Ten on Tuesday--Back to School Edition!

I'm not starting school this year (although I am a teaching assistant so I do still have a bit of a school schedule to follow), but all the high school students I hang out with regularly started school this week (or next), so in honor of their whining and moaning about summer being over, here's a Ten on Tuesday list dedicated to Back to School.

1. Did you love the first day of school, or did you dread it?

I loved it. I was one of those nerdy kids who had all her school supplies organized weeks in advance and her outfit laid out the night before and couldn't sleep with excitement--I loved the first day of school!

2. What was your favorite year in elementary school and why?

I might have to say 3rd grade. I had a great teacher (Ms. Hansen), my best friend Katie was in my class, I remember doing a lot of fun projects like writing our autobiographies, learning cursive, and taking lots of timed tests to learn our multiplication tables. I don't really have many negative memories from 3rd grade.

3. When you remember your first day of high school, what comes to mind now?

I remember being jumpy and scared that I was going to get lost, run over in the halls by a football player, or never be able to find anyone to eat lunch with. But then I remember it not being too bad. I think that was the day I met my friend Miranda who would later become a bridesmaid in my wedding (freshman algebra, quite a lot of memories in that class!), I had my first class with Mrs. Givens (who I would have every year after that for english and yearbook), and I remember being proud that I survived.

4. If you could share one piece of advice with today's high school students, what would it be?

Relax just a little! Life does not end if you do not get an A in every single class. I promise, I even came home with 1 C (Spanish 3...ick!) during my high school years and did it end my life? No, I got accepted to every school I applied for and was offered merit scholarships at each of them. It's okay to not be perfect--and I'd love to remind parents of this as well--the pressure I see our poor kids at church under sometimes breaks my heart.

5. What was the best part of the beginning of a school year?

The school supplies. I am a nerd, I loved shopping for our yearly school supplies, coming home and organizing them. It was a great part of the year :)

6. Top 3 favorite teachers in your life and why?

Tamara Givens--high school English and yearbook. She invested a lot in me, inside and outside the classroom, and gave me a love for literature that I am forever grateful for (especially Shakespeare!)

Donna Bengle--6th grade. I don't know what it was, but I loved Mrs. Bengle, she was the perfect balance between professional and cool, I learned a ton in her class but never felt like she didn't care or wasn't interested in me personally.

Mr. Gillespie--8th grade history. I don't even know his first name, but he made history come alive, he did all kinds of crazy things to help us experience the civil war, the american revolution, memorize the preamble to the declaration of independence etc. I loved his classes.

7. Favorite high school social event that you remember?

I think senior ball really sticks out in my mind. It was a really fun evening, all my good friends got to go together, most of us took sophomore guys as our dates (they were great guys to tag along with us!). Post-prom found us at Mels Diner at 3 AM celebrating Jenn's 18th birthday with a surprise middle of the night party :)

8. Favorite high school hang out?

We spent a lot of time at Mel's Diner that's for sure, after football games, dances, even at 3 AM post-senior prom! Ahh french fries with melted cheese dipped in ranch....yup we were healthy :)

9. What are you most proud of as you look back on your school days?

That I surrounded myself with friends who constantly lifted me up and kept me heading in the right direction. I don't know that this was my doing, I'm pretty sure God just plopped me into the midst of this group of Christians and said "okay, here's who you're going to do life with now" and for that, I am eternally grateful.

10. What do you wish you would have done differently as a student?

Not worried so much about what teachers thought of me. I was such a people-pleaser, and so much of my motivation in school was because I didn't want a teacher to look down on me, or be disappointed in me for not turning in a homework assignment on time etc. I wish I had been more focused on doing my best and letting that be good enough, I wish I'd realized people liked me for who I was, not how I performed in the classroom.

7 Quick Takes Friday

I know it's been quite awhile since I've done a weekly update, but here goes, here's the latest & greatest from Pasadena!

**1**

August is almost behind us now, but with it brought two fantastic vacations! I already wrote about our Houseboat trip on here, and a few days later we found ourselves in Colorado with 40 of my extended family members celebrating my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. It was a blast seeing everyone again, playing games, eating, relaxing, and of course sharing hysterical trips down memory lane and we rolled with laughter over the silly things that have happened over the years in the Hanson family. I love that we are so close and get along so well, that is definitely a gift our parents have given all of us cousins.

**2**

Of course a family reunion meant I got to see my baby niece again! I loved getting 4 days with Lily, watching her learn, grow, and charm everyone with her delightful smiles and giggles that are almost always present. She LOVES being the center of attention, and she most certainly was for the weekend!

**3**

We have a CRAZY fall when it comes to traveling, and it's funny because we weren't really expecting that! But just in the last two weeks our September/October have become packed with trips, events, and interviews! People keep asking what's coming up, so here's the run down of what I think our fall looks like. At some point (hopefully in the next two weeks actually) we'll be taking a quick trip to Seattle for a weekend for a job interview for my husband. In mid-September we're going to Florida for 5 days for another interview for my husband, and to see friends who live there, which we're very excited about! My 29th birthday is at the end of the month, and that weekned we're hoping to head up to Reno to visit my aunt and uncle, and so I can show my husband around the part of Northern California I call home (he's never seen where I grew up, went to school, church etc, so we're going to try to stop in Sacramento on the way up and back even if just for a couple hours). I want to take him to Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, and of course enjoy time relaxing with my family in Reno :) The first weekend of October finds me in the Northwest again, flying into Portland for my best friend's bachelorette party and then hoping up to Seattle for my final assessment with my Presbytery. The second weekend in October we're hoping to meet some friends in Yosemite, a place I haven't been since I was 10, and a place my husband has to see before we move out of California. The 3rd week of October I'll be back in Portland for 5 days for my best friend's wedding. Is anyone else as tired as I am now that I've read all that?? Yikes! Good thing I like reading on airplanes! November should be relatively quiet, my parents are going to come out here for 5 days which I am VERY excited about, but otherwise we should be around before heading to JAPAN for Christmas! (My passport came yesterday & we have our tickets, it's official!)

**4**

One of the things I've really enjoyed this past year is working my way through my list of 28 books to read in my 28th year (I always see birthdays as good times for new resolutions instead of January!). I love to read but if left to my own devices I'm a bit of an ADD reader--I bounce from one book to another, often not finishing them first. This list was awesome because it kept me focused, I actually read them all (okay I have about 1.5 books to go in the next 3 weeks), and I had made myself read a bit of a variety that I normally wouldn't choose. I am almost done creating my list for this next year, which will be posted as soon as I'm done with this past list! Any last minute suggestions? And it was pointed out to me that since I'll be turning 29 soon, I really will be working on my 30th year of life--which means I'll be doing 30 books for my 30th year...and it looks like a fun mixture of non-fiction, theology, fiction, classics, a couple plays, and some young adult/childrens classics I've never read. Stay tuned!

**5**

Work is going pretty well, although there will be some big changes to my schedule when school starts. I had the potential to have 6...yes 6 different part time jobs with Fuller, and well...that sounded a bit nuts to me. And not exactly legal since I can't ever go over 40 hours a week total, and with all 6 jobs that just wasn't going to be possible to avoid. So in mid September I'll have my last day at the Office of Development where I've been working since May. This fall I'll be working 15-20 hours a week for the Ogilvie Institute for Preaching here on campus, and will be a teaching assistant for a beginning preaching class, a distance learning youth ministry class, a youth outreach class that's being taught here on campus, and a youth outreach class that is being taught in Seattle. Our youth ministry prof who I've worked with for years now is moving to Seattle and will be teaching the class from Seattle, with a live feed to the Pasadena classroom. He needs me to be here in Pasadena to facilitate all the classroom stuff here but also to be prepared to teach in the event that the technology goes down. He laughed when I told him I'd pray every day that the technology works. He thinks I'm kidding. So I'll be getting paid both as the teaching assistant to do all the grading like normal but an additional several hours a week as a faculty assistant/class coordinator (whatever that means). I'm looking forward to the opportunity, but am a little nervous about this one!

**6**

The possibility that we'll be leaving Los Angeles relatively soon is starting to sink in a bit, although not completely since we don't know yet if or where we will be going quite yet. But having these job interviews set up far away from here is a reality check for us. Thus, we're working on doing and seeing all those LA things we've always said we'd do someday but haven't yet. Last Sunday night we random decided to go out to UCLA and wander around Westwood a bit which was a very fun evening. We did dinner in a local cafe and dessert at the famous Diddy Riese

This UCLA landmark often has a line around the block. And no wonder! For $1.50 you get a homemade, personalized ice cream sandwich, with two homemade cookies of your choice and a large scoop of ice cream (again your choice of flavor). This is a random image I found on line, but ours was a delicious combination of 1 peanut butter cookie on bottom, a scoop of espresso chip ice cream, and a chocolate chip cookie on top. Talk about a perfect business to have 1 block away from the largest California college!Other suggestions? What else needs to go on our Los Angeles "Bucket List?"

**7**

Last weekend I also planned a date night for my husband with an Italian/travel theme. I really wanted to see Eat, Pray, Love, and well my husband likes Italian food :) So we did dinner at a great Italian place in Pasadena, then saw the movie. Gotta be honest, I wasn't super impressed. I like Julia Roberts, and the travel scenes were cool and made me want to go to Bali, but it was a SLOW movie! We both were a little bored!

Dreaming Dreams

We all have them. From the time we are little most of us are asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Some of us didn't have parents that asked us this question or encouraged us to dream, but perhaps we had a teacher who stepped in and allowed us this freedom. My own parents made it clear that we could be absolutely anything we wanted to be when we grew up, that they would do what they could to support us in achieving whatever dreams we had--something I am incredibly grateful for. (Even if we choose careers that girls didn't typically pursue...like...um I don't know, a pastor? My dad says nothing converts a man to being a feminist quite like having a daughter that you want to see attain any thing her little heart desires to pursue!) Over the years I've had a lot of ideas and plans, things I thought I might want to pursue some day--from being an elementary school teacher, to a journalist, an English teacher, a brief stint of thinking I would be a social worker or a speech pathologist, to finally realizing I wanted to be in the ministry. It was the best fit, it actually perfectly allows me to combine all of these past career goals--as a pastor you have to teach, write, read, help with good communication, and often step in as a social worker. It's crazy how all these things that I am passionate about come together--I think God knew what He was doing when I began this journey.

I've always had another dream too, though. I've always dreamed of being a mom like my own incredible mom, of having a family of two or three little ones around, of getting to stay home with them in their early years like my mom did--shaping their early childhood development and laying a solid foundation for them. I've never really known how all these dreams would fit together, and I suppose I still don't exactly. But I do know that my husband and I are entering into a season of life where some answers might begin appearing. We both dream of doing ministry, and we're having many conversations these days of what that might mean for the two of us. Is it realistic to both be involved in full time ministry as our first jobs? Probably not, but possibly. Where do kids fit in? Do we both need pay checks from a church to "do" ministry? We're coming to the conclusion that no, we don't. Ministry for us isn't about receiving a paycheck, it's about a passion, and we realize that may mean one of us receives a paycheck from a church to "do" ministry and the other may act more as a professional volunteer. That's a humbling reality when we both have worked so hard for degrees that we'll be paying off for awhile!

We still don't know how everything is going to work out--but we have come to a few conclusions that we both firmly believe when it comes to seeing our dreams come true. First, we believe strongly that God cares more about who we are as a couple (and someday as a family) than what we do for a living. Our character, our obedience, submission to Him and one another, the way we shape and disciple our kids is so much more important to Him than who pays us to work. If we end up working at Starbucks but have a family that loves and serves deeply those around us, well, as I read scripture, I am convinced that's more important. And the second thing we are walking into this season of interviews and discernment fully grounded upon is the reality that no matter where we end up, no matter whose name is on a paycheck, both of us will do ministry wherever we go. It's who we are. God has called us, trained us, equipped us, and given us a passion for His people and His church and no matter where we end up, we'll be serving. Even after beginning a family we are committed to both of us serving our local church in some capacity. I don't say that to sound self-righteous in any way, I say that because we've been receiving so many questions of "what's next?" "how are you both going to use your degrees?" "will a church hire two of you?" "what about kids?" and it's been a struggle to answer people at times.

We still don't know where we will be. We don't know when we will move, or what positions we'll be moving into. And that's a little stressful, we like answers. But this past year and a half of uncertainty, of planning and dreaming and brainstorming and having the occasional tear-filled conversation with one another has been rich and fruitful. We feel confident that God does have something for us, that God does have a place in store for us to both use our gifts and our talents, and that God does desire for us to begin a family in the relatively near future--and in the mean time, we're going to keep dreaming, because my experience is that God loves it when his children think big about how they want to live in His world.

Houseboats!!

It's Wednesday, I missed my 10 on Tuesday post this week, but today's is kind of going to be a version of that. It has been a crazy week! We returned Saturday night, had houseguests beginning Sunday morning until Monday afternoon, I had 3 days at work to catch up, and we leave again early tomorrow morning for another 5 days--this time to Colorado to be with my whole extended family. I at least wanted to share the basic highlights of our houseboat trip before we leave again, so I have 2 different top 10 lists to share (these aren't really in any particular order though)--The Top Ten Moments of Houseboats (in my opinion) and The Top Ten Lessons I Learned Being a Youth Leader. Enjoy!

Top Ten Moments (that I hope to never forget!)

10. Watching a sophomore girl try inner-tubing for the first time, only to hear her start SCREAMING something halfway through the ride. I had the boat driver slow down so we could hear her and she's out on the inner tube screaming at the top of her lungs, "MY BUTT!!! MY BUTT!!! MY BUTT!!!" "Honey, what's wrong with your butt??" "IT'S NAKED!!! AND IT FEELS WIERD!!!" Yes, her bathing suit bottoms were around her knees...and the other 7 girls in the boat and I tried not to fall overboard laughing (she was cracking up herself).

9. That same boat ride found us at the marina so we could all use the bathroom (the bathroom situation is a little complicated on houseboats, we begged ski boat drivers to take us to the marina a lot!) and Bob, our awesome driver bought all of us ice cream (shown below with all my girls), which was incredible since it was 95 degrees and we'd been in the sun all day...best ice cream I think I've ever eaten!

8. DANCING! These girls dance a LOT which is so fun! On the deck, inside the cabin, in the water...they are always dancing, it was very fun to join them :) I heard a LOT of Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, and Lady Gaga this week...I loved it :) Most played song this week: Waka Waka (the world cup theme song) by Shakira, followed in at a close second "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga

7. The fly trap. Being on a lake, there are a lot of flies. So each boat hangs those sticky fly paper traps from the ceiling over the table. Ours had collected a fair number of flies by the last night. Which is when dear Caroline got the thing stuck in her hair. Yes, she climbed onto the table to do something and it got stuck. And came off the ceiling and she was shrieking and jumping around so much none of us could get it out of her hair. I don't think any dead flies ended up in her hair, thankfully, and eventually we got it unstuck. All 20 of us were rolling on the floor laughing and screaming it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen (she was fine, and thought it was funny later)

6. Girl floats! It's a houseboats tradition. Every day the girls gather as many floatation devices they can find to share and float together in a large pack (no boys are allowed!). These turned out to be some of my favorite moments, because conversations out here in the water went really deep, we talked about all sorts of things, some silly, but many meaningful. It's amazing what kind of walls will start to go down floating in a lake together.

5. Spider hunting. Our boat had a lot of spiders and webs on the upper deck (where almost all of us sleep), and the last night we were there one of our freshman decided she'd had it. She found a can of raid, grabbed a friend to hold a flash light and at 11:30 PM was spraying raid all over the top of our boat (not where we were sleeping, don't worry!) When she came back downstairs I asked her how spider killing went and she said "oh great! I used the whole can of raid!" (It had been full....) Of course our boat now stunk...but don't worry! She had a solution! I turn around and she's heading back out the door with a can of french vanilla febreeze. Which she proceeded to spray all over the top deck. Yes...the combination of the two smelled as lovely as you are imagining...She finally stopped when someone managed to convince her that the sweet smelling febreeze was probably going to attract more bugs...the boys on the boat next to us couldn't stop laughing...note to self--don't let the freshmen girls go spider hunting by themselves.

4. Explaining grace. In our small group time the last night one of our girls raised her hand and said "I've been in the church my entire life, and people keep talking about grace. I have no idea what that is or what that means." I got the chance to explain grace to her using a high school cafeteria as an illustration in a way that made sense (which I just kind of made up on the spot but apparently it made a lot of sense to her). I watched the light bulb go on, and it was beautiful.

3. Watching a foreign exchange student from Germany connect, fit in, and try both wake boarding and inner tubing for the first time--she lit up, saying "they do not do such things in Germany!"

2. Conversations about everything under the sun--from boys, to sex, to our bodies, and modesty, food, clothes, music, God, sweet 16 party plans, plans for college...you name it, we probably covered it.

1. Watching a few of our non-Christian kids start to put some pieces together--nothing super concrete, but at least seeing them start to wonder what this whole faith thing might be about.

Top Ten Things I Learned

10. Just being is tough for me. Last year I was on the food crew--I was busy and had a schedule to follow from 6 AM til about 10 PM. This year, on day one, I quickly learned that being a youth leader is a very different job! My job literally was to just be there, to talk, laugh, dance, ask questions, apply lots of sunscreen, and be aware of what was going on. Once I got rid of my watch and settled into this routine, I loved it. But not "doing" anything was tough for me at first!

9. Sometimes it's my job to be strong so a girl can let her guard down. One of our freshman dislocated her pinky finger doing a back flip on the water trampoline. She hates crying, and hates letting people see her vulnerable (I knew this before this happened). But she was in a lot of pain. My job was to let her squeeze my hand and convince her it was okay to cry as our on site doctor taped her fingers up. Eventually she let me.

8. Watching a light bulb go on for a student is one of the most beautiful sights, especially when that lightbulb is connected to them coming to understand how much God loves them just as they are.

7. So much bonding can happen over hair braiding, leg shaving (in a lake!), fake tattoo applying and getting ready for bed. When I'm willing to join in all this fun with them they respond AMAZINGLY well and love it--which means I had tattoos, smooth legs, braided hair, and dance parties as we brushed our teeth :)

6. As a youth leader on a trip like this, you NEVER know what is going to be your job description! Or what you are going to hear next. All of the following are sentences directed at me from our 17 girls: "Sarah, if I sleep in a wet bathing suit, will I REALLY get an infection?" (Uh yes, honey, you should really not sleep in your wet bathing suit...). "Why is our carbon monoxide detector beeping LOUDLY at 1 AM??" "Sarah, the toilet won't flush..." "Will you go to the nurse for me, I'm too embarassed." "Do we HAVE to go to bed?? Can't we just go skinny dipping?? We'll be quiet, I promise!" (uh no, 20 girls jumping into the water naked right below the boys boat is NOT a good idea ladies!) "Is having sex before you're married REALLY that big of a deal?" "But why can't we stay up all night?" "Does God still love me even if I do ____" "But i don't LIKE what's for lunch!" It was definitely a week of variety for me!

5. It doesn't matter at all what a speaker talks about, when girls get into their small groups they are going to talk about whatever is on their minds, even if it has nothing to do with the topic for the night, and honestly, I think that's beautiful.

4. Waking up a 6 AM before the kids get up to drink a cup of coffee (a perk of being a leader!) while dangling your feet off the back of the boat into the glassy, still water is the best way to star the day. Houseboats is the only trip of the year I get super excited to get out of bed after only 5-6 hours of sleep.

3. One of the best spots to have a conversation with just one or two girls is at the very front of a ski boat as it's flying across a lake. I had some fantastic moments in the bow of the boats.

2. Friendship bracelet making is just as much fun as when we were 14. And entertains VERY tired (and semi-cranky) girls in the vans on the drive home quite well.

1. I never imagined it would be possible to love these girls as much as I do. I never imagined I would find myself praying for them during quiet time and start to cry, thinking about how much they are hurting inside under the smiles--realizing how many questions they are asking, how desperately they want to feel God's love.

Ten on Tuesday (Take 2)

It's summer, which means it's travel time! This week's Ten on Tuesday is travel themed...enjoy the random thoughts!

1. What book, movie or song has made you want to travel to a particular place? Eat, Pray, Love--it definitely made me want to go back to Italy to do nothing but eat--pastas, pizzas, gelato...seriously one of the best food places I've ever been to!

2. Aside from your significant other, who would you want to take with you on a dream trip?
I could travel with any number of friends, so I hope this doesn't offend anyone! But I have to say that my answer would be Ms. Jennifer Gunther because the two of us have had more random adventures/fiascos together which would for sure make for an interesting trip!

3. Where would said dream trip be to?
Oh I think we could have some fun anywhere, but lets say an African Safari just for the heck of it :) Or France :)

4. If you were hosting guests or providing tips, what three things would you show visitors to your hometown? (be it where you live now or where you grew up)
For my 3 various homes:
Granite Bay, CA: they have to eat at Beach House Deli (the best sandwiches ever), people would need to ride bikes around Maidu Park, and see a show at the Music Circus.
Seattle, WA: Visitors would grab a cup of non-Starbucks coffee and walk around Greenlake to people watch, take a ferry to Whidbey Island, and buy flowers at Pikes Place Market
Los Angeles, CA: Frozen yogurt at Pinkberry, a picnic at The Getty Museum, and maybe a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

5. If you had a long weekend ahead of you, where do you head – beach, city or country/mountains?
Depends on who is choosing :) If my husband is involved, the beach. I'd prefer a place in Northern Cal that has both beach and green forresty mountains.

6. Do you have a passport? If so, did you get it for a particular trip or just to have, in case?
Yes, but it needs to be renewed soon because we're going to Japan in December! I got it for a trip to Europe when I graduated from high school. I think it just has stamps in there from England and America though, they didn't stamp our passports when we went in and out of each country unfortunately.

7. Are there any travel souvenirs you collect? If not, is there something else you collect?
Not really, I always get a few post cards from wherever I go and then usually throw them out eventually.

8. Have you ever traveled anywhere that you'd never want to return to?
I'm not sure I have a huge desire to return to Amsterdam.

9. If you were heading away for a weekend break solo, where would you go? (forget about practicality here and flight times, assume you can get to any city in the world for the weekend)
I'd go to London for a weekend, get lost in wandering :)

10. Is there a song that you strongly associate with a particular trip such that it always takes you back?
"What if I Stumble" by DC Talk takes me to a village 14 hours south of the Mexico/El Paso border. I was there on a mission trip my freshman year of high school, sitting on a rock in the middle of a river listening to that song. It was amazing.