The beginning of a regular blog (?)

Since I've been handing out a bunch of business cards with this blog on them, I think it's only proper to write a post. Welcome to all of you who just perhaps might happen to be new readers! ^_^

I've just returned home from a crazy/busy/delightful/memorable whirlwind visit to PA. For those of you not from the blessed state: Yes, people from Pennsylvania call Pennsylvania PA, and we will continue to do so, even if no other state does it. Mostly, I got to see a. family - people who will love you and be connected to you forever, if only because you're related somewhere back there and b. old friends - people who knew you back when you did incredibly embarrassing things because you were to little to know to be embarrassed, and they love you anyway.

I love visiting Western PA (Fayette County, particularly), because there's family everywhere! They might be my grandmother's brother's wife's cousin's grandchildren, but we're still related! (Okay, I don't think I met any grandmother's brother's wife's cousin's grandchildren, but it approximates some of the family connections in Fayette County). I got to see all my Martin cousins in PA (talk about having a blast! Every time we get together is a great time.), my uncles and aunts, several 'somehow' cousins (a "somehow cousin" - you're somehow cousins, but it's complicated. Yeah, I made that up.), a great-aunt, and a great-great-aunt. I wouldn't mind settling in Fayette County sometime...

... but there would be competition from Eastern PA - where so many old friends live. We visited sooo many old friends, who have known me/my family since [before] I was born. As we drove allllll around our old stomping grounds, I was looking back and forth, back and forth, looking to see if I saw something I recognized. Sometimes I recalled the place(s) perfectly, but other times there was only a vague impression of a memory, and, of course, other times I drew a blank. It was thrilling to see so many old friends - friends my age, and friends who treated me as their own children. I realized my old habit (started by my parents) of calling my older old friends "Uncle" and "Aunt" was as comfortable as it ever was. I guess if I think about it, it's a little new for my "Uncles" and "Aunts" to be more like friends than secondary parents... Not that I mind. ^_^

So, the week was great. I loved getting to see family, old friends, and everyone else, and now that I'm older, hearing "We pray for you every day" means far more than it ever did before, especially since I'm preparing to move abroad. There are some things on the trip I doubt I'll ever forget, but I won't put them on public record for now. ^_-

For those of you who are new readers, and the old readers, too, feel free to comment (translation - DO!!), it helps me to know who actually reads this and encourages me to write more.

Signing off for now,

Miss Chatters

PS If you happen to notice that Penny Book and MJ both contribute to this blog, it's because they're both me. ^_^

PPS It's my birthday tomorrow! Twin digits!! Thanks to those of you who already said Happy Birthday!

Check it out!

Earlier I posted about my favorite online clothing store, c28, but now I'm telling you about a certain Etsy store. For those of you who are asking "What is etsy???", allow me to enlighten you... sort of. Etsy is a site which allows people to sell their crafts or crafting supplies to other crafty-minded people, or people who simply like cool stuff. So whose Etsy store am I promoting? Call it nepotism, but I'm endorsing the little shop my sister and mom have made: www.etsy.com/shop/betsandjos.

In the event that you didn't know (and there are plenty of those events), my mom is a serious crafter. She loves making things and trying new ideas, and loves when she can spend a whole day just crafting. Some of the things Mom has made are handbags, like this one, and she just might put more up for sale if they seem to be selling. My sister has also caught the crafting bug. She enjoys repurposing things like making a fork into a bracelet - a fracelet. She's also changed a lot of shirts - adding ruffles to make a plain t-shirt into a dressy faux tuxedo shirt, but she likes to wear those herself. She is, however, selling her collection of ties, which are pretty much a steal at about a dollar apiece.

So, check it out, buy some stuff, and support the good cause. What good cause? I forgot to mention it! "We're selling these items to help Jos head to the other side of the world. She's excited to go, and we're excited that you're interested in helping her get there!" - from the shop.

This will be brief... I think.

I should totally be getting ready for bed right now, I already had a headache earlier today from lack of sleep - bad me. Howsomever, I just logged back onto blogger, so I feel drawn to post something.

Right now I am listening to the single of a rookie Korean band which debuted in Korea this past week. I like the song enough to play it twice in a row. I partly like the band because one of the members was in a drama this fall that I loved!

I've begun my final semester!!! Woohoo! Hopefully I'll acquit myself well. I "get" to have 4 English classes this semester, plus two more classes on top of that. Why did I decide to add an English major? I'm not really sure, but it's too late to turn back now.

People have been dying this year. A few years ago, my dad was performing one funeral each week from the beginning of the year until sometime in March, and that phenomenon seems to be recurring. There have been 5 people who have died so far this year who are connected in some way to my family, it's kind of weird. I wasn't really close to any of them, but even so I don't feel guilty about not being grief-stricken - I know for certain that they are in a better place. But then there are the people in Haiti. One earthquake shattered their already-unstable land last week, which was horrifying in and of itself, but then a second one today. I'm thankful that God has a plan, because if I didn't know this, I think I would be upset that He would allow such massive losses of life in such a sudden, catastrophic way. Haiti's earthquakes weren't halfway around the world, which makes them far more shocking and personal to me. It's not as personal as it would be if I knew people who died, but I know people who knew people... It's a strange feeling.

I'm tired. Just physically tired? I don't know, but I need rest.

Ergo, I'm signing off now,

Miss Chatters

My favorite clothing store. Ever.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to my favoritest (yes, I know that's not a word) clothing store. C28.com has pretty much the coolest shirts you can find that also have a Christian message. Instead of corny shirts that alter brand logos, you can find shirts that proclaim "In the beginning was the Word," "Be the Ant" (that one's out of print, but I own it, it's based on Proverbs: Go to the ant...), "Made by God and made for God," "Peace Love & Hope Gentleness..." The shirts (which are my favorite thing to buy) are stylish with a strong message for Christ. I think of it as a quiet way to shout to the world that I'm a Christian.

(They're having a 48 hr sale right now, and they frequently have good sales, if you're thrifty like me.)

I have a wishlist, if you all want to check it out: http://www.c28.com/wishlist/information.asp?emailaddress=madelinemartin@clearwater.edu&lookupperson=yes&adid=wishlist_TW

The Beginning of the End

I'm about to begin my final year of college. There are still a lot of things up in the air, such as whether certain funds will come thru, and therefore, whether I live on campus or at home. There are some perks to living at home... Youtube access being one of those (I've gotten hooked on Youtube over the summer...), but I've lived on campus for the past 3 years, and it's an enjoyable challenge, living with strangers who become friends... or something. I haven't prepared much to move back on campus... or resume school, but I'll need to buckle down posthaste, since school begins in one week, and I've got some challenging classes this semester.

I'm together with all my sisters. There are 4 of us, and one has been missing for more than a year (living overseas, yes, H, who I visited around Christmastime), and the other 2 were gone for awhile over the summer. I'm enjoying the vibe from being around 3 others who think much like I do. Don't get me wrong, we are very much individual, but we share similar thought patterns and "Oh, that makes me think of - "s. We only have a few weeks left before H leaves again, but we're milking our time for all it's worth.

Today we (we meaning the four of us) went across town to one of the Asian food stores in the area. I now have enough instant noodles to last me all semester (if not all school year!). I'll have to exercise self-restraint when I'm around more instant noodles. We decided to lunch at a favorite spot down the road, but through a wrong turn or something, we discovered a Middle Eastern restaurant, and J freaked out from excitement when she saw falafel on the sign. (She visited Israel and Jordan in the spring, and discovered that she loves falafel and schwarma.) (If we had seen a sign for haggis, I would have similarly reacted, I discovered I love it when I was in Scotland in May... It tastes much better than it sounds like it would taste!) We ate a bit at the initial place, then hit up the Middle Eastern restaurant, then sighted a spot a few doors down that has Asian-style teas (Bubble/Pearl/Boba tea and milkshakes... J fell in love with Pearl Shakes while in Micronesia this summer) (Yes, we're a travelling family.) It was a great time for us all.

I've discovered I like Twitter. It sends texts to my phone... This way, I don't realize at the end of the day that I haven't used my phone at all. It also lets me "follow" my favorite Korean pop celebrities and other random people. If you wish to follow me, I am EmJayeM8. Don't expect completely logical or non-fangirl tweets, you may or may not get them. However, I only have 2 followers... so more followers would be cool... (If I have followers on Twitter, does that make me a leader???)

The hour grows late, and I need my beauty sleep. (I discovered this summer that the dark circles under my eyes weren't permanant!!!! I want to keep them away.)

Signing off,

Miss Chatters

Current things

It's been awhile since I've updated... yeah, 4 months probably rates a "quite awhile," but "awhile" is pleasantly vague.

Things have happened since I was in China... Shocking, I know. An entire semester of school passed by. It was a good semester, and I learned a lot. Speaking of learning, I've progressed in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean... There are positive benefits to enjoying Asian tv, especially when there are subtitles.

I've also learned about being a parent. For those of you who don't know, I work at an aftercare during the school year. Many of those children are poster kids for "I don't want my kids to turn out like that" and they're only in 1st grade. I've also been babysitting during the summer, and have experienced the triumph/relief when a little one finally (!!) falls asleep for a nap, especially if they were being fussy... When 1 year olds are tired, everything becomes a dramatic tragedy. Lord willing, I will be a parent someday, but I definitely am not ready to be a parent now.

Also on the whole "parent" topic, my brother is going to become a daddy in December... The whole family is really excited. He and his wife will be great parents. It's slightly weird that my brother is going from "Dr Martin's son" to "So-and-so's dad." (Of course, he's also known as himself, so it's not a complete long jump, more like stepping stones...) It kinda means that it's not that far off for the rest of us. (Relatively not far off... I'm in no rush.)

Around March, I started to listen to Korean pop music. It's fun stuff, and an extra plus side is that if I don't really like the lyrics in translation, I can ignore the lyrics and enjoy the music, 'cause I can't tell what they're saying! One song I could listen (with a completely kosher translation) to forever is Smile by KyuHyun - listen here.

I'm planning to conduct some experiments this summer: Bleach and Color - how far does it go? I'll be testing some cheap (colored) fabric with different solutions of bleach and water. When I feel confident regarding the different outcomes, I'll have some fun with some clothes I got on clearance. I'll probably act scientist and create a report on the effects of the solutions, as well as my finished products.

I went to Scotland in May. It was pretty. It was cool. I enjoyed the rainy weather, most of the time. One of the outstanding benefits from the trip was afterward: I had to read short stories by Scottish authors for the Lit. class connected with the trip, so I elected to re-read stories from The Golden Key and Other Stories by George MacDonald. Wow. The Golden Key is officially now my most favorite fairy tale... It's certainly not a Disney fairy tale, but the layers of brilliance and insight are untold. I wrote a paper for the class about the subject of Death in The Golden Key, I'll just say, in light of The Golden Key, and the Christian perspective that it is written from (and I share), I'm ready to die. It might sound morbid, and I assure you I do not in any way wish to hasten my death, but The Golden Key presents an outstanding perspective on death which is rare, especially in fairy tales. Look it up, the copyright has long expired, so it's easy to find under public domain. The Golden Key by George MacDonald. (By the way, his other fairy tales are certainly worth reading, as well.)

Life is slow right now, but I'm content. It's nice to not have an alarm clock buzzing under my pillow every morning.

I have waxed eloquent long enough. Signing off for now.

Christmas in China

My apologies for the extensive delay in the continuation of my travelogue... I could blame schoolwork... Okay, I'll blame schoolwork, it's a handy excuse... better than "I've been lazy..."

We left off on Christmas Day. On Christmas Day after H got back from class, she wrapped her presents for me and then we opened them. It didn't take that long, but it was fun, especially as she opened 2 for every one of mine and I got to see her excited responses to the different things. When she opened J's calendar, she basically started crying... I had to convince her not to... but it was definitely one of her favorite Christmas presents. Another was the webcam... I guess we mostly hung around during the afternoon, we might have watched something on the STAR movie channel (they show the most random English-language movies with Chinese subtitles). I think it was Home Alone 3. For Christmas dinner, we went out for dumplings with five others. It was my first time really trying dumplings (I would write the Chinese name, but my Pinyin is rotten...), and they're definitely on my list of favorite authentic Chinese foods. We had a great time conversing and stuffing ourselves with dumplings (so good!!!). H brought along the calendar to show off, which was fun for her. After we got back in, we connected the webcam and video Skyped with the family. It was funny, because for them it was somewhat early Christmas morning, whereas our Christmas was almost over. We chatted for awhile and showed them around the apartment. It was good. A great memory for all of us, especially those on the US side, who hadn't seen H's face since July. Afterward, we went next door and watched an old 90's Christmas movie I'd never seen before. It was corny, etc, but it was fun to watch it with the others in the group.

Well, that was Christmas. I'll focus on remembering the rest of the trip so that I can finish the account in upcoming days.