Funny Fifth Graders :-)

Happy Thanksgiving recovery week!

     It's so exciting to be in the Christmas season here in Vienna!  The city is lit up, the Christmas markets are open, and the magic in the air is palpable.  This also, of course, means that the students become sillier and sillier!  In the interim while I prepare a more thoughtful (ha) blog update I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite papers...

First...a glimpse into elementary school chapel.  The video link below was used as part of an ongoing mystery about Mr. Chopstick's (a finger puppet chef) search for peace.  I haven't laughed so hard while taking pictures before in a LONG time.  The kids are big fans.  

The two papers below are spelling/vocabulary word stories written by two of my fifth grade boys.  They are so absurd and yet strangely well done I had to post them for you so that we could chuckle together ;-)

Once upon a time there was a magnificent fat guy.  His essence of life was to eat.  He had animosity against his neighbor Bob.  They lived in a commonwealth of Tunisia.  They had controversies over Balderdash stuff.  Once they were fighting about the Cherry Coke flavor when suddenly Big Foot stomped next to them.  He told them to stop fighting about superfluous stuff.  And told them how unauthorized you are to talk about this, and the essence of life is to help each other and love one another!  This should be an ubiquitous state.  And with that he ran back to the woods.  And the fat guy and Bob were stimulated and became friends and watched Skyfall together.

Once upon a time, there was a guy named I Don’t Know.  He had to do a strenuous task:  telling a lawyer his name.  He was commendable because he won a baseball game.  So he went to the lawyer’s magnificent office.  He said, “What’s your name?”.  The guy replied, “I Don’t Know.”  “Okay.  Let me try again”, said the Lawyer.  “Don’t speak balderdash.  Really, what’s your name?”  The guy shouted, “I don’t know!”  “That is a superfluous statement!”  Now there was a controversy between the two guys.  “I swear, if I don’t get your name, I’ll be ubiquitous and ask your name everywhere you go!”  The lawyer now had animosity towards the guy.  “I told you one hundred times!!”  The guy was now going to show his true essence.  (He is a really bad guy when he gets mad)  “That’s it!  I’m going to get you in a conveyance and I’m going to blow you up!”  The lawyer exploded.  But before he can say another word the guy killed him.  Because he was the Hulk.    

I'll write a more detailed update later but for now I hope you had a little chuckle!

Love,

Amy

This week in the world of 5th grade

Happy November!
     Christmas is just around the corner and thanksgiving is just at the end of the week and life at school and here in Vienna has never been busier!  It's all full of good fun, hilarious escapades, conferences, lice infestations, and every now and then finger puppet investigations.  For this blog update I thought I'd just give you some highlights of what we've been up to here in the 5th grade :-)

This is a picture of (part of) the 5th grade.  As you can see we are a very serious bunch of learners that spends a lot of time at our desks dedicatedly focused to our tasks at hand.  Okay so...we do a lot of learning but we have a lot of fun too!
     Last week we started reading "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien during our read aloud time and I am happy to report that this group is progressing steadily in their Tolkien addiction.  An important part of any child's education of course ;-)

Oh, by the way...we were also attacked by LICE last week at school!  Thankfully everyone emerged alive, but it was probably a totally sane and not at all over the top decision on the part of my roommate Sarah to wear a shower cap all day as an extra precaution.  Note: she also used her shower cap as an object lesson about the passover.  I kid you not.  The lice would pass over her head because she had covered herself with the shower cap.  This is how she thinks.  I love it. 

  

Even though we couldn't sit in our beloved couches all week and our pillows are under quarantine we found a way to soldier on!  We've started book clubs for our next novel unit and students are broken up into reading groups specializing in "Bunnicula", "Shiloh", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and "The Phantom Tollbooth".  We are reading experts!   

Recent conversations were had about the ridiculousness of American idioms after the group of students reading the Phantom Tollbooth came across the expression "Money doesn't grow on trees".  Also the official interjections of the 5th grade lately are "Calloh!" and "Callay!" after studying "The Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.  Also realized that no one has any idea of what an adverb is.  Oops.  

Learning about culture in our Social Studies class.  We have created imaginary countries and are now populating them with people that have shelters, food, traditions, holidays, and beliefs of their own.  Mostly everyone wants to create treehouses.  Had to explain that you can't have a treehouse if your country is one gigantic desert with no actual trees in it.  

Continuing our book buddy adventures with the 2nd grade students!  This week the 5th graders wrote mad libs for the 2nd graders to complete with them. The second grader to the left with the striped shirt loved his so much he insisted on taking it home with him to show EVERYONE.  The 5th grade author to the left was quite overwhelmingly proud.  

 THe best thing about book buddies is that the students can work together in a safe environment.  Many of my 5th graders are English language learners so sometimes it's actually the second graders that help them with hard words!  They themselves are teachers though, especially two girls that are working with 2nd graders who literally just began learning English this summer!

 Chapel happens every week.  My roommate is in charge of teaching about the Fruits of the Spirit. Somehow this has spiraled into a crazy adventure of a finger puppet on the lookout for a missing pizza recipe.





 
This is Mr. Chopstick in his best detective gear which Sarah and I may or may not have spent an hour completing.  For a huge laugh you should check out the album of his adventures looking for his pizza recipe on Facebook!

 Finally, had a great message from a pastor about remembering to take a Sabbath and to be refueled.  To that end some of the staff members including myself went on Saturday morning for a hike in the nearby town of Baden where we played in some ancient ruins and enjoyed nature.

So thankful for all of your prayers!  Love and miss you all :-)

Love,

Amy

Wow it's so hard to believe that it's already October!  In some ways it seems that I have been here only for a few days while in others it feels as though I have been here forever!  One thing is for certain...every day in little ways God confirms that this is the place that I have been called to and this is the purpose that he has planned for me!

We have been learning and having so much fun in the 5th grade and I am so thankful for each and every student and the unique challenges, blessings, and opportunities they bring to my classroom and to me.  There are struggles (how do you differentiate math when you have some students ready for high school algebra and some still learning number sense?) and blessings (prayer time is so amazing when each child shares their heart for the country that they come from) and every single student teaches me something every day.


Last week the 4th and 5th grade students greeted the ambassador to Kosovo when he came to speak at ICSV.  They were able to share with him two songs praising God!  They did a fantastic job and were very excited to perform!

The Ambassador (on the left)

The 4th and 5th grade choir :-)

We have also been loving the opportunity to get to know the second graders better through an activity called "Book Buddies".  Every Friday we are visited by the second grade class and each student has a special buddy that they talk and read to.  It's so cool watching them help their buddies.  We also got to visit the second grade art show on Friday (see goingunderthmercy.blogspot.com for pictures of that event!) and present award certificates.  Take a look at the book buddies below!

The fifth grader on the left has a brilliant imagination.  He's from Hungary
and he recently wrote his book buddy from South Korea a fantastic story
about a ship wreck!

I'm so proud of the fifth grader on the right!  Her parents are missionaries from America and her
buddy is an adorable Iranian girl who just started learning English this summer!  It's
a challenge helping her to understand the book but this awesome girl is up to it!

My super sweet cuddly Dutch student loves helping her buddy (from the Philippines) 

Mauritas, America, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia all sharing a couch and learning
together!  These girls are all so sweet.  

These girls are so sweet.  The fifth grader on the right has a heart of gold.  Pray
for wisdom as I help her with reading and writing.  She didn't begin school until
second grade due to a teacher's strike in Zimbabwe and so she needs a lot of
help learning to express herself!

The boy on the left is one of the most caring student's I've ever met.  He works very
hard in reading and writing and comes to life when he has the opportunity to help others.

The awesome boy on the left is the star of half of my funny stories.  He's brilliant and very funny
and is always up to something interesting with the Hungarian boy at the top.  His buddy
is very mischievous and you can read all about his adventures in my roommate Sarah's blog.  

I'm so excited to share pictures with you of my students!  I can't post their names along with their pictures but I'm excited to tell you stories about them and share what we are doing!  

One more funny story (I WISH I had pictures!)  On Friday I received a package with lots of American goodies inside from my parents.  The kids were losing it with cheers when they saw each treat (seriously if you ever want to do something fun and nice you can send us American candy...it's like gold here!).  But the real exciting moment was when we took the ABSURD amount of bubble wrap and laid it all over the floor after pushing our desks out of the way and then had a 2 minute popping party!  It was adorable (and loud) and we laughed very hard!

Thank you all so much for your prayers!  These kids come from a lot of backgrounds and some of them have situations in their countries or families that are out of their hands.  It's such a blessing to be able to pray with them and intercede for them.  This week as you pray could you pray for their countries and families?  They come from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Hungary, The Netherlands, South Korea, America, and Austria.  We covet your prayers!!!

In Christ,

Amy

First Month of School

Hello Friends, Family, Prayer Warriors, and Casual Stalkers ;-),

Wow, I can't believe that on Monday I will have been TEACHING at ICSV for a whole month!  This is a totally insane realization.  Even more insane was my realization that it's been three whole weeks since I last updated you on what's been going on!  Don't worry, I've given myself a stern smack on the back of the hand and a judging look in the mirror so I've paid for my error.  There certainly has been a lot filling up my time.  So, following the pattern of my last blog update I've decided that rather than trying to bore you to death with every minute detail, I'm just giving myself another time limit.  In that time limit I will share as much with you as possible.  Does that sound fair?  Not that you get a choice.  I'm kind of the queen of my blog so I get to do what I want ;-).

It is currently 11:22.  I officially give myself until 11:50.  That way I can get some pictures in.  Ready...set...go!

School Life!

Alright so I've been getting to know all of my students very well, and they are an awesome group of kids!  As I've mentioned before they are from nine different countries.  In some ways teaching at an international school is very similar to teaching in America in that kids are kids no matter where they are from.  I'm still breaking up Dodgeball related drama, giving spelling tests, and working through the hardships of math...but in some ways it is a very different challenge.  One of the major challenges is that most of my students are speaking English as their 2nd or 3rd language which means that teaching grammar, reading, and writing is a big challenge.  Four of the students are still in ELL classes which means that they are still mastering a basic command of the English language.

Another major challenge is the wide ranges of educational backgrounds that my students come from.  I have one student who is from a country in Africa (sorry can't post specifics until I have permission) and who didn't get to go to school until second grade because her teachers were on strike.  In the same classroom I have several students from Korea who have had heavy math emphasis throughout their education.  So sometimes class can be challenging because the student's prior knowledge is so wildly different.  (i.e. some still learning how to round while some are dividing with 2 digit divisors and thinking it's too easy).

Yet another awesome challenge with these students is teaching them about the Bible.  Imagine sitting in a room with 16 students (I added one last week) to talk about God when some of them have missionary parents, some have never heard of the Bible, and some are from different religions!  Just this Friday we had a great conversation because they get to put their questions about God in a box and we wrestle through them.  One of the questions was "How are Christians different from Catholics?".  We got to wrestle through this together with the help of a girl in class who is Catholic.  The students then wanted to know if Islam is similar and our Muslim student shared his background, then a student from South Korea piped in with information about Buddhism!  So awesome!

I can't post pictures of the students right now because we don't have photo release rights (and some students can't have their pictures posted regardless) so I'll just share a few pictures of one of our assignments where they had do define their vocabulary words with pictures :-).

Caption: Man: Trash that dog poo-poo!
Girl: Sorry!

Defining the word "Skeptical"

To "Attain"

A lab activity where the students attempted to use reasoning
skills to "Save Fred"...Fred was a gummy worm.  

Personal Life....

Sarah and I moved last Wednesday!  Yes that's right we are FINALLY in our real apartment!  I don't remember if I shared this last time but we have had quite the nomadic trip!  We started out in temporary digs and then had a shower related water problem and had to move to two different friend's apartments to live on couches and wait for our apartment to be ready.  Well...now it is!

We've been working hard to fill our apartment and turn it into home but it's a gradual process!  I am not fully prepared to reveal our magnicifent apartment in all of it's glory because it's just not up to par yet but I can give you sneak peeks!  We have begun to accumulate some basic items through the help of the school and friends (like a table, couches, etc.), and have been shopping for some other neccessities to make the apartment feel more like home.  But we are still waiting for a few more SLIGHTLY important items...like beds...and a washing machine.  We have been truly impressive women in putting together these items, but I am sad to say that we were outsmarted by a curtain rod during one of our assembling parties!

Sarah and I prepare to assemble a gifted wardrobe
(we succeeded) 

Bought some apartment necessities!

Shopping is a lot more challenging when you
have to get everything home on a bus or
train

The collection of secondhand eclectic tea cups has made us very happy!

Next week's challenge is painting!










Spiritual Life...

God continues to be so gracious and awesome in helping me to transition to my calling here in Vienna.  I am lifted up by my friends and family at home in prayer so powerfully that I have really been able to settle in and be used by God.  Another blessing is the great community of teachers at the school who are so willing to help and encourage me through the whole process!  Truly I am blessed!  I know that there will be times of frusteration, loneliness, or sadness in the months to come but please help me to pray my way through them!

Here's a few prayer requests if you wouldn't mind...

*  That our visas come through!  We are still waiting to be "official" here in Vienna!  It's taking a longer than usual amount of time for our visas to be processed so please pray that there are no issues.

*  For my students and their families - that God would create windows for ministry in their lives and that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading so that I can minister to them.

*  For the school as they make some important decisions in the next few months that could potentially help the school to grow even more (more details later)

*  For continued energy, joy, and health :-)



Love you all and miss you like crazy (if you are at home) or love that you are here with me (if you're in Vienna)!  Please keep in touch and let me know if you have any questions about things!

Love,

Amy

I'm still alive!

Hello All!

I must start first by apologizing for my tardiness in updating my blog.  The past few weeks have been insanely busy and filled with totally story worthy moments that I have neglected to share because I've been so busy living them and preparing for this week, the week that these past months have been all leading up to...the FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!  Wow what a whirlwind!  I don't know how on earth I can begin to share enough without being a long winded bore (still possible) or writing until my fingers fall off (and I could really use those working on lesson plans this afternoon!).  So I'll settle for telling you as much as I can in...hmmm what's a fair length of time.  Fifteen minutes you say?  Good agreed.  Clock starting....NOW!

Okay so before school began I spent the week prior in All Staff orientation and in preparing my classroom.  During this time several of us elementary teachers were something of a running joke because we were staying every evening until 10 or 11 at night.  But all of you reading this who ARE elementary teachers must surely agree that while a behavior flip card chart certainly LOOKS simple...the silly thing took probably three hours and 15 copy jams to work out so while your room looks sensible in the end it took you an absurd amount of time.  Side note: Thank you to my amazing principle Amanda Howard for leaving the 5th grade classroom (she taught last year) amazingly well organized so that I walked in to a great room!  So anyways here's the end product before it was invaded by children:

It took me three tries to hang this silly alphabet.  It was ridiculous!

So that's my classroom!  Note that I have window cling plants instead of real ones because I am a certifiable plant killer.  It's sad but true.  Also for those of you looking at this and going..."my WORD she has a huge classroom!"...you're right!  I do!  I have the biggest classroom in the school and my windows open out so it's the coolest room as well.  I've tried to enjoy my room with Christ-like humility as I enter smaller and warmer rooms but I may or may not casually drop into conversation the fact that I could fit two regular rooms in mine ;-).

When school began my room was invaded by 15 of the best kids in existence who I have immedietly fallen in love with!  They're from nine different countries, one of which I actually had to look up on a map because I had no idea that it even existed.  Seriously people I'm pretty sure that countries have been sneaking onto the map while I wasn't looking because I'm usually very good with geography!  Some of my students are fluent in english (4 are American children of missionaries) but conversely there are 2 that are just learning English.  I've learned that I have to speak slowly and clearly (ha!) and use lots of examples and illustrations.

Sharing the gospel is an amazing privilege as well!   Some of my students are from countries that don't allow the gospel to be preached openly and at least one is Muslim.  It's already creating really amazing conversation openers.  I so appreciate all of your prayers that the Holy Spirit would guide me and create openings into their hearts!

Here's a pic of the entire elementary school on our first day assembly:

8 Minutes left and so much more to say!

In our personal life there has been much amusement as well...sooo since time is running low here's a highlights version:

*  Sarah and I (my roomate) spent an entire saturday morning people watching from our window onto the courtyard.  We discovered that we may or may not be Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window and that Bathsheba lives in Vienna now.

*  Our house meister came to our door one evening at 10pm and knocked on the door until we opened then walked right in and started taking apart our bathtub and demanding tools.  He spoke no English.  I was ridiculously confused.  I resolved to learn German immedietly.

*  We had to move out of our apartment.  New one isn't ready yet.  Currently crashing at other people's places!

*  When we moved it was like an evacuation drill.  I have no idea where anything is that I own.  Sarah made sure that the plants survived.  I was unaware that I own so many things.  The aardvark made it okay.  

*  Have met amazing people and am making friends for life.  So grateful for the people that God has placed in my life and so excited to see our relationships bloom and grow!

Two minutes!  Time to wrap up!  I can't wait to share more about my mistakes, triumphs, lessons, and growth in the classroom.  Your prayers mean the world to me and I'm so excited to follow you all as well!  I'm so blessed to be here doing what God has called me to do and can't wait to follow him farther. 

 I feel like Lucy stepping through the wardrobe...when I was little I opened every closet door to try to escape to my own magic world but didn't know until now that my Narnia is here in Vienna and the magic I was looking for was God's call in my life!  

Love you!

Until next time (drat 1 minute late...)

-Amy

Welcome to Vienna!

Hello All!

It's official...I'm living in Vienna!  After arriving on a very HOT Monday morning I've spent the last week with new and returning staff members focusing completely and totally on learning how to live in Vienna.  Learning how to ride the Uban and get to Ikea...conquering the feat of grocery shopping...sitting in silent confusion as we are helped with the legal paperwork...and MUCH more!!

My roomate Sarah and I are currently staying in a temporary apartment while we are waiting for the renovations to be completed at our place.  As such we are living in an internet free world for the next month or two which is weird but kind of refreshing.  The secret is going to places that have free wireless :-).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here's a few of the things that I've learned this week...

I've learned how to take the Uban (underground train) to get nearly anywhere in the city!
It's really clean and easy to understand.  The whole thing's like the honor system though...
You buy your ticket for a day, week, month, or year and 9 times out of ten no one ever checks it!
If they do it's a fine though

We took a walking tour of the downtown area of Vienna to familiarize ourselves with where
we're living!  I learned that it's nearly impossible to catch Sarah NOT making a weird face.
Here she is showing us her Roman soldier face.  It's very intimidating.

Downtown Vienna is very beautiful and you can walk basically anywhere.
Farmer's markets, Christmas markets, and Easter markets often fill the streets with activity

Dogs are REALLY popular in Austria!  You can take them into the mall, and onto the Ubahn
You almost never hear them bark but you best get used to seeing them ALL over!  Even in restaurants!
True story they like them more than kids...

You can make yourself feel right at home by adding personal touches even in a temporary rooming situation!

For a fun shopping experience and lots of cheap produce you can go to naschmarkt and pick up things!
This picture isn't taken by me...it was SOOOO crowded (on Saturday) that there was no way to take out my camera...
I DID however order 2 lemons completely in german :-).  

if you are polite and nicely explain that you don't know German many Austrians are still
happy  to talk to you!  And sometimes they even ask to take a picture with your
toothbrush!

And finally your toilet will always be in it's own separate room.

I could go on for hours sharing all about what I'm learning but for now this is a start!  Next week is new staff orientation and then I'll be hard at work transforming my classroom!  Prayers for my future kids and their families and for my transition are greatly appreciated.  Can't wait to stay regularly in touch as soon as I have a permanent internet connection :-)

Love!

Amy

Vienna or Bust!

Hello All!

Did you ever have one of those moments that you have been planning for and thinking about for so long...that when it actually happens you don't even know what to do with yourself?  That's how I'm feeling today because today is THE DAY!  I'm en route to Vienna and the beginning of this new chapter as we "speak" and I don't even know what to say about it.  It's a very surreal feeling :-).

This week was all about packing and family time.  If you follow me on facebook you know that I have been somewhat ridiculously agonizing about my suitcases and what stays and goes.  So I finally caved and checked three suitcases (one of them is overweight - poor baggage guys).  The interesting thing is that I'm not even 100% sure what is in all of them.  My father (the proud scoutmaster) made it his personal mission to pack as many things as possible into each suitcase in some kind of an awesome quest to be the world's ultimate packer.  When I opened one suitcase and found a tiny stuffed aardvark and t-rex I knew that we'd both gone bannanas.  His argument for keeping them both was that they made friends and couldn't be seperated and I may really need a stuffed aardvark someday so wouldn't I feel silly if I took them out?  Hmmm hard to argue with crazy logic I suppose (love you dad!).

As we speak I'm in the midst of the airport adventure.  First transfer was to Chicago - next I'll be headed to London.  Stupidest thing so far?  Hmmm probably the fact that their is no food in the international terminal but there's copious amounts of cigarettes and alcohal to purchase.  To this I wonder...what's the bigger threat level here?  People eating McDonald's or people packing away the Whiskey and Vodka on an empty stomach?  I'm sure someone can probably explain the logic of this to me but I'm not sure I'll believe them!

I've been amusing myself thus far taking stupid pictures of the toothbrush and company chilling in the airport with me.  If you don't understand the toothbrush's significance you'll have to look back at my old photos from Europe.  Best. Traveling Companion. Ever.   Attempts to post pictures of their awesomeness failing miserably.  Pictures aren't uploading well here.  Apologies :-(


Hopefully if all is good I'll be arriving in Vienna at 1:10pm Austrian time on Monday where I will be greeted and ushered off into a week full of orientation to living and getting around in Vienna.  It looks like it'll be a couple of weeks before I have wireless set up at the apartment I'll be living in so no promises on regular updates until things settle down.  In the meantime some prayer requests below.

Prayer Requests:
* Continued safe travel!
* Energy and focus as I make the transition to a new culture and ministry
* Luggage that arrives safely! (and in the right place)
* The hearts and minds of the families that I will be meeting, creativity and energy for teaching
* Adaptability
* Still praying in 44% of my monthly support!

Love you all!!!!!
-Amy

Bon Voyage (soon!)

: 

Hello All!!!

Wow it has been an inexcusably long time since I last updated my blog!  In my defense I was out of town but I will do my best to make restitution by giving you a nice solid blog update today :-).  [side note:  I only know what the word restitution means from listening to Adventures in Odyssey - I don't know why this is necessary to share].

So since it's been awhile and a lot has been going on I'll give you a highlight reel version of everything leading up to yesterday...which was my goodbye party.  My highlight reel is regretfully lacking in pictures.  I'll make it up to you at the end I promise.

Highlights:
1.  Finished training in New York on July 6th...drove 4 hours home and took off at 2am the next morning to fly with my family to Florida.  Impressed my mother by having my laundry done and repacked at Houghton before coming home.  Felt smug.

2.  Went to Florida where my family rented a condo with my grandmother, family, aunt and uncle, and cousin and her husband.  Huge blessing that this was planned last year so that I had this bonding time with family...shared a room with my sister.  No one died.  This is a huge accomplishment.

3. Magic Kingdom (yay).  Got stuck in Haunted mansion seance room while riding BY MYSELF (mistake) for 20 minutes (weirdly terrifying and simultaneously annoying).

4.  Rode Harry Potter ride 3 times.  Argued with siblings about which house we'd be in.  Settled on this arrangement:

5.  Came home...confronted the fact that I need to pack all of my belongings.  Realized that I am a horrible packer.  Had panic attack.

6.  Successfully packed up all of my clothes, shoes, teaching supplies, DVDs, and began to sort out books.  Realized that packing up all of my shoes three weeks early was probably a mistake.

Okay so now we're officially caught up to yesterday!  Yesterday was a wonderful blessing.  Many of you who read this were able to attend and a lot of you already know that yesterday my family and friends hosted an ice cream social where I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all kinds of people that mean the world to me!  For those of you who couldn't be there here are some highlights!

My little friend who knows that sometimes you have to skip the ice cream and just
go for the brownies!

A former deer and merry (wo)man waiting patiently for ice cream

Enjoying Ice Cream with some beloved students :-)

Family and Friends

A display board about my missions work and how to support me

Getting a really special present from a really special girl

Enjoying the party!

The whole party was a huge blessing with an amazing amount of love from forever friends, students, and family.  I will be praying for EVERYONE while I am gone and really hope that everyone keeps in contact!

I'm at T-minus 2 weeks and counting before take off and everything is becoming more real every day.  I'll be updating you on how things are progressing and how the move goes and what I'm up to.  

I'm also still praying in more monthly support.  God's been good and I'm up to about 50% as of yesterday which is a huge blessing but I still have a ways to go.  Thank you for your prayers. Oh and check out the picture below ;-)

Much Love!!

-Amy

Okay so those of you who have followed my adventures in other yeas will know why this is AMAZING!
My friend Kelly has given me a whole toothbrush family to travel with!