up, you didn’t choose in fact to give them up so soon. But in return I have things for you that will thrill you to the very core, and not just fleeting temporal joys, but real rich tangible highs and thrills. I will enhance your spirit to shine with a new kind of light, maybe not the showy kind that draws people to you, but one that will draw those who are looking for me, and hoping to find it in you. It could be sheep, or it could even be home members and friends, either way it will be me in you, and it will come because you surrendered yourself and everything you used to hold very dear, to me.
I love you, and your still very much you, still the same girl I love more than anything, and you always will be.
Jesus.

2009-08-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

List of things to do before I'm 30:

Visit a nudist beach in France.

Check.

Here's the link to pictures of our two week vacation at the beach, and you needn't worry, I left my camera behind before going to said beach.

http://s747.photobucket.com/albums/xx117/idlewild14/Beach/

VACATIONS

2009-07-17T13:08:00.001-07:00

And so we're off to the beach for two weeks!! We're hoping for good weather, as hot weather is not always a guarantee here in France; even in summer. I will have lots of pictures when I get back.
Bonnes vacances!

Summer has come!

2009-07-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

2009-06-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

We were quite privileged to have gotten to know Gabe and Sarah, who came for a short visit before moving on to Africa, their new home. Their dedication and commitment to the Lord and the family was a great inspiration, and their lively personalities kept things fun here in the home. So stands to reason they are missed!

We love you.

2009-06-18T14:33:00.001-07:00

Have faith for my plan for the family. Have faith in my plan for your life. Have faith in My plan for those you love. Have faith in my love most of all! the faith I give you is not unfounded. It will not betray you. It may surprize you, and it may take you on some roller-coaster rides of emotions and experiances. But it the end, you will see that it has sustained you, it has provided what you need, it has carried you through, and it has overcome the world.

2009-06-07T10:17:00.001-07:00

We're going to have the kids over the summer months fulltime. I am happy because I love having them around. Nathan has discovered that he has a great love for God. He is very spiritual and before he goes to sleep at night, I cuddle up in bed with him and we talk about many different topics and he has lots of questions--most of which are from a boy that is way older than his age. The other day he very solemnly looked at me and said, ''Nicole, God is very great isn't he?'' I agreed with him and then he went on to say, ''Oh, I think I like him very much.''.... That makes me happy.

Liz Visit.

2009-05-27T05:12:00.001-07:00

On her way to South Africa, Liz had a 15 hr layover here in Paris. The airport is 15 minutes from the house, so Peter went and picked her up in the wee hours of the morning and brought her to the home. Peter, Sophie, Oli and I took her to Paris to see the sights. We had a picnic in the same spot that the ‘’Texans’’ had when they came to Paris and the home here took them out—right under the Eiffel Tower.
We had rain, then sun,then extreme cold. We saw policemen chasing and eventually catching men who were selling stuff illegally, we got locked out of the car for a hour and half and had to keep Liz pumped on coffee—all in all, a good day and hopefully a memorable one for Liz.
We miss you….you naughty American girl.

2009-05-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

2009-05-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Scroll down to read the post about our trip.

2009-05-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Toulouse.

2009-05-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

We are in the south of France. Staying in Toulouse, where Peter and his family are from.
We're here because its his Dad's 50th birthday, and he rented a chalet up in a ski lodge and invited freinds and family to spend a day and a night.
We booked tickets on a overnight train but we were late in getting to the station, so we had to run through the metro catching our three different metro's to get to the train station. We got there literally as they were about to pull out, I don't remember the last time I had to run so hard. We hardly managed to sleep all night as it was quite uncomfortable and there was lots of commotion, but we were just glad we made it.
His brother picked us up when we arrived and we all went up to the chalet. The drive to get there was beautiful! I took a couple pictures which I'm posting below, but none of them do it any justice.
I have to admit, when we first arrived and were greeted by his relatives and freinds of his Dad I had a moment of panic! I am not a shy person by nature but it was a bit overwelming for me. Everyone is from a different town, so some you have to kiss 2 times, others three, and still others four. I was getting it all mixed up besides not speaking the language, so then when they showed us to our room that we were sharing with three other couples, I felt that I would quite like to sit down and have a good cry. Thankfully Peter took over the situation and stuck to me like glue and translated and answered questions that were being posed to me, until I got more comfortable with everyone.
French people love to eat, and they'll eat so late into the night that its been quite hard for me to get used to. They served snacks and Hors d'oeuvrus early in the evening before our main meal at 10:30. The dish we had was quite interesting, its quite a specialty and everyone was very excited about it. Its called ''aligot''. Its made of melted cheese blended into mashed potatoes, but the twist is that its ready only after it develops a smooth elastic texture. Then they wrap a fat Sasuage in it and Voila! You can see the picture below of the man who makes it in a large pot placed in the middle of the room, he makes quite a show of touching it almost to the ceiling. It was very filling and considering it was late in the night, I had a hard time finishing it. Then ofcourse the Franch have their cheeses, almost for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Apparently I have a good taste for cheese as I enjoy even the strong ones. My favorite is goat cheese, many people are discusted just by smelling it, but I can't get enough of it, and I think my body is starting to bear witness to that.

I now have a opinion on the French. I like them! They are not like they are portrayed to us Americans. People who are polite to a fault are generally looked on as ''snobs.'' Thats the way I would describe the French--not snobby, just polite, very polite. The older people have fun, they party and speak loudly and eat till the wee hours of the night. The young people smile and enjoy life and contrary to what I always heard, they do try very hard to speak english, and they have been most helpful to me. Ofcourse you'll have your snobs, just like anywhere, and I'm defanetly not the authority on the French, but I have been here three weeks now and have gone out a good amount, and for the last two days I've been in a chalet stuffed with them and I have only found them to be courteous and freindly. I don't think they have much spiritual depth and they generally don't ask many questions about your life or ''pry'' in anyway, so that's a bit different for me because most witnessing for me starts like that-- the person being curious about your way of life and having lots of questions. But they don't, they just leave it at that.

This blog post is long enough so I will leave you with a couple of pictures.

Ps. This specific post is having issues with me posting pictures, so I will post pictures of the whole trip up on the more recent posts.

2009-05-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Kids

2009-05-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

I finally got to meet Peter's kids: Nathan and Cynthia. Nathan and I hit it off immediately. He's a bright boy with many questions, much older than his years. He already wants me to put him to bed and to be there when he wakes up. I'm very thankful that they have both taken to me so well in a short amount of time. I worried a bit before that they wouldn't welcome my presence in their Papa's life, but we were pleasantly surprized to discover that they accept and love me more because I'm part of his life. They live with their Mother close by, so we will see them every other week. I miss them already.
Today we took them to a nearby park for a picnic. The weather was warm which is so nice considering its still been cold here in France. I used to have terrible allergies when I was younger, but they went away as I got older-- now they are back, in full force! I also used to get car sick to the point that I could barely ride in cars, that is back as well. But overall life is good-- and beautiful! the little town where we live is on the outskirts of Paris and its green! There are forests and big meadows, and yellow flowers as far as your eyes can see, old buildings and boarding houses, moss covered houses, and people riding around on bicycles.
Really, kind of the way it is in movies.

May 1st.

2009-05-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got my first taste of Paris. The Metanoya had a gig in downtown Paris, and they took me along to see the sights. While the guys were setting up, Agnes and Sofie took me to see ''Sacré Coeur.'' The Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart) was built at the end of the 19th century in Paris. Its famous white architecture dominates the city, and you can see all of Paris. The nearby streets of Montmarte are full of artists and restaurants. The interior of the church contains one of the worlds largest mosaics, and depicts Christ with outstretched arms. They were in the middle of Mass, so we had to walk around very quietly. It was a bit of a eerie feeling, and when we were out I felt I could breathe again. We also visited the ''Moulin Rouge'' and it wasn't nearly as impressive as I always imagined it to be-- but even so, it was a cool feeling to be standing at such a historic sight. I really enjoyed ''The Metanoya's'' preformance, there is nothing like seeing a band live, it's ten times better! I now have to confess that I am a Metanoya fan. Until I get a camera to take pictures of the sights and attractions with, I'll have to get pictures off the internet, so I hope you'll content yourself with that for now.

Paris.

2009-04-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

I arrived safely in Paris early this morning. The whole trip went off without a hitch, and was one of the more pleasurable traveling experiances I have had.
I am not sure I will always be of this opinion, but all the French people that I have encountered thus far have all been very helpful and polite-- its surprized me a bit because I was expecting them to be very cold and formal, but so far I am impressed.
The Paris home here is very welcoming as well and made me feel right at home from the very beginning. Tomorrow they will preform in a Irish Pub, and it will be my first time to be out on the town in Paris.
Hopefully I will get pictures to you soon.

I will miss....

2009-04-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Al.

2009-04-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Ally is one of the greatest loves of my life, a good freind and solid home member.

She is the kind of person that loves you on your sad days as well as your happy days.

She is almost always cheerful and upbeat, and even if she allows herself a moment of the blues, its strictly always for a moment.

She is a wonderful Mom, patient and soft spoken and full of love.

She is a awesome outreacher, salesperson, and alot of fun to go with. I am going to miss our weekends.

She is faithful to show her love in many different ways; from gifts to special desserts out, to a sound tongue lashing when it is needed, a trip to take care of all the business I was too scatterbrained to take care of beforehand, patience when I am being a brat for no reason at all,
and countless free drinks down at her little house with chunky and the MAC MAN.

For all these reasons and more, I am going to miss Ally.
Happy Birthday Al. God willing this will not be the last birthday I get to spend with you.
I love you.

2009-04-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

So I am moving to Paris temporarly to be with Peter until we can work out his paperwork. Moving to France is one of the last things I would ever have forseen for myself, but as I've seen these past couple of years, the Lord likes to do things very contrary to what I expect, and he dosen't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Already some of you have told me you expect pictures and news, this blog will be for that very purpose.
Nicole.