1.1.11

first day of the new year! wow, hard to believe that 2010 came and went already... i haven't had much time for reflection about last year or even for the new one to come... but i did come across this donald miller quote that i really liked and hope to live out this next year... make it a new one and keep on changing into His likeness.

“I could not have known that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons; or they die. The seasons remind me that I must keep changing, and I want to because it is God’s way. All my life I have been changing. Everybody has to change, or they expire. Everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons. I want to keep my soul fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently. Only the good stories have the characters different at the end than they were at the beginning.”

baby joel dec. 30, 2010


baby joel dec. 31, 2010... not much of a difference for the both of us, but that takes time ;) hopefully by next year we've both grown (probably in different ways haha) and look back to see how the Father worked!

good news and bad news

i'm assuming people usually like to hear the bad news first... :)

bad news: i've been pretty sick this past week with a fever, cough, drippy nose, stuffed nose, cold sores, achy body, fatigue, and all that jazz. it's been passed off from one teammate to another and pretty hard to avoid since we all live on the same floor and breathe the same air haha.. i've only went outside once the past 5+ days and that made things worse. so here i am, sick and weary... BUT it's been a blessing in disguise because i was able to catch up on rest, sleep, and grades that i wouldn't have been able to do if i was well. haha so the bad news really isn't THAT bad ;) thanks father for knowing what i need, when i need it, and sustaining me every minute.

the bad news of being sickly... piles of dishes, work, and clutter to clean!



good news: the night before christmas was calm, relaxing, and... normal. then i received a text early christmas morning from a teammate saying "8 am- it's a boy!" i was pretty sure he was talking about baby Jesus and it was some kind of joke... but it was no joke! turns out baby schmidt didn't want to stay any longer inside the womb and decided to pop out a month early and blow all of our socks off for a wonderful christmas surprise!! i ended up being the big sister's single-parent-foster-mother for a few nights too... and i really felt like a mother too haha (it was a lot different than normal babysitting experiences where you only watch for a few hours at a time) thankfully i wasn't totally alone but had wonderful help from other teammates too, especially during the day! the good news is big sister is alive, my gratitude for my parents and all parents has increased 106% (thanks mom and dad!), and we have a new member to Team HEU! :D please remember the schmidt family and their health, transitions, and the new baby, joel!

big sister, Olivia, and i hanging out with the bandtastics :)

my neighbors/teammates finally back home with their 2nd best Christmas gift ever :)


more pictures to come (once i'm well enough to be near the baby hehe)

V is for Video

random videos are fun. enjoy!

outside one of the main teaching buildings... they are fearless and good. haha (now that section is blocked off.. probably because i was videoing it. darn)


my sophomore student, nick, making great sound effects as they watch shrinky dinks (a craft) bake in the oven for the first time :)


ruthy modeling for one of my class hehehe (listen to the students reactions, priceless haha) and making a 6ft snow angel :)